bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How altruism works during a pandemic: Examining the roles of financial support and degrees of individual altruism on international remittance
Authors: Nakamura Nobuyuki , Suzuki Aya
Published: July 2024

While the importance of international remittances has been recognised globally, understanding how public subsidies and the degree of individual altruism affect remittance behaviour remains limited. Although international remittances were predicted to decline drastically in the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic, remittance data proved that they were ultimately resilient to the anticipated negative shock of 2020. Potential reasons include altruistic motivations among migrants and economic stimulus programmes in large economies; however, a detailed investigation from a micro‐perspective is lacking and urgently needed. This study examines the impact of financial support in host and home countries and individual altruism on international remittances using unique data from foreign care workers in Japan. Our panel data estimation shows that emergency cash transfers from the host country positively affected migrant remittance amounts; however, no crowding‐out effects were observed due to subsidies from home governments. The heterogeneous analysis also reveals that highly altruistic remitters were more likely to send money home after receiving cash transfers in the host country. The results support the claims of international organisations that the resilience of remittances was supported by altruism and public financial support during the pandemic.
The argument for two‐handed cataract surgery in veterinary ophthalmology
Authors: Hsu Kimberly , da Silva Enry Garcia
Published: July 2024

Despite access to contemporary phacoemulsification technology and the strong shift to two‐handed nucleofractis techniques in human medicine, a one‐handed, single incision approach has persisted among Diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists. The perpetuation of techniques such as bowl‐sculpting one‐handed phacoemulsification in veterinary medicine is multifactorial; it is likely associated with the lack of two‐handed training in residency programs, the challenges of learning on complex cases, the ease of teaching one‐handed versus two‐handed techniques to a resident, and the lack of specific instrumentation available designed for larger lens size, among other factors. Additionally, variation in globe and palpebral fissure size in veterinary patients complicates the training of cataract surgery. Finally, many mentors or mentors' mentors, were trained alongside previous generations of MD surgeons who performed bowl sculpting techniques during the transition from extracapsular cataract extraction to phacoemulsification, and understandably, are not comfortable teaching a two‐handed technique consistently. The authors have observed an unwillingness to convert from one‐handed to two‐handed technique in the post‐residency career for most veterinary ophthalmologists; this could be due to the high expectations becoming a specialist, especially when the stakes are as high as in phacoemulsification. Therefore, the authors advocate for hands‐on training in multiple nucleofractis techniques, including two‐handed methods during residency training. Simply put, if residents are not trained and comfortable with two‐handed techniques by the end of residency, they are less likely to make further changes later in their career. In this article, we aim to explore the proposed rates of one‐handed versus two‐handed mentors currently teaching veterinary phacoemulsification, the history of cataract surgery, and to discuss the benefits of two‐handed nucleofractis techniques. The authors will also illustrate and provide videos as well as some tools for veterinary ophthalmologists wishing to learn two‐handed techniques.
Quantum simulations with bilayer 2D Bose gases in multiple-RF-dressed potentials
Authors: Beregi Abel , Foot Christopher , Sunami Shinichi
Published: July 2024

Multiple-RF (MRF) dressing allows trapping of ultracold atoms in novel spatial geometries, such as highly controllable bilayer structures for two-dimensional (2D) ultracold gases, providing unique opportunities for the investigation of 2D quantum systems both in and out of equilibrium. Here, we give an overview of the recent developments of MRF-dressed atom experiments, illustrated by the detailed studies of universal relaxation dynamics across the Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless critical point enabled by coherent splitting quench protocols and detection of correlations via spatially selective matter-wave interferometry.
Statistical wave field theory
Authors: Badeau Roland
Published: July 2024

In this paper, we introduce the foundations of the Statistical Wave Field Theory. This theory establishes the statistical laws of waves propagating in a closed bounded volume, that are mathematically implied by the boundary-value problem of the wave equation. These laws are derived from the Sturm-Liouville theory and the mathematical theory of dynamical billiards. They hold after many reflections on the boundary surface, and at high frequency. This is the first statistical theory of reverberation which provides the closed-form expression of the power distribution and the correlations of the wave field jointly over time, frequency, and space inside the bounded volume, in terms of the geometry and the specific admittance of its boundary surface. The Statistical Wave Field Theory may find applications in various science fields, including room acoustics, electromagnetic theory, and nuclear physics.
Coherence of the frequency-difference autoproduct deduced from high-frequency acoustic fields scattered from a rough sea surface
Authors: Joslyn Nicholas J. , Dahl Peter H. , Dowling David R.
Published: July 2024

