bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A novel CircRNA Circ_0001722 regulates proliferation and invasion of osteosarcoma cells through targeting miR-204-5p/RUNX2 axis
Authors: Gong Shuai , Zhang Yi , Pang Lina , Wang Liye , He Wei
Published: July 2023

Background

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most prevalent primary fatal bone neoplasm in adolescents and children owing to limited therapeutic methods. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are identified as vital regulators in a variety of cancers. However, the roles of circRNAs in OS are still unclear.

Methods

Firstly, we evaluate the differentially expressed circRNAs in 3 paired OS and corresponding adjacent nontumor tissue samples by circRNA microarray assay, finding a novel circRNA, circ_001722, significantly upregulated in OS tissues and cells. The circular structure of candidate circRNA was confirmed through Sanger sequencing, divergent primer PCR, and RNase R treatments. Proliferation of OS cells was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The microRNA (miRNA) sponge mechanism of circRNAs was verified by dual-luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay.

Results

A novel circRNA, circ_001722, is significantly upregulated in OS tissues and cells. Downregulation of circ_0001722 can suppress proliferation and invasion of human OS cells in vitro and in vivo. Computational algorithms predict miR-204-5p can bind with circ_0001722 and RUNX2 mRNA 3’UTR, which is verified by Dual-luciferase assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay. Further functional experiments show that circ_0001722 competitively binds to miR-204-5p and prevents it to decrease the level of RUNX2, which upregulates proliferation and invasion of human OS cells.

Conclusion

Circ_001722 is a novel tumor promotor in OS, and promotes the progression of OS via miR-204-5p/RUNX2 axis.
Influence of health-insurance on treatment outcome of childhood cancer in Western Kenya
Authors: Langat Sandra , Njuguna Festus , Olbara Gilbert , Martijn Hugo , Sieben Cenne , Haverkort Moniek , Njenga Dennis , Vik Terry A. , Kaspers Gertjan , Mostert Saskia
Published: July 2023

Background

Few governments in low and middle-income countries (LMIC) have responded favourably to the international plea for Universal Health Coverage. Childhood cancer survival in LMIC is often below 20%. Limited health-insurance coverage may contribute to this poor survival. Our study explores the influence of health-insurance status on childhood cancer treatment outcomes in a Kenyan academic hospital.

Methods

This was a retrospective medical records review of all children diagnosed with cancer at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital between 2010 and 2016. Socio-demographic and clinical data was collected using a structured data collection form. Fisher’s exact test, chi-squared test, Kaplan–Meier method, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model were used to evaluate relationships between treatment outcomes and patient characteristics. Study was approved by Institutional Research Ethics Committee.

Findings

From 2010–2016, 879 children were newly diagnosed with cancer. Among 763 patients whose records were available, 28% abandoned treatment, 23% died and 17% had progressive/relapsed disease resulting in 32% event-free survival. In total 280 patients (37%) had health-insurance at diagnosis. After active enrolment during treatment, total health-insurance registration level reached 579 patients (76%). Treatment outcomes differed by health-insurance status (P < 0.001). The most likely treatment outcome in uninsured patients was death (49%), whereas in those with health-insurance at diagnosis and those who enrolled during treatment it was event-free survival (36% and 41% respectively). Overall survival (P < 0.001) and event-free survival (P < 0.001) were higher for insured versus uninsured patients. The hazard-ratio for treatment failure was 0.30 (95% CI:0.22–0.39; P < 0.001) for patients insured at diagnosis and 0.32 (95% CI:0.24–0.41; P < 0.001) for patients insured during treatment in relation to those without insurance.

Interpretation

Our study highlights the need for Universal Health Coverage in LMIC. Children without health-insurance had significantly lower survival. Childhood cancer treatment outcomes can be ameliorated by strategies that improve health-insurance access.
The Effects of Cooling on Fine-Grained Sandstone in Relation to Wellbore Injection of Carbon Dioxide
Authors: Reppas Nikolaos , Davie Colin T. , Gui Yilin , Wetenhall Ben , Graham Samuel P.
Published: July 2023

In Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) procedures, it is important to determine the stability of the wellbore during carbon dioxide (CO2) injection and part of this involves assessing stresses on the rock near the wellbore due to changes in temperature and pressure. To address this, this study investigated the influence of cooling on the mechanical properties of a sandstone typical of those found in the central and southern North Sea. A series of uniaxial and triaxial compression tests was conducted on dry and saturated sandstone samples to determine the effects of cooling on the strength and stiffness under different confining pressures. The elastic modulus, shear modulus, bulk modulus and Poisson’s ratio were determined for three temperature conditions and three pressures representing different depths in a wellbore. Two methods, the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM) and Wood’s (Soil behaviour and critical state soil mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990), were used to determine the mechanical properties of the rock during the Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS) tests. For the triaxial test, only Wood’s (1990) method was applied due to the existence of confining pressure. Microstructural analysis on thin sections of the sandstones under plane and crossed polarised light conditions in the deformed and undeformed state was conducted to elucidate deformation mechanisms and aid interpretation of experimental results. It was identified that both an increase in confinement and a reduction in temperature, increased the strength of the sandstone and reduced the Poisson’s ratio. Additionally, by decreasing the temperature, especially in the UCS test the material dilated less. This is an important outcome as expanding the results to a wellbore stability problem, brittle behaviour may be more apparent and damage may occur when sub-zero injection temperatures are applied, especially at the wellbore head, where confinement is low.
Ontology extension with NLP-based concept extraction for domain experts in catalytic sciences
Authors: Behr Alexander S. , Völkenrath Marc , Kockmann Norbert
Published: July 2023

