bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Deep learning-guided attenuation correction in the image domain for myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging
Authors: Mostafapour Samaneh , Gholamiankhah Faeze , Maroufpour Sirwan , Momennezhad Mehdi , Asadinezhad Mohsen , Zakavi Seyed Rasoul , Arabi Hossein , Zaidi Habib 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
We investigate the accuracy of direct attenuation correction (AC) in the image domain for myocardial perfusion SPECT (single-photon emission computed tomography) imaging (MPI-SPECT) using residual (ResNet) and UNet deep convolutional neural networks. MPI-SPECT 99mTc-sestamibi images of 99 patients were retrospectively included. UNet and ResNet networks were trained using non-attenuation-corrected SPECT images as input, whereas CT-based attenuation-corrected (CT-AC) SPECT images served as reference. Chang’s calculated AC approach considering a uniform attenuation coefficient within the body contour was also implemented. Clinical and quantitative evaluations of the proposed methods were performed considering SPECT CT-AC images of 19 subjects (external validation set) as reference. Image-derived metrics, including the voxel-wise mean error (ME), mean absolute error, relative error, structural similarity index (SSI), and peak signal-to-noise ratio, as well as clinical relevant indices, such as total perfusion deficit (TPD), were utilized. Overall, AC SPECT images generated using the deep learning networks exhibited good agreement with SPECT CT-AC images, substantially outperforming Chang’s method. The ResNet and UNet models resulted in an ME of −6.99 ± 16.72 and −4.41 ± 11.8 and an SSI of 0.99 ± 0.04 and 0.98 ± 0.05, respectively. Chang’s approach led to ME and SSI of 25.52 ± 33.98 and 0.93 ± 0.09, respectively. Similarly, the clinical evaluation revealed a mean TPD of 12.78 ± 9.22% and 12.57 ± 8.93% for ResNet and UNet models, respectively, compared to 12.84 ± 8.63% obtained from SPECT CT-AC images. Conversely, Chang’s approach led to a mean TPD of 16.68 ± 11.24%. The deep learning AC methods have the potential to achieve reliable AC in MPI-SPECT imaging.
Heritable genome editing and cognitive biases: why broad societal consensus is the wrong standard for moving forward
Authors: Macintosh Kerry Lynn 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Heritable genome editing (HGE) may one day safely correct mutations that cause serious monogenic diseases. Nevertheless, some scientists and bioethicists argue that HGE should be subject to a moratorium. In their view, no nation should proceed with clinical use absent broad societal consensus in favor of moving forward with HGE and a specific use. This article critiques this plan in light of two cognitive biases. First, human beings favor the status quo. We are primed to favor human reproduction and the human genome in their current forms and resist HGE. Second, human beings also dwell on negative information. Dr He Jiankui’s unethical and premature experiment encourages us to judge HGE and its offspring harshly. By reinforcing these biases, the proposed moratorium would make it difficult to achieve broad societal consensus in support of using HGE even to correct dangerous mutations. As an alternative, this article recommends HGE be regulated for safety and efficacy. This approach will keep scientists from using HGE prematurely, while giving society time to discuss this new technology and enact further legislation if necessary.
The Dynamics of the Debate About Gay Rights: Evidence from US Newspapers
Authors: Manning Alan , Masella Paolo 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Changing attitudes are the result of a battle for hearts and minds in which agents for and against change try to persuade others. We know very little about this process. We develop a methodology for measuring the intensity and the contents of media coverage for and against an idea which we apply to attitudes to gay rights. We uncover several stylized facts: First, the diffusion process of both pro- and anti-gay rights language in the US newspapers follow an S-shaped pattern, characteristic of diffusion processes. Anti-gay rights coverage starts its diffusion process later but then catches up. Second, in the year gay marriages are introduced, we observe a dramatic increase in coverage of both pro- and anti-gay rights language; the increase in the latter is larger. The rise in coverage is still present in the 3 years after the institutional change. Third, there is substantial spatial autocorrelation in media coverage (JEL J15, Z1).
Risk Stratification for Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer Using a Combination of Genetic and Environmental Risk Scores: An International Multi-Center Study
Authors: Archambault Alexi N , Jeon Jihyoun , Lin Yi , Thomas Minta , Harrison Tabitha A , Bishop D Timothy , Brenner Hermann , Casey Graham , Chan Andrew T , Chang-Claude Jenny , Figueiredo Jane C , Gallinger Steven , Gruber Stephen B , Gunter Marc J , Guo Feng , Hoffmeister Michael , Jenkins Mark A , Keku Temitope O , Le Marchand Loïc , Li Li , Moreno Victor , Newcomb Polly A , Pai Rish , Parfrey Patrick S , Rennert Gad , Sakoda Lori C , Lee Jeffrey K , Slattery Martha L , Song Mingyang , Win Aung Ko , Woods Michael O , Murphy Neil , Campbell Peter T , Su Yu-Ru , Lansdorp-Vogelaar Iris , Peterse Elisabeth F P , Cao Yin , Zeleniuch-Jacquotte Anne , Liang Peter S , Du Mengmeng , Corley Douglas A , Hsu Li , Peters Ulrike , Hayes Richard B 
Published: January 2022

