bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Sensitivity to missing not at random dropout in clinical trials: Use and interpretation of the trimmed means estimator
Authors: Hazewinkel Audinga‐Dea , Bowden Jack , Wade Kaitlin H. , Palmer Tom , Wiles Nicola J. , Tilling Kate 
Published: January 2022

AbstractOutcome values in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) may be missing not at random (MNAR), if patients with extreme outcome values are more likely to drop out (eg, due to perceived ineffectiveness of treatment, or adverse effects). In such scenarios, estimates from complete case analysis (CCA) and multiple imputation (MI) will be biased. We investigate the use of the trimmed means (TM) estimator for the case of univariable missingness in one continuous outcome. The TM estimator operates by setting missing values to the most extreme value, and then “trimming” away equal fractions of both groups, estimating the treatment effect using the remaining data. The TM estimator relies on two assumptions, which we term the “strong MNAR” and “location shift” assumptions. We derive formulae for the TM estimator bias resulting from the violation of these assumptions for normally distributed outcomes. We propose an adjusted TM estimator, which relaxes the location shift assumption and detail how our bias formulae can be used to establish the direction of bias of CCA and TM estimates, to inform sensitivity analyses. The TM approach is illustrated in a sensitivity analysis of the CoBalT RCT of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in 469 individuals with 46 months follow‐up. Results were consistent with a beneficial CBT treatment effect, with MI estimates closer to the null and TM estimates further from the null than the CCA estimate. We propose using the TM estimator as a sensitivity analysis for data where extreme outcome value dropout is plausible.
Spin Selectivity of Chiral Mesostructured Iron Oxides with Different Magnetisms
Authors: Bai Te , Ai Jing , Duan Yingying , Han Lu , Che Shunai 
Published: January 2022

AbstractSpin selectivity physically depends on either magnetic materials with strong internal magnetic fields or symmetry‐breaking materials with large spin–orbit coupling (SOC). However, the spin selectivity of symmetry‐breaking magnetic materials is not understood. Herein, the spin selectivity of iron oxides with different magnetisms arising from varying spin alignment is investigated. Chiral mesostructured films of Fe3O4 (CMFFs), γ‐Fe2O3 (CMγFs), and α‐Fe2O3 (CMαFs), which share the same mesostructure, are prepared by a controllable calcination process of chiral mesostructured FeOOH films (CMOFs) grown on the substrate via an amino acid‐induced hydrothermal route. CMFFs and CMγFs with ferrimagnetism exhibit magnetic field‐dependent and simultaneously chirality‐independent magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) signals, while CMαFs with antiferromagnetism exhibit chirality‐dependent, magnetic field‐independent MCD signals. It is speculated that the competitive effect between the spin alignment‐induced and chirality‐induced effective magnetic fields determines the energy splitting of opposite spins in the materials with different magnetisms.
Experimental investigation on seismic performance of the double‐superimposed shear wall with different vertical connections
Authors: Meng Longfei , Zhu Lihua , Sun Rui , Su Hao , Ye Yanhua , Xu Lujun 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThis study investigated the seismic performances of double‐superimposed shear walls (DSSWs). Two types of vertical connections were proposed and investigated for the double‐superimposed wall system. Both vertical connections contain a 400 mm wide concealed column; one is prefabricated connection and the other is a 400 mm thick cast‐in‐place connection. Four samples considering the cast‐in‐place concrete and vertical connections are tested cyclically. The damage and hysteresis characteristics, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed. The failure mode of four spliced walls was bending‐shear failure, and all the walls show good seismic performance. The cast in situ connections with 400 mm thickness performed as well as the prefabricated connections. Then, the seismic performance indicators of DSSWs cast with self‐compacting concrete (SCC) are significantly enhanced compared with those of normal concrete shear walls. The use of SCC and cast‐in‐place vertical connections with 400 mm thickness is recommended, which is more convenient for construction in double‐superimposed wall systems. Furthermore, this study established the calculation models of the bearing capacity, and the calculation results agreed well with the experimental results.
Finite element analysis of punching shear behavior of reinforced concrete slabs supported on walls
Authors: Milligan Graeme J. , Polak Maria Anna , Zurell Cory 
Published: January 2022

