bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Testing evolutionary conflict theories for sexual and physical intimate partner violence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Howard Janet A. , Gibson Mhairi A.
Published: December 2022

Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to physical, sexual and psychological violence. Here an evolutionary approach is used to compare risk factors for male-to-female IPV perpetration, analysing physical and sexual IPV separately. Two hypotheses based on sexual conflict theory have been applied to IPV perpetration, but they remain largely untested using empirical data: (a) men perpetrate IPV in response to a perceived threat to their paternity certainty; and (b) IPV is caused by men pursuing a higher fertility optima than their partners, either within marriage (reproductive coercion) or outside marriage (paternal disinvestment). Demographic Health Survey data from couples in 12 sub-Saharan African countries (n = 25,577) were used to test these evolutionary hypotheses, using multilevel models and controlling for potential social and environmental confounds. The results show that evolutionary theory provides important insight into different risk factors by IPV type. Indicators of paternity concern are associated with an increased risk of both physical and sexual IPV, indicators of paternal disinvestment are associated with an increased risk of physical IPV only, while reproductive coercion is not associated with either IPV type. The risk factors identified here correspond with proximate-level explanations for IPV perpetration, but an evolutionary interpretation explains why these particular factors may motivate IPV in certain contexts.
Hegel's Case for Means and Ends: The Logic of ‘Teleology’
Authors: Maraguat Edgar
Published: December 2022

This article offers a constructive reading of the ‘Teleology’ chapter in Hegel'sScience of Logic. I argue that it contains an apparently conclusive case for the abstract concepts of means and end (in the sense of ‘purpose’), which has remained unrecognized in the literature. I then show some implications of the fact that the argument is entirely abstract in Hegel's system.
Universal admission laboratory screening for severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) asymptomatic infection across a large health system
Authors: Cihlar Jennifer L. , Harris Bryan D. , Wright Patty W. , Humphries Romney M. , Taylor Caroline K. , Cherry Brandi R. , Talbot Thomas R.
Published: December 2022

Background:

Admission laboratory screening for asymptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been utilized to mitigate healthcare-associated severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. An understanding of the impact of such testing across a variety of patient populations is needed.

Methods:

SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid amplification admission testing results for all asymptomatic patients across 4 distinct inpatient facilities between April 20, 2020, and June 14, 2021, were analyzed. Positivity rates and the number needed to test (NNT) to identify 1 asymptomatic infected patient were calculated. Admission results were compared to COVID-19 community incidence rates for the system’s surrounding metropolitan service area. Using a national survey of hospital epidemiologists, a clinically meaningful NNT of 1:100 was identified.

Results:

In total, 51,187 tests were collected (positivity rate, 1.8%). During periods of high transmission, the NNT met the clinically relevant threshold in all populations. The NNT approached or met the threshold for most locations during periods of lower transmission. For all transmission levels, the NNT for fully vaccinated patients did not meet the threshold.

Conclusions:

Implementing an asymptomatic patient admission testing program can provide clinically relevant data based on the NNT, even during periods of lower transmission and among different patient populations. Limiting admission testing to non–fully vaccinated patients during periods of lower transmission may be a strategy to address resource concerns around this practice. Although the impact of such testing on healthcare-associated COVID-19 among patients and healthcare workers could not be clearly determined, these data provide important information as facilities weigh the costs and benefits of such testing.
First confirmed location ofCarcharhinus signatusin Puerto Rico
Authors: Schärer-Umpierre Michelle , Franqui-Rivera Glorimar
Published: December 2022

A new location record for the night shark,Carcharhinus signatus, is reported for Puerto Rico. DNA barcoding was used to confirm the photo identification of a shark captured incidentally by a small-scale commercial fisher. The adult female night shark was recovered from a depth of 330 m entangled in hook and line gear used in the deep-water snapper and grouper fishery. This record is the first confirmed sighting for Puerto Rico, increasing the shark species reported for the island and supporting its range up to the Mona Passage in the eastern Caribbean Sea.
Reconfiguring Voice in The End: Virtuosity, Technological Affordance and the Reversibility of Hatsune Miku in the Intermundane
Authors: Hui Jessica Tsun Lem
Published: December 2022

This article explores the technological affordances of vocal production software in performance through a case study of Shibuya Keīchirō's The End (2012). In the performance of this ‘humanless opera’, desires for pliability and fantasies of control are realised through the affordances of a singing voice synthesis software known as Vocaloid. By reflecting on The End's thematic focus on death and existentialism and on notions of vocal virtuosity, and by exploring the socio-technical processes by which the protagonist, virtual pop star Hatsune Miku, was constructed, the article provides an alternative narrative to vocal production and intermundane collaboration as it relates to the fluid and reversible configurations between voices, bodies and technologies in performance.
Revealing the Earliest Animal Engravings in Scotland: The Dunchraigaig Deer, Kilmartin
Authors: Valdez-Tullett Joana , Barnett Tertia , Robin Guillaume , Jeffrey Stuart
Published: December 2022

