bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The role of psychosocial support in the experiences of people living with advanced cancer: A qualitative exploration of patients' perspectives
Authors: Newton Jade C. , O'Connor Moira , Saunders Christobel , Moorin Rachael , Ali Sayed , Nowak Anna K. , Halkett Georgia K. B.
Published: October 2020

Background

People living with advanced cancer experience significant distress and reduced quality of life due to their symptom burden and life‐limiting prognosis. Limited qualitative research has investigated their experiences accessing psychosocial supportive care, and how it meets their needs.

Aim

To explore patients' perspectives of the role of psychosocial support in their experiences of living with advanced cancer.

Methods

This study used an exploratory qualitative research design and drew upon a social constructionist interpretive framework. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 23 participants. Participants were asked about their experiences accessing and using psychosocial support following their diagnosis. Audio‐recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using deductive thematic analysis.

Results

The following six themes can be used to describe participants' experiences with psychosocial support: (1) accessing different types of support, (2) appreciating support, (3) need, (4) difficulties accessing support, (5) knowing about support and (6) asking for support. Sources of psychosocial support included family and friends, health professionals, and psychosocial supportive care services. Not all participants were able to access care that met their needs; barriers included suitability of available support, accessibility and stigma surrounding support use.

Conclusion

Participants experienced broad variation in their awareness and access to psychosocial support services to meet their needs. Providers of psychosocial supportive care for advanced cancer patients need to consider service accessibility issues. Future psychosocial interventions targeting people living with advanced cancer should consider these issues during development and implementation.
The effects of quinoa seed supplementation on cardiovascular risk factors: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of controlled clinical trials
Authors: Karimian Jahangir , Abedi Sajjad , Shirinbakhshmasoleh Mina , Moodi Farzan , Moodi Vihan , Ghavami Abed
Published: October 2020

This meta‐analysis was designed to determine the effect of quinoa seed on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adults. PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane library were searched electronically from their inception to February 2020 to identify eligible RCTs. We calculated the pooled estimates of weighted mean differences (WMDs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by using random‐effects models. Five eligible RCTs representing 206 subjects were enrolled. The pooled result showed that quinoa seed supplementation significantly lowered the body weight (WMD: −1.26 kg, 95% CI: −2.35, −0.18, p = .02), waist circumference (WC) (WMD: −1.15 cm, 95% CI: −2.08, −0.21, p = .01), fat mass (FM) (WMD: −0.59%, 95% CI: −1.14, −0.03, p = .03), insulin serum level (WMD: −0.86 pmol/L, 95% CI: −13.38, −1.59, p = .01), triglyceride (TG) (WMD: −7.20 mg/dl, 95% CI: −9.52, −4.87, p < .001), total cholesterol (TC) (WMD: −6.86 mg/dl, 95% CI: −10.64, −3.08, p < .001), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) (WMD: −3.08 mg/dl, 95% CI: −5.13, −1.03, p = .003) levels. However, no significant changes were seen in other markers (p > .05). The current evidence suggests that quinoa seed might be utilized as a possible new effective and safe supplementary option to better prevent and control CVD in humans.
Chemical insights into the electronic structure of Fe(II) porphyrin using FCIQMC, DMRG, and generalized active spaces
Authors: Weser Oskar , Freitag Leon , Guther Kai , Alavi Ali , Li Manni Giovanni
Published: October 2020

Stochastic‐CASSCF and DMRG procedures have been utilized to quantify the role of the electron‐correlation mechanisms that, in an Fe‐porphyrin model system, are responsible for the differential stabilization of the 3Eg over the 5A1g state. Orbital entanglement diagrams and CI coefficients of the wave function in a localized orbital basis allow for an effective interpretation of the role of charge‐transfer configurations. A preliminary version of the Stochastic Generalized Active Space Self‐Consistent Field method has been developed and is here introduced to further assess the π backdonation stabilizing effect. By the new method, excitations between metal and ligand orbitals can selectively be removed from the complete CI expansion. It is demonstrated that these excitations are key to the differential stabilization of the triplet, effectively leading to a quantitative measure of the correlation‐enhanced π backdonation.
Exponentially correlated Hylleraas‐configuration interaction nonrelativistic energy of the 1S ground state of the helium atom
Authors: Sims James S. , Padhy Bholanath , Ruiz María Belén
Published: October 2020

A generalization of the Hylleraas‐configuration interaction method (Hy‐CI) first proposed in a previous study, the exponentially correlated Hylleraas‐configuration interaction method (E‐Hy‐CI) in which the single rij of an Hy‐CI wave function is generalized to a form of the generic type , is explored. This type of correlation, suggested by Hirshfelder in 1960, has the right behavior in the vicinity of both the rij cusp as rij goes to 0 and as rij goes to infinity; this work explores whether wave functions containing both linear and exponential rij factors converge more rapidly than either one alone. The method of calculation of the two‐electron E‐Hy‐CI kinetic energy and electron repulsion integrals in a stable and efficient way using recursion relations is discussed, and the relevant formulas are given. The convergence of the E‐Hy‐CI wave function expansion is compared with that of the Hy‐CI wave function without exponential correlation factors, demonstrating both convergence acceleration and an improvement in the accuracy for the same basis. This makes the application of the E‐Hy‐CI method to systems with N > 4, for which this formalism with at most a single factor per term leads to solvable integrals, very promising. E‐Hy‐CI method variational calculations with up to 10,080 expansion terms are reported for the ground 1S state of the neutral helium atom, with a resultant nonrelativistic energy of −2.9037 2437 7034 1195 9831 1084 hartree for the best expansion.
Characterization of the fragmentation behaviors of protonated α‐cyclodextrin generated by electrospray ionization
Authors: Jang Soonmin , Choi Sung‐Seen
Published: October 2020

