bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Childhood development of brain white matter myelin: a longitudinal T1w/T2w-ratio study
Authors: Dipnall Lillian M. , Yang Joseph Y. M. , Chen Jian , Fuelscher Ian , Craig Jeffrey M. , Silk Timothy J. 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMyelination of human brain white matter (WM) continues into adulthood following birth, facilitating connection within and between brain networks. In vivo MRI studies using diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) suggest microstructural properties of brain WM increase over childhood and adolescence. Although DWI metrics, such as fractional anisotropy (FA), could reflect axonal myelination, they are not specific to myelin and could also represent other elements of WM microstructure, for example, fibre architecture, axon diameter and cell swelling. Little work exists specifically examining myelin development. The T1w/T2w ratio approach offers an alternative non-invasive method of estimating brain myelin. The approach uses MRI scans that are routinely part of clinical imaging and only require short acquisition times. Using T1w/T2w ratio maps from three waves of the Neuroimaging of the Children’s Attention Project (NICAP) [N = 95 (208 scans); 44% female; ages 9.5–14.20 years] we aimed to investigate the developmental trajectories of brain white matter myelin in children as they enter adolescence. We also aimed to investigate whether longitudinal changes in myelination of brain WM differs between biological sex. Longitudinal regression modelling suggested non-linear increases in WM myelin brain wide. A positive parabolic, or U-shaped developmental trajectory was seen across 69 of 71 WM tracts modelled. At a corrected level, no significant effect for sex was found. These findings build on previous brain development research by suggesting that increases in brain WM microstructure from childhood to adolescence could be attributed to increases in myelin.
Niosomal formulation of mefenamic acid for enhanced cancer targeting; preparation, characterization and biodistribution study using radiolabeling technique
Authors: Shewaiter Mona A. , Selim Adli A. , Rashed Hassan M. , Moustafa Yasser M. , Gad Shadeed 
Published: November 2023

AbstractBackgroundThis work aimed to prepare niosomal formulations of an anticancer agent [mefenamic acid (MEF)] to enhance its cancer targeting.131I was utilized as a radiolabeling isotope to study the radio-kinetics of MEF niosomes.Methodsniosomal formulations were prepared by the ether injection method and assessed for entrapment efficiency (EE%), zeta potential (ZP), polydispersity index (PDI) and particle size (PS). MEF was labeled with131I by direct electrophilic substitution reaction through optimization of radiolabeling-related parameters. In the radio-kinetic study, the optimal131I-MEF niosomal formula was administered intravenously (I.V.) to solid tumor-bearing mice and compared to I.V.131I-MEF solution as a control.Resultsthe average PS and ZP values of the optimal formulation were 247.23 ± 2.32 nm and − 28.3 ± 1.21, respectively. The highest131I-MEF labeling yield was 98.7 ± 0.8%. The biodistribution study revealed that the highest tumor uptake of131I-MEF niosomal formula and131I-MEF solution at 60 min post-injection were 2.73 and 1.94% ID/g, respectively.ConclusionMEF-loaded niosomes could be a hopeful candidate in cancer treatment due to their potent tumor uptake. Such high targeting was attributed to passive targeting of the nanosized niosomes and confirmed by radiokinetic evaluation.
Distribution, quantification, and characterization of substance P enteric neurons in the submucosal and myenteric plexuses of the porcine colon
Authors: Mazzoni Maurizio , Cabanillas Luis , Costanzini Anna , Caremoli Filippo , Million Mulugeta , Larauche Muriel , Clavenzani Paolo , De Giorgio Roberto , Sternini Catia 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe pig is an important translational model for studying intestinal physiology and disorders for its many homologies with humans, including the organization of the enteric nervous system (ENS), the major regulator of gastrointestinal functions. This study focused on the quantification and neurochemical characterization of substance P (SP) neurons in the pig ascending (AC) and descending colon (DC) in wholemount preparations of the inner submucosal plexus (ISP), outer submucosal plexus (OSP), and myenteric plexus (MP). We used antibodies for the pan-neuronal marker HuCD, and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), markers for excitatory and inhibitory transmitters, for multiple labeling immunofluorescence and high-resolution confocal microscopy. The highest density of SP immunoreactive (IR) neurons was in the ISP (222/mm2 in the AC, 166/mm2 in the DC), where they make up about a third of HuCD-IR neurons, compared to the OSP and MP (19–22% and 13–17%, respectively, P < 0.001–0.0001). HuCD/SP/ChAT-IR neurons (up to 23%) were overall more abundant than HuCD/SP/nNOS-IR neurons (< 10%). Most SP-IR neurons contained ChAT-IR (62–85%), whereas 18–38% contained nNOS-IR with the highest peak in the OSP. A subpopulation of SP-IR neurons contains both ChAT- and nNOS-IR with the highest peak in the OSP and ISP of DC (33–36%) and the lowest in the ISP of AC (< 10%, P < 0.001). SP-IR varicose fibers were abundant in the ganglia. This study shows that SP-IR neurons are functionally distinct with variable proportions in different plexuses in the AC and DC reflecting diverse functions of specific colonic regions.
Modeling Mixtures with PCP-SAFT: Insights from Large-Scale Parametrization and Group-Contribution Method for Binary Interaction Parameters
Authors: Rehner Philipp , Bardow André , Gross Joachim 
Published: November 2023

