bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Detecting lymphoproliferative disease virus in wild turkeys using cloacal swabs
Authors: Shea Stephanie A. , Gonnerman Matthew B. , Blomberg Erik J. , Sullivan Kelsey M. , Kamath Pauline L.
Published: May 2022

The monitoring of infectious diseases in wildlife is crucial for assessing animal health, pathogen range expansion, and the risk of spillover to naive species, but may be resource and labor intensive. Lymphoproliferative disease virus (LPDV) is an avian oncogenic retrovirus that was first identified in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in 2009, though it historically caused mortality in domestic turkeys in Europe and Israel. Subsequent surveys detected a high prevalence and broad distribution throughout the eastern United States, warranting further research on LPDV in wild turkey populations. Current LPDV diagnostics require the collection of tissues, such as bone marrow from dead birds or blood during live capture. In our study, we assessed the sensitivity (true positive) and specificity (true negative) of cloacal swab samples as an alternative LPDV detection method. We compared results from cloacal swab samples with both postmortem detection from bone marrow and antemortem detection from blood, using a multi‐tube PCR approach with 3 replicates. Swab samples collected from live‐captured turkeys had a greater sensitivity (88%) than swabs collected from hunter‐harvested turkeys (31%), whereas specificity was similar for both collection approaches (live‐capture swabs = 75%, n = 85; hunter‐harvest swabs = 80%, n = 54). In live‐captured turkeys, the estimated LPDV prevalence using cloacal swab samples (73%) was not significantly different from the true prevalence determined using coupled blood samples (76%). However, in hunter‐harvested turkeys, the estimated prevalence using cloacal swab samples (28%) was different from the true prevalence estimated using coupled bone marrow samples (72%). In summary, cloacal swab samples can be used to reliably detect LPDV infection in live‐captured wild turkeys but should not be used for LPDV detection in hunter‐harvested wild turkeys.
The Object of Investigation
Authors: Johnson Benjamin
Published: May 2022

The discovery of ammonia synthesis from the elements forms the basis of discussion for many topics including fertilizer and food, environmental protection, the repercussions of scientific research, and economic transformation, as well as other industrial, political, and social events. The story in this book focuses on the development of the natural sciences and delves into the details of the scientific history of ammonia synthesis. The resulting narrative provides a basis for yet another discussion: the interaction between scientists and how they proceed in their scientific endeavor. The account helps us better contextualize the completion of the scientific research on ammonia and frame the ensuing technological developments along with the consequences for our world, both constructive and destructive.
The Scientific Publications on Ammonia Synthesis
Authors: Johnson Benjamin
Published: May 2022

Having set the stage, we now turn to the analysis of Haber’s and Nernst’s published results between 1905 and 1908. A short commentary is in order here—both on style and on the use of theory. In summarizing the articles to emphasize pertinent scientific content, it was not possible to express the tone of the century-old publications and the interested reader is encouraged to review the original sources.
The Structure of The Haze
Authors: Johnson Benjamin
Published: May 2022

A general structure of the Haze has already been suggested by the title of Part I: A Confluence of Factors. Both the temporal juxtaposition of events, which eventually, albeit at an unknown point in time, results in the arena for discovery, as well as the experimental and theoretical scientific details contribute in differing yet interdependent ways. There is no “grand design,” neither in the minds of those ultimately responsible for the decisions nor in the outcome of individual experiments.
Risk and the Acceptance of Failure
Authors: Johnson Benjamin
Published: May 2022

In the end of Part I, I discussed another aspect of advancement: the willingness to take a risk in order to increase the likelihood of making considerable progress but also of coming up empty handed. Through the Silicon Valley Model, for example, industrial players have been able to incorporate risk taking and the acceptance of failure into their business models. It is not only in the tech industry that we see the repercussions.
The State of Ammonia Synthesis at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Arena for Discovery
Authors: Johnson Benjamin
Published: May 2022

When Fritz Haber took up the problem of ammonia synthesis in 1903 there were several methods of obtaining fixed nitrogen, both naturally and through synthesis in chemical reactions. The main natural sources were Chile saltpeter (sodium nitrate from South America) and ammonium sulfate from gas works and coking (and still some guano).
Generalized symmetries of the graviton
Authors: Benedetti Valentin , Casini Horacio , Magán Javier M.
Published: May 2022

Abstract

We find the set of generalized symmetries associated with the free graviton theory in four dimensions. These are generated by gauge invariant topological operators that violate Haag duality in ring-like regions. As expected from general QFT grounds, we find a set of “electric” and a dual set of “magnetic” topological operators and compute their algebra. To do so, we describe the theory using phase space gauge-invariant electric and magnetic dual variables constructed out of the curvature tensor. Electric and magnetic fields satisfy a set of constraints equivalent to the ones of a stress tensor of a 3d CFT. The constraints give place to a group ℝ20 of topological operators that are charged under space-time symmetries. Finally, we discuss similarities and differences between linearized gravity and tensor gauge theories that have been introduced recently in the context of fractonic systems in condensed matter physics.
Quantum off-shell recursion relation
Authors: Lee Kanghoon
Published: May 2022

