bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bringing subordinated financialisation down to earth: the political ecology of finance-dominated capitalism
Authors: Althouse Jeffrey , Svartzman Romain
Published: April 2022

This paper explores how subordinated financialisation occurs through uneven environmental transformations on a global scale, thereby revealing a political ecology of finance-dominated capitalism. Rather than depicting financialisation as a detachment of profits and power from the ‘real’ economy, this paper argues that financial accumulation arises from co-dependent and hierarchical monetary, productive and environmental relations. In particular, we outline how Peripheral subordination is connected to the reorganisation of global value production (‘offshoring’) and the intensification and expansion of capital to new frontiers of resource extraction (‘commodity frontiers’). These patterns form a ‘financialisation-offshoring-commodity frontier’ nexus, a self-reinforcing institutional arrangement that guarantees new possibilities for capital accumulation within the Core of the world-system, while accentuating the Periphery’s vulnerability to financial instability, uneven development and ecological degradation. This suggests that addressing Core–Periphery structural imbalances and systemic ecological risks requires a major overhaul of the international monetary and financial system, in a way that may nevertheless limit capital accumulation and GDP growth in Core economies.
Fidelity Homogenous Genesis Recommendation Model for User Trust with Item Ratings
Authors: Albert I Edwin , Deepa A J , Fred A Lenin
Published: April 2022

The ever-increasing volume of cloud services has created a service targeting issue. The mechanisms of recommenders address the issue by allowing consumers to easily access services that match their preferences. A recommendation is a regularly utilized function in recommender systems to assist users in swiftly narrowing their choices and making sensible judgments from a large amount of knowledge. In this document, design a “Fidelity Homogenous Genesis Recommendation Model” for user trust along with item ratings. The key for addressing data sparsity is how accurately the likely values of unoccupied cells are estimated. For sparsity reduction of the user-item matrix, we employ a similar prior case rationale technique mixed with average filling. This phase will aid in the later computation of user and item similarity. Genesis: the autonomous map technique was used to clustering the user-item matrix for similar users, followed by an optimization process to generate sub-optimal clusters with a more balanced number of users in each. Based on actual grid computing, the User-Item Privacy Marmalade Technique considers all trustworthy neighbors to be available after optimization. Based on the filtered item set, the trust weighting approach is intended to compute trust similarity among users. To locate trustworthy users, the filtered item set traverses all users in trust networks. In particular, a user trust neighbor set that has comparable preferences and matches with a target user and can be derived through user trust dispersion features in a trusted network. As a result, the proposed algorithm was able to give a novel recommendation model that was guided by user trust as well as item ratings.
The Local Diagnosability of a Class of Cayley Graphs with Conditional Faulty Edges Under the PMC Model
Authors: Ren Yunxia , Wang Shiying
Published: April 2022

The diagnosability of a multiprocessor system is of great significance in measuring the reliability and faulty tolerance of interconnection networks. In this paper, we firstly study the diagnosability of a class of Cayley graphs $Cay(H_n,S_n)$ under the PMC model. We prove that $Cay(H_n,S_n)-F$ keeps the strong local diagnosability property even if it has the set $F$ of $(m-2)$ faulty edges and $m-2$ is maximum number of faulty edges, where $m$ is the regular degree of $Cay(H_n,S_n)$. Secondly, we study the diagnosability of $Cay(H_n,S_n)$ with conditional faulty edges under the PMC model. We prove that $Cay(H_n,S_n)-F$ keeps strong local diagnosability property even if it has the set $F$ of $(3m-10)$ faulty edges, provided that each vertex of $Cay(H_n,S_n)-F$ is incident with at least two fault-free edges, where $3m-10$ is maximum number of faulty edges. Finally, we prove that $Cay(H_n,S_n)-F$ keeps strong local diagnosability property no matter how many edges are faulty, provided that each vertex of $Cay(H_n,S_n)-F$ is incident with at least four fault-free edges.
Crime Type Prediction in Saudi Arabia Based on Intelligence Gathering
Authors: Albahli Saleh , Albattah Waleed
Published: April 2022

One of the biggest social problems currently facing major cities around the globe is the high rate of crime. The largest part of the social-economic loss globally is ascribed to criminal activities. Crime also has direct impacts on the nation’s economy, social constructs and country’s global repute. Inadequate policing capital is one of the biggest challenges facing many global economies. As a result, these resources have to be rationed. This implies that some areas will not be covered extensively thus providing favorable environs for perpetrators. To combat crime, more innovative security measures are needed. In this sense, traditional methods are being replaced with modern approaches of machine learning systems that can predict the occurrence of crime. These crime forecasts can be used by legislatures and law enforcers to make effective and informed approaches that can efficiently eradicate criminals and facilitate nation building. This paper seeks to review the literature on the application of machine learning models in crime prediction and to find the influences that have an impact on crimes in Saudi Arabia. The results show that after the four models were trained and tested, the random forest classifier had the highest accuracy of 97.84%.
Development of Adaptive Time-Weighted Dynamic Time Warping for Time Series Vegetation Classification Using Satellite Images in Solapur District
Authors: Kumawat Manisha , Khaparde Arti
Published: April 2022

