bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Associations between artificial light at night and risk for thyroid cancer: A large US cohort study
Authors: Zhang Dong , Jones Rena R. , James Peter , Kitahara Cari M. , Xiao Qian
Published: February 2021

Background

Light at night (LAN) inhibits nighttime secretion of melatonin and may cause circadian disruption, which may be a risk factor for cancer. Recent studies have linked high LAN exposure with elevated breast cancer risk. Given that breast cancer may share a common hormone‐dependent etiology with thyroid cancer and that circadian rhythms play a role in regulating thyroid function, the authors hypothesized that exposure to LAN is positively associated with thyroid cancer incidence.

Methods

This study examined the association between LAN and thyroid cancer incidence in the National Institutes of Health–American Association of Retired Persons Diet and Health Study. LAN exposure was estimated from satellite data and was linked to residential addresses at the baseline. Incident thyroid cancer cases were ascertained via linkage to state cancer registries. Cox regression was used to determine the relationship between LAN and thyroid cancer risk, with adjustments made for sociodemographic, lifestyle, and other environmental factors.

Results

Among 464,371 participants, a positive association was found between LAN and thyroid cancer risk. Specifically, in comparison with the lowest quintile of LAN, the highest quintile was associated with a 55% increase in risk (hazard ratio [HR], 1.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18‐2.02). The association was primarily driven by papillary thyroid cancer and was stronger in women (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.26‐2.60) than men (HR, 1.29; 95% CI, 0.86‐1.94). In women, the association was stronger for localized cancer, whereas in men, the association was stronger for a more advanced stage. Results were consistent across different tumor sizes.

Conclusions

LAN was positively associated with thyroid cancer risk. Future studies are needed to confirm this association and identify underlying biological mechanisms.
An analysis of simulated yield data for pepper shows how genotype × environment interaction in yield can be understood in terms of yield components and their QTLs
Authors: Rodrigues Paulo C. , Heuvelink Ep , Marcelis Leo F. M. , Chapman Scott C. , van Eeuwijk Fred A.
Published: February 2021

Complex traits like yield are those in which phenotypic variation can be modeled as a linear function of a set of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) with environment dependency. This environment dependency can be observed at a phenotypic level as genotype × environment interaction (GEI) for yield itself and at an underlying genetic level as QTL × environment interaction (QEI). We show how GEI in yield may follow from pleiotropic QTLs for yield components that themselves are not environment dependent. We generated synthetic yield data via a crop growth model and analyzed these data by common statistical models for GEI and QEI. The QTLs for yield were pleiotropic with those for yield components. Such pleiotropy offers a path for improvement of yield under GEI. As a model system we used sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and developed an eco‐physiological model for yield with seven genotype‐specific inputs or yield components. Synthetic yields were simulated for a back cross population of 500 lines across a factorial combination of four major environmental drivers. The yield components were given a simple QTL basis and produced credible amounts and patterns of GEI for yield. The QEI for yield could be interpreted from the expression of QTLs for yield components and the interaction of these components with the environmental drivers. We see the generation of synthetic yield data via crop growth models followed by an analysis with statistical models for GEI and QEI to quantify the contribution of yield components to GEI as a helpful step in the development of yield prediction models for complex traits across environments that can also serve as a basis for decisions on selection strategies of complex traits.
A prospective study into change of vitamin D levels, depression and frailty among depressed older persons
Authors: van den Berg Karen S. , Hegeman Johanna M. , van den Brink Rob H. S. , Rhebergen Didi , Oude Voshaar Richard C. , Marijnissen Radboud M.
Published: February 2021

Objectives

While vitamin D is involved in frailty as well as depression, hardly any study has examined the course of vitamin D levels prospectively. The objective of this study is to examine whether a change of vitamin D in depressed older adults is associated with either depression course, course of frailty, or both.

Methods

The study population consisted of 232 of 378 older adults (60–93 years) with a DSM‐IV defined depressive disorder participating in the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older persons, a prospective clinical cohort study. Baseline and 2‐year follow‐up data on depressive disorder (DSM‐IV diagnosis), symptom severity (inventory of depressive symptoms), frailty phenotype (and its individual components) and vitamin D levels were obtained. Linear mixed models were used to study the association of change in vitamin D levels with depression course, course of frailty, and the combination.

Results

Vitamin D levels decreased from baseline to follow‐up, independent from depression course. An increase in frailty was associated with a significantly sharper decrease of vitamin D levels over time. Post hoc analyses showed that this association with frailty might be driven by an increase of exhaustion over time and counteracted by an increase in walking speed.

Conclusions

Our findings generate the hypothesis that vitamin D supplementation in late‐life depression may improve frailty, which may partly explain inconsistent findings of randomised controlled trials evaluating the effect of vitamin D for depression. We advocate to consider frailty (components) as an outcome in future supplementation trials in late‐life depression.
Preferences for thyroidectomy technique: Comparing traditional and transoral approaches
Authors: Chen Lena W. , Assadi Niddal , Hefetz‐Kirshenbaum Lior , Hong Hanna , Razavi Christopher R. , Grogan Raymon H. , Tufano Ralph P. , Khafif Avi , Russell Jonathon O.
Published: February 2021

Background

We investigated preferences between the transcervical and transoral thyroidectomy approach in the United States and Israel.

