bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interfacial thermal conductance of 7075 aluminum alloy microdroplets in contact with a solid at fast melting and crystallization
Authors: Minakov A , Morikawa J , Ryu M , Zhuravlev E , Schick C
Published: July 2022

Ultrafast nanocalorimetry, in combination with high-speed IR thermography, is used to measure the interfacial thermal conductance (ITC) of the thermal contact of metal microdroplets with a solid during fast melting (including laser heating). IR thermography and membrane nanocalorimetry were used to measure the temperature difference at the membrane/sample interface during the melting and crystallization of aluminium alloy (AA7075) microdroplets (20 μm in diameter) over a wide range of heating and cooling rates (up to 105 K s−1). This is the first time ITC has been measured at such high heating and cooling rates with this new method. We found that the interfacial temperature difference reaches about 80 K during the solidification of microdroplets during laser heating. This result is significant for understanding various industrial laser-assisted processes. It has been established that ITC measured for AA7075 microdroplets gradually increases by an order of magnitude during melting in the range from the solidus temperature to the liquidus temperature of the alloy. This unusual behavior of ITC during melting can be important for understanding and optimizing laser-assisted additive manufacturing processes.
Eye-to-Hand Coordination in Obstructive Sleep APNEA Syndrome: a Descriptive Study
Authors: Devita Maria , Lavolpe Sara , Calì Gloria , Beretta Natascia , Maggi Lamberto , Mondini Sara , Mapelli Daniela , Rusconi Maria Luisa , Merlo Paola
Published: July 2022

Objective

Psychomotor slowdown was observed in individuals with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Previous studies evaluated separately cognitive and motor reaction times, finding that OSAS individuals show a specific impairment in the latter. The present study investigates whether eye-to-hand coordination (EHC), a specific psychomotor ability, is compromised in OSAS.

Method

The EHC was measured in 30 OSAS individuals who were matched with 30 healthy controls by the Two-Hand Coordination Test analyzing the speed, accuracy, and coordination; the role of these variables was investigated in predicting the group they belonged to.

Results

The OSAS participants showed poorer performance in the execution accuracy (t(55) = −3.36, d’Cohen = −0.89, p ≤ .001), which was also found to be the only predictor of the belonging to group (β = 0.43 (0.18), p < .05).

Conclusions

The OSAS individuals show impairments in EHC and in correcting their error (executive slowdown). This is the first investigation exploring EHC coordination in this population and contributes in understanding the psychomotor slowness characterizing OSAS.
High Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type 1c Proviral Loads Are Associated With Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease: Results of a Cross-Sectional Community Survey in Central Australia
Authors: Talukder Mohammad Radwanur , Woodman Richard , Pham Hai , Wilson Kim , Gessain Antoine , Kaldor John , Einsiedel Lloyd
Published: July 2022

Background

A link between chronic inflammation and several noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) has been established. Although chronic infection with the human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the recognized cause of several inflammatory diseases and these are associated with a high number of HTLV-1–infected cells in peripheral blood (proviral load [PVL]), possible interactions between PVL and NCDs have not been studied at a community level.

Methods

Adult Aboriginal residents of 7 remote communities were invited to complete a health survey between 25 August 2014 and 30 June 2018. Blood was drawn for HTLV-1 serology and PVL, and relevant medical conditions were obtained from health records. Associations between HTLV-1 PVL and diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and coronary artery disease (CAD) were determined using logistic regression, adjusting for available confounders.

Results

Among 510 participants (56% of the estimated adult resident population, 922), 197 (38.6%) were HTLV-1–infected. A high HTLV-1 PVL was associated with a 2-fold increase in the odds of diabetes and CKD (diabetes, adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–3.61; P = .033 and CKD: aOR, 2.00; 95% CI, 1.03–3.8; P = .041). A nonsignificant association between high PVL and CAD (aOR, 7.08; 95% CI, 1.00–50.18; P = .05) was found for participants aged <50 years at the time of angiography.

Conclusions

In a community-based study in central Australia, people with HTLV-1 who had high HTLV-1 PVL were more likely to have diabetes and CKD. These findings have potential clinical implications.
Association Between AZD7442 (Tixagevimab-Cilgavimab) Administration and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Infection, Hospitalization, and Mortality
Authors: Kertes Jennifer , Shapiro Ben David Shirley , Engel-Zohar Noya , Rosen Keren , Hemo Beatriz , Kantor Avner , Adler Limor , Shamir Stein Naama , Mizrahi Reuveni Miri , Shahar Arnon
Published: July 2022

Background

Intramuscular AZD7442 (tixagevimab–cilgavimab [Evusheld; AstraZeneca]) has been found effective among immunocompromised individuals (ICIs) in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease in ICIs. We evaluated the association between AZD7442 administration and SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe disease (COVID-19 hospitalization and all-cause mortality) among selected ICIs, during a fifth Omicron-dominated wave of COVID-19 (December 2021–April 2022) in Israel.

Methods

ICIs aged ≥12 years identified in the Maccabi HealthCare Services database were invited by SMS/e-mail to receive AZD7442. Demographic information, comorbidities, coronavirus vaccination, and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 outcome data (infection, severe disease) were extracted from the database. Rates of infection and severe disease were compared between those administered AZD7442 and those who did not respond to the invitation over a 3-month period.

