bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dimensions of wellbeing and recognitional justice of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kerala, India
Authors: Mathews Mishal Alice , De Neve Geert , Ayeb-Karlsson Sonja
Published: May 2023

The lockdown of March 2020 in India witnessed one of the largest movements of migrants in the country. The state of Kerala was quick and efficient in responding to the challenges posed by the lockdown on its migrant population and in supporting its ‘guest workers’. While many studies have researched the material resources of migrants during the pandemic, such as income and food, few have investigated the subjective measures and emphasised the lived experiences of migrant workers. Drawing on the Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD) approach which examines three dimensions of wellbeing, namely, (a) material, (b) relational and (c) subjective wellbeing, this article focuses on the mental health and wellbeing experiences of migrant workers during the first lockdown in Kerala. By deploying these wellbeing dimensions, the study looks at how migrant workers perceived and experienced the various interventions put in place by state and local governments, as well as voluntary initiatives aimed at supporting them. The study elaborates around migrants’ relations of love, care, and trust, and their reasons to remain in Kerala or return home during the lockdown. The study found that a paradigm shift, where ‘migrant workers’ are becoming ‘guest workers’, was at the forefront of the captured narratives. The key findings in this way contribute to the understanding of migrants’ lived experiences, wellbeing, and perceptions of the different lockdown interventions. We argue that an increased attention to subjective factors helps us understand migrant needs at times of crisis through their lived experiences and thereby enhances policy planning for disaster preparedness.
Does commerce promote theft? A quantitative study from Beijing, China
Authors: Jiang Yutian , Zhang Na
Published: May 2023

Commerce, as both an environmental and a social factor, is essential to the study of the causes of urban crimes. This paper aims to comprehensively propose research hypotheses based on these two types of commercial factors and optimise statistical tools with which to analyse commerce’s impact on the level of theft in Beijing. Combining criminal verdicts, census data, points of interest, and information on nighttime lighting, this paper first applies a hierarchical regression model to verify the effectiveness of using commercial environmental and social factors to explain theft statistics and then constructs a structural equation model to analyse the joint influence of multiple commercial factors on those statistics. This paper finds that Beijing’s commerce does not significantly promote theft, verifies the effectiveness of two types of commercial variables and the corresponding Western theories in explaining commerce’s impact on theft in Beijing, and provides empirical data for the study of the causes of theft in a non-Western context.
Weak optical modes for high-density and low-loss photonic circuits
Authors: Nikbakht Hamed , van Someren Bob , Hammer Manfred , Akca B. Imran
Published: May 2023

Dielectric optical waveguides constitute the main building blocks of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Channels with high refractive index contrast can provide very compact PIC components, whereas structures with lower index exhibit less propagation loss. A hybrid concept that can combine the best of high- and low-index materials is highly required. Here, we devise a new approach to realize compact and low-loss hybrid optical waveguides based on the interaction of weak optical modes. This is a rather universal approach that can be applied to a wide range of optical materials. To prove the principle, the hybrid waveguide structure is formed by combining a low-index polymer and a thin layer of silicon nitride. For this material combination, a minimum bending radius of 90 µm (for a bending loss of 0.005 dB/90°) and a propagation loss of 0.7 dB/cm are achieved. The viability of this platform is demonstrated through a series of high-performance novel PIC components. This hybrid waveguide platform enabled by a powerful and simple design concept holds great promise for high-density and low-loss PICs.
Leaf formononetin content of Trifolium subterraneum increases in response to waterlogging but its proportion of total isoflavones is little changed
Authors: Enkhbat Gereltsetseg , Foster Kevin J. , Nichols Phillip G. H. , Erskine William , Inukai Yoshiaki , Ryan Megan H.
Published: May 2023

The isoflavone formononetin (F) impacts livestock fertility and cultivars of the pasture legume Trifolium subterraneum L. (subclover) have been selected for F levels ≤0.2% of leaf dry weight. However, the impact of waterlogging (WL) on isoflavones is little studied. We investigated the response of isoflavones, biochanin A (BA), genistein (G) and F, to WL for: (1) Yarloop (high F) and eight low F cultivars each from subspecies subterraneum, brachycalycinum and yanninicum (Experiment 1); and (2) four cultivars and 12 ecotypes of ssp. yanninicum (Experiment 2). WL impacted F: estimated means increased from 0.19% (control) to 0.31% (WL) in Experiment 1 and from 0.61% to 0.97% in Experiment 2. Isoflavones under WL were highly heritable, particularly F (H2 = 95%). The proportions of BA, G and F were little changed by WL, with strong positive correlations between free-drained and waterlogged treatments. Isoflavone contents were not related to WL tolerance, as assessed by shoot relative growth rate. In conclusion, isoflavones varied among genotypes and increased with WL, but the proportion of individual isoflavones in each genotype was stable. High F under WL was unrelated with genotype tolerance to WL. Instead, it was a consequence of inherently high F for that particular genotype.
A terminological problem
Authors: Bauer Laurie
Published: May 2023

