bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The potential of trans‐local policy networks for contributing to sustainable food systems—The Dutch City Deal: Food on the Urban Agenda
Authors: Sibbing Lara , Candel Jeroen , Termeer Katrien
Published: May 2021

To foster more sustainable food systems, collaboration between local governments for knowledge exchange and cooperation is essential. Trans‐local food policy networks potentially serve this purpose but their functioning and outcomes remain largely unexplored. We address this gap by analyzing collaboration and its outcomes for one of the first trans‐local food policy networks in the Netherlands: City Deal: Food on the Urban Agenda. We use Ansell and Gash's collaborative governance model as an ideal type to analyze the City Deal drawing on two rounds of semi‐structured interviews with civil servants and politicians in 2016 and 2019 resulting in a total of 37 interviews with 49 unique respondents. The collaborative process was a continuous searching and negotiating for roles, goals, and activities, on the one hand, combined with great eagerness among participants to collaborate and improve local food systems on the other. Although this process led to collective identity building and learning, it resulted in limited collaborative action between participants or tangible results on the ground. The main outcomes were the active network itself, which fostered the strengthening of connections, exchanging knowledge, learning, and agenda setting. Based on our findings, we identify five key points of attention for successful food policy collaboration: ensuring stakeholder commitment, striking a balance between a sectoral and holistic focus, avoiding too abstract ambitions, fostering interdependence, and investing in political commitment.
Antimicrobial use in poultry flocks in Austria between 2013 and 2019
Authors: Griesbacher Antonia , Schließnig Harald , Weber Stefan , Fuchs Klemens
Published: May 2021

Background: The increase in bacteria that are resistant to antimicrobials—often selected for a high level of antimicrobial uses (AMUs) in human beings or food‐producing animals—is a global concern. The Austrian Poultry Health Service (QGV) has established a database containing comprehensive information on poultry flocks in Austria.

Methods: AMU in 32,411 broiler flocks and 2946 turkey flocks between 2013 and 2019 is analysed by calculating different metrics, including the treatment incidence TI1000. Furthermore, the Austrian benchmarking system for poultry is introduced.

Results: Annual AMU in broilers decreased from 1030.8 kg of active ingredient to 762.5 kg between 2013 and 2016 but rose again to 1165.0 kg in 2019; while for turkeys annual AMU dropped from 1196.4 kg to 569.0 kg between 2013 and 2019. At the same time, the proportion of treated flocks decreased from 34.2% to 24.8% for broilers and from 54.3% to 44.0% for turkeys. In both broilers and turkeys, the most frequently used antimicrobial class, according to the TI1000 unit, in broilers and turkeys is polymyxins.

Conclusion: Calculating different metrics enables a deeper insight into AMU. Total AMU reduced without legislation but the increase of AMU in broiler production needs further investigation.
Imaging features of unilateral renal T‐cell lymphoma occurring simultaneously in the urinary bladder wall and contralateral ureter with secondary polycythaemia in a dog
Authors: Soler Marta , García‐Martinez Juan , Barge Pablo , Belda Eliseo , Agut Amalia
Published: May 2021

A six‐year‐old neutered male Labrador Retriever was presented with haematuria and inappetence of one‐week duration. Physical examination revealed mild abdominal pain and the blood cell count showed moderate polycythaemia, with a slight increase of the erythropoietin levels. Urinalysis demonstrated proteinuria, haematuria and isosthenuria and urinary sediment revealed mild amount of lymphoid cells. After performing a complete imaging study (radiographs, ultrasound and CT scan), a unilateral renal lymphoma with secondary extranodal lymphoma of the urinary tract (bladder wall and left ureter) was suspected. Fine‐needle aspirates of both kidneys, ureter and bladder masses were obtained, and a tentative diagnosis of lymphoma was made. Positive PCR antigen receptor rearrangement indicated a T‐cell origin. The owners opted for euthanasia and declined necropsy. CT was essential for the evaluation of this case – it not only depicted renal lesions, but also identified accurately extension to adjacent anatomic structures helping to determine the systemic spread of the disease.
Combination therapy with mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone for exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus in a German shorthaired pointer dog
Authors: Eberhardy Aurrielle , Heinrich Nicole , McFadden Rendina , Reiter Lisa
Published: May 2021

Exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus (ECLE) of the German shorthaired pointer dog is an autoimmune disease characterized by generalized scaling, crusting, follicular casting and incomplete alopecia affecting the head, trunk, and limbs. Affected dogs often develop arthralgia and peripheral lymphadenopathy. Diagnosis is achieved with history, signalment, physical exam, skin biopsies, and genetic analysis. ECLE is often refractory to commonly used immunosuppressant therapies, and reliable treatment protocols have not been established. This case report describes successful treatment of ECLE with a combination of mycophenolate mofetil and prednisone.
Notfälle in der Augenheilkunde: Vermittlung anhand interaktiver Key-feature-Fälle für Medizinstudierende
Authors: Müller Andreas , Wagner Felix M. , Schuster Alexander K. , Günal Betül , Pfeiffer Norbert , Schmidt Franziska , Prokosch Verena
Published: May 2021

Hintergrund

Wichtiges Ziel eines Curriculums für Medizinstudierende ist, die Fähigkeit zum selbstständigen Erkennen und Einordnen von Notfällen zu vermitteln. Die Augenheilkunde steht hierbei aufgrund fachspezifischer „red flags“, also Warnsymptomen und -zeichen, vor der Herausforderung, dass solche selten von anderen Organsystemen hierauf übertragen werden können. Um Medizinstudierende dabei zu fördern, die „red flags“ der Augenheilkunde in ihrer späteren Tätigkeit zu erkennen, entwickelten wir für unser eLearning-Angebot leitsymptomorientierte interaktive Fallvignetten.

