bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Inelastic response of two-pile group under moment loading
Authors: Narasimharao Battina
Published: March 2022

Shallow foundations are mostly used in transmitting loads from the superstructure to the supporting soils. In several cases, these footings are subjected to moment loading such as vertical load and bending moment due to wind and earthquake. The main objective of the present investigation is to find out the load-displacement response of group of two piles subjected to pure moment loading in sand bed without any reinforcement. The advantage of model study is that the pertinent parameters influencing the behaviour of 2-pile group embedded in sand can be controlled easily as per the requirement. In addition, the cost of carrying out model investigations is quite less and convenience is more compared to field tests. Therefore, model study is adopted in the present investigation. The relevant parameters considered for the study are (a) dimensions of the pile models (l/d ratios), (b) Relative density conditions, (c) spacing between piles (s/d ratios).
Geo technical Laboratory Evaluation of Construction Demolition Recycled Material for Road Embankments
Authors: Shivaprasad H. , Kommu Suresh
Published: March 2022

The recycling of construction demolition waste material has already become a prime focus under sustainable technologies and innovations across the globe. A report announced by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Delhi, in August 2020 stated, India generates approximately 150 million tons of construction demolition waste every year and recycles only 1%. The rest remains strewn across, in landfills causing air contamination and water tainting. Whereas “The United States Environment Protection Agency (USEPA)” approximated that 600 million tons of construction waste had been generated in 2016 in the USA, around 75% of the waste was recycled and also used effectively. The present paper focuses on predicting the suitability of recycled construction demolition waste material for road embankment and comparing its characteristics with conventional embankment materials. The Guidelines given by IRC and BIS were following to predict the feasibility of recycled construction demolition waste as fill material for road embankment. Laboratory results indicated the suitability of recycled construction demolition waste material for road embankments. This study probed a single source of construction demolition waste with one particular gradation as it can significantly alter the properties and suitability requirements.
Analysis of water quality parameters of Tadakaleru stream from Anantapuramu City to Singanamala Tank – A case study
Authors: Partha Praveen L , Kumar Palla Charan , Lakshmi Shireesha D , Aparna K
Published: March 2022

Water is an important component of human life. His existence and growth are inextricably connected to water. Water is utilised for human necessities such as drinking, washing, bathing, cooking, and so on. Irrigation and industry both require water for the production of food and other necessities. Sewage and waste industrial effluents are being mixed with fresh water streams in many areas throughout the world, affecting humans, animals, and plants. Anantapuramu is a significant city in the Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh. It has a population of about 5 lakh people. Singanamala is a village in Anantapur district with a population of 10,000 people. Untreated sewage from Anantapuramu runs for 12 kilometres in the Tadakaleru stream before arriving to Singanamala Tank. People in Singanamala village utilise the water stored in the Singanamala tank for irrigation and drinking. In other words, Anantapuramu’s sewage provides fresh water to the inhabitants of Singanamala. By sampling at regular intervals, the current study intends to analyse the water quality characteristics of the Tadakaleru stream from the site of confluence of sewage from Anantapuramu to Singanamala tank. The ability of the Tadakaleru stream to purify itself will be tested. The quality of the groundwater is also examined. At present the sewage of Anantapur is being self-purified in Tadakaleru stream. In mere future, for increased population sewage treatment plant is necessary to treat the sewage of Anantapur town.
Optimal reservoir release policy integrating irrigation scheduling
Authors: Annavarapu Srinivasa Prasad , Kamatapu Leela Krishna , Ramamurthy Chandra Mohan
Published: March 2022

In many irrigation systems, water plays a critical role for agricultural production as it is limited and variable. Important aspect of water management includes optimal allocation of water for irrigation to various crops grown under each canal of a reservoir considering the yield response to water deficit. In general, multi crops are grown under a canal system in the same season necessitating the allocation of water to each crop considering crop water requirement and yield response to deficits. In view of the deficits of water especially in dry seasons, importance of development of optimization models for allocation of water is recognised and being implemented from the last few decades. A Linear Programming model is formulated integrating fortnight reservoir releases with irrigation scheduling in a multi-crop environment considering root-zone soil moisture dynamics, yield response to water deficit and reservoir storage continuity minimizing reduction in crop yield. The Model formulated is demonstrated through a case-study of Gundlakamma Reservoir, India and results obtained are presented.
Assessment of Runoff and Sediment Yield using Routing Model
Authors: Sundara Kumar P
Published: March 2022

