bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Stereotactic radiotherapy of brain metastases: clinical impact of three-dimensional SPACE imaging for 3T-MRI-based treatment planning
Authors: Welzel Thomas , El Shafie Rami A. , v. Nettelbladt Bastian , Bernhardt Denise , Rieken Stefan , Debus Jürgen
Published: August 2022

Purpose

For planning CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery (CK SRS) of brain metastases (BM), it is essential to precisely determine the exact number and location of BM in MRI. Recent MR studies suggest the superiority of contrast-enhanced 3D fast spin echo SPACE (sampling perfection with application-optimized contrast by using different flip angle evolutions) images over 3D gradient echo (GE) T1-weighted MPRAGE (magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo) images for detecting small BM. The aim of this study is to test the usability of the SPACE sequence for MRI-based radiation treatment planning and its impact on changing treatment.

Methods

For MRI-based radiation treatment planning using 3T MRI in 199 patients with cerebral oligometastases, we compared the detectability of BM in post-gadolinium SPACE images, post-gadolinium MPRAGE images, and post-gadolinium late-phase MPRAGE images.

Results

When SPACE images were used for MRI-based radiation treatment planning, 29.8% and 16.9% more BM, respectively, were detected and included in treatment planning than in the post-gadolinium MPRAGE images and the post-gadolinium late-phase MPRAGE images (post-gadolinium MPRAGE imaging: ntotal = 681, mean ± SD 3.4 ± 4.2; post-gadolinium SPACE imaging: ntotal = 884, mean ± SD 4.4 ± 6.0; post-gadolinium late-phase MPRAGE imaging: ntotal = 796, mean ± SD 4.0 ± 5.3; Ppost-gadolinium SPACE imaging versus post-gadolinium MPRAGE imaging < 0.0001, Ppost-gadolinium SPACE imaging versus post-gadolinium late-phase MPRAGE imaging< 0.0001).

Conclusion

For 3T MRI-based treatment planning of stereotactic radiosurgery of BM, we recommend the use of post-gadolinium SPACE imaging rather than post-gadolinium MPRAGE imaging.
Should I stay or should I fly? Migration phenology, individual-based migration decision and seasonal changes in foraging behaviour of Common Woodpigeons
Authors: Schumm Yvonne R. , Masello Juan F. , Cohou Valerie , Mourguiart Philippe , Metzger Benjamin , Rösner Sascha , Quillfeldt Petra
Published: August 2022

Migration is used by many species as a strategy to deal with a seasonally changing environment. For some species, migration patterns can vary across different or even within the same breeding area. The Common WoodpigeonColumba palumbus, an abundant and widespread Palearctic species, exhibits three migratory strategies (strictly migratory, partially migratory and resident) across its European breeding grounds. Based on ring recoveries and satellite tracking data, we investigated the migration and foraging behaviour of Woodpigeons breeding in Southwestern Europe (Portugal) and Central Europe (Germany). We found that individuals could be classified as residents (Portugal) or partial migrants (Germany), with migrating individuals following the European sector of the East Atlantic flyway, and mainly wintering in France. In addition to general data on migration phenology, we provide evidence for different migration strategies (migration of varying distances or resident behaviour), low wintering site fidelity and the use of multiple wintering sites. Furthermore, tracking data provided information on migratory behaviour in consecutive years, clearly showing that individuals may switch migratory strategies (resident vs. migrant) between years, i.e. are facultative partial migrants. While individuals from Portugal mainly stayed within a large park (‘green urban area’) year-round, Woodpigeons from the city of Giessen (Germany) regularly left the urban area to forage on surrounding farmland (with an average distance covered of 5.7 km), particularly from July to September. Overall, our results highlight the behavioural plasticity in Woodpigeons in terms of foraging and migration strategies within and amongst individuals as well as populations.
Gradient-based optimisation of rectangular honeycomb core sandwich panels
Authors: Santos Luis , Izzuddin Bassam A. , Macorini Lorenzo
Published: August 2022

When subjected to bending loads, sandwich panels are highly efficient structural components with the potential to achieve substantial weight reduction. A successful design methodology for sandwich panels should aim at maximising this potential for weight reduction while considering the various possible failure mode in a simple yet accurate manner. This paper investigates the application of steel sandwich panels as two-way deck systems. Near-optimal designs for all-steel Rectangular Honeycomb Core Sandwich Panels (RHCSPs) under general out-of-plane loading are achieved using a gradient-based optimisation method. The method relies on continuously optimising the design limit state constraints while the response constraints are considered a priori in the analysis stage using simplified analytical assessment. Plate bending solutions and sandwich bending solutions are used as alternatives to estimate the internal stresses on each layer of the sandwich panel under out-of-plane loads, where comparisons are made between these two analysis methods in terms of computational efficiency and accuracy. The internal stresses are then used to formulate design limit state equations for each relevant failure mode, including material yielding, plate buckling and deformation control. The Method of Moving Asymptotes is used for the optimisation of RHCSPs, considering the limit states as the constraints of the optimisation problem and weight as the objective function to be minimised. The proposed methodology for simplified assessment is verified against detailed nonlinear finite element models for optimal design solutions. The implications of the results of the proposed optimisation strategy on the development of a systematic design methodology for RHCSPs are also highlighted, making specific reference to critical failure modes.
Effects of the LC mobile phase in vacuum differential mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry for the selective analysis of antidepressant drugs in human plasma
Authors: Girard Maria Fernanda Cifuentes , Knight Patrick , Giles Roger , Hopfgartner Gérard
Published: August 2022

