bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is Fisher inference inferior to Neyman inference for policy analysis?
Authors: Ahmad Rauf , Johansson Per , Schultzberg Mårten
Published: February 2024

The increasing computational power has led to an increasing interest in Fisher’s test in social science. As the Fisher and Neyman inference are based on different principles there is also an increasing interest in understanding the differential features of the two procedures. For example, Young (2018) found that the Fisher test has better size properties than the Neyman test in the situation with influential observations. Ding (2017), on the other hand, showed that the asymptotic variance of the mean-difference estimator (MDE) under Fisher inference is larger than that under Neyman inference, and that the asymptotic Fisher test is less powerful than the t-test even for the simplest case of homogeneous effect. Since MDE plays an important role for policy evaluation, these latter results are a concern for using Fisher’s test as argued in Young (2018). With the aim of providing an understanding of the usefulness of the exact Fisher test for inference to the sample and to the population, this paper clarifies the results in Ding (2017). Using a novel Monte Carlo simulation following the same data generating processes as in Ding (2017), we demonstrate that the Fisher test has no worse power properties than the t-test even with heterogeneous effects.
Multimodal cortical neuronal cell type classification
Authors: Mao Xiaoyi , Staiger Jochen F.
Published: February 2024

Since more than a century, neuroscientists have distinguished excitatory (glutamatergic) neurons with long-distance projections from inhibitory (GABAergic) neurons with local projections and established layer-dependent schemes for the ~ 80% excitatory (principal) cells as well as the ~ 20% inhibitory neurons. Whereas, in the early days, mainly morphological criteria were used to define cell types, later supplemented by electrophysiological and neurochemical properties, nowadays. single-cell transcriptomics is the method of choice for cell type classification. Bringing recent insight together, we conclude that despite all established layer- and area-dependent differences, there is a set of reliably identifiable cortical cell types that were named (among others) intratelencephalic (IT), extratelencephalic (ET), and corticothalamic (CT) for the excitatory cells, which altogether comprise ~ 56 transcriptomic cell types (t-types). By the same means, inhibitory neurons were subdivided into parvalbumin (PV), somatostatin (SST), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and “other (i.e. Lamp5/Sncg)” subpopulations, which altogether comprise ~ 60 t-types. The coming years will show which t-types actually translate into “real” cell types that show a common set of multimodal features, including not only transcriptome but also physiology and morphology as well as connectivity and ultimately function. Only with the better knowledge of clear-cut cell types and experimental access to them, we will be able to reveal their specific functions, a task which turned out to be difficult in a part of the brain being so much specialized for cognition as the cerebral cortex.
Repeated local delivery of hyaluronic acid gel as adjunctive treatment of residual pockets in periodontitis patients undergoing supportive periodontal care. A randomized controlled clinical trial
Authors: Bertl Kristina , Vlachou Stefania , Pandis Nikolaos , Zampelis Antonios , Stavropoulos Andreas
Published: February 2024

Objectives

To assess the effect of hyaluronic acid (HyA) application as adjunct to re-instrumentation of residual pockets in patients undergoing regular supportive periodontal care (SPC).

Methods

Chronic periodontitis patients (stage III and IV, grade B and C) with 4 interproximal residual pockets were randomly assigned to the test (HyA gel) or control (saline) group. After subgingival instrumentation, test or control substance was applied subgingivally, then daily supragingivally for 3 months, and if required a second time after subgingival re-instrumentation after 3 months. Clinical and patient reported outcome parameters were recorded every 3 months for 12 months. Pocket closure [probing pocket depth (PPD) ≤ 4mm with absence of bleeding on probing (BoP) at PPD = 4mm] was the main outcome parameter.

Results

Fifty-six patients (221 experimental sites) were analysed. Pocket closure was achieved in 56.8 and 46.6% of the experimental sites in the test and control group, respectively (p > 0.05), while median PPD and PPD distribution (< 5mm/5mm/ > 5mm) differed significantly between groups in favour of the test group, at 12 months. Further, significantly fewer sites in the HyA group required re-instrumentation at 3 months, and sites in the HyA group showed a tendency for lower odds to remain diseased compared to the control group (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.22–1.06). The odds for a site to remain diseased after 12 months increased significantly in the presence of plaque (OR 7.94, 95%CI 4.12–15.28), but in general, decreased significantly over time (OR 0.48, 95%CI 0.28–0.81).

Conclusion

Re-instrumentation of residual pockets in SPC patients, per se, leads to a significant increase in pocket closure over time; this was impeded by poor plaque control. Repeated local application of HyA results in fewer sites requiring re-instrumentation and might slightly improve the rate of pocket closure. (clinicaltrials.gov registration nr. NCT04792541).

