bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Consolidated learning: a domain-specific model-free optimization strategy with validation on metaMIMIC benchmarks
Authors: Woźnica Katarzyna , Grzyb Mateusz , Trafas Zuzanna , Biecek Przemysław 
Published: August 2023

AbstractFor many machine learning models, a choice of hyperparameters is a crucial step towards achieving high performance. Prevalent meta-learning approaches focus on obtaining good hyperparameter configurations with a limited computational budget for a completely new task based on the results obtained from the prior tasks. This paper proposes a new formulation of the tuning problem, called consolidated learning, more suited to practical challenges faced by model developers, in which a large number of predictive models are created on similar datasets. In such settings, we are interested in the total optimization time rather than tuning for a single task. We show that a carefully selected static portfolio of hyperparameter configurations yields good results for anytime optimization, while maintaining the ease of use and implementation. Moreover, we point out how to construct such a portfolio for specific domains. The improvement in the optimization is possible due to the more efficient transfer of hyperparameter configurations between similar tasks. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach through an empirical study for the XGBoost algorithm and the newly created metaMIMIC benchmarks of predictive tasks extracted from the MIMIC-IV medical database. In the paper, we show that the potential of consolidated learning is considerably greater due to its compatibility with many machine learning application scenarios.
Coping with high decline: firms’ resilience to adversity
Authors: Esteve-Pérez Silviano , Pieri Fabio , Rodriguez Diego 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis work investigates the factors that precipitate a firm’s sudden high decline, which is defined as a short-term heavy contraction in firm size, and examines firms’ performance in the aftermath of a high-decline (HD) event. The empirical analysis reveals patterns of HD events over the business cycle and across markets, providing insights into the factors that enable firms’ resilience in terms of better growth performance after an HD event. Firms that upgrade their production processes and invest in enhancing their human capital show better growth trajectories in the aftermath of an HD event.
Re: the rhetic
Authors: Larsson Felix , Kaså Martin 
Published: August 2023

AbstractWe claim that a notion of rhetic acts can fulfil a useful function in speech act theory. Austin’s examples of rhetic acts are saying that something is so and so, telling someone to do something, and asking whether something is so or so. Though this certainly sounds as if he is talking about the illocutionary acts of asserting, giving directions, and asking questions, we explain why the acts Austin mentions are not illocutionary after all. In short, illocutionary acts are acts that commit the participants in a conversation to various things. The illocutionary force of an utterance is determined by what it commits the interlocutors to. Our suggestion is that what looks like illocutionary force in the cases mentioned by Austin is really the contributions grammatical moods make to the literal meaning of utterances. We argue that this contribution is not part of what characterizes illocutionary acts as such. The semantic contribution of mood already characterizes those speech acts that Austin uses to exemplify rhetic acts. These rhetic acts are not committing in the way that illocutionary acts essentially are. So there must be a sense in which such rhetic acts are not illocutionary ones. In the final section, we suggest that the varieties of rhetic acts indicated by Austin fit neatly into a standard linguistic theoretical framework of conversational scoreboards.
Seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in household domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) in Spain, 2019–2023
Authors: Giner Jacobo , Lebrero María Eugenia , Trotta Michele , Rueda Pablo , Vilalta Laura , Verde Maite , Hurtado-Guerrero Ramón , Pardo Julián , Lacasta Delia , Santiago Llipsy , Arias Maykel , Peña-Fresneda Natacha , Montesinos Andrés , Pérez María D. , Fernández Antonio , Villanueva-Saz Sergio 
Published: August 2023

