bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Peculiarity That Positions Sport Management
Authors: Mills Brian M.
Published: May 2021

This paper outlines the centrality of market structures in positioning Sport Management and in driving the institutional boundaries that guide most research in the field. I synthesize past work related to competition policy to center an approach to developing an impactful Sport Management literature, broadly speaking. Beginning with a description of industrial organizational lessons for Sport Management research, I exhibit how this frame provides additional scholarly substance to the trajectory of Sport Management as a discipline at the nexus of management, policy, and sport. Although this disciplinary framing is necessarily grounded in the economic structure of sport, and lessons from the Sports Economics literature, I do not argue for a supremacy or exclusivity of economics research. Rather, I propose that framing the discipline in the context of policy and market power allows for a more legitimized and inclusive area of social science that does not sacrifice its managerial roots.
Hybrid Histidine Kinase BinK Represses Vibrio fischeri Biofilm Signaling at Multiple Developmental Stages
Authors: Ludvik Denise A. , Bultman Katherine M. , Mandel Mark J.
Published: May 2021

Bacteria are often in a biofilm state, and transitions between planktonic and biofilm lifestyles are important for pathogenic, beneficial, and environmental microbes. The critical nature of biofilm formation duringVibrio fischericolonization of the Hawaiian bobtail squid light organ provides an opportunity to study development of this processin vivousing a combination of genetic and imaging approaches.
Structural Analysis of the OC43 Coronavirus 2′-O-RNA Methyltransferase
Authors: Dostalik Pavel , Krafcikova Petra , Silhan Jan , Kozic Jan , Chalupska Dominika , Chalupsky Karel , Boura Evzen
Published: May 2021

Some coronaviruses are dangerous pathogens, while some cause only common colds. The reasons are not understood, although the spike proteins probably play an important role.
Unique Mutations in the Murine Hepatitis Virus Macrodomain Differentially Attenuate Virus Replication, Indicating Multiple Roles for the Macrodomain in Coronavirus Replication
Authors: Voth Lynden S. , O’Connor Joseph J. , Kerr Catherine M. , Doerger Ethan , Schwarting Nancy , Sperstad Parker , Johnson David K. , Fehr Anthony R.
Published: May 2021

In the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic, there has been a surge to better understand how CoVs replicate and to identify potential therapeutic targets that could mitigate disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 and other prominent CoVs. The highly conserved macrodomain, also termed Mac1, is a small domain within nonstructural protein 3.
Near-Complete Genome Sequences of 12 Peruvian Strains of Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus Infecting the Shrimp Penaeus vannamei
Authors: Salcedo-Mejía Luis A. , Durán-Ramirez Yerson , Velazco-Peña Rodolfo Z. , Pinto Joseph A. , Rebaza-Caballero Alfredo
Published: May 2021

Infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) is a shrimp virus, and it is listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). In this study, we report the genomic sequences of 12 IHHNV strains obtained from shrimp samples from aquaculture cultures from the Tumbes region of Peru.
A new K-Ar illite dating application to constrain the timing of subduction in West Sarawak, Borneo
Authors: Zhao Qi , Yan Yi , Tonai Satoshi , Tomioka Naotaka , Clift Peter D. , Hassan Meor H. Amir , Aziz Jasmi Hafiz Bin Abdul
Published: May 2021

The timing of subduction is a fundamental tectonic problem for tectonic models, yet there are few direct geological proxies for constraining it. However, the matrix of a tectonic mélange formed in a subduction-accretion setting archives the physical/chemical attributes at the time of deformation during the subduction-accretion process. Thus, the deformation age of the matrix offers the possibility to directly constrain the period of the subduction-accretion process. Here we date the Lubok Antu tectonic mélange and the overlying Lupar Formation in West Sarawak, Borneo by K-Ar analysis of illite. The ages of authigenic illite cluster around 60 Ma and 36 Ma. The maximum temperatures calculated by vitrinite reflectance values suggest that our dating results were not affected by external heating. Thus, the ages of authigenic illite represent the deformation age of the mélange matrix and the timing of the Rajang Unconformity, indicating that the subduction in Sarawak could have continued until ca. 60 Ma and the thermal and/or fluid flow events triggered by a major uplift of the Rajang Group occurred at ca. 36 Ma. Furthermore, this study highlights the potential of using the tectonic mélange to extract the timeframe of subduction zone episodic evolution directly.
Direct measurement of fungal contribution to silicate weathering rates in soil
Authors: Wild Bastien , Imfeld Gwenaël , Daval Damien
Published: May 2021

Chemical weathering produces solutes that control groundwater chemistry and supply ecosystems with essential nutrients. Although microbial activity influences silicate weathering rates and associated nutrient fluxes, its relative contribution to silicate weathering in natural settings remains largely unknown. We provide the first quantitative estimates of in situ silicate weathering rates that account for microbially induced dissolution and identify microbial actors associated with weathering. Nanoscale topography measurements showed that fungi colonizing olivine [(Mg,Fe)2SiO4] samples in a Mg-deficient forest soil accounted for up to 16% of the weathering flux after 9 mo of incubation. A local increase in olivine weathering rate was measured and attributed to fungal hyphae of Verticillium sp. Altogether, this approach provides quantitative parameters of bioweathering (i.e., rates and actors) and opens new avenues to improve elemental budgets in natural settings.
Mass balance controls on sediment scour and bedrock erosion in waterfall plunge pools
Authors: Scheingross Joel S. , Lamb Michael P.
Published: May 2021