Clinical relevance

HyA gel is easy to apply, well accepted by patients, and may have some positive effect in terms of fewer sites requiring re-instrumentation at 3 months and higher pocket closure rate at 12 months.
What hampers research collaboration in a region?
Authors: Hertrich Tobias Johannes , Brenner Thomas
Published: February 2024

Research collaboration is an important instrument for innovation and knowledge transfer. In this respect, barriers that prevent or impede research collaboration between research institutions and companies are of particular importance. In this paper, we elaborate on the importance of research collaboration barriers by conducting and analysing 77 expert interviews from ten German regions. We go beyond the existing literature by examining differences in the perception of different kinds of experts and by comparing different types of regions classified according to the presence of important actors, namely research institutions and large companies. Our results show that research collaboration barriers are perceived as very significant barriers to innovation across all region types. We find differences in the perception of research collaboration barriers between the experts. On the regional level, the presence of research institutions shifts the relevance from missing partners to other research collaboration barriers, while all research collaboration barriers are not perceived as significantly less important.
Identification and verification of inflammatory biomarkers for primary Sjögren’s syndrome
Authors: Liu Xiaodan , Wang Haojie , Wang Xiao , Jiang Xiaodan , Jin Yinji , Han Ying , Zhang Zhihui
Published: February 2024

Introduction

Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by inflammatory infiltration, and dysfunction of the salivary and lacrimal glands. This research aimed to explore the disease pathogenesis and improve the diagnosis and treatment of pSS by mining inflammation-associated biomarkers.

Methods

Five pSS-related datasets were retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Inflammation-associated biomarkers were determined by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and support vector machines recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE). Single sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) was implemented to profile the infiltration levels of immune cells. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) verified the expression of biomarkers in clinical samples.

Results

Four genes (LY6E, EIF2AK2, IL15, and CXCL10) were screened as inflammation-associated biomarkers in pSS, the predictive performance of which were determined among three pSS-related datasets (AUC > 0.7). Functional enrichment results suggested that the biomarkers were involved in immune and inflammation-related pathways. Immune infiltration analysis revealed that biomarkers were notably connected with type 2 T helper cells, regulatory T cells which were significantly expressed between pSS and control. TESTOSTERONE and CYCLOSPORINE were predicted to take effect by targeting CXCL10 and IL15 in pSS, respectively.

Conclusion

Four inflammation-associated biomarkers (LY6E, EIF2AK2, IL15, and CXCL10) were explored, and the underlying regulatory mechanisms and targeted drugs associated with these biomarkers were preliminarily investigated according to a series of bioinformatics methods based on the online datasets of pSS, which provided a reference for understanding the pathogenesis of pSS.Key Points•Inflammation-associated biomarkers (LY6E, EIF2AK2, IL15, and CXCL10) were firstly identified in Sjögren’s syndrome based on LASSO and SVM-RFE analyses.•CXCL10, EIF2AK2 and LY6E were prominently positively correlated with immature B cells, while IL15 were significantly negatively correlated with memory B cells in Sjögren’s syndrome.•LY6E, EIF2AK2, IL15, and CXCL10 were significantly more highly expressed in clinical Sjögren’s syndrome samples compared to healthy control samples, which was consistent with the analysis results of the GEO database.•LY6E, EIF2AK2, IL15, and CXCL10 might be used as the biomarkers for the treatment and diagnosis of Sjögren’s syndrome.
Stationäre Versorgung von Menschen mit psychogenen nicht-epileptischen Anfällen – Positionspapier der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Diakonischer Epilepsiezentren
Authors: Müffelmann Birgitt , Finzel Martin , Puppe Swetlana , Mahn Patricia , Steinhoff Bernhard J. , Stodieck Stefan R. G. , Straub Hans-Beatus , Bösebeck Frank , Bien Christian G. , Mayer Thomas
Published: February 2024

Psychogene nicht-epileptische Anfälle (PNEA) (synonym: funktionelle/dissoziative Anfälle) sind eine wichtige Differenzialdiagnose zu epileptischen Anfällen und keine seltene Erkrankung. Die Versorgung von Patientinnen und Patienten mit PNEA erfolgt in spezialisierten Epilepsiezentren, die jederzeit Anfälle der Betroffenen überwachen und einschätzen können. Diese Zentren verfügen über ein spezialisiertes Behandlungskonzept, das die Kommission „Psychosomatische Epileptologie“ der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Epileptologie erarbeitet hat und das ständig bearbeitet und evaluiert wird. Seit einiger Zeit wird diese Versorgungsform durch den Medizinischen Dienst infrage gestellt. Die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Diakonischer Epilepsiezentren fasst deshalb in einem Positionspapier die Argumente zusammen, die für eine Fortführung der etablierten und wissenschaftlich fundierten Versorgung mit entsprechender Kostenübernahme durch die Kostenträger sprechen.
Blue LED trap and commercial lure improve western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) monitoring in cucumber crops
Authors: Grupe Björn , Meyhöfer Rainer
Published: February 2024

