bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Supervised resistance exercise for women with ovarian cancer who have completed first-line treatment: a pragmatic study
Authors: Schofield Christelle , Newton Robert U. , Taaffe Dennis R. , Galvão Daniel A. , Cohen Paul A. , Meniawy Tarek M. , Peddle-McIntyre Carolyn J.
Published: April 2023

Objectives

In ovarian cancer (OC), suboptimal muscle morphology (i.e., low muscle mass and density) is associated with poor clinical outcomes, yet little is known about the effect of interventions aimed at improving these measures. We investigated the effect of resistance exercise after first-line treatment on muscle mass and density, muscle strength and physical function, health-related quality of life (QoL), and pelvic-floor function in advanced-stage OC survivors.

Methods

Fifteen OC survivors participated in supervised resistance exercise twice weekly for 12 weeks (in-clinic or by telehealth). Assessments included muscle mass and density (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, peripheral quantitative computed tomography), muscle strength (1-repetition maximum [1RM] chest press, 5RM leg press, handgrip strength), physical function (400-m walk, timed up-and-go [TUG]), QoL (QLQ-C30 questionnaire), and self-reported pelvic floor function (Australian Pelvic Floor Questionnaire).

Results

The median age was 64 (range 33–72) years, 10 women underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy and five underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. All participants completed the intervention (median attendance = 92%; range 79–100%). Post-intervention improvements were observed for whole-body lean mass (1.0 ± 1.4 kg, p = 0.015), appendicular lean mass (0.6 ± 0.9 kg, p = 0.013), muscle density (p = 0.011), upper and lower body strength (p ≤ 0.001), 400-m walk (p = 0.001), TUG (p = 0.005), and social and cognitive QoL domains (p = 0.002 and 0.007), with no change to pelvic floor symptoms (p > 0.05).

Conclusion

In this study, supervised resistance exercise effectively improved muscle mass and density, muscle strength, and physical functioning without deleterious effects on the pelvic floor. Considering the prognostic value of these outcomes, larger studies are needed to confirm the benefits of resistance exercise in OC supportive care.
Räumliche Entwicklung der Musikwirtschaft in Deutschland
Authors: Litmeyer Marie-Louise , Diller Christian
Published: April 2023

Für eine räumlich differenzierende Betrachtung der räumlichen Entwicklung der Musikwirtschaft in Deutschland auf Ebene der Kreise und kreisfreien Städte steht lediglich die Statistik der sozialversicherungspflichtig Beschäftigten zur Verfügung. In dieser wird jedoch nur etwa ein Viertel der Erwerbstätigen der Musikwirtschaft erfasst. Gleichwohl erbringt die Auswertung der Entwicklungen in einigen Bereichen interessante Ergebnisse. In der Gruppe der musikalisch Kreativen mit festen Beschäftigungsverhältnissen ist eine Konzentration auf kulturell traditionsreiche Großstädte vor allem in der räumlichen Mitte Deutschlands auffallend. In der Gruppe der Musikinstrumentenherstellung, die den Strukturwandel weitgehend bewältigt hat, sind die traditionellen Muster mit Schwerpunkten in Thüringen, Sachsen und Bayern nach wie vor gut ablesbar. Die beiden untersuchten Bereiche sind zwar eher zu den traditionellen und weniger dynamischen Segmenten der Musikwirtschaft zu zählen. Vertiefte Untersuchungen, die vor allem auch die dynamischeren Bereiche der Musikproduktion und der Musikveranstaltungen beinhalten und die die Selbstständigen mit einbeziehen, sind letztlich nur auf Basis entsprechend ausgerichteter Primärerhebungen möglich.
Application of Boruta algorithms as a robust methodology for performance evaluation of CMIP6 general circulation models for hydro-climatic studies
Authors: Lawal I. M. , Bertram D. , White C. J. , Kutty S. R. M. , Hassan I. , Jagaba A. H.
Published: April 2023

Regional climate models are essential for climate change projections and hydrologic modelling studies, especially in watersheds that are overly sensitive to changes in climate. Accurate hydrologic model development is a daunting task in data-sparse regions where climate change’s impact on hydrologic and water quality processes is necessary for a well-informed policy decision on adaptation and hazard mitigation strategies. Novel approaches have been evolving that evaluated GCMs with the objective of improved parameterization to limit uncertainty and improve hydrologic model development. However, conclusions drawn should be purpose-driven based on intended usage. This study provides an overview of the state-of-the-art Boruta random forest as a robust methodology in the performance evaluation of GCMs models for hydroclimatic study. Highlights from the assessment indicate that (1) there is consistency in replicating the three observed climate variables of daily precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature respectively, (2) better temporal correlation (R2 = 0.95) in annual precipitation with a mean bias of 0.638mm/year, when compared to symmetrical uncertainty (SU) (R2 = 0.82), and all models ensembles (AME) (R2 = 0.88) with associated biases of 68.19mm/year and 10.57mm/year, respectively. Evaluation of the multi-year climate extreme indices, trends and magnitude reveal that there is a fair representation of basin-scale observed climate extreme events. However, the Boruta random forest approach exhibited a better statistical trend and magnitude of the extreme event in the basin. The findings of the study revealed enhanced GCM dataset evaluation and present a simple and efficient methodology to examine the limitations associated with the selected GCM ensemble for impact study in hydrology.
Mortality, complication risks, and clinical outcomes after surgical treatment of spinal epidural abscess: a comparative analysis of patients aged 18–64 years, 65–79 years, and ≥ 80 years, with a 3-year follow-up
Authors: Lenga Pavlina , Gülec Gelo , Kiening Karl , Unterberg Andreas W. , Ishak Basem
Published: April 2023

