bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Motion correction of free-breathing magnetic resonance renography using model-driven registration
Authors: Flouri Dimitra , Lesnic Daniel , Chrysochou Constantina , Parikh Jehill , Thelwall Peter , Sheerin Neil , Kalra Philip A. , Buckley David L. , Sourbron Steven P. 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Introduction
Model-driven registration (MDR) is a general approach to remove patient motion in quantitative imaging. In this study, we investigate whether MDR can effectively correct the motion in free-breathing MR renography (MRR).

Materials and methods
MDR was generalised to linear tracer-kinetic models and implemented using 2D or 3D free-form deformations (FFD) with multi-resolution and gradient descent optimization. MDR was evaluated using a kidney-mimicking digital reference object (DRO) and free-breathing patient data acquired at high temporal resolution in multi-slice 2D (5 patients) and 3D acquisitions (8 patients). Registration accuracy was assessed using comparison to ground truth DRO, calculating the Hausdorff distance (HD) between ground truth masks with segmentations and visual evaluation of dynamic images, signal-time courses and parametric maps (all data).

Results
DRO data showed that the bias and precision of parameter maps after MDR are indistinguishable from motion-free data. MDR led to reduction in HD (HDunregistered = 9.98 ± 9.76, HDregistered = 1.63 ± 0.49). Visual inspection showed that MDR effectively removed motion effects in the dynamic data, leading to a clear improvement in anatomical delineation on parametric maps and a reduction in motion-induced oscillations on signal-time courses.

Discussion
MDR provides effective motion correction of MRR in synthetic and patient data. Future work is needed to compare the performance against other more established methods.
Robotic versus laparoscopic splenectomy: a systematic review of perioperative outcomes
Authors: Bhat Anantha Shreepad , Farrugia Alexia , Muhammad Qazi Rahim , Kulikova Viera , Marangoni Gabriele , Ahmad Jawad 
Published: June 2021

Summary
Background
Elective splenectomy has various indications and can be performed open or minimally invasively. Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) is popular but has limitations. Some studies suggest potential superiority of robotic splenectomy (RS) over LS. As such, we conducted a systematic review to determine whether RS has greater positive perioperative outcomes in comparison to LS in the adult population.

Methods
We searched for studies that reported perioperative outcomes and compared RS to LS in the adult population. Outcome measures were operative time, conversion to open surgery, postoperative complications, mortality, length of stay, blood loss and cost analysis. A simple, unpaired two-tailed student’s t‑test was used to compare outcomes between the RS and LS patient groups.

Results
After full-text analysis of 47 papers, three studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies involved 72 patients (28 in the RS group, 44 in the LS group). RS demonstrated no significantly reduced blood loss in comparison to LS (p = 0.13). RS had no cases converting to open surgery and no postoperative complications in comparison to LS. No significant difference was found between RS and LS with regards to LOS (p = 0.89) and cost benefit (p = 0.74). RS had a higher operative time in comparison to LS which was not statistically significant (p = 0.45).

Conclusion
The RS approach may be associated with lower blood loss and a lower risk of conversions. There was no statistical difference between RS and LS with regards to length of stay (LOS) and cost. RS takes longer to perform in comparison to LS.
Generalized threshold secret sharing and finite geometry
Authors: Ligeti Peter , Sziklai Peter , Takáts Marcella 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIn the history of secret sharing schemes many constructions are based on geometric objects. In this paper we investigate generalizations of threshold schemes and related finite geometric structures. In particular, we analyse compartmented and hierarchical schemes, and deduce some more general results, especially bounds for special arcs and novel constructions for conjunctive 2-level and 3-level hierarchical schemes.
Safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary efficacy of the PARP inhibitor talazoparib in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors: phase 1 study
Authors: Naito Yoichi , Kuboki Yasutoshi , Ikeda Masafumi , Harano Kenichi , Matsubara Nobuaki , Toyoizumi Shigeyuki , Mori Yuko , Hori Natsuki , Nagasawa Takashi , Kogawa Takahiro 
Published: June 2021