Material und Methoden

Es wurden 7 interaktive Fallvignetten zu potenziell bedrohlichen ophthalmologischen Symptomen und Zeichen wie „schmerzloser Visusverlust“ oder „rotes Auge“ entwickelt. Hierbei werden Studierende mit Bild und Text durch einen Fall geführt und zu entscheidenden Aspekten („key features“) mit verschiedenen Frageformaten geprüft. Die interaktiven Fälle wurden mithilfe von eLearning-Authoring-Software umgesetzt und als Lernmodule in der Learning-Management-Präsenz der Augenklinik integriert. Die Patientenfälle waren Teil unseres Praktikums der Augenheilkunde. Die Fälle wurden im Anschluss von den Studierenden evaluiert.

Ergebnisse

Die Fälle wurden im Mittel mit einer Note von 1,51 ± 0,68 (Mittelwert ± Standardabweichung) bewertet (n = 163). Auf einer Likert-Skala wurden sie mit 1,60 ± 0,81 als hilfreich für das eigene Lernen empfunden (1 = sehr hilfreich, 7 = gar nicht hilfreich; n = 164). Die Informationsmenge und Auswahl der Szenarien wurden ebenfalls positiv evaluiert.

Diskussion

Um Studierenden im engen zeitlichen Rahmen eines Kurses mehr Sicherheit im Erkennen und der primären Versorgung von augenärztlichen Notfällen verschaffen zu können, können praxisorientierte Key-feature-Fälle Bestandteil eines eLearning-Angebotes sein.
Barriers to successful dichoptic treatment for amblyopia in young children
Authors: Kadhum Aveen , Tan Emily T. C. , Levi Dennis M. , Colpa Linda , Fronius Maria , Simonsz Huibert J. , Loudon Sjoukje E.
Published: May 2021

Purpose

In an ongoing randomised clinical trial comparing dichoptic VR video games with patching for amblyopia, we evaluated any potential barriers to successful use of this novel amblyopia treatment method.

Methods

From December 2017, all newly diagnosed amblyopic children were recruited. Excluded were children under age 4 and patients with strabismus exceeding 30PD. The video game was played for 1 h per week at the outpatient clinic under direct supervision. Records were kept of difficulties encountered during treatment and categorised into domains. Factors influencing the successful completion of this treatment were identified and related to patient characteristics.

Results

Ninety-one children were recruited for the trial, 20 parents refused participation before randomisation, because of the logistical challenges the outpatient dichoptic treatment would cause them. Of the 17 children who commenced dichoptic treatment (median age 6.2 years; IQR 4.9–8.4 years), 10 did not complete treatment. Children under age 5.5 years were unable to comprehend the game settings or the game itself. Older children (N = 7; 41%) were less willing to comply with the video game. Loss of interest in the game (N = 8; 47%) was found to be a limiting factor at all ages.

Conclusion

Half of the children failed to complete VR dichoptic treatment, mainly due to young age. In countries with nationwide screening where amblyopia is detected before age 6, the applicability of such dichoptic treatment is limited.
Formal semantics and high performance in declarative machine learning using Datalog
Authors: Wang Jin , Wu Jiacheng , Li Mingda , Gu Jiaqi , Das Ariyam , Zaniolo Carlo
Published: May 2021

With an escalating arms race to adopt machine learning (ML) in diverse application domains, there is an urgent need to support declarative machine learning over distributed data platforms. Toward this goal, a new framework is needed where users can specify ML tasks in a manner where programming is decoupled from the underlying algorithmic and system concerns. In this paper, we argue that declarative abstractions based on Datalog are natural fits for machine learning and propose a purely declarative ML framework with a Datalog query interface. We show that using aggregates in recursive Datalog programs entails a concise expression of ML applications, while providing a strictly declarative formal semantics. This is achieved by introducing simple conditions under which the semantics of recursive programs is guaranteed to be equivalent to that of aggregate-stratified ones. We further provide specialized compilation and planning techniques for semi-naive fixpoint computation in the presence of aggregates and optimization strategies that are effective on diverse recursive programs and distributed data platforms. To test and demonstrate these research advances, we have developed a powerful and user-friendly system on top of Apache Spark. Extensive evaluations on large-scale datasets illustrate that this approach will achieve promising performance gains while improving both programming flexibility and ease of development and deployment for ML applications.
Highly parallelized human embryonic stem cell differentiation to cardiac mesoderm in nanoliter chambers on a microfluidic chip
Authors: Vollertsen Anke R. , Den Simone A. ten , Schwach Verena , van den Berg Albert , Passier Robert , van der Meer Andries D. , Odijk Mathieu
Published: May 2021

