bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The outward shaker channel OsK5.2 improves plant salt tolerance by contributing to control of both leaf transpiration and K+ secretion into xylem sap
Authors: Zhou Jing , Nguyen Thanh‐Hao , Hmidi Dorsaf , Luu Doan‐Trung , Sentenac Hervé , Véry Anne‐Aliénor
Published: March 2022

Soil salinity constitutes a major environmental constraint to crop production worldwide. Leaf K+/Na+ homoeostasis, which involves regulation of transpiration, and thus of the xylem sap flow, and control of the ionic composition of the ascending sap, is a key determinant of plant salt tolerance. Here, we show, using a reverse genetics approach, that the outwardly rectifying K+‐selective channel OsK5.2, which is involved in both K+ release from guard cells for stomatal closure in leaves and K+ secretion into the xylem sap in roots, is a strong determinant of rice salt tolerance (plant biomass production and shoot phenotype under saline constraint). OsK5.2 expression was upregulated in shoots from the onset of the saline treatment, and OsK5.2 activity in guard cells led to a fast decrease in transpirational water flow and, therefore, reduced Na+ translocation to shoots. In roots, upon saline treatment, OsK5.2 activity in xylem sap K+ loading was maintained, and even transiently increased, outperforming the negative effect on K+ translocation to shoots resulting from the reduction in xylem sap flow. Thus, the overall activity of OsK5.2 in shoots and roots, which both reduces Na+ translocation to shoots and benefits shoot K+ nutrition, strongly contributes to leaf K+/Na+ homoeostasis.
Differences between pediatric and adult atopic dermatitis
Authors: Ramírez‐Marín Hassiel A. , Silverberg Jonathan I.
Published: March 2022

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common disease with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. AD can manifest differently in adults than children. Core AD features are similar between children and adults overall, including lesions affecting flexural areas, presence of atopy, and xerosis. Adults have more signs of chronic disease, higher prevalence and different patterns of hand eczema, and a stronger relationship of disease activity with emotional factors, whereas children with AD have more exudative lesions, perifollicular accentuation, pityriasis alba, Dennie–Morgan folds, and seborrheic dermatitis‐like presentation. These differences may be due in part to pathophysiologic differences in AD in children compared with adults. Atopic diseases commonly co‐occur with AD, although most do not temporally have the “atopic march.” Further research is warranted to better understand the differential roles of immune dysregulation, epidermal‐barrier disruption, and dysbiosis between children and adults and determine whether such differences translate into differences in therapeutic efficacy.
Clinicopathological analysis of follicular lymphoma with BCL2, BCL6, and MYC rearrangements
Authors: Ikoma Haruka , Miyaoka Masashi , Hiraiwa Shinichiro , Yukie Kikuti Yara , Shiraiwa Sawako , Hara Ryujiro , Kojima Minoru , Ohmachi Ken , Ando Kiyoshi , Carreras Joaquim , Nakamura Naoya
Published: March 2022

Most follicular lymphomas (FL) show t(14;18)/IGH‐BCL2 translocation, but rearrangement (R) negative cases exist. A series of 140 FL patients with a BCL2, BCL6, and MYC gene status examined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were classified into five groups: (a) BCL2‐R group (BCL2‐R/BCL6‐G/MYC‐G) (G, germline), 77 cases; (b) BCL2/BCL6 double‐R group (BCL2‐R/BCL6‐R/MYC‐G), 16 cases; (c) BCL6‐R group (BCL2‐G/BCL6‐R/MYC‐G), 16 cases; (d) MYC‐R group (BCL2‐R or G/BCL6‐R or G/MYC‐R), three cases; (e) Triple‐G group (BCL2‐G/BCL6‐G/MYC‐G), 28 cases. The BCL6‐R group had different clinicopathological characteristics. It showed lower rates of an advanced clinical stage and bone marrow invasion, less disease progression (p = 0.036), and a ‘trend’ toward a favorable progression‐free survival (PFS) (p = 0.06). It also showed higher rates of grade 3A and MUM1‐expression, and when analyzing the interfollicular spread pattern of CD20‐positive cells, had fewer cases showing the IF3+ pattern (high interfollicular spread). Moreover, cases with BCL6‐R and/or BCL6 gain (with cases of BCL2 rearrangement and/or of copy number gain excluded) correlated with favorable PFS (p = 0.014) and less IF3+ pattern (p = 0.007). We demonstrated that BCL6‐R FLs showed unique clinicopathological findings, and FISH of BCL2, BCL6, and MYC is useful for FL diagnosis and clinical management.
Individual differences in numerical representations of risk in health decision making: A fuzzy‐trace theory approach
Authors: Brust‐Renck Priscila G. , Reyna Valerie F.
Published: March 2022

