bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The ultrasound risk stratification systems for thyroid nodule have been evaluated against papillary carcinoma. A meta-analysis
Authors: Trimboli Pierpaolo , Castellana Marco , Piccardo Arnoldo , Romanelli Francesco , Grani Giorgio , Giovanella Luca , Durante Cosimo
Published: September 2020

Thyroid imaging reporting and data systems (TIRADS) are used to stratify the malignancy risk of thyroid nodule by ultrasound (US) examination. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the pooled cancer prevalence and the relative prevalence of papillary, medullary, follicular thyroid cancer (PTC, MTC, and FTC) and other malignancies among nodules included in studies evaluating their performance. Four databases were searched until February 2020. Original articles with at least 1000 nodules, evaluating the performance of at least one TIRADS among AACE/ACE/AME, ACR-TIRADS, ATA, EU-TIRADS, or K-TIRADS, and reporting data on the histological diagnosis of malignant lesions were included. The number of malignant nodules, PTC, FTC, MTC and other malignancies in each study was extracted. For statistical pooling of data, a random-effects model was used. Nine studies were included, evaluating 19,494 thyroid nodules. The overall prevalence of malignancy was 34% (95%CI 21 to 49). Among 6162 histologically proven malignancies, the prevalence of PTC, FTC, MTC and other malignancies was 95%, 2%, 1%, and 1%, respectively. A high heterogeneity was found for all the outcomes. A limited number of studies generally conducted using a retrospective design was found, with possible selection bias. Acknowledging this limitation, TIRADSs should be regarded as accurate tools to diagnose PTC only. Proposed patterns and/or cut-offs should be revised and other strategies considered to improve their performance in the assessment of FTC, MTC and other malignancies.
Droughts Prediction: a Methodology Based on Climate Seasonal Forecasts
Authors: Arnone E. , Cucchi Marco , Gesso Sara Dal , Petitta Marcello , Calmanti Sandro
Published: September 2020

This study proposes a methodology for the drought assessment based on the seasonal forecasts. These are climate predictions of atmospheric variables, such as precipitation, temperature, wind speed, for upcoming season, up to 7 months. In regions particularly vulnerable to droughts and to changes in climate, such as the Mediterranean areas, predictions of precipitation with months in advance are crucial for understanding the possible shifts, for example, in water resource availability. Over Europe, practical applications of seasonal forecasts are still rare, because of the uncertainties of their skills; however, the predictability varies depending on the season and area of application. In this study, we describe a methodology which integrates, through a statistical approach, seasonal forecast and reanalysis data to assess the climate state, i.e. drought or not, of a region for predefined periods in the next future, at monthly scale. Additionally, the skill of the forecasts and the reliability of the released climate state assessment are estimated in terms of the false rate, i.e. the probability of missing alerts or false alarms. The methodology has been first built for a case study in Zakynthos (Greece) and then validated for a case study in Sicily (Italy). The selected locations represent two areas of the Mediterranean region often suffering from drought and water shortage situations. Results showed promising findings, with satisfying matching between predictions and observations, and false rates ranging from 1 to 50%, depending on the selected forecast period.
A life cycle environmental sustainability analysis of microbial protein production via power-to-food approaches
Authors: Sillman J. , Uusitalo V. , Ruuskanen V. , Ojala L. , Kahiluoto H. , Soukka R. , Ahola J.
Published: September 2020

Purpose

Renewable energy produced from wind turbines and solar photovoltaics (PV) has rapidly increased its share in global energy markets. At the same time, interest in producing hydrocarbons via power-to-X (PtX) approaches using renewables has grown as the technology has matured. However, there exist knowledge gaps related to environmental impacts of some PtX approaches. Power-to-food (PtF) application is one of those approaches. To evaluate the environmental impacts of different PtF approaches, life cycle assessment was performed.

Methods

The theoretical environmental potential of a novel concept of PtX technologies was investigated. Because PtX approaches have usually multiple technological solutions, such as the studied PtF application can have, several technological setups were chosen for the study. PtF application is seen as potentially being able to alleviate concerns about the sustainability of the global food sector, for example, as regards the land and water use impacts of food production. This study investigated four different environmental impact categories for microbial protein (MP) production via different technological setups of PtF from a cradle-to-gate perspective. The investigated impact categories include global warming potential, blue-water use, land use, and eutrophication. The research was carried out using a life cycle impact assessment method.

Results and discussion

The results for PtF processes were compared with the impacts of other MP production technologies and soybean production. The results indicate that significantly lower environmental impact can be achieved with PtF compared with the other protein production processes studied. The best-case PtF technology setups cause considerably lower land occupation, eutrophication, and blue-water consumption impacts compared with soybean production. However, the energy source used and the electricity-to-biomass efficiency of the bioreactor greatly affect the sustainability of the PtF approach. Some energy sources and technological choices result in higher environmental impacts than other MP and soybean production. When designing PtF production facilities, special attention should thus be given to the technology used.

