bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Physiotherapie in Deutschen Perinatalzentren
Authors: Leyener Uta , Kraushaar Carolin , Dathe Anne-Kathrin , Felderhoff-Müser Ursula , Marschik Peter B. , Zhang Dajie , Hüning Britta Maria
Published: May 2022

Hintergrund Einheitliche Empfehlungen für stationäre und
ambulante Physiotherapie bei Frühgeborenen fehlen in Deutschland. Ziel
dieser Studie war die Untersuchung der Verordnungspraxis deutscher
Perinatalzentren. Werden standardisierte Assessments zur Indikationsstellung
genutzt? Welchen Stellenwert nimmt das General Movements Assessment in der
postnatalen Diagnostik ein?

Methodik Online-Befragung der deutschen Perinatalzentren mit 21 Fragen zur
Indikationsstellung und Verordnungspraxis für stationäre und
ambulante Physiotherapie in der Versorgung Frühgeborener, sowie den
Kenntnissen zum General Movements Assessment und deren klinische Anwendung via
Lime-Survey.

Ergebnisse 81% der Teilnehmer empfehlen indikationsbasiert
„immer“ oder „häufig“ stationäre
Physiotherapie für Frühgeborene, 53% empfehlen
„immer“/„häufig“ ambulante
Therapie. Die Indikationsstellung erfolgt v. a. bei diesen Symptomen
(N=344) und Diagnosen (N=273) (Mehrfachnennungen): Hypotonie
(94%), Tonusregulationsstörung (92%), neurologische
Auffälligkeiten (97%) und Hirnschädigungen
(94%). Standardisierte Testungen nutzen 41% der Teilnehmer. Das
General Movements Assessment ist in 87% der Zentren bekannt, 11%
setzen sie mehrmals in der Woche, 17% mehrmals im Monat zur
Indikationsstellung ein.

Schlussfolgerung Physiotherapie wird bei Frühgeborenen
häufig verordnet. Die Indikationsstellung erfolgt primär nach
Symptom- oder Krankheitsbild, weniger anhand standardisierter Testverfahren. Das
General Movements Assessment ist eine weithin bekannte, jedoch klinisch noch
nicht allgemein eingesetzte Methode.
Maligne Gliome
Authors: Kretzschmar Alexander
Published: May 2022

Die Entwicklung einer Resistenz gegenüber chemoradiologischen Interventionen gehört zu den größten Barrieren in der Therapie maligner Gliome. Die Identifikation der Hitzeschockproteine (HSP) als mögliches therapeutisches Target könnte dazu beitragen, die Gliomtherapie einen wichtigen Schritt voranzubringen.
Kutane Plattenepithelkarzinome
Authors: Krome Susanne
Published: May 2022

Die Inzidenz kutaner Plattenepithelkarzinome steigt weltweit. Für fortgeschrittene Tumoren sind die therapeutischen Optionen bislang begrenzt. Daher ist die frühzeitige Identifikation von Patienten mit hohem Risiko für Rezidive und Metastasierung wichtig. Eine niederländische Arbeitsgruppe fasst den aktuellen Stand zusammen und diskutiert die Relevanz präventiver Interventionen.
Malignes Melanom
Authors: Grübler Beate
Published: May 2022

Ein limitierender Faktor bei der Anwendung von Standardtherapien gegen das maligne Melanom ist die Entwicklung von Resistenzen durch Aktivierung alternativer Signalwege. Prof. Lucie Heinzerling, München, berichtete auf dem 14. Jahreskongress des Tumorzentrums München, über neue Therapieoptionen für Patienten mit primärer oder sekundärer Resistenz.
Parálisis del nervio radial neonatal: Relato de un caso
Authors: Barragán Ana Ramírez , Álvarez Sergio Martínez , Palero Serafín Rodríguez , Mangas Marta Martín
Published: May 2022

La parálisis radial neonatal aislada (PRNA) es un cuadro clínico infrecuente que debe distinguirse de otras entidades más frecuentes, como la parálisis braquial obstétrica (PBO). Debemos sospechar una PRNA en neonatos que presentan incapacidad para la extensión de muñeca y de dedos, pero mantienen intacta la función del deltoides, del bíceps, y del tríceps, así como la flexión de muñeca y de dedos. Mientras la PBO tiene una evolución clínica variable dependiendo de la extensión de la lesión neurológica, la PRNA presenta una resolución espontánea, independientemente del grado de afectación inicial. Presentamos el caso de un recién nacido con PRNA cuyo diagnóstico inicial fue de PBO.
Cooling of nanomechanical vibrations by Andreev injection
Authors: Bahrova O. M. , Kulinich S. I. , Gorelik L. Y. , Shekhter R. I. , Park H. C.
Published: May 2022

A nanoelectromechanical weak link composed of a carbon nanotube suspended between two normal electrodes in a gap between two superconducting leads is considered. The nanotube is treated as a movable single level quantum dot in which the position-dependent superconducting order parameter is induced due to the Cooper pair tunneling. We show that electron tunneling processes significantly affect the state of the mechanical subsystem. We found that at a given direction of the applied voltage between the electrodes, the stationary state of the mechanical subsystem has a Boltzmann form with an effective temperature dependent on the parameters of the device. As this takes place, the effective temperature can reach significantly small values (cooling effect). We also demonstrate that nanotube fluctuations strongly affect the dc current through the system. The latter can be used to probe the predicted effects in an experiment.
New direction and perspectives in elastic instability and turbulence in various viscoelastic flow geometries without inertia
Authors: Steinberg Victor
Published: May 2022

