bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bidirectional temporal associations between sleep and affect and cognitive symptoms among community‐dwelling stroke survivors: An ecological momentary assessment study
Authors: Lau Stephen C. L. , Hall Martica L. , Terhorst Lauren , Skidmore Elizabeth R.
Published: November 2023

Introduction

Sleep plays a critical role in daily functioning and stroke recovery but receives little attention in stroke rehabilitation. Sleep disturbances are linked to affective and cognitive impairments, but temporal associations between sleep and affect and cognitive symptoms are less clear. Understanding these temporal associations may inform new directions in intervention and prevention to support continued stroke recovery.

Objective

To examine the bidirectional temporal associations between sleep and affect and cognitive symptoms among community‐dwelling stroke survivors.

Design

A secondary analysis of a longitudinal observational study involving 7 days of ecological momentary assessment (EMA), during which participants completed eight EMA surveys and a sleep diary per day. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze data.

Setting

Community.

Participants

Community‐dwelling stroke survivors (N = 40).

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

EMA measures of depressed affect, cheerful affect, and cognitive symptoms. Sleep quality and duration as measured using a sleep diary.

Results

Between‐person sleep quality was negatively associated with next‐day depressed affect (B = −.16; p = .028) and positively associated with next‐day cheerful affect (B = .63; p < .001). Inversely, between‐person depressed affect was negatively associated with next night sleep quality (B = −.77; p = .015), and vice versa for cheerful affect (between‐person: B = .45; p < .001; within‐person: B = .09; p = .008). Long sleep (>9 hours) was positively associated with next‐day cognitive symptoms (B = .13; p = .002), whereas cognitive symptoms were associated with a higher odds of long sleep the following night (odds ratio [OR] = 0.25; p = .047).

Conclusions

This study identified the bidirectional associations of sleep with affect and cognitive symptoms in the context of the everyday life of stroke survivors. The findings suggest that interventions addressing sleep quality and duration may impact affect and cognitive symptoms, and vice versa.
Fate and transport analysis of a Dowtherm–A chemical release event
Authors: Abugazleh Kotaiba , Ali Hashim , Jeong Kwangkook , Abutayeh Mohammad
Published: November 2023

A hypothetical chemical release of Dowtherm–A into the environment was simulated using a chemodynamics code. The chemical release was assumed to come from a concentrating solar power plant adjacent to Lake Tahoe. Dowtherm–A is viscous water‐insoluble nonvolatile oil found mostly in liquid form at standard temperature and pressure; however, trace amounts slowly diffuse into the three environmental phases: air, water, and soil. It is a commercial eutectic binary mixture of diphenyl oxide and biphenyl—both are toxic and flammable. Therminol VP–1 is another commercial heat transfer oil made by Eastman that is essentially the same oil as Dowtherm–A made by Dow: same constituents at equal proportions. Therefore, the results reported in this study apply to both fluids. Solar thermal power generation represents a clean source of energy that almost uses no fossil fuels and thus does not emit any greenhouse gases. However, the oil employed in those solar thermal power plants is dangerous and should be carefully handled to avoid leakage.
Machine learning–based integration of network features and chemical structure of compounds for SARS‐CoV‐2 drug effect analysis
Authors: Späth Julian , Wang Rui‐Sheng , Humphrey Maeve , Baumbach Jan , Loscalzo Joseph
Published: November 2023

High drug development costs and the limited number of new annual drug approvals increase the need for innovative approaches for drug effect prediction. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2), the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), led to a global pandemic with high morbidity and mortality. Although effective preventive measures exist, there are few effective treatments for hospitalized patients with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Drug repurposing and drug effect prediction are promising strategies that could shorten development time and reduce costs compared with de novo drug discovery. In this work, we present a machine learning framework to integrate a variety of target network features and physicochemical properties of compounds, and analyze their influence on the therapeutic effects for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and on host cell cytotoxic effects. Random forest models trained on compounds with known experimental effects on SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and subsequent feature importance analysis based on Shapley values provided insights into the determinants of drug efficacy and cytotoxicity, which can be incorporated into novel drug discovery approaches. Given the complexity of molecular mechanisms of drug action and limited sample sizes, our models achieve a reasonable mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC‐AUC) of 0.73 on an unseen validation set. To our knowledge, this is the first work to incorporate a combination of network and physicochemical features of compounds into a machine learning model to predict drug effects on SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. Our systems pharmacology–based machine learning framework can be used to classify other existing drugs for SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and can easily be adapted to drug effect prediction for future viral outbreaks.
Chemical and Topographical Changes upon Sub‐100‐nm Laser‐Induced Periodic Surface Structure Formation on Titanium Alloy: The Influence of Laser Pulse Repetition Rate and Number of Over‐Scans
Authors: Müller Kai , Mirabella Francesca , Knigge Xenia , Mezera Marek , Weise Matthias , Sahre Mario , Wasmuth Karsten , Voss Heike , Hertwig Andreas , Krüger Jörg , Radnik Jörg , Hodoroaba Vasile-Dan , Bonse Jörn
Published: November 2023

