bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Flowback and Well Testing Operational Learnings During an Early Production Stage in a Vaca Muerta Field
Authors: Cano Pablo Nicolás , Irazuzta Verónica Laura , Curtti Miguel Andrés , Álvarez Matias Guillermo
Published: March 2023

La Calera is an unconventional wet gas field located close to Añelo city in Neuquén province. There are currently 30 horizontal wells in production from Vaca Muerta formation, drilled at three different landings zones, gathered in 3-well pads. The wells are first opened using testing facilities in order to evaluate their productivity, as well as to prevent liquids and sand from reaching plant facilities. This paper describes the lessons learned after the first wells flowback, the different events that had to be sorted (sand blockage, erosion, hydrates, etc.) and the operational workflows that were created in order to manage sand and fluids production from the wells.

Testing facilities consist primarily of two gas-oil-water 3-phase separators, a flash medium pressure separator, and a last separation stage used to stabilize the condensate in a flash-tank. There is also one desander per well, and several tanks in order to collect liquids in the pad location. This equipment is necessary because the wells are currently flowing to Early Production Facilities (EPF) that do not allow liquid slugs nor high sand production. Gas, condensate and water rates, well head pressures and sand production are measured in every well hourly. A first choke management strategy for each well is proposed and their productivities are estimated using previous wells information regarding productivity, ratios, sand production, and a choke correlation.

The first unconventional well was opened in 2019. Three years after and using flowback lessons learned, several testing configurations were changed, liquids heaters removed, sand equipment changed, line diameters modified, chemical injection points and doses adjusted, and different operational criteria established. A sand management workflow was developed and is currently being applied during pads openings.

During the first clean up period that usually lasts from 3 to 4 months, the initial choke management plan is constantly being modified due to operational challenges such as hydrates formation, excessive sand or liquid production, and operational problems like valve failures or facilities limitations, all of which will be described in this paper.
Multiphase Choke Correlation Improving Matching Field Data on Vaca Muerta Formation
Authors: Bellini Aragon Nicolas Gabriel , Villagra Fernando Martin
Published: March 2023

In Non-Conventional fields, wellhead chokes are widely used to regulate the flow rate of the well to impose sufficient back pressure on the face of the sand so as not to exceed values of excessive drawdown. Many authors describe and model flow through chokes, but only with laboratory data. These models work well, and their error range is acceptable for the oil industry, but they fail when extrapolate to field data or outside the range with which the calculation algorithm was trained.

The new model proposed is a modified version of the original Sachdeva(8) correlation and uses workflow proposed by Hagedorn and Brown(11).

Usually, correlations used nowadays in the oil industry present big errors of at least 20% and such errors make it impossible to provide an accurate production forecast and make correct decisions when choke management is required.

The new workflow, based on Sachdeva(8) (1986) and Hagedorn and Brown correlation(11) (1965), improves the existing models using real data from oil fields. This workflow makes it possible to predict mass flowrate through choke without parameters like "Discharge coefficients".

The multiphase choke correlation presented in this paper for both subcritical and critical flow was developed and trained with real field production tests with shale oil wells from different fields of "Vaca Muerta" Formation in Neuquén Basin.

This correlation was tested, and its performance was compared with published correlations.

This new workflow was correlated with 258 points (124 points for training purpose and 134 points for cross check). The average error was 11.67 % and R^2=0.945. In cases where historical data exists, this error can be reduced to an order of 2-5 %.

The new correlation is a modified Sachdeva(8) correlation including slippage between phases and use Hagedorn and Brown(11) methodology to find "Discharge Coefficient".
3D Integrated G&G Model-Driven Mitigation Workflow on Screenout, Frac Hits and Casing Deformation in Ultradeep Shale Hydraulic Fracturing
Authors: Wu Jianfa , Zeng Bo , Wang Lipeng , Huang HaoYong , Pan Yuanwei , Song Yi , Nunez Herick , Deng Qi , Wang Lizhi , Zhao Haipeng
Published: March 2023

The Longmaxi shale gas play in Sichuan, China is unique due to multiple tectonic deformations in the geological history, which makes the shale play highly heterogenous and hydraulic fracturing execution problematic. The hydraulic fracturing design has matured after ten years’ evolution. However, it could not ensure every well's success without considering heterogeneity. Screenout, fracture hits, and casing deformation are still very common because informed decisions cannot be made ahead of operation or in real time. These risks should be recognized and in turn mitigation measures could be proposed through deep understanding of the geological and geomechanical characteristics.

To address these challenges, a multidisciplinary team was formed to work on a pad. The geological and geomechanical (G&G) context was first determined by 3D G&G modeling. Then a survey was completed on the whole block to determine the root causes of screenout, frac hits, and casing deformation, and high-risk areas or stages were identified. Based on this, the proposed mitigation included adjusting perforation design, pump rate, fluid volume, and fracture sequence. The effectiveness of mitigation measures and the 3D G&G model were validated and iterated by onsite fracturing diagnostics.

