bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A case of a thoracic mass negative on thoracentesis diagnosed by cryobiopsy from the visceral pleura
Authors: Morita Chie , Kitamura Atsushi , Kinoshita Katsuhito , Sueyoshi Kuniyo , Murakami Manabu , Ro Shosei , Imai Ryosuke , Okafuji Kohei , Kojima Fumitsugu , Tomishima Yutaka , Jinta Torahiko , Bando Toru , Nishimura Naoki
Published: October 2022

Thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia is recommended for malignant tumours with negative pleural effusion cytology. Cryobiopsy from the visceral pleura by thoracoscopy under local anaesthesia can provide more diagnostic options for patients with thoracentesis‐negative malignant effusions. Here we present the first case in which this technique was used. The patient had a pleural metastasis that could not be diagnosed even with rapid cytology of the parietal pleura biopsy. Indications, technical pitfalls, and safety tips are discussed.
Multi‐stage dynamic event‐triggered containment control of nonlinear multi‐agent systems with input‐bounded leaders and time‐varying delay
Authors: Feng Lihong , Huang Bonan , Sun Jiayue , Xie Xiangpeng , Zhang Huaguang , Ren Junchao
Published: October 2022

This article immerses in the event‐triggered containment control problem for a Lipschitz‐like nonlinear multi‐agent system with multiple active leaders. First, two event‐triggered mechanisms with internal dynamic variables are designed in both sensor‐observer (S‐O) and controller‐actuator (C‐A) channels to monitor data transmission and reduce communication burden. Second, an observer is constructed with the aid of the output information to estimate the states that cannot be acquired directly. Then, a control protocol considering time‐varying communications delays is proposed based on the observer. Third, the boundedness analysis of the containment error system is constructed by Lyapunov stability theory, the sufficient conditions are given in light of strict feasible LMIs. Finally, the validity of the proposed controller is verified by two simulations.
Continuous‐time optimal unbiased FIR filter for input‐delayed systems
Authors: Lee Dong Kyu , Kang Hyun Ho , Pak Jung Min , Ahn Choon Ki
Published: October 2022

Most existing finite impulse response (FIR) filters are restricted to models without delays. This paper proposes an continuous‐time optimal unbiased FIR filter for input‐delayed systems (CTOUFFID). A new integral transformation relation was introduced to derive the FIR filter. By applying this relation, the CTOUFFID problem is represented as an optimal control problem with zero terminal state. The filter gain function is obtained by solving two coupled matrix differential equations using initial conditions. The paper also offers discussion on the horizon size and a few special cases. The main benefit of the proposed solution is that it provides the maximum likelihood estimate with no requirements for the initial values. Finally, an application with the ‐404 turbofan engine model is presented to demonstrate the highly robust nature of the proposed FIR filer against incomplete noise information and unspecified model uncertainties.
Finite‐time non‐smooth stabilization of cascade output‐constrained switched systems
Authors: Lin Xiangze , Huang Jingxin , Park Jessie
Published: October 2022

Finite‐time non‐smooth stabilization of cascade output‐constrained switched systems via state feedback is investigated. The cascade switched systems consist of subsystems in general form with zero dynamics and mixed powers taken into account. To deal with the finite‐time stabilization problem of such kind of switched systems, some mild assumptions, input‐to‐state stability property of zero dynamics, an appropriate growth rate assumption on nonlinear terms and some well‐known conditions for small signals, have been imposed on subsystems. Then, state feedback controllers are constructed first by revamping adding a power integrator technique and finite‐time stability analysis of the resultant closed‐loop switched systems are implemented by the deliberately constructed tangent‐type barrier Lyapunov function (‐BLF). Meanwhile, the output constraint of switched systems is also implicitly guaranteed by the ‐BLF. Switched systems discussed in this article can encompass almost all ‐normal ones because of the inclusion of zero dynamics, mixed powers, and the homogenous upper bounded assumption on nonlinear terms. And, the method proposed in this article operates in a unified framework to tackle finite‐time stabilization of switched systems because the constructed common ‐BLF degenerates into a quadratic function when the output constraint tends to infinity. Simulations are carried out to show the efficiency of the proposed method.
Characterizing bedforms in shallow seas as an integrative predictor of seafloor stability and the occurrence of macrozoobenthic species
Authors: Meijer Kasper J. , Franken Oscar , van der Heide Tjisse , Holthuijsen Sander J. , Visser Wim , Govers Laura L. , Olff Han
Published: October 2022

