bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Study on the Connotation Remodeling of Science and Technology Vocabulary Based on the Application of Knowledge Graphs
Authors: Liu Weihang , Tuo Jiawei , Xue Jianwu
Published: June 2022

Disruptive Technology is also often translated as disruptive technology or breakthrough technology, which was first proposed by Professor Christensen of Harvard Business School in 1990s. Nowadays, the competition among countries is increasingly fierce, especially in the field of science and technology, which often leads to the backwardness and impoverishment of the whole industry due to the technological gap. Today, with the rapid consumption of social resources, social and economic development urgently needs disruptive technologies to promote industrial transformation, optimize economic structure and improve people’s quality of life. Countries that master disruptive technologies can open up new industrial development paths and lay a foundation for unique technological advantages, thus bringing huge technological dividends to national economic development. Visuwords is a knowledge graph application platform, through which the meaning and semantic association of words can be visualized. This study takes the word “famished” as an example to analyze the relationship between its new connotation and original meaning to verify its feasibility at the communication level. Today’s social science knowledge in the general public needs to be disseminated from the original relatively obscure and academic to an easily acceptable form. This study applies the idea of scientific popularization to a knowledge graph visualization tool, while using the connotation of linguistic ideas to analyze and deconstruct specific wordsThe study combines the connotation concept of linguistics with the disciplinary tools in the field of knowledge graph, and specifically analyzes the role of scientific terms, especially some abbreviations, in the mass science communication.
Recurrent Adversarial Video Prediction Network
Authors: Wang Meiju , Zhong Guoqiang , Deng Zhaoyang , Zhang Kang , Jiang Peng
Published: June 2022

Mining the intrinsic information of sequential data to predict the future data has a promising research prospect. Considering the temporal features of sequential data, existing approaches generally adopt recurrent neural network and its variants for the prediction. However, for sequences with complex structure, such as video frame sequence, these approaches cannot guarantee to obtain promising prediction results. In this paper, to address the above issue, we propose a novel architecture, called recurrent adversarial video prediction network (RAVPN), which can not only extract the temporal and spatial features of video sequences, but also optimize the generator and discriminator based on the adversarial strategy. Specifically, we use sliding windows with length t +1 and set the (t + 1)-th frame as the label of its previous t frames. The generator takes the first t frames as input and tries to generate the (t + 1)-th frame, while the discriminator distinguishes whether a sample is real or fake to boost the performance of the generator. Experimental results show that our novel RAVPN can obtain a promising performance on video prediction tasks compared with other deep sequence prediction models.
Long Memory Gated Recurrent Unit for Time Series Classification
Authors: Hong Binjie , Yan Zhijie , Chen Yingxi , Xiaobo-Jin
Published: June 2022

Time series analysis is an important and challenging problem in data mining, where time series is a class of temporal data objects. In the classification task, the label is dependent on the features from the last moments. Due to the time dependency, the recurrent neural networks, as one of the prevalent learning-based architectures, take advantage of the relation among history data. The Long Short-Term Memory Network (LSTM) and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU) are two popular artificial recurrent neural networks used in the field of deep learning. LSTM designed a gate-like method to control the short and long historical information, and GRU simplified those gates to obtain more efficient training. In our work, we propose a new model called as Long Memory Gated Recurrent Unit (LMGRU) based on such two remarkable models, where the reset gate is introduced to reset the stored value of the cell in Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model but the forget gate and the input gate are omitted. The experimental results on several time series benchmarks show that LMGRU achieves better effectiveness and efficiency than LSTM and GRU.
Adversarial Attack and Defence on Handwritten Chinese Character Recognition
Authors: Jiang Guoteng , Qian Zhuang , Wang Qiu-Feng , Wei Yan , Huang Kaizhu
Published: June 2022

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have shown their powerful performance in classification; however, the robustness issue of DNNs has arisen as one primary concern, e.g., adversarial attack. So far as we know, there is not any reported work about the adversarial attack on handwritten Chinese character recognition (HCCR). To this end, the classical adversarial attack method (i.e., Projection Gradient Descent: PGD) is adopted to generate adversarial examples to evaluate the robustness of the HCCR model. Furthermore, in the training process, we use adversarial examples to improve the robustness of the HCCR model. In the experiments, we utilize a frequently-used DNN model on HCCR and evaluate its robustness on the benchmark dataset CASIA-HWDB. The experimental results show that its recognition accuracy is decreased severely on the adversarial examples, demonstrating the vulnerability of the current HCCR model. In addition, we can improve the recognition accuracy significantly after the adversarial training, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Improved Alexnet-Based Character Detection Method
Authors: Liu Fuxiang , He Song , Chen Zhisheng
Published: June 2022

Extracting text information in complex images is a hot spot in pattern recognition research with broad application prospects. Natural scene door numbers produce serious distortion due to blurred images, uneven illumination and low light illumination, which makes it difficult to achieve ideal results in character recognition, and recognizing characters of arbitrary length is even more of a challenge. In this paper, we adopt the improved Niblack’s local threshold segmentation method to segment the images, and mark the connected areas of the segmented images to highlight the important features, and finally input the above pre-processed images to the improved AlexNet network for target detection on SVHN (Street View House Number) to realize the detection of characters in real scenes. The experimental results show that the improved Alexet-based target detection method is able to complete the detection task of streetscape door number characters well with 92.89% correct recognition rate.
Outpainting Natural Scenery Images by Fusing Forecasting Information
Authors: Geng Yujie , Gao Penglei , Yang Xi , Yan Yuyao , Huang Kaizhu
Published: June 2022

