bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Towards Achieving Sustainable Environmental Efficiency: Rationalizing Energy used in Educational Buildings of University Campus
Authors: Elkabany Sara N. , Elrashidey Marwa M.
Published: January 2024

The research deals with a practical and analytical study comparing the use of the computer program for digital simulation, Design Builder, to calculate the amount of energy consumption in buildings, as the aim of the research is to conclude the most influential architectural elements in reducing energy consumption in the typical building of Al-Azhar College of Engineering for Girls (CEG). This is done by calculating the amount of energy consumption of the college building with its existing specifications while making architectural modifications to the building to conclude which elements have an impact on reducing energy consumption under the influence of the climatic conditions of the city of Cairo. These architectural elements include treating the glass surfaces and curtain walls in the building and increasing the operating temperature of the air conditioners to cool the building, as it is clear from the simulation results that the greatest reduction in the building’s cooling load is by 40%. The research concludes with recommendations that contribute to energy rationalization in educational buildings on campus, thus achieving efficiency in the internal and external environment.
Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Passive Design Strategies in Achieving Thermal Comfort in Residential Buildings in Egypt
Authors: Gindi Salwa El
Published: January 2024

This study aims at thermal comfort improvement in residential buildings through utilization of passive design strategies and energy efficiency measures. The study investigates the impact of passive strategies on thermal comfort in hot dry climate of Egypt. A climatic analysis of three cities: Aswan, Cairo and Alexandria was conducted to examine passive design strategies’ efficacy. Thermal comfort in a residential building was examined by DesignBuilder simulation software. Annual simulations were performed on the model where several passive design strategies were applied. Passive design strategies’ potential was quantified and a parametric analysis was conducted for thermal comfort improvement. The results demonstrate that applying passive design strategies can be effective in reducing discomfort hours in hot climate. Comfort hours could be increased from 22.6% to 33.1 % in Aswan, while in Cairo can be increased from 31.1% to 38.6 %, and in Alexandria from 36.9% to 46 %. The research findings could be used by architects for thermal comfort improvement in residential buildings.
Investigation of the Performance of Zero Energy Homes in Hot Climates
Authors: Gindi Salwa El
Published: January 2024

Globally, the rate at which buildings use resources and energy has been rising. Due to population growth, rise in living standard, and global warming, strategies for energy conservation have been adopted lately in zero energy buildings. Over the past decade, the energy consumption in constructions has increased at an unprecedented rate. Therefore, it is of great importance to mandate energy rationalization in building construction. This research investigates the impact of applying zero energy concept in homes in Egypt. The study begins by analysing the current situation of the energy sector and existing buildings in Egypt, the NZEB concept is defined and its different aspects are highlighted. Energy simulation by DesignBuilder simulation software is used to evaluate energy performance for a residential single family house model after applying Passive and Active design strategies. A number of energy saving strategies have been examined to optimize the building envelope with minimum energy requirements. The building energy consumption was reduced when various energy efficient strategies were combined. Besides utilizing energy efficient HVAC systems. a solar PV system is installed to meet the reduced energy. The case study was transformed into a zero-energy house. Results show that passive and active techniques can be dependable for steady energy production in buildings in hot dry regions.
Humanising Commercial Streets as a Tool for Social Sustainability
Authors: El Hama N. , Helmy M.
Published: January 2024

Commercial Streets are the beating heart of any city, the hubs of leisure, business, and social gatherings, in which they also reflect cultures and be used to assess the level of well-being of citizens. Recently, due to the world population increase and other various factors, such as excessive urbanism and the domination of vehicle movement over pedestrianization rights, some commercial streets suffer from dehumanisation causes and symptoms. Those vary between substandard planning and construction, inhospitable landscaping, and excessive visual pollution, among other causes and symptoms. Thus, this research investigates various Humanisation strategies adopted worldwide. It discusses the potential of applying technological, spatial/physical, and social strategies to (re)Humanise commercial streets, using Othman Ibn Affan Street in Heliopolis as an applied case study. It suggests a rating system that could be adopted to measure the standard expected qualities of commercial streets. The research follows a mixed-method approach and uses various research tools, such as literature review, archival, critical analysis, observation study, and survey questionnaire to achieve its aim, which is creating a theoretical framework to achieve the Humanisation qualities in commercial streets. Through a critical discussion, the research determines in its developed framework that a combination of several defined Humanisation qualities is needed to (re)create Humanised commercial streets.
Assessing the Efficacy of Spatial Planning and Architecture in New Cities: A Case Study of Galala City and Its Implications for Responsible Urban Development
Authors: Mahgoub Y
Published: January 2024

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used in the planning and construction of new responsible cities and to determine whether or not the stated objectives are being met. As a case study, Galala City provided insights into the efficacy of implementing the principles of responsible cities and served as a reference for similar projects. The evaluation encompassed an examination of diverse elements, including social, economic, and environmental considerations, in order to ascertain the degree to which the theory has been effectively implemented and its influence on both the city and its inhabitants. The research findings indicated that a critical first move in the development of new cities should involve the establishment of robust governance structures and institutions. It is essential to provide a variety of housing choices to accommodate different economic groups, promoting inclusiveness. Additionally, addressing the housing, commercial, and recreational requirements of low-skilled workers throughout the construction and post-construction phases is vital. Emphasizing the creation of employment opportunities and business prospects emerges as a fundamental principle for drawing and retaining permanent residents. Examining how well the Responsible Cities theory works in practice, using Galala City as a case study, has the potential to enhance the field of urban planning and architecture. This, in turn, can promote the creation of cities worldwide that are not only more sustainable but also more inclusive.
Urban Monitoring Indicators as a Mechanism for Evaluating Urban Development in New Cities in Egypt
Authors: Youssef O R , Hafez H
Published: January 2024

