bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Flexible Block Copolymer Metamaterials Featuring Hollow Ordered Nanonetworks with Ultra‐High Porosity and Surface‐To‐Volume Ratio
Authors: Lin I‐Ming , Yang Chih‐Ying , Wang Yi‐Ming , Wang Wei‐En , Hung Yu‐Chueh , Thomas Edwin L. , Chiang Yeo‐Wan
Published: November 2023

By utilizing bicontinuous and nanoporous ordered nanonetworks, such as double gyroid (DG) and double diamond (DD), metamaterials with exceptional optical and mechanical properties can be fabricated through the templating synthesis of functional materials. However, the volume fraction range of DG in block copolymers is significantly narrow, making it unable to vary its porosity and surface‐to‐volume ratio. Here, the theoretically limited structural volume of the DG phase in coil‐coil copolymers is overcome by enlarging the conformational asymmetry through the association of mesogens, providing fast access to achieving flexible structured materials of ultra‐high porosities. The new materials design, dual‐extractable nanocomposite, is created by incorporating a photodegradable block with a solvent‐extractable mesogen (m) into an accepting block, resulting in a new hollow gyroid (HG) with the largely increased surface‐to‐volume ratio and porosity of 77 vol%. The lightweight HG exhibits a low refractive index of 1.11 and a very high specific reduced modulus, almost two times that of the typical negative gyroid (porosity≈53%) and three times that of the positive gyroid (porosity≈24%). This novel concept can significantly extend the DG phase window of block copolymers and the corresponding surface‐to‐volume ratio, being applicable for nanotemplate‐synthesized nanomaterials with a great gain of mechanical, catalytic, and optoelectronic properties.
Structure and Electron Engineering for Nitrate Electrocatalysis to Ammonia: Identification and Modification of Active Sites in Spinel Oxides
Authors: Yan Jianyue , Liu Peng , Li Jiawen , Huang Hao , Song Wenbo
Published: November 2023

Cobalt spinel oxides, which consist of tetrahedral site (AO4) and octahedral site (BO6), are a potential group of transition metal oxides (TMO) for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reactions to ammonia (NRA). Identifying the true active site in spinel oxides is crucial to designing advanced catalysts. This work reveals that the CoO6 site is the dominant site for NRA through the site substitution strategy. The suitable electronic configuration of Co at the octahedral site leads to a stronger interaction between the Co d‐orbital and the O p‐orbital in O‐containing intermediates, resulting in a high‐efficiency nitrate‐to‐ammonia reduction. Furthermore, the substitution of metallic elements at the AO4 site can affect the charge density at the BO6 site via the structure of A‐O‐B. Thereafter, Ni and Cu are introduced to replace the tetrahedral site in spinel oxides and optimize the electronic structure of CoO6. As a result, NiCo2O4 exhibits the best activity for NRA with an outstanding yield of NH3 (15.49 mg cm−2 h−1) and FE (99.89%). This study introduces a novel paradigm for identifying the active site and proposes an approach for constructing high‐efficiency electrocatalysts for NRA.
An Organic Molecular Cathode Composed of Naphthoquinones Bridged by Organodisulfide for Rechargeable Lithium Battery
Authors: Yu Pei , An Jiaxuan , Wang Zhongju , Fu Yongzhu , Guo Wei
Published: November 2023

Organic electrodes that embrace multiple electron transfer and efficient redox reactions are desirable for green energy storage batteries. Here, a novel organic electrode material is synthesized, i.e., 2, 2′‐((disulfanediylbis (4, 1‐phenylene)) bis(azanediyl)) bis (naphthalene‐1, 4‐dione) (MNQ), through a simple click reaction between common carbonyl and organosulfur compounds and demonstrate its application potential as a high‐performance cathode material in rechargeable lithium batteries. MNQ exhibits the aggregation effect of redox‐active functional groups, the advantage of fast reaction kinetics from molecular structure evolution, and the decreased solubility in aprotic electrolytes resulting from intermolecular interactions. As expected, the MNQ electrode exhibits a high initial discharge capacity of 281.2 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C, equivalent to 97.9% of its theoretical capacity, and sustains stable long‐term cycling performance of over 1000 cycles at 1 C. This work adds a new member to the family of organic electrode materials, providing performance‐efficient organic molecules for the design of rechargeable battery systems, which will undoubtedly spark great interest in their applications.
Functionalized Bacterial Cellulose Bottlebrush‐Based Asymmetric Dressing for Effective Management of Wounds with Infection and Exudate
Authors: Yang Zifeng , Wang Feng , Shi Chenguang , Huang Junlong , Xu Ruijun , Quan Luna , Li Yang , Sun Qi , Wang Hui , Huang Rongkang , Zheng Bingna , Li Yong
Published: November 2023