Blue sticky traps contribute substantially to monitoring the western flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis Pergande (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), in greenhouses. Although sticky traps can detect the initial presence of thrips reliably, an estimation of the actual thrips density in the crop by counting number of thrips on the traps is often not accurate. To overcome this issue, we compared blue sticky traps and newly developed sticky LED-enlightened traps in combination with the commercial thrips kairomone Lurem-TR under commercial growing conditions. Therefore, an experiment was conducted in cucumber, Cucumis sativus L. (Cucurbitaceae), crop stands in greenhouse cabins investigating the correlation between thrips caught on (LED) traps and the thrips density in the crop for an accurate and reliable thrips monitoring. Additionally, experiments aiming to understand underlying mechanisms of thrips orientation towards traps in different scenarios were conducted under controlled conditions. Results show that thrips catches on sticky LED enlightened coloured traps correlated strongly positive with number of thrips in the crop, especially at low thrips population densities. Adding Lurem to this trap type further improved accuracy of the correlation in the greenhouse cabin experiment. Moreover, LED traps with and without Lurem were more attractive towards thrips in small follow-up experiments compared to standard blue sticky traps. The results are discussed in the context of general orientation of thrips and its behaviour towards visual and olfactory cues when considering different scenarios. Our study shows the successful integration of blue LEDs into an existing trapping system and underlines the advantages compared with standard sticky plates. In conclusion, sticky LED enlightened coloured traps have a potential as an improved thrips monitoring device that might improve pest management decisions.
Pretreatment periodontitis is predictive of a poorer prognosis after esophagectomy for esophageal cancer
Authors: Nozaki Shu , Sato Yusuke , Takano Hiroshi , Nomura Kyoko , Wakita Akiyuki , Liu Jiajia , Nagaki Yushi , Sasamori Ryohei , Sasaki Yoshihiro , Takahashi Tsukasa , Igarashi Hidemitsu , Konno Yasunori , Fukuda Masayuki , Minamiya Yoshihiro
Published: February 2024

Background

Poor oral health is an independent risk factor for upper-aerodigestive tract cancers, including esophageal cancer. Several studies have investigated short-term outcomes after esophagectomy and the impact of periodontal disease, but few have examined the impact of periodontal disease on long-term outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of periodontitis among esophagectomy patients and the prognostic value of periodontitis and its effect on prognosis after esophagectomy.

Methods

A total of 508 patients who underwent esophagectomy received oral health care from a dentist before cancer treatment at Akita University Hospital between January 2009 and December 2021. We assessed the presence and severity of the patients’ periodontitis and divided them into no-periodontitis, mild periodontitis, severe periodontitis and edentulous jaw groups. We then assessed 10-year overall survival (OS) and disease-specific survival (DSS) and determined whether periodontitis was an independent prognostic factor affecting OS and DSS.

Results

We found that 101 (19.9%) patients had no periodontitis, 207 (40.8%) had mild periodontitis, 176 (34.6%) had severe periodontitis requiring tooth extraction, and 24 (4.7%) had edentulous jaw. Both OS and DSS were significantly poorer in the periodontitis than no-periodontitis group (p < 0.001). In detail, the edentulous jaw group had the poorest prognosis (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that periodontitis was an independent risk factor affecting OS and DSS.

Conclusion

Esophageal cancer patients had a high prevalence of periodontitis. Moreover, the presence of periodontitis and severity of periodontitis are independent risk factors contributing to a poorer prognosis after esophagectomy.
Sharing and Receiving Eye-Contact Predicts Mate Choice After a 5-Minute Conversation: Evidence from a Speed-Dating Study
Authors: Hoffmann Alexandra , Schiestl Sabrina , Sinske Philipp , Gondan Matthias , Sachse Pierre , Maran Thomas
Published: February 2024

In popular narratives, the first date with a potential mate often centers on their gaze as embodiment of interest and attraction. However, evidence is still lacking on the role of eye-contact as a potent signal in human social interaction in the context of dating. In addition, behavioral mechanisms of mate selection are not well understood. In the present study, we therefore examined mutual eye-contact and its influence on mate choice by applying dual mobile eye-tracking during naturalistic speed-dates. A total of 30 male and 30 female subjects attended four speed-dates each (N = 240). Subjects were more likely to choose those dating partners with whom they shared more eye-contact with. In addition, perceived attractiveness played an important role for mate choice. Interestingly, receiving but not giving eye-contact also predicted individual mate choice. Eye-contact thus acts as an important signal of romantic attraction when encountering a dating partner.
Association between blood lipid levels and the risk of liver cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang Zhihui , Xu Shicong , Song Meixuan , Huang Weirong , Yan Manlin , Li Xianrong
Published: February 2024

Purpose

The association between blood lipid levels and the risk of developing liver cancer remains a subject of ongoing debate. To elucidate this association, we conducted a meta-analysis by systematically incorporating data from all relevant prospective cohort studies.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search of the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases covering studies published from database inception through July 2023. This study included prospective cohort studies related to lipid profiles (e.g., total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels) that reported hazard ratios (HRs) or relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) to investigate their association with the risk of liver cancer. During the analysis process, we used fixed-effects or random-effects models based on the level of heterogeneity among the studies and obtained pooled risk ratios using these models. To ensure the robustness and reliability of the study findings, we also conducted sensitivity analyses and publication bias analyses.

