bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Performance of Concrete Using Shredded Waste Plastics as Replacement for Coarse Aggregate
Authors: Afrifa Russel Owusu , Nanor Ezekiel Sackitey , Aboah Armstrong 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Plastic waste management remains a challenge for city authorities in Ghana. This is due to high usage of plastic products coupled with the inadequate infrastructure for waste management. Utilization of some of these waste plastic materials in different fields could have numerous benefits including the reduction in the environmental challenges associated with the disposal of plastics. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the workability and strength properties of concrete using different percentages of shredded waste plastics as partial replacement for natural coarse aggregate. To achieve this, a standard mix design for a 25MPa concrete was used. One control mix and four different concrete mixes with varying percentages of shredded waste plastic (5%, 10%, 15% ,20%) by weight of coarse aggregate were used to produce 72 cubes, 36 cylindrical specimens and 18 beams. These specimens were cured and tested for compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength respectively per the standards. From the experimental results obtained, workability of concrete decreased significantly with increase in proportion of shredded waste plastic aggregates. The results on strength properties indicate that compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural strength also decreases with increase in proportion of shredded waste plastics. However, at 28 days, the target strength of 25MPa was achieved by the control concrete mix and the 5% shredded waste plastic concret. Also, concrete beam specimens containing shredded waste plastic aggregates exhibited a more ductile failure behaviour compared to the concrete without waste plastics aggregate.
DNA extraction method from a seed without damaging to germination ability in maize (Zea mays L.)
Authors: Kim Jae-Hong , Kim Ji Won , Jung Minah , Yi Gibum 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

Background: In order to preserve excellent genetic resources and exploit them to breed better cultivars for global food security, various studies on maize are underway. Maize also provide great materials for genetic studies which are accompanied with genotyping and phenotyping. DNA extraction is an essential process for those studies. Extracting DNA from young leaves in seedling stage is advantageous because it causes less damage to remaining plant which can be further used for phenotypic analysis. Seed DNA extraction is even more advantageous in terms of saving time, labor, space, and cost for germination.
Results: We present seed DNA extraction method which does not cause damage the seed’s germination ability. DNA was extracted using CTAB method or a commercial DNA extraction kit from the seed fragment, and the quantity and quality of the DNA were examined. Seed germination was tested for proportional seed cuts at 0%, 10%, 30%, and 50% of the distal end of a seed, proportionally by weight. Extracting DNA from the distal seed fragments resulted in high-quality and sufficient amount of DNA. Germination rates were not significantly reduced when seed cuts were made at 10% or 30% of seed’s weight.
Conclusions: The DNA extraction method from seeds can be an efficient way to obtain samples for genotyping and phenotyping, and this method can be applied to high-throughput DNA extraction in maize and possibly to other smaller seeds.
Grzegorczyk and Whitehead points: the story continues
Authors: Gruszczyński Rafał , Martinez Santiago Jockwich 
Published: March 2023

Abstract

One of the main goals of region-based theories of space is to formulate a geometrically appealing definition of points. The paper is devoted to the analysis of two such seminal definitions: Alfred N. Whitehead’s (1929) and Andrzej Grzegorczyk’s (1960). Relying on the work of Loredana Biacino’s and Ginagiacomo Gerla’s (1996), we improve their results, solve some open problems concerning the mutual relationship between Whitehead and Grzegorczyk points, and put forward open problems for future investigation.
MSC: 00A30, 03G05, 06E25.
Contour integration for the exchange of radiant energy between rectangular geometries
Authors: Camaraza-Medina yanan , hernandez-Guerrero abel , Luviano-Ortiz Jose L 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
View factor calculation is a key point in radiation heat transfer between surfaces. In thermal engineering it is required to compute the view factor between complex geometries, which include several parallel and inclined surfaces. Currently, no analytical expressions are available for this purpose, so the use of Summation and Reciprocity Rules (SR) is required, however, when analyzing complex geometries, the handling of SR is extremely laborious. Therefore, this work aims to develop an equation for the calculation of the view factor in the radiative heat transfer of two arbitrary rectangular inclined or parallel surfaces, using the advantages provided by vector calculus. The exact solutions obtained with contour integration were compared with the values calculated via the Algebra Factor (AF) using the Hottel and Hamilton-Morgan Solution and with the results computed from numerical integration of the quadruple integral using Simpson's rule 1/3 with five intervals. The lack of similar precedents in the technical literature reinforces the practical and scientific nature of the proposed method of analysis.
Implementation and costs of agroforestry system in a degraded area of Brazilian Semi-Arid region
Authors: de Quadro Israel Pereira , de Sousa Antônio Gilvan da Cruz , Nogueira Danilo Batista , Giroldo Aelton Biasi 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
The Brazilian semi-arid region is characterized by scarce water and often saline soils, and the agricultural practices there contribute to desertification. Most of the land in this region is used for subsistence and income generation through the use of forestry resources, but the traditional management practices of clearing areas with fire and cutting trees result in long-term ecosystem degradation. Agroforestry systems (AS) are an alternative to traditional systems that incorporate ecological concepts and aim to increase ecosystem services while maintaining ecological relationships. This study aimed to analyze the implementation of an agroforestry system in a degraded urban area, estimate the costs of implementation, and observe the development of vegetation after 3 years. The initial attempt to implement the system failed due to direct seeding, but the method was changed after 6 months by using 4-month-old seedlings. The costs of the system involved preparation and planting expenses, as well as maintenance. All individuals in the sample area were measured for diameter, height above ground, and maximum height, and their phytosociological parameters were calculated. The study found that agroforestry systems are feasible in the semi-arid region and that species such as Ceiba, Gliricidia, and Moringa have fast growth and can increase organic matter in the semi-arid systems. After 3 years, the system had a basal area of 6.37 m²/ha and a carbon stock of 17.69 Mg/ha. The implementation costs were R$ 5,120.47 ($ 988.68), totaling R$ 57,468,79/ha ($ 11,096.29/ha), which were considered relatively low compared to other studies on degraded area restoration. ASs can be seen as an alternative for small producers, allowing them to generate income, ensure conservation, and improve social conditions, ensuring sustainability.
Semiotically Adaptive Computer-Mediated Speech Therapy with Patients in Aphasia in the Light of Ecolinguistics
Authors: Kolmogorova A. V. , Lyamzina S. A. , Gimazdinov I. B. 
Published: March 2023

