bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Modelling Escherichia coli removal during domestic wastewater treatment in outdoor pilot scale High Rate Algal Ponds
Authors: Chambonniere Paul , Plouviez Maxence , Guieysse Benoit 
Published: March 2023

AbstractWhile there is growing evidence that High Rate Algal Ponds (HRAPS) can support disinfection during wastewater treatment, the mechanisms of pathogen removal involved remain unclear. Based on previous findings, the present study aimed at verifying the occurrence and significance of dark decay, alkaline-pH toxicity, and sunlight direct damage in conditions representative of ‘real’ HRAP operation. For this purpose, Escherichia coli cell count was monitored hourly during 24 h periods in outdoor pilot HRAPs fed domestic wastewater. The data generated was used to create 2 distinct data sets that were then used to calibrate and validate a model of E. coli removal in HRAP. By modelling the contribution of the three mechanisms considered, E. coli removal in HRAPs could be predicted with a mean relative absolute error of 5.34% (N = 46). The model was then inputted yearly environmental data obtained from the continuous operations of the pilot scale HRAPs to evaluate the yearlong contributions from each mechanism to overall E. coli removal. Dark decay was thus predicted to support the highest yearlong mean contribution (78.6 – 91.0% of total E. coli decay, at the 95% confidence level) followed by sunlight mediated disinfection (6.01 – 17.8%) and pH toxicity (0.22 – 6.2%). Significant seasonal and daily fluctuations of decay mechanism contributions were evidenced in this study.
Identification of lumped stiffness parameters for a motorcycle model in investigating weave and wobble
Authors: Passigato Francesco , Schramm Alexander , Diermeyer Frank , Sorrentino Silvio , Gordner Achim , De Felice Alessandro 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIn motorcycle dynamics, great importance is attributed to the study of the weave and wobble vibration modes and, in particular, to the effects of the flexibility of structural components on their stability. Therefore, appropriate motorcycle models for studying weave and wobble should include flexible elements for describing the flexural behavior of components such as the main frame, front assembly, and rear swingarm. Different approaches are possible for modeling flexibilities: the most common among them are the lumped stiffness and the flexible multibody approaches. While the latter certainly provides higher accuracy, the former has advantages in terms of computational load, but, above all, it makes it easier to understand in the design phase how technical parameters, such as torsional and bending stiffness of a given structural component, can influence the stability of weave and wobble. The accuracy of lumped stiffness models strongly depends on parameter identification. In this study, a general method is proposed to determine appropriate lumped stiffness parameters for any given motorcycle component. The proposed method is tested and validated by comparing the weave and wobble modal behavior with the results of flexible multibody analysis. The lumped stiffness model is then adopted to carry out a sensitivity analysis aimed at identifying the effects on the weave and wobble stability of the torsional and bending stiffness of specific structural components of the motorcycle to optimize their design.
Response of HPC hardware to neutron radiation at the dawn of exascale
Authors: Bustos Andrés , Rubio-Montero Antonio Juan , Méndez Roberto , Rivera Sergio , González Francisco , Campo Xandra , Asorey Hernán , Mayo-García Rafael 
Published: March 2023

AbstractEvery computation presents a small chance that an unexpected phenomenon ruins or modifies its output. Computers are prone to errors that, although may be very unlikely, are hard, expensive or simply impossible to avoid. In the exascale, with thousands of processors involved in a single computation, those errors are especially harmful because they can corrupt or distort the results, wasting human and material resources. In the present work, we study the effect of ionizing radiation on several pieces of commercial hardware, very common in modern supercomputers. Aiming to reproduce the natural radiation that could arise, CPUs (Xeon, EPYC) and GPUs (A100, V100, T4) are subject to a known flux of neutrons coming from two radioactive sources, namely $$^{252}$$

252

Cf and $$^{241}$$

241

Am-Be, in a special irradiation facility. The working hardware is irradiated under supervision to quantify any appearing error. Once the hardware response is characterised, we are able to scale down the radiation intensity and to estimate the effects on standard data centres. This can help administrators and researchers to develop their contingency plans and protocols.
Lower Mindfulness is Associated with Problematic Social Media Use: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Meynadier Jai , Malouff John M. , Loi Natasha M. , Schutte Nicola S. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractProblematic social media use consists of use that interferes with individuals’ functioning, such as for example in failing to complete important tasks. A number of studies have investigated the association of trait mindfulness with problematic social media use. This meta-analysis synthesised research from 14 studies and a total of 5355 participants to examine the association between mindfulness and problematic social media use across studies. A lower level of mindfulness was associated with more problematic social media use, with a weighted effect size of r = -.37, 95% CI [-.42, -.33], k = 14, p < .001.
Internal conulariid structures unveiled using µCT
Authors: Sendino Consuelo , Clark Brett , Morandini André C. , Salge Tobias , Lowe Miranda , Rushlau Willian 
Published: March 2023