AbstractSARS-CoV-2 is the causal agent of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans that emerged in late 2019. This virus is able to infect humans and different animal species. Among pets, cats and ferrets are more susceptible to be infected by the SARS-CoV-2. Epidemiological studies are an important tool to provide information under natural conditions of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 virus. In comparison to cats, limited epidemiological studies have been performed in domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) reporting the presence of antibodies in this species. This study analysed the presence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in 432 cliend-owned ferrets from different geographical areas of Spain during the different waves of COVID-19 outbreaks from December 2019 to May 2023 (42 months). For this purpose, anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were detected by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent method (ELISA) using the receptor binding domain (RBD) of Spike antigen and confirmed by serum virus neutralization assay. Eighteen of the 432 ferrets included were seroreactive by the in-house ELISA (4.17%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.65–6.49). In this sense, the wave of COVID-19 with the higher number of seropositive ferrets occurred during the seventh wave when the different Omicron subvariants were the dominant virus variants. Our results suggest that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in domestic ferrets in natural conditions is low. Further research is need to evaluate the potential risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from human to pets.
Efficient Annotation and Learning for 3D Hand Pose Estimation: A Survey
Authors: Ohkawa Takehiko , Furuta Ryosuke , Sato Yoichi 
Published: August 2023

AbstractIn this survey, we present a systematic review of 3D hand pose estimation from the perspective of efficient annotation and learning. 3D hand pose estimation has been an important research area owing to its potential to enable various applications, such as video understanding, AR/VR, and robotics. However, the performance of models is tied to the quality and quantity of annotated 3D hand poses. Under the status quo, acquiring such annotated 3D hand poses is challenging, e.g., due to the difficulty of 3D annotation and the presence of occlusion. To reveal this problem, we review the pros and cons of existing annotation methods classified as manual, synthetic-model-based, hand-sensor-based, and computational approaches. Additionally, we examine methods for learning 3D hand poses when annotated data are scarce, including self-supervised pretraining, semi-supervised learning, and domain adaptation. Based on the study of efficient annotation and learning, we further discuss limitations and possible future directions in this field.
Association of spermidine blood levels with microstructure of sleep—implications from a population-based study
Authors: Wortha Silke M. , Schulz Juliane , Hanna Jevri , Schwarz Claudia , Stubbe Beate , Frenzel Stefan , Bülow Robin , Friedrich Nele , Nauck Matthias , Völzke Henry , Ewert Ralf , Vogelgesang Antje , Grabe Hans J. , Ladenbauer Julia , Flöel Agnes 
Published: August 2023

AbstractDeteriorations in slow wave sleep (SWS) have been linked to brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), possibly due to its key role in clearance of amyloid-beta and tau (Aß/tau), two pathogenic hallmarks of AD. Spermidine administration has been shown to improve sleep quality in animal models. So far, the association between spermidine levels in humans and parameters of SWS physiology are unknown but may be valuable for therapeutic strategies. Data from 216 participants (age range 50–81 years) of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania TREND were included in our analysis. We investigated associations between spermidine plasma levels, key parameters of sleep macroarchitecture and microarchitecture that were previously associated with AD pathology, and brain health measured via a marker of structural brain atrophy (AD score). Higher spermidine levels were significantly associated with lower coupling between slow oscillations and spindle activity. No association was evident for SWS, slow oscillatory, and spindle activity throughout non-rapid eye movement sleep. Furthermore, elevated spermidine blood levels were significantly associated with a higher AD score, while sleep markers revealed no association with AD score. The association between higher spermidine levels and brain health was not mediated by coupling between slow oscillations and spindle activity. We report that higher spermidine blood levels are associated not only with deteriorated brain health but also with less advantageous markers of sleep quality in older adults. Future studies need to evaluate whether sleep, spermidine, and Aß/tau deposition are interrelated and whether sleep may play a mediating role.
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass as Conversion Procedure of Failed Gastric Banding: Short-Term Outcomes of 1295 Patients in One Single Center
Authors: Handojo Karen , Ismaeil Aiman , Van Huele Andries , Van Neste Christophe , Debergh Isabelle , Dillemans Bruno 
Published: August 2023

Abstract
Purpose
Laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB) has high technical and weight loss failure rates. We evaluate here the 1-year morbidity, mortality, and weight loss of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y-gastric bypass (LRYGB) as a feasible conversion strategy.

