bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Influence of ceramic crown design (translucent monolithic zirconia vs. bilayered) of implant‐supported single crowns after mechanical cycling
Authors: de Oliveira Limirio Joao Pedro Justino , Gomes Jéssica Marcela de Luna , Santiago‐Junior Joel Ferreira , Nagay Bruna Egumi , Pesqueira Aldiéris Alves , Assunção Wirley Gonçalves , Alves‐Rezende Maria Cristina Rosifini , Pellizzer Eduardo Piza
Published: April 2024

Objectives

This study aimed to assess the influence of translucent monolithic versus bilayered crowns and whether the use of a CoCr base abutments affects the fatigue and fracture resistance of screwed implant‐supported single crowns with external connections under mechanical cycling.

Materials and Methods

Fifty specimens were divided into groups: (1) metal–ceramic (MC) crown, (2) veneered zirconia crown (Zr), (3) veneered zirconia crown with a CoCr base abutment (ZrB), (4) monolithic translucent zirconia crown (MZr), and (5) monolithic translucent zirconia crown with a CoCr base abutment (MZrB). Specimens underwent mechanical cycling (5 × 106 cycles; 150 N) evaluating fatigue resistance (number of failures) and those that failed were subsequently subjected to fractographic analyses (stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscope) to evaluate failure location and area, and maximum fracture load was also measured.

Results

The failure‐related survival rate (100%) and maximum fracture resistance of the MZrB were significantly higher than those of MC and Zr (50%; p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the failure rate and fracture resistance when a CoCr base abutment was used or not in the translucent monolithic Zr groups (p > 0.05;MZrB vs. MZr). Failure location, with MC crowns' fractures, noted at the screw area (p = 0.043), while all‐ceramic crowns were mostly in the cuspid and to failure area, the Zr group had the largest mean (15.55 ± 9.17 mm2) among the groups, significant difference only when compared with MC (1.62 ± 0.81 mm2) (p = 0.025).

Conclusions

Translucent monolithic zirconia crowns exhibited significantly higher fatigue and fracture resistance compared with conventional MC and bilayered crowns.

Clinical Significance

The appropriate choice of material and manufacturing technique is crucial for predicting the higher clinical performance of single crowns. Enhanced mechanical resistance in terms of fatigue and fracture resistance can be achieved by replacing MC and bilayered restorations with computer‐aided design and computer‐aided manufacturing monolithic zirconia.
Political economy of the ‘agrarian–urban frontier’ in Pakistan: Agrarian transformation, social reproduction and exploitation
Authors: Khan Danish
Published: April 2024

The paper underscores the need to reconsider the ontological separation between processes of production and reproduction in the context of agrarian‐urban interlinkages. It synthesizes ‘value theory of inclusion’ with a notion of ‘unfair bargaining power’ to offer a new understanding of processes of agrarian change in the context of Pakistan. Expansion of the agrarian–urban frontier, one of the defining characteristics of the contemporary agrarian change in Pakistan, constitutes a crucial yet undertheorized site of value extraction. The paper shows that contemporary processes of capital accumulation rely on the swift conversion of agricultural land into commercial real estate, manifested in the form of gated housing enclaves. This process, on the one hand, accelerates the devalourization of small‐farm‐based production, and on the other hand, it allows affluent residents of gated housing enclaves to extract gendered surplus labour in the form of domestic workers from the growing pool of ‘classes of labour’. In short, the expansion of agrarian–urban frontier is predicated on devalourization of agrarian livelihoods and exploitation of women's labour.
Youth in individualistic countries have higher financial literacy: Evidence from PISA
Authors: Pulk Kristjan , Riitsalu Leonore
Published: April 2024

Financial literacy is an important life skill, but to date, it is mostly studied on the individual level. To investigate the role of national culture in financial literacy, we analyze data from 20 countries participating in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 financial literacy assessment with four approaches to measuring national culture: Hofstede, Schwartz, Inglehart–Welzel, and Minkov–Kaasa cultural dimension frameworks. This is the first study that links PISA financial literacy scores to these four culture models simultaneously, filling a gap in research on youth financial literacy. We find that culture explains an important part of within‐country variance in financial literacy. The results indicate that individualism is positively associated with youth financial literacy scores, with the Schwartz embeddedness dimension remaining consistent after a set of control variables. Therefore, financial education initiatives need to consider in their design and implication the cultural context of the participants.
Effectiveness of integrated person‐centered interventions for older people's care: Review of Swedish experiences and experts’ perspective
Authors: Kirvalidze Mariam , Boström Anne‐Marie , Liljas Ann , Doheny Megan , Hendry Anne , McCormack Brendan , Fratiglioni Laura , Ali Sulin , Ebrahimi Zahra , Elmståhl Sölve , Eriksdotter Maria , Gläske Pascal , Gustafsson Lena‐Karin , Rundgren Åsa Hedberg , Hvitfeldt Helena , Lennartsson Carin , Hammar Lena Marmstål , Nilsson Gunnar H , Nilsson Peter , Öhlén Joakim , Sandgren Anna , Söderman Annika , Swedberg Karl , Vackerberg Nicoline , Vetrano Davide Liborio , Wijk Helle , Agerholm Janne , Calderón‐Larrañaga Amaia
Published: April 2024

