bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The promise of automated machine learning for the genetic analysis of complex traits
Authors: Manduchi Elisabetta , Romano Joseph D. , Moore Jason H. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe genetic analysis of complex traits has been dominated by parametric statistical methods due to their theoretical properties, ease of use, computational efficiency, and intuitive interpretation. However, there are likely to be patterns arising from complex genetic architectures which are more easily detected and modeled using machine learning methods. Unfortunately, selecting the right machine learning algorithm and tuning its hyperparameters can be daunting for experts and non-experts alike. The goal of automated machine learning (AutoML) is to let a computer algorithm identify the right algorithms and hyperparameters thus taking the guesswork out of the optimization process. We review the promises and challenges of AutoML for the genetic analysis of complex traits and give an overview of several approaches and some example applications to omics data. It is our hope that this review will motivate studies to develop and evaluate novel AutoML methods and software in the genetics and genomics space. The promise of AutoML is to enable anyone, regardless of training or expertise, to apply machine learning as part of their genetic analysis strategy.
Outcomes of esophagectomy for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma accompanied by recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy at diagnosis
Authors: Ozaki Asako , Mine Shinji , Yoshino Kouhei , Fujiwara Daisuke , Nasu Motomi , Hashiguchi Tadasuke , Hashimoto Takashi , Kajiyama Yoshiaki , Tsurumaru Masahiko , Arakawa Atsushi 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Background
Hoarseness is one of the classical symptoms in patients with locally advanced thoracic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), and it results from recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, which is caused by nodal metastasis along the recurrent laryngeal nerve or by main tumors. We reviewed the short-term and long-term results of esophagectomy for patients with locally advanced ESCC and hoarseness at diagnosis.

Patients
Patients who initially presented with hoarseness from recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy between 2009 and 2018 and underwent esophagectomy for thoracic ESCC were eligible for this study. Pharyngolaryngectomy or cervical ESCC were exclusionary.

Results
A total of 15 patients were eligible, and 14 underwent resection of the recurrent laryngeal nerves. The remaining patient had nerve-sparing surgery. Nine patients (60%) had post-operative complications ≥ Clavien–Dindo class II and, pulmonary complications were most common. Two patients (13%) died in the hospital. The 5-year overall survival rate for all patients was 16%. Age (≤ 65 years), cT1/T2 tumor, and remarkably good response to neoadjuvant treatment were likely related to longer survival; however, these relationships were not statistically significant.

Conclusions
Esophagectomy for ESCC patients who are diagnosed with recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis at initial presentation could be a treatment option if the patient is relatively young, has a cT1/T2 tumor, or shows a remarkably good response to neoadjuvant treatment. However, clinicians should be aware of the possibility of postoperative pulmonary complications, which were frequently observed with the procedure.
A three-year longitudinal study of retinal function and structure in patients with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Hanson James V. M. , Ng Mei-Yee , Hayward-Koennecke Helen K. , Schippling Sven , Reeve Kelly A. , Gerth-Kahlert Christina 
Published: October 2021

AbstractBackgroundResearchers have in recent years begun to investigate ophthalmological manifestations of multiple sclerosis (MS) other than optic neuritis (ON), and it is now clear that changes to retinal function (measured using the electroretinogram, ERG) and structure (measured using optical coherence tomography, OCT) are found in MS patients irrespective of prior ON episodes. ERG results are consistent with dysfunctional bipolar cells, as in other autoimmune diseases. To date, studies have presented only cross-sectional data regarding ERG and OCT. We, therefore, studied the longitudinal course of ERG and OCT in patients with MS, as well as the effect of disability changes and non-ON clinical relapses on these functional and structural measures.MethodsMS patients (n = 23) participating in an ongoing longitudinal observational study were invited to take part in a 3-year ophthalmological substudy. ERG and OCT were performed, and measures of MS-related disability and relapse history were obtained. Study visits were repeated annually. ERG peak times, rod b-wave amplitude, mixed rod/cone and cone b-/a-wave amplitude ratios, thickness of the peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer, and volumes of the segmented retinal layers/complexes were analysed. Using generalised estimating equation models adjusted for age, ON, and MS treatment status, we assessed changes to ERG and OCT over the study duration, the effect of changes in disability and recent non-ON MS relapses on ERG and OCT, and the effect of selected OCT parameters on corresponding ERG parameters.ResultsAt the group level, small fluctuations of several ERG peak times were recorded, with OCT values remaining stable. Increased disability between visits was associated with significant prolongation of mixed rod-cone ERG b-wave peak times. No evidence of associations between OCT and ERG parameters was observed.ConclusionsRetinal bipolar cell function may be affected by changes in disability in patients with MS; however, recent non-ON MS clinical relapses appear not to affect ERG or OCT results. As ERG changes in MS patients over 3 years are likely to be small and of uncertain clinical relevance, longitudinal studies of retinal function in MS should be planned over an extended period.
Is migration an effective adaptation to climate-related agricultural distress in sub-Saharan Africa?
Authors: Vinke Kira , Rottmann Sophia , Gornott Christoph , Zabre Pascal , Nayna Schwerdtle Patricia , Sauerborn Rainer 
Published: October 2021