Titanium and its alloys are known to allow the straightforward laser‐based manufacturing of ordered surface nanostructures, so‐called high spatial frequency laser‐induced periodic surface structures (HSFL). These structures exhibit sub‐100 nm spatial periods – far below the optical diffraction limit. The resulting surface functionalities are usually enabled by both, topographic and chemical alterations of the nanostructured surfaces. For exploring these effects, multi‐method characterizations were performed here for HSFL processed on Ti–6Al–4V alloy upon irradiation with near‐infrared ps‐laser pulses (1030 nm, ≈1 ps pulse duration, 1–400 kHz) under different laser scan processing conditions, i.e., by systematically varying the pulse repetition frequency and the number of laser irradiation passes. The sample characterization involved morphological and topographical investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), tactile stylus profilometry, as well as near‐surface chemical analyses hard X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) and depth‐profiling time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS). This provides a quantification of the laser ablation depth, the geometrical HSFL characteristics and enables new insights into the depth extent and the nature of the non‐ablative laser‐induced near‐surface oxidation accompanying these nanostructures. This allows to answer the questions how the processing of HSFL can be industrially scaled up, and whether the latter is limited by heat‐accumulation effects.
Machine Learning based Noise Characterization and Correction on Neutral Atoms NISQ Devices
Authors: Canonici Ettore , Martina Stefano , Mengoni Riccardo , Ottaviani Daniele , Caruso Filippo
Published: November 2023

Neutral atoms devices represent a promising technology using optical tweezers to geometrically arrange atoms and modulated laser pulses to control their quantum states. They are exploited as noisy intermediate‐scale quantum (NISQ) processors. Indeed, like all real quantum devices, they are affected by noise introducing errors in the computation. Therefore, it is important to understand and characterize the noise sources and possibly to correct them. Here, two machine‐learning based approaches are proposed respectively to estimate the noise parameters and to mitigate their effects using only measurements of the final quantum state. Our analysis is then tested on a real neutral atom platform, comparing our predictions with a priori estimated parameters. It turns out that increasing the number of atoms is less effective than using more measurements on a smaller scale. The agreement is not always good but this may be due to the limited amount of real data that are obtained from a still under development device. Finally, reinforcement learning is employed to design a pulse that mitigates the noise effects. Our machine learning‐based approach is espected to be very useful for the noise benchmarking of NISQ processors and, more in general, of real quantum technologies.
An Aniline‐Complexed Bismuth Tungstate Nanocomposite Anchored on Carbon Black as an Electrode Material for Supercapacitor Applications
Authors: Sheoran Karamveer , Devi Nishu , Alsanie Walaa F. , Siwal Samarjeet Singh , Thakur Vijay Kumar
Published: November 2023

The development of efficient electrode materials for supercapacitors has been a topic of extensive research. In this study, a novel electrode material composed of carbon black anchored bismuth‐tungstate‐aniline complex (Bi2(WO4)3/Aniline/CB) (BTACB) nanocomposite was synthesized for supercapacitor applications. The BTACB nanocomposite exhibited excellent electrochemical properties with a specific capacitance of 306 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g and excellent cycling stability. The improved electrochemical performance of the BTACB electrode material is attributed to the synergistic effects of the bismuth‐tungstate and aniline complex, and the conductive carbon black, which provides high surface area and good conductivity. These findings suggest that the carbon black anchored bismuth‐tungstate‐aniline complexed electrode material is a promising candidate for high‐performance supercapacitors.
Controllable Fabrication of Sn/Sb Nanodomains Improved Sb2SnO5 Anodes for Sodium Ion Batteries
Authors: Meng Fei , Chen Xiaojing , Zhou Hongjie , Zhang Baolong , Cao Jingcheng , Ge Qinglei , Ding Xuli
Published: November 2023

Embedding the metal phase and modifying the microstructure is an important way to improve the storage capability of Sb2SnO5 (SSO) anodes. Pertaining to sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs), we design and fabricate Sb and Sn embedding porous carbon wires (PCWs) with SSO encapsulated (SSO@Sn/Sb‐PCWs) composite as a high capability anode in this study. Not only accelerate the Na+ ions diffusion, but also augment the stress resistance and the electrochemical reaction reversibility for the multiphase composite. Furthermore, the porous structure finely increases the ions diffusion kinetics, preventing the aggregation of Sn, Sb, and SSO particles, which achieves high reversible capacity while eliminating structure damage. As a consequence, the fabricated SSO@Sn/Sb‐PCWs electrode exhibited exceptional cycling stability, maintaining a high reversible capacity of 448 mAh g−1 after 150 charge/discharge cycles, and good rate capability with current density up to 5.0 A g−1. This new composite material studied in current work could shed light for the creation of sodium ion batteries with high specific energies in the near future.
Environmentally Friendly Synthesis and Self‐Catalytic Hydrolysis of Triazole‐Modified Organosilanes for Polysiloxane Production
Authors: Aristova Vasilissa A. , Bezlepkina Kseniya A. , Klokova Kseniia S. , Ardabevskaia Sofia N. , Drozdov Fedor V. , Cherkaev Georgij V. , Milenin Sergey A.
Published: November 2023

