bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparing the educational gradients in three cardiovascular disease-specific health measures
Authors: Hoffmann Rasmus , Kröger Hannes
Published: February 2021

Less-educated persons have worse cardiovascular health. We compare the educational gradients in three disease-specific health measures (biomarkers, self-reported doctors’ diagnoses and cause-specific mortality) in order to compare their relevance in different stages of the disease process. We study 14,102 people aged 50–89 from the US Health Retirement Study (HRS) in the period 2006–17. We use six CVD biomarkers (systolic/​diastolic blood pressure, ratio total/HDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein, body mass index, HbA1c) and two self-reported doctors’ diagnoses (stroke, heart attack). We estimate the gradient in biomarkers using log-binomial regression and the hazard of diagnoses and CVD mortality with Cox survival models.

Among those without pre-diagnosed CVD conditions, the educational gradient in mortality is highest (RR 1.97), the gradient for those who receive a CVD diagnosis is in the middle (RR 1.46), and the gradient in biomarkers is lowest (RR 1.32). Among those with recent/​older diagnoses, the biomarker gradient is comparable to levels among the non-diagnosed, while the mortality gradient is much lower (RR 1.35). The gradients in diagnoses and mortality are only slightly explained by differences in biomarkers.

The comparison of the three gradients and the mediation analysis suggest that in each of the steps to diagnosis and death there are social factors involved that increase the gradient and go beyond what biomarkers can predict. Having a CVD diagnosis leads to smaller mortality gradients, presumably because of the convergence of educational differences in behaviour and during treatment and monitoring. Our findings support prevention as a strategy against social inequalities in CVD.
Relationality and linked lives during transitions to parenthood in Europe: an analysis of institutionally framed work-care divisions
Authors: Grunow Daniela , Evertsson Marie
Published: February 2021

This article ties together key findings from a 12-year cross-national qualitative collaboration that involved researchers from nine European countries. Our comparative analysis draws on longitudinal heterosexual couple data, in which both partners were interviewed first, during pregnancy, and second, between six months and two-and-a-half years after childbirth. We tackle the relational ties that shape family practices from a lifecourse perspective, emphasising the interdependent construction of motherhood and fatherhood identities, couples’ institutional embeddedness and linked lives. Analysing the data by combining the relationality and lifecourse perspectives brings forth how women and men enact agency in a constrained environment while making consequential decisions about their own, their partners’ and children’s futures. Whereas the gender culture provides parents with arguments and discourses to motivate their work-care plans, the policy context limits how new parents interact as they seek to escape or cope with institutionally prescribed gender divisions of work and care.
Introduction
Authors: Cummins Ian
Published: February 2021

When Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016, she made a speech on the steps of Downing Street in which she outlined a series of ‘burning injustices’ her administration would seek to tackle. Many were struck by the irony of this commitment to tackling inequality and disadvantages coming, as it did, from a senior member of the coalition and Conservative governments that since 2010 had introduced a series of policies which had targeted those living in poverty and the most vulnerable. The scandals of the revelation of the real impact of the ‘hostile environment’ created by May’s Home Office and the appalling treatment of the Windrush generation lay ahead. In May 2017, May announced that a review would be undertaken of the ‘flawed’ Mental Health Act (MHA). In making the announcement she stated:...
A Child's Day
Authors: Mullan Killian
Published: February 2021

We routinely judge how well children are doing in their lives by how they spend their time, yet we know remarkably little about it. This rigorous review of four decades of data provides the clearest insights yet into the way children use their time. With analysis of changes in the time spent on family, education, culture and technology, as well as children's own views on their habits, it provides a fascinating perspective on behaviour, well-being, social change and more. This is an indispensable companion to the work of policy makers, academics and researchers, and anyone interested in the daily lives of children. The book begins by tracing some of the major strands of social change thought to have had an impact on different areas of children's daily time use. The past several decades have witnessed rapid social, economic, and technological change, widely thought to have affected many aspects of children's daily lives. It then examines the relationship between children's time use and outcomes relating to their health, development, and well-being, drawing together strands of thought from the sociology of childhood and research on child well-being. The book discusses overall trends in children's time doing homework and study. It examines associations between children's time use and a range of different health outcomes, and moves on to investigate the context of children's daily life linked to family, in particular concentrating on the time children spend at home and with parents. It evaluates children's time using technology, and focuses on the affective component of subjective well-being, specifically in connection with how children feel about how they spend their time. In conclusion, the book identifies areas of expected change as well as other areas of surprising stability. It reveals how change and stability in children's time use blend together to comprise a child's day, uncovering also the multi-layered contexts of a child's day.
Introduction
Authors: Mullan Killian
Published: February 2021

