bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Operationalizing Agile Methods: Examining Coherence in Large-Scale Agile Transformations
Authors: Carroll Noel , Bjørnson Finn Olav , Dingsøyr Torgeir , Rolland Knut-Helge , Conboy Kieran 
Published: September 2020

Abstract

Following the highly pervasive and effective use of agile methods for software development, attention has now turned to the much more difficult challenge of applying these methods in large scale, organization-wide development. However, identifying to what extent certain factors influence success and failure of sustaining large-scale agile transformations remains unclear and there is a lack of theoretical frameworks to guide such investigations. By adopting Normalization Process Theory and specifically ‘coherence’, we compare two large-scale agile transformation case studies and the different perspectives individuals and teams had when faced with the problem of operationalizing the agile method as part of their large-scale agile transformation. The key contributions of this work are: (i) this is a first attempt to present the results of a comparison between a successful and failed large-scale agile transformations; and (ii) we describe the challenges in understanding the rationale, differences, value, and roles associated with the methods to support the large-scale agile transformation. We also present future research for practitioners and academics on large-scale agile transformation.
N-jettiness beam functions at N3LO
Authors: Ebert Markus A. , Mistlberger Bernhard , Vita Gherardo 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
We present the first complete calculation for the quark and gluon N-jettiness ($$ {\mathcal{T}}_N $$

T
N

) beam functions at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) in perturbative QCD. Our calculation is based on an expansion of the differential Higgs boson and Drell-Yan production cross sections about their collinear limit. This method allows us to employ cutting edge techniques for the computation of cross sections to extract the universal building blocks in question. The class of functions appearing in the matching coefficents for all channels includes iterated integrals with non-rational kernels, thus going beyond the one of harmonic polylogarithms. Our results are a key step in extending the $$ {\mathcal{T}}_N $$

T
N

subtraction methods to N3LO, and to resum $$ {\mathcal{T}}_N $$

T
N

distributions at N3LL′ accuracy both for quark as well as for gluon initiated processes.
Transverse momentum dependent PDFs at N3LO
Authors: Ebert Markus A. , Mistlberger Bernhard , Vita Gherardo 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
We compute the quark and gluon transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order (N3LO) in perturbative QCD. Our calculation is based on an expansion of the differential Drell-Yan and gluon fusion Higgs production cross sections about their collinear limit. This method allows us to employ cutting edge multiloop techniques for the computation of cross sections to extract these universal building blocks of the collinear limit of QCD. The corresponding perturbative matching kernels for all channels are expressed in terms of simple harmonic polylogarithms up to weight five. As a byproduct, we confirm a previous computation of the soft function for transverse momentum factorization at N3LO. Our results are the last missing ingredient to extend the qT subtraction methods to N3LO and to obtain resummed qT spectra at N3LL′ accuracy both for gluon as well as for quark initiated processes.
On Ulam Stability of a Functional Equation
Authors: Ciepliński Krzysztof 
Published: September 2020

AbstractIn this note, we study the Ulam stability of a functional equation both in Banach and m-Banach spaces. Particular cases of this equation are, among others, equations which characterize multi-additive and multi-Jensen functions. Moreover, it is satisfied by the so-called multi-linear mappings.
Ultrasound-based examination of the medial ligament complex shows gender- and age-related differences in laxity
Authors: Lutz Patricia M. , Feucht Matthias J. , Wechselberger Judith , Rasper Michael , Petersen Wolf , Wörtler Klaus , Imhoff Andreas B. , Achtnich Andrea 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Purpose
Ultrasound (US) examination of the medial joint space of the knee has played a subordinate diagnostic role up till now. The purpose of the present study was to describe mean values of medial joint width and to investigate the impact of gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) on medial joint laxity in healthy knees using modern, dynamic US in a standardized fashion in unloaded and standardized loaded conditions.

Methods
A total of 65 subjects with 79 healthy knees were enrolled in this study. All volunteers underwent clinical examination of the knee. The medial knee joint width was determined using US in a supine position at 0° and 30° of knee flexion in unloaded and standardized loaded (= 15 Dekanewton, daN) conditions using a specific device. Mean values were described and correlations between medial knee joint width and gender, age, and BMI were assessed.

Results
Thirty-two females and 33 males were enrolled in this study. The mean medial joint width in 0° unloaded was 5.7 ± 1.2 mm and 7.4 ± 1.4 mm loaded. In 30° of knee flexion, the mean medial joint width was 6.1 ± 1.1 mm unloaded and 7.8 ± 1.2 mm loaded. The average change between unloaded and loaded conditions in 0° was 1.7 ± 1.0 mm and in 30° 1.7 ± 0.9 mm. A significant difference between genders was evident for medial joint width in 0° and 30° of flexion in unloaded and loaded conditions (p < 0.05). With rising age, a significant increased change of medial joint space width between unloaded and loaded conditions could be demonstrated in 0° (p = 0.032). No significant correlation between BMI and medial joint width in US could be found.

