bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Selecting the Best Radiology Workflow Efficiency Applications
Authors: Bharadwaj Prateek , Berger Michael , Blumer Steven L. , Lobig Franziska
Published: June 2024

In the rapidly evolving digital radiology landscape, a surge in solutions has emerged including more than 500 artificial intelligence applications that have received 510 k clearance by the FDA. Moreover, there is an extensive number of non-regulated applications, specifically designed to enhance workflow efficiency within radiology departments. These efficiency applications offer tremendous opportunities to resolve operational pain points and improve efficiency for radiology practices worldwide. However, selecting the most effective workflow efficiency applications presents a major challenge due to the multitude of available solutions and unclear evaluation criteria. In this article, we share our perspective on how to structure the broad field of workflow efficiency applications and how to objectively assess individual solutions. Along the different stages of the radiology workflow, we highlight 31 key operational pain points that radiology practices face and match them with features of workflow efficiency apps aiming to address them. A framework to guide practices in assessing and curating workflow efficiency applications is introduced, addressing key dimensions, including a solution’s pain point coverage, efficiency claim strength, evidence and credibility, ease of integration, and usability. We apply this framework in a large-scale analysis of workflow efficiency applications in the market, differentiating comprehensive workflow efficiency ecosystems seeking to address a multitude of pain points through a unified solution from workflow efficiency niche apps following a targeted approach to address individual pain points. Furthermore, we propose an approach to quantify the financial benefits generated by different types of applications that can be leveraged for return-on-investment calculations.
Changing university students’ alcohol use with a web-based intervention: evidence from a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Andrade Stefan Bastholm , Greve Jane , Lesner Rune Vammen
Published: June 2024

Aim

This study evaluated the impact of a web-based nudging intervention aimed at reducing alcohol consumption among Danish university bachelor and master students.

Methods

To evaluate the impact of the intervention, we conducted a clustered randomized controlled experiment among 961 university students. The intervention combined a survey on self-affirmation to reduce defensive progression with information on key beliefs about binge drinking and tools to avoid excessive drinking. We measured the impact of the intervention on outcomes using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scale capturing key aspects of youth drinking.

Results

Compared to the students in the control group, the students in the intervention group had a 20% reduction on number of episodes per month with alcohol intake. We find no effect on binge drinking or measures of harmful alcohol consumption.

Conclusions

Our study shows that it is possible to change young people’s alcohol consumption through a relatively cost-effective web-based intervention based on the theory of planned behavior.

Clinical trial registration

The trial was registered at the American Economic Association’s registry for randomized trials with RCT ID: AEARCTR-0004703. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4703
Association of religiosity and spirituality with survival among older adults: a systematic review
Authors: Buja Alessandra , Grotto Giulia , Vo Daniele
Published: June 2024

Aim

In a world where the aging population and prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases and life-threatening conditions have been increasing, identifying factors that can improve the living conditions of these populations is of paramount importance. The aim of the present research was to conduct a systematic literature review to investigate the impact of religion and spirituality on longevity.

Subject and methods

Studies published in English that assessed the association between religiosity or spirituality and survival were identified by searching electronic databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) and were independently reviewed by two authors.

Results

A total of 13 prospective cohort studies were included in this review, including seven that found a negative association between religiosity and mortality and six that showed mixed results.

Conclusion

Most studies highlighted the reduction in the risk of mortality, particularly among subjects who engaged in religious activities with an active social component. The linkage between religiosity and longevity might be mediated by the social support of the religious community, better health behavior, and mental health. However, most studies found a reduction in all-cause mortality even after adjusting for these mediating factors, indicating that other important mechanisms might have been involved.
The REMAR (Rhein-Main-Registry) real-world study: prospective evaluation of the 21-gene breast recurrence score® assay in addition to Ki-67 for adjuvant treatment decisions in early-stage breast cancer
Authors: Jackisch Christian , Anastasiadou Louiza , Aulmann Sebastian , Argyriadis Athanasios , Möbus Volker , Solbach Christine , Baier Peter , Giesecke Dagmar , Ackermann Sven , Schulmeyer Elke , Gabriel Boris , Mosch Dietrich , Buchen Stephanie , Krapfl Eckart , Hurst Ursula , Vescia Mario , Tesch Hans , Thill Marc
Published: June 2024

Purpose

Ki-67 is recommended by international/national guidelines for risk stratification in early breast cancer (EBC), particularly for defining “intermediate risk,” despite inter-laboratory/inter-observer variability and cutoff uncertainty. We investigated Ki-67 (> 10%– < 40%, determined locally) as a prognostic marker for intermediate/high risk in EBC, pN0-1 patients.

Methods

This prospective, non-interventional, real-world study included females ≥ 18 years, with pN0/pN1mi/pN1, HR+ , HER2-negative EBC, and locally determined Ki-67 ranging 10%–40%. The primary outcome was changes in treatment recommendations after disclosing the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score®(RS) assay result.

