bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Antiplatelet therapy contributes to a higher risk of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage compared to anticoagulation therapy in ground-level falls: a single-center retrospective study
Authors: Vedin Tomas , Lundager Forberg Jakob , Anefjäll Ebba , Lehtinen Riikka , Faisal Mohammed , Edelhamre Marcus
Published: June 2022

Background

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a common injury and constitutes up to 3% of emergency department (ED) visits. Current studies show that TBI is most commonly inflicted in older patients after ground-level falls. These patients often take medications affecting coagulation such as anticoagulants or antiplatelet drugs. Guidelines for ED TBI-management assume that anticoagulation therapy (ACT) confers a higher risk of traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (TICH) than antiplatelet therapy (APT). However, recent studies have challenged this. This study aimed to evaluate if oral anticoagulation and platelet inhibitors affected rate of TICH in head-trauma patients with ground-level falls.

Methods

This was a retrospective review of medical records during January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017 and January 1 2020 to December 31, 2020 of all patients seeking ED care because of head-trauma. Patients ≥ 18 years with ground-level falls were included.

Results

The study included 1938 head-trauma patients with ground-level falls. Median age of patients with TICH was 81 years. The RR for TICH in APT-patients compared to patients without medication affecting coagulation was 1.72 (p = 0.01) (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.13–2.60) and 1.08 (p = 0.73), (95% CI 0.70–1.67) in ACT-patients. APT was independently associated with TICH in regression analysis (OR 1.59 (95% CI 1.02–2.49), p = 0.041).

Conclusion

This study adds to the growing evidence that APT-patients with ground-level falls might have as high or higher risk of TICH than ACT-patients. This is not addressed in the current guidelines which may need to be updated. We therefore recommend broad prospective studies.
Diagnostic accuracy of coronary computed tomography angiography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) in patients before liver transplantation using CT-FFR machine learning algorithm
Authors: Schuessler Maximilian , Saner Fuat , Al-Rashid Fadi , Schlosser Thomas
Published: June 2022

Objectives

Liver transplantation (LT) is associated with high stress on the cardiovascular system. Ruling out coronary artery disease (CAD) is an important part of evaluation for LT. The aim of our study was to assess whether CT-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) allows for differentiation of hemodynamically significant and non-significant coronary stenosis in patients evaluated for LT.

Methods

In total, 201 patients undergoing LT evaluation were included in the study. The patients received coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) to rule out CAD and invasive coronary angiography (ICA) to further evaluate coronary lesions found in CCTA if a significant (≥ 50 % on CCTA) stenosis was suspected. CT-FFR was computed from CCTA datasets using a machine learning–based algorithm and compared to ICA as a standard of reference. Coronary lesions with CT-FFR ≤ 0.80 were defined as hemodynamically significant.

Results

In 127 of 201 patients (63%), an obstructive CAD was ruled out by CCTA. In the remaining 74 patients (37%), at least one significant stenosis was suspected in CCTA. Compared to ICA, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of the CT-FFR measurements were 71% (49–92%), 90% (82–98%), 67% (45–88%), and 91% (84–99%), respectively. The diagnostic accuracy was 85% (85–86%). In 69% of cases (52 of 75 lesions), additional analysis by CT-FFR correctly excluded the hemodynamic significance of the stenosis.

Conclusions

Machine learning–based CT-FFR seems to be a very promising noninvasive approach for exclusion of hemodynamic significant coronary stenoses in patients undergoing evaluation for LT and could help to reduce the rate of invasive coronary angiography in this high-risk population.

Key Points

• Machine learning–based computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) seems to be a very promising noninvasive approach for exclusion of hemodynamic significance of coronary stenoses in patients undergoing evaluation for liver transplantation and could help to reduce the rate of invasive coronary angiography in this high-risk population.
The potential of hyperpolarised 13C-MRI to target glycolytic tumour core in prostate cancer
Authors: Sushentsev Nikita , McLean Mary A. , Warren Anne Y. , Brodie Cara , Jones Julia , Gallagher Ferdia A. , Barrett Tristan
Published: June 2022

Hyperpolarised [1-13C]pyruvate MRI (HP-13C-MRI) is an emerging metabolic imaging technique that has shown promise for evaluating prostate cancer (PCa) aggressiveness. Accurate tumour delineation on HP-13C-MRI is vital for quantitative assessment of the underlying tissue metabolism. However, there is no consensus on the optimum method for segmenting HP-13C-MRI, and whole-mount pathology (WMP) as the histopathological gold-standard is only available for surgical patients. Although proton MRI can be used for tumour delineation, this approach significantly underestimates tumour volume, and metabolic tumour segmentation based on HP-13C-MRI could provide an important functional metric of tumour volume. In this study, we quantified metabolism using HP-13C-MRI and segmentation approaches based on WMP maps, 1H-MRI-derived T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), and HP-13C-MRI-derived total carbon signal-to-noise ratio maps (TC-SNR) with an SNR threshold of 5.0. 13C-labelled pyruvate SNR, lactate SNR, TC-SNR, and the pyruvate-to-lactate exchange rate constant (kPL) were significantly higher when measured using the TC-SNR-guided approach, which also corresponded to a significantly higher tumour epithelial expression on RNAscope imaging of the enzyme catalysing pyruvate-to-lactate metabolism (lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)). However, linear regression and Bland-Altman analyses demonstrated a strong linear relationship between all three segmentation approaches, which correlated significantly with RNA-scope-derived epithelial LDH expression. These results suggest that standard-of-care T2WI and TC-SNR maps could be used as clinical reference tools for segmenting localised PCa on HP-13C-MRI in the absence of the WMP gold standard. The TC-SNR-guided approach could be used clinically to target biopsies towards highly glycolytic tumour areas and therefore to sample aggressive disease with higher precision.

