bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The political economy of vaccine distribution and China's Belt and Road Initiative
Authors: Vadlamannati Krishna Chaitanya , Jung Yoo Sun 
Published: February 2023

AbstractTo what extent do national strategic interests influence countries’ distribution of health assistance during a global health crisis? We examine China's global COVID-19 vaccine allocation, focusing on the relationship between its vaccine prioritization and its geopolitical expansion through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). We claim China uses its vaccine diplomacy as a comprehensive tool to promote its grand strategy and expand its global leadership and influence. Employing a newly available dataset on Chinese COVID-19 vaccine deliveries for a cross-section of 108 BRI member countries, our study shows that countries with foreign direct investment flows into BRI projects have received more vaccines from China. Our findings confirm that donor strategic concerns affect bilateral foreign assistance. Our results remain robust to several robustness checks, including endogeneity concerns.
Development and validation of a quantitative food frequency questionnaire to assess free sugar intake among Sri Lankan preschool children
Authors: Mututanthri Shanika , Thoradeniya Tharanga , Harris Rebecca 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
The present study aims to develop a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess free sugar intake as a whole and at the food group levels, retrospectively, over the past 3 months among 4 to 5-year-old preschool children in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka. Then, to assess its reliability and relative validity. In the development phase, three 24-hour dietary recalls (24 hDRs) of 518 preschool children were collected from caregivers. Based on that, a 67-item FFQ was developed, including commonly consumed free sugar-containing food items. The validation study was conducted among another 108 preschool children. The relative validity of the FFQ was assessed by comparing it with the 24 hDRs. The test–retest reliability was assessed by repeated application of the FFQ to the same population after 6 weeks. Wilcoxon sign rank test, cross-classification with weighted Kappa statistic, Spearman rank correlation and Bland–Altman plots were used for comparison. Comparing the free sugar intake calculated by the two methods showed no difference (P = 0⋅13), a good correlation (0⋅89), good agreement in cross-classifying participants (78⋅4 % correctly classified) and a good agreement in Bland–Altman plots. Repeated application of the FFQ yielded; no differences in free sugar intake values (P = 0⋅45) a good correlation (0⋅71), acceptable agreement in cross-classifying participants (52⋅3 % correctly classified) and acceptable agreement in the Bland–Altman plot. Results were the same for all food groups. According to the results, the newly developed quantitative FFQ provides a relatively valid and reliable measure for quantifying free sugar intake among preschool children as a whole or by food group.
Random effects in dynamic network actor models
Authors: Uzaheta Alvaro , Amati Viviana , Stadtfeld Christoph 
Published: February 2023

AbstractDynamic Network Actor Models (DyNAMs) assume that an observed sequence of relational events is the outcome of an actor-oriented decision process consisting of two decision levels. The first level represents the time until an actor initiates the next relational event, modeled by an exponential distribution with an actor-specific activity rate. The second level describes the choice of the receiver of the event, modeled by a conditional multinomial logit model. The DyNAM assumes that the parameters are constant over the actors and the context. This homogeneity assumption, albeit statistically and computationally convenient, is difficult to justify, e.g., in the presence of unobserved differences between actors or contexts. In this paper, we extend DyNAMs by including random-effects parameters that vary across actors or contexts and allow controlling for unknown sources of heterogeneity. We illustrate the model by analyzing relational events among the users of an online community of aspiring and professional digital and graphic designers.
How technological change affects regional voting patterns
Authors: Schöll Nikolas , Kurer Thomas 
Published: February 2023

