bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Recycling of metallocene isotactic polypropylene: importance of antioxidants
Authors: Blázquez-Blázquez Enrique , Díez-Rodríguez Tamara M. , Pérez Ernesto , Cerrada María L. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractRecycling of plastics is absolutely essential in a circular economy, especially in the case of commodity polymers from fossil resources, like isotactic polypropylene (iPP). Therefore, evaluation of the factors that are decisive for an optimum performance of the recycled based materials becomes mandatory for the obtainment of new products with optimal properties. One of the most important aspects is the protection of the plastics materials not only against the external degradation agents, but also from the radicals generated during their previous service life. Accordingly, several materials have been prepared by extrusion based on virgin iPP with different amounts of the same polypropylene severely degraded, which has been used as model component to be recycled. Previous to the extrusion, a mixture of antioxidants was added to all the samples, and special attention has been paid to consumption of those additives during the extrusion. The results show an increasing reduction of antioxidants with rising content of the degraded material. But, importantly, a rather analogous mechanical response has been found for all the recycled materials in relation to the virgin iPP, pointing out a satisfactory dilution effect of the existing degradation points within the virgin polymeric chains, and indicating the very relevant action of the antioxidants used.
“There is ‘Plenty’ of Grace—it is Not a Limited Commodity!:” Experiences of Grace in Australian Faith Communities During the Pandemic
Authors: Hyde Brendan , Joseph Dawn 
Published: August 2022

AbstractDuring the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, Melbourne in Australia endured one of the longest lockdowns in the world. Although the severe restrictions for faith communities in particular posed many setbacks, new opportunities for worship were experienced. This paper focuses on a research project that explored hope, grace, and resilience during COVID-19 in Melbourne. A total of 106 participants from a variety of Christian denominations in Melbourne completed an online survey in relation to the notion of grace. Thematic analysis of the qualitative data was employed to explore the lived experiences of the participants. Two overarching themes—God’s grace offers favour, and God’s grace provides strength and builds resilience—are discussed. The findings indicate that while grace is bountiful through faith, it can also be found in unexpected places within faith settings and the wider community. While generalizations from this study cannot be made to other faith communities, recommendations are offered in relation to ways in which ‘church’ may be experienced in 2022 and beyond. The study showed that “there is ‘plenty’ of grace”. Its transformational power offers hope and builds resilience as God’s grace “is not a limited commodity!”
The given and the hard problem of content
Authors: Salis Pietro 
Published: August 2022

AbstractWilfrid Sellars’ denunciation of the Myth of the Given was meant to clarify, against empiricism, that perceptual episodes alone are insufficient to ground and justify perceptual knowledge. Sellars showed that in order to accomplish such epistemic tasks, more resources and capacities, such as those involved in using concepts, are needed. Perceptual knowledge belongs to the space of reasons and not to an independent realm of experience.Dan Hutto and Eric Myin have recently presented the Hard Problem of Content as an ensemble of reasons against naturalistic accounts of content. In a nutshell, it states that covariance relations—even though they are naturalistically acceptable explanatory resources—do not constitute content. The authors exploit this move in order to promote their preferred radical enactivist and anti-representationalist option, according to which, basic minds—the lower stratum of cognition—do not involve content.Although it is controversial to argue that the Hard Problem of Content effectively dismisses naturalistic theories of representation, a central aspect of it—the idea that information as covariance does not suffice to explain content—finds support among the defenders of classical cognitive representationalism, such as Marcin Miłkowski. This support—together with the acknowledgment this remark about covariance is a point already made by Sellars in his criticism of the Myth of the Given—has a number of interesting implications. Not only is it of interest for the debates about representationalism in cognitive science, where it can be understood as an anticipatory move, but it also offers some clues and insights for reconsidering some issues along Sellarsian lines—a conflation between two concepts of representation that is often assumed in cognitive science, a distinction between two types of relevant normativities, and a reconsideration of the naturalism involved in such explanations.
Sexual Aggression among Women and Men in an Iranian Sample: Prevalence and Correlates
Authors: Malayeri Shera , Nater Christa , Krahé Barbara , Sczesny Sabine 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThis pre-registered study examined the prevalence and correlates of sexual aggression in a sample of 530 Iranians (322 women, 208 men) with a behaviorally specific questionnaire distinguishing between different coercive strategies, victim-perpetrator relationships, and sexual acts. Significantly more women (63.0%) than men (51.0%) experienced at least one incident of sexual aggression victimization since the age of 15 years, and significantly more men (37.0%) than women (13.4%) reported at least one incident of sexual aggression perpetration. In women and men, the experience of child sexual abuse predicted sexual victimization and sexual aggression perpetration after the age of 15 years, both directly and indirectly through higher engagement in risky sexual behavior. Greater endorsement of hostile masculinity among men explained additional variance in the prediction of sexual aggression perpetration. This research is a first step towards documenting and explaining high rates of sexual aggression victimization and perpetration among Iranian women and men, providing important information for sex education as well for the prevention of sexual aggression. However, to achieve these goals, we highlight the need for systematic actions in all educational, social, and legal sectors of Iranian society.
The ‘Gender Life-Satisfaction/Depression Paradox’ Is an Artefact of Inappropriate Control Variables
Authors: Bartram David 
Published: August 2022

