bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Associations of diet quality and food consumption with serum biomarkers for lipid and amino acid metabolism in Finnish children: the PANIC study
Authors: Laamanen Suvi E. , Eloranta Aino-Maija , Haapala Eero A. , Sallinen Taisa , Schwab Ursula , Lakka Timo A.
Published: December 2023

Purpose

To investigate the associations of overall diet quality and dietary factors with serum biomarkers for lipid and amino acid metabolism in a general population of children.

Methods

We studied 194 girls and 209 boys aged 6–8 years participating in the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children study. Food consumption was assessed by 4-day food records and diet quality was quantified by the Finnish Children Healthy Eating Index (FCHEI). Fasting serum fatty acids, amino acids, apolipoproteins, as well as lipoprotein particle sizes were analyzed with high-throughput nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Data were analyzed using linear regression adjusted for age, sex, and body fat percentage.

Results

FCHEI was directly associated with the ratio of polyunsaturated (PUFA) to saturated fatty acids (SFA) (PUFA/SFA), the ratio of PUFA to monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) (PUFA/MUFA), the ratio of PUFA to total fatty acids (FA) (PUFA%), the ratio of omega-3-fatty acids to total FA (omega-3 FA%), and inversely associated with the ratio of MUFA to total FA (MUFA%), alanine, glycine, histidine and very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL) particle size. Consumption of vegetable oils and vegetable-oil-based margarine (≥ 60% fat) was directly associated with PUFA/SFA, PUFA/MUFA, PUFA%, the ratio of omega-6 FA to total FA (omega-6 FA%), and inversely associated with SFA, MUFA, SFA to total FA (SFA%), MUFA%, alanine and VLDL particle size. Consumption of high-fiber grain products directly associated with PUFA/SFA, PUFA/MUFA, omega-3 FA%, omega-6 FA%, PUFA% and inversely associated with SFA and SFA%. Fish consumption directly related to omega-3 FA and omega-3 FA%. Consumption of sugary products was directly associated with histidine and VLDL particle size. Vegetable, fruit, and berry consumption had direct associations with VLDL particle size and the ratio of apolipoprotein B to apolipoprotein A1. Consumption of low fat (< 1%) milk was directly associated with phenylalanine. A higher consumption of high-fat (≥ 1%) milk was associated with lower serum MUFA/SFA and higher SFA%. Sausage consumption was directly related to SFA% and histidine. Red meat consumption was inversely associated with glycine.

Conclusions

Better diet quality, higher in intake of dietary sources of unsaturated fat and fiber, and lower in sugary product intake were associated with more favorable levels of serum biomarkers for lipid and amino acid metabolism independent of adiposity.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01803776, registered March 3, 2013.
Results of objective brushing data recorded from a powered toothbrush used by elderly individuals with mild cognitive impairment related to values for oral health
Authors: Flyborg Johan , Renvert Stefan , Anderberg Peter , Larsson Tobias , Sanmartin-Berglund Johan
Published: December 2023

Objectives

The study aimed to investigate how the objective use of a powered toothbrush in frequency and duration affects plaque index, bleeding on probing, and periodontal pocket depth ≥ 4 mm in elderly individuals with MCI. A second aim was to compare the objective results with the participants’ self-estimated brush use.

Materials and methods

Objective brush usage data was extracted from the participants’ powered toothbrushes and related to the oral health variables plaque index, bleeding on probing, and periodontal pocket depth ≥ 4 mm. Furthermore, the objective usage data was compared with the participants’ self-reported brush usage reported in a questionnaire at baseline and 6- and 12-month examination.

Results

Out of a screened sample of 213 individuals, 170 fulfilled the 12-month visit. The principal findings are that despite the objective values registered for frequency and duration being lower than the recommended and less than the instructed, using powered toothbrushes after instruction and information led to improved values for PI, BOP, and PPD ≥ 4 mm in the group of elderly with MIC.

Conclusions

Despite lower brush frequency and duration than the generally recommended, using a powered toothbrush improved oral health. The objective brush data recorded from the powered toothbrush correlates poorly with the self-estimated brush use.

Clinical relevance

Using objective brush data can become one of the factors in the collaboration to preserve and improve oral health in older people with mild cognitive impairment.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05941611, retrospectively registered 11/07/2023.
Exterior Boundary-Value Poincaré Problem for Elliptic Systems of the Second Order with Two Independent Variables
Authors: Criado-Aldeanueva F. , Odishelidze N. , Sanchez J. M. , Khachidze M.
Published: December 2023

This paper offers a number of examples showing that in the case of two independent variables the uniform ellipticity of a linear system of differential equations with partial derivatives of the second order, which fulfills condition (3), do not always cause the normal solvability of formulated exterior elliptic problems in the sense of Noether.

Nevertheless, from the system of differential equations with partial derivatives of elliptic type it is possible to choose, under certain additional conditions, classes which are normally solvable in the sense of Noether.