The prevalence of random scattering from a rough ocean surface increases with increasing χ=kh cos θ, where k is the acoustic wavenumber, h is the root-mean-square surface height, and θ is the incidence angle. Generally, when χ≫1, coherence between incident and surface-scattered fields is lost. However, such coherence may be recovered when χ≫1 by considering the frequency-difference autoproduct of the surface-scattered field, a quadratic product of complex fields at nearby frequencies. Herein, the autoproduct's coherent reflection coefficient for χ> 20 is determined from surface-scattered sound fields obtained from 50 independent realizations of the rough ocean surface measured in pelagic waters off the coast of California in January 1992. The recordings were made with a source at a depth of 147 m that broadcasted 30 and 40 kHz signals to a single receiver 576 m away at depth of 66 m. An analytic formula for the coherent reflection coefficient of the frequency-difference autoproduct, based on the Kirchhoff approximation and a Gaussian surface autocorrelation function, compares favorably with measurements. Improved agreement with the single-receiver measurements is possible via a minor adjustment to the surface autocorrelation length. The adjustment identified here matches that determined previously from horizontal spatial coherence estimates utilizing the experiment's eight-element receiving array.
Inductive biases of neural network modularity in spatial navigation
Authors: Zhang Ruiyi , Pitkow Xaq , Angelaki Dora E.
Published: July 2024

The brain may have evolved a modular architecture for daily tasks, with circuits featuring functionally specialized modules that match the task structure. We hypothesize that this architecture enables better learning and generalization than architectures with less specialized modules. To test this, we trained reinforcement learning agents with various neural architectures on a naturalistic navigation task. We found that the modular agent, with an architecture that segregates computations of state representation, value, and action into specialized modules, achieved better learning and generalization. Its learned state representation combines prediction and observation, weighted by their relative uncertainty, akin to recursive Bayesian estimation. This agent’s behavior also resembles macaques’ behavior more closely. Our results shed light on the possible rationale for the brain’s modularity and suggest that artificial systems can use this insight from neuroscience to improve learning and generalization in natural tasks.
The urban desirability paradox: U.K. urban-rural differences in well-being, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction
Authors: Finnemann Adam , Huth Karoline , Borsboom Denny , Epskamp Sacha , van der Maas Han
Published: July 2024

As the majority of the global population resides in cities, it is imperative to understand urban well-being. While cities offer concentrated social and economic opportunities, the question arises whether these benefits translate to equitable levels of satisfaction in these domains. Using a robust and objective measure of urbanicity on a sample of 156,000 U.K. residents aged 40 and up, we find that urban living is associated with lower scores across seven dimensions of well-being, social satisfaction, and economic satisfaction. In addition, these scores exhibit greater variability within urban areas, revealing increased inequality. Last, we identify optimal distances in the hinterlands of cities with the highest satisfaction and the least variation. Our findings raise concern for the psychological well-being of urban residents and show the importance of nonlinear methods in urban research.
Whole-genome duplication in an algal symbiont bolsters coral heat tolerance
Authors: Dougan Katherine E. , Bellantuono Anthony J. , Kahlke Tim , Abbriano Raffaela M. , Chen Yibi , Shah Sarah , Granados-Cifuentes Camila , van Oppen Madeleine J. H. , Bhattacharya Debashish , Suggett David J. , Rodriguez-Lanetty Mauricio , Chan Cheong Xin
Published: July 2024

The algal endosymbiont
Durusdinium trenchii
enhances the resilience of coral reefs under thermal stress.
D. trenchii
can live freely or in endosymbiosis, and the analysis of genetic markers suggests that this species has undergone whole-genome duplication (WGD). However, the evolutionary mechanisms that underpin the thermotolerance of this species are largely unknown. Here, we present genome assemblies for two
D. trenchii
isolates, confirm WGD in these taxa, and examine how selection has shaped the duplicated genome regions using gene expression data. We assess how the free-living versus endosymbiotic lifestyles have contributed to the retention and divergence of duplicated genes, and how these processes have enhanced the thermotolerance of
D. trenchii
. Our combined results suggest that lifestyle is the driver of post-WGD evolution in
D. trenchii
, with the free-living phase being the most important, followed by endosymbiosis. Adaptations to both lifestyles likely enabled
D. trenchii
to provide enhanced thermal stress protection to the host coral.
Manybody interferometry of quantum fluids
Authors: Roberts Gabrielle , Vrajitoarea Andrei , Saxberg Brendan , Panetta Margaret G. , Simon Jonathan , Schuster David I.
Published: July 2024

Characterizing strongly correlated matter is an increasingly central challenge in quantum science, where structure is often obscured by massive entanglement. It is becoming clear that in the quantum regime, state preparation and characterization should not be treated separately—entangling the two processes provides a quantum advantage in information extraction. Here, we present an approach that we term “manybody Ramsey interferometry” that combines adiabatic state preparation and Ramsey spectroscopy: Leveraging our recently developed one-to-one mapping between computational-basis states and manybody eigenstates, we prepare a superposition of manybody eigenstates controlled by the state of an ancilla qubit, allow the superposition to evolve relative phase, and then reverse the preparation protocol to disentangle the ancilla while localizing phase information back into it. Ancilla tomography then extracts information about the manybody eigenstates, the associated excitation spectrum, and thermodynamic observables. This work illustrates the potential for using quantum computers to efficiently probe quantum matter.
A MRSA mystery: how PBP4 and cyclic-di-AMP join forces against β-lactam antibiotics
Authors: Gardner Taylor M. , Grosser Melinda R.
Published: July 2024

