bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The determinants of political selection: a citizen-candidate model with valence signaling and incumbency advantage
Authors: Peralta Susana , van Ypersele Tanguy
Published: April 2024

We expand the theory of politician quality in electoral democracies with citizen candidates by supposing that performance while in office sends a signal to the voters about the politician’s valence. Individuals live two periods and decide to become candidates when young, trading off against type-specific private wages. The valence signal increases the reelection chances of high valence incumbents (screening mechanism of reelection), and thus their expected gain from running for office (self-selection mechanism). Since self-selection improves the average quality of challengers, voters become more demanding when evaluating the incumbent’s performance. This complementarity between the self-selection and the screening mechanisms may lead to multiple equilibria. We show that more difficult and/or less variable political jobs increase the politicians’ quality. Conversely, societies with more wage inequality have lower quality polities. We also show that incumbency advantage blurs the screening mechanism by giving incumbents an upper-hand in electoral competition and may wipe out the positive effect of the screening mechanism on the quality of the polity.
Synthesis, characterization, and FDTD simulations of Ag-enriched RGO nanosheets for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol
Authors: Shilpa M. P. , Shetty Shivakumar Jagadish , Surabhi Srivathsava , Jeong Jong-Ryul , Morales Daniela V. , Murari M. S. , Bhat Vighneshwar S. , Inamdar Sanjeev R. , Ravikirana  , Gurumurthy S. C.
Published: April 2024

Reduced graphene oxide-based nanocomposites are eminent materials having diverse applications including environmental remediation. The present work emphasizes the facile one-step co-reduction method for synthesizing silver nanoparticle (Ag NPs) decorated reduced graphene oxide (RGO) for catalytic reduction of 4-nitrophenol. FDTD simulation studies justify the experimental results, and XRD studies confirmed the reduction of graphene oxide and the formation of Ag NPs with reduced graphene oxide (AgRGO) composite. Raman analysis complements the structure, crystallinity, and defects in the fabricated material. XPS analysis verifies the reduction of graphene oxide (GO) into RGO and the decoration of metallic Ag on the surface of RGO. FESEM image showed the decoration of Ag NPs on the surface of RGO. AgRGO exhibited appreciable catalytic performance for reducing 4-nitrophenol in the presence of sodium borohydride compared to GO and RGO.
Treatment with Elapegademase Restores Immunity in Infants with Adenosine Deaminase Deficient Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
Authors: Hicks Elizabeth Daly , Hall Geoffrey , Hershfield Michael S. , Tarrant Teresa K. , Bali Pawan , Sleasman John W. , Buckley Rebecca H. , Mousallem Talal
Published: April 2024

Purpose

Patients with adenosine deaminase 1 deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID) are initially treated with enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) with polyethylene glycol-modified (PEGylated) ADA while awaiting definitive treatment with hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) or gene therapy. Beginning in 1990, ERT was performed with PEGylated bovine intestinal ADA (ADAGEN®). In 2019, a PEGylated recombinant bovine ADA (Revcovi®) replaced ADAGEN following studies in older patients previously treated with ADAGEN for many years. There are limited longitudinal data on ERT-naïve newborns treated with Revcovi.

Methods

We report our clinical experience with Revcovi as initial bridge therapy in three newly diagnosed infants with ADA-SCID, along with comprehensive biochemical and immunologic data.

Results

Revcovi was initiated at twice weekly dosing (0.2 mg/kg intramuscularly), and monitored by following plasma ADA activity and the concentration of total deoxyadenosine nucleotides (dAXP) in erythrocytes. All patients rapidly achieved a biochemically effective level of plasma ADA activity, and red cell dAXP were eliminated within 2–3 months. Two patients reconstituted B-cells and NK-cells within the first month of ERT, followed by naive T-cells one month later. The third patient reconstituted all lymphocyte subsets within the first month of ERT. One patient experienced declining lymphocyte counts with improvement following Revcovi dose escalation. Two patients developed early, self-resolving thrombocytosis, but no thromboembolic events occurred.

Conclusion

Revcovi was safe and effective as initial therapy to restore immune function in these newly diagnosed infants with ADA-SCID, however, time course and degree of reconstitution varied. Revcovi dose may need to be optimized based on immune reconstitution, clinical status, and biochemical data.
Severe Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in a Patient with X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia; Treatment with TBE Virus IgG Positive Plasma, Clinical Outcome and T Cell Responses
Authors: Hedin Wilhelm , Bergman Peter , Akhirunessa Mily , Söderholm Sandra , Buggert Marcus , Granberg Tobias , Gredmark-Russ Sara , Smith C. I. Edvard , Pettke Aleksandra , Wahren Borgström Emilie
Published: April 2024

Purpose

A patient with X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) and severe tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) was treated with TBE virus (TBEV) IgG positive plasma. The patient’s clinical response, humoral and cellular immune responses were characterized pre- and post-infection.

Methods

ELISA and neutralisation assays were performed on sera and TBEV PCR assay on sera and cerebrospinal fluid. T cell assays were conducted on peripheral blood the patient and five healthy vaccinated controls.