We shortly describe the main results on elastically driven instabilities and elastic turbulence in viscoelastic inertialess flows with curved streamlines. Then we describe a theory of elastic turbulence and prediction of elastic waves Re ≪ 1 and Wi ≫ 1, which speed depends on the elastic stress similar to the Alfvén waves in magneto-hydrodynamics and in a contrast to all other, which speed depends on medium elasticity. Since the established and testified mechanism of elastic instability of viscoelastic flows with curvilinear streamlines becomes ineffective at zero curvature, so parallel shear flows are proved linearly stable, similar to Newtonian parallel shear flows. However, the linear stability of parallel shear flows does not imply their global stability. Here we switch to the main subject, namely a recent development in inertialess parallel shear channel flow of polymer solutions. In such flow, we discover an elastically driven instability, elastic turbulence, elastic waves, and drag reduction down to relaminarization that contradict the linear stability prediction. In this regard, we discuss briefly normal versus non-normal bifurcations in such flows, flow resistance, velocity and pressure fluctuations, and coherent structures and spectral properties of a velocity field as a function of Wi at high elasticity number.
Vibrating water droplets to dry hydrophobic surfaces
Authors: Thompson Avery
Published: May 2022

Model describes critical conditions and efficient methods for removing water from superhydrophobic surfaces.
Atomic-layer deposition process enables easier fabrication of spintronic devices
Authors: Lim Alane
Published: May 2022

Simple thermal method realizes working cobalt spintronic electrodes.
Continuity of dynamical behaviors for strongly damped wave equations with perturbation
Authors: Chang Qingquan , Li Dandan
Published: May 2022

We explore the convergence of the global attractors for a class of perturbed severely damped wave equations with the Dirichlet boundary condition in the 3D bounded domain. With respect to the perturbation parameter, it is shown that the global attractors are both upper and lower semicontinuous.
A combined clustering/symbolic regression framework for fluid property prediction
Authors: Sofos Filippos , Charakopoulos Avraam , Papastamatiou Konstantinos , Karakasidis Theodoros E.
Published: May 2022

Symbolic regression techniques are constantly gaining ground in materials informatics as the machine learning counterpart capable of providing analytical equations exclusively derived from data. When the feature space is unknown, unsupervised learning is incorporated to discover and explore hidden connections between data points and may suggest a regional solution, specific for a group of data. In this work, we develop a Lennard–Jones fluid descriptor based on density and temperature values and investigate the similarity between data corresponding to diffusion coefficients. Descriptions are linked with the aid of clustering algorithms, which lead to fluid groups with similar behavior, bound to physical laws. Keeping in mind that the fluid data space goes over the gas, liquid, and supercritical states, we compare clustering results to this categorization and found that the proposed methods can detect the gas and liquid states, while distinct supercritical region characteristics are discovered, where fluid density and temperature affect the diffusion coefficient in a more complex way. The incorporation of symbolic regression algorithms on each cluster provides an in-depth investigation on fluid behavior, and regional expressions are proposed.
Theoretical investigation of the structural, optoelectronic, and the application of waste graphene oxide/polymer nanocomposite as a photosensitizer
Authors: Agobi Augustine U , Louis Hitler , Ekpunobi Azubike J , Unimuke Tomsmith O , Ikeuba Alexander I , Pembere Anthony M S , Ozoemena Chiaghanam N
Published: May 2022

The negligence of used waste polymers often results in the waste of resources and constitutes serious environmental pollutants. Therefore, it becomes necessary to practically provide a means of converting these waste polymers to useful resources. For this purpose, the potential applicability of some selected waste polymers as the active photosensitizer material in dye-sensitized solar cells were exploited using density functional theory. In this research work, density function theory (DFT) is applied to investigate the interaction of graphene oxide (GO) with monomers of Polypyrrole (PPy), Poly (phenylene vinylene) (PPV), Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and Polyvinyl Pyrrolidone (PVP) polymers. The geometrical structures of the hybridized nanocomposites GO-PPy, GO-PPV, GO-PVA, and GO-PVP are fully optimized at wB97XD/6–311++G(d,p) computational method. All of the nanocomposites’ optoelectronic properties, the excitation type and the wavelengths, oscillator strengths, as well as the dominant transitions were calculated. Atoms-in-molecules (AIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis were used to analyze the strength and nature of the composites. The results of the ground state energy gap revealed that the hybridized nanocomposites are semiconducting in nature while the 3.7020 eV energy gap of the GO-PVA makes it the most stable among the various nanocomposites. The thermodynamic calculation of the various nanocomposites shows that the GO-PVA nanocomposite is highly endothermic among the various nanocomposites with free energy value of 353.71kcal mol−1. The results of the density of state (DOS) analysis show that the p-orbitals in all of the different nanocomposites had the highest density contribution to the frontier molecular orbitals, and are also found to dominate the anti-bonding states densities.
Thermal degradation of naturally aged NBR with time and temperature
Authors: Ammineni Syam Prasad , Nagaraju Ch , Lingaraju D
Published: May 2022

Nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) is a polymer widely used in pipe fittings as a sealing and damping element. The performance of the polymer materials degrades with time and temperature. The present work emphasizes the thermal degradation of NBR materials using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) at heating rates of 5, 10, 15, and 20 °C min−1 in a controlled nitrogen environment. Model-free methods, namely the Kissenger, Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS), and Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OFL) approaches, are used to determine the kinetic activation energy and frequency factor. The obtained values were used to calculate the lifetime of virgin NBR and the remaining life of naturally aged NBR. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to detect changes in the functional groups of the NBR material with age. From the experimental data, it is concluded that virgin NBR has better thermal stability than naturally aged NBR. Furthermore, the activation energy of NBR is temperature-dependent, and oxidative aging has a significant impact on the degradation of kinetic parameters. At lower conversion rates, the activation energy of virgin NBR (79.39 kJ mol−1) and aged NBR (78.25 kJ mol−1) are almost the same, while at increased conversion rates, virgin NBR (529.77 kJ mol)−1 has higher activation energy than aged NBR (280.15 kJ mol−1).
The Politicization of Corporate Governance: A Viable Alternative?
Authors: Groswald Ozery Tamar
Published: May 2022

It is now well-established that different markets may develop different growth-supporting institutions that can give rise to public firms and set capital markets in motion. Yet, the paradigm view still holds local alternatives as merely stepping stones, a transitional passage toward achieving a deeper and more advanced market, at which point conventional legal and market institutions—modeled on Anglo-American corporate capitalism—are still held necessary.

Four decades of economic development in China challenge these conventions. With modern firms with global prominence and a capital market that is the second largest in the world, corporate governance in China seems to have passed the point of an “adjust or perish” prognostic. The system that governs Chinese firms and the ways in which capital markets function sustain strong governance attributes that go against many fundamentals in economics and legal thought. Political involvement and state ownership, both assumed to stand in the way of capital market growth, remain prevalent while the market continues to advance.

Most strikingly, harmonization with conventional corporate governance been pushed aside as the Chinese Communist Party has decided to exercise an ever-more expansive and direct role in market activity. Public firms in present-day China are increasingly being governed by a “politicized corporate governance.” Political institutions with corporate governance capacities have been deployed both inside and outside firms. These institutions now buttress or even replace weaker traditional corporate governance mechanisms in the Chinese market.

The implications are striking. First, despite justified reasons for alarm, a politicized corporate governance system in China can perform the main functions of corporate governance elsewhere, thereby offering some benefits for public firms and their stockholders. Second, these developments show how path-dependent corporate governance attributes, here political institutions, reject convergence predictions yet have enough plasticity to evolve and to support modern firms and markets beyond assumed thresholds and developmental milestones. In so doing, China’s politicized corporate governance casts doubts on law and development conventions as well as on both sides of a long-standing governance convergence debate. Finally, the politicization of corporate governance in China offers a new direction in comparative corporate governance scholarship, providing evidence of an instituted reversal from outwardly convergent corporate governance toward a new form of a planned economy.
Effects of a pharmacy-driven medication history program on patient outcomes
Authors: Marshall John , Hayes Bryan D , Koehl Jennifer , Hillmann William , Bravard Marjory A , Jacob Susan , Gil Rosy , Mitchell Elisabeth , Ferrante Francesco , Giulietti Jennifer , Tull Andrea , Liu Xiu , Lucier David
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Obtaining an accurate medication history is a vital component of medication reconciliation upon admission to the hospital. Despite the importance of this task, medication histories are often inaccurate and/or incomplete. We evaluated the association of a pharmacy-driven medication history initiative on clinical outcomes of patients admitted to the general medicine service of an academic medical center.

Methods

Comparing patients who received a pharmacy-driven medication history to those who did not, a retrospective stabilized inverse probability treatment weighting propensity score analysis was used to estimate the average treatment effect of the intervention on general medical patients. Fifty-two patient baseline characteristics including demographic, operational, and clinical variables were controlled in the propensity score model. Hospital length of stay, 7-day and 30-day unplanned readmissions, and in-hospital mortality were evaluated.

Results

Among 11,576 eligible general medical patients, 2,234 (19.30%) received a pharmacy-driven medication history and 9,342 (80.70%) patients did not. The estimated average treatment effect of receiving a pharmacy-driven medication history was a shorter length of stay (mean, 5.88 days vs 6.53 days; P = 0.0002) and a lower in-hospital mortality rate (2.34% vs 3.72%, P = 0.001), after adjustment for differences in patient baseline characteristics. No significant difference was found for 7-day or 30-day all-cause readmission rates.

