bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Can small stream solute–land cover relationships predict river solute concentrations?
Authors: Webster Jackson R. , Jackson C. Rhett , Knoepp Jennifer D. , Bolstad Paul V. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractMost studies of land use effects on solute concentrations in streams have focused on smaller streams with watersheds dominated by a single land‐use type. Using land cover as a proxy for land use, the objective of this study was to determine whether the hydrologically‐driven response of solutes to land use in small streams could be scaled up to predict concentrations in larger receiving streams and rivers in the rural area of the Little Tennessee River basin. We measured concentrations of typically limiting nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus), abundant anions (chloride, sulfate), and base cations in 17 small streams and four larger river sites. In the small streams, total solute concentration was strongly related to land cover ‐‐ highest in streams with developed watersheds, lowest in streams with forested watersheds, and streams with agricultural watersheds were in between. In general, the best predictor of solute concentrations in the small streams was forest land cover. We then predicted solute concentrations for the river sites based on the solute‐‐land cover relationships of the small streams using multiple linear regressions. Results were mixed ‐‐ some of the predicted river concentrations were close to measured values, others were greater or less than measured concentrations. In general, river concentrations did not scale with land cover‐solute relationships found in small tributaries. Measured values of nitrogen solutes in the river sites were greater than predicted, perhaps due to the presence of waste water treatment plants. We attributed other differences between measured and predicted river concentrations to the heterogeneous geochemistry of this mountainous region. The combined complexity of hydrology, geochemistry, and human land‐use of this mountainous region make it difficult to scale up from small streams to larger river basins.
Extracellular vesicle‐based nucleic acid delivery
Authors: Lu Mei , Shao Wanxuan , Xing Haonan , Huang Yuanyu 
Published: January 2023

AbstractExtracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous class of natural vesicles that facilitate intercellular communication by functional transfer of lipids and biomolecular cargoes, such as miRNAs, mRNAs and proteins. As a naturally occurring delivery vehicle for nucleic acids, EVs are characterized by multiple advantageous characteristics, such as unique size and structure, excellent biocompatibility, immunologically inert, increased stability in circulation, intrinsic targeting capacity and the capability of membrane fusion and crossing biological barriers. Of note, the delivery properties of EVs can be further improved by genetic engineering of donor cells or direct modification of EVs. Over the last decade, EVs have sparkled intensive interest for delivery of small RNAs, including small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs). In recent years, increasing attention has been focused on exploring a variety of strategies to harness EVs for delivery of more nucleic acid types. In the present perspective, we provide a capsule overview of the latest accomplishments and trends in the field of EV‐based delivery systems for siRNAs, miRNAs, messenger RNAs (mRNAs), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats‐associated endonuclease (CRISPR/Cas) systems, antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), circular RNA (circRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) and DNAs. This perspective may offer insights into the rational design of more cutting‐edge extracellular vesicle‐based nucleic acid delivery nanoplatforms.
The rainy season in the Southern Peruvian Andes: A climatological analysis based on the new Climandes index
Authors: Sedlmeier Katrin , Imfeld Noemi , Gubler Stefanie , Spirig Christoph , Caiña Karim Quevedo , Escajadillo Yury , Rohrer Mario , Schwierz Cornelia 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe rainy season is of high importance for livelihoods in the Southern Peruvian Andes (SPA), especially for agriculture, which is mainly rain fed and one of the main income sources in the region. Therefore, knowledge and predictions of the rainy season such as its onset and ending are crucial for planning purposes. However, such information is currently not readily available for the local population. Moreover, an evaluation of existing rainy season indices shows that they are not optimally suited for the SPA and may not be directly applicable in a forecasting context. Therefore, we develop a new index, named Climandes index, which is tailored to the SPA and designed to be of use for operational monitoring and forecasting purposes. Using this index, we analyse the climatology and trends of the rainy season in the SPA. We find that the rainy season starts roughly between September and January with durations between 3 and 8 months. Both onset and duration show a pronounced northeast‐southwest gradient, regions closer to the Amazon Basin have a considerably longer rainy season. The inter‐annual variability of the onset is very high, that is, 2–5 months depending on the station, while the end of the rainy season shows a much lower variability (i.e., 1.5–3 months). The spatial patterns of total precipitation amount and dry spells within the rainy season are only weakly related to its timing. Trends in rainy season characteristics since 1965 are mostly weak and not significant, but generally indicate a tendency towards a shortening of the rainy season in the whole study area due to a later onset and an increase in precipitation sums during the rainy season in the northwestern study area.