Conclusions

With some qualifications, PtF can be considered an option for improving global food security at minimal environmental impact. If the MP via the introduced application substitutes the most harmful practices of production other protein sources, the saved resources could be used to, for example, mitigation purposes or to improve food security elsewhere. However, there still exist challenges, such as food safety–related issues, to be solved before PtF application can be used for commercial use.
Low-complexity CNN with 1D and 2D filters for super-resolution
Authors: Park Jangsoo , Lee Jongseok , Sim Donggyu
Published: September 2020

This paper proposes a low-complexity convolutional neural network (CNN) for super-resolution (SR). The proposed deep-learning model for SR has two layers to deal with horizontal, vertical, and diagonal visual information. The front-end layer extracts the horizontal and vertical high-frequency signals using a CNN with one-dimensional (1D) filters. In the high-resolution image-restoration layer, the high-frequency signals in the diagonal directions are processed by additional two-dimensional (2D) filters. The proposed model consists of 1D and 2D filters, and as a result, we can reduce the computational complexity of the existing SR algorithms, with negligible visual loss. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm is 71.37%, 61.82%, and 50.78% lower in CPU, TPU, and GPU than the very-deep SR (VDSR) algorithm, with a peak signal-to-noise ratio loss of 0.49 dB.
Dynamics of Rising Bubbles in a Quiescent Slag Bath with Varying Thermo-Physical Properties
Authors: Obiso D. , Schwitalla D. H. , Korobeinikov I. , Meyer B. , Reuter M. , Richter A.
Published: September 2020

The motion of bubbles in a liquid slag bath with temperature gradients is investigated by means of 3D fluid dynamic computations. The goal of the work is to describe the dynamics of the rising bubbles, taking into account the temperature dependency of the thermo-physical properties of the slag. Attention is paid to the modeling approach used for the slag properties and how this affects the simulation of the bubble motion. In particular, the usage of constant values is compared to the usage of temperature-dependent data, taken from models available in the literature and from in-house experimental measurements. Although the present study focuses on temperature gradients, the consideration of varying thermo-physical properties is greatly relevant for the fluid dynamic modeling of reactive slag baths, since the same effect is given by heterogeneous species and solid fraction distributions. CFD is applied to evaluate the bubble dynamics in terms of the rising path, terminal bubble shape, and velocity, the gas–liquid interface area, and the appearance of break-up phenomena. It is shown that the presence of a thermal gradient strongly acts on the gas–liquid interaction when the temperature-dependent properties are considered. Furthermore, the use of literature models and experimental data produces different results, demonstrating the importance of correctly modeling the slag’s thermo-physical properties.
Model for Inclusion Precipitation Kinetics During Solidification of Steel Applications in MnS and TiN Inclusions
Authors: Shu Qifeng , Visuri Ville-Valtteri , Alatarvas Tuomas , Fabritius Timo
Published: September 2020

A simulation model for inclusion precipitation kinetics during solidification of steel was proposed in this work. With the aim to calculate the inclusion size distribution during solidification of steel, the microsegregation calculation combined with the Kampmann–Wagner numerical (KWN) model for nucleation and growth of inclusion was incorporated into the present simulation model for calculating the evolution of inclusion size distribution during solidification of steel. The inclusion agglomeration due to Brownian collisions was also taken into account. The present simulation model was first applied in simulating precipitation of MnS during steel solidification and validated by the experimental data available in the literature. The effects of cooling rates and sulfur concentrations on the precipitation of MnS were investigated by the model calculations. Then, the present simulation model was applied in simulating the precipitation of TiN inclusions during steel solidification. The calculated mean size was found to be in good agreement with data available in the literature. Finally, the model was employed for studying the effects of interfacial tension between TiN and steel due to sulfur concentration change and cooling rates on the inclusion precipitation kinetics. It was found that interfacial tension between TiN and steel has a crucial influence on the precipitation of TiN. With an increase of the cooling rate, the size distribution of TiN transforms from the lognormal distribution to the bimodal distribution.
Proceedings from the Neurotherapeutics Symposium on Neurological Emergencies: Shaping the Future of Neurocritical Care
Authors: Simpkins Alexis N. , Busl Katharina M. , Amorim Edilberto , Barnett-Tapia Carolina , Cervenka Mackenzie C. , Dhakar Monica B. , Etherton Mark R. , Fung Celia , Griggs Robert , Holloway Robert G. , Kelly Adam G. , Khan Imad R. , Lizarraga Karlo J. , Madagan Hannah G. , Onweni Chidinma L. , Mestre Humberto , Rabinstein Alejandro A. , Rubinos Clio , Dionisio-Santos Dawling A. , Youn Teddy S. , Merck Lisa H. , Maciel Carolina B. ,   the Neurotherapeutics Symposium 2019, Amorim Edilberto , Barnett-Tapia Carolina , Brown Jeremy , Busl Katharina M. , Cervenka Mackenzie , Claassen Jan , Dhakar Monica , Dylla Layne , Elie Marie-Carmelle , Etherton Mark , Fiscella Kevin , Foreman Brandon , Forgacs Peter , Griggs Robert C. , Halterman Marc , Harriott Andrea , Hirsch Lawrence J. , Hocker Sara , Holloway Robert , Jules Rebecca , Kelly Adam G. , Lackland Daniel , Lerario Mackenzie P. , Lizarraga Karlo J. , Maciel Carolina B. , Merck Lisa H. , Mitchell Gordon , Ngwenya Laura B. , Nogueira Raul G. , Pierre Clifford , Provencio Javier , Rabenstein Alejandro A. , Roberts Debra , Rubinos Clio , Scharf Eugene , Sheth Kevin N. , Simpkins Alexis N. , Thurman Cleopatra , Ullrich Lauren , Zammit Christopher
Published: September 2020

