bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Automatic Linking of Podcast Segments to Topically Related Webpages
Authors: McKeon Carla , Rocha Claudio , Jones Gareth J. F.
Published: February 2023

Podcasts are becoming an increasingly popular source of information. However, they often rely on the topical knowledge of the listener in order for them to be fully understood. We describe an investigation into methods to augment the contents of podcasts with related information from the Web. We seek to identify webpages related to segments within a podcast. NLP techniques are used to analyze audio podcast transcripts and link these to related content. We propose and examine 10 methods for automatically generating search queries from transcript segments, which are then used to search for related content on the web. The relevance of retrieved webpages to retrieved content is evaluated using crowdsourcing via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Extracting key phrases directly from the podcasts using YAKE was the most successful approach with more than 90% returned pages assessed as relevant, with precision at rank 1 and rank 3 above 0.9.
A Large Neighborhood Search Approach for the Data Centre Machine Reassignment Problem
Authors: Souza Filipe , Grimes Diarmuid , O’Sullivan Barry
Published: February 2023

One of the main challenges in data centre operations involves optimally reassigning running processes to servers in a dynamic setting such that operational performance is improved. In 2012, Google proposed the Machine Reassignment Problem in collaboration with the ROADEF/Euro challenge. A number of complex instances were generated for evaluating the submissions. This work focuses on new approaches to solve this problem.

In particular, we propose a Large Neighbourhood Search approach with a novel, domain-specific heuristic for neighborhood selection. This heuristic uses the unbalanced resource usage on the machines to select the most promising processes in each iteration. Furthermore, we compare two search strategies to optimise the sub-problems. The first one is based on the concept of Limited Discrepancy Search, albeit tailored to large scale problems; and the second approach involves the standard combination of constraint programming with random restart strategies.

An empirical evaluation on the widely studied instances from ROADEF 2012 demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach against the state-of-the-art, with new upper bounds found for three instances.
Computational Phenotyping of Decision-Making over Voice Interfaces
Authors: Zhang Lili , Mukherjee Ruben , Wadhai Piyush , Muehlhausen Willie , Ward Tomas
Published: February 2023

Research on human reinforcement learning and decision-making behaviour has traditionally used visual-based symbols and graphics in the experimental paradigms. Such research leads to improved understanding of human decision-making and has application in fundamental research in cognitive neuroscience. In clinical domains, the approach holds out the possibility for the development of computationally-derived biomarkers suitable for use in psychiatry. Scaling this experimental approach through pervasive computing can help create larger datasets which will be necessary for normative studies. This will require the expansion of these experimental approaches beyond conventional visual representations. People receive information and interact with their environments through various senses. In particular, our sense of hearing in conjunction with speech represents a ubiquitous modality for learning and for updating our knowledge of the world. Consequently, it represents an important path for the investigation of human decision-making which is now experimentally accessible via rapid advances in voice-enabled intelligent personal assistants (IPAs). Examples include Amazon’s Alexa technology and Google’s Voice Assistant. However, to date no studies have demonstrated the feasibility of delivering such experimental paradigms over such voice technologies. Consequently in this study, we compared the performance of the same group of participants on the traditional visual-based and for the first time, a conversational voice-based, two-armed bandit task. Reinforcement learning models were fitted to the data to represent the characteristics of the underlying cognitive mechanisms in the task. Both model-independent behavioural measures and model-derived parameters were compared. The results suggest that participants demonstrated higher shifting rates in the voice-based version of the task. The computational modelling analysis revealed that participants adopted similar learning rates under the two versions of the interfaces, but more decision noise was introduced in the voice-based task as reflected by the decreased value of the inverse temperature parameter. We suggest that the elevated shifting rate is derived from the increased noise in the voice interface instead of a change in the learning strategy of the participants. Higher intensity of the control adjustments (click touch versus speak) might be one of the sources of noise, thus it is important to think further regarding the design of the voice interface if we wish to apply voice-enabled IPAs to measure human decision-making in their daily environments in the future.
Entity Resolution for Multiple Sources with Extended Approach
Authors: Huu Phuc Pham , Nie Dongyun , Scriney Michael
Published: February 2023

Entity Resolution is a technique to find similar records that may refer to the same entity from one or many resources. It is mainly used in data integration or data cleaning with the existence of Big Data. It not only helps organisations have clean data, but it also provides a unified view of their data for later analysis. However, there is no one solution fitting all duplication issues. Because of the fact that the data itself is heterogeneous and varied. This paper focuses on finding the answers to the usefulness of a combination of different matching approaches, token blocking versus standard blocking and how other domain runs by examining how well they perform in different scenarios. To achieve these answers, this paper outline details and setups for these experiments to execute. A detailed evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness of the approaches with multiple datasets.
A Machine Learning Approach to Industry Classification in Financial Markets
Authors: Dolphin Rian , Smyth Barry , Dong Ruihai
Published: February 2023

Industry classification schemes provide a taxonomy for segmenting companies based on their business activities. They are relied upon in industry and academia as an integral component of many types of financial and economic analysis. However, even modern classification schemes have failed to embrace the era of big data and remain a largely subjective undertaking prone to inconsistency and misclassification. To address this, we propose a multimodal neural model for training company embeddings, which harnesses the dynamics of both historical pricing data and financial news to learn objective company representations that capture nuanced relationships. We explain our approach in detail and highlight the utility of the embeddings through several case studies and application to the downstream task of industry classification.
Zusammenfassung: Transformationswissen
Authors: Rieck Louise Ina Hannah
Published: February 2023