Image outpainting receives less attention due to the challenges of predicting the spatial content consistency and maintaining the high quality in generated images. All-sides image prediction is a generalized task in outpainting, aiming to extrapolate the outside content for all sides of an image. It is a challenging task to maintain spatial and semantic consistency between the original input and the generated multi-step regions. In this paper, we embed a novel Multi-view Recurrent Content Transfer module into an Encoder-Decoder architecture for long-range all-side image outpainting. A multi-head attention mechanism is leveraged to fuse information from different representation sub-spaces at different positions to enhance the consistency of generated images and the original input. Our model could obtain sufficient temporal information in predicting the extended feature maps, which improves the quality of long-range images extrapolation. We experimentally demonstrate that our proposed method could produce visually appealing results for outside image outpainting against the state-of-the-art image inpainting and outpainting approaches. Modelling the temporal relationship could help generate the outside regions and reconstruct the input regions smoothly and realistically. In addition, an attempt to possibly allow for arbitrary output resolutions is supported as well.
Tight Source Domain Match for Partial Domain Adaptation Based on Maximum Density
Authors: Ni Zi-Ao , Su Zixian , Yang Xi , Wang Qiufeng , Huang Kaizhu
Published: June 2022

Unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) aims at transferring knowledge between a well-labelled ’source domain’ and an unlabelled ’target domain’ by decreasing distribution discrepancy. In real scenario, partial domain adaptation (PDA), where target domain only includes part of the classes of source domain, is adopted as fully-shared label space is often unavailable. Non-identical label spaces across domains lead to performance degradation due to source-unique classes being mis-matched to the target domain, i.e. negative transfer of the target domain. Although existing PDA approaches have produced promising results, they still confront with negative transfer problem without rigorous generalization bounds. In our work, a novel PDA model has been proposed based on margin disparity and maximum source intra-class density divergence (MDSD). It matches the feature distributions with shared labels and congregates source samples in the source with affirmative labels. Removing maximum target density with pseudo labels, it effectively avoids over-fitting and accelerates learning speed. In addition, we construct a new garbage classification dataset, which is comprised of source domain - Product (Pr) and target domain - Garbage (Ga) for PDA validation. Experiments show that our proposed unsupervised partial domain adaptation method has a good performance on Office-31, Office-Home and Pr-Ga datasets.
Sketch to Building: Architecture Image Translation Based on GAN
Authors: Jiang Sidong , Yan Yuyao , Lin Yiming , Yang Xi , Huang Kaizhu
Published: June 2022

Image-to-image translation with Generative Adversarial Networks has been extensively studied recently. However, it remains still very challenging for sketch-to-image translation owing to large domain gap and information asymmetry problems. In this paper, we introduce a novel two-step method as well as designing an interactive system which can generate different styles of architecture images from a hand-drawn sketch. In our framework, either an architecture sketch can be drawn and then translated into a color image, or an architecture photo can be loaded, followed by sketch generation, modification, and translation. Style images can also be manually selected for different output styles. Experimental results show that our method has better performance on both image quality and diversity than the other competitive methods.
Research on Interactive Picking Method of 3D Model Graphics Based on BVH and Qt
Authors: Wang Xiaohui
Published: June 2022

In the front and rear graphics operations of finite element analysis software, traditional methods use ray picking and callback functions to complete the graphics picking interaction, which is inefficient and inflexible, which affects the software user experience. The method in this paper adopts the ray picking algorithm based on the BVH structure and the signal-slot data communication mechanism of Qt to realize multi-threaded concurrent communication, supports efficient and free interactions such as single-point picking of 3D models and rectangular frame selection, and improves the interaction friendliness and friendliness of the finite element analysis system. User operation efficiency.
Thermoelectric properties of monolayer and bilayer buckled XTe (X = Ge, Sn, and Pb)
Authors: Lubis P , Amalia N , Wella S A , Sholihun S
Published: June 2022

Lowering the dimension of 3D materials, so that the confinement length L of the low-dimensional material is less than the thermal wavelength Λ of its bulk phase, is expected to be a sufficient way to enhance their thermoelectric performances. Using density functional theory incorporating the linearised Boltzmann transport equation with a constant relaxation time approximation, we calculate the electronic and thermoelectric properties of monolayer and bilayer XTe (X = Ge, Sn, and Pb). It is shown that the ideal figure of merit of monolayer XTe is larger than that of bilayer XTe, suggesting the importance of downsizing the bulk XTe up to single-layer thickness to have a better thermoelectric performance. The n-type monolayer buckled SnTe is predicted to exhibit remarkable thermoelectric performance with ZT > 1.6 at T = 900 K compared to other monolayer and bilayer XTe.
Invited Commentary: Mechanistic and Biologically Based Models in Epidemiology—A Powerful Underutilized Tool
Authors: Meza Rafael , Jeon Jihyoun
Published: June 2022

