bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contract farming, contract design and smallholder livelihoods*
Authors: Ruml Anette , Ragasa Catherine , Qaim Matin
Published: November 2021

Contract farming has gained in importance in many developing countries. Previous studies analysed effects of contracts on smallholder farmers’ welfare, yet mostly without considering that different types of contractual relationships exist. Here, we examine associations between contract farming and farm household income in the oil palm sector of Ghana, explicitly differentiating between two types of contracts, namely simple marketing contracts and more comprehensive resource‐providing contracts. Moreover, we look at different income sources to better understand how both contracts are linked to farmers’ livelihood strategies. We use cross‐sectional survey data and regression models. Issues of endogeneity are addressed through measuring farmers' willingness‐to‐participate in contracts and using this indicator as an additional covariate. Farmers with both types of contracts have significantly higher household incomes than farmers without a contract, yet with notable differences in terms of the income sources. Farmers with a marketing contract allocate more household labour to off‐farm activities and thus have higher off‐farm income. In contrast, farmers with a resource‐providing contract have larger oil palm plantations and thus higher farm incomes. The findings suggest that the two contract types are associated with different livelihood strategies and that disaggregated analysis of different income sources is important to better understand possible underlying mechanisms.
Value Propositions in Public Collaborations: Regaining Organizational Focus Through Value Configurations
Authors: Eriksson Erik , Gadolin Christian , Andersson Thomas , Hellström Andreas , Lifvergren Svante
Published: November 2021

There is consensus that complex problems of contemporary society call for public service collaborations. So‐called public service logic (PSL) focuses on joint value creation among a multiplicity of actors in service ecosystems. Despite recognizing various actors, this logic is essentially user‐centric, with the service user being the one realizing the value. Consequently, single and collaborating organizations cannot deliver value, only potential value, or so‐called value propositions. The elusive public service logic takes a network value configuration for granted and as a starting point. Drawing from two cases in Swedish healthcare, this paper argues that two other value configurations (chain and shop) are also relevant for understanding the development of value propositions – and that these may be related to both intra‐ and inter‐organizational processes. Theoretically, we conclude that just like public service logic, other collaborative public management theories need to recognize the importance of a multiplicity of value configurations and that these are often related to both intra‐ and inter‐organizational processes. We conclude that managers should not adopt the latest network trends without first reflecting on the relevance of existing internal processes.
Female Board Directorships and Related Party Transactions
Authors: Usman Muhammad , Gull Ammar Ali , Zalata Alaa Mansour , Wang Fangjun , Yin Junming
Published: November 2021

Using a sample of Chinese firms from 2005 to 2018, we show that firms with female directors (either executive or independent) are characterized by fewer related party transactions (RPTs), particularly in state‐owned enterprises. Fewer RPTs are associated with improved subsequent operating performance and, in contrast, RPTs are associated with decreased performance for firms with no or fewer female directors, suggesting that female directors engage or allow only efficient but not opportunistic RPTs to facilitate the long‐term strategic objectives of their firms. Our findings are robust for using an alternative measure of RPTs, female board directorships and methods to mitigate potential endogeneity issues.
Who would vote NOTA? Explaining a ‘none of the above’ choice in eight countries
Authors: PLESCIA CAROLINA , KRITZINGER SYLVIA , SINGH SHANE P.
Published: November 2021

In this study, we investigate who would vote ‘none of the above’ (NOTA) if this were available on the ballot paper using original data from eight European countries. In particular, we examine whether NOTA would be used by abstainers and voters to protest within the electoral process. We also test whether socioeconomic factors and specific and diffuse support for democracy and its institutions correlate with a NOTA vote. We find that having NOTA on the ballot would reduce invalid balloting more than abstention and much more than protest party voting. Our results also suggest that NOTA is related to socioeconomic status, political interest, political knowledge and distrust in political institutions and authorities, but not to broadly undemocratic attitudes. These findings have important implications for our understanding of the increasingly large amounts of abstention and invalid voting, as well as the growing distrust of political institutions, in democratic countries. They also hold lessons for electoral reformers.
Institutionalising participatory and deliberative procedures: The origins of the first permanent citizens’ assembly
Authors: MACQ HADRIEN , JACQUET VINCENT
Published: November 2021

In the context of public disaffection towards representative democracies, political leaders are increasingly establishing citizens’ assemblies to foster participatory governance. These deliberative fora composed of randomly selected citizens have attracted much scholarly attention regarding their theoretical foundations and internal functioning. Nevertheless, we lack research that scrutinizes the reasons why political leaders create such new institutions. This article fills this gap by analysing a specific case: the first permanent randomly selected citizens’ assembly that will work in collaboration with a parliament in the long‐term (Ostbelgien, Belgium). This case is analysed through a framework that pays close attention to the context in which it developed, the profiles of political elites that supported its creation, as well as the multiple objectives it was vested with. The findings reveal that initiators of citizens’ assemblies fundamentally conceive them as a way to strengthen a polity's identity, to save the electoral model of democracy, and to restore the legitimacy of traditional political leaders. Our analysis of this particular conception lead us to argue for the need of developing context‐sentive approaches to participatory and deliberative procedures, as well as to discuss whether we should consider the latter as mere elites’ legitimation tools.
A case study in forensic soil comparison
Authors: Guo Hongling , Yao Yifeng , Li Yameng , Wang Ping , Hu Can , Yuan Meiqing , Mei Hongcheng , Zhu Jun
Published: November 2021