Methods

An online survey assessing scar attitudes and surgical preferences, in English and Hebrew, was distributed on ThyCa.com and other platforms.

Results

928 and 339 responses from the United States and Israel cohorts, respectively, were analyzed. In both countries, individuals without prior thyroidectomy preferred a scarless approach when hypothetical risks equaled those of traditional thyroidectomy (77% United States, 76% Israel, p = 0.61). U.S. respondents without thyroidectomy had greater preference to avoid a scar and would pay more to do so than those with thyroidectomy (both p < 0.001). Many respondents with prior thyroidectomy still expressed interest in scarless alternatives (57% United States).

Conclusions

Populations in Israel and the United States prefer scarless thyroidectomy when risks equal the traditional approach. While individuals without prior thyroidectomy are more likely to favor a scarless option, former thyroidectomy patients may have preferred avoiding a scar.
Prevalence of hepatitis B e antigenemia in Bahraini hepatitis B patients: A retrospective, single‐center study
Authors: Abdulla Maheeba , Ghuloom Mohamed , Nass Hafsa , Mohammed Nafeesa , Farid Eman , ALQamish Jehad
Published: February 2021

Background and Aim

Hepatitis B e (HBe) antigen (HBeAg) is commonly encountered among hepatitis B patients and is indicative of active infection. There is a lack of data in the literature about the prevalence of HBeAg among hepatitis B patients in Bahrain and its impact on the disease. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of HBeAg among a sample of hepatitis B patients in Bahrain and to analyze their associated laboratory profile, radiological characteristics, comorbidities, and complications.

Methods

This was a retrospective record‐review study conducted on patients' records at Salmaniya Medical Complex hospital in Bahrain during the period of 2011–2016. All records of hepatitis B patients who had HBeAg tests performed were included in this study.

Results

Of 323 patients recruited, 18.9% had positive HBeAg. The prevalence of anti‐HBe antibodies and hepatitis B core immunoglobulin G (HBc IgG) differed significantly between patients with positive and negative HBeAg (P < 0.001, P = 0.026, respectively). Alanine transferase and gamma‐glutamyl transferase were significantly higher among patients with positive HBeAg (P = 0.017, P = 0.016, respectively). There was no significant difference with regard to the prevalence of hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, hepatocellular carcinoma, or liver transplantation between HBe‐positive and ‐negative patients (P ≥ 0.05).

Conclusion

HBeAg is prevalent among hepatitis B patients in Bahrain and is associated with a significantly different laboratory profile.
Effect of dialysis and transplantation on myocardial repolarization parameters and P‐wave dispersion in chronic kidney disease
Authors: Akcay Murat , Yıldırım Ufuk
Published: February 2021

Background

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are at higher risk for cardiac arrhythmias. The risk of arrhythmia may change with different treatment modalities. We proposed to compare the effects of varied therapy methods on myocardial repolarization parameters (Tp‐e, QT, QTc intervals, Tp‐e/QT, Tp‐e/QTc ratios) and P‐wave dispersion (PWD) in patients with CKD.

Methods

Three groups were formed from the patients aged between 18 and 65 years, as Group 1 consisting of CKD patients receiving hemodialysis (HD) three times a week, Group 2 consisting of predialysis CKD patients and Group 3 consisting of CKD patients who underwent successful transplantation. All patients’ basic demographic data, risk factors, and echocardiographic parameters were recorded, and electrocardiographic repolarization parameters and PWD were analyzed.

Results

The PR, QT, and QTc intervals were significantly shorter in the transplantation group compared to the other groups (P = .020, P < .001, P = .035; respectively). Tp‐e interval, Tp‐e/QT, and Tp‐e/QTc ratios were significantly higher in the predialysis group compared to the other groups (P < .001, P < .001, P = .001; respectively), while there was no significant variation between the HD and transplantation groups (P > .05). PWD was significantly increased in the predialysis group compared to other two groups (P < .001), while no significant variation between the HD and transplantation groups was observed.

Conclusion

We found that the Tp‐e interval, Tp‐e/QT, Tp‐e/QTc, and PWD were significantly higher in the predialysis CKD group, but the PR, QT, and QTc intervals were significantly shorter in the transplantation group compared to the other groups. The prognostic significance and prediction of these parameters in arrhythmic events in CKD patients requires further evaluation with long‐time follow‐up.
Assessment of the Global and Regional Circumferential Strain of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm with Different Size by Speckle‐Tracking Echocardiography
Authors: Li Tan , Liu Xiaozheng , Sun Haiyang , Ning Hongxia , Yang Jun , Ma Chunyan
Published: February 2021

Objectives

We aimed to use speckle‐tracking echocardiography (STE) to quantify circumferential aortic strain of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) with different size.

Methods

A total of 87 AAA patients were included. The morphological variables, including aortic maximum diameter (MD), end systolic area (ESA), end diastolic area (EDA), and thickness and area of intraluminal thrombus (ILT), were measured by ultrasound. STE was applied to calculate circumferential strain (CS) at 6 equally divided segments of the aorta at MD. We evaluated the mean value of peak strain along the 6 segments as global circumferential strain (GCS).

