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This study aims to explore the complex and multifaceted relationship between Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Maintenance in sports participation, delving into the underlying mechanisms to provide practical insights into how individuals initiate and sustain engagement in sports activities. Utilizing a combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods, 378 sports participants from over ten provinces and cities in China were selected as survey subjects, and an intermediary model concerning the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior was constructed. Discriminant validity and mediation effect analyses were conducted using SPSS and AMOS 23.0. The results indicate that Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Competence (ad = 0.39), with a 95% confidence interval [0.201, 0.642], excluding 0. Behavioral Activation also indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Autonomy (be = 0.23), with a 95% confidence interval [0.109, 0.421], excluding 0. However, Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Relatedness (cf. = 0.09), with a 95% confidence interval [-0.068, 0.336], which includes 0. The study reveals that both Competence and Autonomy significantly mediate the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among athletes. However, Relatedness does not play a significant mediating role in the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among the participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mathematician Benoit Mandelbrot (1924–2010) created a new way to look at much of nature by inventing fractal geometry. He had a varied career in which he followed his instinct and interest. He left behind a unique legacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Risk and volatility are two related factors in research regarding capital markets. Many factors influence the movement of shares and indices. Volatility is common and affects risk assessment. Stock price volatility is an important aspect of understanding market behavior, with high volatility reflecting rapid and unstable price fluctuations. This research investigates the GARCH model in assessing volatility on the IBM Stock Exchange. The method employed was the symmetric GARCH model. It focuses on univariate analysis using the GARCH econometric model. The GARCH model allows modeling stock price variance over time based on the assumption that the variance was influenced by past stock price variance. The stages of this research were (1) data collection, (2) data pre-processing, and (3) forecasting model implementation. The best model obtained was ARMA(4,2)-GARCH(5,6) with an AIC value of 4.1017. A lower AIC value indicates that the model explains the data better or more optimally. A diagnostic test found that the model was adequate because the residual distribution followed a straight line, which means it was normally distributed.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a global health challenge, demanding proficient predictive models for early identification and intervention. This study adopts a comprehensive strategy for diabetes prediction with Machine learning algorithms, utilizing PIMA Indian diabetes dataset which encompasses clinical, demographic and lifestyle data. Employing techniques like Recursive Feature Elimination (RFE) and correlation analysis, the feature selection process identifies influential predictors, including glucose levels, Body Mass Index (BMI), Blood Pressure and diabetic history of family. A distinctive facet of this study involves integrating IBM Auto AI, automating the machine learning pipeline for tasks like feature engineering, hyperparameter tuning and model selection. Through comparative analysis, the research evaluates the efficiency and performance enhancements achieved through automation in contrast to manually-tailored models. Evaluation metrics encompass accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 score. Crossvalidation, particularly k-fold cross-validation, ensures model generalization to diverse subsets of the dataset. The research outcomes offer valuable insights into the optimal amalgamation of AI techniques for diabetes prediction, underscoring the significance of interpretability, performance, and automation in healthcare analytics. The proposed Methodology is evaluated with different classifiers with Auto AI and without Auto AI techniques. Using IBM Auto AI, Gradient boosting algorithm performed well with 84. 4 % accuracy and Logistic Regression showed good accuracy of 84. 4% among conventional machine learning techniques without Auto AI using Pima Indian Diabetes Dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Inflammatory myopathies (IIM) include dermatomyositis (DM), sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM), immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), and overlap myositis (OLM)/antisynthetase syndrome (ASyS). There is also a rare variant termed polymyositis with mitochondrial pathology (PM-Mito), which is considered a sIBM precursor. There is no information regarding muscle MRI for this rare entity. The aim of this study was to compare MRI findings in IIM, including PM-Mito. Methods: This retrospective analysis included 41 patients (7 PM-Mito, 11 sIBM, 11 PM/ASyS/OLM, 12 IMNM) and 20 healthy controls. Pattern of muscle involvement was assessed by semiquantitative evaluation, while Dixon method was used to quantify muscular fat fraction. Results: The sIBM typical pattern affecting the lower extremities was not found in the majority of PM-Mito-patients. Intramuscular edema in sIBM and PM-Mito was limited to the lower extremities, whereas IMNM and PM/ASyS/OLM showed additional edema in the trunk. Quantitative assessment showed increased fat content in sIBM, with an intramuscular proximo-distal gradient. Similar changes were also found in a few PM-Mito- and PM/ASyS/OLM patients. In sIBM and PM-Mito, mean fat fraction of several muscles correlated with clinical involvement. Interpretation: As MRI findings in patients with PM-Mito relevantly differed from sIBM, the attribution of PM-Mito as sIBM precursor should be critically discussed. Some patients in PM/ASyS/OLM and PM-Mito group showed MR-morphologic features predominantly observed in sIBM, indicative of a spectrum from PM/ASyS/OLM toward sIBM. In some IIM subtypes, MRI may serve as a biomarker of disease severity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a progressive late‐onset muscle disease characterised by preferential weakness of quadriceps femoris and finger flexors, with elusive causes involving immune, degenerative, genetic and age‐related factors. Overlapping with normal muscle ageing makes diagnosis and prognosis problematic. Methods: We characterised peripheral blood leucocytes in 81 IBM patients and 45 healthy controls using flow cytometry. Using a random forest classifier, we identified immune changes in IBM compared to HC. K‐means clustering and the random forest one‐versus‐rest model classified patients into three immunophenotypic clusters. Functional outcome measures including mTUG, 2MWT, IBM‐FRS, EAT‐10, knee extension and grip strength were assessed across clusters. Results: The random forest model achieved a 94% AUC ROC with 82.76% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Significant differences were found in IBM patients, including increased CD8+ T‐bet+ cells, CD4+ T cells skewed towards a Th1 phenotype and altered γδ T cell repertoire with a reduced proportion of Vγ9+Vδ2+ cells. IBM patients formed three clusters: (i) activated and inflammatory CD8+ and CD4+ T‐cell profile and the highest proportion of anti‐cN1A‐positive patients in cluster 1; (ii) limited inflammation in cluster 2; (iii) highly differentiated, pro‐inflammatory T‐cell profile in cluster 3. Additionally, no significant differences in patients' age and gender were detected between immunophenotype clusters; however, worsening trends were detected with several functional outcomes. Conclusion: These findings unveil distinct immune profiles in IBM, shedding light on underlying pathological mechanisms for potential immunoregulatory therapeutic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Particle‐resolved simulations of turbulent particle‐laden flows provide a powerful research tool to explore detailed flow physics at all scales. However, efficient particle‐resolved simulations for wall‐bounded turbulent particle‐laden flows remain a challenging task. In this article, we develop a simulation approach for a turbulent channel flow laden with finite‐size particles on a nonuniform mesh by combining the discrete unified gas kinetic scheme (DUGKS) and the immersed boundary method (IBM). The standard discrete delta function was modified according to reproducible kernel particle method to take into account mesh non‐uniformity and correctly conserve force moments. Simulation results based on uniform and nonuniform meshes are compared to validate and examine the accuracy of the nonuniform mesh DUGKS‐IBM. Finally, the computational performance of the nonuniform mesh DUGKS‐IBM is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the frequency and characteristics of facial involvement in inclusion body myositis (IBM) patients