bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Harvesting the Gas Molecules by Bioinspired Design of 1D/2D Hybrids Toward Sensitive Acetone Detecting
Authors: Yan Muyu , Gao Xiaoping , Han Xiao , Zhou Danni , Lin Yue , Chen Wenxing , Xue Zhenggang , Wu Yuen
Published: December 2022

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) are highly attractive in many surface‐dependent reactions due to their extraordinary reactivity and maximum atomic efficiency. However, in a practical catalytic system, guiding and transferring the reactant molecules to target single‐atom sites are crucial processes for achieving high‐efficient reactions. Herein, gas‐microchannels on TiO2 nanorod‐supported Pt single‐atom catalyst by in situ growing derivative TiO2 nanosheets are constructed. Those perpendicular‐grown TiO2 nanosheets can guide gas molecules to the reactive single Pt sites and thus realize an intact system of guidance‐transfer‐reaction. Experimentally, the local coordination and electronic states of Pt species decrease with the growth of nanosheets, which could significantly strengthen the adsorption and activation of oxygen molecules toward the acetone sensing. The final Pt1/TiO2 catalysts exhibit a high sensing response (13.6–50 ppm) to acetone gas, which are approximately three times higher than that of catalysts without scaly shell (4.8–50 ppm).
Do pet ferrets experience boredom?
Authors: Mills Georgina
Published: December 2022

Georgina Mills discusses new research looking at whether the owners of pet ferrets recognise boredom in their animals.
In the present
Authors: Read Claire
Published: December 2022

For Laura Woodward, practising vet and counsellor to the veterinary profession, mindfulness is a powerful way to deal with the pressures of day‐to‐day life – including at Christmastime. Claire Read reports.
Marine Litter Sources and Distribution Pathways
Authors: Chitaka Takunda Yeukai , Onianwa Percy Chuks , Nel Holly Astrid
Published: December 2022

Marine litter has been a global concern for many decades. It is important to understand marine litter sources and distribution pathways for the development of targeted and effective interventions and strategies. These have been relatively less researched on the African continent. This chapter focuses on (1) the sources of litter items from macro to nanoscale entering the marine environment and (2) the distribution and accumulation of these items within the environment, focusing on the African marine setting. Case studies are used to showcase specific examples and highlight knowledge/data gaps that need to be addressed within Africa. The potential pathways going forward are discussed and what may be expected in the future, in light of the challenges and successes examined.
Smearing Effects in Non-planar Processes
Authors: Faccioli Pietro , Lourenço Carlos
Published: December 2022

In certain physical cases, the angular momentum of a vector particle may naturally align with a direction not exactly contained in the production plane, leading to an attenuation of the polarization magnitude observable in any experimentally defined frame. In this chapter we consider two possible causes of this phenomenon: the higher-order, non-planar processes contributing to Drell--Yan, W and Z production, and the intrinsic transverse momentum of the partons inside the colliding hadrons. We discuss the effects of these phenomena on the measured frame-dependent and frame-independent parameters of the observed angular distribution.
Celestial amplitude for 2d theory
Authors: Duary Sarthak
Published: December 2022

Abstract

We explore celestial amplitude corresponding to 2d bulk $$ \mathcal{S} $$
S
-matrix. We consider scalar particles with identical mass and show that the celestial amplitude becomes the fourier transform of the 2d$$ \mathcal{S} $$
S
-matrix written in the rapidity variable. We translate the crossing and unitarity conditions into the conditions on the celestial amplitude. For the 2d Sinh-Gordon model, we calculate the celestial amplitude perturbatively in coupling constant and check that the crossing and unitarity conditions are satisfied for the celestial amplitude. Imposing the crossing and unitarity conditions to the celestial amplitude, we want to find amplitudes to the higher order in perturbation theory from the lower order i.e., to provide a “proof of principle” to show we can apply the bootstrap idea to the celestial amplitude. We find that imposing the crossing and unitarity conditions is not enough for bootstrapping celestial amplitude, there is an extra term which can’t be fixed by the crossing and unitarity conditions. We also study the gravitational dressing condition in 2d QFT for massless particles in celestial space and see that for the gravitationally dressed celestial amplitude, the poles on the right half-plane get erased for several ansatzes.
Operator growth and Krylov construction in dissipative open quantum systems
Authors: Bhattacharya Aranya , Nandy Pratik , Nath Pingal Pratyush , Sahu Himanshu
Published: December 2022

Abstract

Inspired by the universal operator growth hypothesis, we extend the formalism of Krylov construction in dissipative open quantum systems connected to a Markovian bath. Our construction is based upon the modification of the Liouvillian superoperator by the appropriate Lindbladian, thereby following the vectorized Lanczos algorithm and the Arnoldi iteration. This is well justified due to the incorporation of non-Hermitian effects due to the environment. We study the growth of Lanczos coefficients in the transverse field Ising model (integrable and chaotic limits) for boundary amplitude damping and bulk dephasing. Although the direct implementation of the Lanczos algorithm fails to give physically meaningful results, the Arnoldi iteration retains the generic nature of the integrability and chaos as well as the signature of non-Hermiticity through separate sets of coefficients (Arnoldi coefficients) even after including the dissipative environment. Our results suggest that the Arnoldi iteration is meaningful and more appropriate in dealing with open systems.
Fluxes, vacua, and tadpoles meet Landau-Ginzburg and Fermat
Authors: Becker Katrin , Gonzalo Eduardo , Walcher Johannes , Wrase Timm
Published: December 2022

