bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
In‐Hospital Costs for Open versus Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Craniopharyngioma Resection
Authors: Parasher Arjun K , Lerner David K , Miranda Stephen P. , Douglas Jennifer E. , Glicksman Jordan T , Alexander Tyler , Lin Theodore , Ebesutani Darren , Kohanski Michael , Lee John YK , Storm Phillip B , O'Malley Bert W , Yoshor Daniel , Palmer James N , Grady M Sean , Adappa Nithin D
Published: August 2022

Objective

To determine the in‐hospital cost implications of an expanded endoscopic endonasal approach (EEEA) for craniopharyngioma resection relative to the traditional open transcranial approach.

Methods

All craniopharyngioma surgeries performed at a single institution over a period from January 1st 2001 to October 31th 2017 were evaluated. The electronic medical record was reviewed for patient factors, tumor characteristics, and cost variables associated with each hospital stay and univariate regression analysis was performed using R software.

Results

Thirty‐six patients met study criteria, including 22 undergoing an open approach and 14 undergoing an EEEA. There was a significantly longer average length of stay among patients undergoing open resection (21.5 vs. 10.6 days, p = 0.024). The average total in‐hospital cost of a patient undergoing an EEEA was $58979.3 compared to $89142.3 for an open approach (p = 0.127). On univariate regression analysis, the total in‐hospital cost for a patient undergoing an open approach relative to an EEEA was $30163.0 (p = 0.127). The open approach was exclusively performed from study onset until April 2010 (16 patients). From April 2010 to August 2013, 6 open approaches and 5 EEEA were performed. The EEEA has been exclusively performed from August 2013 until the conclusion of our study period (9 patients).

Conclusions

There has been a shift toward surgical resection of craniopharyngioma via an EEEA approach for amenable tumors. Our study demonstrates that the EEEA has become the preferred surgical approach at our institution, and shows that the EEEA is associated with shorter postoperative length of stay and lower total in‐hospital cost. Laryngoscope, 133:83–87, 2023
pH‐Responsive Charge‐Convertible N‐Succinyl Chitosan‐Quercetin Coordination Polymer Nanoparticles for Effective NIR Photothermal Cancer Therapy
Authors: Bhartiya Prabha , Chawla Ruchi , Dutta Pradip K.
Published: August 2022

In recent years, a combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) with chemotherapy has emerged as a new promising strategy to achieve synergistic cancer therapeutic efficacy. Coordination polymer nanocomposites (CPNs) are a new generation of photothermal agents (PTAs) for cancer therapy owing to their high photothermal transduction efficiency, excellent biocompatibility as well as biodegradability and bioactivity. In this study, a robust and scalable synthesis of pH‐sensitive charge convertible NSC‐Fe‐Que coordination polymer nanoparticles (CPNs) based on the coordination reaction between Fe3+, anti‐cancer prodrug quercetin (Que), and pH‐sensitive zwitterionic biopolymer N‐succinyl chitosan (NSC) is reported. The as‐prepared CPNs exhibit slightly negative zeta potential at neutral pH while positive zeta potential at pH 6.5, which ensures long blood circulation and high accumulation in the tumor region. NSC‐Fe‐Que CPNs exhibited strong absorption in NIR (500–850 nm) region and displayed a good anticancer effect against A549 cells attributing to the chemo‐photothermal synergistic effect. This study demonstrated that the NSC‐Fe‐Que CPNs hold great promise as an effective thermo‐chemotherapy agent for combination therapy against cancer.
Atypical presentation of Angelman syndrome with intact expressive language due to low‐level mosaicism
Authors: Punatar Ruchi , Egense Alena , Mao Rong , Procter Melinda , Bosworth Michelle , Quigley Denise I. , Angkustsiri Kathleen , Shankar Suma P.
Published: August 2022

Background

Angelman syndrome (AS) occurs due to a lack of expression or function of the maternally inherited UBE3A gene. Individuals with AS typically have significant developmental delay, severe speech impairment with absent to minimal verbal language, gait abnormalities including ataxia, and an incongruous happy demeanor. The majority of individuals with AS also have seizures and microcephaly. Some individuals with mosaic AS have been reported to have expressive language and milder levels of developmental delay.

Case Report

We report a male patient presenting with mild to moderate intellectual disability, hyperphagia, obesity, and the ability to communicate verbally. His phenotype was suggestive of Prader‐Willi syndrome. However, methylation testing was positive for Angelman syndrome and additional methylation specific multiplex ligation‐dependent amplification (MS‐MLPA) study revealed low‐level mosaicism for AS.

