bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Etiology of a Fish Kill, Including the Endangered Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), in a Northeastern Pacific Coastal Lagoon
Authors: Feyrer Frederick , Young Matthew , Kraus Tamara , Stumpner Elizabeth , Fong Darren , Carpenter Kurt D.
Published: November 2023

Ecological disturbances such as fish kills can negatively impact ecosystem processes in coastal lagoons. To gain an understanding of factors causing fish kills, we examined conditions associated with a summertime fish kill in a northeastern Pacific coastal lagoon (Rodeo Lagoon, CA, USA). Examination of available data indicated the fish kill was likely caused by hypoxia involving the following etiology: (1) strong onshore winds (up to 12 m/s) mixed a stratified water column, (2) water column mixing transported nutrients from near the bed into the photic zone, (3) increased nutrient concentrations in the photic zone (> 200%) together with high solar irradiance fueled a phytoplankton bloom, (4) death and decomposition of phytoplankton (72% decrease in abundance) contributed to biological oxygen demand that led to (5) hypoxic conditions (as low as 0.6 mg/L) that caused the fish kill. The event resulted in the death of an estimated 3677 Tidewater Goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi), a species listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act, and numerous (but not enumerated) Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), unidentified sculpins (Cottidae), and macroinvertebrates (primarily Amphipoda). The processes contributing to the event are likely re-occurring phenomena responsible for observed periodic fish kills. Coastal lagoons with limited freshwater inflows and connection to the Pacific Ocean may retain nutrients and be susceptible to similar events.
Deep-learning-based survival prediction of patients with lower limb melanoma
Authors: Zhang Jinrong , Yu Hai , Zheng Xinkai , Ming Wai-kit , Lak Yau Sun , Tom Kong Ching , Lee Alice , Huang Hui , Chen Wenhui , Lyu Jun , Deng Liehua
Published: November 2023

Background

For the purpose to examine lower limb melanoma (LLM) and its long-term survival rate, we used data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. To estimate the prognosis of LLM patients and assess its efficacy, we used a powerful deep learning and neural network approach called DeepSurv.

Methods

We gathered data on those who had an LLM diagnosis between 2000 and 2019 from the SEER database. We divided the people into training and testing cohorts at a 7:3 ratio using a random selection technique. To assess the likelihood that LLM patients would survive, we compared the results of the DeepSurv model with those of the Cox proportional-hazards (CoxPH) model. Calibration curves, the time-dependent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and the concordance index (C-index) were all used to assess how accurate the predictions were.

Results

In this study, a total of 26,243 LLM patients were enrolled, with 7873 serving as the testing cohort and 18,370 as the training cohort. Significant correlations with age, gender, AJCC stage, chemotherapy status, surgery status, regional lymph node removal and the survival outcomes of LLM patients were found by the CoxPH model. The CoxPH model’s C-index was 0.766, which signifies a good degree of predicted accuracy. Additionally, we created the DeepSurv model using the training cohort data, which had a higher C-index of 0.852. In addition to calculating the 3-, 5-, and 8-year AUC values, the predictive performance of both models was evaluated. The equivalent AUC values for the CoxPH model were 0.795, 0.767, and 0.847, respectively. The DeepSurv model, in comparison, had better AUC values of 0.872, 0.858, and 0.847. In comparison to the CoxPH model, the DeepSurv model demonstrated greater prediction performance for LLM patients, as shown by the AUC values and the calibration curve.

Conclusion

We created the DeepSurv model using LLM patient data from the SEER database, which performed better than the CoxPH model in predicting the survival time of LLM patients.
Design Problem of Travel Sections for Shared Autonomous Vehicles Considering the Immaturity of Autonomous Vehicle Technology
Authors: Shimamoto Hiroshi
Published: November 2023

Most studies of shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) have assumed established automated driving technology. In contrast, this study assumes that automated driving technology is not yet mature; it proposes two types of models to optimize the number of SAVs and the sections they travel. The first model (i.e., the ‘actual depot model’) does not consider the travel distance from the depot to the service start and end points. The second (i.e., the ‘virtual depot model’) considers the as-described travel distance. We showed in the actual depot model that under mild assumptions, the continuity condition of the SAV travel segments can be described by a simple constraint condition. The models were then applied to a hypothetical network; the performances of the models confirmed that the evaluation indicators for the virtual depot model tended to be better than the indicators for the actual depot model.
A system for the management of sandy shorelines under climate change: United States Virgin Islands (USVI)
Authors: Chalazas Theodoros , Bove Gerald , Chatzistratis Dimitrios , Monioudi Isavela N. , Velegrakis Adonis F.
Published: November 2023