Conclusion

Pharmacy-driven medication histories reduced length of stay and in-hospital mortality in patients admitted to the general medical service at an academic medical center but did not change 7-day and 30-day all-cause readmission rates. Further research via a large, multisite randomized controlled trial is needed to confirm our findings.
Frictional stability and hydromechanical coupling of serpentinite-bearing fault gouge
Authors: Scuderi Marco M , Carpenter Brett M
Published: May 2022

Observations of slow earthquakes and tremor have raised fundamental questions about the physics of quasi-dynamic rupture and the underlying fault zone processes. The presence of serpentinite at P-T conditions characteristic of deep tremor and slow earthquakes suggests that it plays an important role in controlling complex fault slip behaviour. Here, we report on experiments designed to investigate the frictional behaviour of serpentinite sampled from outcrop exposures (SO1 and SO2) of altered ultramafic rocks present at depth, and recovered from the SAFOD borehole (G27). XRD analyses reveal the presence of chrisotyle, lizardite, kaolinite, talc in SO1; lizardite, clinochlore and magnetite in SO2; and lizardite, quartz and calcite in G27. We sheared fault gouge in a double-direct shear configuration using a true triaxial deformation apparatus. The effective normal stress was varied from 2 to 40 MPa. We conducted velocity stepping tests and slide-hold-slide (SHS) tests in each experiment to characterize frictional stability and healing. At the end of each experiment, post-shear permeability was measured and the samples were recovered for microstructural analysis. The steady-state friction coefficient was μ = 0.17 for SO1, μ = 0.33 for SO2 and μ = 0.53 for G27. Overall, the gouges exhibit velocity strengthening behaviour, and become nearly velocity neutral at 40 MPa effective normal stress. SHS tests show positive healing rates for SO2 and G27, whereas SO1 exhibits zero or negative healing rates. Permeability decreases with increasing σn’, with SO1 (k = 10–20 m2) showing the lowest values. Microstructural observations reveal a well-developed R-Y-P fabric in SO1, which is not observed in SO2 and G27. We posit that the development of shear fabric controlled by mineralogy governs frictional and hydrological properties. In this context, when serpentinite is associated with other weak phyllosilicate minerals, frictional stability and hydrological properties can vary greatly, with a potential control on the mode of fault failure.
Open Hardware in Science: The Benefits of Open Electronics
Authors: Oellermann Michael , Jolles Jolle W , Ortiz Diego , Seabra Rui , Wenzel Tobias , Wilson Hannah , Tanner Richelle L
Published: May 2022

Openly shared low-cost electronic hardware applications, known as open electronics, have sparked a new open-source movement, with much untapped potential to advance scientific research. Initially designed to appeal to electronic hobbyists, open electronics have formed a global “maker” community and are increasingly used in science and industry. In this perspective article, we review the current costs and benefits of open electronics for use in scientific research ranging from the experimental to the theoretical sciences. We discuss how user-made electronic applications can help (I) individual researchers, by increasing the customization, efficiency, and scalability of experiments, while improving data quantity and quality; (II) scientific institutions, by improving access to customizable high-end technologies, sustainability, visibility, and interdisciplinary collaboration potential; and (III) the scientific community, by improving transparency and reproducibility, helping decouple research capacity from funding, increasing innovation, and improving collaboration potential among researchers and the public. We further discuss how current barriers like poor awareness, knowledge access, and time investments can be resolved by increased documentation and collaboration, and provide guidelines for academics to enter this emerging field. We highlight that open electronics are a promising and powerful tool to help scientific research to become more innovative and reproducible and offer a key practical solution to improve democratic access to science.
Walking—and Running and Jumping—with Dinosaurs and their Cousins, Viewed Through the Lens of Evolutionary Biomechanics
Authors: Cuff A R , Demuth O E , Michel K , Otero A , Pintore R , Polet D T , Wiseman A L A , Hutchinson J R
Published: May 2022

Archosauria diversified throughout the Triassic Period before experiencing two mass extinctions near its end ∼201 Mya, leaving only the crocodile-lineage (Crocodylomorpha) and bird-lineage (Dinosauria) as survivors; along with the pterosaurian flying reptiles. About 50 years ago, the “locomotor superiority hypothesis” (LSH) proposed that dinosaurs ultimately dominated by the Early Jurassic Period because their locomotion was superior to other archosaurs’. This idea has been debated continuously since, with taxonomic and morphological analyses suggesting dinosaurs were “lucky” rather than surviving due to being biologically superior. However, the LSH has never been tested biomechanically. Here we present integration of experimental data from locomotion in extant archosaurs with inverse and predictive simulations of the same behaviours using musculoskeletal models, showing that we can reliably predict how extant archosaurs walk, run and jump. These simulations have been guiding predictive simulations of extinct archosaurs to estimate how they moved, and we show our progress in that endeavour. The musculoskeletal models used in these simulations can also be used for simpler analyses of form and function such as muscle moment arms, which inform us about more basic biomechanical similarities and differences between archosaurs. Placing all these data into an evolutionary and biomechanical context, we take a fresh look at the LSH as part of a critical review of competing hypotheses for why dinosaurs (and a few other archosaur clades) survived the Late Triassic extinctions. Early dinosaurs had some quantifiable differences in locomotor function and performance vs. some other archosaurs, but other derived dinosaurian features (e.g., metabolic or growth rates, ventilatory abilities) are not necessarily mutually exclusive from the LSH; or maybe even an opportunistic replacement hypothesis; in explaining dinosaurs’ success.
Energy and exergy analysis of a hot dry rock geothermal resource power generation system based on organic Rankine cycle
Authors: Zhao Yuan , Huang Huida , Zhang Xin , Ye Chao , Tang Yuanjuan , Huang Jingqian , Zhao Jun , Luo Guanqun
Published: May 2022