Conclusion

A broader phenotypic spectrum should be considered for AS as patients with atypical presentations may otherwise elude diagnosis.
Results of study question wisdom of work requirements in SNAP
Authors: Enos Gary
Published: August 2022

The potential mental health effects of imposing work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries have concerned the advocacy community for years, and now there is new research that suggests this worry should extend to recipients of other government benefits as well.
Program seeks to grow workforce of peers for youths, families
Authors: Enos Gary
Published: August 2022

A youth‐ and family‐focused center housed at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) has announced the launch of a program to enhance peer support services targeting youths with mental health needs and their families. Details of the new initiative remain sketchy at this early stage, but a coordinator with the university's Center for Youth, Family and Community Partnerships told MHW that the program will strive to make trained peer support workers available to youth and families in all 100 North Carolina counties.
Educators, parents prefer schools play larger role in youth MH
Authors: Canady Valerie A.
Published: August 2022

With school openings just around the corner, and amid a national emergency in youth mental health, a new study has found that the majority of parents—citing cost and service access barriers—are looking to schools to provide their children with mental health support. Additionally, the majority of educators surveyed said they want to help solve the youth mental health crisis.
The ground states for Hartree–Fock systems with a general nonlinearity
Authors: Chen Mingzhen , Jin Hua
Published: August 2022

We consider the least energy solutions of Hatree–Fock system with the coupling term
in the two equations, and the nonlinearity are general subcritical with a small perturbation. By Nehari's manifold approach, the existence of nontrivial ground state solutions is obtained. The asymptotic behaviors with respect to parameters
and
are also studied.
A Legendre–Galerkin Chebyshev collocation method for the Burgers equation with a random perturbation on boundary condition
Authors: Pan Jiajia , Wu Hua
Published: August 2022

In the paper, we apply the generalized polynomial chaos expansion and spectral methods to the Burgers equation with a random perturbation on its left boundary condition. Firstly, the stochastic Galerkin method combined with the Legendre–Galerkin Chebyshev collocation scheme is adopted, which means that the original equation is transformed to the deterministic nonlinear equations by the stochastic Galerkin method and the Legendre–Galerkin Chebyshev collocation scheme is used to deal with the resulting nonlinear equations. Secondly, the stochastic Legendre–Galerkin Chebyshev collocation scheme is developed for solving the stochastic Burgers equation; that is, the stochastic Legendre–Galerkin method is used to discrete the random variable meanwhile the nonlinear term is interpolated through the Chebyshev–Gauss points. Then a set of deterministic linear equations can be obtained, which is in contrast to the other existing methods for the stochastic Burgers equation. The mean square convergence of the former method is analyzed. Numerical experiments are performed to show the effectiveness of our two methods. Both methods provide alternative approaches to deal with the stochastic differential equations with nonlinear terms.
Single‐step post‐production treatment of lead acetate precursor‐based perovskite using alkylamine salts for reduced grain‐boundary related film defects
Authors: Gebremichael Zekarias Teklu , Alam Shahidul , Stumpf Steffi , Diegel Marco , Schubert Ulrich S. , Hoppe Harald
Published: August 2022

Powered by the worldwide efforts of research groups experienced in dye‐sensitized, and thin‐film solar cells, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) reached a power conversion efficiency of 25.7% within 10 years. However, the presence of defects and trap density within the active layer's grain boundaries commonly operates as non‐radiative recombination centers. Hence, intensive efforts have been reported to passivate the inevitable bulk and interface defects of the active layer using additives or post‐treatment processing to enhance the efficiency and stability of PSCs. Herein, a facile post‐treatment strategy based on wet processing methylammonium lead triiodide, MAPbI3 (prepared from lead acetate and methylammonium iodide precursors) films with organic amine salts (FABr and FAI) is demonstrated. As a result, high‐quality films of mixed perovskites (FAxMA1‐xPbI3‐xBrx and FAxMA1‐xPbI3) were obtained. The surface treatment has efficiently passivate the defects in the host film, suppressing the non‐radiative carrier recombination. Compared to the control device, the increased open‐circuit voltage (from 0.5 V to 1 V) and fill factor (FF) values of the optimized device based on FAxMA1‐xPbI3 showed a PCE of 16.13%. And our findings revealed that post‐treatment is possible on wet perovskite film aged for a few minutes prior to its post‐treatment, which saved the energy used for pre‐annealing.
Association of prepregnancy physical activity with obesity in offspring: The Japan Environment and Children's Study
Authors: Noda Masahiro , Yoshida Satomi , Kawakami Chihiro , Takeuchi Masato , Kawakami Koji , Ito Shuichi ,   Japan Environment and Children's Study Group
Published: August 2022

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between maternal prepregnancy physical activity (PA) and overweight/obesity in 3‐year‐old children.

Methods

Using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (a birth cohort study), maternal prepregnancy PA was categorized into low, moderate, and high with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The reference group was defined as children born to mothers with moderate PA. The association between prepregnancy PA and overweight/obesity or obesity in children was investigated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results

Of the 65,245 participants, 48.7%, 32.7%, and 18.6% were born to mothers in the low, moderate, and high PA groups, respectively. Furthermore, 24.9%, 24.6%, and 25.9% of children with overweight/obesity and 9.4%, 9.2%, and 10.4% of children with obesity were born to mothers in the low, moderate, and high PA groups, respectively. The adjusted odds ratios for overweight/obesity in the low and high PA groups were 1.02 (95% CI: 0.98‐1.06) and 1.04 (95% CI: 0.98‐1.09), and those for obesity were 1.03 (95% CI: 0.97‐1.09) and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.99‐1.16), respectively.

