bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multicenter Evaluation of a Gradient Diffusion Method for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Helicobacter pylori
Authors: Shakir Salika M. , Otiso Joshua , Keller George , Heule Hillary Van , Osborn Lucas J. , Cole Nicolynn , Schuetz Audrey N. , Richter Sandra S. , Couturier Marc Roger
Published: March 2022

Routine antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) of
Helicobacter pylori
by agar dilution is difficult to perform and not practical in most clinical microbiology laboratories. The Etest gradient diffusion method can be a reliable alternative for
H. pylori
AST with the advantage of being a less laborious quantitative method. This work reveals that an optimized Etest method can provide acceptable performance for
H. pylori
AST and describes the challenges associated with this methodology.
Comparative 6-Month Wild-Type and Delta-Variant Antibody Levels and Surrogate Neutralization for Adults Vaccinated with BNT162b2 versus mRNA-1273
Authors: Grunau Brian , Golding Liam , Prusinkiewicz Martin A. , Asamoah-Boaheng Michael , Armour Richard , Marquez Ana Citlali , Jassem Agatha N. , Barakauskas Vilte , O’Brien Sheila F. , Drews Steven J. , Haig Scott , Lavoie Pascal M. , Goldfarb David M.
Published: March 2022

The BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines have demonstrated high efficacy for preventing short-term COVID-19. However, comparative long-term effectiveness is unclear, especially pertaining to the Delta variant.
Terrestrial ejecta suborbital transport and the rotating frame transform
Authors: Harris* Thomas H.S.
Published: March 2022

Suborbital analysis (SA) is presented here as the study of ballistics around a spherical planet. SA is the subset of orbital mechanics where the elliptic trajectory intersects Earth’s surface at launch point A and fall point B, known as the A-to-B suborbital problem, both launch and fall points being vector variables. Spreadsheet tools are offered for solution to this problem, based on the preferred simplified two-body model. Although simplistic in top-level description, this problem places essential reliance on reference frame transformations. Launch conditions in the local frame of point A and rotating with Earth require conversion to the nonrotating frame for correct trajectory definition, with the reverse process required for complete solution. This application of dynamics requires diligent accounting to avoid invalid results. Historic examples are provided that lack the requisite treatment, with the appropriate set of solution equations also included. Complementary spreadsheet tools SASolver and Helix solve the A-to-B problem for loft duration from minimum through 26 h. All provided spreadsheet workbook files contain the novel three-dimensional latitude and longitude plotter GlobePlot. A global ejecta pattern data set calculated using SASolver is presented. As visualized through GlobePlot, SASolver and Helix provide solutions to different forms of the A-to-B problem, in an effort to avoid errors similar to the historic misstep examples offered as a supplement. Operating guidelines and limitations of the tools are presented along with diagrams from each step. The goal is to enable mechanically valid interdisciplinary terrestrial ejecta research through novel perspective and quality graphical tools, so others may succeed where 1960s National Aeronautics and Space Administration researchers did not.
Supplemental Material: Terrestrial ejecta suborbital transport and the rotating frame transform
Authors: Harris Thomas
Published: March 2022

Supplement 1: SASolver suborbital ballistic spreadsheet for the A-to-B suborbital problem. Supplement 2: Helix spreadsheet for variable flight times of the same A-to-B suborbital problem. Supplement 3: Appendix S1 followed by the spreadsheet tools user guide. Supplement 4: Global ejecta fall patters (19 files) for incremental launch conditions of azimuth, elevation, and speed, and for incremental launch location latitude.
Scurvy: a rare cause of haemarthrosis
Authors: Marquardt Patrick , Raman Ganesh , Shen Yu-Min , Wang David H
Published: March 2022

A male in his 60s with a history of previously treated locally advanced head and neck cancer presented to the emergency department with atraumatic left knee pain and upper and lower extremity ecchymoses that had been present for 3 weeks. His initial laboratory results showed a normocytic anaemia, normal platelet count, slightly abnormal coagulation studies and normal inflammatory markers. Arthrocentesis of the left knee revealed haemarthrosis, and additional laboratory workup found an undetectable serum vitamin C (ascorbic acid) level consistent with scurvy. It was determined that scurvy had predisposed the patient to injury, leading to haemarthrosis. Following vitamin C supplementation, dietary and activity modifications, and acetaminophen as needed, the patient’s serum vitamin C level normalised and his left knee pain and swelling improved. Scurvy is a rare cause of haemarthrosis, but it should be recognised in at-risk patients since treatment is effective.
Using machine learning to identify quality-of-care predictors for emergency caesarean sections: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Andersen Betina Ristorp , Ammitzbøll Ida , Hinrich Jesper , Lehmann Sune , Ringsted Charlotte Vibeke , Løkkegaard Ellen Christine Leth , Tolsgaard Martin G
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Emergency caesarean sections (ECS) are time-sensitive procedures. Multiple factors may affect team efficiency but their relative importance remains unknown. This study aimed to identify the most important predictors contributing to quality of care during ECS in terms of the arrival-to-delivery interval.

