bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A unique destination and transportation: current issues and possible solutions
Authors: Özgit Hale , Uludağ Orhan 
Published: May 2022

PurposeThe purpose of this study is twofold. First, to consider the ways in which transportation could be more sustainable in North Cyprus, which is mostly dependent on tourism and higher education as a small island destination. Second, to investigate current issues in the transportation sector related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a qualitative approach, and a descriptive analysis technique was used to analyse semi-structured interviews, conducted by telephone and face-to-face. To investigate current problems in the North Cyprus transportation sector – one of the most affected by the pandemic – travel agencies were chosen as the study’s population and research participants were selected purposively.FindingsThe findings indicate that the unpredictability of domestic policies combined with the structural challenges confronting North Cyprus contribute to unsustainable current transportation policies. North Cyprus transport and tourism both suffered significant losses during the pandemic but travel agencies were disproportionately impacted. Our study results showed that exorbitant ticket prices, taxes and transportation costs have emerged as the most significant issues in the transportation sector.Research limitations/implicationsMore efficient and accurate policies that meet the needs of the sector and give opportunity for development are required. This is a critical issue for policymakers to address, as they also represent a significant barrier to the sector's long-term competitiveness.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first qualitative study to look at North Cyprus’ transportation problems from the perspective of travel agencies and the impact of the pandemic. It is thought that this study will contribute to the development of solutions for transportation problems and sustainable practices in small island developing states.
Robust fast dictionary learning for seismic noise attenuation
Authors: Feng Zhenjie 
Published: May 2022

ABSTRACTDictionary learning has been intensively applied to process multi‐channel seismic data due to its adaptively learned basis atoms that are data driven. Traditionally, dictionary learning is mostly used to attenuate random noise in the literature since the dictionary update operation is not sensitive to Gaussian noise. However, when dictionary learning is applied to seismic data containing strong erratic noise, which does not follow the Gaussian distribution, its performance greatly deteriorates. In this paper, we propose a novel robust dictionary learning method for dealing with both random and erratic noise. We formulate the dictionary‐learning‐sbased denoising problem as an iterative process. During each iteration, we gradually diminish the effect of the erratic noise and make the denoising problem more Gaussian type. Considering the computational overburden of the classic K‐singular value decomposition algorithm due to many iterations, we substitute the K‐singular value decomposition algorithm with an efficient algorithm, which does not require the singular value decomposition operation. We apply the proposed method to several synthetic and field datasets and obtain good performance, which demonstrates its potential for wide application.
Management‐based mitigation of the impacts of climate‐driven woody encroachment in high elevation pasture woodlands
Authors: Snell Rebecca S. , Peringer Alexander , Frank Viktoria , Bugmann Harald 
Published: May 2022

Abstract

Changes of grazing pressure and climate have been identified as drivers of woody encroachment in subalpine pastures, but disentangling their relative importance remains challenging. It is particularly unclear if grazing alone can mitigate potential climate change impacts on encroachment.

We used the dynamic vegetation model LandClim to simulate how multiple biotic and abiotic factors influence the rate of woody encroachment (i.e. how changes in temperature and precipitation influence woody and herbaceous vegetation, and interactions with grazing). We simulated a 61‐ha subalpine pasture in Switzerland near tree line. Currently, 21% of the pasture is covered by woody plants.

If current grazing levels are maintained, almost all climate change scenarios showed an increase in woody cover. Under the RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios, there was a mean encroachment rate of 0.24% and 0.15% per year respectively.

Large variation among climate model chains with RCP 8.5 was found, due to variations in precipitation. Generally, decreasing precipitation caused woody encroachment to slow down, even under very low grazing pressures.

Using a sensitivity analysis with all possible combinations of grazing pressure, temperature and precipitation changes, we found that woody encroachment rates were most sensitive to changes in grazing pressure. Precipitation change was the second most important factor, while temperature changes were least important.

