bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Visual acuity and its postoperative outcome after transsphenoidal adenoma resection
Authors: Butenschoen Vicki M. , Schwendinger Nina , von Werder Alexander , Bette Stefanie , Wienke Maximilian , Meyer Bernhard , Gempt Jens 
Published: October 2020

AbstractTranssphenoidal surgery (TSS) represents the gold standard of pituitary adenoma resection, providing a safe and minimal invasive treatment for patients suffering from symptoms of mass effect. The aim of this study is to analyze the postoperative improvement of visual function after adenoma resection and to identify prognostic factors for the postoperative clinical recovery. We performed a retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients treated via a transsphenoidal approach for pituitary adenomas from April 2006 to December 2019 in a high-volume neurosurgical department. Our primary outcome was postoperative visual acuity and visual field impairment; the clinical findings were followed up to 3 months after surgery and correlated with clinical and radiographic findings. In total, 440 surgeries were performed in our department for tumors of the sella region in a time period of 13 years via transsphenoidal approach, and 191 patients included in the analysis. Mean age was 55 years, and 98% were macroadenomas. Mean preoperative visual acuity in patients with preoperative impairment (n = 133) improved significantly from 0.64/0.65 to 0.72/0.75 and 0.76/0.8 (right eye R/left eye L) postoperatively and at 3 months follow-up (p < 0.001). Visual acuity significantly depended on Knosp classification but not Hardy grading. The strongest predictor for visual function recovery was age. Transsphenoidal pituitary tumor resection remains a safe and effective treatment in patients with preoperative visual impairment. It significantly improves visual acuity and field defects after surgery, and recovery continues at the 3 months follow-up examination.
Scaffolding or simplifying: students’ perception of support in Swedish compulsory school
Authors: Klapp Alli , Jönsson Anders 
Published: October 2020

AbstractNational goals and performance standards were introduced in Sweden during the 1990s as part of a curriculum reform. The intention was to detect shortcomings among students and provide support to those students who did not reach the passing grade in one (or several) subject/s. Despite this reform, approximately one-fourth of the students do not attain a passing grade in all subjects. This study therefore investigates the support provided to low-achieving students in Swedish compulsory school. A questionnaire focusing on support in science studies was distributed to students in grade 9 (N = 1731), and data was analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings show that low-achieving students perceive that they primarily receive “simplifying support,” which involves the lowering of expectations and limiting of students’ opportunities to learn. “Scaffolding support,” which involves changes to practices and holding the same standards for all students, seems to be mainly provided to boys, regardless of achievement level.
An anatomically detailed and personalizable head injury model: Significance of brain and white matter tract morphological variability on strain
Authors: Li Xiaogai , Zhou Zhou , Kleiven Svein 
Published: October 2020

AbstractFinite element head (FE) models are important numerical tools to study head injuries and develop protection systems. The generation of anatomically accurate and subject-specific head models with conforming hexahedral meshes remains a significant challenge. The focus of this study is to present two developmental works: first, an anatomically detailed FE head model with conforming hexahedral meshes that has smooth interfaces between the brain and the cerebrospinal fluid, embedded with white matter (WM) fiber tracts; second, a morphing approach for subject-specific head model generation via a new hierarchical image registration pipeline integrating Demons and Dramms deformable registration algorithms. The performance of the head model is evaluated by comparing model predictions with experimental data of brain–skull relative motion, brain strain, and intracranial pressure. To demonstrate the applicability of the head model and the pipeline, six subject-specific head models of largely varying intracranial volume and shape are generated, incorporated with subject-specific WM fiber tracts. DICE similarity coefficients for cranial, brain mask, local brain regions, and lateral ventricles are calculated to evaluate personalization accuracy, demonstrating the efficiency of the pipeline in generating detailed subject-specific head models achieving satisfactory element quality without further mesh repairing. The six head models are then subjected to the same concussive loading to study the sensitivity of brain strain to inter-subject variability of the brain and WM fiber morphology. The simulation results show significant differences in maximum principal strain and axonal strain in local brain regions (one-way ANOVA test, p < 0.001), as well as their locations also vary among the subjects, demonstrating the need to further investigate the significance of subject-specific models. The techniques developed in this study may contribute to better evaluation of individual brain injury and the development of individualized head protection systems in the future. This study also contains general aspects the research community may find useful: on the use of experimental brain strain close to or at injury level for head model validation; the hierarchical image registration pipeline can be used to morph other head models, such as smoothed-voxel models.
Performance of miniaturized atomic clocks in static laboratory and dynamic flight environments
Authors: Jain Ankit , Krawinkel Thomas , Schön Steffen , Bauch Andreas 
Published: October 2020