AbstractMigration is often considered a form of climate change adaptation by which individuals, households, and communities seek to reduce the risks associated with climate change. In this study, we examine first-time seasonal migration out of a village in North-Western Burkina Faso to neighbouring countries, triggered by more irregular rainfall patterns. Through a set of 52 qualitative interviews, we analyse the perceptions of migrants themselves as well as the sending community regarding migration consequences. Men migrated in the off-season, whereas women stayed behind. Most migrant men and wives of migrants perceive migration to have negative consequences for their socio-economic situation and their health. Despite this, a lack of options and deteriorating environmental conditions might force the men to move again. We interpreted the range of narratives provided by women and men against the background of the scientific literature on migration as climate change adaptation. While migration could be beneficial, this study challenges the notion of migration as an effective adaptation strategy for people in climate-vulnerable settings, who lack other options.
Autogenic Training for Reducing Chronic Pain: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Kohlert Antonia , Wick Katharina , Rosendahl Jenny 
Published: October 2021

Abstract
Background
Autogenic training (AT) is frequently used as therapeutic approach in multimodal pain therapy. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the efficacy of AT in individuals suffering from chronic pain in comparison to passive and active control groups.

Methods
A comprehensive literature search in Medline, Web of Science, PsycInfo, and PubPsych and manual searches (last search April 7, 2021) were conducted to locate randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Treatment guidelines and references of relevant articles and previous reviews were checked. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Full Text database, DART-Europe E-theses Portal, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), and the Theses Database of the German National Library were screened to identify any unpublished material.

Results
A total of 13 eligible studies (k = 15 comparisons) including 576 participants were identified. Random-effects meta-analyses revealed a significantly positive, moderate effect of AT on the primary outcome pain compared to passive control groups (g = 0.58, 95% CI [0.36; 0.79], k = 9, I2 = 0%). In comparison with other psychological interventions, no difference was found (g = − 0.05, 95% CI [− 0.30; 0.20], k = 6, I2 = 0%). Sensitivity analyses proved the robustness of findings. Overall risk-of-bias judgment was ‘some concerns’ in the majority of studies.

Conclusions
Beneficial effects of AT on pain reduction were demonstrated, but findings are prone to bias. Furthermore, high methodological quality RCTs are needed to strengthen the promising evidence of AT for individuals with chronic pain.
What can the COVID-19 pandemic tell us about the connection between media and religion? The case of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Poland
Authors: Kołodziejska Marta 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe aims of this paper are to investigate 1) how the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Poland has reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and lockdowns imposed nationwide, 2) how the pandemic context has influenced the Church’s digital media productions, and 3) how the Church has adapted to some of the trends and consequences of deep mediatization (Hepp et al. 2017, 2018).Based in the constructivist concept of deep mediatization (Hepp et al. 2017, 2018), the paper analyzes interviews with Seventh-Day Adventist media professionals from Poland within the framework of the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. Additionally, selected official YouTube channels of local congregations in Poland are analyzed quantitatively to identify the changes in the number of uploads and views.The analyses show that as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, media production and use increased substantially in some digital media formats produced by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which was on the one hand a response to the pandemic context as such, and on the other hand, a reaction to the discriminatory laws which drastically limited the Church’s activities offline. The pandemic has opened up new possibilities of participation, but also increased the chances of digital divides and exclusions.The study concludes that to mitigate the risks related to digital divides during the pandemic, some Polish pastors took on the roles of media experts and educators, incorporating technical skills in their authority status. This suggests that transformations of religious authority may be another consequence of deep mediatization processes.
Optimisation of a Numerical Model to Simulate the Dispersion and Chemical Transformations Within the Oxides of Nitrogen/Ozone System as Traffic Pollution Enters an Urban Greenspace
Authors: Komalasari Dewi , Shi Zongbo , Harrison Roy M. 
Published: October 2021