Older adults have multiple medical and social care needs, requiring a shift toward an integrated person‐centered model of care. Our objective was to describe and summarize Swedish experiences of integrated person‐centered care by reviewing studies published between 2000 and 2023, and to identify the main challenges and scientific gaps through expert discussions. Seventy‐three publications were identified by searching MEDLINE and contacting experts. Interventions were categorized using two World Health Organization frameworks: (1) Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE), and (2) Integrated People‐Centered Health Services (IPCHS). The included 73 publications were derived from 31 unique and heterogeneous interventions pertaining mainly to the micro‐ and meso‐levels. Among publications measuring mortality, 15% were effective. Subjective health outcomes showed improvement in 24% of publications, morbidity outcomes in 42%, disability outcomes in 48%, and service utilization outcomes in 58%. Workshop discussions in Stockholm (Sweden), March 2023, were recorded, transcribed, and summarized. Experts emphasized: (1) lack of rigorous evaluation methods, (2) need for participatory designs, (3) scarcity of macro‐level interventions, and (4) importance of transitioning from person‐ to people‐centered integrated care. These challenges could explain the unexpected weak beneficial effects of the interventions on health outcomes, whereas service utilization outcomes were more positively impacted. Finally, we derived a list of recommendations, including the need to engage care organizations in interventions from their inception and to leverage researchers’ scientific expertise. Although this review provides a comprehensive snapshot of interventions in the context of Sweden, the findings offer transferable perspectives on the real‐world challenges encountered in this field.
The Ikigai framework: Supporting meaning in life
Authors: Douziech Joann
Published: April 2024

This article describes the elements of a support framework based on the Japanese concept Ikigai, “that which gives your life meaning and purpose.” The basic assumption is that understanding and attaining life meaning and purpose are both the main goal and the main pathway to achieving optimal quality of life. The Ikigai framework recognizes the characteristics of people with disabilities—both their capabilities and their limitations—and contends that these need to match expectations for autonomy and choice making, but always supported and enhanced by lifelong learning. The three main pillars of the framework (environment, skills, and approaches) offer an outline for effective support planning that reduces the need for behavior support plans and enhances opportunities to develop life meaning and thus optimal quality of life.
Effect of quadrantwise versus full‐mouth subgingival instrumentation on clinical and microbiological parameters in periodontitis patients: A randomized clinical trial
Authors: Isola Gaetano , Polizzi Alessandro , Santonocito Simona , Alibrandi Angela , Pesce Paolo , Kocher Thomas
Published: April 2024

Aim

This study evaluated the efficacy of quadrantwise subgingival instrumentation (Q‐SI) versus one‐stage full‐mouth subgingival instrumentation (FM‐SI) on probing depth and periodontal pathogen reduction over a 6‐month follow‐up period, as well as whether baseline periodontal pathogens influenced the impact of periodontal treatment protocols on outcomes.

Methods

Patients with periodontitis were randomized to receive Q‐SI (n = 43) or FM‐SI (n = 45). Patients were instructed and motivated to maintain optimal oral hygiene during the treatment sessions. Clinical (probing pocket depth [PPD], clinical attachment loss [CAL], and bleeding on probing [BOP]) and periodontal pathogens were assessed at baseline and after 30, 90, and 180 days. Total bacterial load and periodontal pathogens were analysed via real‐time PCR.

Results

At the 6‐month follow‐up, the median PPD decreased from 4.8 mm (interquartile range [IQR]: 4.3–5.2) to 2.6 mm (IQR: 2.3–2.9) in FM‐SI patients and from 4.7 mm (IQR: 4.1–5.2) to 3.2 mm (IQR: 2.4–3.5) in Q‐SI patients (p < .001). At 6 months, FM‐SI was more effective at reducing the median proportions of Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Aggregatibacter actinocomyctemcomitans, and Tannerella forsythia (Tf) (p < .001 for each value). Multilevel linear regression analysis demonstrated that high baseline PPD (p = .029), Pg (p = .014), and Tf (p < .001) levels and the FM‐SI protocol (p < .001) were statistically significant predictors of PPD reduction at 6 months. Furthermore, PPD reduction was significantly greater in the FM‐SI group when lower baseline Pg levels were detected.

Conclusion

The FM‐SI was more effective than the Q‐SI in reducing the mean PPD and number of periodontal pathogens in periodontitis patients over a 6‐month follow‐up period. Higher baseline PPD and Pg levels had a negative impact on PPD reduction at 6 months after FM‐SI.
Identifying time‐resolved features of nocturnal sleep characteristics of narcolepsy using machine learning
Authors: Vilela Marco , Tracey Brian , Volfson Dmitri , Barateau Lucie , Cai Alice , Buhl Derek L. , Dauvilliers Yves
Published: April 2024

