bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Waiting for a download: The effect of congruency between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation on consumer patience
Authors: Chen Siyun , Wei Haiying , Ran Yaxuan , Li Qing , Meng Lu
Published: August 2021

Consumers tend to be impatient during an online wait (e.g., waiting for webpages to download), which may decrease their satisfaction with online retailers. The current research addresses this important issue by identifying a simple and viable strategy to boost consumer patience: the presence of anthropomorphic cues on the download interface. In particular, we postulate a matching effect between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation on consumer patience, such that hedonic (vs. utilitarian) consumption benefits from exciting (vs. sincere) anthropomorphism, whereas utilitarian (vs. hedonic) consumption benefits from sincere (vs. exciting) anthropomorphism (Study 1). Notably, these effects are driven by a match between anthropomorphic cues and shopping motivation that creates perceptions of fluency, and the ensuing enjoyment experience yields enhanced patience (Study 2). In addition to having substantive theoretical implications for the anthropomorphism, patience, and persuasion literature, our findings offer novel insights regarding ways for marketers to effectively manage online wait.
Stimuli‐Responsive Block Copolymer Micelles Based on Mussel‐Inspired Metal‐Coordinated Supramolecular Networks
Authors: Ganguly Ritabrata , Saha Pabitra , Banerjee Sovan Lal , Pich Andrij , Singha Nikhil K.
Published: August 2021

Amphiphilic diblock copolymers containing dopamine and zwitterions are synthesized via the RAFT polymerization method, which undergo temperature‐mediated micellization in aqueous media. The presence of catechol moiety in dopamine is exploited to form pH‐responsive cross‐links with ferric ions (Fe3+) at different pH value. Herein, a comprehensive study of the effect of pH as well as temperature on the size and solution behavior of these cross‐linked micelles is presented. These micelles cross‐linked via metal–catechol coordination bonds can have several important biomedical applications such as degradable scaffolds for payload delivery.
Preparation and Chiral Applications of Optically Active Polyamides
Authors: Zhong Hai , Deng Jianping
Published: August 2021

Chirality is omnipresent in nature and plays vital roles in living organism, and has become a hot research topic across multidisciplinary fields including chemistry, biology, physics, and material science. Meanwhile, polyamides constitute an important class of polymers and have received significant attention owing to their outstanding properties and wide‐ranging applications in many areas. Judiciously introducing chirality into polyamides will undoubtedly obtain attractive chiral polymers, namely, optically active polyamides. This review describes the preparation methods of chiral polyamides, including solution polycondensation, interfacial polycondensation, ring‐open polymerization, and others; the newly emerging categories of chiral polyamides, i.e., helical polyamides, chiral polyamide‐imides, are also presented. The applications of optically active polyamides in chiral research fields including asymmetric catalysis, membrane separation, and enantioselective crystallization are also summarized. In addition, current challenges in chiral polyamides are further presented and future perspectives in the field are proposed.
Blocking MCT4 SUMOylation inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells
Authors: Hu Xiao , Liu Zhanzhao , Duan Xianxian , Han Xiao , Yuan Mengci , Liu Lingyan , Xia Xiaojun , Li Ning , Qin Junfang , Wang Yue
Published: August 2021

Monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) is highly expressed in various types of solid neoplasms including breast cancer (BC); however, the pro‐tumor functions underlying its increased expression have not been explained. Here, we examined the roles of posttranslational modifications to MCT4 in BC, particularly SUMOylation. Our findings revealed that SUMOylation of MCT4 inhibited its degradation and stabilized MCT4 protein levels, while ubiquitination facilitated MCT4 degradation. The E3 ubiquitin ligases β‐TRCP and FBW7 interacted with MCT4 at the DSG‐box and TPETS sequences, respectively, and Lys448 (K448) of MCT4 could be modified by SUMO chains. Our key finding was that K448 was crucial for MCT4 SUMOylation. Moreover, mutations of K448 abolished MCT4 expression, delaying the growth of BC. This study suggested that SUMOylation of K448 increased MCT4 levels, and mutations of K448 in MCT4 could have therapeutic significance in BC.
The Role of Maturity in Artificial Habitat Selection by Female Red Snapper
Authors: Leontiou A. J. , Wu Wei , Brown-Peterson Nancy J.
Published: August 2021