Tabellarische Übersicht zu den Unterschieden zwischen herkömmlichem Nachhaltigkeitsmarketing und einem zukunftsorientierten Marketing.
Methodologisches Rahmenmodell: Grounded-Theory-Methodologie
Authors: Rieck Louise Ina Hannah
Published: February 2023

Aufstellungen erzeugen unendlich viele Informationen. Aus dieser Fülle an Daten jene herauszufiltern, die tatsächlich Neues enthalten, stellt eine methodische Herausforderung dar. In der Grounded-Theory-Methodologie (GTM) habe ich ein geeignetes Verfahren gefunden, das diesem Prozess Präzision und Regelgeleitetheit verleiht. Auch mit ihrem explorativen Fokus passt die GTM ideal zu meinem Forschungsvorhaben.
Aufstellung 2: Das innere Wesen des Marketing
Authors: Rieck Louise Ina Hannah
Published: February 2023

Mein initiales Erkenntnisinteresse bei dieser Aufstellung gilt dem Erkunden des inneren Wesens des Marketing: Liegt die einzig mögliche Seinsform von Marketing (wie es der Titel eines Leitmediums der Branche suggerieren mag) im „Werben & Verkaufen“? Zeigt sich in dieser Rolle bereits sein Wesenskern, seine wesentliche Bestimmung? Oder gibt es Spielräume darüber hinaus, und könnte Marketing auch noch ganz anders (und transformativ) nützlich sein?
Methode
Authors: Villioth Lisa
Published: February 2023

Im nun folgenden Kapitel wird die methodische Herangehensweise dieser Arbeit erläutert. Dazu werden zuerst der Mixed-Method-Ansatz vorgestellt und die einzelnen Schritte des Feldzugangs sowie der Materialerhebung beschrieben. In Anlehnung an die Grounded Theory Methode (GTM) wurde hierbei mit einem explorativen und qualitativen Ansatz gearbeitet. Anschließend werden die Faktoren für die Sample-Zusammensetzung erläutert und die Interview-Partner*innen jeweils mit einem Kurzprofil vorgestellt. Danach folgen eine Darstellung der Kategorienbildung nach der inhaltlich strukturierenden qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse und eine Ausführung zur Typenbildung. Ziel dieses Kapitels ist es, das methodische Vorgehen der Arbeit nachvollziehbar zu machen.
Praktiken: Die Protest-Aktivist*innen der Umweltschutz-Bewegung auf der Straße, im Web 1.0 und im Web 2.0
Authors: Villioth Lisa
Published: February 2023

Das nun folgende Kapitel befasst sich explizit mit den einzelnen Protestpraktiken, dem Handlungsrepertoire und der Intensität des Engagements der Interview-Partner*innen. Dazu wird zuerst der Praktiken-Begriff definiert, anschließend auf das Verständnis von Medien als Praktiken eingegangen und dann die Rolle von Medienpraktiken in Sozialen Bewegungen thematisiert. Danach folgt eine Beschreibung der Intensität des Engagements der Interview-Partner*innen. Anschließend werden die einzelnen Praktiken des Handlungsrepertoires der Aktivist*innen dargestellt, wobei eine Unterscheidung in (vorwiegend) Offline- und (vorwiegend) Online-Praktiken vorgenommen wird. Den Abschluss bildet eine Analyse des konkreten Einflusses von Campact und dem BUND auf das Handlungsrepertoire und die Intensität des Engagements der Interview-Partner*innen.
Wandel von Bürgerschaft? Ein Fazit zur Online- und Offline-Protestpartizipation
Authors: Villioth Lisa
Published: February 2023

Ziel dieser Arbeit war es, Folgen der Digitalisierung für die politische Protestpartizipation am Beispiel der Umweltschutz-Bewegung zu diskutieren und individuelle Voraussetzungen und Motive von Bürger*innen für eine Partizipation herauszuarbeiten. Dabei lag der Fokus insb. auf Ressourcen, Emotionen und Affekten, den konkreten Online- und Offline-Praktiken und den persönlichen Einstellungen der Individuen zu Straßenprotest, Online-Aktivismus und der Kritik des Clicktivism, sowie zum Verständnis von Bürgerschaft. Durch die Zusammensetzung des Samples mit älteren und jüngeren Interview-Partner*innen konnte untersucht werden, wie sich einerseits die konkreten Protestpraktiken einzelner Bürger*innen über die Jahrzehnte verändert haben, die früher nur Offline-Möglichkeiten zur Verfügung hatten und nun sowohl online als auch offline agieren können, und andererseits Digital Natives auf die Möglichkeit reagieren, sich sowohl im Netz als auch auf der Straße bzw. in Organisationen einbringen zu können. Die Erkenntnisse aus der Analyse des Interviewmaterials decken sich mit vielen in der bisherigen Literatur beschriebenen Forschungsergebnissen. Die vorliegende Arbeit kann jedoch auch relevante und notwendige Ergänzungen zum Thema beitragen und schlägt Überarbeitungen früherer Konzepte mit Blick auf die Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung vor. In der bisherigen Forschung nicht ausreichend berücksichtigt wurde z. B. das Thema Frustrationstoleranz.
Untersuchung der Lernwirksamkeit Tablet-PC-gestützter Videoanalyse im Mechanikunterricht der Sekundarstufe 2
Authors: Becker Sebastian , Gößling Alexander , Kuhn Jochen
Published: February 2023