The global seasonal change and continued rapid growth have maximized the need to assess the urban dwellers’ depend on vegetation for their lives, and also in the urban ecosystem resources. The conventional outcomes devoted to cropland mapping, with the help of high-quality remote sensing data’s. This paper is to investigate and develop a new methodology that pertains to time series analysis for classifying the type of vegetation in a farm area of Ujani Dam located in Solapur District, Maharastra. The proposed model develops a novel adaptive time-weighted dynamic time warping (ATWDTW) for the time series analysis using the satellite images. The gathered satellite images from the farm are processed initially and subjected to analysis by ATWDTW. The TWDTW concept is optimally tuned by the new hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm termed moth flame-based bird swarm optimization (MF-BSA) for enhancing the classification performance. Regarding the false omission rate of the proposed MF-BSA-ATWDTW model attains 5.56% and 29.9% lower than SVM and K-means respectively. From the analysis, it is possible to get a deep insight into the vegetation to be done in each year, and the comparative analysis proves that the proposed model is further adaptable for experimental use in relating and explaining environmental and ecological time-series information.
Privacy-Enhanced Federated Generative Adversarial Networks for Internet of Things
Authors: Zeng Qingkui , Zhou Liwen , Lian Zhuotao , Huang Huakun , Kim Jung Yoon
Published: April 2022

Federated generative adversarial networks are designed to collaborate across the communication and privacy-constrained edge servers participating in training. However, in the Internet of Things scenario, local updates uploaded by edge servers can lead to the risk of privacy breaches. Gradient-sanitized-based approaches can transmit sanitized sensitive data with strict privacy guarantees, but gradient clipping and perturbation severely degrade convergence performance. In this paper, our proposed algorithm enhances the privacy of terminated raw data through differential privacy before it is transmitted to the edge server. The edge server trains the local generator and discriminator using the perturbed data, which provides privacy guarantees for the gradient attack on the FedGAN without compromising the gradient accuracy. The results of the experimental evaluation show that the algorithm generates images with slightly better quality than that generated by the gradient-sanitized-based approaches while maintaining privacy.
Four decades of experience of prosthetic valve endocarditis reflect a high variety of diverse pathogens
Authors: Oberbach Andreas , Schlichting Nadine , Hagl Christian , Lehmann Stefanie , Kullnick Yvonne , Friedrich Maik , Köhl Ulrike , Horn Friedemann , Kumbhari Vivek , Löffler Bettina , Schmidt Frank , Joskowiak Dominik , Born Frank , Saha Shekhar , Bagaev Erik
Published: April 2022

Prosthetic valve endocarditis (PVE) remains a serious condition with a high mortality rate. Precise identification of the PVE-associated pathogen/s and their virulence is essential for successful therapy and patient survival. The commonly described PVE-associated pathogens are staphylococci, streptococci, and enterococci, with Staphylococcus aureus being the most frequently diagnosed species. Furthermore, multi-drug resistance pathogens are increasing in prevalence and continue to pose new challenges mandating a personalized approach. Blood cultures in combination with echocardiography are the most common methods to diagnose PVE, often being the only indication, it exists. In many cases, the diagnostic strategy recommended in the clinical guidelines does not identify the precise microbial agent, and frequently, false-negative blood cultures are reported. Despite the fact that blood culture findings are not always a good indicator of the actual PVE agent in the valve tissue, only a minority of re-operated prostheses are subjected to microbiological diagnostic evaluation. In this review, we focus on the diversity and the complete spectrum of PVE-associated bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogens in blood and prosthetic heart valve, their possible virulence potential, and their challenges in making a microbial diagnosis. We are curious to understand if the unacceptable high mortality of PVE is associated with the high number of negative microbial findings in connection with a possible PVE. Herein, we discuss the possibilities and limits of the diagnostic methods conventionally used and make recommendations for enhanced pathogen identification. We also show possible virulence factors of the most common PVE-associated pathogens and their clinical effects. Based on blood culture, molecular biological diagnostics, and specific valve examination, better derivations for the antibiotic therapy as well as possible preventive intervention can be established in the future.
No sex-related differences in infarct size, no-reflow, and protection by ischaemic pre-conditioning in Göttingen minipigs
Authors: Kleinbongard Petra , Lieder Helmut , Skyschally Andreas , Heusch Gerd
Published: April 2022

Aims

Female sex has been proposed to be cardioprotective per se. Studies with myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion and infarct size as endpoint have demonstrated cardioprotection in female, castrated male, and male pigs. These studies are difficult to compare, given the different pig strains, models, durations of ischaemia, and methods of infarct size quantification. The few studies using both female and male pigs reported no differences in infarct size and cardioprotection. We, therefore, prospectively compared infarct size in Göttingen minipigs undergoing ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) without and with ischaemic pre-conditioning (IPC) between female, castrated male, and male pigs.