The effect of LC mobile phase composition and flow rate (2–50 µL/min) on mobility behavior in vacuum differential mobility spectrometry (vDMS) was investigated for electrosprayed isobaric antidepressant drugs (AD); amitriptyline, maprotiline, venlafaxine; and structurally related antidepressants nortriptyline, imipramine, and desipramine. While at 2 µL/min, no difference in compensation voltage was observed with methanol and acetonitrile, at 50 µL/min, acetonitrile used for LC elution of analytes enabled the selectivity of the mobility separation to be improved. An accurate and sensitive method could be developed for the quantification of six AD drugs in human plasma using trap/elute micro-LC setup hyphenated to vDMS with mass spectrometric detection in the selected ion monitoring mode. The assay was found to be linear over three orders of magnitude, and the limit of quantification was of 25 ng/mL for all analytes. The LC-vDMS-SIM/MS method was compared to a LC-MRM/MS method, and in both cases, inter-assay precisions were lower than 12.5 and accuracies were in the range 91.5–110%, but with a four times reduced analysis time (2 min) for the LC-vDMS-SIM/MS method. This work illustrates that with vDMS, the LC mobile phase composition can be used to tune the ion mobility separation and to improve assay selectivity without additional hardware.

Graphical abstract
A blood-based immune marker for resistance to pembrolizumab in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer
Authors: Rijnders Maud , Robbrecht Debbie G. J. , Oostvogels Astrid A. M. , van Brakel Mandy , Boormans Joost L. , Aarts Maureen J. B. , Balcioglu Hayri E. , Hamberg Paul , Voortman Jens , Westgeest Hans M. , Lolkema Martijn P. , de Wit Ronald , van der Veldt Astrid A. M. , Debets Reno
Published: August 2022

PD1 inhibition is effective in patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (mUC), yet a large fraction of patients does not respond. In this study, we aimed to identify a blood-based immune marker associated with non-response to facilitate patient selection for anti-PD1. To this end, we quantified 18 immune cell populations using multiplex flow cytometry in blood samples from 71 patients with mUC (as part of a biomarker discovery trial; NCT03263039, registration date 28-08-2017). Patients were classified as responder (ongoing complete or partial response, or stable disease; n = 25) or non-responder (progressive disease; n = 46) according to RECIST v1.1 at 6 months of treatment with pembrolizumab. We observed no differences in numbers of lymphocytes, T-cells, granulocytes, monocytes or their subsets between responders and non-responders at baseline. In contrast, analysis of ratios of immune cell populations revealed that a high mature neutrophil-to-T-cell ratio (MNTR) exclusively identified non-responders. In addition, the survival of patients with high versus low MNTR was poor: median overall survival (OS) 2.2 vs 8.9 months (hazard ratio (HR) 6.6; p < 0.00001), and median progression-free survival (PFS) 1.5 vs 5.2 months (HR 5.6; p < 0.0001). The associations with therapy response, OS, and PFS for the MNTR were stronger than for the classical neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (HR for OS 3.5, and PFS 3) and the PD-L1 combined positivity score (HR for OS 1.9, and PFS 2.1). In conclusion, the MNTR distinctly and uniquely identified non-responders to treatment and may represent a novel pre-treatment blood-based immune metric to select patients with mUC for treatment with pembrolizumab.
The large-sample asymptotic behaviour of quartet-based summary methods for species tree inference
Authors: Chan Yao-ban , Li Qiuyi , Scornavacca Celine
Published: August 2022

Summary methods seek to infer a species tree from a set of gene trees. A desirable property of such methods is that of statistical consistency; that is, the probability of inferring the wrong species tree (the error probability) tends to 0 as the number of input gene trees becomes large. A popular paradigm is to infer a species tree that agrees with the maximum number of quartets from the input set of gene trees; this has been proved to be statistically consistent under several models of gene evolution. In this paper, we study the asymptotic behaviour of the error probability of such methods in this limit, and show that it decays exponentially. For a 4-taxon species tree, we derive a closed form for the asymptotic behaviour in terms of the probability that the gene evolution process produces the correct topology. We also derive bounds for the sample complexity (the number of gene trees required to infer the true species tree with a given probability), which outperform existing bounds. We then extend our results to bounds for the asymptotic behaviour of the error probability for any species tree, and compare these to the true error probability for some model species trees using simulations.
Standard diametric versus volumetric early tumor shrinkage as a predictor of survival in metastatic colorectal cancer: subgroup findings of the randomized, open-label phase III trial FIRE-3 / AIO KRK-0306
Authors: Hofmann Felix O. , Heinemann Volker , D’Anastasi Melvin , Gesenhues Alena B. , Hesse Nina , von Weikersthal Ludwig Fischer , Decker Thomas , Kiani Alexander , Moehler Markus , Kaiser Florian , Heintges Tobias , Kahl Christoph , Kullmann Frank , Scheithauer Werner , Link Hartmut , Modest Dominik P. , Stintzing Sebastian , Holch Julian W.
Published: August 2022