Results

The patient was admitted to the hospital with headache and fever. He was not vaccinated against TBE but receiving subcutaneous IgG-replacement therapy (IGRT). TBEV IgG antibodies were low-level positive (due to scIGRT), but the TBEV IgM and TBEV neutralisation tests were negative. During hospitalisation his clinical condition deteriorated (Glasgow coma scale 3/15) and he was treated in the ICU with corticosteroids and external ventricular drainage. He was then treated with plasma containing TBEV IgG without apparent side effects. His symptoms improved within a few days and the TBEV neutralisation test converted to positive. Robust CD8+ T cell responses were observed at three and 18-months post-infection, in the absence of B cells. This was confirmed by tetramers specific for TBEV.

Conclusion

TBEV IgG-positive plasma given to an XLA patient with TBE without evident adverse reactions may have contributed to a positive clinical outcome. Similar approaches could offer a promising foundation for researching therapeutic options for patients with humoral immunodeficiencies. Importantly, a robust CD8+ T cell response was observed after infection despite the lack of B cells and indicates that these patients can clear acute viral infections and could benefit from future vaccination programs.
Analysis of the Microstructure and Hardness of Flake Graphite Cast Iron Using the Barkhausen Noise Method and Conventional Techniques
Authors: Makowska Katarzyna , Kowalewski Zbigniew L.
Published: April 2024

The new brake disc was evaluated for microstructure and hardness by the conventional destructive tests and non-destructive Barkhausen noise method (BNM). Ten non-destructive measurements were carried out in different areas of a brake disc, which were then cut out and made into metallographic test samples. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of graphite precipitates was performed to assess their volume in material matrix, anisotropy and size. Subsequently, graphs showing the relationships between selected stereological parameters of graphite precipitates and parameters determined from the RMS envelope of Barkhausen noise were elucidated. Similar relationships between hardness and parameters coming from non-destructive tests were carried out. Magnetic parameters that specified the size of a graphite precipitate was selected. In addition, repeatability studies using BNM were carried out in the areas of the material with the smallest and largest average size of graphite precipitates. A linear relationship between amplitude of BN and length of graphite flakes was found. The paper presents the possibilities of assessing the volume and size of graphite precipitates, as well as cast iron hardness using BNM.
Detecting Bias in Traffic Searches: Examining False Searches of Innocent Drivers
Authors: Meyer Margaret A. , Gonzalez Richard
Published: April 2024

Purpose

We test current models of racial bias in policing, identify limitations, and propose a test of racial bias, that does not depend on unknown population contraband rate.

Methods

We conceptualize police officer search decisions as a 2 (search/no search) by 2 (contraband present/absent) table, with missing data (if the police did not search, the presence of contraband is unknown). We constrain the feasible problem space using properties of a 2 x 2 contingency table. Then we examine all possible feasible 2 x 2 tables to identify instances of racial differences in police officer hit and false alarm rates. To do this, we develop a new test of racial bias, the Overlapping Condition Test. We analyze state and county data across 25 United States police departments.

Results

These departments have an observable racial difference in false alarm rate regardless of the true value of missing data (under every feasible 2 x 2 table there is a racial difference). This effect is found in 10 out of 14 state police departments and 9 out of 11 local departments across the United States. That is, for every feasible real world scenario police officers have lower false alarm rates for White drivers than Black drivers.

Conclusion

We interpret this difference in false alarm rate as a threshold bias. That is, officers use different criteria for searching Black drivers than White drivers and this conclusion is not qualified by the unknown contraband rate. Future directions should explore how police officers make the decision to search drivers and develop interventions to address the racial bias in search rate.
Exponential Stability and Hypoelliptic Regularization for the Kinetic Fokker–Planck Equation with Confining Potential
Authors: Arnold Anton , Toshpulatov Gayrat
Published: April 2024

This paper is concerned with a modified entropy method to establish the large-time convergence towards the (unique) steady state, for kinetic Fokker–Planck equations with non-quadratic confinement potentials in whole space. We extend previous approaches by analyzing Lyapunov functionals with non-constant weight matrices in the dissipation functional (a generalized Fisher information). We establish exponential convergence in a weighted $$H^1$$

H
1

-norm with rates that become sharp in the case of quadratic potentials. In the defective case for quadratic potentials, i.e. when the drift matrix has non-trivial Jordan blocks, the weighted $$L^2$$

L
2

-distance between a Fokker–Planck-solution and the steady state has always a sharp decay estimate of the order $$\mathcal O\big ( (1+t)e^{-t\nu /2}\big )$$

O

(

(
1
+
t
)

e

-
t
ν
/
2

)

, with $$\nu $$
ν
the friction parameter. The presented method also gives new hypoelliptic regularization results for kinetic Fokker–Planck equations (from a weighted $$L^2$$

L
2

-space to a weighted $$H^1$$

H
1

-space).
Evaluation of landscape sustainability of protected areas and identification of its correlation factors: a case study of Beijing, China
Authors: Lu Zhuo , Zhuang Youbo , Zhang Yushu , Zhang Shujie
Published: April 2024

Context

Protected areas (PAs) serve as robust safeguards for the ecological safety of urban areas, and positively affect their socioeconomic development. However, limited research that integrates both ecological and socioeconomic aspects to evaluate the role of PAs.

Objectives

In this study, we aimed to establish an evaluation framework for PAs that applies the concept of landscape sustainability and integrates ecological and socioeconomic functions to enhance understanding of the role of PAs. Additionally, we aimed to develop analytical framework for identifying the correlation elements of landscape sustainability of protected areas (PA-LS) and improving the understanding of the mechanisms underlying PAs.

