bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Standing upper airway surgery: what can be done?
Authors: Cramp Philip
Published: May 2021

Performing a number of different upper respiratory tract surgeries in the standing sedated horse is advantageous because it improves accessibility and the anatomy is in a more appropriate location. Standing surgery avoids the risk of general anaesthesia, affording a significant advantage to the horse and owner. However, this has to be weighed up against the increased risk of performing surgery in the standing sedated horse to the surgeon and the rest of the surgery team. Often, specialist facilities and equipment are required as well as a more in-depth knowledge of the anatomy and the procedure, along with a move advanced skill set. This article describes the procedures of upper airway surgery that lend themselves to being performed in the standing sedated horse.
On the density of semisimple matrices in indefinite scalar product spaces
Authors: De la Cruz Ralph John , Saltenberger Philip
Published: May 2021

For an indefinite scalar product $[x,y]_B = x^HBy$ for $B= \pm B^H \in \mathbf{Gl}_n(\mathbb{C})$ on $\mathbb{C}^n \times \mathbb{C}^n$, it is shown that the set of diagonalizable matrices is dense in the set of all $B$-normal matrices. The analogous statement is also proven for the sets of $B$-selfadjoint, $B$-skewadjoint and $B$-unitary matrices.
3D-M3: high-spatial-resolution spectroscopy with extreme AO and 3D-printed micro-lenslets
Authors: Anagnos Theodoros , Trappen Mareike , Tiong Blaise C. Kuo , Feger Tobias , Yerolatsitis Stephanos , Harris Robert J. , Lozi Julien , Jovanovic Nemanja , Birks Tim A. , Vievard Sébastien , Guyon Olivier , Gris-Sánchez Itandehui , Leon-Saval Sergio G. , Norris Barnaby , Haffert Sebastiaan Y. , Hottinger Phillip , Blaicher Matthias , Xu Yilin , Betters Christopher H. , Koos Christian , Coutts David W. , Schwab Christian , Quirrenbach Andreas
Published: May 2021

By combining integral field spectroscopy with extreme adaptive optics, we are now able to resolve objects close to the diffraction limit of large telescopes, exploring new science cases. We introduce an integral field unit designed to couple light with a minimal plate scale from the SCExAO facility at NIR wavelengths to a single-mode spectrograph. The integral field unit has a 3D-printed micro-lens array on top of a custom single-mode multi-core fiber, to optimize the coupling of light into the fiber cores. We demonstrate the potential of the instrument via initial results from the first on-sky runs at the 8.2 m Subaru Telescope with a spectrograph using off-the-shelf optics, allowing for rapid development with low cost.
Fast structured illumination microscopy with a large dynamic measurement range
Authors: Han Chenhaolei , Tang Yan , Xie Zhongye , Liu Lei , Feng Jinhua , Hu Song
Published: May 2021

Fast structured illumination microscopy plays an important role in micro-nano detection due to the features of high accuracy, high efficiency, and excellent adaptability. The existing method utilizes the linear region of the axial modulation response curve (AMR), and by building the relationship between the modulation and the real height, achieves topography recovery. However, the traditional method is limited to narrow dynamic measurement range due to the linear region of the AMR being very short. In this paper, a double-differential fast structured illumination microscopy (DDFSIM) is proposed. By introducing two additional detectable branches for building the double-differential axial modulation response curve (DDAMR), the proposed method can obtain a large dynamic measurement range. In the measurement, three charge-coupled devices are respectively placed in and behind and before the focal plane to generate three axial modulation response curves. Three AMRs are used to set up the DDAMR, which has a large dynamic measurement range. Through simulation and experimental verification, the measurement range of DDFSIM is twice that of the conventional method under the same system parameters.
Developing highly efficient and electric-field-sensitive fiber-waveguide evanescent couplers
Authors: Cheng Zhang-Ying , Liu Xuan-Dong , Ma Le-Chen , Chen Ming
Published: May 2021

The slab-coupled optical fiber sensor (SCOS) is an innovative electric field detector with an ultrawide measuring range and a millimeter-level package size. The core sensing part of the SCOS is a fiber-waveguide evanescent coupler (FWEC) that directly determines the device’s main performance specifications. This paper presents an investigation of the spectrum characteristics of FWECs with various structural and curing parameters. Methods for fabricating an FWEC with higher resonant depth, narrower free spectral range, and sharper spectrum slope are determined based on the experimental results. Z-cut lithium-niobate FWEC and Z-cut lithium-tantalate FWEC of about

1

×

0.5

×

0.3

m
m

3

are fabricated on this basis. Excellent coupling characteristics are achieved in both, according to the relevant spectra. Electric field tests indicate that the peak wavelengths shift linearly with the external AC field amplitude by 0.11 nm/(kV/cm) and 0.24 nm/(kV/cm), respectively. Three optimization methods are proposed to enhance performance: optimizing material selection, adding an antenna structure, and adjusting the calibration method. The results of this work may provide workable guidance for developing miniature, all-dielectric electric field sensors.
Quantification of closed cracks in railway using eddy current pulsed thermography
Authors: Yin Hui , Peng Jianping , Zhang Xiang , Tian Kang , Zhang Yu , Guo Jianqiang
Published: May 2021