Objectives

Early tumor shrinkage (ETS) quantifies the objective response at the first assessment during systemic treatment. In metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC), ETS gains relevance as an early available surrogate for patient survival. The aim of this study was to increase the predictive accuracy of ETS by using semi-automated volumetry instead of standard diametric measurements.

Methods

Diametric and volumetric ETS were retrospectively calculated in 253 mCRC patients who received 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI) combined with either cetuximab or bevacizumab. The association of diametric and volumetric ETS with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was compared.

Results

Continuous diametric and volumetric ETS predicted survival similarly regarding concordance indices (p > .05). In receiver operating characteristics, a volumetric threshold of 45% optimally identified short-term survivors. For patients with volumetric ETS ≥ 45% (vs < 45%), median OS was longer (32.5 vs 19.0 months, p < .001) and the risk of death reduced for the first and second year (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.25, p < .001, and HR = 0.39, p < .001). Patients with ETS ≥ 45% had a reduced risk of progressive disease only for the first 6 months (HR = 0.26, p < .001). These survival times and risks were comparable to those of diametric ETS ≥ 20% (vs < 20%).

Conclusions

The accuracy of ETS in predicting survival was not increased by volumetric instead of diametric measurements. Continuous diametric and volumetric ETS similarly predicted survival, regardless of whether patients received cetuximab or bevacizumab. A volumetric ETS threshold of 45% and a diametric ETS threshold of 20% equally identified short-term survivors.

Key Points

• ETS based on volumetric measurements did not predict survival more accurately than ETS based on standard diametric measurements.

• Continuous diametric and volumetric ETS predicted survival similarly in patients receiving FOLFIRI with cetuximab or bevacizumab.

• A volumetric ETS threshold of 45% and a diametric ETS threshold of 20% equally identified short-term survivors.
A procedure for computing the spot production rate in transitional boundary layers
Authors: Dellacasagrande Matteo , Lengani Davide , Simoni Daniele , Pralits Jan , Durović Kristina , Hanifi Ardeshir , Henningson Dan
Published: August 2022

The present work describes a method for the computation of the nucleation rate of turbulent spots in transitional boundary layers from particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements. Different detection functions for turbulent events recognition were first tested and validated using data from direct numerical simulation, and this latter describes a flat-plate boundary layer under zero pressure gradient. The comparison with a previously defined function adopted in the literature, which is based on the local spanwise wall-shear stress, clearly highlights the possibility of accurately predicting the statistical evolution of transition even when the near-wall velocity field is not directly available from the measurements. The present procedure was systematically applied to PIV data collected in a wall-parallel measuring plane located inside a flat plate boundary layer evolving under variable Reynolds number, adverse pressure gradient (APG) and free-stream turbulence. The results presented in this work show that the present method allows capturing the statistical response of the transition process to the modification of the inlet flow conditions. The location of the maximum spot nucleation is shown to move upstream when increasing all the main flow parameters. Additionally, the transition region becomes shorter for higher Re and APG, whereas the turbulence level variation gives the opposite trend. The effects of the main flow parameters on the coefficients defining the analytic distribution of the nucleation rate and their link to the momentum thickness Reynolds number at the point of transition are discussed in the paper.

Graphical abstract
Comorbidities complicating heart failure: changes over the last 15 years
Authors: Screever Elles M. , van der Wal Martje H. L. , van Veldhuisen Dirk J. , Jaarsma Tiny , Koops Astrid , van Dijk Kuna S. , Warink-Riemersma Janke , Coster Jenifer E. , Westenbrink B. Daan , van der Meer Peter , de Boer Rudolf A. , Meijers Wouter C.
Published: August 2022

Aims

Management of comorbidities represents a critical step in optimal treatment of heart failure (HF) patients. However, minimal attention has been paid whether comorbidity burden and their prognostic value changes over time. Therefore, we examined the association between comorbidities and clinical outcomes in HF patients between 2002 and 2017.

Methods and results

The 2002-HF cohort consisted of patients from The Coordinating Study Evaluating Outcomes of Advising and Counseling in Heart Failure (COACH) trial (n = 1,032). The 2017-HF cohort were outpatient HF patients enrolled after hospitalization for HF in a tertiary referral academic hospital (n = 382). Kaplan meier and cox regression analyses were used to assess the association of comorbidities with HF hospitalization and all-cause mortality.

