bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Rapidly progressive respiratory failure due to antisynthetase syndrome related interstitial lung disease
Authors: Almubarek Marwan , Boy Darryl P. , Lalla Usha , Allwood Brian W. , Irusen Elvis M. , Koegelenberg Coenraad F. N. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractA 65‐year‐old female was admitted with rapidly progressive respiratory failure requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation. She was considered to have an infective exacerbation of underlying interstitial lung disease (ILD). She improved on antibiotics, but the interstitial process progressed rapidly, and she could not be weaned. An antimyositis antibody panel yielded a strongly positive anti‐Jo‐1 and anti‐Ro 52. A diagnosis of antisynthetase syndrome (ASS) associated ILD, a very rare disease with high mortality, was made. She was managed with high‐dose corticosteroids and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy and was eventually liberated from mechanical ventilation. This case highlights the importance of considering ASS in an otherwise unexplained rapidly progressive ILD requiring mechanical ventilation.
Ecological impact assessment of dam construction: A case study of Diamer Basha Dam Gilgit‐Baltistan, Pakistan
Authors: Shahab Asfandyar , Bohnett Eve , Ahmad Bilal , Rashid Audil , Hayat Muhammad , Alam Naveed 
Published: April 2023

AbstractDam construction poses significant ecological impact, both during the initial construction phase and long after the dam is completed. The Diamer Basha Dam, situated on the River Indus in the Gilgit‐Baltistan district of Pakistan, is receiving significant attention due to the ecological consequences of the proposed and ongoing construction. The Dam is a 272‐m‐tall reservoir with a 9867.912 Mm3 (million cubic meter) capacity and will be the world's highest roller compact concrete dam. The assessment of local ecological impacts was compiled in a checklist and matrices format to discuss the impacts on the status of species diversity in the study area. Using a random sample methodology, line transects, and quadrats were employed to evaluate phytosociological properties of vegetation. The floral parameters recorded were percent cover, species richness, vegetation composition, frequency, and density. The ecological analysis included principal component analysis to compare the distributions of sustained and lost vegetation in response to water flow variables. This research showed that several plant species withstand periods of high peak flow, like Salix tetrasperma, Rumex dentatis, Trifolium resupinatum, and Polygonum. Additionally, visual observations, plot surveys, transects, and published reports were used to compile the faunal data used to determine habitat distribution. According to the analysis, immediate effects of dam construction activities such as blasting, quarrying, and traffic noise cause severe disturbances to existing biodiversity and habitats with high ecological vulnerability, and have long‐term effects on ecological integrity and environmental health in downstream and upstream habitats. The study presents the present status of biological and ecological conditions, as a baseline reference datum for a comparative analysis of the changes caused by the dam's construction.
Experimental study on flexural performance of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by PET
Authors: Si Jianhui , Hu Jiannan , Liu Zewei , Zeng Zhaobao , Li Kai , Ding Xinchao 
Published: April 2023

AbstractPolyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a new type of fiber‐reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material, which has the characteristics of high performance, high toughness, high tensile fracture load, low elongation, low creep, no rust, and safety in use. The good performance of PET can significantly improve the mechanical properties of its components. A total of six reinforced concrete (RC) beams were produced in the test, one of which was a comparison beam, and the other five were reinforced with PET. In the test, the PET reinforcement spacing, number of reinforcement layers, and laying method were used as control variables, and an experimental study on the normal section bending performance of the specimen was performed. The test analyses the failure characteristics, crack width, bearing capacity, and deflection of the specimens under different reinforcement conditions. The test results showed that PET reinforcement can effectively inhibit the occurrence and development of cracks in RC beams and improve the ultimate bearing capacity and ductility of the components. The smaller the PET reinforcement spacing, the higher the ultimate bearing capacity; the greater the number of PET layers, the better the ductility of the specimen. Additionally, the economy, environmental protection, and portability of PET are of great significance for its application in practical engineering reinforcement.
Incorporation of graphene oxide nanosheets into polyethersulfone membranes to improve their separation performance and antifouling characteristics for Congo red removal
Authors: Adnan Maykhan Nabeel , Alsalhy Qusay F. , Bakhtiari Omid 
Published: April 2023