Simultaneous infection and exudate management remain a great challenge in wound treatment. As one of the most promising approaches, current asymmetric dressings are basically prepared through electrospinning with different kinds of materials, and the interfacial interaction remains unexplored. Herein, the first single‐substrate‐based asymmetric dressing with a well‐entangled interface, large absorptive capacity, effective fluid reflux prevention, excellent antibacterial, and antipenetration properties is developed. The asymmetric dressing is composed of layered hydrophilic and hydrophobic bottlebrushes (sodium polyacrylate and polystyrene‐functionalized bacterial cellulose), which are assembled using stepwise vacuum filtration, accompanied by loading triclosan into the solution of hydrophilic bottlebrushes. The biocompatibility and feasibility of the asymmetric dressing pave the way in real wound management.
The COVID‐19 pandemic and primary care appointment availability by physician age and gender
Authors: Wisniewski Janna , Walker Brigham , Tinkler Sarah , Stano Miron , Sharma Rajiv
Published: November 2023

Using data generated through simulated patient calls to a national random sample of primary care physicians between February and July 2020, we examine the effects of the first wave of COVID‐19 on the availability of the U.S. primary care physician workforce for routine new patient appointments. As states enacted stay‐at‐home orders, physicians overall became less selective by insurance, and there was a 7 percentage‐point increase in acceptance of patient insurance. Telemedicine appointment offers increased 10.2 percentage points from near zero. However, relative to younger counterparts, physicians older than the sample mean (53.1 years) became 18.1 percentage points less likely to offer appointments and decreased their estimated appointment duration by 7.1 min. Compared to male physicians, female physicians became 10 percentage points more likely to accept new patients. These insights into appointment offers during the first wave of COVID‐19 may help policymakers seeking to ensure an adequate physician workforce during future crises.
Regulating Air‐Annealing Time for Boosting the Performance of Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 Solar Cells
Authors: Cui Guonan , Zhao Xin , Yang Yanchun , Ren Junting , Liu Yanqing , Wang Rui , Bai Lulu , Wang Yiming , Zhu Chengjun , Lv Xiaogong
Published: November 2023

Excellent morphology and low harmful defect states of the absorber layer are essential to fabricate the high‐performance Cu2ZnSn(S, Se)4 (CZTSSe) devices. Herein, the annealing time of precursor films in air is proved to have much impact on the quality of absorber layer and the performance of devices. Appropriately extending the air‐annealing time can promote the diffusion of Na into films and O absorption on the surface of precursor films, boost the growth of crystal grain, and lessen the harmful defect density and band‐tailing states of absorber. The appropriate extension of air‐annealing time also regulates the electrical properties of the absorber. The efficiency of CZTSSe devices is enhanced from 6.92% (1 min) to 10.1% (7 min), with the decreased VOC, Def. These enhanced properties demonstrate that regulating the air‐annealing time of precursor films can be a simple and direct way for improving the performance of CZTSSe devices.
Context‐based transfer learning for low resource code summarization
Authors: Guo Yi , Chai Yu , Zhang Lehuan , Li Hui , Luo Mengzhi , Guo Shikai
Published: November 2023

Source code summaries improve the readability and intelligibility of code, help developers understand programs, and improve the efficiency of software maintenance and upgrade processes. Unfortunately, these code comments are often mismatched, missing, or outdated in software projects, resulting in developers needing to infer functionality from source code, affecting the efficiency of software maintenance and evolution. Various methods based on neuronal networks are proposed to solve the problem of synthesis of source code. However, the current work is being carried out on resource‐rich programming languages such as Java and Python, and some low‐resource languages may not perform well. In order to solve the above challenges, we propose a context‐based transfer learning model for low resource code summarization (LRCS), which learns the common information from the language with rich resources, and then transfers it to the target language model for further learning. It consists of two components: the summary generation component is used to learn the syntactic and semantic information of the code, and the learning transfer component is used to improve the generalization ability of the model in the learning process of cross‐language code summarization. Experimental results show that LRCS outperforms baseline methods in code summarization in terms of sentence‐level BLEU, corpus‐level BLEU and METEOR. For example, LRCS improves corpus‐level BLEU scores by 52.90%, 41.10%, and 14.97%, respectively, compared to baseline methods.
Safeguarding the IoT: Taxonomy, security solutions, and future research opportunities
Authors: Patel Alay , Patel Devam , Kakkar Riya , Oza Parita , Agrawal Smita , Tanwar Sudeep , Sharma Ravi , Yamsani Nagendar
Published: November 2023

With the advancement of innovative technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT) has become quite popular in various applications such as smart homes, smart cities, agriculture, healthcare, and so forth. However, the heterogeneity of IoT protocols can pose security challenges to wireless networks. Thus, we have presented a systematic review of IoT technologies such as ZigBee, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth, WiFi, Ethernet, AR, embedded subscriber identification modules (E‐SIM), and smart sensors, along with their communication protocols, which are part of the IoT‐layered architecture. We have bifurcated the IoT‐layered architecture into the perception, network, and application layers. Furthermore, we have presented IoT security attacks associated with the perception, network, and application layers of the IoT‐layered architecture. Moreover, we have discussed several IoT security solutions, open issues, and research challenges dedicated to the security of IoT networks. IoT security solutions can provide secure and efficient data communication over wireless networks.
Fuzzy‐logical self‐organisation system modelling—Illustrating case of self‐organisation Czech restaurants during the Covid‐19 pandemic
Authors: Šerá Eva , Doubravský Karel , Schüller David
Published: November 2023