The high-level resistance to next-generation β-lactams frequently found in
Staphylococcus aureus
isolates lacking
mec
, which encodes the transpeptidase PBP2a traditionally associated with methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA), has remained incompletely understood for decades. A new study by Lai et al. found that the co-occurrence of mutations in
pbp4
and
gdpP
, which respectively cause increased PBP4-mediated cell wall crosslinking and elevated cyclic-di-AMP levels, produces synergistic β-lactam resistance rivaling that of PBP2a-producing MRSA (L.-Y. Lai, N. Satishkumar, S. Cardozo, V. Hemmadi, et al., mBio 15:e02889-23. 2024,
https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02889-23
). The combined mutations are sufficient to explain the high-level β-lactam resistance of some
mec-
lacking strains, but the mechanism of synergy remains elusive and an avenue for further research. Importantly, the authors establish that co-occurrence of these mutations leads to antibiotic therapy failure in a
Caenorhabditis elegans
infection model. These results underscore the need to consider this unique and novel β-lactam resistance mechanism during the clinical diagnosis of MRSA, rather than relying on
mec
as a diagnostic.
Lymphogranuloma venereum of the neck in a young man living with HIV: a rare extragenital presentation
Authors: Borralho João , Alves João Vaz , Domingos João , Mansinho Kamal
Published: July 2024

Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) is a sexually transmitted infection caused by an invasive form ofChlamydia trachomatis, typically affecting the anogenital area with regional lymphatic involvement. Extragenital manifestations are rare but can occur, particularly if the bacterium is inoculated out of the genital tract. To our knowledge, only 13 cases of symptomatic neck LGV have been published so far in the medical literature. We describe a case of a young man living with HIV with bilateral, rapid-growing and painful neck swelling, whose definite diagnosis was challenging. The patient underwent extensive investigation, including repeated ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspirations, microbiological exams and histological characterisation. Genotyping revealedC. trachomatisL2 serovar, confirming LGV as a final diagnosis, affecting neck lymph nodes. Treatment with doxycycline combined with surgical drainage led to clinical resolution. This case emphasises the importance of a comprehensive testing strategy to identify LGV, especially in individuals reporting unprotected oral sex, with unexplained neck lymphadenitis.
Effects of insonification on repairing the renal injury of diabetic nephropathy rats
Authors: Xiao Xinfang , Wu Liu , Deng Juan , Li Junfen , Zhou Yiqing , He Sicheng , Li Faqi , Wang Yan
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Prolonged hyperglycemia in diabetes mellitus can result in the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN) and increase the susceptibility to kidney failure. Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) is a non-invasive modality that has demonstrated effective tissue repair capabilities. The objective of this study was to showcase the reparative potential of LIPUS on renal injury at both animal and cellular levels, while also determining the optimal pulse length (PL).

Research design and methods

We established a rat model of DN, and subsequently subjected the rats’ kidneys to ultrasound irradiation (PL=0.2 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms). Subsequently, we assessed the structural and functional changes in the kidneys. Additionally, we induced podocyte apoptosis and evaluated its occurrence following ultrasound irradiation.

Results

Following irradiation, DN rats exhibited improved mesangial expansion and basement membrane thickening. Uric acid expression increased while urinary microalbumin, podocalyxin in urine, blood urea nitrogen, and serum creatinine levels decreased (p<0.05). These results suggest that the optimal PL was 0.2 ms. Using the optimal PL further demonstrated the reparative effect of LIPUS on DN, it was found that LIPUS could reduce podococyte apoptosis and alleviate kidney injury. Metabolomics revealed differences in metabolites including octanoic acid and seven others and western blot results showed a significant decrease in key enzymes related to lipolysis (p<0.05). Additionally, after irradiating podocytes with different PLs, we observed suppressed apoptosis (p<0.05), confirming the optimal PL as 0.2 ms.

Conclusions

LIPUS has been demonstrated to effectively restore renal structure and function in DN rats, with an optimal PL of 0.2 ms. The mechanism underlying the alleviation of DN by LIPUS is attributed to its ability to improve lipid metabolism disorder. These findings suggest that LIPUS may provide a novel perspective for future research in this field.
Assessing the rates of false-positive ovarian cancer screenings and surgical interventions associated with screening tools: a systematic review
Authors: Silverwood Sierra M , Backer Grant , Galloway Annie , Reid Katrina , Jeter Anna , Harrison Margo
Published: July 2024

Objective

Early detection of ovarian cancer can improve patient outcomes; however, screening tests can yield false-positive results, leading to unnecessary surgical interventions. This systematic review explores the prevalence of false-positive ovarian cancer screenings and subsequent unnecessary surgical interventions.