Abstract

We construct off-shell recursion relations for arbitrary loop-level scattering amplitudes beyond the conventional tree-level recursion relations for ϕ4-theory and the Yang-Mills theory. We define a quantum perturbiner expansion that includes loop corrections from the quantum effective action formalism by identifying the external source. Our method clearly shows how the perturbiner expansion becomes an off-shell current generating function. Instead of using the classical equations of motion in the conventional perturbiner method, we exploit the Dyson-Schwinger equation to derive the quantum off-shell recursion relation to arbitrary order of loop-level scattering amplitudes. We solve the recursion relation and reproduce the results which agree up to one-loop six-point scattering amplitudes for ϕ4-theory. Furthermore, we construct the recursions for computing loop-level correlation functions by replacing the choice of the external source.
Radiation Risk in Cold War Mexico: Local and Global Networks
Authors: Barahona Ana
Published: May 2022

After WWII, global concerns about the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in agriculture, medicine, and industry brought about calls for radiation protection. At the beginning of the 1960s radiation protection involved the identification and measurement of all sources of radiation to which a population was exposed, and the evaluation and assessment of populations in terms of the biological hazard their exposure posed. Mexico was not an exception to this international trend. This paper goes back to the origins of the first studies on the effects of radiation and on radioprotective compounds in the Genetics and Radiobiology Program of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy founded in 1960, at a time when the effects of radiation on living beings and radiation protection demanded the attention of highly localized groups of scientists and the creation of international as well as national institutions, and its connection to dosimetry and radiation protection until the 1990s. This historical reconstruction examines the circulation of knowledge, scientists, and their material and cognitive resources, to show that radiobiology, with dosimetry and radiation protection as cases in point, not only were carried out with high international standards in parallel with international agencies, but also reflected local material needs, including the standardization of new experimental techniques.
N-Player Games and Mean Field Games of Moderate Interactions
Authors: Flandoli Franco , Ghio Maddalena , Livieri Giulia
Published: May 2022

We study the asymptotic organization among many optimizing individuals interacting in a suitable “moderate" way. We justify this limiting game by proving that its solution provides approximate Nash equilibria for large but finite player games. This proof depends upon the derivation of a law of large numbers for the empirical processes in the limit as the number of players tends to infinity. Because it is of independent interest, we prove this result in full detail. We characterize the solutions of the limiting game via a verification argument.
Stochastic Maximum Principle for Optimal Liquidation with Control-Dependent Terminal Time
Authors: Cesari Riccardo , Zheng Harry
Published: May 2022

In this paper we study a general optimal liquidation problem with a control-dependent stopping time which is the first time the stock holding becomes zero or a fixed terminal time, whichever comes first. We prove a stochastic maximum principle (SMP) which is markedly different in its Hamiltonian condition from that of the standard SMP with fixed terminal time. We present a simple example in which the optimal solution satisfies the SMP in this paper but fails the standard SMP in the literature.
Lower leg symmetry: a Q3D-CT analysis
Authors: Vuurberg Gwendolyn , Dahmen Jari , Dobbe Iwan G. G. , Kleipool Roeland P. , Hayat Batur , Sierevelt Inger N. , Streekstra Geert , Kerkhoffs Gino M. M. J. , Stufkens Sjoerd A. S.
Published: May 2022

Purpose

In fracture and realignment surgery, the contralateral unaffected side is often used as a model or template for the injured bone even though clinically valuable quantitative data of bilateral symmetry are often unavailable. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to quantify and present the bilateral symmetry of the tibia and fibula.

Methods

Twenty bilateral lower-leg CT scans were acquired in healthy volunteers. The left and right tibia and fibula were segmented resulting in three-dimensional polygons for geometrical analyses (volume, surface and length). The distal and proximal segment of the right tibia of each individual was subsequently matched to the left tibia to quantify alignment differences (translation and rotation). Bone symmetry on group level was assessed using the Student’s t test and intra-individual differences were assessed using mixed-models analyses.

Results

Intra-individuals differences were found for tibia volume (5.2 ± 3.3 cm3), tibia surface (5.2 ± 3.3 cm2), translations in the lateral (X-axis; 9.3 ± 8.9 mm) and anterior direction (Y-axis; 7.1 ± 7.0 mm), for tibia length (translation along Z-axis: 3.1 ± 2.4 mm), varus/valgus (φz: 1.7o ± 1.4°), and endotorsion/exotorsion (φz: 4.0o ± 2.7°).

Conclusion

This study shows intra-individual tibia asymmetry in both geometric and alignment parameters of which the surgeon needs to be aware in pre-operative planning. The high correlation between tibia and fibula length allows the ipsilateral fibula to aid in estimating the original tibia length post-injury. Future studies need to establish whether the found asymmetry is clinically relevant when the contralateral side is used as reference in corrective surgery.

