bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Impact of Surgical Boot Camp and Subsequent Repetitive Practice on the Surgical Skills and Confidence of Residents
Authors: Wang Wei , Ma Hucheng , Ren Haozhen , Wang Zhongxia , Mao Liang , He Ningning 
Published: July 2020

AbstractBackgroundBoot camp can enable residents to acquire surgical skills and confidence, but they can lose these skills over time if they do not use them. The purpose of this study was to explore whether boot camp and subsequent repetitive practice could strengthen residents’ clinical skills and self‐confidence.MethodsThis is a comparative study of surgical residents who were enrolled in our institution from 2016 to 2017. The residents in the experimental group (enrolled in 2017) received boot camp training and a year of repetitive practice. The control group (enrolled in 2016) only received routine residency training. The rotation assessment pass rates of the two groups during the first year of the residency training were compared. A survey was conducted at different points in time to investigate the influence of boot camp and repetitive practice on the confidence of the residents.ResultsThe assessment pass rate of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The residents’ confidence in themselves improved significantly after the boot camp, and it was comparable to that of the residents in the control group after their first year of residency. The level of self‐confidence of the experimental group was further improved after repetitive practice. Finally, residents in the experimental group received better evaluations by their colleagues than the control group received.ConclusionsThis study showed that boot camp can improve the surgical skills and confidence of residents and that repetitive practice can further strengthen them. Residents in the experimental group developed their self‐confidence in boot camp, and it increased after repetitive practice.
Improved Outcome Prediction Across Data Sources Through Robust Parameter Tuning
Authors: Ellenbach Nicole , Boulesteix Anne-Laure , Bischl Bernd , Unger Kristian , Hornung Roman 
Published: July 2020

AbstractIn many application areas, prediction rules trained based on high-dimensional data are subsequently applied to make predictions for observations from other sources, but they do not always perform well in this setting. This is because data sets from different sources can feature (slightly) differing distributions, even if they come from similar populations. In the context of high-dimensional data and beyond, most prediction methods involve one or several tuning parameters. Their values are commonly chosen by maximizing the cross-validated prediction performance on the training data. This procedure, however, implicitly presumes that the data to which the prediction rule will be ultimately applied, follow the same distribution as the training data. If this is not the case, less complex prediction rules that slightly underfit the training data may be preferable. Indeed, a tuning parameter does not only control the degree of adjustment of a prediction rule to the training data, but also, more generally, the degree of adjustment to thedistribution ofthe training data. On the basis of this idea, in this paper we compare various approaches including new procedures for choosing tuning parameter values that lead to better generalizing prediction rules than those obtained based on cross-validation. Most of these approaches use an external validation data set. In our extensive comparison study based on a large collection of 15 transcriptomic data sets, tuning on external data and robust tuning with a tuned robustness parameter are the two approaches leading to better generalizing prediction rules.
Postmortem age estimation via DNA methylation analysis in buccal swabs from corpses in different stages of decomposition—a “proof of principle” study
Authors: Koop Barbara Elisabeth , Mayer Felix , Gündüz Tanju , Blum Jacqueline , Becker Julia , Schaffrath Judith , Wagner Wolfgang , Han Yang , Boehme Petra , Ritz-Timme Stefanie 
Published: July 2020