Effective treatment options for patients with life-threatening neurological disorders are limited. To address this unmet need, high-impact translational research is essential for the advancement and development of novel therapeutic approaches in neurocritical care. “The Neurotherapeutics Symposium 2019—Neurological Emergencies” conference, held in Rochester, New York, in June 2019, was designed to accelerate translation of neurocritical care research via transdisciplinary team science and diversity enhancement. Diversity excellence in the neuroscience workforce brings innovative and creative perspectives, and team science broadens the scientific approach by incorporating views from multiple stakeholders. Both are essential components needed to address complex scientific questions. Under represented minorities and women were involved in the organization of the conference and accounted for 30–40% of speakers, moderators, and attendees. Participants represented a diverse group of stakeholders committed to translational research. Topics discussed at the conference included acute ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, neurogenic respiratory dysregulation, seizures and status epilepticus, brain telemetry, neuroprognostication, disorders of consciousness, and multimodal monitoring. In these proceedings, we summarize the topics covered at the conference and suggest the groundwork for future high-yield research in neurologic emergencies.
Quaternary Structure Changes for PrPSc Predate PrPC Downregulation and Neuronal Death During Progression of Experimental Scrapie Disease
Authors: Eskandari-Sedighi Ghazaleh , Cortez Leonardo M. , Yang Jing , Daude Nathalie , Shmeit Klinton , Sim Valerie , Westaway David
Published: September 2020

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases in mammals with the unique characteristics of misfolding and aggregation of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) to the scrapie prion (PrPSc). Although neuroinflammation and neuronal loss feature within the disease process, the details of PrPC/PrPSc molecular transition to generate different aggregated species, and the correlation between each species and sequence of cellular events in disease pathogenesis are not fully understood. In this study, using mice inoculated with the RML isolate of mouse-adapted scrapie as a model, we applied asymmetric flow field-flow fractionation to monitor PrPC and PrPSc particle sizes and we also measured seeding activity and resistance to proteases. For cellular analysis in brain tissue, we measured inflammatory markers and synaptic damage, and used the isotropic fractionator to measure neuronal loss; these techniques were applied at different timepoints in a cross-sectional study of disease progression. Our analyses align with previous reports defining significant decreases in PrPC levels at pre-clinical stages of the disease and demonstrate that these decreases become significant before neuronal loss. We also identified the earliest PrPSc assemblies at a timepoint equivalent to 40% elapsed time for the disease incubation period; we propose that these assemblies, mostly composed of proteinase K (PK)–sensitive species, play an important role in triggering disease pathogenesis. Lastly, we show that the PK-resistant assemblies of PrPSc that appear at timepoints close to the terminal stage have similar biophysical characteristics, and hence that preparative use of PK-digestion selects for this specific subpopulation. In sum, our data argue that qualitative, as well as quantitative, changes in PrP conformers occur at the midpoint of subclinical phase; these changes affect quaternary structure and may occur at the threshold where adaptive responses become inadequate to deal with pathogenic processes.
Heavy Metals Assessment in the Medjerda River Basin (Northeastern Algeria): A Preliminary Water Analysis and Toad Skin Biopsy
Authors: Guezgouz Noureddine , Parisi Costantino , Boubsil Soumaya , Grieco Gaetano , Hana Soualah Alila , Guerriero Giulia
Published: September 2020

Our study attempted to monitor the quality of water in Medjarda basin (Northeastern Algeria) and to provide baseline information of heavy metals in the water as well as in a potential amphibian biosentinel, the spiny toad, Bufo spinosus. We measured pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen and biological oxygen demand of water and levels of heavy metals in toad skin using an atomic absorption flame spectrophotometer. Lead (Pb) concentration in water and in toad skin at all sites exceeded respectively 60 and 96 times the standard reference values. The heavy metal concentrations, in descending order, in water and in male toad skin were as follows: Pb > Fe > Cu > Zn and Fe > Pb > Zn > Cu respectively. This study highlights the ecological status of the surrounding areas upstream of the Medjarda basin as being a point source of heavy metal pollution. It is further stated that a non-invasive skin removal is an ethically sound technique to evaluate heavy metal accumulation in aquatic animals like toad, without euthanizing the specimens and making any loss to biodiversity of the species.
DEM simulations of polydisperse media: efficient contact detection applied to investigate the quasi-static limit
Authors: Shire Tom , Hanley Kevin J. , Stratford Kevin
Published: September 2020

Discrete element modeling (DEM) of polydisperse granular materials is significantly more computationally expensive than modeling of monodisperse materials as a larger number of particles are required to obtain a representative elementary volume, and standard contact detection algorithms become progressively less efficient with polydispersity. This paper presents modified contact detection and inter-processor communication schemes implemented in LAMMPS which account for particles of different sizes separately, greatly improving efficiency. This new scheme is applied to the inertial number (I), which quantifies the ratio of inertial to confining forces. This has been used to identify the quasi-static limit for shearing of granular materials, which is often taken to be $$ I = 10^{ - 3} $$