Rationale

Electrospray ionization (ESI) of an aqueous solution of α‐cyclodextrin (α‐CD) gave a protonated molecule, [α‐CD + H]+. The fragmentation behavior of the protonated molecule, including direct decomposition and ring cleavage, was investigated by varying the source fragmentor voltage. The possible chemical structures of the product ions were also examined using electronic structure calculations.

Methods

An aqueous α‐CD solution was ionized by ESI and the source fragmentor voltage was varied to examine changes of the product ions depending on collision energy. The structures and energies of the precursor and product ions were obtained by electronic structure calculations using Spartan’10 and Gaussian09.

Results

The major product ions were [M + H – 162m]+ (where m = 1–5), with the most abundant being [M + H – 162 × 4]+. The product ions had two chemical structures of the cationic site in the ether linkage ([DPDn – OH]+) and in the terminal oxonium ion ([DPn – OH]+) formed by direct decomposition of [α‐CD + H]+ and fragmentation of the open structure ([DP6 – OH]+), respectively. The [DP6 – OH]+ ion is more stable than the [α‐CD + H]+ ion.

Conclusions

The fragmentation behavior of protonated α‐CD was characterized by two pathways: direct decomposition of [α‐CD + H]+ and decomposition of the [DP6 – OH]+ open structure. Differences in the relative abundances of product ions were explained by the different fragmentation pathways of [α‐CD + H]+ and [DP6 – OH]+.
Delay‐dependent stability of nonlinear hybrid neutral stochastic differential equations with multiple delays
Authors: Song Ruili , Wang Bo , Zhu Quanxin
Published: October 2020

In this article, we study the delay‐dependent stability of a class of hybrid neutral stochastic differential equations (NSDEs) with multiple delays which is highly nonlinear. Some novel stability criteria are investigated according to Lyapunov functions and generalized Itô's formula. In particular, we generalize and improve the results in Shen et al, Systems & Control Letters (2018) from a single delay to multiple delays.
Resolution of a conjecture on majority dynamics: Rapid stabilization in dense random graphs
Authors: Fountoulakis Nikolaos , Kang Mihyun , Makai Tamás
Published: October 2020

We study majority dynamics on the binomial random graph G(n, p) with p = d/n and , for some large . In this process, each vertex has a state in {− 1, + 1} and at each round every vertex adopts the state of the majority of its neighbors, retaining its state in the case of a tie. We show that with high probability the process reaches unanimity in at most four rounds. This confirms a conjecture of Benjamini et al.
Cholesterol‐Coupled Diazine‐Phenol Gelator: Cyanide Sensing, Phase‐Selective Gelation in Oil Spill Recovery and Dye Adsorption
Authors: Panja Atanu , Raza Rameez , Ghosh Kumaresh
Published: October 2020

Cholesterol‐appended gelator 1 describing the linking of 2‐hydroxy‐1‐naphthaldehyde with cholesterol coupled benzaldehyde via hydrazine linker has been synthesized and established as multi responsive material. It forms stable gels from semi‐aqueous and benzenoid solvents, as well as in hydrocarbons and fuel oils. Aggregation of the gelator takes place because of the function of several weak forces in solution. Extensive π‐π stacking between the naphthalene units and hydrophobic interaction exerted by the cholesterol surface encourage gelation. The phenolic −OH serves as an anion binding site. Importantly, 1,4‐dioxane‐H2O gel of 1 is CN− ‐responsive and shows gel‐to‐sol phase transformation with color and fluorescence changes selectively in presence of CN‐ ion. Gelator 1 also exhibits phase‐selective gelation (PSG) behaviour and forms stable gels with water‐immiscible solvents from their aqueous biphasic mixtures. Such phase‐selective gelation of 1 avails some potential and promising real‐life applicability in environmental remediation (oil spill recovery and purification of dye‐contaminated water). The gel phase selectively removes cationic dyes such as Crystal Violet (CV) and Malachite Green (MG) from aqueous solution in a short time with high efficiency (∼99 %).
Triazole‐Modified Molybdenum Oxide with High Proton Conductivity
Authors: Li Zhuo , Lu Ying , Zhang Shan , Sun Xiu‐Wei , Dang Tian‐Yi , Zhang Zhong , Tian Hong‐Rui , Liu Shu‐Xia
Published: October 2020