Digitale Medien, wie Smartphones und Tablet-PCs, sind im Alltag weitverbreitet. Die Mobilität dieser Geräte ermöglicht die Durchführung physikalischer Untersuchungen in einer für die Schülerinnen und Schüler alltäglichen, natürlichen Umgebung. Bei der Tablet-PC-gestützten Videoanalyse können natürliche Bewegungsabläufe, wie z. B. das Laufen oder Springen, mithilfe der im Tablet eingebauten Kamera aufgenommen und danach mithilfe geeigneter Apps unter physikalischen Gesichtspunkten analysiert werden. Um den Einsatz solcher digitaler Medien nachhaltig zu gestalten, bedarf es grundlegender, empirisch abgesicherter Aussagen zur Lernwirksamkeit dieser Medien. Aus verschiedenen multimedialen Lerntheorien kann z. B. für die Tablet-PC-gestützte Videoanalyse u. a. eine erhöhte Lernwirksamkeit im Vergleich zu traditionellem Unterricht vermutet werden. Diese Hypothese wurde in mehreren Studien untersucht. Ausgewählte Ergebnisse dieser Studien zu den interventionsinduzierten Emotionen, zur kognitiven Belastung und zum physikalischen Konzeptverständnis werden vorgestellt.
Eine digitale Spielumgebung zum Lehren und Lernen von Problemlösefähigkeit und Critical Thinking in den Naturwissenschaften
Authors: Dictus Christian , Tiemann Rüdiger
Published: February 2023

Die Teilhabe an der zunehmend digitalisierten Welt erfordert den Erwerb und die Vermittlung neuer Fähigkeiten. Zu diesen häufig als Key Competencies for Lifelong Learning oder 21st Century Skills bezeichneten Fähigkeiten, gehören unter anderem auch Problemlösen und Critical Thinking. Die Vermittlung dieser Fähigkeiten stellt aufgrund der Komplexität aktueller Probleme nicht nur inhaltlich eine große Herausforderung dar, sondern auch in Bezug auf die Motivation der Lernenden. Um dieser Problematik zu begegnen, haben wir die digitale Spielumgebung „MINT-Town“ entwickelt, welche durch die gezielte Einbettung von Gamification-Elementen motivierend wirkt und zur Vermittlung von Problemlösen und Critical Thinking genutzt werden kann. In diesem Kapitel stellen wir die Umgebung mit ihren bislang zwei Szenarien mit dem Schwerpunkt Chemie und einem einführenden Tutorial vor. Die mit RPG-Maker MV gestalteten Lernumgebungen sind im Retrodesign gehalten und orientieren sich an frühen Adventure-Games mit Dialogformaten. Sie sind bislang in Vorstudien durch erste Expertenratings evaluiert und weiterentwickelt worden; die Hauptstudie ist zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt für das Frühjahr 2023 vorgesehen.
Hall Droplet Sheets in Holographic QCD
Authors: Bigazzi Francesco , Cotrone Aldo L. , Olzi Andrea
Published: February 2023

Abstract

In single-flavor QCD, the low energy description of baryons as Skyrmions is not available. In this case, it has been proposed by Komargodski that baryons can be viewed as kinds of charged quantum Hall droplets, or “sheets”. In this paper we propose a string theory description of the sheets in single-flavor holographic QCD, focusing on the Witten-Sakai-Sugimoto model. The sheets have a “hard” gluonic core, described by D6-branes, and a “soft” mesonic shell, dual to non-trivial D8-brane gauge field configurations. We first provide the description of an infinitely extended sheet with massless or moderately massive quarks. Then, we construct a semi-infinite sheet ending on a one-dimensional boundary, a “vortex string”. The holographic description allows for the precise calculation of sheet observables. In particular, we compute the tension and thickness of the sheet and the vortex string, and provide their four dimensional effective actions.
Radiative phase space extensions at all orders in r for self-dual Yang-Mills and gravity
Authors: Nagy Silvia , Peraza Javier
Published: February 2023

Abstract

Working in the self-dual sector for Yang-Mills and gravity, we show how to construct an extended phase space at null infinity, to all orders in the radial expansion. This formalises the symmetry origin of the infrared behaviour of these theories to all subleading orders. As a corollary, we also derive a double copy mapping from a subset of YM gauge transformations to a subset of diffeomorphisms to all orders in the transformation parameters, which to our knowledge has not been presented before in the literature.
Convolution Integral Operators in Variable Bounded Variation Spaces
Authors: Angeloni Laura , Merentes Nelson J. , Valera-López Maira A.
Published: February 2023

Working in the frame of variable bounded variation spaces in the sense of Wiener, introduced by Castillo, Merentes, and Rafeiro, we prove convergence in variable variation by means of the classical convolution integral operators. In the proposed approach, a crucial step is the convergence of the variable modulus of smoothness for absolutely continuous functions. Several preliminary properties of the variable$$p(\cdot )$$p(·)-variation are also presented.
Boys demonstrate greater knee frontal moments than girls during the impact phase of cutting maneuvers, despite age-related increases in girls
Authors: Ghasemi Mohammadhossein , Sigurðsson Haraldur Björn , Sveinsson Þórarinn , Briem Kristín
Published: February 2023

Purpose

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury rate is low among children, but increases during adolescence, especially in girls. Increases in the knee valgus moment within 70 ms of contact with the ground (KFM0-70) may explain the sex-specific increase in the risk of ACL injury. The purpose of the study was to investigate sex-dependent changes in the KFM0-70 from pre-adolescence to adolescence during a cutting maneuver (CM).

