bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Enhancing the 4Cs among college students of a communication skills course in Tanzania through a project-based learning model
Authors: Saimon Musa , Lavicza Zsolt , Dana-Picard Thierry 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe development of technology has changed the way people communicate in academic contexts as well as working places, for example from print messages to screened messages, and from face-to-face classroom and office meetings to virtual classes and offices. This has prompted the shift from traditional teaching practices to student-centered in which students are guided by their teachers to develop skills for 21st Century careers through the Project-Based Learning model. However, in Tanzania colleges, the teaching of a Communication Skills Course perpetuates traditional teaching practices, which could reduce the chance for students to participate in global democratic activities. Consequently, the present study aimed at exploring how to enhance the 4 C’s (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity) among the college students of the Communication Skills Course in Tanzania through the Project-Based Learning model. Qualitative participatory action research with two cycles was adopted. Data from ten students, one teacher, and the curriculum were collected through observation, document analysis, and reflective journals. Data were analyzed thematically. Findings show that current teaching practices for Communication Skills Course in Tanzania colleges hardly enhance the development of the 4 C’s among students. It was also observed that the implementation of PBL resulted in enhancing the 4 C’s among college students in Tanzania colleges. However, large class sizes, poor technological infrastructure, and lack of facilities are among the challenges experienced during the implementation of PBL in enhancing the 4Cs. The study recommends the reformation of current teaching practices, to focus on developing skills needed to cope with students’ real-life contexts, instead of focusing on content knowledge. Also, the study calls for the adoption of PBL in Tanzania colleges in teaching Communication Skills to develop necessary skills for the 21st Century. To cope with any potential challenges, the study suggests that there should be collaborative efforts among education stakeholders.
Simulation of flow and shear stress distribution on the Oceano Dunes, implications for saltation and dust emissions
Authors: Furtak-Cole E. , Gillies J. A. , Hilgendorf Z. , Walker I. J. , Nikolich G. 
Published: November 2022

AbstractWind-driven shear stresses drive saltation and dust emissions over sand dunes. However, the complex topography of coastal dunes and practical difficulties in measuring shear stresses in the presence of blowing sand make a detailed view of this important information difficult to obtain. We combine computational fluid dynamics with field instrumentation and high resolution topographic data to investigate the shear stresses resulting from on-shore winds on the ground surface for a flat sloping beach area, nebkha foredune, and transverse dune at Oceano Dunes, CA. This approach allows for paired simulations over measured and modified topographies using the same boundary condition. Shear values from scenarios that account for the effects of vegetation and aerodynamic form separately are presented. Using available dust emissions data, an accounting of the emissions from the surface was performed. Sparse vegetation on the nebkha in the foredune was found to play a significant role in modulating the shear on the surface and initial boundary layer modification of the onshore wind profile.
Extremal characteristics of conditional models
Authors: Tendijck Stan , Tawn Jonathan , Jonathan Philip 
Published: November 2022

AbstractConditionally specified models are often used to describe complex multivariate data. Such models assume implicit structures on the extremes. So far, no methodology exists for calculating extremal characteristics of conditional models since the copula and marginals are not expressed in closed forms. We consider bivariate conditional models that specify the distribution of X and the distribution of Y conditional on X. We provide tools to quantify implicit assumptions on the extremes of this class of models. In particular, these tools allow us to approximate the distribution of the tail of Y and the coefficient of asymptotic independence $$\eta$$
η
in closed forms. We apply these methods to a widely used conditional model for wave height and wave period. Moreover, we introduce a new condition on the parameter space for the conditional extremes model of Heffernan and Tawn (Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B (Methodology) 66(3), 497-547, 2004), and prove that the conditional extremes model does not capture $$\eta$$
η
, when $$\eta <1$$

