bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Management of Patients with Early Myelofibrosis: A Discussion of Best Practices
Authors: Bose Prithviraj
Published: March 2024

Purpose of Review

Summarize best practices for management of patients with early myelofibrosis (MF).

Recent Findings

Myelofibrosis is a progressive myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) that generally produces burdensome symptoms and ultimately leads to worse overall survival than that observed in healthy controls or patients with other MPNs. Several Janus kinase inhibitors and various interferon formulations are now available for treatment of MF, with ruxolitinib notable for extending overall survival in addition to improving MF signs and symptoms.

The chronic nature of the disease can lead some patients to avoid immediate treatment in favor of a watch-and-wait approach. This review summarizes the patient management approach taken in my practice, providing guidance and a discussion of best practices with an emphasis on the importance and clinical benefits of active treatment in early MF. In particular, a case is made to consider treatment with ruxolitinib for patients with intermediate-1 risk disease and to minimize delay between diagnosis and treatment initiation for patients with intermediate or high-risk disease.
Behavioral selection in structured populations
Authors: Borgstede Matthias
Published: March 2024

The multilevel model of behavioral selection (MLBS) by Borgstede and Eggert (Behav Process 186:104370. 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104370, 2021) provides a formal framework that integrates reinforcement learning with natural selection using an extended Price equation. However, the MLBS is so far only formulated for homogeneous populations, thereby excluding all sources of variation between individuals. This limitation is of primary theoretical concern because any application of the MLBS to real data requires to account for variation between individuals. In this paper, I extend the MLBS to account for inter-individual variation by dividing the population into homogeneous sub-populations and including class-specific reproductive values as weighting factors for an individual’s evolutionary fitness. The resulting formalism closes the gap between the theoretical underpinnings of behavioral selection and the application of the theory to empirical data, which naturally includes inter-individual variation. Furthermore, the extended MLBS is used to establish an explicit connection between the dynamics of learning and the maximization of individual fitness. These results expand the scope of the MLBS as a general theoretical framework for the quantitative analysis of learning and evolution.
Lithostratigraphy, petrography, and geochemistry of the Eocene–Oligocene rock succession, Wadi Arhab area, North Eastern Desert, Egypt
Authors: Amin Alaa Taha Ahmed , El-Mezayen Ahmed Mohamed , Elkholy Darweesh Mohamed , Zeid Ehab Korany Abu , Fahmy Wael , Khamis Hossam Anwar
Published: March 2024

The present study recorded for the first time, an occurrence of Oligocene basaltic plugs in Beni-Suef Governorate, Egypt. In addition, Egyptian alabaster was discovered in the study area, further the well-known ancient area around the Cavern of Wadi Sannur. In this work, the lithostratigraphy, structure, petrography, and geochemistry including TGA and DSC were studied. In addition, the thermal effect of the basaltic magma on the Eocene carbonates that covered most of the area, caused the formation of the Egyptian alabaster in the region. The Eocene succession represents different stages in age (late Middle–Late Eocene). Their outcrops are disconformably overlain by the basaltic plugs extruded along the NW–SE fault trend which is parallel to the Red Sea graben which was formed in the Oligo–Miocene Period. Petrographically, the Eocene rocks show ten microfacies types indicating that deposition of Eocene carbonates in the subtidal shallow marine environment except for microfacies of the Egyptian alabaster shows that the precipitation is related to the basaltic thermal effect and related hydrothermal waters within open cavities or karstic systems in the Eocene carbonate. The chemical analysis showed that SiO2, Al2O3, MgO, Fe2O3, and CaO are of high content as major oxides, while Sr and Ba are of high content in the basaltic plugs as trace elements. TG analysis shows that basaltic rocks in the present study are suitable for conserving high-temperature thermal energy because they do not exhibit any thermal events when exposed to thermal influences by DSC between 30 °C and 1000 °C. Unlike both Egyptian alabaster and recrystallized limestone which are not suitable for maintaining high temperatures between 695 °C and 965 °C and decompose into CaO and CO2 due to the decarbonization of the calcite mineral.
Investigation of Rupture Risk of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms via Fluid–Structure Interaction and Artificial Intelligence Method
Authors: Koru Murat , Canbolat Gökhan , Darıcık Fatih , Karahan Oguz , Etli Mustafa , Korkmaz Ergün
Published: March 2024

