bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Parameter estimation for a bivariate beta distribution with arbitrary beta marginals and positive correlation
Authors: Trick Susanne , Rothkopf Constantin A. , Jäkel Frank 
Published: May 2023

AbstractWe discuss a bivariate beta distribution that can model arbitrary beta-distributed marginals with a positive correlation. The distribution is constructed from six independent gamma-distributed random variates. While previous work used an approximate and sometimes inaccurate method to compute the distribution’s covariance and estimate its parameters, here, we derive all product moments and the exact covariance, which can be computed numerically. Based on this analysis we present an algorithm for estimating the parameters of the distribution using moment matching. We evaluate this inference method in a simulation study and demonstrate its practical use on a data set consisting of predictions from two correlated forecasters. Furthermore, we generalize the bivariate beta distribution to a correlated Dirichlet distribution, for which the proposed parameter estimation method can be used analogously.
Hybrid PD-DEM approach for modeling surface erosion by particles impact
Authors: Walayat Khuram , Haeri Sina , Iqbal Imran , Zhang Yonghao 
Published: May 2023

AbstractPeridynamics (PD) theory is a promising technique for modeling solids with discontinuities. Short-range repulsive force models are commonly employed in PD impact event simulations. Despite their extensive usage, short-range force models do not take damping, friction, and tangential force components into account and hence are unable to effectively describe energy dissipation, leading to uncertainty in the calculation of contact forces. However, the accuracy of impact simulations using alternate contact models has not been extensively investigated in the context of PD impact simulations. The Discrete Element Method (DEM) has been proven to be the most reliable and effective approach to model collision processes between distinct solid objects. This work presents, a particle-based hybrid PD-DEM model to accurately predict the particle impact forces and the resulting damage to the target material. The present model brings together the unique capabilities of PD and DEM and has the potential to make use of the various DEM contact laws, which allow the development and adjustment of relevant contact forces in the normal and tangential directions. Furthermore, damping effects, friction, and intra-particle stiffness are incorporated into the simulations through DEM. The proposed method has been used for modeling material failure after being validated and verified for the contact parameters during the impact process. The predicted damage patterns and resulting material loss demonstrate good agreement with the experimental results reported in the literature.
Effects of Soil–Structure Interaction on Performance of Bridges During Earthquakes. Case Study: Integral Abutment Bridge in Pennsylvania, USA
Authors: Firoozi Ali Akbar , Naji Maryam , Firoozi Ali Asghar 
Published: May 2023

AbstractBridges are among the most important transportation elements that may be damaged by earthquakes. An integral abutment bridge (IAB) is a bridge linking the superstructure directly to the substructure. As soil piles, abutments, and superstructures act as a combined system to resist lateral loading on the bridge, soil stiffness has a major impact on load distribution. This research attempts to determine how the structure and soil parameters affect the IABs. The parametric study consists of four variables, namely bridge span (short, medium, and large spans were 18.3, 35.4, and 64.5 m, respectively), backfill height/pressure (3.1, 4.6, and 6.1 m, respectively), stiffness of soil mixture backfills (high, intermediate, and low), and soil density around the piles (high, intermediate, and low). Because of the small width–length ratio of the bridge, a 2D model of an IAB with soil springs around the piles and abutments was developed with finite element software. Findings show that the value of the backfill pressure affects girder axial forces and girder bending moments at the IAB. Also, the stiffness of soil mixture backfills is an important factor to change lateral displacements, while less movement is related to high stiffness of soil mixture backfills with intermediate clay around the pile. It is clear that the maximum axial girder moments at the superstructure generally decrease when the stiffness of the soil mixture behind the abutments and around piles increases, similar to pile deflection and abutment displacements. In addition to maximum abutment, the head moment decreases when abutment backfill is dense and increases when piles are located in hard clay, similar to pile moments. Lastly, dense sand backfill behind abutments is recommended since it decreases pile deflections, pile lateral forces, abutment displacements, abutment head moments, and particularly pile bending moments.
Presentation and management outcome of symptomatic epididymal cysts in children: A case series
Authors: Hassan Moaied A. 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Introduction
Epididymal cysts usually develop in adults with rare occurrence in children. There is a shortage concerning our knowledge about this rare pathology in children. We present our experience with the presentation and management outcome of symptomatic epididymal cysts in children.