and to compare it to the one previously described in facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) patients. Methods: Thirty-two IBM patients were included and compared to 29 controls and 39 FSHD patients. All participants were recorded in a video as they performed a series of seven facial tasks. Five raters independently assessed facial weakness using both a qualitative evaluation and a semi-quantitative facial weakness score (FWS). Results: IBM patients had higher FWS than controls (7.89 ± 7.56 vs 1.06 ± 0.88, p < 0.001). Twenty IBM patients (63%) had a facial weakness with a FWS above the maximum value for controls. All facial tasks were significantly more impaired in IBM patients compared to controls (p < 0.001), task 2 evaluating orbiculari oculi muscle weakness being the most affected. IBM patients with facial weakness reported more swallowing troubles than IBM patients without facial weakness (p = 0.03). FSHD patients displayed higher FWS than IBM patients (12.16 ± 8.37 vs 7.89 ± 7.56, p = 0.01) with more pronounced facial asymmetry (p = 0.01). FWS inter-rater ICC was 0.775. Conclusion: This study enabled us to estimate the frequency of facial impairment in IBM in more than half of patients, to detail its characteristics and to compare them with those of FSHD patients. The standardized, semi-quantitative FWS is an interesting diagnostic help in IBM as it appeared more sensitive than qualitative evaluation to detect mild facial weakness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we design an algorithm to work on gate-based quantum computers. Based on the algorithm, we construct a quantum circuit that represents the surplus process of a cedant under a reinsurance agreement. This circuit takes into account a variety of factors: initial reserve, insurance premium, reinsurance premium, and specific amounts related to claims, retention, and deductibles for two different non-proportional reinsurance contracts. Additionally, we demonstrate how to perturb the actuarial stochastic process using Hadamard gates to account for unpredictable damage. We conclude by presenting graphs and numerical results to validate our capital modelling approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we design an algorithm to work on gate-based quantum computers. Based on the algorithm, we construct a quantum circuit that represents the surplus process of a cedant under a reinsurance agreement. This circuit takes into account a variety of factors: initial reserve, insurance premium, reinsurance premium, and specific amounts related to claims, retention, and deductibles for two different non-proportional reinsurance contracts. Additionally, we demonstrate how to perturb the actuarial stochastic process using Hadamard gates to account for unpredictable damage. We conclude by presenting graphs and numerical results to validate our capital modelling approach.

Abstract Objective Inclusion body myositis (IBM) is a progressive late‐onset muscle disease characterised by preferential weakness of quadriceps femoris and finger flexors, with elusive causes involving immune, degenerative, genetic and age‐related factors. Overlapping with normal muscle ageing makes diagnosis and prognosis problematic. Methods We characterised peripheral blood leucocytes in 81 IBM patients and 45 healthy controls using flow cytometry. Using a random forest classifier, we identified immune changes in IBM compared to HC. K‐means clustering and the random forest one‐versus‐rest model classified patients into three immunophenotypic clusters. Functional outcome measures including mTUG, 2MWT, IBM‐FRS, EAT‐10, knee extension and grip strength were assessed across clusters. Results The random forest model achieved a 94% AUC ROC with 82.76% specificity and 100% sensitivity. Significant differences were found in IBM patients, including increased CD8+ T‐bet+ cells, CD4+ T cells skewed towards a Th1 phenotype and altered γδ T cell repertoire with a reduced proportion of Vγ9+Vδ2+ cells. IBM patients formed three clusters: (i) activated and inflammatory CD8+ and CD4+ T‐cell profile and the highest proportion of anti‐cN1A‐positive patients in cluster 1; (ii) limited inflammation in cluster 2; (iii) highly differentiated, pro‐inflammatory T‐cell profile in cluster 3. Additionally, no significant differences in patients' age and gender were detected between immunophenotype clusters; however, worsening trends were detected with several functional outcomes. Conclusion These findings unveil distinct immune profiles in IBM, shedding light on underlying pathological mechanisms for potential immunoregulatory therapeutic development.

Aim: There are limited data on the clinical and economic burden of exacerbations in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). We assessed patient clinical characteristics, treatments and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) associated with MG exacerbation. Patients & methods: This was a retrospective analysis of adult patients with MG identified by commercial, Medicare or Medicaid insurance claims from the IBM MarketScan database. Eligible patients had two or more MG diagnosis codes, without evidence of exacerbation or crisis in the baseline period (12 months prior to index [first eligible MG diagnosis]). Clinical characteristics were evaluated at baseline and 12 weeks before each exacerbation. Number of exacerbations, MG treatments and HCRU costs associated with exacerbation were described during a 2- year follow-up period. Results: Among 9352 prevalent MG patients, 34.4% (n = 3218) experienced ≥1 exacerbation after index: commercial, 53.0% (n = 1706); Medicare, 39.4% (n = 1269); and Medicaid, 7.6% (n = 243). During follow-up, the mean (standard deviation) number of exacerbations per commercial and Medicare patient was 3.7 (7.0) and 2.7 (4.1), respectively. At least two exacerbations were experienced by approximately half of commercial and Medicare patients with ≥1 exacerbation. Mean total MG related healthcare costs per exacerbation ranged from $26,078 to $51,120, and from $19,903 to $49,967 for commercial and Medicare patients, respectively. AChEI use decreased in patients with multiple exacerbations, while intravenous immunoglobulin use increased with multiple exacerbations. Conclusion: Despite utilization of current treatments for MG,MG exacerbations are associated with a high clinical and economic burden in both commercial and Medicare patients. Additional treatment options and improved disease management may help to reduce exacerbations and disease burden.

AbstractHow did ARPANET or Advanced Research Projects Agency networks, arguably the most expensive invention in history, become the Internet? The US tax-funded ARPANET was tested before being commercialized. Testing included neutralizing civilians in an anti-Communist counterinsurgency with minimal evidence and plausible deniability. Max Weber’s ideal type and social order concepts help describe how occupational status groups (OSGs) tested ever-changing ARPANET derived networks for illegal, unconstitutional spying, while presidential orders dictated ARPANET’s development. After testing, ARPANET was transferred to Defense Communications Agency, cloned in smaller versions and distributed in low-intensity warfare and military base building abroad. As the US telephone system was broken up, Americans sought affordable telephone services from new networked and wireless communication systems. The government did not want to manage growing databanks and ordered ARPANET backbone be commercialized. Merit, IBM, and MCI commercialized the ARPANET’s backbone in a way similar to what Weber described in his first dissertation. Conclusions include 1) ARPANET was convenient for the military since it hid evidence and was non-evident; 2) causes for commercializing the ARPANET differ from other researchers’ findings since ARPANET testing history is acknowledged; and 3) Weber’s theories help frame a plausible account of ARPANET commercialization.

Objectives Dysphagia is a common debilitating clinical feature of IBM. However, the impact of dysphagia in IBM has been historically overlooked. This study aimed to identify, evaluate and summarize the evidence regarding the assessment and management of dysphagia in persons with IBM undergoing treatment. Methods A systematic review was conducted using a multiengine search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. Eligible studies had to employ an intervention for persons with IBM, report a swallowing outcome and be published in English. Quality assessments of the eligible studies were performed. Results Of 239 studies found, 19 met the inclusion criteria. One study was rated as 'fair' and the rest as 'poor' quality, particularly due to the lack of published and validated swallowing assessment procedures and outcome measures. Cricopharyngeal (CP) dysfunction (12/19) was the most commonly reported swallowing abnormality. Interventions for disease management included pharmacological agents (10/19), followed by surgical (3/19), behavioral (1/19) and combined approaches (5/19). Interventions with immunosuppressants, botulinum toxin injection, balloon dilation and/or CP myotomy led to mixed and transient benefits. Few studies examining statins or behavioral therapies (primarily focused on respiratory function) showed no effects for dysphagia. Conclusion Various interventions have been reported to temporarily improve dysphagia in persons with IBM. However, these findings are based on limited and overall low-quality evidence. This study cautions against the generalization of these findings and emphasizes the need for further systematic research to improve the diagnosis and management of dysphagia in IBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The immersed boundary method (IBM) is widely used in simulating multiphase flows. DCU (Deep Computing Unit) acceleration device is a kind of GPU-like device, which is developed by GPU technology authorised by AMD. To achieve an efficient numerical simulation of two-phase flows, we develop a parallel DCU-based immersed boundary method using the MPI+HIP programming model. To solve the slow convergence problem caused by domain partitioning in multigrid methods, a coarse grid aggregation (CGA) technique is effectively employed. We adopt a nonblocking