bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Investigating Pre-Service Physics Teachers’ Understanding of Functions, Formulae and Equations in the Laboratory: A Pilot Study
Authors: Gkioka Olga 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
The paper reports results from a study designed to identify pre-service physics teachers’ (PSTs) understanding of mathematical expressions in the undergraduate physics laboratory. One physics experimental practice is the analysis and explanation of experimental evidence whereby, PSTs calculate slopes for line graphs and rates of change along curved graphs and interpret them. Sixteen PSTs participated. Data sources included the lab reports PSTs submitted after each experiment, mid-term and final exam papers and follow-up interviews (based on lab reports). In addition, for the research purposes of the study, the PSTs designed and performed the insulation experiment, an experiment they had not performed before and for which they did not know any results a priori. We found that PSTs made sense of physics equations as “formulae”; that is for calculations only. They could not attribute a physical meaning to the concept of slope of line graphs. They had also difficulties in linking instantaneous rates of change with the derivative of a function in order to calculate instantaneous rates along a curved graph. Implications for instructional practice and further research are discussed.
Microscopic characterization of the superconducting thin films of the (Cu1-xCx)Ba2Can-1CunOy on LaAlO3 substrate
Authors: Zhu Ping , Guo Yanqun , Zeng Zhigang , Xu Zhihang , Sun Ruoxian , Liu Zhiyong , Cai Chuanbing 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
The cuprate superconductors with transition temperature over 100 K are mainly Hg-based, Tl-based, Bi-based and Cu-based. The transition temperature of the Cu -based superconductor (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy reaches up to 117 K, while exhibiting the highest irreversible field (15 T @ 86 K), without toxic elements, and with low anisotropy. This greatly enhances its applicability in strong magnetic fields, making it highly competitive. However, the growth of (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy bulk materials requires high temperature and high pressure, which greatly limits the practical application of (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy. After investigation, it was found that thin films of (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy can be grown using pulsed laser deposition and molecular beam epitaxy without the need for high pressure. In this paper, a-axis (Cu,C)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy thin films were successfully grown on LaAlO3 single crystal substrate by pulsed laser deposition. However, the film exhibits a relatively low transition temperature of approximately 60 K. Herein, to ascertain the film's microscopic structure, transmission electron microscopy illustrates that the film also contains additional minor superconducting phases such as (Cu1-xCx)Ba2Ca1Cu2Oy, (Cu1-xCx)Ba2Ca2Cu3Oy, and &#xD;(Cu1-xCx)Ba2Ca4Cu5Oy in addition to the desired phase (Cu1-xCx)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy. Furthermore, due to the epitaxial growth of the film with a significant lattice mismatch, it experiences tensile strain. (Cu1-xCx)Ba2Ca3Cu4Oy is easily to intergrow of phases with different n to minimize strain. The combination of these two factors contributes to the relatively low superconducting transition temperature in the film. In addition, a greater degree of disorder would reduce the superconducting transition temperature further.
Condition monitoring of Friction Stir Welding tool with vibration signals using support vector machine classifiers
Authors: K Balachandar , R Jegadeeshwaran , G Sakthivel , T Mohanraj 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
Prediction of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) tool conditions has been a major highlight in recent years. Continuous monitoring and prediction of tool life is the most difficult task on the industrial side. This is because the occurrence of high temperatures and numerous vibrations during the welding process can affect tool life. Aluminium (Al5083) and Magnesium (AZ31B) alloys are selected as a workpiece and H13 tool steel is selected as a tool for the FSW process. The FSW was carried out with different tool conditions namely, Good condition, air gap between tool and workpiece, misalignment of workpieces, one side lift in base metals, and notch in workpieces. A piezoelectric transducer helps extract the vibration signal from the rotating tool. From the vibration signals, statistical features are extracted and these features are used as input for the Support Vector Machine (SVM) Machine Learning (ML) classifiers. The various SVM algorithms are used to classify the tool condition. A Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed to monitor the state of the tool, which is an added benefit.Results demonstrate that the SVM model can accurately classify different tool conditions, providing valuable insights into tool health and facilitating timely maintenance interventions. The Fine Gaussian SVM performs better with 95% and 88.6% accuracy in predicting tool conditions for Al5083 and Mg AZ31B alloy respectively. The proposed SVM-based condition monitoring represents a significant step towards automated, real-time tool condition assessment in FSW, promising enhancements in process reliability and efficiency.&#xD;
A referendum on reform: the 1831 General Election
Authors: Aidt Toke S , Franck Raphaël 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
Obtaining a one-vote majority in the House of Commons in March 1831 was insufficient for the Great Reform Act to succeed. It needed to overcome the next roadblock: gaining support from the voters of the Unreformed Parliament in the 1831 General Election. This chapter uses this election, which was in practice a referendum on the reform question, to examine the link between the threat of revolution and democratisation. Between the 1830 and 1831 General Election, a major rural uprising—the Swing riots—engulfed rural England. The econometric analysis relates the number of these riots happening near each of the English constituencies to the share of seats won by pro-reform politicians. The Swing riots induced voters to vote for pro-reform politicians after experiencing first-hand the violence of the riots, and that, in turn, returned a pro-reform majority to the Commons. The threat of revolution was key in overcoming this roadblock.
Jewish Law and International Law: The Future
Authors: Broyde Michael J , Elazar-De Mota Yehonatan 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
In this forward-looking chapter, the authors envision how Jewish law and international law might collaborate more closely to address future global challenges, such as climate change, human rights, and conflict resolution. The chapter proposes that Jewish legal principles—especially those related to justice, ethics, and peace—could play a crucial role in shaping a more just and equitable international legal order. It also explores how Jewish law may evolve through continued engagement with international norms, offering potential frameworks for future collaboration. The chapter concludes with a call for ongoing dialogue between Jewish and international legal scholars, emphasizing the potential for these two systems to learn from and complement each other in addressing global challenges.
XeroGraph: enhancing data integrity in the presence of missing values with statistical and predictive analysis
Authors: Mousafi Alasal Laila , Hammarlund Emma U , Pienta Kenneth J , Rönnstrand Lars , Kazi Julhash U 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Motivation
Missing data present a pervasive challenge in data analysis, potentially biasing outcomes and undermining conclusions if not addressed properly. Missing data are commonly classified into Missing Completely at Random (MCAR), Missing at Random (MAR), and Missing Not at Random (MNAR). While MCAR poses a minimal risk of data distortion, both MAR and MNAR can seriously affect the results of subsequent analyses. Therefore, it is important to know the type of missing data and appropriately handle them.