The differential diagnosis of narcolepsy type 1, a rare, chronic, central disorder of hypersomnolence, is challenging due to overlapping symptoms with other hypersomnolence disorders. While recent years have seen significant growth in our understanding of nocturnal polysomnography narcolepsy type 1 features, there remains a need for improving methods to differentiate narcolepsy type 1 nighttime sleep features from those of individuals without narcolepsy type 1. We aimed to develop a machine learning framework for identifying sleep features to discriminate narcolepsy type 1 from clinical controls, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia. The population included polysomnography data from 350 drug‐free individuals (114 narcolepsy type 1, 90 narcolepsy type 2, 105 idiopathic hypersomnia, and 41 clinical controls) collected at the National Reference Centers for Narcolepsy in Montpelier, France. Several sets of nocturnal sleep features were explored, as well as the value of time‐resolving sleep architecture by analysing sleep per quarter‐night. Several patterns of nighttime sleep evolution emerged that differed between narcolepsy type 1, clinical controls, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia, with increased nighttime instability observed in patients with narcolepsy type 1. Using machine learning models, we identified rapid eye movement sleep onset as the best single polysomnography feature to distinguish narcolepsy type 1 from controls, narcolepsy type 2 and idiopathic hypersomnia. By combining multiple feature sets capturing different aspects of sleep across quarter‐night periods, we were able to further improve between‐group discrimination and could identify the most discriminative sleep features. Our results highlight salient polysomnography features and the relevance of assessing their time‐dependent changes during sleep that could aid diagnosis and measure the impact of novel therapeutics in future clinical trials.
Assessing breathing effort by barometric whole‐body plethysmography and its relationship with prognosis in client‐owned cats with respiratory distress
Authors: Chang Wei‐Tao , Lin Chung‐Hui , Chang Chin‐Hao , Lo Pei‐Ying , Chen Hui‐Wen , Wu Huey‐Dong
Published: April 2024

Background

Cats in respiratory distress have limited tolerance for manipulation, hindering clinical monitoring. Minute volume (MV) can be utilized to rate dyspnea in humans, but its relationship with respiratory distress in cats remains poorly investigated.

Hypothesis

Cats with respiratory distress will show higher MV per kg body weight (MV/BW) than normal cats, and the MV/BW increase will correlate with survival.

Animals

Fifty‐two cats with respiratory distress from lung parenchymal disease, pleural space disease, lower airway obstruction (LAO), or upper airway obstruction were recruited since 2014.

Methods

This is a prospective observational study. Study cats were placed in a transparent chamber, allowing clinicians to easily observe their breathing status and record ventilation using barometric whole‐body plethysmography (BWBP). Ventilatory variables of the 52 cats were compared with those of 14 historic control cats. Follow‐up data, including disease category, clinical outcomes, and survival, were prospectively collected.

Results

Cats in respiratory distress demonstrated significantly higher MV/BW (397 mL/kg; range, 158‐1240) than normal cats (269 mL/kg; range, 168‐389; P < .001). Among the etiologies, cats with LAO, parenchymal, and pleural space disease exhibited higher‐than‐normal MV/BW trends. A cutoff value of 373 mL/kg (1.4‐fold increase) indicated abnormally increased breathing efforts (sensitivity, 67%; specificity, 93%). MV/BW was independently associated with increased cardiorespiratory mortality in cats with respiratory distress (adjusted hazard ratio 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02‐1.35; P = .03).

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

Breathing efforts in cats can be noninvasively quantified using BWBP. Measurement of MV/BW could serve as a prognostic index for monitoring cats experiencing respiratory distress.
New data and taxonomic changes influence our understanding of biogeographic patterns: A case study in Australian skinks
Authors: Flanagan T. , Shea G. M. , Roll U. , Tingley R. , Meiri S. , Chapple D. G.
Published: April 2024

Species are the most commonly used unit of biogeography research, and in many conservation schemes. For many faunal groups, taxonomy is in a constant state of flux, with new species being described, and our concept of existing species regularly being refined. Using the most diverse lineage of Australian lizards (460+ species), the skinks (Family Scincidae), we quantified the impacts of taxonomic changes over time on our understanding of species richness, endemism and beta diversity. We generated surfaces of species richness, endemism and beta diversity from four editions (1975, 1988, 2000, 2014) of an authoritative field guide to understand how taxonomic shifts, and enhanced biogeographic knowledge, influenced the inferred biogeographic patterns in Australian skinks. The number of recognized Australian skink species has increased 2.3‐fold since 1975. The Wet Tropics was the major hotspot for (mostly locally endemic) species additions. Hotspots of species richness and beta diversity remained broadly similar over time, but some important local hotspots shifted. Endemism hotspots were weakly associated with hotspots of species additions over time except in the Wet Tropics. The major shifts in biogeographic patterns, which were not associated with taxonomic changes, resulted from better knowledge of species distributions through time. We hypothesize that the effects of taxonomy on biogeographic patterns we found generalize across clades and regions—especially away from major research hotspots. We suggest an understanding of the impact of taxonomic changes on conservation priorities for particular regions and taxonomic groups is needed.
Aggregation formulation for on‐site multidepot vehicle scheduling scenario
Authors: Gao Yi , Tang Yuanjie , Liu Rengkui
Published: April 2024