Methods
A retrospective analysis of 7 patients with symptomatic epididymal cysts during the period from October 2017 to June 2022 was conducted. Recorded data included age and mode of presentation, findings on physical examination and scrotal U/S, spontaneous resolution and its duration, indications of surgical intervention, and post management follow up. All patients underwent an initial plan of conservative management. Surgical intervention was indicated in patients with persisting symptoms and/or failure of lesion’s resolution on periodic follow up of 3 months interval.

Results
The average age of patients was 7.9 years. Scrotal pain was the leading presenting symptom in 4 (57.1%) patients. The diagnosis was confirmed in all patients by scrotal ultrasonography. Spontaneous resolution was reported in 5 (71.4%) patients with an average duration of 9 months. Surgical excision was indicated in 2 (28.6%) patients. Recurrence was not recorded in all patients who developed complete lesion’s resolution, and patients were symptom free for 6 months of post management follow up.

Conclusion
The majority of epididymal cysts in children can be managed conservatively. Resolution duration is directly proportional to the cyst size. Cysts larger than 10 mm less likely involute, and surgical excision may be indicated. Larger volume studies are needed to establish a more solid therapeutic regimen.

Highlights
Snow and avalanche climates in the French Alps using avalanche problem frequencies
Authors: Reuter Benjamin , Hagenmuller Pascal , Eckert Nicolas 
Published: May 2023

AbstractAvalanches result from an interaction of weather and terrain, where past weather and internal snow cover processes play important roles. So far, climatology was mainly based on weather data, as regional snow instability information, such as avalanche activity, is scarce on climatological time scales. We present a new approach to create a snow avalanche climatology from simulations of avalanche problem types based on snow cover simulations of reanalysis data and a cluster analysis. Analyzing the winters between 1958 and 2020 in the French Alps, wet-snow situations dominated natural release. Dry-snow situations with non-persistent and persistent weak layers occurred each on at least one third of the days. Four typical patterns of avalanche problem types were identified. They follow the main orography with more new snow situations in the northern regions and more cases of persistent weak layers in inner-Alpine regions. In the front-ranges and in southern regions wet-snow situations occurred early in winter – typical for coastal snow climates. Agreement with the standard snow climate classification and the geography of the French Alps suggests that mountain regions with similar conditions can now be outlined. This method for snow avalanche climatology will inform avalanche forecasting and facilitate climate change impact studies.
A HTA of what? Reframing through including patient perspectives in health technology assessment processes
Authors: Gunn Callum J. , Regeer Barbara J. , Zuiderent-Jerak Teun 
Published: May 2023

Abstract

Objectives
Despite increasing emphasis on the inclusion of patient input in health technology assessment (HTA) in Europe in particular, questions remain as to the integration of patient insight alongside other HTA inputs. This paper aims to explore how HTA processes, while ensuring the scientific quality of assessments, “make do” with patient knowledge elicited through patients’ involvement mechanisms.

Methods
The qualitative study analyzed institutional HTA and patient involvement in four European country contexts. We combined documentary analysis with interviews with HTA professionals, patient organizations, and health technology industry representatives, complemented with observational findings made during a research stay at an HTA agency.

Results
We present three vignettes which showcase how different parameters of assessment become reframed upon the positioning of patient knowledge alongside other forms of evidence and expertise. Each vignette explores patients’ involvement during an assessment of a different type of technology and at a different stage of the HTA process. First, cost-effectiveness considerations were reframed during an appraisal of a rare disease medicine based on patient and clinician input regarding its treatment pathway; in the second vignette reframing amounted to what counts as a meaningful outcome measure for a glucose monitoring device; in the third, evaluating pediatric transplantation services involved reframing an option’s appropriateness from a question of moral to one of legal acceptability.

