bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A cause for hope: largely intact coral-reef communities with high reef-fish biomass in a remote Indonesian island group
Authors: Limmon Gino V. , Masdar Halwi , Muenzel Dominic , Shalders Tanika C. , Djakiman Cilun , Beger Maria , Jompa Jamaludin , De Brauwer Maarten
Published: March 2023

Context The health of coral reefs is declining rapidly across the world because of anthropogenic impacts. In the mega-diverse Coral Triangle, the consequences of chronic overfishing and human use are worst near coastal population centres. Aims The remote islands and reefs in the centre of the Banda Sea (Indonesia) remain largely unstudied, but their distance from populated areas could provide protection from fishing. Methods We conducted the first visual census surveys of coral-reef communities at the uninhabited Lucipara group in the Banda Sea. Key results Sites showed medium to high coral cover and fish assemblages with high biomass, including abundant large predatory species. All sites exceeded the fish biomass conservation target of 1150 kg ha−1 proposed by McClanahan et al. (2015), by a factor of ~2–10. Benthic cover explained >50% of variance in fish abundance and diversity, with submassive corals, Dendrophyllia spp., and bare rock as key predictors. Conclusions Our results suggested that Lucipara’s reefs are among the healthiest in Indonesia, likely owing to their remoteness. However, this remoteness might also hamper policing against destructive fishing practices, highlighting a conservation gap. Implications Lucipara’s reef communities should be protected in a time of global coral-reef declines.
A disease-associated XPA allele interferes with TFIIH binding and primarily affects transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair
Authors: van den Heuvel Diana , Kim Mihyun , Wondergem Annelotte P. , van der Meer Paula J. , Witkamp Myrèse , Lambregtse Ferdy , Kim Hyun-Suk , Kan Folkert , Apelt Katja , Kragten Angela , González-Prieto Román , Vertegaal Alfred C. O. , Yeo Jung-Eun , Kim Byung-Gyu , van Doorn Remco , Schärer Orlando D. , Luijsterburg Martijn S.
Published: March 2023

XPA is a central scaffold protein that coordinates the assembly of repair complexes in the global genome (GG-NER) and transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) subpathways. Inactivating mutations in XPA cause xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), which is characterized by extreme UV sensitivity and a highly elevated skin cancer risk. Here, we describe two Dutch siblings in their late forties carrying a homozygous H244R substitution in the C-terminus of XPA. They present with mild cutaneous manifestations of XP without skin cancer but suffer from marked neurological features, including cerebellar ataxia. We show that the mutant XPA protein has a severely weakened interaction with the transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) complex leading to an impaired association of the mutant XPA and the downstream endonuclease ERCC1-XPF with NER complexes. Despite these defects, the patient-derived fibroblasts and reconstituted knockout cells carrying the XPA-H244R substitution show intermediate UV sensitivity and considerable levels of residual GG-NER (~50%), in line with the intrinsic properties and activities of the purified protein. By contrast, XPA-H244R cells are exquisitely sensitive to transcription-blocking DNA damage, show no detectable recovery of transcription after UV irradiation, and display a severe deficiency in TC-NER-associated unscheduled DNA synthesis. Our characterization of a new case of XPA deficiency that interferes with TFIIH binding and primarily affects the transcription-coupled subpathway of nucleotide excision repair, provides an explanation of the dominant neurological features in these patients, and reveals a specific role for the C-terminus of XPA in TC-NER.
Dysregulation of PD-L1 by UFMylation imparts tumor immune evasion and identified as a potential therapeutic target
Authors: Zhou Junzhi , Ma Xiaohe , He Xingrui , Chen Beiying , Yuan Jiao , Jin Zhemin , Li Lijing , Wang Zhiguo , Xiao Qian , Cai Yafei , Zou Yongkang , Cong Yu-Sheng
Published: March 2023

Immunotherapy of PD-L1/PD-1 blockage elicited impressive clinical benefits for cancer treatment. However, the relative low response and therapy resistance highlight the need to better understand the molecular regulation of PD-L1 in tumors. Here, we report that PD-L1 is a target of UFMylation. UFMylation of PD-L1 destabilizes PD-L1 by synergizing its ubiquitination. Inhibition of PD-L1 UFMylation via silencing of UFL1 or Ubiquitin-fold modifier 1 (UFM1), or the defective UFMylation of PD-L1, stabilizes the PD-L1 in multiple human and murine cancer cells, and undermines antitumor immunity in vitro and mice, respectively. Clinically, UFL1 expression was decreased in multiple cancers and lower expression of UFL1 negatively correlated with the response of anti-PD1 therapy in melanoma patients. Moreover, we identified a covalent inhibitor of UFSP2 that promoted the UFMylation activity and contributed to the combination therapy with PD-1 blockade. Our findings identified a previously unrecognized regulator of PD-L1 and highlighted UFMylation as a potential therapeutic target.
Prestin’s fast motor kinetics is essential for mammalian cochlear amplification
Authors: Takahashi Satoe , Zhou Yingjie , Kojima Takashi , Cheatham Mary Ann , Homma Kazuaki
Published: March 2023

