bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sensitivity analysis of specific metrics for automated evaluation of layout changeability
Authors: Burggräf Peter , Dannapfel Matthias , Hahn Viviane , Schulz-Isenbeck Timm
Published: April 2022

Manufacturing companies are facing a turbulent market environment. Challenges for these companies lie in balancing efficient, economical action with maintaining agility, responsiveness and competitiveness. Thus, it is becoming even more important that as much potential as possible is leveraged as early as the planning phase of a factory. Automated layout design with focus on changeability could help to increase the agility and responsiveness for the factories. Approaches for automated design and optimization of layout variants are already prevalent. Ultimately, the major challenge remains in the automation of the layout evaluation taking qualitative criteria in consideration. Burggräf et al. provide a first approach for the quantification of the qualitative layout evaluation criterion changeability through specific metrics. Within the scope of this work those metrics are examined with regard to their reliability. Anomalies or deviations in the evaluation results shall be identified and suggestions for improvement will be proposed based on the obtained insights.
Political Philosophy’s Methodological Moment and the Rise of Public Political Philosophy
Authors: Floyd Jonathan
Published: April 2022

Political philosophy is having a methodological moment. Driven by long-standing frustrations at the fragmentation of our field, as well as recent urges to become more engaged with the ‘real’ world, there is now a boom in debates concerning the ‘true’ nature of our vocation. Yet how can this new work avoid simply recycling old rivalries under new labels? The key is to turn all this so-called methodological interest into a genuinely new programme of ‘methodology’, defined here as the careful identification and evaluation of all the different methods of reasoning available to us as political philosophers. This programme would clarify, for the first time, all the many ways in which we might argue with one another, thus making us less likely to talk past each another, and more likely to work fruitfully together.
Obeying Authority: Should We Trust Them or Not?
Authors: Walker Daniel
Published: April 2022

Researchers claim impartiality when conducting research and suggest their motives are to improve knowledge. However, when investigating the history of research into obedience to authority, propaganda and power-knowledge are present as well as emotional ties that affect the motives and methods of investigating these areas. With published work from US President Woodrow Wilson proposing obeying authority is necessary to functional societies and the Vatican displaying power-knowledge when censoring heliocentric views, it seems some researchers have ulterior motives. Although researchers like Piaget and Milgram appear to be more integral researchers, Piaget like many utilised observational methods that lack replicability, and Milgram’s family history with the events of the Holocaust pose additional issues. Therefore, considering the General Demarcation Problem, it is difficult to distinguish between science and pseudoscience, given all researchers will consider the research they conduct in the present day to be the correct way of doing so. However, adopting a critical mind as to who is conducting the research and the wider implications of who it serves and who it does not serve, would be beneficial for academia and wider society. This comes in a time where many reject the science of critical world issues such as COVID-19 and climate change.
Naïve Realism Face to Face with the Time Lag Argument
Authors: Bacchini Fabio
Published: April 2022

Naïve realists traditionally reject the time lag argument by replying that we can be in a direct visual perceptual relation to temporally distant facts or objects. I first show that this answer entails that some visual perceptions—i.e., those that are direct relation between us and an external material object that has visually changed, or ceased to exist, during the time lag—should also count as illusions and hallucinations, respectively. I then examine the possible attempts by the naïve realist to tell such perceptions apart from illusions and hallucinations, and after showing the inadequacy of the answers relying on a mere counterfactual or causal criterion, I explain why the problem is solved by introducing a view of visual perception as temporally extended into the past of objects and, in particular, as consisting in the whole causal chain of events or states of affairs going from external material objectxto subjectS. But this solution is not immune from defects for the naïve realist. I show that this view of perception raises a number of significant concerns, hence leaving the issue of the time lag problem still open for naïve realism.
The Prescribed Chern Scalar Curvature Problem
Authors: Fusi Elia
Published: April 2022

The paper is an attempt to resolve the prescribed Chern scalar curvature problem. We look for solutions within the conformal class of a fixed Hermitian metric. We divide the problem in three cases, according to the sign of the Gauduchon degree, that we analyse separately. In the case where the Gauduchon degree is negative, we prove that every non-identically zero and non-positive function is the Chern scalar curvature of a unique metric conformal to the fixed one. Moreover, if there exists a balanced metric with zero Chern scalar curvature, we prove that every smooth function changing sign with negative mean value is the Chern scalar curvature of a metric conformal to the balanced one.
Advancements in extrusion and drawing: a review of the contributes by the ESAFORM community
Authors: Donati Lorenzo , Reggiani Barbara , Pelaccia Riccardo , Negozio Marco , Di Donato Sara
Published: April 2022

The present review paper would celebrate the 25 years anniversary of the ESAFORM association by summarizing the studies performed by the delegates of the ESAFORM conference series within mini-symposium “Extrusion and Drawing” and of the papers published in the International Journal of Material Forming in the same fields. The 160 analyzed papers have been divided in four main categories corresponding to the paper main chapters (Hot Metal Extrusion, Cold Metal Extrusion, Polymer Extrusion and Drawing) then further divided in sub-chapters in order to group them in more specific research subjects. The aim of this review paper is then to provide to the reader a complete overview of the investigated topics and of the research trends over the years within the ESAFORM associate researchers.
Plasticity evolution of an aluminum-magnesium alloy under abrupt strain path changes
Authors: Lian Junhe , Liu Wenqi , Gastañares Xabier , Juan Rongfei , Mendiguren Joseba
Published: April 2022