This introductory chapter traces some of the major strands of social change thought to have had an impact on different areas of children's daily time use. The past several decades have witnessed rapid social, economic, and technological change, widely thought to have affected many aspects of children's daily lives. Technological change potentially has had the most direct impact on children's lives, and certainly has garnered the most attention, through changes affecting screen-based activities. Education is a further major domain in children's lives where there has been persistent change over many decades. The chapter then examines the relationship between children's time use and outcomes relating to their health, development, and well-being, drawing together strands of thought from the sociology of childhood and research on child well-being. It sets out the data, measures, and methods of the empirical analysis, followed by a first outline of change in a child's day over four decades between 1975 and 2015.
Time for Education and Culture
Authors: Mullan Killian
Published: February 2021

This chapter discusses overall trends in children's time doing homework and study. It analyses differences in trends associated with parental education to explore the extent to which trends in time doing homework and study reflect socio-economic differences in educational outcomes. Despite increasing levels of school attainment, children from lower socio-economic backgrounds overall persistently obtain fewer qualifications from school than those from relatively more advantaged families. The chapter also studies trends in children's time reading and their participation in a wide range of cultural activities, such as going to galleries and museums or the cinema and sporting events. Middle-class parents typically possess relatively high levels of cultural capital, evidenced in their relatively higher qualification and participation in different cultural practices, which may in turn help sustain socio-economic differences in educational outcomes for children.
Time for Health
Authors: Mullan Killian
Published: February 2021

This chapter examines associations between children's time use and a range of different health outcomes. Concerns about the prevalence of obesity and being overweight among children, and associated health problems, have drawn attention to questions around whether children are spending too much time in sedentary screen-based activities on the one hand and not enough time in active physical activities on the other. Technological change has greatly enhanced the capacity for children to spend time in a wide variety of screen-based activities, and persistent concerns about children's safety outdoors have led to increasing restrictions on the time children spend outside. These factors have likely coalesced over recent decades, resulting in children leading lives that are less active and spent indoors focused on screens. The widespread view is that this is indeed the case. Considering the evidence for this, the chapter analyses long-term trends in screen time (comprised of time watching TV, using computers, and playing video games) alongside trends in physical activities such as sport and exercise, play outside the home, and active travel (walking and cycling).
The Meaning of Writing for Teenagers With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring Their Motives for Writing In and Out of School
Authors: Boisvert-Hamelin Marie-Eve , Odier-Guedj Delphine
Published: February 2021

To facilitate the learning of writing of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in a setting that is inclusive, it is instructive to examine writing difficulties from a strength-based perspective by looking at the meanings students give to writing activities. This qualitative study explored the meanings and motives for writing of two 14-year-olds with ASD through their writing activities both in and out of school. Data were collected through interviews and filmed participant observation. The data analyses were cross-referenced to understand the students' motives for writing. This study suggests that bridges can be created between students' motives for writing in school and out of school. Our findings pave the way to new approaches in teaching writing in schools.
A Community-Engaged Project Discovering the Sexuality Questions of Adults With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Kammes Rebecca R. , Black Rhonda S. , Easley Trisha
Published: February 2021

This study used a community-based participatory research approach to examine what adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) view as important topics in sexuality education. A thematic analysis was conducted on questions written by adults with IDD regarding sexuality after attending a sexuality education group. Results were checked for accuracy using a community focus group. Findings provide direct implications for community-based sexuality education programs for adults with IDD, demonstrating the need for mentoring regarding authentic relationship experiences as well as developmentally appropriate sexual health information. Programs need to focus on helping adults with IDD navigate these interpersonal experiences. This study also demonstrates the importance of including the voices of adults with IDD in research in order to ensure its applicability and acceptability.
Caregiver Involvement in Early Intervention Services: Service Providers' Perspectives
Authors: Chung Moon Y. , Meadan Hedda
Published: February 2021

Communication skills are critical for young children with developmental disabilities or delays (DD) to increase their inclusion in school and community settings. Thus, many early intervention (EI) services focus on improving children's communication skills. The involvement of the caregivers, the natural change agents, in EI sessions could significantly impact the communication skills development of young children with DD. EI service providers' perspectives could be one of the factors that increase caregiver involvement. Their perspectives may work as a discernment variable through which they reject or accept the practices related to caregiver involvement, based on their beliefs (Campbell & Halbert, 2002). The purpose of this pilot study was to understand service providers' perspectives on caregiver involvement in EI services. Survey methodology was used, and 129 service providers' responses were analyzed. Overall, the service providers reported that they believed caregiver involvement in EI sessions, and, more specifically, in communication intervention, is critical. Also, service providers reported that they were trying to involve caregivers in their EI services, with some variation between subgroup characteristics. Findings from the survey data have implications related to professional development in the area of building strong partnerships between professionals and families to support children's communication and inclusion.
Plane wave scattering by a three-dimensional chiral object immersed in a simple Lorentz-nonreciprocal medium with magnetoelectric gyrotropy
Authors: Alkhoori Hamad M.
Published: February 2021