Conclusions

Maternal prepregnancy PA was not associated with overweight/obesity or obesity in 3‐year‐old children.
Perceived intrinsic, social, and environmental barriers for weight management in older Hispanic/Latino adults with obesity
Authors: Dao Maria Carlota , Yu Zihan , Maafs‐Rodríguez Ana , Moser Brandy , Cuevas Adolfo G. , Economos Christina D. , Roberts Susan B.
Published: August 2022

Background

The burden of obesity and chronic disease is increasing in the older US Hispanic/Latino adult population. There is limited evidence on successful weight management strategies as perceived by this population. Assessing barriers and opportunities for weight management using mixed methods is a robust approach to collect in‐depth information that can be applied to the development of well‐tailored weight management interventions for this population.

Objective

The objective of this study was to assess perceived individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that influence weight management in older Hispanic/Latino adults.

Methods

This community‐based cross‐sectional study included 23 Hispanic/Latino older (>50y) adults with obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2). Perceived barriers and opportunities for weight management were assessed through validated questionnaires and focus groups. Prospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03978416) on 7 June 2019.

Results

In this demographically heterogeneous population, language acculturation was generally low, and the frequency of poor dietary behaviors was high. Participants linked financial strain to lower diet quality, as well as anxiety to uncontrolled eating and food cravings. Social support and trust in healthcare professionals were perceived as priorities for healthy eating. Structural and environmental barriers such as affordability and availability of culturally preferred foods were also identified as influences on food choices and eating behavior.

Conclusions

This study revealed opportunities for culturally tailored weight management interventions in older Hispanic/Latino adults with obesity.

Clinical Trial Registry Number

NCT03978416 (ClinicalTrials.gov)
Fifty years of capacity building: Taking stock and moving research forward1
Authors: Kacou Kablan P. , Ika Lavagnon A. , Munro Lauchlan T.
Published: August 2022

This paper assesses the literature on “capacity building” through a systematic literature review. Taking concepts as the ontological building blocks of theories, we ask: what is known about the evolution of capacity building as a concept and what can that history tell us about its strengths and weaknesses? To this end, we dig into the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of capacity building. Through this Foucauldian “archaeological description”, we show that capacity building discourse has evolved dialectically, with each new concept emerging to address the failings of earlier concepts. The paper suggests the “new pragmatism” as a theoretical framework to guide a more rigorous and relevant theory and practice of capacity building especially for public administration. Rooted in sensitivity to context and methodological pluralism, the new pragmatism embraces complexity, delivers “best‐fit” rather than “best practice” solutions, and involves researchers and practitioners in decolonial knowledge co‐creation to tackle capacity building challenges.
Evaluation of tensile properties on glass/carbon fiber epoxy pure, interply, and locally nested intraply hybrid composites
Authors: Tüzemen Mehmet Çağrı
Published: August 2022

In this study, the behavior of pure glass fiber/epoxy, pure carbon fiber/epoxy, interply hybrid, and locally nested intraply hybrid composites under tensile load was investigated. The specimens were produced by the vacuum‐assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) method. Interply hybrid composites showed approximately the average tensile strength of the glass and carbon fiber/epoxy composites, with 603 MPa. Intraply hybrid composites had 17% lower tensile strength than pure glass fiber/epoxy composites due to the discontinuity of the fibers in the structure. Therefore, pure or interply hybrid composites are suitable in cases where tensile strength is more important, while in special cases where different properties are desired in different regions of a monolithic structure, locally nested intraply hybrid composites can be used. While the finite element analysis (FEA) results of pure and interply hybrid composites were very close to the tensile test, the amount of deviation increased in intraply hybrid composites due to fiber discontinuity. Fiber and void volume fractions of hybrid specimens were found to be around 62% and 1.45%, respectively. The numerical and experimental results of pure carbon fiber/epoxy composite are validated by the analytical solution.
The prenatal and postnatal effects of air pollution on asthma in children with atopic dermatitis
Authors: Chen I‐Lun , Chung Hao‐Wei , Hsieh Hui‐Min , Chen Szu‐Chia , Chen Huang‐Chi , Lin Yi‐Ching , Hung Chih‐Hsing
Published: August 2022

Objectives

Air pollution is strongly associated with asthma, but has not been determined to induce new‐onset asthma development in children with atopic dermatitis (AD).

Working Hypothesis

To assess whether prenatal/postnatal exposure to air pollutants triggers new‐onset asthma development in children with AD.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Patient‐subject Selection

Data of patients <age 18 years diagnosed with eczema or AD between 2009 and 2019 were extracted from the multicenter Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital Research Database. Patients diagnosed with new‐onset asthma were in the asthma group and patients without asthma history were in the non‐asthma group.

Methodology

The monthly average concentration of air pollutants for 1, 3, and 5 years before the index date, and 3, 6, and 9 months prenatally were analyzed and further stratified by age, immunoglobulin (Ig) E, and the percentage of eosinophil and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP).