Mechanistic and biologically based mathematical models of chronic and behavioral disease processes aim to capture the main mechanistic or biological features of the disease development and to connect these with epidemiologic outcomes. These approaches have a long history in epidemiologic research and are complementary to traditional epidemiologic or statistical approaches to investigate the role of risk factor exposures on disease risk. Simonetto et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2022;191(10):1766–1775) present a mechanistic, process-oriented model to investigate the role of smoking, hypertension, and dyslipidemia in the development of atherosclerotic lesions and their progression to myocardial infarction. Their approach builds on and brings to cardiovascular disease the ideas and perspectives of earlier mechanistic and biologically based models for the epidemiology of cancer and other chronic diseases, providing important insights into the mechanisms and epidemiology of smoking related myocardial infarction. We argue that although mechanistic modeling approaches have demonstrated their value and place in epidemiology, they are highly underutilized. We call for efforts to grow mechanistic and biologically based modeling research, expertise, and awareness in epidemiology, including the development of training and collaboration opportunities to attract more students and researchers from science, technology, engineering, and medical field into the epidemiology field.
PHACTR1modulates vascular compliance but not endothelial function: a translational study
Authors: Wood Alice , Antonopoulos Alexios , Chuaiphichai Surawee , Kyriakou Theodosios , Diaz Rebeca , Al Hussaini Abtehale , Marsh Anna-Marie , Sian Manjit , Meisuria Mitul , McCann Gerry , Rashbrook Victoria S , Drydale Edward , Draycott Sally , Polkinghorne Murray David , Akoumianakis Ioannis , Antoniades Charalambos , Watkins Hugh , Channon Keith M , Adlam David , Douglas Gillian
Published: June 2022

Aims

The non-coding locus at 6p24 located in Intron 3 of PHACTR1 has consistently been implicated as a risk allele in myocardial infarction and multiple other vascular diseases. Recent murine studies have identified a role for Phactr1 in the development of atherosclerosis. However, the role of PHACTR1 in vascular tone and in vivo vascular remodelling has yet to be established. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of PHACTR1 in vascular function.

Methods and results

Prospectively recruited coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing bypass surgery and retrospectively recruited spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) patients and matched healthy volunteers were genotyped at the PHACTR1 rs9349379 locus. We observed a significant association between the PHACTR1 loci and changes in distensibility in both the ascending aorta (AA = 0.0053 ± 0.0004, AG = 0.0041 ± 0.003, GG = 0.0034 ± 0.0009, P < 0.05, n = 58, 54, and 7, respectively) and carotid artery (AA = 12.83 ± 0.51, AG = 11.14 ± 0.38, GG = 11.69 ± 0.66, P < 0.05, n = 70, 65, and 18, respectively). This association was not observed in the descending aorta or in SCAD patients. In contrast, the PHACTR1 locus was not associated with changes in endothelial cell function with no association between the rs9349379 locus and in vivo or ex vivo vascular function observed in CAD patients. This finding was confirmed in our murine model where the loss of Phactr1 on the pro-atherosclerosis ApoE−/− background did not alter ex vivo vascular function.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have shown a role for PHACTR1 in arterial compliance across multiple vascular beds. Our study suggests that PHACTR1 has a key structural role within the vasculature.
Environmental DNA analysis for macro-organisms: species distribution and more
Authors: Minamoto Toshifumi
Published: June 2022

In an era of severe biodiversity loss, biological monitoring is becoming increasingly essential. The analysis of environmental DNA (eDNA) has emerged as a new approach that could revolutionize the biological monitoring of aquatic ecosystems. Over the past decade, macro-organismal eDNA analysis has undergone significant developments and is rapidly becoming established as the golden standard for non-destructive and non-invasive biological monitoring. In this review, I summarize the development of macro-organismal eDNA analysis to date and the techniques used in this field. I also discuss the future perspective of these analytical methods in combination with sophisticated analytical techniques for DNA research developed in the fields of molecular biology and molecular genetics, including genomics, epigenomics, and single-cell technologies. eDNA analysis, which to date has been used primarily for determining the distribution of organisms, is expected to develop into a tool for elucidating the physiological state and behaviour of organisms. The fusion of microbiology and macrobiology through an amalgamation of these technologies is anticipated to lead to the future development of an integrated biology.
Burden and predictors of statin use in primary and secondary prevention of atherosclerotic vascular disease in the US: from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017–2020
Authors: Chobufo Muchi Ditah , Regner Sean R , Zeb Irfan , Lacoste Jordan L , Virani Salim S , Balla Sudarshan
Published: June 2022

Aims

To assess the current state of statin use, factors associated with non-use, and estimate the burden of potentially preventable atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) events.

