bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Comparison Of Winter Maintenance Requirements (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)
Authors: Kastanovskis Jānis 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Three Baltic states are located next to each other on the coast of the Baltic Sea. Similarly, to Finland, density of population in these countries is low. All three countries have large amount of state roads with low traffic intensity.
Climatic differences are minimal. Milder climate is in coastal area but inland the weather conditions are more severe. The average air temperature in January in Estonia is from -2 to -7 degrees Celsius but in Lithuania from -1 to -5 degrees Celsius. The number of snowy days fluctuates from 50 to 120.
All three countries have common contracts for summer and winter maintenance where the responsibility for maintenance activities lays on the contractors. Despite common history the methods of the assignment of road maintenance contracts are different in every country. Estonia awards contracts in open tenders and has performance-based contracts. Latvia has the contract awarded to the State Joint Stock Company «Latvijas autoceļu uzturētājs» (“Latvian Road Maintainer”) by law and the contract is unit price based. Lithuania has the contract awarded to the state-owned company « Kelių priežiūra» the contract is performance-based.
The requirements for road conditions are quite similar in all three countries. They have three levels of maintenance.
High service level means snow and ice-free surface of the road pavement during winter in constant weather conditions and quick response in case of worsening road conditions.
Medium service level means that snow and ice is allowed on the surface, but activities must be undertaken to improve skid resistance. The lowest service level means that snow and ice is allowed on the surface and activities to improve skid resistance (mostly only snow cleaning) may be undertaken in some spots only.
In Estonia the expenses for winter maintenance are lower than in the neighbouring countries but it does not have impact on traffic safety during winter.
E-Waybill Using Experience & Development In Estonian State Road Building
Authors: Tõnts Taavi , Salum Aivo 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Estonian Transport Administration (ETA) has since 2010y developed digital solutions for monitoring abnormal 52t transport heavy vehicles (HV). Since 2020y we signed the memorandum between 8 different parties for developing bulk material transport digital solutions (e-waybill system) for road building. The focus is to make the logistic more transparent since beginning of the loading point - for the different authorities. The second focus is to make the truck movement corridor visible for the traffic control, avoiding week roads, bridges etc. The final, and the most difficult, is to develop the mass control system, so that there is automated weight info in the e-waybill system visible for the traffic police and for building supervisors etc. We have met with our Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities and many others, and everyone is very interested of going from paper waybills for faster, cloud based, e-waybill systems, what is also more C02 friendly. This digital e-waybill allows single data entry, and all the rest data with statistics is visible for concerned people. ETA is planning to pilot in 2021y also many road building projects with e-waybill demand. So far, the feedback has been mainly positive from different parties. We have started with our Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (EMEAC) also wider digitalisation projects concerning the new regulation (EU) 2020/1056 of eFTI for the gross-border transport logistics digitalisation, what must be applied in every member state 21.08.24.
Implementing Building Information Management (BIM) In Estonian Transport Administration
Authors: Puusaag Erko , Palmi Anti 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Digitalisation is the key to efficiency in the road construction Industry. Building Information Management (BIM), being the main developments in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) Industry, offers a technology as well as processes to bring traditional design and construction practices to the digital era. Estonian Road Administration started the process of BIM implementation to the Estonian road Industry in 2017, when the first planning of pilot projects began. Today, the utilisation of BIM is set as a strategic goal for Estonian Transport Administration (formerly Estonian Road Administration) and a structured approach has been developed in order to overcome such a complex shift in the ways, how road information is being managed in the whole life cycle of a road. Development of principles of data movement, setting technical guidelines and requirements, managing legal issues and communication within the organisation, as well as outside, training of personnel are all aspects that need to be taken into consideration. Successful adaption also needs good communication with the Industry, which is mainly done with Estonian Digital Construction Cluster – a collaboration which brings together the main stakeholders in the sector. In a few years time most of the main sections of the road life cycle will hopefully utilise BIM successfully in Estonia, but the key lies within a well developed and excecuted implementation. The paper describes the development of such a implementation plan and also brings out the main issues and success factors, that are relevant for a successful shift towards digitalisation in the road construction industry.
Preliminary Research On Waste Rubber Application In Cement Bound Base Layer
Authors: Zvonarić Matija , Barišić Ivana , Dokšanović Tihomir , Zagvozda Martina 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Besides all the positive characteristics of cement bound courses (CBC), it has some detrimental effects on the pavement wearing courses. Due to cement hydration, this mixture is affected by shrinkage. Shrinkage induces cracks in the whole layer which along with weather conditions propagate through asphalt layers in a short period. Also, it’s stiffness negatively affects cracks propagation without providing elastic support for upper layers. As a result, roads are covered with various damages which reduces driving comfort and safety and demand new financial investments. The focus is on reducing the detrimental effect of CBC on the pavement. Nowadays, large quantities of recycled rubber can be found on the market. Wasted rubber is a large ecological problem due to its long decomposition period. On the other hand, by mechanical grinding and separation process, suitable fractions of rubber can be obtained for use in construction. Consequently, the replacement of conventional material by crumb rubber reduces the consumption of natural material and energy for its exploitation. Appropriate amounts and fractions of recycled rubber have the potential to reduce shrinkage and increase the elasticity of CBC. Within this paper, preliminary research results will be presented on the possibilities of crumb rubber implementation in CBC and its effects on mechanical characteristics. By using recycled materials in construction processes we undertake a major step in the sustainable management of natural resources.
Critical behavior in the artificial axon
Authors: Pi Ziqi , Zocchi Giovanni 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
The Artificial Axon is a unique synthetic system, based on biomolecular components, which supports action potentials. Here we examine, experimentally and theoretically, the properties of the threshold for firing in this system. As in real neurons, this threshold corresponds to the critical point of a saddle-node bifurcation. We measure the delay time for firing as a function of the distance to threshold, recovering the expected scaling exponent of −1/2. We introduce a minimal model of the Morris-Lecar type, validate it on the experiments, and use it to extend analytical results obtained in the limit of ‘fast’ ion channel dynamics. In particular, we discuss the dependence of the firing threshold on the number of channels. The Artificial Axon is a simplified system, an Ur-neuron, relying on only one ion channel species for functioning. Nonetheless, universal properties such as the action potential behavior near threshold are the same as in real neurons. Thus we may think of the Artificial Axon as a cell-free breadboard for electrophysiology research.
Has tree density increased at alpine treelines on the eastern Tibetan Plateau?
Authors: Zhang Yuandong , Miao Ning , Liu Shirong 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Treeline densification, along with increased growth rates, is considered a primary manifestation of climate warming at alpine treelines. However, treeline densification has typically been inferred from comparisons of present-day tree density with estimates of former densities inferred from current age structure; the densification has not been verified with long-term monitoring data and thus empirical testing is needed. In this study, a series of plots was established along an altitudinal gradient in a treeline ecotone on the eastern Tibetan Plateau; the plots were then surveyed repeatedly for ten years to analyse spatiotemporal variation in tree regeneration. The densities of Abies fargesii var. faxoniana seedlings and saplings increased from low altitude sites to high altitude sites, before dropping to zero beyond the treeline. The density of fir seedlings at the treeline in 2018 was significantly lower than in 2008. There were no significant differences in the density of saplings, small trees, medium trees, or old-growth trees between 2018 and 2008. As compared to regeneration patterns from 65 years ago, treeline densification represents a spatial phenomenon related to altitude, but not a temporal pattern on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. A more comprehensive understanding of the effects of climate warming on treeline regeneration will require further long-term monitoring and research.
The Power of the Pen: Informal Property Rights Documents in Zambia
Authors: Honig Lauren 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
This article explores the expansion of informal property rights documents through the case of chiefs’ titles in Zambia. Entrepreneurial chiefs have created written land rights for citizens on customary land in the form of letters, signed maps, and certificates. These documents are an alternative to state land titling that allows chiefs to maintain their control over land. However, chiefs’ titles are extra-legal: they are enforced by the same traditional leaders who govern unwritten customary rights, raising doubt about whether written land rights can strengthen citizens’ land claims without changing the existing power structures. Evidence from 121 interviews with chiefs, bureaucrats, and smallholder farmers and a survey of over 5,500 citizens shows that, despite their flaws, chiefs’ titles do increase citizens’ perceptions of tenure security. This suggests that informal property rights documents can be a powerful tool in a citizen’s arsenal. Further, these findings illustrate a process of adaptation and change within customary land institutions.
GPS-Uber: a hybrid-learning framework for prediction of general and E3-specific lysine ubiquitination sites
Authors: Wang Chenwei , Tan Xiaodan , Tang Dachao , Gou Yujie , Han Cheng , Ning Wanshan , Lin Shaofeng , Zhang Weizhi , Chen Miaomiao , Peng Di , Xue Yu 
Published: December 2021

