bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtual Surgeries of Nasal Cavities Using a Coupled Lattice-Boltzmann–Level-Set Approach
Authors: Waldmann Moritz , Rüttgers Mario , Lintermann Andreas , Schröder Wolfgang
Published: March 2022

Fluid mechanical properties of respiratory flow such as pressure loss, temperature distribution, or wall-shear stress characterize the physics of a nasal cavity. Simulations based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods are able to deliver in-depth details on respiration. Integrating such tools into virtual surgery environments may support physicians in their decision-making process. In this study, a lattice-Boltzmann (LB) flow solver is coupled to a level-set (LS) method to modify the shape of a nasal cavity at simulation run time in a virtual surgery. The geometry of a presurgical nasal cavity obtained from computer tomography (CT) datasets is smoothly adapted toward a postsurgical geometry given by the surgeon using an interpolation approach based on a LS method. The influence of the modification on the respiratory flow is analyzed in silico. The methods are evaluated by simulating a virtual surgery of a stenotic pipe and juxtaposing the results to cases using static geometries and by comparing them to literature findings. The results for both the stenotic pipe and the nasal cavity are in perfect agreement with the expected outcomes. For the nasal cavity, a shape is found that reduces the nasal resistance by 25.3% for inspiration at a volumetric flow rate of V˙=250 ml/s. The heating capability is retained despite the geometry modification. The simulation results support the surgeon in evaluating a planned surgery and in finding an improved surgery for the patient.
Agreement Between Sagittal Foot and Tibia Angles During Running Derived From an Open-Source Markerless Motion Capture Platform and Manual Digitization
Authors: Johnson Caleb D. , Outerleys Jereme , Davis Irene S.
Published: March 2022

Several open-source platforms for markerless motion capture offer the ability to track 2-dimensional (2D) kinematics using simple digital video cameras. We sought to establish the performance of one of these platforms, DeepLabCut. Eighty-four runners who had sagittal plane videos recorded of their left lower leg were included in the study. Data from 50 participants were used to train a deep neural network for 2D pose estimation of the foot and tibia segments. The trained model was used to process novel videos from 34 participants for continuous 2D coordinate data. Overall network accuracy was assessed using the train/test errors. Foot and tibia angles were calculated for 7 strides using manual digitization and markerless methods. Agreement was assessed with mean absolute differences and intraclass correlation coefficients. Bland–Altman plots and paired t tests were used to assess systematic bias. The train/test errors for the trained network were 2.87/7.79 pixels, respectively (0.5/1.2 cm). Compared to manual digitization, the markerless method was found to systematically overestimate foot angles and underestimate tibial angles (P < .01, d = 0.06–0.26). However, excellent agreement was found between the segment calculation methods, with mean differences ≤1° and intraclass correlation coefficients ≥.90. Overall, these results demonstrate that open-source, markerless methods are a promising new tool for analyzing human motion.
Prevalence, Trends, and Correlates of Joint Patterns of Aerobic and Muscle-Strengthening Activity and Sleep Duration: A Pooled Analysis of 359,019 Adults in the National Health Interview Survey 2004–2018
Authors: Oftedal Stina , Holliday Elizabeth G. , Reynolds Amy C. , Bennie Jason A. , Kline Christopher E. , Duncan Mitch J.
Published: March 2022

Background: Physical activity (PA) and sleep duration have established associations with health outcomes individually but tend to co-occur and may be better targeted jointly. This study aimed to describe the cross-sectional prevalence, trends, and population characteristic correlates of activity-sleep patterns in a population-representative sample of US adults from the National Health Interview Survey (2004–2018). Methods: Participants (N = 359,019) self-reported aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity and sleep duration. They were categorized as “meeting both”/“meeting PA only”/“meeting sleep only”/“meeting neither” of the 2018 US PA guidelines and age-based sleep duration recommendations. Trends in activity-sleep patterns were analyzed using weighted multinomial logistic regression, and correlates were identified using weighted binary Poisson regressions, with P ≤ .001 considered significant. Results: “Meet sleep only” was most prevalent (46.4%) by 2018, followed by “meet neither” (30.3%), “meet both” (15.6%), and “meet PA only” (7.7%). Many significant sociodemographic, biological, and health-behavior correlates of the activity-sleep groups were identified, and the direction and magnitude of these associations differed between groups. Conclusions: Public health campaigns should emphasize the importance of both sufficient PA and sleep; target women and older adults, current smokers, and those with lower education and poorer physical and mental health; and consider specific barriers experienced by minority ethnic groups.
OpenCell: Endogenous tagging for the cartography of human cellular organization
Authors: Cho Nathan H. , Cheveralls Keith C. , Brunner Andreas-David , Kim Kibeom , Michaelis André C. , Raghavan Preethi , Kobayashi Hirofumi , Savy Laura , Li Jason Y. , Canaj Hera , Kim James Y. S. , Stewart Edna M. , Gnann Christian , McCarthy Frank , Cabrera Joana P. , Brunetti Rachel M. , Chhun Bryant B. , Dingle Greg , Hein Marco Y. , Huang Bo , Mehta Shalin B. , Weissman Jonathan S. , Gómez-Sjöberg Rafael , Itzhak Daniel N. , Royer Loïc A. , Mann Matthias , Leonetti Manuel D.
Published: March 2022