Design

A retrospective cohort study. ECS were classified by urgency using emergency categories one/two and three (delivery within 30 and 60 min). In total, 92 predictor variables were included in the analysis and grouped as follows: ‘Maternal objective’, ‘Maternal psychological’, ‘Fetal factors’, ‘ECS Indication’, ‘Emergency category’, ‘Type of anaesthesia’, ‘Team member qualifications and experience’ and ‘Procedural’. Data was analysed with a linear regression model using elastic net regularisation and jackknife technique to improve generalisability. The relative influence of the predictors, percentage significant predictor weight (PSPW) was calculated for each predictor to visualise the main determinants of arrival-to-delivery interval.

Setting and participants

Patient records for mothers undergoing ECS between 2010 and 2017, Nordsjællands Hospital, Capital Region of Denmark.

Primary outcome measures

Arrival-to-delivery interval during ECS.

Results

Data was obtained from 2409 patient records for women undergoing ECS. The group of predictors representing ‘Team member qualifications and experience’ was the most important predictor of arrival-to-delivery interval in all ECS emergency categories (PSPW 25.9% for ECS category one/two; PSPW 35.5% for ECS category three). In ECS category one/two the ‘Indication for ECS’ was the second most important predictor group (PSPW 24.9%). In ECS category three, the second most important predictor group was ‘Maternal objective predictors’ (PSPW 24.2%).

Conclusion

This study provides empirical evidence for the importance of team member qualifications and experience relative to other predictors of arrival-to-delivery during ECS. Machine learning provides a promising method for expanding our current knowledge about the relative importance of different factors in predicting outcomes of complex obstetric events.
Occupational challenges of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study
Authors: Jeleff Maren , Traugott Marianna , Jirovsky-Platter Elena , Jordakieva Galateja , Kutalek Ruth
Published: March 2022

Objectives

To address structural determinants and healthcare workers’ (HCWs) physical, mental, emotional and professional challenges of working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

Exploratory qualitative study with semistructured interviews. Collected data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Setting

This qualitative study was undertaken with HCWs who mainly worked in intensive care units in six non-profit hospitals in Vienna, Austria. Data were collected from June 2020 to January 2021.

Participants

A total of 30 HCWs (13 medical doctors, 11 qualified nursing staff, 2 nurse assistants, 2 physiotherapists and 2 technical/cleaning staff) who were in direct and indirect contact with patients with COVID-19 were included.

Results

Three overall themes resulted as relevant: challenges due to lack of preparedness, structural conditions, and physical and mental health of HCWs. Lack of preparedness included delayed infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines, shortages of personal protective equipment combined with staff shortages (especially of nursing staff) and overworked personnel. Physical and mental strains resulted from HCWs being overworked and working permanently on alert to face medical uncertainties and the critical conditions of patients. HCWs lacked recognition on multiple levels and dealt with stigma and avoidance behaviour of colleagues.

Conclusion

To mitigate HCWs’ occupational health risks and staff turnover, we propose context-specific recommendations. The number of available essential workers in care of patients with COVID-19, especially nursing staff, should be carefully planned and increased to avert chronic work overload. Timely training and education in IPC for all HCWs is important. Providing supportive supervision is as essential as appropriate recognition by higher level management and the public.
Excess morbidity and mortality among survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: 25 years of follow-up from the United Kingdom Childhood Cancer Study (UKCCS) population-based matched cohort
Authors: Kane Eleanor , Kinsey Sally , Bonaventure Audrey , Johnston Tom , Simpson Jill , Howell Debra , Smith Alexandra , Roman Eve
Published: March 2022

Objectives

To examine morbidity and mortality among teenagers and young adults (TYAs) previously diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in childhood, and compare to the general TYA population.

Design

National population-based sex-matched and age-matched case-control study converted into a matched cohort, with follow-up linkage to administrative healthcare databases.

Setting

The study population comprised all children (0–14 years) registered for primary care with the National Health Service (NHS) in England 1992–1996.

Participants

1082 5-year survivors of ALL diagnosed<15 years of age (1992–1996) and 2018 unaffected individuals; followed up to 15 March 2020.

Main outcome measures

Associations with hospital activity, cancer and mortality were assessed using incidence rate ratios (IRR) and differences.

Results

Mortality in the 5-year ALL survivor cohort was 20 times higher than in the comparison cohort (rate ratio 21.3, 95% CI 11.2 to 45.6), and cancer incidence 10 times higher (IRR 9.9 95% CI 4.1 to 29.1). Hospital activity was increased for many clinical specialties, the strongest associations being for endocrinology; outpatient IRR 36.7, 95% CI 17.3 to 93.4 and inpatient 19.7, 95% CI 7.9 to 63.2 for males, and 11.0, 95% CI 6.2 to 21.1 and 6.2 95% CI 3.1 to 13.5, respectively, for females. Notable excesses were also evident for cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, respiratory medicine and general medicine. Males were also more likely to attend gastroenterology; ear, nose and throat; urology; and dermatology, while females were more likely to be seen in plastic surgery and less likely in midwifery.

