bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
A multi-center, adaptive, randomized, platform trial to evaluate the effect of repurposed medicines in outpatients with early coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and high-risk for complications: the TOGETHER master trial protocol
Authors: Reis Gilmar , Silva Eduardo Augusto dos Santos Moreira , Silva Daniela Carla Medeiros , Thorlund Kristian , Thabane Lehana , Guyatt Gordon H. , Forrest Jamie I. , Glushchenko Alla V. , Chernecki Cameron , McKay Paula , Sprague Sheila , Harari Ofir , Ruton Hinda , Rayner Craig R. , Mills Edward J. 
Published: November 2021

Background: There remains a need for an effective and affordable outpatient treatment for early COVID-19. Multiple repurposed drugs have shown promise in treating COVID-19. We describe a master protocol that will assess the efficacy of different repurposed drugs as treatments for early COVID-19 among outpatients at a high risk for severe complications. Methods: The TOGETHER Trial is a multi-center platform adaptive randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial. Patients are included if they are at least 18 years of age, have a positive antigen test for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and have an indication for high risk of disease severity, including co-morbidities, older age, or high body mass index. Eligible patients are randomized with equal chance to an investigational product (IP) or to placebo.The primary endpoint is hospitalization defined as either retention in a COVID-19 emergency setting for greater than 6 hours or transfer to tertiary hospital due to COVID-19. Secondary outcomes include mortality, adverse events, adherence, and viral clearance. Scheduled interim analyses are conducted and reviewed by the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC), who make recommendations on continuing or stopping each IP. The platform adaptive design go-no-go decision rules are extended to dynamically incorporate external evidence on COVID-19 interventions from ongoing independent randomized clinical trials. Discussion: Results from this trial will assist in the identification of therapeutics for the treatment of early diagnosed COVID-19. The novel methodological extension of the platform adaptive design to dynamically incorporate external evidence is one of the first of its kind and may provide highly valuable information for all COVID-19 trials going forward. Clinicaltrials.gov registration: NCT04727424 (27/01/2021)
A First-Order Optimization Algorithm for Statistical Learning with Hierarchical Sparsity Structure
Authors: Zhang Dewei , Liu Yin , Davanloo Tajbakhsh Sam 
Published: November 2021

In many statistical learning problems, it is desired that the optimal solution conform to an a priori known sparsity structure represented by a directed acyclic graph. Inducing such structures by means of convex regularizers requires nonsmooth penalty functions that exploit group overlapping. Our study focuses on evaluating the proximal operator of the latent overlapping group lasso developed by Jacob et al. in 2009 . We implemented an alternating direction method of multiplier with a sharing scheme to solve large-scale instances of the underlying optimization problem efficiently. In the absence of strong convexity, global linear convergence of the algorithm is established using the error bound theory. More specifically, the paper contributes to establishing primal and dual error bounds when the nonsmooth component in the objective function does not have a polyhedral epigraph. We also investigate the effect of the graph structure on the speed of convergence of the algorithm. Detailed numerical simulation studies over different graph structures supporting the proposed algorithm and two applications in learning are provided.Summary of Contribution: The paper proposes a computationally efficient optimization algorithm to evaluate the proximal operator of a nonsmooth hierarchical sparsity-inducing regularizer and establishes its convergence properties. The computationally intensive subproblem of the proposed algorithm can be fully parallelized, which allows solving large-scale instances of the underlying problem. Comprehensive numerical simulation studies benchmarking the proposed algorithm against five other methods on the speed of convergence to optimality are provided. Furthermore, performance of the algorithm is demonstrated on two statistical learning applications related to topic modeling and breast cancer classification. The code along with the simulation studies and benchmarks are available on the corresponding author’s GitHub website for evaluation and future use.
The Sedgwickian Queerness of an Anime Lesbian: Reading Revolutionary Girl Utena
Authors: Cornejo Giancarlo 
Published: November 2021