AbstractBackgroundThe incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among individuals aged younger than 50 years has been increasing. As screening guidelines lower the recommended age of screening initiation, concerns including the burden on screening capacity and costs have been recognized, suggesting that an individualized approach may be warranted. We developed risk prediction models for early-onset CRC that incorporate an environmental risk score (ERS), including 16 lifestyle and environmental factors, and a polygenic risk score (PRS) of 141 variants.MethodsRelying on risk score weights for ERS and PRS derived from studies of CRC at all ages, we evaluated risks for early-onset CRC in 3486 cases and 3890 controls aged younger than 50 years. Relative and absolute risks for early-onset CRC were assessed according to values of the ERS and PRS. The discriminatory performance of these scores was estimated using the covariate-adjusted area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.ResultsIncreasing values of ERS and PRS were associated with increasing relative risks for early-onset CRC (odds ratio per SD of ERS = 1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08 to 1.20; odds ratio per SD of PRS = 1.59, 95% CI = 1.51 to 1.68), both contributing to case-control discrimination (area under the curve = 0.631, 95% CI = 0.615 to 0.647). Based on absolute risks, we can expect 26 excess cases per 10 000 men and 21 per 10 000 women among those scoring at the 90th percentile for both risk scores.ConclusionsPersonal risk scores have the potential to identify individuals at differential relative and absolute risk for early-onset CRC. Improved discrimination may aid in targeted CRC screening of younger, high-risk individuals, potentially improving outcomes.
Patient Decision-Making Factors in Aggressive Treatment of Low-Risk Prostate Cancer
Authors: Basak Ramsankar , Usinger Deborah S , Chen Ronald C , Shen Xinglei 
Published: January 2022

Abstract

Background
Active surveillance (AS) is underutilized for low-risk prostate cancer. This study examines decision-making factors associated with AS vs aggressive treatment in a population-based cohort of low-risk patients.

Methods
Newly diagnosed patients (n = 599) were enrolled through the North Carolina Central Cancer Registry from 2011 to 2013 and surveyed regarding 5 factors that may impact treatment decision making: perceived cancer aggressiveness, aggressiveness of treatment intent, most important goal (eg, cure, quality of life), primary information source, and primary decision maker. We examined the association between treatment decision-making factors with patient choice for AS vs aggressive treatment using multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results
This is a sociodemographically diverse cohort reflective of the population-based design, with 37.6% overall (47.6% among very low-risk patients) choosing AS. Aggressive treatment intent (odds ratio [OR] = 7.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 4.57 to 11.01), perceived cancer aggressiveness (OR = 4.93, 95% CI = 2.71 to 8.97), most important goal (cure vs other, OR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.12 to 2.63), and primary information source (personal and family vs physician, OR = 1.76, 95% CI = 1.10 to 2.82) were associated with aggressive treatment. Overall, 88.4% of patients (92.2% among very low-risk) who indicated an intent to treat the cancer “not very aggressively” chose AS.

