bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inviting Engagement with Atmospheres
Authors: Hurst Chris E. , Stinson Michela J.
Published: October 2023

In ‘Inviting Engagement with Atmospheres,’ Chris E. Hurst and Michela J. Stinson experiment by researching-with atmospheres in the Anthropocene. They locate their work within embodied ethical practices of proximity—of relational closeness and care, of messy middle-ness, and of being with place. Researching together and apart, they attend to the material and affective atmospheres of two Northern-adjacent tourism places in Ontario, Canada. Oriented toward cultivating multiple ways of knowing and being in the world, they research-with atmospheres as a methodological approach attending to the non-representational embodied, affective, and material experience of being-with places. They experiment with two atmospheric, conceptual propositions: fidelity and reverberations. As separate propositions brought into contact through their productive and disruptive possibilities, fidelity and reverberations remind us to linger with place, to feel, and to listen.
Linear Time-Varying Systems
Authors: Beffa Federico
Published: October 2023

In this chapter we consider linear time-varying (LTV) systems. These are systems whose behaviour depends on the particular moment in time at which they are used. The change with time may arise for example due to the sensitivity of system components to environmental changes. Examples of systems suffering from this type of sensitivity include wireless communication systems in which the communication channel between the transmitter- and the receiver-antennas is highly dependent on the environment in between and around the antennas.
Convolution Equations
Authors: Beffa Federico
Published: October 2023

The objective of this chapter is to show that the solution of ordinary differential equations, if based on distributions as opposed to functions, can be obtained by (mostly) algebraic methods. These methods are rigorous forms of the so-called Heaviside’s operational or symbolic calculus. The close relationship to the integral transforms that convert convolution into the ordinary multiplication is also shown. With this chapter we stop using uppercase letters such as T to denote distributions. Instead, we start using lowercase letters such as the ones typically used to denote functions, for example f. We also adopt the convention of denoting the Laplace transform of a distribution, say f, with the same letter, but changed to uppercase, e.g. , $$F = {\mathcal {L}}\{f\}$$. When we need to distinguish between the ordinary and the distributional differential operator, we will in general denote the former by $$\frac{\textrm{d}^{}}{\textrm{d}t^{}}$$ and continue to denote the latter by $$D$$.
Ark
Authors: Tsangaris Manos
Published: October 2023

This chapter provides a short meditation on the relationship between music and its institution, starting from first principles and exploring the constitution of the musical dispositive to arrive at an articulation of the critical project of the New Music scene. It ends by outlining the gradual stratification of this kind of critique, the slow process of its solidification until it finally becomes an institution unto itself.
Epistemological Stagflation and the Crisis of Democracy in Contemporary Music Research
Authors: Valiquet Patrick
Published: October 2023

This chapter uses the discourse of musicological lateness as an index of the changing capacity of contemporary music production in European universities to function as a source of institutional critique, and then stakes out a dissenting perspective on the political economy of music research today to show how historiographical and epistemological feelings have changed since musicology began to lag. Critique is framed in a ‘non-modern’ perspective emphasising the actions of institutions and governments as machines drifting closer or farther from states of equilibrium, rather than a modernist perspective privileging dialectical, subject-centred struggle against a ‘static’ past. The point is not to dismiss the ways that contemporary music theory has changed, but to show that musicological difference today is still actively produced around an entrenched set of institutional fractures, and to identify new critical questions about the political economy of music research today.
Black Music’s Institutional Critique
Authors: Piekut Benjamin
Published: October 2023

To consider institutional critique within the music field requires some alteration of its fundamental terms, because music had developed a second aesthetic system surrounding Black art and had institutionalised it much earlier than modern or contemporary art had. This de-universalisation of the European fine arts has consequences for the theory of critique. Black music’s governing institutions in the 1960s were the recording label, the night club, the summer festival, and the mass periodical, and artists such as Charles Mingus, Bill Dixon, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and Alice Coltrane worked to confront, evade, and change them. Black musicians were more likely to build institutions than to destroy them, a mission shared by adventurous groups like the AACM and conservative ones like Jazz at Lincoln Center. The critique of traditionally racist cultural formations by historically oppressed people was often delivered through hard-won participation, not abandonment.
My Via Dolorosa from (Impotent) Institutional Critique to the Founding of My Own Institution, the Norwegian Opra, with the Gradual Construction of the Followers of Ø Opra-Dorf on a Meadow in the Swedish Forest, Thereby (Maybe) Saving the Autonomy of Art
Authors: Reinholdtsen Trond
Published: October 2023

The chapter details how Reinholdtsen’s own fanatical pursuit of ultimate artistic autonomy and control of the means of production have led him to founding his own artist institution, The Norwegian Opra. Weaving together Broodthaers’ affirmative critique of the museum with the aspirations of Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen, he makes the case for the musical pursuit of a freely interdisciplinary compositional engagement with musical ‘material’, casting off historical cruft where it does not suit. Reinholdtsen points to our global institutional instability to underscore the need for musical artists to reaffirm their importance in society in a positive light, while never compromising their artistic expression.
Large-Scale Entity Alignment
Authors: Zhao Xiang , Zeng Weixin , Tang Jiuyang
Published: October 2023