Results

After conducting a systematic search, 12 studies were identified from a total of 11,904 articles and were included in the meta-analysis. These studies included a combined population of 10,765,221 participants, among whom 31,055 cases of liver cancer were reported. The analysis revealed that the pooled HR for the serum TC concentration (highest versus lowest) was 0.45 (95% CI = 0.35–0.58, I2 = 78%). For TGs, the HR was 0.67 (95% CI = 0.46–0.96, I2 = 86%), while for HDL-C, the HR was 0.72 (95% CI = 0.58–0.90, I2 = 65%). The HR for LDL-C was 0.51 (95% CI = 0.23–1.13, I2 = 93%).

Conclusion

The findings of this study indicate that serum TC, TG, and HDL-C levels are negatively associated with liver cancer risk, suggesting that higher concentrations of these lipids are associated with a reduced risk of liver cancer. However, no significant association has been found between LDL-C levels and liver cancer risk.
Influence of TEMPO-oxidation on pulp fiber chemistry, morphology and mechanical paper sheet properties
Authors: Hillscher Laura M. , Höfler Mark V. , Gutmann Torsten , Lux Cassia , Clerkin K. Uta , Schwall Gerhard , Villforth Klaus , Schabel Samuel , Biesalski Markus
Published: February 2024

In this contribution, we report on the TEMPO-mediated oxidation of pulp fibers used in the general context of papermaking and for the future design of tailor-made paper in advanced applications. We focus in our studies on properties of TEMPO-oxidized pulp fibers to explain the characteristics of the paper made thereof. 13C solid-state NMR analysis reveals that in particular amorphous regions of the fibers are being chemically oxidized, while at the same time the crystalline regions of the fibers are not significantly affected. Investigation of the fiber morphology before and after oxidation shows that the fiber length is not changed, yet the fibers do exhibit an increase in width if in contact with water, which is attributed to an increase in fiber swelling. In addition, fibrillation decreases due to the oxidative removal of loosely bound fines and fibrils, rendering the surface of the resulting oxidized fibers much smoother in comparison to the original fibers. Finally, we observe that both, dry and wet tensile strengths are also higher for paper made of oxidized fibers, most likely due to cross linkable aldehyde groups formed during oxidation (i.e. hemiacetal bond formation in the sheet during thermal drying). Our results of the oxidation of paper fibers thus offer a systematic study helpful for the design of tailor-made paper useful in several applications where a fiber-modification with fiber-immobilized functional motifs is crucial, such as for example in paper-based microfluidic sensors (µPADs) or lab-on a chip-devices.
An inexact regularized proximal Newton method for nonconvex and nonsmooth optimization
Authors: Liu Ruyu , Pan Shaohua , Wu Yuqia , Yang Xiaoqi
Published: February 2024

This paper focuses on the minimization of a sum of a twice continuously differentiable function f and a nonsmooth convex function. An inexact regularized proximal Newton method is proposed by an approximation to the Hessian of f involving the $$\varrho $$
ϱ
th power of the KKT residual. For $$\varrho =0$$

ϱ
=
0

, we justify the global convergence of the iterate sequence for the KL objective function and its R-linear convergence rate for the KL objective function of exponent 1/2. For $$\varrho \in (0,1)$$

ϱ
∈
(
0
,
1
)

, by assuming that cluster points satisfy a locally Hölderian error bound of order q on a second-order stationary point set and a local error bound of order $$q>1\!+\!\varrho $$

q
>
1

+

ϱ

on the common stationary point set, respectively, we establish the global convergence of the iterate sequence and its superlinear convergence rate with order depending on q and $$\varrho $$
ϱ
. A dual semismooth Newton augmented Lagrangian method is also developed for seeking an inexact minimizer of subproblems. Numerical comparisons with two state-of-the-art methods on $$\ell _1$$

ℓ
1

-regularized Student’s t-regressions, group penalized Student’s t-regressions, and nonconvex image restoration confirm the efficiency of the proposed method.
An infeasible interior-point arc-search method with Nesterov’s restarting strategy for linear programming problems
Authors: Iida Einosuke , Yamashita Makoto
Published: February 2024

An arc-search interior-point method is a type of interior-point method that approximates the central path by an ellipsoidal arc, and it can often reduce the number of iterations. In this work, to further reduce the number of iterations and the computation time for solving linear programming problems, we propose two arc-search interior-point methods using Nesterov’s restarting strategy which is a well-known method to accelerate the gradient method with a momentum term. The first one generates a sequence of iterations in the neighborhood, and we prove that the proposed method converges to an optimal solution and that it is a polynomial-time method. The second one incorporates the concept of the Mehrotra-type interior-point method to improve numerical performance. The numerical experiments demonstrate that the second one reduced the number of iterations and the computational time compared to existing interior-point methods due to the momentum term.
Preventing the Exploitation of Activists’ Care
Authors: McKittrick-Sweitzer Lavender
Published: February 2024

Care exploitation is a pervasive yet undertheorized injustice that emerges in both our interpersonal and structural relationships. Among those that are particularly vulnerable to this injustice are activists, those invested in bringing about positive change precisely because of how deeply they care about a given cause. Care exploitation occurs when an individual with caring attitudes is called to aid in the flourishing of a subject (e.g., LGBTQ + rights, anti-racism, conservation) by another that presumes they will answer said call simply because they care. In this work I offer an account of what it takes to prevent care exploitation in the narrow context of activism. Drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young, I argue that we have a political responsibility to (at the very least) adopt a stance of solidarity with activists by virtue of our structural relationships with them. This demands two things of us: (i) being sensitive to activists’ well-being and (ii) supporting their capacity for self-authorship.
A Benders decomposition approach for planning home blood donations
Authors: Bacci Tiziano , Lanzarone Ettore , Mattia Sara , Ventura Paolo
Published: February 2024

