bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ranking the effect of chronodisruption-based biomarkers in reproductive health
Authors: Rúa Ana G. , Rico Noelia , Alonso Ana , Díaz Elena , Díaz Irene
Published: July 2022

Chronodisruption alters circadian rhythms, which has negative consequences on different pathologies and mental disorders. This work studies whether factors related to chronodisruption of circadian rhythms motivated by shift works influence on reproductive health or not. In particular, this influence is studied on four particular aspects related to reproductive health: reproductive health disease, first pregnancy attempt, problems during pregnancy and gestation period. Some explainable machine learning models based on trees have been employed. These methods provided information about the importance of each predictor. The most important variables provided by each method were aggregated using a ranking aggregation function in order to reach a consensus ranking of variables that made possible to understand whether the chronodisruption factors had an effect on each of the aspects studied. The data have been obtained from 697 health professionals. Information about classical biomarkers, sleep quality indices and also other new variables related to eating jet lag, sleep hygiene and how the sleep is affected by shift works were considered as input data. Experiments have shown how some of these novel biomarkers are ranked in the top positions of the issues studied in relation to reproductive health. In particular, the light level and the use of electronic devices, which are features related to chronodisruption, are highlighted as biomarkers.
Antibiotic profiling of wild-type bacilli led to the discovery of new lanthipeptide subtilin-producing Bacillus spizizenii strains whose 16S rDNA sequences differ from the B. spizizenii typing strain
Authors: Helfrich Markus , Entian Karl-Dieter , Stein Torsten
Published: July 2022

Two dozen field-collected Bacillus and a dozen Bacillus spizizenii wild-type strains from strain collections were selected on the basis of their antagonistic properties against the Gram-positive strain Micrococcus luteus. Based on their genetic and antibiotic profiles, they were characterized (subtilin encoding spaS gene sequences, mass spectrometric, and quantitative-reversed phase liquid chromatographic analyses, as well as the presence of the lanthionine cyclase protein SpaC by western blotting), seven novel producers of the lanthipeptide subtilin. Phylogenetic analyses of the subtilin-producing wild-type strains based on their 16S rRNA sequences showed that all seven strains could be classified as B. spizizenii: The field-collected strains HS and N5, as well as strains DSM 618, 1087, 6395, 6405, and 8439 from the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures. To the best of our knowledge, all B. spizizenii strains described so far are characterized by the fact that they can produce a lanthipeptide of the subtilin family. Both the lanthipeptide structures and the organization and sequences of the 16S rRNA-encoding genes suggest a subdivision of B. spizizenii into subspecies: The subtilin-producing B. spizizenii strains are distinctly different from the entianin-producing B. spizizenii typing strain TU-B-10 T (DSM 15029 T).
Highly private blockchain-based management system for digital COVID-19 certificates
Authors: Pericàs-Gornals Rosa , Mut-Puigserver Macià , Payeras-Capellà M. Magdalena
Published: July 2022

As a result of the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, several proposals of blockchain-based solutions for digital COVID-19 certificates have been presented. Considering that health data have high privacy requirements, a health data management system must fulfil several strict privacy and security requirements. On the one hand, confidentiality of the medical data must be assured, being the data owner (the patient) the actor that maintain control over the privacy of their certificates. On the other hand, the entities involved in the generation and validation of certificates must be supervised by a regulatory authority. This set of requirements are generally not achieved together in previous proposals. Moreover, it is required that a digital COVID-19 certificate management protocol provides an easy verification process and also strongly avoid the risk of forgery. In this paper we present the design and implementation of a protocol to manage digital COVID-19 certificates where individual users decide how to share their private data in a hierarchical system. In order to achieve this, we put together two different technologies: the use of a proxy re-encryption (PRE) service in conjunction with a blockchain-based protocol. Additionally, our protocol introduces an authority to control and regulate the centers that can generate digital COVID-19 certificates and offers two kinds of validation of certificates for registered and non-registered verification entities. Therefore, the paper achieves all the requirements, that is, data sovereignty, high privacy, forgery avoidance, regulation of entities, security and easy verification.
Intelligent and behavioral-based detection of malware in IoT spectrum sensors
Authors: Celdrán Alberto Huertas , Sánchez Pedro Miguel Sánchez , Castillo Miguel Azorín , Bovet Gérôme , Pérez Gregorio Martínez , Stiller Burkhard
Published: July 2022