Methods and analysis

Five databases were searched in March 2023 and again in March 2024, encompassing primary literature published between 2003 and 2024. Data collection focused on studies reporting the number of surgical interventions resulting from a false-positive screening result. Studies were categorized by patient risk (average vs high). Studies lacking screening or surgical intervention data, those in which the screening did not directly influence surgical decisions, or those not in English were excluded.

Results

Of the 12 papers included, the majority were cohort studies (75%) based in the USA (66%). The primary screening methods included Cancer antigen 125 and transvaginal ultrasound scanning. Patients were stratified by risk, with four studies focused on high-risk populations and eight in average-risk populations. The false-positive and surgical screening rates exhibited significant variability, regardless of risk (0.1%–23.3% and 0%–54.9%, respectively). Complications associated with unnecessary surgical interventions, such as perforation, blood loss and bowel injury, were only reported in four studies. No studies examined the effect these interventions had on patients’ quality of life or directly reported the associated costs of these interventions.

Conclusion

This review highlights the significant variability in ovarian cancer screening results, which lead to unnecessary and invasive surgical procedures causing complications such as perforation, blood loss and bowel injury.
Effect of different treatment protocols on in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) outcomes in adenomyosis women: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ge Li , Li Yexing , Zhou Jiayi , Zhao Xueqing , Chen Xiaojing , Wang Wenting , Li Zhongyuan , Ge Pengbo , Cui Linlin
Published: July 2024

Objectives

Pregnancy outcomes of different ovarian stimulation protocols for in vitro fertilisation/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) in patients with adenomyosis are not explicit. This meta-analysis aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of different IVF/ICSI protocols on pregnancy outcomes.

Design

Meta-analysis.

Data sources

PubMed, Web of Science and Cochrane library were searched up to October 2023.

Eligibility criteria

Comparative studies on IVF/ICSI outcomes in the adenomyosis population were eligible. Studies on preimplantation genetic testing, reviews, case reports and animal experiments were excluded.

Data extraction and synthesis

Valid information was extracted by two independent authors according to a standard data format. All analyses were conducted using Review Manager (RevMan, V.5.3).

Results

Compared with the non-adenomyosis population, adenomyosis was responsible for a 26% reduction in clinical pregnancy rate (CPR; 42.47% vs 55.89%, OR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.66 to 0.82, p<0.00001), a 35% reduction in live birth rate (LBR; 30.72% vs 47.77%, OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.58 to 0.73, p<0.00001) and a 1.9-fold increase in miscarriage rate (MR; 27.82% vs 13.9%, OR: 1.90, 95% CI: 1.56 to 2.31, p<0.00001). Subgroup analysis suggested that, in fresh embryo transfer (ET) cycles, the CPR (34.4% vs 58.25%) in the long/short/antagonist protocol group was poorer than that in the ultralong protocol group. In frozen ET (FET) cycles, there were no statistical differences in CPR ((GnRHa+FET) AM(adenomyosis) vs non-AM: 51.32% vs 43.48%, p=0.31; (non-GnRHa+FET) AM vs non-AM: 50.25% vs 60.10%, p=0.82), MR ((GnRHa+FET) AM vs non-AM:12.82% vs 12.50%, p=0.97; (non-GnRHa+FET) AM vs non-AM: 30.5% vs 15.54%, p=0.15) and LBR ((GnRHa+FET) AM vs non-AM:44.74% vs 36.96%, p=0.31; (non-GnRHa+FET) AM vs non-AM: 34.42% vs 50.25%, p=0.28). The MR in the adenomyosis group was high in the fresh ET and FET cycles.

Conclusions

FET might be a better choice for women with adenomyosis, especially those pretreated with GnRHa. In fresh ET cycles, pregnancy outcomes of the long/short/antagonist protocols were poorer than those of the ultralong protocol.

Trial registration number

CRD42022340743.
Evidence-based practice knowledge, attitude, practice and barriers as predictors of stay intent among Jordanian registered nurses: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Al-Ghabeesh Suhair , Khalifeh Anas Husam , Rayan Ahmad
Published: July 2024

Aim

This study aimed to identify factors influencing stay intent among Jordanian registered nurses, with a specific focus on the role of evidence-based practice (EBP) knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers.

Methods

A descriptive cross-sectional study of 311 nurses from 5 hospitals was conducted from January 2022 to June 2022. Participants completed data about stay intent and knowledge, attitude, practice and barriers of EBP. Data were analysed using SPSS program V.24.

Findings

EBP attitudes, practices, knowledge and barriers significantly predicted stay intent, controlling for participants and workplace characteristics. Private hospitals (t=−4.681, Β=−0.287, p<0.001), having a library in the healthcare institution (t=−2.018, Β=−0.118, p<0.001) and adopter barriers (t=−1.940, Β=−0.105, p=0.05) were significantly associated with stay intent.