Blood donations are crucial for the health system. We consider the problem of planning blood donation services, where the donors are reached at home. The scope is to minimize the penalty for the unserved donors, while guaranteeing that the available resources for implementing the service are not exceeded and that the appointment preferences of the donors are met. We present an offline model for this setting, where the produced solution must be robust with respect to the availability of the donors, which is not known in advance and is managed in a stochastic way using scenarios. A Benders decomposition approach to solve this model is developed. The proposed algorithm is tested on real-life instances coming from the Milan department of the Associazione Volontari Italiani Sangue (AVIS).
A Review of Analytic Frameworks for Noticing in Mathematics and Science: Comparing Noticing Frameworks Across Disciplines and over Time
Authors: Amador Julie M. , Weston Tracy L.
Published: February 2024

We review analytic frameworks related to the study of noticing in mathematics and science education for the purpose of suggesting trends in research literature across both disciplines over time. We focus on highly cited articles in both mathematics and science noticing research, along with recent articles in both disciplines. We focus specifically on research articles that include an analytic framework, to understand the state of how data on noticing are analyzed. We conducted an extensive review of literature, intentionally related to population, temporality, methodology, and quality. The purpose was to provide an overview of the field of noticing, based on particular search criteria for articles including an analytic framework. To be considered an analytic framework, the article had to include a framework that could be used to analyze teacher noticing. We found frameworks in science education are frequently adapted from mathematics education and are moving toward pairing noticing with aspects of effective instruction (formative assessment, sense-making, pedagogical content knowledge), whereas the frameworks in mathematics education now consider context and equity, which was not an explicit focus in the initial noticing literature.
Intelligent Reflecting Surface Framework for ED Based Spectrum Sensing
Authors: Kumar Rahul , Singh Shweta
Published: February 2024

According to a recent study, adding intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) to propagation environments improves the performance of wireless devices. The capabilities of cognitive radio’s spectrum sensing over environments with assisted wireless propagation via IRS are examined in this research. Taking channel fading effects into consideration, we derive closed-form analytical expressions for the average probability of detection (APD) for single user and cooperative users. Further, the derived APD expression is used to derive the average area under the receiver operating characteristics curve ($${\overline{AUC}}$$AUC¯) expression. Monte Carlo simulations are also carried out in order to validate the derived expressions. Results demonstarte the extent of detectability performance in cognitive radio on utilizing the IRS aided wireless propagation environment therefore witnessing its significance for upcoming wireless technological advancement by offering spectrum efficiency with good quality of service (QoS).
Stored alcohol and fatty acid intermediates and the biosynthesis of sex pheromone aldehyde in the moth Chloridea virescens
Authors: Foster Stephen P. , Anderson Karin G.
Published: February 2024

In most species of moths, the female produces and releases a volatile sex pheromone from a specific gland to attract a mate. Biosynthesis of the most common type of moth sex pheromone component (Type 1) involves de novo synthesis of hexadecanoate (16:Acyl), followed by modification to various fatty acyl intermediates, then reduction to a primary alcohol, which may be acetylated or oxidized to produce an acetate ester or aldehyde, respectively. Our previous work on the moth Chloridea virescens (Noctuidae) showed that females produce 90% of the major pheromone component, (Z)-11-hexadecenal (Z11-16:Ald), via a direct and rapid route of de novo biosynthesis with highly labile intermediates, and ca. 10% from an indirect route that likely mobilizes a pre-synthesized 16-carbon skeleton, possibly, (Z)-11-hexadecenoate (Z11-16:Acyl) or hexadecanoate (16:Acyl). In this paper, we use stable isotope tracer/tracee techniques to study the dynamics of the precursor alcohol (Z)-11-hexadecenol (Z11-16:OH) and stores of Z11-16:Acyl and 16:Acyl to determine their roles in biosynthesis of Z11-16:Ald. We found: (i) that intracellular Z11-16:OH is synthesized at roughly the same rate as Z11-16:Ald, indicating that translocation and oxidation of this moiety does not rate limit biosynthesis of Z11-16:Ald, (ii) intracellular Z11-16:OH consists of two pools, a highly labile one rapidly translocated out of the cell and converted to Z11-16:Ald, and a less labile one that mostly remains in gland cells, (iii) during pheromone biosynthesis, net stores of Z11-16:Acyl increase, suggesting it is not the source of Z11-16:Ald produced by the indirect route, and (iv) no evidence for the gland synthesizing stored 16:Acyl prior to (up to 2 days before eclosion), or after, synthesis of pheromone commenced, suggesting the bulk of this stored moiety is synthesized elsewhere and transported to the gland prior to gland maturation. Thus, the pheromone gland of C. virescens produces very little stored fat over its functional lifetime, being optimized to produce sex pheromone.
Challenges of Measuring Self-Reported Exposure to Occupational Biomechanical Risk Factors Amongst People with Low Literacy Engaged in Manual Labour: Findings from a Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Investigation in an African Population with Chronic Low Back Pain
Authors: Igwesi-Chidobe Chinonso Nwamaka , Sorinola Isaac Olubunmi , Ozumba Benjamin Chukwuma , Godfrey Emma Louise
Published: February 2024

Purpose

Occupational biomechanical factors are implicated in the aetiology and progression of low back pain (LBP). This study cross-culturally adapted and psychometrically investigated the Occupational Risk Factor Questionnaire (ORFQ) in a low literate Nigerian Igbo population with chronic LBP.

