bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigating the determinants of iridolenticular contact area: a novel parameter for angle closure
Authors: Tun Tin A , Nongpiur Monisha Esther , Xu Benjamin Y , Wang Xiaofei , Tan Marcus , Quah Joanne Hui Min , Lim Hou-Boon , Cheng Ching Yu , Aung Tin
Published: October 2023

Background/aims

To identify ocular determinants of iridolenticular contact area (ILCA), a recently introduced swept-source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT) derived parameter, and assess the association between ILCA and angle closure.

Methods

In this population-based cross-sectional study, right eyes of 464 subjects underwent SSOCT (SS-1000, CASIA, Tomey Corporation, Nagoya, Japan) imaging in the dark. Eight out of 128 cross-sectional images (evenly spaced 22.5° apart) were selected for analysis. Matlab (Matworks, Massachusetts, USA) was used to measure ILCA, defined as the circumferential extent of contact area between the pigmented iris epithelium and anterior lens surface. Gonioscopic angle closure (GAC) was defined as non-visibility of the posterior trabecular meshwork in two or more angle quadrants.

Results

The mean age of subjects was 62±6.6 years, with the majority being female (65.5%). 143/464 subjects (28.6%) had GAC. In multivariable linear regression analysis, ILCA was significantly associated with anterior chamber width (β=1.03, p=0.003), pupillary diameter (β=−1.9, p<0.001) and iris curvature (β=−17.35, p<0.001). ILCA was smaller in eyes with GAC compared with those with open angles (4.28±1.6 mm
2
vs 6.02±2.71 mm
2
, p<0.001). ILCA was independently associated with GAC (β=−0.03, p<0.001), iridotrabecular contact index (β=−6.82, p<0.001) or angle opening distance (β=0.02, p<0.001) after adjusting for covariates. The diagnostic performance of ILCA for detecting GAC was acceptable (AUC=0.69).

Conclusions

ILCA is a significant predictor of angle closure independent of other biometric factors and may reflect unique anatomical information associated with pupillary block. ILCA represents a novel biometric risk factor in eyes with angle closure.
Anthropometric and DXA-derived measures of body composition in relation to pre-diabetes among adults
Authors: Mohammad Anwar , Ziyab Ali H. , Mohammad Talal
Published: October 2023

Introduction

Abdominal obesity is the most common risk factor of pre-diabetes and diabetes. Currently, several types of indices are used for the determination of visceral fat-related abdominal obesity. To better understand the effect of the different adiposity indices, we sought to evaluate the association of different adiposity measurements, assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and pre-diabetes.

Research design and methods

This cross-sectional study included 1184 adults between 18 and 65 years who participated in the Kuwait Wellbeing Study. Anthropometry measurements included body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio. Total body fat (TBF) mass, android fat mass, gynoid fat, and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass were measured using the Lunar iDXA. Pre-diabetes was defined as 5.7≤HbA1c%≤6.4. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) and 95% CIs were estimated. Area under the curve (AUC) was estimated for each adiposity measurement as predictor of pre-diabetes.

Results

A total of 585 (49.4%) males and 599 (50.6%) females were enrolled in the study. Increased BMI (aPRobese vs normal=1.59, 95% CI: 1.19 to 2.12), waist-to-hip ratio (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.25, 0.96 to 1.61), TBF (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.58, 1.20 to 2.07), android fat (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.67, 1.27 to 2.20), gynoid fat (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.48, 1.16 to 1.89), android-to-gynoid fat ratio (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.70, 1.27 to 2.28), and VAT mass (aPRQ4 vs Q1=2.05, 1.49 to 2.82) were associated with elevated pre-diabetes prevalence. Gynoid fat was associated with pre-diabetes among males (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.71, 1.22 to 2.41), but not among females (aPRQ4 vs Q1=1.27, 0.90 to 1.78). Moreover, in terms of AUC, VAT had the highest estimated AUC of 0.680, followed by android-to-gynoid fat ratio (AUC: 0.647) and android fat (AUC: 0.646).

Conclusions

Pre-diabetes prevalence increased as adiposity measurements increased, with VAT mass demonstrating the highest AUC for pre-diabetes.
Health promotion intervention among women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus: penetration, participation, and baseline findings from the Face-it randomized controlled trial
Authors: Jensen Nanna Husted , Kragelund Nielsen Karoline , Dahl-Petersen Inger Katrine , Kampmann Ulla , Damm Peter , Ovesen Per , Mathiesen Elisabeth Reinhardt , Vinter Christina Anne , Davidsen Emma , Thøgersen Maja , Timm Anne , Andersen Lise Lotte Torvin , Knorr Sine , Jensen Dorte Møller , Maindal Helle Terkildsen
Published: October 2023

Introduction

Face-it is a randomized controlled trial for women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and their families designed to evaluate the effect of a health promotion intervention on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) risk and quality of life. This study examined (1) the penetration and participation rates for the Face-it trial, (2) the characteristics of the participating women and the potential differences in characteristics according to partner participation status, and (3) representativity of the women at baseline.