Ontologies store semantic knowledge in a machine-readable way and represent domain knowledge in controlled vocabulary. In this work, a workflow is set up to derive classes from a text dataset using natural language processing (NLP) methods. Furthermore, ontologies and thesauri are browsed for those classes and corresponding existing textual definitions are extracted. A base ontology is selected to be extended with knowledge from catalysis science, while word similarity is used to introduce new classes to the ontology based on the class candidates. Relations are introduced to automatically reference them to already existing classes in the selected ontology. The workflow is conducted for a text dataset related to catalysis research on methanation of CO$$_2$$

2

and seven semantic artifacts assisting ontology extension by domain experts. Undefined concepts and unstructured relations can be more easily introduced automatically into existing ontologies. Domain experts can then revise the resulting extended ontology by choosing the best fitting definition of a class and specifying suggested relations between concepts of catalyst research. A structured extension of ontologies supported by NLP methods is made possible to facilitate a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) data management workflow.
Processing references in context: when the polar bear does not meet a polar bear
Authors: Rolke Bettina , Kirsten Mareike , Seibold Verena C. , Dietrich Susanne , Hertrich Ingo
Published: July 2023

Discourse understanding is hampered when missing or conflicting context information is given. In four experiments, we investigated what happens (a) when the definite determiner “the,” which presupposes existence and uniqueness, does not find a unique referent in the context or (b) when the appropriate use of the indefinite determiner is violated by the presence of a unique referent (Experiment 1 and Experiment 2). To focus on the time-course of processing the uniqueness presupposition of the definite determiner, we embedded the determiner in different sentence structures and varied the context (Experiment 3 and Experiment 4). Reading time served as an index of processing difficulty in a word-by-word self-paced reading task and acceptability judgments provided hints for a possible repair of a presupposition violation. Our results showed that conflicting and missing context information lowered acceptability ratings and was associated with prolonged reading times. The pattern of results differed depending on the nature of the presupposition (Experiments 1 and 2) and whether supplementing missing context information was possible (Experiment 3 and Experiment 4). Our findings suggest that different cognitive processes come into play when interpreting presuppositions in order to get a meaningful interpretation of a discourse.
Biventricular Interaction During Acute Left Ventricular Ischemia in Mice: A Combined In-Vivo and In-Silico Approach
Authors: Colebank M. J. , Taylor R. , Hacker T. A. , Chesler N. C.
Published: July 2023

Computational models provide an efficient paradigm for integrating and linking multiple spatial and temporal scales. However, these models are difficult to parameterize and match to experimental data. Recent advances in both data collection and model analyses have helped overcome this limitation. Here, we combine a multiscale, biventricular interaction model with mouse data before and after left ventricular (LV) ischemia. Sensitivity analyses are used to identify the most influential parameters on pressure and volume predictions. The subset of influential model parameters are calibrated to biventricular pressure–volume loop data (n = 3) at baseline. Each mouse underwent left anterior descending coronary artery ligation, during which changes in fractional shortening and RV pressure–volume dynamics were recorded. Using the calibrated model, we simulate acute LV ischemia and contrast outputs at baseline and in simulated ischemia. Our baseline simulations align with the LV and RV data, and our predictions during ischemia complement recorded RV data and prior studies on LV function during myocardial infarction. We show that a model with both biventricular mechanical interaction and systems-level cardiovascular dynamics can quantitatively reproduce in-vivo data and qualitatively match prior findings from animal studies on LV ischemia.
Adsorption properties of biochars obtained by KOH activation
Authors: Jedynak Katarzyna , Charmas Barbara
Published: July 2023

