bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Isolation and characterisation of exosomes from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells
Authors: Skrika-Alexopoulos Eleftheria , Mark Smales C
Published: January 2023

Exosomes have previously been isolated from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and their anti-apoptotic properties reported. However, to further facilitate the study of CHO cell derived exosomes and allow their comparison across studies, it is necessary to characterise and define such exosomes using at least three criteria that can act as a reference for the generation of CHO cell produced exosomes. Here we report on the isolation of exosomes from CHO cells, an industrially relevant and widely used cell host for biopharmaceutical protein production, during the exponential and stationary phase of growth during batch culture using a Total Exosome Isolation (TEI) method. The resulting vesicles were characterized and visualized using a diverse range of techniques including Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Zeta potential, Electron Microscopy and immunoblotting, and their protein and RNA content determined. We also generated the lipid fingerprint of isolated exosomes using MALDI-ToF mass spectroscopy. We confirmed the presence of nano sized extracellular vesicles from CHO cells and their subsequent characterization revealed details of their size, homogeneity, surface charge, protein and RNA content. The lipid content of exosomes was also found to differ between exosomes isolated on different days of batch culture. This analysis provides a profile and characterisation of CHO cell exosomes to aid future studies on exosomes from CHO cells and improving the manufacturing of exosomes for biotherapeutic application.
The cohesin modifier ESCO2 is stable during DNA replication
Authors: Jevitt Allison M. , Rankin Brooke D. , Chen Jingrong , Rankin Susannah
Published: January 2023

Cohesion between sister chromatids by the cohesin protein complex ensures accurate chromosome segregation and enables recombinational DNA repair. Sister chromatid cohesion is promoted by acetylation of the SMC3 subunit of cohesin by the ESCO2 acetyltransferase, inhibiting cohesin release from chromatin. The interaction of ESCO2 with the DNA replication machinery, in part through PCNA-interacting protein (PIP) motifs in ESCO2, is required for full cohesion establishment. Recent reports have suggested that Cul4-dependent degradation regulates the level of ESCO2 protein following replication. To follow up on these observations, we have characterized ESCO2 stability in Xenopus egg extracts, a cell-free system that recapitulates cohesion establishment in vitro. We found that ESCO2 was stable during DNA replication in this system. Indeed, further challenging the system by inducing DNA damage signaling or increasing the number of nuclei undergoing DNA replication had no significant impact on the stability of ESCO2. In transgenic somatic cell lines, we also did not see evidence of GFP-ESCO2 degradation during S phase of the cell cycle using both flow cytometry and live-cell imaging. We conclude that ESCO2 is stable during DNA replication in both embryonic and somatic cells.
Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Questionnaire to Measure Different Types of Cognitive Load
Authors: Krieglstein Felix , Beege Maik , Rey Günter Daniel , Sanchez-Stockhammer Christina , Schneider Sascha
Published: January 2023

According to cognitive load theory, learning can only be successful when instructional materials and procedures are designed in accordance with human cognitive architecture. In this context, one of the biggest challenges is the accurate measurement of the different cognitive load types as these are associated with various activities during learning. Building on psychometric limitations of currently available questionnaires, a new instrument for measuring the three types of cognitive load—intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load—is developed and validated relying on a set of five empirical studies. In Study 1, a principal component analysis revealed a three-component model which was subsequently confirmed using a confirmatory factor analysis (Study 2). Finally, across three experiments (Studies 3–5), the questionnaire was shown to be sensitive to changes in cognitive load supporting its predictive validity. The quality of the cognitive load questionnaire was underlined by satisfactory internal consistencies across all studies. In sum, the proposed questionnaire can be used in experimental settings to measure the different types of cognitive load in a valid and reliable manner. The construction and validation process of the questionnaire has also shown that the construct germane cognitive load remains controversial concerning its measurement and theoretical embedding in cognitive load theory.
COVID-19 and comedications in atrial fibrillation—a case–control study in Stockholm
Authors: Bell Max , Ekbom Anders , Linder Marie
Published: January 2023

To test the main hypothesis that anticoagulation reduces risk of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission and death in COVID-19. Nested case–control study among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in Stockholm. COVID-19 cases were matched to five disease-free controls with same sex, born within ± 1 years. Source population was individuals in Stockholm with AF 1997–2020. Swedish regional and national registers are used. National registers cover hospitals and outpatient clinics, local registers cover primary care. Records were linked through the personal identity number assigned to each Swedish resident. Cases were individuals with COVID-19 (diagnosis, ICU admission, or death). The AF source population consisted of 179,381 individuals from which 7548 cases were identified together with 37,145 controls. The number of cases (controls) identified from hospitalization, ICU admission or death were 5916 (29,035), 160 (750) and 1472 (7,360). The proportion of women was 40% for hospitalization and death, but 20% and 30% for admission to ICU in wave one and two, respectively. Primary outcome was mortality, secondary outcome was hospitalization, tertiary outcome was ICU admission, all with COVID-19. Odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for antithrombotics were 0.79 (0.66–0.95) for the first wave and 0.80 (0.64–1.01) for the second wave. Use of anticoagulation among patients with arrythmias infected with COVID-19 is associated with lower risk of hospitalization and death. If further COVID-variants emerge, or other infections with prothrombotic properties, this emphasize need for physicians to ensure compliance among vulnerable patients.
Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, gravitational entropy and quantum information
Authors: Eckstein Michał
Published: January 2023