Urban monitoring is one of the most important mechanisms for controlling and managing urban development. This research paper illustrates the importance of urban monitoring which lies in its ability to produce statistics and indicators that are essential for supporting decision-making, as well as monitoring the comprehensive development process by providing an objective picture of the city’s state. Urban indicators provide a standardized view that can be calculated and integrated into equations and compared periodically with other cities, giving a clear picture of the city’s state. The research discusses the success of development operations in new cities, which depends on understanding the current and future developmental needs of the population, anticipating them by developing appropriate plans, programs, and implementation mechanisms to achieve them, providing them within the specified timeframe, and then monitoring the performance of the programs and plans and the extent to which they have achieved their set goals. From this perspective, the idea of measuring development in urban communities emerged, and its importance appeared in collecting the necessary data on all aspects of development in the city, issuing urban indicators periodically, and converting them into knowledge that clarifies the reality of the situation for planners and decision-makers.
Fractal surface-based three-dimensional modeling to study the role of morphology and physiology in human skin friction
Authors: Roy Ashutosh , Vemaganti Kumar
Published: January 2024

Human skin plays an important role in our perception of contact made throughout the day. In this work, we study the interplay of various morphological and physiological factors that dictate its contact mechanics. A hybrid computational-empirical approach is developed to model skin friction and to understand the role of roughness in contact mechanics of human skin variations in structural properties. A fractal rough surface is considered to model the skin surface. A layered three-dimensional finite element model is generated with stratum corneum, viable epidermis, and dermis which is further used to determine its mechanical response under normal loading. An empirical relationship is then used to predict the coefficient of friction. The effects of varying the Young's modulus, roughness parameters, thickness of stratum corneum and domain size are studied. Simulations are performed for multiple realizations to quantify statistical variations. Our results show that the proposed approach can replicate several experimental findings from the literature such as the decrease in skin friction with humidity and increasing roughness. The study provides qualitative and quantitative insight into the role of roughness in the contact mechanics of human skin while accounting for the effects of micro-level interfacial phenomena.
Bearing fault diagnosis based on the feature enhancement of improved mean differential SDP images★
Authors: Wang Wei , Sun Yongjian
Published: January 2024

In the fault diagnosis of mechanical equipment, vibrational signals often contain noise. In order to solve the problem of rolling bearing fault diagnosis under the influence of noise, an image enhancement method based on mean difference images is proposed. Convert one-dimensional time series into two-dimensional image data by using the symmetrized dot pattern method. The data are processed and grouped by variational mode decomposition to obtain a mean image with stable features. A feature enhancement method based on improved mean difference images is used to achieve data mining of fault features. The improved Canberra distance is used as the classification basis to realize the accurate classification of rolling bearing faults. Finally, the classification effect of the method is verified by experiments. The experimental results show that the image enhancement method proposed in this paper can improve fault features in the image and has a good anti-noise ability.
Ten years of generative adversarial nets (GANs): a survey of the state-of-the-art
Authors: Chakraborty Tanujit , Reddy K S Ujjwal , Naik Shraddha M , Panja Madhurima , Manvitha Bayapureddy
Published: January 2024

Generative adversarial networks (GANs) have rapidly emerged as powerful tools for generating realistic and diverse data across various domains, including computer vision and other applied areas, since their inception in 2014. Consisting of a discriminative network and a generative network engaged in a minimax game, GANs have revolutionized the field of generative modeling. In February 2018, GAN secured the leading spot on the ‘Top Ten Global Breakthrough Technologies List’ issued by the Massachusetts Science and Technology Review. Over the years, numerous advancements have been proposed, leading to a rich array of GAN variants, such as conditional GAN, Wasserstein GAN, cycle-consistent GAN, and StyleGAN, among many others. This survey aims to provide a general overview of GANs, summarizing the latent architecture, validation metrics, and application areas of the most widely recognized variants. We also delve into recent theoretical developments, exploring the profound connection between the adversarial principle underlying GAN and Jensen–Shannon divergence while discussing the optimality characteristics of the GAN framework. The efficiency of GAN variants and their model architectures will be evaluated along with training obstacles as well as training solutions. In addition, a detailed discussion will be provided, examining the integration of GANs with newly developed deep learning frameworks such as transformers, physics-informed neural networks, large language models, and diffusion models. Finally, we reveal several issues as well as future research outlines in this field.
Tropical glacier loss in East Africa: recent areal extents on Kilimanjaro, Mount Kenya, and in the Rwenzori Range from high-resolution remote sensing data
Authors: Hinzmann Anne , Mölg Thomas , Braun Matthias , Cullen Nicolas J , Hardy Douglas R , Kaser Georg , Prinz Rainer
Published: January 2024