Abstract

Type IIB flux vacua based on Landau-Ginzburg models without Kähler deformations provide fully-controlled insights into the non-geometric and strongly-coupled string landscape. We show here that supersymmetric flux configurations at the Fermat point of the 19 model, which were found long-time ago to saturate the orientifold tadpole, leave a number of massless fields, which however are not all flat directions of the superpotential at higher order. More generally, the rank of the Hessian of the superpotential is compatible with a suitably formulated tadpole conjecture for all fluxes that we found. Moreover, we describe new infinite families of supersymmetric 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 1 Minkowski and AdS vacua and confront them with several other swampland conjectures.
Systemic hemostatic agents initiated in trauma patients in the pre-hospital setting: a systematic review
Authors: Biffi Annalisa , Porcu Gloria , Castellini Greta , Napoletano Antonello , Coclite Daniela , D’Angelo Daniela , Fauci Alice Josephine , Iacorossi Laura , Latina Roberto , Salomone Katia , Iannone Primiano , Gianola Silvia , Chiara Osvaldo ,   the Italian National Institute of Health Guideline Working Group, Medici Alessia , Mazzola Alessandro , Coniglio Carlo , De Blasio Elvio , Flego Gaddo , Geraci Massimo , Maccauro Giulio , Rampoldi Antonio , Santolini Federico , Tacconi Claudio , Tugnoli Gregorio , Stocchetti Nino , Fabbri Andrea , Ruggeri Maria Pia , Seta Maurella Della , Pizzarelli Scilla , Cammarano Rosaria Rosanna
Published: December 2022

Purpose

The effect of systemic hemostatic agents initiated during pre-hospital care of severely injured patients with ongoing bleeding or traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains controversial. A systematic review and meta-analysis was therefore conducted to assess the effectiveness and safety of systemic hemostatic agents as an adjunctive therapy in people with major trauma and hemorrhage or TBI in the context of developing the Italian National Institute of Health guidelines on major trauma integrated management.

Methods

PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to October 2021 for studies that investigated pre-hospital initiated treatment with systemic hemostatic agents. The certainty of evidence was evaluated with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach, and the quality of each study was determined with the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. The primary outcome was overall mortality, and secondary outcomes included cause-specific mortality, health-related quality of life, any adverse effects and blood product use, hemorrhage expansion, and patient-reported outcomes.

Results

Five trials of tranexamic acid (TXA) met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. With a high certainty of evidence, when compared to placebo TXA reduced mortality at 24 h (relative risk = 0.83, 95% confidence interval = 0.73–0.94) and at 1 month among trauma patients (0.91, 0.85–0.97). These results depend on the subgroup of patients with significant hemorrhage because in the subgroup of TBI there are no difference between TXA and placebo. TXA also reduced bleeding death and multiple organ failure whereas no difference in health-related quality of life.

Conclusion

Balancing benefits and harms, TXA initiated in the pre-hospital setting can be used for patients experiencing major trauma with significant hemorrhage since it reduces the risk of mortality at 24 h and one month with no difference in terms of adverse effects when compared to placebo. Considering the subgroup of severe TBI, no difference in mortality rate was found at 24 h and one month. These results highlight the need to conduct future studies to investigate the role of other systemic hemostatic agents in the pre-hospital settings.
Bestandsaufnahme der verfügbaren und aktuell eingesetzten Typisierungsmethoden von zoonotischen Erregern am Beispiel von Shiga Toxin-bildenden bzw. enterohämorrhagischen Escherichia coli (STEC/EHEC)
Authors: Richter Anne , Pietsch Michael , Harmsen Dag , Juraschek Katharina , Lang Christina , Mellmann Alexander , Middendorf-Bauchart Barbara , Pulz Matthias , Roth Sarah , Schuh Elisabeth , Fruth Angelika , Flieger Antje
Published: December 2022

Einleitung

Für eine Verbesserung der Patientenversorgung und die Erhöhung der Lebensmittelsicherheit im Sinne von One Health wurden im Rahmen des Projekts „Integrierte Genomische Surveillance von Zoonoseerregern (IGS-Zoo)“ Konzepte für eine sektorübergreifende genomische Surveillance von Shiga Toxin(Stx)-bildenden bzw. enterohämorrhagischen Escherichia coli (STEC/EHEC) in Deutschland entwickelt.

Methoden

Mittels Onlineumfrage erfolgte zunächst eine Bestandsaufnahme der aktuell in den Laboratorien im Bereich der staatlichen Untersuchungsämter im Veterinärwesen, der Lebensmittelüberwachung und des Öffentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes der Länder verfügbaren und der tatsächlich angewandten Typisierungsmethoden für diese Erreger.

Ergebnisse

Von 33 Teilnehmenden konnten 26 Fragebögen hinsichtlich STEC/EHEC ausgewertet werden. Pro Jahr werden in den Laboratorien zwischen 10 und 3500 Proben bearbeitet, daraus werden zwischen 3 und 1000 Erregerisolate gewonnen. Die aktuell am häufigsten verwendete Typisierungsmethode ist dabei die Bestimmung der Stx- und Intimin-kodierenden Gene mittels Polymerase-Kettenreaktion (PCR). Genomsequenzierung (Whole Genome Sequencing, WGS) ist in 8 staatlichen Laboratorien der Länder etabliert und zusätzlich in 9 Einrichtungen geplant. Als häufigstes Hindernis für eine weiterführende STEC/EHEC-Typisierung wurde angeführt, dass auch bei eindeutigem Nachweis des stx-Gens mittels PCR eine Isolierung aus Probenmaterial oftmals nicht erfolgreich ist.

