bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Cryopreservation of ram semen: Manual versus programmable freezing and different lengths of equilibration
Authors: Vozaf Jakub , Makarevich Alexander V. , Balazi Andrej , Vasicek Jaromir , Svoradova Andrea , Olexikova Lucia , Chrenek Peter
Published: December 2021

The aim of our study was to examine effects of the length of semen equilibration as well as two freezing techniques on ram sperm post‐thaw quality. The ejaculates of Wallachian sheep rams (n = 12) were collected by an electro‐ejaculation, equilibrated in a Triladyl® (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 h) containing glycerol and egg yolk and frozen by programmable freezing (PF) or manual freezing (MF). After thawing, sperm samples were subjected to the motility (computer‐assisted sperm analysis [CASA]), viability (SYBR‐14/PI), and fertilizing ability (FA) (in vitro penetration/fertilization test on bovine oocytes) assays. It was found that the equilibration of 6 h (E‐6) ensured higher post‐thaw sperm motility and progressive movement compared with other lengths tested, irrespective of a freezing technique. The E‐6 sperm viability did not differ between PF and MF but was lower (P < 0.05) than control. Sperm FA (E‐6) was similar in PF (60.44%) and MF (62%) but slightly lower than in fresh (72.8%). Our data demonstrate that the use of MF was comparable with PF, which can be applied in the field conditions without need in a piece of cost‐expensive equipment, which can greatly benefit the gene bank of animal genetic resources.
Neural Networks for Clustered and Longitudinal Data Using Mixed Effects Models
Authors: Mandel Francesca , Ghosh Riddhi Pratim , Barnett Ian
Published: December 2021

Although most statistical methods for the analysis of longitudinal data have focused on retrospective models of association, new advances in mobile health data have presented opportunities for predicting future health status by leveraging an individual's behavioral history alongside data from similar patients. Methods that incorporate both individual-level and sample-level effects are critical to using these data to its full predictive capacity. Neural networks are powerful tools for prediction, but many assume input observations are independent even when they are clustered or correlated in some way, such as in longitudinal data. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMM) provide a flexible framework for modeling longitudinal data but have poor predictive power particularly when the data are highly nonlinear. We propose a generalized neural network mixed model that replaces the linear fixed effect in a GLMM with the output of a feed-forward neural network. The model simultaneously accounts for the correlation structure and complex nonlinear relationship between input variables and outcomes, and it utilizes the predictive power of neural networks. We apply this approach to predict depression and anxiety levels of schizophrenic patients using longitudinal data collected from passive smartphone sensor data.
Development and validation of prediction models for neurocognitive disorders in adult patients admitted to the ICU with sleep disturbance
Authors: Li Yun , Zhao Lina , Wang Ye , Zhang Xizhe , Song Jiannan , Zhou Qi , Sun Yi , Yang Chenyi , Wang Haiyun
Published: December 2021

Background

Neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) and sleep disturbance are highly prevalent in the perioperative period and intensive care unit (ICU). There has been a lack of individualized evaluation tools designed for the high‐risk NCDs in critically ill patients with sleep disturbance.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to develop and validate prediction models for NCDs among adult patients with sleep disturbance.

Methods

The R software was used to analyze the dataset of adult patients admitted to the ICU with sleep disturbance, who were diagnosed following the codes of the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD‐9) and 10th Revision (ICD‐10) using the MIMIC‐IV database. We used logistic regression and LASSO analyses to identify important risk factors associated with NCDs and develop nomograms for NCDs predictions. We measured the performances of the nomograms using the bootstrap resampling procedure, sensitivity, specificity of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), area under the ROC curves (AUC), and decision curve analysis (DCA).

Results

The prediction models shared the 10 risk factors (age, gender, midazolam, morphine, glucose, diabetes diseases, potassium, international normalized ratio, partial thromboplastin time, and respiratory rate). Cardiovascular diseases were included in the logistic regression, the sensitivity was 74.1%, and specificity was 64.6%. When platelet and Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) were included and cardiovascular diseases were removed in the LASSO prediction model, the sensitivity was 86.1% and specificity was 82.8%. Discriminative abilities of the logistic prediction and LASSO prediction models for NCDs in the validation set were evaluated as the AUC scores, which were 0.730 (95% CI 0.716–0.743) and 0.920 (95% CI 0.912–0.927). Net benefits of the prediction models were observed at threshold probabilities of 0.567 and 0.914.

Conclusions

The LASSO prediction model showed better performance than the logistic prediction model and should be preferred for nomogram‐assisted decisions on clinical risk management of NCDs among adult patients with sleep disturbance in the ICU.
CELSR3 variants are associated with febrile seizures and epilepsy with antecedent febrile seizures
Authors: Li Jia , Lin Si‐Mei , Qiao Jing‐Da , Liu Xiao‐Rong , Wang Jie , Jiang Mi , Zhang Jing , Zhong Min , Chen Xu‐Qin , Zhu Jing , He Na , Su Tao , Shi Yi‐Wu , Yi Yong‐Hong , Liao Wei‐Ping ,   for the China Epilepsy Gene 1.0 Project
Published: December 2021

Aims

To identify novel pathogenic gene of febrile seizures (FS)/epilepsy with antecedent FS (EFS+).