Waterfall plunge pools experience cycles of sediment aggradation and scour that modulate bedrock erosion, habitat availability, and hazard potential. We calculate sediment flux divergence to evaluate the conditions under which pools deposit and scour sediment by comparing the sediment transport capacities of waterfall plunge pools (Qsc_pool) and their adjacent river reaches (Qsc_river). Results show that pools fill with sediment at low river discharge because the waterfall jet is not strong enough to transport the supplied sediment load out of the pool. As discharge increases, the waterfall jet strengthens, allowing pools to transport sediment at greater rates than in adjacent river reaches. This causes sediment scour from pools and bar building at the downstream pool boundary. While pools may be partially emptied of sediment at modest discharge, floods with recurrence intervals >10 yr are typically required for pools to scour to bedrock. These results allow new constraints on paleodischarge estimates made from sediment deposited in plunge pool bars and suggest that bedrock erosion at waterfalls with plunge pools occurs during larger floods than in river reaches lacking waterfalls.
Measuring change at Earth’s surface: On-demand vertical and three-dimensional topographic differencing implemented in OpenTopography
Authors: Scott Chelsea , Phan Minh , Nandigam Viswanath , Crosby Christopher , Arrowsmith J Ramon
Published: May 2021

Topographic differencing measures landscape change by comparing multitemporal high-resolution topography data sets. Here, we focused on two types of topographic differencing: (1) Vertical differencing is the subtraction of digital elevation models (DEMs) that span an event of interest. (2) Three-dimensional (3-D) differencing measures surface change by registering point clouds with a rigid deformation. We recently released topographic differencing in OpenTopography where users perform on-demand vertical and 3-D differencing via an online interface. OpenTopography is a U.S. National Science Foundation–funded facility that provides access to topographic data and processing tools. While topographic differencing has been applied in numerous research studies, the lack of standardization, particularly of 3-D differencing, requires the customization of processing for individual data sets and hinders the community’s ability to efficiently perform differencing on the growing archive of topography data. Our paper focuses on streamlined techniques with which to efficiently difference data sets with varying spatial resolution and sensor type (i.e., optical vs. light detection and ranging [lidar]) and over variable landscapes. To optimize on-demand differencing, we considered algorithm choice and displacement resolution. The optimal resolution is controlled by point density, landscape characteristics (e.g., leaf-on vs. leaf-off), and data set quality. We provide processing options derived from metadata that allow users to produce optimal high-quality results, while experienced users can fine tune the parameters to suit their needs. We anticipate that the differencing tool will expand access to this state-of-the-art technology, will be a valuable educational tool, and will serve as a template for differencing the growing number of multitemporal topography data sets.
Intra-oceanic submarine arc evolution recorded in an ~1-km-thick rear-arc succession of distal volcaniclastic lobe deposits
Authors: Johnson Kyle , Marsaglia Kathleen M. , Brandl Philipp A. , Barth Andrew P. , Waldman Ryan , Ishizuka Osamu , Hamada Morihisa , Gurnis Michael , Ruttenberg Ian
Published: May 2021

International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 351 drilled a rear-arc sedimentary succession ~50 km west of the Kyushu-Palau Ridge, an arc remnant formed by rifting during formation of the Shikoku Basin and the Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc. The ~1-km-thick Eocene to Oligocene deep-marine volcaniclastic succession recovered at Site U1438 provides a unique opportunity to study a nearly complete record of intra-oceanic arc development, from a rear-arc perspective on crust created during subduction initiation rather than supra-subduction seafloor spreading. Detailed facies analysis and definition of depositional units allow for broader stratigraphic analysis and definition of lobe elements. Patterns in gravity-flow deposit types and subunits appear to define a series of stacked lobe systems that accumulated in a rear-arc basin. The lobe subdivisions, in many cases, are a combination of a turbidite-dominated subunit and an overlying debris-flow subunit. Debris flow–rich lobe-channel sequences are grouped into four, 1.6–2 m.y. episodes, each roughly the age range of an arc volcano. Three of the episodes contain overlapping lobe facies that may have resulted from minor channel switching or input from a different source. The progressive up-section coarsening of episodes and the increasing channel-facies thicknesses within each episode suggest progressively prograding facies from a maturing magmatic arc. Submarine geomorphology of the modern Mariana arc and West Mariana Ridge provide present-day examples that can be used to interpret the morphology and evolution of the channel (or channels) that fed sediment to Site U1438, forming the sequences interpreted as depositional lobes. The abrupt change from very thick and massive debris flows to fine-grained turbidites at the unit III to unit II boundary reflects arc rifting and progressive waning of turbidity current and ash inputs. This interpretation is consistent with the geochemical record from melt inclusions and detrital zircons. Thus, Site U1438 provides a unique record of the life span of an intra-oceanic arc, from inception through maturation to its demise by intra-arc rifting and stranding of the remnant arc ridge.
Structural, petrological, and tectonic constraints on the Loch Borralan and Loch Ailsh alkaline intrusions, Moine thrust zone, northwestern Scotland
Authors: Fox Robert , Searle Michael P.
Published: May 2021

