bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New ethnographic perspective on relational ethics in the field of Artificial intelligence
Authors: Pavlović Pavle , Hafner Fink Mitja
Published: September 2023

This article was created on the wave of the ubiquitous and already-saturated topic of ethics in the field of artificial intelligence. We were motivated by the proliferation of rules within this field and by a posthumanism critique of this topic. We attempt to nurture a new research platform for a social science analysis of the “How of ethics” issue by providing an argument for the study of algorithms and ethical issues by expanding the usability of the concept of niche construction and environmental perspectives in ethnographic studies. From a design perspective, this means expanding the quest related to the ethical matter by intensifying the inquiry in a design that includes not just the design process but also a more comprehensive environment. Inspired by current trends in evolutionary anthropology, science studies, and the philosophy of science, we are in line with approaches that reaffirm ethical issues from standpoint theory in the current scientific debate about trust in science. The results of our historical perspective on the issue of value neutrality point out that the position where the tool is not neutral does not mean that it is biased but that it is deeply involved in the network of relationships that influence it to be biased, and that threatens its autonomy. By providing argumentation based on the issue of ethics, we have nurtured the so-called ecology of practice and connoisseurs as a new practice and perspective that ethnography can take on the issue of accountable, ethical, and trustable science.
Panax ginseng ameliorates hepatorenal oxidative alterations induced by commercially used cypermethrin in male rats: experimental and molecular docking approaches
Authors: Elblehi Samar S. , Hafez Mona H. , El-Far Ali H.
Published: September 2023

Cypermethrin (CYP) is a synthetic pyrethroid utilized as an insecticide in agriculture and various pest eradication programs. However, it induces numerous health hazards for animals and humans. Therefore, the current study used Panax ginseng root extract (ginseng) to reduce the hepatorenal damage caused by commercially used CYP. Thirty-two male Wistar albino rats were distributed into control, ginseng (300 mg/kg B.W/day), CYP (4.67 mg/kg B.W.), and Ginseng+CYP (rats received both CYP and ginseng). All treatments were administered orally for 30 consecutive days. Cypermethrin induced harmful effects on hepatic and renal tissues through a substantial decline in body weight in addition to a considerable increase in liver enzymes, functional renal markers, and cholesterol. Also, CYP significantly decreased acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)). Moreover, a marked increase in malondialdehyde level with a significant drop in reduced glutathione level and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities was reported in the CYP group in kidney and liver tissues. Additionally, CYP exhibited affinities to bind and inhibit AChE and antioxidant enzymes (T-SOD and CAT) in rats following the molecular docking modeling. The apparent hepatorenal oxidative damage was linked with obvious impairments in the liver and kidney histoarchitecture, immunohistochemical staining of B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), and caspase-3 proteins. Ginseng reduced CYP’s oxidative alterations by repairing the metabolic functional markers, improving antioxidant status, reducing the inflammatory response, and enhancing the molecular docking evaluation. It also ameliorated the intensity of the histopathological alterations and improved the immunohistochemical staining of Bcl-2 and caspase-3 proteins in the liver and kidney tissues. Finally, concomitant oral administration of ginseng mitigated CYP-prompted hepatorenal damage through its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic potentials.

Graphical Abstract
CO2 emissions in Latin America: a time series perspective based on fractional integration
Authors: Asturias-Schaub Luis Rodrigo , Gil-Alana Luis Alberiko
Published: September 2023

This article deals with the analysis of $${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$$

CO
2

emissions in Latin America by using a long memory process based on fractional integration. Using data of $${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$$

CO
2

emission and $${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$$

CO
2

emissions per capita, for 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries, the results show significant differences according to the variable examined, the model used, and the country under examination. In particular, for the $${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$$

CO
2

emissions, mean reversion is found in Belize and also under some circumstances in Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay. Thus, shocks in these series have a transitory effect. With respect to the time trends, only for some Caribbean countries, namely, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Cuba, and Jamaica, the trend is insignificant; on the other hand, large countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina display the highest time trend coefficients; for the $${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$$

CO
2

emissions per capita, there are eleven countries where mean reversion is detected, and there are ten that share a lack of significance for the trend. The most significant trends now take place in Trinidad and Tobago, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Guyana. Policy implications of the results obtained are reported at the end of the paper.
Accumulation and contamination of gully pot sediments from varied land-use types: metal loads, concentrations and speciation
Authors: Gavrić Snežana , Flanagan Kelsey , Wei Haoyu , Österlund Heléne , Lundy Lian , Viklander Maria
Published: September 2023

