bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Postoperative fluid balance and outcomes after Pancreaticoduodenectomy: a retrospective study in 301 patients
Authors: Zhang Hang , Feng Yechen , Suolang Duoji , Dang Chao , Qin Renyi 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Background
The incidence of postoperative morbidity after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is high; however, whether fluid management after surgery affects postoperative morbidity is unclear. This study aimed to determine whether fluid balance in patients undergoing PD is associated with postoperative complications and mortality.

Methods
Data from a computer-based database of patients who underwent PD between 2016 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were stratified into four quartiles according to their fluid balance at 0–24, 24–48, 48–72, and 72–96 h after surgery. The predefined primary outcome measures were morbidity and mortality rates.

Results
A total of 301 patients were included. The morbidity and mortality rates in the cohort were 56.5% and 3.7%, respectively. The most common complications after PD were postoperative pancreatic fistula (31.9%) and delayed gastric emptying (31.6%). Patients with a higher fluid balance in the 0–24-, 24–48-, and 48–72-h postoperative periods had a higher morbidity rate and longer hospital stay than those with a lower fluid balance (all P < 0.05). Patients with a fluid balance of 4212 mL during the postoperative 0–72 h were most likely to develop complications (P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.71 (0.65–0.77), with a sensitivity of 58.24% and a specificity of 77.10%.

Conclusions
Higher postoperative fluid balance seems to be associated with increased morbidity after PD compared to lower fluid balance. Surgeons should pay close attention to the occurrence of complications in patients with a high fluid balance.
Feature-blind fairness in collaborative filtering recommender systems
Authors: Borges Rodrigo , Stefanidis Kostas 
Published: February 2022

AbstractRecommender systems were originally proposed for suggesting potentially relevant items to users, with the unique objective of providing accurate suggestions. These recommenders started being adopted in several domains, and were identified as generating biased results that could harm the data items being recommended. The exposure in generated rankings, for instance in a job candidate selection situation, is supposed to be fairly distributed among candidates, regardless of their sensitive attributes (gender, race, nationality, age) for promoting equal opportunities. It can happen, however, that no such sensitive information is available in the data applied for training the recommender, and in this case, there is still space for biases that can lead to unfair treatment, named Feature-Blind unfairness. In this work, we adopt Variational Autoencoders (VAE), considered as the state-of-the-art technique for Collaborative Filtering (CF) recommendations, and we present a framework for addressing fairness when having only access to information about user-item interactions. More specifically, we are interested in Position and Popularity Bias. VAE loss function combines two terms associated with accuracy and quality of representation; we introduce a new term for encouraging fairness, and demonstrate the effect of promoting fair results despite of a tolerable decrease in recommendation quality. In our best scenario, position bias is reduced by 42% despite a reduction of 26% in recall in the top 100 recommendation results, compared to the same situation without any fairness constraints.
Liver biopsy for assessment of chronic liver diseases: a synopsis
Authors: Chowdhury Aqib B. , Mehta Kosha J. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe world-wide increase in chronic liver disease (CLD) calls for refinement of diagnostic and prognostic measures for early and accurate disease detection and management. Regardless of the aetiology, liver biopsy allows direct visualisation of specimen under the microscope. It facilitates histological evaluation of disease-specific morphological alterations. Thereby, it aids in disease diagnosis, prognosis, and assessment of treatment compliance/response. Indeed, with the advent of non-invasive methods, liver biopsy is used less frequently than before, but it is still considered as a gold standard for staging and grading several CLDs. This short review revisits liver biopsy. It highlights the significance of liver biopsy in evaluating CLDs and explains the commonly used Ishak, METAVIR and Batts-Ludwig scoring systems for grading and staging CLDs. The utility of liver biopsy in examining alcohol-related liver disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is discussed along with the disease-specific alcoholic hepatitis histology score (AHHS) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease activity score (NAS). Additionally, the review elaborates on the role of liver biopsy in evaluating viral hepatitis, haemochromatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Contextual explanation on the diagnosis of metabolic dysfunction-associated liver disease (MAFLD) is provided. The significance and clinical indications of repeat biopsy are also explained. Lastly, caveats and limitations associated with liver biopsy are reviewed. Essentially, this review collates the application of liver biopsy in assessing various CLDs and provides succinct explanations of the core scoring systems, all under one roof. It is clinically relevant and provides a useful synopsis to budding scientists and hepato-pathologists.
Adult–adult play in captive lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
Authors: Cordoni Giada , Pirarba Luca , Elies Stéphanie , Demuru Elisa , Guéry Jean-Pascal , Norscia Ivan 
Published: February 2022