Level of evidence

III cohort study.
Government funding of research beyond biomedicine: challenges and opportunities for neuroethology
Authors: Zupanc Günther K. H. , Rössler Wolfgang
Published: May 2022

Curiosity-driven research is fundamental for neuroethology and depends crucially on governmental funding. Here, we highlight similarities and differences in funding of curiosity-driven research across countries by comparing two major funding agencies—the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the United States and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG). We interviewed representatives from each of the two agencies, focusing on general funding trends, levels of young investigator support, career-life balance, and international collaborations. While our analysis revealed a negative trend in NSF funding of biological research, including curiosity-driven research, German researchers in these areas have benefited from a robust positive trend in DFG funding. The main reason for the decrease in curiosity-driven research in the US is that the NSF has only partially been able to compensate for the funding gap resulting from the National Institutes of Health restricting their support to biomedical research using select model organisms. Notwithstanding some differences in funding programs, particularly those relevant for scientists in the postdoctoral phase, both the NSF and DFG clearly support curiosity-driven research.
21st Century alpine climate change
Authors: Kotlarski Sven , Gobiet Andreas , Morin Samuel , Olefs Marc , Rajczak Jan , Samacoïts Raphaëlle
Published: May 2022

A comprehensive assessment of twenty-first century climate change in the European Alps is presented. The analysis is based on the EURO-CORDEX regional climate model ensemble available at two grid spacings (12.5 and 50 km) and for three different greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCPs 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5). The core simulation ensemble has been subject to a dedicated evaluation exercise carried out in the frame of the CH2018 Climate Scenarios for Switzerland. Results reveal that the entire Alpine region will face a warmer climate in the course of the twenty-first century for all emission scenarios considered. Strongest warming is projected for the summer season, for regions south of the main Alpine ridge and for the high-end RCP 8.5 scenario. Depending on the season, medium to high elevations might experience an amplified warming. Model uncertainty can be considerable, but the major warming patterns are consistent across the ensemble. For precipitation, a seasonal shift of precipitation amounts from summer to winter over most parts of the domain is projected. However, model uncertainty is high and individual simulations can show change signals of opposite sign. Daily precipitation intensity is projected to increase in all seasons and all sub-domains, while the wet-day frequency will decrease in the summer season. The projected temperature change in summer is negatively correlated with the precipitation change, i.e. simulations and/or regions with a strong seasonal mean warming typically show a stronger precipitation decrease. By contrast, a positive correlation between temperature change and precipitation change is found for winter. Among other indicators, snow cover will be strongly affected by the projected climatic changes and will be subject to a widespread decrease except for very high elevation settings. In general and for all indicators, the magnitude of the change signals increases with the assumed greenhouse gas forcing, i.e., is smallest for RCP 2.6 and largest for RCP 8.5 with RCP 4.5 being located in between. These results largely agree with previous works based on older generations of RCM ensembles but, due to the comparatively large ensemble size and the high spatial resolution, allow for a more decent assessment of inherent projection uncertainties and of spatial details of future Alpine climate change.
Modelling the effect of ephaptic coupling on spike propagation in peripheral nerve fibres
Authors: Schmidt Helmut , R. Knösche Thomas
Published: May 2022

Experimental and theoretical studies have shown that ephaptic coupling leads to the synchronisation and slowing down of spikes propagating along the axons within peripheral nerve bundles. However, the main focus thus far has been on a small number of identical axons, whereas realistic peripheral nerve bundles contain numerous axons with different diameters. Here, we present a computationally efficient spike propagation model, which captures the essential features of propagating spikes and their ephaptic interaction, and facilitates the theoretical investigation of spike volleys in large, heterogeneous fibre bundles. We first lay out the theoretical basis to describe how the spike in an active axon changes the membrane potential of a passive axon. These insights are then incorporated into the spike propagation model, which is calibrated with a biophysically realistic model based on Hodgkin–Huxley dynamics. The fully calibrated model is then applied to fibre bundles with a large number of axons and different types of axon diameter distributions. One key insight of this study is that the heterogeneity of the axonal diameters has a dispersive effect, and that a higher level of heterogeneity requires stronger ephaptic coupling to achieve full synchronisation between spikes.
Adaptive changes in striatal projection neurons explain the long duration response and the emergence of dyskinesias in patients with Parkinson’s disease
Authors: Falkenburger Björn , Kalliakoudas Theodoros , Reichmann Heinz
Published: May 2022

