bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age-stratified outcomes after radical prostatectomy in a randomized setting (LAP-01): do younger patients have more to lose?
Authors: Holze Sigrun , Bräunlich Max , Mende Meinhard , Arthanareeswaran Vinodh-Kumar-Adithyaa , Neuhaus Petra , Truss Michael C. , Do Hoang Minh , Dietel Anja , Franz Toni , Teber Dogu , Heilsberg Ann-Kathrin , Hohenfellner Markus , Rabenalt Robert , Albers Peter , Stolzenburg Jens-Uwe
Published: February 2022

Objective

Age is known to have an impact on outcomes after radical prostatectomy (RP). However, age differences can be investigated from a cross-sectional as well as from a longitudinal perspective. This study combines both perspectives.

Materials and methods

LAP-01 is the first multicenter randomized patient blinded trial comparing outcomes after robotic-assisted and laparoscopic RP. This study stratified the entire population that received nerve-sparing surgery and was potent at baseline by the following ages: ≤ 60 years, 61–65 years, and > 65 years. Potency was assessed using the IIEF-5. The EORTC QLQ-C30 was used for global health perception and the EORTC QLQ-PR25 for urinary symptoms. Continence was assessed by the number of pads used. Longitudinal change was assessed using either validated anchor-based criteria or the 1 or 0.5-standard-deviation criterion. Worsening of continence was measured by increasing numbers of pads.

Results

310 patients were included into this study. Older patients had a significantly higher risk for worsening of continence at 3 and 6 months (OR 2.21, 95% CI [1.22, 4.02], p = 0.009 and OR 2.00, 95% CI [1.16, 3.46], p = 0.013, respectively); at 12 months, the odds of worsening did not differ significantly between age groups. Potency scores were better in younger patients from a cross-sectional perspective, but longitudinal change did not differ between the age groups. In contrast, global health perception was better in older patients from a cross-sectional perspective and longitudinal decreases were significantly more common among the youngest patients, at 12 months (36.9% vs. 24.4%, p = 0.038).

Conclusion

From a cross-sectional perspective, function scores were better in younger patients, but from a longitudinal perspective, age differences were found in continence only. In contrast, global health scores were better in older patients from a cross-sectional and longitudinal perspective.

Trial registration

The LAP-01 trial was registered with the U.S. National Library of Medicine clinical trial registry (clinicaltrials.gov), NCT number: NCT03682146, and with the German Clinical Trial registry (Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien), DRKS ID number: DRKS00007138.
Diagnosis and recommendations for management of trees and shrubs in green squares in Warsaw based on research on fungal diseases
Authors: Kimic Kinga , Mirzwa-Mróz Ewa , Szyndel Marek S.
Published: February 2022

Key message

Comprehensive management of urban greenery is a key approach to control fungal diseases of trees and shrubs to avoid the deterioration in their health status.

Preliminary investigations on the health status related to fungal diseases of trees and shrubs growing in four green squares in Warsaw were conducted in 2017–2019. The examined plants were affected by diseases that are commonly identified in urban greenery, e.g., powdery mildew (causal agents: Sawadaea tulasnei, S. bicornis, Podosphaera leucotricha, Podosphaera sp., Erysiphe alphitoides, E. magnifica, E. berberidis, E. flexuosa and E. adunca), rusts (Gymnosporangium sabinae, Melampsora laricis-populina), apple scab (Venturia inaequalis), tar spot of maple (Rhytisma acerinum), and oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus). The causal agents of the diseases were identified based on their morphological (macro- and microscopic) features. Preventing and managing fungal plant diseases and reduction of their effects are the key tasks in conscious management of urban greenery. To address this issue, the study presents basic guidelines based on the application of various recommended actions and good practices, which constitute a comprehensive and sustainable strategy for integrated protection of trees and shrubs against these diseases. The implementation of the strategy for complex management of urban greenery is a crucial measure aimed at maintenance of a high health status of urban plants.
NAG: neural feature aggregation framework for credit card fraud detection
Authors: Ghosh Dastidar Kanishka , Jurgovsky Johannes , Siblini Wissam , Granitzer Michael
Published: February 2022

The state-of-the-art feature-engineering method for fraud classification of electronic payments uses manually engineered feature aggregates, i.e., descriptive statistics of the transaction history. However, this approach has limitations, primarily that of being dependent on expensive human expert knowledge. There have been attempts to replace manual aggregation through automatic feature extraction approaches. They, however, do not consider the specific structure of the manual aggregates. In this paper, we define the novel Neural Aggregate Generator (NAG), a neural network-based feature extraction module that learns feature aggregates end-to-end on the fraud classification task. In contrast to other automatic feature extraction approaches, the network architecture of the NAG closely mimics the structure of feature aggregates. Furthermore, the NAG extends learnable aggregates over traditional ones through soft feature value matching and relative weighting of the importance of different feature constraints. We provide a proof to show the modeling capabilities of the NAG. We compare the performance of the NAG to the state-of-the-art approaches on a real-world dataset with millions of transactions. More precisely, we show that features generated with the NAG lead to improved results over manual aggregates for fraud classification, thus demonstrating its viability to replace them. Moreover, we compare the NAG to other end-to-end approaches such as the LSTM or a generic CNN. Here we also observe improved results. We perform a robust evaluation of the NAG through a parameter budget study, an analysis of the impact of different sequence lengths and also the predictions across days. Unlike the LSTM or the CNN, our approach also provides further interpretability through the inspection of its parameters.
Visible Light Imaging: Clinical Aspects with an Emphasis on Medical Photography—a HIMSS-SIIM Enterprise Imaging Community Whitepaper
Authors: Petersilge Cheryl A. , McDonald Julie , Bishop Matthew , Yudkovitch Laurence , Treuting Caitlin , Towbin Alexander J.
Published: February 2022

