bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Ecosocial compensation of nature-based social values in Turku, South-West Finland
Authors: Hiedanpää Juha , Tuomala Misa , Pappila Minna , Klap Aleksis , Meretoja Miika , Laine Idamaria , Vuorisalo Timo 
Published: August 2023

AbstractComplementary building is one of the key objectives in current urban planning as cities attempt to mitigate climate change. However, this development often reduces the urban green space. This incremental encroachment can negatively affect both the well-being of residents and biodiversity. Compensation is a way to safeguard the urban green space under the pressure of complementary construction. In the spirit of creative democracy, in this study, we examined the preconditions for ecosocial compensation and the mitigation of the harmful effects of incremental encroachment, as well as the mitigation hierarchy, in the context of land-use planning. We organised three workshops for planners and civil society associations at which we examined the preconditions for ecosocial compensation and other mitigation options using co-creation methods. We also carried out a PPGIS survey for the residents of Turku and were able to insert one question into the voting advice application of the municipal election in 2021. Our results show that there is a need for a new kind of information regarding nature-based social values when considering mitigation options and compensation. A comprehensive planning approach instead of incremental planning practices is important for considering compensation. Residents’ initiative is essential in the ecosocial approach, and the compensation process may become a way for residents to step up and introduce concerns and new opportunities to the public discussion and actual decisions about urban green space.
Production of reuterin by Lactobacillus coryniformis and its antimicrobial activities
Authors: Tsuda Harutoshi 
Published: August 2023

AbstractReuterin is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial substance produced by lactic acid bacteria, and most previous studies have reported that reuterin is only produced under anaerobic conditions. If there are lactic acid bacteria that also produce it under aerobic conditions, it could be applied to fermented foods. In this study, it was found that Lactobacillus coryniformis WBB05 showed optimal reuterin production (123 mM reuterin from 200 mM glycerol) when incubated aerobically at 20°C. Furthermore, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of reuterin was determined for starter lactic acid bacteria strains and cheese moulds. MIC toward Penicillium camemberti was 0.125 mM and the white mould starter was much more sensitive than other moulds.
Using intonation to disambiguate meaning: The role of empathy and proficiency in L2 perceptual development
Authors: Casillas Joseph V. , Garrido-Pozú Juan José , Parrish Kyle , Fernández Arroyo Laura , Rodríguez Nicole , Esposito Robert , Chang Isabelle , Gómez Kimberly , Constantin-Dureci Gabriela , Shao Jiawei , Andreu Rascón Iván , Taveras Katherine 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe present study investigates the interplay between proficiency and empathy in the development of second language (L2) prosody by analyzing the perception and processing of intonation in questions and statements in L2 Spanish. A total of 225 adult L2 Spanish learners (L1 English) from the Northeastern United States completed a two-alternative forced choice (2AFC) task in which they listened to four utterance types and categorized them as either questions or statements. We used Bayesian multilevel regression and drift diffusion modeling to analyze the 2AFC data as a function of proficiency level and empathy scores for each utterance type. We show that learner response accuracy and sensitivity to intonation are positively correlated with proficiency, and this association is affected by individual empathy levels in both response accuracy and sentence processing. Higher empathic individuals, in comparison with lower empathic individuals, appear to be more sensitive to intonation cues in the process of forming sound-meaning associations, though increased sensitivity does not necessarily imply increased processing speed. The results motivate the inclusion of measures of pragmatic skill, such as empathy, to better account for intonational meaning processing and sentence comprehension in second language acquisition.
Optimize! Oil, Labor, and Authoritarian Neoliberalism in Kazakhstan
Authors: Totaro Maurizio 
Published: August 2023

