bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assembly of Immunogenic Protein Particles toward Advanced Synthetic Vaccines
Authors: Chen Shuxiong , Quan Diana H. , Sam Gayathri , Ozberk Victoria , Wang Xiaonan T. , Halfmann Peter , Pandey Manisha , Good Michael F. , Kawaoka Yoshihiro , Britton Warwick J. , Rehm Bernd H. A.
Published: December 2022

Immunogenic carrier proteins such as the non‐toxic diphtheria toxin variant, cross‐reacting material 197 (CRM197), are widely used in subunit vaccine formulations to boost immunogenicity of chemically conjugated antigens. Conjugate vaccines are inherently expensive due to laborious manufacturing steps. Here, this work develops a particulate vaccine platform based on using engineered Escherichia coli to assemble CRM197‐antigen fusion proteins into discrete submicron‐sized particles. This approach enables precise loading of diverse antigens and epitopes enhancing their immunogenicity. A cost‐effective, high‐yield, and scalable biomanufacturing process is developed. Purified particulate CRM197‐antigen vaccines are ambient‐temperature stable. CRM197 particles incorporating pathogen‐specific antigens or epitopes from SARS‐CoV‐2, Streptococcus pyogenes (group A), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis induced cell‐mediated and humoral immune responses mediating protective immunity in respective animal models of infection. The CRM197 particle vaccine platform is versatile, enabling co‐delivery of selected antigens/epitopes together with immunogenic CRM197 as discrete stable particles avoiding laborious manufacture of soluble CRM197 and antigen followed by chemical conjugation.
Ammonia Electrosynthesis with a Stable Metal‐Free 2D Silicon Phosphide Catalyst
Authors: Lv Chade , Jia Ning , Qian Yumin , Wang Shanpeng , Wang Xuechun , Yu Wei , Liu Chuntai , Pan Hongge , Zhu Qiang , Xu Jianwei , Tao Xutang , Loh Kian Ping , Xue Can , Yan Qingyu
Published: December 2022

Metal‐free 2D phosphorus‐based materials are emerging catalysts for ammonia (NH3) production through a sustainable electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction route under ambient conditions. However, their efficiency and stability remain challenging due to the surface oxidization. Herein, a stable phosphorus‐based electrocatalyst, silicon phosphide (SiP), is explored. Density functional theory calculations certify that the N2 activation can be realized on the zigzag Si sites with a dimeric end‐on coordinated mode. Such sites also allow the subsequent protonation process via the alternating associative mechanism. As the proof‐of‐concept demonstration, both the crystalline and amorphous SiP nanosheets (denoted as C‐SiP NSs and A‐SiP NSs, respectively) are obtained through ultrasonic exfoliation processes, but only the crystalline one enables effective and stable electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction, in terms of an NH3 yield rate of 16.12 µg h−1 mgcat.−1 and a Faradaic efficiency of 22.48% at −0.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. The resistance to oxidization plays the decisive role in guaranteeing the NH3 electrosynthesis activity for C‐SiP NSs. This surface stability endows C‐SiP NSs with the capability to serve as appealing electrocatalysts for nitrogen reduction reactions and other promising applications.
Metal Fluoride Cathode Materials for Lithium Rechargeable Batteries: Focus on Iron Fluorides
Authors: Sun Lidong , Li Yu , Feng Wei
Published: December 2022

Exploring prospective rechargeable batteries with high energy densities is urgently needed on a worldwide scale to address the needs of the large‐scale electric vehicle market. Conversion‐type metal fluorides (MFs) are attractive cathodes for next‐generation rechargeable batteries because of their high theoretical potential and capacities and provide new perspectives for developing novel battery systems that satisfy energy density requirements. However, some critical issues, such as high voltage hysteresis and poor cycling stability must be solved to further enhance MF cathode materials. In this review, the recent advances in mechanisms focused on FeF3 cathodes under lithiation/delithiation processes are discussed in detail. Then, the classifications and advantages of various synthesis methods to prepare MF‐based materials are first minutely discussed. Moreover, the performance attenuation mechanisms of MFs and the effort in the development of mitigation strategies are comprehensively reviewed. Finally, prospects for the current obstacles and possible research directions, with the aim to provide some inspiration for the development of MF cathode‐based batteries are presented.
Heterogeneity, leveling the playing field, and affirmative action in contests
Authors: Chowdhury Subhasish M. , Esteve‐González Patricia , Mukherjee Anwesha
Published: December 2022

The heterogeneous abilities of players in various competitive contexts often lead to undesirable outcomes such as low effort provision, a lack of diversity, and inequality. A range of policies is implemented to mitigate such issues by enforcing competitive balance, that is, by leveling the playing field. Some of those policies, known as affirmative action (AA) policies, are practiced in ethical response to historical discrimination against particular social groups, and are also aimed at increasing competition. This survey summarizes the rapidly growing literature on contest theory regarding AA and other policies that level the playing field. Using a general theoretical structure, we outline the theoretical, experimental, and empirical research findings on contest outcomes under a multitude of policy mechanisms, and in doing so, we touch upon some of the common debates in the AA literature.
Blade Coating Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells with Vacuum‐Assisted Nucleation Based on Bottom Quasi‐2D Passivation
Authors: Zhang Xinwen , Baral Pramod , Chakraborty Nilave , Garden Kelsey , Shen Lening , Vijayaraghavan Sankaranarayanan Nair , Cao Zikun , Yan Feng , Gong Xiong , Whittaker-Brooks Luisa , Wang He
Published: December 2022

Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) attract an enormous attention because of their high power conversion efficiency (PCE) and low fabrication cost. However, their commercialization is limited by fabricating highly efficient large‐area solar cells. Controlling the morphology and crystallization of perovskite for large‐area fabrication is difficult but important. Herein, a vacuum‐assisted approach is developed to obtain mirror‐like, pinhole‐free, highly crystalline, and uniform blade‐coated perovskite films, without the use of antisolvent and air knife. This method can be a universal approach for various perovskite compositions. Meanwhile, the phenethylammonium iodide passivation effect at the top and bottom interfaces of perovskite layer based on FTO/NiOx/perovskite/C60/BCP/Cu inverted p‐i‐n structure is systematically investigated. The optimized device fabricated by blade coating under an ambient environment exhibits the champion PCE of 20.7% and is among the top few records of blade coating inverted structure based on NiOx hole transport layer. The encapsulated device retains 97% of its maximum efficiency under open‐circuit condition after 1000 h of photostability test in an ambient environment at room temperature with a relative humidity of 40–60%. Herein, low‐cost, easy, and reproducible strategies to fabricate efficient and stable blade‐coated PSCs are demonstrated.
Chiral Molecular Environment Determining Selective Coordination of Cysteine to Perovskite Halogen Vacancies
Authors: Liu Jialing , He Jingwen , Ma Dun , He Jingshan , Wu Wenjun
Published: December 2022

Amino acid, with amino, carboxyl, and other functional groups in one molecule, is proposed as an effective multisite passivator for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the chirality‐induced difference in photovoltaic properties of PSCs caused by subtle changes of the molecular environment between enantiomers of the amino acid has received almost no attention. Herein, for the first time, l‐ and d‐cysteine are introduced into carbon‐based fully printable mesoscopic PSCs as additives and 17.41 and 15.12% of power conversion efficiency are obtained, respectively. The essential causes of the differences in photoelectric conversion performances are deeply explored within a density‐functional theory (DFT) framework and relative photophysical characterization. DFT reveals that the enhancement of negative surface electrostatic potential around the carboxyl group is due to the chiral molecular environment favoring intramolecular charge transfer with l‐cysteine, strengthening the coordination to undercoordinated Pb2+ (halide vacancy) defects. In addition, the advantages of the chiral environment of l‐cysteine are also reflected in the inhibition of nonradiative recombination, perovskite crystallization, stability, and light capture, etc. It opens up a novel research pathway extending passivation mechanism from functional groups to the molecular environment.
Regulating the Donor–Acceptor Interfaces to Reduce Trap Density for Efficient Indoor Organic Solar Cells
Authors: Feng Bo , Zhao Jingjing , Chung Sein , Cho Kilwon , Lu Shirong , Xu Weidong , Kan Zhipeng
Published: December 2022

Organic solar cells (OSCs) are promising candidates for powering the Internet of Things and off‐grid devices due to the rapid improvement in power conversion efficiency under indoor light. However, the reported indoor devices are often taken straightforwardly from the champion solar cells under AM1.5 G irradiance without further optimization or more target design, which may underestimate their performance due to trap‐assisted charge recombination caused by discrepancies in incident light spectrum and intensity. Herein, It is identified that regulation of donor–acceptor interfaces is critical for reducing trap density in the active layer and thus improving the performance of indoor OSCs. By investigating bulk heterojunction and bilayer devices composed of PM6 and ITIC or ITIC‐2 F, reduced trap density is demonstrated by mitigation of the structural disorder of the active layer, leading to improved open‐circuit voltage. Additionally, the trap depth has a negligible effect on the device's performance with indoor light illumination. The results establish the correlations between donor–acceptor interfaces and charge recombination losses in bulk heterojunction and bilayer OSCs under indoor light, providing novel optimization guidelines for high‐performing indoor OSCs.
Bidirectional Modification of Buried Interface Reduces Energy Loss for Planar Perovskite Solar Cells with Efficiency >23%
Authors: Sun Weiwei , Wang Kexiang , Liu Weifeng , Huo Xiaonan , Yin Ran , Sun Yansheng , Gao Yukun , You Tingting , Yin Penggang
Published: December 2022