Prestin (SLC26A5)-mediated voltage-driven elongations and contractions of sensory outer hair cells within the organ of Corti are essential for mammalian cochlear amplification. However, whether this electromotile activity directly contributes on a cycle-by-cycle basis is currently controversial. By restoring motor kinetics in a mouse model expressing a slowed prestin missense variant, this study provides experimental evidence acknowledging the importance of fast motor action to mammalian cochlear amplification. Our results also demonstrate that the point mutation in prestin disrupting anion transport in other proteins of the SLC26 family does not alter cochlear function, suggesting that the potential weak anion transport of prestin is not essential in the mammalian cochlea.
Divalent siRNAs are bioavailable in the lung and efficiently block SARS-CoV-2 infection
Authors: Hariharan Vignesh N. , Shin Minwook , Chang Ching-Wen , O’Reilly Daniel , Biscans Annabelle , Yamada Ken , Guo Zhiru , Somasundaran Mohan , Tang Qi , Monopoli Kathryn , Krishnamurthy Pranathi Meda , Devi Gitali , McHugh Nicholas , Cooper David A. , Echeverria Dimas , Cruz John , Chan Io Long , Liu Ping , Lim Sun-Young , McConnell Jill , Singh Satya Prakash , Hildebrand Samuel , Sousa Jacquelyn , Davis Sarah M. , Kennedy Zachary , Ferguson Chantal , Godinho Bruno M. D. C. , Thillier Yann , Caiazzi Jillian , Ly Socheata , Muhuri Manish , Kelly Karen , Humphries Fiachra , Cousineau Alyssa , Parsi Krishna Mohan , Li Qi , Wang Yang , Maehr René , Gao Guangping , Korkin Dmitry , McDougall William M. , Finberg Robert W. , Fitzgerald Katherine A. , Wang Jennifer P. , Watts Jonathan K. , Khvorova Anastasia
Published: March 2023

The continuous evolution of SARS-CoV-2 variants complicates efforts to combat the ongoing pandemic, underscoring the need for a dynamic platform for the rapid development of pan-viral variant therapeutics. Oligonucleotide therapeutics are enhancing the treatment of numerous diseases with unprecedented potency, duration of effect, and safety. Through the systematic screening of hundreds of oligonucleotide sequences, we identified fully chemically stabilized siRNAs and ASOs that target regions of the SARS-CoV-2 genome conserved in all variants of concern, including delta and omicron. We successively evaluated candidates in cellular reporter assays, followed by viral inhibition in cell culture, with eventual testing of leads for in vivo antiviral activity in the lung. Previous attempts to deliver therapeutic oligonucleotides to the lung have met with only modest success. Here, we report the development of a platform for identifying and generating potent, chemically modified multimeric siRNAs bioavailable in the lung after local intranasal and intratracheal delivery. The optimized divalent siRNAs showed robust antiviral activity in human cells and mouse models of SARS-CoV-2 infection and represent a new paradigm for antiviral therapeutic development for current and future pandemics.
Affinity selection of double-click triazole libraries for rapid discovery of allosteric modulators for GLP-1 receptor
Authors: Xin Ye , Liu Shuo , Liu Yan , Qian Zhen , Liu Hongyue , Zhang Bingjie , Guo Taijie , Thompson Garth J. , Stevens Raymond C. , Sharpless K. Barry , Dong Jiajia , Shui Wenqing
Published: March 2023

The recently developed double-click reaction sequence [G. Meng
et al.
, 
Nature
574
, 86–89 (2019)] is expected to vastly expand the number and diversity of synthetically accessible 1,2,3-triazole derivatives. However, it remains elusive how to rapidly navigate the extensive chemical space created by double-click chemistry for bioactive compound discovery. In this study, we selected a particularly challenging drug target, the glucagon-like-peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R), to benchmark our new platform for the design, synthesis, and screening of double-click triazole libraries. First, we achieved a streamlined synthesis of customized triazole libraries on an unprecedented scale (composed of 38,400 new compounds). By interfacing affinity-selection mass spectrometry and functional assays, we identified a series of positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) with unreported scaffolds that can selectively and robustly enhance the signaling activity of the endogenous GLP-1(9-36) peptide. Intriguingly, we further revealed an unexpected binding mode of new PAMs which likely act as a molecular glue between the receptor and the peptide agonist. We anticipate the merger of double-click library synthesis with the hybrid screening platform allows for efficient and economic discovery of drug candidates or chemical probes for various therapeutic targets.
Historical language use in Europe from a contrastive pragmatic perspective
Authors: House Juliane , Kádár Dániel Z. , Liu Fengguang , Shi Wenrui
Published: March 2023

This paper presents a case study which brings together the fields of contrastive pragmatics and historical
pragmatics. Specifically, we contrastively investigate the ways in which the speech act set of “farewell” – representing the
closing phase of an interaction – was realised in nineteenth-century historical letters in different linguacultures, including the
English, German and Chinese ones. We argue that contrastive pragmatics provides a fruitful contribution to historical research for
two inter-related reasons. First, contrastive pragmatics allows us to identify similar pragmatic patterns between typologicially
“close” linguacultures, such as the English and the German ones. Second, it prompts researchers to attest the validity of such
patterns by comparing such typologically close linguacultures with more distant ones such as the Chinese. Our study is based on a
corpus of family letters written to elderly relatives.
Old Chinese ‘egg’
Authors: Nohara Masaki
Published: March 2023