Organotrialkoxysilanes are unique compounds that play an important role in modern science and industry. Their structure determines their varied use both in production and academic research. The development of the synthesis of organotrialkoxysilanes and polymers based on them, taking into account environmental realities, is an important task. In our work, we present an original approach for the preparation of organotriethoxysilanes, starting from azidoalkyltriethoxysilanes and various types of substrates containing a terminal triple bond, by the azide‐alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) mechanism without the use of solvents, catalyst ligands, and amines. We also found the self‐catalyzing effect of the triazole fragment resulting from the azide‐alkyne cycloaddition in the reaction of hydrolysis and condensation of alkoxy groups, which made it possible to obtain a series of silsesquioxane products only by adding water, without the use of catalysts. As a result, a new, original scheme for the preparation of organosilicon organotrialkoxysilanes of a monomeric structure with their subsequent transformation into silsesquioxane polymers under “green” conditions is built.
Adipose Tissue Targeting Ultra‐Small Hybrid Nanoparticles for Synergistic Photodynamic Therapy and Browning Induction in Obesity Treatment
Authors: Ma Chuan , Jian Chuanjiang , Guo Lihao , Li Wenting , Zhang Cai , Wang Li , Yuan Miaomiao , Zhang Peng , Dong Jinqiao , He Ping , Shi Leilei
Published: November 2023

Photodynamic therapy (PDT), as a means of locally and rapidly inducing adipocyte death via light illumination, in combination with adipose browning induction, a more gradual and widespread effect that could transform white adipose tissue into thermogenic adipose tissue, manifests a promising approach to combat obesity. Herein, adipose‐targeting ultra‐small hybrid nanoparticles (Pep‐PPIX‐Baic NPs) composed of an adipose‐targeting peptide, Fe3+, a photosensitizer (protoporphyrin IX), and a browning agent (baicalin) are introduced. Pep‐PPIX‐Baic NPs have been designed to simultaneously enhance the photodynamic effect and induce browning. After intravenous injection in obese mice, the hybrid nanoparticles can specifically accumulate in white adipose tissues, especially those rich in blood supply, and drive adipose reduction owing to the synergy of the PDT effect and baicalin browning induction. Overall, Pep‐PPIX‐Baic NPs exhibited superior anti‐obesity potential through PDT synergistic with adipose browning induction. The designed multifunctional adipose‐targeting hybrid nanoparticles present a prospective nanoplatform for obesity treatment.
Could a minimalist lifestyle reduce carbon emissions and improve wellbeing? A review of minimalism and other low consumption lifestyles
Authors: Blackburn Rebecca , Leviston Zoe , Walker Iain , Schram Ashley
Published: November 2023

Everyone must consume, but the wealthy consume more than most. Half of global household emissions come from the world's top 10% of income earners. In this review, we investigate the minimalist lifestyle to find out if minimalism could deliver the dual benefit of reduced carbon emissions and increased wellbeing. Minimalists have voluntarily chosen to have few possessions, despite economic and social structures that encourage consumption. Having fewer possessions suggests they might have a lower carbon emissions. A review of three other low‐consumption lifestyles: frugalism, tightwadism and voluntary simplicity, offers some support for this hypothesis, but the empirical evidence regarding minimalism is scant. We also review minimalist motivations, finding some support for a positive association between wellbeing and minimalism. We conclude that while minimalism might offer wellbeing benefits, research on carbon emissions is inconclusive. Furthermore, even if minimalism did result in reduced emissions, the minimalist lifestyle maybe too individualistic to create social change.

This article is categorized under:

Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Behavior Change and Responses

The Carbon Economy and Climate Mitigation > Policies, Instruments, Lifestyles, Behavior

Climate and Development > Sustainability and Human Well‐Being
Sexual Consent and Its Contexts
Authors: Featherstone Lisa , Byrnes Cassandra , Maturi Jenny , Minto Kiara , Mickelburgh Renée , Donaghy Paige
Published: November 2023

Consent is more complicated than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. This chapter serves as an introduction to many of the central ideas around consent in current cultures. It identifies the ways consent, violence, and coercion were and are conceptualised. It seeks to problematise simple concepts of consent and to highlight the ways power and authority influence consent. Our contemporary landscape retains important historical legacies that have left significant holes in social ideas of bodily authority and sexual autonomy. To better understand these gaps and omissions, this chapter traces the long history of consent and non-consent within social, cultural, and legal frameworks. For instance, across the nineteenth century, expectations of physical violence and force were slowly written out of the statutes surrounding rape: consent, rather than physical violence, became the criteria that distinguished sexual assault. Nonetheless, in the absence of physical violence, it remained almost impossible to convict an offender of rape, and force remained central to the way rape was ‘proven’ at trial. As this chapter explores, ideas about consent shifted over time and place, but many understandings remained resistant to change.
Consent in Refugee and Migrant Communities
Authors: Featherstone Lisa , Byrnes Cassandra , Maturi Jenny , Minto Kiara , Mickelburgh Renée , Donaghy Paige
Published: November 2023

