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Screening Smarter, Not Harder: Budget Allocation Strategies for Technology-Assisted Reviews (TARs) in Empirical Medicine
Get PDFIn the technology-assisted review (TAR) area, most research has focused on ranking effectiveness and active learning strategies within individual topics, often assuming unconstrained review effort. However, real-world applications such as legal discovery or medical systematic reviews are frequently subject to global screening budgets. In this paper, we revisit the CLEF eHealth TAR shared tasks (2017–2019) through the lens of budget-aware evaluation. We first reproduce and verify the official participant results, organizing them into a unified dataset for comparative analysis. Then, we introduce and assess four intuitive budget allocation strategies—even, proportional, inverse proportional, and threshold-capped greedy—to explore how review effort can be efficiently distributed across topics. To evaluate systems under resource constraints, we propose two cost-aware metrics: relevant found per cost unit (RFCU) and utility gain at budget (UG@B). These complement traditional recall by explicitly modeling efficiency and trade-offs between true and false positives. Our results show that different allocation strategies optimize different metrics: even and inverse proportional allocation favor recall, while proportional and capped strategies better maximize RFCU. UG@B remains relatively stable across strategies, reflecting its balanced formulation. A correlation analysis reveals that RFCU and UG@B offer distinct perspectives from recall, with varying alignment across years. Together, these findings underscore the importance of aligning evaluation metrics and allocation strategies with screening goals. We release all data and code to support reproducibility and future research on cost-sensitive TAR
On the Lebesgue Constant of the Morrow–Patterson Points
Get PDFThe study of interpolation nodes and their associated Lebesgue constants is central to numerical analysis, impacting the stability and accuracy of polynomial approximations. In this paper, we will explore the Morrow–Patterson points, a set of interpolation nodes introduced to construct cubature formulas of a minimum number of points in the square for a fixed degree n. We prove that their Lebesgue constant growth is O(n^2) as was conjectured based on numerical evidence about 20 years ago in the paper by Caliari et al. (Appl Math Comput 165(2):261–274, 2005)
Chronic PFAS exposure induces the activation of selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidases and catalase as antioxidant defences in the European chub (Squalius cephalus) (Linnaeus, 1758) kidney
Get PDFThe Veneto Region (Italy) experienced one of the heaviest contaminations by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pollutants of emerging concern due to their environmental persistence and bioaccumulation potential in animal tissues. Hence, there is a need to study their impact on freshwater fish inhabiting contaminated rivers, particularly at the level of the antioxidant system, since PFAS are known to cause an imbalance in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, thereby increasing the risk of oxidative stress. This study examines the physiological responses triggered by chronic exposure to three distinct environmental concentrations of PFAS in the European chub (Squalius cephalus). The sites were classified as "control" (with a PFAS concentration < 5 ng/ L), "low polluted" (5.64 ng/L) and "highly polluted" (582.6 ng/L). Biochemical and molecular analyses were performed on the kidney, one of the main organs for xenobiotic bioaccumulation. The catalase (CAT) and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidases (Se-GPXs) expression was quantified at both active protein and mRNA transcript levels. Results confirm the activation of antioxidant defences against the risk of PFAS-induced oxidative stress. There is a differential induction in the biosynthesis of enzymes inside specific intracellular compartments: CAT in peroxisomes in the "low polluted" site and Se-GPXs in the cytoplasm in the "highly polluted" one. The gene gpx1 was the only isoform whose mRNA level corresponded to that of the active protein, suggesting the highest contribution to the biosynthesis of Se-GPXs at high PFAS concentrations. Conversely, gpx4 increased its transcription level in the "low polluted" site, which didn't match with an increase in protein content, leading us to hypothesise an involvement of specific cytoplasmic mRNA-protein complexes, called stress granules, acting in the temporary silencing of gpx4
Measuring the semantic priming effect across many languages
