bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Exploring the cognitive underpinnings of early hominin stone tool use through an experimental EEG approach
Authors: Affinito Simona , Eteson Brienna , Cáceres Lourdes Tamayo , Moos Elena Theresa , Karakostis Fotios Alexandros 
Published: November 2024

AbstractTechnological innovation has been crucial in the evolution of our lineage, with tool use and production linked to complex cognitive processes. While previous research has examined the cognitive demands of early stone toolmaking, the neurocognitive aspects of early hominin tool use remain largely underexplored. This study relies on electroencephalography to investigate brain activation patterns associated with two distinct early hominin tool-using behaviors: forceful hammerstone percussion, practiced by both humans and non-human primates and linked to the earliest proposed stone tool industries, and precise flake cutting, an exclusive hominin behavior typically associated with the Oldowan. Our results show increased engagement of the frontoparietal regions during both tasks. Furthermore, we observed significantly increased beta power in the frontal and centroparietal areas when manipulating a cutting flake compared to a hammerstone, and increased beta activity over contralateral frontal areas during the aiming (planning) stage of the tool-using process. This original empirical evidence suggests that certain fundamental brain changes during early hominin evolution may be linked to precise stone tool use. These results offer new insights into the complex interplay between technology and human brain evolution and encourage further research on the neurocognitive underpinnings of hominin tool use.
Melting simulations of high-entropy carbonitrides by deep learning potentials
Authors: Baidyshev Viktor S. , Tantardini Christian , Kvashnin Alexander G. 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe melting temperature is a crucial property of materials that determines their potential applications in different industrial fields. In this study, we used a deep neural network potential to describe the structure of high-entropy (TiZrTaHfNb)CxN1−x carbonitrides (HECN) in both solid and liquid states. This approach allows us to predict heating and cooling temperatures depending on the nitrogen content to determine the melting temperature and analyze structure changes from atomistic point of view. A steady increase in nitrogen content leads to increasing melting temperature, with a maximum approaching for 25% of nitrogen in the HECN. A careful analysis of pair correlations, together with calculations of entropy in the considered liquid phases of HECNs allows us to explain the origin of the nonlinear enhancement of the melting temperature with increasing nitrogen content. The maximum melting temperature of 3580 ± 30 K belongs to (TiZrTaHfNb)C0.75N0.25 composition. The improved melting behavior of high-entropy compounds by the addition of nitrogen provides a promising way towards modification of thermal properties of functional and constructional materials.
Stakeholder perspectives on non-invasive brain stimulation
Authors: Maier Moritz Julian , Ramasawmy Perianen , Breuer Johannes , Bansen Anne , Oliviero Antonio , Northoff Georg , Antal Andrea 
Published: November 2024