Results

The analysis included 567 patients (median age, 57 [range, 29–83] years; 70%/1%/29%/ with pN0/pN1mi/pN1 disease; 81% and 19% with RS results 0–25 and 26–100, respectively). The correlations between local and central Ki-67, local Ki-67, and the RS, and central Ki-67 and the RS results were weak (r = 0.35, r = 0.3, and r = 0.46, respectively), and discrepancies were noted in both directions (e.g., local Ki-67 was lower or higher than central Ki-67). After disclosing the RS, treatment recommendations changed for 190 patients (34%). Changes were observed in pN0 and pN1mi/pN1 patients and in patients with centrally determined Ki-67 ≤ 10% and > 10%. Treatment changes were aligned with RS results (adding chemotherapy for patients with higher RS results, omitting it for lower RS results), and their net result was 8% reduction in adjuvant chemotherapy use (from 32% pre-RS results to 24% post-RS results).

Conclusion

The Oncotype DX® assay is a tool for individualizing treatments that adds to classic treatment decision factors. The RS result and Ki-67 are not interchangeable, and Ki-67, as well as nodal status, should not be used as gatekeepers for testing eligibility, to avoid under and overtreatment.
S-cone contribution to oscillatory potentials in patients with blue cone monochromacy
Authors: Righetti Giulia , Kempf Melanie , Kohl Susanne , Wissinger Bernd , Kühlewein Laura , Stingl Katarina , Stingl Krunoslav
Published: June 2024

Purpose

The aim of this exploratory study is to investigate the role of S-cones in oscillatory potentials (OPs) generation by individuals with blue-cone monochromacy (BCM), retaining S-cones, and achromatopsia (ACHM), lacking cone functions.

Methods

This retrospective study analyzed data from 39 ACHM patients, 20 BCM patients, and 26 controls. Central foveal thickness was obtained using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, while amplitude and implicit time (IT) of a- and b-waves were extracted from the ISCEV Standard dark-adapted 3 cd.s.m−2 full-field ERG (ffERG). Time–frequency analysis of the same measurement enabled the extraction of OPs, providing insights into the dynamic characteristics of the recorded signal.

Results

Both ACHM and BCM groups showed a significant reduction (p < .00001) of a- and b-wave amplitudes and ITs as well as the power of the OPs compared to the control groups. The comparison between ACHM and BCM didn’t show any statistically significant differences in the electrophysiological parameters. The analysis of covariance revealed significantly reduced central foveal thickness in the BCM group compared to ACHM and controls (p < .00001), and in ACHM compared to controls (p < .00001), after age correction and Tukey post-hoc analysis.

Conclusions

S-cones do not significantly influence OPs, and the decline in OPs' power is not solely due to a reduced a-wave. This suggests a complex non-linear network influenced by photoreceptor inputs. Morphological changes don’t correlate directly with functional alterations, prompting further exploration of OPs’ function and physiological role.
Review: pure, amorphous iron
Authors: Bhadeshia H. K. D. H.
Published: June 2024

This is a review of glassy iron in its pure form, written in honour of Professor Kamanio Chattopadhyay’s distinguished career, particularly with respect to highly metastable materials. The review covers the difficulty in obtaining amorphous iron, the clever experiments that have produced small particles or thin films of glassy iron, together with models that estimate the process parameters and many other features of disorder. Magnetic properties are highlighted though not fully understood.
Square-well Model for Superconducting Pair Potential
Authors: Thuneberg Erkki
Published: June 2024

We study Andreev reflection in a one-dimensional square-well pair potential. We discuss the history of the model. The current-phase relation is presented as a sum over Matsubara frequencies. How the current arises from bound and continuum levels is found by analytic continuation. We discuss two limiting cases of the square-well potential, the zero-length well and the infinite well. The model is quantitatively valid in some cases but forms the basis for understanding a wide range of problems in inhomogeneous superconductivity and superfluidity.
Investigating the impact of PACAP on thermal stability of G-actin by differential scanning calorimetry
Authors: Bukovics Péter , Tamás Andrea , Tóth Gábor , Lőrinczy Dénes
Published: June 2024