In this chapter, we focus on the concept of entity alignment at scale and present a new method for addressing this task. The proposed solution is capable of handling vast amounts of knowledge graph pairs and delivering high-quality alignment outcomes. First, to manage large-scale KG pairs, we develop a set of seed-oriented graph partition strategies that divide them into smaller subgraph pairs. Next, within each subgraph pair, we employ existing methods to learn unified entity representations and introduce a novel reciprocal alignment inference strategy to model bidirectional alignment interactions, which can lead to more accurate outcomes. To further enhance the scalability of reciprocal alignment inference, we propose two variant strategies that can significantly reduce memory and time costs, albeit at the expense of slightly reduced effectiveness. Our solution is versatile and can be applied to existing representation learning-based EA models to enhance their ability to handle large-scale KG pairs. We also create a new EA dataset that comprises millions of entities and conduct comprehensive experiments to verify the efficiency of our proposed model. Furthermore, we compare our proposed model against state-of-the-art baselines on popular EA datasets, and our extensive experiments demonstrate its effectiveness and superiority.
Analysis of Molecular Surface/Interfacial Layer by Sum-Frequency Generation (SFG) Spectroscopy
Authors: Miyamae Takayuki , Akaike Kouki
Published: October 2023

This chapter reviews recent progress in polymer surfaces and interface studies using sum-frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. SFG is a surface-specific vibrational spectroscopic technique that has spread on a worldwide scale since it was first reported in 1987. The SFG principles, instruments, techniques, and experiments are presented in detail, and recent results on interfacial physics and chemistry at jointed interfaces are described. It focuses on SFG studies of the surfaces and buried interfaces of polymeric materials, such as modification of polymer surfaces, polymer-water, polymer-metal, and polymer–polymer interfaces. This review demonstrates that SFG is a powerful technique for nondestructive, in situ measurement of molecular level understanding at complex polymer surfaces and interfaces.
Causality bounds on scalar-tensor EFTs
Authors: Hong Dong-Yu , Wang Zhuo-Hui , Zhou Shuang-Yong
Published: October 2023

Abstract

We compute the causality/positivity bounds on the Wilson coefficients of scalar-tensor effective field theories. Two-sided bounds are obtained by extracting IR information from UV physics via dispersion relations of scattering amplitudes, making use of the full crossing symmetry. The graviton t-channel pole is carefully treated in the numerical optimization, taking into account the constraints with fixed impact parameters. It is shown that the typical sizes of the Wilson coefficients can be estimated by simply inspecting the dispersion relations. We carve out sharp bounds on the leading coefficients, particularly, the scalar-Gauss-Bonnet couplings, and discuss how some bounds vary with the leading (∂ϕ)4 coefficient and as well as phenomenological implications of the causality bounds.
Thermal one-point functions: CFT’s with fermions, large d and large spin
Authors: David Justin R. , Kumar Srijan
Published: October 2023

Abstract

We apply the OPE inversion formula on thermal two-point functions of fermions to obtain thermal one-point function of fermion bi-linears appearing in the corresponding OPE. We primarily focus on the OPE channel which contains the stress tensor of the theory. We apply our formalism to the mean field theory of fermions and verify that the inversion formula reproduces the spectrum as well as their corresponding thermal one-point functions. We then examine the large N critical Gross-Neveu model in d = 2k + 1 dimensions with k even and at finite temperature. We show that stress tensor evaluated from the inversion formula agrees with that evaluated from the partition function at the critical point. We demonstrate the expectation values of 3 different classes of higher spin currents are all related to each other by numerical constants, spin and the thermal mass. We evaluate the ratio of the thermal expectation values of higher spin currents at the critical point to the Gaussian fixed point or the Stefan-Boltzmann result, both for the large N critical O(N) model and the Gross-Neveu model in odd dimensions. This ratio is always less than one and it approaches unity on increasing the spin with the dimension d held fixed. The ratio however approaches zero when the dimension d is increased with the spin held fixed.
Low projectile density contributions in the dilute-dense CGC framework for two-particle correlations
Authors: Kohara Anderson Kendi , Marquet Cyrille , Vila Víctor
Published: October 2023

Abstract

At leading-order, the standard dilute-dense Color Glass Condensate formula used for two-particle correlations in proton-nucleus collisions, whose symmetries prevent the generation of odd azimuthal anisotropy harmonics, is the dilute projectile limit of the dense-dense formalism. However, when the projectile is genuinely dilute, the complete formulation contains additional contributions at the same leading order in the strong coupling constant. In this work we investigate those low projectile density contributions that are relevant when the particles are produced at forward rapidities. We find that they are responsible for non-zero odd harmonics which are negative, in qualitative agreement with recent experimental measurements at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider.
Friend or foe? Exploring the implications of large language models on the science system
Authors: Fecher Benedikt , Hebing Marcel , Laufer Melissa , Pohle Jörg , Sofsky Fabian
Published: October 2023

