bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Content policy and access limitations on commercial neural networks as an incentive to artivism
Authors: Milovidov Stanislav
Published: February 2024

This article employs a case‐study method to investigate the artivism neural network community concentrated on Twitter (since renamed X), which has been ideologically influenced by the content policy and limitations of OpenAI. Today, many young artists using machine learning technologies in their artworks (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, Kandinsky) note that despite significant progress in the field of neural network generators of image through prompts present in museums and exhibitions of contemporary digital art, a significant number of artworks are still made chiefly using outdated text-to-image algorithms created in 2021. These neural networks continue to be popular in art to this day. The reasons for the sustainability of such practices can be found in the soft ideological conflict between artists and OpenAI in 2021. At that time, neural networks had not yet become mainstream, and the dominant theme was deep fakes, which became the basis for a comprehensive discussion about the possibilities and consequences of implementing AI algorithms in modern society. A series of scandals related to the work of neural networks alerted businesses, which feared the reputational costs of neural network errors and biases. At the same time, the existing discourse on freedom of speech, thought, and self-expression in contemporary art has led to ideological conflict, as the creators have introduced constraints on tools of artistic expression. Previously, the actions of artists were not moderated by technical means. Thus, the community did not accept this state of affairs, and as a result of cooperation and “collective intelligence” created, on the GitHub and Google Colab platforms, their own algorithms with open code, with which everyone could carry out their visual experiments. Artists face the ideological question of fighting globalism and anti-progress in art to be outside the system but to riot against it. This process led to a division of artistic practises in neural network art, outlined by media artist Ryan Murdock as a gateway to text-guided visual art by the hacker effort of 2021 or the modern generation of algorithm text-to-images (after 2022).
The AquaGranda digital community memory activating awareness about climate risk
Authors: Paladini Marco , Santagiustina Carlo R. M. A , Sartoris Costanza , Saya Giulia , Schiavinato Michele , Traviglia Gabriella
Published: February 2024

This study aims to explore how vulnerable communities, scientists, and artists can collaborate to construct digital community memories to excavate opinion spaces related to socio-natural events, creating a shared and inclusive ground for mutual understanding and collective action. The proposed approach combines web archeology and digital artivism to construct community memories that can be used for social activation in relation to climate change. The research draws on participatory and community-based research techniques, citizen-science approaches, and digital methods to collect dispersed community-memory fragments and create an expressive space for the diverse perspectives and needs of the affected populations. It emphasises the importance of inclusivity and non-polarizing approaches for reconstructing and interpreting narrative streams that propagate in the physical and virtual world, and for representing, through digital art, extreme events and their societal impact. To illustrate the proposed approach, the AquaGranda project is here presented as a case study of community memory related to an extreme event: the high tides that occurred in Venice in November 2019.
Cuerpo y mirada del investigador con vídeo inmersivo en 360º: estudio de caso exploratorio sobre el artivismo en São Paulo
Authors: Fraser Emery Jordan , Marín Alba
Published: February 2024

La utilización de metodologías visuales plantea la necesidad de una reflexión constante sobre el lugar, el rol del investigador y su mirada. El objetivo de la investigación es la comprensión de las obras artivistas de las artistas brasileñas Branca Gonzaga y Guma Joana a partir del diálogo sobre su artivismo político. Para ello, se realiza un estudio etnográfico visual vinculado al concepto de patchwork ethnography. La obra Artivismo em São Paulo: Guma Joana e Branca Gonzaga (2023) es el resultado visual del trabajo de Jordan Fraser Emery derivado de la aplicación metodológica a partir del cual abordamos, de forma reflexiva, la utilización del vídeo inmersivo en 360º como herramienta de investigación. El corto documental no solo muestra el diálogo entablado con las artistas en su propia creación, sino también la participación corporal del autor como una subjetividad que es objeto de ser compartida. La mediación propia de los métodos visuales queda así expuesta como una subjetividad tecnológica que se relaciona con las subjetividades de los sujetos de investigación. Finalmente, el resultado audiovisual perpetúa las formas de activismo de las artistas implicadas en diferentes territorios.
Proceso de individuación en ecologías híbridas: sobre la relación entre arte, máquinas y sistemas naturales
Authors: Filinich Renzo , Cespedes Daniela
Published: February 2024

El presente artículo propone una perspectiva relacional de la tecnoestética (Simondon-Stiegler) y una perspectiva ontoepistemológica (Barad-Bergson) de los objetos técnicos, con el fin de concebirlos como procesos de relaciones dinámicas, relaciones abiertas y enredadas entre la cultura natural-social-psíquica. Estas perspectivas se unen para nosotros, como alternativa a la cibernética, en la que la organización está determinada por el propósito del proceso. Partiendo de una lectura difractiva de la noción de individuación y organología en Simondon-Stiegler (1958/2017) y de una ontoepistemológica de «a medio camino» en el pensamiento de Barad-Bergson (1907/2007), se propone una visión procesal e híbrida de los objetos técnicos, con el fin de proporcionar bases filosóficas que vayan más allá de las dicotomías modernas cultura/naturaleza, humanos/no humanos y natural/artificial. Usando estas ideas para reflexionar sobre las obras de arte interactivas contemporáneas, el artículo aborda una noción de creatividad como un ensamblaje donde el ser humano y el no humano se producen en la constitución mutua, considerando la relación entre las artes, las máquinas y la naturaleza y sus procesos de ontogénesis (Simondon, 2015) y epifilogénesis en este proceso (Stiegler, 2002).
MOTIVATION OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN THEIR FREE TIME
Authors: Njegovan Jovana , Mikanović Brane
Published: February 2024

