bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Bird species richness and diversity responses to land use change in the Lake Victoria Basin, Kenya
Authors: Mugatha Simon M. , Ogutu Joseph O. , Piepho Hans-Peter , Maitima Joseph M. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe increasing demand for cultivated lands driven by human population growth, escalating consumption and activities, combined with the vast area of uncultivated land, highlight the pressing need to better understand the biodiversity conservation implications of land use change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Land use change alters natural wildlife habitats with fundamental consequences for biodiversity. Consequently, species richness and diversity typically decline as land use changes from natural to disturbed. We assess how richness and diversity of avian species, grouped into feeding guilds, responded to land use changes, primarily expansion of settlements and cultivation at three sites in the Lake Victoria Basin in western Kenya, following tsetse control interventions. Each site consisted of a matched pair of spatially adjacent natural/semi-natural and settled/cultivated landscapes. Significant changes occurred in bird species richness and diversity in the disturbed relative to the natural landscape. Disturbed areas had fewer guilds and all guilds in disturbed areas also occurred in natural areas. Guilds had significantly more species in natural than in disturbed areas. The insectivore/granivore and insectivore/wax feeder guilds occurred only in natural areas. Whilst species diversity was far lower, a few species of estrildid finches were more common in the disturbed landscapes and were often observed on the scrubby edges of modified habitats. In contrast, the natural and less disturbed wooded areas had relatively fewer estrildid species and were completely devoid of several other species. In aggregate, land use changes significantly reduced bird species richness and diversity on the disturbed landscapes regardless of their breeding range size or foraging style (migratory or non-migratory) and posed greater risks to non-migratory species. Accordingly, land use planning should integrate conservation principles that preserve salient habitat qualities required by different bird species, such as adequate patch size and habitat connectivity, conserve viable bird populations and restore degraded habitats to alleviate adverse impacts of land use change on avian species richness and diversity.
Improving long-term multivariate time series forecasting with a seasonal-trend decomposition-based 2-dimensional temporal convolution dense network
Authors: Hao Jianhua , Liu Fangai 
Published: January 2024

AbstractImproving the accuracy of long-term multivariate time series forecasting is important for practical applications. Various Transformer-based solutions emerging for time series forecasting. Recently, some studies have verified that the most Transformer-based methods are outperformed by simple linear models in long-term multivariate time series forecasting. However, these methods have some limitations in exploring complex interdependencies among various subseries in multivariate time series. They also fall short in leveraging the temporal features of the data sequences effectively, such as seasonality and trends. In this study, we propose a novel seasonal-trend decomposition-based 2-dimensional temporal convolution dense network (STL-2DTCDN) to deal with these issues. We incorporate the seasonal-trend decomposition based on loess (STL) to explore the trend and seasonal features of the original data. Particularly, a 2-dimensional temporal convolution dense network (2DTCDN) is designed to capture complex interdependencies among various time series in multivariate time series. To evaluate our approach, we conduct experiments on six datasets. The results demonstrate that STL-2DTCDN outperforms existing methods in long-term multivariate time series forecasting.
Assessments of the environmental performance of global companies need to account for company size
Authors: Mastrandrea Rossana , ter Burg Rob , Shan Yuli , Hubacek Klaus , Ruzzenenti Franco 
Published: January 2024

