bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The impact of COVID-19 related lockdown measures on self-reported psychopathology and health-related quality of life in German adolescents
Authors: Koenig Julian , Kohls Elisabeth , Moessner Markus , Lustig Sophia , Bauer Stephanie , Becker Katja , Thomasius Rainer , Eschenbeck Heike , Diestelkamp Silke , Gillé Vera , Hiery Alisa , Rummel-Kluge Christine , Kaess Michael ,   The ProHEAD Consortium, Kaess Michael , Bauer Stephanie , Moessner Markus , Koenig Julian , Bonnet Sabrina , Hammon Stella , Lustig Sophia , Richter Regina , Bertsch Katja , Brunner Romuald , Feldhege Johannes , Gallinat Christina , Parzer Peter , Sander Johanna , Thomasius Rainer , Diestelkamp Silke , Schulz Anna-Lena , Rummel-Kluge Christine , Baldofski Sabrina , Kohls Elisabeth , Peter Lina-Jolien , Rogalla Mandy , Klemm Sarah-Lena , Eschenbeck Heike , Gillé Vera , Lehner Laya , Becker Katja , Hiery Alisa , Karl Jennifer , Salize Hans Joachim , Voss Elke , Luntz Steffen 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe impact of school-closings on adolescents’ mental health and well-being in the management of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is subject to ongoing public debate. Reliable data to inform a balanced discussion are limited. Drawing on a large ongoing multi-site project in Germany, we assessed differences in self-reported psychopathology in a matched convenience-sample of adolescents assessed pre- (November 26, 2018 to March 13, 2020; n = 324) and post the first lockdown (March 18, 2020 to August 29, 2020; n = 324) early 2020 in Germany. We found no evidence for an increase in emotional and behavioral problems, depression, thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts, eating disorder symptoms, or a decrease in general health-related quality of life. Reported suicide plans significantly decreased from 6.14 to 2.16%. Similarly, conduct problems decreased in the post-lockdown period. Family risk-factors did not moderate these findings. The influence of socioeconomic status on emotional and behavioral problems as well as depression decreased during the lockdown. Based on the present findings, the first school-closing in Germany had no immediate and severe impact on adolescents’ well-being. However, caution is warranted as our data covers a fairly small, affluent sample over a limited time-span and long-term consequences cannot be ruled out.
Ambient noise and ERT data provide insights into the structure of co-seismic rock avalanche deposits in Sichuan (China)
Authors: Del Gaudio V. , Wasowski J. , Hu W. , Capone P. , Venisti N. , Li Y. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe post-seismic history of the 2008 Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake shows that marginally stable deposits of large co-seismic landslide dams can pose persistent debris flow hazards for the downstream areas. Here, we combine analyses of single-station recordings of ambient noise with electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys to explore the potential of drawing information on structure and geometry of the deposit of a large rock avalanche triggered by the Mw 7.9 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, which dammed the Yangjia stream in the Sichuan Province (China). The substantial thickness and heterogeneity of this kind of deposits limit the application of standard geophysical techniques, like active seismic surveys, which require highly energetic sources and long linear geophone arrays to reach adequate investigation depths. Passive single-station methods, relying on ambient noise recordings to determine site resonance properties, controlled by the contrast between soft surface layers and a stiffer substratum, offer the opportunity of investigating subsoil properties down to larger depths. In particular, we use a recently developed technique, which isolates the contribution of Rayleigh waves to ambient noise and draws information on sub-soil properties from the inversion of Rayleigh wave ellipticity curves plotted as function of frequency. In this framework, the ERT data can support the ellipticity curve inversion, typically affected by highly non-univocal solutions, by providing constraints for defining of the thickness of the uppermost surficial layers. The results allowed inferring the overlap of different layers within the 2008 rock avalanche deposit, as well as estimating lateral variations in their thickness and S-wave (Vs) velocities.
Preference measurement in health using experiments
Authors: Zweifel Peter 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThis contribution has three objectives. First, it seeks to justify the use of the economic criterion, “Provision of health care in accordance with the preferences of current and potential patients” for guiding decisions concerning the adoption of costly innovation in health. Next, it proposes the measurement of these preferences in the guise of willingness to pay (WTP) values through Discrete Choice Experiments (DCEs). Third, it purports to examine two popular arguments against accepting lay persons´ preferences, viz. that they are unwilling or unable to express preferences with regard to health and health care, and that their preferences are unstable, depending on the current state of health. Both of these arguments are refuted by the findings of four DCEs designed to measure WTP for attributes of health insurance and of the treatment of diabetes, respectively [Zweifel in J Regul Econ 29(3): 319–332, 2006; MacNeil Vrooman and Zweifel in Eur J Health Econ 12(1): 87–95, 2011; Sennhauser and Zweifel in: Jakovlijevic M (ed.), Health Economics and Policy Challenges in Global Emerging Markets. NOVA Publishers, Hauppauge NY, 2016].
Carbon sequestration in hedgerow biomass and soil in the temperate climate zone
Authors: Drexler Sophie , Gensior Andreas , Don Axel 
Published: July 2021