communication approach with HIP streams to overlap computation and communication. To validate the proposed method running on DCU clusters, we conducted two numerical experiments of droplet deformation in shear flow and the rising bubble. Performance tests show that a speedup of 181 times more than the CPU version can be achieved with 32 DCUs in a $ 1024\times 512\times 512 $ 1024 × 512 × 512 mesh grid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Diagnostic muscle biopsies are routinely immunostained for major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) protein. In this study we analysed the prevalence and patterns of MHC-I immunostaining in biopsies from patients with different types of myopathies and neurogenic disorders. Methods All 357 diagnostic muscle biopsies processed at the Johns Hopkins Neuromuscular Pathology Laboratory from August 2013 to January 2017 were immunostained for MHC-I. The prevalence and patterns of MHC-I immunostaining were compared between patients with histologically normal muscle biopsies (n  = 31), idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs; n  = 170), non-inflammatory myopathies (n  = 60) and neurogenic disorders (n  = 96). Results MHC-I immunostaining was abnormal in most patients with DM (98%), sporadic IBM (sIBM; 100%), immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM; 100%) and polymyositis (77%). In contrast, MHC-I immunostaining was less frequently present in non-inflammatory myopathies (32%) or neurogenic disorders (30%). Overall, abnormal MHC-I immunostaining had a sensitivity of 0.95 and a specificity of 0.82 for diagnosing IIMs. A focal MHC-I staining pattern was associated with IMNM, whereas a global pattern was more prevalent in sIBM and a perifascicular pattern was significantly more common in dermatomyositis. Among 18 DM biopsies without perifascicular atrophy, 50% had a perifascicular MHC-I staining pattern. Sarcoplasmic upregulation staining was more common than sarcolemmal staining across all groups. Conclusion MHC-I immunostaining was useful to distinguish IIMs from non-inflammatory myopathies or neurogenic disorders. Of note, a perifascicular MHC-I staining pattern was present only in those with DM, including half of those without perifascicular atrophy; many of these biopsies may not otherwise have been diagnostic for DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

True random numbers are crucial in many applications ranging from stochastic simulations to many other applications, especially cryptography. The quest for true randomness is, in general, considered to be impossible with only classical means. This insight enables the construction of various proposals for producing a good random number generator in realistic quantum scenarios. We presented a new fast 24 qubits quantum true random number generator (QTRNG) based on rotation and phase quantum gates on IBM’s cloud platform. It is a provable true random number since it is based on the quantum process and experimented with through QISKIT. The raw output of the generator reveals the foundational unpredictability of quantum mechanics inherent nature, which is different from classical physics. The achievable eminence of the numbers generated from a practical carrying out can differ from the theoretically promising solution. The proposed Quantum True Random Number Generation is accomplished through IBM quantum lab, and its architecture results also passed National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) statistical tests 800-90B and 800-22. This method is relatively efficient since it can be implemented locally on our devices. The offered methodology 224 bitstream data has higher certification randomness. The quality of the generated random bitstreams is investigated through restart analysis and autocorrelation analysis. The resulting output passes the NIST standard statistical test with a min-entropy value of 0.000712. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the expression of hematopoietic stem cell markers from different sources might be useful in understanding stem cell biology in different niche conditions. The study aimed to assess the difference in cell surface markers (CD44, CD90, CD96) on hematopoietic stem cells in three different niche conditions; umbilical cord blood (UCB), normal bone marrow (NBM) and bone marrow samples from idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (IBM). This study was conducted on 300 cases divided into three study groups; 100 umbilical cord blood units collected from mothers undergoing cesarian section in gynecology and obstetrics department, 100 bone marrow samples from idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura patients collected from university children hospital and 100 normal bone marrow samples with no evidence of disease in bone marrow tissue. CD44 was significantly elevated in UCB and NBM groups compared to IBM group (<0.001). There was also a significant elevation of CD90 and CD96 in IBM group compared to NBM group and UCB (<0.001). CD90 and CD96 play a role in the pathogenesis of ITP disorder and could be applied as a targeted therapy to improve the outcome of this disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did ARPANET or Advanced Research Projects Agency networks, arguably the most expensive invention in history, become the Internet? The US tax-funded ARPANET was tested before being commercialized. Testing included neutralizing civilians in an anti-Communist counterinsurgency with minimal evidence and plausible deniability. Max Weber's ideal type and social order concepts help describe how occupational status groups (OSGs) tested ever-changing ARPANET derived