bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
South Africa and the Surgical Diaspora—A Hub for Surgical Migration and Training
Authors: Rudolfson Niclas , Lantz Adam , Shrime Mark G. , Johnson Walter , Smith Martin D. , Hagander Lars 
Published: April 2023

AbstractBackgroundThe shortage of trained surgeons, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians is a major contributor to the unmet need for surgical care in low‐ and middle‐income countries, and the shortage is aggravated by migration to higher‐income countries.MethodsWe performed a cross‐sectional observational study, combining individual‐level data of 43,621 physicians from the Health Professions Council of South Africa with data from the registers of 14 high‐income countries, and international statistics on surgical workforce, in order to quantify migration to and from South Africa in both absolute and relative terms.ResultsOf 6670 surgeons, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians in South Africa, a total of 713 (11%) were foreign medical graduates, and 396 (6%) were from a low‐ or middle‐income country. South Africa was an important destination primarily for physicians originating from low‐income countries; 2% of all surgeons, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians from low‐ and middle‐income countries were registered in South Africa, and 6% in the other 14 recipient countries. A total of 1295 (16%) South African surgeons, anesthesiologists, and obstetricians worked in any of the 14 studied high‐income countries.ConclusionSouth Africa is an important regional hub for surgical migration and training. A notable proportion of surgical specialists in South Africa were medical graduates from other low‐ or middle‐income countries, whereas migration out of South Africa to high‐income countries was even larger.
Comparison of the effects of long-lasting static stretching and hypertrophy training on maximal strength, muscle thickness and flexibility in the plantar flexors
Authors: Warneke Konstantin , Wirth Klaus , Keiner Michael , Lohmann Lars H. , Hillebrecht Martin , Brinkmann Anna , Wohlann Tim , Schiemann Stephan 
Published: April 2023

AbstractMaximal strength measured via maximal voluntary contraction is known as a key factor in competitive sports performance as well as injury risk reduction and rehabilitation. Maximal strength and hypertrophy are commonly trained by performing resistance training programs. However, literature shows that long-term, long-lasting static stretching interventions can also produce significant improvements in maximal voluntary contraction. The aim of this study is to compare increases in maximal voluntary contraction, muscle thickness and flexibility after 6 weeks of stretch training and conventional hypertrophy training. Sixty-nine (69) active participants (f = 30, m = 39; age 27.4 ± 4.4 years, height 175.8 ± 2.1 cm, and weight 79.5 ± 5.9 kg) were divided into three groups: IG1 stretched the plantar flexors continuously for one hour per day, IG2 performed hypertrophy training for the plantar flexors (5 × 10–12 reps, three days per week), while CG did not undergo any intervention. Maximal voluntary contraction, muscle thickness, pennation angle and flexibility were the dependent variables. The results of a series of two-way ANOVAs show significant interaction effects (p < 0.05) for maximal voluntary contraction (ƞ2 = 0.143–0.32, p < 0.006), muscle thickness (ƞ2 = 0.11–0.14, p < 0.021), pennation angle (ƞ2 = 0.002–0.08, p = 0.077–0.625) and flexibility (ƞ2 = 0.089–0.21, p < 0.046) for both the stretch and hypertrophy training group without significant differences (p = 0.37–0.99, d = 0.03–0.4) between both intervention groups. Thus, it can be hypothesized that mechanical tension plays a crucial role in improving maximal voluntary contraction and muscle thickness irrespective whether long-lasting stretching or hypertrophy training is used. Results show that for the calf muscle, the use of long-lasting stretching interventions can be deemed an alternative to conventional resistance training if the aim is to increase maximal voluntary contraction, muscle thickness and flexibility. However, the practical application seems to be strongly limited as a weekly stretching duration of up to 7 h a week is opposed by 3 × 15 min of common resistance training.
Navigation and the efficiency of spatial coding: insights from closed-loop simulations
Authors: Ghazinouri Behnam , Nejad Mohammadreza Mohagheghi , Cheng Sen 
Published: April 2023