Conclusions
Making do with patient knowledge in HTA involves reframing of what is being assessed. Conceptualizing patients’ involvement in this way helps us to consider the inclusion of patient knowledge not as complementary to, but as something that can transform the assessment process.
Genetic and epidemiological analyses of infection load and its relationship with psychiatric disorders
Authors: Nudel Ron , Hougaard David M. , Werge Thomas , Benros Michael E. 
Published: May 2023

Abstract
Severe infections and psychiatric disorders have a large impact on both society and the individual. Studies investigating these conditions and the links between them are therefore important. Most past studies have focused on binary phenotypes of particular infections or overall infection, thereby losing some information regarding susceptibility to infection as reflected in the number of specific infection types, or sites, which we term infection load. In this study we found that infection load was associated with increased risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia and overall psychiatric diagnosis. We obtained a modest but significant heritability for infection load (h2 = 0.0221), and a high degree of genetic correlation between it and overall psychiatric diagnosis (rg = 0.4298). We also found evidence supporting a genetic causality for overall infection on overall psychiatric diagnosis. Our genome-wide association study for infection load identified 138 suggestive associations. Our study provides further evidence for genetic links between susceptibility to infection and psychiatric disorders, and suggests that a higher infection load may have a cumulative association with psychiatric disorders, beyond what has been described for individual infections.
Caregiver and provider attitudes toward family-centred rounding in paediatric acute care cardiology
Authors: Gal Dana B. , Rodts Megan , Hills Brittney K. , Kipps Alaina K. , Char Danton S. , Pater Colleen , Madsen Nicolas L. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractFamily-centered rounding has emerged as the gold standard for inpatient paediatrics rounds due to its association with improved family and staff satisfaction and reduction of harmful errors. Little is known about family-centered rounding in subspecialty paediatric settings, including paediatric acute care cardiology.In this qualitative, single centre study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with providers and caregivers eliciting their attitudes toward family-centered rounding. An a priori recruitment approach was used to optimise diversity in reflected opinions. A brief demographic survey was completed by participants. We completed thematic analysis of transcribed interviews using grounded theory.In total, 38 interviews representing the views of 48 individuals (11 providers, 37 caregivers) were completed. Three themes emerged: rounds as a moment of mutual accountability, caregivers’ empathy for providers, and providers’ objections to family-centered rounding. Providers’ objections were further categorised into themes of assumptions about caregivers, caregiver choices during rounds, and risk for exacerbation of bias and inequity.Caregivers and providers in the paediatric acute care cardiology setting echoed some previously described attitudes toward family-centered rounding. Many of the challenges surrounding family-centered rounding might be addressed through access to training for caregivers and providers alike. Hospitals should invest in systems to facilitate family-centered rounding if they choose to implement this model of care as the current state risks erosion of provider–caregiver relationship.
How Philosophy Can Support Community-Led Change: Reflections from Bristol Campaigns for Racial Justice
Authors: Burch-Brown Joanna 
Published: May 2023

