bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Metastatic lymph node ratio as an important prognostic factor in advanced gallbladder carcinoma with at least 6 lymph nodes retrieved
Authors: Wang Junke , Liu Fei , Ma Wenjie , Hu Haijie , Li Fuyu 
Published: September 2023

Abstract
Background
The metastatic lymph node (LN) ratio (LNR) has shown to be an important prognostic factor in various gastrointestinal malignancies. Nevertheless, the prognostic significance of LNR in gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) remains to be determined.

Methods
From January 2007 to January 2018, 144 advanced GBC patients (T2–4 stages) who underwent curative surgery with at least 6 LNs retrieved were enrolled. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was performed to identify the optimal cut-off value for LNR. The clinicopathological features stratified by LNR level were analyzed. Meanwhile, univariate and multivariate Cox regression proportional hazard models were performed to identify risk factors for overall survival (OS).

Results
The optimal cut-off point for LNR was 0.28 according to the ROC curve. LNR>0.28 was associated with higher rate of D2 LN dissection (P=0.004) and higher tumor stages (P<0.001). Extent of liver resection, extrahepatic bile duct resection, tumor stage, LNR, margin status, tumor differentiation, and perineural invasion were associated with OS in univariate analysis (all P<0.05). GBC patients with LNR≤0.28 had a significantly longer median OS compared to those with LNR>0.28 (27.5 vs 18 months, P=0.004). Multivariate analysis indicated that tumor stage (T2 vs T3/T4; hazard ratio (HR) 1.596; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.195–2.132), LNR (≤0.28 vs >0.28; HR 0.666; 95% CI 0.463–0.958), margin status (R0 vs R1; HR 1.828; 95% CI 1.148–2.910), and tumor differentiation (poorly vs well/moderately; HR 0.670; 95% CI 0.589–0.892) were independent prognostic factors for GBC (all P<0.05).

Conclusions
LNR is correlated to advanced GBC prognosis and is a potential prognostic factor for advanced GBC with at least 6 LNs retrieved.
Detection of solidification crack formation in laser beam welding videos of sheet metal using neural networks
Authors: Huo Wenjie , Bakir Nasim , Gumenyuk Andrey , Rethmeier Michael , Wolter Katinka 
Published: September 2023

AbstractLaser beam welding has become widely applied in many industrial fields in recent years. Solidification cracks remain one of the most common welding faults that can prevent a safe welded joint. In civil engineering, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successfully used to detect cracks in roads and buildings by analysing images of the constructed objects. These cracks are found in static objects, whereas the generation of a welding crack is a dynamic process. Detecting the formation of cracks as early as possible is greatly important to ensure high welding quality. In this study, two end-to-end models based on long short-term memory and three-dimensional convolutional networks (3D-CNN) are proposed for automatic crack formation detection. To achieve maximum accuracy with minimal computational complexity, we progressively modify the model to find the optimal structure. The controlled tensile weldability test is conducted to generate long videos used for training and testing. The performance of the proposed models is compared with the classical neural network ResNet-18, which has been proven to be a good transfer learning model for crack detection. The results show that our models can detect the start time of crack formation earlier, while ResNet-18 only detects cracks during the propagation stage.
Quantifying the historic and future response of karst spring discharge to climate variability and change at a snow-influenced temperate catchment in central Europe
Authors: Fan Xinyang , Goeppert Nadine , Goldscheider Nico 
Published: September 2023