A tentative response to Eve Sedgwick's timely question "How to bring your kids up gay?" lies at the heart of Kunihiko Ikuhara's anime TV series Shōjo Kakumei Utena (1997). This article explores the affective sustenance that Revolutionary Girl Utenaoffers to some queer children and teens in the face of a somber heteronormative reality. This essay performs a close reading of Episode seven "Unfulfilled Juri", and it focuses on one of the queer feminine formations that the show cultivates, the tragic (joyful) anime lesbian. Paradoxically, and fortunately, the anime lesbian far from being an abject figure, becomes a site for queer identificatory projections and desires.
Optimal photon-magnon mode matching in whispering-gallery mode cavities
Authors: Wu Xing-Yu , Zhang Yong , Gao Yong-Pan , Wang Chuan 
Published: November 2021

Optomagnonic structures are widely studied in the field of nanophotonics and quantum information science. They are the key platforms for the realization of magnon-mediated microwave to optical transducers in various applications of quantum computing. In order to enhance the coupling between light (photons) and spin waves (magnons), here in this work, we use the Lagrange multiplication method to find the optimum matching condition between the optical whispering-gallery mode and the magnon with Kittle and higher-order modes in microresonators. It is found that the magnon modes located near the edge of the resonator exhibits stronger coupling strength with the optical modes. Numerically, we find the coupling constant can approach

87.6
×
2
π

H
z

in Kittle mode, and

459
×
2
π

H
z

in high-order magnon mode for a yttrium iron garnet (YIG, Y3Fe5O12 ) microdisk cavity with a radius of 300 microns and a thickness of 10 microns. We believe these results may provide an efficient way for enhancing the magneto-optical interaction in the optical devices, which will facilitate the development of magneto-optical control, optical-microwave interaction, and optical nonlinearity.
Mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser based on function-integrated fiber coupler
Authors: Shaodong Hou , Zhijian Ma , Junbo Yang , Min Zhang , Peiguang Yan , Shuangchen Ruan 
Published: November 2021

In an effort to realize a compact and integrated ultrafast fiber laser system, we propose a fiber component serving as a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM), output coupler (OC), and mode-locker by a magnetron-sputtering saturable absorber (SA) on a laboratory-tapered coupler. With the function-integrated coupler, an Er-doped mode-locked fiber laser with 112 MHz repetition rate, 286 fs pulse width, and 87 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is demonstrated. The noise feature of the mode-locked laser is also characterized. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a mode-locked fiber laser based on a WDM/OC/SA integrated device.
Luminescence performance and vibronic behavior of Mn4+-activated Ca14-xKxAl10Zn6O35 deep-red phosphor
Authors: Zhang Lizhen , Yang Yan , Tang Fei , Xu Shijie , Wang Zihao , Zheng Changcheng , Ning Jiqiang , Tian Kangzhen 
Published: November 2021

In this study, a significant improvement of deep-red luminescence was successfully achieved via the substitution approach in the

M

n

4
+

-activated

C

a

14
−
x

K

x

A

l

10

Z

n

6

O

35

phosphor. The optimal

M

n

4
+

doping level

x

was determined by studying luminescence concentration quenching behavior. The measured photoluminescence (PL) spectrum showed five distinct vibronic structures with the main peak centered at 712 nm. A theoretical simulation work was conducted for comparison, and the predominant phonon mode involving in the vibronic transition process was revealed. From the temperature-dependent PL spectra, an abnormal luminescence enhancement was observed at the temperature rising from

T

=

100

to 340 K, and the underlying phonon-assisted luminescence mechanism was theoretically disclosed. Finally, we studied the temperature-dependent luminescence lifetime, and the primary phonon energy in the vibronic behavior was identified from the fitting work.
Effectiveness of Nifurtimox Eflornithine Combination Therapy (NECT) in T. b. gambiense second stage sleeping sickness patients in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Report from a field study
Authors: Kuemmerle Andrea , Schmid Caecilia , Bernhard Sonja , Kande Victor , Mutombo Wilfried , Ilunga Medard , Lumpungu Ismael , Mutanda Sylvain , Nganzobo Pathou , Tete Digas Ngolo , Kisala Mays , Burri Christian , Blesson Severine , Valverde Mordt Olaf 
Published: November 2021

Background
Nifurtimox-eflornithine combination therapy (NECT) for the treatment of second stage gambiense human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) was added to the World Health Organization’s Essential Medicines List in 2009 after demonstration of its non-inferior efficacy compared to eflornithine therapy. A study of NECT use in the field showed acceptable safety and high efficacy until hospital discharge in a wide population, including children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and patients with a HAT treatment history. We present here the effectiveness results after the 24-month follow-up visit.

