bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genomic analysis for heat and combined heat–drought resilience in bread wheat under field conditions
Authors: Itam Michael O. , Mega Ryosuke , Gorafi Yasir S. A. , Yamasaki Yuji , Tahir Izzat S. A. , Akashi Kinya , Tsujimoto Hisashi
Published: October 2021

Key message

GWAS on a bread wheat panel with high D genome diversity identified novel alleles and QTLs associated with resilience to combined heat and drought stress under natural field conditions.

As heat (H) and drought stresses occur concurrently under field conditions, studying them separately offers limited opportunities for wheat improvement. Here, a wheat diversity panel containing Aegilops tauschii introgressions was evaluated under H and combined heat–drought (HD) stresses to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with resilience to the stresses, and to assess the practicability of harnessing Ae. tauschii diversity for breeding for combined stress resilience. Using genome-wide analysis, we identified alleles and QTLs on chromosomes 3D, 5D, and 7A controlling grain yield (GY), kernel number per spike, and thousand-kernel weight, and on 3D (521–549 Mbp) controlling GY alone. A strong marker–trait association (MTA) for GY stability on chromosome 3D (508.3 Mbp) explained 20.3% of the variation. Leaf traits—canopy temperature, vegetation index, and carbon isotope composition—were controlled by five QTLs on 2D (23–96, 511–554, and 606–614 Mbp), 3D (155–171 Mbp), and 5D (407–413 Mbp); some of them were pleiotropic for GY and yield-related traits. Further analysis revealed candidate genes, including GA20ox, regulating GY stability, and CaaX prenyl protease 2, regulating canopy temperature at the flowering stage, under H and HD stresses. As genome-wide association studies under HD in field conditions are scarce, our results provide genomic landmarks for wheat breeding to improve adaptation to H and HD conditions under climate change.
Sex differences in intraorgan fat levels and hepatic lipid metabolism: implications for cardiovascular health and remission of type 2 diabetes after dietary weight loss
Authors: Jesuthasan Aaron , Zhyzhneuskaya Sviatlana , Peters Carl , Barnes Alison C. , Hollingsworth Kieren G. , Sattar Naveed , Lean Michael E. J. , Taylor Roy , Al-Mrabeh Ahmad H.
Published: October 2021

Aims/hypothesis

Type 2 diabetes confers a greater relative increase in CVD risk in women compared with men. We examined sex differences in intraorgan fat and hepatic VLDL1-triacylglycerol (VLDL1-TG) export before and after major dietary weight loss.

Methods

A group with type 2 diabetes (n = 64, 30 male/34 female) and a group of healthy individuals (n = 25, 13 male/12 female) were studied. Intraorgan and visceral fat were quantified by magnetic resonance and VLDL1-TG export by intralipid infusion techniques.

Results

Triacylglycerol content of the liver and pancreas was elevated in people with diabetes with no sex differences (liver 16.4% [9.3–25.0%] in women vs 11.9% [7.0–23.1%] in men, p = 0.57, and pancreas 8.3 ± 0.5% vs 8.5 ± 0.4%, p = 0.83, respectively). In the absence of diabetes, fat levels in both organs were lower in women than men (1.0% [0.9–1.7%] vs 4.5% [1.9–8.0%], p = 0.005, and 4.7 ± 0.4% vs 7.6 ± 0.5%, p< 0.0001, respectively). Women with diabetes had higher hepatic VLDL1-TG production rate and plasma VLDL1-TG than healthy women (559.3 ± 32.9 vs 403.2 ± 45.7 mg kg−1 day−1, p = 0.01, and 0.45 [0.26–0.77] vs 0.25 [0.13–0.33] mmol/l, p = 0.02), whereas there were no differences in men (548.8 ± 39.8 vs 506.7 ± 29.2 mg kg−1 day−1, p = 0.34, and 0.72 [0.53–1.15] vs 0.50 [0.32–0.68] mmol/l, p = 0.26). Weight loss decreased intraorgan fat and VLDL1-TG production rates regardless of sex, and these changes were accompanied by similar rates of diabetes remission (65.4% vs 71.0%) and CVD risk reduction (59.8% vs 41.5%) in women and men, respectively.

Conclusions/interpretation

In type 2 diabetes, women have liver and pancreas fat levels as high as those of men, associated with raised hepatic VLDL1-TG production rates. Dynamics of triacylglycerol turnover differ between sexes in type 2 diabetes and following weight loss. These changes may contribute to the disproportionately raised cardiovascular risk of women with diabetes.

Graphical abstract
Analgesic effect of oral ibuprofen 400, 600, and 800 mg; paracetamol 500 and 1000 mg; and paracetamol 1000 mg plus 60 mg codeine in acute postoperative pain: a single-dose, randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind study
Authors: Lyngstad Gaute , Skjelbred Per , Swanson David M. , Skoglund Lasse A.
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Effect size estimates of analgesic drugs can be misleading. Ibuprofen (400 mg, 600 mg, 800 mg), paracetamol (1000 mg, 500 mg), paracetamol 1000 mg/codeine 60 mg, and placebo were investigated to establish the multidimensional pharmacodynamic profiles of each drug on acute pain with calculated effect size estimates.