Methods

Kinematic and kinetic data during the CM task, performed before and after physical exertion, were recorded using a motion capture system and a force plate. A total of 293 team handball and soccer players, aged 9–12 years, were recruited. A number of those who continued sports participation (n = 103) returned five years later to repeat the test procedure. Three mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures tests were used to determine the effects of sex and age period on the KFM0-70 (1: with no adjustment, 2: adjusted for repeated measurements, and 3: additionally adjusted with hip and knee joint frontal plane kinematics).

Results

Boys had significantly higher KFM0-70 than girls at both age periods (p < 0.01 for all models). Girls, not boys, demonstrated significantly increased KFM0-70 from pre-adolescence to adolescence. Importantly, this was fully explained by kinematic variables.

Conclusion

Although the marked increase in KFM0-70 seen in girls may play a role in their risk of ACL rupture, the higher values demonstrated by boys during CM reflect the complexity of multifactorial biomechanical risk factor analysis. The role of kinematics in mediating the KFM0-70 provides means for modification of this risk factor, but as boys had higher joint moments, continued investigation into sex-dependent biomechanical risk factors is warranted.

Level of evidence

II.
Bridging astronomical, astrometric and geodetic scheduling for VGOS
Authors: Schartner Matthias , Collioud Arnaud , Charlot Patrick , Xu Ming Hui , Soja Benedikt
Published: February 2023

Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) experiments are organized within the geodetic, astrometric and astronomical communities for different applications, requiring different observation strategies adopted in scheduling. Currently, the next-generation geodetic and astrometric VLBI Global Observing System (VGOS) is being established. Over the last years, evidence was presented that the delays introduced by the angular structure of the geodetic radio sources contribute significantly to the VGOS observable error budget. Consequently, correcting these structure delays through imaging will play an important part in the future, requiring a different scheduling approach. Within this work, a new source-centric VLBI scheduling approach is presented for improved imaging capabilities of geodetic observations. The algorithm is tested for a seven- and nine-station network and compared with classical geodetic schedules. Monte Carlo simulations are utilized to determine the expected geodetic and astrometric parameter precision, and two independent processing pipelines are used to assess the potential for astronomical source imaging. Based on the simulation results, it is revealed that with the new scheduling approach twice as many sources can be properly imaged. Furthermore, the precision of the Earth orientation parameter estimates is improved on average by $${15}{\%}$$

15
%

, while the source position coordinate estimates are on average improved by $${50}{\%}$$

50
%

. Tests with two VGOS networks of twelve and 29 antennas further reveal that the scheduling approach is also applicable to future VGOS networks.
Does formative assessment help students to acquire prescribing skills?
Authors: Kalfsvel L. S. , Peeters L. E. J. , Hoek K. , Bethlehem C. , van der Sijs I. H. , van der Kuy P. H. M. , van den Broek W. W. , Versmissen J. , van Rosse F.
Published: February 2023

Purpose

Formative assessments can help motivate students and ease students’ learning through feedback. There is a pressing need for improvement of clinical pharmacotherapy (CPT) education since junior doctors make many prescribing errors. The aim of this study was to determine whether a formative assessment with personalized narrative feedback helps medical students to increase their prescribing skills.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study was conducted among masters’ medical students at Erasmus Medical Centre, The Netherlands. Students made a formative and a summative skill-based prescription assessment, both during clerkships as part of their regular curriculum. Errors in both assessments were categorized by type and possible consequence and compared with each other.

Results

A total of 388 students made 1964 errors in the formative assessment and 1016 in the summative assessment. Most improvements after the formative assessment were seen for mentioning the weight of a child on the prescription (n = 242, 19%). Most new and repeated errors in the summative assessment were missing usage instructions (n = 82, 16% andn = 121, 41%).

Conclusions

This formative assessment with personalized and individual narrative feedback has helped students to increase the technical correctness of their prescriptions. However, errors repeated after the feedback were predominantly errors showing that only one formative assessment has not yet enhanced the clinical prescribing enough.
Host Species and Environment Shape the Gut Microbiota of Cohabiting Marine Bivalves
Authors: Akter Shirin , Wos-Oxley Melissa L , Catalano Sarah R , Hassan Md Mahbubul , Li Xiaoxu , Qin Jian G , Oxley Andrew PA
Published: February 2023

Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) are commercially important marine bivalves that frequently coexist and have overlapping feeding ecologies. Like other invertebrates, their gut microbiota is thought to play an important role in supporting their health and nutrition. Yet, little is known regarding the role of the host and environment in driving these communities. Here, bacterial assemblages were surveyed from seawater and gut aspirates of farmed C. gigas and co-occurring wild M. galloprovincialis in summer and winter using Illumina 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Unlike seawater, which was dominated by Pseudomonadata, bivalve samples largely consisted of Mycoplasmatota (Mollicutes) and accounted for >50% of the total OTU abundance. Despite large numbers of common (core) bacterial taxa, bivalve-specific species (OTUs) were also evident and predominantly associated with Mycoplasmataceae (notably Mycoplasma). An increase in diversity (though with varied taxonomic evenness) was observed in winter for both bivalves and was associated with changes in the abundance of core and bivalve-specific taxa, including several representing host-associated and environmental (free-living or particle-diet associated) organisms. Our findings highlight the contribution of the environment and the host in defining the composition of the gut microbiota in cohabiting, intergeneric bivalve populations.
Species-specific effects of the introduction of Aspergillus nidulans gfdB in osmophilic aspergilli
Authors: Bodnár Veronika , Király Anita , Orosz Erzsébet , Miskei Márton , Emri Tamás , Karányi Zsolt , Leiter Éva , de Vries Ronald P. , Pócsi István
Published: February 2023

Industrial fungi need a strong environmental stress tolerance to ensure acceptable efficiency and yields. Previous studies shed light on the important role that Aspergillus nidulans gfdB, putatively encoding a NAD+-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, plays in the oxidative and cell wall integrity stress tolerance of this filamentous fungus model organism. The insertion of A. nidulans gfdB into the genome of Aspergillus glaucus strengthened the environmental stress tolerance of this xerophilic/osmophilic fungus, which may facilitate the involvement of this fungus in various industrial and environmental biotechnological processes. On the other hand, the transfer of A. nidulans gfdB to Aspergillus wentii, another promising industrial xerophilic/osmophilic fungus, resulted only in minor and sporadic improvement in environmental stress tolerance and meanwhile partially reversed osmophily. Because A. glaucus and A. wentii are phylogenetically closely related species and both fungi lack a gfdB ortholog, these results warn us that any disturbance of the stress response system of the aspergilli may elicit rather complex and even unforeseeable, species-specific physiological changes. This should be taken into consideration in any future targeted industrial strain development projects aiming at the fortification of the general stress tolerance of these fungi.

Key points

• A. wentii c’ gfdB strains showed minor and sporadic stress tolerance phenotypes.

• The osmophily of A. wentii significantly decreased in the c’ gfdB strains.

• Insertion of gfdB caused species-specific phenotypes in A. wentii and A. glaucus.
A cycle-consistent adversarial network for brain PET partial volume correction without prior anatomical information
Authors: Sanaat Amirhossein , Shooli Hossein , Böhringer Andrew Stephen , Sadeghi Maryam , Shiri Isaac , Salimi Yazdan , Ginovart Nathalie , Garibotto Valentina , Arabi Hossein , Zaidi Habib
Published: February 2023

Purpose

Partial volume effect (PVE) is a consequence of the limited spatial resolution of PET scanners. PVE can cause the intensity values of a particular voxel to be underestimated or overestimated due to the effect of surrounding tracer uptake. We propose a novel partial volume correction (PVC) technique to overcome the adverse effects of PVE on PET images.

Methods

Two hundred and twelve clinical brain PET scans, including 50 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG), 50 18F-Flortaucipir, 36 18F-Flutemetamol, and 76 18F-FluoroDOPA, and their corresponding T1-weighted MR images were enrolled in this study. The Iterative Yang technique was used for PVC as a reference or surrogate of the ground truth for evaluation. A cycle-consistent adversarial network (CycleGAN) was trained to directly map non-PVC PET images to PVC PET images. Quantitative analysis using various metrics, including structural similarity index (SSIM), root mean squared error (RMSE), and peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), was performed. Furthermore, voxel-wise and region-wise-based correlations of activity concentration between the predicted and reference images were evaluated through joint histogram and Bland and Altman analysis. In addition, radiomic analysis was performed by calculating 20 radiomic features within 83 brain regions. Finally, a voxel-wise two-sample t-test was used to compare the predicted PVC PET images with reference PVC images for each radiotracer.

Results

The Bland and Altman analysis showed the largest and smallest variance for 18F-FDG (95% CI: − 0.29, + 0.33 SUV, mean = 0.02 SUV) and 18F-Flutemetamol (95% CI: − 0.26, + 0.24 SUV, mean =  − 0.01 SUV), respectively. The PSNR was lowest (29.64 ± 1.13 dB) for 18F-FDG and highest (36.01 ± 3.26 dB) for 18F-Flutemetamol. The smallest and largest SSIM were achieved for 18F-FDG (0.93 ± 0.01) and 18F-Flutemetamol (0.97 ± 0.01), respectively. The average relative error for the kurtosis radiomic feature was 3.32%, 9.39%, 4.17%, and 4.55%, while it was 4.74%, 8.80%, 7.27%, and 6.81% for NGLDM_contrast feature for 18F-Flutemetamol, 18F-FluoroDOPA, 18F-FDG, and 18F-Flortaucipir, respectively.