In soft‐bottom marine ecosystems, bedform variation is induced by wind‐ and tidal‐driven hydrodynamics. The resulting megaripples, sand waves and sandbanks form a spatially and temporally heterogeneous seafloor landscape. The strong physical forces imposed by the migration of these bedforms are important determinants for the occurrence of different macrozoobenthic species. Quantifying the effect of these forces can help in differentiating natural‐ and anthropogenically induced physical stressors. However, large‐scale mapping of seabed morphology at high resolution using multibeam echosounder is challenging, costly and time‐consuming, especially in shallow seas, prohibiting wide swaths. Instead, their bathymetry is typically studied using single‐beam transects that are interpolated to bathymetric grids with a relatively coarse resolution (20 m). However, this leaves out information on smaller scale (<20 m) bedforms that can be ecologically relevant. In the Dutch Wadden sea, a shallow tidal system, we characterized bedform variation at high resolution using single‐beam data for the first time. We calculated a 2‐D Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI) at sub‐meter resolution along the single‐beam transects and interpolated the results to a full 3‐D grid. We then validated the result by relating TRI to independently modeled hydrodynamic parameters and to the distribution of macrozoobenthic species. We found that TRI successfully integrates the variation of tidal‐driven bed shear stress and wave‐driven orbital velocity. In addition, we found TRI to be a good predictor of the occurrence of macrozoobenthic species. The inferred small‐scale bedforms provide valuable information for separating the relative importance of natural dynamics versus anthropogenic disturbances such as dredging and bottom trawling activities. We discuss that by repurposing already available single‐beam data in this way, bedforms can be characterized at high resolution without the need for additional equipment or mapping campaigns, yielding novel input to decision‐making on marine management and conservation.
Synthesis, Anticancer Evaluation and Pharmacokinetic Studies of Quinoline‐Triazole Hybrid Derivatives
Authors: Kulu Irem
Published: October 2022

Synthesis of effective and target‐selective biologically active molecules through conjugation of diversely substituted triazoles and 5‐aminoquinoline was achieved successfully with 1,4‐disubstituted regioisomer products in the 3+2 cycloaddition reaction, as expected. Seven quinoline‐1,2,3‐triazole hybrid compounds which bear different substituent groups were subjected to FTIR, 1HNMR, 13CNMR and MALDI‐MS spectroscopic characterization methods. All quinoline‐1,2,3‐triazole hybrid derivatives (8 a–g) were explored for their anti‐cancer activity towards Human urinary bladder carcinoma (T24) cells through cell viability, fluorescent imaging and colony formation analyses. Some chemical reactivity potentials and the pharmacokinetic properties of the quinoline‐1,2,3‐triazole hybrid compounds were analyzed. The frontier molecular orbital energies gap and chemical behaviour indices based on HOMO and LUMO energy values were analyzed via in‐silico methods. All in vitro and in silico results are in agreement that quinoline‐triazole derivative 8 f has potent anticancer activity and could serve for further investigation to enhance its potential biological activities.
Colloidal Polyelectrolyte Complexes from Hyaluronic Acid: Preparation and Biomedical Applications
Authors: Le Huu Van , Le Cerf Didier
Published: October 2022

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a naturally occurring polysaccharide which has been extensively exploited in biomedical fields owing to its outstanding biocompatibility. Self‐assembly of HA and polycations through electrostatic interactions can generate colloidal polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs), which can offer a wide range of applications while being relatively simple to prepare with rapid and “green” processes. The advantages of colloidal HA‐based PECs stem from the combined benefits of nanomedicine, green chemistry, and the inherent properties of HA, namely high biocompatibility, biodegradability, and biological targeting capability. Accordingly, colloidal PECs from HA have received increasing attention in the recent years as high‐performance materials for biomedical applications. Considering their potential, this review is aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of colloidal PECs from HA in complex with polycations, from the most fundamental aspects of the preparation process to their various biomedical applications, notably as nanocarriers for delivering small molecule drugs, nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, and bioimaging agents or the construction of multifunctional platforms.
Voltage Deficit in Wide Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells: The Role of Traps, Band Energies, and Effective Density of States
Authors: Koopmans Marten , Koster L. Jan Anton
Published: October 2022

Wide‐bandgap (1.7 eV) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are plagued by relatively low open‐circuit voltages. This is problematic as they are key to achieving perovskite silicon tandems, which can boost the potential of silicon solar cells. Performance in PSCs is widely considered to be limited by recombination at the interface between the perovskite and the transport layer (TL). Here, a number of design rules to increase the open‐circuit voltage of wide‐bandgap PSCs are introduced. A numerical device model that includes a detailed description of the interfacial recombination processes is presented. The combined effects of interface traps, ions, band alignment, and transport properties are introduced to identify the critical parameters for improving the open‐circuit voltage. A large number of devices are simulated by picking random combinations of parameters and are looked for trends. It is shown that interface recombination can be suppressed by reducing the minority carrier density close to the interface with the TLs. It is demonstrated that the alignment of energy levels is only part of the story; the effective densities of states are of equal importance. The results pave the way to achieving high open‐circuit voltages, despite a significant density of interface defects.
Distribution and Precipitation Mechanism of TiN in Industrial Pure Iron Bloom
Authors: Liu Xin , Bao Yanping , Gu Chao , Wang Min , Yang Jun , Chen Botao
Published: October 2022