Methods
Patients with a failed primary LAGB who underwent LRYGB from July 2004 to December 2019 were selected from an electronic database at our center. Patients had a conversion to LRYGB at the same time (one-stage approach) or with a minimum of 3 months in between (two-stage approach). Primary outcomes included 30-day morbidity and mortality. Secondary outcomes were body mass index (BMI), percent excess weight loss (%EWL), and percent excess BMI lost (%EBMIL) at 1 year postoperatively.

Results
A total of 1295 patients underwent a conversion from LAGB to LRYGB at our center: 1167 patients (90.1%) in one stage and 128 patients (9.9%) in two stages. There was no mortality. An early (30-day) postoperative complication occurred in 93 patients (7.2%), with no significant difference found between groups. Hemorrhage was the most common complication in 39 patients (3.0%), and the reoperation was required in 19 patients (1.4%). At 1 year postoperatively, the mean BMI was 28.0 kg/m2, the mean %EWL 72.8%, and the mean %EBMIL 87.0%. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups.

Conclusion
Conversion to LRYGB can be considered as a safe and effective option with low complication rate and good weight loss outcomes at 1 year. One-stage conversion provides the same early outcome as two-step surgery with a competent surgeon.

Graphical Abstract
Defining, Designing and Distinguishing Artificial Companions: A Systematic Literature Review
Authors: Rogge Ayanda 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe present study systematically reviewed scientific literature addressing the concept of artificial companions (ACs). The dataset, which encompasses 22 years of research, was drawn from multiple interdisciplinary sources and resulted in the development of an interdisciplinary definition of the AC concept. This definition consists of two key characteristics: adaptivity and engagement, the hallmarks of ACs to form emotional bonds and long-term relationships with users. The study also analyzed various design properties associated with ACs, categorized into five groups: adaptivity to the user, adaptivity to the usage context, engagement-facilitating behavior, the agent’s personality, and its appearance. In the third part, the study explored AC scenarios and identified roles that ACs can perform with their associated competencies, user groups, and application areas. The findings of this study are seen as a proposal for future empirical research to test what features in communication and interaction design play a crucial role in shaping the perception of an agent as an AC.
A user experience perspective on heritage tourism in the metaverse: Empirical evidence and design dilemmas for VR
Authors: Baker Jeff , Nam Kichan , Dutt Christopher S. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe tourism industry will be shaped by the growth and development of the metaverse in the coming decades. Virtual reality (VR) will enable the creation of virtual worlds, avatars, digital twins, and new social networks. These technologies can be utilized in tourism to enable travelers to preview real-world experiences, to enhance experiences while on-site, to relive experiences after travel, or in some cases to even substitute for travel. Given the metaverse’s transformative potential, empirical investigation of VR is clearly warranted. Studies of VR tourism typically choose a single specific VR application and investigate its impact on adoption or user satisfaction. This application-level focus is a significant limitation. We therefore evaluate multiple heritage tourism applications as well as VR hardware in a comprehensive and structured analysis from the user experience (UX) perspective. Our content analysis of user interviews reveals 13 factors that shape users’ overall perceptions about VR. These factors are grouped into categories related to presentation of the VR content, the content itself, and the functionality of the hardware and software. Our analysis also reveals three design dilemmas for creators of VR heritage tourism content for the metaverse. Implications and an agenda for future research are included.
The fire blight resistance QTL on LG7 of Malus ×robusta 5 is not dependent on the avrRpt2EA 156 S/C amino acid switch
Authors: Emeriewen Ofere Francis , Reim Stefanie , Richter Klaus , Wöhner Thomas , Flachowsky Henryk , Aldwinckle Herb , Peil Andreas , Fazio Gennaro 
Published: August 2023