Soil examination can provide useful forensic information about the spatial location and suspect's activities. Many techniques have been applied for soil comparison and provenance determination in criminal investigations. Pollen and diatom identification, which has the potential to provide an independent ecological assessment of soil evidence, is currently underused in forensic soil analysis. This work presents a case study of application of these methods to help criminal investigation in a murder case, which happened in an irrigation ditch in Hunan Province, southern China. Soils from the suspect's clothes, the exact crime scene spot in the irrigation ditch, along the ditch and the reference ditches were collected and analyzed. In addition to the element and mineral analysis, pollen and diatom assemblages were analyzed for further comparison. The statistical methods of hierarchical cluster and cosine similarity analysis were carried out to assist in soil comparison and provenance determination. The results showed that soil on the suspect's clothes had a high probability to share the same source with the soil from the crime scene in the irrigation ditch. The suspect confessed to murder based largely on the soil examination result even without other evidences.
The History of the Data Economy: Part IV: The Future
Authors: Harkness Timandra
Published: November 2021

Data is now the fuel that drives business – identifying potential markets, shaping new products and targeting consumers. This year, Significance has partnered with Impact, the magazine of the Market Research Society, to jointly publish a series exploring the past, present and future of the data economy. In this fourth and final part, Timandra Harkness considers what the coming years have in store for the data-driven industries
How “Backtest Overfitting” in Finance Leads to False Discoveries
Authors: Bailey David H. , de Prado Marcos López
Published: November 2021

Financial investment strategies are often designed and tested using historical market data. But this can frequently give rise to “optimal” strategies that are statistical mirages and perform poorly out in the real world, as David H. Bailey and Marcos López de Prado explain
High methanol‐to‐formate ratios induce butanol production in Eubacterium limosum
Authors: Wood Jamin C. , Marcellin Esteban , Plan Manuel R. , Virdis Bernardino
Published: November 2021

Unlike gaseous C1 feedstocks for acetogenic bacteria, there has been less attention on liquid C1 feedstocks, despite benefits in terms of energy efficiency, mass transfer and integration within existing fermentation infrastructure. Here, we present growth of Eubacterium limosum ATCC8486 using methanol and formate as substrates, finding evidence for the first time of native butanol production. We varied ratios of methanol‐to‐formate in batch serum bottle fermentations, showing butyrate is the major product (maximum specific rate 220 ± 23 mmol‐C gDCW‐1day‐1). Increasing this ratio showed methanol is the key feedstock driving the product spectrum towards more reduced products, such as butanol (maximum titre 2.0 ± 1.1 mM‐C). However, both substrates are required for a high growth rate (maximum 0.19 ± 0.011 h‐1) and cell density (maximum 1.2 ± 0.043 gDCW l‐1), with formate being the preferred substrate. In fact, formate and methanol are consumed in two distinct growth phases – growth phase 1, on predominately formate and growth phase 2 on methanol, which must balance. Because the second growth varied according to the first growth on formate, this suggests butanol production is due to overflow metabolism, similar to 2,3‐butanediol production in other acetogens. However, further research is required to confirm the butanol production pathway in E. limosum, particularly given, unlike other substrates, methanol likely results in mostly NADH generation, not reduced ferredoxin.
MicroRNA‐21 was a promising biomarker for lung carcinoma diagnosis: An update meta‐analysis
Authors: Wang Haiyan , Xu Jia , Ding Ling
Published: November 2021

Objective

To investigate the diagnostic performance of microRNA‐21 detected in serum or sputum as a biomarker for lung carcinoma identification through pooling the open published data.

Methods

Clinical diagnostic studies related to microRNA‐21 as a biomarker for lung carcinoma identification were electronically searched in the databases of Pubmed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Google Scholar. The data of the included studies was extracted and made pooling of diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) (AUC) for microRNA‐21 expression in serum or sputum as a biomarker for lung carcinoma identification. The publication bias was evaluated by Deek's funnel plot.