The term “Humboldt’s Universal”, introduced to linguistics in the 1970s, appears to be synonymous with a number of other
expressions, some of which are also used to denote different phenomena (e.g. isomorphism). In this paper, the extent of the terminological
problem is highlighted, and a plea is made for explanation of how the term is to be understood in the work of individual authors.
Pairing phase transition in an odd–even hot 69Zn nucleus
Authors: Senapati Enakshi , Mondal Satabdi , Bhattacharya Srijit , Pandit Deepak , Dinh Dang N , Ngoc Anh Nguyen , Quynh Huong L T , Santra Rajkumar , Hung N Quang , Dey Balaram
Published: May 2023

The pairing phase transition in an odd–even hot-rotating 69Zn nucleus has been investigated by using the reported nuclear level density (NLD) data, which were experimentally extracted from the γ-gated particle spectra. The experimental NLDs have been compared with those obtained within the microscopic exact pairing plus independent-particle model at finite temperature (EP+IPM) along with the results of other microscopic calculations such as the Hartree–Fock BCS (HFBCS) and Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov plus combinational (HFBC) methods. It is found that the experimental NLDs can be well described by the EP+IPM using the recommended quadrupole deformation parameter β
2 = −0.164. Intriguingly, the heat capacity calculated using the EP+IPM NLD exhibits a sharp S-shape, which is not expected in such odd–even hot or hot-rotating system as reported earlier. Changing the deformation parameter β
2 does not change much this S-shape. However, increasing or decreasing the pairing gaps could enhance or destroy the S-shaped heat capacity. Therefore, the S-shaped heat capacity in odd–even 69Zn nucleus is explained due to the deformation-induced pairing correlation.
Swelling as a stabilizing mechanism in irradiated thin films: III. Effect on critical angle in a composite model
Authors: Evans Tyler , Norris Scott
Published: May 2023

Ion-beam irradiation of an amorphizable material such as Si or Ge may lead to spontaneous pattern formation, rather than flat surfaces, for irradiation beyond some critical angle against the surface normal. It is observed experimentally that this critical angle varies according to many factors, including beam energy, ion species and target material. However, many theoretical analyses predict a critical angle

θ

c

of 45∘ independent of energy, ion and target, disagreeing with experiment. Previous work on this topic has suggested that isotropic swelling due to ion-irradiation may act as a stabilization mechanism, potentially offering a theoretical explanation for the elevated value of

θ

c

in Ge compared to Si for the same projectiles. In the present work, we consider a composite model of stress-free strain and isotropic swelling with a generalized treatment of stress modification along idealized ion tracks. We obtain a highly-general linear stability result with a careful treatment of arbitrary spatial variation functions for each of the stress-free strain-rate tensor, a source of deviatoric stress modification, and isotropic swelling, a source of isotropic stress. Comparison with experimental stress measurements suggests that the presence of angle-independent isotropic stress may not be a strong influence on

θ

c

for the 250 eV Ar

+

→

Si system. At the same time, plausible parameter values suggest that the swelling mechanism may, indeed, be important for irradiated Ge. As secondary results, we show the unexpected importance for

θ

c

of the relationship between free and amorphous-crystalline interfaces in the thin film model. We also show that under simple idealizations used elsewhere, spatial variation of stress may not contribute to

θ

c

selection. These findings prompt modeling refinements which will be the focus of future work.
Field angle dependent resonant dynamics of artificial spin ice lattices
Authors: Kuchibhotla Mahathi , Haldar Arabinda , Adeyeye Adekunle Olusola
Published: May 2023

Artificial spin ice structures which are networks of coupled nanomagnets arranged on different lattices that exhibit a number of interesting phenomena are promising for future information processing. We report reconfigurable microwave properties in artificial spin ice structures with three different lattice symmetries namely square, kagome, and triangle. Magnetization dynamics are systematically investigated using field angle dependent ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Two distinct ferromagnetic resonance modes are observed in square spin ice structures in contrast with the three well-separated modes in kagome and triangular spin ice structures that are spatially localized at the center of the individual nanomagnets. A simple rotation of the sample placed in magnetic field results in the merging and splitting of the modes due to the different orientations of the nanomagnets with respect to the applied magnetic field. Magnetostatic interactions are found to shift the mode positions after comparing the microwave responses from the array of nanomagnets with control simulations with isolated nanomagnets. Moreover, the extent of the mode splitting has been studied by varying the thickness of the lattice structures. The results have potential implications for microwave filter-type applications which can be operated for a wide range of frequencies with ease of tunability.
Role of graphene nanoparticles on the electrophysical processes in PVP and PVP:ZnTiO3 polymer layers at Schottky diode (SD)
Authors: Barkhordari Ali , Mashayekhi Hamid Reza , Amiri Pari , Altındal Şemsettin , Azizian-Kalandaragh Yashar
Published: May 2023

