bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mission creep at the Federal Reserve
Authors: Rouanet Louis , Salter Alexander William
Published: September 2024

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has expanded its objectives beyond the traditional scope of monetary policy. It directly allocates credit, incorporates inequality considerations into its employment goals, and seems prepared to involve itself in climate change policy. In response to these developments, we make three elementary but often overlooked points. First, the Fed has engaged in mission creep since its earliest days. Second, mission creep has intensified since the financial crisis due to increases in both the supply of and demand for central bank activism. We argue that the floor system and accompanying unconventional monetary policies reduced the cost of mission creep. Third, we explain the likely negative consequences of mission creep. These have three causes: (1) mission creep increases the scope of credible commitment problems, (2) novel policies suffer from major knowledge problems, and (3) since those policies make the Fed's activities harder to monitor, it becomes costlier to discipline the central bank. The results are a greater scope for regulatory capture, bureaucratic incompetence, and rent‐seeking.
Recent Progress of Corrosion Prevention Method of Magnesium Alloy
Authors: He Qi , Zhang Dan , Huang Yulin , Yang Yadong , Ma Guohong
Published: September 2024

Magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have received much attention in the aerospace, transportation, automotive industry, and military equipment fields due to their unique chemical and physical properties, such as their low density and high specific strength, particularly as the lightest structural metal materials, with the opportunity to achieve the design of lighter engineering systems. With the continuous improvement of processing technology, the application scope of magnesium alloy is rapidly expanding, and market demand is increasing. However, because of its significant electronegativity (2.37 V) and loose naturally formed oxide coating, magnesium has low corrosion resistance in comparison to other structural metal elements, severely limiting its large‐scale use. This review summarizes several typical anticorrosion methods for magnesium alloys, including chemical conversion coating treatment, anodic oxide film treatment, micro‐arc oxidation treatment, laser surface treatment, ion implantation, physical vapor deposition, and superhydrophobic coating. In most cases, the corrosion resistance of magnesium and its alloys has improved, but it has a certain degree of environmental damage. It is hoped that this review will contribute to further developing magnesium alloy materials in the field of preservative coating.
Exploring the Temperature‐Dependent Structural Evolution of Mechanically Synthesized Na3PS4 Solid Electrolyte through In Situ X‐Ray Diffraction
Authors: Mayer Sergio Federico , Mirolo Marta , Iles Velez Alisson Andrea , Korjus Ove , Suard Emmanuelle , Lecarme Laureline , Ducros Jean‐Baptiste , Villevieille Claire
Published: September 2024

Exploring the potential of sodium‐based materials is of utmost importance, especially for next‐generation solid‐state batteries. Herein, Na3PS4 thiophosphate solid electrolyte is focused on. While its tetragonal α phase is initially studied for Na solid‐state batteries, the impact of heat treatment and the phase transitions of amorphous and semicrystalline polymorphs obtained by mechanochemical synthesis remains poorly understood. The structural evolution is evaluated as function of the temperature of amorphous and semicrystalline Na3PS4 polymorphs obtained by mechanochemical processes. Both samples are heat‐treated during an in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction measurement, and multiple phase transitions are detected, some of them being irreversible. A novel and abundant orthorhombic intermediary phase is observed when the heat treatment is performed on the amorphous sample. The ionic conductivity of both amorphous and semicrystalline samples undergoes significant enhancement after heat treatment, reaching 0.09 and 0.16 × 10−3 S cm−1, respectively. This research sheds light on the thermal dynamics of Na3PS4 polymorphs, providing valuable insights into their crystallization processes, especially in the amorphous‐to‐cubic transition. The discovered intermediate phases underscore the potential for further advancements in sodium‐based solid‐state battery technologies.
Single‐Crystalline Zn(002) Facet Enables Ultrastable Anode–Electrolyte Interface
Authors: Shen Tao , Wei Tingting , Zhang Shuxian , Liu Heng , Li Changyuan , Li Zhaoqian , Yang Menghao , Liu Chaofeng , Pei Yanzhong
Published: September 2024

Dendrite growth and detrimental parasitic side reactions at the anode–electrolyte interface severely restrain the reversibility and cyclability of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries. Due to the lowest surface energy in Zn metal with a hexagonal close‐packed structure, (002) facet can effectively alleviate these side effects. In contrast to several existing works on (002) texturization, single‐crystalline Zn successfully grown using a Bridgman method in this work offers a fundamental understanding on this issue. The perfect atomic arrangement of the low‐surface‐energy (002) cleavage planes, without any grain boundaries, not only kinetically enables an epitaxial deposition inhibiting dendrite formation but also thermodynamically endows the most stable state restraining the side reactions. As a result, the single‐crystalline Zn(002) anode demonstrates a cycling stability over 4800 h (6.7 month) at 2 mA cm−2 in symmetric batteries. Zn(002)//Cu asymmetric batteries achieve a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.92% over 500 cycles at 10 mA cm−2, enabling a fundamental demonstration of interface engineering for advancing batteries.
Epistemic injustice and the “Nature of Science”
Authors: Stroupe David , Suárez Enrique , Scipio Déana
Published: September 2024

Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and inservice teachers) should understand knowledge construction in science, in addition to figuring out disciplinary core ideas. Given this goal, some science education scholars created a construct called the “Nature of Science” (NOS), which aims to simplify the complex work of scientific knowledge production for learners. Since the 1980s, the NOS construct has shaped national and international science education reforms with the goal of creating a more scientifically literate populace. In this article, we name and question assumptions built into the NOS construct using the philosophical perspective of epistemic injustice. Using specific lenses of contributory injustice and testimonial injustice, we analyzed the 97 most‐cited peer‐reviewed NOS journal articles to examine which scholars are selected to create the NOS construct. We also examined how researchers using NOS position learners in relation to the construct. We found that White men are primarily named by NOS scholars to inform the construct. We also found that NOS research often positions learners from a deficit perspective compared to the construct. We conclude by discussing the potential injustices perpetuated by the NOS construct, and offer a vision for a more complete story of science in sites of learning.
Guerickes Versuch mit den Groβen Magdeburger Halbkugeln und den Pferden
Authors: Knapp Wolfram
Published: September 2024

Der groβe Magdeburger Halbkugelversuch mit den 16 Pferden ist ein weltweit bekanntes historisches Vakuumexperiment. Otto von Guericke hat damit anschaulich gezeigt, dass der Luftdruck evakuierte Halbkugeln derart zusammenhält, dass selbst starke Pferde diese nicht auseinander bekommen. Diese Publikation beschäftigt sich aber vorrangig mit der Belastung der Pferde durch die Gewichtskraft der Halbkugeln, deren Anhebung während des Versuches die Reaktionskräfte in den Zugseilen stark vergröβert. Für groβe Halbkugeln und für symmetrische Verhältnisse wird ein Rechenbeispiel gegeben. Für quantitative Messungen der Gewichtskraft der Luft hat Guericke eine einfache Galgenkonstruktion für den Abrissversuch benutzt. Beide historischen Experimente werden gerne von der Otto‐von‐Guericke‐Gesellschaft Magdeburg zu besonderen Anlässen vorgeführt und physikalisch erläutert, auch weil Guericke damit die Vakuumtechnik begründet hat.
Linking Sustainable Good Health and Well-Being to the Sustainable Development Goals: An Historical Perspective
Authors: Fet Annik Magerholm
Published: September 2024

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and their relevance for good health and well-being. Sustainable development is defined and then presented within three pillars: social, environmental and economic. The chapter examines these pillars and how they intersect with health.

In 2000, out of the eight Millennium goals launched, six were directed at improving peoples’ health whilst the other two focused on environmental sustainability and partnership for development. The 17 SDGs launched in 2015 had 169 targets for 2030: often organised in the so-called Wedding Cake Model, which is examined in this chapter. Environmental issues are basic elements in this model, represented by the SDGs 6, 13, 14 and 15. Social issues are tackled through SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. All these represent health issues as they relate to goals for “no hunger, education, healthy bodies and gender equality”. They are grouped together with SDGs 7, 11 and 16 with focus on access to clean energy, good housing, and strong institutions. The rest of the SDGs (SDGs 8, 9, 10 and 12) are defined as important for the economy (decent work, innovation and infrastructure, equity, responsible consumption and production). Partnership, SDG 17, is the overarching most important SDG, with its main focus on collaboration as a means for achieving a sustainable future. The chapter explores the SDGs for eradicating poverty, combatting inequality and stopping climate change by 2030, all of which impact sustainable good health and well-being.

In conclusion, it addresses the need to take a transdiciplinary approach and forge cross-sectoral and institutional collaboration in order to achieve these SDGs.
Building Health Literacy: A Pedagogical Model for Good Health and Well-Being
Authors: Kvangarsnes Marit , Hole Torstein , Landstad Bodil J. , Dahl Berit Misund , Bårdsgjerde Elise Kvalsund
Published: September 2024

The aim of this chapter is to present a pedagogical model for building health literacy to obtain sustainable health services at both an individual and organisational level. Health-literate people and organisations are better able to access, analyse, and comprehend necessary health information to make appropriate decisions about health and well-being. Promoting health literacy is a priority for the World Health Organization, and lack of health literacy is a global concern. Health literacy is important for health promotion and disease prevention and is particularly significant for people with chronic diseases. Health professionals need pedagogical knowledge and tools to build health literacy and to promote good health and well-being, which is an important Sustainability Development Goal (SDG 3). A pedagogical model offers a systematic and universal approach for planning, implementing, and assessing health literacy. Moreover, the pedagogical model for health literacy is a useful tool for reaching sustainability goals related to good health and well-being and better opportunities for all. The model aims at liberating human resources and promoting equity and consists of six pedagogical categories: frame factors, content, goals, patients’ health literacy, communication, and assessment. The pedagogical model has an ecological approach. This means that individuals, social networks, organisations, communities, and population must be engaged in order to build health literacy. Educational interventions also play a vital role in building health literacy, such as schools which have a focus on promoting good health. Building health literacy needs to start in early childhood and span over an individual’s lifetime.
Building Health Literacy: Health Professionals’ Experiences in the Myocardial Infarction Pathway
Authors: Bårdsgjerde Elise Kvalsund , Landstad Bodil J. , Kvangarsnes Marit , Nylenna Magne , Hole Torstein
Published: September 2024