Methods

Forward and back translation of the original ORFQ by clinical and non-clinical translators was followed by an expert committee review. The adapted ORFQ was pre-tested amongst rural Nigerian adults with chronic LBP using cognitive think-aloud interviewing. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and test–retest reliability (unweighted and linear weighted k statistic for item-by-item agreement, and intra-class correlation coefficient—ICC) were investigated amongst 50 rural and urban Nigerian dwellers with chronic LBP. Spearman’s correlation and regression analyses were conducted with the Igbo-ORFQ, and measures of disability [World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0), Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ), Back performance scale (BPS)], pain intensity [Eleven-point box scale (BS-11)] and social support [Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)], to test construct validity with 200 rural Nigerian dwellers with chronic LBP.

Results

Cross-cultural adaptation highlighted difficulty conceptualising and concretising exposure to biomechanical risk factors. Item-by-item agreement, internal consistency (α = 0.84) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.83) were good. Some unexpected direction of associations between the biomechanical components of the Igbo-ORFQ, and disability, pain intensity, and social support prohibits establishment of construct validity.

Conclusion

Prospective studies comparing the Igbo-ORFQ to other measures of exposure to occupational biomechanical risk factors are required to establish the construct validity of the Igbo-ORFQ.
No (true) right to die: barriers in access to physician-assisted death in case of psychiatric disease, advanced dementia or multiple geriatric syndromes in the Netherlands
Authors: van den Ende Caroline , Asscher Eva Constance Alida
Published: February 2024

Even in the Netherlands, where the practice of physician-assisted death (PAD) has been legalized for over 20 years, there is no such thing as a ‘right to die’. Especially patients with extraordinary requests, such as a wish for PAD based on psychiatric suffering, advanced dementia, or (a limited number of) multiple geriatric syndromes, encounter barriers in access to PAD. In this paper, we discuss whether these barriers can be justified in the context of the Dutch situation where PAD is legally permitted for those who suffer unbearably and hopelessly as a result of medical conditions. Furthermore, we explore whether there are options to address some of the barriers or their consequences, both within the Dutch legal framework or by adjusting the legal framework, and whether these options are feasible. We conclude that although there are insufficient arguments to overrule the doctor’s freedom of conscience in the Netherlands, there are ways to address some of the barriers, mainly by offering support to doctors that would be willing to support a request. Moreover, we believe it is morally required to reduce or mitigate where possible the negative consequences of the barriers for patients, such as the long waiting time for those who suffer from psychiatric disorders, because it is unlikely the adjustments suggested to the system will ensure reasonable access for these patient groups.
Pantropical CO2 emissions and removals for the AFOLU sector in the period 1990–2018
Authors: Nyawira Sylvia S. , Herold Martin , Mulatu Kalkidan Ayele , Roman-Cuesta Rosa Maria , Houghton Richard A. , Grassi Giacomo , Pongratz Julia , Gasser Thomas , Verchot Louis
Published: February 2024

Transparent, accurate, comparable, and complete estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and removals are needed to support mitigation goals and performance assessments under the Paris Agreement. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the agriculture forestry and other land use (AFOLU) emission estimates from different datasets, including National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (NGHGIs), FAOSTAT, the BLUE, OSCAR, and Houghton (here after updated H&N2017) bookkeeping models; Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR); and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We disaggregate the fluxes for the forestry and other land use (FOLU) sector into forest land, deforestation, and other land uses (including non-forest land uses), while agricultural emissions are disaggregated according to the sources (i.e., livestock, croplands, rice cultivation, and agricultural fires). Considering different time periods (1990–1999, 2000–2010, and 2011–2018), we analyse the trend of the fluxes with a key focus on the tropical regions (i.e., Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia). Three of the five data sources indicated a decline in the net emissions over the tropics over the period 1990–2018. The net FOLU emissions for the tropics varied with values of 5.47, 5.22, 4.28, 3.21, and 1.17 GtCO2 year−1 (for BLUE, OSCAR, updated H&N2017, FAOSTAT, and NGHGIs, respectively) over the recent period (2011–2018). Gross deforestation emissions over the same period were 5.87, 7.16, 5.48, 3.96, and 3.74 GtCO2 year−1 (for BLUE, OSCAR, updated H&N2017, FAOSTAT, and NGHGIs). The net forestland sink was −1.97, −3.08, −2.09, −0.53, and −3.00 GtCO2 year−1 (for BLUE, OSCAR, updated H&N2017, FAOSTAT, and NGHGIs). Continental analysis indicated that the differences between the data sources are much large in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia than in Latin America. Disagreements in the FOLU emission estimates are mainly explained by differences in the managed land areas and the processes considered (i.e., direct vs indirect effects of land use change, and gross vs net accounting for deforestation). Net agricultural emissions from cropland, livestock, and rice cultivation were more homogenous across the FAOSTAT, EDGAR, and EPA datasets, with all the data sources indicating an increase in the emissions over the tropics. However, there were notable differences in the emission from agricultural fires. This study highlights the importance of investing and improving data sources for key fluxes to achieve a more robust and transparent global stocktake.
Ferroptosis and its emerging role in kidney stone formation
Authors: Yang Junyi , Wu Weisong , Amier Yirixiatijiang , Li Xianmiao , Wan Wenlong , Xun Yang , Yu Xiao
Published: February 2024