Nowadays, the research of proton conductive materials has been extended from traditional sulfonated polymers to novel crystalline solid materials. It is important but still challenging to develop high‐performance proton‐conducting materials suitable for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Considering the features of molybdenum oxide and triazole in the construction of proton‐conducting material, two triazole‐modified molybdenum oxides, [MoO3(trz)0.5] 1 and [H(atrz)4[(atrz)2(γ‐Mo8O26)] ⋅ 2H2O 2 (trz=1,2,4‐triazole, atrz=3‐amino‐1,2,4‐triazole), were re‐synthesized under optimized synthetic conditions, and their proton‐conducting performances were investigated. 1 and 2 show high proton conductivities of 1.94×10−2 S cm−1 (85 °C, 95 % RH) and 1.3×10−3 S cm−1 (65 °C, 95 % RH), respectively.
Aerobic Oxidation of Styrene over Indium‐Impregnated Mesoporous Silica: Distinctive Effect of Supports on Epoxidation Activity
Authors: Das Prangya Paramita , Chowdhury Biswajit
Published: October 2020

Liquid phase oxidation of styrene was performed over a series of indium impregnated mesoporous silica materials In‐KIT‐6, In‐HMS‐X and In‐TUD‐1of different morphologies with a constant indium loading of 1 wt % using molecular oxygen as an oxidant. Among these catalysts, In‐HMS‐X showed superior catalytic activity in terms of styrene conversion of 57 % and In‐TUD‐1 in terms of styrene oxide selectivity of 90 %. Larger surface area, larger pore diameter, more surface hydrophobicity, more surface acidity were found to be the deciding factors for better conversion. More oxygen uptake, higher reducibility of In species and well dispersion of metal over support were found to be the key enablers for better selectivity. All the catalysts were recyclable up to 5 th cycle.
Molten Salt Treated Cu Foam Catalyst for Selective Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction
Authors: Song Sanzhao , Meng Jun , Wang Yu , Zhou Jing , Zhang Linjuan , Gao Na , Guan Chengzhi , Xiao Guoping , Hu Zhiwei , Lin Hong‐Ji , Chen Chien‐Te , Du Xian‐Long , Hu Jun , Wang Jian‐Qiang
Published: October 2020

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is a promising route to convert waste products to valuable chemicals. Search for suitable and efficient CO2 reduction electrocatalysts with high C2:C1 selectivity holds great promise. Herein, for the first time we have developed a molten salt oxidized method to modify the morphology and oxidation state of a Cu‐foam catalyst. The catalyst displayed a current density of 30 mA cm−2 (−1.4 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode) and an ethylene/methane ratio of 870. We provide insight into the improved performance of the catalysts by cross section scanning transmission electron microscopy and quasi in situ soft X‐ray spectroscope, which show that copper oxides are surprisingly reconstructed with Cu (I) and Cu (0) on the surface during the reaction. First principle calculations also demonstrate that the partly reduced Cu2O (111) surface has a high reactivity and selectivity for C2+ products. Furthermore, the molten salt treated catalysts could be applied to the direct synthesis of multi‐carbon fuels, including C3‐C4 compounds in high CO2 pressure electrocatalytic reduction. Our results demonstrate that molten salt are both the oxidizing agent and reaction medium, which is a promising approach for synthesis of highly active CO2 electrocatalysts, which may open a new way for industrial application.
APISonar: Mining API usage examples
Authors: Hora Andre
Published: October 2020

Developers spend a significant part of their time searching for code examples on the web. Often, they look for Application Programming Interface (API) usage examples, that is, how to use APIs provided by libraries and frameworks. For this purpose, several programming websites are available. Some programming websites provide manually created examples: unfortunately, as millions of APIs are available nowadays, they do not cover the majority of the APIs. To alleviate this limitation, other programming websites focus on automatically mining API usage examples from code repositories. To the best of our knowledge, however, these solutions are still very limited: they often present poor, duplicated, and similar API usage examples. In this article, we propose an approach, APISonar, to automatically mine API usage examples from code repositories. Our approach aims to overcome the limitations of current solutions: we focus on presenting readable and reusable API usage examples. We analyze millions of source files provided by 4486 software projects hosted on GitHub. Based on this data, we extract 11 million API usage examples about 1.5 million distinct APIs. We evaluate APISonar by assessing its quality and usage. We show that APISonar is a competitive solution, providing the best API examples in terms of readability and reusability, as compared with popular programming websites. Moreover, despite being a novel website, APISonar attracted a significant amount of users in a short period (3.7K users from 119 countries during 5 months). APISonar is available at www.apisonar.com.
Bubbly Mold Flow in Continuous Casting: Comparison of Numerical Flow Simulations with Water Model Measurements
Authors: Javurek Mirko , Wincor Raimund
Published: October 2020