Methods

A randomized, double-blind, single-dose, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, single-centre, outpatient, and single-dose study used 350 patients (mean age 25 year, range 18 to 30 years) of homogenous ethnicity after third molar surgery. Primary outcome was sum pain intensity over 6 h. Secondary outcomes were time to analgesic onset, duration of analgesia, time to rescue drug intake, number of patients taking rescue drug, sum pain intensity difference, maximum pain intensity difference, time to maximum pain intensity difference, number needed to treat values, adverse effects, overall drug assessment as patient-reported outcome measure (PROM), and the effect size estimates NNT and NNTp.

Results

Ibuprofen doses above 400 mg do not significantly increase analgesic effect. Paracetamol has a very flat analgesic dose–response profile. Paracetamol 1000/codeine 60 mg gives similar analgesia as ibuprofen from 400 mg, but has a shorter time to analgesic onset. Active drugs show no significant difference in maximal analgesic effect. Other secondary outcomes support these findings. The frequencies of adverse effects were low, mild to moderate in all active groups. NNT and NTTp values did not coincide well with PROMs.

Conclusion

Ibuprofen doses above 400 mg for acute pain offer limited analgesic gain. Paracetamol 1000 mg/codeine 60 mg is comparable to ibuprofen doses from 400 mg. Calculated effect size estimates and PROM in our study seem not to relate well as clinical analgesic efficacy estimators.

Trial registration

NCT00699114.
Radiologic follow-up in Fontan-associated liver disease in Europe: European Society of Paediatric Radiology survey demonstrates the need for a consensus protocol
Authors: Perucca Giulia , de Lange Charlotte , Franchi-Abella Stéphanie , Napolitano Marcello , Riccabona Michael , Ključevšek Damjana , Toso Seema , Herrmann Jochen , Stafrace Samuel , Darge Kassa , Damasio Maria Beatrice , Bruno Costanza , Woźniak Magdalena Maria , Lobo Luisa , Ibe Donald , Smets Anne M. , Petit Philippe , Müller Lil-Sofie Ording
Published: October 2021

Fontan surgery is a life-saving procedure for newborns with complex cardiac malformations, but it originates complications in different organs. The liver is also affected, with development of fibrosis and sometimes cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is no general agreement on how to follow-up these children for the development of liver disease. To understand the current practice on liver follow-up, we invited members of the European Society of Paediatric Radiology (ESPR) to fill out an online questionnaire. The survey comprised seven questions about when and how liver follow-up is performed on Fontan patients. While we found some agreement on the use of US as screening tool, and of MRI for nodule characterization, the discrepancies on timing and the lack of a shared protocol make it currently impossible to compare data among centers.
Poisson voting games under proportional rule
Authors: De Sinopoli Francesco , Meroni Claudia
Published: October 2021

We analyze strategic voting under proportional rule and two parties, embedding the basic spatial model into the Poisson framework of population uncertainty. We prove that there exists a unique Nash equilibrium. We show that it is characterized by a cutpoint in the policy space that is always located between the average of the two parties’ positions and the median of the distribution of voters’ types. We also show that, as the expected number of voters goes to infinity, the equilibrium converges to that of the case with deterministic population size.
Transient behavior of imperfect bi-directional functionally graded sandwich plates under moving loads
Authors: Esmaeilzadeh M. , Golmakani M. E. , Luo Y. , Bodaghi M.
Published: October 2021

An investigation of dynamic behaviors of a sandwich plate containing an imperfect two dimensional functionally graded (2D-FG) core surrounded by two faces on a two-parameter elastic foundation and subjected to a moving load is carried out in this paper. The present sandwich solid is composed of a porous 2D-FG core covered by two homogenous layers. It is assumed that the middle layer has micro voids dispersed uniformly and unevenly through the layer thickness. The fundamental equations are governed within the framework of first-order-shear deformation theory by utilizing Hamilton’s principle, von-Karman geometrical nonlinearity and the principal of mixtures. Newmark direct integration procedure is implemented to transform the dynamic equations into a static form and then the kinetic dynamic relaxation numerical technique in conjunction with the finite difference discretization method are employed to solve the nonlinear partial differential governing equations. Finally, the effects of porosity fraction and scattering patterns, boundary constrains, the variation of materials’ grading indexes and elastic foundation constants on the transient performances of the plate are studied in detail.
Discrete Carleman estimates and three balls inequalities
Authors: Fernández-Bertolin Aingeru , Roncal Luz , Rüland Angkana , Stan Diana
Published: October 2021

We prove logarithmic convexity estimates and three balls inequalities for discrete magnetic Schrödinger operators. These quantitatively connect the discrete setting in which the unique continuation property fails and the continuum setting in which the unique continuation property is known to hold under suitable regularity assumptions. As a key auxiliary result which might be of independent interest we present a Carleman estimate for these discrete operators.
Renaming of Hallervorden–Spatz disease: the second man behind the name of the disease
Authors: Voges Luca , Kupsch Andreas
Published: October 2021