Kidney stone is a common and highly recurrent disease in urology, and its pathogenesis is associated with various factors. However, its precise pathogenesis is still unknown. Ferroptosis describes a form of regulated cell death that is driven by unrestricted lipid peroxidation, which does not require the activation of caspase and can be suppressed by iron chelators, lipophilic antioxidants, inhibitors of lipid peroxidation, and depletion of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Recent studies have shown that ferroptosis plays a crucial role in kidney stone formation. An increasing number of studies have shown that calcium oxalate, urate, phosphate, and selenium deficiency induce ferroptosis and promote kidney stone formation through mechanisms such as oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and autophagy. We also offered a new direction for the downstream mechanism of ferroptosis in kidney stone formation based on the “death wave” phenomenon. We reviewed the emerging role of ferroptosis in kidney stone formation and provided new ideas for the future treatment and prevention of kidney stones.
TV shows popularity prediction of genre-independent TV series through machine learning-based approaches
Authors: Cammarano Maria Elena , Guarino Alfonso , Malandrino Delfina , Zaccagnino Rocco
Published: February 2024

The use of social media has grown exponentially in recent years up to become a reflection of human social attitudes and to represent today the main channel for conducting discussions and sharing opinions. For this reason, the vast amount of information generated is often used for predicting outcomes of real-world events in different fields, including business, politics, and health, as well as in the entertainment industry. In this paper, we focus on how data from Twitter can be used to predict ratings of a large set of TV shows regardless of their specific genre. Given a show, the idea is to exploit features concerning the pre-release hype on Twitter for rating predictions. We propose a novel machine learning-based approach to the genre-independent TV show popularity prediction problem. We compared the performance of several well-known predictive methods, and as a result, we discovered that LSTM and Random Forest can predict the ratings in the USA entertainment market, with a low mean squared error of 0.058. Furthermore, we tested our model by using data of “never seen” shows, by deriving interesting results in terms of error rates. Finally, we compared performance against relevant solutions available in the literature, with discussions about challenges arousing from the analysis of shows in different languages.
Outdoor activity classification using smartphone based inertial sensor measurements
Authors: Bodhe Rushikesh , Sivakumar Saaveethya , Sakarkar Gopal , Juwono Filbert H. , Apriono Catur
Published: February 2024

Human Activity Recognition (HAR) deals with the automatic recognition of physical activities and plays a crucial role in healthcare and sports where wearable sensors and intelligent computational techniques are used. We propose a HAR algorithm that uses the smartphones accelerometer data for human activity recognition. In particular, we present a recurrent convolutional neural network-based HAR algorithm that combines a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to extract temporal features from the sensor data, a Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) clustering algorithm to cluster the features extracted by the CNN, and a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network to learn the temporal dependencies between the features. We evaluate the proposed methodology on two distinct datasets: the MotionSense dataset and the WISDM dataset. We evaluate the proposed CNN-FCM-LSTM model on the publicly available MotionSense dataset to classify ten activity types: 1) walking upstairs, 2) walking downstairs, 3) jogging, 4) sitting, 5) standing, 6) level ground walking, 7) jumping jacks, 8) brushing teeth, 9) writing, and 10) eating. Next, we evaluate the model’s performance on the WISDM dataset to assess its ability to generalize to unseen data. On the MotionSense test dataset, CNN-FCM-LSTM achieves a classification accuracy of 99.69%, a sensitivity of 99.62%, a specificity of 99.63%, and a false positive rate per hour (FPR/h) of 0.37%. Meanwhile, it achieves a classification accuracy of 97.27% on the WISDM dataset. The CNN-FCM-LSTM model’s capability to classify a diverse range of activities within a single architecture is noteworthy. The results suggest that the proposed CNN-FCM-LSTM model using smartphone inputs is more accurate, reliable, and robust in detecting and classifying activities than the state-of-the-art models. It should be noted that activity recognition technology has the potential to aid in studying the underpinnings of physical activity, designing more effective training regimens, and simulating the rigors of competition in sports.
Novel image pixel scrambling technique for efficient color image encryption in resource-constrained IoT devices
Authors: İnce Cemile , İnce Kenan , Hanbay Davut
Published: February 2024