Human stem cell-derived cells and tissues hold considerable potential for applications in regenerative medicine, disease modeling and drug discovery. The generation, culture and differentiation of stem cells in low-volume, automated and parallelized microfluidic chips hold great promise to accelerate the research in this domain. Here, we show that we can differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to early cardiac mesodermal cells in microfluidic chambers that have a volume of only 30 nanoliters, using discontinuous medium perfusion. 64 of these chambers were parallelized on a chip which contained integrated valves to spatiotemporally isolate the chambers and automate cell culture medium exchanges. To confirm cell pluripotency, we tracked hESC proliferation and immunostained the cells for pluripotency markers SOX2 and OCT3/4. During differentiation, we investigated the effect of different medium perfusion frequencies on cell reorganization and the expression of the early cardiac mesoderm reporter MESP1mCherry by live-cell imaging. Our study demonstrates that microfluidic technology can be used to automatically culture, differentiate and study hESC in very low-volume culture chambers even without continuous medium perfusion. This result is an important step towards further automation and parallelization in stem cell technology.
Diesel exhaust exposure alters the expression of networks implicated in neurodegeneration in zebrafish brains
Authors: Jami M. Saeid , Murata Hiromi , Barnhill Lisa M. , Li Sharon , Bronstein Jeff M.
Published: May 2021

Neurodegenerative diseases are a major cause of disability in the world, but their etiologies largely remain elusive. Genetic factors can only account for a minority of risk for most of these disorders, suggesting environmental factors play a significant role in the development of these diseases. Prolonged exposure to air pollution has recently been identified to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, but the molecular mechanisms by which it acts are not well understood. Zebrafish embryos exposed to diesel exhaust particle extract (DEPe) lead to dysfunctional autophagy and neuronal loss. Here, we exposed zebrafish embryos to DEPe and performed high throughput proteomic and transcriptomic expression analyses from their brains to identify pathogenic pathways induced by air pollution. DEPe treatment altered several biological processes and signaling pathways relevant to neurodegenerative processes, including xenobiotic metabolism, phagosome maturation, and amyloid processing. The biggest induction of gene expression in brains was in Cyp1A (over 30-fold). The relevance of this expression change was confirmed by blocking induction using CRISPR/Cas9, which resulted in a dramatic increase in sensitivity to DEPe toxicity, confirming that Cyp1A induction was a compensatory protective mechanism. These studies identified disrupted molecular pathways that may contribute to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. Ultimately, determining the molecular basis of how air pollution increases the risk of neurodegeneration will help in the development of disease-modifying therapies.

Graphical abstract
How patients being treated for non-small cell lung cancer value treatment benefit despite side effects
Authors: Martin Mona L. , Correll Julia , Walding Andrew , Rydén Anna
Published: May 2021

Purpose

To describe symptoms and side effects experienced by patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), assess how patients allocate sensations (i.e. symptoms or side effects) to either the disease or its treatment, and evaluate how patients balance side effects with treatment benefits.

Methods

Qualitative sub-studies were conducted as part of two clinical trials in patients treated for advanced NSCLC (AURA [NCT01802632]; ARCTIC [NCT02352948]).

Results

Interviews were conducted with 23 patients and 19 patients in the AURA and ARCTIC sub-studies, respectively. The most commonly experienced symptoms/side effects were respiratory (81% of patients), digestive (76%), pain and discomfort (76%), energy-related (71%), and sensory (62%). Patients identified a sensation as a treatment side effect if they had not experienced it before, if there was a temporal link between the sensation and receipt of treatment, and/or if their doctors consistently told or asked them about it in relation to side effects. Themes that emerged when patients talked about their cancer treatment and its side effects related to the serious nature of their advanced disease and their treatment expectations. Patients focused on treatment benefits, wanting a better quality of life, being hopeful, not really having a choice, and not thinking about side effects.

Conclusions

In these two qualitative sub-studies, patients with advanced NSCLC valued the benefits of their treatment regardless of side effects that they experienced. Patients weighed their options against the seriousness of their disease and expressed their willingness to tolerate their side effects in return for receiving continued treatment benefits.
Physical and mechanical characteristics of composite briquette from coal and pretreated wood fines
Authors: Adeleke Adekunle , Odusote Jamiu , Ikubanni Peter , Lasode Olumuyiwa , Malathi Madhurai , Pasawan Dayanand
Published: May 2021

Melina wood torrefied at 260 °C for 60 min was agglomerated with lean grade coal fines into composite briquettes using pitch as binder. Torrefied biomass (3%–20%) and coal fines (80%–97%) were blended together to produce the composite briquettes under a hydraulic press (28 MPa). The briquettes were cured at 300 °C. Density, water resistance, drop to fracture, impact resistance, and cold crushing strength were evaluated for the composite briquettes. The proximate, ultimate, and calorific value analyses were carried out according to different ASTM standards. Microstructural studies were carried out using scanning electron microscope and electron probe microanalyzer equipped with energy dispersive x-ray. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR) was used to obtain the functional groups in the raw materials and briquettes. The density of the composite briquettes ranged from 0.92 to 1.31 g/cm3 after curing. Briquettes with < 10% torrefied biomass has good water resistance index (> 95%). The highest cold crushing strength of 4 MPa was obtained for briquettes produced from 97% coal fines and 3% torrefied biomass. The highest drop to fracture (54 times/2 m) and impact resistance index (1350) were obtained for the sample produced from 97% coal and 3% torrefied biomass. The fixed and elemental carbons of the briquettes showed a mild improvement compared to the raw coal. The peaks from FTIR spectra for the briquettes shows the presence of aromatic C=C bonds and phenolic OH group. The composite briquettes with up to 20% torrefied biomass can all be useful as fuel for various applications.
Die Rolle von Magnesium bei Knochenbrüchen in übergewichtigen Kindern und Jugendlichen
Authors: Sommer Nicole Gabriele , Weinberg Annelie-Martina
Published: May 2021