Urban stormwater typically enters sewer networks through gully pots, which allow a primary sedimentation of solids upstream of the piped network. The regular removal and disposal of retained sediment are necessary, costly and can involve environmental risks due to the contamination of sediments with substances from the urban environment such as metals. The concentrations and speciation of Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn were analysed in sediments from 26 gully pots located in different land use areas in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition, accumulation rates of both sediment and metal masses were evaluated, providing a basis for optimising maintenance practices and better understanding of impacts of characteristic urban land use types. Metal concentrations varied by at most a factor of eight between samples and were always below Swedish polluted site guidelines for less sensitive land use, with only eight samples exceeding the guideline values for Cu and Zn for sensitive land use. Sequential extraction showed Pb and Zn to be the most mobile metals. Sediment accumulation rates varied from 0.003 to 0.197 kg/m2 impermeable surface/year. Metal accumulation rates were much more variable than metal concentrations, with a factor of up to 172 between the highest and lowest rates and the highest metal accumulation rates corresponding to the lower range of mass loads in road runoff. Differences in metal concentrations, sediment or metal mass accumulations could not be solely attributed to either traffic or catchment land use. In contrast, traction grit used for winter road maintenance, which has low (but detectable) metal concentrations, is identified as a major component of gully pot sediments, with a combined effect of both moderating metal concentrations and contributing to total mass.
Balanced scorecard: trends, developments, and future directions
Authors: Kumar Satish , Lim Weng Marc , Sureka Riya , Jabbour Charbel Jose Chiappetta , Bamel Umesh
Published: September 2023

Balanced scorecard (BSC) is widely studied and practiced. As research on the BSC has matured since its introduction in 1992, it is timely to assess its progress and outline future directions. This study synthesizes extant research and presents avenues to advance the BSC. To accomplish these objectives, we undertake a review employing a bibliometric and systematic methodology on a corpus of 1294 BSC-related studies. The review reveals that the more than 30-year history of BSC research has followed a bell-curve trajectory, with publications appearing in high-quality, multidisciplinary journals and contributions from numerous author groups worldwide. Moreover, the review highlights the evolution of major themes and topics on the BSC, encompassing customer orientation, financial management, integrated reporting, strategic performance management, sustainable development, and systems thinking. Sustainability BSC has also gained prominence due to sustainability firmly establishing itself as a global agenda and grand challenge. Taken collectively, this review serves as a one-stop resource for gaining a state-of-the-art understanding of the trends, developments, and future directions of the BSC.
Local interactions affect spread of resource in a consumer-resource system with group defense
Authors: Arroyo-Esquivel Jorge , Hastings Alan , Baskett Marissa L.
Published: September 2023

Integrodifference equations are a discrete-time spatially explicit model that describes the dispersal of ecological populations through space. This framework is useful to study spread dynamics of organisms and how ecological interactions can affect their spread. When studying interactions such as consumption, dispersal rates might vary with life cycle stage, such as in cases with dispersive juveniles and sessile adults. In the non-dispersive stage, resources may engage in group defense to protect themselves from consumption. These local nondispersive interactions may limit the number of dispersing recruits that are produced and therefore affect how fast populations can spread. We present a spatial consumer-resource system using an integrodifference framework with limited movement of their adult stages and group defense mechanisms in the resource population. We model group defense using a Type IV Holling functional response, which limits the survival of adult resource population and enhances juvenile consumer production. We find that high mortality levels for sessile adults can destabilize resource at carrying capacity. Furthermore, we find that at high resource densities, group defense leads to a slower local growth of resource in newly invaded regions due to intraspecific competition outweighing the effect of consumption on resource growth.
Leveraging Digital Health to Improve the Cardiovascular Health of Women
Authors: Azizi Zahra , Adedinsewo Demilade , Rodriguez Fatima , Lewey Jennifer , Merchant Raina M. , Brewer LaPrincess C.
Published: September 2023

Purpose of Review

In this review, we present a comprehensive discussion on the population-level implications of digital health interventions (DHIs) to improve cardiovascular health (CVH) through sex- and gender-specific prevention strategies among women.

Recent Findings

Over the past 30 years, there have been significant advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among men and women worldwide. However, women are often underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underrepresented in cardiovascular clinical trials, which all contribute to disparities within this population. One approach to address this is through DHIs, particularly among racial and ethnic minoritized groups. Implementation of telemedicine has shown promise in increasing adherence to healthcare visits, improving BP monitoring, weight control, physical activity, and the adoption of healthy behaviors. Furthermore, the use of mobile health applications facilitated by smart devices, wearables, and other eHealth (defined as electronically delivered health services) modalities has also promoted CVH among women in general, as well as during pregnancy and the postpartum period. Overall, utilizing a digital health approach for healthcare delivery, decentralized clinical trials, and incorporation into daily lifestyle activities has the potential to improve CVH among women by mitigating geographical, structural, and financial barriers to care.

