bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Construct validity of the Individual Lifestyle Profile scale in times of social distancing
Authors: Sousa Thiago Ferreira de , Santos Sueyla Ferreira da Silva dos , Fonseca Silvio Aparecido , Barros Gerleison Ribeiro , Barros Mauro Virgílio Gomes de , Nahas Markus Vinicius
Published: December 2021

Os objetivos do estudo foram estimar o nível de confiabilidade e validade fatorial da escala “Perfil do Estilo de Vida Individual” em tempos de distanciamento social, por meio da análise fatorial confirmatória (AFC). Para tanto, a escala “Perfil do Estilo de Vida Individual” em tempos de distanciamento social foi empregada em um estudo realizado com amostras de estudantes e servidores de instituições de ensino superior de diferentes regiões brasileiras. A amostra final correspondeu a 4.694 adultos que responderam o formulário on-line. Para a avaliação de constructo foi realizada a análise de consistência interna via Alfa de Cronbach’s (a) e correlação de Spearman. Empregou-se a AFC para testar a estrutura fatorial hipotética da escala. A consistência interna geral foi de a de 0,778 e houve correlações significativas, porém, inferiores a ± 0,799 para os itens dos mesmos constructos e ± 0,499 entre os itens de constructos diferentes. Na AFC, após ajustes na estrutura do modelo, ocorreu a adequação para todos os indicadores (Goodness-of-fit Index: 0,976; Comparative Fit Index: 0,937; Normalized Fit Indices: 0,932; Tucker-Lewis Indices: 0,914; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation: 0,047; Root Mean-Square Residual: 0,031; Standardized Root Mean-Square Residual: 0,0337), com a exceção para os valores de p do Qui-quadrado e razão entre Qui-quadrado e graus de liberdade. Conclui-se que a escala “Perfil do Estilo de Vida Individual” em tempos de distanciamento social, mostrou consistência interna e estrutura fatorial satisfatórias para orientar a avaliação do estilo de vida (individual ou de grupos) e as intervenções para promover estilos de vida saudáveis.
Robust Learning of Consumer Preferences
Authors: Feng Yifan , Caldentey René , Ryan Christopher Thomas
Published: December 2021

When companies develop new products, there are often competing designs from which to choose to take to market. How to decide? Traditional methods, such as focus groups, do not scale to the modern marketplace in which tastes evolve rapidly. In “Robust Learning of Consumer Preferences,” Feng, Caldentey, and Ryan develop a data-driven approach to deciding which design to produce by displaying a sequence of subsets of possible designs to potential customers. Their framework finds solutions that are robust to any model of consumer choice within a broad family that includes common choice models studied in the literature as special cases. Previous research focuses on algorithms whose performances are tied to a given choice model. Their algorithm is shown to be asymptotically optimal in a worst-case sense. The promising practical performance of the algorithm is demonstrated through a comprehensive numerical study using real data.
Influence of interpersonal communication of chairman and employees on employee performance Inna Parapat Hotel and Resort
Authors: Fazhari Syafrisya , Rudianto Rudianto
Published: December 2021

This research is motivated by the rapid growth of technology and the increasingly dynamic patterns of human communication both as personal and interpersonal. This study aims to determine the influence of interpersonal communication between leaders and employees on employee performance at Inna Parapat Hotel and Resort. The theory used in this research is De Vito's theory which emphasizes interpersonal communication patterns while the employee performance approach uses the Robbins theory. The research method used is quantitative. This type of research uses associative research or research to determine the relationship between two variables. The study population was 93 people and 48 people were sampled using simple random sampling as the sampling technique. The data obtained is the result of a questionnaire whose answers are accumulated and described in narrative form. The conclusion from the research conducted is the influence of interpersonal communication on employee performance at the Inna Parapat Hotel and Resort.Â
Rebranding strategy PT. Indonesia Building Solutions Plant Cilacap in forming brand awareness
Authors: Rohmah Hani Fatkhur , Fajri Choirul
Published: December 2021

The business world is increasingly showing developments with many new business actors appearing both on a small and large scale. The emergence of new business actors certainly has tightened business competition in the market so that it is not uncommon for businesses to close down because they do not have creative strategies to be able to compete. Rebranding is one of the strategies undertaken by business people to maintain their business. There are several factors that cause rebranding, such as changes in ownership, a brand that is starting to be forgotten, to a bad image in the eyes of the public, etc. Rebranding is tantamount to reshaping its brand awareness or public awareness of a new brand. PT. Indonesia Building Solutions is one of the companies that rebranded as a result of the acquisition by Semen Indonesia Group (SIG) of Holcim in January 2019. The acquisition process was followed by a change in all identities starting from the brand name, namely PT. Indonesia Building Solutions and the product name is dynamix. This research was conducted to determine how the rebranding strategy carried out by PT. SBI in forming brand awareness. The method used is descriptive qualitative by conducting direct research through interviews with related parties, documentation, field observations, and supporting data from the internet. Based on the research that has been done, PT. Indonesia Building Solutions rebranded with several stages, namely Repositioning, Renaming, Redesaigning, and Relaunching. With the implementation of these four stages, PT. Indonesia Building Solutions has achieved brand awareness at the brand recognition stage where there are still two more stages to be able to reach top of mind. The title of the research conducted by researchers is "The Rebranding Strategy of PT. Indonesia Building Solutions in Forming Brand Awareness "
Nilai-nilai hukum keluarga Islam dalam novel Merantau ke Deli karya Hamka
Authors: Somae Erik Tauvani
Published: December 2021