Methods and results

Using nationally representative data from the 2017 to 2020 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, statin use was assessed in primary prevention groups: high ASCVD risk ≥ 20%, LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥ 190 mg/dL, diabetes aged 40–75 years, intermediate ASCVD risk (7.5 to <20%) with ≥1 ASCVD risk enhancer and secondary prevention group: established ASCVD. Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk was estimated using pooled cohort equations. We estimated 70 million eligible individuals (2.3 million with LDL-C ≥ 190 mg/dL; 9.4 million with ASCVD ≥ 20%; 15 million with diabetes and age 40–75years; 20 million with intermediate ASCVD risk and ≥1 risk enhancers; and 24.6 million with established ASCVD), about 30 million were on statin therapy. The proportion of individuals not on statin therapy was highest in the isolated LDL-C ≥ 190 mg/dL group (92.8%) and those with intermediate ASCVD risk plus enhancers (74.6%) followed by 59.4% with high ASCVD risk, 54.8% with diabetes, and 41.5% of those with established ASCVD groups. Increasing age and those with health insurance were more likely to be on statin therapy in both the primary and secondary prevention categories. Individuals without a routine place of care were less likely to be on statin therapy. A total of 385 000 (high-intensity statin) and 647 000 (moderate-intensity statin) ASCVD events could be prevented if all statin-eligible individuals were treated (and adherent) for primary prevention over a 10-year period.

Conclusion

Statin use for primary and secondary prevention of ASCVD remains suboptimal. Bridging the therapeutic gap can prevent ∼1 million ASCVD events over the subsequent 10 years for the primary prevention group. Social determinants of health such as access to care and healthcare coverage were associated with less statin treatment. Novel interventions to improve statin prescription and adherence are needed.
Association between REDUCE-IT criteria, coronary artery disease severity, and cardiovascular events: the Western Denmark Heart Registry
Authors: Mortensen Martin Bødtker , Dzaye Omar , Razavi Alexander C , Jensen Jesper Møller , Steffensen Flemming Hald , Bøtker Hans Erik , Cainzos-Achirica Miguel , Sørensen Henrik Toft , Maeng Michael , Blaha Michael J , Nasir Khurram , Nørgaard Bjarne Linde
Published: June 2022

Aims

The Reduction of Cardiovascular Events with Icosapent Ethyl–Intervention Trial (REDUCE-IT) trial demonstrated that icosapent ethyl lowered the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) among patients with elevated triglycerides. However, how to appropriately implement its use in clinical practice is not well-defined. We aimed to determine whether plaque burden as assessed by coronary artery calcium (CAC) could stratify ASCVD risk among patients eligible for icosapent ethyl.

Methods and results

Among 23 759 patients who underwent computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the Western Denmark Heart Registry, we identified eligibility for the REDUCE-IT trial. A total of 2146 participants (9%) met enrolment criteria for REDUCE-IT. During a median of 4.3 years of follow-up, 146 ASCVD events occurred. Overall, there was a stepwise increase in ASCVD event rates per 1000 person-years with increasing CAC (CAC = 0: 10.5, CAC 1-299: 18.7, CAC ≥300: 49.8). REDUCE-IT-eligible patients with CAC ≥300 had a multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio of 3.1 compared with CAC = 0 (95% confidence interval: 1.9–4.9). Coronary artery calcium differentiated risk similarly in patients with and without obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). Overall, the 5-year estimated number needed to treat to prevent one event with icosapent ethyl was 45 and ranged from 87 in those with CAC = 0 to 17 in those with CAC ≥300. Some patients with non-obstructive CAD had lower estimated number needed to treat than patients with obstructive CAD when their plaque burden was higher.

Conclusion

Atherosclerotic plaque burden as assessed by CAC can identify REDUCE-IT-eligible patients who are expected to derive most, and least, absolute benefit from treatment with icosapent ethyl regardless of obstructive versus non-obstructive CAD status.
Genetic regulation of central synapse formation and organization in Drosophila melanogaster
Authors: Duhart Juan Carlos , Mosca Timothy J
Published: June 2022

A goal of modern neuroscience involves understanding how connections in the brain form and function. Such a knowledge is essential to inform how defects in the exquisite complexity of nervous system growth influence neurological disease. Studies of the nervous system in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster enabled the discovery of a wealth of molecular and genetic mechanisms underlying development of synapses—the specialized cell-to-cell connections that comprise the essential substrate for information flow and processing in the nervous system. For years, the major driver of knowledge was the neuromuscular junction due to its ease of examination. Analogous studies in the central nervous system lagged due to a lack of genetic accessibility of specific neuron classes, synaptic labels compatible with cell-type-specific access, and high resolution, quantitative imaging strategies. However, understanding how central synapses form remains a prerequisite to understanding brain development. In the last decade, a host of new tools and techniques extended genetic studies of synapse organization into central circuits to enhance our understanding of synapse formation, organization, and maturation. In this review, we consider the current state-of-the-field. We first discuss the tools, technologies, and strategies developed to visualize and quantify synapses in vivo in genetically identifiable neurons of the Drosophila central nervous system. Second, we explore how these tools enabled a clearer understanding of synaptic development and organization in the fly brain and the underlying molecular mechanisms of synapse formation. These studies establish the fly as a powerful in vivo genetic model that offers novel insights into neural development.
Coordinated transcriptional regulation of the carotenoid biosynthesis contributes to fruit lycopene content in high-lycopene tomato genotypes
Authors: Duduit James R , Kosentka Pawel Z , Miller Morgan A , Blanco-Ulate Barbara , Lenucci Marcello S , Panthee Dilip R , Perkins-Veazie Penelope , Liu Wusheng
Published: June 2022