AbstractAs an important post-translational modification, lysine ubiquitination participates in numerous biological processes and is involved in human diseases, whereas the site specificity of ubiquitination is mainly decided by ubiquitin-protein ligases (E3s). Although numerous ubiquitination predictors have been developed, computational prediction of E3-specific ubiquitination sites is still a great challenge. Here, we carefully reviewed the existing tools for the prediction of general ubiquitination sites. Also, we developed a tool named GPS-Uber for the prediction of general and E3-specific ubiquitination sites. From the literature, we manually collected 1311 experimentally identified site-specific E3-substrate relations, which were classified into different clusters based on corresponding E3s at different levels. To predict general ubiquitination sites, we integrated 10 types of sequence and structure features, as well as three types of algorithms including penalized logistic regression, deep neural network and convolutional neural network. Compared with other existing tools, the general model in GPS-Uber exhibited a highly competitive accuracy, with an area under curve values of 0.7649. Then, transfer learning was adopted for each E3 cluster to construct E3-specific models, and in total 112 individual E3-specific predictors were implemented. Using GPS-Uber, we conducted a systematic prediction of human cancer-associated ubiquitination events, which could be helpful for further experimental consideration. GPS-Uber will be regularly updated, and its online service is free for academic research at http://gpsuber.biocuckoo.cn/.
Capturing large genomic contexts for accurately predicting enhancer-promoter interactions
Authors: Chen Ken , Zhao Huiying , Yang Yuedong 
Published: December 2021