AbstractClimate change is projected to threaten groundwater resources in many regions, but projections are highly uncertain. Quantifying the historic impact potentially allows for understanding of hydrologic changes and increases confidence in the predictions. In this study, the responses of karst discharge to historic and future climatic changes are quantified at Blautopf Spring in southern Germany, which is one of the largest karst springs in central Europe and belongs to a regional aquifer system relevant to the freshwater supply of millions of people. Statistical approaches are first adopted to quantify the hydrodynamic characteristics of the karst system and to analyse the historic time series (1952–2021) of climate variables and discharge. A reservoir model is then calibrated and evaluated with the observed discharge and used to simulate changes with three future climate-change scenarios. Results show that changes in the annual mean and annual low discharge were not significant, but the annual peak discharge shifted to a low state (<13.6 m3 s−1) from 1988 onwards due to decreasing precipitation, increasing air temperature, and less intense peak snowmelt. The peak discharge may decrease by 50% in this century according to the projections of all climate-change scenarios. Despite there being no significant historic changes, the base flow is projected to decrease by 35–55% by 2100 due to increasing evapotranspiration. These findings show the prolonged impact of climate change and variability on the floods and droughts at the springs in central Europe, and may imply water scarcity risks at similar climatic and geologic settings worldwide.
Risk factors for progression to bacteremia among patients with nosocomial carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii pneumonia in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Niu Haiming , Shen Xiaoqing , Liang Hongkai , Wu Guishen , Cai Shaoqing , Shen Qian , Zhang Kouxing , Chen Miaolian , Li Jianwei 
Published: September 2023

AbstractAntibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections. This study aimed to identify independent factors associated with progression from nosocomial pneumonia to bacteremia in patients infected with carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii (CR-AB). From 2019 to 2021, we conducted a retrospective anaylsis of the medical records of 159 nosocomial CR-AB pneumonia patients in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We employed both univariate and multivariable logistic regression models to identify factors associated with the progression of nosocomial CR-AB pneumonia to bacteremia. Among the 159 patients with nosocomial CR-AB pneumonia, 40 experienced progression to bacteremia and 38 died within 28 days following diagnosis. Patients who developed bacteremia had a significantly higher 28-day mortality rate compared to those without bloodstream infection (47.50% vs. 15.97%). Multivariable logistic regression revealed that higher levels of C-Reactive protein (CRP) (OR = 1.01) and the use of continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) treatment (OR = 2.93) were independently associated with an elevated risk of developing bacteremia. Among patients who developed bloodstream infection, those who died within 28 days exhibited significantly higher level of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a greater frequency of antifungal drugs usage, and a longer duration of machanical ventilation compared to survivors. Furthermore, the use of antifungal drugs was the only factor that associated with 28-day mortality (OR = 4.70). In ICU patients with central venous catheters who have CR-AB pneumonia and are on mechanical ventilation, higher CRP levels and CVVH treatment are risk factors for developing bacteremia. Among patients with bacteremia, the use of antifungal drugs is associated with 28-day mortality.
Inclusion levels of tree and herbaceous legumes on nutritive quality of grass silage: results from on-farm trials
Authors: Ebro Abule , Aranguiz Adolfo Alvarez , Nemera Fekadu , Bijdevaate Lisan , Addis Haymanot , Demise Hailu , van der Lee Jan 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThe escalating prices of protein concentrate supplements and increasing demand for dairy products in Ethiopia call for preservation of surplus forage during the growing season, to be fed to dairy cows at time of feed shortage. The objective of this on-farm study was to evaluate the nutritive quality of Napier and Desho grass silages with tree legume (sesbania) and herbaceous legumes (alfalfa, lablab, and faba bean) as legume components. Napier or Desho grasses were ensiled in bags with each legume at 0, 20, 30 and 40% inclusion levels (fresh weight). Replicates included nine and six farms in Mecha and Ad’aa districts, respectively. Silage bags were opened after 60 days, samples were taken for chemical analyses and evaluated for physical features. Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design in SPSS and differences among means separated using Duncan’s. Silages were firm at Mecha and fairly firm at Ada’a. No mold appeared. pH values varied from 3.94 to 4.5 and increased (p < 0.001) with increasing levels of legume inclusion. The crude protein values followed a similar pattern to that of the pH. The fiber contents, NDF (p < 0.001) and ADF (p < 0.05/p < 0.01) declined while that of ADL increased (p < 0.001) with increasing legume inclusion levels. The different legume-based silages were assessed as highly palatable and revealed that the use of tree and herbaceous legumes can improve the nutritive quality of grasses.
Investigating 3-D Effects on Flashing Cryogenic Jets with Highly Resolved LES
Authors: Gärtner Jan Wilhelm , Kronenburg Andreas , Rees Andreas , Oschwald Michael 
Published: September 2023