Lycopene content in tomato fruit is largely under genetic control and varies greatly among genotypes. Continued improvement of lycopene content in elite varieties with conventional breeding has become challenging, in part because little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms in high-lycopene tomatoes (HLYs). We collected 42 HLYs with different genetic backgrounds worldwide. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis revealed lycopene contents differed among the positive control wild tomato Solanum pimpinellifolium, HLYs, the normal lycopene cultivar “Moneymaker”, and the non-lycopene cultivar NC 1Y at the pink and red ripe stages. Real-time RT-PCR analysis of expression of the 25 carotenoid biosynthesis pathway genes of each genotype showed a significantly higher expression in nine upstream genes (GGPPS1, GGPPS2, GGPPS3, TPT1, SSU II, PSY2, ZDS, CrtISO and CrtISO-L1 but not the well-studied PSY1, PDS and Z-ISO) at the breaker and/or red ripe stages in HLYs compared to Moneymaker, indicating a higher metabolic flux flow into carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in HLYs. Further conversion of lycopene to carotenes may be prevented via the two downstream genes (β-LCY2 and ε-LCY), which had low-abundance transcripts at either or both stages. Additionally, the significantly higher expression of four downstream genes (BCH1, ZEP, VDE, and CYP97C11) at either or both ripeness stages leads to significantly lower fruit lycopene content in HLYs than in the wild tomato. This is the first systematic investigation of the role of the complete pathway genes in regulating fruit lycopene biosynthesis across many HLYs, and enables tomato breeding and gene editing for increased fruit lycopene content.
Macrophage circadian rhythms are differentially affected based on stimuli
Authors: Lellupitiyage Don Sujeewa S , Mas-Rosario Javier A , Lin Hui-Hsien , Nguyen Evelyn M , Taylor Stephanie R , Farkas Michelle E
Published: June 2022

Macrophages are white blood cells that play disparate roles in homeostasis and immune responses. They can reprogram their phenotypes to pro-inflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2) states in response to their environment. About 8–15% of the macrophage transcriptome has circadian oscillations, including genes closely related to their functioning. As circadian rhythms are associated with cellular phenotypes, we hypothesized that polarization of macrophages to opposing subtypes might differently affect their circadian rhythms. We tracked circadian rhythms in RAW 264.7 macrophages using luminescent reporters. Cells were stably transfected with Bmal1:luc and Per2:luc reporters, representing positive and negative components of the molecular clock. Strength of rhythmicity, periods and amplitudes of time series were assessed using multiple approaches. M1 polarization decreased amplitudes and rhythmicities of Bmal1:luc and Per2:luc, but did not significantly affect periods, while M2 polarization increased periods but caused no substantial alterations to amplitudes or rhythmicity. As macrophage phenotypes are also altered in the presence of cancer cells, we tested circadian effects of conditioned media from mouse breast cancer cells. Media from highly aggressive 4T1 cells caused loss of rhythmicity, while media from less aggressive EMT6 cells yielded no changes. As macrophages play roles in tumors, and oncogenic features are associated with circadian rhythms, we tested whether conditioned media from macrophages could alter circadian rhythms of cancer cells. Conditioned media from RAW 264.7 cells resulted in lower rhythmicities and periods, but higher amplitudes in human osteosarcoma, U2OS-Per2:luc cells. We show that phenotypic changes in macrophages result in altered circadian characteristics and suggest that there is an association between circadian rhythms and macrophage polarization state. Additionally, our data demonstrate that macrophages treated with breast cancer-conditioned media have circadian phenotypes similar to those of the M1 subtype, and cancer cells treated with macrophage-conditioned media have circadian alterations, providing insight to another level of cross-talk between macrophages and cancer.
Climate Change in the UN Security Council: An Analysis of Discourses and Organizational Trends
Authors: Scartozzi Cesare M
Published: June 2022

The UN Security Council has published about eighty-three thousand documents between 2001 and 2021. This study analyzes this large corpus of text to identify, map, and trace the evolution of discourses on climate change and their impact on the organization. The article analyzes diplomatic speeches and other primary sources to identify instances of climatization of security and securitization, riskification, and mainstreaming of climate change. To fulfill its aim, the article introduces a mixed method that combines an automated content analysis with a discourse analytic approach. The findings suggest that, despite the stall in high-level discussions on climate security, the Security Council is de facto moving toward a climatization of security and riskification of climate change in daily practices, procedures, and operations.
Who Securitizes? Climate Change Discourse in the United Nations
Authors: Arias Sabrina B
Published: June 2022