During the forming and manufacturing of engineering materials, plasticity behavior could be evolving significantly due to complex deformation history. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the plasticity evolution of an aluminum-magnesium alloy under simple monotonic and non-monotonic loading with abrupt strain path changes. Instead of focusing only on one single stress state in the first-step loading for most of the studies in the literature, the current non-monotonic strain path testing program investigates three stress states – uniaxial, plane-strain, and biaxial tension – in the first-step loading and combines them with a second-step uniaxial loading along and orthogonal to the initial loading direction. This combination generates non-monotonic stress–strain data in a quite large and distributed spectrum in terms of the Schmitt parameter. It is found that the aluminum-magnesium alloy shows a unique phenomenon with a lower yield strength at reloading compared to monotonic cases coupled with a steady increase of stress overshooting the monotonic one at large strains. This increase of stress as well as the strain hardening rate lasts till the uniform strain and is therefore referred to as permanent hardening. The comprehensive non-monotonic behavior delivered by the new experimental program in this study could further assist the development of material models and an in-depth understanding of the underlying mechanisms.
Radiologists’ Usage of Diagnostic AI Systems
Authors: Jussupow Ekaterina , Spohrer Kai , Heinzl Armin
Published: April 2022

While diagnostic AI systems are implemented in medical practice, it is still unclear how physicians embed them in diagnostic decision making. This study examines how radiologists come to use diagnostic AI systems in different ways and what role AI assessments play in this process if they confirm or disconfirm radiologists’ own judgment. The study draws on rich qualitative data from a revelatory case study of an AI system for stroke diagnosis at a University Hospital to elaborate how three sensemaking processes revolve around confirming and disconfirming AI assessments. Through context-specific sensedemanding, sensegiving, and sensebreaking, radiologists develop distinct usage patterns of AI systems. The study reveals that diagnostic self-efficacy influences which of the three sensemaking processes radiologists engage in. In deriving six propositions, the account of sensemaking and usage of diagnostic AI systems in medical practice paves the way for future research.
Inertial stochastic PALM and applications in machine learning
Authors: Hertrich Johannes , Steidl Gabriele
Published: April 2022

Inertial algorithms for minimizing nonsmooth and nonconvex functions as the inertial proximal alternating linearized minimization algorithm (iPALM) have demonstrated their superiority with respect to computation time over their non inertial variants. In many problems in imaging and machine learning, the objective functions have a special form involving huge data which encourage the application of stochastic algorithms. While algorithms based on stochastic gradient descent are still used in the majority of applications, recently also stochastic algorithms for minimizing nonsmooth and nonconvex functions were proposed. In this paper, we derive an inertial variant of a stochastic PALM algorithm with variance-reduced gradient estimator, called iSPALM, and prove linear convergence of the algorithm under certain assumptions. Our inertial approach can be seen as generalization of momentum methods widely used to speed up and stabilize optimization algorithms, in particular in machine learning, to nonsmooth problems. Numerical experiments for learning the weights of a so-called proximal neural network and the parameters of Student-tmixture models show that our new algorithm outperforms both stochastic PALM and its deterministic counterparts.
What is the Difference between Weakness of Will and Compulsion?
Authors: GORMAN AUGUST
Published: April 2022

Orthodoxy holds that the difference between weakness of will and compulsion is a matter of the resistibility of an agent's effective motivation, which makes control-based views of agency especially well equipped to distinguish blameworthy weak-willed acts from non-blameworthy compulsive acts. I defend an alternative view that the difference between weakness and compulsion instead lies in the fact that agents would upon reflection give some conative weight to acting on their weak-willed desires for some aim other than to extinguish them, but not to their compulsive desires. This view allows identificationist theorists of moral responsibility to explain why weak-willed actions, but not compulsive actions, are attributable to agents such that they can, in theory, be praised or blamed for them. After motivating and presenting the view in detail, I show how it has unique resources for explaining the ethics of managing one's compulsions.
Dissemination and implementation science resources, training, and scientific activities provided through CTSA programs nationally: Opportunities to advance D&I research and training capacity
Authors: Shelton Rachel C. , Dolor Rowena J. , Tobin Jonathan N. , Baumann Ana , Rohweder Catherine , Patel Sapana , Baldwin Laura-Mae
Published: April 2022

Introduction:

Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program hubs are well-positioned to advance dissemination and implementation (D&I) research and training capacity nationally, though little is known about what D&I research support and services CTSAs provide. To address this gap, the CTSA Dissemination, Implementation, and Knowledge Transfer Working Group conducted an environmental scan of CTSAs (2017–2018).

Methods:

Of 67 CTSA institutions, we contacted 43 that previously reported delivering D&I research services. D&I experts from these institutions were emailed a survey assessing D&I resources, services, training, and scientific projects. Responses were categorized and double-coded by study authors using a content analysis approach.