AbstractFor the development of upper stage rocket engines with laser ignition, the transition of oxidizer and fuel from the pure cryogenic liquid streams to an ignitable mixture needs to be better understood. Due to the near vacuum conditions that are present at high altitudes and in space, the injected fuel rapidly atomizes in a so-called flash boiling process. To investigate the behavior of flashing cryogenic jets under the relevant conditions, experiments of liquid nitrogen have been performed at the DLR Lampoldshausen. The experiments are accompanied by a series of computer simulations and here we use a highly resolved LES to identify 3D effects and to better interpret results from the experiments and existing 2D RANS. It is observed that the vapor generation inside the injector and the evolution of the spray in the combustion chamber differ significantly between the two simulation types due to missing 3D effects and the difference in resolution of turbulent structures. Still, the observed 3D spray dynamics suggest a suitable location for laser ignition that could be found in regions of relative low velocity and therefore expected low strain rates. Further, measured droplet velocities are compared to the velocities of notional Lagrangian particles with similar inertia as the measured droplets. Good agreement between experiments and simulations exists and strong correlation between droplet size and velocity can be demonstrated.
B7-H3 at the crossroads between tumor plasticity and colorectal cancer progression: a potential target for therapeutic intervention
Authors: Varghese Elizabeth , Samuel Samson Mathews , Brockmueller Aranka , Shakibaei Mehdi , Kubatka Peter , Büsselberg Dietrich 
Published: September 2023

AbstractB7-H3 (B7 homology 3 protein) is an important transmembrane immunoregulatory protein expressed in immune cells, antigen-presenting cells, and tumor cells. Studies reveal a multifaceted role of B7-H3 in tumor progression by modulating various cancer hallmarks involving angiogenesis, immune evasion, and tumor microenvironment, and it is also a promising candidate for cancer immunotherapy. In colorectal cancer (CRC), B7-H3 has been associated with various aspects of disease progression, such as evasion of tumor immune surveillance, tumor-node metastasis, and poor prognosis. Strategies to block or interfere with B7-H3 in its immunological and non-immunological functions are under investigation. In this study, we explore the role of B7-H3 in tumor plasticity, emphasizing tumor glucose metabolism, angiogenesis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, cancer stem cells, apoptosis, and changing immune signatures in the tumor immune landscape. We discuss how B7-H3-induced tumor plasticity contributes to immune evasion, metastasis, and therapy resistance. Furthermore, we delve into the most recent advancements in targeting B7-H3-based tumor immunotherapy as a potential approach to CRC treatment.
Linearly convergent bilevel optimization with single-step inner methods
Authors: Suonperä Ensio , Valkonen Tuomo 
Published: September 2023

