bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrated system of traditional THz time-domain spectroscopy and asynchronous optical sampling
Authors: Ding Jing , Meng Qing-Hao , Shen Yan , Ding Chen-Xin , Su Bo , Cui Hai-Lin , Zhang Cun-Lin
Published: September 2022

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) system, as a new means of spectral analysis and detection, plays an increasingly pivotal role in basic scientific research. However, owing to the long scanning time of the traditional THz-TDS system and the complex control of the asynchronous optical scanning (ASOPS) system, which requires frequent calibration, we combine traditional THz-TDS and ASOPS systems to form a composite system and propose an all-fiber trigger signal generation method based on the time overlapping interference signal generated by the collinear motion of two laser pulses. Finally, the time-domain and frequency-domain spectra are obtained by using two independent systems in the integrated systems. It is found that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the time-domain spectra and the spectral width of the frequency-domain spectra are almost the same, but the sampling speed of the ASOPS system is significantly faster than that of the traditional THz-TDS system, which conduces to the study of the transient characteristics of substances.
New Apsidal Motion in Four Eccentric Eclipsing Binaries: V610 Car, V944 Cep, V2815 Ori and V1260 Tau
Authors: Bulut Ahmet
Published: September 2022

This paper presents an apsidal motion analysis. The apsidal motion analysis of the eccentric eclipsing binaries V610 Car (P = 4.84 days), V944 Cep (P = 6.56 days), V2815 Ori (P = 2.13 days), and V1260 Tau (P = 5.43 days) was performed using minima times from the O−C Gateway database, ASAS-3, ASAS-SN, and TESS, following Lacy's approach. The rates of change of periastron longitude were found to be 0.0253 ± 0.0041, 0.0347 ± 0.0015, 0.0288 ± 0.0010 and 0.0294 ± 0.°0079 cycle−1, respectively. From the light curve study, the first photometric mass ratio of V944 Cep was found to be q = 1.4994 ± 0.0012. A new light curve of V944 Cep was obtained using TESS data. The first absolute dimensions of V944 Cep were M
1 = 1.10 ± 0.01 M
⊙, M
2 = 1.64 ± 0.02 M
⊙, R
1 = 2.04 ± 0.37 R
⊙, R
2 = 3.77 ± 0.67 R
⊙ for the hotter primary component (T
1 = 4925 K), and M
1 = 1.04 ± 0.01 M
⊙, M
2 = 1.57 ± 0.02 M
⊙, R
1 = 2.26 ± 0.36 R
⊙, R
2 = 3.74 ± 0.59 R
⊙ for the cooler primary component (T
1 = 4475 K). For V610 Car, V944 Cep, V2815 Ori and V1260 Tau, the apsidal motion periods were found to be 188 ± 26 yr, 186 ± 8 yr, 73 ± 3 yr and 182 ± 38 yr, respectively. For V944 Cep, the internal structural constants of the component stars

log

k2,obs = −2.05 ± 0.01 and

log

k2,theo = −1.83 for hotter primary component and

log

k2,obs = −1.97 ± 0.01 and

log

k2,theo = −1.89 for cooler primary component were calculated.
Climate clubs and carbon border adjustments: a review
Authors: Overland Indra , Sadaqat Huda Mirza
Published: September 2022

Nobel Memorial Prize winner William Nordhaus and others have proposed a climate club as the ultimate climate-mitigation measure. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) is pressing on with the creation of a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) that would put pressure on the rest of the world to introduce the same level of carbon pricing as the EU. There are strong linkages between the concepts of a climate club and CBAM. However, the EU long studiously avoided referring to a climate club in its official communication, and the relationship between the two concepts remains unclear. This study seeks to clarify the relationship through a systematic review of the climate club and carbon border adjustment literatures to highlight synergies and contradictions, reduce fragmentation, and increase actionability. A tailored Boolean search string is used to extract relevant literature, which is then categorised along eight parameters. The VOSviewer network analysis and visualisation software is used to examine cross-citations and bibliographic coupling. The review finds that there are connections between the objectives, methods and concerns of the two branches of literature but that there are divergences in terms of conceptual roots, disciplinary frames and the views that authors take of CBAM/a climate club. Only 7% of the studies relate to international relations theory. Several large emitters, geopolitically important states and developing countries are ignored by the literature. Although the cooperation/resistance of Asian countries will be decisive for the fate of any climate club initiative, only 15% of authors are based in Asia and Western scholars dominate the field. A five-pronged research agenda is proposed to address the identified gaps: enhanced interaction between the fields of research, coverage of a broader range of countries, additional analysis by Asia-based researchers, more contributions from political science and international relations scholars and further work on how to calculate tariffs.
The persistence of household energy insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Konisky David M , Carley Sanya , Graff Michelle , Memmott Trevor
Published: September 2022