Results

Seventeen diagnostic studies were finally included and made data pooling. For the included 17 studies, 4 investigated the microRNA‐21 expression in sputum and 13 studies in serum. The pooled diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were 0.73 (95% CI, 0.67–0.78) and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.75–0.85), respectively, under random effect model. The combined DOR was 9.65 (95% CI, 6.64–14.03) with the AUC of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80–0.87). Given a pre‐test probability of 50%, the post‐test positive probability and post‐test negative probability were 79% and 25%, respectively, by using microRNA‐21 as a biomarker for lung carcinoma diagnosis. Deek's funnel was obviously asymmetry and indicated significant publication bias (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

MicroRNA‐21 in serum or sputum was a promising biomarker for lung cancer identification with relative high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.
How Firms' Quality Experts Shape Canadian Public Accountability Board Inspections and Their Outcomes: An Analysis of Intraprofessional Conflicts, Third‐Party Influences, and Relational Strategies†
Authors: Couchoux Oriane , Malsch Bertrand
Published: November 2021

In this study, we examine auditors' claims of professional disempowerment and strategic responses to Canadian Public Accountability Board (CPAB) inspections. Our research is based primarily on 27 semistructured interviews with audit partners (23) and managers (4) of large accounting firms. Drawing on key insights from institutional theory, we show that the tensions between inspectors and auditors reflect an intraprofessional tug‐of‐war between two competing but legitimate logics of professionalism. More specifically, our findings indicate that CPAB inspections have given rise to a mechanical logic of audit professionalism that is driven by the efforts of inspectors to promote a generalizable theoretical ideal of auditing that revolves around best practices and attention to technical minutiae. This mechanical logic competes with a clinical logic of audit professionalism that is driven by the efforts of audit partners and managers to promote a more relativistic, applied form of expert knowledge. To manage this dynamic of intra‐institutional complexity, quality experts (QEs) have emerged in firms' organizational structures as ambidextrous third parties—that is, professionals who master both logics and are capable of bridging the institutional divide by influencing the relationships between inspectors and auditors through a variety of brokering strategies. By considering inspectors as insiders rather than outsiders to the profession, we argue that auditors' claims of professional disempowerment should be interpreted carefully and critically. We also suggest that the professional autonomy and judgment of engagement partners and managers has been displaced significantly within firm boundaries into the hands of QEs. Our analysis offers a richer conceptualization of institutional ambidexterity by examining it as a relational process of social influence rather than as a set of individual characteristics.
Metformin treatment of diverse Caenorhabditis species reveals the importance of genetic background in longevity and healthspan extension outcomes
Authors: Onken Brian , Sedore Christine A. , Coleman‐Hulbert Anna L. , Hall David , Johnson Erik , Jones Eleanor Grace , Banse Stephen A. , Huynh Phu , Guo Suzhen , Xue Jian , Chen Esteban , Harinath Girish , Foulger Anna C. , Chao Elizabeth A. , Hope June , Bhaumik Dipa , Plummer Todd , Inman Delaney , Morshead Mackenzie , Guo Max , Lithgow Gordon J. , Phillips Patrick C. , Driscoll Monica
Published: November 2021

Metformin, the most commonly prescribed anti‐diabetes medication, has multiple reported health benefits, including lowering the risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer, improving cognitive function with age, extending survival in diabetic patients, and, in several animal models, promoting youthful physiology and lifespan. Due to its longevity and health effects, metformin is now the focus of the first proposed clinical trial of an anti‐aging drug—the Targeting Aging with Metformin (TAME) program. Genetic variation will likely influence outcomes when studying metformin health effects in human populations. To test for metformin impact in diverse genetic backgrounds, we measured lifespan and healthspan effects of metformin treatment in three Caenorhabditis species representing genetic variability greater than that between mice and humans. We show that metformin increases median survival in three C. elegans strains, but not in C. briggsae and C. tropicalis strains. In C. briggsae, metformin either has no impact on survival or decreases lifespan. In C. tropicalis, metformin decreases median survival in a dose‐dependent manner. We show that metformin prolongs the period of youthful vigor in all C. elegans strains and in two C. briggsae strains, but that metformin has a negative impact on the locomotion of C. tropicalis strains. Our data demonstrate that metformin can be a robust promoter of healthy aging across different genetic backgrounds, but that genetic variation can determine whether metformin has positive, neutral, or negative lifespan/healthspan impact. These results underscore the importance of tailoring treatment to individuals when testing for metformin health benefits in diverse human populations.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation modulates coupling among large‐scale brain networks in heroin‐dependent individuals: A randomized resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging study
Authors: Jin Long , Yuan Menghui , Zhang Wei , Su Hang , Wang Fan , Zhu Jia , Liu Tao , Wei Yixin , Li Yunbo , Bai Qianrong , Wang Wei , Wei Longxiao , Li Qiang
Published: November 2021

The abnormal interactions of three key large‐scale brain networks (default mode [DMN], salience and executive control [ECN]) were showed underlie dysfunctions in heroin addiction. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) targeting the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) is a potential treatment for heroin addiction. It is unclear whether impaired coupling among the large‐scale brain networks would be improved by rTMS in treated heroin‐dependent individuals. Thirty‐five heroin‐dependent individuals were included in this sham‐controlled, randomized study. The patients received either active or sham rTMS for 1 week. The craving for heroin and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after 1‐week rTMS. Twenty‐two healthy subjects were included as controls not receiving rTMS. After 1‐week rTMS, only the active rTMS group showed a significant decrease in spontaneous and heroin cue‐induced craving. The coupling between left DLPFC (a key node of left ECN) and left parahippocampal gyrus (PHG, included in DMN) significantly increased for the active group with a tendency towards that of controls. The coupling between the right precentral gyrus and three key regions included in DMN (posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus and bilateral inferior parietal cortex) significantly decreased for the active group with a tendency towards that of healthy controls. For the active rTMS individuals, the left DLPFC‐PHG coupling negatively correlated with the spontaneous craving and the drug cue‐induced craving. It suggested that the rTMS could reduce heroin craving, which might be related to the modulation of ECN‐DMN coupling. This finding might shed light on the mechanism of rTMS for heroin addiction treatment.
Evaluation of a dedicated outpatient hip fracture clinic
Authors: Ratnayake Hasanka , Crabtree Amelia , Hunter Peter , Parikh Seema , Tay Brenton , Anthonisz Brian , Moran Chris
Published: November 2021