In the digital age, where data is a valuable commodity, securing sensitive information has become a growing concern. Image encryption techniques play an essential role in protecting visual data from unauthorized access and ensuring privacy. However, with limited computing capacity in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, standard encryption algorithms are not feasible, rendering lightweight methods mandatory. This study proposes a novel Corner Traversal algorithm, an alternative to existing pixel scrambling techniques. The proposed algorithm demonstrably outperforms its counterparts in both higher confusion and lower time complexity, making it remarkably efficient. Integrated with chaos-based diffusion methods, this algorithm forms a comprehensive encryption scheme. The proposed lightweight image encryption scheme utilizing the Corner Traversal algorithm successfully passed rigorous statistical and differential security analysis. Compared to similar schemes, the proposed encryption scheme employing the Corner Traversal algorithm in the confusion phase distinguishes itself through exceptional NPCR (99.6093 for Lenna) and UACI (33.4648 for Lenna) values. Combined with other evaluation criteria, this method demonstrably meets the stringent security requirements of IoT systems.
Elastic Deep Sparse Self-Representation Subspace Clustering Network
Authors: Wang Qiaoping , Chen Xiaoyun , Li Yan , Lin Yanming
Published: February 2024

Subspace clustering model based on self-representation learning often use $$\ell _1, \ell _2$$

ℓ
1

,

ℓ
2

or kernel norm to constrain self-representation matrix of the dataset. In theory, $$\ell _1$$

ℓ
1

norm can constrain the independence of subspaces, but which may lead to under-connection because the sparsity of the self-representation matrix. $$\ell _2$$

ℓ
2

and nuclear norm regularization can improve the connectivity between clusters, but which may lead to over-connection of the self-representation matrix. Because a single regularization term may cause subspaces to be over or insufficiently divided, this paper proposes an elastic deep sparse self-representation subspace clustering network (EDS-SC), which imposes sparse constraints on deep features, and introduces the elastic network regularization mixed $$\ell _1$$

ℓ
1

and $$\ell _2$$

ℓ
2

norm to constraint self-representation matrix. The network can extract deep sparse features and provide a balance between subspace independence and connectivity. Experiments on human faces, objects, and medical imaging datasets prove the effectiveness of EDS-SC network.
Stronger Heterogeneous Feature Learning for Visible-Infrared Person Re-Identification
Authors: Wang Hao , Bi Xiaojun , Yu Changdong
Published: February 2024

Visible-Infrared person re-identification (VI-ReID) is of great importance in the field of intelligent surveillance. It enables re-identification of pedestrians between daytime and dark scenarios, which can help police find escaped criminals at night. Currently, existing methods suffer from inadequate utilisation of cross-modality information, missing modality-specific discriminative information and weaknesses in perceiving differences between different modalities. To solve the above problems, we innovatively propose a stronger heterogeneous feature learning (SHFL) method for VI-ReID. First, we innovatively propose a Cross-Modality Group-wise constraint to solve the problem of inadequate utilization of cross-modality information. Secondly, we innovatively propose a Second-Order Homogeneous Invariant Regularizer to address the problem that missing modality-specific discriminative information. Finally, we innovatively propose a Modality-Aware Batch Normalization to address the problem of weaknesses in perceiving differences between different modalities. Extensive experimental results on two generic VI-ReID datasets demonstrate that the proposed final method outperforms the state-of-the-art algorithms.
Modulation of Pyruvate Export and Extracellular Pyruvate Concentration in Primary Astrocyte Cultures
Authors: Denker Nadine , Dringen Ralf
Published: February 2024

Astrocyte-derived pyruvate is considered to have neuroprotective functions. In order to investigate the processes that are involved in astrocytic pyruvate release, we used primary rat astrocyte cultures as model system. Depending on the incubation conditions and medium composition, astrocyte cultures established extracellular steady state pyruvate concentrations in the range between 150 µM and 300 µM. During incubations for up to 2 weeks in DMEM culture medium, the extracellular pyruvate concentration remained almost constant for days, while the extracellular lactate concentration increased continuously during the incubation into the millimolar concentration range as long as glucose was present. In an amino acid-free incubation buffer, glucose-fed astrocytes released pyruvate with an initial rate of around 60 nmol/(h × mg) and after around 5 h an almost constant extracellular pyruvate concentration was established that was maintained for several hours. Extracellular pyruvate accumulation was also observed, if glucose had been replaced by mannose, fructose, lactate or alanine. Glucose-fed astrocyte cultures established similar extracellular steady state concentrations of pyruvate by releasing pyruvate into pyruvate-free media or by consuming excess of extracellular pyruvate. Inhibition of the monocarboxylate transporter MCT1 by AR-C155858 lowered extracellular pyruvate accumulation, while inhibition of mitochondrial pyruvate uptake by UK5099 increased the extracellular pyruvate concentration. Finally, the presence of the uncoupler BAM15 or of the respiratory chain inhibitor antimycin A almost completely abolished extracellular pyruvate accumulation. The data presented demonstrate that cultured astrocytes establish a transient extracellular steady state concentration of pyruvate which is strongly affected by modulation of the mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism.