bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Emergence of the B.1.214.2 SARS-CoV-2 lineage with an Omicron-like spike insertion and a unique upper airway immune signature
Authors: Holtz Andrew , Weyenbergh Johan , Hong Samuel L. , Cuypers Lize , O’Toole Áine , Dudas Gytis , Gerdol Marco , Potter Barney I. , Ntoumi Francine , Mapanguy Claujens Chastel Mfoutou , Vanmechelen Bert , Wawina-Bokalanga Tony , Bram Van Holm , Menezes Soraya Maria , Katja Soubotko , Pottelbergh Gijs Van , Wollants Elke , Vermeersch Pieter , Jacob Ann-Sophie , Maes Brigitte , Obbels Dagmar , Matheeussen Veerle , Martens Geert , Gras Jérémie , Verhasselt Bruno , Laffut Wim , Vael Carl , Goegebuer Truus , Kant Rob van der , Rousseau Frederic , Schymkotwitz Joost , Serrano Luis , Delgado Javier , Wenseleers Tom , Bours Vincent , André Emmanuel , Suchard Marc A. , Rambaut Andrew , Dellicour Simon , Maes Piet , Durkin Keith , Baele Guy 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

We investigate the emergence, mutation profile, and dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 lineage B.1.214.2, first identified in Belgium in January 2021. This variant, featuring a 3-amino acid insertion in the spike protein similar to the Omicron variant, was speculated to enhance transmissibility or immune evasion. Initially detected in international travelers, it substantially transmitted in Central Africa, Belgium, Switzerland, and France, peaking in April 2021. Our travel-aware phylogeographic analysis, incorporating travel history, estimated the origin to the Republic of the Congo, with primary European entry through France and Belgium, and multiple smaller introductions during the epidemic. We correlate its spread with human travel patterns and air passenger data. Further, upon reviewing national reports of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in Belgian nursing homes, we found this strain caused moderately severe outcomes (8.7% case fatality ratio). A distinct nasopharyngeal immune response was observed in elderly patients, characterized by 80% unique signatures, higher B- and T-cell activation, increased type I IFN signaling, and reduced NK, Th17, and complement system activation, compared to similar outbreaks. This unique immune response may explain the variant's epidemiological behavior and underscores the need for nasal vaccine strategies against emerging variants.
The association of pre-operative biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction with the risk of post- operative neurocognitive disorders: Results from BioCog study
Authors: Moazzen Sara , Janke Jürgen , Slooter Arjen , Winterer Georg , Spies Claudia , Pischon Tobias , Feinkohl Insa 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Introduction: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) promotes atherosclerosis development, and studies suggest an association with age-related neurocognitive disorders. Nonetheless, it is unclear whether ED is associated with the risk of neurocognitive disorders.
Method: We included 788 participants aged ≥65 years in the BioCog study. Blood was collected before surgery for measurement of 5 biomarkers of ED including asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA; SDMA), intercellular and vascular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1, VCAM-1), and von Willebrand factor (vWF). Patients were examined for the occurrence of postoperative delirium (POD) daily until the 7th postoperative day. 537 (68.1%) patients returned for a 3-month follow-up. Post-operative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) was defined from the change in results on 6 neuropsychological tests between baseline and 3 months, compared to the change in results of a control group during a 3-month interval. The associations of each of the 5 ED biomarkers with POD and POCD respectively were determined using multiple logistic regression analyses with adjustment for age, sex, surgery type, pre-morbid IQ, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, HbA1C, triglyceride, total and HDL cholesterol.
Results: 19.8% of 788 patients developed POD; 10.1% of 537 patients developed POCD. Concentrations of ED biomarkers were not significantly associated with a POD (all p>0.05). A higher VCAM-1 concentration was associated with a reduced POCD risk (odds ratio 0.64; 95% CI: 0.43-0.95). No further statistically significant results were found.
