bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Changes to Rural Migration in the COVID‐19 Pandemic☆
Authors: Petersen Julia K. , Winkler Richelle L. , Mockrin Miranda H.
Published: February 2024

Media stories highlighted accounts of migration away from city centers towards more rural destinations during the COVID‐19 pandemic, but systematic research about how the pandemic changed migration in more rural destinations is only starting to emerge. This paper relies on U.S. Postal Service change‐of‐address data to describe whether and how established domestic migration systems changed during the COVID‐19 pandemic, focusing on differences across the rural–urban gradient and by outdoor recreation resources. We find little evidence of massive urban exodus. We do find that out‐migration from rural counties declined post‐pandemic onset and has stayed low in the 3 years since, stemming the tide of net population loss in many rural places. Most rural counties that experienced net population loss prior to the pandemic saw either less net loss or net gains during the pandemic. Rural recreation counties experienced greater gains through both decreased out‐migration and increased in‐migration in the first year of the pandemic; but by year three, differences between rural recreation and non‐recreation counties had balanced. Overall, counties across Rural America saw notable change to pre‐pandemic migration patterns. This shift may benefit rural areas through long‐term population stability and/or growth but might also exacerbate housing and childcare shortages.
In situ charcoal production in Acacia decurrens‐based taungya system improved soil properties and productivity of three agricultural crops in the highlands of Ethiopia
Authors: Tadele Desalegn , Adgo Enyew
Published: February 2024

Short‐term in situ charcoal production‐induced changes in soil properties and crop productivity of acidic soil in Acacia decurrens‐based taungya system were assessed in the Guder watershed of northwestern Ethiopia. Data were collected through field study, pot experiment and interviews with local farmers. The field study involved a survey of 36 paired charcoal production kiln sites and adjacent reference sites in 18 croplands to analyse soil physicochemical properties and productivity of tef (Eragrostis tef), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum aestivum). A pot experiment was undertaken with wheat to investigate seed germination and chemical fertilizer needs at charcoal production sites. Local farmers were interviewed for their perceptions and management practices. The production and short‐term presence of charcoal in kiln sites significantly increased sand fraction, pH, organic carbon, available phosphorous, exchangeable Mg2+ and exchangeable K+ compared with the reference sites. Charcoal production practice raised pH by 0.83 units, organic carbon, available P and exchangeable K+ by 40%, 92% and 303%, respectively. Exchangeable acidity and exchangeable Al3+ were lowered by over 80% at kiln sites. Both aboveground biomass and grain yield of tef, barley and wheat were, on average, 135% higher at kiln sites than at the reference sites. Furthermore, crops grown at kiln sites were taller and had greener and larger leaves. Farmers' responses indicated higher crop productivity and reduced inorganic fertilizer application at kiln sites. Results from the pot experiment provided evidence of faster seed germination, enhanced crop productivity and reduced inorganic fertilizer needs in charcoal‐treated soils. The study suggests that the inclusion of charcoal remnants and heating can increase carbon storage, improve soil properties which promote crop productivity and reduce the need for inorganic fertilizer in degraded, acidic agricultural soil.
The lexical source of BIN and habitual be in African American English
Authors: Sobin Nicholas
Published: February 2024

Although various works on African American English (AAE) offer significant and insightful analyses of the semantic interpretation of its aspectual elements, including in particular stressed remote past BIN and habitual be (behab), the syntactic analysis of these elements is problematic. BIN and behab are claimed to be invariant lexical elements with fixed semantic values, and to not interact with INFL (Tense) as auxiliaries do, thus not displaying subject–verb agreement or undergoing any operations typical of finite auxiliaries. However, considerations including syntactic positioning, accompanying auxiliaries, patterns of verb affixation, and the formation of active and passive sentences point instead to BIN and behab being in most instances phonetic manifestations of any of the various ordinary auxiliary verbs be (progressive, passive, and copular), elements of the system of auxiliaries common to both AAE and Mainstream American English (MAE). The surface forms BIN and be are sufficient to trigger their special meanings in logical representation. Semantically dedicated lexical elements are unnecessary. The various interpretations of sentences containing these forms are due to constructional semantic interpretation of various combinations of surface elements. This analysis further reveals the existence of another AAE innovation, a fourth auxiliary verb be unique to AAE indicating simple past.
Group peer mentoring to improve faculty connections and enhance mentoring networks
Authors: Barr Karen P. , Deluca Kerry , Dicianno Brad E. , Helkowski Wendy M. , Liu Betty
Published: February 2024

Background

Difficulty finding mentors and forging connections in academic departments can be challenging and became even more so when the COVID‐19 pandemic reduced opportunities for informal networking. Even as restrictions on in‐person meetings eased, many faculty preferred meetings to remain virtual. Because some of the most powerful predictors of faculty vitality are positive professional relationships and feelings of inclusion and belonging to an institution, attending to faculty needs in this area is important to mitigate undesired lingering consequences.

