bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts delirium after stroke
Authors: Guldolf Kaat , Vandervorst Fenne , Gens Robin , Ourtani Anissa , Scheinok Thomas , De Raedt Sylvie 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Background
Delirium is an underdiagnosed and possibly preventable complication in acute stroke and is linked to poor outcome. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a marker of systemic inflammation, is also associated with poor outcome after acute ischemic stroke.

Aim
To determine whether NLR is a predictor of post-stroke delirium (PSD).

Methods
We reviewed the UZ Brussel stroke database and included 514 patients with acute ischemic stroke within 24 hours from stroke onset between February 2009 and December 2014. The presence of delirium was evaluated by two raters based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria, using a retrospective chart review method. When no consensus was reached, a third evaluator was consulted. Patients were divided into two groups: those who developed delirium within the first week after stroke onset (n = 201; 39%) and those who did not (n = 313; 61%). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and multiple logistic regression analysis (MLRA) were used to identify predictors of PSD.

Results
MLRA showed that NLR (odds ratio (OR) 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04–1.26), age (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.03–1.07), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS; OR 1.14; 95% CI 1.10–1.18), premorbid modified Rankin Scale (mRS) (OR 1.35; 95% CI 1.05–1.74) and premorbid cognitive dysfunction (OR 3.16; 95% CI 1.26–7.92) predicted PSD. ROC curve of a prediction model including NLR, age, NIHSS and premorbid cognitive dysfunction showed an area under the curve of 0.84 (95% CI = 0.81–0.88).

Conclusions
Besides age, stroke severity, premorbid mRS and cognitive impairment, NLR is a predictor of PSD, even independent of the development of pneumonia or urinary tract infection.
Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention for Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Quasi-Experimental Pragmatic Trial
Authors: Panagopoulou Zacharo , Artemiadis Artemios K , Chrousos George P , Darviri Christina , Anagnostouli Maria C 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Objective
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system affecting patients’ well-being and quality of life. Pythagorean Self-Awareness Intervention (PSAI) is a novel non-pharmaceutical intervention with significant benefits both in MS and other chronic diseases. In this study, the longstanding effectiveness of PSAI was investigated.

Method
This was a two-arm quasi-experimental pragmatic trial in relapsing–remitting MS patients (23 in the PSAI and 21 in the control group). PSAI patients received an 8-week training period and then they performed PSAI at home for another 16 weeks. Assessments took place at baseline, 8 weeks, and 24 weeks. These included cognition, fatigue, perceived stress, and hair cortisol.

Results
Significant group × time interactions favoring PSAI were found during the first 8-week period for information processing speed, fatigue, and perceived stress. However, only verbal memory was found to be significantly improved in the PSAI group during the 24-week follow-up period. There were no significant group × time differences with respect to hair cortisol. No side effects were noted and compliance was excellent.

Conclusions
PSAI was mostly effective during the first 8-week training period. Its benefits worn out during the non-training period, albeit we observed a delayed significant improvement of verbal memory. Our findings will help to further refine the technique, either by extending the training period and/or by including booster sessions, throughout the PSAI treatment. This study provided Class III evidence for PSAI.
Introduction to the Special Issue Forum “Digital Cultures of South Asia: Inequalities, Informatization, Infrastructures”
Authors: Chadha Kalyani , Kumar Sangeet , Parameswaran Radhika 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
This short introductory essay first lays out the broader map of the digital media ecosystem in South Asia and then establishes the importance of this region in the global south--with its growing networked population--for understanding the future trajectories of global digital culture. Just as any other part of the world that is gradually getting on board the digital bandwagon, the South Asian digital landscape shows signs of both ingenuity, innovation and progressive potential as well as unchecked power, surveillance and exploitation. Our introduction uses the framework of digital culture's promises and its challenges to organize the collection of essays in this special forum.
Sustainable food systems: do agricultural economists have a role?
Authors: Fresco Louise O , Geerling-Eiff Floor , Hoes Anne-Charlotte , van Wassenaer Lan , Poppe Krijn J , van der Vorst Jack G A J 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Are agricultural economists losing their relevance and significance in research on sustainable food systems? Could the world thrive without the contribution of agricultural economists? How could agricultural economists have more impact in addressing the grand challenges of our time? In this paper we address these questions by reflecting on the field of agricultural economics and re-examining the role and impact of agricultural economists. We argue that agricultural economists could raise their impact through better collaboration with other disciplines, stakeholder engagement and the adoption of a more systematic approach to the grand challenges, the innovation pathways and their disrupting developments in the data economy. We outline key topics in the economics of food systems on which agricultural economists could make major contributions and key areas in which methodological innovations are needed.
Daily Reciprocity and Well-Being: A Diary Study of Intergenerational Support Between Mothers and Adult Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Jiang Da , Fung Helene H 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Objectives
Intergenerational support between aging parents and adult children is important to the well-being of both groups, especially during public health emergencies. However, few previous studies have examined the effects of daily support between parents and children on their well-being during public health emergencies. To fill in this gap, we examined the association between daily support and well-being in mothers and their adult children during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Methods
Seventy-seven pairs of mothers (aged 44–80 years, M = 53.78, SD = 9.57) and adult children (aged 18–54 years, M = 26.61, SD = 9.46; 19% male) in mainland China participated in a 14-day daily diary study during a stay-at-home period. All of the participants reported the daily emotional and instrumental support they had given to and received from their mother/child each day for 14 consecutive days. Their daily positive affect and negative affect were also measured.