The size and distribution of TiN particles have a great influence on the properties of industrial pure iron. It is necessary to understand TiN precipitation behavior in bloom. Herein, inclusions in industrial pure iron cast billets are observed. The temperatures and conditions for TiN precipitation are calculated using thermodynamics and kinetics. The results show a large number of TiN inclusions in the bloom, and the quantity density is the largest at the inner arc of the bloom. This is caused by the large cooling rate at the inner arc and the homogeneous nucleation of inclusions. According to the thermodynamic calculations, during the solidification of industrial pure iron, TiN begins to precipitate at a solidification fraction greater than 0.82. The amount of TiN precipitated during solidification is 93%, with TiN continuing to precipitate from the solid phase after the solidification is complete. The results of TiN particle growth kinetics reveal that MgO is the most effective in promoting TiN nucleation, followed by δ‐Fe, CaS, and MgAl2O4, the effectiveness of Al2O3 as a heterogeneous nucleation core is relatively poor. The radius of the TiN particles decreases with a decrease in the N and Ti content and an increase in the cooling rate.
Novel whitening approaches in functional settings
Authors: Vidal Marc , Aguilera Ana M.
Published: October 2022

Whitening is a critical normalization method to enhance statistical reduction via reparametrization to unit covariance. This article introduces the notion of whitening for random functions assumed to reside in a real separable Hilbert space. We compare the properties of different whitening transformations stemming from the factorization of a bounded precision operator under a particular geometrical structure. The practical performance of the estimators is shown in a simulation study, providing helpful insights into their optimization. Computational algorithms for the estimation of the proposed whitening transformations in terms of basis expansions of a functional data set are also provided.
Ermittlung der Schubeigenschaften von Sandwichkernen – Experiment und Modellierung
Authors: Grimm Sören , Lange Jörg
Published: October 2022

Ein Vergleich der Kernmaterialien von Sandwichelementen hat inkonsistente Zusammenhänge zwischen ihren Steifigkeitsmoduln bei unterschiedlichen Kerndicken ergeben. Daher wurden zwei Testverfahren zur Ermittlung der Schubeigenschaften des Kernwerkstoffs von Sandwichelementen theoretisch und experimentell untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass bei dem Schubbalkenversuch nach DIN EN 14509 eine genauere Definition der Lastverteilungsplatten notwendig ist und die übliche Vernachlässigung der Eindrückung am Auflager lediglich bei dünnen und mittleren Bauteildicken gerechtfertigt ist. Die Untersuchungen zum Gelenkquadratversuch haben den Einfluss der Exzentrizität zwischen der Gelenkebene und der Probenaußenkante gezeigt und mündeten in der Entwicklung eines neuen Versuchsaufbaus. Die Erkenntnisse aus den Untersuchungen liefern die Grundlage dafür, das Tragverhalten von Sandwichelementen künftig realistischer modellieren zu können.
Model‐based systems engineering: Evaluating perceived value, metrics, and evidence through literature
Authors: Campo Kelly X. , Teper Thomas , Eaton Casey E. , Shipman Anna M. , Bhatia Garima , Mesmer Bryan
Published: October 2022

Although Model‐Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is quickly becoming adopted in Systems Engineering (SE), there have not been many studies evaluating literature to determine the perceived value of implementing MBSE. This research first identifies and discusses previous studies on the justification or rejection of MBSE. This study investigates how the SE community perceives the value of MBSE by coding and analyzing positive and negative descriptions of MBSE; perceived benefits and drawbacks of implementing MBSE; and the evidence and metrics used to substantiate and measure each claim about MBSE. From 60 academic sources, this study collected and coded over 2900 claims on MBSE. Our findings determine the most positive attributes of MBSE to be Verification & Validation Capability, Consistency, Reasoning, and Risk & Error Manageability, while the most negative attributes were Approach Understandability, Acceptability, Familiarity, and Approach Complexity. The most‐stated benefits were Reduced Time, Better Communication/Information Sharing, Reduced Costs, and Better Analysis Capability. The most claimed drawbacks were Increased Costs, Increased Time, Increased Effort, and Worsened Capability. A large share of claims (47%) about MBSE was based on author opinions. Most claims (86%) were not substantiated by a metric.
Combining dimensional analysis with model based systems engineering
Authors: Martínez‐Rojas Juan A. , Fernández‐Sánchez José L.
Published: October 2022