AbstractDoes technological change fuel political disruption? Drawing on fine-grained labor market data from Germany, this paper examines how technological change affects regional electorates. We first show that the well-known decline in manufacturing and routine jobs in regions with higher robot adoption or investment in information and communication technology (ICT) was more than compensated by parallel employment growth in the service sector and cognitive non-routine occupations. This change in the regional composition of the workforce has important political implications: Workers trained for these new sectors typically hold progressive political values and support progressive pro-system parties. Overall, this composition effect dominates the politically perilous direct effect of automation-induced substitution. As a result, technology-adopting regions are unlikely to turn into populist-authoritarian strongholds.
Urinary iodine excretion and optimal time point for sampling when estimating 24-h urinary iodine
Authors: Eriksson Janna , Barregard Lars , Sallsten Gerd , Berlinger Balazs , Weinbruch Stephan , Manousou Sofia , Ellingsen Dag G. , Nyström Helena Filipsson 
Published: February 2023

AbstractIodine deficiency may cause thyroid dysfunction. The iodine intake in a population is measured by urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in spot samples or 24-h urinary iodine excretion (24UIE). 24UIE is considered the gold standard and may be estimated using an equation including UIC, urinary creatinine concentration, sex and age (e24UIE). The aims of this study were to evaluate the preferable timing of UIC when using this equation and assess the variability of UIE. Sixty healthy non-smoking women (n 31) and men (n 29) were included in Gothenburg, Sweden. Twelve urine samples were collected at six fixed times on two separate days. Variability was calculated for UIC, 24UIE, e24UIE, iodine excretion per hour (iHr) and UIC adjusted for creatinine and specific gravity. Median 24UIE was 156 µg/24 h and the median UIC (all spot samples) was 104 µg/l. UIC (P < 0·001), 24UIE (P = 0·001) and e24UIE (P < 0·001) were significantly higher in men. e24UIE was relatively similar to 24UIE. However, when e24UIE was calculated from UIC in the first void, it was about 15 % lower than 24UIE (P < 0·001). iHr was lowest in the morning and highest in the afternoon. Median iHr was higher in men (7·4 v. 5·3 µg/h, P < 0·001). The variability of UIE was higher within individuals than between individuals. This study suggests that most time points for estimation of individual 24UIE are appropriate, but they should preferably not be collected in the first void.
The Electoral Politics of Alberta's Sovereignty Act
Authors: Sayers Anthony M. , McMahon Nicole , Koop Royce 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act is a strategic wedge aimed at raising the salience of western alienation, an issue on which the United Conservative Party and its leader, Danielle Smith, believe they can dominate their opponents and so win the May 2023 provincial election. The act signals the unprecedented circumstances in which the governing party finds itself. It is running neck-and-neck with a formidable opponent and a party leader who previously held the office of premier. Alberta has never experienced such an election.
Data augmentation by separating identity and emotion representations for emotional gait recognition
Authors: Sheng Weijie , Lu Xiaoyan , Li Xinde 
Published: February 2023

AbstractHuman-centered intelligent human–robot interaction can transcend the traditional keyboard and mouse and have the capacity to understand human communicative intentions by actively mining implicit human clues (e.g., identity information and emotional information) to meet individuals’ needs. Gait is a unique biometric feature that can provide reliable information to recognize emotions even when viewed from a distance. However, the insufficient amount and diversity of training data annotated with emotions severely hinder the application of gait emotion recognition. In this paper, we propose an adversarial learning framework for emotional gait dataset augmentation, with which a two-stage model can be trained to generate a number of synthetic emotional samples by separating identity and emotion representations from gait trajectories. To our knowledge, this is the first work to realize the mutual transformation between natural gait and emotional gait. Experimental results reveal that the synthetic gait samples generated by the proposed networks are rich in emotional information. As a result, the emotion classifier trained on the augmented dataset is competitive with state-of-the-art gait emotion recognition works.
The longitudinal interplay between insecure attachment behaviors and psychosocial strengths among children in child welfare services
Authors: Smith Jackson A. , Durham Duane , Price-Cameron Mary , Sloss Imogen , Browne Dillon T. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractChildren who have experienced maltreatment are more likely to have disrupted attachments, fewer psychosocial strengths, and poorer long-term psychosocial outcomes. However, few studies have examined the interplay between attachment security and psychosocial strengths among children involved in therapeutic services in the context of the child welfare system. The present longitudinal study examines the insecure attachment behaviors and psychosocial strengths of 555 children referred to the Therapeutic Family Care program (TFCP) in Cobourg, Ontario between 2000 and 2019. The children were assessed by their caregivers on a regular basis using the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC) and the complementary strengths-focused ACC+ measure. Average age of children at baseline was 9.57 years (SD = 3.51) and 229 (41.26%) were female. We conducted growth curve and random intercepts cross-lagged panel models to test the longitudinal interplay between insecure attachment behaviors and strengths. Results suggest that females’ attachment security improved, males’ attachment security worsened, and both males and females developed strengths over time. Further, analyses revealed a directional effect, whereby fewer insecure attachment behaviors predicted more psychosocial strengths approximately 6 months later. Implications for attachment-oriented and strengths-based services in the context of child welfare are discussed.
Distribution and habitat requirements of the Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens on Grand Bahama in 2018
Authors: Pereira David J. , Gardner Matthew A. , Geary Matthew , Bell Diana J. , Collar Nigel J. 
Published: February 2023