Methods

This study focused on 38 PAs in Beijing, China. We established the PA-LS evaluation framework to evaluate the role of PAs by analyzing changes in their overall landscape services from 2000 to 2019, and in ecological and socioeconomic functions. Subsequently, an analytical framework was established to identify the correlation factors of PA-LS, focusing on four aspects: the fundamental characteristics of PAs, landscape patterns of PAs, impact of urban areas on PAs, and human well-being within a 5 km buffer of PAs.

Results

The landscape sustainability evaluation of Beijings’ PAs revealed that 30 PAs (78.95% of the total) were strongly sustainable, eight (21.05%) were weakly sustainable, and none unsustainable. The results revealed that there was a positive correlation between several factors and PA-LS, including the density of the road network within a 1 km buffer of the PAs and the economic income and employment rate within a 5 km buffer of the PAs. Conversely, there was a negative correlation between one factor and PA-LS, its the distance between PAs and the urban center. Other factors, such as the category, area, classification of PAs, SHDI (ecological land), ED, LPI (forest) of PAs, and population density and residents’ health within a 5 km buffer of the PAs, were unrelated to PA-LS.

Conclusions

This study established a PA-LS evaluation framework and its correlation factor analytical framework, which significantly contributes to enhancing the value cognition of PAs and enriching landscape-sustainability evaluation methods. Furthermore, the study provides valuable support and serves as a reference for the conservation and management of PAs in Beijing and similar metropolitan cities.
Assessing climate change vulnerability of coastal roads
Authors: Rocchi Lucia , Rizzo Anthony G. , Paolotti Luisa , Boggia Antonio , Attard Maria
Published: April 2024

Climate change is a global phenomenon, which affects in several ways different regions all around the world, beyond the rise in global temperature. Among the different climate change issues, the management of transport infrastructures is crucial. Particularly, their vulnerability against changes in climatic conditions should be assessed. Vulnerability indicators are based on the IPCC concept of vulnerability and can be defined as a function of Climate Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity. These dimensions need to be addressed during the assessment making and can be modelled as a Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) problem. This study proposes an integrated approach of several MCDA methods as a possible tool for ranking the climate change vulnerability of coastal roads in Malta. The application covers six coastal roads in the islands of Malta, classified by three different MCDA methods. The results indicate that the proposed approach can produce a consistent ranking of the climate change vulnerability of coastal roads. The study provides policy and decision-makers with a definition of a coastal road, an inventory of such roads, a list of climate change impacts, and a mathematical model incorporating climate change vulnerability indicators. The model can be used to prioritize investment and plan climate change adaptation strategies for infrastructural works on coastal roads.
Target Oriented Dynamic Adaption for Cross-Domain Few-Shot Learning
Authors: Chang Xinyi , Du Chunyu , Song Xinjing , Liu Weifeng , Wang Yanjiang
Published: April 2024

Few-shot learning has achieved satisfactory progress over the years, but these methods implicitly hypothesize that the data in the base (source) classes and novel (target) classes are sampled from the same data distribution (domain), which is often invalid in reality. The purpose of cross-domain few-shot learning (CD-FSL) is to successfully identify novel target classes with a small quantity of labeled instances on the target domain under the circumstance of domain shift between the source domain and the target domain. However, in CD-FSL, the knowledge learned by the network on the source domain often suffers from the situation of inadaptation when it is transferred to the target domain, since the instances on the source and target domains do not obey the same data distribution. To surmount this problem, we propose a Target Oriented Dynamic Adaption (TODA) model, which uses a tiny amount of target data to orient the network to dynamically adjust and adapt during training. Specifically, this work proposes a domain-specific adapter to ameliorate the network inadaptability issues in transfer to the target domain. The domain-specific adapter can make the extracted features more specific to the tasks in the target domain and reduce the impact of tasks in the source domain by combining them with the mainstream backbone network. In addition, we propose an adaptive optimization method in the network optimization process, which assigns different weights according to the importance of different optimization tasks. Extensive experiments on several benchmark datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our TODA method.
Koopman operator-based multi-model for predictive control
Authors: Ławryńczuk Maciej
Published: April 2024

This work describes a new model structure developed for prediction in Model Predictive Control (MPC). The model has a multi-model structure in which independent sub-models are employed for the consecutive sampling instants. The model lifts process states into a high-dimensional space in which a linear process description is applied. Depending on the influence of the manipulated variables on lifted states, three general model versions are described and model identification algorithms are derived. As a result of the multi-model structure, model parameters are found analytically from computationally uncomplicated least squares problems using the Extended Dynamic Mode Decomposition algorithm, but the evolution of states over the horizon used in MPC is taken into account. Next, the MPC algorithm for the described model is derived. It requires solving online simple quadratic optimisation tasks. The effectiveness of three considered model configurations and three versions of the lifting functions is examined for a nonlinear DC motor benchmark. Their impact on model accuracy, complexity, possible control accuracy and MPC calculation time is thoroughly discussed. Finally, a more complex polymerisation reactor process is considered to showcase the practical applicability of the presented approach to modelling and MPC.
Pandemic Misery Index: How to Overcome the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic?
Authors: Lewkowicz Jacek , Woźniak Rafał
Published: April 2024