Key Points

• T2WI- and TC-SNR-guided segmentations can be used in all PCa patients and do not explicitly require WMP maps.

• Agreement between the three segmentation approaches is biologically validated by their strong relationship with epithelial LDH mRNA expression.

• The TC-SNR-guided approach can potentially be used to identify occult disease on1H-MRI and target the most glycolytically active regions.
Variation of plagioclase shape with size in intermediate magmas: a window into incipient plagioclase crystallisation
Authors: Mangler Martin F. , Humphreys Madeleine C. S. , Wadsworth Fabian B. , Iveson Alexander A. , Higgins Michael D.
Published: June 2022

Volcanic rocks commonly display complex textures acquired both in the magma reservoir and during ascent to the surface. While variations in mineral compositions, sizes and number densities are routinely analysed to reconstruct pre-eruptive magmatic histories, crystal shapes are often assumed to be constant, despite experimental evidence for the sensitivity of crystal habit to magmatic conditions. Here, we develop a new program (ShapeCalc) to calculate 3D shapes from 2D crystal intersection data and apply it to study variations of crystal shape with size for plagioclase microlites (l < 100 µm) in intermediate volcanic rocks. The smallest crystals tend to exhibit prismatic 3D shapes, whereas larger crystals (l > 5–10 µm) show progressively more tabular habits. Crystal growth modelling and experimental constraints indicate that this trend reflects shape evolution during plagioclase growth, with initial growth as prismatic rods and subsequent preferential overgrowth of the intermediate dimension to form tabular shapes. Because overgrowth of very small crystals can strongly affect the external morphology, plagioclase microlite shapes are dependent on the available growth volume per crystal, which decreases during decompression-driven crystallisation as crystal number density increases. Our proposed growth model suggests that the range of crystal shapes developed in a magma is controlled by the temporal evolution of undercooling and total crystal numbers, i.e., distinct cooling/decompression paths. For example, in cases of slow to moderate magma ascent rates and quasi-continuous nucleation, early-formed crystals grow larger and develop tabular shapes, whereas late-stage nucleation produces smaller, prismatic crystals. In contrast, rapid magma ascent may suppress nucleation entirely or, if stalled at shallow depth, may produce a single nucleation burst associated with tabular crystal shapes. Such variation in crystal shapes have diagnostic value and are also an important factor to consider when constructing CSDs and models involving magma rheology.
Action goals and the praxis network: an fMRI study
Authors: Michalowski Bartosz , Buchwald Mikolaj , Klichowski Michal , Ras Maciej , Kroliczak Gregory
Published: June 2022

The praxis representation network (PRN) of the left cerebral hemisphere is typically linked to the control of functional interactions with familiar tools. Surprisingly, little is known about the PRN engagement in planning and execution of tool-directed actions motivated by non-functional but purposeful action goals. Here we used functional neuroimaging to perform both univariate and multi-voxel pattern analyses (MVPA) in 20 right-handed participants who planned and later executed, with their dominant and non-dominant hands, disparate grasps of tools for different goals, including: (1) planning simple vs. demanding functional grasps of conveniently vs. inconveniently oriented tools with an intention to immediately use them, (2) planning simple—but non-functional—grasps of inconveniently oriented tools with a goal to pass them to a different person, (3) planning reaching movements directed at such tools with an intention to move/push them with the back of the hand, and (4) pantomimed execution of the earlier planned tasks. While PRN contributed to the studied interactions with tools, the engagement of its critical nodes, and/or complementary right hemisphere processing, was differently modulated by task type. E.g., planning non-functional/structural grasp-to-pass movements of inconveniently oriented tools, regardless of the hand, invoked the left parietal and prefrontal nodes significantly more than simple, non-demanding functional grasps. MVPA corroborated decoding capabilities of critical PRN areas and some of their right hemisphere counterparts. Our findings shed new lights on how performance of disparate action goals influences the extraction of object affordances, and how or to what extent it modulates the neural activity within the parieto-frontal brain networks.
Homeopathy effects in patients during oncological treatment: a systematic review
Authors: Wagenknecht Anna , Dörfler Jennifer , Freuding Maren , Josfeld Lena , Huebner Jutta
Published: June 2022

Purpose

In this systematic review we included clinical studies from 1800 until 2020 to evaluate evidence of the effectiveness of homeopathy on physical and mental conditions in patients during oncological treatment.