Through the above efforts, the designed proppant volume achieved zero casing deformations, fewer screenouts, and weaker fracture hits. This was the first pad with zero casing deformations across the whole block. The key findings were proved to be effective and could ensure success of hydraulic fracturing in the study pad of ultradeep Longmaxi Shale:

The natural fracture corridors were the main cause of screenout. The possible bedding plane open and bad fracture initiation could be other causes of screenout. The natural fracture was the main cause of fracture hit and the connection among hydraulic fractures was the second cause. Adjusting the zipper fracturing sequence to interfere with hydraulic fracture propagation could help weaken it. Unstable natural fracture was the main causes of casing deformation in the Luzhou Block. Adjusting the fracturing sequence and fluid pumping intensity could mitigate casing deformation. The key to effective mitigation was continuous 3D G&G modeling through ongoing iterations with field data.

Finally, a model-driven workflow was developed for hydraulic fracturing design and execution, which could be a resource for other shale plays with similar challenges worldwide.
Quantification of Fluid Production Distribution in Deviated Wells with High Gas-Liquid Ratio Using a Flow Array Sensing Tool
Authors: González José Wilfredo , Linares Alejandro Jose , Rodriguez Diego Armando , Rivera Gerson Orlando , Schoepf Virginie M , Abbassi Linda
Published: March 2023

The objective of this paper is to depict the quantification of the production rates of the different phases in deviated wells with high gas-liquid relation using the Flow Array Sensing Tool (FAST). The readings of standard Production Logging Tools (fullbore flowmeter, density, and capacitance) are centralized, therefore they are affected if there is re-circulation of the heavy phase (liquid). The phase segregation and possible apparent down flow of the heavy phase makes it very difficult to determine the distribution of the produced fluids, and in some cases the spinner flowmeter tends to stop or gives inaccurate readings. The cause of these inaccurate readings is that the centralized spinner is affected by positive flow in the high side and negative flow in the low side of the wellbore, and the spinner shows no flow or even apparent downhole flow, when there is a real positive flow.

The FAST tool used during the acquisition of the production logs is an ultracompact production logging tool (3 ft long) that is capable to measure multiphase flows with an array of 8 sensors, two in each arm and located 90° apart. These sensors are based on MEMS (Microelectromechanichal Systems), and among the interchangeable sensors we have optical probes that takes ultra-rapid measurements of the refractive index and can determine hold-up of water, oil and gas; the electrical probes that measures conductivity to differentiate hydrocarbons from water, and magnetic probes with micro-spinners to determine the flow rate. Both the three phase optical probes and the electrical probes have excellent response including water hold-ups over 90% that cannot be measured with a standard capacitance tool.

The data logged with FAST in deviated wells was processed and interpreted to obtain the apparent flow velocity profiles of each of the 4 micro-spinners and with the three phase optical probes, and the relative bearing curves the velocity maps, and hold-up maps where obtained. The velocity map showed that there was negative flow in the low side of the well and positive flow in the high side while the hold-up map showed the light phase (gas) in the high side of the well. Both maps showed clearly the flow pattern and were used to quantify the production of each perforation and the total rate matched closely the surface rate (within 2% deviation).

With the hold-up and velocity maps, the real flow rates were obtained with high confidence, and the flow pattern were shown clearly in deviated wells. The three phase optical probes, and electrical probes are excellent indicators of water and hydrocarbons inflow in a wide range of hold-ups.
Study of the Effect of the Use of Flowback Aids in Brines and Fracturing Gel
Authors: Rodrigues Roberta Kamei , Dallaqua Roger Pezzuol , Menezes Polyana Medeiros de , Fornereto Luis Gustavo , Karpenkopf Vanina Lorena , Magdalena Lucia , Ferrari Jean Vicente , Rabelo Rodrigo Balloni
Published: March 2023

The hydraulic fracturing technique is based on pumping a given fluid at a high pressure greater than the rupture pressure of the reservoir rock, which causes the creation of high permeability channels inside the rock. This process also makes the fluid contained in the formation flow preferentially through the newly cracked channels. After stabilizing the pressure inside the rock formation, the fracturing fluid may settle inside the fracture or even infiltrate into the formation. The next step, known as flowback, consists of removing all fracturing fluid so the well can start producing. Under certain conditions, significant amounts of hydrocarbons can remain inaccessible, and problems such as water blockage, fluid trapping, and flowback efficiency reduction can occur, which can cause loss of fluid in the formation and a low production of hydrocarbons. The present work aims to present the effect of flowback aids, composed of combinations of surfactants, in brines and fracturing gels. Flowback aids act mainly on the surface of fracturing fluids and at their interface with the reservoir hydrocarbons. They reduce the deformation resistance of fluid droplets allowing them to cross narrow formation channels. They also reduce the resistance of the fracturing fluid to return to the surface, helping it avoid blocked channels. Consequently, these additives reduce the formation damage and improve the production of reservoir fluids. Experiments were carried out to measure rheology, stability, surface, and interfacial properties, and a physical simulator of flow in porous media was used. The rheology results showed that the flowback aids did not change the consistency of the fracturing gel. The experiments with the physical simulator showed that the presence of the flowback aids made the brines flow through a porous medium faster compared to the brines without the flowback aids. The results of the surface and interfacial properties measurements showed that a small amount of flowback aids can efficiently change the surface properties of brines and their interfacial properties with the crude oil. These changes improve the malleability of the injected fracturing fluid and reduce the crude oil's resistance to push the fluid back to the surface, allowing a more efficient production of hydrocarbons.
Adapting Digital Environment to Sustain Operations Remotely
Authors: Abbasgholipour Ali , Panwar Nitin , Yosakrai Chulakorn , Wibowo Vera Krissetiawati , Hieu Pham Nam , Amranand Sorawit
Published: March 2023