Neuronal activity in the brain is tightly regulated. During operation in real time, for instance, feedback and feedforward loops limit excessive excitation. In addition, cell autonomous processes ensure that neurons’ average activity is restored to a setpoint in response to chronic perturbations. These processes are summarized as homeostatic plasticity (Turrigiano in Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 4:a005736–a005736, 2012). In the basal ganglia, information is mainly transmitted through disinhibition, which already constraints the possible range of neuronal activity. When this tightly adjusted system is challenged by the chronic decline in dopaminergic neurotransmission in Parkinson’s disease (PD), homeostatic plasticity aims to compensate for this perturbation. We here summarize recent experimental work from animals demonstrating that striatal projection neurons adapt excitability and morphology in response to chronic dopamine depletion and substitution. We relate these cellular processes to clinical observations in patients with PD that cannot be explained by the classical model of basal ganglia function. These include the long duration response to dopaminergic medication that takes weeks to develop and days to wear off. Moreover, dyskinesias are considered signs of excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission in Parkinson’s disease, but they are typically more severe on the body side that is more strongly affected by dopamine depletion. We hypothesize that these clinical observations can be explained by homeostatic plasticity in the basal ganglia, suggesting that plastic changes in response to chronic dopamine depletion and substitution need to be incorporated into models of basal ganglia function. In addition, better understanding the molecular mechanism of homeostatic plasticity might offer new treatment options to avoid motor complications in patients with PD.
Conservation of Forces and Total Work at the Interface Using the Internodes Method
Authors: Deparis Simone , Gervasio Paola
Published: May 2022

The Internodes method is a general purpose method to deal with non-conforming discretizations of partial differential equations on 2D and 3D regions partitioned into disjoint subdomains. In this paper we are interested in measuring how much the Internodes method is conservative across the interface. Ifhp-fem discretizations are employed, we prove that both the total force and total work generated by the numerical solution at the interface of the decomposition vanish in an optimal way when the mesh size tends to zero, i.e., like$\mathcal {O}(h^{p})$O(hp), wherepis the local polynomial degree andhthe mesh-size. This is the same as the error decay in theH1-broken norm. We observe that the conservation properties of a method are intrinsic to the method itself because they depend on the way the interface conditions are enforced rather then on the problem we are called to approximate. For this reason, in this paper, we focus on second-order elliptic PDEs, although we use the terminology (of forces and works) proper of linear elasticity. Two and three dimensional numerical experiments corroborate the theoretical findings, also by comparing Internodes with Mortar and WACA methods.
Retention of subcutaneous abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: real-world results from the ASCORE study: an international 2-year observational study
Authors: Alten Rieke , Mariette Xavier , Flipo René-Marc , Caporali Roberto , Buch Maya H. , Patel Yusuf , Marsal Sara , Sanmartí Raimon , Nurmohamed Michael T. , Griffiths Hedley , Peichl Peter , Bannert Bettina , Chartier Melanie , Connolly Sean E. , Lozenski Karissa , Rauch Christiane
Published: May 2022

Objectives

To evaluate retention, efficacy, and safety of subcutaneous (SC) abatacept over 2 years in patients with moderate-to-severe RA in the Abatacept SubCutaneOus in Routine clinical practicE (ASCORE) study.

Methods

Patients with RA who initiated SC abatacept 125 mg once weekly were enrolled in the international, observational, prospective multicentre ASCORE study into biologic-naïve or ≥ 1 prior biologic failure cohorts. Primary endpoint: abatacept retention rate at 2 years. Secondary endpoints: proportion of patients with good/moderate EULAR response rates based on DAS28 (ESR), low disease activity and/or remission according to DAS28 (ESR; ≤ 3.2/ < 2.6), SDAI (≤ 11/ ≤ 3.3), CDAI (≤ 10/ ≤ 2.8), and Boolean criteria. Retention rate by baseline serostatus was evaluated post hoc.

Results

Overall, 47% of patients remained on abatacept for 2 years, irrespective of treatment line. Higher abatacept retention rates were associated with lower prior biologic exposure. Generally, clinical outcomes showed that the proportion of patients with low disease activity/remission was higher in biologic-naïve patients (vs biologic-failure) and similar in those with 1 and ≥ 2 prior biologic failures. In patients on treatment at 2 years, good/moderate EULAR response rates of ~ 80% were consistently noted irrespective of prior biologic exposure. Across treatment lines, retention was greater in patients with seropositive (vs seronegative) RA. Patients with rheumatoid factor/anti-citrullinated protein antibody single-positive RA who were bio-naïve had higher retention than patients who were bio-experienced.

Conclusions

In the ASCORE study, SC abatacept retention was 47% at 2 years with good clinical outcomes and was well-tolerated in the real-world setting. Abatacept retention and clinical response rates were higher in patients who received abatacept as an earlier- versus later-line biologic drug treatment and in those with seropositive RA.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02090556.
A longitudinal study on the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on non-motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease
Authors: D’Iorio Alfonsina , Baiano Chiara , Maraucci Giovanna , Vitale Carmine , Amboni Marianna , Santangelo Gabriella
Published: May 2022

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic led to psychological consequences on people’s mental health, representing a condition of increased vulnerability for the weakest sections of population, including elderly patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

This longitudinal study aimed at exploring the impact of the most frequent non-motor symptoms and their contribute on health-related quality of life of PD patients after the COVID-19 outbreak, in comparison with the pre-pandemic status.