The aim of this paper is to show how Niklas Luhmann's concept of self‐organization can be formalized using fuzzy logic. This approach is based on the shared assumptions of systems theory and fuzzy logic and focuses on natural language expression and the complexity of social processes. It involves modelling the operations of the system in relation to the fuzziness of the environment, that is, the transformation of environmental stimuli in gradual uncertainty to binary codes of communication. Based on these operations, it is possible to formalize their unified pattern, which shows the observation of past operations and the simultaneous observation of the environment. An example is given of the formalization of restaurant self‐organization in the Czech Republic during the Covid‐19 pandemic. The model illustrates and explains how the restaurant system reduces lockdown as an environment, in other words, how the system stabilizes its behaviour in a complex pandemic period.
How Do We Do It? Planning for a Truly Inclusive Classroom
Authors: Serceki Allison A. , Curwen Margaret Sauceda
Published: November 2023

This article illustrates how two teachers, a general educator and a special educator, used an interactive process in planning an interdisciplinary science unit for an inclusive Kindergarten classroom and how they addressed Universal Design for Learning (UDL) components. This planning process included capitalizing on each teacher's knowledge and expertise, layering resources from within their learning community iteratively over time (not a one‐meeting‐and‐done effort), and harnessing the power of multimodal, interdisciplinary learning. This iterative process was key in allowing teachers to evaluate student engagement and layer in UDL components to address evolving students' needs.
Trade Books to the Rescue!: Combating Misinformation with Science and Literacy
Authors: Wright Katherine Landau , Wenner Julianne , Hodges Tracey S.
Published: November 2023

One strategy for developing science literacy and scientific literacy in young children is through published trade books. To better understand how science literacy and scientific literacy may be represented in elementary classrooms, we investigated children's books that explore science concepts. Specifically, we examined high‐quality science trade books that children are likely to encounter in school to see if they could be used to support science literacy and scientific literacy; skills inherent in these types of literacies can arm our students to combat misinformation. Our findings demonstrate that books are not uniform in quality. Consistent with existing research, and in light of our findings, we make the recommendations to support teachers in elevating science trade books from simply serving as opportunities for reading in science to supporting science literacy and scientific literacy.
Evaluation of Cesarean section scar using saline contrast sonohysterography in women with previous Cesarean scar pregnancy
Authors: Pekar‐Zlotin M. , Maymon R. , Nimrodi M. , Zur‐Naaman H. , Melcer Y.
Published: November 2023

Objective

To evaluate Cesarean scar defects using saline contrast sonohysterography (SCSH) in women with a history of Cesarean scar pregnancy (CSP).

Methods

A cohort of 38 non‐pregnant women with a history of CSP treated with combined local and systemic methotrexate was investigated prospectively by SCSH. For the purpose of analysis, they were classified, according to the modified Delphi consensus criteria for CSP in early gestation, into three subgroups based on the depth of the gestational sac herniation in the midsagittal plane. Subgroup A included eight (21.1%) cases, in which the largest part of the gestational sac protruded towards the uterine cavity; Subgroup B included 20 (52.6%) cases, in which the largest part of the gestational sac was embedded in the myometrium; and Subgroup C included 10 (26.3%) cases, in which the gestational sac was located partially outside the outer contour of the cervix or uterus.

Results

SCSH revealed that all women in Subgroup C had a uterine niche. The median niche length (P = 0.006) and depth (P = 0.015) were significantly greater in Subgroup C than in Subgroups A or B. The median residual myometrial thickness (RMT) was significantly lower in Subgroup C than in Subgroups A or B (P = 0.006).

Conclusions

Women with prior CSP who had a gestational sac protruding beyond the serosal line had a significantly greater niche length and depth, and lower RMT. This knowledge may guide individualized risk counseling. © 2023 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Clinical and biochemical alterations associated with excess calcitonin in a dog with medullary thyroid carcinoma
Authors: Teyssandier Santiago , Campos Miguel , Soler Arias Elber Alberto
Published: November 2023

We present a 10‐year‐old mongrel dog with progressive weight loss, polyuria and polydipsia. Physical examination revealed poor body condition, systemic hypertension (on average 165 mmHg) and a cervical mass that was confirmed by ultrasound in the right thyroid lobe (diameter 4.0 cm). Blood biochemistry on two different days revealed a low ionised calcium concentration (1.1 and 0.81 mmol/L; reference range: 1.1–1.3 mmol/L) associated with an elevated plasma calcitonin concentration in the same sample (44.8 and 49 pg/mL; reference range: <2 pg/mL). A low urine specific gravity (1.012) was also found. Total thyroxine concentration was low, corresponding to euthyroid sick syndrome. Hypercalcitoninemia, hypocalcaemia and clinical signs resolved after an uncomplicated right thyroidectomy. Positive staining of the neoplasm for calcitonin on immunohistochemistry confirmed a medullary thyroid carcinoma. This is the first report describing the clinical signs and biochemical alterations associated with excess calcitonin in a dog with medullary thyroid carcinoma confirmed by immunohistochemistry.
Output Growth in the Baltic Countries in 1913–1938: New Estimates
Authors: Norkus Zenonas
Published: November 2023

