bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Association Between Circulating Zinc and Risk for Childhood Asthma and Wheezing: A Meta-analysis on 21 Articles and 2205 Children
Authors: Xue Mei , Wang Qiong , Pang Bo , Zhang Xiaoqian , Zhang Yicheng , Deng Xiangling , Zhang Zhixin , Niu Wenquan 
Published: May 2023

AbstractAsthma is one of the most frequent chronic diseases in children, and growing focus is placed on the exploration of attributable risk factors. Currently, no consensus has been reached on the implication of circulating zinc in the development of asthma. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis to examine the association between circulating zinc and risk for childhood asthma and wheezing. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar from inception until December 1, 2022. All procedures were performed independently and in duplicate. Random-effects model was adopted to derive standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Statistical analyses were completed using the STATA software. Twenty-one articles and 2205 children were meta-analyzed. Overall, there was a statistically significant association between circulating zinc and risk for childhood asthma and wheezing (SMD: −0.38; 95% CI: −0.60 to −0.17; I2=82.6%, p<0.001), without evidence of publication bias as revealed by Begg’s (p=0.608) and Egger (p=0.408) tests. Subgroup analyses showed that children with asthma or wheezing in Middle Eastern countries had significantly lower circulating zinc levels than controls (SMD: −0.42; 95% CI: −0.69 to −0.14; p<0.001; I2=87.1%). Additionally, average circulating zinc levels in asthma children were 0.41 μg/dl lower than that in controls, and the difference was statistically significant (SMD: −0.41; 95% CI: −0.65 to −0.16; p<0.001; I2=83.7%). By contrast, children with wheezing were 0.20 μg/dl lower than that in controls, and no between-group difference was noted (SMD=-0.20; 95% CI: −0.58 to 0.17; p=0.072; I2=69.1%). Our findings indicated that circulating zinc was associated with a significant risk for childhood asthma and its related symptom wheezing.
ACE 2.0: A Comprehensive tool for automatic extraction, analysis, and digital profiling of the researchers in Scientific Communities
Authors: Rizvi Syed Tahseen Raza , Ahmed Sheraz , Dengel Andreas 
Published: May 2023

AbstractIn the current digital era, it is remarkably convenient for researchers to share and collaborate on novel scientific ideas. Scientists aim to accomplish these endeavors through closely knitted scientific communities, depending on the domain. Technological advancements and their evolution overtime gave rise to a boom in the emergence of research communities with unique topics and focuses. Due to the enormous number and vastness of scientific communities, it is an intractable task to analyze scientific communities and administer them from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Existing tools provide a limited and shallow glance into a scientific community. In this paper, we present a comprehensive system for the analysis of scientific communities called ACE 2.0 (Academic Community Explorer 2.0) which employs state-of-the-art models to automatically, efficiently, and smartly extract, and analyze bibliographic data. Moreover, it provides a range of insights from individual researchers to interactions between communities. These insights include different community-level aspects like collaboration patterns, citation patterns, influential persons with different roles, contributions from geographical locations, topics evolution, and many other fine-grained aspects within each scientific community. Our system considers scholarly publications as a primary source of information. However, it also employs several external resources to collect as much data as possible to correctly identify individual researchers and their contributions. Using all the collected data, ACE 2.0 performs an analysis of scientific communities and automatically performs detailed digital profiling of individual researchers. This analysis identifies trends in their citation, collaboration, contributions, popularity, and role in the community. Additionally, ACE 2.0 introduces a new Semantic index for researchers that takes into account both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the citations received by a researcher and quantifies their influence in the community. To conclude, ACE 2.0 enables us to analyze and oversee the scientific communities using trends and information gathered from different sources encompassing multiple aspects. Therefore, this work motivates us to discover endless new perspectives and opens it up to a wide range of applications in other domains. The demo of ACE 2.0 visualization engine is available at https://ace.opendfki.de/.