Summary
The Bahama Warbler Setophaga flavescens is restricted to Grand Bahama and Abaco in the Bahamas Islands, where in recent decades its pine forest habitat has been seriously affected by hurricanes. To assess its conservation status and determine its habitat requirements, we conducted point transects with playback and simultaneously took measurements at 464 locations in pine forest across Grand Bahama from April to June 2018. Warbler presence was predicted by taller Thatch Palms Thrinax radiata and some fire disturbance, and its absence by a higher number of needleless pines. A comparison of these habitat predictors between the combined regions where warblers were detected (Lucayan Estates and East End) vs. where they were not (West End and Freeport) also revealed that Bahama Warblers showed a marked preference for taller Thatch Palms (>140 cm) and habitat plots within the middle fire disturbance category. These findings suggest that the species is adapted to a climax pine forest habitat maintained under a standard fire regime. Our research was intended to provide a first baseline study of the warbler’s distribution and ecology on Grand Bahama, but the distribution may have radically changed following Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of the island in 2019, and the species may now only survive on Abaco. Nevertheless, ecological insights from Grand Bahama seem likely to help conservation management on Abaco, but both islands now need to be surveyed.
How to do human evaluation: A brief introduction to user studies in NLP
Authors: Schuff Hendrik , Vanderlyn Lindsey , Adel Heike , Vu Ngoc Thang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractMany research topics in natural language processing (NLP), such as explanation generation, dialog modeling, or machine translation, require evaluation that goes beyond standard metrics like accuracy or F1score toward a more human-centered approach. Therefore, understanding how to design user studies becomes increasingly important. However, few comprehensive resources exist on planning, conducting, and evaluating user studies for NLP, making it hard to get started for researchers without prior experience in the field of human evaluation. In this paper, we summarize the most important aspects of user studies and their design and evaluation, providing direct links to NLP tasks and NLP-specific challenges where appropriate. We (i) outline general study design, ethical considerations, and factors to consider for crowdsourcing, (ii) discuss the particularities of user studies in NLP, and provide starting points to select questionnaires, experimental designs, and evaluation methods that are tailored to the specific NLP tasks. Additionally, we offer examples with accompanying statistical evaluation code, to bridge the gap between theoretical guidelines and practical applications.
Ethnicity as a predictor of outcomes of psychological therapies for anxiety and depression: a retrospective cohort analysis
Authors: Amati Federica , Green John , Kitchin Lauren , Watt Hilary , Jones Sophie , AlRubaye Noor , McCann Lucy , Greenfield Geva 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBackground:Studies on predictors of outcomes of treatment for common mental health disorders (CMDs) in community mental health settings are scarce, and sample sizes are often small. Research on the impact of identifying as a member of an ethnic minority group on treatment outcomes is limited.Aims:To ascertain whether ethnicity is an independent predictor of outcome and the extent to which any association is mediated by other sociodemographic factors.Method:Retrospective observational study of anonymised treatment data collected for routine clinical purposes. Data were analysed from nine Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services from 2009 to 2016. Social functioning, ethnic group, age, gender, occupation and baseline severity of the mental health disorder were analysed as predictors of outcome.Results:Outcomes varied with ethnic group. Levels of occupation, social deprivation, initial morbidity and social functioning varied between ethnic groups at baseline. After adjustment for these factors the impact of ethnicity was attenuated and only some ethnic groups remained as significant independent predictors of treatment outcome.Conclusions:Ethnic minority status is a marker for multiple disadvantages. Some of the differences in outcome seen between ethnic groups may be the result of more general factors present in all ethnic groups but at greater intensity in some ethnic minority groups.
Three ways to change your mind: an epistemic framework for cognitive interventions
Authors: Moorey Stirling 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBelief change is an important element of much CBT, yet very little consideration has been given to the theories of knowledge, the epistemology, which underlie this process. This article argues that understanding the epistemic basis of the techniques therapists use can help guide their choice of interventions. The empirical evidence for cognitive restructuring is considered, the importance of distancing and decentring noted, and three epistemic styles are identified: the rational-empiricist, pragmatist and ‘constructivist’ approaches. Different schools of CBT emphasise one or more of these. The article describes how these epistemes can be used to make decisions about which cognitive interventions to use, particularly when clients may be sceptical about reality testing because of entrenched beliefs or real-life adversity.
Can foreign aid improve the donor country's image among a third-party country's public? The case of a world heritage site restoration project
Authors: Kim Eunji , Lim Sijeong 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThis study explores whether and under what conditions foreign aid can help improve the donor country's image in countries that did not receive aid. We identified a world heritage site restoration project, which is visible, localized, has no political strings attached, and deals with global public good, as a most-likely type of foreign aid that can generate this positive effect. In light of the literature suggesting that tensions with the target country undermine public diplomacy effectiveness, we expect the positive effect will be more pronounced in non-recipient countries with which the donor country has a more amicable relationship. To empirically investigate our argument, we field a survey experiment in a developed non-aid-recipient country, Australia. We provide information to the Australian public about an aid project to restore the Angkor Monument in Cambodia conducted either by China or South Korea. We find that information on Korea's aid to Cambodia improves the image of Korea and the willingness to cooperate with the Korean government among Australians. No such effect, however, is observed in the case of similar aid by China whose relations with Australia have been strained in multiple domains. Our findings have policy implications for donor countries seeking to utilize the soft power element of foreign aid as a public diplomacy tool.
Adaptation Strategy Can Ensure Seed and Food Production With Improving Water and Nitrogen Use Efficiency Under Climate Change
Authors: Chen Shichao , Liu Wenfeng , Yan Zongzheng , Morel Julien , Parsons David , Du Taisheng 
Published: February 2023