Over recent decades, the retreat of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers has been portrayed as a beacon of climate change. The decline of glaciers over the 20th century, however, is evident for all tropical glaciers in East Africa, including those found on Mount Kenya and in the Rwenzori Range. More recent studies have focused on Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya but the Rwenzori Range has not been considered for nearly two decades, which introduces an uncertainty about the remaining glacierization in East Africa. Therefore, the present study provides insights into the most recent glacier extents of all three mountain regions using a manual, multitemporal analysis of high-resolution satellite images for the years 2021/2022. The glacierization in East Africa is estimated to be 1.36 km2, with a glacier area of 0.98 km2 on Kilimanjaro, 0.069 km2 on Mount Kenya and 0.38 km2 in the Rwenzori Range. The uncertainty is determined to be within 12.5%. Compared to previous estimations, the overall area has declined by more than a half of its early 21st century extent. Being mainly controlled by high-altitude hygric seasonality, these glaciers are particularly valuable indicators of tropical climate variability and climate change.
Automorphic spectra and the conformal bootstrap
Authors: Kravchuk Petr , Mazáč Dalimil , Pal Sridip
Published: January 2024

We describe a new method for constraining Laplacian spectra of hyperbolic surfaces and 2-orbifolds. The main ingredient is consistency of the spectral decomposition of integrals of products of four automorphic forms. Using a combination of representation theory of

P
S
L

2

(

R

)

\mathrm {PSL}_2(\mathbb {R})

and semidefinite programming, the method yields rigorous upper bounds on the Laplacian spectral gap. In several examples, the bound is nearly sharp. For instance, our bound on all genus-2 surfaces is

λ
1

≤
3.8388976481

\lambda _1\leq 3.8388976481

, while the Bolza surface has

λ
1

≈
3.838887258

\lambda _1\approx 3.838887258

. The bounds also allow us to determine the set of spectral gaps attained by all hyperbolic 2-orbifolds. Our methods can be generalized to higher-dimensional hyperbolic manifolds and to yield stronger bounds in the two-dimensional case. The ideas were closely inspired by modern conformal bootstrap.
Few hamiltonian cycles in graphs with one or two vertex degrees
Authors: Goedgebeur Jan , Jooken Jorik , Lo On-Hei Solomon , Seamone Ben , Zamfirescu Carol
Published: January 2024

Inspired by Sheehan’s conjecture that no

4
4

-regular graph contains exactly one hamiltonian cycle, we prove results on hamiltonian cycles in regular graphs and nearly regular graphs. We fully disprove a conjecture of Haythorpe on the minimum number of hamiltonian cycles in regular hamiltonian graphs, thereby extending a result of Zamfirescu, as well as correct and complement Haythorpe’s computational enumerative results from [Exp. Math. 27 (2018), no. 4, 426–430]. Thereafter, we use the Lovász Local Lemma to extend Thomassen’s independent dominating set method. This extension allows us to find a second hamiltonian cycle that inherits linearly many edges from the first hamiltonian cycle. Regarding the limitations of this method, we answer a question of Haxell, Seamone, and Verstraete, and settle the first open case of a problem of Thomassen by showing that for

k
∈
{
5
,
6
}

k \in \{5, 6\}

there exist infinitely many

k
k

-regular hamiltonian graphs having no independent dominating set with respect to a prescribed hamiltonian cycle. Motivated by an observation of Aldred and Thomassen, we prove that for every

κ
∈
{
2
,
3
}

\kappa \in \{ 2, 3 \}

and any positive integer

k
k

, there are infinitely many non-regular graphs of connectivity 

κ
\kappa

containing exactly one hamiltonian cycle and in which every vertex has degree

3
3

or

2
k

2k

.
Pairs of continuous linear bijective maps preserving fixed products of operators
Authors: Costara Constantin
Published: January 2024

Let

X
X

be a complex Banach space, and denote by

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}(X)

the algebra of all bounded linear operators on

X
X

. Let

C
,
D
∈

B

(
X
)

C,D\in \mathcal {B} \left ( X\right )

be fixed operators. In this paper, we characterize linear, continuous and bijective maps

φ
\varphi

and

ψ
\psi

on

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}\left ( X\right )

for which there exist invertible operators

T
0

,

W
0

∈

B

(
X
)

T_0, W_0 \in \mathcal { B}(X)

such that

φ
(

T
0

)
,
ψ
(

W
0

)
∈

B

(
X
)

\varphi (T_0), \psi (W_0) \in \mathcal {B}(X)

are both invertible, having the property that

φ

(
A
)

ψ

(
B
)

=
D

\varphi \left ( A\right ) \psi \left ( B\right ) =D

in

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}(X)

whenever

A
B
=
C

AB=C

in

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}(X)

. As a corollary, we deduce the form of linear, bijective and continuous maps

φ
\varphi

on

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}(X)

having the property that

φ

(
A
)

φ

(
B
)

=
D

\varphi \left ( A\right ) \varphi \left ( B\right ) =D

in

B

(
X
)

\mathcal {B}(X)

whenever

A
B
=
C

AB=C

.
On unital absorbing extensions of C*-algebras of stable rank one and real rank zero
Authors: An Qingnan , Liu Zhichao
Published: January 2024