Oil and gas remote operations (RO) enabled by automation and digital solutions are reducing the number of people required to work in the wellsite; many subject matter experts can now complete their daily tasks from the safety of the office in town. We have been transitioning to these new ways of working for some time, and the progress has been greatly accelerated to help ensure business continuity for customers during COVID-19 restrictions, allowing high numbers of wellsite operatives the freedom to work from home.

For the Oil & Gas companies that have experimented with more technology, the results have been incredible. Digital transformation has finally hit the industry and it’s taking off to meet sustainable goal of upstream companies, this transformation is one such measure by which these goals can be approached. Despite the global availability of technology to handle analytical task from a safe distance, substantial drilling activities have been carried out traditionally across globe.

Such traditional drilling operations were carried out in Thailand where client and SLB work together in fast paced factory drilling environment where an oil well can drill and complete within 7 days for 2 strings (2-sections only) 2400-2600 m in onshore operation which requires experienced people to monitor and execute tasks.

To support such operation from town i.e., remotely with systematic monitoring by skilled people, one requires to adapt digitization. This paper demonstrates the ability of SLB to adapt the digital environment by introducing "Remote Operation Center" setup enabling to help client achieve their sustainable goals within budget and provided an alternate solution to sustain operations in COVID-19 pandemic.

Remote Operations is the ability to operate a system or a machine at a distance; one can handle multiple operations from a safe environment of office in town using technology. It unfolds analytical task & physical task; the former is handed over to Remote Operation Center and physical task is left at rig crew. The Remote Operation Center execute both Directional Drilling (DD) and Measurement & Logging While Drilling (MLWD) services at the well site, from town. Executing Directional Drilling Remote Operation was more challenging.

RO moves industry towards future and pushes all other traditional players to work on sustainable goals while adapting to digital environment. On site presence of crew was reduced by 50% while maintaining same pace of operations with better data analysis.
A BCI System for Physically Challenged Based on Alpha Dynamics of EEG Signals
Authors: khare vijay
Published: March 2023

Millions of people around the world suffer from paralysis. People having paralysis need new devices with sophisticated technologies to help them for comfortable live. Most existing brain computer interfaces (BCIs) are designed to control a wheelchair using eye movement, joy stick and chin movement have a many limitation and inconvenient to use. In this study, a brain computer interface based on alpha dynamics of EEG has been attempted to provide an alternative channel for severely disabled for communicating with the external world. In the present study, people who are not able to move their body part can also control the wheelchair just by thought process Wheelchair EEG data was mapped in alpha frequency band. Wavelet packet transform was used for feature extraction. Performance of three classifiers was compared for classification of five imagery tasks. Radial basis neural network was observed most suitable for classification EEG signal. EEG based offline system for wheelchair control has been designed and implemented on laboratory developed prototype.
Climate Change Beliefs and their Correlates in Latin America
Authors: Spektor Matias , Fasolin Guilherme , Camargo Juliana
Published: March 2023

The ability of climate skeptics to block climate action depends on the set of beliefs about climate change prevailing among the general public. In the Global North, research has shown that people’s beliefs about the existence, the causes, and the consequences of climate change are primarily associated with political orientation and ideology. However, little is known about climate change beliefs in the wider world and its associated factors. To address this gap, we provide a large-scale, systematic overview of climate change beliefs in Latin America and its correlates. Our study finds no skepticism over the existence of climate change and its anthropogenic origins, but identifies a high minority of skeptics around the severity of its consequences. Furthermore, it also finds that skepticism in this region is correlated with psychological rather than political factors. Specifically, the study reveals that individualistic worldviews are powerfully associated with disbelief in the severe consequences of climate change, a worrying finding in a region featuring relatively low levels of social trust. By contributing to a better understanding of climate change beliefs in Latin America, these findings offer a starting point for a more sophisticated debate on how to tackle the constraining effects of climate skepticism in the Global South.
A Squeeze Pack and Transfer Algorithm-based Efficient Framework for Optimized Network Data Transfer in IoT Applications
Authors: Preet Shiv , Sharma Chirag , Sahni Varsha , Malhotra Jyoteesh
Published: March 2023

The authors have requested that this preprint be removed from Research Square.
LCAM: Lightweight Certificate Authority for MANET and Securing DSR Routing Protocol
Authors: Biswas Anindya Kumar , Dasgupta Mou , Ray Sangram , Sadhukhan Dipanwita , Das Ashok Kumar , Park Youngho
Published: March 2023

A Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET), which is useful for infrastructure less quick wireless communication, will play a vital role in future network deployments. Due to ad-hoc and wireless characteristics, MANETs are highly vulnerable and they would not be viable without effective security protection. This paper designs a lightweight certificate authority (LCA) as a common security framework for MANETs and develops safeguard for a well-known reactive routing protocol called DSR (Dynamic Source Routing). Additionally, we propose a minor modification of DSR called modified DSR (mDSR), where a hop-count parameter as used in AODV (Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector) routing protocol is included. It is incorporated in RREQ/RRER messages of DSR for counting the number of hops in a route, and the same is used in efficient routing and enhanced security protection of MANETs. The security and performance analysis of the proposed methods are provided and compared with other techniques.
An Exploration of Ventricle Regions Segmentation and Multiclass Disease Detection Using Cardiac MRI
Authors: V Subha , G GOMATHI
Published: March 2023

In this modern era, various cardiac diseases are very crucial as they cause a high mortality rate. Early detection of Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) is essential to prevent and control it. Diagnosis of cardiac disease is the process of analyzing the Left and Right ventricle cavities (LV, RV) and Myocardium (MYO) from Cardiac Magnetic Resonance (CMR) images. As the deep learning architectures are becoming more mature, segmenting and classifying cardiac MRI images using deep learning is gaining more attention. This work is aimed to identify five different cardiac disease subgroups namely NOR, MINF, DCM, HCM and ARC by employing a new Deep Join Attention Model (DJAM) technique for segmenting LV, MYO, and RV regions separately.This method provides advancement as the joined attention model was combined with the pooling layers and the resultant is added to the convolution layers. The proposed Region Integrated Deep Residual Network (RIDRN) is used to extract the features from the segmented images for classification. In this process, the features of LV, RV and MYO are combined with a different combination. The advantage of doing this process is to get the overall features without leaving any single strip of features from the three regions. Hence it shows a rise in the performance accuracy. The Random Forest classification method is used to classify the underlying features for cardiac disease diagnosis.This proposed work is tested in the Automated Cardiac Diagnosis Challenge (ACDC) dataset and it perfects the state-of-art techniques.
Application of a multivariate water quality index to evaluate the groundwater geochemistry of Jajpur district, Odisha, India and assessment of potential health risks
Authors: Sabinaya Sushree , Mahanty Biswanath , Lhamo Pema , Sahoo Sunil Kumar , Jha Viveka Nand , Sahoo Naresh Kumar
Published: March 2023

There are several water quality issues with groundwater in India, including fluoride and nitrate, which are all harmful to human health. In the current study, 14 distinct hydrochemical parameters were examined in a total of 76 groundwater samples collected from the Jajpur district of Odisha India. Nearly 36.8% and 11.84% of the samples had F- and NO3- values over the WHO permissible limit. The entropy-weighted water quality index (EWQI), the fixed-weight groundwater quality index (GWQI), principal component analysis (PCA) factor (or rotational factor) loading based water quality index (PCWQI) were employed. The four different water quality indices rated about 65.79± 4.68%, 33.55± 3.95%, and 0.66 ±0.76% of the samples as "Excellent," "Good," or "Medium" quality, with a nominal rating discrepancy of 13.15%. Across the WQI ranking, more than 86% of samples were consistently rated as excellent or good. About 38.15% samples surpassed the allowed limit for F- (hazard quotient HQ>1), posing non-carcinogenic health risks for children. Contrarily, 55.26% and 11.84% of NO3-samples, exceeding the permissible limit, and showed non-carcinogenic health risks for both children and adults. Groundwater pollution may increase as a result of some samples having substantial concentrations of NO3- and notably HCO3- ions as well as their positive interdependence. The moderate correlation between Ca2+ and HCO3- (r = 0.410) and the insignificance correlation between Mg2+ and HCO3- (r = 0.234) show that calcite dissolution is far more common than dolomite.
Biomarker analysis of VT1021, a first-in-class therapeutic agent that stimulates Thrombospondin-1 and reprograms the tumor microenvironment
Authors: Chen Jian , Vincent Melanie , Li Wendy , Fyfe Susanne , Wang Suming , Zota Victor , Mahoney James , Watnick Randolph , Cieslewicz Michael , Watnick Jing
Published: March 2023