This paper attempts to reconstruct the onset of the word for ‘egg’ in Old Chinese (OC). Based solely on
Middle Chinese (MC), *rˤonʔ would be the default OC reconstruction. However, philological evidence such as a
phonetic relationship (also called Xiéshēng connections), annotations, and variant characters show the
relationship between the word for ‘egg’ and words with the velar onset in MC. (Interestingly, most of them belong to the
so-called Division-II rhyme in MC.) In addition, comparative data from Proto-Min (*lh-), Proto-Hmong-Mien (*qr-), and
Proto-Tai (*qr-) indicate the possibility of reconstructing the consonant cluster *k.rˤ- for the onset of the word for ‘egg’. In
§ 4, I shall provide some additional evidence from the excavated documents, such as
oracle bone inscriptions 甲骨文, Chǔ bamboo slips
楚簡, and Qín bamboo slips 秦簡. In Chǔ bamboo slips, the characters having 䜌 luán as a phonetic element represent the
words having onset *k-, such as 關 guān, 卷 juǎn, and 宦 huàn (seen in Ān Dà Jiǎn 安大簡, which is also categorized as Chǔ bamboo slips 楚簡). Furthermore, the character luán, which has 䜌 luán as an additional phonetic element, represents the word for ‘egg’
on Qín bamboo slips 秦簡. As noted above, the character
䜌 luán can represent the
words having onset *k-. This all constitutes evidence supporting the reconstruction of the word for ‘egg’ with the initial
consonant cluster *k.rˤ- in OC, confirming the reconstruction of T’ung-ho Tung
(1944) and Baxter & Sagart (2014).
A more special use of the third person singular pronoun in Shanghainese
Authors: Zhu Jialei
Published: March 2023

This paper investigates the syntax and semantics of the third person singular pronoun ɦi⁶ in
Shanghainese in its non-referential use. Evidence from its phonological dependence and syntactic integration with the preceding
host verb is presented to show that the non-referential ɦi⁶ is a clitic. It is further observed that this use of
ɦi⁶ requires licensing from the [+subjunctive] feature, echoing Qian
(2004) and Jin (2016). However, my analysis diverges from theirs in
treating the ɦi⁶ in question as an expletive licensed by the [+subjunctive] feature, rather than a subjunctive
marker itself on grounds that it is not obligatory in a subjunctive sentence and that the subjunctivity must always be encoded by
other elements in the sentence. ɦi⁶ in this use serves as an emphatic, strengthening the effect of deontic or
imperative force in subjunctive contexts. Furthermore, it is shown that the licensing must obey a locality condition, whereby the
expletive ɦi⁶ must be licensed by a c-commanding licenser in its local domain. From the perspective of
grammaticalization, I propose that ɦi⁶ is going through an intermediate stage of becoming a purely modal
functional marker. A final stage of this “upward” grammaticalization can be found in the expletive use of the third person pronoun
keoi in Cantonese, which has become a more grammaticalized marker that has scope over the sentence. It is
pointed out that the development of the expletive pronoun suggests that being at the right-periphery is a crucial factor in
motivating and facilitating grammaticalization in Chinese. Last, a comparison between the non-referential ɦi⁶ and
the Mandarin non-referential third person pronoun ta in the V-ta-ge-NP/AP construction is
presented, showing that both cases manifest interactions between VP-internal projections and higher functional categories.
Syntactic functions of nonmanuals in Russian Sign Language
Authors: Burkova Svetlana , Khristoforova Evgeniia , Kimmelman Vadim
Published: March 2023

This chapter presents the Russian Sign Language (RSL) Corpus and demonstrates its capabilities as a research tool by summarizing three corpus-based studies primarily focused on syntactic functions of nonmanual markers. The first study considers question marking in regular wh-questions and in question-answer pairs. It shows that the two constructions have very different nonmanual markers. The second study analyzes marking of topics in RSL, and shows that nonmanual markers of topics are typologically common, but are infrequent in naturalistic corpus data. The third study investigates conditional and concessive constructions in RSL. It demonstrates that these constructions make extensive and frequent use of nonmanual markers, but that no single marker is specialized for the function of expressing conditional or concessive meaning. Instead, complex combinations of multiple markers are employed in these constructions. All three studies also contribute to sign language typology by providing novel descriptions of syntactic and discourse phenomena in RSL.
Verb classes in South African Sign Language
Authors: Wehrmeyer Ella
Published: March 2023

This chapter presents a pioneer exploration of verb categories in South African Sign Language (SASL), using a corpus of authentic naturalistic narrative data. The paucity of linguistic descriptions of SASL meant that a theoretical basis for the study was derived using models developed for other sign languages, in particular those of Padden (1986, 1988, 1990), Johnston (1991), and De Beuzeville et al. (2009). The study also sought to explore whether verb classes can be distinguished in terms of gaze, head turns, body turns, location shift, nature of movement, emotive facial expressions, and explicitation of arguments, and how these parameters change during role-shift. The study finds that De Beuzeville et al.’s (2009) categorization provides the closest description for SASL verbs, but with a split in their ‘directional verbs’ category into agreement and motion verbs. A typology for SASL verbs is proposed and reflected upon in terms of teaching objectives.
Exotic marginally outer trapped surfaces in rotating spacetimes of any dimension
Authors: Booth Ivan , Chan Kam To Billy , Hennigar Robie A , Kunduri Hari , Muth Sarah
Published: March 2023