Research design and methods

We identified women with GDM during pregnancy and invited them and their partners to a baseline examination 10–14 weeks after delivery. Representativity was assessed by comparing the baseline participants with non-participating women, the general population of women with GDM delivering in Denmark, and populations from other intervention trials.

Results

The penetration rate was 38.0% (867/2279) and the participation rate was 32.9% (285/867). The 285 women who attended baseline had a mean age of 32.7 (±4.8) years and body mass index (BMI) of 28.1 (±5.4) kg/m2, and 69.8% had a partner who participated. The women participating with a partner were more often primiparous, born in Denmark (82.8% vs 68.2%), were younger, and more often had a BMI ≤24.9 kg/m2(35.7% vs 21.2%) compared with women without a partner. Compared with the general population of women with GDM in Denmark, these women broadly had similar degree of heterogeneity, but had higher rates of primiparity and singleton deliveries, and lower rates of preterm delivery and prepregnancy obesity.

Conclusions

The penetration and participation rates were acceptable. We found a high rate of partner participation. Overall, women participating with a partner were comparable with those participating without a partner. Participating women were broadly similar to the general national GDM population, however with prepregnancy obesity, multiparity, preterm delivery, and multiple pregnancy being less represented.

Trial registration number

NCT03997773.
Overdiagnosis in malignant melanoma: a scoping review
Authors: Bjørch Mille Falk , Gram Emma Grundtvig , Brodersen John Brandt
Published: October 2023

Objectives

We aimed to systematically identify and scrutinise published empirical evidence about overdiagnosis in malignant melanoma and examine how frequent overdiagnosis of melanoma is and whether this is related to different types of interventions or diagnostic technologies.

Design and setting

Empirical studies that discussed overdiagnosis in malignant melanoma were eligible, including qualitative and quantitative studies in any type of population, age group and geographical location. We excluded studies that did not include empirical data, studies that only mentioned ‘overdiagnosis’ without addressing it further and studies that used the term overdiagnosis for cases of misdiagnosis or false positives.

We developed the search strategy in cooperation with an information specialist. We searched five databases on 21 April 2022: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library.

This scoping review adheres to The JBI methodology and Prefered Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses extension for Scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Two reviewers independently screened titles, abstracts and full texts for inclusion and extracted data from the included studies. The data extracted include study characteristics, population details, research question, the context and the study’s main results.

Results

Our search resulted in 1134 potentially relevant studies. 35 studies were included: 29 register studies, 3 cohort studies, 1 case–control study, 1 survey study and 1 randomised controlled trial. Most register studies examined trends in melanoma incidence and/or mortality and found a significant increase in incidence between 0.39% and 6.6% annually and a little or no increase in mortality. Three cohort studies and one case–control study showed that skin screening was associated with increased detection of melanoma; especially in situ or thin invasive melanoma. Three studies estimated the degree of overdiagnosis which ranged from 29% to 60%.

Conclusions

Epidemiological data suggest a high degree of overdiagnosis in malignant melanoma. Studies that examined the association between skin screening and malignant melanoma all found increased detection of melanomas, mostly thin and in situ melanomas, which raises concern about overdiagnosis.
Reciprocal coproduction as a basis for the diffusion of global health innovations
Authors: Dearing James , Masquillier Caroline , van Olmen Josefien , Zieff Susan G , Liu Albert , Rollins Angela
Published: October 2023

Global health reciprocal innovations originate in low-income and middle-income countries as well as high-income countries before their developers communicate about them with potential adopters in other countries as a transnational team. While communication technology has enabled a more rapid and broader sharing of information about innovations to prevent disease and improve health, innovations of various types have spread among countries, at all levels of income, for many centuries. In this article, we introduce the idea of reciprocal coproduction as a basis for the international sharing of information about innovations that exhibit potential for improving global health. Reciprocal coproduction occurs through two relational team-based processes: developer-led reinvention of an innovation so that it retains its desirable causal effects and implementer-led adaptation of that innovation so that it is compatible with new contexts into which it is introduced. Drawing on research and our own experiences across a range of health issues, we discuss common barriers to reciprocal coproduction and the diffusion of reciprocal innovations. We conclude with lessons drawn from dissemination and implementation science about the effective translation of reciprocal innovations from country to country so that researchers, policy-makers and social entrepreneurs can best ensure equity, accelerate adoptions and heighten the likelihood that global health reciprocal innovations will make a positive difference in health.
Harnessing digital technology for COVID-19 response in Uganda: lessons and implications for future public health emergencies
Authors: Ndejjo Rawlance , Kabwama Steven Ndugwa , Namale Alice , Tusubira Andrew K , Wanyana Irene , Kizito Susan , Kiwanuka Suzanne N , Wanyenze Rhoda K
Published: October 2023