Fuzzy‐trace theory predicts that decisionmakers process numerical information about risk at multiple levels in parallel: the simplest level, nominal (categorical some‐none) gist, and at more fine‐grained levels, involving relative comparison (ordinal less‐more gist) and exact quantities (verbatim representations). However, little is known about how individual differences in these numerical representations relate to judgments and decisions, especially involving health tradeoffs and relative risks. To investigate these differences, we administered measures of categorical and ordinal gist representations of number, objective numeracy, and intelligence in two studies (Ns = 978 and 956). In both studies, categorical and ordinal gist representations of number predicted risk judgments and decisions beyond objective numeracy and intelligence. Participants with higher scores in categorical gist were more likely to choose options to avoid cancer recurrence risks; those who were higher in ordinal gist of numbers were more likely to discriminate relative risk of skin cancer; and those with higher scores in objective numeracy were more likely to choose options that were numerically superior overall in terms of relative risk of skin cancer and of genetic risks of breast cancer (e.g., lower numerical probability of cancer). Results support parallel‐processing models that assume multiple representations of numerical information about risk, which vary in precision, and illustrate how individual differences in numerical representations are relevant to tradeoffs and risk comparisons in health decisions. These representations cannot be reduced to one another and explain psychological variations in risk processing that go beyond low versus high levels of objective numeracy.
Relationship between allergic transfusion reactions and allergic predisposition among pediatric patients with hematological/oncological disease
Authors: Yanagisawa Ryu , Ishimine Nau , Komori Kazutoshi , Kurata Takashi , Saito Shoji , Tanaka Miyuki , Sakashita Kazuo , Tozuka Minoru , Nakazawa Yozo
Published: March 2022

Background

Allergic transfusion reactions (ATRs) manifest frequently as transfusion reactions, and their onset may be related to a patient's allergic predisposition. Moreover, although pediatric patients with hematological/oncological disease are more susceptible to ATRs, the relationship between allergic predisposition and ATRs remains to be fully clarified.

Study Design and Methods

Patients who were diagnosed with pediatric hematological/oncological disease and received transfusion at the study institutions were included. We determined patient background information related to their allergy history, measured the levels of allergen‐specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) using sera obtained on diagnosis, and analyzed their associations with ATR onset.

Results

Of the 363 patients analyzed, 144 developed ATRs. Multivariate analysis identified cases with high basophils in the peripheral blood, and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus– and egg white–specific IgEs were involved in the development of ATR in all age groups. Meanwhile, a history of food allergies, and positivity for Japanese cypress‐ and D. pteronyssinus‐specific IgEs were risk factors for developing ATRs in the <5 years age group. Moreover, patients aged 5–<10 years with a history of asthma, allergic rhinitis, pollinosis, or atopic dermatitis, and those aged ≥10 years with positivity for dog dander‐specific IgE were at risk for developing ATRs.

Conclusion

The allergic constitution of patients plays a role in ATR onset even in pediatric hematological/oncological diseases. Therefore, advance confirmation of a patient's allergic constitution may partly predict the onset of ATRs. However, since multiple allergic predispositions within complex mechanisms may be involved in the onset of ATRs, further verification is required.
Implementation of an Africa‐specific donor health questionnaire for human immunodeficiency virus risk screening
Authors: Tagny Claude T. , Ikomey Georges , Ngo Sack Françoise , Achu Celestin , Ndemanou Matthias , Ninmou Catherine , Gesu Caroline , Essomba Gilbert , Fongue Simo Alexandra , Nguefack Tsague Georges , Mbanya Dora , Murphy Edward
Published: March 2022

Background and Objectives

We had previously developed an Africa‐specific donor health questionnaire (ASDHQ) based on local risk factors and designed a scoring scheme. This study assessed the performance of a new donor health questionnaire by comparing the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status in accepted versus deferred donors by ASDHQ and comparing the rate of risk deferrals with historical data.

Materials and Methods

Data were collected during a cross‐sectional study conducted over 15 months at three referral‐hospital‐based blood services in Cameroon. ASDHQ was administered to blood donors aged 18–65 years in the same screening conditions as the routine questionnaire. The main outcomes of the study were ASDHQ sensitivity and specificity with regard to HIV laboratory testing as well as donor deferral rates for each of the routine screening algorithms and for ASDHQ.

Results

Overall, 71/11,120 (0.6%) were confirmed as HIV positive. The mean ASDHQ score was 95.80 ± 4.4 in HIV‐negative donors and 94.80 ± 4.4 in HIV‐positive donors (p = 0.05). The optimal cut‐off provided by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the best performance of ASDHQ was 95.04. Using this optimal cut‐off, the ASDHQ sensitivity and specificity were 57% and 53%, respectively (area under curve = 0.58 [0.51, 0.64], p = 0.028). Using ASDHQ, the HIV prevalence was 0.7% in deferred donors and 0.6% in accepted donors.