This study analyzes household energy insecurity in the United States during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research is limited by mostly cross-sectional research designs that do not allow scholars to study the persistency of this specific type of material hardship. We fill this gap by analyzing data from an original, nationally-representative, panel survey of low-income households. We find high levels of energy insecurity during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the initial months when the economic dislocation was at its height, and that many low-income households experienced it on multiple occasions during this period. We also identify disparities: households with people of color, very low-income, children aged five years and younger, with someone who relies on an electronic medical device, and those living in deficient housing conditions were more likely to experience energy insecurity. Households with these characteristics were also more likely to suffer from energy insecurity on a persistent basis through the first year of the pandemic.
Semiclassical energy transition of driven chaotic systems: phase coherence on scar disks
Authors: Ozorio de Almeida Alfredo M
Published: September 2022

A trajectory segment in an energy shell, which combines to form a closed curve with a segment in another canonically driven energy shell, adds an oscillatory semiclassical contribution to the smooth classical background of the quantum probability density for a transition between their energies. If either segment is part of a Bohr-quantized periodic orbit of either shell, the centre of its endpoints lies on a scar disk of the spectral Wigner function for a single static energy shell and the contribution to the transition is reinforced by phase coherence. The exact representation of the transition density as an integral over spectral Wigner functions, which was previously derived for the special case where the system undergoes a reflection in phase space, is here generalized to arbitrary unitary transformations. If these are generated continuously by a driving Hamiltonian, there will be a finite lapse in the driving time for the transition to start, until the initially nested shells touch each other and then start to overlap.The stationary phase evaluation of the multidimensional integral for the transition density selects the pair of matching trajectory segments on each shell, which close to form a piecewise smooth compound orbit. Each compound orbit shows up as a fixed point of a product of mappings, that generalize Poincaré maps, on the intersection of the shells. Thus, the closed compound orbits are isolated if the original Hamiltonian is chaotic. The actions of the compound orbits depend on the driving time, or on any other parameter of the transformation of the original eigenstates.
Energy transitions driven by phase space reflection operators
Authors: Ozorio de Almeida Alfredo M
Published: September 2022

Phase space reflection operators lie at the core of the Wigner–Weyl representation of density operators and observables. The role of the corresponding classical reflections is known in the construction of semiclassical approximations to Wigner functions of pure eigenstates and their coarsegrained microcanonical superpositions, which are not restricted to classically integrable systems. In their active role as unitary operators, they generate transitions between pairs of eigenstates specified by transition Wigner functions (or cross-Wigner functions): the square modulus of the transition Wigner function at each point in phase space is the transition probability for the reflection through that point.

Coarsegraining the initial and final energies provides a transition probability density as a phase space path integral. It is here investigated in the simplest classical approximation involving microcanonical Wigner functions. A reflection operator generates a transition between a pair of energy shells with a probability density given by the integral of the inverse modulus of a Poisson bracket over the intersection of a shell with the reflection of its pair. The singularity of the pair of Wigner functions at their dominant caustics is nicely integrable over their intersection, except for a single degree of freedom. Even though this case is not directly relevant for future investigations of chaotic systems, it is shown here how the improved approximation of the spectral Wigner functions in terms of Airy functions resolves the singularity.
An optical-digital method of noise suppression in digital holography
Authors: Cheremkhin Pavel A , Evtikhiev Nikolay N , Kozlov Alexander V , Krasnov Vitaly V , Rodin Vladislav G , Starikov Rostislav S
Published: September 2022

Digital holography is widely used for the fast and accurate reconstruction of objects and three-dimensional (3D)-scene characteristics, such as intensity, depth locations, density, temperature, refractive index, etc. There are various types of noise in digital holography, including speckle noise, zero order and twin image, camera shot noise, and fixed-pattern noise. Therefore, additional hologram processing is required to obtain a high-quality reconstructed image. This paper proposes an optical-digital method of noise suppression in digital holography. First, a set of uncorrelated holograms is registered. The reconstructed images are treated as a 3D array, to which a 3D filter is then applied. A 3D median filter is used in this study; however, other 3D filters based on weighted averages can also be utilized. The proposed method is verified using computer-generated and optically registered digital Fresnel holograms. Even with a small number of images, the method significantly improves the quality: the normalized standard deviation was decreased by up to 3–10 times and the speckle contrast was reduced by more than six times. Registration of only ten holograms is sufficient to obtain a quality close to the maximum. The flexibility of the proposed method allows the ratio of the reconstruction quality to be varied according to the processing time.
Enhanced synthesis of Mg(OH)2 hexagonal nanosheets using Mg powder and H2O2 solution and an observation of its NH3 sensing behaviour at room temperature
Authors: Vuong Dang Duc , Ung Le Tung , Nghi Nguyen Thanh , Phuoc Luong Huu , Khoa Cao Tien , Hien Vu Xuan , Chien Nguyen Duc
Published: September 2022

