bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Groupers and moray eels (GME) optimization: a nature-inspired metaheuristic algorithm for solving complex engineering problems
Authors: Mansour Nehal A. , Saraya M. Sabry , Saleh Ahmed I.
Published: November 2024

As engineering technology advances and the number of complex engineering problems increases, there is a growing need to expand the abundance of swarm intelligence algorithms and enhance their performance. It is crucial to develop, assess, and hybridize new powerful algorithms that can be used to deal with optimization issues in different fields. This paper proposes a novel nature-inspired algorithm, namely the Groupers and Moray Eels (GME) optimization algorithm, for solving various optimization problems. GME mimics the associative hunting between groupers and moray eels. Many species, including chimpanzees and lions, have shown cooperation during hunting. Cooperative hunting among animals of different species, which is called associative hunting, is extremely rare. Groupers and moray eels have complementary hunting approaches. Cooperation is thus mutually beneficial because it increases the likelihood of both species successfully capturing prey. The two predators have complementary hunting methods when they work together, and an associated hunt creates a multi-predator attack that is difficult to evade. This example of hunting differs from that of groups of animals of the same species due to the high level of coordination among the two species. GME consists of four phases: primary search, pair association, encircling or extended search, and attacking and catching. The behavior characteristics are mathematically represented to allow for an adequate balance between GME exploitation and exploration. Experimental results indicate that the GME outperforms competing algorithms in terms of accuracy, execution time, convergence rate, and the ability to locate all or the majority of local or global optima.
Anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibody in primary sclerosing cholangitis: a Japanese nationwide study
Authors: Yasuda Muneji , Shiokawa Masahiro , Kuwada Takeshi , Nishikawa Yoshihiro , Nakanishi Risa , Takimoto Ikuhisa , Chikugo Koki , Yokode Masataka , Muramoto Yuya , Matsumoto Shimpei , Nakamura Takeharu , Ota Sakiko , Matsumori Tomoaki , Kuroda Keiko , Hachiya Takahisa , Yamazaki Hajime , Uza Norimitsu , Kodama Yuzo , Chiba Tsutomu , Fujisawa Toshio , Komori Atsumasa , Abe Masanori , Yamaguchi Izumi , Matsuda Fumihiko , Isayama Hiroyuki , Tanaka Atsushi , Seno Hiroshi ,   on behalf of the Japan PSC Study Group (JPSCSG)
Published: November 2024

Background

Although specific biomarkers for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are required, no such biomarkers have been identified. We previously reported that patients with PSC had anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies at only two hospitals. In this study, we aimed to validate the accuracy of the autoantibodies in diagnosing PSC using the newly developed Anti-integrin αvβ6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) Kit, which enables quantitation and comparison of antibodies among different facilities.

Methods

Overall, 81 patients with PSC in a Japanese PSC registry recruited from 17 medical centers and hospitals, and 358 controls were enrolled. We retrospectively assessed anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies using the Anti-integrin αvβ6 ELISA Kit and in-house ELISA.

Results

Anti-Integrin αvβ6 ELISA Kit and in-house ELISA exhibited a significant correlation (r = 0.97, P < 0.001). Anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies were detected in 67 of 81 (82.7%) patients with PSC and 20 of 358 (5.6%) controls, resulting in a sensitivity of 82.7% and specificity of 94.4% for PSC, using the anti-integrin αvβ6 ELISA Kit. When focusing on the presence or absence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the sensitivities for PSC with ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, unclassified-IBD, and without IBD were 97.8% (43/44), 100% (1/1), 80.0% (8/10), and 53.8% (7/13), respectively. Antibody concentrations were significantly higher in PSC patients without IBD than in controls (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

We validated that anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies have high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing PSC. This study provides further evidence that anti-integrin αvβ6 autoantibodies are a useful biomarker for diagnosing PSC.
Real-world outcomes of avelumab plus axitinib in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma in Japan: long-term follow-up from the J-DART2 retrospective study
Authors: Kato Taigo , Furukawa Junya , Hinata Nobuyuki , Ueda Kosuke , Hara Isao , Hongo Fumiya , Mizuno Ryuichi , Okamoto Teppei , Okuno Hiroshi , Ito Takayuki , Kajita Masahiro , Oya Mototsugu , Tomita Yoshihiko , Shinohara Nobuo , Eto Masatoshi , Uemura Hirotsugu
Published: November 2024

Background

Avelumab + axitinib was approved for advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) in Japan in December 2019. We report long-term real-world outcomes with first-line avelumab + axitinib from the J-DART2 study in Japan.

Methods

J-DART2 was a multicenter, noninterventional, retrospective study examining clinical data from patients with curatively unresectable locally advanced or metastatic RCC who started treatment with first-line avelumab + axitinib in Japan between December 2019 and October 2022. Endpoints included patient characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes.