Assessing the economic performance success of restorations by OIST, it is possible to draw on the MPD (2020) data for the 1973–2018 period. However, MPD does not provide data for the years 1913–1938. This does not mean that there is no output data on the Baltic countries during this period. During the interwar years, Estonian and Latvian economists calculated national income for many years, almost completely covering the second decade of independence. There are three such estimates (for 1924, 1938, 1939) for Lithuania as well. However, they are not strictly comparable due to the lack of standard calculation methodology. Some were used in the first attempt at a cross-time comparable measurement of total output of the Baltic countries in 1913–1928, which was published in the third (and last) edition of the surveyThe Economic Forces of the World, released by Dresdner Bank (1930), and remains a broadly used source in historical statistics. In this publication, estimates of national income in national currencies were converted to German Reichsmark (RM) at gold parity.
An anharmonic alliance: exact WKB meets EPT
Authors: Bucciotti Bruno , Reis Tomas , Serone Marco
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Certain quantum mechanical systems with a discrete spectrum, whose observables are given by a transseries in ħ, were shown to admit ħ0-deformations with Borel resummable expansions which reproduce the original model at ħ0 = ħ. Such expansions were dubbed Exact Perturbation Theory (EPT). We investigate how the above results can be obtained within the framework of the exact WKB method by studying the spectrum of polynomial quantum mechanical systems. Within exact WKB, energy eigenvalues are determined by exact quantization conditions defined in terms of Voros symbols $$ {a}_{\gamma_i} $$

a

γ
i

, γi being their associated cycles, and generally give rise to transseries in ħ. After reviewing how the Borel summability of energy eigenvalues in the quartic anharmonic potential emerges in exact WKB, we extend it to higher order anharmonic potentials with quantum corrections. We then show that any polynomial potential can be ħ0-deformed to a model where the exact quantization condition reads simply aγ = −1 and leads to the EPT Borel resummable series for all energy eigenvalues.
Search for an invisible scalar in $$ t\overline{t} $$ final states at the LHC
Authors: Azevedo Duarte , Capucha Rodrigo , Chaves Pedro , Martins João Bravo , Onofre António , Santos Rui
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We use the current $$ t\overline{t} $$
t

t
¯

experimental analysis to look for Dark Matter (DM) particles hidden in the final state. We present a phenomenological study where we successfully perform the reconstruction of a $$ t\overline{t} $$
t

t
¯

system in the presence of a scalar mediator Y0, that couples to both Standard Model (SM) and to DM particles. We use a MadGraph5_aMC@NLO simplified DM model, where signal samples of pp →$$ t\overline{t}Y $$
t

t
¯

Y
0 are generated at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with both Charge-Parity (CP) -even and CP-odd couplings of Y0 to the top quarks. Different mass scales for the Y0 mediator are considered, from the low mass region (~ 0 GeV) to masses close to the Higgs boson mass (125 GeV). The dileptonic final states of the $$ t\overline{t} $$
t

t
¯

system were used in our analysis. The reconstruction of the $$ t\overline{t} $$
t

t
¯

system is done with a kinematic fit, without reconstructing the mediator. All relevant SM backgrounds for the dileptonic $$ t\overline{t} $$
t

t
¯

search at the LHC are considered. Furthermore, CP angular observables were used to probe the CP-nature of the coupling between the mediator and top-quarks, which allowed to set confidence level (CL) limits for those Yukawa couplings as a function of the mediator mass.
Further remarks on local K-boundedness of K-subadditive set-valued maps
Authors: Jabłońska Eliza , Nikodem Kazimierz
Published: November 2023

Let X be an abelian metric group with an invariant metric, Y be a real normed space and K be a convex cone in Y. We prove that a K-subadditive (K-superadditive) compact- and convex-valued map $$F:X\rightarrow \mathcal{C}\mathcal{C}(Y)$$

F
:
X
→
C
C
(
Y
)

, for which the functionals $$f_{y^*}(x)=\inf y^*(F(x))$$

f

y
∗

(
x
)

=
inf

y
∗

(
F

(
x
)

)

are lower (upper, resp.) semicontinuous for any real continuous and non-negative on K functional $$y^*$$

y
∗

, has to be locally K-bounded on X. Our results refer to the papers Banakh and Jabłońska (Israel J Math 230:361–386, 2019), Jabłońska and Nikodem (Math Inequal Appl 22:1081–1089, 2019) and Nikodem (Aequationes Math 62:175–183, 2001).
Esakia duals of regular Heyting algebras
Authors: Grilletti Gianluca , Quadrellaro Davide Emilio
Published: November 2023

We investigate in this article regular Heyting algebras by means of Esakia duality. In particular, we give a characterisation of Esakia spaces dual to regular Heyting algebras and we show that there are continuum-many varieties of Heyting algebras generated by regular Heyting algebras. We also study several logical applications of these classes of objects and we use them to provide novel topological completeness theorems for inquisitive logic,$$\texttt{DNA}$$DNA-logics and dependence logic.
“Machine Down”: making sense of human–computer interaction—Garfinkel’s research on ELIZA and LYRIC from 1967 to 1969 and its contemporary relevance
Authors: Eisenmann Clemens , Mlynář Jakub , Turowetz Jason , Rawls Anne W.
Published: November 2023

