bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Numerical analysis of a strip-loaded silicon rich nitride-thin film lithium niobate hybrid waveguides
Authors: Meetei Toijam Sunder , Son Seong-Jin , Park Byeongchan , Lee Yong-Tak , Yu Nan Ei
Published: January 2023

Hybrid integration of silicon rich nitride and lithium niobate on insulator (SRN-LNOI) is an emerging material platform for photonic integrated circuits (PIC). In this paper, we present a systematic numerical investigation of the mode properties of a strip-loaded SRN-LNOI hybrid waveguide at 1550 nm wavelength using the full-vectorial finite difference method. Considering the anisotropic nature of the lithium niobate (LN) crystal, the effective refractive indices of the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes of strip-loaded SRN-LN hybrid waveguides were analyzed. The single-mode condition, zero-birefringence, effective mode area, and power distribution in terms of the geometrical parameters of the strip-loaded SRN-LN hybrid waveguide are discussed in detail. Furthermore, the optical power transmission in both straight and bent waveguides, as well as the different characteristics of the optical power confinement of the fundamental modes in the SRN and LN layers were analyzed. This study provides useful information for designing high-performance photonic devices on a hybrid SRN-LNOI platform for future PIC applications.
Influence of the pulse polarity on micro-hollow cathode helium plasma jet
Authors: LI Jiaxin , DUAN Zhengchao , HE Feng , HAN Ruoyu , OUYANG Jiting
Published: January 2023

Helium plasma jets generated by micro-hollow cathode discharge (MHCD) with the square-wave power source of different polarities are investigated in this work. The effects of positive and negative polarity pulses on the MHCD and plasma jet were compared, and the time-resolved optical emission spectra of excited species (

N

2

+

and O) were studied. The results confirm that the electric field is a key factor for the propagation of the jet during the rising edge of the positive current pulse, while the gas expansion is mainly important for the jet propagation during the current stable phase. The time-resolved spectra show that the generation of specie O in the jet-driven by the electric field is more efficient.
The birational invariants of Lins Neto’s foliations
Authors: Ling Hao , Lu Jun , Tan Sheng-Li
Published: January 2023

Lins Neto [Ann. Sci. École Norm. Sup. (4) 35 (2002), pp. 231–266] constructed families of foliations which are counterexamples to Poincaré’s Problem and Painlevé’s Problem. We will determine the minimal models of these families of foliations, calculate their Chern numbers, Kodaira dimension, and numerical Kodaira dimension. We prove that the slopes of Lins Neto’s foliations are at least 6, and their limits are bigger than

7
7

.
Defamation of the president, racial nationalism, and the Roy Clarke affair in Zambia
Authors: Sishuwa Sishuwa , Money Duncan
Published: January 2023

In January 2004, residents of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, were treated to a disturbing sight. Over 200 members of the governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy party marched through the streets of the capital carrying a mock coffin bearing the name of Roy Clarke, a prominent newspaper satirist and white British national who had been a permanent resident in the country since the early 1960s. The protesters accused Clarke of insulting and defaming President Levy Mwanawasa in his previous column and demanded his immediate deportation. The Minister of Home Affairs obliged, but the satirist successfully challenged his deportation in Zambia’s courts. Drawing from newspaper sources, court documents, and interviews with key informants, this article shows that these protests were anything but a spontaneous demonstration of public outrage. Instead, they had been carefully orchestrated by Mwanawasa and his close allies to bolster Mwanawasa’s beleaguered presidency. The article argues that deportation orders and racial nationalism against racial minorities are strategies adopted by political elites during periods of weakness, even when these ideas have little or no popular support. More broadly, we argue that the status of racial minorities and other foreigners in Zambia is often provisional, depending on political considerations.
GSEL: a fast, flexible python package for detecting signatures of diverse evolutionary forces on genomic regions
Authors: Abraham Abin , Labella Abigail L , Benton Mary Lauren , Rokas Antonis , Capra John A
Published: January 2023

GSEL is a computational framework for calculating the enrichment of signatures of diverse evolutionary forces in a set of genomic regions. GSEL can flexibly integrate any sequence-based evolutionary metric and analyze sets of human genomic regions identified by genome-wide assays (e.g. GWAS, eQTL, *-seq). The core of GSEL’s approach is the generation of empirical null distributions tailored to the allele frequency and linkage disequilibrium structure of the regions of interest. We illustrate the application of GSEL to variants identified from a GWAS of body mass index, a highly polygenic trait.

Availability and implementation

GSEL is implemented as a fast, flexible and user-friendly python package. It is available with demonstration data at https://github.com/abraham-abin13/gsel_vec.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The ups and downs of STAT3 function: too much, too little and human immune dysregulation
Authors: Mackie Joseph , Ma Cindy S , Tangye Stuart G , Guerin Antoine
Published: January 2023

The STAT3 story has almost 30 years of evolving history. First identified in 1994 as a pro-inflammatory transcription factor, Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) has continued to be revealed as a quintessential pleiotropic signalling module spanning fields including infectious diseases, autoimmunity, vaccine responses, metabolism, and malignancy. In 2007, germline heterozygous dominant-negative loss-of-function variants in STAT3 were discovered as the most common cause for a triad of eczematoid dermatitis with recurrent skin and pulmonary infections, first described in 1966. This finding established that STAT3 plays a critical non-redundant role in immunity against some pathogens, as well as in the connective tissue, dental and musculoskeletal systems. Several years later, in 2014, heterozygous activating gain of function germline STAT3 variants were found to be causal for cases of early-onset multiorgan autoimmunity, thereby underpinning the notion that STAT3 function needed to be regulated to maintain immune homeostasis. As we and others continue to interrogate biochemical and cellular perturbations due to inborn errors in STAT3, we will review our current understanding of STAT3 function, mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, and future directions in this dynamic field.
Setting the record straight on the recovery from the 1920–1921 recession
Authors: Borazan Ahmad
Published: January 2023