The number of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) available in industrial environments is growing mainly due to the evolution of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm. In such a context, radio frequency spectrum sensing in industrial scenarios is one of the most interesting applications of CPS due to the scarcity of the spectrum. Despite the benefits of operational platforms, IoT spectrum sensors are vulnerable to heterogeneous malware. The usage of behavioral fingerprinting and machine learning has shown merit in detecting cyberattacks. Still, there exist challenges in terms of (i) designing, deploying, and evaluating ML-based fingerprinting solutions able to detect malware attacks affecting real IoT spectrum sensors, (ii) analyzing the suitability of kernel events to create stable and precise fingerprints of spectrum sensors, and (iii) detecting recent malware samples affecting real IoT spectrum sensors of crowdsensing platforms. Thus, this work presents a detection framework that applies device behavioral fingerprinting and machine learning to detect anomalies and classify different botnets, rootkits, backdoors, ransomware and cryptojackers affecting real IoT spectrum sensors. Kernel events from CPU, memory, network, file system, scheduler, drivers, and random number generation have been analyzed, selected, and monitored to create device behavioral fingerprints. During testing, an IoT spectrum sensor of the ElectroSense platform has been infected with ten recent malware samples (two botnets, three rootkits, three backdoors, one ransomware, and one cryptojacker) to measure the detection performance of the framework in two different network configurations. Both supervised and semi-supervised approaches provided promising results when detecting and classifying malicious behaviors from the eight previous malware and seven normal behaviors. In particular, the framework obtained 0.88–0.90 true positive rate when detecting the previous malicious behaviors as unseen or zero-day attacks and 0.94–0.96 F1-score when classifying them.
Anatomically informed multi-level fiber tractography for targeted virtual dissection
Authors: Zhylka Andrey , Leemans Alexander , Pluim Josien P. W. , De Luca Alberto
Published: July 2022

Objectives

Diffusion-weighted MRI can assist preoperative planning by reconstructing the trajectory of eloquent fiber pathways, such as the corticospinal tract (CST). However, accurate reconstruction of the full extent of the CST remains challenging with existing tractography methods. We suggest a novel tractography algorithm exploiting unused fiber orientations to produce more complete and reliable results.

Methods

Our novel approach, referred to as multi-level fiber tractography (MLFT), reconstructs fiber pathways by progressively considering previously unused fiber orientations at multiple levels of tract propagation. Anatomical priors are used to minimize the number of false-positive pathways. The MLFT method was evaluated on synthetic data and in vivo data by reconstructing the CST while compared to conventional tractography approaches.

Results

The radial extent of MLFT reconstructions is comparable to that of probabilistic reconstruction: $$p=0.21$$

p
=
0.21

for the left and $$p=0.53$$

p
=
0.53

for the right hemisphere according to Wilcoxon test, while achieving significantly higher topography preservation compared to probabilistic tractography: $$p<0.01$$

p
<
0.01

.

Discussion

MLFT provides a novel way to reconstruct fiber pathways by adding the capability of including branching pathways in fiber tractography. Thanks to its robustness, feasible reconstruction extent and topography preservation, our approach may assist in clinical practice as well as in virtual dissection studies.
Tunability of Band Gaps of Programmable Hard-Magnetic Soft Material Phononic Crystals
Authors: Li Bo , Yan Wei , Gao Yuanwen
Published: July 2022

In this paper, the elastic wave band gap characteristics of two-dimensional hard-magnetic soft material phononic crystals (HmSM-PnCs) under the applied magnetic field are studied. Firstly, the relevant material parameters of hard-magnetic soft materials (HmSMs) are obtained by the experimental measurement. Then the finite element model of the programmable HmSM-PnCs is established to calculate its band structure under the applied magnetic field. The effects of some factors such as magnetic field, structure thickness, structure porosity, and magnetic anisotropy encoding mode on the band gap are given. The results show that the start and stop frequencies and band gap width can be tunable by changing the magnetic field. The magnetic anisotropy encoding mode has a remarkable effect on the number of band gaps and the critical magnetic field of band gaps. In addition, the effect of geometric size on PnC structure is also discussed. With the increase of the structure thickness, the start and stop frequencies of the band gap increase.
Predictors of stockpiling behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
Authors: Sadus Kathrin , Göttmann Jan , Schubert Anna-Lena
Published: July 2022

Aim

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we witnessed an increase in purchases of certain products, such as toilet paper, disinfectants, or groceries. In the present study, we examined the individual and socio-psychological determinants of stockpiling behavior. For this purpose, we defined an explanatory model based on the Health Belief Model (HBM), which includes threat perceptions, barriers and benefits, and self-efficacy beliefs as main predictors of health-related behaviors, and extended the model to include social norms.

Subject and methods

Participants were recruited via social media platforms and data collection was conducted via an online survey. The final sample included 861 German respondents (male = 199, female = 642, mean age = 36.76, SD = 12.38).

Results

Perceived barriers of stockpiling, such as financial constraints or regulations in supermarkets, turned out to be the strongest predictors of stockpiling. Regarding the role of threat perception, the perceived severity of the disease in particular was positively related to stockpiling behavior. Finally, our results suggest a significant impact of social cues, showing that descriptive normative beliefs are associated with stockpiling behavior.

