bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Tephra zircon U-Pb geochronology of kimberlite maar sedimentary fills in subarctic Canada: Implications for Eocene paleoclimate and Late Cretaceous paleogeography
Authors: Buryak Serhiy D. , Reyes Alberto V. , West Christopher K. , Jensen Britta J.L. , DuFrane S. Andrew , Davies Joshua H.F.L. , Luo Yan , Galloway Jennifer M. , Siver Peter A. , Westgate John A. , Reimink Jesse R. , Pearson D. Graham , Wolfe Alexander P.
Published: March 2024

The Wombat and Giraffe kimberlite pipes in the Lac de Gras kimberlite field (64°N, 110°W) of the Northwest Territories, Canada, preserve unique post-eruptive lacustrine and paludal sedimentary records that offer rare insight into high-latitude continental paleoclimate. However, depositional timing—a key datum for atmospheric CO2 and paleoclimatic proxy reconstructions—of these maar infills remains ambiguous and requires refinement because of the large range in the age of kimberlites within the Lac de Gras kimberlite field. Existing constraints for the Giraffe pipe post-eruptive lacustrine and paludal maar sedimentary facies include a maximum Rb-Sr age of ca. 48 Ma (Ypresian, Eocene) based on kimberlitic phlogopite and a glass fission-track age of ca. 38 Ma (Bartonian, Eocene). The age of the Wombat pipe lacustrine maar sediments remains unclear, with unpublished pollen-based biostratigraphy suggesting deposition in the Paleocene (66–56 Ma). In this study, we examine distal rhyolitic tephra beds recovered from exploration drill cores intersecting the Wombat and Giraffe maar facies. We integrate zircon U-Pb laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) geochronology, glass fission-track dating, palynology, and tephra glass geochemistry to refine chronological frameworks for these sedimentary deposits. The Giraffe maar CA-ID-TIMS tephra zircon U-Pb dating yielded a Bayesian model age of 47.995 ± 0.082|0.087 Ma (Ypresian) for the upper portion of the lacustrine sediments, while a single zircon grain from tephra in the lowermost lacustrine sediments had an age of 48.72 ± 0.29|0.30 Ma. The revised geochronology for the Giraffe maar provides a working age model for the ~50 m record of lacustrine silt and indicates an age ~10 m.y. older than previously thought. The Wombat maar LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating yielded an age of 80.9 ± 1.0 Ma (Campanian), which indicates deposition during the Late Cretaceous. This first radiometric age for the Wombat maar deposits is substantially older than earlier biostratigraphic inferences of a Paleocene age. This new age suggests that the Wombat maar sediments preserve evidence of some of the oldest known freshwater diatoms and synurophytes and provide key constraints for the paleogeography of the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous.
Comparative Analysis of Jet Detection Methods on the Basis of Satellite Altimetry Data by Example of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current Sector to the South of Africa
Authors: Tarakanov R. Yu.
Published: March 2024

For the period of satellite altimetry observation 1993–2018, a comparison was made of estimates of the linear meridional shifts of the jet structure and variations in current intensity in the sector of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) south of Africa (10° E–25° W), obtained on the basis of the parameters derived from the module of the absolute dynamic topography (ADT) gradient $$\left| {\nabla \zeta } \right|$$: directly $$\left| {\nabla \zeta } \right|$$, module of the velocity of geostrophic current |u| on the ocean surface, half of square of the ADT gradient $$\frac{1}{2}{{\left| {\nabla \zeta } \right|}^{2}}$$, and specific kinetic energy $$\frac{1}{2}{{u}^{2}}$$. The analysis was carried out by a method developed earlier and refined in this paper using linear regression analysis. It is shown that qualitatively the characters of the meridional shifts (displacement of the curves of these parameters averaged over latitude and for each year) in latitude and the corresponding current intensity variations (i.e., variations in the parameters themselves) over 26-year observations, when calculated through each of the four parameters, turned out to be similar. The same similarity was obtained from the calculations with respect to the ADT scale. Meanwhile, the quantitative differences between calculations for different pairs of parameters can be significant even in the $$\left| u \right|$$ and $$\left| {\nabla \zeta } \right|$$ pair. In quantitative terms, the absolute values of shifts of the jet structure and variations in the intensity of currents in the ACC band in the studied sector of the Southern Ocean generally increase from those linearly dependent on the ADT gradient module to quadratically dependent ones.
Transorbital and endonasal resection of a rare orbital ectopic atypical meningioma
Authors: Tan Jian Li , Dhepnorrarat Chris , Wong Daniel , De Sousa Jean-Louis
Published: March 2024

A female patient in her early 20s presented with increasing proptosis of her left eye over 2 months. She had no other signs of diplopia, pain or visual loss on initial presentation. Subsequent imaging of her orbits revealed a medial rectus tumour. A transorbital open biopsy of this tumour was non-diagnostic/inconclusive, hence a combined transorbital and endonasal resection of this tumour was performed. Histopathology of the resected tumour revealed an unusual inflammatory-rich spindle cell neoplasm, which was determined to be a primary orbital ectopic atypical meningioma. These tumours are exceedingly rare, with only case reports/series reported in the literature. Complete surgical resection with margins is the proposed treatment. The role of radiotherapy is still controversial. More studies are required to improve our knowledge of this condition.
Tuberculous peritonitis diagnosed following laparoscopic examination for suspected advanced ovarian cancer
Authors: Nonaka Mizuki , Ishida Hiroaki , Manrai Megumi , Takashima Akiko
Published: March 2024