Rolling contact fatigue cracks are a common source of various rail defects. When such
defects occur, crack closure is caused due to interaction forces
between wheels and rails during train running. In this study, eddy
current pulsed thermography was applied for quantitative closed crack
detection based on the isotherm analysis of temperature distributions.
The differences between point-contact crack and opening crack in eddy
current and temperature profile were compared in the simulation study.
The angle crack test blocks with different closure depths were tested,
and the simulation conclusions were consistent with experimental
results. Therefore, the proposed method is an effective approach to
quantify closed cracks.
Quantitative theory of integrating sphere throughput: comparison with
experiments
Authors: Francis Adam , Tang Chhayly , Le Ru Eric C.
Published: May 2021

We present a rigorous approach for measuring the throughput of an integrating sphere,
from which the so-called sphere multiplier

M

can be derived. The critical
ingredients of this approach are: (i) the transmitted power is
measured at the base of an integrating port to avoid non-ideal port
effects associated with reflections on the port wall; (ii) to
implement this last point, optical fibers are used for light
collection, providing a well-defined collection area and numerical
aperture; (iii) the angular-dependent fiber throughput and detector
sensitivity are determined experimentally and accounted for. We
demonstrate in particular that a more realistic theory, accounting for
the propagation of skew rays through the fiber, is needed to
quantitatively model the fiber effect on the measured sphere
throughput. We show experimentally that failure to fulfill these three
points produces erroneous results, by as much as 50%. With an accurate
experimentally derived sphere multiplier, agreement with theory is
then obtained only if realistic ports (with non-zero reflectivity) are
assumed. This provides experimental evidence for recent theoretical
predictions of the importance of realistic ports [Tang et al., Appl. Opt.
57, 1581 (2018)APOPAI0003-693510.1364/AO.57.001581].
Using the same experimental techniques, we also present clear
experimental proof of two other predictions from that study: that the
angular distribution exiting the port is strongly altered and that the
overall port transmittivity is drastically reduced for high aspect
ratio ports. This work will provide a solid basis for future
quantitative measurements of absolute throughput and for further
developments of the theory of integrating spheres.
Analysis of experimental errors in Mueller matrix channeled polarimeters
Authors: González-Siu Luis Oscar , Bruce Neil C.
Published: May 2021

This work analyzes the effect of experimental errors and measurement noise on Mueller matrix channeled spectropolarimeters. The main advantage of this type of polarimeter is the independence on temporal resolution, as it can be used as a snapshot polarimeter. The simulation of the polarimeters with experimental errors and two published extraction methods of the sample Mueller matrix are also presented. The Mueller matrix channeled spectropolarimeter (MMCS) setup consists of a mirrored Stokes channeled spectropolarimeter (SCS) as the polarization states generator (PSG) and a SCS as the polarization states analyzer (PSA). The SCS setup comprises two thick birefringent retarders followed by a horizontal linear polarizer. The effects of the thickness ratio of the retarders, the global retardance factor, retardance errors, axes alignment errors, and additive Gaussian noise are further studied to optimize the MMCS setups. In this work, we do not include a calibration procedure to improve the measured Mueller matrix parameters, but we study the sensitivity of the polarimeter to different configurations and error sources.
Si microring resonator optical switch based on optical phase shifter with ultrathin-InP/Si hybrid metal-oxide-semiconductor capacitor
Authors: Ohno Shuhei , Li Qiang , Sekine Naoki , Tang Hanzhi , Monfray Stéphane , Boeuf Frederic , Toprasertpong Kasidit , Takagi Shinichi , Takenaka Mitsuru
Published: May 2021

We propose a microring resonator (MRR) optical switch based on III-V/Si hybrid metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) optical phase shifter with an ultrathin InP membrane. By reducing the thickness of the InP membrane, we can reduce the insertion loss of the phase shifter, resulting in a high-quality-factor (Q-factor) MRR switch. By optimizing the device structure using numerical analysis, we successfully demonstrated a proof-of-concept MRR optical switch. The optical switch exhibits 0.3 pW power consumption for switching, applicable to power-efficient, thermal-crosstalk-free, Si programmable photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM).
Field-effect silicon-plasmonic photodetector for coherent T-wave reception
Authors: Muehlbrandt S. , Harter T. , Füllner C. , Ummethala S. , Wolf S. , Bacher A. , Hahn L. , Kohl M. , Freude W. , Koos C.
Published: May 2021

Plasmonic internal photoemission detectors (PIPED) have recently been shown to combine compact footprint and high bandwidth with monolithic co-integration into silicon photonic circuits, thereby opening an attractive route towards optoelectronic generation and detection of waveforms in the sub-THz and THz frequency range, so-called T-waves. In this paper, we further expand the PIPED concept by introducing a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) interface with an additional gate electrode that allows to control the carrier dynamics in the device and the degree of internal photoemission at the metal-semiconductor interfaces. We experimentally study the behavior of dedicated field-effect (FE-)PIPED test structures and develop a physical understanding of the underlying principles. We find that the THz down-conversion efficiency of FE-PIPED can be significantly increased when applying a gate potential. Building upon the improved understanding of the device physics, we further perform simulations and show that the gate field increases the carrier density in the conductive channel below the gate oxide to the extent that the device dynamics are determined by ultra-fast dielectric relaxation rather than by the carrier transit time. In this regime, the bandwidth can be increased to more than 1 THz. We believe that our experiments open a new path towards understanding the principles of internal photoemission in plasmonic structures, leading to PIPED-based optoelectronic signal processing systems with unprecedented bandwidth and efficiency.
Coherently-averaged dual comb spectrometer at 7.7 µm with master and follower quantum cascade lasers
Authors: Komagata K. , Shehzad A. , Terrasanta G. , Brochard P. , Matthey R. , Gianella M. , Jouy P. , Kapsalidis F. , Shahmohammadi M. , Beck M. , Wittwer V. J. , Faist J. , Emmenegger L. , Südmeyer T. , Hugi A. , Schilt S.
Published: May 2021