Conclusion

Based on these findings, we propose targeted interventions to a) reduce perceived benefits of stockpiling and severity beliefs related to COVID-19, b) emphasize disadvantages of stockpiling, and c) reduce media exposure of stockpiling behavior to prevent panic buying.
Gender differences in access to community-based care: a longitudinal analysis of widowhood and living arrangements
Authors: Ilinca Stefania , Rodrigues Ricardo , Fors Stefan , Zólyomi Eszter , Jull Janet , Rehnberg Johan , Vafaei Afshin , Phillips Susan
Published: July 2022

Persistent inequalities in access to community-based support limit opportunities for independent living for older people with care needs in Europe. Our study focuses on investigating how gender, widowhood and living arrangement associate with the probability of receiving home and community-based care, while accounting for the shorter-term associations of transitions into widowhood (bereavement) and living alone, as well as the longer–term associations of being widowed and living alone. We use comparative, longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (collected between 2004 and 2015 in 15 countries) specifying sex-disaggregated random-effects within-between models, which allow us to examine both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations among widowhood, living arrangements and community-based care use. We find widowhood and living alone are independently associated with care use for both older women and men, while bereavement is associated with higher probability of care use only for women. Socio-economic status was associated with care use for older women, but not for men in our sample. The gender-specific associations we identify have important implications for fairness in European long-term care systems. They can inform improved care targeting towards individuals with limited informal care resources (e.g. bereaved older men) and lower socio-economic status, who are particularly vulnerable to experiencing unmet care needs. Gender differences are attenuated in countries that support formal care provision, suggesting gender equity can be promoted by decoupling access to care from household and family circumstances.
Somatic GJA4 gain-of-function mutation in orbital cavernous venous malformations
Authors: Hongo Hiroki , Miyawaki Satoru , Teranishi Yu , Mitsui Jun , Katoh Hiroto , Komura Daisuke , Tsubota Kinya , Matsukawa Takashi , Watanabe Masakatsu , Kurita Masakazu , Yoshimura Jun , Dofuku Shogo , Ohara Kenta , Ishigami Daiichiro , Okano Atsushi , Kato Motoi , Hakuno Fumihiko , Takahashi Ayaka , Kunita Akiko , Ishiura Hiroyuki , Shin Masahiro , Nakatomi Hirofumi , Nagao Toshitaka , Goto Hiroshi , Takahashi Shin-Ichiro , Ushiku Tetsuo , Ishikawa Shumpei , Okazaki Mutsumi , Morishita Shinichi , Tsuji Shoji , Saito Nobuhito
Published: July 2022

Orbital cavernous venous malformation (OCVM) is a sporadic vascular anomaly of uncertain etiology characterized by abnormally dilated vascular channels. Here, we identify a somatic missense mutation, c.121G > T (p.Gly41Cys) in GJA4, which encodes a transmembrane protein that is a component of gap junctions and hemichannels in the vascular system, in OCVM tissues from 25/26 (96.2%) individuals with OCVM. GJA4 expression was detected in OCVM tissue including endothelial cells and the stroma, through immunohistochemistry. Within OCVM tissue, the mutation allele frequency was higher in endothelial cell-enriched fractions obtained using magnetic-activated cell sorting. Whole-cell voltage clamp analysis in Xenopus oocytes revealed that GJA4 c.121G > T (p.Gly41Cys) is a gain-of-function mutation that leads to the formation of a hyperactive hemichannel. Overexpression of the mutant protein in human umbilical vein endothelial cells led to a loss of cellular integrity, which was rescued by carbenoxolone, a non-specific gap junction/hemichannel inhibitor. Our data suggest that GJA4 c.121G > T (p.Gly41Cys) is a potential driver gene mutation for OCVM. We propose that hyperactive hemichannel plays a role in the development of this vascular phenotype.
A Systematic Review of Risk Factors and Consequences of Nyaope Usage: The Illicit Street Drug Containing HIV Antiretrovirals
Authors: Varshney Karan , Browning Samuel D. , Debnath Sujit K. , Shet Pavan , Shet Darshan
Published: July 2022

South Africa currently has the highest number of cases of HIV in the world. HIV antiretrovirals (ARVs) are publicly available across the country to address this crisis. However, a consequence of widely available ARVs has been the diversion of these drugs for recreational usage in a drug cocktail commonly known as “nyaope” or “whoonga,” which poses a significant public health concern. To better understand nyaope, we conducted a systematic review investigating the risks and consequences associated with its usage. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, searches were conducted in eight different databases and screened thereafter. Articles were eligible for inclusion if they included analysis of least one nyaope user and considered either demographics, risk factors, or consequences of usage. Data extracted included study characteristics and limitations, as well as demographic factors, risk factors for usage in the general population, and consequences. Quality assessments were performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute’s tools. Searches produced a total of 228 articles and, after screening, a total of 19 articles were eligible for inclusion. There was a pooled total of 807 nyaope users, all in South Africa. Major risk factors for usage were being male, unemployed, not completing secondary education, pressure from peer groups, having HIV, prior use of cannabis, and to a lesser extent, usage of other substances such as alcohol and tobacco. While young adults tend to be at high-risk, evidence indicates that adolescents are also at-risk. Consequences of usage include high rates of infection, cortical atrophy, depression, and addiction. Addiction was shown to lead to individuals stealing from friends and family to pay for the drugs. HIV-positive nyaope users were more likely to partake in risk behaviours and tended to have high viral loads. Nyaope’s rise has been linked to many health and social issues. Considering that this may also disrupt HIV control efforts in South Africa, there is an urgent need to address the rise of nyaope.
Calibration method for a breast intervention robot based on four-dimensional ultrasound image guidance
Authors: Yanjun Guo , Xingguang Duan , Chengyi Wang , Haicheng Zhang , Huiqin Guo
Published: July 2022