AbstractNon-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) have made great progress in recent years and offer boundless potential for the neuroscientific research and treatment of disorders. However, the possible use of NIBS devices for neuro-doping and neuroenhancement in healthy individuals and the military are poorly regulated. The great potentials and diverse applications can have an impact on the future development of the technology and society. This participatory study therefore aims to summarize the perspectives of different stakeholder groups with the help of qualitative workshops. Nine qualitative on-site and virtual workshops were conducted in the study with 91 individuals from seven stakeholder groups: patients, students, do-it-yourself home users of tDCS, clinical practitioners, industry representatives, philosophers, and policy experts. The co-creative and design-based workshops were tailored to each group to document the wishes, fears, and general comments of the participants. The outlooks from each group were collected in written form and summarized into different categories. The result is a comprehensive overview of the different aspects that need to be considered in the field of NIBS. For example, several groups expressed the wish for home-based tDCS under medical supervision as a potential therapeutic intervention and discussed the associated technical specifications. Other topics that were addressed were performance enhancement for certain professional groups, training requirements for practitioners, and questions of agency, among others. This qualitative participatory research highlights the potential of tDCS and repetitive TMS as alternative therapies to medication, with fewer adverse effects and home-based use for tDCS. The ethical and societal impact of the abuse of NIBS for non-clinical use must be considered for policy-making and regulation implementations. This study adds to the neuroethical debate on the responsible use and application of NIBS technologies, taking into consideration the different perspectives of important stakeholders in the field.
Associations between serum mineral concentrations and mortality by renal function in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health Study
Authors: Moissl Angela P. , Delgado Graciela E. , Kleber Marcus E. , Krämer Bernhard K. , März Winfried , Lorkowski Stefan 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe association of serum concentrations of minerals and phosphate with overall and cardiovascular mortality based on renal function is poorly understood. 3307 patients (average age 62.7 ± 10.6 years) in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study were grouped by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) into three categories: < 60, 60–89, and ≥ 90 mL/min per 1.73 m2, per KDIGO 2022 guidelines and were analysed using Cox regression. Low serum sodium and iron concentrations were associated with poor renal function and increased overall mortality risk, whereas higher serum zinc concentrations were associated with reduced overall and cardiovascular mortality risk. Elevated serum copper concentrations were associated with increased mortality risk across all eGFR categories. Comparing low and normal eGFR, we observed a fourfold increase in all-cause mortality risk for eGFR < 60 mL/min per 1.73 m2 and a twofold increase for eGFR 60–89 mL/min per 1.73 m2, accompanied by changes in serum mineral concentrations. The optimal range of mineral and phosphate concentrations in serum was strongly related to renal function. To reduce mortality risk, it’s important to regularly monitor serum mineral and phosphate concentrations as well as renal function, especially in cardiovascular patients with compromised renal function.
An iterative approach for estimating domain-specific cognitive abilities from large scale online cognitive data
Authors: Giunchiglia Valentina , Gruia Dragos-Cristian , Lerede Annalaura , Trender William , Hellyer Peter , Hampshire Adam 
Published: November 2024

AbstractOnline cognitive tasks are gaining traction as scalable and cost-effective alternatives to traditional supervised assessments. However, variability in peoples’ home devices, visual and motor abilities, and speed-accuracy biases confound the specificity with which online tasks can measure cognitive abilities. To address these limitations, we developed IDoCT (Iterative Decomposition of Cognitive Tasks), a method for estimating domain-specific cognitive abilities and trial-difficulty scales from task performance timecourses in a data-driven manner while accounting for device and visuomotor latencies, unspecific cognitive processes and speed-accuracy trade-offs. IDoCT can operate with any computerised task where cognitive difficulty varies across trials. Using data from 388,757 adults, we show that IDoCT successfully dissociates cognitive abilities from these confounding factors. The resultant cognitive scores exhibit stronger dissociation of psychometric factors, improved cross-participants distributions, and meaningful demographic’s associations. We propose that IDoCT can enhance the precision of online cognitive assessments, especially in large scale clinical and research applications.
Ecological interactions between marine RNA viruses and planktonic copepods
Authors: Hirai Junya , Katakura Seiji , Kasai Hiromi , Nagai Satoshi 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThe interactions between zooplankton and viruses, which have been overlooked despite their crucial roles in marine ecosystems, are investigated in the copepod Pseudocalanus newmani. Copepod transcriptome data reveal four novel RNA viruses and weekly zooplankton samplings detect all viruses with different prevalence peaks during low-abundance periods of P. newmani. In addition to water temperature and food quality, our results suggest that marine virus is one of the factors controlling copepod population dynamics. Gene expression analysis indicates possible increased viral replication and decreased copepod movement in P. newmani with the Picorna-like virus, which is closely related to phytoplankton viruses, and metabarcoding diet analysis detects diatoms as P. newmani’s major prey. Viral-like particles are observed in the gut contents of copepods during the high prevalence of this virus, suggesting infected copepod prey may affect copepod physiology. These results show that investigating zooplankton–virus interactions can provide a better understanding of marine ecosystems.
Ursodeoxycholic acid and severe COVID-19 outcomes in a cohort study using the OpenSAFELY platform
Authors: Costello Ruth E. , Waller Karen M. J. , Smith Rachel , Mells George F. , Wong Angel Y. S. , Schultze Anna , Mahalingasivam Viyaasan , Herrett Emily , Zheng Bang , Lin Liang-Yu , MacKenna Brian , Mehrkar Amir , Bacon Sebastian C. J. , Goldacre Ben , Tomlinson Laurie A. , Tazare John , Rentsch Christopher T. ,   the OpenSAFELY collaborative,   the LH&W NCS (or CONVALESCENCE) Collaborative
Published: November 2024