Methods and results

In a prospective, randomized approach, 28 Göttingen open-chest, anaesthetized minipigs underwent 60 min ischaemia by distal left anterior descending artery (LAD) occlusion and 180 min reperfusion without and with IPC by three cycles of 5 min LAD occlusion/10 min reperfusion. Infarct size with I/R was not different between female, castrated male, and male pigs (45 ± 8 vs. 45 ± 13 vs. 41 ± 9% area at risk), as was the reduction in infarct size with IPC (25 ± 11 vs. 30 ± 8 vs. 19 ± 10% area at risk). In addition, the area of no-reflow was not different between female, castrated male, and male pigs with I/R (57 ± 13 vs. 35 ± 7 vs. 47 ± 26% infarct size) or IPC (4 ± 10 vs.12 ± 20 vs. 0 ± 0% infarct size). Phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 was increased at 10 min reperfusion by IPC but not by I/R to the same extent in female, castrated male, and male pigs (198 ± 30 vs. 230 ± 165 vs. 179 ± 107% of baseline).

Conclusion

Our data do not support the notion of sex- or castration-related differences in infarct size, coronary microvascular injury, and cardioprotection by IPC.

Translational perspective

The translation of successful preclinical studies on cardioprotection to the benefit of patients with reperfused myocardial infarction has been difficult. The difficulties have been attributed to confounders such as co-morbidities and co-medications which patients typically have but animals don´t, but also to age and sex. Notably, female sex has been considered as protective per se. We have now, using our established and clinically relevant pig model of reperfused acute myocardial infarction and ischaemic preconditioning as the most robust cardioprotective intervention looked for sex-related differences of infarct size, no-reflow and cardioprotection by ischaemic preconditioning in a prospectively powered approach but found none such difference.
The effect of clear aligners on speech: a systematic review
Authors: Ali Baeshen Hosam , El-Bialy Tarek , Alshehri Abdulrahman , Awadh Wael , Thomas Jacob , Dhillon Harnoor , Patil Shankargouda
Published: April 2022

Objective

To assess the effect of clear aligners on the speech of patients undergoing orthodontic therapy through a systematic review of the literature. Search methods and selection criteria: The protocol of this systematic review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42021278694. An electronic search of the Scopus, Embase, Pubmed, and Web of Science databases was done for papers published between January 2000 till September 2021. Studies that evaluated speech difficulties in patients undergoing orthodontic treatment with clear aligners using objective and subjective analyses were included. The evaluated primary outcome was speech difficulties. Secondary outcomes were time to adaptation and recovery from speech difficulties. Study quality was assessed based on the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Handbook guidelines and ROBINS-I tool.

Results

Two hundred and eighty-three articles were screened to identify seven studies (n = 332 patients) that assessed speech difficulty with aligners, of which two were randomized trials. Meta-analysis was not performed due to the heterogeneity in the study designs. Five studies compared speech difficulty with aligners to fixed appliances. Two studies showed a moderate risk of bias and five studies had a serious risk of bias. Level of evidence was downgraded to low due to the methodological insufficiencies and risk of bias in the studies. All seven studies reported that aligners could influence the clarity and delivery of speech, similar to fixed appliances. Various phonemes were affected including /s/,/z/,/zh/,/sh/,/th/,/ch/ on wearing aligners. Errors in articulation of consonants and sibilants were noted with lisping and speech impairment. These speech difficulties were temporary and most patients recovered in 7–14 days while few patients took 30-60 days to recover.

Conclusion

The likelihood of speech difficulties appears high with clear aligners. However, patients adapt quickly and speech returns to normal. The results of this review must be interpreted with caution and more well-designed randomized trials examining long-term effects of aligners on speech are indicated.

Clinical Significance

Orthodontists should counsel patients opting for clear aligner treatment of the potential transient speech difficulties.

Registration

The protocol for this systematic review was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) CRD42021278694.
Women’s Relative Resources and Couples’ Gender Balance in Financial Decision-Making
Authors: Klesment Martin , Van Bavel Jan
Published: April 2022

We investigate how the relative education and earnings of husbands and wives are associated with self-reported decision-making within the family. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2010 data for 27 European countries (n = 72,638), we find that women who earn more than their partner are more likely to report that they alone make the major financial and other important decisions. Men are more likely than women to be reported as financial decision makers if women contribute less than a quarter to joint earnings. However, in line with predictions based on traditional gender display, the association with relative earnings is not linear: among couples in which wives earn almost all of the income, we find that husbands are reported to have more say in financial decision-making than among couples in which both contribute a substantial part of the joint income. This non-linear pattern does not hold similarly for general decision-making. The discrepancy suggests that major financial issues, which were traditionally within the male realm, may be more susceptible to gender display than other family decisions.
Cardiac magnetic resonance identifies raised left ventricular filling pressure: prognostic implications
Authors: Garg Pankaj , Gosling Rebecca , Swoboda Peter , Jones Rachel , Rothman Alexander , Wild Jim M , Kiely David G , Condliffe Robin , Alabed Samer , Swift Andrew J
Published: April 2022

Aims

Non-invasive imaging is routinely used to estimate left ventricular (LV) filling pressure (LVFP) in heart failure (HF). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) is emerging as an important imaging tool for sub-phenotyping HF. However, currently, LVFP cannot be estimated from CMR. This study sought to investigate (i) if CMR can estimate LVFP in patients with suspected HF and (ii) if CMR-modelled LVFP has prognostic power.