The impact on the mold flow of inert gas bubbles originating from a gas injection at the top of the submerged entry nozzle is investigated. Results from a physical model using water and air are compared with corresponding numerical flow simulation results. In numerical models, the bubble velocities are determined by calculating the force equilibrium between buoyancy, drag force, and other forces acting on the bubbles. For the observed bubble size in the physical model, the so‐determined rising velocity of the bubbles is significantly too high in comparison to the water model experiment. Various effects can influence the rising velocity of bubbles. One of them is that the presence of turbulence obviously reduces the rising velocity. The influence of turbulence models and of a turbulence‐induced bubble drag modification is analyzed in numerical flow simulations and compared to water model results.
Label‐free monitoring and manipulation of microfluidic water‐in‐oil droplets
Authors: Frey Christoph , Pfeil Jonas , Neckernuss Tobias , Geiger Daniel , Weishaupt Klaus , Platzman Ilia , Marti Othmar , Spatz Joachim P.
Published: October 2020

Droplet‐based microfluidic technology offers several benefits: the integration of multiple laboratory functions into a single microfabricated chip, manual intervention possibilities, minimal sample consumption, and increased analysis speed and data precision. These advantages have boosted the widespread application of this technology in biological and biomedical research. Despite recent progress, considerable challenges remain to be addressed for end‐user applications. This especially concerns the difficulty of creating powerful and easy to implement methods for real‐time analysis and active manipulation of passing droplets. Toward this end, we developed a very sensitive optical device equipped with smart algorithms for real‐time label‐free monitoring and active manipulation of passing droplets. We demonstrate the advanced properties of the developed optical device by measuring different droplet production parameters as well as the label‐free detection of cells in droplets. Moreover, the newly developed technology was connected with a function generator system to allow for subsequent manipulation of the monitored droplets based on the measured parameters. As an example, we performed electric field‐mediated, label‐free sorting of cell‐containing droplets from empty ones. Furthermore, we achieved an efficient size‐based separation of droplets. We envision that the developed optical device will be a useful tool for the online monitoring of passing droplets and will be implemented for the integration and automation of various droplet‐based microfluidic functional units.
The adsorption of fluoride from aqueous solutions by Fe, Mn, and Fe/Mn modified natural clinoptilolite and optimization using response surface methodology
Authors: Bilici Baskan Meltem , Biyikli Ali Riza
Published: October 2020

Natural clinoptilolite was modified using iron, manganese, or iron‐manganese for adsorption of fluoride from aqueous solutions. Natural and modified clinoptilolite samples were characterized by X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry, scanning electron microscope, X‐ray diffraction, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller. For all modified clinoptilolite samples, the time required to reach equilibrium was determined as 5 hr. The effects of adsorbent dose, pH, and initial fluoride concentration for fluoride adsorption were determined using the Box–Behnken Design. Maximum fluoride removal efficiency was 80.23% at the solution pH of 11, iron‐modified clinoptilolite amount of 1.08 g/50 ml and at the initial fluoride concentration of 2 mg/L. Fluoride adsorption on iron‐modified clinoptilolite showed good compatibility with the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model. The adsorption capacity of iron‐modified clinoptilolite was found to be 1.72 mg/g for the initial fluoride concentration of 50 mg/L. This study has shown that BBD is an effective and dependable method in determining the optimum conditions for fluoride adsorption.

Practitioner points

Response surface methodology is effective in determining the optimum conditions for fluoride adsorption using modified clinoptilolite.

Fluoride adsorption on iron‐modified clinoptilolite is well described Freundlich isotherm and follows pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model.

Fluoride removal percentage not only depends on the adsorbent dose, but also depends on the initial fluoride concentrations.

Regeneration process using acid solution is not very effective for desorption of iron‐modified zeolite.

The natural clinoptilolite is an effective and economical adsorbent for adsorption of fluoride.
Regulation of ribosomal protein genes: An ordered anarchy
Authors: Petibon Cyrielle , Malik Ghulam Mustafa , Catala Mathieu , Abou Elela Sherif
Published: October 2020

Ribosomal protein genes are among the most highly expressed genes in most cell types. Their products are generally essential for ribosome synthesis, which is the cornerstone for cell growth and proliferation. Many cellular resources are dedicated to producing ribosomal proteins and thus this process needs to be regulated in ways that carefully balance the supply of nascent ribosomal proteins with the demand for new ribosomes. Ribosomal protein genes have classically been viewed as a uniform interconnected regulon regulated in eukaryotic cells by target of rapamycin and protein kinase A pathway in response to changes in growth conditions and/or cellular status. However, recent literature depicts a more complex picture in which the amount of ribosomal proteins produced varies between genes in response to two overlapping regulatory circuits. The first includes the classical general ribosome‐producing program and the second is a gene‐specific feature responsible for fine‐tuning the amount of ribosomal proteins produced from each individual ribosomal gene. Unlike the general pathway that is mainly controlled at the level of transcription and translation, this specific regulation of ribosomal protein genes is largely achieved through changes in pre‐mRNA splicing efficiency and mRNA stability. By combining general and specific regulation, the cell can coordinate ribosome production, while allowing functional specialization and diversity. Here we review the many ways ribosomal protein genes are regulated, with special focus on the emerging role of posttranscriptional regulatory events in fine‐tuning the expression of ribosomal protein genes and its role in controlling the potential variation in ribosome functions.