Conclusions

Adding to excess risks of death and cancer, survivors of childhood ALL experience excess outpatient and inpatient activity across their TYA years, which is not related to routine follow-up monitoring. Involving most clinical specialties, associations are striking, showing no signs of diminishing over time. Recognising that all survivors are potentially at risk of late treatment-associated effects, our findings underscore the need to take prior ALL diagnosis into account when interpreting seemingly unrelated symptoms later in life.
Transitioning from paediatric to HIV adult care services for adolescents and young people living with HIV in the African region: a scoping review protocol
Authors: Ssemata Andrew Sentoogo , Nakasujja Noeline , Kinyanda Eugene
Published: March 2022

Introduction

The number of children living with HIV is increasing worldwide and is a major public health concern as they grow into adolescence and young adulthood with increasing access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) especially in the African region. There is a pressing need to transfer them from paediatric to adult care which has implications for their well-being. The objective of this scoping review is to systematically review published and unpublished literature to understand the extent and type of evidence in relation to the transition of adolescents to adult HIV clinics in the African region.

Methods and analysis

Following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses—Extension for Scoping Review) guidelines for conducting a scoping review, we will systematically search online bibliographic databases including PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and bibliographies of pertinent articles. This will be supplemented by searches in grey literature databases. Two reviewers will independently review all articles to determine if they meet eligibility criteria. Any conflicts will be resolved after discussion with a third reviewer to ensure accurate and reliable data collection. Both quantitative and qualitative results will be extracted from all included articles and synthesised in a narrative form in response to the review questions.

Ethics and dissemination

The scoping review does not require ethics approval as we will collect and review existing literature and materials. The results will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed publication, conference presentations and stakeholder meetings to support clinicians, health experts and policy makers develop guidelines and evidence-based transition protocols favourable for the populations in the African region to minimise challenges associated with the transition process.
Exploring the associations between polypharmacy and COVID-19-related hospitalisations and deaths: a population-based cohort study among older adults in Quebec, Canada
Authors: Sirois Caroline , Boiteau Véronique , Chiu Yohann , Gilca Rodica , Simard Marc
Published: March 2022

Objectives

To study the association between polypharmacy and the risk of hospitalisation and death in cases of COVID-19 in the population over the age of 65.

Design

Population-based cohort study.

Setting

Quebec Integrated Chronic Disease Surveillance System, composed of five medico-administrative databases, in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Participants

32 476 COVID-19 cases aged over 65 whose diagnosis was made between 23 February 2020 and 15 March 2021, and who were covered by the public drug insurance plan (thus excluding those living in long-term care). We counted the number of different medications they claimed between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020.

Outcome measures

Robust Poisson regression was used to calculate relative risk of hospitalisation and death associated with the use of multiple medications, adjusting for age, sex, chronic conditions, material and social deprivation and living environment.

Results

Of the 32 476 COVID-19 cases included, 10 350 (32%) were hospitalised and 4146 (13%) died. Compared with 0–4 medications, polypharmacy exposure was associated with increased hospitalisations, with relative risks ranging from 1.11 (95% CI 1.04 to 1.19) for those using 5–9 medications to 1.62 (95% CI 1.51 to 1.75) for those using 20+. Similarly, the risk of death increased with the number of medications, from 1.13 (95% CI 0.99 to 1.30) for those using (5–9 medications to 1.97 (95% CI 1.70 to 2.27) (20+). Increased risk was mainly observed in younger groups.

Conclusions

Polypharmacy was significantly associated with the risk of hospitalisations and deaths related to COVID-19 in this cohort of older adults. Polypharmacy may represent a marker of vulnerability, especially for younger groups of older adults.
Parenting a newborn baby during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative survey
Authors: Sledge Hailey , Lawler Marguerite , Hourihane Jonathan , Franklin Ruth , Boland Fiona , Dunne Sumi , McCallion Naomi , O’Mahony Liam , Byrne Susan
Published: March 2022

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic caused long periods of lockdown, social isolation and intense challenges for parents. This study examines parenting in an infant cohort born at the pandemic onset.

Methods

The CORAL study is a prospective longitudinal observational study looking at allergy, immune function and neurodevelopmental outcome in babies born between March and May 2020. Demographic information was collected, babies were reviewed at 6-monthly intervals, and serology for COVID-19 infection was recorded. When babies were 12 months old, parents were asked for 3–5 words to describe raising a baby during the pandemic. Frequency of word usage was compared between first time parents and parents with other children, and parents of babies with and without a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection.

Results

354 babies were recruited to CORAL study. Social circles were small. At 6 months the median number of people (including parents) who had kissed the baby was 3, and by 12 months one-quarter of babies had never met another child of similar age. 304 parents completed the word choice. Commonly reported words were lonely (44.4%), isolating (31.9%) and strong bond (15.8%). 12 of those 304 babies had COVID-19 in their first year of life and there was no significant difference in reported negative or positive word number compared with parents of babies without a COVID-19 infection, or by first time parents or those who already had children.