Synthesis and applications. Modelling shows that increasing grazing pressure in subalpine pastures can strongly reduce woody encroachment and mitigate climate change impacts on woody encroachment.
Flowering overlap and floral trait similarity help explain the structure of pollination networks
Authors: Suárez‐Mariño Alexander , Arceo‐Gómez Gerardo , Albor Cristopher , Parra‐Tabla Víctor 
Published: May 2022

AbstractCo‐flowering communities are usually characterized by high plant generalization but knowledge of the underlying factors leading to high levels of generalization and pollinator sharing, and how these may contribute to network structure is still limited.Flowering phenology and floral trait similarity are considered among the most important factors determining plant generalization and pollinator sharing. However, these have been evaluated independently even though they can act in concert with each other. Moreover, the importance of flowering phenology and floral similarity, via their effects on plant generalization, in the structure of plant–pollinator networks has been scarcely studied. Here, we aim to evaluate the effect of flowering phenology and floral similarity in mediating the degree of pollinator sharing and plant generalization in two coastal communities and uncover their importance as drivers of plant–pollinator network structure.We recorded flower production per species, as well as the identity and frequency of floral visitors along the entire flowering season. We estimated the degree of flowering overlap, the degree of floral similarity (using floral traits associated with size and colour) and the degree of pollinator sharing among plant species within both communities.Structural equation models (SEM) showed a positive effect of flowering overlap on pollinator sharing and plant generalization. Pollinator sharing and plant generalization positively affected network nestedness. Furthermore, SEM showed a direct positive effect of flowering overlap on network modularity. The SEM analyses also revealed a significant interaction effect of floral similarity and flowering overlap on pollinator sharing, with consequences for network nestedness in one community.Synthesis. Our results highlight the importance of integrating multiple axes of differentiation such as flowering phenology and floral similarity into our understanding of the drivers of plant–pollinator network structure.
Variations in bark structural properties affect both water loss and carbon economics in neotropical savanna trees in the Cerrado region of Brazil
Authors: Loram‐Lourenço Lucas , Farnese Fernanda Santos , Alves Rauander Douglas Ferreira Barros , Dario Bruno Matheus Mendes , Martins Ana Claudia , Aun Marina Alves , Batista Priscila Ferreira , Silva Fabiano Guimarães , Cochard Hervé , Franco Augusto Cesar , Menezes‐Silva Paulo Eduardo 
Published: May 2022

Abstract

Even after complete stomatal closure, plants lose water through the leaf cuticles and bark. This residual water conductance of leaves (gleaf‐res) and stems (gbark) can negatively impact plant water balance and affect plant survival in seasonally dry environments. However, little is known about the costs and benefits associated with such water leaks, especially on stem level.

Here, we characterized the structural and functional determinants of the variability in gbark across tropical savanna species to elucidate how variations in this trait are related to contrasting growth strategies.

The high variability in gbark across species was associated with morphoantomical properties of the outer bark (thickness, density and lenticel investment), and such characteristics influenced both stem transpiration and respiration, suggesting the existence of a trade‐off between water conservation and oxygen permeability, which reflected contrasting growth and dehydration tolerance strategies. For instance, species with higher gbark and gleaf‐res presented a fast resource acquisition strategy but were more prone to drought‐induced mortality by hydraulic failure. However, model simulations revealed that the relative contribution of gleaf‐res and gbark to overall water balance depended on whether leaves were less or more resistant to cavitation than the stems.