COVID-19 disrupted both social and economic development in several dimensions. Governments of the vast majority of countries implemented strategies to battle the pandemic and its negative consequences. The question is, which countries can be assessed as successful in that matter? In this study, we use empirical tools to investigate which governmental actions and state characteristics appear proper, as reflected by pandemic misery indices. The results of our study imply that fiscal measures taken solely are not enough to confront the negative outcome of the pandemic. Interestingly, a strong rule of law, high government effectiveness, and low corruption seem to help countries get through COVID-19. These conclusions may be useful for policymakers in the context of the current and future negative shocks.
Variational propensities: development and ultimate causes
Authors: Villegas Cristina
Published: April 2024

This paper applies philosophical tools from the causalists/statisticalists debate to the evo-devo idea of variational tendencies as propensities biasing phenotypic change. It contends that variational properties are present in a statistical sense in some population dynamics models, particularly quantitative genetics ones, providing ultimate variational explanations. It further argues that these properties, contrary to some recent views, cannot be subsumed under natural selection. Finally, it advocates for a causalist interpretation of these explanations, where variational statistical properties indirectly refer to evo-devo’s variational propensities.
Wolf Warrior Spreads Superior: The narrative and effectiveness of Chinese public diplomacy behaviours on Twitter
Authors: Guo Linjiang , Qin Qian
Published: April 2024

Since 2013, when President Xi Jinping pioneered the concept of "telling China's stories well," the number of senior Chinese diplomats and state-affiliated media accounts on Twitter has increased. Different from the vague and evasive diplomatic parlance, some diplomats defend the policies of China in a relatively aggressive way, even sometimes resulting in online disputes with foreign politicians. They are labeled as "wolf-warrior diplomats," a term coined from the record-breaking Chinese nationalist action movie series Wolf Warrior. This paper investigates the effectiveness of China's "wolf warrior diplomacy" on audience engagement on Twitter and significant factors impacting communication effectiveness. Through the utilization of advanced offensive and humor detection algorithms, counterintuitively, this study finds that the wolf-warrior tweets improve Twitter audience engagement, though prior research pointed out that these tweets may bring out adverse feelings in some audiences. Moreover, it also unveils that providing more information and posting humorously on Chinese diplomatic Tweets can enhance their reach and dissemination.
Treading carefully: the environment and political participation in science education
Authors: Dunlop Lynda , Atkinson Lucy , Malmberg Claes , Turkenburg-van Diepen Maria , Urbas Anders
Published: April 2024

Politics and science are inextricably connected, particularly in relation to the climate emergency and other environmental crises, yet science education is an often overlooked site for engaging with the political dimensions of environmental issues. This study examines how science teachers in England experience politics—specifically political participation—in relation to the environment in school science, against a background of increased obstruction in civic space. The study draws on an analysis of theoretically informed in-depth interviews with eleven science teachers about their experiences of political participation in relation to environmental issues. We find that politics enters the science classroom primarily through informal conversations initiated by students rather than planned by teachers. When planned for, the emphasis is on individual, latent–political (civic) engagement rather than manifest political participation. We argue that this is a symptom of the post-political condition and call for a more enabling environment for discussing the strengths and limitations of different forms of political participation in school science.
Comparison of quality, dietary fiber and glycemic index of whole wheat breads using various modern and old wheats and investigate the effect of xylanase
Authors: Cetiner Buket , Koksel Hamit
Published: April 2024

Six bread wheat varieties (modern wheats) widely grown in Turkey and nine different bread wheat varieties registered prior to 1970 (old wheats) were used in the present study. This study aimed to determine and compare the quality characteristics, dietary fiber contents and in vitro glycemic index of whole wheat breads produced using modern and old bread wheat varieties. The effect of xylanase on the quality, staling and dietary fiber content of whole wheat breads was also investigated. Mean sedimentation and modified sedimentation values, Farinograph development time, stability, quality number of whole wheat flours produced by modern wheats were higher than those of the old varieties. Whole wheat breads of modern varieties had higher mean volume and lower firmness values as compared to old varieties. Whole wheat breads of old wheat varieties had higher mean soluble dietary fiber content as compared to that of modern wheat varieties. Xylanase addition generally had an increasing effect on bread volume and soluble dietary fiber contents and a softening effect on firmness values. There were no significant differences between the mean (in vitro) glycemic index values of whole wheat breads produced from modern and old varieties. The results in the present study indicated that modern bread wheat varieties had better whole wheat bread making quality as compared with old bread wheat varieties. In addition, xylanase usage in whole wheat bread formula had an improving effect on whole wheat bread quality.
Single-center experience of thoracoscopic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis with long-term postoperative questionnaire survey
Authors: Kobayashi Megumi , Kumaya Yosuke , Hirayama Yasumiko , Oda Hiromi , Cho Hiroyuki , Huang Cheng-long
Published: April 2024

Objectives

Thoracoscopic sympathectomy is an effective treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis. However, compensatory hyperhidrosis occurs frequently as a postoperative complication of the procedure. The goal of this study was to elucidate the clinical significance of thoracoscopic sympathectomy using our surgical procedure.

Methods

Consecutive 151 patients who underwent thoracoscopic sympathectomy for palmar hyperhidrosis were studied. In addition, to investigate patients’ satisfaction and long-term quality of life, 111 patients were asked to complete a mailing questionnaire survey, and 84 responded (response rate of 75.7%).