This paper also shows that for the so-called decomposed system of differential equations, with partial derivatives of an elliptic type in the case of exterior regions, the Noether theorems are valid.
A 12-Month Follow-Up of PROCARE+, a Transdiagnostic, Selective, Preventive Intervention for Adolescents At-Risk for Emotional Disorders
Authors: Vivas-Fernandez Manuel , Garcia-Lopez Luis-Joaquin , Piqueras Jose A. , Espinosa-Fernandez Lourdes , Muela-Martinez Jose-Antonio , Jimenez-Vazquez David , Diaz-Castela Maria del Mar , Ehrenreich-May Jill
Published: December 2023

Few studies have reported long-term follow-up data on selective preventive interventions for adolescents. No follow-up selective preventive transdiagnostic studies for adolescents at-risk for emotional disorders, such as anxiety and depression, have been reported. To fill this gap, this study aims to provide the first follow-up assessment of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) studying selective transdiagnostic prevention in at-risk adolescents. A 12-month follow-up assessment was conducted with subjects who originally received either PROCARE (Preventive transdiagnostic intervention for Adolescents at Risk for Emotional disorders), PROCARE+, which includes the PROCARE protocol along with personalized add-on modules or an active control condition (ACC) based on emotional psychoeducation, and their respective booster session for each experimental condition. 80 subjects (47.5% girls) aged between 12 and 18 years (M = 14.62; SD 1.43) who completed these treatment conditions were available for the 12-month follow-up. The results demonstrate the superior long-term efficacy of the PROCARE+ intervention in mitigating emotional symptoms and obsessive–compulsive symptomatology compared to the PROCARE and ACC conditions, with effect sizes notably exceeding those commonly observed in preventive programs. While the three treatments demonstrated beneficial impacts, the pronounced results associated with PROCARE+ at the 12-month follow-up emphasized the importance of personalized treatment modules and the sustained benefits of booster sessions in the realm of preventive psychological interventions. The findings also highlight the potential role of add-on modules in enhancing the effects of the PROCARE+ condition.
Interplay between climate change and climate variability: the 2022 drought in Central South America
Authors: Arias Paola A. , Rivera Juan Antonio , Sörensson Anna A. , Zachariah Mariam , Barnes Clair , Philip Sjoukje , Kew Sarah , Vautard Robert , Koren Gerbrand , Pinto Izidine , Vahlberg Maja , Singh Roop , Raju Emmanuel , Li Sihan , Yang Wenchang , Vecchi Gabriel A. , Otto Friederike E. L.
Published: December 2023

Since 2019, Central South America (CSA) has been reeling under drought conditions, with the last 4 months of 2022 receiving only 44% of the average total precipitation. Simultaneously to the drought, a series of record-breaking heat waves has affected the region. The rainfall deficit during October–November-December (OND) is highly correlated with the Niño3.4 index, indicating that the OND 2022 rainfall deficit is partly driven by La Niña, as observed in previous droughts in this region. To identify whether human-induced climate change was also a driver of the OND 2022 rainfall deficit, we analysed precipitation over the most impacted region. Our findings revealed a pattern of decreased rainfall over the past 40 years, although we cannot definitively conclude whether this trend exceeds what would be expected from natural variations. To clarify if this trend can be attributed to climate change, we looked at 1-in-20-year low rainfall events over the same region in climate models. The models show that the severity of low rainfall events decreases (i.e. they become wetter, the opposite of the trend observed in most weather records), although this trend is again not significant and is compatible with natural variability. Therefore, we cannot attribute the low rainfall to climate change. Moreover, our analysis of effective precipitation potential (evapotranspiration minus rainfall) shows that, in climate models, the increase in temperature does partly compensate for the increase in rainfall but only to offset the wetting, and does not lead to a significant climate change signal in effective precipitation. However, higher temperatures in the region, which have been attributed to climate change, decreased water availability in the models in late 2022, indicating that climate change probably reduced water availability over this period also in the observations, increasing agricultural drought, although this study did not quantify this effect. This means that even though the reduced rainfall is within the natural variability, the consequences of drought are becoming more severe due to the strong increase in extreme heat. The case of the OND 2022 rainfall deficit and the ongoing drought in CSA is a clear example of the interplay between climate variability and human-induced climate change. This shows the importance of considering not only those aspects associated with climate change but also climate variability in order to understand and attribute particular events or trends at the regional level.
Comprehensive assessment of the carbon neutrality actions from the automotive sector
Authors: Princz-Jakovics Tibor , Csigéné Nagypál Noémi , Pálvölgyi Tamás
Published: December 2023