The recently developed MOTSodesic method for locating marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTSs) was effectively restricted to non-rotating spacetimes. In this paper we extend the method to include (multi-)axisymmetric time slices of (multi-)axisymmetric spacetimes of any dimension. We then apply this method to study MOTSs in the BTZ, Kerr and Myers–Perry black holes. While there are many similarities between the MOTSs observed in these spacetimes and those seen in Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordström, details of the more complicated geometries also introduce some new, previously unseen, behaviours.
Uniformly convex neural networks and non-stationary iterated network Tikhonov (iNETT) method
Authors: Bianchi Davide , Lai Guanghao , Li Wenbin
Published: March 2023

We propose a non-stationary iterated network Tikhonov (iNETT) method for the solution of ill-posed inverse problems. The iNETT employs deep neural networks to build a data-driven regularizer, and it avoids the difficult task of estimating the optimal regularization parameter. To achieve the theoretical convergence of iNETT, we introduce uniformly convex neural networks to build the data-driven regularizer. Rigorous theories and detailed algorithms are proposed for the construction of convex and uniformly convex neural networks. In particular, given a general neural network architecture, we prescribe sufficient conditions to achieve a trained neural network which is component-wise convex or uniformly convex; moreover, we provide concrete examples of realizing convexity and uniform convexity in the modern U-net architecture. With the tools of convex and uniformly convex neural networks, the iNETT algorithm is developed and a rigorous convergence analysis is provided. Lastly, we show applications of the iNETT algorithm in 2D computerized tomography, where numerical examples illustrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm.
Collective excitations in a melt of fast phase change material GeCu2Te3
Authors: Inui M , Hosokawa S , Tsutsui S , Nakajima Y , Matsuda K , Maruyama K , Baron A Q R
Published: March 2023

Inelastic x-ray scattering measurements have been carried out to investigate atomic dynamics in a melt of fast phase change material GeCu2Te3. The dynamic structure factor was analysed using the model function with three damped harmonic oscillator components. By investigating the correlation between the excitation energy and the linewidth, and that between the excitation energy and the intensity on contour maps of a relative approximate probability distribution function proportional to

exp
(
−

χ
2

/
N
)

, we could judge the reliability of each inelastic excitation in the dynamic structure factor. The results indicate that there are two inelastic excitation modes besides the longitudinal acoustic one in the liquid. The lower energy excitation could be assigned to the transverse acoustic one whereas the higher energy one disperses like fast sound. The latter result may imply that the liquid ternary alloy exhibits a microscopic phase separation tendency.
Uncertainty-aware temperature interpolation for measurement rooms using ordinary Kriging
Authors: Vedurmudi Anupam Prasad , Janzen Katharina , Nagler Markus , Eichstaedt Sascha
Published: March 2023

Accurate measurements in dimensional metrology necessitate strict controls on spatial and temporal variations in the measurement room temperature. Due to limitations in the number of sensors that can be placed in a given room, interpolation methods that leverage information from multiple sensors are necessary to assess conditions at unsampled locations. In this contribution, Kriging is used to spatially interpolate room temperatures from a limited number of sensors with different measurement uncertainties in a temperature controlled room housing two coordinate measurement machines. A novel method to propagate sensor uncertainties to the interpolated values using a Monte Carlo simulation is also demonstrated. The uncertainty propagation is considered for the explicitly heteroskedastic, i.e. a constituent network of sensors with different measurement uncertainties. The influence of a localized disturbance in the form of a movable heating element in the room is also investigated.
Multiscale cascade recurrent dilation convolution network for fault diagnosis of rolling bearing under cross-load conditions
Authors: Xu Zhenli , Tang Guiji , Pang Bin
Published: March 2023

Recently, deep learning (DL) models based on convolutional neural networks have achieved satisfactory results in rolling bearing fault diagnosis. However, the bearings usually work in variable loading conditions, and their feature distribution could vary with load. The important features cannot be effectively captured in the convolution process using the existing diagnosis models, resulting in poor generalization performance. In this paper, a novel DL model, named multiscale cascade recurrent dilation convolution network, is proposed by introducing the dilated convolution and global average pooling (GAP) layer. Firstly, a new multiscale cascade structure with different convolution kernel sizes is introduced to extract multiscale features contained in the vibration signal. Secondly, a recurrent dilation convolution strategy is designed in each branch of the multiscale cascade structure to extract abundant feature information. Finally, the GAP is employed to reduce redundant feature vectors and output them, while a classifier of multilayer perceptron is used to automatically identify the fault types. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by two experimental cases. The results show that the proposed method can successfully identify the labels of fault samples under unknown load conditions using the fault samples with labels under existing load conditions. Compared with other methods, this method exhibits excellent robustness and generalization performance for bearing fault diagnosis under cross-load conditions.
Enhanced resistive switching performance of TiO2 based RRAM device with graphene oxide inserting layer
Authors: Hu Lifang , Zheng Zhi , Xiao Ming , Meng Qingsen
Published: March 2023