The model based systems engineering (MBSE) approach describes a system using consistent views to provide a holistic model as complete as possible. MBSE methodologies end with the physical architecture of the system, but a physical model is clearly incomplete without the study of its associated physical laws and phenomena related to the whole system or its parts. However, the computational demands could be excessive even for modest projects. Dimensional analysis (DA) is common in fluid dynamics and chemical engineering, but its application to systems engineering is still limited. We describe an engineering methodological process, which incorporates DA as a powerful tool to understand the physical constraints of the system without the burden of complex analytical or numerical calculations. A detailed example describing a microantenna is presented showing the benefits of this approach. The selected example describes a problem rarely covered in modern expositions of DA in order to show the wide benefit of these techniques. The information provided by this analysis is very useful to select the best physically realizable architectures, testing design, and conduct trade‐off studies. The complexity of modern systems and systems of systems demands new testing procedures in order to comply with increasingly demanding requirements and regulations. This can be accomplished through research in new DA methods. Finally, this article serves as a fairly comprehensive guide to the use of DA in the context of MBSE, detailing its strengths, limitations, and controversial issues.
Magnetic resonance imaging and pathological characteristics of Cladophialophora encephalitis in a young dog
Authors: Tolbert Alexis , Weyna Alisia , Sakamoto Kaori , Perlini Michael , Platt Simon
Published: October 2022

A 1‐year‐old dog was presented for persistent neck pain and circling. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large, space‐occupying, intra‐axial mass with extensive surrounding vasogenic oedema affecting the left thalamus and hippocampus. Postmortem histopathology of the brain lesion identified fungal hyphae with significant local brain reaction. Fungal sequencing confirmed Cladophialophora bantiana. Magnetic resonance imaging findings can look similar to other inflammatory processes or even neoplasia. While histopathology of the lesions may not always identify fungal hyphae, it will often confirm necrosis, pyogranulomatous inflammation and perivascular cuffing with lymphocytes. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis should be included in the differential diagnosis list in a young dog with intracranial neurologic deficits.
Cultural Identity and Social and Emotional Wellbeing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children
Authors: Fatima Yaqoot , Cleary Anne , King Stephanie , Solomon Shaun , McDaid Lisa , Hasan Md Mehedi , Al Mamun Abdullah , Baxter Janeen
Published: October 2022

Connection with Country, community, and culture lies at the heart of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ health and wellbeing. Although there is some evidence on the role of cultural identity on the mental health of Indigenous adults, this relationship is relatively unexplored in the context of Indigenous Australian children. Robust empirical evidence on the role of cultural identity for social and emotional wellbeing is necessary to design and develop effective interventions and approaches for improving the mental health outcomes for Indigenous Australian children. Drawing on data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC), we explore social and emotional wellbeing in Indigenous Australian children and assesses whether cultural identity protects against social-emotional problems in Indigenous children. The results show that Indigenous children with strong cultural identity and knowledge are less likely to experience social and emotional problems than their counterparts. Our work provides further evidence to support the change from a deficit narrative to a strengths-based discourse for improved health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australian children.
Refugee Children in Australia: Wellbeing and Integration
Authors: Lee Rennie , Cheung Sin Yi
Published: October 2022

Whether the children of immigrant populations, including refugees, integrate into the host society is a key challenge facing all countries with large immigrant populations. In Australia, this is crucial given rising numbers and anxieties over refugee settlement in recent decades. Forced migration and displacement due to violence, persecution, or natural disasters with families undertaking perilous journeys fleeing their homes often could mean a turning point and at the same time a stressful event that may have severe negative psychosocial and long-term effects. This can be particularly acute among refugee children, who are typically the least prepared to migrate, have experienced hardship associated with violence and persecution, and must grow up in a new country. From a life course perspective, the integration and wellbeing of refugee children is shaped by the timing and context of migration, including their age at migration and country of origin. In this chapter we draw on longitudinal data from Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA) to offer new evidence in our understanding of the integration and wellbeing of refugee children in Australia and policy recommendations to address the social disadvantages facing this population. Our findings indicate that refugee children are outperforming their parents, making intergenerational progress. However, we find some major differences by gender and national origin across a range of outcomes.
Adolescence a Period of Vulnerability and Risk for Adverse Outcomes across the Life Course: The Role of Parent Engagement in Learning
Authors: Povey Jenny , Plage Stefanie , Huang Yanshu , Gramotnev Alexandra , Cook Stephanie , Austerberry Sophie , Western Mark
Published: October 2022

Adolescence is a time when developmental and contextual transitions converge, increasing the risk for adverse outcomes across the life course. It is during this period that self-concept declines, mental health problems increase and when young people make educational and occupational plans for their future. Considerable research has shown that parent engagement in their child’s learning has positive effects on academic and wellbeing outcomes and may be a protective factor in adolescence. However, it is during adolescence that parent engagement typically declines. Most studies focus on early childhood or use cross-sectional designs that do not account for the high variability in both the child’s development and the parent-child relationship over time. In this chapter, we examine the association between parent engagement and students’ outcomes—self-concept, mental health, and educational aspirations—drawing on national data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, while accounting for the school context—school belonging, peer connection problems, and bullying—and parenting styles using panel fixed effects models. We then explore perceptions of parental engagement and educational aspirations among a sample of adolescent students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds using interviews from the Learning through COVID-19 study. Findings show that parent engagement is important for students’ outcomes such as self-concept, mental health and aspirations in early and middle adolescence, even when accounting for family and school context factors. Further, parent engagement in late adolescence, with students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds, continues to be important for positive student outcomes.
Labour Market Participation: Family and Work Challenges across the Life Course
Authors: Broadway Barbara , Kalb Guyonne
Published: October 2022