Scattering by a three-dimensional object composed of a chiral medium (the interior medium) and immersed in a simple Lorentz-nonreciprocal medium with magnetoelectric gyrotropy (the exterior medium) was treated using the extended boundary condition method (EBCM). The exterior medium is quantified byεre,μre, andΓ, whereas the interior medium is quantified byεri,μri, andβ. When irradiated by a plane wave, the differential scattering efficiency does not depend on the polarization state of the incident plane wave if the exterior medium is impedance-matched with the interior medium, regardless of the shape of the object,Γ, andβ. Zero backscattering is possible if, in addition to impedance-matching condition, the object is rotationally symmetric about the propagation direction, andΓis parallel to the propagation direction. Numerical results confirm these remarks for scattering by spheroids. On fixingεri,μri,εre, andμre, the effects ofΓandβon the total scattering efficiency were examined for a sphere. The total scattering efficiency does not depend on the polarization state of the incident plane wave, even when the exterior medium is not impedance-matched with the interior medium, and despite the presence ofΓandβ. The total scattering efficiency whenΓis coparallel to the propagation direction can be either equal to, larger than, or smaller than whenΓis antiparallel or perpendicular to the propagation direction, depending onβand the electrical size of the sphere. It is found that parallel propagation of the incident plane wave with respect toΓhas a stronger influence than perpendicular propagation, regardless ofβand the electrical size of the sphere. The effect of increasing/decreasing the magnitude ofΓcan be envisioned only when its direction is parallel to the propagation direction.
Numerical investigation of bidirectionally tunable, nanometer-precise, and compact tweezers for screening gold nanoparticles
Authors: Ghorbanzadeh Mostafa
Published: February 2021

Unique optical and chemical properties of gold nanoparticles (NPs), besides their compatibility with biological entities, have led to the emergence of gold NPs as ideal candidates for biomedical applications if their size can be controlled with nanometer resolution. Taking advantage of (i) enhanced and confined dual wavelength counterpropagating leaky surface plasmons, (ii) different chemical potential dependencies of graphene’s optical transitions for different incident wavelengths, and (iii) different and intensive size dependencies of the extinction efficiency of plasmonic gold NPs for different incident wavelengths, (i) efficient, (ii) tunable, and (iii) bidirectional tweezers with nanometer precision have been proposed. At low laser intensities, but at the cost of speed, the proposed setup can be relatively compact due to the realized bidirectional feature that cannot be achieved in conventional unidirectional tweezers. Finite-difference time-domain calculations show that the proposed setup benefits from a dynamical fast tuning of the screening radius (

∼

1.73

µ

s

/

m
m

2

), high bidirectional sorting sensitivity (

∼

14

n
m

/

m
e
V

), and low tuning voltage (

∼

0.35

V

). The ability to integrate miniaturized parallel systems with individual operation on a single chip is another potential capability of the proposed system, which makes it a promising candidate for future lab-on-a-chip devices.
Numerical study of spatial propagation dynamics and energy delivery of TW square-aperture CO2 laser pulses in the atmosphere
Authors: Panagiotopoulos Paris , Kolesik Miroslav , Hasson Victor , Tochitsky Sergei , Moloney Jerome V.
Published: February 2021

We numerically study the linear and nonlinear spatial propagation
dynamics of multi-Joule 10.6 µm square beams in the atmosphere for
various square obscuration locations. We show that the spatial
reshaping process of these square frame shaped beams, a process
normally driven by strong linear diffraction, can be significantly
altered in the nonlinear regime. Depending on the input power, linear
dynamics can be mostly preserved or overpowered by the optical Kerr
effect, leading to the formation of single or multi-filament patterns,
at propagation distances of a few tens of meters in the atmosphere.
Optimal power delivery downstream is dependent on the location of the
square obscuration and overall input power. Our results offer
significant insight into ongoing efforts of high peak power

C
O

2

mid-IR lasers generated in unstable
resonators for atmospheric applications.
PMD estimation and its enabled feedforward adaptive equalization based on superimposed FrFT training sequences
Authors: Wang Li , Jiang Hexun , He Huan , Luo Fengguang , Tang Ming
Published: February 2021

Fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) training sequences (TSs) have been proposed to superimpose with signals to achieve time synchronization and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) estimation simultaneously before equalization. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is verified by experiment of a 30 GBaud/s PDM quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) system. Without sacrificing spectrum efficiency, the proposed PMD estimation is robust against amplifier spontaneous emission (ASE) noise and has steady performance in a wide PMD range from 0 ps to 108 ps. The root mean square error (RMSE) of PMD is 5.6 ps by experimental verification. Further, the PMD estimated before equalization is utilized to adjust the numbers of taps in a subsequently tap-varied equalizer, which achieves feedforward adaptive equalization (FFD-AEQ). The number of the AEQ taps is adjusted to an optimal value with the prior-PMD information estimated by FrFT TSs. The experimental results show that the tap-varied AEQ has 52.6% power consumption decrease compared to the tap-fixed AEQ with 13 taps.
Overcoming the rate–distance limit of device-independent quantum key distribution
Authors: Xie Yuan-Mei , Li Bing-Hong , Lu Yu-Shuo , Cao Xiao-Yu , Liu Wen-Bo , Yin Hua-Lei , Chen Zeng-Bing
Published: February 2021

Device-independent quantum key distribution (DIQKD) exploits the violation of a Bell inequality to extract secure keys even if users’ devices are untrusted. Currently, all DIQKD protocols suffer from the secret key capacity bound, i.e., the secret key rate scales linearly with the transmittance of two users. Here we propose a heralded DIQKD scheme based on entangled coherent states to improve entangling rates whereby long-distance entanglement is created by single-photon-type interference. The secret key rate of our scheme can significantly outperform the traditional two-photon-type Bell-state measurement scheme and, importantly, surpass the above capacity bound. Our protocol therefore is an important step towards a realization of DIQKD and can be a promising candidate scheme for entanglement swapping in the future quantum internet.
Simple SSMF-based two-channel MGDM system operating in the 0.8  µm wavelength region
Authors: Bae Sunghyun , Kim Byung Gon , Kim Minsik , Chung Yun C.
Published: February 2021

We propose a simple two-channel mode-group-division-multiplexing (MGDM)
system operating in the 0.8 µm region over the standard single-mode
fiber (SSMF). For the cost-effectiveness, we implement its receiver by
using only two photodetectors (PDs) [instead of three PDs required for
the detection of the

L
P

01

,

L
P

11
a

, and

L
P

11
b

modes]. We then detect the signal
carried by the

L
P

01

mode by using a PD and a mode filter.
On the other hand, the other signal carried by the

L
P

11

mode group is detected by using
another PD and a multiple-input single-output equalizer (i.e., by
subtracting the signal carried by the

L
P

01

mode from the multiplexed signal).
For a demonstration, we transmit

2

×

28

G
b

/

s

MGDM on-off keying signal operating
at 852.6 nm over 2.2 km of the SSMF by using the proposed technique.
The results show that we can achieve the bit-error rate of

<

3.8

×

10

−
3

for both the

L
P

01

and

L
P

11

modes.
Polarization-dependent tuning of Bragg reflection enabled through tilted subwavelength grating waveguide Bragg gratings
Authors: Sun Hao , Chen Lawrence R.
Published: February 2021

We propose and demonstrate experimentally tilted subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide Bragg gratings (WBGs). By tilting the SWG segments and optimizing the duty cycle, we can achieve polarization-dependent tuning of the spectral response of the SWG WBG, namely, the spectral response of the fundamental transverse electric (TE) mode shifts toward shorter wavelengths, while that for the transverse magnetic (TM) mode remains almost unchanged. In particular, for tilting angles of 5° and 30°, we can obtain a blueshift in the Bragg wavelength of 7 and 35 nm for the TE mode, while the Bragg wavelength for the TM mode remains within 0.5 nm. The proposed tilted SWG WBGs provide a novel method to manage polarization and/or obtain polarization-dependent wavelength selectivity with integrated WBG devices.
Doping and temperature-dependent UV-Vis optical constants of cubic SrTiO3: a combined spectroscopic ellipsometry and first-principles study
Authors: Zhang Wenjie , Fei Tianhao , Cheng Tao , Zheng Chong , Dong Yanbing , Yang Jia-Yue , Liu Linhua
Published: February 2021

SrTiO3 is the model perovskite compound and has demonstrated technological relevance from being the foundation of oxide electronics to a promising candidate as a high-temperature hydrogen sensor. Here, we fully investigate the temperature-dependent UV-Vis optical constants of pristine and doped SrTiO3 in the spectral range 0.73-5.90 eV using spectroscopic ellipsometry and first-principles. The oscillator model is applied to analyze and quantify the temperature and doping effect. After heating SrTiO3 from 300 to 873 K, the amplitude of the dominant absorption peak at 4.752 eV is reduced by 11% and the shoulder of optical spectrum at 3.708 eV gradually disappears. By doping SrTiO3 with Nb element from 0.05 to 0.7% wt, extra momentum is provided to enable indirect absorption and an unconventional Urbach tail is observed due to the increased crystalline disorder. Moreover, the first-principles calculations considering the many-body excitonic effect and phonon-assisted indirect absorption are performed, which help to determine the physics origin of absorption peaks and explain the temperature influence. This work sheds light on temperature and doping dependence of UV-Vis dielectric functions of cubic SrTiO3, aiming to elucidate the novel fundamental optical phenomena of SrTiO3-based heterostructures or devices.
Sulfur-rich chalcogenide claddings for athermal and high-Q silicon microring resonators
Authors: Jean Philippe , Douaud Alexandre , Thibault Tristan , LaRochelle Sophie , Messaddeq Younès , Shi Wei
Published: February 2021