Approach

We created structured peer mentoring groups for our department's physicians and psychologists that meet virtually. Groups span career stages, academic appointments and clinical interests. The purpose was to establish a deeper culture of mentoring, increase feelings of connection to a supportive community within the department, facilitate career planning and enhance the development of skills necessary in academic medicine such as teaching skills, scholarly productivity and personal wellness.

Evaluation

A survey conducted after the first year of the programme was completed by 70% of eligible faculty (31/45). Ninety‐six percent felt the programme had created an inclusive and appreciative culture, 86% met faculty members they had never met before and 79% sought mentoring advice from a colleague they would not usually have interacted with in that manner. All participants appreciated hearing their colleagues' perspectives on topics they do not typically discuss.

Implications

Departmentally based group peer mentoring that spans career stages and interests can facilitate faculty connections and enhance a supportive culture of mentorship.
Multimodal learning with only image data: A deep unsupervised model for street view image retrieval by fusing visual and scene text features of images
Authors: Wu Shangyou , Yu Wenhao , Zhang Yifan , Huang Mengqiu
Published: February 2024

As one of the classic tasks in information retrieval, the core of image retrieval is to identify the images sharing similar features with a query image, aiming to enable users to find the required information from a large number of images conveniently. Street view image retrieval, in particular, finds extensive applications in many fields, such as improvements to navigation and mapping services, formulation of urban development planning scheme, and analysis of historical evolution of buildings. However, the intricate foreground and background details in street view images, coupled with a lack of attribute annotations, render it among the most challenging issues in practical applications. Current image retrieval research mainly uses the visual model that is completely dependent on the image visual features, and the multimodal learning model that necessitates additional data sources (e.g., annotated text). Yet, creating annotated datasets is expensive, and street view images, which contain a large amount of scene texts themselves, are often unannotated. Therefore, this paper proposes a deep unsupervised learning algorithm that combines visual and text features from image data for improving the accuracy of street view image retrieval. Specifically, we employ text detection algorithms to identify scene text, utilize the Pyramidal Histogram of Characters encoding predictor model to extract text information from images, deploy deep convolutional neural networks for visual feature extraction, and incorporate a contrastive learning module for image retrieval. Upon testing across three street view image datasets, the results demonstrate that our model holds certain advantages over the state‐of‐the‐art multimodal models pre‐trained on extensive datasets, characterized by fewer parameters and lower floating point operations. Code and data are available at https://github.com/nwuSY/svtRetrieval.
Spatiotemporal analysis of global grain trade multilayer networks considering topological clustering
Authors: Tu Youjun , Shu Zihan , Wu Wenjun , He Zongyi , Li Junli
Published: February 2024

With accelerating globalization, the complexity of the global grain trade network structure is increasing. Traditional network analysis approaches have certain limitations in capturing these dynamic changes and hidden topological structures in data. Based on global import and export trade data for rice, wheat, and corn from 1988 to 2022, this study has proposed a novel method for the topological clustering of temporal multilayer networks based on topological data analysis in order to systematically assess the topological structure evolution of temporal multilayer networks. The results indicate that different agricultural trade networks reveal hidden clustering characteristics in different years. In addition, this study combines principles from landscape ecology to construct a dynamic community spatiotemporal change model of grain trade networks, aiming to comprehensively reveal potential patterns and dynamic trends in grain trade networks and provide valuable information for grain trade decision‐making.
The Tägerwilen II report: Recommendations from the NATO Prehospital Care Improvement Initiative Task Force
Authors: Medby Christian , Forestier Colleen , Ingram Benjamin , Parkhouse Duncan , Alvarez‐Brueckmann Michael , Faas Alexander
Published: February 2024

Background

The Committee of the Chiefs of Military Medical Services (COMEDS) initiated the Prehospital Care Improvement Initiative Task Force (PHCII TF) to advise on how to improve prehospital care within NATO nations. The Task Force consisted of the NATO Military Health Care Working Group and its subordinated expert panels, including the Blood Panel, the Emergency Medicine Panel and the Special Operations Forces Medicine Panel.

Method

The PHCII TF identified four key prehospital care themes for exploration: 1) Tactical Casualty Care, 2) Blood Far Forward), 3) Forward Surgical Capabilities), and 4) Prolonged Casualty Care. A consensus experimentation workshop explored the four themes, utilizing a modified Delphi technique and Utstein rotations during syndicate work, resulting in 83 consensus statements. The consensus statements were further evaluated on six criteria: actionable, measurable, urgent, interoperability, low risk/threat and impact.

Results

The 83 consensus statements, when weighted against the six criteria, resulted in 15 recommendations, focusing on standardization of training, ensuring provision of evidence‐based practices and removing legislative barriers to improve prehospital care.

