bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mask then classify: multi-instance segmentation for surgical instruments
Authors: Kurmann Thomas , Márquez-Neila Pablo , Allan Max , Wolf Sebastian , Sznitman Raphael 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Purpose
The detection and segmentation of surgical instruments has been a vital step for many applications in minimally invasive surgical robotics. Previously, the problem was tackled from a semantic segmentation perspective, yet these methods fail to provide good segmentation maps of instrument types and do not contain any information on the instance affiliation of each pixel. We propose to overcome this limitation by using a novel instance segmentation method which first masks instruments and then classifies them into their respective type.

Methods
We introduce a novel method for instance segmentation where a pixel-wise mask of each instance is found prior to classification. An encoder–decoder network is used to extract instrument instances, which are then separately classified using the features of the previous stages. Furthermore, we present a method to incorporate instrument priors from surgical robots.

Results
Experiments are performed on the robotic instrument segmentation dataset of the 2017 endoscopic vision challenge. We perform a fourfold cross-validation and show an improvement of over 18% to the previous state-of-the-art. Furthermore, we perform an ablation study which highlights the importance of certain design choices and observe an increase of 10% over semantic segmentation methods.

Conclusions
We have presented a novel instance segmentation method for surgical instruments which outperforms previous semantic segmentation-based methods. Our method further provides a more informative output of instance level information, while retaining a precise segmentation mask. Finally, we have shown that robotic instrument priors can be used to further increase the performance.
What matters? The role of values in transformations toward sustainability: a case study of coffee production in Burundi
Authors: Rosenberg Milda Nordbø 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis paper examines the role of values in transformations toward sustainability. Values, generally defined as what people deem to matter, are increasingly gaining interest in and outside of academia. For example, sustainability aligns with specific values such as dignity, equality, safety, and harmony for people and nature. However, current approaches to values are mind-matter dualistic, and therefore failing to honor the inherently dynamic relations of socio-ecological systems. Drawing on new materialism, I explore values as part of the relations that make this world and propose to consider values as material-discursive practices. Ethnographic fieldwork was done in 2017 with coffee producers in Burundi who aimed to transform production by caring for the coffee and people that grow it. Based on interviews and participatory observation, I present how values were integral to transforming the relational aspects of coffee production. In this study, values of togetherness, care, dignity, and faith were dominant and were found to reconfigure the socio-ecological system of coffee production. I argue that values are inseparable from, and hence co-productive of, the material world that we experience and play a vital role in sustainability transformations.
Ethical Issues around Death and Withdrawal of Life Support in Neonatal Intensive Care
Authors: Pant Stuti 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAmongst all the traumatic experiences in a human life, death of child is considered the most painful, and has profound and lasting impact on the life of parents. The experience is even more complex when the death occurs within a neonatal intensive care unit, particularly in situations where there have been conflicts associated with decisions regarding the redirection of life-sustaining treatments. In the absence of national guidelines and legal backing, clinicians are faced with a dilemma of whether to prolong life-sustaining therapy even in the most brain-injured infants or allow a discharge against medical advice. Societal customs, vagaries, and lack of bereavement support further complicate the experience for parents belonging to lower socio-economic classes. The present review explores the ethical dilemmas around neonatal death faced by professionals in India, and suggests some ways forward.
Reduced Firing of Nucleus Accumbens Parvalbumin Interneurons Impairs Risk Avoidance in DISC1 Transgenic Mice
Authors: Zhou Xinyi , Wu Bifeng , Liu Wenhao , Xiao Qian , He Wei , Zhou Ying , Wei Pengfei , Zhang Xu , Liu Yue , Wang Jie , He Jufang , Zhang Zhigang , Li Weidong , Wang Liping , Tu Jie 
Published: June 2021