The multidepot vehicle scheduling problem (MDVSP) is a fundamental public transport challenge. To address the large‐scale model and inherent solution symmetry associated with the traditional trip‐to‐trip connection‐based approach for MDVSP, a new trip‐to‐route (T2R) connection‐based approach is proposed. Considering real‐world problem characteristics with numerous trips sharing common origin–destination stations and travel times on one route, this approach aggregates same vehicle possible trip sequences into a T2R connection. Two time‐space network aggregation (TSNA) flow formulation versions, route pair‐based TSNA and station pair‐based TSNA, were constructed. Furthermore, TSNA equivalence under any given decomposition strategy, including first‐in‐first‐out, with the multicommodity network flow (MCNF) model was demonstrated. Given the favorable separable TSNA structure, an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM)‐based procedure is proposed to decompose the MDVSP into multiple subproblems that can be linearized and readily solved using commercial solvers. The quality of the solutions was assessed using lower bounds obtained from the Lagrangian relaxation problem. The effectiveness and superiority of the proposed MDVSP models and algorithms were subsequently confirmed using random data sets and real‐world instances.
Rapid pedestrian‐level wind field prediction for early‐stage design using Pareto‐optimized convolutional neural networks
Authors: Clemente Alfredo Vicente , Giljarhus Knut Erik Teigen , Oggiano Luca , Ruocco Massimiliano
Published: April 2024

Traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods used for wind field prediction can be time‐consuming, limiting architectural creativity in the early‐stage design process. Deep learning models have the potential to significantly speed up wind field prediction. This work introduces a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach based on the U‐Net architecture, to rapidly predict wind in simplified urban environments, representative of early‐stage design. The process of generating a wind field prediction at pedestrian level is reformulated from a 3D CFD simulation into a 2D image‐to‐image translation task, using the projected building heights as input. Testing on standard consumer hardware shows that our model can efficiently predict wind velocities in urban settings in less than 1 ms. Further tests on different configurations of the model, combined with a Pareto front analysis, helped identify the trade‐off between accuracy and computational efficiency. The fastest configuration is close to seven times faster, while having a relative loss, which is 1.8 times higher than the most accurate configuration. This CNN‐based approach provides a fast and efficient method for pedestrian wind comfort (PWC) analysis, potentially aiding in more efficient urban design processes.
Development of myasthenia gravis: 4 years after durvalumab‐induced myositis
Authors: Nosaki Yasunobu , Odate Mitsuru , Takenaka Hiroyuki , Yokoi Takamasa , Iwai Katsushige
Published: April 2024

We report a 74‐year‐old man diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) accompanied by anti‐acetylcholine receptor antibody seroconversion and positive for anti‐titin antibody, with onset delayed by 4 years after the final durvalumab administration, which preceded myositis and organizing pneumonia (OP). Durvalumab, an anti‐programmed cell death ligand 1 antibody, is effective in patients with cancer and causes immune‐related adverse events (irAEs) retrospectively. Patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors require vigilant monitoring as irAEs can arise at any phase, regardless of the time after immune checkpoint inhibitor discontinuation.
Pushing the envelope: do narrowly and widely distributed Eucalyptus species differ in response to climate warming?
Authors: Drake John E. , Vårhammar Angelica , Aspinwall Michael J. , Pfautsch Sebastian , Ghannoum Oula , Tissue David T. , Tjoelker Mark G.
Published: April 2024

Contemporary climate change will push many tree species into conditions that are outside their current climate envelopes. Using the Eucalyptus genus as a model, we addressed whether species with narrower geographical distributions show constrained ability to cope with warming relative to species with wider distributions, and whether this ability differs among species from tropical and temperate climates.

We grew seedlings of widely and narrowly distributed Eucalyptus species from temperate and tropical Australia in a glasshouse under two temperature regimes: the summer temperature at seed origin and +3.5°C. We measured physical traits and leaf‐level gas exchange to assess warming influences on growth rates, allocation patterns, and physiological acclimation capacity.

Warming generally stimulated growth, such that higher relative growth rates early in development placed seedlings on a trajectory of greater mass accumulation. The growth enhancement under warming was larger among widely than narrowly distributed species and among temperate rather than tropical provenances. The differential growth enhancement was primarily attributable to leaf area production and adjustments of specific leaf area.

Our results suggest that tree species, including those with climate envelopes that will be exceeded by contemporary climate warming, possess capacity to physiologically acclimate but may have varying ability to adjust morphology.
The deixis of literature: On the conditions for recognizing computers as authors
Authors: Bajohr Hannes
Published: April 2024

Taking the deictic judgment that is the modernist gesture of declaring something to be art as a starting point, this essay suggests an analogous deixis as a necessary condition for literature. This deixis also can serve as the basis for discussing the expectations of computer‐generated texts. Against the idea that computers or AI systems need only produce sufficiently good output in order to be considered authors, the essay proposes an approach that takes the social recognition of the deictic act within a community of judgment as a precondition for authorship. As an alternative to the Turing test, which is based on the paradigm of deception (people are tricked into considering computer‐written text to be written by humans), the essay favors a version of Susan Leigh Star's “Durkheim test,” which is based on the paradigm of co‐sociality (people directly recognize computers as social actors). Only if the gesture of a machine declaring something to be art is recognized as a deictic judgment in the full sense can one plausibly speak of computer authorship.
Conserved cold tolerance of Rhagoletis species from different host fruits and elevations in Colorado, USA
Authors: Lemay Katelyn , Moore Mackenzie , Brown Paige , Gadey Lahari , Ragland Gregory J. , Toxopeus Jantina
Published: April 2024