Magnesium is one of the most common metals in the Earth’s crust, so Mg(OH)2 nanomaterials made directly from magnesium metal have a wide range of applications. Mg(OH)2 nanosheets can be synthesised directly from Mg powder and H2O2 solution below 200 °C. The thickness of these plates decreases as the sample processing temperature increases. The optical bandgap of the synthesised samples ranges from 5.0 eV to 5.7 eV. At 25 °C, the synthesised Mg(OH)2 nanosheets could detect NH3 gas. The gas sensing mechanism was proposed and discussed, where the Mg(OH)2/H2O structure was considered a p-type semiconductor with the carrier of H3O+. The effects of parameters, such as working temperature and ambient humidity, on the electrical resistance and gas sensing properties of the Mg(OH)2 nanosheets were investigated. The NH3 sensing properties of these materials at room temperature were also compared with those of other nanomaterials.
Synthesis and characterisation of Fe3O4/MWCNT/ZnO nanocomposites covered by a soft template as a new antibacterial agent
Authors: Ulfawanti Intan Subadra ST , Taufiq Ahmad , Sunaryono Sunaryono , Hidayat Arif , Mufti Nandang , Susanto Hendra , Effendi Muhammad Chair
Published: September 2022

This study successfully developed a new antibacterial agent based on Fe3O4/MWCNT/ZnO nanocomposites prepared using diethylamine as a soft template. The prepared samples were characterised using x-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and antibacterial tests by the diffusion method. The results of the data analysis showed that Fe3O4/MWCNT/ZnO nanocomposites were composed of Fe3O4, MWCNT, ZnO with inverse cubic spinel, hexagonal, and hexagonal wurtzite structures, respectively. The nanocomposite particles tended to agglomerate and their size decreased with increasing volume of added diethylamine in the range of ∼23–26 nm. The nanocomposites remain stable even after being stored for more than 3 years. The nanocomposites had superparamagnetic properties with saturation magnetisation values of 24 to 31 emu g−1 and band gap values of 2.96 to 2.99 eV. The diameters of the bacterial inhibition zone of the nanocomposites were 12.57–20.38 mm, 14.25–17.25 mm, and 14.63–16.38 mm against E. coli, S. aureus, and B. subtilis, respectively. Therefore, the combination of Fe3O4, MWCNT, ZnO, and diethylamine with natural base materials such as iron sand has good potential to develop new antibacterial agents.
Effect of surfactant and etching time on p-type porous silicon formation through potentiostatic anodization
Authors: Zeb Gul , Le Xuan Tuan
Published: September 2022

Electrochemical anodization provides the scalability required for structuring porous silicon (PSi) layers for mass production; hence, new and feasible processes are highly sought-after. We investigate the effect of surfactant (additive) and etching time on the morphology of PSi matrix in a simplistic two-electrode anodization cell using aqueous HF electrolyte. Instead of the conventional galvanostatic mode (constant current density), we use the rarely reported technique of potentiostatic anodization (constant applied potential) for engineering PSi surface morphology. We demonstrate that under a constant applied potential, channel-like morphology, pyramids or well-ordered macropores are easily achieved through either increasing the processing time or adding a small amount of surfactant into the electrolyte. Our results provide better understanding of the mechanism underlying the formation of PSi and propose a practical solution for obtaining application-specific macrostructure of PSi.
Microstructure and texture evolution of ultra-thin high grade non-oriented silicon steel used in new energy vehicle
Authors: Fan Lifeng , Zhu Yaxian , Yue Erbin , He Jianzhong , Sun Li
Published: September 2022

The evolutions of microstructure and texture of ultra-thin high-grade non-oriented silicon steel for new energy vehicles were investigated in this paper, and the formation mechanism of typical recrystallized α*-fiber texture was described. The results show that: The microstructure of the hot rolled plate was inhomogeneous along the thickness direction because of the shear force and temperature gradient, resulting in the texture in each layer of the hot rolled plate appearing rotational distribution around the Goss orientation. After normalizing, the fully recrystallized microstructure was obtained, and α*-fiber texture was formed. Banded structure was obtained in the cold rolled sheet, with α-fiber texture {114}〈110〉 dominated. The typical α*-fiber texture was formed after annealing recrystallization, which mainly consist of {114}<481 > and {113}<361>. The {114}<481 > oriented grains were mainly nucleated within the deformed {114}<110 > grains and at the grain boundaries of α-fiber deformed grains, and without size, quantity and strength advantages. {111}<112 > is dominated in the early stage of recrystallization, but {114}<481 > became the main texture with size, strength and quantitative advantages in the late stage of recrystallization.
Roadmap on biomaterials for women’s health
Authors: Fogg Kaitlin , Tseng Ning-Hsuan , Peyton Shelly R , Holeman Pieper , Mc Loughlin Shannon , Fisher John P , Sutton Allison , Shikanov Ariella , Gnecco Juan S , Knight Katrina M , Slaby Emily M , Weaver Jessica D , Hashemi Nicole N , Zhang Yali , House Michael D , Vogt Brandon J , Aguado Brian A , Bradford John C , Robinson Jennifer L , Thomas Patricia K , Lau Anthony G , Oyen Michelle L
Published: September 2022