Global entrepreneurship in healthcare: A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis
Authors: Mishra Akanksha , Pandey Neeraj 
Published: January 2023

AbstractThe Covid‐19 pandemic transformed the global entrepreneurship arena. The healthcare sector also transitioned from the traditional in‐person patient‐physician interaction to the virtual telemedicine healthcare delivery system with global outreach. The entrepreneur alliances in the healthcare sector almost doubled during the pandemic with maximum tie‐ups with international healthcare institutions. The study takes a bibliometric perspective by analyzing articles on global entrepreneurship in healthcare. It provides the most influential authors and institutions, the thematic structure through cluster analysis, co‐word network analysis, and co‐citation analysis related to the literature on global entrepreneurship in the healthcare domain. The findings emphasized the importance of local alliances compared to global alliances in healthcare service delivery, especially during a pandemic. Technology was found to be a great enabler for global entrepreneurship. The study also highlights the emerging research themes for scholars working on global entrepreneurship in the healthcare sector.
Inhibition of albendazole and 2‐(2‐aminophenyl)‐1H‐benzimidazole against tyrosinase: mechanism, structure–activity relationship, and anti‐browning effect
Authors: Wen Yiting , Zhang Yujia , Zhang Xiaoli , Wang Linjun , Pan Qiuxia , Bai Qiuhan , Zhu Du , Chai Weiming 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBACKGROUNDTyrosinase is the key enzyme involved in enzymatic browning of plant‐derived foods. Inhibition of tyrosinase activity contributes to the control of food browning. Due to safety regulations or other issues, most identified tyrosinase inhibitors are not suitable for practical use. Therefore, it is necessary to search for novel tyrosinase inhibitors. In this study, the anti‐tyrosinase activity and mechanism of albendazole and 2‐(2‐aminophenyl)‐1H‐benzimidazole (2‐2‐A‐1HB) were investigated through ultraviolet–visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectra, molecular docking, and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation. The anti‐browning effect of albendazole on fresh‐cut apples was then elucidated.RESULTSAlbendazole and 2‐2‐A‐1HB were both efficient tyrosinase inhibitors with IC50 of 51 ± 1.5 and 128 ± 1.3 μmol L−1, respectively. Albendazole suppressed tyrosinase non‐competitively and formed tyrosinase–albendazole complex statically. Hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction were major driving forces in stabilizing the tyrosinase–albendazole complex. While 2‐2‐A‐1HB inhibited the enzyme competitively and quenched its intrinsic fluorescence through a static mechanism, it generated strong binding affinity with tyrosinase through hydrophobic interaction. MD simulations further validated that albendazole/2‐2‐A‐1HB could form stable complexes with tyrosinase and loosened its basic framework structure, leading to a change in secondary structure and conformation. In addition, albendazole could delay the browning of fresh‐cut apples by inhibiting the activity of polyphenol oxidase, peroxidase and phenylalanine ammonia‐lyase, and reducing the oxidation of phenolic compounds.CONCLUSIONThis research might provide a deep view of tyrosinase inhibition by benzimidazole derivatives and a theoretical basis for developing albendazole as a potential fresh‐keeping agent. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
Structural basis for rice starch multi‐digestible fractions revealed by consecutive reaction kinetics model
Authors: Li Cheng 
Published: January 2023

AbstractBACKGROUNDStarch‐based foods (e.g. rice) usually contain multiple starch fractions with distinct digestion rate constants, although their nature is currently unknown. The present study applied the recently developed consecutive reaction kinetics model to fit the in vitro digestion curves for starch fractions deconvoluted from the overall digestograms to differentiate their binding and catalysis rates to starch digestive enzymes. The fitting parameters were then correlated with starch molecular structures obtained from published data to understand starch structural features determining the binding and catalytic rate constants.RESULTSBinding and catalysis rates for the rapidly (RDF) and slowly digestible starch fraction (SDF) were controlled by distinct starch structural features. Typically, (i) the binding rate constant for RDF was negatively correlated with the amount of amylose short to intermediate chains, whereas it was positively correlated with the relative length of amylopectin intermediate chains; (ii) the catalysis rate constant for RDF was negatively correlated with the amount of amylose short to intermediate chains, relative length of amylose intermediate chains and amount of amylopectin long chains, whereas it was positively correlated with starch molecular size as well as relative length of amylopectin intermediate chains; (iii) and the catalysis rate constant for SDF was negatively correlated with the amount of amylopectin long chains, whereas it was positively correlated with starch molecular size.CONCLUSIONThese results provide a better understanding of the nature of different starch digestible fractions and the development of foods such as rice with slow starch digestibility. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.
Validated high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic method for quantification of gallic acid and ellagic acid in fruits of Terminaliachebula, Phyllanthusemblica, and Quercusinfectoria
Authors: Godiyal Shilpa , Laddha Kirti 
Published: January 2023

A simple and rapid high‐performance thin‐layer chromatographic method for quantification of gallic acid and ellagic acid in dried fruits of Terminalia chebula, Phyllanthus emblica, and Quercus infectoria has been developed. The chromatographic development was carried out on precoated silica gel 60 F254 plates in a mixture of toluene:ethyl acetate:chloroform:formic acid (4:8:1:3 v/v/v/v). The plate was scanned densitometrically at a wavelength of 280 nm. The retention factor value of gallic acid and ellagic acid was found to be 0.63 ± 0.2 and 0.53 ± 0.1, respectively. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy, sensitivity, robustness, specificity and stability as per the international conference of harmonization guidelines. The method showed good linear relationship over a range of 100–600 ng/band (gallic acid) and 100–500 ng/band (ellagic acid) with a regression coefficient (r2) of 0.997 (gallic acid) and 0.996 (ellagic acid). The method showed high accuracy (99.65%–100.85%). The percentage relative standard deviation of intra‐day and inter‐day precision studies was not more than 2%. The method is highly robust and has displayed high specificity. The developed method is new, simple, and accurate and can be successfully employed in routine analysis of raw materials and formulations containing gallic acid and ellagic acid.
Spatiotemporal variations of soil salinization in China's West Songnen Plain
Authors: Yu Hao , Wang Zongming , Mao Dehua , Jia Mingming , Chang Shouzhi , Li Xiaoyan 
Published: January 2023

AbstractPreventing soil salinization and improving soil productivity play vital roles in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the premise of which is understanding the spatiotemporal patterns of soil salinity in various ecosystems. To improve regional ecosystem management decisions, we examined the spatial variations and temporal changes of soil salinity in China's West Songnen Plain by separately developing prediction models of soil salinity for vegetated and non‐vegetated areas (VEA and NEVA) through the combination of field samples, LANDSAT series images, and the partial least square regression (PLSR) method. Twelve variables, encompassing spectral bands, vegetation, and soil salinity indices, were extracted from LANDSAT satellite images. Among the investigated variables, the enhanced vegetation index (EVI), red band, and digital elevation model (DEM) yielded the best results for assessing the soil salinity in VEA. In contrast, the green band and SI2 exhibited the most significant correlation with soil salinity for NEVA. Based on 10‐fold cross‐validation, models predicted soil salinity with R2 values of 0.812 and 0.803. Results reveal that the salt‐affected areas in the West Songnen Plain were estimated at 1.23 × 106 hm2 in 2016 with evident heterogeneous distribution. Intensively salt‐affected area (IA) and moderately salt‐affected area (MA) are mainly distributed in the low‐lying central and northern regions of the plain. From 1991 to 2016, the salt‐affected area experienced a rapid increase followed by a slight decline with a peak in 2000. This suggests effective