The Red Snapper Lutjanus campechanus is a reef-associated species found throughout the Gulf of Mexico that relies on artificial structures for habitat. In this study, we used Bayesian models to determine habitat selection by different sizes and ages of female Red Snapper and to identify whether there was a difference in habitat selection between immature and mature fish. Red Snapper (n = 693) were sampled using vertical longlines from March or April through November of 2016–2018 off the coast of Mississippi at different artificial structure types (platforms, artificial reefs, and rigs-to-reef structures [hereafter, “rigs-to-reefs”]) and depths (shallow, <20 m; mid-depth, 20–49 m; and deep, 50–100 m). To adjust for the traditional occurrence of mature fish being larger and older than immature fish, only fish within the intersection of the FL (n = 616) and age (n = 622) ranges of immature and mature classes were used in these analyses. Fork length and age of immature and mature fish increased with increasing depth, but immature fish had a larger increase in FL per unit depth than mature fish. Immature fish on artificial reefs were found to be older than immature fish at platforms, while there was no age difference between the two structures for mature fish. There was no difference in FL or age between rigs-to-reefs and platforms or artificial reefs for immature fish, but FL and age of mature fish were greater at rigs-to-reefs than at platforms and artificial reefs. However, maturity did not play a role in how age increased with depth or with differences in FL between artificial reefs and platforms for mature fish. These differences in habitat use based on maturity should be considered along with FL and age to inform management regulations for Red Snapper.
Altered Spatiotemporal Dynamics of the Resting Brain in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Lewy Bodies
Authors: Lamoš Martin , Morávková Ivona , Ondráček David , Bočková Martina , Rektorová Irena
Published: August 2021

Background

Electrophysiological markers of prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies were described in the spectral domain. The sub‐second temporal resolution may provide additional information.

Objective

To evaluate electroencephalography (EEG) microstates in patients with mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies and to assess the association between their temporal dynamics and the spectral marker.

Methods

Temporal parameters of microstates were compared between 21 patients with mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies and 21 healthy controls. The dominant alpha frequency was correlated with microstate parameters.

Results

Microstates A‐D showed higher occurrence in the patient group. Microstate B additionally revealed shorter mean duration and increased time coverage; its occurrence correlated with the dominant alpha frequency in the patient group.

Conclusions

Temporal dynamics of all EEG microstates were altered in medication‐naïve subjects with prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies. Longitudinal follow‐up may reveal how EEG microstates reflect progression of brain function deficits and effects of treatment manipulations. © 2021 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
A case of Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva associated with a novel variant of theACVR1gene
Authors: Cappato Serena , Traberg Rasa , Gintautiene Jolita , Zara Federico , Bocciardi Renata
Published: August 2021

Background

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a rare autosomal dominant disease characterized by congenital malformation of the great toes and progressive heterotopic ossification of soft tissues leading to cumulative disability. The genetic cause of FOP are mutations in theACVR1gene that encodes a type I receptor of Bone Morphogenetic Proteins. The most recurrent mutation in FOP patients is R206H affecting the Glycine‐Serine rich domain and causing the hyper‐activation of the receptor and the responsivity to the non‐canonical ligand, Activin A.

In the present study, we described a 3‐years old child with early and highly suggestive clinical features of FOP who was found negative for the recurrent p.R206H substitution.

Methods

Molecular screening of the wholeACVR1coding sequence and functional characterization in transfection‐based assays.

Results and Conclusions

We identified a novel,de novovariant in the fifthACVR1coding exon (NM_001111067.4:c.772A>T; NP_001104537.1:p.(R258W)). This substitution, never reported in association with FOP, affects a conserved arginine residue in the kinase domain of the protein.In silicoanalysis predicted the pathogenicity of this substitution, demonstrated byin vitroassays showing that the p.R258W ACVR1 mutated receptor acquires the ability to transduce the aberrant Activin A‐mediated signaling, as observed for the gene variants associated with FOP.
Observer‐based fixed‐time SOSM hybrid control with a nonvanishing mismatched disturbance
Authors: Yuan Jiahao , Ma Li , Mei Keqi
Published: August 2021

In this paper, the control problem for a class of second‐order sliding mode (SOSM) systems with a nonvanishing mismatched disturbance is investigated via a composite SOSM hybrid control manner. The composite SOSM hybrid control is proposed by utilizing a fixed‐time disturbance observer (DOB) and a fixed‐time composite SOSM controller. The fixed‐time DOB is firstly developed to estimate mismatched disturbances. Secondly, by using adding a power integrator technique, the fixed‐time composite SOSM controller can be designed step by step. Based on the hybrid strategy, the proposed controller can switch from a finite‐time SOSM controller to a fixed‐time SOSM controller. The former finite‐time controller is proposed to avoid finite‐time escape problem for the controlled system within the setting time of the proposed fixed‐time DOB. The latter fixed‐time controller can drive system states to zero within a fixed time whose setting time is free of initial values. The novelty of the developed control methodology is that it cannot only avoid the finite‐time escape problem but also provide fixed‐time stability for the controlled system. Moreover, strict Lyapunov analysis is provided to show that the controlled system under the fixed‐time DOB and the fixed‐time composite SOSM controller is fixed‐time stable. Finally, the validity of the proposed control methodology is verified by an academic example.
Weakly supervised learning on unannotated H&E‐stained slides predicts BRAF mutation in thyroid cancer with high accuracy
Authors: Anand Deepak , Yashashwi Kumar , Kumar Neeraj , Rane Swapnil , Gann Peter H , Sethi Amit
Published: August 2021