AbstractAge estimation based on the analysis of DNA methylation patterns has become a focus of forensic research within the past few years. However, there is little data available regarding postmortem DNA methylation analysis yet, and literature mainly encompasses analysis of blood from corpses without any signs of decomposition. It is not entirely clear yet which other types of specimen are suitable for postmortem epigenetic age estimation, and if advanced decomposition may affect methylation patterns of CpG sites. In living persons, buccal swabs are an easily accessible source of DNA for epigenetic age estimation. In this work, the applicability of this approach (buccal swabs as source of DNA) under different postmortem conditions was tested. Methylation levels of PDE4C were investigated in buccal swab samples collected from 73 corpses (0–90 years old; mean: 51.2) in different stages of decomposition. Moreover, buccal swab samples from 142 living individuals (0–89 years old; mean 41.2) were analysed. As expected, methylation levels exhibited a high correlation with age in living individuals (training set: r2 = 0.87, validation set: r2 = 0.85). This was also the case in postmortem samples (r2 = 0.90), independent of the state of decomposition. Only in advanced putrified cases with extremely low DNA amounts, epigenetic age estimation was not possible. In conclusion, buccal swabs are a suitable and easy to collect source for DNA methylation analysis as long as sufficient amounts of DNA are present.
Ophthalmic Thelazia callipaeda infections: first feline and new canine imported cases in Germany
Authors: L. M. R. Silva , Spoerel S. , Wiesner L. , Klein M. , Pantchev N. , Taubert A. , Hermosilla C. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe first case of feline ocular Thelazia callipaeda infection and two new canine imported infections in West Germany are here described. The three animals had a history of recent travel to/from other countries. The young adult cat imported from Spain presented an intermittent unilateral ocular discharge. During in-depth ophthalmic examination, a single alive nematode was removed from the conjunctival compartment of the affected eye. Referring to the canine cases, an adult female dog originated from Kenya presented epiphora and mucous whitish-grey discharge of the right eye. During flushing of the nasolacrimal duct two small, thin and long nematodes were removed. Furthermore, a male Borzoi racing dog with regular visit to racing tracks in different countries presented ocular mucous discharge. At ophthalmologic examination, two transparent-whitish vital nematodes were removed. All nematode specimens of the three cases were morphologically identified as adult T. callipaeda parasites. The animals were treated orally with milbemycin oxime (2.0 mg/kg; cat) or milbemycin oxime/praziquantel (0.5 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg; dogs) twice with 1-week interval resulting in complete resolution of symptoms. The repeated introduction of patent T. callipaeda-infected animals, especially from southern and eastern endemic countries, will ease the establishment of ophthalmic thelaziosis in Northern Europe. The male fruit fly, Phortica variegata, an intermediate host of T. callipaeda, is endemic within European countries. Considering the clinical and zoonotic relevance of ophthalmic thelaziosis, enhanced disease awareness of European medical and veterinarian doctors and in-depth eye examination for proper detection of T. callipaeda are crucial for appropriate anthelmintic treatments and to limit spreading of the infection.
On the number of excursion sets of planar Gaussian fields
Authors: Beliaev Dmitry , McAuley Michael , Muirhead Stephen 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThe Nazarov–Sodin constant describes the average number of nodal set components of smooth Gaussian fields on large scales. We generalise this to a functional describing the corresponding number of level set components for arbitrary levels. Using results from Morse theory, we express this functional as an integral over the level densities of different types of critical points, and as a result deduce the absolute continuity of the functional as the level varies. We further give upper and lower bounds showing that the functional is at least bimodal for certain isotropic fields, including the important special case of the random plane wave.
Finnish National Phenological Network 1997–2017: from observations to trend detection
Authors: Helama Samuli , Tolvanen Anne , Karhu Jouni , Poikolainen Jarmo , Kubin Eero 
Published: July 2020

AbstractPlant phenological dataset collected at 42 sites across the mainland of Finland and covering the years 1997–2017 is presented and analysed for temporal trends. The dataset of n = 16,257 observations represents eleven plant species and fifteen phenological stages and results in forty different variables, i.e. phenophases. Trend analysis was carried out for n = 808 phenological time-series that contained at least 10 observations over the 21-year study period. A clear signal of advancing spring and early-summer phenology was detected, 3.4 days decade−1, demonstrated by a high proportion of negative trends for phenophases occurring in April through June. Latitudinal correlation indicated stronger signal of spring and early-summer phenology towards the northern part of the study region. The autumn signal was less consistent and showed larger within-site variations than those observed in other seasons. More than 60% of the dates based on single tree/monitoring square were exactly the same as the averages from multiple trees/monitoring squares within the site. In particular, the reliability of data on autumn phenology was increased by multiple observations per site. The network is no longer active.
Sparse evolutionary deep learning with over one million artificial neurons on commodity hardware
Authors: Liu Shiwei , Mocanu Decebal Constantin , Matavalam Amarsagar Reddy Ramapuram , Pei Yulong , Pechenizkiy Mykola 
Published: July 2020

