bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Non-universal gauge interactions addressing the inescapable link between Higgs and flavour
Authors: Davighi Joe , Isidori Gino 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
We systematically explore ultraviolet complete models where flavour hierarchies emerge, via approximate accidental symmetries, from an underlying flavour non-universal gauge structure. In order to avoid large quantum corrections to the Higgs mass, the first layer of non-universality, separating the third generation from the light ones, should appear at the TeV scale. A handful of models survive the combined criteria of naturalness in the Higgs sector, having a semi-simple embedding in the UV, and compatibility with experiments. They all feature quark-lepton unification in the third family and a non-universal electroweak sector. We study in more detail the interesting option of having colour and hypercharge non-universal at the TeV scale, while SU(2)L remains universal up to high scales: this gauge structure turns to be very efficient in secluding the Higgs from large quantum corrections and predicting flavour mixing consistent with data. In all cases, these models imply a rich TeV-scale phenomenology within the reach of near-future direct and indirect experimental searches.
Challenges in the determination of total vitamin B12 by cyanidation conversion: insights from stable isotope dilution assays
Authors: Wang Mengle , Schuster Kathrin , Asam Stefan , Rychlik Michael 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPrevious methods for vitamin B12 (B12) analysis have extensively used cyanidation conversion with the intention of converting all cobalamins to cyanocobalamin (CNCbl) for total B12 determination. This approach has been favored for its advantages in reducing the number of analytes, increasing analyte concentration, and improving analyte stability. However, the present study revealed underlying limitations associated with this approach. First, a stable isotope dilution assay (SIDA) determining total B12 as CNCbl after cyanidation conversion (conversion SIDA method) was developed. Method validation demonstrated good sensitivity, recovery, accuracy, and reproducibility for the target analyte CNCbl. However, subsequent application of the conversion method to real meat samples showed incomplete conversions of cobalamins. These inconsistencies revealed day-to-day variability and reliability challenges associated with the cyanidation process. It was not possible to identify this issue during method validation as CNCbl was spiked as the sole analyte and it requires no further cyanidation conversion. The application of LC-MS/MS enabled the detection of trace amounts of unconverted cobalamins. Nevertheless, this approach remains restricted by instrument sensitivity and stability as well as the performance of immunoaffinity purification for different vitamers. Further development of a reliable monitoring method is a prerequisite for further optimization of the cyanidation process. However, significant improvements of analytical instrumentation in terms of sensitivity and stability are required to overcome the current limitations.
Graphical abstract
An open-source software package for Precise Point Positioning: raPPPid
Authors: Glaner Marcus Franz , Weber Robert 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPrecise Point Positioning (PPP) has proven to be a powerful GNSS positioning method used for various scientific and commercial applications nowadays. We present a flexible and user-friendly software package named raPPPid suitable for processing single to triple-frequency GNSS observations in various PPP approaches (e.g., ionospheric-free linear combination, uncombined model), available under https://github.com/TUW-VieVS/raPPPid. To tune the PPP procedure, the user can select from many satellite products, models, options, and parameters. This way, the software raPPPid can handle high-to-low quality observation data ranging from geodetic equipment to smartphones. Despite significant improvements, the convergence time of PPP is still a major topic in scientific research. raPPPid is specially designed to reduce the convergence period with diverse implemented approaches, such as PPP-AR or ionospheric pseudo-observations, and to offer the user multiple plots and statistics to analyze this critical period. Typically, raPPPid achieves coordinate convergence times of around 1 min or below with high-quality observations and ambiguity fixing. With smartphone data and a simplified PPP approach, a 2D position accuracy at the one-meter level or below is accomplished after two to three minutes.
