bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The waste management supply chain: A decision framework
Authors: Chintapalli Prashant , Vakharia Asoo J.
Published: March 2023

The alarmingly increasing trends in worldwide waste generation call for a holistic analysis of waste management supply chains. Using a comprehensive end‐to‐end (i.e., waste generation to waste disposal) decision framework, this article analyzes key decisions of a waste management firm (WMF) focused on the proportions of dry (and wet) waste to recycle (and compost). This framework is applied to assess the impact of: (i) the preprocessing of generated waste at source (i.e., the “upstream factors”) and (ii) the market prices of recycled dry and composted wet wastes (i.e., the “downstream factors”) on WMF's decisions. One key insight is that the WMF will choose to process more waste when the market prices for processed wastes are high, and/or when more waste is preprocessed at source. Improvements in presorting can be more economical and offer a long‐term sustainable solution to efficient waste management. From a policy perspective, we observe that taxing a WMF for waste disposal could dissuade the WMF from participating in waste processing especially when its marginal processing costs are high. The decision framework and the corresponding model are calibrated to different world regions using secondary data on these regions, classified by their income levels. It is observed from our data analysis that uniform “one‐size‐fits‐all” policies are dominated by region‐specific tailored policies for efficient waste management. Hence, prescriptions should be carefully formulated based on the type of waste generated and the processing/disposal options available in a region. For example, composting more wet waste at source is a better choice in low‐, low‐middle‐, and middle‐high‐income regions, whereas this is not the case in high‐income regions. The proposed decision framework also provides an explanation of the negative impact on recycling initiatives at a local level stemming from decreasing recycled material prices. Given that this is the first study to characterize and analyze the waste management supply chain, the article also highlights some areas for future research.
A delay‐differential model for representing small pelagic fish stock dynamics and its application for assessing alternative management strategies under environmental uncertainty
Authors: Licandeo Roberto , de la Puente Santiago , Christensen Villy , Hilborn Ray , Walters Carl
Published: March 2023

We present a novel adaptation of the classic discrete delay‐difference model, a continuous delay‐differential model (cDDM), which can adequately represent population dynamics of stocks that turn over rapidly and continuously over time (e.g., small pelagic fish, small tunas, and shrimps). We used the Northern‐Central Peruvian anchoveta stock (Engraulis ringens, Engraulidae) as a case study for implementing the cDDM and conducted a management strategy evaluation (MSE) through stochastic optimization in policy space (SOPS). Our results showed that cDDM integrated with SOPS efficiently searches optimum and near‐optimum harvest control rules (HCR) and is an alternative to pre‐setting arbitrary HCRs as in traditional MSE. The cDDM showed comparable stock biomass and recruitment estimate reconstructions to more complex stock assessment models described for anchoveta. We concluded that the anchoveta stock is sustainably managed and is an example of adaptive fisheries management under high ocean‐climate variability and uncertainty. Contrary to fishery textbooks, the anchoveta's collapse was not entirely due to the 1972 El Niño (EN) but a recruitment failure preceding EN. Our reconstructions revealed that low recruitment (or recruitment failure) could still occur at high stock biomass. Anchoveta's stock biomass is larger than pre‐collapse, likely due to favourable environmental conditions (a cooling trend) and management, despite more frequent and stronger EN events. SOPS quickly revealed that harvest strategies with large base biomass (>5 mmt) lead to higher interannual stock variability and would not produce substantial increases in long‐term yield. Alternative HCRs with lower base biomass, while adjusting for productivity regimes, have similar long‐term yields without affecting the long‐term average stock.
Drug survival of methotrexate and predictor factors for discontinuation in psoriasis
Authors: Caldarola Giacomo , De Luca Eleonora , Mariani Marco , Chiricozzi Andrea , Peris Ketty , De Simone Clara
Published: March 2023

Background

Methotrexate (MTX) is a systemic therapy largely used for moderate‐severe psoriasis. There is a lack of data on its use in daily practice and particularly on its long‐term effectiveness and survival in psoriasis.

Methods

We performed a single‐centered, retrospective, observational study to evaluate the drug survival of MTX in patients with psoriasis, treated in monotherapy with MTX between March 2015 and March 2022. Clinical and demographic characteristics were extracted from files of the patients. The drug survival was analyzed using Kaplan‐Meier survival curves, considering separately overall discontinuation, discontinuation due to MTX ineffectiveness, and discontinuation due to adverse events. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were carried out including clinically meaningful variables.

Results

A total of 199 patients were included; 148 (74.4%) suspended MTX during the observation period. The reasons for discontinuation were adverse events (39.2%), ineffectiveness (38.5%), remission of psoriasis (12.2%), and other reasons (10.1%). Average duration of therapy was 10.1 months. Patients who remained on therapy after 1, 2, and 5 years of treatment were respectively 46.9, 35.6, and 29.3%. Positive predictive factors for therapy continuation were increasing age and the use of >15 mg of MTX for a period >3 months; the only negative predictive factor was the clinical variant of palmoplantar pustular.