This paper examines Harold Garfinkel’s work with ELIZA and a related program LYRIC from 1967 to 1969. AI researchers have tended to treat successful human–machine interaction as if it relied primarily on non-human machine characteristics, and thus the often-reported attribution of human-like qualities to communication with computers has been criticized as a misperception—and humans who make such reports referred to as “deluded.” By contrast Garfinkel, building on two decades of prior research on information and communication, argued that the ELIZA and the LYRIC “chatbots” were achieving interactions that felt human to many users by exploiting human sense-making practices. In keeping with his long-term practice of using “trouble” as a way of discovering the taken-for-granted practices of human sense-making, Garfinkel designed scripts for ELIZA and LYRIC that he could disrupt in order to reveal how their success depended on human social practices. Hence, the announcement “Machine Down” by the chatbot was a desired result of Garfinkel’s interactions with it. This early (but largely unknown) research has implications not only for understanding contemporary AI chatbots, but also opens possibilities for respecifying current information systems design and computational practices to provide for the design of more flexible information objects.
European Society of Pediatric Radiology survey of perioperative imaging in pediatric liver transplantation: (1) pre-transplant evaluation
Authors: Herrmann Jochen , Ording-Müller Lil-Sofie , Franchi-Abella Stéphanie , Verhagen Martijn V. , McGuirk Simon P. , Dammann Elena , Bokkers Reinoud P. H. , Clapuyt Philippe R. M. , Deganello Annamaria , Tandoi Francesco , de Goyet Jean de Ville , Hebelka Hanna , de Lange Charlotte , Lozach Cecile , Marra Paolo , Mirza Darius , Kalicinski Piotr , Patsch Janina M. , Perucca Giulia , Tsiflikas Ilias , Renz Diane M. , Schweiger Bernd , Spada Marco , Toso Seema , Viremouneix Loïc , Woodley Helen , Fischer Lutz , Petit Philippe , Brinkert Florian
Published: November 2023

Background

Liver transplantation is the state-of-the-art curative treatment in end-stage liver disease. Imaging is a key element for successful organ-transplantation to assist surgical planning. So far, only limited data regarding the best radiological approach to prepare children for liver transplantation is available.

Objectives

In an attempt to harmonize imaging surrounding pediatric liver transplantation, the European Society of Pediatric Radiology (ESPR) Abdominal Taskforce initiated a survey addressing the current status of imaging including the pre-, intra-, and postoperative phase. This paper reports the responses on preoperative imaging.

Material and methods

An online survey, initiated in 2021, asked European centers performing pediatric liver transplantation 48 questions about their imaging approach. In total, 26 centers were contacted and 22 institutions from 11 countries returned the survey. From 2018 to 2020, the participating centers collectively conducted 1,524 transplantations, with a median of 20 transplantations per center per annum (range, 8–60).

Results

Most sites (64%) consider ultrasound their preferred modality to define anatomy and to plan surgery in children before liver transplantation, and additional cross-sectional imaging is only used to answer specific questions (computed tomography [CT], 90.9%; magnetic resonance imaging [MRI], 54.5%). One-third of centers (31.8%) rely primarily on CT for pre-transplant evaluation. Imaging protocols differed substantially regarding applied CT scan ranges, number of contrast phases (range 1–4 phases), and applied MRI techniques.

Conclusion

Diagnostic imaging is generally used in the work-up of children before liver transplantation. Substantial differences were noted regarding choice of modalities and protocols. We have identified starting points for future optimization and harmonization of the imaging approach to multicenter studies.
Emergence of games from ecological trade-offs: longevity changes strategies for extra-pair mating in birds
Authors: Rumińska Agnieszka , Eliassen Sigrunn , Jørgensen Christian
Published: November 2023

Each member of a breeding pair benefits if the other does more of the parental investment, so there is scope for behaviours that can be interpreted as both cooperative and competitive games between males and females. Extra-pair mating, widespread among socially monogamous birds, adds extra conflict but also potential opportunity to these social interactions. We analyse an individual-based model of a social environment with simple behavioural strategies where game-like patterns and cooperative outcomes emerge. The model focuses on three evolving traits: female propensity for extra-pair copulations and male investment in territorial behaviour and care. Male traits are reaction norms that use experienced within and extra-pair copulations as information input. We found that female extra-pair mating provided incentives for males to reduce territorial aggression and increase care for offspring. However, when adult survival was higher, male investment in care and territoriality changed from being negatively to positively correlated. This happened because longer life expectancy gave more behavioural opportunities for males, where nest desertion maximises lifetime male fitness when female extra-pair copulation is high. This outcome evolved gradually, with stable periods of intermediate extra-pair mating and low territoriality. These were punctuated by cycles of high extra-pair mating, nest desertion, reduced extra-pair mating and relapse to aggressive territoriality before a new stable phase was established. Each successive trait cycle was faster and smaller, indicating that through evolution of reaction norms, the gene pool has a long history that canalizes the evolution of behaviours, which can be interpreted as emergence and refinement of frequency-dependent games.