Having a job is an important indicator of economic and social wellbeing, and two-earner families are becoming the norm rather than the exception. As a result, many more women, including mothers, are in the labour force now than ever before. Balancing family and work responsibilities therefore becomes ever more important, not just for women but also men who are sharing the caring load with their partners, especially when young pre-school children are present. However, employment is not equally distributed across families, and some families have noone in a job which leads to financial vulnerability. Even one-earner families that depend on a low-skilled, low-wage earner may struggle to get by and provide their children with the opportunities to succeed in life and achieve mental, physical and financial wellbeing. This may lead to the intergenerational transmission of disadvantage and poor outcomes from parents to children. Gender inequality and ongoing inequalities relating to gender divisions in work and family may lead to women being particularly vulnerable in terms of earnings capacity and retirement savings when a relationship ends. One-parent families are specifically at risk as they often have no partner with whom to share the care-taking role, making work-family balance difficult to achieve. In this chapter we review the Australian evidence on these issues and provide policy implications.
Model-Driven Engineering in Digital Thread Platforms: A Practical Use Case and Future Challenges
Authors: Chaudhary Hafiz Ahmad Awais , Guevara Ivan , John Jobish , Singh Amandeep , Ghosal Amrita , Pesch Dirk , Margaria Tiziana
Published: October 2022

The increasing complexity delivered by the heterogeneity of the cyber-physical systems is being addressed and decoded by edge technologies, IoT development, robotics, digital twin engineering, and AI. Nevertheless, tackling the orchestration of these complex ecosystems has become a challenging problem. Specially the inherent entanglement of the different emerging technologies makes it hard to maintain and scale such ecosystems. In this context, the usage of model-driven engineering as a more abstract form of glue-code, replacing the boilerplate fashion, has improved the software development lifecycle, democratising the access to and use of the aforementioned technologies. In this paper, we present a practical use case in the context of Smart Manufacturing, where we use several platforms as providers of a high-level abstraction layer, as well as security measures, allowing a more efficient system construction and interoperability.
Cylinder quantum field theories at small coupling
Authors: Dogaru Andrei Ioan , Delgado Ruben Campos
Published: October 2022

Abstract

We show that any 2D scalar field theory compactified on a cylinder and with a Fourier expandable potential V is equivalent, in the small coupling limit, to a 1D theory involving a massless particle in a potential V and an infinite tower of free massive Kaluza-Klein (KK) modes. Moving slightly away from the deep IR region has the effect of switching on interactions between the zero mode and the KK modes, whose strength is controlled by powers of the coupling, hence making the interactions increasingly suppressed. We take the notable example of Liouville field theory and, starting from its worldline version, we compute the torus (one-loop) partition function perturbatively in the coupling constant. The partition function at leading order is invariant under a T-duality transformation that maps the radius of the cylinder to its inverse and rescales it by the square of the Schwinger parameter of the cylinder. We show that this behavior is a universal feature of cylinder QFTs.
Yano F structures and extended supersymmetry
Authors: Lindström Ulf
Published: October 2022

Abstract

It is shown how extended supersymmetry realised directly on the (2, 2) semichiral superfields of a symplectic sigma model gives rise to a geometry on the doubled tangent bundle consisting of two Yano F structures on an almost para-hermitian manifold. Closure of the algebra and invariance of the action is discussed in this framework and integrability of the F structures is defined and shown to hold. The reduction to the usual (1, 1) sigma model description and identification with the bi-quaternionic set of complex structures and their properties is elucidated. The F structure formulation should be applicable to many other models and will have an equivalent formulation in Generalised Geometry.
Hyper–Kähler Manifolds of Generalized Kummer Type and the Kuga–Satake Correspondence
Authors: Varesco M. , Voisin C.
Published: October 2022

We first describe the construction of the Kuga–Satake variety associated to a (polarized) weight-two Hodge structure of hyper-Kähler type. We describe the classical cases where the Kuga–Satake correspondence between a hyper-Kähler manifold and its Kuga–Satake variety has been proved to be algebraic. We then turn to recent work of O’Grady and Markman which we combine to prove that the Kuga–Satake correspondence is algebraic for projective hyper-Kähler manifolds of generalized Kummer deformation type.
Selective effects of a brain tumor on the metric representation of the hand: a pre- versus post-surgery comparison
Authors: Mora Laura , Committeri Giorgia , Ciavarro Marco , Cocchini Gianna
Published: October 2022