The assessment of runoff from rainfall and sediment yield is essential for management and conservation of water availability and can also apply for several applications of hydrology. The technique of Sediment routing has been evolve to route the sediment yield from a selected area which was divided into five sub-basins at Anakapalli station. Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique are used to find the parameters and develop the routing model. The data related to factors of Runoff (R), Soil erodibility (K), Topographic (LS), crop management (C) and conservation practice for development of the model. In order to affirm the overall performance of the routing technique for the take a look at area, the release and sediment yield records from the Anakapalli gauging station has been collected for 28 rainfall days January 2020 to October 2020. locate at the records amassed, to compute the sediment yield from Routing technique. Measured sediment yield from selected point has been validated to the routing sediment yield from the selected basin. The effect of sediment yield has been evaluate herewith of calculated data and it is establish that coefficient of resolve (R2) are 0.96 and Efficiency of Nash Sutcliffe (ENS) of 96.19 for Routing model is performing well for the studied basin, it is effectively used for assessment of sediment yield in the selected place
Analysis of precast box section of a bridge for different span lengths
Authors: Harinkhede Pragya D , Harne Varsha R
Published: March 2022

In the present scenario, Minor bridges over small rivers have become necessary for the nation’s development to connect the country’s most remote corners. In this paper initially, 30 m of Minor Multi-cell Box type Bridge with different number of precast sections along with the different types of load such as Dead Load, Live Load, Super Imposed Dead Load, Earth pressure, and vehicle load such as Class “A” vehicle, 70R bogie vehicle, 70R Wheeled vehicle, 70R Tracked vehicle, as per IRC is analyzed. Also, various Load Combinations are applied to bridge structure such as limit state of collapse and limit state of serviceability, for accurate results of Bending Moment and Shear Force critical sections are marked. The aim and objective of the work are to analyze and design the different span lengths 3.43, 4, 4.8,6,8 m of box sections for the Indian Road Congress Code (i.e. IRC 6-2017 and IRC 112-2011). This has been done by analyzing the structure using software STADD PRO V8i. And design validating with manual results by developing the Microsoft Excel Sheet. From analysis and discussion, it is concluded that 5 sections of 4.8 m span which give better results and minimum cost compared to other section.
Study on Dynamic Behaviour of Irregular R.C Framed Structures with Different Location of Shear Walls
Authors: Arshiya Firdose H M , Shashi Kumar A , Narayana G , Narendra B K
Published: March 2022

In the recent researches it was found to be the most appropriate loads resisting system in recent and present years is shear walls system. In the high rise building shear walls are of the most achievable and hence commonly used lateral load resisting components. It is supplied in building from foundation level to through the height of the building. The scope of the present work is to find the optimum location of the shear walls in plan irregular structures with shear walls such as in I frame, L frame, T frame for different zones in G+17 stories each storey height of 3.2 m, Shear walls are given at corners and at periphery of the building. And also, the outcome of results in seismic zones as per IS CODE 1893(Part1): 2016 has been presented. The seismic analysis performed is linear dynamic response spectrum analysis utilizing the well-known analysis and design software ETABS 18.1.0. Seismic performance of the building has been examined based on specification such as storey displacement, Storey drift, Storey Shear, Base shear, Time period of modes.
Application of refined mixed finite element model for analysis of laminated composite beams
Authors: Patel Kamal S , Ramtekkar G D
Published: March 2022

Analysis of laminated composite members is always a critical phenomenon. To address this issue, the authors developed the six nodes two dimensional refined mixed finite element model (r-MFEM) for accurate analysis of laminated composite beam. This model has transverse stress σZ
and τxz
as primary variables along with displacement u and w. Equilibrium equations are used to refine the variation of primary variables in the formulation. In the present paper, various laminated composite beams have been analysed by the six nodes two-dimensional r-MFEM element to show the model’s versatility. The results obtained has been compared with the other author’s work.
Comparative Study on Slab Deflections
Authors: Devi Priyanka M , Ramesh V
Published: March 2022

Slabs are one of the most common structural components in RC-framed structures, usually analysed under transverse loading. In the analysis, the thickness of the slab generally governs the serviceability requirement for deflection. The thickness of the slab controls the weight of the building since its contribution is nearly 50% of the total weight of the building. In order to minimize the weight of the building, proper analysis of the slab ensures minimum thickness satisfying deflection criteria. For a given loading, span, and assumed thickness of the slab, analysis will be performed using the material properties such as modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio. Several theories, including the Rankine-Grashoff theory, Timoshenko’s plate theory, Marcus, and other methods have been proposed over the years using the same concept. These methods do not consider the participation of reinforcement in deflection estimation. IS code 456 – 2016 specifies limiting span to depth ratios with suitable modification factors based on percentage of tension reinforcement and stress level in steel for satisfactory serviceability criteria of deflection. In the present study, an attempt was made to compare the slab deflections analytically and experimentally with and without reinforcement contribution for the exactness of proposed theories. It concludes that, in one-way simply supported slabs, theoretical values differ by 45% from experimental values in reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. In two-way simply supported plain concrete (PC) slabs, the Rankine-Grashoff theory is in good agreement with the experimental values. Theoretical values of the two-way slabs when compared with experimental (RC slab) values are in good agreement with plate theory.
Seismic Behavior of Flat Slab for Optimum Location of Bracings
Authors: Pooja H S , Shashikumar N V , Narayan G , Narendra B K
Published: March 2022