AbstractVapor/liquid equilibria of mixtures are of utmost importance in the design of chemical processes. Because of the combinatorial complexity of mixtures, the available experimental data are small when considering the large molecular space. To fill this knowledge gap, molecular equations of state like PCP-SAFT show promise due to their explicit consideration of intermolecular interactions that can be transferred to mixtures. In this work, we comprehensively assess and exploit PCP-SAFT for modeling phase equilibria of mixtures. First, we provide binary interaction parameters for 7861 binary systems for which pure-component parameters and experimental data are available. Bubble and dew point pressures are described with a median deviation of 2.3 %. Secondly, we adjust a matrix of binary group/group interaction parameters for the homosegmented and heterosegmented group-contribution (GC) methods for PCP-SAFT. Among 1389 mixtures that can be described with the GC methods, the median deviation in bubble and dew point pressures are 6.4 % for the homosegmented approach and 5.1 % for the heterosegmented approach. The detailed analysis shows the importance of hydrogen bonds in mixtures of non-self-associating components with self-associating components. The parametrization is only possible by introducing a fast numerical method to calculate the derivative of bubble and dew point pressures with respect to arbitrarily many model parameters. The approach leverages reverse mode automatic differentiation (backpropagation), the same method used in machine learning to regress millions of model parameters to large datasets.
Generating functionally graded steel microstructures by laser powder bed fusion
Authors: Pfaff Aron , Linnenberg Markus , Hoschke Klaus , Balle Frank 
Published: November 2023

AbstractLaser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is bearing the potential to generate new functionally graded microstructures (FGMi) whose properties are tailored regarding specific applications. However, locally altering the process parameters in order to create such microstructures can easily compromise the relative mass density and therefore the performance of a material. This work presents and investigates in situ heat treatments by double exposure in order to realize FGMi. The results show an increased parameter flexibility without compromising the relative mass density, when compared to a single exposure of the investigated low-alloy steel 30CrMoNb5-2. The systematic investigation regarding the impact of process parameters enables microstructures in the hardness range from approx. 380–510 HV10. Especially, the introduction of cooling breaks between single exposure tracks increases the hardness of the microstructure. Tensile tests show an increase in UTS by 21.3%, when comparing the results with a nonin situ heat treated sample (single exposure). A homogeneously in situ heat treated sample as well as both discrete and continuously graded samples demonstrate the potential of the novel method. Consequently, the presented double exposure approach for in situ heat treatments is offering a new flexibility regarding the creation of FGMi by L-PBF and will therefore support the development of future high-performance materials.
Meta-classifier free negative sampling for extreme multilabel classification
Authors: Qaraei Mohammadreza , Babbar Rohit 
Published: November 2023

