bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Psychosocial factors behind addiction—a six-wave longitudinal comparison of at-risk gambling and drinking
Authors: Hautamäki Sari , Savolainen Iina , Kauppila Emmi , Sirola Anu , Oksanen Atte 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Aims
Research indicates that shared and specific underlying factors influence different addictions, sometimes resulting in co-occurring problems. The evidence concerning risk and protective factors for gambling and alcohol addiction, along with their co-occurrence, remains ambiguous. To address this gap, this study will conduct longitudinal research to examine the factors associated with at-risk behaviours over time.

Methods
We utilize a sample of 18- to 75-year-old participants (N = 1530) from Finland. Participants were surveyed every six months between 2021 and 2023, covering six rounds of data collection (in total 6650 observations). Measures included the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Problem Gambling Severity Index. The analysis used multilevel regression models to investigate risk and protective factors over time.

Results
Based on population-average models, younger age and being a man were associated with all examined dependent variables. Psychological distress, a sense of belonging to family and friends, and belonging to an online community were associated with at-risk gambling. At-risk drinking was associated with education and income, marital status, and the sense of belonging to family and friends. Being in debt enforcement, education, and psychological distress were associated with the co-occurrence of the two addictive behaviours. The fixed effects highlighted the importance of psychological distress in the development of co-occurring gambling and drinking problems.