The recent discovery of animal carvings in the Early Bronze Age burial cairn at Dunchraigaig (Kilmartin Glen, Scotland) prompts a re-evaluation of current knowledge of rock art in Britain. The deer and other quadrupeds represented in the monument are the first unambiguous depictions of prehistoric animals of prehistoric date in Scotland, and among the earliest identified in Britain and Ireland. This contrasts with the well-known abstract carvings of rock art in this region, characterized by cup-marks and cup-and-rings. The discovery also reinforces the special character of Kilmartin Glen as one of the most original and remarkable Neolithic–Bronze Age landscapes of monumentality and rock art in Britain. This article describes the process of authenticating the Dunchraigaig carvings as part of the Scotland's Rock Art Project (ScRAP) and discusses their implications for our understanding of prehistoric rock art in Scotland, Britain and Atlantic Europe more widely.
The Social Life of Private Notes
Authors: Allison Sarah
Published: December 2022

Simon Reader's Notework: Victorian Literature and Nonlinear Style, as I discuss below, pushes us to rethink how we understand notes in the nineteenth century and in our own. I will begin with the contemporary implications of Reader's argument by pairing it with Rachel Sagner Buurma and Laura Heffernan's The Teaching Archive: A New History for Literary Study. Both books foreground aspects of the research and writing life that have always supported the publish-or-perish research agenda and yet have seemed instrumental or ephemeral.
Emerging trends: Unfair, biased, addictive, dangerous, deadly, and insanely profitable
Authors: Church Kenneth , Schoene Annika , Ortega John E. , Chandrasekar Raman , Kordoni Valia
Published: December 2022

There has been considerable work recently in the natural language community and elsewhere on Responsible AI. Much of this work focuses on fairness and biases (henceforth Risks 1.0), following the 2016 best seller:Weapons of Math Destruction. Two books published in 2022, The Chaos MachineandLike, Comment, Subscribe, raise additional risks to public health/safety/security such as genocide, insurrection, polarized politics, vaccinations (henceforth, Risks 2.0). These books suggest that the use of machine learning to maximize engagement in social media has created a Frankenstein Monster that is exploiting human weaknesses with persuasive technology, the illusory truth effect, Pavlovian conditioning, and Skinner’s intermittent variable reinforcement. Just as we cannot expect tobacco companies to sell fewer cigarettes and prioritize public health ahead of profits, so too, it may be asking too much of companies (and countries) to stop trafficking in misinformation given that it is so effective and so insanely profitable (at least in the short term). Eventually, we believe the current chaos will end, like the lawlessness in Wild West, because chaos is bad for business. As computer scientists, this paper will summarize criticisms from other fields and focus on implications for computer science; we will not attempt to contribute to those other fields. There is quite a bit of work in computer science on these risks, especially on Risks 1.0 (bias and fairness), but more work is needed, especially on Risks 2.0 (addictive, dangerous, and deadly).
Pseudo-partitives in English: an HPSG analysis
Authors: VAN EYNDE FRANK , KIM JONG-BOK
Published: December 2022

Pseudo-partitives are strings of the form [N1– of – N2] in which N1denotes a quantity or amount of whatever it is that N2denotes and in which N2is a bare nominal. Such strings come in two types, depending on whether the combination shares thenumbervalue of N1or N2. The first type can be analyzed along familiar lines, but the second one is a hard nut to crack. The article presents existing treatments, showing that they all involve departures from independently motivated principles. As an alternative we propose an analysis that is cast in the Typed Feature Structure notation of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar. It handles both types of pseudo-partitives, arguing that N1and the prepositionofare complement-selecting heads if thenumbervalue is shared with N1, while N1and the preposition are head-selecting functors if thenumbervalue is shared with N2. The switch from head to functor status is characteristic of grammaticalization and is shown to affect pseudo-partitives with a quantifier noun or a collection noun as N1, but not pseudo-partitives with a measure noun or collection noun. Examples and quantitative data are extracted from COCA.
Racial Discrimination and Economic Factors in Redlining of Ohio Neighborhoods
Authors: Perzynski Adam , Berg Kristen A. , Thomas Charles , Cemballi Anupama , Smith Tristan , Shick Sarah , Gunzler Douglas , Sehgal Ashwini R.
Published: December 2022

We examined the influence of racial and ethnic identity of residents and housing market economic conditions on redlining. Data were extracted from archival area description forms from the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation for 568 Ohio neighborhoods from 1934–1940. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the relationships between neighborhood characteristics and redlining. Bivariate results indicated a strong association between the presence of African American residents and neighborhood redlining (OR = 40.9, 95% CI 22.9-72.8). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that some neighborhood characteristics were contributors to the decision to redline, including homes in poor condition (OR = 4.3, 95% CI 1.2-15.1), home vacancy (OR = 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.6), and housing prices (per thousand dollars) (OR = 0.7, 95% CI 0.4-1.2). Adjusting for these and other factors, the presence of African American residents remained a powerful predictor of redlining (OR = 13.8, 95% CI 4.4-42.8). Racial discrimination was the overriding factor in decisions to redline neighborhoods.
Die Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung von Jugendlichen mit Anorexia nervosa im poststationären Setting
Authors: Sonderegger Stefanie , Waldboth Veronika , Schlüer Anna-Barbara
Published: December 2022

Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: Die in diese Studie involvierte Population betrifft Personen mit Anorexia nervosa (AN). AN ist eine Erkrankung mit teilweise lebensbedrohlichem Untergewicht. Selbstwertproblematik, Ängste und soziale Probleme begleiten Betroffene. AN verläuft oft chronisch. Hospitalisiert nehmen die Betroffenen an Gewicht zu, oft persistiert die zugrundeliegende Essproblematik, was zur Rehospitalisation führt. Untersuchungen zur Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung (SWE) Betroffener fehlen weitgehend. Ziel: Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Untersuchung der SWE bei Betroffenen im poststationären Setting mit Bezug zum Alter, der Anzahl Hospitalisationen und des Krankheitsverlaufs. Methode: Im Rahmen dieser Querschnittstudie wurden Betroffene im poststationären, psychosomatischen Setting anhand eines standardisierten Fragebogens „Allgemeine SWE“ befragt. Die Daten wurden deskriptiv und mittels Inferenzstatistik ausgewertet. Ergebnis: Befragt wurden 85 Jugendliche. Bei der Stichprobe lag der SWE-Score bei durchschnittlich = 28.53 bis und mit drei und bei = 24.68 ab vier Hospitalisationen. Lag der stationäre Aufenthalt erst kürzlich zurück, wies der SWE-Score einen tieferen Wert auf (= 26.08) als bei jenen mit länger zurückliegendem Aufenthalt (= 29.00). Schlussfolgerung: Die Resultate weisen darauf hin, dass die SWE den Krankheitsverlauf von Betroffenen beeinflussen können. Personen mit höheren SWE-Werten zeigen einen günstigeren Krankheitsverlauf mit weniger Rehospitalisationen. Die Stärkung der SWE ist deshalb im stationären und ambulanten Setting durch gezielte Interventionen seitens Fachpersonen von großer Bedeutung.
The Turning Point of the Aerosol Era
Authors: Bauer Susanne E. , Tsigaridis Kostas , Faluvegi Greg , Nazarenko Larissa , Miller Ron L. , Kelley Maxwell , Schmidt Gavin
Published: December 2022

Over the CMIP6 historical period (1850–2014), aerosols provided the largest negative forcing compared to all other climate forcings via their ability to absorb or scatter solar radiation and alter clouds. Aerosols played an important role in counterbalancing warming by greenhouse gases (GHGs). Here we study aerosol forcing trends in the CMIP6 simulations of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) ocean‐atmosphere ModelE version 2.1 (GISS‐E2.1‐G) using a fully coupled atmospheric composition configuration, including interactive gas‐phase chemistry, and either an aerosol microphysical (MATRIX) or a mass‐based aerosol (OMA) module. Simulations of the CMIP6 historical period are analyzed as well as four Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP) future scenarios for 2015–2100: SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5. The main conclusion of this study is that aerosol forcing in the GISS model has reached its turning point, switching from globally increasing to a decreasing trend in the first decade of the 21st century. This result is robust, independent of which aerosol module or SSP scenario is used. Non‐linear aerosol‐cloud interactions dominate as a forcing agent over aerosol‐radiation interactions. Aerosols' ability to counterbalance GHG forcing on the global scale is today at a level comparable to that at the beginning of the last century. In the 1980s, the decade of largest global aerosol loads, aerosols balanced up to 80% of GHG forcing. As a consequence, global warming of the last decades, which is primarily driven by greenhouse gases, has been augmented by the effect of decreasing aerosol cooling in our model. By the end of this century, following the SSP scenarios, aerosols will only counterbalance 0%–20% of GHG forcing, depending on model and on scenario.
Deriving Ionospheric Sporadic E Intensity From FORMOSAT‐3/COSMIC and FY‐3C Radio Occultation Measurements
Authors: Hu Tianyang , Luo Jia , Xu Xiaohua
Published: December 2022

The total electron content (TEC) profiles from the FORMOsa SATellite mission‐3/Constellation Observing System for the Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) and the Fengyun‐3C (FY‐3C) radio occultation (RO) missions during 2006 and 2019 are used to establish the models for deriving the ionospheric sporadic E (Es) critical frequency (foEs). Smax is derived as the maximum vertical gradient of TEC disturbance, which is extracted from a RO TEC profile using the singular spectrum analysis method. Three candidate conversion models are obtained by fitting Smax with foEs observed by collocated ionosondes, and the one with the best performance, the COSMIC&FY‐3C (CF) model, is applied for deriving foEs (foEsCF) from the TEC data of the two missions jointly. For comparison, the C model, which is of similar form as the CF model while being established without using the FY‐3C data, is applied for deriving foEs (foEsC) from the COSMIC TEC data only. The validations over four independent ionosonde stations demonstrate that mean improvements of 0.11 MHz (32%) in the absolute bias and 0.24 MHz (17%) in the root mean square error are obtained by foEsCF compared with foEsC. The spatiotemporal distributions of Es intensity during 2015 and 2019, presented respectively by foEsCF and foEsC, are further compared. The CF model provides more abundant and more detailed information about Es intensity distribution, which is most distinct at high latitudes where the contribution of FY‐3C RO TEC data is significant. Our results reveal that with the aging of the COSMIC satellites, FY‐3C TEC data is a valuable supplementary RO data source for Es‐related studies.
Transmission of foreshock waves through Earth’s bow shock
Authors: Turc L. , Roberts O. W. , Verscharen D. , Dimmock A. P. , Kajdič P. , Palmroth M. , Pfau-Kempf Y. , Johlander A. , Dubart M. , Kilpua E. K. J. , Soucek J. , Takahashi K. , Takahashi N. , Battarbee M. , Ganse U.
Published: December 2022