COVID-19 was one of the greatest disruptors of the 21st century, causing significant morbidity and mortality globally. Countries around the world adopted digital technologies and innovations to support the containment of the pandemic. This study explored the use of digital technology and barriers to its utilisation in responding to COVID-19 and sustaining essential health services in Uganda to inform response to future public health emergencies in low-resource settings. We reviewed published and grey literature on the use of digital technology in Uganda’s response from March 2020 to April 2021 and conducted interviews with key informants. We thematically synthesised and summarised information on digital technology use as well as related challenges. During the COVID-19 response, digital technology was used in testing, contact tracing and surveillance, risk communication, supportive supervision and training, and maintenance of essential health services. The challenges with technology use were the disparate digital tools and health information systems leading to duplication of effort; limited access and coverage of digital tools, poor data quality; inaccessibility of data and an inability to support data manipulation, analysis and visualisation. Moreover, the inherent inadequate technology support systems such as poor internet and electricity infrastructure in some areas posed challenges of inequity. The harnessing of technology was key in supporting the COVID-19 response in Uganda. However, gaps existed in access, adoption, harmonisation, evaluation, sustainability and scale up of technology options. These issues should be addressed in preparedness efforts to foster technology adoption and application in public health emergencies with a focus on equity.
Patient perspectives on home-spirometry in interstitial lung disease: a qualitative co-designed study
Authors: Mandizha Jessica , Lanario Joseph W , Duckworth Anna , Lines Sarah , Paiva Ana , Elworthy Victoria , Muraleedharan Veena , Da Ponte Ana Jorge , Shuttleworth Rebecca , Brown Graham , Almond Howard , Bond Carole , Cosby Maureen , Dallas Joanne , Naqvi Marium , Russell Adam David , Berry Alex , Gibbons Michael , Scotton Christopher J , Russell Anne-Marie
Published: October 2023

Background

Opportunities for home-monitoring are increasing exponentially. Home- spirometry is reproducible and reliable in interstitial lung disease (ILD), yet patients’ experiences are not reported. Given the morbidity and mortality associated with ILDs, maintaining health-related quality-of-life is vital. We report our findings from a codesigned, qualitative study capturing the perspectives and experiences of patients using home-spirometry in a UK regional ILD National Health Service England (NHSE) commissioned service.

Methods

Patients eligible for home-spirometry as routine clinical care, able to give consent and able to access a smart phone were invited to participate. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted at serial time points (baseline, 1, 3 and 6 months), recorded, transcribed and analysed thematically.

Results

We report on the experiences of 10 recruited patients (8 males; median age 66 years, range 50–82 years; 7 diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 3 other ILDs) who generally found spirometry convenient and easy to use, but their relationships with forced vital capacity results were complex. Main themes emerging were: (1) anticipated benefits—to identify change, trigger action and aid understanding of condition; (2) needs—clinical oversight and feedback, understanding of results, ownership, need for data and a need ‘to know’; (3) emotional impact—worry, reassurance, ambivalence/conflicting feelings, reminder of health issues, indifference; (4) ease of home-spirometry—simplicity, convenience and (5) difficulties with home-spirometry—technical issues, technique, physical effort.

Conclusion

Home-spirometry has many benefits, but in view of the potential risks to psychological well-being, must be considered on an individual basis. Informed consent and decision-making are essential and should be ongoing, acknowledging potential limitations as well as benefits. Healthcare support is vital.
UK-wide survey of gastroenterology and hepatology trainees in 2022: endoscopy, workforce planning and the Shape of things to come
Authors: Saunsbury Emma , Haddadin Yazan , Gadhok Radha , Ratcliffe Elizabeth , Raju Suneil A ,   British Society of Gastroenterology Trainees Section
Published: October 2023

Objective

Shape of Training has shortened the gastroenterology curriculum in the UK from a 5 to 4-year programme. There are ongoing concerns that this will negatively impact training and the attainment of competencies expected at consultant level. We undertook a UK-wide survey of gastroenterology trainees to establish their views.

Method

The British Society of Gastroenterology Trainees Section collected anonymised survey responses from trainees between June and September 2022 via an online platform.

Results

40.3% of trainees responded. Strikingly, only 10% of respondents felt they could achieve certificate of completion of training (CCT) within a 4-year programme. Furthermore, 31% were not confident they would attain the required expertise in their subspecialist interest during training. 70.8% reported spending a quarter or more of their training in general internal medicine (GIM) and 71.6% felt this negatively impacted on their gastroenterology training. Only 21.6% of respondents plan to pursue a consultant post with GIM commitments.

Regarding endoscopy, only 36.1% of ST7s had provisional and 22.2% full accreditation in colonoscopy. Although 92.3% of respondents wanted exposure to a ‘bleed rota’, this was the case for only 16.2%. Teaching quality was judged to be insufficient by 45.9% of respondents.