We inspect the basic ideas underlying Roger Penrose’s Conformal Cyclic Cosmology from the perspective of modern quantum information. We show that the assumed loss of degrees of freedom in black holes is not compatible with the quantum notion of entropy. We propose a unitary version of Conformal Cyclic Cosmology, in which quantum information is globally preserved during the entire evolution of our universe, and across the crossover surface to the subsequent aeon. Our analysis suggests that entanglement with specific quantum gravitational degrees of freedom might be at the origin of the second law of thermodynamics and the quantum-to-classical transition at mesoscopic scales.
Prioritising Children and Young People with Disability in Research About Domestic and Family Violence: Methodological, Ethical and Pragmatic Reflections
Authors: Robinson Sally , Foley Kristen , Moore Tim , Valentine Kylie , Burton Jala , Marshall Amy , O’Donnell Melissa , Brebner Chris
Published: January 2023

Purpose

The perspectives of children and young people with disability who experience domestic and family violence are under-researched, impeding the development of approaches that meet their needs. Knowledge gaps stem from the layered discursive positioning of disability, childhood/youth, or domestic and family violence in addition to the methodological, ethical and pragmatic complexity of research needed to understand their priorities and be attuned to their lived experience. This article explores methodological, ethical and practical challenges to centring their voices in research about domestic and family violence.

Method

A conceptual framework of feminist disability theory and intersectionality informed our co-designed research, across three phases: (1) quantitative large-scale data linkage and case file analysis; (2) qualitative research with children and young people, their families and service providers and (3) stakeholder engagement workshops.

Results

We reflect on how our research was able to prioritise the contextual agency of children and young people with disability, ways it could not, and other constraints.

Conclusion

Children and young people with disability experiencing domestic and family violence hold an expert and unique vantage point on what happens to them. Amplifying their priorities for directing policy and organisational change requires more of researchers in terms of methods, but also more flexibility in how projects are funded to enable creativity and innovation. We call for collective attention to frameworks for supported decision-making and child ethics to progress inclusive research which recognises the importance of participation for children and young people with disability.
Investigating non-inferiority or equivalence in time-to-event data under non-proportional hazards
Authors: Möllenhoff Kathrin , Tresch Achim
Published: January 2023

The classical approach to analyze time-to-event data, e.g. in clinical trials, is to fit Kaplan–Meier curves yielding the treatment effect as the hazard ratio between treatment groups. Afterwards, a log-rank test is commonly performed to investigate whether there is a difference in survival or, depending on additional covariates, a Cox proportional hazard model is used. However, in numerous trials these approaches fail due to the presence of non-proportional hazards, resulting in difficulties of interpreting the hazard ratio and a loss of power. When considering equivalence or non-inferiority trials, the commonly performed log-rank based tests are similarly affected by a violation of this assumption. Here we propose a parametric framework to assess equivalence or non-inferiority for survival data. We derive pointwise confidence bands for both, the hazard ratio and the difference of the survival curves. Further we propose a test procedure addressing non-inferiority and equivalence by directly comparing the survival functions at certain time points or over an entire range of time. Once the model’s suitability is proven the method provides a noticeable power benefit, irrespectively of the shape of the hazard ratio. On the other hand, model selection should be carried out carefully as misspecification may cause type I error inflation in some situations. We investigate the robustness and demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed methods by means of a simulation study. Finally, we demonstrate the validity of the methods by a clinical trial example.
American Community Survey (ACS) Data Uncertainty and the Analysis of Segregation Dynamics
Authors: Wei Ran , Knaap Elijah , Rey Sergio
Published: January 2023

American Community Survey (ACS) data have become the workhorse for the empirical analysis of segregation in the U.S.A. during the past decade. The increased frequency the ACS offers over the 10-year Census, which is the main reason for its popularity, comes with an increased level of uncertainty in the published estimates due to the reduced sampling ratio of ACS (1:40 households) relative to the Census (1:6 households). This paper introduces a new approach to integrate ACS data uncertainty into the analysis of segregation. Our method relies on variance replicate estimates for the 5-year ACS and advances over existing approaches by explicitly taking into account the covariance between ACS estimates when developing sampling distributions for segregation indices. We illustrate our approach with a study of comparative segregation dynamics for 29 metropolitan statistical areas in California, using the 2010–2014 and 2015–2019. Our methods yield different results than the simulation technique described by Napierala and Denton (Demography 54(1):285–309, 2017). Taking the ACS estimate covariance into account yields larger error margins than those generated with the simulated approach when the number of census tracts is large and minority percentage is low, and the converse is true when the number of census tracts is small and minority percentage is high.
Does it pay off to offer family-friendly practices? Exploring the missing links to performance
Authors: Guedes Maria João , Soares Maria Eduarda , Mosquera Pilar , Borregana João
Published: January 2023

Family-friendly practices (FFP) are viewed as an important tool to achieve equal opportunities and a supportive culture, with potential benefits for the organizational image and its employer branding. To date, however, there is an imperfect understanding of whether FFP affect firm performance and what are the mechanism of the possible association. This study tests a comprehensive model to investigate whether FFP affect firm performance and analyzes the role played by work–life balance (WLB) as a mediator between the provision of FFP and employee attitudes and firm performance.