networks for illegal, unconstitutional spying, while presidential orders dictated ARPANET's development. After testing, ARPANET was transferred to Defense Communications Agency, cloned in smaller versions and distributed in low-intensity warfare and military base building abroad. As the US telephone system was broken up, Americans sought affordable telephone services from new networked and wireless communication systems. The government did not want to manage growing databanks and ordered ARPANET backbone be commercialized. Merit, IBM, and MCI commercialized the ARPANET's backbone in a way similar to what Weber described in his first dissertation. Conclusions include 1) ARPANET was convenient for the military since it hid evidence and was non-evident; 2) causes for commercializing the ARPANET differ from other researchers' findings since ARPANET testing history is acknowledged; and 3) Weber's theories help frame a plausible account of ARPANET commercialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change causes warming of rivers and may increase discharge, particularly during winter. Downstream of hydropower plants, fluctuating water temperature and flow create dynamic overwintering conditions for juvenile salmonids. We used inSTREAM 7.2-SD to simulate the effects of increased temperature (+2 °C) and discharge (+10%) on the overwinter growth and mortality of one-summer- and two-summer-old Atlantic salmon and brown trout in a river with a hydropeaking flow regime in a 2 × 2 design with replicated simulations. Water temperature had a major positive relationship with growth for both species and year classes, whereas increased flow alone had no major general effect on overwinter growth. For one-summer-old trout experiencing the high temperature regime, however, increased flow resulted in reduced growth. There were no major effects from temperature and flow on the survival rate of the two-summer-old fishes. On the other hand, there were significant interaction effects for the one-summer-olds, indicating that the effect of flow depended on temperature. For one-summer-old salmon, high flow resulted in increased survival in the low temperature regime, whereas it resulted in reduced survival in high temperature. In contrast, for one-summer-old trout, high flow resulted in reduced survival in the low temperature regime and increased survival in the high temperature. Different hydropower operation alternatives may interact with warming, affecting the relative competitive abilities of stream salmonids. Ecological models that predict the effects of different environmental conditions, such as temperature and flow regimes, may offer insight into such effects when in situ experiments are not feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine particle liquid–solid flow in porous media is involved in many industrial processes such as oil exploitation, geothermal reinjection, and filtration systems. It is of great significance to master the behaviours of the fine particle liquid–solid flow in porous media. At present, there are few studies on the influences of the migration of fine particles on the flow field in porous media, and the effects of the porosity of porous media and inlet fluid velocity on the migration behaviours of fine particles in porous media. In this paper, a liquid–solid flow model was established based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM)‐immersed boundary method (IBM)‐distinct element method (DEM) and verified by the classical Drag Kiss Tumble (DKT) phenomena and flow around a cylinder successfully. In this model, the interaction between solid particles is analyzed using the distinct element method, and the interaction between fine particles and flow field is handled by IBM. Then, the migration and blockage of fine particles in porous media was studied using this model. It is found that, in addition to the blockage, a large amount of blocked‐surface sliding‐separation occur in fine particles. At the same time, the decrease in porosity increases the damage degree of fine particles on the permeability. The porosity exerts great influence on the penetration rate and dispersion behaviour of fine particles. The inlet fluid velocity mainly affects the residence time of fine particles and the average velocity of motion in the direction perpendicular to the main flow direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past twenty years, a major development in firms' innovation strategies has been the emergence of crowdsourcing as a tool to stimulate new ideas. A growing literature has examined the process by which firms select ideas from such discussions for further development. This paper focuses upon a surprisingly neglected factor: the substantive content of employee contributions. We explore the utility of topic modelling as a means, first, to construct themes as analytic objects; second, to describe the prevalence of themes in a discussion; and, third (and most important) as a platform for the development of measures suited to addressing a wide range of research questions. Drawing on data from a company-wide innovation dialogue at IBM, we illustrate this argument by highlighting four affordances of topic modelling: (1) identifying features of written contributions that predict their subsequent recognition; (2) identifying significant collective concerns and the degree of consensus around them; (3) examining the effects on selection of alignment of posts, respectively, with elite priorities and collective concerns; and (4) assessing whether a dialogue has produced deliberative learning. Including measures of post content changed conclusions about the impact of poster status on idea