The US recovery from the 1920–21 recession has been presented as a triumph of laissez-faire policies and a serious challenge to Keynesian economics. This study interrogates this claim by using previously unutilised data and examines the historical development of the early 1920s recession and recovery. The study refutes the laissez-faire view and shows that the recovery indeed fits Keynes’s perspective. The deflationary recession was largely engineered by the Federal Reserve a la 1980s Volker disinflation. The recovery closely followed the reversal of tight monetary policy and was propelled by exceptionally long pent-up private consumption and residential spending. The recovery initiated the Roaring Twenties boom of weakened organised labour, rising income inequality and mounting private debt. This private debt-led boom proved unsustainable and was fraught with risks that contributed to the severity of the Great Depression. Although the recovery was not driven by fiscal policy, it cannot be seen as driven by price flexibility either.
Complete heart block associated with paraneoplastic hypercalcemia: a case report
Authors: Khederlou Hamid
Published: January 2023

Background

Complete heart block (CHB) means a lack of association between the atrium and the ventricle. Hypercalcemia is an electrolyte disorder that rarely causes CHB.

Case summary

Hereby, we report the case of a 59-year-old male who was admitted with general weakness. The electrocardiography (ECG) changes revealed CHB, short QT interval due to short ST segment, and generalized ST elevation. The initial calcium level was 15.8 mg/dL (high), and serum levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), vitamin D, and phosphorus were normal. A chest computed tomography scan showed a large, central mass with cavitation in the right lung. After an initial diagnosis of lung cancer and paraneoplastic hypercalcemia, the patient was treated with normal saline, calcitonin, and zoledronic acid, whose calcium levels decreased to 10.4 mg/dL after 4 days. Pathological ECG findings were also resolved after the correction of serum levels of calcium.

Discussion

Hypercalcemia sometimes occurs as a paraneoplastic syndrome following the production of PTH-related peptide by malignant cells, including squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Complete heart block associated with paraneoplastic syndrome has been reported so far in only one study.
Prevalence of Dementia and Cognitive Impairment No Dementia in a Large and Diverse Nationally Representative Sample: The ELSI-Brazil Study
Authors: Bertola Laiss , Suemoto Claudia Kimie , Aliberti Márlon Juliano Romero , Gomes Gonçalves Natalia  , Pinho Pedro José de Moraes Rebello , Castro-Costa Erico , Lima-Costa Maria Fernanda , Ferri Cleusa P
Published: January 2023

Background

Approximately 77% of older adults with dementia in Brazil have not been diagnosed, indicating a major public health issue. Previous epidemiological dementia studies in Brazil were based on data from 1 geopolitical region.

Methods

We aimed to estimate the general and subgroup-specific (age, education, and sex) prevalence of dementia and cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND) classification using data from 5 249 participants aged 60 years and older from the ELSI-Brazil, a large nationally representative sample. Participants were classified as having normal cognitive function, CIND, or dementia based on a combination of the individual’s cognitive and functional status.

Results

We found a general prevalence of 5.8% (95% CI = 4.7–7.2) for dementia and 8.1% (95% CI = 6.8–9.5) for CIND. Dementia prevalence ranged from 3.2% (60–64 years old) to 42.8% (≥90 years old) by age, and from 2.1% (college level or higher) to 16.5% (illiterates) by education. Females had a higher dementia prevalence (6.8%) than males (4.6%). CIND prevalence was similar across age, sex, and education.

Conclusions

The estimated dementia prevalence is lower than that in previous Brazilian epidemiological studies, but is in line with other Latin American studies. Only 1.2% of the ELSI-Brazil participants reported having a previous diagnosis of dementia, revealing that underdiagnosis is rampant and a common reality. Based on our results and national statistics projections, we estimate that in 2019, there were 1 757 480 people aged 60 years and older living with dementia in Brazil and, at least, another 2 271 314 having to deal with some form of cognitive impairment.
A deep learning approach for suppressing noise in livestream earthquake data from a large seismic network
Authors: Wang Han , Zhang Jie
Published: January 2023