Results

Data from 150 patients across 19 sites were analyzed; median follow-up was 18.7 months (95% CI, 16.3–20.6 months). Median age was 70.5 years; 26.0% of patients were aged ≤64 years, 42.7% were aged 65–74 years, and 31.3% were aged ≥75 years. International Metastatic RCC Database Consortium risk was favorable in 26.0%, intermediate in 54.7% (1 risk factor in 30.7%; 2 risk factors in 24.0%), and poor in 19.3% of patients. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 17.1 months, with 1- and 2-year PFS rates of 57.7% and 37.5%, respectively. Median overall survival (OS) was not reached, with 1- and 2-year OS rates of 90.6% and 84.7%, respectively. Objective response rate was 53.3%; disease control rate was 88.9%. Outcomes were similar across age groups, including patients aged ≥75 years.

Conclusions

J-DART2 is the largest retrospective study to report long-term real-world outcomes in patients with aRCC treated with avelumab + axitinib in Japan. Findings were similar to those observed in previous studies and support the benefit of avelumab + axitinib in clinical practice in Japan.
Electronic patient-reported outcomes as digital therapeutics for patients with cancer: a narrative review of current practices and future directions
Authors: Yamaguchi Ken , Higashiyama Nozomi , Umemiya Maki , Inayama Yoshihide , Koike Ayami , Ueda Akihiko , Mizuno Rin , Taki Mana , Yamanoi Koji , Murakami Ryusuke , Hamanishi Junzo , Mandai Masaki
Published: November 2024

Improved cancer treatment outcomes have increased the demand for medical care that considers the quality of life of patients with cancer. Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) help assess the quality of life because they involve direct evaluation of the patients. Recently, electronic PROs (ePROs) have been used in clinical cancer care settings in Europe and the United States. Electronic PROs positively affected communication between patients with cancer and healthcare providers, enhanced education, optimized self-management, contributed to healthcare economics, assisted in monitoring adverse events, and improved prognosis. However, challenges such as adherence, burden on healthcare providers, lack of personalized formats, low digital literacy, and implementation costs remain. Therefore, carefully selecting the items to be recorded by ePROs in alignment with specific objectives is essential. Additionally, developing systems using lifelogs—digital records of daily activities—and creating mechanisms that automatically encourage patient behavioral changes based on the reported data are crucial. This review delineates the advantages and challenges of ePROs according to their history and proposes the prospects of ePRO.
Optimal investment strategies under the relative performance in jump-diffusion markets
Authors: Aydoğan Burcu , Steffensen Mogens
Published: November 2024

We work on a portfolio management problem for one agent and a large group of agents under relative performance concerns in jump-diffusion markets with the CRRA utility function. Herein, we define two wealth dynamics: the agent’s and the group’s wealth. We measure the performances of both the agent and the group with preferences linked to the group performance. Therefore, we have stochastic optimal control problems for both the representative agent and the group to determine what the group does and the agent’s optimal proportion in the portfolio relative to the group’s performance. Further, our framework assumes that the agent’s performance does not affect the group, while the group affects the agent’s utility. Moreover, we investigate special cases where all agents in the market are homogeneous in their risk aversion and relative performances. We explore the qualitative behavior of the agent and show some numerical results depending on her relative performance consideration and risk tolerance degree.
Incremental model transformations with triple graph grammars for multi-version models and multi-version pattern matching
Authors: Barkowsky Matthias , Giese Holger
Published: November 2024

Like conventional software projects, projects in model-driven software engineering require adequate management of multiple versions of development artifacts, importantly allowing living with temporary inconsistencies. In previous work, we have introduced multi-version models for model-driven software engineering, which allow checking well-formedness and finding merge conflicts for multiple versions of the same model at once. However, situations where different models are linked via automatic model transformations also have to be handled for multi-version models. In this paper, we propose a technique for jointly handling the transformation of multiple versions of a source model into corresponding versions of a target model. This enables the use of a more compact representation that may afford improved execution time of both the transformation and further analysis. Our approach is based on the well-known formalism of triple graph grammars and the aforementioned encoding of model version histories called multi-version models. In addition to batch transformation of an entire history, the technique covers incremental synchronization of changes in the framework of multi-version models. Our solution is complemented by a dedicated pattern matching technique for multi-version models. We show the correctness of our approach with respect to the standard semantics of triple graph grammars and conduct an empirical evaluation to investigate the performance of our technique regarding execution time and memory consumption. Our results indicate that the proposed solution affords lower memory consumption and may improve execution time for batch transformation of large version histories, but can also come with computational overhead in unfavorable cases.
Applying and benchmarking a stochastic programming-based bidding strategy for day-ahead hydropower scheduling
Authors: Fleten Kristine Klock , Aasgård Ellen Krohn , Xing Liyuan , Grøttum Hanne Høie , Fleten Stein-Erik , Gundersen Odd Erik
Published: November 2024