Deep neural networks (DNNs) that predict mutational status from H&E slides of cancers can enable inexpensive and timely precision oncology. Although expert knowledge is reliable for annotating regions informative of malignancy and other known histologic patterns (strong supervision), it is unreliable for identifying regions informative of mutational status. This poses a serious impediment to obtaining higher prognostic accuracy and discovering new knowledge of pathobiology. We used a weakly supervised learning technique to train a DNN to predict BRAF V600E mutational status, determined using DNA testing, in H&E‐stained images of thyroid cancer tissue without regional annotations. Our discovery cohort was a tissue microarray of only 85 patients from a single hospital. On a large independent external cohort of 444 patients from other hospitals, the trained model gave an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–1.00), which is much higher than the previously reported results for detecting any mutation using H&E by DNNs trained using strong supervision. We also developed a visualization technique that can automatically highlight regions the DNN found most informative for predicting mutational status. Our visualization is spatially granular and highly specific in highlighting strong negative and positive regions and moves us toward explainable artificial intelligence. Using t‐tests, we confirmed that the proportions of follicular or papillary histology and oncocytic cytology, as noted for each patient by a pathologist who was blinded to the mutational status, were significantly different between mutated and wildtype patients. However, based solely on these features noted by the pathologist, a logistic regression classifier gave an average area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.78 in five‐fold cross‐validation, which is much lower than that obtained using the DNN. These results highlight the potential of weakly supervised learning for training DNN models for problems where the informative visual patterns and their locations are not known a priori. © 2021 The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Study of differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy people in semantic processing
Authors: Ye Huiling , Zhu Xinyu , Wang Kaifeng , Song Lisheng , Yang Xiaohu , Li Fei , Fan Qing
Published: August 2021

Semantic processing is important in language comprehension and production, and context can facilitate understanding and accelerate processing speed by pre‐activating semantically related words. There are many studies suggesting that patients with schizophrenia have inferior language ability. This study was aimed to examine the differences between patients with schizophrenia and healthy people in semantic processing with Chinese classifier–noun pairs rating tasks. Participants were required to finish rating tasks to judge acceptability of classifier–noun pairs. Also, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) was conducted in the schizophrenia group. According to results of variance analysis, schizophrenic patients' accuracy of judgment on the acceptability of classifier–noun pairs differed from the control group (F = 4.13, p < .05), and the contextual effect of classifier constraint could be observed in healthy people (F(1, 31) = 5.38, p < .05) but not in patients with schizophrenia (F(1, 25) = 3.55, p = .07), indicating that they failed to use the contextual information to facilitate language comprehension as healthy people. Stepwise linear regression analysis found that hostility, poor impulse control and suspiciousness/persecution and preoccupation in the PANSS may have contributed to the reduced sensitivity in the rating in patients (t = −2.38‐3.80, p < .05).
Long‐term degradation rate of crystalline silicon PV modules at commercial PV plants: An 82‐MWp assessment over 10 years
Authors: Pascual Julio , Martinez‐Moreno Francisco , García Miguel , Marcos Javier , Marroyo Luis , Lorenzo Eduardo
Published: August 2021

Due to high competitiveness in the PV sector, despite the low degradation rate of crystalline silicon PV modules (below 0.5%/year), it is still important for utilities to know its actual value due to its impact on energy yield and hence, profitability, over the lifetime of a PV plant. However, uncertainties related to both the influence of downtime periods due to problems that may appear under normal operation of a commercial PV plant and to the measurement of degradation rates at PV plant level make this a challenging task. In order to obtain a significant value, in this paper, three measuring methods with different uncertainty sources are used for 82 MWp of PV modules on different locations in Spain and Portugal over 10 years. According to the different methods used and PV plants analyzed, excluding PV plants with problems, a range of degradation rates between 0.01 and 0.47%/year has been found. The overall average value observed is 0.27%/year. The findings of this work have also revealed the great importance of good operation and maintenance practices in order to keep overall low degradation rates.
Population repeated time‐to‐event analysis of exacerbations in asthma patients: A novel approach for predicting asthma exacerbations based on biomarkers, spirometry, and diaries/questionnaires
Authors: Svensson Robin J , Ribbing Jakob , Kotani Naoki , Dolton Michael , Vadhavkar Shweta , Cheung Dorothy , Staton Tracy , Choy David F , Putnam Wendy , Jin Jin , Budha Nageshwar , Karlsson Mats O. , Quartino Angelica , Zhu Rui
Published: August 2021

Identification of covariates, including biomarkers, spirometry, and diaries/questionnaires, that predict asthma exacerbations would allow better clinical predictions, shorter phase II trials and inform decisions on phase III design, and/or initiation (go/no‐go). The objective of this work was to characterize asthma‐exacerbation hazard as a function of baseline and time‐varying covariates. A repeated time‐to‐event (RTTE) model for exacerbations was developed using data from a 52‐week phase IIb trial, including 502 patients with asthma randomized to placebo or 70 mg, 210 mg, or 490 mg astegolimab every 4 weeks. Covariate analysis was performed for 20 baseline covariates using the full random effects modeling approach, followed by time‐varying covariate analysis of nine covariates using the stepwise covariate model (SCM) building procedure. Following the SCM, an astegolimab treatment effect was explored. Diary‐based symptom score (difference in objective function value [dOFV] of −83.7) and rescue medication use (dOFV = −33.5), and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (dOFV = −14.9) were identified as significant time‐varying covariates. Of note, time‐varying covariates become more useful with more frequent measurements, which should favor the daily diary scores over others. The most influential baseline covariates were exacerbation history and diary‐based symptom score (i.e., symptom score was important as both time‐varying and baseline covariate). A (nonsignificant) astegolimab treatment effect was included in the final model because the limited data set did not allow concluding the remaining effect size as irrelevant. Without time‐varying covariates, the treatment effect was statistically significant (p < 0.01). This work demonstrated the utility of a population RTTE approach to characterize exacerbation hazard in patients with severe asthma.
Quality control and bias adjustment of crowdsourced wind speed observations
Authors: Chen Jieyu , Saunders Kate , Whan Kirien
Published: August 2021