Conclusion
The findings indicate that partly different sociodemographic and psychosocial factors are important underlying contributors to alcohol and gambling problems. Psychological distress is a particularly crucial factor predicting co-occurring at-risk gambling and drinking, indicating that co-occurrence is accompanied by psychological burden.
Techniques for learning and transferring knowledge for microbiome-based classification and prediction: review and assessment
Authors: Han Jin , Zhang Haohong , Ning Kang 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The volume of microbiome data is growing at an exponential rate, and the current methodologies for big data mining are encountering substantial obstacles. Effectively managing and extracting valuable insights from these vast microbiome datasets has emerged as a significant challenge in the field of contemporary microbiome research. This comprehensive review delves into the utilization of foundation models and transfer learning techniques within the context of microbiome-based classification and prediction tasks, advocating for a transition away from traditional task-specific or scenario-specific models towards more adaptable, continuous learning models. The article underscores the practicality and benefits of initially constructing a robust foundation model, which can then be fine-tuned using transfer learning to tackle specific context tasks. In real-world scenarios, the application of transfer learning empowers models to leverage disease-related data from one geographical area and enhance diagnostic precision in different regions. This transition from relying on "good models" to embracing "adaptive models" resonates with the philosophy of “teaching a man to fish” thereby paving the way for advancements in personalized medicine and accurate diagnosis. Empirical research suggests that the integration of foundation models with transfer learning methodologies substantially boosts the performance of models when dealing with large-scale and diverse microbiome datasets, effectively mitigating the challenges posed by data heterogeneity.
Isogenic fish sperm produced by transplanting gynogenetic haploid-derived germ cells
Authors: Nagasaka Tsuyoshi , Fujimoto Takafumi , Saito Taiju , Yamaha Etsuro , Arai Katsutoshi 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Artificially induced haploidy is lethal in vertebrates, although it is useful for genetic screening and genome editing due to its single set of genomes. Haploid embryonic stem (ES) cell lines in mammals contribute to genetic studies and the production of gametes derived from haploid ES cells. In fish breeding, doubled haploids induced by artificially induced gynogenesis are used to generate isogenic gametes for cloning purposes. However, gametes have not been directly differentiated from artificially induced haploid cells, even though haploid ES cell lines have been established in medaka. Here, we aimed to demonstrate that fertile haploid sperm with identical genotypes could be differentiated in germline chimeras in zebrafish, wherein primordial germ cells (PGCs) derived from an inviable haploid embryo were transplanted into sterilized recipient embryos. Haploid spermatogonia differentiated from haploid PGCs in germline chimeras, and genome doubling occurred in haploid spermatogonia with one set of chromosomes, which could not pair with counterpart homologs to form bivalents during meiosis. Subsequently, meiosis produced isogenic haploid gametes because identical elements were exchanged between chromosomes doubled from the haploid set during recombination. Consequently, haploid PGCs can survive beyond embryogenesis and potentially differentiate into fertile sperm.
Nuclear receptor PPARγ targets GPNMB to promote oligodendrocyte development and remyelination
Authors: Han Bing , Bao Ming-Yue , Sun Qing-Qing , Wang Rui-Ning , Deng Xin , Xing Kun , Yu Feng-Lin , Zhang Yan , Li Yue-Bo , Li Xiu-Qing , Chai Na-Nan , Ma Gai-Xin , Yang Ya-Na , Tian Meng-Yuan , Zhang Qian , Li Xing , Zhang Yuan 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Myelin injury occurs in brain ageing and in several neurological diseases. Failure of spontaneous remyelination is attributable to insufficient differentiation of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) into mature myelin-forming oligodendrocytes in CNS demyelinated lesions. Emerging evidence suggests that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) is the master gatekeeper of CNS injury and repair and plays an important regulatory role in various neurodegenerative diseases. Although studies demonstrate positive effects of PPARγ in oligodendrocyte ontogeny in vitro, the cell-intrinsic role of PPARγ and the molecular mechanisms involved in the processes of OPC development and CNS remyelination in vivo are poorly understood.