Aneo is one of the first Nordic power companies to apply stochastic programming for day-ahead bidding of hydropower. This paper describes our experiences in implementing, testing, and operating a stochastic programming-based bidding method aimed at setting up an automated process for day-ahead bidding. The implementation process has faced challenges such as generating price scenarios for the optimization model, post-processing optimization results to create feasible and understandable bids, and technically integrating these into operational systems. Additionally, comparing the bids from the new stochastic-based method to the existing operator-determined bids has been challenging, which is crucial for building trust in new procedures. Our solution is a rolling horizon comparison, benchmarking the performance of the bidding methods over consecutive two-week periods. Our benchmarking results show that the stochastic method can replicate the current operator-determined bidding strategy. However, additional work is needed before we can fully automate the stochastic bidding setup, particularly in addressing inflow uncertainty and managing special constraints on our watercourses.
Clinical and pathologic characteristics of inflamed juvenile conjunctival nevus and its treatment with immunosuppressant eye drops
Authors: Tomoda Ayako , Araki-Sasaki Kaoru , Obata Hiroto , Ideta Shinji , Kuroda Masahiko , Fujita Koji , Osakabe Yasuhiro , Takahashi Kanji
Published: November 2024

Purpose

To clarify the clinical and pathologic findings of 7 patients with inflamed juvenile conjunctival nevus (IJCN) treated with tacrolimus.

Study design

Retrospective study.

Subjects and Methods

The medical records of 7 male patients diagnosed with IJCN between February 2007 and October 2022 at the Kansai Medical University Hospital and Ideta Eye Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The patients’ mean age was 11.3 (8–20) years, and the average follow-up period was 18 months. The patients underwent anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA). All the patients were treated with steroids or immunosuppressant eye drops, or both. Histopathologic examinations were performed on specimens resected from 2 patients.

Results

The clinical characteristics of IJCN were as follows: (1) presence of cysts within a pigmented conjunctival mass, (2) tumor accompanied by feeder vessels, and (3) predominantly found in boys with allergic diseases. AS-OCT and AS-OCTA revealed the presence of a cystic structure with poor vascular signals within it and numerous vessels distributed on the sclera underlying the lesion. Immunosuppressant eye drops relieved the congestion, diminished the inflow vessels, and induced shrinkage of the cysts in all the patients. Histopathologic examinations revealed infiltration of inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes and macrophages and low proliferative activity of melanocytes with no division pattern.

Conclusions

This study clarified the clinical and histologic characteristics of IJCN. Noninvasive AS-OCT and AS-OCTA might be useful for diagnosing IJCN. The histopathologic findings of this study indicate that immunosuppressive and antiallergic agents can effectively bring about disease remission.
Team science in interdisciplinary health professions education research: a multi-institutional case study
Authors: Gesing Peggy , Tornwall Joni , Kulo Violet , McBrien Sarah , Hoang Thuha , Jun Hyun-Jin , Burbage Amanda , Jia Yuane , Cestone Christina
Published: November 2024

The interdisciplinary nature of health professions education requires exploration of problems by interdisciplinary research teams. Drawing on the Dynamics of Cross-disciplinary Research Development conceptual framework, this study explores the processes and experiences of an interdisciplinary research team, identifying elements of successful collaboration. Case study data were collected from a team of nine researchers from six universities. Data included meeting minutes and researcher reflections. Researcher reflection and meeting minute themes converged within the framework constructs: Contexts and inputs, social learning processes, social capital outcomes, and knowledge and human capital outcomes. This study provides a blueprint for interdisciplinary researchers indicating that successful collaboration starts with transparent, distributed leadership. The convergence of data illustrates how social learning processes, social capital outcomes, and knowledge and human capital outcomes facilitate research team outcomes.
A systematic literature review of recent advances on context-aware recommender systems
Authors: Mateos Pablo , Bellogín Alejandro
Published: November 2024

Recommender systems are software mechanisms whose usage is to offer suggestions for different types of entities like products, services, or contacts that could be useful or interesting for a specific user. Other ways have been explored in the field to enhance the power of these systems by integrating the context as an additional attribute. This inclusion tries to extract the user preferences more accurately taking into account multiple components such as temporal, spatial, or social ones. Notwithstanding the magnitude of context-awareness in this area, the research community is in agreement with the lack of framework for context information and how to integrate it into recommender systems. Under this premise, this paper focuses on a comprehensive systematic literature review of the state-of-the-art recommendation techniques and their characteristics to benefit from contextual information. The following survey presents the following contributions as outcomes of our study: (i) determine a framework where multiple aspects are taken into account to have a clear definition of context representation, (ii) the techniques used to incorporate context, and (iii) the evaluation of these methods in terms of reproducibility and effectiveness. Our review also covers some crucial topics about context integration, classification of the contexts, application domains, and evaluation of the used datasets, metrics, and code implementations, where we observed clear shiftings in algorithmic and evaluation trends towards Neural Network approaches and ranking metrics, respectively. Just as importantly, future research opportunities and directions are exposed as final closure, standing out the exploitation of various data sources and the scalability and customization of existing solutions.
3-Preprojective Algebras of Type D
Authors: Haden Jordan
Published: November 2024