In this paper, a polyvinyl pyrrolidine (PVP) polymer layer is inserted between the metal–semiconductor (MS) structure to manufacture a metal–polymer–semiconductor (MPS) structure or Schottky diode (SD). The zinc titanate and graphene nanostructures were doped into the PVP layer individually and together to improve the electrical performance of the MPS-type SD. The crystalline size, surface morphology, and band gap energy of the ZnTiO3 nanostructures are examined by the x-ray diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, respectively. It is common to measure the current–voltage (I–V) features (at ±3 V) of these five structures for calculating the reverse saturation current (I
0), barrier height, ideality factor (n), series (R
s), and shunt (R
sh) resistances as the main electrical parameters utilizing the thermionic emission, Norde, and Cheung models. Also, the forwarded-bias energy-dependent surface states density (N
ss) and the forward/reverse biased current conduction mechanisms are studied and discussed. The rectifying ratio (RR) of Al/PVP:Gr-ZnTiO3/p-Si SD has the highest increase among these five SDs while the lowest I
0 and highest R
sh are related to the Al/PVP:Gr/p-Si (MPS2) and Al/PVP:ZnTiO3/p-Si (MPS3) SDs, respectively. Therefore, doping Gr into the PVP interlayer increases the electrical conduction in the SDs although PVP:Gr-ZnTiO3 polymer layer improves the RR of SDs.
Fisher information of correlated stochastic processes
Authors: Radaelli Marco , Landi Gabriel T , Modi Kavan , Binder Felix C
Published: May 2023

Many real-world tasks include some kind of parameter estimation, i.e. the determination of a parameter encoded in a probability distribution. Often, such probability distributions arise from stochastic processes. For a stationary stochastic process with temporal correlations, the random variables that constitute it are identically distributed but not independent. This is the case, for instance, for quantum continuous measurements. In this article, we derive the asymptotic Fisher information rate for a stationary process with finite Markov order. We give a precise expression for this rate which is determined by the process’ conditional distribution up to its Markov order. Second, we demonstrate with suitable examples that correlations may both enhance or hamper the metrological precision. Indeed, unlike for entropic information quantities, in general nothing can be said about the sub- or super-additivity of the joint Fisher information in the presence of correlations. To illustrate our results, we apply them to thermometry on an Ising spin chain, considering nearest-neighbour and next-to-nearest neighbour coupling. In this case, the asymptotic Fisher information rate is directly connected to the specific heat capacity of the spin chain. We observe that the presence of correlations strongly enhances the estimation precision in an anti-ferromagnetic chain, while in a ferromagnetic chain this is not the case.
Super-ballistic diffusion in a quasi-periodic non-Hermitian driven system with nonlinear interaction
Authors: Li Jian-Zheng , Li Guan-Ling , Zhao Wen-Lei
Published: May 2023

We investigate the effects of nonlinear interactions on quantum diffusion in a quasi-periodic quantum kicked rotor system, featuring a non-Hermitian kicking potential. Remarkably, when the non-Hermitian driving strength is sufficiently strong, the energy diffusion follows a power law of time, characterized by an exponent that decreases monotonically with increasing the strength of nonlinear interactions. This demonstrates the emergence of super-ballistic diffusion (SBD). We find a distinct prethermalization stage in the time domain preceding the onset of SBD. The unique quantum diffusion phenomena observed in this chaotic system can be attributed to the decoherence effects generated by the interplay between nonlinear interactions and the non-Hermitian kicking potential.
Synthesis and electrochemical performance of La2CuO4 as a promising coating material for high voltage Li-rich layered oxide cathodes
Authors: Guo Fuliang , Lu Jiaze , Su Meihua , Chen Yue , Zheng Jieyun , Yin Liang , Li Hong
Published: May 2023

The structural transformations, oxygen releasing and side reactions with electrolytes on the surface are considered as the main causes of the performance degradation of Li-rich layered oxides (LROs) cathodes in Li-ion batteries. Thus, stabilizing the surfaces of LROs is the key to realize their practical application in high energy density Li-ion batteries. Surface coating is regarded as one of the most effective strategies for high voltage cathodes. The ideal coating materials should prevent cathodes from electrolyte corrosion and possess both electronic and Li-ionic conductivities simultaneously. However, commonly reported coating materials are unable to balance these functions well. Herein, a new type of coating material, La2CuO4 was introduced to mitigate the surface issues of LROs for the first time, due to its superb electronic conductivity (26–35 mS⋅cm−1) and lithium-ionic diffusion coefficient (10−12–10−13 cm2⋅s−1). After coating with the La2CuO4, the capacity retention of Li1.2Ni0.54Co0.13Mn0.13O2 cathode was increased to 85.9% (compared to 79.3% of uncoated cathode) after 150 cycles in the voltage range of 2.0–4.8 V. In addition, only negligible degradations on the deliverable capacity and rate capability were observed.
An improved ISR-WV rumor propagation model based on multichannels with time delay and pulse vaccination
Authors: Dong Yafang , Huo Liang’an , Xie Xiaoxiao , Li Ming
Published: May 2023