Here, we identify PPARγ as an enriched transcription factor in the dysfunctional OPCs accumulated in CNS demyelinated lesions. Its expression increases during OPC differentiation and myelination and is closely related to the process of CNS demyelination/remyelination. Administration of pharmacological agonists of PPARγ not only promotes OPC differentiation and CNS myelination, but also causes a significant increase in remyelination in both cuprizone- and lysophosphatidylcholine-induced demyelination models. In contrast, the attenuation of PPARγ function, either through the specific knockout of PPARγ in oligodendrocytes in vivo or through its inhibition in vitro, leads to decreased OPC maturation, hindered myelin generation and reduced therapeutic efficacy of PPARγ agonists. At a mechanistic level, PPARγ induces myelin repair by directly targeting glycoprotein non-metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB), a novel regulator that drives OPCs to differentiate into oligodendrocytes, promotes myelinogenesis in the developing CNS of postnatal mice and enhances remyelination in mice with lysophosphatidylcholine-induced demyelination.
In conclusion, our evidence reveals that PPARγ is a positive regulator of endogenous OPC differentiation and CNS myelination/remyelination and suggests that PPARγ and/or its downstream sensor (GPNMB) might be a candidate pharmacological target for regenerative therapy in the CNS.
In situ etching modification of graphite felt electrode and its electrochemical performance in biomass liquid-catalyst fuel cell system
Authors: Li Yongfeng , Wei Yuang , Liang Qiyi , Liao Qianyan 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
A biomass liquid-catalyst fuel cell (LCFC) can convert the chemical energy stored in the biomass feedstock into clean and convenient electricity by utilizing non-noble-metal liquid catalysts through electrode reactions. However, the significant polarization effect in the LCFC system has limited the potential to increase output power density. In this study, graphite felt (GF) was first modified by using the in situ etching method and then used as both anode and cathode electrodes in an LCFC system to enhance its electrical performance. This etching modification changes the GF surface to be full of meso- and macro-pores, which could significantly increase the surface area of the GF electrode by 63 times. Meanwhile, the modification also greatly improves the surface hydrophilicity of the GF electrode, which could reduce its mass transfer resistance and internal resistance. As a result, the modified GF electrodes could effectively increase the ion transport efficiency and liquid-catalyst redox reversibility in the LCFC system, resulting in doubling the higher output power density to about 16 mW/cm2.
Unbiased training framework on deep reinforcement learning
Authors: Zhang Huihui 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
In deep reinforcement learning (DRL), bias is systematic in asynchronous training due to different state distributions, different policies and lacking knowledge of transition probability in model-free learning. Therefore, we bring the notions of parallel executors, shared actor and central critic into DRL, and propose a general framework that enables parallel collecting, unbiased data processing and centralized training. Specifically, we employ parallel executors to obtain observations, and follow a shared policy from central thread to pass a batch of four-tuple transition slots to the critic. Simultaneously, the next state in the transition slots are fed back to executors. Then, the network parameters are updated by a central learner. A backup storage can be adopted to make the executors, actor and critic work concurrently. There exists two working modes for our framework, and several variants can be achieved to suit different environments by tuning some hyperparameters. One special case of variants is the existing DRL. Another extreme case can produce unbiased estimation of loss function whose estimation exactly matches the joint probability distribution of observations and the policy, thus avoiding the instability of importance sampling. We propose several efficient algorithms under our new framework to deal with typical discrete and continuous scenarios.
Inflammatory bowel diseases in the elderly population: epidemiology, long-term disease course, surgery rates, and biological use—data from the Veszprem county cohort between 1977 and 2020
Authors: Angyal Dorottya , Gonczi Lorant , Balogh Fruzsina , Wetwittayakhlang Panu , Golovics Petra A , Pandur Tunde , David Gyula , Erdelyi Zsuzsanna , Szita Istvan , Ilias Akos , Lakatos Laszlo , Lakatos Peter L 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Background and aims
Limited data are available on long-term disease outcomes in elderly-onset (EO) inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) from well-defined population-based cohorts. Our aim was to analyze incidence, disease course, surgery rates, and therapeutic strategies of EO IBD in a prospective population-based cohort.