Elucidating the wiring diagram of the human cell is a central goal of the postgenomic era. We combined genome engineering, confocal live-cell imaging, mass spectrometry, and data science to systematically map the localization and interactions of human proteins. Our approach provides a data-driven description of the molecular and spatial networks that organize the proteome. Unsupervised clustering of these networks delineates functional communities that facilitate biological discovery. We found that remarkably precise functional information can be derived from protein localization patterns, which often contain enough information to identify molecular interactions, and that RNA binding proteins form a specific subgroup defined by unique interaction and localization properties. Paired with a fully interactive website (opencell.czbiohub.org), our work constitutes a resource for the quantitative cartography of human cellular organization.
Programmable molecular transport achieved by engineering protein motors to move on DNA nanotubes
Authors: Ibusuki Ryota , Morishita Tatsuya , Furuta Akane , Nakayama Shintaro , Yoshio Maki , Kojima Hiroaki , Oiwa Kazuhiro , Furuta Ken’ya
Published: March 2022

Intracellular transport is the basis of microscale logistics within cells and is powered by biomolecular motors. Mimicking transport for in vitro applications has been widely studied; however, the inflexibility in track design and control has hindered practical applications. Here, we developed protein-based motors that move on DNA nanotubes by combining a biomolecular motor dynein and DNA binding proteins. The new motors and DNA-based nanoarchitectures enabled us to arrange the binding sites on the track, locally control the direction of movement, and achieve multiplexed cargo transport by different motors. The integration of these technologies realized microscale cargo sorters and integrators that automatically transport molecules as programmed in DNA sequences on a branched DNA nanotube. Our system should provide a versatile, controllable platform for future applications.
Global biosphere primary productivity changes during the past eight glacial cycles
Authors: Yang Ji-Woong , Brandon Margaux , Landais Amaëlle , Duchamp-Alphonse Stéphanie , Blunier Thomas , Prié Frédéric , Extier Thomas
Published: March 2022

Global biosphere productivity is the largest uptake flux of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO
2
), and it plays an important role in past and future carbon cycles. However, global estimation of biosphere productivity remains a challenge. Using the ancient air enclosed in polar ice cores, we present the first 800,000-year record of triple isotopic ratios of atmospheric oxygen, which reflects past global biosphere productivity. We observe that global biosphere productivity in the past eight glacial intervals was lower than that in the preindustrial era and that, in most cases, it starts to increase millennia before deglaciations. Both variations occur concomitantly with CO
2
changes, implying a dominant control of CO
2
on global biosphere productivity that supports a pervasive negative feedback under the glacial climate.
The changing epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2
Authors: Koelle Katia , Martin Michael A. , Antia Rustom , Lopman Ben , Dean Natalie E.
Published: March 2022

We have come a long way since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic—from hoarding toilet paper and wiping down groceries to sending our children back to school and vaccinating billions. Over this period, the global community of epidemiologists and evolutionary biologists has also come a long way in understanding the complex and changing dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19. In this Review, we retrace our steps through the questions that this community faced as the pandemic unfolded. We focus on the key roles that mathematical modeling and quantitative analyses of empirical data have played in allowing us to address these questions and ultimately to better understand and control the pandemic.
Citizen seismology helps decipher the 2021 Haiti earthquake
Authors: Calais E. , Symithe S. , Monfret T. , Delouis B. , Lomax A. , Courboulex F. , Ampuero J. P. , Lara P. E. , Bletery Q. , Chèze J. , Peix F. , Deschamps A. , de Lépinay B. , Raimbault B. , Jolivet R. , Paul S. , St Fleur S. , Boisson D. , Fukushima Y. , Duputel Z. , Xu L. , Meng L.
Published: March 2022

On 14 August 2021, the moment magnitude (Mw) 7.2 Nippes earthquake in Haiti occurred within the same fault zone as its devastating 2010Mw7.0 predecessor, but struck the country when field access was limited by insecurity and conventional seismometers from the national network were inoperative. A network of citizen seismometers installed in 2019 provided near-field data critical to rapidly understand the mechanism of the mainshock and monitor its aftershock sequence. Their real-time data defined two aftershock clusters that coincide with two areas of coseismic slip derived from inversions of conventional seismological and geodetic data. Machine learning applied to data from the citizen seismometer closest to the mainshock allows us to forecast aftershocks as accurately as with the network-derived catalog. This shows the utility of citizen science contributing to our understanding of a major earthquake.
COVID-19—lessons for zoonotic disease
Authors: Holmes Edward C.
Published: March 2022

Disease emergence is driven by human–animal contact in a global viral ecosystem
Africa battles out-of-control polio outbreaks
Authors: Roberts Leslie
Published: March 2022