Leveraging digital technologies and strategies introduces novel methods to address sex- and gender-specific health and healthcare disparities and improve the quality of care provided to women. However, it is imperative to be mindful of the digital divide in specific populations, which may hinder accessibility to these novel technologies and inadvertently widen preexisting inequities.
RNA-Binding Proteins: A Role in Neurotoxicity?
Authors: Ocharán-Mercado Andrea , Loaeza-Loaeza Jaqueline , Castro-Coronel Yaneth , Acosta-Saavedra Leonor C. , Hernández-Kelly Luisa C. , Hernández-Sotelo Daniel , Ortega Arturo
Published: September 2023

Despite sustained efforts to treat neurodegenerative diseases, little is known at the molecular level to understand and generate novel therapeutic approaches for these malignancies. Therefore, it is not surprising that neurogenerative diseases are among the leading causes of death in the aged population. Neurons require sophisticated cellular mechanisms to maintain proper protein homeostasis. These cells are generally sensitive to loss of gene expression control at the post-transcriptional level. Post-translational control responds to signals that can arise from intracellular processes or environmental factors that can be regulated through RNA-binding proteins. These proteins recognize RNA through one or more RNA-binding domains and form ribonucleoproteins that are critically involved in the regulation of post-transcriptional processes from splicing to the regulation of association of the translation machinery allowing a relatively rapid and precise modulation of the transcriptome. Neurotoxicity is the result of the biological, chemical, or physical interaction of agents with an adverse effect on the structure and function of the central nervous system. The disruption of the proper levels or function of RBPs in neurons and glial cells triggers neurotoxic events that are linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), fragile X syndrome (FXS), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) among many others. The connection between RBPs and neurodegenerative diseases opens a new landscape for potentially novel therapeutic targets for the intervention of these neurodegenerative pathologies. In this contribution, a summary of the recent findings of the molecular mechanisms involved in the plausible role of RBPs in RNA processing in neurodegenerative disease is discussed.
Identifying the effectiveness of 3D culture systems to recapitulate breast tumor tissue in situ
Authors: Ludwik Katarzyna A. , Greathouse Frances R. , Han Samuel , Stauffer Kimberly , Brenin David R. , Stricker Thomas P. , Lannigan Deborah A.
Published: September 2023

Purpose

Breast cancer heterogeneity contributes to chemotherapy resistance and decreased patient survival. To improve patient outcomes it is essential to develop a technology that is able to rapidly select the most efficacious therapy that targets the diverse phenotypes present within the tumor. Breast cancer organoid technologies are proposed as an attractive approach for evaluating drug responses prior to patient therapy. However, there remain challenges in evaluating the effectiveness of organoid cultures to recapitulate the heterogeneity present in the patient tumor in situ.

Method

Organoids were generated from seven normal breast and nineteen breast cancer tissues diagnosed as estrogen receptor positive or triple negative. The Jensen-Shannon divergence index, a measure of the similarity between distributions, was used to compare and evaluate heterogeneity in starting tissue and their resultant organoids. Heterogeneity was analyzed using cytokeratin 8 and cytokeratin 14, which provided an easily scored readout.

Results

In the in vitro culture system HER1 and FGFR were able to drive intra-tumor heterogeneity to generate divergent phenotypes that have different sensitivities to chemotherapies.

Conclusion

Our methodology, which focuses on quantifiable cellular phenotypes, provides a tractable system that complements omics approaches to provide an unprecedented view of heterogeneity and will enhance the identification of novel therapies and facilitate personalized medicine.
Multilevel Monte Carlo FEM for elliptic PDEs with Besov random tree priors
Authors: Schwab Christoph , Stein Andreas
Published: September 2023

We develop a multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC)-FEM algorithm for linear, elliptic diffusion problems in polytopal domain $${\mathcal {D}}\subset {\mathbb {R}}^d$$

D
⊂

R

d

, with Besov-tree random coefficients. This is to say that the logarithms of the diffusion coefficients are sampled from so-called Besov-tree priors, which have recently been proposed to model data for fractal phenomena in science and engineering. Numerical analysis of the fully discrete FEM for the elliptic PDE includes quadrature approximation and must account for (a) nonuniform pathwise upper and lower coefficient bounds, and for (b) low path-regularity of the Besov-tree coefficients. Admissible non-parametric random coefficients correspond to random functions exhibiting singularities on random fractals with tunable fractal dimension, but involve no a-priori specification of the fractal geometry of singular supports of sample paths. Optimal complexity and convergence rate estimates for quantities of interest and for their second moments are proved. A convergence analysis for MLMC-FEM is performed which yields choices of the algorithmic steering parameters for efficient implementation. A complexity (“error vs work”) analysis of the MLMC-FEM approximations is provided.
The short- and long-term properties of welded high-temperature-resistant thermoplastics
Authors: Vogtschmidt Sascha , Schoeppner Volker
Published: September 2023

High-performance plastics, such as polyphenylene sulfide or polyphthalamide, are increasingly being used in highly stressed areas, primarily due to their outstanding thermal and mechanical properties. Due to the increasing demands on plastic components in terms of geometry, functional integration, etc., components produced by primary molding often have to be welded in an additional process step. Furthermore, there are often restrictions with regard to component cleanliness, which is why converting, non-contact welding processes are of great industrial interest. However, as a result of the changeover-step in these processes, the previously plasticized areas cool down. For materials with high melt temperatures this circumstance can lead to inadequate weld seam qualities.

The aim of the investigations was therefore to expand the understanding of the process of welding high-temperature-resistant plastics, to identify optimum welding parameters and to determine the mechanical short- and long-term properties of the welds. Furthermore, a comparison was made between the changeover welding processes and single-stage vibration welding in order to clarify the relevance of short changeover times.