A methodological framework is presented for the assessment of beach vulnerability to climate variability and change on small touristic islands. Based on the development of a coastal vulnerability index (CVI) fueled by open-source Earth Observations and social media information, it includes both physical and socio-economic characteristics of the shoreline. In a pilot study in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVIs), most beaches were found to be vulnerable to erosion. The CVI was utilized to rank the most likely vulnerable beaches, which were then studied using historic geomorphologic data; these beaches were confirmed to be predominantly eroding. Significant erosion is projected as sea levels rise; for example, by 2050 under the RCP8.5 scenario, more than 50% of the 30 most vulnerable USVI beaches will erode by 50–100% of their current maximum width. The framework is designed to be used in vulnerable coastal settings that have limited financial and human resources.
The Experience of Raising Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review of Qualitative Research Studies
Authors: Hopkins Nicola , Iles Jane , Satherley Rose-Marie
Published: November 2023

Autistic females often present differently to autistic males, which can lead to difficulties obtaining a diagnosis and subsequent support. Parenting an autistic daughter has been linked to additional parenting stress compared to parenting an autistic son. However, research in this area is limited. A systematic review was undertaken to synthesise qualitative studies on parental experiences of raising autistic females. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria and thematic synthesis was completed. Six themes were created. The analysis found issues with diagnosis and differences in lived experience compared to autistic males can present significant challenges. Parents can struggle with a range of negative emotions or feel overwhelmed. However, studies also found benefits to parenting an autistic daughter, such as increased confidence in parenting.
A novel regularized weighted estimation method for information diffusion prediction in social networks
Authors: Mashayekhi Yoosof , Rezvanian Alireza , Vahidipour S. Mehdi
Published: November 2023

In recent years, social networks have become popular among Internet users, and various studies have been performed on the analysis of users’ behavior in social networks. Information diffusion analysis is one of the leading fields in social network analysis. In this context, users are influenced by other users in the social network, such as their friends. User behavior is analyzed using several models designed for information diffusion modeling and prediction. In this paper, first, the problem of estimating the diffusion probabilities for the independent cascade model is studied. We propose a method for estimating diffusion probabilities. This method assigns a weight to each individual diffusion sample within a network. To account for the different effects of diffusion samples, several weighting schemes are proposed. Afterward, the proposed method is applied to real cascade datasets such as Twitter and Digg. We try to estimate diffusion probabilities for the independent cascade model considering the continuous time of nodes’ infections. The results of our evaluation of our methods are presented based on several datasets. The results show the high performance of our methods in terms of training time as well as other metrics such as mean absolute error and F-measure.
La Ve République des Lettres
Authors: Messling Markus
Published: November 2023

Der Renouveau des Realismus ist für die französischsprachige Literatur detailliert beschrieben worden. Dass dieser aber nicht allein in einer sozialen Krise begründet ist, sondern eher in einer Begründungsnot der sozialen Welt, dafür argumentiert der Artikel. Wenn der neue Realismus mit dem Ende der 80er Jahre ansetzt, so liegt dahinter ein Abschmelzen des Universalismus, ein Geltungsverlust, der sich als Grundproblem der Darstellung von Welt manifestiert.
High-Order ADER Discontinuous Galerkin Schemes for a Symmetric Hyperbolic Model of Compressible Barotropic Two-Fluid Flows
Authors: Río-Martín Laura , Dumbser Michael
Published: November 2023

This paper presents a high-order discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite-element method to solve the barotropic version of the conservative symmetric hyperbolic and thermodynamically compatible (SHTC) model of compressible two-phase flow, introduced by Romenski et al. in [59, 62], in multiple space dimensions. In the absence of algebraic source terms, the model is endowed with a curl constraint on the relative velocity field. In this paper, the hyperbolicity of the system is studied for the first time in the multidimensional case, showing that the original model is only weakly hyperbolic in multiple space dimensions. To restore the strong hyperbolicity, two different methodologies are used: (i) the explicit symmetrization of the system, which can be achieved by adding terms that contain linear combinations of the curl involution, similar to the Godunov-Powell terms in the MHD equations; (ii) the use of the hyperbolic generalized Lagrangian multiplier (GLM) curl-cleaning approach forwarded. The PDE system is solved using a high-order ADER-DG method with a posteriori subcell finite-volume limiter to deal with shock waves and the steep gradients in the volume fraction commonly appearing in the solutions of this type of model. To illustrate the performance of the method, several different test cases and benchmark problems have been run, showing the high order of the scheme and the good agreement when compared to reference solutions computed with other well-known methods.
Investigating the trade-off between response time and complexity in the Levenberg–Marquardt ANN-MPPT algorithm used in wind energy conversion systems
Authors: Kawashty Amro A. , Abdellatif Sameh O. , Ebrahim Gamal A. , Ghali Hani A.
Published: November 2023