The article describes the theory behind the design of a computer application for speech therapy of patients in aphasia. The project novelty consists in its data: to build up the training tasks, the authors used speech patterns that were semiotically relevant for the patients and visual supports obtained in experimental work. The research featured target-groups of healthy people whose gender, age, and social profile corresponded with those of patients undergoing neurorehabilitationat the Federal Siberian Research and Clinical Center of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia. The material included statistical data on the sociological characteristics of patients of the neurorehabilitation center in 2014-2018, as well as 18 questionnaires filled in by relatives of patients who were in rehabilitation from February to March 2019. It also involved scripts of interviews with 40 neurologically healthy native speakers of the Russian language of two gender-socio-professional groups that coincided in the language biography and collective speech profile with the most frequent groups of patients with complex motor aphasia. The data were processed using Sketch Engine corpus manager tools. The main methods of analysis included linguistic experiment, questioning, description, modeling, and design. The article introduces a methodological linguistic basis and a design project for a novel computer application that organizes speech therapy for patients with aphasia at home. The research was based on the ecolinguistic principle of relevance, which demonstrated good practical application prospects.
Traditions of Magical Realism in M. Shishkin's <i>Letter Book</i> and N. Abgaryan's <i>Simon</i>
Authors: Rogova E. N. , Yanitskiy L. S. 
Published: March 2023

The article describes the traditions of magical realism in M. Shishkin's Letter Book and N. Abgaryan's Simon. The research involved comparative, mytho-poetic, hermeneutic, formal, and structural methods. V. I. Tyupa's theory of artistic discourse and F. Schlegel's idea of irony served as the basic theory in identifying the motifs associated with magical realism and generated by the ironic type of artistic completion. The term of magical realism covers works that belong to very different literary movements. The authors used the ironic type of aesthetic completion to explain similar elements in different poetics of magical realism fiction. The traditions of magical realism in the twentieth-century fiction revealed the following features: an ironic type of artistic integrity; dual worlds and miracles; fantasy intertwined with reality; myths, traditions, and legends; archetypes (father, savior, eternal lover, etc.) and symbols (tree, sea, etc.); unmotivated fantasy; fantastical timeline with no clear boundaries between the past and the future; a highly rhythmical pattern, etc.
Linguistic Means of Constructing the Image of Japan in Pedagogical Discourse
Authors: Kozachina A. V. , Temerova O. A. 
Published: March 2023

The current globalization means that countries have to use different channels in order to build a positive national image. This article describes linguistic means that shape the image of Japan in the corpus of academic and methodological texts for learners of the Japanese language. It focuses on the impact of pedagogical discourse and foreign language textbooks as a channel for linguistic construction of a positive national image. The analysis involved such methods as linguo-imagological analysis, content analysis, lexico-semantic and morpho-semantic analyses. The study owes its scientific novelty to the fact that the Japanese textbooks for foreigners were described for the first time not from the perspective of cultural studies or Japanese language teaching methodology, but as a key genre of pedagogical discourse that transmits knowledge and attitudes reflecting the interests of the most influential social groups and institutions. The textbooks demonstrated a variety of linguistic means of Japan’s image at different linguistic levels. The directions of country image-making are set by texts related to linguistic and cultural studies. Intertextual inclusions, visuals, and grammatical constructions have an ancillary character in this process. Japan’s image has a complex nature, which includes positive and negative aspects. Lexical units with negative connotations are used to "ground" the image, presenting Japan as a country which has problems that should be corrected. The conclusions and observations on the process of country image formation obtained in the study are of practical significance for teaching such university courses as Cultural Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and Discourse Analysis. The research will be useful for specialists in the Japanese language, linguistic imagology, and pedagogical linguistics.
Speech Genre of <i>Congratulation</i> in Asymmetric Communication
Authors: Malashenkova E. N. 
Published: March 2023