Conclusions

MTX is a valuable, cost‐effective option for long‐term treatment of psoriasis although drug survival is not comparable with that of biological treatments. Studies are needed to better understand the best dosing regimen to use, with the aim of achieving the best clinical outcomes and the lowest rate of side effects with this drug.
Assessment of different debittering techniques to valorize orange peel
Authors: Deba‐Rementeria Shuyana , Estrada Olaia , Goñi‐de‐Cerio Felipe , Vázquez‐Araújo Laura
Published: March 2023

Different strategies to reduce bitterness of orange peels were assessed in the present research: (a) blanching in 2% NaCl‐water (SALT), (b) blanching in 1% Na2CO3‐water (ALK), (c) blanching in water and fermentation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum (FR), and (d) blanching in water and sugar coating (SUC). Samples were freeze‐dried and characterised: total flavonoid and polyphenol contents, volatile composition, and instrumental texture were analysed. A consumer panel assessed samples' acceptance, bitterness perception, and further applications of the developed ingredients. Results showed significant differences in total flavonoid and polyphenol contents, being the SALT and SUC the samples the ones with the highest polyphenol, and the ALK and SUC samples the ones with highest flavonoid content. Bitterness perception seemed to be related to Total Phenolic Content, although influenced by other properties of the samples (e.g., volatile composition). Volatile composition was slightly different among samples but seemed to have an impact on flavour perception. Texture analyses results showed that SALT was the hardest and ALK sample the softest one. SUC and FR samples were the most liked ones, although were perceived as moderately bitter. Further research is needed to better understand bitter perception of processed orange peels to develop highly accepted products.
The mountain stream of infant development
Authors: Tamis‐LeMonda Catherine S.
Published: March 2023

Development is complex. It encompasses interacting domains, at multiple levels, across nested time scales. Embracing the complexity of development—while addressing the challenges inherent to studying infants—requires researchers to make tough decisions about what to study, why, how, where, and when. My own view is inspired by a developmental systems approach, and echoed in Esther Thelen's (2005) mountain stream metaphor. Like a river that carves its course, the active infant navigates the social and physical environment and generates rich inputs that propel learning and development. Drawing from my experiences, I offer some recommendations to guide research on infants. I encourage researchers to embrace discovery science; to observe infants in ecologically valid settings; to recognize the active and adaptive nature of infant behavior; to break down silos and consider the nonobvious; and to adopt full transparency in all aspects of research. I draw on cascading influences in infant play, language, and motor domains to illustrate the value of a bottom‐up, cross‐domain, collaborative approach.
RETRACTED: Prevalence of pressure ulcer and related factors in orthopaedic wards: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: Asadi Kamran , Fouladpour Amin , Ghorbani Vajargah Pooyan , Mollaei Amirabbas , Firooz Mahbobeh , Hosseini Seyed Javad , Zaboli Mahdiabadi Morteza , Samidoust Pirouz , Takasi Poorya , Karkhah Samad , Salari Amir , Aris Arash
Published: March 2023

The aim of this systematic review and meta‐analysis is to provide an overview of the prevalence of pressure ulcers (PU) in orthopaedic wards. A comprehensive, systematic search was conducted in different international electronic databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Persian electronic databases such as Iranmedex, and Scientific Information Database (SID) using keywords extracted from Medical Subject Headings such as “Prevalence”, “Pressure ulcer”, “Pressure sore”, and “Orthopaedics” from the earliest to February 1, 2023. The appraisal tool for cross‐sectional studies (AXIS tool) evaluates the quality of the included studies. Finally, 11 studies were included in the final analysis. The results indicated that the prevalence of PU in orthopaedic departments was 18% (ES: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.10–0.26, Z = 4.53, I2: 99.09%). Although the odds ratio of PU was lower in men than women, it was not statistically significant (OR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.74–1.11, Z = 0.95, I2: 17.4%, P = .34). Also, results showed the prevalence of PU was higher among studies with a sample size of more than 200 (ES: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.10–0.28, Z = 4.07, I2: 99.1%), Europe region (ES: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.14–0.26, Z = 6.7, I2: 93.0%) and prospective design (ES: 0.23, 95% CI: 0.18–0.27, Z = 9.47, I2: 83.3%) when compared with other sub‐groups. In sum, considering the 18% prevalence of PU in the orthopaedic department, it is recommended to focus on detecting risk factors and design interventions to reduce PU in the patients admitted orthopaedic department.
Phase evolution and strong temperature‐dependent electrostrictive effect in (1−x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3‐xPbTiO3 solid solutions
Authors: Huang Yunyao , Zhang Leiyang , Jing Ruiyi , Shi Wenjing , Alikin Denis , Shur Vladimir , Wei Xiaoyong , Jin Li
Published: March 2023