Results:

Thirty-five of the 43 D&I experts (81.4%) responded. Challenges to CTSAs in developing and supporting D&I science activities were related to inadequate D&I science workforce (45.7%) and lack of understanding of D&I science (25.7%). Services provided included consultation/mentoring programs (68%), pilot funding/grants (50%), and workshops/seminars/conferences (46%). Training and workforce development in D&I were frequently identified as future priorities. Recommendations included increase training to meet demand (68.6%), accessible D&I tools/resources (34.3%), greater visibility/awareness of D&I methods (34.3%), consultation services (22.9%), and expand D&I science workforce (22.9%).

Conclusions:

CTSAs have tremendous potential to support the advancement and impact of D&I science across the translational continuum. Despite the growing presence of D&I science in CTSAs, continued commitment and prioritization are needed from CTSA and institutional leadership to raise awareness of D&I science and its value, meet training demands, and develop necessary infrastructure for conducting D&I science.
Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia
Authors: Bjørn Rasmus G.
Published: April 2022

Loanword analysis is a unique contribution of historical linguistics to our understanding of prehistoric cultural interfaces. As language reflects the lives of its speakers, the substantiation of loanwords draws on the composite evidence from linguistic as well as auxiliary data from archaeology and genetics through triangulation. The Bronze Age of Central Asia is in principle linguistically mute, but a host of recent independent observations that tie languages, cultures and genetics together in various ways invites a comprehensive reassessment of six highly diagnostic loanwords (‘seven’, ‘name/fame’, ‘sister-in-law’, ‘honey’, ‘metal’ and ‘horse’) that are associated with the Bronze Age. Moreover, they are shared between Indo-European, Uralic, Turkic and sometimes Old Chinese. The successful identification of the interfaces for these loanwords can help settle longstanding debates on languages, migrations and the items themselves. Each item is analysed using the comparative method with reference to the archaeological record to assess the plausibility of a transfer. I argue that the six items can be dated to have entered Central and East Asian languages from immigrant Indo-European languages spoken in the Afanasievo and Andronovo cultures, including a novel source for the ‘horse’ in Old Chinese.
Repositioning anticancer drugs as novel COVID-19 antivirals: targeting structural and functional similarities between viral proteins and cancer
Authors: Low Zheng Yao , Yip Ashley Jia Wen , Lal Sunil Kumar
Published: April 2022

The current COVID-19 pandemic contributed by the SARS-CoV-2 has put in place an urgent need for new and promising antiviral therapeutics. The viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) enzyme plays a vital role in viral replication for all RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, thereby making it a prime and promising candidate for novel antiviral targeting. Interestingly, the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), a common catalytic subunit of the telomerase enzyme in many cancers, has also been identified with structural and functional similarities to the viral RdRp. Therefore, it becomes essential to evaluate and consider anticancer drugs that target hTERT towards antiviral RdRp activity, and vice versa. For instance, Floxuridine, an hTERT inhibitor, and VX-222, a hepatitis C virus RdRp inhibitor, are now gaining recognition as a potential antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 and anti-hTERT for cancer, simultaneously. While limited studies on hTERT inhibitors for use as viral RdRp, and anti-RdRp inhibitors as hTERT inhibitors are available, in this review, we aim at bringing to light this close structural and functional relationship between both these enzymes. We punctuate this idea with specific examples on how potential anticancer inhibitors can effectively be brought to use as inhibitors against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a relatively new pathogen, compared to the very well-studied field of cancer research.
Disjointness for measurably distal group actions and applications
Authors: MOREIRA JOEL , RICHTER FLORIAN K. , ROBERTSON DONALD
Published: April 2022

We generalize Berg’s notion of quasi-disjointness to actions of countable groups and prove that every measurably distal system is quasi-disjoint from every measure-preserving system. As a corollary, we obtain easy to check necessary and sufficient conditions for two systems to be disjoint, provided one of them is measurably distal. We also obtain a Wiener–Wintner-type theorem for countable amenable groups with distal weights and applications to weighted multiple ergodic averages and multiple recurrence.
Thomas Kuhn, Hyperbole, and the Ashtray: Evidence of Morris’ Faulty Memory
Authors: Wray K. Brad
Published: April 2022

Errol Morris has claimed that Kuhn threw an ashtray at him during a dispute about some matter in the history of science. Morris also claims that Kuhn threw him out of the graduate program at Princeton for disagreeing with him. I argue that Morris’s attack on Kuhn contains some degree of hyperbole. Further, I present evidence that shows that Morris is mistaken about key events during this period. In fact, Kuhn was supportive of Morris in his pursuit of a career in the history of science.
Two new genera (Paraeperopeus and Dentimelita) and four new deep-sea amphipod crustacean species of little-known genera (Neohela, Pardaliscella, Pardaliscoides and Tosilus) from the Perdido Fold Belt, Gulf of Mexico
Authors: Paz-Ríos Carlos E. , Pech Daniel
Published: April 2022