Laparoscopy for intra-abdominal exploration and tissue sampling is useful in advanced ovarian cancers, in which it is presumed to be difficult to achieve complete tumour reduction in the initial surgery. This is a report of a case of suspected advanced ovarian cancer in a patient, who underwent laparoscopic screening and was later pathologically diagnosed with tuberculous peritonitis. A woman in her 50s visited her local doctor with constipation. Since imaging showed massive ascites she was referred for further evaluation. We initially suspected advanced ovarian cancer due to the presence of massive ascites and multiple peritoneal nodules. However, histopathological examination indicated that the nodules were tubercles, and the patient was subsequently diagnosed with tuberculous peritonitis. It is important to be aware that tuberculosis peritonitis can be misdiagnosed or mistaken for advanced ovarian cancer. Preoperative diagnosis of tuberculous peritonitis is often difficult. Tuberculous peritonitis should be considered if intraoperative findings show diffuse nodular disseminated lesions.
Towards a multi-lateral framework for cross-border surveillance and information sharing between Nigeria and neighbouring countries
Authors: Akinloluwa Olaoluwa Oluwafemi , Lokossou Virgil , Okatubo Geoffrey , Okunromade Oyeladun , Nwitte-Eze Onyekachi , Alabi Samuel , Ajayi-Ogbe Titilope , Ofoegbunam Chinenye , Sogbossi Lionel , Appolinaire Kima , Aissi Melchior Anathase
Published: March 2024

Nigeria sits at the crossroads of West and Central Africa; two increasingly critical regions for global health security. To strengthen cross-border collaboration for health security between its neighbors from West and Central Africa, the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria through the public health authority at the Points of Entry—Port Health Services, led the design of a multi-lateral framework for cross-border collaboration between Nigeria, the Republic of Benin, the Republic of Chad, the Republic of Cameroon and the Republic of Niger. This framework provides a platform for agreeing on bilateral national and district-level infectious disease surveillance information sharing as well as laying the groundwork for expanded collaboration in incident reporting, joint investigation and response across borders.
Method comparison and overview of refractive measurements in children: implications for myopia management
Authors: Müller Jonas , Chen Xiaoqin , Ohlendorf Arne , Li Lihua , Wahl Siegfried
Published: March 2024

Objective

This study investigated the agreement between objective wavefront-based refraction and subjective refraction in myopic children. It also assessed the impact of cyclopentolate and refraction levels on the agreement.

Methods

A total of 84 eyes of myopic children aged 6–13 years were included in the analysis. Non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic objective wavefront-based refraction were determined and cycloplegic subjective refraction was performed for each participant. The data were converted into spherical equivalent, J0and J45, and Bland-Altman plots were used to analyse the agreement between methods.

Results

Linear functions were used to determine the dependency between the central myopic refractive error and the difference between the method of refraction (=bias). The influence of central myopia was not clinically relevant when analysing the agreement between wavefront results with and without cyclopentolate (comparison 1). The bias for wavefront-based minus subjective spherical equivalent refraction (comparison 2) was ≤−0.50 D (95% limits of agreement −0.010 D to −1.00 D) for myopia of −4.55 D and higher when cycloplegia was used (p<0.05). When no cyclopentolate was used for the wavefront-based refraction (comparison 3), the bias of −0.50 D (95% limits of agreement −0.020 D to −0.97 D) was already reached at a myopic error of −2.97 D. Both astigmatic components showed no clinically relevant bias.

Conclusion

The spherical equivalent, measured without cycloplegic agents, led to more myopic measurements when wavefront-based refraction was used. The observed bias increased with the amount of myopic refractive error for comparisons 2 and 3, which needs to be considered when interpreting wavefront-refraction data.

Trial registration number

NCT05288335.
Implementation of value-based healthcare in ophthalmology: a scoping review
Authors: Abubakar Zulkarnain , Sjaaf Amal Chalik , Gondhowiardjo Tjahjono Darminto , Giffari Makkaraka Moh Anfasa
Published: March 2024

Objective

This review aimed to identify and summarise how value-based healthcare (VBHC) is implemented in the field of ophthalmology.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted by searching empirical and non-empirical articles from from electronic databases (PubMed, Science Direct, ProQuest and Scopus) and other methods starting January 2006 (the year Porter and Teisberg introduced VBHC) up to 31 December 2023.

Results

1.081 records were screened, and 12 articles (8 empirical studies and 4 non-empirical articles) were used for data extraction. Most articles were published in the UK. Most articles described the implementation of VBHC agenda by measuring outcomes and costs. All the included empirical studies reported implementation effect; otherwise, non-empirical articles were only described proposed implementation.