The rapid development of the Internet has broadened the channels of dissemination of information, it has also led to the rapid and widespread propagation of rumors, which can have a serious negative impact socially. In this paper, an improved ISR-WV rumor propagation model integrating multichannels is proposed by considering the system’s time delay, and the influence of different channels of propagation on the dynamic process is further analyzed. Moreover, the basic reproduction number R
0, rumor-free equilibrium, and rumor-prevailing equilibrium, as well as their stability, are deduced. Then, an optimal control problem with pulse vaccination is designed. Finally, the validity of the model and theoretical results is verified by numerical simulations and a practical application. The results show that the rumor propagation threshold R
0 is more sensitive to the rate of the propagation of the information base channel. The shorter the thinking time τ
1 required for the ignorant to react after obtaining the information, the larger the final scale of propagation. Under this condition, the time delay τ
2 spent by a spreader in producing a video is negatively related to the final scale of the propagation; conversely, a longer τ
1 implies that the person tends to more cognizant, which can suppress the spread of rumors. Under this condition, τ
2 has little effect on the final scale of propagation. In addition, the results also prove that timely implementation of the pulse vaccination control strategy of popular science education can effectively control the propagation of rumors and reduce their negative impact.
Using Hocker and Burns numerical method to analyze the dispersion properties of a planar waveguide with an exponentially graded-index core layer for s-polarized light
Authors: Almawgani Abdulkarem H M , Hussein Aya J , Taya Sofyan A , Hindi Ayman Taher , Colak Ilhami , Alqanoo Anas A M , Patel Shobhitkumar , Pal Amrindra
Published: May 2023

Although not realistic, the theory of step-index waveguide has been discussed in most published works. Electric and magnetic fields can be written as well-known functions such as exponential, sine and cosine functions. However, the index distribution of the most practical waveguides is better described as graded. Despite certain similarities, step-index and graded-index waveguide structures also have considerable differences. The characteristic equation of s-polarized wave propagating in a planar waveguide with an exponentially graded-index thin core layer is examined in this work using the Hocker and Burns numerical approach. This method utilizes the effective index method of analyzing waveguides with 2D confinement. It was efficiently applied to problems of channel waveguides formed by diffusion. The technique depends on finding the phase shift of the curved optical path in the graded index zone as stacked infinite thin layers. Three factors contribute to the total transverse phase shift: (1) film-cladding interface phase delay, (2) film-substrate interface phase delay, and (3) phase delay caused by the zigzag optical path of the guiding film. The findings revealed the following intriguing observations. The dispersion curves of the graded-index waveguide structure are in the normal shape in which the generalized guide index (GeGI) increases with the rise of the normalized frequency. At high values of the normalized frequency, the GeGI displays less dependence on it. The dispersion curves show cut-off thicknesses which increase for higher asymmetry measure values. A comparison between graded-index and step-index waveguide structures is carried out.
Covariant definition of double null data and geometric uniqueness of the characteristic initial value problem
Authors: Mars Marc , Sánchez-Pérez Gabriel
Published: May 2023

The characteristic Cauchy problem of the Einstein field equations has been recently addressed from a completely abstract viewpoint by means of hypersurface data and, in particular, via the notion of double null data (DND). However, this definition was given in a partially gauge-fixed form. In this paper we generalize the notion of DND in a fully diffeomorphism and gauge covariant way, and show that the definition is complete by proving that no extra conditions are needed to embed the DND in some spacetime. The second aim of the paper is to show that the characteristic Cauchy problem satisfies a geometric uniqueness property. Specifically, we introduce a natural notion of isometry at the abstract level such that two DND that are isometric in this sense give rise to isometric spacetimes.
Thermal features of Heisenberg antiferromagnets on edge- versus corner-sharing triangular-based lattices: a message from spin waves
Authors: Yamamoto Shoji , Ohara Jun
Published: May 2023

We propose a new scheme of modifying spin waves so as to describe the thermodynamic properties of various noncollinear antiferromagnets with particular interest in a comparison between edge- versus corner-sharing triangular-based lattices. The well-known modified spin-wave theory for collinear antiferromagnets diagonalizes a bosonic Hamiltonian subject to the constraint that the total staggered magnetization be zero. Applying this scheme to frustrated noncollinear antiferromagnets ends in a poor thermodynamics, missing the optimal ground state and breaking the local U(1) rotational symmetry. We find such a plausible double-constraint condition for spin spirals as to spontaneously go back to the traditional single-constraint condition at the onset of a collinear Néel-ordered classical ground state. We first diagonalize only the bilinear terms in Holstein-Primakoff boson operators on the order of spin magnitude S and then bring these linear spin waves into interaction in a perturbative rather than variational manner. We demonstrate specific-heat calculations in terms of thus-modified interacting spin waves on various triangular-based lattices. In zero dimension, modified-spin-wave findings in comparison with finite-temperature Lanczos calculations turn out so successful as to reproduce the monomodal and bimodal specific-heat temperature profiles of the triangular-based edge-sharing Platonic and corner-sharing Archimedean polyhedral-lattice antiferromagnets, respectively. In two dimensions, high-temperature series expansions and tensor-network-based renormalization-group calculations are still controversial especially at low temperatures, and under such circumstances, modified spin waves interestingly predict that the specific heat of the kagome-lattice antiferromagnet in the corner-sharing geometry remains having both mid-temperature broad maximum and low-temperature narrow peak in the thermodynamic limit, while the specific heat of the triangular-lattice antiferromagnet in the edge-sharing geometry retains a low-temperature sharp peak followed by a mid-temperature weak anormaly in the thermodynamic limit. By further calculating one-magnon spectral functions in terms of our newly developed double-constraint modified spin-wave theory, we reveal that not only the elaborate modification scheme but also quantum corrections, especially those caused by the O(S
0) primary self-energies, are key ingredients in the successful description of triangular-based-lattice noncollinear antiferromagnets over the whole temperature range of absolute zero to infinity.
Implementation of an integrated ambulatory care pharmacist collaborative care workflow model in specialty clinics in a large academic health system
Authors: Lee Jenna , Tong Kimhouy , Stroedecke Natasha , Monestime Sera , Eom Esther , Stutsky Martha , Boothe Kimberly , Luon Steph , Sawant Vinay , Renauer Marie
Published: May 2023