(1−x)Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)‐xPbTiO3 (PMN‐xPT) ceramics with x ranging from 0.1 to 0.3 were synthesized by solid‐state reaction method. X‐ray diffraction, dielectric and ferroelectric property characterizations were systematically investigated. As x rises, the PMN‐xPT transitions from a cubic to a rhombohedral phase, resulting in an enhancement in ferroelectricity. Our findings show that the electrostrain and longitudinal electrostrictive coefficient Q33 both increase and then decrease within a critical region located between the depolarization temperature TFR and Tm (corresponding to the maximum permittivity), demonstrating strong temperature‐dependent characteristics. In x = 0.2, the maximum Q33 of 0.0361 m4/C2 is obtained, and a phase diagram of studied system is built. Our findings not only shed light on the phase evolution in this system but also reveal a strong temperature‐dependent electrostrictive effect that can be used to improve electrostrains in PMN‐based solid solutions if the critical region can be regulated to a suitable temperature region using engineering strategies.
Fabrication and mechanical properties of metakaolin‐based geopolymer composites reinforced with auxetic fabrics
Authors: Constâncio Trindade Ana Carolina , Sankar Kaushik , de Andrade Silva Flávio , Kriven Waltraud M.
Published: March 2023

This work presents a novel experimental study on the use of auxetic fabrics as the main reinforcement in geopolymer composites, aiming at higher energy dissipation in impact demanding applications. For this, a potassium‐based geopolymer was reinforced with an auxetic fabric consisting of basalt fiber fillings positioned between helical auxetic yarns (HAY) made of a thermoplastic polyester core, and a stiffer liquid‐crystal polymer wrap, which dispersed the load demands into several single elements having different capabilities. The composites were investigated under quasi‐static flexural and tensile loadings, in both longitudinal and transverse directions. The latter showed increased mechanical strengths, up to 26 MPa in tension, and 12.8 MPa in flexural strength. Each fiber portion was tested in tension separately, reaching flexible (core) and stiffer (wrap and basalt) responses, whereas HAYs displayed combined performances due to a suitable auxeticity effect, that is, a negative Poisson's ratio. The pullout investigation justified the cracking and delamination of the composites, due to its cyclic lateral area modification, which created a load demand much higher than what the brittle geopolymer can sustain in this type of solicitation. Thermogravimetric analyses helped to predict the use of such configurations under thermal exposure, pointing out that the geopolymer material could be a suitable thermal barrier to prevent sudden degradation of the fabric under these conditions.
Enhanced optical transmittance and energy‐storage performance in NaNbO3‐modified Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3 ceramics
Authors: Luo Weixian , Wu Meixia , Han Yifeng , Zhou Xiang , Liu Laijun , He Qiuwei , Ren Pengrong , Yang Haiming , Yang Hui , Wang Qiao , Chen Zihao , Liang Xihui , Chen Zhifeng
Published: March 2023

Dielectric ceramics with both excellent energy storage and optical transmittance have attracted much attention in recent years. However, the transparent Pb‐free energy‐storage ceramics were rare reported. In this work, we prepared transparent relaxor ferroelectric ceramics (1 − x)Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3–xNaNbO3 (BNT–xNN) by conventional solid‐state reaction method. We find the NN‐doping can enhance the polarization and breakdown strength of BNT by suppressing the grain growth and restrained the reduction of Ti4+ to Ti3+. As a result, a high recoverable energy‐storage density of 5.14 J/cm3 and its energy efficiency of 79.65% are achieved in BNT–0.5NN ceramic at 286 kV/cm. Furthermore, NN‐doping can promote the densification to improve the optical transmittance of BNT, rising from ∼26% (x = 0.2) to ∼32% (x = 0.5) in the visible light region. These characteristics demonstrate the potential application of BNT–xNN as transparent energy‐storage dielectric ceramics.
Climatic conditions affect shoot flammability by influencing flammability‐related functional traits in nonfire‐prone habitats
Authors: Cui Xinglei , Dai Dachuan , Huang Congde , Wang Bilei , Li Shuting , You Chengming , Paterson Adrian M. , Perry George L. W. , Buckley Hannah L. , Cubino Josep Padullés , Wyse Sarah V. , Alam Md Azharul , Zhou Shixing , Xiao Lin , Cao Dongyu , Xu Zhenfeng , Curran Timothy J.
Published: March 2023

Plant flammability is an important driver of wildfires, and flammability itself is determined by several plant functional traits. While many plant traits are influenced by climatic conditions, the interaction between climatic conditions and plant flammability has rarely been investigated.

Here, we explored the relationships among climatic conditions, shoot‐level flammability components, and flammability‐related functional traits for 186 plant species from fire‐prone and nonfire‐prone habitats.

For species originating from nonfire‐prone habitats, those from warmer areas tended to have lower shoot moisture content and larger leaves, and had higher shoot flammability with higher ignitibility, combustibility, and sustainability. Plants in wetter areas tended to have lower shoot flammability with lower combustibility and sustainability due to higher shoot moisture contents. In fire‐prone habitats, shoot flammability was not significantly related to any climatic factor.