Die Inzidenz von Adipositas nimmt dramatisch zu, vor allem bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Adipositas ist der erste Schritt zum metabolischen Syndrom, welches mit Hypomagnesiämie in Verbindung gebracht wird. Dieses Magnesium (Mg2+)-Defizit und prominente Akteure des metabolischen Syndroms einschließlich Insulinresistenz, Hyperglykämie und Entzündung wurden vor kurzem mit erhöhtem Knochenbruchrisiko bei Erwachsenen assoziiert. Speziell beim Wachstum spielt die richtige Ernährung eine wesentliche Rolle. Mg2+ ist dabei ein essenzieller Schlüsselfaktor, speziell hinsichtlich der skelettalen Reifung von Kindern und Jugendlichen. Hypomagnesiämie führt unweigerlich zu einer reduzierten Knochenmasse, der Knochen wird spröde und das Frakturrisiko steigt. Das höhere Frakturrisiko bei adipösen Kindern und Jugendlichen ist jedoch nach wie vor umstritten: einerseits liegen meist zu niedrige Patientenzahlen in pädiatrischen, klinischen Studien vor, andererseits ist unklar, ob weniger Körperstabilisierung und Koordination infolge geringerer körperlicher Aktivität bei adipösen Kindern und Jugendlichen eine Hauptrolle für die erhöhte Häufigkeit von Knochenbrüchen spielt. Ob die Hypomagnesiämie die Knochenstruktur beeinflusst und eine Schlüsselrolle in der Osteoimmunologie bei Kindern und Jugendlichen darstellt, ist somit noch unzureichend geklärt. Man weiß, dass sich Hypomagnesiämie auch auf die systemische Immunität in einem späteren Lebensabschnitt bei Erwachsenen auswirkt. Veränderungen bei Kindern und Jugendlichen müssen bewertet werden und sollten im Fokus weiterer Untersuchungen stehen.
The first report on the association of celiac disease and cystic fibrosis in a tertiary care center in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Banjar Hanaa , Bawazir Ahmed , Ghomraoui Firas , Alotaibi Khalid , Alotaibi Abduallah , Alotaibi Sarah , Sayyari Reham , Alsaleem Khalid
Published: May 2021

Introduction:

Celiac disease (CD) has been described before in Saudi Arabia (SA) to be at the range of 1% –2% in the general population, but the association of celiac disease and cystic fibrosis (CF) has never been described before in the Middle East.

Objectives:

To describe the prevalence of the association of CD and CF in patients with gastrointestinal symptomatology in a tertiary care center.

Methodology:

A retrospective charts review of all confirmed CD and CF patients for the years 1989 –2018.

Results:

In a total of 391 confirmed CF patients, 74 of them (19%) had celiac screening due to their symptomatology in the form of (abdominal pain and distension, vomiting, diarrhea despite adequate pancreatic enzyme replacements, and had high antigliadin antibodies and anti-transglutaminase IgA (tTGA). Thirty-five of the 74 patients were male (47.3%, and 39 (52.7%) were female patients. The mean age at diagnosis of CD was 6.1 (3.9), and the mean age at follow up was 7 (5 years). Only 2 of the 74 patients (3%) had bowel biopsies with the typical pathological findings of CD with villous atrophy. Both patients were placed on a gluten-free diet and showed marked improvement in symptomatology and weight gain.

Conclusion:

CD screening should be considered in all CF patients despite the absence of symptoms. The prevalence of CD in CF patients in SA is similar to or slightly higher than that of the general population. A further study to screen the whole CF population is needed to delineate the actual prevalence, particularly in nonsymptomatic CF.
Intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct presenting as multiple pedunculated polyps in the common bile duct at the cystic duct confluence: A case report
Authors: Usui Asami , Ohta Yoshito , Nishimori Takanori , Kuroda Hiroaki , Shinohara Yasushi , Sakamoto Akio
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT

Introduction and importance:

Intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct (IPNB) is known as a precancerous lesion. We herein report a case of IPNB containing adenocarcinoma presenting as multiple pedunculated polyps of the common bile duct with lateral spread of dysplasia at its base.

Case presentation:

A 76-year-old male was admitted to our institution for hematemesis and found to have gastric cancer. Preoperative examinations revealed a tumor in the common bile duct. The patient underwent distal gastrectomy along with bile duct resection. Frozen sections of the resected specimen were checked during the operation and revealed adenocarcinoma. Proximal and distal bile duct margins were also checked and shown to be free of cancer as well as dysplasia. On the resected bile duct, a polypoid lobulated lesion with two heads of 2 cm each growing from a single stalk was located in the common bile duct near the cystic duct confluence, with another 2 cm polypoid lesion on a stalk nearby. The two lesions appeared to be positioned in the common bile duct and cystic duct in a discontinuous manner, but a continuous area of high-grade dysplasia was found to spread at the base of both lesions. Based on the histopathological findings, the tumor was diagnosed as pancreatobiliary type IPNB with carcinoma.

Clinical discussion:

IPNB presents a favorable prognosis after surgical resection but is also known to recur in the residual bile ducts. Surgical resection of the recognizable area of pathology would be the effective treatment option for IPNB with lateral superficial spread and multiple lesions.

Conclusion:

We surgically removed an IPNB presenting as multiple pedunculated polyps with lateral spread of dysplasia at its base. Careful postoperative follow up is imperative in IPNB, since recurrence may occur in the remnant bile ducts.