Purpose

Ambulatory care and specialty pharmacy practices are rapidly growing in tandem with the accelerated development of advanced therapies for complex disease states. A coordinated and standardized interprofessional team–based approach is critical to providing high-quality care to specialty patients on complex, expensive, and high-risk therapies. Yale New Haven Health System dedicated resources to the creation of a medication management clinic under a unique care model that integrates ambulatory care pharmacists within specialty clinics who coordinate with centralized specialty pharmacists. The new care model workflow encompasses ambulatory care pharmacists, specialty pharmacists, ambulatory care pharmacy technicians, specialty pharmacy liaisons, clinicians, and clinic support staff. The strategies employed to design, implement, and optimize this workflow to meet the increasing demand for pharmacy support in specialty care is discussed.

The workflow incorporated key activities from highly diverse existing specialty pharmacy, ambulatory care pharmacy, and specialty clinic practices. Standard processes were developed for patient identification, referral placement, visit scheduling, encounter documentation, medication fulfillment, and clinical follow-up. Resources were created or optimized to support successful implementation, including an electronic pharmacy referral, specialty collaborative practice agreements to facilitate pharmacist-led comprehensive medication management, and a standardized note template. Communication strategies were developed to facilitate feedback and process updates. Enhancements focused on eliminating documentation redundancies and delegating nonclinical tasks to a dedicated ambulatory care pharmacy technician. The workflow was implemented in 5 ambulatory rheumatology, digestive health, and infectious diseases clinics. Pharmacists utilized this workflow to complete 1,237 patient visits, serving 550 individual patients over 11 months.

Conclusion

This initiative created a standard workflow to support an interdisciplinary standard of specialty patient care that is robust to accommodate planned expansion. This workflow implementation approach can serve as a road map for other healthcare systems with integrated specialty and ambulatory pharmacy departments undertaking similar models for specialty patient management.
Cortico-muscular coherence in primary lateral sclerosis reveals abnormal cortical engagement during motor function beyond primary motor areas
Authors: Bista Saroj , Coffey Amina , Fasano Antonio , Buxo Teresa , Mitchell Matthew , Giglia Eileen Rose , Dukic Stefan , Heverin Mark , Muthuraman Muthuraman , Carson Richard G , Lowery Madeleine , Hardiman Orla , McManus Lara , Nasseroleslami Bahman
Published: May 2023

Primary lateral sclerosis (PLS) is a slowly progressing disorder, which is characterized primarily by the degeneration of upper motor neurons (UMNs) in the primary motor area (M1). It is not yet clear how the function of sensorimotor networks beyond M1 are affected by PLS. The aim of this study was to use cortico-muscular coherence (CMC) to characterize the oscillatory drives between cortical regions and muscles during a motor task in PLS and to examine the relationship between CMC and the level of clinical impairment. We recorded EEG and EMG from hand muscles in 16 participants with PLS and 18 controls during a pincer-grip task. In PLS, higher CMC was observed over contralateral-M1 (α- and γ-band) and ipsilateral-M1 (β-band) compared with controls. Significant correlations between clinically assessed UMN scores and CMC measures showed that higher clinical impairment was associated with lower CMC over contralateral-M1/frontal areas, higher CMC over parietal area, and both higher and lower CMC (in different bands) over ipsilateral-M1. The results suggest an atypical engagement of both contralateral and ipsilateral M1 during motor activity in PLS, indicating the presence of pathogenic and/or adaptive/compensatory alterations in neural activity. The findings demonstrate the potential of CMC for identifying dysfunction within the sensorimotor networks in PLS.
Algorithms of time: how algorithmic management changes the temporalities of work and prospects for working time reduction
Authors: Piasna Agnieszka
Published: May 2023