soil amelioration due to ecological projects and a wetter climate, however, the salt‐affected area still had a net increase of 0.32 × 106 hm2. The variation of different salt‐affected levels was characterized by an increase in slightly salt‐affected area (SA), MA, and IA. Cropland was the dominant land cover type affected by soil salinization, with the affected area expanding from 0.39 × 106 hm2 in 1991 to 0.57 × 106 hm2 in 2016. MA and SA were the dominant levels of soil salinization in grassland, with MA expanding by 1.3‐times from 1991 to 2016. Although the area of soil salinization increased from 1991 to 2016, the salt‐affected area was reduced, and the salt‐affected level was downgraded in some parts of the study area after 2000. These results could provide support for monitoring soil salinization in other regions, with the findings expected to benefit ecosystem conservation and restoration for regional sustainable development and provide support for evaluating SDGs.
Expanded and Independent Spanish Validation of the MDS‐Non Motor Rating Scale
Authors: Cubo Esther , Luo Sheng , Martínez‐Martín Pablo , Stebbins Glenn T. , Lin Jeffrey , Choi Dongrak , García‐Bustillo Alvaro , Mir Pablo , Santos‐Garcia Diego , Serrano‐Dueñas Marcos , Rodriguez‐Violante Mayela , Singer Carlos ,   and the Spanish MDS‐NMS Validation Study Group
Published: January 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe Movement Disorder Society‐sponsored Non‐motor Rating Scale (MDS‐NMS) assess the severity and disability caused by non‐motor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD).ObjectiveThis article encapsulates the formal process for completing this program and the data on the first officially approved non‐English version of the MDS‐NMS (Spanish).MethodsThe MDS‐NMS translation program involves four steps: translation and back‐translation; cognitive pre‐testing to ensure that raters and patients understand the scale and are comfortable with its content; field testing of the finalized version; analysis of the factor structure of the tested version against the original English language version for the nine domains that could be analyzed in a confirmatory factor analysis. To be designated an “Official MDS translation,” the confirmatory factor analysis Comparative Fit Index had to be ≥0.90.ResultsThe Spanish MDS‐NMS was tested in 364 native‐Spanish‐speaking patients with PD from seven countries. For all subjects with fully computable data with all domains of the MDS‐NMS (n = 349), the Comparative Fit Index was ≥0.90 for the nine eligible domains. Missing data were negligible and moderate floor effect (42.90%) was found for the Non‐Motor Fluctuations subscale. Item homogeneity coefficient was adequate, and the correlation of the MDS‐NMS domains with other measures for related constructs was acceptable (rs ≥ 0.50).ConclusionsThe Spanish version of the MDS‐NMS followed the IPMDS Translation Program protocol, reached the criterion to be designated as an Official Translation, and is now available on the MDS website.
Modeling and Parameter Estimation for Gas‐Phase Polyethylene Product Properties Using Dynamic and Steady‐State Data
Authors: Gibson Lauren A. , Jiang Yan , Boller Timothy , Chiang Hsu , McAuley Kimberley B. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractModels are developed for gas‐phase ethylene/1‐hexene copolymerization using a 3‐site hafnocene catalyst. The models accurately predict joint molecular weight distribution and copolymer composition data for 15 semibatch lab‐scale copolymerization runs and 6 steady‐state pilot‐plant copolymerization runs, respectively. Kinetic rate constants and activation energies, which are common to both models, are estimated for the three types of active sites for each reaction in the kinetic scheme. Using parameter subset selection and estimation techniques, it is found that 34 of the 61 parameters should be estimated from the data. Incorporating the pilot‐plant data allow for estimation of two parameters, a deactivation rate constant and a β‐hydride elimination activation energy, that are not estimable using the lab‐scale data alone. At the 95% confidence level, 25 of the 34 parameters are significantly different than zero, which is more than the 19 significant parameter estimates obtained from the lab‐scale data alone. Good fits to the data are obtained, as are reliable predictions for a validation run not used in parameter estimation.