Heterogeneous integration of materials with a negative thermo-optic coefficient is a simple and efficient way to compensate the strong detrimental thermal dependence of silicon-on-insulator devices. Yet, the list of materials that are both amenable for photonics fabrication and exhibit a negative TOC is very short and often requires sacrificing loss performance. In this work, we demonstrate that As20S80 chalcogenide glass thin-films can be used to compensate silicon thermal effects in microring resonators while retaining excellent loss figures. We present an experimental characterization of the glass thin-film and of fabricated hybrid microring resonators at telecommunication wavelengths. Nearly athermal operation is demonstrated for the TM polarization with an absolute minimum measured resonance shift of 5.25 pm K−1, corresponding to a waveguide effective index thermal dependence of 4.28×10-6 RIU/K. We show that the thermal dependence can be controlled by changing the cladding thickness and a negative thermal dependence is obtained for the TM polarization. All configurations exhibit unprecedented low loss figures with a maximum measured intrinsic quality factor exceeding 3.9 × 105, corresponding to waveguide propagation loss of 1.37 dB cm−1. A value of−4.75(75)×10-5 RIU/K is measured for the thermo-optic coefficient of As20S80 thin-films.
High-precision quantum transmittometry of DNA and methylene-blue using a frequency-entangled twin-photon beam in type-I SPDC
Authors: Motazedifard Ali , Madani Seyed Ahmad
Published: February 2021

Using the coincidence-count (CC) measurement of the generated frequency-entangled twin-photon beam (TWB) via the process of type-I spontaneous parametric-down conversion (SPDC) in BBO nonlinear crystal (NLC), we have precisely measured the transmittance of very diluted rabbit- and human-DNA, methylene-blue (MB) as a disinfectant, and a thin-film multilayer at near IR wavelength 810nm with an accuracy in order of %0.01 due to the quantum correlation, while the accuracy of classical-like measurement, single-count (SC), is in order of %0.1 in our setup. Moreover, using quantum measurement of the transmittance, the different types of DNA with the same concentration, and also very diluted (in order of pg/μl) different concentrations of DNA and MB solutions, are distinguished and detected with high-reliability. Interestingly, in the case of human-DNA samples in contrast to our classical-like measurement, we could precisely detect and distinguish two very diluted concentrations 0.01ng/μl and 0.1ng/μl with high reliability while the commercial standard spectrometer device of our DNA-manufacturer could neither detect nor distinguish them. Surprisingly, measurement on the thin-film multilayer illustrates that the introduced method in this work might be performed to cancer/brain tissues or stem cells for cancer therapy and may hopefully open a pave and platform for non-invasive quantum diagnosis in the future.
Impact of between-tissue differences on pan-cancer predictions of drug sensitivity
Authors: Lloyd John P. , Soellner Matthew B. , Merajver Sofia D. , Li Jun Z.
Published: February 2021

Increased availability of drug response and genomics data for many tumor cell lines has accelerated the development of pan-cancer prediction models of drug response. However, it is unclear how much between-tissue differences in drug response and molecular characteristics may contribute to pan-cancer predictions. Also unknown is whether the performance of pan-cancer models could vary by cancer type. Here, we built a series of pan-cancer models using two datasets containing 346 and 504 cell lines, each with MEK inhibitor (MEKi) response and mRNA expression, point mutation, and copy number variation data, and found that, while the tissue-level drug responses are accurately predicted (between-tissue ρ = 0.88–0.98), only 5 of 10 cancer types showed successful within-tissue prediction performance (within-tissue ρ = 0.11–0.64). Between-tissue differences make substantial contributions to the performance of pan-cancer MEKi response predictions, as exclusion of between-tissue signals leads to a decrease in Spearman’s ρ from a range of 0.43–0.62 to 0.30–0.51. In practice, joint analysis of multiple cancer types usually has a larger sample size, hence greater power, than for one cancer type; and we observe that higher accuracy of pan-cancer prediction of MEKi response is almost entirely due to the sample size advantage. Success of pan-cancer prediction reveals how drug response in different cancers may invoke shared regulatory mechanisms despite tissue-specific routes of oncogenesis, yet predictions in different cancer types require flexible incorporation of between-cancer and within-cancer signals. As most datasets in genome sciences contain multiple levels of heterogeneity, careful parsing of group characteristics and within-group, individual variation is essential when making robust inference.
Designing gene drives to limit spillover to non-target populations
Authors: Greenbaum Gili , Feldman Marcus W. , Rosenberg Noah A. , Kim Jaehee
Published: February 2021