When and why do states reframe issues as security problems? Which states advocate for these shifts? While securitization theory predicts that states that are existentially threatened by a problem are most likely to attempt to securitize it, I argue that accounting for the dynamics of institutional agendas can better explain this phenomenon. States that stand to gain agenda control as a result of securitization are likely to rhetorically attempt to securitize, while those that are materially interested in the issue are less likely to do so. I test this theory in the case of the climate change in the United Nations, leveraging data on speeches in the General Assembly. I provide the first quantitative test of the securitization of climate politics, finding that P5 states securitize to expand their agenda control, while Small Island Developing States do not securitize, contra previous expectations. I further find that the overall climate discourse cannot be characterized as securitized. These findings imply that the Security Council is unlikely to be significantly involved in climate change policy and also demonstrate the importance of rhetoric for political outcomes and for the distribution of state power within international organizations.
Automated citation recommendation tools encourage questionable citations
Authors: Horbach Serge P J M , Oude Maatman Freek J W , Halffman Willem , Hepkema Wytske M
Published: June 2022

Citing practices have long been at the heart of scientific reporting, playing both socially and epistemically important functions in science. While such practices have been relatively stable over time, recent attempts to develop automated citation recommendation tools have the potential to drastically impact citing practices. We claim that, even though such tools may come with tempting advantages, their development and implementation should be conducted with caution. Describing the role of citations in science’s current publishing and social reward structures, we argue that automated citation tools encourage questionable citing practices. More specifically, we describe how such tools may lead to an increase in: perfunctory citation and sloppy argumentation; affirmation biases; and Matthew effects. In addition, a lack of transparency of the tools’ underlying algorithmic structure renders their usage problematic. Hence, we urge that the consequences of citation recommendation tools should at least be understood and assessed before any attempts to implementation or broad distribution are undertaken.
Menopausal Hormone Therapy Formulation and Breast Cancer Risk
Authors: Abenhaim Haim A. , Suissa Samy , Azoulay Laurent , Spence Andrea R. , Czuzoj-Shulman Nicholas , Tulandi Togas
Published: June 2022

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate whether the increased risk of breast cancer is dependent on the formulation of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) used.

METHODS:

We performed a population-based case–control study of women aged 50 years or older using data from the U.K. Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Women with incident cases of breast cancer were age-matched (1:10) with a control group of women with comparable follow-up time with no history of breast cancer. Exposures were classified as ever or never for the following menopausal HT formulations: bioidentical estrogens, animal-derived estrogens, micronized progesterone, and synthetic progestin. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the adjusted effect of menopausal HT formulation on breast cancer risk.

RESULTS:

Between 1995 and 2014, 43,183 cases of breast cancer were identified and matched to 431,830 women in a control group. In adjusted analyses, compared with women who never used menopausal HT, its use was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer (odds ratio [OR] 1.12, 95% CI 1.09–1.15). Compared with never users, estrogens were not associated with breast cancer (bioidentical estrogens: OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.00–1.09; animal-derived estrogens: OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.96–1.06; both: OR 0.96, 95% CI 0.89–1.03). Progestogens appeared to be differentially associated with breast cancer (micronized progesterone: OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.55–1.79; synthetic progestin: OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.22–1.35; both OR 1.31, 0.30–5.73).

CONCLUSION:

Although menopausal HT use appears to be associated with an overall increased risk of breast cancer, this risk appears predominantly mediated through formulations containing synthetic progestins. When prescribing menopausal HT, micronized progesterone may be the safer progestogen to be used.
Association Between Social Vulnerability and Achieving Glycemic Control Among Pregnant Individuals With Pregestational Diabetes
Authors: Venkatesh Kartik K. , Germann Katherine , Joseph Joshua , Kiefer Miranda , Buschur Elizabeth , Thung Stephen , Costantine Maged M. , Gabbe Steven , Grobman William A. , Fareed Naleef
Published: June 2022

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the association between community-level social vulnerability and achieving glycemic control (defined as hemoglobin A1c [Hb A1c] less than 6.0% or less than 6.5%) among individuals with pregestational diabetes.

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective cohort of individuals with pregestational diabetes with singleton gestations from 2012 to 2016 at a tertiary care center. Addresses were geocoded using ArcGIS and then linked at the census tract to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2018 SVI (Social Vulnerability Index), which incorporates 15 Census variables to produce a composite score and four scores across thematic domains (socioeconomic status, household composition and disability, minority status and language, and housing type and transportation). Scores range from 0 to 1, with higher values indicating greater community-level social vulnerability. The primary outcome was Hb A1c less than 6.0%, and, secondarily, Hb A1c less than 6.5%, in the second or third trimesters. Multivariable Poisson regression with robust error variance was used to evaluate the association between SVI score as a continuous measure and target Hb A1c.

RESULTS:

Among 418 assessed pregnant individuals (33.0% type 1; 67.0% type 2 diabetes), 41.4% (173/418) achieved Hb A1c less than 6.0%, and 56.7% (237/418) Hb A1c less than 6.5% at a mean gestational age of 29.5 weeks (SD 5.78). Pregnant individuals with a higher SVI score were less likely to achieve Hb A1c less than 6.0% compared with those with a lower SVI score. For each 0.1-unit increase in SVI score, the risk of achieving Hb A1c less than 6.0% decreased by nearly 50% (adjusted risk ratio [aRR] 0.53; 95% CI 0.36–0.77), and by more than 30% for Hb A1c less than 6.5% (adjusted odds ratio 0.67; 95% CI 0.51–0.88). With regard to specific SVI domains, those who scored higher on socioeconomic status (aRR 0.50; 95% CI 0.35–0.71) as well as on household composition and disability (aRR 0.55; 95% CI 0.38–0.79) were less likely to achieve Hb A1c less than 6.0%.