Patients from the 2017-cohort were more likely to be classified as HF with preserved ejection fraction (24 vs 15%, p < 0.001), compared to patients from the 2002-cohort. Comorbidity burden was comparable between both cohorts (mean of 3.9 comorbidities per patient) and substantially increased with age. Higher comorbidity burden was significantly associated with a comparable increased risk for HF hospitalization and all-cause mortality (HR 1.12 [1.02–1.22] and HR 1.18 [1.05–1.32]), in the 2002- and 2017-cohort respectively. When assessing individual comorbidities, obesity yielded a statistically higher prognostic effect on outcome in the 2017-cohort compared to the 2002-HF cohort (p for interaction 0.026).

Conclusion

Despite major advances in HF treatment over the past decades, comorbidity burden remains high in HF and influences outcome to a large extent. Obesity emerges as a prominent comorbidity, and efforts should be made for prevention and treatment.

Graphical abstract

Created with BioRender.com.
Psychosocial work factors affecting mental health of young workers: a systematic review
Authors: van Veen Malte , Oude Hengel Karen M. , Schelvis Roosmarijn M. C. , Bongers Paulien M. , Ket Johannes C. F. , van der Beek Allard J. , Boot Cécile R. L.
Published: August 2022

Objective

For the general working population, robust evidence exists for associations between psychosocial work exposures and mental health. As this relationship is less clear for young workers, this systematic review aims at providing an overview of the evidence concerning psychosocial work factors affecting mental health of young workers.

Methods

The electronic databases used were PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO and were last searched in October 2021. The eligible outcomes included depression-, stress-, burnout- and anxiety-related complaints, and fatigue, excluding clinical diagnoses and suicide-related outcomes. Only studies with workers aged 35 years or younger were included, which reported at least one association between a psychosocial work factor as exposure and a mental health complaint as outcome. Studies had to be in English, German or Dutch. Risk of bias was assessed using an instrument from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Data synthesis was conducted using GRADE.

Results

In total 17 studies were included in this systematic review, including data from 35,600 young workers in total. Across these studies 86 exposure-outcome associations were reported. Nine exposure-outcome associations could be synthesised. The application of the GRADE framework led to one “low” assessment for the association between psychosocial job quality and mental health. The certainty of evidence for the other eight associations in the synthesis was very low.

Conclusions

The current systematic review disclosed a high degree of uncertainty of the evidence due to conceptually fuzzy outcomes and exposures as well as large heterogeneity between studies.
Perception and action as viewed from the Theory of Event Coding: a multi-lab replication and effect size estimation of common experimental designs
Authors: Janczyk Markus , Giesen Carina G. , Moeller Birte , Dignath David , Pfister Roland
Published: August 2022

The Theory of Event Coding (TEC) has influenced research on action and perception across the past two decades. It integrates several seminal empirical phenomena and it has continued to stimulate novel experimental approaches on the representational foundations of action control and perceptual experience. Yet, many of the most notable results surrounding TEC originate from an era of psychological research that relied on rather small sample sizes as judged by today’s standards. This state hampers future research aiming to build on previous phenomena. We, therefore, provide a multi-lab re-assessment of the following six classical observations: response-effect compatibility, action-induced blindness, response-effect learning, stimulus–response binding, code occupation, and short-term response-effect binding. Our major goal is to provide precise estimates of corresponding effect sizes to facilitate future scientific endeavors. These effect sizes turned out to be considerably smaller than in the original reports, thus allowing for informed decisions on how to address each phenomenon in future work. Of note, the most relevant results of the original observations were consistently obtained in the present experiments as well.
Possible role of SIRT1 and SIRT3 in post-translational modifications in human breast milk during the neonatal period
Authors: Baskal Svetlana , Beckmann Bibiana , Stahmer Laura , Peter Corinna , Bohnhorst Bettina , Das Anibh Martin , Tsikas Dimitrios
Published: August 2022

We measured free and proteinic concentrations of native and modified amino acids from post-translational modifications (PTMs) and correlated them with the activity of SIRT1 and SIRT3 in the pellet and aqueous phases of human breast milk samples of ten lactating women during the neonatal period. SIRT1 and SIRT3 correlated directly with citrullination, asymmetric dimethylation and glycation of L-arginine, hydroxylation and glycation of L-lysine. SIRT1 and SIRT3 correlated inversely with the hydroxylation of L-proline. SIRT1 and SITR3 tended to correlate inversely with oxidative stress measured as malondialdehyde. Our study suggests that SIRT1 and SIRT3 may modulate PTMs in human breast milk cells.
Das Anti-Synthetase-Syndrom
Authors: Kastrati Kastriot , Lechner-Radner Helga , Gelpi Ellen
Published: August 2022