Using a sample of 724 public and private Portuguese companies and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression, the results show that the availability of FFP indeed has a positive influence on WLB, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction, but it does not impact family satisfaction. Moreover, WLB mediates the relationship between FFP and firm performance. It is noteworthy that men and women do not perceive the impact of these practices the same way, with FFP having a greater impact on female job satisfaction than on their male counterparts. In addition, participants with lower levels of education and lower levels of annual income perceive a stronger impact of FFP on organizational commitment and WLB than the remaining participants. Men and participants with lower levels of education also perceive a stronger impact of WLB on family satisfaction.
Losses never sleep – The effect of tax loss offset on stock market returns during economic crises
Authors: Koch Reinald , Holtmann Svea , Giese Henning
Published: January 2023

We analyze to what extent more generous tax loss offset regulations are associated with a weaker decline and stronger recovery of firm stock prices during economic crises. We argue that an unrestricted loss carryforward and, particularly, an unrestricted loss carryback provides firms with additional liquidity, which should lower the risk of bankruptcy and can be used for investment purposes. Our empirical findings document that (1) an unrestricted loss carryforward and an unrestricted loss carryback result in a weaker decline and more timely recovery of stock prices during the considered crises, (2) this effect is stronger in high-tax countries, and (3) this effect is also dependent upon pre-crisis profitability.
Construction of a Set of Novel Transposon Vectors for Efficient Silencing of Protein and lncRNA Genes via CRISPR Interference
Authors: Czarnek Maria , Kochan Jakub , Wawro Mateusz , Myrczek Rafał , Bereta Joanna
Published: January 2023

In recent years, CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) technology of gene silencing has emerged as a promising alternative to RNA interference (RNAi) surpassing the latter in terms of efficiency and accuracy. Here, we describe the construction of a set of transposon vectors suitable for constitutive or tetracycline (doxycycline)-inducible silencing of genes of interest via CRISPRi method and conferring three different antibiotic resistances, using vectors available via Addgene repository. We have analyzed the performance of the new vectors in the silencing of mouse Adam10 and human lncRNA, NORAD. The empty vector variants can be used to efficiently silence any genes of interest.
Polymorphic Alpha-Synuclein Oligomers: Characterization and Differential Detection with Novel Corresponding Antibodies
Authors: Moore Kenya , Sengupta Urmi , Puangmalai Nicha , Bhatt Nemil , Kayed Rakez
Published: January 2023

The pathological hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases is the accumulation of characteristic proteinaceous aggregates. Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies can be characterized as synucleinopathies due to the abnormal accumulation of the protein alpha-synuclein (α-Syn). Studies have shown amyloidogenic proteins such as α-Syn and tau can exist as polymorphic aggregates, a theory widely studied mostly in their fibrillar morphology. It is now well understood that an intermediate state of aggregates, oligomers, are the most toxic species. We have shown α-Syn, when modified by different physiological inducers, result in distinct oligomeric conformations of α-Syn. Polymorphic α-Syn oligomers exhibit distinct properties such as aggregate size, conformation, and differentially interact with tau. In this study, we confirm α-Syn oligomeric polymorphs furthermore using in-house novel α-Syn toxic conformation monoclonal antibodies (SynTCs). It is unclear the biological relevance of α-Syn oligomeric polymorphisms. Utilizing a combination of biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays, we characterize α-Syn oligomeric polymorphs. We found α-Syn oligomeric polymorphs exhibit distinct immunoreactivity and SynTCs exhibit differential selectivity and binding affinity for α-Syn species. Isothermal titration calorimetry experiments suggest distinct α-Syn:SynTC binding enthalpies in a species-specific manner. Additionally, we found SynTCs differentially reduce α-Syn oligomeric polymorph-mediated neurotoxicity and propagation in primary cortical neurons in a polymorph-specific manner. These studies demonstrate the biological significance of polymorphic α-Syn oligomers along with the importance of polymorph-specific antibodies that target toxic α-Syn aggregates. Monoclonal antibodies that can target the conformational heterogeneity of α-Syn oligomeric species and reduce their mediated toxicity have promising immunotherapeutic potential.
Foreign Aid, Norm Diffusion, and Local Support for Gender Equality: Comparing Evidence from the World Bank and China’s Aid Projects in Africa
Authors: Zhang Chuanhong , Huang Zhenqian
Published: January 2023