As increasing population necessity of the land required to build a structures is keep on decreasing so that high rise structures are everywhere. Use of flat slab in high rise structure has many advantages compared to RC conventional slab system. To increase the lateral resistivity of the flat slab building, diagonal type buckling restrained braces are provided at the corners. The main objective is to know about the Seismic behavior of flat slab with BRB for different re-entrant corner irregularities(Plus, T, L), using nonlinear time history analysis with help of ETABS software. 20storey flat slab drop panel building with BRB is modelled and analyzed in zone III. Comparing the different re-entrant irregularity buildings with and without bracings. Plus shape flat slab with bracing building shows better performance compared to all other models with respects to various parameters such as lateral displacement. Storey drift, storey stiffness, base shear and time period.
Comparison of RCC and Post-Tensioned Flat Slabs Using ETABS
Authors: Satwika Vanteddu , Jaiswal Mohit
Published: March 2022

Flat slabs are widely used nowadays. The system’s insufficient punching shear capacity is a major and serious flaw. There are numerous approaches to increasing the punching shear strength of concrete slabs to solve the problem of punching failure. Increasing the thickness of the slab adjacent to the column, as well as the thickness of the column, contradicts the architectural intent. In developing countries such as India, the benefits of prestressing, particularly post-tensioning, have yet to be recognized. In this study, the technique of post-tensioning is used to strengthen a flat slab. RCC flat slabs are compared to post-tensioned flab slabs with different tendon profiles. Tendons are available in two forms: distributed and banded. The models were built as per ACI 318-14. These slab models were created using ETABS software, and the following parameters were compared: thickness, supporting reactions, punching shear, and deflection. When compared to traditional flat slabs. The results indicate that post-tensioned flat slabs have a higher punching shear capacity even at shallower depths, resulting in more cost-effective sections. The provision of tendons also results in lower deflection.
Origin and avoidance of double peaks in the induced voltage of a thermomagnetic generator for harvesting low-grade waste heat
Authors: Dzekan Daniel , Kischnik Tim D , Diestel Anett , Nielsch Kornelius , Fähler Sebastian
Published: March 2022

Thermomagnetic harvesting is an emerging approach used to convert low-grade waste heat to electricity, which recently obtained a boost due to the development of both more efficient functional materials and innovative device concepts. Here, we examine a thermomagnetic generator which utilizes gadolinium as the thermomagnetic material and report on the double peaks of the induced voltage. Using a combination of experiments and theory we show that these double peaks originate from the interaction between an asymmetric magnetization curve and a pretzel-like magnetic field topology. Double peaks are detrimental for the output power and can be avoided by matching the magnetization change by adjusting the cold and hot fluid flow.
Fell algebras, groupoids, and projections
Authors: Deeley Robin , Goffeng Magnus , Yashinski Allan
Published: March 2022

Examples of Fell algebras with compact spectrum and trivial Dixmier-Douady invariant are constructed to illustrate differences with the case of continuous-trace

C
∗

C^*

-algebras. At the level of the spectrum, this translates to only assuming the spectrum is locally Hausdorff (rather than Hausdorff). The existence of (full) projections is the fundamental question considered. The class of Fell algebras studied here arises naturally in the study of Wieler solenoids and applications to dynamical systems will be discussed in a separate paper.
Regularity for critical points of convex functionals on Hessian spaces
Authors: Bhattacharya Arunima
Published: March 2022

We consider variational integrals of the form

∫
F
(

D
2

u
)

\int F(D^2u)

where

F
F

is convex and smooth on the Hessian space. We show that a critical point

u
∈

W

2
,
∞

u\in W^{2,\infty }

of such a functional under compactly supported variations is smooth if the Hessian of

u
u

has a small oscillation.
𝑁-tuple sum analogues for Ramanujan-type congruences
Authors: El Bachraoui Mohamed
Published: March 2022

In this paper we prove supercongruence relations for truncated

N
N

-tuple sums of basic hypergeometric series. As an application, we give double, triple, and quadruple sum analogues of some Ramanujan-type supercongruences.
Intensity of COVID-19 in care homes following hospital discharge in the early stages of the UK epidemic
Authors: Hollinghurst Joe , North Laura , Emmerson Chris , Akbari Ashley , Torabi Fatemeh , Williams Chris , Lyons Ronan A , Hawkes Alan G , Bennett Ed , Gravenor Mike B , Fry Richard
Published: March 2022

Background

defining features of the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries were the tragic extent to which care home residents were affected and the difficulty in preventing the introduction and subsequent spread of infection. Management of risk in care homes requires good evidence on the most important transmission pathways. One hypothesised route at the start of the pandemic, prior to widespread testing, was the transfer of patients from hospitals that were experiencing high levels of nosocomial events.

Methods

we tested the hypothesis that hospital discharge events increased the intensity of care home cases using a national individually linked health record cohort in Wales, UK. We monitored 186,772 hospital discharge events over the period from March to July 2020, tracking individuals to 923 care homes and recording the daily case rate in the homes populated by 15,772 residents. We estimated the risk of an increase in case rates following exposure to a hospital discharge using multi-level hierarchical logistic regression and a novel stochastic Hawkes process outbreak model.