Conclusion

Our findings show that EBP influences Jordanian nurses’ intent to stay. It highlights the importance of addressing EBP barriers, especially in private hospitals as well as library access issues, in enhancing nurse retention and healthcare outcomes in Jordan.
Development of an intervention for patients following an anterior cruciate ligament rupture: an online nominal group technique consensus study
Authors: Carter Hayley , Beard David , Leighton Paul , Moffatt Fiona , Smith Benjamin E , Webster Kate E , Logan Phillipa
Published: July 2024

Objectives

(1) To develop an intervention for to support patients diagnosed with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture with decision-making regarding treatment. (2) To define evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of patients following an ACL rupture.

Design

Nominal group technique consensus study.

Setting

Online meetings with patients and key stakeholders working and receiving treatment in the National Health Service, UK.

Participants

Consensus meetings composed of eight voting participants and five non-voting facilitators. Voting participants included five clinicians, one outpatient therapy manager and two patients with experience in an ACL rupture and reconstructive surgery. Non-voting facilitators supported group discussions and/or observed study procedures. This included a clinical academic expert, two methodology experts and two patient representatives.

Method

Two online meetings were held. Pre-elicitation material was distributed ahead of the first meeting. Premeeting voting was conducted ahead of both meetings. A draft of the shared decision-making intervention and recommendations were shared ahead of the second meeting. Components were discussed and ranked for inclusion based on a 70% agreement threshold.

Results

The meetings led to the development of a shared decision-making intervention to support treatment decision-making following an ACL rupture. The intervention includes two components: (1) a patient information leaflet and key questions diagram and (2) option grid. The evidence-based recommendations encompass core components of treatment reaching the 70% threshold agreed by the group. The recommendations cover: (1) advice and education, (2) exercise guidance, (3) intervention delivery, (4) outcome measure use and (5) shared decision-making.

Conclusion

This study has successfully developed a shared decision-making intervention to support ACL treatment decision-making, ready for testing in a future feasibility study. Evidence-based recommendations for the treatment of patients following ACL injury, ready for testing in a National Health Service (UK) setting, are also presented.

Trial registration number

NCT05529511.
Impact of healthcare interventions on distress following acute musculoskeletal/orthopaedic injury: a scoping review of systematic reviews
Authors: Sim Alison , McNeilage Amy Gray , Gholamrezaei Ali , Rebbeck Trudy , Ashton-James Claire
Published: July 2024

Background

Musculoskeletal injuries can cause distress, and distress is associated with delayed recovery. Numerous interventions have been developed to facilitate recovery from injury, and several systematic reviews evaluate the efficacy of these interventions for reducing psychological distress.

Objectives

This scoping review aims to map the synthesised evidence for the relationship between treatment interventions and distress-related outcomes following acute injury. The objectives were (1) to describe the types of interventions that have been evaluated in relation to distress-related outcomes following accidental injury, (2) to examine the scope of distress-related outcomes that have been measured in relation to these interventions and (3) to explore the range of clinical professions that deliver these interventions.

Design

We searched nine electronic databases and grey literature (to 21 April 2022). We included any systematic review reporting on the relationship between interventions delivered in the time following injury and distress-related outcomes. Data relevant to the specific objectives of this scoping review were extracted and described using narrative synthesis.

Results

From 8412 systematic reviews imported for screening, 8266 unique records were screened. 179 were selected for full-text review. 84 systematic reviews were included in the study. Interventional types were pharmacological, psychological, exercise based, physical/manual therapies, virtual reality based, multimodal and workplace based. Interventions were delivered digitally, face to face and using virtual reality by a variety of healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, psychologists and physiotherapists. The most frequently reported distress-related variables included anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis.

Conclusion

A wide range of interventions may help to mitigate distress following acute accidental musculoskeletal or orthopaedic injury. Even interventions that were not designed to reduce distress were found to improve distress-related outcomes. In view of the important role of distress in recovery from injury, it is recommended that distress-related variables are measured as core outcomes in the evaluation of treatments for acute injuries.
Effects of interacting with a large language model compared with a human coach on the clinical diagnostic process and outcomes among fourth-year medical students: study protocol for a prospective, randomised experiment using patient vignettes
Authors: Kämmer Juliane E , Hautz Wolf E , Krummrey Gert , Sauter Thomas C , Penders Dorothea , Birrenbach Tanja , Bienefeld Nadine
Published: July 2024

Introduction

Versatile large language models (LLMs) have the potential to augment diagnostic decision-making by assisting diagnosticians, thanks to their ability to engage in open-ended, natural conversations and their comprehensive knowledge access. Yet the novelty of LLMs in diagnostic decision-making introduces uncertainties regarding their impact. Clinicians unfamiliar with the use of LLMs in their professional context may rely on general attitudes towards LLMs more broadly, potentially hindering thoughtful use and critical evaluation of their input, leading to either over-reliance and lack of critical thinking or an unwillingness to use LLMs as diagnostic aids. To address these concerns, this study examines the influence on the diagnostic process and outcomes of interacting with an LLM compared with a human coach, and of prior training vs no training for interacting with either of these ‘coaches’. Our findings aim to illuminate the potential benefits and risks of employing artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnostic decision-making.

