bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Climates of democracy: Skeptical, rational, and radical imaginaries
Authors: Machin Amanda
Published: April 2022

How will the theories and practices of democracy fare in a climate changing world? Are conventional democratic institutions ultimately doomed or are they able to become more responsive to a changing climate? Is there a need to reimagine democracy and how might it be reimagined? This article reviews the different responses to these questions by distinguishing between three “political imaginaries” in which the relationship between climate change and democracy takes distinct forms. I start by showing how the concept of “political imaginaries” can facilitate the comparison of the different ways in which the relation between democracy and climate change is constructed, before reviewing three such imaginaries. Theskepticalimaginary, found in the “eco‐authoritarianism” of the 1970s that is echoed by much sociopolitical analysis today, casts doubt on the possibilities of democratic mechanisms to respond adequately and swiftly to the problem of climate change. Those who resist such skepticism often defend democracy by arguing that institutions and processes of democracy can be made more “ecologically rational”—therationalimaginary of climate democracy involves improvements in political representation and participation. Finally, I present the alternative radical democratic imaginary, in which the crisis of climate change provides a moment for the rupture of existing sociopolitical structures and the formation of alternatives. The article concludes that although none of these imaginaries is able to capture the entirety of climate change politics around the world, theradicaldemocratic imaginary is responsive to the inevitable and valuable plurality around the issue of climate change.

This article is categorized under:

Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Ethics and Climate Change

Policy and Governance > Multilevel and Transnational Climate Change Governance
Linear EnKF Update
Authors: Evensen Geir , Vossepoel Femke C. , van Leeuwen Peter Jan
Published: April 2022

The Kalman filter or its ensemble version, the ensemble Kalman filter, is optimal for a linear model and -measurement operator. This chapter will comprehensively discuss the EnKF analysis scheme and its properties, focusing on an ensemble-subspace computation of the inverse.
Kink-antikink scattering in a quantum vacuum
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Mainak , Sfakianakis Evangelos I. , Vachaspati Tanmay , Zahariade George
Published: April 2022

Abstract

We study kink-antikink scattering in the sine-Gordon model in the presence of interactions with an additional scalar field, ψ, that is in its quantum vacuum. In contrast to the classical scattering, now there is quantum radiation of ψ quanta and the kink-antikink may form bound states that resemble breathers of the sine-Gordon model. We quantify the rate of radiation and map the parameters for which bound states are formed. Even these bound states radiate and decay, and eventually there is a transition into long-lived oscillons.
A robust description of hadronic decays in light vector mediator models
Authors: Foguel Ana Luisa , Reimitz Peter , Funchal Renata Zukanovich
Published: April 2022

Abstract

Abelian U(1) gauge group extensions of the Standard Model represent one of the most minimal approaches to solve some of the most urgent particle physics questions and provide a rich phenomenology in various experimental searches. In this work, we focus on baryophilic vector mediator models in the MeV-to-GeV mass range and, in particular, present, for the first time, gauge vector field decays into almost arbitrary hadronic final states. Using only very little theoretical approximations, we rigorously follow the vector meson dominance theory in our calculations. We study the effect on the total and partial decay widths, the branching ratios, and not least on the present (future) experimental limits (reach) on (for) the mass and couplings of light vector particles in different models. We compare our results to current results in the literature. Our calculations are publicly available in a python package to compute various vector particle decay quantities in order to describe leptonic as well as hadronic decay signatures for experimental searches.
Hadron collider probes of the quartic couplings of gluons to the photon and Z boson
Authors: Ellis John , Ge Shao-Feng , Ma Kai
Published: April 2022

Abstract

We explore the experimental sensitivities of measuring the gg → Zγ process at the LHC to the dimension-8 quartic couplings of gluon pairs to the Z boson and photon, in addition to comparing them with the analogous sensitivities in the gg → γγ process. These processes can both receive contributions from 4 different CP-conserving dimension-8 operators with distinct Lorentz structures that contain a pair of gluon field strengths, $$ {\hat{G}}_{\mu v}^a $$

G
̂

μv
a

, and a pair of electroweak SU(2) gauge field strengths, $$ {W}_{\mu v}^i $$

W
μv
i

, as well as 4 similar operators containing a pair of $$ {\hat{G}}_{\mu v}^a $$

G
̂

μv
a

and a pair of U(1) gauge field strengths, Bμν. We calculate the scattering angular distributions for gg → Zγ and the Z → $$ \overline{f}f $$

f
¯

f
decay angular distributions for these 4 Lorentz structures, as well as the Standard Model background. We analyze the sensitivity of ATLAS measurements of the Z(→ ℓ+ℓ−,$$ \overline{\nu}\nu $$

ν
¯

ν
,$$ \overline{q}q $$

q
¯

q
)γ final states with integrated luminosities up to 139 fb−1 at $$ \sqrt{s} $$

s

= 13 TeV, showing that they exclude values ≲ 2 TeV for the dimension-8 operator scales, and compare the Zγ sensitivity with that of an ATLAS measurement of the γγ final state. We present combined Zγ and γγ constraints on the scales of dimension-8 SMEFT operators and γγ constraints on the nonlinearity scale of the Born-Infeld extension of the Standard Model. We also estimate the sensitivities to dimension-8 operators of experiments at possible future proton-proton colliders with centre-of-mass energies of 25, 50 and 100 TeV, and discuss possible measurements of the Z spin and angular correlations.
Gravity from symmetry: duality and impulsive waves
Authors: Freidel Laurent , Pranzetti Daniele
Published: April 2022