Understanding and characterizing how insects tolerate low temperatures is important for predicting their overwintering survival and subsequent geographic spread. This study characterized the cold tolerance of two members of the Rhagoletis genus (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Colorado, USA. Pupae were collected from the infested fruits in late summer and early fall. For the first time, we show that the rosehip fly Rhagoletis basiola Osten Sacken is freeze‐avoidant; overwintering pupae could supercool to temperatures as low as −26°C and survive. Interestingly, the temperature at which ice forms (supercooling point; SCP) did not vary between R. basiola at high (c. 2900 m above sea level [m a.s.l.]) and lower (c. 1650 m a.s.l.) elevations. We also report the apple maggot R. pomonella Walsh infesting an unusual host fruit, the Dolgo crabapple, in close proximity to infested hawthorn trees. R. pomonella infesting hawthorn fruits and crabapples had similar SCPs and survived temperatures as low as −21°C. Pupae from both host fruits also survived prolonged exposure (2 weeks or more) to mild low temperatures (0 to −5°C). Further study into the mechanisms underlying the impressive and conserved cold tolerance of R. pomonella and R. basiola is an interesting avenue for future research.
Occurrence and field evaluation of promising sugarcane genotypes for resistance to midrib red rot disease in China
Authors: Jiang Chunxiu , Xu Yuzhi , Wei Yibin , Khan Muhammad Tahir , Wu Yuling , Li Huojian , Chen Jun , Zhang Chi , Zeng Lifang , Zhang Muqing
Published: April 2024

Sugarcane midrib red rot caused by Colletotrichum falcatum is widespread in China. Standardizing the resistance evaluation methods and screening resistant varieties against this disease is crucial. C. falcatum was determined as the causal agent of midrib red rot by isolating and identifying pathogenic fungi from diseased leaves in Guangxi, China. A field trial of 237 sugarcane genotypes was conducted for three consecutive years to investigate disease incidence and indices for three experimental sites in Guangxi. The combined analysis of variance showed that disease incidence was significantly affected by genotype, year, location and their interactions. Cluster and discriminant analysis showed that 237 sugarcane genotypes were classified into five categories, including 20 as highly resistant, 82 as resistant, 71 as moderately susceptible, 46 as susceptible and 18 as highly susceptible. This study has enhanced our understanding of sugarcane resistance to midrib red rot, selected disease‐resistant parents and laid the foundation for developing elite disease‐resistant varieties.
Silicon induces ROS scavengers, hormone signalling, antifungal metabolites, and silicon deposition against brown stripe disease in sugarcane
Authors: Chen Jiaoyun , Li Yongjia , Zeng Zhen , Zhao Xiaofeng , Zhang Yi , Li Xiaonan , Chen Jianwen , Shen Wankuan
Published: April 2024

Bipolaris setariae is known to cause brown stripe disease in sugarcane, resulting in significant yield losses. Silicon (Si) has the potential to enhance plant growth and biotic resistance. In this study, the impact of Si on brown stripe disease was investigated across susceptible and resistant sugarcane varieties, utilizing four Si concentrations (0, 15, 30, and 45 g per barrel of Na2SiO3·5H2O). Si significantly reduced the incidence of brown stripe disease (7.41–59.23%) and alleviated damage to sugarcane growth parameters, photosynthetic parameters, and photosynthetic pigments. Submicroscopic observations revealed that Si induced the accumulation of silicified cells in leaves, reduced spore accumulation, decreased stomatal size, and protected organelles from B. setariae damage. In addition, Si increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase), reduced reactive oxygen species production (malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide) and modulated the expression of genes associated with hormone signalling (PR1, TGA, AOS, AOC, LOX, PYL8, and SnRK2), leading to the accumulation of abscisic acid and jasmonic acid and inhibiting SA synthesis. Si also activated the activity of metabolism‐related enzymes (polyphenol oxidase and phenylalanine ammonia lyase) and the gene expression of PAL‐dependent genes (PAL, C4H, and 4CL), regulating the accumulation of metabolites, such as chlorogenic acid and lignin. The antifungal test showed that chlorogenic acid (15ug μL−1) had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of B. setariae. This study is the first to demonstrate the inhibitory effect of Si on B. setariae in sugarcane, highlighting Si as a promising and environmentally friendly strategy for managing brown stripe disease.
Assessing relative risks of municipal wastewater disposal options for Southeast Florida
Authors: Bloetscher Frederick , Meeroff Daniel E. , Conboy Kelley , Sham Chi Ho , Fergen Robert , Gallant Richard , Hart James , Shibata T. , Tuccillo Mary Ellen , Englehardt James D.
Published: April 2024

A comparative assessment of the risks of the three current wastewater effluent disposal options and three other potential options was conducted for Southeast Florida communities. The question was how the risk to humans from the use of potable reuse compares to the other five available wastewater disposal alternatives. The need for this type of risk assessment is due to the potential to use potable reuse as a water supply and the potential resistance from the public as a result of such a proposal. Water quality data relevant to disposal of wastewater treatment plant effluent from South Florida utilities along with water quality data on the receiving waters and drinking water standards were obtained for the project. The comparison of the public health risks associated with these disposal alternatives indicated that health risks associated with deep wells and direct potable reuse were generally lower than those of the other alternatives.
The effect of fiscal drag on income distribution and work incentives: A microsimulation analysis on selected African countries
Authors: Shahir Adnan Abdulaziz , Figari Francesco
Published: April 2024

