julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Reply
2020-05-01

We agree with Bekker et al. that further research is needed to define the benefits vs harms of genome-wide cell-free DNA (GW-cfDNA) testing of maternal blood. We believe that the best approach to answer this question is through a case–control study in which no action is taken on positive results other than for trisomies 21, 18 and 13. We strongly disagree that it is ethically acceptable to ‘test and learn’ through an implementation study such as TRIDENT-21 that is partly funded by the pregnant women themselves and in which neither the women nor their doctors know what is the purpose of testing and what is the clinical significance of most of the positive results other than those for the major trisomies. Although in The Netherlands a major effort has been made to optimize pre-test patient counseling, the value of such counseling is questionable in the absence of data on the clinical significance of findings detected by GW-cfDNA testing. The situation in Belgium is more worrying. cfDNA screening is nearly fully funded by the government and genetic laboratories carry out GW-cfDNA testing as an ‘opt-out’ test without proper pre-test counseling; if the pregnant woman does not tick the box stating that she does not want to be informed about relevant chromosomal abnormalities other than trisomies 21, 18 and 13, a GW-cfDNA test is conducted2. The Belgian medical deontological code insists on patients being correctly informed about any diagnostic or therapeutic measure they are offered3. However, a recent survey showed that 20% of women who underwent cfDNA testing were not aware that this included screening for trisomy 214.
Lorna Tilley and Alecia A. Schrenk, eds. New Developments in the Bioarchaeology of Care: Further Case Studies and Expanded Theory (Cham: Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2017, xi and 385 pp., 13 tables and 80 b/w and colour illustr. ISBN 978-3-319-39900-3)
2020-05-01

Lorna Tilley and Alecia A. Schrenk, eds. New Developments in the Bioarchaeology of Care: Further Case Studies and Expanded Theory (Cham: Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2017, xi and 385 pp., 13 tables and 80 b/w and colour illustr. ISBN 978-3-319-39900-3) - Volume 23 Issue 2
(Invited) Role of Surface p-n Heterojunctions in the Gas Sensing with Smox Based Devices - Operando Studies Insights
2020-05-01

Resistive gas sensors based on semiconducting metal oxides (SMOX), such as SnO 2 , WO 3 and In 2 O 3 , are widely applied for the detection of flammable or toxic gases such as hydrogen, methane or carbon monoxide. Because of their good sensitivity and stability, simplicity of use, low power consumption, ease of integration and low cost they are also obvious candidates to provide the IoT with the sense of smell. In their pristine form they have, however, inherent disadvantages such as strong interference with water vapour and poor stability. To overcome them, the semiconducting oxides are loaded with catalytically active metals, such as Pd, Pt, Rh or Au; this procedure is often referred to as doping. The understanding of the way in which these additives are impacting the sensor performance is crucial for the further improvement. The models that are generally used were established more than 25 years ago and are not in line with the wealth of new information acquired by applying the newest investigation approaches. This contribution discusses the different chemical and electrical sensitization mechanisms of noble metal additives by examining their impact on the reception and transduction functions of the gas sensors. Based on state-of-the-art experimental findings, it revises and updates the concepts that are used to explain the mechanisms through which the additives influence the performance of typical gas sensing materials, i.e., oxide nanoparticles arranged in a porous layer. It will explain the differences between doping and loading and the importance of the accurate determination of their chemical state. It will also show how the chemical and electrical contributions to the sensitization are mutually influencing each other and the complex way in which they impact the sensing properties. It will also demonstrate that the understanding of the complex role of additives provides the basis for a knowledge-based design of gas sensors based on semiconducting metal oxide nanoparticles. Experimental results obtained with the help of various operando investigation techniques will be presented and interpreted with the help of novel mechanistic concepts for the exemplary cases of SnO 2 :Au,Pt and WO 3 : Rh, Pd, Pt..
What do patients expect from osteosynthetic stabilization of proximal tibial fractures?
2020-05-01