Conclusion

Respondents had struggled to achieve the necessary competencies for CCT even prior to the newly reduced 4-year curriculum. While still maintaining service provision, we must safeguard gastroenterology training from encroaching GIM commitments. This will be critical in order to provide capable consultants of the future and prevent UK standards from falling behind internationally.
Prebiotic diet changes neural correlates of food decision-making in overweight adults: a randomised controlled within-subject cross-over trial
Authors: Medawar Evelyn , Beyer Frauke , Thieleking Ronja , Haange Sven-Bastiaan , Rolle-Kampczyk Ulrike , Reinicke Madlen , Chakaroun Rima , von Bergen Martin , Stumvoll Michael , Villringer Arno , Witte A Veronica
Published: October 2023

Objective

Animal studies suggest that prebiotic, plant-derived nutrients could improve homoeostatic and hedonic brain functions through improvements in microbiome–gut–brain communication. However, little is known if these results are applicable to humans. Therefore, we tested the effects of high-dosed prebiotic fibre on reward-related food decision-making in a randomised controlled within-subject cross-over study and assayed potential microbial and metabolic markers.

Design

59 overweight young adults (19 females, 18–42 years, body mass index 25–30 kg/m2) underwent functional task MRI before and after 14 days of supplementary intake of 30 g/day of inulin (prebiotics) and equicaloric placebo, respectively. Short chain fatty acids (SCFA), gastrointestinal hormones, glucose/lipid and inflammatory markers were assayed in fasting blood. Gut microbiota and SCFA were measured in stool.

Results

Compared with placebo, participants showed decreased brain activation towards high-caloric wanted food stimuli in the ventral tegmental area and right orbitofrontal cortex after prebiotics (preregistered, family wise error-corrected p <0.05). While fasting blood levels remained largely unchanged, 16S-rRNA sequencing showed significant shifts in the microbiome towards increased occurrence of, among others, SCFA-producingBifidobacteriaceae, and changes in >60 predicted functional signalling pathways after prebiotic intake. Changes in brain activation correlated with changes inActinobacteriamicrobial abundance and associated activity previously linked with SCFA production, such as ABC transporter metabolism.

Conclusions

In this proof-of-concept study, a prebiotic intervention attenuated reward-related brain activation during food decision-making, paralleled by shifts in gut microbiota.

Trial registration number

NCT03829189.
Non-invasive PD-L1 quantification using [18F]DK222-PET imaging in cancer immunotherapy
Authors: Mishra Akhilesh , Gupta Kuldeep , Kumar Dhiraj , Lofland Gabriela , Sharma Ajay Kumar , Solnes Lilja B , Rowe Steven P , Forde Patrick M , Pomper Martin G , Gabrielson Edward W , Nimmagadda Sridhar
Published: October 2023

Background

Combination therapies that aim to improve the clinical efficacy to immune checkpoint inhibitors have led to the need for non-invasive and early pharmacodynamic biomarkers. Positron emission tomography (PET) is a promising non-invasive approach to monitoring target dynamics, and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is a central component in cancer immunotherapy strategies. [18F]DK222, a peptide-based PD-L1 imaging agent, was investigated in this study using humanized mouse models to explore the relationship between PD-L1 expression and therapy-induced changes in cancer.

Methods

Cell lines and xenografts derived from three non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and three urothelial carcinomas (UCs) were used to validate the specificity of [18F]DK222 for PD-L1. PET was used to quantify anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) therapy-induced changes in PD-L1 expression in tumors with and without microsatellite instability (MSI) in humanized mice. Furthermore, [18F]DK222-PET was used to validate PD-L1 pharmacodynamics in the context of monotherapy and combination immunotherapy in humanized mice bearing A375 melanoma xenografts. PET measures of PD-L1 expression were used to establish a relationship between pathological and immunological changes. Lastly, spatial distribution analysis of [18F]DK222-PET was developed to assess the effects of different immunotherapy regimens on tumor heterogeneity.

Results

[18F]DK222-PET and biodistribution studies in mice with NSCLC and UC xenografts revealed high but variable tumor uptake at 60 min that correlated with PD-L1 expression. In MSI tumors treated with anti-PD-1, [18F]DK222 uptake was higher than in control tumors. Moreover, [18F]DK222 uptake was higher in A375 tumors treated with combination therapy compared with monotherapy, and negatively correlated with final tumor volumes. In addition, a higher number of PD-L1+ cells and higher CD8+-to-CD4+cell ratio was observed with combination therapy compared with monotherapy, and positively correlated with PET. Furthermore, spatial distribution analysis showed higher [18F]DK222 uptake towards the core of the tumors in combination therapy, indicating a more robust and distinct pattern of immune cell infiltration.

Conclusion

[18F]DK222-PET has potential as a non-invasive tool for monitoring the effects of immunotherapy on tumors. It was able to detect variable PD-L1 expression in tumors of different cancer types and quantify therapy-induced changes in tumors. Moreover, [18F]DK222-PET was able to differentiate the impact of different therapies on tumors.
Diagnostic yield of a heart failure referral pathway using N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide
Authors: Zegard Abbasin , Naneishvili Tamara , Viyapurapu Ravi , Desai Purushottam , White Sam , Patel Peysh A , Stegemann Berthold , Zaphiriou Alex , Qiu Tian , Leyva Francisco
Published: October 2023

Objective

To determine the diagnostic yield of a ‘high’ N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in patients with suspected heart failure (HF) referred from primary to secondary care.

Methods

In this retrospective study, cardiac diagnoses were quantified in consecutive patients with an NT-proBNP>400 ng/L referred from primary care centres to a specialist HF service.