During the Caledonian orogeny, the Moine thrust zone in northwestern Scotland (UK) emplaced Neoproterozoic Moine Supergroup rocks, metamorphosed during the Ordovician (Grampian) and Silurian (Scandian) orogenic periods, westward over the Laurentian passive margin in the northern highlands of Scotland. The Laurentian margin comprises Archean–Paleoproterozoic granulite and amphibolite facies basement (Scourian and Laxfordian complexes, Lewisian gneiss), Proterozoic sedimentary rocks (Stoer and Torridon Groups), and Cambrian–Ordovician passive-margin sediments. Four major thrusts, the Moine, Ben More, Glencoul, and Sole thrusts, are well exposed in the Assynt window. Two highly alkaline syenite intrusions crop out within the Moine thrust zone in the southern Assynt window. The Loch Ailsh and Loch Borralan intrusions range from ultramafic melanite-biotite pyroxenite and pseudoleucite-bearing biotite nepheline syenite (borolanite) to alkali-feldspar–bearing and quartz-bearing syenites. Within the thrust zone, syenites intrude up to the Ordovician Durness Group limestones and dolomites, forming a high-temperature contact metamorphic aureole with diopside-forsterite-phlogopite-brucite marbles exposed at Ledbeg quarry. Controversy remains as to whether the Loch Ailsh and Loch Borralan syenites were intruded prior to thrusting or intruded syn- or post-thrusting. Borolanites contain large white leucite crystals pseudomorphed by alkali feldspar, muscovite, and nepheline (pseudoleucite) that have been flattened and elongated during ductile shearing. The minerals pseudomorphing leucites show signs of ductile deformation indicating that high-temperature (~500 °C) deformation acted upon pseudomorphed leucite crystals that had previously undergone subsolidus breakdown. New detailed field mapping and structural and petrological observations are used to constrain the geological evolution of both the Loch Ailsh and the Loch Borralan intrusions and the chronology of the Moine thrust zone. The data supports the interpretation that both syenite bodies were intruded immediately prior to thrusting along the Moine, Ben More, and Borralan thrusts.
Coseismic deformation of the ground during large-slip strike-slip ruptures: Finite evolution of “mole tracks”
Authors: Little T.A. , Morris P. , Hill M.P. , Kearse J. , Van Dissen R.J. , Manousakis J. , Zekkos D. , Howell A.
Published: May 2021

To evaluate ground deformation resulting from large (~10 m) coseismic strike-slip displacements, we focus on deformation of the Kekerengu fault during the November 2016 Mw 7.8 Kaikōura earthquake in New Zealand. Combining post-earthquake field observations with analysis of high-resolution aerial photography and topographic models, we describe the structural geology and geomorphology of the rupture zone. During the earthquake, fissured pressure bulges (“mole tracks”) initiated at stepovers between synthetic Riedel (R) faults. As slip accumulated, near-surface “rafts” of cohesive clay-rich sediment, bounded by R faults and capped by grassy turf, rotated about a vertical axis and were internally shortened, thus amplifying the bulges. The bulges are flanked by low-angle contractional faults that emplace the shortened mass of detached sediment outward over less-deformed ground. As slip accrued, turf rafts fragmented into blocks bounded by short secondary fractures striking at a high angle to the main fault trace that we interpret to have originated as antithetic Riedel (R′) faults. Eventually these blocks were dispersed into strongly sheared earth and variably rotated. Along the fault, clockwise rotation of these turf rafts within the rupture zone averaged ~20°–30°, accommodating a finite shear strain of 1.0–1.5 and a distributed strike slip of ~3–4 m. On strike-slip parts of the fault, internal shortening of the rafts averaged 1–2 m parallel to the R faults and ~1 m perpendicular to the main fault trace. Driven by distortional rotation, this contraction of the rafts exceeds the magnitude of fault heave. Turf rafts on slightly transtensional segments of the fault were also bulged and shortened—relationships that can be explained by a kinematic model involving “deformable slats.” In a paleoseismic trench cut perpendicular the fault, one would observe fissures, low-angle thrusts, and steeply dipping strike-slip faults—some cross-cutting one another—yet all may have formed during a single earthquake featuring a large strike-slip displacement.
RarePHEXvariant with insidious presentation leads to a delayed diagnosis of X-linked hypophosphatemia
Authors: Constantacos Cathrine , Hunter Janel Darcy , Walsh Elizabeth Tharpe , South Andrew Michael
Published: May 2021