AbstractAn extensive sample of well-preserved conulariids from the Pennsylvanian of the North American Midcontinent (Texas and Oklahoma, USA) have been studied using X-ray micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) and have shown structures identified as longitudinal muscle bundles and a potential gastric cavity. These unequivocal structures appear in several specimens coming from different sites. Their preservation varies from a gastric cavity with muscle bundles in some individuals to only longitudinal muscle bundles in others. The muscle bundles fuse apically or medially, normally forming V-shaped pairs, and they extend along the theca/exoskeleton, parallel to the corner, towards the aperture. Longitudinal bundles have predominant perradial positions. Although there have been some articles on conulariid soft parts, most of them refer to relic soft parts. This is the first time that these structures are shown using µCT. Discovery of conulariid soft parts contributes to knowledge of metazoan evolutionary history.
Stepwise growth changes in early post-embryonic stages among Cretaceous tetragonitid ammonoids
Authors: Kawakami Yoshitaka , Wani Ryoji 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIn this study, we analyzed the ontogenetic trajectories of shell morphology in some Cretaceous tetragonitid ammonoid specimens (Tetragonitidae) collected from the Tomamae, Mikasa, and Hamanaka areas of Hokkaido, Japan. In all examined species, the ontogenetic trajectories of septal spacing between successive chambers had similar characteristics during their early ontogeny: two cycles, each comprising an increase and subsequent decrease in septal spacing until ~ 30th septum. The trends of whorl expansion rate changed at 5–7 or ~ 10 mm in the Gaudryceratinae and ~ 3 mm shell diameter in the Tetragonitinae. Based on these observations, we propose that the planktic phases of Gaudryceratinae and Tetragonitinae ended at those shell diameters. These different shell diameters at the end of the planktic phase suggest slightly differing strategies within the family Tetragonitidae.
Responses of flavonoids to solar UV radiation and gradual soil drying in two Medicago truncatula accessions
Authors: Rai Neha , Neugart Susanne , Schröter David , Lindfors Anders V. , Aphalo Pedro J. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractGround level UV-B (290–315 nm) and UV-A (315–400 nm) radiation regulates multiple aspects of plant growth and development. In a natural environment, UV radiation interacts in a complex manner with other environmental factors (e.g., drought) to regulate plants’ morphology, physiology, and growth. To assess the interactive effects of UV radiation and soil drying on plants’ secondary metabolites and transcript abundance, we performed a field experiment using two different accessions of Medicago truncatula (F83005-5 French origin and Jemalong A17 Australian origin). Plants were grown for 37 days under long-pass filters to assess the effects of UV short wavelength (290–350 nm, UVsw) and UV-A long wavelength (350–400 nm, UV-Alw). Soil–water deficit was induced by not watering half of the plants during the last seven days of the experiment. The two accessions differed in the concentration of flavonoids in the leaf epidermis and in the whole leaf: F83005-5 had higher concentration than Jemalong A17. They also differed in the composition of the flavonoids: a greater number of apigenin derivatives than tricin derivatives in Jemalong A17 and the opposite in F83005-5. Furthermore, UVsw and soil drying interacted positively to regulate the biosynthesis of flavonoids in Jemalong A17 through an increase in transcript abundance of CHALCONE SYNTHASE (CHS). However, in F83005-5, this enhanced CHS transcript abundance was not detected. Taken together the observed metabolite and gene transcript responses suggest differences in mechanisms for acclimation and stress tolerance between the accessions.
Graphical abstract
Protein Structure Prediction: Challenges, Advances, and the Shift of Research Paradigms
Authors: Huang Bin , Kong Lupeng , Wang Chao , Ju Fusong , Zhang Qi , Zhu Jianwei , Gong Tiansu , Zhang Haicang , Yu Chungong , Zheng Wei-Mou , Bu Dongbo 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
Protein structure prediction is an interdisciplinary research topic that has attracted researchers from multiple fields, including biochemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, and computer science. These researchers adopt various research paradigms to attack the same structure prediction problem: biochemists and physicists attempt to reveal the principles governing protein folding; mathematicians, especially statisticians, usually start from assuming a probability distribution of protein structures given a target sequence and then find the most likely structure, while computer scientists formulate protein structure prediction as an optimization problem — finding the structural conformation with the lowest energy or minimizing the difference between predicted structure and native structure. These research paradigms fall into the two statistical modeling cultures proposed by Leo Breiman, namely, data modeling and algorithmic modeling. Recently, we have also witnessed the great success of deep learning in protein structure prediction. In this review, we present a survey of the efforts for protein structure prediction. We compare the research paradigms adopted by researchers from different fields, with an emphasis on the shift of research paradigms in the era of deep learning. In short, the algorithmic modeling techniques, especially deep neural networks, have considerably improved the accuracy of protein structure prediction; however, theories interpreting the neural networks and knowledge on protein folding are still highly desired.
Building concrete futures: materiality and urban lives in West Africa
Authors: Choplin Armelle 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIn West Africa, concrete is increasingly taking hold of physical landscapes, popular consciousness, and everyday conversations. Ubiquitous and pervasive, concrete is now an integral part of West African urban materiality and cultural identity. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s theory on the production of space, I consider this material as both a product and a producer of urban space. By tracing flows of building materials across the West African urban corridor linking the cities of Abidjan, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou, Porto-Novo and Lagos, this article proposes to understand how cement and concrete (re)shape African built environments, human lives and urban futures. It examines three dimensions of this concrete urban materiality: its links with capital, its social meanings for inhabitants-builders and its ecological impacts. I conclude by highlighting the potentials, limits and contradictions raised by this now contested material, thus shedding light on the complexity of the production of urban spaces in West Africa.
A share in the sands: trips, pits and potholes in Accra, Ghana
Authors: Dawson Katherine 
Published: March 2023