Aims and Objectives: Surgical treatment of proximal tibial fractures is often associated with complications and postoperative limitations in knee motion. Unrealistic patient expectations of the operation may lead to dissatisfaction with the surgical outcome despite successful surgery. The hypothesis of this study was that patients with proximal tibial fracture have very high expectations of surgical intervention in terms of painlessness, return to work and sport ability. Further, underestimation of the risk for the development of secondary gonarthrosis was hypothesized. Materials and Methods: From 2017-2018, n=79 patients (n=35 w, mean age 48 years ±13.6 years) with proximal tibial fracture were prospectively and consecutively enrolled at three level A trauma centers. Preoperatively, demographic data, fracture classification according to AO classification, the HSS -Knee Surgery Expectations Survey using the 4-point Likert scale, the workload according to REFA criteria and the non-standardized expectations regarding the return to work/sport ability and the secondary risk for developing gonarthrosis were collected and analysed. A statistical significance of p&lt;0.05 was assumed. Results: 81% (n=63) of the patients expect a maximum duration of incapacity for work of 12 weeks regardless of age, gender and workload (n.s.). 74% (n=58) expect a return to work and 70% (n=55) a return to sport with no or only minor restrictions. Younger patients (younger than 55 years) had significantly higher expectations of an unrestricted return to work (p=0.045) and sport (p=0.04). Gender and workload had no significant influence on this expectation (n.s.). 33% (n=26) do not expect any residual pain postoperatively, regardless of activity. Younger patients expect significantly less residual pain than older patients (p=0.03). 92% (n=73) expect a completely normal knee joint or only minor differences to a healthy knee, regardless of age, gender and workload (n.s.). At least 72% (n=57) of the patients consider an unrestricted or only slightly restricted knee function to be at least important, regardless of age, sex and workload (n.s.). 29% (n=23) of the patients, regardless of age, sex and workload (n.s.) assume that the operation prevents secondary gonarthrosis. Conclusion: The results confirm our hypothesis that patients have very high expectations of the surgical treatment of proximal tibial fractures. For younger patients in particular, an unrestricted return to sport, work and painlessness is very important. The risk assessment regarding developing secondary gonarthrosis seems unrealistic. This study should help surgeons to discuss realistic expectations and results of osteosynthetic stabilization of proximal tibial fractures with their patients in order to improve patients’ satisfaction.
Automated Graph-Based Fault Injection Into Virtual Prototypes for Robustness Evaluation
2020-05-01

Modeling and validation of complex and highly connected systems involved in safety-critical tasks are great challenges today with little support in automation. A graph structure models the system and the faults component-by-component in the proposed approach and specifies valid systems. Automated generation and execution of test cases for every valid combination of components is done as well as monitoring and assessment of the system behavior. The integrated fault description provides faults from single bit-flip to comprehensive scenarios. The simulation is supervised and executed by the graph, which adapts the faults automatically during simulation with respect to the simulation state.
Detection of reduced diameter of nervus cochlearis in long term deaf patients quantified with semiautimatic 3 tesla MRI ZOOMIT sequence.
2020-05-01

Beside audiological testing routine preoperative evaluation includes MRI scan of the neurocranium. This allows the evaluation of the morphology of the nerves in the inner ear canal. Earlier studies have shown that the diameter of the cochlear nerve can be used as prognostic marker for the auditory performance after cochlear implantation. In this study we used 3 tesla MRI ZOOMIT sequence together with semiautomatic analysis to determine the maximal area of the nerves in the inner ear canal. We therefore retrospectively analyzed 100 3 tesla MRI scans with ZOOMIT Sequence using our semiautomatic tool to measure area of cochlear, vestibular and facial nerve in the inner ear canal and correlated this with patient history and audiology testing. We evaluated 5 groups of patient with a length of deafness of more than 20 years (normakusis, 11-40 dB hearing loss (hl), 41-70 dB hl, 71-100 dB hl and complete deafness) and calculated the quotient of cochlear and facial nerve area. There was a significant difference between patients with normakusis (1.29 ± 0.15 mm2) and patients with hearing loss of more than 41 dB (1.03 ±0.16, 0.99 ± 0.07 und 0.88 ± 0.1 mm2). However there was no significant difference in patients with moderate hearing loss (11-40 dB). Therefor we could show that in long term deaf patients, the diameter of the cochlear nerve is decreasing the more severe the hearing loss is. Also, the maximal area of the facial nerve was not different between all groups. This tool can therefore be used prior to cochlea implantation to assess nerve diameter and possibly determine patients with nerve degeneration that will possibly not profit from cochlear implantation or vice versa.
Evaluation of structured operation planning of functional endoscopic sinus surgeries using computed tomography scans
2020-05-01

