bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prediction of project activity delays caused by variation orders: a machine-learning approach
Authors: Muntasir Nishat Mirza , Magnussen Neraas Sander , Marsov Andrei , Olsson Nils O.E. 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Project activity delays caused by variation orders (VOs) can compromise the achievement of timely project completion. Previous research on machine learning (ML) applications for delay predictions has mainly been concerned with delays on a whole project level, whereas predictions of delays in individual project activities have received less attention. This study is a pilot study to investigate how data from large project databases can be used for an ML analysis. The application is aimed at providing early warnings of delays related to VOs in construction projects. The study was performed following typical ML model development steps including data collection, data preprocessing, model training, and testing. A compound dataset was retrieved from project-planning software utilised in a large project. Four pilot tree-based ML models, namely, Decision Tree, Random Forest, AdaBoost, and Gradient Boosting, were trained and tested on a pre-processed dataset comprising 11194 activities. The overall best-performing model was Random Forest with 92.7% and 91.8% recall on DELAYED START and DELAYED FINISH, respectively. By emphasizing that project participants’ competency and personal accountability might influence the timely implementation of scope adjustments, these findings advance the field of project management research. An approach like the use of tree-based ML algorithms is applicable for analyses of individual activities in other construction projects. Considering the capability of ML algorithms to capture complex interconnections in raw data extracted from project-planning software, further development of such ML models will enable the establishment of an AI-based Early Warning System (EWS) that can flag potential delays caused by VO requests.
Closing the gap between good intentions and realized potential of end-user involvement
Authors: Åsgård Tina , Jørgensen Lene , Breistrand Bringsvor Heidi 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Hospital building projects are highly complex and involve many different stakeholders. The physical lay-out of a hospital will affect the ability of healthcare personnel to perform their work and have consequences for patient safety, hence the involvement of end-users is crucial for project success. The inclusion and translation of perspectives and needs of end-users require a well-organized project planning process, with end-user involvement at every stage. However, earlier studies on end-user involvement are primarily based on the perspectives of designers, architects, contractors, facility and/or hospital management. This paper explores end-user involvement in a hospital building process from the end-user perspective in order to identify what barriers end-users face and concrete measures to overcome them. Data stems from interviews with 37 end-users of a hospital building project in Norway. The findings indicate that clarifying the role and level of end-user involvement, introducing a more agile and less fragmented project development strategy, interdisciplinary team building, and facilitation of input and feedback into project groups, are areas that can improve the value added by end-user involvement.
Research on blind reversible database watermarking algorithm based on dual embedding strategy
Authors: Qi Wenfa , Li Cheng , Han Xinhui 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Massive databases encounter security such as data theft, illegal copying, and copyright infringement during creating, transmitting, and sharing of big data. The reversible data watermarking technology can effectively solve these problems, which can extract the watermark information accurately and recover the original carrier data without any distortion. However, most existing methods extract watermark information non-blindly and cannot effectively achieve a balance between watermark embedding capacity and data distortion. This paper proposes a blind reversible database watermarking method based on dual embedding, which combines histogram shifting and distortion-free watermarking methods to achieve an adaptive selection of histogram bins, blind extraction of watermark information, and carrier data recovery. The proposed method preprocesses the database tuples by scrambling them and constructs a prediction error histogram using first-layer tuples in square prediction within each group. The watermark information is embedded through adaptive selection and expansion of histogram bins, while the distortion-free watermarking method is used in another layer to assist in the recovery of original carrier data. The experimental results show that the proposed method can achieve an embedding capacity of more than three times the capacity of existing methods. It can also achieve blind watermark extraction and outperform some other state-of-the-art methods.
Sex-specific prediction of cardiogenic shock after acute coronary syndromes: the SEX-SHOCK score
Authors: Wang Yifan , Zeller Marianne , Auffret Vincent , Georgiopoulos Georgios , Räber Lorenz , Roffi Marco , Templin Christian , Muller Olivier , Liberale Luca , Ministrini Stefano , Stamatelopoulos Kimon , Stellos Konstantinos , Camici Giovanni G , Montecucco Fabrizio , Rickli Hans , Maza Maud , Radovanovic Dragana , Cottin Yves , Chague Frédéric , Niederseer David , Lüscher Thomas F , Kraler Simon 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background and Aims
Cardiogenic shock (CS) remains the primary cause of in-hospital death after acute coronary syndromes (ACS), with its plateauing mortality rates approaching 50%. To test novel interventions, personalized risk prediction is essential. The ORBI (Observatoire Régional Breton sur l’Infarctus) score represents the first-of-its-kind risk score to predict in-hospital CS in ACS patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, its sex-specific performance remains unknown, and refined risk prediction strategies are warranted.