A 7-year-old girl without a significant previous medical history was diagnosed with X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLHR) due to a rare, most likely pathogenic,PHEXgene variant after a 4-year delayed diagnosis due to mild clinical presentation. At 2 years of age, her intoeing and femoral bowing were attributed to physiologic bowing and borderline vitamin D sufficiency, despite phosphorus not being measured. Hypophosphatemia was eventually detected after incomplete improvement of bowing and leg length discrepancy with suboptimal linear growth. This rarePHEXvariant (c.1949T>C, p.Leu650Pro) further supported the clinical diagnosis of XLHR. Treatment with burosumab (an anti-FGF23 monoclonal antibody) normalised phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase levels and improved her bowing. The diverse phenotypic presentation of this variant can result in delayed diagnosis and highlights the importance of prompt assessment of phosphorus levels in patients with skeletal deformities to ensure timely recognition and treatment.
Valsartan exposure in pregnancy with resultant anhydramnios and chronic kidney disease in a late preterm infant
Authors: Petch Sarah , O'Connor Emily , McGrath Ailbhe , Daly Sean
Published: May 2021

In utero exposure to angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) has fetotoxic effects including renal failure, oligohydramnios and lung hypoplasia. We present the case of a 24-year-old woman who presented to the maternity services in the 34th week of her first pregnancy. She was taking valsartan for hypertension. Ultrasound showed a structurally normal fetus with anhydramnios. The patient was admitted and valsartan was discontinued. She had spontaneous preterm delivery at 35 weeks’ gestation of a baby girl. The baby’s urine output was minimal in the first week of life and she was transferred to a paediatric hospital for specialist nephrology input. At 6 months of age, she requires ongoing nephrology follow-up and she remains on treatment for hypertension and anaemia. This case demonstrates the serious adverse effects resulting from ARB exposure in utero, and highlights the importance of avoiding fetotoxic medications in women of childbearing age.
Joint association between accelerometry-measured daily combination of time spent in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep and all-cause mortality: a pooled analysis of six prospective cohorts using compositional analysis
Authors: Chastin Sebastien , McGregor Duncan , Palarea-Albaladejo Javier , Diaz Keith M , Hagströmer Maria , Hallal Pedro Curi , van Hees Vincent T , Hooker Steven , Howard Virginia J , Lee I-Min , von Rosen Philip , Sabia Séverine , Shiroma Eric J , Yerramalla Manasa S , Dall Philippa
Published: May 2021

Objective

To examine the joint associations of daily time spent in different intensities of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep with all-cause mortality.

Methods

Federated pooled analysis of six prospective cohorts with device-measured time spent in different intensities of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep following a standardised compositional Cox regression analysis.

Participants

130 239 people from general population samples of adults (average age 54 years) from the UK, USA and Sweden.

Main outcome

All-cause mortality (follow-up 4.3–14.5 years).

Results

Studies using wrist and hip accelerometer provided statistically different results (I2=92.2%, Q-test p<0.001). There was no association between duration of sleep and all-cause mortality, HR=0.96 (95% CI 0.67 to 1.12). The proportion of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity was significantly associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality (HR=0.63 (95% CI 0.55 to 0.71) wrist; HR=0.93 (95% CI 0.87 to 0.98) hip). A significant association for the ratio of time spent in light physical activity and sedentary time was only found in hip accelerometer-based studies (HR=0.5, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.62). In studies based on hip accelerometer, the association between moderate to vigorous physical activity and mortality was modified by the balance of time spent in light physical activity and sedentary time.

Conclusion

This federated analysis shows a joint dose–response association between the daily balance of time spent in physical activity of different intensities and sedentary behaviour with all-cause mortality, while sleep duration does not appear to be significant. The strongest association is with time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity, but it is modified by the balance of time spent in light physical activity relative to sedentary behaviour.
Treatment of opioid use disorder in primary care
Authors: Buresh Megan , Stern Robert , Rastegar Darius
Published: May 2021

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a common, treatable chronic disease that can be effectively managed in primary care settings. Untreated OUD is associated with considerable morbidity and mortality—notably, overdose, infectious complications of injecting drug use, and profoundly diminished quality of life. Withdrawal management and medication tapers are ineffective and are associated with increased rates of relapse and death. Pharmacotherapy is the evidence based mainstay of OUD treatment, and many studies support its integration into primary care settings. Evidence is strongest for the opioid agonists buprenorphine and methadone, which randomized controlled trials have shown to decrease illicit opioid use and mortality. Discontinuation of opioid agonist therapy is associated with increased rates of relapse and mortality. Less evidence is available for the opioid antagonist extended release naltrexone, with a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials showing decreased illicit opioid use but no effect on mortality. Treating OUD in primary care settings is cost effective, improves outcomes for both OUD and other medical comorbidities, and is highly acceptable to patients. Evidence on whether behavioral interventions improve outcomes for patients receiving pharmacotherapy is mixed, with guidelines promoting voluntary engagement in psychosocial supports, including counseling. Further work is needed to promote the integration of OUD treatment into primary care and to overcome regulatory barriers to integrating methadone into primary care treatment in the US.
‘Because Everybody is so Different’: a qualitative analysis of the lived experiences and information needs of rectal cancer survivors
Authors: Saunders Catherine H , Goldwag Jenaya L , Read Jackson T , Durand Marie-Anne , Elwyn Glyn , Ivatury Srinivas J
Published: May 2021

Objective

To (1) characterise (A) the lived experiences and (B) information needs of patients with rectal cancer; and (2) compare to the perceived lived experiences and information needs of colorectal surgeons.

Design

We conducted 1-hour semistructured qualitative interviews, dual independent transcript coding and thematic analysis.