This article is categorized under:

Translation > Ribosome Biogenesis

Translation > Ribosome Structure/Function

Translation > Translation Regulation
Seeing the Landscape Through Textual and Graphical Media Products
Authors: Eide Øyvind , Schubert Zoe
Published: October 2020

Space is a central element in human communication. In this chapter, the authors compare representations of landscapes in different media types, including texts, maps, and virtual reality to show how they express spatial conceptions. Such a comparison is necessary to understand the mechanisms behind combinations and transformations among different media; hence, it forms a useful basis for analysing media interacting with spaces more generally. Taking a step back, the authors then discuss how the materiality and concreteness of space interact with the abstract conceptual level of models. This makes it possible to study traditional two-dimensional maps and texts as well as three-dimensional modelling and virtual reality systems. Finally, the authors introduce virtual reality as a new media form in the light of empirical experiments conducted at the University of Cologne.
Justice vs Control in Cloud Computing: A Conceptual Framework for Positioning a Cloud Service Provider’s Privacy Orientation
Authors: Lyons Valerie
Published: October 2020

The continued rise in frequency and magnitude of cloud-based privacy breaches brings to the fore the challenges experienced by cloud service providers (CSPs) in balancing the need to maximize profit with the need to maintain data privacy. With a backdrop of the ineffectiveness of regulatory approaches to protecting privacy, this chapter explores privacy from a non-regulatory perspective—instead exploring a CSP’s approach to privacy as dynamics of control and justice. We apply control theory to represent the CSP’s compliance with privacy legislation and power over data, and we apply justice theory to represent the CSP exceeding compliance. Control theories, such as social contract theory, have frequently been applied to explore privacy challenges between organizations and consumers, as too have justice theories e.g. procedural and distributive justice. However, few studies have combined these theoretical concepts to provide a balanced view of these tensions in the cloud computing landscape. Integrating concepts from these theories, we construct a framework that can help to explain and position a CSP’s privacy orientation. Four key privacy orientations emerge in our framework, namely: Risk Managers, Integrators, Citizens and Warriors. We discuss the implications of each privacy orientation for CSPs. Our framework will enable future research to further understand, explore and compare the impact and effectiveness of each privacy orientation.
The Metamorphosis of the Significance of Death in Revolutionary Times: Mohammad Rabie’s Otared (2014)
Authors: Said Walaa
Published: October 2020

Although the rate of violence and death in Egyptian public places have increased dramatically since January 25, 2011, death and mourning have been dismissed from the focus of Tahrir writing, which is inclined to receive the eventful day and its aftermath through euphoric lens. As a counter-response, the rising wave of dystopian novels has flourished to provide a more confrontational attitude toward death as an inherent component of the revolutionary act. This chapter tackles the theme of violent death and its reflections in dystopian novels, with a close reading of Muḥammad Rabīʿ’s ʿUṭārid (2014).
Tunisia’s Re-Configurations and Transitional Justice in Process: How Planned Processes of Social and Political Change Interplay with Unplanned Political Dynamics
Authors: Salehi Mariam
Published: October 2020

This chapter seeks to explain the developments of the Tunisian transitional justice process. Drawing on Norbert Elias’s ideas about social processes, it argues that dynamics of transitional justice processes can neither be understood solely in light of international norms and the “justice industry” that both shape institutionalized transitional justice projects, nor simply by examining context and the political preferences of domestic actors. Rather, these shifts are shaped by the interplay of planned processes with unplanned political and social dynamics; with a political context in flux, power shifts, and sometimes competing planned efforts in other realms. Empirically grounded in “process-concurrent” field research in post- “Arab Spring” Tunisia, the contribution shows that a technocratic/institutionalized transitional justice project can develop dynamics that are somewhat, but not entirely, independent of power shifts. However, the above interplays may lead to frictional encounters that trigger feedback loops, new processes, and new structures.
Stringy canonical forms and binary geometries from associahedra, cyclohedra and generalized permutohedra
Authors: He Song , Li Zhenjie , Raman Prashanth , Zhang Chi
Published: October 2020

Abstract

Stringy canonical forms are a class of integrals that provideα′-deformations of the canonical form of any polytopes. For generalized associahedra of finite-type cluster algebras, there exist completely rigid stringy integrals, whose configuration spaces are the so-called binary geometries, and for classical types are associated with (generalized) scattering of particles and strings. In this paper, we propose a large class of rigid stringy canonical forms for another class of polytopes, generalized permutohedra, which also include associahedra and cyclohedra as special cases (typeAnandBngeneralized associahedra). Remarkably, we find that the configuration spaces of such integrals are also binary geometries, which were suspected to exist for generalized associahedra only. For any generalized permutohedron that can be written as Minkowski sum of coordinate simplices, we show that its rigid stringy integral factorizes into products of lower integrals for massless poles at finiteα′, and the configuration space is binary although theuequations take a more general form than those “perfect” ones for cluster cases. Moreover, we provide an infinite class of examples obtained by degenerations of typeAnandBnintegrals, which have perfectuequations as well. Our results provide yet another family of generalizations of the usual string integral and moduli space, whose physical interpretations remain to be explored.
Long way to Ricci flatness
Authors: Chen Jin , Sheu Chao-Hsiang , Shifman Mikhail , Tallarita Gianni , Yung Alexei
Published: October 2020