Abstract
Background
Biological evidence suggests ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA)—a common treatment of cholestatic liver disease—may prevent severe COVID-19 outcomes. We aimed to compare the hazard of COVID-19 hospitalisation or death between UDCA users versus non-users in a population with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) or primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

Methods
With the approval of NHS England, we conducted a population-based cohort study using primary care records between 1 March 2020 and 31 December 2022, linked to death registration data and hospital records through the OpenSAFELY-TPP platform. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between time-varying UDCA exposure and COVID-19 related hospitalisation or death, stratified by geographical region and considering models unadjusted and fully adjusted for pre-specified confounders.

Results
We identify 11,305 eligible individuals, 640 were hospitalised or died with COVID-19 during follow-up, 400 (63%) events among UDCA users. After confounder adjustment, UDCA is associated with a 21% relative reduction in the hazard of COVID-19 hospitalisation or death (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.67–0.93), consistent with an absolute risk reduction of 1.35% (95% CI 1.07%–1.69%).

Conclusions
We found evidence that UDCA is associated with a lower hazard of COVID-19 related hospitalisation and death, support calls for clinical trials investigating UDCA as a preventative measure for severe COVID-19 outcomes.
Cochlear Implant Sound Quality
Authors: Dorman Michael F. , Natale Sarah C. , Buczak Nadine , Stohl Josh , Acciai Francesco , Büchner Andreas 
Published: November 2024

Purpose:
The aims of this exploratory study were (a) to assess common terms used to describe cochlear implant (CI) sound quality by patients fit with conventional CIs and (b) to compare those descriptors to previously obtained acoustic matches to CI sound quality created by single-sided deaf (SSD) patients for their normal-hearing ear.

Method:

CI patients fit with Advanced Bionics (AB;
n
= 89), Cochlear Corporation (
n
= 86), and MED-EL (
n
= 80) implants were the participants. The patients filled out a questionnaire about CI sound quality for two time points: For the time near activation (T1) from memory and at the time of filling out the questionnaire (T2). The mean CI experience at T2 for the three groups ranged from 4 to 8 years. The questionnaire was composed of 25 adjectives describing sound quality.

Results:
For T1, the most commonly used descriptors were Computer-like, Treble-y, Metallic, and Mickey Mouse–like. A superordinate category of HiPitched (High Pitched) gathered significantly more responses from patients with shorter electrode arrays (AB and Cochlear) than patients with longer arrays (MED-EL). At T2, the most common descriptor was Clear and was chosen by approximately two thirds of the patients. The between-group differences in responses to items in the HiPitched category, present at T1, were absent at T2.

Conclusions:
The questionnaire data from conventional CI patients differs from previous sound matching data collected from SSD-CI patients. Alterations to the spectral composition of the signal are less salient to experienced conventional patients than to experienced SSD-CI patients. This is likely due to the absence, for conventional patients, of an exemplar in an NH ear against which to judge CI sound quality.
An improved switch‐capacitor based 13‐level inverter topology with reduced device count and lower TSV
Authors: Mohammad Khan , Arif M. Saad Bin , Rodriguez Jose , Abdelrahem Mohamed 
Published: November 2024