Methodology/Principal findings
In a multicenter, open label, single arm phase IIIb study, second stage gambiense HAT patients were treated with NECT in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Clinical cure was defined 24 months after treatment as survival without clinical and/or parasitological signs of HAT. Of the 629 included patients, 619 (98.4%) were discharged alive after treatment and were examined for the presence of trypanosomes, white blood cell count in cerebro-spinal fluid, and disease symptoms. The clinical cure rate of 94.1% was comparable for all subpopulations analyzed at the 24-month follow-up visit. Self-reported adverse events during follow-up were few and concerned mainly nervous system disorders, infections, and gastro-intestinal disorders. Overall, 28 patients (4.3%) died during the course of the trial. The death of 16 of the 18 patients who died during the follow-up period was assessed as unlikely or not related to NECT. Within 24 months, eight patients (1.3%) relapsed and received rescue treatment. Sixteen patients were completely lost to follow-up.

Conclusions/Significance
NECT treatment administered under field conditions was effective and sufficiently well tolerated, no major concern arose for children or pregnant or breastfeeding women. Patients with a previous HAT treatment history had the same response as those who were naïve. In conclusion, NECT was confirmed as effective and appropriate for use in a broad population, including vulnerable subpopulations.

Trial registration
The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00906880.
Evaluation of photography using head-mounted display technology (ICAPS) for district Trachoma surveys
Authors: Naufal Fahd , Brady Christopher J. , Wolle Meraf A. , Saheb Kashaf Michael , Mkocha Harran , Bradley Christopher , Kabona George , Ngondi Jeremiah , Massof Robert W. , West Sheila K. 
Published: November 2021

Background
As the prevalence of trachoma declines worldwide, it is becoming increasingly expensive and challenging to standardize graders in the field for surveys to document elimination. Photography of the tarsal conjunctiva and remote interpretation may help alleviate these challenges. The purpose of this study was to develop, and field test an Image Capture and Processing System (ICAPS) to acquire hands-free images of the tarsal conjunctiva for upload to a virtual reading center for remote grading.

Methodology/Principal findings
This observational study was conducted during a district-level prevalence survey for trachomatous inflammation—follicular (TF) in Chamwino, Tanzania. The ICAPS was developed using a Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, a Samsung Gear VR headset, a foot pedal trigger and customized software allowing for hands-free photography. After a one-day training course, three trachoma graders used the ICAPS to collect images from 1305 children ages 1–9 years, which were expert-graded remotely for comparison with field grades. In our experience, the ICAPS was successful at scanning and assigning barcodes to images, focusing on the everted eyelid with adequate examiner hand visualization, and capturing images with sufficient detail to grade TF. The percentage of children with TF by photos and by field grade was 5%. Agreement between grading of the images compared to the field grades at the child level was kappa = 0.53 (95%CI = 0.40–0.66). There were ungradable images for at least one eye in 199 children (9.1%), with more occurring in children ages 1–3 (18.5%) than older children ages 4–9 (4.2%) (χ2 = 145.3, p<0.001).