Planar n–i–p perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on a SnO2 electron transport layer dominate the certified high‐efficiency devices. However, the defects located at the SnO2/perovskite interface (i.e., buried interface) or inside the perovskite films impede the further improvement of power conversion efficiency (PCE). Herein, nickel acetate (NiAc2) is introduced on buried interface as a bidirectional modifier to improve electron extraction of SnO2 and the crystal growth of perovskite for the first time. First, NiAc2 is chemically anchored on SnO2 to passivate oxygen vacancies, increase conductivity, and optimize the energy level alignment of the buried interface. Second, the porous morphology of PbI2 film deposited on NiAc2‐modified SnO2 endows more sufficient permeation and reaction of organic amine salts (formamidinium iodide [FAI] and methylammonium iodide [MAI]), forming high‐quality perovskite film with reduced PbI2 residues. Meanwhile, NiI2 and MAAc/FAAc may be produced via in situ reaction between NiAc2 and organic amine salts, which serve as interface modifier and crystallization regulator to further reduce defects located at the buried interface or inside the perovskite film, respectively. Consequently, an improved PCE of 23.02% for SnO2‐based PSCs with an ultrahigh open‐circuit voltage of 1.17 V is obtained. In addition, long‐term storage and light stability of the optimized PSCs are improved.
Compressive stress–strain model for the estimation of the flexural capacity of reinforced geopolymer concrete members
Authors: Kocaer Oznur , Aldemir Alper
Published: December 2022

Global warming triggered efforts on sustainable materials in any area of production. Thus, the construction materials were also at the edge of a sharp change to achieve less harm to the environment by reducing the carbon print. Consequently, researchers have been trying to replace the cement from the mixtures of reinforced concrete as cement production causes large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. Alkali‐activated binders are proved to be versatile alternatives to cementitious binders; however, accurate mathematical models to predict the capacities of these structural elements are limited in number. Therefore, in this study, a new stress–strain model has been developed to estimate the flexural capacity of geopolymer structural elements originated from construction and demolition waste. The study was initiated by formulating a novel stress–strain model applicable for defining the compressive behavior of geopolymer concrete. The formulation was based on recent experimental findings on flexural behavior of geopolymer beam specimens. Then, the performance of the proposed stress–strain model in estimating the ultimate moment capacities was investigated by using 36 bending tests from the literature. The results showed that the proposed model had very little deviations and enhanced accuracy compared with the literature available estimation method recommended by the ACI318. In addition, a soft database composed of 50 different beam specimens with varying mechanical properties and reinforcement patterns was formed. Numerical models corresponding to all possible combinations of each parameter were generated, and their load capacities were determined. After that, the estimation performances of the proposed method and the stress–strain models from the literature, and also the ACI318 procedure were examined. The conclusion of this check also yielded promising results with an absolute mean percentage error of 5.13% regardless of the mode of failures.
Eliciting students' stories: Student perspectives on anecdote materials
Authors: Castellano Joachim
Published: December 2022

This article provides critical student perspectives on a set of instructor‐created materials in which students ultimately delivered a spoken anecdote in a class presentation. The research was conducted qualitatively through the lens of narrative inquiry. Data were gathered from six participants, all undergraduate English majors at a Japanese university. Results found that participants experienced various difficulties related to the materials and task, primarily due to their unfamiliarity with anecdotes and vocal prosody. However, participants reported benefits of these lessons such as perceived second language (L2) development and real‐world relevance. Participants also applied lessons learned from the materials in a variety of contexts including study abroad and job interviews, demonstrating that telling anecdotes about themselves can be a highly authentic task. The findings advise instructors to consider students' backgrounds, introduce anecdote elements, and provide ample feedback and repetition. The article also suggests that material developers should consider student feedback as an essential component when designing classroom materials.
Is posterior compartment prolapse associated with anal incontinence?
Authors: Subramaniam N. , Dietz H. P.
Published: December 2022

Objective

It has been claimed that manifestations of posterior compartment prolapse, such as rectocele, enterocele and intussusception, are associated with anal incontinence (AI), but this has not been studied while controlling for anal sphincter trauma. We aimed to investigate this association in women with intact anal sphincter presenting with pelvic floor dysfunction.

Methods

This retrospective study analyzed 1133 women with intact anal sphincter presenting to a tertiary urogynecological center for pelvic floor dysfunction between 2014 and 2016. All women underwent a standardized interview, including assessment of symptoms of AI, clinical examination and three‐/four‐dimensional transperineal ultrasound. Descent of the rectal ampulla, true rectocele, enterocele, intussusception and anal sphincter trauma were diagnosed offline.

Results

Mean age was 54.1 (range, 17.6–89.7) years and mean body mass index was 29.4 (range, 14.7–67.8) kg/m2. AI was reported by 149 (13%) patients, with a median St Mark's anal incontinence score of 12 (interquartile range, 1–23). Significant posterior compartment prolapse was seen in 693 (61%) women on clinical examination. Overall, 638 (56%) women had posterior compartment prolapse on imaging: 527 (47%) had a true rectocele, 89 (7.9%) had an enterocele and 26 (2.3%) had an intussusception. Women with ultrasound‐diagnosed enterocele had a significantly higher rate of AI (23.6% vs 12.3%; odds ratio (OR), 2.21 (95% CI, 1.31–3.72); P = 0.002), but when adjusted for potential confounders, this association was no longer significant (OR, 1.56 (95% CI, 0.82–2.77); P = 0.134).