Synthesis. By combining correlative studies, experimental results and a modelling exercise, we provide a new understanding of the costs and benefits associated with the variability in gbark across tropical savanna species and a new perspective for studies of water relations and carbon economics in species from a hyperdiverse savanna.
Systematic contributions of CFEM domain‐containing proteins to iron acquisition are essential for interspecies interaction of the filamentous pathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana
Authors: Peng Yue‐Jin , Hou Jia , Zhang Hao , Lei Jia‐Hui , Lin Hai‐Yan , Ding Jin‐Li , Feng Ming‐Guang , Ying Sheng‐Hua 
Published: May 2022

SummaryCommon in fungal extracellular membrane (CFEM) domain is unique in fungal proteins and some of which contribute to iron acquisition in yeast. However, their roles in iron acquisition remain largely unknown in filamentous fungi. In this study, 12 CFEM‐containing proteins were bioinformatically identified in the filamentous entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana, and the roles of 11 genes were genetically characterized. Transmembrane helices were critical for their association with intracellular membranes, and their number varied among proteins. Eleven CFEM genes significantly contribute to vegetative growth under iron starvation and virulence. Notably, the virulence of most disruptants could be significantly weakened by a decrease in iron availability, in which the virulence of ΔBbcfem7 and 8 strains was partially recovered by exogenous hemin. ΔBbcfem7 and 8 mutants displayed defective competitiveness against the sister entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria brongniartii. All 11 disruptants displayed impaired growth in the antagonistic assay with the saprotrophic fungus Aspergillus niger, which could be repressed by exogenous ferric ions. These findings not only reveal the systematic contributions of CFEM proteins to acquire two forms of iron (i.e. heme and ferric ion) in the entire lifecycle of entomopathogenic fungi but also help to better understand the mechanisms of fungus–host and inter–fungus interactions.
Prawn Cocktails and Cold Shoulders: Labour, the Conservatives and the City of London since the 1990s
Authors: Ganderson Joseph 
Published: May 2022

AbstractThis article charts surprising departures in how the two major British parties have cultivated and regulated financial services since the 1990s. During this time, Labour leaderships have consistently sought to accommodate the City, while the Conservatives have defied it at important junctures. This pattern of behaviour challenges the assumption in classical business power theory that Conservatives should be more attuned to finance's preferences than Labour. The article attributes this to the parties’ distinct understandings of the interplay between the sector's business power and their own statecraft, which derive from substantially varying political links with the City. Labour's repeated charm offensives are prompted by a sensitivity to disinvestment and perpetually weak political ties. The Conservatives’ approach is less sensitive to the sector's economic weight and is underwritten by enduring political ties. The article examines these differences over time and with special reference to two episodes: post‐financial crisis banking reforms and Brexit.
Emotional labour as a vehicle of organisational change in maternity care: The case of Russian doulas' institutional work
Authors: Borozdina Ekaterina 
Published: May 2022