In this work, graphene oxide (GO)/TiO2 heterostructures for resistive random access memory devices were fabricated, and the composition and microstructure of TiO2 and GO were characterized by x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The resistive characteristics of the fabricated devices were investigated, and the remarkable improvement in cycle-to-cycle uniformity and high ON/OFF ratio of the TiO2 thin film-based memory device were realized by introducing a thin GO layer. The formation/rupture of the conductive filament through the migration of oxygen vacancies in the TiO2 substrate was responsible for the resistive switching. Owing to the different activation energies of reduction and oxidation of the GO, the set voltage became larger than the reset voltage. According to the linear fitting of double logarithm I–V plots, the conduction mechanism in low and high resistance states was governed by the ohmic mechanism and trap-controlled space charge limited current, respectively. The oxygen migration-induced oxidation/reduction in GO rendered it a good oxygen vacancy reservoir, which is responsible for the enhanced cycle-to-cycle uniformity and high ON/OFF ratio.
Crystallographic structural variations in nano-crystalline Sc2O3 under pressure
Authors: Yadav Deepa , Bura Neha , Bhoriya Ankit , Singh Jasveer , Srihari Velaga , Poswal Himanshu K , Sharma Nita Dilawar
Published: March 2023

The present manuscript reports high-pressure investigations on nano-crystalline Scandium Oxide (Sc2O3) through synchrotron angle dispersive x-ray diffraction technique (ADXRD) up to a pressure of ∼35.4 GPa using a diamond-anvil cell (DAC). The sample, having a cubic bixbyite structure at ambient conditions, underwent substantial changes in crystallographic parameters under the application of external pressure, while exhibiting phase stability i.e. does not undergo any structural phase transition up to 35.4 GPa. The lattice parameters and the unit cell volume decrease significantly with an increase in pressure, revealing the compressible nature of the crystal structure. The pressure-volume data is fitted using the third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state to calculate the bulk modulus and its first derivative, which yields zero pressure bulk modulus of 217(35) GPa, with

B

0

′

= 12(4) and the corresponding ambient volume per unit molecule comes out to be 59.18(18) Å3.
Simple single-field inflation models with arbitrarily small tensor/scalar ratio
Authors: Stein Nina K. , Kinney William H.
Published: March 2023

We construct a family of simple single-field inflation models consistent with Planck / BICEP Keck bounds which have a parametrically small tensor amplitude and no running of the scalar spectral index. The construction consists of a constant-roll hilltop inflaton potential with the end of inflation left as a free parameter induced by higher-order operators which become dominant late in inflation. This construction directly demonstrates that there is no lower bound on the tensor/scalar ratio for simple single-field inflation models.
Microsecond pulsed yellow emission by intracavity doubled optically pumped two-chip VECSEL
Authors: Liu Hua-Yu , Ma Hao-Da , Bian Qi , Bo Yong , Cui Da-Fu , Peng Qin-Jun
Published: March 2023

A quasi-continues-wave (QCW) 100 μs pulsed yellow laser at 589 nm, based on intracavity frequency doubling (ICFD) of identical two-chip vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) with bow-tie configuration, is demonstrated. Each VECSEL chip is optically QCW-pumped by an 808 nm laser diode, emitting a fundamental wavelength around 1178 nm. A birefringence filter is inserted in the laser cavity to select the linear p-polarized oscillation and tune the operation wavelength. Using a lithium-triborate (LiB3O5) as the frequency doubled crystal, a total frequency doubled output power of 264 mW at 589 nm is achieved, operating at a pulse duration of 194 μs and a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz. A good beam quality factor is measured to be M
2 = 2.15. These results represent a novel scheme for the QCW multiple gain chips VECSEL ICFD system, opening up a new perspective for the realization of impact long pulse 589 nm laser for sodium guide-star.
Probing photocarrier dynamics of pressurized graphene using time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy
Authors: Wang Yunfeng , Xu Shujuan , Yang Jin , Su Fuhai
Published: March 2023

Graphene hosts intriguing photocarrier dynamics such as negative transient terahertz (THz) photoconductivity, high electron temperature, benefiting from the unique linear Dirac dispersion. In this work, the pressure effects of photocarrier dynamics of graphene have been investigated using in situ time-resolved THz spectroscopy in combination with diamond anvil cell exceeding 9 GPa. We find that the negative THz conductivity maintains in our studied pressure range both for monolayer and bilayer graphene. In particular, the amplitude of THz photoconductivity in monolayer graphene manifests an extraordinary dropping with pressure, compared with that from the counterparts such as bulk silicon and bilayer graphene. Concomitantly, the time constant is reduced with increasing pressure, highlighting the pressure-induced hot carrier cooling. The pressure dependence of photocarrier dynamics in monolayer graphene is likely related with the enhancement of the interfacial coupling between diamond surface and sample, allowing for the activity of new electron–phonon scattering. Our work is expected to provide an impetus for the studies of high-pressure THz spectroscopy of two-dimensional materials.
Intensive land-use is associated with development status in port cities of Southeast Asia
Authors: Dong Yuqi , Zhou Yu , Zhang Li , Gu Yu , Sutrisno Dewayany
Published: March 2023