AbstractWe propose a new approach to solving bilevel optimization problems, intermediate between solving full-system optimality conditions with a Newton-type approach, and treating the inner problem as an implicit function. The overall idea is to solve the full-system optimality conditions, but to precondition them to alternate between taking steps of simple conventional methods for the inner problem, the adjoint equation, and the outer problem. While the inner objective has to be smooth, the outer objective may be nonsmooth subject to a prox-contractivity condition. We prove linear convergence of the approach for combinations of gradient descent and forward-backward splitting with exact and inexact solution of the adjoint equation. We demonstrate good performance on learning the regularization parameter for anisotropic total variation image denoising, and the convolution kernel for image deconvolution.
Complex Systems Modeling of Community Inclusion Currencies
Authors: Clark Andrew , Mihailov Alexander , Zargham Michael 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThis interdisciplinary paper blends knowledge from computer science and economics in proposing a complex dynamic system subpopulation model for a blockchain form of local complementary currency, generic to the Grassroots Economics Foundation’s Community Inclusion Currency (CIC) implemented in Kenya. Our contribution to the emerging economics literature is five-fold: (i) we take a novel meso-economic approach to elicit utility from actual transactions data and reveal an ‘optimal’ disaggregation number of typical community subgroups; (ii) we relate the local CIC functioning to a nation-wide currency board monetary regime to argue that such a credible CIC implementation ensures trust in the CIC and makes it a valuable market-based channel to alleviate poverty, in addition to humanitarian or government aid channels. However, (iii) we also find evidence in our data that substitutes for real-world money such as CICs are perceived as inferior, and hence CIC systems can only be transitional. Then, (iv) we reveal that, for a poor population, saving dominates as a use of a cluster’s CIC balance, accounting for 47%, followed by purchase of food and water, 25%. Despite these dominant patterns, (v) we uncover a considerable heterogeneity in CIC spending behavior. Our contribution to the related computer-science and Tokenomics literature is two-fold: (i) we provide an open-source scaffold for modeling CIC viability and net flows; (ii) to simulate a subpopulation mixing process, we employ a network-based dynamical system modeling approach that is better grounded in economic principles and monetary theory.
Of causes and symptoms: using monitoring data and expert knowledge to diagnose the causes of stream degradation
Authors: Rettig Katharina , Semmler-Elpers Renate , Brettschneider Denise , Hering Daniel , Feld Christian K. 
Published: September 2023

AbstractEcological status assessment under the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) often integrates the impact of multiple stressors into a single index value. This hampers the identification of individual stressors being responsible for status deterioration. As a consequence, management measures are often disentangled from assessment results. To close this gap and to support river basin managers in the diagnosis of stressors, we linked numerous macroinvertebrate assessment metrics and one diatom index with potential causes of ecological deterioration through Bayesian belief networks (BBNs). The BBNs were informed by WFD monitoring data as well as regular consultation with experts and allow to estimate the probabilities of individual degradation causes based upon a selection of biological metrics. Macroinvertebrate metrics were shown to be stronger linked to hydromorphological conditions and land use than to water quality-related parameters (e.g., thermal and nutrient pollution). The modeled probabilities also allow to order the potential causes of degradation hierarchically. The comparison of assessment metrics showed that compositional and trait-based community metrics performed equally well in the diagnosis. The testing of the BBNs by experts resulted in an agreement between model output and expert opinion of 17–92% for individual stressors. Overall, the expert-based validation confirmed a good diagnostic potential of the BBNs; on average 80% of the diagnosed causes were in agreement with expert judgement. We conclude that diagnostic BBNs can assist the identification of causes of stream and river degradation and thereby inform the derivation of appropriate management decisions.
Can we all be Denmark? The role of civic attitudes in welfare state reforms
Authors: Celico Andrea , Rode Martin 
Published: September 2023

AbstractResearch has demonstrated the economic effectiveness of welfare state reforms that follow the Danish flexicurity model, broadly specifying the combination of highly flexible labor market policies and generous protection schemes. Notwithstanding, it has also been argued that large and generous welfare states may erode civic attitudes, defined here as people’s willingness to cheat on taxes and claim transfers to which they are not entitled. Combining data from all available waves of the World Values Survey and the European Values Study with a self-constructed flexicurity index, this paper finds that welfare state reforms involving a combination of higher benefits, lower labor market regulations, and active labor market policies are not significantly associated with an erosion of civic attitudes.
Bridging Informal Reasoning and Formal Proving: The Role of Argumentation in Proof-Events
Authors: Almpani Sofia , Stefaneas Petros 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThis paper explores the relationship between informal reasoning, creativity in mathematics, and problem solving. It underscores the importance of environments that promote interaction, hypothesis generation, examination, refutation, derivation of new solutions, drawing conclusions, and reasoning with others, as key factors in enhancing mathematical creativity. Drawing on argumentation logic, the paper proposes a novel approach to uncover specific characteristics in the development of formalized proving using “proof-events.” Argumentation logic can offer reasoning mechanisms that facilitate these environments. This paper proposes how argumentation can be implemented to discover certain characteristics in the development of formalized proving with “proof-events”. The concept of a proof-event was introduced by Goguen who described mathematical proof as a multi-agent social event involving not only “classical” formal proofs, but also other informal proving actions such as deficient or alleged proofs. Argumentation is an integral component of the discovery process for a mathematical proof since a proof necessitates a dialogue between provers and interpreters to clarify and resolve gaps or assumptions. By formalizing proof-events through argumentation, this paper demonstrates how informal reasoning and conflicts arising during the proving process can be effectively simulated. The paper presents an extended version of the proof-events calculus, rooted in argumentation theories, and highlights the intricate relationships among proof, human reasoning, cognitive processes, creativity, and mathematical arguments.
Social Interactions in Everyday Life of Socially Anxious Adolescents: Effects on Mental State, Anxiety, and Depression
Authors: Ernst Julia , Rückert Frank , Ollmann Theresa Magdalena , Voss Catharina , Kische Hanna , Knappe Susanne , Beesdo-Baum Katja 
Published: September 2023