SummaryBackground: Talazoparib is a poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase enzyme inhibitor. This open-label, non-randomized, phase 1 study of talazoparib investigated the safety, pharmacokinetics, and preliminary antitumor activity in Japanese patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors, regardless of mutations in DNA damage repair-related genes, who are resistant to/ineligible for standard therapies. Methods: Patients received talazoparib dosed orally at 0.75 or 1 mg once daily using a modified 3 + 3 dose-escalation scheme. Primary endpoint was dose-limiting toxicities during the first cycle of talazoparib. Results: Nine patients (median age 62.0 years) were included: 3 and 6 patients at the 0.75 and 1.0 mg once-daily dose levels, respectively. No dose-limiting toxicities were reported. The most commonly reported treatment-emergent adverse events (≥2 patients) were anemia, stomatitis, maculopapular rash, platelet count decreased, neutrophil count decreased, and alanine aminotransferase increased. Three patients had grade ≥ 3 treatment-emergent adverse events (anemia, brain metastases [1 patient each], and neutrophil and white blood cell count decreased [same patient]). Two patients temporarily discontinued treatment due to a treatment-emergent adverse event, and 1 patient required a dose reduction for neutrophil count decreased (all at 1 mg once daily). Talazoparib exposure (Cmax and AUC) after single and multiple dosing was slightly higher proportionally with talazoparib 1 mg than talazoparib 0.75 mg. The overall disease control rate was 44.4%, including 2 patients with stable disease. The recommended phase 2 dose of talazoparib was established as 1 mg once daily. Conclusions: Single-agent talazoparib was well tolerated and had preliminary antitumor activity in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03343054 (November 17, 2017).
A review about methods for supporting failure risks analysis in eco-assessment
Authors: Spreafico Christian 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis paper critically reviewed 106 scientific papers proposing methods to enrich eco-assessment with failure determination and risk assessment. The provided research perspective is new and significantly different from the reviews in the literature which are mostly limited to analyse the environmental impacts of uncertainties and off-design functioning rather than the failures. The analysis, based on the contributions of the literature over more than 20 years, was carried out manually and allowed to identify and classify the application fields, the types of identifiable failures and the approaches used for their determination, for the analysis of their risk of occurrence and for their eco-assessment. The different classifications have also been intersected with each other and all the proposed approaches have been discussed in detail, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages in relation to eco-assessment. From the study emerged a growing and heterogeneous interest on the subject by the scientific community, and a certain independence of the analysed methods with respect to traditional approaches of both failure risk analysis and eco-assessment. Great attention of the methods about product functioning has been highlighted, in addition to the use of tests, simulations, FMEA (failure mode and effect analysis)-based approaches and knowledge databases to determine the failures, while statistical methods are preferred to support risks analysis and LCA (life cycle assessment) for environmental impact calculation. If, in the coming years, this argument also spreads in industry, the results provided by this review could be exploited as a first framework for practitioners.
Graphical abstract
Spaces of positive intermediate curvature metrics
Authors: Frenck Georg , Kordaß Jan-Bernhard 
Published: June 2021

AbstractIn this paper we study spaces of Riemannian metrics with lower bounds on intermediate curvatures. We show that the spaces of metrics of positive p-curvature and k-positive Ricci curvature on a given high-dimensional $$\mathrm {Spin}$$
Spin
-manifold have many non-trivial homotopy groups provided that the manifold admits such a metric.
Qualitative Comparative Analysis and robust sufficiency
Authors: Baumgartner Michael 
Published: June 2021