Significance statement

Most birds that mate in monogamous pairs engage in extra-pair copulations. Males of some species invest (in varying proportions) in offspring that are genetically related only to their social female. The great variability of extra-pair mating levels among different species and populations, supported by numerous field studies, indicates that social and ecological factors play a crucial role in shaping the behaviour. We analyse a computer model in which extra-pair mating evolves concurrently with male reproductive investments in territory defence and offspring care and show how common ecological trade-offs may change the social dynamics within a breeding population and lead to the emergence of complex social interactions between males, females and their neighbours.
Optimizing and interpreting the latent space of the conditional text-to-image GANs
Authors: Zhang Zhenxing , Schomaker Lambert
Published: November 2023

Text-to-image generation intends to automatically produce a photo-realistic image, conditioned on a textual description. To facilitate the real-world applications of text-to-image synthesis, we focus on studying the following three issues: (1) How to ensure that generated samples are believable, realistic or natural? (2) How to exploit the latent space of the generator to edit a synthesized image? (3) How to improve the explainability of a text-to-image generation framework? We introduce two new data sets for benchmarking, i.e., the Good & Bad, bird and face, data sets consisting of successful as well as unsuccessful generated samples. This data set can be used to effectively and efficiently acquire high-quality images by increasing the probability of generating Good latent codes with a separate, new classifier. Additionally, we present a novel algorithm which identifies semantically understandable directions in the latent space of a conditional text-to-image GAN architecture by performing independent component analysis on the pre-trained weight values of the generator. Furthermore, we develop a background-flattening loss (BFL), to improve the background appearance in the generated images. Subsequently, we introduce linear-interpolation analysis between pairs of text keywords. This is extended into a similar triangular ‘linguistic’ interpolation. The visual array of interpolation results gives users a deep look into what the text-to-image synthesis model has learned within the linguistic embeddings. Experimental results on the recent DiverGAN generator, pre-trained on three common benchmark data sets demonstrate that our classifier achieves a better than 98% accuracy in predicting Good/Bad classes for synthetic samples and our proposed approach is able to derive various interpretable semantic properties for the text-to-image GAN model.
Prevalence and mortality of ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections (2018–2022)
Authors: Boattini Matteo , Bianco Gabriele , Bastos Paulo , Comini Sara , Corcione Silvia , Almeida André , Costa Cristina , De Rosa Francesco Giuseppe , Cavallo Rossana
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Ceftazidime/avibactam-resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kp) is a topic of great interest for epidemiological, diagnostic, and therapeutical reasons. However, data on its prevalence and burden on mortality in patients with bloodstream infection (BSI) are lacking. This study was aimed at identifying risk factors for mortality in patients suffering from ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp BSI.

Methods

An observational retrospective study (January 2018–December 2022) was conducted at a tertiary hospital including all consecutive hospitalized adult patients with a ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp BSI. Data on baseline clinical features, management, and admission outcomes were analyzed.

Results

Over the study period, among all the KPC-Kp BSI events recorded, 38 (10.5%) were caused by ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp strains, 37 events being finally included. The ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp strains revealed susceptibility restoration to at least one carbapenem in more than 60% of cases. In-hospital and 30-day all-cause mortality rates were 22% and 16.2%, respectively. Non-survivors suffered from more baseline comorbidities and experienced a more severe ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp BSI presentation (i.e., both the Pitt Bacteremia and INCREMENT-CPE scores were significantly higher). Presenting with a higher Charlson Comorbidity Index, chronic kidney disease—KDIGO stage 3A or worse—having recently gone through renal replacement therapy, having suffered from an acute kidney injury following the ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp BSI, and being admitted for cardiac surgery were the strongest predictors of mortality.

Conclusion

Ceftazidime/avibactam resistance in KPC-Kp BSI easily emerged in our highly KPC-Kp endemic area with remarkable mortality rates. Our findings might provide physicians possibly actionable information when managing patients with a ceftazidime/avibactam-resistant KPC-Kp BSI.
Α tool for requirements engineering using ontologies and boilerplates
Authors: Antοniou Christina , Bassiliades Nick
Published: November 2023

