bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Satisficing Theory of Epistemic Justification
Authors: Pils Raimund
Published: November 2022

There is now a significant body of literature on consequentialist ethics that propose satisficing instead of maximizing accounts. Even though epistemology recently witnessed a widespread discussion of teleological and consequentialist theories, a satisficing account is surprisingly not developed yet. The aim of this paper is to do just that. The rough idea is that epistemic rules are justified if and only if they satisfice the epistemic good, i.e., reach some threshold of epistemic value (which varies with practical context), and believing is justified if and only if it follows said rules.

I argue that this alternative to the implicitly established way of thinking in maximizing terms has significant advantages. First, maximizing epistemic value can be unreasonably demanding; second, a satisficing theory can make finding reasonable rules for belief formation and sustenance much more accessible; and third, a satisficing approach is a better alternative to both general subjectivist and maximizing objectivist attempts to spell out epistemic blame.
Ethnocentrism and Coloniality in Latin American Feminisms: The Complicity and Consolidation of Hegemonic Feminists in Transnational Spaces
Authors: Espinosa Miñoso Yuderkys , Castillo Espinosa Lia
Published: November 2022

This article applies the theses of Chandra Mohanty and Gayatri Spivak to Latin America in order to advance criticisms of discursive colonization by Western feminisms. It also provides an analysis “from within” to observe the coloniality of feminism in Latin America, denouncing its white-bourgeois origin and its collaboration with hegemonic Northern feminisms. It seeks to show how, since the 1990s, hegemonic feminism in Latin America has been complicit in projects of recolonization of the subcontinent by the central countries in the production of a subaltern subject, “the female other of the female other.”
A pairwise hydrodynamic theory for flow-induced particle transport in shear and pressure-driven flows
Authors: Reboucas Rodrigo B. , Zinchenko Alexander Z. , Loewenberg Michael
Published: November 2022

An exact pairwise hydrodynamic theory is developed for the flow-induced spatial distribution of particles in dilute polydisperse suspensions undergoing two-dimensional unidirectional flows, including shear and planar Poiseuille flows. Coupled diffusive fluxes and a drift velocity are extracted from a Boltzmann-like master equation. A boundary layer is predicted in regions where the shear rate vanishes with thickness set by the radii of the upstream collision cross-sections for pair interactions. An analysis of this region yields linearly vanishing drift velocities and non-vanishing diffusivities where the shear rate vanishes, thus circumventing the source of the singular particle distribution predicted by the usual models. Outside of the boundary layer, a power-law particle distribution is predicted with exponent equal to minus half the exponent of the local shear rate. Trajectories for particles with symmetry-breaking contact interactions (e.g. rough particles, permeable particles, emulsion drops) are analytically integrated to yield particle displacements given by quadratures of hard-sphere (or spherical drop) mobility functions. Using this analysis, stationary particle distributions are obtained for suspensions in Poiseuille flow. The scale for the particle distribution in monodisperse suspensions is set by the collision cross-section of the particles but its shape is almost universal. Results for polydisperse suspensions show size segregation in the central boundary layer with enrichment of smaller particles. Particle densities at the centreline scale approximately with the inverse square root of particle size. A superposition approximation reliably predicts the exact results over a broad range of parameters. The predictions agree with experiments in suspensions up to approximately 20 % volume fraction without fitting parameters.
Transcending the Gender Binary under International Law: Advancing Health-Related Human Rights for Trans* Populations
Authors: O’Connor Aoife M. , Seunik Maximillian , Radi Blas , Matthyse Liberty , Gable Lance , Huffstetler Hanna E. , Meier Benjamin Mason
Published: November 2022

Despite a recent wave in global recognition of the rights of transgender and gender-diverse populations, referred to in this text by the umbrella label of trans*, international law continues to presume a cisgender binary definition of gender — dismissing the lived realities of trans* individuals throughout the world. This gap in international legal recognition and protection has fundamental implications for health, where trans* persons have been and continue to be subjected to widespread discrimination in health care, longstanding neglect of health needs, and significant violations of bodily autonomy.
Transporting the Burden of Justification: The Unethicality of Transgender Conversion Practices
Authors: Ashley Florence
Published: November 2022

Transgender conversion practices involve attempts to alter, discourage, or suppress a person’s gender identity and/or desired gender presentation, including by delaying or preventing gender transition. Proponents of the practices have argued that they should be allowed until proven to be harmful. Drawing on the notion of expressive equality, I argue that conversion practices are prima facie unethical because they do not fulfill a legitimate clinical purpose and conflict with the self-understanding of trans communities.
Uneven Reproductive Landscapes: The Abortion Documentary in Latin America
Authors: Garibotto Verónica
Published: November 2022

This essay reviews the following films:

Aborto en Colombia / Abortion in Colombia. Dir. Nicolás Cuenca Rodríguez and Ángela Amaya Aguirre. Prod. Nicolás Cuenca Rodríguez and Ángela Amaya Aguirre. Colombia, 2021,16 min. Film is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahjO46Hwokw.