AbstractUrban greenspace has many health benefits, including cleaner air than the surrounding streets. In this study, a detailed exercise has been conducted to measure concentrations of NO/NO2/NOx and O3 within an urban greenspace, the University of Birmingham campus, using continuous analysers, as well as transects of NO2 measured with diffusion tubes. Concentrations have been simulated using the ADMS-Roads model which has been optimised initially using NOx concentrations for traffic emissions on surrounding roads, background concentrations, and meteorological data considering four candidate sites. Optimisation for prediction of NO2 shows the critical importance of the NO2:NOx ratio in traffic emissions, for which a derivation from atmospheric measurements is consistent with a value derived from optimisation of the model fit to roadside data. After optimisation, the model gives an excellent fit to continuous data measured at roadside. Comparison of model predictions with transects of NO2 across the greenspace also show generally good model performance. The incorporation of dry deposition processes for the nitrogen oxides into the model leads to a reduction of less than 1% in predicted concentrations, leading to the conclusion that the cleaner air within urban greenspace is primarily the result of dispersion rather than deposition processes.
Interoperable Digital Building Twins Through Communicating Materials and Semantic BIM
Authors: Roxin Ana , Abdou Wahabou , Derigent William 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis paper presents contributions of the ANR McBIM (Communicating Material for BIM) project regarding Digital Building Twins, specifically how Semantic Web technologies allow providing explainable decision-support. Following an introduction stating our understanding of a Digital Building Twin (DBT), namely a lively representation of a buildings' status and environment, we identify five main research domains following the study of main research issues related to DBT. We then present the state-of-the-art and existing standards for digitizing the construction process, Semantic Web technologies, and wireless sensor networks. We further position the main contributions made so far in the ANR McBIM project's context according to this analysis, e.g., sensor placement in the communicating material and explainable decision-support.
Axiomatizing additive multi-effort contests
Authors: Hausken Kjell 
Published: October 2021

AbstractA rent seeking model is axiomatized where players exert multiple additive efforts which are substitutable in the contest success function. The axioms assume the sufficiency of exerting one effort, and that adding an amount to one effort and subtracting the same amount from a second equivalent substitutable effort keeps the winning probabilities unchanged. In contrast, the multiplicative Cobb–Douglas production function in the earlier literature requires players to exert all their complementary efforts. The requirement follows from assuming a homogeneity axiom where an equiproportionate change in two players’ matched efforts does not affect the winning probabilities. This article abandons the homogeneity axiom and assumes an alternative axiom where the winning probabilities remain unchanged when a fixed positive amount is added to all players’ efforts. This article also assumes a so-called summation axiom where the winning probabilities remain unchanged when a player substitutes an amount of effort from one effort into another effort. The summation axiom excludes multiplicative production functions, and furnishes a foundation for additive production functions.
Rioting for Representation
Authors: Toha Risa J. 
Published: October 2021

Ethnic riots are a costly and all too common occurrence during political transitions in multi-ethnic settings. Why do ethnic riots occur in certain parts of a country and not others? How does violence eventually decline? Drawing on rich case studies and quantitative evidence from Indonesia between 1990 and 2012, this book argues that patterns of ethnic rioting are not inevitably driven by inter-group animosity, weakness of state capacity, or local demographic composition. Rather, local ethnic elites strategically use violence to leverage their demands for political inclusion during political transition and that violence eventually declines as these demands are accommodated. Toha breaks new ground in showing that particular political reforms—increased political competition, direct local elections, and local administrative units partitioning—in ethnically diverse contexts can ameliorate political exclusion and reduce overall levels of violence between groups.
Panopticon of the Slovak Judiciary – Continuity of Power Centers and Mental Dependence
Authors: Čuroš Peter 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThis Article explores the similarities between the principles which guide the judiciary nowadays and those typical for the functioning of the Communist justice system, particularly the susceptibility to obedience to the requests, orders, or meeting anticipations. The habitus of the judges typical for the authoritarian regime has persisted until these days and was the main reason for the judicial corruption revealed in the “Threema scandal.” This Article’s argument does not connect the judiciary’s dependency to the Communist legacy embodied in members of the judiciary who served before 1989 and are active today. Still, the argument presumes that the Communist heritage is a key to understanding the current situation. The past heritage is hidden in the habitus of the agents or members of the judiciary. This habitus may be unconscious yet defining for the behavior of the agents. The Article aims to identify which continuities of the judicial habitus are apparent in the current judiciary. To demonstrate changes in the position of the judiciary, it presents a thesis of the development of the judiciary from an instrument of the governing party in maintaining a homogenous and subordinated society to the current situation of the Slovak judiciary, defined as a crisis of mental independence resulting in inappropriate behavior and corruption.
Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism
Authors: Szente Zoltán 
Published: October 2021