AbstractNegative sampling is a common approach for making the training of deep models in classification problems with very large output spaces, known as extreme multilabel classification (XMC) problems, tractable. Negative sampling methods aim to find per instance negative labels with higher scores, known as hard negatives, and limit the computations of the negative part of the loss to these labels. Two well-known methods for negative sampling in XMC models are meta-classifier-based and Maximum Inner product Search (MIPS)-based adaptive methods. Owing to their good prediction performance, methods which employ a meta classifier are more common in contemporary XMC research. On the flip side, they need to train and store the meta classifier (apart from the extreme classifier), which can involve millions of additional parameters. In this paper, we focus on the MIPS-based methods for negative sampling. We highlight two issues which may prevent deep models trained by these methods to undergo stable training. First, we argue that using hard negatives excessively from the beginning of training leads to unstable gradient. Second, we show that when all the negative labels in a MIPS-based method are restricted to only those determined by MIPS, training is sensitive to the length of intervals for pre-processing the weights in the MIPS method. To mitigate the aforementioned issues, we propose to limit the labels selected by MIPS to only a few and sample the rest of the needed labels from a uniform distribution. We show that our proposed MIPS-based negative sampling can reach the performance of LightXML, a transformer-based model trained by a meta classifier, while there is no need to train and store any additional classifier. The code for our experiments is available at https://github.com/xmc-aalto/mips-negative-sampling.
Bias and variance reduction of high return levels for extreme hazard modelling
Authors: Wang Chi-Hsiang 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMany existing extremal data span only a few decades that result in large uncertainty in the estimated shape parameter of the extreme hazard model. This in turn leads to potentially large bias and variance of extrapolated extreme values at high return levels. This paper illustrates a statistical method that helps obtain hazard models that produce estimates at high return levels with reduced bias and variance. This method makes use of the maximum recorded values of extremal data that are independently recorded from a number of observational sites or generated by heterogeneous mechanisms. The logarithmically transformed average recurrence interval of the maximum recorded value at a site is shown to follow the Gumbel (Type I extreme value) distribution; therefore, multiple, say $$m$$
m
, observational sites provide a sample of size $$m$$
m
log-transformed average recurrence intervals, each from a distinct site. The sample can be treated as a sample from a Gumbel distribution, irrespective of the underlying hazard-generating mechanisms or the statistical hazard models. Application of the method is illustrated by analysis of the extreme wind gust data from automatic weather stations in South Australia and shown to lead to significant reduction of 2.9 m/s in potential bias of the mean and a reduction of 98.1% in variance of the 500-year gust speed at Adelaide Airport. The results are compared to the specifications in the Australian standard AS/NZS 1170.2:2021 and indicate that the standard may have overestimated the wind gust hazard; hence, the specified design wind speeds may fall on the conservative side for South Australia.
Mutual entailment between causation and responsibility
Authors: Sytsma Justin , Willemsen Pascale , Reuter Kevin 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe standard view in philosophy is that responsibility entails causation. Most philosophers treat this entailment claim as an evident insight into the ordinary concepts of responsibility and causation. Further, it is taken to be equally obvious that the reversal of this claim does not hold: causation does not entail responsibility. In contrast, Sytsma and Livengood have put forward an account of the use of ordinary causal attributions (statements like “X caused Y”) that contends that they are typically used interchangeably with responsibility attributions (statements like “X is responsible for Y”). Put in terms of the concepts at play in these attributions, this account suggests that the reversal of the entailment claim may also hold, and, a fortiori, there would be mutual entailment between the ordinary concepts of responsibility and causation. Using the cancellability test, we report the results of three pre-registered studies providing empirical evidence that causation and responsibility are mutually entailed by each other.
The Fractional Laplacian with Reflections
Authors: Bogdan Krzysztof , Kunze Markus 
Published: November 2023