It could be shown that a significant correlation exists between the changeover time, the melting temperature and the resulting weld strength. Furthermore, the selection of the welding process and thus the type of heat input seems to have an influence on the long-term properties of the welds at high test temperatures.
Ticagrelor was associated with lower fracture risk than clopidogrel in the dual anti-platelet regimen among patients with acute coronary syndrome treated with percutaneous coronary intervention
Authors: Lui D. T. W. , Wong C. H. , Ip A. , Ng A. K. Y.
Published: September 2023

Purpose

Patients with coronary artery disease have increased fracture risks. P2Y12 inhibitors may impact fracture risks. We compared the fracture risks associated with ticagrelor and clopidogrel in dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT).

Methods

We identified all adults who underwent first-ever percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) between 2010 and 2017 from a territory-wide PCI registry in Hong Kong. Following 1:1 propensity-score matching for baseline characteristics, patients were followed up till event occurrence, death, or 30 June 2022. Outcomes of interest were major osteoporotic fractures (MOF) identified by validated ICD-9-CM codes. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to compute the hazard ratio (HR) for MOF associated with ticagrelor versus clopidogrel use.

Results

3018 ticagrelor users and 3018 clopidogrel users were identified after propensity-score matching (mean age: 61.4 years; 84.1% men). Upon median follow-up of 6.5 years, 59 ticagrelor users and 119 clopidogrel users sustained MOF (annualized fracture risks: 0.34% and 0.56%, respectively). Ticagrelor use was associated with lower risks of MOF (HR 0.60, 95%CI 0.44–0.83; p = 0.002). Consistent HRs were observed for fractures over vertebrae, hip and upper limbs. Subgroup analyses showed no interaction according to age, sex, presence of diabetes, presence of chronic kidney disease and prior fracture history.

Conclusion

Among adults who underwent first-ever PCI for ACS, ticagrelor use in the DAPT was associated with a lower risk of MOF compared with clopidogrel. Our results support the use of ticagrelor in the DAPT from the perspective of bone health.
EGFA-NAS: a neural architecture search method based on explosion gravitation field algorithm
Authors: Hu Xuemei , Huang Lan , Zeng Jia , Wang Kangping , Wang Yan
Published: September 2023

Neural architecture search (NAS) is an extremely complex optimization task. Recently, population-based optimization algorithms, such as evolutionary algorithm, have been adopted as search strategies for designing neural networks automatically. Various population-based NAS methods are promising in searching for high-performance neural architectures. The explosion gravitation field algorithm (EGFA) inspired by the formation process of planets is a novel population-based optimization algorithm with excellent global optimization capability and remarkable efficiency, compared with the classical population-based algorithms, such as GA and PSO. Thus, this paper attempts to develop a more efficient NAS method, called EGFA-NAS, by utilizing the work mechanisms of EGFA, which relaxes the search discrete space to a continuous one and then utilizes EGFA and gradient descent to optimize the weights of the candidate architectures in conjunction. To reduce the computational cost, a training strategy by utilizing the population mechanism of EGFA-NAS is proposed. In addition, a weight inheritance strategy for the new generated dust individuals is proposed during the explosion operation to improve performance and efficiency. The performance of EGFA-NAS is investigated in two typical micro search spaces: NAS-Bench-201 and DARTS, and compared with various kinds of state-of-the-art NAS competitors. The experimental results demonstrate that EGFA-NAS is able to match or outperform the state-of-the-art NAS methods on image classification tasks with remarkable efficiency improvement.
A blockchain authentication scheme for UAV-aided fog computing
Authors: Du Xiaoyu , Tao Song , Yuan Ke , Li Yinyin , Zhou Yi
Published: September 2023

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) swarms not only expanded the application areas of UAVs but also brought more complex challenges to security. Both the data collected by UAVs and UAVs themselves are easy targets for hackers. Once a hacker has intercepted communication information or hijacked a UAV, it can cause the disclosure of information and even affect the normal flight of the UAV. In terms of authentication, existing research focuses on building peer-to-peer networks through devices that support blockchain deployments at the edge nodes to form blockchain networks. UAVs cannot run blockchains directly, so fog nodes need to be introduced to assist UAVs in achieving authentication. This paper proposes a UAV authentication solution based on the fog node-assisted blockchain. The solution incorporates smart contracts to ensure trust, along with on-chain registration and authentication for UAVs. In the design of this paper, the main use is made of fog nodes at the edge of each block. The fog nodes serve as agents to register and authenticate the UAVs in their area on the blockchain, thus enabling the authentication of UAVs in different fog node areas. In this paper, the analysis of gas consumption yields a total economic benefit cost of about $$\yen $$
¥
12.77, which is negligible for the safety of the UAVs. Meanwhile, the paper compares the computational overheads, and within 10 UAVs, the computational overhead of this scheme is less than 50 ms, which is significantly lower than the other two schemes.
Effects of Artificial Synthetic Speech Control of SNR and Speech Rate on the Intelligibility of Train Station Announcements
Authors: Maruoka Mizuki , Tsujimura Sohei , Asakura Takumi
Published: September 2023