Abstract

We study two-dimensional weighted $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= (2) supersymmetric ℂℙ models with the goal of exploring their infrared (IR) limit. 𝕎ℂℙ(N,$$ \tilde{N} $$

N
˜

) are simplified versions of world-sheet theories on non-Abelian strings in four-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 2 QCD. In the gauged linear sigma model (GLSM) formulation, 𝕎ℂℙ(N,$$ \tilde{N} $$

N
˜

) has N charges +1 and $$ \tilde{N} $$

N
˜

charges −1 fields. As well-known, at $$ \tilde{N} $$

N
˜

= N this GLSM is conformal. Its target space is believed to be a non-compact Calabi-Yau manifold. We mostly focus on the N = 2 case, then the Calabi-Yau space is a conifold.

On the other hand, in the non-linear sigma model (NLSM) formulation the model has ultra-violet logarithms and does not look conformal. Moreover, its metric is not Ricci-flat. We address this puzzle by studying the renormalization group (RG) flow of the model. We show that the metric of NLSM becomes Ricci-flat in the IR. Moreover, it tends to the known metric of the resolved conifold. We also study a close relative of the 𝕎ℂℙ model — the so called zn model — which in actuality represents the world sheet theory on a non-Abelian semilocal string and show that this zn model has similar RG properties.
Improving maternal and newborn care: cost-effectiveness of an innovation to rebrand traditional birth attendants in Sierra Leone
Authors: Fotso Jean Christophe , Ambrose Ashley , Hutchinson Paul , Ali Disha
Published: October 2020

Objectives

This paper evaluates the cost-effectiveness of rebranding former traditional birth attendants (TBAs) to conduct health promotion activities and refer women to health facilities.

Methods

The project used 200 former TBAs, 100 of whom were also enrolled in a small income generating business. The evaluation had a three-arm, quasiexperimental design with baseline and endline household surveys. The three arms were: (a) Health promotion (HP) only; (b) Health promotion plus business (HP+);
and (c) the comparison group. The Lives Saved Tool is used to estimate the number of lives saved.

Results

The HP+ intervention had a statistically significant impact on health facility delivery and four or more antenatal care (ANC) visits during pregnancy. The cost-effectiveness ratio was estimated at US$4130 per life year saved in the HP only arm, and US$1539 in the HP+ arm. Therefore, only the HP+ intervention is considered to be cost-effective.

Conclusions

It is critical to prioritize cost-effective interventions such as, in the case of rural Sierra Leone, community-based strategies involving rebranding TBAs as health promoters and enrolling them in health-related income generating activities.
Maximizing efficiency of genomic selection in CIMMYT’s tropical maize breeding program
Authors: Atanda Sikiru Adeniyi , Olsen Michael , Burgueño Juan , Crossa Jose , Dzidzienyo Daniel , Beyene Yoseph , Gowda Manje , Dreher Kate , Zhang Xuecai , Prasanna Boddupalli M. , Tongoona Pangirayi , Danquah Eric Yirenkyi , Olaoye Gbadebo , Robbins Kelly R.
Published: October 2020

Key message

Historical data from breeding programs can be efficiently used to improve genomic selection accuracy, especially when the training set is optimized to subset individuals most informative of the target testing set.

The current strategy for large-scale implementation of genomic selection (GS) at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) global maize breeding program has been to train models using information from full-sibs in a “test-half-predict-half approach.” Although effective, this approach has limitations, as it requires large full-sib populations and limits the ability to shorten variety testing and breeding cycle times. The primary objective of this study was to identify optimal experimental and training set designs to maximize prediction accuracy of GS in CIMMYT’s maize breeding programs. Training set (TS) design strategies were evaluated to determine the most efficient use of phenotypic data collected on relatives for genomic prediction (GP) using datasets containing 849 (DS1) and 1389 (DS2) DH-lines evaluated as testcrosses in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Our results show there is merit in the use of multiple bi-parental populations as TS when selected using algorithms to maximize relatedness between the training and prediction sets. In a breeding program where relevant past breeding information is not readily available, the phenotyping expenditure can be spread across connected bi-parental populations by phenotyping only a small number of lines from each population. This significantly improves prediction accuracy compared to within-population prediction, especially when the TS for within full-sib prediction is small. Finally, we demonstrate that prediction accuracy in either sparse testing or “test-half-predict-half” can further be improved by optimizing which lines are planted for phenotyping and which lines are to be only genotyped for advancement based on GP.
Heat transfer during pulsating liquid jet impingement onto a vertical wall
Authors: Wassenberg J. , Stephan P. , Gambaryan-Roisman T.
Published: October 2020