Results
Receiving more support on a given day was associated with providing more support on that day, suggesting a daily reciprocity. This finding was consistent across mothers and children. A lower level of being underbenefitted on a day was associated with better daily well-being of children, but not that of mothers. Providing support, but not receiving support, was positively associated with mothers’ daily well-being, whereas receiving support, but not providing support, was positively associated with children’s daily well-being.

Discussion
This study provides evidence of daily intergenerational support during a global public health emergency. The findings shed light on the importance of daily reciprocity and its implications for well-being.
Stress Responses across the Scales of Life: Toward a Universal Theory of Biological Stress
Authors: Wasserman Michael D , Wing Boswell , Bickford Nate , Hobbs Kimberly , Dijkstra Peter , Carr James A 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Although biological systems are more complex and can actively respond to their environment, an effective entry point to the development of a universal theory of biological stress is the physical concepts of stress and strain. If you apply stress to the end of a beam of steel, the strain will accumulate within that steel beam. If the stress is weak then the strain will disappear when the force is removed and the beam will return to its original state of form and functionality. If the stress is more severe, then the strain becomes permanent and the beam will be deformed, potentially losing some degree of functionality. In extremely stressful situations, the beam will break and lose most or all of its original functional capabilities. Although this stress–strain theory applies to the abiotic, stress and strain are also rules of life and directly relate to the form and function of living organisms. The main difference is that life can react and adjust to stress and strain to maintain homeostasis within a range of limits. Here, we summarize the rules of stress and strain in living systems ranging from microbes to multicellular organisms to ecosystems with the goal to identify common features that may underlie a universal biological theory of stress. We then propose to establish a range of experimental, observational, and analytical approaches to study stress across scales, including synthetic microbial communities that mimic many of the essential characteristics of living systems, thereby enabling a universal theory of biological stress to be experimentally validated without the constraints of timescales, ethics, or cost found when studying other species or scales of life. Although the range of terminology, theory, and methodology used to study stress and strain across the scales of life presents a formidable challenge to creating a universal theory of biological stress, working toward such a theory that informs our understanding of the simultaneous and interconnected unicellular, multicellular, organismal, and ecosystem stress responses is critical as it will improve our ability to predict how living systems respond to change, thus informing solutions to current and future environmental and human health challenges.
Transparent Uniforms
Authors: Niv Ady 
Published: May 2021

Abstract
Reserve forces constitute an important component in most armies and play a crucial role in times of war. Notwithstanding, the legal status of reservists, when mobilized or demobilized, and their possible detention or classification as a military target according to international law has rarely been discussed. It is only in the last case before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prlić et al., that the Appeals Chamber had to assess whether the opposing party could detain men only because they were mobilized. The aim of this article is to remedy this lacuna, to discuss the status of reservists in international humanitarian law and to analyse the possible legal framework for detaining and targeting — both active and non-active — reservists.
Giant leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava necessitating extended liver resection: A case report and review of the literature
Authors: Silverman Jacob , Pencovich Niv , Mayer Chen , Volkov Alexander , Eshkenazi Rony , Nachmany Ido 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare malignant tumour of smooth muscle origin. It commonly presents with non-specific symptoms including abdominal pain, distention, and lower extremity edema. Surgical resection with macroscopically clear margins is the only potential curative treatment for the disease. Here we present the case of a previously healthy 38-year-old woman with a subacute one-month increase of a four-year slowly progressive right sided abdominal pain and back pain. Imaging revealed a 14.5x12x15cm mass in the right hepatic lobe causing mass effect on adjacent abdominal and retroperitoneal organs, and involving the retrohepatic IVC. En-bloc resection of the right hemi-liver, most of segment four, the caudate lobe, and approximately a 10 cm section of the retrohepatic IVC, along with IVC reconstruction, was performed. Histologic examination revealed the diagnosis of a high grade leiomyosarcoma.
Morphological classification of galaxies with deep learning: comparing 3-way and 4-way CNNs
Authors: Cavanagh Mitchell K , Bekki Kenji , Groves Brent A 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT
Classifying the morphologies of galaxies is an important step in understanding their physical properties and evolutionary histories. The advent of large-scale surveys has hastened the need to develop techniques for automated morphological classification. We train and test several convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures to classify the morphologies of galaxies in both a 3-class (elliptical, lenticular, and spiral) and a 4-class (+irregular/miscellaneous) schema with a data set of 14 034 visually classified SDSS images. We develop a new CNN architecture that outperforms existing models in both 3-way and 4-way classifications, with overall classification accuracies of 83 and 81 per cent, respectively. We also compare the accuracies of 2-way/binary classifications between all four classes, showing that ellipticals and spirals are most easily distinguished (&gt;98 per cent accuracy), while spirals and irregulars are hardest to differentiate (78 per cent accuracy). Through an analysis of all classified samples, we find tentative evidence that misclassifications are physically meaningful, with lenticulars misclassified as ellipticals tending to be more massive, among other trends. We further combine our binary CNN classifiers to perform a hierarchical classification of samples, obtaining comparable accuracies (81 per cent) to the direct 3-class CNN, but considerably worse accuracies in the 4-way case (65 per cent). As an additional verification, we apply our networks to a small sample of Galaxy Zoo images, obtaining accuracies of 92, 82, and 77 per cent for the binary, 3-way, and 4-way classifications, respectively.
Predicting exoplanet mass from radius and incident flux: a Bayesian mixture model
Authors: Ma Qi , Ghosh Sujit K 
Published: May 2021