Detecting and analyzing small earthquakes is important for many seismological studies. Signals of small earthquakes are often obscured by noise. Recent advances in signal processing and deep learning along with available computing resources provide a great opportunity to address this challenge. In this study, we present a time domain method of suppressing noise for processing livestream earthquake data from a large seismic network by applying a deep neural network Real-time Denoiser (RTDenoiser). This neural network is able to attenuate a variety of colored noise and non-earthquake signals and suppress noise in the overlapping frequency bandwidth with signals. Because of its simplicity in time domain without domain transformation and subsequent processing, the method is able to process continuous livestream three-component data from several hundreds of seismic stations simultaneously. We create ‘noise-free’ samples by scaling down the waveforms of relatively large events from ML 3.5–5.0 to ML 1.5–3.0 according to the Richter scaling relationship. We also select noise samples from the same seismic station and add to ‘noise-free’ data to generate samples at different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels. These data samples are randomly split into training, validation, and test sets. We verify the trained network to process data recorded in Sichuan and Yunnan, China from 2013 to 2018. Results show that the RTDenoiser can help improve SNRs from 5 dB to 15 dB in averag. The number of detected small events at magnitude between ML 1.0 and 3.0 has been increased by 58.8 per cent. The method is currently applied in a seismic network of 300 stations in Sichuan and Yunnan, China for continuous processing. It takes about 10 ms on average to process three-component 60-s data from 300 seismic stations on a single GPU.
Sialylation-dependent interaction between PD-L1 and CD169 promotes monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells
Authors: Cai Kebo , Chen Qihang , Shi Danfang , Huang Sijing , Wang Cong , Ai Zhilong , Jiang Jianhai
Published: January 2023

The monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells is an early step in chronic inflammation. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is regarded as a master regulator of inflammation development. However, the significance and mechanisms of IFN-γ in the monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells remains largely unknown. IFN-γ up-regulates PD-L1 on various types of cells. Here, we performed flow cytometry to examine the contribution of IFN-γ-induced PD-L1 expression on monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells. Up-regulation of PD-L1 by IFN-γ enhanced the adhesion of monocytes to endothelial cells. By immunoprecipitation and lectin blot, PD-L1 in endothelial cells interacted with CD169/Siglec 1 in monocytes depending on the α2,3-sialylation of PD-L1. ST3Gal family (ST3β-galactoside α-2,3-sialyltransferase) was the major glycosyltransferase responsible for the α2,3-sialylation of membrane proteins. Down-regulation of ST3Gal4 by RNAinterference partially reduced the α2,3-sialylation of PD-L1 and the PD-L1-CD169 interaction. Finally, purified PD-L1 protein with α2,3-sialylation, but not PD-L1 protein without α2,3-sialylation, partially reduced IFN-γ-induced monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells. These findings provide evidence that the interaction between PD-L1 and CD169 promoted monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells and might elucidate a new mechanism of monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells.
Bringing an end to the silence: identifying priorities and solutions to addressing the mental health consequences of child marriage
Authors: Burgess Rochelle A , Sheibani Farah , Kelly Isabelle , Jeffery Mairi , Gumbonzvanda Farirai , Lewis Gemma , Ashraf Asma , Connor Cristianne , Mombeshora Solomon , Gumbonzvanda Nyaradzayi
Published: January 2023

Despite its inclusion in Sustainable Development Goal 5 to end all harmful gendered practices by 2030, child, early and forced marriages continue to be a pervasive problem globally. While there is consistent evidence on the physical health consequences of child marriage, there is a lack of evidence and inquiry into the mental health consequence. We completed a change-oriented Delphi study to establish consensus on priority areas of research and intervention in relation to the mental health consequences of child, early and forced marriages. Invited experts (n = 11), survivors (n = 27) and professionals (n = 30) participated in our Delphi. Four rounds of data collection included: a blended in-person and online workshop with invited experts, an online mixed-methods questionnaire, focus groups in Zimbabwe with women who are survivors of child marriage and a repeat questionnaire sent to the first round of experts. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and ranking methods, consistent with other Delphi studies. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic network analysis. Findings coalesced around three areas: perspectives on the relationship between mental health and child marriage, policy actions and treatment-driven solutions. Consensus was reached on 16 items across these areas which included the need to prioritize psychosocial and social interventions to improve mental health outcomes for women and girls in existing marriages. They also called for new approaches to advocacy to drive awareness of this issue in policy circles. Implications for future practice are discussed.
Evolutionary game analysis of energy saving behavior of tourism enterprises under carbon emission constraints
Authors: Tang Zi , Zhang Minsi
Published: January 2023

As one of the sectors affected by global climate change, tourism enterprises are actively seeking feasible energy-saving and emission reduction schemes. The article adopts the evolutionary game approach and establishes the game matrix between tourism enterprises and the government. The research results show that the strategy choice of the two-game subjects depends on the initial state and its evolutionary path. The local government needs to adjust penalty measures for environmental pollution of tourism enterprises and reduce the cost of controlling low carbon reasonably tourism. Enterprises need to reduce the cost of saving energy through dynamic adjustment of carbon emission rewards, which are the basis of the long-term perspective and the big picture. On the premise of considering both interests, tourism enterprises and government should make joint efforts to achieve the goal of energy conservation, environmental protection and sustainable development.
Phase 2 Safety and Antiviral Activity of SAB-185, a Novel Polyclonal Antibody Therapy for Nonhospitalized Adults With COVID-19
Authors: Taiwo Babafemi O , Chew Kara W , Moser Carlee , Wohl David Alain , Daar Eric S , Li Jonathan Z , Greninger Alexander L , Bausch Christoph , Luke Thomas , Hoover Keila , Neytman Gene , Giganti Mark J , Olefsky Maxine , Javan Arzhang Cyrus , Fletcher Courtney V , Eron Joseph J , Currier Judith S , Hughes Michael D , Smith Davey M ,   for the ACTIV-2/A5401 Study Team, Hosey Lara , Roa Jhoanna , Patel Nilam , Coombs Robert , Degli-Angeli Emily , Goecker Erin , Daza Glenda , Harb Socorro , Dragavon Joan , Aldrovandi Grace , Murtaugh William , Cooper Marlene , Gutzman Howard , Knowles Kevin , Erhardt Bill , Waring Lorraine , Hessinger Diane , Meintjes Graeme A , Murray Barbara E , Ray Stuart Campbell , Rolla Valeria Cavalcanti , Saloojee Haroon , Tsiatis Anastasios A , Volberding Paul A , Kimmelman Jonathan , Glidden David , Hunsberger Sally
Published: January 2023