AbstractMiniaturized atomic clocks with high frequency stability as local oscillators in global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers promise to improve real-time kinematic applications. For a number of years, such oscillators are being investigated regarding their overall technical applicability, i.e., transportability, and performance in dynamic environments. The short-term frequency stability of these clocks is usually specified by the manufacturer, being valid for stationary applications. Since the performance of most oscillators is likely degraded in dynamic conditions, various oscillators are tested to find the limits of receiver clock modeling in dynamic cases and consequently derive adequate stochastic models to be used in navigation. We present the performance of three different oscillators (Microsemi MAC SA.35m, Spectratime LCR-900 and Stanford Research Systems SC10) for static and dynamic applications. For the static case, all three oscillators are characterized in terms of their frequency stability at Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany's national metrology institute. The resulting Allan deviations agree well with the manufacturer's data. Furthermore, a flight experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the performance of the oscillators under dynamic conditions. Here, each oscillator is replacing the internal oscillator of a geodetic-grade GNSS receiver and the stability of the receiver clock biases is determined. The time and frequency offsets of the oscillators are characterized with regard to the flight dynamics recorded by a navigation-grade inertial measurement unit. The results of the experiment show that the frequency stability of each oscillator is degraded by about at least one order of magnitude compared to the static case. Also, the two quartz oscillators show a significant g-sensitivity resulting in frequency shifts of − 1.2 × 10−9 and + 1.5 × 10−9, respectively, while the rubidium clocks are less sensitive, thus enabling receiver clock modeling and strengthening of the navigation performance even in high dynamics.
Seasonal changes in distribution and abundance of a local Corncrake population
Authors: Budka Michał , Kokociński Patryk , Bogawski Paweł , Nowak Maciej , Białas Joanna Teresa , Machura Maria 
Published: October 2020