Methods
This multinational study included a total of 53 537 ACS patients without CS on admission undergoing PCI. Following sex-specific evaluation of ORBI, regression and machine-learning models were used for variable selection and risk prediction. By combining best-performing models with highest-ranked predictors, SEX-SHOCK was developed, and internally and externally validated.

Results
The ORBI score showed lower discriminative performance for the prediction of CS in females than males in Swiss (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [95% confidence interval]: 0.78 [0.76–0.81] vs. 0.81 [0.79–0.83]; P =.048) and French ACS patients (0.77 [0.74–0.81] vs. 0.84 [0.81–0.86]; P = .002). The newly developed SEX-SHOCK score, now incorporating ST-segment elevation, creatinine, C-reactive protein, and left ventricular ejection fraction, outperformed ORBI in both sexes (females: 0.81 [0.78–0.83]; males: 0.83 [0.82–0.85]; P &lt; .001), which prevailed following internal and external validation in RICO (females: 0.82 [0.79–0.85]; males: 0.88 [0.86–0.89]; P &lt; .001) and SPUM-ACS (females: 0.83 [0.77–0.90], P = .004; males: 0.83 [0.80–0.87], P = .001).

Conclusions
The ORBI score showed modest sex-specific performance. The novel SEX-SHOCK score provides superior performance in females and males across the entire spectrum of ACS, thus providing a basis for future interventional trials and contemporary ACS management.
Deep extragalactic H i survey of the COSMOS field with FAST
Authors: Pan Hengxing , Jarvis Matt J , Zhu Ming , Ma Yin-Zhe , Santos Mario G , Ponomareva Anastasia A , Heywood Ian , Jing Yingjie , Xu Chen , Liu Ziming , Chandola Yogesh , Jing Yipeng 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACT
We present a deep H i survey at L band conducted with the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) over the COSMOS field. This survey is strategically designed to overlap with the MIGHTEE COSMOS field, aiming to combine the sensitivity of the FAST and high-resolution of the MeerKAT. We observed the field with FAST for approximately 11 hours covering ${\sim} 2$ square degrees, and reduced the raw data to H i spectral cubes over the frequency range 1310–1420 MHz. The FAST-H i data reach a median 3$\sigma$ column density of $N_{\rm {H\,{{\small I}}}} \sim 2\times 10^{17}$ cm$^{-2}$ over a ${\sim} 5\, {\rm km}\, {\rm s}^{-1}$ channel width, allowing for studies of the distribution of H i gas in various environments, such as in galaxies, the Circum-Galactic Medium (CGM) and Intergalactic Medium (IGM). We visually searched the spectral cubes for H i sources, and found a total of 80 H i detections, of which 56 have been cross-matched with the MIGHTEE-H i catalogue. With the cross-matched sources, we compare their H i masses and find that the total H i mass fraction in the IGM and CGM surrounding the galaxy pairs is statistically higher than the H i fraction surrounding the isolated galaxies by a difference of ${\sim} 13\pm 4$ per cent, indicating that the CGM and IGM associated with interacting systems are richer in neutral hydrogen compared to those around isolated galaxies in the local Universe. We also describe several FAST-MeerKAT synergy projects, highlighting the full potential of exploiting both single-dish and interferometric observations to study the distribution and evolution of the diffuse H i gas.
Establishment of a 241Am gamma calibration field based on international standards and its conversion coefficients
Authors: Tsuji Tomoya , Yoshitomi Hiroshi , Kowatari Munehiko , Tanimura Yoshihiko 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
A 241Am gamma (γ)-ray calibration field that meets the requirements for a γ-ray reference field as specified in the ISO 4037 standard series was established in the Facility of Radiation Standards of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The reference air kerma rates were measured using a reference ionization chamber calibrated by the N-80 quality X-ray calibration field of the national metrology standard in Japan and with a correction to account for differences in photon energy due to the calibration field. Conversion coefficients for the 241Am γ-ray calibration field, including those not listed in the ISO 4037 standard series, were calculated based on the measured γ-ray fluence rate spectra.
Altered brain activity associated with premature ejaculation improved by electroacupuncture in rats
Authors: Wu Ning , Chen Jian-huai , Wang Tong , Yang Bai-bing , Xing Si-yan , Gao Song-zhan , Ni Da-wei , Du Guang-jun , Song Tao , Han You-feng , Sun Guo-hai , Gao Qing-qiang , Xu Chun-lu , Dai Yu-tian 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Premature ejaculation (PE) is linked with abnormal brain activity that is modifiable by electroacupuncture (EA).