The aim of this paper is to analyse and demonstrate the carbon neutrality actions of a special facility in the context of the automotive sector. In order to analyse the emissions, a carbon simulation model is developed. Offsetting options are also overviewed in a systematic way. We provide a methodology for a systematic analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and offsetting opportunities of an automotive facility. We compile an inventory of the carbon emissions, identify offsetting options and prepare a cost–benefit analysis of the mitigation actions. The relevance of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is also assessed. We examine the GHG emissions of an automotive proving ground, ZalaZone in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary, as a case study. Four scenarios with various shares of decarbonisation options have been proposed to achieve the vision of net zero GHG emissions. It was found that net zero emission is achievable. The CBA concluded that the net present value is negative; however, there are significant external benefits. It was revealed that the operation of the facility contributes to multiple SDGs and provides different pathways to carbon neutrality.
Seasonal dynamic modeling and simulation of solar thermal membrane desalination system for sustainable freshwater production: a case study of Tanta, Egypt
Authors: El-Agouz S. A. , Elbar Ayman Refat Abd , Zayed Mohamed E. , Aboghazala Ali M. , Khatab Mohamed Z. , Zakaria M. Y. , Esmaeil Khaled Khodary
Published: December 2023

Membrane distillation (MD) is an effective process for desalinating seawater, combining the merits of both thermal and membrane distillation. In this context, the sizing methodologies and optimization strategies are developed from the balance of the system’s energy demand. Therefore, accurate numerical modeling of the heat transfer and thermodynamic behavior of the MD systems is crucial for the optimal design of solar-based MD systems. The interest in utilizing solar thermal heating techniques for feed water heating in MD systems is increasing worldwide for sustainable freshwater production and lowering energy consumption. Hence, in this research, a coupled analytical modeling based on heat transfer, mass transport, and thermodynamic analysis is created to dynamically simulate a solar direct contact membrane distillation system (SDCMDS) driven by vacuumed tubes solar collectors (VTSCs) to analyze its performance, under real weather of Tanta, Egypt. The influences of the solar collecting area on the performances of the proposed SDCMDS for augmenting the freshwater production of the SDCMDS are studied. Four cases of the proposed SDCMDS are investigated: two identical VTSCs of 1.80 m2each unit in summer (Case I), two identical VTSCs in winter (Case II), four identical VTSCs in summer (Case III), and four identical VTSCs in winter (Case IV). The results show that the utilization of four VTSCs connected in series significantly improved the feed seawater temperature range from 30.0 to 70.5 °C compared to a feed temperature range of 30.0–49.5 was achievable by utilizing only two VTSCs. Moreover, the daily averaged permeate flux were 2.21, 1.29, 3.41, and 2.07 L/day per m2of solar harvesting area with daily cumulative distilled water yield of 7.48, 4.60, 23.04, and 14.78 L/day for Cases I, II, III, and IV, respectively, at a saline flowrate of 0.20 kg/s. The daily average total efficiency of the SDCMDS was obtained to be 14.70%, 12.50%, 24.95%, and 22.50% for Cases I, II, III, and IV, respectively.
Gendered Childhoods, Linear Sex Development and Unruly Temporalities
Authors: Garland Fae , Travis Mitchell
Published: December 2023

This article addresses a growing social and legal debate around healthcare provision for gender diverse children. Temporality is used as a theoretical lens to highlight how biological determinism has informed legal approaches to gender diverse children in a series of recent cases. In these cases, accounts of sex and gender as temporally linear are troubled by gender diverse children whose gender does not arise ‘inevitably’ from their sex. The Court’s reaction to this conflicts with recent shifts in healthcare which have begun to reframe the temporal pathways from childhood to adulthood away from singular towards multiple futures where gender is capable of being both ‘paused’ and ‘reversed’. Law’s commitment to ‘linearity’ and ‘permenance’ in its conceptions of the temporality of childhood are a key but emerging locus in the reinforcement of heteronormative temporalities downplaying contemporary harms to the child in favour of speculative future harm.
The Effect of the Fuel Location and Ventilation Factor on the Fire Dynamics of Informal Settlement Dwellings
Authors: Beshir M. , Wang Y. , Cicione A. , Hadden R. , Krajcovic M. , Rush D.
Published: December 2023

Three full-scale experimental compartment fires are compared to investigate the effect of the fuel location and the ventilation factor on under ventilated thermally thin bounded ISO-9705 compartments. Wood cribs were used as the fuel load and the crib placement was varied between two locations (back and middle) to study the effect of the fuel location. Furthermore, the ventilation conditions were changed from a door and window (i.e., ventilation factor of 2.58 m5/2) to only a door (i.e., ventilation factor of 2.26 m5/2) for the scenario where the cribs were placed at the back of the compartment. The novelty of this work lies in its examination of the time to flashover, gas layer temperature, heat release rate, and external radiative heat fluxes, specifically considering the impact of fuel location and ventilation factor. It was observed that placing the fuel package in the middle of the compartment led to a longer growth phase, hotter gas layer temperature, a higher Heat Release Rate (HRR) needed for flashover ($$\dot{q}_{fo}$$

q
˙

fo

), and higher external radiative heat fluxes through openings. It was also found that, decreasing the ventilation factor decreased the heat losses and therefore the $$\dot{q}_{fo}$$

q
˙

fo

. Decreased ventilation also affected the height of the neutral plane, as one would expect, and the shape of the external plume, but did not have significant effect on the temperature within the compartment, the walls of the compartment, and the external radiative heat flux.
A Set-Theoretic Analysis of the Black Hole Entropy Puzzle
Authors: Etesi Gábor
Published: December 2023