Conclusion: Pre-operative concentrations of ED biomarkers are not associated with POD risk. We unexpectedly found higher VCAM-1 to be associated with a reduced POCD risk. Further studies are needed to confirm or refute these findings.
An improved deep convolutional neural network fororal cancer detection using pretrained models
Authors: C Kavyashree , S Vimala H , J Shreyas 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Purpose:
Oral cancer is a type of cancer that arises from Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) that develops in the mouth. Oral cancer is a major global public health issue, which emphasizes the urgent need in the research domain for targeted and effective approaches that enable timely identification. The current diagnostic approaches has a limitation of delay and inefficiency. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is nowadays extensively used the cancer diagnosis and prognosis can provide a fast results that helps in early detection of cancer and improves the survival rate of the cancer patients. Deep learning techniques offers several pretrained models in automating the cancer detection. The research focus on developing a light weight architecture with improved results and low computational costs based on DenseNet architecture of the Convolutional Neural Network (CNN).
Methods:
The number of dense blocks are reduced without compromising the classification of histopathology images as benign and malignant. The histopathology images are preprocessed in a way that is suitable to fed to a neural network. The hyper parameters of the model is fine tuned to obtained the better results.
Results:
The proposed model is evaluated with the standard performance metrics and compared with the other pretrained models. The proposed model provides 98.96% of classification accuracy in training and 82.49% in validation. The loss also has been reduced with a good precision of 0.98, recall of 0.76 and F1 score of 0.82.
Conclusion:
The proposed model also takes care of overfitting and vanishing gradient problem that could hamper the models performance. This will also help a medical practitioner can utilize these findings to formulate initial decisions and plan treatment for oral cancer.
When in doubt average your priors: a latent cause model of risk and ambiguity aversion
Authors: Lannou Erwann Le , Dolan Raymond , Story Giles 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

In decision-making, the likelihood of outcomes is often partly unknown, a form of uncertainty known as ambiguity. Previous studies report that people tend to be averse to ambiguity. However, existing models of decision making under uncertainty fail to explain why people will sometimes show an actual preference for ambiguity, particularly in contexts where reward appears unlikely. Likewise, models of ambiguity do not provide predictions regarding decisions under risk, wherein reward probabilities are explicit. Here we apply a model wherein ambiguity attitudes hinge on a Bayesian average over prior beliefs about reward probabilities, where priors correspond to alternative latent causes governing the distribution of reward. By postulating that all gambles inherently embody a degree of ambiguity, our approach can seamlessly integrate decisions made under both risk and ambiguity. We provide empirical support for predictions of this model in two behavioural experiments. Firstly, as predicted by our model, we show that ambiguity attitude seamlessly transitions from ambiguity seeking at low reward probabilities to ambiguity aversion at higher reward probabilities. Secondly, the model accounts for an empirical observation of non-linear probability weighting for both risky and ambiguous choices. Our approach highlights a continuum between risk and ambiguity, providing an integrated framework for interpreting decision-making under uncertainty.
Enhancing Practicality and Efficiency of Deepfake Detection.
Authors: Balafrej Ismael , Dahmane Mohamed 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The proliferation of deepfake generation has become increasingly widespread. Current solutions for automatically detecting and classifying generated content require substantial computational resources, making them impractical for use by the average non-expert individual particularly from edge computing applications. In this paper, we propose a series of techniques to accelerate the inference speed of deepfake detection on video data. We also draw inspiration from steganalysis approaches to expose deepfakes as any secret payloads encoded in the image. Furthermore, some key considerations were identified to significantly reduce the size of the core convolutional neural network. The experiment yielded competitive results when evaluated on two second-generation deepfake datasets, namely Celeb-DFv2 and DFDC, while requiring only a fraction of the typical computational cost and resources.