Objectives

There is a lack of guidance on how to manage the multiple post‐discharge issues of older people following minimal trauma hip fracture. We developed a geriatrician‐staffed outpatient service for people aged ≥65 years admitted with a hip fracture who were not discharged to a nursing home. We aimed to evaluate the potential benefits of the addition of a dedicated hip fracture follow‐up clinic by measuring the actions performed by such a clinic.

Methods

We evaluated the potential benefit of the clinic through a retrospective review of the medical records of all those referred to the clinic over a 2‐year period.

Results

A total of 80 people were provided a clinic appointment, with 43 (54%) attending. The median age of clinic attendees was 81 years. A total of 40/43 (93%) of attendees received inpatient rehabilitation in a sub‐acute facility before discharge. At the dedicated outpatient clinic, multiple issues were identified and managed including further fall reduction strategies (n = 12), commencement of anti‐resorptive medications (n = 11) and medication deprescribing (n = 11).

Conclusions

We found that the introduction of a dedicated hip fracture outpatient clinic identified and managed a broad range of issues. It is unclear if these needs would have been met by previously existing services. Further work is required to clarify whether managing these issues translates into improved patient outcomes and whether a dedicated clinic is a cost‐effective practice of achieving this.
Antenatal magnesium sulphate for preventing cerebral palsy: An economic evaluation of the impact of a quality improvement program
Authors: Keir Amy , Rumbold Alice , Shepherd Emily , Mcintyre Sarah , Groves Charlotte , Cavallaro Angela , Crowther Caroline , Callander Emily
Published: November 2021

Previous work demonstrated that implementing a quality improvement (QI) program improves the uptake of guideline‐recommended antenatal magnesium sulphate, a critical intervention known to reduce cerebral palsy risk. Here we estimate potential cost savings attributable to the improved uptake. By expanding coverage from 63 to 83% of eligible women, we estimated that five children potentially would not have received a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, a potential cost saving of $AU4.8 million in lifetime healthcare costs. Our findings strengthen the case for embedding QI approaches in perinatal care to reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy.
Clinical validation of clinical decision support systems for medication review: A scoping review
Authors: Damoiseaux‐Volman Birgit A. , Medlock Stephanie , van der Meulen Delanie M. , de Boer Jesse , Romijn Johannes A. , van der Velde Nathalie , Abu‐Hanna Ameen
Published: November 2021

The aim of this scoping review is to summarize approaches and outcomes of clinical validation studies of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) to support (part of) a medication review. A literature search was conducted in Embase and Medline. In total, 30 articles validating a CDSS were ultimately included. Most of the studies focused on detection of adverse drug events, potentially inappropriate medications and drug‐related problems. We categorized the included articles in three groups: studies subjectively reviewing the clinical relevance of CDSS's output (21/30 studies) resulting in a positive predictive value (PPV) for clinical relevance of 4–80%; studies determining the relationship between alerts and actual events (10/30 studies) resulting in a PPV for actual events of 5–80%; and studies comparing output of CDSSs to chart/medication reviews in the whole study population (10/30 studies) resulting in a sensitivity of 28–85% and specificity of 42–75%. We found heterogeneity in the methods used and in the outcome measures. The validation studies did not report the use of a published CDSS validation strategy. To improve the effectiveness and uptake of CDSSs supporting a medication review, future research would benefit from a more systematic and comprehensive validation strategy.
IMB5036 inhibits human pancreatic cancer growth primarily through activating necroptosis
Authors: Zhao Qi , Zheng Yanbo , Lv Xing , Gong Jianhua , Yang Lijun
Published: November 2021

IMB5036 is a novel pyridazinone compound with potent cytotoxicity. In this study, we reported its antitumour activity against pancreatic cancer and the underlying mechanism. We found that IMB5036 induced rapid cell swelling and increased membrane permeability in pancreatic cancer cells. IMB5036 increased the ratio of PI+ cells, which could be rescued by necroptosis inhibitor. Furthermore, MLKL inhibitor NSA attenuated the killing effect of IMB5036 on pancreatic cancer cells. IMB5036 stimulated translocation of MLKL and p‐MLKL from cytoplasm to cell membrane. IMB5036 upregulated the level of p‐RIPK1, p‐RIPK3, and p‐MLKL. At the same time, IMB5036 also partially activated apoptosis and pyroptosis. IMB5036 inhibited tumour growth in pancreatic xenograft. IMB5036 induced larger necrosis area, increased p‐MLKL level, and inhibited Ki67 expression in tumour mass. The study indicates that IMB5036 inhibits human pancreatic cancer growth primarily activating necroptosis.
R&D spillovers, output subsidies, and privatization in a mixed duopoly: Flexible versus irreversible R&D investments
Authors: Chen Jiaqi , Lee Sang‐Ho , Muminov Timur K.
Published: November 2021