Conclusion

The recommendations on these four themes reflect the most significant priorities in improving prehospital care, and must be incorporated in the on‐going revision of NATO doctrine.
A comparison study between the Siemens ADVIA 120 and manual method for the differential white blood cell count in goats
Authors: Oikonomidis Ioannis L. , Brozos Christos , Tsouloufi Theodora K. , Kiossis Evangelos , Kritsepi‐Konstantinou Maria
Published: February 2024

Background

Although widely used, the ADVIA 120 hematology analyzer has not been previously validated for determining the differential leukocyte count in goats.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to compare the differential leukocyte counts provided by the ADVIA 120 (A‐diff) and the manual method (M‐Diff) in goats.

Methods

EDTA blood samples that were analyzed within 4 h of collection were used in the study. The following exclusion criteria were applied: inappropriately filled tubes or tubes containing clots, erroneous ADVIA peroxidase cytograms, and blood smears of poor quality. The A‐Diff was compared with the M‐Diff performed by two independent observers on 200 leukocytes.

Results

Forty samples were included after previously excluding eight samples. The correlation between the A‐Diff and M‐Diff was very strong for eosinophils (r = .870, p < .001) and strong for lymphocytes (r = .796, p < .001) and neutrophils (r = .730, p < .001), while no significant correlation was observed for monocytes (r = .026, p = .872). The Passing–Bablok regression analyses revealed statistically significant constant errors for neutrophils (5.83%; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.41%, 12.18%) and eosinophils (1.89%; 95% CI: 1.17%, 2.71%). Bland–Altman analyses showed a statistically significant negative bias for lymphocytes (−5.0%) and a statistically significant positive bias for eosinophils (2.2%). The very low basophil percentages precluded a meaningful method comparison.

Conclusions

The ADVIA 120 overall demonstrated good performance for the differential WBC count in goats under the conditions of this study. Therefore, it can be considered suitable for routine hematologic screening in goats. Nonetheless, it should be emphasized that any abnormal result should be confirmed with a blood smear evaluation.
Responding to outbreaks of illness linked to unpasteurized milk: A needs assessment of state health and agriculture departments
Authors: Ablan Michael , Canning Michelle , Koski Lia , Landsman Lisa , Stapleton G. Sean , Nichols Megin , Robyn Misha
Published: February 2024

Aims

Consumption of unpasteurized milk can result in severe illness or death. In the United States, the number of people who regularly consume unpasteurized milk is relatively low, but outbreaks resulting from unpasteurized milk outnumber outbreaks linked to pasteurized milk. The sale of unpasteurized milk for human consumption through interstate commerce is prohibited at the federal level, but laws among states vary considerably with respect to the sale of unpasteurized milk. Each state has a different perspective on responding to and preventing outbreaks of illness linked to consuming unpasteurized milk.

Methods and Results

We conducted a needs assessment of state health and agriculture departments to gather information on state‐level strategies to prevent illnesses linked to consuming unpasteurized milk, characterize challenges states face, and identify areas where partners can support state efforts to prevent illnesses. We deployed a survey from 6 January 2021 to 1 March 2021, using a snowball sampling strategy and had 158 respondents. Of 115 respondents, 46 (40%) believed that state laws were ineffective in preventing illnesses, and 92 (80%) agreed that consumers continue to find ways to get unpasteurized milk despite laws restricting sale. Respondents from 19 states were aware of future legislative or regulatory efforts surrounding unpasteurized milk in their state, with 14 (74%) indicating these efforts would expand consumer access. The most common outbreak prevention strategies respondents mentioned included sharing knowledge and experiences with other public health and agriculture officials, providing information to inform legislative efforts, and communicating to the public about outbreaks. Most respondents (41/50, 91%) were interested in pursuing further efforts to prevent unpasteurized milk‐associated illnesses in their state.

Conclusions

The results from this needs assessment can be used to inform future strategies for preventing illness outbreaks associated with unpasteurized milk consumption.
Spatial and temporal patterns of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and the impact of environmental drivers in a border area of the Russian Far East
Authors: Shartova Natalia , Korennoy Fedor , Zelikhina Svetlana , Mironova Varvara , Wang Li , Malkhazova Svetlana
Published: February 2024

Aims

Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a significant zoonotic disease transmitted by rodents. The distribution of HFRS in the European part of Russia has been studied quite well; however, much less is known about the endemic area in the Russian Far East. The mutual influence of the epidemic situation in the border regions and the possibility of cross‐border transmission of infection remain poorly understood. This study aims to identify the spatiotemporal hot spots of the incidence and the impact of environmental drivers on the HFRS distribution in the Russian Far East.

Methods and Results

A two‐scale study design was performed. Kulldorf's spatial scan statistic was used to conduct spatiotemporal analysis at a regional scale from 2000 to 2020. In addition, an ecological niche model based on maximum entropy was applied to analyse the contribution of various factors and identify spatial favourability at the local scale. One spatiotemporal cluster that existed from 2002 to 2011 and located in the border area and one pure temporal cluster from 2004 to 2007 were revealed. The best suitability for orthohantavirus persistence was found along rivers, including those at the Chinese–Russian border, and was mainly explained by land cover, NDVI (as an indicator of vegetation density and greenness) and elevation.