Conclusion
Mean values of medial joint width in unloaded and standardized loaded conditions using a fixation device could be demonstrated. Based on the results of this study, medial knee joint width in US is gender- and age-related in healthy knees. These present data may be useful for evaluating patients with acute or chronic pathologies to the medial side of the knee.

Level of evidence
III.
Quantitative assessment of brachial plexus MRI for the diagnosis of chronic inflammatory neuropathies
Authors: van Rosmalen Marieke H. J. , Goedee H. Stephan , van der Gijp Anouk , Witkamp Theo D. , van Eijk Ruben P. A. , Asselman Fay-Lynn , van den Berg Leonard H. , Mandija Stefano , Froeling Martijn , Hendrikse Jeroen , van der Pol W. Ludo 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Objective
This study aimed at developing a quantitative approach to assess abnormalities on MRI of the brachial plexus and the cervical roots in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) and to evaluate interrater reliability and its diagnostic value.

Methods
We performed a cross-sectional study in 50 patients with CIDP, 31 with MMN and 42 disease controls. We systematically measured cervical nerve root sizes on MRI bilaterally (C5, C6, C7) in the coronal [diameter (mm)] and sagittal planes [area (mm2)], next to the ganglion (G0) and 1 cm distal from the ganglion (G1). We determined their diagnostic value using a multivariate binary logistic model and ROC analysis. In addition, we evaluated intra- and interrater reliability.

Results
Nerve root size was larger in patients with CIDP and MMN compared to controls at all predetermined anatomical sites. We found that nerve root diameters in the coronal plane had optimal reliability (intrarater ICC 0.55–0.87; interrater ICC 0.65–0.90). AUC was 0.78 (95% CI 0.69–0.87) for measurements at G0 and 0.81 (95% CI 0.72–0.91) for measurements at G1. Importantly, our quantitative assessment of brachial plexus MRI identified an additional 10% of patients that showed response to treatment, but were missed by nerve conduction (NCS) and nerve ultrasound studies.

Conclusion
Our study showed that a quantitative assessment of brachial plexus MRI is reliable. MRI can serve as an important additional diagnostic tool to identify treatment-responsive patients, complementary to NCS and nerve ultrasound.
Building blocks for persistent memory
Authors: van Renen Alexander , Vogel Lukas , Leis Viktor , Neumann Thomas , Kemper Alfons 
Published: September 2020

AbstractI/O latency and throughput are two of the major performance bottlenecks for disk-based database systems. Persistent memory (PMem) technologies, like Intel’s Optane DC persistent memory modules, promise to bridge the gap between NAND-based flash (SSD) and DRAM, and thus eliminate the I/O bottleneck. In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive performance evaluation of PMem on real hardware in terms of bandwidth and latency. Based on the results, we develop guidelines for efficient PMem usage and four optimized low-level building blocks for PMem applications: log writing, block flushing, in-place updates, and coroutines for write latency hiding.
Fines mobility and distribution in streaming fibre networks: experimental evidence and numerical modeling
Authors: Redlinger-Pohn Jakob D. , Mayr Melanie , Schaub Gregor , Gruber David , Radl Stefan 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe motion of flocculated fibres in a streaming suspension is governed by the balance of the network strength and hydrodynamic forces. With increasing flow rate through a channel, (1) the network initially occupying all space, (2) is then compressed to the centre, and (3) ultimately dispersed. This classical view neglects fibres-fines: we find that the distribution of these small particles differs in streaming suspensions. While it is known that fibre-fines can escape the fibre network, we find that the distribution of fibre-fines is non-homogenous in the network during compression: fibre-fines can be caged and retarded in the streaming fibre network. Hence, the amount of fibre-fines is reduced outside of a fibre network and enriched at the network’s interface. Aiming on selectively removing fibre-fines from a streaming network by suction, we identify a reduction of the fines removal rate. That documents a hindered mobility of fibre-fines when moving through the network of fibres. Additionally, we found evidence, that the mobility of fibre-fines is dependent on the fibre-fines quality, and is higher for fibrillar fines. Consequently, we suggest that the quality of fibre-fines removed from the suspension can be controlled with the flow regime in the channel. Finally, we present a phenomenological model to compute the length dependent fibre distribution in an arbitary geometry. For a fibre suspension channel flow we are able to predict a length-dependent fibre segregation near the channel’s centre. The erosion of a plug of long fibres was however underestimated by our model. Interestingly, our model with parameters fitted to streaming fibre suspension qualitatively agreed with the motion of micro-fibrillated cellulose. This gives hope that devices for handling flocculated fibre suspensions can be designed in the future with greater confidence.
Density Measurements of (0.99 Methane + 0.01 Butane) and (0.98 Methane + 0.02 Isopentane) over the Temperature Range from (100 to 160) K at Pressures up to 10.8 MPa
Authors: Eckmann Philipp , von Preetzmann Nils , Cavuoto Giuseppe , Li Jianrong , van der Veen Adriaan , Kleinrahm Reiner , Richter Markus 
Published: September 2020