The prospect of utilizing CRISPR-based gene-drive technology for controlling populations has generated much excitement. However, the potential for spillovers of gene-drive alleles from the target population to non-target populations has raised concerns. Here, using mathematical models, we investigate the possibility of limiting spillovers to non-target populations by designing differential-targeting gene drives, in which the expected equilibrium gene-drive allele frequencies are high in the target population but low in the non-target population. We find that achieving differential targeting is possible with certain configurations of gene-drive parameters, but, in most cases, only under relatively low migration rates between populations. Under high migration, differential targeting is possible only in a narrow region of the parameter space. Because fixation of the gene drive in the non-target population could severely disrupt ecosystems, we outline possible ways to avoid this outcome. We apply our model to two potential applications of gene drives—field trials for malaria-vector gene drives and control of invasive species on islands. We discuss theoretical predictions of key requirements for differential targeting and their practical implications.
Fully automated point-of-care differential diagnosis of acute febrile illness
Authors: Hin Sebastian , Lopez-Jimena Benjamin , Bakheit Mohammed , Klein Vanessa , Stack Seamus , Fall Cheikh , Sall Amadou , Enan Khalid , Mustafa Mohamed , Gillies Liz , Rusu Viorel , Goethel Sven , Paust Nils , Zengerle Roland , Frischmann Sieghard , Weidmann Manfred , Mitsakakis Konstantinos
Published: February 2021

Background

In this work, a platform was developed and tested to allow to detect a variety of candidate viral, bacterial and parasitic pathogens, for acute fever of unknown origin. The platform is based on a centrifugal microfluidic cartridge, the LabDisk (“FeverDisk” for the specific application), which integrates all necessary reagents for sample-to-answer analysis and is processed by a compact, point-of-care compatible device.

Methodology/Principal findings

A sample volume of 200 μL per FeverDisk was used. In situ extraction with pre-stored reagents was achieved by bind-wash-elute chemistry and magnetic particles. Enzymes for the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) were pre-stored in lyopellet form providing stability and independence from the cold chain. The total time to result from sample inlet to read out was 2 h. The proof-of-principle was demonstrated in three small-scale feasibility studies: in Dakar, Senegal and Khartoum, Sudan we tested biobanked samples using 29 and 9 disks, respectively; in Reinfeld, Germany we tested spiked samples and analyzed the limit of detection using three bacteria simultaneously spiked in whole blood using 15 disks. Overall during the three studies, the FeverDisk detected dengue virus (different serotypes), chikungunya virus, Plasmodium falciparum, Salmonella enterica Typhi, Salmonella enterica Paratyphi A and Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Conclusions/Significance

The FeverDisk proved to be universally applicable as it successfully detected all different types of pathogens as single or co-infections, while it also managed to define the serotype of un-serotyped dengue samples. Thirty-eight FeverDisks at the two African sites provided 59 assay results, out of which 51 (86.4%) were confirmed with reference assay results. The results provide a promising outlook for future implementation of the platform in larger prospective clinical studies for defining its clinical sensitivity and specificity. The technology aims to provide multi-target diagnosis of the origins of fever, which will help fight lethal diseases and the incessant rise of antimicrobial resistance.
PFP-WGAN: Protein function prediction by discovering Gene Ontology term correlations with generative adversarial networks
Authors: Seyyedsalehi Seyyede Fatemeh , Soleymani Mahdieh , Rabiee Hamid R. , Mofrad Mohammad R. K.
Published: February 2021

Understanding the functionality of proteins has emerged as a critical problem in recent years due to significant roles of these macro-molecules in biological mechanisms. However, in-laboratory techniques for protein function prediction are not as efficient as methods developed and processed for protein sequencing. While more than 70 million protein sequences are available today, only the functionality of around one percent of them are known. These facts have encouraged researchers to develop computational methods to infer protein functionalities from their sequences. Gene Ontology is the most well-known database for protein functions which has a hierarchical structure, where deeper terms are more determinative and specific. However, the lack of experimentally approved annotations for these specific terms limits the performance of computational methods applied on them. In this work, we propose a method to improve protein function prediction using their sequences by deeply extracting relationships between Gene Ontology terms. To this end, we construct a conditional generative adversarial network which helps to effectively discover and incorporate term correlations in the annotation process. In addition to the baseline algorithms, we compare our method with two recently proposed deep techniques that attempt to utilize Gene Ontology term correlations. Our results confirm the superiority of the proposed method compared to the previous works. Moreover, we demonstrate how our model can effectively help to assign more specific terms to sequences.
Functional capacities of microbial communities to carry out large scale geochemical processes are maintained during ex situ anaerobic incubation
Authors: Wilson R. M. , Zayed A. A. , Crossen K. B. , Woodcroft B. , Tfaily M. M. , Emerson J. , Raab N. , Hodgkins S. B. , Verbeke B. , Tyson G. , Crill P. , Saleska S. , Chanton J. P. , Rich V. I. ,   IsoGenie Project Coordinators,   IsoGenie Project Field Team
Published: February 2021