selection, and revealed considerable consensus on issue salience across organisational levels and geographic regions. Posts selected for recognition were aligned disproportionately with cues from organisation elites but also reflected collective preoccupations. Finally, extended deliberation appears to have improved discussion quality and, in some instances, led to productive reframing of the problems discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study, is to investigate, in a phenomenological way, the backbending effect in platinum Pt-186 nucleus, in order to get a good description of the bends by using new parameters. VMI model and interacting boson model IBM-1 have been used to perform this research for a heavy mass nucleus (Z = 78). Energy ratios and arrangement of the bands show that the platinum Pt-186 have O(6)-SU(3) dynamical symmetry. Our current calculations gave results that are reasonably consistent with the most recent experimental data, especially the results calculated according to the VMI-model. Variable moment of inertia has been applied to describe successfully the effect of backbending in deformed even-even Pt-186 nucleus. Backbending was observed in the ground and β-bands, due to the change of the moment of inertia but not for (γ1, γ2 bands, because no changing in the moment of inertia.

Objectives Pain is commonly reported in people living with myositis. This study assesses the presence of pain in the subtypes of myositis as well as the frequency of opioid and non-opioid pain medication use. Methods A survey was developed and distributed by Myositis Support and Understanding, a patient-led advocacy organization, to members of its group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and chi-squared tests were performed. Results A total of 468 participants completed the survey. A total of 423 participants (DM n  = 183, PM n  = 109 and IBM n  = 131) were included, based on reported diagnosis, for final analysis. Some 91.5% of myositis participants reported current or past pain, with 99% attributing their pain to myositis. There was a lower likelihood of pain in participants aged >60 years [odds ratio (OR) 0.2, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.1, 0.6, P  = 0.003]. The percentage of participants reporting pain was statistically different based on myositis type (DM 97.2%, IBM 80.9% and PM 94.5%, P  < 0.001), with a higher likelihood of pain in DM compared with IBM (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.3, 10.2, P  = 0.011). There was a lower likelihood of pain in participants aged >60 years (OR 0.2, 95% CI 0.1, 0.6, P  = 0.003). Of the 387 participants reporting pain, 335 reported using pain medications (69% prescribed opioids). Male sex, age >60 years and myositis subtype were not associated with likelihood of non-opioid use. Conclusion Pain is a commonly reported symptom in myositis with variable treatment strategies, including opioid medications. This study highlights the importance of addressing pain as part of myositis treatment as well as the need for future studies understanding treatment effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often associated with the volatile cryptocurrency Bitcoin, a blockchain is a distributed ledger, an additive record of digitally networked transactions. On the assumption that technologies are cultural practices as much as they are instrumental, this essay contributes to the special issue on big data in communication by examining texts that constitute blockchain in a shared political imaginary and, in so doing, participate in blockchain's future. The essay analyzes how materials produced by IBM orient blockchain within contemporary ideals such as transparent access, immutability, and a single source of truth. Drawing on Sean Phelan's study of neoliberal politics and global media, including the naturalization of ideological values, the essay proposes that public discourses about blockchain evidence fundamental human desires to access truth and establish an infrastructure immune to corruption. The study finds that blockchain's decentralized infrastructure comports with a historical moment in which sociality itself is under intense pressure, and wherein the idea and practice of interconnected yet distrustful nodes make sense in the absence of functional governance. The essay concludes that in the routinized social practices of the blockchain's executive protocols, political potential is undercut by the absence of prospective and fundamental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum Computing is drawing a significant attention from the current scientific community. The potential advantages offered by this revolutionary paradigm has led to an upsurge of scientific production in different fields such as economics, industry, or logistics. The main purpose of this paper is to collect, organize and systematically examine the literature published so far on the application of Quantum Computing to routing problems. To do this, we embrace the well-established procedure named as Systematic Literature Review. Specifically, we provide a unified, self-contained, and end-to-end review of 18 years of research (from 2004 to 2021) in the intersection of Quantum Computing and routing problems through the analysis of 53 different papers. Several interesting conclusions have been drawn from this analysis, which has been formulated to give a comprehensive summary of the current state of the art by providing answers related to the most recurrent type of study (practical or theoretical), preferred solving approaches (dedicated or hybrid), detected open challenges or most used Quantum Computing device, among others.