VT1021 is a first-in-class therapeutic agent which has been tested in a phase I/II clinical study in solid tumors (NCT03364400) and has advanced to a phase II/III clinical study in glioblastoma (NCT03970447). Preclinical studies demonstrated that VT1021 inhibited tumor growth via stimulation of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) and reprogramming the tumor microenvironment. We sought to confirm the mechanism of action (MOA) of VT1021 in a clinical setting and identify biomarkers for VT1021 in future clinical studies. Accordingly, we evaluated potential biomarkers from peripheral blood samples and available paired biopsy samples from evaluable subjects enrolled in the phase I/II expansion study. Here, we report the clinical confirmation of TSP-1 induction by VT1021 in peripheral blood and tumor biopsy samples. Moreover, we observed that treatment with VT1021 resulted in the remodeling of the TME from one that was immunosuppressive and tumor-promoting to one that is immune active and tumor-inhibiting. The modifications were characterized by an increased ratio of CD8+ T cells (cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CTLs) to T Regulatory (Treg) cells, increased Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), decreased T cell exhaustion, increased M1:M2 macrophage ratio and decreased microvascular density. To identify non-invasive biomarkers for VT1021, we analyzed plasmatic cytokines and identified four cytokines as potential predictive biomarkers for VT1021 activity, including matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), chitinase 3 like protein 1 (CHI3L1), and C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 5 (CCL5). In addition, we found that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), Interleukin-18 binding protein alpha (IL-18 Bpa), CHI3L and CCL5 could be potential pharmacodynamic biomarkers for VT1021.
How Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Experience Acceptance-Based Emotion Regulation Group Therapy: A Qualitative Research
Authors: Hajati Elnaz , Gharraee Banafsheh , Sabbar Shaho , Lavasani Fahimeh Fathali , Farahani Hojjatollah
Published: March 2023

Background
Type 2 diabetes is a severe, chronic illness that necessitates lifelong care. Research suggests that individuals with enhanced emotional and psychological skills, typically experience greater success in managing and mitigating the adverse physical and psychological ramifications of the condition. Among the psychological approaches that have demonstrated efficacy in assisting diabetic patients is acceptance-based emotion regulation. The present study aims to enhance our understanding of the ways in which acceptance-based emotion regulation therapy can benefit individuals with diabetes. The study builds on Gratz and Gunderson's emotion regulation model, expanding upon its concepts and application to the diabetic population.
Method
A series of in-depth interviews were conducted with patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes who had undergone acceptance-based emotion regulation therapy. The treatment program encompassed 14 two-hour therapy sessions.
Results
The findings of this study provide a comprehensive account of the strategies employed by informed patients to regulate their emotions effectively.
Conclusion
Qualitative research examining the subjective experiences of patients undergoing therapy can equip therapists with valuable insights to enhance the quality of care provided.
Assessing the Occupational and Environmental Health Hazards among Rag-Pickers: A Systematic Review
Authors: Rani Usha , Pandey Bindhy Wasini , Saluja Daman , Anand Subhash , Kumar Harish
Published: March 2023

The vulnerability occupational health hazard of ragpickers has emerged as a serious public health threat and has had a tremendous impact on all spheres of the environment nearby landfill and other side of solid waste locations. Since 1970, large numbers of studies have been carried out on the impact of health conditions on ragpickers around the world, but no studies have been carried out on the scientific/systematic review on the impact of health due to their occupational impact at global level. This study aims to systematically assess the scientific review on the impact of occupation on ragpickers and their environmental conditions. For this study, total 339 studies were identified after rigorous review, and 134 studies met the criteria for the review. The literature was surveyed from Scopus, Google Scholar, Research gate, Web of Science, semantic scholar and the Google search engine. The results reveal that (i) most of the studies were carried out continent wise on: Asia, followed by Europe, Africa, and South America. About 69 (51.5%) of the total studies were surveyed from Asia, followed by Africa 32 (23.88%), South America 30 (22.39%), and Europe is only 3 (2.23%) has found in the open database on related to the topic. (ii) in the case of countries, the highest number of studies was performed on India (30.60%), followed by Brazil (19.40), South Africa (14%), Bangladesh (8%), Ghana (6%), Study results out that chemical, biological work place hazard are more risky environmental hazard in their occupations.
Top Caregiver Concerns in Rett syndrome and related disorders: data from the US Natural History Study
Authors: Neul Jeffrey Lorenz , Benke Timothy A. , Marsh Eric D. , Suter Bernhard , Silveira Lori , Fu Cary , Peters Sarika U. , Percy Alan K. , Group Rett syndrome Natural History Study
Published: March 2023

Objective: Recent advances in the understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders such as Rett syndrome (RTT) has enabled development of novel therapeutic approaches that are currently undergoing clinical evaluation or are proposed to move into clinical development. Clinical trial success depends on outcome measures that assess clinical features that are most impactful for affected individuals. To determine the top concerns in RTT and RTT-related disorders we asked caregivers to list the top clinical concerns in order to gain information to guide the development and selection of outcome measures for future clinical trials.
Methods: Caregivers of participants enrolled in the US Natural History Study of RTT and related disorders were asked to identify the top 3 concerning problems impacting the affected participant. We generated a weighted list of top caregiver concerns for each of the diagnostic categories and compared results between the disorders. Further, for Classic RTT, caregiver concerns were analyzed by age, clinical severity, and common RTT-causing mutations in MECP2.
Results: The top caregiver concerns for Classic RTT were effective communication, seizures, walking/balance issues, lack of hand use, and constipation. The rank order of the frequency of the top caregiver concerns for Classic RTT varied by age, clinical severity, and specific mutations, consistent with known variation in the frequency of clinical features across these domains. The frequency of caregiver concern for seizures, hand use, and spoken language increased in relation to clinician assessed severity in these clinical domains, showing consistency between clinician assessments and caregiver concerns. Comparison across disorders found commonalities in the top caregiver concerns between Classic RTT, Atypical RTT, MECP2 Duplication Syndrome, CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder, and FOXG1 Syndrome; however, distinct differences in caregiver concerns between these disorders are consistent with the relative prevalence and impact of specific clinical features.
Conclusion: The top caregiver concerns for individuals with RTT and the RTT-related disorders reflect the impact of the primary clinical symptoms of these disorders. This work is critical in the development of meaningful therapies, as optimal therapy should address these concerns. Further, outcome measures to be utilized in clinical trials should assess these clinical issues identified as most concerning by caregivers.
No fitness cost in Brassica rapa (wild turnip) populations associated with transgenic glyphosate and non-transgenic AHAS-inhibiting herbicides resistance
Authors: Tillería Sofía G. , Pandolfo Claudio , Presotto Alejandro , Ureta Soledad
Published: March 2023