Methods
Elderly-onset inflammatory bowel diseases were defined if diagnosis was established at ≥60 years of age. Patient inclusion lasted between 1977 and 2018. Study endpoints were compared between elderly- and adult-onset (AO) patients and different therapeutic eras. Data from medical records were prospectively collected and regularly reviewed, as part of the well-established Veszprem IBD cohort.

Results
Data from 946 Crohn’s disease (CD) and 1370 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were analyzed. The proportion of EO CD and UC patients was 6.1% (58/946) and 13.4% (183/1370) in the total cohort. Biological therapy exposure was significantly lower in EO CD compared to AO [pLogRank = 0.003], but similar exposure was seen amongst UC patients [pLogRank = 0.770]. Early surgery rates (≤1 year from diagnosis) were significantly higher in EO CD patients compared to AO (27.6% vs 15.6%; P &lt; .001). However, there was no statistically significant difference in overall resective surgery rates between the EO and AO cohorts in CD [pLogRank = 0.838], nor colectomy rates differed in UC [pLogRank = 0.435]. Disease phenotype progression in CD and UC were both lower in EO disease [pLogRank = 0.015; pLogRank = 0.022].

Conclusion
Elderly-onset inflammatory bowel diseases represents an increasing proportion of IBD patients, with high exposure to biologicals in EO UC. Overall surgery rates were similar in EO and AO cohorts, however, early surgeries in CD were higher in EO patients.
Estimating nonparametric conditional frontiers and efficiencies: A new approach
Authors: Mastromarco Camilla , Simar Léopold , Van Keilegom Ingrid 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
In production theory, conditional frontiers and conditional efficiency measures are flexible and appealing tools to investigate the role of environmental variables on the production process. Direct approaches estimate non-parametrically conditional distribution functions requiring smoothing techniques and the use of bandwidths. Traditional methods for selecting bandwidths provide bandwidths with order that may not be optimal when estimating the boundary of the distribution function. In this paper we suggest an approach that avoids this problem, by eliminating in a first step, with flexible control functions, the influence of the environmental factors on the inputs and the outputs. By doing this we produce “pure” inputs and outputs which allow to estimate a “pure” measure of efficiency, more reliable for ranking the firms, since the influence of the external factors have been eliminated. We are also able to recover the frontier and efficiencies in original units. This can be viewed as an extension of location-scale models for whitening the variables, avoiding often inappropriate restrictions. We describe the method, its statistical properties and we show in some Monte-Carlo simulations, how our new method dominates both the traditional direct and the location-scale approaches. We illustrate the usefulness of the approach with a real data set on banks.
Challenges to Aging in the Right Place for Older Adults Experiencing Homelessness
Authors: Traver Anthony , Velasquez Rheanna , Dabelko-Schoeny Holly 
Published: January 2025