This study examines firms’ decisions on cost‐reducing research and development (R&D) along with the government's output subsidy policy with research spillovers. We investigate flexible and irreversible R&D, where investment is sequentially chosen after the realization of output subsidy rate in the former and simultaneously chosen with the expectation of subsidy policy in the latter. We demonstrate that compared to irreversible R&D, output subsidy is larger (smaller) for relatively high (low) spillovers, and the welfare is always higher under flexible R&D. We also compare mixed and private duopolies and show that privatization increases (decreases) not only output subsidy but welfare in both cases when the spillovers rate is relatively low (high).
Pathophysiological metabolic changes associated with disease modify the proarrhythmic risk profile of drugs with potential to prolong repolarisation
Authors: TeBay Clifford , McArthur Jeffrey R. , Mangala Melissa , Kerr Nicholas , Heitmann Stewart , Perry Matthew D. , Windley Monique J. , Vandenberg Jamie I. , Hill Adam P.
Published: November 2021

Background and Purpose

Hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine and azithromycin are three drugs that were proposed to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). While concern already existed around their proarrhythmic potential, there are little data regarding how altered physiological states encountered in patients such as febrile state, electrolyte imbalances or acidosis might change their risk profiles.

Experimental Approach

Potency of human ether‐à‐go‐go related gene (hERG) block was measured using high‐throughput electrophysiology in the presence of variable environmental factors. These potencies informed simulations to predict population risk profiles. Effects on cardiac repolarisation were verified in human induced pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes from multiple individuals.

Key Results

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine blocked hERG with IC50 of 1.47 ± 0.07 and 3.78 ± 0.17 μM, respectively, indicating proarrhythmic risk at concentrations effective against severe acute respiratory syndrome‐coronovirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) in vitro. Hypokalaemia and hypermagnesaemia increased potency of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, indicating increased proarrhythmic risk. Acidosis significantly reduced potency of all drugs, whereas increased temperature decreased potency of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine against hERG but increased potency for azithromycin. In silico simulations demonstrated that proarrhythmic risk was increased by female sex, hypokalaemia and heart failure and identified specific genetic backgrounds associated with emergence of arrhythmia.

Conclusion and Implications

Our study demonstrates how proarrhythmic risk can be exacerbated by metabolic changes and pre‐existing disease. More broadly, the study acts as a blueprint for how high‐throughput in vitro screening, combined with in silico simulations, can help guide both preclinical screening and clinical management of patients in relation to drugs with potential to prolong repolarisation.
Competition between 3D structural inheritance and kinematics during rifting: Insights from analogue models
Authors: Zwaan Frank , Chenin Pauline , Erratt Duncan , Manatschal Gianreto , Schreurs Guido
Published: November 2021

The competition between the impact of inherited weaknesses and plate kinematics determines the location and style of deformation during rifting, yet the relative impacts of these ‘internal’ and ‘external’ factors remain poorly understood, especially in 3D. In this study, we used brittle‐viscous analogue models to assess how multiphase rifting, that is changes in plate divergence rate or direction, and the presence and orientation of weaknesses in the competent mantle and crust, influences rift evolution. We find that the combined reactivation of mantle and crustal weaknesses without any kinematic changes already creates complex rift structures. Divergence rates affect the strength of the weak lower crustal layer and hence the degree of mantle‐crustal coupling; slow rifting decreases coupling, so that crustal weaknesses can dominate deformation localisation and surface structures, whereas fast rifting increases coupling and deformation related to mantle weaknesses can have a dominant surface expression. Through a change from slow to fast rifting mantle‐related deformation can overprint structures that previously formed along (differently oriented) crustal weaknesses. Conversely, a change from fast to slow rifting may shift deformation from mantle‐controlled towards crust‐controlled. When changing divergence directions, structures from the first rifting phase may control where subsequent deformation occurs, but only when they are sufficiently well developed. We furthermore place our results in a larger framework of brittle‐viscous rift modelling results from previous experimental studies, showing the importance of general lithospheric layering, divergence rate, the type of deformation in the mantle, and finally upper crustal structural inheritance. The interaction between these parameters can produce a variety of deformation styles that may, however, lead to comparable end products. Therefore, careful investigation of the distribution of strain localisation, and to an equal extent of basin depocenter locations over time is required to properly determine the evolution of complex rift systems, providing an incentive to revisit various natural examples.
Plasma extracellular vesicle microRNA profiling and the identification of a diagnostic signature for stage I lung adenocarcinoma
Authors: Gao Shugeng , Guo Wei , Liu Tiejun , Liang Naixin , Ma Qianli , Gao Yibo , Tan Fengwei , Xue Qi , He Jie
Published: November 2021