Body representation disorders are complex, varied, striking, and very disabling in most cases. Deficits of body representation have been described after lesions to multimodal and sensorimotor cortical areas. A few studies have reported the effects of tumors on the representation of the body, but little is known about the changes after tumor resection. Moreover, the impact of brain lesions on the hand size representation has been investigated in few clinical cases. Hands are of special importance, as no other body part has the ability for movement and interaction with the environment that the hands have, and we use them for a multitude of daily activities. Studies with clinical population can add further knowledge into the way hands are represented. Here, we report a single case study of a patient (AM) who was an expert bodybuilder and underwent a surgery to remove a glioblastoma in the left posterior prefrontal and precentral cortex at the level of the hand’s motor region. Pre- (20 days) and post- (4 months) surgery assessment did not show any motor or cognitive impairments. A hand localization task was used, before and after surgery (12 months), to measure possible changes of the metric representation of his right hand. Results showed a post-surgery modulation of the typically distorted hand representation, with an overall accuracy improvement, especially on width dimension. These findings support the direct involvement of sensorimotor areas in the implicit representation of the body size and its relevance on defining specific size representation dimensions.
Challenges in the diagnosis and management of immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) in a patient on long-term statins
Authors: Khan Faris , Brady Stefen , Kuttikat Anoop
Published: October 2022

Immune-mediated necrotising myopathy (IMNM) is a severe and poorly understood complication of statin use. Prompt management with immunosuppressive treatment is often needed to control the condition, which differs from the management of the more commonly recognised statin-induced myopathy. We present a case report and brief review of the literature regarding the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management of anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR) positive IMNM (HMGCR IMNM). There are no randomised clinical trials, but several smaller studies and cases suggest a triple therapy of corticosteroids, IVIG, and a corticosteroid-sparing immunosuppressant appears efficacious in patients with IMNM and proximal weakness. The mechanism of statin-induced IMNM is uncertain, and this is further complicated by the reports of HMGCR IMNM in statin-naïve patients, including children. We present a case of biopsy-confirmed HMGCR IMNM in a woman taking daily statins for treatment of hypercholesterolaemia for 4 years. She presented with symptoms consistent with a urinary tract infection (UTI), including muscle weakness. She was treated as an isolated case of UTI. One month later, she presented again with worsening weakness in her shoulders and hips. Creatine kinase was elevated, and MRI showed increased signal with STIR sequences in both thighs. Anti-HMGCR was positive and leg biopsy-confirmed necrotising changes. Stopping her statin prescription and a short course of prednisolone did not improve her muscle weakness. Adding methotrexate resulted in eventual resolution of her symptoms. IMNM should be considered as a differential in any patient taking statins presenting with muscle weakness, and this case suggests that immunosuppressant therapy in addition to cessation of statins is effective at treating IMNM. Clinical trials are needed to further investigate the efficacy of different combinations of immunosuppressants.
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and deep learning in rhinology: a systematic review
Authors: Bulfamante Antonio Mario , Ferella Francesco , Miller Austin Michael , Rosso Cecilia , Pipolo Carlotta , Fuccillo Emanuela , Felisati Giovanni , Saibene Alberto Maria
Published: October 2022

Purpose

This PRISMA-compliant systematic review aims to analyze the existing applications of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and deep learning for rhinological purposes and compare works in terms of data pool size, AI systems, input and outputs, and model reliability.

Methods

MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases. Search criteria were designed to include all studies published until December 2021 presenting or employing AI for rhinological applications. We selected all original studies specifying AI models reliability. After duplicate removal, abstract and full-text selection, and quality assessment, we reviewed eligible articles for data pool size, AI tools used, input and outputs, and model reliability.

Results

Among 1378 unique citations, 39 studies were deemed eligible. Most studies (n = 29) were technical papers. Input included compiled data, verbal data, and 2D images, while outputs were in most cases dichotomous or selected among nominal classes. The most frequently employed AI tools were support vector machine for compiled data and convolutional neural network for 2D images. Model reliability was variable, but in most cases was reported to be between 80% and 100%.