This study aimed at exploring nurses’ and physicians’ experiences of building health literacy in the myocardial infarction pathway. A qualitative design was applied. Nurses participated in focus groups (n = 22) and physicians were individually interviewed (n = 9). The results are presented following the different phases of the myocardial infarction pathway with three distinct themes: precise and clear information (acute phase), starting to build health literacy (hospitalisation and discharge phase), and health-literate patients (rehabilitation phase). The findings showed that building health literacy varied depending on the different phases. The study revealed weaknesses in individual and organisational health literacy that require improvement. Health professionals participating in the study were concerned with preventing risk factors and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Cooperation between health professionals and organisations involved in the pathway must be improved to strengthen continuity in building health-literate patients. Promoting health literacy from a life span perspective is important for achieving Sustainability Development Goal 3: Good health and well-being, especially target 3.4, to reduce mortality from non-communicable diseases.
A Narrative of Outsiderness: Visually Impaired Individuals’ Experiences of Learning and Participation in Education and Working Life
Authors: Landstad Bodil J. , Kvangarsnes Gunhild Hovden , Larsson Stig , Brulin Emma
Published: September 2024

This chapter deals with visually impaired individuals’ experiences of learning and participation in education and working life. Health literacy is important at an individual and organisational level aiming at eliminating barriers and promoting equal opportunities for the visually impaired (SDG 10: Reduced inequality within and among countries). This study reveals that visually impaired individuals experience outsiderness in education and working life. The study also demonstrates the challenges and opportunities in participating in education and working life for the visually impaired in the future. The study provides important knowledge on how to strengthen good health and well-being (SDG 3: Good health and well-being) and promote quality education and life-long learning opportunities for the visually impaired (SDG 4: Quality education).
Stone Pseudovarieties
Authors: Almeida Jorge , Klíma Ondřej
Published: September 2024

We extend the theory of profinite algebras, as it is used in the algebraic theory of regular languages, to the more general setting of Stone topological algebras with the ultimate goal of going beyond classes of regular languages. We introduce Stone pseudovarieties, that is, classes of Stone topological algebras of a fixed topological signature that are closed under taking Stone quotients, closed subalgebras and finite direct products. Looking at the dual Stone spaces of Boolean algebras of subsets of a given topological algebra, we find a simple characterization of when the dual space admits a natural structure of topological algebra; the characterization is given in terms of how the Boolean algebra behaves under the inverses of the operation evaluation mappings of each arity. This provides an alternative, which is presented in the form of an equivalence of categories, to the duality theory of M. Gehrke. As an application, a Stone quotient of a Stone topological algebra that is residually in a given Stone pseudovariety is shown to be also residually in it, thereby extending the corresponding result of M. Gehrke for the Stone pseudovariety of all finite algebras over discrete signatures, which was recently extended to topological signatures jointly by the authors and H. Goulet-Ouellet. The residual closure of a Stone pseudovariety is thus a Stone pseudovariety, and these are precisely the Stone analogues of varieties. A Birkhoff type theorem for Stone varieties is also established and it is shown how Reiterman’s theorem can be derived from it.
Sustainability in radiation oncology: opportunities for enhancing patient care and reducing CO2 emissions in breast cancer radiotherapy at selected German centers
Authors: Bedir Ahmed , Grohmann Maximilian , Schäfer Sebastian , Mäurer Matthias , Weimann Steffen , Roers Julian , Hering Dominik , Oertel Michael , Medenwald Daniel , Straube Christoph
Published: September 2024

Background and objective

Radiotherapy often entails a substantial travel burden for patients accessing radiation oncology centers. The total travel distance for such treatments is primarily influenced by two factors: fractionation schedules and the distances traveled. Specific data on these aspects are not well documented in Germany. This study aims to quantify the travel distances for routine breast cancer patients of five radiation oncology centers located in metropolitan, urban, and rural areas of Germany and to record the CO2 emissions resulting from travel.

Methods

We analyzed the geographic data of breast cancer patients attending their radiotherapy treatments and calculated travelling distances using Google Maps. Carbon dioxide emissions were estimated assuming a standard 40-miles-per-gallon petrol car emitting 0.168 kg of CO2 per kilometer.

Result

Addresses of 4198 breast cancer patients treated between 2018 and 2022 were analyzed. Our sample traveled an average of 37.2 km (minimum average: 14.2 km, maximum average: 58.3 km) for each radiation fraction. This yielded an estimated total of 6.2 kg of CO2 emissions per visit, resulting in 156.2 kg of CO2 emissions when assuming 25 visits (planning, treatment, and follow-up).