η
<
1

.
Phenomenology and the Digital World: Problems and Perspectives
Authors: Tagliagambe Silvano 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe last years’ achievements in neuroscience are key for a philosophical analysis focused on the mind-body problem, such as the phenomenological approach.The digital evolution, on the one hand, faces us with the interaction between the world of reality and the world of possibility. This means more than a mere coexistence between these two dimensions. Rather, a concrete feedback occurs among them, and this brings out unprecedented and unavoidable issues with regard to perceptual processes. On the other hand, the digital evolution allows for analyzing data and monitoring environmental systems, thus reasoning in a predictive way, anticipating problems, and checking ex ante their evolution and outcomes.Neuroscience, for its part, with the experiments of Libet and their subsequent interpretations, has highlighted a consciousness of the unconscious made of ballistic and automatic processes, which constitutes the starting phase of our decisions and actions. This further confirmed that sequential and linear thinking is unable to address the brain-environment relationship that is key in understanding any cognitive process.This analysis confirms the relevance of different aspects of Husserl’s phenomenology. There is, however, a “but,” which significantly reduces the extent of adherence to his point of view. Husserl assumed that an implicit horizon precedes or accompanies the acts of conscience. This is the material, impressional, passive, receptive, and, in some way, tacit dimension, strictly connected to the issue of genesis, i.e. the process of constitution of the analyzed entities. Thus, he drew a clear dividing line between this dimension and the phases of the self-controlling, vigilant conscience and its activity. In fact, his approach to the phenomenological problem is mainly oriented toward these phases.
Timing and mulching frequency affected the number of nests of cavity-nesting wasps that hunt for aphids in forest meadows
Authors: Georgi Maria M. , Fornoff Felix , Gärtner Stefanie M. , Neitzel Sabrina , Geist Andres , Klein Alexandra-Maria 
Published: November 2022

AbstractMulching, cutting of the vegetation without plant biomass removal, is a common alternative to mowing. The aim of our study was to find out if the mulching of forest meadows at different time points affects cavity-nesting bees and wasps. We exposed trap nests for cavity-nesting bees and wasps at 24 forest meadows in south-western Germany over 2 years and applied four experimental mulching treatments with six replicates: (i) mulching in June, (ii) mulching in September, (iii) mulching in June and September, and (iv) no mulching as control. Nests were collected throughout the growing period. The insects were sorted and analyzed according to functional groups. Mulching in June and September reduced the nest number of all cavity-nesting insects in the second but not in the first year. The separation of insects into three functional groups (bees, herbivore-hunting wasps and carnivore-hunting wasps) showed that the number of herbivore-hunting wasp nests was reduced by mulching in September in both years and by mulching in June and September in the second year. Specifically, aphid-hunting wasps were influenced by mulching in September or mulching twice in the second year. Aphid-hunting wasps likely find their larval food in the vegetation of the forest meadows, while the other studied groups likely find their main larval food in the surrounding forests and are therefore not negatively affected.Implications for insect conservationFor maintaining the reproductive success of cavity-nesting wasps that hunt for aphids, we recommend mulching once in June rather than mulching in September or twice a year.
Global R&D Location Strategy of Multinational Enterprises: an Agent-Based Simulation Modeling Approach
Authors: Horaguchi Haruo H. , Susumago Toichiro 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe global research and development (R&D) location strategy of multinational enterprises (MNEs) is examined using agent-based simulation (ABS) modeling. This study focuses on the positioning strategy of MNEs to understand the impact of their R&D location strategy. In ABS modeling, agents search for knowledge owners or universities in the global host market using Hotelling’s location model algorithm. We measure the result of increasing the number of entry agents from 2 to 121. Three types of equilibria are found in our agent-based simulation model: pure equilibrium, saturated equilibrium, and quasi-saturated equilibrium. Core locations attract MNEs, while peripheral countries in the global market are the least preferred. As a result, peripheral countries experience a paucity of foreign R&D investments. Even though emerging economies absorb foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows from MNEs, least-less developed countries (LLDC) may experience a dearth in FDI. Thus, the optimal location strategy of MNEs leads to economic disparities between the core and peripheral countries. This study suggests the need for developing official assistance to attract FDI inflows to LLDCs so that peripheral countries emerge as attractive global market destinations for MNEs.
Dreary useless centuries of happiness: Cordwainer Smith’s “Under Old Earth” as an ethical critique of our current Emotion AI goals
Authors: Curry Alba 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThis paper explores the ways in which Cordwainer Smith’s short story “Under Old Earth” problematizes emotions, who/what has them, and who/what is granted moral status. Most importantly, however, “Under Old Earth” questions the primacy of happiness in human society, especially where happiness is understood as the absence of other (negative) emotions. As such, “Under Old Earth” challenges the notion, widely held in contemporary ethics, that our moral obligation to one another is mediated through the goal of the attainment of happiness. Through this challenge, Smith’s short story speaks directly to the current understanding of emotion in the field of AI, and complicates what the goal of affective computing should be.
CRISPR/Cas9-mediated abrogation of CD95L/CD95 signaling-induced glioma cell growth and immunosuppression increases survival in murine glioma models
Authors: Quijano-Rubio Clara , Silginer Manuela , Weller Michael 
Published: November 2022

Abstract
Purpose
Glioblastoma is the most common brain tumor in adults and is virtually incurable. Therefore, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Over the last decade, multiple growth-promoting functions have been attributed to CD95, a prototypic death receptor well characterized as an apoptosis mediator upon CD95L engagement. Strategic targeting of non-apoptotic or apoptotic CD95 signaling may hold anti-glioblastoma potential. Due to its antithetic nature, understanding the constitutive role of CD95 signaling in glioblastoma is indispensable.