AbstractHedgerows are a traditional form of agroforestry in the temperate climate zone. The establishment of hedgerows may be a promising strategy to promote carbon (C) sinks for climate change mitigation. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis compiling data from 83 sites on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks beneath hedgerows in comparison with adjacent croplands and grasslands, plus biomass data from 64 hedgerows. On average (± SD), the establishment of hedgerows on cropland increased SOC stocks by 32 ± 23 %. No significant differences were found between the SOC stocks of hedgerows and those of grassland. The average above-ground biomass stock was 47 ± 29 Mg C ha−1. Only one study reported measurements of below-ground biomass stocks and root/shoot ratios. Based on these measurements, an average below-ground biomass stock of 44 ± 28 Mg C ha−1 was estimated, but with high uncertainty. In total, hedgerows were estimated to store 104 ± 42 Mg ha−1 more C than croplands, with biomass contributing 84 % (87 ± 40 Mg C ha−1) and soil 16 % (17 ± 12 Mg C ha−1) to this amount. Total C sequestration with the establishment of hedgerows on cropland could be between 2.1 and 5.2 Mg ha−1 year−1 for a period of 50 and 20 years, respectively. Our results indicate that C stocks in hedgerows are on average comparable to estimates for forests. The establishment of hedgerows, especially on cropland, can therefore be an effective option for C sequestration in agricultural landscapes while enhancing biodiversity and soil protection.
The Role of Different Raw Materials in Lithic Technology and Settlement Patterns During the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa
Authors: Will Manuel 
Published: July 2021

AbstractThe study of raw materials is an essential step in lithic analysis, regardless of the age, provenance, and technology of the assemblages. As in many other contexts of the Paleolithic, researchers of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) in southern Africa have often focused their attention on fine-grained, non-local rock types, such as silcrete. Here, I spotlight raw materials considered to be of lower suitability for knapping and frequently acquired from local sources. Due to their coarse-grained nature, artifacts from rock types such as calcrete, sandstone, and quartzite might show attributes that are different from finer-grained materials. Some of these knapped stones even constitute the substrate of the sites they are from, at times resulting in their neglect or not being recognized as anthropogenic artifacts. Knapped vein quartz features sharp and durable edges, but its complicated fracture mechanics hamper comparative analysis and provide methodological challenges. In this study, raw materials from different transport distances and with different presumed qualities are compared in terms of their roles in MSA lithic technology and settlement patterns. In the first step, the article focuses on the open-air special-purpose camp of Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1, Western Cape) and the rockshelter residential site of Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal), especially on assemblages dated between ~ 130–100 and ~ 58 ka. Subsequently, I review relevant materials for the southern African MSA. At HDP1 and Sibudu, local raw materials of lower knapping suitability assume several roles, from the “staple” material for all manufacturing stages to special-purpose and “add-on” functions. In the broader southern African region, MSA knappers also used these rock types in a flexible manner with gradual differences but also similarities to their use of finer-grained raw material. These differences depend on a complex interaction of raw material availability, differential site use, and the position of the localities in the settlement system.
Does relative (absolute) efficiency affect capital costs?
Authors: Mali Dafydd , Lim Hyoung-Joo 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIn this paper, we examine the effect of relative/absolute firm efficiency on weighted average cost of capital (WACC). Using a sample of Korean listed firms, we find that WACC is negatively associated with relative firm efficiency (operational performance) suggesting that firms with higher (lower) relatively efficiency are expected to pay lower (higher) capital costs. When we repeat our analysis using absolute firm efficiency (ROA), we do not find a statistically significant relationship. Our results suggest relative efficiency which is estimated as output (sales) divided by the resources that are directly under the control of management is assessed by capital providers and impounded into a firm’s capital costs. Absolute efficiency (ROA) which is estimated as sales divided by total assets is not. Our results suggest that simple accounting ratios used in the accounting literature are not considered as informative to explain borrowing costs compared to relative efficiency that captures managerial operational performance.
Topological representation of cloth state for robot manipulation
Authors: Strazzeri Fabio , Torras Carme 
Published: July 2021