Patient-specific studies on vascular flows have significantly increased for hemodynamics due to the need for different observation techniques in clinical practice. In this study, we investigate aortic aneurysms in terms of deformation, stress, and rupture risk. The effect of Ascending Aortic Diameter (AAD) was investigated in different aortic arches (19.81 mm, 42.94 mm, and 48.01 mm) via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Two-way coupling Fluid–Structure Interactions (FSI) and deep learning. The non-newtonian Carreau viscosity model was utilized with patient-specific velocity waveform. Deformations, Wall Shear Stresses (WSSs), von Mises stress, and rupture risk were presented by safety factors. Results show that the WSS distribution is distinctly higher in rigid cases than the elastic cases. Although WSS values rise with the increase in AAD, aneurysm regions indicate low WSS values in both rigid and elastic artery solutions. For the given AADs, the deformations are 2.75 mm, 6. 82 mm, and 8.48 mm and Equivalent von Mises stresses are 0.16 MPa, 0.46 MPa, and 0.53 MPa. When the rupture risk was evaluated for the arteries, the results showed that the aneurysm with AAD of 48.01 mm poses a risk up to three times more than AAD of 19.81 mm. In addition, an Artificial neural network (ANN) method was developed to predict the rupture risk with a 98.6% accurate prediction by numerical data. As a result, FSI could indicate more accurately the level of rupture risk than the rigid artery assumptions to guide the clinical assessments and deep learning methods could decrease the computational costs according to CFD and FSI.
Ethical consumption and food recovery hierarchy behaviors: a clustering analysis in Japan
Authors: Morais Ana Catarina , Ishida Akira
Published: March 2024

Consumption and waste disposal decisions can have a profound impact on the environment. The present research is focused on understanding the adoption profiles of pro-environmental behaviors (PEB) within the Japanese population. The scope of the evaluated PEB covered the purchase, usage, and disposal of food products. Ethical consumption behaviors (the purchase of little packaging, organic, eco-friendly and/or refillable goods), food waste prevention actions (leftovers avoidance, meal planning, and food waste reduction/avoidance), and alternative disposal measures (feeding animals, composting, giving food to neighbors) were analyzed. The profiles were found via a two-step clustering technique using self-reported data from a survey done in nine Japanese prefectures. The first step of the clustering algorithm comprised a hierarchical technique, and the second was a K-means with an Euclidean distance. Four significantly distinct clusters were found, namely: sporadic adopters, average practitioners, responsible consumers, and environmentally involved. Approximately 51% of the sample was allocated to the responsible consumers cluster, which was characterized by having more women in part-time jobs or in-house duties and older respondents than the other groups. Environmentally involved tended to be young respondents with children and gardening/farming interest. They were also the ones who ate plant-based meals more frequently and had healthier eating habits.
Sentiment Analysis in the Age of Generative AI
Authors: Krugmann Jan Ole , Hartmann Jochen
Published: March 2024

In the rapidly advancing age of Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT stand at the forefront of disrupting marketing practice and research. This paper presents a comprehensive exploration of LLMs’ proficiency in sentiment analysis, a core task in marketing research for understanding consumer emotions, opinions, and perceptions. We benchmark the performance of three state-of-the-art LLMs, i.e., GPT-3.5, GPT-4, and Llama 2, against established, high-performing transfer learning models. Despite their zero-shot nature, our research reveals that LLMs can not only compete with but in some cases also surpass traditional transfer learning methods in terms of sentiment classification accuracy. We investigate the influence of textual data characteristics and analytical procedures on classification accuracy, shedding light on how data origin, text complexity, and prompting techniques impact LLM performance. We find that linguistic features such as the presence of lengthy, content-laden words improve classification performance, while other features such as single-sentence reviews and less structured social media text documents reduce performance. Further, we explore the explainability of sentiment classifications generated by LLMs. The findings indicate that LLMs, especially Llama 2, offer remarkable classification explanations, highlighting their advanced human-like reasoning capabilities. Collectively, this paper enriches the current understanding of sentiment analysis, providing valuable insights and guidance for the selection of suitable methods by marketing researchers and practitioners in the age of Generative AI.
Family as a Pathway to Suicidal Behaviors Through Depression Symptoms and Internalized Homophobia
Authors: Boyd Donte T. , Sterrett-Hong Emma , Scott Edward D. , Allen Junior L. , Smith Brianna , Quinn Camille R.
Published: March 2024

Research consistently highlights how systemic and social factors can adversely impact mental health, and the potential buffering effects of family support, yet raced sexual minorities are vastly underrepresented among these studies. As rates of suicide increase among Black people and remain high among men and those in gender and sexually diverse communities, this study sought to examine to relationships between family dynamics and suicidality among young Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in young adulthood. We used an online survey to conduct a logistic regression to examine family factors (family support, open family communication, other adult support, and other adult value), depression symptoms, and internalized homophobia on suicide attempts. The conceptualization of the study’s design and interpretation of the results were informed by minority stress theory and the phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory. The results indicate that higher levels of family support and open family communication were associated with lower levels of suicidality. Implications for future research and applications for healthcare providers and human services professionals who support young Black MSM in emerging adulthood are discussed.
“Migrants know better”: migrants’ networks and FDI
Authors: Giovannetti Giorgia , Santi Filippo , Velucchi Margherita
Published: March 2024

The interrelations between trade, FDI and migrations have an important impact on the global economy that resulted in the golden age of globalization at first and in a process of slowbalization in the last decade. Against this background, this paper focuses on migrations and FDI and shows that migrant networks encourage cross-border investments. The presence of immigrants is likely to attract new FDI from their country of origin. FDI abroad, furthermore, are positively related to the presence of migrants, thanks to their knowledge of the two markets. We apply a multilevel mixed model to disentangle the hierarchical structure of the data in order to test the relations between FDI and (directional) migration flows. More specifically we test how and to what extent the structure of the international migrants’ network contributes to bilateral FDI flows, besides standard models. Results show that migrants’ networks exploit the information migrants have on both source and destination markets, and that a more diverse migrants’ community in investing countries lowers bilateral FDI.
Water resource management and flood mitigation: hybrid decomposition EMD-ANN model study under climate change
Authors: Ahmad Nisar , Yi Xu , Tayyab Muhammad , Zafar Muhammad Hamza , Akhtar Naureen
Published: March 2024