The application of engineering tools and techniques to studying women’s health, including biomaterials-based approaches, is a research field experiencing robust growth. Biomaterials are natural or synthetic materials used to repair or replace damaged tissues or organs or replicate an organ’s physiological function. However, in addition to in vivo applications, there has been substantial recent interest in biomaterials for in vitro systems. Such artificial tissues and organs are employed in drug discovery, functional cell biological investigations, and basic research that would be ethically impossible to conduct in living women. This Roadmap is a collection of 11 sections written by leading and up-and-coming experts in this field who review and discuss four aspects of biomaterials for women’s health. These include conditions that disproportionately but not exclusively affect women (e.g. breast cancer), conditions unique to female reproductive organs, in both non-pregnant and pregnant states, and sex differences in non-reproductive tissues (e.g. the cardiovascular system). There is a strong need to develop this exciting field, with the potential to materially influence women’s lives worldwide.
EIT for tactile sensing: considering artefacts in hyperparameter selection
Authors: Smela Elisabeth
Published: September 2022

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is employed in tactile sensing to create an image of impedance changes within a continuous sensor using electrodes placed only at the perimeter. Noise destabilizes EIT images, and the onset of instability is associated with the appearance of artefacts, which are spurious image features that are not associated with sensor responses to contacts. Artefacts are detrimental because the essential features of contacts, or targets, must be correctly represented, including how many there are and their approximate shapes and locations, yet their presence has not previously been used as a performance measure. Regularization, the extent of which is determined by the hyperparameter λ, is used to manage the destabilization, but it results in spatially non-uniform defocusing of image features. We therefore introduce an efficient criterion for evaluating tactile sensor image quality based on the onset of artefacts. Using simulated data and the one-step Gauss-Newton reconstruction algorithm with the Laplace prior, the noise level at which artefacts first appear at a given hyperparameter, or noise threshold Nth(λ), was found. How the relationship depends on target characteristics and other factors is shown, and Nth can vary by orders of magnitude. The conceptually similar BestRes method and the classical L-curve and generalized cross-validation (GCV) methods for determining an optimal hyperparameter are evaluated using the criterion of artefact-free images. The L-curve generates hyperparameters that are well matched to the onset of artefacts, except at high noise; the other two result in artefacts. For high dynamic range tactile inputs, setting the threshold at a fixed value using a method such as Nth is not advisable, and automatic regularization tailored to the input may be needed using a method such as the L-curve or GCV, provided that the computational overhead is tolerable.
Imaging with Raman photons: a novel use of mixed-mode spectroscopy
Authors: Prajapati K N , Nair Anoop A , Fernandes Jervis , Silva S Ravi P , Mitra J
Published: September 2022

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy is today an established technique used for chemical fingerprinting. Here, we showcase an engineered hierarchical substrate, in which the plasmonically active regions, restricted to a micron scale, two dimensional hexagonal pattern are examined. Spatial variation of the enhanced Raman signal from any analyte, uniformly coating the substrate, consequently bears a high registry with the underlying pattern. This spatially contrasted enhancement allows optical imaging of the 2D pattern solely using the Raman scattered photons from the analyte. While the pattern brightness and contrast determine analyte identification and detection sensitivity, hyperspectral imaging can be exploited for increasing specificity. Proof of concept demonstration of the technique is carried out via the acquisition of Raman images with rhodamine and fluorescein dyes and then applied to detect glucose in 40 mM concentration. The large area optical imaging and the requirement of long-range uniformity in the detected patterns for positive analyte detection, is implemented using a machine learning based pattern recognition protocol which also increases the statistical confidence of detection. This simultaneous, large area signal detection sacrifices continuous spectral information at the cost of speed, reproducibility and minimising human error via automation of detection in the hyperspectral imaging technique presented here.
Acoustic scene analysis using analog spiking neural network
Authors: Mukhopadhyay Anand Kumar , Naligala Moses Prabhakar , Duggisetty Divya Lakshmi , Chakrabarti Indrajit , Sharad Mrigank
Published: September 2022

Sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network for security surveillance applications should preferably be small, energy-efficient, and inexpensive with in-sensor computational abilities. An appropriate data processing scheme in the sensor node reduces the power dissipation of the transceiver through the compression of information to be communicated. This study attempted a simulation-based analysis of human footstep sound classification in natural surroundings using simple time-domain features. The spiking neural network (SNN), a computationally low-weight classifier derived from an artificial neural network (ANN), was used to classify acoustic sounds. The SNN and required feature extraction schemes are amenable to low-power subthreshold analog implementation. The results show that all analog implementations of the proposed SNN scheme achieve significant power savings over the digital implementation of the same computing scheme and other conventional digital architectures using frequency-domain feature extraction and ANN-based classification. The algorithm is tolerant of the impact of process variations, which are inevitable in analog design, owing to the approximate nature of the data processing involved in such applications. Although SNN provides low-power operation at the algorithm level, ANN to SNN conversion leads to an unavoidable loss of classification accuracy of ∼5%. We exploited the low-power operation of the analog processing SNN module by applying redundancy and majority voting, which improved the classification accuracy, taking it close to the ANN model.
Activation Versus Change as a Principle Underlying Intervention Strategies to Promote Health Behaviors
Authors: Sheeran Paschal , Suls Jerry , Bryan Angela , Cameron Linda , Ferrer Rebecca A , Klein William M P , Rothman Alexander J
Published: September 2022

Background and Purpose

Interventions are effective in promoting health behavior change to the extent that (a) intervention strategies modify targets (i.e., mechanisms of action), and (b) modifying targets leads to changes in behavior. To complement taxonomies that characterize the variety of strategies used in behavioral interventions, we outline a new principle that specifies how strategies modify targets and thereby promote behavior change. We distinguish two dimensions of targets—value (positive vs. negative) and accessibility (activation level)—and show that intervention strategies operate either by altering the value of what people think, feel, or want (target change) or by heightening the accessibility of behavior-related thoughts, feelings, and goals (target activation).