Conclusion

ASDHQ might be efficient only in specific conditions that maximize truthful donor responses, requiring each blood service to create an environment of trust and transparency to increase donor compliance and improve the accuracy of the questionnaire.
El paisaje urbano como categoría para una valoración integradora del patrimonio residencial de la primera mitad del siglo XX en Bogotá
Authors: Tello Fernández María Isabel
Published: March 2022

El presente artículo expone los avances de la investigación desarrollada en el marco del proceso doctoral de la autora y presenta, de manera particular, los avances parciales que se alcanzaron en la construcción del problema. La investigación señala la preocupación por los procesos de desintegración urbana del patrimonio cultural inmueble, particularmente los denominados Sectores de Interés Cultural (SIC) de la ciudad de Bogotá, que tuvieron su origen como barrios residenciales en las décadas de los años treinta y cuarenta del siglo XX. Se expone, como la raíz del objeto problémico, que subyace en las aproximaciones conceptuales y las perspectivas de la valoración o axiología del patrimonio, la necesidad de indagar en las bases teóricas del conflicto, poniendo en el centro del debate la experiencia como fuente de acción axiológica, para el logro de un abordaje patrimonial desde la escala urbana.
Multilayer Conductive Metallization With Offset Vias Using Aerosol Jet Technology
Authors: Lall Pradeep , Goyal Kartik , Miller Scott
Published: March 2022

The transition of additive printed electronics into high-volume production requires process consistency to allow quality control of the manufactured product. Process recipes are needed for multilayer substrates with z-axis interconnects in order to enable complex systems. In this paper, process recipes have been developed through fundamental studies of the interactions between the process parameters and the mechanical–electrical performance achieved for multilayer substrates. The study reported in this paper focuses on printed vias also known as donut vias. Aerosol jet process parameters studied include carrier mass flow rate, sheath mass flow rate, exhaust mass flow rate, print speed, number of passes, sintering time and temperature, UV-intensity for UV-cure, and standoff height. The electrical performance has been quantified through the measurements of resistance. The mechanical performance has been quantified through measurement of shear load-to-failure. The effect of sequential build-up on the mechanical–electrical properties vs process parameters has been quantified for up to eight-layers designs. The performance of five-layer and eight-layer additively printed substrate designs and effect of multiple vias has been compared to assess process consistency.
Luc Montagnier (1932–2022)
Authors: Weiss Robin A. , Wain-Hobson Simon
Published: March 2022

Discoverer of the human immunodeficiency virus
In Science Journals
Authors: Smith H. Jesse , Zahn Laura M. , Suleymanov Yury , Lopez Bianca , Grocholski Brent , Stajic Jelena , Erkes Dan A. , Maroso Mattia , Alderton Gemma , Stern Peter , Kelly Priscilla N. , Smith Keith T. , Yeston Jake , Jiang Di , Funk Michael A. , Wong Wei
Published: March 2022

Highlights from the
Science
family of journals
Ukrainian researchers flee war trauma and terror
Authors: Stone Richard
Published: March 2022

Refugees find aid and jobs, but many remain to fight Russian invaders
Growth at U.S. science agencies curtailed in final budget deal
Authors: Mervis Jeffrey
Published: March 2022

Congress boosts defense, shrinks Biden’s research vision
Broad Neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 Variants, Including Omicron, following Breakthrough Infection with Delta in COVID-19-Vaccinated Individuals
Authors: Lechmere Thomas , Snell Luke B. , Graham Carl , Seow Jeffrey , Shalim Zayed A. , Charalampous Themoula , Alcolea-Medina Adela , Batra Rahul , Nebbia Gaia , Edgeworth Jonathan D. , Malim Michael H. , Doores Katie J.
Published: March 2022

COVID-19 vaccines have been vital in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infections and reducing hospitalizations. However, breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infections (BTI) occur in some vaccinated individuals. Here, we study how BTI impacts on the potency and the breadth of the neutralizing antibody response. We show that a Delta infection in COVID-19-vaccinated individuals provides potent neutralization against the current SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including the Omicron variant.
Mutation in the Disordered Linker Region of Capsid Disrupts Viral Kinetics of a Neuropathogenic SIV in Rhesus Macaques
Authors: Lee Cheri A. , Hirsch Vanessa M.
Published: March 2022

SIV infection of rhesus macaques has become a valuable model for the development of AIDS vaccines and antiretroviral therapies. Polymorphisms in the rhesus macaque TRIM5α gene can affect SIV replication, making it necessary to genetically screen macaques for TRIM5α alleles that are permissive for SIV replication.
Risk factors for violence against women in high-prevalence settings: a mixed-methods systematic review and meta-synthesis
Authors: Mannell Jenevieve , Lowe Hattie , Brown Laura , Mukerji Reshmi , Devakumar Delan , Gram Lu , Jansen Henrica A F M , Minckas Nicole , Osrin David , Prost Audrey , Shannon Geordan , Vyas Seema
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Violence against women (VAW) affects one in three women globally. In some countries, women are at much higher risk. We examined risk factors for VAW in countries with the highest 12-month prevalence estimates of intimate partner violence (IPV) to develop understanding of this increased risk.

Methods

For this systematic review, we searched PUBMED, CINAHL, PROQUEST (Middle East and North Africa; Latin America and Iberia; East and South Asia), Web of Science, EMBASE and PsycINFO (Ovid) for records published between 1 January 2000 and 1 January 2021 in English, French and Spanish. Included records used quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods, reported original data, had VAW as the main outcome, and focused on at least one of 23 countries in the highest quintile of prevalence figures for women’s self-reported experiences of physical and/or sexual violence in the past 12 months. We used critical interpretive synthesis to develop a conceptual model for associations between identified risk factors and VAW.