Results
To facilitate efficient handling of missing data, we introduce a Python package named XeroGraph that is designed to evaluate data quality, categorize the nature of missingness, and guide imputation decisions. By comparing how various imputation methods influence underlying distributions, XeroGraph provides a systematic framework that supports more accurate and transparent analyses. Through its comprehensive preliminary assessments and user-friendly interface, this package facilitates the selection of optimal strategies tailored to the specific missing data mechanisms present in a dataset. In doing so, XeroGraph may significantly improve the validity and reproducibility of research findings, making it a valuable tool for professionals in data-intensive fields.

Availability and implementation
XeroGraph is compatible with all operating systems and requires Python version 3.9 or higher. It can be freely downloaded from PyPI (https://pypi.org/project/XeroGraph). The source code is accessible on GitHub (https://github.com/kazilab/XeroGraph), and comprehensive documentation is available at Read the Docs (https://xerograph.readthedocs.io). This software is distributed under the Apache License 2.0.
EpicPred: Predicting phenotypes driven by epitope binding TCRs using attention-based multiple instance learning
Authors: Jeon Jaemin , Yu Suwan , Lee Sangam , Kim Sang Cheol , Jo Hye-Yeong , Jung Inuk , Kim Kwangsoo 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Motivation
Correctly identifying epitope binding TCRs is important to both understand their underlying biological mechanism in association to some phenotype and accordingly develop T-cell mediated immunotherapy treatments. Although the importance of the CDR3 region in TCRs for epitope recognition is well recognized, methods for profiling their interactions in association to a certain disease or phenotype remains less studied. We developed EpicPred to identify phenotype specific TCR-epitope interactions. EpicPred first predicts and removes unlikely TCR-epitope interactions to reduce false positives using the Open-set Recognition. Subsequently, multiple instance learning was used to identify TCR-epitope interactions specific to a cancer type or severity levels of COVID-19 patients.

Results
From six public TCR databases, 244,552 TCR sequences and 105 unique epitopes were used to predict epitope binding TCRs and to filter out non-epitope binding TCRs using the open-set recognition method. The predicted interactions were used to further predict the phenotype groups in two cancer and four COVID-19 TCR-seq datasets of both bulk and single-cell resolution. EpicPred outperformed the competing methods in predicting the phenotypes, achieving an average AUROC of 0.80 ± 0.07.

Availability and implementation
The EpicPred Software is available at https://github.com/jaeminjj/EpicPred.

Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
LAsting Symptoms after Oesophageal Resectional Surgery (LASORS): multicentre validation cohort study
Authors: Paine Heidi , Chidambaram Swathikan , Johar Asif , Maynard Nick , Lagergren Pernilla , Griffiths Ewen A , Behrens Paul , Singh Pritam , Abbassi-Ghadi Nima , Preston Shaun R , Vohra Ravinder S , Gossage James , Underwood Tim , Dai Nick , O’Neill J Robert , Awad Sherif , Mohammadi Borzoueh , Dawas Khaled , Qureshi Yassar , Alkhaffaf Bilal , Jones Rhys , Hanna George B , Markar Sheraz R 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Long-term symptom burden and health-related quality-of-life outcomes after curative oesophageal cancer treatment are poorly understood. Existing tools are cumbersome and do not address the post-treatment population specifically. The aim of this study was to validate the six-symptom LASORS tool for identifying patients after curative oesophageal cancer treatment with poor health-related quality of life and to assess its clinical utility.

Methods
Between 2015 and 2019, patients from 15 UK centres who underwent curative-intent oesophageal cancer treatment, and were disease-free at least 1 year after surgery, were invited to participate in the study and complete LASORS and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and QLQ-OG25 questionnaires. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to examine the accuracy of the LASORS tool for identifying patients with poor health-related quality of life.

Results
A total of 263 patients completed the questionnaire. Four of the six LASORS symptoms were associated with poor health-related quality of life: reduced energy (OR 2.13 (95% c.i. 1.45 to 3.13)); low mood (OR 1.86 (95% c.i. 1.20 to 2.88)); diarrhoea more than three times a day unrelated to eating (OR 1.48 (95% c.i. 1.06 to 2.07)); and bloating or cramping after eating (OR 1.35 (95% c.i. 1.03 to 1.77)). The LASORS tool showed good diagnostic accuracy with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.858 for identifying patients with poor health-related quality of life.

Conclusion
The six-symptom LASORS tool generated a reliable model for identification of patients with poor health-related quality of life after curative treatment for oesophageal cancer. This is the first tool of its kind to be prospectively validated in the post-esophagectomy population. Clinical utility lies in identification of patients at risk of poor health-related quality of life, ease of use of the tool, and in planning survivorship services.
Antibiotic treatment and survival in patients with resected, early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma receiving chemotherapy
Authors: Gong Emma , Fulop Daniel J , Serebrenik Joyce , Labiner Arielle J , Cohen Deirdre J , Sigel Keith M , Lucas Aimee L 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a clinically challenging malignancy, largely due to chemoresistance. Bacteria within the PDAC microbiome may mediate chemoresistance, suggesting that alteration of the microbiome with antibiotics could improve chemotherapy response.

Methods
We utilized the SEER-Medicare database to select patients with resected, early-stage PDAC diagnosed between 2007 and 2017. The primary outcome of this study was overall survival (OS). Receipt of antibiotic treatment within one month after adjuvant chemotherapy initiation was determined from Medicare claims data. Propensity scores (PSs) were used to match patients who received antibiotics with patients who did not receive antibiotics. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate 5-year OS rates, and cox regression analysis was used to assess association between receiving antibiotics and OS. All hypotheses were 2-sided.

Results
Of the 712 patients with resected, early-stage PDAC, 629 (88.3%) were treated with adjuvant gemcitabine and 177 (24.9%) received antibiotics in the one month following chemotherapy initiation. The mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 73.7 (5.1) years and patients were mostly women, White, and from metropolitan areas in the northeastern or western US. A total of 143 PS-matched pairs were evaluated. Among patients treated with gemcitabine, antibiotic treatment was associated with a 37% improvement in OS and a 30% improvement in cancer-specific survival.

Conclusions
Antibiotic treatment in the one month following adjuvant gemcitabine initiation was associated with improved survival. These findings provide additional support for the hypothesis that antibiotic treatment may alter the pancreatic microbiome in a manner that reduces chemoresistance, potentially improving PDAC outcomes.
Representativeness of electronic referral to smoking treatment trials in adult primary care
Authors: Kim Nayoung , Kirsch Julie , Millevolte Rosina , Oguss Madeline K , Fraser David L , Kobinsky Kate , Piper Megan E , Cook Jessica W , Schlam Tanya R , Baker Timothy B , Fiore Michael C , Kathuria Hasmeena , McCarthy Danielle E 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Introduction
Some populations are under-represented in smoking treatment research. Electronic health record (EHR)-enabled referral of patients who smoke may enhance representativeness of clinical trial samples. This study assessed the representativeness of smoking treatment trial electronic referral (e-referral), exclusion, enrollment, and engagement in primary care.

Methods
Eighteen adult primary care clinics in 2 healthcare systems offered patients who smoked e-referral to smoking reduction or cessation treatment trials. Extracted EHR data were analyzed to compare rates of e-referral and enrollment across patient groups defined by sex, age, race, ethnicity, and insurance status. Trial eligibility screening data were analyzed to identify differential exclusion of patient groups by sex, race, or neighborhood disadvantage.