Cases tumble in Pakistan and Afghanistan but African outbreaks now threaten eradication
Lentiviral Nef Proteins Differentially Govern the Establishment of Viral Latency
Authors: Carlin Eric , Greer Braxton , Lowman Kelsey , Dalecki Alexander G. , Duverger Alexandra , Wagner Frederic , Kutsch Olaf
Published: March 2022

Therapeutic attempts to eliminate the latent HIV-1 reservoir have failed, at least in part due to our incomplete biomolecular understanding of how latent HIV-1 infection is established and maintained. We here address the fundamental question of whether all lentiviruses actually possess a similar capacity to establish latent infections or whether there are differences between the lentiviral lineages driving differential latency establishment that could be exploited to develop improved latency reversal agents.
Outer Membrane Vesicles of
Acinetobacter baumannii
DS002 Are Selectively Enriched with TonB-Dependent Transporters and Play a Key Role in Iron Acquisition
Authors: Dhurve Ganeshwari , Madikonda Ashok Kumar , Jagannadham Medicharla Venkata , Siddavattam Dayananda
Published: March 2022

TonB-dependent transporters (TonRs) play a crucial role in transporting nutrients such as iron, nickel, copper, and complex carbohydrates across the energy-deprived outer membrane. Due to their unique structural features, TonRs capture nutrients in an energy-independent manner and transport them across the outer membrane by harvesting energy derived from the inner membrane-localized Ton-complex.
WhiB4 Is Required for the Reactivation of Persistent Infection of Mycobacterium marinum in Zebrafish
Authors: Lin Chen , Tang Yuting , Wang Yuchen , Zhang Junli , Li Yeyu , Xu Shuqin , Xia Bin , Zhai Qiran , Li Yao , Zhang Lu , Liu Jun
Published: March 2022

About one-quarter of the world’s population has latent TB infection, and 5 to 10% of those individuals will fall ill with TB. Our finding suggests that WhiB4 is an attractive target for the development of novel therapeutics, which may help to prevent the reactivation of latent infection, thereby reducing the incidences of active TB.
Distinct Roles of Honeybee Gut Bacteria on Host Metabolism and Neurological Processes
Authors: Zhang Zijing , Mu Xiaohuan , Shi Yao , Zheng Hao
Published: March 2022

The honeybee possesses a simple and host-restricted gut community that contributes to the metabolic health of its host, while the effects of bacterial symbionts on host neural functions remain elusive. We found that the colonization of specific bee gut bacteria regulates distinct circulating metabolites enriched in carbohydrate, amino acid, and glycerophospholipid metabolic pathways.
Geologic map of central Panamint Range, California, USA
Authors: Andrew Joseph E.
Published: March 2022

This detailed geologic map and supplemental digital data set1 examine and demonstrate the complex deformational history and reactivation relationships of the Panamint Range (California, USA), from active transtension of the Walker Lane belt, Miocene extension of the Basin and Range, to multiple Mesozoic events related to subduction, and Neoproterozoic extension. This collection of map data focuses on the geometry, kinematics, and relative timing of deformation to understand the deformation history and effects of structural reactivation. A minor portion of this geologic mapping data was presented in the analysis and figures of Andrew and Walker (2009).

The Neogene extension and subsequent dextral transtension deformation has created a complex network of faults via partial reactivation of Mesozoic and Neoproterozoic structures. Structural data show oblique normal slip overprinting earlier normal slip along the western range flank fault of the western Panamint Range. Jurassic and Cretaceous deformation is localized along the western range on the Goldbug fault. The hanging wall of this fault preserves migmatitic fabrics and intense deformation due to Jurassic contraction. The Goldbug fault places Paleoproterozoic to Mesoproterozoic rocks over Neoproterozoic rocks. The Jurassic contraction has top-to-the-northeast relative transport and the more discrete Cretaceous thrust faulting has top-to-the-east transport. A set of Late Cretaceous plutonic rocks and mylonitic gneisses derived from them, occur along the Goldbug fault and demonstrate the reactivated nature of this fault in the Late Cretaceous. New data for the Butte Valley fault show that this fault cuts Late Jurassic plutonic rocks and has normal slip. The Butte Valley fault ends northward at the linked sinistral slip Warm Spring Canyon fault, which was previously interpreted to be an intrusive contact. A previously unrecognized rim syncline structure occurs along the boundary of the Late Jurassic Manly Peak quartz monzonite. Neoproterozoic deformation is difficult to discern due to the overprinting deformations. Numerous Neoproterozoic deformation-related mass wasting deposits can be seen within this formation, including a set of conspicuous allochthonous deposits and clasts of older Beck Spring Dolomite that appear to be frozen in the process of breaking away from intact, normal thickness beds in the Surprise–Happy Canyons divide.