Methods and analysis

We are conducting a prospective, randomised experiment with N=158 fourth-year medical students from Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany. Participants are asked to diagnose patient vignettes after being assigned to either a human coach or ChatGPT and after either training or no training (both between-subject factors). We are specifically collecting data on the effects of using either of these ‘coaches’ and of additional training on information search, number of hypotheses entertained, diagnostic accuracy and confidence. Statistical methods will include linear mixed effects models. Exploratory analyses of the interaction patterns and attitudes towards AI will also generate more generalisable knowledge about the role of AI in medicine.

Ethics and dissemination

The Bern Cantonal Ethics Committee considered the study exempt from full ethical review (BASEC No: Req-2023-01396). All methods will be conducted in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Participation is voluntary and informed consent will be obtained. Results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals. Authorship will be determined according to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines.
Assessing the effectiveness of internet-based interventions for mental health outcomes: an umbrella review
Authors: Zhang Mi , Fan Chuan , Ma Lijun , Wang Huixue , Zu Zhenyue , Yang Linxi , Chen Fenglan , Wei Wenzhuo , Li Xiaoming
Published: July 2024

Internet-based interventions (IBIs) for behavioural health have been prevalent for over two decades, and a growing proportion of individuals with mental health concerns prefer these emerging digital alternatives. However, the effectiveness and acceptability of IBIs for various mental health disorders continue to be subject to scholarly debate. We performed an umbrella review of meta-analyses (MAs), conducting literature searches in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane and Ovid Medline from their inception to 17 January 2023. A total of 87 MAs, reporting on 1683 randomised controlled trials and 295 589 patients, were included. The results indicated that IBIs had a moderate effect on anxiety disorder (standardised mean difference (SMD)=0.53, 95% CI 0.44 to 0.62) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (SMD=0.63, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.89). In contrast, the efficacy on depression (SMD=0.45, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.52), addiction (SMD=0.23, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.31), suicidal ideation (SMD=0.23, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.30), stress (SMD=0.41, 95% CI 0.33 to 0.48) and obsessive–compulsive disorder (SMD=0.47, 95% CI 0.22 to 0.73) was relatively small. However, no significant effects were observed for personality disorders (SMD=0.07, 95% CI −0.13 to 0.26). Our findings suggest a significant association between IBIs and improved mental health outcomes, with particular effectiveness noted in treating anxiety disorders and PTSD. However, it is noteworthy that the effectiveness of IBIs was impacted by high dropout rates during treatment. Furthermore, our results indicated that guided IBIs proved to be more effective than unguided ones, playing a positive role in reducing dropout rates and enhancing patient adherence rates. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42023417366.
Maiolica seen by Vis–NIR hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy: the application of an ultraportable camera at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello
Authors: Galluzzi Francesca , Manca Rosarosa , Puntin Massimiliano , Raneri Simona , Sciuto Claudia , Benvenuti Marco , Chapoulie Rémy
Published: July 2024

An ultraportable hyperspectral camera operating in the Vis–NIR range (400–1000 nm) was used in this study for the non-invasive analysis of a selection of Italian maiolica wares and sherds from the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence, Italy. The studied objects included authentic archaeological sherds, nineteenth-century forgeries, and ceramics of uncertain origin. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of hyperspectral imaging (HSI) spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis for examining highly refractive and three-dimensional glazed ceramic artefacts within the constraints of a museum environment, including imperfect lighting conditions. Two data processing pipelines were tested: one based on principal component analysis (PCA) with score plots and the other on spectral angle mapper (SAM) classification obtained through the ENVI Spectral Hourglass Wizard (ENVI-SHW). The analyses enabled the discrimination between original parts and/or restored parts and additions. Among others, a complex assemblage of original sherds, restored parts, and non-ceramic parts was observed in a Renaissance pastiche vase. Furthermore, the method enabled the identification of the various chromophores providing clues on the artistic colour palette. In particular, the identification of chromium in the blue and green glazes of two objects of uncertain chronology suggested that they were not made before the nineteenth century. The acquisition of a larger and more detailed database of HSI data on maiolica glazes is strongly encouraged to improve the applicability of this method in authenticity, art-historical and archaeological studies.
Nonresonant central exclusive production from CMS+TOTEM
Authors: Siklér Ferenc ,   for the CMS and TOTEM Collaborations
Published: July 2024