Conclusion

In women without anal sphincter trauma, posterior compartment prolapse, whether diagnosed clinically or by imaging, was not shown to be associated with AI. © 2022 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Addressing the unique needs of graduate and professional student leadership identity online, in‐person, and through turbulent times
Authors: Werner Linnette R. L.
Published: December 2022

From differences in brain development to balancing complex roles, the needs of graduate students significantly differ from undergraduates and yet often go unacknowledged. In this article, I explore how these differences can be taken into account when supporting graduate student leadership identity during turbulent times and beyond through in‐person and online leadership development programs.
Utilizing co‐curricular learning tools to foster leadership development in graduate and professional schools: Examples and lessons learned
Authors: Lubker John R. , Petrusa Emil R.
Published: December 2022

Faculty have an implicit expectation that their graduate and professional students will become leaders in their respective fields; however, there is a lack of formalized co‐curricular education to prepare them to assume leadership. This article provides two examples of co‐curricular leadership education programs as inspiration for others to develop and navigate the challenges of delivering programming.
Enacting a diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice emphasis in graduate and professional leadership education
Authors: Jackson Karen T. , Richardson Sydney , Breen Jennifer Moss
Published: December 2022

This article explores leadership education, leadership scholarship, and leadership practices with a focus on the continued growth in thought, paradigm development, research and practices that address societal problems in relation to human existence. We respond to the question “how can the integration of counter narratives into leadership education – all while integrating diverse perspectives into our leadership education conversation so the complexity we now understand to be true can be revealed?” The exploration creates opportunities to deepen the diversity, equity, and inclusion discourse incorporated into graduate leadership education programs.
Envisioning the future of graduate and professional leadership education: Perspectives from the field
Authors: Gleason Michael C. , Breen Jennifer Moss
Published: December 2022

The future of graduate and professional leadership education holds both challenges and promise. By sharing results from a focus group study about the field of leadership education, this article uplifts the voices of leadership educators and students who shared their hopes and concerns for the field. Their advice serves as a resource to those considering ways they might best serve students and organizations through the development and enhancement of programs.
Assessing Molodensky’s Heights: A Rebuttal
Authors: Kingdon R. , Vaníček P. , Santos M. , Martinec Z. , Foroughi I.
Published: December 2022

This paper is written as a progression of the ongoing discussion in geodesy about the merits of the Molodensky height system versus the classical height system. It is a rebuttal of a publication in the Proceedings of the IX Hotine-Marussi Symposium on Mathematical Geodesy by Victor Popadyev titled “On the Advantage of Normal Heights: Once More on the Shape of Quasigeoid.” Even though Popadyev’s paper was not presented at the symposium it was published in the proceedings regardless. It purports to address a presentation from the symposium titled “The shape of the quasigeoid”, that applied a set of criteria to judge the suitability of the quasigeoid as a vertical reference surface, ultimately finding it inferior due to its edges and folds. The proceedings paper acknowledges these irregularities in the quasigeoid, but instead argues that the Molodensky system, apart from any vertical reference surface, should be evaluated on two different and more favorable criteria, and finds it superior on that basis. Herein, we continue the ongoing discussion by clarifying some of the misunderstandings in the Popadyev paper and explaining that even on the favourable criteria proposed the Molodensky system holds no advantages over the classical system.
Cosmological bootstrap in slow motion
Authors: Jazayeri Sadra , Renaux-Petel Sébastien
Published: December 2022

Abstract

Speed matters. How the masses and spins of new particles active during inflation can be read off from the statistical properties of primordial density fluctuations is well understood. However, not when the propagation speeds of the new degrees of freedom and of the curvature perturbation differ, which is the generic situation in the effective field theory of inflationary fluctuations. Here we use bootstrap techniques to find exact analytical solutions for primordial 2-,3- and 4-point correlators in this context. We focus on the imprints of a heavy relativistic scalar coupled to the curvature perturbation that propagates with a reduced speed of sound cs, hence strongly breaking de Sitter boosts. We show that akin to the de Sitter invariant setup, primordial correlation functions can be deduced by acting with suitable weight-shifting operators on the four-point function of a conformally coupled field induced by the exchange of the massive scalar. However, this procedure requires the analytical continuation of this seed correlator beyond the physical domain implied by momentum conservation. We bootstrap this seed correlator in the extended domain from first principles, starting from the boundary equation that it satisfies due to locality. We further impose unitarity, reflected in cosmological cutting rules, and analyticity, by demanding regularity in the collinear limit of the four-point configuration, in order to find the unique solution. Equipped with this, we unveil that heavy particles that are lighter than H/cs leave smoking gun imprints in the bispectrum in the form of resonances in the squeezed limit, a phenomenon that we call the low speed collider. We characterise the overall shape of the signal as well as its unusual logarithmic mass dependence, both vividly distinct from previously identified signatures of heavy fields. Eventually, we demonstrate that these features can be understood in a simplified picture in which the heavy field is integrated out, albeit in a non-standard manner resulting in a single-field effective theory that is non-local in space. Nonetheless, the latter description misses the non-perturbative effects of spontaneous particle production, well visible in the ultra-squeezed limit in the form of the cosmological collider oscillations, and it breaks down for masses of order the Hubble scale, for which only our exact bootstrap results hold.
Do missing teeth cause early-onset cognitive impairment? Re-examining the evidence using a quasi-natural experiment
Authors: Santoso Cornelia , Serrano-Alarcón Manuel , Stuckler David , Serban Stefan , McKee Martin , Nagy Attila
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Multiple studies have reported a positive association between missing teeth and cognitive impairment. While some authors have postulated causal mechanisms, existing designs preclude assessing this.