Results

Postnatal exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), nitric dioxide (NO2), and NOx, and prenatal exposure to PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO, and NOx were significantly higher in the asthma group than in the non‐asthma group. Patients having IgE above 100 IU/ml and ECP less than 24 ng/ml were significantly influenced by postnatal exposure to PM2.5 and PM10, especially CO, to develop asthma, and those having an eosinophil count >3% were significantly influenced by prenatal exposure to PM2.5, especially SO2, NO, and NO2.

Conclusions

Prenatal and postnatal exposure to air pollution have an association with asthma development in AD patients.
Plasma biomarkers for systemic inflammation in COVID‐19 survivors
Authors: Zhao Juan , Schank Madison , Wang Ling , Dang Xindi , Cao Dechao , Khanal Sushant , Nguyen Lam N.T. , Zhang Yi , Wu Xiao Y. , Adkins James L. , Pelton Benjamin J. , Zhang Jinyu , Ning Shunbin , Gazzar Mohamed El , Moorman Jonathan P. , Yao Zhi Q.
Published: August 2022

Background

While the majority of COVID‐19 patients fully recover from the infection and become asymptomatic, a significant proportion of COVID‐19 survivors experience a broad spectrum of symptoms lasting weeks to months post‐infection, a phenomenon termed “post‐acute sequelae of COVID‐19 (PASC).” The aim of this study is to determine whether inflammatory proteins are dysregulated and can serve as potential biomarkers for systemic inflammation in COVID‐19 survivors.

Methods

We determined the levels of inflammatory proteins in plasma from 22 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) long haulers (COV‐LH), 22 COVID‐19 asymptomatic survivors (COV‐AS), and 22 healthy subjects (HS) using an Olink proteomics assay and assessed the results by a beads‐based multiplex immunoassay.

Results

Compared to HS, we found that COVID‐19 survivors still exhibited systemic inflammation, as evidenced by significant changes in the levels of multiple inflammatory proteins in plasma from both COV‐LH and COV‐AS. CXCL10 was the only protein that significantly upregulated in COV‐LH compared with COV‐AS and HS.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that several inflammatory proteins remain aberrantly dysregulated in COVID‐19 survivors and CXCL10 might serve as a potential biomarker to typify COV‐LH. Further characterization of these signature inflammatory molecules might improve the understanding of the long‐term impacts of COVID‐19 and provide new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of COVID‐19 survivors with PASC.
Mother's iliac bone graft for severe collapsed lumbar tuberculosis: A case report
Authors: You Yonggang , Chen Suli , Li Zhanqing , Zhang Yuanwen , Qiu Wenpeng
Published: August 2022

Early diagnosis of spinal tuberculosis in young children is difficult due to atypical clinical features. We report a case of lumbar tuberculosis with abscess of the psoas major muscle in a 4‐year‐old child. Spinal reconstruction was challenging due to the involvement of multiple vertebral levels. The child complained of lumbar and back pain. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed bone destruction of the L1–L3 vertebral body and abscess formation of the psoas major muscle. The child underwent excision of the vertebral lesions and a fresh iliac bone graft from his mother through an anterior approach and posterior fixation with T12–L1 and L4–L5 pedicle screws. At the 15‐month follow‐up, the patient had good clinico‐radiologic outcomes with evidence of bony fusion. No functional impairment of lumbar movements was found through physical examination during the follow‐up period. The report highlights the diagnostic dilemma of early childhood spinal tuberculosis due to lesions seen both on radiology and during surgery and discusses challenges in management of the disease and the relevant literature. The mother's iliac bone graft we describe can be a viable option in very young children with severe vertebral bone destruction requiring reconstruction by surgical procedure.
Study of the impact of the Îlot Tison weir on bedload transport of the Clain River (Poitiers, France) using BASEMENT software
Authors: Beaudoin Anthony
Published: August 2022

An increasing number of numerical morphodynamic models predict the evolution of bed configuration over a wide spectrum of spatial and temporal scales due to the development of advanced numerical methods and increased computational power. The increasing use of numerical morphodynamic models is closely related to the growing availability of high‐resolution river data sets. Today, the main difficulty in using numerical morphodynamic models is that they are used by nonspecialists modellers or modellers that are not morphodynamics specialists, which can lead to errors. These errors include inadequate parameterization of processes for applications at larger spatial and temporal scales, confusion between physical and numerical phenomena when interpreting numerical results, and the assumption that there is a need for a huge volume of data for developing numerical morphodynamic models. The present work aims to achieve two objectives. To avoid these errors, the first objective is to outline the steps in the development of numerical morphodynamic models. The development of numerical morphodynamic models is now possible with public databases. The second objective is to show the effectiveness of BASEMENT to study the impact of existing and future structures on the river hydrodynamics and bedload transport using case study examples.
Urban water security for developing countries
Authors: Biswas Asit K.
Published: August 2022