AbstractA strong animal survival instinct is to approach objects and situations that are of benefit and to avoid risk. In humans, a large proportion of mental disorders are accompanied by impairments in risk avoidance. One of the most important genes involved in mental disorders is disrupted-in-schizophrenia-1 (DISC1), and animal models in which this gene has some level of dysfunction show emotion-related impairments. However, it is not known whether DISC1 mouse models have an impairment in avoiding potential risks. In the present study, we used DISC1-N terminal truncation (DISC1-NTM) mice to investigate risk avoidance and found that these mice were impaired in risk avoidance on the elevated plus maze (EPM) and showed reduced social preference in a three-chamber social interaction test. Following EPM tests, c-Fos expression levels indicated that the nucleus accumbens (NAc) was associated with risk-avoidance behavior in DISC1-NTM mice. In addition, in vivo electrophysiological recordings following tamoxifen administration showed that the firing rates of fast-spiking neurons (FS) in the NAc were significantly lower in DISC1-NTM mice than in wild-type (WT) mice. In addition, in vitro patch clamp recording revealed that the frequency of action potentials stimulated by current injection was lower in parvalbumin (PV) neurons in the NAc of DISC1-NTM mice than in WT controls. The impairment of risk avoidance in DISC1-NTM mice was rescued using optogenetic tools that activated NAcPV neurons. Finally, inhibition of the activity of NAcPV neurons in PV-Cre mice mimicked the risk-avoidance impairment found in DISC1-NTM mice during tests on the elevated zero maze. Taken together, our findings confirm an impairment in risk avoidance in DISC1-NTM mice and suggest that reduced excitability of NAcPV neurons is responsible.
Personalized, Evidence-Informed Training Plans and Exercise Prescriptions for Performance, Fitness and Health
Authors: Wackerhage Henning , Schoenfeld Brad J. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractA training plan, or an exercise prescription, is the point where we translate sport and exercise science into practice. As in medicine, good practice requires writing a training plan or prescribing an exercise programme based on the best current scientific evidence. A key issue, however, is that a training plan or exercise prescription is typically a mix of many interacting interventions (e.g. exercises and nutritional recommendations) that additionally change over time due to periodisation or tapering. Thus, it is virtually impossible to base a complex long-term training plan fully on scientific evidence. We, therefore, speak of evidence-informed training plans and exercise prescriptions to highlight that only some of the underlying decisions are made using an evidence-based decision approach. Another challenge is that the adaptation to a given, e.g. endurance or resistance training programme is often highly variable. Until biomarkers for trainability are identified, we must therefore continue to test athletes, clients, or patients, and monitor training variables via a training log to determine whether an individual sufficiently responds to a training intervention or else re-plan. Based on these ideas, we propose a subjective, pragmatic six-step approach that details how to write a training plan or exercise prescription that is partially based on scientific evidence. Finally, we advocate an athlete, client and patient-centered approach whereby an individual’s needs and abilities are the main consideration behind all decision-making. This implies that sometimes the most effective form of training is eschewed if the athlete, client or patient has other wishes.
Multi-criteria healthcare waste disposal location selection based on Fermatean fuzzy WASPAS method
Authors: Mishra Arunodaya Raj , Rani Pratibha 
Published: June 2021

AbstractMedical services inevitably generate healthcare waste (HCW) that may become hazardous to healthcare staffs, patients, the population, and the atmosphere. In most of the developing countries, HCW disposal management has become one of the fastest-growing challenges for urban municipalities and healthcare providers. Determining the location for HCW disposal centers is a relatively complex process due to the involvement of various alternatives, criteria, and strict government guidelines about the disposal of HCW. The objective of the paper is to introduce the WASPAS (weighted aggregated sum product assessment) method with Fermatean fuzzy sets (FFSs) for the HCW disposal location selection problem. This method combines the score function, entropy measure, and classical WASPAS approach within FFSs context. Next, a combined procedure using entropy and score function is proposed to estimate the criteria weights. To do this, a novel score function with its desirable properties and some entropy measures are introduced under the FFSs context. Further, an illustrative case study of the HCW disposal location selection problem on FFSs is established, which evidences the practicality and efficacy of the developed approach. Comparative discussion and sensitivity analysis are made to monitor the permanence of the introduced framework. The final results approve that the proposed methodology can effectively handle the ambiguity and inaccuracy in the decision-making procedure of HCW disposal location selection.
Empowering Growth in Pakistan?
Authors: Siegmann Karin Astrid , Majid Hadia 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe SDGs’ commitment to inclusive growth reflects an increasing international concern with the inclusiveness of macro-economic development. Yet, although research underscores that economic growth is not gender-neutral, gender dimensions remain a footnote to these debates. This article explores the connection between growth performance and gender inequalities in the case of Pakistan. The country’s macro-economic performance has been characterised as a case of ‘growth without development’. More specifically, severe gender inequalities and women’s marginalisation in international comparison have persisted even in phases of high GDP growth. This paradoxical situation offers a fertile context for the analysis of how empowering macro-economic growth has been and can be for women. We investigate how empowering growth has been for women in Pakistan by exploring aggregate data on sectoral growth and gendered employment. Our analysis does not suggest the straightforward win–win for growth and women’s empowerment espoused in Pakistan’s national policy vision. Rather, we find that women’s employment is precarious—women are largely viewed as secondary earners engaging in distress sale of labour.
Spontaneous Eye Blinks Predict Executive Functioning in Seniors
Authors: Buitenweg Jessika I. V. , Murre Jaap M. J. , Ridderinkhof K. Richard 
Published: June 2021