ABSTRACT
The relationship between mass and radius (M–R relation) is the key for inferring the planetary compositions and thus valuable for the studies of formation and migration models. However, the M–R relation alone is not enough for planetary characterization due to the dependence of it on other confounding variables. This paper provides a non-trivial extension of the M–R relation by including the incident flux as an additional variable. By using Bayesian hierarchical modelling (BHM) that leverages the flexibility of finite mixture models, a probabilistic mass–radius–flux relationship (M–R–F relation) is obtained based on a sample of 319 exoplanets. We find that the flux has non-negligible impact on the M–R relation, while such impact is strongest for hot Jupiters. On the population level, the planets with higher level of flux tend to be denser, and high flux could trigger significant mass loss for plants with radii larger than 13R⊕. As a result, failing to account for the flux in mass prediction would cause systematic over- or underestimation. With the recent advent of computing power, although a lot of complex statistical models can be fitted using Monte Carlo methods, it has largely remained illusive how to validate these complex models when the data are observed with large measurement errors. We present two novel methods to examine model assumptions, which can be used not only for the models we present in this paper but can also be adapted for other statistical models.
MO075KLF11 DEFICIENCY ENHANCES CHEMOKINE GENERATION AND INJURY IN MURINE UNILATERAL URETERIC OBSTRUCTION
Authors: DeLorenzo Silvana , Grande Joseph 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Background and Aims
Kruppel-like factors (KLFs) comprise a family of zinc-finger transcription factors that play a critical role in development, proliferation, and regeneration following injury. There are over 17 members of this family; recent studies have shown that KLF family members regulate podocyte differentiation, preservation of the glomerular filtration barrier, and regulation of mitochondrial function. However, a role for KLF11 in renal pathophysiology has not been previously established.

Method
Wild-type (WT) and KLF11 knockout (KO) mice were subjected to unilateral ureteric obstruction (UUO), a well-established model of renal inflammation and fibrosis; controls included mice subjected to manipulation of the ureter without ligation. Kidneys were harvested after 9 days (n=8 animals per group). Semiquantitative histopathologic analysis of renal atrophy, fibrosis, and inflammation was performed in a blinded fashion. Gene expression analysis was performed on renal cortex employing the Pathway Detect RNA array and RNASeq.

Results
In UUO, renal atrophy was more severe in KLF11 KO mice than WT mice (p&lt;0.001). Deposition of collagen, as assessed by quantitative analysis of Sirus Red stained sections, was greater in KLF11 KO mice, compared to WT mice subjected to UUO; COL3A1 expression was also increased (p&lt;0.05). Atrophy was associated with an increase in F4/80+ (p&lt;0.01) and CD206+ macrophages (p&lt;0.05), but not CD3+ T cells in KLF11 KO vs. WT mice. Induction of CC chemokines, including CCL2, CCL5, CCL7, CCL12, and CCL2 as well as CCR2 was significantly higher in KLF11 KO versus WT mice subjected to UUO (all p&lt;0.001). Expression of NF-kB (p&lt;0.01) and TNF alpha (p&lt;0.01), but not IL-1 beta, IL-6, or IL-10 were significantly higher in KLF11 KO than WT mice with UUO. Expression of TGF-beta 1, Smad2, and Smad3 were also higher in KLF11 KO mice than WT mice with UUO (p&lt;0.05).