Photodocumentation is a subset of visible light imaging and is an important growing segment of enterprise imaging. Medical videography is another subset of visible light imaging that shares many of the challenges of photodocumentation. Medical photographs are used to document clinical conditions, support diagnosis, guide, and document procedures and to enable collaboration among colleagues. They also play a significant role in patient engagement and are a mechanism for patients to share information with their provider without the need for a clinical office visit. The content of medical photographs raises issues for acquisition, management, storage, and access. Medical photographs may contain protected health information, and these images benefit from the standardized, secure processes inherent in any enterprise imaging program. The ability to securely acquire images on mobile, and sometimes personally owned devices, is a necessity. In addition to containing protected health information, photograph content can be sensitive or gruesome or the images may be used for forensic purposes. These types of images require additional protections. Access to these images should be role-based and auditable. To properly identify photographs and to convey information about their acquisition parameters new metadata requirements and mechanisms for its association with the imaging files are evolving. Institutional policies need to be developed to define the organization’s requirements for medical photography, including consent processes. Existing policies such as those defining the designated record set and legal health record should address the management of medical photography.
Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C) is a poor prognostic biomarker in invasive breast cancer
Authors: Kariri Yousif , Toss Michael S. , Alsaleem Mansour , Elsharawy Khloud A. , Joseph Chitra , Mongan Nigel P. , Green Andrew R. , Rakha Emad A.
Published: February 2022

Background

The Ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme 2C (UBE2C) is essential for the ubiquitin–proteasome system and is involved in cancer cell migration and apoptosis. This study aimed to determine the prognostic value of UBE2C in invasive breast cancer (BC).

Methods

UBE2C was evaluated using the Molecular Taxonomy of Breast Cancer International Consortium (n = 1980), The Cancer Genome Atlas (n = 854) and Kaplan–Meier Plotter (n = 3951) cohorts. UBE2C protein expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry in the BC cohort (n = 619). The correlation between UBE2C, clinicopathological parameters and patient outcome was assessed.

Results

High UBE2C mRNA and protein expressions were correlated with features of poor prognosis, including high tumour grade, large size, the presence of lymphovascular invasion, hormone receptor negativity and HER2 positivity. High UBE2C mRNA expression showed a negative association with E-cadherin, and a positive association with adhesion molecule N-cadherin, matrix metalloproteinases and cyclin-related genes. There was a positive correlation between high UBE2C protein expression and cell cycle-associated biomarkers, p53, Ki67, EGFR and PI3K. High UBE2C protein expression was an independent predictor of poor outcome (p = 0.011, HR = 1.45, 95% CI; 1.10–1.93).

Conclusion

This study indicates that UBE2C is an independent prognostic biomarker in BC. These results warrant further functional validation for UBE2C as a potential therapeutic target in BC.
Are Algorithmic Decisions Legitimate? The Effect of Process and Outcomes on Perceptions of Legitimacy of AI Decisions
Authors: Martin Kirsten , Waldman Ari
Published: February 2022

Firms use algorithms to make important business decisions. To date, the algorithmic accountability literature has elided a fundamentally empirical question important to business ethics and management: Under what circumstances, if any, are algorithmic decision-making systems considered legitimate? The present study begins to answer this question. Using factorial vignette survey methodology, we explore the impact of decision importance, governance, outcomes, and data inputs on perceptions of the legitimacy of algorithmic decisions made by firms. We find that many of the procedural governance mechanisms in practice today, such as notices and impact statements, do not lead to algorithmic decisions being perceived as more legitimate in general, and, consistent with legitimacy theory, that algorithmic decisions with good outcomes are perceived as more legitimate than bad outcomes. Yet, robust governance, such as offering an appeal process, can create a legitimacy dividend for decisions with bad outcomes. However, when arbitrary or morally dubious factors are used to make decisions, most legitimacy dividends are erased. In other words, companies cannot overcome the legitimacy penalty of using arbitrary or morally dubious factors, such as race or the day of the week, with a good outcome or an appeal process for individuals. These findings add new perspectives to both the literature on legitimacy and policy discussions on algorithmic decision-making in firms.
Key factors in digital literacy in learning and education: a systematic literature review using text mining
Authors: Audrin Catherine , Audrin Bertrand
Published: February 2022