Results

Of all 825 ICIs administered AZD7442, 29 (3.5%) became infected with SARS-CoV-2 compared with 308 (7.2%) of 4299 ICIs not administered AZD7442 (P < .001). After adjustment, the AZD7442 group was half as likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2 than the nonadministered group (OR: .51; 95% CI: .30–.84). One person in the AZD7442 group (0.1%) was hospitalized for COVID-19 compared with 27 (0.6%) in the nonadministered group (P = .07). No mortality was recorded among the AZD7442 group compared with 40 deaths (0.9%) in the nonadministered group (P = .005). After adjustment, ICIs administered AZD7442 were 92% less likely to be hospitalized/die than those not administered AZD7442 (OR: .08; 95% CI: .01–.54).

Conclusions

AZD7442 among ICIs may protect against Omicron variant infection and severe disease and should be considered for pre-exposure prophylactic AZD7442.
Catheter-directed interventions for pulmonary embolism
Authors: Kochar Ajar , Bergmark Brian A
Published: July 2022

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is common, life-threatening, and often recurrent among survivors. The clinical manifestations of PE range from incidental detection to sudden death, with approximately one-third of PE deaths occurring suddenly. State-of-the-art management of acute PE relies on early detection, risk stratification based on clinical, imaging, and biomarker criteria, and multidisciplinary decision-making. The primary goal of catheter-directed interventions for acute PE is to interrupt the cycle of right ventricular failure, hypoperfusion, and oxygen supply/demand imbalance by increasing the cross-sectional area of the patent pulmonary vasculature, thereby lowering resistance and alleviating V/Q mismatch. Innovations in percutaneous interventions have led to several approaches described in this review: rheolytic thrombectomy, catheter-directed thrombolysis, and aspiration or mechanical thrombectomy. The central challenge moving forward will be integrating growing clinical trial evidence into multidisciplinary, individualized care pathways meeting the diverse clinical needs of patients presenting with acute PE.
Infected thoracic aortic graft in a woman with Darier disease: a case report
Authors: Sbarouni Eftihia , Petraki Maria , Stavridis George , Manginas Athanassios
Published: July 2022

Background

Patients with Darier disease often present with staphylococcal skin infections and are at risk for complications when they undergo cardiothoracic surgery, such as acute aortic dissection repair.

Case summary

A 39-year-old woman with hypertension and Darier disease suffered an acute type A aortic dissection, requiring emergency operation with a Dacron graft. Twenty-five days post-operatively, she developed pneumonia and staph hominis was isolated in blood cultures and Bronchoalveolar Lavage. Following completion of antibiotics, multiple relapses occurred during a 6-month period, each time treated with appropriate antibiotic therapy. An 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computerized tomography showed persistent graft uptake and re-operation was performed. At 22 months of follow-up, the patient remains asymptomatic and the 18F-FDG PET/CT shows significant reduction in FDG uptake.

Discussion

Graft infection is a rare but serious complication. Antibiotic therapy is often inadequate and re-operation is needed. As staphylococcal skin infections often occur in patients with Darier disease, adequate preprocedural skin preparation and sterilization are very important in these patients.
Risk factors in adolescence as predictors of trajectories of somatic symptoms over 27 years
Authors: Berg Noora , Nummi Tapio , Bean Christopher G , Westerlund Hugo , Virtanen Pekka , Hammarström Anne
Published: July 2022

Background

Somatic symptoms among adolescents are common, yet little is known about long-term trajectories of somatic symptoms and the factors in adolescence that shape them. We examined individual, family and school-based factors at age 16 as predictors of trajectories of somatic symptoms over 27 years.

Methods

Participants from the Northern Swedish Cohort (n = 1001) responded to questions about individual factors (e.g. health behaviours), family factors (e.g. contact with parents, social and material adversity) and school satisfaction at age 16; as well as 10 somatic symptoms at ages 16, 18, 21, 30 and 43. Teacher assessments at age 16 included overall ability at school and peer relations. Age 16 predictors of somatic symptom trajectory group membership were analysed using multinomial logistic regression.

Results

Poor contact with mother and poor school satisfaction were significant predictors of adverse symptom trajectories among both men and women. Low birth weight and low parental academic involvement were contributing factors for women, while smoking and social adversity were more relevant factors for men.

Conclusions

Our findings emphasize the importance of a holistic approach that considers the unique contributions of individual, family and school-based factors in the development of trajectories of somatic symptoms from adolescence to middle age.
Clustering of disability pension and socioeconomic disadvantage in Sweden: a geospatial analysis
Authors: Virtanen Marianna , Heikkilä Katriina , Vahtera Jussi , Kivimäki Mika , Halonen Jaana I , Alexanderson Kristina , Rautiainen Simo , Lallukka Tea , Mittendorfer-Rutz Ellenor
Published: July 2022

Background

To characterize geospatial patterning of disadvantage in Sweden, we examined whether municipal-level indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage and disability pension (DP) rate were clustered, whether the different geospatial clusters were overlapping and whether the findings were similar among women and men.

