bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Influence of environmental factors on biodiversity, abundance and the distribution pattern of dinoflagellates and ciliates during spring and summer in coastal waters of Algeria (southwestern Mediterranean Sea)
Authors: Sidi Ali Redha , Khames Ghollame Ellah Yacine , Alioua Zakia , Seridji Rabea 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the distribution patterns of dinoflagellates and ciliates communities during planktonic bloom and post-bloom development periods, in relation to environmental parameters. Their distribution was studied during spring and summer 2012, in coastal waters of Algeria at six sampling stations (four sampling layers). Overall, 116 species were identified, including 98 dinoflagellates. The species richness of microzooplankton was higher in summer (81 species: 67 dinoflagellates, seven tintinnids and seven ciliates) than in spring (76 species: 72 dinoflagellates, three naked ciliates and one tintinnid). Significant difference in total abundances was observed between spring (median = 145 ind l−1) and summer (median = 90 ind l−1) but no significance (P > 0.05, Mann–Whitney test) in Shannon–Wiener (H′spring: 3.31 bits ind−1; H′summer: 3.70 bits ind−1) and evenness (Espring: 0.77; Esummer: 0.84) indices. The ciliate average abundance was higher in summer (11.3 ind l−1) than in spring (1.95 ind l−1), whereas dinoflagellate average abundance was lower in summer (127.92 ind l−1) than spring (190.19 ind l−1). Non-metric multidimensional scaling was used to identify different sample assemblages. It showed that temperature and salinity influenced the distribution pattern in the canonical correspondence analysis followed by chlorophyll a, silicate and nitrate concentrations. Our framework provides insight regarding trait trade off with implications for feedbacks to ecosystems, aiming to bridge the gap of plankton community ecology in Algeria. It elaborates a taxonomic list of dinoflagellates and ciliates in the marine pelagic ecosystem and performs their ecological characterization in their environment.
Noble houses and palaces: reconsidering the existence of palaces in Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) Tepeticpac, Tlaxcallan
Authors: Robles Salmerón M. Amparo , Corral Aurelio López , Salomón Salazar M. Teresa 
Published: July 2023

AbstractArchaeological research on palaces and architectural spaces related to power factions allow a better understanding of the social dynamics of political economies. Several types of palaces appear in Mesoamerica according to distinct forms of sociopolitical organization. For Tlaxcallan, a Late Postclassic (A.D. 1250/1300–1519) geopolitical state-level polity with a highly collective government, the existence of palaces has been questioned. We reconsider the existence of palaces in Tlaxcallan through the contextual analysis of an architectural complex (CA-2) of Tepeticpac, one of the sectors of the conurbated area. We evaluate the functionality of CA-2 as a palace by examining the processes of occupation and abandonment of the building in relation to its architectural and stratigraphic sequence and the type of associated artifacts. The comparison between archaeological and historical data indicate that Tlaxcallans probably had palaces, but they were less ostentatious compared to others found in societies with more centralized governments.
Cytoplasmic HIF-2α as tissue biomarker to identify metastatic sympathetic paraganglioma
Authors: Karakaya Sinan , Gunnesson Lisa , Elias Erik , Martos-Salvo Paula , Robledo Mercedes , Nilsson Ola , Wängberg Bo , Abel Frida , Påhlman Sven , Muth Andreas , Mohlin Sofie 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPheochromocytomas (PCCs) and paragangliomas (PGLs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. PGLs can further be divided into sympathetic (sPGLs) and head-and-neck (HN-PGLs). There are virtually no treatment options, and no cure, for metastatic PCCs and PGLs (PPGLs). Here, we composed a tissue microarray (TMA) consisting of 149 PPGLs, reflecting clinical features, presenting as a useful resource. Mutations in the pseudohypoxic marker HIF-2α correlate to an aggressive tumor phenotype. We show that HIF-2α localized to the cytoplasm in PPGLs. This subcompartmentalized protein expression differed between tumor subtypes, and strongly correlated to proliferation. Half of all sPGLs were metastatic at time of diagnosis. Cytoplasmic HIF-2α was strongly expressed in metastatic sPGLs and predicted poor outcome in this subgroup. We propose that higher cytoplasmic HIF-2α expression could serve as a useful clinical marker to differentiate paragangliomas from pheochromocytomas, and may help predict outcome in sPGL patients.
