bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Satellite data reveal how Sudd wetland dynamics are linked with globally-significant methane emissions
Authors: Hardy Andy , Palmer Paul I , Oakes Gregory 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Recent work has highlighted the large role of methane emissions from the Sudd wetland and surrounding ecosystems on the global atmospheric growth rate of methane since 2010. These emissions are driven by high rainfall over basin catchments linked with the positive phase of the Indian Ocean Dipole. We reconstruct flood inundation for the Sudd wetland over a 38-year period at a spatial resolution of 30 m using a new satellite Earth Observation (EO) wetland mapping tool. We reveal considerable changes in the wet season extent of the wetland, including an increase >300% since 2019 compared to the median 1984–2022 extent. We report major increases in flood extent within grassland-dominated floodplains outside of the area currently defined Sudd wetland region. These year-to-year changes in wetland extent are corroborated with total water storage anomalies inferred from satellite data (Pearson correlation R = 0.92), Lake Victoria levels (R = 0.73), and anomalies in reported annual mean global methane growth rates since 2009 (R = 0.88). Our analysis shows that flood water inundation is dominated by inundated vegetation and aquatic vegetation, accounting for an average of 40% and 50% of total extent, respectively, compared to open water that accounted for just 9% of inundation in a typical year. This is consistent with recent studies that report wetland methane emissions are focused on areas with inundated vegetation. Our findings also support recent studies that highlight the significant role of the Sudd wetland in driving anomalously large global atmospheric annual growth rates, 2020–2022. By capturing high resolution information on inundated vegetation, our EO wetland mapping tool has significant potential for improved wetland emission estimates of methane. Vascular plants common in the Sudd wetland, e.g. macrophytes including Phragmites Australis and Cyperus Papyrus, seem to play a key role in methane emissions and we recommend they should be the focus of future research.
The impacts of temperature averages, variabilities and extremes on China’s winter wheat yield and its changing rate
Authors: Yu Yueyue , Yang Xuhui , Guan Zhaoyong , Zhang Qi , Li Xichen , Gul Chaman , Xia Xin 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of wheat. The impact of temperature averages, variabilities, and extremes on winter wheat yield changes is still not very clear. The annual production data for winter wheat in China’s provinces and municipalities and NCEP-NCAR Reanalysis-1 data were used from November to April in the period 1949–2018, to investigate the impact of temperature-related variables, such as the winter average temperature (

T

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), winter variance of temperature (