AbstractEnhancer-promoter interaction (EPI) is a key mechanism underlying gene regulation. EPI prediction has always been a challenging task because enhancers could regulate promoters of distant target genes. Although many machine learning models have been developed, they leverage only the features in enhancers and promoters, or simply add the average genomic signals in the regions between enhancers and promoters, without utilizing detailed features between or outside enhancers and promoters. Due to a lack of large-scale features, existing methods could achieve only moderate performance, especially for predicting EPIs in different cell types. Here, we present a Transformer-based model, TransEPI, for EPI prediction by capturing large genomic contexts. TransEPI was developed based on EPI datasets derived from Hi-C or ChIA-PET data in six cell lines. To avoid over-fitting, we evaluated the TransEPI model by testing it on independent test datasets where the cell line and chromosome are different from the training data. TransEPI not only achieved consistent performance across the cross-validation and test datasets from different cell types but also outperformed the state-of-the-art machine learning and deep learning models. In addition, we found that the improved performance of TransEPI was attributed to the integration of large genomic contexts. Lastly, TransEPI was extended to study the non-coding mutations associated with brain disorders or neural diseases, and we found that TransEPI was also useful for predicting the target genes of non-coding mutations.
V-OG04 Paravertebral Catheter Placement In Minimally Invasive Oesophagectomy
Authors: Prasad Pooja , Chmelo Jakub , Brown Joshua , Navidi Maziar , Wahed Shajahan , Hayes Nick , Immanuel Arul , Phillips Alexander 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Background
Pain control is a vital component of enhanced recovery programmes for patients undergoing an oesophagectomy. Multimodal analgesia using intrathecal diamorphine and local anaesthetic infusion catheters into the paravertebral space and rectus sheath is increasingly utilised. Multimodal analgesia can provide comparable pain relief while potentially reducing side effects associated with thoracic epidurals. This video demonstrates the placement of paravertebral catheters following thoracoscopic oesophagectomy.