Results

All of the 151 patients reported a reduction in palmar sweating during the immediate postoperative period. None of the patients had pneumothorax, hemothorax, Horner’s syndrome, or worsening of bradycardia. Based on the questionnaire, the surgical success rate was 98.8%. None of the patients had a recurrence of palmar hyperhidrosis during the long-term postoperative period. However, compensatory hyperhidrosis was reported in 82 patients (97.6%). In total, 94.0% of patients had high levels of postoperative satisfaction.

Conclusions

Thoracoscopic sympathectomy is an effective surgical treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis. By contrast, the careful preoperative explanation of compensatory hyperhidrosis is considered to be very important.
On the diameter of Cayley graphs of classical groups with generating sets containing a transvection
Authors: Garonzi Martino , Halasi Zoltán , Somlai Gábor
Published: April 2024

A well-known conjecture of Babai states that if G is any finite simple group and X is a generating set for G, then the diameter of the Cayley graph Cay(G, X) is bounded by log ∣G∣c for some universal constant c. In this paper, we prove such a bound for Cay(G, X) for G = PSL(n, q), PSp(n, q) or PSU(n, q) where q is odd, under the assumptions that X contains a transvection and q ≠ 9 or 81.
Bounding p-Brauer characters in finite groups with two conjugacy classes of p-elements
Authors: Hung Nguyen Ngoc , Sambale Benjamin , Tiep Pham Huu
Published: April 2024

Let k(B0) and l(B0) respectively denote the number of ordinary and p-Brauer irreducible characters in the principal block B0 of a finite group G. We prove that, if k(B0)−l(B0) = 1, then l(B0) ≥ p − 1 or else p = 11 and l(B0) = 9. This follows from a more general result that for every finite group G in which all non-trivial p-elements are conjugate, l(B0) ≥ p − 1 or else p = 11 and $$G/{{\bf{O}}_{{p^\prime }}}(G) \cong C_{11}^2\, \rtimes\,{\rm{SL}}(2,5)$$
G
/

O

p
′

(
G
)
≅

C

11

2

⋊
SL
(
2
,
5
)
. These results are useful in the study of principal blocks with few characters.

We propose that, in every finite group G of order divisible by p, the number of irreducible Brauer characters in the principal p-block of G is always at least $$2\sqrt {p - 1} + 1 - {k_p}(G)$$
2

p
−
1

+
1
−

k
p

(
G
)
, where kp(G) is the number of conjugacy classes of p-elements of G. This indeed is a consequence of the celebrated Alperin weight conjecture and known results on bounding the number of p-regular classes in finite groups.
Minimal Residual Disease-Adapted Therapy in Multiple Myeloma: Current Evidence and Opinions
Authors: Meseha Mina , Hoffman James , Kazandjian Dickran , Landgren Ola , Diamond Benjamin
Published: April 2024

Purpose of Review

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a biologically heterogeneous malignancy with relatively uniform treatment paradigms. This review aims to assess the growing role of Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) assessment in facilitating response-adapted therapeutic decision making to individualize therapy in MM.

Recent Findings

MRD has been repeatedly demonstrated to provide strong prognostic information, superseding traditional IMWG response criteria. The use of MRD to modulate therapy remains controversial. Here, we review the existing landscape of MRD-adapted trial designs in both induction/consolidation and maintenance settings, including recent data from influential studies and retrospective analyses. We navigate existing data, leverage the increased resolution of longitudinal MRD assessments, and comment on trials in progress to explain our current utilization of MRD in the clinic.

MRD transcends traditional response assessments by providing a window into disease-treatment interaction over time. As a strong patient-level surrogate, MRD has limited current use in individualizing treatment, but is poised to comprehensively shape treatment strategies at many key points in a patient’s MM course.
Products of Selenite/Thiols Interaction Have Reducing Properties, Cleave Plasmid DNA and Decrease Rat Blood Pressure and Tension of Rat Mesenteric Artery
Authors: Grman Marian , Balis Peter , Berenyiova Andrea , Svajdlenkova Helena , Tomasova Lenka , Cacanyiova Sona , Rostakova Zuzana , Waczulikova Iveta , Chovanec Miroslav , Domínguez-Álvarez Enrique , Ondrias Karol , Misak Anton
Published: April 2024

Selenium compounds exert their antioxidant activity mostly when the selenium atom is incorporated into selenoproteins. In our work, we tested the possibility that selenite itself interacts with thiols to form active species that have reducing properties. Therefore, we studied the reduction of 2-(4-carboxyphenyl)-4,5-dihydro-4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1H-imidazol-1-yloxy-3-oxide radical (•cPTIO), damage of plasmid DNA (pDNA), modulation of rat hemodynamic parameters and tension of isolated arteries induced by products of interaction of selenite with thiols. We found that the products of selenite interaction with thiols had significant reducing properties that could be attributed mainly to the selenide and that selenite had catalytic properties in the access of thiols. The potency of thiols to reduce •cPTIO in the interaction with selenite was cysteine > homocysteine > glutathione reduced > N-acetylcysteine. Thiol/selenite products cleaved pDNA, with superoxide dismutase enhancing these effects suggesting a positive involvement of superoxide anion in the process. The observed •cPTIO reduction and pDNA cleavage were significantly lower when selenomethionine was used instead of selenite. The products of glutathione/selenite interaction affected several hemodynamic parameters including rat blood pressure decrease. Notably, the products relaxed isolated mesenteric artery, which may explain the observed decrease in rat blood pressure. In conclusion, we found that the thiol/selenite interaction products exhibited significant reducing properties which can be used in further studies of the treatment of pathological conditions caused by oxidative stress. The results of decreased rat blood pressure and the tension of mesenteric artery may be perspective in studies focused on cardiovascular disease and their prevention.
Aluminium Determination in Foodstuffs by ICP-MS: Influence of Microwave Digestion Parameters on the Recovery
Authors: Givelet Lucas , Amlund Heidi , Loeschner Katrin , Sloth Jens J.
Published: April 2024

