bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Analysis of coniferous tree growth gradients in relation to regional pollution and climate change in the Miyun Reservoir Basin, China
Authors: Fu Li , Xu Yan , Zhao Dan , Wu Bingfang , Xu Zhihong 
Published: March 2023

AbstractForests play a crucial role in regulating regional climate and mitigating local air pollution, but little is known about their responding to such changes. This study aimed to examine the potential responses of Pinus tabuliformis, the major coniferous tree species in the Miyun Reservoir Basin (MRB), along an air pollution gradient in Beijing. Tree rings were collected along a transect, and ring width (basal area increment, BAI) and chemical characteristics were determined and related to long-term climatic and environmental records. The results showed that Pinus tabuliformis showed an overall increase in intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE) at all sites, but the relationships between iWUE and BAI differed among the sites. The contribution of atmospheric CO2 concentration (ca) to tree growth was significant at the remote sites (> 90%). The study found that air pollution at these sites might have caused further stomatal closure, as evidenced by the higher δ13C levels (0.5 to 1‰ higher) during heavy pollution periods. The analysis of tree ring δ15N also revealed the potential of using δ15N to fingerprint major nitrogen (N) deposition, as shown in the increasing tree ring δ15N, and major nitrogen losses due to denitrification and leaching, as shown in the higher δ15N in tree rings during heavy rainfall events. Overall, the gradient analysis indicated the contributions of increasing ca, increasing water deficit and elevated air pollution to tree growth and forest development. The different BAI trajectories suggested that Pinus tabuliformis has the ability to adapt to the harsh environment in the MRB.
Eutrophication history and organic carbon burial rate recorded in sediment cores from the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Italy)
Authors: Dominik Janusz , Leoni Simone , Cassin Daniele , Guarneri Irene , Bellucci Luca Giorgio , Zonta Roberto 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
During the second half of the twentieth century, coastal lagoons in densely populated regions experienced eutrophication due to excessive nutrient inputs. Detrimental effects, including hypoxia/anoxia and harmful algae blooms, have occurred in many Mediterranean lagoons, but their trophic evolution is poorly documented. The lack of adequate monitoring data can partly be offset by examining sedimentary records. In the Mar Piccolo, a lagoon comprising two basins near Taranto (Italy), eutrophication has followed population growth and pollution resulting from naval activities and massive industrialisation. Based on 210Pb-dated sediment cores, continuous in situ density profiles obtained with computed tomography, organic carbon (OC) and total nitrogen (TN) content and OC and TN isotopic signatures, this paper reconstructs the history of eutrophication, discusses the sources of organic matter and provides an estimate of the OC burial rate before and during the eutrophic period. OC burial increased in the period 1928–1935 and peaked in the decade 1960–1970. OC and TN content were still high in the surface sediments collected in 2013, despite partial diversion of sewage outfalls in the period 2000–2005. The divergent δ13C and δ15N signatures of the two basins during the eutrophic period suggest they were affected by different nutrient sources. The OC burial rate during the eutrophic phase (≈ 46 g m−2 y−1) was close to the world median value for lagoon sediments, and was about twice the burial rate recorded in the preceding oligotrophic phase.
Mediation of gaseous emissions and improving plant productivity by DCD and DMPP nitrification inhibitors: Meta-analysis of last three decades
Authors: Tufail Muhammad Aammar , Irfan Muhammad , Umar Wajid , Wakeel Abdul , Schmitz Ruth A. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractNitrification inhibitors (NIs), especially dicyandiamide (DCD) and 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP), have been extensively investigated to mitigate nitrogen (N) losses from the soil and thus improve crop productivity by enhancing N use efficiency. However, to provide crop and soil-specific guidelines about using these NIs, a quantitative assessment of their efficacy in mitigating gaseous emissions, worth for nitrate leaching, and improving crop productivity under different crops and soils is yet required. Therefore, based upon 146 peer-reviewed research studies, we conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the effect of DCD and DMPP on gaseous emissions, nitrate leaching, soil inorganic N, and crop productivity under different variates. The efficacy of the NIs in reducing the emissions of CO2, CH4, NO, and N2O highly depends on the crop, soil, and experiment types. The comparative efficacy of DCD in reducing N2O emission was higher than the DMPP under maize, grasses, and fallow soils in both organic and chemical fertilizer amended soils. The use of DCD was linked to increased NH3 emission in vegetables, rice, and grasses. Depending upon the crop, soil, and fertilizer type, both the NIs decreased nitrate leaching from soils; however, DMPP was more effective. Nevertheless, the effect of DCD on crop productivity indicators, including N uptake, N use efficiency, and biomass/yield was higher than DMPP due to certain factors. Moreover, among soils, crops, and fertilizer types, the response by plant productivity indicators to the application of NIs ranged between 35 and 43%. Overall, the finding of this meta-analysis strongly suggests the use of DCD and DMPP while considering the crop, fertilizer, and soil types.
Graphical Abstract
Use of life cycle assessment to evaluate circular economy business models in the case of Li-ion battery remanufacturing
Authors: Wrålsen Benedikte , O’Born Reyn 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to advance and illustrate how life cycle assessment (LCA) can assess circular economy business models for lithium-ion batteries to verify potential environmental benefits compared to linear business models. Scenarios for battery repurpose are assessed to support future decision-makers regarding the choice of new versus second life batteries for stationary energy storage. A procedure to determine the substitution coefficient for repurpose and reuse of batteries is proposed.