Tensile strength and deformation properties of fiber-reinforced loess: Laboratory and numerical investigation
Authors: Wu Zhipeng , Xu Jian , Ji Yuyang , Fan Henghui , Li Liang , Meng Minqiang 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The lower tensile strength of loess is an important cause of geohazards such as landslides and ground fissures in loess areas. In this study, the uniaxial tensile tests were conducted on basalt fiber-reinforced loess based on the digital image correlation method (DIC). Moreover, the discrete element method (DEM) was used to investigate the local microscopic mechanism of fiber-particle interaction. Results show that both the peak stress and the peak strain of loess were enhanced after fiber reinforcement. Brittle fracture was observed in unreinforced samples while ductile failure in fiber-reinforced ones with certain residual strength. The uniaxial tensile strength (UTS) of fiber-reinforced samples shows inverted U-shape changes with fiber content and fiber length, with the optimal reinforcement effect at fiber content of 0.6% and fiber length of 12 mm. The failure strain of loess increases after fiber reinforcement, which varies consistently with that of UTS. The maximum axial strain in the surface strain field declines first and then grows with the increase of fiber content and fiber length. More uniform deformation and pronounced plasticity were noted under the optimal fiber condition. The UTS of fiber-reinforced soil is about 1/5 of the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS). A UCS-based prediction model for fiber-reinforced loess was proposed and verified to estimate the UTS effectively. DEM simulation's force chain and displacement field results demonstrate the strength and deformation mechanism of reinforced loess with fiber content and fiber length.
The Feasibility of Switching IVF to IVM in PCOS Patients with Unexpected Poor Ovarian Response Who Underwent Prolonged Protocol
Authors: Wu Yanhong , Su Weijue , Fu Yanghua , Zhao Junzhao , Chen Haoying 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
With the expanding utilization of prolonged protocol, switching from in vitro fertilization to in vitro maturation (IVF/M) was a choice to prevent ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and to avoid cycle cancellation. Our aim was to explore the feasibility of IVF/M in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients with unexpected poor ovarian response (UPOR) underwent prolonged protocol by comparing with IVF.
Methods
A retrospective analysis was performed on PCOS patients who were treated with prolonged protocol from June 2016 to December 2022. A total of 444 patients were diagnosed with unexpected poor ovarian response during ovarian stimulation. 156 patients performed IVF/M and 288 patients were treated with IVF. Laboratorial and clinical outcomes were analyzed and compared in two Groups.
Results
The Positive β-hCG rate (57.9%), clinical pregnancy rate (52.6%), live birth rate (38.9%) in fresh embryo transfer and cumulative live birth rate (35.3%) in IVF/M Group were lower than those in IVF Group (76.1%,66.8%,53.3%, 67.7%, respectively;all P < 0.05). The number of oocytes retrieved, mature oocytes, 2 pronuclear zygotes, embryos on day3, available blastocysts and high-quality blastocysts in IVF/M Group were less than those in IVF Group (P < 0.001). IVF/M Group gained no case of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) while 59 (20.5%) patients cancelled fresh embryo transfer for OHSS and 23 (8.0%) of them were moderate to severe OHSS in IVF Group (P < 0.05). The pregnancy and neonatal complications were comparable between two groups. No dominant risk factor was found for non-live birth in fresh embryo transfer cycle. The only independent risk factor for non-live birth in cumulative cycles was IVF/M protocol. (4.58, 95%CI:2.94–7.13, P < 0.001).
Conclusion
IVF/M was a complement feasible choice for PCOS with UPOR who underwent prolonged protocol. Though with a lower live birth rate compared with IVF, almost one third couples still could achieve live birth and avoid neither cycle cancellation nor OHSS.