Hallervorden–Spatz disease (HSD) has been recently renamed to pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) and neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation (NBIA), mainly due to the unethical behavior of Julius Hallervorden in the National Socialist (NS) euthanasia program of the Nazi Third Reich. The role of the second name giver in the NS euthanasia program is less clear. Hugo Spatz was the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research in Berlin-Buch during World War II (WWII), renamed to Max Planck Institute after 1945. After the war, he headed the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt am Main. The present study investigates the potential involvement of Hugo Spatz in the NS euthanasia program. In the present study, we compared a list of euthanasia victims from the German Federal Archive Berlin (30.146 cases published after the reunification of Germany, BArch R179) with the files of the collection of specimens from 1940 until 1945 of Hugo Spatz as listed in the Archive of the Max Planck Society Berlin-Dahlem (n = 305). Furthermore, the old term HSD and the new terms PKAN and NBIA were systematically searched in PubMed from 1946, through January 2019 to evaluate the renaming process from HSD to PKAN/NBIA. Following Hugo Spatz’s death in 1969 growing evidence indicated that he may have taken part in the NS euthanasia program. This study identifies 4 euthanized victims in the patient files of Hugo Spatz from 1940 to 1945, suggesting involvement of Hugo Spatz in the NS euthanasia program. This further strengthens the argument that the former HSD should be exclusively referred to as PKAN or NBIA.
Metaplasticity in the human swallowing system: clinical implications for dysphagia rehabilitation
Authors: Cheng Ivy , Hamdy Shaheen
Published: October 2021

Dysphagia is a common and devastating complication following brain damage. Over the last 2 decades, dysphagia treatments have shifted from compensatory to rehabilitative strategies that facilitate neuroplasticity, which is the reorganization of neural networks that is essential for functional recovery. Moreover, there is growing interest in the application of cortical and peripheral neurostimulation to promote such neuroplasticity. Despite some preliminary positive findings, the variability in responsiveness toward these treatments remains substantial. The purpose of this review is to summarize findings on the effects of neurostimulation in promoting neuroplasticity for dysphagia rehabilitation and highlight the need to develop more effective treatment strategies. We then discuss the role of metaplasticity, a homeostatic mechanism of the brain to regulate plasticity changes, in helping to drive neurorehabilitation. Finally, a hypothesis on how metaplasticity could be applied in dysphagia rehabilitation to enhance treatment outcomes is proposed.
Raising the level: orangutans solve the floating peanut task without visual feedback
Authors: Sebastián-Enesco Carla , Amezcua-Valmala Nerea , Colmenares Fernando , Mendes Natacha , Call Josep
Published: October 2021

Chimpanzees and orangutans are able to generate innovative behaviors to solve complicated physical problems. For example, when presented with an out-of-reach peanut at the bottom of a vertical tube (floating peanut task—FPT), some of them spontaneously spit water into the tube until the peanut floats to the top. Yet, it is unclear whether this innovative solution results from repeating those actions that bring the peanut incrementally closer to the top or from anticipating the solution before acting. In the current study, we addressed this question by presenting three naïve orangutans with an opaque version of the FPT that prevented them from obtaining visual information about the effect of their actions on the position of the peanut. One of the subjects solved the opaque FPT in the very first trial: he collected water from the faucet and poured it into the opaque tube repeatedly until the hitherto non-visible peanut reached the top. This provides evidence for the first time that orangutans can potentially solve the FPT without relying on sensorimotor learning, but to some extent by mentally representing the problem.
Comorbidity Between Internalising and Externalising Disorders Among Adolescents: Symptom Connectivity Features and Psychosocial Outcome
Authors: Essau Cecilia A. , de la Torre-Luque Alejandro
Published: October 2021

Internalising disorders are highly prevalent conditions in adolescence and tend to co-occur with externalising disorders. The present study used a symptom network approach to examine the interplay between symptoms of internalising disorders among adolescents with comorbid internalising and externalising disorders. Data comes from the National Comorbidity Survey—Adolescent Supplement, a nationally representative survey of adolescents aged 13 to 18 years. The most central symptoms across the disorders in the network were poor self-esteem and worry. The comorbidity between anxiety and depression increases the probability of having comorbid externalising disorders. Adolescents with both internalising and externalising disorders had the highest rate of health service utilisation. Comorbidity group, lifestyle factors, deficits in cognitive and academic competence and coping skills were significant covariates of the mental health outcomes. Understanding comorbidity profile of internalising and externalising disorders and central symptoms that bridge these disorders could have important clinical implications.
Technologies in the education of children and teenagers with autism: evaluation and classification of apps by work areas
Authors: Gallardo-Montes Carmen del Pilar , Caurcel Cara María Jesús , Rodríguez Fuentes Antonio
Published: October 2021