The advent of ChatGPT by OpenAI has prompted extensive discourse on its potential implications for science and higher education. While the impact on education has been a primary focus, there is limited empirical research on the effects of large language models (LLMs) and LLM-based chatbots on science and scientific practice. To investigate this further, we conducted a Delphi study involving 72 researchers specializing in AI and digitization. The study focused on applications and limitations of LLMs, their effects on the science system, ethical and legal considerations, and the required competencies for their effective use. Our findings highlight the transformative potential of LLMs in science, particularly in administrative, creative, and analytical tasks. However, risks related to bias, misinformation, and quality assurance need to be addressed through proactive regulation and science education. This research contributes to informed discussions on the impact of generative AI in science and helps identify areas for future action.
Diet of loggerhead turtles in the Gulf of Manfredonia, South Adriatic Sea: evidence of winter feeding and anthropogenic impacts
Authors: Baldi Giulia , Miglianti Mara , Salvemini Pasquale , Casale Paolo
Published: October 2023

Investigating biological aspects of migratory marine animals like sea turtles is challenging. The Adriatic Sea is a key Mediterranean foraging ground for loggerhead turtles, yet certain feeding behaviors remain poorly known, including winter feeding and foraging within the neritic area of the Gulf of Manfredonia. With high fishing effort, this area experiences considerable turtle bycatch from trawlers during winter, representing an important conservation issue. Insights on how and to what extent the species interacts with anthropogenic threats such as trawlers and debris can be obtained from diet analysis. We examined feces and gut contents from 57 bycaught or stranded turtles to assess active feeding and digestion time during winter, identify and quantify prey items, evaluate feeding patterns among size classes, and ascertain the anthropogenic impact via debris and fishing discard ingestion. Our findings show that turtles feed actively during winter, primarily on benthic items, starting from a small size (32 cm Curved Carapace Length). No size effect was observed on dietary diversity or biomass percentage. We identified 37 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) across 10 dietary groups, with crustaceans and mollusks being most prevalent. Osteichthyes and cephalopods, likely scavenged from trawl discard, were also common, implying intensive local trawling may attract turtles, increasing bycatch and mortality rates. The frequency of anthropogenic material ingestion was comparable to other Mediterranean regions and its presence in feces suggests non-lethal effects, if any. This study shows how information on seasonal feeding behavior can provide insights into how the relationship of the species with the environment and threats changes over time, ultimately steering conservation efforts.
Laypersons versus experienced surgeons in assessing simulated robot-assisted radical prostatectomy
Authors: Olsen Rikke Groth , Konge Lars , Hayatzaki Khalilullah , Mortensen Mike Allan , Bube Sarah Hjartbro , Røder Andreas , Azawi Nessn , Bjerrum Flemming
Published: October 2023

Background

Feedback is important for surgical trainees but it can be biased and time-consuming. We examined crowd-sourced assessment as an alternative to experienced surgeons’ assessment of robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Methods

We used video recordings (n = 45) of three RARP modules on the RobotiX, Simbionix simulator from a previous study in a blinded comparative assessment study. A group of crowd workers (CWs) and two experienced RARP surgeons (ESs) evaluated all videos with the modified Global Evaluative Assessment of Robotic Surgery (mGEARS).

Results

One hundred forty-nine CWs performed 1490 video ratings. Internal consistency reliability was high (0.94). Inter-rater reliability and test–retest reliability were low for CWs (0.29 and 0.39) and moderate for ESs (0.61 and 0.68). In an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test, CWs could not discriminate between the skill level of the surgeons (p = 0.03–0.89), whereas ES could (p = 0.034).

Conclusion

We found very low agreement between the assessments of CWs and ESs when they assessed robot-assisted radical prostatectomies. As opposed to ESs, CWs could not discriminate between surgical experience using the mGEARS ratings or when asked if they wanted the surgeons to perform their robotic surgery.
Coordination of hydraulic and functional traits in ten species of trees of the Sonoran Desert
Authors: Gonzalez-Rebeles Georgina , Terrazas Teresa , Mendez-Alonzo Rodrigo , Tinoco-Ojanguren Clara
Published: October 2023

Leave’s vein xylem and stomata hydraulic traits should be critically linked to modulating plant responses to drought in leaves of desert species, influencing traits at the whole-plant level and promoting adaptation. We tested for coordination among leaf vein xylem anatomical traits across different hierarchical orders (hydraulic vessel diameter, vein area, free veins per area, areolas per area, total free veins number, total areola number) and stomatal traits (stomatal size, stomatal density, stomatal index, leaf total stomatal area, leaf total stomatal number) as well as their relationship with the leaf area in ten tree species from the Sonoran Desert scrub, Mexico. Moreover, these traits were correlated with other hydraulic and functional traits associated with resource use strategies (hydroscape area, stem-specific density, leaf mass per area, and leaf phenology). Leaf total stomatal area and number were positively associated with vessel diameters at the midrib and with leaf total free terminal veins and areola number, indicating coordination between water transpiration and transport. Also, interspecific differences fit species along a physiological resource use spectrum, following an exploitative vs. conservative physiological axis. Accordingly, species with lower leaf longevity (LL) and foliage duration at the canopy (FD) displayed higher values of stomatal indices and free vein densities, higher stomata density; and anatomical traits related to higher hydraulic conductance and gas exchange in comparison to species with higher LL and FD. Therefore, in this community, species have been selected to take advantage of different temporal hydrological niches to enhance survival under unpredictable and highly seasonal water availability.
A novel classification that defines the normal cervical spine: an analysis based on 632 asymptomatic Chinese volunteers
Authors: Zhang Zixiao , Wang Jinyu , Ge Rile , Guo Chen , Liang Yan , Liu Haiying , Xu Shuai
Published: October 2023