Conclusions
These data from the patient’s perspective shed new light on potentially modifiable factors that can help further increase AS uptake among low-risk patients. Helping more low-risk patients feel comfortable with a “not very aggressive” treatment approach may be especially important, which can be facilitated through patient education interventions to improve the understanding of the cancer diagnosis and AS having a curative intent.
Biotic effects dominate the inter-annual variability in ecosystem carbon exchange in a Tibetan alpine meadow
Authors: Xu Mingjie , Sun Yi , Zhang Tao , Zhang Yangjian , Zhu Juntao , He Yongtao , Wang Liwei , Yu Guirui 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe alpine meadow ecosystem in Tibet is fragile and sensitive, and its carbon sink function with respect to climate change has become a matter of widespread concern. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the inter-annual variations (IAVs) in the carbon fluxes in an alpine meadow and to further quantify the contributions of the driving factors to the IAVs. Based on 7 years of flux data (2012–2018) and the corresponding climatic and biotic data, a set of look-up tables was used to separate and quantify the IAV sources. Furthermore, linear perturbation analyses were employed to quantify the contributions of each key factor. During 2012–2018, the net ecosystem productivity (NEP), gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) of this alpine meadow were 3.31 ± 26.90, 210.18 ± 48.35 and 206.88 ± 28.45 g C m−2 y−1, respectively, which indicated relatively large IAVs. When the contributions of climatic and biotic effects were distinguished and quantified, the dominant effects of biotic factors emerged. Additionally, negative interactions between climatic and biotic effects were detected. Among the climatic factors, only soil water content contributed relatively more to the IAVs and played a role in regulating the interactions between climatic and biotic effects. These results suggest that biotic effects must be carefully considered to reduce the uncertainties associated with future carbon flux estimates.
Complicated jejunal diverticulosis with intestinal perforation and obstruction: delay in hospital visit during confinement due to COVID-19
Authors: Ponce Beti María S , Palacios Huatuco René M , Picco Santiago , Capra Alejandro E , Perussia Daniel G , Suizer Alejando M 
Published: January 2022

Abstract
Diverticulosis of the small bowel is a rare entity. It can cause acute, complications such as diverticulitis, perforation, intestinal bleeding and obstruction. During the pandemic, patients were reluctant to visit hospitals for fear of contracting coronavirus disease 2019. This caused the patients to wait until the extreme deterioration of many acute surgical conditions. An 83-year-old man with multiple comorbidities showed up at the emergency department with generalized abdominal pain of 7 days of evolution. The computed tomography scan revealed a large distention of the small intestine and a small inflammatory abscess. He was transferred to the operating room where a segment of the jejunum affected by multiple diverticula located on the mesenteric side of the intestine and a mesenteric abscess related to a perforated jejunal diverticulum were identified. Complicated jejunal diverticulosis is a difficult entity to diagnose, which can cause significant morbidity and mortality. To avoid this, its timely diagnosis is essential.
“Nothing Made Them Change Their Minds about the Medical Industry”: Medical Abuse, Incarceration, and Healing in Toni Morrison’sHome
Authors: Allen Patrick S 
Published: January 2022

AbstractToni Morrison’s Home (2012) takes up issues of (anti-)Blackness, eugenics, and the healing powers of communities of Black women. In the novel, Cee, the protagonist’s sister, is hired as a “helper” (explicitly not a “nurse”) for a white eugenicist. Cee is essentially incarcerated at the doctor’s home office, where she is reduced to a sort of living cadaver upon whom the doctor experiments, leaving her unable to bear children. Upon being rescued from the doctor, Cee is nurtured back to health by a community of lay Black women in the South. Morrison’s novel critiques a history of anti-Black racism in the medical field that has situated Black persons (especially Black women) as particularly susceptible to abuse, malpractice, and incomplete or nonexistent care. I situate my discussion of Home alongside an exploration of forced sterilizations of incarcerated Black and Latinx women in US corrections facilities to illustrate Morrison’s illumination of historical and ongoing racial injustices in the entangled US medical, legal, and military systems. This essay explores the modes by which communities of Black women practice an ethics of care for one another and collectively resist anti-Black biopolitical systems. In taking on the role of healers, the Black women in this novel deny white attempts at control over Black persons’ bodies, lives, and reproduction. Morrison’s novel instead presents a move toward Black liberation, care, and safety that sets the stage for thinking about contemporary health and legal issues—namel,y anti-Black racism and the disproportionality of negative outcomes for Black persons in US medical systems.
Air Pollution Exposure and the Development of Chronic Rhinosinusitis in the Active Duty Population
Authors: Elam Trevor , Raiculescu Sorana , Biswal Shyam , Zhang Zhenyu , Orestes Michael , Ramanathan Murugappan 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACT

Introduction
It has been shown that combat environment exposure, including burn pits that produce particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), is associated with lower respiratory tract disease in the military population with increased hypothetical risk of upper respiratory disease, but no study has been done that examines the effects of non-combat environmental exposures on the development of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) in the active duty population. The primary goal of this study is to evaluate how air pollution exposure correlates to the development of CRS in active duty service members in the United States.

Methods
The military electronic medical record was queried for active duty service members diagnosed with CRS by an otolaryngologist between January 2016 and January 2018, who have never deployed, stationed in the United States from 2015 to 2018 (n = 399). For each subject, the 1-year mean exposure of PM2.5, particulate matter 10 (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and ozone was calculated. The control group was comprised of the same criteria except these patients were diagnosed with cerumen impaction and matched to the case group by age and gender (n = 399). Pollution exposure was calculated based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s data tables for each subject. Values were calculated using chi-square test for categorical variables and the Mann–Whitney U-test for continuous variables.

Results
Matched cases and controls (n = 399) with 33.1% male showed a statistically significant odds ratio (OR) of 5.99 (95% CI, 2.55-14.03) for exposure of every 5 µg/m3 of PM2.5 increase and the development of CRS when controlling for age, gender, and diagnosis year. When further adjusting for smoking status, the OR was still statistically significant at 3.15 (95% CI, 1.03-9.68). Particulate matter 10, ozone, and NO2 did not show any statistical significance. Odds ratios remained statistically significant when further adjusting for PM10 and ozone, but not NO2. Dose-dependent curves largely did not show a statistical significance; however, they did trend towards increased exposure of PM2.5 leading to an elevated OR.