The digital twin of the human brain: Simulation and assimilation
Authors: Feng Jianfeng , Lu Wenlian , Zeng Longbin , Wang Jiexiang , Ye Leijun , Du Xin , Xiang Shitong , Zheng Qibao , Zhang Jie , Xu Ningsheng , Consortium DTB 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

The Digital Twin Brain (DTB) is a simulation of the human brain at the large scale, with up to 86 billion neurons and 47.8 trillion neural synapses. The DTB mimics both the resting state and aspects of the action of its biological counterpart. A novel architectural assignment of neurons to 14,012 GPUs (with 57.39 million cores) and a two-level routing scheme between GPUs was implemented in the simulations. This was combined with development of a hierarchical mesoscale data assimilation method, that is capable of constructing trillions of parameters from estimated hyper-parameters. The constructed DTB reproduces blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals of the resting-state of its living biological counterpart with high correlation (> 0.9). We enabled the DTB to interact with its environment, as demonstrated in a visual task. The result indicates the feasibility of implementing a digital twin of the human brain, by overcoming key computational, mathematical and biological challenges, and opens the door to a broad range of applications.
Assessing hydro-chemical evolution of groundwater in Balkh Center (Mazar-e-Sharif), northern Afghanistan using an integrated approach
Authors: Farahmand Asadullah , Zaryab Abdulhalim , Ameri Nasrullah , Ali Shakir , Eqrar Mohammad Naim 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Groundwater in Afghanistan stands as the predominant water source employed for potable consumption, household utilization, agricultural irrigation, and industrial applications. Major cities of Afghanistan are largely dependent on groundwater resources. However, the groundwater quality of major cities in Afghanistan was not investigated in detail. In this study, we investigated Mazar-e-Sharif city of northern Afghanistan intending to identify the major hydrogeochemical processes controlling groundwater chemistry and evaluate the groundwater quality of Mazar-e-Sharif using an integrated approach. We found that 1) The prevailing groundwater within the study area are predominantly characterized by Na-(Ca)-HCO3 and Ca-(Mg)-SO4 water types. 2) Physicochemical variables such as NO3¯, F¯, TDS, and SO42− exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) safe limits in many wells. 3) Weathering of silicates and cation exchange are the main hydrogeochemical processes controlling hydro-geochemistry in the aquifer. 4) The high salinity observed in the groundwater of Mazar-e-Sharif is likely attributed to a combination of geogenic and natural factors and the Cl/Br ratios suggest that salinity may originate from evaporitic lacustrine and evaporite deposits. The findings of this study hold value for decision-makers in formulating a proficient strategy for the management of groundwater resources in Mazar-e-Sharif City in achieving the UN sustainable goal (SDG) of providing sustainable water for all.
Incidence and risk factors for blood transfusion after abdominal radical hysterectomy for cervical cancer: A 10-year retrospective study of the US nationwide inpatient sample
Authors: 陈 川 , Zhu BenLi , Wang YouFeng , Zhao YangYang , Chen Gang , Peng Ying , Wang XinYu , Xie Hao , Zhou Yin , Chen KeYuan ,   Ying2 Peng
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Purpose
With the increasing prevalence of abdominal radical hysterectomy, the need for perioperative blood transfusion has emerged as a significant clinical challenge. The independent risk factors for blood transfusion during abdominal radical hysterectomy remain limited, and identifying these factors is needed.
Methods
The Kolmogorov‒Smirnov test was used to assess the normality of continuous variables. Continuous variables with normal distributions were evaluated using Student’s t test, and noncontinuous variables were evaluated using the Mann‒Whitney U test. Categorical variables were evaluated using the χ2 test. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were implemented to identify potential predictors.
Results
Blood transfusions occurred in 14.84% of patients between 2010 and 2019, with a decreasing trend over time. Receiving a transfusion was associated with several negative outcomes, including a longer length of stay, higher total charges, and an increased risk of complications such as thrombocytopenia, acute myocardial infarction, and pneumonia. Additionally, patients who received transfusions were more likely to experience postoperative delirium, deep vein thrombosis, and wound infection. Independent risk factors for blood transfusion included age greater than 60 years, black race, Asian or Pacific Islander race, nonelective surgery, hospitalization in a rural setting, and preexisting medical conditions such as coagulopathy, chronic blood loss anemia, and deficiency anemia. Conversely, patients with private insurance residing in the West or Midwest/North Central Regions were less likely to require a blood transfusion.