Aluminium (Al) is the third most common element in the Earth’s crust and occurs naturally in drinking water and agricultural products, and humans are consequently exposed to the element from dietary sources. A tolerable weekly intake of 1 mg/kg has been established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA); however, no maximum levels for aluminium in foodstuffs have so far been established in the European Union (EU) legislation. Official food control requires validated methods for the determination of aluminium. Acid digestion assisted by microwaves is the main sample preparation technique used for the determination of aluminium, usually in combination with atomic spectrometry for quantification. In the present study, different parameters in the digestion step were investigated including test portion, digestion temperature, the reagent used and duration of the digestion to assess the aluminium extraction. The presented work is following up on an observation from a proficiency test (PT) on trace elements (including aluminium) in cocoa powder organised in 2020 by the European Union Reference Laboratory for metals and nitrogenous compounds in feed and food (EURL-MN), where the participant results for aluminium showed an unexpectedly large variation. In addition to the PT material, different certified reference materials were included in the present study, and the results highlighted that the temperature and reagent used are the most critical parameters to obtain a satisfactory sample digestion prior to aluminium determination. Based on the obtained results, it is recommended to digest food samples with a mix of ultrapure water and nitric acid for 25 min at a temperature of at least 240 °C with a mix of HNO3 and H2O to achieve satisfactory microwave-assisted digestion.
High Energy Solutions for p-Kirchhoff Elliptic Problems with Hardy–Littlewood–Sobolev Nonlinearity
Authors: Goel Divya , Rawat Sushmita , Sreenadh K.
Published: April 2024

This article deals with the study of the following Kirchhoff–Choquard problem: $$\begin{aligned} \begin{array}{cc} \displaystyle M\left( \, \int \limits _{{\mathbb {R}}^N}|\nabla u|^p\right) (-\Delta _p) u + V(x)|u|^{p-2}u = \left( \, \int \limits _{{\mathbb {R}}^N}\frac{F(u)(y)}{|x-y|^{\mu }}\,dy \right) f(u), \;\;\text {in} \; {\mathbb {R}}^N,\\ u > 0, \;\; \text {in} \; {\mathbb {R}}^N, \end{array} \end{aligned}$$

M

∫

R

N

|
∇
u
|

p

(
-

Δ
p

)

u
+
V

(
x
)

|
u
|

p
-
2

u
=

∫

R

N

F
(
u
)
(
y
)

|
x
-
y
|

μ

d
y

f

(
u
)

,

in

R

N

,

u
>
0
,

in

R

N

,

where M models Kirchhoff-type nonlinear term of the form $$M(t) = a + bt^{\theta -1}$$

M

(
t
)

=
a
+
b

t

θ
-
1

, where $$a, b > 0$$

a
,
b
>
0

are given constants; $$1<p<N$$

1
<
p
<
N

, $$\Delta _p = \text {div}(|\nabla u|^{p-2}\nabla u)$$

Δ
p

=

div
(
|
∇
u
|

p
-
2

∇
u
)

is the p-Laplacian operator; potential $$V \in C^2({\mathbb {R}}^N)$$

V
∈

C
2

(

R

N

)

; f is monotonic function with suitable growth conditions. We obtain the existence of a positive high energy solution for $$\theta \in \left[ 1, \frac{2N-\mu }{N-p}\right) $$

θ
∈

1
,

2
N
-
μ

N
-
p

via the Pohožaev manifold and linking theorem. Apart from this, we also studied the radial symmetry of solutions of the associated limit problem.
Percutaneous ultrasound-guided cryoablation for early-stage primary breast cancer: a follow-up study in Japan
Authors: Kawamoto Hisanori , Tsugawa Koichiro , Furuya Yuko , Sakamaki Kaori , Kakimoto Sayoko , Kitajima Mina , Takishita Mariko Nagai , Tazo Mizuho , Nakano Mari Hara , Kuroda Takako , Shimo Ayaka , Shimo Arata , Kojima Yasuyuki , Tsuzuki Makiko , Motoyoshi Ai , Haku Ei , Nishikawa Toru , Kanemaki Yoshihide , Mimura Hidefumi , Fukuda Mamoru
Published: April 2024

Background

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cryoablation (PCA) for early-stage breast cancer (ESBC) can be performed under local anesthesia in an outpatient clinic. This study continues a pilot stage to examine local control, safety, patient quality of life (QoL), satisfaction and cosmetic outcomes of cryoablation for ESBC.

Methods

PCA was performed under local anesthesia for patients with primary ESBC, followed by radiation and endocrine therapies. Oncologic outcomes were examined by imaging (mammography, ultrasound, MRI) at baseline and 1, 6, 12, 24, 36, and 60 months post-cryoablation. EQ-VAS, EQ-5D-5L, subjective satisfaction and Moiré topography were used to measure health-related QoL outcomes.