AbstractHow can philosophy expand to be a discipline via which young people from diverse backgrounds feel they can make a direct and positive contribution to their communities? In this chapter I suggest some creative methods by which philosophers can support community-led change. Collaborators and I have been developing the approaches described here through work on issues of racial justice, but they can be applied to campaigns or public debate on any topic. Developing more community-led, socially engaged methods has the potential to make philosophy a more attractive discipline for young people from diverse backgrounds who are keen to use their skills to make a positive difference to their communities.
Saving Chinese laborers from Sinophobia: Sino-Korean, born-translated literature
Authors: Han Inhye 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThis article examines the work of Korean writer Chu Yosŏp, originally written in Korean taking the guise of a Korean translation of a Chinese-language story (born-translated literature). Chu's audience was steeped in Sinophobia orchestrated by the colonizing Japanese empire. His unprecedented genre recounts the lesser-known, lived experiences of the Chinese lower class that Korean-language news media failed to report. My analysis of Chu's work demonstrates, first, that the feigned Chinese voices of this genre illuminate transnational Sino-Korean affinities that were forcibly suppressed by colonial policies and discourses. Second, born-translated literature upends and reconfigures the colonial structure of surrogate feeling, in which the colonized emote in the service of the colonizer. Third, Chu's aesthetic strategy of deconstructing colonial affect attends to and redirects evershifting cultural processes, rather than tackling discrete entities, to surmount the active–passive divide. In so doing, his literature seeks to refashion a politico-aesthetic ecosystem encompassing the Sino-Korean clash, rather than confounding specific ideologies. Finally, the aesthetic for the lower-class Chinese people in Chu's born-translated stories is predicated on metaphysical ethics in which antithetical others mutate into inviolable others, and in which the practice of saving others dovetails with transforming ourselves.
The co-occurrence and cumulative prevalence of hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and hypothyroidism in preterm-born women in the Women’s Health Initiative
Authors: Brewer Pamela L. , D’Agata Amy L. , Roberts Mary B. , Saquib Nazmus , Schnatz Peter F. , Manson JoAnn , Eaton Charles B. , Sullivan Mary C. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractEmerging evidence suggests that preterm-born individuals (<37 weeks gestation) are at increased risk of developing chronic health conditions in adulthood. This study compared the prevalence, co-occurrence, and cumulative prevalence of three female predominant chronic health conditions – hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis [RA], and hypothyroidism – alone and concurrently. Of 82,514 U.S. women aged 50–79 years enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative, 2,303 self-reported being born preterm. Logistic regression was used to analyze the prevalence of each condition at enrollment with birth status (preterm, full term). Multinomial logistic regression models analyzed the association between birth status and each condition alone and concurrently. Outcome variables using the 3 conditions were created to give 8 categories ranging from no disease, each condition alone, two-way combinations, to having all three conditions. The models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and sociodemographic, lifestyle, and other health-related risk factors. Women born preterm were significantly more likely to have any one or a combination of the selected conditions. In fully adjusted models for individual conditions, the adjusted odds ratios (aORs) were 1.14 (95% CI, 1.04, 1.26) for hypertension, 1.28 (1.12, 1.47) for RA, and 1.12 (1.01, 1.24) for hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism and RA were the strongest coexisting conditions [aOR 1.69, 95% CI (1.14, 2.51)], followed by hypertension and RA [aOR 1.48, 95% CI (1.20, 1.82)]. The aOR for all three conditions was 1.69 (1.22, 2.35). Perinatal history is pertinent across the life course. Preventive measures and early identification of risk factors and disease in preterm-born individuals are essential to mitigating adverse health outcomes in adulthood.
Tracking the Transition From a Gondwana LIP to the South Atlantic Ocean With Geochronological and Geochemical Indicators
Authors: Carvas K. Z. , Marques L. S. , Vasconcelos P. M. , Ubide T. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractEvidence of early oceanization during transition from large igneous provinces (LIPs) to new ocean crust is mostly missing in the geological record. Mafic dykes geochemically akin to mid‐ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) occur in late stages of LIPs, but their tectonic role during margin evolution remains poorly constrained. Here we use whole‐rock and high‐resolution clinopyroxene chemistry of two distinct types of mafic dykes from the southeastern Brazilian margin to show that a MORB‐like plumbing system became magmatically active in the central South Atlantic ∼2 Ma after the volcanic peak of the Paraná‐Etendeka Magmatic Province. The LIP basaltic dyke compositions resulted from the mixing between a highly metasomatized lithospheric mantle comprising enriched DMM and Archean contributions. The lack of elemental oscillatory zoning in clinopyroxene crystals suggests that they were produced by a single magma pulse, consistent with the strong magma fluxes in LIPs. In contrast, the MORB‐like dykes, which exhibit strong similarities with South Atlantic MORBs, are interpreted to represent early stages of oceanization deriving from the mixing of enriched asthenospheric melts either with ancient SCLM contributions or small crustal assimilation. The MORB‐like intrusions ascended and cooled rapidly along faults and were fed by numerous magma injections that suggest episodic decompression of the asthenospheric source ∼20 Ma before the birth of central South Atlantic. The combination of subduction‐influenced and MORB‐like dykes is recurrent in ancient and modern rifts globally, suggesting that thinned lithospheric blocks affected by ancient subduction events may become more susceptible to early oceanization in rifted margins.
Uncertainty and Emergent Constraints on Enhanced Ecosystem Carbon Stock by Land Greening
Authors: Bian Chenyu , Xia Jianyang , Zhang Xuanze , Huang Kun , Cui Erqian , Zhou Jian , Wei Ning , Wang Ying‐Ping , Lombardozzi Danica , Goll Daniel S. , Knauer Jürgen , Arora Vivek , Yuan Wenping , Sitch Stephen , Friedlingstein Pierre , Luo Yiqi 
Published: May 2023