Conclusions

AI has vast potential in rhinology, but an inherent lack of accessible code sources does not allow for sharing results and advancing research without reconstructing models from scratch. While data pools do not necessarily represent a problem for model construction, presently available tools appear limited in allowing employment of raw clinical data, thus demanding immense interpretive work prior to the analytic process.
Causal involvement of the left angular gyrus in higher functions as revealed by transcranial magnetic stimulation: a systematic review
Authors: Wagner Jennifer , Rusconi Elena
Published: October 2022

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that can transiently interfere with local cortical functioning, thus enabling inferences of causal left AG involvement in higher functions from experimentation with healthy participants. Here, we examine 35 studies that measure behavioural outcomes soon after or during targeting TMS to the left AG, by design and as documented by individual magnetic resonance images, in healthy adult participants. The reviewed evidence suggests a specific causal involvement of the left AG in a wide range of tasks involving language, memory, number processing, visuospatial attention, body awareness and motor planning functions. These core findings are particularly valuable to inform theoretical models of the left AG role(s) in higher functions, due to the anatomical specificity afforded by the selected studies and the complementarity of TMS to different methods of investigation. In particular, the variety of the operations within and between functions in which the left AG appears to be causally involved poses a formidable challenge to any attempts to identify a single computational process subserved by the left AG (as opposed to just outlining a broad type of functional contribution) that could apply across thematic areas. We conclude by highlighting directions for improvement in future experimentation with TMS, in order to strengthen the available evidence, while taking into account the anatomical heterogeneity of this brain region.
Adaptation of the classical end-point ITS-PCR for the diagnosis of avian trichomonosis to a real-time PCR reveals Bonelli’s eagle as a new host for Trichomonas gypaetinii
Authors: Alejandro Mateo Sandra , Azami-Conesa Iris , Martín-Maldonado Bárbara , Pastor-Tiburón Natalia , Martín-Hernández Raquel , González-González Fernando , Gómez-Muñoz María Teresa
Published: October 2022

Avian trichomonosis is a parasitic disease caused mainly byTrichomonas gallinaeand otherTrichomonasspecies. It can be asymptomatic, or it can produce a necrotic lesion in the upper digestive tract and spread to other organs, causing the death of the infected birds. In this study, we aimed to evaluate an adapted real-time PCR method for the diagnosis of different genotypes and species of avian oropharyngeal trichomonads. Fifty-six samples from the oropharynx of Bonelli’s eagles (Aquila fasciata) obtained between 2018 and 2019 were analyzed using the real-time PCR and the end-point PCR, both targeting trichomonads ITS, and the results were compared by a coefficient of agreement. All positive samples were sequenced. The analysis showed a higher percentage of detection of real-time PCR ITS compared with end-point PCR ITS (64.3 vs 55.4%), and good agreement value (Kappa = 0.816). Melting temperature value for resulting amplicons of real-time PCR for avian trichomonads was 83.45 ± 0.72 °C. Genotypes A, D, and III were found among the sequences. Moreover,Trichomonas gypaetinii, a common species in scavenger birds, is reported for the first time in Bonelli’s eagles.
Digital single-operator cholangioscopy to guide selective cannulation of complex biliary strictures
Authors: Kastelijn Janine B. , Didden Paul , Bogte Auke , Moons Leon M. G. , Vleggaar Frank P.
Published: October 2022

Background

Selective cannulation and stenting of complex, tight, and/or angulated biliary strictures under endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreaticography (ERCP) can be challenging. Digital single-operator cholangioscopy (SOC) may facilitate guidewire advancement through the stricture with endoscopic visual guidance. We aimed to describe a case series on clinical outcomes of this technique for selective cannulation, when used after failed conventional ERCP attempts.

Methods

Consecutive patients who underwent therapeutic digital SOC for selective cannulation of biliary strictures after failed conventional ERCP were retrospectively included.

Results

Ten patients with a malignant (n = 6) or benign (n = 4) biliary stricture were included. Digital SOC-assisted selective guidewire insertion and stent placement across the biliary stricture were technically successful in five (50%) patients. Bilirubin levels improved in all patients with technical success. One (10%) patient developed a post-ERCP pancreatitis.

Conclusions

Technically successful cannulation of biliary strictures with digital SOC was achieved in half of patients in whom cannulation with conventional ERCP failed, sparing them more invasive interventions. Stricture opacification during the failed ERCP was seen in all technically successful SOCs.
DRE: density-based data selection with entropy for adversarial-robust deep learning models
Authors: Guo Yuejun , Hu Qiang , Cordy Maxime , Papadakis Michail , Le Traon Yves
Published: October 2022

Active learning helps software developers reduce the labeling cost when building high-quality machine learning models. A core component of active learning is the acquisition function that determines which data should be selected to annotate.State-of-the-art (SOTA) acquisition functions focus on clean performance (e.g. accuracy) but disregard robustness (an important quality property), leading to fragile models with negligible robustness (less than 0.20%). In this paper, we first propose to integrate adversarial training into active learning (adversarial-robust active learning, ARAL) to produce robust models. Our empirical study on 11 acquisition functions and 15105 trained deep neural networks (DNNs) shows that ARAL can produce models with robustness ranging from 2.35% to 63.85%. Our study also reveals, however, that the acquisition functions that perform well on accuracy are worse than random sampling when it comes to robustness. Via examining the reasons behind this, we devise the density-based robust sampling with entropy (DRE) to target both clean performance and robustness. The core idea of DRE is to maintain a balance between selected data and the entire set based on the entropy density distribution. DRE outperforms SOTA functions in terms of robustness by up to 24.40%, while remaining competitive on accuracy. Additionally, the in-depth evaluation shows that DRE is applicable as a test selection metric for model retraining and stands out from all compared functions by up to 8.21% robustness.
Health-related quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis: a cross-sectional study including healthy controls
Authors: Torén Suzanne , Diarbakerli Elias
Published: October 2022

Purpose

To describe health-related quality of life in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis and controls.