Diskussion

Die Ergebnisse der Befragung sollen dazu beitragen, die im Projekt entwickelten Analyseverfahren bei der Zielgruppe zu integrieren, und zudem aufzeigen, wo Schwerpunkte bei der bedarfsgerechten Entwicklung von entsprechenden Schulungskonzepten gesetzt werden sollen.
Erste Erfahrungen bei der Umsetzung der EU-Verordnung 536/2014 (CTR) aus Sicht der nichtkommerziellen akademischen Forschung
Authors: Fuhrmann Christine , Reineke Corinna , Lang Britta , Grählert Xina
Published: December 2022

Mit der Implementierung der neuen EU-Verordnung 536/2014 (Clinical Trials Regulation – CTR) zum 31.01.2022 sollen Genehmigung und Durchführung klinischer Prüfungen mit Humanarzneimitteln innerhalb der Europäischen Union (EU) harmonisiert werden. Die Genehmigung erfolgt über das elektronische Portal CTIS (Clinical Trials Information System) der Europäischen Arzneimittel-Agentur (EMA). Neben kommerziellen Sponsoren sind im Rahmen von wissenschaftsinitiierten klinischen Prüfungen (IIT) auch Sponsoren an akademischen Einrichtungen von der Implementierung der CTR betroffen. Zahlreiche Änderungen in der Prozesslandkarte für regulierte Arzneimittelstudien sind notwendig.

Neue Aspekte betreffen die generelle Nutzerstruktur und das Rechtekonzept des CTIS. Anforderungen, die bislang nur für Prüfpräparate/Placebo galten, gelten nun auch für Hilfspräparate. In der EU noch nicht zugelassene Prüf- und Hilfspräparate müssen in der Arzneimitteldatenbank XEVMPD registriert werden. Weitere wesentliche Neuerungen sind die Meldung von „schwerwiegenden Verstößen“, die Veröffentlichung relevanter Studiendokumente, die Einführung einer „laienverständlichen Zusammenfassung“, die Archivierungsdauer von 25 Jahren, das Konzept der „minimalinterventionellen klinischen Prüfung“ und die Möglichkeit einer Co-Sponsorenschaft.

Die ersten Erfahrungen bei der Antragstellung zeigen, dass das neue System noch weiter verbessert werden muss. Dies betrifft z. B. die EU-weite Harmonisierung der Anforderungen und die Behebung technischer Mängel. Mittel- und langfristig dürften aber Erleichterungen in Bezug auf regulatorische Prozesse spürbar sein. Hier sind intensivierte Absprachen mit nationalen Oberbehörden und Ethikkommissionen, effektives Wissensmanagement und verbesserte Kommunikation gefragt.
Some implications of Ramsey Choice for families of $$\varvec{n}$$-element sets
Authors: Halbeisen Lorenz , Schumacher Salome
Published: December 2022

For $$n\in \omega $$

n
∈
ω

, the weak choice principle $$\textrm{RC}_n$$

RC
n

is defined as follows:

For every infinite setXthere is an infinite subset$$Y\subseteq X$$

Y
⊆
X

with a choice function on$$[Y]^n:=\{z\subseteq Y:|z|=n\}$$

[
Y
]

n

:
=

{
z
⊆
Y
:
|
z
|
=
n
}

.

The choice principle $$\textrm{C}_n^-$$

C
n
-

states the following:

For every infinite family ofn-element sets, there is an infinite subfamily$${\mathcal {G}}\subseteq {\mathcal {F}}$$

G
⊆
F

with a choice function.

The choice principles $$\textrm{LOC}_n^-$$

LOC
n
-

and $$\textrm{WOC}_n^-$$

WOC
n
-

are the same as $$\textrm{C}_n^-$$

C
n
-

, but we assume that the family $${\mathcal {F}}$$
F
is linearly orderable (for $$\textrm{LOC}_n^-$$

LOC
n
-

) or well-orderable (for $$\textrm{WOC}_n^-$$

WOC
n
-

). In the first part of this paper, for $$m,n\in \omega $$

m
,
n
∈
ω

we will give a full characterization of when the implication $$\textrm{RC}_m\Rightarrow \textrm{WOC}_n^-$$

RC
m

⇒

WOC
n
-

holds in $${\textsf {ZF}}$$
ZF
. We will prove the independence results by using suitable Fraenkel-Mostowski permutation models. In the second part, we will show some generalizations. In particular, we will show that $$\textrm{RC}_5\Rightarrow \textrm{LOC}_5^-$$

RC
5

⇒

LOC
5
-

and that $$\textrm{RC}_6\Rightarrow \textrm{C}_3^-$$

RC
6

⇒

C
3
-

, answering two open questions from Halbeisen and Tachtsis (Arch Math Logik 59(5):583–606, 2020). Furthermore, we will show that $$\textrm{RC}_6\Rightarrow \textrm{C}_9^-$$

RC
6

⇒

C
9
-

and that $$\textrm{RC}_7\Rightarrow \textrm{LOC}_7^-$$

RC
7

⇒

LOC
7
-

.
Abuse, dependence and withdrawal associated with fentanyl and the role of its (designated) route of administration: an analysis of spontaneous reports from Europe
Authors: Jobski Kathrin , Bantel Carsten , Hoffmann Falk
Published: December 2022

Purpose

Fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid used in cancer and non-cancer pain, is approved for various routes of administration. In Europe, fentanyl consumption increased substantially in the last decades but information on abuse, dependence and withdrawal associated with fentanyl is scarce, especially with respect to its different formulations.