Conclusion

Our study highlights the environmental consequences associated with patient commutes for external-beam radiotherapy, indicating that reducing the number of treatment fractions can notably decrease CO2 emissions. Despite certain assumptions such as the mode of transport and possible inaccuracies in patient addresses, optimizing fractionation schedules not only reduces travel requirements but also achieves greater CO2 reductions while keeping improved patient outcomes as the main focus.
A robust approach to terrestrial relative gravity measurements and adjustment of gravity networks
Authors: Sobrero Franco S. , Ahlgren Kevin , Bevis Michael G. , Gómez Demián D. , Heck Jacob , Echalar Arturo , Caccamise Dana J. , Kendrick Eric , Montenegro Paola , Batistti Ariele , Contreras Choque Lizeth , Catari Juan Carlos , Tinta Sallico Roger , Guerra Trigo Hernan
Published: September 2024

Like many geophysical observations, relative gravity (RG) measurements are affected by random errors, systematic errors, and occasional blunders. When RG measurements are used to build large gravity networks in remote areas under adverse environmental or logistical conditions (such as extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation, rugged terrain, difficult or dangerous roads, and high altitudes), it is more likely for significant errors to occur and accumulate. Therefore, obtaining accurate gravity estimates at regional gravity networks largely depends on defensive data collection protocols and robust adjustment techniques. In this work, we present a measurement field protocol based on highly redundant observation patterns, and a two-step least squares adjustment scheme implemented as a MATLAB package. This software helps us identify blunders, mitigates the impact of random errors, and downweights or removes outlier observations. The methodology also guarantees that adjusted gravity values have well-constrained standard error estimates. We illustrate the capabilities of our approach through the case study of the Bolivian gravity network, where we determined the acceleration due to gravity at 2548 stations that spread over difficult and sometimes extreme environments, with a typical level of uncertainty of 0.10–0.15 mGal.
Morphologische kardiale Veränderungen bei Drogentoten
Authors: Roehr W. , Corvest E. , Gaul D. S. , Bratzke H. , Verhoff M. A. , Petzel-Witt S. , Niess C. , Kauferstein S.
Published: September 2024

Hintergrund

Drogenassoziierte pathologische Veränderungen des Herzens als direkte und indirekte Folge des Substanzabusus resultieren aus einer Verkettung einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Faktoren. Wie umfangreich die Schädigung des Herzens bei Drogenabhängigen jedoch ist, und welchen Substanzen dabei eine besondere Rolle in der Genese einer spezifischen Herzerkrankung zukommt, ist dabei oftmals schwer zu ermitteln.

Zielsetzung

Ziele dieser Arbeit waren es, den Ausprägungsgrad und die Art der kardialen Schädigung bei Drogentoten zu erfassen. Zusätzlich sollte untersucht werden, ob sich ein kausaler Zusammenhang zwischen Konsumprofil bzw. Konsumintensität und kardialem Befund herstellen lässt.

Material und Methoden

Insgesamt 136 Drogentote aus den 2013 und 2014 wurden morphologisch und histologisch auf pathologische Veränderungen des Herzens untersucht. Anhand des toxikologischen Gutachtens erfolgte neben dem allgemeinen Nachweis des Drogenabusus auch die Einteilung der Verstorbenen in Konsumprofile und Konsumintensitäten. Abschließend wurde statistisch untersucht, ob die einzelnen Konsumgruppen spezifische Auffälligkeiten des Herzens zeigten und daraus ggf. eine kausale Erklärung der Genese resultiert.

Ergebnisse

70 der Verstorbenen mit einem durchschnittlichen Alter von 40 Jahren zeigten kardiale Befunde. Gehäuft auftretende Befunde waren Herzinfarkte sowie dilatative und hypertrophe Kardiomyopathien. Während sich 38 Herzbefunde durch kardial relevante Vorerkrankungen erklären ließen, waren in 32 Verstorbenen keine Vorerkrankungen zu detektieren. In diesen Fällen ist zumindest von einer maßgeblichen Beteiligung des Drogenkonsums in der Krankheitsgenese auszugehen. Im abschließenden Abgleich der verschiedenen Konsumgruppen konnte nicht nur festgestellt werden, dass bei dem Großteil der drogeninduzierten Herzbefunde ein ausgeprägter Kokainkonsum festgestellt werden konnte. Es konnte darüber hinaus gezeigt werden, dass die Gruppe der Stimulanzienkonsumenten i. Allg. bei gleicher Prävalenz kardialer Befunde signifikant jünger ist.

Schlussfolgerung

Kardiale Befunde kommen bei Drogenabhängigen gehäuft vor. Trotz starker Inzidenz der Beteiligung v. a. von Kokain an der Krankheitsentstehung müssen aufgrund von meist polytoxikomanen Drogenkonsumenten weitere zelluläre und genetische Untersuchungen hinsichtlich der Nachweiserbringung erfolgen. Für die Klinik ergibt sich die dringende Empfehlung der kardiologischen Anbindung Drogenabhängiger.
Response and conflict expectations shape motor responses interactively
Authors: Sauter Annika E. , Zabicki Adam , Schüller Thomas , Baldermann Juan Carlos , Fink Gereon R. , Mengotti Paola , Vossel Simone
Published: September 2024