Purpose

The “normal” cervical spine may be non-lordotic shapes and the cervical spine alignment targets are less well established. So, the study was to propose novel classification for cervical spine morphologies with Chinese asymptomatic subjects, and to address cervical balance status based on the classification.

Method

An overall 632 asymptomatic individuals on cervical spine were selected from January 2020 to December 2022, with six age groups from 20–30 year to 70 plus group. Cervical alignment contained C2-7 cervical lordosis (C2-7 CL) and T1 slope (T1S), together with C1-2 CL, C2-4 CL, C5-7 CL, C2S, cervical sagittal vertical axis (CSVA), thoracic inlet angle (TIA) and neck tilt (NT). C2-7 cervical lordosis was regarded as primary outcomes. To identify groups with similar cervical alignment parameters, a 2-step cluster analysis was performed.

Results

C2-7 CL, T1S, CSVA, TIA and NT increased by age and mean value of them were larger in male than female group. Four unique clusters of female lordotic cluster, female kyphotic cluster, male lordotic cluster and male kyphotic cluster were classified mainly based on gender and C2-C7 CL. T1S was the independent influencing factor for C2-7 CL in all individuals and C2-7 CL = -28.65 + 0.57 × TIA, which varied from clusters. Although interactions among cervical parameters, it showed the alignment was more coordinated in lordotic groups.

Conclusions

The cervical sagittal profile varied with age and gender. Four clusters were naturally classified based on C2-7 CL and gender. The cervical balance status was addressed by C2-7 CL =  − 28.65 + 0.57 × TIA.
Chairside oral prophylaxis for people with profound intellectual or multiple disabilities—a retrospective feasibility study
Authors: Auerbacher Marc , Gebetsberger Lydia , Hickel Reinhard , Kaisarly Dalia
Published: October 2023

Objectives

People with severe intellectual or multiple disabilities (PIMD) have been receiving dental care in a specialized unit offering special care dentistry. For most of these adult patients, the initial consultation is complaint driven. In addition, the limited ability to cooperate due to their disabilities often means that dental treatment for these patients is usually carried out under general anesthesia (GA). Chairside treatment attempts are the exception rather than the rule. This retrospective study evaluated whether consistent practice of behavioral management principles and techniques embedded in a specific dental environment enables successful dental treatment of PIMD.

Materials and methods

The feasibility of chairside dental prophylaxis in PIMD (n=36) was analyzed: specific behavioral management techniques were applied, and professional tooth cleaning (PTC) was performed in the dental chair. Clinical data obtained from medical records and a questionnaire were analyzed.

Results

All patients had severe intellectual or multiple disabilities and had previously undergone at least one dental treatment under GA. Of these patients, 55.6% never had their teeth professionally cleaned before. Applying different behavioral techniques, all patients were compliant with receiving PTC in the dental chair.

Conclusions

An individualized and disability-specific treatment strategy using various noninvasive and nonpharmacological behavioral guidance techniques resulted in a higher compliance rate in PIMD, which allowed chairside PTC and reduced the need for treatment under GA.

Clinical relevance

Consistent implementation of various behavioral guidance techniques and communication strategies in a supportive environment enabled all patients to receive chairside PTC and be involved in a lifelong recall program.
Increased recognition of Q fever aortitis as a chronic manifestation of Q fever in tropical North Queensland, Australia
Authors: Price Cody , Smith Simon , Stewart James , Palesy Tom , Corbitt Matthew , Galappaththy Charith , Hanson Josh
Published: October 2023

Aortitis is a life-threatening, manifestation of chronic Q fever. We report a series of 5 patients with Q fever aortitis who have presented to our hospital in tropical Australia since 2019. All diagnoses were confirmed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of aortic tissue. Only one had a previous diagnosis of acute Q fever, and none had classical high-risk exposures that might increase clinical suspicion for the infection. All patients underwent surgery: one died and 3 had significant complications. Q fever aortitis may be underdiagnosed; clinicians should consider testing for Coxiella burnetii in people with aortic pathology in endemic areas.
Compactifications of indefinite 3-Sasaki structures and their quaternionic Kähler quotients
Authors: Gover A. Rod , Neusser Katharina , Willse Travis
Published: October 2023

We show that 3-Sasaki structures admit a natural description in terms of projective differential geometry. First we establish that a 3-Sasaki structure may be understood as a projective structure whose tractor connection admits a holonomy reduction, satisfying a particular non-vanishing condition, to the (possibly indefinite) unitary quaternionic group $${\text {Sp}}(p,q)$$