Novel Merantau ke Deli karya Hamka merupakan karya sastra yang memuat nilai-nilai hukum keluarga Islam di Indonesia yang kini secara legal formal disahkan dalam Undang-Undang Perkawinan dan Kompilasi Hukum Islam. Penelitian ini adalah kajian pustaka dengan pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk menganalisis pesan-pesan yang ingin disampaikan oleh penulis novel tentang pembinaan rumah tangga Muslim di tengah adat budaya yang beragam dengan menggunakan paradigma sosiologi pengetahuan, pengkajian fiksi, dan maqasyid syariâ€™ah kontemporer. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa novel Merantau ke Deli menyatukan unsur keislaman, keindonesiaan, dan kemanusiaan sebagai napas nilai-nilai hukum keluarga Islam, serta disampaikan dengan pendekatan sastra. Keislaman dalam novel ini tidak hanya tergambar dalam keyakinan penuh para tokoh dalam cerita, tetapi juga disampaikan melalui alur cerita, baik secara langsung maupun tidak langsung. Keindonesiaan disampaikan melalui pertemuan dua adat budaya (Minang dan Jawa) yang disatukan dalam ikatan pernikahan namun berujung pada perceraian akibat fanatisme adat suku budaya. Sisi kemanusiaan berupa perlakuan terhadap kaum perempuan dan para buruh. Dakwah untuk menyampaikan nilai-nilai hukum keluarga Islam tersebut dilakukan Hamka melalui metode tulisan karya sastra dengan berbagai pendekatan dan kreatifitas dalam menyusun alur cerita.
phenomenon of fandom consumption in k-pop commodity through the army community
Authors: Farhana Dinningrum Rania , Umi Satiti Nur Latifah
Published: December 2021

The appearance of ARMY as a loyal fans is a response to what BTS has to offer as a K-Pop idols. Aside being a fan, their consumption behavior is inevitable. Along with the development of media technology and as a result of pop culture commodities, fans create its own meaning and culture as an active actor of consumption. This research provides an overview of the way consumption culture is formed in ARMY fandom and how it affects most significant aspects in their life. The researcher also wants to examine related to the concept of free fan labor that fans holds such an important role at maintaining the fan production culture in the web and benefit the K-Pop industry to broaden their market globally. This research uses a qualitative method. Then the researcher collects data by interviewing six informants who have consume BTS merchandise continuously with purposive sampling technique. The result of this research showed that fans consistently interpret the goods they consumed, the value they generate from their sense of closeness to BTS members. This research also demonstrated regarding fans becoming “free” fan labor with their own eagerness, along with the fan production culture results to the personalize customization into their own interest as an active and loyal costumer, with the exchange of pleasure they got from actively interact and exchanging feedback with another fans in the cyberspace.
Simulasi Aplikasi Real Time Route Selection berbasis Wireless Sensor Network di Kota Makassar
Authors: Lisangan Erick Alfons , Sumarta Sean Coonery , Tandungan Levi Oktavian
Published: December 2021

Seiring dengan pertumbuhan kota yang secara di dunia melebihi 50%, persoalan kota menjadi lebih rumit dan kompleks, salah satunya adalah kemacetan yang dapat disebabkan oleh banjir serta pertumbuhan kendaraan yang melebihi luas jalanan. Hal ini juga terjadi di Kota Makassar sebagai ibu kota provinsi Sulawesi Selatan. Saat ini sering terjadi kemacetan lalu lintas di beberapa ruas jalan di Kota Makassar, terutama pada saat peak hours. Data terakhir Juni 2017 menunjukkan jumlah kendaraan di kota Makassar adalah sebanyak 1.425.635 dimana terjadi kenaikan lebih dari 100% dibandingkan tahun 2007. Pada penelitian ini akan dirancang sebuah aplikasi real time route selection dengan memanfaatkan Wireless Sensor Network sebagai penyedia data traffic condition pada ruas jalan. Algoritma pencarian rute terpendek yang digunakan adalah algoritma Dijkstra serta algoritma Floyd-Warshall yang dikombinasikan dengan fungsi skalar Chebycheff. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa rute yang dihasilkan oleh kedua algoritma sama tetapi algoritma Dijkstra memiliki waktu pemrosesan lebih cepat dengan rerata 7,45 ms. Kelemahan fungsi skalar Chebycheff adalah proses update jarak antar node yang dinamis bergantung pada perubahan kondisi lalu lintas. Hal ini dapat diatasi dengan menggunakan penggunaan metode inferensi lain untuk kriteria kondisi lalu lintas, seperti fuzzy logic maupun metode Multi Criteria Decision Making.
Naive Bayes for Thesis Labeling
Authors: Nurhayati Fitria , Khusna Arfiani Nur , Saputra Dimas Chaerul Ekty
Published: December 2021