Tribology of enzymatically degraded cartilage mimicking early osteoarthritis
Authors: Ren Ke , Reina Mahecha Miguel Alejandro , Hübner Maike , Cui Zhiwei , Kaper Hans J. , van der Veen Hugo C. , Sharma Prashant K. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractHealthy cartilage is a water-filled super lubricious tissue. Collagen type II provides it structural stability, and proteoglycans absorb water to keep the cartilage in a swollen condition, providing it the ability to creep and provide weeping lubrication. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative and debilitating disorder of diarthrodial joints, where articular cartilage damage originates from enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage (wear). The objective of this research is to observe the level of cartilage damage present in knee arthroplasty patients and to understand the friction and creep behavior of enzymatically degraded bovine cartilage in vitro. Lateral (Lat) and medial (Med) condylar cartilages from OA patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty showed signs of enzymatic degradation and mechanical damage. Bovine cartilages were exposed to collagenase III and chondroitinase ABC to degrade collagen and proteoglycans, respectively. The loss of proteoglycans or collagen network and morphological changes were observed through histology and the atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. A significant effect on creep due to enzymatic treatment was not observed. But the enzymatic treatment was found to significantly decrease the coefficient of friction (COF) at 4 N, while higher COF was shown from chondroitinase ABC degraded cartilage at 40 N. Collagenase III treatment leads to the release of intact proteoglycans at the sliding interface, while chondroitinase ABC treatment leads to the loss of chondroitin sulfate (CS) from the proteoglycans. Chondroitinase ABC-digested bovine cartilage mimicked patient samples the best because of the similar distributions of proteoglycans, collagen network, and friction behavior.
Ormoni gastrointestinali e terapia del diabete: dalla fisiologia alle nuove opportunità terapeutiche
Authors: Fadini Gian Paolo 
Published: May 2023

SommarioIl sistema gastrointestinale produce ormoni che influenzano non solo il transito e l’assorbimento dei nutrienti, ma anche dell’emodinamica sistemica e del metabolismo intermedio. La comprensione delle risposte ormonali al pasto è fondamentale per studiare il diabete tipo 2 e l’obesità e per sviluppare nuove terapie. Questa rassegna si focalizza sul ruolo degli ormoni incretinici in fisiologia e sulle loro alterazioni nel diabete, illustrando lo sviluppo di nuovi approcci terapeutici. Da una revisione delle evidenze disponibili emerge che il peptide insulino-tropico glucosio dipendente (GIP) esercita un effetto incretinico rilevante dal punto di vista fisiologico forse più di quello esercitato dal peptide glucaconosimile tipo 1 (GLP-1). È stato stimato che il diabete tipo 2 presenta in difetto incretinico stimabile intorno al 30%, che deriva da una combinazione di: 1) deficit di secrezione di GLP-1; 2) resistenza all’azione del GIP; e 3) riduzione della capacità secretiva massima delle beta-cellule. Dopo gli ottimi risultati ottenuti con lo sfruttamento farmacologico del GLP-1, lo sviluppo farmaceutico ha condotto alla produzione di agonisti bi-ormonali attivi simultaneamente su GIP e GLP-1. Un farmaco di questa nuova classe ha dimostrato potenti effetti glicemici e ponderali ed è stato approvato dagli enti regolatori nel 2022 per il trattamento del diabete tipo 2. Questo ambito vede già affacciarsi i tri-agonisti ormonali, che potrebbero diventare una realtà terapeutica nei prossimi anni.
Effect of Zr Addition on Selected Properties and Microstructure of Aluminum Alloy AlSi5Cu2Mg
Authors: Bolibruchová Dana , Sýkorová Martina , Brůna Marek , Matejka Marek , Širanec Lukáš 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe hypoeutectic aluminum alloy AlSi5Cu2Mg is used for the production of high-strength cylinder head castings. The alloy is unique for its specific low permitted Ti content (0.03 wt% max), which makes it impossible to refine the grain structure of this alloy using standard Al–Ti–B grain refiners. The specific chemical composition is specified by the supplier company. The aim of this paper is to find a suitable alloying element that would improve the selected properties (e.g., mechanical, and physical properties) that are crucial for cylinder head castings. The research focuses on the investigation of the effect of different Zr addition (0.05; 0.10; 0.15 and 0.20 wt% Zr in the form of AlZr20 master alloy) on the properties of AlSi5Cu2Mg in the as-cast state and after heat treatment T7. The obtained results showed that ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, hardness, and physical properties of as-cast samples do not change significantly with increasing Zr content. The experimental alloys showed a more significant increase in ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, hardness, and thermal conductivity after heat treatment T7. Zirconium-rich intermetallic phases were observed in the shape of separate thick needles or as a cluster of two crossed thinner needles.