Methods

We analysed case characteristics of spontaneous reports of suspected fentanyl-associated abuse, dependence or withdrawal from European countries recorded in the EudraVigilance database up to 2018 with respect to the (designated) routes of administration and potential indications.

Results

A total of 985 reports were included (mainly from France and Germany) with 43% of cases referring to transdermal fentanyl. Median age was 45 years (48.8% female) and 21.6% had musculoskeletal disorders. Only 12.6% of those using transdermal fentanyl had a cancer diagnosis compared to 40.2% and 26.8% of those using intranasal and oral transmucosal fentanyl, respectively. Depression was common (10.7%) and highest in cases with musculoskeletal disorders (24.9%) as was the use of benzodiazepines. Overall, 39.5% of reports resulted in a prolonged hospital stay and for 23.2% a fatal outcome was recorded. The respective proportions were especially high in cases with musculoskeletal disorders (56.3% with prolonged hospitalisation) and in those using transdermal fentanyl (35.2% fatalities).

Conclusions

In suspected cases of abuse, dependence or withdrawal, fentanyl was mainly used for non-cancer pain indications and most often as transdermal formulations. Depression and prolonged hospitalisations were common, especially in patients with musculoskeletal disorders, indicating a vulnerable patient group and complex treatment situations.
The common HLA class I-restricted tumor-infiltrating T cell response in HPV16-induced cancer
Authors: Santegoets Saskia J. , Welters Marij J. P. , Schrikkema Deborah S. , Freriks Manon R. , Kok Hanna , Weissbrich Bianca , van den Branden Anouk , Linnemann Carsten , Schumacher Ton N. , Adhikary Sabina , Bendle Gavin , van der Burg Sjoerd H.
Published: December 2022

Immunotherapies targeting truly tumor-specific targets focus on the expansion and activation of T cells against neoantigens or oncogenic viruses. One target is the human papilloma virus type 16 (HPV16), responsible for several anogenital cancers and oropharyngeal carcinomas. Spontaneous and vaccine-induced HPV-specific T cells have been associated with better clinical outcome. However, the epitopes and restriction elements to which these T cells respond remained elusive. To identify CD8+ T cell epitopes in cultures of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes, we here used multimers and/or a functional screening platform exploiting single HLA class I allele-engineered antigen presenting cells. This resulted in the detection of 20 CD8+ T cell responses to 11 different endogenously processed HLA-peptide combinations within 12 HPV16-induced tumors. Specific HLA-peptide combinations dominated the response in patients expressing these HLA alleles. T cell receptors (TCRs) reactive to seven different HLA class I-restricted peptides could be isolated and analysis revealed tumor reactivity for five of the six TCRs analyzed. The tumor reactive TCRs to these dominant HLA class I peptide combinations can potentially be used to engineer tumor-specific T cells for adoptive cell transfer approaches to treat HPV16-induced cancers.
A Time Trend Analysis of 5,000 Robotic Thyroidectomies via Bilateral Axillo‐Breast Approach
Authors: Kwak JungHak , Yu Hyeong Won , Ahn Jong‐hyuk , Kim Su‐jin , Chai Young Jun , Choi June Young , Lee Kyu Eun
Published: December 2022

Background

This study aimed to investigate the time trends of surgical outcomes in patients who underwent bilateral axillo‐breast approach robotic thyroidectomy (BABA RT) over the last 14 years.

Methods

From February 2008 to September 2021, we conducted a retrospective medical chart review of 5,011 consecutive patients who underwent BABA RT at three Seoul National University‐affiliated hospitals. The patients were divided into three groups based on the main model of the da Vinci robotic surgical system to evaluate trends in surgical treatment strategies and outcomes after BABA RT.

Results

Of the 5,011 patients (4,706 malignant and 305 benign), the most common histological subtype was papillary thyroid carcinoma (n = 4,584; 97.4%). The mean tumor size significantly increased from 0.8 cm to 1.2 cm (p < 0.05). The mean numbers of metastatic and harvested lymph nodes from the central neck dissection and the lateral neck dissection showed a significant difference and tendency to increase (from 0.9 to 1.6, 4.7 to 6.2, p < 0.05, and from 0.6 to 3.9, 5.3 to 17.9, p < 0.05), respectively, throughout the study period. Permanent hypoparathyroidism decreased from 3.4 to 2.9%. The rate of transient and permanent vocal cord palsy decreased from 15.2 to 2.7% and from 0.7 to 0.2%, respectively.