We demonstrate coherent averaging of the multi-heterodyne beat signal between two quantum cascade laser frequency combs in a master-follower configuration. The two combs are mutually locked by acting on the drive current to control their relative offset frequency and by radio-frequency extraction and injection locking of their intermode beat signal to stabilize their mode spacing difference. By implementing an analog common-noise subtraction scheme, a reduction of the linewidth of all heterodyne beat notes by five orders of magnitude is achieved compared to the free-running lasers. We compare stabilization and post-processing corrections in terms of amplitude noise. While they give similar performances in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, real-time processing of the stabilized signal is less demanding in terms of computational power. Lastly, a proof-of-principle spectroscopic measurement was performed, showing the possibility to reduce the amount of data to be processed by three orders of magnitude, compared to the free-running system.
Intensity-corrected 4D light-in-flight imaging
Authors: Morland Imogen , Zhu Feng , Martín Germán Mora , Gyongy Istvan , Leach Jonathan
Published: May 2021

Light-in-flight (LIF) imaging is the measurement and reconstruction of light’s path as it moves and interacts with objects. It is well known that relativistic effects can result in apparent velocities that differ significantly from the speed of light. However, less well known is that Rayleigh scattering and the effects of imaging optics can lead to observed intensities changing by several orders of magnitude along light’s path. We develop a model that enables us to correct for all of these effects, thus we can accurately invert the observed data and reconstruct the true intensity-corrected optical path of a laser pulse as it travels in air. We demonstrate the validity of our model by observing the photon arrival time and intensity distribution obtained from single-photon avalanche detector (SPAD) array data for a laser pulse propagating towards and away from the camera. We can then reconstruct the true intensity-corrected path of the light in four dimensions (three spatial dimensions and time).
Efficient HIE-FDTD method for designing a dual-band anisotropic terahertz absorption structure
Authors: Zhou Yuanguo , Li Hang , Li Li , Cai Yijun , Zeyde Kirill , Han Xiaobing
Published: May 2021

The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is considered to be one of the most accurate and common methods for the simulation of optical devices. However, the conventional FDTD method is subject to the Courant-Friedrich-Levy condition, resulting in extremely low efficiency for calculating two-dimensional materials (2DMs). Recent researches on the hybrid implicit-explicit FDTD (HIE-FDTD) method show that the method can efficiently simulate homogeneous and isotropic 2DMs such as graphene sheet; however, it is inapplicable to the anisotropic medium. In this paper, we propose an in-plane anisotropic HIE-FDTD method to simulate optical devices containing graphene and black phosphorus (BP) sheets. Numerical analysis shows that the proposed method is accurate and efficient. With this method, we present a novel multi-layer graphene-BP-based dual-band anisotropic terahertz absorption structure (GBP-DATAS) and analyze its optical characteristics. Combining the advantages of graphene and BP localized surface plasmons, the GBP-DATAS demonstrates strong anisotropic plasmonic resonance and high absorption rate in the terahertz band.
High-speed computer-generated holography using an autoencoder-based deep neural network
Authors: Wu Jiachen , Liu Kexuan , Sui Xiaomeng , Cao Liangcai
Published: May 2021

Learning-based computer-generated holography (CGH) provides a rapid hologram generation approach for holographic displays. Supervised training requires a large-scale dataset with target images and corresponding holograms. We propose an autoencoder-based neural network (holoencoder) for phase-only hologram generation. Physical diffraction propagation was incorporated into the autoencoder’s decoding part. The holoencoder can automatically learn the latent encodings of phase-only holograms in an unsupervised manner. The proposed holoencoder was able to generate high-fidelity 4K resolution holograms in 0.15 s. The reconstruction results validate the good generalizability of the holoencoder, and the experiments show fewer speckles in the reconstructed image compared with the existing CGH algorithms.
Fabrication and dual-wavelength characterization of a binary mixture of light-responsive polymeric nanocapsules
Authors: Sharifimehr Mohammad Reza , Mohajerani Ezeddin
Published: May 2021

Two different types of azo dye-doped liquid crystal mixtures were separately nano-confined and characterized and then dispersed in the same host matrix to enhance the wavelength tunability of the laser-induced transparency of the fabricated polymeric thin film nanocomposites. The obtained results indicated that the transmitted intensity can be controlled separately by applying dual-wavelength pump lasers irradiation based-on reorientation of liquid crystal mesogens followed by trans-cis photoisomerization of the different azo dye dopants inside the core of the polymeric nanocapsules. Since the fabricated thin films qualify the demand for improvement of laser-induced tunability, it is feasible to use the introduced nanocomposite as a smart light-responsive thin film layer that can be widely implemented in all-optical tunable nanophotonics.
Mathematical modeling of multiple pathways in colorectal carcinogenesis using dynamical systems with Kronecker structure
Authors: Haupt Saskia , Zeilmann Alexander , Ahadova Aysel , Bläker Hendrik , von Knebel Doeberitz Magnus , Kloor Matthias , Heuveline Vincent
Published: May 2021