I
=

10

-
3

. However, the expression for the inertial number contains a particle diameter term and therefore it is unclear how to apply this for polydisperse media. Results of DEM shearing tests on polydisperse granular media are presented in order to determine whether $$ I $$
I
provides a unique quasi-static limit regardless of polydispersity and which particle diameter term should be used to calculate $$ I $$
I
. The results show that the commonly used value of $$ I = 10^{ - 3} $$

I
=

10

-
3

can successfully locate the quasi-static limit for monodisperse media but not for polydisperse media, for which significant variations of macroscopic stress ratio and microscopic force and contact networks are apparent down to at least $$ I = 10^{ - 6} $$

I
=

10

-
6

. The quasi-static limit could not be conclusively determined for the polydisperse samples. Based on these results, the quasi-staticity of polydisperse samples should not be inferred from a low inertial number as currently formulated, irrespective of the particle diameter used in its calculation.
Wheat blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pathovar Triticum is efficiently controlled by the plant defence inducer isotianil
Authors: Portz Katharina , Casanova Florencia , Jordine Angelina , Bohnert Stefan , Mehl Andreas , Portz Daniela , Schaffrath Ulrich
Published: September 2020

Wheat blast caused by Magnaporthe oryzae pv. Triticum is an upcoming threat to wheat cultivation worldwide. The disease crossing over to wheat first gained attention in South America, with increasing interest coming from its more recent appearance in the big wheat-growing areas of Asia. The increasing economic relevance of the disease and the lack of genetic resistance in current wheat breeding material, besides fungicide resistance already present in fungal pathogen populations, highlighted the need to evaluate the potential of isotianil as an alternative plant protection measure. Isotianil is already registered in Asia for the protection of rice against M. oryzae, but because the agronomic practices and disease development of blast differ between rice and wheat, the efficacy of isotianil against wheat blast was hard to predict. Testing isotianil in the currently available formulations, applied either as seed treatment or soil drench, resulted in a significant reduction of disease severity. The efficacy was comparably high, on different wheat cultivars and using several fungal isolates with different degrees of virulence. Microscopic analyses revealed that isotianil treatment can prevent invasive growth of the pathogen. No phytotoxicity from isotianil treatment was observed on wheat plants. Importantly, isotianil not only protects wheat plants at the seedling stage but also on spikes thereby preventing losses due to this most severe disease syndrome. In summary, the results showed the high potential of isotianil to protect against wheat blast.
Low-cost ultrasonic based object detection and collision avoidance method for autonomous robots
Authors: Yasin Jawad N. , Mohamed Sherif A. S. , Haghbayan Mohammad-Hashem , Heikkonen Jukka , Tenhunen Hannu , Plosila Juha
Published: September 2020

This work focuses on the development of an effective collision avoidance algorithm that detects and avoids obstacles autonomously in the vicinity of a potential collision by using a single ultrasonic sensor and controlling the movement of the vehicle. The objectives are to minimise the deviation from the vehicle’s original path and also the development of an algorithm utilising one of the cheapest sensors available for very lost cost systems. For instance, in a scenario where the main ranging sensor malfunctions, a backup low cost sensor is required for safe navigation of the vehicle while keeping the deviation to a minimum. The developed algorithm utilises only one ultrasonic sensor and approximates the front shape of the detected object by sweeping the sensor mounted on top of the unmanned vehicle. In this proposed approach, the sensor is rotated for shape approximation and edge detection instead of moving the robot around the encountered obstacle. It has been tested in various indoor situations using different shapes of objects, stationary objects, moving objects, and soft or irregularly shaped objects. The results show that the algorithm provides satisfactory outcomes by entirely avoiding obstacles and rerouting the vehicle with a minimal deviation.
Charles Travis on Truth and Perception
Authors: Wallage Martijn
Published: September 2020

Charles Travis has developed a distinction between “the historical” (the sensible world) and “the conceptual” (thoughts and concepts), which underlies his influential contributions to the philosophy of language and perception. The distinction is based on the observation that there are, for any thought, indefinitely many different circumstances that would render it true. The generality of thoughts and concepts contrasts with the particularity of the sensible world. I challenge the assumption that what exhibits such generality cannot belong to the sensible world. I also defend a version of the claim that perception involves the exercise of conceptual capacities.
L’In/visibilité constitutive du sujet trans : l’exemple du droit québécois
Authors: Ashley Florence
Published: September 2020

Le langage du droit crée le sujet transgenre en tissant une conception légale du sexe ou genre, une conception qui a longtemps exclut les personnes trans. L’autaire propose d’analyser le langage du genre en droit québécois pour en faire ressortir deux phases conceptuelles. À travers ces deux modèles – l’un médical et l’un minoritaire – le droit québécois relate l’existence des personnes trans en premier lieu comme un moment essentiellement transitoire et liminal entre deux états d’être binaires, alors que le modèle minoritaire y voit plutôt une réalité d’exception, se définissant par son opposition au cadre social majoritaire. Ces deux visions s’enchaînent historiquement et révèlent l’évolution récente de la conception négative des personnes trans comme minorité qui ressort des avancées législatives récentes en droit québécois. L’autaire conclut que, malgré les avancées, il reste plus à faire pour réellement inclure les personnes trans comme sujets habituels de droit.
Practicality of Tricone Bit Wear Condition Assessment
Authors: Rafezi Hamed , Hassani Ferri
Published: September 2020