Das Anti-Synthetase-Syndrom (ASyS) ist eine klinisch heterogene und seltene Autoimmunerkrankung, in der es zur Bildung von Autoantikörpern gegen Aminoacyl-tRNA-Synthetasen kommt. Klinisch findet man klassischerweise die Trias aus Myositis, Arthritis und prognosebestimmender interstitieller Lungenerkrankung. Wir berichten über einen 30-jährigen Patienten mit rezidivierenden Fieberschüben, symmetrischen Gelenkschwellungen, Muskelbeschwerden und progredienter Belastungsdyspnoe, bei dem in Zusammenschau des Nachweises von Anti-Jo-1-Antikörpern die Diagnose eines ASyS gestellt wurde. Unter einer Kombinationstherapie aus Glukokortikoiden und Azathioprin konnte eine Remission der Myositis und Arthritis sowie eine Regredienz der ILD-assoziierten Veränderungen im Thorax-CT erzielt werden. Die frühzeitige Erkennung der Erkrankung und die Bestimmung myositisspezifischer Antikörper sind für die Diagnostik und Prognostik der Erkrankung von zentraler Bedeutung. Betroffene Patient:innen können dadurch rasch einer adäquaten, auf ihre Organmanifestation abgestimmten Therapie zugeführt werden.
Human-in-the-loop machine learning: a state of the art
Authors: Mosqueira-Rey Eduardo , Hernández-Pereira Elena , Alonso-Ríos David , Bobes-Bascarán José , Fernández-Leal Ángel
Published: August 2022

Researchers are defining new types of interactions between humans and machine learning algorithms generically called human-in-the-loop machine learning. Depending on who is in control of the learning process, we can identify: active learning, in which the system remains in control; interactive machine learning, in which there is a closer interaction between users and learning systems; and machine teaching, where human domain experts have control over the learning process. Aside from control, humans can also be involved in the learning process in other ways. In curriculum learning human domain experts try to impose some structure on the examples presented to improve the learning; in explainable AI the focus is on the ability of the model to explain to humans why a given solution was chosen. This collaboration between AI models and humans should not be limited only to the learning process; if we go further, we can see other terms that arise such as Usable and Useful AI. In this paper we review the state of the art of the techniques involved in the new forms of relationship between humans and ML algorithms. Our contribution is not merely listing the different approaches, but to provide definitions clarifying confusing, varied and sometimes contradictory terms; to elucidate and determine the boundaries between the different methods; and to correlate all the techniques searching for the connections and influences between them.
Links between ease of use, perceived usefulness and attitudes towards technology in older people in university: A structural equation modelling approach
Authors: Liesa-Orús Marta , Latorre-Cosculluela Cecilia , Sierra-Sánchez Verónica , Vázquez-Toledo Sandra
Published: August 2022

Technological resources have the potential to improve the quality of life in a context in which social pressure for the use of these tools is increasing. In this sense, the adoption of technological resources by the elderly is a highly complex issue because numerous and varied factors are involved. Precisely for this reason, this study aims to analyze the effects that exist between a series of dimensions related to the perception of older people regarding the ease of use, the perceived usefulness of technological tools, attitudes towards technology and their intention to use them in everyday life. To do this, 415 adults (M = 66.27 years) enrolled in a program at the University of Experience in the Spanish context completed an online questionnaire. The application of a Structural Equations Model for data analysis highlights that the perceived ease of use of the technology has a positive effect on the perceived usefulness of these resources. Similarly, an indirect effect of the perceived usefulness of technology on the intention to use these resources is observed through the manifestation of positive attitudes towards the use of digital tools.
Arithmetic word problem solving. Analysis of Singaporean and Spanish textbooks
Authors: Vicente Santiago , Verschaffel Lieven , Sánchez Rosario , Múñez David
Published: August 2022

The success or failure of education systems in promoting student problem-solving skills depends on attitudinal, political, and pedagogical variables. Among these variables, the design of mathematics textbooks is thought to partially explain why students from high-achieving countries show better problem-solving ability in international assessments. In the current study, we delved into this question and compared the frequency and characteristics of arithmetic word problems (AWPs) contained in primary school math textbooks in two countries with different levels of performance in international assessments—Singapore and Spain. In our analyses, we focused on (1) the quantity of arithmetic word problems, (2) the variety of problems in terms of their additive or multiplicative structures and semantic-mathematical substructures, and (3) the quantity and nature of illustrations that were presented together with arithmetic word problems. Although a larger proportion of AWP activities was found in Singaporean textbooks, the results showed a similar variety of AWPs in both Singaporean and Spanish math textbooks. Furthermore, in both countries, math textbooks emphasized the structures classified as (additive) combine 1 and (multiplication) simple rate in AWPs. Notably, the Singaporean textbook contained a larger percentage of illustrations that reflected the semantic-mathematical structures of the problems and helped students learn how to solve AWPs (e.g., bar models). The findings are discussed in light of theories that posit that textbooks constitute a fundamental part of the teaching–learning process in the classroom.
Effect of anisotropy and boundary conditions on Darcy and Brinkman porous penetrative convection
Authors: Straughan Brian
Published: August 2022

We investigate the effects of anisotropic permeability and changing boundary conditions upon the onset of penetrative convection in a porous medium of Darcy type and of Brinkman type. Attention is focussed on the critical eigenfunctions which show how many convection cells will be found in the porous layer. The number of cells is shown to depend critically upon the ratio of vertical to horizontal permeability, upon the Brinkman coefficient, and upon the upper boundary condition for the velocity which may be of Dirichlet type or constant pressure. The critical Rayleigh numbers and wave numbers are determined, and it is shown how an unconditional threshold for nonlinear stability may be derived.