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) models in renewable energy resources management, particularly in the utilization of maximum power point tracking (MPPT) optimizers, has gained significant attention. This study focuses on investigating the tradeoff between accuracy, response time, and system complexity by varying the number of neurons in artificial neural network (ANN) models for MPPT in wind energy conversion systems (WECSs). Traditionally, MPPT algorithms in WECSs are implemented using direct or indirect methods. However, these methods lack an accumulative learning curve and rely on instantaneous inputs. In contrast, ANN models trained on pre-existing datasets offer the potential for improved maximum point capturing processes. Nevertheless, the incorporation of ANN models may introduce additional complexity to the system. Two ANN models, direct and indirect, are examined in comparison to a reference model using the perturb and observe conventional MPPT algorithm. The results show that the ANN direct model exhibits better time response in the face of high variations in wind speed profiles. On the other hand, the ANN indirect model demonstrates a 4% increase in accuracy with minimal ripples.
An evaluation of NERC learning-based approaches to discover personal data in Brazilian Portuguese documents
Authors: Ignaczak Luciano , Martins Márcio Garcia , da Costa Cristiano André , Donida Bruna , da Silva Maria Cristina Peres
Published: November 2023

Governments are issuing regulations and laws demanding that companies protect collected and processed personal data. In Brazil, the federal government sanctioned the General Personal Data Protection law, which defines personal and sensitive data associated with Brazilian citizens. One existing barrier for companies to comply with the law is identifying where personal data is stored inside their infrastructure, mainly concerning personal data inserted into unstructured documents. Named Entity Recognition and Classification (NERC) can support companies in this task by implementing supervised learning models to identify personal data. In this study, we designed an experiment to evaluate machine learning-based NERC using BERT and LSTM approaches to recognize personal data related to Brazil’s context. We established a generic training corpus based on online documents and trained two models for each approach, one considering the original corpus and another after lowercasing it. The study also assessed relation extraction to differentiate personal entities from others. For NERC and relation extraction evaluations, we established a training corpus comprising documents from two organizations related to the education and health sectors. BERT fine-tuned with uncased corpus scored an F1 measure of 0.8 and achieved the best performance in recognizing entities, followed by LSTM based on the same corpus. After applying relation extraction, BERT models achieved better F1 scores than LSTM models. The uncased BERT model achieved an F1 score of 0.85, which was the best. Experiment results also indicated that relation extraction improves the performance of BERT models to discover personal entities.
The Patriarchal Political Order
Authors: Prillaman Soledad Artiz
Published: November 2023

Women across the Global South, and particularly in India, turn out to vote on election days but are noticeably absent from politics year-round. Why? In The Patriarchal Political Order, Soledad Artiz Prillaman combines descriptive and causal analysis of qualitative and quantitative data from more than 9,000 women and men in India to expose how coercive power structures diminish political participation for women. Prillaman unpacks how dominant men, imbued with authority from patriarchal institutions and norms, benefit from institutionalizing the household as a unitary political actor. Women vote because it serves the interests of men but stay out of politics more generally because it threatens male authority. Yet, when women come together collectively to demand access to political spaces, they become a formidable foe to the patriarchal political order. Eye-opening and inspiring, this book serves to deepen our understanding of what it means to create an inclusive democracy for all.
Blindness and Spectatorship in Ancient and Modern Theatres
Authors: Ward Marchella
Published: November 2023

The use of disability as a metaphor is ubiquitous in popular culture – nowhere more so than in the myths, stereotypes and tropes around blindness. To be 'blind' has never referred solely to the inability to see. Instead blindness has been used as shorthand for, among other things, a lack of understanding, immorality, closeness to death, special insight or second sight. Although these 'meanings' attached to blindness were established as early as antiquity, readers, receivers and spectators into the present have been implicated in the stereotypes, which persist because audiences can be relied on to perpetuate them. This book argues for a new way of seeing – and of understanding classical reception - by offering assemblage-thinking as an alternative to the presumed passivity of classical influence. And the theatre, which has been (incorrectly) assumed to be principally a visual medium, is the ideal space in which to investigate new ways of seeing.
Gérard Grisey and Spectral Music
Authors: Cagney Liam
Published: November 2023

The first in-depth historical overview of spectral music, which is widely regarded, alongside minimalism, as one of the two most influential compositional movements of the last fifty years. Charting spectral music's development in France from 1972 to 1982, this ground-breaking study establishes how spectral music's innovations combined existing techniques from post-war music with the use of information technology. The first section focuses on Gérard Grisey, showing how he creatively developed techniques from Messiaen, Xenakis, Ligeti, Stockhausen and Boulez towards a distinctive style of music based on groups of sounds mutating in time. The second section shows how a wider generation of young composers centred on the Parisian collective L'Itinéraire developed a common vision of music embracing seismic developments in in psychoacoustics and computer sound synthesis. Framed against institutional and political developments in France, spectral music is shown as at once an inventive artistic response to the information age and a continuation of the French colouristic tradition.
Physicochemical Mechanics
Authors: Kocherginsky Nikolai
Published: November 2023