Wind observations collected at citizen weather stations (CWSs) could be an invaluable resource in climate and meteorology studies, yet these observations are underutilised because scientists do not have confidence in their quality. These wind speed observations have systematic biases, likely caused by improper instrumentation and station sitings. Such systematic biases introduce spatial inconsistencies that prevent comparison of these stations spatially and limit the possible usage of the data. In this paper, we address these issues by improving and developing new methods for identifying suspect observations and adjusting systematic biases. Our complete quality control and bias adjustment procedure consists of four steps: (a) performing within‐station quality control tests to check the plausible range and the temporal consistency of observations, (b) adjusting the systematic bias using empirical quantile mapping, (c) implementing between‐station quality control to compare observations from neighbouring stations to identify spatially inconsistent observations, and (d) providing estimates of the true wind when CWSs falsely report zero wind speeds, as a complement to the bias adjustment. We apply these methods to CWSs from the Weather Observation Website (WOW) in the Netherlands, comparing the crowdsourced data with official data, and statistically assessing the improvements in data quality after each step. The results demonstrate that the crowdsourced wind speed data are more comparable with official data after quality control checks and bias adjustment steps. Our quality assessment methods therefore give confidence in CWSs, converting their observations into a usable data product and an invaluable resource for applications in need of additional wind observations.
A facile preparation of robust superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic copper foam for high efficiency and repeatable oil–water separation
Authors: He Jinmei , Wang Rong , Pang Yajie , Luo Zhanxia , He Dan , Sun Wenchao , Shi Fan , Peng Lei , Qu Mengnan
Published: August 2021

Design of robust separation materials with superwettability for efficient oil–water separation is of great significance because of the serious problem of oil leakage. Herein, we have fabricated a superwetting material based on copper foam via chemical oxidation and hydrothermal method for oil–water separation. These modified copper foam with rough structure exhibit excellent superhydrophilicity and underwater superoleophobicity. Thus, it shows high oil–water separation efficiency (99%), excellent circulation and high‐flux (24,129 Lm−2 h−1). Meanwhile, the modified copper foam exhibits favorable durability and stability under extreme environment conditions, such as immersion tests in salt, different pH conditions, high temperature and mechanical abrasion tests. Therefore, the modified copper foam has the advantages of high separation efficiency and remarkable stability, and is promising material, which can be used for the treatment of industrial oily wastewater.
A temporal–spatial hybrid dynamic algorithm strategy for inelastic earthquake response analysis of super high‐rise building structures
Authors: He Zheng , Ren Zhinan , Qi Zhe , Fu Shaojun
Published: August 2021

Based on the understanding about the spatial distribution of plasticity development in super high‐rise building structures excited with strong earthquakes, a temporal–spatial hybrid dynamic algorithm (TSHDA) strategy is specifically proposed with the combination of the previously developed bilateral algorithm switch mechanism. The coupling response of partitioned subdomains and interfaces by the nodal partition strategy is solved using the iterative interfacial prediction–correction procedure. Four implicit and two explicit algorithms are selected and implemented on a finite element analytical platform, generating a total of eight alternative hybrid algorithms. A performance evaluation is carried out on a high‐rise reinforced concrete frame structure, and a super high‐rise frame core‐tube structure indicates that using the TSHDA strategy can achieve a more desirable balance among accuracy, stability, and efficiency. Such strategy is believed to be elaborately tailored for those mega structures with some strengthened stories distributed along height. The computational accuracy is well maintained by the bilateral algorithm switch which can substantially reduce the error accumulated in the determination of the incremental internal force vectors of subdomains and interfaces. The hybrid DKNR + CA algorithm, that is, the combination of the Krylov subspace accelerated Newton (KNR) algorithm with Chang's algorithm (CA), demonstrates comparatively desirable accuracy and superior efficiency.
Compressional wave velocity and effective stress in unsaturated soil: Potential application for monitoring moisture conditions in vadose zone sediments
Authors: Linneman Dorothy C. , Strickland Christopher E. , Mangel Adam R.
Published: August 2021