AbstractSome methodologists take the search target of Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to be causal INUS-conditions, others contend that QCA should instead be used to search for some form of sufficiency that is more substantive than mere Boolean sufficiency. While the notion of an INUS-condition has a long and uncontroversial definitional history, Adrian Dusa, in a recent paper, is the first to explicitly define a notion of substantive sufficiency, which he labels robust sufficiency. Dusa’s definition, however, is vacuous in real-life research contexts. As an alternative, the first part of this paper non-vacuously defines robust sufficiency and supplies a corresponding notion of minimality, which—I argue—captures Dusa’s conceptual intentions. In the second part, I then report and discuss the results of a series of simulation experiments benchmarking the performance of the different QCA solution types in recovering robust sufficiency and minimality.
Evaluation of the productivity of hospital-based researchers: comparative study between the h-index and the h(fa)-index
Authors: Sebo Paul , de Lucia Sylvain 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe h-index is often used to evaluate researchers and to measure their respective contributions to the scientific community. However, it does not take into account the relative contribution of each author to the articles. We aimed to assess the added value of the h(fa)-index, an index introducing a weighting factor for the first author. This cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2020 in Switzerland. We selected all hospital-based senior physicians practicing internal medicine or family medicine in the six university hospitals. Using Web of Science, we retrieved the h-index and computed the h(fa)-index of all physicians with a non-zero h-index. We used Spearman coefficients to examine the correlation between the two indices and Cohen’s kappa to determine the inter-rater agreement. 244 physicians were included in the study (men: 63%). They had a median h-index of 3 (IQR 11) and a median h(fa) index of 4.5 (IQR 14). The correlation between the two indices was very high (rho 0.98, p-value < 0.001). However, the inter-rater agreement was only moderate (Kappa 0.59 [95% CI 0.56–0.64]). The h(fa)-index was able to correct the categorization of the researchers in about 1/3 of the cases (agreement 63.4%). Although it is very challenging to evaluate researchers with a unique indicator, these data suggest that the h(fa)-index could be a better evaluation tool of researchers’ productivity.
Routine screening for pulmonary embolism in COVID-19 patients at the emergency department: impact of D-dimer testing followed by CTPA
Authors: Korevaar Daniël A. , Aydemir Ilayda , Minnema Maartje W. , Azijli Kaoutar , Beenen Ludo F. , Heijmans Jarom , van Es Nick , al Masoudi Mohanad , Meijboom Lilian J. , Middeldorp Saskia , Nanayakkara Prabath W. , Meijer Rick I. , Bonta Peter I. , van Es Josien 
Published: June 2021

AbstractCOVID-19 patients have increased risk of pulmonary embolism (PE), but symptoms of both conditions overlap. Because screening algorithms for PE in COVID-19 patients are currently lacking, PE might be underdiagnosed. We evaluated a screening algorithm in which all patients presenting to the ED with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 routinely undergo D-dimer testing, followed by CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) if D-dimer is ≥ 1.00 mg/L. Consecutive adult patients presenting to the ED of two university hospitals in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, between 01-10-2020 and 31-12-2020, who had a final diagnosis of COVID-19, were retrospectively included. D-dimer and CTPA results were obtained. Of 541 patients with a final diagnosis of COVID-19 presenting to the ED, 25 (4.6%) were excluded because D-dimer was missing, and 71 (13.1%) because they used anticoagulation therapy. Of 445 included patients, 185 (41.6%; 95%CI 37.0–46.3) had a D-dimer ≥ 1.00 mg/L. CTPA was performed in 169 of them, which showed PE in 26 (15.4%; 95%CI 10.3–21.7), resulting in an overall detection rate of 5.8% (95%CI 3.9–8.4) in the complete study group. In patients with and without PE at CTPA, median D-dimer was 9.84 (IQR 3.90–29.38) and 1.64 (IQR 1.17–3.01), respectively (p < 0.001). PE prevalence increased with increasing D-dimer, ranging from 1.2% (95%CI 0.0–6.4) if D-dimer was 1.00–1.99 mg/L, to 48.6% (95%CI 31.4–66.0) if D-dimer was ≥ 5.00 mg/L. In conclusion, by applying this screening algorithm, PE was identified in a considerable proportion of COVID-19 patients. Prospective management studies should assess if this algorithm safely rules-out PE if D-dimer is < 1.00 mg/L.
An Ode to ODA against all Odds? A Novel Game-Theoretical and Empirical Reappraisal of the Terrorism-Aid Nexus
Authors: Sadik-Zada Elkhan Richard 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
The present inquiry revisits the influence of the fourth religious wave of modern terrorism on the allocation of official development assistance (ODA). The theoretical framework is predicated first on comprehensive review of the pertinent literature on the nexus between political instability and foreign aid, augmented by the assessment of Central Intelligence Agency declassified documents and Congressional Service Reports. Based on the systematic review of the sources, the study puts forward a novel dynamic differential game theory model, which enables derivation of the scenarios for foreign aid allocation. The study finds that despite dominance of geopolitical and/or commercial interests in the allocation of aid, high incidence of terrorist attacks does not lead to less development aid, but rather catalyzes it. Subsequent empirical analysis of a dataset with 121 developing and transition economies spanning between 1970 and 2016 reveals that terrorism incidents, level of political rights, and the War on Terror had a statistically significant positive long-run and negative short-run effect on the level of foreign aid commitment of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development member states. The growth rate of foreign aid in the developing countries with a predominantly Muslim population has been systematically 0.1 to 0.85 percent greater than in non-Muslim countries. Subsequent assessment of the security bias in the allocation of aid indicates that re-securitization of aid since 1998 has led to weak diversion of aid commitment from areas with fewer terrorism incidents to jurisdictions with a greater frequency of terrorist attacks.
Decision support framework for the regional facility location and development planning problem
Authors: Kik David , Wichmann Matthias Gerhard , Spengler Thomas Stefan 
Published: June 2021