Hot dry rock is an abundant, stable and low-carbon geothermal resource, which has a promising prospect for power generation in China. In this paper, a hot dry rock power generation system model based on conventional organic Rankine cycle was established. The performance of the system was evaluated by thermodynamic analysis, as well as energy and exergy analyses. Four types of organic working fluids were selected to investigate their effects on system energy efficiency. R114 had much higher energy efficiency (17.50%~ 19.00%) than other three organic working fluids (R245fa, R245ca and R601) when water flow rate ranged from 80 t/h to 260 t/h. When R245fa was used as working fluid and power output was set at 4 MW, energy and exergy efficiency of the system were 15.27% and 50.42%, respectively. According to the energy flow analysis, the major energy losses (15.67 MW) in the system were attributed to the discharge temperature of turbine exhaust. However, exergy flow analysis indicated that the energy loss from turbine exhausts was not as serious as expected, since the work potential of that energy was limited. The exergy destruction of each component in the system was calculated, and the results showed that heat exchanger and the vapor separator were the weakness components in the system, and they respectively contributed to 44.8% and 29.8% of the total exergy destruction. The results obtained in this study provide possible strategies to improve the overall performance of the hot dry rock power generation system based on conventional organic Rankine cycle.
Wave data prediction with optimized machine learning and deep learning techniques
Authors: Domala Vamshikrishna , Lee Wonhee , Kim Tae-wan
Published: May 2022

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships are in the development stage and they play an important role in the upcoming future. Present generation ships are semi-autonomous and controlled by the ship crew. The performance of the ship is predicted using the data collected from the ship with the help of machine learning and deep learning methods. Path planning for an autonomous ship is necessary for estimating the best possible route with minimum travel time and it depends on the weather. However, even during the navigation, there will be changes in weather and it should be predicted in order to reroute the ship. The weather information such as wave height, wave period, seawater temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, etc., is collected by ship external sensors, weather stations, buoys, and satellites. This paper investigates the ensemble machine learning approaches and seasonality approach for wave data prediction. The historical meteorological data are collected from six stations near Puerto Rico offshore and Hawaii offshore. We explore ensemble machine learning techniques on the data collected. The collected data are divided into training and testing data and apply machine learning models to predict the test data. The hyperparameter optimization is performed to find the best parameters before fitting on train data, this is essential to find the best results. Multivariate analysis is performed with all the methods and errors are computed to find the best models.
A History of Senile Plaques: From Alzheimer to Amyloid Imaging
Authors: Beach Thomas G
Published: May 2022

Senile plaques have been studied in postmortem brains for more than 120 years and the resultant knowledge has not only helped us understand the etiology and pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD), but has also pointed to possible modes of prevention and treatment. Within the last 15 years, it has become possible to image plaques in living subjects. This is arguably the single greatest advance in AD research since the identification of the Aβ peptide as the major plaque constituent. The limitations and potentialities of amyloid imaging are still not completely clear but are perhaps best glimpsed through the perspective gained from the accumulated postmortem histological studies. The basic morphological classification of plaques into neuritic, cored and diffuse has been supplemented by sophisticated immunohistochemical and biochemical analyses and increasingly detailed mapping of plaque brain distribution. Changes in plaque classification and staging have in turn contributed to changes in the definition and diagnostic criteria for AD. All of this information continues to be tested by clinicopathological correlations and it is through the insights thereby gained that we will best be able to employ the powerful tool of amyloid imaging.
The chrysanthemum DEAD-box RNA helicase CmRH56 regulates rhizome outgrowth in response to drought stress
Authors: Zhang Lili , Xu Yanjie , Liu Xuening , Qin Meizhu , Li Shenglan , Jiang Tianhua , Yang Yingjie , Jiang Cai-Zhong , Gao Junping , Hong Bo , Ma Chao
Published: May 2022

Plants have evolved complex mechanisms to reprogram growth in response to drought stress. In herbaceous perennial plant species, the rhizome, which is normally an organ for propagation and food storage, can also support plant growth in stressful environments, and allows the plant to perennate and survive stress damage. However, the mechanisms that regulate rhizome growth in perennial herbs during abiotic stresses are unknown. Here, we identified a chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) DEAD-box RNA helicase gene, CmRH56, that is specifically expressed in the rhizome shoot apex. Knock down of CmRH56 transcript levels decreased the number of rhizomes and enhanced drought stress tolerance. We determined that CmRH56 represses the expression of a putative gibberellin (GA) catabolic gene, GA2 oxidase6 (CmGA2ox6). Exogenous GA treatment and silencing of CmGA2ox6 resulted in more rhizomes. These results demonstrate that CmRH56 suppresses rhizome outgrowth under drought stress conditions by blocking GA biosynthesis.
Antiglitches in accreting pulsars from superfluid vortex avalanches
Authors: Howitt G , Melatos A
Published: May 2022

Three sudden spin-down events, termed ‘antiglitches’, were recently discovered in the accreting pulsar NGC 300 ULX-1 by the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer mission. Unlike previous antiglitches detected in decelerating magnetars, these are the first antiglitches recorded in an accelerating pulsar. One standard theory is that pulsar spin-up glitches are caused by avalanches of collectively unpinning vortices that transfer angular momentum from the superfluid interior to the crust of a neutron star. Here, we test whether vortex avalanches are also consistent with the antiglitches in NGC 300 ULX-1, with the angular momentum transfer reversed. We perform N-body simulations of up to 5 × 103 pinned vortices in two dimensions in secularly accelerating and decelerating containers. Vortex avalanches routinely occur in both scenarios, propagating inwards and outwards, respectively. The implications for observables, such as size and waiting time statistics, are considered briefly.
On the stellar core physics of the 16 Cyg binary system: constraining the central hydrogen abundance using asteroseismology
Authors: Nsamba Benard , Cunha Margarida S , Rocha Catarina I S A , Pereira Cristiano J G N , Monteiro Mário J P F G , Campante Tiago L
Published: May 2022