Methods and results

Suspected HF patients underwent right heart catheterization (RHC), CMR and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) (validation cohort only) within 24 h of each other. Right heart catheterization measured pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) was used as a reference for LVFP. At follow-up, death was considered as the primary endpoint. We enrolled 835 patients (mean age: 65 ± 13 years, 40% male). In the derivation cohort (n = 708, 85%), two CMR metrics were associated with RHC PCWP:LV mass and left atrial volume. When applied to the validation cohort (n = 127, 15%), the correlation coefficient between RHC PCWP and CMR-modelled PCWP was 0.55 (95% confidence interval: 0.41–0.66, P < 0.0001). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance-modelled PCWP was superior to TTE in classifying patients as normal or raised filling pressures (76 vs. 25%). Cardiovascular magnetic resonance-modelled PCWP was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio: 1.77, P < 0.001). At Kaplan–Meier analysis, CMR-modelled PCWP was comparable to RHC PCWP (≥15 mmHg) to predict survival at 7-year follow-up (35 vs. 37%, χ2 = 0.41, P  = 0.52).

Conclusion

A physiological CMR model can estimate LVFP in patients with suspected HF. In addition, CMR-modelled LVFP has a prognostic role.
Autopsy in the era of advanced cardiovascular imaging
Authors: Basso Cristina , Stone James R
Published: April 2022

Historically, autopsy contributed to our current knowledge of cardiovascular anatomy, physiology, and pathology. Major advances in the understanding of cardiovascular diseases, including atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease, congenital heart diseases, and cardiomyopathies, were possible through autopsy investigations and clinicopathological correlations. In this review, the importance of performing clinical autopsies in people dying from cardiovascular disease, even in the era of advanced cardiovascular imaging is addressed. Autopsies are most helpful in the setting of sudden unexpected deaths, particularly when advanced cardiovascular imaging has not been performed. In this setting, the autopsy is often the only chance to make the correct diagnosis. In previously symptomatic patients who had undergone advanced cardiovascular imaging, autopsies still play many roles. Post-mortem examinations are important for furthering the understanding of key issues related to the underlying diseases. Autopsy can help to increase the knowledge of the sensitivity and specificity of advanced cardiovascular imaging modalities. Autopsies are particularly important to gain insights into both the natural history of cardiovascular diseases as well as less common presentations and therapeutic complications. Finally, autopsies are a key tool to quickly understand the cardiac pathology of new disorders, as emphasized during the recent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
An inevitable or modifiable trajectory towards heart failure in high-risk individuals: insights from the nurse-led intervention for less chronic heart failure (NIL-CHF) study
Authors: Chan Yih-Kai , Stickland Nerolie , Stewart Simon
Published: April 2022

Aims

We extended follow-up of a heart failure (HF) prevention study to determine if initially positive findings of improved cardiac recovery were translated into less de novo HF and/or all-cause mortality (primary endpoint) in the longer term.

Methods and results

The Nurse-led Intervention for Less Chronic HF (NIL-CHF) study was a single-centre randomized trial of nurse-led prevention involving cardiac inpatients without HF. At 3 years, 454 survivors (aged 66 ± 11 years, 71% men and 68% coronary artery disease) had the following: (i) a normal echocardiogram (128 cases/28.2%), (ii) structural heart disease (196/43.2%), or (iii) left ventricular diastolic dysfunction/left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVDD/LVSD: 130/28.6%). Outcomes were examined during median 8.3 (interquartile range 7.8–8.8) years according to these hierarchal groups and change in cardiac status from baseline to 3 years. Overall, 109 (24.0%) participants had a de novo HF admission or died while accumulating 551 cardiovascular-related admissions/3643 days of hospital stay. Progressively worse cardiac status correlated with increased hospitalizations (P < 0.001). The mean rate (95% confidence interval) of cardiovascular admissions/days of hospital stay being 0.09 (0.05–0.12) admissions/0.33 (0.13–0.54) days vs. 0.27 (0.20–0.34) admissions/2.20 (1.36–3.04) days per annum for those with a normal echocardiogram vs. LVDD/LVSD at 3 years. With progressively higher event rates, the adjusted hazard ratio for a de novo HF admission and/or death associated with a structural abnormality (24.5% of cases) and LVDD/LVSD (36.2%) at 3 years was 1.57 (0.82–3.01; P = 0.173) and 2.07 (1.05–4.05; P = 0.035) compared with a normal echocardiogram (10.9%). Mortality also mirrored the direction/extent of cardiac status/trajectory.