Mobile apps represent a resource with great potential for encouraging the development of many skills, given the high number of apps available and the quick access to them. Many professionals and families include these resources in the education and therapy of children with autism. For a group with such particular needs, a review of the apps is great importance, since, due to their characteristics, the apps must provide content, design and pedagogical aspects that fit those needs. Through a previously validated system of indicators, 155 free apps on Google Play were evaluated, using “autism” in English and in Spanish. We determined which work area each app developed, as well as which were the most multifaceted. Having evaluated the recorded data, we calculated frequencies, percentages and reliability, as well as parametric contrast and correlation statistics. We found that the focus of most apps was on executive functions, language and entertainment, with a minority devoted to the emotional sphere or time management. However, 98.06% of the apps worked on several areas, which makes them more functional but with the downside of not being specialized. Most apps were placed in the “recommendable” level but with margin for improvement in increasing their functionality.
The Metaphysics of Decoherence
Authors: Vassallo Antonio , Romano Davide
Published: October 2021

The paper investigates the type of realism that best suits the framework of decoherence taken at face value without postulating a plurality of worlds, or additional hidden variables, or non-unitary dynamical mechanisms. It is argued that this reading of decoherence leads to a type of perspectival realism which is extremely radical, especially when cosmological decoherence is considered.
Linking Up: The Role of Institutions and Farmers in Forage Seed Exchange Networks of Southeast Asia
Authors: Leyte James D. , Delaquis Erik , Van Dung Pham , Douxchamps Sabine
Published: October 2021

In Southeast Asia, access to improved forages remains a challenge for smallholder farmers and limits livestock production. We compared seed exchange networks supporting two contrasting livestock production systems to identify bottlenecks in seed availability and determine the influences of the market, institutions, and cultural context of seed exchange, using interview-based methods for ‘seed tracing’ and network analysis. Government agencies were the primary sources of high-quality genetic materials, with secondary diffusion in the Philippines dairy case being dominated by key individuals in active cooperatives. In the Vietnamese beef-oriented production context, farmer to farmer dissemination was more substantial. In both cases, formal actors dominated where botanical seed was exchanged, while farmers frequently exchanged vegetatively propagated materials among themselves. To improve access to forage seed in these contexts, government agencies and development actors should coordinate quality seed production upstream while supporting the creation of appropriate training, structures, and incentives for seed exchange network improvement downstream.
The Persistence of Political Power: A Communist ‘Party Village’ in Kerala and the Paradox of Egalitarian Hierarchies
Authors: Kaul Nitasha , Kannangara Nisar
Published: October 2021

This article combines political analysis with ethnographic fieldwork to theorise Communist party’s construction of political allegiance and their persistence of power in the democratic context at a local village level in the state of Kerala in India. We provide an inaugural scholarly conceptualisation of an empirical phenomenon, known in Kerala popular parlance as ‘party gramam’ or the ‘party village’, as the focus of analysis. As we explain, a ‘party village’ is an administrative unit where a particular political party dominates not simply electorally but in all lived experience. We posit that the concept of ‘party village’ is of specific value in our understanding of various forms of current (Communist) politics. The original ascendancy of communism in the village (as in many regions of Kerala) during the twentieth century was due to its progressive ideological challenge to feudal structures of class and caste oppression. However, in democratic post-independence India, the overwhelming dominance of Communist Party in the 'party village' presents the paradox of a party with an egalitarian ideology having adapted to a persistent Hindu caste hierarchy. After situating our work within the conceptual problematisations of political party competition, and in conversation with wider communist studies literature, we provide a background to the politics of Kerala and explain the unique phenomenon of ‘party villages’ in Kerala. We then provide an insight into the social and economic structures of one such village, explaining the salience of these structures in relation to political allegiances. Next, we illustrate the paradox of continued caste hierarchies in a Communist Party village, and the multiple ways in which Hindu religion and caste structures are important to performing individual identity in social settings. We dissect the various means through which the grassroots Communist Party apparatus in the village maintains its dominance by adapting itself to regressive caste hierarchies for political profit at the same time as laying claim to having challenged them. In our concluding section, we place our village observations in the longer frame of historical north Kerala village politics, noting the changes over time and offering theoretical perspectives upon them. In this sense, through a mix of empirical observation with historical context and theorisation, we highlight the importance and the implications of unconventional democratic dynamics more generally.
“It’s Like Stealing What Should be Theirs.” An Exploration of the Experiences and Perspectives of Parents and Educational Practitioners on Hebrew–English Bilingualism for Jewish Autistic Children
Authors: Sher David Ariel , Gibson Jenny L. , Browne Wendy V.
Published: October 2021

Parents of autistic children are routinely advised to raise them monolingually, despite potential negative effects of monolingualism and no evidence of harm from bilingualism. There is, however, limited research on this topic. This study explored experiences and perspectives of educational practitioners (‘practitioners’) and parents of Hebrew–English bilingual autistic children on bilingualism and monolingualism. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, we explored the experiences of 22 parents and 31 practitioners using both oral and written interviews. The analysis revealed that religious continuity is a crucial factor in bilingual decision-making. Unexpectedly, both practitioners and parents felt that having to adopt a monolingual approach was unjust, in line with conceptions of forced monolingualism. This article recommends awareness training on community languages and research in other communities.
Long-Term Immune Recovery After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for ADA Deficiency: a Single-Center Experience
Authors: Kreins Alexandra Y. , Velasco Helena F. , Cheong Kai-Ning , Rao Kanchan , Veys Paul , Worth Austen , Gaspar H. Bobby , Booth Claire
Published: October 2021