The association between urinary phthalate metabolites and serum thyroid function in US adolescents
Authors: Xiang Shi-ting , Cao Yuhan , Dong Jie , Li Chao , Qiu Jun , Li Xun 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe aim was to investigate the association between mixed exposure to phthalates and serum thyroid function among US adolescents. The study used 2007–2008 survey data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Data on urinary phthalates metabolites and serum thyroid function indicators were collected. The weighted multivariable linear regression models and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) analyses were used to analyze the relationship between phthalates metabolites and thyroid function. A total of 356 adolescents aged 12–19 years were included in the analysis. Linear regression models showed that mono-(carboxyisoctyl) phthalate (MCOP) was positively correlated with total triiodothyronine (TT3) (β = 0.045, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.022, 0.068) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) (β = 0.1461, 95% CI 0.059, 0.232), while mono-(carboxyisononyl) phthalate (MCNP) was negatively correlated with TSH (β = − 0.119, 95% CI − 0.196, − 0.042). BKMR analyses showed phthalate metabolites mixtures have significantly positive overall effect on TT3. Exposure to phthalate mixtures might be positively correlated with increased TT3 serum level in US adolescents. The study provided evidence for the association between mixed phthalates exposure and thyroid health in adolescent population.
Genome-wide polygenic risk score for type 2 diabetes in Indian population
Authors: Pemmasani Sandhya Kiran , Atmakuri Shravya , Acharya Anuradha 
Published: July 2023

AbstractGenome-wide polygenic risk scores (PRS) for lifestyle disorders, like Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), are useful in identifying at-risk individuals early on in life, and to guide them towards healthier lifestyles. The current study was aimed at developing PRS for the Indian population using imputed genotype data from UK Biobank and testing the developed PRS on data from GenomegaDB of Indians living in India. 959 T2D cases and 2,818 controls were selected from Indian participants of UK Biobank to develop the PRS. Summary statistics available for South Asians, from the DIAMANTE consortium, were used to weigh genetic variants. LDpred2 algorithm was used to adjust the effect of linkage disequilibrium among the variants. The association of PRS with T2D, after adjusting for age, sex and top ten genetic principal components, was found to be very significant (AUC = 0.7953, OR = 2.9856 [95% CI: 2.7044–3.2961]). When participants were divided into four PRS quartile groups, the odds of developing T2D increased sequentially with the higher PRS groups. The highest PRS group (top 25%) showed 5.79 fold increased risk compared to the rest of the participants (75%). The PRS derived using the same set of variants was found to be significantly associated with T2D in the test dataset of 445 Indians (AUC = 0.7781, OR = 1.6656 [95%CI = 0.6127–4.5278]). Our study demonstrates a framework to derive Indian-specific PRS for T2D. The accuracy of the derived PRS shows it’s potential to be used as a prognostic metric to stratify individuals, and to recommend personalized preventive strategies.
A multi-model architecture based on deep learning for aircraft load prediction
Authors: Sun Chenxi , Li Hongyan , Dui Hongna , Hong Shenda , Sun Yongyue , Song Moxian , Cai Derun , Zhang Baofeng , Wang Qiang , Wang Yongjun , Liu Bo 
Published: July 2023

AbstractMonitoring aircraft structural health with changing loads is critical in aviation and aerospace engineering. However, the load equation needs to be calibrated by ground testing which is costly, and inefficient. Here, we report a general deep learning-based aircraft load model for strain prediction and load model calibration through a two-phase process. First, we identified the causality between key flight parameters and strains. The prediction equation was then integrated into the monitoring process to build a more general load model for load coefficients calibration. This model achieves a 97.16% prediction accuracy and 99.49% goodness-of-fit for a prototype system with 2 million collected flight recording data. This model reduces the effort of ground tests and provides more accurate load prediction with adapted aircraft parameters.
Fossil group origins
Authors: Zarattini S. , Aguerri J. A. L. , Tarrío P. , Corsini E. M. 
Published: July 2023

Aims. In this work we study the large-scale structure around a sample of non-fossil systems and compare the results with earlier findings for a sample of genuine fossil systems selected using their magnitude gap.
Methods. We computed the distance from each system to the closest filament and intersection as obtained from a catalogue of galaxies in the redshift range 0.05 ≤ z ≤ 0.7. We then estimated the average distances and the distributions of cumulative distances to filaments and intersections for different magnitude-gap bins.
Results. We find that the average distance to filaments is (3.0 ± 0.8) R200 for fossil systems, whereas it is (1.1 ± 0.1) R200 for non-fossil systems. Similarly, the average distance to intersections is larger in fossil than in non-fossil systems, with values of (16.3 ± 3.2) and (8.9 ± 1.1) R200, respectively. Moreover, the cumulative distributions of distances to intersections are statistically different for fossil and non-fossil systems.