Fly so Far. Dir. Celina Escher. Prod. Women Make Movies and Prämfilm. El Salvador and Sweden, 2021, 88 min. Film is available on Vimeo and DVD.

Las Libres: La historia después de … / Las Libres: The Story Continues. Dir. Gustavo Montaña in collaboration with Centro Las Libres. Prod. At Dusk Media. Mexico, 2014, 94 min. Film is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpW7KJblkbc.

Que sea ley / Let It Be Law. Dir. Juan Solanas. Prod. Cinesur, Les Films du Sud, and Gameland. Argentina, France, and Uruguay, 2019, 86 min.
Determining the markers of a preference for imaginary worlds fiction calls for comparisons across kinds of fiction readers and forms of exploration
Authors: Winner Ellen
Published: November 2022

The authors do not compare readers who prefer imaginary world fiction to readers with other reading preferences, failing to rule out the hypothesis that their findings apply to all readers. The authors also do not test their hypotheses against plausible alternative ones, several of which are suggested here.
Influences on the development of imaginary worlds
Authors: Wolf Mark J. P.
Published: November 2022

Dubourg and Baumard's paper takes a different, and fruitful, approach to the study of imaginary worlds than what is usually found in Media Studies, but omits certain circumstances and influences that shaped their history; this article argues that psychological or behavioral factors are not enough to explain the growth of imaginary worlds, even as they may be important influences.
It's not fiction if you believe it: How imaginary worlds are derived from imaginary realities
Authors: Arnett Jeffrey Jensen
Published: November 2022

Imaginary worlds are not a consequence of humans' exploratory tendencies as argued in the target article but a recent spinoff of a strong human tendency to create imaginary realities, that is, versions of how the world works that are fabricated (although we believe they are real) in order to allow us to believe we understand it and can control it.
Socioecology and fiction
Authors: Buttrick Nicholas , Oishi Shigehiro
Published: November 2022

We argue that the generation and enjoyment of imaginary worlds do not necessarily rely on an evolved preference for exploration. Rather, we suggest that culture is shaped by socioecological facts on the ground, and we hypothesize about the role of residential mobility, specifically, as an important factor in the popularity of imagined spaces.
All non-real worlds provide exploration: Evidence from developmental psychology
Authors: Norman Katherine E. , Goldstein Thalia R.
Published: November 2022

While Dubourg and Baumard argue that predisposition toward exploration draws us to fictional environments, they fail to answer their titular question: “Why Imaginary Worlds?” Research in pretend play, psychological distancing, and theatre shows that being “imaginary” (i.e., any type of unreal, rather than only fantastically unreal) makes exploration of any fictional world profoundly different than that of real-life unfamiliar environments.
The familiar appeal of imaginary worlds
Authors: Shtulman Andrew
Published: November 2022

Imaginary worlds may satisfy our need to explore, but it's an open question what we are searching for. Research on imagination suggests that if we are searching for something extraordinary – something that violates our intuitions about real-world causality – then we seek it in small doses and in contexts that ultimately confirm our intuitions. Imaginary worlds allow for true novelty, but we may actually prefer ideas that are novel on their surface but familiar at their core.
Imaginary worlds are attractive because they simulate multiple adaptive problems and encode real-world information
Authors: Sugiyama Lawrence
Published: November 2022

Organisms don't explore for exploration's sake: exploratory psychology is regulated by inputs from multiple adaptations dedicated to processing information from different domains of ancestral adaptive relevance. As holistic representations of environments, imaginary worlds simulate multiple adaptive problems, solutions, and outcomes, thereby engaging numerous emotional systems and providing potentially useful information. Their popularity is thus best understood in terms of the full spectrum of information domains they comprise.
One Health Requires a Theory of Agency
Authors: Capps Benjamin
Published: November 2022

One health suggests that human and animal health are comparable, but in practice, the concept aligns with the principles of public health ethics. One health ethics, as such, appears to eschew connotations of equality for the natural world. A theory of agency revises that anthropocentric assumption. This article begins with a critique of environmental dualism: the idea that human culture and nature are separate social realms, thus justifying public health as a (unifying) purpose. In response, this article argues that, first, a neuroethics of one health might equally regard humans and (some) animals, which have comparable mental states, as rational agents. Second, rational agency should ground our moral connections to nature in terms of the egalitarian interests we have (as coinhabitants) in the health of the planet. While this article makes a moderate case for interspecific rights (as the first argument asserts), neuroscience is unlikely for now to change how most public institutions regard nonhuman animals in practice. However, the second argument asserts that rational agency is also grounds for philosophical environmentalism. One health ethics, therefore, is a theory of equality and connects culture to nature, and, as such, is a separate, but coextensive approach to that of public health.
Biomarkers in Psychiatric Disorders
Authors: Glannon Walter
Published: November 2022