Methods

Forty-two non-demented PD patients underwent a first assessment between December 2018 and January 2020 (T0). Then, between March and May 2021 (T1), they were contacted again and asked to complete the second assessment. Levels of global functioning, several non-motor symptoms (i.e. depression, apathy, anxiety, anhedonia) and health-related quality of life were investigated.

Results

Results of the the paired Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that at T1, PD patients scored lower on the emotional subscale of the DAS, Z =  − 2.49; p = 0.013; Cohen dz = 0.691. Higher scores of the TEPS total score, Z =  − 2.38; p = 0.025; Cohen dz = 0.621, and LEDD, Z =  − 2.63; p = 0.008; Cohen dz = 0.731, were also reported at T1.

Conclusion

The present study suggested that self-isolation at home might lead to a reduction of apathy and anhedonia in PD patients due to the increase in social support provided by families during COVID-19 restrictions. This evidence brings out the need of a consistent and persistent social support which might be represented by caregivers or/and social assistive robotics.
A progressive flow-routing model for rapid assessment of debris-flow inundation
Authors: Gorr Alexander N. , McGuire Luke A. , Youberg Ann M. , Rengers Francis K.
Published: May 2022

Debris flows pose a significant hazard to communities in mountainous areas, and there is a continued need for methods to delineate hazard zones associated with debris-flow inundation. In certain situations, such as scenarios following wildfire, where there could be an abrupt increase in the likelihood and size of debris flows that necessitates a rapid hazard assessment, the computational demands of inundation models play a role in their utility. The inability to efficiently determine the downstream effects of anticipated debris-flow events remains a critical gap in our ability to understand, mitigate, and assess debris-flow hazards. To better understand the downstream effects of debris flows, we introduce a computationally efficient, reduced-complexity inundation model, which we refer to as the Progressive Debris-Flow routing and inundation model (ProDF). We calibrate ProDF against mapped inundation from five watersheds near Montecito, CA, that produced debris flows shortly after the 2017 Thomas Fire. ProDF reproduced 70% of mapped deposits across a 40 km2 study area. While this study focuses on a series of post-wildfire debris flows, ProDF is not limited to simulating debris-flow inundation following wildfire and could be applied to any scenario where it is possible to estimate a debris-flow volume. However, given its ability to reproduce mapped debris-flow deposits downstream of the 2017 Thomas Fire burn scar, and the modest run time associated with a simulation over this 40 km2 study area, results suggest ProDF may be particularly promising for post-wildfire hazard assessment applications.
Payments from Households to Distant Polluting Firms
Authors: Dijkstra Bouwe R.
Published: May 2022

We investigate a novel way to encourage separation between firms, causing local pollution, and their victims (households): payments from households to distant polluting firms. These payments do not require monitoring of firms’ emissions or their abatement costs. In our model, households and firms can choose from two locations (A and B, with A larger than B). Households incur environmental damage from firms in the same location. Under laissez faire, payments from households in one location (say A) to firms in the other location (say B) will prompt firms to move from A to B and to stay there, thus reducing damage to households in A. The maximum that households are willing to pay temporarily is the amount that currently makes them indifferent between A and B. The payments make A less attractive to firms as well as to households. The unique positive-payment equilibrium implements the global welfare optimum where laissez faire does not. We examine from which starting points this payment equilibrium can be reached.
Clinical application of CMR in cardiomyopathies: evolving concepts and techniques
Authors: Merlo Marco , Gagno Giulia , Baritussio Anna , Bauce Barbara , Biagini Elena , Canepa Marco , Cipriani Alberto , Castelletti Silvia , Dellegrottaglie Santo , Guaricci Andrea Igoren , Imazio Massimo , Limongelli Giuseppe , Musumeci Maria Beatrice , Parisi Vanda , Pica Silvia , Pontone Gianluca , Todiere Giancarlo , Torlasco Camilla , Basso Cristina , Sinagra Gianfranco , Filardi Pasquale Perrone , Indolfi Ciro , Autore Camillo , Barison Andrea
Published: May 2022

Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) has become an essential tool for the evaluation of patients affected or at risk of developing cardiomyopathies (CMPs). In fact, CMR not only provides precise data on cardiac volumes, wall thickness, mass and systolic function but it also a non-invasive characterization of myocardial tissue, thus helping the early diagnosis and the precise phenotyping of the different CMPs, which is essential for early and individualized treatment of patients. Furthermore, several CMR characteristics, such as the presence of extensive LGE or abnormal mapping values, are emerging as prognostic markers, therefore helping to define patients’ risk. Lastly new experimental CMR techniques are under investigation and might contribute to widen our knowledge in the field of CMPs. In this perspective, CMR appears an essential tool to be systematically applied in the diagnostic and prognostic work-up of CMPs in clinical practice. This review provides a deep overview of clinical applicability of standard and emerging CMR techniques in the management of CMPs.
Development of a Computational Policy Model for Comparing the Effect of Compensation Scheme Policies on Recovery After Workplace Injury
Authors: Thompson Jason , Cruz-Gambardella Camilo
Published: May 2022