Conclusion

The implementation of VBHC in ophthalmology has shown a positive impact on enhancing patient value and reducing healthcare costs. Nevertheless, the study highlighted that no provider or healthcare system has fully embraced and implemented VBHC, comprehensively addressing the entire value agenda.
Improving inpatient hyperglycaemia in non-critically ill adults in resident wards through audit and feedback
Authors: Chang Chelsea , Fleires Alcibiades , Alshaikhli Alfarooq , Arredondo Hector , Gavilanes Diana , Cabral-Amador Francisco J , Cantu Jonathon , Bazan Daniela , Oliveira Kathryn Oliveira , Verduzco Rene , Pedraza Lina
Published: March 2024

Inpatient hyperglycaemia is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality, number of rehospitalisations and length of hospitalisation. Although the advantages of proper glycaemic control in hospitalised patients with diabetes are well established, a variety of barriers limit accomplishment of blood glucose targets. Our primary aim was to decrease the number of glucose values above 180 mg/dL in non-critical care hospitalised patients using an audit and feedback intervention with pharmacy and internal medicine residents. A resident-led multidisciplinary team implemented the quality improvement (QI) project including conception, literature review, educating residents, iterative development of audit and feedback tools and data analysis. The multidisciplinary team met every 5 weeks and undertook three ‘plan–do–study–act’ cycles over an 8-month intervention period (August 2022 to March 2023) to educate residents on inpatient hyperglycaemia management, develop and implement an audit and feedback process and assess areas for improvement. We performed 1045 audits analysing 16 095 accu-checks on 395 non-duplicated patients. Most audits showed compliance with guidelines. The monthly run-on chart shows per cent of glucose values above 180 mg/dL in our non-ICU hospitalised patients and an overall pre-to-post comparison of 25.1%–23.0% (p value<0.05). The intervention was well accepted by residents evidenced by survey results. We did not meet our primary aim to reduce hyperglycaemia by 30% and this combined with the audits showing mostly compliance with guidelines suggests that prescribing behaviour was not a key driver of inpatient hyperglycaemia in our population. This internal medicine resident and pharmacy interprofessional collaboration with audit and feedback for inpatient hyperglycaemia was feasible, well accepted and had a statistically significant yet small improvement in inpatient hyperglycaemia. The project may be helpful to others wishing to explore inpatient hyperglycaemia, interprofessional QI with pharmacists, resident-led QI and audit and feedback.
Measuring evidence-based clinical guideline compliance in the paediatric intensive care unit
Authors: Hay Rebecca E , Martin Dori-Ann , Rutas Gary J , Jamal Shelina M , Parsons Simon J
Published: March 2024

Background

Evidence-based clinical care guidelines improve medical treatment by reducing error, improving outcomes and possibly lowering healthcare costs. While some data exist on individual guideline compliance, no data exist on overall compliance to multiple nuanced guidelines in a paediatric intensive care setting.

Methods

Guideline compliance was observed and measured with a prospective cohort at a tertiary academic paediatric medical-surgical intensive care unit. Adherence to 19 evidence-based clinical care guidelines was evaluated in 814 patients, and reasons for non-compliance were noted along with other associated outcomes.

Measurements and main results

Overall facility compliance was unexpectedly high at 77.8% over 4512 compliance events, involving 826 admissions. Compliance varied widely between guidelines. Guidelines with the highest compliance were stress ulcer prophylaxis (97.1%) and transfusion administration such as fresh frozen plasma (97.4%) and platelets (94.8%); guidelines with the lowest compliance were ventilator-associated pneumonia prevention (28.7%) and vitamin K administration (34.8%). There was no significant change in compliance over time with observation. Guidelines with binary decision branch points or single-page decision flow diagrams had a higher average compliance of 90.6%. Poor compliance was more often observed with poor perception of guideline trustworthiness and time limitations.

Conclusions

Measuring guideline compliance, though onerous, allowed for evaluation of current clinical practices and identified actionable areas for institutional improvement.
Evaluation of a medical after-care intervention among deselected elite male Academy football players: a pilot study
Authors: Carmody Sean , Ranson Joe , Iqbal Zafar , Massey Andrew , Kerkhoffs Gino , Gouttebarge Vincent
Published: March 2024

Objective

This pilot study aimed to evaluate the perception and satisfaction of deselected male Academy professional footballers towards a medical after-care intervention.

Methods

A quasiexperimental study design, with deselected players (aged≥18 years) at a single Premier League Academy during the 2022/2023 season, were invited to participate. The intervention included individualised health recommendations, key medical information and signposting to key support resources. Participants’ perceptions and satisfaction were assessed through an electronic survey. Descriptive analyses (mean, SD, frequency and/or range) were performed for all variables.

Results

Twelve out of 15 eligible participants (80% response rate) provided informed consent and completed the survey (mean age: 19.5 years). All (100%) of the participants were satisfied with receiving the medical information. Ten out of 12 (83.3%) participants agreed that all Academy players should receive this medical intervention on deselection. Nine (75%) players felt more prepared for the next steps in their careers due to the medical information shared with them.

Conclusion

Deselected male Academy footballers expressed high satisfaction with an individualised medical intervention which shared key health information and signposted them to important resources (eg, mental health). Future studies across multiple clubs should explore the broader impact of this intervention among deselected male and female Academy footballers. Football clubs should consider integrating a medical after-care process for deselected players as part of routine care.
Absence of a pancreatic microbiome in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm
Authors: Pust Marie-Madlen , Rocha Castellanos Darío Missael , Rzasa Kara , Dame Andrea , Pishchany Gleb , Assawasirisin Charnwit , Liss Andrew , Fernandez-del Castillo Carlos , Xavier Ramnik J
Published: March 2024

Objective

This study aims to validate the existence of a microbiome within intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) that can be differentiated from the taxonomically diverse DNA background of next-generation sequencing procedures.