The aim of this research was to examine whether and to what extent the socio-pedagogical characteristics of upper elementary school students contribute to their level of motivation for physical education in their free time. The defined sociopedagogical characteristics of students include gender, the grade they are in, school performance, and students' involvement in extracurricular sports activities. The population consists of students from the "Branko Copić" Elementary School in Prnjavor (Republica Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The sample comprises a total of 133 students, including 45 (33.80%) fifth-grade students, 42 (31.60%) seventhgrade students, and 46 (34.60%) ninth-grade students. To achieve this, a quantitative research approach was carried out. The defined research objectives represent fundamental components of the problem and the subject of the study. In the research, a self-created five-point Likert scale: "Students' Attitudes towards Physical Education in Their Free Time" was applied to assess the students' motivation for physical education in their free time. The reliability analysis yielded a satisfactory level of reliability with α=0.92. Using the survey questionnaire "Student Survey," information about the socio-pedagogical characteristics of the respondents was obtained, as well as how students spend their free time and the time intervals they have available for leisure activities during the day. The results indicate that the motivation of elementary school students for physical education is weak. A mild level of motivation for physical education is observed only in very good students.
Problems of Integration of Domestic and Foreign Systems Education in the Modern Pedagogical Process
Authors: Kalinin Sergei Vladimirovich
Published: February 2024

The article is devoted to the problems of integration of various education systems in order to improve pedagogical activity. The subject of the study is the integration of various education systems in the modern pedagogical process. The object of the research is the improvement of the modern pedagogical process based on the integration of domestic and foreign education systems. The author considers: modern problems of integration of various educational systems; goals and possible directions of integration; external and internal factors of implementation of integration processes; directions of improvement of the domestic pedagogical process based on the integration of various educational systems. The main conclusions of the study are: strengthening the educational orientation of the entire education system; reorientation of educational programs to a practical orientation; changes in the order of financing of the education system; providing educational organizations with effective communication with real production; expanding integration with the countries of the economic and political community; taking into account the positive experience of innovative methods of foreign education systems. The author's contribution: substantiation of the relevance of the topic; identification of the essence and content of the integration of various education systems; determination of goal-setting in educational activities. Scientific novelty: the essence and content of integration processes are clarified; integration problems are identified and analyzed; factors, conditions and directions of implementation of integration of Russian and foreign education systems are determined.
Regulation of magnetic moment and magnetic anisotropy of magnetite by doping transition metal elements
Authors: Ren Yan-Ying , Li Ya-Ning , Liu Hong-Sheng , Xu Nan , Guo Kun , Xu Zhao-Hui , Chen Xin , Gao Jun-Feng ,   The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116024, China,   Department of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
Published: February 2024

Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles show promising applications in nanomedicine. The saturation magnetization (MS) and magnetic anisotropy are critical for the applications of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in drug delivery and magnetic hyperthermia. Here, by density functional computation, the doping effects of 3d and 4d transition metal elements (including Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag and Cd) on the magnetic properties of Fe3O4 are investigated in-depth. A conventional cell of Fe3O4, containing 24 Fe atoms and 32 O atoms, has been used to investigate the doping of group III elements. One 3d or 4d atom is doped in one conventional cell of Fe3O4, resulting in the formation of X0.125Fe2.875O4 where X represents the dopant. The results show that the doping of most 3d and 4d transition metal elements will reduce the total magnetic moment, while the doping of Ag, Zn and Cd in Fe3O4 will increase the total magnetic moment by 19%–22%. However, it is hard to dope Ag into Fe3O4 according to the positive formation energy. Therefore, Zn and Cd are good candidates to improve the MS of Fe3O4. The doping of Zn and Cd has also an influence on the magnetic anisotropy of Fe3O4. For Zn0.125Fe2.875O4, the magnetic anisotropy energy is about 0.25 meV per cell, which is slightly larger than that of intrinsic Fe3O4 (0.2 meV per cell). Interestingly, the doping of Cd (Cd0.125Fe2.875O4) will greatly increase the magnetic anisotropy energy to 0.8 meV per cell, which is significant for the specific absorption rate in the magnetic hyperthermia application. In addition, the doping of Zn and Cd will not induce any defect states in the band gap according to the density of states. Zn0.125Fe2.875O4 and Cd0.125Fe2.875O4 are both semiconducting and both the top of valence band and the bottom of conduction band originate from octahedral Fe. This is because the impurity states are very deep in energy. Our research results show that doping Cd is a feasible way to improve the performance of Fe3O4 as a material for drug delivery and magnetic hyperthermia.
A new look at the architecture and dynamics of the Hydra nerve net
Authors: Keramidioti Athina , Schneid Sandra , Busse Christina , von Laue Christoph Cramer , Bertulat Bianca , Salvenmoser Willi , Heß Martin , Alexandrova Olga , Glauber Kristine M. , Steele Robert E. , Hobmayer Bert , Holstein Thomas , David Charles N.
Published: February 2024