Abstract

We show that we can derive the asymptotic Einstein’s equations that arises at order 1/r in asymptotically flat gravity purely from symmetry considerations. This is achieved by studying the transformation properties of functionals of the metric and the stress-energy tensor under the action of the Weyl BMS group, a recently introduced asymptotic symmetry group that includes arbitrary diffeomorphisms and local conformal transformations of the metric on the 2-sphere. Our derivation, which encompasses the inclusion of matter sources, leads to the identification of covariant observables that provide a definition of conserved charges parametrizing the non-radiative corner phase space. These observables, related to the Weyl scalars, reveal a duality symmetry and a spin-2 generator which allow us to recast the asymptotic evolution equations in a simple and elegant form as conservation equations for a null fluid living at null infinity. Finally we identify non-linear gravitational impulse waves that describe transitions among gravitational vacua and are non-perturbative solutions of the asymptotic Einstein’s equations. This provides a new picture of quantization of the asymptotic phase space, where gravitational vacua are representations of the asymptotic symmetry group and impulsive waves are encoded in their couplings.
Zero-form and one-form symmetries of the ABJ and related theories
Authors: Maduli Emanuele , Mekareeya Noppadol , Sacchi Matteo
Published: April 2022

Abstract

The zero-form and one-form global symmetries of the Aharony-Bergman-Jafferis (ABJ) and related theories, with at least $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 6 supersymmetry in three dimensions, are examined in detail. Starting from well-known dualities between theories with orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups and those with unitary gauge groups, we gauge their one-form symmetries or their subgroups and obtain new dualities. One side of the latter involves theories with special orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups, and the other side involves theories with unitary gauge groups; there is a discrete quotient on one or both sides of the duality. We study the refined superconformal indices of such theories and map the symmetries across the dualities, with particular attention to their discrete part. As a generalisation, we also find a new duality between a circular quiver with a discrete quotient of alternating special orthogonal and symplectic gauge groups and a three-dimensional $$ \mathcal{N} $$
N
= 4 circular (Kronheimer-Nakajima) quiver with unitary gauge groups, whose Higgs or Coulomb branch describes an instanton on a singular orbifold.
Hotair promotes the migration and proliferation in ovarian cancer by miR-222-3p/CDK19 axis
Authors: Fan Lili , Lei Han , Lin Ying , Zhou Zhengwei , Li Juanni , Wu Anqi , Shu Guang , Roger Sébastien , Yin Gang
Published: April 2022

Previous studies in our laboratory have reported that miR-222-3p was a tumor-suppressive miRNA in OC. This study aims to further understand the regulatory role of miR-222-3p in OC and provide a new mechanism for its prevention and treatment. We first found that miR-222-3p inhibited the migration and proliferation of OC cells. Then, we observed CDK19 was highly expressed in OC and inversely correlated with miR-222-3p. Besides, we observed that miR-222-3p directly binds to the 3′-UTR of CDK19 and inhibits CDK19 translation, thus inhibiting OC cell migration and proliferation in vitro and repressed tumor growth in vivo. We also observed the inhibitory effect of Hotair on miR-222-3p in OC. In addition, Hotair could promote the proliferation and migration of OC cells in vitro and facilitate the growth and metastasis of tumors in vivo. Moreover, Hotair was positively correlated with CDK19 expression. These results suggest Hotair indirectly up-regulates CDK19 through sponging miR-222-3p, which enhances the malignant behavior of OC. This provides a further understanding of the mechanism of the occurrence and development of OC.
The relationship between social support in pregnancy and postnatal depression
Authors: Taylor Billie Lever , Nath Selina , Sokolova Antoaneta Y. , Lewis Gemma , Howard Louise M. , Johnson Sonia , Sweeney Angela
Published: April 2022

Purpose

Lack of social support is considered a potential risk factor for postnatal depression but limited longitudinal evidence is available. Pregnancy, when women have increased contact with healthcare services, may be an opportune time to intervene and help strengthen women’s social networks to prevent feelings of depression postnatally, particularly for those at greatest risk. Our study examined the longitudinal relationship between social support in pregnancy and postnatal depression, and whether this is moderated by age or relationship status.

Methods

We analysed data collected from 525 women from a diverse inner-city maternity population in England who were interviewed in pregnancy and again three months postnatally. Women provided sociodemographic information and completed self-report measures of depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and social support (Social Provisions Scale).