Does foreign aid change local attitudes toward gender equality? Drawing on a theory of norm diffusion through intervention, we contend that when donors integrate norms into aid projects, such norms can be diffused to individuals in recipient countries. The World Bank and China are two comparable donors to examine this relationship. We matched the geocoded aid projects of the two donors from AidData and Afrobarometer surveys in Africa to test our hypotheses. Our strategy is to compare respondents’ attitudes toward gender equality who were near a site where the project had been implemented at the time of the interview to those who were close to a site where the project would be started after the interview. We find that the World Bank aid increases local support for gender equality and the results differ across sectors and gender. Aid going to gender-sensitive sectors has the most significant impact on women’s attitudes toward gender equality. In contrast, Chinese aid shows no similar effects. This study sheds light on the linkage between aid and social norm change and is expected to exert implications for policymakers and development practitioners adventuring in the land of aid.
Trevet’s Medea: A Reading of Seneca’s Medea Through Nicholas Trevet’s Medieval Commentary
Authors: Chong-Gossard James H. Kim On
Published: January 2023

In 1314, the Oxford Dominican monk Nicholas Trevet was commissioned to write a commentary on Seneca’s tragedies. Trevet’s interpretation of character and plot in Seneca’s Medea differs in many ways from 21st-century classical scholars. Because Trevet relied on a single manuscript from the A tradition, he and his readers did not have access to a Senecan Medea who asks Jason whether he ‘recognizes his wife’ before departing Corinth in a flying chariot drawn by serpents because the last nineteen lines of the play did not exist in A. Trevet did not know a Medea who told her Nurse that she ‘would become’ Medea. It is Trevet’s Medea, and not Jason, who is being pursued by Pelias’s son Acastus. For Trevet, Jason’s alliance with Creon’s daughter Creusa is calculated not to protect himself and his sons from an angry and dangerous Acastus, but in order to save Medea’s life. Furthermore, the theme of Medea as Jason’s saviour, and this act of salvation itself as the cause of crime, informs Trevet’s reading (and misreading) of important passages. Finally, when Medea argues back and forth with herself, Trevet attributes Medea’s regard for her sons as ‘not mine’ to her loss of power over them because of her exile from Corinth, without any mention that the sons might now belong to Jason’s new wife Creusa. These are all subtle interpretations that cumulatively form a unique ‘reading’ of Seneca’s Medea offered by the very first commentator on all of Seneca’s plays, seven hundred years ago.
Differences in emotional contagion, interpersonal relationships and social rewards in males and females: examining the links with primary and secondary psychopathic traits
Authors: Kyranides Melina Nicole , Lu Kiara Margarita , Ten Seldam Silene
Published: January 2023

Individuals with psychopathic traits display low empathy and as a result they have difficulties maintaining meaningful relationships. Emotional contagion, the ability to automatically mimic others’ emotional states (facial expressions, movements), is a precursor of empathy that contributes to relationship quality and is impaired in individuals with psychopathic traits. The current study examines sex differences in primary and secondary psychopathic traits in a sample of 389 participants (Mage = 33.61; 241 females) and the association of these personality traits with romantic and peer relationships, susceptibility to negative (sadness, fear, anger) and positive (happiness, love) emotional contagion and social motivation factors. Hierarchical multiple regressions run separately in male and female participants, revealed different factors contribute to the maintenance of primary and secondary psychopathic traits. Findings infer different difficulties in social functioning (forming and maintaining relationships), regulating emotions, empathizing via emotional contagion, and motivating factors to engage socially, relate to primary and secondary traits, as well as differences in men and women. This research reflects the importance of investigating psychopathic traits heterogeneously in males and females, to better inform prevention efforts focused on hindering the development and maintenance of these personality traits.
Assessment of the Long-Term Exposure to Lead in Four European Countries Using PBPK Modeling
Authors: Sy Moustapha , Eleftheriadou Dimitra , Jung Christian , Lindtner Oliver , Karakitsios Spyros , Sarigiannis Dimosthenis , Weber Till , Kolossa-Gehring Marike , Greiner Matthias
Published: January 2023

Lead (Pb) is a naturally occurring heavy metal that received, in the last decades, much attention in the human health risk assessment community. In the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU), Pb was identified as a priority substance as various scientific and policy questions were open and still to be answered. They included the further investigation of the internal exposure to Pb, the factors determining it, and its variations within European populations. The aim of this work was to develop an integrative modeling framework for the assessment of the aggregated long-term exposure to Pb in Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, and Norway. This framework enabled predicting the concentrations of Pb in human blood (PbB) from estimates of the external exposure. The effect of past and current exposure events was accounted for, as multiple country-specific Pb concentration data in environmental compartments and diet, and estimates of the dietary intake of Pb covering a period from the 1970s until the present times were compiled. This modeling approach allowed, using a two-dimensional Monte Carlo (MC2D) approach, running a population-based simulation and characterizing the inter-individual variability within the simulated populations and the uncertainty on the external exposure estimates. The predicted PbB levels were compared with the results drawn from HBM data. To the best of our knowledge, this holistic modeling approach combines for the first time temporal and country-specific trends in environmental lead concentrations to derive internal exposure, in order to get better insights into the relationship between environmental and human lead exposure, and to characterize individual exposure at different ages.