Central and peripheral biomarkers can be used to diagnose, treat, and potentially prevent major psychiatric disorders. But there is uncertainty about the role of these biological signatures in neural pathophysiology, and their clinical significance has yet to be firmly established. Psychomotor, cognitive, affective, and volitional impairment in these disorders results from the interaction between neural, immune, endocrine, and enteric systems, which in turn are influenced by a person’s interaction with the environment. Biomarkers may be a critical component of this process. The identification and interpretation of biomarkers also raise ethical and social questions. This article analyzes and discusses these aspects of biomarkers and how advances in biomarker research could contribute to personalized psychiatry that could prevent or mitigate the effects of these disorders.
Association between vaccination and preventive routines on COVID-19-related mortality in nursing home facilities: a population-based systematic retrospective chart review
Authors: Nilsson Lena , Andersson Christer , Kastbom Lisa , Sjödahl Rune
Published: November 2022

Background:

Older and frail individuals are at high risk of dying from COVID-19, and residents in nursing homes (NHs) are overrepresented in death rates. We explored four different periods during the COVID-19 pandemic to analyze the effects of improved preventive routines and vaccinations, respectively, on mortality in NHs.

Methods:

We undertook a population-based systematic retrospective chart review comprising 136 NH facilities in southeast Sweden. All residents, among these facilities, who died within 30 days after a laboratory-verified COVID-19 diagnosis during four separate 92-day periods representing early pandemic (second quarter 2020), middle of the pandemic (fourth quarter 2020), early post-vaccination phase (first quarter 2021), and the following post-vaccination phase (second quarter 2021). Mortality together with electronic chart data on demographic variables, comorbidity, frailty, and cause of death was collected.

Results:

The number of deaths during the four periods was 104, 120, 34 and 4, respectively, with a significant reduction in the two post-vaccination periods (P < 0.001). COVID-19 was assessed as the dominant cause of death in 20 (19%), 19 (16%), 4 (12%) and 1 (3%) residents in each period (P < 0.01). The respective median age in the four studied periods varied between 87and 89 years, and three or more diagnoses besides COVID-19 were present in 70–90% of the respective periods’ study population. Considerable or severe frailty was found in all residents.

Conclusions:

Vaccination against COVID-19 seems associated with a reduced number of deaths in NHs. We could not demonstrate an effect on mortality merely from the protective routines that were undertaken.
The World’s Roots Are Getting Shallower
Authors: Dzombak Rebecca
Published: November 2022

Root-filled soils are hot spots of nutrient cycling and carbon storage. New research finds that the world has lost millions of cubic meters of rooted soil volume—and we’re on track to lose much more.
Organic Carbon Burial With Reactive Iron Across Global Environments
Authors: Longman Jack , Faust Johan C. , Bryce Casey , Homoky William B. , März Christian
Published: November 2022

Preservation of organic carbon (OC) in marine and terrestrial deposits is enhanced by bonding with reactive iron (FeR). Association of OC with FeR (OC‐FeR) provides physical protection and hinders microbiological degradation. Roughly 20% of all OC stored in unconsolidated marine sediments and 40% of all OC present in Quaternary terrestrial deposits is preserved as OC‐FeR, but this value varies from 10% to 80% across global depositional environments. Here, we provide a new assessment of global OC‐FeR burial rates in both marine and terrestrial environments, using published estimates of OC associated with FeR, carbon burial, and probabilistic modeling. We estimate the marine OC‐FeR sink between 31 and 70 Mt C yr−1 (average 52 Mt C yr−1), and the terrestrial OC‐FeR sink at between 146 and 917 Mt C yr−1 (average 446 Mt C yr−1). In marine environments, continental shelves (average 17 Mt C yr−1) and deltaic/estuarine environments (average 11 Mg C yr−1) are the primary settings of OC‐FeR burial. On land, croplands (279 Mt C yr−1) and grasslands (121 Mt C yr−1) dominate the OC‐FeR burial budget. Changes in the Earth system through geological time impact the OC‐FeR pools, particularly in marine settings. For example, periods of intense explosive volcanism may lead to increased net OC‐FeR burial in marine sediments. Our work highlights the importance of OC‐FeR in marine carbon burial and demonstrates how OC‐FeR burial rates may be an order of magnitude greater in terrestrial environments, but here OC‐FeR stocks are most sensitive to the anthropogenic impacts of climatic change.
Novel non-stimulants rescue hyperactive phenotype in an adgrl3.1 mutant zebrafish model of ADHD
Authors: Sveinsdóttir Hildur Sóley , Christensen Christian , Þorsteinsson Haraldur , Lavalou Perrine , Parker Matthew O. , Shkumatava Alena , Norton William H. J. , Andriambeloson Emile , Wagner Stéphanie , Karlsson Karl Ægir
Published: November 2022