Conclusions. Fossil systems selected using the magnitude gap appear to be, on average, more isolated from the cosmic web than non-fossil systems. No dependence is found on the magnitude gap (i.e. non-fossil systems behave in a similar manner independently of their magnitude gap, and only fossils are found at larger average distances from the cosmic web). This result supports a formation scenario for fossil systems in which the lack of infalling galaxies from the cosmic web, due to their peculiar position, favours the growing of the magnitude gap via the merging of all the massive satellites with the central galaxy. Comparison with numerical simulations suggests that fossil systems selected using the magnitude gap are not old fossils of the ancient Universe, but rather systems located in regions of the cosmic web not influenced by the presence of intersections.
Exploring the chemodynamics of metal-poor stellar populations
Authors: da Silva A. R. , Smiljanic R. 
Published: July 2023

Context. Metal-poor stars are key for studying the formation and evolution of the Galaxy. Evidence of the early mergers that built up the Galaxy remains in the distributions of abundances, kinematics, and orbital parameters of its stars. Several substructures resulting from these mergers have been tentatively identified in the literature.
Aims. We conducted a global analysis of the chemodynamic properties of metal-poor stars. Our aim is to identify signs of accreted and in situ stars in different regions of the parameter space and investigate their differences and similarities.
Methods. We selected a sample of about 6600 metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −0.8 from DR3 of the GALAH survey. We used unsupervised machine learning to separate stars in a parameter space made of two normalised orbital actions, plus [Fe/H] and [Mg/Fe], without additional a priori cuts on stellar properties.
Results. We divided the halo stars into four main groups. All groups exhibit a significant fraction of in situ contamination. Accreted stars of these groups have very similar chemical properties, except the group of stars with very retrograde orbits. This points to at most two main sources of accreted stars in the current sample, the major one related to Gaia-Enceladus and another possibly related to Thamnos and/or Sequoia. Gaia-Enceladus stars are r-process enriched at low metallicities, but a contribution of the s-process appears with increasing metallicity. A flat trend of [Eu/Mg] as a function of [Fe/H] suggests that only core-collapse supernovae contributed to r-process elements in Gaia-Enceladus.
Conclusions. To better characterise accreted stars in the low-metallicity regime, high precision abundances and guidance from chemical evolution models are needed. It is possible that the in situ contamination in samples of accreted stars has been underestimated. This can have important consequences for attempts to estimate the properties of the original systems.
Fostering twenty-first century skills among primary school students through math project-based learning
Authors: Rehman Nadia , Zhang Wenlan , Mahmood Amir , Fareed Muhammad Zeeshan , Batool Samia 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn today’s modern world, students must be equipped with twenty-first century skills, particularly those related to solving real-life problems, to ensure competitiveness in the current global economy. The present study employed project-based learning (PBL) as an instructional tool for teaching math at the primary level. A convergent mixed-methods approach was adopted to determine whether the PBL approach has improved students’ twenty-first century skills, including collaborative, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Thirty-five students of the experimental group were treated with PBL, while 35 students of the control were treated with the traditional teaching method. ANCOVA test for “critical thinking skills” showed a significant difference between the experimental and control group (F = 104.833, p = 0.000 < 0.05). For collaborative skills, results also showed a significant difference between the two groups (F = 32.335, p = 0.000 < 0.05). For problem-solving skills, the mean value of experimental (25.54) and control group (16.94) showed a high difference after the intervention. The t-value (8.284) and the p value (p = 0.000) also showed a highly significant difference. Observations of the classroom also revealed the favorable effects of employing PBL. PBL activities boosted the level of collaboration and problem-solving skills among students. Students could advance their collaboration abilities, including promoting one another’s viewpoints, speaking out when necessary, listening to one another, and participating in thoughtful discussions. During the PBL project, students’ active participation and effective collaboration were observed, significantly contributing to its success.
Temporal functional changes in coral and fish communities on subtropical coastal coral reefs
Authors: Clay Charlotte G. , Reimer James Davis , Cook Katie M. , Yamagawa Hirotaka , Gravener Ellen , Theodora Lee Hui Yian , Beger Maria 
Published: July 2023

Context Global and local stressors can drive phase shifts from zooxanthellate scleractinian coral communities to macroalgae-dominated ecosystems. However, our understanding of altered ecosystem functioning, productivity and stability remains limited as pre-shift data are typically lacking for degraded coral-reef sites. Aims Here, we assessed functional changes in fish communities in Nakagusuku Bay, Okinawa, Japan, over 45 years, by comparing pre-disturbance (1975) to post-disturbance (2018–2020) datasets, and identified possible drivers of changes. Methods We analysed data for 393 fish species and 26 coral genera at 13 sites, measured at four-time points (1975, 2018, 2019 and 2020). Analyses were performed using a range of ordination techniques. Key results We found reductions in functional richness and trait space contraction over time for fishes. Changes in coral functional groups over time correlated with changes in the functional diversity of reef-fish communities; a reduction in branching corals reduced habitat availability for coral-reliant fishes. Conclusions Increasing sedimentation and eutrophication as a result of construction along the Nakagusuku Bay coast likely reduced living coral cover and fish diversity, and thermal stress likely facilitated the simplification and shifts of both coral communities and coral specialist fishes away from shore. Implications Both global and local threats need to be considered when assessing functioning of coral-reef ecosystems for coral-reef conservation efforts.