AbstractDue to worldwide shortage of water sources and, on the other hand, producing a huge amount of contaminated industrial wastewater, there is an urgent need to provide proper treatment processes such as fast‐growing membrane ones. In this study, some nanocomposite nanofilter membranes, as a promising solution for this goal, were fabricated by incorporation of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets into polyethersulfone (PES) membrane matrix and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) via the method of non‐solvent‐induced phase separation (NIPS) to dedicate them higher separation performance and a higher antifouling tendency. The produced GO nanosheets and the prepared membranes' structure were evaluated by field‐emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. Then, the separation performance and antifouling characteristics of the prepared pristine and nanocomposite membranes were evaluated at 3 bar, 27°C, and Congo red (CR) dye concentrations of 50, 100, and 200 ppm. The observations revealed that the incorporation of GO nanosheets into the polymer matrix of PES–PVP increases the permeation flux, rejection of CR, and flux recovery ratio (FRR) to the maximum values of 276.4 L/m2.h, 99.5%, and 92.4%, respectively, at 0.4 wt.% loading of GO nanosheets as an optimum filler loading.Practitioner Points

Graphene oxide nanosheets were prepared and uniformly incorporated in the polyethersulfone porous membrane.
The nanocomposite membranes revealed higher separation performance, that is, permeation flux and dye rejection as 282.5 L/m2.h and 99.5% at 0.4 wt.% loading of GO nanosheets.
Flux recovery ratio of the nanocomposite membrane, as their antifouling character, also increased as 92.4%, as the GO nanosheets were incorporated by 0.4 wt.%.
The Future of European Political Science
Authors: Capano Giliberto , Verzichelli Luca 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe data briefly presented at the end of the previous chapter summarize the different reactions of the European community of political scientists to the impact of the pandemic in terms of patterns of adaptation. As already shown, a significant minority believe that this crisis should be considered an opportunity to improve the social relevance of the discipline and to produce better research. Additionally, a good number of political scientists think that the near future will be crucial to focusing their research agendas more closely on what is relevant for the socio-political context.
Harnessing Growth Factor Interactions to Optimize Articular Cartilage Repair
Authors: Trippel Stephen B. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe failure of cartilage healing is a major impediment to recovery from jointdisease or trauma. Growth factors play a central role in cell function and have been proposed as potential therapeutic agents to promote cartilage repair. Decades of investigation have identified many growth factors that promote the formation of cartilage in vitro and in vivo. However, very few of these have progressed to human trials. A growth factor that robustly augments articular cartilage healing remains elusive. This is not surprising. Articular cartilage repair involves multiple cellular processes and it is unlikely that any single agent will be able to optimally regulate all of them. It is more likely that multiple regulatory molecules may be required to optimize the maintenance and restoration of articular cartilage. If this is the case, then interactions among growth factors may be expected to play a key role in determining their therapeutic value. This review explores the hypothesis that growth factor interactions could help optimize articular cartilage healing.
Hip Osteoarthritis: Bench to Bedside Perspective
Authors: Kim Young-Jo 
Published: April 2023

AbstractOsteoarthritis is a major source of pain, disability, and economic cost worldwide. For nearly a century, there has been a debate about the causes of hip osteoarthritis and the role that structural abnormalities may play as a causative factor. Recent advances in open and minimally invasive techniques such as the periacetabular osteotomy, surgical hip dislocation and arthroscopic approaches have allowed us safe access into the joint to not only improve the abnormal bony structure and repair damaged tissue but also to gain clinical insights into the cause of joint damage. At present, structural abnormalities such as acetabular dysplasia and CAM deformities of the proximal femur are thought to be a major factor causing premature hip OA. Over the past 30 years, our understanding of the function and biology of articular cartilage has evolved from a relatively acellular lubricating cushion to a metabolically active tissue that can modulate its tissue composition in response to mechanical loading. Using advanced biochemical MR imaging technique called delayed Gadolinium Enhanced MRI of Cartilage (dGEMRIC), it has been shown that alteration in the mechanical environment of the hip with a pelvic osteotomy in acetabular dysplasia can alter the articular cartilage composition. This further demonstrates the importance of mechanics in development of joint damage and the potential for surgical correction to prevent or slow down the progression of OA.
Is the First Language a Resource, an Obstacle, or Irrelevant for Language Minority Students’ Education?
Authors: Edele Aileen , Seuring Julian , Schotte Kristin , Kristen Cornelia , Stanat Petra 
Published: April 2023

AbstractSuccessful integration into the education system is of major importance for the future prospects of immigrants and their children as well as for the social cohesion and viability of the receiving societies. Language is generally viewed as an important aspect of this integration. Whereas there is widespread agreement that the language of the residence country (L2) is crucial for students’ educational success, the relevance of the language of the country of origin (L1) is disputed. Adopting an interdisciplinary perspective and drawing on NEPS data, this contribution focuses on the role of L1 in the educational success of immigrants and their children and examines whether L1 serves as a resource, is an obstacle, or is mostly irrelevant. We describe key arguments and theoretical positions related to this issue and present findings from the project ‘The role of immigrants’ first and second language proficiency for social integration, particularly in education: Analyses of NEPS data’. We conclude by discussing these results and suggesting future avenues for research.
Addressing Environmental and Individual Factors in Early Secondary School: The Roles of Instruction Techniques and Self-Perception
Authors: DeVries Jeffrey M. , Szardenings Carsten , Doebler Philipp , Gebhardt Markus 
Published: April 2023