The Earth’s magnetosphere and its bow shock, which is formed by the interaction of the supersonic solar wind with the terrestrial magnetic field, constitute a rich natural laboratory enabling in situ investigations of universal plasma processes. Under suitable interplanetary magnetic field conditions, a foreshock with intense wave activity forms upstream of the bow shock. So-called 30 s waves, named after their typical period at Earth, are the dominant wave mode in the foreshock and play an important role in modulating the shape of the shock front and affect particle reflection at the shock. These waves are also observed inside the magnetosphere and down to the Earth’s surface, but how they are transmitted through the bow shock remains unknown. By combining state-of-the-art global numerical simulations and spacecraft observations, we demonstrate that the interaction of foreshock waves with the shock generates earthward-propagating, fast-mode waves, which reach the magnetosphere. These findings give crucial insight into the interaction of waves with collisionless shocks in general and their impact on the downstream medium.
Transcriptomic profiling of canine decidualization and effects of antigestagens on decidualized dog uterine stromal cells
Authors: Tavares Pereira Miguel , Kazemian Ali , Rehrauer Hubert , Kowalewski Mariusz P.
Published: December 2022

Maternal-stroma derived decidual cells, the only cell population in the canine placenta expressing the nuclear progesterone (P4) receptor (PGR), are crucial for the maintenance of canine pregnancy. Decreased circulating progesterone (P4) levels, or blockage of PGR function with antigestagens, terminate canine pregnancy. As an in vitro model for canine decidualization, dog uterine stromal (DUS) cells can be decidualized in vitro with cAMP. The antigestagens aglepristone and mifepristone ablate the expression of decidualization markers in DUS cells (e.g., PGR, PRLR, IGF1 or PTGES). Here, the transcriptome profile of DUS cells was investigated to acquire deeper insights into decidualization-associated changes. Additionally, effects mediated by antigestagens (competitive PGR blockers) in decidualized cells were assessed. Decidualization led to the upregulation of 1841 differentially expressed genes (DEGs, P and FDR < 0.01) involved in cellular proliferation and adhesion, mesenchymal-epithelial transition, extracellular matrix organization, and vaso- and immunomodulation. The 1475 DEGs downregulated after decidualization were mostly associated with apoptosis and cell migration. In decidualized DUS cells, aglepristone modulated 1400 DEGs and mifepristone 1558 DEGs. Interestingly, around half of the identified DEGs were modulated by only one of the antigestagens. In all cases, however, PGR-blockage was mainly associated with an inversion of several decidualization-induced effects. Comparison between antigestagen-mediated effects and transcriptional changes in the canine placenta at term allowed the identification of 191 DEGs associated with diminished cell proliferation and adhesion, and vascular and immune modulation. This study emphasizes the importance of P4/PGR signaling for decidual cell function, providing new insights into the maintenance of canine pregnancy.
Special scattering regimes for conical all-dielectric nanoparticles
Authors: Kuznetsov Alexey V. , Canós Valero Adrià , Shamkhi Hadi K. , Terekhov Pavel , Ni Xingjie , Bobrovs Vjaceslavs , Rybin Mikhail V. , Shalin Alexander S.
Published: December 2022

All-dielectric nanophotonics opens a venue for a variety of novel phenomena and scattering regimes driven by unique optical effects in semiconductor and dielectric nanoresonators. Their peculiar optical signatures enabled by simultaneous electric and magnetic responses in the visible range pave a way for a plenty of new applications in nano-optics, biology, sensing, etc. In this work, we investigate fabrication-friendly truncated cone resonators and achieve several important scattering regimes due to the inherent property of cones—broken symmetry along the main axis without involving complex geometries or structured beams. We show this symmetry breaking to deliver various kinds of Kerker effects (generalized and transverse Kerker effects), non-scattering hybrid anapole regime (simultaneous anapole conditions for all the multipoles in a particle leading to the nearly full scattering suppression) and, vice versa, superscattering regime. Being governed by the same straightforward geometrical paradigm, discussed effects could greatly simplify the manufacturing process of photonic devices with different functionalities. Moreover, the additional degrees of freedom driven by the conicity open new horizons to tailor light-matter interactions at the nanoscale.
Decadal–centennial-scale solar-linked climate variations and millennial-scale internal oscillations during the Early Cretaceous
Authors: Hasegawa Hitoshi , Katsuta Nagayoshi , Muraki Yasushi , Heimhofer Ulrich , Ichinnorov Niiden , Asahi Hirofumi , Ando Hisao , Yamamoto Koshi , Murayama Masafumi , Ohta Tohru , Yamamoto Masanobu , Ikeda Masayuki , Ishikawa Kohki , Kuma Ryusei , Hasegawa Takashi , Hasebe Noriko , Nishimoto Shoji , Yamaguchi Koichi , Abe Fumio , Tada Ryuji , Nakagawa Takeshi
Published: December 2022