Our study suggests that for species originating in nonfire‐prone habitats, climatic conditions have influenced plant flammability by shifting flammability‐related functional traits, including leaf size and shoot moisture content. Climate does not predict shoot flammability in species from fire‐prone habitats; here, fire regimes may have an important role in shaping plant flammability. Understanding these nuances in the determinants of plant flammability is important in an increasingly fire‐prone world.
Data‐driven predictive modeling in risk assessment: Challenges and directions for proper uncertainty representation
Authors: Stødle Kaia , Flage Roger , Guikema Seth D. , Aven Terje
Published: March 2023

Data‐driven predictive modeling is increasingly being used in risk assessments. While such modeling may provide improved consequence predictions and probability estimates, it also comes with challenges. One is that the modeling and its output does not measure and represent uncertainty due to lack of knowledge, that is, “epistemic uncertainty.” In this article, we demonstrate this point by conceptually linking the main elements and output of data‐driven predictive models with the main elements of a general risk description, thereby placing data‐driven predictive modeling on a risk science foundation. This allows for an evaluation of such modeling with reference to risk science recommendations for what constitutes a complete risk description. The evaluation leads us to conclude that, as a minimum, to cover all elements of a complete risk description a risk assessment using data‐driven predictive modeling needs to be supported by assessments of the uncertainty and risk related to the assumptions underlying the modeling. In response to this need, we discuss an approach for assessing assumptions in data‐driven predictive modeling.
Proteome‐wide lysine acetylation profiling to investigate the involvement of histone deacetylase HDA5 in the salt stress response of Arabidopsis leaves
Authors: Tilak Priyadarshini , Kotnik Florian , Née Guillaume , Seidel Julian , Sindlinger Julia , Heinkow Paulina , Eirich Jürgen , Schwarzer Dirk , Finkemeier Iris
Published: March 2023

Post‐translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins play important roles in the acclimation of plants to environmental stress. Lysine acetylation is a dynamic and reversible PTM, which can be removed by histone deacetylases. Here we investigated the role of lysine acetylation in the response of Arabidopsis leaves to 1 week of salt stress. A quantitative mass spectrometry analysis revealed an increase in lysine acetylation of several proteins from cytosol and plastids, which was accompanied by altered histone deacetylase activities in the salt‐treated leaves. While activities of HDA14 and HDA15 were decreased upon salt stress, HDA5 showed a mild and HDA19 a strong increase in activity. Since HDA5 is a cytosolic‐nuclear enzyme from the class II histone deacetylase family with yet unknown protein substrates, we performed a lysine acetylome analysis on hda5 mutants and characterized its substrate proteins. Next to histone H2B, the salt stress‐responsive transcription factor GT2L and the dehydration‐related protein ERD7 were identified as HDA5 substrates. In addition, in protein–protein interaction studies, HDA18 was discovered, among other interacting proteins, to work in a complex together with HDA5. Altogether, this study revealed the substrate proteins of HDA5 and identified new lysine acetylation sites which are hyperacetylated upon salt stress. The identification of specific histone deacetylase substrate proteins, apart from histones, will be important to unravel the acclimation response of Arabidopsis to salt stress and their role in plant physiology.
Tableau formulas for skew Schubert polynomials
Authors: Tamvakis Harry
Published: March 2023

The skew Schubert polynomials are those that are indexed by skew elements of the Weyl group, in the sense of Tamvakis [J. reine angew. Math. 652 (2011), 207–244]. We obtain tableau formulas for the double versions of these polynomials in all four classical Lie types, where the tableaux used are fillings of the associated skew Young diagram. These are the first such theorems for symplectic and orthogonal Schubert polynomials, even in the single case. We also deduce tableau formulas for double Schur, double theta, and double eta polynomials, in their specializations as double Grassmannian Schubert polynomials. The latter results generalize the tableau formulas for symmetric (and single) Schubert polynomials due to Littlewood (in type A) and the author (in types B, C, and D).
Dietary β-Alanine Intake Assessed by Food Records Does Not Associate With Muscle Carnosine Content in Healthy, Active, Omnivorous Men and Women
Authors: Rezende Nathalia Saffioti , Bestetti Giulia Cazetta , Farias de Oliveira Luana , Mazzolani Bruna Caruso , Smaira Fabiana Infante , Dumas Alina , Swinton Paul , Saunders Bryan , Dolan Eimear
Published: March 2023

β-Alanine (BA) is one of the most widely used sport supplements, due to its capacity to improve high-intensity exercise performance by increasing muscle carnosine (MCarn) content, and consequently, the buffering capacity of the muscle. BA is also available in a variety of animal foods, but little is currently known about the influence of dietary BA intake on MCarn. The aim of the current study was to compile a detailed summary of available data on the BA content of commonly consumed foods, and to explore whether associations could be detected between self-reported dietary BA intake and skeletal MCarn in a group of 60 healthy, active, omnivorous men and women. Dietary BA intake was assessed via 3-day food records, and MCarn content assessed by high-performance liquid chromatography. A series of univariate and multivariate linear regression models were used to explore associations between estimated dietary BA and MCarn. No evidence of associations between dietary BA intake and MCarn were identified, with effect sizes close to zero calculated from models accounting for key demographic variables (f2 ≤ 0.02 for all analyses). These findings suggest that capacity to increase MCarn via dietary strategies may be limited, and that supplementation may be required to induce increases of the magnitude required to improve performance.
A Narrative Review of Heart Rate Variability as a Good Index of Psychophysical Health in Athletes and in Biofeedback Training
Authors: Pruneti Carlo , Ferrari Simone , Guidotti Sara
Published: March 2023