Results

Our search identified 12 044 records, of which 241 were included for analysis (2 80 360 women, 40 276 men, 274 key informants). Most studies were from Bangladesh (74), Uganda (72) and Tanzania (43). Several quantitative studies explored community-level/region-level socioeconomic status and education as risk factors, but associations with VAW were mixed. Although fewer in number and representing just one country, studies reported more consistent effects for community-level childhood exposure to violence and urban residence. Theoretical explanations for a country’s high prevalence point to the importance of exposure to other forms of violence (armed conflict, witnessing parental violence, child abuse) and patriarchal social norms.

Conclusion

Available evidence suggests that heightened prevalence of VAW is not attributable to a single risk factor. Multilayered and area-level risk analyses are needed to ensure funding is appropriately targeted for countries where VAW is most pervasive.

PROSPERO registration number

The review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020190147).
Efficacy of virtual reality-based interventions for patients with breast cancer symptom and rehabilitation management: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang Huayi , Xu Hui , Zhang Zhen-xiang , Zhang Qiushi
Published: March 2022

Objectives

To determine the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR)-based intervention on the symptoms and rehabilitation management in patients with breast cancer.

Design

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Study selection

We included all eligible randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies (published in English and Chinese).

Participants

Patients with breast cancer (≥18 years) undergoing cancer treatment.

Interventions

Any intervention administered to improve the symptoms and rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer. The control group was given conventional care.

Outcomes

All outcomes were as follows: pain, fatigue, anxiety, depressive symptoms, cognitive function, and range of motion of upper limb in patients with breast cancer.

Data sources

We searched PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL and SinoMed, four electronic databases, covering the database establishment period to January 2022.

Review methods

Two reviewers independently extracted content and data consistent with the prespecified framework and assessed risk bias. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to pool data across trials. Meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager V.5.4.

Results

A total of eight studies met the eligibility criteria and were included in this study. The combined effect size showed that VR was positive for improving patients’ anxiety(standard mean differenc (SMD)=−2.07, 95% CI= (−3.81 to −0.34), I2=95%) and abduction of upper limbs (MD=15.54, 95% CI= (12.79 to 18.29), I2=0%), but fatigue (SMD=−0.92, 95% CI= (−4.47 to 2.62), I2=99%) was not. Qualitative analysis showed VR improved patients' depressive symptoms, pain and cognitive function.

Conclusions

VR technology has a good effect on symptoms and rehabilitation management of patients with breast cancer, but the quality of evidence is low, and the sample size is small. To date, there are few intervention studies, therefore, giving precise recommendation or conclusion is difficult. We have a favourable view of this, and more clinical studies are needed in the future to improve the credibility of the results.
Stakeholders’ views on volunteering in mental health: an international focus group study
Authors: Pinto da Costa Mariana , Conneely Maev , Monteiro da Silva Fábio , Toner Sarah
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Explore the views of two main stakeholders: mental health professionals and volunteers from three European countries, on the provision of volunteering in mental healthcare.

Design

A multicountry, multilingual and multicultural qualitative focus group study (n=24) with n=119 participants.

Participants

Volunteers and mental health professionals in three European countries (Belgium, Portugal and the UK).

Results

Mental health professionals and volunteers consider it beneficial offering volunteering to their patients. In this study, six overarching themes arose: (1) there is a framework in which volunteering is organised, (2) the role of the volunteer is multifaceted, (3) every volunteering relationship has a different character, (4) to volunteer is to face challenges, (5) technology has potential in volunteering and (6) volunteering impacts us all. The variability of their views suggests a need for flexibility and innovation in the design and models of the programmes offered.

Conclusions

Volunteering is not one single entity and is strongly connected to the cultural context and the mental healthcare services organisation. Despite the contextual differences between these three European countries, this study found extensive commonalities in attitudes towards volunteering in mental health.
Diet structure and academic achievement of children from difficult families: a cross-sectional study of Chinese children
Authors: Du Benfeng , Mu Yuexuan , Wang Xuan
Published: March 2022

Objectives

Welfare policy focuses on vulnerable populations, such as children with difficult family backgrounds. Education is a crucial way to reduce poverty. This study explored the relationship between children’s diet structure and academic achievement and compared these across different family backgrounds.

Design

A cross-sectional study was conducted to survey the health status of children from difficult families based on a random sampling method in 2018. Survey data were collected from children and their guardians with a questionnaire. A multi-sample latent class model and an ordinal logistic model were applied for data analysis.

Setting

This study was conducted in 31 provinces nationwide. Two provinces in the Central (Shandong and Jiangxi), Eastern (Hebei and Henan) and Western (Chongqing and Shanxi) regions and one province in the Northeast (Liaoning) were selected considering different stratum of economic development.

Participants

A total of 2099 children with difficult family backgrounds and 666 children from ordinary families were surveyed.