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a bioactive peptide known for its diverse effects on the nervous system. While numerous studies have demonstrated the neuroprotective properties of PACAP, its role in tissue regeneration and potential as a therapeutic agent remain to be fully understood. Specifically, the understanding of PACAP’s impact on cytoskeletal dynamics, particularly the organization and disorganization of actin filament networks, is limited due to the scarcity of in vitro studies in this area. Additionally, the interaction between PACAP and actin has been minimally explored, and the influence of PACAP on the thermal stability of actin is completely unknown. To address these gaps, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of different forms and fragments of PACAP on the thermal denaturation and renaturation of Ca2+-G-actin using a differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) approach. Our primary objective was to determine whether PACAP modulates the thermal stability of Ca2+-G-actin and establish a temperature-dependent pattern of any structural alterations that may occur as a result of PACAP interaction. Two PACAP forms exist in vivo: the 38 amino-acid length PACAP38 and the PACAP27, the latter truncated at the C-terminal. In the PACAP38 + Ca2+-G-actin mixture, the DSC scans exhibited a mild decrease in actin denaturation temperature compared to the control, plus an exotherm appeared in the high-temperature range with a significantly increased calorimetric enthalpy. The truncated PACAP27 produced a slight increase in actin denaturation temperature with the same exotherm without significant alteration in enthalpy. In PACAP6-38 mixture (i.e., an artificial fragment of PACAP38 + Ca2+-G-actin), there was no change in the denaturation temperature of actin and no plus exotherm, but significant ΔHcal was observed. With the modified PACAP6-27 (another artificial fragment), the exotherm was absent, but the actin denaturation temperature and enthalpy increased compared to the control. Through this research, we sought to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of PACAP’s effects on actin dynamics and provide valuable insights into the potential therapeutic applications of PACAP in the context of cytoskeletal organization and neuronal regeneration. The findings of this study may contribute to the development of novel strategies targeting actin-related processes for neuroprotection and neural tissue repair.
A multicriteria decision analysis for selecting rainwater harvesting systems in rural areas: a tool for developing countries
Authors: Prieto-Jiménez Diana , Oviedo-Ocaña Edgar Ricardo , Gómez-Isidro Sully , Domínguez Isabel Cristina
Published: June 2024

Global water provision challenges have promoted decentralized water supply alternatives such as rainwater harvesting systems (RWHS). RWHS sustainability demands involve social, technical, and economic criteria in planning. Generally, in rural areas, water provision is more complex due to multiple uses of water, scattering of households, and low economies of scale. This research proposes a multicriteria tool for selecting RWHS in rural areas, considering social, technical, and economic criteria. The tool was developed by systematically identifying subcriteria and their hierarchization through the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and a case study validation. Seven subcriteria were identified. The hierarchy of criteria was social (49.7%), technical (26.4%), and economic (23.9%). The tool involved: (i) users’ consultation about the perceived ease of use and availability of water sources other than rainwater; (ii) system dimensioning to establish supply size, maintenance requirements, and required water quality; and (iii) costs and benefits estimation. Tool validation in a rural area included the evaluation of the alternatives proposed: (a) alternative 1: potable domestic uses (PD) and non-potable (NPD); (b) alternative 2: PD and NPD, irrigation of crops and chicken farming for self-consumption; and alternative 3: PD and NPD and chicken farming for profit sale. The sensitivity analysis showed the tool’s consistency and robustness. Tool validation highlights the importance of integrating the three dimensions in selecting RWHS. The study provides a systematic methodology to assess and prioritize RWHS, appealing to policymakers, engineers, and practitioners facilitating water management and supply processes in rural areas.
To What Extent Are Informal Healthcare Providers in Slums Linked to the Formal Health System in Providing Services in Sub-Sahara Africa? A 12-Year Scoping Review
Authors: Odii Aloysius , Arize Ifeyinwa , Agwu Prince , Mbachu Chinyere , Onwujekwe Obinna
Published: June 2024

The contributions of informal providers to the urban health system and their linkage to the formal health system require more evidence. This paper highlights the collaborations that exist between informal providers and the formal health system and examines how these collaborations have contributed to strengthening urban health systems in sub-Sahara Africa. The study is based on a scoping review of literature that was published from 2011 to 2023 with a focus on slums in sub-Sahara Africa. Electronic search for articles was performed in Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, African Journal Online (AJOL), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Hinari, ResearchGate, and yippy.com. Data extraction was done using the WHO health systems building blocks. The review identified 26 publications that referred to collaborations between informal providers and formal health systems in healthcare delivery. The collaboration is manifested through formal health providers registering and standardizing the practice of informal health providers. They also participate in training informal providers and providing free medical commodities for them. Additionally, there were numerous instances of client referrals, either from informal to formal providers or from formal to informal providers. However, the review also indicates that these collaborations are unformalized, unsystematic, and largely undocumented. This undermines the potential contributions of informal providers to the urban health system.
Hegel’s Political Theology of Kenosis: From the Death of God to the Hegelian Monarch
Authors: Molina Almudena
Published: June 2024

This article explores the concept of the death of God in Hegel's philosophy and its implications for his political thought. It argues that Hegel's notion of the death of God involves a Christological kenotic sense of self-emptying, which extends beyond his philosophy of religion to impact his entire philosophical system, including politics, given that Hegel considers that the state consists in the march of God. The paper aims to interpret Hegel’s stance on the death of God as kenotic and its integration into his system, with the purpose of addressing how this kenotic structure manifests in concrete conceptions of the state. Specifically, it examines the enigmatic figure of the Hegelian monarch as a kenotic-political figure. Finally, it concludes that Hegel's political thought consists of a political theology of kenosis, which is more concerned with the divestment of power rather than a plenipotentiary paradigm.
Topology optimization of forming tools: pressure die in rotary draw bending process
Authors: Kaleem Muhammad Ali , Steinheimer Rainer , Frohn-Sörensen Peter , Kotzian Tobias , Engel Bernd
Published: June 2024