Background

SAB-185, a novel fully human IgG polyclonal immunoglobulin product, underwent phase 2 evaluation for nonhospitalized adults with mild-moderate coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods

Participants received intravenous SAB-185 3840 units/kg (low-dose) or placebo, or 10 240 units/kg (high-dose) or placebo. Primary outcome measures were nasopharyngeal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA < lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) at study days 3, 7, and 14, time to symptomatic improvement, and safety through day 28.

Results

Two-hundred thirteen participants received low-dose SAB-185/placebo (n = 107/106) and 215 high-dose SAB-185/placebo (n = 110/105). The proportions with SARS-CoV-2 RNA < LLOQ were higher for SAB-185 versus placebo at days 3 and 7 and similar at day 14, and significantly higher at day 7 for high-dose SAB-185 versus placebo only, relative risk 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 1.01–1.49). At day 3, SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels were lower with low-dose and high-dose SAB-185 versus placebo: differences in medians of −0.78 log10 copies/mL (P = .08) and −0.71 log10 copies/mL (P = .10), respectively. No difference was observed in time to symptom improvement: median 11/10 days (P = .24) for low-dose SAB-185/placebo and 8/10 days (P = .50) for high-dose SAB-185/placebo. Grade ≥3 adverse events occurred in 5%/13% of low-dose SAB-185/placebo and 9%/12% of high-dose SAB-185/placebo.

Conclusions

SAB-185 was safe and generally well tolerated and demonstrated modest antiviral activity in predominantly low-risk nonhospitalized adults with COVID-19.

Clinical Trials Registration. NCT04518410.
Global licences under threat of injunctions: FRAND commitments, competition law, and jurisdictional battles
Authors: Nazzini Renato
Published: January 2023

This article examines three, intertwined questions arising from the recent case law on global FRAND licences under threat of injunction. First, whether the obligation of an implementer to enter into a global licence of all the standard-essential patent (SEP) owner’s relevant SEPs on pain of a national injunction is consistent with the policies underpinning a SEP owner’s obligation to grant a FRAND licence. Secondly, whether the conduct of a SEP owner insisting on an implementer entering into a global licence under threat of an injunction is compatible with the UK Chapter II prohibition and Article 102 TFEU. Thirdly, whether the assumption and exercise by national courts of the power to settle the terms of global licences is a rational way of resolving global FRAND licensing disputes. On all three counts, the conclusion is that departing from territorial jurisdiction in the matter of FRAND licences is not advisable as it has the effect of distorting the incentives of SEP owners and implementers in such a way that FRAND licences and FRAND negotiations are less likely to reflect, or be driven by, the value of the underlying technology. As a result, global FRAND licences may apply excessive royalties or royalties for SEPs that are invalid, not essential, or not infringed. A system of national enforcement is better suited to striking a right balance between the interests of SEP owners and implementers, producing better outcomes in terms of effects on social welfare and productivity.
Effects ofGlycyrrhizapolysaccharide on growth performance, appetite, and hypothalamic inflammation in broilers
Authors: Zhao Yiyi , Li Chenxu , Wang Xueying , Wang Zhaojun , Wang Jicang , Zhen Wenrui , Huang Shucheng , Li Tianshuai , Fan Hengyu , Ma Yanbo , Zhang Cai
Published: January 2023

We analyzed the effects of Glycyrrhiza polysaccharide (GCP) on growth performance, appetite, and hypothalamic inflammation-related indexes in broilers. One-day-old male AA broilers were randomly divided into four groups: Control, L-GCP, M-GCP, and H-GCP (0, 300, 600, and 900 mg GCP/kg feed), with six repetition cages for each treatment and 12 broilers in each repeat for a period of 42 days. From day 1 to day 21, the addition of GCP to the diet significantly improved the ADFI and the ADG of broilers, and the mRNA levels of NPY and AgRP were significantly increased while POMC and CART were decreased in the hypothalamus of broilers; GCP also significantly decreased the mRNA levels of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, TLR-4, MyD88, and NF-κB, and increased the IL-4 and IL-10 in the hypothalamus from day 1 to day 42. The concentrations of appetite-related factors and inflammatory factors in serum were changed in the same fashion. Supplementation with 600 mg/kg GCP had the optimal effect in broilers, and GCP has the potential to be used as a feed additive in the poultry production industry.
A chromosome-scale reference genome assembly of the great sand eel,Hyperoplus lanceolatus
Authors: Winter Sven , de Raad Jordi , Wolf Magnus , Coimbra Raphael T F , de Jong Menno J , Schöneberg Yannis , Christoph Maria , von Klopotek Hagen , Bach Katharina , Pashm Foroush Behgol , Hanack Wiebke , Kauffeldt Aaron Hagen , Milz Tim , Ngetich Emmanuel Kipruto , Wenz Christian , Sonnewald Moritz , Nilsson Maria Anna , Janke Axel
Published: January 2023

