bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Switching from zoledronic acid to denosumab increases the risk for developing medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw in patients with bone metastases
Authors: Ikesue Hiroaki , Doi Kohei , Morimoto Mayu , Hirabatake Masaki , Muroi Nobuyuki , Yamamoto Shinsuke , Takenobu Toshihiko , Hashida Tohru
Published: March 2021

Purpose

Switch from zoledronic acid (ZA) to denosumab may increase the risk of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) owing to the additive effect of denosumab on the jawbone and residual ZA activities. We evaluated the risk of developing MRONJ in patients who received ZA, denosumab, or ZA-to-denosumab for the treatment of bone metastases.

Methods

The medical charts of patients with cancer who received denosumab or ZA for bone metastases were retrospectively reviewed. Patients who did not undergo a dental examination at baseline were excluded. Primary endpoint was the evaluation of the risk of developing MRONJ in the ZA-to-denosumab group. Secondary endpoints were probability of MRONJ and the relationship between risk factors and the time to the development of MRONJ.

Results

Among the 795 patients included in this study, 65 (8.2%) developed MRONJ. The incidence of MRONJ was significantly higher in the ZA-to-denosumab group than in the ZA group [7/43 (16.3%) vs. 19/350 (5.4%), p = 0.007]. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that denosumab treatment [hazard ratio (HR), 2.41; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.37–4.39; p = 0.002], ZA-to-denosumab treatment (HR, 4.36; 95% CI, 1.63–10.54, p = 0.005), tooth extraction after starting ZA or denosumab (HR, 4.86; 95% CI, 2.75–8.36; p < 0.001), and concomitant use of antiangiogenic agents (HR, 1.78; 95% CI, 1.06–2.96; p = 0.030) were significant risk factors for MRONJ.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that switching from ZA to denosumab significantly increases the risk for developing MRONJ in patients with bone metastases.
Temperaturabhängiges Anzieh- und Löseverhalten von Schraubenverbindungen mit Zinklamellenüberzügen
Authors: Eberhard A. , Stähler M. , Beyer S. , Klein M. , Oechsner M.
Published: March 2021

In diesem Beitrag werden die Ergebnisse von Warmlöseversuchen nach VDA 235-203/VW 01131 mit denen von Anzieh- und Löseversuchen an einem Anziehprüfstand verglichen. Die Versuche werden bei Temperaturen von Raumtemperatur (RT) bis ϑ = 150 °C bei Variation der Schraubenabmessung (M6 und M10), der Schraubenkopfgeometrie, des Beschichtungssystems von Schraube (Zinklamelle und Zinknickel sowie mit und ohne Decksicht) und Mutter (blank, verzinkt) sowie des Typs der Gegenlage (Scheibe des Typs HL und KTL (Kathodische Tauchlackierung)-Stahlleiste) durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf die unterschiedlichen Prüfmethoden vergleichend bewertet.
Method to determine the local load cycles of a blade bearing using flexible multi-body simulation
Authors: Leupold S. , Schelenz R. , Jacobs G
Published: March 2021

Conventional methods for designing rolling bearings against fatigue assume that a bearing ring is fully rotating and that the load is ideally distributed over the rolling elements. Blade bearings in wind turbines, are operated under oscillating motions and dynamic loads. The load distribution is strongly dependent on the stiffness of the bearing rings and the surrounding structural components. This has been shown in numerous studies using FEM simulations for static load cases. In this paper a method is presented that reduces the calculation effort of the deformation of the bearing rings, so that a flexible integration into an aeroelastic mbs model of a wind turbine is possible. Thereby an average accuracy of 6.5% between FEM and mbs could be achieved. The model allows the determination of time series of the global load distribution of each raceway. By data processing of the simulation results, the number of load cycles and the maximum contact pressure for individual segments of the raceways could be determined and their fatigue probability could be estimated using the linear damage hypothesis according to Palmgren-Miner.
Identification of relevant acoustic transfer paths for WT drivetrains with an operational transfer path analysis
Authors: Schünemann W. , Schelenz R. , Jacobs G. , Vocaet W.
Published: March 2021

The aim of a transfer path analysis (TPA) is to view the transmission of vibrations in a mechanical system from the point of excitation over interface points to a reference point. For that matter, the Frequency Response Functions (FRF) of a system or the Transmissibility Matrix is determined and examined in conjunction with the interface forces at the transfer path. This paper will cover the application of an operational TPA for a wind turbine model. In doing so the path contribution of relevant transfer paths are made visible and can be optimized individually.
Characterization of innate and adaptive immune cells involved in the foreign body reaction to polypropylene meshes in the human abdomen
Authors: Dievernich A. , Achenbach P. , Davies L. , Klinge U.
Published: March 2021

Background

Polypropylene (PP) mesh is widely used to reinforce tissues. The foreign body reaction (FBR) to the implant is dominated by innate immune cells, especially macrophages. However, considerable numbers of adaptive immune cells, namely T cells, have also been regularly observed, which appear to play a crucial role in the long-term host response.