Understanding climate variability and stability under extremely warm ‘greenhouse’ conditions in the past is essential for future climate predictions. However, information on millennial-scale (and shorter) climate variability during such periods is scarce, owing to a lack of suitable high-resolution, deep-time archives. Here we present a continuous record of decadal- to orbital-scale continental climate variability from annually laminated lacustrine deposits formed during the late Early Cretaceous (123–120 Ma: late Barremian–early Aptian) in southeastern Mongolia. Inter-annual changes in lake algal productivity for a 1091-year interval reveal a pronounced solar influence on decadal- to centennial-scale climatic variations (including the ~ 11-year Schwabe cycle). Decadally-resolved Ca/Ti ratios (proxy for evaporation/precipitation changes) for a ~ 355-kyr long interval further indicate millennial-scale (~ 1000–2000-yr) extreme drought events in inner-continental areas of mid-latitude palaeo-Asia during the Cretaceous. Millennial-scale oscillations in Ca/Ti ratio show distinct amplitude modulation (AM) induced by the precession, obliquity and short eccentricity cycles. Similar millennial-scale AM by Milankovitch cycle band was also previously observed in the abrupt climatic oscillations (known as Dansgaard–Oeschger events) in the ‘intermediate glacial’ state of the late Pleistocene, and in their potential analogues in the Jurassic ‘greenhouse’. Our findings indicate that external solar activity forcing was effective on decadal–centennial timescales, whilst the millennial-scale variations were likely amplified by internal process such as changes in deep-water formation strength, even during the Cretaceous ‘greenhouse’ period.
Low attainment to PK/PD-targets for β-lactams in a multi-center study on the first 72 h of treatment in ICU patients
Authors: Smekal Anna-Karin , Furebring Mia , Eliasson Erik , Lipcsey Miklos
Published: December 2022

Severe infections are life-threatening conditions commonly seen in the intensive care units (ICUs). Antibiotic treatment with adequate concentrations is of great importance during the first days when the bacterial load is the highest. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of β-lactam antibiotics has been suggested to monitor target attainment and to improve the outcome. This prospective multi-center study in seven ICUs in Sweden investigated pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic-target (PK/PD-target) attainment for cefotaxime, piperacillin-tazobactam and meropenem, commonly used β-lactams in Sweden. A mid-dose and trough antibiotic concentration blood sample were taken from patients with severe infection daily during the first 72 h of treatment. Antibiotic plasma concentrations were analysed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Antibiotic concentrations 100% time above MIC (minimal inhibitory concentration), (100% T > MIC) and four times above MIC 50% of the time (50% T > 4xMIC) were used as PK/PD-targets. We included 138 patients with the median age of 67 years and the median Simplified Acute Physiology Score 3 (SAPS3) of 59. Forty-five percent of the study-population failed to reach 100% T > MIC during the first day of treatment. The results were similar the following two days. There was a three-fold risk of not meeting the PK/PD target if the patient was treated with cefotaxime. For the cefotaxime treated patients 8 out of 55 (15%) had at least one end-dose concentrations below the level of detection during the study. Low age, low illness severity, low plasma creatinine, lower respiratory tract infection and cefotaxime treatment were risk factors for not reaching 100% T > MIC. In Swedish ICU-patients treated with β-lactam antibiotics, a high proportion of patients did not reach the PK/PD target. TDM could identify patients that need individual higher dosing regimens already on the first day of treatment. Further studies on optimal empirical start dosing of β-lactams, especially for cefotaxime, in the ICU are needed.

Trial registration: The protocol was retrospectively registered 100216 (ACTRN12616000167460).
Wavelet-based approach for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Authors: Vimalajeewa Dixon , McDonald Ethan , Bruce Scott Alan , Vidakovic Brani
Published: December 2022

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common cognitive disorder affecting children. ADHD can interfere with educational, social, and emotional development, so early detection is essential for obtaining proper care. Standard ADHD diagnostic protocols rely heavily on subjective assessments of perceived behavior. An objective diagnostic measure would be a welcome development and potentially aid in accurately and efficiently diagnosing ADHD. Analysis of pupillary dynamics has been proposed as a promising alternative method of detecting affected individuals effectively. This study proposes a method based on the self-similarity of pupillary dynamics and assesses its strength as a potential diagnostic biomarker. Localized discriminatory features are developed in the wavelet domain and selected via a rolling window method to build classifiers. The application on a task-based pupil diameter time series dataset of children aged 10–12 years shows that the proposed method achieves greater than 78% accuracy in detecting ADHD. Comparing with a recent approach that constructs features in the original data domain, the proposed wavelet-based classifier achieves more accurate ADHD classification with fewer features. The findings suggest that the proposed diagnostic procedure involving interpretable wavelet-based self-similarity features of pupil diameter data can potentially aid in improving the efficacy of ADHD diagnosis.
Risk-aware survival time prediction from whole slide pathological images
Authors: Xu Zhixin , Lim Seohoon , Shin Hong-Kyu , Uhm Kwang-Hyun , Lu Yucheng , Jung Seung-Won , Ko Sung-Jea
Published: December 2022