AbstractMany bird species have experienced short- or long-term population declines. However, the mechanisms and reasons underlying such negative changes are often not fully understood, making it difficult to identify effective conservation measures to recover populations. In this study, we focused on local changes in the abundance and distribution of calling male Corncrakes Crex crex in relation to: (1) within- and between-season site fidelity of adult males, (2) spatial distribution of territories in consecutive years and (3) the effect of habitat conditions on population size. We counted the number of calling males at ten randomly selected study plots (1 km2) in 2014–2018. Additionally, males were caught and individually marked in years 2015–2017. We found significant between-year changes in Corncrake abundance, from a 34% decrease to a 21% increase. On average, 32% of males established territories in the same locations as males recorded in the previous year. Breeding site fidelity was very low, with only 2–5% of males recaptured in the following year. Males selected areas characterized by higher values of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index–higher values indicate more biomass) than on average within the study area. Population size in a particular year was significantly affected by the NDVI of the previous year but not by the NDVI in the current breeding season. We suppose that Corncrakes may exhibit a nomadic breeding behavior, and settle at territories when they encounter optimal habitat conditions. Moreover, as population size was negatively correlated with habitat conditions at the beginning of the previous breeding season, we suppose that local population changes may reflect more general trends in a whole population rather than local breeding success. Therefore, we highlight the need for better knowledge of Corncrake dispersal within the main European population and for the coordination of monitoring and conservation efforts, especially in those regions where most Corncrakes breed.
3D analysis of microvasculature in murine liver fibrosis models using synchrotron radiation-based microtomography
Authors: Wagner Willi L. , Föhst Sonja , Hock Jessica , Kim Yong Ook , Popov Yury , Schuppan Detlef , Schladitz Katja , Redenbach Claudia , Ackermann Maximilian 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCirrhosis describes the development of excess fibrous tissue around regenerative nodules in response to chronic liver injury and usually leads to irreversible organ damage and end-stage liver disease. During the development of cirrhosis, the formation of collagenous scar tissue is paralleled by a reorganization and remodeling of the hepatic vascular system. To date, macrovascular remodeling in various cirrhosis models has been examined using three-dimensional (3D) imaging modalities, while microvascular changes have been studied mainly by two-dimensional (2D) light microscopic and electron microscopic imaging. Here, we report on the application of high-resolution 3D synchrotron radiation-based microtomography (SRμCT) for the study of the sinusoidal and capillary blood vessel system in three murine models of advanced parenchymal and biliary hepatic fibrosis. SRμCT facilitates the characterization of microvascular architecture and identifies features of intussusceptive angiogenesis in progressive liver fibrosis in a non-destructive 3D manner.
Beyond privacy vs. health: a justification analysis of the contact-tracing apps debate in the Netherlands
Authors: Siffels Lotje Elizabeth 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn the Netherlands, as in many other nations, the government has proposed the use of a contact-tracing app as a means of helping to contain the spread of the corona virus. The discussion about the use of such an app has mostly been framed in terms of a tradeoff between privacy and public health. This research statement presents an analysis of the Dutch public debate on Corona-apps by using the framework of Orders of Worth by Boltanski and Thévenot (1991). It argues that this framework can help us to move beyond the dichotomy of privacy vs. public health by recognizing a plurality of conceptions of the common good in the debate about contact-tracing apps. This statement presents six orders of worth present in the Dutch debate:civic, domestic, vitality, market, industrialandproject,and argues that the identification of which common goods are at stake will contribute to discussions about the use of this technology from a standpoint with a richer ethical perspective.
Exact solutions and equi-dosing regimen regions for multi-dose pharmacokinetics models with transit compartments
Authors: Hof F. , Bridge L. J. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractCompartmental models which yield linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) provide common tools for pharmacokinetics (PK) analysis, with exact solutions for drug levels or concentrations readily obtainable for low-dimensional compartment models. Exact solutions enable valuable insights and further analysis of these systems. Transit compartment models are a popular semi-mechanistic approach for generalising simple PK models to allow for delayed kinetics, but computing exact solutions for multi-dosing inputs to transit compartment systems leading to different final compartments is nontrivial. Here, we find exact solutions for drug levels as functions of time throughout a linear transit compartment cascade followed by an absorption compartment and a central blood compartment, for the general case ofntransit compartments andMequi-bolus doses to the first compartment. We further show the utility of exact solutions to PK ODE models in finding constraints on equi-dosing regimen parameters imposed by a prescribed therapeutic range. This leads to the construction of equi-dosing regimen regions (EDRRs), providing new, novel visualisations which summarise the safe and effective dosing parameter space. EDRRs are computed for classical and transit compartment models with two- and three-dimensional parameter spaces, and are proposed as useful graphical tools for informing drug dosing regimen design.
An assessment of chlorophyll preservation in lake sediments using multiple analytical techniques applied to the annually laminated lake sediments of Nylandssjön
Authors: Rydberg Johan , Cooke Colin A. , Tolu Julie , Wolfe Alexander P. , Vinebrooke Rolf D. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractChlorophyll is frequently used as a proxy for autochthonous production in lakes. This use of chlorophyll concentrations in sediments to infer historical changes in lake primary production relies heavily on the assumption that preservation is sufficient to reflect the productivity in a meaningful way. In this study, we use a series of freeze cores from a lake with annually laminated sediments to assess how reliable down-core trends in chlorophyll are, and to what extent chlorophyll is degraded in the sediment. A striking consistency in the down-core chlorophyll trends in four sediment cores collected in different years (1983, 1992, 2002 and 2010) shows that the sediment preserves a consistent chlorophyll signal over longer timescales. However, there are also clear signs that diagenetic processes within the sediment affect the chlorophyll concentration in sediment layers younger than 10–15 years. This implies that care is needed when interpreting chlorophyll trends in recent sediments. Further, our data show that high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and visible reflectance spectroscopy (VRS) detect similar chlorophyll concentrations for recently dried samples. A third analytical technique, pyrolysis–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, which provides semi-quantitative values for chlorophyll, also produce a temporal trend that is highly correlated with data from the two quantitative techniques. For samples that have been stored dried at room temperature for several years there is, however, a large discrepancy between the two quantitative techniques. The VRS method is more robust with regards to degradation during storage, while HPLC results demonstrate clear storage effects.
Survey of indoor radon (Rn-222) entry and concentrations in different types of building in Kalisz, Poland
Authors: Bem H. , Janiak S. , Przybył B. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIndoor radon (222Rn) was surveyed in a total of 141 individual houses and apartments used precalibrated passive PicoRad Detectors. The radon activity in the soil gas around the dwellings was simultaneously measured. The arithmetic mean values of indoor radon concentrations for detached houses, old buildings (up to four-stories), prefabricated blocks of flats (mostly five stories) and high-rise residential buildings (10-stories) were:, 70.9; 46.5; 38.4, and 56.6 Bq m−3, respectively. The average arithmetic mean value for all measured rooms equals 51.8 Bq m−3. The calculated average effective dose from indoor radon for the local population was equal to 2.2 mSv.
The bodily-attitudinal theory of emotion
Authors: Mitchell Jonathan 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis paper provides an assessment of the bodily-attitudinal theory of emotions, according to which emotions are felt bodily attitudes of action readiness. After providing a reconstruction of the view and clarifying its central commitments two objections are considered (absence of bodily phenomenology and what kind of bodily awareness). An alternative object side interpretation of felt action readiness is then provided, which undermines the motivation for the bodily-attitudinal theory and creates problems for its claims concerning the content of emotional experience. The conclusion is that while the bodily-attitudinal theory marks out a distinctive proposal concerning the question of what emotions are, there remain significant issues which need addressing if it is to be a plausible competitor to existing theories of emotion.
Innovation in pharmaceutical R&D: mapping the research landscape
Authors: Romasanta Angelo Kenneth S. , van der Sijde Peter , van Muijlwijk-Koezen Jacqueline 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn response to the increasing number and breadth of innovation studies on the pharmaceutical industry, we mapped the literature to show the trends in recent research and to indicate areas for further research. In the first phase, we analyzed articles on the pharmaceutical industry published in innovation journals. We used these articles’ textual and citation data and applied hybrid cluster analysis. Three main clusters were produced based on the level of analysis innovation scholars had used to investigate the industry: macro, meso and micro. We describe the research topics within these clusters and show that, overall, innovation scholars increasingly focus on the meso-level, analyzing the relationships across different firms. This shift in interest toward the collaborative nature of drug discovery and development was also apparent in macro- and micro-level studies. To explore how this literature is used by scientists in the industry, our second phase involved analysis of the citing articles published in pharmaceutical journals. Using our findings, we propose research areas that can be further explored in order to create an engaged and better-integrated literature on pharmaceutical innovation.
Evolution of research topics in LIS between 1996 and 2019: an analysis based on latent Dirichlet allocation topic model
Authors: Han Xiaoyao 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis study investigated the evolution of library and information science (LIS) by analyzing research topics in LIS journal articles. The analysis is divided into five periods covering the years 1996–2019. Latent Dirichlet allocation modeling was used to identify underlying topics based on 14,035 documents. An improved data-selection method was devised in order to generate a dynamic journal list that included influential journals for each period. Results indicate that (a) library science has become less prevalent over time, as there are no top topic clusters relevant to library issues since the period 2000–2005; (b) bibliometrics, especially citation analysis, is highly stable across periods, as reflected by the stable subclusters and consistent keywords; and (c) information retrieval has consistently been the dominant domain with interests gradually shifting to model-based text processing. Information seeking and behavior is also a stable field that tends to be dispersed among various topics rather than presented as its own subject. Information systems and organizational activities have been continuously discussed and have developed a closer relationship with e-commerce. Topics that occurred only once have undergone a change of technological context from the networks and Internet to social media and mobile applications.
Effect of rapamycin on aging and age-related diseases—past and future
Authors: Selvarani Ramasamy , Mohammed Sabira , Richardson Arlan 
Published: October 2020