AbstractWhile the awareness of the corporate world toward sustainability is growing, how to assess corporate environmental performance objectively and efficiently remains an open question. Here we estimate the relationship between company size and four environmental indicators to understand the environmental performance of nearly 6500 companies, building on the concept of allometric scaling and using Thomson Reuters EIKON data for the year 2018. We highlight that carbon dioxide emissions, energy use, water and waste production scale with the size according to a power law. This can be used as a benchmark to assess unambiguously a company’s environmental performance. We find that the adopted Environmental, Social & Governance rating is uncorrelated with the environmental performance. Our results suggest that a fair and effective environmental policy should consider the nature of the scaling relationship. Scaling laws suggest the existence of a nexus between an underlying network and corporate metabolism, whose understanding would help in discerning the determinants of environmental impacts.
A phosphate-rich marine reservoir in the redox stratified Ediacaran ocean
Authors: Yang Xiuqing , Mao Jingwen , Bowyer Fred T. , Wu Changzhi , Li Rongxi , Zhao Chao , Yang Guowei , Poulton Simon W. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractPhosphorus (P) is the key nutrient thought to limit primary productivity on geological timescales, and hence P bioavailability exerted a major influence on Earth’s surface oxygenation dynamics through the Precambrian, with ensuing implications for biological evolution. Here, we document highly elevated P contents in non-glacial Ediacaran (635–541 Ma) iron formations from Northwestern China, with P dominantly occurring as carbonate fluorapatite formed during early diagenesis. These analyses, in combination with marine sediment P contents and phosphorite abundance data, point to a state change in oceanic P concentrations during the Ediacaran, which we attribute to enhanced recycling from marine sediments under redox-stratified conditions. Subsequent elevated rates of primary productivity and organic carbon production may have sustained the contemporaneous first appearance of complex deep marine habitats, and would have increased the extent and stability of surface water oxygen concentrations, leading to conditions conducive to the subsequent evolution of more complex animals.
MinD-RNase E interplay controls localization of polar mRNAs in E. coli
Authors: Kannaiah Shanmugapriya , Goldberger Omer , Alam Nawsad , Barnabas Georgina , Pozniak Yair , Nussbaum-Shochat Anat , Schueler-Furman Ora , Geiger Tamar , Amster-Choder Orna 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe E. coli transcriptome at the cell’s poles (polar transcriptome) is unique compared to the membrane and cytosol. Several factors have been suggested to mediate mRNA localization to the membrane, but the mechanism underlying polar localization of mRNAs remains unknown. Here, we combined a candidate system approach with proteomics to identify factors that mediate mRNAs localization to the cell poles. We identified the pole-to-pole oscillating protein MinD as an essential factor regulating polar mRNA localization, although it is not able to bind RNA directly. We demonstrate that RNase E, previously shown to interact with MinD, is required for proper localization of polar mRNAs. Using in silico modeling followed by experimental validation, the membrane-binding site in RNase E was found to mediate binding to MinD. Intriguingly, not only does MinD affect RNase E interaction with the membrane, but it also affects its mode of action and dynamics. Polar accumulation of RNase E in ΔminCDE cells resulted in destabilization and depletion of mRNAs from poles. Finally, we show that mislocalization of polar mRNAs may prevent polar localization of their protein products. Taken together, our findings show that the interplay between MinD and RNase E determines the composition of the polar transcriptome, thus assigning previously unknown roles for both proteins.
Pericytes contribute to pulmonary vascular remodeling via HIF2α signaling
Authors: Kim Hyunbum , Liu Yu , Kim Jiwon , Kim Yunhye , Klouda Timothy , Fisch Sudeshna , Baek Seung Han , Liu Tiffany , Dahlberg Suzanne , Hu Cheng-Jun , Tian Wen , Jiang Xinguo , Kosmas Kosmas , Christou Helen A , Korman Benjamin D , Vargas Sara O , Wu Joseph C , Stenmark Kurt R , Perez Vinicio de Jesus , Nicolls Mark R , Raby Benjamin A , Yuan Ke 
Published: January 2024

AbstractVascular remodeling is the process of structural alteration and cell rearrangement of blood vessels in response to injury and is the cause of many of the world’s most afflicted cardiovascular conditions, including pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Many studies have focused on the effects of vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) during vascular remodeling, but pericytes, an indispensable cell population residing largely in capillaries, are ignored in this maladaptive process. Here, we report that hypoxia-inducible factor 2α (HIF2α) expression is increased in the lung tissues of PAH patients, and HIF2α overexpressed pericytes result in greater contractility and an impaired endothelial-pericyte interaction. Using single-cell RNAseq and hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) models, we show that HIF2α is a major molecular regulator for the transformation of pericytes into SMC-like cells. Pericyte-selective HIF2α overexpression in mice exacerbates PH and right ventricular hypertrophy. Temporal cellular lineage tracing shows that HIF2α overexpressing reporter NG2+ cells (pericyte-selective) relocate from capillaries to arterioles and co-express SMA. This novel insight into the crucial role of NG2+ pericytes in pulmonary vascular remodeling via HIF2α signaling suggests a potential drug target for PH.
Otoscopic Abnormalities for the U.S. Population Aged 6–80+ Years: Prevalence and Consequences for Hearing
Authors: Humes Larry E. 
Published: January 2024

Purpose:
U.S. national data for otoscopic examinations of 13,055 individuals aged 6–80+ years included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey surveys for 2011–2012, 2015–2016, and 2017–2020 were analyzed and described.

Method:
Analyses were primarily descriptive and relied on prevalence estimates, supported by logistic-regression analyses, and distribution-free medians. Otoscopic examinations were performed by trained technicians with review and supervision by a clinical audiologist. Effects of age, sex, and race/ethnicity were also examined.