AbstractDensities of two methane-rich binary mixtures were measured in the homogeneous liquid and the supercritical region at temperatures between (100 and 160) K using a low-temperature single-sinker magnetic-suspension densimeter. For each mixture, four isotherms were studied over the pressure range from (0.3 to 10.8) MPa. Molar compositions of the gravimetrically prepared methane-rich binary mixtures were approximately 0.01 butane and 0.02 isopentane, respectively, with the balance being methane. The relative expanded combined uncertainty (k = 2) of the experimental densities was estimated to be in the range of (0.02 to 0.06) %. Due to a supercritical liquefaction procedure and the integration of a special VLE-cell, it was possible to measure densities in the homogeneous liquid phase without changing the composition of the liquefied mixture. Based on the supercritical liquefaction procedure, a new time-saving measurement procedure was developed and applied. Moreover, saturated-liquid densities were determined by extrapolation of the experimental single-phase liquid densities to the vapor pressure calculated with an equation of state (EOS); here, the relative expanded combined uncertainty (k = 2) is less than 0.05 % in most cases. The new experimental results were compared with the GERG-2008 equation of state, the EOS-LNG and the enhanced revised Klosek and McKinley (ERKM) method.
Validity of the Empatica E4 Wristband to Measure Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Parameters: a Comparison to Electrocardiography (ECG)
Authors: Schuurmans Angela A. T. , de Looff Peter , Nijhof Karin S. , Rosada Catarina , Scholte Ron H. J. , Popma Arne , Otten Roy 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWearable monitoring devices are an innovative way to measure heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), however, there is still debate about the validity of these wearables. This study aimed to validate the accuracy and predictive value of the Empatica E4 wristband against the VU University Ambulatory Monitoring System (VU-AMS) in a clinical population of traumatized adolescents in residential care. A sample of 345 recordings of both the Empatica E4 wristband and the VU-AMS was derived from a feasibility study that included fifteen participants. They wore both devices during two experimental testing and twelve intervention sessions. We used correlations, cross-correlations, Mann-Whitney tests, difference factors, Bland-Altman plots, and Limits of Agreement to evaluate differences in outcomes between devices. Significant correlations were found between Empatica E4 and VU-AMS recordings for HR, SDNN, RMSSD, and HF recordings. There was a significant difference between the devices for all parameters but HR, although effect sizes were small for SDNN, LF, and HF. For all parameters but RMSSD, testing outcomes of the two devices led to the same conclusions regarding significance. The Empatica E4 wristband provides a new opportunity to measure HRV in an unobtrusive way. Results of this study indicate the potential of the Empatica E4 as a practical and valid tool for research on HR and HRV under non-movement conditions. While more research needs to be conducted, this study could be considered as a first step to support the use of HRV recordings provided by wearables.
Fast greedy $$\mathcal {C}$$-bound minimization with guarantees
Authors: Bauvin Baptiste , Capponi Cécile , Roy Jean-Francis , Laviolette François 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound is a tight bound on the true risk of a majority vote classifier that relies on the individual quality and pairwise disagreement of the voters and provides PAC-Bayesian generalization guarantees. Based on this bound, MinCq is a classification algorithm that returns a dense distribution on a finite set of voters by minimizing it. Introduced later and inspired by boosting, CqBoost uses a column generation approach to build a sparse$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound optimal distribution on a possibly infinite set of voters. However, both approaches have a high computational learning time because they minimize the$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound by solving a quadratic program. Yet, one advantage of CqBoost is its experimental ability to provide sparse solutions. In this work, we address the problem of accelerating the$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound minimization process while keeping the sparsity of the solution and without losing accuracy. We present CB-Boost, a computationally efficient classification algorithm relying on a greedy–boosting-based–$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound optimization. An in-depth analysis proves the optimality of the greedy minimization process and quantifies the decrease of the$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound operated by the algorithm. Generalization guarantees are then drawn based on already existing PAC-Bayesian theorems. In addition, we experimentally evaluate the relevance of CB-Boost in terms of the three main properties we expect about it: accuracy, sparsity, and computational efficiency compared to MinCq, CqBoost, Adaboost and other ensemble methods. As observed in these experiments, CB-Boost not only achieves results comparable to the state of the art, but also provides$$\mathcal {C}$$C-bound sub-optimal weights with very few computational demand while keeping the sparsity property of CqBoost.
Nonlinear asset-price dynamics and stabilization policies
Authors: Schmitt Noemi , Tramontana Fabio , Westerhoff Frank 
Published: September 2020