Results

Eighteen patients, mean aged 59.0 ± 9.0 years, mean tumor size 9.8 ± 2.3 mm, ER + , PR + (17/18), HER2-, Ki67 < 20% (15/18), underwent PCA and were followed for a mean of 44.3 months. No serious adverse events were reported, and no patients had local recurrence or distant metastasis in the 5-year follow-up. Cosmetic outcomes, satisfaction level, and QoL all improved post-cryoablation. Five-year average reduction rates of the cryolesion long, short, and depth diameters, on US, were 61.3%, 42.3%, and 22.8%, respectively, compared to the 86.2% volume reduction rate on MRI. The correlation coefficient between MRI and US measurement criteria was highest for the long diameter. During follow-up, calcification of the treated area was observed in 13/18 cases.

Conclusion

Cryoablation for ESBC is an effective and safe procedure with excellent cosmetic outcomes and improved QoL. This study contributes to the growing evidence supporting cryoablation as a potential standard treatment for ESBC, given compliance to pre-defined patient selection criteria.
Anlotinib inhibits growth of human esophageal cancer TE-1 cells by negative regulating PI3K/Akt signaling pathway
Authors: Liu Yueli , Li Fan , Wang Qiongyu , Zhang Yunfei , Tian Shuhong , Li Biao
Published: April 2024

Anlotinib is effective in treatment of many kinds of malignant cancer, but its antineoplastic effects on esophageal cancer remains unclear. This study aims to investigate its impact on esophageal cancer and the underlying mechanisms. Anlotiniband 5-fluorouracil + cisplatin (5-FU + DDP) was administered separately to human esophageal cancer TE- 1 cells tumor xenograft mouse models every 3 days. Tumor size and body weight were measured before each treatment and at the end of the experiment. In vitro studies were conducted using TE- 1 cells to examine the effects of Anlotinib. Cell viability, migration, proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle, their regulatory proteins and the transcriptomic changes were analyzed. Anlotinib reduced tumor size, tumor weight, and the ratio of tumor weight to body weight in vivo. It decreased the viability of TE- 1 cells, with a 50% growth-inhibitory concentration of 9.454 μM for 24 h, induced apoptosis, and arrested TE- 1 cell cycle in the S phase. It inhibited migration and proliferation while negatively regulating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Enhanced expressions of P21, Bax, and lowered expressions of cyclin A1, cyclin B1, CDK1, PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, and Bcl-2 were observed after Anlotinib treatment. Anlotinib exhibits antineoplastic activity against human esophageal cancer TE- 1 cells by negatively regulating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, consequently altering the expressions of proteins related to proliferation, apoptosis, and the cell cycle.
Overview of the Twitter conversation around #14F 2021 Catalonia regional election: an analysis of echo chambers and presence of social bots
Authors: Broto Cervera Raul , Pérez-Solà Cristina , Batlle Albert
Published: April 2024

The omnipresence of the digital ecosystem makes it increasingly important in our societies, which implies that the analysis and study of the digital battlefield in political elections is also becoming more necessary to protect our democracies. Previous literature showed the existence of information operations around the world, designed to manipulate the political perception of citizens, and therefore, the electoral results. This paper examines the Twitter conversation around #14F 2021 Catalonia regional elections, which had special significance due to the pandemic situation and the highly polarized scenario around Catalonia and Spain, using tools and techniques from Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. The results obtained show that the conversation existed inside robust echo chambers within each political party community, which became even more powerful if parties are unified into political affinity blocks. Also, focusing on the analysis related to the social bot presence, a significant quantity of results showed a higher presence of social bots in VOX party community compared to the rest of communities. This study corroborates other existing studies regarding the Catalan and Spanish scenario on the presence of echo chambers and on the existence of social bots with their tendency to basically amplify content; it also uncovers the lack of existence of cross-conversation between the independentist and unionist political block claimed in other studies.
Mobility of geometric constraint systems with extrusion symmetry
Authors: Owen J. , Schulze B.
Published: April 2024

If we take a (bar-joint) framework, prepare an identical copy of this framework, translate it by some vector $$\tau $$
τ
, and finally join corresponding points of the two copies, then we obtain a framework with ‘extrusion’ symmetry in the direction of $$\tau $$
τ
. This process may be repeated t times to obtain a framework whose underlying graph has $$\mathbb {Z}_2^t$$

Z
2
t

as a subgroup of its automorphism group and which has ‘t-fold extrusion’ symmetry. Extruding a framework is a widely used technique in CAD for generating a 3D model from an initial 2D sketch, and hence it is important to understand the flexibility of extrusion-symmetric frameworks. Using group representation theory, we show that while t-fold extrusion symmetry is not a point-group symmetry, the rigidity matrix of a framework with t-fold extrusion symmetry can still be transformed into a block-decomposed form in the analogous way as for point-group symmetric frameworks. This allows us to establish Fowler-Guest-type character counts to analyse the mobility of such frameworks. We show that this entire theory also extends to the more general point-hyperplane frameworks with t-fold extrusion symmetry. Moreover, we show that under suitable regularity conditions the infinitesimal flexes we detect with our symmetry-adapted counts extend to finite (continuous) motions. Finally, we establish an algorithm that checks for finite motions via linearly displacing framework points along velocity vectors of infinitesimal motions.
Surgery in patients with infective endocarditis and prognostic importance of patient frailty
Authors: Graversen Peter Laursen , Østergaard Lauge , Smerup Morten Holdgaard , Strange Jarl Emanuel , Hadji-Turdeghal Katra , Voldstedlund Marianne , Køber Lars , Fosbøl Emil
Published: April 2024

Purpose

Surgery is required in 20–50% of patients with infective endocarditis (IE). Frailty increases surgical risk; however, the prognostic implications of frailty in patients undergoing IE-related surgery remain poorly understood. We aimed to assess the association between frailty and all-cause mortality or rehospitalization after discharge (≥ 14 days).