AbstractAs the world’s population is aging rapidly, cognitive training is an extensively used approach to attempt improvement of age-related cognitive functioning. With increasing numbers of older adults required to remain in the workforce, it is important to be able to reliably predict future functional decline, as well as the individual advantages of cognitive training. Given the correlation between age-related decline and striatal dopaminergic function, we investigated whether eye blink rate (EBR), a non-invasive, indirect indicator of dopaminergic activity, could predict executive functioning (response inhibition, switching and working memory updating) as well as trainability of executive functioning in older adults. EBR was collected before and after a cognitive flexibility training, cognitive training without flexibility, or a mock training. EBR predicted working memory updating performance on two measures of updating, as well as trainability of working memory updating, whereas performance and trainability in inhibition and switching tasks could not be predicted by EBR. Our findings tentatively indicate that EBR permits prediction of working memory performance in older adults. To fully interpret the relationship with executive functioning, we suggest future research should assess both EBR and dopamine receptor availability among seniors.
In luck we trust: Capturing the diversity bonus through random selection
Authors: Liu Chengwei 
Published: June 2021

AbstractComplex tasks often cannot be addressed with expertise, but instead by assembling a diverse cognitive repertoire in teams. In such cases, engaging diversity may enhance performance. Yet various behavioral and social limits often deter organizations from recognizing or integrating valuable diversity. I argue that random selection is an undervalued tool for capturing the diversity bonus because it helps address: (1) the paradox of merit, by avoiding fruitless deliberation; (2) biased reasoning, by deciding on the basis of no reason; and (3) learning traps, by discovering self-confirming false beliefs. More generally, incorporating random selection in organizational design can generate a less-is-more effect: deciding by blind luck means exercising less control over outcomes but achieving more by saving time and resources, as well as detecting and sanitizing biased reasons.
CO2 and Radon Emissions as Precursors of Seismic Activity
Authors: D’Incecco Simone , Petraki Ermioni , Priniotakis Georgios , Papoutsidakis Michail , Yannakopoulos Panayiotis , Nikolopoulos Dimitrios 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis paper reports a review on the relationship between seismic activity and the emissions of CO2and radon. Direct, indirect and sampling methods are mainly employed to measure CO2flux and concentration in seismic areas. The accumulation chamber technique is the mostly used in the literature. Radon gas emission in seismic areas can be considered as a short-term pre-seismic precursor. The study and the measurement of radon gas activity prior to earthquakes can be performed through active techniques, with the use of high-precision active monitors and through passive techniques with the use of passive detectors. Several investigators report models to explain the anomalous behavior of in-earth fluid gasses prior to earthquakes. Models are described and discussed.
Application of lung microphysiological systems to COVID-19 modeling and drug discovery: a review
Authors: Sun Argus M. , Hoffman Tyler , Luu Bao Q. , Ashammakhi Nureddin , Li Song 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThere is a pressing need for effective therapeutics for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. The process of drug development is a costly and meticulously paced process, where progress is often hindered by the failure of initially promising leads. To aid this challenge, in vitro human microphysiological systems need to be refined and adapted for mechanistic studies and drug screening, thereby saving valuable time and resources during a pandemic crisis. The SARS-CoV-2 virus attacks the lung, an organ where the unique three-dimensional (3D) structure of its functional units is critical for proper respiratory function. The in vitro lung models essentially recapitulate the distinct tissue structure and the dynamic mechanical and biological interactions between different cell types. Current model systems include Transwell, organoid and organ-on-a-chip or microphysiological systems (MPSs). We review models that have direct relevance toward modeling the pathology of COVID-19, including the processes of inflammation, edema, coagulation, as well as lung immune function. We also consider the practical issues that may influence the design and fabrication of MPS. The role of lung MPS is addressed in the context of multi-organ models, and it is discussed how high-throughput screening and artificial intelligence can be integrated with lung MPS to accelerate drug development for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
A Review of Verification and Validation for Space Autonomous Systems
Authors: Cardoso Rafael C. , Kourtis Georgios , Dennis Louise A. , Dixon Clare , Farrell Marie , Fisher Michael , Webster Matt 
Published: June 2021