Results:
Overall, the prevalence of abnormal otoscopy was approximately 12%–15% with higher prevalence among males at most ages and for both sexes for age ≥ 60 years. Typically, 93% or more of the observed abnormalities were due to excessive or impacted cerumen, mainly the former. Logistic-regression analyses for the 6–19-year-olds found that only race/ethnicity affected the odds with non-Hispanic Blacks and Asians have higher odds for otoscopic abnormalities than non-Hispanic Whites. For 20- to 69-year-old adults, the odds of having abnormal otoscopic findings were about twice as high for males versus females, 60-year-olds versus 20-year-olds, and non-Hispanic Blacks versus non-Hispanic Whites. Overall, the effect of otoscopic abnormalities on the pure-tone averages for 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz and 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz were negligible (< 3 dB), and this did not vary substantially with sex, race/ethnicity, or age.

Conclusion:
Abnormal otoscopy, typically excessive cerumen, was observed in about 12%–15% of the individuals in this national sample, but the presence of such abnormalities had minimal effect on hearing sensitivity.
Electrical insulator defect detection with incomplete annotations and imbalanced samples
Authors: Pang Fengqian , Lei Chunyue , Zeng Jingsheng 
Published: January 2024

AbstractInsulators are one of the key components in high‐voltage power systems that prevent transmission lines from grounding. Since they are exposed to different kinds of harsh environments and climates, periodic inspection is indispensable for the safety and high quality of power grid. Nowadays, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) inspection is more widely used, facilitating incorporation of convolutional neural network‐based detectors in the insulator detection task. However, these methods are generally based on the assumption that the image samples are balanced among different categories and possess completely ideal annotations. The problem of sample imbalance or incomplete annotation is rarely investigated in depth for insulator defect detection. Here, insulator defect detection with imbalanced data and incomplete annotations is focused on. The proposed framework, named Pi‐index, introduces positive unlabelled (PU) learning to solve the problem of incomplete annotation and designs a novel index the class prior, which is a key parameter in PU learning. Moreover, focal loss is integrated in our framework to alleviate the effect of sample imbalance. Experiment results demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves better performance than the baseline methods in situations of sample imbalance and missing annotation.
Messung von Handlungsmöglichkeiten (capabilities) für
körperliche Aktivität: Entwicklung und Erprobung eines
Messinstruments für ältere Menschen
Authors: Boyer Lisa , Sauter Alexandra , Loss Julika 
Published: January 2024