A practical bit condition monitoring system is a necessary component of autonomous drilling. Tricone bits are widely used in blasthole drilling in mining. Bits experience a variety of wear mechanisms during the operation and rolling element failure is the dominant catastrophic failure mode of tricone bits. Bit lifetime and performance significantly vary based on the working condition and the critical components of the bit i.e. rolling elements, are invisible to the direct condition monitoring systems. At McGill University, extensive research work is conducted to develop an indirect bit condition monitoring and failure prediction approach relying on the vibration signals and the technology is currently patent pending. This article presents real-world experimental evidence to show the unreliability of conservative bit changing strategy based on the bit operation life or drop in the rate of penetration (ROP) and ineffectiveness of direct wear monitoring techniques to cover the dominant failure mode.

Objective

To demonstrate the unreliability of tricone bit replacement relying on bit operation life or ROP measurement and ineffectiveness of vision-based monitoring techniques for autonomous drilling.
End of an Era: Transforming Language and Society in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, c. 1870-1950
Authors: Weng Jeffrey
Published: September 2020

Scholars have generally taken a “diffusionist” view of the rise of national standard languages—the state pushes for the wider adoption of such languages, and other forces (principally economic modernization) facilitate its diffusion. But such a view is too mechanistic and Eurocentric, and an examination of other, less-familiar cases lends itself to a revised interpretation. Amid Western imperialism and the rise of nationalism in East Asia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a massive shift in language practices took place between about 1870 and 1950, as regional hegemony shifted from China to Japan. Bound for two millennia by their common use of Classical Chinese, elite literati in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam all moved away from that abstruselingua francaand turned to the creation of new national vernaculars. I argue for a more “integrationist” perspective: language nationalization was a state-led and top-down process directed at remaking society.
Acanthamoeba spp. monoclonal antibody against a CPA2 transporter: a promising molecular tool for acanthamoebiasis diagnosis and encystment study
Authors: Weber-Lima Michele Martha , Prado-Costa Bianca , Becker-Finco Alessandra , Costa Adriana Oliveira , Billilad Philippe , Furst Cinthia , de Moura Juliana Ferreira , Alvarenga Larissa Magalhães
Published: September 2020

Free-living amoeba of the genus Acanthamoeba are ubiquitous protozoa involved in opportunistic and non-opportunistic infection in humans, such as granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and amoebic keratitis. Both infections have challenging characteristics such as the formation of the resistant cysts in infected tissues, hampering the treatment and most usual diagnosis depending on time-consuming and/or low sensitivity techniques. The use of monoclonal antibodies presents itself as an opportunity for the development of more effective alternative diagnostic methods, as well as an important and useful tool in the search for new therapeutic targets. This study investigated the possibility of using a previously produced monoclonal antibody (mAb3), as a diagnostic tool for the detection of Acanthamoeba trophozoites by direct and indirect flow cytometry and immunofluorescence. Immunoprecipitation assay and mass spectrometry allowed the isolation of the antibody's target and suggested it is a transporter part of the CPA (cation: proton antiporter) superfamily. In vitro tests indicate an important role of this target in Acanthamoeba's encystment physiology. Our results support the importance of studying the role of CPA2 transporters in the context of acanthamoebiasis, as this may be a way to identify new therapeutic candidates.
NOTES FROM ROME 2019–20
Authors: Coates-Stephens Robert
Published: September 2020

This gazette presents to the reader outside Rome news of recent archaeological activity (June 2019 – June 2020) gleaned from public lectures, conferences, exhibitions, and newspaper reports.
Calibration of Multiple Depth Sensor Network Using Reflective Pattern on Spheres: Theory and Experiments
Authors: Mohsin Nasreen , Payandeh Shahram
Published: September 2020

The usage of depth data from time-of-flight or any equivalent devices overcomes visual challenges presented under low illumination. For integrating such data from multiple sources, the paper proposes a novel tool for the calibration of sensors. The proposed tool consists of retro-reflective stripped spheres. To correctly estimate these spheres, the paper investigates the performance of spherical estimations from either infrared or depth data. The relationship between sensors is determined by calculating the poses between the calibration tool and each sensor. The paper evaluates and compares the proposed approach against other state-of-the-art approaches in terms of shape reconstruction and spatial consistency.
ROBUST TESTS FOR WHITE NOISE AND CROSS-CORRELATION
Authors: Dalla Violetta , Giraitis Liudas , Phillips Peter C. B.
Published: September 2020