This research aims at providing an overview of the research field of digital literacy into learning and education. Using text mining, it reviews 1037 research articles published on the topic between 2000 and 2020. This review reveals that there is a plurality of terms associated with digital literacy. Moreover, our research identifies six key factors that define the literature, which are information literacy, developing digital literacy, digital learning, ICT, social media, and twenty-first century digital skills. These factors can be grouped into three main streams, which are 1) digital literacy, 2) digital learning and 3) twenty-first century digital skills. These three streams are supported by informational and technological foundations. These results provide research avenues and offer a framework for digital literacy in education.
Adolescents’ credibility justifications when evaluating online texts
Authors: Kiili Carita , Bråten Ivar , Strømsø Helge I. , Hagerman Michelle Schira , Räikkönen Eija , Jyrkiäinen Anne
Published: February 2022

Research has shown that students differ in their abilities to evaluate the credibility of online texts, and, in general, many perform poorly on online evaluation tasks. This study extended current knowledge by examining students’ abilities to justify the credibility of online texts from different perspectives, thus providing a more nuanced understanding of students’ credibility evaluation ability. We examined how upper secondary school students (N = 73; aged 16 to 17) evaluated author expertise, author intention, the publication venue, and the quality of evidence when reading four texts about the effects of sugar consumption in a web-based environment. Additionally, we examined how students’ prior topic knowledge, Internet-specific justification beliefs, and time on task were associated with their credibility justifications. Students evaluated author expertise, author intention, the venue, and the quality of evidence for each text on a six-point scale and provided written justifications for their evaluations. While students’ credibility evaluations were quite accurate, their credibility justifications lacked sophistication. Inter-individual differences were considerable, however. Regression analysis revealed that time on task was a statistically significant unique predictor of students’ credibility justifications. Instructional implications are discussed.
Lacan’s Dialectics of Knowledge Production: The Four Discourses as a Detour to Hegel
Authors: Zwart Hub
Published: February 2022

In Seminar XVII, entitled The reverse side of psychoanalysis , Jacques Lacan
presents his famous theorem of the four discourses. In this rereading I propose to
demonstrate that Lacan’s theorem entails a transferable dialectical method for studying
processes of knowledge production, enabling contemporary scholars to develop a
diagnostic of the present, notably scholars interested in issues such as the vicissitudes
of knowledge production under capitalism, the crisis of the university and the
proliferation of electronic gadgets. In short, I will argue that Lacan’s theorem of the four
discourses entails a dialectical diagnostic of technoscientific knowledge during late
capitalism. First, the four discourses will be briefly outlined, emphasising the extent to
which they entail, albeit in an ambivalent manner, a return or detour to the logic of
Hegel. Subsequently, each discourse will be presented in more detail, emphasising
how they allow us to come to terms with the current status of technoscientific
knowledge. Special attention will be given to the political backdrop of the seminar: the
crisis of the university. Finally, I will discuss the historical dimension, outlining both the
predecessor of the four discourses and their current predicament under neoliberal/capitalist conditions.
The supporting hyperplane optimization toolkit for convex MINLP
Authors: Lundell Andreas , Kronqvist Jan , Westerlund Tapio
Published: February 2022

In this paper, an open-source solver for mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problems is presented. The Supporting Hyperplane Optimization Toolkit (SHOT) combines a dual strategy based on polyhedral outer approximations (POA) with primal heuristics. The POA is achieved by expressing the nonlinear feasible set of the MINLP problem with linearizations obtained with the extended supporting hyperplane (ESH) and extended cutting plane (ECP) algorithms. The dual strategy can be tightly integrated with the mixed-integer programming (MIP) subsolver in a so-called single-tree manner, i.e., only a single MIP optimization problem is solved, where the polyhedral linearizations are added as lazy constraints through callbacks in the MIP solver. This enables the MIP solver to reuse the branching tree in each iteration, in contrast to most other POA-based methods. SHOT is available as a COIN-OR open-source project, and it utilizes a flexible task-based structure making it easy to extend and modify. It is currently available in GAMS, and can be utilized in AMPL, Pyomo and JuMP as well through its ASL interface. The main functionality and solution strategies implemented in SHOT are described in this paper, and their impact on the performance are illustrated through numerical benchmarks on 406 convex MINLP problems from the MINLPLib problem library. Many of the features introduced in SHOT can be utilized in other POA-based solvers as well. To show the overall effectiveness of SHOT, it is also compared to other state-of-the-art solvers on the same benchmark set.
Colorectal Cancer Screening in Castilla La Mancha, Spain: The Influence of Social, Economic, Demographic and Geographic Factors
Authors: González Laura Valiente , Sotos Francisco Escribano , de Miguel Ibáñez Ricardo
Published: February 2022