Setting/participants

Interviews included rectal cancer survivors (stages I–III), some accompanied by caregivers, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and experienced colorectal surgeons.

Results

We performed 25 interviews involving 30 participants, including 15 patients with 5 caregivers, plus 10 physicians. Two major themes emerged. First, patients reported major impacts on their lives following rectal cancer, including on their everyday lives and leisure activities; identity, self-confidence and intimacy; mental health, especially anxiety. These impacts were mediated by their medical experiences, lifestyle and attitudes. Second, the diversity of effects on patients’ lives means that care, counselling and information needs should be personalised for a better medical experience and outcomes. Surgeons did not report knowledge of the full range of patient experiences and reported limited counselling in key areas, particularly concerning intimacy and mental health.

Conclusion

Rectal cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship dramatically affect all people, regardless of which surgical treatment they undergo. Effects are varied and necessitate customised care, counselling and information, which surgeons are not currently providing. Because rectal cancer affects every part of patients’ lives, they need holistic support and information. Patients would benefit from substantial support after treatment as they establish a new normal.
Hospital staff perspectives on the provision of smoking cessation care: a qualitative description study
Authors: Russell Lahiru , Whiffen Rachel , Chapman Lorena , Just Jasmine , Dean Emma , Ugalde Anna , White Sarah
Published: May 2021

Objective

To explore the perspectives of hospital staff regarding the provision of smoking cessation care.

Study design

A qualitative description study using focus group discussions.

Study setting

Data were collected across metropolitan regional and rural hospitals in Victoria, Australia, between November and December 2019.

Participants

Clinical and non-clinical hospital staff.

Results

Five focus groups were conducted across four hospitals. Staff (n=38) across metropolitan regional and rural hospitals shared similar views with regards to barriers and facilitators of smoking cessation care. Four themes were present: (1)Clinical Settingwherein views about opportunity and capacity to embed smoking cessation care, relevant policies and procedures and guidelines were discussed; (2)Knowledgeconsisted of the need for training on the provision of pharmacotherapy and behavioural interventions, and awareness of resources; (3)Consistencyrepresented the need for a consistently applied approach to smoking cessation care by all staff and included issues of staff smoking; and (4)Appropriatenessconsisted of questions around how smoking cessation care can be safely delivered in the context of challenging patient groups and different settings.

Conclusions

Staff across metropolitan regional and rural hospitals experience similar views and identified shared barriers in implementing smoking cessation care. Responding to staff concerns and providing support to address smoking with patients will help to foster a consistent approach to cessation care. Clear practice guidelines for multidisciplinary clinical roles need to underpin staff training in communication skills, include priorities around smoking cessation care, and provide the authorising environment in which clinical staff actively provide smoking cessation care.
REducing unwarranted variation in the Delivery of high qUality hip fraCture services in England and Wales (REDUCE): protocol for a mixed-methods study
Authors: Patel Rita , Drew Sarah , Johansen Antony , Chesser Tim , Javaid Muhammad K , Griffin Xavier L , Jones Tim , Griffin Jill , Bradshaw Marianne , Whale Katie , Barbosa Estela Capelas , Marques Elsa M R , Ben-Shlomo Yoav , Gooberman-Hill Rachael , Judge Andrew , Gregson Celia L
Published: May 2021

Introduction

Substantial variation in the delivery of hip fracture care, and patient outcomes persists between hospitals, despite established UK national standards and guidelines. Patients’ outcomes are partly explained by patient-level risk factors, but it is hypothesised that organisational-level factors account for the persistence of unwarranted variation in outcomes. The mixed-methods REducing unwarranted variation in the Delivery of high qUality hip fraCture services in England and Wales (REDUCE) study, aims to determine key organisational factors to target to improve patient care.

Methods and analysis

Quantitative analysis will assess the outcomes of patients treated at 172 hospitals in England and Wales (2016–2019) using National Hip Fracture Database data combined with English Hospital Episodes Statistics; Patient Episode Database for Wales; Civil Registration (deaths) and multiple organisational-level audits to characterise each service provider. Statistical analyses will identify which organisational factors explain variation in patient outcomes, and typify care pathways with high-quality consistent patient outcomes. Documentary analysis of 20 anonymised British Orthopaedic Association hospital-initiated peer-review reports, and qualitative interviews with staff from four diverse UK hospitals providing hip fracture care, will identify barriers and facilitators to care delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed a major challenge to the resilience of services and interviews will explore strategies used to adapt and innovate. This system-wide understanding will inform the development, in partnership with key national stakeholders, of an ‘Implementation Toolkit’ to inform and improve commissioning and delivery of hip fracture services.

Ethics and dissemination

This study was approved: quantitative study by London, City and East Research Ethics Committee (20/LO/0101); and qualitative study by Faculty of Health Sciences University of Bristol Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 108284), National Health Service (NHS) Health Research Authority (20/HRA/71) and each NHS Trust provided Research and Development approval. Findings will be disseminated through scientific conferences, peer-reviewed journals and online workshops.
Correlation between circulating blood and microenvironment T lymphocytes in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas
Authors: Laddaga Filomena Emanuela , Ingravallo Giuseppe , Mestice Anna , Tamma Roberto , Perrone Tommasina , Maiorano Eugenio , Ribatti Domenico , Specchia Giorgina , Gaudio Francesco
Published: May 2021

Aims

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is characterised by marked clinical and biological heterogeneity, attributable to the tumour cells and their microenvironment.