Conclusion

With advancements in robotic surgical systems and improvements in the BABA RT technique, surgical indications have expanded to include more advanced thyroid diseases, and surgical outcomes have improved over the last 14 years.
Lithium polymer electrolytes for novel batteries application: the review perspective
Authors: Szczęsna-Chrzan Anna , Marczewski Maciej , Syzdek Jarosław , Kochaniec Maria Krystyna , Smoliński Maciej , Marcinek Marek
Published: December 2022

Beyond liquid electrolytes, the development of other electrolyte systems is needed to cover all needs for novel batteries suited for detailed usage. Lithium polymer electrolytes for next-generation batteries cover a broad range of emerging energy applications, including their further investigation of solid polymer ionic conductors. Possibility of transferring Li+ cations through the unique polymer structure forces modifications of a solid polymer electrolyte. The host matrix is immobile, while long-range cation transport must involve dissociative steps where solvated cations are transferred between neighboring coordination sites, in combination with migration and diffusion of ion aggregates weakly coordinated to the polymer solvent. Most of the current models can be successfully applied to amorphous monophase systems. There are many concepts leading to the increase in flexibility, conductivity performance, and extended storage time for several months, which might be useful for even very demanding battery applications. This review provides readers with a comprehensive background for understanding current knowledge and opportunities for lithium polymer electrolytes.
Physiological Study of Ethephon- and ACC-Induced Fruitlet and Leaf Abscission in Peach Trees Under Different Conditions of Temperature
Authors: Torres Estanis , Asín Luís
Published: December 2022

The effect of temperature on the ability of 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid (ethephon, ETH) and the 1-aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid (ACC) to induce ethylene production in fruitlets and abscission of fruitlets and leaves when applied at postbloom (~15 mm fruit diameter) was studied using 5-year-old ‘Sweet Lady’/Rootpac-20 peach [Prunus persica (L.) Batsch] trees kept in pots in environment-controlled growth rooms. ETH at 150 mg L−1 and ACC at 500 mg L−1 effectively thinned peaches. Increasing the temperature from 10 to 20 °C pronounced the ETH-induced fruit and leaf abscission and the ACC-induced leaf abscission and decreased stomatal conductance in leaves. However, the ACC thinning effect was not affected by increasing temperature, as well as ETH- and ACC-induced ethylene production in fruitlets and in the quantum yield of PSII photochemistry. Changes in ethylene peak in fruitlets and stomatal conductance in leaves were related to the abscission response.
Advantages of the usage of the Infinity Computer for reducing the Zeno behavior in hybrid system models
Authors: Falcone Alberto , Garro Alfredo , Mukhametzhanov Marat S. , Sergeyev Yaroslav D.
Published: December 2022

To capture the dynamics of modern Cyber-Physical Systems, hybrid system models are introduced to combine their continuous dynamics with the discrete ones. Unfortunately, one important negative issue can affect hybrid system models: the so-called Zeno phenomenon, which results in an infinite number of discrete transitions in a finite amount of time occurring during the model’s simulation that leads to inconsistent results. In this context, the paper investigates the use of a recently proposed numerical algorithm, based on the Infinity Computer methodology, to handle the Zeno phenomenon and evaluate it with respect to standard numerical methods by considering the hybrid system models of two exemplary Cyber-Physical Systems: the Water tanks and the Thermostat.
Evaluation of adaptation measures to counteract rising groundwater levels in urban areas in response to climate change
Authors: Rasmussen Per , Kidmose Jacob , Kallesøe Anders J. , Sandersen Peter B. E. , Schneider Raphael , Sonnenborg Torben O.
Published: December 2022

For an increasing number of urban areas in Denmark and other countries with a temperate climate, large seasonal variations in precipitation, evaporation, and groundwater recharge cause problems with high groundwater levels during winter for private house owners, industry, public institutions, and infrastructure. Several factors contribute to the problem, e.g., an increase in winter precipitation, renovation of old leaky sewer pipes (previously acting as drain systems), and closure of groundwater abstraction for drinking water in urban areas in response to pollution. Four adaptation measures are compared with a detailed hydrological model for the town of Sunds, located in the western part of Denmark. Two ‘grey’, one ‘green’ and one ‘blue’ measure are evaluated. The grey solutions involve (1) installing drainage pipes (a third pipe) alongside the existing sewer pipes, and (2) lowering the water table by groundwater pumping from shallow wells, including storage of water in deeper aquifers for use in the drier summer; the green solution involves planting new forest in and around the town; and the blue solution is to establish a new ditch in the town. A climate model that projects more precipitation, especially in the winter, is used to evaluate the robustness of the different measures in a wetter climate for the northern European area. The hydrological modelling shows that the third pipe is the most effective climate-change adaptation of the four measures tested. The new ditch is an effective solution to lower the water table but with a more limited areal coverage.
The more the merrier? On the optimality of market size restrictions
Authors: von Negenborn Colin
Published: December 2022

This paper provides a novel rationale for the regulation of market size when heterogeneous firms compete. A regulator seeks to maximize total welfare by choosing the number of firms allowed to enter the market, e.g. by issuing a certain number of licenses. Opening up the market for more firms has a two-fold effect: it increases competition and thus welfare, but at the same time, it also attracts more cost-intensive firms, driving down average production efficiency. The regulator hence faces a trade-off between raising beneficial competition and detrimental costs. If goods are sufficiently substitutable, the latter effect can outweigh the former. It is then optimal to restrict the market size, rationalizing a limit to competition. This possibility result holds even in the absence of entry costs, search costs or increasing returns to scale, which previous literature required.
What European Union in the “Age of Uncertainty”? Weathering the Geopolitical Storms in a World of Perpetual Crises
Authors: Ioannides Isabelle
Published: December 2022