The thesis preparation in the Department of Informatics Universitas Ahmad Dahlan is divided into two areas of interest, namely Intelligent Systems and Software and Data Engineering. Existing thesis title data is only used as an archive and has never been processed or classified to determine the trend of thesis topics based on student interest each year. The stages include data collection, the data is divided into two parts (training data and test data), manual labeling of training data, text preprocessing, and classification using Naive Bayes. The results show the trend of thesis title taking from 2013 to 2018 shows the thesis trend in the field of Intelligent Systems and Software. Accuracy testing uses Confusion Matrix and K-Fold Cross Validation with a k value is 10, has a value of 94.60%, precision of 97.30%, and a recall of 85.70%.
Faktor yang berhubungan dengan status gizi balita di Kecamatan Kranggan Kabupaten Temanggung
Authors: Adnani Hariza , Savitri Indah Sovi
Published: December 2021

Previous research found that 4.17% of children under five who experienced poor nutritional status based on body weight in Klepu Village, Krangan District, Tumangung Regency. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors related to the nutritional status of children under five in Klepu Village, Kranggan District, Temanggung Regency. This observational survey research used a cross sectional study approach. The population consisted of 72 children under five, all of them were research subjects. The data was processed using the chi square test. It was concluded that the factors related to nutritional status were infectious conditions, history of exclusive breastfeeding, history of complementary feeding and income level of parents. Meanwhile, factors that are not related to nutritional status are maternal nutritional knowledge, energy nutrition level and protein consumption level.
Vocabulary in EFL/ESL Context: An Analysis of General English Textbook
Authors: Mohammad Taj
Published: December 2021

Vocabulary plays an important part in an EFL/ ESL textbook. The language input contained in textbooks and the representation of dimensions in vocabulary activities may have various impacts on learners’ language acquisition and development. According to Webb and Nation, vocabulary development requires the establishment of certain learning situations. It is imperative to analyze whether the vocabulary exercises presented in the book serve the desired purpose or not. The present research analyzed present General English textbook to ensure that it fulfills the learning needs of students. During the analysis, it was found that most of the sections of the vocabulary are well presented with proper context. However, there were some sections which do not contextualize the vocabulary as presented in the book. These items need to be substituted. Certain sections of the vocabulary are above the level of learners and need to be replaced with the easy ones.
Ensino Remoto Emergencial em Jornalismo na pandemia do Covid 19: um relato de experiência de docentes da rede pública
Authors: Sbeghen Hoff Rafael , De Lima Barbosa Cristiane
Published: December 2021

O trabalho descreve a prática do Ensino Remoto Emergencial (ERE) no curso de Jornalismo de universidade pública brasileira durante a pandemia do Covid-19 no ano de 2020. A prática de dois professores para a manutenção das atividades docentes e discentes utilizando Tecnologias de Informação e Comunicação (TICs) como instrumentos mediadores da prática de ensino-aprendizagem constitui o relato de experiência. Como percurso metodológico, o artigo contextualiza o ERE e discute as dificuldades e estratégias implementadas para o melhor aproveitamento didático-pedagógico. Como resultado são apontadas fragilidades e potencialidades desta experiência.
Comunicação em ambientes da indústria criativa: o contexto midiatizado de FAB LABS no Rio Grande do Sul
Authors: E Silva Marcela Guimarães , Frá Fernandes Fabio
Published: December 2021

O estudo analisa como a comunicação e a mídia se integram a ambientes da indústria criativa, observando os diferentes fenômenos que as comunicações mediadas produzem nessas organizações, mais especificamente nos Fab Labs. Para isso, parte de uma pesquisa exploratória-explicativa-descritiva, realizada em seis Fab Labs do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Dentre os resultados, constata-se que a comunicação se integra aos ambientes da indústria criativa pela midiatização, desdobrada em práticas de veiculação, vinculação e cognição (SODRÉ, 2012), ao explicitar a emergência de um quarto bios existencial e estrutural na constituição desses espaços.
MORTALIDADE POR SUICÍDIO DA POPULAÇÃO IDOSA DE UM MUNICÍPIO DO INTERIOR MINEIRO
Authors: Gomes Thays Heloise de Moura , Garcia Luan Augusto Alves , Casaburi Luiza Elena , Santos Álvaro da Silva
Published: December 2021

Objetivo: Analisar a mortalidade por suicídio da população idosa em um município longevo do interior mineiro. Material e Métodos: Foram analisados os óbitos por suicídio ocorridos entre 1996 a 2014, obtidos no Sistema de Informação sobre Mortalidade. Analisou-se a distribuições dos óbitos por coeficiente de mortalidade geral e específicos segundo as variáveis sexo, faixa etária, cor da pele e grupos de causa. Resultados: os suicídios perfizeram 44 óbitos no período analisado, com destaque para sexo masculino, faixa etária de 60 a 69 anos e cor da pele preta. Os principais meio utilizados para o evento foram estrangulamento e sufocação, disparos de arma de fogo e outros meios não identificados (72,7%). Conclusão: maiores taxas de mortalidade foram registradas para sexo masculino, faixa etária de 60 a 69 anos, raça/cor da pele/etnia preta, sendo as principais causas enforcamento, estrangulamento e sufocação e disparos de arma de fogo.
TRATAMENTO RESTAURADOR ATRAUMÁTICO ASSOCIADO A PROMOÇÃO DE SAÚDE BUCAL EM CRIANÇAS ESCOLARES COM RISCO À CÁRIE DENTÁRIA
Authors: Fernandez Matheus dos Santos , Bielavski Camilla Hubner , Viana Vanessa dos Santos , Oliveira Cristiane Costa da Cunha , Ferreira Guadalupe Sales , Guedes Simone Alves Garcez , Araújo Rosa Jamille Alves
Published: December 2021