The growing population and the rise in urbanization have made managing water a critical concern around the world in recent years. Globally, flooding is one of the most devastating natural disasters. Flood risk mitigation relies heavily on accurate and consistent streamflow forecasts. Pakistan Upper Indus Basin (UIB) is most vulnerable to flooding. Floods have become more frequent in recent decades. UIB can be divided into sub-regions due to its landscape variability, and its collective impact is most prominent in the Massam region. UIB hydrological and meteorological station observations have been used to study seasonal hydro-meteorological variations. To predict flooding, this study proposes a hybrid model combining artificial neural networks as multi-layer perceptron (MLPs) in feed-forward mode, along with empirical mode decomposition (EMD). Data collected by the surface-water hydrology project and Pakistan Meteorological Department from 1960 to 2012, 1969 to 2012, and 1972 to 2012 have been utilized from 17 locations. Statistical parameters and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency were measured to analyze the model’s prowess. As a result, decomposition-based models perform better than AI-based models when it comes to prediction accuracy. MLPQTP-EMD performed exceptionally better than competing AI models. The results are further validated by performing a peak value analysis during the flooding season (June–September) achieving a remarkable 91.3% score adding a 5.6% increase by EMD for input data achieving 39.3–32.3% statistical indices scores.
Swimming against the Tide: A Mixed-Methods Study of how the MARKERS Educator Wellbeing Program Changed Educators’ Relational Space
Authors: Cann Rachel , Sinnema Claire , Daly Alan J. , Rodway Joelle
Published: March 2024

Effective educator wellbeing interventions should consider the individual, relational, and contextual influences on educator wellbeing. Given the gap between the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) and their real-world success, it is essential to understand and adapt to the school context when integrating psychological interventions into educational settings. The MARKERS (Multiple Action Responsive Kit for Educator, Relational, and School wellbeing) educator wellbeing program is multi-level, designed to consider the individual, relational, and contextual influences on wellbeing. Its multi-foci design also allowed for adaptations to specific contexts. This study examines the impact of the MARKERS program in one school in Aotearoa New Zealand. We use a mixed methods case study approach that draws on measures of educator wellbeing, social network measures of energising interactions, and focus group data. The use of stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) allowed us to examine changes to the social network over time. Findings show that MARKERS program participants experienced a significant positive change in their relational space and experienced more energising interactions, but they were ‘swimming against the tide’ as other staff in the school had fewer energising interactions with their colleagues. Our study illustrates the importance of considering the relational and contextual influences on wellbeing when evaluating educator wellbeing interventions.
Mathematics for optimal design of sustainable infrastructures
Authors: Vázquez-Méndez Miguel E. , Alvarez-Vázquez Lino J. , García-Chan Néstor , Martínez Aurea , Rodríguez Carmen
Published: March 2024

The central aim of this paper is to show that mathematical sciences—in particular a smart combination of modeling, numerical simulation and optimization—can be seen as a useful tool in the design of sustainable infrastructures. Thus, in the first part of this work, we clarify what we mean by systems optimization and suggest how to apply these techniques to improve sustainability. Then, in the second part, we present three interesting environmental problems—all of them involving sustainable infrastructures—that we have studied in the last decade and fit well within this framework: (a) the design of a river fishway to help migratory fish to climb a dam, (b) the design of an irrigation channel to minimize sedimentation and erosion, and (c) the management of an urban road network from an environmental perspective. Based on our experiences, we believe that this innovative use of non-trivial mathematical tools is destined to play a leading role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by helping stakeholders develop the best scientifically informed strategies.
Predicting the antenna properties of helicon plasma thrusters using machine learning techniques
Authors: Malm Oscar , Souhair Nabil , Rossi Alessandro , Magarotto Mirko , Ponti Fabrizio
Published: March 2024

When designing helicon plasma thrusters, one important characteristic is the impedance of the radio-frequency antenna that is used to deposit power into the plasma. This impedance can be characterized both experimentally and numerically. Recently, a numerical tool capable of predicting the antenna impedance, called Adamant, has been developed. However, Adamant takes a long time to run and has high computer resource demands. Therefore, this work has been done to evaluate whether machine learning models, trained on Adamant-generated data, can be used instead of Adamant for small design change evaluations and similar works. Six different machine learning models were implemented in MATLAB: decision trees, ensembles, support vector machines, Gaussian process regressions, generalized additive models and artificial neural networks. These were trained and evaluated using nested k-fold cross-validation with the hyperparameters selected using Bayesian optimization. The performance target was to have less than 5% error on a point-to-point basis. The artificial neural network performed the best when taking into account both maximum error magnitudes and generalization ability, with a maximum error of 3.98% on the test set and with considerably better performance than the other models when tested on some practical examples. Future work should look into different solver algorithms for the artificial neural network to see if the results could be improved even further. To expand the model’s usefulness it might also be worth looking into implementing different antenna types that are of interest for helicon plasma thrusters.
Constitutional Symbolism in the Shadow of the Common Good
Authors: Duke George
Published: March 2024