Conclusions

Despite the stable incidence in recent years in, targeted prevention strategies are still needed due to the high potential for HRFS distribution in the southeast of the Russian Far East.
Axioms for the category of Hilbert spaces and linear contractions
Authors: Heunen Chris , Kornell Andre , van der Schaaf Nesta
Published: February 2024

The category of Hilbert spaces and linear contractions is characterised by elementary categorical properties that do not refer to probabilities, complex numbers, norm, continuity, convexity or dimension.
A fake Klein bottle with bubble
Authors: Mannan W. H.
Published: February 2024

We resolve the question of the existence of a finite 2‐complex with the same fundamental group and Euler characteristic as a Klein bottle with a bubble, but homotopically distinct to it.
La confianza y su incidencia en los costos: un diálogo entre Robert Spaemann y el management
Authors: Vargas González Carlos Alberto , Toro Jaramillo Iván-Darío
Published: February 2024

Este artículo tiene como objetivo poner en diálogo la propuesta de Robert Spaemann con la literatura del management sobre la incidencia de la confianza en los costos de la empresa. Desde lo metodológico, se toma como guía el texto Confianza de Spaemann (2005) y se realiza una revisión estructurada de literatura en lo relacionado con la confianza y su incidencia en los costos de la empresa en el management. Para ello, se utiliza un método hermenéutico basado en la propuesta del diálogo gadameriano. Los principales hallazgos muestran que cuando hay confianza en la empresa y en su entorno se da una reducción de costos asociada al control y al monitoreo, y a la gestión de las relaciones con sus partes interesadas.
Integrating Cardiovascular Engineering and Biofluid Mechanics in High School Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education: An Experiential Approach
Authors: Radke Magen , Sulejmani Fatiesa , Vogl Brennan J. , Hatoum Hoda
Published: February 2024

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education workshops and programs play a key role in promoting early exposure to scientific applications and questions. Such early engagement leads to growing not only passion and interest in science, but it also leads to skill development through hands-on learning and critical thinking activities. Integrating physiology and engineering together is necessary especially to promote health technology awareness and introduce the young generation to areas where innovation is needed and where there is no separation between health-related matters and engineering methods and applications. To achieve this, we created a workshop aimed at K-12 (grades 9–11) students as part of the Summer Youth Programs at Michigan Technological University. The aim of this workshop was to expose students to how engineering concepts and methods translate into health- and medicine-related applications and cases. The program consisted of a total of 15 h and was divided into three sections over a period of 2 weeks. It involved a combination of theoretical and hands-on guided activities that we developed. At the end of the workshop, the students were provided a lesson or activity-specific assessment sheet and a whole workshop-specific assessment sheet to complete. They rated the programs along a 1–5 Likert scale and provided comments and feedback on what can be improved in the future. Students rated hands-on activities the highest in comparison with case studies and individual independent research. Conclusively, this STEM summer-youth program was a successful experience with many opportunities that will contribute to the continued improvement of the workshop in the future.
Compositional zoning of the Otowi Member of the Bandelier Tuff, Valles caldera, New Mexico, USA
Authors: Wolff J.A. , Ramos F.C. , Boro J.R. , Olin P.H. , Self S. , Winters R.L. , Kuentz D.C. , Dimond C. , Cook G.W. , Kyle P.R.
Published: February 2024

The Otowi Member of the Bandelier Tuff erupted at ca. 1.60 Ma from the Valles caldera (New Mexico, USA). It consists of as much as 400 km3 (dense rock equivalent) of strongly differentiated high-silica rhyolite and shows systematic upward variations in crystallinity, mineral chemistry, and trace element concentrations through its thickness, but the major element composition is almost constant and is near the low-pressure granite minimum. Incompatible trace elements in whole pumice fragments and glasses show well-correlated linear covariations. Upward zoning to lower abundances of incompatible trace elements is accompanied by development of overgrowths on quartz and alkali feldspar, although earlier-formed interiors of quartz and feldspar have near-constant compositions throughout the tuff, modified by cation diffusion in the case of feldspar. Melt inclusions in remnant quartz cores show diverse Pb isotope ratios, pointing to a wide range of distinct protoliths that contributed rhyolitic melt to the Otowi magma. Mineral thermometers suggest a modest temperature gradient through the melt body, perhaps of 40 °C, at the time of eruption. Chemical, textural, and mineralogical variations and volume-composition relations through the tuff are consistent with an origin for zoning by melting of a high-crystallinity cumulate layer beneath cognate supernatant liquid to produce denser, remobilized liquid of accumulative composition (i.e., the “modified mush model”). Melting may have occurred in several episodes. The latest of these episodes, probably thousands of years prior to eruption, introduced new rhyolitic liquid into the system and was associated with a thermal excursion, recorded in core compositions of pyroxene, during which much of the earlier crystal mass was dissolved. This left inherited cores and interiors of accumulated quartz and feldspar mantled with new growth having less-evolved compositions (higher Ti, Sr, and Ba). Changing solubility of zircon during cumulate melting produced a reversal of Zr concentrations. There is no clear petrologic evidence of a recharge eruption trigger; nonetheless, compositional zoning resulted mainly from repeated recharge-induced remobilization of quartz-feldspar cumulate. The Otowi system was built, evolved, and modified by several events over the course of a few hundred thousand years.
What is the quantity, quality and type of systematic review evidence available to inform the optimal prescribing of statins and antihypertensives? A systematic umbrella review and evidence and gap map
Authors: Shaw Liz , Briscoe Simon , Nunns Michael P , Lawal Hassanat Mojirola , Melendez-Torres G J , Turner Malcolm , Garside Ruth , Thompson Coon Jo
Published: February 2024