Results
Overall, 23.3% of eligible patients were e-referred, with elevated e-referral rates among women, African American, Medicaid-eligible, and middle-aged patients. Among e-referred patients, 20.5% were excluded at trial eligibility screening, with exclusions elevated for women, minoritized individuals, and individuals from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Overall, 7.0% of patients who smoked enrolled in a smoking treatment trial, with enrollment rates elevated among women, those over age 44, and, in one health system, African American patients. Most enrollees (&gt;87%) initiated counseling and enrollees completed 52.4%-79.9% of counseling sessions, with older, college-educated, and lower-income enrollees attending more sessions.

Conclusions
Proactive e-referral in primary care may improve representation of certain groups (e.g., African American and Medicaid-eligible patients) in smoking treatment trials, but differential exclusion at eligibility screening may reduce sample representativeness. Relaxing non-essential eligibility criteria may enhance inclusion of minoritized and disadvantaged populations in smoking treatment research.

Implications
Electronic referral of adult primary care patients who smoke to smoking cessation and reduction trials may enhance referral of high-priority populations (e.g., African American patients and those eligible for Medicaid) to tobacco treatment trials. Relaxing treatment trial inclusion criteria may enhance representation of minoritized and disadvantaged patients in treatment trials.
Italian Literature and the Academies
Authors: Everson Jane E. 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
This article explores the emergence of Italian learned academies, beginning with the Accademia degli Intronati in Siena in the sixteenth century. Fueled by elite humanist education and advancements in printing, these academies grew to over two thousand, attracting diverse memberships and focusing on scholarly pursuits. Notable institutions like the Intronati and Congrega dei Rozzi emphasized the study of canonical writers such as Dante and Petrarch, fostering dynamic literary discussions and engaging in debates over Italian vernacular and Aristotle’s Poetics. They also cultivated the composition of lyric poetry and promoted vernacular theater. As the seventeenth century unfolded, academies expanded their scope to include scientific topics and new literary genres such as mock heroics. However, their influence on vernacular literature began to wane, leading to the establishment of the Arcadia in 1690. By the end of the century, the once-elusive “panther” of Italian academies had been tamed, reflecting their historical significance and the evolving cultural landscape.
A Maltese Perspective of Sex: a Maltese cross-sectional study
Authors: Bartolo Matthew , Marmara Vincent , Cassar Danica , Miclet Arianna 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
This research constitutes a pioneering cross-sectional investigation into sexual behaviors within the Maltese population, centered on the examination of meaning of sex, sex frequency, sex duration, sexual satisfaction, and discussions about sex.

Aim
The aim of this study is to explore how the Maltese define the term “sex” and with whom they discuss sexual matters while testing the hypotheses that the frequency and duration of sexual activity, as well as the discussion of sexual matters, influence sexual satisfaction.

Methods
Data were collected via a computer-assisted telephone interview method, using a randomized sample of 400 Maltese adults aged 18 and above. The questionnaire included 33 items addressing various aspects of sexual behavior. The responses were analyzed using SPSS, applying Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis, and chi-square tests to assess relationships between variables.

Outcomes
To gauge participants’ sexual satisfaction, respondents were tasked with rating their contentment with their sexual lives on a scale from 1 to 5.

Results
Results revealed that 26.9% of respondents defined sex as a “sexual act between two persons,” while 26.8% linked it to “an act of love.” Few participants associated sex with pleasure or intimacy, reflecting possible conservative cultural influences. A majority (61.7%) felt comfortable discussing sexual matters with their partners, while only 26.6% were comfortable doing so with friends. The average sexual frequency was 5.69 times per month. Sexual satisfaction was positively correlated with frequency as individuals reporting more frequent sex were generally more satisfied with their sex lives. However, no significant association was found between the duration of sexual activity and sexual satisfaction.

Clinical translation
The study’s clinical implications provide valuable insights for healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers grappling with sexual health concerns within the Maltese population.

Strengths and limitations
This pioneering study provides new insights into sexual behaviors in Malta, with stratified sampling enhancing the sample’s representativeness. However, social desirability and recall bias may affect the accuracy of self-reported data, and the focus on age, gender, and relationship status overlooks other factors, such as cultural or religious influences, that may offer a deeper understanding of sexual behaviors.

Conclusions
The Maltese population demonstrates a diverse understanding of “sex” while also revealing that most individuals feel comfortable discussing sexual matters with partners but not with friends; additionally, the population reports an average sexual frequency of 5 times per month, lasting between 26 and 45 minutes, with the majority expressing overall satisfaction with their sexual lives.