AbstractPurpose of ReviewThe deployment of hardware (e.g., robots, satellites, etc.) to space is a costly and complex endeavor. It is of extreme importance that on-board systems are verified and validated through a variety of verification and validation techniques, especially in the case of autonomous systems. In this paper, we discuss a number of approaches from the literature that are relevant or directly applied to the verification and validation of systems in space, with an emphasis on autonomy.Recent FindingsDespite advances in individual verification and validation techniques, there is still a lack of approaches that aim to combine different forms of verification in order to obtain system-wide verification of modular autonomous systems.SummaryThis systematic review of the literature includes the current advances in the latest approaches using formal methods for static verification (model checking and theorem proving) and runtime verification, the progress achieved so far in the verification of machine learning, an overview of the landscape in software testing, and the importance of performing compositional verification in modular systems. In particular, we focus on reporting the use of these techniques for the verification and validation of systems in space with an emphasis on autonomy, as well as more general techniques (such as in the aeronautical domain) that have been shown to have potential value in the verification and validation of autonomous systems in space.
Grid cyber security: secure by design, continuous threat monitoring, effective incident response and board oversight
Authors: Geach Dale 
Published: June 2021

Grids are possibly the highest expression of engineering serving society. From the aqueducts created in the sixth century BCE to the modern era birth of gas utilities in the 1820s, followed by electricity generation and distribution grids in the 1880s and the computer information-sharing age kicking off in the 1960s, we have been creating distribution infrastructure. Grids are possibly the highest expression of engineering serving society. We have lots of infrastructure, spanning generations of engineering and technology, still in service. This presents a problem as there are many who see these grids as vulnerable and high-value targets. Dale Geach of Siemens UK examines where the weaknesses lie and how they have already been exploited. As grid operators seek the huge benefits of modernising grid operations, it's important that they adopt a secure-by-design network with continuous threat detection and watertight response plans.
Judicialization of the Sea: Bargaining in the Shadow of UNCLOS
Authors: Mitchell Sara McLaughlin , Owsiak Andrew P. 
Published: June 2021

AbstractBased on a comprehensive empirical analysis of maritime disputes during the twentieth century, this Article argues that international courts cast a shadow that markedly changes bargaining by potential litigating states. In particular, the filing of optional declarations under Article 287 of UNCLOS increases states’ use of non-binding methods of dispute settlement, and the Article theorizes that this occurs because the declarations credibly threaten court involvement and provide more information about likely litigation outcomes. The Article's central finding is that states that file Article 287 declarations have fewer maritime claims, more peaceful negotiations, and less need for judicial dispute settlement.
A Sensibilist Explanation of Imaginative Resistance
Authors: Franzén Nils 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThis article discusses why it is the case that we refuse to accept strange evaluative claims as being true in fictions, even though we are happy to go along with other types of absurdities in such contexts. For instance, we would refuse to accept the following statement as true, even in the context of a fiction: (i) In killing her baby, Giselda did the right thing; after all, it was a girl.This article offers a sensibilist diagnosis of this puzzle, inspired by an observation first made by David Hume. According to sensibilism, the way we feel about things settles their evaluative properties. Thus, when confronted with a fictional scenario where the configuration of non-evaluative facts and properties is relevantly similar to the actual world, we refuse to go along with evaluative properties being instantiated according to a different pattern. It is the attitudes we hold in the actual world that fix the extension of evaluative terms, even in nonactual worlds. When engaging with a fiction, we (to some extent) leave our beliefs about what the world is like behind, while taking our emotional attitudes with us into the fiction.To substantiate this diagnosis, this paper outlines a sensibilist semantics for evaluative terms based on recent discussion regarding predicates of personal taste, and explains how, together with standard assumptions about the nature of fictional discourse, it makes the relevant predictions with respect to engagement with fictions.