Results

Large AAA (≥5.5 cm) patients had higher MD, ESA, EDA, AAA length, ILT thickness, and area, but lower fractional area change, GCS, and segmental CSs than small AAA (<5.5 cm) subjects (all P < .05). Compared with AAA <4.5 cm group, AAA patients ≥4.5 cm possessed increased MD, ESA, EDA, AAA length, ILT thickness, and area, which results were also reflected in the comparison between AAA <6.5 and ≥6.5 cm group. In small AAA patients, GCS and regional strains in CS1, CS3, and CS5 segments were lower in AAA subjects ≥4.5 cm than those <4.5 cm (all P<.05). However, no significant differences in the GCS and regional CS between ≥6.5 and <6.5 cm group were found. Correlation analysis revealed a significant negative association of GCS with MD, ESA, and EDA, even after adjusting the potential confounding factors (all P < .05).

Conclusions

Our findings may yield insight into the structural strain characteristics of AAA wall with different size, which adds the benefit of using simple echocardiography‐derived biomechanics to stratify AAA patients.
Disparities in Laryngeal Cancer Treatment and Outcomes: An Analysis by Hospital Safety‐Net Burden
Authors: Qureshi Muhammad M. , Oladeru Oluwadamilola T. , Lam Christa M. , Dyer Michael A. , Mak Kimberley S. , Hirsch Ariel E. , Truong Minh Tam
Published: February 2021

Objectives/Hypothesis

To analyze the impact of hospital safety‐net burden on survival outcomes for laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) patients.

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Methods

From 2004 to 2015, 59,733 LSCC patients treated with curative intent were identified using the National Cancer Database. Low (LBH) <25th, medium (MBH) 25th–75th, and high (HBH) >75th safety‐net burden hospitals were defined by the percentage quartiles (%) of uninsured/Medicaid‐insured patients treated. Social and clinicopathologic characteristics and overall survival (using Kaplan–Meier survival analysis) were evaluated. Crude and adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed using Cox regression modeling.

Results

There were 324, 647, and 323 hospitals that met the criteria as LBH, MBH, and HBH, respectively. The median follow‐up was 38.6 months. A total of 27,629 deaths were reported, with a median survival of 75.8 months (a 5‐year survival rate of 56.6%). Median survival was 83.2, 77.8, and 69.3 months for patients from LBH, MBH, and HBH, respectively (P < .0001). The median % of uninsured/Medicaid‐insured patients treated among LBH, MBH, and HBH were 3.6%, 14.0%, and 27.0%, respectively. Patients treated at HBH were significantly more likely to be young, Black, Hispanic, of low income, and present with more advanced disease compared to LBH and MBH. Survival was comparable for LBH and MBH (HR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.97–1.07, P = .408) on multivariate analysis. HBH, compared to LBH patients, had inferior survival (HR = 1.07; 95% CI = 1.01–1.13, P = .023).

Conclusions

High burden safety‐net hospitals receive disproportionately more patients with advanced‐stage and low socioeconomic status, yielding inferior survival compared to low burden hospitals.

Level of Evidence

3 (individual cohort study) Laryngoscope, 131:E1987–E1997, 2021
Simultaneous T1, T2, and T1ρ relaxation mapping of the lower leg muscle with MR fingerprinting
Authors: Sharafi Azadeh , Medina Katherine , Zibetti Marcelo W. V. , Rao Smita , Cloos Martijn A. , Brown Ryan , Regatte Ravinder R.
Published: February 2021

Purpose

To develop a novel MR‐fingerprinting (MRF) pulse sequence that is insensitive to and B0 imperfections for simultaneous T1, T2, and T1ρ relaxation mapping.

Methods

We implemented a totally balanced spin‐lock (TB‐SL) module to encode T1ρ relaxation into an existing MRF framework that encoded T1 and T2. The spin‐lock module used two 180° pulses with compensatory phases to reduce T1ρ sensitivity to B1 and B0 inhomogeneities. We compared T1ρ measured using TB‐SL MRF in Bloch simulations, model agar phantoms, and in vivo experiments to those with a self‐compensated spin‐lock preparation module (SC‐SL). The TB‐SL MRF repeatability was evaluated in maps acquired in the lower leg skeletal muscle of 12 diabetic peripheral neuropathy patients, scanned two times each during visits separated by about 30 days.

Results

The phantom relaxation times measured with TB‐SL and SC‐SL MRF were in good agreement with reference values in regions with low B1 inhomogeneities. Compared with SC‐SL, TB‐SL MRF showed in experiments greater robustness against severe B1 inhomogeneities and in Bloch simulations greater robustness against B1 and B0. We measured with TB‐SL MRF an average T1 = 950.1 ± 28.7 ms, T2 = 26.0 ± 1.2 ms, and T1ρ = 31.7 ± 3.2 ms in skeletal muscle across patients. Bland‐Altman analysis demonstrated low bias between TB‐SL and SC‐SL MRF and between TB‐SL MRF maps acquired in two visits. The coefficient of variation was less than 3% for all measurements.