Compressional seismic (P‐wave) velocities were measured experimentally at different matric suctions and confining pressure states using a variety of sediments collected from the USDOE Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State. The P‐wave velocity was measured in variably saturated sediments using ultrasonic piezoelectric transducers, and matric suction was measured with a heat dissipation sensor. Desaturation of the samples occurred by means of evaporative drying. We propose a model to relate changes in P‐wave velocity to soil stress conditions using an effective stress formulation that includes capillary stress as well as adsorptive stress. We show that compressional wave velocities can be related to matric suction and confining stress using a model with five fitted parameters. A single set of parameters describing the relationship between effective stress and P‐wave velocity provide an excellent fit to data acquired on Hanford Formation samples. The results presented here suggest the utility of seismic methods for establishing low matric suction and flow conditions within variably saturated Hanford formation sediments, which could be applied at the field scale for evaluating the performance of environmental remediation efforts, such as soil desiccation and surface infiltration barriers.
Holographic BCFTs and communicating black holes
Authors: Geng Hao , Lüst Severin , Mishra Rashmish K. , Wakeham David
Published: August 2021

Abstract

We study the AdS/BCFT duality between two-dimensional conformal field theories with two boundaries and three-dimensional anti-de Sitter space with two Karch-Randall branes. We compute the entanglement entropy of a bipartition of the BCFT, on both the gravity side and the field theory side. At finite temperature this entanglement entropy characterizes the communication between two braneworld black holes, coupled to each other through a common bath. We find a Page curve consistent with unitarity. The gravitational result, computed using double-holographically realized quantum extremal surfaces, matches the conformal field theory calculation.

At zero temperature, we obtain an interesting extension of the AdS3/BCFT2 correspondence. For a central charge c, we find a gap $$ \left(\frac{c}{16},\frac{c}{12}\right) $$

c
16

c
12

in the spectrum of the scaling dimension ∆bcc of the boundary condition changing operator (which interpolates mismatched boundary conditions on the two boundaries of the BCFT). Depending on the value of ∆bcc, the gravitational dual is either a defect global AdS3 geometry or a single sided black hole, and in both cases there are two Karch-Randall branes.
Thermal properties of light mesons from holography
Authors: Cao Xuanmin , Qiu Songyu , Liu Hui , Li Danning
Published: August 2021

Abstract

The thermal properties of light mesons, including the temperature dependence of their masses (both screening and pole masses) and thermal widths, are studied in a two-flavor (Nf = 2) soft-wall AdS/QCD model. By solving the spatial correlation functions, we extract the screening masses (mscr) from their poles. The screening masses of pseudo-scalar (π) and axial-vector (a1) mesons increase almost monotonously with the increase of temperature. The screening masses of scalar (σ) and vector (ρ) mesons decrease at low temperature and increase at high temperature. The pole masses (mpole) and the thermal widths (Γ) are extracted from the temporal correlation functions and the corresponding spectral functions. The results indicate that the pole masses have local minima at low temperature and increase at high temperature. The thermal widths increase rapidly above the chiral crossover temperature Tcp, indicating the dissociations of mesons at high temperature. Furthermore, the degeneration of the chiral partners (π and σ, ρ and a1) above Tcp is observed from the screening and pole masses, revealing the chiral symmetry restoration at the hadronic spectrum level. Finally, we numerically verify that the spectral functions in the temporal regime are strongly related to the quasi-normal modes with complex frequencies ω0 = mpole− iΓ/2.
Duality and modular symmetry in the quantum Hall effect from Lifshitz holography
Authors: Dolan Brian P.
Published: August 2021

Abstract

The temperature dependence of quantum Hall conductivities is studied in the context of the AdS/CMT paradigm using a model with a bulk theory consisting of (3+1)-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell action coupled to a dilaton and an axion, with a negative cosmological constant. We consider a solution which has a Lifshitz like geometry with a dyonic black-brane in the bulk. There is an Sl(2,R) action in the bulk corresponding to electromagnetic duality, which maps between classical solutions, and is broken to Sl(2,Z) by Dirac quantisation of dyons. This bulk Sl(2,Z) action translates to an action of the modular group on the 2-dimensional transverse conductivities. The temperature dependence of the infra-red conductivities is then linked to modular forms via gradient flow and the resulting flow diagrams show remarkable agreement with existing experimental data on the temperature flow of both integral and fractional quantum Hall conductivities.
Partitioned iterated function systems by regression models for head pose estimation
Authors: Abate Andrea F. , Barra Paola , Pero Chiara , Tucci Maurizio
Published: August 2021

Head pose estimation represents an important computer vision technique in different contexts where image acquisition cannot be controlled by an operator, making face recognition of unknown subjects more accurate and efficient. In this work, starting from partitioned iterated function systems to identify the pose, different regression models are adopted to predict the angular value errors (yaw, pitch and roll axes, respectively). This method combines the fractal image compression characteristics, such as self-similar structures in order to identify similar head rotation, with regression analysis prediction. The experimental evaluation is performed on widely used benchmark datasets, i.e., Biwi and AFLW2000, and the results are compared with many existing state-of-the-art methods, demonstrating the robustness of the proposed fusion approach and excellent performance.
Intra-operative assessment of the vascularisation of a cross section of the meniscus using near-infrared fluorescence imaging
Authors: van Schie Peter , van der Lelij Thies J. N. , Gerritsen Maxime , Meijer Ruben P. J. , van Arkel Ewoud R. A. , Fiocco Marta , Swen Jan-Willem A. , Vahrmeijer Alexander L. , Hazelbag Hans Marten , Keereweer Stijn , van Driel Pieter B. A. A.
Published: August 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess whether the vascularisation of the meniscus could be visualised intra-operatively using near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging with indocyanine green (ICG) in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Methods