Results

Less social support in pregnancy was associated with postnatal depression, after adjusting for sociodemographic confounders and antenatal depression (Coef. = − 0.05; 95% CI − 0.10 to − 0.01; p = 0.02). There was weak evidence of a moderating effect of relationship status. Subgroup analysis showed a stronger relationship between social support in pregnancy and postnatal depression for women who were not living with a partner (Coef. =  − 0.11; 95% CI − 0.21 to − 0.01; p = 0.03) than for those who were (Coef. =  − 0.03; 95% CI − 0.09 to 0.02; p = 0.28). Sensitivity analysis using multiple imputations to account for missing data confirmed the main results.

Conclusions

Interventions that target social support in pregnancy have the potential to reduce depression postnatally. Future research should explore in greater detail which women would benefit most from which type of social support.
Evaluation of microtiter plate as a high-throughput screening platform for beer fermentation
Authors: Zhao Xiangdong , Kerpes Roland , Becker Thomas
Published: April 2022

Downscaling the anaerobic fermentation in a microtiter plate (MTP) facilitates high throughput screening (HTS) applications. This study investigates the impacts of MTP configurations (scale, shaking, and cover) on the S. pastorianus beer fermentation compared to that in the shaking flask (SF) and European Brewing Convention (EBC) tube regarding fermentation performances and flavor attributes. The lager strains in MTPs accelerated cells reproduction and vitalization, sugar consumption, and glycerol accumulation. The microscale beer fermentation was closer to the SF but differed greatly from EBC tube fermentation depending on the MTP configurations. The downscaling from 2 mL to 0.2 mL in MTP increased the cell growth rate and vitality but did not change the maximum cell density. The shaking MTP did not promote early growth but sustained significantly higher cell numbers at the later fermentation stage. More than 1.5-folds acetaldehyde and higher alcohols, yet less than half esters, were obtained from the MTP and SF fermentations relative to that in the EBC tube. The air-tight MTP cover, as compared to the gas-permeable cover, not only balanced the above volatile flavors but also maintained integrity to the endogenous carbon dioxide pressure during beer fermentation. Additionally, fermentative activities were reduced by excluding air in either the material or the headspace of MTP. Hence, MTP configurations influenced S. pastorianus beer fermentation. These influences were partly attributed to their impacts on air accessibility. Conscious of the impacts, this study helps interpret the minimized fermentation and sheds light on the development of MTP based HTS platform for anaerobic cultivations.
The Origins and Functions of De Novo Genes: Against All Odds?
Authors: Weisman Caroline M.
Published: April 2022

“De novo” genes evolve from previously non-genic DNA. This strikes many of us as remarkable, because it seems extraordinarily unlikely that random sequence would produce a functional gene. How is this possible? In this two-part review, I first summarize what is known about the origins and molecular functions of the small number of de novo genes for which such information is available. I then speculate on what these examples may tell us about how de novo genes manage to emerge despite what seem like enormous opposing odds.
Impact of forced diuresis on retropulsion of disintegrated ureteral calculi during semi-rigid ureteroscopy: a double-blind randomized-controlled study
Authors: Shalaby Essam A. , Abdelhalim Khaled M. , Bakr Mohamed , El-Lilly Ahmed A. , Elkoushy Mohamed A.
Published: April 2022

The objective of this study is to assess the safety and efficacy of forced diuresis as an antiretropulsion strategy during the pneumatic disintegration of solitary lower ureteric stones with semi-rigid ureteroscopy (URS). A prospective randomized double-blind study was carried out from March 2019 to June 2021 for patients presented with unilateral solitary radiopaque lower ureteric stones ≤ 20 mm. Patients were randomized for URS into two groups, according to the use of forced diuresis using furosemide 1 mg/kg (GII) or not (GI). Perioperative parameters were compared between both groups, including retropulsion rate, stone-free rate (SFR), and need for auxiliary procedures and complications. A total of 148 patients were included; 72 (48.6%) in GI and 76 in the GII (51.4%), with respective stone size of 11.8 ± 2.6 vs.12.1 ± 2.4 mm. Both groups were comparable in demographic and baseline data, with a mean age of 47 ± 16 and 50 ± 14 years for GI and GII, respectively. GII had a significantly shorter disintegration time (10.5 ± 1.3 vs. 4.2 ± 2.1 min, p < 0.001), shorter operative time (33.1 ± 10.1 vs. 40.8 ± 9.1 min, p < 0.001), lower stone fragments migration rate during disintegration (6.5% vs. 18.1%, p = 0.04), lower retropulsion rate (1.3% vs. 11%, p = 0.02), higher SFR (96.1% vs. 86.1%, p = 0.04), and lower auxiliary procedures (3.9% vs. 13.8%, p = 0.03). Intraoperative and 6-h postoperative changes in heart rate and mean systolic blood pressure were comparable between both groups. Ephedrine injection (6–18 mg) was needed in significantly more GII patients (39.5% vs. 20.8%, p ≤ 0.01). It seems that forced diuresis during pneumatic lithotripsy of the lower ureteric stones is a safe and effective antiretropulsion technique. This would expand the alternative options to the antiretropulsion strategy, especially in centers where the laser and flexible ureteroscopes are not available.
MRI morphological evaluation of humeral head bone profile inside region of the biceps pulley reflection
Authors: Fischetti Michele , Stoppino Luca Pio , Petrera Miriana Rosaria , Francavilla Alessia , Vinci Roberta , Zappia Marcello , Macarini Luca
Published: April 2022

Objective

Evaluating humeral head bone profile inside biceps reflection pulley area in order to identify possible anatomical variants and any causes predisposing to tendon’s instability of the long head of the biceps.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study analyzed 326 patients, 183 males and 143 females (age 15–88 years; average 51.5 years), who underwent MRI examination between 2013 and 2019. Biceps pulley reflection area morphology of 192 right shoulders and 134 left shoulders was assessed analyzing 309 MRI and 17 MR arthrography (MRA) shoulder exams. We investigated age and gender and the frequency of morphological variants among the patient groups.