Unconditioned hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the recommended treatment for patients with adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency with an HLA-matched sibling donor (MSD) or family donor (MFD). Improved overall survival (OS) has been reported compared to the use of unrelated donors, and previous studies have demonstrated that adequate cellular and humoral immune recovery can be achieved even in the absence of conditioning. Detailed insight of the long-term outcome is still limited. We aim to address this by studying a large single-center cohort of 28 adenosine deaminase-deficient patients who underwent a total of 31 HSCT procedures, of which more than half were unconditioned. We report an OS of 85.7% and event-free survival of 71% for the entire cohort, with no statistically significant differences after procedures using related or unrelated HLA-matched donors. We find that donor engraftment in the myeloid compartment is significantly diminished in unconditioned procedures, which typically use a MSD or MFD. This is associated with poor metabolic correction and more frequent failure to discontinue immunoglobulin replacement therapy. Approximately one in four patients receiving an unconditioned procedure required a second procedure, whereas the use of reduced intensity conditioning (RIC) prior to allogeneic transplantation improves the long-term outcome by achieving better myeloid engraftment, humoral immune recovery, and metabolic correction. Further longitudinal studies are needed to optimize future management and guidelines, but our findings support a potential role for the routine use of RIC in most ADA-deficient patients receiving an HLA-identical hematopoietic stem cell transplant, even when a MSD or MFD is available.
Parallel-machine scheduling of jobs with mixed job-, machine- and position-dependent processing times
Authors: Przybylski Bartłomiej
Published: October 2021

We consider a number of parallel-machine scheduling problems in which jobs have variable processing times. The actual processing time of each job is described by an arbitrary positive function of the position it holds on a machine. However, the function itself may additionally depend on the job or a machine this job was assigned to. Our aim is to find a schedule that minimizes the objectives of maximum completion time or the total completion time. We present a full set of polynomial solutions for the cases of jobs with no precedence constraints. We also show that the case of single-chained jobs may be not easier in general, but some polynomial results can be obtained, too.
Invariant Algebraic Surfaces of Polynomial Vector Fields in Dimension Three
Authors: Kruff Niclas , Llibre Jaume , Pantazi Chara , Walcher Sebastian
Published: October 2021

We discuss criteria for the nonexistence, existence and computation of invariant algebraic surfaces for three-dimensional complex polynomial vector fields, thus transferring a classical problem of Poincaré from dimension two to dimension three. Such surfaces are zero sets of certain polynomials which we call semi-invariants of the vector fields. The main part of the work deals with finding degree bounds for irreducible semi-invariants of a given polynomial vector field that satisfies certain properties for its stationary points at infinity. As a related topic, we investigate existence criteria and properties for algebraic Jacobi multipliers. Some results are stated and proved for polynomial vector fields in arbitrary dimension and their invariant hypersurfaces. In dimension three we obtain detailed results on possible degree bounds. Moreover by an explicit construction we show for quadratic vector fields that the conditions involving the stationary points at infinity are generic but they do not a priori preclude the existence of invariant algebraic surfaces. In an appendix we prove a result on invariant lines of homogeneous polynomial vector fields.
Do Online Gambling Products Require Traditional Therapy for Gambling Disorder to Change? Evidence from Focus Group Interviews with Mental Health Professionals Treating Online Gamblers
Authors: Lopez-Gonzalez Hibai , Jimenez-Murcia Susana , Rius-Buitrago Alicia , Griffiths Mark D.
Published: October 2021

Online gambling has significantly altered the situational and structural characteristics of gambling products, to the extent that online gamblers might be substantially different from traditional offline gamblers. A growing body of literature has identified the evolving features of online gambling and the individuals who engage in it. However, beyond understanding the individual characteristics of this subgroup, relatively less effort has been made to examine whether existing cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approaches are still entirely relevant for online problem gamblers, or whether changes are needed to adapt according to gambling mode of access. To understand what kind of challenges online gambling poses to mental health professionals dealing with disordered gamblers, four focus groups comprising 28 Spanish participants were carried out. All the treatment providers had ongoing experience with online gamblers undergoing treatment, and included clinical psychologists, mental health social workers, and a medical doctor. The data were examined using thematic analysis. The analysis identified five main themes that characterised online gamblers: (1) being of younger age, (2) lack of conflicts at home and at work/educational centre, rarely presenting violent or aggressive behaviour, (3) gambling disorder only being identified by overdue debt, (4) co-occurring conditions with technology-related abuse rather than other substance-related addictions, and (5) skill-based gambling. The study highlights mental health workers’ perceived insecurities about how to best treat online gamblers, and discusses the specific characteristics that CBT for gambling disorder might need to incorporate to adjust for this particular group of gamblers.
A longitudinal model for the Mayo Clinical Score and its sub-components in patients with ulcerative colitis
Authors: Kawakatsu Sonoko , Zhu Rui , Zhang Wenhui , Tang Meina T. , Lu Tong , Quartino Angelica L. , Kågedal Matts
Published: October 2021