Algorithmic management has a clear potential to reduce time spent at work by increasing efficiency in task allocation and performance, and by replacing some forms of human labour. As a result it should, in theory, advance the implementation of working time reduction policies. Automation of organisational functions indeed increases time-efficiency through the scheduling of work in more finely grained time units, closely matched with demand and the minimising of unproductive periods. This results in atomised and punctuated working time. However, instead of an increase in leisure time, workers who are managed algorithmically experience pressures towards incessant availability. This results in an apparent paradox whereby the time needed to complete paid work shrinks, but the time that must be made available for work expands. This article addresses this puzzle by developing an analytical approach to understanding changes to the temporalities of work ushered by the introduction and expansion of algorithmic management.
A geometric Chung–Lu model and the Drosophila medulla connectome
Authors: Agarwala Susama , Kenter Franklin
Published: May 2023

Many real-world graphs have edges correlated to the distance between them, but in an inhomogeneous manner. While the Chung–Lu model and the geometric random graph models both are elegant in their simplicity, they are insufficient to capture the complexity of these networks. In this article, we develop a generalized geometric random graph model that preserves many graph theoretic aspects of these real-world networks. We test the validity of this model on a graphical representation of the Drosophila medulla connectome.
Syngnathoid Evolutionary History and the Conundrum of Fossil Misplacement
Authors: Brownstein C D
Published: May 2023

Synopsis

Seahorses, pipefishes, trumpetfishes, shrimpfishes, and allies are a speciose, globally distributed clade of fishes that have evolved a large number of unusual body plans. The clade that includes all these forms, Syngnathoidei, has become a model for the study of life history evolution, population biology, and biogeography. Yet, the timeline of syngnathoid evolution has remained highly contentious. This debate is largely attributable to the nature of the syngnathoid fossil record, which is both poorly described and patchy for several major lineages. Although fossil syngnathoids have been used to calibrate molecular phylogenies, the interrelationships of extinct species and their affinities to major living syngnathoid clades have scarcely been quantitatively tested. Here, I use an expanded morphological dataset to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships and clade ages of fossil and extant syngnathoids. Phylogenies generated using different analytical methodologies are largely congruent with molecular phylogenetic trees of Syngnathoidei but consistently find novel placements for several key taxa used as fossil calibrators in phylogenomic studies. Tip-dating of the syngnathoid phylogeny finds a timeline for their evolution that differs slightly from the one inferred using molecular trees but is generally congruent with a post-Cretaceous diversification event. These results emphasize the importance of quantitatively testing the relationships of fossil species, particularly when they are critical to assessing divergence times.
A review of hybrid physics-based machine learning approaches in traffic state estimation
Authors: Zhang Zhao , Yang Xianfeng Terry , Yang Hao
Published: May 2023

Traffic state estimation (TSE) plays a significant role in traffic control and operations since it can provide accurate and high-resolution traffic estimations for locations without traffic states are measured with partially observed or flawed traffic data. Several comprehensive survey papers in recent years have summarized classical physics-based and pure data-driven approaches in TSE and found that both approaches have limitations on accurately modeling traffic states. Hence, a paradigm of hybrid physics-based machine learning (ML) method has been extensively developed to overcome this problem recently. However, there is not a clear understanding of the challenges specific and research gap of hybrid physics-based ML method in TSE. In this article, we provide a comprehensive survey of existing hybrid physics-based ML methods for TSE problem. This survey leads us to uncover inherent challenges and gaps in the current state of research. The results have profound implications for evaluating the applicability of hybrid physics-based ML TSE methods and identifying future research directions.
Abbreviated Breast MRI: Our Two-Year Initial Experience
Authors: Marshall Holly , Burkard-Mandel Lauren , Hsu Jerry , Durieux Jared , Shikhman Rachel , Plecha Donna
Published: May 2023

Objective

The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate and present our two-year experience with abbreviated breast MRI at our academic institution as a screening tool to identify primary breast cancers.

Methods

Employing eight specialty trained breast radiologists, studies were interpreted using the BI-RADS MRI lexicon in this IRB-approved retrospective study. The protocol utilized T1-weighted, fat-saturated, pre- and post-contrast, short  T1 inversion recovery images, and was completed within 10 minutes. Abbreviated breast MRI was offered to asymptomatic women of all breast densities, whose ages ranged from 24 to 90 years. Statistical analysis was performed for comparative data utilizing estimated odds ratios.

Results

Of 1338 patients that met inclusion criteria, 83% (1111/1338) were BI-RADS 1 or 2, 9.0% (121/1338) were BI-RADS 3, and 8% (106/1338) were categorized as either BI-RADS 4 or 5 with recommended biopsy. Biopsy of BI-RADS 4 and 5 categorized patients yielded 15 cancers for a positive predictive value (PPV) 2 of 14.2% and a PPV3 of 18.5%, with 76% (81/106) of patients undergoing the recommended biopsy. An additional cancer was detected in a BI-RADS 3 finding. All cancers detected were in women with heterogeneously dense or extremely dense breasts. Therefore, 16 cancers were detected, yielding a cancer detection rate of 12.0 per 1000. Over the next 12 to 24 months, no interval cancers were detected.