Commonly used tests to assess evidence for the absence of autocorrelation in a univariate time series or serial cross-correlation between time series rely on procedures whose validity holds for i.i.d. data. When the series are not i.i.d., the size of correlogram and cumulative Ljung–Box tests can be significantly distorted. This paper adapts standard correlogram and portmanteau tests to accommodate hidden dependence and nonstationarities involving heteroskedasticity, thereby uncoupling these tests from limiting assumptions that reduce their applicability in empirical work. To enhance the Ljung–Box test for non-i.i.d. data, a new cumulative test is introduced. Asymptotic size of these tests is unaffected by hidden dependence and heteroskedasticity in the series. Related extensions are provided for testing cross-correlation at various lags in bivariate time series. Tests for the i.i.d. property of a time series are also developed. An extensive Monte Carlo study confirms good performance in both size and power for the new tests. Applications to real data reveal that standard tests frequently produce spurious evidence of serial correlation.
Staphylococcus aureusadheres avidly to decellularised cardiac homograft tissue in vitro in the fibrinogen-dependent manner
Authors: Ditkowski Bartosz , Leeten Kirsten , Jashari Ramadan , Jones Elizabeth , Heying Ruth
Published: September 2020

Objective:

Infective endocarditis remains a severe complication associated with a high morbidity and mortality in patients after heart valve replacement. Exploration of the pathogenesis is of high demand and we, therefore, present a competent model that allows studying bacterial adherence and the role of plasma fibrinogen in this process using a new in-house designed low-volume flow chamber. Three cardiac graft tissues used for pulmonary valve replacement have been tested under shear conditions to investigate the impact of surface composition on the adhesion events.

Methods:

Tissue pieces of cryopreserved homograft (non-decellularised), decellularised homograft and bovine pericardium patch were investigated for fibrinogen binding. Adherence ofStaphylococcus aureusto these graft tissues was studied quantitatively under flow conditions in our newly fabricated chamber based on a parallel plates’ modality. The method of counting colony-forming units was reliable and reproducible to assess the propensity of different graft materials for bacterial attachment under shear.

Results:

Bacterial perfusions over all plasma-precoated tissues identified cryopreserved homograft with the lowest affinity forS. aureuscompared to decellularised homograft presenting a significantly higher bacterial adhesion (p < 0.05), which was linked to a more avid fibrinogen binding (p < 0.01). Bovine pericardial patch, as a reference tissue in this study, was confirmed to be the most susceptible tissue graft for the bacterial adhesion, which was in line with our previous work.

Conclusion:

The two studied homograft tissues showed different levels of bacterial attachment, which might be postulated by the involvement of fibrinogen in the adhesion mechanism(s) shown previously for bovine tissues.
MAP Inference for Probabilistic Logic Programming
Authors: BELLODI ELENA , ALBERTI MARCO , RIGUZZI FABRIZIO , ZESE RICCARDO
Published: September 2020

In Probabilistic Logic Programming (PLP) the most commonly studied inference task is to compute the marginal probability of a query given a program. In this paper, we consider two other important tasks in the PLP setting: the Maximum-A-Posteriori (MAP) inference task, which determines the most likely values for a subset of the random variables given evidence on other variables, and the Most Probable Explanation (MPE) task, the instance of MAP where the query variables are the complement of the evidence variables. We present a novel algorithm, included in the PITA reasoner, which tackles these tasks by representing each problem as a Binary Decision Diagram and applying a dynamic programming procedure on it. We compare our algorithm with the version of ProbLog that admits annotated disjunctions and can perform MAP and MPE inference. Experiments on several synthetic datasets show that PITA outperforms ProbLog in many cases.
A Generalised Approach for Encoding and Reasoning with Qualitative Theories in Answer Set Programming
Authors: BARYANNIS GEORGE , TACHMAZIDIS ILIAS , BATSAKIS SOTIRIS , ANTONIOU GRIGORIS , ALVIANO MARIO , PAPADAKIS EMMANUEL
Published: September 2020

Qualitative reasoning involves expressing and deriving knowledge based on qualitative terms such as natural language expressions, rather than strict mathematical quantities. Well over 40 qualitative calculi have been proposed so far, mostly in the spatial and temporal domains, with several practical applications such as naval traffic monitoring, warehouse process optimisation and robot manipulation. Even if a number of specialised qualitative reasoning tools have been developed so far, an important barrier to the wider adoption of these tools is that only qualitative reasoning is supported natively, when real-world problems most often require a combination of qualitative and other forms of reasoning. In this work, we propose to overcome this barrier by using ASP as a unifying formalism to tackle problems that require qualitative reasoning in addition to non-qualitative reasoning. A family of ASP encodings is proposed which can handle any qualitative calculus with binary relations. These encodings are experimentally evaluated using a real-world dataset based on a case study of determining optimal coverage of telecommunication antennas, and compared with the performance of two well-known dedicated reasoners. Experimental results show that the proposed encodings outperform one of the two reasoners, but fall behind the other, an acceptable trade-off given the added benefits of handling any type of reasoning as well as the interpretability of logic programs.
Modular Answer Set Programming as a Formal Specification Language
Authors: CABALAR PEDRO , FANDINNO JORGE , LIERLER YULIYA
Published: September 2020

In this paper, we study the problem of formal verification for Answer Set Programming (ASP), namely, obtaining a formal proof showing that the answer sets of a given (non-ground) logic program P correctly correspond to the solutions to the problem encoded by P, regardless of the problem instance. To this aim, we use a formal specification language based on ASP modules, so that each module can be proved to capture some informal aspect of the problem in an isolated way. This specification language relies on a novel definition of (possibly nested, first order) program modules that may incorporate local hidden atoms at different levels. Then, verifying the logic program P amounts to prove some kind of equivalence between P and its modular specification.
Towards Metric Temporal Answer Set Programming
Authors: CABALAR PEDRO , DIÉGUEZ MARTÍN , SCHAUB TORSTEN , SCHUHMANN ANNA
Published: September 2020