In this study four kinds of biochars were prepared from the KOH modified biomass. As the carbon precursors there was used the sawdust from the following trees: oak, hornbeam, apple and cherry. The physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized by the N2 adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, thermal analysis (TG, DTG and DTA), infrared spectroscopy, and the Boehm’s titration method. Moreover, pHpzc (the point of zero charge) was determined. The adsorption capacity and the temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia were also studied. The obtained activated biochars were characterized by the large specific surface area (672 to 912 m2/g) and the total pore volume (0.30 to 0.4 cm3/g) as well as the well-developed microporous structure (85–97%). These observations were also confirmed by the SEM analysis. The maximum NH3 adsorption capacity of the activated biochar was determined to be 3.05 mmol/g. These results prove that the sawdust of various origins is appropriate to prepare a cost-effective, environmentally friendly biochar.
Modelling a chain of command in the incident command system using sequential characteristic function games
Authors: Krausburg Tabajara , Bordini Rafael H. , Dix Jürgen
Published: July 2023

Disaster response is a major challenge given the social and economic impact on the communities affected by disaster incidents. We investigate how coalition formation can be used for the problem of forming a hierarchy of resources (e.g., personnel responding to the incident). As a case study, we consider the roaring river flood scenario and model the Incident Command System (ICS) framework—providing guidelines on cooperatively responding to disaster incidents. Our approach is based on sequential characteristic-function games induced by size-based valuation structures. We show that this approach can deliver a hierarchy as required by the Operations Section of the ICS and provides a promising way to generate practical solutions for some realistic disaster scenarios.
Image quality enhancement of 4D light field microscopy via reference impge propagation-based one-shot learning
Authors: Kwon Ki Hoon , Erdenebat Munkh-Uchral , Kim Nam , Kwon Ki-Chul , Kim Min Young
Published: July 2023

Four-dimensional (4D) light-field (LF) microscopes can acquire 3D information about target objects using a microlens array (MLA). However, the resolution and quality of sub-images in the LF images are reduced because of the spatial multiplexing of rays by the element lenses of the MLA. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes an LF one-shot learning technique that can convert LF sub-images into high-quality images similar to the 2D images of conventional optical microscopes obtained without any external training datasets for image enhancement. The proposed convolutional neural network model was trained using only one training dataset comprising a high-resolution reference image captured without an MLA as the ground truth. Further, its input was the central view of the LF image. After LF one-shot learning, the trained model should be able to convert well the other LF sub-images of various directional views that were not used in the main training process. Therefore, novel learning techniques were designed for LF one-shot learning. These novel techniques include an autoencoder-based model initialization method, a feature map-based learning algorithm to prevent the overfitting of the model, and cut loss to prevent saturation. The experimental results verified that the proposed technique effectively enhances the LF image quality and resolution using a reference image. Moreover, this method enhances the resolution by up to 13 times, decreases the noise amplification effect, and restores the lost details of microscopic objects. The proposed technique is stable and yields superior experimental results compared with those of the existing resolution-enhancing methods.
Subtypes of high-grade breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): incidence and potential clinical impact
Authors: Schandiz Hossein , Park Daehoon , Kaiser Yan Liu , Lyngra Marianne , Talleraas Inger Solvang , Geisler Jürgen , Sauer Torill
Published: July 2023

Objective

The purpose of this study was to investigate and classify the molecular subtypes of high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and identify possible high-risk subtypes. The heterogenicity of DCIS with variable clinical and histopathological presentations has been recognized. Nevertheless, only histopathological grading and diameter are currently implemented in clinical decision-making following the diagnosis of DCIS. The molecular subtypes of DCIS and their IHC surrogate markers have not been defined in conventional treatment guidelines and recommendations. We applied the definitions of molecular subtypes according to the IHC surrogate markers defined for IBC and subclassified high-grade DCIS, accordingly.

Methods

Histopathological specimens were collected, revised, and regraded from 494 patients diagnosed with DCIS between 1996 and 2018. Other in situ and papillary lesions observed in breast biopsies were excluded from this study. 357 high-grade DCIS cases were submitted to IHC analysis. The markers investigated were ER, PR, HER2, and Ki67.

Results

45 cases were classified as grade 1, 19 as grade 2, and 430 as grade 3. Sixty patients with high-grade DCIS had an additional invasive component in the surgical specimen. Thirty-three patients were diagnosed with recurrent DCIS or invasive cancer (minimum one year after their primary DCIS diagnosis). The proportions of luminal A and luminal B HER2-negative subtypes varied depending on whether 2011 or 2013 St. Gallen Consensus Conference guidelines were adopted. Luminal A was the most prevalent subtype, according to both classifications. The luminal B HER2-positive subtype was found in 22.1% of cases, HER2-enriched subtype in 21.8%, and TPN subtype in 5.6%. There were strong indications that HER2-enriched subtype was significantly more frequent among DCIS with invasive component (p = 0.0169).