Methods and Results

We review strategies designed to promote target activation and find that nudges, cue-reminders, goal priming, the question-behavior effect, and if-then planning are each effective in generating health behavior change, and that their effectiveness accrues from heightened accessibility of relevant targets. We also identify several other strategies that may operate, at least in part, via target activation (e.g., self-monitoring, message framing, anticipated regret inductions, and habits).

Conclusions

The Activation Vs. Change Principle (AVCP) offers a theoretically grounded and parsimonious means of distinguishing among intervention strategies. By focusing on how strategies modify targets, the AVCP can aid interventionists in deciding which intervention strategies to deploy and how to combine different strategies in behavioral trials. We outline a research agenda that could serve to further enhance the design and delivery of interventions to promote target activation.
In vivo neuroimaging evidence of hypothalamic alteration in Prader–Willi syndrome
Authors: Brown Stephanie S G , Manning Katherine E , Fletcher Paul , Holland Anthony
Published: September 2022

Prader–Willi syndrome is a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder with an early phenotype characterized by neonatal hypotonia, failure to thrive, and immature genitalia. The onset of hyperphagia in childhood and developmental, physical and neuropsychiatric characteristics indicate atypical brain development and specifically hypothalamic dysfunction. Whether the latter is a consequence of disruption of hypothalamic pathways for genetic reasons or due to a failure of hypothalamic development remains uncertain. Twenty participants with Prader–Willi syndrome, 40 age-matched controls and 42 obese participants underwent structural MRI scanning. The whole hypothalamus and its subnuclei were segmented from structural acquisitions. The Food-Related Problem Questionnaire was used to provide information relating to eating behaviour. All hypothalamic nuclei were significantly smaller in the Prader–Willi group, compared with age and gender matched controls (P < 0.01) with the exception of the right anterior–inferior nucleus (P = 0.07). Lower whole hypothalamus volume was significantly associated with higher body mass index in Prader–Willi syndrome (P < 0.05). Increased preoccupation with food was associated with lower volumes of the bilateral posterior nuclei and left tubular superior nucleus. The whole hypothalamus and all constituent nuclei were also smaller in Prader–Willi syndrome compared with obese participants (P < 0.001). Connectivity profiles of the hypothalamus revealed that fractional anisotropy was associated with impaired satiety in Prader–Willi syndrome (P < 0.05). We establish that hypothalamic structure is significantly altered in Prader–Willi syndrome, demonstrating that hypothalamic dysfunction linked to eating behaviour is likely neurodevelopmental in nature and furthermore, distinctive compared with obesity in the general population.
Qualitative Subgenomic RNA to Monitor the Response to Remdesivir in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019: Impact on the Length of Hospital Stay and Mortality
Authors: Alonso-Navarro Rodrigo , Cuesta Genoveva , Santos Marta , Cardozo Celia , Rico Verónica , Garcia-Pouton Nicole , Tuset Montse , Bodro Marta , Morata Laura , Puerta-Alcalde Pedro , Herrera Sabina , Soria Dafne , Aldea Marta , Mensa Josep , Martínez José Antonio , del Rio Ana , Vila Jordi , Garcia Felipe , Garcia-Vidal Carolina , Marcos M Angeles , Soriano Alex
Published: September 2022

Background

There is no reliable microbiological marker to guide the indication and the response to antiviral treatment in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to evaluate the dynamics of subgenomic RNA (sgRNA) in patients with COVID-19 before and after receiving treatment with remdesivir.

Methods

We included consecutive patients admitted for COVID-19 who received remdesivir according to our institutional protocol and accepted to participate in the study. A nasopharyngeal swab for quantitative reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was collected at baseline and after 3 and 5 days of treatment with remdesivir. Genomic and sgRNA were analyzed in those samples and main comorbidities and evolution were collected for the analyses. The main outcomes were early discharge (≤10 days) and 30-day mortality.

Results

A total of 117 patients were included in the study, of whom 24 had a negative sgRNA at baseline, with 62.5% (15/24) receiving early discharge (≤10 days) and no deaths in this group. From the 93 remaining patients, 62 had a negative sgRNA at day 5 with 37/62 (59.6%) with early discharge and a mortality rate of 4.8% (3/62). In the subgroup of 31 patients with positive sgRNA after 5 days of remdesivir, the early discharge rate was 29% (9/31) and the mortality rate was 16.1% (5/31). In multivariable analyses, the variables associated with early discharge were negative sgRNA at day 3 and not needing treatment with corticosteroids or intensive care unit admission.