Mechanisms controlling CO2and CH4production in wetlands are central to understanding carbon cycling and greenhouse gas exchange. However, the volatility of these respiration products complicates quantifying their rates of production in the field. Attempts to circumvent the challenges through closed system incubations, from which gases cannot escape, have been used to investigate bulkin situgeochemistry. Efforts towards mapping mechanistic linkages between geochemistry and microbiology have raised concern regarding sampling and incubation-induced perturbations. Microorganisms are impacted by oxygen exposure, increased temperatures and accumulation of metabolic products during handling, storage, and incubation. We probed the extent of these perturbations, and their influence on incubation results, using high-resolution geochemical and microbial gene-based community profiling of anaerobically incubated material from three wetland habitats across a permafrost peatland. We compared the original field samples to the material anaerobically incubated over 50 days. Bulk geochemistry and phylum-level microbiota in incubations largely reflected field observations, but divergence between field and incubations occurred in both geochemistry and lineage-level microbial composition when examined at closer resolution. Despite the changes in representative lineages over time, inferred metabolic function with regards to carbon cycling largely reproduced field results suggesting functional consistency. Habitat differences among the source materials remained the largest driver of variation in geochemical and microbial differences among the samples in both incubations and field results. While incubations may have limited usefulness for identifying specific mechanisms, they remain a viable tool for probing bulk-scale questions related to anaerobic C cycling, including CO2and CH4dynamics.
“Like a doctor, like a brother”: Achieving competence amongst lay health workers delivering community-based rehabilitation for people with schizophrenia in Ethiopia
Authors: Asher Laura , Birhane Rahel , Teferra Solomon , Milkias Barkot , Worku Benyam , Habtamu Alehegn , Kohrt Brandon A. , Hanlon Charlotte
Published: February 2021

Background

There are gaps in our understanding of how non-specialists, such as lay health workers, can achieve core competencies to deliver psychosocial interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

Methods

We conducted a 12-month mixed-methods study alongside the Rehabilitation Intervention for people with Schizophrenia in Ethiopia (RISE) pilot study. We rated a total of 30 role-plays and 55 clinical encounters of ten community-based rehabilitation (CBR) lay workers using an Ethiopian adaptation of the ENhancing Assessment of Common Therapeutic factors (ENACT) structured observational rating scale. To explore factors influencing competence, six focus group discussions and four in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 CBR workers and two supervisors at three time-points. We conducted a thematic analysis and triangulated the qualitative and quantitative data.

Results

There were improvements in CBR worker competence throughout the training and 12-month pilot study. Therapeutic alliance competencies (e.g., empathy) saw the earliest improvements. Competencies in personal factors (e.g., substance use) and external factors (e.g., assessing social networks) were initially rated lower, but scores improved during the pilot. Problem-solving and giving advice competencies saw the least improvements overall. Multimodal training, including role-plays, field work and group discussions, contributed to early development of competence. Initial stigma towards CBR participants was reduced through contact. Over time CBR workers occupied dual roles of expert and close friend for the people with schizophrenia in the programme. Competence was sustained through peer supervision, which also supported wellbeing. More intensive specialist supervision was needed.

Conclusion

It is possible to equip lay health workers with the core competencies to deliver a psychosocial intervention for people with schizophrenia in a low-income setting. A prolonged period of work experience is needed to develop advanced skills such as problem-solving. A structured intervention with clear protocols, combined with peer supervision to support wellbeing, is recommended for good quality intervention delivery. Repeated ENACT assessments can feasibly and successfully be used to identify areas needing improvement and to guide on-going training and supervision.
A multi-omic investigation of male lower urinary tract symptoms: Potential role for JC virus
Authors: Thomas Samuel , Dunn Christopher D. , Campbell Lewis J. , Strand Douglas W. , Vezina Chad M. , Bjorling Dale E. , Penniston Kristina L. , Li Lingjun , Ricke William A. , Goldberg Tony L.
Published: February 2021