Two new genera and six new species of benthic amphipods from the soft sediments of the Perdido Fold Belt region, western Gulf of Mexico, are described. Morphological comparisons of the new species with description of their congeners resulted in the determination of one new genus and one new species of the family Melitidae as Dentimelita lecroyae gen. nov., sp. nov., one new genus and four new species of the family Pardaliscidae as Pardaliscella perdido sp. nov., Paraeperopeus longirostris gen. nov., sp. nov., Pardaliscoides ecosur sp. nov. and Tosilus cigomensis sp. nov., and one new species of the family Unciolidae as Neohela winfieldi sp. nov. The occurrence of the newly described amphipods in the Perdido Fold Belt region represented new geographic range extensions for the genera, including new records of Neohela in the Gulf of Mexico, Pardaliscella and Pardaliscoides in the western Atlantic and Tosilus in the Atlantic.
Circulating sex-steroids and Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in a general male population
Authors: Stensen Dina B. , Småbrekke Lars , Olsen Karina , Grimnes Guri , Nielsen Christopher Sivert , Ericson Johanna U. , Simonsen Gunnar Skov , Almås Bjørg , Furberg Anne-Sofie
Published: April 2022

Male sex is associated with higher risk of both colonisation and infection with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). However, the role of sex-steroids in colonisation among men is largely unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate possible associations between circulating sex-steroids and nasal carriage of S. aureus in a general male population. The population-based Tromsø6 study (2007–2008) included 752 males aged 31–87 years with serum sex-steroids measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and two nasal swab samples for the assessment of S. aureus carriage. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to study the association between sex-steroid concentrations and S. aureus persistent nasal carriage (two positive swabs vs. others), while adjusting for potential confounding factors.

S. aureus persistent nasal carriage prevalence was 32%. Among men aged 55 years and above (median age 65 years), there was an inverse dose-response relationship between serum concentration of testosterone and persistent nasal carriage, and carriers had significantly lower mean levels of testosterone (P = 0.028, OR = 0.94 per nmol/l change in testosterone; 95% CI = 0.90–0.98). This association was attenuated when adjusting for body mass index and age (OR = 0.96 per nmol/l change in testosterone; 95% CI = 0.91–1.01). There was no association in the total population. This large population-based study suggests that testosterone levels may be inversely related to S. aureus persistent nasal carriage in older men. Future studies addressing biological mechanisms underlying the male predisposition to S. aureus colonisation and infection may foster preventive interventions that take sex-differences into account.
The utility of a structured, interactive cardiac anatomy teaching session for resident education
Authors: Kukulski Jacquelyn , Rausa Jacqueline , Weld Julia , Jaji Amina , Ikeda Nobuyuki , Lee Brian , Thomas Lisha , Anderson Robert H. , Loomba Rohit S.
Published: April 2022

Background:

Paediatric residents are often taught cardiac anatomy with two-dimensional images of heart specimens, or via imaging such as echocardiography or computed tomography. This study aimed to determine if the use of a structured, interactive, teaching session using heart specimens with CHD would be effective in teaching the concepts of cardiac anatomy.

Methods:

The interest amongst paediatric residents of a cardiac anatomy session using heart specimens was assessed initially by circulating a survey. Next, four major cardiac lesions were identified to be of interest: atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, tetralogy of Fallot, and transposition. A list of key structures and anatomic concepts for these lesions was developed, and appropriate specimens demonstrating these features were identified by a cardiac morphologist. A structured, interactive, teaching session was then held with the paediatric residents using the cardiac specimens. The same 10-question assessment was administered at the beginning and end of the session.

Results:

The initial survey demonstrated that all the paediatric residents had an interest in a cardiac anatomy teaching session. A total of 24 participated in the 2-hour session. The median pre-test score was 45%, compared to a median post-test score of 90% (p < 0.01). All paediatric residents who completed a post-session survey indicated that the session was a good use of educational time and contributed to increasing their knowledge base. They expressed great interest in future sessions.

Conclusion:

A 2-hour hands-on cardiac anatomy teaching session using cardiac specimens can successfully highlight key anatomic concepts for paediatric residents.
Right ventricular myxoma in a child causing right ventricular outflow tract obstruction
Authors: Boudreaux Jacob , Lara Diego , Hines Michael
Published: April 2022

Primary cardiac tumours are uncommon in the paediatric population, accounting for fewer than 0.5% of paediatric cases of cardiac disease. Right ventricular tumours, including myxomas, are particularly rare and may be asymptomatic or demonstrate varying degrees of cardiac dysfunction based on the location and size of the tumour, inducing conduction abnormalities, syncope, embolism, and potentially, sudden death. We report a rare case of right ventricular myxoma causing severe right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and surgical intervention in a paediatric patient.
THE RECEPTION OF ADAM SMITH IN JAPAN: THE FORMATION OF THE IDEA OF SHIMIN SHAKAI, OR CIVIL SOCIETY, BY ZENYA TAKASHIMA BEFORE THE END OF WORLD WAR II
Authors: Nohara Shinji
Published: April 2022