The
Hydra
nervous system is the paradigm of a “simple nerve net”. Nerve cells in
Hydra
, as in many cnidarian polyps, are organized in a nerve net extending throughout the body column. This nerve net is required for control of spontaneous behavior: elimination of nerve cells leads to polyps that do not move and are incapable of capturing and ingesting prey (Campbell, 1976). We have re-examined the structure of the
Hydra
nerve net by immunostaining fixed polyps with a novel antibody that stains all nerve cells in
Hydra
. Confocal imaging shows that there are two distinct nerve nets, one in the ectoderm and one in the endoderm, with the unexpected absence of nerve cells in the endoderm of the tentacles. The nerve nets in the ectoderm and endoderm do not contact each other. High-resolution TEM and serial block face SEM show that the nerve nets consist of bundles of parallel overlapping neurites. Results from transgenic lines show that neurite bundles include different neural circuits and hence that neurites in bundles require circuit-specific recognition. Nerve cell-specific innexins indicate that gap junctions can provide this specificity. The occurrence of bundles of neurites supports a model for continuous growth and differentiation of the nerve net by lateral addition of new nerve cells to the existing net. This model was confirmed by tracking newly differentiated nerve cells.
Factorized visual representations in the primate visual system and deep neural networks
Authors: Lindsey Jack W , Issa Elias B
Published: February 2024

Object classification has been proposed as a principal objective of the primate ventral visual stream and has been used as an optimization target for deep neural network models (DNNs) of the visual system. However, visual brain areas represent many different types of information, and optimizing for classification of object identity alone does not constrain how other information may be encoded in visual representations. Information about different scene parameters may be discarded altogether (‘invariance’), represented in non-interfering subspaces of population activity (‘factorization’) or encoded in an entangled fashion. In this work, we provide evidence that factorization is a normative principle of biological visual representations. In the monkey ventral visual hierarchy, we found that factorization of object pose and background information from object identity increased in higher-level regions and strongly contributed to improving object identity decoding performance. We then conducted a large-scale analysis of factorization of individual scene parameters – lighting, background, camera viewpoint, and object pose – in a diverse library of DNN models of the visual system. Models which best matched neural, fMRI, and behavioral data from both monkeys and humans across 12 datasets tended to be those which factorized scene parameters most strongly. Notably, invariance to these parameters was not as consistently associated with matches to neural and behavioral data, suggesting that maintaining non-class information in factorized activity subspaces is often preferred to dropping it altogether. Thus, we propose that factorization of visual scene information is a widely used strategy in brains and DNN models thereof.
Travelling waves or sequentially activated discrete modules: mapping the granularity of cortical propagation
Authors: Orsher Yuval , Rom Ariel , Perel Rotem , Lahini Yoav , Blinder Pablo , Shein-Idelson Mark
Published: February 2024

Numerous studies have identified travelling waves in the cortex and suggested they play important roles in brain processing. These waves are most often measured using macroscopic methods that are unable to assess the local spiking activity underlying wave dynamics. Here we investigated the possibility that waves may not be travelling at the single neuron scale. We first show that sequentially activating two discrete brain areas can appear as travelling waves in EEG simulations. We next reproduce these results using an analytical model of two sequentially activated regions. Using this model, we were able to generate wave-like activity with variable directions, velocities, and spatial patterns, and to map the discriminability limits between travelling waves and modular sequential activations. Finally, we investigated the link between field potentials and single neuron excitability using large-scale measurements from turtle cortex ex-vivo. We found that while field potentials exhibit wave-like dynamics, the underlying spiking activity was better described by consecutively activated spatially adjacent groups of neurons. Taken together, this study suggests caution when interpreting phase delay measurements as continuously propagating wavefronts in two different spatial scales. A careful distinction between modular and wave excitability profiles across scales will be critical for understanding the nature of cortical computations.
Macro-scale patterns in functional connectivity associated with ongoing thought patterns and dispositional traits
Authors: Hardikar Samyogita , Mckeown Brontë , Schaare H. Lina , Xu Ting , Lauckner Mark Edgar , Valk Sofie L. , Margulies Daniel S. , Turnbull Adam , Bernhardt Boris , Vos de Wael Reinder , Villringer Arno , Smallwood Jonathan
Published: February 2024