Introduction The direct comparison of real-world workers’ compensation scheme management policies and their impact on aspects of scheme performance such as health and return to work outcomes, financial sustainability, and client experience metrics is made difficult through existing differences in scheme design that go beyond the factors of interest to the researcher or policymaker. Disentangling effects that are due purely to the result of policy and structural differences between schemes or jurisdictions to determine ‘what works’ can be difficult. Method We present a prototype policy exploration tool, ‘WorkSim’, built using an agent-based model and designed to enable workers’ compensation system managers to directly compare the effect of simulated policies on the performance of workers compensation systems constructed using agreed and transparent principles. Results The utility of the model is demonstrated through and case-study comparison of overall scheme performance metrics across 6 simple policy scenarios. Discussion Policy simulation models of the nature described can be useful tools for managers of workplace compensation and rehabilitation schemes for trialing policy and management options ahead of their real-world implementation.
CT-based radiomics modeling for skull dysmorphology severity and surgical outcome prediction in children with isolated sagittal synostosis: a hypothesis-generating study
Authors: Calandrelli Rosalinda , Boldrini Luca , Tran Huong Elena , Quinci Vincenzo , Massimi Luca , Pilato Fabio , Lenkowicz Jacopo , Votta Claudio , Colosimo Cesare
Published: May 2022

Purpose

To investigate the potentialities of radiomic analysis and develop radiomic models to predict the skull dysmorphology severity and post-surgical outcome in children with isolated sagittal synostosis (ISS).

Materials and methods

Preoperative high-resolution CT scans of infants with ISS treated with surgical correction were retrospectively reviewed. The sagittal suture (ROI_entire) and its sections (ROI_anterior/central/posterior) were segmented. Radiomic features extracted from ROI_entire were correlated to the scaphocephalic severity, while radiomic features extracted from ROI_anterior/central/posterior were correlated to the post-surgical outcome. Logistic regression models were built from selected radiomic features and validated to predict the scaphocephalic severity and post-surgical outcome.

Results

A total of 105 patients were enrolled in this study. The kurtosis was obtained from the feature selection process for both scaphocephalic severity and post-surgical outcome prediction. The model predicting the scaphocephalic severity had an area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic of 0.71 and a positive predictive value of 0.83 for the testing set. The model built for the post-surgical outcome showed an AUC (95% CI) of 0.75 (0.61;0.88) and a negative predictive value (95% CI) of 0.95 (0.84;0.99).

Conclusion

Our results suggest that radiomics could be useful in quantifying tissue microarchitecture along the mid-suture space and potentially provide relevant biological information about the sutural ossification processes to predict the onset of skull deformities and stratify post-surgical outcome.
Static Electricity: Institutional and Ideational Barriers to China’s Market Reforms
Authors: Davidson Michael R. , Pearson Margaret M.
Published: May 2022

China’s “economic juggernaut” is often noted to have arisen from successful market reforms carried out in the context of high state capacity. In contrast, we demonstrate that crucial reforms to replace central planning with markets have stalled as a result of major barriers of two types: institutional and ideational. Focusing on the electricity sector, we find that market reforms pushed by China’s central government are hindered by deep inefficiencies that arise from the legacy plan and “plan-derived” institutions of subnational governments and grid companies, against which the central state has been largely ineffective. We also uncover fascinating ideational differences of the nature and purpose of “markets” that show how they often are envisioned more as a way to extend the planner’s “toolbox,” or to offer “salvation” for ailing incumbent firms, rather than to induce efficiency. Our empirical focus on three prominent types of “market-oriented” experiments in the electric power sector demonstrate clear limits to state capacity, limits that emanate from state actors rather than merely industry, despite high-priority central government goals of increasing efficiency, integrating renewable energy, and reducing emissions from the electricity sector.
Prediction of prognosis in patients with left ventricular dysfunction using three-dimensional strain echocardiography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging
Authors: Aly M. F. A. , Kleijn S. A. , van Lenthe J. H. , Menken-Negroiu R. F. , Robbers L. F. , Beek A. M. , Kamp O.
Published: May 2022

Background

We evaluated three-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (3DSTE) strain and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with delayed contrast enhancement (DCE) for the prediction of cardiac events in left ventricular (LV) dysfunction.

Methods

CMR and 3DSTE in 75 patients with ischaemic and 38 with non-ischaemic LV dysfunction were analysed and temporally correlated to cardiac events during 41 ± 9 months of follow-up.

Results

Cardiac events occurred in 44 patients, more in patients with ischaemic LV dysfunction. LV ejection fraction (LVEF), global circumferential and global area strain were reduced more in patients with more cardiac events, whereas 3DSTE LV end-systolic volumes and 3DSTE LV masses were larger. However, the area under the curve using receiver-operating characteristic analysis showed modest sensitivity and specificity for all evaluated parameters. Additionally, DCE did not differ significantly between the two groups. Univariate analysis showed ischaemic aetiology of LV dysfunction, LVEF and LV mass by CMR to be predictors of cardiac events with an increased relative risk of 2.4, 1.6 and 1.5, respectively. By multivariate analysis, only myocardial ischaemia and LVEF ≤ 39% were independent predictors of events (p = 0.004 and 0.005, respectively). Subgroup analysis in ischaemic and non-ischaemic patients showed only 3DSTE LV mass in ischaemic patients to have a significant association (p = 0.033) but without an increased relative risk.