The most popular technique for specification requirements is natural language. The disadvantage of natural language is ambiguity. Boilerplates are syntactic patterns which limit the ambiguity problem associated with using natural language to specify system/software requirements. Also, using boilerplates is considered a useful tool for inexperienced engineers to define requirements. Using linguistic boilerplates, constrains the natural language syntactically. Furthermore, a domain-specific ontology is used to constrain requirements semantically, as well. In requirements specification, using ontologies helps to restrict the vocabulary to entities, properties, and property relationships which are semantically related. The above results in avoiding or making fewer mistakes. This work makes use of the combination of boilerplate and ontology. Usually, the attributes of boilerplates are completed with the help of the ontology. The contribution of this paper is that the whole boilerplates is stored in the ontology and attributes and fixed elements are part of the ontology. This combination helps to correct semantically and syntactically requirement construction. This paper proposes a tool based on a domain-specific ontology and a set of predefined generic linguistic boilerplates for requirements engineering. We create a domain-specific ontology and a minimal set of boilerplates for an ATM (Automated Teller Machine). We carried out an experiment in order to obtain evidence for the effectiveness and efficiency of our method. The experiment took the form of a case study for the ATM domain and our proposed method was evaluated by users. The contribution and novelty of our methodology is that we created a tool for defining requirements that integrates boilerplate templates and an ontology. We exploit the boilerplate language syntax, mapping them to Resource Description Framework triples which have also a linguistic nature.
Diagnosing the ability of reservoir operations to meet hydropower production and fisheries needs under climate change in a western cordillera drainage basin
Authors: Larabi Samah , Schnorbus Markus A. , Zwiers Francis
Published: November 2023

Water regulation has contributed to the decline in Pacific salmon in British Columbia (Canada) despite attempts to manage reservoir operations to achieve operational requirements while meeting environmental needs to limit fish thermal stress. The ability of reservoir managers to meet these trade-offs in a changing climate is unknown. Here, we examine the reliability and vulnerability of the Nechako Reservoir to meet hydropower production commitments and fisheries needs under two projected Shared Socioeconomic Pathway scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). While our findings are specific to the operation of the Nechako Reservoir, the issues that emerge are likely common to many reservoirs in areas where reservoir inflow regimes are currently snow-storage dominated. We found that projected changes in the timing of water availability have little to no influence on hydropower generation commitments. However, larger water releases will be required to avoid compromising reservoir safety, possibly endangering downstream fish habitat through scouring. Furthermore, the temperature of water released from the reservoir is projected to more frequently exceed a level, 20°C, that is detrimental to migrating sockeye salmon. Water released is subject to further warming as it travels towards the lower reaches of the Nechako River used by migrating salmon. Hence, there is a need to adapt reservoir operations to ensure reservoir safety and mitigate adverse effects on salmon habitat.
Factors Influencing Despair, Self-blame, and Acceptance Among Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Malaysian Perspective
Authors: Abd Latif Muhammad Hanif , Wan Ismail Wan Salwina , Abdul Manaf Mohd Rizal , Abdul Taib Nur Iwana
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Accepting and adapting to the child’s diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can be challenging for parents. We aimed to assess domains of parental adjustment namely despair, self-blame, and acceptance among parents whose children were diagnosed with ASD.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 111 parents of children with autism who attended Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit (CAPU), in a university teaching hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Sociodemographic profiles of both parents and children were gathered. Parental adjustment focusing on parental self-blame, despair and acceptance were assessed using self-reported questionnaires namely Adjustment to the Diagnosis of Autism (ADA).

Results

Higher level of despair was associated with parents who have medical illness (β = 0.214, p = 0.016) and children who received antipsychotic medications (β = 0.329, p < 0.001). Parents with tertiary education (β = -0.207, p = 0.023) and those with autistic child attended school (β = -0.200, p = 0.037) have lower level of despair. Parents with medical illness (β = 0.245, p = 0.008), child receiving antipsychotic medications (β = 0.251, p = 0.005), Chinese ethnicity (β = 0.185, p = 0.04), and child’s gender (β = 0.283, p = 0.003) were significantly associated with higher level of self-blame. Lower acceptance was found among Chinese parents (β = -0.264, p = 0.005) while married parents had higher acceptance levels (β = 0.215, p = 0.022).

Conclusion

Parental adjustment involving domains of despair, self-blame, and acceptance were significantly associated with ethnicity of parents, educational level, parents’ marital status and medical illness, as well as the ASD children’s schooling status and type of medications used.
“ChatGPT, Can You Help Me Save My Child’s Life?” - Diagnostic Accuracy and Supportive Capabilities to Lay Rescuers by ChatGPT in Prehospital Basic Life Support and Paediatric Advanced Life Support Cases – An In-silico Analysis
Authors: Bushuven Stefan , Bentele Michael , Bentele Stefanie , Gerber Bianka , Bansbach Joachim , Ganter Julian , Trifunovic-Koenig Milena , Ranisch Robert
Published: November 2023

Background

Paediatric emergencies are challenging for healthcare workers, first aiders, and parents waiting for emergency medical services to arrive. With the expected rise of virtual assistants, people will likely seek help from such digital AI tools, especially in regions lacking emergency medical services. Large Language Models like ChatGPT proved effective in providing health-related information and are competent in medical exams but are questioned regarding patient safety. Currently, there is no information on ChatGPT’s performance in supporting parents in paediatric emergencies requiring help from emergency medical services. This study aimed to test 20 paediatric and two basic life support case vignettes for ChatGPT and GPT-4 performance and safety in children.

Methods

We provided the cases three times each to two models, ChatGPT and GPT-4, and assessed the diagnostic accuracy, emergency call advice, and the validity of advice given to parents.