Highlights

Shows how number of convection cells depends upon the temperature of the upper
layer and the anisotropy of the permeability

Shows how number of convection ceels depends upon the temperature of the upper
layer and the Brinkman coefficient

Shows how number of convection cells patters depends upon the upper boundary
condition on the velocity or the ambient pressure
Strain Measures and Energies for Crimped Fibres and Novel Analytical Expressions for Fibre Populations: Ingredients for Structural Fibre Network Models
Authors: Bleiler Christian , Röhrle Oliver
Published: August 2022

This paper deals with the structural modelling of fibre networks with a focus on the description of populations of initially crimped fibres. It presents a systematic approach of introducing appropriate strain measures for single fibres based on a deformation decomposition and by transferring knowledge from the field of elastoplasticity. On this basis, for example, the often used Biot-type fibre strain measures $\lambda-\lambda_{\mathrm{w}}$
λ
−

λ
w

and $\lambda /\lambda _{\mathrm{w}}-1$
λ
/

λ
w

−
1
, with stretch $\lambda $
λ
and waviness $\lambda _{\mathrm{w}}$

λ
w

, are consistently assigned to different classes of material strain (“additive”) or intermediate strain (“multiplicative”) descriptions, respectively. We review in this work different fibre strain energies based on the different stain measures and present extensive comparisons on the physical implications and the results on the fibre population and network scale. These investigations also include formulations with a Hencky-type energy based on a logarithmic strain. Furthermore, we present novel analytical expressions for fibre populations that make the evaluation of integral expression superfluous and thus lead to a significant reduction in computational time.
Advantages and disadvantages of (dedicated) model transformation languages
Authors: Höppner Stefan , Haas Yves , Tichy Matthias , Juhnke Katharina
Published: August 2022

Context

Model driven development envisages the use of model transformations to evolve models. Model transformation languages, developed for this task, are touted with many benefits over general purpose programming languages. However, a large number of these claims have not yet been substantiated. They are also made without the context necessary to be able to critically assess their merit or built meaningful empirical studies around them.

Objective

The objective of our work is to elicit the reasoning, influences and background knowledge that lead people to assume benefits or drawbacks of model transformation languages.

Method

We conducted a large-scale interview study involving 56 participants from research and industry. Interviewees were presented with claims about model transformation languages and were asked to provide reasons for their assessment thereof. We qualitatively analysed the responses to find factors that influence the properties of model transformation languages as well as explanations as to how exactly they do so.

Results

Our interviews show, that general purpose expressiveness of GPLs, domain specific capabilities of MTLs as well as tooling all have strong influences on how people view properties of model transformation languages. Moreover, the Choice of MTL, the Use Case for which a transformation should be developed as well as the Skill s of involved stakeholders have a moderating effect on the influences, by changing the context to consider.

Conclusion

There is a broad body of experience, that suggests positive and negative influences for properties of MTLs. Our data suggests, that much needs to be done in order to convey the viability of model transformation languages. Efforts to provide more empirical substance need to be undergone and lacklustre language capabilities and tooling need to be improved upon. We suggest several approaches for this that can be based on the results of the presented study.
Cataclysms for Anosov representations
Authors: Pfeil Mareike
Published: August 2022

In this paper, we construct cataclysm deformations for $$\theta $$
θ
-Anosov representations into a semisimple non-compact connected real Lie group G with finite center, where $$\theta \subset \Delta $$

θ
⊂
Δ

is a subset of the simple roots that is invariant under the opposition involution. These generalize Thurston’s cataclysms on Teichmüller space and Dreyer’s cataclysms for Borel-Anosov representations into $$\mathrm {PSL}(n, \mathbb {R})$$

PSL
(
n
,
R
)

. We express the deformation also in terms of the boundary map. Furthermore, we show that cataclysm deformations are additive and behave well with respect to composing a representation with a group homomorphism. Finally, we show that the deformation is injective for Hitchin representations, but not in general for $$\theta $$
θ
-Anosov representations.
Circadian disruption alters gut barrier integrity via a ß-catenin-MMP-related pathway
Authors: Eum Sung Yong , Schurhoff Nicolette , Teglas Timea , Wolff Gretchen , Toborek Michal
Published: August 2022