Suppose that

B
B

is a separable stable

C
∗

C^*

-algebra with real rank zero, stable rank one and

(

K

0

(
B
)
,

K

0
+

(
B
)
)

(\mathrm {K}_0(B), \mathrm {K}_0^+(B))

is weakly unperforated in the sense of Elliott [Internat. J. Math. 1 (1990), no. 4, pp. 361–380]. Let

A
A

be a unital simple separable nuclear

C

∗

\mathrm {C}^*

-algebra. We show that

B
B

has the corona factorization property and any unital extension of

A
A

by

B
B

is absorbing.
Periodicity of the pure mapping class group of non-orientable surfaces
Authors: Colin Nestor , Jiménez Rolland Rita , Xicoténcatl Miguel
Published: January 2024

We show that the pure mapping class group

N

g

k

\mathcal {N}_{g}^{k}

of a non-orientable closed surface of genus

g
⩾
2

g\geqslant 2

with

k
⩾
1

k\geqslant 1

marked points has

p
p

-periodic cohomology for each odd prime

p
p

for which

N

g

k

\mathcal {N}_{g}^{k}

has

p
p

-torsion. Using the Yagita invariant and cohomology classes obtained from some representations of subgroups of order

p
p

, we obtain that the

p
p

-period is less or equal than

4
4

when

g
⩾
3

g\geqslant 3

and

k
⩾
1

k\geqslant 1

. Moreover, combining the Nielsen realization theorem and a characterization of the

p
p

-period given in terms of normalizers and centralizers of cyclic subgroups of order

p
p

, we show that the

p
p

-period of

N

g

k

\mathcal {N}_{g}^{k}

is bounded below by

4
4

, whenever

N

g

k

\mathcal {N}_{g}^{k}

has

p
p

-periodic cohomology,

g
⩾
3

g\geqslant 3

and

k
⩾
0

k\geqslant 0

. These results provide partial answers to questions proposed by G. Hope and U. Tillmann.
On decorated representation spaces associated to spherical surfaces
Authors: Mondello Gabriele , Panov Dmitri
Published: January 2024

We give a short proof of a well-known criterion for the existence of polygons in

S

3

\mathbb S^3

with given edge lengths.
CMC-1 surfaces via osculating Möbius transformations between circle patterns
Authors: Lam Wai Yeung
Published: January 2024

Given two circle patterns of the same combinatorics in the plane, the Möbius transformations mapping circumdisks of one to the other induce a

P
S
L
(
2
,

C

)

PSL(2,\mathbb {C})

-valued function on the dual graph. Such a function plays the role of an osculating Möbius transformation and induces a realization of the dual graph in hyperbolic space. We characterize the realizations and obtain a one-to-one correspondence in the cases that the two circle patterns share the same discrete conformal structure. These correspondences are analogous to the Weierstrass representation for surfaces with constant mean curvature

H
≡
1

H\equiv 1

in hyperbolic space. We further establish convergence on triangular lattices.
Evidence for novel mechanisms that control cell-cycle entry and cell size
Authors: Brambila Amanda , Prichard Beth E. , DeWitt Jerry T. , Kellogg Douglas R.
Published: January 2024

Entry into the cell cycle in late G1 phase occurs only when sufficient growth has occurred. In budding yeast, a cyclin called Cln3 is thought to link cell-cycle entry to cell growth. Cln3 accumulates during growth in early G1 phase and eventually helps trigger expression of late G1 phase cyclins that drive cell-cycle entry. All current models for cell-cycle entry assume that expression of late G1 phase cyclins is initiated at the transcriptional level. Current models also assume that the sole function of Cln3 in cell-cycle entry is to promote transcription of late G1 phase cyclins, and that Cln3 works solely in G1 phase. Here, we show that cell cycle−dependent expression of the late G1 phase cyclin Cln2 does not require any functions of the CLN2 promoter. Moreover, Cln3 can influence accumulation of Cln2 protein via posttranscriptional mechanisms. Finally, we show that Cln3 has functions in mitosis that strongly influence cell size. Together, these discoveries reveal the existence of surprising new mechanisms that challenge current models for control of cell-cycle entry and cell size.
Lysosomal membrane proteins LAMP1 and LIMP2 are segregated in the Golgi apparatus independently of their clathrin adaptor binding motif
Authors: Ecard Jason , Lian Yen-Ling , Divoux Séverine , Gouveia Zelia , Vigne Emmanuelle , Perez Franck , Boncompain Gaelle
Published: January 2024

To reach the lysosome, lysosomal membrane proteins (LMPs) are translocated in the endoplasmic reticulum after synthesis and then transported to the Golgi apparatus. The existence of a direct transport from the Golgi apparatus to the endosomes but also of an indirect route through the plasma membrane has been described. Clathrin adaptor binding motifs contained in the cytosolic tail of LMPs have been described as key players in their intracellular trafficking. Here we used the RUSH assay to synchronize the biosynthetic transport of multiple LMPs. After exiting the Golgi apparatus, RUSH-synchronized LAMP1 was addressed to the cell surface both after overexpression or at endogenous level. Its YXXΦ motif was not involved in the transport from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane but in its endocytosis. LAMP1 and LIMP2 were sorted from each other after reaching the Golgi apparatus. LIMP2 was incorporated in punctate structures for export from the Golgi apparatus from which LAMP1 is excluded. LIMP2-containing post-Golgi transport intermediates did not rely neither on its adaptor binding signal nor on its C-terminal cytoplasmic domain.
‘Out of Africa’ origin of the pantropical staghorn fern genus Platycerium (Polypodiaceae) supported by plastid phylogenomics and biogeographical analysis
Authors: Xue Bine , Huang Erfeng , Zhao Guohua , Wei Ran , Song Zhuqiu , Zhang Xianchun , Yao Gang
Published: January 2024