Introduction Preoperative planning of sinus surgery using computed tomography (CT) scans is an essential part of the procedure. In many cases there are no uniform documentation and planning structures and the quality of reports and completeness are subject to strong fluctuations. The aim of the study was to compare the quality of reports and user satisfaction of conventional operation planning (COP) using sinus CTs and structured operation planning (SOP) during a 4 days sinus surgery course.
Voluntary Adopters of Integrated Reporting – Evidence on Forecast Accuracy and Firm Value
2020-05-02

Abstract This study investigates how integrated reporting (IR) creates value for investors. It examines how providers of financial capital benefit from an improved firm information environment provided by IR. Specifically, this study investigates the effect of voluntary IR disclosure on analyst earnings forecast accuracy as well as on firm value. To do so, we use an international sample of 167 listed companies that voluntarily publish an integrated report. Our analysis shows no significant effect of a voluntary IR publication on analyst earnings forecast accuracy and no significant effect on firm value. We thus do not find evidence for the fulfillment of IR's promises regarding improved information environment and value creation of voluntary adopters. We conclude that such companies might already have a relatively high level of transparency leading to an absent additional effect of IR disclosure. Positive effects of IR appear to be more relevant in environments where IR is mandatory.
Elucidating the socio‐demographics of wildlife tolerance using the example of the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) in Germany
2020-05-02

Abstract As a consequence of increasing human‐wildlife encounters, the associated potential for human‐wildlife conflict rises. The dependency of conservation management actions on the acceptance or even the participation of people requires modern conservation strategies that take the human dimension of wildlife management into account. In the first place, conservationists therefore need to understand how people perceive wildlife. In the present study, we examined how wildlife perception varies with people's socio‐demographic backgrounds in terms of age, gender, and education as well as the settlement structure of people's living environment and their general life satisfaction, using the red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) as a model species. We used an interview‐based survey of 2,646 participants, representative for the German population, for investigating their knowledge about, risk perception of, and attitude toward red foxes. We found a negative correlation between age and the risks perceived regarding foxes. Moreover, men held a more positive attitude and perceived less risk than women. Higher education was also associated with lower risk perception and a more positive attitude. The results further indicated that people who live in rural areas perceived higher risks regarding foxes and showed a less positive attitude than people in urban or suburban areas. Finally, people who perceived higher risks and held a less positive attitude supported lethal population management actions more often. However, we also found that perceived risks decreased with participants' general life satisfaction. Hence, wildlife perception is affected by various factors. Understanding the factors affecting wildlife perception is crucial for environmental communication and for fostering acceptance of conservation measures to improve conservation strategies.
Metagenomic- and Cultivation-Based Exploration of Anaerobic Chloroform Biotransformation in Hypersaline Sediments as Natural Source of Chloromethanes
2020-05-02