We present a family of selfinjective algebras of type D, which arise from the 3-preprojective algebras of type A by taking a

$$\mathbb {Z}_3$$

Z
3

-quotient. We show that a subset of these are themselves 3-preprojective algebras, and that the associated 2-representation-finite algebras are fractional Calabi-Yau. In addition, we show our work is connected to modular invariants for SU(3).
Biodiversity skepticism and measurement practices
Authors: Bocchi Federica
Published: November 2024

This paper challenges “biodiversity skepticism:” an inferential move that acknowledges the proliferation, heterogeneity, and lack of covariance of biodiversity measurements, and concludes that we should doubt the scientific validity of the biodiversity concept. As a way out of skepticism, philosophers have advocated for eliminating “biodiversity” from scientific inquiry, revising it, or deflating its meaning into a single measurable dimension. I present a counterargument to the inferential move of the skeptic by revealing how it stands on two unstated premises, namely a reflective view of measurements and the unidirectional dynamics between definitional and measurement practices, and corollary assumptions. These premises and assumptions are misaligned with a richer theoretical understanding of measurement and are sometimes inconsistent with how science operates. A more nuanced view of measurement could better explain measurement proliferation while being consistent with new ways in which the general biodiversity concept could be useful. To conclude, I urge philosophers of measurement and conceptual engineers to collaborate in tackling the interplay between conceptual change and measurement practices.
Online Therapy for Children: Yay or Nay? Clinicians’ Insights from the COVID-19 Era
Authors: Hagyari-Donaldson Paulina , Scott Nicola
Published: November 2024

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated an almost overnight shift in mental healthcare from in-person to remote delivery. However, the feasibility of online therapy for children and its potential as a long-term fixture remain underexplored.

Objective

This study aimed to explore the advantages, disadvantages, and suitability of online therapy for children, as perceived by pediatric clinicians delivering remote psychological interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

Six qualified child psychologists with limited pre-pandemic online therapy experience were surveyed about their perspectives on online therapy for children using a qualitative descriptive approach. Data was analyzed using thematic network analysis.

Results

Analysis revealed themes relating to: issues encountered in the areas of technology, resource availability, and therapeutic alliance; perceived advantages in children being digital natives, and online therapy’s wide accessibility; and (un)suitability of specific client profiles and therapeutic techniques.

Conclusions

Psychological interventions delivered via videoconferencing are not suitable for all children, but can be greatly beneficial for some. Client- and intervention-specific findings from this study can be used to guide future research aimed at clinical practice, developing tailored approaches, and informing policy for improving access to pediatric mental healthcare.
Examining the Transition from Single Words to Phrase Speech in Children with ASD: A Systematic Review
Authors: Byrne Katherine , Sterrett Kyle , Lord Catherine
Published: November 2024

“Functional speech” by 5 years of age is widely established as increasing the probability of long-term positive outcomes across a range of domains for autistic individuals. While terms such as “functional” or “useful” speech are often used, what defines these terms is not well established. Furthermore, most research focusing on language development has emphasized the transition from little or no language to use of single words, but much less is known about the transition from single words to phrase speech, which could be equally important. The verb lexicon is foundational to the development of simple, generative phrases and has been linked to prosocial behaviors and general developmental outcomes including better social communication skills, socioemotional reciprocity, and nonverbal communication in autistic children. The current systematic review synthesized information from 20 independent samples to characterize autistic children who transitioned from single words to phrase speech. On average, 48% of the pooled sample transitioned to phrase speech during the study periods. Results were highly variable across studies. Participants under the age of 5 years were more likely to transition to phrases than participants over the age of 5. Though average standard scores were above 50, children who transitioned to phrases generally demonstrated below average adaptive and cognitive skills and moderate-high ASD symptomatology. Variable measures of cognition made it difficult to ascertain patterns in cognitive skills; nonetheless, nonverbal IQ emerged as a salient predictor of the transition to phrases across studies. More research is needed to better understand who transitions beyond single words, clinical benchmarks on the way to generative phrase speech and the factors that predict this transition. Such information can be used to inform clinical decision making and develop or improve targeted interventions based on individual communication profiles. This could make the use of phrases more likely for a greater number of autistic individuals, increasing the likelihood that these individuals communicate independently and effectively with others.
Will the Intervention Benefit My Client? Helping Social Workers to Answer the Question Using Indicators of Clinically Meaningful Change
Authors: Bergström Martin , Baviskar Siddhartha
Published: November 2024