Spinal epidural abscess (SEA) with pyogenic vertebral osteomyelitis (PVO) is a rare illness with a steadily increasing incidence. However, comparative analyses of young and older patients with SEA are lacking. We aimed to compare the clinical course of patients aged 18–64 years, 65–79 years, and ≥ 80 years undergoing surgery for SEA. Clinical and imaging data were retrospectively collected from the institutional database between September 2005 and December 2021. Ninety-nine patients aged 18–64 years, 45 patients aged 65–79 years, and 32 patients ≥ 80 years were enrolled. Patients ≥ 80 years presented with a poorer baseline history (9.2 ± 2.4), as indicated by the CCI, than their younger counterparts (18–74 years: 4.8 ± 1.6;6.5 ± 2.5; p < 0.001). Patients aged 65–79 years and 80 years had a significantly longer length of stay. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in those aged ≥ 80 years compared to their younger counterparts (≥ 80 years, n = 3, 9.4% vs. 18–64 years, n = 0, 0.0%; 65–79 years, n = 0, 0.0%; p < 0.001), while no differences in 90-day mortality or 30-day readmission were observed. After surgery, a significant decrease in C-reactive protein levels and leukocytes and amelioration of motor scores were observed in all the groups. Of note, older age (> 65 years), presence of comorbidities, and poor preoperative neurological condition were significant predictors of mortality. Surgical management led to significant improvements in laboratory and clinical parameters in all age groups. However, older patients are prone to multiple risks, requiring meticulous evaluation before surgery. Nevertheless, the risk profile of younger patients should not be underestimated. The study has the limitations of a retrospective design and small sample size. Larger randomized studies are warranted to establish the guidelines for the optimal management of patients from every age group and to identify the patients who can benefit from solely conservative management.
Treatment of Invasive Aspergillosis: How It’s Going, Where It’s Heading
Authors: Boyer Johannes , Feys Simon , Zsifkovits Isabella , Hoenigl Martin , Egger Matthias
Published: April 2023

Despite improvements in treatment and diagnostics over the last two decades, invasive aspergillosis (IA) remains a devastating fungal disease. The number of immunocompromised patients and hence vulnerable hosts increases, which is paralleled by the emergence of a rise in IA cases. Increased frequencies of azole-resistant strains are reported from six continents, presenting a new challenge for the therapeutic management. Treatment options for IA currently consist of three classes of antifungals (azoles, polyenes, echinocandins) with distinctive advantages and shortcomings. Especially in settings of difficult to treat IA, comprising drug tolerance/resistance, limiting drug–drug interactions, and/or severe underlying organ dysfunction, novel approaches are urgently needed. Promising new drugs for the treatment of IA are in late-stage clinical development, including olorofim (a dihydroorotate dehydrogenase inhibitor), fosmanogepix (a Gwt1 enzyme inhibitor), ibrexafungerp (a triterpenoid), opelconazole (an azole optimized for inhalation) and rezafungin (an echinocandin with long half-life time). Further, new insights in the pathophysiology of IA yielding immunotherapy as a potential add-on therapy. Current investigations show encouraging results, so far mostly in preclinical settings. In this review we discuss current treatment strategies, give an outlook on possible new pharmaceutical therapeutic options, and, lastly, provide an overview of the ongoing research in immunotherapy for IA.
Transient CO Oxidation as a Versatile Technique to Investigate Cu2+ Titration, Speciation and Sites Hydrolysis on Cu–CHA Catalysts: The Cu Loading Effect
Authors: Iacobone Umberto , Nova Isabella , Tronconi Enrico , Villamaina Roberta , Ruggeri Maria Pia , Collier Jillian , Thompsett David
Published: April 2023

The investigation of the ZCu2+(OH)− and Z2Cu2+ ions modifications during NH3-SCR on Cu–CHA catalysts is a key aspect to clarify the still-debated low-T redox SCR mechanism. In previous works, the dry transient CO oxidation protocol has been employed to identify the generation of dinuclear Cu2+ structures under conditions representative of the low-T SCR–RHC: NH3 solvation promotes the inter-cage mobility and coupling of ZCu2+(OH)−, acting as the catalytic centers for the CO oxidation process, while Z2Cu2+ results inactive. Herein the same protocol, with pre-stored NH3, has been applied to a set of Cu–CHA catalysts with variable Cu loading (0.7–2.4% w/w) but fixed Si/Al: an increasing Cu content produced a net positive effect on the CO2 production, coherent with a growing ZCu2+(OH)− population, while a further enhancement was observed in the presence of H2O. The analysis of the integral CO2 production enabled to predict the maximum CO conversion, corresponding to the titration of the whole ZCu2+(OH)− content for each catalyst under dry condition, verifying the initial mechanism. Conversely, in the presence of water, the analysis evaluated an asymptotic titration of the total catalyst Cu2+ contents. This finding permits to generalize a recent study where combined TRMs, DFT and FTIR were used to probe the complete reversible Cu2+ sites hydrolysis and pairing in the presence of H2O and NH3, thus activating the participation of Z2Cu2+ species, too. These results also highlight the versatility and effectiveness of the CO oxidation protocol as a multi-purpose technique to study the Cu2+ ions in Cu–CHA catalysts.
Can application of biochar improve the soil water characteristics of silty loam soil?
Authors: Toková Lucia , Igaz Dušan , Horák Ján , Aydın Elena
Published: April 2023