Methods
The video demonstrates the technique for paravertebral catheter placement at the end of the thoracic phase of an oesophagectomy, as practiced at our institution.

Results
Once the catheter has been placed and flushed, a bolus 15-20mls of 0.25 per cent Levobupivicaine is injected. A 600mls reservoir of Levobupivicaine is attached at the end of the procedure.

Conclusions
Paravertebral catheters provide a safe and feasible option for pain control following oesophagectomy.
O-B04 The effect of high fat diet and subsequent intentional weight loss on tumour burden in an animal model of spontaneous endometrial cancer
Authors: Sinclair Piriyah , Wilkinson Michael , Conroy Emer , Downey Paul , Gallagher William , Docherty Neil , Roux Carel le , Brennan Donal 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Background
Obesity drives endometrial cancer (EC). Metabolic surgery (MS) induces sustained weight loss, reduces EC risk and has been shown to reverse histological changes of endometrial hyperplasia. One mechanism is increased GLP-1 post surgery. Few interventional studies have been conducted in the BDII/Han rat; an animal model of spontaneous EC. This study aimed to examine whether high fat diet (HFD) and weight gain, as well as subsequent intentional weight loss using Liraglutide (a GLP-1 receptor agonist) alters EC tumour biology and burden in the BDII/Han rat. A rat imaging protocol was validated to assess development and longitudinally track tumours.

Methods
An imaging protocol was developed and validated. 7 BDII/Han rats were fed normal chow (NC) and 8 weight-matched rats fed HFD from 3 months of age. Longitudinal PET-CT was conducted at 7, 9, 12 and 15 months. Abdominal visceral fat was analysed from L1-L5 on CT. Subsequently, an intervention study compared the 8 HFD-Control rats to 8 weight-matched HFD-fed rats treated with Liraglutide from 12-15 months. PET-CT was used to assess disease progression. Analysis of histological, immunohistochemical and transcriptomic parameters were used to compare cohorts. All rats were euthanased aged 15-months. Imaging was correlated with necropsy findings and histopathology.

Results
HFD rats had more abdominal fat on CT imaging (8.6cm3±0.7vs4.0cm3±0.6;p&lt;0.0005) and 10% higher body-weight than NC rats (232.5g±4.9vs209.4g±2.0;p=0.001) at the study end. Histopathology demonstrated EC in 57%(n = 4) of NC and 50%(n = 4) of HFD rats. PET-CT was 87.5% sensitive and 86% specific. Liraglutide induced significant reduction in final body weight (208.3g±5.7vs232.5g±4.9;p=0.006) and abdominal fat on CT compared to controls (4.4cm3±0.4vs8.6cm3±0.7; p=0.0001). 2 tumours were identified in the Liraglutide group (25%) compared to 4 in the control group (50%). GLP-1 receptor expression was not detected in benign or malignant BDII/Han uterine tissue.

Conclusions
This study has established a safe, sensitive and specific imaging protocol for longitudinal assessment of EC progression in BDII/Han rats. The HFD intervention used did not accelerate EC burden. However, it did create an obese phenotype and gave new information on the pathological variations of EC in the BDII/Han rat. Intentional weight loss from Liraglutide halved EC burden compared to controls in this study. An absence of GLP-1R expression may suggest weight loss dependent mechanisms. This novel pilot study is a foundation for future studies assessing the effect of intentional weight loss using metabolic surgery in obesity-related cancer.
O-BN01 The para-oesophageal hernia symptom tool (post): A modified delphi consensus study
Authors: Puri Aiysha , Patel Nikhil , Sounderajah Viknesh , Ferri Lorenzo , Griffiths Ewen , Low Donald , Maynard Nick , Mueller Carmen , Pera Manuel , van Berge Henegouwen Mark , Watson David , Zaninotto Giovanni , Hanna George , Markar Sheraz 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Background
Patients with a para-oesophageal hernia (POH) report a complex range of symptoms and quality of life (QOL) issues. Clinicians often utilise existing health related quality of life tools to (1) identify patients who are eligible for surgical management and (2) to evaluate the benefit of surgical intervention. However, the most commonly used tools for this purpose are not disease specific. As such, crucial POH specific symptoms which impact QOL may not be captured. In order to address this issue, a modified Delphi consensus study was undertaken to establish a HRQOL instrument specific to POH.