The unprecedented quality of the asteroseismic data of solar-type stars made available by space missions such as NASA’s Kepler telescope are making it possible to explore stellar interior structures. This offers possibilities of constraining stellar core properties (such as core sizes, abundances, and physics) paving the way for improving the precision of the inferred stellar ages. We employ 16 Cyg A and B as our benchmark stars for an asteroseismic study in which we present a novel approach aimed at selecting from a sample of acceptable stellar models returned from forward modelling techniques, down to the ones that better represent the core of each star. This is accomplished by comparing specific properties of the observed frequency ratios for each star to the ones derived from the acceptable stellar models. We demonstrate that in this way we are able to constrain further the hydrogen mass fraction in the core, establishing the stars’ precise evolutionary states and ages. The ranges of the derived core hydrogen mass fractions are [0.01–0.06] and [0.12–0.19] for 16 Cyg A and B, respectively, and, considering that the stars are coeval, the age and metal mass fraction parameters span the region [6.4–7.4] Gyr and [0.023–0.026], respectively. In addition, our findings show that using a single helium-to-heavy element enrichment ratio, (ΔY/ΔZ), when forward modelling the 16 Cyg binary system, may result in a sample of acceptable models that do not simultaneously fit the observed frequency ratios, further highlighting that such an approach to the definition of the helium content of the star may not be adequate in studies of individual stars.
Dust coagulation during the early stages of star formation: molecular cloud collapse and first hydrostatic core evolution
Authors: Bate Matthew R
Published: May 2022

Planet formation in protoplanetary discs requires dust grains to coagulate from the sub-micron sizes that are found in the interstellar medium into much larger objects. For the first time, we study the growth of dust grains during the earliest phases of star formation using three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We begin with a typical interstellar dust grain size distribution and study dust growth during the collapse of a molecular cloud core and the evolution of the first hydrostatic core, prior to the formation of the stellar core. We examine how the dust size distribution evolves both spatially and temporarily. We find that the envelope maintains its initial population of small dust grains with little growth during these phases, except that in the inner few hundreds of au the smallest grains are depleted. However, once the first hydrostatic core forms rapid dust growth to sizes in excess of 100 μm occurs within the core (before stellar core formation). Progressively larger grains are produced at smaller distances from the centre of the core. In rapidly rotating molecular cloud cores, the ‘first hydrostatic core’ that forms is better described as a pre-stellar disc that may be gravitationally unstable. In such cases, grain growth is more rapid in the spiral density waves leading to the larger grains being preferentially found in the spiral waves even though there is no migration of grains relative to the gas. Thus, the grain size distribution can vary substantially in the first core/pre-stellar disc even at these very early times.
On the origin of core radio emissions from black hole sources in the realm of relativistic shocked accretion flow
Authors: Das Santabrata , Nandi Anuj , Stalin C S , Rakshit Suvendu , Dihingia Indu Kalpa , Singh Swapnil , Aktar Ramiz , Mitra Samik
Published: May 2022

We study the relativistic, inviscid, advective accretion flow around the black holes and investigate a key feature of the accretion flow, namely the shock waves. We observe that the shock-induced accretion solutions are prevalent and such solutions are commonly obtained for a wide range of the flow parameters, such as energy (${\cal E}$) and angular momentum (λ), around the black holes of spin value 0 ≤ ak < 1. When the shock is dissipative in nature, a part of the accretion energy is released through the upper and lower surfaces of the disc at the location of the shock transition. We find that the maximum accretion energies that can be extracted at the dissipative shock ($\Delta {\cal E}^{\rm max}$) are $\sim 1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ and $\sim 4.4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for Schwarzschild black holes (ak → 0) and Kerr black holes (ak → 1), respectively. Using $\Delta {\cal E}^{\rm max}$, we compute the loss of kinetic power (equivalently shock luminosity, Lshock) that is enabled to comply with the energy budget for generating jets/outflows from the jet base (i.e. post-shock flow). We compare Lshock with the observed core radio luminosity (LR) of black hole sources for a wide mass range spanning 10 orders of magnitude with sub-Eddington accretion rate and perceive that the present formalism seems to be potentially viable to account LR of 16 Galactic black hole X-ray binaries (BH-XRBs) and 2176 active galactic nuclei. We further aim to address the core radio luminosity of intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) sources and indicate that the present model formalism perhaps adequate to explain core radio emission of IMBH sources in the sub-Eddington accretion limit.
Radio luminosity of GLEAM-X J162759.5–523504.3: does it really exceed the spin-down power of the pulsar?
Authors: Erkut M Hakan
Published: May 2022