Purpose

This study investigates if a biochar application in 2014 and its reapplication in 2018 had affected the selected physical and hydrophysical soil properties of silty loam Haplic Luvisol at Dolná Malanta experimental site (Nitra, Slovakia) during the studied period of 2018–2020.

Materials and methods

Biochar was produced from cereal husks and paper fiber sludge by pyrolysis at temperature of 550 °C for 30 min and was applied to the soil in doses of 0, 10, and 20 t ha−1. The biochar treatments were combined with three levels of N fertilization (N0, N1, and N2).

Results

Biochar significantly decreased the bulk density up to − 12% and increased the soil porosity up to + 22% even 4–6 years after the biochar application. We also observed an increase in saturated hydraulic conductivity, which was reflected in better precipitation retention and a higher average soil water content by 12–15% depending on the fertilization level. Depending on the level of N fertilization, the interval of plant available water enlarged by 8–51% (10 t ha−1 of biochar), 18–21% (20 t ha−1 of biochar) after single biochar application, and by 18–34% (10 t ha−1 of biochar) and 19–31% (20 t ha−1 of biochar) after reapplication of biochar, which has positive implications regarding providing soil water to plants.

Conclusions

The results indicate that biochar amendments have the potential to substantially improve the soil water characteristics, and therefore, the quality status of silty loam agricultural soils.
Response to “Scrutinizing the causal link between excited delirium syndrome and restraint – a commentary on: ‘The role of restraint in fatal excited delirium: a research synthesis and pooled analysis’ by E.M.F. Strömmer, W. Leith, M.P. Zeegers and M.D. Freeman”
Authors: Freeman Michael D. , Strömmer Ellen M. F. , Leith Wendy M. , Zeegers Maurice P.
Published: April 2023

de Boer et al. criticize the conclusions in our 2020 paper on the validity of Excited Delirium Syndrome (ExDS) as “egregiously misleading.” Our conclusion was that there “is no existing evidence that indicates that ExDS is inherently lethal in the absence of aggressive restraint.” The basis for de Boer and colleague’s criticism of our paper is that the ExDS literature does not provide an unbiased view of the lethality of the condition, and therefore the true epidemiologic features of ExDS cannot be determined from what has been published. The criticism is unrelated to the goals or methods of the study, however. Our stated purpose was to investigate “how the term ExDS has evolved in the literature and been endowed with a uniquely lethal quality,” and whether there is “evidence for ExDS as a unique cause of a death that would have occurred regardless of restraint, or a label used when a restrained and agitated person dies, and which erroneously directs attention away from the role of restraint in explaining the death.” We cannot fathom how de Boer et al. missed this clearly stated description of the study rationale, or why they would endorse a series of fallacious and meaningless claims that gave the appearance that they failed to grasp the basic design of the study. We do acknowledge and thank these authors for pointing out 3 minor citation errors and an equally minor table formatting error (neither of which altered the reported results and conclusions in the slightest), however.
Variation in Severity-Adjusted Resource use and Outcome for Neurosurgical Emergencies in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Raj Rahul , Moser André , Starkopf Joel , Reinikainen Matti , Varpula Tero , Jakob Stephan M. , Takala Jukka
Published: April 2023

Background

The correlation between the standardized resource use ratio (SRUR) and standardized hospital mortality ratio (SMR) for neurosurgical emergencies is not known. We studied SRUR and SMR and the factors affecting these in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).

Methods

We extracted data of patients treated in six university hospitals in three countries (2015–2017). Resource use was measured as SRUR based on purchasing power parity-adjusted direct costs and either intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay (costSRURlength of stay) or daily Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System scores (costSRURTherapeutic Intervention Scoring System). Five a priori defined variables reflecting differences in structure and organization between the ICUs were used as explanatory variables in bivariable models, separately for the included neurosurgical diseases.