Conclusion

The lockdowns and social restrictions made raising an infant challenging for all parents in Ireland. It is important parents know this was a shared experience.
FOCUS4 biomarker laboratories: from the benefits to the practical and logistical issues faced during 6 years of centralised testing
Authors: Richman Susan D , Hemmings Gemma , Roberts Helen , Gallop Niall , Dodds Rachel , Wilkinson Lyndsay , Davis Jonathan , White Rhian , Yates Emma , Jasani Bharat , Brown Louise , Maughan Tim S , Butler Rachel , Quirke Philip , Adams Richard
Published: March 2022

Aims

FOCUS4 was a phase II/III umbrella trial, recruiting patients with advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer, between 2014 and 2020. Molecular profiling of patients’ formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumour blocks was undertaken at two centralised biomarker laboratories (Leeds and Cardiff), and the results fed directly to the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit, and used for subsequent randomisation. Here the laboratories discuss their experiences.

Methods

Following successful tumour content assessment, blocks were sectioned for DNA extraction and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Pyrosequencing was initially used to determine tumour mutation status (KRAS, NRAS, BRAF and PIK3CA), then from 2018 onwards, next-generation sequencing was employed to allow the inclusion of TP53. Protein expression of MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and pTEN was determined by IHC. An interlaboratory comparison programme was initiated, allowing sample exchanges, to ensure continued assay robustness.

Results

1291 tumour samples were successfully analysed. Assay failure rates were very low; 1.9%–3.3% for DNA sequencing and 0.9%–1.3% for IHC. Concordance rates of>98% were seen for the interlaboratory comparisons, where a result was obtained by both laboratories.

Conclusions

Practical and logistical problems were identified, including poor sample quality and difficulties with sample anonymisation. The often last-minute receipt of a sample for testing and a lack of integration with National Health Service mutation analysis services were challenging. The laboratories benefitted from both pretrial validations and interlaboratory comparisons, resulting in robust assay development and provided confidence during the implementation of new sequencing technologies. We conclude that our centralised approach to biomarker testing in FOCUS4 was effective and successful.
Genotypes and phenotypes heterogeneity in PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum and overlapping conditions: 150 novel patients and systematic review of 1007 patients with PIK3CA pathogenetic variants
Authors: Mussa Alessandro , Leoni Chiara , Iacoviello Matteo , Carli Diana , Ranieri Carlotta , Pantaleo Antonino , Buonuomo Paola Sabrina , Bagnulo Rosanna , Ferrero Giovanni Battista , Bartuli Andrea , Melis Daniela , Maitz Silvia , Loconte Daria Carmela , Turchiano Antonella , Piglionica Marilidia , De Luisi Annunziata , Susca Francesco Claudio , Bukvic Nenad , Forleo Cinzia , Selicorni Angelo , Zampino Giuseppe , Onesimo Roberta , Cappuccio Gerarda , Garavelli Livia , Novelli Chiara , Memo Luigi , Morando Carla , Della Monica Matteo , Accadia Maria , Capurso Martina , Piscopo Carmelo , Cereda Anna , Di Giacomo Marilena Carmela , Saletti Veronica , Spinelli Alessandro Mauro , Lastella Patrizia , Tenconi Romano , Dvorakova Veronika , Irvine Alan D , Resta Nicoletta
Published: March 2022

Background

Postzygotic activatingPIK3CAvariants cause several phenotypes within thePIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS). Variant strength, mosaicism level, specific tissue involvement and overlapping disorders are responsible for disease heterogeneity. We explored these factors in 150 novel patients and in an expanded cohort of 1007PIK3CA-mutated patients, analysing our new data with previous literature to give a comprehensive picture.

Methods

We performed ultradeep targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) on DNA from skin biopsy, buccal swab or blood using a panel including phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/AKT/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway genes andGNAQ,GNA11,RASA1andTEK. Additionally, 914 patients previously reported were systematically reviewed.

Results

93 of our 150 patients hadPIK3CApathogenetic variants. The merged PROS cohort showed thatPIK3CAvariants span thorough all gene domains, some were exclusively associated with specific PROS phenotypes: weakly activating variants were associated with central nervous system (CNS) involvement, and strongly activating variants with extra-CNS phenotypes. Among the 57 with a wild-typePIK3CAallele, 11 patients with overgrowth and vascular malformations overlapping PROS had variants inGNAQ,GNA11,RASA1orTEK.