Efficient responses in dynamic environments rely on a combination of readiness and flexibility, regulated by anticipatory and online response control mechanisms. The latter are required when a motor response needs to be reprogrammed or when flanker stimuli induce response conflict and they are crucially modulated by anticipatory signals such as response and conflict expectations. The mutual influence and interplay of these control processes remain to be elucidated. Our behavioral study employed a novel combined response cueing/conflict task designed to test for interactive effects of response reprogramming and conflict resolution and their modulation by expectations. To this end, valid and invalid response cues were combined with congruent and incongruent target flankers. Expectations were modulated by systematically manipulating the proportions of valid versus invalid cues and congruent versus incongruent flanker stimuli in different task blocks. Reaction time and accuracy were assessed in thirty-one healthy volunteers. The results revealed response reprogramming and conflict resolution interactions for both behavioral measures, modulated by response and conflict expectations. Accuracy decreased disproportionally when invalidly cued targets with incongruent flankers were least expected. These findings support coordinated and partially overlapping anticipatory and online response control mechanisms within motor-cognitive networks.
Biochemistry and associated fauna of holopelagic Sargassum spp. in the Caribbean Sea
Authors: van Tussenbroek Brigitta I. , Monroy-Velázquez L. Verónica , García-Sánchez Marta , Ruiz-Fernández Ana Carolina , Valencia-Castañeda Gladys , Paéz-Osuna Federico , Arenas Pablo , Rojas-González R. Isaac , Gracia Adolfo
Published: September 2024

Holopelagic Sargassum spp. (sargassum) are the founding species of diverse communities in the Sargasso Sea. Since 2011, a new area of concentration of these algae was formed in the equatorial North Atlantic and Caribbean Sea. We analyzed elemental composition, and the small mobile fauna associated with sargassum collected at 41 stations, during two expeditions in the Caribbean Sea in 2018 and 2019, that covered open-sea stations in two marine ecoregions, and coastal stations (< 20 km from the shore) in one of them. Metal(loid) concentrations generally followed the order As > Zn > Cu > Cd > Se > Pb > Hg, and contents of As (195.5 ± 13.7 µg g−1), Cd (0.59 ± 0.02 µg g−1), and Hg (0.22 ± 0.09 µg g−1) were highest in S. fluitans III in the South-Western-Caribbean ecoregion. Mean [Ctot] per ecoregion varied between 26.1 and 30.1 mg g−1, and variation was mainly accounted for by higher [Cinorg] (likely produced by calcifying epibionts) in the South-Western Caribbean (10.12) compared to the Western Caribbean (8.92 and 7.19); this tendency that was also found for [Ntot] (between 1.06 and 1.27), and these contents were positively correlated with seawater chlorophyll concentrations. Sixty-six taxa of mobile fauna were identified, with the phylum Arthropoda being most abundant and diverse. The faunal community composition was similar in both open-sea regions, but differed in the coastal stations, which was mostly explained by differential relative abundance of Latreutes fucorum, Carpias minutus, Litiopa melanostoma, and some fish species. The Caribbean open-sea rafts harbor a diverse fauna comparable to that found in the Sargasso Sea, and likely provide similar ecosystem services, and thus merit similar protective efforts as those directed towards sargassum in the Sargasso Sea.
Lessons from Covid-19 and the potential benefit of the implementation of Axon’s personal electronic health records (PEHR) into aesthetic care, plastic and reconstructive surgery
Authors: van Eeden Samuel Jakobus , Ylihonko Kristiina , Braidy Nady , Kassas Ahmad , Jakubetz Hansjörg , Eeden Wouter van , Békefi Antal , Eeden Walter van , Eeden Werner van , Eeden Zelda van , Taiwan Jacob Lee , Cheng Carol , Ghanem Ali
Published: September 2024

Background

Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need for implementing Personal Electronic Health Records (PEHR) for patients’ data management. Furthermore, this pandemic underscored the relevance for integrated and interoperable Electronic Health Records (EHR) to support disease surveillance, hospital capacity planning and resource management (Peek N, Sujan M, Scott P (2020) Digital health and care in pandemic times: impact of COVID-19. BMJ Health Care Inf 27(1):e100166. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjhci-2020-100166). Due to the lack of comprehensive patients’ record in plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery, Axon’s myHealth app offers a break-through patient-centric design allowing patients to be in control of their records and updating them in real-time for their plastic and aesthetic care providers to have a clearer understanding of patients’ history and progress from pre-op to post-op.

Methods

The Axon Dublin survey took place during Covid-19 pandemic in two phases: Phase 1 aimed to assess the feasibility of patients integrating the Axon myHealth application into their clinical visits. Testing occurred in a clinical environment, where patients were encouraged to download and use the Axon system with a health practitioner (HP) present. Phase 2 focused on home testing, evaluating patients’ willingness to manage their health remotely with HP assistance. This phase included self-testing activities such as performing rapid Covid-19 antigen tests, recording medical history, and measuring blood pressure at home.

Results

The Axon Dublin Study aimed to assess patient engagement, clinical impact, and cost-effectiveness of the Axon myHealth application. Over 85% of patients showed interest in owning a Personal Electronic Health Record. Notably, 36% continuously monitored chronic conditions. Clinical decisions, informed by patient data, saw 61.9% compliance. Noteworthy, 23% of hypertensive participants required immediate medication changes. Patient self-capture of data reduced consultation time. Public health implications were significant, with 39% vaccinated and 31% reporting complications. High user satisfaction (97%) demonstrated the app’s effectiveness in infection control and chronic care.

Conclusions

Offering patients the ability to update and control their data is a growing interest, with a clear need in plastic and aesthetic surgery to have a better understanding of a patient’s medical past and progress throughout the surgical process and period. This platform, which is time and cost efficient, can only facilitate personalised care and improve outcomes while maintaining patient’s confidentiality.