Results

Four possible morphological variants were identified: 95 with convex shape; 127 with flat shape; 77 with spiculated shape; and 12 with mixed morphology. Fifteen humeral bone profiles were not classifiable.

Conclusions

MRI was effective in defining humeral head anatomic variants inside the biceps pulley reflection area. The most frequent variants were flat or convex types.
Trust Versus Content in Multi-functional Land Management: Assessing Soil Function Messaging in Agricultural Networks
Authors: O’Sullivan Lilian , Leeuwis Cees , de Vries Linde , Wall David P. , Heidkroß Talke , Madena Kirsten , Schulte Rogier P. O.
Published: April 2022

Growing sustainability demands on land have a high knowledge requirement across multiple scientific domains. Exploring networks can expose opportunities for targeting. Using mixed-methods combining social network analysis (SNA) and surveys, networks for key soil functions in case studies in Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands are explored. We find a diversity of contrasting networks that reflect local conditions, sustainability challenges and governance structure. Farmers were found to occupy a central role in the agri-environmental governance network. A comparison of the SNA and survey results indicate low acceptance of messages from many central actors indicating scope to better harness the network for sustainable land management. The source of the messages was important when it came to the implementation of farm management actions. Two pathways for enhanced farmer uptake of multi-functionality are proposed that have wider application are; to increase trust between farmers and actors that are agents of multi-functional messages and/or to increase the bundling or multi-functionality of messages (mandate) of actors trusted by farmers.
The emerging role of atrial strain assessed by cardiac MRI in different cardiovascular settings: an up-to-date review
Authors: Cau Riccardo , Bassareo Pierpaolo , Suri Jasjit S. , Pontone Gianluca , Saba Luca
Published: April 2022

The left atrium (LA) has a crucial function in maintaining left ventricular filling, which is responsible for about one-third of all cardiac filling. A growing body of evidence shows that LA is involved in several cardiovascular diseases from a clinical and prognostic standpoint. LA enlargement has been recognized as a predictor of the outcomes of many diseases. However, LA enlargement itself does not explain the whole LA’s function during the cardiac cycle. For this reason, the recently proposed assessment of atrial strain at advanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) enables the usual limitations of the sole LA volumetric measurement to be overcome. Moreover, the left atrial strain impairment might allow several cardiovascular diseases to be detected at an earlier stage. While traditional CMR has a central role in assessing LA volume and, through cine sequences, a marginal role in evaluating LA function, feature tracking at advanced CMR (CMR-FT) has been increasingly confirmed as a feasible and reproducible technique for assessing LA function through strain. In comparison to atrial function evaluations via speckle tracking echocardiography, CMR-FT has a higher spatial resolution, larger field of view, and better reproducibility. In this literature review on atrial strain analysis, we describe the strengths, limitations, recent applications, and promising developments of studying atrial function using CMR-FT in clinical practice.

Key Points

• The left atrium has a crucial function in maintaining left ventricular filling; left atrial size has been recognized as a predictor of the outcomes of many diseases.

• Left atrial strain has been confirmed as a marker of atrial functional status and demonstrated to be a sensitive tool in the subclinical phase of a disease.

• A comprehensive evaluation of the three phases of atrial function by CMR-FT demonstrates an impairment before the onset of atrial enlargement, thus helping clinicians in their decision-making and improving patient outcomes.
Time between two partial rewetting events influences the respiration flush and microbial growth after the final rewetting
Authors: Erinle Kehinde O. , Marschner Petra
Published: April 2022

The effect of rapid rewetting of dry soil to a water content optimal for microbial activity on soil respiration and nutrient cycling has been extensively studied. However, with smaller rainfall events, dry soil may also rewet more slowly with an interval between partial rewetting events. In this experiment, soil unamended or amended with faba bean residue (C/N 9) was incubated at 50% water-holding capacity (WHC) for 2 weeks, then the soil of the rewet treatments was air-dried and incubated dry for 2 weeks. Then, the air-dried soil was exposed to six rewetting treatments: rewet rapidly to 50% WHC once on day 0 (RR50), rewet partially to 25% WHC once on day 0 (PR25), or rewet slowly by two applications of 25% WHC each with the first rewetting on day 0 and the second after 6 h (SR6), 12 h (SR12), 36 h (SR36), or 60 h (SR60). Constantly moist (CM) soil was kept at 50% WHC throughout the experiment. The flush of respiration after the final rewetting followed the order SR6 > RR50 > SR12 > SR36 > PR25, SR60. Microbial biomass C on the first day after the final rewetting decreased in the order RR50 > PR25 > SR6 > SR12 > SR 36 > SR60, CM. We conclude that slow rewetting can increase the flush of respiration compared to rapid rewetting, but only if the second partial rewetting occurs 6 h after the first. The size of the flush decreased with increasing time between the two rewetting events.
Adherence to the Mediterranean diet among adults in Mediterranean countries: a systematic literature review
Authors: Obeid Cecile A. , Gubbels Jessica S. , Jaalouk Doris , Kremers Stef P. J. , Oenema Anke
Published: April 2022