An experimental study on the effect of the speech characteristics of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and speech rate on the intelligibility of announcements at railway stations was conducted using an artificial synthetic voice. Synthesized speech has recently been used in noisy environments both indoors and outdoors, but unlike its use in quiet environments, when the environment is noisy, the intelligibility of announcements may be reduced. For railway station announcements, while natural spoken voices are currently used for multilingual announcements and disaster response broadcasts, deep neural network synthesized voices, which use deep learning, have also been adopted. However, the effect of the acoustic characteristics such as the SNR and speech rate on the intelligibility of reproduced announcements in noisy public spaces such as railway stations has not yet been clarified from a practical viewpoint. In this paper, in order to determine the appropriate SNR and speech rate for synthetic voice announcements in railway stations, auditory impressions of announcements with varying SNR and speech rate were evaluated by participants using a five-point scale. Based on the evaluations, the appropriate conditions for the broadcast of synthetic voice announcements at the ticket gate and on the platform of a station are discussed.
The Impact of Built Environment on the Commuting Distance of Middle/Low-income Tenant Workers in Mega Cities Based on Nonlinear Analysis in Machine Learning
Authors: Shen Lifan , Long Yu , Tian Li , Wang Siqi , Wang Miao
Published: September 2023

The issues of housing and traffic in China's mega cities have become increasingly pressing problems, particularly for middle/low-income tenant workers. These tenants are from less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, which has resulted in a significant geographical separation between their workplace and their residence. Although a large number of studies have confirmed that built environment factors have a solid impact on residents’ commuting distance, few studies have investigated the mechanism underlying the nonlinear influence on middle/low-income tenants. This paper aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the key factors and nonlinear influencing mechanism of the built environment on middle/low-income tenant workers’ commuting distance by establishing a gradient-boosting decision tree model, using Beijing as an empirical case. The paper reveals three primary findings: (1) An important nonlinear relationship between the surrounding built environment and peoples’ jobs–housing spatial proximity can be observed for those middle/low-income tenant workers who use slow and public modes of commuting. Specifically, the density of public transport stations, road networks, and workplaces, and the land use mix play a dominant role. (2) A limited effect of built environment factors can be found for the same group of tenant workers who choose cars as their mode of commuting. (3) The differences in self-selected commuting modes have a significant mediating effect on the relationship between the built environment and jobs–housing situation among middle/low-income tenant workers. Given this, effective policy guidance for residents’ travel modes is necessary to optimize the built environment indicators to achieve the best effect. In addition, we should consider giving priority to the matching indicators such as land use mix and resident population density. Another possibility is to strengthen the connection to the public transport stations, which in turn can optimize the walkability in residential environments.
Welcome to the University of life, can I take your order? Investigating Life Experience Degree Offerings in Diploma mills
Authors: Roe Jasper , Perkins Mike
Published: September 2023

In this study, we posit a new category of products provided by diploma mills, which we term Life Experience Degree Offerings (LEDOs). LEDOs uniquely capitalise on the misuse of the principle of Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) by granting higher education qualifications based on a resume or CV alone. Through a comparative analysis with contract cheating websites, we highlight the key features and persuasive strategies employed by 10 diploma mill websites which provide LEDOs to attract and convince potential clients. We then use corpus linguistics methods by analysing a large corpus of text quantitatively to explore the keywords these websites use to describe their products using a pre-packaged corpus analysis tool (Sketch Engine). Our findings indicate that on providers’ websites, the LEDOs are framed as a tool to achieve greater socioeconomic opportunities, and the quality and appearance of the physical diploma and accompanying documents play a key role in the LEDOs’ value proposition, while references to the acquisition of knowledge and process of learning are absent. Furthermore, LEDOs are typified by the promise of accreditation and verification services, which are the two most common keywords used in the description of LEDOs on diploma mills’ websites. Future research directions are suggested, including examining this phenomenon in non-Western cultural contexts, understanding the users and operators of LEDO websites, and assessing the prevalence of fraudulent credentials obtained from these sites.
A deep learning-based approach for identifying unresolved questions on Stack Exchange Q &A communities through graph-based communication modelling
Authors: Firouzjaei Hassan Abedi
Published: September 2023

In recent years, online question–answer (Q &A) platforms, such as Stack Exchange (SE), have become increasingly popular for information and knowledge sharing. Despite the vast amount of information available on these platforms, many questions remain unresolved. In this work, we aim to address this issue by proposing a novel approach to identify unresolved questions in SE Q &A communities. Our approach utilises the graph structure of communication formed around a question by users to model the communication network surrounding it. We employ a property graph model and graph neural networks (GNNs), which can effectively capture both the structure of communication and the content of messages exchanged among users. By leveraging the power of graph representation and GNNs, our approach can effectively identify unresolved questions in SE communities. Experimental results on the complete historical data from three distinct Q &A communities demonstrate the superiority of our proposed approach over baseline methods that only consider the content of questions. Finally, our work represents a first but important step towards better understanding the factors that can affect questions becoming and remaining unresolved in SE communities.
On the nodal structures of random fields: a decade of results
Authors: Wigman Igor
Published: September 2023