Although the effect of fiscal drag is well‐studied in the industrialised world, empirical evidence from developing economies remains limited. Against this backdrop, this study aims to explore the effect of fiscal drag on income distribution and work incentives. To this end, the study employs SOUTHMOD, the tax‐benefit microsimulation model, for six African countries: Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, and Zambia. Three important conclusions are drawn from our empirical investigation. First, in the absence of proper tax parameter adjustment, the distribution of fiscal drag is determined by the liability progression of personal income tax in the pre‐inflation period. Second, the impact of fiscal drag on the redistributive effects and progressivity of personal income taxes is differentiated among countries. On the one hand, it reduces the progressivity of personal income tax in Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia; on the other hand, it improves progressivity in Mozambique. However, it decreases the redistributive effect of personal income tax only in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda. Third, fiscal drag reduces financial work incentives to increase earnings in all countries. Addressing fiscal drag becomes very crucial considering the soaring inflation due to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Mahalanobis balancing: A multivariate perspective on approximate covariate balancing
Authors: Dai Yimin , Yan Ying
Published: April 2024

In the past decade, various exact balancing‐based weighting methods were introduced to the causal inference literature. It eliminates covariate imbalance by imposing balancing constraints in a certain optimization problem, which can nevertheless be infeasible when there is bad overlap between the covariate distributions in the treated and control groups or when the covariates are high dimensional. Recently, approximate balancing was proposed as an alternative balancing framework. It resolves the feasibility issue by using inequality moment constraints instead. However, it can be difficult to select the threshold parameters. Moreover, moment constraints may not fully capture the discrepancy of covariate distributions. In this paper, we propose Mahalanobis balancing to approximately balance covariate distributions from a multivariate perspective. We use a quadratic constraint to control overall imbalance with a single threshold parameter, which can be tuned by a simple selection procedure. We show that the dual problem of Mahalanobis balancing is an norm‐based regularized regression problem, and establish interesting connection to propensity score models. We derive asymptotic properties, discuss the high‐dimensional scenario, and make extensive numerical comparisons with existing balancing methods.
First comprehensive higher level phylogeny of Zygaenidae (Lepidoptera) including estimated ages of the major lineages and a review of known zygaenid fossils
Authors: Mirić Mirela , Efetov Konstantin A. , Tarmann Gerhard M. , Chiocchio Andrea , Heikkilä Maria , Wagner David L. , Rota Jadranka
Published: April 2024

Zygaenidae, also known as burnet, forester, smoky, or leaf skeletonizer moths, are a family of mainly diurnal moths well known for their aposematic colouration and the ability to release hydrogen cyanide as a defence mechanism. So far, few attempts have been made to understand the evolutionary history of the global zygaenid fauna. Here, we inferred the most comprehensive molecular phylogeny for Zygaenidae to date and estimated the lineage timing‐of‐divergence with a Bayesian approach. Building on earlier work, we significantly increased the taxon and gene sampling for the family, which here included data from 30 gene fragments, recovered from public databases or newly sequenced, for almost 30% of the species representing 92 genera (49%) and all five subfamilies. We recovered strong support for the monophyly of Zygaenidae, Chalcosiinae, and Zygaeninae. Procridinae were recovered as monophyletic with low support, whereas the monophyly of Callizygaeninae remains untested as we sampled only one of the two genera. In the core dataset, we recovered Procridinae as sister to Callizygaeninae + Chalcosiinae. This large clade is the sister lineage to Zygaeninae. The position of Inouelinae could not be resolved. The lineage leading to the extant Zygaenidae appears to have diverged in Late Cretaceous (ca. 86 Ma), while the divergence among the subfamilies occurred several million years before the Cretaceous–Paleogene mass extinction event (ca. 66 Ma). Additionally, we provide a review of known fossil Zygaenidae as Appendix S1. Our results form a strong basis for future studies of zygaenid biosystematics, including their ecology, evolution, and behaviour.
Trainee burnout: Are there modifiable factors?
Authors: Thompson Meredith , Maldonado Nicholas , Srihari Caroline , McFarlane Antionette , Patrie James , Fernandez Rosemarie , Sudhir Amita
Published: April 2024

Background

Burnout is a complex phenomenon and a major concern in graduate medical education as it directly impacts trainee well‐being. Identifying modifiable lifestyle factors over which trainees have immediate control could support timely, actionable, individual and programme‐level interventions to combat it.

Objective

The objective of this pilot study is to describe modifiable lifestyle factors that may limit the development of burnout in medical residents and fellows.

Methods

We performed a cross‐sectional survey of residents and fellows at academic medical centre from September 2017 to October 2017. Participants completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory and a questionnaire designed to identify factors hypothesised to be protective against burnout.