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a health problem with a significant social impact, accounting for 700,000 deaths a year globally. CRC survival rates are increasing as a result of early detection and improvements in society and labor conditions. Differences in CRC have been found depending on place of residence (urban or rural), socioeconomic situation and unemployment, although studies in this regard are limited. The aims of the present study were to determine whether differences exist in diagnostic delay according to place of residence, to analyze the association between socioeconomic level and colonoscopy results and to evaluate CRC risk according to place of residence, income level and unemployment. Retrospective, descriptive and observational study based on colonoscopies performed between May 2015 and November 2018, analyzing relationships between colonoscopy findings of a population screening program and various socioeconomic and demographic variables included in the study (sex, age, place of residence, average annual income, unemployment rate, etc.), and determining any association between such factors and related increases in adenocarcinoma risk. A total of 1422 patients were included in the study. The difference in participation according to sex was greater in rural population (63,4% men/36,6% women in rural areas, 58% men/42% women in urban areas). The mean delayed diagnosis was 59,26 days in both groups. Adenocarcinoma risk was 1.216 times higher in rural population. High-grade dysplasic lesions and adenocarcinoma were more common in municipalities with income < 9000€. However, advanced stage adenocarcinoma was higher in municipalities with income > 9000€. Adenocarcinoma risk was 1,088 times higher in municipalities with an unemployment rate of > 10%. Living in rural areas is not a barrier to access to health care, with no disadvantages identified regarding diagnosis and treatment, thanks to public health policies and the large number of small municipalities near the referral hospital in Cuenca.
A parallel-elastic actuation approach for wide bandwidth fingertip haptic devices
Authors: Leonardis Daniele , Santamato Giancarlo , Gabardi Massimiliano , Solazzi Massimiliano , Frisoli Antonio
Published: February 2022

Wearable haptic devices are used to render sense of touch in different virtual reality, simulated or teleoperated environments. Design of these devices has to comply with dimensional constraints imposed by ergonomics and usability, introducing compromises between size of the actuators and features of the rendered haptic stimuli, such as peak forces and bandwidth. We propose a new design approach for wearable haptic devices resembling the micro-macro actuation concept: it is based on two distinct actuators with different mechanical reduction, coupled by an elastic element. We show this better matches the output range of the actuators to features of the signals used in typical haptic rendering. We investigated the approach through an analytical model, a numerical model, and physical experiments conducted after design and development of a working prototype. The theoretical and simulated models allow to better understand dynamic interaction of the system parts, and to define design guidelines for the development of the real device. The adopted design solutions were implemented and evaluated in the prototype of a highly wearable fingertip device. Final experimental results show how the implementation of the proposed method is capable of an effective haptic rendering, that better matches the desired frequency response.
The protected antimicrobial process in a University Teaching Hospital: a qualitative interview study exploring the knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of healthcare professionals
Authors: Burton E. , O’Driscoll M. , Fleming A.
Published: February 2022

Background The protected or restricted supply of certain antimicrobials such as linezolid, caspofungin, aztreonam, in the acute hospital setting is an important element of Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) programmes to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. This process involves submitting an application for use to be reviewed typically by a Consultant Microbiologist, Infectious Disease Consultant or Antimicrobial Pharmacist. Aim To investigate healthcare professionals’ knowledge, experiences, and attitudes towards the protected/restricted antimicrobials process in order to identify possible methods of optimisation and improvement. Method Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in the protected/restricted antimicrobial prescribing, dispensing and administration process were conducted in September–October 2019 in a 350-bed voluntary, general, acute hospital in Ireland. Interviews were analysed by the Framework method and mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Results Interviews were conducted with 8 Doctors, 4 Pharmacists and 3 Nurses. TDF domains identified included: ‘Knowledge’; ‘Social/professional role and identity’; ‘Social influences’; ‘Memory, attention and decision processes’; ‘Beliefs about consequences’; ‘Environmental contexts and resources’. The relationship between prescribers and the AMS Team was reported as a facilitator of the process, whereas the inconsistency of the filing and versions of forms on the wards were seen as challenges. Conclusion The results of this study have shown that the existing protected/restricted antimicrobial process is a multi-disciplinary effort with barriers that require attention in order to make future improvements. Standardization of the form across all wards, an electronic version of the form, and structured education around AMS were suggested to optimize the process.
The effect of efficient professional development on the teaching of code-focused skills in beginner readers: exploring the impact of professional development intensity and coaching on student outcomes
Authors: Martínez Verónica , Castejón Luis , González-Pumariega Soledad
Published: February 2022