Method

In February 2021 a systematic search was conducted searching five electronic databases (Embase, Cochrane, PsychInfo, CINAHL and Medline) to find studies concerning use, effectiveness and potential harm of homeopathy in cancer patients.

Results

From all 1352 search results, 18 studies with 2016 patients were included in this SR. The patients treated with homeopathy were mainly diagnosed with breast cancer. The therapy concepts include single and combination homeopathic remedies (used systemically or as mouth rinses) of various dilutions. Outcomes assessed were the influence on toxicity of cancer treatment (mostly hot flashes and menopausal symptoms), time to drain removal in breast cancer patients after mastectomy, survival, quality of life, global health and subjective well-being, anxiety and depression as well as safety and tolerance. The included studies reported heterogeneous results: some studies described significant differences in quality of life or toxicity of cancer treatment favouring homeopathy, whereas others did not find an effect or reported significant differences to the disadvantage of homeopathy or side effects caused by homeopathy. The majority of the studies have a low methodological quality.

Conclusions

For homeopathy, there is neither a scientifically based hypothesis of its mode of action nor conclusive evidence from clinical studies in cancer care.
Trusting deep learning natural-language models via local and global explanations
Authors: Ventura Francesco , Greco Salvatore , Apiletti Daniele , Cerquitelli Tania
Published: June 2022

Despite the high accuracy offered by state-of-the-art deep natural-language models (e.g., LSTM, BERT), their application in real-life settings is still widely limited, as they behave like a black-box to the end-user. Hence, explainability is rapidly becoming a fundamental requirement of future-generation data-driven systems based on deep-learning approaches. Several attempts to fulfill the existing gap between accuracy and interpretability have been made. However, robust and specialized eXplainable Artificial Intelligence solutions, tailored to deep natural-language models, are still missing. We propose a new framework, named T-EBAnO, which provides innovative prediction-local and class-based model-global explanation strategies tailored to deep learning natural-language models. Given a deep NLP model and the textual input data, T-EBAnO provides an objective, human-readable, domain-specific assessment of the reasons behind the automatic decision-making process. Specifically, the framework extracts sets of interpretable features mining the inner knowledge of the model. Then, it quantifies the influence of each feature during the prediction process by exploiting the normalized Perturbation Influence Relation index at the local level and the novel Global Absolute Influence and Global Relative Influence indexes at the global level. The effectiveness and the quality of the local and global explanations obtained with T-EBAnO are proved on an extensive set of experiments addressing different tasks, such as a sentiment-analysis task performed by a fine-tuned BERT model and a toxic-comment classification task performed by an LSTM model. The quality of the explanations proposed by T-EBAnO, and, specifically, the correlation between the influence index and human judgment, has been evaluated by humans in a survey with more than 4000 judgments. To prove the generality of T-EBAnO and its model/task-independent methodology, experiments with other models (ALBERT, ULMFit) on popular public datasets (Ag News and Cola) are also discussed in detail.
Developing a digital transformation process in the manufacturing sector: Egyptian case study
Authors: Abdallah Yasser Omar , Shehab Essam , Al-Ashaab Ahmed
Published: June 2022

Digital transformation is of crucial importance in the manufacturing industry, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic because of the increasing need for remote working and socially distanced workplaces. However, there is a lack of a clear and well-defined process to implement digital transformation in manufacturing. This paper aims to identify the most critical stages to implementing digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. Twenty-one structured interviews with experienced specialists in digitalisation in the manufacturing sector in the Egyptian economy were held and used the Best–Worst Method to analyse the data as an analysis tool for a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) approach. The digital transformation process comprises eight stages covering technology, management, communications, and customer elements. The main contribution of this work stage is the balance between the different elements of digital transformation—digital technologies, leadership and strategy, people and business processes—to create an integrated 8-step process of digital transformation in the manufacturing sector of developing economies such as the Egyptian economy.
Testing the informal care model: intrapersonal change in care provision intensity during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Raiber Klara , Verbakel Ellen , de Boer Alice
Published: June 2022

Informal care, meaning taking health-related care of people in their own social network, is a topic that gets more and more attention in social science research because the pressure on people to provide informal care is rising due to ageing societies and policy changes. The Informal Care Model developed by Broese van Groenou and de Boer (Eur J Ageing 13(3):271–279, 2016) provides a theoretical foundation to understand under what conditions a person provides informal care. We test this theoretical model by applying it to intrapersonal changes in informal care provision during the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands in Spring 2020. Data from the LISS panel from two time points, March 2020 and data from July over the period of April/May 2020, were analysed with multinominal multilevel regression analysis (N = 1270 care situations of 1014 caregivers). Our results showed that the individual determinants (Do I have to?, Do I want to?, and especially Can I?) discussed in the Informal Care Model (apart from a series of control variables) are contributing substantially to the understanding of intrapersonal changes in care provision during the first lockdown and by that, we found empirical support for the theoretical model. We conclude that on top of its original purpose to explain between-individual differences in informal caregiving using static indicators, the Informal Care Model is also useful to explain intrapersonal changes in informal caregiving using dynamic indicators.
Four new members of the family Cytophagaceae: Chryseosolibacter histidini gen. nov., sp. nov., Chryseosolibacter indicus gen. nov., sp. nov., Dawidia cretensis, gen. nov., sp. nov., and Dawidia soli, gen. nov., sp. nov. isolated from diverse habitat
Authors: Octaviana Senlie , Lorenczyk Stefan , Ackert Frederike , Fenske Linda , Wink Joachim
Published: June 2022