AbstractSpatial learning is critical for survival and its underlying neuronal mechanisms have been studied extensively. These studies have revealed a wealth of information about the neural representations of space, such as place cells and boundary cells. While many studies have focused on how these representations emerge in the brain, their functional role in driving spatial learning and navigation has received much less attention. We extended an existing computational modeling tool-chain to study the functional role of spatial representations using closed-loop simulations of spatial learning. At the heart of the model agent was a spiking neural network that formed a ring attractor. This network received inputs from place and boundary cells and the location of the activity bump in this network was the output. This output determined the movement directions of the agent. We found that the navigation performance depended on the parameters of the place cell input, such as their number, the place field sizes, and peak firing rate, as well as, unsurprisingly, the size of the goal zone. The dependence on the place cell parameters could be accounted for by just a single variable, the overlap index, but this dependence was nonmonotonic. By contrast, performance scaled monotonically with the Fisher information of the place cell population. Our results therefore demonstrate that efficiently encoding spatial information is critical for navigation performance.
The Allen–Cahn equation with generic initial datum
Authors: Hairer Martin , Lê Khoa , Rosati Tommaso 
Published: April 2023

AbstractWe consider the Allen–Cahn equation $${\partial _t}{u}-\Delta u=u-u^3$$

∂
t

u
-
Δ
u
=
u
-

u
3

with a rapidly mixing Gaussian field as initial condition. We show that provided that the amplitude of the initial condition is not too large, the equation generates fronts described by nodal sets of the Bargmann–Fock Gaussian field, which then evolve according to mean curvature flow.
Coupled Thermo-hydro-mechanical Simulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in Deep Reservoirs Using Finite-Discrete Element Method
Authors: Sharafisafa Mansour , Aliabadian Zeinab , Sato Akira , Shen Luming 
Published: April 2023

AbstractHydraulic fracturing (HF) is one of the most effective stimulation techniques to enhance reservoir permeability. The efficiency of an HF fluid injection depends on the pre-existing discontinuities or sources of heterogeneities and these features need to be considered in a HF operation treatment. Moreover, deep reservoirs are usually located in hot dry rocks (HDR). Hence, thermal conduction through the rock and fluid and advection and convective heat transfer in the fluid can affect the fluid–rock interaction. This study focuses on HF development in deep reservoirs under a high-temperature field. Two separate scenarios are considered: a reservoir containing discrete fracture networks (DFN) and another considering blocks in a matrix as conglomerate reservoirs (there is no relation between the scenarios considered). The study discusses each reservoir separately and simulates their thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behaviour using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). First, the capabilities of the FDEM are verified against the existing analytical solutions, and then the FDEM is employed to model HF development. The effects of controlling factors, including flow rate, fluid kinematic viscosity and DFN aperture for jointed reservoirs and flow rate, fluid kinematic viscosity and block strength in conglomerate ones, are studied. The results show that the high fracture density DFNs strongly affect the HF propagation pattern and fluid pressure rise. Moreover, the DFN’s aperture significantly alters the HF treatment behaviour. The controlling factors are observed to influence the HF pattern strongly, and a successful HF treatment requires careful consideration of all the factors. In the conglomerate reservoirs, the strength of the blocks strongly dominates the HF mechanism, in which soft blocks break and allow for uniform fluid pressure distribution and longer HFs, while hard blocks stop fluid from flowing over longer distances accumulating high fluid pressure around the injection. This mechanism excessively breaks the matrix and reduces HF efficiency. Crack branching frequently occurs in conglomerate reservoirs due to thermal exchange between the blocks, matrix, and fluid.
The impact of prior knowledge on causal structure learning
Authors: Constantinou Anthony C. , Guo Zhigao , Kitson Neville K. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractCausal Bayesian networks have become a powerful technology for reasoning under uncertainty in areas that require transparency and explainability, by relying on causal assumptions that enable us to simulate hypothetical interventions. The graphical structure of such models can be estimated by structure learning algorithms, domain knowledge, or a combination of both. Various knowledge approaches have been proposed in the literature that enables us to specify prior knowledge that constrains or guides these algorithms. This paper introduces some novel, and also describes some existing, knowledge-based approaches that enable us to combine structure learning with knowledge obtained from heterogeneous sources. We investigate the impact of these approaches on structure learning across different algorithms, case studies and settings that we might encounter in practice. Each approach is assessed in terms of effectiveness and efficiency, including graphical accuracy, model fitting, complexity, and runtime; making this the first paper that provides a comparative evaluation of a wide range of knowledge approaches for structure learning. Because the value of knowledge depends on what data are available, we illustrate the results both with limited and big data. While the overall results show that knowledge becomes less important with big data due to higher learning accuracy rendering knowledge less important, some of the knowledge approaches are found to be more important with big data. Amongst the main conclusions is the observation that reduced search space obtained from knowledge does not always imply reduced computational complexity, perhaps because the relationships implied by the data and knowledge are in tension.
Perioperative TAS-118 plus oxaliplatin in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer: APOLLO-11 study
Authors: Takahari Daisuke , Katai Hitoshi , Takashima Atsuo , Izawa Naoki , Ishizuka Naoki , Ohashi Manabu , Mikami Shinya , Wakatsuki Takeru , Nakayama Izuma , Chin Keisho , Ida Satoshi , Kumagai Koshi , Nunobe Souya , Iwasa Satoru , Shoji Hirokazu , Wada Takeyuki , Doi Ayako , Yoshikawa Takaki , Sano Takeshi , Boku Narikazu , Yamaguchi Kensei 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Background
We investigated the feasibility of perioperative chemotherapy with S-1 and leucovorin (TAS-118) plus oxaliplatin in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer.