Results

The dietary structure of children from ordinary families was significantly better than that of children with difficult or unstable family backgrounds (χ2 =9.178, p<0.01). Children from difficult families had an intake of dairy products and fruits below dietary standards. The difference in academic achievement between children in the balanced and deprived groups was statistically significant (OR=0.640, 95% CI 0.429 to 0.955). Other determinants of the academic achievement of children in difficult families were parents’ education level (OR=1.331, 95% CI 1.162 to 1.525), family economic status (OR=0.835, 95% CI 0.748 to 0.932) and parents’ academic concern (OR=0.373, 95% CI 0.252 to 0.553).

Conclusions

To address the differences between children from difficult families and ordinary families, policymakers should develop support policies for difficult children, guide the formation of a reasonable dietary structure. Besides, enhancing family closeness and fostering family nurturing behaviours are the keys to promote the good academic development of children from difficult families.
Medical waste management-related factors affecting health and experiences of health risks among medical waste handlers in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review protocol of qualitative studies
Authors: Huda Md Nazmul , Hailemariam Tewodros Getachew , Hossain Syeda Zakia , Malo James Sujit , Khan Sajedul , Hadisuyatmana Setho , Ferdous Afsana , Akombi-Inyang Blessing , Islam Rakibul M , Renzaho Andre M N
Published: March 2022

Introduction

Medical waste management (MWM)-related factors affecting the health of medical waste handlers (MWHs) and their health risks in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) are an important public health concern. Although studies of MWM-related factors and health risks among MWHs in LMICs are available, literature remains undersynthesised and knowledge fragmented. This systematic review will provide a comprehensive synthesis of evidence regarding the individual, system and policy-level MWM-related factors that affect MWHs’ health and their experiences of health risks in LMICs.

Methods and analysis

All qualitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2021 with full texts available and accessible will be included in the review. Seven specific electronic databases (eg, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health, CINAHL, ProQuest and PsycINFO) will be searched. Two authors will review the citations and full texts, extract data and complete the quality appraisal independently. A third reviewer will check discrepancies when a consensus cannot be reached on differences between the two reviewers. Data extraction will be conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute standardised data extraction form for qualitative research. The quality of articles will be assessed using a Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist. Results from eligible articles will be synthesised into a set of findings using the thematic framework analysis approach and will be reported according to the Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research statement.

Ethics and dissemination

This review is based on published articles, which does not require ethical approval because there is no collection of primary data. Findings from this review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at relevant public health conferences. This protocol has been registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO).

PROSPERO registration number

CRD42020226851.
Influence of comorbidities on treatment considerations for first-line biologic prescribing in patients with inflammatory bowel disease in the UK
Authors: Akbar Ayesha , Orchard Tim , Powell Nick , Selinger Christian , tibbatts Clare
Published: March 2022

Background

Anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies are the most commonly used biologics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but for patients with a comorbidity, newer agents may be a more appropriate treatment choice.

Aims

To investigate the impact of comorbidities in patients with IBD, on first-line biologic prescribing habits of IBD-specialist healthcare practitioners in the UK.

Methods

IBD-specialist physicians and nurses were asked to answer an online survey, considering different prescribing scenarios in ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Respondents could indicate a preference for anti-TNFs or newer biologics, both in the absence and presence of 10 common comorbidities.

Results

A total of 120 IBD-specialist healthcare professionals (HCPs) completed the survey. In the absence of comorbidities, anti-TNFs were favoured; infliximab was the preferred first-line biologic in both UC and CD (43% and 37% of respondents, respectively). On introducing comorbidities, the largest shift in prescribing behaviour was for vedolizumab, with preference increasing by 27% and 21%, compared with infliximab, which fell by 14% and 9% in UC and CD, respectively. Chronic/recurring infection (46%), congestive heart failure (≤44%) and malignancies (≤43%) were the most commonly selected comorbidities for vedolizumab treatment.

Conclusions

Clinicians adapt their biologic prescribing habits in patients with IBD with comorbidities, considering known contraindications and precautions. A preference for vedolizumab is evident in many cases, however, for several comorbid scenarios, including demyelinating disorders, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and malignancy, anti-TNFs are prescribed despite known risks. It is important that continual re-evaluation of the IBD treatment landscape is undertaken by HCPs, in alignment with recommendations in published guidelines.
CSF biomarkers for dementia
Authors: Keshavan Ashvini , O’Shea Frankie , Chapman Miles D , Hart Melanie S , Lunn Michael PT , Paterson Ross W , Rohrer Jonathan D , Mummery Catherine J , Fox Nick C , Zetterberg Henrik , Schott Jonathan M
Published: March 2022

Although cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker testing is incorporated into some current guidelines for the diagnosis of dementia (such as England's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)), it is not widely accessible for most patients for whom biomarkers could potentially change management. Here we share our experience of running a clinical cognitive CSF service and discuss recent developments in laboratory testing including the use of the CSF amyloid-β 42/40 ratio and automated assay platforms. We highlight the importance of collaborative working between clinicians and laboratory staff, of preanalytical sample handling, and discuss the various factors influencing interpretation of the results in appropriate clinical contexts. We advocate for broadening access to CSF biomarkers by sharing clinical expertise, protocols and interpretation with colleagues working in psychiatry and elderly care, especially when access to CSF may be part of a pathway to disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
A Canadian model for providing high-quality, timely and relevant evidence to meet health system decision-maker needs: the SPOR Evidence Alliance
Authors: Zarin Wasifa , Lunny Carole , Chaudhry Sabrina , Thomas Sonia M. , LeBlanc Annie , Clement Fiona , Abou-Setta Ahmed M. , Curran Janet A. , Hutton Brian , Florez Ivan D. , Li Linda C. , Bornstein Stephen , Hamilton Clayon B. , Moffitt Pertice , Godfrey Christina , Zitzelsberger Louise , Gardiner Leanne , Fahim Christine , Straus Sharon E. , Tricco Andrea C.
Published: March 2022