Port cities in Southeast Asia (SEA) have been undergoing intensive land use and land cover change (LUCC) because of rapid socio-economic development in recent decades. However, various development statuses among these cities could result in divergent LUCC transitions and therefore affect the local ecosystem at different levels. This study investigated the historic land-use transition in the SEA port cities by classifying Landsat images from 1990 to 2020 with the random forest algorithm, and further integrated these patterns with land-use modeling to inform the future land uses under the current developing mode. DIVISON was used to assess land-use fragmentation and investigated its relationship with development levels represented by the average nighttime light index (ANLI). The results showed an intensive LUCC in SEA port cities in 1990–2020, with artificial surface increasing by 9.2% (175.9 km2) of the total area, mainly converted from cultivated land which decreased by 136.9 km2. An inverted V-shaped relationship between fragmentation and development level was found at the landscape level and for cultivated land, in which both turning points (TPs) occurred in the mid-developed stage (ANLI = 41.1 and 20.0, respectively). Artificial surfaces tended to be more aggregated in later developed stages, showing a TP of ANLI around 53.2. Under the current developing mode, the aggregation trend will be generally continued for the next three decades, mainly resulting from the increased connection in artificial surfaces. The findings also highlighted a tradeoff between city development and agricultural production in SEA port cities, leading to increased food insecurity in more developed stages. Recent developments also negatively affected aqua ecosystems, such as aquaculture, mangroves, and natural waterbodies in several cities. This study underscored the importance of the sustainable LUCC strategy in SEA port cities and provides insights into rationalizing land-use policies for other port cities worldwide.
Exact solution of weighted partially directed walks crossing a square
Authors: Beaton Nicholas R , Owczarek Aleksander L
Published: March 2023

We consider partially directed walks crossing a L × L square weighted according to their length by a fugacity t. The exact solution of this model is computed in three different ways, depending on whether t is less than, equal to or greater than 1. In all cases a complete expression for the dominant asymptotic behaviour of the partition function is calculated. The model admits a dilute to dense phase transition, where for

0
<
t
<
1

the partition function scales exponentially in L whereas for t > 1 the partition function scales exponentially in L
2, and when t = 1 there is an intermediate scaling which is exponential in

L
log
L

. As such we provide an exact solution of a model of the dilute to dense polymeric phase transition in two dimensions.
Deep multimodal fusion of image and non-image data in disease diagnosis and prognosis: a review
Authors: Cui Can , Yang Haichun , Wang Yaohong , Zhao Shilin , Asad Zuhayr , Coburn Lori A , Wilson Keith T , Landman Bennett A , Huo Yuankai
Published: March 2023

The rapid development of diagnostic technologies in healthcare is leading to higher requirements for physicians to handle and integrate the heterogeneous, yet complementary data that are produced during routine practice. For instance, the personalized diagnosis and treatment planning for a single cancer patient relies on various images (e.g. radiology, pathology and camera images) and non-image data (e.g. clinical data and genomic data). However, such decision-making procedures can be subjective, qualitative, and have large inter-subject variabilities. With the recent advances in multimodal deep learning technologies, an increasingly large number of efforts have been devoted to a key question: how do we extract and aggregate multimodal information to ultimately provide more objective, quantitative computer-aided clinical decision making? This paper reviews the recent studies on dealing with such a question. Briefly, this review will include the (a) overview of current multimodal learning workflows, (b) summarization of multimodal fusion methods, (c) discussion of the performance, (d) applications in disease diagnosis and prognosis, and (e) challenges and future directions.
Identification of significant gene expression changes in multiple perturbation experiments using knockoffs
Authors: Zhao Tingting , Zhu Guangyu , Dubey Harsh Vardhan , Flaherty Patrick
Published: March 2023

Large-scale multiple perturbation experiments have the potential to reveal a more detailed understanding of the molecular pathways that respond to genetic and environmental changes. A key question in these studies is which gene expression changes are important for the response to the perturbation. This problem is challenging because (i) the functional form of the nonlinear relationship between gene expression and the perturbation is unknown and (ii) identification of the most important genes is a high-dimensional variable selection problem. To deal with these challenges, we present here a method based on the model-X knockoffs framework and Deep Neural Networks to identify significant gene expression changes in multiple perturbation experiments. This approach makes no assumptions on the functional form of the dependence between the responses and the perturbations and it enjoys finite sample false discovery rate control for the selected set of important gene expression responses. We apply this approach to the Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signature data sets which is a National Institutes of Health Common Fund program that catalogs how human cells globally respond to chemical, genetic and disease perturbations. We identified important genes whose expression is directly modulated in response to perturbation with anthracycline, vorinostat, trichostatin-a, geldanamycin and sirolimus. We compare the set of important genes that respond to these small molecules to identify co-responsive pathways. Identification of which genes respond to specific perturbation stressors can provide better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease and advance the identification of new drug targets.
Historical Co-offending Networks: A Social Network Analysis Approach
Authors: Di Méo Grace
Published: March 2023

Recent decades have witnessed growing use of social network analysis (SNA) to study criminal activities, including that of co-offending. However, few studies have examined co-offending networks within a historical context. This paper focuses on group-based crime in a large English town during the Victorian period, employing SNA methods to examine the prevalence, structure and composition of co-offending relationships. Networks for property, violent and victimless crimes were partitioned to compare co-offending across crime categories. Results indicate that co-offending groups were typically segregated, although there was a loosely-organised community of property crime offenders connected by ‘brokers’ who collaborated with multiple groups. Evidence also suggests that co-offending was largely characterised by assortative mixing in regard to sex, age and marital status.
Disassociation between fluctuation shift over frequency and glucose metabolism in motor cortex of Parkinson’s disease: a hybrid PET/fMRI study
Authors: Zang Zhenxiang , Song Tianbin , Li Jiping , Qu Hongying , Nie Binbin , Mei Shanshan , Wu Tao , Zhang Yuqing , Lu Jie
Published: March 2023