Background and Aims

The staghorn fern genus Platycerium is one of the most commonly grown ornamental ferns, and it evolved to occupy a typical pantropical intercontinental disjunction. However, species-level relationships in the genus have not been well resolved, and the spatiotemporal evolutionary history of the genus also needs to be explored.

Methods

Plastomes of all the 18 Platycerium species were newly sequenced. Using plastome data, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships among Polypodiaceae members with a focus on Platycerium species, and further conducted molecular dating and biogeographical analyses of the genus.

Key Results

The present analyses yielded a robustly supported phylogenetic hypothesis of Platycerium. Molecular dating results showed that Platycerium split from its sister genus Hovenkampia ~35.2 million years ago (Ma) near the Eocene–Oligocene boundary and began to diverge ~26.3 Ma during the late Oligocene, while multiple speciation events within Platycerium occurred during the middle to late Miocene. Biogeographical analysis suggested that Platycerium originated in tropical Africa and then dispersed eastward to southeast Asia–Australasia and westward to neotropical areas.

Conclusions

Our analyses using a plastid phylogenomic approach improved our understanding of the species-level relationships within Platycerium. The global climate changes of both the Late Oligocene Warming and the cooling following the mid-Miocene Climate Optimum may have promoted the speciation of Platycerium, and transoceanic long-distance dispersal is the most plausible explanation for the pantropical distribution of the genus today. Our study investigating the biogeographical history of Platycerium provides a case study not only for the formation of the pantropical intercontinental disjunction of this fern genus but also the ‘out of Africa’ origin of plant lineages.
scMAE: a masked autoencoder for single-cell RNA-seq clustering
Authors: Fang Zhaoyu , Zheng Ruiqing , Li Min
Published: January 2024

Motivation

Single-cell RNA sequencing has emerged as a powerful technology for studying gene expression at the individual cell level. Clustering individual cells into distinct subpopulations is fundamental in scRNA-seq data analysis, facilitating the identification of cell types and exploration of cellular heterogeneity. Despite the recent development of many deep learning-based single-cell clustering methods, few have effectively exploited the correlations among genes, resulting in suboptimal clustering outcomes.

Results

Here, we propose a novel masked autoencoder-based method, scMAE, for cell clustering. scMAE perturbs gene expression and employs a masked autoencoder to reconstruct the original data, learning robust and informative cell representations. The masked autoencoder introduces a masking predictor, which captures relationships among genes by predicting whether gene expression values are masked. By integrating this masking mechanism, scMAE effectively captures latent structures and dependencies in the data, enhancing clustering performance. We conducted extensive comparative experiments using various clustering evaluation metrics on 15 scRNA-seq datasets from different sequencing platforms. Experimental results indicate that scMAE outperforms other state-of-the-art methods on these datasets. In addition, scMAE accurately identifies rare cell types, which are challenging to detect due to their low abundance. Furthermore, biological analyses confirm the biological significance of the identified cell subpopulations.

Availability and implementation

The source code of scMAE is available at: https://zenodo.org/records/10465991.
Evaluation of a novel patient-specific quality assurance phantom for robotic single-isocentre, multiple-target stereotactic radiosurgery, and stereotactic radiotherapy
Authors: Xu Qianyi , Vinogradskiy Yevgeniy , Grimm Jimm , Nie Wei , Dupre Pamela , Chawla Ashish K , Bajaj Gopal , Yang Haihua , LaCouture Tamara , Fan Jiajin
Published: January 2024

Objectives

To evaluate patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) of 3 targets in a single delivery using a novel film-based phantom.

Methods

The phantom was designed to rotate freely as a sphere and could measure 3 targets with film in a single delivery. After identifying the coordinates of 3 targets in the skull, the rotation angles about the equator and meridian were computed for optimal phantom setup, ensuring the film plane intersected the 3 targets. The plans were delivered on the CyberKnife system using fiducial tracking. The irradiated films were scanned and processed. All films were analysed using 3 gamma criteria.

Results

Fifteen CyberKnife test plans with 3 different modalities were delivered on the phantom. Both automatic and marker-based registration methods were applied when registering the irradiated film and dose plane. Gamma analysis was performed using a 3%/1 mm, 2%/1 mm, and 1%/1 mm criteria with a 10% threshold. For the automatic registration method, the passing rates were 98.2% ± 1.9%, 94.2% ± 3.7%, and 80.9% ± 6.3%, respectively. For the marker-based registration approach, the passing rates were 96.4% ± 2.7%, 91.7% ± 4.3%, and 78.4% ± 6.2%, respectively.

Conclusions

A novel spherical phantom was evaluated for the CyberKnife system and achieved acceptable PSQA passing rates using TG218 recommendations. The phantom can measure true-composite dose and offers high-resolution results for PSQA, making it a valuable device for robotic radiosurgery.