Conclusion

We confirm that (1) molecular diagnostic yield increases when multiple tissues are tested and by enriching NGS panels with genes of overlapping ‘vascular’ phenotypes; (2) strongly activatingPIK3CAvariants are found in affected tissue, rarely in blood: conversely, weakly activating mutations more common in blood; (3) weakly activating variants correlate with CNS involvement, strong variants are more common in cases without; (4) patients with vascular malformations overlapping those of PROS can harbour variants in genes other thanPIK3CA.
Novel approaches to diagnosis and management of hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis
Authors: Carroll Antonia , Dyck P James , de Carvalho Mamede , Kennerson Marina , Reilly Mary M , Kiernan Matthew C , Vucic Steve
Published: March 2022

Hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv) is a severe, adult-onset autosomal dominant inherited systemic disease predominantly affecting the peripheral and autonomic nervous system, heart, kidney and the eyes. ATTRv is caused by mutations of the transthyretin (TTR) gene, leading to extracellular deposition of amyloid fibrils in multiple organs including the peripheral nervous system. Typically, the neuropathy associated with ATTRv is characterised by a rapidly progressive and disabling sensorimotor axonal neuropathy with early small-fibre involvement. Carpal tunnel syndrome and cardiac dysfunction frequently coexist as part of the ATTRv phenotype. Although awareness of ATTRv polyneuropathy among neurologists has increased, the rate of misdiagnosis remains high, resulting in significant diagnostic delays and accrued disability. A timely and definitive diagnosis is important, given the emergence of effective therapies which have revolutionised the management of transthyretin amyloidosis. TTR protein stabilisers diflunisal and tafamidis can delay the progression of the disease, if treated early in the course. Additionally, TTR gene silencing medications, patisiran and inotersen, have resulted in up to 80% reduction in TTR production, leading to stabilisation or slight improvement of peripheral neuropathy and cardiac dysfunction, as well as improvement in quality of life and functional outcomes. The considerable therapeutic advances have raised additional challenges, including optimisation of diagnostic techniques and management approaches in ATTRv neuropathy. This review highlights the key advances in the diagnostic techniques, current and emerging management strategies, and biomarker development for disease progression in ATTRv.
Nearshore sediment transport as influenced by changing sea ice, north shore of Prince Edward Island, Canada
Authors: Manson Gavin K.
Published: March 2022

This study considers the influence of changing sea ice on nearshore sediment transport in the central north shore of Prince Edward Island, Southern Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is widely accepted that changing climate is causing sea ice to decrease in the region. Sea ice attenuates wave energy thereby reducing sediment transport. The Delft3D hydrodynamic model is used to simulate waves, currents, and sediment transport in seven sea ice concentration scenarios that can be differentiated into four classes: open water (<10%), low ice (10% to 35%), moderate ice (36% to 60%), and high ice (>60%). If ice concentration decreases from high to moderate, sediment transport is expected to increase 23%. Similarly, if ice concentration decreases from moderate to low, sediment transport is expected to increase a further 24%. If ice concentration decreases from low to open water conditions, sediment transport is expected to abruptly increase a further 85%. The increase in sediment transport as sea ice decreases from high concentration to open water conditions is 180%. Linear and power-law fits of sediment transport and sea ice concentration intersect at an ice concentration of 30%, indicating this value may be a useful threshold in planning for increased coastal erosion and developing appropriate adaptation strategies, in particular, adapting to increased sediment transport near tidal inlets and navigation channels.
Predicting the kinematic response of a helmeted headform during oblique impacts
Authors: Abram Daniel E. , Wikarna Adrian , Golnaraghi Farid , Wang G. Gary
Published: March 2022

A total of 160 oblique impact tests were performed to study the relationship between the kinematic response of a helmeted headform and the impact severity caused by a change in speed (Group 1) and anvil angle (Group 2). In this study, the kinematic response of a helmeted headform was evaluated by measuring its linear acceleration, rotational acceleration, and rotational velocity. In Group 1, a football helmet was tested at 45° anvil angle at four different impact speeds ranging from 4.5  to 7.4 m/s on five impact locations. The results showed that, for all cases, the relationship between the impact speed and helmeted headform kinematic response was linear, with an average R2 value of 0.98. At each impact location, a prediction line was generated using the data points for the lowest and highest speeds. For the speeds of 5.5  and 6.5 m/s, the prediction of the helmeted headform kinematic response was validated with an average error of 4.7%. In Group 2, the helmeted headform was tested at 5.5 m/s impact speed at six different anvil angles between 15° and 55°, and the response was fitted with a second-degree polynomial (curve) with an average R2 value of 0.96. The kinematic response of the higher and lower impact speeds was obtained experimentally for one angle, and the fitted curve for 5.5 m/s was offset to pass through the obtained kinematic response. The predicted helmeted headform kinematic response was experimentally validated, and the average error was found to be 8.3%. The results showed that it is possible to predict the kinematic response of a helmeted headform by interpolating or extrapolating the data without having to perform an additional impact test. An analysis of other research works also showed similar predictable behaviour for headform equipped with other helmet models. Therefore, the number of tests during the process of evaluating helmet performance can be reduced.
Correlation integral vs. second order factorial moments and an efficient computational technique
Authors: Diakonos F. K. , Kapoyannis A. S.
Published: March 2022