Operationalizing anthropological theory: four techniques to simplify networks of co-occurring ethnographic codes
Authors: Cottica Alberto , Davidov Veronica , Góralska Magdalena , Kubik Jan , Melançon Guy , Mole Richard , Pinaud Bruno , Szymański Wojciech 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe use of data and algorithms in the social sciences allows for exciting progress, but also poses epistemological challenges. Operations that appear innocent and purely technical may profoundly influence final results. Researchers working with data can make their process less arbitrary and more accountable by making theoretically grounded methodological choices. We apply this approach to the problem of simplifying networks representing ethnographic corpora, in the interest of visual interpretation. Network nodes represent ethnographic codes, and their edges the co-occurrence of codes in a corpus. We introduce and discuss four techniques to simplify such networks and facilitate visual analysis. We show how the mathematical characteristics of each one are aligned with an identifiable approach in sociology or anthropology: structuralism and post-structuralism; identifying the central concepts in a discourse; and discovering hegemonic and counter-hegemonic clusters of meaning. We then provide an example of how the four techniques complement each other in ethnographic analysis.
Preparation and Properties of Sepiolite-Based 3D Flame-Retardant Aerogel
Authors: Hu Yelei , Xu Tong , Xu Hong , Zhong Yi , Zhang Linping , Wang Bijia , Sui Xiaofeng , Feng Xueling , Mao Zhiping 
Published: May 2023

AbstractSepiolite-based composites have great potential for application as flame-retardant and thermal-insulation material but their application and development are limited by poor mechanical properties. The objective of the present study was to combine polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH-550) with sepiolite (Sep) to improve its aerogel strength. A universal testing machine, thermogravimetry, and microcalorimetry were used to investigate the mechanical properties, thermal-stability, and flame-retardant properties, respectively, of aerogels. The results indicated that KH-550 can enhance effectively the mechanical properties and flame retardancy of aerogels. The compressive modulus of PVA/Sep vs KH-550/PVA/Sep aerogel was 209.28 vs. 474.43 kPa, the LOI index changed from 26.4 to 30.4%. The porosity of the aerogels was > 96% and the density was < 0.05 g/cm3. The thermal conductivity remained at between 0.0340 and 0.0390 W/(m·K), and the aerogel could recover to > 85% after a 50% compressive deformation. These data indicated that Sep-based aerogel would act as a flame retardant and a thermal insulating material with excellent mechanical properties.
Enhancing Zero-Shot Action Recognition in Videos by Combining GANs with Text and Images
Authors: Huang Kaiqiang , Miralles-Pechuán Luis , Mckeever Susan 
Published: May 2023

AbstractZero-shot action recognition (ZSAR) tackles the problem of recognising actions that have not been seen by the model during the training phase. Various techniques have been used to achieve ZSAR in the field of human action recognition (HAR) in videos. Techniques based on generative adversarial networks (GANs) are the most promising in terms of performance. GANs are trained to generate representations of unseen videos conditioned on information related to the unseen classes, such as class label embeddings. In this paper, we present an approach based on combining information from two different GANs, both of which generate a visual representation of unseen classes. Our dual-GAN approach leverages two separate knowledge sources related to the unseen classes: class-label texts and images related to the class label obtained from Google Images. The generated visual embeddings of the unseen classes by the two GANs are merged and used to train a classifier in a supervised-learning fashion for ZSAR classification. Our methodology is based on the idea that using more and richer knowledge sources to generate unseen classes representations will lead to higher downstream accuracy when classifying unseen classes. The experimental results show that our dual-GAN approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods on the two benchmark HAR datasets: HMDB51 and UCF101. Additionally, we present a comprehensive discussion and analysis of the experimental results for both datasets to understand the nuances of each approach at a class level. Finally, we examine the impact of the number of visual embeddings generated by the two GANs on the accuracy of the models.