Results

Out of 28,363 emergency patients treated in six ICUs, 6,162 patients (22%) were admitted with a neurosurgical emergency (41% nontraumatic ICH, 23% SAH, 13% multitrauma TBI, and 23% isolated TBI). The mean costs for neurosurgical admissions were higher than for nonneurosurgical admissions, and the neurosurgical admissions corresponded to 23.6–26.0% of all direct costs related to ICU emergency admissions. A higher physician-to-bed ratio was associated with lower SMRs in the nonneurosurgical admissions but not in the neurosurgical admissions. In patients with nontraumatic ICH, lower costSRURs were associated with higher SMRs. In the bivariable models, independent organization of an ICU was associated with lower costSRURs in patients with nontraumatic ICH and isolated/multitrauma TBI but with higher SMRs in patients with nontraumatic ICH. A higher physician-to-bed ratio was associated with higher costSRURs for patients with SAH. Larger units had higher SMRs for patients with nontraumatic ICH and isolated TBI. None of the ICU-related factors were associated with costSRURs in nonneurosurgical emergency admissions.

Conclusions

Neurosurgical emergencies constitute a major proportion of all emergency ICU admissions. A lower SRUR was associated with higher SMR in patients with nontraumatic ICH but not for the other diagnoses. Different organizational and structural factors seemed to affect resource use for the neurosurgical patients compared with nonneurosurgical patients. This emphasizes the importance of case-mix adjustment when benchmarking resource use and outcomes.
Global, regional, and national burdens of cirrhosis in children and adolescents aged under 19 years from 1990 to 2019
Authors: Zhang Chi , Liu Yiqi , Zhao Hong , Wang Guiqiang
Published: April 2023

Background & aims

Cirrhosis was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in adults, but data on the burden and trends were sparse in children and adolescents. We aimed to assess the trends in 204 countries and territories over the past 30 years in children and adolescents aged 0–19 years.

Methods

Data on cirrhosis was collected by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database from 1990 to 2019. We reported on the number, rates, and average annual percentage changes (AAPCs) of incidence and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) of cirrhosis at global, regional, and national level.

Results

Globally, the incident numbers of cirrhosis in children and adolescents increased from 204,767 in 1990 to 241,364 in 2019, an increase of 17.9%, with an AAPC 0.13(0.10 to 0.16). Prevalence (AAPC = − 2.27[− 2.39 to − 2.15]), mortality (AAPC = − 1.68 [− 1.86 to − 1.5]), and DALYs rate (AAPC = − 1.72[− 1.88 to − 1.56]) of cirrhosis have decreased significantly. Cirrhosis incident rates varied between different ages. Cirrhosis caused by alcohol use (AAPC = 1[0.8 to 1.1]; incidence cases increased 48%), hepatitis C (AAPC = 0.4 [0.4 to 0.5]), NAFLD (AAPC = 0.5 [0.3 to 0.6]) have been increasing, while only hepatitis B (− 0.3[− 0.4 to − 0.2]) decreasing. Incidence cases of cirrhosis were increased in low (101.6%) and low-middle sociodemographic index (SDI 21.1%) areas, while decreasing in middle and above SDI areas. At the regional level, the largest increases count was observed in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Conclusions

Global incidence rate of cirrhosis has been increasing, while the DALYs rate has been decreasing in children and adolescents. Morbidity of cirrhosis caused by hepatitis B declined, while hepatitis C, NAFLD, and alcohol use increased.
Differential and Linear properties of vectorial boolean functions based on chi
Authors: Mella Silvia , Mehrdad Alireza , Daemen Joan
Published: April 2023

To evaluate the security of a cryptographic primitive, investigating its resistance against differential and linear cryptanalysis is required. Many modern cryptographic primitives repeatedly apply similar round functions alternated with the addition of round keys or constants. A round function usually consists of a non-linear mapping and a number of linear mappings. The non-linear mapping $$\chi$$
χ
is used in different cryptographic primitives such as Keccak and Subterranean. An alternative version of $$\chi$$
χ
is used in Ascon and the non-linear layer of Simon has the same differential and linear properties of $$\chi$$
χ
. The mapping $$\chi$$
χ
can be applied to strings with different lengths. For instance, it can be parallelly applied to small-length strings as in Keccak, where it works on 5-bit strings, or it can be applied to big-length strings as in Subterranean, where it works on a string of length 257. Investigating the differential and linear properties of $$\chi$$
χ
working on alternative lengths of strings, provides useful information to designers to make a better choice for the non-linear layer. Some differential properties of $$\chi$$
χ
have been analyzed in [8] and in this work we provide a revised presentation of them. We then extend this study and we analyze linear propagation properties of $$\chi$$
χ
. Thanks to these additional results, we extend the comparison between the application of parallel instances of $$\chi$$
χ
on small-length strings and the application of a single instance of $$\chi$$
χ
on a big-length string. We show how we can apply the results of this study also to the non-linear layers of Ascon and Simon thanks to their affine-equivalence with $$\chi$$
χ
.
Existence of Solutions to Nonlinear Fourth-Order Beam Equation
Authors: Ostaszewska Urszula , Schmeidel Ewa , Zdanowicz Małgorzata
Published: April 2023

This paper studies the boundary value problem for a fourth-order difference equation with three quasidifferences. The new existence criterion of at least one solution to the issues considered is obtained using the theory of variational methods. The main result is illustrated in some examples.
Digital technology adaptation and initiatives: a systematic review of teaching and learning during COVID-19
Authors: Zhou Xue , Smith Christopher James MacBride , Al-Samarraie Hosam
Published: April 2023