Design

We generated 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing data to analyse 338 cyst fluid samples from 190 patients and 19 negative controls, the latter collected directly from sterile syringes in the operating room. A subset of samples (n=20) and blanks (n=5) were spiked with known concentrations of bacterial cells alien to the human microbiome to infer absolute abundances of microbial traces. All cyst fluid samples were obtained intraoperatively and included IPMNs with various degrees of dysplasia as well as other cystic neoplasms. Follow-up culturing experiments were conducted to assess bacterial growth for microbiologically significant signals.

Results

Microbiome signatures of cyst fluid samples were inseparable from those of negative controls, with no difference in taxonomic diversity, and microbial community composition. In a patient subgroup that had recently undergone invasive procedures, a bacterial signal was evident. This outlier signal was not characterised by higher taxonomic diversity but by an increased dominance index of a gut-associated microbe, leading to lower taxonomic evenness compared with the background signal.

Conclusion

The ‘microbiome’ of IPMNs and other pancreatic cystic neoplasms does not deviate from the background signature of negative controls, supporting the concept of a sterile environment. Outlier signals may appear in a small fraction of patients following recent invasive endoscopic procedures. No associations between microbial patterns and clinical or cyst parameters were apparent.
Stem cell-derived embryo models: moral advance or moral obfuscation?
Authors: Gyngell Christopher , Lynch Fiona , Sawai Tsutomu , Savulescu Julian
Published: March 2024

Stem cell-derived embryo models (SCEMs) are model embryos used in scientific research to gain a better understanding of early embryonic development. The way humans develop from a single-cell zygote to a complex multicellular organism remains poorly understood. However, research looking at embryo development is difficult because of restrictions on the use of human embryos in research. Stem cell embryo models could reduce the need for human embryos, allowing us to both understand early development and improve assisted reproductive technologies. There have been several rapid advances in creating SCEMs in recent years. These advances potentially provide a new avenue to study early human development. The benefits of SCEMs are predicated on the claim that they are different from embryos and should, therefore, be exempt from existing regulations that apply to embryos (such as the 14-day rule). SCEMs are proposed as offering a model that can capture the inner workings of the embryo but lack its moral sensitivities. However, the ethical basis for making this distinction has not been clearly explained. In this current controversy, we focus on the ethical justification for treating SCEMs differently to embryos, based on considerations of moral status.
Impact of the time of initiation and line of biologic therapy on the retention rate of secukinumab in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA): data from the French multicentre retrospective FORSYA study
Authors: Dougados Maxime , Lardy-Cléaud Audrey , Desfleurs Emilie , Claudepierre Pascal , Goupille Philippe , Ryussen-Witrand Adeline , Saraux Alain , Tournadre Anne , Wendling Daniel , Lukas Cédric
Published: March 2024

Objective

To compare the 1-year retention rate of secukinumab in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and its predisposing factors with regard to its time of initiation (eg, right after or remotely from its launch).

Methods

Study design: Retrospective multicentre French study of patients with axSpA. Study periods: Two cohorts were evaluated regarding the time of initiation of secukinumab: cohort 1 (C1)—between 16 August 2016 and 31 August 2018—and cohort 2 (C2)—between 1 September 2018 and 13 November 2020. Statistical analysis: The 1-year retention rate of secukinumab was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to compare the retention curves of the two cohorts. Preselected factors (eg, disease characterristics, line and time of secukinumab initiation) of secukinumab retention at 1 year were analysed by univariate and multivariate Cox model regression.

Results

In total, 906 patients in C1 and 758 in C2 from 50 centres were included in the analysis. The 1-year retention rate was better in C2 (64% (61%–68%)) vs C1 (59% (55%–62%)) (HR=1.19 (1.02–1.39); p=0.0297). In the multivariate analysis, the line of biologic therapy was the single predictive factor of the 1-year retention rate of secukinumab picked up in both cohorts, with a better retention rate when prescribed as first-line biologic therapy.

Conclusion

The better secukinumab retention rate remotely from its launch is explained by its use at an earlier stage of the disease, suggesting a change in the behaviour of prescribing physicians. Our results emphasise the relevance of iterative evaluations of routine care treatments.
Post-urethroplasty complications in hypospadias repair: a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing polydioxanone and polyglactin sutures
Authors: Borkar Nitinkumar , Tiwari Charu , Mohanty Debajyoti , Baruah Tridip Dutta , Mohanty Manoj , Sinha C K
Published: March 2024

Background

Polyglactin (PG) and polydioxanone (PDS) sutures are extensively used based on the surgeon’s preference. The development of post-reconstruction urethrocutaneous fistula (UCF) is variably attributed to the choice of suture material for urethroplasty. This meta-analysis compares complications of hypospadias repair using PG and PDS sutures.