Conclusion
Renal injury in UUO is exacerbated in KLF11 KO mice, compared to WT mice. Injury is associated with increased macrophage influx and production of pro-inflammatory chemokines. Future studies will determine how KLF11 deficiency directs transcription of pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic genes.
MO076REGULATION OF DIFFERENTIAL CELLULAR RESPONSE TO OXIDATIVE STIMULI IN SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
Authors: Ene Corina-Daniela , Penescu Mircea , Georgescu Simona Roxana , Tampa Mircea , Nicolae Ilinca 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Background and Aims
Interaction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with lipids, proteins, nucleic acids and hydro carbonates promotes acute and chronic tissue damage, mediates immunomodulation and triggers autoimmunity in systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) patients. The aim of the study was to determine the pathophysiological mechanisms of the oxidative stress-related damage and molecular mechanisms to counteract oxidative stimuli in lupus nephritis.

Method
Our study included 82 volunteers with SLE: 38 SLE volunteers with lupus nephritis (LN group) and 44 SLE volunteers without renal impairment (non-LN group) and a control group of 40 healthy volunteers. LN was diagnosed by histological exam (optic microscopy, electronic microscopy and immunofluorescence). Disease activity was measured by systemic SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), urinary protein/creatinine ration, anti-dsDNA, C3, C4 and urinary β2-microglobulin.
In the present paper, we evaluated in serum:

Results
We detected high lipid peroxidation, elevated oxidative DNA damage, excess accumulation of reactive carbonylic compounds, important oxidation of carbohydrates, disulphide bonds formation and high nitrotyrosination with statistically significant differences between groups, when compared LN and non-LN groups with control group.
When compared LN and non-LN groups, our results showed:
3-Nitrotyrosine levels, the decrease of total and native serum thiols, pentosidine levels, sRAGE level and OGG1 activity correlated with disease activity markers in both LN and non-LN groups, while AGE correlated with disease activity only in non-LN group.

Conclusion
The cellular response to oxidative stimuli in SLE is concreted in the amplification of oxidative degradation of lipids, proteins, nucleic acid, hydro carbonates and in alteration of endogenous strategies for suppression /modulating oxidative stress. The defective DNA repair mechanism via OGG1 and the reduced regulatory effect of sRAGE in activation AGE-RAGE axis in LN group versus non-LN could explain alteration of renal architecture and development of renal injury.
MO077AUTOMATIC SEGMENTATION OF ARTERIES, ARTERIOLES AND GLOMERULI IN NATIVE BIOPSIES WITH THROMBOTIC MICROANGIOPATHY AND OTHER VASCULAR DISEASES
Authors: Lutnick Brendon , Moos Katharina , Seshan Surya V , Kers Jesper , Roelofs Joris , Hellmich Martin , Sciascia Savino , Cicalese Pietro Antonio , Ginley Brandon , Sarder Pinaki , Becker Jan Ulrich 
Published: May 2021

Abstract

Background and Aims
Thrombotic microangiopathies (TMAs) manifest themselves in arteries, arterioles and glomeruli. Nephropathologists need to differentiate TMAs from mimickers like hypertensive nephropathy and vasculitis which can be problematic due to interobserver disagreement and poorly defined diagnostic criteria over a wide spectrum of morphological changes with partial overlap.
As a first step towards a machine learning analysis of TMAs, we developed a computer vision model for segmenting arteries, arterioles and glomeruli in TMA and mimickers.

Method
We manually segmented n=939 arteries, n=6,023 arterioles, n=4,507 glomeruli on whole slide images (WSIs) of 34 renal biopsies and their HE, PAS, trichrome and Jones sections (19 TMA, 11 hypertensive nephropathy, 4 vasculitis with preglomerular involvement). As a segmentation model we used DeepLab V3, pretrained on 61,734 segmented glomeruli from 768 WSIs. 58 randomly chosen WSIs served as the intrainstitutional holdout testing set after training of the model on the remaining slides. Automatic segmentation accuracies were reported as Cohen’s kappa, intersection over union (IoU) and Matthews correlation coefficient (MCC) against the nephropathologist’s segmentation as ground truth.

Results
Over all classes (artery, arteriole, glomerulus) Cohen’s kappa was 0.86.
IoU was 0.716 for artery, 0.491 for arteriole and 0.829 for glomerulus.
MCC was 0.837 for artery, 0.664 for arteriole and 0.907 for glomerulus.

Conclusion
We achieved good automatic segmentation of arteries, arterioles and glomeruli, even with severe pathological distortion on routine histopathological slides. We will further improve this segmentation technology in order to enable the bulk analysis of these descisive tissue compartments in large clinicopathological repositories of native kidney biopsies with TMA using supervised and unsupervised machine learning algorithms.