In breast interventional ultrasound therapy, it is difficult to directly diagnose the location of a tumor in 2-D ultrasound images. To assist surgeons in treatment more intuitively, a four-dimensional ultrasound image-guided breast intervention robot is proposed. The calibration approach of the ultrasonic image for the robot is one of the main contents of the research. This method is based on the establishment of a complete coordinate system conversion model, and it uses the ORB (oriented FAST and rotated BRIEF) feature extraction method to obtain and record the real-time image marker pixel positions, calculate the unknown parameters of the coordinate system conversion matrix, and establish a complete calibration system. This article demonstrates the feasibility of the calibration approach through experiments in our developed US-guided robotic system. Additional experimental and parametrical comparisons of the proposed method with state-of-the-art methods were conducted to thoroughly evaluate the outperformance of the proposed method.
Impact of invasive little fire ants Wasmannia auropunctata on rainforest soil fauna: implications for conservation of the endangered flightless kagu of New Caledonia
Authors: Jourdan Hervé , Bourguet Edouard , Mille Christian , Gula Roman , Theuerkauf Jörn
Published: July 2022

The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, is an invasive species known to negatively affect many native species in its introduced range. Here, we studied the effect of little fire ant presence on the biomass of soil fauna in rainforest of New Caledonia to assess if little fire ants have an impact on an endangered endemic flightless bird, the kagu, Rhynochetos jubatus. The average biomass of soil fauna (except for millipedes) was lower in 53 sample plots with little fire ants than in 597 sample plots without little fire ants and the biomass decreased with increasing density of little fire ant nests. Millipedes on the contrary seemed to be positively impacted as their average biomass was higher in areas with fire ants than in areas without, but even millipede biomass decreased with increasing nest density of fire ants. Kagu density decreased with increasing area of rainforest invaded by little fire ants, suggesting, given their observed negative impact on soil fauna biomass, that they may limit food resources for kagu. Little fire ants might therefore transform rainforest into a less suitable habitat for the kagu by reducing the biomass of their prey and thus have a negative impact for kagu conservation.
Perspectives Regarding Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Among Individuals with Mental Illness
Authors: Tarn Derjung M. , Shih Kevin J. , Ober Allison J. , Hunter Sarah B. , Watkins Katherine E. , Martinez Jeremy , Montero Alanna , McCreary Michael , Leamon Isabel , Sheehe John , Bromley Elizabeth
Published: July 2022

Most people with co-occurring opioid use disorder (OUD) and mental illness do not receive effective medications for treating OUD. To investigate perspectives of adults in a publicly-funded mental health system regarding medications for OUD (MOUD), we conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 13 adults with OUD (current or previous diagnosis) receiving mental health treatment. Themes that emerged included: perceiving or using MOUDs as a substitute for opioids or a temporary solution to prevent withdrawal symptoms; negative perceptions about methadone/methadone clinics; and viewing MOUD use as “cheating”. Readiness to quit was important for patients to consider MOUDs. All participants were receptive to discussing MOUDs with their mental health providers and welcomed the convenience of receiving care for their mental health and OUD at the same location. In conclusion, clients at publicly-funded mental health clinics support MOUD treatment, signaling a need to expand access and build awareness of MOUDs in these settings.
How Retirement Affects Mental Health, Cognitive Skills and Mortality; An Overview of Recent Empirical Evidence
Authors: van Ours Jan C.
Published: July 2022

Retiring is an individual labor market transition that affects the personal life of the workers involved and sometimes the life of their partners. This paper presents an overview of recent studies on the effects of retirement on mental health, cognitive ability and mortality. The results are all over the place but on average it seems like at retirement mental health improves, cognitive skills deteriorate and mortality is not affected. However, there is substantial effect heterogeneity. The range of outcomes is partly related to heterogeneity in terms of personal characteristics, type of job, institutional arrangements, and whether retiring was voluntary or mandatory. The variation in empirical findings makes it hard to see the forest for the trees and advocate evidence-based retirement policies that take health effects into account. Nevertheless, introducing more individual flexibility in the timing of retirement is a worthwhile policy alternative since this seems to be unambiguously beneficial for the health of workers retiring.
Cardinal Composition
Authors: Vogt Lisa , Werner Jonas
Published: July 2022

The thesis of Weak Unrestricted Composition says that every pair of objects has a fusion. This thesis has been argued by Contessa (Analysis 72(3):455–457, 2012) and Smith (Erkenntnis 84(1):41–55, 2019) to be compatible with the world being junky and hence to evade an argument against the necessity of Strong Unrestricted Composition proposed by Bohn (Analysis 69(1):27–31, 2009a, Philos Q 59(235):193–201, 2009b). However, neither Weak Unrestricted Composition alone nor the different variants of it that have been proposed in the literature can provide us with a satisfying answer to the special composition question, or so we will argue. We will then go on to explore an alternative family of purely mereological rules in the vicinity of Weak Unrestricted Composition, Cardinal Composition: A plurality of pairwise non-overlapping objects composes an object iff the objects in the plurality are of cardinality smaller than $$\kappa $$
κ
. As we will show, all the instances for infinite $$\kappa $$
κ
s determine fusion and are compatible with junk, and every instance for a $$\kappa > \aleph _0$$