AbstractAn improved dual‐source SC‐MLI topology is developed in this article for medium‐voltage and high‐power applications. This topology can perform symmetrically and asymmetrically to generate 9 levels and 13 levels, respectively. It consists of 10 unidirectional switches, a dual DC source, and two capacitors to provide high‐gain output voltage with lower TSV. Since the capacitor's voltages are self‐balanced, therefore no need for an auxiliary circuit or sensors, which brings down the complexity of the circuit. To check the viability of the proposed topology, a simple and fundamental control strategy based on nearest‐level pulse width modulation is opted for. From the comparative analysis, it was observed that the proposed topology outperformed similar topologies in terms of switch counts, cost factor, power quality, and total standing voltage. The proposed topology's feasibility is evaluated using MATLAB/Simulink under both static and dynamic loads. Furthermore, a thermal analysis is conducted in PLECS software to calculate the losses across the components and consecutively the efficiency of the proposed circuit. It has been found that the proposed topology can generate 9 levels and 13 levels while having an efficiency of over 96% in symmetric and asymmetric configurations, respectively. Finally, the simulation results are verified by using the experimental prototype to validate the performance of the improved circuit under different loading conditions.
Total hip arthroplasty via the direct anterior approach using a conventional traction table and fluoroscopy: a safe and cost-effective technique
Authors: Ishii Seiya , Baba Tomonori , Hayashi Koju , Homma Yasuhiro , Mutou Osamu , Ishijima Muneaki 
Published: November 2024

Introduction: Precise implant positioning during total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an important factor affecting dislocation rate and long-term implant survival. Although a special carbon fiber traction table for THA improves the accuracy of implant positioning, it is too expensive. We aimed to report the accuracy of cup positioning and complication rate in patients undergoing THA using a conventional noncarbon fiber traction table, which is generally used for osteosynthesis of femoral fractures. Methods: This retrospective study included 62 patients who received primary THA via the direct anterior approach using a conventional traction table with fluoroscopy between July 2022 and December 2023. Two observers recorded radiological outcomes using postoperative anteroposterior X-rays. The intraclass correlation coefficients of cup positioning angles were evaluated (inclination: 0.92, anteversion: 0.88 for intra-observer agreement; inclination: 0.91, anteversion: 0.84 for inter-observer agreement). Complications were defined as dislocation, periprosthetic fracture, ankle fracture, implant loosening, nerve injury, surgical site infection, deep vein thrombosis, and revision surgery for any reason. Results: Radiographic analysis showed an average cup inclination of 38.5° ± 4.3° (98.4% within Lewinnek’s safe zone). The average cup anteversion was 12.6° ± 4.6° (100% within Lewinnek’s safe zone). None of the patients experienced any complications. Discussion: A conventional traction table could be a feasible alternative to a carbon fiber traction table for performing THA via the direct anterior approach using fluoroscopy at general hospitals.
Nickel-Catalyzed, Bromine-Radical-Promoted Enantioselective C(sp3)–H Cross-Couplings
Authors: Huo Haohua , Cheng Buqing , Xu Zhen 
Published: November 2024

AbstractCatalytic C(sp3)–H cross-coupling offers an attractive strategy for constructing C(sp3)-rich complex molecules from simple feedstock chemicals. However, simultaneously controlling chemo- and enantioselectivity in these transformations, particularly for C(sp3)–C(sp3) bond formation, remains a formidable challenge. To address this longstanding challenge, we have recently developed a general strategy leveraging nickel photoredox catalysis to achieve various enantioselective C(sp3)–H cross-coupling reactions, including acylation, alkenylation, arylation, (trideutero)methylation, and alkylation. Our approaches exploit photocatalytically generated bromine radicals for hydrogen atom transfer, converting common hydrocarbons into carbon-centered radicals. These radicals are then enantioselectively coupled with diverse electrophiles in the presence of a suitable chiral nickel catalyst. These methods open new avenues for enantioselective C(sp3)–H cross-coupling, offering broad substrate scope, high functional group tolerance, and potential for late-stage diversification of complex molecules. Our strategy holds great promise for unlocking previously elusive C(sp3)-rich chemical space, with significant implications for drug discovery and development.1	Introduction2	Enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp2) Cross-Couplings3	Enantioselective C(sp3)–C(sp3) Cross-Couplings4	Conclusions and Outlook
History Page: Leaders in MSK Radiology: Hans Rudolf Schinz (1891–1966)
Authors: Hodler Juerg , Duewell Stefan 
Published: November 2024