The forming tools are conventionally manufactured from alloy steels. These tools can be designed to be light weight and cost effective without compromising performance characteristics. In this research, a fundamental forming tool (pressure die) of ‘rotary draw bending processes’ is topology optimized and 3D printed by using polymeric material. An accurate FE-simulation model of a rotary draw bending process is developed and topology optimization of the pressure die is carried out on the basis of contact stresses provided by FE-simulation results. The topology optimized pressure die is compared with its conventional metal made counter-part in terms of contact forces, contact normal stresses, effective area in-contact and cost performance index. This manuscript demonstrates that topology optimized lightweight 3D printed polymeric forming tools are a cost effective alternative to comparatively heavy alloy steels. This research contributes to widen the avenue of cost effective manufacturing by incorporating topology optimization regimes into existing production setups.
Short-term aggregate electric vehicle charging load forecasting in diverse conditions with minimal data using transfer and meta-learning
Authors: Narayana Gowda Shashank , Nath Keshav , Zhang Chen , Gowda Rohan , Gadh Rajit
Published: June 2024

The proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) necessitates accurate EV charging load forecasting for demand-side management and electric-grid planning. Conventional machine learning-based load forecasting methods like long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks rely on large amounts of historical data, which can be resource-intensive and time-consuming to collect. In this study, we employ Transfer Learning (TL) and Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning (MAML) for short term EV charging load forecasting. These methods involve pre-training a base model on a larger comprehensive EV charging dataset followed by fine-tuning using a few days’ worth of EV charging data in our target location. We find that the performance of both the TL and MAML models outperform traditional LSTM models and other classic machine learning models in the context of forecast accuracy when working in three different settings with limited data , load variance, and diverse geographical locations. The error metrics from TL and MAML are up to 24% and 61% lower than deep learning and classic machine learning models respectively.
Cuproptosis-related DNA methylation signature predict prognosis and immune microenvironment in cutaneous melanoma
Authors: Zhu Liucun , Kang Xudong , Zhu Shuting , Wang Yanna , Guo Wenna , Zhu Rui
Published: June 2024

The prognosis for Cutaneous Melanoma (CM), a skin malignant tumor that is extremely aggressive, is not good. A recently identified type of controlled cell death that is intimately related to immunotherapy and the development of cancer is called cuproptosis. Using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we developed and validated a DNA-methylation located in cuproptosis death-related gene prognostic signature (CRG-located DNA-methylation prognostic signature) to predict CM’s prognosis. Kaplan–Meier analysis of our TCGA and GEO cohorts showed that high-risk patients had a shorter overall survival. The area under the curve (AUC) for the TCGA cohort was 0.742, while for the GEO cohort it was 0.733, according to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Furthermore, this signature was discovered as an independent prognostic indicator over CM patients based on Cox-regression analysis. Immunogenomic profiling indicated that majority immune-checkpoints got an opposite relationship with the signature, and patients in the group at low risk got higher immunophenoscore. Several immune pathways were enriched, according to functional enrichment analysis. In conclusion, a prognostic methylation signature for CM patients was established and confirmed. Because of its close relationship to the immune landscape, this signature may help clinicians make more accurate and individualized choices regarding therapy.
Exploring the Linkage Between Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in BRICS Countries Through Disaggregated Analysis
Authors: Raza Ali , Khan Muhammad Azam , Bakhtyar Baher
Published: June 2024

The main objective of this study is to analyze the impact of disaggregated energy consumption (coal, natural gas, petrol, and electricity) on the economic growth of BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) from 1990 to 2020. The study implements the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Cross-Sectional Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) techniques for empirical analysis. The cointegration results indicate a consistent long-term link between coal consumption, gas, petrol, electricity, and economic growth. The CS-ARDL estimates show that disaggregated energy consumption has a positive short- and long-term effect on economic growth, and the AMG approach supports these findings. These results suggest that the economic growth of BRICS countries is positively influenced by increased consumption of different types of energy sources. The panel Granger causality test result confirms the causal link between coal consumption and economic growth, electricity and economic growth, and petroleum and economic growth, supporting the feedback hypotheses, while natural gas consumption and economic growth support the neutral hypothesis. These findings suggest that energy conservation initiatives can be implemented in BRICS countries without negatively impacting economic growth.
Fostering Learning from Errors—Computer-Based Adaptivity at the Transition Between Problem Solving and Explicit Instruction
Authors: Boomgaarden Antje , Loibl Katharina , Leuders Timo
Published: June 2024