Is political skill always beneficial? The relationship between political skill and unethical pro-supervisor behavior
Authors: Cui Zilong , Zhang Kaixin 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
By drawing on social exchange theory, we developed a theoretical model to explore the effect of political skill on unethical pro-supervisor behavior (UPSB) via leader–member exchange (LMX) and the way in which immediate supervisor empowering leadership moderates this mediated relationship. A three-wave study (n = 442) provided evidence suggesting that political skill is positively related to UPSB and that LMX partially mediates this relationship. Immediate supervisor empowering leadership moderates the effect of political skill on LMX, and political skill is positively and indirectly related to UPSB via LMX when the level of immediate supervisor empowering leadership is high. Although political skill is beneficial to both employees and organizations in many respects, our study provides empirical evidence that can improve our understanding of how political skills trigger UPSB. The practical and theoretical implications of our findings are discussed.
The name ’ndrangheta: history versus etymology
Authors: Dickie John 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe article uses archival sources to critique the currently dominant etymological approach to the history of the word ’ndrangheta as used to refer to the Calabrian mafia. Scholars such as Paolo Martino and John Trumper have latched onto the word's ancient Greek origins to argue that the mafia organisation that we today call ’Ndrangheta has origins dating back many centuries. Moreover, according to Martino in particular, the flattering connotations of the word ’ndrangheta (courage, martial prowess, manliness) indicate that the ’Ndrangheta as a social phenomenon was rooted in the same positive values, and that it only later degenerated into criminality. This article proposes that the work of Martino and Trumper represents a largely evidence-free extension of etymology into the field of history. Analysing the latest archival evidence about the word from criminal trials conducted in the 1920s and early 1930s, and setting it in the context of current historiography and criminology on the ’Ndrangheta, the article argues that two conclusions about the history of the word are likely: that the use of ’ndrangheta as a name for the Calabrian mafia began at around the time it first appeared in the documentary sources; that the first to adopt it were mafiosi themselves.
Beyond the National Museum Paradigm: Troubled Past Vernacular Representations in Central and Southeastern Europe
Authors: Asavei Maria Alina , Králová Kateřina 
Published: May 2023

AbstractAs nationalist and populist rhetorics have gained momentum in Central and Southeastern Europe, there is an urgency to disentangle the historical narratives and political agendas displayed by national museum paradigms. And yet, equally significant is the urgency to illuminate the strategies and mnemonic devices through which the past is rendered worthy of commemoration, both in those memory cultures that come to life in opposition, or those which are complementary to the national museum’s paradigms. In line with these considerations, this special issue addresses the vernacular dimension of public memory, with a special focus on those memory cultures instantiated by mnemonic actors who do not necessarily possess the public epistemic authority to materialize their narratives about violent pasts as official memories.