A world of risks and uncertainties can also be a world of opportunities. How and how quickly the EU adapts to the socio-political, economic, energy and climate transitions at hand, and how it responds to geopolitical shifts and shocks, will determine whether it can sustain its role and standing on the international stage.
The New Globalisation: From Too Big to Fail to Too Intertwined to Decouple
Authors: Urbani Grecchi Simone
Published: December 2022

Going forward, international elites should instead strive for the application of one of the most liberal-minded principles of this current world order: self-determination.
Fracking als Chance?
Authors: von Tschirnhaus Maximilian Klemens
Published: December 2022

Mit den am 11.2.2017 in Kraft getretenen wasserhaushaltsrechtlichen Regelungen, die das hydraulic
fracturing – Fracking – von unkonventionellen Lagerstätten verbieten, ist eine Einschränkung
der damit verbundenen technologischen Möglichkeiten vorgenommen worden. Die Fracking-Technologie könnte
einen Beitrag zur autonomen Energieversorgung leisten, insbesondere hinsichtlich der Strategie der Bundesregierung
hin zu einem “Reservemarkt” und einer Energiestrategie, die auf erneuerbare Energien und Gas
setzt. Die im zweiten Quartal des Jahres 2022 entstandene Energiekrise durch die Sanktionen gegen die Russische
Föderation und eine Abhängigkeit von russischem Erdgas und Erdöl, belastet die europäische,
und in besonderem Maße die deutsche Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Auf der Suche nach Lösungen
wird neben der Aktivierung von Kohlekraftwerken über die Nutzung des Frackings diskutiert. So spricht
sich Bundesfinanzminister Lindner für eine offene Debatte über die Nutzung des Frackings aus.
Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Technologie des Frackings, der wasserhaushaltsrechtlichen Regelungen
ebendieser und unterzieht sie einer kritischen Würdigung der daraus resultierenden Folgen.
Benchmarking the performance of portfolio optimization with QAOA
Authors: Brandhofer Sebastian , Braun Daniel , Dehn Vanessa , Hellstern Gerhard , Hüls Matthias , Ji Yanjun , Polian Ilia , Bhatia Amandeep Singh , Wellens Thomas
Published: December 2022

We present a detailed study of portfolio optimization using different versions of the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA). For a given list of assets, the portfolio optimization problem is formulated as quadratic binary optimization constrained on the number of assets contained in the portfolio. QAOA has been suggested as a possible candidate for solving this problem (and similar combinatorial optimization problems) more efficiently than classical computers in the case of a sufficiently large number of assets. However, the practical implementation of this algorithm requires a careful consideration of several technical issues, not all of which are discussed in the present literature. The present article intends to fill this gap and thereby provides the reader with a useful guide for applying QAOA to the portfolio optimization problem (and similar problems). In particular, we will discuss several possible choices of the variational form and of different classical algorithms for finding the corresponding optimized parameters. Viewing at the application of QAOA on error-prone NISQ hardware, we also analyse the influence of statistical sampling errors (due to a finite number of shots) and gate and readout errors (due to imperfect quantum hardware). Finally, we define a criterion for distinguishing between ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ instances of the portfolio optimization problem.
Hopf bifurcations in dynamics of excitable systems
Authors: De Angelis Monica
Published: December 2022

A general FitzHugh–Rinzel model, able to describe several neuronal phenomena, is considered. Linear stability and Hopf bifurcations are investigated by means of the spectral equation for the ternary autonomous dynamical system and the analysis is driven by both an admissible critical point and a parameter which characterizes the system.
Deep limits of residual neural networks
Authors: Thorpe Matthew , van Gennip Yves
Published: December 2022

Neural networks have been very successful in many applications; we often, however, lack a theoretical understanding of what the neural networks are actually learning. This problem emerges when trying to generalise to new data sets. The contribution of this paper is to show that, for the residual neural network model, the deep layer limit coincides with a parameter estimation problem for a nonlinear ordinary differential equation. In particular, whilst it is known that the residual neural network model is a discretisation of an ordinary differential equation, we show convergence in a variational sense. This implies that optimal parameters converge in the deep layer limit. This is a stronger statement than saying for a fixed parameter the residual neural network model converges (the latter does not in general imply the former). Our variational analysis provides a discrete-to-continuum $$\Gamma $$
Γ
-convergence result for the objective function of the residual neural network training step to a variational problem constrained by a system of ordinary differential equations; this rigorously connects the discrete setting to a continuum problem.
Modeling multiple latent information graph structures via graph convolutional network for aspect-based sentiment analysis
Authors: Wang Jiajun , Li Xiaoge , An Xiaochun
Published: December 2022

Aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA) aims to determine the sentiment polarity of aspects in a sentence. Recently, graph convolution network (GCN) model combined with attention mechanism has been used for ABSA task over graph structures, achieving promising results. However, these methods of modeling over graph structure fail to consider multiple latent information in the text, i.e., syntax, semantics, context, and so on. In addition, the attention mechanism is vulnerable to noise in sentences. To tackle these problems, in this paper, we construct an efficient text graph and propose a matrix fusion-based graph convolution network (MFLGCN) for ABSA. First, the graph structure is constructed by combining statistics, semantics, and part of speech. Then, we use the sequence model combined with the multi-head self-attention mechanism to obtain the feature representation of the context. Subsequently, the text graph structure and the feature representation of context are fed into GCN to aggregate the information around aspect nodes. The attention matrix is obtained by combining sequence model, GCN and the attention mechanism. Besides, we design a filter layer to alleviate the noise problem in the sentence introduced by the attention mechanism. Finally, in order to make the context representation more effective, attention and filtering matrices are integrated into the model. Experimental results on four public datasets show that our model is more effective than the previous models, demonstrating that using our text graph and matrix fusion can significantly empower ABSA models.
Privacy-preserving record linkage using autoencoders
Authors: Christen Victor , Häntschel Tim , Christen Peter , Rahm Erhard
Published: December 2022

Privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) is the process aimed at identifying records that represent the same real-world entity across different data sources while guaranteeing the privacy of sensitive information about these entities. A popular PPRL method is to encode sensitive plain-text data into Bloom filters (BFs), bit vectors that enable the efficient calculation of similarities between records that is required for PPRL. However, BF encoding cannot completely prevent the re-identification of plain-text values because sets of BFs can contain bit patterns that can be mapped to plain-text values using cryptanalysis attacks. Various hardening techniques have therefore been proposed that modify the bit patterns in BFs with the aim to prevent such attacks. However, it has been shown that even hardened BFs can still be vulnerable to attacks. To avoid any such attacks, we propose a novel encoding technique for PPRL based on autoencoders that transforms BFs into vectors of real numbers. To achieve a high comparison quality of the generated numerical vectors, we propose a method that guarantees the comparability of encodings generated by the different data owners. Experiments on real-world data sets show that our technique achieves high linkage quality and prevents known cryptanalysis attacks on BF encoding.
Antipsychotic drug—aripiprazole against schizophrenia, its therapeutic and metabolic effects associated with gene polymorphisms
Authors: Stelmach Adriana , Guzek Katarzyna , Rożnowska Alicja , Najbar Irena , Sadakierska-Chudy Anna
Published: December 2022

Second-generation antipsychotics are widely used for the treatment of schizophrenia. Aripiprazole (ARI) is classified as a third-generation antipsychotic drug with a high affinity for dopamine and serotonin receptors. It is considered a dopamine-system stabilizer without severe side effects. In some patients the response to ARI treatment is inadequate and they require an effective augmentation strategy. It has been found that the response to the drug and the risk of adverse metabolic effects can be related to gene polymorphisms. A reduced dose is recommended for CYP2D6 poor metabolizers; moreover, it is postulated that other polymorphisms includingCYP3A4,CYP3A5,ABCB1,DRD2,and5-HTRsgenes influence the therapeutic effect of ARI. ARI can increase the levels of prolactin, C-peptide, insulin, and/or cholesterol possibly due to specific genetic variants. It seems that a pharmacogenetic approach can help predict drug response and improve the clinical management of patients with schizophrenia.
Essential oils of some medicinal plants and their biological activities: a mini review
Authors: Mohamed Amal A. , Alotaibi Bader M.
Published: December 2022

Medicinal herbs have an essential function in health and therapy. Bioactives of medicinal plants showed fewer side effects than manufactured drugs and their antioxidant properties are responsible for their different therapeutic properties. Essential oils (EOs) are an aromatic mixture of active components with a strong aroma obtained from aromatic plants. Natural EOs are composed of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, oxygenated monoterpenes, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and phenolics. Because of their volatility, EOs are easily extracted from a variety of natural sources using the steam distillation method. Essential oils are one of the important therapeutic ingredients used in developing new therapeutic vehicles because of their anticancer, antiviral, antidiabetic, anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant, and aromatherapy capabilities. This review includes different literature to survey the nature of essential oils, therapeutic potentials, and the key components of various essential oils.
Data Augmentation for Small Sample Iris Image Based on a Modified Sparrow Search Algorithm
Authors: Xiong Qi , Zhang Xinman , He Shaobo , Shen Jun
Published: December 2022

Training convolutional neural networks (CNN) often require a large amount of data. However, for some biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris, it is often difficult to obtain a large amount of data due to privacy issues. Therefore, training the CNN model often suffers from specific problems, such as overfitting, low accuracy, poor generalization ability, etc. To solve them, we propose a novel image augmentation algorithm for small sample iris image in this article. It is based on a modified sparrow search algorithm (SSA) called chaotic Pareto sparrow search algorithm (CPSSA), combined with contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization (CLAHE). The CPSSA is used to search for a group of clipping limit values. Then a set of iris images that satisfies the constraint condition is produced by CLAHE. In the fitness function, cosine similarity is used to ensure that the generated images are in the same class as the original one. We select 200 categories of iris images from the CASIA-Iris-Thousand dataset and test the proposed augmentation method on four CNN models. The experimental results show that, compared with the some standard image augmentation methods such as flipping, mirroring and clipping, the accuracy and Equal Error Rate (EER)of the proposed method have been significantly improved. The accuracy and EER of the CNN models with the best recognition performance can reach 95.5 and 0.6809 respectively. This fully shows that the data augmentation method proposed in this paper is effective and quite simple to implement.
Optimal scaling of MCMC beyond Metropolis
Authors: Agrawal Sanket , Vats Dootika , Łatuszyński Krzysztof , Roberts Gareth O.
Published: December 2022