AbstractThis history page in the series “Leaders in MSK Radiology” is dedicated to the achievements of Swiss radiologist Hans Rudolf Schinz. He is considered the father of Swiss academic radiology but was also influential internationally. Schinz expanded radiologic science into the fields of epidemiology and the natural sciences. He also advanced radiology and medicine in general through his political activities.
Pre- and Postoperative Ultrasound Assessment of Biceps Brachial Tendon Tears
Authors: Pialat Jean-Baptiste , Moraux Antoine , Carlier Yacine , Pesquer Lionel 
Published: November 2024

AbstractRupture of the distal biceps brachii tendon is a rare but debilitating injury, resulting in significant loss of strength. Diagnosis of complete rupture is based on clinical history and physical tests, with surgical repair often recommended due to functional discomfort. Ultrasound (US) is a powerful tool for diagnosing and classifying ruptures, particularly partial ruptures, which is crucial for therapeutic decisions. A good understanding of the tendon's anatomical arrangement in two twisted bundles enables optimal analysis. If several surgical techniques are available, the minimally invasive approach to reinsert the tendon on the radial tuberosity is often preferred. Postoperative assessment includes radiographs, US, and sometimes magnetic resonance imaging, revealing postoperative changes with constant thickening of the repaired tendon. With accurate diagnosis and appropriate surgical technique, surgical repair has a low complication rate. Single-incision repairs show higher rates of re-tears and nerve injuries, and double-incision repairs are prone to heterotopic ossification.
Ultrasound Spot Diagnosis of Common Benign Subcutaneous Masses and Pseudomasses: What the Radiologist Needs to Know
Authors: Guillin Raphaël , Ract Isabelle , Pesquer Lionel , Drakonaki Elena 
Published: November 2024

AbstractCommon benign subcutaneous benign masses and pseudomasses represent a wide spectrum of masses among which lipomas and epidermal cysts account for a vast majority of the lesions encountered in routine practice. Other types of tumors originate from various components of the skin, such as the pilous tract, nerves, veins, arteries, or eccrine glands. In some instances, pseudomasses may be distinguished from tumoral masses using specific signs. When the diagnosis of a subcutaneous lesion lacks specificity for benignity with ultrasound, radiologists should ensure proper management of the patient to rule out the possibility of a rare but possible sarcoma of the subcutaneous layer.
Ultrasound of Lateral Epicondylitis
Authors: Lapegue Franck , André Aymeric , Lafourcade François , Filiole Antoine , Lambeaux Constance , Van Viet-Tam , Adamski Elorie , Bachour Rafy , Goumarre Céline , Chiavassa Hélène , Faruch Bilfeld Marie , Sans Nicolas 
Published: November 2024

AbstractClinical findings are generally sufficient to make the diagnosis of lateral epicondylitis of the elbow. Ultrasound (US), in conjunction with standard radiography, is a simple and cost-effective way to confirm the diagnosis, and it is also useful for eliminating most differential diagnoses and guiding treatment.US analysis of the muscle bodies and tendon laminae of the lateral epicondyle muscles, starting distally at the wrist and extending up to the lateral epicondyle, assists in understanding the complex fibrous architecture of the proximal tendons inserting on the lateral epicondyle. Pain when the US probe passes over an area of hypoechoic tendinosis, hyperemia in Doppler mode, and an intratendinous split are the signs to look for in patients. US helps guide needling or injection by targeting pathologic areas.Other examinations (computed tomography arthrogram and magnetic resonance imaging) are used as a second line of defense, particularly in cases of bone or joint pathology.