When learners acquire new content by working on a problem-solving task prior to explicit instruction, their attempts to solve the problem usually represent only partial steps on the way to the target concept. Both, theoretical assumptions on conceptual change as well as empirical findings on effective instructional formats with incorrect solutions, suggest that it is beneficial to address incorrect student solutions in a (subsequent) instruction phase by comparing incorrect and correct solutions. There is initial evidence that learning is most successful when learner compare the correct solution to an incorrect solution that reflects the learners’ conceptual understanding from the problem-solving phase. In the present study, we investigated in a highly controlled experimental design the relevance of this fit between the learners’ individual solution type from the problem-solving phase and the incorrect solution type in the instruction phase for learning success. In a computer-based learning environment, sixth graders worked on a problem-solving task to compare fractions. In the subsequent instruction phase, students in three conditions were given 1) an adaptive comparison, 2) a contra-adaptive comparison, 3) only the correct solution. Overall, there were no differences across conditions regarding the learning success. Further exploratory analyses revealed that only learners with an intermediate prior knowledge benefited from the adaptivity. This finding can be interpreted as indicator that our short intervention only induces conceptual change when basic knowledge is already available.
Physics-Informed Particle-Based Reinforcement Learning for Autonomy in Signalized Intersections
Authors: Emamifar Mehrnoosh , Ghoreishi Seyede Fatemeh
Published: June 2024

In this paper, we develop a framework to enhance the control of autonomous vehicles within signalized intersections by integrating system dynamics with imperfect sensor data. Although sensor data for autonomous vehicles is often partial, noisy, or missing, its alignment with underlying physics has the potential to significantly improve prediction accuracy. Our methodology involves a physics-based representation of system dynamics, accounting for stochastic elements originating from differences between real-world scenarios and model-based representations, using a Markov decision process (MDP) model that embraces system physics while accommodating uncertainties. Leveraging partial sensor data, we aim to diminish uncertainty associated with segments of the system model reflected in the data and better estimate the other physical variables that are not measurable through data. This framework develops particle-based reinforcement learning action policies, seamlessly integrating data and physics for controlling autonomous vehicles approaching signalized intersections. Numerical experiments showcase the effectiveness of these policies in ensuring safe control and decision-making in different scenarios of missing state variables and varying levels of data sparsity.
Exploring the interplay between water quality parameters and aquatic fauna in a human-dominated stream network in Iran
Authors: Zohrabi Hamid , Chamani Atefeh , Zamanpoore Mehrdad , Rezaei Tavabe Kamran
Published: June 2024

Rivers and streams are dynamic linear features that undergo numerous disturbances from nearby human activities. This is particularly evident in Iranian arid regions, where agricultural activities are concentrated along these water bodies to harness their freshwater resources. This study utilized 12 stations in the Maharlu stream network to assess the impact of human activities on its water quality and aquatic fauna. Results indicated that severe nutrient pollution attributed to a high mean nitrate concentration (67.77 ± 79.72 mg/L). By employing PCA analysis, three main principal components were extracted, explaining a variance of 82.61%. PC1 exhibited high positive loadings for dissolved oxygen (DO), while PC2 showed an elevated salt concentration. Midges and non-biting mosquitoes, predominantly from the Chironomidae family, emerged as the dominant taxon, contributing to over 98% of the total species abundance. Furthermore, integrated PCA–CCA analysis revealed downstream shifts in species composition toward more tolerant species, driven by decreasing DO levels and increasing salt concentrations. These shifts in trends found in water quality parameters and species composition were linked to agricultural runoff carrying substantial amounts of fertilizers, pesticides, and organic matter from livestock farming. Consequently, there is an urgent need to implement conservation measures to mitigate their adverse effects.
Fluorescence-guided laparoscopic lymph node biopsy for lymphoma: the FLABILY study
Authors: Casaccia Marco , Alemanno Giovanni , Prosperi Paolo , Ceccarelli Graziano , Olmi Stefano , Oldani Alberto , Santarelli Mauro , Tutino Roberta , De Cian Franco
Published: June 2024

To date, no reports have indicated laparoscopic lymph node biopsies using Indocyanine green (ICG) in cases of lymphoproliferative disease. Preliminary data of patients undergoing fluorescence-guided laparoscopic lymph node biopsy (FGLLB) using ICG was retrospectively analysed from the multicentre registry FLABILY study. Between June 2022 and February 2024, 50 patients underwent FGLLB. The surgical biopsy aimed to re-stage lymphoproliferative disease for 25 patients and to establish a diagnosis in 25 patients. The median duration of the procedure was 65 ± 26.5 min. All the procedures were performed laparoscopically. One surgical conversion occurred due to bleeding. Median length of hospitalization was 1 ± 1.7 days. Two unrelated complications occurred in the immediate postoperative course. ICG was administrated preoperatively by means of an inguinal, perilesional, or intravenous injection according to the anatomical sites of the biopsy. Fluorescence was obtained in 43/50 (86%) of patients. A significant difference was highlighted in the appearance of fluorescence in sub-mesocolic lymph nodes compared to supra-mesocolic and mesenteric lymph nodes (41/49 (83.6%) vs. 13/22 (59%), p = 0,012). In 98% of cases, FGLLB provided the information necessary for the correct diagnosis. Fluorescence with ICG offers a simple and safe method for detecting pathological lymph nodes. FGLLB in suspected intra-abdominal lymphoma can largely benefit from this new opportunity which, to date, has not yet been tested. Further studies with a larger case series are needed to confirm its efficacy.