AbstractThis article deploys sand as a potential way of engaging with contemporary livelihoods in the Ghanaian city of Accra – one of many metropolitan nodes in an urbanizing region of West Africa. Both as a very real material at the heart of concrete urbanization and as metaphorically indicative of the shifting landscapes of opportunity and income on which lives and livelihoods are marked out, sand is offered as a way of seeing and writing about the city. The article brings these two facets of urban sand together in more concrete ways, considering how the material production of the city becomes the uneven, uncertain ground of urban life-making. Drawing from fourteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in Accra, the article engages with the movements of sand across the city, as it travels from extraction zones (or pits) to lorries and then to places of consumption. By honing in on the material behaviours and temporal junctures of sand as it shifts its shape, form and directions, the article draws out the ways in which sand emerges as a platform for exchange, negotiation and ultimately income for different people across the city region. In turn, it offers a share in the sands as a tentative holding space for the kinds of claims made on and through sand, positioning them as indicative of a dweller-led, emergent politics that claims a share of an income, livelihood and urban future.
Modelling the city: bedroom drawer blueprints as urban planning in Maputo, Mozambique
Authors: Nielsen Morten 
Published: March 2023

AbstractIt has become a well-rehearsed truism that the growth of sub-Saharan African cities is the result of an amassing of persons, things and knowledge that takes place in the absence of centrally planned development initiatives and without any tightly orchestrated coordination of social life. Under such conditions, the argument goes, urbanites make do with whatever resources are available while increasingly chaotic cities expand beyond their social and material capacities. The question is, however, whether weak – and even absent – systems of urban management can be taken to signify a lack of coordination and planning of urban development. Might it not be, for instance, that cities organize and model themselves through means other than those afforded by formal urban planning schemes? Based on ethnographic data from Maputo, Mozambique, this article explores the shifting material forms of what are locally described as ‘bedroom drawer blueprints’ as an acutely potent type of urban modelling. Current and prospective house builders in Maputo exchange and share blueprints and physical and virtual models of houses that they plan to eventually build. Considered by residents as valuable social and material assets, such blueprints and models also offer an opportunity for experimenting with new forms of aesthetic organization of the city. Comparing the ongoing transactions and sharing of bedroom drawer blueprints with the increasing global circulation of middle-class architectural urban models, in this article I argue that it is the capacity of the former to move between different material forms and modalities that gives them their particular aesthetic potency and drive.
Mixed-reality technology for clinical communication: objective assessment of the HoloLens 2 as a clinical communication device in a simulated on-call scenario
Authors: Orchard L , Van M , Abbas J , Malik R , Stevenson J , Tolley N 
Published: March 2023

AbstractObjectiveSpecialty on-call clinicians cover large areas and complex workloads. This study aimed to assess clinical communication using the mixed-reality HoloLens 2 device within a simulated on-call scenario.MethodThis study was structured as a randomised, within-participant, controlled study. Thirty ENT trainees used either the HoloLens 2 or a traditional telephone to communicate a clinical case to a consultant. The quality of the clinical communication was scored objectively and subjectively.ResultsClinical communication using the HoloLens 2 scored statistically higher than telephone (n = 30) (11.9 of 15 vs 10.2 of 15; p = 0.001). Subjectively, consultants judged more communication episodes to be inadequate when using the telephone (7 of 30) versus the HoloLens 2 (0 of 30) (p = 0.01). Qualitative feedback indicates that the HoloLens 2 was easy to use and would add value during an on-call scenario with remote consultant supervision.ConclusionThis study demonstrated the benefit that mixed-reality devices, such as the HoloLens 2 can bring to clinical communication through increasing the accuracy of communication and confidence of the users.
Pangolin hunting and trafficking in the forest–savannah transition area of Cameroon
Authors: Simo Franklin T. , Difouo Ghislain F. , Kekeunou Sévilor , Ichu Ichu G. , Ingram Daniel J. , Olson David 
Published: March 2023