Conclusions/Significance
The prototype ICAPS device was robust, able to image 1305 children in a district level survey and transmit images from rural Tanzania to an online grading platform. More work is needed to improve the percentage of ungradable images and to better understand the causes of disagreement between field and photo grading.
Transmission dynamics, clinical characteristics and sero-surveillance in the COVID-19 outbreak in a population dense area of Colombo, Sri Lanka April- May 2020
Authors: Jeewandara Chandima , Guruge Dinuka , Jayathilaka Deshni , Deshan Madhusanka Panambara Arachchige , Pushpakumara Pradeep Darshana , Tanussiya Ramu Shyrar , Sepali Aberathna Inoka , Saubhagya Rasikangani Danasekara Danasekara Rallage , Pathmanathan Thilagaraj , Gunatilaka Buddhini , Malavige Sauni , Dias Yowan , Wijayamuni Ruwan , Ogg Graham S. , Malavige Gathsaurie Neelika 
Published: November 2021

Background
The transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 varies depending on social distancing measures, circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, host factors and other environmental factors. We sought to investigate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak that occurred in a highly dense population area in Colombo, Sri Lanka from April to May 2020.

Methodology/principal findings
We carried out RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV2, assessed the SARS-CoV-2 specific total and neutralizing antibodies (Nabs) in a densely packed, underserved settlement (n = 2722) after identification of the index case on 15th April 2020. 89/2722 individuals were detected as infected by RT-qPCR with a secondary attack rate among close contacts being 0.077 (95% CI 0.063–0.095). Another 30 asymptomatic individuals were found to have had COVID-19 based on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 specific antibodies. However, only 61.5% of those who were initially seropositive for SARS-CoV-2 had detectable total antibodies at 120 to 160 days, while only 40.6% had detectable Nabs. 74/89 (83.1%) of RT-qPCR positive individuals were completely asymptomatic and all 15 (16.9%) who experienced symptoms were classified as having a mild illness. 18 (20.2%) were between the ages of 61 to 80. 11/89 (12.4%) had diabetes, 8/89 (9%) had cardiovascular disease and 4 (4.5%) had asthma. Of the two viruses that were sequenced and were of the B.1 and B.4 lineages with one carrying the D614G mutation.

Discussion/conclusion
Almost all infected individuals developed mild or asymptomatic illness despite the presence of comorbid illnesses. Since the majority of those who were in this underserved settlement were not infected despite circulation of the D614G variant, it would be important to further study environmental and host factors that lead to disease severity and transmission.
The added value of cognition-targeted exercise versus symptom-targeted exercise for multiple sclerosis fatigue: A randomized controlled pilot trial
Authors: Alketbi Azza , Basit Salah , Hamza Nouran , Walton Lori M. , Moustafa Ibrahim M. 
Published: November 2021

Background
Fatigue is considered one of the most common symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and lacks a current standardized treatment. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of a cognition-targeted exercise versus symptom-targeted exercise for MS fatigue.

Methods
In this Pilot, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial, sixty participants with multiple sclerosis, were randomly assigned to either a Cognition-Targeted Exercise (CTE) (N = 30, mean age 41) or a Symptom-Targeted Exercise (STE) (N = 30, mean age 42). The participants in the experimental group received eight, 50-minute sessions of weekly Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) in addition to a CTE Program; whereas, participants in the control group received eight, 50-minute sessions of weekly CBT in addition to the standardized physiotherapy program (STE Program). Feasibility was assessed through recruitment rate, participant retention, adherence and safety, in addition to clinical outcome measures, including: (1) Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS), (2) Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), (3) Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). All outcome measures were assessed at baseline (pretreatment), following completion of the eight visit intervention protocol, and at 3-months follow-up.

Results
The recruitment rate was 60% and 93% of participants completed the entire study. The recruited participants complied with 98% of the required visits. No adverse events were recorded. A Generalized Estimation Equation Model revealed a significant difference over time as an interaction term during the post and follow up visit for all clinical outcome measures (p < .001).