CONCLUSION:

Pregnant individuals with pregestational diabetes living in an area with higher social vulnerability were less likely to achieve glycemic control, as measured by HgbA1c levels. Interventions are needed to assess whether addressing social determinants of health can improve glycemic control in pregnancy.
Timing of Delivery for Twins With Growth Discordance and Growth Restriction
Authors: Koch Ashlee K. , Burger Renée J. , Schuit Ewoud , Mateus Julio Fernando , Goya Maria , Carreras Elena , Biancolin Sckarlet E. , Barzilay Eran , Soliman Nancy , Cooper Stephanie , Metcalfe Amy , Lodha Abhay , Fichera Anna , Stagnati Valentina , Kawamura Hiroshi , Rustico Maria , Lanna Mariano , Munim Shama , Russo Francesca Maria , Nassar Anwar , Rode Line , Lim Arianne , Liem Sophie , Grantz Katherine L. , Hack Karien , Combs C. Andrew , Serra Vicente , Perales Alfredo , Khalil Asma , Liu Becky , Barrett Jon , Ganzevoort Wessel , Gordijn Sanne J. , Morris R. Katie , Mol Ben W. , Li Wentao
Published: June 2022

OBJECTIVE:

First, to evaluate the risks of stillbirth and neonatal death by gestational age in twin pregnancies with different levels of growth discordance and in relation to small for gestational age (SGA), and on this basis to establish optimal gestational ages for delivery. Second, to compare these optimal gestational ages with previously established optimal delivery timing for twin pregnancies not complicated by fetal growth restriction, which, in a previous individual patient meta-analysis, was calculated at 37 0/7 weeks of gestation for dichorionic pregnancies and 36 0/7 weeks for monochorionic pregnancies.

DATA SOURCES:

A search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Ovid between 2015 and 2018 was performed of cohort studies reporting risks of stillbirth and neonatal death in twin pregnancies from 32 to 41 weeks of gestation. Studies from a previous meta-analysis using a similar search strategy (from inception to 2015) were combined. Women with monoamniotic twin pregnancies were excluded.

METHODS OF STUDY SELECTION:

Overall, of 57 eligible studies, 20 cohort studies that contributed original data reporting on 7,474 dichorionic and 2,281 monochorionic twin pairs.

TABULATION, INTEGRATION, AND RESULTS:

We performed an individual participant data meta-analysis to calculate the risk of perinatal death (risk difference between prospective stillbirth and neonatal death) per gestational week. Analyses were stratified by chorionicity, levels of growth discordance, and presence of SGA in one or both twins. For both dichorionic and monochorionic twins, the absolute risks of stillbirth and neonatal death were higher when one or both twins were SGA and increased with greater levels of growth discordance. Regardless of level of growth discordance and birth weight, perinatal risk balanced between 36 0/7–6/7 and 37 0/7–6/7 weeks of gestation in both dichorionic and monochorionic twin pregnancies, with likely higher risk of stillbirth than neonatal death from 37 0/7–6/7 weeks onward.

CONCLUSION:

Growth discordance or SGA is associated with higher absolute risks of stillbirth and neonatal death. However, balancing these two risks, we did not find evidence that the optimal timing of delivery is changed by the presence of growth disorders alone.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION:

PROSPERO, CRD42018090866.
Neighborhood Characteristics and Racial Disparities in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Seropositivity in Pregnancy
Authors: Burris Heather H. , Mullin Anne M. , Dhudasia Miren B. , Flannery Dustin D. , Mukhopadhyay Sagori , Pfeifer Madeline R. , Woodford Emily C. , Briker Sara M. , Triebwasser Jourdan E. , Morris Jeffrey S. , Montoya-Williams Diana , Gouma Sigrid , Hensley Scott E. , Puopolo Karen M.
Published: June 2022

OBJECTIVE:

To quantify the extent to which neighborhood characteristics contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) seropositivity in pregnancy.

METHODS:

This cohort study included pregnant patients who presented for childbirth at two hospitals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from April 13 to December 31, 2020. Seropositivity for SARS-CoV-2 was determined by measuring immunoglobulin G and immunoglobulin M antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in discarded maternal serum samples obtained for clinical purposes. Race and ethnicity were self-reported and abstracted from medical records. Patients' residential addresses were geocoded to obtain three Census tract variables: community deprivation, racial segregation (Index of Concentration at the Extremes), and crowding. Multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models and causal mediation analyses were used to quantify the extent to which neighborhood variables may explain racial and ethnic disparities in seropositivity.