Methods

In this study, we investigated circulating subsets of blood lymphocytes and monocytes and their relationship with T cells in the tumour microenvironment (TME) in chemoresistant and chemosensitive patients with DLBCL.

Results

The study showed that (1) absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and CD3+ and CD4+ cells were reduced in chemoresistant patients compared with chemosensitive patients; (2) lymphocyte:monocyte ratio (LMR) showed a positive correlation with peripheral blood CD3+ and CD4+ cells; (3) ALC, LMR, peripheral blood CD3+ and CD4+ cells showed a positive correlation with T cells in the TME.

Conclusions

Overall, these data suggest that DLBCL with high TME T cells display a pre-existing antitumour immune response. In the rituximab-containing regimen, TME T cells are stimulated further to participate in the immune response against lymphoma cells. In contrast, DLBCL lymphomas with low T-cell infiltration reflect the absence of a pre-existing antitumour immunity and have a lower likelihood of obtaining an optimal response to therapy.
Nuclear-specific accumulation oftelomerase reverse transcriptase(TERT) mRNA inTERTpromoter mutated follicular thyroid tumours visualised by in situ hybridisation: a possible clinical screening tool?
Authors: Hellgren L Samuel , Olsson Ann , Kaufeldt Ann , Paulsson Johan O , Hysek Martin , Stenman Adam , Zedenius Jan , Larsson Catharina , Höög Anders , Juhlin C Christofer
Published: May 2021

Aims

Upregulation of thetelomerase reverse transcriptase(TERT) gene is a frequent finding in follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs) with metastatic features. The augmented expression is usually caused byTERTpromoter mutations. As TERT protein immunohistochemistry might not correlate toTERTmRNA levels in follicular thyroid tumours, we therefore sought to determine if visualisation ofTERTmRNA through in situ hybridisation could highlight high-risk cases.

Methods

We collected formalin-fixated paraffin-embedded tissues from 26 follicular thyroid tumours; 7 FTCs, 2 follicular thyroid tumours of uncertain malignant potential (FT-UMPs) and a single Hürthle cell carcinoma with establishedTERTpromoter mutations and gene expression, as well as 16 FTCs with noTERTgene aberrancy or gene expression, and assessed them using RNA Scope in situ hybridisation (ISH) andTERTprobes targeting the two mainTERTtranscripts (TERT1 and TERT2).

Results

TERT 1and/or2mRNA was found by ISH in 8/10 cases with established promoter mutations and mRNA expression, whereas all 16 cases withoutTERTgene aberrancies or gene expression were negative (Fisher’s exact p<0.001). Strikingly,TERTmRNA was visualised in the nuclear compartment only, thereby corroborating earlier studies suggesting a non-conventional role forTERTin tumour biology. Moreover,TERTmRNA expression was scattered across the tissue sections and only found in a few percentages of tumour nuclei.

Conclusions

TERTmRNA seems to be focally expressed and localised exclusively to the nucleus inTERTpromoter mutated follicular thyroid tumours, possibly reflecting a true biological and unorthodox phenomenon worthy of further investigations.
Analytic non-Abelian gravitating solitons in the Einstein–Yang–Mills–Higgs theory and transitions between them
Authors: Canfora Fabrizio , Oh Seung Hun
Published: May 2021

Two analytic examples of globally regular non-Abelian gravitating solitons in the Einstein–Yang–Mills–Higgs theory in (3 + 1)-dimensions are presented. In both cases, the space-time geometries are of the Nariai type and the Yang–Mills field is completely regular and of meron type (namely, proportional to a pure gauge). However, while in the first family (type I) $$X_{0} = 1/2$$

X
0

=
1
/
2

(as in all the known examples of merons available so far) and the Higgs field is trivial, in the second family (type II) $$X_{0} = 1/2$$

X
0

=
1
/
2

is not 1/2 and the Higgs field is non-trivial. We compare the entropies of type I and type II families determining when type II solitons are favored over type I solitons: the VEV of the Higgs field plays a crucial role in determining the phases of the system. The Klein–Gordon equation for test scalar fields coupled to the non-Abelian fields of the gravitating solitons can be written as the sum of a two-dimensional D’Alembert operator plus a Hamiltonian which has been proposed in the literature to describe the four-dimensional Quantum Hall Effect (QHE): the difference between type I and type II solutions manifests itself in a difference between the degeneracies of the corresponding energy levels.
Faster Motif Counting via Succinct Color Coding and Adaptive Sampling
Authors: Bressan Marco , Leucci Stefano , Panconesi Alessandro
Published: May 2021