The anterior horn (i.e., Cooper classification: zones C and D) of the meniscus that was least affected (i.e., least degenerative) was removed during TKA surgery in ten patients to obtain a cross section of the inside of the meniscus. Thereafter, 10 mg of ICG was injected intravenously, and vascularisation of the cross section of the meniscus was assessed using the Quest spectrum NIRF camera system. We calculated the percentage of patients in whom vascularisation was observed intra-operatively using NIRF imaging compared to immunohistochemistry.

Results

Meniscal vascularisation using NIRF imaging was observed in six out of eight (75%) patients in whom vascularisation was demonstrated with immunohistochemistry. The median extent of vascularisation was 13% (interquartile range (IQR) 3–28%) using NIRF imaging and 15% (IQR 11–23%) using immunohistochemistry.

Conclusion

This study shows the potential of NIRF imaging to visualise vascularisation of the meniscus, as vascularisation was observed in six out of eight patients with histologically proven meniscal vascularisation.

Level of evidence

IV.
Vasa vasorum of proximal cerebral arteries after dural crossing — potential imaging confounder in diagnosing intracranial vasculitis in elderly subjects on black-blood MRI
Authors: Guggenberger Konstanze Viktoria , Torre Giulia Dalla , Ludwig Ute , Vogel Patrick , Weng Andreas Max , Vogt Marius Lothar , Fröhlich Matthias , Schmalzing Marc , Raithel Esther , Forman Christoph , Urbach Horst , Meckel Stephan , Bley Thorsten Alexander
Published: August 2021

Objectives

Vessel wall enhancement (VWE) may be commonly seen on MRI images of asymptomatic subjects. This study aimed to characterize the VWE of the proximal internal carotid (ICA) and vertebral arteries (VA) in a non-vasculitic elderly patient cohort.

Methods

Cranial MRI scans at 3 Tesla were performed in 43 patients (aged ≥ 50 years) with known malignancy for exclusion of cerebral metastases. For vessel wall imaging (VWI), a high-resolution compressed-sensing black-blood 3D T1-weighted fast (turbo) spin echo sequence (T1 CS-SPACE prototype) was applied post gadolinium with an isotropic resolution of 0.55 mm. Bilateral proximal intradural ICA and VA segments were evaluated for presence, morphology, and longitudinal extension of VWE.

Results

Concentric VWE of the proximal intradural ICA was found in 13 (30%) patients, and of the proximal intradural VA in 39 (91%) patients. Mean longitudinal extension of VWE after dural entry was 13 mm in the VA and 2 mm in the ICA. In 14 of 39 patients (36%) with proximal intradural VWE, morphology of VWE was suggestive of the mere presence of vasa vasorum. In 25 patients (64 %), morphology indicated atherosclerotic lesions in addition to vasa vasorum.

Conclusions

Vasa vasorum may account for concentric VWE within the proximal 2 mm of the ICA and 13 mm of the VA after dural entry in elderly subjects. Concentric VWE in these locations should not be confused with large artery vasculitis. Distal to these segments, VWE may be more likely related to pathologic conditions such as vasculitis.

Key Points

• Vasa vasorum may account for concentric VWE within the proximal 2 mm of the ICA and 13 mm of the VA after dural entry in non-vasculitic elderly people.

• Concentric enhancement within the proximal 2 mm of the intradural ICA and within the proximal 13 mm of the intradural VA portions should not be misinterpreted as vasculitis.

• Distal of this, VWE is likely related to pathologic conditions, in case of concentric VWE suggestive of vasculitis.
Congenital anomalies and genetic disorders in neonates and infants: a single-center observational cohort study
Authors: Marouane A. , Olde Keizer R. A. C. M. , Frederix G. W. J. , Vissers L. E. L. M. , de Boode W. P. , van Zelst-Stams W. A. G.
Published: August 2021

Neonates with genetic disorders or congenital anomalies (CA) contribute considerably to morbidity and mortality in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The objective of this study is to study the prevalence of genetic disorders in an academic level IV NICU. We retrospective collected and analyzed both clinical and genetic data of all 1444 infants admitted to the NICU of the Radboudumc (October 2013 to October 2015). Data were collected until infants reached at least 2 years of age. A total of 13% (194/1444) of the patients were genetically tested, and 32% (461/1444) had a CA. A total of 37% (72/194) had a laboratory-confirmed genetic diagnosis. In 53%, the diagnosis was made post-neonatally (median age = 209 days) using assays including exome sequencing. Exactly 63% (291/461) of the patients with CA, however, never received genetic testing, despite being clinically similar those who did.