Introdução: a cárie dentária ainda é considerada um problema de saúde pública com relevante impacto na saúde das pessoas. As ações educativas no âmbito da saúde bucal possibilitam a criação de hábitos e noções de autocuidado, especialmente quando desenvolvidas em ambientes estimuladores, como as escolas. O Tratamento Restaurador Atraumático (TRA) caracteriza-se como uma abordagem que enquadra-se na proposta da Odontologia de mínima intervenção, sendo uma das principais opções para o tratamento de lesões cariosas em pré-escolares. Objetivo: realizar uma revisão de literatura com ênfase na aplicação do TRA associado à promoção em saúde bucal em crianças escolares com risco à cárie. Método: revisão integrativa da literatura, composta por estudos publicados entre os anos de 2010 e 2020, encontrados nas bases de dados SciELO, LILACS e Portal de Periódicos CAPES e selecionados de acordo com os critérios de inclusão e exclusão. Resultados: foram encontrados 6 artigos publicados. Os estudos abordam intervenções em ambientes escolares que fizeram uso do TRA junto com as demais atividades de promoção e prevenção em saúde bucal. Conclusão: essa integração de ações proporciona resultados bastante satisfatórios na saúde bucal de escolares, na medida em que reduz a incidência de novas lesões cariosas e promove uma maior longevidade das restaurações.
EXPEDIENTE V.18,nº64
Authors: Brito Carlos Alexandre Felício
Published: December 2021

Expediente Ras
The ‘Unsolved’ Fracture Neck of Femur– A Comprehensive Review
Authors: Vijayan Sandeep , Hegde Nikhil , Kulkarni Mahesh Suresh , Aroor Monappa Naik , Bhat Vishweshwar , Rao Sharath K
Published: December 2021

Introduction: Fractures involving the neck of the femur constitute a small proportion of total fractures in the body. Though these fractures mainly occur in the elderly population, their occurrence in youngsters due to high-velocity trauma is not uncommon. These fractures are commonly termed the ‘unsolved fractures’ as the outcome of these fractures are highly variable. The peculiar anatomy and precarious blood supply to the proximal femur and intracapsular location create an unfavourable biological environment for fracture union. The lack of prospective clinical trials which have evaluated the ideal surgical timing, technique and construct of the implant further adds to the confusion.
Discussion: The aim of this review was to go through the recent relevant literature on the management of femoral neck fractures to find out the answers to the debated questions and to summarize the current diagnostic and management approaches to a patient with a suspected fracture neck of the femur.
Conclusion: Knowing the patient and fracture related factors which influence the outcome are extremely important to achieve the goal of early uncomplicated fracture healing. This would help the surgeon in the thoughtful selection of the operative intervention for each patient on an individual basis and facilitate a thorough discussion between the surgeon and the patient which is vital in decision making.
Keywords: Closed reduction, Hemiarthroplasty, Hip fractures, Intracapsular, Neck of Femur, Pauwel
Polar-UEP spinal concatenated encoding in free-space optical communication
Authors: Cao Yang , Du Fanding , Zhang Jing , Peng Xiaofeng
Published: December 2021

Aiming at the poor bit error rate (BER) performance of spinal code in free-space optical communication, a polar-UEP (unequal error protection) spinal concatenated coding scheme for free-space optical communication is proposed. This work combines the unequal error protection characteristics of spinal codes and the construction characteristics of polar codes, using bit sorting and interleaving, to give the best protection of the polar code’s information bits, and the bits that are prone to error. Simulation results show that the bit error rate performance of the more important bits and the less important bits of the polar-UEP spinal concatenated code is better than that of the spinal code. When the turbulence intensity is 0.1, compared with the fixed rate coding scheme such as the polar code, the concatenated code generates 0.7 dB–1.2 dB gain at a BER of

10

−
4

. Besides, its BER under different turbulence intensity is lower than that of the spinal code and polar code, and this provides a solution for the efficient application of the spinal code in free-space optical communication.
Theoretical and experimental researches on the walk-off compensation of an intracavity doubling red laser using a twin-BIBO-crystal
Authors: Li Keyin , Zhao Hui , Ma Houjie , Dai Shi-Bo , Zhu Si-Qi , Yin Hao , Li Zhen , Chen Zhen-Qiang
Published: December 2021

We theoretically and experimentally researched on an intracavity frequency doubling red laser with walk-off compensation of bismuth borate (BIBO) for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Through theoretical investigations, we described in detail the spatial walk-off characteristics of a BIBO crystal and discussed quantitatively the influence of different arrangements of a twin-BIBO-crystal on the output power of a second harmonic wave. Furthermore, the progress of walk-off compensation was revealed with the arrangement having the second BIBO 180° rotated along extraordinary axis. Experimentally, we found that the maximum average output power with walk-off compensation has been improved by 1.2 times compared to the uncompensated case, and the corresponding intensity profile restored from an oblique ellipse to an approximate circle.
Anisotropy of DNA molecule detection and enhancement by GaN-based electronic sensor
Authors: Tiankun Wang , Shashiong Ng
Published: December 2021