COVID-19 dramatically influenced students’ and staff’s learning and teaching experiences and approaches to learning. While many papers examined individual experiences in the context of higher education, synthesising these papers to determine enabling and hindering influences of digital adaptation was needed to guide the next phase of online learning reforms. This study explored the main dimensions of digital technology adaptation in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences for student and staff experiences and what aspects should be sustained and developed were discussed in this review. A total of 90 articles (published between 1st January 2020 and 30th June 2021) were identified and analysed based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework. Four dimensions (with associated sub-factors) were found to influence student and staff experiences: techno-economic; personal and psychological; teaching, learning and assessment; and social. The findings highlighted that an integrated approach, across institutional, technical platforms, and individuals would be required to sustain digital learning initiatives during the crisis time.
Masking, extrinsicness, and the nature of dispositions: the role of niche signals in muscle stem cells
Authors: Suárez Javier
Published: April 2023

I investigate the intrinsic/extrinsic nature of stemness in muscle stem cells (MSC) by relying on recent research on quiescence, with the aim of shedding light on the nature of dispositions and deriving some consequences about stem cells. First, I argue why the study of quiescence is the best available way to establish any claim about the intrinsicness/extrinsicness of stemness at least is some stem cells. Drawing on that, I argue that MSC’s stem capacities result from the combination of intrinsic cues plus extrinsic factors from the stem cell niche, making stemness an extrinsic disposition in MSC. Importantly, it is shown that the niche allows the instantiation of stemness in MSC by acting as amaskerof its manifestation. This shows that stemness is, at least in MSC, what I call an extrinsically structurally masked disposition (SMD); that is, a disposition whose instantiation requires, as a condition of possibility, the interaction between the bearer and a masker. Finally, I conclude by suggesting some potential consequences of this observation for the philosophical study of dispositions and for stem cell research.
Neuroadaptive Technology and the Self: a Postphenomenological Perspective
Authors: Fairclough Stephen
Published: April 2023

Neuroadaptive technology (NAT) is a closed-loop neurotechnology designed to enhance human–computer interaction. NAT works by collecting neurophysiological data, which are analysed via autonomous algorithms to create actions and adaptations at the user interface. This paper concerns how interaction with NAT can mediate self-related processing (SRP), such as self-awareness, self-knowledge, and agency. We begin with a postphenomenological analysis of the NAT closed loop to highlight the built-in selectivities of machine hermeneutics, i.e., autonomous chains of algorithms that convert data into an assessment of psychological states/intentions. We argue that these algorithms produce an assessment of lived experience that is quantitative, reductive, and highly simplistic. This reductive assessment of lived experience is presented to the user via feedback at the NAT interface and subsequently mediates SRP. It is argued that congruence between system feedback and SRP determines the precise character of the alterity relation between human user and system. If feedback confirms SRP, the technology is regarded as a quasi-self. If there is a disagreement between SRP and feedback from the system, NAT is perceived to be a quasi-other. We argue that the design of the user interface shapes the precise ways in which NAT can mediate SRP.
Influence of wood species and additives on emission behavior of wood pellets in a residential pellet stove and a boiler
Authors: Mack Robert , Schön Claudia , Kuptz Daniel , Hartmann Hans , Brunner Thomas , Obernberger Ingwald , Behr Hans Martin
Published: April 2023

Wood pellets on the German pellet market mainly consist of spruce wood, but other wood species are increasingly used during pellet production. Moreover, additives such as starch or kaolin can be added to improve fuel quality and combustion behavior. Consequently, wood pellets vary in their physical and chemical properties and this variation might affect combustion behavior in stoves and boilers. In this study, eight different wood species were used for pellet production at the Technology and Support Centre (TFZ). Three types of starch and one type of kaolin were added to spruce wood without bark, using two additivation levels (starch: 0.5 w-% and 1.8 w-%, kaolin: 0.17 and 0.34 w-%). All pellet assortments were analyzed according to international standards for solid biofuels and additional methods. Fuels were combusted in a 6-kW pellet stove and a 15-kW pellet boiler. Selection of wood species had a significant impact on CO emissions for the pellet stove ranging between 85 and 4189 mg/m3 and on TPM emissions ranging between 23 and 263 mg/m3. Similar combustion behavior was observed for the pellet boiler but on a lower emission level. Kaolin reduced CO and TPM emissions as well as slag formation when the additivation level was set according to stoichiometric calculations. When kaolin was overdosed, it had a negative impact on TPM emissions mainly in the pellet boiler, probably due to entrainment. Regarding particles from incomplete combustion, a negative impact of overdosed kaolin was observed. Overall, at the current state of the art, the pellet stove showed larger sensitivity towards variable pellet qualities compared to the automatic pellet boiler. This calls for further improvements in fuel design and stove technology.
Long-term trends in yield variance of temperate managed grassland
Authors: Macholdt Janna , Hadasch Steffen , Macdonald Andrew , Perryman Sarah , Piepho Hans-Peter , Scott Tony , Styczen Merete Elisabeth , Storkey Jonathan
Published: April 2023