Clinical trials in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) face the challenge of high and variable placebo response rates. The Mayo Clinical Score (MCS) is used widely as the primary endpoint in clinical trials to describe the clinical status of patients with UC. The MCS is comprised of four subscores, each scored 0, 1, 2 and 3: rectal bleeding (RB), stool frequency (SF), physician’s global assessment (PGA), and endoscopy (ENDO) subscore. Excluding the PGA subscore gives the modified MCS. Quantitative insight on the placebo response, and its impact on the components of the MCS over time, can better inform clinical trial design and interpretation. Longitudinal modeling of the MCS, and the modified MCS, can be challenging due to complex clinical trial design, population heterogeneity, and limited assessments for the ENDO subscore. The current study pooled patient-level placebo/standard of care (SoC) arm data from five clinical trials in the TransCelerate database to develop a longitudinal placebo response model that describes the MCS over time in patients with UC. MCS subscores were modeled using proportional odds models, and the removal of patients from the placebo/SoC arm, or “dropout”, was modeled using logistic regression models. The subscore and dropout models were linked to allow for the prediction of the MCS and the modified MCS. Stepwise covariate modeling identified prior exposure to TNF-α antagonists as a statistically significant predictor on the RB + SF subscore. Patients with prior exposure to TNF-α antagonists had higher post-baseline RB + SF subscores than naive patients.
Dynamic perspectives on technology transfer: introduction to the special section
Authors: Barberá-Tomás David , Azagra-Caro Joaquín M. , D’Este Pablo
Published: October 2021

Theoretical frameworks acknowledge the dynamic and evolving nature of technology transfer. However, there is a scarcity of empirical work in the field incorporating a dynamic and longitudinal perspective. Several literature reviews call for technology transfer research agendas to include longitudinal studies. In response to such calls, this special section comprises selected contributions to the 2018 Technology Transfer Society (T2S) Conference which address this gap from different angles. The three qualitative and three quantitative works chosen contain research questions and methodologies related to dynamic aspects of technology transfer. We argue that historical and processual studies offer additional new directions.
Association Between Age of Achieving Gross Motor Development Milestones During Infancy and Body Fat Percentage at 6 to 7 Years of Age
Authors: Aoyama Tomoko , Hikihara Yuki , Watanabe Masashi , Wakabayashi Hitoshi , Hanawa Satoshi , Omi Naomi , Takimoto Hidemi , Tanaka Shigeho
Published: October 2021

Objectives

The later achievement of gross motor milestones during infancy is associated with adiposity in early childhood. However, the associations between gross motor development and adiposity after entering primary school are unclear. This study examined the associations between the ages at which six gross motor milestones were achieved and adiposity during early school years.

Methods

This retrospective study was conducted in 2012 and 2013. Data were collected from 225 first-grade primary school children (mean age, 6.9 years; 39% girls). Adiposity was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and expressed as body fat percentage. Data describing the ages of achieving six gross motor milestones (holding head up, sitting, crawling, standing supported, walking supported, and independent walking) were obtained from the Maternal and Child Health Handbooks.

Results

Mean body fat percentage was 21.7%. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that later ages of achieving crawling (p < .001 [95% confidence interval: 0.33–1.16]), standing supported (p < .001 [95% confidence interval: 0.64–1.65]), and walking supported [p = .013 (95% confidence interval: 0.13–1.07)] were associated with increased fat. However, the ages of achieving holding head up (p = .053), sitting (p = .175), and independent walking (p = .736) were not statistically significant.

Conclusions

Achieving crawling, standing supported, and walking supported later predict increased body fat when aged 6–7 years. The practice of observing gross motor milestone achievements may allow early targeted interventions to optimize body composition before beginning school and thereby, potentially prevent childhood obesity.
Analysing Multimodal Texts in Science—a Social Semiotic Perspective
Authors: Wanselin Hanna , Danielsson Kristina , Wikman Susanne
Published: October 2021

Teaching and learning in science disciplines are dependent on multimodal communication. Earlier research implies that students may be challenged when trying to interpret and use different semiotic resources. There have been calls for extensive frameworks that enable analysis of multimodal texts in science education. In this study, we combine analytical tools deriving from social semiotics, including systemic functional linguistics (SFL), where the ideational, interpersonal, and textual metafunctions are central. In regard to other modes than writing—and to analyse how textual resources are combined—we build on aspects highlighted in research on multimodality. The aim of this study is to uncover how such a framework can provide researchers and teachers with insights into the ways in which various aspects of the content in multimodal texts are communicated through different semiotic resources. Furthermore, we aim to explore how different text resources interact and, finally, how the students, or authors of teaching resources, position themselves in relation to the subject. Data consist of one student text and one teaching resource text, both comprising drawn and written elements in combination with symbols. Our analyses of the student text suggest that the proposed framework can provide insights into students’ content knowledge and, hence, how construction of multimodal texts may be a useful tool for formative assessment. When it comes to teaching resources, the framework may be a useful tool for teachers when choosing resources, particularly in relation to students’ possibilities of meaning making when engaging with such texts, but also, as a basis for classroom discussions.
Who Speaks for Science?
Authors: Allchin Douglas
Published: October 2021