Physicochemical mechanics is a self-contained theoretical framework that can be used to study and model physicochemical processes, based on well-known concepts taken from classical mechanics. This intuitive approach exploits the principles of Newtonian mechanics alongside Einstein's theory of Brownian motion in order to accurately describe complex biochemical systems, and can be used to model a broad range of phenomena including thermodiffusion, transmembrane transport and protein folding. The book begins by presenting the basic principles of classical mechanics and thermodynamics, before introducing the two new postulates of physicochemical mechanics. It is shown that these foundational concepts can be applied to systematically describe all major mass transport and equilibrium equations, and many practical applications of the theory are discussed. This text will be of interest to advanced undergraduate and graduate students in biological physics, biochemistry and chemical engineering, and a useful resource for researchers seeking an introduction to this modern theoretical approach.
Building Case Investigation and Contact Tracing Programs in US State and Local Health Departments: A Conceptual Framework
Authors: Woodward Alexandra , Rivers Caitlin
Published: November 2023

Objective:

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to this day, US state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments lacked comprehensive case investigation and contact tracing (CI/CT) guidelines that clearly define the capabilities and capacities of CI/CT programs and how to scale up these programs to respond to outbreaks. This research aims to identify the capabilities and capacities of CI/CT programs and to develop a conceptual framework that represents the relationships between these program components.

Methods:

This study conducted a narrative literature review and qualitative interviews with 10 US state and local health departments and 4 public health experts to identify and characterize the capacities and capabilities of CI/CT programs.

Results:

This research resulted in the first comprehensive analysis of the capabilities and capacities of CI/CT programs and a conceptual framework that illustrates the interrelationships between the capacities, capabilities, outcomes, and impacts of CI/CT programs.

Conclusions:

Our findings highlight the need for further guidance to assist jurisdictional health departments in shifting CI/CT program goals as outbreaks evolve. Training the public health workforce on making decisions around CI/CT program implementation during outbreaks is critical to ensure readiness for a variety of outbreak scenarios.
Introducing a Research Programme for Quantum Humanities: Theoretical Implications
Authors: Bötticher Astrid , Hernandez Jose , Kettemann Matthias C. , Gast Volker , Araiza Bravo Rodrigo
Published: November 2023

Quantum computing is a form of computing based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Quantum computing promises to revolutionise society through technological solutions to previously unsolvable problems or by enhancing the capacities of current computational technologies. Additionally, quantum computing has the potential to revolutionise the humanities and social sciences. We denote the study of these changes as “quantum humanities”, whose study focuses on the potential of quantum computing. This paper proposes a research programme for quantum humanities, which includes the application of quantum algorithms to humanities research, reflection on the methods and techniques of quantum computing and evaluation of its potential societal implications. Moreover, we argue that, foundationally, quantum mechanics has serious implications for the ways in which data and information are used to produce seemingly objective technologies. Thus, quantum computing is a nexus for the study of knowledge itself. This research programme aims to define the field of quantum humanities and to establish it as a meaningful part of the humanities and social sciences.
(Re)constructing Prisoner Death Investigations: A Case Study of Suicide Investigations from England and Wales
Authors: Tomczak Philippa , Quinn Kaitlyn , Traynor Catherine , Wainwright Lucy
Published: November 2023

Because states must rebut the presumption of responsibility, all prisoner deaths must be investigated. These investigations frequently illustrate the tip of an iceberg of rights abuses and systemic hazards but have largely escaped analysis in prison-monitoring scholarship. Focusing on suicides, we assemble some of the first evidence illustrating how the staff of the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, who investigate prisoner deaths in England and Wales, seek to prevent further deaths. Ombudsman investigations are widely regarded as ineffective, yet there are competing constructions regarding why this is and what could be done to improve outcomes. As a result of organizational norms and constraints, ombudsman staff have offered narrow accounts of prisoner suicides, focusing on the failure of frontline staff to comply with prison policies. By contrast, prison staff and coroners have focused on systemic hazards or “accidents waiting to happen,” including imprisoning people with severe mental illness, illegal drugs, unsafe facilities, and inadequate staffing. These differing constructions lock penal actors into an unproductive cycle of blame shifting that contributes to high suicide numbers. We reconceptualize prisoner deaths as occurring at the intersection of systemic hazards, organizational contexts, and individual errors. We hope that this reconceptualization facilitates broader investigations that are more likely to prevent prisoner deaths.
A Waldensian Pastor Between the Confessional Myth and National Genealogy History and Religious Reform in Emilio Comba (1839–1904)
Authors: Shirakawa Taro
Published: November 2023

Emilio Comba, a leading Waldensian historian in the nineteenth century, was a strong advocate for nation-building in post-unification Italy. This article examines the relationship between Comba's “making Italians” endeavors and his historical writings, focusing mainly on his appropriation of the preceding confessional framework. As a fervent nationalist and evangelical pastor, Comba believed that true Risorgimento required not only political independence but also a religious reform of the Italian nation that would restore Italians to the original Religion of Christ. He envisioned this national reform as a realization of both liberty and the Gospel within the universal history of the Christian religion. Comba employed historical writings to support his claims, attempting to demonstrate how Italy was a perennially Protestant nation on the one hand and to serve as a magistra vitae for fellow citizens on the other. This article argues that Comba relied on a genealogical narrative structure inherited from the early modern protestant historiography in presenting his national history. By recasting its composition according to a category of the nation, he transformed a confessional genealogy of the true church into a national one. From a broader perspective, this article calls for further reflection on the role that the early modern intellectual framework played in the process of modern nation-building.
Slim north, fat south: explaining regional differences in abnormal weights in Nigeria
Authors: Alabi Tunde A. , Badru Oluwaseun A.
Published: November 2023