Aim
In this study we aimed to explore the central pathological mechanism underlying EA in treating PE.

Methods
Six-week-old male Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into a PE group (n = 8) and a control group (n = 8) according to ejaculatory frequency during copulatory behavior. All rats underwent EA at the Zusanli acupoint (ST-36) for 4 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging data were collected before and after EA.

Outcomes
The behavioral parameters, plasma norepinephrine levels, fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (fALFF), and regional homogeneity (ReHo) were evaluated.

Results
The PE group ejaculated more times with shorter latency compared with controls. After EA, the ejaculation frequency of the PE group decreased, and the ejaculation latency period increased, with no changes observed in the control group. Norepinephrine levels were higher in the PE group than in the controls and were positively correlated with ejaculation frequency and negatively correlated with ejaculation latency. The PE group showed lower fALFF in the right striatum and higher ReHo in the brainstem compared with controls. After EA, controls showed decreased fALFF in the right striatum, left olfactory bulb, and dorsal fornix and increased ReHo in the right interpeduncular nucleus, as well as decreased ReHo in the left striatum, prelimbic system, right basal forebrain region, septal region, and olfactory bulb, while the model group exhibited increased fALFF in the right hypothalamic region, decreased fALFF in the left globus pallidum and right basal forebrain region and increased ReHo in the right interpeduncular nucleus, as well as decreased ReHo in the left striatum, olfactory bulb, basal forebrain region, dentate gyrus, right dysgranular insular cortex, and striatum. Compared with the controls after EA, the model group showed increased ReHo of the right hypothalamic region and decreased ReHo of the right dysgranular insular cortex.

Clinical Implications
These findings might enhance the understanding of PE and contribute to new, targeted therapies for PE.

Strengths and Limitations
The therapeutic effects might be achieved by EA inhibiting the activity in brain regions involved in ejaculatory behavior. However, the curative effect of acupuncture might be underestimated due to some curative effects of sham acupuncture used in the control group.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the ejaculatory frequency of rats may be reduced and ejaculation latency could be extended by EA at ST-36, which might be achieved by the effects of this treatment on brain activity.
The neuronal biomarker NSE correlates with the volume of lung contusion in polytraumatized patients
Authors: Rix Anna Carola , Störmann Philipp , Vollrath Jan Tilmann , Hörauf Jason-Alexander , Eichler Kathrin , Marzi Ingo , Schindler Cora Rebecca 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background
Severe injuries caused by accidents, like traumatic brain injury (TBI) or thoracic trauma (TT) continue to be the leading cause of death in younger people with relevant socio-economic impact. Fast and targeted diagnostics is essential for further therapy decisions and prognosis. The following study investigates NSE as a potential biomarker for lung injury after blunt TT.