Graphical Abstract
Specific Reduction in the Cortisol Awakening Response after Socio-Affective Mental Training
Authors: Engert Veronika , Hoehne Katja , Singer Tania
Published: January 2023

Objectives

Psychosocial stress is an inherent part of modern lifestyle, and many suffer from chronic stress exposure and the subsequent development of stress-related diseases. In searching for efficient low-cost interventions to reduce stress, we investigated the effects of regular contemplative mental practice on diurnal cortisol activity as an indicator of the basal, everyday stress load.

Method

Data were collected in the context of the ReSource Project, an open-label efficacy trial comprising three distinct 3-month training modules targeting attention and interoception (Presence Module), socio-affective (Affect Module) or socio-cognitive abilities (Perspective Module) through dyadic exercises and secularized meditation practices. Diurnal cortisol activity was assayed at four time points: pre-training and after 3, 6, and 9 months. As outcome measures, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), cortisol slope over the course of the day, and total daily cortisol output were computed.

Results

Analyses revealed a stable reduction in CAR specifically after the compassion- and care-based Affect Module, contrasted by a CAR increase following the attention- and interoception-based Presence training. Cortisol slope over the day and total daily cortisol output were unaffected by any of the mental trainings.

Conclusions

These findings emphasize the necessity for a more granular approach in the investigation of contemplative mental training effects. Not all types of training can be expected to equally beneficial for all types of hardship. Specifically, with regard to the CAR, which represents the anticipatory stress response to the upcoming day, compassion- and care-based qualities rather than bare attention or meta-cognitive skills seem to drive stress reduction.

Preregistration

This study is not preregistered.
Justice before Expediency: Robust Intuitive Concern for Rights Protection in Criminalization Decisions
Authors: Bystranowski Piotr , Hannikainen Ivar Rodríguez
Published: January 2023

The notion that a false positive (false conviction) is worse than a false negative (false acquittal) is a deep-seated commitment in the theory of criminal law. Its most illustrious formulation, the so-called Blackstone’s ratio, affirms that “it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”. Are people’s evaluations of criminal statutes consitent with this tenet of the Western legal tradition? To answer this question, we conducted three experiments (total N = 2492) investigating how people reason about a particular class of offenses—proxy crimes—known to vary in their specificity and sensitivity in predicting actual crime. By manipulating the extent to which proxy crimes convict the innocent and acquit those guilty of a target offense, we uncovered evidence that attitudes toward proxy criminalization depend primarily on its propensity toward false positives, with false negatives exerting a substantially weaker effect. This tendency arose across multiple experimental conditions—whether we matched the rates of false positives and false negatives or their frequencies, whether information was presented visually or numerically, and whether decisions were made under time pressure or after a forced delay—and was unrelated to participants’ probability literacy or their professed views on the purpose of criminal punishment. Despite the observed inattentiveness to false negatives, when asked to justify their decisions, participants retrospectively supported their judgments by highlighting the proxy crime’s efficacy (or inefficacy) in combating crime. These results reveal a striking inconsistency: people favor criminal policies that protect the rights of the innocent, but report comparable concern for their expediency in fighting crime.
An operational concept flying GLS approaches using satellite-based augmentation systems
Authors: Biernatzki Janes , Dautermann Thomas
Published: January 2023

A new converter technology allows suitably equipped aircraft to use data provided by the satellite-based augmentation system in receivers originally designed for the ground-based augmentation landing system. For these aircraft, that system enables a lower decision altitude and, hence, improved access to airports. To make this technology usable, air crews require an operational concept and the flight crew has to be presented with the appropriate information in the form of approach charts. Two different possibilities for an operational concept were developed and the corresponding approach charts created. One option is a modified area navigation approach chart, to which the specific information is added. The other chart is an entirely separate procedure for the approach. These two options were tested with airline pilots in an Airbus A320 full-flight training simulator. During the simulator flights, aircraft performance data was recorded and the participants filled in questionnaires regarding workload and quality of the operational concept. The results show different behavior during the intercept of the final course, but all approaches remained within the required limits. The questionnaires revealed that the workload is higher during the area navigation variant and that all participants prefer the separate ground-based augmentation landing system variant.
Skeleton for the one-dimensional aggregation equation
Authors: Cantero Juan Carlos , Orobitg Joan
Published: January 2023

For the aggregation equation in $$\mathbb {R}$$
R
, we consider the evolution of an initial density corresponding to the characteristic function of some set $$\Omega _0$$

Ω
0

. We study the limit measure at the blow up time 1 for $$\Omega _0$$

Ω
0

open or compact and we inspect the limit set (skeleton) where this measure is supported.
On the consistency of the matrix equation $$X^\top A X=B$$ when B is symmetric: the case where CFC(A) includes skew-symmetric blocks
Authors: Borobia Alberto , Canogar Roberto , De Terán Fernando
Published: January 2023