κ
>

ℵ
0

is furthermore compatible with gunk and dense chains of parthood.
Democratic citizenship and polarization: Robert Talisse’s theory of democracy
Authors: Sharp Daniel
Published: July 2022

This review essay critically discusses Robert Talisse’s account of democracy and polarization. I argue that Talisse overstates the degree to which polarization arises from the good-faith practice of democratic citizenship and downplays the extent to which polarization is caused by elites and exacerbated by social structures; this leads Talisse to overlook structural approaches to managing polarization and leaves his account of how citizens should respond to polarization incomplete. I conclude that Talisse’s insights should nevertheless be integrated into a broader agenda for thinking about the causes and solutions to polarization.
Development, methodology, and adaptation of the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) patient experience survey, 2007–2019
Authors: Orr Nate , Zaslavsky Alan M. , Hays Ron D. , Cleary Paul D. , Haviland Amelia M. , Brown Julie A. , Dembosky Jacob W. , Martino Steven C. , Gaillot Sarah , Elliott Marc N.
Published: July 2022

The Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) surveys collect standardized information about patient experiences of care from nationally representative samples of people with Medicare to support consumers’ enrollment choices and enable the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to monitor care quality and incentivize high quality patient-centered care. Since 2007, protocols for data collection, analysis, and reporting have evolved to address expanded Medicare coverage options and a shift from a single survey vendor to a model in which health plans hire approved vendors to administer the survey. During that time, response rates for all types of surveys have declined; increasing effort has gone toward increasing survey participation, especially among people whose preferred language is not English. In this paper, we describe the history, goals, and current use of the Medicare CAHPS surveys. We also summarize key methodological issues, such as sample design, field implementation and data cleaning, adjustment, scoring, and report production. Additionally, we discuss issues that may arise more generally in managing a large, annual national survey that has direct impact on policy, and consider how a long-running survey of this nature may need to evolve to reflect changes in health care delivery and promote standardization in survey administration while maintaining survey content.
Factor associated with the occurrence of epilepsy in autism: a systematic review
Authors: Zarakoviti Eleni , Shafran Roz , Skuse David , McTague Amy , Batura Neha , Palmer Tom , Dalrymple Emma , Bennett Sophie D. , Reilly Colin
Published: July 2022

This systematic review aimed to identify factors significantly associated with the occurrence of epilepsy in autistic individuals and to consider the impact of study quality on findings. Electronic databases were systematically searched on October 2nd, 2020 and records retrieved were limited to those published from 2000 onwards. Study quality was categorised as ‘good’, ‘moderate’ or ‘weak’. Fifty-three studies were included and in studies where the prevalence of epilepsy was reported (n = 257,892), 18,254 (7%) had co-occurring epilepsy. Intellectual disability/cognitive impairment was the most commonly reported risk factor associated with occurrence of epilepsy in autistic individuals. The evidence supporting other, potentially relevant factors was weak and inconsistent and requires further evaluation. Only 9/53 studies were considered ‘good’ quality.
Compressing multireference character of wave functions via fermionic mode optimization
Authors: Máté Mihály , Petrov Klára , Szalay Szilárd , Legeza Örs
Published: July 2022

In this work, we present a brief overview of the fermionic mode optimization within the framework of tensor network state methods (Krumnow et al. in Phys Rev Lett 117:210402, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.210402), and demonstrate that it has the potential to compress the multireference character of the wave functions after finding optimal molecular orbitals (modes), based on entanglement minimization. Numerical simulations have been performed for the nitrogen dimer in the cc-pVDZ basis for the equilibrium and for stretched geometries.
Sex Differentially Alters Secretion of Brain Extracellular Vesicles During Aging: A Potential Mechanism for Maintaining Brain Homeostasis
Authors: Kim Yohan , Pérez-González Rocío , Miller Chelsea , Kurz Michelle , D’Acunzo Pasquale , Goulbourne Chris N. , Levy Efrat
Published: July 2022

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in the brain play a role in neuronal homeostasis by removing intracellular material and regulating cell-to-cell communication. Given that sex and aging differentially modulate brain networks, we investigated sex-dependent differences in EV levels and content in the brain during aging. EVs were isolated from the brains of 3, 6, 12, 18, and 24 month-old female and male C57BL/6 J mice, and the levels of different EV species determined. While the number of plasma membrane-derived microvesicles and a subset of late endosomes-derived exosomes increased with age in the brain of female mice, no significant changes were seen in males. Mitochondria-derived mitovesicles in the brain increased during aging in both sexes, a change that may reflect aging-dependent alterations in mitochondrial function. These findings reveal enhanced turnover during aging in female brains, suggesting a mechanism for advantageous successful female brain aging and sex-depending different susceptibility to age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
The crucial role of blue light as a driver of litter photodegradation in terrestrial ecosystems
Authors: Wang Qing-Wei , Pieristè Marta , Kotilainen Titta K. , Forey Estelle , Chauvat Matthieu , Kurokawa Hiroko , Robson T. Matthew , Jones Alan G.
Published: July 2022

Background and aim

Wherever sunlight reaches litter, there is potential for photodegradation to contribute to decomposition. Although recent studies have weighed the contribution of short wavelength visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation as drivers of photodegradation, the relative importance of each spectral region across biomes and plant communities remains uncertain.