We develop a mapping between the factorial moments of the second order $$F_2$$

F
2

and the correlation integral C. We formulate a fast computation technique for the evaluation of both, which is more efficient, compared to conventional methods, for data containing number of pairs per event which is lower than the estimation points. We find the effectiveness of the technique to be more prominent as the dimension of the embedding space increases. We are able to analyse large amount of data in short computation time and access very low scales in C or extremely high partitions in $$F_2$$

F
2

. The technique is an indispensable tool for detecting a very weak signal hidden in strong noise.
Electric current and heat production by a neutral carrier: an effect of the axion
Authors: Brevik Iver H. , Chaichian Moshe M.
Published: March 2022

A general axion-electrodynamic formalism is presented on the phenomenological level when the environment is dielectric (permittivity and permeability assumed to be constants). Thereafter, a strong and uniform magnetic field is considered in the z direction, the field region having the form of a long material cylinder (which corresponds to the haloscope setup). If the axion amplitude depends on time only, the axions give rise to an oscillating electric current in the z direction. We estimate the magnitudes of the azimuthal magnetic fields and the accompanying Joule heating in the cylinder, taking the cylinder to have ordinary dissipative properties. We evaluate and calculate the electric current and the heat production separately, without using the effective approximation, both when there is a strong magnetic field and when there is a strong electric one, showing that with the magnetic field there is a heat production, while with the electric field there is not. The heat generation that we consider, is a nontrivial effect as it is generated by the electrically neutral axions, and has obvious consequences for axion thermodynamics. The heat production can moreover have an additional advantage, since the effect is accumulative and so grows with time. The boundary conditions (in a classical sense) are explained and the use of them in a quantum mechanical context is discussed. This point is nontrivial, accentuated in particular in connection with the Casimir effect. For comparison purposes, we present finally some results for heat dissipation taken from the theory of viscous cosmology.
Gauge embedding procedure: classical and quantum equivalence between dual models
Authors: Marques B. Alves , Felippe B. Z. , Scarpelli A. P. Baeta , Brito L. C. T. , Petrov A. Yu.
Published: March 2022

In this paper the gauge embedding procedure of dualization is reassessed through a deeper analysis of the mutual equivalence of vector field models of more generic forms, explicitly, a general modified massive gauge-breaking extension of electrodynamics and its dual gauge-invariant model we derive in the paper. General relations between the vector field propagators and interaction terms of these models are obtained. Further, these models are shown to be equivalent at tree-level and one-loop physical calculations. Finally, we discuss extension of this equivalence to all loop orders.
VC-YOLO: Towards Real-Time Object Detection in Aerial Images
Authors: Jiang Bo , Qu Ruokun , Li Yandong , Li Chenglong
Published: March 2022

Object detection for aerial images is a crucial and challenging task in the field of computer vision. Previous CNN-based methods face problems related to extreme variation of object scales and the complex background in aerial images, which vary significantly from natural scenes. On the other hand, a great many of existing detectors highly rely on computational performance and cannot handle real-time tasks. To address this problems, we propose a lightweight real-time object detection network which is named VC-YOLO. In the backbone part, we introduce a receptive field extended backbone with limited number of convolution layers to learn the features and context information of various objects. In the detection part, channel attention module and spatial attention module are used to generate discriminative feature representation. To make full use of semantic feature maps in backbone network, we improve the feature pyramid network (FPN) with more lateral connections to reuse the features in each convolution stage. We evaluate VC-YOLO on NWPU VHR-10 and VisDrone benchmark datasets. Experimental results show that VC-YOLO achieves superior detection accuracy with high efficiency compared with the existing methods.
Introducing Chinese Foreign Policy: A Guide to the Literature
Authors: Verly Federico
Published: March 2022

The analysis of Chinese foreign policy presents itself as a challenging but necessary field. The complexities of its political system and the lack of official information about its processes are usually stated as reasons for apprehension about the exploration of the topic and any conclusions drawn. New narratives of China’s peaceful or threatening rise, the possibilities of a “Second Cold” War and Thucydides’ Trap further complicate its exploration by the inclusion of political considerations. Notwithstanding these considerations, since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China scholars have examined a wide range of alternatives to the understanding of Chinese foreign policy rationale. After a brief overview of historical perspectives, this paper categorizes and presents different entry points in the English literature to study Chinese foreign policy. Its objective, hence, is to introduce different perspectives to disentangle the topic, serving as an initial reading.
Predicting Citywide Crowd Dynamics at Big Events: A Deep Learning System
Authors: Jiang Renhe , Cai Zekun , Wang Zhaonan , Yang Chuang , Fan Zipei , Chen Quanjun , Song Xuan , Shibasaki Ryosuke
Published: March 2022