Background and aim

While the Mediterranean diet (MD) is promoted in non-Mediterranean countries, inhabitants of Mediterranean countries seem to be shifting away from this healthy diet. The aim of this study is to provide an overview of MD adherence in the general adult population of Mediterranean countries.

Methods

A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA 2020 (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines and registered in the Prospero database (CRD42020189337). Literature was searched in PubMed, Web of Science and PsycINFO databases for studies published from 2010 up to and including 2021. The following inclusion criteria were used: age 18 years and older, sample size > 1000 participants, and using a validated MD adherence score. Studies that only included participants with nutrition-related or other severe chronic disorders, as well as studies that only included specific subpopulations (e.g., pregnant women), were excluded in order to focus on the general adult population. A quality analysis of the included studies was done using the NCCMT scale.

Results

A total of 50 studies were included. The number of participants in the included studies ranged between 1013 and 94,113. Most of the included studies pertained to the European Mediterranean countries, with fewer studies from the Middle Eastern and North African Mediterranean countries. The vast majority of the included studies reported low or moderate MD adherence, both based on the mean adherence as well as the low or moderate adherence category often being the most prevalent. There were no clear differences noted between sex and age groups. The quality assessment generally showed weak or moderate scores.

Conclusions

Mediterranean populations have been showing moderate adherence to MD in the past 10 years, indicating room for improving adherence to the MD in countries of its origin.
Assessing the prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating CD57+ cells in advanced stage head and neck cancer using QuPath digital image analysis
Authors: de Ruiter Emma J. , Bisheshar Sangeeta K. , de Roest Reinout H. , Wesseling Frederik W. R. , Hoebers Frank J. P. , van den Hout Mari F. C. M. , Leemans C. René , Brakenhoff Ruud H. , de Bree Remco , Terhaard Chris H. J. , Willems Stefan M.
Published: April 2022

This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of intratumoral CD57+ cells in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and to examine the reproducibility of these analyses using QuPath. Pretreatment biopsies of 159 patients with HPV-negative, stage III/IV HNSCC treated with chemoradiotherapy were immunohistochemically stained for CD57. The number of CD57+ cells per mm2 tumor epithelium was quantified by two independent observers and by QuPath, software for digital pathology image analysis. Concordance between the observers and QuPath was assessed by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The correlation between CD57 and clinicopathological characteristics was assessed; associations with clinical outcome were estimated using Cox proportional hazard analysis and visualized using Kaplan-Meier curves. The patient cohort had a 3-year OS of 65.8% with a median follow-up of 54 months. The number of CD57+ cells/mm2 tumor tissue did not correlate to OS, DFS, or LRC. N stage predicted prognosis (OS: HR 0.43, p = 0.008; DFS: HR 0.41, p = 0.003; LRC: HR 0.24, p = 0.007), as did WHO performance state (OS: HR 0.48, p = 0.028; LRC: 0.33, p = 0.039). Quantification by QuPath showed moderate to good concordance with two human observers (ICCs 0.836, CI 0.805–0.863, and 0.741, CI 0.692–0.783, respectively). In conclusion, the presence of CD57+ TILs did not correlate to prognosis in advanced stage, HPV-negative HNSCC patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. Substantial concordance between human observers and QuPath was found, confirming a promising future role for digital, algorithm driven image analysis.
Outbreak of Cryptosporidium hominis in northern Sweden: persisting symptoms in a 5-year follow-up
Authors: Sjöström Malin , Arvidsson M. , Söderström L. , Lilja M. , Lindh J. , Widerström M.
Published: April 2022

In 2010–2011, a waterborne outbreak of the parasite, Cryptosporidium hominis, affected approximately 27,000 inhabitants in the city of Östersund, Sweden. Previous research suggested that post-infectious symptoms, such as gastrointestinal symptoms and joint pain, could persist for up to 2 years after the initial infection. In this study, we investigated whether the parasite caused post-infectious sequelae for up to 5 years after the outbreak. Prospective cohort study. A randomly selected cohort of individuals residing in Östersund at the time of the outbreak was sent a postal questionnaire in 2011. Responders were sent a follow-up questionnaire in 2016 and completed items on whether they experienced a list of symptoms. We examined whether outbreak cases were more likely than non-cases to report post-infectious symptoms 5 years later. We analysed data using logistic regression and calculated odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. The analysis included 626 individuals. Among the 262 individuals infected during the outbreak, 56.5% reported symptoms at follow-up. Compared to non-cases, outbreak cases were more likely to report watery diarrhoea, diarrhoea, swollen joints, abdominal pain, bloating, joint discomfort, acid indigestion, alternating bowel habits, joint pain, ocular pain, nausea, and fatigue at the follow-up, after adjusting for age and sex. Our findings suggested that cryptosporidiosis was mainly associated with gastrointestinal- and joint-related post-infectious symptoms for up to 5 years after the infection.
Identification of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer germline variants in Granada (Spain): NGS perspective
Authors: Molina-Zayas María , Garrido-Navas Carmen , García-Puche Jose Luis , Barwell Julian , Pedrinaci Susana , Atienza Margarita Martínez , García-Linares Susana , de Haro-Muñoz Tomás , Lorente Jose Antonio , Serrano M. Jose , Poyatos-Andújar Antonio
Published: April 2022