Weight abnormalities (underweight, overweight, and obesity) can cause life-threatening ailments. This study investigates disparities in the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity between northern and southern Nigeria and their associated factors. Using the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), the study analysed a sample of 12,333 women with complete records of body mass index. The study found that southern women had lower odds of being underweight than women in the north, but the reverse was the case for overweight and obesity. The prevalence of underweight was 11.6%, and it varies from 6.9% in the southern state of Enugu to 31.6% in the northern state of Jigawa. The national prevalence of overweight was 17.9%, ranging from 6.7% in Jigawa State of the northern region to 39.9% in Lagos State of the south. Similarly, the prevalence of obesity in the north was 6.1% compared to 14.4% in the south, with Anambra State of the southern region recording the highest figure of 35.5% compared to 2.1% in the Yobe State of the northern region. In all, the rate of abnormal weight was significantly higher in the south than in the north. However, the type of weight abnormality varies between the two regions. Religion, education, use of contraceptives, and wealth were associated with the three forms of abnormal weights. However, while religion was significantly associated with obesity in the north, the association was not significant in the south. This study found that wealth and education have dissimilar influences on overnutrition. While the odds of being overweight and obese increase with wealth, being educated up to a secondary level significantly reduces the odds in Nigeria and across the two regions.
Endoscopic ossiculoplasty in traumatic conductive hearing loss with intact tympanic membrane: a five-year experience
Authors: Salem Mohammed Abdelbadie , El-Kholy Noha Ahmed , Hemdan Ahmed , ElSobki Ahmed Abdel-Fattah , Ghonim Mohamed Rashad , Ghoniem Mahitab Rashad
Published: November 2023

Background

Exploratory tympanotomy in cases of traumatic ossicular disruption with intact tympanic membrane is crucial for both diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Performing this procedure using the endoscope is gaining popularity. Hence, this study aimed to demonstrate varieties of ossicular pathology and their management in our institution.

Methods

A retrospective evaluation was conducted of 136 ears in patients with traumatic ossicular disruption with an intact tympanic membrane, who underwent endoscopic exploratory tympanotomy. A proposed algorithm was followed, to incorporate different traumatic ossicular possibilities. Assessment of hearing outcomes and surgical complications was performed six months post-operatively.

Results

Incudostapedial dislocation was the most commonly encountered type of traumatic ossicular disruption (35.3 per cent). Air conduction threshold improved significantly following endoscopic ossiculoplasty, from 50.9 ± 6.35 dB pre-operatively to 22.35 ± 3.27 dB post-operatively, with successful air–bone gap closure.

Conclusion

Endoscopic ear surgery is effective in the diagnosis and management of challenging cases of post-traumatic ossicular disruption with an intact tympanic membrane.
Viability of ‘ōhai Sesbania tomentosa seeds after 3 decades of ambient conditions
Authors: Saling Emily , Wolkis Dustin
Published: November 2023

The plant species Sesbania tomentosa (‘ōhai; Fabaceae) is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, federally listed as endangered in the USA and has been proposed for categorization as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In 2021, c. 12,000 seeds from 12 seed lots collected during 1990–1992 from across the Hawaiian Islands were discovered in ambient herbarium conditions (55% relative humidity (RH) at 20 °C). International gene bank standards suggest drying seeds in equilibrium with 15% RH and stored at −18 °C. To investigate seed viability, we mechanically scarified then sowed 15 seeds from each accession at daily alternating regimes of 12 h light and 12 h dark at temperatures of 25/15 °C, respectively. Germination was observed after 7 days and ended after 34 days. Mean final germination was 88.9 ± SD 0.1% (range 73–100%). Each seed lot was accessioned into the National Tropical Botanical Garden's Seed Bank and Laboratory. In seeds with a water-impermeable seed coat (i.e. physical dormancy), such as S. tomentosa, seeds can desorb but not absorb water. Therefore, if the seeds were initially dried, although exposed to high RH for up to 32 years, seed equilibrium RH may have remained low, which may in part explain the observed high germinability. This study holds significance for managers who are working to conserve this endangered Hawaiian species and suggests that even suboptimal conditions may still yield highly viable seeds several decades into the future.
What we learnt from parents’ death experience: A cross-sectional study of death literacy and parent’s death quality among adult children in China
Authors: Li Xiang , Che Sok Leng , Zhu Mingxia , Ng Wai I.
Published: November 2023

Objectives

This study aims at investigating the current status of death literacy and parent’s death quality among adult children in China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to explore the associations between death literacy and parent’s death quality and to provide evidence for developing public policies for improving the quality of death and end-of-life care for the population in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was adopted. Participants who experienced their father’s and/or mother’s death were recruited from 5 cities in the GBA of China in 2022. The Good Death Inventory (GDI) and the Death Literacy Index (DLI) were used to investigate the perceived quality of death of the parents of the participants and the death literacy of the participants.