From the late 1930s to the end of World War II, the Japanese government restricted freedom of expression and research. Nevertheless, Zenya Takashima (1904–1990), one of the most influential social scientists in Japan, continued to publish his writings. On an initial reading, he seems to have supported totalitarianism, even though he did not; moreover, he seemed to have agreed with a model of a controlled economy as a historical step, although he did not see this as inevitable. Rather, in order to resist the totalitarian ideology, he adopted a Smithian view of “Shimin Shakai,” or civil society, in which people, by protecting justice, acted freely in the economy. Before Takashima, the concept of civil society was used to express the German concept “bürgerliche Gesellschaft,” but Takashima changed the meaning of the term to a society of equal citizens.
Antennal Sensilla in Vespidae: A Comparison Between a Diurnal and a Nocturnal Polistinae Wasp
Authors: Ribeiro Júnior Cleber , Serrão José Eduardo
Published: April 2022

Social wasps have a widespread Neotropical distribution and are important pollinators and biological control agents for pest insects. The foraging activity of wasps is influenced by biotic and abiotic factors that are detected by the antennal sensilla that vary according to species, sex, caste, and environmental conditions. This study compares the types and quantities of antennal sensilla with a scanning electron microscope between the nocturnalApoica flavissimaand the diurnalPolistes simillimuswasps. Six types of sensilla were found in the antennae of both species: placoid, coeloconic, basiconic-type 1, basiconic-type 2, trichoid-type 1, and trichoid-type 2. Sensilla chaetica were found only in the scape and pedicel ofA. flavissima. In the nocturnal wasp, there are 19,132.27 ± 1,247.72 sensilla in the left and 17,746.46 ± 1,477.46 in the right antennae, whereas in the diurnal wasp 14,936.72 ± 1,271.69 in the left and 16,090.82 ± 1,345.3 in the right antennae.A. flavissimahas a longer antennal length and number of sensilla thanP. simillimus. The higher number of antennal sensilla in the nocturnal wasp is not linked with the antennal size. The association of antennal sensilla functions with ecological and behavioral factors ofA. flavissimaandP. simillimusare discussed.
Rotational effect and dosimetric impact: HDMLC vs 5-mm MLC leaf width in single isocenter multiple metastases radiosurgery with Brainlab Elements™
Authors: Venencia Carlos Daniel , Rojas-López José Alejandro , Díaz Moreno Rogelio Manuel , Zunino Silvia
Published: April 2022

Purpose:

To analyse the impact of multileaf collimator (MLC) leaf width in multiple metastases radiosurgery (SRS) considering the target distance to isocenter and rotational displacements.

Methods:

Ten plans were optimised. The plans were created with Elements Multiple Mets SRS v2·0 (Brainlab AG, Munchen, Germany). The mean number of metastases per plan was 5 ± 2 [min 3, max 9], and the mean volume of gross tumour volume (GTV) was 1·1 ± 1·3 cc [min 0·02, max 5·1]. Planning target volume margin criterion was based on GTV-isocenter distance and target dimensions. Plans were performed using 6 MV with high-definition MLC (HDMLC) and reoptimised using 5-mm MLC (MLC-5). Plans were compared using Paddick conformity index (PCI), gradient index, monitor units , volume receiving half of prescription isodose (PIV50), maximum dose to brainstem, optic chiasm and optic nerves, and V12Gy, V10Gy and V5Gy for healthy brain were analysed. The maximum displacement due to rotational combinations was optimised by a genetic algorithm for both plans. Plans were reoptimised and compared using optimised margin.

Results:

HDMLC plans had better conformity and higher dose falloff than MLC-5 plans. Dosimetric differences were statistically significant (p< 0·05). The smaller the lesion volume, the higher the dosimetric differences between both plans. The effect of rotational displacements produced for each target in SRS was not dependent on the MLC (p> 0·05).

Conclusions:

The finer HDMLC offers dosimetric advantages compared with the MLC-5 in terms of target conformity and dose to the surrounding organs at risk. However, only dose falloff differences due to rotations depend on MLC.
Utilising radiotherapy dose to guide 3D surgical reconstructions for mandibular osteoradionecrosis
Authors: West Nick , Willis Nick , Adams James , Kennedy Matthew , Jenkins Glyndwr , Iqbal Shahid
Published: April 2022

Introduction:

Following radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, a proportion of patients present with mandibular osteoradionecrosis (ORN). Reported incidence and presentation of ORN vary widely, although often initiated by trauma with radiotherapy being the biggest risk factor. Evolved disease requires surgery, mandibular resection and reconstruction. As ORN is a progressive disease, it can manifest beyond resected volumes, compromising surgery. To minimise surgical failures, we present incorporating radiotherapy dose into the surgical design and decision processes—dose guided surgery (DGS).

Method:

Five mandibular ORN patients, referred for resection and reconstruction, underwent DGS—mandible visualised on diagnostic CT, propagated to radiotherapy planning CT, radiotherapy dose displayed on the mandible, high-risk mandible converted to stl files and incorporated in the surgical design.

Results:

DGS ensures high-dose, high-risk ORN mandible is resected, and fixation devices are located in low-dose, low-risk areas.