Methods

We identified all IE patients who underwent surgery during admission (2010–2020) in Denmark. The Hospital Frailty Risk Score was used to categorize patients into two frailty risk groups, patients with low frailty scores (< 5 points) and frail patients (≥ 5 points). We analyzed time hospitalized after discharge and all-cause mortality from the date of surgery with a one-year follow-up. Statistical analyses utilized the Kaplan–Meier estimator, Aalen–Johansen estimator, and the Cox regression model.

Results

We identified 1282 patients who underwent surgery during admission, of whom 967 (75.4%) had low frailty scores, and 315 (24.6%) were frail. Frail patients were characterized by advanced age, a lower proportion of males, and a higher burden of comorbidities. Frail patients were more hospitalized (> 14 days) in the first post-discharge year (19.1% vs.12.3%) compared to patients with low frailty scores. Additionally, frail patients had higher rates of all-cause mortality including in-hospital deaths (27% vs. 15%) and rehospitalizations (43.5% vs 26.1%) compared to patients with low frailty scores. This was also evident in the adjusted analysis (hazard ratio 1.36 [CI 95% 1.09–1.71]).

Conclusion

Frailty was associated with an ≈40% increased rate of rehospitalization (≥ 14 days) or death. Further studies are needed to assess the effectiveness of surgery with a focus on frailty to improve prognostic outcomes in these patients.
Ketogenic Diets Hold Therapeutic Potential Against Periodontal Inflammation
Authors: Karmakar Shaswata , Shivaprasad  , Arangaraju Ramya , Modak Baishakhi , Shanmugasundaram Shashikiran
Published: April 2024

Purpose of Review

Periodontitis, one of the most prevalent diseases in the world, is caused by the accumulation of dysbiotic microbial biofilm on the teeth leading to chronic inflammation of the tissues surrounding the teeth. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), obesity, chronic stress, and smoking are some of the risk factors for the disease. A high-carbohydrate diet also increases the risk of periodontal inflammation. Modifying diet and nutrition could serve as a preventive and therapeutic tool to target multiple risk factors simultaneously.

Recent Findings

Emerging evidence shows that the ketogenic diet induces hormetic stress and switches on various cell-protective anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms. The ketogenic diet also improves mitochondrial function, DNA repair, and autophagy. The diet can effectively treat periodontitis risk factors such as T2DM and obesity. By restricting carbohydrates, the diet improves glycaemic control in T2DM patients and can effectively produce fat loss and reduce BMI (body-mass index) in obese patients. Poor long-term compliance and high cost are the drawbacks of the diet and the potential of the diet to increase cardiovascular disease risk needs further investigation.

Taken together, ketogenic diets, through various mechanisms reduce inflammation, mitigate oxidative stress, improve metabolic health, and can be used as a therapeutic tool to treat periodontal inflammation. Since robust scientific evidence for the ketogenic diet is currently scarce, future research should study the diet's efficacy, effectiveness, and safety in managing periodontal inflammation.
“TiC-TUG”: technology in clinical practice using the instrumented timed up and go test—a scoping review
Authors: Böttinger Melissa J. , Labudek Sarah , Schoene Daniel , Jansen Carl-Philipp , Stefanakis Marios-Evangelos , Litz Elena , Bauer Jürgen M. , Becker Clemens , Gordt-Oesterwind Katharina
Published: April 2024

Digitized assessments have a considerable potential to guide clinicial decision making and monitor progress and disease trajectories. The Timed Up and Go test (TUG) has been long established for assessment in geriatric medicine and instrumented versions (iTUG) have been developed and validated. This scoping review includes studies that applied the iTUG and aims to identify use cases to show where and how iTUG assessment could guide interventions and clinical management. The literature search was limited to peer-reviewed studies that performed pre- and post-intervention measurements with a 3-meter TUG instrumented with body-worn technology in samples of at least 20 subjects aged 60+ years. Of 3018 identified articles 20 were included. Four clinical use cases were identified: stratification for subsequent therapy, monitoring of disease or treatment-associated changes and evaluation of interventions in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (1), and patients with Parkinson’s disease (2); monitoring after joint replacement surgery (3), and evaluation after different exercise and rehabilitation interventions (4). The included studies show diversity in terms of iTUG technology and procedures. The identified use cases highlight clinical relevance and high potential for the clinical application of the iTUG. A consensual approach as well as comprehensive reporting would help to further exploit the potential of the iTUG to support clinical management. Future studies should investigate the benefits of segmental iTUG analysis, responsiveness and participants’ perspectives on clinically meaningful changes in iTUG.