Motivated by the known mathematical and physical problems arising from the current mathematical formalization of the physical spatio-temporal continuum, as a substantial technical clarification of our earlier attempt (Etesi in Found Sci 25:327–340, 2020), the aim in this paper is twofold. Firstly, by interpreting Chaitin’s variant of Gödel’s first incompleteness theorem as an inherent uncertainty or fuzziness present in the set of real numbers, a set-theoretic entropy is assigned to it using the Kullback–Leibler relative entropy of a pair of Riemannian manifolds. Then exploiting the non-negativity of this relative entropy an abstract Hawking-like area theorem is derived. Secondly, by analyzing Noether’s theorem on symmetries and conserved quantities, we argue that whenever the four dimensional space-time continuum containing a single, stationary, asymptotically flat black hole is modeled by the set of real numbers in the mathematical formulation of general relativity, the hidden set-theoretic entropy of this latter structure reveals itself as the entropy of the black hole (proportional to the area of its “instantaneous” event horizon), indicating that this apparently physical quantity might have a pure set-theoretic origin, too.
Elastic–Plastic Analysis of Rigid Passive Piles in Two-Layered Soils
Authors: Bellezza Ivo
Published: December 2023

The paper analyses the behavior of a rigid passive pile embedded in a soil profile consisting of a stable layer underlying an unstable layer subjected to a uniform soil displacement. Pile-soil interaction is considered by modeling the soil by a series of elastic–plastic springs along the pile shaft. The modulus of horizontal subgrade reaction is assumed to linearly increase with depth in the unstable layer and constant in the stable one. The ultimate soil resistance is assumed increasing with depth in both layers. The results of analysis are presented in dimensionless form in terms of shear force developed at the slip surface as a function of the pile embedment into the stable layer and the distribution of soil characteristics over depth. The method allows capturing pile response not only at the soil ultimate state but also at the intermediate states. Specifically, the governing equations for the elastic, elastic–plastic and plastic cases are discussed and, whenever possible, a set of closed-form expressions is provided to estimate the maximum bending moment along the shaft and the pile head deflection, so that for an assigned value of the required stabilizing force both ultimate and serviceability limit state of the pile can be checked. A numerical example is given to illustrate the application of the proposed procedure.
Algorithmic strategies for a fast exploration of the TSP $$4$$-OPT neighborhood
Authors: Lancia Giuseppe , Dalpasso Marcello
Published: December 2023

We describe an effective algorithm for exploring the $$4$$

4

-OPT neighborhood for the Traveling Salesman Problem. $$4$$

4

-OPT moves change a tour into another by replacing four of its edges. The best move can be found by a $$\Theta (n^4)$$

Θ
(

n
4

)

algorithm by complete enumeration, but a $$\Theta (n^3)$$

Θ
(

n
3

)

dynamic programming algorithm exists in the literature. Furthermore a $$\Theta (n^2)$$

Θ
(

n
2

)

algorithm also exists for a particular subset of symmetric $$4$$

4

-OPT moves. In this work we describe a new procedure which behaves, on average, slightly worse than a quadratic algorithm over all moves (estimated at $$O(n^{2.5})$$

O
(

n

2.5

)

) and like a quadratic algorithm on the symmetric moves. Computational results are reported which show the effectiveness of our strategy compared to other algorithms for finding the best $$4$$

4

-OPT move, and discuss the strength of the $$4$$

4

-OPT neighborhood compared to 2- and $$3$$

3

-OPT.
Exploring the impact of organizational characteristics on research agendas across scientific fields
Authors: Santos João M.
Published: December 2023

An increasing culture of performativity has led to changes in the organizational landscape of academic institutions. While the impact of these changes on outputs is well documented, their impact on academics’ strategic research agendas is still an emerging topic. This study expands upon previous research on this issue and focuses on comparing these dynamics across all fields of science using a global sample of academics. We found that most of the relationships between organizational features and research agendas were mostly consistent across disciplines, with variations mainly in the strength rather than the direction of effects. The perceived access to resources, autonomy, and collegiality was the key driver in promoting ambitious, collaborative, discovery-driven, and multidisciplinary agendas. Furthermore, our findings suggest a concerning trend in research institutions: academics that are more willing to stay in their institutions and are more aligned with its demands are less inclined to pursue trailblazing agendas. Although most of these effects were universal, some field-specific dynamics are also discussed, notably in what concerns the so-called “hard” sciences. This study highlights the importance of promoting a collegial environment with a high degree of autonomy to foster discovery-driven research and underscores the potential risks of the “publish or perish” culture prevalent in academia.
Intentionality as Tendency and Intentionality as Consciousness-of
Authors: Spano Nicola
Published: December 2023