Event crowd management has been a significant research topic with high social impact. When some big events happen such as an earthquake, typhoon, and national festival, crowd management becomes the first priority for governments (e.g., police) and public service operators (e.g., subway/bus operator) to protect people’s safety or maintain the operation of public infrastructures. However, under such event situations, human behavior will become very different from daily routines, which makes prediction of crowd dynamics at big events become highly challenging, especially at a citywide level. Therefore in this study, we aim to extract the “deep” trend only from the current momentary observations and generate an accurate prediction for the trend in the short future, which is considered to be an effective way to deal with the event situations. Motivated by these, we build an online system called DeepUrbanEvent, which can iteratively take citywide crowd dynamics from the current one hour as input and report the prediction results for the next one hour as output. A novel deep learning architecture built with recurrent neural networks is designed to effectively model these highly complex sequential data in an analogous manner to video prediction tasks. Experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed methodology to the existing approaches. Lastly, we apply our prototype system to multiple big real-world events and show that it is highly deployable as an online crowd management system.
Bringing Semantics into Historical Archives with Computer-aided Rich Metadata Generation
Authors: Colla Davide , Goy Annamaria , Leontino Marco , Magro Diego , Picardi Claudia
Published: March 2022

This article relies on the idea that a semantically rich metadata layer is required in order to provide an effective, intelligent, and engaging access to historical archives. However, building such a semantic layer represents a well-known bottleneck that can be overcome only by a hybrid strategy, integrating user-generated content and automatic techniques. The PRiSMHA project provides a contribution in this direction with the design and development of the prototype of an ontology-driven platform supporting users in semantic metadata generation. In particular, the main contribution of this article is to show how automatic information extraction techniques (namely, Named Entity and Temporal Expression Recognition) and information retrieved from external datasets in the LOD cloud can support users in the identification and characterization of new entities to annotate documents with.
L2S: A Framework for Synthesizing the Most Probable Program under a Specification
Authors: Xiong Yingfei , Wang Bo
Published: March 2022

In many scenarios, we need to find the most likely program that meets a specification under a local context, where the local context can be an incomplete program, a partial specification, natural language description, and so on. We call such a problem
program estimation
. In this article, we propose a framework,
LingLong Synthesis Framework
(L2S)
, to address this problem. Compared with existing work, our work is novel in the following aspects. (1) We propose a theory of expansion rules to describe how to decompose a program into choices. (2) We propose an approach based on abstract interpretation to efficiently prune off the program sub-space that does not satisfy the specification. (3) We prove that the probability of a program is the product of the probabilities of choosing expansion rules, regardless of the choosing order. (4) We reduce the program estimation problem to a pathfinding problem, enabling existing pathfinding algorithms to solve this problem.

L2S has been applied to program generation and program repair. In this article, we report our instantiation of this framework for synthesizing conditional expressions (L2S-Cond) and repairing conditional statements (L2S-Hanabi). The experiments on L2S-Cond show that each option enabled by L2S, including the expansion rules, the pruning technique, and the use of different pathfinding algorithms, plays a major role in the performance of the approach. The default configuration of L2S-Cond correctly predicts nearly 60% of the conditional expressions in the top 5 candidates. Moreover, we evaluate L2S-Hanabi on 272 bugs from two real-world Java defects benchmarks, namely Defects4J and Bugs.jar. L2S-Hanabi correctly fixes 32 bugs with a high precision of 84%. In terms of repairing conditional statement bugs, L2S-Hanabi significantly outperforms all existing approaches in both precision and recall.
On the Faults Found in REST APIs by Automated Test Generation
Authors: Marculescu Bogdan , Zhang Man , Arcuri Andrea
Published: March 2022

RESTful web services are often used for building a wide variety of enterprise applications. The diversity and increased number of applications using RESTful APIs means that increasing amounts of resources are spent developing and testing these systems. Automation in test data generation provides a useful way of generating test data in a fast and efficient manner. However, automated test generation often results in large test suites that are hard to evaluate and investigate manually.

This article proposes a taxonomy of the faults we have found using search-based software testing techniques applied on RESTful APIs. The taxonomy is a first step in understanding, analyzing, and ultimately fixing software faults in web services and enterprise applications. We propose to apply a density-based clustering algorithm to the test cases evolved during the search to allow a better separation between different groups of faults. This is needed to enable engineers to highlight and focus on the most serious faults.

Tests were automatically generated for a set of eight case studies, seven open-source and one industrial. The test cases generated during the search are clustered based on the reported last executed line and based on the error messages returned, when such error messages were available. The tests were manually evaluated to determine their root causes and to obtain additional information.

The article presents a taxonomy of the faults found based on the manual analysis of 415 faults in the eight case studies and proposes a method to support the classification using clustering of the resulting test cases.
Response of Little Hagia Sophia (Church of SS Sergius and Bacchus) to adjacent Train-induced Vibrations
Authors: Erkal A.
Published: March 2022