Methods

Administrative national data from all 290 Swedish municipalities were used to determine the prevalence of DP and socioeconomic disadvantage [poverty, long-term unemployment, income inequality (GINI Index) and income inequality between women and men]. Geospatial cold spots (clusters of municipalities with a DP/socioeconomic disadvantage prevalence lower than the nationwide prevalence) and hot spots (clusters of municipalities with a DP/socioeconomic disadvantage higher than the nationwide prevalence) were identified, and whether a hot spot was overlapping with another hot spot and a cold spot overlapping with another cold spot were analysed using the Getis-Ord Gi statistics.

Results

Among women and men, cold spots of DP were most consistently located in the Stockholm area. Hot spots of DP were found in the mid-south Sweden, characterized by mid-sized urban centres in rural territories. High DP rate and socioeconomic disadvantage were overlapping, except for income inequality. Clusters of gender income inequality and women’s high DP rate were observed in mid-south Sweden.

Conclusion

DP and socioeconomic disadvantage are not randomly distributed in Sweden. Geospatial analyses revealed clusters of municipalities with high risk of both DP and socioeconomic disadvantage in certain areas and low risk in other areas. Further research is needed to identify preventive actions to decrease regional inequalities in work capacity.
Outcomes of in-vitro fertilization after bariatric surgery: a national register-based case–control study
Authors: Nilsson-Condori E , Mattsson K , Thurin-Kjellberg A , Hedenbro J L , Friberg B
Published: July 2022

STUDY QUESTION

Does previous bariatric surgery (BS) in women affect cumulative live birth rate in IVF?

SUMMARY ANSWER

Women having had BS seem to have the same cumulative live birth rate as non-operated women of the same BMI at IVF treatment.

WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY

Because of the perinatal risks of obesity to mother and infant as well as impaired outcomes of IVF, obese women are advised to reduce their weight, but it is not clear whether previous BS could affect IVF results.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION

This national register-based case–control study included all cases of BS (n = 30 436) undergoing IVF (n = 153) from 2007 until 2017.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS

Swedish women between 18 and 45 years operated with BS, with at least one first started cycle of IVF after surgery, were included. For each woman having IVF after BS (n = 153), up to five non-operated control women (n = 744) starting their first IVF cycle during the study period were matched for age, parity and BMI at treatment. The primary outcome in this study was the cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) after the first IVF cycle, defined as all live births after the first cycle including fresh and frozen embryo transfers.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE

There was no significant difference in CLBR between the BS group and the matched controls (29.4% compared to 33.1%), even though the number of retrieved oocytes (7.6 vs 8.9, P = 0.005) and frozen embryos (1.0 vs 1.5, P = 0.041) were significantly fewer in the BS group. There was no association between cumulative live birth and BS, adjusted odds ratio 1.04, 95% CI (0.73, 1.51). However, the birth weight was significantly lower in the children born to mothers with previous BS, mean (SD) 3190 (690) vs 3478 (729) g, P = 0.037.

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION

Confounders such as age, BMI and previous childbirth were accounted for by the matching design of the study, but there were no data on indication for IVF, anti-Müllerian hormone, smoking or previous comorbidities. The study was exploratory and did not reach sufficient power to detect potential smaller differences in live birth rates.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS

The findings concur with those in previously published smaller studies and provide somewhat reassuring results considering IVF outcomes after BS with a CLBR comparable to that of controls, despite a lower mean birth weight.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)

This research was funded by grants from the Southern Health Care Region of Sweden. The authors have no competing interests to declare.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

N/A.
What Influences Trust in Survey Results? Evidence From a Vignette Experiment
Authors: Stadtmüller Sven , Silber Henning , Beuthner Christoph
Published: July 2022

More survey results are available today than ever before. This increase in survey data has been accompanied by growing concerns about their quality. With the present study, we aim to investigate to what extent the public draws on survey quality information when evaluating the trustworthiness of survey results. We implemented a vignette experiment in an online panel survey (N = 3,313), in which respondents each received four different survey descriptions with varying methodological information. Compared with respondent characteristics, survey quality information had only a minor effect on perceptions of trustworthiness. However, trust in the survey results was significantly influenced by sample size and sample balance. Finally, the relevance of survey quality information increased with the cognitive ability of the respondent.
Corruption and Political Knowledge Erosion. A Cautionary Tale from Latin America
Authors: Bargsted Matías , Bachmann Ingrid , Valenzuela Sebastián
Published: July 2022

Previous research has shown that corruption diminishes citizens’ level of political support and engagement. We extend this line of reasoning and evaluate whether previous levels of perceived corruption can influence subsequent levels of political knowledge. We test this proposition with data from a two-wave panel probability survey applied in Chile between 2016 and 2017, just after a 2-year period in which an avalanche of corruption scandals shook the country. Our estimates confirm that perceived corruption reduces subsequent political knowledge, while controlling for prior knowledge. This pattern is particularly strong among non-ideologues and people ideologically distant from the incumbent government. Given the status of political knowledge as a democratically valuable trait, our results uncover some normatively disturbing consequences of corruption.
Information Architecture: Using K-Means Clustering and the Best Merge Method for Open Card Sorting Data Analysis
Authors: Paea Sione , Katsanos Christos , Bulivou Gabiriele
Published: July 2022