Findings

in regression analysis, after adjusting for care home size, we found no significant association between hospital discharge and subsequent increases in care home case numbers (odds ratio: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.90). Risk factors for increased cases included care home size, care home resident density and provision of nursing care. Using our outbreak model, we found a significant effect of hospital discharge on the subsequent intensity of cases. However, the effect was small and considerably less than the effect of care home size, suggesting the highest risk of introduction came from interaction with the community. We estimated that approximately 1.8% of hospital discharged patients may have been infected.

Interpretation

there is growing evidence in the UK that the risk of transfer of COVID-19 from the high-risk hospital setting to the high-risk care home setting during the early stages of the pandemic was relatively small. Although access to testing was limited to initial symptomatic cases in each care home at this time, our results suggest that reduced numbers of discharges, selection of patients and action taken within care homes following transfer all may have contributed to the mitigation. The precise key transmission routes from the community remain to be quantified.
Seasonal patterns of increases in stem girth, vessel development, and hydraulic function in deciduous tree species
Authors: Valdovinos-Ayala Jessica , Robles Catherine , Fickle Jaycie C , Pérez-de-Lis Gonzalo , Pratt R Brandon , Jacobsen Anna L
Published: March 2022

Background and Aims

The onset of spring growth and vessel formation were examined within three deciduous woody plant species, Acer rubrum, Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa and Quercus rubra. We were broadly interested in the lag between the onset of girth expansion and the formation of mature and hydraulically conductive vessels within the new xylem.

Methods

Dendrometers were installed on 20 trees (6–7 per species), and expansion of both bole and distal stems was monitored throughout the growing season in a common garden. For each species, four to six distal stems were harvested every other week for anatomical examination of vessel formation. Additionally, for Populus and Quercus, hydraulic conductivity measurements and active xylem staining were completed on all stem samples.

Key Results

For all three species, the timing of girth expansion was similar. Expansion of distal branches occurred 12–37 d earlier than that of the bole. Vessel formation initiated several weeks prior to leaf-out, but no new earlywood vessels were mature at the time of bud break for Acer and Populus and only a few were present in Quercus. Initial stem girth expansion occurred 2 to >6 weeks before the maturation of the first current-year vessels, and there was an additional delay of up to 4 weeks before mature vessels became hydraulically functional. Hydraulic conductivity was strongly correlated with the number and diameter of stained vessels.

Conclusions

Bud break and leaf expansion relied predominantly on water supplied by vessels formed during prior seasons. Early-season activity is likely affected by the function of older xylem vessels and the environmental factors that influence their structure and function. Understanding the functional lifespan of vessels and the varying contributions of new and older vessels to conductivity are critical to understanding of the phenology and vascular function of long-lived woody plants in response to changing climates.
Heterogeneous graph embedding model for predicting interactions between TF and target gene
Authors: Huang Yu-An , Pan Gui-Qing , Wang Jia , Li Jian-Qiang , Chen Jie , Wu Yang-Han
Published: March 2022

Motivation

Identifying the target genes of transcription factors (TFs) is of great significance for biomedical researches. However, using biological experiments to identify TF–target gene interactions is still time consuming, expensive and limited to small scale. Existing computational methods for predicting underlying genes for TF to target is mainly proposed for their binding sites rather than the direct interaction. To bridge this gap, we in this work proposed a deep learning prediction model, named HGETGI, to identify the new TF–target gene interaction. Specifically, the proposed HGETGI model learns the patterns of the known interaction between TF and target gene complemented with their involvement in different human disease mechanisms. It performs prediction based on random walk for meta-path sampling and node embedding in a skip-gram manner.

Results

We evaluated the prediction performance of the proposed method on a real dataset and the experimental results show that it can achieve the average area under the curve of 0.8519 ± 0.0731 in fivefold cross validation. Besides, we conducted case studies on the prediction of two important kinds of TF, NFKB1 and TP53. As a result, 33 and 32 in the top-40 ranking lists of NFKB1 and TP53 were successfully confirmed by looking up another public database (hTftarget). It is envisioned that the proposed HGETGI method is feasible and effective for predicting TF–target gene interactions on a large scale.

Availability and implementation

The source code and dataset are available at https://github.com/PGTSING/HGETGI.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
GenRisk: a tool for comprehensive genetic risk modeling
Authors: Aldisi Rana , Hassanin Emadeldin , Sivalingam Sugirthan , Buness Andreas , Klinkhammer Hannah , Mayr Andreas , Fröhlich Holger , Krawitz Peter , Maj Carlo
Published: March 2022

The genetic architecture of complex traits can be influenced by both many common regulatory variants with small effect sizes and rare deleterious variants in coding regions with larger effect sizes. However, the two kinds of genetic contributions are typically analyzed independently. Here, we present GenRisk, a python package for the computation and the integration of gene scores based on the burden of rare deleterious variants and common-variants-based polygenic risk scores. The derived scores can be analyzed within GenRisk to perform association tests or to derive phenotype prediction models by testing multiple classification and regression approaches. GenRisk is compatible with VCF input file formats.

