bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Mathematical Derivation of Wave Propagation Properties in Hierarchical Neural Networks with Predictive Coding Feedback Dynamics
Authors: Faye Grégory , Fouilhé Guilhem , VanRullen Rufin 
Published: July 2023

AbstractSensory perception (e.g., vision) relies on a hierarchy of cortical areas, in which neural activity propagates in both directions, to convey information not only about sensory inputs but also about cognitive states, expectations and predictions. At the macroscopic scale, neurophysiological experiments have described the corresponding neural signals as both forward and backward-travelling waves, sometimes with characteristic oscillatory signatures. It remains unclear, however, how such activity patterns relate to specific functional properties of the perceptual apparatus. Here, we present a mathematical framework, inspired by neural network models of predictive coding, to systematically investigate neural dynamics in a hierarchical perceptual system. We show that stability of the system can be systematically derived from the values of hyper-parameters controlling the different signals (related to bottom-up inputs, top-down prediction and error correction). Similarly, it is possible to determine in which direction, and at what speed neural activity propagates in the system. Different neural assemblies (reflecting distinct eigenvectors of the connectivity matrices) can simultaneously and independently display different properties in terms of stability, propagation speed or direction. We also derive continuous-limit versions of the system, both in time and in neural space. Finally, we analyze the possible influence of transmission delays between layers, and reveal the emergence of oscillations.
More than meets the eye: a scoping review on the non-medical uses of THZ eye drops
Authors: Menshawey Esraa , Menshawey Rahma 
Published: July 2023

AbstractTetrahydrozoline is an alpha agonist imidazole derivative found in over-the-counter decongestive eye and nasal drops. The drug was patented in 1954 and was available for medical use in 1959. This drug recently gained the attention of law enforcement as it has been utilized in criminal activity such as homicide and drug-facilitated sexual assault. The aim of this scoping review is to scope the literature for all mentions of tetrahydrozoline eye/nasal drops use in a non-medical context to delineate areas of future research and development. We used Google Scholar and PUBMED/Medline databases to search for non-medicinal and criminal uses of THZ. The search word used was “tetrahydrozoline.” A total of 15 articles matched our criteria. Among the case reports, two (11.1%) cases reported on drug-facilitated sexual assault, and two (11.1%) cases used THZ eyedrops to attempt suicide. Incidental ingestion of THZ eyedrops was reported in eight (44.4%) cases, three (16.7%) cases of attempted murder were reported, two (11.1%) cases of intentional ingestion were reported, and one (5.5%) case was a combination of drug-facilitated sexual assault and attempted murder. The most common clinical presentation was unexplained and resistant bradycardia and hypotension. THZ eye drops can be used to produce false negative results on drug tests. This study recognizes that THZ can be used in non-medicinal and criminal uses. There is room for future research and development. More studies should be conducted to better understand the mechanism of action, therapeutic window, and toxicity levels among various age groups at different methods of intake and to find an effective treatment in case of overdose. Eyedrop and nasal decongestant bottles should be designed with child proofing to prevent incidental ingestion and should contain warning labels. A fast and alternative test to GC/MS can be developed to ease the diagnosis of THZ toxicity. Purchases of this medication may need to be monitored.
Current systemic treatment options and new developments in palliative first-line treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Kocher Florian , Seeber Andreas 
Published: July 2023