Enhanced electrochemical performance of 3‐D microporous nickel/nickel oxide nanoflakes for application in supercapacitors
Authors: Singh Balwant Kr. , Das Debabrata , Attarzadeh Navid , Chintalapalle Srija N. , Ramana Chintalapalle V. 
Published: January 2023

AbstractIncreasing energy demands, depletion of fossil fuels, and environmental issues have impelled society to choose the pathways of renewable and clean energy, which motivated scientists and engineers to develop sustainable, renewable, and clean energy resources. However, the major challenge is the implementation of low‐cost, flexible approaches and materials to fulfill the requirements of energy storage and conversion technologies, specifically those involving batteries and supercapacitors. In this context, herein, we demonstrate an integrated approach to realize three‐dimensional (3‐D) mesoporous nickel(Ni)/nickel oxide (NiO) nanostructures with enhanced performance for supercapacitor applications. Conformal deposition of NiO nanoflakes on 3‐D mesoporous Ni onto inexpensive Cu substrates with large active surface area, providing easy ion accessibility through mesoporous channels and improving electron transport through interconnected nickel network. The 3‐D mesoporous Ni/NiO nanoflakes exhibit excellent electrochemical performance, namely, areal capacitance of 720 mFcm−2, energy density of 4 μWhcm−2 and power density of 2.5 mWcm−2 and a reasonable capacity retention for 5000 cycles. We believe that these results may provide a roadmap to further tune the conditions so as to engineer oxide architectures to derive enhanced energy performance of supercapacitor devices for practical applications.
Ohmic charging in capacitive deionization: Efficient water desalination using capacitive spacers
Authors: Nordstrand Johan , Dutta Joydeep 
Published: January 2023

AbstractCapacitive deionization (CDI) is a promising desalination technology based on electrosorption on the surfaces of microporous electrodes. However, low total dissolved solids (TDS) in the water restricts its efficacy. In this work, we develop the theory of capacitive spacers (CS) in CDI. The investigations reveal a mechanism that we call ohmic charging; that is, the resistive losses in the spacer region drive adsorption in the CS. As a consequence, the obtained results show that such spacers can improve desalination efficiency, especially at ion‐starved conditions. The spacers also enhance the charging rate of the electrodes because the overall resistance is lower when the current can pass the spacer material instead of the solution, through the adsorption of anions on one side and cations on the other. Going deeper, the investigations reveal a major challenge; the spacer naturally discharges on the same timescale as the electrode charging timescale. However, only the fast timescale matters with low ionic content solutions, and under these conditions the CS are found to be superior. Put together, CS can make a significant difference, especially when the ion concentration is low or the cycle times are short.
Governance response during COVID‐19 and political affirmative action: Evidence from local governments in India
Authors: Pandey Vivek , Rathi Ankita , Kumar Deepak 
Published: January 2023

AbstractA great deal of work argues that the entry of women into public spaces can promote political and institutional change. The COVID‐19 provides an opportunity to investigate whether and under what conditions women's political representation in rural local governments deliver effective local governance? Drawing from two rounds of data collected in 174 local governments and 1051 households in three Indian states, the paper shows that women Pradhans in the Gram Panchayats had no differential impact on the governance response to COVID‐19 compared to the unreserved ones. Analyzing the heterogeneity in these responses suggests that institutional factors like the proportion of women in village council and local entrepreneurship diversity can enhance women Pradhan's capacity to respond to the pandemic. We explore two channels that enable women Pradhan to govern effectively during the pandemic: improving women's participation in the labor force and reducing household's vulnerability to poverty in the pre‐COVID period.