Liquid jet impingement is used for cooling and cleaning in various industrial branches. The advantages of jet impingement include high heat and mass transport rates in the vicinity of the impingement point. Pulsating liquid jets impinging on horizontal substrates with a pulsation frequency around 100 Hz have been shown to increase the cooling efficiency in comparison to jets with continuous mass flow rates. The influence of jet pulsation on cooling efficiency for impingement of horizontal jets onto vertical walls has not yet been investigated. In the case of a vertical heated wall, gravity contributes to the liquid flow pattern. In particular, if the time span between two pulses is sufficiently long, the liquid drainage from the region above the impingement point can contribute to heat transport without increasing the average flow rate of the cooling medium. In this work, the influence of pulsations on heat transfer during impingement of a horizontal liquid jet onto a vertical wall is investigated experimentally for the pulsation frequency range 1–5 Hz. The results regarding increase of heat transfer efficiency are related to flow patterns developing by impingement of successive pulses, as well as to the liquid splattering.
Effective use of the McNemar test
Authors: Pembury Smith Matilda Q. R. , Ruxton Graeme D.
Published: October 2020

It is not uncommon for researchers to want to interrogate paired binomial data. For example, researchers may want to compare an organism’s response (positive or negative) to two different stimuli. If they apply both stimuli to a sample of individuals, it would be natural to present the data in a 2 × 2 table. There would be two cells with concordant results (the frequency of individuals which responded positively or negatively to both stimuli) and two cells with discordant results (the frequency of individuals who responded positively to one stimulus, but negatively to the other). The key issue is whether the totals in the two discordant cells are sufficiently different to suggest that the stimuli trigger different reactions. In terms of the null hypothesis testing paradigm, this would translate as a P value which is the probability of seeing the observed difference in these two values or a more extreme difference if the two stimuli produced an identical reaction. The statistical test designed to provide this P value is the McNemar test. Here, we seek to promote greater and better use of the McNemar test. To achieve this, we fully describe a range of circumstances within biological research where it can be effectively applied, describe the different variants of the test that exist, explain how these variants can be accessed in R, and offer guidance on which of these variants to adopt. To support our arguments, we highlight key recent methodological advances and compare these with a novel survey of current usage of the test.

Significance statement

When analysing paired binomial data, researchers appear to reflexively apply a chi-squared test, with the McNemar test being largely overlooked, despite it often being more appropriate. As these tests evaluate a different null hypothesis, selecting the appropriate test is essential for effective analysis. When using the McNemar test, there are four methods that can be applied. Recent advice has outlined clear guidelines on which method should be used. By conducting a survey, we provide support for these guidelines, but identify that the method chosen in publications is rarely specified or the most appropriate. Our study provides clear guidance on which method researchers should select and highlights examples of when this test should be used and how it can be implemented easily to improve future research.
Endovascular stroke treatment using balloon guide catheters may reduce penumbral tissue damage and improve long-term outcome
Authors: Berndt Maria T. , Goyal Mayank , Psychogios Marios , Kaesmacher Johannes , Boeckh-Behrens Tobias , Wunderlich Silke , Zimmer Claus , Friedrich Benjamin , Maegerlein Christian
Published: October 2020

Objectives

During mechanical recanalization of large vessel occlusions (LVO), the use of proximal flow arrest with balloon guide catheters (BGC) was shown to be associated with better angiographic and even clinical outcome. The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of BGC use on microstructural alterations in the salvaged penumbra.

Methods

All patients who underwent mechanical recanalization of LVO of the anterior circulation were reviewed within a prospective stroke registry of a single comprehensive stroke center. Fifty-two patients received an admission CT perfusion together with post-interventional diffusion tensor imaging. Technical details such as BGC usage were correlated with microstructural integrity changes of the salvaged gray matter through the mean diffusivity (MD) index. Moderation analysis was performed to test the interaction of BGC on the correlation between angiographic and clinical outcomes.

Results

For all patients with complete reperfusion, microstructural integrity changes with lowered MD index were found within the salvaged penumbra for cases of non-BGC usage (mean − 0.02) compared to cases with BGC usage (0.01, p = 0.04). The importance of complete reperfusion for good clinical outcome is predominantly based on patients treated with BGC (effect 2.78, p = 0.01 vs. for non-BGC: 0.3, p = 0.71).

Conclusions

The lowered MD index early after mechanical recanalization without BGC usage can be interpreted as microstructural ischemic damage of the salvaged penumbra. It was shown that achieving complete reperfusion in a setting of BGC usage with proximal flow arrest minimizes penumbral damage and improves long-term outcomes.

Key Points

• Microstructural ischemic damage can be reduced by using proximal flow arrest during endovascular treatment with balloon guide catheter.

• Complete reperfusion in a setting of balloon guide catheter minimizes penumbral damage and improves long-term outcome.
MR imaging by 3D T1-weighted black blood sequences may improve delineation of therapy-naive high-grade gliomas
Authors: Finck Tom , Gempt Jens , Zimmer Claus , Kirschke Jan S. , Sollmann Nico
Published: October 2020

Objectives

To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced (CE) turbo spin echo black blood (BB) sequences for imaging of therapy-naive high-grade gliomas (HGGs).

Methods

Consecutive patients with histopathologically confirmed World Health Organization (WHO) grade III or IV gliomas and no oncological treatment prior to index imaging (March 2019 to January 2020) were retrospectively included. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 Tesla comprised CE BB and CE turbo field echo (TFE) sequences. The lack/presence of tumor-related contrast enhancement and satellite lesions were evaluated by two readers. Sharper delineation of tumor boundaries (1, bad; 2, intermediate; 3, good delineation) and vaster expansion of HGGs into the adjacent brain parenchyma on CE BB imaging were the endpoints. Furthermore, contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) were calculated and compared between sequences.