AbstractIn 2009, rapamycin was reported to increase the lifespan of mice when implemented later in life. This observation resulted in a sea-change in how researchers viewed aging. This was the first evidence that a pharmacological agent could have an impact on aging when administered later in life, i.e., an intervention that did not have to be implemented early in life before the negative impact of aging. Over the past decade, there has been an explosion in the number of reports studying the effect of rapamycin on various diseases, physiological functions, and biochemical processes in mice. In this review, we focus on those areas in which there is strong evidence for rapamycin’s effect on aging and age-related diseases in mice, e.g., lifespan, cardiac disease/function, central nervous system, immune system, and cell senescence. We conclude that it is time that pre-clinical studies be focused on taking rapamycin to the clinic, e.g., as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
Digital storytelling as a disciplinary literacy enhancement tool for EFL students
Authors: Chubko Nadezhda , Morris Julia E. , McKinnon David H. , Slater Eileen V. , Lummis Geoffrey W. 
Published: October 2020

AbstractThis research compared the process of disciplinary literacy acquisition of students who experienced two different pedagogical approaches to learning science, technology, engineering and mathematics through astronomy (STEM-A). The objective of this study was to explore the impact of a digital storytelling (DST) educational technology intervention in a STEM-A context on the process of disciplinary literacy acquisition of students who were learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The research was designed as a type IV case study with a sample of 30 students from Kyrgyzstan aged between 12 and 16 years. Data were collected from written responses to the astronomy diagnostic tests (ADT), which were coded against the structure of the observed learning outcomes (SOLO) and analysed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures on the occasion of testing. Data from the Australian sample, native speakers of English, (N = 328) were used as a baseline. The results showed a positive effect of the DST intervention on EFL students’ astronomy disciplinary literacy acquisition. The research contributes to the body of knowledge on educational technology by exemplifying how the DST teaching intervention could bridge the gap between EFL and non-EFL students’ disciplinary literacy acquisition in STEM areas.