Results

Among 654 consecutive patients (age: 78.5±9.72 years; 45.9% men; left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF): 55.4±12.5% (mean±SD)), the primary diagnoses were: valvular disease (39.4%), HF (29.2%; 13.3% with LVEF<40%) and atrial fibrillation (AF; 17.3%). In terms of primary or secondary diagnoses, 68% of patients had valve disease, 46.9% had AF and 29.2% had HF. A cardiac diagnosis was made in 85.9%. In multivariable analyses, NT-proBNP predicted HF with LVEF<40% (OR: 10.2, 95% CI: 5.63 to 18.3) and HF with any LVEF (OR: 6.13, 95% CI: 3.79 to 9.93). In canonical linear discriminant analyses, NT-proBNP correctly identified 54.5% of patients with HF. The remainder were misclassified as valvular disease, AF or no cardiac diagnosis.

Conclusion

Among patients with an NT-proBNP>400 ng/L referred through a primary care HF pathway, most patients had valve disease or AF rather than HF. NT-proBNP cannot discriminate among HF, valve disease and AF. On this basis, NT-proBNP may be best employed in detecting cardiac disease in general rather than HF per se.
Use of recycled tyre segments to enhance the stability of ballasted track by increased confinement
Authors: Mishra Soumyaranjan , Indraratna Buddhima , Rujikiatkamjorn Cholachat , Ngo Trung
Published: October 2023

The most common railway ballast is produced by quarrying, and its mechanical characteristics are crucial for both stability and drainage for safer and faster rail operations. Ballasted tracks have certain drawbacks, primarily because ballast starts to degrade over time. In this regard, reducing the rate of ballast degradation is vital to enhance track longevity and minimise maintenance costs. This study demonstrates how segments of huge waste rubber tyres (e.g., 3 m in diameter) from the mining industry can be used to improve the stability of tracks, while contributing to reduced ballast deformation and degradation. By placing arched segments cut from these tyres along the track shoulders beyond the edge of sleepers (i.e., the plan view gives a schematic impression of a caterpillar), the in-situ lateral confining pressure can be increased from 20–25 (standard track) to 40–50 kPa. This novel idea of confined-caterpillar track (CCT) was tested at a prototype physical model (1:1 scale) at the National Facility for the Heavy-haul Railroad Testing, and the experimental outcomes were compared with the performance of a conventional track. Apart from constributing to at least 25% saving of quarried aggregates, the test results prove that the CCT concept can curtail the lateral displacement and settlement of the ballast layer, while reducing particle breakage and affecting significant stress reduction in the underlying substructure layers.
Design-truck ultimate limit states of buried modular polymer stormwater collection structures
Authors: LeBlanc J.M. , Brachman R.W.I. , Zarpeima A.
Published: October 2023

Modular polymer stormwater structures are a relatively new class of buried structure with two horizontal platens supported by vertical columns. While structural demand at design truck loads has been quantified, the ultimate limit state to design truck loading is unknown. Full-scale physical experiments were conducted to quantify the applied load and identify the mode(s) of failure at the ultimate limit state of three types of modular structures when buried (with 0.6 m soil cover) and subject to static design truck loading. All three module types tested reached an ultimate limit state at applied loads around three times the nominal design load but had different modes of failure. The ultimate resistance for the module with columns having the lowest moment of inertia relative to length squared was caused by column buckling and top platen rupture, while the two modules with nearly twice the moment of inertia relative to length squared failed by top platen rupture and their column forces at most were 70%–75% of their short-term single column buckling resistance. The results provide new data to allow independent load rating of the buried structure, support continued assessment of column buckling, and identify the need to limit platen bending deflections.
Rapid 3D lidar change detection for geohazard identification using GPU-based alignment and M3C2 algorithms
Authors: Weidner Luke , Ferrier Alex , van Veen Megan , Lato Matthew J.
Published: October 2023

Topographic change detection is increasingly being used to identify and monitor landslides and other geohazards in support of risk-informed decision-making. Expanding change detection from site specific to regional scales enables increasingly proactive asset management and contributes to improving the resilience of infrastructure to extreme events. It is widely known that change detection precision can be improved by applying three-dimensional algorithms, such as iterative closest point (ICP) and M3C2, directly to raw point clouds. However, this also increases the computational requirements compared to alternatives such as digital elevation model differencing. This study presents a novel graphics processing unit (GPU)-based implementation of the ICP-M3C2 workflow to address this limitation. In the proposed algorithm, point cloud data segments are automatically queued and served to the working GPU, which efficiently performs point cloud processing operations, while the central processing unit (CPU) performs data management operations in parallel. The developed method is estimated to be up to 54 times faster than CPU-based versions of the same algorithm. In this study, we present how the workflow has been applied to six regional-scale landslide identification and monitoring case studies in which landslides are causing the disruption of pipelines, highways, and rail corridors. Overall, in 2021 and 2022, over 17 500 linear km of change detection were processed using the demonstrated method.
Distribution and characterization of nematodes in above-ground microhabitats in a natural pristine cedar forest in Yakushima Island, Japan
Authors: Kitagami Yudai , Matsuda Yosuke
Published: October 2023