Chloroform (CF) is an environmental contaminant that can be naturally formed in various environments ranging from forest soils to salt lakes. Here we investigated CF removal potential in sediments obtained from hypersaline lakes in Western Australia. Reductive dechlorination of CF to dichloromethane (DCM) was observed in enrichment cultures derived from sediments of Lake Strawbridge, which has been reported as a natural source of CF. No CF removal was observed in abiotic control cultures without artificial electron donors, indicating biotic CF dechlorination in the enrichment cultures. Increasing vitamin B12 concentration from 0.04 to 4 μM in enrichment cultures enhanced CF removal and reduced DCM formation. In cultures amended with 4 μM vitamin B12 and 13C labelled CF, formation of 13CO2 was detected. Known organohalide-respiring bacteria and reductive dehalogenase genes were neither detected using quantitative PCR nor metagenomic analysis of the enrichment cultures. Rather, members of the order Clostridiales, known to co-metabolically transform CF to DCM and CO2, were detected. Accordingly, metagenome-assembled genomes of Clostridiales encoded enzymatic repertoires for the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and cobalamin biosynthesis, which are known to be involved in fortuitous and nonspecific CF transformation. This study indicates that hypersaline lake microbiomes may act as a filter to reduce CF emission to the atmosphere.
Monotonic Gaussian Process Flow
2020-05-02

We propose a new framework for imposing monotonicity constraints in a Bayesian nonparametric setting based on numerical solutions of stochastic differential equations. We derive a nonparametric model of monotonic functions that allows for interpretable priors and principled quantification of hierarchical uncertainty. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed model by providing competitive results to other probabilistic monotonic models on a number of benchmark functions. In addition, we consider the utility of a monotonic random process as a part of a hierarchical probabilistic model; we examine the task of temporal alignment of time-series data where it is beneficial to use a monotonic random process in order to preserve the uncertainty in the temporal warpings.
On P Versus NP
2020-05-02

I generalize a well-known result that P = NP fails for monotone polynomial circuits - more precisely, that the clique problem CLIQUE(k^4,k) is not solvable by Boolean (AND,OR)-circuits of the size polynomial in k. In the other words, there is no Boolean (AND,OR)-formula F expressing that a given graph with k^4 vertices contains a clique of k elements, provided that the circuit length of F, cl(F), is polynomial in k. In fact, for any solution F in question, cl(F) must be exponential in k. Moreover this holds also for DeMorgan normal (abbr.: DMN) (AND,OR)-formulas F that allow negated variables. Based on the latter observation I consider an arbitrary (AND,OR,NOT)-formula F and recall that standard NOT-conversions to DMN at most double its circuit length. Hence for any Boolean solution F of CLIQUE(k^4,k), cl(F) is exponential in k. I conclude that CLIQUE(k^4,k) is not solvable by polynomial-size Boolean circuits, and hence P is not NP. The entire proof is formalizable by standard methods in the exponential function arithmetic EFA.
Detailed Seismic Bathymetry Beneath Ekström Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Implications for Glacial History and Ice‐Ocean Interaction
2020-05-03

Abstract The shape of ice shelf cavities are a major source of uncertainty in understanding ice‐ocean interactions. This limits assessments of the response of the Antarctic ice sheets to climate change. Here we use vibroseis seismic reflection surveys to map the bathymetry beneath the Ekström Ice Shelf, Dronning Maud Land. The new bathymetry reveals an inland‐sloping trough, reaching depths of 1,100 m below sea level, near the current grounding line, which we attribute to erosion by palaeo‐ice streams. The trough does not cross‐cut the outer parts of the continental shelf. Conductivity‐temperature‐depth profiles within the ice shelf cavity reveal the presence of cold water at shallower depths and tidal mixing at the ice shelf margins. It is unknown if warm water can access the trough. The new bathymetry is thought to be representative of many ice shelves in Dronning Maud Land, which together regulate the ice loss from a substantial area of East Antarctica.
Conventional weight loss interventions across the different BMI obesity classes: A systematic review and quantitative comparative analysis
2020-05-03