In this paper, I argue that according to Edmund Husserl “tendency” does not designate a specific class of intentional experiences but rather, on par with “consciousness-of,” a universal mode of intentionality essential for any constitution of sense. In doing so, I explicate Husserl’s distinction between intentionality as tendency (Tendenz), which he describes as a striving (Streben), and intentionality as consciousness-of (Bewusstsein-von), which he describes as a presentation (Vorstellung) of an intentional object. Then, I discuss Husserl’s problematic way of relating these two universal modes of intentionality. Although he claims that intentionality as tendency presupposes intentionality as consciousness-of, I argue that the universal validity of this presupposition is put into question by the consideration of drives (Triebe), which Husserl describes as passive tendencies that originally lack any consciousness of the end strived toward, and, hence, do not seem to presuppose any presentation of it. I show that the lack of intentionality as consciousness-of poses two major problems in Husserl’s account, in that it makes drives seemingly unintelligible as (i) strivings and as (ii) motivated experiences. Lastly, to find a possible solution to these problems and better clarify the relation between intentionality as tendency and intentionality as consciousness-of at the level of drives, I explore Edith Stein’s account of drives as aimless strivings governed by experiential causality (Erlebniskausalität), discussing its advantages and potential drawbacks, as well as its compatibility with Husserl’s account.
Consciousness of Emotion and Emotive Consciousness in Geiger and Husserl
Authors: Vendrell Ferran Ingrid
Published: December 2023

Moritz Geiger’s 1911 article on the consciousness of feeling, entitled “Das Bewusstsein von Gefühlen,” was an object of study for Husserl in a series of manuscripts recently published in Studien zur Struktur des Bewusstseins II. Gefühl und Wert (1896-1925)(2020). Geiger’s article and Husserl’s remarks on it received attention from Métraux (1975), but, more recently, an increasing number of publications have been devoted to the topic (Averchi, 2015a, 2015b; Crespo, 2015; Quepons, 2017; Marcos del Cano, 2023). These new publications identify a central area of disagreement between the two authors concerning the nature of emotive consciousness, i.e., the mode in which affective states relate to their objects. For Geiger, emotions are directed toward their objects but are not regarded as intentional and, in certain forms of consciousness, can even lose their relation to their objects. By contrast, for Husserl, intentionality is an intrinsic feature of emotive consciousness. The paper shows that Geiger’s and Husserl’s disagreement on the nature of emotions is rooted in their different pictures of the structure of consciousness and, in particular, the place of feeling in their respective ontologies of the mind.
Treatment with β-Adrenoceptor Agonist Isoproterenol Reduces Non-parenchymal Cell Responses in LPS/D-GalN-Induced Liver Injury
Authors: Wu Yuchao , Ni Tianzhi , Zhang Mengmeng , Fu Shan , Ren Danfeng , Feng Yali , Liang Huiping , Zhang Ze , Zhao Yingren , He Yingli , Yang Yuan , Tian Zhen , Yan Taotao , Liu Jinfeng
Published: December 2023

There is an increasing evidence indicating the involvement of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in liver disease development. To achieve an extensive comprehension of the obscure process by which the SNS alleviates inflammatory damage in non-parenchymal liver cells (NPCs) during acute liver failure (ALF), we employ isoproterenol (ISO), a beta-adrenoceptor agonist, to mimic SNS signaling. ISO was administered to C57BL/6J mice to establish an acute liver failure (ALF) model using LPS/D-GalN, which was defined as ISO + ALF. Non-parenchymal cells (NPCs) were isolated from liver tissues and digested for tandem mass tag (TMT) labeled proteomics to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs). The administration of ISO resulted in a decreased serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, e.g., TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in ALF mice, which alleviated liver damage. By using TMT analysis, it was possible to identify 1587 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in isolated NPCs. Notably, over 60% of the DEPs in the ISO + ALF vs. ALF comparison were shared in the Con vs. ALF comparison. According to enrichment analysis, the DEPs influenced by ISO in ALF mice were linked to biological functions of heme and fatty acid metabolism, interferon gamma response, TNFA signaling pathway, and mitochondrial oxidation function. Protein-protein interaction network analysis indicated Mapk14 and Caspase3 may serve as potentially valuable indicators of ISO intervention. In addition, the markers on activated macrophages, such as Mapk14, Casp1, Casp8, and Mrc1, were identified downregulated after ISO initiation. ISO treatment increased the abundance of anti-inflammatory markers in mouse macrophages, as evidenced by the immunohistochemistry (IHC) slides showing an increase in Arg + staining and a reduction in iNOS + staining. Furthermore, pretreatment with ISO also resulted in a reduction of LPS-stimulated inflammation signaling markers, Mapk14 and NF-κB, in human THP-1 cells. Prior treatment with ISO may have the potential to modify the biological functions of NPCs and could serve as an innovative pharmacotherapy for delaying the pathogenesis and progression of ALF.
Real-time monitoring and quality assurance for laser-based directed energy deposition: integrating co-axial imaging and self-supervised deep learning framework
Authors: Pandiyan Vigneashwara , Cui Di , Richter Roland Axel , Parrilli Annapaola , Leparoux Marc
Published: December 2023