Stress is a psychophysical condition that causes an impairment in athletes’ performance by causing an increase in sympathetic activity and an autonomic imbalance. The current methods for the measurement of psychophysiological stress introduce the use of the heart rate variability as a useful index of the well-being of these people. The heart rate variability corresponds to the time intervals between consecutive heartbeats, such as an irregularity in the normal sinus heart rhythm whose variability is due to the control exercised by a complex system of mechanisms, including the respiratory control system, and provides information about the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. This review aims at summarizing the promising results, despite small amount, of the recent literature on the efficacy of heart rate variability biofeedback on the autonomic imbalance and psychophysical well-being of athletes as well as cognitive and motor performance.
A circuit mechanism linking past and future learning through shifts in perception
Authors: Crossley Michael , Benjamin Paul R. , Kemenes György , Staras Kevin , Kemenes Ildikó
Published: March 2023

Long-term memory formation is energetically costly. Neural mechanisms that guide an animal to identify fruitful associations therefore have important survival benefits. Here, we elucidate a circuit mechanism in
Lymnaea
, which enables past memory to shape new memory formation through changes in perception. Specifically, strong classical conditioning drives a positive shift in perception that facilitates the robust learning of a subsequent and otherwise ineffective weak association. Circuit dissection approaches reveal the neural control network responsible, characterized by a mutual inhibition motif. This both sets perceptual state and acts as the master controller for gating new learning. Pharmacological circuit manipulation in vivo fully substitutes for strong paradigm learning, shifting the network into a more receptive state to enable subsequent weak paradigm learning. Thus, perceptual change provides a conduit to link past and future memory storage. We propose that this mechanism alerts animals to learning-rich periods, lowering the threshold for new memory acquisition.
The combined Hf and Nd isotope evolution of the depleted mantle requires Hadean continental formation
Authors: Guo Meng , Korenaga Jun
Published: March 2023

The onset and rates of continental growth are first-order indicators of early Earth dynamics, and whether substantial crust existed in the Hadean or much later has long been debated. Here, we present a theoretical analysis of published Hf and Nd isotopic data representing the depleted mantle and demonstrate that continental growth must have started in the early Hadean. Whereas the traditional interpretation of depleted mantle signatures in crustal rocks assumes unrealistic instantaneous mantle mixing, our modeling incorporates the effect of a finite mixing time over which these signatures are recorded in rocks produced through mantle melting. This effect is shown to delay, by as much as 0.65 to 0.75 billion years, the appearance of the earliest depleted mantle signatures in continental crust. Our results suggest that published observations of εHf, ε
143
Nd, and μ
142
Nd require Hadean growth of continental crust, with a minimum of 50% of today’s continental volume already existing by the end of Hadean.
Progressive neuronal plasticity in primate visual cortex during stimulus familiarization
Authors: Koyano Kenji W. , Esch Elena M. , Hong Julie J. , Waidmann Elena N. , Wu Haitao , Leopold David A.
Published: March 2023

The primate brain is equipped to learn and remember newly encountered visual stimuli such as faces and objects. In the macaque inferior temporal (IT) cortex, neurons mark the familiarity of a visual stimulus through response modification, often involving a decrease in spiking rate. Here, we investigate the emergence of this neural plasticity by longitudinally tracking IT neurons during several weeks of familiarization with face images. We found that most neurons in the anterior medial (AM) face patch exhibited a gradual decline in their late-phase visual responses to multiple stimuli. Individual neurons varied from days to weeks in their rates of plasticity, with time constants determined by the number of days of exposure rather than the cumulative number of presentations. We postulate that the sequential recruitment of neurons with experience-modified responses may provide an internal and graded measure of familiarity strength, which is a key mnemonic component of visual recognition.
Protocol for the Psychosis Immune Mechanism Stratified Medicine (PIMS) trial: a randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of single-dose tocilizumab in patients with psychosis
Authors: Foley Éimear M , Griffiths Sian Lowri , Murray Alexander , Rogers Jack , Corsi-Zuelli Fabiana , Hickinbotham Hannah , Warwick Ella , Wilson Martin , Kaser Muzaffer , Murray Graham K , Deakin Bill , Jadon Deepak , Suckling John , Barnes Nicholas M , Upthegrove Rachel , Khandaker Golam M
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Evidence suggests a potentially causal role of interleukin 6 (IL-6), a pleiotropic cytokine that generally promotes inflammation, in the pathogenesis of psychosis. However, no interventional studies in patients with psychosis, stratified using inflammatory markers, have been conducted to assess the therapeutic potential of targeting IL-6 in psychosis and to elucidate potential mechanism of effect. Tocilizumab is a humanised monoclonal antibody targeting the IL-6 receptor to inhibit IL-6 signalling, licensed in the UK for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The primary objective of this study is to test whether IL-6 contributes to the pathogenesis of first episode psychosis and to examine potential mechanisms by which IL-6 affects psychotic symptoms. A secondary objective is to examine characteristics of inflammation-associated psychosis.