Level of evidence

Not gradable.
MR enterography radiologic ulcers in newly diagnosed ileal Crohn disease in children: frequency, inter-radiologist agreement, and clinical correlation
Authors: Palmer Andrew , Towbin Alexander J. , Anton Christopher G. , Kocaoglu Murat , Zhang Bin , Whaley Kaitlin , Debnath Pradipta , Dillman Jonathan R.
Published: September 2024

Background

Radiologic ulcers are increasingly recognized as an imaging finding of bowel wall active inflammation in Crohn disease (CD).

Objective

To determine the frequency of ulcers at MR enterography (MRE) in children with newly diagnosed ileal CD, assess agreement between radiologists, and evaluate if their presence correlates with other imaging and clinical features of intestinal active inflammation.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study included 108 consecutive pediatric patients (ages 6–18 years) with newly diagnosed ileal CD that underwent clinical MRE prior to treatment initiation between January 2021 and December 2022. MRE examinations were independently reviewed by three pediatric radiologists who indicated the presence vs. absence of ulcers, ulcer severity (categorical depth), and ulcer extent (categorical number of ulcers). Maximum bowel wall thickness and length of disease were measured and averaged across readers. Patient demographics and clinical inflammatory markers were documented from electronic health records. Inter-radiologist agreement was assessed using Fleiss’ kappa (k) statistics. Student’s t-test was used to compare continuous variables.

Results

Mean patient age was 13.9 years (67 [62%] boys). Radiologic ulcers were recorded in 64/108 (59.3%) cases by reader 1, 70/108 (64.8%) cases by reader 2, and 49/108 (45.4%) cases by reader 3 (k = 0.36). Based on majority consensus, radiologic ulcers were present in 60/108 (55.6%) participants. Inter-radiologist agreement for ulcer severity was k = 0.23, while ulcer extent was k = 0.66. There were significant differences in C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fecal calprotectin, albumin, maximum bowel wall thickness, and length of disease between patients without and with radiologic ulcers (P < 0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of MRE for detecting endoscopic ulcers were 66.7% (95% CI, 52.1–79.2%) and 69.2% (95% CI, 48.2–85.7%), respectively.

Conclusion

Radiologic ulcers are visible in children with newly diagnosed ileal CD, although inter-radiologist agreement is only fair. The presence of ulcers is associated with clinical laboratory inflammatory markers as well as other MRE findings of disease activity and is an additional imaging finding that can be used to evaluate intestinal inflammation.
What Future for Protected Areas? Analysing the Mismatch between South Africa’s Pre-existing Protected areas System and the Declared vision in Contemporary Conservation Policy
Authors: Alberts R. C. , Retief F. P. , Bond A. J. , Roos C. , Cilliers D. P.
Published: September 2024

Designation of protected areas has enjoyed global application as a means of biodiversity conservation for over 100 years. National conservation policy is essential as a means of protecting biodiversity, but is contingent on, amongst others, changing values and international drivers, and remains dynamic in many countries. As conservation policies evolve, the role of pre-existing protected areas within broader strategies for conservation can become unclear, with consequences both for the ability of the conservation policies to achieve their stated goals, and also for biodiversity outcomes within a nation. In order to map evolving inconsistencies between conservation policy and the role of protected areas within it, we develop a conceptual conservation policy framework synthesised from different policy orientations reported in the literature. Using South Africa as a case study, the conceptualisation is used to characterise the policy goals for protected areas in the recently adopted conservation policy, and the pre-existing protected areas system which remains on the statute books. The results indicate that the conceptual conservation policy framework can be used identify misalignment between policy and practice, and has enabled a mismatch to be identified between South Africa’s pre-existing protected areas system and its contemporary conservation policy, which suggests that the management of protected areas is likely to significantly change towards greater access and monetisation at the expense of their intrinsic value.
A study of the relationship between circulating cytokines (interleukin-2 receptor and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2) and risk of B-cell non-hodgkin lymphoma
Authors: Abd El-Ghani Sara El-Sayed , Abido Heba Youssef , Tawfik Nehad Mohamed , Shaheen Gehan , Ellithy Hend Nabil
Published: September 2024

Mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) occurs due to uncontrolled B-lymphocyte clonal expansion. Cytokines can directly stimulate B-cell proliferation and prevent B-cell apoptosis. Dysregulation of cytokines may play an important role in the development of B-NHL by enhancing chromosomal translocation, which is the hallmark of B-NHL. Both interleukin 2 and tumor necrosis factor-α are proinflammatory cytokines and play important roles in the growth, differentiation, and apoptosis of B cells.

We conducted a prospective case-control study applied to 50 patients with B-NHL at Kasr Al Aini Hospital, Cairo University, and 50 age- and sex-matched controls. Clinical, laboratory and imaging data were collected. In all patients and controls, sIL-2R and sTNF-R2 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The Spearman correlation test was used to evaluate the correlation between the studied cytokines and clinical, laboratory and imaging findings. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to detect the cutoff values of the studied cytokines.