Professional development (PD) of teachers working with students in the first years of learning to read is a privileged way of preventing initial reading difficulties and its effects in the long and short term. This research studies the effects of PD in student reading performance, although the results are not conclusive with regard to which PD format is more adequate. The objective of this study is to determine which modality (face-to-face with a coach vs. without a coach) and intensity (number of contact hours) of PD are more efficient in achieving fluency improvement in student performance in the code-focussed skills in the first years of learning to read. Both pre-schoolers and their teachers took part in the study with a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test design. The experimental group (n = 71) was provided literacy instruction from teachers (n = 8) who received 40 h of face-to-face training with a coach and the control group (n = 29) was provided literacy instruction from teachers (n = 8) who received only 8 h of initial training (without coaching). The results showed significant intra-group improvements with a large reduction in students at risk for reading difficulties. No significant differences were obtained between groups in reading performance. This suggests greater efficiency in a lower intensity format of PD without a coach in the development of code-focussed skills. The study considers the need to adequately assess reading ability in the light of attitude and motivation of teachers as variables which influence the efficiency of PD.
Gastrointestinal helminth parasites of the threatened Australasian crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus australis, Gould 1844) in New Zealand, with descriptions of Baruscapillaria kamanae n. sp. (Nematoda: Trichuridae) and Cryptocotyle micromorpha n. sp. (Trematoda: Opisthorchiidae)
Authors: Presswell Bronwen , Bennett Jerusha
Published: February 2022

The Australasian crested grebe Podiceps cristatus australis, Gould 1844 is restricted to Australia and New Zealand, where it is listed as Threatened and Nationally Vulnerable. For the first time in New Zealand, we report on the parasitic helminths infecting three individuals from Lake Wanaka, Otago, using morphological and molecular tools. Seven helminth species were found in the gastrointestinal tract: 2 nematodes (Contracaecum ovale and Baruscapillaria kamanaen. sp.), 4 trematodes (Australapatemon minor, Cryptocotyle micromorphan. sp., Tylodelphys darbyi and Neopetasiger neocomensis), and 1 cestode (Confluaria pseudofurcifera). Except for T. darbyi, all are new records for New Zealand. A change of orthography is proposed for Neopetasiger neocomensis and N. pseudoneocomensis. Cryptocotyle micromorphan. sp. (Opisthorchiidae) is distinguished from similar species by its small size, wholly extracaecal vitellaria and anteriorly looped uterus. Baruscapillaria kamanaen. sp. (Trichuridae) is distinguished from other freshwater species by a combination of vulva and spicule morphology. The helminth parasites found here are mostly the same as those from the grebe in the northern hemisphere, indicating that they have been carried with the host species in its spread to Australasia. However, the parasite fauna may be depauperate due to a diminishing reservoir of intermediate hosts in that geographical migration.
Phase Distribution During Slag Formation in Mn Ferroalloy Production
Authors: Mukono Tichaona , Wallin Maria , Tangstad Merete
Published: February 2022

Phase development during slag formation and reduction of Comilog and Assmang ores in a setup that simulates the conditions in an industrial SAF process under different coke bed temperatures, 1473 K (1200 °C), 1673 K (1400 °C) and 1773 K, (1500 °C) was investigated. Graphite crucibles were utilized to contain the charge and as a heating element in an induction furnace. A temperature profile was established, cross-sectional excavations were made, and samples were core drilled at selected positions. The resultant phases, i.e., slag and metal, were examined in an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) coupled with wavelength-dispersive spectrometry (WDS). The equilibrium phase relations in the MnO–SiO2–CaO–MgO–Al2O3 oxide system were calculated using FactSage 7.3 thermochemical software. Differences in ore compositions revealed significant differences in phase development during slag formation and reduction behavior of these manganese sources. The phase development is highly influenced by temperature and position in relation to the coke bed, with a two-phase region, i.e., manganosite + liquid, dominant on top of the coke bed and a dominant liquid slag inside the coke bed. The solid monoxide phase in Comilog has been found to be purely MnO. In contrast to Comilog, the solid monoxide solution phase in Assmang has significantly high FeO content and forms a (Mn,Mg,Fe)O solid solution, which becomes more enriched in MgO with increases in temperature and reduction extent. Due to lower concentration of CO gas for prereduction in this experimental setup, iron oxides are reduced to FeO instead of Fe and subsequently FeO is stabilized in the monoxide solid solution.
Trimethylamine N-Oxide Promotes Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation by Aggravating Aortic Smooth Muscle Cell Senescence in Mice
Authors: Hu Jiaxin , Xu Jiamin , Shen Song , Zhang Wengfeng , Chen Haiting , Sun Xuan , Qi Yu , Zhang Ying , Zhang Qi , Guo Meng , Peng Ningxin , Xu Biao
Published: February 2022

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) has been linked to cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. However, the role of TMAO in the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) is not known. This study investigated the association between TMAO and AAA formation. TMAO and saline were added to the drinking water of angiotensin II (AngII)- and calcium chloride (CaCl2)-induced AAA model mice, respectively. After 4 weeks, the effects of TMAO on AAA development were determined by histology and immunohistology of aortic tissue. The in vitro effects of TMAO were also examined in mouse aortic smooth muscle cells (SMCs). The maximal aortic diameter, incidence of AAA, and degree of elastin degradation were significantly increased in TMAO-treated mice. TMAO also increased the accumulation of the senescence markers p21 and p16, as well as of reactive oxygen species (ROS), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) in vivo and in vitro. TMAO promoted AAA development in mouse AAA models induced by AngII and CaCl2 by a mechanism involving cellular senescence.