ADHD is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. The first-line therapeutic for ADHD, methylphenidate, can cause serious side effects including weight loss, insomnia, and hypertension. Therefore, the development of non-stimulant-based therapeutics has been prioritized. However, many of these also cause other effects, most notably somnolence. Here, we have used a uniquely powerful genetic model and unbiased drug screen to identify novel ADHD non-stimulant therapeutics. We first found thatadgrl3.1null (adgrl3.1−/−) zebrafish larvae showed a robust hyperactive phenotype. Although the hyperactivity was rescued by three ADHD non-stimulant therapeutics, all interfered significantly with sleep. Second, we used wild-type zebrafish larvae to characterize a simple behavioral phenotype generated by atomoxetine and screened the 1200 compound Prestwick Chemical Library® for a matching behavioral profile resulting in 67 hits. These hits were re-assayed in theadgrl3.1−/−. Using the previously identified non-stimulants as a positive control, we identified four compounds that matched the effect of atomoxetine: aceclofenac, amlodipine, doxazosin, and moxonidine. We additionally demonstrated cognitive effects of moxonidine in mice using a T-maze spontaneous alternation task. Moxonidine, has high affinity for imidazoline 1 receptors. We, therefore, assayed a pure imidazoline 1 agonist, LNP599, which generated an effect closely matching other non-stimulant ADHD therapeutics suggesting a role for this receptor system in ADHD. In summary, we introduce a genetic model of ADHD in zebrafish and identify five putative therapeutics. The findings offer a novel tool for understanding the neural circuits of ADHD, suggest a novel mechanism for its etiology, and identify novel therapeutics.
Towards overcoming data scarcity in materials science: unifying models and datasets with a mixture of experts framework
Authors: Chang Rees , Wang Yu-Xiong , Ertekin Elif
Published: November 2022

While machine learning has emerged in recent years as a useful tool for the rapid prediction of materials properties, generating sufficient data to reliably train models without overfitting is often impractical. Towards overcoming this limitation, we present a general framework for leveraging complementary information across different models and datasets for accurate prediction of data-scarce materials properties. Our approach, based on a machine learning paradigm called mixture of experts, outperforms pairwise transfer learning on 14 of 19 materials property regression tasks, performing comparably on four of the remaining five. The approach is interpretable, model-agnostic, and scalable to combining an arbitrary number of pre-trained models and datasets to any downstream property prediction task. We anticipate the performance of our framework will further improve as better model architectures, new pre-training tasks, and larger materials datasets are developed by the community.
Long-range current-induced spin accumulation in chiral crystals
Authors: Roy Arunesh , Cerasoli Frank T. , Jayaraj Anooja , Tenzin Karma , Nardelli Marco Buongiorno , Sławińska Jagoda
Published: November 2022

Chiral materials, similarly to human hands, have distinguishable right-handed and left-handed enantiomers which may behave differently in response to external stimuli. Here, we use for the first time an approach based on the density functional theory (DFT)+PAOFLOW calculations to quantitatively estimate the so-called collinear Rashba–Edelstein effect (REE) that generates spin accumulation parallel to charge current and can manifest as chirality-dependent charge-to-spin conversion in chiral crystals. Importantly, we reveal that the spin accumulation induced in the bulk by an electric current is intrinsically protected by the quasi-persistent spin helix arising from the crystal symmetries present in chiral systems with the Weyl spin–orbit coupling. In contrast to conventional REE, spin transport can be preserved over large distances, in agreement with the recent observations for some chiral materials. This allows, for example, the generation of spin currents from spin accumulation, opening novel routes for the design of solid-state spintronics devices.
Multidimensional Bose quantum error correction based on neural network decoder
Authors: Wang Haowen , Xue Yunjia , Qu Yingjie , Mu Xiaoyi , Ma Hongyang
Published: November 2022

Boson quantum error correction is an important means to realize quantum error correction information processing. In this paper, we consider the connection of a single-mode Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code with a two-dimensional (2D) surface (surface-GKP code) on a triangular quadrilateral lattice. On the one hand, we use a Steane-type scheme with maximum likelihood estimation for surface-GKP code error correction. On the other hand, the minimum-weight perfect matching (MWPM) algorithm is used to decode surface-GKP codes. In the case where only the data GKP qubits are noisy, the threshold reaches σ ≈ 0.5 ($$\bar{p}\approx 12.3 \%$$

p

¯

≈
12.3
%

). If the measurement is also noisy, the threshold is reached σ ≈ 0.25 ($$\bar{p}\approx 10.02 \%$$

p

¯

≈
10.02
%

). More importantly, we introduce a neural network decoder. When the measurements in GKP error correction are noise-free, the threshold reaches σ ≈ 0.78 ($$\bar{p}\approx 15.12 \%$$

p

¯

≈
15.12
%

). The threshold reaches σ ≈ 0.34 ($$\bar{p}\approx 11.37 \%$$

p

¯

≈
11.37
%

) when all measurements are noisy. Through the above optimization method, multi-party quantum error correction will achieve a better guarantee effect in fault-tolerant quantum computing.
High-resolution estimates of social distancing feasibility, mapped for urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Chamberlain Heather R. , Lazar Attila N. , Tatem Andrew J.
Published: November 2022