Availability and implementation

GenRisk is an open source publicly available python package that can be downloaded or installed from Github (https://github.com/AldisiRana/GenRisk).

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Agile Emotion Practices: Findings from an Ethnographic Study of Children and Families Social Work
Authors: O’Connor Louise
Published: March 2022

Social work is intrinsically relational, centred on interpersonal encounters between practitioners, service users and other professionals. Emotions are a core element in these encounters. Yet, despite a substantial focus on relationship-based practice there is limited research into the everyday experience and functions of practitioners’ emotions in socio-legal organisational environments. This article reports on findings from an ethnographic study of a Local Authority Children and Families Referral and Assessment Service in England. It explores how practitioners constructed and used their emotions in everyday practice. The construct of ‘agile emotion practices’ was generated from analysing observations of teams, home visits, systemic group supervision, interviews and diaries. Informed by social constructionist and psychosocial theories, the characteristics of agile emotion practices are outlined. This article suggests there is merit in recognising practitioners’ emotions as functional practices, which inform relational practice, analysis and assessment. Data are specific to the organisation, context and timeframe. However, valuable insights are provided into the ‘doing’ of emotions in social work, including some of the factors that facilitate and hinder agile emotion practices. The analysis offers new empirically based knowledge, applicable to diverse social work settings, education and research.
The Unheld Child: Social Work, Social Distancing and the Possibilities and Limits to Child Protection during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Ferguson Harry , Pink Sarah , Kelly Laura
Published: March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic changed dramatically the ways social workers engaged with children and families. This article presents findings from our research into the effects of COVID-19 on social work and child protection in England during the first nine months of the pandemic. Our aim is to provide new knowledge to enable realistic expectations of what it was possible for social workers to achieve and particularly the limits to child protection. Such perspective has become more important than ever due to knowledge of children who died tragically from abuse despite social work involvement during the pandemic. Our research findings show how some practitioners got physically close to some children, whilst being distanced from others. We examine the dynamics that shaped closeness and distance and identify seven influences that created limits to child protection and the problem of ‘the unheld child’. The article provides new understandings of child protection as embodied, multi-sensorial practices and the ways anxiety and experiences of bodily self-alienation limit practitioners’ capacities to think about and get close to children. Whilst social workers creatively improvised to achieve their goals, coronavirus and social distancing imposed limits to child protection that no amount of innovative practice could overcome in all cases.
Machine prescription for chronic migraine
Authors: Stubberud Anker , Gray Robert , Tronvik Erling , Matharu Manjit , Nachev Parashkev
Published: March 2022

Responsive to treatment individually, chronic migraine remains strikingly resistant collectively, incurring the second-highest population burden of disability worldwide. A heterogeneity of responsiveness, requiring prolonged—currently heuristic—individual evaluation of available treatments, may reflect a diversity of causal mechanisms, or the failure to identify the most important, single causal factor. Distinguishing between these possibilities, now possible through the application of complex modelling to large-scale data, is critical to determine the optimal approach to identify new interventions in migraine and making the best use of existing ones. Examining a richly phenotyped cohort of 1446 consecutive unselected patients with chronic migraine, here we use causal multitask Gaussian process models to estimate individual treatment effects across 10 classes of preventatives. Such modelling enables us to quantify the accessibility of heterogeneous responsiveness to high-dimensional modelling, to infer the likely scale of the underlying causal diversity. We calculate the treatment effects in the overall population, and the conditional treatment effects among those modelled to respond and compare the true response rates between these two groups. Identifying a difference in response rates between the groups supports a diversity of causal mechanisms. Moreover, we propose a data-driven machine prescription policy, estimating the time-to-response when sequentially trialling preventatives by individualized treatment effects and comparing it to expert guideline sequences. All model performances are quantified out-of-sample. We identify significantly higher true response rates among individuals modelled to respond, compared with the overall population (mean difference of 0.034; 95% confidence interval 0.003–0.065; P = 0.033), supporting significant heterogeneity of responsiveness and diverse causal mechanisms. The machine prescription policy yields an estimated 35% reduction in time-to-response (3.750 months; 95% confidence interval 3.507–3.993; P < 0.0001) compared with expert guidelines, with no substantive increase in expense per patient. We conclude that the highly distributed mode of causation in chronic migraine necessitates high-dimensional modelling for optimal management. Machine prescription should be considered an essential clinical decision-support tool in the future management of chronic migraine.
CD155 expression impairs anti-PD1 therapy response in non-small cell lung cancer
Authors: Jiang Chang , Qu Xiaodie , Ma Li , Yi Ling , Cheng Xu , Gao Xiang , Wang Jinghui , Che Nanying , Zhang Hongtao , Zhang Shucai
Published: March 2022