Like many other types of cancer, colorectal cancer (CRC) develops through multiple pathways of carcinogenesis. This is also true for colorectal carcinogenesis in Lynch syndrome (LS), the most common inherited CRC syndrome. However, a comprehensive understanding of the distribution of these pathways of carcinogenesis, which allows for tailored clinical treatment and even prevention, is still lacking. We suggest a linear dynamical system modeling the evolution of different pathways of colorectal carcinogenesis based on the involved driver mutations. The model consists of different components accounting for independent and dependent mutational processes. We define the driver gene mutation graphs and combine them using the Cartesian graph product. This leads to matrix components built by the Kronecker sum and product of the adjacency matrices of the gene mutation graphs enabling a thorough mathematical analysis and medical interpretation. Using the Kronecker structure, we developed a mathematical model which we applied exemplarily to the three pathways of colorectal carcinogenesis in LS. Beside a pathogenic germline variant in one of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes, driver mutations in APC, CTNNB1, KRAS and TP53 are considered. We exemplarily incorporate mutational dependencies, such as increased point mutation rates after MMR deficiency, and based on recent experimental data, biallelic somatic CTNNB1 mutations as common drivers of LS-associated CRCs. With the model and parameter choice, we obtained simulation results that are in concordance with clinical observations. These include the evolution of MMR-deficient crypts as early precursors in LS carcinogenesis and the influence of variants in MMR genes thereon. The proportions of MMR-deficient and MMR-proficient APC-inactivated crypts as first measure for the distribution among the pathways in LS-associated colorectal carcinogenesis are compatible with clinical observations. The approach provides a modular framework for modeling multiple pathways of carcinogenesis yielding promising results in concordance with clinical observations in LS CRCs.
G2S3: A gene graph-based imputation method for single-cell RNA sequencing data
Authors: Wu Weimiao , Liu Yunqing , Dai Qile , Yan Xiting , Wang Zuoheng
Published: May 2021

Single-cell RNA sequencing technology provides an opportunity to study gene expression at single-cell resolution. However, prevalent dropout events result in high data sparsity and noise that may obscure downstream analyses in single-cell transcriptomic studies. We propose a new method, G2S3, that imputes dropouts by borrowing information from adjacent genes in a sparse gene graph learned from gene expression profiles across cells. We applied G2S3 and ten existing imputation methods to eight single-cell transcriptomic datasets and compared their performance. Our results demonstrated that G2S3 has superior overall performance in recovering gene expression, identifying cell subtypes, reconstructing cell trajectories, identifying differentially expressed genes, and recovering gene regulatory and correlation relationships. Moreover, G2S3 is computationally efficient for imputation in large-scale single-cell transcriptomic datasets.
The sugar content of foods in the UK by category and company: A repeated cross-sectional study, 2015-2018
Authors: Bandy Lauren K. , Scarborough Peter , Harrington Richard A. , Rayner Mike , Jebb Susan A.
Published: May 2021

Background

Consumption of free sugars in the UK greatly exceeds dietary recommendations. Public Health England (PHE) has set voluntary targets for industry to reduce the sales-weighted mean sugar content of key food categories contributing to sugar intake by 5% by 2018 and 20% by 2020. The aim of this study was to assess changes in the sales-weighted mean sugar content and total volume sales of sugar in selected food categories among UK companies between 2015 and 2018.

Methods and findings

We used sales data from Euromonitor, which estimates total annual retail sales of packaged foods, for 5 categories—biscuits and cereal bars, breakfast cereals, chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, and yoghurts—for 4 consecutive years (2015–2018). This analysis includes 353 brands (groups of products with the same name) sold by 99 different companies. These data were linked with nutrient composition data collected online from supermarket websites over 2015–2018 by Edge by Ascential. The main outcome measures were sales volume, sales-weighted mean sugar content, and total volume of sugar sold by category and company. Our results show that between 2015 and 2018 the sales-weighted mean sugar content of all included foods fell by 5.2% (95% CI −9.4%, −1.4%), from 28.7 g/100 g (95% CI 27.2, 30.4) to 27.2 g/100 g (95% CI 25.8, 28.4). The greatest change seen was in yoghurts (−17.0% [95% CI −26.8%, −7.1%]) and breakfast cereals (−13.3% [95% CI −19.2%, −7.4%]), with only small reductions in sugar confectionery (−2.4% [95% CI −4.2%, −0.6%]) and chocolate confectionery (−1.0% [95% CI −3.1, 1.2]). Our results show that total volume of sugars sold per capita fell from 21.4 g/d (95% CI 20.3, 22.7) to 19.7 g/d (95% CI 18.8, 20.7), a reduction of 7.5% (95% CI −13.1%, −2.8%). Of the 50 companies representing the top 10 companies in each category, 24 met the 5% reduction target set by PHE for 2018. The key limitations of this study are that it does not encompass the whole food market and is limited by its use of brand-level sales data, rather than individual product sales data.