Open card sorting is a well-established method for discovering how people understand and categorize information. This paper addresses the problem of quantitatively analyzing open card sorting data using the K-means algorithm. Although the K-means algorithm is effective, its results are too sensitive to initial category centers. Therefore, many approaches in the literature have focused on determining suitable initial centers. However, this is not always possible, especially when the number of categories is increased. This paper proposes an approach to improve the quality of the solution produced by the K-means for open card sort data analysis. Results show that the proposed initialization approach for K-means outperforms existing initialization methods, such as MaxMin, random initialization and K-means++. The proposed algorithm is applied to a real-world open card sorting dataset, and, unlike existing solutions in the literature, it can be used with any number of participants and cards.
A novel deep convolutional neural network algorithm for surface defect detection
Authors: Zhang Dehua , Hao Xinyuan , Liang Linlin , Liu Wei , Qin Chunbin
Published: July 2022

The surface defect detection (SDD) problem is one of the crucial techniques during production process, so it has become a key research area to control the quality of industrial products, which has been increasingly of greater interest to the researchers especially with the rapid development of artificial neural networks technology in recent years. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel deep convolutional neural network algorithm aiming at SDD. Firstly, a dense cross-stage partial Darknet backbone network is designed for feature extraction by optimizing cross-stage partial Darknet through the idea of dense connections, which can, not only enhance feature reuse but also greatly alleviate the overfitting issue. Secondly, a new cross-stage hierarchy module is presented combining the cross-stage feature fusion strategy and depthwise separable convolution technique for each node of the path aggregated feature pyramid network (PAN). Finally, an efficient channel attention (ECA) mechanism is introduced in PAN to construct a novel ECA PAN. The experimental results on three surface defect datasets show that the mean average precision of this network is 2.63, 5.48, and 1.16$\%$ which is higher than that of the baseline network, respectively. The proposed network outperforms not only the classical models but state-of-the-art models, which indicates the proposed algorithm can achieve higher accuracy and speed with fewer calculation parameters. And what is more, the proposed algorithm also has outstanding generalization ability.
Horizon auto-picking with quantitative uncertainty evaluation by using a modified VQ-VAE framework
Authors: Yuan Cheng , Su Mingjun , Ni Changkuan , Liu Xingye , Xu Yunze , Cui Xiangli
Published: July 2022

In this paper, we propose a novel approach of deep-learning-based seismic horizon auto-picking that introduces a modified vector quantized variational autoencoder (VQ-VAE) framework to improve the accuracy of seismic horizon interpretation and, for the first time, quantitatively evaluate the uncertainty of the auto-picked horizon by exploiting the concept of entropy. Compared with the conventional VQ-VAE approach, the proposed method not only modifies the VQ-VAE model with more deep-learning channels at each layer of the network to enhance the performance of horizon auto-picking within the VQ-VAE framework, but also extends the 1D seismic labels with more continuous samplings within a single trace to boost the stability of auto-picked horizon in geologically complex settings and also significantly suppress the resulting uncertainty. To further improve the resulting accuracy in geologically complex settings, we introduce the directional structure tensor to extract a more reliable initial horizon and, moreover, a dilated horizon searching strategy to extend the capacity of the proposed method in dealing with the large fault displacement and reducing the computational cost simultaneously. Additionally, the resulting uncertainty quantitatively measured by entropy can also serve as an effective indicator to enable a further refinement of the auto-picked result accordingly. Both 2D example and 3D field applications are carried out to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Identifying the carbonate interlayer using the horn response of electromagnetic wave resistivity logging while drilling combined with drilling and mud-logging data during geo-steering
Authors: Shao Cairui , Zhang Pangfei , Ji Jiaqi , Chang Lunjie
Published: July 2022

The electromagnetic wave propagation resistivity (EWPR) and natural gamma rays (GR) are commonly used in logging while drilling (LWD) to identify the formation interface and for geo-steering. Because the GR logging value of a carbonate reservoir does not change significantly or not change at all, the horn effect of the EWPR is the main basis for identifying the formation interface. However, many factors influence the horn effect, so it is sometimes difficult to determine whether the sharper response of the EWPR is the horn signal or the real value of the thin interlayer. Therefore, based on a review of existing research results, in this paper, the EWR-PHASE4 LWD tool is taken as an example, and using a numerical forward simulation, the influences of different resistivity ratios of the surrounding rock to the target layers, the different transmitter spacings on the EWPR for different angles between the borehole trajectory and formation are investigated. The conditions required to generate horn signals at the formation interfaces and the influencing rules of the main influencing factors are summarized, providing a theoretical basis for correctly determining the formation occurrence. Since the drilling and mud-logging data can be used to determine the formation's properties directly, through application examples, this study provides a reference for identifying the carbonate interlayer and formation occurrence using a combination of EWPR with drilling and mud-logging data, which has a smaller uncertainty than the application of only EWPR.
Reionization time of the Local Group and Local-Group-like halo pairs
Authors: Sorce Jenny G , Ocvirk Pierre , Aubert Dominique , Gottlöber Stefan , Shapiro Paul R , Dawoodbhoy Taha , Yepes Gustavo , Ahn Kyungjin , Iliev Ilian T , Lewis Joseph S W
Published: July 2022