Conclusions

Qualitative sgRNA could help in monitoring the virological response in patients who receive remdesivir. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Diabetic cardiomyopathy: the need for adjusting experimental models to meet clinical reality
Authors: Lezoualc’h Frank , Badimon Lina , Baker Hana , Bernard Monique , Czibik Gabor , de Boer Rudolf A , D’Humières Thomas , Kergoat Micheline , Kowala Mark , Rieusset Jennifer , Vilahur Gemma , Détrait Maximin , Watson Chris , Derumeaux Geneviève A
Published: September 2022

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (CM), occurring in the absence of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and valvular or congenital heart disease, is now recognized as a distinct, multifactorial disease leading to ventricular hypertrophy and abnormal myocardial contractility that correlates with an array of complex molecular and cellular changes. Animal models provide the unique opportunity to investigate mechanistic aspects of diabetic CM, but important caveats exist when extrapolating findings obtained from preclinical models of diabetes to humans. Indeed, animal models do not recapitulate the complexity of environmental factors, most notably the duration of the exposure to insulin resistance that may play a crucial role in the development of diabetic CM. Moreover, most preclinical studies are performed in animals with uncontrolled or poorly controlled diabetes, whereas patients tend to undergo therapeutic intervention. Finally, whilst type 2 diabetes mellitus prevalence trajectory mainly increases at 40- < 75 years (with a currently alarming increase at younger ages, however), it is a legitimate concern how closely rodent models employing young animals recapitulate the disease developing in old people. The aim of this review is to identify the current limitations of rodent models and to discuss how future mechanistic and preclinical studies should integrate key confounding factors to better mimic the diabetic CM phenotype.
Dose-dependent relationship of blood pressure and glycaemic status with risk of aortic dissection and aneurysm
Authors: Suzuki Yuta , Kaneko Hidehiro , Yano Yuichiro , Okada Akira , Itoh Hidetaka , Ueno Kensuke , Matsuoka Satoshi , Fujiu Katsuhito , Michihata Nobuaki , Jo Taisuke , Takeda Norifumi , Morita Hiroyuki , Yokota Isao , Node Koichi , Yasunaga Hideo , Komuro Issei
Published: September 2022

Aims

Data on the dose-dependent association of blood pressure (BP) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level with the risk of aortic dissection (AD) and aortic aneurysm (AA) are limited.

Methods and results

This observational cohort study included 3 358 293 individuals registered in a health checkup and claims database in Japan [median age, 43 (36–51) years; 57.2% men]. Individuals using BP- or glucose-lowering medications or those with a history of cardiovascular disease were excluded. In a mean follow-up period of 1 199 ± 950 days, 1 095 and 2 177 cases of AD and AA, respectively, were recorded. Compared with normal/elevated BP, hazard ratios (HRs) of Stage 1 and Stage 2 hypertension were 1.89 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.60–2.22] and 5.87 (95% CI: 5.03–6.84) for AD and 1.37 (95% CI: 1.23–1.52) and 2.17 (95% CI: 1.95–2.42) for AA, respectively. Compared with normal FPG level, HRs of prediabetes and diabetes were 0.82 (95% CI: 0.71–0.94) and 0.48 (95% CI: 0.33–0.71) for AD and 0.94 (95% CI: 0.85–1.03) and 0.61 (95% CI: 0.47–0.79) for AA, respectively. The cubic spline demonstrated that the risk of AD and AA increased with increasing BP but decreased with increasing FPG level. Contour plots using generalized additive models showed that higher systolic BP and lower FPG level were associated with an elevated risk of AD and AA.

Conclusions

Our analysis showed a dose-dependent increase in the risk of AD or AA associated with BP and a similar decrease associated with FPG, and also suggested a potential interaction between hypertension and hyperglycaemia in the development of AD and AA.
Trans*versal Afterlives of Comedy: The Queer Arab Plays of Raphaël Amahl Khouri
Authors: Fernández-Carbajal Alberto
Published: September 2022

This article explores No Matter Where I Go and She He Me, two plays by Raphaël Amahl Khouri, a contemporary queer and trans playwright of Arab and German heritage. After charting the histories of comedy and Arab theatre, it examines the dialogue of the two plays with Greco-Roman, Arab and German avant-garde theatre through Abraham Weil’s notion of trans*versality, a queer reformulation of Félix Guattari’s concept. It proposes that Khouri’s plays enact trans*versality thematically, by depicting characters of various gender identities and sexual orientations, and aesthetically, in their eclectic deployment of dramatic conventions from various cultural traditions. It is argued that Khouri’s comedies outgrow a Eurocentric understanding of what constitutes ‘theatre’, while they also shed light on the specific intersection of trans and queer gender identities, sexual orientations and Arab identities in a world that is keen to erase or ignore these anti-normative subject positions.
Visual Collective Memories of National Socialism: Transatlantic HIV/AIDS Activism and Discourses of Persecutions
Authors: Tremblay Sébastien
Published: September 2022