Piezoelectric Transformer-Based High-Voltage Pulse Generator Using Wide-Bandgap Semiconductors for Medical Electroporation Therapy
Authors: Chole Ajay M. , Duffy Maeve 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn this paper, a new application of Piezoelectric Transformer (PT)-based power converters to generate high-voltage (HV) bipolar pulses for medical electroporation therapy is proposed. In particular, PT-based power conversion is investigated as an alternative to magnetics-based approaches of generating HV from a relatively low-voltage (LV) input source for application in electroporation therapy. The detailed PT-based system design and selection of wide bandgap semiconductor switches such as GaN FETs, high-voltage SiC diodes and SiC MOSFETs, as well as simulation results to demonstrate proof-of-concept using LTSpice are presented. Preliminary experimental results of the PT-based capacitor charger are shown, and work is ongoing to develop a complete hardware prototype of the proposed HV pulse generator.
Human wastewater tracking in tropical Hawaiian island streams using qualitative and quantitative assessments of combined fecal indicating bacteria and sucralose, an organic micropollutant of emerging concern
Authors: Berg Carl J. , Alderete John P. , Alderete Ethan A. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractPrevalence of cesspools on tropical islands suggests that high concentrations of enteric bacteria in streams and coastal waters are an indicator of groundwater contamination by human wastewater. But enterococci bacteria may also be from homeothermic animals common to these watersheds or bacteria living in sediments. Sucralose, a manufactured chemical not destroyed in passage through the human gut, cesspools, septic systems, or wastewater treatment facilities, was used to test for the presence of human wastewater in streams on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Effluent from six municipal wastewater treatment plants showed an average concentration of 39,167 ng/L of sucralose, roughly back-calculated to 9 ng/L per person, enough to present itself in cesspool effluent contaminated waters. Of 24 streams tested, 79% were positive for sucralose at least once in four sets of sampling. All streams tested positive for enterococci bacteria above established standards. Serial testing of the pair of indicators in the same location over time and applying the Multiplication Rule to the independent samples provide a probabilistic certainty level that the water is chronically polluted by human waste. When repeatedly paired with tests for enterococci, sucralose testing is a cost-effective means for assessing human health risk and for developing proper waste management programs that has been underutilized in under-developed tropical and island settings.
Introduction to the special issue ‘The phenomenology of joint action’
Authors: Knappik Franz , Gangopadhyay Nivedita 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe contributions collected in this special issue explore the phenomenology of joint action from a broad range of different disciplinary and methodological angles, including philosophical investigation (both in the analytic and the phenomenological tradition), computational modeling, experimental study, game theory, and developmental psychology. They also vastly expand the range of discussed cases beyond the standard examples of house-painting and sauce-cooking, addressing, for example, collective musical improvisations, dancing, work at the Diversity and Equity office of a university, and historical examples of collective violence such as the revolutionary Terror in France and the Nazis. In our introduction to this special issue, we group the contributions into three thematic areas – 1) the phenomenological fine-structure of joint action, 2) underlying mechanisms for joint action and 3) phenomenal preconditions for joint action. The first theme is discussed under a number of issues – a) components of the phenomenology of joint action, b) the I and the we in joint action, c) the effect of group size, structure and nature on the phenomenology of joint action and d) how do phenomenal relate to normative aspects of joint action?
Strategic Alignment in Times of Crisis: Voting at the Dawn of a Global Pandemic
Authors: Leininger Arndt , Schaub Max 
Published: July 2023