T

2
m
_
var

), extreme hot days (EHD), and extreme cold days (ECD), on China’s winter wheat yield. Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) analysis showed that winter wheat yield has an in-phase relationship with average temperature but an out-of-phase relationship with variance of temperature, extreme hot days, and extreme cold days on timescales greater than 20 years. The changing rates of winter wheat yield and temperature-related variables were well measured by their sliding trends. At the overwintering growth stage, the increasing rate of average temperature and extreme hot days (temperature variance and extreme cold days) exhibit negative (positive) correlations with the rate of winter wheat yield change, with the strongest correlation observed in southeast China. During the tillering growth stage, the changing rates of average temperature exhibited a positive correlation with the rate of winter wheat yield change, whereas negative associations were observed with temperature variance, extreme hot days, and extreme cold days. Among the regions, Central China showed the weakest correlations. At the reviving growth stage, however, the relationship of changing rates of temperature-related variables with that of winter wheat yield was much weaker. These observational results are important and can be used as a reference in climate models for improving the climatic impacts on the winter wheat yield.
Neuroimaging prognostic factors for treatment response to motor imagery training after stroke
Authors: Zhang Kexu , Wang Hewei , Wang Xu , Xiong Xin , Tong Shanbao , Sun Changhui , Zhu Bing , Xu Yiming , Fan Mingxia , Sun Limin , Guo Xiaoli 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The efficacy of motor imagery training for motor recovery is well acknowledged, but with substantial inter-individual variability in stroke patients. To help optimize motor imagery training therapy plans and screen suitable patients, this study aimed to explore neuroimaging biomarkers explaining variability in treatment response. Thirty-nine stroke patients were randomized to a motor imagery training group (n = 22, received a combination of conventional rehabilitation therapy and motor imagery training) and a control group (n = 17, received conventional rehabilitation therapy and health education) for 4 weeks of interventions. Their demography and clinical information, brain lesion from structural MRI, spontaneous brain activity and connectivity from rest fMRI, and sensorimotor brain activation from passive motor task fMRI were acquired to identify prognostic factors. We found that the variability of outcomes from sole conventional rehabilitation therapy could be explained by the reserved sensorimotor neural function, whereas the variability of outcomes from motor imagery training + conventional rehabilitation therapy was related to the spontaneous activity in the ipsilesional inferior parietal lobule and the local connectivity in the contralesional supplementary motor area. The results suggest that additional motor imagery training treatment is also efficient for severe patients with damaged sensorimotor neural function, but might be more effective for patients with impaired motor planning and reserved motor imagery.
Strategic Competition and US–China Relations: A Conceptual Analysis
Authors: Winkler Stephanie Christine 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
Despite much attention on “strategic competition” between the USA and China following the declaration of China as America’s “strategic competitor,” the concept’s meanings, origins, as well as different analytical and political functions remain poorly understood. The present article fills this lacuna by conducting a conceptual study of “strategic competition” that traces the concept and its evolution over time. The article finds that there was never a singular or universally applicable meaning of “strategic competition”. When the concept first appeared during the détente era, politicians and scholars referred to the reality of needing to curtail “strategic competition” between the USA and the Soviet Union, and seek cooperative relations, such as through arms reduction treaties. In the late 1990s, the label “strategic competitor” became central to political efforts by the Bush administration to justify their pursuit of military power, deterrence, and American hegemony. Since the Trump administration in the late 2010s, “strategic competition” became a goal to pursue in US-China relations rather than something to be managed. Not recognizing the historical evolution of the term and its many different variations is analytically poor and politically dangerous, and impedes the development of a modus vivendi between the two great powers.
A Concept Forensic Methodology For The Investigation Of IoT Cyberincidents
Authors: Castelo Gómez Juan Manuel , Carrillo-Mondéjar Javier , Roldán-Gómez José , Martínez Martínez José Luis 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The number of Internet of Things (IoT) forensic investigations has increased considerably over recent years due to the weak nature of the security measures of its devices. In order to ensure the effectiveness and completeness of their examinations, investigators rely on forensic models, frameworks and methodologies. However, given the novelty of the environment, the existing ones are not refined enough, and the conventional counterparts do not satisfy the requirements of the IoT. Consequently, further improvements are needed in order for a more suitable IoT methodology to be designed. After reviewing the proposals from the research community for the development of procedures for performing IoT investigations, this article presents a practical concept methodology for conducting IoT forensic investigations that details step by step the whole examination process from its opening to its closing. In order to test its effectiveness and feasibility, it is submitted to a theoretical, a practical and a hybrid evaluation. Firstly, by comparing its level of detail, practicality and content with the related work. Secondly, by assessing its performance in two practical scenarios that depict real-life forensic investigations and the challenges that they present. And, finally, by studying how the existing models from the research community would have behaved in these cases. After performing these three different evaluations, it can be concluded that the results achieved by the proposed methodology were satisfactory, confirmed the feasibility of the proposal and showed clear benefits compared with the related work in terms of practicality and level of detail.
Teaching listening in middle schools: perceptions of practice
Authors: Ramírez-Orellana Daniela , Cárdenas-Claros Mónica S , Cáceres-Ramírez Belen 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
This qualitative case study first examined middle school teacher perceptions of practice regarding L2 listening instruction and, from these, proposes guidelines to favour L2 listening development. Novice middle-school teachers from Chile (n = 14) were guided within semi-structured interviews to reflect on their own L2 listening teaching practices in public and semi-private school classrooms. Verbal reports were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis techniques and underwent systematic interrogation of qualitative data. The results show an overemphasis on teacher preference for task completion to the detriment of developing listening strategies. We present results and provide guidelines for teachers to integrate features of a metacognitive instruction approach to listening.
First characterization of the intestinal microbiota in healthy Tunisian adults using 16S rRNA gene sequencing
Authors: Mahjoub Khachroub Ahlem , Monnoye Magali , Bouhlel Nour Elhouda , Azaiez Sana , Ben Fredj Maha , Mansour Wejdene , Gérard Philippe 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The gut microbiota is currently recognized as an important factor influencing the host’s metabolism, immune, and central nervous systems. Determination of the composition of the gut microbiota of healthy subjects is therefore necessary to establish a baseline for the detection of alterations in the microbiota under pathological conditions. So far, most studies describing the gut microbiota have been performed in populations from Asia, North America, and Europe, whereas populations from Africa have been overlooked. Here, we present the first characterization of the intestinal microbiota in healthy Tunisian adults using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We further compare the gut microbiota composition based on gender and BMI. Our results showed that the Tunisian gut microbiota is dominated by the phyla Firmicutes and Bacteroidota in accordance with studies from western countries. However, some specificities have been identified, including a higher proportion of Firmicutes in males and higher proportions of Atopobiaceae and Peptostreptococcaceae in Tunisian overweight individuals. Moreover, we were able to identify bacterial species differently represented between males and females and between normal weight and overweight individuals. These results constitute an important baseline that can be used to identify the dysbiosis associated with the main diseases affecting the Tunisian population.
Digital Prompts and Narrative Cues: Storytelling in the 1450s and in the 2020s
Authors: Emerson Catherine 
Published: June 2023