In this paper, which is a follow-up to Borobia et al. (Mediterr J Math, 18:40, 2021), we provide a necessary and sufficient condition for the matrix equation $$X^\top AX=B$$

X
⊤

A
X
=
B

to be consistent when B is symmetric. The condition depends on the canonical form for congruence of the matrix A, and is proved to be necessary for all matrices A, and sufficient for most of them. This result improves the main one in the previous paper, since the condition is stronger than the one in that reference, and the sufficiency is guaranteed for a larger set of matrices (namely, those whose canonical form for congruence, CFC(A), includes skew-symmetric blocks).
Sequential treatment of teriparatide and alendronate versus alendronate alone for elevation of bone mineral density and prevention of refracture after percutaneous vertebroplasty in osteoporosis: a prospective study
Authors: Yang Dazhi , Tan Jie , Long Yufeng , Huang Kang , Han Weidong , Wang Min , Zhu Shizhuang , Zeng Shutong , Yi Weihong
Published: January 2023

Background

Percutaneous vertebroplasty was the most common strategy for osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. However, refracture after vertebroplasty also occurred and bone mineral density (BMD) was one of the main factors associated with refracture after percutaneous vertebroplasty.

Aims

To investigate the efficacy of a short-sequential treatment of teriparatide followed by alendronate on prevention of refracture after percutaneous vertebroplasty in osteoporotic patients, and compare it with the therapy of alendronate alone.

Methods

From January 2018 to January 2020, we recruited 165 female osteoporosis patients after percutaneous vertebroplasty who were assigned into sequential treatment of teriparatide followed by alendronate group (TPTD + ALN group) and alendronate alone group (ALN group). The vertebral fracture occurred during this process was also recorded in both the groups. A total of 105 participants completed the 1-year follow-up. Furthermore, BMD and serum procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide (PINP) and C-terminal cross-linking telopeptide of type I collagen (CTX) were compared between the two groups during 1-year follow-up.

Results

The 105 patients were finally included, with 59 in ALN group and 46 in TPTD + ALN group. During 1-year follow-up, the vertebral refracture rate in TPTD + ALN group was much lower than that in ALN group (2.2% vs. 13.6%, p < 0.05). At 12 months, the BMDs at lumbar in TPTD + ALN group were significantly elevated when compared to the ALN group (0.65 ± 0.10 vs. 0.57 ± 0.07, p < 0.001).

Discussion and conclusion

A short-sequential administration of teriparatide followed by alendronate was more effective in elevating the BMD and decreasing the refracture rate at 12-month follow-up, compared to the counterpart with alendronate alone.
Hypomagnesemia and incident delirium in hospitalized older persons
Authors: Boccardi Virginia , Ercolani Sara , Serra Rocco , Bubba Valentina , Piccolo Alessandro , Scamosci Michela , Villa Alfredo , Ruggiero Carmelinda , Mecocci Patrizia
Published: January 2023

Background

Altered serum magnesium (Mg) levels in older persons have been hypothesized to have a role in predicting hospitalization and mortality. Hypomagnesemia and delirium are frequent problems in older patients, but no study has evaluated such an association in acute geriatric setting.

Aims

We investigated the impact of hypomagnesemia on the incidence of delirium in an acute geriatric setting.

Methods

This retrospective study was conducted on 209 older hospitalized patients. All subjects underwent a comprehensive geriatric assessment. Mg was measured in serum by routine laboratory methods. The presence of incident delirium was determined by the 4AT screening tool. A logistic regression model was used to assess the association between serum Mg and delirium controlling for multiple covariates.

Results

209 patients (77.9% women) were included in the study. The mean age of the participants was 85.7 ± 6.50 years (range 65–100). 27 subjects (12.9%) developed delirium during the hospitalization, with no difference between genders. Subjects with delirium had lower serum magnesium levels than those without (1.88 ± 0.34 versus 2.04 ± 0.28; p = 0.009). Delirium risk was significantly higher in patients with lower serum magnesium levels (OR 5.80 95% CI 1.450–23.222; p = 0.013), independent of multiple covariates.

Conclusion

Our data show that low serum Mg level is a good predictor of incident delirium in acute geriatric settings. Present findings have relevant implications for clinical management, highlighting the need for analyzing Mg concentration carefully. Whether Mg supplementation in patients with hypomagnesemia could lead to delirium prevention and/or control needs further investigation.
Local versus national banking development in Europe: who is the winner?
Authors: Fasano Francesco , La Rocca Maurizio
Published: January 2023

This article investigates the role of local banking development, per se, in European SME debt policies, using a cross-country dataset. Moreover, it assesses whether the debt policies of SMEs are mainly driven by local or national banking development. We find that higher levels of local banking development increase the amount of debt used by SMEs. Results suggest that national banking institutions reduce the influence of local banking sectors on SME financial behavior. Several robustness and further tests validate our results, suggesting that whilst the process of international integration and digitalization of financial markets, local banking development is still relevant despite the moderating role of national banking policies. Consequently, policy makers should first and foremost allow headquarters and central banks to better support local banks in integrating national banking policies in order to reduce the financial constraints on SMEs and spur their economic growth.
Timing of fungicide application against Cercospora leaf spot disease based on aerial spore dispersal of Cercospora beticola in sugar beet
Authors: Liebe Sebastian , Imbusch Frederike , Erven Tobias , Varrelmann Mark
Published: January 2023