Conclusion

Abbreviated breast MRI demonstrates a higher cancer detection rate compared with mammography only and may provide a supplemental screening method to detect breast cancers in patients with varying risk factors.
Opportunities to address gaps in early detection and improve outcomes of liver cancer
Authors: McMahon Brian , Cohen Chari , Brown Jr Robert S , El-Serag Hashem , Ioannou George N , Lok Anna S , Roberts Lewis R , Singal Amit G , Block Timothy
Published: May 2023

Death rates from primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]) have continued to rise in the United States over the recent decades despite the availability of an increasing range of treatment modalities, including new systemic therapies. Prognosis is strongly associated with tumor stage at diagnosis; however, most cases of HCC are diagnosed beyond an early stage. This lack of early detection has contributed to low survival rates. Professional society guidelines recommend semiannual ultrasound-based HCC screening for at-risk populations, yet HCC surveillance continues to be underused in clinical practice. On April 28, 2022, the Hepatitis B Foundation convened a workshop to discuss the most pressing challenges and barriers to early HCC detection and the need to better leverage existing and emerging tools and technologies that could improve HCC screening and early detection. In this commentary, we summarize technical, patient-level, provider-level, and system-level challenges and opportunities to improve processes and outcomes across the HCC screening continuum. We highlight promising approaches to HCC risk stratification and screening, including new biomarkers, advanced imaging incorporating artificial intelligence, and algorithms for risk stratification. Workshop participants emphasized that action to improve early detection and reduce HCC mortality is urgently needed, noting concern that many of the challenges we face today are the same or similar to those faced a decade ago and that HCC mortality rates have not meaningfully improved. Increasing the uptake of HCC screening was identified as a short-term priority while developing and validating better screening tests and risk-appropriate surveillance strategies.
Mitigating the impact of the CIB on galaxy cluster SZ detection with spectrally constrained matched filters
Authors: Zubeldia Íñigo , Chluba Jens , Battye Richard
Published: May 2023

Galaxy clusters detected through the thermal Sunyaev–Zeldovich (tSZ) effect are a powerful cosmological probe from which constraints on cosmological parameters such as Ωm and σ8 can be derived. The measured cluster tSZ signal can be, however, contaminated by Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB) emission, as the CIB is spatially correlated with the cluster tSZ field. We quantify the extent of this contamination by applying the iterative multifrequency matched filter (iMMF) cluster-finding method to mock Planck-like data from the Websky simulation. We find a significant bias in the retrieved cluster tSZ observables (signal-to-noise and Compton-y amplitude), at the level of about $0.5\, \sigma$ per cluster. This CIB-induced bias translates into about 20 per cent fewer detections than expected if all the Planck HFI channels are used in the analysis, which can potentially bias derived cosmological constraints. We introduce a spectrally constrained iMMF, or sciMMF, which proves to be highly effective at suppressing this CIB-induced bias from the tSZ cluster observables by removing the cluster-correlated CIB at the expense of a small signal-to-noise penalty. Our sciMMF is also robust to modelling uncertainties, namely to errors in the assumed spectral energy distribution of the cluster-correlated CIB. With it, CIB-free cluster catalogues can be constructed and used for cosmological inference. We provide a publicly available implementation of our sciMMF as part of the SZiFi package.
Automated object recognition in high-resolution optical remote sensing imagery
Authors: Yao Yazhou , Chen Tao , Bi Hanbo , Cai Xinhao , Pei Gensheng , Yang Guoye , Yan Zhiyuan , Sun Xian , Xu Xing , Zhang Hai
Published: May 2023

This paper reports the background and results of the Automated Object Recognition in Optical Remote Sensing Imagery, which is one of the tracks in 2022 International Algorithm Case Competition, as well as summarize the challenges, champion solutions, and future directions.
The PSG challenge: towards comprehensive scene understanding
Authors: Yang Jingkang , Ma Zheng , Wang Qixun , Guo Xiaofeng , Wang Haofan , Liu Ziwei , Zhang Wayne , Xu Xing , Zhang Hai
Published: May 2023

The Panoptic Scene Graph Generation (PSG) challenge evaluates computer vision models to identify relations in images beyond object classification and localization, enabling a deeper understanding of scenes for real-world AI applications.
A phoenix rising? The regeneration of the Ghana garment and textile industry
Authors: Sarpong David , Ofosu George , Botchie David , Meissner Dirk
Published: May 2023

Some African countries’ premier industries, such as textiles, garments and agro-processing, which floundered in the face of market liberalization and stiff competition from cheap imports, are now going through regenerative changes, with some beginning to tell a cautionary tale of a leap upwards. Focusing on the Ghana garment and textile industry, we draw on a framework that integrates social practices and everyday general-purpose technologies to explore the rise, decline and regeneration of the industry. Explicating a fine analysis of how the performative reconfiguration of social practices and functional sources of innovation and technologies may combine to support innovation-driven growth, our study sheds light on how loosely connected actors within a hitherto floundering industry can learn to transform their situated practices to drive their ‘industrial regeneration’. Implications for the theory and practice of industrial regeneration are outlined.
In search of the suitable candidate: the role of status, upstream and downstream diversity in recruitment partnerships
Authors: Tzoc Kristen , Gondal Neha
Published: May 2023