Four novel strains were isolated: PWU4T and PWU20T were both from soil in Germany, PWU5T was isolated from soil in India and PWU37T was obtained from sheep faeces collected on the Island of Crete. Cells of each were observed to be Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, rod shaped, and to grow optimally between 28 and 34 °C, between pH 7.0 and 8.0 and without the addition of NaCl. The strains were found to be catalase and oxidase-negative and able to grow on most mono- and disaccharides, a few polysaccharides and organic acids. Their predominant menaquinone was identified as MK-7. Their major fatty acids were identified as C16:1ω7c (PWU4T and PWU20T) and C16:1ω5c (PWU5T and PWU37T). The DNA G + C contents of strains PWU4T, PWU20T, PWU5T and PWU37T were determined to be 50.2 mol%, 51.6 mol %, 39.8 mol% and 53.8 mol%, respectively. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the close relatives Ohtaekwangia koreensis 3B-2T and Ohtaekwangia kribbensis 10AOT share less than 93.8% sequence similarity. The strains were classified in two groups, where PWU4T and PWU20T share 93.0% sequence similarity, and PWU5T and PWU37T share 97.5% sequence similarity. However, the members of each group were concluded to represent different species based on the low average nucleotide identity (ANI) of their genomes, 69.7% and 83.8%, respectively. We propose that the four strains represent four novel species of two new genera in the family Cytophagaceae. The type species of the novel genus Chryseosolibacter is Chryseosolibacter histidini gen. nov., sp. nov. with the type strain PWU4T (= DSM 111594T = NCCB 100798T), whilst strain PWU20T (= DSM 111597T = NCCB 100800T) is the type strain of a second species, Chryseosolibacter indicus sp. nov. The type species of the novel genus Dawidia is Dawidia cretensis gen. nov., sp. nov. with the type strain PWU5T (= DSM 111596T = NCCB 100799T), whilst strain PWU37T (= DSM 111595T = NCCB 100801T) is the type stain of a second species, Dawidia soli sp. nov.
Online routing and searching on graphs with blocked edges
Authors: Shiri Davood , Tozan Hakan
Published: June 2022

We study routing and searching decisions of a search-and-detection (SDT) team on a road network under online uncertainty setting. Given an undirected edge-weighted bounded graph, a static target is positioned at an unknown vertex among potential target vertices in the graph. A non-negative search cost is given on each of the potential target vertices. The target is detected once the SDT searches its corresponding vertex. There may be some non-recoverable online blockages in the graph, but the existence of blockages is unknown to the SDT initially. If a blockage exists in the graph, it is disclosed online once the SDT visits one of its end-vertices. The graph stays connected when the blockages are omitted from it. The SDT begins from a certain vertex and aims to identify a route without any blocked edges which detects the target with minimum total traveling and search cost. We analyze this problem from a competitive analysis perspective under two scenarios with and without blockages. For the scenario with blockages, we provide a tight lower bound on the competitive ratio of deterministic solutions, an optimal deterministic solution, a randomized solution with a bounded expected competitive ratio, together with lower and upper bounds on the expected competitive ratio of the optimal randomized solutions. For the scenario without blockages, we provide tight lower bounds as well as optimal deterministic and randomized solutions.
XPS and material properties of raw and oxidized carbide-derived carbon and their application in antifreeze thermal fluids/nanofluids
Authors: Almanassra Ismail W. , Zakaria Yahya , Kochkodan Viktor , Mroue Kamal , Zekri Atef , Atieh Muataz Ali , Al-Ansari Tareq
Published: June 2022

In this study, the stability, thermal conductivity and viscosity of carbide-derived carbon antifreeze thermal fluids were explored. The study also compares the results between antifreeze suspensions prepared using oxidized CDC and emulsified CDC using gum arabic. At first, the raw CDC was oxidized with oxygen by acid treatment and the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results revealed an increase in the oxygen content and oxygen functional groups in oxidized CDC. The two-step method was utilized for CDC thermal fluids preparation. Sedimentation visualization and zeta potential testing were employed to investigate stability of nanofluids with time. The stability results revealed that the oxidized CDC has better stability and higher zeta potential values than the emulsified CDCs; however, both mixtures demonstrated stable suspensions for three months. Viscosity measurements showed that the gum arabic CDC suspensions have a higher viscosity than the oxidized CDC; the viscosity was growing with CDC and gum arabic loadings and decreased with temperature. The thermal conductivity analysis was carried out using a lambda analyzer in a temperature range of 288–338 K with a CDC mass loading range of 0.05–0.3 mass%. The experimental outcomes demonstrated that oxidized CDC suspension has better thermal conductivity than gum arabic emulsified CDC. The highest improvement in thermal conductivity was 25.6% using 0.3 mass% of oxidized CDC at 338 K. Moreover, raising the gum arabic mass loading was found to reduce the thermal conductivity enhancement. Therefore, according to the results, the oxidized CDC antifreeze suspensions can perform better than the emulsified CDC.