Nematode communities in natural pristine forests composed of trees aged over 1000 years have not been thoroughly studied. Old-growth forests can provide diverse microhabitats for nematodes such as fallen trees with mossy conditions. This study aimed to characterize the community and trophic compositions of nematodes in relation to different microhabitats in old-growth Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica (L. f.) D. Don) forests in Yakushima Island, Japan. To this aim, nematodes retrieved from four different types of microhabitats were morphologically identified at the family/genus level and divided into five trophic groups. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling scatterplot showed that nematode communities clustered significantly in each microhabitat and their community compositions were significantly affected by C/N ratio. With respect to nematode trophic composition, bacterivorous nematodes dominated decaying barks of fallen trees, with a relative abundance of 45%, while fungivorous nematodes were dominant in living barks of cedar trunks (61%). Predatory–omnivorous nematodes predominated in mosses of fallen trees (51%). These results showed that nematode community and trophic composition were different among microhabitats characterized by nutrient conditions. The predatory–omnivorous nematodes were abundant in mosses with N-rich conditions. In contrast, fungivorous nematodes were abundant in cedar trunks with high C/N conditions. Thus, old-growth natural forests can provide diverse microhabitats where various nematode taxa coexist due to the presence of fallen trees and mosses.
Diversity dilemmas: uncovering gender and nationality biases in graduate admissions across top North American computer science programs
Authors: Kalhor Ghazal , Zeraati Tanin , Bahrak Behnam
Published: October 2023

Although different organizations have defined policies towards diversity in academia, many argue that minorities are still disadvantaged in university admissions due to biases. Extensive research has been conducted on detecting partiality patterns in the academic community. However, in the last few decades, limited research has focused on assessing gender and nationality biases in graduate admission results of universities. In this study, we collected a novel and comprehensive dataset containing information on approximately 14,000 graduate students majoring in computer science (CS) at the top 25 North American universities. We used statistical hypothesis tests to determine whether there is a preference for students’ gender and nationality in the admission processes. In addition to partiality patterns, we discuss the relationship between gender/nationality diversity and the scientific achievements of research teams. Consistent with previous studies, our findings show that there is no gender bias in the admission of graduate students to research groups, but we observed bias based on students’ nationality.
Dual solutions for nanofluid flow past a moving plate embedded in a Darcy porous medium in attendance of heat source/sink
Authors: Maiti Hiranmoy , Nandy Samir Kumar , Mukhopadhyay Swati
Published: October 2023

The aim of this study is to present forced convective nanofluid flow over a moving plate embedded in an absorbent medium. Following Darcy law’s for porous medium, the flow analysis is explored in attendance of warmth basis/drop. The main objective of this study is to explore the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The plate is considered to move in both directions: in the way of movement of fluid and in the opposite route of fluid movement. Similarity alterations have been applied to alter the leading partial differential equations (PDEs) to ordinary differential equations (ODEs). Numerical solutions have been obtained with the help of MATHEMATICA software. Dual solutions have been obtained when the plate and liquid go in reverse ways. Wall shear stress, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers all are found to rise with the rising permeability parameter of absorbent medium. For Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, ranges of dual solutions diminish by the mounting values of permeability parameter K. The critical values for porosity parameter [Formula: see text], 0.02, 0.03 are [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], respectively. For decreasing values of s, range of dual solutions decreases. For [Formula: see text], dual solutions exist in the range [Formula: see text].
Recent SDGs and ESG Implementation by Qatar
Authors: Thaker Hassanudin Mohd Thas , Sakti Muhammad Rizky Prima , Qoyum Abdul , Thaker Mohamed Asmy Mohd Thas , Hosen Mosharrof
Published: October 2023

The gas-rich nation, Qatar, became the first Middle Eastern country to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022, after beating South Korea, Japan, Australia, and the US. Qatar invested an enormous amount of money in implementing the measures outlined by FIFA and United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the World Cup was included in Qatar’s sustainable Vision 2030. Qatar has gained international support and wants to host more mega-events despite controversies surrounding its FIFA World Cup, including workers’ deaths during infrastructure construction and protests from western athletes, politicians, and media against the Qatari government and FIFA’s ban on LGBT+ symbols and alcohol in the stadium. Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup left a sustainable legacy by following ESG principles. This paper analysed how FIFA 2022 applies SDGs, ESG, and Islamic principles and their managerial implications. We concluded with lessons to be learnt from FIFA 2022 and Qatar’s investments in green infrastructure, sustainable mobility, and carbon offsetting, as well as how the country’s efforts to leave a sustainable legacy after the event could inspire other nations.
Exploring Effective Fuzzing Strategies to Analyze Communication Protocols
Authors: Chen Yurong , Mei Yongsheng , Lan Tian , Venkataramani Guru
Published: October 2023