We evaluated the mechanistic link between circadian rhythms and gut barrier permeability. Mice were subjected to either constant 24-h light (LL) or 12-h light/dark cycles (LD). Mice housed in LL experienced a significant increase in gut barrier permeability that was associated with dysregulated ß-catenin expression and altered expression of tight junction (TJ) proteins. Silencing of ß-catenin resulted in disruption of barrier function in SW480 cells, with ß-catenin appearing to be an upstream regulator of the core circadian components, such as Bmal1, Clock, and Per1/2. In addition, ß-catenin silencing downregulated ZO-1 and occludin TJ proteins with only limited or no changes at their mRNA levels, suggesting post transcriptional regulation. Indeed, silencing of ß-catenin significantly upregulated expression of matrix metallopeptidase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9, and blocking MMP-2/9 activity attenuated epithelial disruption induced by ß-catenin silencing. These results indicate the regulatory role of circadian disruption on gut barrier integrity and the associations between TJ proteins and circadian rhythms, while demonstrating the regulatory role of ß-catenin in this process.
Agenda to adoption: understanding the mechanisms driving fee-free policy development in Sub-Saharan Africa through policy change frameworks
Authors: Asante Gabriel , Gajduschek György , Bartha Attila
Published: August 2022

Policy change frameworks are commonly used to understand policy development processes. However, few studies have attempted to apply these frameworks to the recent popular fee-free policy education at the high school level in Sub-Saharan Africa. Investigating fee-free policy development through policy change frameworks can assist both in identifying the genesis of past policies, including who the important actors are, how issues are framed and problematised, and how specific solutions are designed, as well as how to interpret unfolding policies. In this article, we review three prominent policy change frameworks: Baumgartner and Jones’ “punctuated equilibrium framework,” Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith’s “advocacy coalition framework,” and Kingdon’s “multiple streams framework.” After reviewing the frameworks, we apply them to two fee-free policies in Ghana which are Progressive Free Senior High School and Free Senior High School policies to understand the drivers of fee-free policy change. From the socio-political background, three main concepts were derived from these policy change frameworks deducing from the basic assumptions of these theories. They are domestic politics, political and policy entrepreneurs, and socio-economic dynamics. The results show that fee-free policies are largely driven by domestic politics and political and policy entrepreneurs in political executive positions. Factors under socio-economic dynamics are only scope conditions that are not significant to trigger the adoption of a fee-free policy.
Praxeological Enactivism vs. Radical Enactivism: Reply to Hutto
Authors: Weichold Martin , Rucińska Zuzanna
Published: August 2022

In his recent paper “Getting Real About Pretense: A Radical Enactivist Proposal”, Daniel Hutto raises several objections against our so-called praxeological enactivist account of pretense (Weichold & Rucińska 2022). He argues that one should, instead, adopt his radical enactivist explanation of pretend play. In this short reply, we defend our praxeological enactivist account against his objections, and argue that it has crucial advantages over his radical enactivist alternative.
Explanation, Enaction and Naturalised Phenomenology
Authors: Stendera Marilyn
Published: August 2022

This paper explores the implications of conceptualising phenomenology as explanatory for the ongoing dialogue between the phenomenological tradition and cognitive science, especially enactive approaches to cognition. The first half of the paper offers three interlinked arguments: Firstly, that differentiating between phenomenology and the natural sciences by designating one as descriptive and the other as explanatory undermines opportunities for the kind of productive friction that is required for genuine ‘mutual enlightenment’. Secondly, that conceiving of phenomenology as descriptive rather than explanatory risks committing us to what Zahavi (2019) identifies as the error of equating the phenomenological with the phenomenal. Finally, that the erroneous reduction to the descriptive occludes the rich resources that the phenomenological tradition can contribute to investigations of non-human cognition. The second half of the paper then turns to focus specifically on the promising relationship between phenomenology and enactive approaches to cognition. It will suggest that phenomenology must be seen as having explanatory capacities if it is to shed light on the structures of “mind in life” (Thompson, 2007), before drawing on the model of explanation put forward by Louis Sass to explore what this might look like.
“Trust Me, I’m a Scientist”
Authors: Blancke Stefaan , Boudry Maarten
Published: August 2022

Modern democratic societies tend to appeal to the authority of science when dealing with important challenges and solving their problems. Nevertheless, distrust in science remains widespread among the public, and, as a result, scientific voices are often ignored or discarded in favour of other perspectives. Though superficially “democratic”, such a demotion of science in fact hinders democratic societies in effectively tackling their problems. Worryingly, some philosophers have provided ammunition to this distrust and scepticism of science. They either portray science as an institution that has unrightfully seized political power, or they claim that science constitutes only one voice among many and that scientists should know their proper place in our societies. As philosophers of science, we believe that it is potentially dangerous to undermine trust in science in this way. Instead, we believe that philosophers should help people to understand why science, even though it is far from perfect, deserves our trust and its special standing in modern societies. In this paper, we outline what such an explanation may look like from a naturalistic and pragmatic perspective, and we discuss the implications for the role of philosophy of science in science education.
Combining informetrics and trend analysis to understand past and current directions in electronic design automation
Authors: Curiac Christian-Daniel , Doboli Alex
Published: August 2022