The central exclusive production of charged hadron pairs in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13[Formula: see text]TeV is examined, based on data collected in a special high-[Formula: see text] run of the LHC. Events are selected by requiring both scattered protons detected in the TOTEM Roman pots, exactly two oppositely charged identified particles in the CMS silicon tracker, and the energy–momentum balance of these four particles. The nonresonant continuum processes are studied with the invariant mass of the centrally produced two-pion system in the resonance-free region, [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]GeV or [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]GeV. Differential cross sections as functions of the azimuthal angle between the surviving protons, squared four-momenta, and two-hadron invariant mass are measured in a wide region of scattered protons with transverse momentum between 0.2 and 0.8[Formula: see text]GeV and for pion rapidities [Formula: see text]. A rich structure of interactions related to double pomeron exchange emerges. The parabolic minimum in the distribution of the two-proton azimuthal angle is observed for the first time. It can be understood as an effect of additional pomeron exchanges between the protons, and of the interference between the bare and the rescattered amplitudes. After model tuning, various physical quantities related to the pomeron cross section, proton–pomeron and hadron–pomeron form factors, trajectory slopes and intercepts, as well as coefficients of diffractive eigenstates of the proton are determined.
Large fluctuations in the sky
Authors: Choudhury Sayantan
Published: July 2024

Renormalization of quantum loop effects generated from large fluctuations is a hugely debatable topic of research these days which rules out the Primordial Black Hole (PBH) formation within the framework of single-field inflation. In this paper, we briefly discuss that the correct implementation of regularization, renormalization, and resummation techniques in a setup described by an ultra-slow-roll phase sandwiched between two slow-roll phases in the presence of smooth or sharp transitions can lead to a stringent constraint on the PBH mass (i.e. [Formula: see text]), which we advertise as a new No-go theorem. Finally, we will give some of the possible way-outs using which one can evade this proposed No-go theorem and produce solar/sub-solar mass PBHs.
Experimental and Numerical Study on Tsunami-Like Flow Impact on Fujairah Port Breakwater
Authors: Nandasena N. A. K. , Chen Cheng , Ibrahim Mamoun El-Hag , Karim Faisal
Published: July 2024

Experimental and numerical studies were conducted to assess the stability of the breakwater of Fujairah Port on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates against tsunamis. Experiments were conducted on a 1:50 scale and numerical analysis was done with the formulas of tsunami-breakwater interaction. The experimental observations corroborated the numerical results. The breakwater was safe up to 3[Formula: see text]m of tsunami height, but when the tsunami height increased from 3[Formula: see text]m to 6[Formula: see text]m, the percentage damage to the leeside (portside) of the breakwater increased compared to the seaside. The leeside of the breakwater was deformed by tsunami overtopping and seepage — the breakwater cross-section reshaped from trapezoidal to quasi-triangular at 6[Formula: see text]m tsunami impact, however, the breakwater was not breached. Rubbles of the breakwater were transported due to sliding, rolling, and saltation by overtopping and seepage. For 6[Formula: see text]m tsunami height, rubbles from the seaside rolled over up with saltation and transported to the leeside. A large number of rubbles were transported landward from the leeside of the breakwater but a few were displaced offshore from the seaside.
Dynamic analysis of HCV infection and drug resistance using an age-structured multiscale model
Authors: Wang Xia , Ge Qing , Li Jie , Zhao Hongyan , Rong Libin
Published: July 2024

Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) are known to interfere with various intracellular stages of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) life cycle and have demonstrated efficacy in treating HCV infection. However, DAA monotherapy can lead to drug resistance due to mutations. This paper explores the impact of DAA therapy on HCV dynamics using a multiscale age-structured partial differential equation (PDE) model that incorporates intracellular viral RNA replication within infected cells and two strains of viruses representing a drug-sensitive strain and a drug-resistant mutant variant, respectively. We derived an equivalent ordinary differential equation (ODE) model from the PDE model to simplify mathematical analysis and numerical simulations. We studied the dynamics of the two virus strains before treatment and investigated the impact of mutations on the evolution kinetics of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant viruses, as well as the competition between the two strains during treatment. We also explored the role of DAAs in blocking HCV RNA replication and releasing new virus particles from cells. During treatment, mutations do not significantly influence the dynamics of various virus strains; however, they can generate low-level HCV that may be completely inhibited due to their poor fitness. The fitness of the mutant strain compared to the drug-sensitive strain determines which strain dominates the virus population. We also investigated the prevalence and drug resistance evolution of HCV variants during DAA treatment.
A note on the Berge–Meyniel conjecture
Authors: Wang Zhimin , Zhang Xia
Published: July 2024

An edge coloring of hypergraph [Formula: see text] is a color assignment to all edges in [Formula: see text] such that any pair of intersecting edges receive different colors. Let [Formula: see text] denote the minimum number of colors among all edge colorings of [Formula: see text]. In 1985, Berge and Meyniel, independently, conjectured that each loopless linear hypergraph [Formula: see text] has [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text]. In this paper, a description of chromatic critical hypergraphs is given. Furthermore, we show [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]-vertex-restricted hypergraphs and [Formula: see text] for edge-restricted hypergraphs. Since either of the class of 1-vertex-restricted hypergraphs and the class of edge-restricted hypergraphs contains well-ordered hypergraphs as a subclass, our results strictly extend the one on well-ordered hypergraphs due to Bretto et al. in 2020.
AttX: Attentive Cross-Connections for Fusion of Wearable Signals in Emotion Recognition
Authors: Bhatti Anubhav , Behinaein Behnam , Hungler Paul , Etemad Ali
Published: July 2024