Methods and analysis

A proof-of-concept study employing a randomised, parallel-group, double-blind, placebo-controlled design testing the effect of IL-6 inhibition on anhedonia in patients with psychosis. Approximately 60 participants with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders (ICD-10 codes F20, F22, F25, F28, F29) with evidence of low-grade inflammation (IL-6≥0.7 pg/mL) will receive either one intravenous infusion of tocilizumab (4.0 mg/kg; max 800 mg) or normal saline. Psychiatric measures and blood samples will be collected at baseline, 7, 14 and 28 days post infusion. Cognitive and neuroimaging data will be collected at baseline and 14 days post infusion. In addition, approximately 30 patients with psychosis without evidence of inflammation (IL-6<0.7 pg/mL) and 30 matched healthy controls will be recruited to complete identical baseline assessments to allow for comparison of the characteristic features of inflammation-associated psychosis.

Ethics and dissemination

The study is sponsored by the University of Bristol and has been approved by the Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee (reference: 22/EE/0010; IRAS project ID: 301682). Study findings will be published in peer-review journals. Findings will also be disseminated by scientific presentation and other means.

Trial registration number

ISRCTN23256704.
Association between patient complexity and healthcare costs in primary care on a Japanese island: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Sugiyama Yoshifumi , Mutai Rieko , Matsushima Masato
Published: March 2023

Objectives

This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between patient complexity and healthcare costs in a primary care setting on a Japanese island.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Tarama Clinic, Okinawa Miyako Hospital, on Tarama Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Participants

Patients who visited Tarama Clinic from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2018, were aged 20 years or above, were resident in Tarama Village and had decision-making capacity.

Outcome measures

Patient complexity scored using Patient Centred Assessment Method (PCAM), healthcare costs per person per year/visit and participant characteristics.

Results

We included 355 study participants. The means (SD) of the total PCAM scores and healthcare costs per person per year/visit were 21.4 (5.7) and 1056.4 (952.7)/125.7 (86.7) in US dollars, respectively. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients between the total PCAM scores and healthcare costs per person per year/visit were 0.33 and 0.28 (p values <0.0001 and <0.0001), respectively. The healthcare costs per person tended to be relatively low in the patient groups with the highest complexity. In the groups, the proportion of those with psychological conditions tended to be higher and those with cardiovascular diseases tended to be lower than in the other groups. Multiple regression analysis showed that total PCAM scores were associated with healthcare costs per person per year/visit, which were log-transformed: the regression coefficients were 3.87×10–2 and 2.34×10–2, respectively; the p values were <0.001 and <0.001, respectively.

Conclusions

This study clarified the association between patient complexity and healthcare costs in a primary care setting on a Japanese island. We found that such costs tended to be relatively low in patient groups with the highest complexity. In primary care, healthcare costs probably do not accurately reflect the value of services provided by medical institutions; it may be essential to introduce a system that provides incentives for problem-solving approaches to social issues.
Professional male rugby union players’ perceived psychological recovery and physical regeneration during the off-season
Authors: Mellalieu Stephen D , Sellars Paul , Arnold Rachel , Williams Sean , Campo Mickael , Lyons Deirdre
Published: March 2023

We explored male professional rugby union players’ experiences and perceptions of their mental and physical health and well-being across the northern hemisphere off-season. 34 professional male rugby union players participated in individual semistructured interviews (mean (SD) age=27.5 (4.3) years). Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The off-season was characterised by three phases players undergo to preserve their mental and physical health and well-being to recover from the previous season and regenerate in preparation for the upcoming season. These included decompression from previous season, cognitive detachment from the rugby environment and preparation for preseason. Successful progression through all three phases was influenced by several variables (work and life demands, contextual factors, experience level). Recovery and regeneration strategies focused on physical distancing/getting away from the rugby environment to cognitively detach. Injured players appear an at-risk subgroup for threats to mental well-being (isolation, anxiety, reduced sense of achievement) as a result of reduced or minimal time away from the workplace due to treatment obligations. Younger professionals are a subgroup at risk of overtraining/injury due to inadequate rest, especially as this group are least likely to seek support/guidance. This study is the first investigation into male professional rugby union players’ experiences and perceptions of their mental and physical health and well-being across the off-season period. It highlights the distinct phases players undertake to mentally recover and regenerate and the need to consider education and support for potential at risk subgroups.
Metabolic syndrome and ischaemic stroke in non-anticoagulated atrial fibrillation with low CHA2DS2-VASc scores
Authors: Ahn Hyo-Jeong , Lee So-Ryoung , Choi Eue-Keun , Lee Seung-Woo , Han Kyung-Do , Kwon Soonil , Oh Seil , Lip Gregory Y.H.
Published: March 2023

Objective

Conflicting results have been reported on whether metabolic syndrome (MetS) confers an increased risk of ischaemic stroke in atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated the risk of ischaemic stroke according to MetS in patients with AF who are not indicated for oral anticoagulants.