No full textSemantic priming has been studied for nearly 50 years across various experimental manipulations and theoretical frameworks. Although previous studies provide insight into the cognitive underpinnings of semantic representations, they have suffered from small sample sizes and a lack of linguistic and cultural diversity. In this Registered Report, we measured the size and the variability of the semantic priming effect across 19 languages (n = 25,163 participants analysed) by creating the largest available database of semantic priming values using an adaptive sampling procedure. We found evidence for semantic priming in terms of differences in response latencies between related word-pair conditions and unrelated word-pair conditions. Model comparisons showed that the inclusion of a random intercept for language improved model fit, providing support for variability in semantic priming across languages. This study highlights the robustness and variability of semantic priming across languages and provides a rich, linguistically diverse dataset for further analysis. The Stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 15 July 2022. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://osf.io/u5bp6 (registration) or https://osf.io/q4fjy (preprint version 6, 31 May 2022)
"Beati pacifici". L'incessante anelito alla pace di Cipriano di Cartagine
No full textIl tema della pace e dell’unità ecclesiale costituisce il fulcro dell'azione pastorale di CIpriano, offrendo una chiara testimonianza della profonda sollecitudine per la promozione e la difesa della pace all’interno della Chiesa. La pace, per Cipriano, non è semplicemente il contrario di bellum, né una tregua o l’intervallo tra due conflitti, ma un dono divino da custodire con responsabilità: essa si manifesta concretamente nell’unanimità e nella concordia fraterna, simboli visibili dell’unità divina. Le sue esortazioni si rivolgono ai cristiani, chiamati a vivere in concordia e a custodire la comunione come condizione imprescindibile per la salvezza. Anche Agostino, pur dissentendo da Cipriano su alcuni punti, ne riconobbe l’esemplarità, lodandone la fedeltà all’unità e alla pace
Service coverage level considering user mobility: spatial modelling of Italian day-cares
No full textTowards satellite tests combining general relativity and quantum mechanics through quantum optical interferometry: progress on the deep space quantum link
Get PDFThe Deep Space Quantum Link (DSQL) is a space-mission concept that aims to explore the interplay between general relativity and quantum mechanics using quantum optical interferometry. This mission concept was formally presented to the United States National Academy of Science Decadal Survey as a research campaign for Fundamental Physics in 2022. Since then, advances have been made in the space-based quantum optical technologies required to conduct a DSQL-type mission. In addition, other research efforts have defined alternative measurement concepts to explore the same scientific questions motivating the DSQL mission. This paper serves as an update to the community on the status of the DSQL mission concept and related research and technology development efforts
A NOTE ON FIRST ORDER QUASI-STATIONARY MEAN FIELD GAMES
No full textQuasi-stationary Mean Field Games models consider agents who base their strategies on current information without forecasting future states. In this paper we address the first-order quasi-stationary Mean Field Games system, which involves an ergodic Hamilton-Jacobi equation and an
evolutive continuity equation. Our approach relies on weak KAM theory. We introduce assumptions on the Hamiltonian and coupling cost to ensure continuity of the Peierls barrier and the Aubry set over time. These assumptions, though restrictive, cover interesting cases such as perturbed mechanical
Hamiltonians
Redirecting the route: Monocyte-mediated delivery of oHSV-1 across a human BBB-on-chip model
No full textOncolytic viruses (OVs) that selectively replicate within cancer cells represent a promising therapeutic strategy
for refractory or difficult-to-treat tumors such as Glioblastoma (GBM). In this study, we develop and validate a
human microfluidic blood brain barrier (BBB) model to evaluate the potential of cell-based OVs delivery targeting
the central nervous system. We demonstrate that circulating leukocytes (monocytes), serve as effective
carrier cells for the delivery of a neuroattenuated strain of oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 1 (oHSV-1) to
GBM. Human monocytes infected with oHSV-1 and perfused through the device successfully traverse the BBB
and migrate toward human GBM spheroids, where they deliver the virus and initiate infection. Notably,
monocyte-mediated oHSV-1 delivery to the tumor occurs with minimal involvement of BBB infection and
remains effective even in the presence of anti-HSV-1 antibodies, commonly found in the general population. In
contrast, free oHSV-1 infects BBB-resident cells and is neutralized by circulating human immunoglobulins. These
findings highlight the potential of monocyte-based oHSV-1 delivery as a targeted, immune-shielded strategy for
GBM therapy