This detailed geologic mapping and collection of structural data for the rocks in the central Panamint Range were created using digital in-the-field geographic information systems software running on a field-hardened laptop computer combined with an earlier set of field data that were digitized into the digital georeferenced database. This map is a simplification of detailed geologic mapping data collected at 1:2000–1:6000 scales and reduced to 1:20000 scale. Structural data include kinematic and relative timing of deformation information.
Time to positivity of blood cultures in neonatal late-onset bacteraemia
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Sagori , Briker Sara M , Flannery Dustin D , Dhudasia Miren B , Coggins Sarah A , Woodford Emily , Walsh Eileen M , Li Sherian , Puopolo Karen M , Kuzniewicz Michael W
Published: March 2022

Objective

To determine the time to positivity (TTP) of blood cultures among infants with late-onset bacteraemia and predictors of TTP >36 hours.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

16 birth centres in two healthcare systems.

Patients

Infants with positive blood cultures obtained >72 hours after birth.

Outcome

The main outcome was TTP, defined as the time interval from specimen collection to when a neonatal provider was notified of culture growth. TTP analysis was restricted to the first positive culture per infant. Patient-specific and infection-specific factors were analysed for association with TTP >36 hours.

Results

Of 10 235 blood cultures obtained from 3808 infants, 1082 (10.6%) were positive. Restricting to bacterial pathogens and the first positive culture, the median TTP (25th–75th percentile) for 428 cultures was 23.5 hours (18.4–29.9); 364 (85.0%) resulted in 36 hours. Excluding coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 275 of 294 (93.5%) cultures were flagged positive by 36 hours. In a multivariable model, CoNS isolation and antibiotic pretreatment were significantly associated with increased odds of TTP >36 hours. Projecting a 36-hour empiric duration at one site and assuming that all negative evaluations were associated with an empiric course of antibiotics, we estimated that 1164 doses of antibiotics would be avoided in 629 infants over 10 years, while delaying a subsequent antibiotic dose in 13 infants with bacteraemia.

Conclusions

Empiric antibiotic administration in late-onset infection evaluations (not targeting CoNS) can be stopped at 36 hours. Longer durations (48 hours) should be considered when there is pretreatment or antibiotic therapy is directed at CoNS.
Fibroadenoma in axillary ectopic breast
Authors: Tee Sui Wu , Tan Yi Han , Jeyabalan Dhinisya , Selvam Devanraj
Published: March 2022

Axillary lumps are common clinical presentations in surgery, which have various differential diagnoses. We encountered an unusual case of an isolated axillary mass. The patient was a young woman in her 20s with a 2 year history of right axillary swelling. Clinically, the lump measured 3 cm ×3 cm, mobile, non-tender, and there was no associated breast lump or skin changes. Our initial impression was an isolated lymphadenopathy, and further workup for tuberculosis lymphadenopathy returned negative. Ultrasound demonstrated a well circumscribed oval lesion, and fine needle aspiration could only identify a benign proliferative breast tissue. As it was increasing in size and causing discomfort, we decided for an excision biopsy for both diagnostic and therapeutic reasons. Intraoperatively, the lump was noted to have well defined, smooth surface along with whitish-grey appearance. The tissue surrounding it was also removed and sent for histopathological assessment. Results confirmed our diagnosis of fibroadenoma in an ectopic breast tissue.
Development and validation of a questionnaire-based myopia proxy in adults: the LifeLines Cohort Study
Authors: Asefa Nigus G , Neustaeter Anna , Vehof Jelle , Nolte Ilja M , Snieder Harold , Jansonius Nomdo M
Published: March 2022

Aims

To build a questionnaire-based myopia proxy and to validate the proxy by confirming its association with educational attainment and a Polygenic Risk Score (PRS) for myopia.

Methods

Data were collected between 2014 and 2017 from 88 646 Dutch adults from the LifeLines Cohort. First, we performed principal component analysis (PCA) to responses of five refraction-status questions. Second, we measured the refractive state in a subset of LifeLines participants (n=326) and performed logistic regression using myopia (mean spherical equivalent <−0.5 D) as a dependent variable and the principal components (PCs) as independent variables. We identified specificity, sensitivity and the classification threshold. Third, the classification equation was applied to the remaining LifeLines participants. The value of the proxy was then explored by calculating its association with educational attainment and a PRS of myopia.

Results

A total of 77 096 participants (58.1% women) were eligible for the PCA. The first two PCs had a specificity of 91.9% (95% CI 87.8% to 95.4%) and a sensitivity of 90.4% (95% CI 84.3% to 96.4%) for myopia. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 95.0% (95% CI 92.2% to 97.8%). The age-standardised prevalence of proxy-inferred myopia was 33.8% (95% CI 33.4% to 34.3%). Compared with low education level, the ORs of proxy-inferred myopia were 1.66 (95% CI 1.58 to 1.74, p=5.94×10−90) and 2.54 (95% CI 2.41 to 2.68, p=4.04×10−271) for medium and high education levels, respectively. Similarly, individuals at the top 10% of PRS (vs lower 90%) had an OR of 2.18 (95% CI 1.98 to 2.41, p=6.57×10−56) for proxy-inferred myopia, whereas those at the highest decile had an OR of 4.51 (95% CI 3.9 to 5.21, p=1.74×10−89) when compared with the lowest decile.