The problem of optimally scaling the proposal distribution in a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm is critical to the quality of the generated samples. Much work has gone into obtaining such results for various Metropolis–Hastings (MH) algorithms. Recently, acceptance probabilities other than MH are being employed in problems with intractable target distributions. There are few resources available on tuning the Gaussian proposal distributions for this situation. We obtain optimal scaling results for a general class of acceptance functions, which includes Barker’s and lazy MH. In particular, optimal values for Barker’s algorithm are derived and found to be significantly different from that obtained for the MH algorithm. Our theoretical conclusions are supported by numerical simulations indicating that when the optimal proposal variance is unknown, tuning to the optimal acceptance probability remains an effective strategy.
A new automated national register-based surveillance system for outbreaks in long-term care facilities in Norway detected three times more severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) clusters than traditional methods
Authors: Gravningen Kirsten , Nymark Petter , Wyller Torgeir B. , Kacelnik Oliver
Published: December 2022

Objective:

To develop and test a new automated surveillance system that can detect, define and characterize infection clusters, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in Norway by combining existing national register data.

Background:

The numerous outbreaks in LTCFs during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for accurate and timely outbreak surveillance. As traditional methods were inadequate, we used severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a model to test automated surveillance.

Methods:

We conducted a nationwide study using data from the Norwegian preparedness register (Beredt C19) and defined the study population as an open cohort from January 2020 to December 2021. We analyzed clusters (≥3 individuals with positive SARS-CoV-2 test ≤14 days) by 4-month periods including cluster size, duration and composition, and residents’ mortality associated with clusters.

Results:

The study population included 173,907 individuals; 78% employees and 22% residents. Clusters were detected in 427 (43%) of 993 LTCFs. The median cluster size was 4–8 individuals (maximum, 50) by 4-month periods, with a median duration of 9–17 days. Employees represented 60%–82% of cases in clusters and were index cases in 60%–90%. In the last 4-month period of 2020, we detected 107 clusters (915 cases) versus 428 clusters (2,998 cases) in the last period of 2021. The 14-day all-cause mortality rate was higher in resident cases from the clusters. Varying the cluster definitions changed the number of clusters.

Conclusion:

Automated national surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 clusters in LTCFs is possible based on existing data sources and provides near real-time detailed information on size, duration, and composition of clusters. Thus, this system can assist in early outbreak detection and improve surveillance.
Effect of mode of birth on development of mental disorders in the offspring
Authors: Lerche Anna Skovgaard , Christensen Rune Haubo , Köhler-Forsberg Ole , Nordentoft Merete , Petersen Liselotte Vogdrup , Mortensen Preben Bo , Benros Michael Eriksen
Published: December 2022

Objective:

Increasing rates of caesarean sections has led to concerns about long-term effects on the offspring’s health, and it has been hypothesised that caesarean section induced differences in the child’s microbiota could potentially increase the risk of mental disorders.

Methods:

Nationwide Danish cohort study of 2,196,687 births was conducted between 1980 and 2015, with 38.5 million observation-years. Exposure was ‘Caesarean Section’ and outcome was the child’s risk of any mental disorder. Absolute and relative risks (RRs) were estimated using inverse probability weighting to adjust for age, calendar time and confounding variables while accounting for the competing risk of death.

Results:

Caesarean section (n = 364,908, 16.6%), compared to vaginal birth, was associated with a small RR increase of 8% (RR, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.04–1.13; n = 44,352) for the development of any in-patient psychiatric admission at age 36 for the offspring and with a small absolute risk difference of 0.47% (95% CI, 0.23–0.76). When looking at all in-patient, out-patient and emergency room psychiatric contacts among people born after 1995, the effect was diminished (RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.99–1.09; n = 15,211). The risk was comparable when comparing prelabour versus intrapartum caesarean section (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.90–1.08) and acute versus planned caesarean section (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.80–1.29).

Conclusion:

Birth by caesarean section was associated with only a very slightly increased risk of any in-patient psychiatric admission for the offspring and diminished even further when including all psychiatric contacts. The very small associations observed may be explained by unmeasured confounding and is unlikely to be of substantial clinical relevance.
Making Masculine Monks: Gender, Space, and the Imagined “Child” in Twelfth-Century Cistercian Identity Formation
Authors: Doss Jacob W.
Published: December 2022

Bernard of Clairvaux's letter to his young cousin Robert, written in the early 1120s CE, ignited a public controversy between the powerful Cluniacs and the upstart Cistercians over proper monastic practice and recruitment that smoldered throughout the twelfth century. This article examines how Cistercian polemics arose out of this new monastic competition to form Cistercian identity. Bernard of Clairvaux and the Cistercians under his influence employed a rhetoric that drew on notions of space, age, and gender to present their rivals as worldly, feminine, and immature and themselves as mature and masculine warriors on the front lines of ascetic battle against the vices. In doing so, the Cistercians deployed a gendered concept of “childhood” and “youth” that shaped their understanding of monastic conversion and progression as maturation from a worldly, feminized child to a mature and masculine monk. By centering “childhood” as a category of analysis, this article demonstrates the importance of age to Cistercian constructions of monastic masculinity. The gender-crossing martial, nuptial, and maternal imagery for which the Cistercians are famous relied on constructions of the “child.” This article shows that “childhood” and “adulthood” are mutually constitutive, gendered categories and reveals that “childhood” is as important to constructing Christian masculinities as notions of “woman.”