Methods

This study investigated the FBR to seven human PP meshes, which were removed from the abdomen for recurrence after a median of one year. Using immunofluorescence microscopy, the FBR was examined for various innate (CD11b+ myeloid, CD68+ macrophages, CD56+ NK) and adaptive immune cells (CD3+ T, CD4+ T-helper, CD8+ cytotoxic, FoxP3+ T-regulatory, CD20+ B) as well as “conventional” immune cells (defined as cells expressing their specific immune cell marker without co-expressing CD68).

Results

T-helper cells (19%) and regulatory T-cells (25%) were present at comparable rates to macrophages, and clustered significantly toward the mesh fibers. For all cell types the lowest proportions of “conventional” cells (< 60%) were observed at the mesh–tissue interface, but increased considerably at about 50–100 µm, indicating reduced stimulation with rising distance to the mesh fibers.

Conclusion

Both innate and adaptive immune cells participate in the chronic FBR to PP meshes with T cells and macrophages being the predominant cell types, respectively. In concordance with the previous data, many cells presented a “hybrid” pattern near the mesh fibers. The complexity of the immune reaction seen within the foreign body granuloma may explain why approaches focusing on specific cell types have not been very successful in reducing the chronic FBR.
Primal Dual Methods for Wasserstein Gradient Flows
Authors: Carrillo José A. , Craig Katy , Wang Li , Wei Chaozhen
Published: March 2021

Combining the classical theory of optimal transport with modern operator splitting techniques, we develop a new numerical method for nonlinear, nonlocal partial differential equations, arising in models of porous media, materials science, and biological swarming. Our method proceeds as follows: first, we discretize in time, either via the classical JKO scheme or via a novel Crank–Nicolson-type method we introduce. Next, we use the Benamou–Brenier dynamical characterization of the Wasserstein distance to reduce computing the solution of the discrete time equations to solving fully discrete minimization problems, with strictly convex objective functions and linear constraints. Third, we compute the minimizers by applying a recently introduced, provably convergent primal dual splitting scheme for three operators (Yan in J Sci Comput 1–20, 2018). By leveraging the PDEs’ underlying variational structure, our method overcomes stability issues present in previous numerical work built on explicit time discretizations, which suffer due to the equations’ strong nonlinearities and degeneracies. Our method is also naturally positivity and mass preserving and, in the case of the JKO scheme, energy decreasing. We prove that minimizers of the fully discrete problem converge to minimizers of the spatially continuous, discrete time problem as the spatial discretization is refined. We conclude with simulations of nonlinear PDEs and Wasserstein geodesics in one and two dimensions that illustrate the key properties of our approach, including higher-order convergence our novel Crank–Nicolson-type method, when compared to the classical JKO method.
Impact of leg bending in the patient-specific computational fluid dynamics of popliteal stenting
Authors: Ferrarini A. , Finotello A. , Salsano G. , Auricchio F. , Palombo D. , Spinella G. , Pane B. , Conti M.
Published: March 2021

Endovascular treatment of the femoro-popliteal artery has recently become a valuable therapeutic option for popliteal arterial aneurysms. However, its efficacy remains controversial due to the relatively high rate of complications, such as stent occlusion as result of intra-stent thrombosis. The elucidation of the interplay among vessel geometrical features, local hemodynamics, and leg bending seems crucial to understand onset and progression of popliteal intra-stent thrombosis. To this aim, patient-specific computational fluid dynamic simulations were performed in order to assess the intra-stent hemodynamics of two patients endovascularly treated for popliteal arterial aneurysm by stent-grafts and experiencing intra-stent thrombosis. Both Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood rheological models were considered. Results were presented in terms of tortuosity, luminal area exposed to low (< 0.4 Pa) and high (> 1.5 Pa) time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS), area exposed to high (> 0.3) oscillatory shear index (OSI), and flow helicity. Study outcomes demonstrated that leg bending induced significant hemodynamic differences (> 50% increase) in both patients for all the considered variables, except for OSI in one of the two considered patients. In both leg configurations, stent-graft overlapping induced a severe discontinuity of the lumen diameter where the proximal stented zone is characterized by low tortuosity, low velocity, low helicity, low TAWSS, and high OSI; while the distal part has higher tortuosity, velocity, helicity, TAWSS, and lower OSI. Sensitivity study on applied boundary conditions showed that the different inlet velocity profiles for a given inlet waveform affect slightly the numerical solution; conversely, the shape and magnitude of the prescribed inlet waveform is determinant. Focusing on the comparison between the Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood models, the area with low TAWSS is greater in the Newtonian model for both patients, while no significant difference occurs between the surfaces with high TAWSS.