AbstractUnfavorable interpersonal behavior in social anxiety disorder (SAD) contributes to the maintenance of the disorder and may also be related to the development of secondary depression. Since there is limited research on daily life behavior in SAD, this study aimed to describe social interaction behavior and analyze the effect of positive interactions on depression, anxiety, and mental state. Data were obtained from the Behavior and Mind Health study (11/2015–12/2016), an epidemiological cohort study of adolescents and young adults (n = 1,180, aged 14–21 years) from Dresden, Germany. Interpersonal behavior, current mental state, anxiety, and depression were assessed eight times per day over four days using smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments. The analyzed subsample consisted of n = 723 participants, comparing 12-month SAD (n = 60) and healthy controls (HC; n = 663). The interaction behavior of participants with SAD did not differ substantially from that of HC in terms of frequency of social interactions, type of interaction partner, and time spent communicating, although they reported fewer real-life interaction partners (SAD: M = 2.49, SD = 4.78; HC: M = 3.18, SD = 6.43; F(17,044) = 23.92, p < 0.001). When comparing mental state, anxiety, and depression after interactions with familiar people to no interaction, no differences were found between SAD and HC. However, interactions with unfamiliar people negatively affected depressive symptoms in individuals with SAD (b = 0.53; SE = 0.25; 95%CI: 0.04–1.03; p = 0.036). In adolescents with SAD, social situations with unfamiliar people seem to be processed in a dysfunctional way, contributing to increased depressive mood in everyday life. This is particularly interesting given the high rate of secondary depression in SAD.
With a Little Help from My Friends: Profiles of Perceived Social Support and Their Associations with Adolescent Mental Health
Authors: Petersen Kimberly J. , Qualter Pamela , Humphrey Neil , Damsgaard Mogens Trab , Madsen Katrine Rich 
Published: September 2023

AbstractThis study investigated profiles of perceived social support and their associations with mental health indicators for male and female adolescents. The sample was a nationally representative group of Danish adolescents age 13–16 years (Male N = 1114; Female N = 1065). Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of perceived social support from different sources (classmate, teacher, family, friend). Three distinct profiles of perceived social support were identified for both genders: ‘High’ support from all sources (54.4% of males; 55.5% of females), ‘Moderate’ support from all sources (31.6% of males; 28.8% of females) and ‘Low friend’ support with moderate support from other sources (13.9% of males; 15.7% of females). The ‘high’ perceived support profile was associated with optimal mental health; the ‘moderate’ perceived support profile was associated with lower wellbeing and more frequent emotional symptoms; and the ‘low friend’ perceived support profile was associated with the lowest levels of wellbeing and, specifically for females, higher frequency of emotional symptoms. Results highlight typical profiles of perceived social support among adolescents, and demonstrate nuanced associations between perceived social support and mental health indicators, with notable gender differences.