There has been increasing interest in the study of research communities with the goal of optimizing their outcomes and impact. While current methods can predict future trends, they offer little insight about the causes of the trends. However, causal insight is important for strategic decision making to improve a community. This paper presents a new method to predict the possible causes for inefficiencies in a community by relating them to disconnections between trends, like trends in the number of publications, patents, citations, and so on. The method combines traditional scientometric and webometric metrics and metric predictions with a recent model for trend analysis in a community. The proposed method was used to analyze electronic design automation (EDA) domain. The analysis showed intriguing disconnections between the trends of the number of papers, number of granted patents, and impact of its main publications. The analysis suggests a slightly decreasing impact and visibility of EDA, while having less novel, commonly-accepted knowledge in the area. The gained insight suggests three possible strategic decisions to improve EDA community: avoiding to ignore new ideas, reducing the complexity of framed problems, and keeping a minimal gap between real-life needs and academic solutions.
Numbers of publications and citations for researchers in fields pertinent to the social services: a comparison of peer-reviewed journal publications across six disciplines
Authors: Madison Guy , Sundell Knut
Published: August 2022

Timely dissemination of knowledge is essential and fosters development of knowledge both within academe and the wider society, not least for knowledge that serves practises outside of academia. Here, we compare six disciplines which provide health-related knowledge that serve the health and social services. Most previous research compares the size and impact of the body of publications belonging to each discipline, which ignores the distribution of seniority, productivity, and impact amongst researchers. Instead, we consider the whole population of academics in Sweden employed or active within each discipline, including those who have nil publications. The disciplines form three clusters, where researchers in Public Health and Nursing and Caring science claim about 15 articles per author, Psychology about 10, and Education, Sociology and Social Work less than four. Their numbers of citations follow the same pattern, and are substantially correlated with the number of articles. Tenured or full professors had about 50% more publications and citations per publication than had associate professors. The distributions indicate clear modes at 0, 4, and 16 publications for each cluster, and provide the proportions of researchers within each discipline who have no such publications at all. We discuss the implications of these results for policy, practice, and knowledge quality in the social services and the welfare sector.
Phrenic nerve stimulation for the treatment of central sleep apnea in patients with heart failure
Authors: Wang Youmeng , Schoebel Juliane , Han Jinming , Kraemer Jan F. , Toncar Theresa , Siegert Jacob , Penzel Thomas , Schöbel Christoph
Published: August 2022

Objective

Central sleep apnea (CSA) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure (HF). We aimed to explore the effectiveness of phrenic nerve stimulation (PNS) on CSA in patients with HF.

Methods

This was a prospective and non-randomized study. The stimulation lead was inserted into the right brachiocephalic vein and attached to a proprietary neurostimulator. Monitoring was conducted during the implantation process, and all individuals underwent two-night polysomnography.

Results

A total of nine subjects with HF and CSA were enrolled in our center. There was a significant decrease in the apnea–hypopnea index (41 ± 18 vs 29 ± 25, p = 0.02) and an increase in mean arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) (93% ± 1% vs 95% ± 2%, p = 0.03) after PNS treatment. We did not observe any significant differences of oxygen desaturation index (ODI) and SaO2 < 90% (T90) following PNS. Unilateral phrenic nerve stimulation might also categorically improve the severity of sleep apnea.

Conclusion

In our non-randomized study, PNS may serve as a therapeutic approach for CSA in patients with HF.
Looking at individual symptoms: the dynamic network structure of depressive symptoms in cancer survivors and their preferences for psychological care
Authors: Bickel E. A. , Schellekens M. P. J. , Smink J. G. , Mul V. E. M. , Ranchor A. V. , Fleer J. , Schroevers M. J.
Published: August 2022

Purpose

The majority of depressed cancer survivors do not receive psychological care, possibly because offered care does not align with their experiences and preferences. We examined (1) which depressive symptoms cancer survivors would like to receive psychological care for; (2) how distinct depressive symptoms are related to each other in the contemporaneous and temporal network of depressive symptoms; and (3) whether survivors’ care needs correspond to the interconnectedness of these specific symptoms.

Method

Fifty-two cancer survivors suffering from at least mild depressive symptoms and were not receiving psychological care filled out a baseline questionnaire about their care needs for distinct depressive symptoms, followed by ecological momentary assessments (EMA) assessing depressive symptoms (14 days, five times a day). Multi-level vector autoregression analysis was used to estimate associations between distinct depressive symptoms as well as their centrality within the network.

Results

Cancer survivors most strongly preferred to receive care for fatigue, feeling down, little enjoyment, and sleep problems. Fatigue, together with worry and lack of concentration, most strongly predicted the onset of other symptoms. Little enjoyment and feeling down were two of the most central symptoms (i.e., strongly connected to other symptoms) in the contemporaneous network and were most strongly influenced by other symptoms in the temporal network.

Conclusions

Clinicians can offer specific interventions that target fatigue, as these played an important role in the onset of symptoms and would align with survivors’ needs.

Implications for Cancer Survivors

Offering such symptom-specific care may increase the uptake of psychological interventions in cancer survivors.