Conclusions

These data suggest the positive initial effects of NIL-CHF intervention on cardiac recovery contributed to better long-term outcomes among patients at high risk of HF. However, prevention of HF remains challenging.
Randomized comparison of atrioventricular node re-entry tachycardia and atrial flutter catheter ablation with and without fluoroscopic guidance: ZeroFluoro study
Authors: Lehar Frantisek , Szegedi Nándor , Hejc Jakub , Jez Jiri , Soucek Filip , Kulik Tomas , Siruckova Anna , Sallo Zoltan , Nagy Klaudia Vivien , Merkely Bela , Geller László , Starek Zdeněk
Published: April 2022

Aims

Interventional cardiology procedures may expose patients and staff to considerable radiation doses. We aimed to assess whether exposure to ionizing radiation during catheter ablation of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) can be completely avoided.

Methods and results

In this prospective randomized study, patients with SVT (atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia n = 94, typical atrial flutter n = 29) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to catheter ablation with conventional fluoroscopic guidance (CF group) or with the EnSite Precision mapping system [zerofluoro (ZF) group]. Acute procedural parameters, increased stochastic risk of cancer incidence and 6-month follow-up data were assessed. Between May 2019 and August 2020, 123 patients were enrolled. Clinical parameters were comparable. Median procedural time was 60.0 and 58.0 min, median fluoroscopy time and estimated median effective dose were 240 s vs. 0 and 0.38 mSv vs. 0 and arrhythmia recurrence was 5% and 7.9% in the CF and ZF groups, respectively. The acute success rate was 98.4% in both groups. No procedure-related complications were reported. At an average age of 55.5 years and median radiation exposure of 0.38 mSv, the estimate of increased incidence was approximately 1 in 14 084. The estimated mortality rate was 1 per 17 857 exposed persons.

Conclusions

The procedural safety and efficacy of the zero-fluoroscopic approach are similar to those of conventional fluoroscopy-based ablation for atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia and atrial flutter. Under the assumption of low radiation dose, the excessive lifetime risk of malignancy in the CF group due to electrophysiology procedure is reasonably small, whilst totally reduced in zero fluoroscopy procedures.
Wearables, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence in arrhythmias and heart failure: Proceedings of the European Society of Cardiology Cardiovascular Round Table
Authors: Leclercq Christophe , Witt Henning , Hindricks Gerhard , Katra Rodolphe P , Albert Dave , Belliger Andrea , Cowie Martin R , Deneke Thomas , Friedman Paul , Haschemi Mehdiyar , Lobban Trudie , Lordereau Isabelle , McConnell Michael V , Rapallini Leonardo , Samset Eigil , Turakhia Mintu P , Singh Jagmeet P , Svennberg Emma , Wadhwa Manish , Weidinger Franz
Published: April 2022

Digital technology is now an integral part of medicine. Tools for detecting, screening, diagnosis, and monitoring health-related parameters have improved patient care and enabled individuals to identify issues leading to better management of their own health. Wearable technologies have integrated sensors and can measure physical activity, heart rate and rhythm, and glucose and electrolytes. For individuals at risk, wearables or other devices may be useful for early detection of atrial fibrillation or sub-clinical states of cardiovascular disease, disease management of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart failure, and lifestyle modification. Health data are available from a multitude of sources, namely clinical, laboratory and imaging data, genetic profiles, wearables, implantable devices, patient-generated measurements, and social and environmental data. Artificial intelligence is needed to efficiently extract value from this constantly increasing volume and variety of data and to help in its interpretation. Indeed, it is not the acquisition of digital information, but rather the smart handling and analysis that is challenging. There are multiple stakeholder groups involved in the development and effective implementation of digital tools. While the needs of these groups may vary, they also have many commonalities, including the following: a desire for data privacy and security; the need for understandable, trustworthy, and transparent systems; standardized processes for regulatory and reimbursement assessments; and better ways of rapidly assessing value.
Progress in reducing premature mortality from cancer and cardiovascular disease in the former Soviet Union, 2000–19
Authors: Znaor Ariana , Corbex Marilys , Cao Bochen , Laversanne Mathieu , Ryzhov Anton , Smelov Vitaly , Bray Freddie
Published: April 2022

Background

A reduction in non-communicable diseases premature mortality by one-third by 2030 is one of the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG3.4). We examined the mortality profiles in the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union (NIS) and the European Union (EU) and assessed progress in reductions of premature mortality from cancer, as compared to cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods

We used WHO’s Global Health Estimates and GLOBOCAN 2020 to examine current mortality profiles and computed the unconditional probabilities of dying at ages 30–70 from CVD and cancer for the years 2000–19 in both sexes, using a linear extrapolation of this trend to predict whether the target of a one-third reduction, as set in 2015, would be met in 2030.