Highlights
Pathological features determining recurrence and radioresistance in cerebral atypical meningioma
Authors: Garcia-Segura ME , Das S , Jairath R , Munoz DG
Published: May 2021

We examined recurrence after gross total resection (GTR) or subtotal resection (STR) at St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, of 181 cases of atypical meningioma (WHO grade II). In the entire group, Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that combined necrosis and brain invasion was the feature associated with the worst outcome, followed in order by necrosis, histological variants (clear cell, rhabdoid, and chordoid), high mitotic count, and brain invasion. The highly significant difference between necrosis and brain invasion and necrosis was seen only in patients receiving GTR, and lost in those treated with STR. Adjuvant radiotherapy was associated with worse outcome, more so in patients receiving GTR. In the presence of high mitotic count (defined as >4/10HPF) radiation did not affect recurrence, but necrosis and specially combined necrosis and brain invasion magnified the apparent deleterious effect of adjuvant radiotherapy. In the presence of brain invasion, radiotherapy’s small effect did not reach significance. Since patients were not randomized to adjuvant radiotherapy, these results should not be construed as indicating that this treatment is injurious. It can be stated that in the presence of necrosis and particularly necrosis and brain invasion, but not brain invasion alone, or high mitotic count, atypical meningiomas are more resistant to any possible beneficial effect of radiation in delaying recurrence.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This presentation will enable the learner to:

1.

Describe histological and treatment factors determining recurrence in atypical meningioma.

2.

List histological factors associated with radioresistance in atypical meningioma.
Diagnostic and pathogenic features of calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis
Authors: Yang K , Reddy K , Wang BH , Cenic A , Ang LC , Provias J , Yong WH , Lu JQ
Published: May 2021

Calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis (CAPNON) is a rare tumefactive lesion with unclear pathogenesis. It is diagnosed by pathological findings of the typical histological features that include granular amorphous cores with palisading spindle to epithelioid cells, variable fibrous stroma, foreign-body reaction with giant cells, and calcification/ossification occasionally with psammoma bodies. However, its histopathology may be variable and currently immunohistochemistry plays a limited role in its diagnosis and understanding the pathogenesis. In this study, we examined 6 cases of CAPNONs including 3 intracranial and 3 spinal epidural lesions (age range: 59–69 years; 3 males and 3 females). Immunohistochemistry revealed that all CAPNON cores contain abundant positive deposits of neurofilament protein (NFP), which was supported by electron microscopy finding of filaments (8–13 nm in diameter). In comparison, no NFP positivity was found in 5 psammomatous/metaplastic meningiomas or 7 intervertebral tissue lesions with calcification/ossification. In addition, CAPNON cellular areas showed variable numbers of CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells with less CD4+ T-cells and a decreased ratio of CD4/CD8+ cells, versus the intervertebral tissue lesions without CD8+ or CD4+ cells. Our findings suggest that NFP may be a principal constituent of CAPNONs, and thus involved in the pathogenesis of CAPNON. Given the decreased CD4/CD8 ratio, the pathogenic process of CAPNON is possibly immune- mediated.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The presentation will enable the learner to:

1.

Discuss histopathological features of calcifying pseudoneoplasm of the neuraxis (CAPNON) with variation of non-core components.

2.

Explore diagnostic and pathogenic roles of immunohistochemical markers including neurofilament protein and CD4/CD8 in CAPNON.
A young woman with multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD)
Authors: Goebel HH , Pehl D , Stenzel W , Schneider U , Schuelke M
Published: May 2021

A 31-year-old female hairdresser whose parents were first degree cousins complained of episodic attacks of headache, vomiting, and dizziness for the past eight years after an uneventful childhood and adolescence. Four years ago, she developed progressive weakness, muscle pain and difficulties walking and lifting her arms that she could not work in her profession anymore. She lost hair, weight and became amenorrhoic. Finally, her muscle weakness required intensive care. Early on her CK was mildly elevated to 237 U/l (normal < 167), but later to 900 and 1800. By MRI, skeletal muscles showed minimal contrast enhancement.

The clinically suspected diagnosis of myositis prompted repeated muscle biopsies, which disclosed non-specific myopathic changes, scattered necrotic muscle fibers without inflammation, protein aggregation, or vacuolation by light microscopy, but abnormally structured mitochondria with inclusions by electron microscopy, and treatment with steroids without any clinical improvement.

A panel of 1131 mitochondrial genes revealed a homozygous mutation in the ETFDH gene.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This presentation will enable the learner to:

1.

Discuss MADD as a mitochondrial and lipid storage disease

2.

Recognize the myopathology of MADD
Canadian Association of Neuropathologists Workforce Survey, 2019
Authors: Shannon P
Published: May 2021

To characterize the professional occupation of Canadian neuropathologists and estimate the future employment demands in neuropathologists, all the active members of the Canadian Association of Neuropathologists in Canada (n=53) were surveyed by E-mail, inquiring as to their estimated date of retirement, their current employment and practice profile, and as to any practice trends they had noticed. 49 members replied: all but one practice at medical school centers. 38 practice exclusively in neuropathology and three of these are employed at less than 75% of a full time equivalent. The remaining practices are mixed neuropathology and anatomical pathology, and one practices exclusively ophthalmic pathology. 35% reported significant neuropathology sub specialization (e.g. forensic, pediatric, neuromuscular). 42% reported greater than 10% of time dedicated to research (of these, median 30%) and 35% greater than 10% time spent in teaching, and 9% greater than 10% time in administration. Of the 49 surveyed, as of the spring of 2019, 14%(seven) of the full time neuropathologists can be expected to retire in the next 10 years, and 6% (three) with mixed AP/NP practices.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

This presentation will enable the learner to:

1.