Methods

The systematic review and meta-analysis were performed as per the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The authors conducted thorough searches in databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Scopus, Google Scholar, and clinical trial registries. Outcome measures included UCF, meatal stenosis, wound infection, urethral stricture, glans dehiscence, and overall complications. Quantitative analysis was used with fixed or random-effect models to find the pooled risk ratio and I2heterogeneity.

Results

The criteria for inclusion were met by five comparative studies with the inclusion of 1244 children altogether. Pooled analysis failed to show a statistically significant difference in the incidence of meatal stenosis, urethral stricture, wound infection, and total complications using PG and PDS sutures. However, it showed a reduction in the incidence of UCF with PDS suture hypospadias repairs (risk ratio=0.66, 95% CI 0.48 to 0.92).

Conclusions

PDS sutures are associated with decreased incidence of UCF than PG after hypospadias repair. The incidence of meatal stenosis, urethral stricture, wound infection, and total complications was not affected by the type of suture material used for repair.

Clinical implications

This meta-analysis suggests decreased incidence of UCF when PDS sutures are used for hypospadias repair which may impact the choice of suture material for repair.

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42023409710.
Plant seedlings of peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers exude compounds that are needed for growth and chemoattraction of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae 3841 and Azospirillum brasilense Sp7
Authors: Nisha Fatema A. , Tagoe Janice N.A. , Pease Amanda B. , Horne Shelley M. , Ugrinov Angel , Geddes Barney A. , Prüß Birgit M.
Published: March 2024

This study characterizes seedling exudates of peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers at the level of chemical composition and functionality. A plant experiment confirmed that Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae 3841 enhanced growth of pea shoots, while Azospirillum brasilense Sp7 supported growth of pea, tomato, and cucumber roots. Chemical analysis of exudates after 1 day of seedling incubation in water yielded differences between the exudates of the three plants. Most remarkably, cucumber seedling exudate did not contain detectable sugars. All exudates contained amino acids, nucleobases/nucleosides, and organic acids, among other compounds. Cucumber seedling exudate contained reduced glutathione. Migration on semi solid agar plates containing individual exudate compounds as putative chemoattractants revealed that R. leguminosarum bv. viciae was more selective than A. brasilense, which migrated towards any of the compounds tested. Migration on semi solid agar plates containing 1:1 dilutions of seedling exudate was observed for each of the combinations of bacteria and exudates tested. Likewise, R. leguminosarum bv. viciae and A. brasilense grew on each of the three seedling exudates, though at varying growth rates. We conclude that the seedling exudates of peas, tomatoes, and cucumbers contain everything that is needed for their symbiotic bacteria to migrate and grow on.
Perceived rain dynamics on hydrophilic/hydrophobic lens surfaces and their influences on vehicle camera performance
Authors: Pao Wing Yi , Li Long , Agelin-Chaab Martin
Published: March 2024

Cameras are increasingly used in modern vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to collect environmental information. Cameras suffer performance degradation when driving in adverse weather conditions, such as rain, as precipitation droplets impact the camera lens and cause obstruction and blurring of the vision. The relationships between image quality, object detection accuracy, and surface wettability of camera lenses are investigated. This paper applies a previously developed evaluation procedure for wind tunnel testing with simulated adverse driving and rain conditions. Realistic rain characteristics perceived by a moving vehicle at different driving speeds are simulated using a novel rain simulation system implemented into a wind tunnel. Moreover, an emphasis is put on comparing the use of hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces to provide insights into material selection when designing camera lenses for ADAS. It is found that droplet dynamics, such as size, velocity, shape, and motion can impact the camera image quality and, subsequently, object detection accuracy. This paper demonstrates the use of various materials and evaluation metrics and their implications from a practical perspective when subjected to realistic driving-in-rain scenarios. The results suggest that the use of hydrophobic lenses promotes better performance over hydrophilic lenses in most cases with exceptions.
Celebrating 20th Anniversary of IJHR
Authors: Xie Ming , Weng John , Sandini Giulio
Published: March 2024

In this editorial dedicated to the special issue which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the International Journal of Humanoid Robotics (IJHR), we outline the history of IJHR.
Root-Cause Analysis with Semi-Supervised Co-Training for Integrated Systems
Authors: Pan Renjian , Li Xin , Chakrabarty Krishnendu
Published: March 2024

Root-cause analysis for integrated systems has become increasingly challenging due to their growing complexity. To tackle these challenges, machine learning (ML) has been applied to enhance root-cause analysis. Nonetheless, ML-based root-cause analysis usually requires abundant training data with root causes labeled by human experts, which are difficult or even impossible to obtain. To overcome this drawback, a semi-supervised co-training method is proposed for root-cause analysis in this article, which only requires a small portion of labeled data. First, a random forest is trained with labeled data. Next, we propose a co-training technique to learn from unlabeled data with semi-supervised learning, which pre-labels a subset of these data automatically and then retrains each decision tree in the random forest. In addition, a robust framework is proposed to avoid over-fitting. We further apply initialization by clustering and feature selection to improve the diagnostic performance. With two case studies from industry, the proposed approach shows superior performance against other state-of-the-art methods by saving up to 67% of labeling efforts.
Projected Gaussian Markov Improvement Algorithm for High-Dimensional Discrete Optimization via Simulation
Authors: Li Xinru , Song Eunhye
Published: March 2024