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of germline variants in cancer-predisposing genes by either targeted (BRCA1/2) or multigene NGS panel in a high-risk Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) cohort. Samples from 824 Caucasian probands were retrospectively collected and the impact of genetic diagnosis and genetic variants epidemiology in this cohort was evaluated. Performance of risk-reducing prophylactic measures, such as prophylactic mastectomy and/or prophylactic oophorectomy, was assessed through clinical follow-up of patients with a positive genetic result. Pathogenic variants predisposing to HBOC were identified in 11.9% (98/824) individuals at BRCA2 (47/98), BRCA1 (24/98), PALB2 (8/51), ATM (7/51), CHEK2 (6/51) MSH6, (2/51), RAD51C (2/51) and TP53 (2/386). Of them, 11 novel pathogenic variants and 12 VUS were identified, characterized, and submitted to ClinVar. Regarding clinical impact, the risk of developing basal or Her2 breast cancer was increased 15.7 times or 37.5 times for BRCA1 and MSH6 pathogenic variants respectively. On the contrary, the risk of developing basal or luminal A breast cancer was reduced to 81% or 77% for BRCA2 and BRCA1 pathogenic variants, respectively. Finally, 53.2% of individuals testing positive for class IV/V variants underwent prophylactic surgery (mastectomy, oophorectomy or both) being significantly younger at the cancer diagnosis than those undertaking prophylactic measures (p = 0.008). Of them, 8 carried a pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant in other genes different from BRCA1 and BRCA2, and the remaining (46.7%) decided to continue with clinical follow-up. No differences in pathogenicity or risk of developing cancer were found for BRCA1/2 between targeted and multigene sequencing strategies; however, NGS was able to resolve a greater proportion of high-risk patients.
Patient-specific stomach biomechanics before and after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy
Authors: Toniolo Ilaria , Berardo Alice , Foletto Mirto , Fiorillo Claudio , Quero Giuseppe , Perretta Silvana , Carniel Emanuele Luigi
Published: April 2022

Background

Obesity has become a global epidemic. Bariatric surgery is considered the most effective therapeutic weapon in terms of weight loss and improvement of quality of life and comorbidities. Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most performed procedures worldwide, although patients carry a nonnegligible risk of developing post-operative GERD and BE.

Objectives

The aim of this work is the development of computational patient-specific models to analyze the changes induced by bariatric surgery, i.e., the volumetric gastric reduction, the mechanical response of the stomach during an inflation process, and the related elongation strain (ES) distribution at different intragastric pressures.

Methods

Patient-specific pre- and post-surgical models were extracted from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of patients with morbid obesity submitted to LSG. Twenty-three patients were analyzed, resulting in forty-six 3D-geometries and related computational analyses.

Results

A significant difference between the mechanical behavior of pre- and post-surgical stomach subjected to the same internal gastric pressure was observed, that can be correlated to a change in the global stomach stiffness and a minor gastric wall tension, resulting in unusual activations of mechanoreceptors following food intake and satiety variation after LSG.

Conclusions

Computational patient-specific models may contribute to improve the current knowledge about anatomical and physiological changes induced by LSG, aiming at reducing post-operative complications and improving quality of life in the long run.
Learning multi-level representations for affective image recognition
Authors: Zhang Hao , Xu Dan , Luo Gaifang , He Kangjian
Published: April 2022

Images can convey intense affective experiences and affect people on an affective level. With the prevalence of online pictures and videos, evaluating emotions from visual content has attracted considerable attention. Affective image recognition aims to classify the emotions conveyed by digital images automatically. The existing studies using manual features or deep networks mainly focus on low-level visual features or high-level semantic representation without considering all factors. To better understand how deep networks are working for affective recognition tasks, we investigate the convolutional features by visualization them in this work. Our research shows that the hierarchical CNN model mainly relies on deep semantic information while ignoring the shallow visual details, which are essential to evoke emotions. To form a more general and discriminative representation, we propose a multi-level hybrid model that learns and integrates the deep semantics and shallow visual representations for sentiment classification. In addition, this study shows that class imbalance would affect performance as the main category of the affective dataset will overwhelm training and degenerate the deep networks. Therefore, a new loss function is introduced to optimize the deep affective model. Experimental results on several affective image recognition datasets show that our model outperforms various existing studies. The source code is publicly available.
A survey of visual and procedural handwriting analysis for neuropsychological assessment
Authors: Moetesum Momina , Diaz Moises , Masroor Uzma , Siddiqi Imran , Vessio Gennaro
Published: April 2022