Conclusion

Self-administered refractive error-related questions could be used as an effective tool to capture proxy-inferred myopic cases in a population-based setting.
Reducing laboratory costs through rational testing in suspected pre-eclampsia
Authors: Jakes Adam Daniel , Cox Marsha , Drane Simon , Johnson Antoinette
Published: March 2022

The current electronic laboratory order set at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust for suspected pre-eclampsia includes a full blood count, urea and electrolytes, liver function, gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid. Local and national guidelines do not recommend the use of gamma-glutamyltransferase or uric acid for the investigation or monitoring of pre-eclampsia, as they are poor predictors of maternal and neonatal outcomes. We aimed to remove the automatic inclusion of gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid from the electronic laboratory order set for suspected pre-eclampsia. Stakeholders were approached to gain an understanding of whether gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid were being used in the clinical assessment of suspected pre-eclampsia. Obstetric consultants and maternity staff confirmed that they do not use uric acid in their clinical assessment, despite the laboratory phoning with abnormal results. In addition, an isolated gamma-glutamyltransferase rise is of no particular significance and is not part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) diagnostic criteria for pre-eclampsia. The baseline number of gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid requests from the maternity department was identified over 2 months. The hospital information technology service was then asked to remove gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid from the electronic laboratory order set. The number of gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid requests from the maternity department following the intervention was identified over 2 months. A significant reduction in both gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid requests were noted. In addition, the midwives within the maternity assessment unit noted a significant reduction in phone calls from the laboratory to escalate abnormal blood results. This has saved the trust money and reduced staff time answering phone calls regarding abnormal blood results. A repeat assessment at 8 months following the removal of gamma-glutamyltransferase and uric acid demonstrated sustainability of the project.
COVID-19-related occupational stress in staff in an acute paediatric teaching hospital in Ireland
Authors: Murray Johanna , Adamis Dimitrios , McNicholas Fiona
Published: March 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in major strains for healthcare staff.

Objectives

This study aims to assess prevalence of occupational burnout (BO) during COVID-19 in staff working in an acute paediatric hospital setting.

Participants

One hundred and thirty-three staff, out of 1900 eligible staff (9.6% response rate), completed an online or paper and pencil survey.

Methods

The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used as the main outcome measure. Additional questions examined the impact of COVID-19 and restrictions on work setting and personal health.

Results

The majority of respondents reported moderate or higher levels of BO for personal (n=93; 70%) and work domains (n=83; 62%). Rates of patient-related BO were lower (n=18; 13%). Higher rates of BO were found in staff with self-rated COVID-19 adverse effects on physical (n=50, 38%) and mental health (n=88, 66%) (F (2, 13.019)=16.019, p<0.001). The majority of staff had no stress reduction training at any stage in their career, either professional (60%), on the job (62%) or postpandemic (59%) work. Although most (82%) were aware of occupational health supports, few (30%) reported an intention to access these if needed; 65% (n=86) of the respondents seriously considered changing jobs in the last 6–12 months.

Conclusion

High level of occupational stress among hospital staff during COVID-19, in the absence of stress reduction training is a risk factor for BO. Interventions, acceptable to the employee, are urgently needed given the likelihood of additional work demands as COVID-19 continues.
Serial rotational thromboelastography (ROTEM) in mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19 demonstrates hypercoagulopathy despite therapeutic heparinization
Authors: Choi James K , Prabhakaran Kartik , Latifi Rifat , Smiley Abbas , Klein Joshua , Lombardo Gary , Rhee Peter
Published: March 2022

Background

Clinical hypercoagulopathy in patients with COVID-19 has been anecdotally described, but there is lack of evidence due to the novelty of this disease. Our study reports the results of rotational thromboelastography (ROTEM) in relation to traditional laboratory coagulation tests and acute phase markers among a cohort of severely ill, mechanically ventilated patients with COVID-19.

Methods

Patients with COVID-19 (N=21) with respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation were included in this prospective case series. ROTEM was serially obtained for all patients on three different days during their intensive care unit (ICU) stay and analyzed using repeated measures analysis. Demographic variables, symptoms at the time of presentation, ROTEM values, laboratory values for traditionally measured coagulation profiles, and acute phase reactants were analyzed, in addition to the use of anticoagulation and clinical hypercoagulopathic complications.

Results

The average age of our cohort was 57.9 years old (SD=14.4) and 76.2% were male. The mortality rate was 14.3% (3 of 21). Two patients (12.5%) were identified to have new-onset deep vein thrombosis, two patients (12.5%) were found to have ≥3 episodes of central venous catheter thrombosis, and three patients (18.7%) had confirmed stroke. ROTEM demonstrated elevated EXTEM and INTEM clotting times, including elevated FIBTEM maximum clot firmness (MCFFIB). All patients treated with therapeutic anticoagulation still demonstrated hypercoagulopathy within the MCFFIBtests.

Discussion

Repeated measure ROTEMs were able to detect hypercoagulopathy in ICU patients with COVID-19 despite therapeutic anticoagulation with heparin.