We survey a decade worth of work pertaining to the nodal structures of random fields, with emphasis on the transformative techniques that shaped the field.
A Corpus-Based Study of Readers’ Comments on Online News on the Policies Adopted by the Jakarta Governor During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Yuliawati Susi , Suganda Dadang , Darmayanti Nani
Published: September 2023

The study examined comments posted on political news articles that generated negative criticism driven primarily by the politically polarized views of the readers. The investigation employed lexical and pragmatic analyses to probe a corpus of 882 reader comments posted on the Detiknews website news articles regarding the policies adopted by the Jakarta governor to handle the recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Based on the corpus, we examined the linguistic expression of negative criticism from word frequency, the speech acts underlying the negative criticism, and the stances of the commenters. The results of the examination revealed that the most frequent words of the criticism comprised nouns, pronouns, and negation lexis. Overall, such terms were used by commenters to intensify the impact of their negative criticism. Meanwhile, the most dominant speech act underlying the criticism is evaluative. In this case, the commenters functioning as judges is also the most dominant role because of the one-to-one relationship between the speech act and the stance-taking role. Such commenters produced negative criticism on the Jakarta governor, driven primarily by their different political views.
Activation of AMPK ameliorates acute severe pancreatitis by suppressing pancreatic acinar cell necroptosis in obese mice models
Authors: Wang Kunlei , Zhao Anbang , Tayier Dilinigeer , Tan Kai , Song Wenjing , Cheng Qian , Li Xinyin , Chen Zhinan , Wei Qifeng , Yuan Yufeng , Yang Zhiyong
Published: September 2023

Obese people with acute pancreatitis (AP) have an increased risk of developing severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), which prolongs the length of hospital stay and increases mortality. Thus, elucidation of the mechanisms through which SAP occurs in obese individuals will provide clues for possible treatment targets. Differences in early events in obese or lean patients with AP have not been conclusively reported. We selected C57BL/6 mice as lean mice models, ob/ob mice or diet induced obese (DIO) mice as obese mice models and then induced experimental AP in mice via injections of caerulein. There were suppressed p-AMPK expressions in the pancreas of obese mice, compared with same-age lean C57BL/6 mice, which were further reduced in AP mice models. Obese AP mice were treated using AICAR, a direct AMPK agonist, which prevented pancreatic damage and cell death, suppressed pancreatic enzyme levels in serum, reduced the areas of fat saponification in the peritoneal cavity, prevented injury in other organs and decreased mice mortality rate. Further assays showed that AICAR activates p-AMPK to stabilize pro-caspase-8. Pro-caspase-8 enhances RIPK3 degradation, inhibits pancreatic acinar cell necroptosis, and downregulates the release of pancreatic enzymes. Thus, activation of AMPK by AICAR alleviates pancreatic acinar cell necroptosis and converts SAP to mild acute pancreatitis in obese mice.
IGF1R-phosphorylated PYCR1 facilitates ELK4 transcriptional activity and sustains tumor growth under hypoxia
Authors: Zheng Ke , Sha Nannan , Hou Guofang , Leng Zhuyun , Zhao Qin , Zhang Li , He Lingnan , Xu Meidong , Jiang Yuhui , Chen Tao
Published: September 2023

The proline synthesis is importantly involved in tumor growth under hypoxia, while the underlying mechanism remains to be further investigated. Here we show that pyrroline-5-carpoxylate reductase-1 (PYCR1), displaying a constant nuclear localization, is phosphorylated by nuclear IGF1R at Tyrosine 135 under hypoxia; this phosphorylation promotes the binding of PYCR1 to ELK4 and thus PYCR1 recruitment to ELK4-targeted genes promoter. Under hypoxia, ELK4-binding ability and enzymatic activity of PYCR1 are both required for ELK4-Sirt7-mediated transcriptional repression and cell growth maintenance, in which PYCR1-catalyzed NAD+ production stimulates the deacetylation activity of Sirt7 on H3K18ac that restrains genes transcription. Functionally, PYCR1 Tyr-135 phosphorylation exerts supportive effect on tumor growth under hypoxia, and the level of PYCR1 Tyr-135 phosphorylation is associated with malignancy of colorectal cancer (CRC). These data uncover the relationship between the compartmentally metabolic activity of PYCR1 and genes transcription regulation, and highlight the oncogenic role of PYCR1 during CRC development.
Cost-effectiveness requirements for implementing artificial intelligence technology in the Women’s UK Breast Cancer Screening service
Authors: Vargas-Palacios Armando , Sharma Nisha , Sagoo Gurdeep S.
Published: September 2023