Methods

This cross-sectional study analysed data from 307 individuals with idiopathic scoliosis and 80 controls without scoliosis (mean age 15.5 ± 2.1 and 14.0 ± 2.2 years, respectively). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed using EuroQol 5-dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire, and the scoliosis specific Scoliosis Research Society-22r questionnaire (SRS-22r). HRQoL data in individuals with scoliosis were compared to controls, between treatment groups (untreated, ongoing brace, previously braced and surgically treated) and stratified according to curve size.

Results

Adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis had reduced HRQoL compared with controls, observed through lower SRS-22r subscore (respective means 4.16 and 4.68, p < 0.001) and lower EQ-5D index (respective means 0.92 and 0.95, p = 0.032).

No differences in SRS-22r subscore or EQ-5D index were detected when comparing different scoliosis treatment groups. Within the SRS-22r function domain the surgically treated group scored 4.40, significantly lower compared to the untreated (4.65) and ongoing brace groups (4.68, p = 0.005). The surgically treated and untreated group were more affected by pain, compared to the ongoing brace group (p = 0.01) with the surgically treated group scoring lowest. Non-surgically treated scoliosis individuals with larger curves (> 30 degrees) had a lower SRS-22r subscore (4.08) compared to those with smaller curves (4.31, p = 0.001).

Conclusion

Adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis had a reduced HRQoL compared to healthy controls. Minor differences were detected when comparing between idiopathic scoliosis treatment groups. Non-surgically treated scoliosis patients with larger curves had a lower HRQoL shown by lower SRS-22r values.
Change in upper limb function in people with multiple sclerosis treated with nabiximols: a quantitative kinematic pilot study
Authors: Pau Massimiliano , Porta Micaela , Spinicci Gabriella , Frau Jessica , Lorefice Lorena , Coghe Giancarlo , Cocco Eleonora
Published: October 2022

Objectives

Nabiximols represents an increasingly employed add-on treatment option for spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) who either were unresponsive or reported excessive adverse reactions to other therapies. While several studies performed in the last decade demonstrated its effectiveness, safety, and tolerability, few quantitative data are available on the impact on motor dysfunctions. In this open-label, not concurrently controlled study, we aimed to assess the impact of a 4-week treatment with nabiximols on upper limb functionality.

Methods

Thirteen PwMS (9 female, 4 male) with moderate-severe spasticity underwent a combination of clinical tests (i.e., Box and Block, BBT and Nine-Hole Peg test, 9HPT) and instrumental kinematic analysis of the “hand to mouth” (HTM) movement by means of optical motion capture system.

Results

After the treatment, improvements in gross and fine dexterity were found (BBT + 3 blocks/min, 9HPT − 2.9 s, p < 0.05 for both cases). The kinematic analysis indicated that HTM movement was faster (1.69 vs. 1.83 s, p = 0.05), smoother, and more stable. A significant reduction of the severity of spasticity, as indicated by the 0–10 numerical rating scale (4.2 vs. 6.3, p < 0.001), was also observed.

Conclusion

The findings from the present pilot study suggest that a 4-week treatment with nabiximols ameliorates the spasticity symptoms and the overall motor function of upper limb in PwMS with moderate-severe spasticity. The use of quantitative techniques for human movement analysis may provide valuable information about changes originated by the treatment in realistic upper limb motor tasks involved in activities of daily living.
A survey of continuous subgraph matching for dynamic graphs
Authors: Wang Xi , Zhang Qianzhen , Guo Deke , Zhao Xiang
Published: October 2022

With the rapid development of information technologies, multi-source heterogeneous data has become an open problem, and the data is usually modeled as graphs since the graph structure is able to encode complex relationships among entities. However, in practical applications, such as network security analysis and public opinion analysis over social networks, the structure and the content of graph data are constantly evolving. Therefore, the ability to continuously monitor and detect interesting patterns on massive and dynamic graphs in real-time is crucial for many applications. Recently, a large group of excellent research works has also emerged. Nevertheless, these studies focus on different updates of graphs and apply different subgraph matching algorithms; thus, it is desirable to review these works comprehensively and give a thorough overview. In this paper, we systematically investigate the existing continuous subgraph matching techniques from the aspects of key techniques, representative algorithms, and performance evaluation. Furthermore, the typical applications and challenges of continuous subgraph matching over dynamic graphs, as well as the future development trends, are summarized and prospected.