Results

CVD was the main cause of premature death in the NIS (43%), followed by cancer (23%), inversely from the EU with 42% cancer and 24% CVD deaths. The NIS achieved major reductions in premature CVD mortality, although the probabilities of death in 2019 remained about five times higher in the NIS compared to the EU. For cancer, mortality reductions in most NIS were quite modest, other than large declines seen in Kazakhstan (44%) and Kyrgyzstan (30%), with both on course to meet the 2030 target.

Conclusions

Limited progress in cancer control in the NIS calls for policy action both in terms of structural changes towards universal health coverage, and scaling up of national cancer control plans, including a shift from opportunistic to evidence-based early detection practices.
A machine-learning-based method of detecting and picking the first P-wave arrivals of acoustic emission events in laboratory experiments
Authors: Li Ziyu , Zhu Lupei , Officer Timothy , Shi Feng , Yu Tony , Wang Yanbin
Published: April 2022

Detecting and picking the first P-wave arrivals of seismic events in seismograms is fundamental in observational seismology. Recently, several machine-learning-based algorithms have been developed to incorporate human expertise for picking P-wave arrival times automatically. One shortcoming of these models is that they pick arrival times at individual seismic stations separately, which need to be sorted and associated to identify the seismic event. Also, most of them rely on existence of P-wave arrivals in the seismograms to be picked. Here, we developed a machine-learning-based seismic event detection and P-wave arrival time picking method called MultiNet and applied it to acoustic emission (AE) waveform data recorded in laboratory experiments. The MultiNet uses 2-D waveform images from multichannel AE recordings as the input to a convolutional neural network (CNN) to detect whether there is an AE event in an image and, if so, uses a fully convolutional neural network (FCN) to pick the P-wave arrival time at each channel in the image. We tested the MultiNet using 550 known AE events recorded during syn-deformational phase transformation from olivine to spinel in Mg2GeO4 (an analogue to Mg2SiO4) in a high-pressure experiment. Waveform data of 50 events were used to train the neural networks and the rest of data were used to validate the method. At the optimal image length and detection threshold, the CNN was able to detect all 500 known events plus 48 more events missed previously. Overall, 98.7 per cent of P-wave arrival times picked by the FCN were within 0.5 $\mu$s from the manually picked times. The average picking errors at different channels range from 0.01 ± 0.05 to −0.06 ± 0.22 $\mu$s. Our method greatly reduces the amount of human labour in picking P-wave arrival times for event location and source moment tensor inversion. It can be easily adapted to process continuous waveform data of a seismic network for earthquake detection and location in real time.
Multicomponent approaches to promoting healthy behaviours in people with Type 2 diabetes: an integrative review
Authors: Darcy Morgan , Parkinson Joy , Ball Lauren , Norton Lyza , Hobby Julie
Published: April 2022

The progression of diabetes-related complications can be delayed with multifactorial interventions that support healthy behaviours. However, many initiatives have focused on educational or individual-level activities and observed limited or modest sustained improvements in healthy behaviours. A multicomponent approach to behaviour change, which simultaneously considers numerous social determinants of health across multiple socio-ecological model levels, may be required to achieve meaningful health outcomes for people with Type 2 diabetes. Applying a multicomponent method of inquiry, this integrative review aimed to synthesize the evidence on interventions using multifactorial interventions to promote healthy behaviours in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Interventions promoting healthy behaviours in adults with Type 2 diabetes were considered for the review. A total of 7205 abstracts retrieved from eight databases were screened for inclusion. Thirteen articles were included, of these 11 achieved statistically significant clinical and/or behavioural changes in outcomes such as glycated haemoglobin, blood pressure, cholesterol, diet and physical activity. The multifactorial components utilized included the coordination of multi-disciplinary health care teams, in-person self-care classes, group activities, incorporation of peer-leaders, the development of community partnerships, economic relief and built-environment support. The proportion of included studies published within recent years indicates a trend towards multicomponent interventions and the growing recognition of this approach in promoting public health. Our findings provide early support for the potential of extending intervention components beyond educational, individual-level and health care system-level focus to incorporate multiple socio-ecological model components that contribute to the system of influence affecting the health of people with diabetes.
Factors promoting and inhibiting exercise for older women in Kyoto, Japan
Authors: Yoshigai Megumi , Musumari Patou M , Hudson Joanne , Kihara Masako O , Kihara Masahiro
Published: April 2022