AbstractRisk factors for poor academic performance include variables such as lower socio-economic status, migrant status, and the presence of special education needs. These risk factors can be mediated by the self-concept of the learner, instructional techniques, and classroom size. Due to the diverse nature of these factors, a comprehensive approach is needed to examine their role. This chapter reports on two NEPS (National Education Panel Study) analyses that examined teaching styles (N = 1072 students in math classes and N = 794 in reading classes) and the mediating role of self-concept and self-esteem (N = 5923 in math classes and N = 5919 in reading classes) along with different sets of risk factors. Results showed that group work related to better outcomes for second-language learners in math and reading, and discussions related to worse outcomes in math for the same group. Further, self-concept and self-esteem partially mediated the effects of gender, special education needs, and non-verbal reasoning on both reading and math competence. These results highlight the importance of varied instructional styles and classroom size, as well as the important role of self-concept and self-esteem as partial mediators of risk factors.
Alternative Routes to Higher Education Eligibility: Inclusion, Diversion and Social Inequality on the Way to Higher Education
Authors: Schindler Steffen , Bittmann Felix 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThis chapter summarizes key findings from the research project Alternative Routes to Higher Education Eligibility (ARtHEE). Based on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we show that the expansion of alternative routes to higher education eligibility, which has followed from reforms in the 1960s, has been largely ineffective in reducing social inequality in access to higher education. We argue that this is due partly to unintended effects of this expansion of alternative pathways that resulted in diversion processes among students of disadvantaged social origin. These diversion effects channel such students into non-academic secondary school tracks and expose them to learning environments that differ from that of the academic school track. We provide empirical evidence suggesting that exposure to these learning environments affects students’ educational aspirations and cognitive development in a way that eventually lowers their chances of staying on a trajectory leading into higher education.
The Dual Relationship Between Human Mobility and Climate Change in Central Asia: Tackling the Vulnerability of Mobility Infrastructure and Transport-Related Environmental Issues
Authors: Blondin Suzy 
Published: April 2023

AbstractHuman mobility impacts the global climate and the climate in turn impacts human mobility. Fuel-based transport emits CO2 and electric transport raises the issue of electricity production and its environmental impacts. Conversely, roads, railways, vehicles and ways of travelling can be impacted by extreme climate events, such as floods, storms, thawing permafrost and melting asphalt. This second aspect of the relationship between climate change and human mobility is rarely explored, even within the scholarship on ‘climate mobility’. Focusing on Central Asia, this chapter presents the specificities of the region regarding the environment–mobilities nexus and highlights the adverse impacts of climate-related mobility disruptions for the populations of the region. The chapter is based on the author’s fieldwork in Central Asia, particularly in Tajikistan, and on press articles and scientific literature on the topic. It discusses the complex relationship between mobilities and climate change in Central Asia, addresses the interconnection between climate justice and mobility justice and provides policy recommendations to promote sustainable mobilities and reduce mobility dependence in the region.
Attitudes Toward a Virtual Smoking Cessation Coach: Relationship and Willingness to Continue
Authors: Albers Nele , Neerincx Mark A. , Aretz Nadyne L. , Ali Mahira , Ekinci Arsen , Brinkman Willem-Paul 
Published: April 2023