The recently discovered radio pulsar GLEAM-X J162759.5–523504.3 with an extremely long spin period was reported to have a radio luminosity that exceeds by orders of magnitude the spin-down power of the pulsar. In this Letter, we rigorously calculate the radio luminosity of the source taking into account the dependence of the opening angle of the pulsar-emission cone, first on the spin period alone and then on both the spin parameters and the observing frequency. We also revise the value of the spin-down power reported previously. Our analysis is based on the description of the spectral data in terms of two power-law indices as well as a single power-law index. Even if the pulsar’s opening angle is treated as a frequency-independent parameter in line with the usual assumption, the period dependence of this parameter implies relatively small opening angles, and therefore, radio luminosities well below the spin-down power. Although we estimate higher radio luminosities in the physically more plausible case of a frequency-dependent opening angle, the spin-down power is again not exceeded by the highest possible radio luminosity. The radio efficiency of GLEAM-X J162759.5–523504.3 can therefore not be used in favour of a magnetar hypothesis.
Pediatric high-grade gliomas and the WHO CNS Tumor Classification—Perspectives of pediatric neuro-oncologists and neuropathologists in light of recent updates
Authors: Gielen Gerrit H , Baugh Joshua N , van Vuurden Dannis G , Veldhuijzen van Zanten Sophie E M , Hargrave Darren , Massimino Maura , Biassoni Veronica , Morales la Madrid Andres , Karremann Michael , Wiese Maria , Thomale Ulrich , Janssens Geert O , von Bueren André O , Perwein Thomas , Nussbaumer Gunther , Hoving Eelco W , Niehusmann Pitt , Gessi Marco , Kwiecien Robert , Bailey Simon , Pietsch Torsten , Andreiuolo Felipe , Kramm Christof M
Published: May 2022

Background

The WHO Classification of Tumors of the Central Nervous System has undergone major restructuring. Molecularly defined diagnostic criteria were introduced in 2016 (revised 4th edition) and expanded in 2021 (5th edition) to incorporate further essential diagnostic molecular parameters. We investigated potential differences between specialists in perception of these molecularly defined subtypes for pediatric high-grade gliomas (pedHGG).

Methods

We designed a 22-question survey studying the impact of the revised 4th edition of the WHO classification on pedHGG. Data were collected and statistically analyzed to examine the spectrum of viewpoints and possible differences between neuro-oncologists and neuropathologists.

Results

465 participants from 53 countries were included; 187 pediatric neuro-oncologists (40%), 160 neuropathologists (34%), and 118 additional experts (26%). Neuro-oncologists reported issues with the introduction of molecularly defined tumor types, as well as the abolishment or renaming of established tumor entities, while neuropathologists did not to the same extent. Both groups indicated less relevant or insufficient diagnostic definitions were available in 2016. Reported issues were classified and assessed in the 2021 WHO classification and a substantial improvement was perceived. However, issues of high clinical relevance remain to be addressed, including the definition of clinical phenotypes for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and gliomatosis cerebri.

Conclusions

Within the WHO classification of pediatric brain tumors, such as pedHGG, rapid changes in molecular characterization have been introduced. This study highlights the ongoing need for cross talk between pathologist and oncologist to advance the classification of pedHGG subtypes and ensure biological relevance and clinical impact.
Primary myelofibrosis with concurrent paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria presenting with erectile dysfunction
Authors: Alsalman Zaenb , Alsalman Mortadah , Albesher Mohammed , Alsalman Alaa , Saif Sultan , Aldandan Ali , Alsuliman Ahmed
Published: May 2022

Primary myelofibrosis and paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria (PNH) are uncommon clonal blood disorders that are rarely found together. We report a case of primary myelofibrosis (PMF) with concomitant subtle PNH in a 42-year-old man who presented with a 4-week history of fatigue, unexplained chest pain, and new-onset erectile dysfunction. Bone marrow biopsy showed severe fibrosis consistent with PMF. However, smooth muscle dystonia symptoms in the form of new-onset erectile dysfunction and oesophageal spasm were not fully explained by PMF but were clues for PNH, confirmed by flow cytometric assays. Routine PNH testing for patients with new-onset PMF and clinical symptoms suggestive of PNH, as well as those with refractory anaemia despite effective therapy, is crucial since these two conditions can coexist. As a result, a lack of early testing may cause a delay in diagnosis, increasing the patient’s transfusion load and the facility’s costs.
DAA treatment failures in a low-resource setting with a high burden of hepatitis C infections: a case series
Authors: Zahid Hassaan , Aslam Khawar , Dahl Elin Hoffmann , Abbassi Waqas , Adan Suleiman , Van den Bergh Rafael , Balinska Marta A , Luck Nasir Hassan
Published: May 2022

Globally, 58 million people are living with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and 1.5 million new patients are infected every year. The advent of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) has revolutionized the treatment of HCV, opening the door to the ambitious World Health Organization HCV infection elimination strategy by 2030. However, emerging resistance to DAAs could jeopardize any hope of achieving these targets. We discuss a series of 18 patients within a resource-limited setting, who after failing standard sofosbuvir-daclatasvir-based regimen also failed to respond to advanced pan-genotypic treatment regimens, i.e. sofosbuvir-velpatasvir, sofosbuvir-velpatasvir-ribavirin and sofosbuvir-velpatasvir-voxilaprevir. To avoid the spread of refractory HCV strains within the existing epidemic, we call for increased attention and research regarding patients failing treatment on standard pan-genotypic regimens and the spread of HCV-resistant strains within the communities.
A rare case of combined immunodeficiency with cytopenia whose symptoms were controlled by cyclosporine
Authors: Narges Bazgir , Shabnam Eskandarzadeh , Golnaz Eslamian , Zahra Chavoshzadeh , Jaffer Shah , Shohra Qaderi
Published: May 2022