Conclusions

High-grade DCIS exhibits all the molecular subtypes previously identified in IBC, but with a somewhat different distribution in our cohort. HER2-enriched subtype is substantially related to the presence of an invasive component in DCIS; consequently, it is regarded as a high-risk entity.
Simple method for obtaining regenerated cellulose nanoparticles from delignified coffee parchment, and their use in fabricating blended films
Authors: Campuzano Francisco , Escobar Diana Marcela , Torres L Ana María
Published: July 2023

Coffee parchment is one of the residues generated in coffee processing and has been poorly explored for value-added applications. It has been reported that coffee parchment has a high cellulose content (40–49%). Cellulose has been studied in many fields and specifically regenerated cellulose has been explored for many applications. Then, in this work a simple method for obtaining regenerated cellulose nanoparticles (RCNPs) from delignified coffee parchment, was determined. A complete physicochemical characterization of RCNPs obtained is presented, FTIR showed high cellulose purity, and XRD analysis showed high crystallinity of cellulose II. TEM images revealed that nanoparticles have spherical morphology. TGA showed good thermal stability and DLS allowed to determine the stability of suspension and the Z-average of the particles. The application of RCNPs on film formation was also evaluated when blended with PVA and Glycerol showing good mechanical properties with potential application on food packing.
Migration as adaptation to freshwater and inland hydroclimatic changes? A meta-review of existing evidence
Authors: Caretta Martina Angela , Fanghella Valeria , Rittelmeyer Pam , Srinivasan Jaishri , Panday Prajjwal K. , Parajuli Jagadish , Priya Ritu , Reddy E. B. Uday Bhaskar , Seigerman Cydney Kate , Mukherji Aditi
Published: July 2023

Due to its potential geo-political and environmental implications, climate migration is an increasing concern to the international community. However, while there is considerable attention devoted to migration in response to sea-level rise, there is a limited understanding of human mobility due to freshwater and inland hydroclimatic changes. Hence, the aim of this paper is to examine the existing evidence on migration as an adaptation strategy due to freshwater and inland hydroclimatic changes. A meta-review of papers published between 2014 and 2019 yielded 67 publications, the majority of which focus on a handful of countries in the Global South. Droughts, floods, extreme heat, and changes in seasonal precipitation patterns were singled out as the most common hazards triggering migration. Importantly, most of the papers discuss mobility as part of a portfolio of responses. Motivations to migrate at the household level range from survival to searching for better economic opportunities. The outcomes of migration are mixed — spanning from higher incomes to difficulties in finding employment after moving and struggles with a higher cost of living. While remittances can be beneficial, migration does not always have a positive outcome for those who are left behind. Furthermore, this meta-review shows that migration, even when desired, is not an option for some of the most vulnerable households. These multifaceted results suggest that, while climate mobility is certainly happening due to freshwater and inland hydroclimatic changes, studies reviewing it are limited and substantial gaps remain in terms of geographical coverage, implementation assessments, and outcomes evaluation. We argue that these gaps need to be filled to inform climate and migration policies that increasingly need to be intertwined rather than shaped in isolation from each other.
Multi-criteria analysis for rapid vulnerability assessment of marine species to climate change
Authors: Champion Curtis , Lawson James R. , Pardoe Joanna , Cruz Derrick O. , Fowler Ashley M. , Jaine Fabrice , Schilling Hayden T. , Coleman Melinda A.
Published: July 2023

The accelerating pace of climate-induced stress to global ecosystems threatens the sustainable management and conservation of biodiversity. To effectively respond, researchers and managers require rapid vulnerability assessment tools that can be readily implemented using diverse and existing knowledge sources. Here we demonstrate the application of multi-criteria analysis (MCA) for this purpose using a group of coastal-pelagic fishes from south-eastern Australia as a case-study. We show that MCA has the capacity to formally structure diverse knowledge sources, ranging from peer-reviewed information (which informed 29.2% of criteria among models) to expert knowledge (which informed 22.6% of criteria among models), to quantify the sensitivity of species to biophysical conditions. By integrating MCA models with spatial climate data over historical and future periods, we demonstrate the application of MCA for rapidly assessing the vulnerability of marine species to climate change. Spatial analyses revealed an apparent trend among case-study species towards increasing or stable vulnerability to projected climate change throughout the northern (i.e. equatorward) extent of the study domain and the emergence of climate refugia throughout southern (i.e. poleward) regions. Results from projections using the MCA method were consistent with past analyses of the redistribution of suitable habitat for coastal-pelagic fishes off eastern Australia under climate change. By demonstrating the value of MCA for rapidly assessing the vulnerability of marine species to climate change, we highlight the opportunity to develop user-friendly software infrastructures integrated with marine climate projection data to support the interdisciplinary application of this method.
Systematic literature review as a digital collaborative research-like learning activity: a case study
Authors: Ryan Anne Wally , Kolås Line , Nilsen Anders Grov , Almås Aslaug Grov
Published: July 2023