The UK NHS Women’s National Breast Screening programme aims to detect breast cancer early. The reference standard approach requires mammograms to be independently double-read by qualified radiology staff. If two readers disagree, arbitration by an independent reader is undertaken. Whilst this process maximises accuracy and minimises recall rates, the procedure is labour-intensive, adding pressure to a system currently facing a workforce crisis. Artificial intelligence technology offers an alternative to human readers. While artificial intelligence has been shown to be non-inferior versus human second readers, the minimum requirements needed (effectiveness, set-up costs, maintenance, etc) for such technology to be cost-effective in the NHS have not been evaluated. We developed a simulation model replicating NHS screening services to evaluate the potential value of the technology. Our results indicate that if non-inferiority is maintained, the use of artificial intelligence technology as a second reader is a viable and potentially cost-effective use of NHS resources.
The RNA m5C modification in R-loops as an off switch of Alt-NHEJ
Authors: Yang Haibo , Lachtara Emily M. , Ran Xiaojuan , Hopkins Jessica , Patel Parasvi S. , Zhu Xueping , Xiao Yao , Phoon Laiyee , Gao Boya , Zou Lee , Lawrence Michael S. , Lan Li
Published: September 2023

The roles of R-loops and RNA modifications in homologous recombination (HR) and other DNA double-stranded break (DSB) repair pathways remain poorly understood. Here, we find that DNA damage-induced RNA methyl-5-cytosine (m5C) modification in R-loops plays a crucial role to regulate PARP1-mediated poly ADP-ribosylation (PARylation) and the choice of DSB repair pathways at sites of R-loops. Through bisulfite sequencing, we discover that the methyltransferase TRDMT1 preferentially generates m5C after DNA damage in R-loops across the genome. In the absence of m5C, R-loops activate PARP1-mediated PARylation both in vitro and in cells. Concurrently, m5C promotes transcription-coupled HR (TC-HR) while suppressing PARP1-dependent alternative non-homologous end joining (Alt-NHEJ), favoring TC-HR over Alt-NHEJ in transcribed regions as the preferred repair pathway. Importantly, simultaneous disruption of both TC-HR and Alt-NHEJ with TRDMT1 and PARP or Polymerase θ inhibitors prevents alternative DSB repair and exhibits synergistic cytotoxic effects on cancer cells, suggesting an effective strategy to exploit genomic instability in cancer therapy.
Phase information is conserved in sparse, synchronous population-rate-codes via phase-to-rate recoding
Authors: Müller-Komorowska Daniel , Kuru Baris , Beck Heinz , Braganza Oliver
Published: September 2023

Neural computation is often traced in terms of either rate- or phase-codes. However, most circuit operations will simultaneously affect information across both coding schemes. It remains unclear how phase and rate coded information is transmitted, in the face of continuous modification at consecutive processing stages. Here, we study this question in the entorhinal cortex (EC)- dentate gyrus (DG)- CA3 system using three distinct computational models. We demonstrate that DG feedback inhibition leverages EC phase information to improve rate-coding, a computation we term phase-to-rate recoding. Our results suggest that it i) supports the conservation of phase information within sparse rate-codes and ii) enhances the efficiency of plasticity in downstream CA3 via increased synchrony. Given the ubiquity of both phase-coding and feedback circuits, our results raise the question whether phase-to-rate recoding is a recurring computational motif, which supports the generation of sparse, synchronous population-rate-codes in areas beyond the DG.
Modulation of perovskite degradation with multiple-barrier for light-heat stable perovskite solar cells
Authors: Zhou Jing , Liu Zonghao , Yu Peng , Tong Guoqing , Chen Ruijun , Ono Luis K. , Chen Rui , Wang Haixin , Ren Fumeng , Liu Sanwan , Wang Jianan , Lan Zhigao , Qi Yabing , Chen Wei
Published: September 2023

The long-term stability of perovskite solar cells remains one of the most important challenges for the commercialization of this emerging photovoltaic technology. Here, we adopt a non-noble metal/metal oxide/polymer multiple-barrier to suppress the halide consumption and gaseous perovskite decomposition products release with the chemically inert bismuth electrode and Al2O3/parylene thin-film encapsulation, as well as the tightly closed system created by the multiple-barrier to jointly suppress the degradation of perovskite solar cells, allowing the corresponding decomposition reactions to reach benign equilibria. The resulting encapsulated formamidinium cesium-based perovskite solar cells with multiple-barrier maintain 90% of their initial efficiencies after continuous operation at 45 °C for 5200 h and 93% of their initial efficiency after continuous operation at 75 °C for 1000 h under 1 sun equivalent white-light LED illumination.
PAX4 loss of function increases diabetes risk by altering human pancreatic endocrine cell development
Authors: Lau Hwee Hui , Krentz Nicole A. J. , Abaitua Fernando , Perez-Alcantara Marta , Chan Jun-Wei , Ajeian Jila , Ghosh Soumita , Lee Yunkyeong , Yang Jing , Thaman Swaraj , Champon Benoite , Sun Han , Jha Alokkumar , Hoon Shawn , Tan Nguan Soon , Gardner Daphne Su-Lyn , Kao Shih Ling , Tai E. Shyong , Gloyn Anna L. , Teo Adrian Kee Keong
Published: September 2023