Social workers strive to provide the best support to each client, making it crucial to consider not just group-level effects of interventions but also individual outcomes. While empirical evidence often stems from group-based analyses, these offer limited insights into individual change, which is key for tailoring interventions. The aim of this study is to highlight the importance of individual-level analyses, an underexplored area in social work, using four indicators of “clinically meaningful change” (CMC). We compare these analyses with group-level analyses using a dataset of 146 Swedish families undergoing Functional Family Therapy (FFT), an intervention with strong empirical support. While group-level analyses confirmed FFT’s general effectiveness in reducing adolescent psychosocial symptoms, individual-level analyses revealed a more nuanced picture, showing variations in outcomes—positive, negative, and neutral. The study thus demonstrates the value of CMC indicators for generating individual-level information that social workers can harness to find optimal solutions for their individual clients.
Russian Immigrant Families’ Child Care Selection in the United States
Authors: Novikova Ekaterina , Hallam Rena , Pic Annette
Published: November 2024

Research on immigrant populations shows that child care choices are dependent on the population’s region of origin. While the Russian immigrant population in the United States comprises the largest group of immigrants from Eastern Europe and is likely to increase in the future, there is virtually no research on Russian immigrant families’ child care search and selection criteria. This qualitative study applies the theoretical model of Pungello and Kurtz-Costes (1999), which illustrates how factors such as parental demographic characteristics, environmental context, child characteristics, and parental beliefs play into families’ child care selection. The study draws from semi-structured interviews with 11 Russian immigrant families residing in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States to examine their child care search processes and selection criteria. Results revealed that most parents found child care through friends’ recommendations, Internet search, and online reviews. Nine themes describing child care criteria valued by Russian immigrant families emerged from the analysis. Specifically, parents mentioned culture and personal beliefs, child characteristics, convenience, cost and subsidy, education and learning, program features, facilities and environment, teacher characteristics, and rating and reputation as the major factors in selecting child care. Understanding Russian immigrant parents’ child care information sources and selection criteria will allow for early care and education (ECE) providers to accommodate the needs of Russian immigrant population and for policymakers to facilitate access to ECE programs for these families.
Chemical analysis of toxic elements: total cadmium, lead, mercury, arsenic and inorganic arsenic in local and imported rice consumed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alrashdi May M. , Ragazzon-Smith Abby , Strashnov Ilya , Polya David A.
Published: November 2024

Rice consumption is a pathway for human exposure to toxic elements. Although rice is a major staple in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) there is limited published data about its toxic element composition. Both imported and locally grown Hassawi rice in Saudi Arabia were collected, digested then analysed by HPLC-ICP-MS for inorganic arsenic (i-As) and by ICP-MS for As, Cd, Pb and Hg. Of these toxic elements, i-As was present at concentrations that might give rise to material concerns about human exposure and public health. Hassawi rice (mean 43 ± 5 µg/kg) was found to have significantly lower concentrations of i-As than imported rice (mean 73 ± 8 µg/kg). The estimated exposure of adults consuming imported rice in one KSA city reached 0.3 µg/kg-bw/day, within the margin of safety of the recently withdrawn WHO PTWI for i-As of 2.1 µg/kg-bw/day and higher than EFSA’s 0.06 µg/kg-bw/day skin cancer BMDL05.
War, higher education and development: the experience for educationalists at Gaza’s universities
Authors: Jebril Mona
Published: November 2024

The 2014 Israeli war on the Gaza Strip was described, as the ‘longest’ and ‘most violent’, compared to previous wars since 2008. This paper reports on this war experiences for educationalists (academic staff and students) at two of Gaza’s universities. It draws on 36 in-depth semi-structured interviews with educationalists in the Gaza Strip, which I conducted via Skype and mobile/phones from the UK, for my PhD research at the University of Cambridge. Theoretically, the inductive study uses insights from Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Bourdieu’s work on symbolic violence, retrospectively. Findings from this research show the impact of the war on Gaza’s educationalists has varied between vulnerability and resilience. The memories of loss, fear, and dehumanization continued to affect educationalists, even after the war came to halt. Some of Gaza’s universities buildings, and facilities were also damaged. Consequently, Gaza’s universities found themselves in a dilemma on how to manage immediate needs, with developmental prospects. This paper documents the history of Gaza’s universities, enhancing our sociological understanding of the experiences of higher education in the Gaza Strip, and the challenges for its development. The research widens the geographical scope of research on conflict, and education, by including the experiences of educationalists in the occupied and besieged context of Gaza, which is significantly under-researched. Insights from this research could be useful to inform the process of reconstruction of higher education in the Gaza Strip, after Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip, since 7th October 2023 comes to end.
Alexithymia, Inner Thinking Patterns, and Perceptions of Mental Health Therapy Strategies Among Autistic Adults
Authors: Mazurek Micah O. , Pappagianopoulos Jessica , Brunt Sophie , Menezes Michelle , Smith Jessica V. , Howard Mya
Published: November 2024

Purpose

Autistic adults are at high risk for mental health challenges, yet there has been limited research on mental health interventions for this population. Individual differences in how thoughts and emotions are perceived may directly relate to the success of specific therapy strategies. This study examined whether alexithymia and inner thinking patterns relate to helpfulness and ease of use of mental health therapy strategies among autistic adults.