Conclusions:

DGS represents a potential new standard of care for patients presenting with mandibular ORN post-radiotherapy. Formal follow-up of this small cohort is ongoing although DSG is anticipated to increase the success rate of this high cost, high burden procedure compared to surgery designed on clinical and radiological assessments alone.
Silicification of feathers in a modern hot spring in New Zealand
Authors: ZHAO Tao , HU Liang , PAN Yanhong
Published: April 2022

Fossil feathers have greatly improved our understanding of the evolutionary transition from non-avian dinosaurs to birds and the evolution of feathers, and may be the only evidence for their source animals in the fossil record. Hot spring environments have been demonstrated to be conducive to the preservation of fossils, but internal silicification of feathers was not observed in the only avian carcass so far discovered in ancient hot spring deposits. To determine whether feathers can be internally silicified, here we analyse feathers sampled from a modern hot spring vent pool – Champagne Pool – in New Zealand. Our results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry elemental mapping show that the sampled feathers are silicified to different degrees, and one of them is pervasively silicified. SEM observations show that feathers can be silicified at the cellular level. Degradation is involved in the silicification of feathers, as indicated by the reduction of the abundance of carbon and the loss of keratin fibrils. Our findings suggest that ancient deposits of hot spring vent pools are promising targets in search for fossil feathers.
Long, Regular Return of Four Large Earthquakes on Qilian Shan's Minle‐Damaying Frontal Thrust (NE Tibet): Partial Clustering With Great Events on the Leng Long Ling Fault?
Authors: Li Zhanfei , Xu Xiwei , Tapponnier Paul , Chen Guihua , Ren Junjie , Li Kang , Cheng Jia , Kang Wenjun , Luo Jiahong
Published: April 2022

The exact geometry and rupture behavior of the Minle‐Damaying Thrust (MDT), along NE Tibet's Qilian Shan's mountain front, remain unclear. Based on a new ∼45 km long, ∼2.5 km wide, and 0.5 m resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicle survey of the thrust's eastern part, we accurately map its surface trace in order to identify and quantify the sizes of large post‐glacial earthquakes. Our geomorphic measurements (72 vertical offsets [VOs] ranging from 1.2 to 13.8 m) validated by fieldwork, reveal four distinct peak throw clusters (∼2.2, 5.4, 8.3, 11.6 m) along the slightly stepping, frontal strands of the foreland‐propagating thrust trace. Shallow thrust dip‐angles constrained by the three‐point method at five sites range from ∼32° to 43°. Anchoring our 72 throw measurements to previous dating results and paleo‐seismological trench logs at the Xie river site, implies that the MDT's eastern segment broke regularly with ∼2.9+0.6/−0.8 m of nearly characteristic average VO (∼4.9 m of slip) to produce Mw ∼ 7.0–7.4 earthquakes, with a return time of ∼3.6+0.8/−1.0 ka since ∼12.7 ka. Paleo‐seismological results suggest that the occurrence of thrust earthquakes on the MDT may be coupled with that of large strike‐slip events, similar to the 1927, Mw ∼ 8, Gulang earthquake on the neighboring (∼18 km SW) Leng Long Ling segment of the Haiyuan Fault. That co‐seismic slip on the latter might control ∼ coeval slip along the sub‐parallel MDT may reflect a rupture behavior dictated by their partitioning/bifurcation at ∼20 km depth, close to their adjacent, restraining, left‐stepping bends.
Distribution and Occurrence Frequency of dB/dt Spikes During Magnetic Storms 1980–2020
Authors: Schillings A. , Palin L. , Opgenoorth H. J. , Hamrin M. , Rosenqvist L. , Gjerloev J. W. , Juusola L. , Barnes R.
Published: April 2022

The physical magnetospheric cause for geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) are rapid time‐varying magnetic fields (dB/dt), which occur mainly during magnetic substorms and storms. When, where and why exactly such rapid dB/dt may occur is insufficiently understood. We investigated all storms since 1980 and analyzed the negative and positive dB/dt spikes (>|500| nT/min) in the north and east component using a worldwide coverage (SuperMAG). Our analysis confirmed the existence of two dB/dt spikes “hotspots” located in the pre‐midnight and in the morning magnetic local time sector, independently of the geographic location of the stations. The associated physical phenomena are probably substorm current wedge onsets and westward traveling surges (WTS) in the evening sector, and wave‐ or vortex‐like current flows in the morning sector known as Omega bands. We observed a spatiotemporal evolution of the negative northern dB/dt spikes. The spikes initially occur in the pre‐midnight sector, and then develop in time toward the morning sector. This spatiotemporal sequence is correlated with bursts in the AE index, and can be repeated several times throughout a storm. Finally, we investigated the peak value of Dst and AE during the storm period in comparison with the dB/dt spike occurrence frequency, we did not find any correlation. This result implies that a moderate storm with many spikes can be as (or more) dangerous for ground‐based infrastructures than a major storm with fewer dB/dt spikes. Our findings regarding the physical causes and characteristics of dB/dt spikes may help to improve the GIC forecast for the affected regions.
Inferring Suspended Sediment Carbon Content and Particle Size at High Frequency From the Optical Response of a Submerged Spectrometer
Authors: Sehgal Dhruv , Martínez‐Carreras Núria , Hissler Christophe , Bense Victor F. , Hoitink A. J. F. (Ton)
Published: April 2022