AbstractFollowing the 2014–2015 oil price crisis, service companies in Kazakhstan went through a process of industrial restructuring centered on workforce reduction and a concomitant increase of labor outsourcing. Taking the restructuring – or “optimization” – of state-owned service companies in the region of Mangystau as a starting point, this paper illustrates the heterogenous precarization effects and forms of precarity catalyzed by the process. Taking a multidimensional approach, the paper describes and analyses the effects of precarization in both socio-economic and political terms, as well as the implications for the production of differentiated laboring subjectivities. It situates the ethnographic trajectories of workers within the framework of Kazakhstan's authoritarian neoliberalism, highlighting the punitive and pastoral techniques of goverment deployed in the restructuring of the regional oil complex. In the first part, the article describes how precarization was experienced by workers as “slavery”, entailing the loss of social recognition as well as the intensification of economic exploitation and political domination, heightening their exposure to social and bodily vulnerability. The second section looks instead at the workings of a governmental agency in its effort to remake redundant workers into small business owners through the acquisition of entrepreneurial skills and the abandonment of the Soviet “dependency mindset”. The third and last section of the article concentrates on the individual trajectory of a dismissed worker joining a multi-level marketing scheme in order to cleanse himself from the bodily and social toxicity of precarized work in the oil industry.
Stephanie Hare
Authors: Breslin Mike 
Published: August 2023

AbstractAuthor, broadcaster and researcher Stephanie Hare's presentation on technology ethics was one of the most spoken about events at last year's BIALL conference, a thought-provoking talk that left many wanting more. With this in mind, Mike and Jas Breslin sat down with Stephanie to talk about the fascinating and very readable book it was based on, her thoughts on why technology ethics is especially important to information professionals, and whether she believed AI will ever do law librarians out of a job.
Myelodysplastic neoplasm-associated U2AF1 mutations induce host defense defects by compromising neutrophil chemotaxis
Authors: Gurule Natalia J. , Malcolm Kenneth C. , Harris Chelsea , Knapp Jennifer R. , O’Connor Brian P. , McClendon Jazalle , Janssen William J. , Lee Frank Fang Yao , Price Caitlin , Osaghae-Nosa Jackson , Wheeler Emily A. , McMahon Christine M. , Pietras Eric M. , Pollyea Daniel A. , Alper Scott 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMyelodysplastic neoplasm (MDS) is a hematopoietic stem cell disorder that may evolve into acute myeloid leukemia. Fatal infection is among the most common cause of death in MDS patients, likely due to myeloid cell cytopenia and dysfunction in these patients. Mutations in genes that encode components of the spliceosome represent the most common class of somatically acquired mutations in MDS patients. To determine the molecular underpinnings of the host defense defects in MDS patients, we investigated the MDS-associated spliceosome mutation U2AF1-S34F using a transgenic mouse model that expresses this mutant gene. We found that U2AF1-S34F causes a profound host defense defect in these mice, likely by inducing a significant neutrophil chemotaxis defect. Studies in human neutrophils suggest that this effect of U2AF1-S34F likely extends to MDS patients as well. RNA-seq analysis suggests that the expression of multiple genes that mediate cell migration are affected by this spliceosome mutation and therefore are likely drivers of this neutrophil dysfunction.
Lung ultrasound detects regional aeration inhomogeneity in ventilated preterm lambs
Authors: He Laura L. H. , Foo Gillian , Kenna Kelly R. , Douglas Ellen , Fatmous Monique , Sutton Rebecca J. , Perkins Elizabeth J. , Sourial Magdy , Pereira-Fantini Prue M. , Tingay David G. , Sett Arun 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background
Inhomogeneous lung aeration is a significant contributor to preterm lung injury. EIT detects inhomogeneous aeration in the research setting. Whether LUS detects inhomogeneous aeration is unknown. The aim was to determine whether LUS detects regional inhomogeneity identified by EIT in preterm lambs.

Methods
LUS and EIT were simultaneously performed on mechanically ventilated preterm lambs. LUS images from non-dependent and dependent regions were acquired and reported using a validated scoring system and computer-assisted quantitative LUS greyscale analysis (Q-LUSMGV). Regional inhomogeneity was calculated by observed over predicted aeration ratio from the EIT reconstructive model. LUS scores and Q-LUSMGV were compared with EIT aeration ratios using one-way ANOVA.