AbstractThe study seeks to answer the question of whether there are similarities between the methods used to limit judicial independence in Hungary during the last phase of the communist regime, i.e. before the democratic transition, and today, when many scholars believe that an authoritarian transition is taking place in this country. For this purpose, I argue that despite the undeniable fundamental differences between the political and legal system of these two periods, the mechanisms and ways as the independence of judiciary were and are influenced by the government can plausibly be compared. The analysis seems to support this presumption: both the formal instruments and the informal channels of influence in the hands of the ruling political forces show a number of similarities. Thus, even if there are differences in the degree of their application and result, from centralizing the system of judicial administration to replacing court leaders with politically loyal people there are a number of instruments that enable central government to influence the judiciary, while maintaining the appearance of judicial independence.
Civil Society Organizations for and with the Courts and Judges—Struggle for the Rule of Law and Judicial Independence: The Case of Poland 1976–2020
Authors: Bojarski Łukasz 
Published: October 2021

AbstractDuring the rule of law backsliding crisis in Poland since late 2015, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have been active in the struggles to defend judicial independence. CSOs cooperate closely with judges and support their ‘judicial resistance’. This Article has three main objectives: describe and analyze the relationship between judges and CSOs; show the evolution — both continuity and discontinuity in their relations over time; assess whether CSOs’ activities are of any practical significance and therefore worth attention. The CSO-judicial relationship is analyzed for three periods: 1976–1989, the years before the transformation of Poland from a ‘people’s republic’ to a democracy; 1989–2015, the time of building liberal democracy and the rule of law; 2015–2020, the time of defending the rule of law from a populist attack.Drawing on sources including years of participant observation providing unique and insider knowledge, the author analyzes the activities and outputs of CSOs and judges focusing on their interactions and cooperation. The author argues that CSOs play a significant role in the struggle for the rule of law and judicial independence. This Article demonstrates that CSOs’ current engagement and input is not an extraordinary, ad hoc phenomenon, but rather one that arose from the previous interactions between the judiciary and civil society. The author argues that what we witness in Poland is an unprecedented phenomenon, both in the character of the relationship between judges and CSOs, and the scale and diversity of their cooperation. At the same time, the author claims that CSOs are underappreciated, including by academia, their work is taken for granted, and their role in the legal complex can be seen as a partly lost opportunity. If noticed, appreciated, and supported CSOs activities and their role could be more meaningful.
Fluid mechanics of free subduction on a sphere. Part 1. The axisymmetric case
Authors: Chamolly Alexander , Ribe Neil M. 
Published: October 2021

To understand how a spherical geometry influences the dynamics of gravity-driven subduction of the oceanic lithosphere on Earth, we study a simple model of a thin and dense axisymmetric shell of thickness

$h$

and viscosity

$\eta _1$

sinking in a spherical body of fluid with radius

$R_0$

and a lower viscosity

$\eta _0$

. Using scaling analysis based on thin viscous shell theory, we identify a fundamental length scale, the ‘bending length’

$l_b$

, and two key dimensionless parameters that control the dynamics: the ‘flexural stiffness’

$St = (\eta _1/\eta _0)(h/l_b)^3$

and the ‘sphericity number’

$\varSigma = (l_b/R_0)\cot \theta _t$

, where

$\theta _t$

is the angular radius of the subduction trench. To validate the scaling analysis, we obtain a suite of instantaneous numerical solutions using a boundary-element method based on new analytical point-force Green functions that satisfy free-slip boundary conditions on the sphere's surface. To isolate the effect of sphericity, we calculate the radial sinking speed

$V$

and the hoop stress resultant

$T_2$

at the leading end of the subducted part of the shell, both normalised by their ‘flat-Earth’ values (i.e. for

$\varSigma = 0$

). For reasonable terrestrial values of

$\eta _1/\eta _0$

(

$\approx$

several hundred), sphericity has a modest effect on

$V$

, which is reduced by

$< 7\,\%$

for large plates such as the Pacific plate and by up to 34 % for smaller plates such as the Cocos and Philippine Sea plates. However, sphericity has a much greater effect on

$T_2$

, increasing it by up to 64 % for large plates and 240 % for small plates. This result has important implications for the growth of longitudinal buckling instabilities in subducting spherical shells.
A SHARP Response: Developing COVID-19 Research Aims in Partnership with the Seniors Helping as Research Partners (SHARP) Group
Authors: Elliott Jacobi , Whate Alexandra , McNeil Heather , Kernoghan Alison , Stolee Paul ,   the SHARP Group
Published: October 2021

Abstract
COVID-19 has disproportionally impacted older adults, and has highlighted many issues, including extreme deficiencies in Canadian long-term care homes and gaps in home and community care services for older adults. In recent years, there has been a push towards better patient and family engagement in health system research, and with the onset of the pandemic, engaging older adults in research and policy planning is more important than ever. In this article, we describe the Seniors Helping as Research Partners (SHARP) approach to engagement with older adults as an example of how partnerships that engage older adults in the development of research aims and processes can help to ensure that future research meets the needs of older adults. SHARP members highlighted a number of areas for future COVID-19 research such as improvements to long-term care, enhancing access to home and community care, and a focus on aging and social isolation.