Real time monitoring of suspended sediment (SS) carbon content and particle size information is essential to understand SS transport mechanisms and processes. However, limited in situ methods are available, and manual and unattended sampling makes high frequency observation challenging. Based on evidence that optical measurements of SS concentration are dependent on particle size and composition, we hypothesize that SS carbon content and mean particle size can simultaneously be inferred from the absorbance data measured with a submerged spectrometer at high frequency. With the aim to predict both parameters, we investigate if global calibrations can be obtained and used instead of site‐dependent local calibrations. To test this, we created a laboratory data set using a tank setup, and an in situ field data set. Sediment samples varying in composition were collected and used in a tank setup to obtain global (all sites grouped together) calibrations between absorbance, particle size and carbon content. Two sites were instrumented to collect in situ field data, to generate local (site‐specific) calibrations and to validate the global calibrations obtained in the laboratory. A procedure to account for the effect of SS concentration when using the global calibration to predict is also presented. Our findings indicate that global calibrations can accurately predict from in situ absorbance readings, with a median absolute error of 17.3 μm, versus 10.5 μm for a local calibration. Local calibrations are indispensable to reliably predict carbon content, with a median absolute error of 1.3%.
Multiscale Fusion of Digital Rock Images Based on Deep Generative Adversarial Networks
Authors: Liu Mingliang , Mukerji Tapan
Published: April 2022

Computation of petrophysical properties on digital rock images is becoming important in geoscience. However, it is usually complicated for natural heterogeneous porous media due to the presence of multiscale pore structures. To capture the heterogeneity of rocks, we develop a method based on deep generative adversarial networks to assimilate multiscale imaging data for the generation of synthetic high‐resolution digital rocks having a large field of view. The reconstructed images not only honor the geometric structures of 3‐D micro‐CT images but also recover fine details existing at the scale of 2‐D scanning electron microscopy images. Furthermore, the consistency between the real and synthetically generated images in terms of porosity, specific perimeter, two‐point correlation and effective permeability reveals the validity of our proposed method. It provides an effective way to fuse multiscale digital rock images for better characterization of heterogeneous porous media and better prediction of pore‐scale flow and petrophysical properties.
Vertical Coupling by Solar Semidiurnal Tides in the Thermosphere From ICON/MIGHTI Measurements
Authors: Forbes Jeffrey M. , Oberheide Jens , Zhang Xiaoli , Cullens Chihoko , Englert Christoph R. , Harding Brian J. , Harlander John M. , Marr Kenneth D. , Makela Jonathan J. , Immel Thomas J.
Published: April 2022

Wind measurements from the Michelson Interferometer for Global High‐resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument on the Ionospheric CONnections (ICON) mission provide new insights into the semidiurnal tidal spectrum in the thermosphere, covering latitudes 9°S–39°N and altitudes 100–280 km altitude throughout 2020. Latitude vs. day of year (DOY) variability of solar semidiurnal tides SE2, S0, SW1, SW2, SW3, and SW4 at 250 km are presented for the first time, and evaluated relative to similar results at 106 km. Using daytime‐only data, height vs. latitude and height vs. DOY variability of SE2, S0, SW1. SW3, and SW4 amplitudes and phases are depicted for the first time, revealing the effects of a dissipative thermosphere on the vertical evolutions of these tidal structures. SW2 is absent from these depictions due to potential aliasing by zonal mean winds. The above results are considered in light of the Climatological Tidal Model of the Thermosphere (CTMT), which is based on fits to tidal winds and temperatures from the Thermosphere‐Ionosphere‐Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics mission between 80 and 120 km during 2002–2008, and extrapolated to an altitude of 400 km based on modeled tidal structures propagating in a dissipative thermosphere, but without in situ sources of excitation due to tide‐tide or tide‐ion drag nonlinear interactions. On the basis of comparisons with the CTMT and other characteristics revealed in the MIGHTI tidal structures, it is concluded that in situ sources exist for S0, SW1, SW2, and SW3 in the thermosphere above about 200 km.
Unbiased Estimates and Confidence Intervals of Riverine Loads for Low‐Frequency Water Quality Monitoring Strategies
Authors: Tada Akio , Tanakamaru Haruya
Published: April 2022

Accurate estimates of riverine constituent loads are essential for water pollution control and erosion control in watersheds, but an accurate estimation method for commonly employed water quality monitoring strategies, such as calendar‐based sampling with high‐flow sampling, has not been established. Therefore, we propose methods for both unbiased load estimation and confidence interval construction for annual riverine loads using the Horvitz‐Thompson estimator based on limited samples (12 to 20 per year) collected with commonly used water quality monitoring strategies. In addition, we propose an uncertainty reduction method to calculate efficient confidence intervals using probability resampling based on a simple rating curve due to the small sample sizes. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by load estimates based on 150 annual data sets of daily pairs of discharge and concentration observations of six water quality parameters from different watersheds and years. The tested sampling strategies include random sampling over time as a proxy for calendar‐based sampling, random sampling with high‐flow sampling, and flow‐proportional sampling. The results show that the proposed methods provide unbiased load estimates for all the data sets and appropriate confidence intervals. The uncertainty reduction in the confidence interval widths obtained with probability resampling is effective for calendar‐based sampling. We also explain the importance of defining proper sampling probabilities for load estimation based on samples with missing observations. The proposed method can be used to evaluate and improve existing water quality monitoring strategies for more efficient load estimation and the retrieval of accurate load estimates from existing data sets.
Nicotinic receptors promote susceptibility to social stress in female mice linked with neuroadaptations within VTA dopamine neurons
Authors: Ortiz Vanesa , Costa Campos Renan , Fofo Hugo , Fernandez Sebastian P. , Barik Jacques
Published: April 2022