Results
LUS was performed in 32 lambs (~125d gestation, 128 images). LUS scores were greater in upper anterior (non-dependent) compared to lower lateral (dependent) regions of the left (3.4 vs 2.9, p = 0.1) and right (3.4 vs 2.7, p < 0.0087). The left and right upper regions also had greater LUS scores compared to right lower (3.4 vs 2.7, p < 0.0087) and left lower (3.7 vs 2.9, p = 0.1). Q-LUSMGV yielded similar results. All LUS findings corresponded with EIT regional differences.

Conclusion
LUS may have potential in measuring regional aeration, which should be further explored in human studies.

Impact

Inhomogeneous lung aeration is an important contributor to preterm lung injury, however, tools detecting inhomogeneous aeration at the bedside are limited.

Currently, the only tool clinically available to detect this is electrical impedance tomography (EIT), however, its use is largely limited to research.

Lung ultrasound (LUS) may play a role in monitoring lung aeration in preterm infants, however, whether it detects inhomogeneous lung aeration is unknown.

Visual LUS scores and mean greyscale image analysis using computer assisted quantitative LUS (Q-LUSMGV) detects regional lung aeration differences when compared to EIT.

This suggests LUS reliably detects aeration inhomogeneity warranting further investigation in human trials.
Investigating prenatal and perinatal factors on meconium microbiota: a systematic review and cohort study
Authors: Turunen Jenni , Tejesvi Mysore V. , Paalanne Niko , Pokka Tytti , Amatya Sajeen Bahadur , Mishra Surbhi , Kaisanlahti Anna , Reunanen Justus , Tapiainen Terhi 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Background
The first-pass meconium has been suggested as a proxy for the fetal gut microbiota because it is formed in utero. This systematic review and cohort study investigated how pre- and perinatal factors influence the composition of the meconium microbiota.

Methods
We performed the systematic review using Covidence by searching PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases with the search terms “meconium microbiome” and “meconium microbiota”. In the cohort study, we performed 16 S rRNA gene sequencing on 393 meconium samples and analyzed the sequencing data using QIIME2.

Results
Our systematic review identified 69 studies exploring prenatal factors, immediate perinatal factors, and microbial composition in relation to subsequent health of infants but gave only limited comparative evidence regarding factors related to the composition of the meconium microbiota. The cohort study pointed to a low-biomass microbiota consisting of the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Actinobacteriota and the genera Staphylococcus, Escherichia-Shigella and Lactobacillus, and indicated that immediate perinatal factors affected the composition of the meconium microbiota more than did prenatal factors.

Conclusions
This finding supports the idea that the meconium microbiota mostly starts developing during delivery.

Impact

It is unclear when the first-pass meconium microbiota develops, and what are the sources of the colonization.

In this systematic review, we found 69 studies exploring prenatal factors, immediate perinatal factors, and microbial composition relative to subsequent health of infants, but there was no consensus on the factors affecting the meconium microbiota development.

In this cohort study, immediate perinatal factors markedly affected the meconium microbiota development while prenatal factors had little effect on it.

As the meconium microbiota composition was influenced by immediate perinatal factors, the present study supports the idea that the initial gut microbiota develops mainly during delivery.
Fiber-specific micro- and macroscopic white matter alterations in progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal syndrome
Authors: Uchida Wataru , Kamagata Koji , Andica Christina , Takabayashi Kaito , Saito Yuya , Owaki Mana , Fujita Shohei , Hagiwara Akifumi , Wada Akihiko , Akashi Toshiaki , Sano Katsuhiro , Hori Masaaki , Aoki Shigeki 
Published: August 2023

AbstractProgressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) are characterized by progressive white matter (WM) alterations associated with the prion-like spreading of four-repeat tau, which has been pathologically confirmed. It has been challenging to monitor the WM degeneration patterns underlying the clinical deficits in vivo. Here, a fiber-specific fiber density and fiber cross-section, and their combined measure estimated using fixel-based analysis (FBA), were cross-sectionally and longitudinally assessed in PSP (n = 20), CBS (n = 17), and healthy controls (n = 20). FBA indicated disease-specific progression patterns of fiber density loss and subsequent bundle atrophy consistent with the tau propagation patterns previously suggested in a histopathological study. This consistency suggests the new insight that FBA can monitor the progressive tau-related WM changes in vivo. Furthermore, fixel-wise metrics indicated strong correlations with motor and cognitive dysfunction and the classifiability of highly overlapping diseases. Our findings might also provide a tool to monitor clinical decline and classify both diseases.
Emerging vaccine strategies against the incessant pneumococcal disease
Authors: Duke Jeremy A. , Avci Fikri Y. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) caused by infection with the pathogenStreptococcus pneumoniae(Spn) has been on a downward trend for decades due to worldwide vaccination programs. Despite the clinical successes observed, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the continued global burden ofS. pneumoniaewill be in the millions each year, with a case-fatality rate hovering around 5%. Thus, it is a top priority to continue developing newSpnvaccination strategies to harness immunological insight and increase the magnitude of protection provided. As emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is also crucial to broaden the implementation of vaccines that are already obtainable in the clinical setting. This review focuses on the immune mechanisms triggered by existing pneumococcal vaccines and provides an overview of the current and upcoming clinical strategies being employed. We highlight the associated challenges of serotype selectivity and using pneumococcal-derived proteins as alternative vaccine antigens.
Time delays modulate the stability of complex ecosystems
Authors: Yang Yuguang , Foster Kevin R. , Coyte Katharine Z. , Li Aming 
Published: August 2023

AbstractWhat drives the stability, or instability, of complex ecosystems? This question sits at the heart of community ecology and has motivated a large body of theoretical work exploring how community properties shape ecosystem dynamics. However, the overwhelming majority of current theory assumes that species interactions are instantaneous, meaning that changes in the abundance of one species will lead to immediate changes in the abundances of its partners. In practice, time delays in how species respond to one another are widespread across ecological contexts, yet the impact of these delays on ecosystems remains unclear. Here we derive a new body of theory to comprehensively study the impact of time delays on ecological stability. We find that time delays are important for ecosystem stability. Large delays are typically destabilizing but, surprisingly, short delays can substantially increase community stability. Moreover, in stark contrast to delay-free systems, delays dictate that communities with more abundant species can be less stable than ones with less abundant species. Finally, we show that delays fundamentally shift how species interactions impact ecosystem stability, with communities of mixed interaction types becoming the most stable class of ecosystem. Our work demonstrates that time delays can be critical for the stability of complex ecosystems.
Efficient hole abstraction for highly selective oxidative coupling of methane by Au-sputtered TiO2 photocatalysts
Authors: Li Xiyi , Li Chao , Xu Youxun , Liu Qiong , Bahri Mounib , Zhang Liquan , Browning Nigel D. , Cowan Alexander J. , Tang Junwang 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPhotocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) produces C2 molecules that can be used as building blocks for synthesis of fuels and chemicals. However, the yield rate and the selectivity of C2 products are still moderate due to the stable nature of methane molecules. Here we develop a Au nanocluster-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst by a sputtering approach, achieving a high methane conversion rate of 1.1 mmol h−1, C2 selectivity of ~90% and apparent quantum efficiency of 10.3 ± 0.6%. The high C2/C2+ yield rate is on the same order of magnitude as the benchmark thermal catalysts in OCM processes operated at high temperature (>680 °C). Au nanoparticles are shown to prolong TiO2 photoelectron lifetimes by a factor of 66 for O2 reduction, together with Au acting as a hole acceptor and catalytic centre to promote methane adsorption, C–H activation and C–C coupling. This work underscores the importance of multifunctional co-catalysts and mechanistic understanding to improve photocatalytic OCM.
Electrical detection of the flat-band dispersion in van der Waals field-effect structures
Authors: Pasquale Gabriele , Lopriore Edoardo , Sun Zhe , Čerņevičs Kristiāns , Tagarelli Fedele , Watanabe Kenji , Taniguchi Takashi , Yazyev Oleg V. , Kis Andras 
Published: August 2023