Despite increasing sequencing efforts, numerous fish families still lack a reference genome, which complicates genetic research. One such understudied family is the sand lances (Ammodytidae, literally: “sand burrower”), a globally distributed clade of over 30 fish species that tend to avoid tidal currents by burrowing into the sand. Here, we present the first annotated chromosome-level genome assembly of the great sand eel (Hyperoplus lanceolatus). The genome assembly was generated using Oxford Nanopore Technologies long sequencing reads and Illumina short reads for polishing. The final assembly has a total length of 808.5 Mbp, of which 97.1% were anchored into 24 chromosome-scale scaffolds using proximity-ligation scaffolding. It is highly contiguous with a scaffold and contig N50 of 33.7 and 31.3 Mbp, respectively, and has a BUSCO completeness score of 96.9%. The presented genome assembly is a valuable resource for future studies of sand lances, as this family is of great ecological and commercial importance and may also contribute to studies aiming to resolve the suprafamiliar taxonomy of bony fishes.
Evaluation of non-hematologic toxicity in patients with cervical cancer after Type 3 radical hysterectomy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy: a retrospective study
Authors: Saito Motoaki , Tanabe Hiroshi , Yamauchi Kishihito , Kuroda Takafumi , Takano Hirokuni , Yamada Kyosuke , Okamoto Aikou
Published: January 2023

Objective

To investigate the safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy after Type 3 radical hysterectomy, focusing on non-hematologic toxicity.

Methods

Between January 2010 and December 2017, 236 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer Stages IB1–II (FIGO2008) and who had undergone Type 3 radical hysterectomy at the Jikei Medical University School-related four hospitals were included. Of these 236 patients, 134 had undergone adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy after Type 3 radical hysterectomy (radical hysterectomy + concurrent chemoradiotherapy group), and 102 received no adjuvant therapy after Type 3 radical hysterectomy (radical hysterectomy group). The frequency of non-hematologic toxicities, especially lymphedema, pelvic infection, renal dysfunction, ileus and diarrhea, was investigated in the radical hysterectomy + concurrent chemoradiotherapy and radical hysterectomy groups using univariate and multivariate analyses. In these analyses, age, extent of lymph node dissection and preoperative clinical stage were included as risk factors for five complications. The risk factors for grade ≤ 2 adverse events were statistically evaluated.

Results

The frequency of lower extremity lymphedema (22 vs. 10%), renal dysfunction (13 vs. 3%), and diarrhea (13 vs. 0%) was significantly higher in the radical hysterectomy + CRRT group than that in the radical hysterectomy group. Logistic regression analysis revealed that adjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy significantly affected the occurrence of grade ≥ 2 lymphedema (P < 0.01) and renal dysfunction (P < 0.01).

Conclusions

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy after Type 3 radical hysterectomy is associated with a higher incidence of renal dysfunction, lower extremity lymphedema and diarrhea. A more appropriate adjuvant therapy needs to be established.
Predictions on the stellar-to-halo mass relation in the dwarf regime using the empirical model for galaxy formation Emerge
Authors: O’Leary Joseph A , Steinwandel Ulrich P , Moster Benjamin P , Martin Nicolas , Naab Thorsten
Published: January 2023

One of the primary goals when studying galaxy formation is to understand how the luminous component of the Universe, galaxies, relate to the growth of structure which is dominated by the gravitational collapse of dark matter haloes. The stellar-to-halo mass relation probes how galaxies occupy dark matter haloes and what that entails for their star formation history. We deliver the first self-consistent empirical model that can place constraints on the stellar-to-halo mass relation down to log stellar mass log10(m*/M⊙) ≤ 5.0 by fitting our model directly to Local Group dwarf data. This is accomplished by penalizing galaxy growth in late-forming, low-mass haloes by mimicking the effects of reionization. This process serves to regulate the number density of galaxies by altering the scatter in halo peak mass $M^{\mathrm{peak}}_{h}$ at fixed stellar mass, creating a tighter scatter than would otherwise exist without a high-z quenching mechanism. Our results indicate that the previously established double-power law stellar-to-halo mass relation can be extended to include galaxies with $\log _{10}(M^{\mathrm{peak}}_{\mathrm{h}}/{\rm M}_{\odot })\gtrsim 10.0$. Furthermore, we show that haloes with $\log _{10}(M^{\mathrm{peak}}_{\mathrm{h}}/{\rm M}_{\odot })\lesssim 9.3$ by z = 4 are unlikely to host a galaxy with log10(m*/M⊙) > 5.0.
(Sub)millimetre dust polarization of protoplanetary discs from scattering by large millimetre-sized irregular grains
Authors: Lin Zhe-Yu Daniel , Li Zhi-Yun , Yang Haifeng , Muñoz Olga , Looney Leslie , Stephens Ian , Hull Charles L H , Fernández-López Manuel , Harrison Rachel
Published: January 2023