ABSTRACT
The Cent Nouvelles nouvelles present challenges to student learners of French linguistically, culturally and in terms of the content of the stories. Investigations designed to interrogate how the stories might have been collected in the second half of the fifteenth century end up demonstrating how the storytelling environment shapes the stories that are told and the way that they are understood. The experience of storytelling online during a period of pandemic learning is very different from the same experience in a pre- or post-pandemic classroom. Methodologies, such as critical pedagogy and inquiry stance pedagogy, which had limited resonance in the pre-pandemic environment, became much more central to the learner’s experience in the online, pandemic environment. This confirms the practices of ‘Flux pedagogy’, as advocated by Sharon M. Ravitch. Similarly, reactions to a story featuring the transmission of plague can be shaped by a framing that includes or excludes direct reference to the risk of infection experienced by the listeners.
Relationships Between Adherence to Guideline Recommendations for Pharmacological Therapy Among Clinicians and Psychotic Symptoms in Patients With Schizophrenia
Authors: Kodaka Fumitoshi , Ohi Kazutaka , Yasuda Yuka , Fujimoto Michiko , Yamamori Hidenaga , Hasegawa Naomi , Ito Satsuki , Fukumoto Kentaro , Matsumoto Junya , Miura Kenichiro , Yasui-Furukori Norio , Hashimoto Ryota 
Published: June 2023

Abstract

Background
Clinician adherence to guideline recommendations in the pharmacological therapy of schizophrenia is important for favorable patient outcomes. To evaluate whether prescriptions followed the guidelines for pharmacological therapy of schizophrenia, we recently developed a summary indicator of multiple quality indicators: the individual fitness score (IFS). It is unclear whether adherence to the guidelines is related to patient outcomes. Here, we investigated correlations between the IFS values and psychotic symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Methods
We assessed whether patients’ current prescriptions adhered to the guideline recommendations using the IFS in 47 patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) and 353 patients with non-TRS (total n = 400), respectively. We investigated correlations between the IFS and total scores and scores on the 5 subscales of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Furthermore, we explored correlations between over 2-year longitudinal changes in IFS values and changes in psychotic symptoms in some patients (n = 77).