Methods
Patients with clinical T3–4N1–3M0 gastric cancer received four courses of TAS-118 (40–60 mg/body, orally, twice daily for seven days) plus oxaliplatin (85 mg/m2, intravenously, day one) every two weeks preoperatively followed by gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy, followed by postoperative chemotherapy with either 12 courses of TAS-118 monotherapy (Step 1) or eight courses of TAS-118 plus oxaliplatin (Step 2). The primary endpoints were completion rates of preoperative chemotherapy with TAS-118 plus oxaliplatin and postoperative chemotherapy with TAS-118 monotherapy (Step 1) or TAS-118 plus oxaliplatin (Step 2).

Results
Among 45 patients enrolled, the preoperative chemotherapy completion rate was 88.9% (90% CI 78.0–95.5). Major grade ≥ 3 adverse events (AEs) were diarrhoea (17.8%) and neutropenia (8.9%). The R0 resection rate was 95.6% (90% CI 86.7–99.2). Complete pathological response was achieved in 6 patients (13.3%). Dose-limiting toxicity was not observed in 31 patients receiving postoperative chemotherapy (Step 1, n = 11; Step 2, n = 20), and completion rates were 90.9% (95% CI 63.6–99.5) for Step 1 and 80.0% (95% CI 59.9–92.9) for Step 2. No more than 10% of grade ≥ 3 AEs were observed in  patients receiving Step 1. Hypokalaemia and neutropenia occurred in 3 and 2 patients, respectively, receiving Step 2. The 3-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates were 66.7% (95% CI 50.9–78.4) and 84.4% (95% CI 70.1–92.3), respectively.

Conclusions
Perioperative chemotherapy with TAS-118 plus oxaliplatin with D2 gastrectomy is feasible.
Analyzing and comparing the security of self-sovereign identity management systems through threat modeling
Authors: Grüner Andreas , Mühle Alexander , Lockenvitz Niko , Meinel Christoph 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe concept of Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) promises to strengthen the security and user-centricity of identity management. Since any secure online service relies on secure identity management, we comparatively analyze the intrinsic security of SSI. Thus, we adopt a hybrid threat modeling approach comprising STRIDE, attack trees, and ratings towards this unique context. Data flow diagrams of the isolated, centralized and the SSI model serve as the foundation for the assessment. The evolution of the paradigms shows an increasing complexity in security zones and communication paths between the components. We identified 35 threats to all SSI components and 15 protection measures that reduce the threats’ criticality. As a result, our research shows that the SSI paradigm’s threat surface is significantly higher compared to the traditional models. Besides the threat assessment on model level, the adapted methodology can evaluate a specific implementation. We analyzed uPort with a restricted scope to its user agent. Thus, 2 out of 10 threats were not properly addressed, leading to potential spoofing, denial, or repudiation of identity actions.
Derivative-free separable quadratic modeling and cubic regularization for unconstrained optimization
Authors: Custódio A. L. , Garmanjani R. , Raydan M. 
Published: April 2023