The main objective of this research was to explore promoting and inhibiting factors of exercise among older women in Kyoto, Japan to seek effective strategies for exercise promotion. More specifically, this research aimed to explore the role of possible selves, which can influence the current view of self and act as an incentive for future behavior, as a facilitator and/or barrier to exercise. Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and in-depth interviews among women aged 65 and above in Kyoto city through snowball sampling from August to September 2018. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis, then were summarized into a conceptual model. This research revealed a wide range of factors that promote or inhibit exercise. Beside well-known factors such as social factors, physical factors and beliefs about exercise, unexpected factors that seem strongly related to culture and aging in Japan were identified. The unique factors encapsulated in the category of {altruism} emerged as the significant barrier to exercise. In contrast, {egoism} emerged as an important facilitator of exercise. In conclusion, it may be possible to suggest that integrating the role of mother, wife, daughter or grandmother into exercise and its promotion may be beneficial for women aged 65 and above in Kyoto city. To generalize recommendations made, further research is required with a larger sample size and geographical area. Furthermore, findings may differ depending on the cultural background, generations and gender studied.
Frequency of pathogenic germline variants in cancer susceptibility genes in 1336 renal cell carcinoma cases
Authors: Yngvadottir Bryndis , Andreou Avgi , Bassaganyas Laia , Larionov Alexey , Cornish Alex J , Chubb Daniel , Saunders Charlie N , Smith Philip S , Zhang Huairen , Cole Yasemin , Research Consortium Genomics England , Larkin James , Browning Lisa , Turajlic Samra , Litchfield Kevin , Houlston Richard S , Maher Eamonn R
Published: April 2022

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occurs in a number of cancer predisposition syndromes, but the genetic architecture of susceptibility to RCC is not well defined. We investigated the frequency of pathogenic and likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variants in cancer susceptibility genes (CSGs) within a large series of unselected RCC participants. Whole-genome sequencing data on 1336 RCC participants and 5834 controls recruited to the UK 100 000 Genomes Project, a nationwide multicentre study, was analyzed to identify rare P/LP short variants (single nucleotide variants and insertions/deletions ranging from 1 to 50 base pairs) and structural variants in 121 CSGs. Among 1336 RCC participants [mean: 61.3 years (±12 SD), range: 13–88 years; 64% male], 85 participants [6.4%; 95% CI (5.1, 7.8)] had one or more P/LP germline variant in a wider range of CSGs than previously recognized. A further 64 intragenic variants in CSGs previously associated with RCC were classified as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS) (24 ‘hot VUSs’) and were considered to be of potential clinical relevance as further evaluation might results in their reclassification. Most patients with P variants in well-established CSGs known to predispose to renal cell carcinoma (RCC-CSGs) were aged <50 years. Burden test analysis for filtered variants in CSGs demonstrated a significant excess of CHEK2 variants in European RCC participants compared with the healthy European controls (P = 0.0019). Approximately, 6% of the patients with RCC unselected for family history have a germline variant requiring additional follow-up analysis. To improve diagnostic yield, we suggest expanding the panel of RCC-CSGs tested to include CHEK2 and all SDHx subunits and raising the eligibility criteria for age-based testing.
Enforcing Rights Beyond Litigation: Mapping NGO Strategies in Monitoring ECtHR Judgement Implementation
Authors: Küçüksu Aysel
Published: April 2022

Whilst the mobilisation practices of human rights organisations before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) have amassed a significant volume of scholarship, the interest in their role in the post-judgement process pales in comparison. This article seeks to contribute to the reversal of this trend by shining a light on Rule 9 of the Rules of the Committee of Ministers, which establishes an official avenue for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and national human rights institutions (NHRIs) to participate in the execution, as opposed to the litigation, of ECtHR decisions. Since its adoption in 2006, the procedure has led to 882 HRO communications and 346 government responses in 356 different cases. This article offers a qualitative empirical study of them. It argues that these organisations resort to activation, contextualisation and pragmatic strategies in pursuit of one overarching goal: preventing the premature closure of international supervision of a case.
The Protection of the Environment through International Human Rights Litigation: Taking Stock of Challenges and Opportunities in the Inter-American System
Authors: Mejía-Lemos Diego
Published: April 2022

This article seeks to critically analyse salient aspects of environmental protection through international litigation under the American Convention on Human Rights. It examines and places relevant recent developments in the practice of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights within broader trends in the practice of states and treaty organs of both universal and regional human rights systems equally dealing with issues at the intersection of international human rights law and environmental protection. In particular, it aims to take stock of Inter-American human rights-based environmental litigation by identifying opportunities and challenges presented by the aforementioned developments, both in conceptual and strategic terms. In this vein, it argues that, insofar as directness of environmental rights’ justiciability may prove ultimately inconsequential to state responsibility findings for omission to prevent private interference with environment-related human rights, the weaknesses of the Court’s current majority’s position should not pose an unsurmountable obstacle to Inter-American environmental litigation.
Robotics as a Comparative Method in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Authors: Lauder George V
Published: April 2022