Complex macro-scale patterns of brain activity that emerge during periods of wakeful rest provide insight into the organisation of neural function, how these differentiate individuals based on their traits, and the neural basis of different types of self-generated thoughts. Although brain activity during wakeful rest is valuable for understanding important features of human cognition, its unconstrained nature makes it difficult to disentangle neural features related to personality traits from those related to the thoughts occurring at rest. Our study builds on recent perspectives from work on ongoing conscious thought that highlight the interactions between three brain networks - ventral and dorsal attention networks, as well as the default mode network. We combined measures of personality with state-of-the-art indices of ongoing thoughts at rest and brain imaging analysis, and explored whether this ‘tri-partite’ view can provide a framework within which to understand the contribution of states and traits to observed patterns of neural activity at rest. To capture macro-scale relationships between different brain systems, we calculated cortical gradients to describe brain organisation in a low dimensional space. Our analysis established that for more introverted individuals, regions of the ventral attention network were functionally more aligned to regions of the somatomotor system and the default mode network. At the same time, a pattern of detailed self-generated thought was associated with a decoupling of regions of dorsal attention from regions in the default mode network. Our study, therefore, establishes that interactions between attention systems and the default mode network are important influences on ongoing thought at rest and highlights the value of integrating contemporary perspectives on conscious experience when understanding patterns of brain activity at rest.
Individuals with anxiety and depression use atypical decision strategies in an uncertain world
Authors: Fang Zeming , Zhao Meihua , Xu Ting , Li Yuhang , Xie Hanbo , Quan Peng , Geng Haiyang , Zhang Ru-Yuan
Published: February 2024

Previous studies on reinforcement learning have identified three prominent phenomena: (1) individuals with anxiety or depression exhibit a reduced learning rate compared to healthy subjects; (2) learning rates may increase or decrease in environments with rapidly changing (i.e. volatile) or stable feedback conditions, a phenomenon termed learning rate adaptation; and (3) reduced learning rate adaptation is associated with several psychiatric disorders. In other words, multiple learning rate parameters are needed to account for behavioral differences across participant populations and volatility contexts in this flexible learning rate (FLR) model. Here, we propose an alternative explanation, suggesting that behavioral variation across participant populations and volatile contexts arises from the use of mixed decision strategies. To test this hypothesis, we constructed a mixture-of-strategies (MOS) model and used it to analyze the behaviors of 54 healthy controls and 32 patients with anxiety and depression in volatile reversal learning tasks. Compared to the FLR model, the MOS model can reproduce the three classic phenomena by using a single set of strategy preference parameters without introducing any learning rate differences. In addition, the MOS model can successfully account for several novel behavioral patterns that cannot be explained by the FLR model. Preferences for different strategies also predict individual variations in symptom severity. These findings underscore the importance of considering mixed strategy use in human learning and decision-making and suggest atypical strategy preference as a potential mechanism for learning deficits in psychiatric disorders.
Hemodynamics regulate spatiotemporal artery muscularization in the developing circle of Willis
Authors: Cheng Siyuan , Xia Ivan Fan , Wanner Renate , Abello Javier , Stratman Amber N. , Nicoli Stefania
Published: February 2024

Brain arteries are wrapped by vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Fully differentiated VSMCs are important for brain artery homeostasis, and they are lost in several cerebrovascular diseases. How healthy VSMCs differentiate on different brain arteries during development is unclear. Such knowledge will help regenerate lost VSMCs in brain arteriopathy. To answer this question, we studied the developmental muscularization of the zebrafish circle of Willis (CW) arteries, the major arterial loop that supplies blood to the brain in all vertebrates. We found that artery specification of CW endothelial cells (ECs) happens after they migrate from primitive veins to form CW arteries. VSMCs differentiate from
pdgfrb+
common vascular mural cell progenitors at the time when embryo circulation starts and progress temporally and spatially from anterior to posterior CW arteries. Computational fluid dynamic simulation confirms that earlier VSMC differentiation coincide with higher pulsatile flow hemodynamics in anterior CW arteries. Pulsatile blood flow induces the differentiation of human brain
pdgfrb+
progenitors into VSMCs and reducing pulsatile blood flow by blocking the zebrafish embryo heartbeat after
pdgfrb+
recruitment but before VSMC differentiation limits the number of mature VSMCs. Congruently, the flow responsive transcription factor
klf2a
is activated in ECs before VSMC differentiation and knockdown delays VSMC differentiation on CW arteries. Overall, our data place hemodynamic activation of endothelial
klf2a
signaling as key determinant of spatiotemporal VSMC differentiation on CW arteries.
Longitudinal transcriptional changes reveal genes from the natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity pathway as critical players underlying COVID-19 progression
Authors: Medina Matias A. , Fuentes-Villalobos Francisco , Quevedo Claudio , Aguilera Felipe , Riquelme Raul , Rioseco Maria Luisa , Barria Sebastian , Pinos Yazmin , Calvo Mario , Burbulis Ian , Alvarez Raymond A ,   COVID 19 South Chile Group, Garrido Jose Luis , Barria Maria Ines
Published: February 2024