Level of evidence

III.
Evaluating the benefits and risks of social media for wildlife conservation
Authors: Bergman Jordanna N. , Buxton Rachel T. , Lin Hsien-Yung , Lenda Magdalena , Attinello Kayla , Hajdasz Adrianne C. , Rivest Stephanie A. , Tran Nguyen Thuong , Cooke Steven J. , Bennett Joseph R.
Published: March 2022

Given its extensive volume and reach, social media has the potential to widely spread conservation messaging and be a powerful tool to mobilize social change for conserving biodiversity. We synthesized gray and primary academic literature to investigate the effects of social media on wildlife conservation, revealing several overarching benefits and risks. We found that social media can increase pro-conservation behaviours among the public, increase conservation funding, and incite policy changes. Conversely, social media can contribute to species exploitation and illegal trade, cause unprecedented increases in tourism in protected areas, and perpetuate anti-conservation behaviours via misinformation. In most cases, we found that content sharing on social media did not result in a detectable impact on conservation; in this paper, however, we focus on providing examples where conservation impact was achieved. We relate these positive and negative outcomes of social media to psychological phenomena that may influence conservation efforts and discuss limitations of our findings. We conclude with recommendations of best practices to social media administrators, public social media users, nongovernmental organizations, and governing agencies to minimize conservation risks while maximizing beneficial outcomes. By improving messaging, policing online misconduct, and providing guidance for action, social media can help achieve wildlife conservation goals.
Simulation of multi-point mixing concentration gradient generator
Authors: Liu Bendong , Tan Jingkai , Dong Shijie , Li Desheng , Yang Jiahui
Published: March 2022

This paper proposes a new concentration gradient generator based on the principle and flow characteristics of solution mixing in the microchannel. This concentration gradient generator works with oscillating bubbles in the microchannel, which are excited with bulk acoustic wave. The oscillating bubbles are used to mix the solution in the microchannel. The volume of each bubble is controllable individually and the number of bubbles partaken mixing is adjustable. Therefore, the mixing position of the solution and the concentration gradient in the microchannel are adjustable. Therefore, the new concentration gradient generator has the advantages of fast response and high flexibility. Simulation software COMSOL 5.5 was used to simulate the influence of the inlet flow rate, the bubble amplitude, and the number of bubbles on the mixing result. The simulation result shows that the inlet flow rate and the bubble amplitude affect the mixing width of the solution in the microchannel. The simulation result also shows that the concentration distribution with different gradient can be generated by adjusting the number of bubbles located in the solution microchannel. The simulation has an important reference for the design of the concentration gradient generator.
Effect of reaction temperature on formation of α-Si3N4 nanowires by a simple CVD method
Authors: Yin Li , Zhao Kai , Ma Zhihong , Fan Rongzheng , He Zhen , Huang Saifang
Published: March 2022

[Formula: see text]-Si3N4 nanowires were formed by a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method using Si and SiO2 as raw materials without the addition of metal catalyst. The effect of reaction temperature on the phase composition and morphologies of the nanowires were analyzed by XRD and SEM. The experimental results indicate that a suitable reaction temperature is essential for the final products. At 1400[Formula: see text]C, small amount of target products were obtained, and some irregular particles were attached on the surfaces of nanowires. When the temperature increased to 1450[Formula: see text]C, the nanowires were mainly composed of [Formula: see text]-Si3N4 phase, they had smooth surfaces with diameters fluctuating from 50 to 200 nm and lengths from hundreds to thousands of microns. At further high reaction temperature (1500[Formula: see text]C), [Formula: see text]-Si3N4 phase was observed and the nanowires had larger diameters, this was negative for obtaining purity [Formula: see text]-Si3N4 nanowires. The growth process of [Formula: see text]-Si3N4 nanowires was dominantly governed by the vapor–solid mechanism.
Numerical simulation for dynamic behavior of molten pool in cable-type welding wire GAMW
Authors: Yang Zhidong , Chen Yuntao , Yang Dongdong , Fang Chenfu , Xu Guoxiang , Li Yueyun
Published: March 2022

The cable-type welding wire gas (CWW) metal arc welding (GMAW) is an innovative arc welding process with high efficiency and high welding quality. However, there is still a lack of deep research on the molten pool of CWW-GMAW. The behavior of molten pool of CWW-GMAW was studied by both numerical simulations and experiments. The temperature field and flow field in the longitudinal section and across cross-section under the current of 450 A in CWW-GMAW were simulated. The result shows that the isotherm in front of the molten pool is denser than that in the back on the longitudinal section. The arc rotation force causes the velocity of the molten pool in the direction of weld penetration becoming more significant than that of weld width. The rotating momentum of the droplet affects the temperature distribution of the weld width and penetration on the cross-section of the molten pool. The coupling of electromagnetic force and rotating arc force makes the flow field present a clockwise vortex shape. The simulated results of weld geometries of CWW GMAW are in good agreement with the experimental results, indicating the applicability and accuracy of the established model.
Thermal conductivity estimation of silicon bulk material based on modified Raman thermal technique
Authors: Cao Fangcheng , He Zhen
Published: March 2022