While coverage-based greybox fuzzing has gained great success in the field of vulnerability detection due to its simplicity and efficiency, it could become less powerful when applied directly to protocol fuzzing due to the unique challenges of protocol fuzzing. In particular, (1) The implementation of protocols usually involves multiple program binaries, i.e., multiple fuzzing entries; (2) The communication among multiple ends contains more than one packet, which are not necessarily dependent upon each other, i.e., fuzzing single (usually the first) packet can only achieve extremely limited code coverage. In this article, we study such challenges and demonstrate the limitation of current non-stateful greybox fuzzer. In order to achieve higher code coverage, we design and implement a stateful protocol fuzzer,

yFuzz

, to explore the code related to different protocol states.
yFuzz
is built on AFL (a mainstream greybox fuzzer), and incorporates a stateful fuzzer (which contains a state switching engine) together with a multi-state forkserver (which enables multi-state program forking) to consistently and flexibly fuzz different states of a compiler-instrumented protocol program. Our experimental results on OpenSSL show that
yFuzz
improves the code coverage by 73% and increases the number of identified unique crashes by 100% when comparing against AFL fuzzing the first packet during a protocol handshake.
"Creepy Towards My Avatar Body, Creepy Towards My Body": How Women Experience and Manage Harassment Risks in Social Virtual Reality
Authors: Schulenberg Kelsea , Freeman Guo , Li Lingyuan , Barwulor Catherine
Published: October 2023

Online harassment against women - particularly in gaming and virtual worlds contexts - remains a salient and pervasive issue, and arguably reflects the systems of offline structural oppression to control women's bodies and rights in today's world. Harassment in social Virtual Reality (VR) is also a growing new frontier of research in HCI and CSCW, particularly focusing on marginalized users such as women. Based on interviews with 31 women users of social VR, our findings present women's experiences of harassment risks in social VR as compared to harassment targeting women in pre-existing, on-screen online gaming and virtual worlds, along with strategies women employ to manage harassment in social VR with varying degrees of success. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on harassment in social VR by highlighting how women's marginalization online and offline impact their perceptions of and strategies to mitigate harassment in this unique space. It also provides a critical reflection on women's mitigation strategies and proposes important implications to rethink social VR design to better prevent harassment against women and other marginalized communities in the future metaverse.
Technology-Mediated Strategies for Coping with Mental Health Challenges: Insights from People with Bipolar Disorder
Authors: Xu Tian , Yu Junnan , Doyle Dylan Thomas , Voida Stephen
Published: October 2023

Technology plays an increasingly pivotal role in mediating mental health support in people's everyday lives. However, it is not clear how that mediation is occurring, to what end, and what technologies are implicated. In this study, we examine these questions with a mixed-methods analysis of conversations among participants in several Bipolar Disorder (BD) communities on Reddit. Analyzing posts produced over four years, we identify a wide variety of technologies that people employ to manage their mental conditions, such as communication technologies, online communities and tracking tools. Using this taxonomy of technologies as a framework, we then summarize three technology-mediated management strategies that these technologies enable, including serving as community, episode, and information mediators. We argue that with a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of people's in situ technology use, we can identify research and design opportunities for designing human-centered technologies to help people manage mental health challenges more effectively.
"We picked community over privacy": Privacy and Security Concerns Emerging from Remote Learning Sociotechnical Infrastructure During COVID-19
Authors: Wagman Kelly B. , Blinder Elana B. , Song Kevin , Vignon Antoine , Dworkin Solomon , Clegg Tamara , Vitak Jessica , Chetty Marshini
Published: October 2023

With the rapid shift to remote learning in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents, teachers, and students had to quickly adapt to what scholars have called "emergency remote learning" (ERL). This transition required increased reliance on digital tools, exacerbating privacy and security threats associated with expanded data collection and new vulnerabilities. In this study, we adopt a sociotechnical and infrastructural perspective to understand how these threats emerged through breakdowns and tensions in elementary school ERL. Through interviews with 29 US-based teachers and parents of elementary school students (grades PreK-6), we identify two core findings related to privacy and security. First, we detail three breakdowns in the ERL sociotechnical infrastructure: (1) reduced attention to privacy and security issues as parents and teachers cobbled together a patchwork of tools needed to make ERL work; (2) privacy and security risks that emerged from ambiguous and shifting school policies; and (3) the failure to adapt standard authentication mechanisms (e.g., passwords) to be usable by young children. Second, we identify tensions between parents' and teachers' desire to help children advance in their education and their desire for children's privacy and security in ERL, as well as tensions resulting from the collapse of home and school contexts. These findings collectively suggest that ERL exacerbated existing--and created new--privacy and security challenges for young students, and we argue these challenges will carry beyond the pandemic due to the increasing use of technology to supplement traditional education. In light of these findings, we recommend researchers and educators use a framework of care to develop social and technical approaches to improving remote learning in order to protect children's privacy and security.
(Re)Capturing the Spirit of Ramadan: Techno-Religious Practices in the Time of COVID-19
Authors: Caidi Nadia , Ekmekcioglu Cansu , Jamali Rojin , Chandra Priyank
Published: October 2023