Graphical abstract
Usefulness of alien sterilizing cytoplasms for the hybrid breeding of triticale (xTriticosecale Wittmack): preliminary results
Authors: Simlat Magdalena , Warzecha Tomasz , Stojałowski Stefan , Góral Halina
Published: June 2024

To be useful for cereal breeding, cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) should express the complete sterility of maternal lines and the full restoration of the male fertility of F1 hybrids. The most reliable source of sterilizing cytoplasm for triticale is Triticum timopheevi; however, due to the low frequency of efficient non-restorer genotypes for this cytoplasm, new sources of CMS are needed. In this study, aside from T. timopheevi (T) cytoplasm, three alternative CMS sources were tested: Pampa (P) from Secale cereale L., Aegilops sharonensis (A), and Ae. ventricosa (V). The suitability of these cytoplasms for breeding was assessed based on the male fertility/sterility of F1 hybrids obtained through the manual pollination of CMS maternal lines with 36 triticale cultivars and breeding strains. About half of the hybrids with each type of cytoplasm were fully fertile and produced more than 30 grains per bagged spike. The highest percentage was found in hybrids with P cytoplasm (58.33%) and the lowest in hybrids with A cytoplasm (44.44%). Male sterility was observed in hybrids with P cytoplasm (16.67%) and A cytoplasm (16.67%) but not in hybrids with T or V cytoplasm. In terms of practical aspects, male sterility systems with P or A cytoplasm exhibit similarity in their ability to restore male fertility that differ from the T and V cytoplasms. Although all studied cytoplasms exhibited some disadvantages for breeding purposes, none should be definitively classified as unacceptable for future breeding programs regarding the development of triticale hybrid cultivars.
Revision of the Neotropical Obscure Genus Ebenia Macquart 1846 (Diptera, Tachinidae, Dufouriini)
Authors: de Santis Marcelo Domingos
Published: June 2024

The Neotropical genus Ebenia Macquart, 1846, is a member of the tribe Dufouriini (Dexiinae), and before the current work, comprised four species, viz. E. claripennis Macquart 1846, E. fumata (Wulp, 1891), E. neofumata Santis & Nihei, 2022 and E. trichopoda (Wulp, 1891). The present taxonomic revision results in a new generic synonymy: Comyops Wulp, 1891 syn. nov. of Ebenia. The following two new combinations result from this act: E. nigripennis (Wulp, 1891) comb. nov. and E. striaticollis (Wulp, 1891) comb. nov. both originally described in Comyops. In addition, the species originally described as Homodexia spinosa Bigot, 1889 is moved from its current placement in Thelairodes Wulp, 1891 to Ebenia as Ebenia spinosa (Bigot, 1889) comb. nov. A new specific synonymy is proposed for this last species: Morinia trichopoda Wulp, 1891, previously treated as a valid species of Ebenia, becomes a junior synonym of E. spinosa. All valid species are redescribed and photographed with the first description and illustration of the male terminalia for E. claripennis, E. neofumata and E. nigripennis and female terminalia for E. spinosa. Additionally, lectotype fixations are made for E. nigripennis and M. trichopoda. Finally, an updated diagnosis for the genus Ebenia and a key to the six known species are provided.
Non-adhesive and adhesive contacts of an elastic quarter-or eighth-space with freely sliding sides
Authors: Li Qiang , Popov Valentin L.
Published: June 2024

The contact of an elastic quarter- or eighth-space is studied under the condition that the movement of the side surface of the quarter-space is constrained: It can slide freely along the plane of the side surface but its normal movement is blocked (for example, by a rigid wall). The solution of this contact problem can be easily achieved by additionally applying a mirrored load to an elastic half-space. Non-adhesive contact and the Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (JKR)-type adhesive contact between a rigid sphere and an elastic quarter-space under such a boundary condition is numerically simulated using the fast Fourier transform (FFT)-assisted boundary element method (BEM). Contacts of an elastic eighth-space are investigated using the same idea. Depending on the position of the sphere relative to the side edge, different contact behavior is observed. In the case of adhesive contact, the force of adhesion first increases with increasing the distance from the edge of the quarter-space, achieves a maximum, and decreases further to the JKR-value in large distance from the edge. The enhancement of the force of adhesion compared to the half-space-contact is associated with the pinning of the contact area at the edge. We provide the maps of the force of adhesion and their analytical approximations, as well as pressure distributions in the contact plane and inside the quarter-/eighth-space.
Performance Evaluation of Cutting Fluids Formulated with Recycled Toner Waste and Rice Bran Oil in Sustainable Machining of LMD Processed Ti64 Alloy
Authors: Ross Nimel Sworna , Mashinini Peter Madindwa , Vinayagamoorthy Dhanasekar , Rai Ritu , Sivaraman Viswanathan , Ananth Belsam Jeba , Kumar D. Satish , Gupta M. K.
Published: June 2024