Methods
We abrogated constitutive Cd95 and Cd95l gene expression by CRISPR/Cas9 in murine glioma models and characterized the consequences of gene deletion in vitro and in vivo.

Results
Expression of canonical CD95 but not CD95L was identified in mouse glioma cells in vitro. Instead, a soluble isoform-encoding non-canonical Cd95l transcript variant was detected. In vivo, an upregulation of the membrane-bound canonical CD95L form was revealed. Cd95 or Cd95l gene deletion decreased cell growth in vitro. The growth-supporting role of constitutive CD95 signaling was validated by Cd95 re-transfection, which rescued growth. In vivo, Cd95 or Cd95l gene deletion prolonged survival involving tumor-intrinsic and immunological mechanisms in the SMA-497 model. In the GL-261 model, that expresses no CD95, only CD95L gene deletion prolonged survival, involving a tumor-intrinsic mechanism.

Conclusion
Non-canonical CD95L/CD95 interactions are growth-promoting in murine glioma models, and glioma growth and immunosuppression may be simultaneously counteracted by Cd95l gene silencing.
Automated cloud resources provisioning with the use of the proximal policy optimization
Authors: Funika Włodzimierz , Koperek Paweł , Kitowski Jacek 
Published: November 2022

AbstractMany modern applications, both scientific and commercial, are deployed to cloud environments and often employ multiple types of resources. That allows them to efficiently allocate only the resources which are actually needed to achieve their goals. However, in many workloads the actual usage of the infrastructure varies over time, which results in over-provisioning and unnecessarily high costs. In such cases, automatic resource scaling can provide significant cost savings by provisioning only the amount of resources which are necessary to support the current workload. Unfortunately, due to the complex nature of distributed systems, automatic scaling remains a challenge. Reinforcement learning domain has been recently a very active field of research. Thanks to combining it with Deep Learning, many newly designed algorithms improve the state of the art in many complex domains. In this paper we present the results of our attempt to use the recent advancements in Reinforcement Learning to optimize the cost of running a compute-intensive evolutionary process by automating the scaling of heterogeneous resources in a compute cloud environment. We describe the architecture of our system and present evaluation results. The experiments include autonomous management of a sample workload and a comparison of its performance to the traditional automatic threshold-based management approach. We also provide the details of training of the management policy using the proximal policy optimization algorithm. Finally, we discuss the feasibility to extend the presented approach to further scenarios.
Anatomical Correlates of Cursoriality are Compromised by Body Size and Propensity to Burrow in a Group of Small Mammals (Lagomorpha)
Authors: Martin Ellen M. , Young Jesse W. , Fellmann Connie D. , Kraatz Brian , Sherratt Emma 
Published: November 2022

AbstractHighly cursorial animals are specialised for fast, sustained running via specific morphological adaptations, notably including changes in limb segment length and mechanical advantage. Members of the order Lagomorpha (hares, rabbits and pikas) vary in cursorial ability; hares are generally highly cursorial, rabbits more frequently saltate, and pikas predominantly trot. Previous investigations of lagomorphs have identified anatomical trends correlated with this ‘cursoriality gradient’, however, the phylogenetic sampling of such investigations has been limited to three American species, namely the American pika (Ochotona princeps), brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani), and black-tailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus). Here, we expand the phylogenetic sample and body size range by including novel data from Australian samples of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and European hare (L. europaeus), alongside unpublished data on the Eastern cottontail (S. floridanus). X-ray Computed Tomography and digital landmarking were used to capture proportions within the appendicular skeleton of ~ 40 specimens of each European species. In doubling the number of species studied, we find the previously-identified morphological gradients associated with cursorial behaviour are complicated when evaluated in the larger sample. The relative length and joint velocity of limbs was found to be lower than predicted in European rabbits and hares. Furthermore, we present a novel assessment of morphological integration in the lagomorph appendicular skeleton, finding between-limb covariation patterns that are generally similar to those of other mammals. Broadly, these results suggest cursoriality is only one of many selective forces driving lagomorph skeletal evolution, with variations in body size and fossoriality potentially having measurable impacts.
Advancing ion-exchange membranes to ion-selective membranes: principles, status, and opportunities
Authors: Fan Hanqing , Huang Yuxuan , Yip Ngai Yin 
Published: November 2022