We address the problem of computing the distribution of induced connected subgraphs, aka
graphlets
or
motifs
, in large graphs. The current state-of-the-art algorithms estimate the motif counts via uniform sampling by leveraging the color coding technique by Alon, Yuster, and Zwick. In this work, we extend the applicability of this approach by introducing a set of algorithmic optimizations and techniques that reduce the running time and space usage of color coding and improve the accuracy of the counts. To this end, we first show how to optimize color coding to efficiently build a compact table of a representative subsample of all graphlets in the input graph. For 8-node motifs, we can build such a table in one hour for a graph with 65M nodes and 1.8B edges, which is

times larger than the state of the art. We then introduce a novel adaptive sampling scheme that breaks the “additive error barrier” of uniform sampling, guaranteeing multiplicative approximations instead of just additive ones. This allows us to count not only the most frequent motifs, but also extremely rare ones. For instance, on one graph we accurately count nearly 10.000 distinct 8-node motifs whose relative frequency is so small that uniform sampling would literally take centuries to find them. Our results show that color coding is still the most promising approach to scalable motif counting.
SIR-GN: A Fast Structural Iterative Representation Learning Approach For Graph Nodes
Authors: Joaristi Mikel , Serra Edoardo
Published: May 2021

Graph representation learning methods have attracted an increasing amount of attention in recent years. These methods focus on learning a numerical representation of the nodes in a graph. Learning these representations is a powerful instrument for tasks such as graph mining, visualization, and hashing. They are of particular interest because they facilitate the direct use of standard machine learning models on graphs. Graph representation learning methods can be divided into two main categories: methods preserving the connectivity information of the nodes and methods preserving nodes’ structural information. Connectivity-based methods focus on encoding relationships between nodes, with connected nodes being closer together in the resulting latent space. While methods preserving structure generate a latent space where nodes serving a similar structural function in the network are encoded close to each other, independently of them being connected or even close to each other in the graph. While there are a lot of works that focus on preserving node connectivity, only a few works focus on preserving nodes’ structure. Properly encoding nodes’ structural information is fundamental for many real-world applications as it has been demonstrated that this information can be leveraged to successfully solve many tasks where connectivity-based methods usually fail. A typical example is the task of node classification, i.e., the assignment or prediction of a particular label for a node. Current limitations of structural representation methods are their scalability, representation meaning, and no formal proof that guaranteed the preservation of structural properties. We propose a new graph representation learning method, called Structural Iterative Representation learning approach for Graph Nodes (
SIR-GN
). In this work, we propose two variations (
SIR-GN: GMM
and
SIR-GN: K-Means
) and show how our best variation
SIR-GN: K-Means
: (1) theoretically guarantees the preservation of graph structural similarities, (2) provides a clear meaning about its representation and a way to interpret it with a specifically designed attribution procedure, and (3) is scalable and fast to compute. In addition, from our experiment, we show that
SIR-GN: K-Means
is often better or, in the worst-case comparable than the existing structural graph representation learning methods present in the literature. Also, we empirically show its superior scalability and computational performance when compared to other existing approaches.
Hierarchical Concept-Driven Language Model
Authors: Wang Yashen , Zhang Huanhuan , Liu Zhirun , Zhou Qiang
Published: May 2021

For guiding natural language generation, many semantic-driven methods have been proposed. While clearly improving the performance of the end-to-end training task, these existing semantic-driven methods still have clear limitations: for example, (i) they only utilize shallow semantic signals (e.g., from topic models) with only a single stochastic hidden layer in their data generation process, which suffer easily from noise (especially adapted for short-text etc.) and lack of interpretation; (ii) they ignore the sentence order and document context, as they treat each document as a bag of sentences, and fail to capture the long-distance dependencies and global semantic meaning of a document. To overcome these problems, we propose a novel semantic-driven language modeling framework, which is a method to learn a Hierarchical Language Model and a Recurrent Conceptualization-enhanced Gamma Belief Network, simultaneously. For scalable inference, we develop the auto-encoding Variational Recurrent Inference, allowing efficient end-to-end training and simultaneously capturing global semantics from a text corpus. Especially, this article introduces concept information derived from high-quality lexical knowledge graph Probase, which leverages strong interpretability and anti-nose capability for the proposed model. Moreover, the proposed model captures not only intra-sentence word dependencies, but also temporal transitions between sentences and inter-sentence concept dependence. Experiments conducted on several NLP tasks validate the superiority of the proposed approach, which could effectively infer meaningful hierarchical concept structure of document and hierarchical multi-scale structures of sequences, even compared with latest state-of-the-art Transformer-based models.
Factor-Bounded Nonnegative Matrix Factorization
Authors: Liu Kai , Li Xiangyu , Zhu Zhihui , Brand Lodewijk , Wang Hua
Published: May 2021

Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is broadly used to determine class membership in a variety of clustering applications. From movie recommendations and image clustering to visual feature extractions, NMF has applications to solve a large number of knowledge discovery and data mining problems. Traditional optimization methods, such as the Multiplicative Updating Algorithm (MUA), solves the NMF problem by utilizing an auxiliary function to ensure that the objective monotonically decreases. Although the objective in MUA converges, there exists no proof to show that the learned matrix factors converge as well. Without this rigorous analysis, the clustering performance and stability of the NMF algorithms cannot be guaranteed. To address this knowledge gap, in this article, we study the factor-bounded NMF problem and provide a solution algorithm with proven convergence by rigorous mathematical analysis, which ensures that both the objective and matrix factors converge. In addition, we show the relationship between MUA and our solution followed by an analysis of the convergence of MUA. Experiments on both toy data and real-world datasets validate the correctness of our proposed method and its utility as an effective clustering algorithm.
Keynote
Authors: Weber Ingo
Published: May 2021

Blockchain is a novel distributed ledger technology. Through its features and smart contract capabilities, a wide range of application areas opened up for blockchain-based innovation [5].