AbstractLocation choice is a crucial planning task with major influence on a company’s future orientation and competitiveness. It is quite complex, since multiple location factors are usually of decision-relevance, incomparable, and sometimes conflictual. Further, ongoing urbanization is associated with locational dynamics posing major challenges for the regional location management of companies and municipalities. For example, respecting urban space as location factor, a scarcity growing over time leads to different assessment and requirements on a company’s behalf. For both companies and municipalities, there is a need for location development which implies an active change of location factor characteristics. Accordingly, considering locational dynamics is vital, as they may be decisive in the location decision-making. Although certain dynamics are considered within conventional Facility Location Problem (FLP) approaches, a systematic consideration of active location development is missing so far. Consequently, they may propagate long-term unfavorable location decisions, as major potentials associated with company-driven and municipal development measures are neglected. Therefore, this paper introduces a comprehensive decision support framework for the Regional Facility Location and Development planning Problem (RFLDP). It provides an operationalization of development measures, and thus anticipates dynamic adaptations to the environment. An established multi-criteria approach is extended to this new application. A complementary guideline ensures its meaningful applicability by practitioners. Based on a real-life case study, the decision support framework’s strength for practical application is demonstrated. Here, major advantages over conventional FLP approaches are highlighted. It is shown that the proposed methodology results in alternative location decisions which are structurally superior.
On the Cooling Rate-Microstructure Relationship in Molten Metal Gas Atomization
Authors: Gianoglio Dario , Ciftci Nevaf , Armstrong Sarah , Uhlenwinkel Volker , Battezzati Livio 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Gas atomization is the most used powder production technique since it provides good control on particles shape, surface oxidation and dimension. It is a rapid solidification technique involving fast cooling rates, which are strictly correlated to particle size. This relationship is typically described with a power law function that can be determined experimentally by measuring the microstructural length-scale or through the application of a heat transfer model. Both paths were exploited in the present work focusing on a gas-atomized Al-4.5Cu alloy. Atomized powders were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, light and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the relationship between cooling rate and microstructure length-scale. A recently proposed semi-empirical model was validated and discussed in terms of a physically based heat transfer approach. The change in gas-to-melt mass flow ratio (GMR) was also investigated showing that it does not affect appreciably the relationship between solidification rate and particle size, but does increase the Cu supersaturation in the powders of finer size.
Cognitive Biases in Criminal Case Evaluation: A Review of the Research
Authors: Meterko Vanessa , Cooper Glinda 
Published: June 2021