Method

Participants (n = 269 autistic adults, ages 21–77) completed questionnaires assessing alexithymia, inner thinking patterns (i.e., self-talk, verbal thinking, visual thinking), and experiences with mental health therapy strategies. Ordinal logistic regressions were used to examine associations between alexithymia, inner thinking, and perceived helpfulness and ease of use of therapy strategies.

Results

Autistic adults with greater alexithymia found cognitive strategies more difficult to use, while those with greater frequency of self-talk found them easier to use. By contrast, autistic adults with greater visual thinking found guided imagery strategies easier to use. There were no associations between alexithymia or inner thinking and perceived helpfulness or ease of use of behavioral strategies (exposure, behavioral activation), mind–body relaxation strategies (deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation), or mindfulness meditation.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that some mental health strategies may be more difficult to implement for some autistic adults, depending on individual thinking profiles. However, alexithymia and inner thinking patterns were unrelated to the perceived helpfulness of mental health strategies. Overall, this highlights the importance of providing individualized supports and accommodations to optimize mental health therapy for autistic adults.
Beneficial role of short-term aging on creep performance of cold-worked Ti-added 14Cr–15Ni stainless steel
Authors: Vijayanand V. D. , Ruban R. , Sivapirakasam S. P. , Reddy G. V. Prasad , Nagesha A. , Vasudevan M.
Published: November 2024

The initial microstructure of cold-worked Ti-added 14Cr–15Ni stainless steel was modified through short-term aging and its influence on creep properties has been investigated at a test temperature of 973 K and two stress levels of 150 and 175 MPa. The improvement in rupture life of the condition comprising of post-aging was nominal at 175 MPa, but enhanced more than two times at 150 MPa when compared to the condition which comprised of prior cold work alone. Microstructural examination after creep testing showed that though M23C6 type of precipitates was prominent in both conditions, their size distribution varied with respect to processing condition (viz., one with prior cold work and another comprising of prior cold work followed by aging) as well as applied stress. Retention of cold work-induced dislocation structures aided by secondary TiC precipitates in the aged condition enhanced the rupture life at 150 MPa. Extensive recovery of the dislocation substructure was observed in the unaged condition tested at the same stress level. The size distribution of the dimples observed from the fractographs could be correlated with the extent of creep-induced cavitation. This work describes how the two preprocessing conditions influence the nucleation of M23C6 and secondary TiC precipitates during creep deformation.

Graphical Abstract
Optical spectroscopy of Nd3+-doped cadmium-rich borate glasses for near-infrared laser applications
Authors: Romero-Romo W. , Soriano-Romero O. , Caldiño U. , Carmona-Téllez S. , Lozada-Morales R. , Tomás Sergio A. , Meza-Rocha A. N.
Published: November 2024

The structural and spectroscopic properties of Nd3+-activated cadmium-rich borate (inverted) glasses are analyzed for near-infrared laser applications. The evaluation of the optimal glass-emitting sample by the Judd–Ofelt (JO) theory revealed JO parameter values of 4.56 × 10–20 cm2 (Ω2), 2.56 × 10–20 cm2 (Ω4), and 3.84 × 10–20 cm2 (Ω6). The Ω2 value, along with the experimental oscillator strength, suggested that the cadmium-rich borate glass could provide a more asymmetrical Nd3+ environment than other borate glasses like lithium-strontium-zinc, sodium-calcium, and lithium-lead-aluminum. In addition, the quality spectroscopy factor (χ = Ω4/Ω6) of 0.67 suggested that the 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 emission could be more suitable for laser applications. The stimulated emission cross-section (σp), theoretical quantum yield (ηQ), gain bandwidth (σp × Δλem), and optical gain (σp × τrad) laser parameters were close to those reported in sodium-calcium-borate, zinc-aluminum-barium-borate, and bismuth-borate glasses, while the non-radiative rate (WNR) and emission intensity saturation (IS) resulted to be lower. The emission spectra, under 808 nm laser excitation, displayed the featured neodymium 4F3/2 → 4I9/2,11/2,13/2 transitions, being the 4F3/2 → 4I11/2 (1058 nm) transition the more dominant one, in agreement with the χ parameter value. Nd3+ contents higher than 1.4 mol% led to emission quenching due to the increment of the cross-relaxation and/or energy migration rate. Such processes, according to the Inokuti–Hirayama model, were mainly mediated by electric dipole–dipole interactions within Nd–Nd clusters.
The role of Ni minor additions on the mechanical characteristics of Sn-1.5Ag-0.5 wt.% Cu (SAC155) Pb-free solder alloy
Authors: Eid E. A. , Fawzy A. , Mansour M. M. , Saad G. , Amin M.
Published: November 2024