Results

A total of 511 participants were recruited. Participants with higher GDI scores were positively associated with DLI scores (p < 0.001). Adult children who had close relationships before their parents’ death also had higher levels of DLI.

Significance of results

This study investigated death literacy among bereaved adult children in China, filling a gap in the investigation of death literacy among Chinese residents. It found that parents’ death experience can have a significant impact on the death literacy of adult children, which may affect their understanding and preparation for their own eventual death. Promotion of family discussion on death, development of community palliative care, and improving public death literacy are urgently needed in China.
Compact ACS-fed MIMO antenna with dual-band notch characteristics for UWB applications
Authors: Lu Zhongyuan , Lin Han , Wang Zhonggen , Nie Wenyan , Mu Weidong
Published: November 2023

An ultra-wideband (UWB) and compact-size four-port multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna with a footprint of 34 mm × 34 mm fed by an asymmetric coplanar strip (ACS) is investigated. The proposed antenna is composed of four orthogonally placed identical modified elliptical-shaped radiators and achieves an impedance bandwidth of 3.4–12.2 GHz. By etching two inverted L-shaped slots in the radiator element, WLAN band and X-band are rejected in the operating communication range. Because of the usage of a meander line decoupler, the isolation enhancement at the 8–12 GHz band is achieved and the isolation is more than 18 dB for most of the UWB range. The performance of the proposed antenna is studied in terms of isolation between each port, radiation pattern, current distribution, gain, envelope correlation coefficient, diversity gain, and total active reflection coefficient. The compact size and reduced complexity make the proposed design highly suitable for portable devices.
Echinochloa crus-galli seedlings surviving florpyrauxifen-benzyl applications have a greater potential to produce resistant seeds
Authors: Chen Guoqi , Zhuang Xiangxin , Masoom Aatiqa , Chen Yang , Gu Yunhua , Zhang Jiahao
Published: November 2023

Florpyrauxifen-benzyl (FPB) is an important postemergence rice herbicide. This study tested the potential for seed production in an FPB-resistant barnyardgrass population. A barnyardgrass population (NL) collected from a rice field in eastern China was highly resistant to FPB with a GR50 dose (the FPB dose causing a 50% reduction in fresh weight of aboveground parts) of 50.2 g ai ha−1. No significant differences in the percentages of surviving seedlings after treatment with different doses of the herbicide were found between F1 lines collected from F0 plants surviving a 36 g ai ha−1 FPB treatment and those collected from nontreated control F0 plants. Additionally, no significant differences were found in the rate of surviving seedlings after treatment with varying doses of FPB among the F2 lines collected from F1 plants that survived varying doses of FPB. At a constant temperature of 30 C, seeds from different F1 and F2 lines showed germination percentages of 85% to 92.0% and 68.3% to 89.0%, respectively. In the absence of competition, plants from the NL population surviving 0–144 g ai ha−1 FPB showed no significant differences in plant height, dry weight of aboveground parts, effective accumulated temperature (EAT) from sowing to seed maturation, seed production per plant, or 1,000-seed weight. In the susceptible population (HJ), plants surviving 18 g ai ha−1 FPB showed no significant differences compared to the nontreated control plants of the same population for the above variables. This is the first report of FPB-resistant barnyardgrass in China. Barnyardgrass seedlings that survived FPB application showed a higher potential for accumulating in the soil seedbank and negatively affecting rice.
Differences Between the CMIP5 and CMIP6 Antarctic Sea Ice Concentration Budgets
Authors: Nie Yafei , Lin Xia , Yang Qinghua , Liu Jiping , Chen Dake , Uotila Petteri
Published: November 2023

Compared to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) climate models, the Antarctic sea ice area (SIA) has been improved in Phase 6 (CMIP6). However, the lack of knowledge about the reliability of sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes in the CMIP6 models still limits the accuracy of Antarctic sea ice projections. Here, by using a novel and systematic statistical metric, the performance of CMIP5 and CMIP6 models with near‐realistic SIAs was assessed. We found improvements in CMIP6 models relative to CMIP5. Moreover, forcing the sea ice‐ocean model with atmospheric reanalysis led to excessive ice convergence compared to the fully coupled ocean‐sea ice‐atmosphere model, although the SIA bias could be much smaller. This prevalent insufficient ice divergence in the models is highly correlated with the negative ice thickness bias, highlighting the importance of ice thickness in the correct simulation of sea ice dynamics.
The mitochondrial NADH shuttle system is a targetable vulnerability for Group 3 medulloblastoma in a hypoxic microenvironment
Authors: Contenti J. , Guo Y. , Mazzu A. , Irondelle M. , Rouleau M. , Lago C. , Leva G. , Tiberi L. , Ben-Sahra I. , Bost F. , Mazure N. M.
Published: November 2023