Methods
Two different circular economy business models are assessed by applying primary data from two Norwegian companies for the development of a new life cycle inventory. With this new data, the authors compare second life battery (from first life in electric vehicle) scenarios and avoided production potential by performing a complete consequential LCA. Building on earlier work, a procedure to identify the substitution coefficient (i.e., potential for avoided production) for battery life cycle assessments is proposed. Interviews during factory visits were performed to identify a technical and a market factor affecting the substitution coefficient.

Results and discussion
This study illustrates how life cycle assessment methodology can detect and thus enhance the potential environmental benefits and trade-offs of circular economy business models. Results show that the CBMs which use second life batteries correspond to 16% (for global warming potential) of manufacturing a new battery. This means that a second life battery must avoid > 16% production of a new battery to become the preferred alternative. Hence, circular economy business models with second life batteries can generate net environmental benefits while the remaining battery capacity and market price are identified factors that can alter the potential environmental benefits. The findings suggest that assumptions concerning the avoided production emissions are crucial for understanding the overall impacts of battery value chains.

Conclusions
Circular economy business models which enable second life batteries show lower environmental impacts compared to a new battery when it can partly avoid production of a new battery. Based on the identified technical and market factor affecting this potential, a key message to industry and other organizations is that second life batteries should be chosen over new batteries. This depends on the remaining capacity being satisfactory for the new application, and the investment is not performed because of a low price compared to a new battery. Consequential LCA practitioners adopting a market approach while evaluating battery reuse and repurpose should model and account for the avoided production potential.
An artificial intelligence-driven learning analytics method to examine the collaborative problem-solving process from the complex adaptive systems perspective
Authors: Ouyang Fan , Xu Weiqi , Cukurova Mutlu 
Published: March 2023

AbstractCollaborative problem solving (CPS) enables student groups to complete learning tasks, construct knowledge, and solve problems. Previous research has argued the importance of examining the complexity of CPS, including its multimodality, dynamics, and synergy from the complex adaptive systems perspective. However, there is limited empirical research examining the adaptive and temporal characteristics of CPS, which may have led to an oversimplified representation of the real complexity of the CPS process. To expand our understanding of the nature of CPS in online interaction settings, the present research collected multimodal process and performance data (i.e., speech, computer screen recordings, concept map data) and proposed a three-layered analytical framework that integrated AI algorithms with learning analytics to analyze the regularity of groups’ collaboration patterns. The results surfaced three types of collaborative patterns in groups, namely the behaviour-oriented collaborative pattern (Type 1) associated with medium-level performance, the communication-behaviour-synergistic collaborative pattern (Type 2) associated with high-level performance, and the communication-oriented collaborative pattern (Type 3) associated with low-level performance. This research further highlighted the multimodal, dynamic, and synergistic characteristics of groups’ collaborative patterns to explain the emergence of an adaptive, self-organizing system during the CPS process. According to the empirical research results, theoretical, pedagogical, and analytical implications were discussed to guide the future research and practice of CPS.
When nudges promote neutral behavior: an experimental study of managerial decisions under risk and uncertainty
Authors: Renz Erich , Müller Marvin M. , Böhm Kim Leonardo 
Published: March 2023

AbstractManagers often make decisions in situations involving risk and uncertainty. To ensure the prosperity of the company, neutral behavior is desirable in such situations. However, when evaluating future-oriented managerial actions, cognitive biases can arise that are manifested as aversions towards risky and uncertain situations, leading to non-optimal decisions. In an online experiment with a convenience sample of 298 US participants, we investigate deviations from risk- and uncertainty-neutral managerial decisions and apply neutrality-promoting behavioral interventions in a business venture setting. We find that using a recommendation nudge before as well as after making an initial decision improves individual performance to achieve higher neutrality levels. In sum, we show that in managerial decision-making processes, where experience, time, and information are often lacking, simple decision-making aids lead to better decisions.
How relative competitive strength moderates stock price responses after European soccer tournaments
Authors: Schertler Andrea , van Beurden Jarmo 
Published: March 2023