An electrical characterization approach with a newly, to the best of our knowledge, defined electrical anisotropy (η) was proposed to characterize and enhance the anisotropy signals of DNA molecules. This approach utilizes L-shaped aluminum gratings on a gallium nitride PiN electronic sensor system to adjust and improve the η signals. Using this approach, the η signals of DNA molecules can be adjusted more easily and efficiently by changing the electrical parameters of the sensor. For instance, the η modes of DNA were enhanced more than 22 times with the change of the incident power and the reverse bias voltage of the PiN structure.
Error-mitigated photonic variational quantum eigensolver using a single-photon ququart
Authors: Lee Donghwa , Lee Jinil , Hong Seongjin , Lim Hyang-Tag , Cho Young-Wook , Han Sang-Wook , Shin Hyundong , ur Rehman Junaid , Kim Yong-Su
Published: December 2021

Variational quantum algorithms, a representative class of modern quantum algorithms, provide practical uses of near-term quantum processors. The size of the problem that can be encoded and solved on a quantum processor is limited by the dimension of the Hilbert space associated with the processor. One common approach for increasing the system dimension is to utilize a larger number of quantum systems. Here, we adopt an alternative approach to utilize multiple degrees of freedom of individual quantum systems to experimentally resource-efficiently increase the Hilbert space. We report experimental implementation of the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) using four-dimensional photonic quantum states of single photons. The four-dimensional quantum states are implemented by utilizing polarization and path degrees of freedom of a single photon. Our photonic VQE is equipped with a quantum error mitigation protocol that efficiently reduces the effects of Pauli noise in the quantum processing unit. We apply our photonic VQE to estimate the ground state energy of the

H
e

−

H

+

cation. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that our experimental resource-efficient photonic VQE can accurately estimate the bond dissociation curve, even in the presence of large noise in the quantum processing unit. We also discuss further possible resource-efficient enhancement of the Hilbert space in photonic quantum processors. Our results propose that photonic systems utilizing multiple degrees of freedom can provide a resource-efficient avenue to implement practical near-term quantum processors.
The 3-phosphoinositide–dependent protein kinase 1 is an essential upstream activator of protein kinase A in malaria parasites
Authors: Hitz Eva , Wiedemar Natalie , Passecker Armin , Graça Beatriz A. S. , Scheurer Christian , Wittlin Sergio , Brancucci Nicolas M. B. , Vakonakis Ioannis , Mäser Pascal , Voss Till S.
Published: December 2021

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) signalling is essential for the proliferation of Plasmodium falciparum malaria blood stage parasites. The mechanisms regulating the activity of the catalytic subunit PfPKAc, however, are only partially understood, and PfPKAc function has not been investigated in gametocytes, the sexual blood stage forms that are essential for malaria transmission. By studying a conditional PfPKAc knockdown (cKD) mutant, we confirm the essential role for PfPKAc in erythrocyte invasion by merozoites and show that PfPKAc is involved in regulating gametocyte deformability. We furthermore demonstrate that overexpression of PfPKAc is lethal and kills parasites at the early phase of schizogony. Strikingly, whole genome sequencing (WGS) of parasite mutants selected to tolerate increased PfPKAc expression levels identified missense mutations exclusively in the gene encoding the parasite orthologue of 3-phosphoinositide–dependent protein kinase-1 (PfPDK1). Using targeted mutagenesis, we demonstrate that PfPDK1 is required to activate PfPKAc and that T189 in the PfPKAc activation loop is the crucial target residue in this process. In summary, our results corroborate the importance of tight regulation of PfPKA signalling for parasite survival and imply that PfPDK1 acts as a crucial upstream regulator in this pathway and potential new drug target.
Tinnitus-like “hallucinations” elicited by sensory deprivation in an entropy maximization recurrent neural network
Authors: Dotan Aviv , Shriki Oren
Published: December 2021

Sensory deprivation has long been known to cause hallucinations or “phantom” sensations, the most common of which is tinnitus induced by hearing loss, affecting 10–20% of the population. An observable hearing loss, causing auditory sensory deprivation over a band of frequencies, is present in over 90% of people with tinnitus. Existing plasticity-based computational models for tinnitus are usually driven by homeostatic mechanisms, modeled to fit phenomenological findings. Here, we use an objective-driven learning algorithm to model an early auditory processing neuronal network, e.g., in the dorsal cochlear nucleus. The learning algorithm maximizes the network’s output entropy by learning the feed-forward and recurrent interactions in the model. We show that the connectivity patterns and responses learned by the model display several hallmarks of early auditory neuronal networks. We further demonstrate that attenuation of peripheral inputs drives the recurrent network towards its critical point and transition into a tinnitus-like state. In this state, the network activity resembles responses to genuine inputs even in the absence of external stimulation, namely, it “hallucinates” auditory responses. These findings demonstrate how objective-driven plasticity mechanisms that normally act to optimize the network’s input representation can also elicit pathologies such as tinnitus as a result of sensory deprivation.
DeepCME: A deep learning framework for computing solution statistics of the chemical master equation
Authors: Gupta Ankit , Schwab Christoph , Khammash Mustafa
Published: December 2021