AbstractAmong African great apes, play is virtually absent between adult lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). Here, we report an extremely rare case of adult–adult play observed in the lowland gorilla group housed at La Vallée de Singes (France). We recorded three playful interactions between the silverback and an adult lactating female. Given the diverse causal and functional nature of play, different factors may join in promoting this behaviour. In our group, contrary to what has been shown by previous studies in wild and captive gorillas, adult females spent more time in spatial proximity with the silverback than with other females. Hence, the probability of social interaction (including play) between silverback and adult females was enhanced. Moreover, the motivation of the lactating female to play might be an effect of oxytocin, a hormone that reaches high concentration levels during lactation and that promotes social affiliation. The fact that play invitations were always performed by the female might support this hypothesis. Certainly, we cannot exclude the possibility that the play event is a group idiosyncrasy or an artefact of captivity, even though the subjects never showed abnormal behaviour. Structurally, play sessions showed a suitable degree of pattern variability and switching frequency from one pattern to another. The proportion of offensive patterns was higher in the female during play and in the male during aggression, which conforms to the role reversal play phenomenon. In conclusion, this report confirms that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is likely that under particular physiological or socio-ecological conditions, adult–adult play may be manifested as an “unconventional” part of gorilla social behaviour.
A survey on email visualisation research to address the conflict between privacy and access
Authors: Bartliff Zoe , Kim Yunhyong , Hopfgartner Frank 
Published: February 2022

AbstractEmails, much like communicative genres such as letters that predate them, are a rich source of data for researchers, but they are replete with privacy considerations. This paper explores the resulting friction between privacy concerns and email data access. Studies of email can often be centred on understanding patterns of behaviour and/or relationships between people or groups, and, as such, embody risks of disclosing private information. This is further amplified in humanities research which is concerned with the individual, their work and the circumstances that influence them. Furthermore, previous studies have expounded upon the benefits of visualisations for researching email data, a method which has been reported both as a path to addressing known concerns, as well as, introducing new concerns in privacy. The spectrum of methodologies leave archivists and curators of email data in a quandary, unable to balance accessibility with privacy. The research presented in this paper contributes a systematic approach to examining the relationship between email visualisation research and privacy. It presents a categorisation of email visualisation attributes, and a graded scale of privacy, to be used in conjunction as a framework for interrogating existing research and their associated email collections. The paper aims to instigate the first steps in concretely situating the extent to which research can take advantage of or is challenged by privacy conscious data management.
Measuring the effective dispersal of an emerging coastal weed, Euphorbia paralias (sea spurge), to help inform its eradication
Authors: Thomson Fiona J. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractUnderstanding dispersal and establishment patterns of invasive plant species is critical information to help control and eradicate their populations. Euphorbia paralias, sea spurge, is a highly invasive weed that can be a serious threat to coastal environments. Two recent incursions of E. paralias on New Zealand’s coastline consisted of one reproductive adult surrounded by several hundred juveniles, providing the opportunity to gather effective dispersal distance data for this species. Using these two separate populations effective dispersal distances curves were created for E. paralias. It was found one adult led to the establishment of 213 healthy plants at NZ’s southern-most incursion and 484 healthy plants at the northern-most incursion. All plants were subsequently removed from the site. The maximum effective dispersal distance of 15.8 m on land for E. paralias was larger than would be predicted by the majority of trait-based dispersal distance models and the estimate of ~ 2 m in the literature. These results show that E. paralias can establish large healthy populations, making it a considerable threat to coastal environments. However, populations around an adult plant are fairly concentrated at the very early stages of invasion (90% of offspring < 5.5 m from the adult) providing opportunities to remove the seed bank at incursion sites. Early detection of E. paralias populations using comprehensive surveillance and removal of any new populations (seed and establishing plants) will be essential components for the success in any eradication programme for sea spurge.
Short- and long-term exposure to trace metal(loid)s from the production of ferromanganese alloys by personal sampling and biomarkers
Authors: Markiv B. , Ruiz-Azcona L. , Expósito A. , Santibáñez M. , Fernández-Olmo I. 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe environmental exposure to trace metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn) was assessed near a ferromanganese alloy plant using filters from personal particulate matter (PM) samplers (bioaccessible and non-bioaccessible fine and coarse fractions) and whole blood as short-term exposure markers, and scalp hair and fingernails as long-term biomarkers, collected from volunteers (n = 130) living in Santander Bay (northern Spain). Bioaccessible and non-bioaccessible metal(loid) concentrations in coarse and fine PM from personal samplers were determined by ICP-MS after extraction/digestion. Metal(loid) concentration in biomarkers was measured after alkaline dilution (whole blood) and acid digestion (fingernails and scalp hair) by ICP-MS as well. Results were discussed in terms of exposure, considering the distance to the main Mn source, and sex. In terms of exposure, significant differences were found for Mn in all the studied fractions of PM, As in whole blood, Mn and Cu in scalp hair and Mn and Pb in fingernails, with all concentrations being higher for those living closer to the Mn source, with the exception of Cu in scalp hair. Furthermore, the analysis of the correlation between Mn levels in the studied biomarkers and the wind-weighted distance to the main source of Mn allows us to conclude that scalp hair and mainly fingernails are appropriate biomarkers of long-term airborne Mn exposure. This was also confirmed by the significant positive correlations between scalp hair Mn and bioaccessible Mn in coarse and fine fractions, and between fingernails Mn and all PM fractions. This implies that people living closer to a ferromanganese alloy plant are exposed to higher levels of airborne metal(loid)s, mainly Mn, leading to higher levels of this metal in scalp hair and fingernails, which according to the literature, might affect some neurological outcomes. According to sex, significant differences were observed for Fe, Cu and Pb in whole blood, with higher concentrations of Fe and Pb in males, and higher levels of Cu in females; and for Mn, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in scalp hair, with higher concentrations in males for all metal(loid)s except Cu.
Geotechnical Properties Determination of Thickened Fluid Fine Tailings
Authors: Demoz Alebachew 
Published: February 2022