The coding variant (p.Arg192His) in the transcription factorPAX4is associated with an altered risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in East Asian populations. In mice,Pax4is essential for beta cell formation but its role on human beta cell development and/or function is unknown. Participants carrying the PAX4 p.His192 allele exhibited decreased pancreatic beta cell function compared to homozygotes for the p.192Arg allele in a cross-sectional study in which we carried out an intravenous glucose tolerance test and an oral glucose tolerance test. In a pedigree of a patient with young onset diabetes, several members carry a newly identified p.Tyr186X allele. In the human beta cell model, EndoC-βH1,PAX4knockdown led to impaired insulin secretion, reduced total insulin content, and altered hormone gene expression. Deletion ofPAX4in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived islet-like cells resulted in derepression of alpha cell gene expression. In vitro differentiation of hiPSCs carryingPAX4p.His192 and p.X186 risk alleles exhibited increased polyhormonal endocrine cell formation and reduced insulin content that can be reversed with gene correction. Together, we demonstrate the role of PAX4 in human endocrine cell development, beta cell function, and its contribution to T2D-risk.
Recyclable soft photonic crystal film with overall improved circularly polarized luminescence
Authors: Shi Yonghong , Han Jianlei , Li Chengxi , Zhao Tonghan , Jin Xue , Duan Pengfei
Published: September 2023

Existing circularly polarized luminescence materials can hardly satisfy the requirements of both large luminescence dissymmetry factor and high luminescent quantum yield, which hinders their practical applications. Here, we present a soft photonic crystal film embedded with chiral nanopores that possesses excellent circularly polarized luminescence performance with a high luminescence dissymmetry factor as well as a large luminescent quantum yield when loaded with various luminescent dyes. Benefitting from the retention of chiral nanopores imprinted from a chiral liquid crystal arrangement, the chiral soft photonic crystal film can not only endow dyes with chiral properties, but also effectively avoid severe aggregation of guest dye molecules. More importantly, the soft photonic crystal film can be recycled many times by loading and eluting guest dye molecules while retaining good stability as well as circularly polarized luminescence performance, enabling various applications, including smart windows, multi-color circularly polarized luminescence and anticounterfeiting.
PET-measured human dopamine synthesis capacity and receptor availability predict trading rewards and time-costs during foraging
Authors: Ianni Angela M. , Eisenberg Daniel P. , Boorman Erie D. , Constantino Sara M. , Hegarty Catherine E. , Gregory Michael D. , Masdeu Joseph C. , Kohn Philip D. , Behrens Timothy E. , Berman Karen F.
Published: September 2023

Foraging behavior requires weighing costs of time to decide when to leave one reward patch to search for another. Computational and animal studies suggest that striatal dopamine is key to this process; however, the specific role of dopamine in foraging behavior in humans is not well characterized. We use positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to directly measure dopamine synthesis capacity and D1and D2/3receptor availability in 57 healthy adults who complete a computerized foraging task. Using voxelwise data and principal component analysis to identify patterns of variation across PET measures, we show that striatal D1and D2/3receptor availability and a pattern of mesolimbic and anterior cingulate cortex dopamine function are important for adjusting the threshold for leaving a patch to explore, with specific sensitivity to changes in travel time. These findings suggest a key role for dopamine in trading reward benefits against temporal costs to modulate behavioral adaptions to changes in the reward environment critical for foraging.
Second breast cancer: recurrence score results, clinicopathologic characteristics, adjuvant treatments, and outcomes—exploratory analysis of the Clalit registry
Authors: Shachar Shlomit S. , Leviov Michelle , Yerushalmi Rinat , Drumea Karen , Tokar Margarita , Soussan-Gutman Lior , Bareket-Samish Avital , Sonnenblick Amir , Ben-Baruch Noa , Evron Ella , Gal-Yam Einav Nili , Paluch-Shimon Shani , Bar-Sela Gil , Goldvaser Hadar , Stemmer Salomon M.
Published: September 2023

Data on using the 21-gene Recurrence Score (RS) testing on second breast cancer (BC; second primary or local recurrence) are lacking. This cohort study examined patients with first and second BC, who underwent 21-gene testing both times. It included a ‘study-cohort’ (60 N0/N1mi/N1 ER + HER2‒ BC patients with ≥2 RS results >1 year apart) and a ‘general 21-gene-tested BC-cohort’ (2044 previously described N0/N1mi/N1 patients). The median time between the first and second BC was 5.2 (IQR, 3.1–7.1) years; the second BC was ipsilateral in 68%. Patient/tumor characteristics of the first- and second-BC in the ‘study-cohort’ were similar, except for the RS which was higher in the second BC (median [IQR]: 23 [17–30] vs 17 [14–22], p < 0.001). Overall, 56 patients had follow-up data, of whom 5 experienced distant recurrence (2 RS 11–25 patients and 3 RS 26–100 patients). Studies exploring the prognostic utility of the RS in this setting are warranted.