The size of dust grains, a, is key to the physical and chemical processes in circumstellar discs, but observational constraints of grain size remain challenging. (Sub)millimetre continuum observations often show a per cent-level polarization parallel to the disc minor axis, which is generally attributed to scattering by ${\sim}100\, \mu{\rm m}$-sized spherical grains (with a size parameter x ≡ 2$\pi$a/λ < 1, where λ is the wavelength). Larger spherical grains (with x greater than unity) would produce opposite polarization direction. However, the inferred size is in tension with the opacity index β that points to larger mm/cm-sized grains. We investigate the scattering-produced polarization by large irregular grains with a range of x greater than unity with optical properties obtained from laboratory experiments. Using the radiation transfer code, RADMC-3D, we find that large irregular grains still produce polarization parallel to the disc minor axis. If the original forsterite refractive index in the optical is adopted, then all samples can produce the typically observed level of polarization. Accounting for the more commonly adopted refractive index using the DSHARP dust model, only grains with x of several (corresponding to ∼mm-sized grains) can reach the same polarization level. Our results suggest that grains in discs can have sizes in the millimetre regime, which may alleviate the tension between the grain sizes inferred from scattering and other means. Additionally, if large irregular grains are not settled to the mid-plane, their strong forward scattering can produce asymmetries between the near and far side of an inclined disc, which can be used to infer their presence.
Sky subtraction in an era of low surface brightness astronomy
Authors: Kelvin Lee S , Hasan Imran , Tyson J Anthony
Published: January 2023

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Wide-Fast Deep sky survey will reach unprecedented surface brightness depths over tens of thousands of square degrees. Surface brightness photometry has traditionally been a challenge. Current algorithms which combine object detection with sky estimation systematically oversubtract the sky, biasing surface brightness measurements at the faint end and destroying or severely compromising low surface brightness light. While it has recently been shown that properly accounting for undetected faint galaxies and the wings of brighter objects can in principle recover a more accurate sky estimate, this has not yet been demonstrated in practice. Obtaining a consistent spatially smooth underlying sky estimate is particularly challenging in the presence of representative distributions of bright and faint objects. In this paper, we use simulations of crowded and uncrowded fields designed to mimic Hyper Suprime-Cam data to perform a series of tests on the accuracy of the recovered sky. Dependence on field density, galaxy type, and limiting flux for detection are all considered. Several photometry packages are utilized: source extractor, gnuastro, and the LSST science pipelines. Each is configured in various modes, and their performance at extreme low surface brightness analysed. We find that the combination of the source extractor software package with novel source model masking techniques consistently produce extremely faint output sky estimates, by up to an order of magnitude, as well as returning high fidelity output science catalogues.
Evolution and feedback of AGN jets of different cosmic ray composition
Authors: Lin Yen-Hsing , Yang H-Y Karen , Owen Ellis R
Published: January 2023

Jet feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGN) is one of the most promising mechanisms for suppressing cooling flows in cool-core clusters. However, the composition of AGN jets and bubbles remains uncertain; they could be thermally dominated, or dominated by cosmic ray proton (CRp), cosmic ray electron (CRe), or magnetic energy. In this work, we investigate the evolution and feedback effects of CRp and CRe dominated jets by conducting 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations of AGN jet-inflated bubbles in the intracluster medium using the FLASH code. We present the evolution of their energies, dynamics, and heating, and model their expected cavity-power versus radio-luminosity relation (Pcav–LR). We find that bubbles inflated by CRe dominated jets follow a very similar dynamical evolution to CRp dominated bubbles even though CRe within bubbles suffer significantly stronger synchrotron and inverse-Compton cooling. This is because, as CRe lose their energy, the jet-inflated bubbles quickly become thermally dominated within ∼30 Myr. Their total energy stops decreasing with CR energy and evolves similarly to CRp dominated bubbles. The ability of CRe and CRp dominated bubbles to heat the intracluster medium is also comparable; the cold gas formed via local thermal instabilities is well suppressed in both cases. The CRp and CRe bubbles follow different evolutionary trajectories on the Pcav–LR plane, but the values are broadly consistent with observed ranges for FR-I sources. We also discuss observational techniques that have potential for constraining the composition of AGN jets and bubbles.
Eddington accreting black holes in the epoch of reionization
Authors: Fontanot Fabio , Cristiani Stefano , Grazian Andrea , Haardt Francesco , D’Odorico Valentina , Boutsia Konstantina , Calderone Giorgio , Cupani Guido , Guarneri Francesco , Fiorin Chiara , Rodighiero Giulia
Published: January 2023

The evolution of the luminosity function (LF) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) at redshift $z {\,\, \gtrsim \,\,}5$ represents a key constraint to understand their contribution to the ionizing photon budget necessary to trigger the last phase transition in the Universe, i.e. the epoch of reionization. Recent searches for bright high-z AGNs suggest that the space densities of this population at z > 4 have to be revised upwards, and spark new questions about their evolutionary paths. Gas accretion is the key physical mechanism to understand both the distribution of luminous sources and the growth of central supermassive black holes (SMBHs). In this work, we model the high-z AGN-LF assuming that high-z luminous AGNs shine at their Eddington limit: We derive the expected evolution as a function of the ‘duty cycle’ (fdc), i.e. the fraction of lifetime that a given SMBH spends accreting at the Eddington rate. Our results show that intermediate values (fdc ≃ 0.1) predict the best agreement with the ionizing background and photoionization rate, but do not provide enough ionizing photons to account for the observed evolution of the hydrogen neutral fraction. Smaller values ($f_{\rm dc} {\,\, \lesssim \,\,}0.05$) are required for AGNs to be the dominant population responsible for hydrogen reionization in the early Universe. We then show that this low-fdc evolution can be reconciled with the current constraints on helium reionization, although it implies a relatively large number of inactive SMBHs at $z{\,\, \gtrsim \,\,}5$, in tension with SMBH growth models based on heavy seeding.
Differential rotation: the chromosphere to the quiet chromosphere
Authors: Wan M , Gao P X , Xu J C , Shi X J , Xiang N B , Xie J L
Published: January 2023