Methods

We performed a systematic meta-analysis of studies that assessed photodegradation through spectrally selective attenuation of solar radiation, by synthesizing 30 published studies using field incubations of leaf litter from 110 plant species under ambient sunlight.

Results

Globally, the full spectrum of sunlight significantly increased litter mass loss by 15.3% ± 1% across all studies compared to darkness. Blue light alone was responsible for most of this increase in mass loss (13.8% ± 1%), whereas neither UV radiation nor its individual constituents UV-B and UV-A radiation had significant effects at the global scale, being only important in specific environments. These waveband-dependent effects were modulated by climate and ecosystem type. Among initial litter traits, carbon content, lignin content, lignin to nitrogen ratio and SLA positively correlated with the rate of photodegradation. Global coverage of biomes and spectral regions was uneven across the meta-analysis potentially biasing the results, but also indicating where research in lacking.

Conclusions

Across studies attenuating spectral regions of sunlight, our meta-analysis confirms that photodegradation is a significant driver of decomposition, but this effect is highly dependent on the spectral region considered. Blue light was the predominant driver of photodegradation across biomes rather than UV radiation.
The ExoMars Schiaparelli Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) System Design
Authors: Ball Andrew J. , Blancquaert Thierry , Bayle Olivier , Lorenzoni Leila V. , Haldemann Albert F. C. ,   the Schiaparelli EDM team
Published: July 2022

The Entry, Descent and Landing Demonstrator Module (EDM) named Schiaparelli, was the ESA-led Mars lander element of the ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars 2016 mission. Following launch on 14 March 2016 with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and cruise to Mars, Schiaparelli separated for encounter with Mars to demonstrate entry, descent and landing technologies. Although on 19 October 2016 the final touchdown and surface operation were not achieved, other aspects were demonstrated and reported via real-time telemetry transmitted at 8 kbps in UHF during entry and descent.

This paper presents a technical description of the elements of the Schiaparelli EDM system and its operation, plus reference to published post-flight analyses of the data obtained.
An ambient denoising method based on multi-channel non-negative matrix factorization for wheezing detection
Authors: Muñoz-Montoro Antonio J. , Revuelta-Sanz Pablo , Martínez-Muñoz Damian , Torre-Cruz Juan , Ranilla José
Published: July 2022

In this paper, a parallel computing method is proposed to perform the background denoising and wheezing detection from a multi-channel recording captured during the auscultation process. The proposed system is based on a non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) approach and a detection strategy. Moreover, the initialization of the proposed model is based on singular value decomposition to avoid dependence on the initial values of the NMF parameters. Additionally, novel update rules to simultaneously address the multichannel denoising while preserving an orthogonal constraint to maximize source separation have been designed. The proposed system has been evaluated for the task of wheezing detection showing a significant improvement over state-of-the-art algorithms when noisy sound sources are present. Moreover, parallel and high-performance techniques have been used to speedup the execution of the proposed system, showing that it is possible to achieve fast execution times, which enables its implementation in real-world scenarios.
Imaging the Alternatively Spliced D Domain of Tenascin C in a Preclinical Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Zhang Liang , Wang Yuzhen , Homan Kristoff T. , Gaudette Stephanie M. , McCluskey Andrew J. , Chan Ying , Murphy Joanne , Abdalla Mary , Nelson Christine M. , Sun Victor Z. , Erickson Jamie E. , Knight Heather L. , Clabbers Anca , Sterman Annette J. Schwartz , Mitra Soumya
Published: July 2022

Purpose

To image colon-expressed alternatively spliced D domain of tenascin C in preclinical colitis models using near infrared (NIR)-labeled targeted molecular imaging agents.

Procedures.

A human IgG1 with nanomolar binding affinity specific to the alternatively spliced D domain of tenascin C was generated. Immunohistochemistry identified disease-specific expression of this extracellular matrix protein in the colon of mice given dextran sulfate sodium in the drinking water. The antibody reagent was labeled with the NIR fluorophore IRDye 800CW via amine chemistry and intravenously dosed to evaluate in vivo targeting specificity. Increasing doses of imaging agent were given to estimate the saturating dose.

Results

The NIR-labeled proteins successfully targeted colonic lesions in a murine model of colitis. Co-administration of a molar excess competing unlabeled dose reduced normalized uptake in diseased colon by > 70%. Near infrared ex vivo images of colon resected from diseased animals showed saturation at doses exceeding 1 nmol and was confirmed with additional quantitative ex vivo biodistribution. Cellular-level specificity and protein stability were assessed via microscopy.