Methods
This is a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data in a level-1 trauma center from 2014 to 2020. Serum levels of Neuron-specific Enolase (NSE) and Interleukins (IL-6, IL-10) in injured patients (n = 41) with isolated TT (AISthorax ≥ 3) compared to isolated TBI (AIShead ≥ 3) were assessed from day 0 to 5 after trauma. The extend of lung injury was quantified by Hounsfield scale in CT scans.

Results
30 patients with TT (ISSmed = 20, age 50y ± 17, 83,3% male) and 11 patients with TBI (ISSmed = 25, age 54y ± 17,27,3% male) were included. After TT, NSE concentration increased initially after trauma with a peak value on the day of admission (8.51 ± 3.68 ng/ml) compared to healthy controls (4.51 ± 1.504 ng/ml, p < 0.001). Isolated thoracic trauma and TBI lead to equally strong NSE release ad the day of admission. There is a significant linear relationship (r = 0.636, p = 0.035) between serum NSE levels and severity of pulmonary contusion at the time of admission and after 24 hours.

Conclusion
A significant NSE release after isolated thoracic trauma peaks on the day of admission. The extent of lung contusion volume (defined as alveolar parenchymal density) correlates with NSE serum concentration. Thus, NSE has predictive value for the extent of pulmonary contusion. However, according to these data, NSE seems to have no diagnostic value as a TBI biomarker in concomitant TT.
Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Critical Role of Macrophage Epsin in Regulating Origin of Foam Cell in Atherosclerosis
Authors: Arulsamy Kulandaisamy , Cui Kui , Gao Xinlei , Voronova Anna , Chen Kaifu , Chen Hong 
Published: September 2024

AbstractAtherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by the excessive accumulation of fat and lipid molecules, leading to the formation of foam cells and plaques in arterial walls. Dysfunction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), fibroblast, endothelial cells, and macrophages is often associated with this pathology. We found that epsins accelerate atherosclerosis progression in individuals on a Western diet (WD). Using ApoE-deficient (ApoE-/-) and macrophage-specific epsin deletion in ApoE-/-backgrounds (LysM-DKO/ApoE-/-) mice fed a WD for 16 weeks, we observed significantly reduced foam cell formation in LysM-DKO/ApoE-/-mice compared to ApoE-/-mice. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified 20 major cell types, including seven VSMC and five macrophage subtypes. Among the VSMC subtypes, modulating VSMC1 was involved in inflammation and migration, while modulating VSMC2 was associated with VSMC phenotype switching. In atherosclerotic mice, populations of modulating VSMC1, VSMC2, foamy-Trem2, and inflammatory macrophages increased, but significantly decreased in epsin-deficient mice. Modulating VSMC2 transition into macrophages occurred with a probability of 0.57 in ApoE-/-mice, compared to 0.01 in LysM-DKO/ApoE-/-mice. Epsin deletion also reversed endothelial dysfunction and downregulated cholesterol and glucose-mediated signals, as well as inflammatory ligands Il1b and C1qa. Our findings suggest that epsin deletion reduces foam cell formation and rewires VSMC and endothelial functions, offering a novel therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis.
Target Identification Under High Levels of Amplitude, Size, Orientation and Background Uncertainty
Authors: Oluk Can , Geisler Wilson S. 
Published: September 2024

AbstractMany natural tasks require the visual system to classify image patches accurately into target categories, including the category of no target. Natural target categories often involve high levels of within-category variability (uncertainty), making it challenging to uncover the underlying computational mechanisms. Here, we describe these tasks as identification from a set of exhaustive, mutually exclusive target categories, each partitioned into mutually exclusive subcategories. We derive the optimal decision rule and present a computational method to simulate performance for moderately large and complex tasks. We focus on the detection of an additive wavelet target in white noise with five dimensions of stimulus uncertainty: target amplitude, orientation, scale, background contrast, and spatial pattern. We compare the performance of the ideal observer with various heuristic observers. We find that a properly normalized heuristic MAX observer (SNN-MAX) approximates optimal performance. We also find that a convolutional neural network trained on this task approaches but does not reach optimal performance, even with extensive training.We measured human performance on a task with three of these dimensions of uncertainty (orientation, scale, and background pattern). Results show that the pattern of hits and correct rejections for the ideal and SNN-MAX observers (but not a simple MAX observer) aligns with the data. Additionally, we measured performance under low uncertainty (without scale and orientation uncertainty) and found that the effect of uncertainty on the performance is smaller than any of the models predicted. This smaller-than-expected effect can largely be explained by including biologically plausible levels of intrinsic position uncertainty.PrecisWe describe target identification tasks in terms of mutually exclusive categories and subcategories and derive the optimal decision rule. Simulations of ideal and heuristic observers were compared to human data under high and low levels of extrinsic uncertainty.
Engineering asymmetric nanoscale lipid vesicles for drug delivery
Authors: Yang Chenjing , Menge Julian , Zhvania Nene , Chen Dong , Weitz David A. , Jahnke Kevin 
Published: September 2024