This paper aims to clarify the concept of the symbolic constitution and to explain one of its most significant functions: the representation of political unity in complex societies. Section B briefly outlines the concept of the symbolic constitution which informs the arguments of the paper. The next two sections proceed “hermeneutically” through critical engagements with (i) Martin Loughlin’s recent analysis of the symbolic constitution within an ideology-critique of neo-liberal constitutionalism (ii) Niklas Luhmann’s account of the role of symbolic constitutionalism in concealing the function of the modern constitution as a structural coupling between the political and legal sub-systems. Section E then considers the relationship between the symbolic constitution and an alternative “traditional” concept for the representation of political unity: the common good. I argue that the symbolic constitution is both (i) a placeholder which speaks to the abiding relevance of the common good (ii) a symptom of the decline of its preconditions.
Velocity gradient analysis of a head-on vortex ring collision
Authors: Arun Rahul , Colonius Tim
Published: March 2024

We simulate the head-on collision between vortex rings with circulation Reynolds numbers of 4000 using an adaptive, multiresolution solver based on the lattice Green's function. The simulation fidelity is established with integral metrics representing symmetries and discretization errors. Using the velocity gradient tensor and structural features of local streamlines, we characterize the evolution of the flow with a particular focus on its transition and turbulent decay. Transition is excited by the development of the elliptic instability, which grows during the mutual interaction of the rings as they expand radially at the collision plane. The development of antiparallel secondary vortex filaments along the circumference mediates the proliferation of small-scale turbulence. During turbulent decay, the partitioning of the velocity gradients approaches an equilibrium that is dominated by shearing and agrees well with previous results for forced isotropic turbulence. We also introduce new phase spaces for the velocity gradients that reflect the interplay between shearing and rigid rotation and highlight geometric features of local streamlines. In conjunction with our other analyses, these phase spaces suggest that, while the elliptic instability is the predominant mechanism driving the initial transition, its interplay with other mechanisms, e.g. the Crow instability, becomes more important during turbulent decay. Our analysis also suggests that the geometry-based phase space may be promising for identifying the effects of the elliptic instability and other mechanisms using the structure of local streamlines. Moving forward, characterizing the organization of these mechanisms within vortices and universal features of velocity gradients may aid in modelling turbulent flows.
Are Odd Radio Circles phoenixes of powerful radio galaxies?
Authors: Shabala S. S. , Yates-Jones P. M. , Jerrim L. A. , Turner R. J. , Krause M. G. H. , Norris R. P. , Koribalski B. S. , Filipović M. , Rudnick L. , Power C. , Crocker R. M.
Published: March 2024

Odd Radio Circles (ORCs) are a class of low surface brightness, circular objects approximately one arcminute in diameter. ORCs were recently discovered in the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) data and subsequently confirmed with follow-up observations on other instruments, yet their origins remain uncertain. In this paper, we suggest that ORCs could be remnant lobes of powerful radio galaxies, re-energised by the passage of a shock. Using relativistic hydrodynamic simulations with synchrotron emission calculated in post-processing, we show that buoyant evolution of remnant radio lobes is alone too slow to produce the observed ORC morphology. However, the passage of a shock can produce both filled and edge-brightnened ORC-like morphologies for a wide variety of shock and observing orientations. Circular ORCs are predicted to have host galaxies near the geometric centre of the radio emission, consistent with observations of these objects. Significantly offset hosts are possible for elliptical ORCs, potentially causing challenges for accurate host galaxy identification. Observed ORC number counts are broadly consistent with a paradigm in which moderately powerful radio galaxies are their progenitors.
A novel tactile sensor with multimodal vision and tactile units for multifunctional robot interaction
Authors: Xiong Pengwen , Huang Yuxuan , Yin Yifan , Zhang Yu , Song Aiguo
Published: March 2024

Robots with multi-sensors always have a problem of weak pairing among different modals of the collected information produced by multi-sensors, which leads to a bad perception performance during robot interaction. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a Force Vision Sight (FVSight) sensor, which utilizes a distributed flexible tactile sensing array integrated with a vision unit. This innovative approach aims to enhance the overall perceptual capabilities for object recognition. The core idea is using one perceptual layer to trigger both tactile images and force-tactile arrays. It allows the two heterogeneous tactile modal information to be consistent in the temporal and spatial dimensions, thus solving the problem of weak pairing between visual and tactile data. Two experiments are specially designed, namely object classification and slip detection. A dataset containing 27 objects with deep presses and shallow presses is collected for classification, and then 20 slip experiments on three objects are conducted. The determination of slip and stationary state is accurately obtained by covariance operation on the tactile data. The experimental results show the reliability of generated multimodal data and the effectiveness of our proposed FVSight sensor.
Large monochromatic components in expansive hypergraphs
Authors: Bal Deepak , DeBiasio Louis
Published: March 2024