AbstractArtificial neural networks (ANNs) have emerged as hot topics in the research community. Despite the success of ANNs, it is challenging to train and deploy modern ANNs on commodity hardware due to the ever-increasing model size and the unprecedented growth in the data volumes. Particularly for microarray data, the very high dimensionality and the small number of samples make it difficult for machine learning techniques to handle. Furthermore, specialized hardware such as graphics processing unit (GPU) is expensive. Sparse neural networks are the leading approaches to address these challenges. However, off-the-shelf sparsity-inducing techniques either operate from a pretrained model or enforce the sparse structure via binary masks. The training efficiency of sparse neural networks cannot be obtained practically. In this paper, we introduce a technique allowing us to train truly sparse neural networks with fixed parameter count throughout training. Our experimental results demonstrate that our method can be applied directly to handle high-dimensional data, while achieving higher accuracy than the traditional two-phase approaches. Moreover, we have been able to create truly sparse multilayer perceptron models with over one million neurons and to train them on a typical laptop without GPU (https://github.com/dcmocanu/sparse-evolutionary-artificial-neural-networks/tree/master/SET-MLP-Sparse-Python-Data-Structures), this being way beyond what is possible with any state-of-the-art technique.
Towards Massively Parallel Computations in Algebraic Geometry
Authors: Böhm Janko , Decker Wolfram , Frühbis-Krüger Anne , Pfreundt Franz-Josef , Rahn Mirko , Ristau Lukas 
Published: July 2020

AbstractIntroducing parallelism and exploring its use is still a fundamental challenge for the computer algebra community. In high-performance numerical simulation, on the other hand, transparent environments for distributed computing which follow the principle of separating coordination and computation have been a success story for many years. In this paper, we explore the potential of using this principle in the context of computer algebra. More precisely, we combine two well-established systems: The mathematics we are interested in is implemented in the computer algebra system Singular, whose focus is on polynomial computations, while the coordination is left to the workflow management system GPI-Space, which relies on Petri nets as its mathematical modeling language and has been successfully used for coordinating the parallel execution (autoparallelization) of academic codes as well as for commercial software in application areas such as seismic data processing. The result of our efforts is a major step towards a framework for massively parallel computations in the application areas of Singular, specifically in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. As a first test case for this framework, we have modeled and implemented a hybrid smoothness test for algebraic varieties which combines ideas from Hironaka’s celebrated desingularization proof with the classical Jacobian criterion. Applying our implementation to two examples originating from current research in algebraic geometry, one of which cannot be handled by other means, we illustrate the behavior of the smoothness test within our framework and investigate how the computations scale up to 256 cores.
Moment Identifiability of Homoscedastic Gaussian Mixtures
Authors: Agostini Daniele , Améndola Carlos , Ranestad Kristian 
Published: July 2020

AbstractWe consider the problem of identifying a mixture of Gaussian distributions with the same unknown covariance matrix by their sequence of moments up to certain order. Our approach rests on studying the moment varieties obtained by taking special secants to the Gaussian moment varieties, defined by their natural polynomial parametrization in terms of the model parameters. When the order of the moments is at most three, we prove an analogue of the Alexander–Hirschowitz theorem classifying all cases of homoscedastic Gaussian mixtures that produce defective moment varieties. As a consequence, identifiability is determined when the number of mixed distributions is smaller than the dimension of the space. In the two-component setting, we provide a closed form solution for parameter recovery based on moments up to order four, while in the one-dimensional case we interpret the rank estimation problem in terms of secant varieties of rational normal curves.
Quality is in the eye of the stakeholders: what do professional subtitlers and viewers think about subtitling?
Authors: Szarkowska Agnieszka , Díaz Cintas Jorge , Gerber-Morón Olivia 
Published: July 2020