Advances in knowledge

This is the first study on PSQA of 3 targets concurrently on the CyberKnife system.
Dermatopathology
Authors: Dhiman Avita , Daroach Manju , Chauhan Payal
Published: January 2024

A 30-year-old man with Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV presented with an asymptomatic slowly enlarging lesion on his chest over the past year that on examination showed multiple erythematous papules and nodulo-plaques on an extended plaque-like base over the upper part of the chest.

A 30-year-old man with Fitzpatrick skin phototype IV presented with an asymptomatic, slowly enlarging lesion on his chest over the past year. On examination, there were multiple erythematous papules and nodulo-plaques on an extended plaque-like base over the upper part of the chest (Figure 1a). Upon palpation, the lesions were firm and nontender. There was no history of trauma or previous procedures in the chest area. Histopathology revealed interstitial spindle cell proliferation in a storiform pattern and focal subcutis infiltration (Figure 1b, c).
The Monarchy-led Urban Development: Lessons from Bangkok’s Planning Regime
Authors: Leelapatana Rawin
Published: January 2024

Although royal absolutism was abolished on 24 June 1932, much infrastructure, including many roads and public facilities in the capital, Bangkok, is said to be the products of royal initiatives of his majesty the king. Ostensibly, the construction of such infrastructure was delivered, especially from the 1970s onwards, by a constitutional rather than an executive monarch and even against the presence of democratization and the Western-style urban planning regime. Such construction was put into operation by either the royal institution, a State organ, or individual royalist elites in honour of the king. As a result, these structures become visible symbols of public loyalty to the sacred throne as well as the king’s graciousness and altruism towards the people. I call this royal-initiated form of urban development ‘the monarchy-led urban development’ (MUD). In this paper, I argue that to implement the MUD in democratizing Thailand, the monarchy must move away from operating blatantly outside the law and instead seek recourse to it. Written constitutions, planning law instruments, and non-planning law instruments are integral for turning the abstract constitutional ideology of royal nationalism into concrete reality, while also lending a veneer of legality to royal prerogative in urban planning. Two main consequences of the legal implementation of the MUD are to be analysed: its legal accountability and the effectuation of town planning.
Estimating the Cost of Capital and the Profit Share
Authors: van Vlokhoven Has
Published: January 2024

Capital costs are not directly observed since firms own part of their capital stock. I show under which assumptions variation in firms’ input choices reveals the user cost of capital. Using Compustat data for the United States, I find that the costs of tangible capital as a share of output have not been increasing, while economic profits have been increasing over the past 50 years from around 4% to around 9% of sales. About three-quarters of the fall in the labour share is associated with a rise in profits and the remainder is associated with a rise in intangible intensity.
On-table extubation is associated with reduced intensive care unit stay and hospitalization after trans-axillary minimally invasive mitral valve surgery
Authors: Malvindi Pietro Giorgio , Bifulco Olimpia , Berretta Paolo , Galeazzi Michele , Zingaro Carlo , D’Alfonso Alessandro , Zahedi Hossein M , Munch Christopher , Di Eusanio Marco
Published: January 2024

OBJECTIVES

Few data are available regarding early extubation after mitral valve surgery. We sought to assess the impact of an enhanced recovery after surgery-based protocol—ultra-fast-track protocol—in patients undergoing minimally invasive transaxillary mitral valve surgery.

METHODS

Data of patients who underwent transaxillary mitral valve surgery associated with ultra-fast-track protocol between 2018 and 2023 were reviewed. We compared preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data of patients who had fast-track extubation (≤6 h since the end of the procedure) and non-fast-track extubation (>6 h) and, within the fast-track group, patients who underwent on-table extubation and patients who were extubated in intensive care unit within 6 h. Multivariable logistic regression was used to study the association of extubation timing and intensive care unit stay, postoperative stay and discharge home.

RESULTS

Three hundred fifty-six patients were included in the study. Two hundred eighty-two patients underwent fast-track extubation (79%) and 160 were extubated on table (45%). We found no difference in terms of mortality and occurrence of major complications (overall mortality and cerebral stroke 0.3%) according to the extubation timing. Fast-track extubation was associated with shorter intensive care unit stay, discharge home and discharge home within postoperative day 7 when compared to non-fast-track extubation. Within the fast-track group, on-table extubation was associated with intensive care unit stay ≤1 day and discharge home within postoperative day 7.