SummaryThis short review gives an overview of current treatment concepts, recently published trials, and novel developments in relapsed or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) not amendable for local curative treatment. Trials with potential future clinical implications and relevant updates of landmark trials are provided as well.
The arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy phenotype associated with PKP2 c.1211dup variant
Authors: Bos Thomas A. , Piers Sebastiaan R. D. , Wessels Marja W. , Houweling Arjan C. , Bökenkamp Regina , Bootsma Marianne , Bosman Laurens P. , Evertz Reinder , Hellebrekers Debby M. E. I. , Hoedemaekers Yvonne M. , Knijnenburg Jeroen , Lekanne Deprez Ronald , van Mil Anneke M. , te Riele Anneline S. J. M. , van Slegtenhorst Marjon A. , Wilde Arthur A. M. , Yap Sing-Chien , Dooijes Dennis , Koopmann Tamara T. , van Tintelen J. Peter , Barge-Schaapveld Daniela Q. C. M. ,   European Reference Network for rare, low prevalence and complex diseases of the heart: ERN GUARD-Heart, Houweling Arjan C. , Lekanne Deprez Ronald , te Riele Anneline S. J. M. , Wilde Arthur A. M. , van Tintelen J. Peter 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
Background
The arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) phenotype, with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias and heart failure, varies according to genetic aetiology. We aimed to characterise the phenotype associated with the variant c.1211dup (p.Val406Serfs*4) in the plakophilin‑2 gene (PKP2) and compare it with previously reported Dutch PKP2 founder variants.

Methods
Clinical data were collected retrospectively from medical records of 106 PKP2 c.1211dup heterozygous carriers. Using data from the Netherlands ACM Registry, c.1211dup was compared with 3 other truncating PKP2 variants (c.235C > T (p.Arg79*), c.397C > T (p.Gln133*) and c.2489+1G > A (p.?)).

Results
Of the 106 carriers, 47 (44%) were diagnosed with ACM, at a mean age of 41 years. By the end of follow-up, 29 (27%) had experienced sustained ventricular arrhythmias and 12 (11%) had developed heart failure, with male carriers showing significantly higher risks than females on these endpoints (p < 0.05). Based on available cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and echocardiographic data, 46% of the carriers showed either right ventricular dilatation and/or dysfunction, whereas a substantial minority (37%) had some form of left ventricular involvement. Both geographical distribution of carriers and haplotype analysis suggested PKP2 c.1211dup to be a founder variant originating from the South-Western coast of the Netherlands. Finally, a Cox proportional hazards model suggested significant differences in ventricular arrhythmia–free survival between 4 PKP2 founder variants, including c.1211dup.

Conclusions
The PKP2 c.1211dup variant is a Dutch founder variant associated with a typical right-dominant ACM phenotype, but also left ventricular involvement, and a possibly more severe phenotype than other Dutch PKP2 founder variants.
Structural analysis of peptide binding to integrins for cancer detection and treatment
Authors: Urquiza Mauricio , Benavides-Rubio Daniela , Jimenez-Camacho Silvia 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIntegrins are cell receptors involved in several metabolic pathways often associated with cell proliferation. Some of these integrins are downregulated during human physical development, but when these integrins are overexpressed in adult humans, they can be associated with several diseases, such as cancer. Molecules that specifically bind to these integrins are useful for cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment. This review focuses on the structures of integrin-peptidic ligand complexes to dissect how the binding occurs and the molecular basis of the specificity and affinity of these peptidic ligands. Understanding these interactions at the molecular level is fundamental to be able to design new peptides that are more specific and more sensitive to a particular integrin. The integrin complexes covered in this review are α5β1, αIIbβ3, αvβ3, αvβ6, and αvβ8, because the molecular structures of the complex have been experimentally determined and their presence on tumor cancer cells are associated with a poor prognosis, making them targets for cancer detection and treatment.
Spatially Clustered Survey Designs
Authors: Foster Scott D. , Lawrence Emma , Hoskins Andrew J. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractDirect observation, through surveys, underpins nearly all aspects of environmental sciences. Survey design theory has evolved to make sure that sampling is as efficient as possible whilst remaining robust and fit-for-purpose. However, these methods frequently focus on theoretical aspects and often increase the logistical difficulty of performing the survey. Usually, the survey design process will place individual sampling locations one-by-one throughout the sampling area (e.g. random sampling). A consequence of these approaches is that there is usually a large cost in travel time between locations. This can be a huge problem for surveys that are large in spatial scale or are in inhospitable environments where travel is difficult and/or costly. Our solution is to constrain the sampling process so that the sample consists of spatially clustered observations, with all sites within a cluster lying within a predefined distance. The spatial clustering is achieved by a two-stage sampling process: first cluster centres are sampled and then sites within clusters are sampled. A novelty of our approach is that these clusters are allowed to overlap and we present the necessary calculations required to adjust the specified inclusion probabilities so that they are respected in the clustered sample. The process is illustrated with a real and on-going large-scale ecological survey. We also present simulation results to assess the methods performance. Spatially clustered survey design provides a formal statistical framework for grouping sample sites in space whilst maintaining multiple levels of spatial-balance. These designs reduce the logistical burden placed on field workers by decreasing total travel time and logistical overheads.Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear on-line.
An automated classification framework for glaucoma detection in fundus images using ensemble of dynamic selection methods
Authors: Pathan Sumaiya , Kumar Preetham , Pai Radhika M. , Bhandary Sulatha V. 
Published: July 2023