Methods

We sought evidence of a causal effect of missing teeth on early-onset cognitive impairment in a natural experiment, using differential exposure to fluoridated water during critical childhood years (ages 5–20 years) in England as the instrument. We coded missing teeth from 0 (≤ 12 missing) to 3 (all missing) and measured the association with cognitive impairment in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data (2014–5), covering 4958 persons aged 50–70 years.

Results

We first replicated previous evidence of the strongly positive association of missing teeth with cognitive impairment (β = 0.25 [0.11, 0.39]), after adjusting for socio-demographic covariates, such as age, gender, education, and wealth. Using an instrumental variable design, we found that childhood exposure to water fluoridation was strongly associated with fewer missing teeth, with being exposed to fluoridated water during childhood (16 years) associated with a 0.96 reduction in the missing teeth scale (β = − 0.06 [− 0.10, − 0.02]). However, when using the instrumented measure of missing teeth, predicted by probability of fluoride exposure, we found that missing teeth no longer had an association with cognitive impairment (β = 1.48 [− 1.22, 4.17]), suggesting that previous oral health-cognitive impairment associations had unobserved confounding.

Conclusions

Our findings are consistent with the possibility that unobserved confounding leads to the oft-observed association between missing teeth and early-onset cognitive impairment, suggesting that the relationship is spurious rather than causal.
Affine fractional $$L^p$$ Sobolev inequalities
Authors: Haddad Julián , Ludwig Monika
Published: December 2022

Sharp affine fractional $$L^p$$

L
p

Sobolev inequalities for functions on $${\mathbb {R}}^n$$

R

n

are established. The new inequalities are stronger than (and directly imply) the sharp fractional $$L^p$$

L
p

Sobolev inequalities. They are fractional versions of the affine $$L^p$$

L
p

Sobolev inequalities of Lutwak, Yang, and Zhang. In addition, affine fractional asymmetric $$L^p$$

L
p

Sobolev inequalities are established.
Myocarditis mortality with and without COVID-19: insights from a national registry
Authors: Bemtgen Xavier , Kaier Klaus , Rilinger Jonathan , Rottmann Felix , Supady Alexander , von zur Mühlen Constantin , Westermann Dirk , Wengenmayer Tobias , Staudacher Dawid L.
Published: December 2022

Background

Myocarditis in context of a SARS-CoV-2 infection is vividly discussed in the literature. Real-world data however are sparse, and relevance of the myocarditis diagnosis to outcome in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is unclear.

Patients and methods

Retrospective analysis of 75,304 patients hospitalized in Germany with myocarditis between 2007 and 2020 is reported by DESTATIS. Patients hospitalized between 01/2016 and 12/2019 served as reference cohort for the COVID-19 patients hospitalized in 2020.

Results

A total of 75,304 patients were hospitalized between 2007 and 2020 (age 42.5 years, 30.1% female, hospital mortality 2.4%). In the reference cohort, 24,474 patients (age 42.8 years, 29.5% female, hospital mortality 2.2%) were registered. In 2020, annual myocarditis hospitalizations dropped by 19.6% compared to reference (4921 vs. 6119 annual hospitalization), of which 443/4921 (9.0%) were connected to COVID-19. In 2020, hospital mortality of myocarditis in non-COVID-19 patients increased significantly compared to reference (2.9% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.008, OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.08–1.60). In COVID-19 myocarditis, hospital mortality was even higher compared to reference (13.5% vs. 2.2%, p < 0.001, OR 6.93, 95% CI 5.18–9.18).

Conclusion

The burden of patients with myocarditis and COVID-19 in 2020 was low. Hospital mortality was more than sixfold higher in patients with myocarditis and COVID-19 compared to those with myocarditis but without COVID-19.

Graphical abstract
Alcohol consumption: context and association with mortality in Switzerland
Authors: Suter Flurina , Pestoni Giulia , Sych Janice , Rohrmann Sabine , Braun Julia
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Non-communicable diseases generate the largest number of avoidable deaths often caused by risk factors such as alcohol, smoking, and unhealthy diets. Our study investigates the association between amount and context of alcohol consumption and mortality from major non-communicable diseases in Switzerland.

Methods

Generalized linear regression models were fitted on data of the cross-sectional population-based National Nutrition Survey menuCH (2014–2015,n = 2057). Mortality rates based on the Swiss mortality data (2015–2018) were modeled by the alcohol consumption group considering the amount and context (i.e., during or outside mealtime) of alcohol consumption and potential confounders. The models were checked for spatial autocorrelation using Moran’sIstatistic. Integrated nested Laplace approximation (INLA) models were fitted when evidence for missing spatial information was found.