The article describes the pragmatic, semantic, and axiological features of the speech genre of congratulation complement in pedagogical discourse with asymmetric communicants. The research material included 170 fragments. The research revealed two groups based on semantic, axiological, pragmatic, and linguistic differences: personal informal internet congratulations made by teaching staff to students and formal public speeches given by university rectors and teaching staff to students published on official websites of universities. The analysis relied on the factor of formality / informality. The differences between formal and informal congratulations manifested themselves in the content, language, and tactics. Both types were detailed and poly-intentional. The informal congratulations touched upon the addressee's personality, hobbies, achievements, and character traits. The formal congratulations showed a much greater distance between the sender and the addressee. They focused on the addressee's status, not personality. The texts often reflected current events, e.g., in 2019–2020 they touched upon the COVID-2019 pandemic.
A comparative analysis of methods for establishing environmental flows in a Mediterranean watershed: suggestions for management
Authors: Baeza Sanz Domingo , Matías Aida Gómez 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
In Spain, the largest inter-basin transfer is between the Tagus and Segura Basins. This transfer affects the regimes of the Mundo River, a tributary, and the Segura River. In this study, we examine two methodologies for the calculation of environmental flow regimes for the stretches affected by this alteration. When several methodologies are used to determine environmental flows, difficulty arises in deciding which values to propose to restore the river system hydrologically. This work tries to overcome this problem because we present a proposal to make them complementary. As a method for establishing the validity of minimum flow results, a simulation has been carried out on the river section, which has made it possible to evaluate the habitat created and the possibility of fauna movement. The results obtained by the habitat simulation method exceeded those obtained by hydrological methods in terms of habitat creation and hydraulic conditions for connectivity. These same tests have been used to assess the minimum official proposal made by the water administration.
An Iterative Model for Identifying Essential Proteins Based on the Whole
Process Network of Protein Evolution
Authors: Zhang Zhen , Zhu Yaocan , Pei Hongjing , Wang Xiangyi , Wang Lei 
Published: March 2023

Introduction:
Essential proteins play important roles in cell growth and regulation. However,
due to the high costs and low efficiency of traditional biological experiments to identify essential proteins,
in recent years, with the development of high-throughput technologies and bioinformatics, more
and more computational models have been proposed to infer key proteins based on Protein-Protein Interaction
(PPI) networks.

Methods:
In this manuscript, a novel prediction model named MWPNPE (Model based on the Whole
Process Network of Protein Evolution) was proposed, in which, a whole process network of protein
evolution was constructed first based on known PPI data and gene expression data downloaded from
benchmark databases. And then, considering that the interaction between proteins is a kind of dynamic
process, a new measure was designed to estimate the relationships between proteins, based on which, an
improved iterative algorithm was put forward to evaluate the importance of proteins.

Results:
Finally, in order to verify the predictive performance of MWPNPE, we compared it with stateof-
the-art representative computational methods, and experimental results demonstrated that the recognition
accuracy of MWPNPE in the top 100, 200, and 300 candidate key proteins can reach 89, 166, and
233 respectively, which is significantly better than the predictive accuracies achieved by these competitive
methods.

Conclusion:
Hence, it can be seen that MWPNPE may be a useful tool for the development of key protein
recognition in the future.
Evaluation of the Factors Influencing Self-leadership in the Saudi’s Healthcare Sector: A Systematic Review
Authors: Almeharish Amani , Bugis Bussma Ahmed 
Published: March 2023

Background:
Self-leadership in the Saudi Arabian healthcare sector is vital due to the ongoing transformation of this industry. However, research on self-leadership training for Saudi healthcare workers is presently limited.

Objective:
A systematic literature review is performed, focusing on articles about self-leadership and the impact of factors influencing self-leadership in the Saudi Arabian health sector.

Methods:
PRISMA reporting was used for this systematic review. Data was sourced from various electronic databases based on predefined selection criteria.

Results:
Nine studies met the study inclusion criteria and were reviewed further. Results showed a lack of evidence on leadership training for healthcare workers in the Saudi Arabian healthcare sector. In some studies, self-leadership was associated with emotional intelligence, education, job satisfaction, job engagement, and internalized moral skills. High levels of self-leadership positively correlated with increased performance of healthcare workers in the Saudi Arabian health sector.