Microstructure analysis, thermal behavior, and tensile creep characteristics of the Sn-1.5Ag-0.5Cu-x wt.% Ni (SAC155-xNi, x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 wt.%) solder alloys have been examined. The Ni additions have greatly modified the microstructure of Ni-free alloy into bulky fibrous eutectic regions and included the contemporary (Cu, Ni)6Sn5, and (Ni, Cu)3Sn4 IMCs. Ni additions slightly increased solidus temperature and melting temperature of them. The results of tensile creep resistance have shown dependence on Ni content and testing temperatures due to bulky fibrous eutectic regions and finer IMCs. Creep rates vary with Ni content across all temperatures and stresses. The SAC155-0.05Ni alloy has the lowest and the SAC-0.0Ni alloy has the highest creep rates at all tested conditions. The delicate dispersed IMCs of Ag3Sn and Cu–Ni–Sn resulted in a significant increase in stress exponent (n$$\approx $$
≈
5–8), enhancing its deformation resistance. The $$n$$
n
values of alloys decrease as the testing temperature rises due to a change in the dominant creep mechanism. The average values of activation energy (Q) of SAC155-xNi alloy ranged from 60.20 to 68.02 kJ/mol. These Q values are coherent to the process of pipe self-diffusion through dislocation cores.
A Novel Spectrofluorimetric Method for Vibegron in the Newly FDA Approved Pharmaceutical Formulation and in Human Plasma: Analytical QbD Strategy for Method Development and Optimization
Authors: Wadie Mina , Tantawy Mahmoud A. , Goda Zeinab M.
Published: November 2024

Vibegron is a novel selective beta-3 adrenergic receptor agonist molecule, recently approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in tablet pharmaceutical formulation for treating overactive bladder syndrome. Such formulation necessitates the development of a simple, fast and cost-effective methodology capable of assaying the drug in various real samples with high sensitivity. Herein, a facile and robust spectrofluorimetric method was introduced, for the first time, for vibegron quantification based on analytical quality-by-design approach. The method involves drug reaction with dansyl chloride at pH 9.8, as a smart approach to overcome the non-fluorescent nature of vibegron, giving a highly fluorescent yellow derivative measured at 514 nm after being excited at 345 nm. Plausible reaction scheme between the drug and dansyl chloride was elucidated through studying the differences in their infrared (IR) spectra. Variables affecting fluorescence intensities were carefully screened and rationally optimized via preliminary scouting studies and central composite design for accurate and robust results. Full International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) validation protocol was followed where linearity was achieved in range of 20.0–400.0 ng/mL with minimum detectability of 3.6 ng/mL. The proposed method expressed good capability in assaying the marketed dosage forms with no excipient inference. Finally, the high sensitivity of such method paved the way for extending its application to quantify vibegron in spiked human plasma at concentrations around its real human plasma concentrations for further bioavailability studies.
Activity-based measures of landscape fragmentation
Authors: Kerr Barbara , Remmel Tarmo K.
Published: November 2024

Context

Landscape fragmentation, which has demonstrated links to habitat loss, increased isolation, a loss of connectivity, and decreased biodiversity, is difficult to quantify. Traditional pattern-based approaches to measuring fragmentation use landscape metrics to quantify aspects of the composition or configuration of landscapes.

Objective

The objective of this study was to examine the relative improvements of an alternative activity-based approach using the cost of traversing a landscape as a proxy for fragmentation and compare it with the traditional approach.

Methods

One thousand binary landscapes varying in composition and configuration were simulated, and least-cost path analysis provided the data to calculate the activity-based metrics, which were compared with computed traditional pattern-based metrics.

Results

Activity-based fragmentation assessments were sensitive to levels of landscape fragmentation, but offered improvements over exiting pattern-based methods in that some metrics varied monotonically across the spectrum of landscape configurations and thus makes their interpretation more holistically meaningful.

Conclusions

This study provides a modular conceptual framework for assessing fragmentation using activity-based metrics that offer functional improvements over existing pattern-based approaches. While we present a focused theoretical implementation, the process to be measured and the scale of observation can be altered to suit specific user requirements, ecosystems, or species of interest.
Paternalistic Discrimination
Authors: Midtgaard Søren Flinch , Pedersen Viki Møller Lyngby
Published: November 2024