Understand the current spectrum of practice of Neuropathologists across Canada

2.

Describe the patterns of employment and anticipated retirements of Canadian Neuropathologists
Absolute continuity, Lyapunov exponents, and rigidity II: systems with compact center leaves
Authors: AVILA A. , VIANA MARCELO , WILKINSON A.
Published: May 2021

We explore new connections between the dynamics of conservative partially hyperbolic systems and the geometric measure-theoretic properties of their invariant foliations. Our methods are applied to two main classes of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms: fibered partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms and center-fixing partially hyperbolic systems. When the center is one-dimensional, assuming the diffeomorphism is accessible, we prove that the disintegration of the volume measure along the center foliation is either atomic or Lebesgue. Moreover, the latter case is rigid in dimension three (this does not require accessibility): the center foliation is actually smooth and the diffeomorphism is smoothly conjugate to an explicit rigid model. A partial extension to fibered partially hyperbolic systems with compact fibers of any dimension is also obtained. A common feature of these classes of diffeomorphisms is that the center leaves either are compact or can be made compact by taking an appropriate dynamically defined quotient. For volume-preserving partially hyperbolic diffeomorphisms whose center foliation is absolutely continuous, if the generic center leaf is a circle, then every center leaf is compact.
Formation of a large ice depression on Dålk Glacier (Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica) caused by the rapid drainage of an englacial cavity
Authors: Boronina Alina , Popov Sergey , Pryakhina Galina , Chetverova Antonina , Ryzhova Ekaterina , Grigoreva Svetlana
Published: May 2021

In the afternoon of 30 January 2017, a catastrophic outburst flood occurred in the Larsemann Hills (Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica). The rapid drainage of both a thin supraglacial layer of water (near Boulder Lake) and Lake Ledyanoe into the englacial Lake Dålk provoked its overfill and outburst. As a result, a depression of 183 m × 220 m was formed in the place where Lake Dålk was located. This study summarises and clarifies the current state of knowledge on the flood that occurred in 2017. We present a phenomenological model of depression formation. We specify the reasons for the outburst of the system of lakes Boulder, Ledyanoe and Dålk. In addition, we carry out mathematical modelling of the outburst of each of the three lakes and estimate the flood severity. Outburst hydrographs, channel diameters, volume and duration of floods were calculated. Particular simulation results were validated with field data. In conclusion, we give an overview of the new outburst cycle of the lake system, which began in 2020 with the drainage of the lakes Boulder and Ledyanoe, and the new formation of Lake Dålk. Further research is required to improve our understanding of the lake system responses to changing external factors.
Development of a mechanical decoupling surgical scissors for robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery
Authors: Jin Xingze , Feng Mei , Han Zhiwu , Zhao Ji , Cao Hankun , Zhang Yaoyuan
Published: May 2021

In minimally invasive surgery, surgical instruments with a wrist joint have better flexibility. However, the bending motion of the wrist joint causes a coupling motion between the end-effector and wrist joint, affecting the accuracy of the movement of the surgical instrument. Aiming at this problem, a new gear train decoupling method is proposed in the paper, which can automatically compensate for the coupled motion in real-time. Based on the performance tests of the instrument prototype, a series of decoupling effects tests are carried out. The test results show that the surgical instrument has excellent decoupling ability and stable performance.
Psychological Resources and Driving Status: A Study of Current and Former Drivers 55 Years of Age and Older
Authors: Kafka Garrett , Stinchcombe Arne , Mullen Nadia , Weaver Bruce , Bédard Michel
Published: May 2021

Psychological resources can help individuals adjust to changes associated with aging. In this study, we examined the effect of demographic, health, and psychological resource variables in explaining driving status among adults 55 years and older. A convenience sample of 222 adults between the ages of 55 and 91 years (mean = 72.20 years) completed questionnaires that included measures of driving status, self-rated health, and psychological resources (e.g., life control, life purpose, and locus of control). Multiple logistic regression models that controlled for confounders were constructed with driver status (i.e., current driver or former driver) as the outcome. Former drivers were older, reported being in poorer health, and reported more depression symptoms. After controlling for age and health, current drivers reported higher levels of life control and life purpose and a more internal locus of control. Results highlight the importance of considering psychological resources when examining driving cessation.
Emerging trends: Ethics, intimidation, and the Cold War
Authors: Church Kenneth Ward , Kordoni Valia
Published: May 2021

There are well-meaning efforts to address ethics that will likely make the world a better place, but care needs to be taken to avoid repeating mistakes of the past. In particular, ACL has recently introduced a new process where there are special reviews of some papers for ethics. We would be more comfortable with the new ethics process if there were more checks and balances, due process and transparency. Otherwise, there is a risk that the process could intimidate authors in ways that are not that dissimilar from the ways that academics were intimidated during the Cold War on both sides of the Iron Curtain.
GRADIENT FLOWS OF HIGHER ORDER YANG–MILLS–HIGGS FUNCTIONALS
Authors: ZHANG PAN
Published: May 2021