Objectives

We aimed to map the systematic review evidence available to inform the optimal prescribing of statins and antihypertensive medication.

Design

Systematic umbrella review and evidence and gap map (EGM).

Data sources

Eight bibliographic databases (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CINAHL, EMBASE, Health Management Information Consortium, MEDLINE ALL, PsycINFO, Conference Proceedings Citation Index—Science and Science Citation Index) were searched from 2010 to 11 August 2020. Update searches conducted in MEDLINE ALL 2 August 2022. We searched relevant websites and conducted backwards citation chasing.

Eligibility criteria for selecting studies

We sought systematic reviews of quantitative or qualitative research where adults 16 years+ were currently receiving, or being considered for, a prescription of statin or antihypertensive medication. Eligibility criteria were applied to the title and abstract and full text of each article independently by two reviewers.

Data extraction and synthesis

Quality appraisal was completed by one reviewer and checked by a second. Review characteristics were tabulated and incorporated into an EGM based on a patient care pathway. Patients with lived experience provided feedback on our research questions and EGM.

Results

Eighty reviews were included within the EGM. The highest quantity of evidence focused on evaluating interventions to promote patient adherence to antihypertensive medication. Key gaps included a lack of reviews synthesising evidence on experiences of specific interventions to promote patient adherence or improve prescribing practice. The evidence was predominantly of low quality, limiting confidence in the findings from individual reviews.

Conclusions

This EGM provides an interactive, accessible format for policy developers, service commissioners and clinicians to view the systematic review evidence available relevant to optimising the prescribing of statin and antihypertensive medication. To address the paucity of high-quality research, future reviews should be conducted and reported according to existing guidelines and address the evidence gaps identified above.
BIOSKIN: A Protocol for the Copenhagen Translational Skin Immunology Biobank and Research Programme
Authors: Løvendorf Marianne Bengtson , Johansen Jeanne Duus , Skov Lone
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis are common chronic inflammatory skin diseases that have a significant impact on individuals and society.

Methods and analysis

The Copenhagen Translational Skin Immunology Biobank and Research Programme (BIOSKIN) is a translational biobank and research study that aims to prospectively collect high-quality biological samples and clinical data from 3000 patients with psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis over a minimum period of 5 years. The longitudinal open design allows participants to enter and leave the study at different time points depending on their disease and treatment course. At every visit, the investigator collects biological samples, conducts interviews and assembles self-reported questionnaires on disease-specific and general health-related information. Clinical examination and biological sampling will be conducted at enrolment, during and after disease flare, before and after initiation of new treatment and at least once per year. The clinical examination includes dermatological verification of diagnosis, evaluation of disease severity and detailed information on phenotype. The biological samples include blood and when accessible and relevant, skin biopsies, tape strips and skin swabs. The data collected will undergo rigorous statistical analysis using appropriate analytical methods. As of December 2023, 825 patients have been enrolled in the study.

Ethics and dissemination

The study is approved by the Scientific Ethical Committee of the Capital Region (H-21032986) and the Danish Data Protection Agency. Results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at national and international conferences.
Diagnostic performance evaluation of urine HIV-1 antibody rapid test kits in a real-life routine care setting in China
Authors: Lu Huaxiang , Chen Huanhuan , Liang Shujia , Zhu Qiuying , Tan Guangjie , Pang Xianwu , Ruan Yuhua , Li Jianjun , Ge Xianmin , Huang Yunxian , Chen Zhenqiang , Zhang Shizhen , Cai Wenlong , Lan Guanghua , Lin Mei
Published: February 2024

Objectives

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of urine HIV antibody rapid test kits in screening diverse populations and to analyse subjects’ willingness regarding reagent types, purchase channels, acceptable prices, and self-testing.

Designs

Diagnostic accuracy studies

Participants

A total of 2606 valid and eligible samples were collected in the study, including 202 samples from female sex workers (FSWs), 304 persons with injection drug use (IDU), 1000 pregnant women (PW), 100 subjects undergoing voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) and 1000 students in higher education schools or colleges (STUs). Subjects should simultaneously meet the following inclusion criteria: (1) being at least 18 years old and in full civil capacity, (2) signing an informed consent form and (3) providing truthful identifying information to ensure that the subjects and their samples are unique.