Conclusion:
Healthcare workers should have the necessary skills and strategies to develop self-leadership, thus enhancing communication competence and collaboration to achieve high performance in the health sector. Further research is needed in the Saudi Arabian healthcare sector to close the literature gap regarding self-leadership.
Pengaruh Penggunaan Media Pembelajaran Interaktif Berbasis Android dengan Pendekatan Matematik Realistik terhadap Hasil Belajar Matematika Siswa Kelas VII MTS Assalafiyah Mlangi
Authors: Choir Rosa Mufrida , Abdullah Ahmad Anis 
Published: March 2023

<p class="abstrak">Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui perbedaan hasil belajar antara kelas siswa yang menggunakan media pembelajaran interaktif berbasis android dengan kelas siswa yang menggunakan media pembelajaran konvesional pada materi Himpunan di kelas VII MTs Assalafiyyah Mlangi. Jenis penelitian ini adalah quasi experimental design dengan desain nonequivalent control group design. Populasi penelitian ini adalah seluruh siswa kelas VII MTs Assalafiyyah putri tahun pelajaran 2020/2021 yang terdiri dari 50 siswa dengan rincian 25 siswa pada kelas eksperimen dan 25 siswa pada kelas kontrol. Instrumen yang digunakan sebagai data hasil belajar siswa adalah dengan menggunakan soal test kemampuan yaitu berupa soal tes kemampuan pre-test dan post-test. Pengujian hipotesis menggunakan uji t satu pihak (one tail test) dengan jenis Independent sample t-test. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan terdapat pengaruh penggunaan media pembelajaran interaktif berbasis android dengan pendekatan matematik realistik terhadap hasil belajar materi himpunan siswa kelas VII MTs Assalafiyyah, dimana hasil t hitung = 5,543 lebih besar dari t tabel = 1,677. Serta rata-rata hasil belajar siswa kelas eksperimen lebih tinggi jika dibandingkan dengan hasil belajar kelas kontrol setelah diberikannya perlakuan, dimana rata-rata hasil belajar siswa kelas eksperimen sebesar 76 dan kelas kontrol hanya sebesar 63.</p>
Development of an Alcohol Refusal Training in Immersive Virtual Reality for Patients With Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disability and Alcohol Use Disorder: Cocreation With Experts in Addiction Care
Authors: Langener Simon , Kolkmeier Jan , VanDerNagel Joanne , Klaassen Randy , van Manen Jeannette , Heylen Dirk 
Published: March 2023

Background
People with mild to borderline intellectual disability (MBID; IQ=50-85) are at risk for developing an alcohol use disorder (AUD). One factor contributing to this risk is sensitivity to peer pressure. Hence, tailored trainings are needed to practice alcohol refusal in impacted patients. Immersive virtual reality (IVR) appears promising to engage patients in dialogs with virtual humans, allowing to practice alcohol refusal realistically. However, requirements for such an IVR have not been studied for MBID/AUD.

Objective
This study aims to develop an IVR alcohol refusal training for patients with MBID and AUD. In this work, we cocreated our peer pressure simulation with experienced experts in addiction care.

Methods
We followed the Persuasive System Design (PSD) model to develop our IVR alcohol refusal training. With 5 experts from a Dutch addiction clinic for patients with MBID, we held 3 focus groups to design the virtual environment, persuasive virtual human(s), and persuasive dialog. Subsequently, we developed our initial IVR prototype and conducted another focus group to evaluate IVR and procedures for clinical usage, resulting in our final peer pressure simulation.

Results
Our experts described visiting a friend at home with multiple friends as the most relevant peer pressure situation in the clinical setting. Based on the identified requirements, we developed a social-housing apartment with multiple virtual friends present. Moreover, we embedded a virtual man with generic appearance to exert peer pressure using a persuasive dialog. Patients can respond to persuasive attempts by selecting (refusal) responses with varying degrees of risk for relapse in alcohol use. Our evaluation showed that experts value a realistic and interactable IVR. However, experts identified lacking persuasive design elements, such as paralanguage, for our virtual human. For clinical usage, a user-centered customization is needed to prevent adverse effects. Further, interventions should be therapist delivered to avoid try-and-error in patients with MBID. Lastly, we identified factors for immersion, as well as facilitators and barriers for IVR accessibility.

Conclusions
Our work establishes an initial PSD for IVR for alcohol refusal trainings in patients with MBID and AUD. With this, scholars can create comparable simulations by performing an analogous cocreation, replicate findings, and identify active PSD elements. For peer pressure, conveying emotional information in a virtual human’s voice (eg, paralanguage) seems vital. However, previous rapport building may be needed to ensure that virtual humans are perceived as cognitively capable entities. Future work should validate our PSD with patients and start developing IVR treatment protocols using interdisciplinary teams.