Conclusion

The proposed TB‐SL MRF sequence is fast and insensitive to and B0 imperfections. It can simultaneously map T1, T2, T1ρ, and in a single scan and can potentially be used to study muscle composition.
Pair‐Emission‐Induced Near‐Infrared Lasing from Ceramic Ga:LaCrO3 Microcrystals at Room Temperature
Authors: Rajalekshmi T. R. , Dixit Tejendra , Rao M. S. Ramachandra , Sethupathi K.
Published: February 2021

Lasing is observed in microcrystals of the Ga:LaCrO3 (LaCr0.5Ga0.5O3) perovskite system due to the pair emission of the Cr3+ ions, with a lifetime in the sub‐nanosecond range. Lasing due to pair emission is difficult to achieve in single‐crystal materials because of the difficulty in obtaining the dopant's compositional uniformity. This captivating ceramic material reveals an appreciable lasing profile with a 488 nm laser pumping. Characteristic laser emission centered at 740 nm is observed, with a linewidth of 2.09 nm and a threshold power of 73 W cm−2 at room temperature. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra show enhanced lasing characteristics at low‐temperature ranges. The time‐resolved PL spectrum of the sample illustrates a sub‐nanosecond lifetime of which 99.2% of the lifetime contribution is from pair emission. The short lifetime can be attributed to the high concentration of the Cr3+ ions, which enhances the Cr3+–Cr3+ exchange interaction, and pair emission, which is evidenced by an electron spin resonance study.
Glucose Doping of a Glc‐Fe‐ZIF ORR Catalyst for Proton‐Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Optimising Porous Structures and Improving Performance
Authors: Zhong Jia‐Qiang , He Li‐Juan , Yang Qing‐Xia , Duan Xin‐Wei , Yang Wei‐Hua
Published: February 2021

Great advances have been made in developing Fe/N/C catalyst, which is a potential candidate for replacing the low‐platinum group metal catalysts used in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, a highly efficient porous structure catalyst was synthesised by doping glucose into the zeolitic imidazolate framework, which obtained numerous pores after high‐temperature pyrolysis. The porous carbon structure was conducive to improving mass transport and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities. The Glc‐Fe‐ZIF catalyst exhibited an excellent ORR activity with a half‐wave potential (E1/2) of 0.874 V (RHE) and the maximum power density reached 0.72 W cm−2 in acidic medium.
Systematic Studies of Gold Nanoparticles Functionalised with Thioglucose and its Cytotoxic Effect
Authors: Tomaszewska Emilia , Ranoszek‐Soliwoda Katarzyna , Sztandera Krzysztof , Błażałek Paulina , Głowacki Rafał , Janaszewska Anna , Janasik Beata , Celichowski Grzegorz , Wąsowicz Wojciech , Klajnert‐Maculewicz Barbara , Grobelny Jarosław
Published: February 2021

In this paper, we present systematic studies concerning the synthesis protocol, functionalisation process, characterisation and cytotoxic effects of thioglucose‐modified gold nanoparticles (TG‐AuNPs). The characterisation of AuNPs and TG‐AuNPs was performed using: scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and Ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy (UV‐vis). The modification of AuNPs with TG was confirmed by Fourier‐Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT‐IR) and the surface coverage was determined with High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Prepared bio‐conjugates with increasing and controlled amounts of TG on AuNPS were then biologically investigated: the cell viability using the MTT assay; the uptake of AuNPs in cell culture by Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP‐OES); the incorporation of AuNPs in cell structures by confocal microscopy. The obtained results suggest that bio‐conjugates disclose both good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity, and further‐can target the cancer cells and may constitute promising potential nanocarriers of anticancer drugs.
Organic Cation Engineering for Vertical Charge Transport in Lead‐Free Perovskite Quantum Wells
Authors: Ma Ke , Hsu Sheng-Ning , Gao Yao , Wei Zitang , Jin Linrui , Finkenauer Blake P. , Huang Libai , Boudouris Bryan W. , Mei Jianguo , Dou Letian
Published: February 2021

2D organic–inorganic hybrid halide perovskites are promising semiconductor materials for a variety of device applications. However, fundamental issues of charge transport through multiple quantum wells separated by bulky organic ligands remain unsolved. Herein, a mixture of π‐conjugated organic ligands, (2‐(3‴,4′‐dimethyl‐[2,2′:5′,2′:5″,2‴‐quaterthiophen]‐5‐yl)ethan‐1‐ammonium iodide) (4Tm) and 2‐([2,2′‐bithiophen]‐5‐yl)ethan‐1‐aminium iodide (2T), is used as spacer to form (4Tm)x(2T)2−xSnI4 2D perovskite thin films. The new strategy of alloying 2T into 4Tm ligands reduces the interlayer distance (barrier thickness) while maintaining the relatively small energy barrier height for the hybrid quantum wells, enhances interlayer interactions, and improves charge transport across adjacent perovskite layers. Moreover, solar cell devices fabricated with (4Tm)x(2T)2−xSnI4 exhibit improved photovoltaic properties and stability.
Quasi‐1D Aligned Nanostructures for Solar‐Driven Water Splitting Applications: Challenges, Promises, and Perspectives
Authors: Khan Ibrahim , Jalilov Almaz , Fujii Katsushi , Qurashi Ahsanulhaq
Published: February 2021