Serum levels of sIL-2R and sTNF-R2 were significantly higher in patients than in controls. Additionally, their levels were significantly higher in aggressive types and advanced stages of lymphoma. Also, the studied cytokines were significantly correlated with different clinical and laboratory parameters of lymphoma. The level of sIL-2R and sTNF-R2 were closely related to the type of lymphoma (P value ˂ 0.001 and 0.012, respectively), further it was also associated with the natural history of lymphoma (aggressive vs. indolent) (P value ˂0.001 and 0.04 respectively).

We concluded that Pretreatment levels of sIL-2R and sTNF-R2 may play a role in the natural history and prognosis of lymphoma. They may be used as a prognostic factor for B-NHL patients and may also help with treatment decisions.
Prompt Engineering zur Generierung von Sprachlerninhalten
Authors: Rüdian Sylvio , Pinkwart Niels
Published: September 2024

Spätestens seit der Veröffentlichung von ChatGPT sind generative Modelle ein integraler Bestandteil aktueller Innovationen. Durch die geschickte Kombination und Einbettung solcher Modelle können Tools entstehen, welche den Arbeitsalltag unterstützen. In diesem Beitrag werden generative Verfahren in den Bildungskontext überführt. Konkret wurde die Domäne des Sprachenlernens gewählt. Anhand des Szenarios eines Sprachlernkurses für Sprachlernanfänger*innen wird die Kombination generativer Modelle verdeutlicht, um die praktische Anwendung zu demonstrieren. Dazu wird das „Exploratory“ und „Confirmatory“ Prompt Engineering eingeführt, welches die Erstellung und Evaluation von Anfragen an sprachbasierte generative Modelle ermöglicht. Es werden Möglichkeiten zur Integration in Sprachlerntools erörtert, aber auch deren Eigenheiten und Grenzen. Darüber hinaus zeigt der Beitrag anhand einer Sequenzierungsstrategie, dass sprachbasierte generative Modelle nicht jede Instruktion befolgen und Alternativen notwendig sind.
Study path analyses for quality assurance and support of study planning
Authors: Roepke Rene , Judel Sven , Schroeder Ulrik
Published: September 2024

Utilizing student lifecycle data provided by campus management systems yields the opportunity to conduct study path analyses. Methods of artificial intelligence (AI) and data science can be used to analyze study paths, identify indicators for success, and gain insights into problems and issues of student cohorts following different study paths. Meanwhile, AI can also be used to support students through informed study planning. This article presents the project AIStudyBuddy with its focus on utilizing rule-based AI and process mining to support study planning and cohort monitoring. The concept of a reference architecture and data model for study path analytics as well as details on the development of the two user applications, StudyBuddy for students and BuddyAnalytics for study program designers, are presented. By exploring how AI and process mining can be applied in the scope of the two applications, the article addresses the question of how AI can be used for quality assurance in study planning and student cohort monitoring.
The influence of El Niño on springtime synoptic-scale precipitation extremes in Southeastern China: insights from CMIP6 model simulations
Authors: Cao Dingrui , Tam Chi-Yung , Xu Kang
Published: September 2024

This study focuses on El Niño impacts on springtime extreme precipitation in Southeastern China (SEC) by comparing observations with data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) historical runs. Observational and simulated results suggest that synoptic-scale temperature advection patterns over East Asia (EA) are closely associated with extreme precipitation in SEC, encompassing the Pearl River Basin (PRB), Yangtze River Basin (YRB), and Huaihe River Basin (HRB). Based on this, we introduce a temperature advection index (TAI) tailored to capture the cold-warm temperature advection dipole, which shows a significant positive correlation with SEC precipitation. Both observations and CMIP6 indicate that TAI-related circulations, characterized by upper-level synoptic-scale waves and a north–south oriented temperature gradient over EA, are conducive to extreme precipitation in northern PRB (NPRB)–YRB–HRB. However, the TAI-related synoptic-scale activities have a lesser impact on extreme precipitation in southern PRB (SPRB), as these disturbances mainly affect the mid-latitude weather. Further investigation reveals that during boreal spring following El Niño, 85% of extreme events in YRB–HRB are associated with positive TAI values, compared to 76% under climatological conditions. However, such a change in the association with TAI is not evident in CMIP6 simulations. From observations, atmospheric baroclinicity along the East Asian westerly jet is enhanced during El Niño, which promotes the development of TAI-related synoptic-scale disturbances. In contrast, CMIP6 models struggle to reproduce these observed baroclinicity signals during El Niño. This challenge arises from the background westerly jet bias and mean-state cold tongue bias in tropical Pacific temperature in models.
The introduction of a mid-urethral stent for hypospadias surgery in toilet-trained children
Authors: Seguier-Lipszyc Emmanuelle , Shumaker Andrew , Stav Kobi , Itshak Anna , Neheman Amos
Published: September 2024

Purpose

To address the unique challenges presented by hypospadias repair in toilet-trained boys, we propose a modification to the standard stenting technique: implementation of a mid-urethral stent (MUS) extending beyond the urethroplasty, terminating distally to the sphincter mechanism. This modification upholds continence while facilitating normal voiding.

Methods

Toilet-trained boys undergoing hypospadias repair from 2009 to 2020 were retrospectively assessed. Patients were allocated into one of two groups: “Continent” drainage (a short stent was placed across the urethroplasty) or “incontinent” drainage (a standard stent or a Foley catheter was placed). Stent- related complications (dislodgement and obstruction) and surgical outcomes were compared.