A result of Gyárfás [12] exactly determines the size of a largest monochromatic component in an arbitrary
$r$
-colouring of the complete
$k$
-uniform hypergraph
$K_n^k$
when
$k\geq 2$
and
$k\in \{r-1,r\}$
. We prove a result which says that if one replaces
$K_n^k$
in Gyárfás’ theorem by any ‘expansive’
$k$
-uniform hypergraph on
$n$
vertices (that is, a
$k$
-uniform hypergraph
$G$
on
$n$
vertices in which
$e(V_1, \ldots, V_k)\gt 0$
for all disjoint sets
$V_1, \ldots, V_k\subseteq V(G)$
with
$|V_i|\gt \alpha$
for all
$i\in [k]$
), then one gets a largest monochromatic component of essentially the same size (within a small error term depending on
$r$
and
$\alpha$
). As corollaries we recover a number of known results about large monochromatic components in random hypergraphs and random Steiner triple systems, often with drastically improved bounds on the error terms.

Gyárfás’ result is equivalent to the dual problem of determining the smallest possible maximum degree of an arbitrary
$r$
-partite
$r$
-uniform hypergraph
$H$
with
$n$
edges in which every set of
$k$
edges has a common intersection. In this language, our result says that if one replaces the condition that every set of
$k$
edges has a common intersection with the condition that for every collection of
$k$
disjoint sets
$E_1, \ldots, E_k\subseteq E(H)$
with
$|E_i|\gt \alpha$
, there exists
$(e_1, \ldots, e_k)\in E_1\times \cdots \times E_k$
such that
$e_1\cap \cdots \cap e_k\neq \emptyset$
, then the smallest possible maximum degree of
$H$
is essentially the same (within a small error term depending on
$r$
and
$\alpha$
). We prove our results in this dual setting.
Sharp bounds for a discrete John’s theorem
Authors: van Hintum Peter , Keevash Peter
Published: March 2024

Tao and Vu showed that every centrally symmetric convex progression
$C\subset \mathbb{Z}^d$
is contained in a generalized arithmetic progression of size
$d^{O(d^2)} \# C$
. Berg and Henk improved the size bound to
$d^{O(d\log d)} \# C$
. We obtain the bound
$d^{O(d)} \# C$
, which is sharp up to the implied constant and is of the same form as the bound in the continuous setting given by John’s theorem.
A class of graphs of zero Turán density in a hypercube
Authors: Axenovich Maria
Published: March 2024

For a graph
$H$
and a hypercube
$Q_n$
,
$\textrm{ex}(Q_n, H)$
is the largest number of edges in an
$H$
-free subgraph of
$Q_n$
. If
$\lim _{n \rightarrow \infty } \textrm{ex}(Q_n, H)/|E(Q_n)| \gt 0$
,
$H$
is said to have a positive Turán density in a hypercube or simply a positive Turán density; otherwise, it has zero Turán density. Determining
$\textrm{ex}(Q_n, H)$
and even identifying whether
$H$
has a positive or zero Turán density remains a widely open question for general
$H$
. By relating extremal numbers in a hypercube and certain corresponding hypergraphs, Conlon found a large class of graphs, ones having so-called partite representation, that have zero Turán density. He asked whether this gives a characterisation, that is, whether a graph has zero Turán density if and only if it has partite representation. Here, we show that, as suspected by Conlon, this is not the case. We give an example of a class of graphs which have no partite representation, but on the other hand, have zero Turán density. In addition, we show that any graph whose every block has partite representation has zero Turán density in a hypercube.
Organisation of paediatric echocardiography laboratories and governance of echocardiography services and training in Europe: current status, disparities, and potential solutions. A survey from the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology (AEPC) imaging working group
Authors: Cantinotti Massimiliano , Voges Inga , Miller Owen , Raimondi Francesca , Grotenhuis Heynric , Bharucha Tara , Garrido Almudena Ortiz , Valsangiacomo Emanuela , Roest Arno , Sunnegårdh Jan , Salaets Thomas , Brun Henrik , Khraiche Diala , Jossif Antonis , Schokking Michiel , Sabate-Rotes Anna , Meyer-Szary Jaroslaw , Deri Antigoni , Koopman Laurens , Herberg Ulrike , du Marchie Sarvaas Gideon , Leskinen Markku , Tchana Bertrand , Ten Harkel Arend D.J. , Ödemis Ender , Morrison Louise , Steimetz Micheal , Laser Kai Thorsten , Doros Gabriela , Bellshan-Revell Hannah , Muntean Iolanda , Anagostopoulou Andriana , Alpman Maria Sjoborg , Hunter Lindsey , Ojala Tiina , Bhat Misha , Olejnik Peter , Wacker Julie , Bonello Beatrice , Ramcharan Tristan , Greil Gerald , Marek Jan , DiSalvo Giovanni , McMahon Colin J.
Published: March 2024

Background:

There is limited data on the organisation of paediatric echocardiography laboratories in Europe.