Ironically, flat-Earthers, anti-vaxxers, and climate change naysayers trust in science. Unfortunately, they trust thewrongscience. That conundrum lies at the heart of scientific literacy in an age of well-funded commercial and ideological interests and overwhelming digital information. The core question for the citizen-consumer is not philosophically “why trust science?” (Oreskes 2019) but sociologically “who speaks for science?” Teachers can help students learn how to navigate the treacherous territory of inevitably mediated communication and the vulnerabilities of epistemic dependence. Students need to understand the role of science communication practices (media literacy) and the roles of credibility, expertise and honesty and the deceptive strategies used by imitators of science to seem like credible voices for science.
(E-) Valuative Metrics as a Contested Field: A Comparative Analysis of the Altmetrics- and the Leiden Manifesto
Authors: Leckert Max
Published: October 2021

This article comparatively analyzes two manifestos in the field of quantitative science evaluation, the Altmetrics Manifesto (AM) and the Leiden Manifesto (LM). It employs perspectives from the Sociology of (E-) Valuation to make sense of highly visible critiques that organize the current discourse. Four motifs can be reconstructed from the manifestos’ valuation strategies. The AM criticizes theconfinednessof established evaluation practices and pledges for anexpansionof quantitative research evaluation. The LM denounces theproliferationof ill-applied research metrics and calls for anenclosureof metric research assessment. It can be shown that these motifs are organized diametrically: The two manifestos represent opposed positions in a critical discourse on (e-) valuative metrics. They manifest quantitative science evaluation as a contested field.
Social Impact Assessment: A Systematic Review of Literature
Authors: Alomoto William , Niñerola Angels , Pié Laia
Published: October 2021

Measuring, analyzing, and evaluating social, environmental, and economic impact is crucial to aligning the sustainable development strategies of international organizations, governments, and businesses. In this sense, society has been a determining factor exerting pressure for urgent solutions. The main objective of this paper is to provide an exhaustive analysis of the literature about the tools for measuring social impact and their evolution over the last 50 years. The search was conducted in the main academic databases (Scopus and Web of Science), where 924 articles were found from 1969 to 2020 related to the topic. The results of the quantitative analysis show that 71% of the publications were in the last ten years and the most productive countries were the USA and the United Kingdom. The relational analysis identifies 4 large clusters that fragment the literature into different subfields. The most used keywords are linked to the term "Social" in measurement methods, new concepts, and participants. This article contributes to the literature by giving the researcher an insight into the current state of art, trends, categories within the field, and future lines of research.
The Global Financial Crisis and Healthcare Inequality in Japan
Authors: Sakoda Sayaka , Tamura Masaoki , Wakutsu Naohiko
Published: October 2021

The aim of this study is to clarify whether health-care inequality in Japan widens during a depression, even though Japan has a universal health-care system. To this end, we investigate the time-series fluctuations in health-care expenditure inequalities in Japan for the period 2008–2017, which includes the period during which the global financial crisis affected Japan. We construct an economy-wide inequality index comparing the actual health-care expenditure at various income levels (low, middle and high) against the estimated health-care needs. The findings of the study are as follows. First, the rich (the top 20% income class) spend far more than their estimated needs on health care, whereas the poor (bottom 20%) spend far less. Second, during the global financial crisis, health-care inequality especially among the working generation became greater in Japan, mainly because not only the low-income class but also the middle-income class (the bottom 30–60%) was unable to pay for health care.
The general-relativistic case for super-substantivalism
Authors: Duerr Patrick M. , Calosi Claudio
Published: October 2021

Super-substantivalism (of the type we’ll consider) roughly comprises two core tenets: (1) the physical properties which we attribute to matter (e.g. charge or mass) can be attributed to spacetimedirectly, with no need for matter as an extraneous carrier “on top of” spacetime; (2) spacetime is more fundamental than (ontologically prior to) matter. In the present paper, we revisit a recent argument in favour of super-substantivalism, based on General Relativity. A critique is offered that highlights the difference between (various accounts of) fundamentality and (various forms of) ontological dependence. This affords a metaphysically more perspicuous view of what super-substantivalism’s tenetsactuallyassert, and how it may be defended. We tentatively propose a re-formulation of the original argument that not only seems to apply to all classical physics, but also chimes with a standard interpretation of spacetime theories in the philosophy of physics.
‘Disfigurations’ of Democracy? Pareto, Mosca and the Challenge of ‘Elite Theory’
Authors: Jackson Robert P.
Published: October 2021