The thermal conductivity of single-crystal silicon was investigated by using Raman spectroscopy. The laser simultaneously acted as an excitation source and a heating source. The correlations between Raman spectra with both temperature and laser power for single-crystal silicon, which has a potential relationship with the thermal conductivity, were estimated. The results showed the localized compressive stress caused by laser heating would underestimate Raman peak shift. So, the temperature was determined based on the variation of linewidth. The predicted thermal conductivity of single-crystal silicon is 125 W/m ⋅ K, which is comparable to the theoretical value.
Investigation on Metal Nanoparticles: Nickel Oxide, Cuprous Oxide and Tin Ferrite with Their Humidity Sensing at Room Temperature
Authors: Singh Swati , Chaudhary Priyanka , Singh Sunanda , Verma Vandana , Srivastava Richa , Tripathi Ravi Kant , Singh Kaman , Yadav B. C.
Published: March 2022

This paper deals with the facile approach to the synthesis of different metal oxide nanoparticles and their comparative study for humidity sensing application at room temperature. The synthesis of these metal oxide nanoparticles is through co-precipitation method for nickel oxide and tin ferrite and hydrothermal route for cuprous oxide. The SEM and EDX reveal the porous morphology and confirmed composition of the synthesized metal oxides. FTIR detects the presence of functional groups like –OH and confirms the inverse spinal structure in tin ferrite. The optical band gap was determined by UV spectroscopy: 3.86[Formula: see text]eV for NiO, 4.13[Formula: see text]eV for Cu2O, and 4.07[Formula: see text]eV for SnFe2O4. XRD gives the information about the average crystallite size for tin ferrite 2.42[Formula: see text]nm, cuprous oxide 12.88[Formula: see text]nm and nickel oxide 22.51[Formula: see text]nm as the size comes to nano range the surface area increases, which is a good indication for humidity sensing. The humidity sensing of materials was detected by electrical modes. The deposited thin films were prepared by spin coater and observed sensitivity of these films was 0.72[Formula: see text]M[Formula: see text]/%RH for NiO, 1.59[Formula: see text]M[Formula: see text]/%RH for Cu2O, and 2.07[Formula: see text]M[Formula: see text]/%RH for SnFe2O4. The experiments were repeated after few weeks and the aging effects of samples were found negligible which makes the sensor stable.
Example of a sinkhole landscaping project within the close protection area of a drinking water catchment at Saffré (France, Loire-Atlantique)
Authors: Mondain Paul-Henri
Published: March 2022

The frequent sinkholes along the temporary water streams in Saffré basin can be compared with those occurring in Upper Normandy which are commonly referred to as ‘bétoires’. These collapses are not directly linked to karst cavities. They result from a draw-off effect of fine particles contained in the Plio-Quaternary alluvium lying above the carbonate Oligocene series. The draw-off phenomenon appears through fine cracks (1 to a few millimetres) open in soft palustrine limestones broadly comparable with chalk. Based on the knowledge of backfilling work design undertaken at some ‘bétoires’ in Upper Normandy, a new project was undertaken at four sinkhole funnels, which appeared near the surface in the Saffré basin at the end of the winter in 2017. The works consisted of digging the decompressed surface and filling up the excavation pit with materials of decreasing granulometry from bottom to top in order to ease the surface water infiltration through the identified fractured zones to the bottom of the excavation. This design was also complemented by the implementation of a filtering trench in between the watercourse and the filtering bed, laid above the fractured zones, which were enlarged by the dissolution process, on the one hand, and by the construction of a pipe network on top of the filtering bed to allow for pressurized air exhaust towards the surface, on the other hand. The pressurized air comes up from the aquifer as it recharges as soon as the surface water streamflow resumes and takes part in the mechanism, leading to sinkhole collapse, which should be prevented by this backfilling design.
Feature-Level Attentive ICF for Recommendation
Authors: Cheng Zhiyong , Liu Fan , Mei Shenghan , Guo Yangyang , Zhu Lei , Nie Liqiang
Published: March 2022

Item-based collaborative filtering (ICF) enjoys the advantages of high recommendation accuracy and ease in online penalization and thus is favored by the industrial recommender systems. ICF recommends items to a target user based on their similarities to the previously interacted items of the user. Great progresses have been achieved for ICF in recent years by applying advanced machine learning techniques (e.g., deep neural networks) to learn the item similarity from data. The early methods simply treat all the historical items equally and recently proposed methods attempt to distinguish the different importance of historical items when recommending a target item. Despite the progress, we argue that those ICF models neglect the diverse intents of users on adopting items (e.g., watching a movie because of the director, leading actors, or the visual effects). As a result, they fail to estimate the item similarity on a finer-grained level to predict the user’s preference to an item, resulting in sub-optimal recommendation. In this work, we propose a general feature-level attention method for ICF models. The key of our method is to distinguish the importance of different factors when computing the item similarity for a prediction. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our method, we design a light attention neural network to integrate both item-level and feature-level attention for neural ICF models. It is model-agnostic and easy-to-implement. We apply it to two baseline ICF models and evaluate its effectiveness on six public datasets. Extensive experiments show the feature-level attention enhanced models consistently outperform their counterparts, demonstrating the potential of differentiating user intents on the feature-level for ICF recommendation models.
Multi-relation Graph Summarization
Authors: Ke Xiangyu , Khan Arijit , Bonchi Francesco
Published: March 2022

Graph summarization is beneficial in a wide range of applications, such as visualization, interactive and exploratory analysis, approximate query processing, reducing the on-disk storage footprint, and graph processing in modern hardware. However, the bulk of the literature on graph summarization surprisingly overlooks the possibility of having edges of different types. In this article, we study the novel problem of producing summaries of multi-relation networks, i.e., graphs where multiple edges of different types may exist between any pair of nodes. Multi-relation graphs are an expressive model of real-world activities, in which a relation can be a topic in social networks, an interaction type in genetic networks, or a snapshot in temporal graphs.