Canada has made great progress in synthesizing, disseminating, and integrating research findings into health systems and clinical decision-making; yet gaps exist in the research-to-practice continuum. The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance aims to help close gaps by providing decision-makers with evidence that is timely, context sensitive, and demand driven to better inform patient-oriented practices and policies in health systems. In this article, we introduce a model established in Canada to support decision-maker needs for high-quality evidence that is patient oriented to enhance health systems performance. We provide an overview of how this model was implemented, who is involved, who it serves, as well as its organizational structure and remit. We discuss key milestones achieved to date and the impact this initiative has made within the health research community. The strength of the SPOR Evidence Alliance lies in its unique ability to simultaneously: ( i) serve as a national platform for researchers to stay connected and collaborate to minimize duplication of efforts and ( ii) facilitate access to research knowledge for patient partners and decision-makers. In doing so, the SPOR Evidence Alliance is supporting health policy and practice decisions that support and strengthen Canada’s dynamic health systems.
An Interpretable Model for Real-time Tracking of Economic Indicators Using Social Media Data
Authors: Pokhriyal Neeti , Valentino Benjamin , Vosoughi Soroush
Published: March 2022

Measures of public opinion on economic matters are vital in creating accurate official statistics needed to design appropriate policy interventions and shape private investment decisions. This is traditionally done using public opinion polls and representative surveys. However, this process is time and money intensive and currently suffers from reduced public participation. As a result, official statistics are usually delayed and are not frequently available at the resolution needed for better policy interventions. Hence, researchers have looked into anonymized digital data to continuously sense information about public behaviors, especially those related to consumer sentiment index and unemployment insurance claims. However, past studies relied on linear models with simplistic assumptions and thus provided limited extrapolatory power and no insights as to why these predictive methods work. Worryingly, the strong correlations reported in these studies disappeared when the original models were tested with newer social media data.

We propose a novel interpretable machine learning model, called Group Additive Gaussian Processes, to provide accurate and near real-time estimates of economic indicators about public behaviors using social media data, along with insights into the model behavior. Our model exploits the underlying structure in data and encodes interpretability in the modeling framework. It is based on Gaussian Process regression, which provides a robust non-parametric Bayesian learning framework that produces calibrated uncertainty measures along with its predictions. A key challenge in the learning task is learning from limited training data. We demonstrate how our model not only learns but also generalizes well in these scenarios. Through extensive evaluation we show how our model performs on two important indicators of economic health-consumer confidence index and unemployment insurance claims data. Further, we demonstrate how our model can reduce the need to conduct surveys by producing highly accurate and frequent estimates in between the surveying periods.
QID: Robust Mobile Device Recognition via a Multi-Coil Qi-Wireless Charging System
Authors: Yang Deliang , Xing Guoliang , Huang Jun , Chang Xiangmao , Jiang Xiaofan
Published: March 2022

Recent years have witnessed the increasing penetration of wireless charging base stations in the workplace and public areas, such as airports and cafeterias. Such an emerging wireless charging infrastructure has presented opportunities for new indoor localization and identification services for mobile users. In this paper, we present QID, the first system that can identify a Qi-compliant mobile device during wireless charging in real-time. QID extracts features from the clock oscillator and control scheme of the power receiver and employs light-weight algorithms to classify the device. QID adopts a 2-dimensional motion unit to emulate a variety of multi-coil designs of Qi, which allows for fine-grained device fingerprinting. Our results show that QID achieves high recognition accuracy. With the prevalence of public wireless charging stations, our results also have important implications for mobile user privacy.
Monitoring Runtime Metrics of Fog Manufacturing via a Qualitative and Quantitative (QQ) Control Chart
Authors: Li Yifu , Wang Lening , Lee Dongyoon , Jin Ran
Published: March 2022

Fog manufacturing combines Fog and Cloud computing in a manufacturing network to provide efficient data analytics and support real-time decision-making. Detecting anomalies, including imbalanced computational workloads and cyber-attacks, is critical to ensure reliable and responsive computation services. However, such anomalies often concur with dynamic offloading events where computation tasks are migrated from well-occupied Fog nodes to less-occupied ones to reduce the overall computation time latency and improve the throughput. Such concurrences jointly affect the system behaviors, which makes anomaly detection inaccurate. We propose a
qualitative and quantitative (QQ)
control chart to monitor system anomalies through identifying the changes of monitored runtime metric relationship (quantitative variables) under the presence of dynamic offloading (qualitative variable) using a risk-adjusted monitoring framework. Both the simulation and Fog manufacturing case studies show the advantage of the proposed method compared with the existing literature under the dynamic offloading influence.
Conference reports
Authors: Dennis Louise A.
Published: March 2022