We propose cross-modal attentive connections, a new dynamic and effective technique for multimodal representation learning from wearable data. Our solution can be integrated into any stage of the pipeline, i.e., after any convolutional layer or block, to create intermediate connections between individual streams responsible for processing each modality. Additionally, our method benefits from two properties. First, it can share information uni-directionally (from one modality to the other) or bi-directionally. Second, it can be integrated into multiple stages at the same time to further allow network gradients to be exchanged in several touch points. We perform extensive experiments on three public multimodal wearable datasets, WESAD, SWELL-KW, and CASE, and demonstrate that our method can effectively regulate and share information between different modalities to learn better representations. Our experiments further demonstrate that once integrated into simple CNN-based multimodal solutions (2, 3, or 4 modalities), our method can result in superior or competitive performance to state-of-the-art and outperform a variety of baseline uni-modal and classical multimodal methods.
Differentiable Geodesic Distance for Intrinsic Minimization on Triangle Meshes
Authors: Li Yue , Numerow Logan , Thomaszewski Bernhard , Coros Stelian
Published: July 2024

Computing intrinsic distances on discrete surfaces is at the heart of many minimization problems in geometry processing and beyond. Solving these problems is extremely challenging as it demands the computation of on-surface distances along with their derivatives. We present a novel approach for intrinsic minimization of distance-based objectives defined on triangle meshes. Using a variational formulation of shortest-path geodesics, we compute first and second-order distance derivatives based on the implicit function theorem, thus opening the door to efficient Newton-type minimization solvers. We demonstrate our differentiable geodesic distance framework on a wide range of examples, including geodesic networks and membranes on surfaces of arbitrary genus, two-way coupling between hosting surface and embedded system, differentiable geodesic Voronoi diagrams, and efficient computation of Karcher means on complex shapes. Our analysis shows that second-order descent methods based on our differentiable geodesics outperform existing first-order and quasi-Newton methods by large margins.
CLAY: A Controllable Large-scale Generative Model for Creating High-quality 3D Assets
Authors: Zhang Longwen , Wang Ziyu , Zhang Qixuan , Qiu Qiwei , Pang Anqi , Jiang Haoran , Yang Wei , Xu Lan , Yu Jingyi
Published: July 2024

In the realm of digital creativity, our potential to craft intricate 3D worlds from imagination is often hampered by the limitations of existing digital tools, which demand extensive expertise and efforts. To narrow this disparity, we introduce CLAY, a 3D geometry and material generator designed to effortlessly transform human imagination into intricate 3D digital structures. CLAY supports classic text or image inputs as well as 3D-aware controls from diverse primitives (multi-view images, voxels, bounding boxes, point clouds, implicit representations, etc). At its core is a large-scale generative model composed of a multi-resolution Variational Autoencoder (VAE) and a minimalistic latent Diffusion Transformer (DiT), to extract rich 3D priors directly from a diverse range of 3D geometries. Specifically, it adopts neural fields to represent continuous and complete surfaces and uses a geometry generative module with pure transformer blocks in latent space. We present a progressive training scheme to train CLAY on an ultra large 3D model dataset obtained through a carefully designed processing pipeline, resulting in a 3D native geometry generator with 1.5 billion parameters. For appearance generation, CLAY sets out to produce physically-based rendering (PBR) textures by employing a multi-view material diffusion model that can generate 2K resolution textures with diffuse, roughness, and metallic modalities. We demonstrate using CLAY for a range of controllable 3D asset creations, from sketchy conceptual designs to production ready assets with intricate details. Even first time users can easily use CLAY to bring their vivid 3D imaginations to life, unleashing unlimited creativity.
Learning a Generalized Physical Face Model From Data
Authors: Yang Lingchen , Zoss Gaspard , Chandran Prashanth , Gross Markus , Solenthaler Barbara , Sifakis Eftychios , Bradley Derek
Published: July 2024

Physically-based simulation is a powerful approach for 3D facial animation as the resulting deformations are governed by physical constraints, allowing to easily resolve self-collisions, respond to external forces and perform realistic anatomy edits. Today's methods are data-driven, where the actuations for finite elements are inferred from captured skin geometry. Unfortunately, these approaches have not been widely adopted due to the complexity of initializing the material space and learning the deformation model for each character separately, which often requires a skilled artist followed by lengthy network training. In this work, we aim to make physics-based facial animation more accessible by proposing a generalized physical face model that we learn from a large 3D face dataset. Once trained, our model can be quickly fit to any unseen identity and produce a ready-to-animate physical face model automatically. Fitting is as easy as providing a single 3D face scan, or even a single face image. After fitting, we offer intuitive animation controls, as well as the ability to retarget animations across characters. All the while, the resulting animations allow for physical effects like collision avoidance, gravity, paralysis, bone reshaping and more.