AbstractSociological scholars of healthcare professions are becoming increasingly aware of the organisational dimension of professionalism, including how professionals as institutional actors are exposed to and influence organisational transformation. By tracing the ground‐level professional efforts of Russian doulas—a caring profession that has been plunged into a reforming health system—in this article I explore how meaning‐making activities and professionals' emotional labour build into and advance institutional changes in post‐socialist maternity care. Drawing on qualitative research materials, I define three ways through which doulas' institutional efforts engage with emotions in clinical settings: (1) redefining emotional labour as a compound of maternity care; (2) grounding emotional labour in the context of reforming institutions; (3) using emotional labour to bridge discrepancies within organisational arrangements in healthcare. My research findings provide new insights into how marketisation influences professional care, as well as about caring professionalism in post‐socialist maternity care. Attention to doulas' professional efforts allows for the affective transformation and inequality in the context of healthcare reforms to be analytically grasped. In particular, I trace how doulas' institutional agency embodied in emotional labour constructs the neo‐liberal patient's identity.
The effect of differential privacy on Medicaid participation among racial and ethnic minority groups
Authors: Kurz Christoph F. , König Adriana N. , Emmert‐Fees Karl M. F. , Allen Lindsay D. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate how county and state‐level estimates of Medicaid enrollment among the total, non‐Hispanic White, non‐Hispanic Black or African American, and Hispanic or Latino/a population are affected by Differential Privacy (DP), where statistical noise is added to the public decennial US census data to protect individual privacy.Data SourcesWe obtained population counts from the final version of the US Census Bureau Differential Privacy Demonstration Products from 2010 and combined them with Medicaid enrollment data.Study DesignWe compared 2010 county and state‐level population counts released under the traditional disclosure avoidance techniques and the ones produced with the proposed DP procedures.Data Collection/Extraction MethodsNot applicable.Principal FindingsWe find the DP method introduces errors up to 10% into counts and proportions of Medicaid participation rate accuracy at the county level, especially for small subpopulations and racial and ethnic minority groups. The effect of DP on Medicaid participation rate accuracy is only small and negligible at the state level.ConclusionsThe implementation of DP in the 2020 census can affect the analyses of health disparities and health care access and use among different subpopulations in the United States. The planned implementation of DP in other census‐related surveys such as the American Community Survey can misrepresent Medicaid participation rates for small racial and ethnic minority groups. This can affect Medicaid funding decisions.
Prevalence of peripheral spondyloarthritis among patients with ultrasound‐confirmed enthesitis: Single‐center cross‐sectional study
Authors: Koçak Ulucaköy Rezan , Batıbay Sevilay , Günendi Zafer , Göğüş Feride N. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractObjectiveThe primary goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of peripheral spondyloarthritis (pSpA) in patients with ultrasonography (USG)‐confirmed enthesitis. The secondary aim of the study was to reveal the demographic, clinical, and ultrasonographic differences of patients diagnosed with pSpA.MethodsFifty‐nine patients with USG‐confirmed enthesitis were evaluated by a rheumatologist to evaluate if they met the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) criteria for pSpA. Elementary lesions assessed by USG were based on the definition of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology in Clinical Trials group which included hypoechogenicity, thickening, Doppler signal within 2 mm of bone, enthesophytes, bone erosions, and calcifications. For all patients, clinical and demographic data included: age, gender, smoking habits, body mass index, comorbid diseases, symptom duration, enthesitis region, the presence of bilateral enthesitis, entheseal pain visual analog scale (0‐10), standardized enthesitis count following Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES) and SPondyloArthritis Research Consortium Canada (SPARCC) enthesitis index.ResultsEight (13.6%, 95% CI 6.0% to 25.0%) of 59 patients were diagnosed with pSpA according to the ASAS classification criteria. Participants diagnosed with pSpA had a longer duration of symptoms (54 vs 12 months), were more likely to present bilateral enthesitis (87.5% vs 49%) with higher SPARCC (11 vs 3) and MASES (6.5 vs 2) scores and higher C‐reactive protein (7 vs 3.2 mg/L) concentrations. Entheseal Doppler signal and hypoechogenicity were also more frequently observed (50% vs 0% and 100% vs 49% respectively).ConclusionPeripheral SpA is not uncommon among patients presenting with enthesitis and more likely in cases with prolonged, extensive, and bilateral enthesitis with entheseal hypoechogenicity and Doppler signal. Musculoskeletal ultrasonography can facilitate the diagnosis of pSpA in patients presenting with enthesitis.
Circ_0005231 promotes the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via sponging miR‐383‐5p and regulating KIAA0101
Authors: Sun Zhiguang , Zhang Shaowei , Zhang Nan , Wang Jianxin , Wang Jindong , Liu Junfeng 
Published: May 2022