The management of climate-resilient grassland systems is important for stable livestock fodder production. In the face of climate change, maintaining productivity while minimizing yield variance of grassland systems is increasingly challenging. To achieve climate-resilient and stable productivity of grasslands, a better understanding of the climatic drivers of long-term trends in yield variance and its dependence on agronomic inputs is required. Based on the Park Grass Experiment at Rothamsted (UK), we report for the first time the long-term trends in yield variance of grassland (1965–2018) in plots given different fertilizer and lime applications, with contrasting productivity and plant species diversity. We implemented a statistical model that allowed yield variance to be determined independently of yield level. Environmental abiotic covariates were included in a novel criss-cross regression approach to determine climatic drivers of yield variance and its dependence on agronomic management. Our findings highlight that sufficient liming and moderate fertilization can reduce yield variance while maintaining productivity and limiting loss of plant species diversity. Plots receiving the highest rate of nitrogen fertilizer or farmyard manure had the highest yield but were also more responsive to environmental variability and had less plant species diversity. We identified the days of water stress from March to October and temperature from July to August as the two main climatic drivers, explaining approximately one-third of the observed yield variance. These drivers helped explain consistent unimodal trends in yield variance—with a peak in approximately 1995, after which variance declined. Here, for the first time, we provide a novel statistical framework and a unique long-term dataset for understanding the trends in yield variance of managed grassland. The application of the criss-cross regression approach in other long-term agro-ecological trials could help identify climatic drivers of production risk and to derive agronomic strategies for improving the climate resilience of cropping systems.
Long-term care need, loneliness, and perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the German Ageing Survey
Authors: Hajek André , Grupp Katharina , Aarabi Ghazal , Gyasi Razak Mohammed , Freak-Poli Rosanne , Kretzler Benedikt , König Hans-Helmut
Published: April 2023

Background

There is a complete lack of studies focusing on the association between care degree (reflecting the long-term care need) and loneliness or social isolation in Germany.

Aims

To investigate the association between care degree and loneliness as well as perceived social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We used data from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey, which covers community-dwelling middle-aged and older individuals aged 40 years or over. We used wave 8 of the German Ageing Survey (analytical sample: n = 4334 individuals, mean age was 68.9 years, SD: 10.2 years; range 46–100 years). To assess loneliness, the De Jong Gierveld instrument was used. To assess perceived social isolation, the Bude and Lantermann instrument was used. Moreover, the level of care was used as a key independent variable (absence of care degree (0); care degree 1–5).

Results

After adjusting for various covariates, regressions showed that there were no significant differences between individuals without a care degree and individuals with a care degree of 1 or 2 in terms of loneliness and perceived social isolation. In contrast, individuals with a care degree of 3 or 4 had higher loneliness (β = 0.23, p = 0.034) and higher perceived social isolation scores (β = 0.38, p < 0.01) compared to individuals without a care degree.

Discussion/conclusions

Care degrees of 3 or 4 are associated with higher levels of both loneliness and perceived social isolation. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm this association.
Compact interactive dual-branch network for real-time semantic segmentation
Authors: Dong Yongsheng , Yang Haotian , Pei Yuanhua , Shen Longchao , Zheng Lintao , Li Peiluan
Published: April 2023

The traditional complete dual-branch structure is effective for semantic segmentation tasks. However, it is redundant in some sense. Moreover, the simple additive fusion of the features from the two branches may not achieve the satisfactory performance. To alleviate these two problems, in this paper we propose an efficient compact interactive dual-branch network (CIDNet) for real-time semantic segmentation. Specifically, we first build a compact interactive dual-branch structure by constructing a compact detail branch and a semantic branch. Furthermore, we build a detail-semantic interactive module to fuse several specific stages of the two branches in the backbone network with the corresponding stages of the detail resolution branch. Finally, we propose a dual-branch contextual attention fusion module to deeply fuse the extracted features and predict the final segmentation result. Extensive experiments on Cityscapes and CamVid dataset demonstrate that the proposed CIDNet achieve satisfactory trade-off between segmentation accuracy and inference speed, and outperforms 20 representative real-time semantic segmentation methods.
Enhancing context representations with part-of-speech information and neighboring signals for question classification
Authors: Gong Peizhu , Liu Jin , Xie Yurong , Liu Minjie , Zhang Xiliang
Published: April 2023

Question classification is an essential task in question answering (QA) systems. An effective and efficient question classification model can not only restrict the search space for answers, but also guide the QA system in selecting the optimal knowledge base and search strategy. In recent years, self-attention mechanism has been widely used in question classification for its strength of capturing global dependencies. However, it models all signals with weighted averaging, which is prone to overlooking the relation of neighboring signals. Furthermore, recent research has revealed that part-of-speech (POS) information can be used to determine and reinforce the semantics in sentence representation. In this paper, we propose a POS-aware adjacent relation attention network (POS-ARAN) for question classification, which enhance context representations with POS information and neighboring signals. To consider the local context, we propose an adjacent relation attention mechanism, which incorporates a Gaussian bias via a dynamic window to revise the vanilla self-attention mechanism. Thus, it can capture both the long-term dependency and local representation of semantic relations among words in different sentences. In addition, a POS-aware embedding layer is proposed, which helps to locate the appropriate headwords by syntactic information. Extensive experiments are conducted on Experimental Data for Question Classification (EDQC) dataset and Yahoo! Answers Comprehensive Questions and Answers 1.0, the results demonstrate that our model significantly outperforms the existing methods, achieving 95.59% in coarse-grained level accuracy and 92.91% in fine-grained level accuracy, respectively.
Are self-sacrificing employees liked by their supervisor?
Authors: Bande Belén , Kimura Takuma , Fernández-Ferrín Pilar , Castro-González Sandra , Goel Abhishek
Published: April 2023