GraphicAbstract

Patient-specific computational fluid dynamic simulations were performed in order to assess the intra-stent hemodynamics of two patients endovascularly treated for popliteal arterial aneurysm and experiencing intra-stent thrombosis. Both Newtonian and non-Newtonian blood rheological models were considered. In both straight and bent leg configurations, stent-graft overlapping induced a severe discontinuity of the lumen diameter where the proximal stented zone is characterized by low tortuosity, low velocity, low helicity, low time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS), and high oscillatory index (OSI); while the distal part has higher tortuosity, velocity, helicity, TAWSS, and lower OSI.
Catchment water quality in the year preceding and immediately following restoration of a drained afforested blanket bog
Authors: Gaffney Paul P. J. , Hancock Mark H. , Taggart Mark A. , Andersen Roxane
Published: March 2021

The restoration of drained afforested peatlands, through drain blocking and tree removal, is increasing in response to peatland restoration targets and policy incentives. In the short term, these intensive restoration operations may affect receiving watercourses and the biota that depend upon them. This study assessed the immediate effect of ‘forest-to-bog’ restoration by measuring stream and river water quality for a 15 month period pre- and post-restoration, in the Flow Country peatlands of northern Scotland. We found that the chemistry of streams draining restoration areas differed from that of control streams following restoration, with phosphate concentrations significantly higher (1.7–6.2 fold, mean 4.4) in restoration streams compared to the pre-restoration period. This led to a decrease in the pass rate (from 100 to 75%) for the target “good” quality threshold (based on EU Water Framework Directive guidelines) in rivers in this immediate post-restoration period, when compared to unaffected river baseline sites (which fell from 100 to 90% post-restoration). While overall increases in turbidity, dissolved organic carbon, iron, potassium and manganese were not significant post-restoration, they exhibited an exaggerated seasonal cycle, peaking in summer months in restoration streams. We attribute these relatively limited, minor short-term impacts to the fact that relatively small percentages of the catchment area (3–23%), in our study catchments were felled, and that drain blocking and silt traps, put in place as part of restoration management, were likely effective in mitigating negative effects. Looking ahead, we suggest that future research should investigate longer term water quality effects and compare different ways of potentially controlling nutrient release.
A bi-directional dialog between vascular cells and monocytes/macrophages regulates tumor progression
Authors: Delprat Victor , Michiels Carine
Published: March 2021

Cancer progression largely depends on tumor blood vessels as well on immune cell infiltration. In various tumors, vascular cells, namely endothelial cells (ECs) and pericytes, strongly regulate leukocyte infiltration into tumors and immune cell activation, hence the immune response to cancers. Recently, a lot of compelling studies unraveled the molecular mechanisms by which tumor vascular cells regulate monocyte and tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) recruitment and phenotype, and consequently tumor progression. Reciprocally, TAMs and monocytes strongly modulate tumor blood vessel and tumor lymphatic vessel formation by exerting pro-angiogenic and lymphangiogenic effects, respectively. Finally, the interaction between monocytes/TAMs and vascular cells is also impacting several steps of the spread of cancer cells throughout the body, a process called metastasis. In this review, the impact of the bi-directional dialog between blood vascular cells and monocytes/TAMs in the regulation of tumor progression is discussed. All together, these data led to the design of combinations of anti-angiogenic and immunotherapy targeting TAMs/monocyte whose effects are briefly discussed in the last part of this review.
Does Spelling Still Matter—and If So, How Should It Be Taught? Perspectives from Contemporary and Historical Research
Authors: Pan Steven C. , Rickard Timothy C. , Bjork Robert A.
Published: March 2021

A century ago, spelling skills were highly valued and widely taught in schools using traditional methods, such as weekly lists, drill exercises, and low- and high-stakes spelling tests. That approach was featured in best-selling textbooks such as theHorn-Ashbaugh Spellerof 1920. In the early 21st century, however, skepticism as to the importance of spelling has grown, some schools have deemphasized or abandoned spelling instruction altogether, and there has been a proliferation of non-traditional approaches to teaching spelling. These trends invite a reevaluation of the role of spelling in modern English-speaking societies and whether the subject should be explicitly taught (and if so, what are research-supported methods for doing so). In this article, we examine the literature to address whether spelling skills are still important enough to be taught, summarize relevant evidence, and argue that a comparison of common approaches to spelling instruction in the early 20th century versus more recent approaches provides some valuable insights. We also discuss the value of explicit spelling instruction and highlight potentially effective ways to implement such instruction, including the use of spelling tests. Overall, our goals are to better characterize the role of spelling skills in today’s society and to identify several pedagogical approaches—some derived from traditional methods and others that are more recent—that hold promise for developing such skills in efficient and effective ways.
Correction to: An empirical assessment of baseline feature location techniques
Authors: Razzaq Abdul , Le Gear Andrew , Exton Chris , Buckley Jim
Published: March 2021