Graphical abstract
Feature ranking for semi-supervised learning
Authors: Petković Matej , Džeroski Sašo , Kocev Dragi
Published: June 2022

The data used for analysis are becoming increasingly complex along several directions: high dimensionality, number of examples and availability of labels for the examples. This poses a variety of challenges for the existing machine learning methods, related to analyzing datasets with a large number of examples that are described in a high-dimensional space, where not all examples have labels provided. For example, when investigating the toxicity of chemical compounds, there are many compounds available that can be described with information-rich high-dimensional representations, but not all of the compounds have information on their toxicity. To address these challenges, we propose methods for semi-supervised learning (SSL) of feature rankings. The feature rankings are learned in the context of classification and regression, as well as in the context of structured output prediction (multi-label classification, MLC, hierarchical multi-label classification, HMLC and multi-target regression, MTR) tasks. This is the first work that treats the task of feature ranking uniformly across various tasks of semi-supervised structured output prediction. To the best of our knowledge, it is also the first work on SSL of feature rankings for the tasks of HMLC and MTR. More specifically, we propose two approaches—based on predictive clustering tree ensembles and the Relief family of algorithms—and evaluate their performance across 38 benchmark datasets. The extensive evaluation reveals that rankings based on Random Forest ensembles perform the best for classification tasks (incl. MLC and HMLC tasks) and are the fastest for all tasks, while ensembles based on extremely randomized trees work best for the regression tasks. Semi-supervised feature rankings outperform their supervised counterparts across the majority of datasets for all of the different tasks, showing the benefit of using unlabeled in addition to labeled data.
Possible association of rotavirus IgG with cytokine expression levels and dyslipidemia in rotavirus-infected type 1 diabetic children
Authors: Khalil Rehab G. , Abdel-Moneim Adel , Arafa Amany A. , Allam Gamal , El-Senousy Waled M. , Mabrouk Doaa
Published: June 2022

Background

Rotavirus (RV) has been postulated as a viral trigger for the onset of autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D). This study aimed to examine the conceivable association of RV IgG with cytokine levels and dyslipidemia in the pathogenesis of pediatric T1D.

Methods

This study included 30 healthy controls and 80 children with T1D who were divided into two groups based on the time since their T1D diagnosis: newly diagnosed (ND ≤ 1 year; n = 30) and previously diagnosed (PD > 1 year; n = 50). ND and PD patients were also separated into negative and positive according to IgG detection (RV IgG−, ND−, and PD−; RV IgG+, ND+, and PD+).

Results

Positive polymerase chain reaction for RVs was evidenced in 7.5% of children with T1D. Anti-RV IgG was 30% and 36% in ND and PD, respectively, compared to healthy controls (2 of 30, 6.6%; P < 0.05). Fasting blood sugar and hemoglobin A1c significantly increased in PD+ compared to PD−. Interferon-γ and interleukin (IL)-15 levels significantly increased. IL-12 and IL-22 mRNA expression was upregulated in ND+ patients compared to that in ND− patients. IL-37 mRNA expression was significantly downregulated in ND− and ND+ patients compared to that in healthy controls. Total cholesterol and high- and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels were significantly lower in PD+ than in PD−; whereas triglyceride levels were higher than those in healthy controls.

Conclusions

This study suggested that anti-RV IgG may have a role in the pathogenesis, development, and progression of T1D, and RV infections are implicated in dyslipidemia and inflammation status.
Is the Millennial Generation Left Behind? Inter-Cohort Labour Income Inequality in a Context of Economic Shock
Authors: Escalonilla Marta , Cueto Begoña , Pérez-Villadóniga María José
Published: June 2022

This paper provides new evidence on how intergenerational income inequality evolves during the period 2005–2019. Using the Continuous Sample of Working Histories (CSWH), which includes administrative data about working lives and personal characteristics of Spanish workers, we shed light on the effect of the Great Recession on income inequality between cohorts in Spain. As a proxy of income, we employ monthly earnings data, provided by the CSWH. From a life course approach, we use two age-period-cohort (APC) models which allow us to separately identify three components: cohort, age and period effects. First, we examine relative earnings which will reveal whether there are income differences between generations. Second, we measure how absolute earnings have developed over time. Our results suggest that some generations are more disadvantaged in terms of income by their year of birth than others. Likewise, the evidence points out that the economic context experienced by a generation in their transition to the labour market is a key factor in the development of their income.
PET/MR Imaging of a Lung Metastasis Model of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma with (2S,4R)-4-[18F]Fluoroglutamine
Authors: Pollard Alyssa C. , Paolillo Vincenzo , Radaram Bhasker , Qureshy Sarah , Li Li , Maity Tapati , Wang Lei , Uddin Md. Nasir , Wood Christopher G. , Karam Jose A. , Pagel Mark D. , Piwnica-Worms David , Millward Steven W. , Fowlkes Natalie Wall , Norton William , Engel Brian J. , Pisaneschi Federica , Zacharias Niki M.
Published: June 2022

Purpose

Metabolic reprogramming plays an important role in the tumorigenesis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Currently, positron emission tomography (PET) reporters are not used clinically to visualize altered glutamine metabolism in ccRCC, which greatly hinders detection, staging, and real-time therapeutic assessment. We sought to determine if (2S,4R)-4-[18F]fluoroglutamine ([18F]FGln) could be used to interrogate altered glutamine metabolism in ccRCC lesions in the lung.