Results

Fifty-four patients were included (mean age: 61.2 ± 15.9 years, 64% male). The vast majority of HGGs (51/54) showed contrast enhancement in both sequences, while two HGGs as well as one of six detected satellite lesions were depicted in CE BB imaging only. Tumor boundaries were significantly sharper (R1: 2.43 ± 0.71 vs. 2.73 ± 0.62, p < 0.001; R2: 2.44 ± 0.74 vs. 2.77 ± 0.60, p = 0.001), while the spread of HGGs into the adjacent parenchyma was larger when considering CE BB sequences according to both readers (larger spread in CE BB sequences: R1: 23 patients; R2: 20 patients). The CNR for CE BB sequences significantly exceeded that of CE TFE sequences (43.4 ± 27.1 vs. 32.5 ± 25.0, p = 0.0028).

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that BB imaging may considerably improve delineation of therapy-naive HGGs when compared with established TFE imaging. Thus, CE BB sequences might supplement MRI protocols for brain tumors.

Key Points

• This study investigated contrast-enhanced (CE) T1-weighted black blood (BB) sequences for improved MRI in patients with therapy-naive high-grade gliomas (HGGs).

• Compared with conventionally used turbo field echo (TFE) sequences, CE BB sequences depicted tumor boundaries and spread of HGGs into adjacent parenchyma considerably better, which also showed higher CNRs.

• Two enhancing tumor masses and one satellite lesion were exclusively identified in CE BB sequences, but remained undetected in conventionally used CE TFE sequences.
Effect of Temperature on Stiffness of Sandstones from the Deep North Sea Basin
Authors: Orlander Tobias , Andreassen Katrine Alling , Fabricius Ida Lykke
Published: October 2020

Development of high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) petroleum reservoirs situated at depths exceeding 5 km and in situ temperature of 170 °C increases the demand for theories and supporting experimental data capable of describing temperature effects on rock stiffness. With the intention of experimentally investigating temperature effects on stiffness properties, we investigated three sandstones from the deep North Sea Basin. As the North Sea Basin is presently undergoing substantial subsidence, we assumed that studied reservoir sandstones have never experienced higher temperature than in situ. We measured ultrasonic velocities in a low- and high-stress regime, and used mass density and stress–strain curves to derive, respectively, dynamic and static elastic moduli. We found that in both regimes, the dry sandstones stiffens with increasing testing temperature and assign expansion of minerals as a controlling mechanism. In the low-stress regime with only partial microcrack closure, we propose closure of microcracks as the stiffening mechanism. In the high-stress regime, we propose that thermal expansion of constituting minerals increases stress in grain contacts when the applied stress is high enough for conversion of thermal strain to thermal stress, thus leading to higher stiffness at in situ temperature. We then applied an extension of Biot’s effective stress equation including a non-isothermal term from thermoelastic theory and explain test results by adding boundary conditions to the equations.
Construction of some Chowla sequences
Authors: Shi Ruxi
Published: October 2020

In this paper, we show that for a twice differentiable function g having countable zeros and for Lebesgue almost every $$\beta >1$$

β
>
1

, the sequence $$(e^{2\pi i \beta ^ng(\beta )})_{n\in {\mathbb {N}}}$$

(

e

2
π
i

β
n

g

(
β
)

)

n
∈
N

is orthogonal to all topological dynamical systems of zero entropy. To this end, we define the Chowla property and the Sarnak property for numerical sequences taking values 0 or complex numbers of modulus 1. We prove that the Chowla property implies the Sarnak property and show that for Lebesgue almost every $$\beta >1$$

β
>
1

, the sequence $$(e^{2\pi i \beta ^n})_{n\in {\mathbb {N}}}$$

(

e

2
π
i

β
n

)

n
∈
N

shares the Chowla property. It is also discussed whether the samples of a given random sequence have the Chowla property almost surely. Some dependent random sequences having almost surely the Chowla property are constructed.
Effect of RNA silencing suppression activity of chrysanthemum virus B p12 protein on small RNA species
Authors: Vetukuri Ramesh R. , Kalyandurg Pruthvi B. , Saripella Ganapathi Varma , Sen Diya , Gil Jose Fernando , Lukhovitskaya Nina I. , Grenville-Briggs Laura J. , Savenkov Eugene I.
Published: October 2020

Chrysanthemum virus B encodes a multifunctional p12 protein that acts as a transcriptional activator in the nucleus and as a suppressor of RNA silencing in the cytoplasm. Here, we investigated the impact of p12 on accumulation of major classes of small RNAs (sRNAs). The results show dramatic changes in the sRNA profiles characterised by an overall reduction in sRNA accumulation, changes in the pattern of size distribution of canonical siRNAs and in the ratio between sense and antisense strands, lower abundance of siRNAs with a U residue at the 5′-terminus, and changes in the expression of certain miRNAs, most of which were downregulated.