We elaborate upon the theoretical foundations of a metric temporal extension of Answer Set Programming. In analogy to previous extensions of ASP with constructs from Linear Temporal and Dynamic Logic, we accomplish this in the setting of the logic of Here-and-There and its non-monotonic extension, called Equilibrium Logic. More precisely, we develop our logic on the same semantic underpinnings as its predecessors and thus use a simple time domain of bounded time steps. This allows us to compare all variants in a uniform framework and ultimately combine them in a common implementation.
White-box Induction From SVM Models: Explainable AI with Logic Programming
Authors: SHAKERIN FARHAD , GUPTA GOPAL
Published: September 2020

We focus on the problem of inducing logic programs that explain models learned by the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm. The top-down sequential covering inductive logic programming (ILP) algorithms (e.g., FOIL) apply hill-climbing search using heuristics from information theory. A major issue with this class of algorithms is getting stuck in local optima. In our new approach, however, the data-dependent hill-climbing search is replaced with a model-dependent search where a globally optimal SVM model is trained first, then the algorithm looks into support vectors as the most influential data points in the model, and induces a clause that would cover the support vector and points that are most similar to that support vector. Instead of defining a fixed hypothesis search space, our algorithm makes use of SHAP, an example-specific interpreter in explainable AI, to determine a relevant set of features. This approach yields an algorithm that captures the SVM model’s underlying logic and outperforms other ILP algorithms in terms of the number of induced clauses and classification evaluation metrics.
China's old brands: commercial heritage and creative nostalgia
Authors: DuBois 杜博思 Thomas David
Published: September 2020

China's commercial revival of the 1980s initiated a wave of nostalgia for old brands, which various political and commercial actors spent the subsequent four decades trying to develop, enhance, or exploit. Such attempts can be divided into two types: the heritage approach of the “old brands revitalization project” and the “creative nostalgia” of retro advertising. Both aim to nurture a sense of nostalgia for old brands, but they espouse opposing logic: the former emphasizing authenticity, while the latter mines the past for fun, novelty, and irony. These trends are expressed in the food sector, which comprises the majority of classic enterprises, and has been shaped by explosive growth. Rather than a generational rejection of the past, it is the rush to establish a presence in the crowded national market that drives China's classic food brands to repackage nostalgia from authenticity to novelty, from scarcity to replicability, and from heritage to retro.1
When the Gods Fall: Varieties of Post-Secularization in a Small, Secularized State
Authors: Fordahl Clayton , Ragnarsdóttir Berglind
Published: September 2020

Lengthy debates over the process of secularization in the West have concluded. In many ways, secularization theorists appear to have “won” the debate: traditional measures of religious vitality reveal a decline in religion. Yet, recent events, especially those involving politics and national identity, have encouraged scholars and members of the public to reconsider the ways in which something like religion might endure and influence public life in secularized Western nations. This paper uses the “exceptional-typical” case of Iceland—a modern, Western, secularized country of comparatively small population size—to observe and conceptualize a variety of processes which are here collectively named “post-secularization.” Its findings suggest that processes which may appear as unrelated or opposing forces—the emergence of new religious movements, the transformation of traditional religious symbols into profane branding, far right nationalist movements—may be part of a single, post-secularization process. Secularization, having fissured the sacred, leaves religion a pliable cultural tool.
Seeing the fetus from a DOHaD perspective: discussion paper from the advanced imaging techniques of DOHaD applications workshop held at the 2019 DOHaD World Congress
Authors: Morrison Janna L. , Ayonrinde Oyekoya T. , Care Alison S. , Clarke Geoffrey D. , Darby Jack R.T. , David Anna L. , Dean Justin M. , Hooper Stuart B. , Kitchen Marcus J. , Macgowan Christopher K. , Melbourne Andrew , McGillick Erin V , McKenzie Charles A. , Michael Navin , Mohammed Nuruddin , Sadananthan Suresh Anand , Schrauben Eric , Regnault Timothy R.H. , Velan S. Sendhil
Published: September 2020

Advanced imaging techniques are enhancing research capacity focussed on the developmental origins of adult health and disease (DOHaD) hypothesis, and consequently increasing awareness of future health risks across various subareas of DOHaD research themes. Understanding how these advanced imaging techniques in animal models and human population studies can be both additively and synergistically used alongside traditional techniques in DOHaD-focussed laboratories is therefore of great interest. Global experts in advanced imaging techniques congregated at the advanced imaging workshop at the 2019 DOHaD World Congress in Melbourne, Australia. This review summarizes the presentations of new imaging modalities and novel applications to DOHaD research and discussions had by DOHaD researchers that are currently utilizing advanced imaging techniques including MRI, hyperpolarized MRI, ultrasound, and synchrotron-based techniques to aid their DOHaD research focus.
Ausscheidungsstörungen – Klassifikation und Definition nach ICD-11
Authors: von Gontard Alexander
Published: September 2020