This section is compiled from reports of recent events sponsored or run in cooperation with ACM SIGAI. In general these reports were written and submitted by the conference organisers.
Verification column
Authors: Lazić Ranko
Published: March 2022

In this highly readable article, Aiswarya takes a novel approach and reminds us of deep links between verification and the study of classes of graphs based on notions such as treewidth. Starting gently and providing ample examples, we are led to the state of the art and interesting open questions.
Conference reports
Authors: Pérez Jorge A.
Published: March 2022

In this new installment, Niccolò Veltri (Tallinn University of Technology) reports on the 23rd International Symposium on Principles and Practice of Declarative Programming (PPDP 2021) and the 31st International Symposium on Logic-based Program Synthesis and Transformation (LOPSTR 2021), two co-located symposia for which he served as general chair.
ACM SIGIR annual business meeting 2021
Authors: Hauff Claudia
Published: March 2022

The 2021 ACM SIGIR Annual Business Meeting took place twice during the week of SIGIR (July 11--15, 2021) to accommodate participants from different time zones. It was led by the chair of the SIGIR Executive Committee (EC), Ben Carterette.
Report on the 12th conference and labs of the evaluation forum (CLEF 2021)
Authors: Candan K. Selçuk , Faggioli Guglielmo , Ferro Nicola , Goeuriot Lorraine , Ionescu Bogdan , Joly Alexis , Larsen Birger , Maistro Maria , Müller Henning , Piroi Florina
Published: March 2022

This is a report on the eleventh edition of the
Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum
(CLEF 2021), (virtually) held on September 21--24, 2021, in Bucharest, Romania. CLEF was a four day event combining a Conference and an Evaluation Forum. The Conference featured keynotes by Naila Murray and Mark Sanderson, and presentation of peer reviewed research papers covering a wide range of topics in addition to many posters. The Evaluation Forum consisted to thirteen Labs: ARQMath, BioASQ, CheckThat!, ChEMU, CLEF eHealth, eRisk, HIPE, ImageCLEF, LifeCLEF, LiLAS, PAN, SimpleText, and Touché, addressing a wide range of tasks, media, languages, and ways to go beyond standard test collections.

Date
: 21--24 September, 2021.

Website
: http://clef2021.clef-initiative.eu/.
Conferences, journals, preprints, and reviewer expectations
Authors: Moffat Alistair , Mackenzie Joel
Published: March 2022

We consider the precedence and priority issues that arise from the increasingly common trend of distributing unrefereed preprints via services such as arXiv prior to or at the same time as they are submitted for peer review, and the effect that this practice can have on the integrity of the scientific review process. We offer some suggestions which could be incorporated into the peer-review process to provide better safeguards to authors.
Optimizing ranking systems online as bandits
Authors: Li Chang
Published: March 2022

Ranking system is the core part of modern retrieval and recommender systems, where the goal is to rank candidate items given user contexts. Optimizing ranking systems online means that the deployed system can serve users' requests, e.g., queries in the web search, and optimize the ranking policy by learning from user interactions, e.g., clicks. Bandit is a general online learning framework and can be used in our optimization task. However, due to the unique features of ranking, there are several challenges in designing bandit algorithms for ranking system optimization. In this thesis, we study and propose bandit algorithms for four challenges in optimizing ranking systems online: effectiveness, safety, nonstationarity, and diversification.

We first focus on the large-scale online ranker evaluation problem. The challenge is that the number of pair-wise ranker comparisons grows quadratically with respect to the number of rankers. We proposed the merge double Thompson sampling (MergeDTS) method to solve the problem. MergeDTS takes the divide-and-conquer idea in Merge Sort to decrease the complexity and uses the Thompson sampling to increase the effectiveness of pair-wise comparisons.

We then address the safety Online Learning to Rank (OLTR) by introducing the BubbleRank algorithm. BubbleRank uses the offline trained ranker, e.g., the production ranker, to obtain the initial ranked list, and then conducts safe online pairwise exploration to improve this list. The safety comes from the fact that BubbleRank explores the ranked lists by randomly exchanging items with their neighbors. Thus, during exploration, low-quality items are hardly shifted at top positions.

Non-stationarity widely appears in interactive systems since user preferences are affected by different factors and change over time. It is critical to design algorithms that capture the non-stationarity in OLTR. This thesis provides CascadeDUCB and CascadeSWUCB algorithms to solve the non-stationary OLTR. We derive gap-dependent bounds on their regret and show the theoretical soundness of the proposed algorithms, and then we conduct simulated experiments to validate the empirical effectiveness.

Result diversification and relevance ranking are two important aspects in modern recommender systems. Ideal learning algorithms should be able to display a ranked list whose items are relevant and the topics of items are diverse. The last research chapter of the thesis focuses on this challenge and provides the CascadeHybrid algorithm. CascadeHybrid learns from interactive feedback online and trained a ranker, which is a hybrid of a linear function capturing the relevance part and a submodular function responding to the results diversification.