One of the greatest environmental and health risks associated with electronic waste is toner waste. Only 20–30% of global toner waste is recycled, and the rest is deposited in landfills. Owing to the desirable endurance of toners, the sophisticated combination of chemicals, carbon black, and plastic particles makes recycling difficult. The present work deals with the recycling of toner waste and its use as a cutting fluid in the machining of Laser Metal deposition (LMD)-processed titanium alloy. Although Ti-6Al-4V (Ti64) is widely utilized in various industries, including aerospace, its machinability is adversely affected by the high amount of heat generated during machining. In this study, the performance of toner waste powder (TWP) dispersed in rice bran oil (RBO) was evaluated for milling operations on LMD-Ti64 workpieces and compared with different cooling conditions. The different wt.% (0–1.00) of TWP are disseminated in RBO with glycerine (GLY) to test the contact angle, dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity. From the test results, it is clear that 0.75 wt% of TWP with RBO + GLY gives the better results in terms of thermo-physical properties. In addition, the TWP-enriched cutting fluid improves the machining performance and surface quality in milling operations, particularly in difficult-to-cut LMD processed Ti64. The TWP-MQL condition reduced the surface roughness (Ra) by 60–64%, respectively.
What Do Service Users with Psychosis Want from Psychological Interventions Regarding Outcome Priorities and Delivery Mode? A Systematic Review
Authors: Rogerson Shauna , Twomey Conal
Published: June 2024

Despite previous investigations of service user preferences for the overall mental health service treatment of psychosis, there is uncertainty surrounding the specific psychological intervention preferences of service users with psychosis. We conducted a systematic review of 10 studies outlining the psychological intervention preferences of service users with psychosis, organising the findings into outcome priorities and delivery mode preferences. Service users generally prioritised various psychosocial outcomes—more specifically emotional, behavioural, self-reflective, and quality of life outcomes—with outcomes related to psychosis symptoms considered less important. Regarding delivery mode, there were indicated preferences for some level of individualised care over the sole provision of group interventions. There were also some indicated preferences for collaborative formulation within psychological interventions and remote delivery options. Notwithstanding various methodological limitations, the findings could be considered as a progressive preliminary step towards the increased accommodation of the psychological intervention preferences of service users with psychosis.
Channel-Enhanced Contrastive Cross-Domain Sequential Recommendation
Authors: Yufang Liu , Shaoqing Wang , Keke Li , Xueting Li , Fuzhen Sun
Published: June 2024

Sequential recommendation help users find interesting items by modeling the dynamic user-item interaction sequences. Due to the data sparseness problem, cross-domain sequential recommendation (CDSR) are proposed. CDSR explore rich data from a source domain to improve performance of the target domain. However, most of the existing CDSR methods are difficult to capture the temporal context of sequences and only learn user preference based on interactions of single domain, which leads to suboptimal performance. To address these shortcomings, we propose a channel-enhanced contrastive cross-domain sequential recommendation model (C3DSR). To be specific, (1) we design a feature extractor, which extends attention to the channel dimension, to extract the user’s channel feature and capture the temporal contextual relationships between sequences. Then we calculate the weights of each channel by using three SE-Res2Blocks and multiply it with the channel feature to obtain user preference. (2) We concatenate the user’s single-domain representation, the cross-domain representation, and the user features to make CDSR. Contrastive learning is leveraged to enhance mutual information between two domains. Experimental results show that the proposed model achieves the significant improvement of performance compared with other CDSR models on Amazon and HVIDEO datasets.
Noise4Denoise: Leveraging noise for unsupervised point cloud denoising
Authors: Wang Weijia , Liu Xiao , Zhou Hailing , Wei Lei , Deng Zhigang , Murshed Manzur , Lu Xuequan
Published: June 2024

Existing deep learning-based point cloud denoising methods are generally trained in a supervised manner that requires clean data as ground-truth labels. However, in practice, it is not always feasible to obtain clean point clouds. In this paper, we introduce a novel unsupervised point cloud denoising method that eliminates the need to use clean point clouds as groundtruth labels during training. We demonstrate that it is feasible for neural networks to only take noisy point clouds as input, and learn to approximate and restore their clean versions. In particular, we generate two noise levels for the original point clouds, requiring the second noise level to be twice the amount of the first noise level. With this, we can deduce the relationship between the displacement information that recovers the clean surfaces across the two levels of noise, and thus learn the displacement of each noisy point in order to recover the corresponding clean point. Comprehensive experiments demonstrate that our method achieves outstanding denoising results across various datasets with synthetic and real-world noise, obtaining better performance than previous unsupervised methods and competitive performance to current supervised methods.
Influential factors on elementary students’ academic performance and identifying the appropriate performance group
Authors: Wickramasinghe Indika , Aragon Regina , Valles James R.
Published: June 2024