Considering recent re-assessments of Pareto and Mosca, I discuss whether these thinkers’ socio-political orientations contribute to the ‘disfiguration’ of democracy (in: Urbinati, Democracy disfigured: opinion, truth, and the people, Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 2014) or provide a resource for the renewal of democratic institutions. Femia (Pareto and political theory, Routledge, Abingdon, 2006) presents Pareto as being in the “Machiavellian tradition of sceptical liberalism,” revealing the liberal potential of Pareto’s realist political theory. Finocchiaro (Beyond right and left, Yale, New Haven, London, 1999) ameliorates the conservative consequences of Mosca’s thought by reinterpreting him as a ‘democratic elitist,’ who holds a conception of political liberty “as a relationship such that authority flows from the masses to the elites.” Highlighting the significance of internal tensions within each thinker’s work foregrounded by these readings, between the causal primacy of psychic states and the ‘mutual dependence’ of social factors (Pareto), and between the elite principle and ‘balanced pluralism’ (Mosca), I ask whether the ‘sceptical liberal’ Pareto or the ‘democratic elitist’ Mosca elude Urbinati’s unpolitical, populist and plebiscitarian ‘disfigurations’ of democracy.
SD-Net: joint surgical gesture recognition and skill assessment
Authors: Zhang Jinglu , Nie Yinyu , Lyu Yao , Yang Xiaosong , Chang Jian , Zhang Jian Jun
Published: October 2021

Purpose

Surgical gesture recognition has been an essential task for providing intraoperative context-aware assistance and scheduling clinical resources. However, previous methods present limitations in catching long-range temporal information, and many of them require additional sensors. To address these challenges, we propose a symmetric dilated network, namely SD-Net, to jointly recognize surgical gestures and assess surgical skill levels only using RGB surgical video sequences.

Methods

We utilize symmetric 1D temporal dilated convolution layers to hierarchically capture gesture clues under different receptive fields such that features in different time span can be aggregated. In addition, a self-attention network is bridged in the middle to calculate the global frame-to-frame relativity.

Results

We evaluate our method on a robotic suturing task from the JIGSAWS dataset. The gesture recognition task largely outperforms the state of the arts on the frame-wise accuracy up to $$\sim $$
∼
6 points and the F1@50 score $$\sim $$
∼
8 points. We also keep the 100% predicted accuracy for the skill assessment task using LOSO validation scheme.

Conclusion

The results indicate that our architecture is able to obtain representative surgical video features by extensively considering the spatial, temporal and relational context from raw video input. Furthermore, the better performance in multi-task learning implies that surgical skill assessment has a complementary effects to gesture recognition task.
The incidence of lung cancer in Northern Ireland: 1991–1992
Authors: Wilkinson Pauline , MacMahon Joe , MacKenzie Gilbert
Published: October 2021

Introduction

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in many Western countries, but its incidence has never been studied in Northern Ireland.

Aims

Accordingly, the present study was mounted to determine, for the first time, the incidence of the condition in Northern Ireland and to compare the findings with other regions in the British Isles.

Methods

A notification study of the incidence of lung cancer (ICD 162) was conducted in Northern Ireland during 1991/1992. Notifications from 6 sources were computerised and linked. Incident cases were identified and analysed in relation to Age, Sex and Geographical region—Northern Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Results

Some 900 incident cases of lung cancer were identified. The incidence rate per 100,000 population was found to be 57.04. Mortality underestimated incidence by 12.5%. ($$p<0.05$$

p
<
0.05

). The male to female incidence ratio was 2.1: 1, and this ratio was similar in other regions, except Scotland, where the ratio was 1.7:1. The null hypothesis of a common incidence distribution across regions was formally rejected. A variety of models were fitted and a model in which the log-odds on incidence was a quadratic function of age fitted most of the regional data.

Conclusions

Northern Ireland had the lowest incidence of lung cancer in the UK, but its overall rate was still 40% higher than that observed in the Republic of Ireland which had the lowest rate in the British Isles. Across regions, the pattern of incidence by age and sex was complicated, but a linear logistic model fitted all of the Irish data and the female data in Scotland, satisfactorily.
Reasons for dropping out of internet-based problem gambling treatment, and the process of recovery – a qualitative assessment
Authors: Nilsson Anders , Simonsson Olivia , Hellner Clara
Published: October 2021

Problem gambling (PG) is a condition affecting the economy, mental health, and relationships of both the individuals with gambling problems, and concerned significant others (CSOs). While PG is treatable, few individuals with gambling problems seek treatment, and many drop out of treatment. This qualitative study aims to investigate a) the reasons for individuals with gambling problems to drop-out from Internet-based PG treatment, and b) what individuals with gambling problems and CSOs find helpful and unhelpful processes in PG recovery. A total of 16 participants (8 individuals with gambling problems and 8 CSOs) who had participated in an Internet-based PG treatment were interviewed over the telephone in a semi-structured interview. The interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Drop-out from treatment was one aspect of an overarching theme identified as unstable path to recovery, where alternating periods of progress and setbacks delineate several aspects of PG. Relapses, negative emotions, and changing life circumstances were identified to separately, and in combination, contribute to drop-out. Drop-outs were also explained by participants’ experiences of a reduced need for treatment. Openness and a support from CSOs and peers were identified as themes important for recovery. The results suggest that PG treatments should consider the emotional state, and comorbidities of the patients, in order to reduce drop-out and improve chances of recovery.