Comparative biologists have typically used one or more of the following methods to assist in evaluating the proposed functional and performance significance of individual traits: comparative phylogenetic analysis, direct interspecific comparison among species, genetic modification, experimental alteration of morphology (for example by surgically modifying traits), and ecological manipulation where individual organisms are transplanted to a different environment. But comparing organisms as the endpoints of an evolutionary process involves the ceteris paribus assumption: that all traits other than the one(s) of interest are held constant. In a properly controlled experimental study, only the variable of interest changes among the groups being compared. The theme of this paper is that the use of robotic or mechanical models offers an additional tool in comparative biology that helps to minimize the effect of uncontrolled variables by allowing direct manipulation of the trait of interest against a constant background. The structure and movement pattern of mechanical devices can be altered in ways not possible in studies of living animals, facilitating testing hypotheses of the functional and performance significance of individual traits. Robotic models of organismal design are particularly useful in three arenas: (1) controlling variation to allow modification only of the trait of interest, (2) the direct measurement of energetic costs of individual traits, and (3) quantification of the performance landscape. Obtaining data in these three areas is extremely difficult through the study of living organisms alone, and the use of robotic models can reveal unexpected effects. Controlling for all variables except for the length of a swimming flexible object reveals substantial non-linear effects that vary with stiffness. Quantification of the swimming performance surface reveals that there are two peaks with comparable efficiency, greatly complicating the inference of performance from morphology alone. Organisms and their ecological interactions are complex, and dissecting this complexity to understand the effects of individual traits is a grand challenge in ecology and evolutionary biology. Robotics has great promise as a “comparative method,” allowing better-controlled comparative studies to analyze the many interacting elements that make up complex behaviors, ecological interactions, and evolutionary histories.
Modelling the effect of habitat and fishing heterogeneity on the performance of a Total Allowable Catch-regulated fishery
Authors: Pourtois Julie D , Provost Mikaela M , Micheli Fiorenza , De Leo Giulio A
Published: April 2022

Fisheries are often characterized by high heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of habitat quality, as well as fishing effort. However, in several fisheries, the objective of achieving a sustainable yield is addressed by limiting Total Allowable Catch (TAC), set as a fraction of the overall population, regardless of the population's spatial distribution and of fishing effort. Here, we use an integral projection model to investigate how stock abundance and catch in the green abalone fishery in Isla Natividad, Mexico, are affected by the interaction of heterogeneity in habitat quality and fishing effort, and whether these interactions change with Allee effects—reproductive failure in a low-density population. We found that high-quality areas are under-exploited when fishing pressure is homogeneous but habitat is heterogeneous. However, this leads to different fishery outcomes depending on the stock's exploitation status, namely: sub-optimal exploitation when the TAC is set to maximum sustainable yield, and stability against collapses when the fishery is overexploited. Concentration of fishing effort in productive areas can compensate for this effect, which, similarly, has opposite consequences in both scenarios: fishery performance increases if the TAC is sustainable but decreases in overexploited fisheries. These results only hold when Allee effects are included.
On the decline of eastern Baltic cod: we need to take more holistic views into account. Reply to Brander (2022) comment on Svedäng et al. (2022)
Authors: Svedäng Henrik , Savchuk Oleg , Villnäs Anna , Norkko Alf , Gustafsson Bo G , Wikström Sofia A , Humborg Christoph
Published: April 2022

Explaining the recent decline of eastern Baltic cod (EBC) remains scientifically challenging. Brander proposes in a comment to Svedäng et al. that the observed trend in oxygen in SD 25 supports the idea that juvenile cod are balancing the physiological cost of living under mild hypoxia by offsetting the risk of being eaten by diving seals and cormorants in shallower water with more oxygen. There are a number of objections to this conjecture, besides the fact that supporting observations are missing. Hence, it is difficult to reconcile the long-term development of EBC under varying oxygen conditions with the hypothesis that a small reduction in oxygen content can explain the current strong and uniform decline in growth observed in the entire southern Baltic Sea.
A multiannual five-fleet generalized depletion model for the stock assessment of the Mediterranean dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fishery
Authors: Moltó Vicenç , Catalán Ignacio A , Ospina-Álvarez Andrés , Hernández Pilar , Roa-Ureta Rubén H
Published: April 2022

Generalized depletion models have proven useful to provide management information for data-limited fisheries. These models are suitable for stocks with fast depletion and recruitment inputs that reset the depletion. The Mediterranean common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) fishery shows these dynamics, being seasonally exploited mainly by fish aggregation devices in small-scale fisheries from four countries and as bycatch by longline fisheries. These fleets operate on separate fishing grounds, and with distinct effort–catch dynamics. This led to the development of a multiannual five-fleet generalized depletion model applicable to a monthly database of effort, catch, and mean weight from 2008 to 2019. Results showed a high natural mortality rate (0.25 month−1) and wide intra-season fluctuations in biomass. Annual recruitment fluctuates around 10 million individuals, and it has been stable along the analysed period. Exploitation rate only exceeded 40% during the peak month of catches, being much lower the rest of the season, indicating that this stock is fished within sustainable limits. We provide here the first estimation of reference points for the management of the shared dolphinfish Mediterranean stock and show that generalized depletion models can be extended to complex fisheries with multiple fleets with different effort–catch dynamics.