Graphical abstract
Japanese school administrators’ experiences after the implementation of the Top Global University Project language policy
Authors: Davila Gilder
Published: February 2022

As a result of globalisation, many higher education institutions in Japan have made changes to their curriculum and administrative system to attract international students. The Japanese government has also carried out different policies to support universities across the country and accelerate their internationalisation process. The study focuses on the implementation of the 2014 Top Global University Project (TGUP) in 37 Japanese higher education institutions. School administrators were interviewed in relation to their experiences with policy implementation. After coding and analysing the interview data, three themes were selected for discussion a) the financial burden; b) the English policy for staff; and c) policy transmission within an institution. Bernstein’s notion of the pedagogic device was employed to analyse school administrators’ discourses concerning the policy. Findings revealed how the process of implementation has taken place and the issues affecting its proper execution. The study concludes that top-down relations of power and control, hierarchies, people’s ideologies, and management culture affect and delay the internationalisation process of higher education.
Isis in a Global Empire
Authors: Mazurek Lindsey A.
Published: February 2022

In Isis in a Global Empire, Lindsey Mazurek explores the growing popularity of Egyptian gods and its impact on Greek identity in the Roman Empire. Bringing together archaeological, art historical, and textual evidence, she demonstrates how the diverse devotees of gods such as Isis and Sarapis considered Greek ethnicity in ways that differed significantly from those of the Greek male elites whose opinions have long shaped our understanding of Roman Greece. These ideas were expressed in various ways - sculptures of Egyptian deities rendered in a Greek style, hymns to Isis that grounded her in Greek geography and mythology, funerary portraits that depicted devotees dressed as Isis, and sanctuaries that used natural and artistic features to evoke stereotypes of the Nile. Mazurek's volume offers a fresh, material history of ancient globalization, one that highlights the role that religion played in the self-identification of provincial Romans and their place in the Mediterranean world.
Patchwork Freedoms
Authors: Chira Adriana
Published: February 2022

In nineteenth-century Santiago de Cuba, the island of Cuba's radical cradle, Afro-descendant peasants forged freedom and devised their own formative path to emancipation. Drawing on understudied archives, this pathbreaking work unearths a new history of Black rural geography and popular legalism, and offers a new framework for thinking about nineteenth-century Black freedom. Santiago de Cuba's Afro-descendant peasantries did not rely on liberal-abolitionist ideologies as a primary reference point in their struggle for rights. Instead, they negotiated their freedom and land piecemeal, through colonial legal frameworks that allowed for local custom and manumission. While gradually wearing down the institution of slavery through litigation and self-purchase, they reimagined colonial racial systems before Cuba's intellectuals had their say. Long before residents of Cuba protested for national independence and island-wide emancipation in 1868, it was Santiago's Afro-descendant peasants who, gradually and invisibly, laid the groundwork for emancipation.
An accelerating crisis: Metascience is out-reproducing psychological science
Authors: Watson Patrick D.
Published: February 2022

Scientific claims are selected in part for their ability to survive. Scientists can pursue an r-strategy of broad, easy-to-spread ideas, or a K-strategy of stress-tested, bulletproof statements. The “generalizability crisis” is an exquisite mutation that allows dull, K-strategic methodology articles to spread nearly as quickly as the fast-breeding, r-strategic memes of pop-psychology.
Generalizability, transferability, and the practice-to-practice gap
Authors: de Leeuw Joshua R. , Motz Benjamin A. , Fyfe Emily R. , Carvalho Paulo F. , Goldstone Robert L.
Published: February 2022

Emphasizing the predictive success and practical utility of psychological science is an admirable goal but it will require a substantive shift in how we design research. Applied research often assumes that findings are transferable to all practices, insensitive to variation between implementations. We describe efforts to quantify and close this practice-to-practice gap in education research.
The crisis from above: Gatekeepers need better standards
Authors: Schiavone Sarah R. , Bottesini Julia G. , Vazire Simine
Published: February 2022

Improvements to the validity of psychological science depend upon more than the actions of individual researchers. Editors, journals, and publishers wield considerable power in shaping the incentives that have ushered in the generalizability crisis. These gatekeepers must raise their standards to ensure authors' claims are supported by evidence. Unless gatekeepers change, changes made by individual scientists will not be sustainable.
Causal analysis as a bridge between qualitative and quantitative research
Authors: Blersch Rosemary , Franchuk Neil , Lucas Miranda , Nord Christina M. , Varsanyi Stephanie , Bonnell Tyler R.
Published: February 2022

Yarkoni argues that one solution is to abandon quantitative methods for qualitative ones. While we agree that qualitative methods are undervalued, we argue that both are necessary for thoroughgoing psychological research, complementing one another through the use of causal analysis. We illustrate how directed acyclic graphs can bridge qualitative and quantitative methods, thereby fostering understanding between different psychological methodologies.
Psychological Effects of Social Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2020
Authors: Plangger Bianca , Unterrainer Christine , Kreh Alexander , Gatterer Gerald , Juen Barbara
Published: February 2022