We conceptualize recruitment partnerships between higher education institutions (HEIs) and accounting firms as a social network. While elite closure is known to be typical of such relationships, we posit that commitments to improving organizational diversity should curtail this tendency. Yet, whereas diversity in employee recruitment is culturally institutionalized, there are no imperatives encouraging HEIs to partner with diverse firms, what we call ‘downstream diversity’. We hypothesize this differentiation should lead elite companies to form more diverse partnerships with HEIs than HEIs do with firms. Our analysis confirms elite HEIs mostly partner with prestigious companies. The latter partner across the status spectrum, but recruitment from lower-status HEIs is for less desirable jobs. We also find elite establishments in both fields are unlikely to partner with organizations with high representation of Black persons. We conclude that (a) recruitment partnerships reproduce status distinctions, (b) firms are failing to meet diversity commitments and (c) downstream diversity needs to be incorporated into HEI diversity management toolkits.
The Role of Benefit Finding in the Relationship Between Pain and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Youth With Chronic Pain
Authors: Kaufhold Jamie , Soltani Sabine , Birnie Kathryn A. , Noel Melanie
Published: May 2023

Objectives:

Chronic pain and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) co-occur in youth at high rates. Current conceptual models of mutual maintenance do not identify specific youth resilience factors, such as benefit finding in this co-occurrence. Benefit finding is the process of perceiving positive benefits as the results of experiencing adversity. It has been viewed as a potential mitigator for illness symptoms; however, only minimal cross-sectional research has been conducted and none has longitudinally examined the possible buffering effect of benefit finding in the co-occurrence of chronic pain and PTSS in youth. This longitudinal investigation examined whether benefit finding changes over time, influences pain outcomes and moderates the relationship between PTSS and chronic pain in a clinical sample of youth with chronic pain.

Methods:

Youth (N =105, Female = 78.1%) with chronic pain between the ages of 7–17 years (M = 13.70; SD = 2.47) participated. Participants completed measures at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months to assess pain intensity and interference, PTSS, and benefit finding.

Results:

Benefit finding did not significantly change over time. Cross-sectionally, benefit finding at 3 months significantly explained the variance in pain interference and intensity at 3 months. Benefit finding at 3 months did not significantly moderate the relationship between baseline PTSS and pain interference or intensity at 6 months.

Discussion:

These findings replicate previous research that found positive cross-sectional associations between PTSS and chronic pain, and between benefit finding and worse pain intensity and interference. Further research on resilience in pediatric chronic pain is needed.
Neural Correlates of Individual Differences in Speech-in-Noise Performance in a Large Cohort of Cochlear Implant Users
Authors: Berger Joel I. , Gander Phillip E. , Kim Subong , Schwalje Adam T. , Woo Jihwan , Na Young-min , Holmes Ann , Hong Jean M. , Dunn Camille C. , Hansen Marlan R. , Gantz Bruce J. , McMurray Bob , Griffiths Timothy D. , Choi Inyong
Published: May 2023

Objectives:

Understanding speech-in-noise (SiN) is a complex task that recruits multiple cortical subsystems. Individuals vary in their ability to understand SiN. This cannot be explained by simple peripheral hearing profiles, but recent work by our group (Kim et al. 2021, Neuroimage) highlighted central neural factors underlying the variance in SiN ability in normal hearing (NH) subjects. The present study examined neural predictors of SiN ability in a large cohort of cochlear-implant (CI) users.

Design:

We recorded electroencephalography in 114 postlingually deafened CI users while they completed the California consonant test: a word-in-noise task. In many subjects, data were also collected on two other commonly used clinical measures of speech perception: a word-in-quiet task (consonant-nucleus-consonant) word and a sentence-in-noise task (AzBio sentences). Neural activity was assessed at a vertex electrode (Cz), which could help maximize eventual generalizability to clinical situations. The N1-P2 complex of event-related potentials (ERPs) at this location were included in multiple linear regression analyses, along with several other demographic and hearing factors as predictors of SiN performance.

Results:

In general, there was a good agreement between the scores on the three speech perception tasks. ERP amplitudes did not predict AzBio performance, which was predicted by the duration of device use, low-frequency hearing thresholds, and age. However, ERP amplitudes were strong predictors for performance for both word recognition tasks: the California consonant test (which was conducted simultaneously with electroencephalography recording) and the consonant-nucleus-consonant (conducted offline). These correlations held even after accounting for known predictors of performance including residual low-frequency hearing thresholds. In CI-users, better performance was predicted by an increased cortical response to the target word, in contrast to previous reports in normal-hearing subjects in whom speech perception ability was accounted for by the ability to suppress noise.

Conclusions:

These data indicate a neurophysiological correlate of SiN performance, thereby revealing a richer profile of an individual’s hearing performance than shown by psychoacoustic measures alone. These results also highlight important differences between sentence and word recognition measures of performance and suggest that individual differences in these measures may be underwritten by different mechanisms. Finally, the contrast with prior reports of NH listeners in the same task suggests CI-users performance may be explained by a different weighting of neural processes than NH listeners.