Procedures

We generated a novel ccRCC lung lesion model using the ccRCC cell line UMRC3 stably transfected with GFP and luciferase constructs. This cell line was used for characterization of [18F]FGln uptake and retention by transport analysis in cell culture and by PET/MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in animal models. Tumor growth in animal models was monitored using bioluminescence (BLI) and MRI. After necropsy, UMRC3 tumor growth in lung tissue was verified by fluorescence imaging and histology.

Results

In UMRC3 cells, [18F]FGln cell uptake was twofold higher than cell uptake in normal kidney HEK293 cells. Tracer cell uptake was reduced by 60–90% in the presence of excess glutamine in the media and by 20–50% upon treatment with V-9302, an inhibitor of the major glutamine transporter alanine-serine-cysteine transporter 2 (ASCT2). Furthermore, in UMRC3 cells, [18F]FGln cell uptake was reduced by siRNA knockdown of ASCT2 to levels obtained by the addition of excess exogenous glutamine. Conversely, [18F]FGln cellular uptake was increased in the presence of the glutaminase inhibitor CB-839. Using simultaneous PET/MRI for visualization, retention of [18F]FGlnin vivoin ccRCC lung tumors was 1.5-fold greater than normal lung tissue and twofold greater than muscle. In ccRCC lung tumors, [18F]FGln retention did not change significantly upon treatment with CB-839.

Conclusions

We report one of the first direct orthotopic mouse models of ccRCC lung lesions. Using PET/MR imaging, lung tumors were easily discerned from normal tissue. Higher uptake of [18F]FGln was observed in a ccRCC cell line and lung lesions compared to HEK293 cells and normal lung tissue, respectively. [18F]FGln cell uptake was modulated by exogenous glutamine, V-9302, siRNA knockdown of ASCT2, and CB-839. Interestingly, in a pilot therapeutic study with CB-839, we observed no difference in treated tumors relative to untreated controls. This was in contrast with cellular studies, where CB-839 increased glutamine uptake.
Numerical modelling of the effects of foundation scour on the response of a bridge pier
Authors: Ciancimino Andrea , Anastasopoulos Ioannis , Foti Sebastiano , Gajo Alessandro
Published: June 2022

Foundation scour can have a detrimental effect on the performance of bridge piers, inducing a significant reduction of the lateral capacity of the footing and accumulation of permanent settlement and rotation. Although the hydraulic processes responsible for foundation scour are nowadays well known, predicting their mechanical consequences is still challenging. Indeed, its impact on the failure mechanisms developing around the foundation has not been fully investigated. In this paper, numerical simulations are performed to study the vertical and lateral response of a scoured bridge pier founded on a cylindrical caisson foundation embedded in a layer of dense sand. The sand stress–strain behaviour is reproduced by employing the Severn-Trent model. The constitutive model is firstly calibrated on a set of soil element tests, including drained and undrained monotonic triaxial tests and resonant column tests. The calibration procedure is implemented considering the stress and strain nonuniformities within the samples, by simulating the laboratory tests as boundary value problems. The numerical model is then validated against the results of centrifuge tests. The results of the simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results in terms of foundation capacity and settlement accumulation. Moreover, the model can predict the effects of local and general scour. The numerical analyses also highlight the impact of scouring on the failure mechanisms, revealing that the soil resistance depends on the hydraulic scenario.
Investigation of the friction behavior between dry/infiltrated glass fiber fabric and metal sheet during deep drawing of fiber metal laminates
Authors: Kruse Moritz , Werner Henrik O. , Chen Hui , Mennecart Thomas , Liebig Wilfried V. , Weidenmann Kay A. , Ben Khalifa Noomane
Published: June 2022