AbstractStock price responses of soccer clubs to national and international tournaments have been interpreted in light of fan investors who are prone to emotions. We employ Champions League and Europa League fixtures between 2004 and 2020 to investigate whether postmatch stock price responses are driven by emotions. We argue that a soccer club’s relative competitive strength can be a proxy for investors’ emotions, such as rage and disappointment, after losing against a strong opponent, which then leads to abnormal decreases in stock prices. While we find several factors, such as the percentage of shares held by institutional investors less subject to emotions, whose effects on postmatch abnormal returns are in line with rational information processing, our evidence also suggests that the effect of a club’s relative competitive strength on stock performance is driven by investor emotion. We outline the general applicability of stock price responses arising from relative competitive strength in corporate finance settings.
New Work – Old Problem? Wie Postbürokratie die Digitalisierung erschwert
Authors: Baumgart Lene 
Published: March 2023

ZusammenfassungDie Nutzung digitaler Kollaborationstools wird als Voraussetzung für eine postbürokratische New Work-Welt erachtet. Organisationale Digitalisierungsprojekte zur Einführung solcher Kollaborationssoftware sind selbst postbürokratisch strukturiert, d. h. sie arbeiten in crossfunktionalen und selbstorganisierten Teams. Während der Kooperation mit anderen Organisationseinheiten treten Konflikte auf, die sich dadurch verschärfen, dass sie nicht von der Hierarchie gelöst werden können, sondern im Sinne von New Work demokratisch ausgehandelt werden müssen. In der Folge bedarf es alternativer formaler Strukturen, die diese Herausforderung bewältigen.
Support for Strategic Voting Campaigns: Evidence from a Survey Experiment During the German General Election of 2021
Authors: Jankowski Michael 
Published: March 2023

AbstractAlthough strategic voting is common in the first tier of the German electoral system, large-scale campaigns designed to foster strategic voting have rarely been observed in Germany. This changed in the General Election of 2021 when the left-wing organization Campact ran campaigns in several electoral districts supporting the most promising left-wing candidate in order to impede the election of a more right-wing candidate. Especially, Campact’s campaign in favor of the SPD candidate Frank Ullrich, with the goal of impeding the election of the controversial CDU candidate Hans-Georg Maaßen, received much public attention. Drawing on this case as an example, I address the question of how Green voters evaluate such campaigns. To do so, I conducted a survey experiment in which different information about the campaign of Campact is provided to Green voters. I find that providing more information about the German electoral system does not increase support for the campaign. However, Green voters react to a party cue, i.e., they become more favorable towards the campaign when they know that the Green Party supported the campaign.
Identification of representative trees in random forests based on a new tree-based distance measure
Authors: Laabs Björn-Hergen , Westenberger Ana , König Inke R. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIn life sciences, random forests are often used to train predictive models. However, gaining any explanatory insight into the mechanics leading to a specific outcome is rather complex, which impedes the implementation of random forests into clinical practice. By simplifying a complex ensemble of decision trees to a single most representative tree, it is assumed to be possible to observe common tree structures, the importance of specific features and variable interactions. Thus, representative trees could also help to understand interactions between genetic variants. Intuitively, representative trees are those with the minimal distance to all other trees, which requires a proper definition of the distance between two trees. Thus, we developed a new tree-based distance measure, which incorporates more of the underlying tree structure than other metrics. We compared our new method with the existing metrics in an extensive simulation study and applied it to predict the age at onset based on a set of genetic risk factors in a clinical data set. In our simulation study we were able to show the advantages of our weighted splitting variable approach. Our real data application revealed that representative trees are not only able to replicate the results from a recent genome-wide association study, but also can give additional explanations of the genetic mechanisms. Finally, we implemented all compared distance measures in R and made them publicly available in the R package timbR (https://github.com/imbs-hl/timbR).
Phase Transition of Magnetite Ore Fines During Oxidation Probed by In Situ High-Temperature X-Ray Diffraction
Authors: Zheng Heng , Daghagheleh Oday , Ma Yan , Taferner Bernd , Schenk Johannes , Kapelyushin Yury 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThe reduction of magnetite-based iron ore fines in a hydrogen-induced fluidized bed becomes an attractive fossil-free ironmaking route. Our previous study showed that a prior oxidation treatment of magnetite was helpful to improve its fluidization and reduction behavior. However, the underlying oxidation mechanisms of magnetite ore fines remained unclear and required further investigations. In this study, two magnetite ore brands were analyzed viain situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction (HT-XRD) during oxidation, to investigate the thermal transformation of Fe3O4 to α-Fe2O3 at crystal scale. The lattice constants and crystallite sizes of both phases and oxidation degree were evaluated at different temperatures based on the HT-XRD patterns. The lattice constants of Fe3O4 and α-Fe2O3 increased with an increase in temperature due to the thermal expansion and can be successfully fitted with temperature by second-order polynomials. With Fe3O4 being oxidized into Fe2O3, the Fe2O3 crystallite grew and showed a certain growth habit. The Fe2O3 crystallite grew faster along the a/b axis than the c axis. The oxidation kinetics followed the parabolic law as shown by the sigmoid-shaped oxidation degree curve, suggesting that the solid diffusion of ions was the rate-limiting step.
Impact of educational video on performance in robotic simulation training (TAKUMI-1): a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Takagi Kosei , Hata Nanako , Kimura Jiro , Kikuchi Satoru , Noma Kazuhiro , Yasui Kazuya , Fuji Tomokazu , Yoshida Ryuichi , Umeda Yuzo , Yagi Takahito , Fujiwara Toshiyoshi 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThe use of virtual reality for simulations plays an important role in the initial training for robotic surgery. This randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the impact of educational video on the performance of robotic simulation. Participants were randomized into the intervention (video) group that received an educational video and robotic simulation training or the control group that received only simulation training. The da Vinci® Skills Simulator was used for the basic course, including nine drills. The primary endpoint was the overall score of nine drills in cycles 1–10. Secondary endpoints included overall, efficiency, and penalty scores in each cycle, as well as the learning curves evaluated by the cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis. Between September 2021 and May 2022, 20 participants were assigned to the video (n = 10) and control (n = 10) groups. The video group had significantly higher overall scores than the control group (90.8 vs. 72.4, P < 0.001). Significantly higher overall scores and lower penalty scores were confirmed, mainly in cycles 1–5. CUSUM analysis revealed a shorter learning curve in the video group. The present study demonstrated that educational video training can be effective in improving the performance of robotic simulation training and shortening the learning curve.
Brand loyalty in the face of stockouts
Authors: Khan Uzma , DePaoli Alexander 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