Methods

A total of 76 015 oral anticoagulant-naïve patients with AF with low Congestive Heart Failure, Hypertension, Age ≥75 years (Doubled), Diabetes Mellitus, Stroke (Doubled), Vascular Disease, Age 65–74 years, Sex Category (Female) (CHA2DS2-VASc) score (0 and 1) were included from the National Health Information Database. The risk of ischaemic stroke was evaluated according to MetS, the number of MetS components (metabolic burden), and individual metabolic components defined by health examination data within 2 years of AF diagnosis.

Results

MetS was prevalent among 21 570 (28.4%) of the entire study population (mean age 49.8±11.1 years, mean CHA2DS2-VASc score 0.7±0.5). During a mean follow-up of 5.1 years, ischaemic stroke occurred in 1395 (1.84%) patients. MetS was associated with a higher risk of ischaemic stroke (adjusted HR (aHR) 1.19, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.33, p=0.002). Patients with the highest number of MetS components (4 or 5) showed the greatest aHR of 1.38 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.69), whereas those with a single component had a marginal risk of ischaemic stroke (aHR 1.17, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.40). Elevated blood pressure and increased waist circumference were independent components associated with 1.48-fold and 1.15-fold higher risks of ischaemic stroke, respectively.

Conclusion

Among AF patients with CHA2DS2-VASc scores of 0 and 1 with no anticoagulation, MetS is associated with an increased risk of ischaemic stroke. Given the linear incremental association between metabolic burden and ischaemic stroke, the integrated management of metabolic derangements in AF is required.
A class of static spherically symmetric solutions in f(Q)-gravity
Authors: Calzá Marco , Sebastiani Lorenzo
Published: March 2023

We analyze a class of topological static spherically symmetric vacuum solutions in f(Q)-gravity. We considered an Ansatz ensuring that those solutions trivially satisfy the field equations of the theory when the non-metricity scalar is constant. In the specific, we provide and discuss local solutions in the form of black holes and traversable wormholes.
Investigating ultrafast structural dynamics using high repetition rate x-ray FEL radiation at European XFEL
Authors: Tschentscher Th.
Published: March 2023

European XFEL is an international facility providing hard and soft x-ray free-electron laser radiation for user experiments with a wide range of scientific applications. Its superconducting linear accelerator enables high repetition rate experiments with a broad range of x-ray pulse delivery patterns. The combination of time-resolved experiments, providing access to the time-domain from sub-femtoseconds to milliseconds, with atomic resolution x-ray geometric and electronic structure determination methods is responsible for the bulk of scientific applications of European XFEL. In addition, the extreme x-ray intensities and coherence properties open new methods for studying matter out of equilibrium. After start of operation in 2017, the facility now harvests scientific applications with impact to the challenge areas climate and energy, health, environment and sustainability, and digitalization. Extensions of European XFEL aim to increase performance and capabilities for new scientific applications. An upgrade of the facility in the early 2030s will increase the applicability of European XFEL to solid materials and provide dedicated instruments for improved conditions in specific research fields.
The use of in situ non-invasive techniques as powerful tools in the investigation of eighteenth century Chinese wallpapers from the National Museum of Ancient Art—Lisbon
Authors: Pressato Miriam , Lança Teresa , Miguel Catarina , Candeias António , Valadas Sara
Published: March 2023

The National Museum of Ancient Art in Lisbon (MNAA) hosts the most important Portuguese public collection of art. Among its different types of artworks, a set of six Chinese wallpaper panels from the eighteenth century is present; they represent the production of porcelain and have been donated to the Museum in 1949. Despite the large interest that has raised around these kinds of artefacts, few technical studies have been carried out to date on Chinese wallpapers. In this study, a non-invasive investigation of the wallpaper panels from the MNAA by means of portable devices is described. More specifically, the combined use of technical photography (namely UVF, Vis and IR photography), Vis-NIR-FORS and EDXRF allowed to carry out a preliminary diagnostic survey, which higlighted an improper handling of the wallpapers prior to their donation to the Museum, and poor conservation conditions of the paper sheets. Furthermore, it allowed for the identification of the painting technique, the main pigments, and their distribution; the presence of inorganic pigments (such as vermilion and lead white) and organic dyes (e.g. anthraquinone-based red dyes and indigo), used both as overlapping layers and mixtures, has been determined.
Review of muon-proton and muon-nucleus collier proposals
Authors: Ketenoğlu Bora , Dağlı Burak , Öztürk Arif , Sultansoy Saleh
Published: March 2023

Construction of future Muon Collier (or dedicated [Formula: see text]-ring) tangential to the energy frontier [Formula: see text] colliders will give opportunity to realize [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] collisions at multi-TeV center-of-mass energies with sufficiently high luminosities. Obviously, such colliders will essentially enlarge the physics search potential of corresponding muon and hadron colliders for both the SM (especially for clarifying QCD basics and confinement hypothesis) and BSM phenomena. In addition, they will provide parton distribution functions for adequate interpretation of energy frontier [Formula: see text] colliders’ and cosmic ray experiments data. This paper is devoted to review of main parameters of [Formula: see text] colliders proposed until now.
Dissociation of CO2 in non-thermal atmospheric pressure planer dielectric barrier discharge
Authors: Khan M. I. , Ullah N. , Ullah A. , Basar N. , Anjum Zakia , Farooq Muhammad , Rehman N. U.
Published: March 2023