Findings

A total of 205/805 (25%) trainees completed the survey with a mean (SD) age of 29.7 (2.6) years. 52% (n = 107) were female. Averaging at least 7 h of sleep per night was found to have a significant association with lower scores for the emotional exhaustion (24.8 [11, p = 0.04]) and depersonalisation (11.1 [6.4, p = 0.02]) dimensions of burnout. Additionally, self‐identifying as a healthy eater was found to have a significant association with lower scores for emotional exhaustion (25 [11.5, p = 0.03]) and depersonalisation (11.5 [6.6, p = 0.04]) as well. Workouts, hobbies, identifying with organised religion, praying, meditation and mindfulness activities were not associated with a difference.

Conclusions

Adequate sleep (7 or more hours per night) and healthy eating are modifiable individual‐level lifestyle factors associated with lower burnout scores in trainees. These items could be a target for trainee education and programme level support initiatives.
A high‐performance cellular automata model for urban expansion simulation based on convolution and graphic processing unit
Authors: Zeng Haoran , Wang Haijun , Zhang Bin
Published: April 2024

Cellular automata (CA) models are effective tools for simulating future urban expansion. With the widespread use of high‐resolution geospatial data for CA simulation, the computational intensity of CA models has increased. Additionally, due to the continuous development of CA modeling research, many scholars have made improvements to the models to enhance their simulation accuracy, resulting in an increasing computational complexity of the model. Consequently, the simulation task based on CA requires vast computing time and memory space. In recent years, deep learning (DL) has experienced rapid development. Many open‐source DL frameworks support graphic processing unit (GPU) parallel computing and provide efficient application programming interfaces (APIs) that can be easily called to handle tasks of interest. In this study, a high‐performance CA model was constructed based on the similarity between the neighborhood effect calculation process of the CA model and the convolutional process in a convolutional neural network (CNN). The convolution function in the DL library is used to calculate the neighborhood effect of the CA model to reduce the time and memory consumption of CA‐based simulation. The experimental results show that compared with the conventional CA model, the execution time of the GPU‐convolution‐CA model proposed in this study has been reduced by more than 98%.
Classification of the quality of canine and feline ventrodorsal and dorsoventral thoracic radiographs through machine learning
Authors: Tahghighi Peyman , Appleby Ryan B. , Norena Nicole , Ukwatta Eran , Komeili Amin
Published: April 2024

Thoracic radiographs are an essential diagnostic tool in companion animal medicine and are frequently used as a part of routine workups in patients presenting for coughing, respiratory distress, cardiovascular diseases, and for staging of neoplasia. Quality control is a critical aspect of radiology practice in preventing misdiagnosis and ensuring consistent, accurate, and reliable diagnostic imaging. Implementing an effective quality control procedure in radiology can impact patient outcomes, facilitate clinical decision‐making, and decrease healthcare costs. In this study, a machine learning‐based quality classification model is suggested for canine and feline thoracic radiographs captured in both ventrodorsal and dorsoventral positions. The problem of quality classification was divided into collimation, positioning, and exposure, and then an automatic classification method was proposed for each based on deep learning and machine learning. We utilized a dataset of 899 radiographs of dogs and cats. Evaluations using fivefold cross‐validation resulted in an F1 score and AUC score of 91.33 (95% CI: 88.37–94.29) and 91.10 (95% CI: 88.16–94.03), respectively. Results indicated that the proposed automatic quality classification has the potential to be implemented in radiology clinics to improve radiograph quality and reduce nondiagnostic images.
The heterogeneous wound microbiome varies with wound care pain, dressing type, and inflammatory gene expression
Authors: Campbell Amy , Bae Jaewon , Hein Maria , Hillis Stephen L. , Rebeck Olivia N. , Rakel Barbara A. , Grice Elizabeth , Gardner Sue E.
Published: April 2024

Wound dressing changes are essential procedures for wound management. However, ~50% of patients experience severe pain during these procedures despite the availability of analgesic medications, indicating a need for novel therapeutics that address underlying causes of pain. Along with other clinical factors, wound pathogens and inflammatory immune responses have previously been implicated in wound pain. To test whether these factors could contribute to severe pain during wound dressing changes, we conducted an exploratory, cross‐sectional analysis of patient‐reported pain, inflammatory immune responses, and wound microbiome composition in 445 wounds at the time of a study dressing change. We profiled the bacterial composition of 406 wounds using 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing and quantified gene expression of 13 inflammatory markers in wound fluid using quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Neither inflammatory gene expression nor clinically observed inflammation were associated with severe pain, but Corynebacterium and Streptococcus were of lower relative abundance in wounds of patients reporting severe pain than those reporting little or no pain. Wound microbiome composition differed by wound location, and correlated with six of the inflammatory markers, including complement receptor C5AR1, pro‐inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)1β, chemokine IL‐8, matrix metalloproteinase MMP2, and the antimicrobial peptide encoding cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide. Interestingly, we found a relationship between the wound microbiome and vacuum‐assisted wound closure (VAC). These findings identify preliminary, associative relationships between wound microbiota and host factors which motivate future investigation into the directional relationships between wound care pain, wound closure technologies, and the wound microbiome.
Flow Performance Enhancement of a Fluidic Oscillator Through the Integration of Rectangular Ribs on Coanda Surface
Authors: Hussain Liaqat , Khan Muhammad Mahabat , Ahmad Naseem
Published: April 2024