AbstractDue to the low lateral stiffness of slabs supported on columns alone, reinforced concrete flat plates are typically combined with other structural elements, such as shear walls. In these structures, the slab–column connections are designed to carry gravity loads only, and the shear walls are required to resist both gravity and lateral forces. Therefore, the slab–wall connections are essential for the performance of both the gravity and lateral force resisting systems. However, most punching shear research and design provisions are focused on slab–column connections, even though punching failures around slab–wall connections have occurred experimentally. Empirical testing of slab–wall connections is difficult due to the specimen size. This paper investigates the punching shear behavior of interior slab–wall connections subjected to concentric vertical loading, and combined concentric vertical loading and uniaxial unbalanced moment using a plasticity‐based nonlinear finite element model (FEM) in ABAQUS. The analysis of isolated slab–wall connections demonstrates that punching failures can occur before one‐way shear failures. Since the overall connection capacity is much higher than the expected loads in most structures, if these punching failures happen they would be localized to the region around the wall end and are not expected to lead to structural collapse.
Fine structure and transcription dynamics of bread wheat ribosomal DNA loci deciphered by a multi‐omics approach
Authors: Tulpová Zuzana , Kovařík Aleš , Toegelová Helena , Navrátilová Pavla , Kapustová Veronika , Hřibová Eva , Vrána Jan , Macas Jiří , Doležel Jaroslav , Šimková Hana 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThree out of four RNA components of ribosomes are encoded by 45S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci, which are organized as long head‐to‐tail tandem arrays of nearly identical units, spanning several megabases of sequence. Due to this structure, the rDNA loci are the major sources of gaps in genome assemblies, and gene copy number, sequence composition, and expression status of particular arrays remain elusive, especially in complex genomes harboring multiple loci. Here we conducted a multi‐omics study to decipher the 45S rDNA loci in hexaploid bread wheat. Coupling chromosomal genomics with optical mapping, we reconstructed individual rDNA arrays, enabling locus‐specific analyses of transcription activity and methylation status from RNA‐ and bisulfite‐sequencing data. We estimated a total of 6,650 rDNA units in the bread wheat genome, with approximately 2,321, 3,910, 253, and 50 gene copies located in short arms of chromosomes 1B, 6B, 5D, and 1A, respectively. Only 1B and 6B loci contributed substantially to rRNA transcription at a roughly 2:1 ratio. The ratio varied among five tissues analyzed (embryo, coleoptile, root tip, primary leaf, mature leaf), being the highest (2.64:1) in mature leaf and lowest (1.72:1) in coleoptile. Cytosine methylation was considerably higher in CHG context in the silenced 5D locus as compared with the active 1B and 6B loci. In conclusion, a fine genomic organization and tissue‐specific expression of rDNA loci were deciphered, for the first time, in a complex polyploid species. The results are discussed in the context of wheat evolution and transcription regulation.
Longevity of vaccine protection: Immunological mechanism, assessment methods, and improving strategy
Authors: Chen Zhian , Gao Xin , Yu Di 
Published: January 2022

AbstractVaccination represents one of the most important achievements in modern medicine. During the era of COVID‐19 pandemic, the successful vaccination for SARS‐COV‐2 is the major hope to bring the society back to normal. However, although vaccines, such as for smallpox and poliomyelitis, can trigger life‐long protection in individuals and help to generate the herd immunity resulting in the eradication of pathogens, other vaccines, with seasonal influenza vaccine as a case in point, are unable to induce sustained immunity so that repeated vaccination is required. As most vaccines were developed empirically, the immunological mechanism underlying the longevity of vaccine‐induced protection remains only partially understood. In this review, we first describe vaccine‐induced humoral immune response in which long‐lived plasma cells and memory B cells are produced. We then summarise methods using immunological correlates of protection to assess the longevity of vaccine efficacy and provide the evidence and knowledge for the duration of protection by current vaccines. Last, we discuss rationale and strategies to improve the duration of vaccine protection by targeting vaccine immunogenicity, antibody affinity, avidity and prime‐boost scheme.
Portable and visual assays for the detection of SARS‐CoV‐2
Authors: Zhang Yufan , Ding Dan 
Published: January 2022