Despite the growing prevalence of employee exemplification in the workplace, there is limited understanding of this assertive self-focused tactic. This study proposes to expand the exemplification research domain by exploring the emotional and behavioral conditions under which this impression management tactic is effective. Data analysis from 206 supervisor–employee dyads reveals that the indirect relationship between exemplification and individual performance through a supervisor’s liking is conditional on an employee’s emotional intelligence. Specifically, the exemplification effect on performance is sharply negative when a salesperson’s emotional intelligence is low, and it becomes insignificant when a salesperson is highly emotionally intelligent. This moderating effect is also strengthened by a supervisor’s age. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Geometric construction of Heisenberg–Weil representations for finite unitary groups and Howe correspondences
Authors: Imai Naoki , Tsushima Takahiro
Published: April 2023

We give a geometric construction of the Heisenberg–Weil representation of a finite unitary group by the middle étale cohomology of an algebraic variety over a finite field, whose rational points give a unitary Heisenberg group. Using also a Frobenius action, we give a geometric realization of the Howe correspondence for $$(\textrm{Sp}_{2n},\textrm{O}_2^-)$$

(

Sp

2
n

,

O
2
-

)

over any finite field including characteristic two. As an application, we show that unipotency is preserved under the Howe correspondence.
A Framework to Maximize Group Fairness for Workers on Online Labor Platforms
Authors: Rabaa Anis El , Elbassuoni Shady , Hanna Jihad , Mouawad Amer E. , Olleik Ayham , Amer-Yahia Sihem
Published: April 2023

As the number of online labor platforms and the diversity of jobs on these platforms increase, ensuring group fairness for workers needs to be the focus of job-matching services. Risk of discrimination against workers occurs in two different job-matching services: when someone is looking for a job (i.e., a job seeker) and when someone wants to deploy jobs (i.e., a job provider). To maximize their chances of getting hired, job seekers submit their profiles on different platforms. Similarly, job providers publish their job offers on multiple platforms with the goal of reaching a wide and diverse workforce. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework to maximize group fairness for workers 1) when job seekers are looking for jobs on multiple platforms, and 2) when jobs are being deployed by job providers on multiple platforms. We formulate each goal as different optimization problems with different constraints, prove most of them are computationally hard to solve and propose various efficient algorithms to solve all of them in reasonable time. We then design a series of experiments that rely on synthetic and semi-synthetic data generated from a real-world online labor platform to evaluate our framework.
A standardized clinical pathway for hip fracture patients is associated with reduced mortality: data from the Norwegian Hip Fracture Register
Authors: Garre-Fivelsdal Tuva Elisabeth , Gjertsen Jan-Erik , Dybvik Eva , Bakken Marit Stordal
Published: April 2023

Purpose

A standardized clinical pathway is recommended for hip fracture patients. We aimed to survey standardization of treatment in Norwegian hospitals and to investigate whether this affected 30-day mortality and quality of life after hip fracture surgery.

Methods

Based on the national guidelines for interdisciplinary treatment of hip fractures, nine criteria for a standardized clinical pathway were identified. A questionnaire was sent to all Norwegian hospitals treating hip fractures in 2020 to survey compliance with these criteria. A standardized clinical pathway was defined as a minimum of eight criteria fulfilled. Thirty-day mortality for patients treated in hospitals with and without a standardized clinical pathway was compared using data in the Norwegian Hip Fracture Register (NHFR).

Results

29 out of 43 hospitals (67%) answered the questionnaire. Of these, 20 hospitals (69%) had a standardized clinical pathway. Compared to these hospitals, there was a significantly higher 30-day mortality in hospitals without a standardized clinical pathway in the period 2016–2020 (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.04–1.23; p = 0.005). 4 months postoperatively, patients treated in hospitals with a standardized clinical pathway and patients treated in hospitals without a standardized clinical pathway reported an EQ-5D index score of 0.58 and 0.57 respectively (p = 0.038). Significantly more patients treated in hospitals with a standardized clinical pathway were 4 months postoperatively able to perform usual activities (29% vs 27%) and self-care (55% vs 52%) compared to hospitals without a standardized clinical pathway.