Patients present a wide range of clinical severities in response SARS-CoV-2 infection, but the underlying molecular and cellular reasons why clinical outcomes vary so greatly within the population remains unknown. Here, we report that negative clinical outcomes in severely ill patients were associated with divergent RNA transcriptome profiles in peripheral immune cells compared with mild cases during the first weeks after disease onset. Protein-protein interaction analysis indicated that early-responding cytotoxic NK cells were associated with an effective clearance of the virus and a less severe outcome. This innate immune response was associated with the activation of select cytokine-cytokine receptor pathways and robust Th1/Th2 cell differentiation profiles. In contrast, severely ill patients exhibited a dysregulation between innate and adaptive responses affiliated with divergent Th1/Th2 profiles and negative outcomes. This knowledge forms the basis of clinical triage that may be used to preemptively detect high-risk patients before life-threatening outcomes ensue.– Mild COVID-19 patients presented an early compromise with NK cell function, whereas severe patients do so with neutrophil function.– The identified co-expressed genes give insights into a coordinated transcriptional program of NK cell cytotoxic activity being associated with mild patients.– Key checkpoints of NK cell cytotoxicity that were enriched in mild patients include:
KLRD1
,
CD247
, and
IFNG
.– The early innate immune response related to NK cells connects with the Th1/Th2 adaptive immune responses, supporting their relevance in COVID-19 progression.
Mapping responses to focal injections of bicuculline in the lateral parafacial region identifies core regions for maximal generation of active expiration
Authors: Pisanski Annette , Prostebby Mitchell , Dickson Clayton T , Pagliardini Silvia
Published: February 2024

The lateral parafacial area (pFL) is a crucial region involved in respiratory control, particularly in generating active expiration through an expiratory oscillatory network. Active expiration involves rhythmic abdominal (ABD) muscle contractions during late-expiration, increasing ventilation during elevated respiratory demands. The precise anatomical location of the expiratory oscillator within the ventral medulla’s rostro-caudal axis is debated. While some studies point to the caudal tip of the facial nucleus (VIIc) as the oscillator’s core, others suggest more rostral areas. Our study employed bicuculline (a γ-aminobutyric acid type A [GABA-A] receptor antagonist) injections at various pFL sites (–0.2 mm to +0.8 mm from VIIc) to investigate the impact of GABAergic disinhibition on respiration. These injections consistently elicited ABD recruitment, but the response strength varied along the rostro-caudal zone. Remarkably, the most robust and enduring changes in tidal volume, minute ventilation, and combined respiratory responses occurred at more rostral pFL locations (+0.6/+0.8 mm from VIIc). Multivariate analysis of the respiratory cycle further differentiated between locations, revealing the core site for active expiration generation with this experimental approach. Our study advances our understanding of neural mechanisms governing active expiration and emphasizes the significance of investigating the rostral pFL region.
A non-conducting role of the Cav1.4 Ca2+ channel drives homeostatic plasticity at the cone photoreceptor synapse
Authors: Maddox J. Wesley , Ordemann Gregory J. , Vázquez Juan de la Rosa , Huang Angie , Gault Christof , Wisner Serena R. , Randall Kate , Futagi Daiki , DeVries Steven H. , Hoon Mrinalini , Lee Amy
Published: February 2024

In congenital stationary night blindness type 2 (CSNB2)—a disorder involving dysfunction of the Ca
v
1.4 Ca
2+
channel—visual impairment is relatively mild considering that Ca
v
1.4 mediates synaptic transmission by rod and cone photoreceptors. Here, we addressed this conundrum using a Ca
v
1.4 knockout (KO) mouse and a knock-in (KI) mouse expressing a non-conducting Ca
v
1.4 mutant. Surprisingly, aberrant Ca
v
3 currents were detected in cones of the KI and KO but not wild-type mice. Cone synapses, which fail to develop in KO mice, are present but enlarged in KI mice. Moreover, light responses in cone pathways and photopic visual behavior are preserved in KI but not in KO mice. In CSNB2, we propose that Ca
v
3 channels maintain cone synaptic output provided that the Ca
2+
-independent role of Ca
v
1.4 in cone synaptogenesis remains intact. Our findings reveal an unexpected form of homeostatic plasticity that relies on a non-canonical role of an ion channel.
Blood cell image segmentation and classification: a systematic review
Authors: Shahzad Muhammad , Ali Farman , Shirazi Syed Hamad , Rasheed Assad , Ahmad Awais , Shah Babar , Kwak Daehan
Published: February 2024

Background

Blood diseases such as leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, and thalassemia are hematological disorders that relate to abnormalities in the morphology and concentration of blood elements, specifically white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC). Accurate and efficient diagnosis of these conditions significantly depends on the expertise of hematologists and pathologists. To assist the pathologist in the diagnostic process, there has been growing interest in utilizing computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) techniques, particularly those using medical image processing and machine learning algorithms. Previous surveys in this domain have been narrowly focused, often only addressing specific areas like segmentation or classification but lacking a holistic view like segmentation, classification, feature extraction, dataset utilization, evaluation matrices, etc.