CD155 is an immune checkpoint protein expressed in tumor cells that interacts with its ligand TIGIT, and inhibition of this point presents a new and novel way for cancer therapy. At present, whether the expression of CD155 affects the response to anti(α)-PD1 treatment in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients is unclear. This observational study characterizes the expression of CD155 in NSCLC patients and its responses to PD1 inhibitors. We retrospectively detected the expression of CD155 and tumor-infiltrated lymphocyte (TIL) TIGIT by immunohistochemistry in advanced NSCLC patients who had received αPD1 therapy. The patients with CD155 positive had a significantly worse response to αPD1 therapy compared with CD155-negative patients (ORR: 25.6% vs 54.8%, P < 0.01; median PFS: 5.1 vs 7.1 months, HR = 2.322; 95% CI 1.396–3.861, P = 0.001). This effect is more prominent in PD-L1 positive patients. In PD-L1-positive patients, CD155 expression is associated with a poor response to αPD1 therapy in both LUAC (lung adenocarcinoma) and LUSC (lung squamous cell carcinoma); meanwhile, the expression of CD155 was associated with a poor response to the first-line αPD1 therapy, posterior-line αPD1 therapy, and αPD1 combination therapy. Furthermore, the expression of TIGIT was not correlated with the therapeutic effect of αPD1. Our pilot study suggests that CD155 expression attenuates the therapeutic effect of αPD1 therapy and is associated with a higher risk of progression. The CD155 pathway may be a promising immunotherapeutic target and simultaneously targeting CD155/TIGIT and PD1/PD-L1 can improve the effect of immunotherapy.
Interhemispheric functional brain connectivity predicts new language learning success in adults
Authors: Sander Kaija , Chai Xiaoqian , Barbeau Elise B , Kousaie Shanna , Petrides Michael , Baum Shari , Klein Denise
Published: March 2022

Investigating interhemispheric interactions between homologous cortical regions during language processing is of interest. Despite prevalent left hemisphere lateralization of language, the right hemisphere also plays an important role and interhemispheric connectivity is influenced by language experience and is implicated in second language (L2) acquisition. Regions involved in language processing have differential connectivity to other cortical regions and to each other, and play specific roles in language. We examined the interhemispheric interactions of subregions of the inferior frontal gyrus (areas 44 and 45), the adjacent area 9/46v in the middle frontal gyrus, the superior temporal gyrus (STG), and the posterior inferior parietal lobule (pIPL) in relation to distinct and specific aspects of L2 learning success. The results indicated that the connectivity between left and right areas 44 and 9/46v predicted improvement in sentence repetition, connectivity between left and right area 45 and mid-STG predicted improvement in auditory comprehension, and connectivity between left and right pIPL predicted improvement in reading speed. We show interhemispheric interactions in the specific context of facilitating performance in adult L2 acquisition that follow an anterior to posterior gradient in the brain, and are consistent with the respective roles of these regions in language processing.
Effects of chitosan coatings fused with medicinal plant extracts on postharvest quality and storage stability of purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulisvar. Ester)
Authors: Nxumalo Kwanele A , Fawole Olaniyi A
Published: March 2022

Chitosan edible coating (Ch; 2%, mass concentration) enriched with 2% of 0.1 mg/L Bidens pilosa (Ch+B), Lippia javanica (Ch+L), Syzygium cordatum (Ch+S), or Ximenia caffra (Ch+X) was applied as a composite edible coating in alleviating shrivel and maintaining the quality of purple passion fruit (Passiflora edulis var. Ester). Treated fruit was dipped for 3 min in the coating solution, and control fruit was dipped in distilled water. The fruit were stored at (8±2) °C and 90%±5% relative humidity (RH) for 32 d. Sampling was done every 8 d plus 3 d ((20±2) °C and (50%±5%) RH) to simulate retail conditions. Efficacy of medicinal plant extracts in the chitosan matrix varied; lower ethylene production (82.42 µL C2H4/(kg·h)) was seen in fruit coated with Ch+S, and the lowest respiration rate (75 mL CO2/(kg·h)) was observed in fruit coated with Ch+B. The control fruit showed the highest ethylene production (84.90 µL C2H4/(kg·h)) and respiration rate (117.98 mL CO2/(kg·h)). Fruit coated with Ch+B had the lowest weight loss (41.67%), higher juice content (60.13%) and BrimA (3.31); while the control fruit had the highest weight loss (88.03%), lowest juice content (21.90%), and BrimA (2.49). Shrivel incidence was lowest (23.70%) on fruit coated with Ch+L and highest (83.30%) on the control fruit. Fruit coated with Ch+X had the lowest electrolyte leakage (71.40%), while the control fruit had the highest (91.97%). Fruit coated with chitosan alone performed better than the control fruit but did not exceed the quality of composite chitosan-coated fruit. Based on the principal component analysis, it can be concluded that passion fruit coated with Ch+B was more effective in alleviating shrivel incidence, better maintained the quality of passion fruit during storage, and shows potential for commercial applications.
Researchers or practitioners’ opinion of the possibilities for creating virtual safe social spaces for violence prevention interventions for young people
Authors: Ndungu Jane , Ngcobo-Sithole Magnolia , Gibbs Andrew
Published: March 2022