Conclusions

Our imaging data suggest the alternatively spliced D domain of tenascin C is a promising target for delivery-based applications in inflammatory bowel diseases.
Changes in the liver proteome in apoE knockout mice exposed to inhalation of silica nanoparticles indicate mitochondrial damage and impairment of ER stress responses associated with microvesicular steatosis
Authors: Stachyra Kamila , Kiepura Anna , Suski Maciej , Ulatowska-Białas Magdalena , Kuś Katarzyna , Wiśniewska Anna , Czepiel Klaudia , Majka Grzegorz , Olszanecki Rafał
Published: July 2022

The adverse effects of air pollution on the cardiovascular system have been well documented. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular events. However, the influence of exposure to airborne particles on the development of NAFLD is less recognised. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) on the development of liver steatosis. We used molecular and proteomic SWATH-MS methods to investigate the changes in the liver proteome of apolipoprotein E-knockout mice (apoE−/− mice) exposed to SiNPs for 4 months in a whole-body exposure chamber. Exposure to SiNPs evoked microvesicular liver steatosis in apoE−/− mice. Quantitative liver proteomics showed significant downregulation of ribosomal proteins and endoplasmic reticulum proteins. Gene expression analysis revealed a reduced level of proteins related to endoplasmic reticulum stress. Treatment with SiNPs decreased mitochondrial membrane potential and increased the production of reactive oxygen species in cultured HepG2 cells. This is the first report that inhalation exposure to SiNPs induces microvesicular steatosis and significant changes in the liver proteome in vivo. Our results highlight the important role of silica and point to the ER stress response and mitochondrial dysfunction as potential mechanisms responsible for the increase in fatty liver by SiNPs.
Innovationskrise im staatlichen Theatersektor? Eine Längsschnitt-Analyse für Theater in Nordrhein-Westfalen, 1995–2018
Authors: Glasow Maria , Heinze Thomas
Published: July 2022

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die kulturelle Innovationstätigkeit staatlicher deutscher Theater am Beispiel des bevölkerungsreichsten Bundeslandes Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW). Während bisherige Diagnosen, einschließlich die sozialstrukturell geprägte Publikumsforschung, die Nachfrageseite in den Mittelpunkt stellen und dabei vor allem den stetigen Rückgang und die Alterung des Publikums diagnostizieren, geht unsere Analyse auf die Angebotsseite ein, insbesondere die Zahl von Ur- und Erstaufführungen und ihre Übernahme ins Repertoire. Der Beitrag zeigt, dass die bisherigen Anstrengungen der kommunalen und landeseigenen Theater, die Anzahl der Spielstätten und der dort aufgeführten Stücke zu erhöhen, nicht ausgereicht haben, um den Rückgang des Publikums zu stabilisieren. Gleichzeitig werden nur wenige neue Stücke auf den Spielplan gesetzt, von welchen sich noch weniger langfristig im Repertoire etablieren können. Unseren Ergebnissen zufolge wird der Theatersektor seine Erneuerungsfähigkeit nur sichern können, wenn eine Verschiebung hin zu deutlich mehr neuen Stücken erfolgt, die neues Publikum anziehen. Ein für Erneuerung grundsätzlich günstiger institutioneller Kontext ist der dezentrale Wettbewerb, der den Theatersektor in NRW prägt.
Synthesis of Polymer Precursor 12-Oxododecenoic Acid Utilizing Recombinant Papaya Hydroperoxide Lyase in an Enzyme Cascade
Authors: Coenen Anna , Marti Valentin Gala , Müller Kira , Sheremetiev Maria , Finamore Lorenzo , Schörken Ulrich
Published: July 2022

Hydroperoxide lyases (HPLs) catalyze the splitting of 13S-hydroperoxyoctadecadienoic acid (13S-HPODE) into the green note flavor hexanal and 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, which is not yet used industrially. Here, HPL from Carica papaya (HPLCP) was cloned and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli to investigate synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid in detail. To improve the low catalytic activity of full-length HPLCP, the hydrophobic, non-conserved N-terminal sequence was deleted. This enhanced enzyme activity from initial 10 to 40 U/l. With optimization of solubilization buffer, expression media enzyme activity was increased to 2700 U/l. The tetrameric enzyme was produced in a 1.5 l fermenter and enriched by affinity chromatography. The enzyme preparation possesses a slightly acidic pH optimum and a catalytic efficiency (kcat/KM) of 2.73 × 106 s−1·M−1 towards 13S-HPODE. Interestingly, HPLCP-N could be applied for the synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, and 1 mM of 13S-HPODE was transformed in just 10 s with a yield of 90%. At protein concentrations of 10 mg/ml, the slow formation of the 10(E)-isomer traumatin was observed, pointing to a non-enzymatic isomerization process. Bearing this in mind, a one-pot enzyme cascade starting from safflower oil was developed with consecutive addition of Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase, Glycine max lipoxygenase (LOX-1), and HPLCP-N. A yield of 43% was obtained upon fast extraction of the reaction mixtures after 1 min of HPLCP-N reaction. This work provides first insights into an enzyme cascade synthesis of 12-oxo-9(Z)-dodecenoic acid, which may serve as a bifunctional precursor for bio-based polymer synthesis.
Endoscopic surveillance alone is feasible and safe in type I gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms less than 10 mm in diameter
Authors: Exarchou Klaire , Hu Haiyi , Stephens Nathan A. , Moore Andrew R. , Kelly Mark , Lamarca Angela , Mansoor Wasat , Hubner Richard , McNamara Mairéad G. , Smart Howard , Howes Nathan R. , Valle Juan W. , Pritchard D. Mark
Published: July 2022

Purpose

Type I gastric neuroendocrine neoplasms (g-NENs) have a low risk of metastasis and a generally favourable prognosis. Patients with small type I g-NENs (≤10 mm) frequently require no treatment, whereas those with larger polyps usually undergo resection. We evaluated the safety and outcomes of endoscopic surveillance after no initial treatment in selected patients with type I g-NENs.