The first approach that we consider for multi-relation graph summarization is a two-step method based on summarizing each relation in isolation, and then aggregating the resulting summaries in some clever way to produce a final unique summary. In doing this, as a side contribution, we provide the first polynomial-time approximation algorithm based on the

k
-Median

clustering for the classic problem of lossless single-relation graph summarization.

Then, we demonstrate the shortcomings of these two-step methods, and propose holistic approaches, both approximate and heuristic algorithms, to compute a summary directly for multi-relation graphs. In particular, we prove that the approximation bound of

k
-Median

clustering for the single relation solution can be maintained in a multi-relation graph with proper aggregation operation over adjacency matrices corresponding to its multiple relations. Experimental results and case studies (on co-authorship networks and brain networks) validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.
String Diagram Rewrite Theory I: Rewriting with Frobenius Structure
Authors: Bonchi Filippo , Gadducci Fabio , Kissinger Aleks , Sobocinski Pawel , Zanasi Fabio
Published: March 2022

String diagrams are a powerful and intuitive graphical syntax, originating in theoretical physics and later formalised in the context of symmetric monoidal categories. In recent years, they have found application in the modelling of various computational structures, in fields as diverse as Computer Science, Physics, Control Theory, Linguistics, and Biology.

In several of these proposals, transformations of systems are modelled as rewrite rules of diagrams. These developments require a mathematical foundation for string diagram rewriting: whereas rewrite theory for terms is well-understood, the two-dimensional nature of string diagrams poses quite a few additional challenges.

This work systematises and expands a series of recent conference papers, laying down such a foundation. As a first step, we focus on the case of rewrite systems for string diagrammatic theories that feature a Frobenius algebra. This common structure provides a more permissive notion of composition than the usual one available in monoidal categories, and has found many applications in areas such as concurrency, quantum theory, and electrical circuits. Notably, this structure provides an exact correspondence between the syntactic notion of string diagrams modulo Frobenius structure and the combinatorial structure of hypergraphs.

Our work introduces a combinatorial interpretation of string diagram rewriting modulo Frobenius structures in terms of double-pushout hypergraph rewriting. We prove this interpretation to be sound and complete and we also show that the approach can be generalised to rewriting modulo multiple Frobenius structures. As a proof of concept, we show how to derive from these results a termination strategy for Interacting Bialgebras, an important rewrite theory in the study of quantum circuits and signal flow graphs.
Counteracting Dark Web Text-Based CAPTCHA with Generative Adversarial Learning for Proactive Cyber Threat Intelligence
Authors: Zhang Ning , Ebrahimi Mohammadreza , Li Weifeng , Chen Hsinchun
Published: March 2022

Automated monitoring of dark web (DW) platforms on a large scale is the first step toward developing proactive Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI). While there are efficient methods for collecting data from the surface web, large-scale dark web data collection is often hindered by anti-crawling measures. In particular, text-based CAPTCHA serves as the most prevalent and prohibiting type of these measures in the dark web. Text-based CAPTCHA identifies and blocks automated crawlers by forcing the user to enter a combination of hard-to-recognize alphanumeric characters. In the dark web, CAPTCHA images are meticulously designed with additional background noise and variable character length to prevent automated CAPTCHA breaking. Existing automated CAPTCHA breaking methods have difficulties in overcoming these dark web challenges. As such, solving dark web text-based CAPTCHA has been relying heavily on human involvement, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. In this study, we propose a novel framework for automated breaking of dark web CAPTCHA to facilitate dark web data collection. This framework encompasses a novel generative method to recognize dark web text-based CAPTCHA with noisy background and variable character length. To eliminate the need for human involvement, the proposed framework utilizes Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) to counteract dark web background noise and leverages an enhanced character segmentation algorithm to handle CAPTCHA images with variable character length. Our proposed framework, DW-GAN, was systematically evaluated on multiple dark web CAPTCHA testbeds. DW-GAN significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art benchmark methods on all datasets, achieving over 94.4% success rate on a carefully collected real-world dark web dataset. We further conducted a case study on an emergent Dark Net Marketplace (DNM) to demonstrate that DW-GAN eliminated human involvement by automatically solving CAPTCHA challenges with no more than three attempts. Our research enables the CTI community to develop advanced, large-scale dark web monitoring. We make DW-GAN code available to the community as an open-source tool in GitHub.