Cercospora leaf spot is an important foliar disease in sugar beet caused byCercospora beticola. Tolerant cultivars are available, but application of fungicides is still mandatory for disease control. The timing of the fungicide application is crucial as it determines the outcome of disease epidemiology. A disease incidence (DI) of 5% is widely used as a threshold for fungicide application. Recently a method was developed that allows the quantification of aerial spore dispersal ofC.beticolafor measuring spore flight intensity. It was aimed in this study to prove if fungicide application based on spore flight might improve disease control compared to DI. In a field trial with artificial inoculation, a single fungicide application at the onset of spore flight slowed down disease development as indicated by reduced disease severity and aerial spore dispersal. However, it did not provide sufficient control in terms of sugar yield. Only a second fungicide application based on spore flight detection achieved an efficacy similar to two fungicide applications based on DI. In contrast, a single fungicide application based either on spore flight or DI was sufficient in two on-farm trials under natural infection with moderate disease pressure. This highlights the necessity of an early timed first fungicide application followed by a second application under high disease pressure induced by artificial inoculation. Although fungicide application based on spore flight achieved sufficient control success in on-farm trials, it seems not to improve disease control compared to the usage of DI as threshold.
Architecture’s Allagmatics
Authors: Radman Andrej
Published: January 2023

The chapter addresses the topic of architectural intelligence whose sole purpose is to create affordances and make experience ‘stand on its own’, apart from architecture and distinct from the architect. The principles of sensation constitute the principles of composition of an existential niche whose structure reveals the genetic conditions of real experience. The argument is unpacked across three sections by reference to the Simondonian concept of allagmatics defined as the theory of operations. The first section ‘Ticks and Cats’ argues in favour of inserting an interval between the input and output, with the aim of debunking the mechanicist allegiance to linearity and promoting the concept of quasi-causality. In the second section ‘Ducks and Rabbits’ the affordance theory meets contemporary neurosciences to revamp the concept of metastability and plasticity. Its goal is to reframe the subject as the effect of (architectural) affect. The concluding radical empiricist section ‘Zebras and Flies’ revisits the lesson of the LeibnizianMonadologyto tie sense to sensibility and matter to manner. The overall ambition of the chapter is to contest the philosophy of representation through the concept of difference and multiplicity.
What Has Genomics Taught an Evolutionary Biologist?
Authors: Zhang Jianzhi
Published: January 2023

Genomics, an interdisciplinary field of biology on the structure, function, and evolution of genomes, has revolutionized many subdisciplines of life sciences, including my field of evolutionary biology, by supplying huge data, bringing high-throughput technologies, and offering a new approach to biology. In this review, I describe what I have learned from genomics and highlight the fundamental knowledge and mechanistic insights gained. I focus on three broad topics that are central to evolutionary biology and beyond—variation, interaction, and selection—and use primarily my own research and study subjects as examples. In the next decade or two, I expect that the most important contributions of genomics to evolutionary biology will be to provide genome sequences of nearly all known species on Earth, facilitate high-throughput phenotyping of natural variants and systematically constructed mutants for mapping genotype–phenotype–fitness landscapes, and assist the determination of causality in evolutionary processes using experimental evolution.
Clean Air at What Cost?
Authors: van der Kamp Denise Sienli
Published: January 2023

China's green transition is often perceived as a lesson in authoritarian efficiency. In just a few years, the state managed to improve air quality, contain dissent, and restructure local industry. Much of this was achieved through top-down, 'blunt force' solutions, such as forcibly shuttering or destroying polluting factories. This book argues that China's blunt force regulation is actually a sign of weak state capacity and ineffective bureaucratic control. Integrating case studies with quantitative evidence, it shows how widespread industry shutdowns are used, not to scare polluters into respecting pollution standards, but to scare bureaucrats into respecting central orders. These measures have improved air quality in almost all Chinese cities, but at immense social and economic cost. This book delves into the negotiations, trade-offs, and day-to-day battles of local pollution enforcement to explain why governments employ such costly measures, and what this reveals about a state's powers to govern society.
Assessment of Impacts of Climate Change on Indian Riverine Thermal Regimes Using Hybrid Deep Learning Methods
Authors: Rehana S. , Rajesh M.
Published: January 2023