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s10664-020-09924-6
Lags in the release, adoption, and propagation of npm vulnerability fixes
Authors: Chinthanet Bodin , Kula Raula Gaikovina , McIntosh Shane , Ishio Takashi , Ihara Akinori , Matsumoto Kenichi
Published: March 2021

Security vulnerability in third-party dependencies is a growing concern not only for developers of the affected software, but for the risks it poses to an entire software ecosystem, e.g., Heartbleed vulnerability. Recent studies show that developers are slow to respond to the threat of vulnerability, sometimes taking four to eleven months to act. To ensure quick adoption and propagation of a release that contains the fix (fixing release), we conduct an empirical investigation to identify lags that may occur between the vulnerable release and its fixing release (package-side fixing release). Through a preliminary study of 231 package-side fixing release of npm projects on GitHub, we observe that a fixing release is rarely released on its own, with up to 85.72% of the bundled commits being unrelated to a fix. We then compare the package-side fixing release with changes on a client-side (client-side fixing release). Through an empirical study of the adoption and propagation tendencies of 1,290 package-side fixing releases that impact throughout a network of 1,553,325 releases of npm packages, we find that stale clients require additional migration effort, even if the package-side fixing release was quick (i.e., package-side fixing releasetypeSpatch). Furthermore, we show the influence of factors such as the branch that the package-side fixing release lands on and the severity of vulnerability on its propagation. In addition to these lags we identify and characterize, this paper lays the groundwork for future research on how to mitigate propagation lags in an ecosystem.
Maneuvering in the Interval: Reflections on Immanent Entanglements
Authors: Wiltse Heather
Published: March 2021

Both perspective and leverage are needed in order to arrive at a place where it is possible to do the philosophical work required in order to adequately account for our present sociotechnical landscape. One of the key characteristics of this landscape is the collapse of scale, as things become more like fluid assemblages and the economic incentives of surveillance capitalism turn ordinary things into surveillance devices tuned for others’ profit. In this context we need a language not only of imagination and humility in the face of countless gaps between things, but also one of entanglement, care, and response-ability.
Religious Zeal, Affective Fragility, and the Tragedy of Human Existence
Authors: Tietjen Ruth Rebecca
Published: March 2021

Today, in a Western secular context, the affective phenomenon of religious zeal is often associated, or even identified, with religious intolerance, violence, and fanaticism. Even if the zealots’ devotion remains restricted to their private lives, “we” as Western secularists still suspect them of a lack of reason, rationality, and autonomy. However, closer consideration reveals that religious zeal is an ethically and politically ambiguous phenomenon. In this article, I explore the question of how this ambiguity can be explained. I do so by drawing on Paul Ricœur’s theory of affective fragility and tracing back the ambiguity of religious zeal to a dialectic inherent to human affectivity and existence itself. According to Ricœur, human affectivity is constituted by the two poles of vital and spiritual desires which are mediated by the thymos. As I show, this theory helps us to understand that religious zeal as a spiritual desire is neither plainly good nor plainly bad, but ambiguous. Moreover, it enables us to acknowledge the entanglement of abstraction and concretion that is inherent to the phenomenon of religious zeal. Finally, this theory helps us to understand why religious zeal, as one possible expression of the human quest for the infinite, is both a promise and a threat. In conclusion, human existence is tragic not in that we necessarily fail, but in that no matter which path we take with regard to our spiritual desires—that of affirmation, rejection, or moderation—we are and remain fallible.
Politics of Makeover: Initiating Organisational Change and Positioning the Unemployed in a Swedish Reality TV Series
Authors: Dahlstedt Magnus , Vesterberg Viktor
Published: March 2021

This article reports on a reality TV series, Sweden’s best employment service, broadcast on Swedish public service television in 2018. The purpose was to investigate ongoing political transformations in the Swedish welfare model. The series focuses not only on unemployment, the unemployed and their life situation but more specifically on the organisation of the Swedish Public Employment Service (PES) as reflected at a local PES office. Informed by a cultural studies approach to the politics of popular culture, the aim of this article is to examine how the makeover is staged in the series. The article focuses on how the unemployed are positioned in the series in a setting of organisational change initiated at the local PES office. The analysis provides insights into how the makeover is staged and initiated in reality TV and illustrates how the unemployed are positioned as willing and able to work and to actively seek opportunities. The unemployed are not the primary target for the makeover in the series. The makeover is primarily directed at the organisation of the PES and its managers. Consequently, unemployment is presented in the series as not only a concern for the individual citizen but also for society.