Patchy cosmic reionization resulted in the ionizing UV background asynchronous rise across the Universe. The latter might have left imprints visible in present-day observations. Several numerical simulation-based studies show correlations between the reionization time and overdensities and object masses today. To remove the mass from the study, as it may not be the sole important parameter, this paper focuses solely on the properties of paired haloes within the same mass range as the Milky Way. For this purpose, it uses CoDaII, a fully coupled radiation hydrodynamics reionization simulation of the local Universe. This simulation holds a halo pair representing the Local Group, in addition to other pairs, sharing similar mass, mass ratio, distance separation, and isolation criteria but in other environments, alongside isolated haloes within the same mass range. Investigations of the paired halo reionization histories reveal a wide diversity although always inside-out, given our reionization model. Within this model, haloes in a close pair tend to be reionized at the same time but being in a pair does not bring to an earlier time their mean reionization. The only significant trend is found between the total energy at z = 0 of the pairs and their mean reionization time: Pairs with the smallest total energy (bound) are reionized up to 50 Myr earlier than others (unbound). Above all, this study reveals the variety of reionization histories undergone by halo pairs similar to the Local Group, that of the Local Group being far from an average one. In our model, its reionization time is ∼625 Myr against 660 ± 4 Myr (z ∼ 8.25 against 7.87 ± 0.02) on average.
Comprehensive listing of 156 reliable orbital periods for novae, including 49 new periods
Authors: Schaefer Bradley E
Published: July 2022

I report on a large-scale search for the orbital periods (P) of most known nova systems, by looking for significant, coherent, and stable optical photometric modulation in two or more independent light curves taken mostly from the large surveys of TESS, Kepler, AAVSO, SMARTS, OGLE, ASAS, and ZTF. I have discovered 31 new orbital periods. Further, I have measured new periods for 18 novae with evolved companions, to 30 per cent accuracy, as based on their spectral energy distribution. Also, I have confirmed, improved, and rejected prior claims for P in 46 novae. (As part of this effort, I recognize that 5 novae display 1–3 coherent, significant, and transient periodicities 0.12–4.1 d, with these being mysterious as not being the orbital, spin, or superhump periods). In all, I have compiled a comprehensive list of 156 reliable P values for novae. The histogram of nova periods shows a minimum P at 0.059 h (85 min), and a Period Gap from 0.071 to 0.111 d (1.70–2.66 h). The upper edge of the Period Gap is significantly different between novae (0.111 d), nova-like systems (0.131 d), and dwarf novae (0.141 d). A further issue from the histogram is that 31 per cent of nova systems have evolved companions, for which there has been no models or understanding for their current state or evolution. For the novae with red giant companions, 15-out-of-20 are in the bulge population, despite novae with main-sequence and subgiant companions having bulge fractions near 0.11–0.32.
Dust, CO, and [C i]: cross-calibration of molecular gas mass tracers in metal-rich galaxies across cosmic time
Authors: Dunne L , Maddox S J , Papadopoulos P P , Ivison R J , Gomez H L
Published: July 2022

We present a self-consistent cross-calibration of the three main molecular gas mass tracers in galaxies, namely the 12CO(1–0), [C i](3P1–3P0) lines, and the submm dust continuum emission, using a sample of 407 galaxies, ranging from local discs to submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMGs) up to z ≈ 6. A Bayesian statistical method is used to produce galaxy-scale universal calibrations of these molecular gas indicators, that hold over 3–4 orders of magnitude in infrared luminosity, LIR. Regarding the dust continuum, we use a mass-weighted dust temperature, Tmw, determined using new empirical relations between temperature and luminosity. We find the average L/Mmol gas mass conversion factors (including He) to be ${\alpha _{850}}=6.9\times 10^{12}\, \rm W\, Hz^{-1}\, M_{\odot }^{-1}$, αCO = 4.0 M⊙ (κ km s−1 pc2)−1, and $\alpha _{\rm C\, I}$ = 17.0 M⊙ (κ km s−1 pc2)−1, based on the assumption that the mean dust properties of the sample (κH = gas-to-dust ratio/dust emissivity) will be similar to those of local metal rich galaxies and the Milky Way. The tracer with the least intrinsic scatter is [C i](1–0), while CO(1–0) has the highest. The conversion factors show a weak but significant correlation with LIR which is not apparent when Tmw is held constant. Assuming dust properties typical of metal-rich galaxies, we infer a neutral carbon abundance ${X_{\rm C\, I}}=\rm [C^0/\rm{H_2}]=1.6\times 10^{-5}$, similar to that in the Milky Way. We find no evidence for bi-modality of αCO between main-sequence (MS) galaxies and those with extreme star-formation intensity, i.e. ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and SMGs. The means of the three conversion factors are found to be similar between MS galaxies and ULIRGs/SMGs, to within 10–20 per cent. The overarching conclusion of our work is that, for metal-rich galaxies, near-universal average values for αCO, $X_{\rm C\, I}$, and κH are adequate for global molecular gas estimates within the expected uncertainties. The 1σ scatter in our optimized values for αCO, $X_{\rm C\, I}$, and κH are 0.14, 0.11, and 0.15 dex, respectively.
Energy balance and Alfvén Mach numbers in compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with a large-scale magnetic field
Authors: Beattie James R , Krumholz Mark R , Skalidis Raphael , Federrath Christoph , Seta Amit , Crocker Roland M , Mocz Philip , Kriel Neco
Published: July 2022