Sp
(
p
,
q
)

. Moreover, we show that, if a holonomy reduction to $${\text {Sp}}(p,q)$$

Sp
(
p
,
q
)

of the tractor connection of a projective structure does not satisfy this condition, then it decomposes the underlying manifold into a disjoint union of strata including open manifolds with (indefinite) 3-Sasaki structures and a closed separating hypersurface at infinity with respect to the 3-Sasaki metrics. It is shown that the latter hypersurface inherits a Biquard–Fefferman conformal structure, which thus (locally) fibers over a quaternionic contact structure, and which in turn compactifies the natural quaternionic Kähler quotients of the 3-Sasaki structures on the open manifolds. As an application, we describe the projective compactification of (suitably) complete, non-compact (indefinite) 3-Sasaki manifolds and recover Biquard’s notion of asymptotically hyperbolic quaternionic Kähler metrics.
Large language models for chemistry robotics
Authors: Yoshikawa Naruki , Skreta Marta , Darvish Kourosh , Arellano-Rubach Sebastian , Ji Zhi , Bjørn Kristensen Lasse , Li Andrew Zou , Zhao Yuchi , Xu Haoping , Kuramshin Artur , Aspuru-Guzik Alán , Shkurti Florian , Garg Animesh
Published: October 2023

This paper proposes an approach to automate chemistry experiments using robots by translating natural language instructions into robot-executable plans, using large language models together with task and motion planning. Adding natural language interfaces to autonomous chemistry experiment systems lowers the barrier to using complicated robotics systems and increases utility for non-expert users, but translating natural language experiment descriptions from users into low-level robotics languages is nontrivial. Furthermore, while recent advances have used large language models to generate task plans, reliably executing those plans in the real world by an embodied agent remains challenging. To enable autonomous chemistry experiments and alleviate the workload of chemists, robots must interpret natural language commands, perceive the workspace, autonomously plan multi-step actions and motions, consider safety precautions, and interact with various laboratory equipment. Our approach, CLAIRify, combines automatic iterative prompting with program verification to ensure syntactically valid programs in a data-scarce domain-specific language that incorporates environmental constraints. The generated plan is executed through solving a constrained task and motion planning problem using PDDLStream solvers to prevent spillages of liquids as well as collisions in chemistry labs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in planning chemistry experiments, with plans successfully executed on a real robot using a repertoire of robot skills and lab tools. Specifically, we showcase the utility of our framework in pouring skills for various materials and two fundamental chemical experiments for materials synthesis: solubility and recrystallization. Further details about CLAIRify can be found at https://ac-rad.github.io/clairify/.
Lying and Cheating the Company: The Positive and Negative Effects of Corporate Activism on Unethical Consumer Behavior
Authors: Kang In-Hye , Kirmani Amna
Published: October 2023

Companies are increasingly engaging in corporate activism, defined as taking a public stance on controversial sociopolitical issues. Whereas prior research focuses on consumers’ brand perceptions, attitudes, and purchase behavior, we identify a novel consumer response to activism, unethical consumer behavior. Unethical behavior, such as lying or cheating a company, is prevalent and costly. Across five studies, we show that the effect of corporate activism on unethical behavior is moderated by consumers’ political ideology and mediated by desire for punishment. When the company’s activism stand is [incongruent/congruent] with the consumer’s political ideology, consumers experience [increased/decreased] desire to punish the company, thereby [increasing/decreasing] unethical behavior toward the company. More importantly, we identify two moderators of this process. The effect is attenuated when the company’s current stance is inconsistent with its political reputation and when the immorality of the unethical behavior is high.
Organizational factors affecting higher education collaboration networks: evidence from Europe
Authors: Zinilli Antonio , Pierucci Eleonora , Reale Emanuela
Published: October 2023

We explore the role of organizational factors in research collaboration networks among European universities. The study of organizational drivers in shaping collaboration patterns is crucial for policy design aimed at reducing research fragmentation and fostering knowledge creation and diffusion. By using Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGMs) and controlling for spatial factors, we investigate the role of two main mechanisms guiding the partners’ selection process: organizational attributes and homophily. We investigate two distinct scientific collaboration networks (i.e., projects and publications) and two research domains (Physical Sciences and Engineering, and Life Sciences) over the 2011–2016 time period. Our empirical evidence reveals that, among the main dimensions indicated by the literature, research capability (measured by the dimension of doctoral programs) has the clearest and most stable impact either on the tendency to establish collaboration ties or as homophily effect. In terms of policy implications, it emerges that organizational similarity in research capability matters and policy makers should consider doctoral programs as a strategic variable to promote successful collaborations in scientific research.
Asian American Women’s Experiences of Discrimination and Health Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Wang Katarina , Guan Alice , Seto Janice , Oh Debora L. , Lau Kathie , Duffy Christine , Castillo Esperanza , McGuire Valerie , Wadhwa Michelle , Tepper Clifford G. , Wakelee Heather A. , DeRouen Mindy C. , Shariff-Marco Salma , Cheng Iona , Gomez Scarlett Lin
Published: October 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated racism experienced by Asian Americans, especially women and older individuals. Little is known about how discriminatory experiences during the pandemic have influenced health behaviors among Asian Americans. Between 10/2021 and 6/2022, we surveyed 193 Asian American women in the San Francisco area. Participants were asked to report types of discrimination they experienced since March 2020. We explored bivariable associations of discrimination and changes in health behaviors and healthcare utilization. Most women were Chinese American (75%) and over 45-years-old (87%). The top three discriminatory experiences reported were being treated with less respect (60%), being treated unfairly at restaurants/stores (49%), and people acting as if they are better (47%). Chinese American women (vs. non-Chinese Asian American women) reported higher frequencies of being threatened/harassed (40% vs. 22%). Women who reported any discriminatory experience (vs. none) were more likely to report less physical exercise (42.7% vs. 26.3%) and canceling/rescheduling medical appointments (65.0% vs. 45.1%). Our findings begin to elucidate Asian American women’s experiences of discrimination since the pandemic and provide evidence of the harmful impacts of anti-Asian racism on health behaviors.
A Distributed Virtual-Machine Placement and Migration Approach Based on Modern Portfolio Theory
Authors: Silva Filho Manoel C. , Monteiro Claudio C. , Inácio Pedro Ricardo M. , Freire Mário M.
Published: October 2023

Virtual machine placement and migration (VMPM) are key operations for managing cloud resources. Considering the large scale of cloud infrastructures, several proposals still fail to provide a comprehensive and scalable solution. A variety of approaches have been used to address this issue, e.g., the modern portfolio theory (MPT). Originally formulated for financial markets, MPT enables the construction of a portfolio of financial assets in order to maximize profit and reduce risk. This paper presents a novel VMPM approach applying MPT and incremental statistics computation for VMPM decision-making so as to maximize resource usage while minimizing under and overload. Extensive simulation experiments were conducted using CloudSim Plus, relying on synthetic data, PlanetLab and Google Cluster traces. Results show that the proposal is highly scalable and largely reduces computational complexity and memory footprint, making it suitable for large-scale cloud service providers.
Genetic predictors of neurocognitive outcomes in survivors of pediatric brain tumors
Authors: Grob Sydney T. , Miller Kristen R. , Sanford Bridget , Donson Andrew M. , Jones Kenneth , Griesinger Andrea M. , Amani Vladimir , Foreman Nicholas K. , Liu Arthur , Handler Michael , Hankinson Todd C. , Milgrom Sarah , Levy Jean M. Mulcahy
Published: October 2023

Background

Neurocognitive deficits are common in pediatric brain tumor survivors. The use of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis in DNA repair genes may identify children treated with radiation therapy for brain tumors at increased risk for treatment toxicity and adverse neurocognitive outcomes.

Materials

The Human 660W-Quad v1.0 DNA BeadChip analysis (Illumina) was used to evaluate 1048 SNPs from 59 DNA repair genes in 46 subjects. IQ testing was measured by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. Linear regression was used to identify the 10 SNPs with the strongest association with IQ scores while adjusting for radiation type.

Results

The low vs high IQ patient cohorts were well matched for time from first treatment to most recent IQ, first treatment age, sex, and treatments received. 5 SNPs on 3 different genes (CYP29, XRCC1, and BRCA1) and on 3 different chromosomes (10, 19, and 17) had the strongest association with most recent IQ score that was not modified by radiation type. Furthermore, 5 SNPs on 4 different genes (WRN, NR3C1, ERCC4, RAD51L1) on 4 different chromosomes (8, 5, 16, 14) had the strongest association with change in IQ independent of radiation type, first IQ, and years between IQ measures.

Conclusions

SNPs offer the potential to predict adverse neurocognitive outcomes in pediatric brain tumor survivors. Our results require validation in a larger patient cohort. Improving the ability to identify children at risk of treatment related neurocognitive deficits could allow for better treatment stratification and early cognitive interventions.
Alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life in regional, rural and metropolitan Australia: analysis of cross-sectional data from the Community Health and Rural/Regional Medicine (CHARM) study
Authors: Redwood Lisa , Saarinen Karli , Ivers Rowena , Garne David , de Souza Paul , Bonney Andrew , Rhee Joel , Mullan Judy , Thomas Susan J.
Published: October 2023

Background

Relationships between alcohol consumption and health are complex and vary between countries, regions, and genders. Previous research in Australia has focused on estimating the effect of alcohol consumption on mortality. However, little is known about the relationships between alcohol consumption and health-related quality of life (QoL) in Australia. This study aimed to investigate the levels of alcohol intake and QoL in males and females in rural, regional and metropolitan areas of Australia.

Method

Participants (n = 1717 Australian adults) completed an online cross-sectional study. Males and females were compared on measures including the AUDIT-C and WHOQOL-BREF. Data were stratified into risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and associations were examined between alcohol consumption and QoL, adjusting for sociodemographic variables.

Results

Males had higher alcohol consumption and were at greater risk of AUD than females (20% vs 8%). Relationships between alcohol consumption and QoL were positive or non-significant for low–moderate AUD risk categories and negative in the severe AUD risk category. Males in regional communities reported higher alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C score 6.6 vs 4.1, p < 0.01) than metropolitan areas. Regression analyses identified that after adjusting for sociodemographic variables, alcohol consumption was positively related to overall, environmental, and physical QoL and general health.

Conclusion

The results indicate that alcohol consumption is negatively related to QoL only in those with severe risk of AUD. Males in regional areas reported higher alcohol consumption than those in metropolitan areas. These results provide further information about relationships between alcohol intake and health in Australia that can help inform prevention, screening and delivery of interventions.
Academic co-authorship is a risky game
Authors: Lazebnik Teddy , Beck Stephan , Shami Labib
Published: October 2023

Conducting a project with multiple participants is a complex task that involves multiple social, economic, and psychological interactions. Conducting academic research in general and the process of writing an academic manuscript, in particular, is notorious for being challenging to successfully navigate due to the current form of collaboration dynamics common in academia. In this study, we propose a game-theory-based model for a co-authorship writing project in which authors are allowed to raise an ultimatum, blocking the publishment of the manuscript if they do not get more credit for the work. Using the proposed model, we explore the influence of the contribution and utility of publishing the manuscript on the rate one or more authors would gain from raising an ultimatum. Similarly, we show that the project’s duration and the current state have a major impact on this rate, as well as the number of authors. In addition, we examine common student-advisor and colleague-colleague co-authorships scenarios. Our model reveals disturbing results and demonstrates that the current, broadly accepted, academic practices for collaborations are designed in a way that stimulates authors to raise an ultimatum and stopped only by their integrity and not by a systematic design.
Bulgakov’s sophiology and the neopatristic synthesis
Authors: van Kessel Josephien H. J.
Published: October 2023

In 1922, many representatives of the Russian Intelligentsia, including many philosophers, were exiled from the young soviet state. Many left with the so-called Philosophy Steamer (Chamberlain in The philosophy steamer: Lenin and the exile of the intelligensia (2006) Atlantic Books). The exiled philosophers tried to go on with their previous professional lives in cities as Prague, Berlin and Paris. The St. Serge Orthodox Theological Institute in Paris, founded by, among others, Sergei Bulgakov (1871–1944), became the new center of Russian religious philosophy and theology in Europe. Soon, however, the community of immigrant Russian religious philosophers and theologians was divided by conflicting opinions, and fell apart in various brotherhoods and movements.

An important conflict was the so-called Sophia controversy: the Brotherhood of St. Photius, which included Vladimir Lossky (1903–1958), as well as the famous spokesman of the Neopatristic Synthesis, Fr. Georges Florovsky (1893–1979), attacked the Brotherhood of St. Sophia, which included the above mentioned Bulgakov. His Sophiology, or study of Sophia, Divine Wisdom, was accused of heresy on the instigation of Florovsky and Lossky. From this Sophia controversy, the Neopatristic Synthesis emerged as the dominant school of Russian Orthodox Theology, whereas Sophiology fell practically into oblivion.

This article will attempt to answer the question whether there is still room for a re-valuation of the sophiological stance in Orthodox theology through a survey of recent literature on the subject. The article will conclude the affirmative: namely, that the controversy is shown to be the result of a conflict between generations and the necessity to empower their Orthodox identity in emigration, rather than the result of intrinsic philosophical or theological differences.
L’Ralph: A Visible/Infrared Spectral Imager for the Lucy Mission to the Trojans
Authors: Reuter D. C. , Simon A. A. , Lunsford A. , Kaplan H. , Garrison M. , Simpson J. , Casto G. , Dolch Z. , Finneran P. , Grundy W. , Howett C. , Kim P. , Loose M. , Null T. , Parong F. , Rodriguez-ruiz J. , Roming P. , Smith K. , Thompson P. , Tokarcik B. , Veach T. , Wall S. , Ward J. , Weigle E. , Levison H.
Published: October 2023

The Lucy Mission to the Trojan asteroids in Jupiter’s orbit carries an instrument named L’Ralph, a visible/near infrared multi-spectral imager and a short wavelength infrared hyperspectral imager. It is one of the core instruments on Lucy, NASA’s first mission to the Trojans. L’Ralph’s primary purpose is to map the surface geology and composition of these objects, but it will also be used to search for possible tenuous exospheres. It is compact, low mass (32.3 kg), power efficient (24.5 W), and robust with high sensitivity and excellent imaging. These characteristics, and its high degree of redundancy, make L’Ralph ideally suited to this long-duration multi-flyby reconnaissance mission.
That’s not me: (Dis)concordance between pSTEM nerd-genius stereotypes and self-concepts predicts high school students’ pSTEM identity
Authors: Starr Christine R. , Leaper Campbell
Published: October 2023

Nerd-genius stereotypes about people in the physical sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (pSTEM) are barriers to getting many adolescent girls interested in pSTEM. Endorsing these stereotypes may undermine youths’ pSTEM identity especially when they are incongruent with their self-concepts—possibly more likely for girls than boys. Conversely, pSTEM identity may strengthen when stereotypes are congruent—possibly more for boys than girls. We tested these premises among 310 adolescents. Novel contributions of the study include the separate evaluation of youths’ endorsement of four stereotypes about persons in pSTEM (geniuses, awkward, unattractive, unsuccessful at dating) and the separate consideration of two facets of self-concepts (competence and importance) in each stereotyped domain. Factor analyses confirmed the four-factor structure for self-concepts but indicated a two-factor structure for stereotypes (nerd [awkward, unattractive, unsuccessful at dating] and genius). Students’ pSTEM identity was based on their felt typicality with persons in pSTEM fields. Our results generally confirmed our hypothesized model for self-perceived competence but not for importance. Congruence predicted higher pSTEM identity. Conversely, incongruence predicted lower pSTEM identity.
Growth performance, digestive function, thyroid activity, and immunity of growing rabbits fed olive cake with or without Saccharomyces cerevisiae or citric acid
Authors: Elbaz Ahmed M. , Farrag Bahaa , Mesalam Noura M. , Basuony Hamdy A. , Badran Aml M. M. , Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Moneim Eid
Published: October 2023

The present study investigated the impact of dietary inclusion of olive cakes (OC) with or without Saccharomyces cerevisiae (SC) and citric acid (CA) on growth, digestive function, thyroid activity, antioxidant status, immunity, and intestinal architecture of growing rabbits. One hundred forty 35-day-old male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly assigned into seven experimental groups with five replicates each, as follows: control (CN), fed the basal diet; OC20 and OC25, fed diets with 20 and 25% OC; OS20 and OS25, fed diets containing 20 and 25% OC with S. cerevisiae at 5 g/kg diet; OA20 and OA25, fed diets supplemented with 20 and 25% OC with 1.0% citric acid. No differences in live body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and carcass traits were noticed among experimental groups, while body weight gain and carcass (%) were increased (P < 0.05) in OS20 compared to the control. Digestibility coefficients of all nutrients and activities of amylase, cellulose, and trypsin did not differ in treated groups compared to the control except for OS20, which recorded enhancement in nutrient digestibility. Plasma triiodothyronine and thyroxine were elevated (P < 0.05), while triglycerides and cholesterol were reduced (P < 0.05) in OS20 compared to CN. Plasma concentrations of immunoglobulin M and G and superoxide dismutase were increased in treated groups compared to the control. Dietary inclusion of SC and CA improved rabbits’ intestinal health, as the cecal Lactobacillus count was increased, E. coli count was decreased, and villus height was elevated in SC- and CA-treated groups. In conclusion, dietary incorporation of SC or CA enhanced the nutritional value of OC and improved growth performance, nutrient digestibility, thyroid activity, antioxidative status, and gut health of growing rabbits.
KC-GEE: knowledge-based conditioning for generative event extraction
Authors: Wu Tongtong , Shiri Fatemeh , Kang Jingqi , Qi Guilin , Haffari Gholamreza , Li Yuan-Fang
Published: October 2023

Event extraction is an important, but challenging task. Many existing techniques decompose it into event and argument detection/classification subtasks, which are complex structured prediction problems. Generation-based extraction techniques lessen the complexity of the problem formulation and are able to leverage the reasoning capabilities of large pretrained language models. However, they still suffer from poor zero-shot generalizability and are ineffective in handling long contexts such as documents. We propose a generative event extraction model, KC-GEE, that addresses these limitations. A key contribution of KC-GEE is a novel knowledge-based conditioning technique that injects the schema of candidate event types as the prefix into each layer of an encoder-decoder language model. This enables effective zero-shot learning and improves supervised learning. Our experiments on two benchmark datasets demonstrate the strong performance of our KC-GEE model. It achieves particularly strong results in the challenging document-level extraction task and in the zero-shot learning setting, outperforming state-of-the-art models by up to 5.4 absolute F1 points.
An ICP-MS study on metal content in biodiesel and bioglycerol produced from heated and unheated canola oils
Authors: Bojesomo Rukayat S. , Raj Abhijeet , Elkadi Mirella , Ali Mohamed I. Hassan , Stephen Sasi
Published: October 2023

This study addresses the challenges of biodiesel production costs and waste oil disposal by investigating the use of low-cost waste oil as a feedstock. The impact of heating temperature on biodiesel yield and trace metal levels is examined using response surface methodology (RSM). Optimal conditions for high biodiesel yields (95–98%) from canola oil are determined with a methanol/oil ratio of 12:1, 1 wt% catalyst, and 60-min reaction time. For crude bioglycerol, the optimal conditions involve a methanol/oil ratio of 4.25:1, 2.93 wt% catalyst, and 119.15-min reaction time. Elemental analysis reveals the presence of high-concentration metals like Cu and Zn and low-concentration ones such as Pb, As, Se, and Zr in both oil feedstocks and their respective biodiesel and bioglycerol products. The study demonstrates that thermal stress on canola oil significantly impacts biodiesel and bioglycerol yields and trace metal levels during the transesterification process. The findings contribute to enhancing cost-effectiveness and environmental sustainability in biodiesel production.