Conclusion

An end-to-end CycleGAN PVC method was developed and evaluated. Our model generates PVC images from the original non-PVC PET images without requiring additional anatomical information, such as MRI or CT. Our model eliminates the need for accurate registration or segmentation or PET scanner system response characterization. In addition, no assumptions regarding anatomical structure size, homogeneity, boundary, or background level are required.
Self-powered visible transparent $$\mathrm{Cu}/{\mathrm{Zn}}_{\left(1-x\right)}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{\left(x\right)}\mathrm{O}$$ Schottky-based ultraviolet photosensors fabricated via DC magnetron sputtering
Authors: Bhat Prashant , Salunkhe Parashuram , Kekuda Dhananjaya
Published: February 2023

Visible transparent $$\mathrm{Cu}/\mathrm{n}-\mathrm{ZnO}$$

Cu
/
n
-
ZnO

and $$\mathrm{Cu}/{\mathrm{Zn}}_{\left(1-x\right)}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{\left(x\right)}O\left(x=0.14\right) \mathrm{TZO},$$

Cu
/

Zn

1
-
x

Sn

x

O

x
=
0.14

TZO
,

Schottky junctions were successfully fabricated on ITO-coated glass substrates via direct current magnetron reactive sputtering method. The structural, morphological, optical, and electrical properties were thoroughly investigated. The polycrystalline nature of the samples was confirmed by XRD studies. FESEM images validate the changes in surface morphology after doping and annealing, and AFM analysis confirmed the variation in surface roughness. The electrical analysis reveals the presence of a Schottky barrier in the fabricated devices. In dark condition, three-order rectification ratio was observed. A two-order increase in leakage current was also observed after illuminating 365 nm UV light of power 60 µW/cm2. The figures of merits of sensors, such as responsivity, detectivity, response speed, and linear dynamic range, were thoroughly investigated. The fabricated sensor had a responsivity of about 07.80 mA/W and a detectivity of 1.39 × 1011 Jones. At zero bias, the sensor also demonstrated a transient photocurrent response of approximately 783 ms for rise and 876 ms for fall. Similarly, 33.70 dB of linear dynamic range was observed. These findings suggests that Cu/TZO Schottky diodes could be useful for self-powered, visible transparent UV photosensors in next-generation optoelectronic devices.
Co-infections of respiratory pathogens and gastrointestinal parasites in smallholder pig production systems in Uganda
Authors: Oba Peter , Wieland Barbara , Mwiine Frank N. , Erume Joseph , Dione Michel M.
Published: February 2023

A cross-sectional study was conducted to identify factors for infections of pigs with key respiratory pathogens: porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PPRSv), Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (M. hyo), Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (App), and gastrointestinal (GI) parasites in Uganda. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on management practices associated with infections. Ninety (90) farms and 259 pigs were sampled. Sera were screened against 4 pathogens using commercial ELISA tests. The Baerman’s method was used to identify parasite species in faecal samples. Logistic regression was done to identify risk factors for infections. Results showed individual animal seroprevalence of PCV2 was 6.9% (95% CI 3.7–11.1), PRRSv 13.8% (95% CI 8.8–19.6), M. hyo 6.4% (95% CI 3.5–10.5), and App 30.4% (95% CI 24.8–36.5). The prevalence of Ascaris spp. was 12.7% (95% CI 8.6–16.8), Strongyles spp was 16.2% (95% CI 11.7–20.7), and Eimeria spp. was 56.4% (95% CI 50.3–62.4). Pigs infested with Ascaris spp. were more likely to test positive to PCV2, odds ratio (OR) 1.86 (CI 1.31–2.60; p = 0.0002). For M. hyo, infection with Strongyles spp. was a risk factor (OR 12.9, p < 0.001). Pigs that had Strongyles and Ascaris spp. Infections (ORs 3.5 and 3.4, p < 0.001 respectively) were likely to have co-infections. The model showed that use of cement, elevated floor, and limiting contacts with outside pigs were protective while using mud and helminth infestations increased risks of co-infections. This study provided evidence that improved housing and biosecurity are critical in reducing pathogen incidence in herds.
Sanctioned Quotas Versus Information Provisioning for Community Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe: A Framed Field Experiment Approach
Authors: Ntuli Herbert , Crépin Anne-Sophie , Schill Caroline , Muchapondwa Edwin
Published: February 2023

We investigate the behavioural responses of natural common-pool resource users to three policy interventions—sanctioned quotas, information provisioning, and a combination of both. We focus on situations in which users find utility in multiple resources (pastures and wild animal stocks) that all stem from the same ecosystem with complex dynamics, and management could trigger a regime shift, drastically altering resource regrowth. We performed a framed field experiment with 384 villagers from communities managing common-pool wildlife in Zimbabwe. We find that user groups are likely to manage these natural resources more efficiently when facing a policy intervention (either a sanctioned quota, receiving information about a drastic drop in the stocks’ regrowth below a threshold, or a combination of both), compared to groups facing no intervention. A sanctioned quota is likely to perform better than providing information about the existence of a threshold. However, having information about the threshold also leads to higher efficiency and fewer depletion cases, compared to a situation without any intervention. The main contribution of this study is to provide insights that can inform policymakers and development practitioners about the performance of concrete and feasible policy interventions for community wildlife conservation in Southern Africa.
The wound healing effect of botanicals and pure natural substances used in in vivo models
Authors: El-Sherbeni S. A. , Negm W. A.
Published: February 2023