Within the higher education sector, the principle of student-active and research-based education are established in strategy documents and action plans, but at the same time there is an ongoing debate about what is meant by research-based learning and how it can be applied in practical teaching contexts. The aim of this empirical study is to explore inclusion of research elements in higher education. The study introduces the concept of using systematic literature review (SLR) and digital collaboration as a learning method, and addresses how to succeed with digital collaborative systematic literature review as a research-like learning activity in higher education. An exploratory multiple case design is used, with participatory observation technique and thematic analysis. A practical contribution of this study is an example of how SLR is well-suited to do collective research-like learning activities. The main contribution is that the higher education teacher needs integrated knowledge, including research competence in addition to the traditional link between professional, didactic and technological competence. A model for research-like learning is proposed, which illustrates the need for research knowledge in relation to the technological pedagogical content knowledge.
Time series clustering using trend, seasonal and autoregressive components to identify maximum temperature patterns in the Iberian Peninsula
Authors: Palacios Gutiérrez Arnobio , Valencia Delfa Jose Luis , Villeta López María
Published: July 2023

Time series (TS) clustering is a crucial area of data mining that can be used to identify interesting patterns. This study introduces a novel approach to obtain clusters of TS by representing them with feature vectors that define the trend, seasonality and noise components of each series in order to identify areas of the Iberian Peninsula (IP) that follow the same pattern of change in regards to maximum temperature during 1931–2009. This representation allows for dimensionality reduction, and is obtained based on singular spectrum analysis decomposition in a sequential manner, which is a well-developed methodology of TS analysis and forecasting with applications ranging from the decomposition and filtering of nonparametric TS to parameter estimation and forecasting. In this approach, the trend, seasonality and residual components of each TS corresponding to a specific area in the Iberian region are extracted using the proposed SSA methodology. Afterwards, the feature vectors of the TS are obtained by modelling the extracted components and estimating their parameters. Finally, a clustering algorithm is applied to group the TS into clusters, which are defined according to the centroids. This methodology is applied to a climate database with reasonable results that align with the defined characteristics, enabling a spatial exploration of the IP. The results identified three differentiated zones that can be used to describe how the maximum temperature varied: in the northern and central zones, an increase in temperature was noted over time, whereas in the southern zone, a slight decrease was noted. Moreover, different seasonal variations were observed across the zones.
A geochemical and mineralogical characterization of soils associated with podoconiosis
Authors: Cooper Jamey N. , Nick Kevin E.
Published: July 2023

Podoconiosis is a disease that causes swelling and disfiguration of the lower legs found in several developing countries where shoes are not regularly worn. The current model for the etiology of the disease proposes that mineralogical agents enter the lymph system through the skin leading to inflammation that causes swelling of the feet and legs. We collected 125 soil samples from 21 towns associated with podoconiosis, 8 towns unassociated with Podoconiosis as controls, and 3 towns of unknown status. Data collected for each soil sample included color, particle size, mineralogy, and geochemistry to distinguish unique components within the podoconiosis-associated soils. Our results indicate podoconiosis-associated soils are more highly weathered than non-podoconiosis associated soils. The enrichment of kaolinite and gibbsite suggests that these minerals, their surface chemistry, and trace elements associated with them should be prioritized in future podoconiosis research. In addition, we found that color may be a valuable tool to identify soils at greater risk for inducing podoconiosis.
The role of remote sensing in tropical grassland nutrient estimation: a review
Authors: Arogoundade Adeola M. , Mutanga Onisimo , Odindi John , Naicker Rowan
Published: July 2023

The carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) ratio is a key indicator of nutrient utilization and limitations in rangelands. To understand the distribution of herbivores and grazing patterns, information on grass quality and quantity is important. In heterogeneous environments, remote sensing offers a timely, economical, and effective method for assessing foliar biochemical ratios at varying spatial and temporal scales. Hence, this study provides a synopsis of the advancement in remote sensing technology, limitations, and emerging opportunities in mapping the C:N ratio in rangelands. Specifically, the paper focuses on multispectral and hyperspectral sensors and investigates their properties, absorption features, empirical and physical methods, and algorithms in predicting the C:N ratio in grasslands. Literature shows that the determination of the C:N ratio in grasslands is not in line with developments in remote sensing technologies. Thus, the use of advanced and freely available sensors with improved spectral and spatial properties such as Sentinel 2 and Landsat 8/9 with sophisticated algorithms may provide new opportunities to estimate C:N ratio in grasslands at regional scales, especially in developing countries. Spectral bands in the near-infrared, shortwave infrared, red, and red edge were identified to predict the C:N ratio in plants. New indices developed from recent multispectral satellite imagery, for example, Sentinel 2 aided by cutting-edge algorithms, can improve the estimation of foliar biochemical ratios. Therefore, this study recommends that future research should adopt new satellite technologies with recent development in machine learning algorithms for improved mapping of the C:N ratio in grasslands.
Towards a taxonomy of Roxygen documentation in R packages
Authors: Vidoni Melina , Codabux Zadia
Published: July 2023