Methods:

A structured and approved questionnaire was circulated across all 95 Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology affiliated centres. The aims were to evaluate: (1) facilities in paediatric echocardiography laboratories across Europe, (2) accredited laboratories, (3) medical/paramedical staff employed, (4) time for echocardiographic studies and reporting, and (5) training, teaching, quality improvement, and research programs.

Results:

Respondents from forty-three centres (45%) in 22 countries completed the survey. Thirty-six centres (84%) have a dedicated paediatric echocardiography laboratory, only five (12%) of which reported they were European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging accredited. The median number of echocardiography rooms was three (range 1–12), and echocardiography machines was four (range 1–12). Only half of all the centres have dedicated imaging physiologists and/or nursing staff, while the majority (79%) have specialist imaging cardiologist(s). The median (range) duration of time for a new examination was 45 (20–60) minutes, and for repeat examination was 20 (5–30) minutes. More than half of respondents (58%) have dedicated time for reporting. An organised training program was present in most centres (78%), 44% undertake quality assurance, and 79% perform research. Guidelines for performing echocardiography were available in 32 centres (74%).

Conclusion:

Facilities, staffing levels, study times, standards in teaching/training, and quality assurance vary widely across paediatric echocardiography laboratories in Europe. Greater support and investment to facilitate improvements in staffing levels, equipment, and governance would potentially improve European paediatric echocardiography laboratories.
Bilateral ductal stenting in an infant with pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect, non-confluent pulmonary arteries, and bilateral arterial duct
Authors: Padovani Paul , Ly Mohamedou , Baruteau Alban-Elouen
Published: March 2024

Pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect, non-confluent pulmonary arteries, and bilateral arterial duct is a rare and complex CHD. Physiologic ductal closure may lead to life-threatening hypoxia. We present a case of successful bilateral ductal stenting as a bridge to further lower-risk surgical repair.
Letting the Lark Ascend: Vaughan Williams's ‘Most Popular Work’ and the Limits of Revisionism
Authors: Ross Ryan
Published: March 2024

Ralph Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending is a perennial favourite in the British classical music radio station Classic FM's ‘Hall of Fame’ poll. In spite of its apparent popularity, however, the work sits uncomfortably with the way revisionist critics and scholars have wanted to portray the composer. As an escapist piece of English musical pastoralism, The Lark undermines their preferred view of Vaughan Williams as a progressive or even ‘modernist’ participant in his artistic milieu. To combat this image, some critics and musicologists have argued for complex, harder-edged interpretations of the work that have little to no basis in the music's primary source materials or the composer's stated priorities in his own writings. Such emphases reflect a problem in recent revisionist literature, wherein traditionalist, nationalist, or Romantic aspects of Vaughan Williams's music are excessively downplayed (or re-situated) in favour of arguments that better support elite sensibilities. As a work consisting of accessible, melody-centric music, and following from a poem excerpt suggesting an idyllic scene, The Lark serves as a bulwark against revisionist overreach and a check against over-emphasis on trendy priorities.
A pilot evaluation of a training and supervision pathway for Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) in a Devon NHS Talking Therapies Service
Authors: Warbrick Laura A. , Meehan Bradán , Carson James , Mackenzie Jo , Dunn Barnaby D.
Published: March 2024

Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) is a novel wellbeing and recovery-oriented psychological treatment for depression. A recent pilot trial run in a university clinic setting suggests ADepT has potential to be superior to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) at treating anhedonic depression in a NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression (NHS–TTad) context. Before proceeding to definitive trial in pragmatic settings, it is important to establish if therapists in routine NHS-TTad settings can be trained to deliver ADepT effectively and to assess therapist views on the feasibility and acceptability of ADepT in this context. A bespoke training and supervision pathway was developed (2-day workshop, four 2–hour skills classes, and 6 months of weekly supervision) and piloted with 11 experienced therapists working in a single NHS–TT service in Devon. Nine out of 11 therapists completed the placement, treating 24 clients with a primary presenting problem of depression; 21/24 completed a minimum adequate dose of therapy (≥8 sessions), with 17/24 (71%) showing reliable improvement and 12/24 (50%) exhibiting reliable recovery. Eight out of nine therapists submitted a session for competency assessment, all of whom were rated as competent. Nine therapists submitted feedback on their experiences of training. Eight out of nine therapists felt the ADepT model would be effective in an NHS–TTad context; that training was interesting, useful, well presented and enhanced their own wellbeing; and that they felt sufficiently skilled in core ADepT competencies at the end of the placement. This suggests that NHS–TTad therapists can be trained to deliver ADepT competently and view the treatment as feasible and acceptable.

Key learning aims

(1)

To become familiar with the Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) approach for enhancing wellbeing in depression.

(2)

To evaluate the potential utility and feasibility of ADepT model in NHS Talking Therapies Services (NHS–TTad).

(3)

To understand the pilot ADepT training and supervision pathway for CBT therapists in NHS–TTad services.