Energy equipartition is a powerful theoretical tool for understanding astrophysical plasmas. It is invoked, for example, to measure magnetic fields in the interstellar medium (ISM), as evidence for small-scale turbulent dynamo action, and, in general, to estimate the energy budget of star-forming molecular clouds. In this study, we motivate and explore the role of the volume-averaged root-mean-squared (rms) magnetic coupling term between the turbulent, $\delta {\boldsymbol{B}}$ , and large-scale, ${\boldsymbol{B}}_0$, fields, ${\left\langle (\delta \mathrm{{\boldsymbol {\mathit {B}}}}\cdot {\mathrm{{\boldsymbol {\mathit {B}}}}_0})^{2} \right\rangle ^{1/2}_{\mathcal {V}}}$. By considering the second moments of the energy balance equations we show that the rms coupling term is in energy equipartition with the volume-averaged turbulent kinetic energy for turbulence with a sub-Alfvénic large-scale field. Under the assumption of exact energy equipartition between these terms, we derive relations for the magnetic and coupling term fluctuations, which provide excellent, parameter-free agreement with time-averaged data from 280 numerical simulations of compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. Furthermore, we explore the relation between the turbulent mean field and total Alfvén Mach numbers, and demonstrate that sub-Alfvénic turbulence can only be developed through a strong, large-scale magnetic field, which supports an extremely super-Alfvénic turbulent magnetic field. This means that the magnetic field fluctuations are significantly subdominant to the velocity fluctuations in the sub-Alfvénic large-scale field regime. Throughout our study, we broadly discuss the implications for observations of magnetic fields and understanding the dynamics in the magnetized ISM.
The magnetic field of the chemically peculiar star V352 Peg
Authors: Fréour L , Neiner C , Landstreet J D , Folsom C P , Wade G A
Published: July 2022

We present a spectropolarimetric analysis of the hot star V352 Peg. We have acquired 18 spectropolarimetric observations of the star with ESPaDOnS at the CFHT between 2018 and 2019 and completed our data set with one archival ESPaDOnS measurement obtained in 2011. Our analysis of the spectra shows that the star is on the main sequence and chemically peculiar, i.e. it is a Bp star, with overabundances of iron peak elements (Ti, Cr, and Fe) and underabundance of He and O. Through a Least-Square Deconvolution of each spectrum, we extracted the mean Zeeman signature and mean line profile of thousands of spectral lines and detected a magnetic field in V352 Peg. By modelling the Stokes I and V profiles and using the Oblique Rotator Model, we determined the geometrical configuration of V352 Peg. We also performed Zeeman–Doppler Imaging (ZDI) to provide a more detailed characterization of the magnetic field of V352 Peg and its surface chemical distributions. We find a magnetic field that is mainly dipolar, dominantly poloidal, and largely non-axisymmetric with a dipole field strength of ∼9 kG and a magnetic axis almost perpendicular to the rotation axis. The strong variability of Stokes I profiles also suggests the presence of chemical spots at the stellar surface.
Combined full shape analysis of BOSS galaxies and eBOSS quasars using an iterative emulator
Authors: Neveux Richard , Burtin Etienne , Ruhlmann-Kleider Vanina , de Mattia Arnaud , Semenaite Agne , Dawson Kyle S , de la Macorra Axel , Percival Will J , Rossi Graziano , Schneider Donald P , Zhao Gong-Bo
Published: July 2022

Standard full-shape clustering analyses in Fourier space rely on a fixed power spectrum template, defined at the fiducial cosmology used to convert redshifts into distances, and compress the cosmological information into the Alcock–Paczynski parameters and the linear growth rate of structure. In this paper, we propose an analysis method that operates directly in the cosmology parameter space and varies the power spectrum template accordingly at each tested point. Predictions for the power spectrum multipoles from the TNS model are computed at different cosmologies in the framework of $\Lambda \rm {CDM}$. Applied to the final eBOSS QSO and LRG samples together with the low-z DR12 BOSS galaxy sample, our analysis results in a set of constraints on the cosmological parameters Ωcdm, H0, σ8, Ωb, and ns. To reduce the number of computed models, we construct an iterative process to sample the likelihood surface, where each iteration consists of a Gaussian process regression. This method is validated with mocks from N-body simulations. From the combined analysis of the (e)BOSS data, we obtain the following constraints: σ8 = 0.877 ± 0.049 and $\Omega _{\rm m}=0.304^{+0.016}_{-0.010}$ without any external prior. The eBOSS quasar sample alone shows a 3.1σ discrepancy compared to the Planck prediction.
SOX9 reprograms endothelial cells by altering the chromatin landscape
Authors: Fuglerud Bettina M , Drissler Sibyl , Lotto Jeremy , Stephan Tabea L , Thakur Avinash , Cullum Rebecca , Hoodless Pamela A
Published: July 2022