At present, there is no effective noninvasive method for the accurate diagnosis of early‐stage lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). This study examined the profile of plasma extracellular vesicle (EV)‐delivered microRNAs (miRNAs) in patients with invasive stage I LUAD. In this study, a total of 460 participants were enrolled, including 254 patients with LUAD, 76 patients with benign pulmonary nodules (BPNs), and 130 healthy control patients (HCs). miRNA sequencing was used to analyze the EV miRNA profile of the patient plasma samples (n = 150). A diagnostic signature (d‐signature) was identified by applying a stepwise logistic regression algorithm, and a single‐center training cohort (n = 150) was tested, followed by a multicenter validation cohort (n = 100). A d‐signature comprising four EV‐derived miRNAs (hsa‐miR‐106b‐3p, hsa‐miR‐125a‐5p, hsa‐miR‐3615, and hsa‐miR‐450b‐5p) was developed for the early detection of LUAD. The d‐signature had high precision with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.917 and 0.902 in the training and test cohorts, respectively. Moreover, the d‐signature could recognize patients with adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) and minimally invasive adenocarcinoma (MIA) with AUC values of 0.846 and 0.92, respectively. To sum up, our study detailed the plasma EV–derived miRNA profile in early LUAD patients and developed an EV‐derived miRNA d‐signature to detect early LUAD.
The role of oral health‐related quality of life in the association between dental caries and height, weight and BMI among children in Bangladesh
Authors: Mishu Masuma Pervin , Tsakos Georgios , Heilmann Anja , Watt Richard G
Published: November 2021

Objectives

To examine whether oral health‐related quality of life (OHRQoL) explained the negative associations between dental caries and anthropometric measures of child growth among a sample of 5‐ to 9‐year‐old children in Dhaka, Bangladesh, while taking potential confounding factors (maternal education, family income, study setting, child's birth weight and childhood diseases) into account. In addition, to test whether specific oral impacts had a role in explaining these associations.

Methods

Data collection was conducted via a cross‐sectional survey among children and their parents from both hospital and school settings in Dhaka. Dental caries and severe consequences of dental caries (defined here as dental sepsis) were the exposure variables, and age‐ and sex‐adjusted height‐z‐scores (HAZ), weight‐z‐scores (WAZ) and BMI‐z‐scores (BAZ) were the outcome variables. OHRQoL was measured using the Bengali version of the Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5‐year‐old children (SOHO‐5). First, associations between oral impacts (prevalence of overall impacts and specific items of the SOHO‐5) and outcome measures were assessed. Multiple linear regression was used to assess associations between caries and anthropometric measures, adjusted for potential confounders. Oral impacts were then added to test whether their inclusion attenuated the associations between exposures and outcomes. To further investigate potential mediating role of oral impacts, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to test the hypothesis that dental caries and sepsis were associated with the outcomes directly and also indirectly via oral impacts in general. A similar approach was used to investigate mediation by specific SOHO‐5 items.

Results

The sample consisted of 715 children, 73.1% of whom had dental caries, 37.5% presented with sepsis, and 57.3% reported at least one oral impact (SOHO‐5 score ≥1). Prevalence of overall oral impacts and also the impact on ‘eating difficulty’ (a specific item of SOHO‐5) were negatively associated with all three outcomes. Dental caries and sepsis was associated with lower HAZ, WAZ and BAZ, and adjustment for overall oral impacts considerably attenuated the associations between ‘severe dental caries’ and outcomes, and dental sepsis and outcomes. Using SEM, we found significant indirect associations between caries and sepsis and anthropometric measures via oral impacts (except for dental caries and HAZ). Considering specific oral impacts, eating difficulties explained about 44% and 65% of the associations between caries and anthropometric outcomes, and dental sepsis and anthropometric outcomes, respectively.

Conclusions

Oral impacts, in particular eating difficulties, appear to mediate associations between caries and markers of child growth among this population.
Mitochondrial developmental encephalopathy with bilateral optic neuropathy related to homozygous variants inIMMTgene
Authors: Marco‐Hernández Ana Victoria , Tomás‐Vila Miguel , Montoya‐Filardi Alejandro , Barranco‐González Honorio , Vilchez Padilla Juan Jesus , Azorín Inmaculada , Smeyers Dura Patricia , Monfort‐Membrado Sandra , Pitarch‐Castellano Inmaculada , Martínez‐Castellano Francisco
Published: November 2021

IMMTgene codes for mitofilin, a mitochondrial inner membrane protein that regulates the morphology of mitochondrial cristae. The phenotype associated with mutations in this gene has not been yet established, but functional studies carried out show that its loss causes a mitochondrial alteration, both in the morphology of the mitochondrial crests and in their function. We present two cousins from an extended highly consanguineous family with developmental encephalopathy, hypotonia, nystagmus due to optic neuropathy. The likely pathogenic homozygous c.895A>G (p.Lys299Glu) variant in theIMMTgene co‐segregates with the disease and associates altered mitochondrial cristae observed by electron microscopy.
Geometric Sample Reweighting for Monte Carlo Integration
Authors: Guo J. , Eisemann E.
Published: November 2021