Methods

Retrospective analysis of type I g-NEN patients across two European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society Centers of Excellence 2003–2019.

Results

Following initial assessment, 87 of 115 patients with type I g-NEN (75 with polyps ≤10 mm) received no initial treatment and underwent endoscopic surveillance. 79/87 (91%) demonstrated no clinically meaningful change in tumour size or grade over a median 62 month follow up. Only two patients developed NEN progression that required a change in management and two other patients developed gastric adenocarcinoma/high grade dysplasia; all four initially had ≥11 mm g-NENs.

Conclusions

Patients with ≤10 mm type I g-NENs were unlikely to develop clinically significant tumour progression and in most cases, resection was not needed. The endoscopic surveillance interval could therefore potentially be safely increased to every 2–3 years in such patients. However, lifelong surveillance is still advocated due to the additional risk of developing gastric adenocarcinoma.
Risk factors of hikikomori among office workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective online survey
Authors: Kubo Hiroaki , Katsuki Ryoko , Horie Kazumasa , Yamakawa Itsuki , Tateno Masaru , Shinfuku Naotaka , Sartorius Norman , Sakamoto Shinji , Kato Takahiro A.
Published: July 2022

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has forced people to restrict their outings. In Japan, self-restraint behavior (SRB) has been requested by the government, and some of those decreasing their outings may shift to pathological social withdrawal; hikikomori. The purpose of this study was to examine the risk factors of hikikomori conducting an online prospective survey. An online survey was conducted in June 2020 and December 2020; (1) SRB-related indicators (degree of SRB, motivation for SRB, stigma and self-stigma toward COVID-19, anxiety and depressive feelings toward COVID-19) and (2) general mental health (hikikomori tendency, depressive symptoms, modern type depression (MTD) tendency, internet addiction) were collected. A cross-lagged effects model was performed to examine the association between these variables. Lack of emotional support and lack of socialization in June 2020 increased isolation in December 2020. Besides, MTD and hikikomori interacted with each other. Interestingly, although hikikomori tendency increased depressive tendencies, SRB itself did not have a significant path on any mental health-related variables. Poor interpersonal relationships, rather than SRB per se, are suggested to be a risk factor for increased isolation among office workers in the COVID-19 pandemic. Appropriate early interventions such as interpersonal or emotional support may prevent the transition to pathological hikikomori. The association between MTD and hikikomori seems to reveal the interesting possibility that MTD is a gateway to increased risk of hikikomori, and that hikikomori is a gateway to MTD as well. Future research is required to elucidate the relationship between hikikomori and MTD.
MCred: multi-modal message credibility for fake news detection using BERT and CNN
Authors: Verma Pawan Kumar , Agrawal Prateek , Madaan Vishu , Prodan Radu
Published: July 2022

Online social media enables low cost, easy access, rapid propagation, and easy communication of information, including spreading low-quality fake news. Fake news has become a huge threat to every sector in society, and resulting in decrements in the trust quotient for media and leading the audience into bewilderment. In this paper, we proposed a new framework calledMessageCredibility (MCred) for fake news detection that utilizes the benefits of local and global text semantics. This framework is the fusion of Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) using the relationship between words in sentences for global text semantics, and Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) using N-gram features for local text semantics. We demonstrate through experimental results a popular Kaggle dataset that MCred improves the accuracy over a state-of-the-art model by 1.10% thanks to its combination of local and global text semantics.
Acoustic pre-design studies of ducted fans for small aircraft
Authors: Koppelberg Jan , Weintraub Daniel , Jeschke Peter
Published: July 2022

This publication presents an analytical method for the aerodynamic and acoustic pre-design of ducted fans for small aircraft. Based on studies of the primary design variables, the paper discusses the physical sound generation phenomena, as well as the interdisciplinary relationships of ducted fan design. First, the fan design and analysis methods are described. On the basis of an aerodynamic mean line method, the radial distribution of the flow velocities is used to determine the steady blade flow. Unsteady aerodynamic excitations are calculated by means of Sears’ blade response function. To determine the generation and propagation of sound within the ducted fan, Goldstein’s acoustic analogy is solved analytically. The methods are applied to a reference case, for which studies show that ducted fans offer significant potential in reducing sound emission, compared to free propellers. Since the rotor-alone noise of subsonic ducted fans is always cut-off, tonal sound is predominantly excited by rotor–stator interactions. These sources can be significantly reduced by a proper selection of the rotor blade and stator vane numbers, as well as optimal lean and sweep of the stator vanes. Large diameters and axial gaps are acoustically advantageous, but reduce fan stage efficiency and increase nacelle drag due to large wetted areas, especially at cruise. As a result, the importance of considering these complex interdependencies in a comprehensive design approach is shown. The pre-design method presented can be used to determine an optimal ducted fan design, taking into account interdisciplinary trade-offs, with an emphasis on noise. Analysis of the ducted fan concept shows that the ducted fan can be a promising alternative to the free propeller, especially if low noise emission is required.