AbstractForty years ago the notion of configuration space (C-space) revolutionised robot motion planning for rigid and articulated objects. Despite great progress, handling deformable materials has remained elusive because of their infinite-dimensional shape-state space. Finding low-complexity representations has become a pressing research goal. This work tries to make a tiny step in this direction by proposing a state representation for textiles relying on the C-space of some distinctive points. A stratification of the configuration space for n points in the cloth is derived from that of the flag manifold, and topological techniques to determine adjacencies in manipulation-centred state graphs are developed. Their algorithmic implementation permits obtaining cloth state–space representations of different granularities and tailored to particular purposes. An example of their usage to distinguish between cloth states having different manipulation affordances is provided. Suggestions on how the proposed state graphs can serve as a common ground to link the perception, planning and manipulation of textiles are also made.
Prostate cancer survival in sub-Saharan Africa by age, stage at diagnosis, and human development index: a population-based registry study
Authors: Seraphin Tobias P. , Joko-Fru Walburga Y. , Manraj Shyam S. , Chokunonga Eric , Somdyala Nontuthuzelo I. M. , Korir Anne , N’Da Guy , Finesse Anne , Wabinga Henry , Assefa Mathewos , Gnangnon Freddy , Hansen Rolf , Buziba Nathan G. , Liu Biying , Kantelhardt Eva J. , Parkin Donald M. 
Published: July 2021

Abstract
Objectives
To estimate observed and relative survival of prostate cancer patients in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and to examine the influence of age, stage at diagnosis and the Human Development Index (HDI).

Patients and methods
In this comparative registry study, we selected a random sample of 1752 incident cases of malign prostatic neoplasm from 12 population-based cancer registries from 10 SSA countries, registered between 2005 and 2015. We analyzed the data using Kaplan-Meier and Ederer II methods to obtain outcome estimates and flexible Poisson regression modeling to calculate the excess hazards of death

Results
For the 1406 patients included in the survival analyses, 763 deaths occurred during 3614 person-years of observation. Of patients with known stage, 45.2% had stage IV disease, 31.2% stage III and only 23.6% stage I and II. The 1 and 5-year relative survival for the entire cohort was 78.0% (75.4–80.7) and 60.0% (55.7–64.6), while varying between the registries. Late presentation was associated with increased excess hazards and a 0.1 increase in the HDI was associated with a 20% lower excess hazard of death, while for age at diagnosis no association was found.