AbstractVirtual coaches have the potential to address the low adherence common to eHealth applications for behavior change by, for example, providing motivational support. However, given the multitude of factors affecting users’ attitudes toward virtual coaches, more insights are needed on how such virtual coaches can be designed to affect these attitudes in a specific use context positively. Especially valuable are insights that are based on users interacting with such a virtual coach for longer. We thus conducted a study in which more than 500 smokers interacted with the text-based virtual coach Sam in five sessions. In each session, Sam assigned smokers a new preparatory activity for quitting smoking and provided motivational support for doing the activity. Based on a mixed-methods analysis of users’ willingness to continue working and their relationship with Sam, we obtained eight themes for users’ attitudes toward Sam. These themes relate to whether Sam is seen as human or artificial, specific characteristics of Sam (e.g., caring character), the interaction with Sam, and the relationship with Sam. We used these themes to formulate literature-based recommendations to guide designers of virtual coaches for behavior change. For example, letting the virtual coach get to know users and disclose more information about itself may improve its relationship with users.
Asymptotic $$ \mathcal{O} $$(r) gauge symmetries and gauge-invariant Poincaré generators in higher spacetime dimensions
Authors: Fuentealba Oscar 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
The asymptotic symmetries of electromagnetism in all higher spacetime dimensions d > 4 are extended, by incorporating consistently angle-dependent u(1) gauge transformations with a linear growth in the radial coordinate at spatial infinity. Finiteness of the symplectic structure and preservation of the asymptotic conditions require to impose a set of strict parity conditions, under the antipodal map of the (d − 2)-sphere, on the leading order fields at infinity. Canonical generators of the asymptotic symmetries are obtained through standard Hamiltonian methods. Remarkably, the theory endowed with this set of asymptotic conditions turns out to be invariant under a six-fold set of angle-dependent u(1) transformations, whose generators form a centrally extended abelian algebra. The new charges generated by the $$ \mathcal{O} $$
O
(r) gauge parameter are found to be conjugate to those associated to the now improper subleading O(r−d+3) transformations, while the standard $$ \mathcal{O} $$
O
(1) gauge transformations are canonically conjugate to the subleading $$ \mathcal{O} $$
O
(r−d+4) transformations. This algebraic structure, characterized by the presence of central charges, allows us to perform a nonlinear redefinition of the Poincaré generators, that results in the decoupling of all of the u(1) charges from the Poincaré algebra. Thus, the mechanism previously used in d = 4 to find gauge-invariant Poincaré generators is shown to be a robust property of electromagnetism in all spacetime dimensions d ≥ 4.
Efficient spline design via feature-mapping for continuous fiber-reinforced structures
Authors: Greifenstein Jannis , Letournel Eloïse , Stingl Michael , Wein Fabian 
Published: April 2023

AbstractWe present a feature-mapping topology optimization approach, in which curved features are parametrized as piecewise linear splines smoothly rounded by arcs. The motivation for our contribution to the tool set of feature-mapping methods is the optimization of structures manufactured by variable angle continuous fiber-reinforced filaments. For this reason, the feature’s geometry should be able to represent long, curved fiber objects satisfying manufacturing constraints, such as minimum turning radius. The proposed model has been chosen with special care for rigorous continuous differentiability, as well as an efficient analytical evaluation of the signed distance field to the spline. The geometrical description and sensitivity analysis of the spline model are developed fully analytically and then mapped to a discretized pseudo-density field for finite element analysis. For the fiber-reinforced material formulation, we also present a new combine step for individual features, in which the best possible angle for the combined features is searched. The model and results are presented in a two-dimensional setting.
A generalized approach for robust topology optimization using the first-order second-moment method for arbitrary response functions
Authors: Kranz Micah , Lüdeker Julian Kajo , Kriegesmann Benedikt 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe paper presents a rigorous formulation of adjoint systems to be solved for a robust design optimization using the first-order second-moment method. This formulation allows to apply the method for any objective function, which is demonstrated by considering deformation at certain point and maximum stress as objectives subjected to random material stiffness and geometry, respectively. The presented approach requires the solution of at most three additional adjoint systems per uncertain system response, when compared to the deterministic case. Hence, the number of adjoint systems to be solved is independent of the number of random variables. This comes at the expense of accuracy, since the objective functions are assumed to be linear with respect to random parameters. However, the application to two standard cases and the validation with Monte Carlo simulations show that the approach is still able to find robust designs.
Extending deep-sea benthic biodiversity inventories with environmental DNA metabarcoding
Authors: Oosthuizen Delene , Seymour Mathew , Atkinson Lara J. , von der Heyden Sophie 
Published: April 2023

AbstractInventories of biodiversity are crucial for helping support conservation and management efforts, yet the deep-sea, which is the largest biome on earth remains vastly understudied. Recent advances in molecular detection methods offer alternative techniques for studying inaccessible ecosystems, including those at depth. In this study we utilized environmental DNA metabarcoding, a first for studying deep-sea benthic environments in southern Africa, to assess biological diversity and to test the effects of depth and historical trawling activities on deep-sea communities. Utilising 29 sediment samples (thus focussing on predominantly meiofaunal and epifaunal biodiversity) and targeting a 313 bp region of the mtDNA cytochrome oxidase I gene, we recovered 444 OTUs across a wide array of species and genera. Even though many OTUs could only be assigned to higher taxonomic levels, results showed that biodiversity differed significantly across depth, suggesting that even at relatively small spatial scales (~ 6 km, across a depth gradient of 355 m to 515 m), eDNA derived biodiversity detected variation linked to the depth gradient. Comparison of the OTU database with known species inventories from the sampled area revealed little overlap, highlighting the need for expanding barcoding efforts of deep-sea species to aid future eDNA survey efforts. Overall our results suggest that within a South African context, increased barcoding efforts, in combination with eDNA metabarcoding and physical sampling could capture a greater proportion of benthic deep-sea biodiversity. This provides additional opportunities to underpin conservation and management decision-making in the region, such as evaluating potential sites for future protection.