Approaches to gendered violence are generally based on a rights approach, encouraging women to seek help from the criminal justice system and services that might support them. But a victim’s rights approach to sexual violence and consent is only effective if women see those rights mirrored back at them in the help and protections they seek. Drawing on data from 19 semi-structured interviews with refugee and migrant antiviolence advocates in Australia, this chapter uses Sally Merry’s (Merry, Human Rights Quarterly 25:343–381, 2003) concept of a ‘rights consciousness’ to explore the tensions women might experience when problems related to gender are presented as a legal issue. Highlighting the tensions refugee and migrant women might face between taking on a rights defined self, and a self tied to family, kin and community, the findings explore three themes: “Marriage is Consent”, “Loyalty to Men”, and “Experiences with Justice”. Taken together, these findings advance the need to consider sexual violence and consent not just in individualistic legal terms, but as an issue of social justice that considers broader, intersecting inequalities. Rather than encouraging women to take up their rights, efforts should focus on how to ensure a rights approach is affirmed in responses to sexual violence and consent.
Light-cone gauge in non-relativistic AdS5×S5 string theory
Authors: Fontanella Andrea , Nieto García Juan Miguel
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We discuss the non-relativistic limit of string theory in AdS5×S5 for different choices of embedding coordinates. We show that, if we consider Cartesian coordinates, the action of fluctuations around the twisted BMN-like string found in arXiv:2109.13240 in uniform light-cone gauge becomes the one of free fields at large string tension and large AdS5 radius.
On mixed-flux worldsheet scattering in AdS3/CFT2
Authors: Frolov Sergey , Polvara Davide , Sfondrini Alessandro
Published: November 2023

Abstract

Strings on AdS3 × S3 × T4 with mixed Ramond-Ramond and Neveu-Schwarz-Neveu-Schwarz flux are known to be classically integrable. This is a crucial property of this model, which cannot be studied by conventional worldsheet-CFT techniques. Integrability should carry over to the quantum level, and the worldsheet S matrix in the lightcone gauge is known up to the so-called dressing factors. In this work we study the kinematics of mixed-flux theories and consider a relativistic limit of the S matrix whereby we can complete the bootstrap program, including the dressing factors for fundamental particles and bound states. This provides an important test for the dressing factors of the full worldsheet model, and offers new insights on the features of the model when the amount of NSNS flux is low.
New constraint on dark photon at T2K off-axis near detector
Authors: Araki Takeshi , Asai Kento , Iizawa Tomoya , Otono Hidetoshi , Shimomura Takashi , Takubo Yosuke
Published: November 2023

Abstract

The T2K experiment is one of the most powerful long-baseline experiments to investigate neutrino oscillations. The off-axis near detector called ND280 is installed 280 m downstream from the neutrino production target to measure the neutrino energy spectrum. In this paper, we study the capability of the ND280 detector to search for the dark photon produced through the meson rare decay and proton bremsstrahlung processes at the proton beam dump. We find that the ten-year operation of T2K with the ND280 detector excludes the unexplored parameter region for the dark photon mass and kinetic mixing. We also show that a broader parameter region can be searched by the ND280 in the future T2K operation for dark photon as well as U(1)B−L gauge boson.
Gyroscopic gravitational memory
Authors: Seraj Ali , Oblak Blagoje
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We study the motion of a gyroscope located far away from an isolated gravitational source in an asymptotically flat spacetime. As seen from a local frame tied to distant stars, the gyroscope precesses when gravitational waves cross its path, resulting in a net ‘orientation memory’ that carries information on the wave profile. At leading order in the inverse distance to the source, the memory consists of two terms: the first is linear in the metric perturbation and coincides with the spin memory effect, while the second is quadratic and measures the net helicity of the wave burst. Both are closely related to symmetries of the gravitational radiative phase space at null infinity: spin memory probes superrotation charges, while helicity is the canonical generator of local electric-magnetic duality on the celestial sphere.
Visualization and efficient generation of constrained high-dimensional theoretical parameter spaces
Authors: Baretz Jason , Carrara Nicholas , Hollingsworth Jacob , Whiteson Daniel
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We describe a set of novel methods for efficiently sampling high-dimensional parameter spaces of physical theories defined at high energies, but constrained by experimental measurements made at lower energies. Often, theoretical models such as supersymmetry are defined by many parameters, $$ \mathcal{O} $$
O
(10 − 100), expressed at high energies, while relevant experimental constraints are often defined at much lower energies, preventing them from directly ruling out portions of the space. Instead, the low-energy constraints define a complex, potentially non-contiguous subspace of the theory parameters. Naive scanning of the theory space for points which satisfy the low-energy constraints is hopelessly inefficient due to the high dimensionality, and the inverse problem is considered intractable. As a result, many theoretical spaces remain under-explored. We introduce a class of modified generative autoencoders, which attack this problem by mapping the high-dimensional parameter space to a structured low-dimensional latent space, allowing for easy visualization and efficient generation of theory points which satisfy experimental constraints. An extension without dimensional compression, which focuses on limiting potential information loss, is also introduced.
AdS Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude with KK modes
Authors: Fardelli Giulia , Hansen Tobias , Silva Joao A.
Published: November 2023

Abstract

We determine the first curvature correction for the string amplitude of two supergravity states and two Kaluza-Klein modes on AdS5×S5, which is dual to the correlator $$ \left\langle {\mathcal{O}}_2{\mathcal{O}}_2{\mathcal{O}}_p{\mathcal{O}}_p\right\rangle $$