Numerical integration is fundamental in multiple Monte Carlo rendering problems. We present a sample reweighting scheme, including underlying theory, and analysis of numerical performance for the integration of an unknown one‐dimensional function. Our method is simple to implement and builds upon the insight to link the weights to a function reconstruction process during integration. We provide proof that our solution is unbiased in one‐dimensional cases and consistent in multi‐dimensional cases. We illustrate its effectiveness in several use cases.
Luminance Attentive Networks for HDR Image and Panorama Reconstruction
Authors: Yu Hanning , Liu Wentao , Long Chengjiang , Dong Bo , Zou Qin , Xiao Chunxia
Published: November 2021

It is very challenging to reconstruct a high dynamic range (HDR) from a low dynamic range (LDR) image as an ill‐posed problem. This paper proposes a luminance attentive network named LANet for HDR reconstruction from a single LDR image. Our method is based on two fundamental observations: (1) HDR images stored in relative luminance are scale‐invariant, which means the HDR images will hold the same information when multiplied by any positive real number. Based on this observation, we propose a novel normalization method called “HDR calibration“for HDR images stored in relative luminance, calibrating HDR images into a similar luminance scale according to the LDR images. (2) The main difference between HDR images and LDR images is in under‐/over‐exposed areas, especially those highlighted. Following this observation, we propose a luminance attention module with a two‐stream structure for LANet to pay more attention to the under‐/over‐exposed areas. In addition, we propose an extended network called panoLANet for HDR panorama reconstruction from an LDR panorama and build a dualnet structure for panoLANet to solve the distortion problem caused by the equirectangular panorama. Extensive experiments show that our proposed approach LANet can reconstruct visually convincing HDR images and demonstrate its superiority over state‐of‐the‐art approaches in terms of all metrics in inverse tone mapping. The image‐based lighting application with our proposed panoLANet also demonstrates that our method can simulate natural scene lighting using only LDR panorama. Our source code is available athttps://github.com/LWT3437/LANet.
Seamless Satellite‐image Synthesis
Authors: Zhu Jialin , Kelly Tom
Published: November 2021

We introduce Seamless Satellite‐image Synthesis (SSS), a novel neural architecture to create scale‐and‐space continuous satellite textures from cartographic data. While 2D map data is cheap and easily synthesized, accurate satellite imagery is expensive and often unavailable or out of date. Our approach generates seamless textures over arbitrarily large spatial extents which are consistent through scale‐space. To overcome tile size limitations in image‐to‐image translation approaches, SSS learns to remove seams between tiled images in a semantically meaningful manner. Scale‐space continuity is achieved by a hierarchy of networks conditioned on style and cartographic data. Our qualitative and quantitative evaluations show that our system improves over the state‐of‐the‐art in several key areas. We show applications to texturing procedurally generation maps and interactive satellite image manipulation.
Relighting Humans in the Wild: Monocular Full‐Body Human Relighting with Domain Adaptation
Authors: Tajima D. , Kanamori Y. , Endo Y.
Published: November 2021

The modern supervised approaches for human image relighting rely on training data generated from 3D human models. However, such datasets are often small (e.g., Light Stage data with a small number of individuals) or limited to diffuse materials (e.g., commercial 3D scanned human models). Thus, the human relighting techniques suffer from the poor generalization capability and synthetic‐to‐real domain gap. In this paper, we propose a two‐stage method for single‐image human relighting with domain adaptation. In the first stage, we train a neural network for diffuse‐only relighting. In the second stage, we train another network for enhancing non‐diffuse reflection by learning residuals between real photos and images reconstructed by the diffuse‐only network. Thanks to the second stage, we can achieve higher generalization capability against various cloth textures, while reducing the domain gap. Furthermore, to handle input videos, we integrate illumination‐aware deep video prior to greatly reduce flickering artifacts even with challenging settings under dynamic illuminations.
Write‐An‐Animation: High‐level Text‐based Animation Editing with Character‐Scene Interaction
Authors: Zhang Jia‐Qi , Xu Xiang , Shen Zhi‐Meng , Huang Ze‐Huan , Zhao Yang , Cao Yan‐Pei , Wan Pengfei , Wang Miao
Published: November 2021

3D animation production for storytelling requires essential manual processes of virtual scene composition, character creation, and motion editing, etc. Although professional artists can favorably create 3D animations using software, it remains a complex and challenging task for novice users to handle and learn such tools for content creation. In this paper, we present Write‐An‐Animation, a 3D animation system that allows novice users to create, edit, preview, and render animations, all through text editing. Based on the input texts describing virtual scenes and human motions in natural languages, our system first parses the texts as semantic scene graphs, then retrieves 3D object models for virtual scene composition and motion clips for character animation. Character motion is synthesized with the combination of generative locomotions using neural state machine as well as template action motions retrieved from the dataset. Moreover, to make the virtual scene layout compatible with character motion, we propose an iterative scene layout and character motion optimization algorithm that jointly considers character‐object collision and interaction. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our system with customized texts and public film scripts. Experimental results indicate that our system can generate satisfactory animations from texts.
Egocentric Network Exploration for Immersive Analytics
Authors: Sorger J. , Arleo A. , Kán P. , Knecht W. , Waldner M.
Published: November 2021