AbstractGlaucoma is an optic neuropathy, which leads to vision loss and is irreversible due to damage in the optic nerve head mainly caused by increased intra-ocular pressure. Retinal fundus photography facilitates ophthalmologist in detection of glaucoma but is subjective to human intervention and is time-consuming. Computational methods such as image processing and machine learning classifiers can aid in computer-based glaucoma detection which helps in mass screening of glaucoma. In this context, the proposed method develops an automated glaucoma detection system, in the following steps: (i) pre-processing by segmenting the blood vessels using directional filter; (ii) segmenting the region of interest by using statistical features; (iii) extracting the clinical and texture-based features; and (iv) developing ensemble of classifier models using dynamic selection techniques. The proposed method is evaluated on two publically available datasets and 300 fundus images collected from a hospital. The best results are obtained using ensemble of random forest using META-DES dynamic ensemble selection technique, and the average specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for glaucoma detection on hospital dataset are 100%, respectively. For RIM-ONE dataset, the average specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for glaucoma detection are 100%, 93.85% and 97.86%, respectively. For Drishti dataset, the average specificity, sensitivity and accuracy for glaucoma detection are 90%, 100% and 97%, respectively. The quantitative results and comparative study indicate the ability of the developed method, and thus, it can be deployed in mass screening and also as a second opinion in decision making by the ophthalmologist for glaucoma detection.
Population aging in China from a multidimensional, comparative perspective
Authors: Gietel-Basten Stuart 
Published: July 2023

AbstractIn recent years, perhaps more than any others, changes in China’s population have been under the spotlight. Issues relating to population aging and stagnation/decline have been presented as a near existential threat to the political, social, and economic future of the country. The responses to these challenges have typically revolved around seeking a ‘demographic response’—namely more babies. These responses, however, are deaf to both the challenges of family formation in contemporary China, as well as the timespan needed for such policies to affect already stressed systems and institutions. Rather, policies which reformed such stressed systems and address the lifecycle challenges and opportunities of population aging are urgently required. This requires an improved, multidimensional ‘problem definition’ as well as considering comparative approaches to facilitate policy learning. This commentary explores these issues and identifies how the papers which make up this special issue of China Population and Development Studies contribute to developing our understanding of aging from a multidimensional and comparative perspective.
Water surface profile prediction in non-prismatic compound channel using support vector machine (SVM)
Authors: Kaushik Vijay , Kumar Munendra 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe process of estimating the level of water surface in two-stage waterways is a crucial aspect in the design of flood control and diversion structures. Human activities carried out along the course of rivers, such as agricultural and construction operation, have the potential to modify the geometry of floodplains, leading to the formation of compound channels with non-prismatic floodplains, thus possibly exhibiting convergent, divergent, or skewed characteristics. In the current investigation, the Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique is employed to approximate the water surface profile of compound channels featuring narrowing floodplains. Some models are constructed by utilizing significant experimental data obtained from both contemporary and previous investigations. Water surface profiles in these channels can be estimated through the utilization of non-dimensional geometric and flow parameters, including: converging angle, width ratio, relative depth, aspect ratio, relative distance, and bed slope. The results of this study indicate that the SVM-generated water surface profile exhibits a high degree of concordance with both the empirical data and the findings from previous research, as evidenced by its R2 value of 0.99, RMSE value of 0.0199, and MAPE value of 1.263. The findings of this study based on statistical analysis demonstrate that the SVM model developed is dependable and suitable for applications in this particular domain, exhibiting superior performance in forecasting water surface profiles.
Sodium selenite increases drought tolerance by promoting jasmonic acid biosynthesis in cucumber
Authors: Wen Dan , Zheng Yang , Han Yujuan , Song Jiping , Sun Shengnan , Yang Ning , Wang Xiao 
Published: July 2023