AbstractMalus ×robusta 5, which has been the subject of extensive fire blight resistance research over time, is highly resistant or susceptible to the fire blight-causative bacterial pathogen, Erwinia amylovora – depending on the strain. M. ×robusta 5 has been crossed with susceptible apple cultivars and rootstocks, and inoculated with several E. amylovora strains in order to study the genetics and mechanism of its fire blight resistance and susceptibility. A strong resistance QTL was first mapped on linkage group 3 (LG3) of M. ×robusta 5 using an F1 progeny derived from a cross with the apple cultivar ‘Idared’ in Germany. This QTL was confirmed in two other F1 populations derived from crossing M. ×robusta 5 with the rootstock ‘Malling 9’ in New Zealand, and with ‘Ottawa 3’ in the USA. A second QTL on LG7 was detected in the ‘Idared’ × M. ×robusta 5 population but only with strains that break the LG3 QTL. However, in the US population of ‘Ottawa 3’ × M. ×robusta 5, the LG7 QTL was detected regardless of strain-specificity, unlike in the New Zealand population of ‘Malling 9’ × M. ×robusta 5 where the LG7 QTL was not also detected. Here, we report the detection of the LG7 QTL in a different ‘Malling 9’ × M. ×robusta 5 population in Germany, and confirm the independence of the LG7 locus to E. amylovora strains.
Biosynthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Using the Aqueous Extract of Mucuna pruriens (utilis): Structural Characterization, and the Anticancer and Antioxidant Activities
Authors: Gamedze Nozipho P. , Mthiyane Doctor M. N. , Mavengahama Sydney , Singh Moganavelli , Onwudiwe Damian C. 
Published: August 2023

AbstractA simple, green, and cost-effective synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles particles (NPs) using an extract of Mucuna pruriens utilis is reported. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, UV–vis spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM measurements. XRD results showed diffraction patterns that are consistent with the hexagonal phase of the wurtzite ZnO structure. Spherical morphology with irregular size and particle distribution was confirmed by the microscopic characterization. The antioxidant activity of the nanoparticles showed a concentration-dependent profile with an IC50 of 4.10 µg mL− 1, which was quite lower than that of the standard ascorbic acid (4.72 µg mL− 1), and indicated a significant free radical scavenging activity of the nanomaterials. The cytotoxicity properties of the nanoparticles were evaluated against human cancer cell lines HeLa and HEK 293 by the MTT assay, and the anticancer drug (5-Fluorouracil) was used as a control. The results showed selective toxicity of the nanoparticles towards cancerous cell lines and non-toxicity to normal cells. The study provides a simple and non-toxic protocol for biosynthesis of ZnO nanoparticles with potential biomedical applications as anticancer and antioxidant agents. However, further studies are necessary to ascertain the biochemical reactions and mechanisms responsible for the antioxidant and anticancer activities.
Beef quality assessment of local and imported sources illustrating a contrary view that freezing is the best way of beef preservation using morphometric analysis
Authors: Sabala Rana Fahmi , Shouman Zeinab 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThe histological analysis of local and imported beef samples throughout storage at various intervals in 4 °C, before and after being frozen at − 18 °C, to detect the changes happened in the microstructure of muscle fibers to evaluate the meat nutritive properties in a step toward rapid evaluation of meat quality. The obtained results illustrated that freezing–thawing step of beef leads to the loss of its muscle fiber structure due to the high moisture content failure, highlighted the idea that imported beef show significant shrinkage in their muscle fibers from the beginning of its purchase to consumers as they seem to be imported as frozen and thawed just before exposed and sold as fresh. Through consumption survey, however consumers prefer local meat, it was detected that 67% of population is eating imported beef with 39.4% more than twice per week. Therefore, consumers’ minds should be changed to depend on locally slaughtered beef on facing their needs of the recommended daily intake of protein.
Hunter Willingness-to-Pay for Disease Testing: Evidence from Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer
Authors: Adhikari Ram Kumar , Poudyal Neelam Chandra , Muller Lisa Irene , Yoest Chuck 
Published: August 2023

AbstractUsing the case of chronic wasting disease (CWD) in white-tailed deer, we estimated hunters’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for testing their game and determined how their perception of disease risk, trust, and confidence in wildlife agency affected hunter participation in ongoing disease surveillance. The average WTP for testing was $23.75 per deer, and it was positively related to trust and confidence in the wildlife agency and the perception of risk about deer populations in the declining area and the pathogen spreading to other areas. These findings imply that implementing active outreach programs can improve hunter participation in user-paid systems for CWD surveillance.
Bootstrap percolation in inhomogeneous random graphs
Authors: Amini Hamed , Fountoulakis Nikolaos , Panagiotou Konstantinos 
Published: August 2023