Increased glucose metabolism and decreased low-frequency fluctuation have been consistently reported in the motor area of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The reason for such seeming paradox is unclear. Here, we enrolled 34 PD patients and 25 healthy controls (HCs) for hybrid PET/fMRI scan (PET/fMRI(discovery) dataset). In addition, 2 replication datasets, namely fMRI(validation-1) and fMRI(validation-2) dataset, were also included. We computed ratio of standard uptake value (SUVr) to measure FDG-uptake. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) for the following 4 frequency bands was calculated: slow-5, slow-4, slow-3, and slow-2. We obtained a significant group-by-frequency interaction effect of ALFF in the paracentral lobule/supplementary motor area (PFWE = 0.003) and the right sensorimotor area (PFWE < 0.001) in the PET/fMRI(discovery) dataset, which could be replicated using fMRI(validation-1) and fMRI(validation-2) datasets (PFWE < 0.05). In detail, HCs exhibited power law-like fluctuation pattern, but PD patients did not. Correlation analyses further revealed significant associations between ALFF and FDG-uptake in HCs (P-values < 0.031), but not in PD (P-values > 0.28). Taken together, this study identified a fluctuation shift over frequency effect in PD patients, which further disassociated with glucose metabolism in the motor cortex.
Visual Volatile-Compound Fingerprint Based on Headspace Gas Chromatography-Ion Mobility Spectrometry Combined with Chemometrics Analysis and Exploration in the Authentic Identification of Lonicerae japonicae flos
Authors: Zhang Minmin , Sun Chenglong , Li Lili , Ren Fang , Li Shengbo , Zhao Hengqiang , Wang Xiao
Published: March 2023

Headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometric (HS-GC-IMS) fingerprint of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF, Jinyinhua in Chinese) was developed. This method, combined with chemometrics analysis, was explored in the identification of authentic LJF. Seventy VOCs were identified from LJF, including aldehydes, ketones, esters, etc. The developed volatile-compound fingerprint based on HS-GC-IMS coupled with PCA analysis can successfully discriminate LJF from its adulterant: Lonicerae japonicae(LJ, called Shanyinhua in China) and can equally discriminate the LJF samples from different geographical origins of China. Total of four (compound 120, compound 184, 2-heptanone and 2-heptanone#2) and nine VOCs (styrene, compound 41, 3z-hexenol, methylpyrazine, hexanal#2, compound 78, compound 110, compound 124 and compound 180) were exploited, which might serve as the chemical markers for the difference of LJF, LJ and LJF from different regions of China. The result showed that the fingerprint based on HS-GC-IMS combined with PCA exhibited distinct advantages, such as rapid, intuitive and powerful selectivity, which demonstrated great application potential in the authentic identification of LJF.
Effectiveness of Intermittent Screening and Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy on Maternal and Birth Outcomes in Selected Districts in Rwanda: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Uwimana Aline , Sethi Reena , Murindahabi Monique , Ntirandeka Celestin , Piercefield Emily , Umulisa Noella , Abram Andrew , Eckert Erin , Munguti Kaendi , Sullivan David , Uyizeye Didier , Mbituyumuremyi Aimable , Gutman Julie R
Published: March 2023

Background

Malaria during pregnancy can cause serious consequences including maternal anemia and low birthweight (LBW). Routine antenatal care (ANC) in Rwanda includes malaria symptom screening at each ANC visit. This cluster randomized controlled trial investigated whether adding intermittent screening with a malaria rapid diagnostic test at each routine ANC visit and treatment of positives during pregnancy (ISTp) is more effective than routine ANC for reducing malaria prevalence at delivery.

Methods

Between September 2016 and June 2018, pregnant women initiating ANC at 14 health centers in Rwanda were enrolled into ISTp or control arms. All women received an insecticide-treated bed net at enrollment. Hemoglobin concentration, placental and peripheral parasitemia, newborn outcome, birthweight, and prematurity were assessed at delivery.

Results

Nine hundred seventy-five women were enrolled in ISTp and 811 in the control group. Routine ANC plus ISTp did not significantly reduce polymerase chain reaction–confirmed placental malaria compared to control (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 0.94 [95% confidence interval {CI}, .59–1.50]; P = .799). ISTp had no impact on anemia (aRR, 1.08 [95% CI, .57–2.04]; P = .821). The mean birthweight of singleton newborns was not significantly different between arms (3054 g vs 3096 g, P = .395); however, women in the ISTp arm had a higher proportion of LBW (aRR, 1.59 [95% CI, 1.02–2.49]; P = .042).

Conclusions

This is the only study to compare ISTp to symptomatic screening at ANC in a setting where intermittent preventive treatment is not routinely provided. ISTp did not reduce the prevalence of malaria or anemia at delivery and was associated with an increased risk of LBW.

Clinical Trials Registration

NCT03508349.
Risk-related clinical outcomes after minimally invasive mitral valve surgery: insights from the Mini-Mitral International Registry
Authors: Berretta Paolo , Kempfert Jorg , Van Praet Frank , Salvador Loris , Lamelas Joseph , Nguyen Tom C , Wilbring Manuel , Gerdisch Marc , Rinaldi Mauro , Bonaros Nikolaos , Folliguet Thierry , Doenst Torsten , Nguyen Dinh Hoang , Stefano Pierluigi , Yan Tristan , Savini Carlo , Pitsis Antonios , Di Eusanio Marco
Published: March 2023

OBJECTIVES

With the popularization of catheter-based mitral valve procedures, evaluating risk-specific differentiated clinical outcomes after contemporary mitral valve surgery is crucial. In this study, we assessed the operative results of minimally invasive mitral valve operations across different patient risk profiles and evaluated the value of EuroSCORE (ES) II predicted risk of mortality model for risk prediction, in the large cohort of Mini-Mitral International Registry (MMIR).