Conclusion
This study showed that PM2.5 exposure is a major independent contributor to the development of CRS. Exposure to elevated levels produced statistically significant odds even among smokers and remained significant when controlling for other measured pollutants. There is still much to be understood about the genesis of CRS. From a pollution exposure perspective, a prospective cohort study would better elucidate the risk of the development of CRS among those exposed to other pollutants.
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO): prototype performance and prospects for transient science
Authors: Steeghs D , Galloway D K , Ackley K , Dyer M J , Lyman J , Ulaczyk K , Cutter R , Mong Y-L , Dhillon V , O’Brien P , Ramsay G , Poshyachinda S , Kotak R , Nuttall L K , Pallé E , Breton R P , Pollacco D , Thrane E , Aukkaravittayapun S , Awiphan S , Burhanudin U , Chote P , Chrimes A , Daw E , Duffy C , Eyles-Ferris R , Gompertz B , Heikkilä T , Irawati P , Kennedy M R , Killestein T , Kuncarayakti H , Levan A J , Littlefair S , Makrygianni L , Marsh T , Mata-Sanchez D , Mattila S , Maund J , McCormac J , Mkrtichian D , Mullaney J , Noysena K , Patel M , Rol E , Sawangwit U , Stanway E R , Starling R , Strøm P , Tooke S , West R , White D J , Wiersema K 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACT
The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) is an array of wide-field optical telescopes, designed to exploit new discoveries from the next generation of gravitational wave detectors (LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA), study rapidly evolving transients, and exploit multimessenger opportunities arising from neutrino and very high energy gamma-ray triggers. In addition to a rapid response mode, the array will also perform a sensitive, all-sky transient survey with few day cadence. The facility features a novel, modular design with multiple 40-cm wide-field reflectors on a single mount. In 2017 June, the GOTO collaboration deployed the initial project prototype, with 4 telescope units, at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory (ORM), La Palma, Canary Islands. Here, we describe the deployment, commissioning, and performance of the prototype hardware, and discuss the impact of these findings on the final GOTO design. We also offer an initial assessment of the science prospects for the full GOTO facility that employs 32 telescope units across two sites.
Stellar winds and photoionization in a spiral arm
Authors: Ali Ahmad A , Bending Thomas J R , Dobbs Clare L 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACT
The role of different stellar feedback mechanisms in giant molecular clouds is not well understood. This is especially true for regions with many interacting clouds as would be found in a galactic spiral arm. In this paper, building on previous work by Bending et al., we extract a $500{\, \mathrm{pc}}\times 500{\, \mathrm{pc}}\times {100}{\, \mathrm{pc}}$ section of a spiral arm from a galaxy simulation. We use smoothed particle hydrodynamics to re-simulate the region at higher resolution (1 M⊙ per particle). We present a method for momentum-driven stellar winds from main-sequence massive stars, and include this with photoionization, self-gravity, a galactic potential, and interstellar medium heating/cooling. We also include cluster-sink particles with accretion radii of 0.78 pc to track star/cluster formation. The feedback methods are as robust as previous models on individual cloud scales (e.g. Dale et al.). We find that photoionization dominates the disruption of the spiral arm section, with stellar winds only producing small cavities (at most ∼30 pc). Stellar winds do not affect the resulting cloud statistics or the integrated star formation rate/efficiency, unlike ionization, which produces more stars, and more clouds of higher density and higher velocity dispersion compared to the control run without feedback. Winds do affect the sink properties, distributing star formation over more low-mass sinks (∼102 M⊙) and producing fewer high-mass sinks (∼103 M⊙). Overall, stellar winds play at best a secondary role compared to photoionization, and on many measures, they have a negligible impact.
A full spectral-timing model to map the accretion flow in black hole binaries: the low/hard state of MAXI J1820+070
Authors: Kawamura Tenyo , Axelsson Magnus , Done Chris , Takahashi Tadayuki 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACT
The nature and geometry of the accretion flow in the low/hard state of black hole binaries is currently controversial. While most properties are generally explained in the truncated disc/hot inner flow model, the detection of a broad residual around the iron line argues for strong relativistic effects from an untruncated disc. Since spectral fitting alone is somewhat degenerate, we combine it with the additional information in the fast X-ray variability and perform a full spectral-timing analysis for NICER and NuSTAR data on a bright low/hard state of MAXI J1820+070. We model the variability with propagating mass accretion rate fluctuations by combining two separate current insights: that the hot flow is spectrally inhomogeneous, and that there is a discontinuous jump in viscous time-scale between the hot flow and variable disc. Our model naturally gives the double-humped shape of the power spectra, and the increasing high-frequency variability with energy in the second hump. Including reflection and reprocessing from a disc truncated at a few tens of gravitational radii quantitatively reproduces the switch in the lag-frequency spectra, from hard lagging soft at low frequencies (propagation through the variable flow) to the soft lagging hard at the high frequencies (reverberation from the hard X-ray continuum illuminating the disc). The viscous time-scale of the hot flow is derived from the model, and we show how this can be used to observationally test ideas about the origin of the jet.
Constraining ultra light dark matter with the Galactic nuclear star cluster
Authors: Toguz Firat , Kawata Daisuke , Seabroke George , Read Justin I 
Published: January 2022

ABSTRACT
We use the Milky Way’s nuclear star cluster (NSC) to test the existence of a dark matter ‘soliton core’, as predicted in ultra-light dark matter (ULDM) models. Since the soliton core size is proportional to $m_{\rm DM}^{-1}$, while the core density grows as $m_{\rm DM}^{2}$, the NSC (dominant stellar component within ∼3 pc) is sensitive to a specific window in the dark matter particle mass, mDM. We apply a spherical isotropic Jeans model to fit the NSC line-of-sight velocity dispersion data, assuming priors on the precisely measured Milky Way’s supermassive black hole (SMBH) mass and the well-measured NSC density profile. We find that the current observational data reject the existence of a soliton core for a single ULDM particle with mass in the range 10−20.4 eV ≲ mDM ≲ 10−18.5 eV, assuming that the soliton core structure is not affected by the Milky Way’s SMBH. We test our methodology on mock data, confirming that we are sensitive to the same range in ULDM mass as for the real data. Dynamical modelling of a larger region of the Galactic centre, including the nuclear stellar disc, promises tighter constraints over a broader range of mDM. We will consider this in future work.