In this paper, we define a family of functionals generalizing the Yang–Mills–Higgs functionals on a closed Riemannian manifold. Then we prove the short-time existence of the corresponding gradient flow by a gauge-fixing technique. The lack of a maximum principle for the higher order operator brings us a lot of inconvenience during the estimates for the Higgs field. We observe that the$L^2$-bound of the Higgs field is enough for energy estimates in four dimensions and we show that, provided the order of derivatives appearing in the higher order Yang–Mills–Higgs functionals is strictly greater than one, solutions to the gradient flow do not hit any finite-time singularities. As for the Yang–Mills–Higgsk-functional with Higgs self-interaction, we show that, provided$\dim (M)<2(k+1)$, for every smooth initial data the associated gradient flow admits long-time existence. The proof depends on local$L^2$-derivative estimates, energy estimates and blow-up analysis.
Symbiotic efficiency of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan(L.) Huth) with different sources of nitrogen
Authors: Bopape Francina L. , Gwata Eastonce T. , Hassen Ahmed I. , Zhou Marvellous M.
Published: May 2021

Pigeonpea is an important grain legume. It contributes to the improvement of soil fertility through biological nitrogen (N) fixation. However, the symbiotic efficiency of pigeonpea with native soil rhizobia has not been determined adequately. This study was designed to determine the variation in the N fixation ability of pigeonpea inoculated with the native rhizobia. Forty soil samples were collected from diverse locations across South Africa and used for inoculating pigeonpea seed. Each pigeonpea genotype was inoculated separately with each soil sample and raised in a nitrogen-depleted growth medium in the greenhouse. A split-plot experimental design was used in the study. Several N fixation variables of pigeonpea were measured. There was >40.0% difference in the number of nodules between genotypes ‘Ex-PP-MD-321’ and ‘Mpuma-B-Spot’ but the nodule dry weight between the two genotypes was >80.0%. In contrast, the heaviest dry shoots (0.4513 g), weighed 52.0% heavier than those that were observed for ‘Mpuma-B-Spot’. Pigeonpea showed differential N fixation ability with the nodules, suggesting that there was potential to select for optimum host × rhizobial isolate combinations for the process and to expand the production area of the crop.
DSV Mental Stark! – Fit in Schule, Sport und Leben!
Authors: Kossak Tom , Haueisen Bettina
Published: May 2021

Zusammenfassung. Da die mentalen Herausforderungen in Schule, Sport und anderen Lebensbereichen für Kinder aktuell besonders hoch sind, besteht zur Förderung der psychischen Gesundheit ein großer Bedarf an praxisnahen Präventionskonzepten. Der Deutsche Skiverband (DSV) entwickelte über die letzten zwei Jahre ein primärpräventives Programm für Kinder ab 6 Jahren. Die emotionale, soziale und Selbstkompetenz bilden konzeptuell die inhaltlichen Grundsäulen der mentalen Stärke. Das Programm sieht vor, Trainerinnen und Trainern Methoden zur Förderung von mentaler Stärke zu vermitteln, die sie im täglichen Kontakt mit den Kindern anwenden können. Auf die Konzeptentwicklung folgte ein erster Workshop mit Trainerinnen und Trainern. Das Feedback wurde genutzt, um das Konzept zu überarbeiten und weiterzuentwickeln.
Sportpsychologie in Deutschland in historischer Perspektive: Zirkulation oder Fortschritt oder …?
Authors: Willimczik Klaus
Published: May 2021

Zusammenfassung. Die organisierte Sportpsychologie im deutschsprachigen Raum blickt auf mehr als 50 Jahre zurück. Dies bietet den Anlass zu fragen, welche Entwicklung das Allgemeine Paradigma der Sportpsychologie sowie Spezielle sportpsychologische Paradigmen genommen haben. Kann man von einem Fortschritt sprechen, und wenn ja, worin ist er zu sehen? Neben dem Allgemeinen Paradigma der Sportpsychologie wurden hierfür exemplarisch Theorien aus der Motorik- und Motivationsforschung ausgewählt. In die Diskussion wurde die Verantwortung von Sportpsychologinnen und Sportpsychologen bzw. der Sportpsychologie einbezogen. Antworten auf die Fragen setzen eine Metaebene voraus, eine der Gegenstandsebene „Sportpsychologie“ übergeordnete Ebene. Dafür wurde hier – ohne Absolutheitsanspruch – die Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie ausgewählt. Die Antworten auf die Fragen zu den fünf Paradigmen fallen sehr unterschiedlich aus. Eine wissenschaftstheoretische Betrachtung der Entwicklung von Paradigmen hat keineswegs nur eine theoretische Bedeutung, sie kann vielmehr hilfreich sein für die erfahrungswissenschaftliche Bearbeitung von psychologischen Sachfragen, da sie Hinweise auf einen adäquaten Gebrauch von Theorien liefern kann.
A Replication of Stern, West, and Schmitt (2014) Indicates Less False	Consensus Among Liberals Than Conservatives, But No False	Uniqueness
Authors: Blanchar John C. , Alonzo Michael , Ayoh Christine , Blain Kali , Espinoza Leslie , Estrada Marcos , Gillen Jared , Marquez Atziri , Miao Joanne , Overbeck Victoria , Slosky Camryn , Srivatsan Shruthi , Talley Elise , Tucker Justin
Published: May 2021