Influence of soft x-ray and ultraviolet irradiations on sensitivity of sensors made with piezoelectret films
Authors: Zhou Lian , Zhang Fei , Ma Xingchen , Zhang Xiaoqing 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Piezo/ferroelectrets are a kind of cellular electret materials exhibiting piezoelectric effect. Owing to their large piezoelectric activity, flexibility, lightweight, low cost and large area, a list of promising applications have been suggested, including wearable sensors, actuators, micro energy harvesters, and etc. In terms of actual application, one of the most important performance indexes is the stability of piezoelectric response in complex application environments. This article mainly focuses on the influence of soft x-ray and ultraviolet irradiations on piezoelectric sensitivity of two kinds of sensors, made with irradiation cross-linked polypropylene (IXPP) and air-filled parallel-tunnel fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) piezoelectret films. A versatile encapsulation process with silica gel for sensor fabrication was introduced to improve the stability against radiations. The results show that soft x-ray irradiation can accelerate the depolarization of the piezoelectrets, while the influence of ultraviolet irradiation on piezoelectrets is not prominent. Encapsulation of the sensors with silica gel may significantly improve their stability under the radiation of soft x-ray. As indicated, the piezoelectric sensitivities of the encapsulated samples, made with IXPP and parallel-tunnel FEP piezoelectret films, are 50.2% and 6.9% of the initial values after 150 min irradiation of the soft x-ray with an energy of 9.5 keV, respectively.
Evaluation of average glandular dose (AGD) in screening and diagnostic digital mammography and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) towards establishing a reference dose range band (DRB): a developing country experience
Authors: Jeyasugiththan Jeyasingam , Maheshika Bandara B G U , Wickramarathna S H DM , Thenuwara Hashini , Satharasinghe Duminda , Pallewatte A S , Hettiarachchi Pandula 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
This study represents the first national survey conducted in Sri Lanka to establish national diagnostic reference levels (NDRLs) for screening and diagnostic acquisitions in digital mammography (2D-DM) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). Additionally, the study investigated the relationship between average glandular dose (AGD) and compressed breast thickness (CBT) and introduced a novel concept called dose range bands (DRBs) as a tool for optimizing radiation dose in mammography. DICOM metadata was used to extract dose data and exposure parameters from women undergoing either screening (350) or diagnostic (750) DM. The analysis included both craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views of each breast, acquired using 2D-DM and DBT imaging techniques. The NDRL (AGD per view) was 1.97 mGy and 2.01 mGy for diagnostic DM and DBT, respectively. The corresponding NDRLs for screening acquisition were 2.44 mGy and 2.30 mGy. The mean DBT/DM AGD ratio was 1.39 and 0.97 for diagnostic and screening, respectively. Further, the association between the average glandular AGD per view and CBT is stronger in DBT than in 2D-DM. The study findings highlight the need for standardisation of compression practices, considering factors such as the radiographer’s experience, imaging equipment, breast density, age, breast size, and pain threshold.
Physical adsorption and oxidation of ultra-thin MoS2 crystals: insights into surface engineering for 2D electronics and beyond
Authors: Jiang Yingchun , Liu Zihan , Zhou Huimin , Sharma Anju , Deng Jia , Ke Changhong 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
The oxidation mechanism of atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) plays a critical role in its nanoelectronics, optoelectronics, and catalytic applications, where devices often operate in an elevated thermal environment. In this study, we systematically investigate the oxidation of mono- and few-layer MoS2 flakes in the air at temperatures ranging from 23 °C to 525 °C and relative humidities of 10%–60% by using atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Our study reveals the formation of a uniform nanometer-thick physical adsorption layer on the surface of MoS2, which is attributed to the adsorption of ambient moisture. This physical adsorption layer acts as a thermal shield of the underlying MoS2 lattice to enhance its thermal stability and can be effectively removed by an AFM tip scanning in contact mode or annealing at 400 °C. Our study shows that high-temperature thermal annealing and AFM tip-based cleaning result in chemical adsorption on sulfur vacancies in MoS2, leading to p-type doping. Our study highlights the importance of humidity control in ensuring reliable and optimal performance for MoS2-based electronic and electrochemical devices and provides crucial insights into the surface engineering of MoS2, which are relevant to the study of other two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide materials and their applications.