Abstract

Background and Objectives
Aging in the Right Place (AIRP), the process of occupying housing that meets one’s unique preferences and needs, is a critical component of aging well. Homelessness in later life compromises AIRP. This qualitative study examined the factors that informed housing options before, during, and after episodes of homelessness in later life and the indicators of AIRP that those options embodied.

Research Design and Methods
This cross-sectional qualitative study consisted of interviews with 22 older adults who experienced homelessness after age 55 and nine housing service providers in Columbus, OH. We conducted a flexible coding analysis guided by the conceptual framework of AIRP indicators for older persons experiencing homelessness.

Results
The confluence of low incomes, low housing supply, fragile social networks, and strained housing services resulted in older adults moving frequently between low-cost and substandard housing options with few indicators of AIRP. Emergency rental vouchers, social capital, and case management were capable of increasing access to safer and stabler options for some. Most older adults consider a private apartment to be their “right” place to age.

Discussion and Implications
The results of this qualitative study capture the downstream effects of an aging society that prioritizes exclusionary housing policies and a weak social safety net. Structural responses to promote AIRP among the growing number of older adults experiencing homelessness are discussed.
The AP2 transcription factor CsAIL6 negatively regulates citric acid accumulation in citrus fruits by interacting with a WD40 protein CsAN11
Authors: Han Han , Li Yu-Jia , Alam Shariq Mahmood , Zhou Tian , Khan Muhammad Abbas , Thu Aye Myat , Liu Yong-Zhong 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Citric acid accumulation is an essential process in citrus fruits that determines fruit flavor and marketability. The MBW complex transcription factor genes, CsAN11, CsAN1, and CsPH4 play key roles in regulating citric acid accumulation. Although how to regulate CsAN1 or CsPH4 was widely investigated, studies on the regulation of CsAN11 are scarce. In this study, we characterized the AP2/ERF (APETALA2/ethylene response factor) transcription factor gene CsAIL6, which is lowly expressed in high-acid citrus varieties and highly expressed in low-acid citrus varieties. Overexpressing CsAIL6 obviously decreased the citric acid content in citrus fruits, calli or tomatoes, whereas silencing CsAIL6 significantly increased the fruit citric acid content. Additionally, transcript levels of CsAN11, CsAN1, and CsPH4 were significantly increased by silencing CsAIL6; only the CsAN11 transcript level was significantly decreased by overexpressing CsAIL6. Similarly, only the tomato AN11 (SIAN11) transcript level in CsAIL6 stably overexpressing fruits was markedly lower than that in WT fruits. Further experiments revealed that overexpressing CsAN11 significantly increased the organic acid content but had no obvious influence on the CsAIL6 transcript level; in addition, CsAIL6 only interacts with CsAN11, rather than with CsAN1 and CsPH4 of the MBW complex. Taken together, our findings verified that CsAIL6 negatively regulates citric acid accumulation through directly interacting with the WD40 protein CsAN11, which provides a new mechanism for citric acid accumulation in fruits through the regulation of the MBW complex.
SmCSN5 is a synergist in the transcription factor SmMYB36 mediated tanshinones and phenolic acids biosynthesis in Salvia miltiorrhiza
Authors: Li Qi , Wang Xiujuan , Wang Jie , Su Yan , Guo Yuanyi , Yang Jie , Liu Jingying , Xue Zheyong , Dong Juane , Ma Pengda 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
The ubiquitin-26S proteasome system (UPS) is associated with protein stability and activity, regulation of hormone signaling, and the production of secondary metabolites in plants. Though the mechanism of action of SmMYB36 on the tanshinone and phenolic acid biosynthesis is well understood, its regulation through post-translational modifications is unclear. A constitutive photomorphogenesis 9 (COP9) signalosome subunit 5 (SmCSN5), which interacted with SmMYB36 and inhibited its ubiquitination-based degradation, was identified in S. miltiorrhiza. SmCSN5 promoted tanshinone biosynthesis but inhibited phenolic acid biosynthesis in the hairy roots of S. miltiorrhiza. SmMYB36 also activated the transcription of the target genes: SmDXS2 and SmCPS1 but repressed that of SmRAS in a SmCSN5-dependent manner. SmCSN5 acts as a positive regulator in MeJA-induced biosynthesis of tanshinones and phenolic acids. Specifically, SmCSN5 alone, when expressed transiently in tobacco and rice protoplasts, was localized to the cytoplasm, cell membrane, and nucleus, whereas when coexpressed with SmMYB36, it was detected only in the nucleus. Additionally, the degradation of SmMYB361-153 by ubiquitination was lowered after truncation of the self-activating structural domain of SmMYB36154-160. Collectively, these results suggest that SmCSN5 affected the transcriptional activation of SmMYB36 and stabilized SmMYB36, providing insights into the SmMYB36-based regulation of the accumulation of tanshinone and phenolic acid at the transcriptional and post-translational levels.
The positive externalities of US–China institutional balancing in the Indo-Pacific
Authors: He Kai , Feng Huiyun 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Challenging the pessimistic and alarmist view of competition between the United States and China, we propose a soft balancing argument—institutional balancing for peace (shortened to ‘institutional peace’)—to highlight the positive outcomes of their strategic rivalry. We argue that globalization, economic interdependence and nuclear deterrence have motivated the US and China to engage in institutional balancing to vie for security, power and influence in the international system. We examine how the US and China have used multilateral and minilateral security institutions, such as various trilateral dialogue mechanisms, the Quad, the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, to compete in the Indo-Pacific region in the period since the 2008 global financial crisis. We suggest that institutional balancing between the US and China has led to three positive externalities for the region: sustained institutional dynamism, new incentives for regional cooperation and the provision of public goods, unintentionally fostering regional peace and prosperity in the long run. If the United States and China can manage their strategic competition through international institutions, the emerging transition of the international order may be more peaceful than historical transitions, even amid potential regional military crises.
Mobile money, (dis)empowerment and state reconstruction in Somalia's conflicted digital economy
Authors: Chonka Peter , Sahgal Gayatri , Wasuge Mahad 
Published: January 2025

Abstract
Mobile money has developed as an indigenous digital innovation in a Somali setting characterized by state weakness and scarcity of local physical currency. On one level, this article presents experiences of this financial technology (and ‘cashlessness’) from perspectives of marginalized people displaced by conflict and ecological shocks. However, we also analyse these everyday experiences in the context of rapid urbanization, connecting them to the role of the Somali telecoms sector within a wider political economy of conflict and internationalized statebuilding. Leveraging its power as an intermediary transactions platform, the telecoms sector has assumed various state-like functions. This demonstrates how diverse forms of virtual sovereignty may emerge beyond globally dominant centres of technology production. Although humanitarian mobile money aid infrastructure is being positioned by donors to evolve into digitized social protection systems that will empower Somalia's fragile state, this imagined transition is underpinned by a commercial telecoms sector that continues to consolidate its power in the wider economy by capitalizing on the circulation of digital financial flows. Greater policy attention therefore needs to be paid to the capacity of this sector to create conditions that may constrain the (re)construction of state authority vis-à-vis future monetary policy, the conflict economy and (international) governance of recurrent humanitarian crises.