Software documentation is often neglected, impacting maintenance and reuse and leading to technical issues. In particular, when working with scientific software, such issues in the documentation pose a risk to producing reliable scientific results as they may cause improper or incorrect use of the software. R is a popular programming language for scientific software with a prolific package-based ecosystem, where users contribute packages (i.e., libraries). R packages are intended to be reused, and their users rely extensively on the available documentation. Thus, understanding what information developers provide in their packages’ documentation (generally, through a system known as Roxygen, based on Javadoc) is essential to contribute to it. This study mined 379 GitHub repositories of R packages and analysed a sample to develop a taxonomy of natural language descriptions used in Roxygen documentation. This was done through hybrid card sorting, which included two experienced R developers. The resulting taxonomy covers parameters, returns, and descriptions, providing a baseline for further studies. Our taxonomy is the first of its kind for R. Based on previous studies in pure object-oriented languages, our taxonomy could be extensible to other dynamically-typed languages used in scientific programming.
Enhancement of Cloud-native applications with Autonomic Features
Authors: Kosińska Joanna , Zieliński Krzysztof
Published: July 2023

The Autonomic Computing paradigm reduces complexity in installing, configuring, optimizing, and maintaining heterogeneous systems. Despite first discussing it a long ago, it is still a top research challenge, especially in the context of other technologies. It is necessary to provide autonomic features to the Cloud-native execution environment to meet the rapidly changing demands without human support and continuous improvement of their capabilities. The present work attempts to answer how to explore autonomic features in Cloud-native environments. As a solution, we propose using the AMoCNA framework. It is rooted in Autonomic Computing. The success factors for the AMoCNA implementation are its execution controllers. They drive the management actions proceeding in a Cloud-native execution environment. A similar concept already exists in Kubernetes, so we compare both execution mechanisms. This research presents guidelines for including autonomic features in Cloud-native environments. The integration of Cloud-native Applications with AMoCNA leads to facilitating autonomic management. To show the potential of our concept, we evaluated it. The developed executor performs cluster autoscaling and ensures autonomic management in the infrastructure layer. The experiment also proved the importance of observations. The knowledge gained in this process is a good authority of information about past and current state of Cloud-native Applications. Combining this knowledge with defined executors provides an effective means of achieving the autonomic nature of Cloud-native applications.
Topical combined tranexamic acid and epinephrine versus topical epinephrine in control of intraoperative bleeding of external dacryocystorhinostomy
Authors: Salamah Moustafa A. , Al Bialy Hani A. , Khairy Marwa A. , Ali Ali Goda
Published: July 2023

Purpose

To compare the efficacy of gauze soaked with combined tranexamic acid (TXA) (100 mg/ml) epinephrine 1:200,000 versus gauze soaked with only epinephrine 1:200,000 used to guard against intraoperative bleeding in external Dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR).

Patients and methods

The study included 33 patients; only 30 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were divided randomly into 2 groups using the random numbers table, with 15 patients in each group. The first group (Group A) was operated upon using gauze soaked with combined TXA (100 mg/ml) and epinephrine 1:200,000, while the second group (Group B) was operated upon using gauze soaked only with epinephrine 1:200,000.

Results

The amount of bleeding was significantly lower in group A (29.4 ± 17.1 ml) compared to group B (49.1 ± 18.1 ml), with a P value = 0.005. In addition, the number of used gauzes and total surgical time was significantly lower in group A compared to group B, with P value = 0.008 and 0.01 respectively.

Conclusion

External DCR using gauze soaked with combined TXA (100 mg/ml) and epinephrine 1:200,000 showed a significant reduction in the amount of intraoperative bleeding compared to gauze soaked with epinephrine 1:200,000 only. The reduction in the amount of bleeding with the addition of TXA resulted in clearer surgical field, shorter surgical time and more surgeon satisfaction.Query
Enhancing Mindfulness, Emotional Well-being and Strengths in Parenting via an Eight-week Flourishing Families Intervention
Authors: Laakso Mari , Fagerlund Åse , Westerlund-Cook Saija , Eriksson Johan G.
Published: July 2023

Being a parent influences both parent’s and children’s well-being in many ways; therefore, developing interventions that support parents in their important role as a parent is vital. The current study evaluated the effect of an eight-week Flourishing Families parental intervention on interpersonal mindfulness, emotions and strengths in parenting in Finland. Randomly allocated to intervention and wait-list control groups were 63 parents. In addition to questionnaires, parents completed 5-day mobile Experience Sampling Method (ESM) assessments, both at pre- and post-intervention. The questionnaires were repeated at a follow-up 3 months after the intervention. Data analysis involved two datasets: randomized and pooled. The findings of this study suggest that participation in the Flourishing Families program can improve interpersonal mindfulness in parenting, shift emotional balance towards more positive emotions and less negative emotions, and enhance awareness and usage of own strengths. The results were more evident in the pooled data. With these preliminary findings, we hope to inspire both further positive psychology intervention (PPI) studies in the parenting context and the use of repeated momentary assessments.
Testing the Income Pooling Hypothesis and its Link to the Taxation of Couple Households: Evidence from Demand System Estimation for Germany
Authors: Beznoska Martin
Published: July 2023