Populations in urban centers of developing countries have increased very significantly during the post‐1960 period, primarily due to urbanization. Rates of population growth during this period simply overwhelmed their financial, institutional, and technical capacities to manage all types of basic services, including the provision of clean water and proper wastewater management. Surprisingly, issues of access to clean water and sanitation at major international forums of very senior policymakers were first raised during the United Nations Conference, in Vancouver, in 1976. It recommended that everyone should have access to clean water by 1990. Subsequently, Millennium Development Goals set the target that, by 2015, the number of people not having access to clean water should be reduced by half, compared to 1990. The United Nations claimed that this target was met in 2010. However, this is not true. Thereafter, the Sustainable Development Goals stipulated that everyone should have access to clean water by 2030. Current developments indicate that this goal is highly unlikely to be reached. This paper objectively reviews the progress of urban water security in developing countries from the post‐1960 period, analyses why international targets were missed in the past, and what can be done to ensure urban water security in developing countries in the future.
COVID‐19 related distress and sleep health among trauma‐exposed South Asians: Does generational status matter?
Authors: Almeida Isamar M. , Slavish Danica C. , Rafiuddin Hanan S. , Contractor Ateka A.
Published: August 2022

The COVID‐19 pandemic has resulted in substantial changes in individual and socio‐economic factors that may negatively impact sleep health. We examined associations between COVID‐19 related distress and sleep among trauma‐exposed South Asian adults in the United States. Since a health advantage among foreign‐born individuals has been previously noted in the literature (the ‘immigrant paradox’), we also explored if generational status (number of generations one's family has been in the U.S.) moderated associations between COVID‐19 related distress and sleep health. Participants were 196 trauma‐exposed South Asian adults residing in the U.S. (54% male, 63% U.S.‐born citizens, average age = 34.51 years), who completed measures of generational status, COVID‐19 related distress, trauma exposure, sleep‐related impairment (SRI), and sleep disturbances. Greater COVID‐19 distress was associated with more sleep disturbances (b = 0.15, p < 0.001) and SRI (b = 0.24, p < 0.001). Generational status was not associated with sleep, nor did it modify associations between COVID‐19 distress and sleep. Findings highlight the potential importance of developing interventions to reduce stress and sleep difficulties during the pandemic. Our results did not support the immigration paradox. Future studies are needed to better understand the role of generational status on sleep health across immigrant subgroups.
Gecko Adhesion on Flat and Rough Surfaces: Simulations with a Multi‐Scale Molecular Model
Authors: Materzok Tobias , De Boer Danna , Gorb Stanislav , Müller‐Plathe Florian
Published: August 2022

A multiscale modeling approach is used to develop a particle‐based mesoscale gecko spatula model that is able to link atomistic simulations and mesoscale (0.44 µm) simulations. It is used to study the detachment of spatulae from flat as well as nanostructured surfaces. The spatula model is based on microscopical information about spatulae structure and on atomistic molecular simulation results. Target properties for the coarse‐graining result from a united‐atom model of gecko keratin in periodic boundary conditions (PBC), previously developed by the authors. Pull‐off forces necessary to detach gecko keratin under 2D PBC parallel to the surface are previously overestimated when only a small region of a spatula is examined. It is shown here that this is due to the restricted geometry (i.e., missing peel‐off mode) and not model parameters. The spatula model peels off when pulled away from a surface, both in the molecular picture of the pull‐off process and in the force‐extension curve of non‐equilibrium simulations mimicking single‐spatula detachment studied with atomic force microscopy equipment. The force field and spatula model can reproduce experimental pull‐off forces. Inspired by experimental results, the underlying mechanism that causes pull‐off forces to be at a minimum on surfaces of varying roughnesses is also investigated. A clear sigmoidal increase in the pull‐off force of spatulae with surface roughness shows that adhesion is determined by the ratio between spatula pad area and the area between surface peaks. Experiments showed a correlation with root‐mean‐square roughness of the surface, but the results of this work indicate that this is not a causality but depends on the area accessible.
Model‐based generation of test scripts across product variants: An experience report from the railway industry
Authors: Bucaioni Alessio , Di Silvestro Fabio , Singh Inderjeet , Saadatmand Mehrdad , Muccini Henry
Published: August 2022

Software product line engineering emerged as an effective approach for the development of families of software‐intensive systems in several industries. Although its use has been widely discussed and researched, there are still several open challenges for its industrial adoption and application. One of these is how to efficiently develop and reuse shared software artifacts, which have dependencies on the underlying electrical and hardware systems of products in a family. In this work, we report on our experience in tackling such a challenge in the railway industry and present a model‐based approach for the automatic generation of test scripts for product variants in software product lines. The proposed approach is the result of an effort leveraging the experiences and results from the technology transfer activities with our industrial partner Alstom SA in Sweden. We applied and evaluated the proposed approach on the Aventra software product line from Alstom SA. The evaluation showed that the proposed approach mitigates the development effort, development time, and consistency drawbacks associated with the traditional, manual creation of test scripts. We performed an online survey involving 37 engineers from Alstom SA for collecting feedback on the approach. The result of the survey further confirms the aforementioned benefits.
Managing liver fluke on hill farms
Authors: Carson Amanda , Jones Bryony , Grove‐White Dai
Published: August 2022