Conclusion

LVEF calculated by 3DSTE or CMR were both good predictors of cardiac events in patients with LV dysfunction. A reduced LVEF ≤ 39% was associated with a 1.6-fold higher probability of a cardiac event. 3DSTE strain measurements and DCE-CMR did not add to the prognostic value of LVEF.
Belemmerende en bevorderende factoren voor het in praktijk brengen van alcoholinterventies in Nederlandse ziekenhuizen volgens daarbij betrokken zorgprofessionals
Authors: Kools Nathalie , van de Goor Ien , Bovens Rob H. L. M. , van de Mheen Dike , Rozema Andrea D.
Published: May 2022

Samenvatting

Introductie

Alcoholproblematiek komt vaker voor bij ziekenhuispatiënten dan bij de algemene bevolking. Veel ziekenhuizen slagen er echter niet in om mensen met alcoholproblematiek op te sporen en hierbij te interveniëren. Het doel van dit onderzoek was een verkenning van belemmerende en bevorderende factoren die zorgprofessionals ervaren bij het in praktijk brengen van alcoholinterventies in ziekenhuizen. Daarnaast verkenden wij welke alcoholinterventies worden gebruikt in de geselecteerde ziekenhuizen en welke stakeholders daarbij betrokken zijn.

Methode

We hebben semigestructureerde telefonische interviews afgenomen met twintig zorgprofessionals die in, of met, zes algemene ziekenhuizen (samen)werkten.

Resultaten

Zorgprofessionals noemden belemmerende en bevorderende factoren op het gebied van protocol, motivatie, kennis en vaardigheden, patiëntkenmerken, interne en externe samenwerking/ondersteuning, middelen, rolgeschiktheid en maatschappelijke ondersteuning. Vijf categorieën van benaderingen om alcoholproblematiek op te sporen en hierbij in te grijpen, en achttien betrokken stakeholders van binnen en buiten het ziekenhuis werden geïdentificeerd.

Conclusie

Het realiseren van alcoholinterventies voor patiënten in Nederlandse ziekenhuizen lijkt nog in de kinderschoenen te staan. De respondenten benadrukken het belang van één duidelijk protocol voor de aanpak van alcoholproblematiek binnen ziekenhuizen, herhaalde trainingen rond alcoholgerelateerde kennis en vaardigheden, (klinische)championsdie zorgprofessionals ondersteunen, en het ontwikkelen en onderhouden van de samenwerking met stakeholders binnen en buiten het ziekenhuis.
Component reuse strategy (CRS) for continuous reinforced thermo-sets enabling circular economy
Authors: von Freeden Justus , Husemann Alexander , Caba Stefan
Published: May 2022

A circular economy, effective technologies for the recycling and reuse of fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) are essential to keep these materials attractive for use in various products against the backdrop of stricter environmental regulations. This paper provides an overview of the current state of the art in the recycling and reuse of end-of-life (EOL) fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) products. A significant proportion of EOL FRP products are thermally recycled or used as fillers in the cement industry. Complementary to the existing approaches of structural reuse of FRP is presented in this paper as component reuse strategies (CRS). Both approaches avoid separation or destruction (downgrading) of the composite materials. An application example for the reuse of a carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) base frame of an electric vehicle platform is given and analyzed with respect to known design for reuse approaches. The proposed CRS has great potential to complement existing approaches and slow down resource consumption. In addition, extended service life can make CFRP materials more economically attractive. However, further developments are needed as well as the transfer of the principle to other applications.
Complex system health condition estimation using tree-structured simple recurrent unit networks
Authors: Kang Weijie , Xiao Jiyang , Xue Junjie
Published: May 2022

Modern production has stricter requirements for the reliability of complex systems; thus, it is meaningful to estimate the health of complex systems. A complex system has diverse observation features and complex internal structures, which have been difficult to study with regard to health condition estimation. To describe continuous and gradually changing time-based characteristics of a complex system’s health condition, this study develops a feature selection model based on the information amount and stability. Then, a reliability tree analysis model is designed according to the selected relevant features, the reliability tree is developed using expert knowledge, and the node weight is calculated by the correlation coefficient generated during the feature selection process. Using the simple recurrent unit (SRU), which is a time series machine learning algorithm that achieves a high operating efficiency, the results of the reliability tree analysis are combined to establish a tree-structure SRU (T-SRU) model for complex system health condition estimation. Finally, NASA turbofan engine data are used for verification. Results show that the proposed T-SRU model can more accurately estimate a complex system’s health condition and improve the execution efficiency of the SRU networks by approximately 46%.
Fermatean fuzzy copula aggregation operators and similarity measures-based complex proportional assessment approach for renewable energy source selection
Authors: Mishra Arunodaya Raj , Rani Pratibha , Saha Abhijit , Senapati Tapan , Hezam Ibrahim M. , Yager Ronald R.
Published: May 2022