Zusammenfassung
Einleitung Die vorliegende Studie beschäftigt sich, basierend auf
dem Capability-Ansatz nach Sen, mit der Operationalisierung von
Handlungsmöglichkeiten (capabilities) zur Führung eines aktiven
Lebensstils. Durch die Erhebung von capabilities können
Veränderungsprozesse abgebildet und die Entwicklung von
Interventionsmaßnahmen zur Förderung körperlicher
Aktivität bei verschiedenen Bevölkerungsgruppen, z. B.
Senior:innen, unterstützt werden. Bisher liegt jedoch kein
standardisiertes deutschsprachiges Instrument zur Messung bewegungsbezogene
capabilities vor.
Methoden Aufbauend auf einer explorativen Interviewstudie (Sauter et al.,
2019), die relevante bewegungsbezogene capabilities bei Senior:innen
identifiziert hat, wurde ein standardisierter Fragebogen mit 41 Items
konzipiert. Es wurden zwei unterschiedliche Fragenformulierungen zur Abfrage
wahrgenommener Handlungsmöglichkeiten konzipiert. Zur Validierung des
Instruments wurde die „think-aloud-Methode“
durchgeführt. Dabei wurden alle mündlichen Kommentare beim
Ausfüllen des Fragebogens aufgezeichnet und ergänzende
Interviews zur Verständlichkeit und Anwendbarkeit geführt. Die
Stichprobe umfasste 16 Senior:innen (w=9, MW=66,3 Jahre).
Ergebnisse Die Befragten bewerteten die Anwendbarkeit und
Verständlichkeit des Instruments insgesamt als positiv. Zur Abfrage
wahrgenommener Handlungsmöglichkeiten wurde die Formulierung
„Ich habe die Möglichkeit, dass…“ favorisiert.
In wenigen Punkten zeigten sich Verständnisschwierigkeiten und
Unklarheiten. Anschließende inhaltliche Änderungen dienten der
Konkretisierung der Fragestellungen in Bezug auf z. B. unklare Begriffe
wie „Laufwege“.
Fazit Der entwickelte Fragebogen scheint geeignet, um in der Gruppe
älterer Menschen die jeweiligen Handlungsmöglichkeiten
für körperliche Aktivität zu erfassen und steht sowohl
in englischer sowie in deutscher Sprache zur Verfügung. Damit leistet
die Arbeit einen Beitrag zur Operationalisierung von capabilities in der
Gesundheitsförderung. Weitere Forschung sollte die Anwendbarkeit des
Instruments bei anderen Bevölkerungsgruppen testen und
Objektivität, Reliabilität und Validität
überprüfen.
Foveal-Sparing ILM Peeling with ILM Flap Transposition over the Macular Hole for Repair of Full-Thickness Macular Holes
Authors: Leisser Christoph , Findl Oliver 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Background Full-thickness macular holes, defined as full-thickness defects of the fovea, lead to central scotoma and deterioration of vision. Apart from peeling of the internal limiting membrane (ILM), ILM flap techniques have been reported to have potential in improving results in macular hole surgery. In addition, foveal-sparing ILM peeling gives a high macular hole closure rate and improvement in postoperative visual acuity. The aim of this study was to examine outcomes in a cohort of patients with full-thickness macular holes that underwent vitrectomy with foveal-sparing ILM peeling and transposition of an ILM flap over the macular hole.
Methods This retrospective study included patients scheduled for pars plana vitrectomy with foveal-sparing ILM peeling, combined with ILM flap transposition over the macular hole, for macular hole repair. All patients received a gas tamponade with 20% sulphur hexafluoride and were encouraged to undergo postoperative face-down positioning for 48 hours after surgery. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging of the macula and distance-corrected visual acuity (DCVA) were performed before and 3 months after surgery.
Results In total, 42 eyes of 42 patients were included in this study. Leaving a broad area of residual ILM at the foveal rim led to a high risk of failure in macular hole closure, while leaving a narrow zone of residual ILM at the foveal rim resulted in high macular hole closure rates (97% type 1 closure and 3% type 2 closure), with a median improvement of DCVA of 4 lines [interquartile range (IQR): 3 to 6] among pseudophakic and 3.5 lines (IQR: 2 to 5) among phakic patients.
Conclusions A combination of foveal-sparing ILM peeling with ILM flap techniques was shown to be a safe and effective surgical option for patients with full-thickness macular holes, resulting in a high macular hole closure rate and improvement in visual acuity in the majority of patients.
Ärztlicher Fachkräftemangel in der Rehabilitation
– Ergebnisse einer quantitativen Umfrage in deutschen
Rehabilitationsfachabteilungen
Authors: Jansen Eva Maria , Marquardt Manuela 
Published: January 2024