Synoptic maps of Ca II K-normalized intensity at ±40° latitude belt from Carrington rotations 827 (1915 August 10) to 1764 (1985 July 7) are utilized to investigate the long-term variation of the quiet chromospheric differential rotation within solar activity cycles through removing some large values of Ca II-normalized intensity. The equatorial rotation rate of the quiet chromosphere is found to be smaller than that of the chromosphere, and the absolute value of the parameter B is also found to be smaller for the quiet chromosphere than for the chromosphere on the whole, especially during periods of solar cycle maxima. Therefore, we induce that the differential of rotation rate in the quiet chromosphere seems to be enhanced by large-scale magnetic fields. The north–south asymmetry in the solar rotation is also investigated, and the asymmetry coefficients of the chromosphere and the quiet chromosphere are positively correlated in solar cycles 15–17, while they are negatively correlated in solar cycles 18–21.
On the density regime probed by HCN emission
Authors: Jones Gerwyn H , Clark Paul C , Glover Simon C O , Hacar Alvaro
Published: January 2023

HCN $J = 1\,\!-\!0$ emission is commonly used as a dense gas tracer, thought to mainly arise from gas with densities ∼104–105 cm−3. This has made it a popular tracer in star formation studies. However, there is increasing evidence from observational surveys of ‘resolved’ molecular clouds that HCN can trace more diffuse gas. We investigate the relationship between gas density and HCN emission through post-processing of high-resolution magnetohydrodynamical simulations of cloud–cloud collisions. We find that HCN emission traces gas with a mean volumetric density of ∼3 × 103 cm−3 and a median visual extinction of ∼5 mag.  We therefore predict a characteristic density that is an order of magnitude less than the ‘standard’ characteristic density of n ∼3 × 104 cm−3. Indeed, we find in some cases that there is clear HCN emission from the cloud even though there is no gas denser than this standard critical density. We derive independent luminosity-to-mass conversion factors for the amount of gas at AV > 8 or at densities n > 2.85 × 103 cm−3 or n > 3 × 104 cm−3, finding values of αHCN = 6.79, 8.62, and $27.98\,{\rm M_{\odot}} ({\rm K\, km \, s^{-1} \, pc^{2}})$, respectively.
Structure, spectroscopic signatures, and formation of hydroxy-azirine: a potential interstellar prebiotic molecule
Authors: Redondo Pilar , Sanz-Novo Miguel , Barrientos Carmen , Largo Antonio
Published: January 2023

Hydroxy-azirine (C2H3NO) is a -OH derivative of azirine (C2H3N), molecule that has been the subject of several unfruitful searches in space. Hydroxy-azirine is an isomer of the detected prebiotic species methyl isocyanate, CH3NCO, and glycolonitrile, HOCH2CN, as well as the yet undetected imine acetaldehyde, NHCHCHO. However, the lack of preliminary spectroscopic data on hydroxy-azirine has prevented its astronomical search. The aim of this study is to provide high-level theoretical spectroscopic signatures of the most stable hydroxy-azirine isomers to enable their eventual interstellar search. A total of 12 isomers have been characterized for hydroxy-azirine and their isomerization processes have been analysed at the CCSD(T)-F12/cc-pVTZ-F12 level. The most stable structures are 3-hydroxy-2H-azirine (I) and 2-hydroxy-2H-azirine (II) in their syn- and anti-configurations, which are suggested as the most relevant candidates for laboratory and interstellar detection. To ease their identification by means of rotational spectroscopy, we report a set of the required spectroscopic parameters using state-of-the-art composite and coupled-cluster approaches. For astronomical purposes, we provide a complete line list for I-syn and I-antihydroxy-azirine up to 50 GHz, which takes the hyperfine structure into account, and will be essential to hunt for these interstellar candidates experimentally. In addition, anharmonic vibrational frequencies and intensities are reported to predict a trustworthy vibrational spectra and to estimate the vibrational partition function. Finally, we analyse the possibility of formation of hydroxy-azirine from the reaction of azirine with the hydroxyl radical in the gas-phase and on the surface of ices, finding for the latter a feasible formation route under interstellar conditions.
The thesan project: ionizing escape fractions of reionization-era galaxies
Authors: Yeh Jessica Y-C , Smith Aaron , Kannan Rahul , Garaldi Enrico , Vogelsberger Mark , Borrow Josh , Pakmor Rüdiger , Springel Volker , Hernquist Lars
Published: January 2023