AbstractTwo-dimensional flat-band systems have recently attracted considerable interest due to the rich physics unveiled by emergent phenomena and correlated electronic states at van Hove singularities. However, the difficulties in electrically detecting the flat-band position in field-effect structures are slowing down the investigation of their properties. In this work, we use indium selenide (InSe) as a flat-band system due to a van Hove singularity at the valence-band edge in a few-layer form of the material without the requirement of a twist angle. We investigate tunnelling photocurrents in gated few-layer InSe structures and relate them to ambipolar transport and photoluminescence measurements. We observe an appearance of a sharp change in tunnelling mechanisms due to the presence of the van Hove singularity at the flat band. We further corroborate our findings by studying tunnelling currents as a reliable probe for the flat-band position up to room temperature. Our results create an alternative approach to studying flat-band systems in heterostructures of two-dimensional materials.
Predicting transcriptional outcomes of novel multigene perturbations with GEARS
Authors: Roohani Yusuf , Huang Kexin , Leskovec Jure 
Published: August 2023

AbstractUnderstanding cellular responses to genetic perturbation is central to numerous biomedical applications, from identifying genetic interactions involved in cancer to developing methods for regenerative medicine. However, the combinatorial explosion in the number of possible multigene perturbations severely limits experimental interrogation. Here, we present graph-enhanced gene activation and repression simulator (GEARS), a method that integrates deep learning with a knowledge graph of gene–gene relationships to predict transcriptional responses to both single and multigene perturbations using single-cell RNA-sequencing data from perturbational screens. GEARS is able to predict outcomes of perturbing combinations consisting of genes that were never experimentally perturbed. GEARS exhibited 40% higher precision than existing approaches in predicting four distinct genetic interaction subtypes in a combinatorial perturbation screen and identified the strongest interactions twice as well as prior approaches. Overall, GEARS can predict phenotypically distinct effects of multigene perturbations and thus guide the design of perturbational experiments.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is associated with hyperandrogenism in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Authors: Hong So-hyeon , Sung Yeon-Ah , Hong Young Sun , Song Do Kyeong , Jung Hyein , Jeong Kyungah , Chung Hyewon , Lee Hyejin 
Published: August 2023

AbstractPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a highly complex reproductive metabolic disorder and women with PCOS have high prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Despite both hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance are common pathophysiologies in NAFLD and PCOS, this association is still controversial. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the relationship between hyperandrogenism and NAFLD in females diagnosed with PCOS. We recruited 667 women diagnosed with PCOS and 289 women with regular menstrual cycles as control. The PCOS diagnosis was made using National Institute of Child Health and Human Disease criteria. Total and free testosterone levels (TT and TF, respectively), and free androgen index (FAI) were used as measures of hyperandrogenism. Fatty liver index and liver fat score (FLI and LFS, respectively), and hepatic steatosis index (HSI) were used to assess NAFLD. The prevalence of NAFLD in PCOS women evaluated by LFS, FLI, and HIS were 19.9, 10.3, and 32.2%, respectively. In the control group, the incidence was 2.1, 0.7, and 4.2%, respectively. Both FT and FAI levels showed significant association with increased NAFLD-related indices, after adjusting for insulin resistance and other factors (LFS (OR 3.18 (95% CI 1.53–6.63) in FT; 1.12 (1.04–1.22) in FAI), FLI (OR 2.68 (95% CI 1.43–5.03) in FT; 1.13 (1.06–1.20) in FAI), and HSI (OR 3.29 (95% CI 2.08–5.21) in FT; 1.5 (1.09–1.21) in FAI). TT did not exhibit association with any NAFLD index. In women with PCOS, significantly higher rate of NAFLD was observed compared to the control women. The FT and FAI were independently associated with NAFLD in women with PCOS. The findings suggest the possibility of hyperandrogenism contributing to the progression and/or development of NAFLD in PCOS.