AbstractA bootstrap percolation process on a graph with n vertices is an ‘infection’ process evolving in rounds. Let
$r \ge 2$
be fixed. Initially, there is a subset of infected vertices. In each subsequent round, every uninfected vertex that has at least r infected neighbors becomes infected as well and remains so forever.We consider this process in the case where the underlying graph is an inhomogeneous random graph whose kernel is of rank one. Assuming that initially every vertex is infected independently with probability
$p \in (0,1]$
, we provide a law of large numbers for the size of the set of vertices that are infected by the end of the process. Moreover, we investigate the case
$p = p(n) = o(1)$
, and we focus on the important case of inhomogeneous random graphs exhibiting a power-law degree distribution with exponent
$\beta \in (2,3)$
. The first two authors have shown in this setting the existence of a critical
$p_c =o(1)$
such that, with high probability, if
$p =o(p_c)$
, then the process does not evolve at all, whereas if
$p = \omega(p_c)$
, then the final set of infected vertices has size
$\Omega(n)$
. In this work we determine the asymptotic fraction of vertices that will eventually be infected and show that it also satisfies a law of large numbers.
A modification of the random cutting model
Authors: Burghart Fabian 
Published: August 2023

AbstractWe propose a modification to the random destruction of graphs: given a finite network with a distinguished set of sources and targets, remove (cut) vertices at random, discarding components that do not contain a source node. We investigate the number of cuts required until all targets are removed, and the size of the remaining graph. This model interpolates between the random cutting model going back to Meir and Moon (J. Austral. Math. Soc.11, 1970) and site percolation. We prove several general results, including that the size of the remaining graph is a tight family of random variables for compatible sequences of expander-type graphs, and determine limiting distributions for binary caterpillar trees and complete binary trees.
Artificial intelligence and the conjectural sciences
Authors: Stark Luke 
Published: August 2023

AbstractDrawing on prior work in the history and philosophy of statistics, I argue that in many cases analyses powered by artificial-intelligence (AI) techniques such as machine learning (ML) are fundamentally ‘conjectural’: reliant on ex post facto abductive logics often misinterpreted in contemporary machine-learning systems as reliably reproducible truth. Here I relate what Carlo Ginzburg calls ‘the conjectural sciences’ as a historical category to their contemporary instantiation in machine learning and the practice of ‘automated conjecture’. I observe how the automation of physiognomic and phrenological concepts are exemplary of the ways in which discredited conjectural pseudosciences are being revived by today's AI research. Finally, I argue that the conceptual distinction between ‘conjectural’ and ‘empirical’ science can help support contemporary efforts to regulate the design and use of AI systems by providing conceptual and historical justification for the non-development of certain classes of systems intended to automate inference.
The Soviet scientific programme on AI: if a machine cannot ‘think’, can it ‘control’?
Authors: Kirtchik Olessia 
Published: August 2023

AbstractThis article analyses the intellectual and institutional development of the artificial-intelligence (AI) research programme within the Soviet Academy of Sciences from the 1970s to the 1980s. Considering the places and ideas from which it borrowed, I contextualize its goals and projects as part of a larger technoscientific movement aimed at rationalizing Soviet governance, and unpack shared epistemological and cultural assumptions. By tracing their origins to debates accompanying the introduction of cybernetics into Soviet intellectual and political life in the 1950s and early 1960s, I show how Soviet conceptions of ‘thinking machines’ interacted with dialectical materialism and communist socio-technical imaginaries of governance and control. The programme of ‘situational management’ developed by Dmitry Pospelov helps explain the resulting conception of AI as control systems aimed at solving complex tasks that cannot be fully formalized and therefore require new modelling methods to represent real-world situations. This specific orientation can be understood, on the one hand, as a research programme competing with systems analysis and economic cybernetics to rationalize Soviet management, and, on the other hand, as a field trying to demarcate itself from a purely statistical or mathematical approach to modelling cognitive processes.