A fundamental requirement for reionizing the Universe is that a sufficient fraction of the ionizing photons emitted by galaxies successfully escapes into the intergalactic medium. However, due to the scarcity of high-redshift observational data, the sources driving reionization remain uncertain. In this work, we calculate the ionizing escape fractions (fesc) of reionization-era galaxies from the state-of-the-art thesan simulations, which combine an accurate radiation-hydrodynamic solver (arepo-rt) with the well-tested IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model to self-consistently simulate both small-scale galaxy physics and large-scale reionization throughout a large patch of the universe ($L_\text{box} = 95.5\, \text{cMpc}$). This allows the formation of numerous massive haloes ($M_\text{halo} \gtrsim 10^{10}\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$), which are often statistically underrepresented in previous studies but are believed to be important to achieving rapid reionization. We find that low-mass galaxies ($M_\text{stars} \lesssim 10^7\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$) are the main drivers of reionization above z ≳ 7, while high-mass galaxies ($M_\text{stars} \gtrsim 10^8\, {\text{M}_{\odot }}$) dominate the escaped ionizing photon budget at lower redshifts. We find a strong dependence of fesc on the effective star formation rate (SFR) surface density defined as the SFR per gas mass per escape area, i.e. $\bar{\Sigma }_\text{SFR} = \text{SFR}/M_\text{gas}/R_{200}^2$. The variation in halo escape fractions decreases for higher mass haloes, which can be understood from the more settled galactic structure, SFR stability, and fraction of sightlines within each halo significantly contributing to the escaped flux. Dust is capable of reducing the escape fractions of massive galaxies, but the impact on the global fesc depends on the dust model. Finally, active galactic nuclei are unimportant for reionization in thesan and their escape fractions are lower than stellar ones due to being located near the centres of galaxy gravitational potential wells.
Interactomics: Dozens of Viruses, Co-evolving With Humans, Including the Influenza A Virus, may Actively Distort Human Aging
Authors: Teulière Jérôme , Bernard Charles , Bonnefous Hugo , Martens Johannes , Lopez Philippe , Bapteste Eric
Published: January 2023

Some viruses (e.g., human immunodeficiency virus 1 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) have been experimentally proposed to accelerate features of human aging and of cellular senescence. These observations, along with evolutionary considerations on viral fitness, raised the more general puzzling hypothesis that, beyond documented sources in human genetics, aging in our species may also depend on virally encoded interactions distorting our aging to the benefits of diverse viruses. Accordingly, we designed systematic network–based analyses of the human and viral protein interactomes, which unraveled dozens of viruses encoding proteins experimentally demonstrated to interact with proteins from pathways associated with human aging, including cellular senescence. We further corroborated our predictions that specific viruses interfere with human aging using published experimental evidence and transcriptomic data; identifying influenza A virus (subtype H1N1) as a major candidate age distorter, notably through manipulation of cellular senescence. By providing original evidence that viruses may convergently contribute to the evolution of numerous age-associated pathways through co-evolution, our network-based and bipartite network–based methodologies support an ecosystemic study of aging, also searching for genetic causes of aging outside a focal aging species. Our findings, predicting age distorters and targets for anti-aging therapies among human viruses, could have fundamental and practical implications for evolutionary biology, aging study, virology, medicine, and demography.
Snapshots of the first-step self-splicing ofTetrahymenaribozyme revealed by cryo-EM
Authors: Zhang Xiaojing , Li Shanshan , Pintilie Grigore , Palo Michael Z , Zhang Kaiming
Published: January 2023

Tetrahymena ribozyme is a group I intron, whose self-splicing is the result of two sequential ester-transfer reactions. To understand how it facilitates catalysis in the first self-splicing reaction, we used cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to resolve the structures of L-16 Tetrahymena ribozyme complexed with a 11-nucleotide 5′-splice site analog substrate. Four conformations were achieved to 4.14, 3.18, 3.09 and 2.98 Å resolutions, respectively, corresponding to different splicing intermediates during the first enzymatic reaction. Comparison of these structures reveals structural alterations, including large conformational changes in IGS/IGSext (P1-P1ext duplex) and J5/4, as well as subtle local rearrangements in the G-binding site. These structural changes are required for the enzymatic activity of the Tetrahymena ribozyme. Our study demonstrates the ability of cryo-EM to capture dynamic RNA structural changes, ushering in a new era in the analysis of RNA structure-function by cryo-EM.
Optimization of Radium-223 Treatment of Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Based on the Burden of Skeletal Metastasis and Clinical Parameters
Authors: Shariftabrizi Ahmad , Kothari Shalin , George Saby , Attwood Kristopher , Levine Ellis , Lamonica Dominick
Published: January 2023

Background

Radium-223 dichloride (Ra-223) is now frequently used to treat prostate cancer that has metastasized to bone, although patient selection continues to be suboptimal for determining who will benefit most from this novel treatment modality.

Materials and Methods

Seventy-nine patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) were treated with Ra-223 from 2012 to 2016. The burden of skeletal metastasis was determined for each using the Bone Scan Index (BSI) as a ratio of diseased to normal bone. Clinical, laboratory, and survival data were collected and examined for associations with BSI, and treatment tolerability was assessed.

Results

Chemotherapy-naïve patients were significantly more likely to complete the full course of treatment. Median follow-up was 31 months (range 0.7-38.8 months) and median overall survival was 15.4 months (range 9.5-20.6 months). Overall survival was significantly associated with findings on bone scans (P < .05). Patients with higher BSI tended toward poorer outcomes. Nearly half the patients with low baseline BSI survived 3 years or more following Ra-223 treatment. By contrast, only 20% of the patients with high baseline BSI lived for 1 year, and none lived for an additional 3. Baseline BSI was significantly associated with decreased hemoglobin, higher serum PSA and alkaline phosphatase levels, and treatment-associated reductions in platelet and absolute neutrophil counts.

Conclusion

Our results suggest better outcomes to Ra-223 therapy for patients who are chemotherapy-naïve and who undergo treatment earlier in the course of their disease as reflected by low BSI and concordant laboratory parameters.