This article considers a discrete optimization via simulation (DOvS) problem defined on a graph embedded in the high-dimensional integer grid. Several DOvS algorithms that model the responses at the solutions as a realization of a Gaussian Markov random field (GMRF) have been proposed exploiting its inferential power and computational benefits. However, the computational cost of inference increases exponentially in dimension. We propose the projected Gaussian Markov improvement algorithm (pGMIA), which projects the solution space onto a lower-dimensional space creating the region-layer graph to reduce the cost of inference. Each node on the region-layer graph can be mapped to a set of solutions projected to the node; these solutions form a lower-dimensional solution-layer graph. We define the response at each region-layer node to be the average of the responses within the corresponding solution-layer graph. From this relation, we derive the region-layer GMRF to model the region-layer responses. The pGMIA alternates between the two layers to make a sampling decision at each iteration. It first selects a region-layer node based on the lower-resolution inference provided by the region-layer GMRF, then makes a sampling decision among the solutions within the solution-layer graph of the node based on the higher-resolution inference from the solution-layer GMRF. To solve even higher-dimensional problems (e.g., 100 dimensions), we also propose the pGMIA+: a multi-layer extension of the pGMIA. We show that both pGMIA and pGMIA+ converge to the optimum almost surely asymptotically and empirically demonstrate their competitiveness against state-of-the-art high-dimensional Bayesian optimization algorithms.
Investigating Gender and Racial Biases in DALL-E Mini Images
Authors: Cheong Marc , Abedin Ehsan , Ferreira Marinus , Reimann Ritsaart , Chalson Shalom , Robinson Pamela , Byrne Joanne , Ruppanner Leah , Alfano Mark , Klein Colin
Published: March 2024

Generative artificial intelligence systems based on transformers, including both text generators such as GPT-4 and image generators such as DALL-E 3, have recently entered the popular consciousness. These tools, while impressive, are liable to reproduce, exacerbate, and reinforce extant human social biases, such as gender and racial biases. In this article, we systematically review the extent to which DALL-E Mini suffers from this problem. In line with the Model Card published alongside DALL-E Mini by its creators, we find that the images it produces tend to represent dozens of different occupations as populated either solely by men (e.g., pilot, builder, plumber) or solely by women (e.g., hairdresser, receptionist, dietitian). In addition, the images DALL-E Mini produces tend to represent most occupations as populated primarily or solely by White people (e.g., farmer, painter, prison officer, software engineer) and very few by non-White people (e.g., pastor, rapper). These findings suggest that exciting new AI technologies should be critically scrutinized and perhaps regulated before they are unleashed on society.
FedCMD: A Federated Cross-modal Knowledge Distillation for Drivers’ Emotion Recognition
Authors: Bano Saira , Tonellotto Nicola , Cassarà Pietro , Gotta Alberto
Published: March 2024

Emotion recognition has attracted a lot of interest in recent years in various application areas such as healthcare and autonomous driving. Existing approaches to emotion recognition are based on visual, speech, or psychophysiological signals. However, recent studies are looking at multimodal techniques that combine different modalities for emotion recognition. In this work, we address the problem of recognizing the user’s emotion as a driver from unlabeled videos using multimodal techniques. We propose a collaborative training method based on cross-modal distillation, i.e., “FedCMD” (Federated Cross-Modal Distillation). Federated Learning (FL) is an emerging collaborative decentralized learning technique that allows each participant to train their model locally to build a better generalized global model without sharing their data. The main advantage of FL is that only local data is used for training, thus maintaining privacy and providing a secure and efficient emotion recognition system. The local model in FL is trained for each vehicle device with unlabeled video data by using sensor data as a proxy. Specifically, for each local model, we show how driver emotional annotations can be transferred from the sensor domain to the visual domain by using cross-modal distillation. The key idea is based on the observation that a driver’s emotional state indicated by a sensor correlates with facial expressions shown in videos. The proposed “FedCMD” approach is tested on the multimodal dataset “BioVid Emo DB” and achieves state-of-the-art performance. Experimental results show that our approach is robust to non-identically distributed data, achieving 96.67% and 90.83% accuracy in classifying five different emotions with IID (independently and identically distributed) and non-IID data, respectively. Moreover, our model is much more robust to overfitting, resulting in better generalization than the other existing methods.
Balanced Quality Score: Measuring Popularity Debiasing in Recommendation
Authors: Coppolillo Erica , Minici Marco , Ritacco Ettore , Caroprese Luciano , Pisani Francesco , Manco Giuseppe
Published: March 2024

Popularity bias is the tendency of recommender systems to further suggest popular items while disregarding niche ones, hence giving no chance for items with low popularity to emerge. Although the literature is rich in debiasing techniques, it still lacks quality measures that effectively enable their analyses and comparisons.

In this article, we first introduce a formal, data-driven, and parameter-free strategy for classifying items into low, medium, and high popularity categories. Then we introduce
Balanced Quality Score (BQS)
, a quality measure that rewards the debiasing techniques that successfully push a recommender system to suggest niche items, without losing points in its predictive capability in terms of global accuracy.