Solar energy conversion is considered to be one of the promising alternatives to fossil fuels. The photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen is a prominent approach to utilize solar energy to produce clean hydrogen energy. In PEC water splitting, semiconductors play a central role for absorbing the solar radiations in the UV‐visible region and generating electron‐hole pairs that contribute to water splitting. This review provides an extensive overview of the 1D aligned nanoarrays (1D‐NAs) and their architectures as photoactive materials. 1D‐NAs can be in the form of nanorods (NRs), nanowires (NWs), nanopencils, and nanotubes (NTs), etc. The initial part of the review is dedicated to the synthesis and characterizations of the 1D‐NAs, which is followed by useful synthetic protocols explicitly employed for the synthesis of NAs morphologies and the mechanisms involved in PEC water splitting. The final section of the review provides examples of highly anticipated TiO2, ZnO, BiVO4‐based, and other miscellaneous aligned NAs utilized for PEC water splitting. The PEC water splitting performance of aligned NAs is compared with other morphologies in terms of photocurrent densities. In this review, it is attempted to provide an account of state‐of‐the‐art stable, novel, and low‐cost aligned photoactive materials for PEC water splitting.
An efficient cephalosporin stewardship programme in French swine production
Authors: Verliat Fabien , Hemonic Anne , Chouet Sylvie , Le Coz Philippe , Liber Mélanie , Jouy Eric , Perrin‐Guyomard Agnès , Chevance Anne , Delzescaux Didier , Chauvin Claire
Published: February 2021

By 2010, systems set up to monitor the antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial usage identified a sustained increase regarding third‐ and fourth‐generation cephalosporin resistance in French pig production. This sector mobilised and collectively committed to responsible action in the following months. This led to a multi‐professional voluntary stewardship programme that was started in 2011. A consensus of veterinary opinion led to the definition of restrictive rules on the prescription of the third‐ and fourth‐generation cephalosporins targeted by the antimicrobial stewardship programme (ASP). All pig sector professionals, including farmers, were informed. Existing monitoring systems for usage and resistance were supplemented by data from the records of veterinarians' cephalosporin deliveries and from individual pig farm surveys investigating antimicrobial usage. The second step, from 2014, entailed regulatory measures that consolidated the programme by setting quantitative reduction objectives and specifying the terms and conditions for prescribing and dispensing a list of critical antimicrobial molecules including cephalosporins. All the data sources confirmed a significant fall of more than 90% in cephalosporin usage in the French pig production sector between 2010 and 2016. Monitoring systems recorded that the resistance of commensal and pathogenic Escherichia coli isolates also tended to decrease over the same period. The stewardship programme proved highly effective in reducing usage and containing resistance, illustrating the efficiency of a well‐defined multi‐professional strategy.
Electrochemical Synthesis of Triphenylphosphine Coinage Metal Complexes stabilized by closo‐Dodecaborates [B12X12]2− (X=H, F, Cl, Br, I)
Authors: Exner Rüdiger M. , Jenne Carsten , Wegener Bianca
Published: February 2021

The synthesis of salts of reactive cations and weakly coordinating anions is of great interest to the development of catalysts, because the weak electrostatic interaction between the two may greatly increase catalytic activity and solubility in nonpolar solvents. However, the synthesis of these salts is in many cases difficult and requires elaborate, sometimes multi‐step procedures. Here, we describe the synthesis of a library of monocationic group 11 metal‐triphenylphosphine complexes of dodecaborates generated by means of electrochemistry. The complexes of the general formula [M(PPh3)y(CH3CN)z]2[B12X12] (M=Cu, Ag, Au; X=H, F, Cl, Br, I; y=2–4; z=0–2) were synthesized from the free acid of the respective dodecaborate and the elemental metal in acetonitrile in the presence of triphenylphosphine. The reactions were performed in an electrochemical cell under ambient conditions in polypropylene containers in all cases. A total of 13 different crystal structures in the [M(PPh3)y(CH3CN)z]2[B12X12] system were obtained. As a by‐product in some reactions single crystals of [(H3O)(OPPh3)3]2[B12X12] (X=Cl, Br, I) were found.
Counting monster potentials
Authors: Conti Riccardo , Masoero Davide
Published: February 2021

Abstract

We study the large momentum limit of the monster potentials of Bazhanov-Lukyanov-Zamolodchikov, which — according to the ODE/IM correspondence — should correspond to excited states of the Quantum KdV model.

We prove that the poles of these potentials asymptotically condensate about the complex equilibria of the ground state potential, and we express the leading correction to such asymptotics in terms of the roots of Wronskians of Hermite polynomials.