Elementary education is critical as it lays the foundation for learning, critical thinking, social and emotional development, individual growth, and self-confidence. Hence, studying the elementary students’ educational progress is immensely important. This manuscript aims to investigate the factors that impact elementary students’ academic performance, predict their academic performance, and use the above factors to identify the student’s appropriate skilled level group based on their academic performance. In this study, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) score, a measurement to assess students’ early literacy skills for K-6 graders, is used to quantify students' academic performance. A sample of 185 first and second graders and their features, including student’s BMI (body mass index), amount of time the student spends watching television, student’s gender, number of hours that a student sleeps each night, amount of time that the student spends reading books, student’s race, and amount of time that the student spends on physical activity are used. Based on the regression analysis, second graders’ academic performances are significantly impacted by their BMI values (β = − 4.002, p < 0.05) and the amount of time students spend reading books (β = 29.14, p < 0.05). The first graders’ academic performances are significantly impacted by the amount of sleeping time (β = 41.89, p < 0.01) and their gender (β = − 37.129, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the experimental findings indicate that machine-learning techniques accurately predict the students' appropriate academic group. In the naive Byers classifier, students in the lowest academic performance group can be identified successfully with a sensitivity of 92%, and the students in the highest academic group can be identified with a specificity value of 100%.
Language Learning beyond English
Authors: Lanvers Ursula
Published: June 2024

This Element addresses the following three questions: can Global English unequivocally be framed as a 'killer' language for learning LOTEs (languages other than English)? If so, under what premises? (Section 1); what are the rationales and justifications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English? (Section 2); and what are the pedagogical and policy implications for learning LOTE in the age of Global English? What can we learn from current (best and less good) practice? (Section 3). Attempts to engage learners in learning a variety of languages – rather than just English – often fail to achieve desired results, both in Anglophone and non-Anglophone contexts. Can English be blamed? What can policymakers and educators do to address the crisis? This Element proposes a new matrix of rationales for language learning, advocating an interconnected, socially embedded justification for language learning. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Local and Nonlocal Biophysical Effects of Historical Land Use and Land Cover Changes in CMIP6 Models and the Intermodel Uncertainty
Authors: Luo Xing , Ge Jun , Cao Yipeng , Liu Yu , Yang Limei , Wang Shiyao , Guo Weidong
Published: June 2024

Land use and land cover changes (LULCCs) can influence surface temperature through local and nonlocal biophysical processes, which remain inadequately addressed. In this study, we separate the local and nonlocal effects of historical (1850–2014) LULCCs based on model outputs from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6. We also attempt to explore the sources of intermodel differences in the effects of LULCCs. The multimodel mean shows a cooling effect of −0.05°C (with an intermodel range of −0.24–0.06°C) at the global scale due to cropland and pastureland expansion, consisting of dominant nonlocal cooling of −0.06°C (with an intermodel range of −0.26–0.06°C) and slight local warming of 0.01°C (with an intermodel range of −0.01–0.05°C). The modeling results show some clear consistency in the effects of LULCCs despite considerable intermodel uncertainties. The local effects cause warming at low latitudes and cooling in boreal regions via changes in upward shortwave radiation and sensible and latent heat fluxes. The nonlocal effects mainly cause cooling via decreases in downward longwave radiation and increases in upward shortwave radiation. Intermodel differences in the total effects are dominated by those in the nonlocal effects, which are further attributed to divergent changes in downward longwave radiation and sensible heat flux across the models. This study highlights the importance of the nonlocal effects of LULCCs in terms of strength and intermodel uncertainty, with implications for designing land‐based solutions aimed at climate change mitigation.
MAGE Model Simulation of the Pre‐Reversal Enhancement and Comparison With ICON and Jicamarca ISR Observations
Authors: Wu Qian , Wang Wenbin , Lin Dong , Qian Liying , Huang Chaosong , Zhang Yongliang
Published: June 2024

Using the latest coupled geospace model Multiscale Atmosphere‐Geospace Environment (MAGE) and observations from Jicamarca Incoherent scatter radar (ISR) and ICON ion velocity meter (IVM) instrument, we examine the pre‐reversal enhancement (PRE) during geomagnetic quiet time period. The MAGE shows comparable PRE to both the Jicamarca ISR and ICON observations. There appears to be a discrepancy between the Jicamarca ISR and ICON IVM with the later showed PRE about two times larger (∼40 m/s). This is the first time that MAGE is used to simulate the PRE. The results show that the MAGE can simulate the PRE well and are mostly consistent with observations.