Whether couples pool their resources and behave like a unit or spend their income individually is crucial for social and tax policy. In this paper, I provide a test of the income pooling hypothesis using administrative cross-sectional survey data on expenditures and individual incomes of couple households in Germany. The test is performed within the quadratic almost ideal demand system framework, which allows for an endogenous expenditure budget and endogenous individual income contribution shares in an instrumental variables approach. Although perfect income pooling is broadly rejected, there are significant differences regarding the marital status, the presence of at least one child in the household and whether the household is located in a former West or East German federal state. Married and unmarried couples with children are closer to the acceptance of the hypothesis than couples without children. The approach allows to calculate justifiable differentials of the marginal tax rates within the household if income pooling is rejected.
How the Current Management of Intimate Partner Violence Can Endanger Victimized Mothers and Their Children
Authors: Cattagni Kleiner Anne , Romain-Glassey Nathalie
Published: July 2023

Purpose

Children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of child abuse and can have serious detrimental consequences on their health and well-being. Research has shown that a strong relationship with a caring adult, often the mother, is a protective factor against those consequences. For this reason, this study attempts to understand the overall experiences of victimized mothers with perpetrators, professionals, and institutions in the years following IPV disclosure.

Methods

We conducted 20 semi-structured individual interviews in Switzerland in 2020 with former patients who had been provided with a clinical forensic consultation between 2011 and 2014. The participants had reported IPV between 2011 and 2014 and had at least one minor child at the time.

Results

Victimized mothers continued to experience harmful behaviors from perpetrators/fathers after IPV disclosure. They reported feeling in danger and that the perpetrators/fathers benefited from a certain level of impunity. In parallel, the mothers were held accountable for the safety and well-being of their children in this context. These overall and multi-year experiences had short-term and long-term negative impacts on the mothers’ and children’s health, financial and administrative situation, relationship, and on school life. In this sample, the years following IPV disclosure were characterized by an enduring sense of ordeal.

Conclusions

The professional and institutional handling of IPV situations, in relation to both victims and perpetrators, can endanger victimized mothers and their children and put them at risk of adverse consequences after IPV disclosure. Avenues for change to better protect mother and child and to provide relief to the mothers as an important protective factor for their children are discussed.
Spatial characterization of social-ecological systems units for management in Tropical Dry Forests
Authors: Santillán-Carvantes Patricia , Balvanera Patricia , Thomsen Simon , Mora Francisco , Pérez-Cárdenas Nathalia , Cohen-Salgado Daniel , Ramírez-Ramírez Rubén , Gavito Mayra E. , Martín-López Berta
Published: July 2023

Context

Understanding the complex interdependencies between nature and people is a major challenge for the sustainable management of social-ecological systems. Spatially explicit identification of these interdependencies is particularly relevant for managing biodiversity hotspots, such as Tropical Dry Forests (TDF).

Objectives

We provided a methodology to spatially identify the components of social-ecological systems that have been shaped by both environmental conditions and management practices at three relevant decision-making scales: plots owned by individuals, plot owners, and governance units. To do so, we identified and characterized: (1) ecological clusters (EC), (2) social-management clusters (SC), and (3) social-ecological systems units (SESU) in a TDF in western Mexico.

Methods

We used multivariate analysis to identify and characterize the ECs, SCs, and SESU at the respective decision-making scales.

Results

We found four EC, SC, and SESU clusters. Differences between ECs were based on their elevation and land cover type. The SC differed according to the management intensity of cattle and forests. Differences between SESU were based on land management regime (individual vs collective), plot sizes, and time under private schemes.

Conclusions

Our findings suggested that decision-makers (ejidatarios) are bounded by the topographical characteristics and the public policies that determine communal (or private) governance, also by the number of resources available to them. The methodology can be applied to other contexts and nested decision-making scales. The spatial identification of these interdependencies is critical for landscape planning since it can contribute to reconciling productive activities and biodiversity conservation.
Aircraft segmentation in remote sensing images based on multi-scale residual U-Net with attention
Authors: Wang Xuqi , Zhang Shanwen , Huang Lei
Published: July 2023