Methodology

This survey aims to provide a comprehensive and systematic review of existing literature and research work in the field of blood image analysis using deep learning techniques. It particularly focuses on medical image processing techniques and deep learning algorithms that excel in the morphological characterization of WBCs and RBCs. The review is structured to cover four main areas: segmentation techniques, classification methodologies, descriptive feature selection, evaluation parameters, and dataset selection for the analysis of WBCs and RBCs.

Results

Our analysis reveals several interesting trends and preferences among researchers. Regarding dataset selection, approximately 50% of research related to WBC segmentation and 60% for RBC segmentation opted for manually obtaining images rather than using a predefined dataset. When it comes to classification, 45% of the previous work on WBCs chose the ALL-IDB dataset, while a significant 73% of researchers focused on RBC classification decided to manually obtain images from medical institutions instead of utilizing predefined datasets. In terms of feature selection for classification, morphological features were the most popular, being chosen in 55% and 80% of studies related to WBC and RBC classification, respectively.

Conclusion

The diagnostic accuracy for blood-related diseases like leukemia, anemia, lymphoma, and thalassemia can be significantly enhanced through the effective use of CAD techniques, which have evolved considerably in recent years. This survey provides a broad and in-depth review of the techniques being employed, from image segmentation to classification, feature selection, utilization of evaluation matrices, and dataset selection. The inconsistency in dataset selection suggests a need for standardized, high-quality datasets to strengthen the diagnostic capabilities of these techniques further. Additionally, the popularity of morphological features indicates that future research could further explore and innovate in this direction.
Global transformations and formation of new social systems
Authors: Terziev Venelin
Published: February 2024

The present article attempts to describe and analyze possible future social transformations in social development. Parallels are drawn with historical facts and events that in past periods had a significant impact on the formation and development of social systems. Answers are sought for the influence of new social leaders on the process of active social transformations. Possible scenarios for the formation and development of new social systems are analyzed.
Government and Non-Governmental Organisation Led Agricultural Development Projects and the Accumulation of Social and Economic Capitals in Mezam, Cameroon
Authors: Ngansah Njegani , Azibo Balgah Roland , Fonteh Mathias Fru
Published: February 2024

Government (GO) and Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) undertake agricultural development projects especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where agriculture-dependent livelihoods are predominant. Agricultural development has been accompanied by a theoretical debate vis-à-vis who is best placed to steer the process. Unfortunately, empirical evidence to refute or ramify the theoretical contestations are extremely limited. This article contributes to the literature by comparatively analyzing the effects of GO) and NGO–led agricultural development projects on social and economic capitals in Cameroon. Mixed methods were applied on stakeholders of four selected GO-led and four NGO-led development projects in Mezam division in the North West region of Cameroon, chosen due to its long history of having both GO and NGO-led agricultural development projects. A structured questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data from randomly selected 180 beneficiaries, including 90 from GO and 90 from NGO projects, and 120 project staff that is 15 (2 top, 5 middle and 8 lower management) per retained organization. Recall was applied to construct before-after comparisons with interviewees, in the absence of baseline information. In-depth interviews and observations were done with selected project staff and beneficiaries, respectively. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 25.0, while qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. Results show significant increase in the growth of social and economic benefits for respondents from both GO and NGO-led projects (p < 0.05), though higher for NGO-led projects. The study concludes that agricultural development by both organizational types can enhance social and economic development. Further studies are needed to ramify these results. Comparative analyses between project staff and beneficiaries can highlight any differences in them, in terms of perceptive and actual impacts of GO and NGO-led agricultural projects on social and economic capitals. Comprehensive assessments based on all livelihood capitals are recommended to ground these contentions.
Convergence and Middle-Income Trap between Asian Country Members: New Findings
Authors: Babatunde Oluleye H. , Yaya OlaOluwa S. , Adekoya Oluwasegun B.
Published: February 2024

This paper investigates the possibility of middle-income convergence among seven members of Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), with Malaysia being in upper-middle-income rank and other six countries in lower-middle-income rank. We apply unit root testing framework that allows for smooth nonlinearity, abrupt break, and cross-dependence in the income differences. Results show that these lower-middle-income countries are likely to converge among themselves and converge to the income level of Malaysia in the long run. Based on Add Asian cross-country policy recommendations, Economic policies capable of stimulating long-run economic growth of these lower-middle-income countries is therefore recommended, and the countries should be ready to take up the challenge of upper-income country, like Malaysia.
Netnography Study of Menjadi Manusia Community Network Communication on Discord
Authors: Putri Chelsea Amanda , Prajugo Monica Christiana , Yuwono Sherlynn , Tandawidjaja Edward Hiroshi , Harijono Ivan Christian
Published: February 2024