Results
We found significant negative correlation between the IFS and PANSS total score in all patients with schizophrenia (β = −0.18, P = 9.80 × 10−5). The IFS was significantly and nominally negatively correlated with the PANSS total score in patients with non-TRS (Spearman’s rho = −0.15, P = 4.40 × 10−3) and patients with TRS (rho = −0.37, P = .011), respectively. The IFS was also significantly and nominally negatively correlated with several factors, such as the negative and depressed factors, in patients with non-TRS and patients with TRS, respectively (P &lt; .05). Furthermore, the change in IFS values was marginally negatively correlated with the changes in PANSS total scores and scores on the positive and depressed factors (P &lt; .05).

Conclusions
These findings suggest that efforts to improve clinician adherence to guideline recommendations for pharmacological therapy of schizophrenia, as assessed by the IFS, may lead to better outcomes in patients with schizophrenia.
Communication Mediation in an Era of Partisan Selectivity: Modeling Effects of Information and Discussion on Participation
Authors: Lee Seungsu , Cho Jaeho 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The present study applies the communication mediation model (CMM) to the increasingly prevalent patterns of partisan communication in contemporary polarized politics and fragmented partisan media environments. Specifically, we test the CMM considering (a) two types of news consumption (like-minded and cross-cutting) in the place of overall news use and (b) both affective and cognitive responses. We propose a partisan CMM that consists of a two-step mediation linking partisan news consumption to participation through talk and affective polarization. Results from national survey data covering three U.S. presidential election cycles (the 2012, 2016, and 2020 American National Election Studies) generally supported the model, with like-minded and cross-cutting news use having differential mediation processes on participation.
How Locally Owned and Sustainable Are Victims’ Groups in Postconflict and Transitional Settings? Reflections from Northern Uganda
Authors: Schulz Philipp 
Published: June 2023

ABSTRACT
Victims’ groups in postconflict settings have gained increasing attention in transitional justice scholarship and programming, as entry points for victims to engage with external transitional justice mechanisms, or as vehicles to facilitate healing, recovery or justice making on the micro level. These groups are often presented in terms of local ownership, victims’ participation and self-reliance. Based on work in Uganda, I have previously argued that victims’ groups constitute locally owned and sustainable resources that can facilitate a sense of justice for survivors on their own terms. Yet, based on recent field research observations, I have to ask myself: how locally owned and sustainable are these groups really? Due to a lack of donor support and external resources, the group that I worked with has become inactive since 2020. In this Note, I explore the reasons for and implications of this, with the intention of critically engaging with some of my previous arguments.
Effectiveness of sitafloxacin monotherapy for quinolone-resistant rectal and urogenital Mycoplasma genitalium infections: a prospective cohort study
Authors: Ando Naokatsu , Mizushima Daisuke , Takano Misao , Mitobe Morika , Kobayashi Kai , Kubota Hiroaki , Miyake Hirofumi , Suzuki Jun , Sadamasu Kenji , Aoki Takahiro , Watanabe Koji , Uemura Haruka , Yanagawa Yasuaki , Gatanaga Hiroyuki , Oka Shinichi 
Published: June 2023

Abstract

Background
Mycoplasma genitalium has a tendency to develop macrolide and quinolone resistance.

Objectives
We investigated the microbiological cure rate of a 7 day course of sitafloxacin for the treatment of rectal and urogenital infections in MSM.

Patients and methods
This open-label, prospective cohort study was conducted at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan from January 2019 to August 2022. Patients with M. genitalium urogenital or rectal infections were included. The patients were treated with sitafloxacin 200 mg daily for 7 days. M. genitalium isolates were tested for parC, gyrA and 23S rRNA resistance-associated mutations.

Results
In total, 180 patients (median age, 35 years) were included in this study, of whom 77.0% (97/126) harboured parC mutations, including 71.4% (90/126) with G248T(S83I) in parC, and 22.5% (27/120) harboured gyrA mutations. The median time to test of cure was 21 days. The overall microbiological cure rate was 87.8%. The cure rate was 100% for microbes harbouring parC and gyrA WTs, 92.9% for microbes harbouring parC G248T(S83I) and gyrA WT, and 41.7% for microbes harbouring parC G248T(S83I) and gyrA with mutations. The cure rate did not differ significantly between urogenital and rectal infection (P = 0.359).