AbstractAdaptation strategies can reduce the negative impacts of climate change on food security. As an important part of food security, more attention should be paid to seed security, as it determines the crop planting area and ultimately affects food production, especially in major seed production locations, such as the Hexi Corridor in China. This region is an important production base of grain (including field maize and wheat) and maize seed, but the shortage of water resources and low use efficiency of water and nitrogen (N) seriously constrain the sustainable development of agriculture. Formulating an adaptation strategy to balance the seed and food production and resource use efficiency is an important way to maintain regional as well as national food production. We established an optimization‐simulation framework, which consists of a novel crop production function and a grid‐based crop model, APSIM. This framework was used to optimize agricultural management and evaluate its performance considering the spatio‐temporal variability of climate and soil properties, actual crop water consumption and N uptake during each growth stage, and interactive sensitivity coefficients of water and N at different growth stages under climate change. We show that the proposed adaptation strategy could save 0.31 km³ of irrigation water and 22 thousand tonnes of N fertilizer, and increase seed and food production by 33 thousand tonnes, compared with traditional practices. Significant increases in irrigation water productivity and N use efficiency can be expected by using the adaptation supporting the sustainable development of agriculture.
Increased dendritic cell density and altered morphology in allergic conjunctivitis
Authors: Tajbakhsh Zahra , Golebiowski Blanka , Stapleton Fiona , Alghamdi Ali , Gray Paul E. , Altavilla Betina , Briggs Nancy , Jalbert Isabelle 
Published: February 2023

Abstract
Background
Corneal and conjunctival epithelial dendritic cells (DC) have an established role in vernal keratoconjunctivitis, however, their role in more prevalent forms of allergic eye disease remains unclear. This study evaluated corneal and conjunctival epithelial DC density, morphology, and distribution observed using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in allergic conjunctivitis.