In order to analyse how concrete blockchain systems as well as blockchain applications are used, data must be extracted from these systems. Due to various complexities inherent in blockchain, the question how to interpret such data is non-trivial. Such interpretation should often be shared among parties, e.g., if they collaborate via a blockchain. To this end, we devised an approach codify the interpretation of blockchain data, to extract data from blockchains accordingly, and to output it in suitable formats [1, 2]. This work will be the main topic of the keynote.

In addition, application developers and users of blockchain applications may want to estimate the cost of using or operating a blockchain application. In the keynote, I will also discuss our cost estimation method [3, 4]. This method was designed for the Ethereum blockchain platform, where cost also relates to transaction complexity, and therefore also to system throughput.
Fighting Under-price DoS Attack in Ethereum with Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Eduardo A. Sousa Jose , Oliveira Vinicius C. , Almeida Valadares Julia , Borges Vieira Alex , Bernardino Heder S. , Moraes Villela Saulo , Dias Goncalves Glauber
Published: May 2021

Ethereum is one of the most popular cryptocurrency currently and it has been facing security threats and attacks. As a consequence, Ethereum users may experience long periods to validate transactions. Despite the maintenance on the Ethereum mechanisms, there are still indications that it remains susceptible to a sort of attacks. In this work, we analyze the Ethereum network behavior during an under-priced DoS attack, where malicious users try to perform denial-of-service attacks that exploit flaws in the fee mechanism of this cryptocurrency. We propose the application of machine learning techniques and ensemble methods to detect this attack, using the available transaction attributes. The proposals present notable performance as the Decision Tree models, with AUC-ROC, F-score and recall larger than 0.94, 0.82, and 0.98, respectively.
Mobile Task Offloading Under Unreliable Edge Performance
Authors: Hossen Md Rajib , Islam Mohammad A.
Published: May 2021

Offloading resource-hungry tasks from mobile devices to an edge server has been explored recently to improve task com- pletion time as well as save battery energy. The low la- tency computing resource from edge servers are a perfect companion to realize such task offloading. However, edge servers may su er from unreliable performance due to its rapid workload variation and reliance on intermittent re- newable energy. Further, batteries in mobile devices make online optimum offloading decisions challenging since it in- tertwines offloading decisions across di erent tasks. In this paper, we propose a deep Q-learning based task offloading solution, DeepTO, for online task offloading. DeepTO learns edge server performance in a model-free manner and takes future battery needs of the mobile device into account. Us- ing a simulation-based evaluation, we show that DeepTO can perform close to the optimum solution that has com- plete future knowledge.
What's my App?
Authors: Markudova Dena , Trevisan Martino , Garza Paolo , Meo Michela , Munafo Maurizio M. , Carofiglio Giovanna
Published: May 2021

With the spread of broadband Internet, Real-Time Communication (RTC) platforms have become increasingly popular and have transformed the way people communicate. Thus, it is fundamental that the network adopts traffic management policies that ensure appropriate Quality of Experience to users of RTC applications. A key step for this is the identification of the applications behind RTC traffic, which in turn allows to allocate adequate resources and make decisions based on the specific application's requirements. In this paper, we introduce a machine learning-based system for identifying the traffic of RTC applications. It builds on the domains contacted before starting a call and leverages techniques from Natural Language Processing (NLP) to build meaningful features. Our system works in real-time and is robust to the peculiarities of the RTP implementations of different applications, since it uses only control traffic. Experimental results show that our approach classifies 5 well-known meeting applications with an F1 score of 0.89.
On the Usage of Generative Models for Network Anomaly Detection in Multivariate Time-Series
Authors: García González Gastón , Casas Pedro , Fernández Alicia , Gómez Gabriel
Published: May 2021

Despite the many attempts and approaches for anomaly de- tection explored over the years, the automatic detection of rare events in data communication networks remains a com- plex problem. In this paper we introduce Net-GAN, a novel approach to network anomaly detection in time-series, us- ing recurrent neural networks (RNNs) and generative ad- versarial networks (GAN). Different from the state of the art, which traditionally focuses on univariate measurements, Net-GAN detects anomalies in multivariate time-series, ex- ploiting temporal dependencies through RNNs. Net-GAN discovers the underlying distribution of the baseline, multi- variate data, without making any assumptions on its nature, offering a powerful approach to detect anomalies in com- plex, difficult to model network monitoring data. We further exploit the concepts behind generative models to conceive Net-VAE, a complementary approach to Net-GAN for net- work anomaly detection, based on variational auto-encoders (VAE). We evaluate Net-GAN and Net-VAE in different monitoring scenarios, including anomaly detection in IoT sensor data, and intrusion detection in network measure- ments. Generative models represent a promising approach for network anomaly detection, especially when considering the complexity and ever-growing number of time-series to monitor in operational networks.