Brassica rapa is an annual species cultivated for centuries for food consumption and oil. Its wild form is a common weed in temperate climates around the world, including Argentina, interfering in more than 20 crops. The adoption of genetically modified (GM) and non-GM Brassica napus herbicide-resistant cultivars and the possibility of introgression with B. rapa gave rise to new weedy biotypes. In Argentina, in 2012, natural populations of transgenic (GM) glyphosate-resistant B. rapa were found and one of these populations also showed (non-GM) AHAS-inhibiting resistance. The study of the pleiotropic effects on fitness cost in this species could determine whether these resistances could persist in agricultural fields. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of the glyphosate transgene (GT73) and AHAS Trp574Leu mutation on B. rapa vegetative and reproductive traits. Two trials were carried out, one with a homogenous genetic background and another with a different genetic background, both in two growing seasons. We found no differences in either trial between the resistant and susceptible biotypes in any of the fitness traits evaluated. It was also noted that in winter, the biotypes showed a better performance than plants growing in spring. Based on these results, glyphosate resistance and AHAS-inhibiting resistance are likely to persist in Brassica rapa populations even without the herbicide selection. This is in agreement with the area invaded by this weed in Argentina over the last ten years.
Perceptions of Allergic Consumers and Allergists on Precautionary Allergen Labelling: Where do we go from here?
Authors: Graham François , Waserman Susan , Gerdts Jennifer , Povolo Beatrice , Vieille Sébastien La
Published: March 2023

Background
Despite the widespread use of precautionary allergen labelling (PAL) by manufacturers, PAL remains poorly understood by consumers and allergists in Canada. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of allergic consumers and allergists on PAL.
Methods
An online survey was sent to consumers registered in Food Allergy Canada’s database and to a third-party consumer panel representative of the general population. All consumer participants had a food allergy or were a parent/caregiver of a child with food allergy. In parallel, a separate online survey was sent to allergist members of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and provincial associations.
Results
1,080 consumers and 63 allergists (29% of allergists in Canada) responded to the survey. Fifty-four percent of consumers purchased products with a PAL statement at least occasionally. More than half of consumers (53%) considered PAL a very useful tool. Most surveyed individuals (59%) had not heard of the term “individual allergen threshold” or had heard the term but didn’t know what it meant. While consumers who participated in the survey agreed with a risk-based approach to PAL, the same consumers were reluctant to buy foods with even a small amount of their allergen that would not trigger an allergic reaction in the vast majority of them. Half of allergists thought PAL was not useful in its current form and 83% allowed the consumption of foods with PAL to their patients in some circumstances.
Conclusions
A multi-stakeholder approach is needed with greater consumer and allergist education on risk assessment concepts before the adoption of allergen thresholds for the application of PAL.
The Design Strain Sensitivity of the Schenberg Spherical Resonant Antenna for Gravitational Waves
Authors: Liccardo Vincenzo , Lenzi Cesar , Marinho Rubens , Aguiar Odylio , Frajuca Carlos , Bortoli Fabio , Costa Cesar
Published: March 2023

The main purpose of this study is to review the Schenberg resonant antenna transfer function and to recalculate the antenna design strain sensitivity for gravitational waves. We consider the spherical antenna with six transducers in the semi dodecahedral configuration. When coupled to the antenna, the transducer-sphere system will work as a mass-spring system with three masses. The first one is the antenna effective mass for each quadrupolemode, the second one is the mass of the mechanical structure of the transducer first mechanical mode and the third one is the effective mass of the transducer membrane that makes one of the transducer microwave cavity walls. All the calculations are done for the degenerate (all the sphere quadrupole mode frequencies equal) and non-degenerate sphere cases. We have come to the conclusion that the “ultimate” sensitivity of an advanced version of Schenberg antenna (aSchenberg) is around the standard quantum limit (although the parametric transducers used could, in principle, surpass this limit). However, this sensitivity, in the frequency range where Schenberg operates, has already been achieved by the two aLIGOs in the O3 run, therefore, the only reasonable justification for remounting the Schenberg antenna and trying to place it in the sensitivity of the standard quantum limit would be to detect gravitational waves with another physical principle, different from the one used by laser interferometers. This other physical principle would be the absorption of the gravitational wave energy by a resonant mass like Schenberg.
The indirect impact of COVID-19 pandemic on limb preservation care– a retrospective analysis of trends in lower limb revascularisation
Authors: Anthony Lakmali , Gillies Madeline , Tran Morica , Goh David
Published: March 2023