This focus article has been prepared by Amanda Carson and Bryony Jones of the APHA Small Ruminant Expert Group and Dai Grove‐White of the University of Liverpool.
John Sterry
Authors: Lander Den
Published: August 2022

A vet with all‐round ability, focus and capacity for hard work. His involvement in meat hygiene led him to chair the BVA's public health committee and become its spokesman on related matters.
A successful start for BVA Live!
Authors: Patterson Ellie
Published: August 2022

Ellie Patterson, BVA head of marketing, shares some of the highlights from BVA Live 2022.
PAC Statistical Model Checking of Mean Payoff in Discrete- and Continuous-Time MDP
Authors: Agarwal Chaitanya , Guha Shibashis , Křetínský Jan , Muruganandham Pazhamalai
Published: August 2022

Markov decision processes (MDP) and continuous-time MDP (CTMDP) are the fundamental models for non-deterministic systems with probabilistic uncertainty. Mean payoff (a.k.a. long-run average reward) is one of the most classic objectives considered in their context. We provide the first algorithm to compute mean payoff probably approximately correctly in unknown MDP; further, we extend it to unknown CTMDP. We do not require any knowledge of the state space, only a lower bound on the minimum transition probability, which has been advocated in literature. In addition to providing probably approximately correct (PAC) bounds for our algorithm, we also demonstrate its practical nature by running experiments on standard benchmarks.
Verifying Fairness in Quantum Machine Learning
Authors: Guan Ji , Fang Wang , Ying Mingsheng
Published: August 2022

Due to the beyond-classical capability of quantum computing, quantum machine learning is applied independently or embedded in classical models for decision making, especially in the field of finance. Fairness and other ethical issues are often one of the main concerns in decision making. In this work, we define a formal framework for the fairness verification and analysis of quantum machine learning decision models, where we adopt one of the most popular notions of fairness in the literature based on the intuition—any two similar individuals must be treated similarly and are thus unbiased. We show that quantum noise can improve fairness and develop an algorithm to check whether a (noisy) quantum machine learning model is fair. In particular, this algorithm can find bias kernels of quantum data (encoding individuals) during checking. These bias kernels generate infinitely many bias pairs for investigating the unfairness of the model. Our algorithm is designed based on a highly efficient data structure—Tensor Networks—and implemented on Google’s TensorFlow Quantum. The utility and effectiveness of our algorithm are confirmed by the experimental results, including income prediction and credit scoring on real-world data, for a class of random (noisy) quantum decision models with 27 qubits ($$2^{27}$$227-dimensional state space) tripling ($$2^{18}$$218times more than) that of the state-of-the-art algorithms for verifying quantum machine learning models.
Entanglement entropy of gravitational edge modes
Authors: David Justin R. , Mukherjee Jyotirmoy
Published: August 2022

Abstract

We consider the linearised graviton in 4d Minkowski space and decompose it into tensor spherical harmonics and fix the gauge. The Gauss law of gravity implies that certain radial components of the Riemann tensor of the graviton on the sphere labels the superselection sectors for the graviton. We show that among these 6 normal components of the Riemann tensor, 2 are related locally to the algebra of gauge-invariant operators in the sphere. From the two-point function of these components of the Riemann tensor on S2 we compute the logarithmic coefficient of the entanglement entropy of these superselection sectors across a spherical entangling surface. For sectors labelled by each of the two components of the Riemann tensor these coefficients are equal and their total contribution is given by $$ -\frac{16}{3} $$
−

16
3

. We observe that this coefficient coincides with that extracted from the edge partition function of the massless spin-2 field on the 4-sphere when written in terms of its Harish-Chandra character. As a preliminary step, we also evaluate the logarithmic coefficient of the entanglement entropy from the superselection sectors labelled by the radial component of the electric field of the U(1) theory in even d dimensions. We show that this agrees with the corresponding coefficient of the edge Harish-Chandra character of the massless spin-1 field on Sd.
Axion anomalies
Authors: Adshead Peter , Lozanov Kaloian D.
Published: August 2022

Abstract

We study fermions derivatively coupled to axion-like or pseudoscalar fields, and show that the axial vector current of the fermions is not conserved in the limit where the fermion is massless. This apparent violation of the classical chiral symmetry is due to the background axion field. We compute the contributions to this anomalous Ward identity due to the pseudoscalar field alone, which arise in Minkowski space, as well as the effects due to an interaction with an external gravitational field. For the case of massless fermions, these interactions induce terms in the axion effective action that can be removed by the addition of local counterterms. We demonstrate that these counterterms are generated by the transformation of the path integral measure when transforming the theory from a form where the chiral symmetry is manifest to one where the symmetry is only apparent after using the classical equations of motion. We work perturbatively in Minkowski space and include the effects of interactions with a linearized gravitational field. Using the heat kernel method, we study the transformation properties of the path integral measure, and include the effects of non-linear gravity as well as interactions with gauge fields. Finally, we verify our relation by considering derivatively coupled fermions during pseudoscalar-driven inflation and computing the divergence of the axial current in de Sitter spacetime.
Risk management patterns in radiation oncology—results of a national survey within the framework of the Patient Safety in German Radiation Oncology (PaSaGeRO) project
Authors: Baehr Andrea , Hummel Daniel , Gauer Tobias , Oertel Michael , Kittel Christopher , Löser Anastassia , Todorovic Manuel , Petersen Cordula , Krüll Andreas , Buchgeister Markus
Published: August 2022