RESULTS:

Among 5,991 pregnant patients, 562 (9.4%) were seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. Higher seropositivity rates were observed among Hispanic (19.3%, 104/538) and Black (14.0%, 373/2,658) patients, compared with Asian (3.2%, 13/406) patients, White (2.7%, 57/2,133) patients, and patients of another race or ethnicity (5.9%, 15/256) (P<.001). In adjusted models, per SD increase, deprivation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.16, 95% CI 1.02–1.32) and crowding (aOR 1.15, 95% CI 1.05–1.26) were associated with seropositivity, but segregation was not (aOR 0.90, 95% CI 0.78–1.04). Mediation analyses revealed that crowded housing may explain 6.7% (95% CI 2.0–14.7%) of the Hispanic–White disparity and that neighborhood deprivation may explain 10.2% (95% CI 0.5–21.1%) of the Black–White disparity.

CONCLUSION:

Neighborhood deprivation and crowding were associated with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity in pregnancy in the prevaccination era and may partially explain high rates of SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity among Black and Hispanic patients. Investing in structural neighborhood improvements may reduce inequities in viral transmission.
Care Levels for Fetal Therapy Centers
Authors: Baschat Ahmet A. , Blackwell Sean B. , Chatterjee Debnath , Cummings James J. , Emery Stephen P. , Hirose Shinjiro , Hollier Lisa M. , Johnson Anthony , Kilpatrick Sarah J. , Luks Francois I. , Menard M. Kathryn , McCullough Lawrence B. , Moldenhauer Julie S. , Moon-Grady Anita J. , Mychaliska George B. , Narvey Michael , Norton Mary E. , Rollins Mark D. , Skarsgard Eric D. , Tsao KuoJen , Warner Barbara B. , Wilpers Abigail , Ryan Greg
Published: June 2022

Fetal therapies undertaken to improve fetal outcome or to optimize transition to neonate life often entail some level of maternal, fetal, or neonatal risk. A fetal therapy center needs access to resources to carry out such therapies and to manage maternal, fetal, and neonatal complications that might arise, either related to the therapy per se or as part of the underlying fetal or maternal condition. Accordingly, a fetal therapy center requires a dedicated operational infrastructure and necessary resources to allow for appropriate oversight and monitoring of clinical performance and to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration between the relevant specialties. Three care levels for fetal therapy centers are proposed to match the anticipated care complexity, with appropriate resources to achieve an optimal outcome at an institutional and regional level. A level I fetal therapy center should be capable of offering fetal interventions that may be associated with obstetric risks of preterm birth or membrane rupture but that would be very unlikely to require maternal medical subspecialty or intensive care, with neonatal risks not exceeding those of moderate prematurity. A level II center should have the incremental capacity to provide maternal intensive care and to manage extreme neonatal prematurity. A level III therapy center should offer the full range of fetal interventions (including open fetal surgery) and be able manage any of the associated maternal complications and comorbidities, as well as have access to neonatal and pediatric surgical intervention including indicated surgery for neonates with congenital anomalies.
Cervical Ripening Efficacy of Synthetic Osmotic Cervical Dilator Compared With Oral Misoprostol at Term
Authors: Gavara Rachana , Saad Antonio F. , Wapner Ronald J. , Saade George , Fu Anne , Barrow Ruth , Nalgonda Swapna , Bousleiman Sabine , Almonte Cassandra , Alnafisee Sarah , Holman Anita , Burgansky Anna , Heikkila Pekka
Published: June 2022

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate whether a synthetic osmotic cervical dilator is noninferior to oral misoprostol for cervical ripening.

METHODS:

In an open-label, noninferiority randomized trial, pregnant women undergoing induction of labor at 37 weeks of gestation or more with Bishop scores less than 6 were randomized to either mechanical cervical dilation or oral misoprostol. Participants in the mechanical dilation group underwent insertion of synthetic osmotic cervical dilator rods, and those in the misoprostol group received up to six doses of 25 micrograms orally every 2 hours. After 12 hours of ripening, oxytocin was initiated, with artificial rupture of membranes. Management of labor was at the physician's discretion. The primary outcome was the proportion of women achieving vaginal delivery within 36 hours of initiation of study intervention. Secondary outcomes included increase in Bishop score, mode of delivery, induction-to-delivery interval, total length of hospital stay, and patient satisfaction. On the basis of a noninferiority margin of 10%, an expected primary outcome frequency of 65% for misoprostol and 71% for mechanical methods, and 85% power, a sample size of 306 participants was needed.

RESULTS:

From November 2018 through January 2021, 307 women were randomized, with 151 evaluable participants in the synthetic osmotic cervical dilator group and 152 in the misoprostol group (there were four early withdrawals). The proportion of women achieving vaginal delivery within 36 hours was higher with mechanical cervical dilation compared with misoprostol (61.6% vs 59.2%), with an absolute difference of 2.4% (95% CI −9% to 13%), indicating noninferiority for the prespecified margin. No differences were noted in the mode of delivery. Tachysystole was more frequent in the misoprostol group (70 [46.4%] vs 35 [23.3%]; P=.01). Participants in the synthetic osmotic cervical dilator group reported better sleep, less unpleasant abdominal sensations, and lower pain scores (P<.05).

CONCLUSION:

Synthetic osmotic cervical dilator is noninferior to oral misoprostol for cervical ripening. Advantages of synthetic osmotic cervical dilator include a better safety profile and patient satisfaction, less tachysystole, lower pain scores, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03670836.

FUNDING SOURCE:

Medicem Technology s.r.o., Czech Republic.