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a promising solution for real-time monitoring of the quality of additively manufactured (AM) metallic parts. This study focuses on the Laser-based Directed Energy Deposition (L-DED) process and utilizes embedded vision systems to capture critical melt pool characteristics for continuous monitoring. Two self-learning frameworks based on Convolutional Neural Networks and Transformer architecture are applied to process zone images from different DED process regimes, enabling in-situ monitoring without ground truth information. The evaluation is based on a dataset of process zone images obtained during the deposition of titanium powder (Cp-Ti, grade 1), forming a cube geometry using four laser regimes. By training and evaluating the Deep Learning (DL) algorithms using a co-axially mounted Charged Couple Device (CCD) camera within the process zone, the down-sampled representations of process zone images are effectively used with conventional classifiers for L-DED process monitoring. The high classification accuracies achieved validate the feasibility and efficacy of self-learning strategies in real-time quality assessment of AM. This study highlights the potential of AI-based monitoring systems and self-learning algorithms in quantifying the quality of AM metallic parts during fabrication. The integration of embedded vision systems and self-learning algorithms presents a novel contribution, particularly in the context of the L-DED process. The findings open avenues for further research and development in AM process monitoring, emphasizing the importance of self-supervised in situ monitoring techniques in ensuring part quality during fabrication.
A Systematic Review of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Implementation in U.S. Emergency Departments: Patient Screening, Prescribing, and Linkage to Care
Authors: Jackson Kristopher J. , Chitle Pooja , McCoy Sandra I. , White Douglas A.E.
Published: December 2023

In the pursuit of ending the HIV epidemic, U.S. emergency departments (EDs) have emerged as a valuable setting to increase HIV testing and linkage to care. There is limited data available, however, describing the incorporation of HIV prevention initiatives in U.S. EDs. Over the last decade, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has significantly changed the HIV prevention landscape globally and very little is known about the provision of PrEP in U.S. EDs. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed quantitative studies and conference abstracts spanning July 2012 - October 2022. Of 433 citations, 11 articles and 13 abstracts meet our inclusion criteria, representing 18 unique studies addressing PrEP screening, prescribing, and/or linkage to PrEP care.

Most studies describe screening processes to identify PrEP-eligible patients (n = 17); most studies leveraged a patient’s STI history as initial PrEP eligibility screening criteria. Fewer studies describe PrEP prescribing (n = 2) and/or linkage to PrEP care (n = 8).

Findings from this systematic review highlight the potential for U.S. EDs to increase PrEP uptake among individuals at risk for HIV infection. Despite a growing number of studies exploring processes for incorporating PrEP into the ED setting, such studies are small-scale and time limited. Models providing prescribing PrEP in the ED show higher initiation rates than post-discharge engagement models. Electronic health record (EHR)-based HIV screening is valuable, but post-ED linkage rates are low. Our findings emphasize the need to establish best practices for initiating and supporting prevention effective PrEP use in the ED setting.
Scheduling the repair and replacement of individual components in operating systems: a bi-objective mathematical optimization model
Authors: Obradović Gabrijela , Strömberg Ann-Brith , Lundberg Kristian
Published: December 2023

Preventive maintenance (PM) is performed so that failure is avoided while corrective maintenance is performed after a failure has occurred in order to restore the system back to an operational state. This research aims at scheduling PM activities for a multi-component system within a finite time horizon. We consider a setting with two stakeholders, being the system operator and the maintenance workshop, and two different contract types governing their joint activities, namely an availability contract and a turn-around time contract. Components in the systems that are to be maintained are sent to the maintenance workshop, which needs to schedule and perform all maintenance activities while at the same time satisfying the contract and not exceeding the workshop capacity. Our modelling is based on a mixed-binary linear optimization model of a PM scheduling problem with so-called interval costs over a finite and discretized time horizon. We enhance this scheduling model with the flow of individual components through the maintenance workshop, including stocks of spare components, both those components that need repair and the repaired ones. The resulting scheduling model is then utilized in the optimization of two main contracts, namely maximizing the availability of repaired (or new) components and minimizing the deviation from the contracted turn-around times for the components in the maintenance loop. Each of these objectives is combined with the objective to minimize the costs for maintenance of the operating system, leading to two bi-objective optimization problems. We analyse the two contracting forms between the stakeholders by studying and comparing the Pareto fronts resulting from different parameter settings, regarding minimum allowed stock levels and investments in repair capacity of the workshop. Our bi-objective mixed-binary linear optimization model is able to capture important properties of the results from the contracting forms as well as to show that, in our setting, an availability contract performs better than a turn-around time contract in terms of tractability.
Trajectories of Loneliness During Adolescence Predict Subsequent Symptoms of Depression and Positive Wellbeing
Authors: Hunter Simon C. , Seth Rebecca , Houghton Stephen , Lawrence David , Zadow Corinne , Rosenberg Michael , Wood Lisa , Qualter Pamela , Shilton Trevor
Published: December 2023