Abstract. The SARS-CoV2 pandemic meant considerable restrictions in the social life of many people. Older people belong to the high-risk group for a severe to fatal course of the SARS-CoV2 disease, which is why these groups received special protection. This protection included drastic restrictions on their personal and social contacts, including the suspension of psychosocial therapies. This study examines the cognitive and emotional effects of social isolation on older people. A group of 49 participants who lived in nursing homes was tested before and after social isolation in 2020. The results of the present study provide empirical evidence for the negative effects of social isolation of older people in nursing homes regarding cognitive performance, anxiety, depressive symptoms, and quality of life.
A Frontal Thunderstorm With Several Multi‐Cell Lines Found to Produce Energetic Preliminary Breakdown
Authors: Kolmašová I. , Soula S. , Santolík O. , Farges T. , Bousquet O. , Diendorfer G. , Lán R. , Uhlíř L.
Published: February 2022

We combine electromagnetic measurements with meteorological and lightning detection data to explain an observation of unusually strong preliminary breakdown (PB) produced by a thunderstorm system that developed along the Mediterranean Coast of Southern France in the early hours of 19 June 2013. This multi‐cellular storm was composed of several parallel convective lines in the NW‐SE direction. Our analysis focuses on 10 sequences of energetic electromagnetic PB pulses recorded by two receivers located at different distances from this thunderstorm. The peak currents, which generated these strong PB pulses, reached −36 kA. The initial polarity of all observed energetic PB pulses confirmed the movement of the negative charge downward, as in case of PB pulses preceding negative cloud‐to‐ground discharges. The locations of PB pulses appeared in areas with none or very weak lightning activity. Most PB pulses were initiated in small, short‐living, rapidly moving convective storm cells characterized by low reflectivity values (generally <40 dBZ), weak vertical development, and low flash density. Our findings indicate that the observed thunderstorm might possess temporary strong negatively charged pockets located above a strong positive charge region at low‐level. Such charge arrangement, likely explains our observation of unusually strong PB pulses and the absence of RS pulses in electromagnetic recordings.
A Machine‐Learning‐Assisted Stochastic Cloud Population Model as a Parameterization of Cumulus Convection
Authors: Hagos Samson , Chen Jingyi , Barber Katelyn , Sakaguchi Koichi , Plant Robert S. , Feng Zhe , Xiao Heng
Published: February 2022

A machine‐learning‐assisted stochastic cloud population model is coupled with the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to represent fluctuations in the cloud‐base mass flux associated with the life cycles and interactions among cumulus convection cells. In this cloud population model, the size distribution and the associated cloud‐base mass flux of the convective cells are related to their previous state and to the change in the total convective area via a transition function. The convective area tendency in turn is assumed to depend on the cloud‐base mass flux that is resolved by the host WRF model. The transition function is represented by a single hidden‐layer neural network trained by the evolution of convective cell size distributions in a 1‐km grid‐spacing WRF simulation run over the Australian Monsoon region. At every grid point of the host model, the cloud population model predicts the cell size and cloud‐base mass flux distributions from which a random sample of cells is fed to an entraining parcel model that calculates precipitation as well as the associated liquid water potential temperature and total moisture tendencies. These tendencies are averaged over the cells and provided to the host model. Several regional simulations are performed over tropical and midlatitude domains to test this as a potential approach to scale‐aware parameterization. It is shown that such an approach could be a new promising path to simulating realistic precipitation statistics and propagation of precipitation associated with the Madden‐Julian Oscillation while maintaining realistic depictions of the diurnal cycle over both land and ocean.
Ultra‐Wideband and Polarization‐Independent RCS Reduction Based on Polarization Conversion Metasurface
Authors: Lin B. Q. , Huang W. Z. , Yang Y. S. , Lv L. T. , Guo J. X. , Wang Y. W.
Published: February 2022

In this work, an ultra‐wideband polarization conversion metasurface (PCM) is proposed. Because it is an anisotropic structure with a pair of mutually perpendicular symmetric axes u and v, and the phase difference between the reflection coefficients under u‐ and v‐polarized incidences is close to 180° in an ultra‐wide frequency range from 9.5 to 29.5 GHz, it can realize ultra‐wideband circular polarization (CP) maintaining reflection and make its co‐polarized reflection coefficient under CP incidence close to 1.0 in the ultra‐wide band 9.2–29.7 GHz. In addition, for any metasurface, when its unit cell structure is rotated by an angle ψ, almost ±2ψ Pancharatnam‐Berry (PB) phase will be generated in co‐polarized reflection coefficient under CP incidence. Thus, based on the proposed PCM, an ultra‐wideband Pancharatnam‐Berry (PB) 2‐dit coding metasurface is conveniently proposed. The simulation and experimental results show that the coding metasurface can achieve more than 10 dB radar cross section (RCS) reduction under normal incidence with arbitrary polarizations in the ultra‐wide frequency band 8.7–29.3 GHz with a relative bandwidth of 108.4%, in addition, when the incident angle is increased to 30°, the RCS reduction performance can be kept well, which shows that the proposed coding metasurface has good stealth performance under the detection of airborne radar, fire control radar and imaging radar working in X, Ku, and K bands, it is very practical.
Clinical outcomes with use of radiation therapy and risk of transformation in early-stage follicular lymphoma
Authors: Sha Fushen , Okwali Michelle , Alperovich Anna , Caron Philip C. , Falchi Lorenzo , Hamilton Audrey , Hamlin Paul A. , Horwitz Steven M. , Joffe Erel , Khan Niloufer , Kumar Anita , Matasar Matthew J. , Moskowitz Alison J. , Noy Ariela , Owens Colette , Palomba Lia M. , Rodriguez-Rivera Ildefonso , Straus David , von Keudell Gottfried , Zelenetz Andrew D. , Yahalom Joachim , Dogan Ahmet , Schöder Heiko , Seshan Venkatraman E. , Salles Gilles , Younes Anas , Batlevi Connie L.
Published: February 2022