Results

Both models recognized the emergency in the cases, except for septic shock and pulmonary embolism, and identified the correct diagnosis in 94%. However, ChatGPT/GPT-4 reliably advised to call emergency services only in 12 of 22 cases (54%), gave correct first aid instructions in 9 cases (45%) and incorrectly advised advanced life support techniques to parents in 3 of 22 cases (13.6%).

Conclusion

Considering these results of the recent ChatGPT versions, the validity, reliability and thus safety of ChatGPT/GPT-4 as an emergency support tool is questionable. However, whether humans would perform better in the same situation is uncertain. Moreover, other studies have shown that human emergency call operators are also inaccurate, partly with worse performance than ChatGPT/GPT-4 in our study. However, one of the main limitations of the study is that we used prototypical cases, and the management may differ from urban to rural areas and between different countries, indicating the need for further evaluation of the context sensitivity and adaptability of the model. Nevertheless, ChatGPT and the new versions under development may be promising tools for assisting lay first responders, operators, and professionals in diagnosing a paediatric emergency.

Trial registration

Not applicable.
Achievement emotions predict transfer student academic success
Authors: Turnquest Krysti N. , Fan Weihua , Snodgrass Rangel Virginia , Dyer Nazly , Master Allison
Published: November 2023

Transfer students comprise half of all undergraduate students, yet their educational experiences may differ in meaningful ways from those of traditional students. Importantly, the transfer student population is diverse and not monolithic. Achievement emotions, which occur in an iterative pattern with past experiences informing current and future emotions, are particularly understudied within the transfer population. This survey study (N = 721) examines how diverse transfer students’ enjoyment and anxiety achievement emotions relate to GPA and term-to-term persistence. Results of the study showed that both anxiety and enjoyment emotions predicted term GPA and persistence for transfer students. However, when controlling for anxiety emotions, enjoyment emotions were no longer a significant predictor. These relations differed across demographic groups. Achievement emotions are an integral part of transfer students’ experiences in higher education, creating opportunities for institutions to improve their students’ educational outcomes.
The potential of plant action potentials
Authors: Lee Jonny , Calvo Paco
Published: November 2023

The mechanism underlying action potentials is routinely used to explicate the mechanistic model of explanation in the philosophy of science. However, characterisations of action potentials often fixate on neurons, mentioning plant cells in passing or ignoring them entirely. The plant sciences are also prone to neglecting non-neuronal action potentials and their role in plant biology. This oversight is significant because plant action potentials bear instructive similarities to those generated by neurons. This paper helps correct the imbalance in representations of action potentials by offering an overview of the mechanism for plant action potentials and highlighting their similarity to those in neurons. Furthermore, it affirms the role of plant action potentials in discovering the evolution and function of mechanisms of action potentials more broadly. We stress the potential of plants for producing generalisations about action potentials and the possible role of plants as experimental organisms.
Critical Realism and Technocracy – RW Sellars’ Radical Philosophy in its Context
Authors: Chirimuuta M.
Published: November 2023

The victory of realism over idealism at the start of the twentieth century, and of scientific realism over logical empiricism and pragmatism in the mid twentieth century, is a striking phenomenon that calls for historical explanation. In this paper I propose an externalist account, looking at the social and political reasons why realism became attractive, rather than considering the internal factors–the merits of the arguments in favour of realism. I look at the agenda of Roy Wood Sellars’critical realismwhich was not narrowly theoretical, but very much related to his concerns for the development of American society post WW1, as expressed inThe Next Step in Democracy(1916b) andThe Next Step in Religion(1918). I discuss the significance of technocracy in America – not only the increasing influence of scientists and engineers in government, but also the diffusion of the view that social issues are best addressed by scientific, technical means. Counter-cultural critics of technocracy, such as Roszak (1969) claimed that a “scientific world-view” provided an “ideology” for this system of governance. We will see that RW Sellars was explicitly involved in the task of building a scientific world-view, but with political goals that were probably not realised by the post-war establishment.
Microvesicle-eluting nano-engineered implants influence inflammatory response of keratinocytes
Authors: Jayasree Anjana , Liu Chun , Salomon Carlos , Ivanovski Sašo , Gulati Karan , Han Pingping
Published: November 2023

Besides enhancing osseo- and soft tissue integration, modulating inflammation at the implant site is also crucial for dental implant success. Uncontrolled peri-implant inflammation can cause significant loss of surrounding tissue and implant failure. It was recently shown that microvesicles (MVs), a less-studied type of extracellular vesicles, play a crucial role in cell-to-cell communication and may modulate angiogenesis and inflammatory response. The effect of MVs on regulating inflammation at an implant site, however, remains unexplored. In the current study, MVs were isolated and characterised from human primary gingival fibroblasts (hGFs) and loaded within titania nanotubes (TNTs, fabricated via anodisation on 3D Ti wire implants) towards their local release. The modified implants were characterised using SEM and confocal imaging to confirm the loading and local release of MVs from TNTs. In vitro studies demonstrated the internalisation of hGFs-MVs by human gingival keratinocytes (OKF6/TERT2 cell line), which caused a significant reduction in the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The results support MVs-releasing TNTs as a promising implant surface modification strategy to reduce inflammation, paving the way for further advancements in therapeutic dental implants.

Graphical abstract