Methods

The trio‐based whole‐exome sequencing was performed in a cohort of 462 cases with FS/EFS+. Silico programs, sequence alignment, and protein modeling were used to predict the damaging of variants. Statistical testing was performed to analyze gene‐based burden of variants.

Results

Five heterozygous missense variants in CELSR3 were detected in five cases (families) with eight individuals (five females, three males) affected. Two variants were de novo, and three were identified in families with more than one individual affected. All the variants were predicted to be damaging in silico tools. Protein modeling showed that the variants resulted in disappearance of multiple hydrogen bonds and one disulfide bond, which potentially caused functional impairments of protein. The frequency of CELSR3 variants identified in this study was significantly higher than that in controls. All affected individuals were diagnosed with FS/EFS+, including six patients with FS and two patients with EFS+. All cases presented favorable outcomes without neurodevelopmental disorders.

Conclusions

CELSR3 variants are potentially associated with FS/EFS+.
Birth weight and prediabetes in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents
Authors: Sanjeevi Namrata , Freeland‐Graves Jeanne H.
Published: December 2021

Prediabetes affects about 20% of adolescents in the United States. Previous studies have shown that low and high birth weight impairs glucose homeostasis in adults; however, limited research has examined this relationship in adolescents. To investigate association of birthweight with prediabetes in US adolescents using data from NHANES 2005–2016 and examine whether sex and obesity moderate this relationship. Adolescents, aged 12–15 years without diagnosed/undiagnosed diabetes and extreme birthweight (n = 1396), were classified as low birth weight (LBW), normal birthweight (NBW) and high birth weight (HBW). Logistic regression examined relationship of birthweight with odds of prediabetes. Likelihood ratio test tested interactions of birthweight with sex and obesity measures. In this nationally representative cross‐sectional study, LBW adolescents had significantly higher odds of prediabetes compared to NBW counterparts (Odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 1.93 (1.10, 3.38); p < .05). Sex and obesity moderated the association, such that the strength of the relationship of LBW with increased prediabetes odds was greater among male adolescents (Odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.40 (1.02, 5.67); p < .05) and those with overweight/obesity (Odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 2.13 (1.01, 4.49); p < .05). Findings imply that the adverse effects of LBW on glucose homeostasis could be manifested early in life. Further, the higher odds of prediabetes among LBW adolescents who are male or have overweight/obesity underscore the heightened need for prediabetes screening of these subgroups.
Understanding of mouse and human bladder at single‐cell resolution: integrated analysis of trajectory and cell‐cell interactive networks based on multiple scRNA‐seq datasets
Authors: Shi Bowen , Wu Yanyuan , Chen Haojie , Ding Jie , Qi Jun
Published: December 2021

Objectives

To elaborately decipher the mouse and human bladders at single‐cell levels.

Materials and Methods

We collected more than 50,000 cells from multiple datasets and created, up to date, the largest integrated bladder datasets. Pseudotime trajectory of urothelium and interstitial cells, as well as dynamic cell‐cell interactions, was investigated. Biological activity scores and different roles of signaling pathways between certain cell clusters were also identified.

Results

The glucose score was significantly high in most urothelial cells, while the score of H3 acetylation was roughly equally distributed across all cell types. Several genes via a pseudotime pattern in mouse (Car3, Dkk2, Tnc, etc.) and human (FBLN1, S100A10, etc.) were discovered. S100A6, TMSB4X, and typical uroplakin genes seemed as shared pseudotime genes for urothelial cells in both human and mouse datasets. In combinational mouse (n = 16,688) and human (n = 22,080) bladders, we verified 1,330 and 1,449 interactive ligand‐receptor pairs, respectively. The distinct incoming and outgoing signaling was significantly associated with specific cell types. Collagen was the strongest signal from fibroblasts to urothelial basal cells in mouse, while laminin pathway for urothelial basal cells to smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in human. Fibronectin 1 pathway was intensely sent by myofibroblasts, received by urothelial cells, and almost exclusively mediated by SMCs in mouse bladder. Interestingly, the cell cluster of SMCs 2 was the dominant sender and mediator for Notch signaling in the human bladder, while SMCs 1 was not. The expression of integrin superfamily (the most common communicative pairs) was depicted, and their co‐expression patterns were located in certain cell types (eg, Itgb1 and Itgb4 in mouse and human basal cells).

Conclusions

This study provides a complete interpretation of the normal bladder at single‐cell levels, offering an in‐depth resource and foundation for future research.
Insights into early postoperative acute kidney injury following lung transplantation
Authors: Botros Mena , Jackson Kenneth , Singh Priyamvada , Rosenheck Justin P. , Ganapathi Asvin M. , Henn Matthew C. , Howsare Molly M. , Mokadam Nahush A. , Pesavento Todd , Whitson Bryan A. , Nunley David R. , Keller Brian C.
Published: December 2021

Background

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication after lung transplantation (LT) and is associated with higher cost and mortality. We sought to evaluate the incidence of postoperative AKI, defined as AKI within 14 days of transplant, and identify associated perioperative factors.

Methods

We conducted a single‐center, retrospective review of 153 lung transplant recipients. Postoperative AKI was determined using the RIFLE (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End Stage) criteria. Perioperative covariates and their association with postoperative AKI were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards. Kaplan‐Meier survival curves were constructed to evaluate patient survival at 1 year and data finalization. A sub‐analysis was performed evaluating factors associated with early AKI (within 48 h of transplant) and late AKI.

Results

Postoperative AKI occurred in 36.6% of patients with 51.8% of cases occurring within 48 h of LT. Recipient race, transplant type, cardiopulmonary support, and red blood cell administration were associated with postoperative AKI. Survival was significantly lower in patients with postoperative AKI following LT.

Conclusions

Postoperative AKI within 2 weeks of lung transplant is associated with lower short‐ and long‐term survival. Perioperative factors associated with postoperative AKI may be potential points of intervention to minimize AKI development in the future.
Eliminating supportive crowds reduces referee bias
Authors: Reade J. James , Schreyer Dominik , Singleton Carl
Published: December 2021

We use a series of historical natural experiments in association football to test whether social pressure from a home stadium crowd affected behavior and outcomes. The standout effect of an empty stadium was that referees cautioned visiting players less often, by over a third of a yellow card per match or once for every 22 fouls committed. Stadium crowds caused referees to favor the home team in their decision‐making. Empty stadiums appear to have reduced the overall home advantage in the final outcomes of football matches, but we cannot statistically reject no effect.
Perception of health‐related quality of life, sleep quality and sleepiness index in an educational environment at a dental school in Southeast Brazil
Authors: Caldeira François Isnaldo Dias , Cardoso Bruna , Carvalho Leonardo de Souza , Batista Ferreira Eric , Pigossi Suzane Cristina , Rodriguez Larissa Santana
Published: December 2021

Introduction

University entrance is often associated with changes in quality of life, individuals' cognitive and physical behavior. The present study aimed to evaluate health‐related quality of life (HRQoL), sleep quality and sleepiness index in dentistry students at a university in Southeast Brazil, in different semesters of their course.

Materials and methods

Samples were obtained from 55 students from the dentistry course at the Federal University of Alfenas (UNIFAL‐MG). For collecting information, validated SF‐36 questionnaires (Medical Outcomes Study 36‐item Short‐Form Health Survey), namely, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), were used as instruments in an educational environment. The relationship between the association of demographic factors and academic performance with SF‐36, PSQI and ESS was assessed with an alpha of 0.05.

Results

The worst HRQoL parameters reported by the participants were observed in the domains of body pain, vitality, general health perception, and limitations due to emotional and social aspects when associated with the investigated variables. Regarding the relative sleep quality index, differences in the PSQI domains were observed when related to demographic factors and academic performance. There was no significant difference in the sleepiness index of these students according to the mean values of the ESS domains.

Conclusion

The SF‐36, PSQI and ESS questionnaires indicated that it is a reliable instrument for measuring the impact of quality of life on dentistry students. In addition, dentistry students of UNIFAL‐MG had poor indicators of quality of life associated with health and an inadequate index of quality of sleep.
Digital Module 27: Hierarchical Rater Models
Authors: Casabianca Jodi M.
Published: December 2021

Module Overview: In this digital ITEMS module, Dr. Jodi M. Casabianca provides a primer on the hierarchical rater model (HRM) framework and the recent expansions to the model for analyzing raters and ratings of constructed responses. In the first part of the module, she establishes an understanding of the nature of constructed responses, the rating process and the common rater errors or rater effects originating from the rating process. She then compares traditional measures for analyzing raters and ratings to item response theory (IRT) measures, including the HRM. In the second part of the module, she provides details on the HRM, including its modularity with respect to using different combinations of IRT models, signal detection models, and latent trait structures. In the third section, she discusses some extensions including approaches for longitudinal and multidimensional data. The module contains audio‐narrated slides, quizzes with feedback, and additional resources such as a glossary and reference documents.
Little Dramas Everywhere: Using Ethnography to Anticipate the Future
Authors: ENGLISH‐LUECK J. A. , LADNER SAM , SHERMAN JAMIE
Published: December 2021

In this article, the chairs of EPIC2021 reflect on the idea of Anticipation, and what ethnography reveals to us that may not be readily apparent through other means. Looking backward at the year of planning a conference that was to be focused on the future, the authors describe various revelations that unfolded and revealed themselves over the course of time. They raise questions of method, of epistemological position, and ethical responsibility. The authors conclude that anticipation is very much an ethnographic activity, one in which we can ask difficult questions about power and practice.
Anticipating Needs: How Adopting Trauma‐Informed Methodologies During COVID‐19 Influenced Our Work Connecting Frontline Workers to Temporary Housing
Authors: HITCHCOCK MEREDITH , JOHNSON SADHIKA
Published: December 2021

This case study argues that all research should be trauma‐informed research. It asserts that because researchers cannot anticipate everything about research participants’ needs, histories, and context, taking an approach that assumes all participants are more likely than not to have experienced trauma should be the paradigm for researchers. Even before receiving formal training in trauma‐informed research, incorporating methodologies from trauma‐informed research can make all researchers more human‐centered. From March–April 2020, researchers from Airbnb conducted research to help launch a program that provided free or discounted accommodations to COVID‐19 frontline workers: Frontline Stays. The researchers needed to conduct research with both frontline workers and Airbnb hosts who were temporarily opening their homes to them. Some of the researchers had received formal training in trauma‐informed research. Others did not have the training, but recognized that it was important to understand and apply some of the principles for the Frontline Stays work. For this research project, it was clear why the researchers should assume that research participants had a history of trauma or were currently experiencing trauma. But COVID‐19 was also a catalyst for the researchers to rethink what their baseline approach to conducting research should be. The case study outlines the trauma‐informed methodologies the researchers used and discusses how this impacted their research methods and approach with stakeholders.
Reconnecting with the Public: Participatory Research and Co‐creations within and outside a Public Institution
Authors: LEE LOK YI , JIANG XINYI
Published: December 2021

Despite constraints on face‐to‐face meetings and social distancing policies under COVID‐19, with the help of online tools, Brandnographer successfully conducted a series of online activities to facilitate stakeholders from different age and background to immerse themselves in situated scenarios, then to design and visualize their ideal public services in the future. This paper discusses how a participatory approach and design thinking framework have helped the researchers and decision makers collect thick data from the service users, transform user insights into prototypes for reiteration and concrete design principles. On the other hand, how the blurred identities in between observers, participants and designers have stimulated discussions and design possibilities by supplying real‐life scenarios and evaluation on solution feasibility.
Anticipating the Unanticipated: Ethnography and Crisis Response in the Public Sector
Authors: CHEADLE CHRISTINA , PATTINSON HANNAH
Published: December 2021

This case‐study emphasizes the importance of ethnographic research in the public sector, specifically regarding emergency preparedness and crisis‐response. In the summer of 2020, Surrey County Council in England commissioned a mixed‐method Community Impact Assessment to better assist and serve their residents during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Stripe Partners conducted the place‐based ethnographic work, helping discover insights that led directly to strategy change. The ethnographic and quantitative research went hand‐in‐hand and led to rich and meaningful insights that were able to confidently convince decision makers to create change. Our ethnographic work validated many of the quantitative findings, while simultaneously providing the depth that allowed them to accurately and most usefully allocate resources for change. We researched how local communities had been affected by Covid, conducting on‐the‐ground interviews in seven different towns in the region. We listened to their stories, and translated them into actionable opportunities for change, many of which we have been able to see come to fruition.
Reimagining Livelihoods: An Ethnographic Inquiry into Anticipation, Agency, and Reflexivity as India's Impact Ecosystem Responds To Post‐Pandemic Rebuilding
Authors: SAKSENA GITIKA , MOHANTY ABHISHEK
Published: December 2021

The COVID19 induced lockdown in India and consequent migration of workers severely affected the economy. When the migrants returned to urban areas, newer challenges surfaced around the scale and nature of jobs on offer, as well as the skills and aspirations of workers. In this paper, we follow a social impact project focused on livelihoods and post pandemic rebuilding, to explore the trails of ethnography and how its engagement along multiple networks shapes its possibilities as a research method that helps foreground emic perspectives. In doing so, we analyse agencies and social relations from the field, and their role in shaping project imaginaries. Anchored in original, long‐term participatory ethnographic research, our paper thinks alongside Appadurai (2013) to surmise that anticipation is imbricated in the coming together of a grounds‐up ‘ethics of possibility’ and a top‐down ‘ethics of probability'. Importantly, we turn to Actor‐Network Theory as a framework to understand the multiple assemblages in our research field which (continue to) challenge existing knowledge practices and open up new lines of inquiry for ascertaining emergent areas of research and innovation. Such coeval realisations of aspirations and resources are evidenced on multiple occasions as we engage with designers, skilling experts, entrepreneurs, and technologists. These range from beauticians in peri urban areas following the country's leading Instagram influencers to keep themselves abreast of the latest trends in metropolitan cities as a way of compressing spatial and temporal barriers (Field Notes 2020), to delivery boys who found meaning in working as gig‐workers even though it implied precarity, and telemedicine entrepreneurs who realized that factoring in the social (of community health workers who they worked with) in the sense of integrating biomedical responses to the pandemic was essential for the success of their technological interventions (Field Notes 2021; Burgess and Horii 2012). Thus, our paper argues that future making as at once a means and an end is ‘not just a technical or neutral space’ but a ‘cultural fact’ (Appadurai 2013).
Empowering Communities: Future‐Making through Citizen Ethnography
Authors: BADAMI SUMANT , GOODMAN SOPHIE
Published: December 2021

This paper proposes a way to harness the power and benefits of community‐led future change through the process of “citizen ethnography”. Just as “citizen science” has become a potent method for non‐scientists to collect and contribute to scientific knowledge and outcomes, citizen ethnography is where non‐ethnographers are trained in the tools and techniques of ethnography to research social phenomena to understand, recommend and lead their own change initiatives.

Citizen ethnography essentially flips the model of a single or small team of ethnographers and consultants working with a community, to one where groups of community members research their own challenges in order to identify their own needs, preferred futures and mechanisms for change. Importantly, this approach requires a significant ‘stepping away’ of the ethnographer as the research expert and move towards a role of skill‐builder, coach and facilitator. This democratisation of ethnography helps to equip and empower communities with useful skills, while also reconnecting ethnography to the fundamentals of its well‐established method and foundation in the ethics of representation. We provide an example of how citizen ethnography is being used to deal with youth suicide in Australia, highlighting how through engaging community members in the process and skills of ethnography they can unpack their own questions of belonging and identity, participate with eachother in the solutions to their current challenges and approach their future as engaged and empowered citizens.
Futures in Things: Locating the Promise of Infrastructures in Public Libraries
Authors: KOZUBEV SANDJAR , DISALVO CARL
Published: December 2021

Public libraries in the U.S. and around the world are rapidly changing due expanding technological and social needs of their communities. The Covid‐19 pandemic has intensified the debates about the future of public spaces and public services. In this paper, we report on a qualitative study of librarians in a U.S. urban public library system. The focus of the study was to understand how the concept of “the future of library” is constructed and contested both socially and materially. Using mixed methods, including participant observation, interviews, participatory design and action research, we developed insights about the socio‐political dynamics of futures in a public infrastructure. We argue that futures can be shaped not only by socio‐technical imaginaries, and representations, which tend to be abstract and distant, but also by socio‐material conditions in the present. Specifically, drawing on the work of infrastructure studies, we show how specific objects of librarians can be used to construct and impose a particular version of the future with which librarians have wrestle and to which they have to respond. In this paper, we focus on three examples in the public library: the circulation desk, the bookshelf, and the self‐check machine to show how they instantiate narratives and expectations about the future of libraries. During our study, these objects were redesigned as part of ongoing library renovations. The traditional circulation desk was changed to a small pod, thereby changing the embodied experience of librarians and setting up new kinds of interactions and expectations between librarians, the patrons and library space. The traditional stacks were replaced by smaller movable bookshelves making the space more configurable and more adaptable to future needs of the library. The new self‐check machine ascribed a set of values to the labor of librarians and introduced new management practices. Based on this argument, that the futures are socio‐material and infrastructural, we propose strategies for researchers who study the future and contribute to the growing body of research in anticipatory ethnography.
Reconfiguring Home: Seeing remote work and school through mothers and their children
Authors: CHANG CHLOE , MYSORE VINAY KUMAR
Published: December 2021

What happens when we include children as equal participants? In a project to identify design opportunities to support working mothers during a time when schools have closed across the U.S. in response to COVID‐19, we crafted the research to create space for children to voice their needs. What we heard offers opportunities for all parties involved—the designers, the researchers, and the moms who participated.
Change the Category, Change the World: How research and great storytelling drove a headline‐making world first for supermarkets
Authors: LENG JENNIE
Published: December 2021

The butterfly effect – a small change that has big ripples. This is what Jennie Leng created when she persuaded NZ's largest supermarket to change its language from “sanitary products”.

Phrases like “sanitary products” and “feminine hygiene” are ubiquitous around the world, but these euphemisms have connotations of dirtiness, and perpetuate the idea that menstruation is embarrassing and shameful. Jennie used context, anecdotes and quantitative research to build a case for the supermarket to change their language – and they went for it! Countdown Supermarkets now uses the phrase “period care” in all of its digital channels and have rolled the label out in store. Because if you can have skin care and hair care, why not period care?

In this PK, Jennie will touch on the types of evidence and the framing she used to influence the business, and the world‐first, headline‐making outcomes of this change
On Being Well in a Time of Hell
Authors: SHAH MIRA , EVANS CHLOE , STEINHOFF CAMIE
Published: December 2021

For the past year, people around the world have adjusted quickly to unforeseen constraints presented by the COVID‐19 pandemic. Upheaval during the pandemic has resulted in a deep sense of grief leaving people in an unpredictable cycle of losing control and attempting to regain it. But, guess what? Researchers also have been experiencing the highs and lows of the pandemic and haven't been immune to the fulcrum of loss and unexpected buoyancy. In sensing the importance of the moment, a group of researchers came together to learn how people around the world were adjusting and coping, and to anticipate how adaptations in contexts, habits, and tools may lead to enduring changes in everyday life.

On Being Well in a Time of Hell is a bricolage from Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States told through diary entries, photos, and drawings that bounce from despair to moments of unexpected connection, creativity, and sometimes, believe it or not, joy. Through gathering as a community of researchers, reflecting on the rich stories of our participants, and owning our process of loss and resilience, our insights about what the future may hold illustrate how we make meaning from experiences and how innovative tools enable those experiences.
The federalism dimension of proportionality
Authors: Steinbach Armin
Published: December 2021

EU Treaties contain an arsenal of purpose‐defined and ambiguous competences that are enjoyed by EU institutions, yet devote little attention to the restraining impact of EU competences on Member States' autonomy and policies. While the focus has traditionally been on subsidiarity to deal with competence issues, the judgment of the Bundesverfassungsgericht in Weiss revitalises the discussion on the potential of proportionality to guide competence issues. This inquiry seeks to highlight both the existing traces of competence proportionality employed by the Court to allocate competences as well as the potential of the proportionality standard to temper the spillovers on Member States' autonomy accruing from the exercise of EU competences. While the Treaty restricts proportionality to reviewing the use (not existence) of EU competences, the Court has implicitly employed proportionality considerations to verify the existence of EU competences. In addition, drawing from established case law, competence proportionality assessments could rely on an effect‐based substantive review in combination with procedural duties allowing a meaningful balancing of national autonomy against the dynamics of deeper integration.
Cystic calculus in a mare due to a misplaced uterine glass marble
Authors: Orozco D. , Ortiz S. , Fischer A. T.
Published: December 2021

A 9‐year‐old Quarter Horse mare was referred for evaluation of continuous oestrus, polyuria and suspected pyometra after a glass marble was placed in the uterus by the owner. Palpation per rectum and transrectal ultrasonography confirmed the presence of a spherical object, but it was not possible to discern whether it was located within the lumen of the uterus or urinary bladder. Thus, an endoscopic examination of both uterus and bladder was carried out and a spherical, spiculated surface urolith was found on the floor of the bladder. The cystic urolith with suspected marble core was removed using a 12‐mm specimen retrieval bag with endoscopic guidance. Follow‐up with the owner one month after discharge revealed that the mare had not shown any signs of discomfort while urinating nor signs of oestrus.
An English teaching quality evaluation model based on Gaussian process machine learning
Authors: Qi Shi , Liu Lei , Kumar B. Santhosh , Prathik A.
Published: December 2021

Background

The efficiency of conventional English teaching quality evaluation is comparatively small, and evaluation statistics are challenging. To investigate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in teacher teaching assessment, a machine learning algorithm is proposed to create a teaching evaluation model suitable for the current educational model to assist colleges and universities in overcoming existing teaching challenges.

Objectives

The proposed Machine learning‐based Gaussian process model (MLGPM) improves the student's language skills. The proposed model uses Gaussian mixed model to express the circulation features of samples and enhances the support vector machine. Therefore, this paper suggests an active learning algorithm that, in association with Gaussian mixed model and sparse Bayesian learning, strategically chooses and labels samples to construct a classifier that syndicates the distribution characteristics of the samples. As a result, the accuracy of a considered quality index for English classrooms is verified, and the quality and control of English as a foreign language can be enhanced.

Results

The experiment results show that the model presented in this study is effective and beneficial when assessing the efficiency of teaching in universities and analyzing big data sets.

Conclusion

The simulation analysis with student performance improvement in English teaching quality using machine learning high fluency rate of 95.3, high accuracy ratio of 98.1%, improve vocabulary prediction ratio of 94.6%, improve passage prediction ratio of 92.7%, enhance learning rate of 95.2%, reduce the error rate of 24.1%, F1‐score of 91.5% and assessment score of 92.1% when compared with other methods.
CPP: A content‐aware privacy protection method for location‐based service
Authors: Liu Jiabang , Jiang Xutong , Zhang Song , Liu Bowen , Dou Wanchun
Published: December 2021

Generally, a location‐based service (LBS) often contains the location attribute, content attribute, time‐stamp, and range. From the perspective of privacy protection, the location attribute and the content attribute are the key attributes and need to be protected. However, existing privacy protection methods focus excessively on the location attribute and ignore the content attribute contained in the LBS, which discloses the user's private information. In view of this challenge, a content‐aware privacy protection method, called the CPP method that considers the content attribute is proposed. Specifically, the CPP method is based on using k‐anonymity to generate dummy content attributes to protect the private content. As is shown in an experiment constructed on real‐world data, the CPP method can indeed improve the effect of privacy protection.
Improved detection of small objects in road network sequences using CNN and super resolution
Authors: García‐Aguilar Iván , Luque‐Baena Rafael Marcos , López‐Rubio Ezequiel
Published: December 2021

The detection of small objects is one of the problems present in deep learning due to the context of the scene or the low number of pixels of the objects to be detected. According to these problems, current pre‐trained models based on convolutional neural networks usually give a poor average precision, highlighting some as CenterNet HourGlass104 with a mean average precision of 25.6%, or SSD‐512 with 9%. This work focuses on the detection of small objects. In particular, our proposal aims to vehicle detection from images captured by video surveillance cameras with pre‐trained models without modifying their structures, so it does not require retraining the network to improve the detection rate of the elements. For better performance, a technique has been developed which, starting from certain initial regions, detects a higher number of objects and improves their class inference without modifying or retraining the network. The neural network is integrated with processes that are in charge of increasing the resolution of the images to improve the object detection performance. This solution has been tested for a set of traffic images containing elements of different scales to check the efficiency depending on the detections obtained by the model. Our proposal achieves good results in a wide range of situations, obtaining, for example, an average score of 45.1% with the EfficientDet‐D4 model for the first video sequence, compared to the 24.3% accuracy initially provided by the pre‐trained model.
Effects of artificial light at night on fishes: A synthesis with future research priorities
Authors: Bassi Arshpreet , Love Oliver P. , Cooke Steven J. , Warriner Theresa R. , Harris Christopher M. , Madliger Christine L.
Published: December 2021

Nearly all organisms rely on natural fluctuations of light as cues for synchronizing physiological processes and behavioural actions associated with foraging, growth, sleep and rest, reproduction, and migration. Consequently, although artificial lighting sources have provided a plethora of benefits for humans, they can lead to disruptions for wild organisms. With one quarter of the human population living within 100 km of coastlines, there is great potential for artificial light at night (ALAN) to influence the physiology, behaviour and fitness of fishes. Through a review of the literature (n = 584 publications focused on the effects of ALAN on individual organisms or ecosystems), we illustrate that most papers have concentrated on terrestrial species (59%) compared with aquatic species (20%) or a mixed approach (21%). Fishes have been underrepresented in comparison with many other taxa such as birds, insects and mammals, representing the focus of less than 8% of taxa‐specific publications. While the number of publications per year focusing on fishes has generally been increasing since the mid‐2000s, there has been a downturn in publication rate in the last few years. To understand where research related to ALAN in fishes has been focused, we partitioned studies into categories and found that publications have mostly concerned behaviour (41.0%), abundance and community structure (24.4%), and physiology (22.8%), while the longer‐term effects on fitness (6.9%) are lacking. We synthesize the research completed in fishes and outline future priorities that will help ascertain the short‐ and long‐term consequences of this relatively novel stressor for fish health and persistence.
FGF signalling facilitates cervical cancer progression
Authors: Mahmood Hiba‐Tun‐Noor Afshan , Tomas Bort Elena , Walker Anthony J. , Grose Richard P. , Chioni Athina‐Myrto
Published: December 2021

Cervical cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in women worldwide. While cervical cancer is caused by human papillomavirus (HPV), not all females infected with HPV develop the disease, suggesting that other factors might facilitate its progression. Growing evidence supports the involvement of the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) axis in several cancers, including gynecological. However, for cervical cancer, the molecular mechanisms that underpin the disease remain poorly understood, including the role of FGFR signaling. The aim of this study was to investigate FGF(R) signaling in cervical cancer through bioinformatic analysis of cell line and patient data and through detailed expression profiling, manipulation of the FGFR axis, and downstream phenotypic analysis in cell lines (HeLa, SiHa, and CaSki). Expression (protein and mRNA) analysis demonstrated that FGFR1b/c, FGFR2b/c, FGFR4, FGF2, FGF4, and FGF7 were expressed in all three lines. Interestingly, FGFR1 and 2 localized to the nucleus, supporting that nuclear FGFRs could act as transcription factors. Importantly, 2D and 3D cell cultures demonstrated that FGFR activation can facilitate cell functions correlated with invasive disease. Collectively, this study supports an association between FGFR signaling and cervical cancer progression, laying the foundations for the development of therapeutic approaches targeting FGFR in this disease.
A predatory waterbird as a vector of plant seeds and aquatic invertebrates
Authors: Navarro‐Ramos Maria J. , Green Andy J. , Lovas‐Kiss Adam , Roman Jacinto , Brides Kane , van Leeuwen Casper H. A.
Published: December 2021

Omnivorous waterbirds play an important role in aquatic ecosystems as dispersal vectors via direct ingestion, transportation, and egestion of plant and invertebrate propagules (i.e. endozoochory). Predatory birds also have the potential to disperse plants and invertebrates that were first carried internally or externally by their prey animals. However, the potential contribution of predatory waterbird species to propagule dispersal in aquatic ecosystems remains understudied.