Nine o’clock on channel sixGet the beer and get the chipsDeath is live upon the screenIt’s reality TV!Tankard, R.T.V., 1994
Enacting the aesthetic: A model for raw cognitive dynamics
Authors: Vara Sánchez Carlos
Published: March 2021

One challenge faced by aesthetics is the development of an account able to trace out the continuities and discontinuities between general experience and aesthetic experiences. Regarding this issue, in this paper, I present an enactive model of some raw cognitive dynamics that might drive the progressive emergence of aesthetic experiences from the stream of general experience. The framework is based on specific aspects of John Dewey’s pragmatist philosophy and embodied aesthetic theories, while also taking into account research in ecological psychology, cognitive sciences, and dynamic systems theory. The model focuses on dynamically relevant nodes at the pre-reflective and the reflective side of experience that would work as nested rhythmic constraints at different cognitive timescales with the potential to shunt experiences toward the aesthetic in everyday situations. My proposal constitutes a way to explore aesthetic experiences from an enactive perspective that regards them as transformative events in which cognitive processes entrain and are entrained by changes taking place in the environment, the brain, and the body.
Cause-effect chains in S-LCA based on DPSIR framework using Markov healthcare model: an application to “working hours” in Canada
Authors: Hannouf Marwa B. , Assefa Getachew , Hannouf Malek B. , Gates Ian
Published: March 2021

Purpose

This study has two aims: first, propose the use of the driver-pressure-state-impact-response (DPSIR) framework to expand the normal focus of impact pathways in social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) on endpoint impacts to a systematic analysis to find links between the main sources of social issues and impacts; second, develop a new impact assessment method to quantify the lifetime health and economic outcomes associated with social subcategories, for the first time, using decision analytic models.

Methods

The DPSIR framework is mapped to the corresponding elements of the S-LCA context in relation to the social subcategories defined in the UNEP/SETAC methodological sheets. Next, a more robust approach is developed for cause-impact chains between social subcategories and impacts on human well-being based on decision-analytic models (decision trees and Markov models) using healthcare approaches and data. Finally, the health and economic consequences associated with social subcategories are quantified by using Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) and costs based on medical literature and healthcare studies.

Results and discussion

The method was applied to the “working hours” social subcategory in Canada. The cause-effect chain is built using DPSIR framework in relation to the current social issue in Canada of working more than standard hours. Results of the decision analytic model show that working standard hours is more effective and cost-saving than working more than standard hours from the Canadian healthcare perspective. Working standard hours compared to more than standard hours led to an increase of 0.73 QALY and decrease in cost of $6702 per worker. Based on an estimated 2.4 million Canadian workers working more than standard hours, this resulted in a total gain of 1.7 million QALYs and saving of $16 billion overall. Using cost-effectiveness analysis, possible interventions at multiple entry points of the cause-effect chain within DPSIR framework are proposed to reduce the negative health impacts and associated costs of working more than standard hours in Canada.

Conclusions

Applying the method on other subcategories could help decision-makers establish the cause-effect aspects of the social performance of their product systems using a quantitative systematic analysis from a life cycle perspective. This approach supports corporate decision-makers to quantify social impacts associated with their product supply chains by calculating QALYs and healthcare costs of their socio-economic conditions enabling them to identify possible interventions to improve the social performance.
No Substances in a Substance
Authors: Piwowarczyk Marek
Published: March 2021

In this paper I analyze the most controversial thesis of Aristotelian substantialism, namely, that substances cannot be composed of other substances. I call this position the Mereological Limitation Thesis (MLT). I find MLT valid and defend it. My argument for MLT is a version of the argument from the unicity of substantial form. Every substance can have only one substantial form, thus, if some substances compose the objectO, then what binds them is only a set of their accidental forms (relations) and in the result thereofOis not a substance (Ois not informed by a substantial form). I argue against the relativization of the substantiality of forms to the level of composition by showing that substantial forms must be absolutely identity-independent. In the last section I specify the ontological status of parts of substances and argue that they are spatially distributed bundles of accidents of a compound substance itself.
Towards a Digital Workerism: Workers’ Inquiry, Methods, and Technologies
Authors: Woodcock Jamie
Published: March 2021

Digital technology is playing an increasingly visible role in the organisation of many people’s work—as well as large parts of their lives more broadly. The concerns of emancipatory technology studies, or other critical accounts of technology, are often focused on finding alternative uses of technology. In many workplace contexts—from call centres to platform work—the imperatives of capital are deeply written into these technologies. Yet at the same time, many capitalist technologies are playing a key role facilitating emerging workers’ struggles. For example, in the case study examined here, Deliveroo drivers rely on communication technologies like WhatsApp to organise against algorithmic management. Drawing on an ongoing workers’ inquiry, this paper seeks to consider what a workerist approach to digital technology can add to these debates. The paper outlines the challenges and opportunities for a “digital workers’ inquiry,” considering how this approach combines research with organising. The argument is divided into two main parts: first, the need for inquiries in digital work and the importance of these and second, how the process of inquiry and co-research (and the methods these involve) can be adapted and refined with digital technology. By starting the critique of technology from the workplace, this paper proposes a workerist account of how technologies can be destroyed or re-appropriated, starting from a reading of workers’ struggle.
Testing the mixed-blessings model: What is the role of essentialism for stigmatizing attitudes towards schizophrenia?
Authors: Dittrich Daniel , Dernbach Kristina , Speerforck Sven , Schindler Stephanie , Häusser Jan A. , Schomerus Georg
Published: March 2021