During deep drawing processes of fiber metal laminates, such as the newly developed in-situ hybridization process, fibers and metal sheets come into contact while the dry fabric is infiltrated by a reactive matrix system. The viscosity of the matrix increases as polymerization starts during deep-drawing. In the in-situ hybridization process, a dry fiber metal laminate is deep drawn while a thermoplastic matrix system is injected into the glass fiber fabric layer in a resin transfer molding process. During forming of the fiber metal laminate, friction occurs in tangential direction to the metal sheet. The friction plays the main role in preventing the elongation of the sheets in the deep drawing process. Therefore, the measurement of friction coefficients between fibers and metal sheets is essential. In this paper, the friction between sheet metal and dry or infiltrated glass fiber fabric under high contact pressures of 1.67 MPa, as occurring in deep drawing processes, is characterized. A modified strip drawing test setup is used to analyze the coefficient of friction under a constant high contact pressure. Compression tests were performed to show that Coulomb friction can be assumed. Different types of glass fiber fabrics and liquids with defined viscosities are used. It was found that fluids with higher viscosity decrease the friction coefficients in the interface, which is physically explained. For the in-situ hybridization process, it is deduced that with low viscosities, a better infiltration is achieved, while higher viscosities reduce the friction coefficient for better formability.
Implementation of an on-site simulation programme during COVID-19 and the assessment of its impact on medical students’ competence
Authors: McInerney Niall James , Khan Mohammad Faraz , Coady Laoise , Dalli Jeffrey , Stokes Maurice , Donnelly Suzzane , Heneghan Helen , Cahill Ronan
Published: June 2022

Background

COVID-19 has greatly impacted medical students’ clinical education. This study evaluates the usefulness of a rapidly implemented on-site simulation programme deployed to supplement our disrupted curriculum.

Methods

Students on surgical rotations received 4-hour tutor-led simulated patient sessions (involving mannikins with remote audio-visual observation) respecting hospital and public health protocols. Attitudes were questionnaire-assessed before and after. Independent, blinded, nonacademic clinicians scored students’ clinical competencies by observing real patient interactions using the surgical ward assessment tool in a representative sample versus those completing same duration medicine clinical rotations without simulation (Mann–Whitney U testing, p < 0.05 denoting significance) with all students receiving the same surgical e-learning resources and didactic teaching.

Results

A total of 220 students underwent simulation training, comprising 96 hours of scheduled direct teaching. Prior to commencement, 15 students (7% of 191 completing the survey) admitted anxiety, mainly due to clinical inexperience, with only two (1%) anxious re on-site spreading/contracting of COVID-19. A total of 66 students (30%, 38 females and 29 graduate entrants) underwent formal competency assessment by clinicians from ten specialties at two clinical sites. Those who received simulation training (n = 35) were judged significantly better at history taking (p = 0.004) and test ordering (p = 0.01) but not clinical examination, patient drug chart assessment, or differential diagnosis formulation. Of 75 students providing subsequent feedback, 88% stated simulation beneficial (notably for history taking and physical examination skills in 63%) with 83% advocating for more.

Conclusion

Our rapidly implemented simulation programme for undergraduate medical students helped mitigate pandemic restrictions, enabling improved competence despite necessarily reduced clinical activity encouraging further development.
Shortage of Skilled Labor, Unions and the Wage Premium: A Regression Analysis with Establishment Panel Data for Germany
Authors: Kölling Arnd
Published: June 2022

The author investigates the different influences of labor shortage on wages in firms with or without collective bargaining agreements. In addition to training, technological solutions, and organizational flexibility, employers can also offer higher wages at a constant employment level to fill vacancies if the current payments are lower than the marginal revenue of the workers. Firms with collective bargaining agreements probably already pay wages according to marginal revenue or, in the case of rent sharing, above it, and the remuneration is probably also not adjusted. Using wage regressions with panel data for German establishments, this paper shows that collective bargaining and a lack of skilled workers can lead to higher wages. However, the latter only applies to firms that are not bound by collective agreements. Hence, wage differentials between these firms decrease, providing further explanation for a countercyclical development of the wage premium from the collective bargaining agreement.
Correct path to use flumes in water resources management
Authors: Vanani Hamid Raeisi , Ostad-Ali-Askari Kaveh
Published: June 2022

The hydraulic characteristics of the flow are measured using tools such as flumes, in the design and evaluation of furrow irrigation systems. Proper use of these tools, such as their immersion while working, is one of the important executive points in this field; in this study, trapezoidal flumes are used to measure the intensity of input and output flow in furrow irrigation. The proper method of installing these flumes was investigated in this article. For this purpose, during 60 irrigation operations, the results showed that in order to create free flow conditions in these flumes, and not to affect the downstream and upstream current, as well as increasing the accuracy of measurements, in addition to installing flumes in all directions, trapezoidal flume should be installed at a height of at least about 4 cm above the furrow bed; according to the irrigation operations, the percentage of immersion in the installation of the flume at a height of 4 cm from the furrow bed was observed as standard (less than 70% immersion) in order to reduce the percentage of flow measurement error in different depths of water entering the flume. The results also showed that for ensuring free flow in trapezoidal flumes, the flume should be installed at a height of 4 cm or more above the furrow bed, provided the input ridges are strengthened and the end flume is measured to measure the inflow to the furrow. The output current of the furrow should be installed in the floor of the furrow along the bed to prevent the passage of current, provided that after the outflow flume, the furrow bed should be deeper in terms of free flow. Observance of the points and results obtained in this study in furrow irrigation systems prevents errors in flow measurement and consequently increases the accuracy in the design and evaluation of furrow irrigation systems.
Preliminary analysis of the preparation of Polish water utilities to implement mandatory risk management in accordance with the Drinking Water Directive 2020/2184
Authors: Ramm Klara
Published: June 2022