AbstractJasmonic acid (JA) is an important and widely distributed plant hormone. However, the molecular and physiological mechanism of JA in improving drought tolerance in response to sodium selenite is limited. This work was performed to investigate the effects of exogenous sodium selenite application in promoting drought tolerance of cucumber. The drought tolerance of cucumber seedlings is enhanced under the application of selenite, positively influencing shoot fresh weight and chlorophyll relative content and altering the chloroplast ultrastructure. The contents of JA and JA-isoleucine (JA-ILE) increased significantly in response to selenite application under drought conditions. Furthermore, the expression of JA biosynthesis and regulatory genes, namely, LOX (Lipoxygenase), AOC (alleneoxide cyclase), AOS (alleneoxide synthase), and MYC2 (the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein) was upregulated to greater levels when selenite was added in combination with drought treatment. This study provides methods to mitigate drought stress and valuable theoretical support for further understanding the plant response to drought signals.
Wildlife Health Australia; One Health in action
Authors: Woods Rupert , Kolek Sharon , Bridgewater Peter 
Published: July 2023

Abstract
A One Health approach that goes beyond human health has the potential to provide global health security (including prevention of future pandemics and reduction in antimicrobial resistant infections), provide food safety and security, as well as general environmental security. To answer the challenges to implementing such an all-embracing One Health approach, Wildlife Health Australia has grown from a primarily veterinarian-based organisation to an organisation working with governments, academia, and civil society across biosecurity to environment issues. Wildlife Health Australia sees its role in helping Australia, and the wider Indo-Pacific region, adopt a radical change in thinking to position people, animal, plant, and ecosystem health as mutual beneficiaries from societies’ investments and interventions. For the future, Wildlife Health Australia has adopted a Theory of Change leading to an impact mirroring the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2050 Vision: “People living in harmony with nature”.
THE RADIOCARBON SAMPLE ARCHIVE OF TRONDHEIM
Authors: Seiler Martin , Grootes Pieter M , Svarva Helene , Nadeau Marie-Josée 
Published: July 2023

ABSTRACTAtmospheric CO2 samples have been collected by the Trondheim Radiocarbon Laboratory since the 1960s. The remaining material from the measurements has been precipitated as CaCO3 and stored in glass containers. We investigated some of the stored samples to assess whether the material could still be used for remeasurements of atmospheric radiocarbon (14C) content, or if it has been contaminated during the years of storage. We attempted different methods to clean the carbonate and release the CO2 for new measurements. The results indicate that the older samples before 1970 show a significant change in 14C content compared to the original measurements, and that our cleaning methods have only little effect. Later samples from the 1970s, which were archived in glass containers with a different lid, show a lower contamination that, however, still leads to an added uncertainty of several pMC and makes these samples unreliable.
“The Lord does not wish the death of a sinner”: Investigating Selected Ordinary Glosses to Pope Gregory IX's Decretales (1234) on Heretics
Authors: Liu Yanchen 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThis article provides a new perspective on the discussion of heresy from one of the most influential canonical-jurisprudential commentaries of the Middle Ages: Bernard of Parma's Glossa ordinaria to Pope Gregory IX's Decretales (commonly known as the Liber extra). Based on an analysis of Bernard's legal glosses, with special emphasis on his citation of Roman and canon law traditions, I argue that the often-overlooked Glossa ordinaria provides scholars a unique window into medieval conceptions of heresy, jurisprudence, and ecclesiastical-legal practice. This study demonstrates that this important mid-thirteenth-century legal-educational text not only reoriented the canonical definition of heretics toward an emphasis on sects rather than individuals, but, differing from the contemporary, often severe papal and conciliar rulings against heretics, also stressed the centrality of mercy and temperance in how heretics should be treated by the ecclesiastical court. The Glossa ordinaria, as this article discusses, might have served as an intellectual force that could have counter-balanced the overzealousness of emerging inquisitors in an age of intensifying repression of heretics.
Fulfilling Prophecies on China's Ethnic Frontiers in Southeast Asia: Peripheral Peoples’ Encounter with Christianity in the Twentieth Century
Authors: Xi Lian 
Published: July 2023