O
2

O
2

O
p

O
p

of half-BPS operators in $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 4 SYM theory. The result has the form of an integral over the Riemann sphere as for the usual Virasoro-Shapiro amplitude, with the insertion of single-valued multiple polylogarithms of weight three. The result fixes OPE data of single-trace operators in $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 4 SYM theory at strong coupling, including operators with non-zero R-charge and odd spin. We successfully check our results by comparing to data available from integrability, localisation and consistency with a 10d effective action.
miR-455-5p promotes pathological cardiac remodeling via suppression of PRMT1-mediated Notch signaling pathway
Authors: Cai Sidong , Chang Junlei , Su Mengqi , Wei Yinxia , Sun Haoran , Chen Cong , Yiu Kai-Hang
Published: November 2023

Pathological cardiac remodeling plays an essential role in the progression of cardiovascular diseases, and numerous microRNAs have been reported to participate in pathological cardiac remodeling. However, the potential role of microRNA-455-5p (miR-455-5p) in this process remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we focused on clarifying the function and searching the direct target of miR-455-5p, as well as exploring its underlying mechanisms in pathological cardiac remodeling. We found that overexpression of miR-455-5p by transfection of miR-455-5p mimic in vitro or tail vain injection of miR-455-5p agomir in vivo provoked cardiac remodeling, whereas genetic knockdown of miR-455-5p attenuated the isoprenaline-induced cardiac remodeling. Besides, miR-455-5p directly targeted to 3’-untranslated region of protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) and subsequently downregulated PRMT1 level. Furthermore, we found that PRMT1 protected against cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in vitro. Mechanistically, miR-455-5p induced cardiac remodeling by downregulating PRMT1-induced asymmetric di-methylation on R1748, R1750, R1751 and R1752 of Notch1, resulting in suppression of recruitment of Presenilin, Notch1 cleavage, NICD releasing and Notch signaling pathway. Finally, circulating miR-455-5p was positively correlated with parameters of left ventricular wall thickening. Taken together, miR-455-5p plays a provocative role in cardiac remodeling via inactivation of the PRMT1-mediated Notch signaling pathway, suggesting miR-455-5p/PRMT1/Notch1 signaling axis as potential therapeutic targets for pathological cardiac remodeling.
Treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization: a network meta-analysis and review
Authors: Glachs Laura , Embacher Stefan , Berghold Andrea , Wildner Brigitte , Michelitsch Monja , Tscherne Anna , Wedrich Andreas , Posch-Pertl Laura
Published: November 2023

Purpose

This is, to our knowledge, the first network meta-analysis aiming to compare all treatment modalities for myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

Methods

After the electronic databases were searched, two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, full-texts, and extracted information. Primary endpoints were change in visual outcome and central retinal thickness. We used a network meta-analysis to compare treatment outcomes in the early (≤ 6 months) and late (> 6 months) phase.

Results

We included 34 studies (2,098 eyes) in our network meta-analysis. In the early phase, the use of anti-VEGF led to a gain of 14.1 letters (95% CI, 10.8–17.4) compared to untreated patients (p < 0.0001), 12.1 letters (95% CI, 8.3–15.8) to photodynamic therapy (PDT) (p < 0.0001), 7.5 (95% CI, 1.2–13.8) letters to intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (TCA) (p = 0.019), and − 2.9 letters (95% CI, − 6.0–0.2) to the combination of anti-VEGF and PDT (p = 0.065). In the later phase, these results were largely maintained. There were no significant differences in visual outcomes between patients treated with 1 + PRN and 3 + PRN. However, the 1 + PRN group received 1.8 (SD 1.3), while the 3 + PRN group received 3.2 (SD 0.9) injections within 12 months (p < 0.0001).

Conclusion

This network meta-analysis confirms that anti-VEGF is the most effective treatment for myopic CNV using the 1 + PRN treatment strategy.
Achilles tendon and triceps surae muscle properties in athletes
Authors: Sukanen Maria , Khair Ra’ad M. , Ihalainen Johanna K. , Laatikainen-Raussi Iida , Eon Pauline , Nordez Antoine , Finni Taija
Published: November 2023

Purpose

The aim of this study was to investigate internal Achilles tendon (AT) displacement, AT shear wave velocity (SWV), and triceps surae (TS) muscle shear modulus in athletes.

Methods

Internal AT displacement was assessed using ultrasound during isometric contraction. Shear wave elastography was used to assess AT SWV (m × s–1) at rest and TS muscle shear modulus (kPa) during passive ankle dorsiflexion.

Results

A total of 131 athletes participated in this study. Athletes who had not exercised within two days had greater AT non-uniformity and mean anterior tendon displacement, and lower SWV at the proximal AT measurement site (mean difference [95% CI]: 1.8 mm [0.6–2.9], p = 0.003; 1.6 mm [0.2–2.9], p = 0.021; – 0.9 m × s–1 [– 1.6 to – 0.2], p = 0.014, respectively). Male basketball players had a lower mean AT displacement compared to gymnasts (– 3.7 mm [– 6.9 to – 0.5], p = 0.042), with the difference localised in the anterior half of the tendon (– 5.1 mm [– 9.0 to – 1.1], p = 0.022). Male gymnasts had a smaller absolute difference in medial gastrocnemius-minus-soleus shear modulus than basketball players (59.6 kPa [29.0–90.2], p < 0.001) and track and field athletes (52.7 kPa [19.2–86.3], p = 0.004). Intraclass correlation coefficients of measurements ranged from 0.720 to 0.937 for internal AT displacement, from 0.696 to 0.936 for AT SWE, and from 0.570 to 0.890 for TS muscles.