Results

Higher mortality rates were detected among drinkers compared to non-drinkers for all-cancer (rate ratio (RR) ranging from 1.01 to 1.07) and upper aero-digestive tract cancer (RR ranging from 1.15 to 1.20) mortality. Global Moran’sIstatistic revealed spatial autocorrelation at the Swiss district level for all-cancer mortality. An INLA model led to the identification of three districts with a significant decrease and four districts with a significant increase in all-cancer mortality.

Conclusion

Significant associations of alcohol consumption with all-cancer and upper aero-digestive tract cancer mortality were detected. Our study results indicate the need for further studies to improve the next alcohol-prevention scheme and to lower the number of avoidable deaths in Switzerland.
CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis does not predict a less favourable long-term prognosis in MS
Authors: Astbury Lauren , Kalra Seema , Tanasescu Radu , Constantinescu Cris S.
Published: December 2022

Objective

The role of CSF lymphocytic pleocytosis in predicting the clinical outcome of multiple sclerosis is unclear. We explored the impact of CSF pleocytosis at diagnosis on long-term disease progression in a large UK cohort.

Methods

We extracted demographic, clinical and CSF data of people with MS attending the MS clinics between 1996 and 2014 at two MS centres from the English Midlands. We compared EDSS at onset, follow up EDSS and progression indices Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score (MSSS), annualized change in EDSS and transition to secondary progression in the presence/absence of pleocytosis. Two-tailed student t-test, Mann–Whitney U test, Chi-Square or Fisher’s exact tests were used for detecting the differences.

Results

A total of 247 patients with MS (178 females; mean age 42.4; 217 with relapsing onset) were followed up for an average of 13.56 years (median 12 years). Almost 18% had lymphocytic CSF ≥ 5 per microliter. CSF pleocytosis was not associated with higher EDSS at the time of LP or at follow up, and other progression indices like MSSS, annualized change in EDSS or transition to secondary progression.

Discussion

CSF pleocytosis at MS diagnosis does not predict higher long-term disability and has no long-term prognostic value in routine clinical circumstances. Differences between MS populations and potential differences in disease activity at the time of CSF analysis may account for differences between studies.
Neuropsychological outcome in survivors of congenital diaphragmatic hernia at 5 years of age, what does it tell?
Authors: de Munck Sophie , Otter Suzan C. M. Cochius-den , Schnater J. Marco , van Rosmalen Joost , Peters Nina C. J. , van Gils-Frijters Annabel P. J. M. , van Haren Neeltje E. M. , Gischler Saskia J. , IJsselstijn Hanneke , Rietman André B.
Published: December 2022

Previous studies have frequently reported neurocognitive deficits in children born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) at school age, which may contribute to academic difficulties. Yet, age at onset of these deficits is currently unknown. We evaluated neurocognitive skills with possible determinants in preschool children born with CDH. Eligible 5-year-old children born with CDH (2010–2015) who participated in our prospective structural follow-up program were included. We used the WPPSI-III to assess intelligence, subtests of the Kaufman-ABC for memory, and NEPSY-II to assess inhibition and attention. We included 63 children. Their test scores generally were within or significantly above normal range: total IQ = 103.4 (15.7) (p = 0.13); Verbal memory = 10.2 (2.8) (p = 0.61); Visuospatial memory = 11.4 (2.6) (p < 0.01); Inhibition = 10.5 (2.2), (p = 0.10). In univariable analyses, length of ICU-stay was negatively associated with IQ, and maximum vasoactive inotropic score and open repair were negatively associated with inhibition skills. In multivariable regression analysis, the latter association remained (B = 5.52, p = 0.04 (CI 0.32–10.72)).

   Conclusions: In these tested 5-year-old children born with CDH, neuropsychological outcome was normal on average. While problems in 8-year-olds are common, we did not detect onset of these problems at age 5. Yet, we cannot rule out that this cohort had a relatively mild level of disease severity; therefore, conclusions should be interpreted with caution. However, given the growing-into-deficit hypothesis, meaning that deviant brain development in early life is revealed once higher cognitive brain functions are demanded, follow-up should be conducted up to school age, and preferably beyond.

What is Known:• Children born with CDH are at risk for academic difficulties at school age.• Whether these difficulties can be detected already before school age is unknown.

What is New:• At age 5 years, intelligence, inhibition, attention, and memory skills were all within normal range, or even above, in children with CDH. This is supportive of the growing-into-deficit hypothesis in this patient population.• Those who underwent open surgical correction had poorer inhibition skills than those who were corrected with minimal access surgery.
The usefulness of a three-protein signature blood assay (Mastocheck®) for follow-up after breast cancer surgery
Authors: Kim Yumi , Kim Hong-Kyu , Lim Changjin , Kim Sungsoo , Ahn Kyung-Guen , Noh Dong-Young
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Mastocheck®, a proteomic-based blood assay, has been developed for early diagnosis of breast cancer. The purpose of this study is whether Mastocheck® is useful as a postoperative follow-up.