AbstractBackgroundCircular RNAs (circRNAs) can act as key regulators in human cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the role and mechanism of circ_0005231 in ESCC have not previously been reported.MethodsRNA levels and protein levels were detected by real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) and Western blot assay, respectively. Cell proliferation was assessed by colony formation assay and 5‐ethynyl‐2'‐deoxyuridine (EdU) assay. Wound healing and transwell assays were used to assess cell migration and invasion, respectively. The intermolecular interaction was predicted by bioinformatic analysis and verified by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), RNA pulldown and dual‐luciferase reporter assays. Xenograft tumor model was used for exploring the biological function of circ_0005231 in vivo.ResultsCirc_0005231 was upregulated in ESCC plasma, tissues and cells. Cell proliferation, migration and invasion were significantly restrained by knockdown of circ_0005231 in ESCC cells. Circ_0005231 acted as a sponge of miR‐383‐5p, and circ_0005231 regulated ESCC cellular behavior by sponging miR‐383‐5p. Moreover, miR‐383‐5p directly targeted KIAA0101, and circ_0005231 positively regulated KIAA0101 expression by sponging miR‐383‐5p. Furthermore, circ_0005231 knockdown suppressed the malignant behavior of ESCC cells by downregulating KIAA0101. Importantly, knockdown of circ_0005231 blocked xenograft tumor growth in vivo.ConclusionCirc_0005231 acted as a sponge of miR‐383‐5p to promote ESCC progression by upregulating KIAA0101, which provided a potential therapeutic strategy for ESCC treatment.
Implicit measures of alcohol approach and drinking identity in alcohol use disorder: A preregistered double‐blind randomized trial with cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Authors: Schwippel Tobias , Schroeder Philipp A. , Hasan Arafat , Plewnia Christian 
Published: May 2022

AbstractAlcohol use disorder (AUD) is a severe and widespread mental disorder with a huge negative impact on the social, economic and health dimensions. The identification of risk factors for the development of AUD and for relapse in existing AUD are crucial for prevention and treatment approaches. Alcohol‐related implicit associations have been shown to contribute to drinking and might partially explain sudden relapses. The aims of this study are to investigate implicit associations in abstinent AUD patients and to test whether cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) modulates implicit associations. We measured performance in two alcohol‐related implicit association tests (IATs) and two control tasks (flower‐insect IAT, Stroop task) in 27 abstinent AUD patients with 31.5 (SD = 36) days of abstinence on average. During the execution of the tasks, we applied 1 mA cathodal or sham tDCS over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) in a sham‐controlled within‐subject design. Results show an implicit bias of alcohol avoidance and implicit nondrinking identity for abstinent AUD patients. Cathodal tDCS modulated neither alcohol‐related implicit associations nor the control tasks. This study complements knowledge about implicit alcohol‐related association in AUD patients and shows no effect of a neuromodulatory intervention to alter implicit associations with the present parameters.
Effects of habitat, season and flood on corvid scavenging dynamics in Central Australia
Authors: Bragato Patrick J. , Spencer Emma E. , Dickman Chris R. , Crowther Mathew S. , Tulloch Ayesha , Newsome Thomas M. 
Published: May 2022

AbstractCarrion is an ubiquitous resource that drives the dynamics of scavenger populations and shapes the structure and composition of their communities. Corvids (Family: Corvidae) are among the most common scavengers globally, facilitating carcass discovery by other species and contributing to carcass biomass removal. Here, we examine how environmental factors influence corvid scavenging dynamics in an arid region of Central Australia. Specifically, we investigate how habitat, season and a major flood event affect corvid discovery and visitation time, and group size around carcass sites. To do so, we used data collected from camera traps monitoring 80 experimentally positioned red kangaroo (Osphranter rufus) carcasses stratified across closed and open habitats, spring and winter seasons, and before and after a flood event. Corvids took longer to discover carcasses in closed compared to open habitats, but habitat did not affect how long corvids spent visiting carcasses, or corvid group size. Corvids discovered carcasses faster in winter compared to spring and in post‐flood compared with the pre‐flood periods, and season and flood interacted to influence both corvid visitation time and group size. Our results reflect a complex interplay between temperature, the extreme boom and bust cyclicity of the study region and changing corvid activity and abundance in the local study area. We identify environmental factors as key determinants of corvid scavenging dynamics and provide the first detailed description of scavenging by corvids in the arid zone of Australia.