Understanding the riverine thermal regimes is challenging due to sparse spatiotemporal data of river water temperatures (RWTs). The development of systematic models combined with machine learning models under data‐limited context has not been intensively studied for the prediction of RWT. The present study developed hybrid models using long short‐term memory (LSTM), integrated with (a) k‐nearest neighbor (k‐NN) bootstrap resampling algorithms (kNN‐LSTM) to address the data limitations of RWT prediction and (b) discrete wavelet transform (WT) approach (WT‐LSTM) to address the time–frequency localized features of RWT prediction. The study assessed the climate change impacts on RWT using an ensemble of National Aeronautics Space Administration Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections of air temperature with Representative Concentration Pathway scenarios 4.5 and 8.5 for seven major polluted river catchments of India. The hybrid kNN‐LSTM has effectively predicted RWT at monthly time scales under data limitations and outperformed the standalone LSTM, WT‐LSTM, and hybrid three‐parameter version air2stream models. The RWT increase for Tunga‐Bhadra, Musi, Ganga, and Narmada basins is predicted as 3.0, 4.0, 4.6, and 4.7°C, respectively, for 2071–2100.
Version 2 of the TSIS‐1 Hybrid Solar Reference Spectrum and Extension to the Full Spectrum
Authors: Coddington O. M. , Richard E. C. , Harber D. , Pilewskie P. , Woods T. N. , Snow M. , Chance K. , Liu X. , Sun K.
Published: January 2023

This work describes two achievements to a key data set. First, we present version 2 of the Total and Spectral Solar Irradiance Sensor‐1 Hybrid Solar Reference Spectrum (TSIS‐1 HSRS), which has recently been recognized as a new solar irradiance reference standard (https://calvalportal.ceos.org/). Second, we present a new “full spectrum extension” of the TSIS‐1 HSRS. The TSIS‐1 HSRS observational composite solar irradiance reference spectrum spans 0.202–2.730 μm and encompasses more than 97% of the energy in the total solar irradiance (TSI). Version 2 is an incremental update that corrects the radiometric baseline between 0.202 and 0.210 μm and updates the solar lines at wavelengths longward of 0.743 μm to those listed in the most recent database. The full spectrum extension builds off version 2 of the TSIS‐1 HSRS and supports applications that require a solar spectrum encompassing nearly 100% of the energy in the TSI. It spans 0.115–200 μm and was developed by incorporating additional observations and theoretical knowledge where no direct observations currently exist.
The Phosphorus Budget of the Silicate Earth Based on an Updated Estimate of the P/Nd Ratio
Authors: Ma Chao , Tang Yanjie , Ying Jifeng , Zhang Hongfu
Published: January 2023

Calculating the phosphorus (P) budget of the bulk silicate Earth (BSE) is necessary to understand the global P cycle and the origin and evolution of life. Covariations of P and neodymium (Nd) contents suggest that P is 1.1–1.4 times more incompatible than Nd during mantle melting and magmatic differentiation. As such, the P/Nd ratios of mantle sources can be estimated using inverse modeling, and the P budget of the BSE can be calculated from the P/Nd ratios of the continental crust, mid‐ocean ridge basalts (MORBs), and ocean island basalts (OIBs). The P/Nd ratios for the MORB and OIB mantle sources and continental crust are 62.5 ± 0.8 (2σm), 57.0 ± 0.5 (2σm), and 28.4 ± 12.0 (2σm), respectively. These reservoirs have different P/Nd ratios due to subduction, magmatic differentiation, and mineralogy. Subduction can significantly affect the global P and Nd cycles. Magmatic differentiation, especially in the continental crust, may redistribute P by changing the contents of garnet, apatite, and other minerals. The fractional contributions of these global reservoirs suggest the modern BSE has a P/Nd ratio of 57.7 ± 3.0 (2σm), equating to ∼3.1 × 1020 kg of P in the BSE.
Constraining Bedrock Groundwater Residence Times in a Mountain System With Environmental Tracer Observations and Bayesian Uncertainty Quantification
Authors: Thiros Nicholas E. , Siirila‐Woodburn Erica R. , Dennedy‐Frank P. James , Williams Kenneth H. , Gardner W. Payton
Published: January 2023

Groundwater residence time distributions provide fundamental insights on the hydrological processes within watersheds. Yet, observations that can constrain groundwater residence times over broad timescales remain scarce in mountain catchment studies. We use environmental tracers (CFC‐12, SF6, 3H, and 4He) to investigate groundwater residence times along a hillslope in the East River Watershed, Colorado, USA. We develop a Bayesian inference framework that applies a Markov‐chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach to estimate noble gas recharge temperature, elevation, and excess‐air parameters and the resulting environmental tracer concentrations. MCMC is then used to propagate the environmental tracer uncertainties to estimates of groundwater mean residence times inferred with lumped parameter models. All samples contain 3H, CFC‐12, and SF6 in addition to terrigenic 4He, suggesting a mixture of water characterized by modern and premodern residence times. 4He exponential mean residence times range from hundreds of years at the upslope well to thousands of years at the toe‐slope well assuming average crustal production rates. We find that binary mixing residence time distributions with separate young and old mixing fractions are needed to predict the 4He, CFC‐12, SF6, and 3H observations, supporting the importance of flow path mixing in this bedrock system. Our findings that the fractured bedrock hosts groundwater with a mixture of residence times ranging from decades to millennia suggest variable recharge dynamics and flow path mixing along the hillslope and highlight the importance of characterizing groundwater systems with observations that are sensitive to transport over a broad range of residence times.