AbstractNatural disasters are likely to increase in the near future. How does the emergence of such events influence voting behavior? While the literature has focused on the electoral repercussions after disaster has already struck, we investigate whether imminent disaster influences vote choice. We study the effect of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic on electoral choice in a setting that allows for causal identification: the local elections in Germany’s southern state Bavaria in March 2020, where, at the time of the elections, only an as-if random sample of localities had recorded cases of COVID-19. We find that initial local outbreaks favored the political party governing at the state level and hurt the far right. These findings are most likely driven by a ‘strategic alignment’ mechanism, whereby voters choose the party or candidate they believe is best placed to help them through the crisis.
Conditions that make ventures thrive: from individual entrepreneur to innovation impact
Authors: Chung Brian , Franses Philip Hans , Pennings Enrico 
Published: July 2023

AbstractEntrepreneurship and innovation create a positive impact on the economy and society. Globally, governments invest resources to support new ventures and facilitate innovation. In this study, we examine this phenomenon by studying the pathway that goes from individual entrepreneur to innovation impact. We measure the effect of entrepreneurial motives on different types of innovations, with a particular focus on its amplification by formal and informal institutional conditions. Specifically, we use multi-level models to analyze annual data of 29 countries for 2006 to 2018. We find that opportunity-driven entrepreneurs are associated with higher levels of radical innovation, breakthrough innovation, and disruptive innovation. Better tax policies and less bureaucracy amplify this positive effect on radical innovation and breakthrough innovation. For necessity-driven entrepreneurs, the regulatory quality amplifies the positive effect on radical innovation and disruptive innovation, while monetary resources dampen this effect. Our findings show that the differences in innovation impact can be explained by differences in entrepreneurial motives and their specific interactions with formal and informal institutional conditions.
Development and validation of the patient-reported outcome scale for chronic kidney disease
Authors: Shi Yu , Pu Shi , Peng Hongmei , Luo Yu 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Purpose
The patient-reported outcomes (PROs) measuring patient’s experience and perception of disease are important components of approach to care. However, no tools are available to assess the PROs of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aims to develop and verify a PROs scale to evaluate clinical outcomes in CKD patients.

Methods
The theoretical structure model and original item pool were formed through a literature review, patient interviews and references to relevant scales. The Delphi method, classical test theory methods and item response theory method were used to select items and adjust dimensions to form the final scale. Altogether 360 CKD patients were recruited through convenience sampling. CKD-PROs could be evaluated from four aspects, namely reliability, content validity, construct validity, responsibility, and feasibility.

Results
The CKD-PROs scale covers 4 domains, including the physiological, psychological, social, and therapeutic domain, and 12 dimensions, 54 items. The Cronbach’s α is 0.939, the split reliability coefficient is 0.945, and the correlation of the scores each item and domain’s coefficients range from 0.413 to 0.669. The results of structure validity, content validity and reactivity showed that the multidimensional measurement of the scale met professional expectations. The recovery rate and effective rate of the scale were over 99%.

Conclusion
The CKD-PROs scale has great reliability, validity, reactivity, acceptability and is capable of being used as one of the evaluation tools for the clinical outcomes of CKD patients.
Proteomic methods for the study of porcine acute phase proteins – anything new to detect?
Authors: Miller Ingrid , Gianazza Elisabetta 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAcute phase proteins (APPs) reflect the health status of individuals and are important tools in diagnostics, as their altered levels are a sign of disturbed homeostasis. While, in most cases, quantitation of known serum APPs is routinely performed by immunoassays, proteomics is helpful in discovery of new biomarker candidates, especially in samples other than body fluids. Besides putting APP regulation into an overall context of differentially abundant proteins, this approach can detect further details or outright new features in protein structure or specific modifications, and help understand better their function. Thus, it can show up ways to make present diagnostic assays more sensitive and/or specific, or correlate regulations of disease-specific proteins. The APP repertoire is dependent on the species. The pig is both, an important farm animal and a model animal for human diseases, due to similarities in physiology. Besides reviewing existing literature, yet unpublished examples for two-dimensional electrophoresis in connection with pig APPs highlight some of the benefits of proteomics. Of further help would be the emerging targeted proteomics, offering the possibility to determine particular isoforms or proteoforms, without the need of specific antibodies, but this method is presently scarcely used in veterinary medicine.
Clinical significance of dual-energy dual-layer CT parameters in differentiating small-sized gastrointestinal stromal tumors from leiomyomas
Authors: Tsurumaru Daisuke , Nishimuta Yusuke , Kai Satohiro , Oki Eiji , Minoda Yosuke , Ishigami Kousei 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Small gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) can generally have nonspecific CT findings similar to those with benign submucosal tumors of the stomach. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential dual-layer dual-energy CT (dlDECT) parameters to differentiate small-sized (≤ 4 cm) GISTs from leiomyomas of the stomach.