Abstract Objective The recommendation for conventional body weight loss (BWL) treatment in obesity is 5–10%. It is not clear whether BWL is similar across the three different body mass index (BMI) obesity classes. The aim was to provide an overview on BWL across these classes in moderate lifestyle/diet intervention programs. Method A systematic literature search was conducted and the evidence of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pre‐post design studies synthesized. The outcome was BWL. Results For RCTs, mean BWL in the intervention group was 3.6 kg (class I) and 5.3 kg (class II), which equates to 4 and 5% BWL, respectively. None of the assessed class III obesity studies met the inclusion criteria. For pre‐post design studies, mean BWL was 5.4 kg (class I), 5.5 kg (class II) and 7.9 kg (class III), with high variation within and across studies in the latter. This equates to 6, 5 and, 6% BWL, respectively. Conclusions BWL of moderate BWL programs are similar across the different obesity classes. For class I obesity, the results differ between RCT and pre‐post design studies by 2% BWL. The high variation of BWL in class III obesity might reflect different states of motivation such as the attitude towards bariatric surgery.
Hedge Accounting and its Consequences on Portfolio Earnings – A Simulation Study
2020-05-03

In this paper, I analyze the consequences of cash flow hedge accounting on portfolio earnings of firms focusing on main changes between IFRS 9 and IAS 39. For this purpose, I develop a simulation study which illustrates the quantitative effects on the accounting entries according to the currently applicable hedge accounting methods. It is especially addressed what accounting differences arise and how these distinctions may affect a firm’s earnings. Furthermore, I examine to which firms early switching becomes especially desirable or burdensome. This information is particularly useful to managers and investors. The paper shows that portfolio earnings are affected differently. In the model, IAS 39 may lead to higher or lower earnings for increasing deviations between foreign and domestic interest rates. Additionally, sensitivity to volatility changes varies among the methods. Moreover, a partly ineffective hedging relationship does not necessarily decrease earnings compared to its fully effective counterpart.
The electrophysiological underpinnings of variation in verbal working memory capacity
2020-05-03

Abstract Working memory (WM) consists of short-term storage and executive components. We studied cortical oscillatory correlates of these two components in a large sample of 156 participants to assess separately the contribution of them to individual differences in WM. The participants were presented with WM tasks of above-average complexity. Some of the tasks required only storage in WM, others required storage and mental manipulations. Our data indicate a close relationship between frontal midline theta, central beta activity and the executive components of WM. The oscillatory counterparts of the executive components were associated with individual differences in verbal WM performance. In contrast, alpha activity was not related to the individual differences. The results demonstrate that executive components of WM, rather than short-term storage capacity, play the decisive role in individual WM capacity limits.
Axial perturbations of the scalarized Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet black holes
2020-05-04

We study the axial perturbations of spontaneously scalarized black holes in\\nEinstein-Gauss-Bonnet (EGB) theories. We consider the nodeless solutions of the\\nfundamental branch of the model studied in [1], which possesses a region of\\nradially stable configurations, as shown in [2]. Here we show that almost all\\nof the radially stable black holes are also stable under axial perturbations.\\nWhen the axial potential is no longer strictly positive, we make use of the\\nS-deformation method to show stability. As for the radial perturbations,\\nhyperbolicity is lost below a certain critical horizon size for a fixed\\ncoupling constant. In the stable region, we determine the spectrum of the\\nquasinormal modes by time evolution and by solving the associated\\ntime-independent eigenvalue problem.\\n
A flexible platform for controlled optical and electrical effects in tailored plasmonic break junctions
2020-05-04

Abstract Mechanically controllable break junctions are one suitable approach to generate atomic point contacts and ultrasmall and controllable gaps between two metal contacts. For constant bias voltages, the tunneling current can be used as a ruler to evaluate the distance between the contacts in the sub-1-nm regime and with sub-Å precision. This ruler can be used to measure the distance between two plasmonic nanostructures located at the designated breaking point of the break junction. In this work, an experimental setup together with suitable nanofabricated break junctions is developed that enables us to perform simultaneous gap-dependent optical and electrical characterization of coupled plasmonic particles, more specifically bowtie antennas in the highly interesting gap range from few nanometers down to zero gap width. The plasmonic break junction experiment is performed in the focus of a confocal microscope. Confocal scanning images and current measurements are simultaneously recorded and exhibit an increased current when the laser is focused in the proximity of the junction. This setup offers a flexible platform for further correlated optoelectronic investigations of coupled antennas or junctions bridged by nanomaterials.