Awarded by
: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands on 4 March 2021.

Supervised by
: Maarten de Rijke.

Available at
: https://dare.uva.nl/search?identifier=f043b9b4-e666-48e0-8a6c-7c5431660e17.
Proactive information retrieval
Authors: Sen Procheta
Published: March 2022

Users interact with digital systems with some underlying tasks in their minds. In our research scope, a task can be either single or multi-staged. A single-staged task is associated with a single information need, whereas a multi-staged one is associated with more than one information needs. An example of a single-staged task is suggesting related papers to an author while they are writing a section of the research papers. An example of a multi-staged task is planning for a vacation, where the different underlying information needs could be 'places to visit', 'booking accommodation' etc. In the process of accomplishing their task objectives, a user often needs to interact with an information retrieval (IR) system to address one or more information needs. For instance, for writing a research paper on a chosen topic, a user needs to look for existing research work related to the topic.

Traditional IR systems do not take into account a user's task intent while showing search results to the user. In our work, we propose a methodology towards developing next generation IR systems (i.e.
proactive
IR systems) which seek to anticipate the task intent of a user from their interactions with digital systems in order to proactively suggest potentially relevant information sources to assist them to complete their tasks. Specifically speaking, in this PhD, we proposed an embedding approach that captures the task semantics from the interactions of a user with a digital system (e.g. laptop, desktop, smartphone etc.). The proposed embedding approach is then applied for the downstream tasks of providing proactive suggestions in both single and multi staged scenarios. For the single-staged task, we propose a simulation setup to simulate a user's reading and writing interactions in a desktop environment. For the multi-staged task, we focus on web search sessions where a user can have multiple information needs corresponding to a search task. We also proposed a reproducible evaluation framework to compare between different proactive suggestion models.

Awarded by
: Dublin City University, Ireland on 10 August 2021.

Supervised by
: Gareth Jones.

Available at
: https://procheta.github.io/sprocheta/Thesis.pdf.
Elucidating the Role of B-Site Cations toward CO2 Reduction in Perovskite-Based Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cells
Authors: Tezel Elif , Guo Dezhou , Whitten Ariel , Yarema Genevieve , Freire Maikon , Denecke Reinhard , McEwen Jean-Sabin , Nikolla Eranda
Published: March 2022

Solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) are promising for the selective electrochemical conversion of CO2, or mixed streams of CO2 and H2O, into high energy products such as CO and H2. However, these systems are limited by the poor redox stability of the state-of-the-art Ni-based cathode electrocatalysts. Due to their favorable redox properties, mixed ionic-electronic conducting (MIEC) oxides have been considered as promising alternatives. However, improvement of the electrochemical performance of MIEC-based SOEC electrocatalysts is needed and requires an understanding of the factors that govern their activity. Herein, we investigate the effect of B-site 3d metal cations (Cr, Fe, Co, Ni) of LaBO3 perovskites on their CO2 electrochemical reduction activity in SOECs. We find that their electrochemical performance is highly dependent on the nature of the B-site cation and trends as LaFeO3 > LaCoO3 > LaNiO3 > LaCrO3. Among these perovskites, LaNiO3 is the least stable and decomposes under electrochemical conditions. In situ characterization and ab initio theoretical calculations suggest that both the nature of the B-site cation and the presence of oxygen surface vacancies impact the energetics of CO2 adsorption and reduction. These studies provide fundamental insights critical toward devising ways to improve the performance of MIEC-based SOEC cathodes for CO2 electroreduction.
A Biocompatible Design of Kappa-Carrageenan/Functionalized-Boron Nitride Nanocomposite: The Disposable Electrode of Mercury Detection
Authors: Joseph Xavier Benadict , V. Abhikha Sherlin , Wang Sea-Fue , George Mary
Published: March 2022

The environmental pollution with heavy metal ions has generated great concern among human beings due to the enormous toxicity. Especially, mercury (Hg2+) is widespread in the environment and represents one of the most toxic compounds released into the environment. To prevent this, we need a fast, cost-effective, and ultrasensitive detection tool for Hg2+. We have developed a sustainable development in disposable screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE) based kappa-carrageenan/functionalized-boron nitride nanocomposite (f-BN@K-CGN) for the detection of Hg2+. A detailed understanding of physicochemical/structural characterizations was meticulously examined by spectroscopic and voltammetric methods. The voltammetry analysis confirms that the f-BN@K-CGN/SPCE exhibits a high electrochemical behavior for the Hg2+ detection compared to control electrodes. Noteworthily, the proposed f-BN@K-CGN/SPCE exhibited a wide linear range (0.007–265 μM), detection limit (0.001 μM) and, sensitivity for Hg2+ detection. The analytical performance of f-BN@K-CGN/SPCE was well below the permissible level of Hg2+ set by the World Health Organization and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Most notably, the electrochemical performance of f-BN@K-CGN/SPCE is better than those reported in the previous literature. Additionally, f-BN@K-CGN/SPCE possesses good selectivity, stability, reproducibility and shows great potential for the onsite monitoring of Hg2+ in real samples with a satisfactory value.