The genetic contribution to the comorbidity of depression and anxiety: a multi-site electronic health records study of almost 178 000 people
Authors: Coombes Brandon J , Landi Isotta , Choi Karmel W , Singh Kritika , Fennessy Brian , Jenkins Greg D , Batzler Anthony , Pendegraft Richard , Nunez Nicolas A , Gao Y Nina , Ryu Euijung , Wickramaratne Priya , Weissman Myrna M ,   Regeneron Genetics Center, Pathak Jyotishman , Mann J John , Smoller Jordan W , Davis Lea K , Olfson Mark , Charney Alexander W , Biernacka Joanna M 
Published: May 2023

AbstractBackgroundDepression and anxiety are common and highly comorbid, and their comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes posing clinical and public health concerns. We evaluated the polygenic contribution to comorbid depression and anxiety, and to each in isolation.MethodsDiagnostic codes were extracted from electronic health records for four biobanks [N = 177 865 including 138 632 European (77.9%), 25 612 African (14.4%), and 13 621 Hispanic (7.7%) ancestry participants]. The outcome was a four-level variable representing the depression/anxiety diagnosis group: neither, depression-only, anxiety-only, and comorbid. Multinomial regression was used to test for association of depression and anxiety polygenic risk scores (PRSs) with the outcome while adjusting for principal components of ancestry.ResultsIn total, 132 960 patients had neither diagnosis (74.8%), 16 092 depression-only (9.0%), 13 098 anxiety-only (7.4%), and 16 584 comorbid (9.3%). In the European meta-analysis across biobanks, both PRSs were higher in each diagnosis group compared to controls. Notably, depression-PRS (OR 1.20 per s.d. increase in PRS; 95% CI 1.18–1.23) and anxiety-PRS (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.05–1.09) had the largest effect when the comorbid group was compared with controls. Furthermore, the depression-PRS was significantly higher in the comorbid group than the depression-only group (OR 1.09; 95% CI 1.06–1.12) and the anxiety-only group (OR 1.15; 95% CI 1.11–1.19) and was significantly higher in the depression-only group than the anxiety-only group (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.02–1.09), showing a genetic risk gradient across the conditions and the comorbidity.ConclusionsThis study suggests that depression and anxiety have partially independent genetic liabilities and the genetic vulnerabilities to depression and anxiety make distinct contributions to comorbid depression and anxiety.
Percolation in simple directed random graphs with a given degree distribution
Authors: van Ieperen Femke , Kryven Ivan 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWe study site and bond percolation in simple directed random graphs with a given degree distribution. We derive the percolation threshold for the giant strongly connected component and the fraction of vertices in this component as a function of the percolation probability. The results are obtained for degree sequences in which the maximum degree may depend on the total number of nodes n, being asymptotically bounded by $n^{\frac{1}{9}}$.
Music Deferred: A Reappraisal of the Legacy of Pierre Schaeffer's Treatise on Musical Objects (1966)
Authors: BAY SUSAN C. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThis article reinterprets the tension between sound and music in Pierre Schaeffer's 1966 Treatise on Musical Objects. Schaeffer famously insisted that the Treatise did not address music or composition; scholars have therefore engaged with it primarily as a theoretical text on sound and listening. In this article, however, I argue that the denial and deferral of music throughout the Treatise should be considered a discrete and key part of its theoretical contributions. By the early 1960s, Schaeffer's aesthetic frustration with the practice of musique concrète had blossomed into something of an ethical imperative and paradox. He saw it necessary to suspend all musical activity in the present, so as to salvage music's future. This dynamic is key to understanding Schaeffer's controversial and influential calls for the deferral of cultural responses to sound in the Treatise, as illustrated by the practices of ‘deconditioning’ and ‘reconditioning’.
Verifying Ray Tracing Amplitude Methods for Global Magnetospheric Modeling
Authors: Holmes Justin C. , Delzanno G. L. , Colestock P. L. , Yakymenko K. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractRay tracing is a commonly used method for modeling the propagation of electromagnetic waves in Earth's magnetosphere. To apply ray tracing results to global models of wave‐particle interaction such as energetic electron scattering, it is useful to map the discrete rays to a volume filling mesh. However, some methods have inherent losses of energy from the wave source, or do not account for the full range of wave properties within a sample volume. We have developed and tested a 3D magnetospheric ray tracing code “MESHRAY” which resolves these issues. MESHRAY uses the conservation of Poynting flux through ray triplets with finite volume to determine the local field amplitudes. Electromagnetic wave energy density from all ray data points is mapped to a mesh and verified against the wave source power for energy conservation varying time step length, number of rays, and total time steps. We find that the method is self‐consistent and numerically robust. We further investigate whether the neglect of phase information and superposition has a significant impact on the accuracy of mapping wave intensity to a mesh. We find excellent agreement between the analytic solution for waves emitted by a line source in a plane‐stratified medium and an equivalent ray tracing solution. When phase information is excluded, ray tracing reproduces an average amplitude spread over regions of coherent constructive and destructive interference. This may be an important consideration for interpolating ray tracing results of longer wavelength waves such as magnetosonic, electromagnetic ion cyclotron, or ULF waves.