Deep-learning-based survival prediction can assist doctors by providing additional information for diagnosis by estimating the risk or time of death. The former focuses on ranking deaths among patients based on the Cox model, whereas the latter directly predicts the survival time of each patient. However, it is observed that survival time prediction for the patients, particularly with close observation times, possibly has incorrect orders, leading to low prediction accuracy. Therefore, in this paper, we present a whole slide image (WSI)-based survival time prediction method that takes advantage of both the risk as well as time prediction. Specifically, we propose to combine these two approaches by extracting the risk prediction features and using them as guides for the survival time prediction. Considering the high resolution of WSIs, we extract tumor patches from WSIs using a pre-trained tumor classifier and apply the graph convolutional network to aggregate information across these patches effectively. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed method significantly improves the time prediction accuracy when compared with direct prediction of the survival times without guidance and outperforms existing methods.
All-dry flip-over stacking of van der Waals junctions of 2D materials using polyvinyl chloride
Authors: Onodera Momoko , Wakafuji Yusai , Hashimoto Taketo , Masubuchi Satoru , Moriya Rai , Zhang Yijin , Watanabe Kenji , Taniguchi Takashi , Machida Tomoki
Published: December 2022

We demonstrated an all-dry polymer-to-polymer transfer technique for two-dimensional (2D) crystal flakes using a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer deposited on a piece of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Unexpectedly, the pickup/release temperatures were modified in wider temperature range simply by changing the thickness of the PVC layer than changing the plasticizer ratio. Utilizing the difference in the pickup/release temperatures depending on the PVC film thickness, 2D flakes were transferred from a thicker PVC film to a thinner one. This polymer-to-polymer transfer technique can be utilized to flip over van der Waals heterostructures. As a demonstration, we fabricated a mountain-like stacked structure of hexagonal boron nitride flakes using the flip-over stacking technique. Finally, we compared the results of thermomechanical analysis with the pickup/release temperatures of the PVC/PDMS stamp. The PVC was revealed to be at the glass transition and in the viscoelastic flow regimes when the 2D flakes were picked up and dry released, respectively. Our polymer-to-polymer transfer method facilitates flip-over van der Waals stacking in an all-dry manner, expanding the possibility of 2D materials device fabrications.
In silico identification of multiple conserved motifs within the control region of Culicidae mitogenomes
Authors: Harrison Thomas M. R. , Rudar Josip , Ogden Nicholas , Steeves Royce , Lapen David R. , Baird Donald , Gagné Nellie , Lung Oliver
Published: December 2022

Mosquitoes are important vectors for human and animal diseases. Genetic markers, like the mitochondrial COI gene, can facilitate the taxonomic classification of disease vectors, vector-borne disease surveillance, and prevention. Within the control region (CR) of the mitochondrial genome, there exists a highly variable and poorly studied non-coding AT-rich area that contains the origin of replication. Although the CR hypervariable region has been used for species differentiation of some animals, few studies have investigated the mosquito CR. In this study, we analyze the mosquito mitogenome CR sequences from 125 species and 17 genera. We discovered four conserved motifs located 80 to 230 bp upstream of the 12S rRNA gene. Two of these motifs were found within all 392Anopheles(An.) CR sequences while the other two motifs were identified in all 37Culex(Cx.) CR sequences. However, only 3 of the 304 non-Culicidae Dipteran mitogenome CR sequences contained these motifs. Interestingly, the short motif found in all 37Culexsequences had poly-A and poly-T stretch of similar length that is predicted to form a stable hairpin. We show that supervised learning using the frequency chaos game representation of the CR can be used to differentiate mosquito genera from their dipteran relatives.
An angle-compensating colorimetric strain sensor with wide working range and its fabrication method
Authors: Minh Nguyen Hoang , Kim Kwanoh , Kang Do Hyun , Yoo Yeong-Eun , Yoon Jae Sung
Published: December 2022

The visual response is one of the most intuitive principles of sensors. Therefore, emission and change of the colors are widely studied for development of chemical, thermal and mechanical sensors. And it is still a challenging issue to fabricate them with a simple working mechanism, high sensitivity, good reliability, and a cost-effective fabrication process. In this study, we propose a mechanical strain sensor, which has 2D photonic crystal structures in nanoscale on stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. Due to the periodic nanostructures, the surface of the sensor produces structural colors. And when it is stretched, the periodicity of the nanostructures changes, which results in the shift of the colors. Multiple nanostructures with different periodicities are integrated on the sensor in order to extend the working range up to 150% with high sensitivity. In addition, reusable and robust molds, which are fabricated by self-assembly of nanoparticles, are used for multiple replications of sensor substrates. Thus, the fabrication process of this study is believed to be potential for possible industrial manufacturing. This study is expected to contribute to strain sensors in the future for the applications of health care, infrastructure monitoring, soft robotics, and wearable devices.
Hydro-mechanical coupling characteristics and weakening mechanisms of filling joint resulting from water injection
Authors: Liu Yixin , Xu Chuanhua , Xu Jiang , Zeng Xuemin
Published: December 2022