Zusammenfassung. Ausscheidungsstörungen sind häufige Störungen des Kindesalters. Es können drei übergeordnete Gruppen unterschieden werden: die Enuresis nocturna, das Einnässen tagsüber und die Enkopresis oder Stuhlinkontinenz. Inzwischen sind viele Subgruppen identifiziert, die sich exakt diagnostizieren lassen. Das Ziel dieser Übersicht ist es, die Klassifikationsvorschläge der ICD-11 kritisch darzustellen. Die Definitionen der Enuresis nach ICD-11 werden mit den Störungsbildern der Enuresis nocturna und der funktionellen Harninkontinenz tags nach ICCS verglichen. Die Enkopresis nach ICD-11 wird den Rome-IV-Definitionen der funktionellen Obstipation und der nicht-retentiven Stuhlinkontinenz gegenübergestellt. Es wird dabei deutlich, dass die ICD-11 nicht dem aktuellen Forschungsstand entspricht, dass sie für die klinische Praxis keine therapieleitenden Diagnosen liefert und dass sie für die Forschung nicht genau genug ist. Deshalb sind die Klassifikationssysteme der ICCS und der Rome-IV in Klinik und Forschung vorzuziehen.
Gottmans Balance-Theorie im Kontext von Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen
Authors: Heinrichs Nina , Püffel Marie , Lohaus Arnold , Konrad Kerstin , Briegel Wolfgang
Published: September 2020

Zusammenfassung. Gottman hat in seiner Balance-Theorie zu Paarbeziehungen postuliert, dass das Verhältnis von positiven zu negativen Interaktionen relevanter für die Stabilität und Zufriedenheit von Beziehungen sei als das absolute Ausmaß dieser Interaktionsqualitäten. Dieser Artikel behandelt die Frage, ob und inwiefern man die Balance-Theorie von Gottman auf Eltern-Kind-Beziehungen übertragen kann. Nach einer Übersicht über die Möglichkeiten und Grenzen einer solchen Übertragung wird im empirischen Teil anhand eines Datensatzes einer Pflegefamilienstudie (GROW&TREAT; N = 251 Familien, davon 94 Pflegefamilien) exploriert, ob der Beziehungsindex (das Verhältnis von positiver zu negativer kindlicher Beziehungsgestaltung) in der Lage ist, die Zufriedenheit mit der Eltern-Kind-Beziehung 1 Jahr später vorherzusagen. Darüber hinaus wird untersucht, ob dieser Zusammenhang über ein Entfremdungserleben mediiert wird. Der Beziehungsindex stellte sich als signifikanter Prädiktor dar, allerdings können auch die jeweiligen absoluten Häufigkeiten die Zufriedenheit mit der Beziehung vorhersagen, jedoch scheint hier bei den (Pflege-)Müttern nur das Ausmaß positiver, bei den (Pflege-)Vätern eher nur das Ausmaß negativer Beziehungsgestaltung bedeutsam zu sein. Eine Mediation über die Entfremdung ließ sich nicht feststellen, da die Varianz in deren Erleben zu gering war und die Voraussetzungen für eine Mediation nicht erfüllt wurden. Des Weiteren wollen wir zur Diskussion über die mögliche Rolle solcher Indizes in der Psychotherapie anregen.
Wissen und Handeln – Erziehungsbedarf von Müttern mit Kleinkindern: Eine qualitative Untersuchung
Authors: Schwenger-Fink Cornelia , Bergmann Imke , Zimmermann Tanja
Published: September 2020

Zusammenfassung. Elterliche Erziehungskompetenz, wie sie z.B. durch Elterntrainings vermittelt wird, ist ein wichtiger Ansatzpunkt zur Prävention kindlicher Verhaltensauffälligkeiten. Insbesondere die frühzeitige Vermittlung von Erziehungsfertigkeiten scheint sinnvoll. Dies gilt besonders für die Gruppe belasteter Eltern und Familien, die von niedrigschwelligen Angeboten in der frühen Familienphase profitieren. Darüber hinaus ist die Vermittlung elterlicher Erziehungskompetenz auch im Rahmen der psychotherapeutischen Behandlung bedeutsam. Trotz der Wirksamkeit von Elterntrainings werden diese oft – insbesondere bei Eltern mit Kleinkindern – nicht angeboten oder in Anspruch genommen oder auch im Rahmen der Psychotherapie nur vereinzelt in die Behandlung integriert. Ziel dieser qualitativen Arbeit ist die Identifikation des Unterstützungsbedarfs bei N = 20 Müttern mit Kindern unter 3 Jahren sowie von Rahmenbedingungen und Inhalten eines – aus Müttersicht – hilfreichen Elterntrainings. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sowohl „Hebammenwissen“ (z.B. Hinweise zu Wochenbett, Ernährung, Schlaf, Gesundheit und Entwicklung des Kindes) als auch „Erziehungswissen“ (z.B. Fragen zum Umgang mit kindlichem Problemverhalten, Eltern-Teamwork) auf Wissens- und Handlungsebene Inhalt eines Trainings sein sollten. Insbesondere die Rahmenbedingungen eines Elterntrainings scheinen für die Inanspruchnahme ausschlaggebend zu sein. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass Mütter mit Kleinkindern eine empfängliche Gruppe für Interventionen zu sein scheinen, die vor allem unter präventiven Aspekten stärker in der Versorgung berücksichtigt werden sollte.