The transcription factor SOX9 is activated at the onset of endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT) during embryonic development and in pathological conditions. Its roles in regulating these processes, however, are not clear. Using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as an EndMT model, we show that SOX9 expression alone is sufficient to activate mesenchymal genes and steer endothelial cells towards a mesenchymal fate. By genome-wide mapping of the chromatin landscape, we show that SOX9 displays features of a pioneer transcription factor, such as opening of chromatin and leading to deposition of active histone modifications at silent chromatin regions, guided by SOX dimer motifs and H2A.Z enrichment. We further observe highly transient and dynamic SOX9 binding, possibly promoted through its eviction by histone phosphorylation. However, while SOX9 binding is dynamic, changes in the chromatin landscape and cell fate induced by SOX9 are persistent. Finally, our analysis of single-cell chromatin accessibility indicates that SOX9 opens chromatin to drive EndMT in atherosclerotic lesions in vivo. This study provides new insight into key molecular functions of SOX9 and mechanisms of EndMT and highlights the crucial developmental role of SOX9 and relevance to human disease.
Genetic predisposition and evolutionary traces of pediatric cancer risk: a prospective 5-year population-based genome sequencing study of children with CNS tumors
Authors: Stoltze Ulrik Kristoffer , Foss-Skiftesvik Jon , van Overeem Hansen Thomas , Byrjalsen Anna , Sehested Astrid , Scheie David , Stamm Mikkelsen Torben , Rasmussen Simon , Bak Mads , Okkels Henrik , Thude Callesen Michael , Skjøth-Rasmussen Jane , Gerdes Anne-Marie , Schmiegelow Kjeld , Mathiasen René , Wadt Karin
Published: July 2022

Background

The etiology of central nervous system (CNS) tumors in children is largely unknown and population-based studies of genetic predisposition are lacking.

Methods

In this prospective, population-based study, we performed germline whole-genome sequencing in 128 children with CNS tumors, supplemented by a systematic pedigree analysis covering 3543 close relatives.

Results

Thirteen children (10%) harbored pathogenic variants in known cancer genes. These children were more likely to have medulloblastoma (OR 5.9, CI 1.6–21.2) and develop metasynchronous CNS tumors (P = 0.01). Similar carrier frequencies were seen among children with low-grade glioma (12.8%) and high-grade tumors (12.2%). Next, considering the high mortality of childhood CNS tumors throughout most of human evolution, we explored known pediatric-onset cancer genes, showing that they are more evolutionarily constrained than genes associated with risk of adult-onset malignancies (P = 5e−4) and all other genes (P = 5e−17). Based on this observation, we expanded our analysis to 2986 genes exhibiting high evolutionary constraint in 141,456 humans. This analysis identified eight directly causative loss-of-functions variants, and showed a dose-response association between degree of constraint and likelihood of pathogenicity—raising the question of the role of other highly constrained gene alterations detected.

Conclusions

Approximately 10% of pediatric CNS tumors can be attributed to rare variants in known cancer genes. Genes associated with high risk of childhood cancer show evolutionary evidence of constraint.
Morbidities among older workers and work exit: the HEAF cohort
Authors: Walker-Bone K , D’Angelo S , Linaker C H , Stevens M J , Ntani G , Cooper C , Syddall H E
Published: July 2022

Background

Governments need people to work to older ages, but the prevalence of chronic disease and comorbidity increases with age and impacts work ability.

Aims

To investigate the effects of objective health diagnoses on exit from paid work amongst older workers.

Methods

Health and Employment After Fifty (HEAF) is a population cohort of adults aged 50–64 years recruited from English GP practices which contribute to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD). Participants have completed questionnaires about health and work at baseline and annually for 2 years: their responses were linked with their objective health diagnoses from the CPRD and data analysed using Cox regression.

Results

Of 4888 HEAF participants ever in paid work, 580 (25%) men and 642 (25%) women exited employment, 277 of them mainly or partly for a health reason (health-related job loss (HRJL)). Amongst HEAF participants who remained in work (n = 3666) or who exited work but not for health reasons (n = 945), there was a similar prevalence of background health conditions. In men and women, HRJL was associated with inflammatory arthritis, sleep disorders, common mental health conditions and musculoskeletal pain. There were however gender differences: widespread pain and lower limb osteoarthritis were associated with HRJL in women but hypertension and cardiovascular disease in men.

Conclusions

Improved diagnosis and management of common conditions might be expected to increase working lives. Workplace well-being interventions targeting obesity and increasing mobility might contribute to extended working lives. Employers of predominantly female, as compared with male workforces may need different strategies to retain older workers.
The Impact of Reported β-Lactam Allergy on Clinical Outcomes and Antibiotic Use Among Solid Organ Transplant Recipients
Authors: Zhang Helen L , Anesi Judith A , Hamilton Keith W , Cressman Leigh , Bilker Warren B , Lautenbach Ebbing
Published: July 2022

Background

Reported β-lactam allergies (BLAs) are common and frequently inaccurate, but there are limited data on the clinical implications of BLA among solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients. We examined the impact of BLA on clinical outcomes and antibiotic use among SOT recipients.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study included adult patients undergoing single-organ heart, kidney, liver, lung, or pancreas transplant at a United States academic medical center from 1 April 2017 to 31 December 2020. Demographic and clinical data were collected from the electronic health record. Multivariate median regression was performed to evaluate the association between BLA and days alive and out of the hospital in the first 180 days posttransplant (DAOH180). Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between BLA and antibiotic use.