AbstractFluid fine tailings (FFT) comprising clayey-silt solids pose environmental and financial challenges. Currently, mining operators are depositing thickened FFT in deep-pits counting on self-weight consolidation to form stable ground. The motivation of this study is to model the long-term prospects of such deposits utilizing consolidation and direct shear strength measurements. The tests were conducted using scroll decanter centrifuge separated FFT sediment referred to as cake. Drained direct shear tests of the cake gave a linear Mohr–Coulomb failure envelope of 1.2 kPa cohesion intercept and 9° internal friction angle for normal stresses up to 1 MPa. Hydraulic conductivity of the cake was non-linear with normal stress decreasing to 1.7 × 10–11 m/s at 300 kPa. Consolidation results confirmed that the cake exhibits properties similar to those of active clay minerals. The cake compression index is governed by the same relationship as for active clays. The coefficient of consolidation for the cake was nearly constant and had a mean value of 2.25 × 10–3 m2/y, also similar to that of active clays. The void ratio—effective stress—hydraulic conductivity power law empirical relations were used to simulate settlement with a finite-strain model. Numerical results show that the top portion of an FFT deep-pit deposit remains in the liquid state while the lower portion whose maximum solids content converges to 74% is in plastic state. These mean that options that improve hydraulic conductivity and increase the shear strength of the thickened FFT should be integrated prior to final placement in order to create stable ground.
The Mediating Role of Global and Contingent Self-Esteem in the Association Between Emerging Adults’ Perceptions of Family Cohesion and Test Anxiety
Authors: Németh Lilla , Bernáth László 
Published: February 2022

AbstractThe aim of this study is to investigate the importance of family cohesion and self-esteem regarding test anxiety among emerging adults. The study’s hypothesis is that cohesion experienced in a university student’s family of origin predicts test anxiety. The mediating role of self-esteem was tested considering both global self-esteem and contingent self-esteem based on one’s perceived competence. The study also examines whether these associations differ across groups based on gender or residential status. The research questions were investigated using students’ self-reported measures of test anxiety, global self-esteem, contingent self-esteem, and family cohesion. The results, based on data gathered from 487 university students, revealed that global self-esteem was a negative predictor of test anxiety and contingent self-esteem was a positive predictor of test anxiety. These findings indicate that the level and source of self-esteem must be considered regarding test anxiety. Further, adaptive family cohesion impacted test anxiety by increasing global self-esteem and decreasing contingent self-esteem. Although these indirect associations were rather weak, they highlight the impact of the family of origin during emerging adulthood. The pattern of interrelations was similar among men and women, as well as among those living together or apart from their family of origin.
State estimator based on an indirect Kalman filter for a hydraulically actuated multibody system
Authors: Jaiswal Suraj , Sanjurjo Emilio , Cuadrado Javier , Sopanen Jussi , Mikkola Aki 
Published: February 2022

AbstractIn multibody system dynamics, the equations of motion are often coupled with systems of other physical nature, such as hydraulics. To infer the real dynamical state of such a coupled multibody system at any instant of time, information fusing techniques, such as state estimators, can be followed. In this procedure, data is combined from the coupled multibody model and the physical sensors installed on the actual machine. This paper proposes a novel state estimator developed by combining a multibody model with an indirect Kalman filter in the framework of hydraulically driven systems. An indirect Kalman filter that utilizes the exact Jacobian matrix of the plant at position and velocity level is extended for hydraulically actuated systems. The structures of the covariance matrices of the plant and measurement noise are also studied. The multibody system, described using a semi-recursive formulation, and the hydraulic subsystem, described using lumped fluid theory, are coupled using a monolithic approach. As a case study, the state estimator is applied to a hydraulically actuated four-bar mechanism. The state estimator considers modeling errors in the force model because of its uncertainty in modeling. The measurements are obtained from a dynamic model which is considered as the ground truth, with an addition of white Gaussian noise to represent the noise properties of the actual sensors. The state estimator uses four sensor configurations with different sampling rates. For the presented case study, the state estimator can accurately estimate the work cycle and hydraulic pressures of the coupled multibody system. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed state estimator.
Turning machines: a simple algorithmic model for molecular robotics
Authors: Kostitsyna Irina , Wood Cai , Woods Damien 
Published: February 2022