AbstractPrevious research has suggested that there is a ‘gender paradox’ associated with life satisfaction and depression: women are said to have higher levels of life satisfaction on average but also a higher likelihood of experiencing depression. That finding comes from quantitative analyses that include socio-demographic control variables. In this article I show that the inclusion of these control variables leads to biased results. In general, controls are to be selected on the basis that they are antecedents of the focal independent variable (as well as the dependent variable). When the focal independent variable is gender (or, more precisely, sex), no controls are required: there are no determinants of life satisfaction that also determine someone’s sex. If we include socio-demographic controls, we get biased results – because the controls themselves are affected by sex. More precisely: if we include controls (e.g. for income) to discern the difference between women’s and men’s life satisfaction, we get a result that fails to reflect the way women experience specific disadvantages (e.g. lower income) that contribute to lower life satisfaction. The same points apply to an analysis of depression. In a properly specified model (using data from the European Social Survey), there is no difference between women’s and men’s life satisfaction – so, there is no paradox with respect to depression.
ADS-B classification using multivariate long short-term memory–fully convolutional networks and data reduction techniques
Authors: Bolton Sarah , Dill Richard , Grimaila Michael R. , Hodson Douglas 
Published: August 2022

AbstractResearchers typically increase training data to improve neural net predictive capabilities, but this method is infeasible when data or compute resources are limited. This paper extends previous research that used long short-term memory–fully convolutional networks to identify aircraft engine types from publicly available automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data. This research designs two experiments that vary the amount of training data samples and input features to determine the impact on the predictive power of the ADS-B classification model. The first experiment varies the number of training data observations from a limited feature set and results in 83.9% accuracy (within 10% of previous efforts with only 25% of the data). The findings show that feature selection and data quality lead to higher classification accuracy than data quantity. The second experiment accepted all ADS-B feature combinations and determined that airspeed, barometric pressure, and vertical speed had the most impact on aircraft engine type prediction.
Fertility-Sparing and Less Radical Surgery for Cervical Cancer
Authors: Batman Samantha H. , Schmeler Kathleen M. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractPurpose of ReviewPatients with early-stage cervical cancer who desire future fertility may be candidates for less radical surgery. We review the literature supporting this approach in early-stage disease.Recent FindingsRetrospective data have shown that in carefully selected patients, the risk of parametrial involvement is less than 1%. This has led to interest in moving away from radical surgery towards more conservative approaches. Data from the newly published ConCerv trial, a prospective study evaluating the feasibility of conservative surgery in women with early-stage, low-risk cervical carcinoma, suggest that conservative surgery is feasible and safe in this patient population. Furthermore, neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being assessed as an option to extend fertility-sparing treatment to a larger group of women.SummaryLess radical surgery may be appropriate for carefully selected women with early-stage, low-risk cervical cancer, including those desiring future fertility.
Ameliorating Inflammation in Insulin-resistant Rat Adipose Tissue with Abdominal Massage Regulates SIRT1/NF-κB Signaling
Authors: Gao Tianjiao , Chen Shaotao , Han Yiran , Zhang Dongmei , Tan Yi , He Yutao , Liu Mingjun 
Published: August 2022

AbstractIt was the aim of this study to determine whether abdominal massage reverses high-fat diet-induced insulin resistance compared with RSV treatment. A total of sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly placed in one of four groups:the non-fat diet (NFD), the high-fat diet (HFD), the HFD with abdominal massage (HFD+ AM), and the HFD plus resveratrol (HFD+ RSV). For eight weeks, rats were fed high-fat diets to create insulin resistance, followed by six weeks of either AM or RSV. Molecular mechanisms of adipogenesis and cytokine production in rats with high-fat diets were investigated. The model rat adipose tissue showed significant improvements in obesity, glucose intolerance, and the accumulation of lipid in the body [the total cholesterol level (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)], metabolic effects of glucose [The fasting blood glucose (FBG), Fasting insulin levels (FINS)], inflammatory status [interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, C-reactive protein (CRP)], and macrophage polarization after AM or RSV treatment. Further, AM increased SIRT1/NF-κB signaling in rat adipose tissue. Accordingly, in rat adipose tissue, our results indicate that AM regulates the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, blood sugar levels, and related signaling pathways, contributing to improvement of IR, which may serves as a new therapeutic approach for the treatment for IR.
Comparative Study of Elabela and Apelin on Apelin Receptor Activation Through β-Arrestin Recruitment
Authors: Zhang Hong , Chen Juan , Shi Min , Xu Feng , Zhang Xiangcheng , Gong Da-Wei 
Published: August 2022