Combined Immunodeficiency (CID) is a group of inborn error of Immunity (IEI) that may present with both infectious and non-infectious complications. Autoimmunity is an unusual presentation of CID and can be presented as cytopenia. The initial management of cytopenia is corticosteroids and IVIG. The role of other cytotoxic and immunosuppressive drugs in management of cytopenia is not fully understood. The objective of this clinical case report is to highlight the possibly beneficial role of cyclosporine in controlling cytopenia in CID patients. A 26-month-old child with generalized ecchymosis was referred to Mofid Children's Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Physical examination revealed no substantial findings other than ecchymosis, and complete blood count (CBC) revealed thrombocytopenia. Diagnosis of CID and cytopenia followed. The patient was treated by 5 times prednisolone and 4 times Rituximab. Finally, his ecchymosis was controlled by Cellcept, which was then tempered and substituted by cyclosporine.
Pattern learning reveals brain asymmetry to be linked to socioeconomic status
Authors: Poeppl Timm B , Dimas Emile , Sakreida Katrin , Kernbach Julius M , Markello Ross D , Schöffski Oliver , Dagher Alain , Koellinger Philipp , Nave Gideon , Farah Martha J , Mišić Bratislav , Bzdok Danilo
Published: May 2022

Socioeconomic status (SES) anchors individuals in their social network layers. Our embedding in the societal fabric resonates with habitus, world view, opportunity, and health disparity. It remains obscure how distinct facets of SES are reflected in the architecture of the central nervous system. Here, we capitalized on multivariate multi-output learning algorithms to explore possible imprints of SES in gray and white matter structure in the wider population (n ≈ 10,000 UK Biobank participants). Individuals with higher SES, compared with those with lower SES, showed a pattern of increased region volumes in the left brain and decreased region volumes in the right brain. The analogous lateralization pattern emerged for the fiber structure of anatomical white matter tracts. Our multimodal findings suggest hemispheric asymmetry as an SES-related brain signature, which was consistent across six different indicators of SES: degree, education, income, job, neighborhood and vehicle count. Hence, hemispheric specialization may have evolved in human primates in a way that reveals crucial links to SES.
Pathogen Identification and Factors Influencing Infection Frequency and Severity of Fungal Rust in Four Native Grasses in Hulunber Grassland, China
Authors: Zhang Yawen , Xin Xiaoping , Matthew Cory , Christensen Michael J. , Nan Zhibiao
Published: May 2022

A serious rust infection present in 2014 and 2015 on the dominant grass species (Leymus chinensis) in the Hulunber grassland of Inner Mongolia, China, and also present on three other grass species (Agropyron cristatum [wheat grass], Bromus inermis, and Festuca ovina) was investigated. Field surveys, laboratory determination of morphological characteristics, pathogenicity tests, and molecular identification methods were integrated to identify two rust-causing pathogens on L. chinensis. It was found that Puccinia elymi was the major pathogen of L. chinensis, and also infected A. cristatum and F. ovina. This is the first report of P. elymi on A. cristatum in China. P. striiformis caused stripe rust on L. chinensis and B. inermis. The incidence and severity of rust infection increased through the growing season, presumably from asexual spread by urediniospores, and was higher on grass species phylogenetically more closely related to common crop hosts of the pathogens. High host grass density and presence of a potential alternate host for P. elymi, Thalictrum squarrosum, were two further factors promoting rust incidence. These results provide insight into ecological factors linked to the rust epidemic and provide a theoretical basis for the formulation of control strategies.
Population Genetic Characteristics and Mating Type Frequency of Venturia effusa from Pecan in South America
Authors: Bock Clive H. , Frusso Enrique , Zoppolo Roberto , Ortiz Edson R. , Shiller Jason , Charlton Nikki D. , Young Carolyn A. , Randall Jennifer J.
Published: May 2022

Scab, caused by the plant-pathogenic fungus Venturia effusa, is a major disease of pecan in South America, resulting in loss of quantity and quality of nut yield. Characteristics of the populations of V. effusa in South America are unknown. We used microsatellites to describe the genetic diversity and population structure of V. effusa in South America, and determined the mating type status of the pathogen. The four hierarchically sampled orchard populations from Argentina (AR), Brazil (BRC and BRS), and Uruguay (UR) had moderate to high genotypic and gene diversity. There was evidence of population differentiation ( Fst = 0.196) but the correlation between geographic distance and genetic distance was not statistically significant. Genetic differentiation was minimal between the UR, BRC, and BRS populations, and these populations were more clearly differentiated from the AR population. The MAT1-1 and MAT1-2 mating types occurred in all four orchards and their frequencies did not deviate from the 1:1 ratio expected under random mating; however, multilocus linkage equilibrium was rejected in three of the four populations. The population genetics of South American populations of V. effusa has many similarities to the population genetics of V. effusa previously described in the United States. Characterizing the populations genetics and reproductive systems of V. effusa are important to establish the evolutionary potential of the pathogen and, thus, its adaptability—and can provide a basis for informed approaches to utilizing available host resistance and determining phytosanitary needs.