Social distancing has been widely-implemented as a public health measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite widespread application of social distancing guidance, the feasibility of people adhering to such guidance varies in different settings, influenced by population density, the built environment and a range of socio-economic factors. Social distancing constraints however have only been identified and mapped for limited areas. Here, we present an ease of social distancing index, integrating metrics on urban form and population density derived from new multi-country building footprint datasets and gridded population estimates. The index dataset provides estimates of social distancing feasibility, mapped at high-resolution for urban areas across 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
A probability prediction method for the classification of surrounding rock quality of tunnels with incomplete data using Bayesian networks
Authors: Ma Junjie , Li Tianbin , Li Xiang , Zhou Shuanglong , Ma Chunchi , Wei Daqiang , Dai Kunkun
Published: November 2022

The classification of surrounding rock quality is critical for the dynamic construction and design of tunnels. However, obtaining complete parameters for predicting the surrounding rock grades is always challenging in complex tunnel geological environment. In this study, a new method based on Bayesian networks is proposed to predict the probability for the classification of surrounding rock quality of tunnel with incomplete data. A database is collected with 286 cases in 10 tunnels, involving nine parameters: rock hardness, weathering degree, rock mass integrity, rock mass structure, structural plane integrity, in-situ stress, groundwater, rock basic quality, and surrounding rock level. Moreover, the Bayesian network structure is built using the collected database and quantitatively verified by strength analysis. Then, the accuracy, precision, recall, F-measure and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are utilized for model evaluation. The average values of accuracy, precision, recall, F-measure, and area under the curve (AUC) are approximately 89.2%, 91%, 92%, 91%, and 0.98, respectively. These results indicate that the established classification model has high accuracy, even with small sample size and imbalanced samples. Ten additional sets of tunnel cases (incomplete data) are also used for verification. The results reveal that compared with the traditional Q-system (Q) and rock mass rating (RMR) classification methods, the proposed classification model has the lowest error rate and is capable of using incomplete data to predict sample results. Finally, sensitivity analysis suggests that the rock hardness and rock mass integrity have the strongest impact on the quality of tunnel surrounding rock. Overall, the findings of this study can serve as a useful reference for future rock mass quality evaluation in tunnels, underground powerhouses, slopes, etc.
Co-aggregation of MSC/chondrocyte in a dynamic 3D culture elevates the therapeutic effect of secreted extracellular vesicles on osteoarthritis in a rat model
Authors: Esmaeili Abazar , Hosseini Samaneh , Kamali Amir , Hosseinzadeh Maryam , Shekari Faezeh , Baghaban Eslaminejad Mohamadreza
Published: November 2022

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have therapeutic effects on osteoarthritis (OA). Some recent strategies could elevate EV's therapeutic properties including cell aggregation, co-culture, and 3D culture. It seems that a combination of these strategies could augment EV production and therapeutic potential. The current study aims to evaluate the quantity of EV yield and the therapeutic effect of EVs harvested from rabbit mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) aggregates, chondrocyte aggregates, and their co-aggregates in a dynamic 3D culture in a rat osteoarthritis model. MSC and chondrocytes were aggregated and co-aggregated by spinner flasks, and their conditioned medium was collected. EVs were isolated by size exclusion chromatography and characterized in terms of size, morphology and surface markers. The chondrogenic potential of the MSC-ag, Cho-ag and Co-ag EVs on MSC micromass differentiation in chondrogenic media were assessed by qRT-PCR, histological and immunohistochemical analysis. 50 μg of MSC-ag-EVs, Cho-ag-EVs and Co-ag-EVs was injected intra-articularly per knee of OA models established by monoiodoacetate in rats. After 8 weeks follow up, the knee joints were harvested and analyzed by radiographic, histological and immunohistochemical features. MSC/chondrocyte co-aggregation in comparison to MSC or chondrocyte aggregation could increase EV yield during dynamic 3D culture by spinner flasks. Although MSC-ag-, Cho-ag- and Co-ag-derived EVs could induce chondrogenesis similar to transforming growth factor-beta during in vitro study, Co-ag-EV could more effectively prevent OA progression than MSC-ag- and Cho-ag-EVs. Our study demonstrated that EVs harvested from the co-aggregation of MSCs and chondrocytes could be considered as a new therapeutic potential for OA treatment.
Partisanship and Covid-19 vaccination in the UK
Authors: Klymak Margaryta , Vlandas Tim
Published: November 2022