Conclusion
The addition of CTE to CBT exhibited positive and more lasting influence on MS fatigue outcomes compared to Symptom-Targeted Exercise (STE). Feasibility and efficacy data from this pilot study provide support for a full-scale RCT of CTE as an integral component of Multiple Sclerosis fatigue management.
Rapid Extraction of the Spatial Distribution of Physical Saliency and Semantic Informativeness from Natural Scenes in the Human Brain
Authors: Kiat John E. , Hayes Taylor R. , Henderson John M. , Luck Steven J. 
Published: November 2021

Physically salient objects are thought to attract attention in natural scenes. However, research has shown that meaning maps, which capture the spatial distribution of semantically informative scene features, trump physical saliency in predicting the pattern of eye moments in natural scene viewing. Meaning maps even predict the fastest eye movements, suggesting that the brain extracts the spatial distribution of potentially meaningful scene regions very rapidly. To test this hypothesis, we applied representational similarity analysis to ERP data. The ERPs were obtained from human participants (N= 32, male and female) who viewed a series of 50 different natural scenes while performing a modified 1-back task. For each scene, we obtained a physical saliency map from a computational model and a meaning map from crowd-sourced ratings. We then used representational similarity analysis to assess the extent to which the representational geometry of physical saliency maps and meaning maps can predict the representational geometry of the neural response (the ERP scalp distribution) at each moment in time following scene onset. We found that a link between physical saliency and the ERPs emerged first (∼78 ms after stimulus onset), with a link to semantic informativeness emerging soon afterward (∼87 ms after stimulus onset). These findings are in line with previous evidence indicating that saliency is computed rapidly, while also indicating that information related to the spatial distribution of semantically informative scene elements is computed shortly thereafter, early enough to potentially exert an influence on eye movements.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTAttention may be attracted by physically salient objects, such as flashing lights, but humans must also be able to direct their attention to meaningful parts of scenes. Understanding how we direct attention to meaningful scene regions will be important for developing treatments for disorders of attention and for designing roadways, cockpits, and computer user interfaces. Information about saliency appears to be extracted rapidly by the brain, but little is known about the mechanisms that determine the locations of meaningful information. To address this gap, we showed people photographs of real-world scenes and measured brain activity. We found that information related to the locations of meaningful scene elements was extracted rapidly, shortly after the emergence of saliency-related information.
Acoustic Context Modulates Natural Sound Discrimination in Auditory Cortex through Frequency-Specific Adaptation
Authors: López-Jury Luciana , García-Rosales Francisco , González-Palomares Eugenia , Kössl Manfred , Hechavarria Julio C. 
Published: November 2021

Sound discrimination is essential in many species for communicating and foraging. Bats, for example, use sounds for echolocation and communication. In the bat auditory cortex there are neurons that process both sound categories, but how these neurons respond to acoustic transitions, that is, echolocation streams followed by a communication sound, remains unknown. Here, we show that the acoustic context, a leading sound sequence followed by a target sound, changes neuronal discriminability of echolocation versus communication calls in the cortex of awake bats of both sexes. Nonselective neurons that fire equally well to both echolocation and communication calls in the absence of context become category selective when leading context is present. On the contrary, neurons that prefer communication sounds in the absence of context turn into nonselective ones when context is added. The presence of context leads to an overall response suppression, but the strength of this suppression is stimulus specific. Suppression is strongest when context and target sounds belong to the same category, e.g.,echolocation followed by echolocation. A neuron model of stimulus-specific adaptation replicated our resultsin silico. The model predicts selectivity to communication and echolocation sounds in the inputs arriving to the auditory cortex, as well as two forms of adaptation, presynaptic frequency-specific adaptation acting in cortical inputs and stimulus-unspecific postsynaptic adaptation. In addition, the model predicted that context effects can last up to 1.5 s after context offset and that synaptic inputs tuned to low-frequency sounds (communication signals) have the shortest decay constant of presynaptic adaptation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWe studied cortical responses to isolated calls and call mixtures in awake bats and show that (1) two neuronal populations coexist in the bat cortex, including neurons that discriminate social from echolocation sounds well and neurons that are equally driven by these two ethologically different sound types; (2) acoustic context (i.e., other natural sounds preceding the target sound) affects natural sound selectivity in a manner that could not be predicted based on responses to isolated sounds; and (3) a computational model similar to those used for explaining stimulus-specific adaptation in rodents can account for the responses observed in the bat cortex to natural sounds. This model depends on segregated feedforward inputs, synaptic depression, and postsynaptic neuronal adaptation.