Conclusions
We found poor survival of SSA prostatic tumor patients, as well as high proportions of late stage presentation, which are associated with inferior outcome. This calls for investment in health-care systems and action regarding projects to raise awareness among the population to achieve earlier diagnosis and improve survival.
An enhanced design of a 5G MIMO antenna for fixed wireless aerial access
Authors: Almalki Faris A. , Angelides Marios C. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractA recent market prediction is that 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) will more than double over the next five years and trials at the same period in London suggest promising results. However, the shift to 5G FWA has raised a new set of research challenges in relation to speed of deployment and re-deployment, coverage, power consumption, end user mobility and last mile connectivity, to name just a few, because of the much higher expectations. A recent review reveals that key 5G Physical Layer technologies that will enable wide mobile and FWA have not kept up pace. In response to some of those research challenges, this paper presents the design of a 5G Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Antenna that is mounted on a tethered aerostat, and the combination of which serves as a 5G FWA aerial station. The antenna design features several novelties and the aerial station can provide last mile connectivity to a wide coverage footprint, with moderate power consumption and operating at high speeds. Both the evaluation of the antenna performance using several key performance indicators and the validation of the aerial station as a 5G FWA in a wireless sensor network (WSN) proof-of-concept application reveal efficiency gains.
Noise-based cyberattacks generating fake P300 waves in brain–computer interfaces
Authors: Martínez Beltrán Enrique Tomás , Quiles Pérez Mario , López Bernal Sergio , Huertas Celdrán Alberto , Martínez Pérez Gregorio 
Published: July 2021

AbstractMost of the current Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs) application scenarios use electroencephalographic signals (EEG) containing the subject’s information. It means that if EEG were maliciously manipulated, the proper functioning of BCI frameworks could be at risk. Unfortunately, it happens in frameworks sensitive to noise-based cyberattacks, and more efforts are needed to measure the impact of these attacks. This work presents and analyzes the impact of four noise-based cyberattacks attempting to generate fake P300 waves in two different phases of a BCI framework. A set of experiments show that the greater the attacker’s knowledge regarding the P300 waves, processes, and data of the BCI framework, the higher the attack impact. In this sense, the attacker with less knowledge impacts 1% in the acquisition phase and 4% in the processing phase, while the attacker with the most knowledge impacts 22% and 74%, respectively.
SODALITE@RT: Orchestrating Applications on Cloud-Edge Infrastructures
Authors: Kumara Indika , Mundt Paul , Tokmakov Kamil , Radolović Dragan , Maslennikov Alexander , González Román Sosa , Fabeiro Jorge Fernández , Quattrocchi Giovanni , Meth Kalman , Di Nitto Elisabetta , Tamburri Damian A. , Van Den Heuvel Willem-Jan , Meditskos Georgios 
Published: July 2021

AbstractIoT-based applications need to be dynamically orchestrated on cloud-edge infrastructures for reasons such as performance, regulations, or cost. In this context, a crucial problem is facilitating the work of DevOps teams in deploying, monitoring, and managing such applications by providing necessary tools and platforms. The SODALITE@RT open-source framework aims at addressing this scenario. In this paper, we present the main features of the SODALITE@RT: modeling of cloud-edge resources and applications using open standards and infrastructural code, and automated deployment, monitoring, and management of the applications in the target infrastructures based on such models. The capabilities of the SODALITE@RT are demonstrated through a relevant case study.
Early-Life Environmental and Child Factors Associated with the Presence of Disruptive Behaviors in Seven-Year-Old Children with Autistic Traits in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
Authors: Breider Simone , Hoekstra Pieter J. , Wardenaar Klaas J. , van den Hoofdakker Barbara J. , Dietrich Andrea , de Bildt Annelies 
Published: July 2021

AbstractWe studied the association of early-life environmental and child factors with disruptive behaviors in children with autistic traits around age 7, in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (n = 6,401). Logistic regression with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator indicated that disruptive behaviors were associated with prenatal smoking, no seafood-consumption during pregnancy, breech presentation at delivery, neonatal feeding problems, low social-economic situation, suboptimal preschool family environment, maternal depression, maternal antisocial behavior, male sex, and difficult child temperament. Compared to controls, male sex, maternal depression, and suboptimal preschool family environment were related to autistic traits without disruptive behaviors. Thus, there may be a difference in early-life factors related to autism spectrum disorder with and without disruptive behaviors.
The Potential of Bioeconomic Innovations to Contribute to a Social-Ecological Transformation: A Case Study in the Livestock System
Authors: Friedrich Jonathan , Bunker Ingrid , Uthes Sandra , Zscheischler Jana 
Published: July 2021