Mental health issues have been widely discussed in this modern era. By doing so, mental health care communities have been increasingly developed globally. One of the most popular social communities in Indonesia is Menjadi Manusia. This community has gained a large number of members across different social media platforms, including Discord as their communication network. This research was conducted using digital netnography method to see communication patterns of Menjadi Manusia community network on Discord. The community targeted in this study consists of all Discord users that actively participate in discussions in the Menjadi Manusia community. Using the netnography method, this research observed conversations and messages in Discord, as a safe place to talk, speak and share their stories or problems freely and to be human through the discord community channel. Through this channel, there are places where people can speak up specifically through communication disclosure. These interactions are made to fulfil the needs and purpose of this community, to be a safe place to fix their mental health and cure every emotion and problem they have to each other.
Dampak Media Sosial Terhadap Budaya Pembentukan Budaya “Alone Together”
Authors: Mujianto Haryadi , Nurhadi Zikri Fachrul
Published: February 2024

Bermedia sosial merupakan salah satu aktifitas yang menunjukkan gaya hidup masyarakat di era digital. Media sosial memberikan manfaat besar bagi para penggunanya dalam hal akses informasi, pemesanan transportasi, pesan instan, bahkan untuk keperluan hiburan. Fenomena yang terjadi adalah perubahan perilaku dan aktifitas pada para pengguna media sosial. Seringkali ditemui kelompok yang sedang mengalami “alone together” atau “sendiri bersama” di tengah keramaian. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui dampak media sosial terhadap pembentukan budaya “alone together”. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan deskriptif kuantitatif dan verifikatif. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menyebarkan kuesioner terhadap 100 orang responden mahasiswa Universitas Garut. Sampel diambil berdasarkan kategori non purposive sampling. Analisis data menggunakan regresi linier sederhana dengan bantuan software IBM SPSS 20.0. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat dampak yang signifikan dari media sosial terhadap pembentukan budaya alone together dengan besaran koefisien determinasi 67,5%, sedangkan sisanya 32,5% dipengaruhi oleh variabel lainnya.
Engineered Stress‐Profile Silicate Glass: High Strength Material Insensitive to Surface Defects and Fatigue
Authors: Sglavo V.M. , Prezzi A. , Zandonella T.
Published: May 2004

A modified ion‐exchange process can be used for the production of high strength glass, which is, in addition, insensitive to surface flaws. In such ESP‐Glasses (Engineered Stress Profile) the residual stress profile possesses a maximum compression at a certain depth from the surface, which, conversely, is almost stress free. Such unusual stress profile allows a stable and controlled growth of surface defects before final catastrophic failure. In this way the strength can be independent from the size of pre‐existing surface flaws in a certain range of crack size and possess limited scatter. In the present work, three commercial silicate glasses have been used for the production of ESP glass.
Tailoring Titanium Hydride Decomposition Kinetics by Annealing in Various Atmospheres
Authors: Lehmhus D. , Rausch G.
Published: May 2004

With series production of aluminium foams according to the Fraunhofer process a reality, further improvement of structural homogeneity has gained interest. Since this characteristic is strongly influenced by blowing agent decomposition, means to adapt the latter have been investigated: The paper concentrates on thermal treatment of TiH2, comparing effects induced by treatment time, temperature and atmosphere variation. Structural characteristics of AlSi7 foams using TiH2 variants as foaming agent are evaluated.
Conditions for Hot Rolling of Iron Aluminide
Authors: Kratochvíl P. , Schindler I.
Published: May 2004

Hardening and softening processes determine the hot rolling workability of iron aluminide. Mathematical model enable to predict the mean equivalent stress, which depends on strain, strain rate and temperature, and to choose the proper rolling conditions. The ordering (ferite A2 ↔ intermetallic B2) influences the ease of the rolling process.
Silicoaluminum Carbonitride with Anomalously High Resistance to Oxidation and Hot Corrosion
Authors: An L. , Wang Y. , Bharadwaj L. , Zhang L. , Fan Y. , Jiang D. , Sohn Y. , Desai V.H. , Kapat J. , Chow L.C.
Published: May 2004

Due to their excellent thermal and mechanical properties silicon‐based ceramics and composites are prime candidates for high temperature structural applications. In this communication the authors report for the first time that amorphous silicoaluminum carbonitride (SiAlCN) ceramics possess anomalously high resistance to oxidation and hot‐corrosion. A mechanism underlying the observed phenomena is discussed.
Established and Emerging Materials for use as High‐Field Magnet Conductors
Authors: Spencer K. , Lecouturier F. , Thilly L. , Embury J.D.
Published: May 2004

Designing a composite material for use as a conductor in high‐field pulse magnets is a challenging materials science problem. Three different approaches to designing such high‐strength, high‐conductivity composite conductors are reviewed, with each approach focusing on different length scales. New perspectives are given on each alternative with regard to the fabrication, mechanical and electrical properties.
Microstructure and Properties of an HfB2‐SiC Composite for Ultra High Temperature Applications
Authors: Monteverde F. , Bellosi A.
Published: May 2004