AbstractMotivated by the notion of isotropic $$\alpha $$
α
-stable Lévy processes confined, by reflections, to a bounded open Lipschitz set $$D\subset \mathbb {R}^d$$

D
⊂

R

d

, we study some related analytical objects. Thus, we construct the corresponding transition semigroup, identify its generator and prove exponential speed of convergence of the semigroup to a unique stationary distribution for large time.
Punishing the Last Citizens? On the Climate Necessity Defence
Authors: Coca-Vila Ivó 
Published: November 2023

AbstractFaced with the inaction of liberal democracies to effectively tackle global warming, many climate activists engage in forms of protests that involve committing minor criminal offences. They seek to shape official decisions on climate policies by resorting to civil disobedience. Some of these activists, rather than accepting punishment, have successfully claimed to be acting in a justified manner by invoking the necessity defence. The aim of this article is to show that, within the framework of representative democracies guided by the rule of law, the climate necessity defence must be rejected, since such protests do not meet the ‘non-legal alternatives’ requirement. This does not mean, however, that protesters should be punished as common offenders. Their acceptance of responsibility and political motivation should be taken into account as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
Errors: Springboard for learning or tool for evaluation? Ambivalence in teachers’ error-related beliefs and practices
Authors: Soncini Annalisa , Matteucci Maria Cristina , Butera Fabrizio 
Published: November 2023

AbstractTeachers’ beliefs about students’ errors are influenced by structural factors and by other beliefs towards education and students that teachers may hold. The literature on this topic has provided some evidence and some mixed results. Furthermore, some structural aspects related to errors have not been considered in framing teachers’ beliefs about errors, such as the use of grades as a classroom assessment practice, which is strongly related to errors in testing situations. Based on these premises, this study aimed to explore teachers’ beliefs about errors and the practices teachers report using to deal with students’ errors in the classroom and teachers’ beliefs about the interdependence between grades and errors. Italian teachers (N = 33) from primary, middle, and secondary schools had been interviewed and the qualitative data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis. The results showed that, according to teachers, errors acquire different meanings in the learning process, which are related to the roles they play in fostering or not learning. Furthermore, in describing these roles teachers reported to use specific practices to deal with students’ errors. Finally, teachers acknowledged that classroom assessment based on grades has a negative interdependency with errors that makes it difficult to present errors as a fruitful part of learning both in learning and testing situations. Our results reveal the ambivalence of teachers’ beliefs about errors and shed light on the challenges the grading evaluation system poses to teachers.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus as a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease
Authors: Lembas Agnieszka , Załęski Andrzej , Peller Michał , Mikuła Tomasz , Wiercińska-Drapało Alicja 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThe developments in HIV treatments have increased the life expectancy of people living with HIV (PLWH), a situation that makes cardiovascular disease (CVD) in that population as relevant as ever. PLWH are at increased risk of CVD, and our understanding of the underlying mechanisms is continually increasing. HIV infection is associated with elevated levels of multiple proinflammatory molecules, including IL-6, IL-1β, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, TNF-α, TGF-β, osteopontin, sCD14, hs-CRP, and D-dimer. Other currently examined mechanisms include CD4 + lymphocyte depletion, increased intestinal permeability, microbial translocation, and altered cholesterol metabolism. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) leads to decreases in the concentrations of the majority of proinflammatory molecules, although most remain higher than in the general population. Moreover, adverse effects of ART also play an important role in increased CVD risk, especially in the era of rapid advancement of new therapeutical options. Nevertheless, it is currently believed that HIV plays a more significant role in the development of metabolic syndromes than treatment-associated factors. PLWH being more prone to develop CVD is also due to the higher prevalence of smoking and chronic coinfections with viruses such as HCV and HBV. For these reasons, it is crucial to consider HIV a possible causal factor in CVD occurrence, especially among young patients or individuals without common CVD risk factors.
High-Density Exploration of Activity States in a Multi-Area Brain Model
Authors: Aquilué-Llorens David , Goldman Jennifer S. , Destexhe Alain 
Published: November 2023