We conduct tests of BQS on three distinct baseline collaborative filtering frameworks: one based on history-embedding and two on user/item-embedding modeling. These evaluations are performed on multiple benchmark datasets and against various state-of-the-art competitors, demonstrating the effectiveness of BQS.
Fuzzy Influence Maximization in Social Networks
Authors: Zareie Ahmad , Sakellariou Rizos
Published: March 2024

Influence maximization is a fundamental problem in social network analysis. This problem refers to the identification of a set of influential users as initial spreaders to maximize the spread of a message in a network. When such a message is spread, some users may be influenced by it. A common assumption of existing work is that the impact of a message is essentially binary: A user is either influenced (activated) or not influenced (non-activated). However, how strongly a user is influenced by a message may play an important role in this user’s attempt to influence subsequent users and spread the message further; existing methods may fail to model accurately the spreading process and identify influential users. In this article, we propose a novel approach to model a social network as a fuzzy graph where a fuzzy variable is used to represent the extent to which a user is influenced by a message (user’s activation level). By extending a diffusion model to simulate the spreading process in such a fuzzy graph, we conceptually formulate the fuzzy influence maximization problem for which three methods are proposed to identify influential users. Experimental results demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed methods in determining influential users in social networks.
Dissecting Mechanisms of Epigenetic Memory Through Computational Modeling
Authors: Briffa Amy , Menon Govind , Movilla Miangolarra Ander , Howard Martin
Published: March 2024

Understanding the mechanistic basis of epigenetic memory has proven to be a difficult task due to the underlying complexity of the systems involved in its establishment and maintenance. Here, we review the role of computational modeling in helping to unlock this complexity, allowing the dissection of intricate feedback dynamics. We focus on three forms of epigenetic memory encoded in gene regulatory networks, DNA methylation, and histone modifications and discuss the important advantages offered by plant systems in their dissection. We summarize the main modeling approaches involved and highlight the principal conceptual advances that the modeling has enabled through iterative cycles of predictive modeling and experiments. Lastly, we discuss remaining gaps in our understanding and how intertwined theory and experimental approaches might help in their resolution.
Influence of Plate Position on Uplift Failure State and Bearing Capacity of NT‐CEP Pile Groups
Authors: Qian Yongmei , Chen Xu , Sun Lin , Wang Xihui , Chen Yang
Published: March 2024

The previous research results of the research group demonstrated that the plate position is the main factor affecting the uplift bearing capacity of the new type of concrete expanded plate pile (NT‐CEP pile) group and the failure state of the soil around the pile. In this study, the visual half‐section pile small‐scale model of undisturbed soil tension test and ANSYS Finite Element Software comparative analysis two‐pile small‐scale test model and two‐, four‐, six‐, and nine‐pile models, which included the corner, side, and middle piles, were developed. The effect of the plate position on the displacement, stress, and bearing mechanism of the NT‐CEP pile group under vertical tension was determined, which further improved the design concept of the NT‐CEP pile group and provided strong theoretical support for its widespread application.
A Late Meal Timing Pattern Is Associated with Insulin Resistance in European Children and Adolescents
Authors: Intemann Timm , Bogl Leonie H. , Hunsberger Monica , Lauria Fabio , De Henauw Stefaan , Molnár Dénes , Moreno Luis A. , Tornaritis Michael , Veidebaum Toomas , Ahrens Wolfgang , Hebestreit Antje
Published: March 2024

Meal timing has been associated with metabolic markers in adults, but not in children or adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate associations of meal timing patterns (MTPs) with insulin resistance (IR) and triglyceride levels in children and adolescents. In this cross-sectional study, we included 2,195 participants aged 8–15 years from the European I.Family study (2013/14). Habitual diet exposures were derived using 24-hr dietary recalls and HOMA-IR, HbA1c, and triglycerides were used as metabolic outcome variables. We applied k-means cluster analysis on five dietary exposures (energy proportion in the morning and evening, eating window, pre-sleep fasting and eating frequency), which revealed the following three MTPs: “early-often”, “late-long” and “late-infrequent-short”. We used linear mixed models to estimate the associations between MTPs and the z-scores of the metabolic outcome variables. The association analysis revealed differences between MTPs in HOMA-IR but not in HbA1c or triglyceride z-scores. The “late-infrequent-short” pattern was associated with a 0.19 (95%-CI: (0.01, 0.36)) higher HOMA-IR z-score compared to the “early-often” pattern in the model adjusted for age, BMI z-score, education, sex, country, and family membership. These findings suggest that the timing of meals may influence IR already in childhood and adolescence. Therefore, the time of meals should be considered in future nutrition research and dietary advice for children and adolescents.
Analysis of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Universal Composites under Different Types of Polishing before and after Acid Challenge
Authors: de Matos José Roberto Vergínio , Antunes Letícia Barbero , Catanoze Isabela Araguê , de Souza Isabela Saturnino , dos Santos Paulo Henrique , Guiotti Aimée Maria
Published: March 2024