There is a need to identify the outcomes of changes in loneliness during adolescence, and to consider this within a multidimensional framework of loneliness. This study considered the effects of different trajectories of change in Isolation Loneliness and in Friendship Loneliness upon both positive wellbeing and symptoms of depression. To achieve this, 1782 (43% female; 12.92 years old at the start of the study, SD = 1.60) young people took part in a longitudinal study with four data points across 2 years. Four Isolation Loneliness trajectories and five Friendship Loneliness trajectories were identified. Youth who experienced low levels of Isolation Loneliness that subsequently increased appear to be at particular risk for poor outcomes. Similarly, initially high levels of Friendship Loneliness that decreased rapidly, or which began at a low level and only increased marginally, seem to also be a risk. Loneliness is a multi-dimensional construct and its development during adolescence impacts upon young people’s depressive symptomatology and positive mental wellbeing.
Risk Preferences in the Delegation Process
Authors: Schwaninger Manuel C. , Mühlböck Monika , Sauermann Jan
Published: December 2023

Political decisions usually involve risks regarding potential outcomes. In an ideal representative system, voters should therefore evaluate politicians not only according to the policies they support, but also according to their inclination to take risks. In this study, we examine whether risk preferences affect voting decisions in an incentivized online experiment. Subjects assigned the role of politicians decide for the voters how much to invest in a risky policy, whereas subjects assigned the role of voters learn about the risk profiles of the politicians and decide whether to re-elect the incumbent or to elect the challenger. The treatments vary the risk and potential reward of the policy politicians can implement as well as the information voters receive about the consequences of a politician’s decision. We find that voters are significantly more likely to elect politicians who propose policies that are in line with the voters’ risk preferences and that politicians adapt to the assumed risk preferences of the voters. If a voter learns that the politician’s decision led to a negative outcome, despite a low probability of such an outcome, she is less likely to re-elect this politician. Furthermore, the results suggest an incumbency advantage independent of institutional advantages.
Entropic taming of the Look Elsewhere Effect
Authors: Rédei Miklós , Gömöri Márton
Published: December 2023

To mitigate the Look Elsewhere Effect in multiple hypothesis testing usingp-values, the paper suggests an “entropic correction” of the significance level at which the null hypothesis is rejected. The proposed correction uses the entropic uncertainty associated with the probability measure that expresses the prior-to-test probabilities expressing how likely the confirming evidence may occur at values of the parameter. When the prior-to-test probability is uniform (embodying maximal uncertainty) the entropic correction coincides with the Bonferroni correction. When the prior-to-test probability embodies maximal certainty (is concentrated on a single value of the parameter at which the evidence is obtained), the entropic correction overrides the Look Elsewhere Effect completely by not requiring any correction of significance. The intermediate situation is illustrated by a simple hypothetical example. Interpreting the prior-to-test probability subjectively allows a Bayesian spirit enter the frequentist multiple hypothesis testing in a disciplined manner. If the prior-to-test probability is determined objectively, the entropic correction makes possible to take into account in a technically explicit way the background theoretical knowledge relevant for the test.
Outcomes of mechanical thrombectomy in acute stroke patients with atrial fibrillation detected after stroke versus known atrial fibrillation
Authors: D’Anna Lucio , Ornello Raffaele , Foschi Matteo , Romoli Michele , Abu-Rumeileh Samir , Dolkar Tsering , Vittay Orsolya , Dixon Luke , Bentley Paul , Brown Zoe , Hall Charles , Jamil Sohaa , Jenkins Harri , Kwan Joseph , Patel Maneesh , Rane Neil , Roi Dylan , Singh Abhinav , Venter Marius , Kalladka Dheeraj , Malik Abid , Halse Omid , Sacco Simona , Banerjee Soma , Lobotesis Kyriakos
Published: December 2023

We aim to compare the outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation detected after stroke (AFDAS) and their counterparts with known AF (KAF) presenting with large vessel occlusion (LVO) treated with mechanical thrombectomy (MT). This observational, prospective study included consecutive patients with acute LVO ischemic stroke of the anterior circulation with AFDAS, KAF and without AF. The primary study outcome was functional independence at 90 days after stroke. The secondary study outcomes were variation of the NIHSS score at 24 h, rate of successful reperfusion, death at 90 days and rate of immediate complications post-procedure. Overall, our cohort included 518 patients with acute ischemic stroke and LVO treated with MT, with 289 (56.8%) without a diagnosis of AF; 107 (21%) with AFDAS; 122 (22.2%) with KAF. There was no significant difference in terms of functional independence at 90 days after stroke between the three groups. Regarding the secondary study outcome, the rate of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (sICH) and/or parenchymal hematoma (PH) were significantly higher in the group of patients without AF (respectively, P = 0.030 and  < 0.010). Logistic regression analysis showed that the subtypes of AF were not statistically significantly associated with functional independence at 90 days after stroke and with the likelihood of any ICH. Our results suggest that the subtypes of AF are not associated with clinical and safety outcomes of MT in patients with acute stroke and LVO. Further studies are needed to confirm our findings.
ChamelIoT: a tightly- and loosely-coupled hardware-assisted OS framework for low-end IoT devices
Authors: Silva Miguel , Gomes Tiago , Ekpanyapong Mongkol , Tavares Adriano , Pinto Sandro
Published: December 2023