There are about twice as many women as men who experience depression during their lifetime. Although life circumstances and especially exposure to stressful situations constitute a major risk factor to develop depression, the underlying mechanisms have yet to be unraveled. We employed the chronic social defeat procedure to elicit depressive-like symptoms in females and ketamine to validate the model. We performed ex-vivo patch clamp recordings to assess cellular adaptations and used pharmacological agents to dissect these deregulations. Chronic social defeat exposure triggers a hyperactivity of VTA putative dopamine (DA) neurons in females susceptible to stress but not resilient ones. This hyperactivity was fully reversed by a single administration of ketamine. In virally-identified brain circuits of both susceptible and resilient females, we found a hypercholinergic tone to the VTA arising from the laterodorsal tegmentum. Application of puffs of nicotine revealed a decreased sensitivity of DA neurons in resilient mice when compared to naive or susceptible ones. The in vivo acute administration of the positive allosteric modulator for α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) not only increased susceptibility to stress by enhancing activity of VTA DA neurons, but also triggered a switch in phenotype from resilient to susceptible. Our data unravel dysregulations of VTA DA neurons activity exclusively in females exhibiting depressive-like symptoms and identify VTA nAChRs as key molecular substrates that exacerbate susceptibility to stress.
Chemerin enhances mesenchymal features of glioblastoma by establishing autocrine and paracrine networks in a CMKLR1-dependent manner
Authors: Wu Jianqi , Shen Shuai , Liu Tianqi , Ren Xiufang , Zhu Chen , Liang Qingyu , Cui Xiao , Chen Ling , Cheng Peng , Cheng Wen , Wu Anhua
Published: April 2022

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) with mesenchymal features exhibits enhanced chemotherapeutic resistance and results in reduced overall survival. Recent studies have suggested that there is a positive correlation between the GBM mesenchymal status and immune cell infiltration. However, the mechanisms by which GBM acquires its mesenchymal features in a tumor immune microenvironment-dependent manner remains unknown. Here, we uncovered a chemerin-mediated autocrine and paracrine network by which the mesenchymal phenotype of GBM cells is strengthened. We identified chemerin as a prognostic secretory protein mediating the mesenchymal phenotype-promoting network between tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and tumor cells in GBM. Mechanistically, chemerin promoted the mesenchymal features of GBM by suppressing the ubiquitin-proteasomal degradation of CMKLR1, a chemerin receptor predominantly expressed on TAMs and partially expressed on GBM cells, thereby enhancing NF-κB pathway activation. Moreover, chemerin was found to be involved in the recruitment of TAMs in the GBM tumor microenvironment. We revealed that chemerin also enhances the mesenchymal phenotype-promoting ability of TAMs and promotes their M2 polarization via a CMKLR1/NF-κB axis, which further exacerbates the mesenchymal features of GBM. Blocking the chemerin/CMKLR1 axis with 2-(α-naphthoyl) ethyltrimethylammonium iodide disrupted the mesenchymal network and suppressed tumor growth in GBM. These results suggest the therapeutic potential of targeting the chemerin/CMKLR1 axis to block the mesenchymal network in GBM.
Metagenomic methylation patterns resolve bacterial genomes of unusual size and structural complexity
Authors: Wilbanks Elizabeth G , Doré Hugo , Ashby Meredith H , Heiner Cheryl , Roberts Richard J , Eisen Jonathan A
Published: April 2022

The plasticity of bacterial and archaeal genomes makes examining their ecological and evolutionary dynamics both exciting and challenging. The same mechanisms that enable rapid genomic change and adaptation confound current approaches for recovering complete genomes from metagenomes. Here, we use strain-specific patterns of DNA methylation to resolve complex bacterial genomes from long-read metagenomic data of a marine microbial consortium, the “pink berries” of the Sippewissett Marsh (USA). Unique combinations of restriction-modification (RM) systems encoded by the bacteria produced distinctive methylation profiles that were used to accurately bin and classify metagenomic sequences. Using this approach, we finished the largest and most complex circularized bacterial genome ever recovered from a metagenome (7.9 Mb with >600 transposons), the finished genome of Thiohalocapsa sp. PB-PSB1 the dominant bacteria in the consortia. From genomes binned by methylation patterns, we identified instances of horizontal gene transfer between sulfur-cycling symbionts (Thiohalocapsa sp. PB-PSB1 and Desulfofustis sp. PB-SRB1), phage infection, and strain-level structural variation. We also linked the methylation patterns of each metagenome-assembled genome with encoded DNA methyltransferases and discovered new RM defense systems, including novel associations of RM systems with RNase toxins.