AbstractQuality is a rather slippery concept, and its assessment in subtitling can be a challenging task, as its appreciation can easily vary depending on the different stakeholders involved in the production and reception of subtitles. In this paper, we evaluate quality indicators in subtitling as perceived by professional subtitlers and viewers. After exploring the various subtitle parameters that can have an impact on the quality of the end product (such as line breaks, synchronisation, display rates), we present the results of two qualitative studies conducted with professional subtitlers and subtitle viewers with different audiovisual backgrounds. The results yield some similarities and discrepancies, particularly in the way in which the strategy of condensation is perceived by the two groups, and they also help delineate the subtitle parameters that should be taken into consideration in order to improve the creative process as well as the reception of subtitles.
Die Europäische Union in der Corona-Krise
Authors:   ZG Überblick
Published: July 2020

ZusammenfassungDie Corona-Krise hat alle Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union getroffen — allerdings einige früher und härter als andere. Nun soll ein immens großer Rettungsschirm aufgespannt werden, über dessen Finanzierung, Konditionen und mögliche Auflagen die EU-Mitglieder noch streiten. Auch die Ebenen, auf der die Maßnahmen organisiert werden sollen, sind noch nicht ausbalanciert. Welche Bedeutung kommt dabei der nationalen, welche der supranationalen Ebene zu? Geht es vor allem um die Europäische Währungsunion oder um die gesamte EU? Solidarisches Verhalten gebietet nicht allein die europäische Idee, sondern auch die ökonomische Notwendigkeit, da die Mitgliedstaaten über Lieferketten stark miteinander verflochten sind.
Effekte des Mindestlohns auf die Arbeitszeit
Authors: Pusch Toralf , Seifert Hartmut , Santoro Chiara 
Published: July 2020

ZusammenfassungZur Evaluation des gesetzlichen Mindestlohns liegen fünf Jahre nach seiner Einführung zahlreiche fundierte Analysen vor. Die Auswirkungen des Mindestlohns auf die Arbeitszeit haben dabei eine besondere Relevanz, da sie die Einkommensentwicklung und das Arbeitsvolumen im Niedriglohnsektor beeinflussen. Vor diesem Hintergrund bietet dieser Beitrag eine aktuelle Analyse mit dem bisher wenig verwendeten und für die Untersuchung des Mindestlohns besonders geeigneten PASS-Datensatz des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung. Es zeigt sich, dass Arbeitszeitverkürzungen vor allem bei geringfügig Beschäftigten und bei Beziehern von Sozialtransfers aufgetreten sind, was teilweise auf eine Reaktion des Arbeitsangebots zurückzuführen sein dürfte.
Investitionen und Konsum: wirtschaftspolitische Handlungsoptionen zur Jahresmitte 2020
Authors: Hüther Michael 
Published: July 2020

ZusammenfassungDer historisch einmalige Einbruch der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Leistungen in der Corona-Krise macht wirtschaftspolitische Maßnahmen dringend erforderlich. Wenn die Maßnahmen sich auf die Nachfrageseite richten, müssen sie mit dem richtigen Timing, zielgenau und befristet gestaltet sein. Die Lenkungswirkung sollte dabei in den Hintergrund treten. Ein Maßnahmenkatalog, der von Steuersenkungen bis hin zu Direktzahlungen reicht, ist sinnvoll.
Corona-Krise: die transformative Rezession
Authors: Hutter Christian , Weber Enzo 
Published: July 2020

ZusammenfassungMit der Corona-Krise nimmt die Arbeitslosigkeit trotz aller Gegenmaßnahmen in Deutschland zu. In früheren Rezessionen hat sich gerade die Arbeitslosigkeit Geringqualifizierter verfestigt. Heute zeichnet sich ab, dass der technologische Wandel gerade auch mittlere Qualifikationen betrifft. Um Verfestigung zu vermeiden, ist es wichtig, Neueinstellungen zu fördern, Qualifizierung zu unterstützen und berufliche Umorientierung zu ermöglichen.
Elevated IL-22 in psoriasis plays an anti-apoptotic role in keratinocytes through mediating Bcl-xL/Bax
Authors: Wang Bo , Han Dan , Li Fei , Hou Weikun , Wang Lijuan , Meng Liesu , Mou Kuanhou , Lu Shemin , Zhu Wenhua , Zhou Yan 
Published: July 2020