Focusing on Bavarian policies and analysing the pages of gay and lesbian written-communication networks, this article demonstrates how a memory of the national socialist persecution of homosexualities fed a collective fear of state repression in homosexual circles in the 1980s and 1990s. It argues that comparisons between HIV/AIDS policies and National Socialism not only originated in a German national context, but were also anchored in a transatlantic story, linking queer emancipation movements in Europe and North America. It furthermore underlines how this history of queer political thought goes beyond the textual. In order to make this claim, the article traces a genealogy of the Pink Triangle in the northern transatlantic world. The symbol was originally used to brand non-heteronormative men in concentration camps, but it was recuperated in the 1970s both in Europe and in North America. AIDS activists reinterpreted the symbol for a new political context in the 1980s. All in all, using examples and analysis emanating from queer history, the article shows how the history of social movements needs to be understood in a global perspective. This analysis further proves the role of images and symbols as third idioms for the flow and translation of ideas across the Atlantic.
Associations Between Objectively Measured Sleep and Cognition: Main Effects and Interactions With Race in Adults Aged ≥50 Years
Authors: Owusu Jocelynn T , Rabinowitz Jill A , Tzuang Marian , An Yang , Kitner-Triolo Melissa , Zipunnikov Vadim , Wu Mark N , Wanigatunga Sarah K , Schrack Jennifer A , Thorpe Roland J , Simonsick Eleanor M , Ferrucci Luigi , Resnick Susan M , Spira Adam P
Published: September 2022

Background

This study examined associations of actigraphy-estimated sleep parameters with concurrent and future cognitive performance in adults aged ≥ 50 years and explored interactions with race.

Methods

Participants were 435 cognitively normal adults in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who completed wrist actigraphy at baseline (mean = 6.6 nights) and underwent longitudinal testing of memory, attention, executive function, language, and visuospatial ability. On average, participants with follow-up data were followed for 3.1 years. Primary predictors were baseline mean total sleep time, sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency (SE), and wake after sleep onset (WASO). Fully adjusted linear mixed-effects models included demographics, baseline health-related characteristics, smoking status, sleep medication use, APOE e4 carrier status, and interactions of each covariate with time.

Results

In adjusted models, higher SE (per 10%; B = 0.11, p = .012) and lower WASO (per 30 minutes; B = −0.12, p = .007) were associated with better memory cross-sectionally. In contrast, higher SE was associated with greater visuospatial ability decline longitudinally (B = −0.02, p = .004). Greater WASO was associated with poorer visuospatial ability cross-sectionally (B = −0.09, p = .019) but slower declines in visuospatial abilities longitudinally (B = 0.02, p = .002). Several sleep-cognition cross-sectional and longitudinal associations were stronger in, or limited to, Black participants (compared to White participants).

Conclusions

This study suggests cross-sectional sleep-cognition associations differ across distinct objective sleep parameters and cognitive domains. This study also provides preliminary evidence for racial differences across some sleep-cognition relationships. Unexpected directions of associations between baseline sleep and cognitive performance over time may be attributable to the significant proportion of participants without follow-up data and require further investigation.
Adjoint-based uncertainty quantification for inhomogeneous friction on a slow-slipping fault
Authors: Ito Shin-ichi , Kano Masayuki , Nagao Hiromichi
Published: September 2022

Long-term slow-slip events (LSSEs) usually occur on a fault existing at the deep, shallow parts of subducting plates and substantially relate to adjacent megathrust fault motions. The dynamics of the LSSE largely depend on the inhomogeneity of friction that occurs between the fault interfaces. Thus, it is crucial to estimate the spatial-dependent frictional features from the observations of the slip motion and subsequently identify essential parts that contribute to the principal slip motion by quantifying uncertainties involved in the estimates. Although quantifying the uncertainties of the frictional feature fields in high resolution is necessary to solve the task, conventional techniques of quantifying slow earthquake frictional features have not yet achieved such uncertainty quantification (UQ) due to the complexity of LSSE models such as the large dimensionality. We, therefore, propose a method of UQ for spatially inhomogeneous frictional features from slip motion based on a 4-D variational data assimilation technique using a second-order adjoint method. The proposed method enables us to conduct an accurate UQ even when the dimensionality is large. By combining a fault motion model that mimics slow-slip motion on an LSSE fault–megathrust fault complex in southwestern Japan and the data assimilation technique, we successfully quantified the spatial distribution of the uncertainty of the frictional features in high-resolution. The evaluated spatial distribution in high-resolution reveals the correlation between the dynamics of the slow-slip motion and the important components of the frictional features, which is a valuable information for designing observation systems. Findings from this study are expected to advance the theoretical foundation of applied seismic motion prediction techniques using slow-slip frictional features as stress metres for megaquakes, as well as to improve the understanding of the relationship between the slow-slip motion and frictional parameters of a fault.
Building on a human-centred, iterative, and agile co-design strategy to facilitate the availability of deep ocean data
Authors: LaScala-Gruenewald Diana E , Low Natalie H N , Barry James P , Brown Jennifer A , King Chad , Chavez Francisco P , Ruhl Henry A
Published: September 2022