Conclusions

Our findings show there has been a small reduction in total volume sales of sugar in the included categories, primarily due to reductions in the sugar content of yoghurts and breakfast cereals. Additional policy measures may be needed to accelerate progress in categories such as sugar confectionery and chocolate confectionery if the 2020 PHE voluntary sugar reduction targets are to be met.
Uveal melanoma: Long-term survival
Authors: Radivoyevitch Tomas , Zabor Emily C. , Singh Arun D.
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The long-term survival of uveal melanoma patients in the US is not known. We compared long-term survival estimates using relative survival, excess absolute risk (EAR), Kaplan-Meier (KM), and competing risk analyses.

Setting

Population based cohort study.

Study population

Pooled databases from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data (SEER, SEER-9+SEER-13+SEER-18).

Main outcome measure

Overall Survival (OS), Metastasis Free Survival (MFS) and relative survival, computed directly or estimated via a model fitted to excess mortality.

Results

There were 10678 cases of uveal melanoma spanning a period of 42 years (1975–2016). The median age at diagnosis was 63 years (range 3–99). Over half the patients were still alive at the end of 2016 (53%, 5625). The KM estimates of MFS were 0.729 (0.719, 0.74), 0.648 (0.633, 0.663), and 0.616 (0.596, 0.636) at 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively. The cumulative probabilities of melanoma metastatic death at 10, 20 and 30 years were 0.241 (0.236, 0.245), 0.289 (0.283, 0.294), and 0.301 (0.295, 0.307). In the first 5 years since diagnosis of uveal melanoma, the proportion of deaths attributable to uveal melanoma were 1.3 with rapid fall after 10 years. Death due to melanoma were rare beyond 20 years. Relative survival (RS) plateaued to ~60% across 20 to 30 years. EAR parametric modeling yielded a survival probability of 57%.

Conclusions

Relative survival methods can be used to estimate long term survival of uveal melanoma patients without knowing the exact cause of death. RS and EAR provide more realistic estimates as they compare the survival to that of a normal matched population. Death due to melanoma were rare beyond 20 years with normal life expectancy reached at 25 years after primary therapy.
Cost sharing for breast cancer hormone therapy: How do dual eligible patients’ copayment impact adherence
Authors: Ma Siyu , Shepard Donald S. , Ritter Grant A. , Martell Robert E. , Thomas Cindy Parks
Published: May 2021

Objective

To examine the different levels of copayment assistance and treatment adherence among Medicare and Medicaid dual eligible beneficiaries with breast cancer in the U.S.

Research design

Propensity Score methodology was adopted to minimize potential selection bias from the nonrandom allocation of the treatment group (i.e., full Medicaid beneficiaries) and control group (i.e., Medicare Savings Programs [MSPs] beneficiaries). Longitudinal hierarchical model and Cox proportional-hazard model were adopted to examine patients’ adherence over their full five-year course of adjuvant hormone therapy.

Results

Our study cohort consisted of 1,133 dual eligible beneficiaries diagnosed with hormone receptor-positive early stage breast cancer in years 2007 –mid 2009. About 80.5% of them received MSPs benefits, while the rest received full Medicaid benefits. On average for a standardized 30-day hormone therapy medication, full Medicaid beneficiaries spent $0.5-$2.0 and MSP beneficiaries spent $1.4-$4.8 in copayment. After adjusting for other factors, this copayment reduction wasn’t associated with a significantly better adherence. However, when the catastrophic coverage threshold was reached (copayments reduced to zero), significant improvement in adherence was found in both groups.

Conclusions

Our study found that small amount of cost-sharing reduction did not affect Medicare and Medicaid dual eligible patients’ medication treatment adherence, however, the elimination of cost-sharing (even a minimal amount) was associated with improved adherence. Future legislative and advocacy efforts should be paid on eliminating cost sharing for dual eligibles, and possibly even a broader group of financially vulnerable patients.
The evaluation of biological indices to assess the condition of hillslope seep wetlands in the Tsitsa River Catchment, South Africa
Authors: Libala Notiswa , Palmer Carolyn G. , Odume Oghenekaro Nelson
Published: May 2021

The increase in the degradation of wetlands globally has highlighted the need to assess their ecological condition. Hillslope seep wetlands are among the least studied wetland types, yet they the most vulnerable because of their small size and steep slopes. Human pressure and the vulnerable nature of these wetlands requires wetland assessment tools to assess their condition. This study sought to evaluate the performance of the Floristic Quality Assessment Index for all species (FQAIall), the FQAI for dominant species (FQAIdom), and the Floristic Assessment Quotient for Wetlands (FAQWet) in response to the Anthropogenic Activity Index (AAI) and WET-Health in eleven hillslope seep wetlands and used these indices to assess the degree and intensity of disturbance. Vegetation samples were collected in summer 2016 and winter 2017. All assessment indices, FQAIall, FQAIdom, FAQWet and WET-Health, showed that hillslope seep wetlands were impacted by human activities. FQAIall showed the strongest response to AAI in winter, while FAQWet showed the strongest response to WET-Health. To the best of our knowledge, researchers in South Africa have used only WET-Health to assess wetland condition, and this is the first study to assess the condition of hillslope seep wetlands using a combination of indices (FQAIall, FQAIdom, FAQWet, and WET-Health). Overall, the findings of this study suggest that FQAIall and FAQWet are potentially better tools for assessing the biological condition of hillslope seep wetlands in South Africa.
Trends in malaria prevalence and risk factors associated with the disease in Nkongho-mbeng; a typical rural setting in the equatorial rainforest of the South West Region of Cameroon
Authors: Nyasa Raymond Babila , Fotabe Esendege Luke , Ndip Roland N.
Published: May 2021