AbstractIL-22 is known to mediate inflammation in psoriasis, while IL-22 binding protein (IL-22BP) binds IL-22 to suppress IL-22 signaling. However, the function of IL-22 in regulating apoptosis in psoriasis remains poorly understood. In this study, we found that IL-22/IL-22R1 in lesional skin and IL-22 in serum from psoriatic patients were highly upregulated compared with healthy controls, while IL-22BP was not changed. Correlations between IL-22/IL-22R1 levels and the thickness of psoriatic lesions suggested that IL-22 might positively regulate abnormal hyperplasia in psoriasis. Apoptotic keratinocytes were increased only in stratum corneum, but not in spinous and basal layers of psoriasis. Moreover, IL-22 promoted cell viability in human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs). The apoptosis induced by TNF-α and IFN-γ was inhibited in HEKs treated with IL-22, since that IL-22 upregulated Bcl-xL and downregulated Bax production in HEKs in the presence of TNF-α and IFN-γ. In addition, IL-22BP could counteract the anti-apoptotic effect of IL-22. Our finding demonstrates that IL-22 might play an anti-apoptosis role on keratinocytes to balance cell proliferation and apoptosis in psoriatic epidermis.
Clinical decision trees support systematic evaluation of multidisciplinary team recommendations
Authors: Hendriks Mathijs P. , Verbeek Xander A. A. M. , van Manen Jeannette G. , van der Heijden Sannah E. , Go Shirley H. L. , Gooiker Gea A. , van Vegchel Thijs , Siesling Sabine , Jager Agnes 
Published: July 2020

Abstract
Purpose
EUSOMA’s recommendation that “each patient has to be fully informed about each step in the diagnostic and therapeutic pathway” could be supported by guideline-based clinical decision trees (CDTs). The Dutch breast cancer guideline has been modeled into CDTs (www.oncoguide.nl). Prerequisites for adequate CDT usage are availability of necessary patient data at the time of decision-making and to consider all possible treatment alternatives provided in the CDT.

Methods
This retrospective single-center study evaluated 394 randomly selected female patients with non-metastatic breast cancer between 2012 and 2015. Four pivotal CDTs were selected. Two researchers analyzed patient records to determine to which degree patient data required per CDT were available at the time of multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting and how often multiple alternatives were actually reported.

Results
The four selected CDTs were indication for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, preoperative and adjuvant systemic treatment, and immediate breast reconstruction. For 70%, 13%, 97% and 13% of patients, respectively, all necessary data were available. The two most frequent underreported data-items were “clinical M-stage” (87%) and “assessable mammography” (28%). Treatment alternatives were reported by MDTs in 32% of patients regarding primary treatment and in 28% regarding breast reconstruction.

Conclusion
Both the availability of data in patient records essential for guideline-based recommendations and the reporting of possible treatment alternatives of the investigated CDTs were low. To meet EUSOMA’s requirements, information that is supposed to be implicitly known must be explicated by MDTs. Moreover, MDTs have to adhere to clear definitions of data-items in their reporting.
The unified model of task-specific motivation and teachers’ motivation to learn about teaching and learning supportive modes of ICT use
Authors: de Brabander Cornelis J. , Glastra Folke J. 
Published: July 2020

AbstractThis study explored the readiness of teachers to learn about learning and teaching supportive modes of ICT use with the lens of the Unified Model of Task-specific Motivation (UMTM). According to the UMTM readiness for action is driven by feelings of activities and thoughts about the value of consequences of activities, which both can be positive and negative, and which in turn are influenced by aspects of autonomy and competence, by social relatedness, and by subjective norm. The twofold goal of this study was to test the merits of the model in general and for ICT integration in education in particular. A sample of 282 teachers provided answers about different aspects of their motivation to learn about the two types of ICT use. There were some differences between these two types of learning activities, but for both, thoughts about the value of the consequences of the activities were more important than feelings about them. Furthermore, although sense of competence was relatively more important for leaning about learning supportive ICT use than for learning about teaching supportive ICT use, teachers’ sense of autonomy, a variable that is completely ignored in research on ICT integration, was in general far more important for learning about ICT use than sense of competence.