Male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) comprise a common syndrome of aging that negatively impacts quality of life. The etiology of LUTS is multifactorial, involving benign prostatic hyperplasia, smooth muscle and neurologic dysfunction, inflammation, sexually transmitted infections, fibrosis, and potentially dysbiosis, but this aspect remains poorly explored. We investigated whether the presence of infectious agents in urine might be associated with LUTS by combining next-generation DNA sequencing for virus discovery, microbiome analysis for characterization of bacterial communities, and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. In urine from 29 LUTS cases and 9 controls from Wisconsin, we found a statistically significant association between a diagnosis of LUTS and the presence of JC virus (JCV), a common neurotropic human polyomavirus (Polyomaviridae,Betapolyomavirus) linked to severe neurologic disease in rare cases. This association (based on metagenomics) was not borne out when specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing was applied to this set of samples, likely due to the greater sensitivity of PCR. Interestingly, urine metabolomics analysis identified dysregulation of metabolites associated with key LUTS processes. Microbiome analysis found no evidence of microbial community dysbiosis in LUTS cases, but JCV-positive samples contained moreAnaerococcusspecies, which are involved in polymicrobial infections of the urinary tract. Neither age nor body mass index were significantly associated with the presence of urinary JCV—in the initial group or in an additional, regionally distinct group. These data provide preliminary support the hypothesis that viruses such as JCV may play a role in the development or progression of LUTS, together with other infectious agents and host metabolic responses.
Enhancing integrated analysis of national and global goal pursuit by endogenizing economic productivity
Authors: Hughes Barry B. , Narayan Kanishka
Published: February 2021

Analysis with integrated assessment models (IAMs) and multisector dynamics models (MSDs) of global and national challenges and opportunities, including pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), requires projections of economic growth. In turn, the pursuit of multiple interacting goals affects economic productivity and growth, generating complex feedback loops among actions and objectives. Yet, most analysis uses either exogenous projections of productivity and growth or specifications endogenously enriched with a very small set of drivers. Extending endogenous treatment of productivity to represent two-way interactions with a significant set of goal-related variables can considerably enhance analysis. Among such variables incorporated in this project are aspects of human development (e.g., education, health, poverty reduction), socio-political change (e.g., governance capacity and quality), and infrastructure (e.g. water and sanitation and modern energy access), all in conditional interaction with underlying technological advance and economic convergence among countries. Using extensive datasets across countries and time, this project broadly endogenizes total factor productivity (TFP) within a large-scale, multi-issue IAM, the International Futures (IFs) model system. We demonstrate the utility of the resultant open system via comparison of new TFP projections with those produced for Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP) scenarios, via integrated analysis of economic growth potential, and via multi-scenario analysis of progress toward the SDGs. We find that the integrated system can reproduce existing SSP projections, help anticipate differential economic progress across countries, and facilitate extended, integrated analysis of trade-offs and synergies in pursuit of the SDGs.
Relationship between anthropometric and biochemical changes of metabolic syndrome with retinal nerve fiber layer and macular thickness
Authors: New Sze Hui , Leow Sue Ngein , Vasudevan Suresh Kumar , Idris Idayu Badilla , Tang Seng Fai , Din Norshamsiah Md
Published: February 2021

Objective

To evaluate the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and macular thicknesses and identify systemic risk factors for thinning of these layers in patients with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methodology

A cross-sectional observational study was performed on patients diagnosed with MetS and compared to normal controls. All patients underwent ophthalmic and anthropometric examination, serological and biochemical blood investigations; and ocular imaging using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Patients with ocular pathology were excluded. Unpaired t-test was used to compare mean thickness between the two groups. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used to compare mean thickness between different tertiles of MetS parameters, and a generalized estimating equation was used to correct for inter-eye correlation and to assess association between mean thickness and covariates.

Results

Two hundred and forty-eight eyes from 124 participants (1:1 ratio of MetS patients to controls) were included. Age ranged between 30 to 50 years old, and mean age was 40 ± 6.6 years. RNFL thickness was lower globally (93.6 ± 9.9 μm vs 99.0 ± 9.3, p<0.001) and in the inferior (124.5 ± 17.5 μm vs 131.0 ± 16.4 μm, p = 0.002), superior (117.2 ± 16.0 μm vs 126.3 ± 14.4 μm, p<0.001) and temporal (65.5 ± 10.2 μm vs 69.5 ± 9.8, p = 0.002) sectors in MetS patients compared to controls. Only the central (237.0 ± 14.0 μm vs 243.6 ± 18.0 μm, p = 0.002) and inferior parafoveal (307.8 ± 20.9 vs 314.6 ± 14.6, p = 0.004) area of the macula was significantly thinner. The inferior RNFL sector had the most difference (mean difference = 9.1 μm). The Generalized Estimating Equation found that, after adjusting for age, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, HDL and obesity; the number of MetS components and elevated triglyceride levels were independent risk factors for reduced thickness in global RNFL (β = -4.4, 95% CI = -7.29 to -1.5, p = 0.003) and inferior parafovea (β = -6.85, 95% CI = -11.58 to -2.13, p = 0.004) thickness respectively.

Conclusion

RNFL thinning was seen more than macula thinning in MetS patients, suggesting RNFL susceptibility to neurodegeneration than the macula. A higher number of metabolic components and elevated triglyceride levels were independent risk factors for retinal thinning in this group of patients.