AbstractMolecular robotics is challenging, so it seems best to keep it simple. We consider an abstract molecular robotics model based on simple folding instructions that execute asynchronously. Turning Machines are a simple 1D to 2D folding model, also easily generalisable to 2D to 3D folding. A Turning Machine starts out as a line of connected monomers in the discrete plane, each with an associated turning number. A monomer turns relative to its neighbours, executing a unit-distance translation that drags other monomers along with it, and through collective motion the initial set of monomers eventually folds into a programmed shape. We provide a suite of tools for reasoning about Turning Machines by fully characterising their ability to execute line rotations: executing an almost-full line rotation of $$5\pi /3$$

5
π
/
3

radians is possible, yet a full $$2\pi$$

2
π

rotation is impossible. Furthermore, line rotations up to $$5\pi /3$$

5
π
/
3

are executed efficiently, in $$O(\log n)$$

O
(
log
n
)

expected time in our continuous time Markov chain time model. We then show that such line-rotations represent a fundamental primitive in the model, by using them to efficiently and asynchronously fold shapes. In particular, arbitrarily large zig-zag-rastered squares and zig-zag paths are foldable, as are y-monotone shapes albeit with error (bounded by perimeter length). Finally, we give shapes that despite having paths that traverse all their points, are in fact impossible to fold, as well as techniques for folding certain classes of (scaled) shapes without error. Our approach relies on careful geometric-based analyses of the feats possible and impossible by a very simple robotic system, and pushes conceptional hardness towards mathematical analysis and away from molecular implementation.
Direct Granule Feeding of Thermal Droplet Deposition 3D Printing of Porous Pharmaceutical Solid Dosage Forms Free of Plasticisers
Authors: McDonagh Thomas , Belton Peter , Qi Sheng 
Published: February 2022

Abstract
Purpose
To develop a new direct granule fed 3D printing method for manufacturing pharmaceutical solid dosage forms with porous structures using a thermal droplet deposition technology.

Methods
Eudragit® E PO was used as the model polymer, which is well-known to be not FDM printable without additives. Wet granulation was used to produce drug loaded granules as the feedstock. The flow and feedability of the granules were evaluated. The physicochemical properties and in vitro drug release performance of the granules and the printed tablets were fully characterised.

Results
Using the method developed by this study, Eudragit E PO was printed with a model drug into tablets with infills ranging from 30–100%, without additives. The drug was confirmed to be molecularly dispersed in the printed tablets. The printing quality and performances of the porous tablets were confirmed to be highly compliant with the pharmacopeia requirement. The level of infill density of the porous tablets had a significant effect on their in vitro drug release performance.

Conclusion
This is the first report of thermal droplet deposition printing via direct granule feeding. The results of this study demonstrated that this new printing method can be used as a potentially valuable alternative for decentralised pharmaceutical solid dosage form manufacturing.
Instrumentality Gives Girls the Edge: Gender-Differential Relations Between Instrumentality, Achievement Motivation, and Self-Esteem
Authors: Streck Hannah , Nishen Anna K. , Kessels Ursula 
Published: February 2022

AbstractGender differences in school are often discussed in reference to a particular type of masculinity, negative masculinity, which is often conceptualized as detrimental to success. Another type of masculinity, instrumentality, has rarely been studied in schools even though instrumental characteristics are often exalted outside the academic context. The current study focuses on potential benefits that students may reap from instrumentality. The extent to which an instrumental self-concept is directly and indirectly associated with achievement motivation and self-esteem was examined for adolescent boys and girls in a structural equation model (SEM). A sample of German ninth graders (N = 355) completed self-report measures pertaining to their gender role self-concept, hope for success, fear of failure, and global and academic contingent self-esteem. The SEM revealed that instrumentality was associated with lower fear of failure and higher hope for success for both male and female adolescents. High scores in instrumentality were associated with greater self-esteem and lower academic contingent self-esteem. The association between instrumentality and global self-esteem was stronger for adolescent girls, and the indirect association between instrumentality and fear of failure through global self-esteem was significant only for girls. Results indicate that instrumentality can be an asset for students and that female students especially reap the benefits of an instrumental self-concept. The results are discussed in reference to the dangers of emphasizing solely the association between negative masculinity and academic failure, and the importance of studying relations with gender role self-concept separately for male and female adolescents.