Stochastic models of biomolecular reaction networks are commonly employed in systems and synthetic biology to study the effects of stochastic fluctuations emanating from reactions involving species with low copy-numbers. For such models, the Kolmogorov’s forward equation is called the chemical master equation (CME), and it is a fundamental system of linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that describes the evolution of the probability distribution of the random state-vector representing the copy-numbers of all the reacting species. The size of this system is given by the number of states that are accessible by the chemical system, and for most examples of interest this number is either very large or infinite. Moreover, approximations that reduce the size of the system by retaining only a finite number of important chemical states (e.g. those with non-negligible probability) result in high-dimensional ODE systems, even when the number of reacting species is small. Consequently, accurate numerical solution of the CME is very challenging, despite the linear nature of the underlying ODEs. One often resorts to estimating the solutions via computationally intensive stochastic simulations. The goal of the present paper is to develop a novel deep-learning approach for computing solution statistics of high-dimensional CMEs by reformulating the stochastic dynamics using Kolmogorov’s backward equation. The proposed method leverages superior approximation properties of Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) to reliably estimate expectations under the CME solution for several user-defined functions of the state-vector. This method is algorithmically based on reinforcement learning and it only requires a moderate number of stochastic simulations (in comparison to typical simulation-based approaches) to train the “policy function”. This allows not just the numerical approximation of various expectations for the CME solution but also of its sensitivities with respect to all the reaction network parameters (e.g. rate constants). We provide four examples to illustrate our methodology and provide several directions for future research.
Development of an experiment-split method for benchmarking the generalization of a PTM site predictor: Lysine methylome as an example
Authors: Zou Guoyang , Zou Yang , Ma Chenglong , Zhao Jiaojiao , Li Lei
Published: December 2021

Many computational classifiers have been developed to predict different types of post-translational modification sites. Their performances are measured using cross-validation or independent test, in which experimental data from different sources are mixed and randomly split into training and test sets. However, the self-reported performances of most classifiers based on this measure are generally higher than their performances in the application of new experimental data. It suggests that the cross-validation method overestimates the generalization ability of a classifier. Here, we proposed a generalization estimate method, dubbed experiment-split test, where the experimental sources for the training set are different from those for the test set that simulate the data derived from a new experiment. We took the prediction of lysine methylome (Kme) as an example and developed a deep learning-based Kme site predictor (called DeepKme) with outstanding performance. We assessed the experiment-split test by comparing it with the cross-validation method. We found that the performance measured using the experiment-split test is lower than that measured in terms of cross-validation. As the test data of the experiment-split method were derived from an independent experimental source, this method could reflect the generalization of the predictor. Therefore, we believe that the experiment-split method can be applied to benchmark the practical performance of a given PTM model. DeepKme is free accessible via https://github.com/guoyangzou/DeepKme.
RB depletion is required for the continuous growth of tumors initiated by loss of RB
Authors: Doan Alex , Arand Julia , Gong Diana , Drainas Alexandros P. , Shue Yan Ting , Lee Myung Chang , Zhang Shuyuan , Walter David M. , Chaikovsky Andrea C. , Feldser David M. , Vogel Hannes , Dow Lukas E. , Skotheim Jan M. , Sage Julien
Published: December 2021

The retinoblastoma (RB) tumor suppressor is functionally inactivated in a wide range of human tumors where this inactivation promotes tumorigenesis in part by allowing uncontrolled proliferation. RB has been extensively studied, but its mechanisms of action in normal and cancer cells remain only partly understood. Here, we describe a new mouse model to investigate the consequences of RB depletion and its re-activation in vivo. In these mice, induction of shRNA molecules targeting RB for knock-down results in the development of phenotypes similar to Rb knock-out mice, including the development of pituitary and thyroid tumors. Re-expression of RB leads to cell cycle arrest in cancer cells and repression of transcriptional programs driven by E2F activity. Thus, continuous RB loss is required for the maintenance of tumor phenotypes initiated by loss of RB, and this new mouse model will provide a new platform to investigate RB function in vivo.
Moving motives: How past and present strategy influence the market
Authors: Aalbers Rick H. L. , McCarthy Killian , Huisman Menno , Roettger Jonas
Published: December 2021

We investigate the market’s reactions to serial acquirers that switch strategy. We collect data on 204 serial acquirers in four high tech industries, and use March’s explore-exploit framework, to classify these firms’ 1,415 acquisitions. We then distinguish, for example, exploration-based acquisitions, conducted after a series of exploitation-based acquisitions. Our results suggest that the market takes a portfolio perspective when reacting to an acquisition. In support of the ambidexterity literature, we show that the market responds positively to a switch from one type of strategy to another. Zooming in on the direction of the shift, we find that the market responds more positively to a switch towards exploration after exploitation, compared with the alternative. In so doing, we contribute to the literature on acquisition motives, by showing that prior announcements matter in explaining market reactions, and we contribute to the literature on ambidexterity, by showing that the market favours firms that oscillate between exploration and exploitation.
Comparison of point and roadside transect methods to evaluate the abundance and richness of diurnal raptors in the arid region of Rajasthan
Authors: Tiwari Govind , Pandey Puneet , Kaul Rahul , Lee Hang , Singh Randeep
Published: December 2021