Conclusions: Genetic disorders were suspected in 13% of the cohort, but only confirmed in 5%. Most received their genetic diagnosis in the post-neonatal period. Extrapolation of the diagnostic yield suggests that up to 6% of our cohort may have remained genetically undiagnosed. Our data show the need to improve genetic care in the NICU for more inclusive, earlier, and faster genetic diagnosis to enable tailored management.

What is Known:• Genetic disorders are suspected in many neonates but only genetically confirmed in a minority.• The presence of a genetic disorder can be easily missed and will often lead to a diagnostic odyssey requiring extensive evaluations, both clinically and genetically.

What is New:• Different aspects of the clinical features and uptake of genetic test in a NICU cohort.• The need to improve genetic care in the NICU for more inclusive, earlier, and faster genetic diagnosis to enable tailored management.
Analysis of cytokines in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with immune-checkpoint inhibitor-associated pneumonitis: a cross-sectional case–control study
Authors: Kowalski Benedikt , Valaperti Alan , Bezel Pascal , Steiner Urs C. , Scholtze Dieter , Wieser Stephan , Vonow-Eisenring Maya , Widmer Andrea , Kohler Malcolm , Franzen Daniel
Published: August 2021

Purpose

Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) present a new treatment for malignancies by boosting the immune system. This has led to a variety of immune-related adverse events, including ICI-associated pneumonitis (ICIaP). Diagnosis thereof is often challenging, and its pathogenesis has not yet been fully understood. The aim of this cross-sectional case–control study was to investigate cytokines in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) expressed in patients with ICIaP compared to controls consisting of healthy individuals, patients with lung cancer and patients with interstitial lung diseases (ILD) other than ICIaP.

Methods

From January 2018 until June 2019, 401 adult patients with various lung diseases were prospectively enrolled in a BALF- and serum biobank, called BALOTHEK. Of these, 12 patients were diagnosed with ICIaP (Pembrolizumab, Ipilimumab, or both, and Durvalumab) serving as case group. Subjects with one of three diagnosis groups from BALOTHEK, including lung cancer, ILD other than ICIaP, and healthy individuals, served as matched controls. The following 11 cytokines were simultaneously analyzed in BALF and serum of each study participant: interferon gamma, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL) 1b, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, IL-13 and IL-17A. This study was approved by the local ethic review committee (BASEC-ID 2017-02,307 and 2018-01,724).

Results

Absolute number and percentage of lymphocytes in BALF of patients with ICIaP were significantly higher compared to control groups. For the investigated cytokines in BALF, a significant increase of IL-6 level was shown for patients with ICIaP compared to control groups (p = 0.031, adjusted for multiple comparisons).

Conclusion

Cytokine profile assessed in BALF shows promising potential for facilitating diagnosis and understanding of pathophysiology of ICIaP. IL-6 may not only contribute to better understanding of pathophysiology but also herald therapeutic implications for Tocilizumab.
Characterization of the first Pseudomonas grimontii bacteriophage, PMBT3
Authors: Sprotte Sabrina , Brinks Erik , Wagner Natalia , Kropinski Andrew M. , Neve Horst , Franz Charles M. A. P.
Published: August 2021

The complete genome sequence of the virulent bacteriophage PMBT3, isolated on the proteolytic Pseudomonas grimontii strain MBTL2-21, showed no significant similarity to other known phage genome sequences, making this phage the first reported to infect a strain of P. grimontii. Electron microscopy revealed PMBT3 to be a member of the family Siphoviridae, with notably long and flexible whiskers. The linear, double-stranded genome of 87,196 bp has a mol% G+C content of 60.4 and contains 116 predicted protein-encoding genes. A putative tellurite resistance (terB) gene, originally reported to occur in the genome of a bacterium, was detected in the genome of phage PMBT3.
Comparison of ARIMA, ETS, NNAR, TBATS and hybrid models to forecast the second wave of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Italy
Authors: Perone Gaetano
Published: August 2021

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a severe, ongoing, novel pandemic that emerged in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. As of January 21, 2021, the virus had infected approximately 100 million people, causing over 2 million deaths. This article analyzed several time series forecasting methods to predict the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic’s second wave in Italy (the period after October 13, 2020). The autoregressive moving average (ARIMA) model, innovations state space models for exponential smoothing (ETS), the neural network autoregression (NNAR) model, the trigonometric exponential smoothing state space model with Box–Cox transformation, ARMA errors, and trend and seasonal components (TBATS), and all of their feasible hybrid combinations were employed to forecast the number of patients hospitalized with mild symptoms and the number of patients hospitalized in the intensive care units (ICU). The data for the period February 21, 2020–October 13, 2020 were extracted from the website of the Italian Ministry of Health (www.salute.gov.it). The results showed that (i) hybrid models were better at capturing the linear, nonlinear, and seasonal pandemic patterns, significantly outperforming the respective single models for both time series, and (ii) the numbers of COVID-19-related hospitalizations of patients with mild symptoms and in the ICU were projected to increase rapidly from October 2020 to mid-November 2020. According to the estimations, the necessary ordinary and intensive care beds were expected to double in 10 days and to triple in approximately 20 days. These predictions were consistent with the observed trend, demonstrating that hybrid models may facilitate public health authorities’ decision-making, especially in the short-term.
The State of Lifelong Learning in Service Robots:
Authors: Kasaei S. Hamidreza , Melsen Jorik , van Beers Floris , Steenkist Christiaan , Voncina Klemen
Published: August 2021