AbstractApelin receptor (APJ) ligands elabela (ELA) and apelin have divergent distributions and function differently in vitro and in vivo. Whether differences exist in their capacity of recruitment of β-arrestins (ARRBs) to APJ remains unknown. The aim of the current study was to investigate the different effects of ELA and apelin on the interaction between APJ and ARRBs in live cells by NanoBiT®. NanoBiT® system is a new technology for studying protein–protein interaction in real-time in live cells, based on the emission of luminescence when two split components of NanoLuc luciferase, large Bit (LgBit) and small Bit (SmBit), complement each other to form an enzymatically active entity. We tagged the APJ and ARRBs with LgBit or SmBit and then evaluated their interactions in transiently transfected HEK293T cells, and determined the signal strength yielded as a result of the interaction. We also investigated the concentration-dependent response of the APJ-ARRB interaction in response to ELA and apelin. Finally, we assessed the effect of F13A, an APJ antagonist which is structurally very similar to apelin-13, on ELA- and apelin-mediated APJ-ARRB interactions. The NanoLuc® luciferase signal was highest in the pair of APJ-LgBit with SmBit-ARRB1 or SmBit-ARRB2. NanoLuc® luciferase signal increased in a concentration-dependent manner from 0.1 nM to 10 μM in response to ELA or apelin. Interestingly, ELA elicited weaker APJ-ARRB interaction signals than apelin. Pre-treatment with F13A potently reduced the APJ-ARRB interaction in response to both ELA and apelin. Our results demonstrated that both ELA and apelin promoted the interaction of APJ and ARRBs in a concentration-dependent manner, and ELA is less efficacious than apelin in inducing the recruitment of ARRBs to APJ, providing a biased functional aspect of ELA vs. apelin at the receptor signaling level. Additionally, ELA and apelin may share the same binding site(s) or pocket(s) at the APJ level.
Spatiotemporal Patterns of Cyclist Collisions in Germany: Variations in Frequency, Severity of Injury, and Type of Collision in 2019
Authors: Harkort Lasse , Walker Byron Blake , Lakes Tobia 
Published: August 2022

AbstractCycling has gained increasing interest in Germany in recent years due to its manifold environmental, societal, and economic benefits. However, the number of cyclist collisions resulting in injury or death remains high and little is known about regional variations in frequency, severity of injury, and type of collision. This study investigates spatial and temporal patterns and characteristics of cyclist collisions across Germany in 2019. Using a detailed cyclist collision dataset for most German federal states, we identified statistically significant regional differences in frequency, severity of injury, and type of collision. To facilitate this and future cyclist collision surveillance studies in Germany, we developed and published a custom R package to download and combine the collision data with geographical data. Our analysis reveals that densely populated regions exhibit higher collision rates and a higher share of collisions involving turns, but lower severity of injuries and a lower share of collisions whilst driving in a straight line, a higher collision frequency during the work week compared to weekends, and a higher collision frequency peak during morning rush hour. We also observed a markedly high share of fatal bicycle-truck collisions in densely populated regions. In contrast, rural regions show lower collision rates, but a higher share of severe collisions, a higher share of collisions whilst driving in a straight line, as well as higher collision frequencies during weekends and summer months. Our findings underscore the complex and multifaceted geographical variations in collisions involving cyclists. The results of this study suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to collision prevention infrastructure and policy may be insufficient for addressing variations in risk, and that future efforts to improve cyclist safety should be tailored to the local geographical context.
Single candidate optimizer: a novel optimization algorithm
Authors: Shami Tareq M. , Grace David , Burr Alister , Mitchell Paul D. 
Published: August 2022