An ultra‐high‐temperature ceramic (UHTC) based on HfB2 was produced. The microstructure consisted of fine and regular diboride grains (2 μm average size), with SiC particulate distributed intergranularly, not rarely in clustered formation, and low levels of secondary phases were identified. The resulting thermo‐mechanical properties proved interesting results for microhardness and fracture toughness. The microstructural alteration experienced within the explored temperature range renders the material unsuitable for service in extreme conditions of temperature and pressure.
Do aggressive and non‐aggressive antisocial behaviors in adolescents result from the same genetic and environmental effects?
Authors: Button Tanya M.M. , Scourfield Jane , Martin Neilson , McGuffin Peter
Published: May 2004

Antisocial behavior (ASB) in adolescents can broadly be separated into two forms; aggressive and non‐aggressive. Both are heritable and it has been suggested that aggressive ASB is more heritable. The extent to which genes contribute to the correlation between the two is unknown. Structural equation modeling was applied to a population‐based twin sample of 258 twins pairs aged 11–18 to estimate the heritability of each form of ASB and to estimate the extent to which the phenotypic correlation was the consequence of shared genes and environmental factors. Non‐shared environment and genetic factors substantially influenced both forms of ASB. The heritability of aggressive (but not non‐aggressive) ASB was significantly higher in girls than in boys. Combining both sexes, a model in which the genetic effects on aggressive and non‐aggressive ASB were identical could be rejected. Our results suggest a partial genetic overlap with a specific genetic effect contributing to the variance of aggressive ASB and a stronger genetic effect on aggression in females than in males. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Forms of cannabis and cocaine: A twin study
Authors: Agrawal Arpana , Prescott Carol A. , Kendler Kenneth S.
Published: May 2004

Cannabis and cocaine are illicit psychoactive substances that have fallen under intense scrutiny by epidemiologists and behavioral geneticists. However, most analyses have used a composite variable to represent the use of these two drugs. For example, the composite variable of cannabis use often includes use of marijuana or hashish. Similarly, cocaine use involves different preparations (crack vs. cocaine hydrochloride) and varying routes of administration (intranasal insufflation vs. smoking). While there is some epidemiological evidence for the difference in addictive potentials between crack and intranasal cocaine, genetically informative studies have not examined the relationship between the forms of cannabis or cocaine. We used data from male and female same‐sex twin pairs to examine the extent of genetic, shared environmental, and unique environmental overlap between (i) marijuana and hashish for cannabis use and (ii) intranasal and crack cocaine for cocaine use. Bivariate Cholesky models were fit using the structural equation modeling software Mx. Our results indicate that for both drugs, the individual drug forms show a complete overlap of genetic factors and a substantial overlap of shared environmental influences. While marijuana and hashish share a moderate proportion of their unique environment, crack and intranasal cocaine only show a modest overlap of unique environmental factors, adding some evidence for form‐specific environmental factors. In conclusion, there is substantial overlap of familial factors between forms of a single drug and preference is primarily determined by unique environmental influences. These findings also reinforce the validity of composite variables in epidemiological and genetic research. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Evidence for association between novel polymorphisms in the PRODH gene and schizophrenia in a Chinese population
Authors: Li Tao , Ma Xiaohong , Sham Pak C. , Sun Xueli , Hu Xun , Wang Qiang , Meng Huaqing , Deng Wei , Liu Xiehe , Murray Robin M. , Collier David A.
Published: May 2004

Haploinsufficiency for or mutation in at least one gene from the velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) region at chromosome 22q11 is implicated in psychosis. Linkage disequilibrium mapping of the region in patients identified a segment containing two genes, proline dehydrogenase (PRODH) and DGCR6, as candidates [Liu et al., 2002a] and by analysis of additional polymorphisms the PRODH gene was associated with schizophrenia in adult and early onset patients. In the present study we provide additional evidence in support of genetic association between PRODH and schizophrenia in a Chinese population. We analyzed the PRODH gene in a samples of schizophrenic patients and their families from Sichuan, SW China consisting of 528 family trios and sibling pairs. We genotyped six SNPs, PRODH*1195C → T, PRODH*1482C → T, PRODH*1483A → G, PRODH*1766A → G, PRODH*1852G → A PRODH*1945T → C, two of which (PRODH*1483A → G and PRODH*1852G → A) have not been previously reported. We found association with schizophrenia for two haplotypes consisting of PRODH*1945T → C and PRODH*1852G → A (Global P = 0.006), and PRODH*1852G → A and PRODH*1766A → G (Global P = 0.01) which include one of the newly identified markers. After six‐fold Bonferroni correction for multiple testing the PRODH*1945T‐C/PRODH*1852G‐A haplotypes remained significant. This is a sub‐haplotype of the PRODH haplotype previously associated with schizophrenia and it also maps to the 3′ region of the gene, indicating that this is the region most likely to contain the underlying risk alleles. Overall this finding supports a role for the PRODH locus in schizophrenia. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.