Abstract. Stern, West, and Schmitt (2014) reported that liberals display truly false uniqueness in contrast to moderates and conservatives who display truly false consensus. We conducted a close, preregistered replication of Stern et al.’s (2014) research with a large sample ( N = 1,005). Liberals, moderates, and conservatives demonstrated the truly false consensus effect by overestimating ingroup consensus. False consensus was strongest among conservatives, followed by moderates, and weakest among liberals. However, liberals did score higher than moderates and conservatives on the need for uniqueness scale, which partially accounted for the difference in false consensus between liberals and conservatives. Overall, our data align with Stern et al.’s (2014) in demonstrating left-right ideological differences in the overestimation of ingroup consensus but fall short of illustrating a liberal illusion of uniqueness.
Dynamics of Tidal and Residual Currents Based on Coastal Acoustic Tomography Assimilated Data Obtained in Jiaozhou Bay, China
Authors: Zhu Ze‐Nan , Zhu Xiao‐Hua , Zhang Chuanzheng , Chen Minmo , Wang Min , Dong Menghong , Liu Wenhu , Zheng Hua , Kaneko Arata
Published: May 2021

To investigate the dynamics of tidal and residual currents in a shallow bay with narrow bay mouth and large tidal flat area, this study conducted three sets of coastal acoustic tomography (CAT) observations at 13 stations in deep area of Jiaozhou Bay (JZB), China, from December 6–18, 2015. Thereafter, travel time difference data observed via CAT were assimilated into a barotropic tidal model to realize an extrapolated study in tidal flats. The root mean square difference was 6.5 cm/s between assimilation and acoustic Doppler current profile data. Harmonic analyses indicated that the semidiurnal tide (M2) was predominant; however, relatively large nonlinear tidal currents (M4 and M6) were also found. Moreover, the spatial mean amplitudes of M2, M4, and M6 were 0.35 (excluding the tidal flat), 0.09, and 0.04 m/s, respectively. Dynamic analyses showed that continuity and advection terms were the main contributors to M4 in the bay mouth, whereas M4 in the tidal flats was generated by continuity and friction terms. Furthermore, bottom friction was the primary contributor to M6. In addition, residual currents with multi‐vortex structures appeared near the bay mouth, the maximum speed reached 0.60 m/s, and advection, continuity, and bottom friction contributed more to the generation of residual current eddies. Horizontal pressure gradient of residual elevation and advection of tidal and residual currents were the dominant factors maintaining the residual current near the bay mouth. The generation mechanisms of M4 and M6 were first discussed based on the assimilation of the current field data in JZB.
Solar Wind Speed Prediction With Two‐Dimensional Attention Mechanism
Authors: Sun Yanru , Xie Zongxia , Chen Yanhong , Huang Xin , Hu Qinghua
Published: May 2021

As more and more high‐technical systems are exposed to the space environment, extreme space weather becomes a great threat to human society. In the solar system, space weather is influenced by the solar wind, such that reliable prediction of solar wind conditions in the near‐Earth environment effectively reduces the impact of space weather on human society. Solar wind speed prediction is improved by making full use of OMNI data measured at Lagrangian Point 1 (L1) by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and image data observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite in this work. Specifically, we propose a model based on the “two‐dimensional attention mechanism” (TDAM) to predict solar wind speed. In this study, we first analyze and preprocess data from 2011 to 2017. Second, considering the characteristics of time series data, we adopt the gated recurrent units (GRU) model which can deal with long‐term dependence as the prediction part of our model. Third, we design a TDAM, which enables our prediction network to focus on important parts. Three performance indices are used: root‐mean‐square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and correlation coefficient (CC). By comparing TDAM with other models, we find that the TDAM model achieves the best prediction results, with RMSE of 62.8 km/s, MAE of 47.8 km/s, and CC of 0.789 24 h in advance. The experimental results show that the proposed TDAM model can improve the prediction accuracy of solar wind speed.
Engineered tunneling layer with enhanced impact ionization for detection improvement in graphene/silicon heterojunction photodetectors
Authors: Yin Jun , Liu Lian , Zang Yashu , Ying Anni , Hui Wenjie , Jiang Shusen , Zhang Chunquan , Yang Tzuyi , Chueh Yu-Lun , Li Jing , Kang Junyong
Published: May 2021

Here, an engineered tunneling layer enhanced photocurrent multiplication through the impact ionization effect was proposed and experimentally demonstrated on the graphene/silicon heterojunction photodetectors. With considering the suitable band structure of the insulation material and their special defect states, an atomic layer deposition (ALD) prepared wide-bandgap insulating (WBI) layer of AlN was introduced into the interface of graphene/silicon heterojunction. The promoted tunneling process from this designed structure demonstrated that can effectively help the impact ionization with photogain not only for the regular minority carriers from silicon, but also for the novel hot carries from graphene. As a result, significantly enhanced photocurrent as well as simultaneously decreased dark current about one order were accomplished in this graphene/insulation/silicon (GIS) heterojunction devices with the optimized AlN thickness of ~15 nm compared to the conventional graphene/silicon (GS) devices. Specifically, at the reverse bias of −10 V, a 3.96-A W−1 responsivity with the photogain of ~5.8 for the peak response under 850-nm light illumination, and a 1.03-A W−1 responsivity with ∼3.5 photogain under the 365 nm ultraviolet (UV) illumination were realized, which are even remarkably higher than those in GIS devices with either Al2O3 or the commonly employed SiO2 insulation layers. This work demonstrates a universal strategy to fabricate broadband, low-cost and high-performance photo-detecting devices towards the graphene-silicon optoelectronic integration.