Conclusions
Sitafloxacin monotherapy was highly effective against infection caused by M. genitalium, except strains with combined parC and gyrA mutations. Sitafloxacin monotherapy can be used as a first-line treatment for M. genitalium infections in settings with a high prevalence of parC mutations and a low prevalence of gyrA mutations.
Improved adaptive thin-layer inversion for semi-airborne transient electromagnetic method
Authors: Xian Yougong , Lan Riyan , Liu Yuchao , Li Dunren , Yang Jing , Sun Huaifeng 
Published: June 2023

ABSTRACT
To improve the resolution of electromagnetic inversion for thin layers, electromagnetic one-dimensional inversion was studied. The smooth conductivity model produced by Occam's inversion cannot accurately represent the information of the subterranean thin resistive layers, leading to erroneous inversion findings. The existing thin resistive layers’ inversion method sets the model constraint term at the thin resistive layers to 0, resulting in abrupt changes in resistivity values. Given these problems, we proposed an adaptive roughness matrix calculation method to improve the thin, low-resistive-layer resolution. The resistivity difference between neighboring layers of the updated inversion model determines the roughness matrix, allowing for the realization of adaptive inversion of the thin layer. It achieves semi-airborne transient electromagnetic enhanced adaptive thin-layer inversion and automatically manages the model constraint term. The calculation of the synthetic model demonstrates that the improved adaptive thin-layer inversion method does not need to know the thin, low-resistive layers information in advance. The model can produce appropriate inversion results regardless of the presence of thin, low-resistive layers. Finally, the drilling results are consistent with the inversed appearance of the semi-airborne transient electromagnetic field data. Other geophysical adaptive thin resistive layers inversion can also benefit from this paper's findings.
Satisfaction on educational training quality amongst college pharmacist alumni in Vietnam
Authors: Tran Ba Kien , Vu Thi Huong , Pham Duy Toan , Huynh Duyen Thi My , De Tran Van 
Published: June 2023

Abstract

Objectives
This study aimed to determine the factors affecting the satisfaction of 3-year-programme college pharmacy alumni on training/educational quality at a pharmacy college in Vietnam.

Methods
A cross-sectional research using a purposive sampling method was conducted on the alumni who had recently graduated in 2020 of a pharmacy college in Hai Duong, Vietnam. Data collection was conducted in two phases from November 2021 to January 2022, with the first phase being an online survey through Google Forms and the second phase being phone interviews and the use of the Zalo application. The quality of educational training was evaluated using 21 items, with an additional item designated for overall satisfaction. Exploratory factor analysis identified the four factors from the 21 items assessing training quality, whereas multivariate regression analysis determined the relationship between satisfaction factors and the overall satisfaction.

Results
A total of 282 complete records were obtained. The college pharmacist alumni’s satisfaction with the training qualities is influenced by four main factors, with internal consistency assessed using Cronbach’s alpha (α): the training staff (α = 0.93), the facilities and environment qualities (α = 0.91), the training programmes (α = 0.88) and the administrative formalities and support activities (α = 0.84). All factors had a positive impact on alumni satisfaction, the training staff factor (β = 0.460, P &lt; 0.001) had the greatest impact on the alumni satisfaction.

Conclusions
This study identified four factors affecting the satisfaction of college pharmacy alumni on training quality, including (1) the training staff, (2) the facilities and environmental qualities, (3) the training programmes and (4) the administrative formalities and support activities. To enhance training quality and alumni satisfaction, educational institutions should focus on innovating the teaching methods of the faculty, shifting from traditional teaching methods to active teaching methods that make lectures dynamic and help students develop necessary skills, as well as organizing training sessions and practical visits to improve specialized knowledge and practical experience for the faculty.