Cultural heritage structures have recently faced the adverse impacts of traffic-induced vibrations more frequently than ever due to rapid and excessive urbanization. Closeness of Little Hagia Sophia Mosque to the intense traffic of an adjacent railway line in İstanbul made it vulnerable to the long-term and repetitive action of ground vibrations. To understand the structural response of this Byzantine edifice, an extensive vibration measurement program was conducted on and around the structure. After the construction material properties were determined, a numerical model of the structure was created and modal, self-weight and time history analyses were applied. It was observed that the maximum stresses reach approximately 45% of the tensile strength of the construction materials at certain locations. Cyclic loading of traffic-induced vibrations can be a significant contributing factor in the gradual material deterioration along with other environmental factors. Furthermore, measured peak particle velocity at the gallery level of the structure critically exceeded the limit of 2.5mm/s for historic or sensitive structures.
MPEG column: 126th MPEG meeting in Geneva, Switzerland
Authors: Timmerer Christian
Published: March 2022

he original blog post can be found at the Bitmovin Techblog and has been modified/updated here to focus on and highlight research aspects.
Quantum Computing in a Statistical Context
Authors: Wang Yazhen , Liu Hongzhi
Published: March 2022

Quantum computing is widely considered a frontier of interdisciplinary research and involves fields ranging from computer science to physics and from chemistry to engineering. On the one hand, the stochastic essence of quantum physics results in the random nature of quantum computing; thus, there is an important role for statistics to play in the development of quantum computing. On the other hand, quantum computing has great potential to revolutionize computational statistics and data science. This article provides an overview of the statistical aspect of quantum computing. We review the basic concepts of quantum computing and introduce quantum research topics such as quantum annealing and quantum machine learning, which require statistics to be understood.
Influence of Teachers’ Competencies on ICT Implementation in Kenyan Universities
Authors: Bariu Timothy , Chun Xiong , Boudouaia Azzeddine
Published: March 2022

Teachers’ ICT implementation is of growing importance in classrooms; currently, technology has become an essential ingredient of teachers’ practice. The study explores the implication of teachers’ competencies on ICT implementation in universities. The empirical literature has established a considerable research gap despite teachers’ competencies being critical in ICT implementation. The study presents a university survey in Kenya on 475 teachers exploring the implication of teachers’ ICT competencies on ICT implementation and teachers’ skills and knowledge. The descriptive statistics results indicated a mean of 4.279 and a Spearman correlation of 0.618 between teachers’ competencies and use of software tools, implying that teachers’ level of competencies increases as they use and employ software tools when teaching. The chi-square test statistic indicated results of 288.498 and a significance of

P
<
0.005

. The

P

value is less than the chosen significance level α = 0.05, which checks for independence on the teachers’ competencies on ICT implementation. Therefore, implying that the null hypothesis was rejected at the 5% level of testing. The conclusion was that there is significant evidence that teachers’ competencies significantly influence ICT implementation. Therefore, this study forms a foundation informing all universities stakeholders on their responsibility to support teachers in implementing technology in their instruction.
MicroRNA‐129‐1‐3p Represses the Progression of Triple‐Negative Breast Cancer by Targeting the GRIN2D Gene
Authors: Li Qi , Gu Zehui , Tan Qi , Ren Liqun , Chen Suxian
Published: March 2022

The aberrant expression of miRNA is strongly linked to numerous stages of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) progression, and it plays an indispensable role in the process from tumor onset and progress to invasion and metastasis. In this study, we first transfected miR‐129‐1‐3p mimics and inhibitor into MDA‐MB‐231 TNBC cells, respectively. Then, we assessed the pathological role of miR‐129‐1‐3p in MDA‐MB‐231 cells. The results showed that miR‐129‐1‐3p were successfully inserted into MDA‐MB‐231 cells. Besides, miR‐129‐1‐3p could distinctively repress the growth, migration along with infiltration of MDA‐MB‐231 cells, which might be related to the inhibition of GRIN2D expression. Our results indicate that miR‐129‐1‐3p was illustrated to serve as a tumor repressor via targeting GRIN2D in TNBC cells and highlight that the restoration of miR‐129‐1‐3p might be a new treatment target for TNBC.
Diabetes and Colorectal Cancer Risk: Clinical and Therapeutic Implications
Authors: Yu Guan-Hua , Li Shuo-Feng , Wei Ran , Jiang Zheng
Published: March 2022

Several epidemiological studies have identified diabetes as a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC). The potential pathophysiological mechanisms of this association include hyperinsulinemia, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis, hyperglycemia, inflammation induced by adipose tissue dysfunction, gastrointestinal motility disorder, and impaired immunological surveillance. Several studies have shown that underlying diabetes adversely affects the prognosis of patients with CRC. This review explores the novel anticancer agents targeting IGF-1R and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), both of which play a vital role in diabetes-induced colorectal tumorigenesis. Inhibitors of IGF-1R and RAGE are expected to become promising therapeutic choices, particularly for CRC patients with diabetes. Furthermore, hypoglycemic therapy is associated with the incidence of CRC. Selection of appropriate hypoglycemic agents, which can reduce the risk of CRC in diabetic patients, is an unmet issue. Therefore, this review mainly summarizes the current studies concerning the connections among diabetes, hypoglycemic therapy, and CRC as well as provides a synthesis of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Our synthesis provides a theoretical basis for rational use of hypoglycemic therapies and early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes-related CRC.