The injection of fluids into fault gouges in rock formations disturbs the in situ stress conditions, leading to fault slip and increasing the risk of inducing earthquakes. The weakening effect and the permeation of the injected fluid can be influenced significantly by the presence of fault gouges. To investigate this issue, the hydro-mechanical characteristics of fault gouges were evaluated using physical tests to study the combined effects of coupling injecting water and shear deformation. We propose a new experimental apparatus that allows us to measure the spatial distribution of the thickness of a gouge layer sample under combined conditions of shearing and water injection, using 3D scanning technology to evaluate the primary flow path. The test results showed that injecting water had a significant effect in reducing the maximum shear strength, but the degree to which the strength was affected varied with the gouge fill material. The effect of shear deformation is that it will increase the inhomogeneity of the thickness distribution and therefore the distribution of injected water along the fault is not uniformly radial. Additionally, the properties of gouge fill material have an important influence on flow characteristics during fault slipping.
Deep-learning framework for fully-automated recognition of TiO2 polymorphs based on Raman spectroscopy
Authors: Bhattacharya Abhiroop , Benavides Jaime A. , Gerlein Luis Felipe , Cloutier Sylvain G.
Published: December 2022

Emerging machine learning techniques can be applied to Raman spectroscopy measurements for the identification of minerals. In this project, we describe a deep learning-based solution for automatic identification of complex polymorph structures from their Raman signatures. We propose a new framework using Convolutional Neural Networks and Long Short-Term Memory networks for compound identification. We train and evaluate our model using the publicly-available RRUFF spectral database. For model validation purposes, we synthesized and identified different TiO2polymorphs to evaluate the performance and accuracy of the proposed framework. TiO2is a ubiquitous material playing a crucial role in many industrial applications. Its unique properties are currently used advantageously in several research and industrial fields including energy storage, surface modifications, optical elements, electrical insulation to microelectronic devices such as logic gates and memristors. The results show that our model correctly identifies pure Anatase and Rutile with a high degree of confidence. Moreover, it can also identify defect-rich Anatase and modified Rutile based on their modified Raman Spectra. The model can also correctly identify the key component, Anatase, from the P25 Degussa TiO2. Based on the initial results, we firmly believe that implementing this model for automatically detecting complex polymorph structures will significantly increase the throughput, while dramatically reducing costs.
Border tissue morphology is associated with macular ganglion cell thickness in open-angle glaucoma
Authors: Park Do Young , Jang Yoon Kyung , Kim Ji Ho , Choi Jiyoun , Suh Wool , Kee Changwon , Han Jong Chul
Published: December 2022

Externally oblique border tissue (EOBT) configuration is topographically associated with glaucomatous damage in the optic nerve head. We investigated the relationship between the EOBT characteristics and macular retinal ganglion cell (RGC) thickness in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG). A total of 149 eyes with OAG that had an EOBT observed on optical coherence tomography exams were included. After determining the maximum EOBT length and angular location of the maximal EOBT length, we analyzed their correlation with macular ganglion cell inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness. The macular GCIPL and pRNFL thickness were compared based on the angular location of the longest EOBT, and their association was assessed using multivariable regression analysis. Maximum EOBT length was significantly correlated with macular GCIPL thickness, but not with pRNFL thickness. Macular GCIPL was thinnest in eyes with EOBT located in a temporal direction to the optic disc. Longer maximum EOBT and temporally elongated EOBT were independently associated with a thinner macular GCIPL in the multivariable regression analysis. These suggest that temporal elongation of the EOBT may increase the stress and strain on the RGCs derived from the macula and make RGCs more susceptible to glaucoma-inducing damage.
Power spectrum and critical exponents in the 2D stochastic Wilson–Cowan model
Authors: Apicella I. , Scarpetta S. , de Arcangelis L. , Sarracino A. , de Candia A.
Published: December 2022

The power spectrum of brain activity is composed by peaks at characteristic frequencies superimposed to a background that decays as a power law of the frequency, $$f^{-\beta }$$

f

-
β

, with an exponent $$\beta $$
β
close to 1 (pink noise). This exponent is predicted to be connected with the exponent $$\gamma $$
γ
related to the scaling of the average size with the duration of avalanches of activity. “Mean field” models of neural dynamics predict exponents $$\beta $$
β
and $$\gamma $$
γ
equal or near 2 at criticality (brown noise), including the simple branching model and the fully-connected stochastic Wilson–Cowan model. We here show that a 2D version of the stochastic Wilson–Cowan model, where neuron connections decay exponentially with the distance, is characterized by exponents $$\beta $$
β
and $$\gamma $$
γ
markedly different from those of mean field, respectively around 1 and 1.3. The exponents $$\alpha $$
α
and $$\tau $$
τ
of avalanche size and duration distributions, equal to 1.5 and 2 in mean field, decrease respectively to $$1.29\pm 0.01$$