AbstractCorona virus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is a serious contagious disease that arises from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). The disease is transmitted primarily through droplets transmission, which does not exclude the possibility of transmission through aerosols and digestive tract and other means. The majority of COVID‐19 cases present as common and mild, while a few cases progress rapidly to the severe and critical stage, making it more difficult to save the disease. Current laboratory diagnostic approaches for COVID‐19 are on the basis of pathogenic tests for viral nucleic acids, serological tests by specific antibody detection, and general tests. For now, Real‐time quantitative PCR (qRT‐PCR) is the gold standard for the detection of COVID‐19, but the method is complicated and may have false‐negative results. Therefore, in order to diagnose and prevention COVID‐19 more effectively, it is needful to develop highly sensitive diagnostic methods with portable instruments and visualized results. This mini‐review provides an overview of the current portable and visual assays of detection of COVID‐19, in order to achieve early effective and more accurate diagnosis of COVID‐19.
Distinguishing mobility and immobility when establishing species‐specific activity budgets: A case study with gorillas (Gorilla berengei berengei and Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
Authors: Nsekanabo Jean D. , Leeds Austin , Eckardt Winnie , Tuyisingize Deogratias , Nyiramana Aisha , Lukas Kristen E. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractActivity budgets characterize the distribution of behavior over a specified time period. In some cases, having comparable data from free‐ranging populations can help inform the management of wildlife in zoos and sanctuaries. For example, although variations exist across subspecies, seasons, and study sites, diurnal activity budgets for free‐ranging gorillas largely consist of feeding and resting. Unfortunately, most studies do not consistently differentiate between the type of activities gorillas exhibit while locomoting versus stationary. Therefore, it can be difficult to characterize optimal levels of aerobic activity that might enhance body condition or promote gorilla health in zoos and sanctuaries. In this study, we concurrently measured the mobility state and activity of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. From June to August 2015, behavioral data were collected using group scan sampling with 15‐min intervals in two groups (N = 29 gorillas) monitored by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. Overall, gorillas spent significantly more time immobile (85.2% of observations) than mobile (14.8%), revealing energy expenditure levels comparable to western lowland gorillas living in zoos. There was no difference in behavioral diversity when gorillas were mobile versus immobile but adult females exhibited substantially less behavioral diversity while immobile than other age‐sex classes. There was more diversity in behaviors following the transition from immobile to mobile than vice versa, particularly for adult females. Future studies should concurrently measure mobility state and behavior to improve the precision of activity budget data and serve as a more useful tool for evaluating optimal activity levels for wildlife in human care.
Poststructuralism in International Relations: Discourse and the Military
Authors: Baumann Mario 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThis chapter introduces the poststructuralist perspective on international relations (IR). It outlines the epistemological and ontological fundament of poststructuralist thinking and introduces key concepts, notably discourse.This chapter aims to show that the way we talk about the world, about ourselves and others matters. It employs a particular focus on issues and examples that relate to the military – a domain that for long has been dealt with from more traditional IR perspectives. It seeks to encourage to look at those issues from a different, more critical, angle. It touches upon questions like: Can we ever be fully secure or do we need threats? How did the Global War on Terror become thinkable? What is the relationship between humanitarian interventions and identity?By presenting key contributions to the poststructuralist body of literature in IR, this chapter traces a poststructuralist perspective on issues of international relations, notably the state and foreign policy, security and threats. It encourages to scrutinize them critically and gives an overview of how to employ this theoretical perspective for empirical discourse analyses in practice.
Dynamic Flood Risk Modelling in Human–Flood Systems
Authors: Kreibich Heidi , Sairam Nivedita 
Published: January 2022

AbstractEffective flood risk management is highly relevant for advancing climate change adaptation. It needs to be based on risk modelling that considers the dynamics, complex interactions and feedbacks in human–flood systems. In this regard, we review recent advancements in understanding, quantifying and modelling changes in risk and its drivers. A challenge for integrating human behaviour in dynamic risk assessments and modelling is the combined consideration of qualitative and quantitative data. Advancements in this respect are (1) the compilation and analysis of comprehensive qualitative and quantitative data on flood risk changes in case studies following the paired event concept; (2) the integration of qualitative and quantitative data into socio-hydrological models using Bayesian inference; and (3) the coupling of hydrological flood risk models with behaviour models in socio-hydrological modelling systems. We recommend to further develop these approaches and use more such process-based, dynamic modelling also for large-scale flood risk analyses. These approaches are increasingly feasible due to significant improvements in computational power and data science.
Weather and Climate Services to Support a Risk-Sharing Mechanism for Adaptation of the Agricultural Sector. A Theoretical Example for Drought-Prone Areas
Authors: Máñez Costa María , Kovalevsky Dmitry V. 
Published: January 2022

AbstractSharing the burden of adaptation is key for the agricultural sector in developing countries. For the agricultural sector in developing countries, the losses will go from 3% under 1.5 °C scenario to 7% under 2 °C scenario (Masson-Delmotte et al. 2018). This anticipated information on possible climate change-driven challenges possesses a big load in farmers management that might ex-ante stop investing because of the negative consequences of the scenarios presented. This situation could be even worse in subsistence farming system totally dependent on the yields. Crop insurances can be a good way to overcome some of the losses. In this paper, we present weather-based insurance schemes (WII), which are based on weather index objectively determined for the specific agricultural region, and therefore the individual loss assessment, which makes insurances too expensive, is not necessary. We present the results of decisions based on perfect and imperfect weather forecasts and conclude by offering insights in the difference of decision-making if a perfect forecast might be available or not and the consequences for farmers income.
Recent Innovations in Flood Hazard Modelling Over Large Data Sparse Regions
Authors: Neal Jeffrey 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThis opinion piece summarises recent progress in the development of global flood models (GFMs) in support of flood impact modelling and identifies potential areas for model improvement over the next 5–10 years. In many parts of the world, flood hazard data are absent or lack the accuracy and precision required for most practical applications, including climate change impact assessment. With the hydrological cycle expected to intensify due to climate change, better modelling of flood hazard is needed as a prerequisite to understanding how flood risk might change in the future with climate. The past decade has seen substantial advances in the modelling of flood inundation in data scarce areas along with the emergence of global flood models that could form the foundation of global impact assessments. In summarising these advances, four key themes emerge linked to topography, extreme flow estimation, river network parameterisation and numerical modelling of inundation. Progress in each of these themes will be needed to deliver the next generation of global flood hazard data.
A Top-Down Meets Bottom-Up Approach for Climate Change Adaptation in Water Resource Systems
Authors: Pulido-Velazquez Manuel , Marcos-Garcia Patricia , Girard Corentin , Sanchis-Ibor Carles , Martinez-Capel Francisco , García-Prats Alberto , Ortega-Reig Mar , García-Mollá Marta , Rinaudo Jean Daniel 
Published: January 2022