This article examines the association between partisanship and vaccination in the UK. The lower vaccination rates among Republicans in the US have been linked to ideology and President Trump’s anti-vaccination rhetoric. By contrast, both ruling and opposition parties in the UK promoted the national vaccination program. Using two datasets at constituency and individual levels, we analyse whether there are partisan differences in uptake when vaccination garners cross-party support. Our findings contrast in important ways from the US case. First, the correlation between partisanship and vaccination is the opposite to that of the US: both Conservative constituencies and individuals are associated with higher vaccination rates than Labour across almost all age groups. Thus, right-leaning individuals do not necessarily vaccinate less, at least when their political party is in power and supportive of vaccination. Second, partisanship alone accounts for a large share of variation in vaccination rates, but this association appears largely driven by socio-economic and demographic differences: older and economically better off individuals and constituencies tend to be more vaccinated. Once these controls are included, the correlation between Conservative partisanship and vaccination shrinks substantially. Hence, the ideological source of the partisan gap in vaccination rates appears smaller than in the US.
Neuromuscular mechanisms of motor adaptation to repeated gait-slip perturbations in older adults
Authors: Wang Shuaijie , Pai Yi-Chung , Bhatt Tanvi
Published: November 2022

Individuals can rapidly develop adaptive skills for fall prevention after their exposure to the repeated-slip paradigm. However, the changes in neuromuscular control contributing to such motor adaptation remain unclear. This study investigated changes in neuromuscular control across different stages of slip-adaptation by examining muscle synergies during slip training. Electromyography signals during 24 repeated slip trials in gait were collected for 30 healthy older adults. Muscle synergies in no-adaptation (novel slip), early-adaptation (slip 6 to 8), and late-adaptation trials (slip 22 to 24) were extracted. The similarity between the recruited muscle synergies in these different phases was subsequently analyzed. Results showed that participants made significant improvements in their balance outcomes from novel slips to adapted slips. Correspondingly, there was a significant increase in the muscle synergy numbers from no-adaptation slips to the adapted slips. The participants retained the majority of muscle synergies (5 out of 7) used in novel slips post adaptation. A few new patterns (n = 8) of muscle synergies presented in the early-adaptation stage to compensate for motor errors due to external perturbation. In the late-adaptation stage, only 2 out of these 8 new synergies were retained. Our findings indicated that the central nervous system could generate new muscle synergies through fractionating or modifying the pre-existing synergies in the early-adaptation phase, and these synergies produce motor strategies that could effectively assist in recovery from the slip perturbation. During the late-adaptation phase, the redundant synergies generated in the early-adaptation phase get eliminated as the adaptation process progresses with repeated exposure to the slips, which further consolidates the slip adaptation. Our findings improved the understanding of the key muscle synergies involved in preventing backward balance loss and how neuromuscular responses adapt through repeated slip training, which might be helpful to design synergy-based interventions for fall prevention.
Exploiting deterministic features in apparently stochastic data
Authors: Stoop Ruedi , Orlando Giuseppe , Bufalo Michele , Della Rossa Fabio
Published: November 2022

Many processes in nature are the result of many coupled individual subsystems (like population dynamics or neurosystems). Not always such systems exhibit simple stable behaviors that in the past science has mostly focused on. Often, these systems are characterized by bursts of seemingly stochastic activity, interrupted by quieter periods. The hypothesis is that the presence of a strong deterministic ingredient is often obscured by the stochastic features. We test this by modeling classically stochastic considered real-world data from both, the stochastic as well as the deterministic approaches to find that the deterministic approach’s results level with those from the stochastic side. Moreover, the deterministic approach is shown to reveal the full dynamical systems landscape, which can be exploited for steering the dynamics into a desired regime.
Fall classification, incidence and circumstances in patients undergoing total knee replacement
Authors: Blasco José-María , Pérez-Maletzki José , Díaz-Díaz Beatriz , Silvestre-Muñoz Antonio , Martínez-Garrido Ignacio , Roig-Casasús Sergio
Published: November 2022

The objective was to propose a fall-classification framework for patients undergoing total knee replacement (TKR). In addition, we reinforced the available evidence on fall incidence and circumstances and compared the characteristics of fallers versus. nonfallers. Retrospective and prospective data were collected from 253 subjects with severe knee osteoarthritis who were waiting for primary TKR. Falls were classified considering the location of the destabilizing force, source of destabilization and fall precipitating factor. Fall incidence and circumstances were described; the characteristics of fallers and nonfallers in terms of functional and balance performance were compared with F-tests (95% CI). The fall incidence before surgery was 40.3% (95% CI 34.2% to 46.6%). This figure decreased to 13.1% (95% CI 9.2% to 18.0%) and to 23.4% (95% CI 17.8% to 29.6%) at 6 and 12 months after surgery, respectively. Most falls were caused by destabilizations in the base of support (n = 102, 72%) and were due to extrinsic factors (n = 78, 76%) and trip patterns. Significant differences between fallers and nonfallers were found in knee extensor strength and monopodal stability in the surgical limb (p < 0.05). Falls are prevalent in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis. Symptoms and functional performance improve after surgery, and fall incidence is reduced. Most fall events originate from disruptions in the base of support and are precipitated by extrinsic factors, generally trips during walking activities.
Defensive functions and potential ecological conflicts of floral stickiness
Authors: Chautá Alexander , Kumar Arvind , Mejia Jesica , Stashenko Elena E. , Kessler André
Published: November 2022