Current information on the status and trends of ocean change is needed to support effective and responsive management, particularly for the deep ocean. Creating consistent, collaborative and actionable mechanisms is a key component of the Deep Ocean Observing Strategy, a program of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. Here, we share an iterative, agile, and human-centred approach to co-designing datastreams for deep-sea indicators that serves stakeholders, including US National Marine Sanctuaries, presented as a four-phase project roadmap initially focused on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and then generalized to other areas such as the US West Coast, offshore wind development areas, and managed marine spaces globally. Ongoing efforts to provide key physical, biogeochemical, biological, and ecosystem variables for California's Marine Protected Areas are informing this co-design process. We share lessons learned so far and present co-design as a useful tool for (1) assessing the availability of information from deep ecosystems, (2) ensuring interoperability, and (3) providing essential information on the status and trends of indicators. Documenting and sharing this co-design strategy and scalable four-phase roadmap will further the aims of DOOS and other initiatives, including the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative and Challenger 150.
Development of Host Immune Response to Bacteriophage in a Lung Transplant Recipient on Adjunctive Phage Therapy for a Multidrug-Resistant Pneumonia
Authors: Dan Jennifer M , Lehman Susan M , Al-kolla Rita , Penziner Samuel , Afshar Kamyar , Yung Gordon , Golts Eugene , Law Nancy , Logan Cathy , Kovach Zsuzsanna , Mearns Gill , Schooley Robert T , Aslam Saima , Crotty Shane
Published: September 2022

Bacteriophage therapy is the use of viruses to kill bacteria for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections. Little is known about the human immune response following phage therapy. We report the development of phage-specific CD4+ T cells alongside rising phage-specific immunoglobulin G and neutralizing antibodies in response to adjunctive bacteriophage therapy used to treat a multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia in a lung transplant recipient. Clinically, treatment was considered a success despite the development phage-specific immune responses.
Corn Snakes Show Consistent Sarcomere Length Ranges Across Muscle Groups and Ontogeny
Authors: Jurestovsky Derek J , Tingle Jessica L , Astley Henry C
Published: September 2022

The force-generating capacity of muscle depends upon many factors including the actin-myosin filament overlap due to the relative length of the sarcomere. Consequently, the force output of a muscle may vary throughout its range of motion, and the body posture allowing maximum force generation may differ even in otherwise similar species. We hypothesized that corn snakes would show an ontogenetic shift in sarcomere length range from being centered on the plateau of the length-tension curve in small individuals to being on the descending limb in adults. Sarcomere lengths across the plateau would be advantageous for locomotion, while the descending limb would be advantageous for constriction due to the increase in force as the coil tightens around the prey. To test this hypothesis, we collected sarcomere lengths from freshly euthanized corn snakes, preserving segments in straight and maximally curved postures, and quantifying sarcomere length via light microscopy. We dissected 7 muscles (spinalis, semispinalis, multifidus, longissimus dorsi, iliocostalis (dorsal and ventral), and levator costae) in an ontogenetic series of corn snakes (mass = 80–335 g) at multiple regions along the body (anterior, middle, and posterior). Our data shows all of the muscles analyzed are on the descending limb of the length-tension curve at rest across all masses, regions, and muscles analyzed, with muscles shortening onto or past the plateau when flexed. While these results are consistent with being advantageous for constriction at all sizes, there could also be unknown benefits of this sarcomere arrangement for locomotion or striking.
Convergence, Hemiplasy, and Correlated Evolution Impact Morphological Diversity Related to a Web-Less Lifestyle in the Two-Clawed Spiders
Authors: Azevedo Guilherme H F , Bougie Tierney , Carboni Martin , Hedin Marshal , Ramírez Martín J
Published: September 2022

Traits that independently evolve many times are important for testing hypotheses about correlated evolution and understanding the forces shaping biodiversity. However, population genetics processes can cause hemiplasies (traits determined by genes whose topologies do not match the species tree), leading to a false impression of convergence (homoplasy) and potentially misleading inferences of correlated evolution. Discerning between homoplasies and hemiplasies can be important in cases of rapid radiations and clades with many gene tree incongruences. Here, focusing on two-clawed spiders (Dionycha) and close relatives, we evaluate if the observed distribution of characters related to a web-less lifestyle could be better explained as synapomorphies, homoplasies, or hemiplasies. We find that, although there are several convergences, hemiplasies are also sometimes probable. We discuss how these hemiplasies could affect inferences about correlation and causal relationship of traits. Understanding when and where in the tree of life hemiplasy could have happened is important, preventing false inference of convergent evolution. Furthermore, this understanding can provide alternative hypotheses that can be tested with independent data. Using traits related to the climbing ability of spiders we show that, when hemiplasy is unlikely, adequate model testing can be used to better understand correlated evolution, and propose hypotheses to be tested using controlled behavioral and mechanical experiments.