The aims of this article are to examine how chatbots on Shaw's works can be created through IBM artificial intelligence and cloud computing platform. The article will focus on a use case done by our Sagittarius Literature Digitizing Project: a Shaw Bot created on the IBM Cloud Computing Platform, to identify some best practices contributive to the creation of a literature bot, especially a theater bot. The article will also report on the pilot we did and some of the interesting findings. This project is a collaboration with the Shaw Festival and IBM Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world that seeks to describe, codify and quantify everything, and particularly our viscerality and its interactions with our actual and digital environments, can we find interstitial spaces, currently unseen, unobserved and unlegislated, where we might be able to create minor architectures capable of blooming? Architect and interdisciplinary researcher Lucía Jalón Oyarzun reveals where these spaces might be found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses articles within the issue on topics including the drawing convention of the analytique as a means of understanding the complex life of a building, scale of refusal to civilization, and deviance as refusal in South African shebeens or drinking establishments.

Objectives To determine the prevalence and associations of autoantibodies targeting a muscle-specific autoantigen, four-and-a-half-LIM-domain 1 (FHL1), in South Australian patients with histologically-confirmed idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and in patients with SSc. Material and methods Sera from patients with IIM (n  = 267) from the South Australian Myositis Database (SAMD), SSc (n  = 174) from the Australian Scleroderma Cohort Study (ASCS) and healthy controls (HC, n  = 100) were analysed for anti-FHL1 autoantibodies by Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA). Results Autoantibodies to FHL1 were more frequent in patients with IIM (37/267, 13.8%) compared with SSc (12/174, 7%) (P  < 0.02) and HC (2/100, 2%) (P  < 0.001). The most common IIM subtypes among FHL1+ IIM patients were (32%) and IBM (2/37, 32%). No statistically significant differences in muscular or extra-muscular manifestations of IIM were found when comparing patients who were anti-FHL1+ with their anti-FHL1– counterparts. In 29/37 (78%) anti-FHL1+ patients, no myositis-specific autoantibodies (MSA) were present. In FHL1+ muscle biopsies, there was less frequent infiltration by CD45+ cells (P  = 0.04). There was a trend for HLA alleles DRB1*07 and DRB1*15 to be more frequent in anti-FHL1+ compared with anti-FHL1– patients (9/25 vs 19/113, P  = 0.09 and 8/25 vs 15/114, P  = 0.09, respectively). Conclusions We report a substantial prevalence (13.8%) of anti-FHL1 autoantibodies in a large cohort of patients with histologically confirmed IIM; 75% of these cases did not have a detectable myositis-specific autoantibody. Anti-FHL1 autoantibodies were also detected in a subgroup of patients with SSc (7%), indicating that anti-FHL1 autoantibodies may not be myositis-specific. The trend towards an HLA-DR association might indicate a specific immune response to the FHL1 protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]