Some policies are paternalistic and discriminatory at the same time (e.g., certain benevolent sexist policies). Such policies constitute an interesting, yet somewhat overlooked, category. We scrutinize what paternalistic discrimination is and account for its wrongness. First, we argue that paternalistic discrimination is pro tanto wrong because it is disrespectful. The disrespect consists in the selective negligence or denial of some people’s moral power over their own good. This applies even if the policies and actions in question benefit those interfered with. Second, we show that paternalistic discrimination gives rise to a dilemma in situations where different social groups face different risks. In such situations, a choice must be made between (i) protecting people equally and (ii) respecting people's moral power over their own good equally. Finally, we show that paternalistic discrimination in certain cases shows a lack of respect for the moral worth of the persons who are not the target of the policies.
ATP Restoration by ATP-Deprived Cultured Primary Astrocytes
Authors: Karger Gabriele , Willker Johanna Elisabeth , Harders Antonia Regina , Watermann Patrick , Dringen Ralf
Published: November 2024

A high cellular concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is essential to fuel many important functions of brain astrocytes. Although cellular ATP depletion has frequently been reported for astrocytes, little is known on the metabolic pathways that contribute to ATP restoration by ATP-depleted astrocytes. Incubation of cultured primary rat astrocytes in glucose-free buffer for 60 min with the mitochondrial uncoupler BAM15 lowered the cellular ATP content by around 70%, the total amount of adenosine phosphates by around 50% and the adenylate energy charge (AEC) from 0.9 to 0.6. Testing for ATP restoration after removal of the uncoupler revealed that the presence of glucose as exclusive substrate allowed the cells to restore within 6 h around 80% of the initial ATP content, while coapplication of adenosine plus glucose enabled the cells to fully restore their initial ATP content within 60 min. A rapid but incomplete and transient ATP restoration was found for astrocytes that had been exposed to adenosine alone. This restoration was completely prevented by application of the pyruvate uptake inhibitor UK5099, the respiratory chain inhibitor antimycin A or by the continuous presence of BAM15. However, the presence of these compounds strongly accelerated the release of lactate from the cells, suggesting that the ribose moiety of adenosine can serve as substrate to fuel some ATP restoration via mitochondrial metabolism. Finally, the adenosine-accelerated ATP restoration in glucose-fed astrocytes was inhibited by the presence of the adenosine kinase inhibitor ABT-702. These data demonstrate that astrocytes require for a rapid and complete ATP restoration the presence of both glucose as substrate and adenosine as AMP precursor.
Review of landslide inventories for Nepal between 2010 and 2021 reveals data gaps in global landslide hotspot
Authors: Harvey Erin L. , Kincey Mark E. , Rosser Nick J. , Gadtaula Arishma , Collins Ethan , Densmore Alexander L. , Dunant Alexandre , Oven Katie J. , Arrell Katherine , Basyal Gopi K. , Dhital Megh Raj , Robinson Tom R. , Van Wyk de Vries Maximillian , Paudyal Sarmila , Pujara Dammar S. , Shrestha Ram
Published: November 2024

A review of landslide inventories provides an essential assessment of the state of knowledge around landslide hazard and can guide the focus of future studies. This is especially true in Nepal, which is highly prone to landslides, but lacks a comprehensive overview of landslide occurrence nationally. Here, we compile a database of 117 landslide inventories for Nepal released between 2010 and 2021. We review how these existing inventories shape our understanding of landsliding in Nepal and discuss how future research efforts could mitigate current challenges. We find that 40% of the country was only manually mapped once across the study period, and, crucially, these areas did not always correspond with areas of low landslide susceptibility. Instead, existing landslide inventories typically focus on specific areas, such as the region affected by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and major highway corridors. We also extrapolated the individual inventory characteristics from within this unique database to infer a national-scale areal density of 0.05 landslides per km2, equating to 6000 landslides across the country. This extrapolated value provides a baseline for future national-scale studies, especially for inventories created through automated mapping approaches. Our review highlights the importance of expanding the footprint of landslide inventories in Nepal to include regions with low mapping coverage and the need for inventories to be openly available, with clear protocols to enable inter-comparison. Whilst our review has focused on Nepal, these findings are likely to be relevant in other landslide-prone countries and our recommendations are intended to be applicable elsewhere.
Real-time DSP-Free 40 Gbit/s PAM4 transmission over 10 km fiber enabled by optical injection locking of directly modulated laser
Authors: Nazarikov Gleb , Rommel Simon , Tafur Monroy Idelfonso
Published: November 2024

We present a comprehensive performance analysis of injection-locked directly modulated laser (DML) for optical communication systems, focusing on both non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal transmission. We demonstrate real-time PAM4 40 Gbit/s transmission over 10 km of single-mode fiber enabled by optical injection locking without pre-emphasis or post-equalization, achieving a bit error rate (BER) below $${10^{-6}}$$

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, and doubling capacity compared to unlocked transmission with the same laser. Our study investigates the dependence of system performance on the injected power and frequency offset of the master laser. Results indicate that lower injection powers while maintaining a stable locking regime, yield better performance in terms of extinction ratio and BER. Optimized parameters lead to enhanced transmission performance, providing valuable insights into the design and optimization of injection-locked DML systems for optical communication applications employing direct modulation.