Repairing the wound is a multistep process that includes the spatial and temporal synchronization of a different range of cell types to increase the speed of wound contraction, the proliferation of epithelial cells, and collagen formation. The need for proper management of acute wounds to be cured and not turned into chronic wounds is a significant clinical challenge. The traditional practice of medicinal plants in many regions of the world has been used in wound healing since ancient times. Recent scientific research introduced evidence of the efficacy of medicinal plants, their phyto-components, and the mechanisms underlying their wound-repairing activity. This review aims to briefly highlight the wound-curing effect of different plant extracts and purely natural substances in excision, incision, and burn experimental animal models with or without infection of mice, rats (diabetic and nondiabetic), and rabbits in the last 5 years. The in vivo studies represented reliable evidence of how powerful natural products are in healing wounds properly. They have good scavenging activity against Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects that help in the process of wound healing. It is evident that incorporating bioactive natural products into wound dressings of bio- or synthetic polymers in nanofiber, hydrogel, film, scaffold, and sponge forms showed promising results in different phases of the wound-curing process of haemostasis, inflammation, growth, re-epithelialization, and remodelling.
Redox-responsive degradable microgel modified with superparamagnetic nanoparticles exhibiting controlled, hyperthermia-enhanced drug release
Authors: Dagdelen Serife , Mackiewicz Marcin , Osial Magdalena , Waleka-Bargiel Ewelina , Romanski Jan , Krysinski Pawel , Karbarz Marcin
Published: February 2023

A novel degradable microgel based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPA) cross-linked with N,N’-bisacryloylcystine (BISS) and containing superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION@CA) was synthesized by semi-batch precipitation polymerization and examined as a potential hyperthermia-enhanced drug carrier. The pNIPA provided the microgel with temperature sensitivity, the BISS was responsible for degradation in the presence of glutathione (GSH) (an –S–S–bond reductor naturally present in cells), while the SPION@CA permitted remote control of temperature to improve drug release. The microgels exhibited volume phase transition temperature at ca. 34 °C, which is near the human body temperature, and were stable across a wide range of temperatures and ionic strengths, as well as in the blood plasma at 37 °C. It was found that the presence of SPION@CA in the polymer network of the microgels enabled the temperature to be increased up to 42 °C by an alternating magnetic field, and that increasing the temperature from 37 to 42 °C significantly enhanced the releasing of the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX). The highest DOX release (82%) was observed at pH 5, 42 °C, and in the presence of GSH, and the lowest (20%) at pH 7.4, 37 °C, and in the absence of GSH. MTT assay indicated that compared to free doxorubicin, the microgel particles loaded with doxorubicin have comparable cytotoxicity against MCF-7 cancer cells while being significantly less toxic to MCF-10A healthy cells.

Graphical abstract
Analytical Solutions of the Molecular Kratzer-Feus potential by means of the Nikiforov-Uvarov Method
Authors: Doma S. B. , Gohar A. A. , Younes M. S.
Published: February 2023

The analytical methods for solving Schrödinger equation are essential and effective tools with which we can investigate the spectroscopic properties, the electronic structure, and the energetic properties of the diatomic molecules (DMs). Accordingly, in this work, we used the Nikiforov-Uvarov (NU) method to solve the three-dimensional nonrelativistic Schrödinger equation with the molecular Kratzer-Feus (KF) potential and obtain the exact analytical bound state energy eigenvalues as well as their corresponding normalized eigenfunctions. The effective KF diatomic molecular potential well is investigated and represented graphically for several well-known DMs. The bound state energy levels are tabulated numerically for arbitrary values of the vibrational and rotational quantum numbers. The results obtained in this work are found to be in excellent agreement with the already-existing results in the literature.
Type IV collagen-derived angiogenesis inhibitor: canstatin low expressing in brain-invasive meningiomas using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
Authors: Pei Jian , Li Pei , Gao Yun H. , Tian Bao G. , Wang Da Y. , Zheng Yu , Liu Li Y. , Zhang Zhi Y. , Huang Si S. , Wen Min , Xu Xiang , Xia Lei
Published: February 2023

Purpose

Brain invasion in meningiomas is considered an indicator of more aggressive behavior and worse prognosis. But the precise definition and the prognostic role of brain invasion remains unsolved duo to lacking a standardized workflow of surgical sampling and the histopathological detection. Searching for molecular biomarker expression correlating with brain invasion, could contribute to establish a molecular pathological diagnosis without problems of subjective interobserver variation and deeply understand the mechanism of brain invasion and develop innovative therapeutic strategies.

Methods

We utilized liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to quantify protein abundances between non-invasive meningiomas (n = 21) and brain-invasive meningiomas (n = 21) spanning World Health Organization grades I and III. After proteomic discrepancies were analyzed, the 14 most up-regulated or down-regulated proteins were recorded. Immunohistochemical staining for glial fibrillary acidic protein and most likely brain invasion-related proteins was performed in both groups.

Results

A total of 6498 unique proteins were identified in non-invasive and brain-invasive meningiomas. Canstatin expression in the non-invasive group was 2.1-fold that of the brain-invasive group. The immunohistochemical staining showed canstatin expressed in both groups, and the non-invasive group showed stronger staining for canstatin in the tumor mass (p = 0.0132) than the brain-invasive group, which showed moderate intensity.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated the low expression of canstatin in meningiomas with brain invasion, a finding that provide a basis for understanding the mechanism of brain invasion of meningiomas and may contribute to establish molecular pathological diagnosis and identify novel therapeutic targets for personalized care.
Landslide susceptibility mapping using maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and geographically weighted logistic regression (GWLR) models in the Río Aguas catchment (Almería, SE Spain)
Authors: Boussouf S. , Fernández T. , Hart A. B.
Published: February 2023