Results

The sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC) of the urine HIV-1 antibody rapid test kits were 92.16%, 99.92% and 0.960 (95% CI: 0.952 to 0.968, p<0.001), respectively, among 2606 samples collected during on-site screenings. The kits showed good diagnostic performance in persons with IDU (AUC, 1.000; 95% CI, 1.000 to 1.000, p<0.001), PW (AUC, 0.999; 95% CI, 0.999 to 1.000, p<0.001) and FSWs (AUC, 1.000; 95% CI, 1.000 to 1.000, p<0.001). The AUC of the urine reagent kits in subjects undergoing VCT was 0.941 (95% CI: 0.876 to 0.978, p<0.001). The ‘acceptable price’ had the greatest influence on STUs (Pi=1.000) and PW (Pi=1.000), the ‘purchase channel’ had the greatest influence on subjects undergoing VCT (Pi=1.000) and persons with IDU (Pi=1.000) and the ‘reagent types’ had the greatest influence on FSWs (Pi=1.000).

Conclusions

The rapid urine test kits showed good diagnostic validity in practical applications, despite a few cases involving misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis.
Bone age assessment based on three-dimensional ultrasound and artificial intelligence compared with paediatrician-read radiographic bone age: protocol for a prospective, diagnostic accuracy study
Authors: Chen Li , Zeng Bolun , Shen Jian , Xu Jiangchang , Cai Zehang , Su Shudian , Chen Jie , Cai Xiaojun , Ying Tao , hu bing , Wu Min , Chen Xiaojun , Zheng Yuanyi
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Radiographic bone age (BA) assessment is widely used to evaluate children’s growth disorders and predict their future height. Moreover, children are more sensitive and vulnerable to X-ray radiation exposure than adults. The purpose of this study is to develop a new, safer, radiation-free BA assessment method for children by using three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) and artificial intelligence (AI), and to test the diagnostic accuracy and reliability of this method.

Methods and analysis

This is a prospective, observational study. All participants will be recruited through Paediatric Growth and Development Clinic. All participants will receive left hand 3D-US and X-ray examination at the Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital on the same day, all images will be recorded. These image related data will be collected and randomly divided into training set (80% of all) and test set (20% of all). The training set will be used to establish a cascade network of 3D-US skeletal image segmentation and BA prediction model to achieve end-to-end prediction of image to BA. The test set will be used to evaluate the accuracy of AI BA model of 3D-US. We have developed a new ultrasonic scanning device, which can be proposed to automatic 3D-US scanning of hands. AI algorithms, such as convolutional neural network, will be used to identify and segment the skeletal structures in the hand 3D-US images. We will achieve automatic segmentation of hand skeletal 3D-US images, establish BA prediction model of 3D-US, and test the accuracy of the prediction model.

Ethics and dissemination

The Ethics Committee of Shanghai Sixth People’s Hospital approved this study. The approval number is 2022-019. A written informed consent will be obtained from their parent or guardian of each participant. Final results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences.

Trial registration number

ChiCTR2200057236.
Canadian Addiction Treatment Centre (CATC) opioid agonist treatment cohort in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Morin Kristen A , Tatangelo Mark , Marsh David
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The Canadian Addiction Treatment Centre (CATC) cohort was established during a period of increased provision of opioid agonist treatment (OAT), to study patient outcomes and trends related to the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD) in Canada. The CATC cohort’s strengths lie in its unique physician network, shared care model and event-level data, making it valuable for validation and integration studies. The CATC cohort is a valuable resource for examining OAT outcomes, providing insights into substance use trends and the impact of service-level factors.

Participants

The CATC cohort comprises 32 246 people who received OAT prescriptions between April 2014 and February 2021, with ongoing tri-annual updates planned until 2027. The cohort includes data from all CATC clinics’ electronic medical records and includes demographic information and OAT clinical indicators.

Findings to date

This cohort profile describes the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients being treated in a large OAT physician network. As well, we report the longitudinal OAT retention by treatment type during a time of increasing exposure to a contaminated dangerous drug supply. Notable findings also include retention differences between methadone (32% of patients at 1 year) and buprenorphine (20% at 1 year). Previously published research from this cohort indicated that patient-level factors associated with retention include geographic location, concurrent substance use and prior treatment attempts. Service-level factors such as telemedicine delivery and frequency of urine drug screenings also influence retention. Additionally, the cohort identified rising OAT participation and a substantial increase in fentanyl use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Future plans

Future research objectives are the longitudinal evaluation of retention and flexible modelling techniques that account for the changes as patients are treated with OAT. Furthermore, future research aims are the use of conditional models, and linkage with provincial-level administrative datasets.
Design and rationale of the Post-Intensive Care Syndrome – paediatrics (PICS-p) Longitudinal Cohort Study
Authors: Curley Martha A Q , Watson R Scott , Killien Elizabeth Y , Kalvas Laura Beth , Perry-Eaddy Mallory A , Cassidy Amy M , Miller Erica B , Talukder Mritika , Manning Joseph C , Pinto Neethi P , Rennick Janet E , Colville Gillian , Asaro Lisa A , Wypij David
Published: February 2024

Introduction

As paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) mortality declines, there is growing recognition of the morbidity experienced by children surviving critical illness and their families. A comprehensive understanding of the adverse physical, cognitive, emotional and social sequelae common to PICU survivors is limited, however, and the trajectory of recovery and risk factors for morbidity remain unknown.