AbstractPsychological heuristics are an adaptive part of human cognition, helping us operate efficiently in a world full of complex stimuli. However, these mental shortcuts also have the potential to undermine the search for truth in a criminal investigation. We reviewed 30 social science research papers on cognitive biases in criminal case evaluations (i.e., integrating and drawing conclusions based on the totality of the evidence in a criminal case), 18 of which were based on police participants or an examination of police documents. Only two of these police participant studies were done in the USA, with the remainder conducted in various European countries. The studies provide supporting evidence that lay people and law enforcement professionals alike are vulnerable to confirmation bias, and there are other environmental, individual, and case-specific factors that may exacerbate this risk. Six studies described or evaluated the efficacy of intervention strategies, with varying evidence of success. Further research, particularly in the USA, is needed to evaluate different approaches to protect criminal investigations from cognitive biases.
Chronic AdipoRon Treatment Mimics the Effects of Physical Exercise on Restoring Hippocampal Neuroplasticity in Diabetic Mice
Authors: Lee Thomas H , Ahadullah  , Christie Brian R , Lin Kangguang , Siu Parco Ming-fai , Zhang Li , Yuan Ti-fei , Komal Pragya , Xu Aimin , So Kwok-fai , Yau Suk-yu 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAdministration of exercise mimetic drugs could be a novel therapeutic approach to combat comorbid neurodegeneration and metabolic syndromes. Adiponectin is an adipocyte-secreted hormone. In addition to its antidiabetic effect, adiponectin mediates the antidepressant effect of physical exercise associated with adult hippocampal neurogenesis. The antidiabetic effect of the adiponectin receptor agonist AdipoRon has been demonstrated, but its potential pro-cognitive and neurotrophic effects in the hippocampus under diabetic condition are still unclear. This study reported that chronic AdipoRon treatment for 2 weeks improved hippocampal-dependent spatial recognition memory in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Besides, AdipoRon treatment increased progenitor cell proliferation and neuronal differentiation in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) of diabetic mice. Furthermore, AdipoRon treatment significantly increased dendritic complexity, spine density, and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) in the dentate region, and increased BDNF levels in the DG of diabetic mice. AdipoRon treatment activated AMPK/PGC-1α signalling in the DG, whereas increases in cell proliferation and LTP were not observed when PGC-1α signalling was pharmacologically inhibited. In sum, chronic AdipoRon treatment partially mimics the benefits of physical exercise for learning and memory and hippocampal neuroplasticity in the diabetic brain. The results suggested that AdipoRon could be a potential physical exercise mimetic to improve hippocampal plasticity and hence rescue learning and memory impairment typically associated with diabetes.
Analysis of groundwater table variability and trend using ordinary kriging: the case study of Sylhet, Bangladesh
Authors: Hasan Khairul , Paul Sondipon , Chy Tareq Jamal , Antipova Anzhelika 
Published: June 2021

AbstractMany developing countries experience widespread groundwater declination. Sustainable management actions include generation of an accurate groundwater distribution based on an extensive groundwater monitoring network which is often cost prohibiting in the context of a developing country such as Bangladesh. Further, such knowledge is lacking for the Sylhet region where groundwater was documented to be under tremendous pressure. Specifically, the gap in the current literature exists regarding groundwater trends and its areal extent for this region. This paper bridges the gap in research by focusing on trends and spatial and temporal variation of groundwater level changes for this area. This study addresses this problem by creating groundwater level predictions at the ungauged areas using geostatistical methods applied to a detailed set of data. In this study, the spatial variability of annual-average depth to the water table at 46 observation wells in the Sylhet division in Bangladesh is analyzed for 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015. The geostatistical analysis applies the ordinary kriging method with cross-validation to create the water table maps for the study area. The results indicate a substantial increase in groundwater depths during the studied period from 2000 to 2015 in some locations in the study area. Importantly, this work identifies the vulnerable zones in the area due to the groundwater lowering trend. The study adds to the groundwater management research in developing countries and focuses on the spatial and temporal groundwater variation. The findings from the modeling exercise contribute to identification of the vulnerable areas and therefore help policymakers in making informed decisions to manage groundwater resources in this sensitive region sustainably.