(4)

To consider the opportunities and challenges of training therapists to deliver ADepT in NHS–TTad services.
Do Vegetation Fuel Reduction Treatments Alter Forest Fire Severity and Carbon Stability in California Forests?
Authors: Daum Kristofer L. , Hansen Winslow D. , Gellman Jacob , Plantinga Andrew J. , Jones Charles , Trugman Anna T.
Published: March 2024

Forest fire frequency, extent, and severity have rapidly increased in recent decades across the western United States (US) due to climate change and suppression‐oriented wildfire management. Fuels reduction treatments are an increasingly popular management tool, as evidenced by California's plan to treat 1 million acres annually by 2050. However, the aggregate efficacy of fuels treatments in dry forests at regional and multi‐decadal scales is unknown. We develop a novel fuels treatment module within a coupled dynamic vegetation and fire model to study the effects of dead biomass removal from forests in the Sierra Nevada region of California. We ask how annual treatment extent, stand‐level treatment intensiveness, and spatial treatment placement alter fire severity and live carbon loss. We find that a ∼30% reduction in stand‐replacing fire was achieved under our baseline treatment scenario of 1,000 km2 year−1 after a 100‐year treatment period. Prioritizing the most fuel‐heavy stands based on precise fuel distributions yielded cumulative reductions in pyrogenic stand‐replacement of up to 50%. Both removing constraints on treatment location due to remoteness, topography, and management jurisdiction and prioritizing the most fuel‐heavy stands yielded the highest stand‐replacement rate reduction of ∼90%. Even treatments that succeeded in lowering aggregate fire severity often took multiple decades to yield measurable effects, and avoided live carbon loss remained negligible across scenarios. Our results suggest that strategically placed fuels treatments are a promising tool for controlling forest fire severity at regional, multi‐decadal scales, but may be less effective for mitigating live carbon losses.
Transient Offset in 14C After the Carrington Event Recorded by Polar Tree Rings
Authors: Uusitalo Joonas , Golubenko Kseniia , Arppe Laura , Brehm Nicolas , Hackman Thomas , Hayakawa Hisashi , Helama Samuli , Mizohata Kenichiro , Miyake Fusa , Mäkinen Harri , Nöjd Pekka , Tanskanen Eija , Tokanai Fuyuki , Rozanov Eugene , Wacker Lukas , Usoskin Ilya , Oinonen Markku
Published: March 2024

The Carrington event of 1859 has been the strongest solar flare in the observational history. It plays a crucial role in shedding light on the frequency and impacts of the past and future Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events on human societies. We address the impact of the Carrington event by measuring tree‐ring 14C with multiple replications from high‐latitude locations around the event and by comparing them with mid‐latitude measurements. A transient offset in 14C following the event is observed with high statistical significance. Our state‐of‐the‐art 14C production and transport model does not reproduce the observational finding, suggesting features beyond present understanding. Particularly, our observation would require partially fast transport of 14C between the stratosphere and troposphere at high latitudes. The observation is consistent with the previous findings with the SEP events of 774 and 993 CE for which faster integration of 14C into tree rings is observed at high latitudes.
Localized Magnetopause Erosion at Geosynchronous Orbit by Reconnection
Authors: Kim Hyangpyo , Nakamura Rumi , Connor Hyunju K. , Zou Ying , Plaschke Ferdinand , Grimmich Niklas , Walsh Brian M. , McWilliams Kathryn A. , Ruohoniemi J. Michael
Published: March 2024

This study presents observations of magnetopause reconnection and erosion at geosynchronous orbit, utilizing in situ satellite measurements and remote sensing ground‐based instruments. During the main phase of a geomagnetic storm, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) 15 was on the dawnside of the dayside magnetopause (10.6 MLT) and observed significant magnetopause erosion, while GOES 13, observing duskside (14.6 MLT), remained within the magnetosphere. Combined observations from the THEMIS satellites and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars verified that magnetopause erosion was primarily caused by reconnection. While various factors may contribute to asymmetric erosion, the observations suggest that the weak reconnection rate on the duskside can play a role in the formation of asymmetric magnetopause shape. This discrepancy in reconnection rate is associated with the presence of cold dense plasma on the duskside of the magnetosphere, which limits the reconnection rate by mass loading, resulting in more efficient magnetopause erosion on the dawnside.
Fracturing and Dome‐Shaped Surface Displacements Above Laccolith Intrusions: Insights From Discrete Element Method Modeling
Authors: Morand A. , Poppe S. , Harnett C. , Cornillon A. , Heap M. , Mège D.
Published: March 2024