AbstractPangolins have long been hunted for food and for their scales, but information on local hunting strategies in African range countries and the patterns of pangolin trafficking around sourcing areas is limited. Such knowledge is vital to inform monitoring approaches and conservation interventions. We administered questionnaires to 367 people from 20 villages around two national parks in Cameroon to gain insights into local hunting practices, and trading and trafficking patterns. We found that tracking was the preferred method of hunting pangolins. Trapping was also used, and setting traps on fallen logs and near burrows improved the likelihood of catching pangolins. The white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis was the most traded species, and the giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea was the most sought after. We found no evidence of trade in the black-bellied pangolin Phataginus tetradactyla. Most respondents stated that pangolin prices had increased over the last 5 years, and scarcity of pangolins was the primary reason given for this increase. We identified a pangolin scale trafficking network operating from rural communities to neighbouring cities. Although most respondents recognized that hunting pangolins is illegal, c. 30% indicated that they were engaged in pangolin hunting.
Perceived impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on protected area management and conservation outcomes in Mexico
Authors: Powlen Kathryn A. , Jones Kelly W. , Moreno Elva Ivonne Bustamante , Cordero Maira Abigail Ortíz , Solomon Jennifer N. , Gavin Michael C. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractProtected areas are under immense pressure to safeguard much of the remaining global biodiversity and can be strained by unpredicted events such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding the extent of the effects of the pandemic on protected area management and conservation outcomes is critical for recovery and future planning to buffer against these types of events. We used survey and focus group data to measure the perceived impact of the pandemic on protected areas in Mexico and outline the pathways that led to these conservation outcomes. Across 62 protected areas, we found substantial changes in management capacity, monitoring and tourism, and a slight increase in non-compliant activities. Our findings highlight the need to integrate short-term relief plans to support communities dependent on tourism, who were particularly vulnerable during the pandemic, and to increase access to technology and technical capacity to better sustain management activities during future crises.
Revisiting reward impairments in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis for neuroimaging findings
Authors: Wang Xuan , Zhang Yinghao , Huang Jia , Wang Yi , Niu Yanzhe , Lui Simon S. Y. , Hui Li , Chan Raymond C. K. 
Published: March 2023

AbstractBackgroundAbnormal reward functioning is central to anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of schizophrenia (SCZ). Reward processing encompasses a series of psychological components. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the brain dysfunction related to reward processing of individuals with SCZ spectrum disorders and risks, covering multiple reward components.MethodsAfter a systematic literature search, 37 neuroimaging studies were identified and divided into four groups based on their target psychology components (i.e. reward anticipation, reward consumption, reward learning, effort computation). Whole-brain Seed-based d Mapping (SDM) meta-analyses were conducted for all included studies and each component.ResultsThe meta-analysis for all reward-related studies revealed reduced functional activation across the SCZ spectrum in the striatum, orbital frontal cortex, cingulate cortex, and cerebellar areas. Meanwhile, distinct abnormal patterns were found for reward anticipation (decreased activation of the cingulate cortex and striatum), reward consumption (decreased activation of cerebellum IV/V areas, insula and inferior frontal gyri), and reward learning processing (decreased activation of the striatum, thalamus, cerebellar Crus I, cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and parietal and occipital areas). Lastly, our qualitative review suggested that decreased activation of the ventral striatum and anterior cingulate cortex was also involved in effort computation.ConclusionsThese results provide deep insights on the component-based neuro-psychopathological mechanisms for anhedonia and amotivation symptoms of the SCZ spectrum.
Towards the conceptual design of ML-enhanced products: the UX value framework and the CoMLUX design process
Authors: Sun Lingyun , Li Zhuoshu , Zhou Zhibin , Lou Shanghua , Li Wenan , Zhang Yuyang 
Published: March 2023

Abstract
With the increasing utilization of machine learning (ML) to enhance products’ capabilities, the design research community has begun to explore how to support the conceptual design of ML-enhanced products. However, UX value creation of ML-enhanced products is still challenging because of ML's unique characteristics and numerous complex factors in conceptual design. To help designers create UX value for ML-enhanced products, we developed the UX value framework and the CoMLUX design process. The proposed framework describes how ML, stakeholders, and context co-create the UX value of ML-enhanced products, and identifies the growability and opacity of ML, helping designers systematically understand the co-creators while avoiding cognitive overload. The CoMLUX design process provides practical guidance for designing ML-enhanced products with growability and transparency. At last, we demonstrate the usage methods of the framework and process in an actual project and summarize the inspirations and limitations of our work.