An important managerial challenge is understanding consumers’ reactions to stockouts of a desired product―will they stay brand loyal or switch to competing brands? We posit that consumers are more likely to prefer substitutes from the same brand when a stockout is unexpected (vs. expected). This tendency arises as consumers feel greater negative affect upon encountering an unexpected stockout, which leads them to choose alternatives that provide greater affective value to ameliorate their negative feelings. Since the brand is a relatively affect-rich attribute compared to common non-brand attributes (e.g., price and quantity), consumers facing an unexpected stockout are more likely to choose a same-brand substitute. Five studies illustrate the effect and support the process by demonstrating that unexpected stockouts do not result in brand loyalty when non-brand attributes offer greater affective value than the brand. We further show that managers systematically mispredict how consumers’ expectations of stockouts relate to brand loyalty.
Monitoring invasive alien plants dynamics: application in restored areas
Authors: García Pilar , Sanna Mauro , Fernández García María , González Rodríguez Gil , Cires Eduardo 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIn environmental restoration, evaluating the effect of control actions on alien species is essential for a correct assessment of the success of the restoration. A simple method for the evaluation of the dynamics of alien plants after manual and mechanical control in restored areas is proposed in this work. This method is based on the cover-abundance of alien plants, the size of the inventoried area and subsequently corrected with the degree of invasiveness based on national catalogues. Alien plants data abundances are obtained from floristic relevés retrieved from the restoration actions, carried out in the Eo River (Spain) during the LIFE Fluvial project (2018–2021). The Invasive Alien Plants Index (IAPI) was calculated, before and after the control actions for three ecological units (fluvio-estuarine, riverbank and lake). In all cases, index decreases after the control actions and it is sensitive to the changes that may occurs as recolonization by new alien species. As a whole, in the Eo River, a decrease of 53% of the IAPI has been obtained from 2018 to 2021, which estimate the effect of alien plants control. This indicator is applicable to any type of habitat, ecosystem or region and is adapted to different administrative areas that have published an official list of invasive species.
An unusual case of a giant fetal facial tumour and review of the literature
Authors: Start Alex O. , Ryan Gillian A. , Cathcart Barbra , Geraghty Jennifer , Adams Niamh , Colleran Gabrielle , Vavasseur Claudine , Caird John , Murray Dylan , Walsh Jennifer M. 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
We present the case of a pregnant 32-year-old woman who presented with a giant fetal facial tumour at 22 weeks. The mass, initially 4 × 3.5 × 3 cm in size, was largely cystic with a small solid component. It subsequently increased to 9 × 9 × 10 cm. Significant compression effects on the fetal orbit, temple and infratemporal fossa, with potential compression of the optic nerve, were noted on ultrasound and MRI. The cyst required drainage twice in the pregnancy: firstly to reduce the compression effects and secondly to facilitate caesarean delivery. Postnatally, the baby had significant compression and displacement of the craniofacial skeleton from the mass effect. Postnatal histology revealed a diagnosis of a teratoma. This case highlights the complexities and challenges surrounding the diagnosis and management of a giant fetal facial tumour.