Medulloblastoma is a cancerous brain tumor that affects mostly children. Among the four groups defined by molecular characteristics, Group 3, the least well characterized, is also the least favorable, with a survival rate of 50%. Current treatments, based on surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, are not adequate and the lack of understanding of the different molecular features of Group 3 tumor cells makes the development of effective therapies challenging. In this study, the problem of medulloblastoma is approached from a metabolic standpoint in a low oxygen microenvironment. We establish that Group 3 cells use both the mitochondrial glycerol-3 phosphate (G3PS) and malate-aspartate shuttles (MAS) to produce NADH. Small molecules that target G3PS and MAS show a greater ability to decrease cell proliferation and induce apoptosis specifically of Group 3 cells. In addition, as Group 3 cells show improved respiration in hypoxia, the use of Phenformin, a mitochondrial complex 1 inhibitor, alone or in combination, induced significant cell death. Furthermore, inhibition of the cytosolic NAD+ recycling enzyme lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), enhanced the effects of the NADH shuttle inhibitors. In a 3D model using Group 3 human cerebellar organoids, tumor cells also underwent apoptosis upon treatment with NADH shuttle inhibitors. Our study demonstrates metabolic heterogeneity depending on oxygen concentrations and provides potential therapeutic solutions for patients in Group 3 whose tumors are the most aggressive.
Clinical proof of concept for anti-FGF2 therapy in exudative age-related macular degeneration (nAMD): phase 2 trials in treatment-naïve and anti-VEGF pretreated patients
Authors: Pereira Daniel S. , Maturi Raj K. , Akita Kazumasa , Mahesh Vinaya , Bhisitkul Robert B. , Nishihata Toshiaki , Sakota Eri , Ali Yusuf , Nakamura Emiko , Bezwada Padma , Nakamura Yoshikazu
Published: November 2023

Background/Objective

Intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents are the first-line treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Due to the limitations of these standard therapies, targeting alternative mechanisms of action may be helpful for treatment of this very common disease. Here, we investigated an anti-fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF2) aptamer, umedaptanib pegol, a next generation therapeutic for the treatment of nAMD.

Methods

Three phase 2 studies were designed. First, a multicentre, randomized, double-masked TOFU study assessed the efficacy of intravitreal injections of umedaptanib pegol monotherapy or in combination with aflibercept, compared to aflibercept monotherapy in 86 subjects with anti-VEGF pretreated nAMD. Second, 22 subjects who had exited the TOFU study received 4 monthly intravitreal injections of umedaptanib pegol (extension, RAMEN study). Third, as an investigator-sponsored trial (TEMPURA study), a single-center, open-label, 4-month study was designed to evaluate the safety and treatment efficacy of umedaptanib pegol in five naïve nAMD patients who had not received any prior anti-VEGF treatment.

Results

The TOFU study demonstrated that umedaptanib pegol alone or in combination with aflibercept did not improve best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central subfield thickness (CST) over aflibercept alone. However, the change in BCVA and CST at primary endpoint was marginal in all the three treatment groups, suggesting that umedaptanib pegol is effective to prevent the disease progression. The RAMEN study confirmed the cessation of disease progression. In the TEMPURA study, naïve nAMD patients showed improvement and no further macular degeneration, with striking improvement of visual acuity and central subfield thickness in some of the patients.

Conclusions

These results demonstrate, for the first time, clinical proof of concept for aptamer based anti-FGF2 therapy of nAMD.
Wake slow waves in focal human epilepsy impact network activity and cognition
Authors: Sheybani Laurent , Vivekananda Umesh , Rodionov Roman , Diehl Beate , Chowdhury Fahmida A. , McEvoy Andrew W. , Miserocchi Anna , Bisby James A. , Bush Daniel , Burgess Neil , Walker Matthew C.
Published: November 2023

Slow waves of neuronal activity are a fundamental component of sleep that are proposed to have homeostatic and restorative functions. Despite this, their interaction with pathology is unclear and there is only indirect evidence of their presence during wakefulness. Using intracortical recordings from the temporal lobe of 25 patients with epilepsy, we demonstrate the existence of local wake slow waves (LoWS) with key features of sleep slow waves, including a down-state of neuronal firing. Consistent with a reduction in neuronal activity, LoWS were associated with slowed cognitive processing. However, we also found that LoWS showed signatures of a homeostatic relationship with interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs): exhibiting progressive adaptation during the build-up of network excitability before an IED and reducing the impact of subsequent IEDs on network excitability. We therefore propose an epilepsy homeostasis hypothesis: that slow waves in epilepsy reduce aberrant activity at the price of transient cognitive impairment.
Delineating the interplay between oncogenic pathways and immunity in anaplastic Wilms tumors
Authors: Su Xiaoping , Lu Xiaofan , Bazai Sehrish Khan , Dainese Linda , Verschuur Arnauld , Dumont Benoit , Mouawad Roger , Xu Li , Cheng Wenxuan , Yan Fangrong , Irtan Sabine , Lindner Véronique , Paillard Catherine , Le Bouc Yves , Coulomb Aurore , Malouf Gabriel G.
Published: November 2023