Purpose

Risk management (RM) is a key component of patient safety in radiation oncology (RO). We investigated current approaches on RM in German RO within the framework of the Patient Safety in German Radiation Oncology (PaSaGeRO) project. Aim was not only to evaluate a status quo of RM purposes but furthermore to discover challenges for sustainable RM that should be addressed in future research and recommendations.

Methods

An online survey was conducted from June to August 2021, consisting of 18 items on prospective and reactive RM, protagonists of RM, and self-assessment concerning RM. The survey was designed using LimeSurvey and invitations were sent by e‑mail. Answers were requested once per institution.

Results

In all, 48 completed questionnaires from university hospitals, general and non-academic hospitals, and private practices were received and considered for evaluation. Prospective and reactive RM was commonly conducted within interprofessional teams; 88% of all institutions performed prospective risk analyses. Most institutions (71%) reported incidents or near-events using multiple reporting systems. Results were presented to the team in 71% for prospective analyses and 85% for analyses of incidents. Risk conferences take place in 46% of institutions. 42% nominated a manager/committee for RM. Knowledge concerning RM was mostly rated “satisfying” (44%). However, 65% of all institutions require more information about RM by professional societies.

Conclusion

Our results revealed heterogeneous patterns of RM in RO departments, although most departments adhered to common recommendations. Identified mismatches between recommendations and implementation of RM provide baseline data for future research and support definition of teaching content.
Sinus tympani revisited for planning retrofacial approach—radiologic study in pneumatized temporal bones and its surgical implications
Authors: Wojciechowski Tomasz , Bartoszewicz Robert , Szopiński Kazimierz
Published: August 2022

Background and purpose

Retrofacial approach (RFA) is an access route to sinus tympani (ST) and it is used in cholesteatoma surgery, especially when type C ST is encountered. It may also be used to gain an access to stapedius muscle to assess the evoked stapedius reflex threshold. The primary object of this study was to evaluate the morphology of sinus tympani and its relationship to facial nerve (FN) and posterior semicircular canal (PSC) in context of planning retrofacial approach in pneumatized temporal bones.

Methods

CBCT of 130 adults were reviewed. The type of sinus tympani was assessed according to Marchioni's classification. Width of entrance to sinus tympani (STW), depth of ST (STD), distance between the posterior semicircular canal and facial nerve (F-PSC), distance between the latter plane to the floor of ST at the right angle (P-ST) were measured at level of round window (RW) and pyramidal ridge (PR).

Results

All of the bones were well-aerated and classified in Dexian Tan pneumatization group 3 or 4. Type B of ST is dominant (70.8%) in adult population with no history of inflammatory otologic diseases, followed by type C (22.7%) and then type A (6.5%). The depth of ST (STD) presented significant deviations (ANOVA, p < 0.05) among all three types. STW reaches greater values on the level of PR. F-PSC does not correlate with type of ST. In over 75% of examined type C sinus tympani the distance P-ST was less than 1 mm.

Conclusions

The qualitative classification of the sinus tympani into types A, B and C, introduced by Marchioni is justified by statistically significant differences of depth between individual types of tympanic sinuses. The STW distance reaches greater values inferiorly—it may suggest that RFA should be performed in infero-superior manner rather than opposite direction. Preoperative assessment of temporal bones CT scans gives very important information about size of sinus tympani and distance between FN and PSC.
Treatment options of metastatic and nonmetastatic VIPoma: a review
Authors: Azizian Azadeh , König Alexander , Ghadimi Michael
Published: August 2022

Purpose

VIPoma belongs to the group of neuroendocrine neoplasms. These tumours are located mostly in the pancreas and produce high levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP). In most cases, a metastatic state has already been reached at the initial diagnosis, with high levels of VIP leading to a wide spectrum of presenting symptoms. These symptoms include intense diarrhoea and subsequent hypopotassaemia but also cardiac complications, with life-threatening consequences. Treatment options include symptomatic therapy, systemic chemotherapy and targeted therapy, as well as radiation and surgery. Due to the low incidence of VIPoma, there are no prospective studies or evidence-based therapeutic standards to date.

Methods

To evaluate the possible impact of different therapy strategies, we performed literature research using PubMed.