Background: Disruptions caused by COVID-19 pandemic have profoundly influenced the management of many conditions, especially vascular pathologies including limb preservation care. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the pandemic on patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) focusing on lower limb revascularisation procedure volume, their indication and urgency of surgery.
Methods: The Australian Vascular Audit (AVA) was used to capture data on revascularisation procedures before and after the onset of the pandemic in Victoria, Australia. Information on patient demographics, procedures performed, their indication and urgency of surgery were collected.
Results: There was a significant 22.7% increase in revascularisations for PAD during the COVID-19 pandemic, driven solely by a 31.9% increase in endovascular revascularisation procedures. Endovascular procedures for all indications of PAD, namely claudication, rest pain and tissue loss, increased by 22.3%, 62.9% and 35% respectively, during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic times. Open procedures declined by 10.2% during the pandemic. There were significant 13.9% and 62.2% increases in elective and semi-urgent revascularisations respectively during the pandemic while emergency revascularisations for PAD fell by 4.2%.
Conclusions: This study found that the volume of revascularisation for PAD increased significantly during the pandemic indicating that patients with PAD had significant deterioration of their condition during the pandemic. This is likely multifactorial; due to disruptions to standard provision of podiatry, vascular surgery and endocrinology services to these patients, a decline in overall health and changes in health-related behaviours due to restrictions and infection control methods imposed during the pandemic. The number of elective and semi-urgent procedures also increased during the pandemic which reflects the significant deterioration of PAD patients during the pandemic. This study highlights a concerning trend of worsening PAD when routine care of these patients is disrupted. Such data should be instrumental in contingency planning and resource allocation for managing the ongoing pandemic.
Global, regional and national burden of heart failure associated with atrial fibrillation
Authors: Kularatna Sanjeewa , Jadambaa Amarzaya , Hewage Sumudu , Brain David , McPhail Steven , Parsonage William
Published: March 2023

Background:
Heart failure is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, and Atrial fibrillation (AF) is among many modifiable risk factors for heart failure. No estimates are available on the magnitude of the burden of heart failure associated with AF, and this study estimated the global, regional, and national burdens associated with AF.
Methods: We used the comparative risk assessment method to estimate the disease burden in terms of prevalence and years lived with disability (YLD). The population-attributable fraction for heart failure and AF was calculated from prevalence estimates of AF and the recalculated relative risks of heart failure associated with AF from a systematic review summarising the longitudinal association between AF and outcomes. The burden of heart failure was retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease database.
Results: Globally, 2.6% (95% uncertainty interval 1.3 to 4.7%) of the burden of heart failure is associated with AF. This was 1.5 (95% UI 0.6 to 3.2) million people in 2019, a 49.8% increase from 1990. The highest prevalence was from South-East Asia, East Asia and Oceania. The highest YLD was estimated for Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. High-income countries showed a sharp decline in the age standardised prevalence and YLD rates from 1990 to 2019.
Conclusion: The burden of heart failure associated with AF has increased substantially over the past two decades despite the advances in AF management. However, falling prevalence and YLD rates of heart failure associated with AF in high-income countries over time indicate that reducing this burden is possible.
Fractured Tight Glutenite Reservoir Pore Structure Characterization and Deliverability Prediction Based on Geophysical Well Logging
Authors: Hu Tingting , Pan Tuo , Chen Liang , Li Jing , Liu Yu
Published: March 2023

Tight glutenite rservoirs characterization and effective hydrocarbon-bearing formation identification faced great challenge due to ultra-low porosity, utra-low permeability and complicated pore structure. In addition, tight glutenite reservoirs generally had no natural productive capacity, fracturing fracture-building technique always needed to improve hydrocarbon production capacity. Pore structure characterization and friability prediction were essential in improving such type of reservoir evaluation. In this study, fractured tight glutenite reservoirs in Permian Jiamuhe Formation that located in northwest margin of Junggar Basin, northwest China was chosen as an example, 25 typical core samples were drilled and simultaneously applied for mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and whole-rock mineral X-ray diffraction experiments. The limitation of pore structure characterization based on NMR logging was analyzed, and a novel method of synthetizing pseudo pore-throat radius (Rc) distribution from porosity frequency spectra, and used to characterize fractured formation pore structure was established, the porosity frequency spectra were extracted from electrical image logging. Based on whole-rock mineral X-ray diffraction experimental data, quartz and calcite were considered as the fragile mineral in our target formation, and rock mineral component ratio method was used to predict brittleness index (BI). The statistical model that raised by Jin et al. (2015) was used to predict two types of fracture toughness KIC and KIIC. BI, KIC and KIIC were combined to characterize tight glutenite reservoirs friability (Frac). Combining with maximal pore-throat radius (Rmax, reflected rock pore structure) and Frac, our target formations were classified into four clusters. Meanwhile, relationships among Rmax, Frac and daily hydrocarbon production per meter (DI) was analyzed, and positively relations among them was observed. Formations with good pore structure and high Frac always contained high deliverability, and vice versa. A model to predict fractured tight glutenite reservoirs DI from well logging data was established. Comparison of predicted DI with the extracted results from drill stem test (DST) data illustrated the reliability of our raised models. This would be valueable in determining optimal hydrocarbon production intervals and formulating reasonable developed plans.
Overnight registration of crackles, cough and wheezing in patients with interstitial lung disease
Authors: Klaembt Nicola , Conradt Regina , Koehler Ulrich , Hildebrandt Olaf , Cassel Werner , Degerli Mikail A. , Fischer Patrick , Gross Volker , Koczulla Rembert , Viniol Christian
Published: March 2023