Conclusion
Stratifying analyses by race, geographic region, and comorbidity profile among cervical cancer patients is important for enabling the implementation of targeted interventions and improving patient care.
Temporal and spatial characteristics of ecological drought in the Inland River Basin and its driving factors
Authors: Zhang Zezhong , Liu Jian , Feng Kai , Wang Fei , Guo Hengzhi , Zhang Weijie , Wang Sinan 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Most of the previous studies only used the index of vegetation growth to characterize ecological drought. This study built a Standardized Ecological Water Deficit Index (SEWDI), analysed its space-time evolution characteristics from the perspectives of time, space and spatio-temporal coupling, extractes feature variables by three-dimensional spatio-temporal clustering, analysed typical ecological drought events, the effect of teleconnection factors on ecological drought was investigated using cross wavelet analysis. The reliability of SEWDI was quantitatively evaluated by comparing the r values of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), Standardized Soil Moisture Index(SSMI), self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI), and SEWDI with Standardized Solar-induced Fluorescence (SSIF) at various scales in time.The results demonstrated that: (1) Ecological drought in the Inland River Basin showed a weakening trend from 1982 to 2015. Seasonal drought showed a wetting trend in the west and a drought trend in the east, and the wetting trend is most evident in spring. (2) Three-dimensional recognition method could extract more detailed characteristic variables of ecological drought events. A total of 133 ecological drought events occurred in the Inland River Basin during 1982–2015, and ecological drought events had a longer duration and intensity after the 21st century. (3) June 2005 to February 2007 was the most severe ecological drought event on record, which lasted for 21 months. The drought intensity was 44.65×105month·km2, and the drought area was 23.79×104km2. The event occurred in June 2005, intensified in September 2005, attenuated in June 2006, re-intensified in August 2006 and re-attenuated (extinction) in February 2007. The trend of drought migration spread to northeast (4) Among the teleconnecting factors, Among the teleconnection factors, ENSO has the most complex and greatest influence on ecological drought in the Inland River Basin. (5) In addition to having a high correlation with other drought indexs, the SEWDI can also more accurately reflect the effects of drought on vegetation.
First 1000 days - a potential explanatory factor for Risk of hypertension in undernourished populations: Pune Rural Cohort
Authors: Rao Shobha 
Published: May 2024

Abstract

Background
Scientific evidence is lacking whether stunting during first 1000 days of life confers risk of hypertension in adulthood in the event of rising obesity.
Method
449 Rural adult males who were measured in their preschool, pre-pubertal and adolescent ages every six months were revisited for anthropometry and blood pressure measurements using standard techniques.
Results
Proportion of subjects with body mass index (BMI) < 18.5 kg/m2 was high (29%) while only 6.5% were overweight or 5.7% adipose and obesity was hardly present. Prevalence of hypertension (HTN) was high (16.3%). Difference in the prevalence of HTN among not stunted and stunted was high obese (24.1% Vs 50%; p = 0.09) as well as non-obese (16.2–28.1%; p = 0.003) subjects. Subjects who were not stunted at 3 + but were obese, did not have significant risk of HTN but those were stunted at 3 + and were not obese, had risk of HTN (OR 2.5, CI: 1 -5.9). Significant risk seen for stunting as the cofactor indicated its independent influence. Stunting at 3 + affected adult size as also adult sitting and leg height. The ratio of sitting /leg height showed inverse association with HTN prevalence and appeared to be a proxy for early life stunting.
Conclusion
Stunting at 3 + is a major explanatory factor for risk of adult HTN in populations exposed to chronic malnutrition. Our observations highlight need for administering nutrition interventions both during pregnancy and post-natal period and would be a promising alternative for improving birth length and preventing childhood stunting and thereby CVD risks.