This allows us to associate to each partition of N a unique monster potential with N roots, of which we compute the spectrum. As a consequence, we prove — up to a few mathematical technicalities — that, fixed an integer N , the number of monster potentials with N roots coincides with the number of integer partitions of N , which is the dimension of the level N subspace of the quantum KdV model. In striking accordance with the ODE/IM correspondence.
Crossing a large-N phase transition at finite volume
Authors: Bea Yago , Dias Oscar J. C. , Giannakopoulos Thanasis , Mateos David , Sanchez-Garitaonandia Mikel , Santos Jorge E. , Zilhão Miguel
Published: February 2021

Abstract

The existence of phase-separated states is an essential feature of infinite-volume systems with a thermal, first-order phase transition. At energies between those at which the phase transition takes place, equilibrium homogeneous states are either metastable or suffer from a spinodal instability. In this range the stable states are inhomogeneous, phase-separated states. We use holography to investigate how this picture is modified at finite volume in a strongly coupled, four-dimensional gauge theory. We work in the planar limit, N → ∞, which ensures that we remain in the thermodynamic limit. We uncover a rich set of inhomogeneous states dual to lumpy black branes on the gravity side, as well as first- and second-order phase transitions between them. We establish their local (in)stability properties and show that fully non-linear time evolution in the bulk takes unstable states to stable ones.
Quarkonium semiclassical transport in quark-gluon plasma: factorization and quantum correction
Authors: Yao Xiaojun , Mehen Thomas
Published: February 2021

Abstract

We study quarkonium transport in the quark-gluon plasma by using the potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) effective field theory and the framework of open quantum systems. We argue that the coupling between quarkonium and the thermal bath is weak using separation of scales, so the initial density matrix of the total system factorizes and the time evolution of the subsystem is Markovian. We derive the semiclassical Boltzmann equation for quarkonium by applying a Wigner transform to the Lindblad equation and carrying out a semiclassical expansion. We resum relevant interactions to all orders in the coupling constant at leading power of the nonrelativistic and multipole expansions. The derivation is valid for both weakly coupled and strongly coupled quark-gluon plasmas. We find reaction rates in the transport equation factorize into a quarkonium dipole transition function and a chromoelectric gluon distribution function. For the differential reaction rate, the definition of the momentum dependent chromoelectric gluon distribution function involves staple-shaped Wilson lines. For the inclusive reaction rate, the Wilson lines collapse into a straight line along the real time axis and the distribution becomes momentum independent. The relation between the two Wilson lines is analogous to the relation between the Wilson lines appearing in the gluon parton distribution function (PDF) and the gluon transverse momentum dependent parton distribution function (TMDPDF). The centrality dependence of the quarkonium nuclear modification factor measured by experiments probes the momentum independent distribution while the transverse momentum dependence and measurements of the azimuthal angular anisotropy may be able to probe the momentum dependent one. We discuss one way to indirectly constrain the quarkonium in-medium real potential by using the factorization formula and lattice calculations. The leading quantum correction to the semiclassical transport equation of quarkonium is also worked out. The study can be easily generalized to quarkonium transport in cold nuclear matter, which is relevant for quarkonium production in eA collisions in the future Electron-Ion Collider.
Safety and effectiveness of surgical fixation versus non-surgical methods for the treatment of flail chest in adult populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Apampa Ayobobola A. , Ali Ayesha , Kadir Bryar , Ahmed Zubair
Published: February 2021

Purpose

The objective of this systematic review is to compare the safety and efficacy of surgical fixation of rib fractures against non-surgical interventions for the treatment of flail chest in the adult population.

Methods

A search was performed on the 22nd of July 2020 to identify articles comparing surgical fixation versus clinical management for flail chest in adults, with a description of the outcome parameters (resource utility, mortality, adverse effects of the intervention and adverse progression in pulmonary status). Relevant randomised controlled trials were selected, their risk of bias assessed, and the data then extracted and analysed.

Results

157 patients were included from four studies in the analyses, with 79 and 78 patients in the surgical and non-surgical groups, respectively. The pooled effects of all outcomes tended towards favouring surgical intervention. Surgical intervention was associated with lower rates of pneumonia (I2 = 46%,Tau2 = 0.16,p = 0.16), significantly lower rates of tracheostomy (I2 = 76%,Tau2 = 0.67,p = 0.02), and a significantly lower duration of mechanical ventilation (I2 = 88%,Tau2 = 33.7,p < 0.01) in comparison to the non-surgical management methods.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that surgical intervention reduces the need for tracheostomy, reduces the time spent in the intensive care unit following a traumatic flail chest injury and could reduce the risk of acquiring pneumonia after such an event. There is a need for further well-designed studies with sufficient sample sizes to confirm the results of this study and also detect other possible effects of surgical intervention in the treatment of traumatic flail chest in adults.
Cost analysis of inguinal hernia repair: the influence of clinical and hernia-specific factors
Authors: Aydin M. , Fikatas P. , Denecke C. , Pratschke J. , Raakow J.
Published: February 2021

Introduction

As in the rest of the world, in Germany, inguinal hernia operations are among the most common operations. From an economic standpoint, very little is known about the influence of demographic, clinical or hernia-related parameters on the cost of inguinal hernia repair. We, therefore, evaluated individual patient parameters associated with higher costs with a special focus on multimorbidity.

Methods

A total of 916 patients underwent hernia repair for primary or recurrent inguinal hernia between 2014 and 2017 at a single university center and were included in the analysis. The clinical and financial data of these patients were analyzed to identify cost-increasing parameters.

Results

A majority of patients were male (90.7%), with a mean age of 55 years. The surgical methods utilized were mainly the TAPP (57.2%) and Lichtenstein (41.7%) procedures, with an average duration of surgery of 85 min and an average duration of anesthesia of 155 min. The mean cost of all procedures was 3338.3 € (± 1608.1 €).