Methods

A total of 255 patients were analyzed. The patients were classified into longitudinal monitoring and recurrence/nonrecurrence cohorts. The longitudinal monitoring cohort consisted of 111 patients. In this cohort, blood analyses were performed three times (before surgery, 8 weeks after surgery, and between 6 months and one year after surgery), and a comparative analysis of the values of Mastocheck® and individual proteins at each time point was performed. The recurrence/nonrecurrence cohort consisted of 144 patients who had been followed up for more than 1 year, and the blood marker values at the time of local recurrence were compared to those of nonrecurrence patients.

Results

In the longitudinal monitoring cohort analysis, in 81 of 111 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer with Mastocheck® and the sensitivity was 73.0%. Of 111 patients in the longitudinal monitoring cohort, 108 had two blood analyses (before and 8 weeks after surgery), and three serial blood analyses were performed on 53 patients. The Mastocheck® value that were in the cancer range of 73.0% (in 81 of 111 patients) of patients before surgery, was within the normal range of 68.5% (in 74 of 108 patients) at 8 weeks after surgery and 88.7% (in 47 of 53 patients) from 6 months to 1 year after surgery. The value of Mastocheck® was significantly decreased after surgery compared to before surgery (p < 0.001). In the recurrence/nonrecurrence cohort analysis, the Mastocheck® values were in the cancer range in 38 out of 63 recurrence patients and within the normal range in 66 of 81 nonrecurrence patients (sensitivity of 60.3% and specificity of 80.2%).

Conclusions

Mastocheck® is expected to be used as a blood marker tool to aid in the early detection of recurrence during follow-up after breast cancer surgery.
Real-time probabilistic assessment of volcanic hazard for tephra dispersal and fallout at Mt. Etna: the 2021 lava fountain episodes
Authors: Pardini Federica , de’ Michieli Vitturi Mattia , Andronico Daniele , Esposti Ongaro Tomaso , Cristaldi Antonino , Neri Augusto
Published: December 2022

Starting from February 2021, Mt. Etna (Italy) experienced a period of intense explosive activity with 17 lava fountain episodes between 16 February and 1 April 2021. During the eruptive cycle, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia-Osservatorio Etneo (INGV-OE) issued 62 alert notifications known as VONAs (Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation) to inform the aeronautical authorities about the volcanic activity. We present an automated VONA-based workflow aimed at real-time assessment of the volcanic hazard due to tephra fallout at Mt. Etna. When a VONA reporting tephra emission is issued by INGV-OE, numerical simulations accounting for atmospheric and eruptive uncertainties are automatically initialized to produce probabilistic hazard maps of tephra fallout and atmospheric dispersal. We applied the workflow to three lava fountains that occurred during the 2021 eruptive cycle. To test the modelling results, we compared the simulated ground load with field data, and the extent and position of the simulated volcanic cloud with the observed or estimated volcanic cloud from the Toulouse Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. Overall, we found a good match between simulated and observed quantities (tephra loads and volcanic cloud position), especially when accurate information on eruptive conditions (column height and duration) are supplied by the VONAs. Finally, through a statistical analysis, we found that column height and wind field are fundamental in determining tephra ground accumulation. For this reason, these parameters should be constrained by observational data as accurately as possible when performing numerical simulations, especially in the line of developing operational workflows.
Li–Yau inequalities for the Helfrich functional and applications
Authors: Rupp Fabian , Scharrer Christian
Published: December 2022

We prove a general Li–Yau inequality for the Helfrich functional where the spontaneous curvature enters with a singular volume type integral. In the physically relevant cases, this term can be converted into an explicit energy threshold that guarantees embeddedness. We then apply our result to the spherical case of the variational Canham–Helfrich model. If the infimum energy is not too large, we show existence of smoothly embedded minimizers. Previously, existence of minimizers was only known in the classes of immersed bubble trees or curvature varifolds.
Density of Lipschitz functions in energy
Authors: Eriksson-Bique Sylvester
Published: December 2022

In this paper, we show that the density in energy of Lipschitz functions in a Sobolev space$$N^{1,p}(X)$$N1,p(X)holds for all$$p\in [1,\infty )$$p∈[1,∞)whenever the spaceXis complete and separable and the measure is Radon and positive and finite on balls. Emphatically,$$p=1$$p=1is allowed. We also give a few corollaries and pose questions for future work. The proof is direct and does not involve the usual flow techniques from prior work. It also yields a new approximation technique, which has not appeared in prior work. Notable with all of this work is that we do not use any form of Poincaré inequality or doubling assumption. The techniques are flexible and suggest a unification of a variety of approaches that have appeared in the literature on the topic.
Privacy in targeted advertising on mobile devices: a survey
Authors: Ullah Imdad , Boreli Roksana , Kanhere Salil S.
Published: December 2022