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global concern. Interventions designed to prevent IPV are often participatory in nature, implemented in face-to-face settings and seek to create ‘safe social spaces’. We however do not fully understand how safe social spaces can be created in online spaces. Our study sought to understand the possibility of creating safe social spaces online, supportive of participatory interventions, from the perspective of those developing and implementing IPV prevention interventions. We conducted in-depth interviews with a global sample of 20 researchers and practitioners. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic network analysis. We found mixed results about the possibility of creating safe social spaces online. Researchers and practitioners raised issues such as sharing of devices, the difficulties in developing trust and a sense of community online, challenges in having privacy and confidentiality online and difficulty in reading non-verbal cues as some of the key considerations when creating online safe social spaces. Younger researchers and practitioners were more optimistic about creating safe social spaces online. Our results show that the creation of safe social spaces online is complex and requires further investigation.
Rare complement factor I variants associated with reduced macular thickness and age-related macular degeneration in the UK Biobank
Authors: Tzoumas Nikolaos , Kavanagh David , Cordell Heather J , Lotery Andrew J , Patel Praveen J , Steel David H
Published: March 2022

To evaluate potential diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), we identified 8433 UK Biobank participants with rare complement Factor I gene (CFI) variants, 579 with optical coherence tomography-derived macular thickness data. We stratified these variants by predicted gene expression and measured their association with retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch’s membrane (RPE-BM) complex and retinal thicknesses at nine macular subfields, as well as AMD risk, using multivariable regression models adjusted for the common complement Factor H gene (CFH) p.Y402H and age-related maculopathy susceptibility protein 2 gene (ARMS2) p.A69S risk genotypes. CFI variants associated with low Factor I levels predicted a thinner mean RPE-BM (95% confidence interval [CI] −1.66 to −0.37 μm, P = 0.002) and retina (95% CI −5.88 to −0.13 μm, P = 0.04) and a higher AMD risk (odds ratio [OR] = 2.26, 95% CI 1.56 to 3.27, P < 0.001). CFI variants associated with normal Factor I levels did not impact mean RPE-BM/retinal thickness (P = 0.28; P = 0.99) or AMD risk (P = 0.97). CFH p.Y402H was associated with a thinner RPE-BM (95% CI −0.31 to −0.18 μm, P < 0.001 heterozygous; 95% CI −0.62 to −0.42 μm, P < 0.001 homozygous) and retina (95% CI −0.73 to −0.12 μm, P = 0.007 heterozygous; 95% CI −1.08 to −0.21 μm, P = 0.004 homozygous). ARMS2 p.A69S did not influence RPE-BM (P = 0.80 heterozygous; P = 0.12 homozygous) or retinal thickness (P = 0.75 heterozygous; P = 0.07 homozygous). p.Y402H and p.A69S exhibited a significant allele–dose response with AMD risk. Thus, CFI rare variants associated with low Factor I levels are robust predictors of reduced macular thickness and AMD. The observed association between macular thickness and CFH p.Y402H, but not ARMS2 p.A69S, highlights the importance of complement dysregulation in early pathogenesis.
Optimal setting time and season increase the target and reduce the incidental catch in longline fisheries: a Bayesian beta mixed regression approach
Authors: Rodrigues Lucas dos Santos , Kinas Paul Gerhard , Cardoso Luis Gustavo
Published: March 2022

Sustainable fisheries' managers increasingly seek to implement measures that reduce the mortality of threatened species while maintaining or increasing catch of target species. Our study proposed a simple management option for optimizing fishing over daily and seasonal scales to maximize catch success while protecting non-target species in pelagic longline fisheries. We used Bayesian beta mixed regression models to describe the effects of setting times and seasonality on catches in a pelagic longline fishery in the southwest South Atlantic Ocean (SWAO). Targeted species (swordfish, blue shark, and albacore tuna) are typically captured in fully nocturnal sets (started between 16 and 00 h), whereas shortfin mako shark and loggerhead turtles are typically captured during partially nocturnal sets (started between 00 and 04 h); probably a response to hook depth and circadian behaviours. The results suggest that it is feasible to use only fully nocturnal sets to target preferred species while reducing incidental catch of non-target species. The catch of target species was higher in austral winter, explained by the northward displacement of the subtropical convergence in the SWAO during this season. These results provide a baseline for bycatch mitigation strategies in pelagic longline fisheries at regional and global scales.
Excess risk of subsequent infection in hospitalized children from a community cohort study in Cambodia and Madagascar
Authors: Rambliere Lison , Kermorvant-Duchemin Elsa , de Lauzanne Agathe , Collard Jean-Marc , Herindrainy Perlinot , Vray Muriel , Garin Benoit , Zo Andrianirina Zafitsara , Rasoanaivo Fanjalalaina , Rakotoarimanana Feno Manitra Jacob , Raheliarivao Tanjona Bodonirina , Diouf Jean-Baptiste Niokhhor , Ngo Véronique , Lach Siyin , Long Pring , Borand Laurence , Sok Touch , Abdou Armiya Youssouf , Padget Michael , Madec Yoann , Guillemot Didier , Delarocque-Astagneau Elisabeth , Huynh Bich-Tram
Published: March 2022