Increasing concentration of carbon dioxide [Formula: see text] in Earth’s atmosphere due to burning of fossil fuels is a major cause of global warming. To avoid catastrophic consequences of increasing global temperature, the conversion of [Formula: see text] is vital. Incidentally, synergistic effect of [Formula: see text] photocatalyst on [Formula: see text] dissociation in atmospheric pressure planer dielectric barrier discharge is investigated. Maximum dissociation fraction of 37% is achieved in undiluted [Formula: see text], 49% in [Formula: see text] and 44% in [Formula: see text] at 10[Formula: see text]kV applied voltage with 10[Formula: see text]kHz fixed frequency and 200[Formula: see text]SCCM total flow rate. Transitions from the Angstrom band of CO at 483.5[Formula: see text]nm and the 2nd positive system of [Formula: see text] at 380.4[Formula: see text]nm are used for molecular actinometry measurements. Rotational temperature is calculated, by employing the Boltzmann plot technique, using rotational spectra of Q-branch of CO (0-1) Angstrom band. To avoid inconsistency in rotational temperature measurement, rotational spectra of 1st negative system of [Formula: see text] (0-0) band are also used. For this, synthetic spectra have been fitted over experimentally recorded spectra of 1st negative system of [Formula: see text] (0-0) band using LIFEBASE software. Electrical characterization of the discharge suggests that power added to the plasma increased from 1.92 to 6.13[Formula: see text]W in undiluted [Formula: see text], from 1.81 to 6.4[Formula: see text]W in [Formula: see text] and from 1.71 to 7[Formula: see text]W in case of [Formula: see text] mixture plasma. A higher dissociation fraction is found in the case of [Formula: see text] mixture.
ConNet: Designing a Fast, Efficient, and Robust Crowd Counting Model Through Composite Compression
Authors: Masilang Regina Marie A. , Benedictos Bianca Joy R. , Tejada Mikayla M. , Marasigan Giann Jericho Mari F. , Antioquia Arren Matthew C.
Published: March 2023

Counting the number of people in a specific area is crucial in maintaining proper crowd safety and management especially in highly-congested indoor scenarios. Recent convolutional neural network (CNN) approaches integrate auxiliary sub-networks to increase the accuracy of the model in estimating crowd size. However, these models require large computational costs due to additional calculations, resulting in an impractically slow inference speed for real-world applications. In this paper, we propose a fast, efficient, and robust crowd counting model called Condensed Network or ConNet. We utilize a composite technique composed of multiple compression methods to reduce the number of parameters of our proposed model. ConNet attains counting accuracy on par with state-of-the-art crowd counting methods on benchmark datasets featuring indoor scenes, while significantly reducing parameter count and increasing inference speed. Moreover, ConNet still performs accurately even with extreme changes in lighting conditions, image resolutions, and camera orientations. Our smallest model ConNet-04 has 61.0× less parameters and is at most 9.0× faster than the baseline approach. Our code and trained models are publicly available at https://github.com/mikatej/ConNet .
X-ray Bone Image Processing Based on Improved Densenet
Authors: Wang Nanxun , Zhou Mengran
Published: March 2023

The application of convolutional neural network has been gradually introduced in the field of X-ray bone images. At present, there is less research on methods to automatically detect abnormal parts of the skeleton. The method improves on the Densenet network by adjusting the network structure, adding a convolutional block attention module (CBAM) attention mechanism to the original Densenlayer, fusing spatial attention and channel attention to suppress unnecessary features and strengthen the network‘s capability to extract image features, and optimizing the Transition block by fusing two pooling strategies, average and maximum, to increase the model’s anti-interference capability. The data collected after the experiment show that the improved Densenet has increased accuracy in the detection of skeletal abnormalities at all sites compared with the traditional network. The average accuracy is 1–5% higher than the benchmark method, the highest elbow accuracy reached 77.62%, the lowest hand accuracy also reached 64.28% and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve is increased by 3–7%, the highest reached 80.83%.
New perspective of the role of the triaxiality parameter γ for γ–g B(E2)s
Authors: Gupta J. B. , Katoch Vikas
Published: March 2023

Recently, from the study of the absolute [Formula: see text] values for the ([Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text]) [Formula: see text]2 transitions, the different roles of the triaxiality parameter [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] parts were pointed out. Here, the use of the triaxial rotor model expressions for the [Formula: see text]2)s in producing the bell-shaped curve of [Formula: see text] is illustrated. The variation of certain ([Formula: see text]–[Formula: see text]) [Formula: see text] ratios versus [Formula: see text] for the states [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are illustrated, reflecting the two regions of [Formula: see text]. The inter relation of the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] variables is illustrated for the Os isotopes.