It is well established that emphasizing a biogenetic etiology of mental health problems in anti-stigma interventions inadvertently increases potentially stigmatizing attitudes. The “mixed-blessings” model suggests that biogenetic explanations and greater stigma are linked by essentialism. The present study tests this hypothesis experimentally. In this online experiment, 367 subjects read either a biogenetic or a psychosocial explanation for the etiology of schizophrenia, followed by a vignette describing an individual who has schizophrenia. Subsequently, we measured (a) causal beliefs on the etiology of schizophrenia (as a manipulation check), (b) the degree of essentialist beliefs (mediator), (c) the extent to which subjects subscribed to assumptions of dangerousness, (d) prognostic pessimism, and (e) desire for social distance. Subjects reported a stronger agreement with the etiology they had been presented. Against our expectations, this did not result in higher levels of stigmatizing attitudes in the biogenetic vignette group. Correspondingly, mediation through essentialism could not be tested. In the psychosocial vignette group, biogenetic causal beliefs were associated with a stronger desire for social distance. Essentialist thinking fully mediated this effect. The evidence we found for the assumptions of the mixed-blessings extended to the psychosocial vignette group only. We explain this by the subjects’ different readiness to subscribe to biogenetic and psychosocial causal beliefs. We argue that the same levels of essentialism between the experimental groups contributed to the equal levels of stigmatizing attitudes. This underlines the fundamental importance of essentialism in stigma, going beyond a role in the psychological effects of biogenetic causal models.
ESMO virtual congress 2020—highlights NSCLC
Authors: Kiesewetter Barbara
Published: March 2021

This year’s virtual version of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) presidential sessions included three “late breaking” non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) abstracts, discussing strategies for adjuvant therapy of localized disease and up-front treatment of advanced anaplastic lymphoma kinase(ALK)-positive lung cancer.
Optimization of ICP-OES’S parameters for uranium analysis of rock samples
Authors: Li Xiaozhe , Xiong Chao , Sun Kun , Fang Fang , Zhang Qingxian
Published: March 2021

Currently, the quantitative analysis methods for uranium that are widely used in laboratories, such as the volumetric method and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) cannot achieve low cost, simple operation, and little influence by other elements. The inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) has a wide linear range, and high stability, and can be used to identify multiple elements simultaneously. However, when ICP-OES is used for quantitative analysis of uranium, the settings for the RF power, nebulizer flow, and pump rate can affect the analysis results. In this work, these parameters were carefully optimized for identifying uranium. Based on experiments, we selected two spectrum peaks 409.014 nm and 424.167 nm for quantitative analysis with the lowest interference. The optimal parameters obtained are atomizer flow rate of 0.75 L/min, a sample pumping rate of 1.6 mL/min, and a high-frequency power of 1400 W. Then we compared the accuracy of the volumetric method, ICP-MS method and ICP-OES method with the optimized parameter for analysis of experimental samples and references. The results showed that the ICP-OES with the optimized parameters proposed in this paper can be used to perform a convenient, quick, and efficient quantitative analysis of uranium in minerals.
Flammable gases produced by TiO2 nanoparticles under magnetic stirring in water
Authors: Li Pengcheng , Tang Chongyang , Xiao Xiangheng , Jia Yanmin , Chen Wanping
Published: March 2021

The friction between nanomaterials and Teflon magnetic stirring rods has recently drawn much attention for its role in dye degradation by magnetic stirring in dark. Presently the friction between TiO2 nanoparticles and magnetic stirring rods in water has been deliberately enhanced and explored. As much as 1.00 g TiO2 nanoparticles were dispersed in 50 mL water in 100 mL quartz glass reactor, which got gas-closed with about 50 mL air and a Teflon magnetic stirring rod in it. The suspension in the reactor was magnetically stirred in dark. Flammable gases of 22.00 ppm CO, 2.45 ppm CH4, and 0.75 ppm H2 were surprisingly observed after 50 h of magnetic stirring. For reference, only 1.78 ppm CO, 2.17 ppm CH4, and 0.33 ppm H2 were obtained after the same time of magnetic stirring without TiO2 nanoparticles. Four magnetic stirring rods were simultaneously employed to further enhance the stirring, and as much as 30.04 ppm CO, 2.61 ppm CH4, and 8.98 ppm H2 were produced after 50 h of magnetic stirring. A mechanism for the catalytic role of TiO2 nanoparticles in producing the flammable gases is established, in which mechanical energy is absorbed through friction by TiO2 nanoparticles and converted into chemical energy for the reduction of CO2 and H2O. This finding clearly demonstrates a great potential for nanostructured semiconductors to utilize mechanical energy through friction for the production of flammable gases.
Der Biomarker TRACP5b (tartratresistente saure Phosphatase 5b)
Authors: Oremek G. M. , Passek K. , Bendels M. , Wanke E. M. , Ohlendorf D.
Published: March 2021