AbstractThe delivery of therapeutics to cells enables both the treatment and the prevention of diseases. To protect therapeutics from degradation and enable cell-specific targeting, they are often encapsulated into drug delivery vehicles such as lipid nanoparticles, viral vectors or lipid vesicles. These delivery vehicles have been extremely successful in delivering small molecules, nucleic acids or proteins. However, there is no universal drug delivery vehicle that can deliver therapeutics irrespective of the choice of cargo. Here, we present a method to engineer lipid vesicles with asymmetric leaflets and show that they can deliver mRNA and proteins to cells. We also find that the leaflet asymmetry can increase the lipid vesicle uptake by cells. When we load asymmetric vesicles with mRNA, we observe a 5-fold increase in the transfection efficiency indicative of an improved uptake and release by asymmetric vesicles. Moreover, our findings extend beyond mRNA cargos by showcasing the effectiveness of asymmetric vesicles in delivering a wide range of proteins to cells, including the promising CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system. Our method and findings expand the parameter space for engineering drug delivery vehicles and demonstrate the pivotal role of leaflet asymmetry in determining the performance of drug delivery vehicles. Consequently, our work leads to many applications, including the formation of more efficient universal drug carriers and the delivery of gene-editing proteins to cells.
Structural mechanism of FusB-mediated rescue from fusidic acid inhibition of protein synthesis
Authors: González-López Adrián , Ge Xueliang , Larsson Daniel S.D. , Sanyal Suparna , Selmer Maria 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACTAntibiotic resistance protein FusB rescues protein synthesis from inhibition by fusidic acid (FA), which locks elongation factor G (EF-G) to the ribosome after GTP hydrolysis. Here, we present time-resolved single-particle cryo-EM structures explaining the mechanism of FusB-mediated rescue. FusB binds to the FA-trapped EF-G on the ribosome, causing large-scale conformational changes of EF-G that break ribosome interactions. This leads to dissociation of EF-G from the ribosome, followed by FA release. We also observe two independent binding sites of FusB on the classical-state ribosome, overlapping with the binding site of EF-G to each of the ribosomal subunits, yet not inhibiting tRNA delivery. Our results reveal an intricate resistance mechanism involving specific interactions of FusB with both EF-G and the ribosome, and a non-canonical release pathway of EF-G.
Dissecting reversible and irreversible single cell state transitions from gene regulatory networks
Authors: Ramirez Daniel A. , Lu Mingyang 
Published: September 2024

AbstractUnderstanding cell state transitions and their governing regulatory mechanisms remains one of the fundamental questions in biology. We develop a computational method, state transition inference using cross-cell correlations (STICCC), for predicting reversible and irreversible cell state transitions at single-cell resolution by using gene expression data and a set of gene regulatory interactions. The method is inspired by the fact that the gene expression time delays between regulators and targets can be exploited to infer past and future gene expression states. From applications to both simulated and experimental single-cell gene expression data, we show that STICCC-inferred vector fields capture basins of attraction and irreversible fluxes. By connecting regulatory information with systems’ dynamical behaviors, STICCC reveals how network interactions influence reversible and irreversible state transitions. Compared to existing methods that infer pseudotime and RNA velocity, STICCC provides complementary insights into the gene regulation of cell state transitions.