To date, Artificial Intelligence systems for handwriting and drawing analysis have primarily targeted domains such as writer identification and sketch recognition. Conversely, the automatic characterization of graphomotor patterns asbiomarkersof brain health is a relatively less explored research area. Despite its importance, the work done in this direction is limited and sporadic. This paper aims to provide a survey of related work to provide guidance to novice researchers and highlight relevant study contributions. The literature has been grouped into “visual analysis techniques” and “procedural analysis techniques”. Visual analysis techniques evaluate offline samples of a graphomotor response after completion. On the other hand, procedural analysis techniques focus on the dynamic processes involved in producing a graphomotor reaction. Since the primary goal of both families of strategies is to represent domain knowledge effectively, the paper also outlines the commonly employed handwriting representation and estimation methods presented in the literature and discusses their strengths and weaknesses. It also highlights the limitations of existing processes and the challenges commonly faced when designing such systems. High-level directions for further research conclude the paper.
Minimal invasive interlaminar approach for untethering of fatty filum terminale in pediatric patients — how I do it
Authors: Greuter Ladina , Licci Maria , Terrier Axel , Guzman Raphael , Soleman Jehuda
Published: April 2022

Background

Fatty filum terminale is a form of spinal dysraphism and a third of all patients develop symptoms such as sensory, motor, and urinary impairment. Early surgery at 6 months has the advantage that the bone density is still soft, and the patients are not ambulatory yet, promoting faster healing.

Method

We present our minimal invasive surgical technique for FFT untethering.

Conclusion

Due to the low complication rate and the potentially high benefit of surgery, prophylactic untethering is recommended.
Microbiota-derived tryptophan metabolites in vascular inflammation and cardiovascular disease
Authors: Paeslack Nadja , Mimmler Maximilian , Becker Stefanie , Gao Zhenling , Khuu My Phung , Mann Amrit , Malinarich Frano , Regen Tommy , Reinhardt Christoph
Published: April 2022

The essential amino acid tryptophan (Trp) is metabolized by gut commensals, yielding in compounds that affect innate immune cell functions directly, but also acting on the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR), thus regulating the maintenance of group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), promoting T helper 17 (TH17) cell differentiation, and interleukin-22 production. In addition, microbiota-derived Trp metabolites have direct effects on the vascular endothelium, thus influencing the development of vascular inflammatory phenotypes. Indoxyl sulfate was demonstrated to promote vascular inflammation, whereas indole-3-propionic acid and indole-3-aldehyde had protective roles. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence for a contributory role of microbiota-derived indole-derivatives in blood pressure regulation and hypertension. Interestingly, there are indications for a role of the kynurenine pathway in atherosclerotic lesion development. Here, we provide an overview on the emerging role of gut commensals in the modulation of Trp metabolism and its influence in cardiovascular disease development.
Weighted-Average Least Squares (WALS): Confidence and Prediction Intervals
Authors: De Luca Giuseppe , Magnus Jan R. , Peracchi Franco
Published: April 2022

We consider inference for linear regression models estimated by weighted-average least squares (WALS), a frequentist model averaging approach with a Bayesian flavor. We propose a new simulation method that yields re-centered confidence and prediction intervals by exploiting the bias-corrected posterior mean as a frequentist estimator of a normal location parameter. We investigate the performance of WALS and several alternative estimators in an extensive set of Monte Carlo experiments that allow for increasing complexity of the model space and heteroskedastic, skewed, and thick-tailed regression errors. In addition to WALS, we include unrestricted and fully restricted least squares, two post-selection estimators based on classical information criteria, a penalization estimator, and Mallows and jackknife model averaging estimators. We show that, compared to the other approaches, WALS performs well in terms of the mean squared error of point estimates, and also in terms of coverage errors and lengths of confidence and prediction intervals.
The Celerity High-level API: C++20 for Accelerator Clusters
Authors: Thoman Peter , Tischler Florian , Salzmann Philip , Fahringer Thomas
Published: April 2022

Providing convenient APIs and notations for data parallelism which remain accessible for programmers while still providing good performance has been a long-term goal of researchers as well as language and library designers. C++20 introduces ranges and views, as well as the composition of operations on them using a concise syntax, but the efficient implementation of these library features is restricted to CPUs. We present the Celerity High-level API, which makes similarly concise mechanisms applicable to GPUs and accelerators, and even distributed memory clusters of GPUs. Crucially, we achieve this very high level of abstraction without a significant negative impact on performance compared to a lower-level implementation, and without introducing any non-standard toolchain components or compilers, by implementing a C++ library infrastructure on top of the Celerity system. This is made possible by two central API design and implementation strategies, which form the core of our contribution. Firstly, gathering as much information as possible at compile-time and using metaprogramming techniques to automatically fuse several distinctly formulated processing steps into a single accelerator kernel invocation. And secondly, leveraging C++20 “Concepts” in order to avoid type erasure, allowing for highly efficient code generation. We have evaluated our approach quantitatively in a comparison to lower-level manual implementations of several benchmarks, demonstrating its low overhead. Additionally, we investigated the individual performance impact of our specific optimizations and design choices, illustrating the advantages afforded by a Concepts-based approach.
Sparse Hard-Disk Packings and Local Markov Chains
Authors: Höllmer Philipp , Noirault Nicolas , Li Botao , Maggs A. C. , Krauth Werner
Published: April 2022