AbstractEnvironmental crises, which are consequences of resource-intensive lifestyles and are characterized to a large extent by both a changing climate and a loss of biodiversity, stress the urgent need for a global social-ecological transformation of the agro-food system. In this regard, the bioeconomy and bioeconomic innovations have frequently been seen as instrumental in addressing these grand challenges and contributing to more sustainable land use. To date, the question of how much bioeconomic innovations contribute to sustainability objectives remains unanswered. Against this background, we study four bioeconomic innovations using the case study of animal production and manure utilization in relation to their potential contributions to a social-ecological transformation. The analysis is based on the application of analytical categories derived from the literature that assess the normativity of these innovations and their implicit cultural changes. The results show that the innovations examined manifest existing thought styles and the incumbent socio-technical regime rather than contribute to a more fundamental transition. In this respect, we stress the importance of evolving alterative ideas in innovation design, applying more integrative approaches, such as embedding innovation processes into transdisciplinary processes, and developing adaptive and reflective governance approaches. In return, bioeconomic innovations should adjust towards the design mission of a social-ecological transformation and include a multitude of actors to discuss and harmonize contesting imaginaries and ethical concerns.
A sampling approach to Debiasing the offline evaluation of recommender systems
Authors: Carraro Diego , Bridge Derek 
Published: July 2021

AbstractOffline evaluation of recommender systems (RSs) mostly relies on historical data, which is often biased. The bias is a result of many confounders that affect the data collection process. In such biased data, user-item interactions are Missing Not At Random (MNAR). Measures of recommender system performance on MNAR test data are unlikely to be reliable indicators of real-world performance unless something is done to mitigate the bias. One widespread way that researchers try to obtain less biased offline evaluation is by designing new, supposedly unbiased performance metrics for use on MNAR test data. We investigate an alternative solution, a sampling approach. The general idea is to use a sampling strategy on MNAR data to generate an intervened test set with less bias — one in which interactions are Missing At Random (MAR) or, at least, one that is more MAR-like. An existing example of this approach is SKEW, a sampling strategy that aims to adjust for the confounding effect that an item’s popularity has on its likelihood of being observed. In this paper, after extensively surveying the literature on the bias problem in the offline evaluation of RSs, we propose and formulate a novel sampling approach, which we call WTD; we also propose a more practical variant, which we call WTD_H. We compare our methods to SKEW and to two baselines which perform a random intervention on MNAR data. We empirically validate for the first time the effectiveness of SKEW and we show our approach to be a better estimator of the performance that one would obtain on (unbiased) MAR test data. Our strategy benefits from high generality (e.g. it can also be employed for training a recommender) and low overheads (e.g. it does not require any learning).
On new methods to construct lower bounds in simplicial branch and bound based on interval arithmetic
Authors: G.-Tóth B. , Casado L. G. , Hendrix E. M. T. , Messine F. 
Published: July 2021

AbstractBranch and Bound (B&B) algorithms in Global Optimization are used to perform an exhaustive search over the feasible area. One choice is to use simplicial partition sets. Obtaining sharp and cheap bounds of the objective function over a simplex is very important in the construction of efficient Global Optimization B&B algorithms. Although enclosing a simplex in a box implies an overestimation, boxes are more natural when dealing with individual coordinate bounds, and bounding ranges with Interval Arithmetic (IA) is computationally cheap. This paper introduces several linear relaxations using gradient information and Affine Arithmetic and experimentally studies their efficiency compared to traditional lower bounds obtained by natural and centered IA forms and their adaption to simplices. A Global Optimization B&B algorithm with monotonicity test over a simplex is used to compare their efficiency over a set of low dimensional test problems with instances that either have a box constrained search region or where the feasible set is a simplex. Numerical results show that it is possible to obtain tight lower bounds over simplicial subsets.