Between 1998 and 2009, a total of 295 patients (median age 58, 53% females) with newly diagnosed early-stage follicular lymphoma (FL) were managed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Approximately half of patients (137, 46%) underwent initial observation and half (158, 54%) immediate treatment: radiation alone (n = 108), systemic treatment alone (n = 29), or combined modality treatment (n = 21). Median follow-up was 8.4 years (range 0.3–17.2), and 10-year overall survival (OS) was 87.2%. OS was similar between initially-observed and immediately-treated patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.25, 95% CI: 0.67–2.36, p = 0.49). For patients receiving radiation alone, 5-year OS was 98.0%. Patients selected for systemic therapy alone had high-risk baseline features and had shorter OS than patients treated with radiation alone (HR 3.38, 95% CI 1.29–8.86, p = 0.01). Combined modality treatment did not yield superior survival compared with radiation alone (P > 0.05) but was associated with better progression-free survival (HR 0.36, 95% CI 0.14–0.90, p = 0.03). The rate of transformation increased steadily over time and was 4.2% at 5 years and 10.8% at 10 years. This modern-era analysis rationalized the role of initial observation in patients with early-stage FL although patients receiving radiation therapy also demonstrate excellent outcome.
Aberrant somatic hypermutation of CCND1 generates non-coding drivers of mantle cell lymphomagenesis
Authors: Müller Heiko , Walter Wencke , Hutter Stephan , Nadarajah Niroshan , Meggendorfer Manja , Kern Wolfgang , Haferlach Torsten , Haferlach Claudia
Published: February 2022

Aberrant somatic hypermutation (aSHM) can target proto-oncogenes and drive oncogenesis. In mantle cell lymphoma (MCL), CCND1 is targeted by aSHM in the non-nodal subtype (nnMCL), giving rise to exon1 encoded mutant proteins like E36K, Y44D, and C47S that contribute to lymphomagenesis by virtue of their increased protein stability and nuclear localization. However, the vast majority of somatic variants generated by aSHM are found in the first intron of CCND1 but their significance for mantle cell lymphomagenesis is unknown. We performed whole-genome and whole-transcriptome sequencing in 84 MCL patients to explore the contribution of non-coding somatic variants created by aSHM to lymphomagenesis. We show that non-coding variants are enriched in a MCL specific manner in transcription factor-binding sites, that non-coding variants are associated with increased CCND1 mRNA expression, and that coding variants in the first exon of CCND1 are more often synonymous or cause benign amino acid changes than in other types of lymphomas carrying a t(11;14) translocation. Therefore, the increased frequency of somatic variants due to aSHM might be a consequence of selection pressure manifested at the transcriptional level rather than being a mere mechanistic consequence of misguided activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) activity.
Evaluation of the stability and intratumoral delivery of foreign transgenes encoded by an oncolytic Foamy Virus vector
Authors: Budzik Karol M. , Nace Rebecca A. , Ikeda Yasuhiro , Russell Stephen J.
Published: February 2022

Foamy Viruses are cell cycle-dependent retroviruses capable of persisting unintegrated in quiescent cells until cell division occurs. This unique ability allows them to target slowly dividing human tumor cells which remains an unmet need in oncolytic virotherapy. We have previously reported the generation of oncolytic Foamy Virus (oFV) vector system and demonstrated its superiority over oncolytic Murine Leukemia Virus vectors in infecting slowly dividing cancer cells. In the present study we evaluated (i) the ability of oFV to carry foreign transgenes and (ii) the genetic stability of these vectors upon serial passage. The thymidine kinase (TK) and inducible caspase 9 (iCasp9) cDNAs could be detected in the oFV backbone for up to 3 in vitro passages. In vivo, GFP-, TK- and iCasp9- carrying oFV vectors propagated efficiently in subcutaneous xenograft glioblastoma tumors and drove transgene expression for up to 66 days. However, in vivo oFV vector spread eventually resulted in complete loss of the iCasp9 cDNA, minor loss of the TK cDNA and negligible loss of the GFP. Our results suggest that oFV is a promising gene delivery platform and that transgenes smaller than 1 kb might be most suitable for oFV arming.