Die vorliegende Übersicht zum Biomarker TRACP5b wird im Rahmen der Serie „Tumormarker“ desZentralblatts für Arbeitsmedizin, Arbeitsschutz und Ergonomiepubliziert, die sich mit dem immer häufigeren Gebrauch der Bestimmung von spezifischen Markern bei sog. Manager-Vorsorgen und Check-up-Untersuchungen beschäftigt. TRACP5b eignet sich grundsätzlich nicht für solche Vorsorgen, sondern ist ein Marker zur Therapie‑, Verlaufs- und Rezidivkontrolle von Osteoporose und der ossären Metastasen. Hier zeigt dieser eine hohe Sensitivität und Spezifität, wobei der Marker aber auf keinen Fall als Screeningparameter zur Frühdiagnostik eingesetzt werden soll.
A game strategy model in the digital curling system based on NFSP
Authors: Han Yuntao , Zhou Qibin , Duan Fuqing
Published: March 2021

The digital curling game is a two-player zero-sum extensive game in a continuous action space. There are some challenging problems that are still not solved well, such as the uncertainty of strategy, the large game tree searching, and the use of large amounts of supervised data, etc. In this work, we combine NFSP and KR-UCT for digital curling games, where NFSP uses two adversary learning networks and can automatically produce supervised data, and KR-UCT can be used for large game tree searching in continuous action space. We propose two reward mechanisms to make reinforcement learning converge quickly. Experimental results validate the proposed method, and show the strategy model can reach the Nash equilibrium.
Functional paper-based materials for diagnostics
Authors: Hillscher Laura M. , Liebich Valentina J. , Avrutina Olga , Biesalski Markus , Kolmar Harald
Published: March 2021

Functional papers are the subject of extensive research efforts and have already become an irreplaceable part of our modern society. Among other issues, they enable fast and inexpensive detection of a plethora of analytes and simplify laboratory work, for example in medical tests. This article focuses on the molecular and structural fundamentals of paper and the possibilities of functionalization, commercially available assays and their production, as well as on current and future challenges in research in this field.

Graphic abstract
Exploring the Relationship Between Character Strengths and Meditation: a Cross-Sectional Study Among Long-Term Practitioners of Sahaja Yoga Meditation
Authors: Hendriks Tommy , Pritikin Joshua , Choudhary Rajeev , Danyluck Chad
Published: March 2021

A growing body of research has associated the practice of meditation with the development of character strengths. Sahaja Yoga (SY) is a spiritual practice designed to help people develop a set of character strengths. The primary goal of the current work is to determine whether practitioners of SY meditation endorse signature strengths. Using the VIA Inventory of Strengths 120, we conducted a survey to measure character strengths among 310 daily practitioners of SY meditation and compared them to a matched sample from the database of the VIA Institute on Character. Practitioners of SY meditation endorsed seven signature strengths, relative to non-meditators: spirituality, forgiveness, gratitude, self-regulation, teamwork, appreciation of beauty, and hope. Findings suggest that the practice of SY meditation may be related to a unique and broad set of character strengths. The findings pave the way for research identifying signature strength development in other group contexts.
Fertilizers and nitrate pollution of surface and ground water: an increasingly pervasive global problem
Authors: Bijay-Singh  , Craswell Eric
Published: March 2021

Nitrate pollution of ground and surface water bodies all over the world is generally linked with continually increasing global fertilizer nitrogen (N) use. But after 1990, with more fertilizer N consumption in developing countries especially in East and South Asia than in the industrialized nations in North America and Europe, nitrate pollution of freshwaters is now increasingly becoming a pervasive global problem. In this review it has been attempted to review the research information generated during the last two decades from all over the world on different aspects of nitrate pollution of natural water bodies. It is now evident that not more than 50% of the fertilizer N is directly used by the crops to which it is applied. While a small portion may directly leach down and may reach ground and surface water bodies, a large proportion ends up in the soil organic N pool from where N is mineralized and is taken up by plants and/or lost via leaching during several decades. Present trends of nitrate pollution of freshwaters, therefore, reflect legacies of current and past applications of fertilizers and manures. Tools such as simulation models and the natural variation in the stable isotopes of N and oxygen are now being extensively used to study the contribution of fertilizers and other sources to nitrate enrichment of freshwaters. Impacts of agricultural stewardship measures are being assessed and nitrate enrichment of water bodies is being managed using modern digital models and frameworks. Improved water and fertilizer management in agroecosystems can reduce the contribution of fertilizers to nitrate pollution of water bodies but a host of factors determine the magnitude. Future research needs are also considered.
Barium Isotopes
Authors: Horner Tristan J. , Crockford Peter W.
Published: March 2021