Service robots are appearing more and more in our daily life. The development of service robots combines multiple fields of research, from object perception to object manipulation. The state-of-the-art continues to improve to make a proper coupling between object perception and manipulation. This coupling is necessary for service robots not only to perform various tasks in a reasonable amount of time but also to continually adapt to new environments and safely interact with non-expert human users. Nowadays, robots are able to recognize various objects, and quickly plan a collision-free trajectory to grasp a target object in predefined settings. Besides, in most of the cases, there is a reliance on large amounts of training data. Therefore, the knowledge of such robots is fixed after the training phase, and any changes in the environment require complicated, time-consuming, and expensive robot re-programming by human experts. Therefore, these approaches are still too rigid for real-life applications in unstructured environments, where a significant portion of the environment is unknown and cannot be directly sensed or controlled. In such environments, no matter how extensive the training data used for batch learning, a robot will always face new objects. Therefore, apart from batch learning, the robot should be able to continually learn about new object categories and grasp affordances from very few training examples on-site. Moreover, apart from robot self-learning, non-expert users could interactively guide the process of experience acquisition by teaching new concepts, or by correcting insufficient or erroneous concepts. In this way, the robot will constantly learn how to help humans in everyday tasks by gaining more and more experiences without the need for re-programming. In this paper, we review a set of previously published works and discuss advances in service robots from object perception to complex object manipulation and shed light on the current challenges and bottlenecks.
The Darker Side of Ageing: Towards an Ethics of Suffering that Emphasises the Primacy of Witnessing
Authors: van Wijngaarden Els
Published: August 2021

Many older adults succeed in finding meaning in life, even in deep old age. There is, however, a minority of older adults, in particular among the oldest old, who feel that life no longer makes sense: they suffer from the consequences of old age, explicated in feelings of loneliness, social isolation and disconnectedness, and fears for (further) decline and dependency. This article seeks to address this darker side of ageing. It discusses probing questions including: what can we learn from the stories of those who severely struggle with the consequences of old age? And how might these stories guide us in finding ways how we – both as fellow human beings and as a society – can face and respond to suffering in old age? To achieve this, this article first briefly outlines the scholarship on suffering and explores the idea of suffering from life in old age. Secondly, drawing on empirical work, it reflects on the phenomenological question: what is it like to suffer from life in old age? What does it mean to live with a deep sense that life is no longer worth living? Then, thirdly, building on these insights, the aim is to work towards developing an ethics of suffering that emphasises the primacy of witnessing. It is argued that in the confrontation with manifestations of meaninglessness and suffering that cannot be solved or remedied, we need bystanders who are willing to name, to narrate, to give voice and connect to these experiences of suffering.
Predicting the discharge coefficient of oblique cylindrical weir using neural network techniques
Authors: Ismael Adnan A. , Suleiman Saleh J. , Al-Nima Raid Rafi Omar , Al-Ansari Nadhir
Published: August 2021

Cylindrical weir shapes offer a steady-state overflow pattern, where the type of weirs can offer a simple design and provide the ease-to-pass floating debris. This study considers a coefficient of discharge (Cd) prediction for oblique cylindrical weir using three diameters, the first is of D1 = 0.11 m, the second is of D2 = 0.09 m, and the third is of D3 = 0.06.5 m, and three inclination angles with respect to channel axis, the first is of θ1 = 90 ͦ, the second is of θ2 = 45 ͦ, and the third is of θ3 = 30 ͦ. The Cd values for total of 56 experiments are estimated by using the radial basis function network (RBFN), in addition of comparing that with the back-propagation neural network (BPNN) and cascade-forward neural network (CFNN). Root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), and correlation coefficient (CC) statics are used as metrics measurements. The RBFN attained superior performance comparing to the other neural networks of BPNN and CFNN. It is found that, for the training stage, the RBFN network benchmarked very small RMSE and MSE values of 1.35E-12 and 1.83E-24, respectively and for the testing stage, it also could benchmark very small RMSE and MSE values of 0.0082 and 6.80E-05, respectively.
Inheritance vs. infectivity as a mechanism of malady and death of Frederic Chopin
Authors: Witt Michał , Dobosz Tadeusz
Published: August 2021

Based on a macroscopic analysis of the heart of Frederic Chopin performed in 2014, it can be stated with high probability that the composer suffered from a long lasting tuberculosis as a primary disease, which was the cause of progressive deterioration of his physical condition and numerous symptoms mainly from the respiratory tract. Tuberculous pericarditis rapidly progressing within a rather short period of time, a relatively rare complication of diffuse tuberculosis, might have been an immediate cause of death. This would aptly coincide with a startling opinion that in an autopsy picture the composer’s heart had been more affected by the disease than the lungs.