Background

Children in low- and middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable in the months following an initial health event (IHE), with increased risk of mortality caused mostly by infectious diseases. Due to exposure to a wide range of environmental stressors, hospitalization in itself might increase child vulnerability at discharge. The goal of this study was to disentangle the role of hospitalization on the risk of subsequent infection.

Methods

Data from a prospective, longitudinal, international, multicenter mother-and-child cohort were analysed. The main outcome assessed was the risk of subsequent infection within 3 months of initial care at hospital or primary healthcare facilities. First, risk factors for being hospitalized for the IHE (Step 1) and for having a subsequent infection (Step 2) were identified. Then, inpatients were matched with outpatients using propensity scores, considering the risk factors identified in Step 1. Finally, adjusted on the risk factors identified in Step 2, Cox regression models were performed on the matched data set to estimate the effect of hospitalization at the IHE on the risk of subsequent infection.

Results

Among the 1312 children presenting an IHE, 210 (16%) had a subsequent infection, mainly lower-respiratory infections. Although hospitalization did not increase the risk of subsequent diarrhoea or unspecified sepsis, inpatients were 1.7 (95% Confidence Intervals [1.0–2.8]) times more likely to develop a subsequent lower-respiratory infection than comparable outpatients.

Conclusion

For the first time, our findings suggest that hospitalization might increase the risk of subsequent lower-respiratory infection adjusted on severity and symptoms at IHE. This highlights the need for robust longitudinal follow-up of at-risk children and the importance of investigating underlying mechanisms driving vulnerability to infection.
How can the neglected tropical disease community be inclusive and equitable in programme delivery? Reaching refugees and internally displaced persons through integrating a ‘leave no one behind’ approach
Authors: Harvey Danny , Shu'aibu Joy , Debam Mark Terhemba , Aba Abraham Kwaghgee , Torres-Vitolas Carlos A
Published: March 2022

As directed by the Sustainable Development Goals, the principle of ‘leave no one behind’ is a pivotal approach to improving coverage and equity within neglected tropical disease (NTD) programme activities. Displaced populations are an at-risk group who are often excluded from treatment and services due to their mobility and marginalisation. This article reflects on the experiences of two countries within the Ascend programme, which responded to the need to strategise and implement approaches that lead to more inclusive and accessible programme activities for displaced populations. With the increasing rate of insecurity and the threat of natural disasters, which is resulting in the displacement of communities and persons eligible for NTD treatment, the ‘leave no one behind’ approach is needed to move closer towards the NTD elimination agenda and to ensure effective coverage thresholds are met.
Frameshift mutation (690delG) in cpxA contributes to the extensive drug resistance of a Serratia marcescens clinical isolate
Authors: Gravrand Victor , Ariey Frédéric , Terracol Laura , Poupet Hélène , Doloy Alexandra , Poyart Claire , Mammeri Hedi
Published: March 2022

Objectives

To identify the genetic change responsible for resistance to penicillins, extended-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs), aminoglycosides and ciprofloxacin in a Serratia marcescens clinical isolate recovered from a pancreatic abscess 6 weeks after a WT strain was isolated from the same patient. The impact on the fitness was also assessed.

Methods

The genomes of both S. marcescens isolates were sequenced using Illumina technology, assembled, annotated and compared with each other. PCR amplification followed by Sanger sequencing was carried out to confirm the mutation. Complementation of the resistant isolate with a recombinant plasmid harbouring the WT gene was performed. The growth rates were measured for both isolates in LB medium.

Results

Comparative genomic analysis disclosed only one frameshift mutation (690delG) in the cpxA gene, which codes for the histidine kinase of a two-component system (TCS). This change introduced a premature termination codon, leading to the truncated CpxA_HatR variant that contained 234 amino acids instead of 464. Complementation, which consisted of transfer of the WT cpxA into the resistant S. marcescens derivative, restored completely its susceptibility to ESCs, aminoglycosides and ciprofloxacin, thus confirming the contribution of the CpxA_HatR variant to resistance. Growth analysis showed that the fitness of the resistant isolate was unchanged.

Conclusions

This study shows for the first time that constitutive activation of the Cpx pathway can per se confer resistance to ESCs and ciprofloxacin, in addition to the aminoglycoside resistance usually described. It sheds new light on the role of altered TCSs in fostering bacterial survival.