We chose the grey heronArdea cinerea(Ardeidae) to study the potential of predatory waterbirds to disperse propagules within and among aquatic ecosystems. We hypothesised that: (1) herons disperse a wide variety of plant and invertebrate propagules, from different habitats, with different morphologies (i.e. dispersal syndromes), and including both native and alien species; (2) propagules are ingested with prey species that are primary dispersal vectors (i.e., herons are secondary dispersers); (3) heron pellets show a similar abundance and richness of propagules across their widespread range. We collected 73 regurgitated heron pellets containing undigestible remains from 12 locations across the U.K. and The Netherlands, and examined the taxonomic diversity of plant seeds, invertebrates and prey remains.

Pellets were dominated by mammal hairs (99% by volume), and bones confirmed the ingestion of small mammals (prevalence of 38%, e.g. water volesArvicola amphibius), fish (14%), and birds or amphibians (6%). A total of 266 intact plant seeds were recovered from 71% of the pellets, representing 50 taxa from 17 plant families, including the alienCotula coronopifolia. The cumulative number of plant species dispersed was lower at higher latitudes. Eight plant species recorded had not previously been recorded as dispersed via waterbirds, and only three species have anendozoochorous dispersal syndrome. Plant taxa were dominated by Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Juncaceae, and Poaceae, with 24 species from the littoral zone (Ellenberg moisture values of 7–12) and 21 terrestrial species (Ellenberg moisture values of 4–6). Intact invertebrate propagules were found in 30% of the pellets, dominated by Cladocera (Daphniidae) and Bryozoa (including the alienPlumatella casmiana).

Our results demonstrate that grey herons disperse plant seeds and aquatic invertebrates widely in north‐western Europe. Herons regurgitate pellets that contain plant and invertebrate propagules from both aquatic or terrestrial habitats, for which secondary dispersal via ingestion along with prey is the likely underlying mechanism (i.e. propagules either attached to or in the digestive systems of the various prey). Our findings showcase the potential of predatory waterbirds as vectors of plants and invertebrates, and how they may facilitate connectivity between freshwater and terrestrial habitats.
How do we best synergize climate mitigation actions to co‐benefit biodiversity?
Authors: Smith Pete , Arneth Almut , Barnes David K. A. , Ichii Kazuhito , Marquet Pablo A. , Popp Alexander , Pörtner Hans‐Otto , Rogers Alex D. , Scholes Robert J. , Strassburg Bernardo , Wu Jianguo , Ngo Hien
Published: December 2021

A multitude of actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems can have co‐benefits for both climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. Reducing greenhouse emissions to limit warming to less than 1.5 or 2°C above preindustrial levels, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, can yield strong co‐benefits for land, freshwater and marine biodiversity and reduce amplifying climate feedbacks from ecosystem changes. Not all climate mitigation strategies are equally effective at producing biodiversity co‐benefits, some in fact are counterproductive. Moreover, social implications are often overlooked within the climate‐biodiversity nexus. Protecting biodiverse and carbon‐rich natural environments, ecological restoration of potentially biodiverse and carbon‐rich habitats, the deliberate creation of novel habitats, taking into consideration a locally adapted and meaningful (i.e. full consequences considered) mix of these measures, can result in the most robust win‐win solutions. These can be further enhanced by avoidance of narrow goals, taking long‐term views and minimizing further losses of intact ecosystems. In this review paper, we first discuss various climate mitigation actions that evidence demonstrates can negatively impact biodiversity, resulting in unseen and unintended negative consequences. We then examine climate mitigation actions that co‐deliver biodiversity and societal benefits. We give examples of these win‐win solutions, categorized as ‘protect, restore, manage and create’, in different regions of the world that could be expanded, upscaled and used for further innovation.
Effectiveness of an oral health education programme using a mobile application for older adults: A randomised clinical trial
Authors: Lee Kyeong Hee , Choi Yoon Young , Jung Eun Seo
Published: December 2021

Objective

To investigate the effectiveness of an oral health education programme using a mobile app for adults aged 65 years or older.

Methods

Participants aged 65 or older were randomly allocated into non‐app use (n = 25), app use (n = 22) and control (n = 26) groups. The non‐app use group received lecture‐based oral health education using PowerPoint presentations and participated in workbook activities twice a week for five weeks, whereas the app use group underwent oral health education using a smartphone app and workbook activities for five weeks. Before and after the intervention, a questionnaire survey and oral health examination were performed to examine changes in oral health‐related indices.

Results

The non‐app use group showed significant changes, with a 2.1 increase in oral health knowledge score, 0.2 decrease in the O’Leary index and 0.6 decrease in tongue coating. The app use group showed significant changes, with a 3.1 increase in oral health knowledge score, a 2.5 increase in oral health perception, a 0.3 decrease in the O’Leary index and a 1.4 decrease in tongue coating. Repeated‐measures ANOVA showed that interaction between time and group was significant only in tongue coating variable.

Conclusion

The smartphone app developed in this study carries the possibility to convey informative content for oral health education among older adults.