METHODS

The MMIR database was used to analyse mini-mitral operations between 2015 and 2021. Patients were categorized as low (<4%), intermediate (4% to <8%), high (8% to <12%) and extreme risk (≥12%) according to ES II. The observed-to-expected mortality ratio was calculated for each risk group.

RESULTS

A total of 6541 patients were included in the analysis. Of those, 5546 (84.8%) were classified as low risk, 615 (9.4%) as intermediate risk, 191 (2.9%) as high risk and 189 (2.9%) as extreme risk. Overall operative mortality and stroke rates were 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively, and were significantly associated with patient’s risk. The observed mortality was significantly lower than expected—according to the ES II—in all risk categories (observed-to-expected ratio < 1).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study provides an international contemporary benchmark for operative outcomes after minimally invasive mitral surgery. Operative results were excellent in low-, intermediate- and high-risk patients, but were less satisfactory in extreme risk. The ES II model overestimated the in-hospital mortality. We believe that findings from the MMIR may assist surgeons and cardiologists in clinical decision-making and treatment allocation for patients with mitral valve disease.
Crystallographic texture formation in Fe-9wt%Si alloy during deformation and phase transition at high pressure
Authors: Vasin Roman N , Kunz Martin , Wenk Hans-Rudolf , Zepeda-Alarcon Eloisa
Published: March 2023

The seismic anisotropy of the Earth's solid inner core has been the topic of much research. It could be explained by the crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) developing during convection. The likely phase is hexagonal close-packed iron (hcp), alloyed with nickel and some lighter elements. Here we use high energy synchrotron X-rays to study CPO in Fe-9wt%Si, uniaxially compressed in a diamond anvil cell in radial geometry. The experiments reveal that strong preferred orientation forms in the low-pressure body-centred cubic (bcc) phase that appears to be softer than pure iron. CPO is attributed to dominant {110}<111> slip. The onset of the bcc→hcp transition occurs at a pressure of ≈15 GPa, and the alloy remains in a two phase bcc + hcp state up to 40 GPa. The hcp phase forms first with a distinct {11$\bar{2}$0} maximum perpendicular to compression. Modelling shows that this is a transformation texture, which can be described by Burgers orientation relationship with variant selection. Experimental results suggest that bcc grains oriented with <100> parallel to compression transform into hcp first. The CPO of the hcp changes only slowly during further pressure and deviatoric stress increase at ambient temperature. After heating to 1600 K, a change in the hcp CPO is observed with alignment of (0001) planes perpendicular to compression that can be interpreted as dominant (0001)<11$\bar{2}$0> slip, combined with {10$\bar{1}$2}<$\bar{1}$011> mechanical twinning, which is similar to the deformation modes suggested previously for pure hcp iron at inner core conditions.
Normal Split Submanifolds of Rational Homogeneous Spaces
Authors: Floris Enrica , Höring Andreas
Published: March 2023

Let $M \subset X$ be a submanifold of a rational homogeneous space $X$ such that the normal sequence splits. We prove that $M$ is also rational homogeneous.
Combinatorial Curvature Flows for Generalized Circle Packings on Surfaces with Boundary
Authors: Xu Xu , Zheng Chao
Published: March 2023

In this paper, we investigate the deformation of generalized circle packings on ideally triangulated surfaces with boundary, which is the $(-1,-1,-1)$-type generalized circle packing metric introduced by Guo and Luo [ 16]. To find hyperbolic metrics on surfaces with totally geodesic boundaries of prescribed lengths, we introduce combinatorial Ricci flow and combinatorial Calabi flow for generalized circle packings on ideally triangulated surfaces with boundary. Then we prove the longtime existence and global convergence for the solutions of these combinatorial curvature flows, which provide effective algorithms for finding hyperbolic metrics on surfaces with totally geodesic boundaries of prescribed lengths.
Transcriptome analysis of the Clostridioides difficile response to a specific lactobacilli probiotic formulation: explanations for its mechanisms of action
Authors: Masset Zoé , Gunaratnam Sathursha , Millette Mathieu , McFarland Lynne V , Lacroix Monique
Published: March 2023

Aims

Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. A probiotic formulation (Bio-K+) comprised of Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lacticaseibacillus casei LBC80R, and Lacti. rhamnosus CLR2 strains have been shown to reduce the incidence of CDI and antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD). This research aims to therefore elucidate the mechanism of action of the three probiotic strained against C. difficile R20291, independently of the acidification of the environment. 

Methods and Results

Antitoxin activity was evaluated using ELISA method and the expression of C. difficile genes was evaluated using transcriptomic analysis in co-culture assays conducted in a bioreactor allowing precise control of the pH. The fermentation results demonstrated a decrease for toxin A and many genes directly related to C. difficile virulence were underexpressed in the co-cultures.

Conclusions

The lactobacilli tested could have a role in the motility, the quorum sensing (QS), the survival of the spores, and the germination potential of the spores, which are essential elements for the virulence of C. difficile.