The new Directive 2020/2184 of the European Parliament and the Council on the quality of water intended for human consumption (EU, Official J EU 23.12.2020.435, 2020) is to be transposed into the local law of all Member States by 2023 and its implementation will start thereafter. Therefore, it is important to identify what are the water utilities' greatest concerns. The Chamber of Commerce "Polish Waterworks" conducted two surveys among its members, aimed at understanding the needs of the water supply sector in the context of the new requirements of the directive. The surveys were conducted one year apart. The first in January 2019, the second in January 2020, when the new directive has not yet been adopted; however, its content was known to a close approximation. The article focuses on the issues of risk-based management, presents the responses of water companies, and indicates their needs. The research results indicate not only financial needs. A major challenge is the development of knowledge and competencies in the field of risk management in the water supply system. Enterprises need substantive support and their situation, despite the Chamber's actions, does not improve significantly. Surveys indicate the need for expert training and support in assessing and managing risks in water systems. It is necessary to reach the smallest entities with knowledge and support.
Political Theory of the Digital Constellation
Authors: Berg Sebastian , Staemmler Daniel , Thiel Thorsten
Published: June 2022

The introductory contribution to this special issue on “Political Theory of the Digital Constellation” addresses the conditions and possibilities of political theory’s engagement with digital developments. The motivation for this inquiry is the growing interest in questions of political theory arising from the digital transformation, as well as the acknowledgement that digitalisation not only changes politics, but conversely that politics also shapes digitalisation. The article identifies three pitfalls of previous engagement: The narrowing of the subject of “digitalisation” to the topic of the “internet” and, thereby, to the aspect of communication, the disregard for the technicality of the digital, and the insufficient recognition that (digital) technology is political. To avoid these pitfalls, the research perspective of the digital constellation is presented. The digital constellation serves as an epistemological guide that helps to structure theoretical reflection on the interrelationship between digitalisation and political questions. Ultimately, the outlines of the political theory in the digital constellation become clear in the fourteen contributions of the special volume, which are presented in conclusion.
In Vivo Genome-Wide PGR Binding in Pregnant Human Myometrium Identifies Potential Regulators of Labor
Authors: Dotts Ariel J. , Reiman Derek , Yin Ping , Kujawa Stacy , Grobman William A. , Dai Yang , Bulun Serdar E.
Published: June 2022

The alterations in myometrial biology during labor are not well understood. The myometrium is the contractile portion of the uterus and contributes to labor, a process that may be regulated by the steroid hormone progesterone. Thus, human myometrial tissues from term pregnant in-active-labor (TIL) and term pregnant not-in-labor (TNIL) subjects were used for genome-wide analyses to elucidate potential future preventive or therapeutic targets involved in the regulation of labor. Using myometrial tissues directly subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), progesterone receptor (PGR) chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq), and histone modification ChIP-seq, we profiled genome-wide changes associated with gene expression in myometrial smooth muscle tissue in vivo. In TIL myometrium, PGR predominantly occupied promoter regions, including the classical progesterone response element, whereas it bound mainly to intergenic regions in TNIL myometrial tissue. Differential binding analysis uncovered over 1700 differential PGR-bound sites between TIL and TNIL, with 1361 sites gained and 428 lost in labor. Functional analysis identified multiple pathways involved in cAMP-mediated signaling enriched in labor. A three-way integration of the data for ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, and active histone marks uncovered the following genes associated with PGR binding, transcriptional activation, and altered mRNA levels: ATP11A, CBX7, and TNS1. In vitro studies showed that ATP11A, CBX7, and TNS1 are progesterone responsive. We speculate that these genes may contribute to the contractile phenotype of the myometrium during various stages of labor. In conclusion, we provide novel labor-associated genome-wide events and PGR-target genes that can serve as targets for future mechanistic studies.
Relevance of emerging metabolomics-based biomarkers of prostate cancer: a systematic review
Authors: Bansal Navneeta , Kumar Manoj , Sankhwar S. N. , Gupta Ashish
Published: June 2022

Prostate cancer (PC) presents great challenges in early diagnosis and often leads to unnecessary invasive procedures as well as over diagnosis and treatment, thus highlighting the need for promising early diagnostic biomarkers. The aim of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary of chronologically existing metabolomics PC biomarkers, their potential to improve clinical PC diagnosis and to reduce the proliferation and monitoring of PC. The systematic research was conducted on PubMed in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to report PC biomarkers. The majority of the studies distinguished malignant from benign prostate and few explored the biomarkers associated with the progression of PC. The present review summarises the primary outcomes of most significant studies to extend our knowledge of PC metabolomics biomarkers. We observed divergent inter-laboratory technical procedures employing different statistical approaches produced abundant information regarding PC metabolites perturbation. Since PC metabolomics is still in its early phase, it is vital that we dig out the most specific, sensitive and accurate metabolic signatures and conduct more studies with milestone findings with comparable sample sizes to validate and corroborate the findings.