Diurnal raptors show a wider distribution compared to other groups of birds including passerines, woodpeckers, and seriemas, but occur at lower-than-expected densities. Estimating the precise abundance is essential to achieve conservation goals but the methods used to estimate the populations of birds need to be appropriate to arrive at meaningful conclusions. We compared the two survey methods: roadside point count and strip transects, for estimating species richness and abundance of raptors in the arid landscape of Rajasthan. Roadside point counts and roadside strip transects were done on 50 transects between December 2019- February 2020 (with an average length of 20 km and a total distance of 3000 km) to assess the species richness and abundance of raptors. A total of 2954 observations of raptors belonging to 35 species were recorded using both methods. Mann Whitney U test result showed no significant difference in species richness and abundance estimates between both methods (p = 0.206). The point count method yielded a higher relative abundance of 2.79 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 than the 1.90 individuals [10 km2]-1h-1 obtained during the strip transect. Also, the number of unidentified species were less for point counts. Extrapolation values indicated that both the methods do not differ much for the detection of unsampled species. The choice of survey method depends on the objectives of the study, but our results favor the use of point counts rather than strip transects to survey raptors in open habitats. The information generated from this study is expected to provide the most efficient method to study the abundance and distribution of raptors in similar landscapes.
Re-assessing measurement error in police calls for service: Classifications of events by dispatchers and officers
Authors: Simpson Rylan , Orosco Carlena
Published: December 2021

Police calls for service are an important conduit by which officers and researchers can obtain insight into public requests for police service. Questions remain, however, about the quality of these data, and, particularly, the prevalence of measurement error in the classifications of events. As part of the present research, we assess the accuracy of call-types used by police dispatchers to describe events that are responded to by police officers. Drawing upon a sample of 515,155 calls for police service, we explore the differences among initial call-types, cleared call-types, and crime-types as documented in crime reports. Our analyses reveal that although the majority of calls for service exhibit overlap in their classifications, many still exhibit evidence of misclassification. Our analyses also reveal that such patterns vary as a function of call- and crime-type categories. We discuss our findings in light of the challenges of the classification process and the associated implications.
Computational timeline reconstruction of the stories surrounding Trump: Story turbulence, narrative control, and collective chronopathy
Authors: Dodds Peter Sheridan , Minot Joshua R. , Arnold Michael V. , Alshaabi Thayer , Adams Jane Lydia , Reagan Andrew J. , Danforth Christopher M.
Published: December 2021

Measuring the specific kind, temporal ordering, diversity, and turnover rate of stories surrounding any given subject is essential to developing a complete reckoning of that subject’s historical impact. Here, we use Twitter as a distributed news and opinion aggregation source to identify and track the dynamics of the dominant day-scale stories around Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States. Working with a data set comprising around 20 billion 1-grams, we first compare each day’s 1-gram and 2-gram usage frequencies to those of a year before, to create day- and week-scale timelines for Trump stories for 2016–2021. We measure Trump’s narrative control, the extent to which stories have been about Trump or put forward by Trump. We then quantify story turbulence and collective chronopathy—the rate at which a population’s stories for a subject seem to change over time. We show that 2017 was the most turbulent overall year for Trump. In 2020, story generation slowed dramatically during the first two major waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, with rapid turnover returning first with the Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s murder and then later by events leading up to and following the 2020 US presidential election, including the storming of the US Capitol six days into 2021. Trump story turnover for 2 months during the COVID-19 pandemic was on par with that of 3 days in September 2017. Our methods may be applied to any well-discussed phenomenon, and have potential to enable the computational aspects of journalism, history, and biography.
Scaling behavior of public procurement activity
Authors: Curado António , Damásio Bruno , Encarnação Sara , Candia Cristian , Pinheiro Flávio L.
Published: December 2021

Public procurement refers to the purchase by public sector entities—such as government departments or local authorities—of Services, Goods, or Works. It accounts for a significant share of OECD countries’ expenditures. However, while governments are expected to execute them as efficiently as possible, there is a lack of methodologies for an adequate comparison of procurement activity between institutions at different scales, which represents a challenge for policymakers and academics. Here, we propose using methods borrowed from urban scaling laws literature to study public procurement activity among 278 Portuguese municipalities between 2011 and 2018. We find that public procurement expenditure scales sublinearly with population size, indicating an economy of scale for public spending as cities increase their population size. Moreover, when looking at the municipal Scale-Adjusted Indicators (the deviations from the scaling law) by contract categories—Works, Goods, and Services—we are able to identify a richer local characterisation of municipalities based on the similarity of procurement activity. These results make up a framework for quantitatively studying local public expenditure by enabling policymakers a more appropriate foundation for comparative analysis.
Integrated analysis of the functions and prognostic values of RNA-binding proteins in neuroblastoma
Authors: Yang Jun , Zhou Jiaying , Li Cuili , Wang Shaohua
Published: December 2021

Background

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common solid tumor in children. NB treatment has made significant progress; however, given the high degree of heterogeneity, basic research findings and their clinical application to NB still face challenges. Herein, we identify novel prognostic models for NB.