AbstractWe present a derivative-free separable quadratic modeling and cubic regularization technique for solving smooth unconstrained minimization problems. The derivative-free approach is mainly concerned with building a quadratic model that could be generated by numerical interpolation or using a minimum Frobenius norm approach, when the number of points available does not allow to build a complete quadratic model. This model plays a key role to generate an approximated gradient vector and Hessian matrix of the objective function at every iteration. We add a specialized cubic regularization strategy to minimize the quadratic model at each iteration, that makes use of separability. We discuss convergence results, including worst case complexity, of the proposed schemes to first-order stationary points. Some preliminary numerical results are presented to illustrate the robustness of the specialized separable cubic algorithm.
Free gs-Monoidal Categories and Free Markov Categories
Authors: Fritz Tobias , Liang Wendong 
Published: April 2023

AbstractCategorical probability has recently seen significant advances through the formalism of Markov categories, within which several classical theorems have been proven in entirely abstract categorical terms. Closely related to Markov categories are gs-monoidal categories, also known as CD categories. These omit a condition that implements the normalization of probability. Extending work of Corradini and Gadducci, we construct free gs-monoidal and free Markov categories generated by a collection of morphisms of arbitrary arity and coarity. For free gs-monoidal categories, this comes in the form of an explicit combinatorial description of their morphisms as structured cospans of labeled hypergraphs. These can be thought of as a formalization of gs-monoidal string diagrams ($$=$$
=
term graphs) as a combinatorial data structure. We formulate the appropriate 2-categorical universal property based on ideas of Walters and prove that our categories satisfy it. We expect our free categories to be relevant for computer implementations and we also argue that they can be used as statistical causal models generalizing Bayesian networks.
Mites inhabiting nests of wood warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Aves: Passeriformes), in the Wielkopolska National Park in western Poland
Authors: Laska Alicja , Puchalska Ewa , Mikołajczyk Martyna , Gwiazdowicz Dariusz J. , Kaźmierski Andrzej , Niedbała Wojciech , Błoszyk Jerzy , Olszanowski Ziemowit , Szymkowiak Jakub , Hałas Natalia , Kuczyński Lechosław , Skoracka Anna 
Published: April 2023

AbstractThe wood warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix (Aves: Passeriformes), is a well-known model organism for studying bird migration, breeding habitat selection and nest predation. The nest acarofauna of this bird species has not been extensively studied so far. To provide a comprehensive report on mite species inhabiting wood warbler nests and to assess infestation parameters (prevalence, intensity, and abundance) for mite species and orders, we collected 45 nests of this bird species in the Wielkopolska National Park in western Poland. Analyses revealed a huge diversity (198 species) of mites inhabiting wood warbler nests. We found individuals belonging to the Mesostigmata, Trombidiformes and Sarcoptiformes. The Trombidiformes, represented in our study only by the Prostigmata, achieved statistically significantly lower intensity and abundance, compared to representatives of other orders. However, the number of recorded prostigmatid species was high (65). The most common were: Stigmaeus sphagneti (22 nests), Stigmaeus longipilis (16), Eupodes voxencollinus (15), Cunaxa setirostris (14), Stigmaeus pilatus (11), and Linopodes sp. 2 (10). The prevalence of Mesostigmata and Sarcoptiformes was equal, reaching 91.1%. Most of Gamasina (Mesostigmata) species found in this study were more characteristic of the soil environment and forest litter than bird nests, but there was also a typical bird parasite, viz. Ornithonyssus sylviarum. None of the observed species of Uropodina (Mesostigmata) or Oribatida (Sarcoptiformes) was typical for bird nests. Among the Uropodina, the highest parameters of nest infestation were achieved by Oodinychus ovalis, whereas among the Oribatida, they were achieved by Metabelba pulverosa. We discuss the importance of wood warbler nests for mite dispersal, survival and reproduction.
Association of baseline ROR1 and ROR2 gene expression with clinical outcomes in the I-SPY2 neoadjuvant breast cancer trial
Authors: Parker Barbara A. , Shatsky Rebecca A. , Schwab Richard B. , Wallace Anne M. ,   I-SPY 2 Consortium, Wolf Denise M. , Hirst Gillian L. , Brown-Swigart Lamorna , Esserman Laura J. , van ’t Veer Laura J. , Ghia Emanuela M. , Yau Christina , Kipps Thomas J. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
Purpose
ROR1 and ROR2 are Type 1 tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptors for Wnt5a that are associated with breast cancer progression. Experimental agents targeting ROR1 and ROR2 are in clinical trials. This study evaluated whether expression levels of ROR1 or ROR2 correlated with one another or with clinical outcomes.