Materials and methods
This retrospective study included 26 SMTs ≤ 4 cm in diameter with pathological confirmation of either GIST (n = 17) or leiomyoma (n = 9) from May 2018 to January 2022. All patients received contrast-enhanced CT. The normalized iodine concentration (NIC) and spectral slope (λHU) were compared between GIST and leiomyoma. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted and the areas under the curve (AUCs) were calculated to estimate the diagnostic performance of these markers for differentiating GISTs from leiomyomas.

Results
NIC was significantly higher in GIST than in leiomyoma in the portal (P = 0.0019) and delayed phases (P = 0.0011). λHU was significantly higher in GIST than in leiomyoma in the portal (P = 0.0006) and delayed phases (P = 0.0009). AUC of the ROC curves using NIC to differentiate between GIST and leiomyoma were 0.875 and 0.895 in the portal and delayed phase; using λHU, they were 0.918 and 0.902 in the portal and delayed phase.

Conclusion
dlDECT parameters including NIC and λHU show promise as indicators for differentiating small-sized GISTs from leiomyomas.
Characterising the shear resistance of a unidirectional non-crimp glass fabric using modified picture frame and uniaxial bias extension test methods
Authors: Kahavita K. D. H. N. , McCarthy E. D. , Zhang M. , Brádaigh C. M. Ó , Harrison P. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe forming behaviour of a unidirectional non-crimp fabric (UD-NCF) consisting of polyamide stitches with a tricot-chain stitching pattern is explored. Notably, there are no stabilising tows orientated transverse to the main tow direction in this fabric, a common feature in many ‘quasi’ UD-NCFs, this allows extension of the stitch in the transverse direction under certain loading conditions. The lack of stabilising tows introduces a possible low-energy deformation mode to the UD-NCF, which is absent in biaxial fabrics and to a large extent in ‘quasi’ UD-NCFs. The in-plane shear behaviour is initially investigated using both standard ‘tightly-clamped’ picture frame tests and uniaxial bias extension tests. Preliminary results show a dramatic difference in results produced by the two test methods. During the picture frame test, fibres can be subjected to unintended tension due to sample misalignment in the picture frame rig. To mitigate error arising from this effect, the picture frame test procedure is modified in two different ways: by using an intentional pre-displacement of the picture frame rig, and by changing the clamping condition of test specimen. Results show that the modified picture frame test data contain less error than the standard ‘tightly-clamped’ test but also that the shear stiffness of the UD-NCF is notably lower when measured in the bias extension test compared to the picture frame test, mainly due to the difference in loading conditions imposed during the two tests.
People Should Have a Right Not to Be Subjected to AI Profiling Based on Publicly Available Data! A Reply to Holm
Authors: Ploug Thomas 
Published: July 2023

AbstractStudies suggest that machine learning models may accurately predict depression and other mental health-related conditions based on social media data. I have recently argued that individuals should have sui generis right not to be subjected to AI profiling based on publicly available data without their explicit informed consent. In a comment, Holm claims that there are scenarios in which individuals have a reason to prefer attempts of social control exercised on the basis of accurate AI predictions and that the suggested right burdens individuals unfairly by allowing for those individuals to consent to AI profiling. In this reply, I address both of these alleged problems and their underlying assumptions and show why they fail to provide any reasons not to introduce the suggested right.
Biochar addition to tea garden soils: effects on tea fluoride uptake and accumulation
Authors: Wang Haoyang , Hu Teng , Wang Minghan , Liang Yunshan , Shen Chengwen , Xu Huaqin , Zhou Yaoyu , Liu Zhonghua 
Published: July 2023