This study aimed to evaluate in vitro the degree of surface smoothness provided by two different polishing techniques and the effect of acid challenge on the alteration of surface roughness (Ra), microhardness (Knoop), and color (ΔE00) of three nanoparticulate composites, simulating 1 year of exposure to hydrochloric acid (HCl). Eighty specimens for each composite were divided into four groups (n = 240), being control without polishing, control with wear, WPC (wear + polishing with Cosmedent Kit), and WPB (wear + BisCover LV liquid polish). Repeated measures ANOVA was applied for Ra and Knoop Microhardness. For the color (ΔE) three‐way ANOVA was applied. In cases of statistically significant the Tukey posttest was applied (α = 0.05). Both types of polishing tested resulted in a surface smoothness below the critical value established by the studies (Ra ≥ 0.2 μm), even after immersion. The microhardness of all composite resins decreased after the challenges. The specimens immersed in HCl showed a lower microhardness (42.2 Kgf/mm2) when compared to the specimens immersed in artificial saliva (44.7 Kgf/mm2). Regarding the color change, the composites presented values compatible with clinical acceptability, with a statistically significant difference only between the control group and the other types of polishing for the Z350 XT resin (ΔE00 = 3.78). It was concluded that both mechanical and chemical polishing produced a satisfactory surface smoothness, even after immersions in artificial saliva and HCl. The microhardness of the composites was affected by the challenges and the composites tested were within clinical acceptability with regard to color change.
Post-Fracture Stiffness and Residual Capacity Assessment of Film-Retrofitted Monolithic Glass Elements by Frequency Change
Authors: Bedon Chiara , Fasan Marco
Published: March 2024

The primary goal of safety films for glass in buildings is to retrofit existing monolithic elements and prevent, in the post-fracture stage, any fall-out of shards. Their added value is that—as far as the fragments are kept bonded—a cracked film-glass element can ensure a minimum residual mechanical and load-bearing capacity, which is strictly related to the shards interlocking and debond. To prevent critical issues, such a mechanical characterization is both important and uncertain, and requires specific methodologies. In this regard, a dynamic investigation is carried out on fractured film-bonded glass samples, to assess their post-fracture stiffness trends and its sensitivity to repeated vibrations. The adopted laboratory layout is chosen to assess the effects of random vibrations (220 repetitions) on a total of 12 cracked specimens in a cantilever setup (with 0.5–5 m/s2 the range of randomly imposed acceleration peaks). By monitoring the cracked vibration frequency, the film efficiency and corresponding residual bending stiffness of cracked glass samples are quantified as a function of damage severity, with a focus on fragments interlock. Quantitative experimental estimates are comparatively analyzed and validated with the support of finite element (FE) numerical models and analytical calculations. As shown—at least at the small-scale level—a progressive post-fracture stiffness reduction takes place under repeated random vibrations, and this implicitly affects the residual load-bearing capacity of glass members. Most importantly, for the tested configurations, it is shown that the cracked vibration frequency is minimally affected by crack geometry, and follows a rather linear decrease with the number of imposed random impacts (up to an average of ≈20 for each sample), thus confirming the retrofit potential and efficiency in providing some mechanical capacity through fragments interlock.
The Efficacy of Paraprobiotic, Probiotic, and Mineral Supplementation on the Eradication Rate of Helicobacter pylori in Patients with Dyspepsia: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Authors: Mokhtare Marjan , Ebrahimian Mohammad , Namazi Abolfazl , Sadeghian Amir M. , Talaee Hani , Masoodi Mohsen
Published: March 2024

Background. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication regimens have been a concern, all along. Our study is aimed at assessing the effect of para- and probiotics plus minerals (Pyloshot) on H. pylori eradication rate. Methods. In this open-label randomized trial, 69 eligible adult patients with naïve H. pylori infection-related dyspepsia were randomly assigned into the group A, who received esomeprazole 40 mg BID, amoxicillin 1000 mg BID, and clarithromycin 500 mg BID, and group B with the same regimen plus one Pyloshot capsule BID for 10 days. Demographics and dyspepsia symptom severity scores (SSS), number needed to treat (NNT), dyspepsia SSS, and drug adverse effects were recorded at baseline and the end of treatment. H. pylori eradication was confirmed via 14C UBT eight weeks later. Results. Sixty-six patients completed the study. The intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) eradication rates were slightly better in group B (85.2% vs. 80%, p=0.562, and 87.8% vs. 84.8%, p=0.720, respectively). Adverse effects were significantly lower in group B (20.6% vs. 54.3%; p=0.004). No significant differences in dyspepsia symptom improvement rates (p=0.255) and mean difference of SSS (p=0.231) were found between treatment groups. NNT for overall dyspepsia and epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) was 11 and 5 at the end of treatment, respectively. Conclusion. Adding Pyloshot to the H. pylori regimen could slightly improve the eradication rate and SSS of dyspepsia. NNT was considerably better among EPS patients. Adverse effects were significantly decreased by this regimen. Further trials with larger sample sizes should be thought out. This trial is registered with IRCT20141201020178N10.
Supplementary Table S2 from Maternal Prenatal Use of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illicit Drugs and Associations with Childhood Cancer Subtypes
Authors: Wimberly Courtney E. , Gulrajani Natalie B. , Russ Jeffrey B. , Landi Daniel , Wiemels Joseph L. , Towry Lisa , Wiencke John K. , Walsh Kyle M.
Published: March 2024

Univariate associations between prenatal substance use and childhood cancer subtype