A landslide susceptibility analysis has been made in the Río Aguas catchment (Almeria, Southeast Spain), using two statistical models, Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression (GWLR). For this purpose, a previous landslide inventory has been used and re-elaborated, reaching a total incidence of 2.58% of the whole area. Different types of movements have been distinguished, being rock falls, slides and complex movements the predominant. From the inventory, the centroid of the rupture zone has been extracted to represent the landslides introduced in the models. A previous factor analysis has been made, using 12 predictors related to morphometry, hydrography, geology and land cover, with 5 m grid spacing, allowing the selection of factors to be used in the analysis and discarding those showing correlation between them. Then, MaxEnt and GWLR models are applied using different distributions of training and testing samples from the landslide inventory. For the validation, the Area Under the Curve of the Receiver Operating Characteristic (AUC-ROC) has been used but additionally, the degree of fit (DF) has allowed to validate the rupture zones themselves, not only the centroids. Results show an excellent prediction with both metrics in all the methods and samples, but the better results are obtained in the GWLR method for AUC and in the MaxEnt for the degree of fit. Therefore, a consensus model of both methods has been obtained, that improves even more the results reaching an AUC value of 0.99 and a degree of fit of 90%.
Analysis of Galactic Cosmic Ray Anisotropy During the Time Period from 1996 to 2020
Authors: Wozniak Witold , Iskra Krzysztof , Modzelewska Renata , Siluszyk Marek
Published: February 2023

We study the influence of drift effects on the galactic cosmic ray anisotropy (GCRA) in different periods of solar activity (from 1996 to 2020) using data from the global network of neutron monitors. We analyze the GCRA in 1996, the last year of Solar Cycle 22 with positive polarity ($A>0$
A
>
0
), Solar Cycles 23 and 24 with both positive ($A>0$
A
>
0
) and negative polarities ($A<0$
A
<
0
), and the 2020 onset of Solar Cycle 25 with positive polarity ($A>0$
A
>
0
). We show that in positive polarity periods, a diffusion model with noticeably manifested drift is acceptable, whereas the diffusion-dominated model of galactic cosmic ray (GCR) transport is more acceptable in negative polarity periods.

We found that the average radial component of the drift vector for $A>0$
A
>
0
practically points to 12 h, and for the $A<0$
A
<
0
polarity to 24 h, respectively. These results are consistent with the drift theory of modulation of GCRs. According to theory, during positive or negative polarity periods, a drift stream of GCRs is directed away from or toward the Sun, respectively, thus giving rise to long-term changes of the radial component of the GCRA.

The calculated magnitudes of the radial and tangential components of the GCRA in different sectors of the heliospheric magnetic field were used to calculate the parameters that characterize the GCR modulation in interplanetary space.
Entrepreneurial experimentation in business model dynamics: Current understanding and future opportunities
Authors: Sanasi Silvia
Published: February 2023

The concept of business model dynamics has been gaining momentum in the academic literature to refer to all the alterations in a firm’s business model. This study taps into the shift from the traditional ontological view of business models as the static implementation of a firm’s strategy, toward a phenomenological stance that portrays the business model as a unit of analysis for different phenomena related to it. Building on this emerging discourse, this review offers an interpretive lens on the role of entrepreneurial experimentation in business model dynamics, namely business model innovation, validation, scaling, and pivots. This study proposes a unified framework for understanding these phenomena, discusses the research gaps emerging from this perspective, and advances a set of open research avenues to inform future research. The study also taps into the recent managerial interest in methods involving experimentation, such as the Lean Startup method.
The Idea of Merit: Delineation and Challenges
Authors: Clavero García Sergio R.
Published: February 2023

The idea of merit is at the core of intense contemporary debate related to social justice in general and meritocracy in particular. In this paper, I aim to differentiate the notion of merit from two other notions with which it is often mistakenly identified, namely the concepts of talent and achievement. Here, I define “merit” as the value of an action that 1) is imputable to a subject‘s free conduct, 2) implies some sort of effort, and 3) is oriented towards a good. Merit so understood is a valuable phenomenon considered from various perspectives, and therefore the subject who has it deserves to be properly recognized. But, more importantly, this merit is valuable in a sense that is different from the value attached to talent and achievement. We should therefore try to recognize the three of them according to their specificity. I conclude by signaling some problems and limitations associated with the idea of merit that, on the one hand, contribute to the aforementioned confusion and, on the other hand, show that the principle of merit must not be absolutized to the detriment of other forms of value (including talent and achievement).
Necessary condition analysis (NCA): review of research topics and guidelines for good practice
Authors: Dul Jan , Hauff Sven , Bouncken Ricarda B.
Published: February 2023

Necessary condition analysis (NCA) is an increasingly used or suggested method in many business and management disciplines including, for example, entrepreneurship, human resource management, international business, marketing, operations, public and nonprofit management, strategic management, and tourism. In the light of this development, our work delivers a review of the topics analyzed with NCA or in which NCA is proposed as a method. The review highlights the tremendous possibilities of using NCA, which hopefully encourages other researchers to try the method. To support researchers in future NCA studies, this article also provides detailed guidelines about how to best use NCA. These cover eight topics: theoretical justification, meaningful data, scatter plot, ceiling line, effect size, statistical test, bottleneck analysis, and further descriptions of NCA.