Inflation of viscous magma intrusions in Earth's shallow crust often induces strain and fracturing within heterogeneous host rocks and dome‐shaped ground deformation. Most geodetic models nevertheless consider homogeneous, isotropic, and linear‐elastic media wherein stress patterns indicate the potential for failure, but without simulating actual fracturing. We present a two‐dimensional Discrete Element Method (DEM) application to simulate magma recharge in a pre‐existing laccolith intrusion. In DEM models, fractures can propagate during simulations. We systematically investigate the effect of the host rock toughness (resistance to fracturing), stiffness (resistance to deformation) and the intrusion depth, on intrusion‐induced stress, strain, displacement and spatial fracture distribution. Our results show that the spatial fracture distribution varies between two end‐members: (a) for high stiffness or low toughness host rock or a shallow intrusion: extensive cracking, multiple vertical surface fractures propagating downward and two inward‐dipping highly cracked shear zones that connect the intrusion tip with the surface; and (b) for low stiffness or high toughness host rock or a deeper intrusion: limited cracking, one central vertical fracture initiated at the surface, and two inward‐dipping fractures at the intrusion tips. Abrupt increases in surface displacement magnitude occur in response to fracturing, even at constant magma injection rates. Our modeling application provides a novel approach to considering host rock mechanical strength and fracturing during viscous magma intrusion and associated dome‐shaped ground deformation, with important implications for interpreting geodetic signals at active volcanoes and the exploitation of geothermal reservoirs and mineral deposits.
Phase Relation and Equation of State of Iron‐Titanium Oxyhydroxides With α‐PbO2 Type Crystal Structure at Deep Mantle Conditions
Authors: Matsukage Kyoko N. , Nishihara Yu , Tange Yoshinori , Higo Yuji
Published: March 2024

Phase relation and equation of state of iron‐titanium oxyhydroxide with α‐PbO2‐type crystal structure (hydrous α‐phase) was investigated at pressure from middle upper mantle to mantle transition zone. The experiments were performed using multi‐anvil apparatus with in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction. The metal‐diamond sample container was used to maintain a closed system with respect to water while allowing X‐ray transmittance. Starting materials were mixture of reagent grade goethite and anatase with Fe:Ti = 1:1 and 1:3. The hydrous α‐phase was synthesized at 11–14 GPa and 800–900°C. The X‐ray diffraction data were obtained over a wide range of pressures from 5 to 22 GPa and temperatures from room temperature to 930°C. Using pressure‐volume‐temperature data of the hydrous α‐phase with Fe:Ti = 1:1 collected at room temperature to 800°C and at 8.9–20.8 GPa, we determined the isothermal bulk modulus (KT0 = 183 (1) GPa) and the thermal expansivity (α0 = 3.29 (1) × 10−5K−1) at ambient condition. The stability field of the hydrous α‐phase and phase relation of FeOOH‐TiO2 system at 900°C was well constrained. It was found that the hydrous α‐phase decomposes into baddeleyite‐type TiO2 + ε‐FeOOH at pressure of approximately 20–21 GPa, and into ilmenite + rutile at 5–6 GPa. This stability field equivalent to depth of 180–600 km in the subduction zone. Our results suggest that the hydrous α‐phase is an important water reservoir in the middle upper mantle to mantle transition zone.
Chiral transmission by an open evolution trajectory in a non-Hermitian system
Authors: Shu Xiaoqian , Zhong Qi , Hong Kai , You Oubo , Wang Jian , Hu Guangwei , Alù Andrea , Zhang Shuang , Christodoulides Demetrios N. , Chen Lin
Published: March 2024

Exceptional points (EPs), at which two or more eigenvalues and eigenstates of a resonant system coalesce, are associated with non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with gain and/or loss elements. Dynamic encircling of EPs has received significant interest in recent years, as it has been shown to lead to highly nontrivial phenomena, such as chiral transmission in which the final state of the system depends on the encircling handedness. Previously, chiral transmission for a pair of eigenmodes has been realized by establishing a closed dynamical trajectory in parity-time- (PT-) or anti-PT-symmetric systems. Although chiral transmission of symmetry-broken modes, more accessible in practical photonic integrated circuits, has been realized by establishing a closed trajectory encircling EPs in anti-PT-symmetric systems, the demonstrated transmission efficiency is very low due to path-dependent losses. Here, we demonstrate chiral dynamics in a coupled waveguide system that does not require a closed trajectory. Specifically, we explore an open trajectory linking two infinite points having the same asymptotic eigenmodes (not modes in PT- and anti-PT-symmetric systems), demonstrating that this platform enables high-efficiency chiral transmission, with each eigenmode localized in a single waveguide. This concept is experimentally implemented in a coupled silicon waveguide system at telecommunication wavelengths. Our work provides a new evolution strategy for chiral dynamics with superior performance, laying the foundation for the development of practical chiral-transmission devices.
Scalable parallel ultrafast optical random bit generation based on a single chaotic microcomb
Authors: Li Pu , Li Qizhi , Tang Wenye , Wang Weiqiang , Zhang Wenfu , Little Brent E. , Chu Sai Tek , Shore K. Alan , Qin Yuwen , Wang Yuncai
Published: March 2024

Random bit generators are critical for information security, cryptography, stochastic modeling, and simulations. Speed and scalability are key challenges faced by current physical random bit generation. Herein, we propose a massively parallel scheme for ultrafast random bit generation towards rates of order 100 terabit per second based on a single micro-ring resonator. A modulation-instability-driven chaotic comb in a micro-ring resonator enables the simultaneous generation of hundreds of independent and unbiased random bit streams. A proof-of-concept experiment demonstrates that using our method, random bit streams beyond 2 terabit per second can be successfully generated with only 7 comb lines. This bit rate can be easily enhanced by further increasing the number of comb lines used. Our approach provides a chip-scale solution to random bit generation for secure communication and high-performance computation, and offers superhigh speed and large scalability.