AbstractSignificant land greening since the 1980s has been detected through satellite observation, forest inventory, and Earth system modeling. However, whether and to what extent global land greening enhances ecosystem carbon stock remains uncertain. Here, using 40 global models, we first detected a positive correlation between the terrestrial ecosystem carbon stock and leaf area index (LAI) over time. Then, we diagnose the source of uncertainty of simulated the sensitivities of ecosystem carbon stock to LAI based on a traceability analysis. We found that the sensitivity of gross primary productivity (GPP) to LAI is the largest contributor to the model uncertainty in more than 60% of the vegetated grids. Using the ensemble of four long‐term global data sets of GPP and three satellite LAI products from 1982 to 2014, we provided an emergent constraint on the ecosystem carbon stock increase as 0.75 ± 0.46 kg C m−2 per unit LAI over global land areas. Furthermore, the biome‐based results reveal that the tropical forest regions have the highest inter‐model variation and model bias. Overall, this study identifies the uncertainty source and provides constrained estimates of the greening effect on ecosystem carbon stock at the global scale.
Transient Shoaling, Over‐Deepening and Settling of the Calcite Compensation Depth at the Eocene‐Oligocene Transition
Authors: Taylor V. E. , Westerhold T. , Bohaty S. M. , Backman J. , Dunkley Jones T. , Edgar K. M. , Egan K. E. , Lyle M. , Pälike H. , Röhl U. , Zachos J. , Wilson P. A. 
Published: May 2023

AbstractThe major Cenozoic shift from a shallow (∼3–4 km) to deep (∼4.5 km) calcite compensation depth (CCD) occurred at the Eocene‐Oligocene Transition (∼34 Ma), suggesting a strong relationship between calcium carbonate (CaCO3) cycling and Antarctic glaciation. However, the linkages between these two events are debated. Here we present new records of bulk sediment stable isotope and carbonate composition from a depth transect of sites in the low‐latitude Pacific Ocean and one site from the South Atlantic Ocean, together with a new benthic foraminiferal stable isotope record (δ13Cb and δ18Ob) from the Pacific where the sedimentary sequence is most expanded. Our records reveal a short‐lived (∼300 Kyr) CCD shoaling event closely associated with a negative carbon isotope excursion in the latest Eocene. This event is immediately followed by CCD deepening which occurs in two rapid (∼40 Kyr‐long) steps. Our data show that the first of these deepening steps represents recovery from the latest Eocene shoaling event while the second was closely associated with a rapid increase in δ18Ob and shows a distinctive over‐deepening and settling pattern to >5 and 4.4 km, respectively. These results, together with good agreement between Pacific and South Atlantic records, strongly suggest that the carbon cycle was perturbed globally shortly before the inception of Antarctic glaciation. Once large‐scale Antarctic glaciation was initiated, rapid further change in global seawater chemistry triggered transitory deep ocean carbonate burial fluxes far exceeding their early Oligocene steady state values.