Methods

We obtained RNA expression data of NB and normal nervous tissue from TARGET and GTEx databases and determined the differential expression patterns of RNA binding protein (RBP) genes between normal and cancerous tissues. Lasso regression and Cox regression analyses identified the five most important differentially expressed genes and were used to construct a new prognostic model. The function and prognostic value of these RBPs were systematically studied and the predictive accuracy verified in an independent dataset.

Results

In total, 348 differentially expressed RBPs were identified. Of these, 166 were up-regulated and 182 down-regulated RBPs. Two hubs RBPs (CPEB3andCTU1) were identified as prognostic-related genes and were chosen to build the prognostic risk score models. Multivariate Cox analysis was performed on genes from univariate Cox regression and Lasso regression analysis using proportional hazards regression model. A five gene prognostic model: Risk score = (-0.60901*expCPEB3)+(0.851637*expCTU1) was built. Based on this model, the overall survival of patients in the high-risk subgroup was lower (P = 2.152e-04). The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver-operator characteristic curve of the prognostic model was 0.720 in the TARGET cohort. There were significant differences in the survival rate of patients in the high and low-risk subgroups in the validation data set GSE85047 (P = 0.1237e-08), with the AUC 0.730. The risk model was also regarded as an independent predictor of prognosis (HR = 1.535, 95% CI = 1.368–1.722, P = 2.69E-13).

Conclusions

This study identified a potential risk model for prognosis in NB using Cox regression analysis. RNA binding proteins (CPEB3andCTU1) can be used as molecular markers of NB.
The incidence, mortality and renal outcomes of acute kidney injury in patients with suspected infection at the emergency department
Authors: Khairoun Meriem , Uffen Jan Willem , Ocak Gurbey , Koopsen Romy , Haitjema Saskia , Oosterheert Jan Jelrik , Kaasjager Karin
Published: December 2021

Background

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a major health problem associated with considerable mortality and morbidity. Studies on clinical outcomes and mortality of AKI in the emergency department are scarce. The aim of this study is to assess incidence, mortality and renal outcomes after AKI in patients with suspected infection at the emergency department.

Methods

We used data from the SPACE-cohort (SePsis in the ACutely ill patients in the Emergency department), which included consecutive patients that presented to the emergency department of the internal medicine with suspected infection. Hazard ratios (HR) were assessed using Cox regression to investigate the association between AKI, 30-days mortality and renal function decline up to 1 year after AKI. Survival in patients with and without AKI was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analyses.

Results

Of the 3105 patients in the SPACE-cohort, we included 1716 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these patients, 10.8% had an AKI episode. Mortality was 12.4% for the AKI group and 4.2% for the non-AKI patients. The adjusted HR for all-cause mortality at 30-days in AKI patients was 2.8 (95% CI 1.7–4.8). Moreover, the cumulative incidence of renal function decline was 69.8% for AKI patients and 39.3% for non-AKI patients. Patients with an episode of AKI had higher risk of developing renal function decline (adjusted HR 3.3, 95% CI 2.4–4.5) at one year after initial AKI-episode at the emergency department.

Conclusion

Acute kidney injury is common in patients with suspected infection in the emergency department and is significantly associated with 30-days mortality and renal function decline one year after AKI.
Clinical spectrum of endemic leptospirosis in relation to cytokine response
Authors: Dahanayaka Niroshana J. , Agampodi Suneth B. , Seneviratna Indika , Warnasekara Janith , Rajapakse Rukman , Ranathunga Kosala , Matthias Michael , Vinetz Joseph M.
Published: December 2021

Objectives

To describe the clinical spectrum and the cytokine response of leptospirosis patients in an endemic setting of Sri Lanka.

Methods

Patients presenting to the university teaching hospital, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka with a leptospirosis-compatible illness were recruited over a period of 12 months starting from June 2012. Daily clinical and biochemical parameters of the patients were prospectively assessed with a follow-up of 14 days after discharge. A magnetic bead–based multiplex cytokine kit was used to detect 17 cytokines.

Results

Of the 142 clinically suspected leptospirosis patients recruited, 47 were confirmed and, 29 cases were labeled as “probable.” Thrombocytopenia and leukocytosis were observed at least once during the hospital stay among 76(54%) and 39(28%) patients, respectively. Acute kidney injury was observed in 31 patients (22%) and it was significantly higher among confirmed and probable cases. Hu TNF-α and IL-1β were detected only in patients without complications. Hu MIP-1b levels were significantly higher among patients with complications. During the convalescence period, all tested serum cytokine levels were lower compared to the acute sample, except for IL-8. The cytokine response during the acute phase clustered in four different groups. High serum creatinine was associated GM-CSF, high IL-5 and IL-6 level were correlates with lung involvement and saturation drop. The patients with high billirubin (direct)>7 mmol/l had high IL-13 levels.

Conclusions

Results of this study confirms that the knowledge on cytokine response in leptospirosis could be more complex than other similar tropical disease, and biosignatures that provide diagnostic and prognostic information for human leptospirosis remain to be discovered.