Methods
In this prospective, observational study, 66 participants (mean age 36.6 ± 12.0 years, 56% female): 33 with allergic conjunctivitis and 33 controls were recruited. IVCM was performed at the corneal centre, inferior whorl, corneal periphery, corneal limbus, and temporal bulbar conjunctiva. DC were counted and their morphology was assessed as follows: largest cell body size, presence of dendrites, and presence of long and thick dendrites. Mixed model analysis (DC density) and non-parametric tests (DC morphology) were used.

Results
DC density was higher in allergic participants at all locations (p ≤ 0.01), (corneal centre median (IQR) 21.9 (8.7–50.9) cells/mm2 vs 13.1 (2.8–22.8) cells/mm2; periphery 37.5 (15.6-67.2) cells/mm2 vs 20 (9.4–32.5) cells/mm2; limbus 75 (60-120) cells/mm2 vs 58.1 (44.4–66.2) cells/mm2; conjunctiva 10 (0–54.4) cells/mm2 vs 0.6 (0–5.6) cells/mm2, but not at the inferior whorl 21.9 (6.2–34.4) cells/mm2 vs 12.5 (1.9–37.5) cells/mm2, p = 0.20. At the corneal centre, allergic participants had larger DC bodies (p = 0.02), a higher proportion of DC with dendrites (p = 0.02) and long dendrites (p = 0.003) compared to controls.

Conclusions
Corneal and conjunctival DC density was increased, and morphology altered in allergic conjunctivitis. These findings imply that the ocular surface immune response was upregulated and support an increased antigen-capture capacity of DC in allergic conjunctivitis.
Newly identified sex chromosomes in the Sphagnum (peat moss) genome alter carbon sequestration and ecosystem dynamics
Authors: Healey Adam L. , Piatkowski Bryan , Lovell John T. , Sreedasyam Avinash , Carey Sarah B. , Mamidi Sujan , Shu Shengqiang , Plott Chris , Jenkins Jerry , Lawrence Travis , Aguero Blanka , Carrell Alyssa A. , Nieto-Lugilde Marta , Talag Jayson , Duffy Aaron , Jawdy Sara , Carter Kelsey R. , Boston Lori-Beth , Jones Teresa , Jaramillo-Chico Juan , Harkess Alex , Barry Kerrie , Keymanesh Keykhosrow , Bauer Diane , Grimwood Jane , Gunter Lee , Schmutz Jeremy , Weston David J. , Shaw A. Jonathan 
Published: February 2023

AbstractPeatlands are crucial sinks for atmospheric carbon but are critically threatened due to warming climates. Sphagnum (peat moss) species are keystone members of peatland communities where they actively engineer hyperacidic conditions, which improves their competitive advantage and accelerates ecosystem-level carbon sequestration. To dissect the molecular and physiological sources of this unique biology, we generated chromosome-scale genomes of two Sphagnum species: S. divinum and S. angustifolium. Sphagnum genomes show no gene colinearity with any other reference genome to date, demonstrating that Sphagnum represents an unsampled lineage of land plant evolution. The genomes also revealed an average recombination rate an order of magnitude higher than vascular land plants and short putative U/V sex chromosomes. These newly described sex chromosomes interact with autosomal loci that significantly impact growth across diverse pH conditions. This discovery demonstrates that the ability of Sphagnum to sequester carbon in acidic peat bogs is mediated by interactions between sex, autosomes and environment.