Conclusion

This study provides a reliability assessment of muscle and tendon SWV. The relative differences in passive TS muscle shear modulus suggest sport-specific adaptation. Importantly, in healthy individuals, lower AT displacement after exercise may reflect the time required for tendon recovery.
Evaluating fertility preservation interventions for alignment with ASCO Guidelines for reproductive aged women undergoing cancer treatment: a systematic review
Authors: Pathak Sarita , Vadaparampil Susan T. , Sutter Megan E. , Rice Whitney S. , McBride Colleen M.
Published: November 2023

Purpose

While cancer treatment advancements have increased the number of reproductive-aged women survivors, they can harm reproductive function. Despite national guidelines, oncofertility service uptake remains low. This review explores interventions for fertility preservation alignment with American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines and consideration of a multilevel framework.

Methods

We systematically reviewed literature from 2006 to 2022 across four databases. Identified interventions were assessed and scored for quality based on CONSORT and TREND statement checklists. Results were synthesized to assess for intervention alignment with ASCO guidelines and four multilevel intervention framework characteristics: targeted levels of influence, conceptual clarity, methodologic pragmatism, and sustainability.

Results

Of 407 articles identified, this review includes nine unique interventions. The average quality score was 7.7 out of 11. No intervention was guided by theory. Per ASCO guidelines, most (n=8) interventions included provider-led discussions of treatment-impaired fertility. Fewer noted discussions on fertility preservation approaches (n=5) and specified discussion timing (n=4). Most (n=8) referred patients to reproductive specialists, and few (n=2) included psychosocial service referrals. Most (n=8) were multilevel, with five targeting three levels of influence. Despite targeting multiple levels, all analyses were conducted at the individual level. Intervention strategies included: educational components (n=5), decision aids (n=2), and nurse navigators (n=2). Five interventions considered stakeholders’ views. All interventions were implemented in real-world contexts, and only three discussed sustainability.

Conclusions

This review identifies key gaps in ASCO guideline-concordant fertility preservation that could be filled by updating and adhering to standardized clinical practice guidelines and considering multilevel implementation frameworks elements.
Validity and screening capacity of the FCR-1r for fear of cancer recurrence in long-term colorectal cancer survivors
Authors: Lyhne Johanne Dam , Smith Allan “Ben” , Timm Signe , Simard Sébastien , Jensen Lars Henrik , Frostholm Lisbeth , Fink Per
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Existing fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) screening measures is being shortened to facilitate clinical use. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and screening capacity of a single-item FCR screening measure (FCR-1r) in long-term colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors with no recurrence and assess whether it performs as well in older as in younger survivors.

Methods

All Danish CRC survivors above 18, diagnosed and treated with curative intent between 2014 and 2018, were located through a national patient registry. A questionnaire including the FCR-1r, which measures FCR on a 0–10 visual analog scale, alongside the validated Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory Short Form (FCRI-SF) as a reference standard was distributed between November 2021 and May 2023. Screening capacity and cut-offs were evaluated with a receiver-operating characteristic analysis (ROC) in older (≥ 65 years) compared to younger (< 65 years) CRC survivors. Hypotheses regarding associations with other psychological variables were tested as indicators of convergent and divergent validity.

Results

Of the CRC survivors, 2,128/4,483 (47.5%) responded; 1,654 (36.9%) questionnaires were eligible for analyses (median age 76 (range 38–98), 47% female). Of the responders, 85.2% were aged ≥ 65. Ninety-two participants (5.6%) reported FCRI-SF scores ≥ 22 indicating clinically significant FCR. A FCR-1r cut-off ≥ 5/10 had 93.5% sensitivity and 80.4% specificity for detecting clinically significant FCR (AUC = 0.93, 95% CI 0.91–0.94) in the overall sample. The discrimination ability was significantly better in older (AUC = 0.93, 95% CI 0.91–0.95) compared to younger (0.87, 95% (0.82–0.92), p = 0.04) CRC survivors. The FCR-1r demonstrated concurrent validity against the FCRI-SF (r = 0.71, p < 0.0001) and convergent validity against the short-versions of the Symptom Checklist-90-R subscales for anxiety (r = 0.38, p < 0.0001), depression (r = 0.27, p < 0.0001), and emotional distress (r = 0.37, p < 0.0001). The FCR-1r correlated weakly with employment status (r =  − 0.09, p < 0.0001) and not with marital status (r = 0.01, p = 0.66) indicating divergent validity.

Conclusions

The FCR-1r is a valid tool for FCR screening in CRC survivors with excellent ability to discriminate between clinical and non-clinical FCR, particularly in older CRC survivors.
Bone mineral density differences between femurs of scoliotic patients undergoing quantitative computed tomography analysis
Authors: Albano Domenico , Fusco Stefano , Mascitti Laura , Buccimazza Giorgio , Gallazzi Enrico , Gitto Salvatore , Sconfienza Luca Maria , Messina Carmelo
Published: November 2023

Purpose

Scoliosis is a cause of loading imbalance between the lower limbs, which can result in BMD differences between the two femurs. We investigated the discrepancy in BMD values assessed by quantitative computed tomography (QCT) between femurs in patients with and without scoliosis, also assessing if this difference can be related to spine convexity.