Methods
We interrogated the clinical significance of high-level gene expression of ROR1 and/or ROR2 in the annotated transcriptome dataset from 989 patients with high-risk early breast cancer enrolled in one of nine completed/graduated/experimental and control arms in the neoadjuvant I-SPY2 clinical trial (NCT01042379).

Results
High ROR1 or high ROR2 was associated with breast cancer subtypes. High ROR1 was more prevalent among hormone receptor-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HR-HER2-) tumors and high ROR2 was less prevalent in this subtype. Although not associated with pathologic complete response, high ROR1 or high ROR2 each was associated with event-free survival (EFS) in distinct subtypes. High ROR1 associated with a worse EFS in HR + HER2- patients with high post-treatment residual cancer burden (RCB-II/III) (HR 1.41, 95% CI = 1.11–1.80) but not in patients with minimal post-treatment disease (RCB-0/I) (HR 1.85, 95% CI = 0.74–4.61). High ROR2 associated with an increased risk of relapse in patients with HER2 + disease and RCB-0/I (HR 3.46, 95% CI = 1.33–9.020) but not RCB-II/III (HR 1.07, 95% CI = 0.69–1.64).

Conclusion
High ROR1 or high ROR2 distinctly identified subsets of breast cancer patients with adverse outcomes. Further studies are warranted to determine if high ROR1 or high ROR2 may identify high-risk populations for studies of targeted therapies.
Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco and Childhood Cognition and Behavior: Effect Modification by Maternal Folate Intake and Breastfeeding Duration
Authors: Hoyt Adrienne T. , Wilkinson Anna V. , Langlois Peter H. , Galeener Carol A. , Ranjit Nalini , Dabelea Dana M. , Moore Brianna F. 
Published: April 2023

Abstract
In this exploratory analysis, we assessed whether nutrition modified the association between prenatal exposure to tobacco and childhood cognition/behavior among 366 Colorado-based mothers and their offspring (born ≥ 37 weeks with birthweights ≥ 2500 g). Interaction by folate (</≥ 1074 µg/day) and breastfeeding (</≥ 5 months) was assessed by including a product term with cotinine (</≥ limit of detection [LOD]) in regression models for NIH Toolbox and Child Behavior Checklist T-scores. Main effects were observed between cotinine ≥ LOD and inhibitory control (− 3.2; 95% CI: − 6.8, 0.3), folate < 1074 µg/day and anxious/depressed symptoms (1.1; 95% CI: 0.1, 2.1), and breastfeeding < 5 months and receptive language (− 4.3; 95% CI: − 8.5, − 0.02), though these findings would not survive Bonferroni correction. Breastfeeding modified the tobacco-behavior associations. Sleep (3.8; 95% CI: 0.5, 7.1; interaction p-value = 0.02), depressive (4.6; 95% CI: 1.0, 8.2; interaction p-value = 0.01) and total problems (5.8; 95% CI: − 0.7, 12.4; interaction p-value = 0.09) were observed among tobacco-exposed offspring who breastfed > 5 months, but not for shorter durations. Our findings support the need for smoking cessation campaigns throughout pregnancy and throughout the postpartum period breastfeeding to reduce neurobehavioral risks in the offspring.
Toward agenda 2030 in education: policies and practices for effective school leadership
Authors: Ghamrawi Norma 
Published: April 2023

AbstractSchool leadership has been described as a key target for leveraging the quality of education in relation to sustainable development goal (SDG4) that seeks to ‘ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning’ as per UNESCO 2030 agenda. This study provides a policy review of school leadership in the State of Qatar, as a case study, but carries out discussions within the global thrive for meeting the demands of Agenda 2030 to achieve quality for public education. It utilized a research instrument developed by UNESCO’s Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems in Paris. The study used personal interview surveying, also called face-to-face surveying, and was completed with high-level policymakers at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE). It consisted of four sections that addressed: (1) the regulatory frameworks governing school leadership; (2) the professional development opportunities offered to school leaders; (3) the degree the school leadership profession was attractive; and (4) the procedures followed to appraise school leaders. Findings underscore the critical role played by school autonomy, instructional leadership, and governance in responding to Agenda 2030. The discussion contributes to the global discourse in meeting the requirements of Agenda 2030.