AbstractWe first present a brief review of nonlinear asset-pricing models and contributions in which such models have been used as benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of a number of regulatory policy measures. We then illustrate the functioning of one particular asset-pricing model—the seminal framework by Brock and Hommes (J Econ Dyn Control 22:1235–1274, 1998)—and its possible stabilization via a central authority that seeks to counter the destabilizing trading behavior of speculators. Our paper underlines that tools from the field of nonlinear dynamical systems may foster our understanding of the functioning of asset markets, thereby enabling policymakers to design better trading environments in the future.
Do plants use root-derived proteases to promote the uptake of soil organic nitrogen?
Authors: Greenfield Lucy M. , Hill Paul W. , Paterson Eric , Baggs Elizabeth M. , Jones Davey L. 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Aims
The capacity of plant roots to directly acquire organic nitrogen (N) in the form of oligopeptides and amino acids from soil is well established. However, plants have poor access to protein, the central reservoir of soil organic N. Our question is: do plants actively secrete proteases to enhance the breakdown of soil protein or are they functionally reliant on soil microorganisms to undertake this role?

Methods
Growing maize and wheat under sterile hydroponic conditions with and without inorganic N, we measured protease activity on the root surface (root-bound proteases) or exogenously in the solution (free proteases). We compared root protease activities to the rhizosphere microbial community to estimate the ecological significance of root-derived proteases.

Results
We found little evidence for the secretion of free proteases, with almost all protease activity associated with the root surface. Root protease activity was not stimulated under N deficiency. Our findings suggest that cereal roots contribute one-fifth of rhizosphere protease activity.

Conclusions
Our results indicate that plant N uptake is only functionally significant when soil protein is in direct contact with root surfaces. The lack of protease upregulation under N deficiency suggests that root protease activity is unrelated to enhanced soil N capture.
Religious Barriers to the Diffusion of Same-sex Civil Unions in Italy
Authors: Ruiu Gabriele , Gonano Giovanna 
Published: September 2020

AbstractThe legal recognition of civil unions between same-sex partners, in May 2016, could be defined as a revolution for the system of legal norms regarding the “heterosexual family-centric-system” in Italy. Using official data on the 17,341 people resulting in a same-sex civil union collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in the years 2016–2018, this paper analysed the relationship between religious secularization and the diffusion of same-sex civil unions at the regional level in Italy. In particular, an indicator of the incidence of civilly united individuals over total population has been regressed on the rate of heterosexual marriages celebrated according to the civil rite. According to abundant literature, the latter variable could be interpreted as a proxy of secularization. The results indicate that less secularized regions are also those where less civil unions have been celebrated. The results are confirmed also when an instrumental variable approach is implemented. Studying this topic in Italy is particularly interesting since the country has been defined as the least secularized among economically developed nations.
Explanatory dispositionalism
Authors: Vetter Barbara 
Published: September 2020

AbstractInspired both by our ordinary understanding of the world and by reflection on science, anti-Humeanism is a growing trend in metaphysics. Anti-Humeans reject the Lewisian doctrine of Humean supervenience that the world is “just one little thing and then another”, and argue instead that dispositions, powers, or capacities provide connection and (some say) activity in nature. But how exactly are we to understand the shared commitment of this anti-Humean movement? I argue that this kind of anti-Humeanism, at its most general level, is to be understood neither as a view about ontology (the existence of certain properties) nor about fundamentality, but rather as a specific claim about what explains what.
Melatonin maintains the function of the blood redox system at combined ethanol-induced toxicity and subclinical inflammation in mice
Authors: Kurhaluk Natalia , Tkachenko Halyna , Lukash Oleksandr , Winklewski Pawel J. , Wszedybyl-Winklewska Magdalena 
Published: September 2020

Abstract
Background
The goal of this study was to assess the effect of melatonin on blood redox systems in mice simultaneously exposed to ethanol and low-dose lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

Methods
Oxidative stress parameters were assessed in eight groups: untreated control, melatonin (10 mg kg−1, 10 days), LPS (injected once intraperitoneally at a dose of 150 μg per mouse), LPS with previous melatonin treatment, acute ethanol-induced stress (AES, 0.75 g kg−1 per day, 10 days), AES with previous melatonin treatment, LPS- and AES-induced toxicity, and melatonin treatment.

Results
Both ethanol and LPS induced oxidative stress. The combination of these two factors was even more toxic to the organism. Melatonin stabilized erythrocyte membranes and decreased the high level of free radical oxidation at the initial and final stages. Furthermore, melatonin limited protein damage through maintenance in the functional ability of the blood redox system to counteract pathological conditions.

Conclusions
Melatonin limited the negative effects associated with alcohol consumption and low-intensity inflammation.