Selecting the optimal renewable energy source (RES) is a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem due to the association of diverse conflicting criteria with uncertain information. The utilization of Fermatean fuzzy numbers is successfully treated with the qualitative data and uncertain information that often occur in realistic MCDM problems. In this paper, an extended complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) approach is developed to treat the decision-making problems in a Fermatean fuzzy set (FFS) context. First, to aggregate the Fermatean fuzzy information, a new Fermatean fuzzy Archimedean copula-based Maclaurin symmetric mean operator is introduced with its desirable characteristics. This proposed operator not only considers the interrelationships between multiple numbers of criteria, but also associates more than one marginal distribution, thus avoiding information loss in the process of aggregation. Second, new similarity measures are developed to quantify the degree of similarity between Fermatean fuzzy perspectives more effectively and are further utilized to compute the weights of the criteria. Third, an integrated Fermatean fuzzy-COPRAS approach using the Archimedean copula-based Maclaurin symmetric mean operator and similarity measure has been developed to assess and rank the alternatives under the FFS perspective. Furthermore, a case study of RES selection is presented to validate the feasibility and practicality of the developed model. Comparative and sensitivity analyses are used to check the reliability and strength of the proposed method.
Leveraging network representation learning and community detection for analyzing the activity profiles of adolescents
Authors: Gurukar Saket , Boettner Bethany , Browning Christopher , Calder Catherine , Parthasarathy Srinivasan
Published: May 2022

Human mobility analysis plays a crucial role in urban analysis, city planning, epidemic modeling, and even understanding neighborhood effects on individuals’ health. Often, these studies model human mobility in the form of co-location networks. We have recently seen the tremendous success of network representation learning models on several machine learning tasks on graphs. To the best of our knowledge, limited attention has been paid to identifying communities using network representation learning methods specifically for co-location networks. We attempt to address this problem and study user mobility behavior through the communities identified with latent node representations. Specifically, we select several diverse network representation learning models to identify communities from a real-world co-location network. We include both general-purpose representation models that make no assumptions on network modality as well as approaches designed specifically for human mobility analysis. We evaluate these different methods on data collected in the Adolescent Health and Development in Context study. Our experimental analysis reveals that a recently proposed method (LocationTrails) offers a competitive advantage over other methods with respect to its ability to represent and reflect community assignment that is consistent with extant findings regarding neighborhood racial and socio-economic differences in mobility patterns. We also compare the learned activity profiles of individuals by factoring in their residential neighborhoods. Our analysis reveals a significant contrast in the activity profiles of individuals residing in white-dominated versus black-dominated neighborhoods and advantaged versus disadvantaged neighborhoods in a major metropolitan city of United States. We provide a clear rationale for this contrastive pattern through insights from the sociological literature.
Magnetic reconnection: MHD theory and modelling
Authors: Pontin David I. , Priest Eric R.
Published: May 2022

In this review we focus on the fundamental theory of magnetohydrodynamic reconnection, together with applications to understanding a wide range of dynamic processes in the solar corona, such as flares, jets, coronal mass ejections, the solar wind and coronal heating. We summarise only briefly the related topics of collisionless reconnection, non-thermal particle acceleration, and reconnection in systems other than the corona. We introduce several preliminary topics that are necessary before the subtleties of reconnection can be fully described: these include null points (Sects. 2.1–2.2), other topological and geometrical features such as separatrices, separators and quasi-separatrix layers (Sects. 2.3, 2.6), the conservation of magnetic flux and field lines (Sect. 3), and magnetic helicity (Sect. 4.6). Formation of current sheets in two- and three-dimensional fields is reviewed in Sect. 5. These set the scene for a discussion of the definition and properties of reconnection in three dimensions that covers the conditions for reconnection, the failure of the concept of a flux velocity, the nature of diffusion, and the differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconnection (Sect. 4). Classical 2D models are briefly presented, including magnetic annihilation (Sect. 6), slow and fast regimes of steady reconnection (Sect. 7), and non-steady reconnection such as the tearing mode (Sect. 8). Then three routes to fast reconnection in a collisional or collisionless medium are described (Sect. 9). The remainder of the review is dedicated to our current understanding of how magnetic reconnection operates in three dimensions and in complex magnetic fields such as that of the Sun’s corona. In Sects. 10–12, 14.1 the different regimes of reconnection that are possible in three dimensions are summarised, including at a null point, separator, quasi-separator or a braid. The role of 3D reconnection in solar flares (Sect. 13) is reviewed, as well as in coronal heating (Sect. 14), and the release of the solar wind (Sect. 15.2). Extensions including the role of reconnection in the magnetosphere (Sect. 15.3), the link between reconnection and turbulence (Sect. 16), and the role of reconnection in particle acceleration (Sect. 17) are briefly mentioned.