Stickiness of vegetative tissues has evolved multiple times in different plant families but is rare and understudied in flowers. While stickiness in general is thought to function primarily as a defense against herbivores, it may compromise mutualistic interactions (such as those with pollinators) in reproductive tissues. Here, we test the hypothesis that stickiness on flower petals of the High-Andean plant, Bejaria resinosa (Ericaceae), functions as a defense against florivores. We address ecological consequences and discuss potential trade-offs associated with a repellant trait expressed in flowers that mediate mutualistic interactions. In surveys and manipulative experiments, we assess florivory and resulting fitness effects on plants with sticky and non-sticky flowers in different native populations of B. resinosa in Colombia. In addition, we analyze the volatile and non-volatile components in sticky and non-sticky flower morphs to understand the chemical information context within which stickiness is expressed. We demonstrate that fruit set is strongly affected by floral stickiness but also varies with population. While identifying floral stickiness as a major defensive function, our data also suggest that the context-dependency of chemical defense functionality likely arises from differential availability of primary pollinators and potential trade-offs between chemical defense with different modes of action.
Sportomics method to assess acute phase proteins in Olympic level athletes using dried blood spots and multiplex assay
Authors: Bassini Adriana , Sartoretto Silvia , Jurisica Lukas , Magno-França Alexandre , Anderson Leigh , Pearson Terry , Razavi Morty , Chandran Vinod , Martin LeRoy , Jurisica Igor , Cameron L. C.
Published: November 2022

Sportomics is a subject-centered holistic method similar to metabolomics focusing on sports as the metabolic challenge. Dried blood spot is emerging as a technique due to its simplicity and reproducibility. In addition, mass spectrometry and integrative computational biology enhance our ability to understand exercise-induced modifications. We studied inflammatory blood proteins (Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein—A1AG1; Albumin; Cystatin C; C-reactive protein—CRP; Hemoglobin—HBA; Haptoglobin—HPT; Insulin-like growth factor 1; Lipopolysaccharide binding protein—LBP; Mannose-binding lectin—MBL2; Myeloperoxidase—PERM and Serum amyloid A1—SAA1), in 687 samples from 97 World-class and Olympic athletes across 16 sports in nine states. Data were analyzed with Spearman's rank-order correlation. Major correlations with CRP, LBP; MBL2; A1AG1, and SAA1 were found. The pairs CRP-SAA1 and CRP-LBP appeared with a robust positive correlation. Other pairs, LBP-SAA1; A1AG1-CRP; A1AG1-SAA1; A1AG1-MBL, and A1AG1-LBP, showed a broader correlation across the sports. The protein–protein interaction map revealed 1500 interactions with 44 core proteins, 30 of them linked to immune system processing. We propose that the inflammation follow-up in exercise can provide knowledge for internal cargo management in training, competition, recovery, doping control, and a deeper understanding of health and disease.
Sunflower seeds classification based on sparse convolutional neural networks in multi-objective scene
Authors: Jin Xiaowei , Zhao Yuhong , Wu Hao , Sun Tingting
Published: November 2022

Generally, sunflower seeds are classified by machine vision-based methods in production, which include using photoelectric sensors to identify light-sensitive signals through traditional algorithms for which the equipment cost is relatively high and using neural network image recognition methods to identify images through cameras for which the computational cost is high. To address these problems, a multi-objective sunflower seed classification method based on sparse convolutional neural networks is proposed. Sunflower seeds were obtained from the video recorded using the YOLOv5 Object detection algorithm, and a ResNet-based classification model was used to classify the seeds according to differences in appearance. The ResNet has the disadvantages of having numerous parameters and high storage requirements; therefore, this study referred to the Lottery Ticket Hypothesis and used the Iterative Magnitude Pruning algorithm to compress the sunflower seed classification model, aiming to ascertain the optimal sparse sub-network from the classification model. Experiments were conducted to compare the effects on model performance before and after pruning, pruning degree, and different pruning methods. The results showed that the performance of the ResNet-based sunflower seed classification model using global pruning was the least affected by pruning, with a 92% reduction in the number of parameters, the best accuracy is 0.56% better than non-pruned and 9.17% better than layer-wise pruning. These findings demonstrate that using the Iterative Magnitude Pruning algorithm can render the sunflower seed classification model lightweight with less performance loss. The reduction in computational resources through model compression reduces the cost of sunflower seed classification, making it more applicable to practical production, and this model can be used as a cost-effective alternative to key sunflower seed classification techniques in practical production.
Estimating the social value of nature-based solutions in European cities
Authors: Bockarjova Marija , Botzen W. J. Wouter , Bulkeley Harriet A. , Toxopeus Helen
Published: November 2022