Zusammenfassung
Hintergrund  In vielen Ländern mit
hohem Einkommen herrscht ärztlicher Fachkräftemangel. Auch in
vielen Rehabilitationseinrichtungen in Deutschland bestehen Schwierigkeiten beim
Halten und Rekrutieren von Mediziner:innen. Bisher liegen keine Studien
darüber vor, welche Fachabteilungen und Einrichtungen mit welcher
Indikation und in welcher Lage davon besonders betroffen sind. Dieser Artikel
hat zum Ziel, mit einem explorativen Vorgehen empirische Anhaltspunkte zum
Phänomen ärztlicher Fachkräftemangel in
Rehabilitationsfachabteilungen zu liefern.
Materialien und Methoden  Die
Datengrundlage für die explorative Analyse stammt aus einer
Fachabteilungsumfrage aller stationärer und ambulanter
Rehabilitationseinrichtungen der Qualitätssicherungsdatenbank der DRV
(QS-REDA). Die Umfrage mit inhaltlichem Fokus auf Mediziner:innen mit
ausländischem Abschluss enthielt einen Abschnitt zum Thema
ärztlicher Fachkräftemangel, für welchen von
n=373 Fachabteilungsleitungen Angaben zuverschiedenen, mit
Fachkräftemangel assoziierten, Indikatoren vorlagen. Aus den drei
einzelnen Indikatoren (1) Vakanzzeit, (2) Fluktuationsrate und (3) Anteil
unbesetzter Stellen erstellten wir mittels Quartilssplit am 25. und 75.
Perzentil Extremgruppen (−1, 0, 1) und summierten diese zu einem Index.
Fachabteilungen mit empirischen Auffälligkeiten auf mind. 2
Einzelindikatoren wurden auf dem Fachkräftemangel-Index als
„hoch“ klassifiziert. Es werden bivariate Zusammenhänge
zwischen den Kategorien des Fachkräftemangel-Index und weiteren
strukturellen und regionalen Fachabteilungsvariablen mittels Chi-Quadrat-Tests
ausgewertet.
Ergebnisse  Die Ergebnisse der Umfrage zeigen, dass es eher
mittelgroße, peripher gelegene Einrichtungen, mit einer
stationären oder gemischten Behandlungsform und ohne die
Behandlungsschwerpunkte Orthopädie oder Rheuma sind, die unter
ärztlichem Fachkräftemangel leiden. Am stärksten ist der
Zusammenhang des Fachkräftemangel-Index mit der siedlungsstrukturellen
Typisierung der Fachabteilung (χ²(8)=34,3;
p≤0,001).
Schlussfolgerungen  Die Lage zahlreicher
Rehabilitationseinrichtungen in ländlichen Gebieten stellt eine
zusätzliche Rekrutierungsbarriere für ärztliches
Personal dar. Das Thema ärztlicher Fachkräftemangel in
Rehabilitationseinrichtungen ist bisher nicht erforscht. In Zukunft ist
abzusehen, dass die Zahl der Ärzt:innen den Bedarf noch weniger decken
wird. Um diesen auszugleichen, sind strukturierte Maßnahmen notwendig.
Die Double-Level-Derotationsosteotomie am Kniegelenk
Authors: Ferner Felix , Lutter Christoph , Perl Mario , Harrer Jörg 
Published: January 2024

ZusammenfassungDie kniegelenknahe Derotationsosteotomie ist ein gängiges Verfahren zur Korrektur von kongenitalen oder posttraumatischen Torsionsdeformitäten der unteren Extremität. Klinisches Erscheinungsbild ist ein alleiniger „vorderer Knieschmerz“ oder in Kombination mit einer patellofemoralen Instabilität. Die kausale operative Therapie bei solchen Fehlstellungen stellt die Derotationsosteotomie dar. Da es sich häufig um kombinierte femorale und tibiale Fehlstellungen handelt, ist auch eine kombinierte Operationstechnik erforderlich. Diese Technik der tibialen Innentorsions- und femoralen Außentorsionsosteotomie, jeweils temporär mittels Fixateur externe und definitiv mittels Plattenosteosynthese stabilisiert, wird im aktuellen Video vorgestellt. Die tibiale Osteotomie wird hierbei mit einer Fasziotomie der Tibialis-anterior-Loge und Neurolyse des N. peronaeus kombiniert.
Anatomy and Microsurgical Relevance of the Outer Arachnoid Envelope around the Olfactory Bulb Based on Endoscopic Cadaveric Observations
Authors: Kurucz Peter , Ganslandt Oliver , Buchfelder Michael , Adib Sasan Darius , Barany Laszlo 
Published: January 2024

Abstract
Background There is high risk of injury to the olfactory tract and olfactory bulb during surgery of the anterior cranial fossa. The goal of this study was to describe the outer arachnoid envelope around the olfactory bulb, which plays a significant role in approach-related injury of the nerve.
Methods A total of 20 fresh human cadaveric heads were examined. Five cadaveric heads were used to describe a gross overview of the topographic anatomy of the outer arachnoid cover of the olfactory bulb. In 15 cadaveric heads, endoscopic surgical approaches were performed to examine the in situ undisrupted anatomy of the outer arachnoid around the olfactory bulb. Four cadaveric heads were used for the lateral subfrontal approach, 5 heads for the medial subfrontal approach, 3 heads for the median subfrontal approach, and 3 heads for the anterior interhemispheric approach.
Results The outer arachnoid membrane of the frontal lobe attaches the olfactory bulb strongly to the above lying olfactory sulcus. Only the most rostral portion of the olfactory bulb became slightly detached from the frontal lobe. The outer arachnoid forms a decent protrusion around the tip of the olfactory bulbs. The fila olfactoria have their own outer arachnoid cover as a continuation of the same layer of the olfactory bulb. The effect of brain retraction and manipulation forces on the olfactory bulb and the role of the arachnoid membranes located here were visually analyzed and described in detail through the four different neurosurgical approaches we performed.
Conclusion The results of our observations provide important anatomical details for preserving the sense of smell during neurosurgical procedures.