AbstractThe adaptation to the multiple facets of climate/global change challenges the conventional means of water system planning. Numerous demand and supply management options are often available, from which a portfolio of adaptation measures needs to be selected in a context of high uncertainty about future conditions. A framework is developed to integrate inputs from the two main approaches commonly used to plan for adaptation. The proposed “top–down meets bottom–up” approach provides a systematic and practical method for supporting the selection of adaptation measures at river basin level by comprehensively integrating the goals of economic efficiency, social acceptability, environmental sustainability, and adaptation robustness. The top-down approach relies on the use of a chain of models to assess the impact of global change on water resources and its adaptive management over a range of climate projections. Future demand scenarios and locally prioritized adaptation measures are identified following a bottom-up approach through a participatory process with the relevant stakeholders and experts. Cost-effective combinations of adaptation measures are then selected using a hydro-economic model at basin scale. The resulting adaptation portfolios are climate checked to define a robust program of measures based on trade-offs between adaptation costs and reliability. Valuable insights are obtained on the use of uncertain climate information for selecting robust, reliable, and resilient water management portfolios. Finally, cost allocation and equity implications are analyzed through the comparison of economically rational results (cooperative game theory) and the application of social justice principles.
Advances in Climate Adaptation Modeling of Infrastructure Networks
Authors: Pant Raghav 
Published: January 2022

AbstractAs the adverse effects of climate change are increasingly becoming unavoidable, calls for improving climate adaptation assessments have gathered interest at the global scale. Infrastructure policymakers and practitioners are now interested in understanding climate vulnerabilities and risks that capture the systemic nature of failure propagation seen across interconnected networks. This would help inform adaptation planning objectives meant to improve systemic resilience. This paper presents recent technical methodological and tool-based advances made in climate vulnerability, risk, and adaptation modeling of large-scale infrastructure networks. These methodologies adopt a bottom-up approach that focuses on creating data-rich representations of infrastructure network attributes, resource flows, and socio-economic indicators that are all used for quantifying direct and indirect risks to network assets exposed to extreme climate hazards at multiple scales. Insights from different case studies are presented to show how such methodologies have been used in practice for informing different policy needs. The paper concludes by identifying the existing gaps and future opportunities for such bottom-up infrastructure network vulnerability, risk, and adaptation assessment methodologies.
Climate Change Adaptation in Insurance
Authors: Scholer Marie , Schuermans Pamela 
Published: January 2022

AbstractIn this paper, we show three examples of how insurers can contribute to climate change adaptation, through insurers’ underwriting and pricing practice. In the context of climate change, there is a clear need to go beyond traditional risk transfer products. Including risk reduction measures in an insurance product has the advantage of helping to better adapt to climate change by not only transferring the risk but by directly reducing avoidable damages when an event strikes, which as a result contributes to build a more resilient society.
Impact-Oriented Climate Information Selection
Authors: van den Hurk Bart 
Published: January 2022

AbstractTo support climate adaptation decision-making, a picture of current and upcoming climate and socio-economic conditions is required, including an overview of intervention scenarios and their impact. In order to be actionable, this picture needs to rely on credible, relevant, and legitimate information, which implies the use of tested models and concepts, tailored to the decision context, and with transparent and understandable assumptions on boundary conditions and process representation. These criteria are challenged when the complexity of the problem is large and stakes are high. For many conditions, unforeseeable features and events with potentially large implications affect the problem at hand and contribute to the uncertainty that is not easily quantified, let alone eliminated. We explore storyline development approaches that help in selecting relevant and credible pathways and events that enrich the understanding of the risks and options at stake. We explore two categories of storylines (climate scenario storylines and climate risk storylines) by discussing use cases in which these were developed.