Methods

Abdominal CT examinations were retrospectively reviewed. An ‘‘asynchronous’’ calibration of CT images was performed to obtain BMD values from QCT. Scoliosis was evaluated on the antero-posterior CT localizer to calculate the Cobb angle. Differences between aBMD and vBMD of femurs were assessed in both scoliotic and non-scoliotic subjects.

Results

Final study cohort consisted of 263 subjects, 225 of them without scoliosis (85.6%) and 38 with scoliosis (14.4%). No significant differences were found in the general population without scoliosis, except for vBMD at the neck. Comparison of femurs in scoliotic patients showed statistically significant differences at neck aBMD −0.028 g/cm2, p = 0.004), total femur aBMD (−-0.032 g/cm2, p = 0.008) and total femur vBMD (−-8.9 mg/cm3, p = 0.011), with lower BMD values on the convexity side. In 10 cases (26%) a change in the final T-score diagnosis was observed.

Conclusion

QCT analysis demonstrated a difference in both areal and volumetric BMD between the two femurs of scoliotic patients, in relation to the side of the scoliotic curve. If these data will be confirmed by larger studies, bilateral femoral DXA acquisition may be proposed for these patients.
Documentation of commercial and subsistence hunting of Critically Endangered black-and-white ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) in northeastern Madagascar
Authors: Schüßler Dominik , Rafamantanantsoa Stephan Michel , Ratsimbazafy Jonah H. , Richter Torsten , Radespiel Ute
Published: November 2023

Hunting of wild animals for meat and habitat loss are the main drivers of wildlife population decline around the world, and in tropical regions in particular. While Madagascar is a hotspot for biodiversity, hunting is widespread, mostly in form of subsistence hunting, while hunting for the pet trade is less often reported.

We studied hunting of the Critically Endangered black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) in northeastern Madagascar. Using lemur surveys (102.7 km survey effort) and 54 semi-structured and seven key informant interviews, we assessed the local knowledge, hunting pressure, and the perceived and actual abundances of V. variegata in two hunting and two non-hunting villages.

V. variegata was well known (> 83%) by the respondents but abundance estimates differed significantly between hunting and non-hunting villages, with 26% and 77% of respondents, respectively, estimating a high abundance of ruffed lemurs in the adjacent forests of the villages. Actual observations of V. variegata also differed strongly, in accordance to perceived abundances. Hunting was either done by trapping animals or by pursuit hunts. In both hunting villages, adult lemurs were used for direct meat consumption and juveniles for rearing for the later trade. Hand-raised V. variegata were reported to be sold for 38–71 USD on regional markets or ‘delivered’ directly to buyers.

While wildlife hunting has been widely reported from all over Madagascar, commercial hunting, hand-rearing and trading adds a new dimension of threat towards these Critically Endangered lemurs. As such, the extent of the trade is a priority for future studies.
How subjectivities and subject-making influence community participation in climate change adaptation: the case of Vietnam
Authors: Le Van Thi Hong , Tran Thong Anh , Rola-Rubzen Maria Fay
Published: November 2023

Critical scholars on power relations and climate change adaptation have highlighted the lack of community participation as a consequence of unbalanced power operations. Evidence about how unequal power relations and subject formation constrain public participation, however, is under-studied. In this paper, we utilised the intersection between community participation and the subjectivities lens to examine how a hierarchical political structure systematically operates to influence community engagement in adaptation and how and why local communities are included or excluded from adaptation as a result of subject-making, using Vietnam as a case study. Using 66 semi-structured interviews and ten focus group discussions involving policymakers, practitioners, local authorities, and communities, we examined how the key respondents stereotyped local roles and capacity in agricultural adaptation activities. Applying content analysis, we found that the general population in Vietnam is often framed as lacking knowledge and capacity to respond to climate impacts. Reflected through a traditional government-led model in two agricultural adaptation projects, the study showed that subtle but pervasive subjectivities and subject-making processes constrain community participation by affecting perceptions and, subsequently, actions of key stakeholders, undermining local roles and capacity in undertaking adaptation. These perpetuate the power imbalance between local communities and government entities. The findings contribute to the prevailing scholarship of climate change adaptation that, under an authoritarian regime, local capacity is undermined not only by powerholders but also by community members as they consent to government decisions.
Provable lattice reduction of $$\mathbb {Z}^n$$ with blocksize n/2
Authors: Ducas Léo
Published: November 2023

The Lattice Isomorphism Problem (LIP) is the computational task of recovering, assuming it exists, an orthogonal linear transformation sending one lattice to another. For cryptographic purposes, the case of the trivial lattice $$\mathbb Z^n$$

Z
n

is of particular interest ($$\mathbb {Z}$$
Z
LIP). Heuristic analysis suggests that the BKZ algorithm with blocksize $$\beta = n/2 + o(n)$$