By implementing nature-based solutions (NBS), cities generate value for their residents, such as health and wellbeing. We estimate the aggregate social value to urban residents of 85 NBS projects implemented across Europe and find that the majority yield attractive social returns on investment. We offer a new metric to support investments for NBS by public and private actors for whom social value creation to residents is a core objective.
Survival fluctuation is linked to precipitation variation during staging in a migratory shorebird
Authors: Brlík Vojtěch , Pakanen Veli-Matti , Jaakkonen Tuomo , Arppe Heikki , Jokinen Jaakko , Lakka Johanna , Blomqvist Donald , Hahn Steffen , Valkama Jari , Koivula Kari
Published: November 2022

Understanding how weather conditions affect animal populations is essential to foresee population changes in times of global climate shifts. However, assessing year-round weather impacts on demographic parameters is hampered in migratory animals due to often unknown occurrence in space and time. We addressed this by coupling tracking and weather data to explain extensive variation in apparent survival across 19 years in a northern European population of little ringed plovers (Charadrius dubius). Over 90% (n = 21) of tracked individuals followed migration routes along the Indo-European flyway to south India. Building on capture–recapture histories of nearly 1400 individuals, we found that between-year variation in precipitation during post-breeding staging in northern South Asia explained 47% of variation in apparent adult survival. Overall, the intensity of the monsoon in South Asia explained 31–33% of variability in apparent survival. In contrast, weather conditions in breeding, final non-breeding and pre-breeding quarters appeared less important in this species. The integration of multi-source data seems essential for identifying key regions and periods limiting population growth, for forecasting future changes and targeting conservation efforts.
Pseudocirrhosis and portal hypertension in patients with metastatic cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Villani Rosanna , Di Cosimo Francesca , Sangineto Moris , Romano Antonino Davide , Serviddio Gaetano
Published: November 2022

Pseudocirrhosis is a clinical and radiological entity mimicking liver cirrhosis in patients without a history of chronic liver disease. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the current literature to evaluate the state-of-the-art and investigate the epidemiology and clinical features of pseudocirrhosis. We searched PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus for literature published until February 28, 2022. We included in the final analysis 62 articles (N = 389 patients): 51 case reports (N = 64 patients), 5 case series (N = 35 patients) and 6 observational studies (N = 290 patients). About 80% of patients included in the case reports and case series had breast cancer. Most patients had at least one clinical sign of portal hypertension and ascites was the most common clinical manifestation of portal hypertension. The median time from pseudocirrhosis to death was 2 months (IQR 1–7 months). Alkylating agents and antimitotics were the most common classes of anticancer drugs reported in our study population. Notably, about 70% of patients received three or more anticancer drugs. Finally, pseudocirrhosis is a condition that occurs in patients with hepatic metastases and may have a negative impact on survival and clinical management of patients because of the potential development of portal hypertension and its complications.
Modelling the impact of hailstones on flat steel roofing membranes for residential buildings
Authors: Uz Mehmet E.
Published: November 2022

Metal roof panels are commonly used on residential and commercial buildings. Steel panels exposed to hail have not yet been adequately tested for dent resistance. A finite element model (FEM) was used to analyze the entire test setup. To compare artificial hailstones with natural hailstones, which remained intact after impact, different steel sheets were struck by different sizes of artificial hailstones at different terminal velocities. The simulation and the material properties are assessed by comparing the experimental results with the FE model. An equation to predict the dent depth based on kinetic energy and stress is also presented. The results of this study provide a better understanding of the failure modes of hail and roof panels and their effects on dent resistance. In this study, the results of observations and numerical simulations agreed well with those of analytical models. The result is that the proposed equation overestimates the dent depths compared to the dent depths obtained with finite element models, while the equation leads to an underestimation of the dent depths found in the steel sheets.
Quantifying thermal cues that initiate mass emigrations in juvenile white sharks
Authors: Spurgeon Emily , Anderson James M. , Liu Yi , Barajas Vianey Leos , Lowe Christopher G.
Published: November 2022

While the function of migration varies among species, environmental temperature is known to be one of the most important abiotic variables that drive animal migration; however, quantifying the thresholds and timing of the cues that influence a mass emigration is difficult, often due to lack of monitoring resolution, particularly for large, highly mobile species. We used acoustic telemetry tracking and high-resolution water temperature data over a relatively large spatial scale (5.5 km2) to identify and quantify a thermal threshold for mass emigration of juvenile white sharks. Sixteen tagged sharks were observed to initiate a search for warmer water within 10–12 hours of an upwelling event where water temperatures dropped below 14 °C. Eleven sharks traveled ~ 35 km away where they experienced similar cold temperatures before returning to the aggregation site within 24 hours. Five days following the upwelling event, most sharks emigrated from the site for the season. Quantifying movement patterns across different spatial and temporal scales is necessary to understand cues and thresholds influencing animal migration, which may be greatly affected by climate anomalies and climate change, resulting in potential impacts on the dynamics of local prey species, management, and conservation policy and practice.