Globally, malaria in recent years has witnessed a decline in the number of cases and death, though the most recent world malaria report shows a slight decrease in the number of cases in 2018 compared to 2017 and, increase in 2017 compared to 2016. Africa remains the region with the greatest burden of the disease. Cameroon is among the countries with a very high burden of malaria, with the coastal and forest regions carrying the highest burden of the disease. Nkongho-mbeng is a typical rural setting in the equatorial rain forest region of Cameroon, with no existing knowledge of the epidemiology of malaria in this locality. This study aimed at determining the current status of malaria epidemiology in Nkongho-mbeng. A cross-sectional survey was conducted, during which blood samples were collected from 500 participants and examined by microscopy. Risk factors such as, age, sex, duration of stay in the locality, housing type, environmental sanitation and intervention strategies including use of, LLINs and drugs were investigated. Trends in malaria morbidity were also determined. Of the 500 samples studied, 60 were positive, giving an overall prevalence of 12.0% with the prevalence of asymptomatic infection (10.8%), more than quadruple the prevalence of symptomatic infections (1.2%) and, fever burden not due to malaria was 1.4%. The GMPD was 6,869.17 parasites/μL of blood (95% C.I: 4,977.26/μL– 9,480.19/μL). A LLINs coverage of 84.4% and 77.88% usage was observed. Unexpectedly, the prevalence of malaria was higher among those sleeping under LLINs (12.56%) than those not sleeping under LLINs (8.97%), though the difference was not significant (p = 0.371). Being a male (p = 0.044), being unemployed (p = 0.025) and, living in Mbetta (p = 0.013) or Lekwe (p = 0.022) and the presence bushes around homes (p = 0.002) were significant risk factors associated with malaria infection. Trends in proportion demonstrated that, the prevalence of malaria amongst patients receiving treatment in the health center from 2015 to 2019 decreased significantly (p < 0.001) and linearly from 9.74% to 3.08% respectively. Data generated from this study can be exploited for development of a more effective control measures to curb the spread of malaria within Nkongho-mbeng.
Self-partner inclusion predicts performance of romantically involved individuals in a body-scaled action-anticipation task
Authors: Bouquet Cédric A. , Lafleur Melissa , Quintard Virginie , Jouffre Stéphane , Wamain Yannick , Coello Yann , Toussaint Lucette
Published: May 2021

Previous research has shown that romantic relationships can lead to the cognitive inclusion of a romantic partner into one’s own self-representation, resulting in blurred boundaries between self and intimate other. Recent work suggests that this self-other integration process encompasses the two dimensions of the self–the conceptual and the bodily self. In line with this, it has been proposed that romantic love is associated with cognitive states that blur or reduce the saliency of self-boundaries in the bodily domain. The present study tested this hypothesis by investigating the influence of the self-other integration process in romantic love on passability judgments of door-like apertures, an action-anticipation task that rests on the representation of bodily boundaries. Romantically involved and single participants estimated whether they could pass through apertures of different widths. Moreover, inclusion of romantic partner in the self was assessed using the Inclusion of Other in the Self (IOS) scale. The pattern of correlation and the ratio between participants’ shoulder width and aperture judgments did not differ between romantically involved participants and singles. However, our results revealed that in romantically involved participants, the relationship between individuals’ shoulder width and aperture judgements was moderated by IOS scores. A greater inclusion of romantic partner in the self was associated with a weaker prediction of aperture judgment by participants’ shoulder width. A similar moderating effect of the intensity of romantic feelings (as measured by the passionate love scale) on shoulder width-aperture judgment relationship was found. IOS scores, but not romantic feelings, also moderated aperture judgments made for another individual (third person perspective). Together, these findings are consistent with the view that inclusion of romantic partner in the self triggers cognitive states affecting self-boundaries in the bodily domain.
Analysis of blood parameters and molecular endometrial markers during early reperfusion in two ovine models of uterus transplantation
Authors: Carbonnel Marie , Cornet Nathalie , Revaux Aurélie , Favre-Inhofer Angéline , Galio Laurent , Raliou Mariam , Couturier-Tarrade Anne , Giraud-Delville Corinne , Charpigny Gilles , Gelin Valérie , Dubois Olivier , Hersant Barbara , Bosc Romain , Coscas Raphael , Vialard François , Chavatte-Palmer Pascale , Richard Christophe , Sandra Olivier , Ayoubi Jean-Marc
Published: May 2021

The dissection of the veins is the trickiest step of Uterine transplantation (UTx). Performing the anastomosis of a single uterine vein could bring a therapeutic benefit and simplification of surgery and serve for managing unilateral venous thromboses. The objectives of this project were to evaluate the expression of early markers of ischemia-reperfusion and to compare findings following one or two vein anastomoses. Orthotopic uterine auto-transplantations were performed on an ovine model with anastomosis of either two (group 1) or one utero-ovarian veins (group 2). Blood gases, histology and ischemia- reperfusion markers transcripts (PTGS2, IL6, IL8, SOD2, C3, BAX/BCL2 and TLR4) were analyzed as well as PTGS2 protein expression using Western Blot and fluorescence immunolocalization on endometrial biopsies after 3h of reperfusion. Ten ewes were included in the experimentation, 4 were in group1, 3 in group 2, the others being sham operated controls. No significant differences were observed between the two phenotypes. Based on these results, the anastomosis of one single uterine vein appears to be an approach consistent with short-term graft survival. Further experiments will be needed to confirm the reliability of this approach, especially the long-term follow-up of the uterine graft including its ability to support gestation to term.
Probing behavior of Adelges laricis Vallot (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) on Larix decidua Mill: Description and analysis of EPG waveforms
Authors: Dancewicz Katarzyna , Gabryś Beata , Morkunas Iwona , Samardakiewicz Sławomir
Published: May 2021

Adelgidae are a sister group of Aphididae and Phylloxeridae within Hemiptera, Aphidoidea and occur exclusively on Pinaceae. The piercing-sucking mouthparts of Adelgidae are similar to those of aphids and it is believed that adelgids ingest sap from both the non-vascular and vascular (phloem) tissues. The aim of the present study was to identify and characterize the adelgid stylet activities during their penetration in plant tissues. The probing behavior ofAdelges laricisVallot (Hemiptera: Adelgidae) on European larchLarix deciduaMill. and sucrose diets was monitored using the DC-EPG (Electrical Penetration Graph technique = electropenetrography). The EPG waveforms were described based on amplitude, frequency, voltage level, and electrical origin of the observed traces, and associated with putative behavioral activities based on analogy with aphid activities. Waveform frequency, duration, and sequence were analysed as well.A.laricisgenerated EPG signals at two clearly distinct voltage levels positive and negative, suggesting extracellular and intracellular stylet penetration, respectively. The adelgid EPG patterns were ascribed to four behavioral phases, which were non-probing, pathway, phloem, and xylem phases. Non-probing referred to the position of the stylets outside the plant tissues. Pathway phase was represented by three waveform patterns that visualized extracellular stylet penetration in non-vascular tissues without potential drops (AC1), with serial short (1.2–1.5 s) potential drops (AC2), and with ‘aphid-like’ (5–10 s) potential drops (AC3). Phloem phase comprised three waveform patterns at intracellular level, which in all probability represented phloem salivation (AE1), and phloem sap passive (AE2) and active ingestion (AE3). AE3 was a newly described waveform, previously unreported from Hemiptera. Waveform AG represented the ingestion of xylem sap. The comparative analysis demonstrated that the gymnosperm-associated adelgids show certain similarities in probing behavior typical of aphids and phylloxerids on angiosperm plants. The present work is the first detailed analysis of specific adelgid stylet activities on gymnosperms.
HIV detection by an emergency department HIV screening program during a regional outbreak among people who inject drugs
Authors: Faryar Kiran A. , Ancona Rachel M. , Reau Zachary , Lyss Sheryl B. , Braun Robert S. , Rademaker Todd , Sickles Ryane K. , Lyons Michael S.
Published: May 2021

Objective

Multiple HIV outbreaks among persons who inject drugs (PWID) have occurred in the US since 2015. Emergency departments (EDs), recognized as essential venues for HIV screening, may play a unique role in identifying undiagnosed HIV among PWID, who frequently present for complications of injection drug use (IDU). Our objective was to describe changes in HIV diagnoses among PWID detected by an ED HIV screening program and estimate the program’s contribution to HIV diagnoses among PWID county-wide during the emergence of a regional HIV outbreak.

Methods

This was a retrospective study of electronically queried clinical records from an urban, safety-net ED’s HIV screening program and publicly available HIV surveillance data for its surrounding county, Hamilton County, Ohio. Outcomes included the change in number of HIV diagnoses and the ED’s contribution to case identification county-wide, overall and for PWID during 2014–2018.

Results

During 2014–2018, the annual number of HIV diagnoses made by the ED program increased from 20 to 42 overall, and from 1 to 18 for PWID. We estimated that the ED contributed 18% of HIV diagnoses in the county and 22% of diagnoses among PWID.