Methods
A two-round modified Delphi consensus study was conducted with a group of international experts. Participants were identified through (1) their authorship in landmark POH studies and (2) the professional networks of the study investigators. Prior to the Delphi process, a scoping survey was undertaken in order to generate a list of candidate items. Participants were asked to rate the items’ importance in assessing patients with POH using a 5-point Likert scale. The a priori threshold for inclusion was 80% for scores of 4 or 5. If consensus was not achieved, the item was carried through to the next round.

Results
The candidate list of items consisted of 64 symptoms, refined to 20 for inclusion within the first modified Delphi round. Four symptoms; ‘difficulty getting solid foods down’, ‘chest pain after meals’, ‘difficulty getting liquids down’ and ‘shortness of breath only after meals’, reached consensus threshold of 80% in the first round and one additional symptom, ‘early feeling of fullness after eating’, reached consensus in the second. A total of 26 participants took part in the first and 24 in the second round. These five symptoms have been identified to form the initial version of the Para-Oesophageal Hernia Symptom Tool (POST).

Conclusions
POST is the first tool that aims to capture POH-specific symptoms that impact upon HRQOL. Prior to clinical use, this tool will be presented in international patient workshops to assess its construct validity. Following this, we aim to assess the content validity of the tool through a longitudinal study in a cohort of patients with POH who are undergoing repair. We hope that this tool will serve as a decision support tool for clinicians who are evaluating the risk-benefit of surgical intervention in this cohort of patients.
O-BN07 Transesophageal Endoscopic Resection of Mediastinal Cysts
Authors: Ma Li-yun , Liu Zu-qiang , Chen Wei-feng , Li Quan-lin , Zhou Ping-hong 
Published: December 2021

Abstract

Background
Primary mediastinal cysts are infrequent lesions derived from a variety of mediastinal organs or structures. Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice even in asymptomatic patients to prevent severe adverse events (AEs) and establish the diagnosis. Transesophageal endoscopic resection of benign mediastinal tumors has been proven feasible. The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, safety and efficacy of transesophageal endoscopic surgery for mediastinal cysts.

Methods
From January 2016 to May 2021, patients with mediastinal cysts who underwent transesophageal endoscopic resection were retrospectively included. Clinicopathological characteristics, procedure-related parameters, AEs, and follow-up outcomes were analyzed.

Results
A total of 10 patients with mediastinal cysts were included in this study. The mean cyst size was 3.3±1.3 cm. Histopathology revealed 3 bronchogenic cysts (30.0%), 4 esophageal duplication cysts (40.0%), 2 gastroenteric cysts (20.0%), and 1 lymphatic cyst (10.0%). All procedures were performed uneventfully. En bloc resection was achieved in 6 patients (60.0%). Aggressive resection was avoided to prevent damage to the surrounding vital organs. Mean procedure time was 63.4±36.5 min. No major pneumothorax, bleeding, mucosal injury or fistula occurred. One patient had a transient febrile episode (&gt;38.5 °C). Mean postoperative hospital stay was 2.7±0.9 days. No residual or recurrent lesions were observed in any patient during a mean follow-up period of 29.8±19.5 months.

Conclusions
Transesophageal endoscopic surgery appears to be a feasible, safe, effective and much less invasive approach for mediastinal cyst resection. Larger prospective studies are required to fully assess the efficacy and safety of this novel technique.