Fluidic oscillators utilize internal flow dynamics to produce oscillatory fluid jets. The Coanda surface in the mixing chamber of a fluidic oscillator plays a critical role by facilitating controlled fluid manipulation through flow attachment and redirection. The mixing chamber pressure drop, jet oscillating frequency, and deflection angles are hence dependent on the geometry of the Coanda surface. In this study, the Coanda surface is modified by using rectangular ribs of different aspect ratios. The effects of ribbed Coanda surface on oscillating jet characteristics are computed numerically through two-dimensional unsteady Favre-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The aspect ratio (ARribs), the ratio of rib height to rib base, is varied from 0.64 to 1.56 and air is used as a working fluid. An increase in the ARribs increases the jet oscillation frequency. The highest aspect ratio achieves an oscillation frequency of 820 Hz, contrasting with 355 Hz for the smooth case. On the other hand, the jet deflection angles are decreased as the aspect ratio increases. Interestingly the introduction of the ribs on the Coanda surface decreased the pressure drop in the oscillator. A decrease in pressure drop of 22% for an aspect ratio of 1.56 was achieved as compared to the smooth case. These results are attributed to the influence of the ribs on the formation of a separation bubble formed in the mixing chamber. The jet performance parameter, frequency-deflection-pressure ratio, was found to be 43% higher for ARribs of 1.56 as compared to the smooth case.
Temperature-induced degradation of GaN HEMT: An in situ heating study
Authors: Rasel Md Abu Jafar , Zhang Di , Chen Aiping , Thomas Melonie , House Stephen D. , Kuo Winson , Watt John , Islam Ahmad , Glavin Nicholas , Smyth M. , Haque Aman , Wolfe Douglas E. , Pearton Stephen J.
Published: April 2024

High-power electronics, such as GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), are expected to perform reliably in high-temperature conditions. This study aims to gain an understanding of the microscopic origin of both material and device vulnerabilities to high temperatures by real-time monitoring of the onset of structural degradation under varying temperature conditions. This is achieved by operating GaN HEMT devices in situ inside a transmission electron microscope (TEM). Electron-transparent specimens are prepared from a bulk device and heated up to 800 °C. High-resolution TEM (HRTEM), scanning TEM (STEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and geometric phase analysis (GPA) are performed to evaluate crystal quality, material diffusion, and strain propagation in the sample before and after heating. Gate contact area reduction is visible from 470 °C accompanied by Ni/Au intermixing near the gate/AlGaN interface. Elevated temperatures induce significant out-of-plane lattice expansion at the SiNx/GaN/AlGaN interface, as revealed by geometry-phase GPA strain maps, while in-plane strains remain relatively consistent. Exposure to temperatures exceeding 500 °C leads to almost two orders of magnitude increase in leakage current in bulk devices in this study, which complements the results from our TEM experiment. The findings of this study offer real-time visual insights into identifying the initial location of degradation and highlight the impact of temperature on the bulk device’s structure, electrical properties, and material degradation.
Self-supervised learning of T cell receptor sequences exposes core properties for T cell membership
Authors: Goldner Kabeli Romi , Zevin Sarit , Abargel Avital , Zilberberg Alona , Efroni Sol
Published: April 2024

The T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is an extraordinarily diverse collection of TCRs essential for maintaining the body’s homeostasis and response to threats. In this study, we compiled an extensive dataset of more than 4200 bulk TCR repertoire samples, encompassing 221,176,713 sequences, alongside 6,159,652 single-cell TCR sequences from over 400 samples. From this dataset, we then selected a representative subset of 5 million bulk sequences and 4.2 million single-cell sequences to train two specialized Transformer-based language models for bulk (CVC) and single-cell (scCVC) TCR repertoires, respectively. We show that these models successfully capture TCR core qualities, such as sharing, gene composition, and single-cell properties. These qualities are emergent in the encoded TCR latent space and enable classification into TCR-based qualities such as public sequences. These models demonstrate the potential of Transformer-based language models in TCR downstream applications.
Thinner is not always better: Optimizing cryo-lamellae for subtomogram averaging
Authors: Tuijtel Maarten W. , Cruz-León Sergio , Kreysing Jan Philipp , Welsch Sonja , Hummer Gerhard , Beck Martin , Turoňová Beata
Published: April 2024

Cryo–electron tomography (cryo-ET) is a powerful method to elucidate subcellular architecture and to structurally analyze biomolecules in situ by subtomogram averaging, yet data quality critically depends on specimen thickness. Cells that are too thick for transmission imaging can be thinned into lamellae by cryo–focused ion beam (cryo-FIB) milling. Despite being a crucial parameter directly affecting attainable resolution, optimal lamella thickness has not been systematically investigated nor the extent of structural damage caused by gallium ions used for FIB milling. We thus systematically determined how resolution is affected by these parameters. We find that ion-induced damage does not affect regions more than 30 nanometers from either lamella surface and that up to ~180-nanometer lamella thickness does not negatively affect resolution. This shows that there is no need to generate very thin lamellae and lamella thickness can be chosen such that it captures cellular features of interest, thereby opening cryo-ET also for studies of large complexes.