Conclusions

The ED program contributed 1 in 5 new HIV diagnoses among PWID county-wide, further illustrating the importance of ED HIV screening programs in identifying undiagnosed HIV infections. In areas experiencing increasing IDU, HIV screening in EDs can provide an early indication of increasing HIV diagnoses among PWID and can substantially contribute to case-finding during an HIV outbreak.
Computational designing of a peptide that potentially blocks the entry of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV
Authors: V. K. Priya , Rath Satish Prasad , Abraham Parvin
Published: May 2021

Last decade has witnessed three major pandemics caused by SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV that belong to Coronavirus family. Currently, there are no effective therapies available for corona virus infections. Since the three viruses belong to the same family and share many common features, we can theoretically design a drug that can be effective on all the three of them. In this study, using computational approach, we designed a peptide (Peptide 7) that can bind to the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV thereby preventing the entry of the viruses into the host cell. The peptide inhibitor was designed as a consensus peptide from three different peptides that might individually bind to the RBD of the three viruses. Docking studies and molecular dynamic simulations using Peptide 7 has shown that it binds with higher affinity than the native receptors of the RBD and forms a stable complex thereby preventing further viral-receptor interaction and inhibiting their cellular entry. This effective binding is observed for the three RBDs, despite the Peptide 7 interactions being slightly different. Hence; this peptide inhibitor can be used as a potential candidate for the development of peptide based anti-viral therapy against Corona viruses.
The Psychology of Country-of-Origin Effects
Authors: Verlegh Peeter W. J.
Published: May 2021

The impact of product origin on consumer product evaluations is well-documented, and several types of influence have been described in the literature. In this paper, the author will first describe some of the practical and scientific support for this effect, and then focus on the psychology behind the country-of-ori­gin effect. Drawing from recent studies, this paper will review cognitive, affective and normative country­-of-origin effects, and discuss the mechanisms behind the. Special attention will be paid to the general pref­erence for domestic products over foreign alternatives, and to the interaction between country of origin and other marketing variables, such as advertising.
The Binary Goldbach Conjecture
Authors: Feliksiak Jan
Published: May 2021

The Goldbach conjecture, one of the oldest problems in mathematics, has fascinated and inspired many mathematicians for ages. In 1742 a German mathematician Christian Goldbach, in a letter addressed to Leonhard Euler proposed a conjecture. The modern day version of the Binary/Strong Goldbach conjecture asserts that:

Every even integer greater than 2 can be written as the sum of two primes.

The conjecture had been empirically verified up to 4× 10
18​​​​​, its proof however remains elusive, which seems to confirm that:

Some problems in mathematics remain buried deep in the catacombs of slow progress ... mind stretching mysteries await to be discovered beyond the boundaries of former thought. Avery Carr (2013)

The research was aimed at exposition, of the intricate structure of the fabric of the Goldbach Conjecture problem. The research methodogy explores a number of topics, before the definite proof of the Goldbach Conjecture can be presented. The Ternary Goldbach Conjecture Corollary follows the proof of the Binary Goldbach Conjecture as well as the Representation of even numbers by the difference of two primes Corollary.

The research demonstrates that the Goldbach Conjecture is a genuine arithmetical question.

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Colonic Histoplasmosis Presenting as Polyps in an Asymptomatic Patient With Liver Transplant
Authors: Cui Min , Wong Richard C.K. , Gholam Pierre M.
Published: May 2021

Infection of the gastrointestinal tract by Histoplasma capsulatum is generally considered to be a manifestation of disseminated disease. The most common symptoms from gastrointestinal histoplasmosis include abdominal pain and diarrhea. Isolated asymptomatic gastrointestinal histoplasmosis is unusual, and diagnosis can be challenging. We report a 57-year-old man with a history of liver transplant presented with numerous colonic polyps, and the biopsies demonstrated granulomatous colitis with fungal microorganism consistent with H. capsulatum. Antigen/antibody tests for Histoplasma were confirmatory. The patient was asymptomatic with no clinical or radiological evidence of pulmonary involvement. He responded well to itraconazole treatment, and urine antigen tested negative 6 months after the initiation of the treatment. Follow-up colonoscopy performed 12 months after treatment with itraconazole showed no evidence of colonic histoplasmosis.
Identification of a Latitude Gradient in the Prevalence of Primary Biliary Cholangitis
Authors: French Janine , Simpson-Yap Steve , van der Mei Ingrid , Ng Justin , Angus Peter , Gow Paul J.
Published: May 2021

INTRODUCTION:

The prevalence of primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) reported in different countries varies significantly and seems to have a latitudinal gradient with the highest prevalence reported in higher latitudes, as has been observed with other autoimmune diseases. This study aimed to determine whether there is a latitudinal gradient of PBC prevalence in Australia using 2 methods of case ascertainment.

METHODS:

We investigated the latitudinal variation of PBC prevalence across the states and territories of Australia (latitudinal range 18.0°–42.7°S) using pathology-based (private pathology antimitochondrial antibody results and PBC-specific prescription databases (prescriptions for ursodeoxycholic acid, the only publicly subsidized treatment for this disease).

RESULTS:

PBC prevalence was significantly positively associated with latitude, and the postcodes in the highest quintile of latitude (encompassing the south coastal areas of the Australian mainland and Tasmania; latitude range −37.75° to −42.72°) had a prevalence estimate that was 1.78 times higher using the pathology-based prevalence estimation than those in the lowest quintile (encompassing tropical and southern Queensland; latitude range −18.02° to −27.59°). Comparing prevalence estimates between states/territories, the result was 2.53 and 2.21 times higher in Tasmania compared with Queensland when using the pathology-based and prescription-based methods, respectively.

DISCUSSION:

Using 2 different case-ascertainment methods, we have demonstrated that prevalence estimates of PBC vary significantly with latitude in Australia. Further studies are needed to determine whether factors such as variations in ultraviolet radiation exposure and/or vitamin D levels are responsible for this observation and to investigate the latitudinal prevalence of PBC in other populations.