The evergrowing Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem continues to impose new requirements and constraints on every device. At the edge, low-end devices are getting pressured by increasing workloads and stricter timing deadlines while simultaneously are desired to minimize their power consumption, form factor, and memory footprint. Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) emerge as a possible solution for the increasing demands of the IoT. Reconfigurable IoT platforms enable the offloading of software tasks to hardware, enhancing their performance and determinism. This paper presents ChamelIoT, an agnostic hardware operating systems (OSes) framework for reconfigurable IoT devices. The framework provides hardware acceleration for kernel services of different IoT OSes by leveraging the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture (ISA). The ChamelIoT hardware accelerator can be deployed in a tightly- or loosely-coupled approach and implements the following kernel services: thread management, scheduling, synchronization mechanisms, and inter-process communication (IPC). ChamelIoT allows developers to run unmodified applications of three well-established OSes, RIOT, Zephyr, and FreeRTOS. The experiments conducted on both coupling approaches consisted of microbenchmarks to measure the API latency, the Thread Metric benchmark suite to evaluated the system performance, and tests to the FPGA resource consumption. The results show that the latency can be reduced up to 92.65% and 89.14% for the tightly- and loosely-coupled approaches, respectively, the jitter removed, and the execution performance increased by 199.49% and 184.85% for both approaches.
Universal eigenvalue statistics for dynamically defined matrices
Authors: Adhikari Arka , Lemm Marius
Published: December 2023

We consider dynamically defined Hermitian matrices generated from orbits of the doubling map. We prove that their spectra fall into the GUE universality class from random matrix theory.
Oscillatory integral operators with homogeneous phase functions
Authors: Schippa Robert
Published: December 2023

Oscillatory integral operators with 1-homogeneous phase functions satisfying a convexity condition are considered. For these we show the Lp–Lp-estimates for the Fourier extension operator of the cone due to Ou–Wang via polynomial partitioning. For this purpose, we combine the arguments of Ou–Wang with the analysis of Guth–Hickman–Iliopoulou, who previously showed sharp Lp–Lp-estimates for non-homogeneous phase functions with variable coefficients under a convexity assumption. Furthermore, we provide examples exhibiting Kakeya compression, which shows a more restrictive range than dictated by the Knapp example in higher dimensions. We apply the oscillatory integral estimates to show new local smoothing estimates for wave equations on compact Riemannian manifolds (M, g) with dim M ≥ 3. This generalizes the argument for the Euclidean wave equation due to Gao–Liu–Miao–Xi.
Perceived Stress, Perceived Social Support, and Global Health in Adults with Chronic Pain
Authors: Castarlenas Elena , Galán Santiago , Solé Ester , Roy Rubén , Sánchez-Rodríguez Elisabet , Jensen Mark P. , Miró Jordi
Published: December 2023

Background

Chronic pain is a common problem in adults that can have a significant impact on individuals’ quality of life and on society. The complex pain experience emerges from a dynamic combination of biological, psychological, and social factors. Previous research has shown that social support has positive effects on health-related outcomes through two mechanisms: direct-effects and stress-buffering effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the role that perceived stress, perceived social support, and their interaction play as predictors of global physical health and global mental health in adults with chronic pain.

Method

One hundred sixty-five adults with chronic pain completed measures of pain, perceived stress, perceived social support, global physical health, and global mental health.

Results

Perceived stress but not perceived social support made a significant and independent contribution to the prediction of global physical health; both perceived stress and perceived social support made independent contributions to the prediction of global mental health. The perceived stress × perceived social support interaction did not make a significant contribution to the prediction of either criterion variable. The results suggested that perceived stress has an impact on both global physical and mental health, whereas perceived social support associated mostly with global mental health. In addition, perceived social support does not appear to moderate the impact of stress on global physical and mental health.

Conclusion

The findings are more consistent with a direct-effects model than a stress-buffering model of social support.
A Survey on Association Rule Mining for Enterprise Architecture Model Discovery
Authors: Pinheiro Carlos , Guerreiro Sergio , Mamede Henrique S.
Published: December 2023

Association Rule Mining (ARM) is a field of data mining (DM) that attempts to identify correlations among database items. It has been applied in various domains to discover patterns, provide insight into different topics, and build understandable, descriptive, and predictive models. On the one hand, Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a coherent set of principles, methods, and models suitable for designing organizational structures. It uses viewpoints derived from EA models to express different concerns about a company and its IT landscape, such as organizational hierarchies, processes, services, applications, and data. EA mining is the use of DM techniques to obtain EA models. This paper presents a literature review to identify the newest and most cited ARM algorithms and techniques suitable for EA mining that focus on automating the creation of EA models from existent data in application systems and services. It systematically identifies and maps fourteen candidate algorithms into four categories useful for EA mining: (i) General Frequent Pattern Mining, (ii) High Utility Pattern Mining, (iii) Parallel Pattern Mining, and (iv) Distribute Pattern Mining. Based on that, it discusses some possibilities and presents an exemplification with a prototype hypothesizing an ARM application for EA mining.