Results

Among 1700 SOT recipients, 285 (16.8%) had a BLA at the time of transplant. BLA was not associated with DAOH180 (adjusted median difference, –0.8 days [95% confidence interval {CI}, –2.7 to 1.2]; P = .43). Patients with BLA were more likely to receive intravenous vancomycin (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.8 [95% CI, 1.3–2.6]; P < .001), clindamycin (aOR, 9.9 [95% CI, 5.1–18.9]; P < .001), aztreonam (aOR, 19.6 [95% CI, 5.9–64.4]; P < .001), fluoroquinolones (aOR, 3.8 [95% CI, 2.8–5.0]; P < .001), or aminoglycosides (aOR, 3.9 [95% CI, 2.5–6.2]; P < .001).

Conclusions

BLA was associated with use of β-lactam alternative antibiotics but not DAOH180 among SOT recipients.
Explicating Agency: The Case of Visual Attention
Authors: Buehler Denis
Published: July 2022

How do individuals guide their activities towards some goal? Harry Frankfurt once identified the task of explaining guidance as the central problem in action theory. An explanation has proved to be elusive, however. In this paper, I show how we can marshal empirical research to make explanatory progress. I contend that human agents have a primitive capacity to guide visual attention, and that this capacity is actually constituted by a sub-individual psychological control-system: the executive system. I thus illustrate how we can explain exercises of individual-level guidance by appeal to its sub-individual constitution. This opens up a new avenue for explicating agency.
Mechanization of scalar field theory in 1+1 dimensions
Authors: Blaschke Filip , Karpíšek Ondřej Nicolas
Published: July 2022

“Mechanization” is a procedure of replacing a scalar field in 1+1 dimensions with a piecewise linear function, i.e. a finite graph consisting of N joints (vertices) and straight segments (edges). As a result, the field theory is approximated by a sequence of algebraically tractable, general-purpose collective coordinate mechanical models. We observe the step-by-step emergence of dynamical objects and associated phenomena as N increases. “Mech-kinks” and “mech-oscillons”—mechanical analogs of kinks and oscillons (bions)—appear in the simplest models, while more intricate dynamical patterns, such as the bouncing phenomenon and bion pair-production, emerge gradually as decay states of high-N mech-oscillons.
Anti-melanoma effect and action mechanism of a novel chitosan-based composite hydrogel containing hydroxyapatite nanoparticles
Authors: Xu Kejia , Wang Yifu , Xie Yao , Zhang Xiaoyan , Chen Wei , Li Zhongtao , Wang Tingting , Yang Xiao , Guo Bo , Wang Lin , Zhu Xiangdong , Zhang Xingdong
Published: July 2022

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (HANPs) have been increasingly regarded and reported due to their potential anti-tumor ability. Previously, we found that the rod-like HANPs had good application potential for cutaneous melanoma (CMM). To satisfy the actual requirements in repairing post-operative skin defects and inhibiting CMM recurrence after tumorectomy, we constructed a novel chitosan/alginate (CS/Alg) hydrogel containing the aforementioned HANPs. The in vitro cell experiments confirmed that activated mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis was tightly related to the anti-tumor ability of HANPs. Specifically, we further discovered several target proteins might be involved in abnormal activating Wnt, proteoglycans in cancer, oxidative phosphorylation and p53 signaling pathways. The in vivo animal experiments demonstrated that the HANPs-loaded CS/Alg hydrogel (CS/Alg/HANPs) had a similar effect on inhibiting tumor growth as HANPs, and CS/Alg hydrogel as well as phosphate buffered saline (PBS) group (control) not showed any effect, proving the key role of HANPs. The immunohistochemical staining demonstrated a tumor inhibition via the mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway, consistent with the in vitro evaluation. Moreover, CS/Alg/HANPs exhibited no additional biosafety risk to the functions of major organs. Overall, this CS/Alg/HANPs hydrogel has substantial application potential for treating CMM.
Design of functional biomaterials as substrates for corneal endothelium tissue engineering
Authors: Bosch Begona M , Bosch-Rue Elia , Perpiñan-Blasco Marina , Perez Roman A
Published: July 2022

Corneal endothelium defects are one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. The actual treatment is transplantation, which requires the use of human cadaveric donors, but it faces several problems, such as global shortage of donors. Therefore, new alternatives are being developed and, among them, cell therapy has gained interest in the last years due to its promising results in tissue regeneration. Nevertheless, the direct administration of cells may sometimes have limited success due to the immune response, hence requiring the combination with extracellular mimicking materials. In this review, we present different methods to obtain corneal endothelial cells from diverse cell sources such as pluripotent or multipotent stem cells. Moreover, we discuss different substrates in order to allow a correct implantation as a cell sheet and to promote an enhanced cell behavior. For this reason, natural or synthetic matrixes that mimic the native environment have been developed. These matrixes have been optimized in terms of their physicochemical properties, such as stiffness, topography, composition and transparency. To further enhance the matrixes properties, these can be tuned by incorporating certain molecules that can be delivered in a sustained manner in order to enhance biological behavior. Finally, we elucidate future directions for corneal endothelial regeneration, such as 3D printing, in order to obtain patient-specific substrates.