CONCLUSIONS

Fast-track extubation was achievable in most of the patients undergoing transaxillary minimally invasive mitral valve surgery and was associated with higher rates of day 1 intensive care unit discharge and discharge home. On-table extubation was associated with further reduced intensive care unit stay and hospitalization.
Insulitis in human type 1 diabetes: lessons from an enigmatic lesion
Authors: Morgan Noel G
Published: January 2024

Type 1 diabetes is caused by a deficiency of insulin secretion which has been considered traditionally as the outcome of a precipitous decline in the viability of β-cells in the islets of Langerhans, brought about by autoimmune-mediated attack. Consistent with this, various classes of lymphocyte, as well as cells of the innate immune system have been found in association with islets during disease progression. However, analysis of human pancreas from subjects with type 1 diabetes has revealed that insulitis is often less intense than in equivalent animal models of the disease and can affect many fewer islets than expected, at disease onset. This is especially true in subjects developing type 1 diabetes in, or beyond, their teenage years. Such studies imply that both the phenotype and the number of immune cells present within insulitic lesions can vary among individuals in an age-dependent manner. Additionally, the influent lymphocytes are often mainly arrayed peripherally around islets rather than gaining direct access to the endocrine cell core. Thus, insulitis remains an enigmatic phenomenon in human pancreas and this review seeks to explore the current understanding of its likely role in the progression of type 1 diabetes.
Evaluating evidence for co-geography in the Anopheles–Plasmodium host–parasite system
Authors: Rehmann Clara T , Ralph Peter L , Kern Andrew D
Published: January 2024

The often tight association between parasites and their hosts means that under certain scenarios, the evolutionary histories of the two species can become closely coupled both through time and across space. Using spatial genetic inference, we identify a potential signal of common dispersal patterns in the Anopheles gambiae and Plasmodium falciparum host–parasite system as seen through a between-species correlation of the differences between geographic sampling location and geographic location predicted from the genome. This correlation may be due to coupled dispersal dynamics between host and parasite but may also reflect statistical artifacts due to uneven spatial distribution of sampling locations. Using continuous-space population genetics simulations, we investigate the degree to which uneven distribution of sampling locations leads to bias in prediction of spatial location from genetic data and implement methods to counter this effect. We demonstrate that while algorithmic bias presents a problem in inference from spatio-genetic data, the correlation structure between A. gambiae and P. falciparum predictions cannot be attributed to spatial bias alone and is thus likely a genetic signal of co-dispersal in a host–parasite system.
L
p
-Minkowski Problem Under Curvature Pinching
Authors: Ivaki Mohammad N , Milman Emanuel
Published: January 2024

Let $K$ be a smooth, origin-symmetric, strictly convex body in ${\mathbb{R}}^{n}$. If for some $\ell \in \textrm{GL}(n,{\mathbb{R}})$, the anisotropic Riemannian metric $\frac{1}{2}D^{2} \left \Vert \cdot \right \Vert_{\ell K}^{2}$, encapsulating the curvature of $\ell K$, is comparable to the standard Euclidean metric of ${\mathbb{R}}^{n}$ up-to a factor of $\gamma> 1$, we show that $K$ satisfies the even $L^{p}$-Minkowski inequality and uniqueness in the even $L^{p}$-Minkowski problem for all $p \geq p_{\gamma }:= 1 - \frac{n+1}{\gamma }$. This result is sharp as $\gamma \searrow 1$ (characterizing centered ellipsoids in the limit) and improves upon the classical Minkowski inequality for all $\gamma < \infty $. In particular, whenever $\gamma \leq n+1$, the even log-Minkowski inequality and uniqueness in the even log-Minkowski problem hold.
Patient-targeted education (ePRO-E) to increase ePRO intent within an Alliance clinical trial (A221805-SI1)
Authors: Smith Ellen M Lavoie , Cho Youmin , Hillman Shauna , Scott Mary R , Harlos Elizabeth , Wills Rachel , Loprinzi Charles , Wilson Christina M , Zahrieh David
Published: January 2024

Background

The Patient Cloud ePRO app was adopted by the National Cancer Institute National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) to facilitate capturing electronic patient-reported (ePRO) outcome data, but use has been low. The study objectives were to test whether a patient-targeted ePRO educational resource (ePRO-E) would increase ePRO intent (number of users) and improve data quality (high quality: ≥80% of the required surveys submitted) within an ongoing NCTN study.

Methods

The ePRO-E intervention, a patient-targeted educational resource (written material and 6-minute animated YouTube video), was designed to address ePRO barriers. ePRO intent and data quality were compared between 2 groups (N = 69): a historical control group and a prospectively recruited intervention group exposed to ePRO-E. Covariates included technology attitudes, age, sex, education, socioeconomic status, and comorbidity.

Results

Intervention group ePRO intent (78.8%) was statistically significantly higher than historical control group intent (47.1%) (P = .03). Patients choosing ePRO versus paper surveys had more positive and higher technology attitudes scores (P = .03). The odds of choosing ePRO were 4.7 times higher (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 1.2 to 17.8) (P = .02) among intervention group patients and 5.2 times higher (95% CI = 1.3 to 21.6) (P = .02) among patients with high technology attitudes scores, after controlling for covariates. However, the 80% submission rate (percentage submitting ≥80% of required surveys) in the ePRO group (30.6%) was statistically significantly lower than in the paper group (57.9%) (P = .05).