β
=
n
/
2
+
o
(
n
)

solves such instances (Ducas, Postlethwaite, Pulles, van Woerden, ASIACRYPT 2022). In this work, I propose a provable version of this statement, namely, that $$\mathbb {Z}$$
Z
LIP can indeed be solved by making polynomially many calls to a Shortest Vector Problem oracle in dimension at most $$n/2 + 1$$

n
/
2
+
1

.
A three-stage matheuristic for home blood donation appointment reservation and collection routing
Authors: Doneda Martina , Yalçındağ Semih , Lanzarone Ettore
Published: November 2023

In Western countries, the so-called Blood Donation Supply Chain (BDSC) provides blood units to several health services. Its first echelon is the collection of unit from donors, which requires a careful management because an unbalanced supply of units to the rest of the chain could trigger alternating periods of blood shortage and wastage. However, the management of blood collection is only marginally studied in the literature, in comparison to other BDSC echelons. In this work, we propose a new organizational model for blood collection, in which blood is collected at donor’s homes, and provide a decision support tool for its management. This new model provides a novel contribution to the understudied blood collection echelon and, at the same time, it responds to the emerging need of delocalization of health services. The proposed decision support tool consists of an interconnected matheuristic framework with three decision stages: (i) a planning model to create the donation slots that will be assigned to donors, (ii) an online allocation of these slots using a flexible set of criteria, and (iii) a Multi-Trip Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (MTVRP-TW) to route the bloodmobiles that collect blood at donors’ homes. The main goals are to balance the production of blood units between days and to minimize the distance travelled by the bloodmobile fleet, while respecting time windows negotiated with donors. This framework also has the feature of immediately providing a list of slots to choose from when a donor makes a booking request. The decision support tool has been tested on data from a real Italian provider. Results confirm its effectiveness, and the capability of providing good quality and economically sustainable solutions in reasonable timeframes.
Psychometric Properties of the Dutch Contextual Assessment of Social Skills (CASS): An Independent Observational Outcome Measure of Social Skills in Autistic Adolescents
Authors: Idris Sakinah , ten Hoeve Femke H. F. , Ratto Allison B. , White Susan W. , van Haren Neeltje , Greaves-Lord Kirstin
Published: November 2023

The goal of this study was to translate and adapt the original 9-item of the Contextual Assessment of Social Skills (CASS) to a Dutch version and assess its psychometric qualities. Autistic adolescents aged 12 to 18 years (n = 99) took part in a randomized controlled trial. In this study, pre-intervention data were utilized. The original CASS was adapted to ensure cultural relevance and the content validity was assessed. Data was used to assess reliability and structural validity, using confirmatory factor analysis. 4-item were added to the CASS during the adaptation to better align with the objectives of the experimental intervention. The original 9-item had inter-item correlations between .01 and .70. The Cronbach’s alpha for the original 4-item total score was moderate (α = .69), while for a 7-item total score, it was high (α = .86). This 7-item total score had a sufficient model fit (Comparative Fit Index = .90). This total score had a significant correlation with the Assertion subscale of the Social Skills Improvement System-Adolescent (SSIS-A) (r = 0.26, p < .01), and the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2) total score (r = − .21, p = .04) indicating sufficient convergent validity. The CASS total score was not correlated with the Repetitive and Restricted Behavior scale of the SRS-2 (r = − .08, p = .43), indicating sufficient divergent validity. The Dutch CASS can be considered a conceptually sound and reliable observational instrument for assessing social conversational skills in Dutch autistic youth. Further evaluation of its feasibility when implemented in practice, outside of clinical research, is needed.

Trial registration: Dutch trail register NTR6255 (NL6117) 08/02/2017 https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6117
A pseudo-sluicing analysis of reduced embedded questions in Chakhar Mongolian
Authors: Bai Xue , Takahashi Daiko
Published: November 2023

This paper provides a detailed description of reduced embedded questions in Chakhar Mongolian and proposes to analyze them in terms of so-called pseudo-sluicing. It has been noted in the literature that the comparable construction in Khalkha Mongolian does not exhibit the so-called case-matching effect, a phenomenon in which the case of a remnant interrogative phrase matches that of its correlate in the preceding context. We show that it also holds in Chakhar Mongolian. We argue that reduced embedded questions in the language have a pseudo-sluicing structure, which straightforwardly accounts for the absence of the relevant effect. Our proposal is supported by the appearance of a copula and pronominal subjects in those reduced questions and by the fact that reduced questions can be pragmatically controlled.
Acoustic Stall Detection of Variable Pitch Propeller for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Authors: Podsȩdkowski Maciej , Konopiński Rafał , Lipian Michał
Published: November 2023

This paper presents an analysis of acoustic emission and performance data of a UAV rotor equipped with a variable pitch propeller. The proposed study aims to show propeller noise features that indicate stall flow regime on the blade. Analysis of the noise characteristics around the propeller in terms of power spectral density allow to detect the stall. The study shows that a microphone located at different angles around the propeller can provide data sufficient to determine if the blade angle of attack has forced the propeller into the stall regime. In this range, the propeller’s efficiency in hover decreases and leads to an increase in power consumption. The reresearch is a suggests a method of data treatment to obtain a single parameter indicating a blade stall.