Results

All possible treatment modalities for VIPoma have at least one of two therapy goals: antisecretory effects (symptom control) and antitumoural effects (tumour burden reduction). Symptomatic therapy is the most important in the emergency setting to rehydrate, balance electrolytes and stabilise the patient. Symptomatic therapy is also of great importance perioperatively. Somatostatin analogues play a major role in symptom control, although their efficiency is often limited. Chemotherapy may be effective in reaching stable disease for a certain time period, although its impact on symptom control is limited and often delayed. Among targeted therapy options, the usage of sunitinib appears to be the most effective in terms of symptom control and showing antitumoural effects at the same time. Experience with radiation is still limited; however, local ablative procedures seem to be promising options. Peptide receptor radiotherapy (PRRT) with radiolabelled somatostatin analogues (SSAs, 177Lu-DOTATATE) offers a targeted approach, especially in patients with high somatostatin receptor density. Surgery is the first-line therapy for nonmetastatic VIPoma. Additionally, if the resection of all visible tumour lesions is possible, the surgical approach seems preferable to other strategies in highly symptomatic patients. The role of surgery in very advanced stages where only tumour debulking is possible remains debatable. However, a high rate of immediate symptom control can be achieved by tumour debulking followed by somatostatin therapy, although the impact on survival remains unclear.

Conclusion

Surgery is the only curative option for nonmetastatic VIPoma. Additionally, surgery should be a first-line therapy option for highly symptomatic patients, especially if the resection of all tumour lesions (primary tumour and metastasis) is achievable. In frail patients, other modalities can be used.
Sexual health and wellbeing among female pelvic cancer survivors following individualized interventions in a nurse-led clinic
Authors: Åkeflo Linda , Dunberger Gail , Elmerstig Eva , Skokic Viktor , Steineck Gunnar , Bergmark Karin
Published: August 2022

Purpose

Treatment-induced sexual and intestinal dysfunctions coexist among women after pelvic radiotherapy. We aimed to explore if sexual health and wellbeing may be improved after radiotherapy following nurse-led interventions and if an association exists between improved intestinal health and sexual health.

Methods

A population-based cohort of women treated with pelvic radiotherapy underwent interventions at a nurse-led clinic at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, from 2011 to 2017. Self-reported questionnaires were used, pre- and post-intervention, to compare self-reported changes in sexual health and wellbeing. A regression model was performed to explore the association between intestinal and wellbeing variables.

Results

Among the 260 female pelvic cancer survivors included in the study, more women reported increased than decreased satisfaction with overall sexual health post-intervention (26.0% vs. 15.3%, p = 0.035). They also reported significantly reduced superficial genital pain (25.8% vs. 13.1%, p ≤ 0.025), reduced deep genital pain (23.1% vs. 8.0%, p ≤ 0.001), increased QoL (42.7% vs. 22.4%, p < 0.001), and reduced levels of depression (43.1% vs. 28.0%, p = 0.003) or anxiety (45.9% vs. 24.4%, p < 0.001) post-intervention. We found a significant association between reduced urgency to defecate and improved satisfaction with overall sexual health (RR 3.12, CI 1.27–7.68, p = 0.004) and between reduced urgency to defecate with fecal leakage and reduced anxious mode (RR 1.56, CI 1.04–2.33, p = 0.021).

Conclusion

Sexual health and wellbeing can be improved by interventions provided in a nurse-led clinic focusing on physical treatment-induced late effects. Further research to optimize treatment strategies in female pelvic cancer survivors is needed.
Polyphase Permo-Carboniferous magmatism adjacent to the Intra-Sudetic Fault: constraints from U–Pb SHRIMP zircon study of felsic subvolcanic intrusions in the Intra-Sudetic Basin, SW Poland
Authors: Awdankiewicz Marek
Published: August 2022

The SHRIMP U–Pb dating of zircons from felsic subvolcanic rocks in the Carboniferous formations of the Intra-Sudetic Basin in SW Poland verifies previous views on the timing of Late Palaeozoic magmatic activity in this area and constrains the links between regional tectonics and intra-basinal volcanism in the mid-European Variscides. Two main stages of magmatism are identified: the Late Carboniferous late orogenic stage, and the Early Permian post-orogenic stage. The Carboniferous late orogenic subvolcanic to volcanic activity was contemporaneous with the formation of the Karkonosze granite pluton to the west and comprised episodic emplacement of predominantly felsic laccoliths and sills within the basin fill during the Westphalian–Stephanian in two sub-stages at ca. 313–310 Ma and 306–305 Ma. Local folding of the Carboniferous succession peaked at ca. 303–300 Ma adjacent to the Intra-Sudetic Fault, in relation to late-stage sinistral movements along this regional wrench fault. The emplacement of minor subvolcanic intrusions at ca. 293 Ma completed the activity in the northern Intra-Sudetic Basin; this Permian post-orogenic volcanism, however, developed fully in areas further south. The predominance of subvolcanic intrusions over extrusions in Carboniferous can be linked to the trapping of rising magmas within the several kilometres thick sedimentary basin fill. Zircon xenocrysts in the Carboniferous subvolcanic rocks indicate that older crustal lithologies, possibly metamagmatic and metasedimentary rocks of dominantly Neoproterozoic–Palaeozoic ages, were involved in petrogenesis as magma sources and/or contaminants. The crustal influence on magma formation was stronger during the earlier magmatic events.