Conclusions

ePRO-E exposure increased ePRO intent. High technology attitudes scores were associated with ePRO selection. Since the ePRO survey submission rate was low, additional strategies are needed to promote high-quality data submission.
Trade openness in developing countries and use of the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organisation
Authors: Adelaiye Samaila , Eluogu Okechukwu
Published: January 2024

Trade openness has long been encouraged as the path to economic development, and many countries have embraced international trade. To deal with the risks of trade conflicts and economic disputes, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) provides a forum for negotiating multilateral trade agreements between nations that aim to remove trade barriers. While most members are developing countries, the benefits of the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) adopted by the WTO to settle trade disputes between members raise concerns about its adequacy for settling disputes involving developing countries. In this work, we look at the effects of trade openness on developing countries’ participation as complainants in the WTO DSS. We argue that with more openness of developing countries to external trade, they become less likely to file complaints with the DSS. Using quantitative data, we analyse how trade openness reflects dependence on international trade, dissuading developing countries from using the DSS.
Interviewer Ratings of Physical Appearance in a Large-Scale Survey in China
Authors: Wu Qiong , Xie Yu
Published: January 2024

Interviewer ratings of respondents’ physical appearance have been collected in several major social surveys. While researchers have made good use of such ratings data in substantive studies, empirical evidence on their measurement properties is rather limited. This study evaluates two potential threats to the quality of interviewer ratings of physical appearance: interviewer effects and halo effects. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies, we show large interviewer effects on interviewer ratings of respondents’ physical appearance based on cross-classified models. We also provide possible evidence for halo effects based on high correlations between physical appearance ratings and other theoretically distinct constructs, after controlling for interviewer effects. However, we find support for convergent and discriminant validity of physical appearance ratings when both interviewer effects and halo effects are controlled for. Empirical studies using interviewer observation data should take into account interviewer effects and halo effects when possible or at least discuss their potential impact on the substantive findings.
The Prevalence and Nature of Cognitive Interviewing as a Survey Questionnaire Evaluation Method in the United States
Authors: Caporaso Andrew , Presser Stanley
Published: January 2024

We describe the prevalence and nature of cognitive interviewing (CI) for testing survey questionnaires in the United States and compare our results to those from Blair and Presser’s similar study of three decades ago when such testing was relatively new. We find that although CI is now much more common than in 1993, there are still many organizations that do not use it. In addition, we find that there has been only a modest reduction in the great variation of ways CI is conducted both within and across organizations. We interpret this variability mainly as a reflection of the lack of consensus about best practices and call for research that will make consensus about best practices more likely.
Anisotropic energy injection from magnetar central engines in short GRBs
Authors: Wang Yihan , Zhang Bing , Zhu Zhaohuan
Published: January 2024

A long-lived magnetar, potentially originating from a binary neutron star system, has been proposed to explain the extended emission observed in certain short-duration gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), and is posited as a potential central engine to power the engine-fed kilonovae. Previously, the process by which energy is injected into the surrounding ejecta/jet was widely believed to be nearly isotropic. In this study, we employ special relativity magnetohydrodynamic (SRMHD) simulations to investigate the wind injection process from a magnetar central engine. We explore the dynamics and energy distribution within the system and found that the parameter α = uA/uMWN can be used to indicate the collimation of the magnetar wind energy injection, where uA is the local Alfven four-speed and uMWN is the four-speed of the magnetar wind nebular (MWN) formed from wind-ejecta collision. A significant portion of the injected energy from the magnetar spin-down wind will be channeled to the jet axis due to collimation within the MWN. Achieving isotropic energy injection requires a significantly small α that necessitates either an ultra-relativistic expanding MWN or an extremely low magnetization MWN, both of which are challenging to attain in sGRBs. Consequently, a considerably reduced energy budget (i.e. energy per solid angle reduced by a factor of up to 10 with respect to the value under isotropic assumption) is anticipated to be injected into the ejecta for engine-fed kilonovae. Engine-fed kilonovae would appear fainter than originally anticipated.
North–South asymmetries in the Galactic thin disc associated with the vertical phase spiral as seen using LAMOST-Gaia stars
Authors: Lin Jun , Guo Rui , Bird Sarah A , Tian Haijun , Liu Chao , Flynn Chris , Liu Gaochao , Cui Sheng
Published: January 2024

We select 1052 469 (754 635) thin disc stars from Gaia eDR3 and LAMOST DR7 in the range of Galactocentric radius R (guiding centre radius Rg) from 8 to 11 kpc to investigate the asymmetries between the North and South of the disc mid-plane. More specifically, we analyse the vertical velocity dispersion profiles ($\sigma _{v_{z}}(z$)) in different bins of R (Rg) and [Fe/H]. We find troughs in the profiles of $\sigma _{v_{z}}(z)$ located in both the North (z ∼ 0.7 kpc) and South (z ∼ −0.5 kpc) of the disc at all radial and chemical bins studied. The difference between the Northern and Southern vertical velocity dispersion profiles ($\Delta \sigma _{v_{z}}(|z|)$) shows a shift between curves of different R and Rg. A similar shift exists in these North–South (NS) asymmetry profiles further divided into different [Fe/H] ranges. The sample binned with Rg more clearly displays the features in the velocity dispersion profiles. The shift in the peaks of the $\Delta \sigma _{v_{z}}$ profiles and the variation in the phase spiral shape binned by metallicity indicate the variation of the vertical potential profiles and the radial metallicity gradient. The wave-like signal in NS asymmetry of $\sigma _{v_{z}}(z)$ largely originates from phase spiral; while the NS asymmetry profiles of [Fe/H] only display a weak wave-like feature near solar radius. We perform a test particle simulation to qualitatively reproduce the observed results. A quantitative explanation of the NS asymmetry in the metallicity profile needs careful consideration of the spiral shape and the perturbation model, and we leave this for future work.