Methods and analysis

The Post-Intensive Care Syndrome–paediatrics Longitudinal Cohort Study will evaluate child and family outcomes over 2 years following PICU discharge and identify child and clinical factors associated with impaired outcomes. We will enrol 750 children from 30 US PICUs during their first PICU hospitalisation, including 500 case participants experiencing ≥3 days of intensive care that include critical care therapies (eg, mechanical ventilation, vasoactive infusions) and 250 age-matched, sex-matched and medical complexity-matched control participants experiencing a single night in the PICU with no intensive care therapies. Children, parents and siblings will complete surveys about health-related quality of life, physical function, cognitive status, emotional health and peer and family relationships at multiple time points from baseline recall through 2 years post-PICU discharge. We will compare outcomes and recovery trajectories of case participants to control participants, identify risk factors associated with poor outcomes and determine the emotional and social health consequences of paediatric critical illness on parents and siblings.

Ethics and dissemination

This study has received ethical approval from the University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board (protocol #843844). Our overall objective is to characterise the ongoing impact of paediatric critical illness to guide development of interventions that optimise outcomes among children surviving critical illness and their families. Findings will be presented at key disciplinary meetings and in peer-reviewed publications at fixed data points. Published manuscripts will be added to our public study website to ensure findings are available to families, clinicians and researchers.

Trials registration number

NCT04967365.
Silver toxicity to the earthworm Eisenia fetida is inconsistent in natural and artificial soils amended with wastewater biosolids
Authors: Lemtiri Aboulkacem , Jia Yu , Ejack Leanne , Akaram Ismail S. , Dórea Haroldo S. , Colinet Gilles , Francis Frederic , Ghosal Subhasis , Sunahara Geoffrey I. , Whalen Joann K.
Published: February 2024

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are present in biosolids from wastewater treatment facilities, a common soil amendment. Exposing earthworms ( Eisenia fetida) to AgNP and AgNO3 in soil with 0 and 7.5 g biosolids kg−1 for 28 days showed AgNO3 was more lethal to earthworms in artificial soil (LC20 ≤ 325 mg Ag kg−1) than natural soil (LC20 ≥ 573 mg Ag kg−1). In contrast, AgNPs were more lethal in natural soil (LC20 ≤ 425 mg Ag kg−1) than artificial soil (LC20 ≥ 653 mg Ag kg−1). Earthworm response to silver in artificial soil may not reflect toxicity in biosolids-amended natural soils.
Background studies for the HOLMES experiment
Authors: Borghesi Matteo
Published: February 2024

Determining the mass of neutrinos is one of the most compelling topics in particle physics. HOLMES, an experiment for a direct measurement of the neutrino mass, is addressing this subject through a calorimetric approach, exploiting arrays of Low-Temperature Transition-Edge Sensor Detectors (TESs) loaded with $$^{163}$$

163

Ho. The experiment has entered its first phase in 2023, implanting approximately 1 Bq per pixel in an array of 64 detectors. In this work, I present the measurement made before this stage, in order to determine the expected background arising from natural radioactivity and cosmic rays. The significance of this background depends on the activity per pixel, which has yet to be defined based on the result of the first phase.
Soft Semigraph Isomorphisms: Classification and Characteristics
Authors: George Bobin , Jose Jinta , Thumbakara Rajesh K.
Published: February 2024

A soft set is a mathematical tool designed for managing uncertainty. Semigraph is a generalization of a graph which is different from a hypergraph. Soft semigraph was introduced by applying the concept of soft set in semigraph. Through parameterization, soft semigraph generates a series of representations of a relationship given by a semigraph. Graph isomorphism serves as a crucial method for matching patterns in a range of areas including image processing, computer and information systems, social network analysis, exploration of chemical bonds, and analysis of protein structures. In this paper, we present various kinds of isomorphisms existing among soft semigraphs, namely, [Formula: see text]-isomorphism, sev-isomorphism, se-isomorphism and sa-isomorphism. We prove that [Formula: see text]-isomorphism between soft semigraphs is also sev-isomorphism. Moreover, we establish that sev and [Formula: see text]-isomorphisms are also se-isomorphism and [Formula: see text], se and sev-isomorphisms are also sa-isomorphism. Through specific examples, we illustrate instances where the converse aspect of some of these results may not hold.
Fairness-Aware Graph Neural Networks: A Survey
Authors: Chen April , Rossi Ryan A. , Park Namyong , Trivedi Puja , Wang Yu , Yu Tong , Kim Sungchul , Dernoncourt Franck , Ahmed Nesreen K.
Published: February 2024

Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have become increasingly important due to their representational power and state-of-the-art predictive performance on many fundamental learning tasks. Despite this success, GNNs suffer from fairness issues that arise as a result of the underlying graph data and the fundamental aggregation mechanism that lies at the heart of the large class of GNN models. In this article, we examine and categorize fairness techniques for improving the fairness of GNNs. We categorize these techniques by whether they focus on improving fairness in the pre-processing, in-processing (during training), or post-processing phases. We discuss how such techniques can be used together whenever appropriate and highlight the advantages and intuition as well. We also introduce an intuitive taxonomy for fairness evaluation metrics, including graph-level fairness, neighborhood-level fairness, embedding-level fairness, and prediction-level fairness metrics. In addition, graph datasets that are useful for benchmarking the fairness of GNN models are summarized succinctly. Finally, we highlight key open problems and challenges that remain to be addressed.
The Complexity of Finding Fair Many-to-One Matchings
Authors: Boehmer Niclas , Koana Tomohiro
Published: February 2024

We analyze the (parameterized) computational complexity of “fair” variants of bipartite many-to-one matching, where each vertex from the “left” side is matched to exactly one vertex and each vertex from the “right” side may be matched to multiple vertices. We want to find a “fair” matching, in which each vertex from the right side is matched to a “fair” set of vertices. Assuming that each vertex from the left side has one color modeling its “attribute”, we study two fairness criteria. For instance, in one of them, we deem a vertex set fair if for any two colors, the difference between the numbers of their occurrences does not exceed a given threshold. Fairness is, for instance, relevant when finding many-to-one matchings between students and colleges, voters and constituencies, and applicants and firms. Here colors may model sociodemographic attributes, party memberships, and qualifications, respectively.

We show that finding a fair many-to-one matching is NP-hard even for three colors and maximum degree five. Our main contribution is the design of fixed-parameter tractable algorithms with respect to the number of vertices on the right side. Our algorithms make use of a variety of techniques including color coding. At the core lie integer linear programs encoding Hall like conditions. We establish the correctness of our integer programs, based on Frank’s separation theorem [Frank, Discrete Math. 1982]. We further obtain complete complexity dichotomies regarding the number of colors and the maximum degree of each side.
Adversities in Abstract Interpretation - Accommodating Robustness by Abstract Interpretation
Authors: Giacobazzi Roberto , Mastroeni Isabella , Perantoni Elia
Published: February 2024

Robustness is a key and desirable property of any classifying system, in particular, to avoid the ever-rising threat of adversarial attacks. Informally, a classification system is robust when the result is not affected by the perturbation of the input. This notion has been extensively studied, but little attention has been dedicated to
how
the perturbation affects the classification. The interference between perturbation and classification can manifest in many different ways, and its understanding is the main contribution of the present article. Starting from a rigorous definition of a standard notion of robustness, we build a formal method for accommodating the required degree of robustness—depending on the amount of error the analyst may accept on the classification result. Our idea is to precisely model this error as an
abstraction
. This leads us to define weakened forms of robustness also in the context of programming languages, particularly in language-based security, e.g., information-flow policies, and in program verification. The latter is possible by moving from a quantitative (standard) model of perturbation to a novel
qualitative
model, given by means of the notion of abstraction. As in language-based security, we show that it is possible to confine adversities, which means to characterize the degree of perturbation (and/or the degree of class generalization) for which the classifier may be deemed
adequately
robust. We conclude with an experimental evaluation of our ideas, showing how weakened forms of robustness apply to state-of-the-art image classifiers.
Deep Multimodal Data Fusion
Authors: Zhao Fei , Zhang Chengcui , Geng Baocheng
Published: February 2024

Multimodal Artificial Intelligence (Multimodal AI), in general, involves various types of data (e.g., images, texts, or data collected from different sensors), feature engineering (e.g., extraction, combination/fusion), and decision-making (e.g., majority vote). As architectures become more and more sophisticated, multimodal neural networks can integrate feature extraction, feature fusion, and decision-making processes into one single model. The boundaries between those processes are increasingly blurred. The conventional multimodal data fusion taxonomy (e.g., early/late fusion), based on which the fusion occurs in, is no longer suitable for the modern deep learning era. Therefore, based on the main-stream techniques used, we propose a new fine-grained taxonomy grouping the state-of-the-art (SOTA) models into five classes: Encoder-Decoder methods, Attention Mechanism methods, Graph Neural Network methods, Generative Neural Network methods, and other Constraint-based methods. Most existing surveys on multimodal data fusion are only focused on one specific task with a combination of two specific modalities. Unlike those, this survey covers a broader combination of modalities, including Vision + Language (e.g., videos, texts), Vision + Sensors (e.g., images, LiDAR), and so on, and their corresponding tasks (e.g., video captioning, object detection). Moreover, a comparison among these methods is provided, as well as challenges and future directions in this area.