To exploit the potential of immersive network analytics for engaging and effective exploration, we promote the metaphor of “Egocentrism”, where data depiction and interaction are adapted to the perspective of the user within a 3D network. Egocentrism has the potential to overcome some of the inherent downsides of virtual environments, e.g., visual clutter and cyber‐sickness. To investigate the effect of this metaphor on immersive network exploration, we designed and evaluated interfaces of varying degrees of Egocentrism. In a user study, we evaluated the effect of these interfaces on visual search tasks, efficiency of network traversal, spatial orientation, as well as cyber‐sickness. Results show that a simple Egocentric interface considerably improves visual search efficiency and navigation performance, yet does not decrease spatial orientation or increase cyber‐sickness. An occlusion‐free Ego‐Bubble view of the neighborhood only marginally improves the user's performance. We tie our findings together in an open online tool for Egocentric network exploration, providing actionable insights on the benefits of the Egocentric network exploration metaphor.
Fisetin ameliorates cognitive impairment by activating mitophagy and suppressing neuroinflammation in rats with sepsis‐associated encephalopathy
Authors: Ding Hongguang , Li Ya , Chen Shenglong , Wen Yin , Zhang Shiying , Luo Ensi , Li Xusheng , Zhong Wenhong , Zeng Hongke
Published: November 2021

Background

Fisetin, the effective ingredient of the traditional Chinese medicine named Cotinus coggygria, is recommended to be active therapeutic in many disorders. However, its role in sepsis‐associated encephalopathy (SAE) remains unclarified.

Methods

Cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) operation was performed to establish a rat model of SAE. Rats were grouped according to the surgery operation and fisetin administration. Cognitive impairment was assessed by Morris water maze test. Disruption of blood‐brain barrier (BBB) integrity was detected by Evan's blue staining. The mitophagy, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, NLRP3 inflammasome activation, and pro‐inflammatory cytokines levels were measured through western blot and double immunofluorescence labeling. A transmission electron microscope was applied for the observation of mitochondrial autophagosomes.

Results

Rats in the CLP group presented increased expression of IL‐1R1, pNF‐κB, TNF‐α, and iNOS in microglial cells, indicating severe inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS). Nevertheless, there was no increase in BBB permeability. Meanwhile, NLRP3 inflammasome was activated in cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (CMECs), presented with an elevation of caspase‐1 expression and IL‐1β secretion into CNS. In addition, we found fisetin significantly improved cognitive dysfunction in rats with SAE. Neuroprotective effects of fisetin might be associated with inhibition of neuroinflammation, represented with decreased expression of IL‐1R1, pNF‐κB, TNF‐α, and iNOS in microglia. Furthermore, fisetin induced mitophagy, scavenged ROS, blocked NLRP3 inflammasome activation of CMECs, as evidenced by decreased expression of caspase‐1 and reduced release of IL‐1β into CNS.

Conclusion

Collectively, fisetin‐blocked NLRP3 inflammasome activation via promoting mitophagy in CMECs may suppress the secretion of IL‐1β into CNS, reduce neuroinflammation, and contribute to the amelioration of cognitive impairment.
Systemic allergic dermatitis (systemic contact dermatitis) from pharmaceutical drugs: A review
Authors: de Groot Anton C.
Published: November 2021

The literature on systemic allergic dermatitis (SAD; also known as systemic contact dermatitis) is reviewed. Both topical drugs (from absorption through mucosae or skin) and systemic drugs (oral, parenteral, rectal) may be responsible for the disorder. The topical route appears to be rare with 41 culprit topical drugs found to cause SAD in 95 patients. Most reactions are caused by budesonide (especially from inhalation), bufexamac, and dibucaine. SAD from systemic drugs is infrequent with 95 culprit drugs found to cause SAD in 240 patients. The drugs most frequently implicated are mitomycin C, methylprednisolone (salt, ester), and hydrocortisone (salt). The largest group of culprit drugs consisted of corticosteroids (19%), being responsible for >30% of the reactions, of which nearly 40% were not caused by therapeutic drugs, but by drug provocation tests. The most frequent manifestations of SAD from drugs are eczematous eruptions (scattered, widespread, generalized, worsening, reactivation), maculopapular eruptions, symmetrical drug‐related intertriginous and flexural exanthema (SDRIFE [baboon syndrome]) and widespread erythema or erythroderma. Therapeutic systemic drugs hardly ever cause reactivation of previously positive patch tests and infrequently of previous allergic contact dermatitis. The pathophysiology of SAD has received very little attention. Explanations for the rarity of SAD are suggested.