Aircraft segmentation in remote sensing images (RSIs) is an important but challenging problem for both civil and military applications. U-Net and its variants are widely used in RSI detection, but they are not suitable for multi-scale aircraft segmentation in RSIs, due to the aircrafts in RSIs are relatively small with various orientations, different sizes, fuzzy illumination and shadow, obscure boundary and irregular background. To overcome this problem, a multi-scale residual U-Net with attention (MSRAU-Net) model is constructed for multi-scale aircraft segmentation in RSIs. A multi-scale convolutional module, two modified Respaths and two kinds of attention modules are designed and introduced into MSRAU-Net to extract the multi-scale feature and make the feature fusion between the contraction path and the expansion path more efficient. Different from U-Net, MSRAU-Net replaces the convolutional block of U-Net with the Inception residual block to help the U-Net architecture coordinate the features learned from aircrafts with different scales, and the residual module and attention module are introduced into the modified Respath to deepen the network layers and solve the gradient disappearing problem while extracting the more effective feature from RSIs. The experiments on the RSI dataset validate that MSRAU-Net outperforms the other networks, in particular for detecting the small aircrafts. Compared with attention U-Net and MultiMixUNet, the precision of MSRAU-Net is improved by 9.25 and 3.36, respectively.
On risk and market sentiments driving financial share price dynamics
Authors: Lampart Marek , Lampartová Alžběta , Orlando Giuseppe
Published: July 2023

The goal is to investigate the dynamics of banks’ share prices and related financials that lead to potential disruptions to credit and the economy. We adopt a classic macroeconomic equilibrium model with households, banks, and non-financial companies and explain both market valuations and endogenous debt constraints in terms of risk. Heterogeneous market dynamics ranging from equilibrium to cycles and chaos are illustrated. Deposits and equity are proven to be management levers for chaos control/anticontrol, and the only feasible equilibrium is unstable. Finally, using real-world data, a test is conducted on the suggested model proving that our framework conforms well to reality.
Low-Temperature Plasma Oxidation of Aluminum by Ar-O2 Mixtures in a Dielectric-Barrier Discharge Reactor
Authors: Klages Claus-Peter , Jung Antje , Betz Meret Leonie , Raev Vitaly
Published: July 2023

Room-temperature growth of oxide layers on aluminum in highly diluted mixtures of oxygen with argon (O2 molar fractions 20 ppm ≤ $$x_{O_2}$$

x

O
2

  ≤ 500 ppm, partial pressures 2 Pa ≤ $$p_{O_2}$$

p

O
2

 ≤ 50 Pa) flowing through a dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) reactor is studied, including oxidation in the pre- and post-discharge regions (PrD, PoD) adjacent to the main DBD. Three different mechanisms of plasma-enhanced oxidation were found to prevail, depending on the location of the sample: (1) In the close PrD region, up to 1 cm upstream from the discharge, accelerated growth of Al2O3 is due to the irradiation of the sample surface by highly energetic (9.8 eV) argon excimer radiation in the presence of O2. (2) In the remote PoD, a few cm downstream from the DBD, oxidation can largely be attributed to oxygen atoms, with number densities typically between 1 and 5 × 1014 cm−3. Here, analysis in terms of Cabrera–Mott (CM) theory results in CM potentials between − 1.5 and − 2.1 V. (3) In the DBD itself both O atoms and VUV photons generally play an important role but, under special conditions, an additional oxidation mode can be identified, characterized by a much larger limiting thickness: While, in general, oxide growth by O atoms and/or VUV photons virtually stops at thicknesses X between 5 and 6 nm, much thicker oxide films can be achieved in the downstream region of the main DBD, with thicknesses growing with the length of the DBD zone. Tentatively, we attribute this observation to negative oxygen ions Om− (1 ≤ m ≤ 3) accumulating in the gas while passing the reactor. Any direct electrical effects of the discharge process on the oxidation can probably be neglected.
Investigating physicians’ views on non-formulary prescribing: a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework
Authors: Nazar Zachariah , Al Hail Moza , Al-Shaibi Samaher , Hussain Tarteel Ali , Abdelkader Nada Nabil , Pallivalapila Abdulrouf , Thomas Binny , Kassem Wessam El , Hanssens Yolande , Mahfouz Ahmed , Ryan Cristin , Stewart Derek
Published: July 2023

Background

Well-designed and well-maintained drug formularies serve as a reliable resource to guide prescribing decisions; they are associated with improved medicine safety and increased efficiency, while also serving as a cost-effective tool to help manage and predict medicine expenditure. Multiple studies have investigated the inappropriate prescribing of non-formulary drugs (NFDs) with statistics indicating that up to 70% of NFD usage being inappropriate or not following the ascribed NFD policies.

Aim

To explore physicians’ views and influences on their prescribing of non-formulary drugs.

Method

Data collection and analysis were underpinned using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted within Hamad Medical Corporation, the main provider of secondary and tertiary healthcare in Qatar, with physicians who had submitted a NFD request in the preceding 12 months.

Results

Three overarching themes were identified: providing evidence-based care for individual patients; influences of others; and formulary management issues. Subthemes were mapped to specific TDF domains: environmental context and resources; social influences; professional role and identity; beliefs about consequences; goals; intentions.

Conclusion

The behavioral influences identified in this study can be mapped to behavior change strategies facilitating the development of an intervention to promote appropriate prescribing of NFDs with implications for medicine safety and healthcare efficiency.