Conclusion

A standardized clinical pathway for hip fracture patients was associated with reduced 30-day mortality, but no clinically important difference in quality of life compared to a non-standardized clinical pathway.
Habitat suitability of a peatland landscape for tiger translocation on Kampar Peninsula, Sumatra, Indonesia
Authors: Pudyatmoko Satyawan , Budiman Arief , Siregar Andri Hansen
Published: April 2023

The risk of large carnivore mortality from anthropogenic sources is increased in areas where frequent human-carnivore encounters are high. Translocation is a potential tool for reducing these conflicts and re-establishing wild populations. Determining proper translocation sites for tigers is important for securing their future. In this research, we quantitatively evaluated the habitat suitability of a potential tiger translocation area on the Kampar Peninsula, a large peatland landscape in Sumatra. This landscape is essential for the conservation of the local tiger population, but its role as a tiger habitat has rarely been investigated. We conducted this research in a region with mosaicked land-use types covering an area of 7,045.89 km2. We applied species ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA) to model habitat suitability using species presence and ecogeographical variables as the bases. The model predicted that approximately 60% of the study area is tiger-suitable habitat with varying suitability levels. The tiger habitat characteristics in the study region are dissimilar to the global tiger habitat characteristics, and the high specialization value obtained indicates that tigers inhabit very narrow niches. Considering the low density of tigers in peatlands, we estimate that the carrying capacity of the whole Kampar landscape is approximately 13 tigers. Therefore, to conserve a viable tiger population, it is necessary to maintain connectivity between the Kampar peatlands and the Kerumutan landscape situated to the south of the Kampar Peninsula.
Darboux Transformation and Soliton Solutions for a Nonlocal Two-Component Complex Modified Korteweg–de Vries Equation
Authors: Feng Lian-li , Zhu Zuo-nong
Published: April 2023

In this paper, a nonlocal two-component complex modified Korteweg–de Vries (mKdV) equation is investigated and its Darboux transformation is derived. By using the Darboux transformation, soliton solutions are obtained which include dark soliton solution, quasi-W-type soliton, quasi-M-type soliton and periodic solution.
One Cool Guy: Scientific Contributions of John Hayward, Cold Water Pioneer
Authors: Leclerc Curtis , Giesbrecht Gordon G.
Published: April 2023

John Hayward, PhD (1937–2012), was an early and significant contributor to the understanding of cold water immersion physiology and survival. This article summarizes his work on the 50th anniversary of his first publication in this area. He described areas of high heat loss and emphasized the importance of protecting these areas during cold exposure using the Heat Escape Lessening Posture (HELP) and the potential for heat donation to these areas during rewarming. He described several factors that affect the rate of core cooling, including body composition, behavior (swimming increases cooling whereas the HELP position decreases cooling), wet and wind, and thermal protective garments (dry suits offered much more protection than wet suits). Hayward determined breath-hold duration in children as young as 4 y and had his own heart catheterized for 3 d to complete 3 hypothermia rewarming trials. His work provided early understanding of the cold shock response and ways to mitigate its threat to survival. Hayward provided valuable contributions to prediction models for heat production, heat loss, and core cooling rates in cold water. He also developed a human model for severe hypothermia and patented the UVic Thermofloat Jacket. Finally, as evidence of his stature in the cold physiology community, Hayward was a coauthor of the initial State of Alaska guidelines for the treatment of hypothermia. John Hayward was truly a cold water pioneer.
Experimental study of the mutual interactions between waves and tailored turbulence
Authors: Smeltzer Benjamin K. , Rømcke Olav , Hearst R. Jason , Ellingsen Simen Å.
Published: April 2023

When surface waves interact with ambient turbulence, the two affect each other mutually. Turbulent eddies get redirected, intensified and periodically stretched and compressed, while the waves suffer directional scattering. We study these mutual interactions experimentally in the water channel laboratory at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) Trondheim. Long groups of waves were propagated upstream on currents with identical mean flow but different turbulence properties, created by an active grid at the current inlet. The subsurface flow in the spanwise–vertical plane was measured with stereo particle-image velocimetry. Comparing the subsurface velocity fields before and after the passage of a wave group, a strong enhancement of streamwise vorticity is observed which increases rapidly towards the surface for

$k_0z\gtrsim -0.3$

(

$z$

, vertical distance from still surface;

$k_0$

, carrier wavenumber) in qualitative agreement with theory. Next, we measure the broadening of the directional wave spectrum at increasing propagation distance. The rate of directional diffusion is greatest for the turbulent case with the highest energy at the longest length scales whereas the highest total turbulent kinetic energy overall did not produce the most scattering. The variance of directional spectra is found to increase linearly as a function of propagation time.
THE UNEXPLORED CONTRACT AND INSOLVENCY LAW DIMENSIONS OF HEDLEY BYRNE V HELLER
Authors: Campbell David , Milman David
Published: April 2023

It has been argued in previous work that Hedley Byrne v Heller addressed no actual mischief. In the case itself, the defendant's credit reference about Easipower Ltd. was neither a misstatement nor negligently given, and in general the indemnification of reliance on negligent statements is far better regulated by contract than it can possibly be by negligent misstatement. This paper expands on the significance of contract relative to tort in Hedley Byrne, but mainly argues that the mischief perceived by the claimant was caused by the operation of the statutory regime regulating Easipower's insolvency. This makes regarding Hedley Byrne as a necessary response to “the privity of contract fallacy” even more implausible.