1.29
±
0.01

and $$1.37\pm 0.01$$

1.37
±
0.01

. This seems to suggest the possibility of a different universality class for the model in finite dimension.
Niosomes-loaded selenium nanoparticles as a new approach for enhanced antibacterial, anti-biofilm, and anticancer activities
Authors: Haddadian Abbas , Robattorki Farnoush Falahi , Dibah Hedieh , Soheili Ali , Ghanbarzadeh Erfan , Sartipnia Nasrin , Hajrasouliha Shadi , Pasban Kamal , Andalibi Romina , Ch Mojtaba Hedayati , Azari Arezou , Chitgarzadeh Arman , Kashtali Aliasghar Bagheri , Mastali Fatemeh , Noorbazargan Hassan , Mirzaie Amir
Published: December 2022

Targeted drug delivery and increasing the biological activity of drugs is one of the recent challenges of pharmaceutical researchers. Niosomes are one of the new targeted drug delivery systems that enhances the biological properties of drugs. In this study, for the first time, the green synthesis of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs), and its loading into niosome was carried out to increase the anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity of SeNPs. Different formulations of noisome-loaded SeNPs were prepared, and the physical and chemical characteristics of the prepared niosomes were investigated. The antibacterial and anti-biofilm effects of synthesized niosomes loaded SeNPs and free SeNPs against standard pathogenic bacterial strains were studied, and also its anticancer activity was investigated against breast cancer cell lines. The expression level of apoptotic genes in breast cancer cell lines treated with niosome-loaded SeNPs and free SeNPs was measured. Also, to evaluate the biocompatibility of the synthesized niosomes, their cytotoxicity effects against the human foreskin fibroblasts normal cell line (HFF) were studied using the MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5 diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay. The results illustrated that the optimal formulation had an average size of 177.9 nm, a spherical shape, and an encapsulation efficiency of 37.58%. Also, the results revealed that the release rate of SeNPs from niosome-loaded SeNPs and free SeNPs was 61.26% and 100%, respectively, in 72 h. Also, our findings demonstrated that the niosome-loaded SeNPs have significant antibacterial, anti-biofilm, and anticancer effects compared to the free SeNPs. In addition, niosome-loaded SeNPs can upregulate the expression level of Bax, cas3, and cas9 apoptosis genes while the expression of the Bcl2 gene is down-regulated in all studied cell lines, significantly. Also, the results of the MTT test indicated that the free niosome has no significant cytotoxic effects against the HFF cell line which represents the biocompatibility of the synthesized niosomes. In general, based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that niosomes-loaded SeNPs have significant anti-microbial, anti-biofilm, and anti-cancer effects, which can be used as a suitable drug delivery system.
A feasibility study of wireless inductively coupled surface coil for MR-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation of rodents on clinical MRI systems
Authors: Huang Chien-Feng Judith , Lin Win-Li , Hwang San-Chao , Yao Ching , Chang Hsu , Chen Yung-Yaw , Kuo Li-Wei
Published: December 2022

Recently, to conduct preclinical imaging research on clinical MRI systems has become an attractive alternative to researchers due to its wide availability, cost, and translational application to clinical human studies when compared to dedicated small animal, high-field preclinical MRI. However, insufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) significantly degrades the applicability of those applications which require high SNR, e.g. magnetic resonance guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MRgHIFU) treatment. This study introduces a wireless inductively coupled surface (WICS) coil design used on a clinical 3 T MRI system for MRgHIFU ablation. To evaluate the SNR improvement and temperature accuracy of WICS coil, the ex vivo experiments were performed on the pork tenderloins (n = 7) and the hind legs of deceased Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 5). To demonstrate the feasibility, the in vivo experiments were performed on the hind leg of Sprague–Dawley rat (n = 1). For all experiments, temperature measurements were performed before and during HIFU ablation. Temperature curves with and without WICS coil were compared to evaluate the temperature precision in ex vivo experiments. The use of WICS coil improves the temperature accuracy from 0.85 to 0.14 °C, demonstrating the feasibility of performing small animal MRgHIFU experiments using clinical 3 T MRI system with WICS coil.
On the cognitive mechanisms supporting prosocial disobedience in a post-genocidal context
Authors: Caspar Emilie A. , Gishoma Darius , Magalhaes de Saldanha da Gama Pedro Alexandre
Published: December 2022

The aim of the present study was to offer a first investigation of the neuro-cognitive processes and the temporal dynamics at the neural level, together with cultural, social and psychological dimensions, that may support resistance to orders to harm another person. Using a novel experimental approach to study experimentally disobedience, we recruited individuals from the first generation born after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Seventy-two were recruited and tested in Rwanda and 72 were recruited and tested in Belgium. Results indicated that a higher neural response to the pain of others and a higher feeling of responsibility when people obeyed orders were associated with more resistance to immoral orders. We also observed that participants who had a higher processing, as measured through mid-frontal theta activity, when listening to the orders of the experimenter disobeyed less frequently to immoral orders. Further, participants experiencing a higher conflict before administering a shock to the ‘victim’ also disobeyed more frequently to immoral orders. Finally, a low cultural relationship to authority and a high estimated family suffering during the genocide were also associated with more disobedience to immoral orders. The present study opens new paths for interdisciplinary field research dedicated to the study of obedience.