In the modern marine environment, barium isotope (δ138Ba) variations are primarily driven by barite cycling—barite incorporates 'light' Ba isotopes from solution, rendering the residual Ba reservoir enriched in 'heavy' Ba isotopes by a complementary amount. Since the processes of barite precipitation and dissolution are vertically segregated and spatially heterogeneous, barite cycling drives systematic variations in the barium isotope composition of seawater and sediments. This Element examines these variations; evaluates their global, regional, local, and geological controls; and, explores how δ138Ba can be exploited to constrain the origin of enigmatic sedimentary sulfates and to study marine biogeochemistry over Earth's history.
25487 Timing and strength of hand grasp that are affected by abnormal coupling between arm muscles following stroke: A pilot study
Authors: Kim Dongwon , Koh Kyung , Baghi Raziyeh , Lo Li-Chuan , Zhang Chunyang , Oppizzi Giovanni , Xu Dali , Zhang Li-Qun
Published: March 2021

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Impaired neuromuscular control could lead to the failure in activation and deactivation of the target muscles in a timely manner, with the concurrence of activities of non-targeted muscles. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Stroke leads to impaired capacity to manipulate objects with the hand in terms of timing and strength of grasp. The influence of abnormal coupling across more proximal arm muscles post stroke on the failure in normal functioning of finger flexor muscle activity is of interest to investigate. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We have recruited 12 participants with stroke hemiparesis in the sub-acute or chronic stage. Motor impairment of the arm was assessed using electromyography (EMG) and the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity (FMUE) assessment. Participants were requested to flex and relax the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints against motorized resistance in response to audible tones to determine timing and strength during flexion. They were asked to flex maximally, as quickly as possible, in response to the first of a pair of tones, and relax as quickly as possible after the second tone. Delays in initiation and termination were evaluated using EMG responses versus a predefined threshold. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We anticipate greater delays in grasp initiation as well as in grasp termination in participants with a greater extent of abnormal coupling across more proximal muscles of the upper extremity in comparison to participants with a less extent, using the results of the FMUE assessment. Also it is expected that participants with a greater extent of the flexion synergy produce a less extent of force generation. The EMG results will show that activities of more proximal arm muscles precede the initiation of MCP flexion and their activity termination precedes that of MCP flexion, significantly more in participants with a greater extent of the flexion synergy. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: The flexion synergy over the arm following stroke affects the timing and strength of hand grasp. Impaired neuromuscular control could lead to the failure in activation and deactivation of the target muscles in a timely manner, with the concurrence of activities of non-targeted muscles.
59461 Underutilization of Program Services: Patterns, Sources, and Proposed Solutions
Authors: Elworth Julie T. , Billaud Maon , Vaught Melissa , Harvey Jillian , Paranal Rechelle , Zell Adrienne , El Bcheraoui Charbel
Published: March 2021

ABSTRACT IMPACT: Investigators in clinical and translational research will be better supported by CTSAs that reduce barriers to the efficient and effective utilization of their program services. OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Evidence from three CTSAs show that investigators do not take advantage of all program services provided. This session will explore the patterns and sources of underutilization by sharing preliminary results from investigators and program managers. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Interviews with investigators at all three CTSA sites were conducted in Spring 2020. Investigators who had only used one program service and those who had used multiple program services across a span of three-years (2016 to 2018) were included in the sample. Investigators who had only used REDCap, were excluded. Interviews numbered about six interviews per site. Content analysis helped identify emerging themes and patterns. A survey with program managers at the three CTSA sites will be deployed in January 2021. Program managers across all programs will be included in the sample. Basic descriptive analysis will be used to analyze the data. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Interviews with investigators at all sites illuminated ways different investigators use, learned about and leveraged services, as well as the barriers they encountered to using cross-program services. Investigators also provided thoughts on ways to address lack of program service use. Survey results are expected to clarify program managers’ knowledge of other program services in their CTSA, programs’ referral processes, and the barriers program managers face when recommending other services to users. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF FINDINGS: When investigators do not take full advantage of all program services provided, investigators are put at risk of having longer, less successful projects. Knowing the sources of underutilization can help curb this trend and effectively address investigator needs throughout the research process.