Targeted advertising has transformed the marketing landscape for a wide variety of businesses, by creating new opportunities for advertisers to reach prospective customers by delivering personalised ads, using an infrastructure of a number of intermediary entities and technologies. The advertising and analytics companies collect, aggregate, process, and trade a vast amount of users’ personal data, which has prompted serious privacy concerns among both individuals and organisations. This article presents a comprehensive survey of the privacy risks and proposed solutions for targeted advertising in a mobile environment. We outline details of the information flow between the advertising platform and ad/analytics networks, the profiling process, the measurement analysis of targeted advertising based on user’s interests and profiling context, and the ads delivery process, for both in-app and in-browser targeted ads; we also include an overview of data sharing and tracking technologies. We discuss challenges in preserving the mobile user’s privacy that include threats related to private information extraction and exchange among various advertising entities, privacy threats from third-party tracking, re-identification of private information and associated privacy risks. Subsequently, we present various techniques for preserving user privacy and a comprehensive analysis of the proposals based on such techniques; we compare the proposals based on the underlying architectures, privacy mechanisms, and deployment scenarios. Finally, we discuss the potential research challenges and open research issues.
Stand characteristics modulate secondary growth responses to drought and gross primary production in Pinus halepensis afforestation
Authors: Gazol Antonio , Rozas Vicente , Cuende Arribas Sandra , Alonso Ponce Rafael , Rodríguez-Puerta Francisco , Gómez Cristina , Olano José M.
Published: December 2022

Impacts of climate warming on forests vigour are forecasted to increase in magnitude. Yet it remains unclear how stand characteristics and competition modulate the relationship between tree growth and gross primary production with drought. Here, we studied how the spatial variation in stand density, basal area and height modulates tree growth (Basal Area Increment, BAI and stand growth), summer NDVI, as well as their responses to drought (Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index, SPEI) in 56 Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) planted forests located in Northeast Spain. Long-term BAI responses to SPEI were strongly determined by stand density, suggesting that competition modulates Aleppo pine growth responses to drought. Along this, summer NDVI also displayed strong associations with SPEI. NDVI was mostly related with stand growth, suggesting canopy densification drives NDVI pattern and trends. Short-term BAI and NDVI responses to severe droughts were mainly independent of stand characteristics. In the studied region, drought is a universal factor limiting Aleppo pine secondary growth and canopy greening. However, the results suggest that stand density modulates Aleppo pine growth responses to drought on the long-term, reducing the growth in densest stands. Denser stands with larger trees are the ones that present higher NDVI values, suggesting that canopy activity depends more on stand canopy coverage than on secondary growth rate and its response to drought. In these Mediterranean pines, canopy activity and secondary growth are temporally coupled but spatially decoupled.
Airborne particles, bacterial and fungal communities insights of two museum exhibition halls with diverse air quality characteristics
Authors: Saridaki Aggeliki , Glytsos Thodoros , Raisi Louiza , Katsivela Eleftheria , Tsiamis George , Kalogerakis Nicolas , Lazaridis Mihalis
Published: December 2022

Airborne particles, bacteria and fungi consist main determinants of indoor air quality. In this study, these characteristics were investigated in two exhibition halls of the Historical Museum of Crete, in comparison with the outdoor environment. In Zacharias Portalakis (ZP) hall, three air purifiers were operating during museum opening hours, as opposed to El Greco (EG) hall. A significant part of ultrafine (< 1 μm) particles was efficiently removed by the air purifiers in ZP hall. Airborne coarse particles PN2.5–10 were associated with human occupancy in both halls, indicating transportation from visitors and resuspension as possible sources. Average airborne bacterial concentration was also lower in ZP than in EG hall, assessed by both molecular and culture-dependent methods. The bacterial and fungal communities of both indoor halls were distinct from the outdoor counterpart. Micrococcus and Staphylococcus, in terms of bacteria, and Alternaria and Malassezia, in terms of fungi, were the most abundant genera indoors, most of them being human-related. Hierarchical clustering of indoor samples indicated that EG hall bacteria were similar to ZP hall bacteria collected on the same day, but varied between different sampling dates. This observation, together with the bacterial beta-diversity analysis, implied that both indoor halls probably shared common bacterial source(s), while the respective fungal pattern of the two indoor halls was found significantly separated. The outdoor air contribution in EG and ZP hall bacterial profile presented a comparable fluctuation pattern; this was not observed for fungi, probably indicating the complexity of potential sources for different fungal taxa.
A survey on multi-objective hyperparameter optimization algorithms for machine learning
Authors: Morales-Hernández Alejandro , Van Nieuwenhuyse Inneke , Rojas Gonzalez Sebastian
Published: December 2022

Hyperparameter optimization (HPO) is a necessary step to ensure the best possible performance of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. Several methods have been developed to perform HPO; most of these are focused on optimizing one performance measure (usually an error-based measure), and the literature on such single-objective HPO problems is vast. Recently, though, algorithms have appeared that focus on optimizing multiple conflicting objectives simultaneously. This article presents a systematic survey of the literature published between 2014 and 2020 on multi-objective HPO algorithms, distinguishing between metaheuristic-based algorithms, metamodel-based algorithms and approaches using a mixture of both. We also discuss the quality metrics used to compare multi-objective HPO procedures and present future research directions.