Ramadan is an important and blessed month for Muslims around the world. It is both a time of spiritual contemplation as well as an opportunity for reinvigorating communal bonds. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, disrupted many of the rituals and traditions of Ramadan. In this exploratory study, we present findings from 22 young Muslims' experiences with Ramadan and fasting during the pandemic. Our article sheds light on the techno-religious practices and information strategies used to mitigate isolation, share information, and celebrate Ramadan. We examine the sociotechnical configurations of religious rituals and highlight the resilience of these rituals even in the midst of a global pandemic. Our paper contributes to CSCW scholarship on technology appropriation and non-use as they relate to religious practices in the face of exogenous shocks such as the pandemic, and how design can better cater to the religious lives of individuals and communities.
A Golden Age: Conspiracy Theories' Relationship with Misinformation Outlets, News Media, and the Wider Internet
Authors: Hanley Hans W. A. , Kumar Deepak , Durumeric Zakir
Published: October 2023

Do we live in a "Golden Age of Conspiracy Theories?" In the last few decades, conspiracy theories have proliferated on the Internet with some having dangerous real-world consequences. A large contingent of those who participated in the January 6th attack on the US Capitol believed fervently in the QAnon conspiracy theory. In this work, we study the relationships amongst five prominent conspiracy theories (QAnon, COVID, UFO/Aliens, 9/11, and Flat-Earth) and each of their respective relationships to the news media, both mainstream and fringe. Identifying and publishing a set of 755 different conspiracy theory websites dedicated to our five conspiracy theories, we find that each of them often hyperlinks to the same external domains, with COVID and QAnon conspiracy theory websites having the strongest connections. Examining the role of news media, we further find that not only do outlets known for spreading misinformation hyperlink to our set of conspiracy theory websites more often than mainstream websites but this hyperlinking has increased dramatically between 2018 and 2021, with the advent of QAnon and the start of COVID-19 pandemic. Using partial Granger-causality, we uncover several positive correlative relationships between the hyperlinks from misinformation websites and the popularity of conspiracy theory websites, suggesting the prominent role that misinformation news outlets play in popularizing many conspiracy theories.
A Tale of Two Cultures: Comparing Interpersonal Information Disclosure Norms on Twitter
Authors: Mondal Mainack , Punuru Anju , Cheng Tyng-Wen Scott , Vargas Kenneth , Gundry Chaz , Driggs Nathan S. , Schill Noah , Carlson Nathaniel , Bedwell Josh , Lorenc Jaden Q. , Ghosh Isha , Li Yao , Fulda Nancy , Page Xinru
Published: October 2023

We present an exploration of cultural norms surrounding online disclosure of information about one's interpersonal relationships (such as information about family members, colleagues, friends, or lovers) on Twitter. The literature identifies the cultural dimension of individualism versus collectivism as being a major determinant of offline communication differences in terms of emotion, topic, and content disclosed. We decided to study whether such differences also occur online in context of Twitter when comparing tweets posted in an individualistic (U.S.) versus a collectivist (India) society. We collected more than 2 million tweets posted in the U.S. and India over a 3 month period which contain interpersonal relationship keywords. A card-sort study was used to develop this culturally-sensitive saturated taxonomy of keywords that represent interpersonal relationships (e.g., ma, mom, mother). Then we developed a high-accuracy interpersonal disclosure detector based on dependency-parsing (F1-score: 86%) to identify when the words refer to a personal relationship of the poster (e.g., "my mom" as opposed to "a mom"). This allowed us to identify the 400K+ tweets in our data set which actually disclose information about the poster's interpersonal relationships. We used a mixed methods approach to analyze these tweets (e.g., comparing the amount of joy expressed about one's family) and found differences in emotion, topic, and content disclosed between tweets from the U.S. versus India. Our analysis also reveals how a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods are needed to uncover these differences; Using just one or the other can be misleading. This study extends the prior literature on Multi-Party Privacy and provides guidance for researchers and designers of culturally-sensitive systems.
AIMEE: An Exploratory Study of How Rules Support AI Developers to Explain and Edit Models
Authors: Piorkowski David , Vejsbjerg Inge , Cornec Owen , Daly Elizabeth M. , Alkan Öznur
Published: October 2023

In real-world applications when deploying Machine Learning (ML) models, initial model development includes close analysis of the model results and behavior by a data scientist. Once trained, however, models may need to be retrained with new data or updated to adhere to new rules or regulations. This presents two challenges. First, how to communicate how a model is making its decisions before and after retraining, and second how to support model editing to take into account new requirements. To address these needs, we built AIMEE (AI Model Explorer and Editor), a tool created to address these challenges by providing interactive methods to explain, visualize, and modify model decision boundaries using rules. Rules should benefit model builders by providing a layer of abstraction for understanding and manipulating the model and reduces the need to modify individual rows of data directly. To evaluate if this was the case, we conducted a pair of user studies totaling 23 participants to evaluate AIMEE's rules-based approach for model explainability and editing. We found that participants correctly interpreted rules and report on their perspectives of how rules are beneficial (and not), ways that rules could support collaboration, and provide a usability evaluation of the tool.