AbstractTo simulate whole brain dynamics with only a few equations, biophysical, mesoscopic models of local neuron populations can be connected using empirical tractography data. The development of mesoscopic mean-field models of neural populations, in particular, the Adaptive Exponential (AdEx mean-field model), has successfully summarized neuron-scale phenomena leading to the emergence of global brain dynamics associated with conscious (asynchronous and rapid dynamics) and unconscious (synchronized slow-waves, with Up-and-Down state dynamics) brain states, based on biophysical mechanisms operating at cellular scales (e.g. neuromodulatory regulation of spike-frequency adaptation during sleep-wake cycles or anesthetics). Using the Virtual Brain (TVB) environment to connect mean-field AdEx models, we have previously simulated the general properties of brain states, playing on spike-frequency adaptation, but have not yet performed detailed analyses of other parameters possibly also regulating transitions in brain-scale dynamics between different brain states. We performed a dense grid parameter exploration of the TVB-AdEx model, making use of High Performance Computing. We report a remarkable robustness of the effect of adaptation to induce synchronized slow-wave activity. Moreover, the occurrence of slow waves is often paralleled with a closer relation between functional and structural connectivity. We find that hyperpolarization can also generate unconscious-like synchronized Up and Down states, which may be a mechanism underlying the action of anesthetics. We conclude that the TVB-AdEx model reveals large-scale properties identified experimentally in sleep and anesthesia.
Writing, Reading, and Interpreting a Rorschach Text
Authors: Bortolini Matteo 
Published: November 2023

AbstractA rejoinder to the papers on A Joyfully Serious Man. The Life of Robert Bellah (AJSM) written by Andrew Abbott, Federico Brandmayr, Charles Camic, Andrea Cossu, Jean-Louis Fabiani, Laura Ford, Harlan Stelmach, and Rhys Williams. Conceived as an exercise in self-reflection, the paper addresses five wide areas: specific critiques of AJSM; an assessment of the relationship between AJSM and the research project whence it came; the connections between author and critics; a clarification of some fact regarding the main character of AJSM, that is, Robert Bellah; and the analysis of particular experiences which the author, Bellah, and his critics share as sociologists.
Assessment of water productivity improvement strategies using system dynamics approach
Authors: Nazari Bijan , Kanani Elahe , Sepehri Saloome 
Published: November 2023

AbstractThis study utilizes a system dynamics approach (SD) to assess the effects of water productivity improvement strategies on the Qazvin plain, Iran, and the uncertainty of the individual and interactive effects. The key indicators included in the important strategies are cropping pattern scenarios (CPS), deficit irrigation (DI), and modern irrigation systems development (MISD). Plain-scale results show that CPS 7, CPS 4, and CPS 8 had the highest physical water productivity (WPp) at 2.11, 1.99, and 1.95 kg/m3, respectively, representing a 21, 14, and 12 percent increase over CPS 1. Compared with CPS 1, CPS 4, CPS 6, and CPS 8 showed the highest values of WPe (5678, 5568, and 5503 Rials/m3, respectively). At the field scale, under DI, WPp increased for all crops (except corn, which was the most sensitive), but WPe is only increased for tomato, canola, pea, and barley and reduced for corn, potato, beans, lentils, and sugar beet. The WPe was affected by the DI, the irrigation system type, and the CPS. CPS 7 and CPS 6 had the highest and lowest water requirements, respectively, with 11,699 and 8207 m3/ha. Volume decline in aquifers is significantly affected by both CPS and DI. The CPS6, CPS8, and CPS2 were better than other scenarios. By modifying the cropping pattern, it is possible to prevent aquifer decline, thus improving the aquifer status (CPS5). MISD increased both field and plain WPp for all crops. The MISD improved groundwater resources and reduced demand by increasing efficiency to improve aquifer condition.