We propose locally stable sparse hard-disk packings, as introduced by Böröczky, as a model for the analysis and benchmarking of Markov-chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithms. We first generate such Böröczky packings in a square box with periodic boundary conditions and analyze their properties. We then study how local MCMC algorithms, namely the Metropolis algorithm and several versions of event-chain Monte Carlo (ECMC), escape from configurations that are obtained from the packings by slightly reducing all disk radii by a relaxation parameter. We obtain two classes of ECMC, one in which the escape time varies algebraically with the relaxation parameter (as for the local Metropolis algorithm) and another in which the escape time scales as the logarithm of the relaxation parameter. A scaling analysis is confirmed by simulation results. We discuss the connectivity of the hard-disk sample space, the ergodicity of local MCMC algorithms, as well as the meaning of packings in the context of theNPTensemble. Our work is accompanied by open-source, arbitrary-precision software for Böröczky packings (in Python) and for straight, reflective, forward, and Newtonian ECMC (in Go).
Science Concept Formation During Infancy, Toddlerhood, and Early Childhood: Developing a Scientific Motive Over Time
Authors: Fragkiadaki Glykeria , Fleer Marilyn , Rai Prabhat
Published: April 2022

A substantial number of empirical studies in the field of Early Childhood Science Education have explored science concept formation in early childhood educational settings. Most of these studies focus on the process of science concept formation during a teaching intervention or a school year period. However, less is known about how children form science concepts over the first years of their lives. This longitudinal study aimed at studying the process of science concept formation during the first five years of children’s life within educational settings. Following a cultural–historical approach, the study explored how children develop a science motive from infancy, toddlerhood, and into early childhood and how teachers create the conditions for the development of a motive orientation towards science over time. A cohort of 50 children in Australia participated in the study. Indicative case examples are presented. The research design drew on the Conceptual PlayWorld model, a collective form of practice for learning and development through imagination and play. Digital visual methods were used for data collection and analysis. The findings illustrated that a science motive is developed when the motive of play and the motive of learning in science are dialectically interrelated over time. It was also shown that teachers create a motive orientation towards science by introducing, maintaining, and transforming an ideal form of science in the children’s environment and by stimulating children to interact with mature forms of science. The study concludes with insights into early childhood science education research methodology, and implications that inform practice are discussed.
A Refunding Scheme to Incentivize Narrow-Spectrum Antibiotic Development
Authors: Böttcher Lucas , Gersbach Hans
Published: April 2022

The rapid rise of antibiotic resistance is a serious threat to global public health. The situation is exacerbated by the “antibiotics dilemma”: Developing narrow-spectrum antibiotics against resistant bacteria is most beneficial for society, but least attractive for companies, since their usage and sales volumes are more limited than for broad-spectrum drugs. After developing a general mathematical framework for the study of antibiotic resistance dynamics with an arbitrary number of antibiotics, we identify efficient treatment protocols. Then, we introduce a market-based refunding scheme that incentivizes pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics against resistant bacteria and, in particular, narrow-spectrum antibiotics that target specific bacterial strains. We illustrate how such a refunding scheme can solve the antibiotics dilemma and cope with various sources of uncertainty that impede antibiotic R &D. Finally, connecting our refunding approach to the recently established Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Action Fund, we discuss how our proposed incentivization scheme could be financed.
A bibliometric analysis on the visibility of the Sentinel-1 mission in the scientific literature
Authors: Pham-Duc Binh , Nguyen Ho
Published: April 2022

Seven years after the launch of the first Sentinel-1 satellite, its data have been widely used in the scientific community. This study provides the first quantitative analysis of the visibility of the Sentinel-1 mission to the scientific literature through a bibliometric analysis of 1628 articles published in scientific journals during the 2014–2020 period. The main findings show that the number of Sentinel-1 mission-related papers increased significantly over the years, with an annual growth rate of 83%. Remote sensing is the most popular journal where 31.75% of the publication collection has been published. China and the USA are the two most productive countries with a share of 22.30% and 16.22% in the collection. Research based on the Sentinel-1 data covered a wide range of topics in geoscience disciplines. The use of SAR interferometry, focusing on the studies of landslide, earthquake, ground deformation, and subsidence, is the most important research direction using Sentinel-1 data. Image fusion of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 observations for mapping and monitoring applications is the second most important research direction. Other popular research areas are glaciology, soil moisture, agriculture, rice monitoring, and ship detection. This study uses bibliographic data derived only from the Scopus database; therefore, it might not cover all Sentinel-1 related documents. However, this paper is a good reference for researchers who want to use Sentinel-1 data in their studies. The two Sentinel-1 satellites will provide scientific data for years to come, meaning that this type of analysis should be done on a regular basis.