Results

545 children underwent hypospadias repair with 96 (17.6%) of them toilet-trained. The “continent” and “incontinent” groups consisted of 44 and 52 patients. No differences were found regarding age, severity of hypospadias, number of corrective procedures, operative time or surgical technique. Rates of stent-related complications did not differ. No significant difference was found regarding complications requiring additional surgery, including meatal stenosis and dehiscence. Post-operative fistula occurred in one patient in the continent group and in seven patients in the incontinent group.

Conclusion

Use of a continence-preserving MUS is a safe alternative in toilet-trained patients undergoing hypospadias repair without increasing risk of complications.
Probabilistic, scenario-based hazard assessment for pyroclastic density currents at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador
Authors: Aravena A. , Tadini A. , Bevilacqua A. , Samaniego P. , Bernard B. , Hidalgo S. , Le Pennec J.-L. , Martínez-Yáñez P. , García J. , Roche O.
Published: September 2024

We assess the volcanic hazard posed by pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) at Tungurahua volcano, Ecuador, using a probabilistic approach based on the analysis of calibrated numerical simulations. We address the expected variability of explosive eruptions at Tungurahua volcano by adopting a scenario-based strategy, where we consider three cases: violent Strombolian to Vulcanian eruption (VEI 2), sub-Plinian eruption (VEI 3), and sub-Plinian to Plinian eruption (VEI 4–5). PDCs are modeled using the branching energy cone model and the branching box model, considering reproducible calibration procedures based on the geological record of Tungurahua volcano. The use of different calibration procedures and reference PDC deposits allows us to define uncertainty ranges for the inundation probability of each scenario. Numerical results indicate that PDCs at Tungurahua volcano propagate preferentially toward W and NW, where a series of catchment ravines can be recognized. Two additional valleys of channelization are observed in the N and NE flanks of the volcano, which may affect the city of Baños. The mean inundation probability calculated for Baños is small (6 ± 3%) for PDCs similar to those emplaced during recent VEI 2 eruptions (July 2006, February 2008, May 2010, July 2013, February 2014, and February 2016), and on the order of 13 ± 4% for a PDC similar to that produced during the sub-Plinian phase of the August 2006 eruption (VEI 3). The highest intensity scenario (VEI 4–5), for which we present and implement a novel calibration procedure based on a few control points, produces inundation areas that nearly always include inhabited centers such as Baños, Puela, and Cotaló, among others. This calibration method is well suited for eruptive scenarios that lack detailed field information, and could be replicated for poorly known active volcanoes around the world.
Amina: an Arabic multi-purpose integral news articles dataset
Authors: Zaytoon Mohamed , Bashar Muhannad , Khamis Mohamed A. , Gomaa Walid
Published: September 2024

Electronic newspapers are one of the most common sources of Modern Standard Arabic. Existing datasets of Arabic news articles typically provide a title, body, and single label. Ignoring important features, like the article author, image, tags, and publication date, can degrade the efficacy of classification models. In this paper, we propose the Arabic multi-purpose integral news articles (AMINA) dataset. AMINA is a large-scale Arabic news corpus with over 1,850,000 articles collected from 9 Arabic newspapers from different countries. It includes all the article features: title, tags, publication date and time, location, author, article image and its caption, and the number of visits. To test the efficacy of the proposed dataset, three tasks were developed and validated: article textual content (classification and generation) and article image classification. For content classification, we experimented the performance of several state-of-the-art Arabic NLP models including AraBERT and CAMeL-BERT, etc. For content generation, the reformer architecture is adopted as a character text generation model. For image classification applied on Al-Sharq and Youm7 news portals, we have compared the performance of 10 pre-trained models including ConvNeXt, MaxViT, ResNet18, etc. The overall study verifies the significance and contribution of our newly introduced Arabic articles dataset. The AMINA dataset has been released athttps://huggingface.co/datasets/MohamedZayton/AMINA.
Catalyzing green transformation: mitigating oil price impact on CO2 emissions in Saudi Arabia via renewable energy transition
Authors: Mukhtarov Shahriyar , Azizov Mayis , Kartal Mustafa Tevfik , Eynalov Hazi
Published: September 2024

Exploring the relationship between international oil prices, income, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Saudi Arabia, this study examines if renewable energy consumption plays a lowering tool in international oil prices' impact on CO2 emissions, employing conventional econometric methods and the functional coefficient approach. The study reveals that the interaction between renewable energy consumption and international oil prices has a negative and statistically significant impact on CO2 emissions. This emphasizes the potential for Saudi Arabia to reduce carbon emissions by prioritizing renewable energy projects. In addition, a positive and statistically significant relationship between income and CO2 emissions is found, emphasizing the need to decouple economic growth from emissions growth. Furthermore, an interesting decoupling effect between oil price elasticity of CO2 emissions and per capita GDP is noted from the early 2000s–2015. This indicates that economic growth driven by rising oil prices can be managed to mitigate environmental impact, showcasing Saudi Arabia's commitment to sustainable development. Policy recommendations involve intensifying efforts to promote renewable energy implementation, lowering fossil fuel dependence in power generation, and incentivizing emissions reduction for a more sustainable energy future.