Older age, multimorbidity, emergency operations with signs of incarceration, longer hospital stays and postoperative complications were significant cost-driving factors. On the other hand, sex, the side of the hernia (left vs. right) and the presence of recurrent hernias had no influence on the overall direct costs.

Conclusion

From a purely economic point of view, older age and multimorbidity are demographic cost-driving factors that cannot be influenced. The national hospital reimbursement system needs to consider and compensate for these factors. Emergency operations need to be prevented by early elective treatment. Long postoperative stays and postoperative complications need to be prevented by proper preoperative check-ups and accurate treatment.
Quantified factory worker: field study of a web application supporting work well-being and productivity
Authors: Heikkilä Päivi , Honka Anita , Kaasinen Eija , Väänänen Kaisa
Published: February 2021

The work on the factory floor is gradually changing to resemble knowledge work due to highly automated manufacturing machines. In the increasingly automated work environment, the machine operator’s task is to keep the production running and to solve possible problems quickly. This work is expected to become more autonomous, which raises the importance of supporting the workers’ well-being. An important aspect of that is giving concrete feedback of success at work as well as feedback on physical and mental load. We implemented a smartphone optimized web application, Worker Feedback Dashboard that offers feedback to machine operators about their well-being at work and personally relevant production data as well as their connections to each other. The feedback is personal and based on objective, near real-time measurements. We present the results of a field study, in which ten machine operators used the application for 2–3 months. We studied the operators’ user experience, usage activity, perceived benefits and concerns for the application with questionnaires, interviews and application log data. The operators found the feedback interesting and beneficial, and used the application actively. The perceived benefits indicate impacts on well-being as well as on work performance. Based on the results, we highlight three design implications for quantified worker applications: presenting meaningful overviews, providing guidance to act based on the feedback and refraining from too pervasive quantification not to narrow down the meaningful aspects in one’s work.
Nonlinear parsimonious forest modeling assuming normal distribution of residuals
Authors: Strimbu Bogdan M. , Amarioarei Alexandru , Paun Mihaela
Published: February 2021

To avoid the transformation of the dependent variable, which introduces bias when back-transformed, complex nonlinear forest models have the parameters estimated with heuristic techniques, which can supply erroneous values. The solution for accurate nonlinear models provided by Strimbu et al. (Ecosphere 8:e01945, 2017) for 11 functions (i.e., power, trigonometric, and hyperbolic) is not based on heuristics but could contain a Taylor series expansion. Therefore, the objectives of the present study are to present the unbiased estimates for variance following the transformation of the predicted variable and to identify an expansion of the Taylor series that does not induce numerical bias for mean and variance. We proved that the Taylor series expansion present in the unbiased expectation of mean and variance depends on the variance. We illustrated the new modeling approach on two problems, one at the ecosystem level, namely site productivity, and one at individual tree level, namely stem taper. The two models are unbiased, more parsimonious, and more precise than the existing less parsimonious models. This study focuses on research methods, which could be applied in similar studies of other species, ecosystem, as well as in behavioral sciences and econometrics.
Sexual Mixing and HIV Transmission Potential Among Greek Men Who have Sex with Men: Results from SOPHOCLES
Authors: Bowman Benjamin , Psichogyiou Mina , Papadopoulou Martha , Sypsa Vana , Khanna Aditya , Paraskevis Dimitrios , Chanos Sophocles , Friedman Samuel R. , Hatzakis Angelos , Schneider John
Published: February 2021

HIV incidence among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Greece remains unchanged despite effective response to a recent outbreak among people who inject drugs (PWID). Network factors are increasingly understood to drive transmission in epidemics. The primary objective of the study was to characterize MSM in Greece, their sexual behaviors, and sexual network mixing patterns. We investigated the relationship between serostatus, sexual behaviors, and self-reported sex networks in a sample of MSM in Athens, Greece, generated using respondent driven sampling. We estimated mixing coefficients (r) based on survey-generated egonets. Additionally, multiple logistic regression was used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) and to assess relationships between serostatus, sexual behaviors, and sociodemographic indicators. A sample of 1,520 MSM participants included study respondents (n = 308) and their network members (n = 1,212). Mixing based on serostatus (r = 0.12, σr = 0.09–0.15) and condomless sex (r = 0.11, σr = 0.07–0.14) was random. However, mixing based on sex-drug use was highly assortative (r = 0.37, σr = 0.32–0.42). This study represents the first analysis of Greek MSM sexual networks. Our findings highlight protective behavior in two distinct network typologies. The first typology mixed assortatively based on serostatus and sex-drug use and was less likely to engage in condomless sex. The second typology mixed randomly based on condomless sex but was less likely to engage in sex-drug use. These findings support the potential benefit of HIV prevention program scale-up for this population including but not limited to PrEP.
Honokiol induces paraptosis-like cell death of acute promyelocytic leukemia via mTOR & MAPK signaling pathways activation
Authors: Liu Xiaoli , Gu Yan , Bian Yaoyao , Cai Danhong , Li Yu , Zhao Ye , Zhang Zhaofeng , Xue Mei , Zhang Liang
Published: February 2021

Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a blood system disease caused by the accumulation of a large number of immature blood cells in bone marrow. Although the introduction of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and arsenic has reached a high level of complete remission rate and 5-year disease-free survival rate, the occurrence of various adverse reactions still severely affects the quality of life of patients. As a natural product, honokiol (HNK) has the advantages of low toxicity and high efficiency, and it is a potential drug for the treatment of cancer. Since cancer cells can escape apoptotic cell death through multiple adaptive mechanisms, HNK, a drug that induces cancer cell death in a nonapoptotic way, has attracted much interest. We found that HNK reduced the viability of human APL cell line (NB4 cells) by inducing paraptosis-like cell death. The process was accompanied by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial damage, endoplasmic reticulum stress, and increased microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) processing. The inactivation of proteasome activity was the main cause of misfolded and unfolded protein accumulation in endoplasmic reticulum, such as LC3II/I and p62. This phenomenon could be alleviated by adding cycloheximide (CHX), a protein synthesis inhibitor. We found that mTOR signaling pathway participated in paraptosis-like cell death induced by HNK in an autophagy-independent process. Moreover, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway induced paraptosis of NB4 cells by promoting endoplasmic reticulum stress. In summary, these findings indicate that paraptosis may be a new way to treat APL, and provide novel insights into the potential mechanism of paraptosis-like cell death.
Diagrams, Conceptual Space and Time, and Latent Geometry
Authors: Magnani Lorenzo
Published: February 2021

The “origins” of (geometric) space is examined from the perspective of the so-called “conceptual space” or “semantic space”. Semantic space is characterized by its fundamental “locality” that generates an “implicit” mode of geometrizing. This view is examined from within three perspectives. First, the role that various diagrammatic entities play in the everyday life and pragmatic activities of selected ethnic groups is illustrated. Secondly, it is shown how conceptual spaces are fundamentally linked to the meaning effects of particular natural languages and these are very different from the global and universal aspects of Euclidean spaces. Thirdly, it is contended that these modes of creating body and culture-based spatial frameworks and related cosmogonies and cosmologies can be described as forms of “latent geometry” that initially appear unexplainable in any rational way. Nonetheless, and thanks to the deep mathematical reflections provided by René Thom, it is illustrated how the various ways of generating space can be further analyzed as distortions of mainstream spatialization furnished by Euclidean geometry that established the dominant universality of the ideas of space (and time).
Prognostic significance of cardiac magnetic resonance-based markers in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Authors: Dohy Zsofia , Szabo Liliana , Toth Attila , Czimbalmos Csilla , Horvath Rebeka , Horvath Viktor , Suhai Ferenc Imre , Geller Laszlo , Merkely Bela , Vago Hajnalka
Published: February 2021

The prognosis of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) varies greatly. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is the gold standard method for assessing left ventricular (LV) mass and volumes. Myocardial fibrosis can be noninvasively detected using CMR. Moreover, feature-tracking (FT) strain analysis provides information about LV deformation. We aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of standard CMR parameters, myocardial fibrosis, and LV strain parameters in HCM patients. We investigated 187 HCM patients who underwent CMR with late gadolinium enhancement and were followed up. LV mass (LVM) was evaluated with the exclusion and inclusion of the trabeculae and papillary muscles (TPM). Global LV strain parameters and mechanical dispersion (MD) were calculated. Myocardial fibrosis was quantified. The combined endpoint of our study was all-cause mortality, heart transplantation, malignant ventricular arrhythmias and appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy. The arrhythmia endpoint was malignant ventricular arrhythmias and appropriate ICD therapy. The LVM index (LVMi) was an independent CMR predictor of the combined endpoint independent of the quantification method (p < 0.01). The univariate predictors of the combined endpoint were LVMi, global longitudinal (GLS) and radial strain and longitudinal MD (MDL). The univariate predictors of arrhythmia events included LVMi and myocardial fibrosis. More pronounced LV hypertrophy was associated with impaired GLS and increased MDL. More extensive myocardial fibrosis correlated with impaired GLS (p < 0.001). LVMi was an independent CMR predictor of major events, and myocardial fibrosis predicted arrhythmia events in HCM patients. FT strain analysis provided additional information for risk stratification in HCM patients.
Inexact Derivative-Free Optimization for Bilevel Learning
Authors: Ehrhardt Matthias J. , Roberts Lindon
Published: February 2021

Variational regularization techniques are dominant in the field of mathematical imaging. A drawback of these techniques is that they are dependent on a number of parameters which have to be set by the user. A by-now common strategy to resolve this issue is to learn these parameters from data. While mathematically appealing, this strategy leads to a nested optimization problem (known as bilevel optimization) which is computationally very difficult to handle. It is common when solving the upper-level problem to assume access to exact solutions of the lower-level problem, which is practically infeasible. In this work we propose to solve these problems using inexact derivative-free optimization algorithms which never require exact lower-level problem solutions, but instead assume access to approximate solutions with controllable accuracy, which is achievable in practice. We prove global convergence and a worst-case complexity bound for our approach. We test our proposed framework on ROF denoising and learning MRI sampling patterns. Dynamically adjusting the lower-level accuracy yields learned parameters with similar reconstruction quality as high-accuracy evaluations but with dramatic reductions in computational work (up to 100 times faster in some cases).