AbstractSingle-solution-based optimization algorithms have gained little to no attention by the research community, unlike population-based approaches. This paper proposes a novel optimization algorithm, called Single Candidate Optimizer (SCO), that relies only on a single candidate solution throughout the whole optimization process. The proposed algorithm implements a unique set of equations to effectively update the position of the candidate solution. To balance exploration and exploitation, SCO is integrated with the two-phase strategy where the candidate solution updates its position differently in each phase. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated by testing it on thirty three classical benchmarking functions and four real-world engineering problems. SCO is compared with three well-known optimization algorithms, i.e., Particle Swarm Optimization, Grey Wolf Optimizer, and Gravitational Search Algorithm and with four recent high-performance algorithms: Equilibrium Optimizer, Archimedes Optimization Algorithm, Mayfly Algorithm, and Salp Swarm Algorithm. According to Friedman and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests, SCO can significantly outperform all other algorithms for the majority of the investigated problems. The results achieved by SCO motivates the design and development of new single-solution-based optimization algorithms to further improve the performance. The source code of SCO is publicly available at:https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/116100-single-candidate-optimizer.
The Nexus between Methods and Power in Sociological Research
Authors: Schmitz Andreas , Hamann Julian 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThis article develops an integrative perspective on the nexus between power and sociological research methods. By reflecting upon two of the most widely used methodological approaches in sociology – standardized survey research and qualitative interview research – we develop a comprehensive heuristic framework for examining the ways in which the use of sociological methods affects and intersects any social scientific practice: (1) the power effects that societies and institutional settings exert on methods and the use of methods, (2) power in the use and implementation of methods, and (3) the power effects that methods and the use of methods exert on societies and institutional settings.
Childhood trauma and body dissatisfaction among young adult women: the mediating role of self-criticism
Authors: Momeñe Janire , Estévez Ana , Griffiths Mark D. , Macia Patricia , Herrero Marta , Olave Leticia , Iruarrizaga Itziar 
Published: August 2022

AbstractThe present study examined the relationship between childhood trauma and body dissatisfaction among young women. The mechanisms through which childhood trauma are related to body dissatisfaction have not been sufficiently examined previously. The aims of the present study were to analyze the (i) relationships between childhood trauma, self-criticism, and body dissatisfaction and (ii) mediating role of self-criticism in the relationship between childhood trauma and body dissatisfaction. A total of 754 young adult women aged 18 to 30 years participated (M = 20.49 years; SD = 2.28). The findings showed positive correlations between childhood trauma, self-criticism, and body dissatisfaction. The mediation model indicated that (i) greater childhood trauma was associated with greater self-criticism, and (ii) greater self-criticism was significantly associated with greater body dissatisfaction. Therefore, childhood trauma was indirectly associated with increased body dissatisfaction and explained by the positive relationship with increased self-criticism. These results highlight the importance of childhood trauma in body dissatisfaction among young adult women and demonstrates self-criticism coping style as a key factor in this relationship. Early detection of self-criticism-based coping styles and childhood trauma could improve (i) quality of life and prevent the onset of body dissatisfaction, and (ii) treatment planning and prevent body dissatisfaction from escalating into major problems (e.g., eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, morbid exercise and/or depressive symptomatology).
Sibling relationship quality and parental rearing style influence the development of Dark Triad traits
Authors: Ferencz Tas , Láng András , Kocsor Ferenc , Kozma Luca , Babós Andreas , Gyuris Petra 
Published: August 2022

AbstractCurrently our understanding of environmental factors that influence the development of dark personality traits (DT) is limited. Therefore, we conducted three studies using online questionnaires, each examining a different aspect of the relation between dark personality traits and family environment. In Study 1, 117 adults (mean age: 30.36 years, SD = 10.19) filled out questionnaires regarding their childhood relationship with siblings and their own DT traits. We found that the amount of conflicts with siblings during adolescence correlated positively with Machiavellianism and psychopathy. The feeling of closeness towards the siblings showed negative correlation with Machiavellianism. Parental partiality towards the other sibling was positively correlated with narcissism. In Study 2, 111 adolescents (mean age: 15.92, SD = 1.24) reported their perceptions of the rearing style of their parents, in addition to their sibling relationships and DT traits. Perceived parental emotional warmth was negatively associated, whereas both rejection and overprotection were positively correlated with psychopathy. Parental warmth was positively, while rejection negatively associated with narcissism. Machiavellianism was positively associated with the amount of conflicts with siblings, but negatively with closeness to siblings. In Study 3, 110 adults (mean age: 32.62 years, SD = 12.25) reported their levels of the Vulnerable Dark Triad that included measures of primary and secondary psychopathy, maladaptive covert narcissism, and borderline personality organization. Results indicated that sibling relation quality had a significant effect on primary psychopathy and borderline traits. Parental rejection and overprotection correlated with borderline traits and vulnerable narcissism. The results of these studies shed some light on how environmental impulses, particularly the quality of relationships between family members, affect the development of personality.