AbstractLong-term consumption of tea with high fluoride (F) content has a potential threat to human health. The application of different amounts of biochar to reduce F accumulation in tea leaves has been little studied. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of biochar amounts (0, 0.5%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 8.0%, and 10.0%, w/w) on tea F content during the tea plant growth. Changes in tea quality, soil F fraction, and soil properties caused by biochar and the relationship with tea F accumulation were also considered. The results showed that the application of biochar amendment significantly reduced water-soluble F contents in tea leaves compared to CK (without biochar), especially in the 8.0% treatment (72.55%). Overall, biochar contributed to improving tea polyphenols and caffeine, but had no significant impact on free amino acids and water leachate. Compared with CK, 5.0–10.0% biochar significantly increased soil water-soluble F content due to the substitution of F− with OH− under high pH. Additionally, biochar applied to tea garden soil was effective in decreasing the soil exchangeable aluminum (Ex-Al) content (46.37–91.90%) and increasing the soil exchangeable calcium (Ca2+) content (12.02–129.74%) compared to CK, and correlation analysis showed that this may help reduce F enrichment of tea leaves. In general, the application of 5.0–8.0% biochar can be suggested as an optimal application dose to decrease tea F contents while simultaneously improving tea quality.
Graphical Abstract
How Do We Change What We Cannot Describe? A Comprehensive Framework of User Behaviours in a Materials’ Circular Economy
Authors: Macklin Jennifer , Kaufman Stefan 
Published: July 2023

AbstractA circular economy is critical to addressing current unsustainable resource extraction, consumption and waste. Research has hitherto focused predominantly on the supply-side, particularly design, production and circular business models. However, the demand-side is essential in realising benefits from upstream activities. While circular consumption research is emerging, a clear and comprehensive picture of user behaviours required in a circular economy is still lacking. To address this, the research adopted a transdisciplinary integration approach, engaging over 100 Australian circular economy stakeholders from the public, private, research and civil sectors. The output of the research integration was a comprehensive Framework of User Circular Behaviours, containing 59 distinct user behaviours, clearly labelled, categorised and defined. The Framework organises user behaviours according to three phases of product interaction (get, use, pass on), and more specifically by their function in a circular economy. A preliminary model of the inter-relationships between these user behaviours and up- and downstream circular activities was also produced. The Framework contributes to existing circular consumer literature in three ways: it provides both greater breadth and depth of behaviours than existing models; it clarifies when performance of the behaviours can be considered circular; and includes precise definitions to provide clarity and enable consistency in terminology. The Framework has many benefits. It can enable translation between different stakeholders, connect research on production/business models with research on consumers/users and be utilised to organise and accumulate evidence of barriers and enablers of these behaviours and the interventions that work to change them.
Macroprudential policy, economic crises and economic growth
Authors: You Yu , Hu Xiaoying , Guo Hao 
Published: July 2023

AbstractSlow global economic growth, frequent fluctuations in international financial markets, and increasing wealth disparity have become common concerns facing the globe. Risk prevention and stable economic growth have become the basic requirements for high-quality economic development, and macroprudential policy tools are at the center of these two policy objectives. This paper constructs a unified empirical analysis framework and incorporates the two policy objectives of preventing economic crises and stabilizing economic growth to analyze the comprehensive effects of macroprudential policy. Using data from 100 economies from 2000 to 2017, we find that the impact of macroprudential policy on economic growth can be divided into direct and indirect channels. For all economies, macroprudential policy can indirectly promote economic growth by suppressing economic crises, but its direct effect is heterogeneous. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of the direct effect of macroprudential policy on economic growth is mainly generated through channels such as investment, loan interest rates, and leverage. In high-income economies, the direct impact of macroprudential policy on economic growth is not obvious; in middle- and high-income economies, it promotes economic growth by influencing investment and leverage; in low- and lower-middle-income economies, it hinders economic growth through investment and loan interest rates.