Introduction
Clinical symptoms of Diffuse Parenchymal Lung Disease (DPLD) are dyspnoea and dry cough. On auscultation, crackles can be detected at an early stage. The aim of this study was to analyse whether the extent of abnormal breath sounds (crackles, wheezes and coughs) provides an indication of the disease severity and aetiology.
Methodology
In 25 patients with DPLD, an in- hospital overnight recording of physiological and abnormal breath sounds was performed with the LEOSound® monitor. The severity of pulmonary fibrosis was assessed by body plethysmography and GAP score. The perceived breathlessness was assessed by King's Brief Interstitial Lung Disease (K-Bild) questionnaire.
Results
In 16 out of 25 patients, all data were completed in good quality for analysis. Five patients were women (31.3%). The patients’ mean age was 65.8 ± 7.3 years, the mean BMI 28.0 ± 2.4 kg/m2. One patient met GAP I criteria, eight patients GAP II and seven patients met GAP III criteria. The findings of eight patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) were compared with those of eight patients with secondary interstitial lung disease (ILD). Both, the number of inspiratory crackles and coughs showed significant correlations with the severity of dyspnoea and ILD-pattern. Wheezing occurred in 15 patients, with a median of 25.7 wheezes/h.
Discussion
Overnight long-term auscultation in patients with pulmonary fibrosis proved feasible in our study. Regardless of the aetiology and disease severity, crackles were detected in the recordings of all fibrosis patients, but not cough. Wheezing occurred in 15 out of 16 patients, the significance of which for clinical practice must still remain unclear.
Electroacupuncture prevents astrocyte atrophy to alleviate depression
Authors: Lin SiSi , Zhou Bin , Chen Binjie , JIANG Ruotian , Li Baoman , Illes Peter , Semyanov Alexey , Tang Yong , Verkhratsky Alexei
Published: March 2023

Astrocyte atrophy is the main histopathological hallmark of the major depressive disorder (MDD) in humans and in animal models of depression. Here we show that electroacupuncture prevents astrocyte atrophy in the prefrontal cortex and alleviates depressive-like behaviour in mice subjected to the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Treatment of mice with CUMS induced depressive-like phenotypes as confirmed by sucrose preference test, tail suspension test, and forced swim test. These behavioural changes were paralleled with morphological atrophy of astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex, revealed by analysis of 3D reconstructions of confocal Z-stack images of mCherry expressing astrocytes. This morphological atrophy was accompanied with a decrease in expression of cytoskeletal linker Ezrin, associated with formation of astrocytic leaflets, which form astroglial synaptic cradle. Electroacupuncture at the acupoint ST36 as well as treatment with anti-depressant fluoxetine prevented depressive-like behaviours, astrocytic atrophy and down-regulation of astrocytic ezrin. In conclusion, our data further strengthen the notion of a primary role of astrocytic atrophy in depression and reveal astrocytes as cellular target for electroacupuncture in treatment of depressive disorders.
Control of chiral magnetic domain walls in a Pt/CoFeB/Ir multilayer using ferroelectric BaTiO3 domains
Authors: Alshammari Khulaif , Hunt Robbie , Ali Mannan , Keatley Paul , Moore Thomas
Published: March 2023

Strain exerted by a ferroelectric substrate on a thin ferromagnetic multilayer film is a promising low-energy method of controlling chiral magnetic spin textures. Here we report on the effect of strain coupling between magnetic domains in skyrmion-host multilayer Pt/CoFeB/Ir and ferroelectric domains in BaTiO3 substrates. By imaging the multilayer’s demagnetised domain pattern using wide-field Kerr microscopy we observe magnetic stripe domains with orientation aligned with the underling ferroelectric domain pattern. Upon cooling, the domain period changes abruptly at the BaTiO3 phase transition temperatures, indicating that the strain orients the stripe domains on the micrometre scale and also introduces sample-wide changes in magnetic properties such as anisotropy and exchange interaction strength. These results open a route to electric field control of the domain morphology and microscopic properties in thin multilayer structures that are already used as skyrmion hosts, and unlock the possibility of controlling skyrmion properties through electric fields alone.