AbstractIon-exchange membranes (IEMs) are utilized in numerous established, emergent, and emerging applications for water, energy, and the environment. This article reviews the five different types of IEM selectivity, namely charge, valence, specific ion, ion/solvent, and ion/uncharged solute selectivities. Technological pathways to advance the selectivities through the sorption and migration mechanisms of transport in IEM are critically analyzed. Because of the underlying principles governing transport, efforts to enhance selectivity by tuning the membrane structural and chemical properties are almost always accompanied by a concomitant decline in permeability of the desired ion. Suppressing the undesired crossover of solvent and neutral species is crucial to realize the practical implementation of several technologies, including bioelectrochemical systems, hypersaline electrodialysis desalination, fuel cells, and redox flow batteries, but the ion/solvent and ion/uncharged solute selectivities are relatively understudied, compared to the ion/ion selectivities. Deepening fundamental understanding of the transport phenomena, specifically the factors underpinning structure-property-performance relationships, will be vital to guide the informed development of more selective IEMs. Innovations in material and membrane design offer opportunities to utilize ion discrimination mechanisms that are radically different from conventional IEMs and potentially depart from the putative permeability-selectivity tradeoff. Advancements in IEM selectivity can contribute to meeting the aqueous separation needs of water, energy, and environmental challenges.
Risk factors and machine learning prediction models for bronchopulmonary dysplasia severity in the Chinese population
Authors: He Wen , Zhang Lan , Feng Rui , Fang Wei-Han , Cao Yun , Sun Si-Qi , Shi Peng , Zhou Jian-Guo , Tang Liang-Feng , Zhang Xiao-Bo , Qi Yuan-Yuan 
Published: November 2022

Abstract
Background
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease in extremely preterm neonates. The outcome and clinical burden vary dramatically according to severity. Although some prediction tools for BPD exist, they seldom pay attention to disease severity and are based on populations in developed countries. This study aimed to develop machine learning prediction models for BPD severity based on selected clinical factors in a Chinese population.

Methods
In this retrospective, single-center study, we included patients with a gestational age < 32 weeks who were diagnosed with BPD in our neonatal intensive care unit from 2016 to 2020. We collected their clinical information during the maternal, birth and early postnatal periods. Risk factors were selected through univariable and ordinal logistic regression analyses. Prediction models based on logistic regression (LR), gradient boosting decision tree, XGBoost (XGB) and random forest (RF) models were implemented and assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

Results
We ultimately included 471 patients (279 mild, 147 moderate, and 45 severe cases). On ordinal logistic regression, gestational diabetes mellitus, initial fraction of inspiration O2 value, invasive ventilation, acidosis, hypochloremia, C-reactive protein level, patent ductus arteriosus and Gram-negative respiratory culture were independent risk factors for BPD severity. All the XGB, LR and RF models (AUC = 0.85, 0.86 and 0.84, respectively) all had good performance.

Conclusions
We found risk factors for BPD severity in our population and developed machine learning models based on them. The models have good performance and can be used to aid in predicting BPD severity in the Chinese population.
A Review on Calcium Silicate Ceramics: Properties, Limitations, and Solutions for Their Use in Biomedical Applications
Authors: Youness Rasha A. , Tag El-deen Doha M. , Taha Mohammed A. 
Published: November 2022

AbstractThe bone, being an essential tissue in the human body, not only protects the organs inside the body but also provides mechanical support, haematopoiesis, mineral storage and mobility. Although bone may regenerate and heal itself, significant bone defects caused by severe trauma, tumour removal, malignancy, or congenital diseases can only be corrected via bone grafting. Bone biomaterials, also known as bone graft alternatives, have seen an increase in demand in recent years. Over 2 million procedures are performed in the United States each year to restore damaged/fractured bones by grafting. The number of patients in China with reduced limb function owing to bone abnormalities has risen to 10 million. Traditional bone defect repair materials include autogenous bone, allogeneic bone, xenogeneic bone, decalcified bone matrix, bioceramics, and metal materials, which are easily available and processed. Calcium silicate (Ca-Si) ceramic is among the most promising bioceramics for these purposes due to their amazing characteristics such as bioactivity, biocompatibility and osteoinductivity. Unfortunately, its high biodegradation rate along with its poor strength represents major limitations that limit its use in clinical applications significantly. In light of the above, this article briefly discussed the different types of bone substitute materials, the properties of Ca-Si ceramic, the advantages, limitations and potential solutions to overcome these drawbacks and its biomedical applications such as orthopedic, dental, wound healing and drug delivery.