Wilms tumors are highly curable in up to 90% of cases with a combination of surgery and radio-chemotherapy, but treatment-resistant types such as diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumors pose significant therapeutic challenges. Our multi-omics profiling unveils a distinct desert-like diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumor subtype marked by immune/stromal cell depletion, TP53 alterations, and cGAS-STING pathway downregulation, accounting for one-third of all diffuse anaplastic cases. This subtype, also characterized by reduced CD8 and CD3 infiltration and active oncogenic pathways involving histone deacetylase and DNA repair, correlates with poor clinical outcomes. These oncogenic pathways are found to be conserved in anaplastic Wilms tumor cell models. We identify histone deacetylase and/or WEE1 inhibitors as potential therapeutic vulnerabilities in these tumors, which might also restore tumor immunogenicity and potentially enhance the effects of immunotherapy. These insights offer a foundation for predicting outcomes and personalizing treatment strategies for aggressive pediatric Wilms tumors, tailored to individual immunological landscapes.
Bile proteome reveals biliary regeneration during normothermic preservation of human donor livers
Authors: Thorne Adam M. , Wolters Justina C. , Lascaris Bianca , Bodewes Silke B. , Lantinga Veerle A. , van Leeuwen Otto B. , de Jong Iris E. M. , Ustyantsev Kirill , Berezikov Eugene , Lisman Ton , Kuipers Folkert , Porte Robert J. , de Meijer Vincent E.
Published: November 2023

Normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) after static cold storage is increasingly used for preservation and assessment of human donor livers prior to transplantation. Biliary viability assessment during NMP reduces the risk of post-transplant biliary complications. However, understanding of molecular changes in the biliary system during NMP remains incomplete. We performed an in-depth, unbiased proteomics analysis of bile collected during sequential hypothermic machine perfusion, rewarming and NMP of 55 human donor livers. Longitudinal analysis during NMP reveals proteins reflective of cellular damage at early stages, followed by upregulation of secretory and immune response processes. Livers with bile chemistry acceptable for transplantation reveal protein patterns implicated in regenerative processes, including cellular proliferation, compared to livers with inadequate bile chemistry. These findings are reinforced by detection of regenerative gene transcripts in liver tissue before machine perfusion. Our comprehensive bile proteomics and liver transcriptomics data sets provide the potential to further evaluate molecular mechanisms during NMP and refine viability assessment criteria.
Explainable machine learning for profiling the immunological synapse and functional characterization of therapeutic antibodies
Authors: Shetab Boushehri Sayedali , Essig Katharina , Chlis Nikolaos-Kosmas , Herter Sylvia , Bacac Marina , Theis Fabian J. , Glasmacher Elke , Marr Carsten , Schmich Fabian
Published: November 2023

Therapeutic antibodies are widely used to treat severe diseases. Most of them alter immune cells and act within the immunological synapse; an essential cell-to-cell interaction to direct the humoral immune response. Although many antibody designs are generated and evaluated, a high-throughput tool for systematic antibody characterization and prediction of function is lacking. Here, we introduce the first comprehensive open-source framework, scifAI (single-cell imaging flow cytometry AI), for preprocessing, feature engineering, and explainable, predictive machine learning on imaging flow cytometry (IFC) data. Additionally, we generate the largest publicly available IFC dataset of the human immunological synapse containing over 2.8 million images. Using scifAI, we analyze class frequency and morphological changes under different immune stimulation. T cell cytokine production across multiple donors and therapeutic antibodies is quantitatively predicted in vitro, linking morphological features with function and demonstrating the potential to significantly impact antibody design. scifAI is universally applicable to IFC data. Given its modular architecture, it is straightforward to incorporate into existing workflows and analysis pipelines, e.g., for rapid antibody screening and functional characterization.
A colloidal viewpoint on the sausage catastrophe and the finite sphere packing problem
Authors: Marín-Aguilar Susana , Camerin Fabrizio , van der Ham Stijn , Feasson Andréa , Vutukuri Hanumantha Rao , Dijkstra Marjolein
Published: November 2023

It is commonly believed that the most efficient way to pack a finite number of equal-sized spheres is by arranging them tightly in a cluster. However, mathematicians have conjectured that a linear arrangement may actually result in the densest packing. Here, our combined experimental and simulation study provides a physical realization of the finite sphere packing problem by studying arrangements of colloids in a flaccid lipid vesicle. We map out a state diagram displaying linear, planar, and cluster conformations of spheres, as well as bistable states which alternate between cluster-plate and plate-linear conformations due to membrane fluctuations. Finally, by systematically analyzing truncated polyhedral packings, we identify clusters of 56 ≤ N ≤ 70 number of spheres, excluding N = 57 and 63, that pack more efficiently than linear arrangements.