AbstractAt the turn of the twentieth century, an enchanted response to Christianity among minority peoples on China's ethnic frontiers in Southeast Asia caught Western missionaries by surprise. This paper explores the historical circumstances and the dynamics of the mass Christian conversion among those hill peoples. Far from a cultural defeat and a grudging surrender to a conquering foreign faith, their embrace of Christianity was an exuberant, communal rush toward fulfillment of indigenous prophecies of redemption. Unlike the civilizing project of the modern state—a coercive mandate of assimilation and ideological transformation—the Christian movement offered them a choice and allowed them to channel their desperate prophecies of the past toward a reformist messianism. With its war on local shamanism, rituals of courtship, and inherited (and often inebriated) rhythms of ethnic life, Christian conversion was ostensibly a break with indigenous traditions. However, it also ironically fortified the ethnic identities of the peripheral peoples—especially through the creation of the written script for the purpose of Bible translation—and generated fresh resiliency for their material and cultural survival.
Integrating a Standardized Self-Report Tool into Geriatric Medicine Practice during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Methods Study
Authors: Northwood Melissa , Didyk Nicole , Hogeveen Sophie , Nova Amanda , Kalles Elizabeth , Heckman George 
Published: July 2023

AbstractSpecialized geriatric services care for older adults (≥ 65 years of age) with dementia and other progressive neurological disorders, frailty, and mental health conditions were provided both virtually and in person during the pandemic. The objective of this study was to implement a software-enabled standardized self-report instrument – the interRAI Check-Up Self-Report – to remotely assess patients. A convergent, mixed-methods research design was employed. Staff found the instrument easy to use and the program-level metrics helpful for planning. Most patients urgently needed a geriatrician assessment (72%) and had moderate to severe cognitive (34%) and functional impairments (34%), depressive symptoms (53%), loneliness (57%), daily pain (32%), and distressed caregivers (46%). Implementation considerations include providing ongoing support and facilitating intersectoral collaboration. The Check Up enhanced the geriatric assessment process by creating a system to track all needs for immediate and future care at both the patient and program level.
Bioethics Without Theory?
Authors: Holm Søren 
Published: July 2023

AbstractThe question that this paper tries to answer is Q: “Can good academic bioethics be done without commitment to moral theory?” It is argued that the answer to Q is an unequivocal “Yes” for most of what we could call “critical bioethics,” that is, the kind of bioethics work that primarily criticizes positions or arguments already in the literature or put forward by policymakers. The answer is also “Yes” for much of empirical bioethics. The second part of the paper then provides an analysis of Q in relation to “constructive bioethics,” that is, bioethics work aimed at providing an argument for a particular position. In this part, it is argued that a number of the approaches or methods used that initially look like they involve no commitment to moral theory, nevertheless, involve such a commitment. This is shown to be the case for reflective equilibrium, mid-level theory, the use of theory fragments, and argument by analogy.