bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Policy space and pro-health equity national policymaking: a case study of Myanmar during political transition (2006–16)
Authors: Campbell Fiona , Sein Than Tun , Htoo Thant Sin , Khine Wai Yee Krystal , Howard Natasha , Balabanova Dina
Published: September 2022

Health equity is central to achieving sustainable development goals and COVID-19 has emphasized its importance. Ensuring health equity is prominent in policy discussions and decision-making is a critical challenge in all countries. Understanding the policy space for actors to promote health equity in the policy process may help to strengthen prioritization of equity in policy and programme discussions and decisions. Authors developed a conceptual framework for policy space based on a narrative literature review. This comprised five key elements and their associated factors, i.e. context, policy circumstances, policy characteristics, actor engagement and policy spaces. Authors then applied it in Myanmar during a period of political transition, using a qualitative case study design. Findings showed that political transition provided an important ‘policy window’ to develop more equitable health policy in Myanmar. Changing policy circumstances offered opportunities for advancing pro-equity policy. However, lack of visibility of health equity and long-standing inequalities were important challenges to policy space. Within a changing context, actors at individual and organizational levels used a range of policy spaces to advance pro-equity health policy. Learning from using the framework in Myanmar was incorporated into a revised framework. Application of this revised framework could provide valuable insights into the opportunities to promote a pro-health equity approach across policy and programme discussions and decision-making for actors trying to promote equity in other transition and non-transition contexts.
Barriers and facilitators to nationwide implementation of the malaria vaccine in Ghana
Authors: Adeshina Omolola Oyinkan , Nyame Solomon , Milner James , Milojevic Ai , Asante Kwaku Poku
Published: September 2022

Interventions such as antimalarial drugs, bed nets and insecticides have helped curb the burden of malaria in the past decade, yet malaria remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children below the age of 5 years. In 2019, Ghana, Malawi and Kenya in sub-Saharan Africa (countries with moderate to high transmission areas of malaria and deaths) started piloting the RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine in selected regions. Using qualitative methods, this study examined the main factors (forces) that will influence or hinder the nationwide implementation of the malaria vaccine, if approved, in Ghana. We conducted in-depth interviews with 12 key individuals (national, research/academia and programme implementing partners) in the public health sector in Ghana from October 2018 to February 2019. Results were analysed using Kurt Lewin’s force field analysis to understand how organizations interact with their external environment in the delivery of health policies such as the implementation of the malaria vaccine. We found that the disease burden of malaria deaths in Ghana, the efficacy of the vaccine, stakeholder involvement and evidence for the feasibility of vaccine delivery generated by the consortium of researchers (body of researchers) that can track the implementation were the driving forces to scale up the vaccine into a routine health system. On the other hand, the needed logistics, funding, administration of the four-dose vaccine and follow-up were identified as potential barriers. The most influential force collectively highlighted by the respondents was the disease burden, and the most influential barrier was the logistics of delivering the vaccine. Our findings provide decision makers with key barriers and facilitators to guide policy and decision-making for malaria control in Ghana and other similar settings in low- and middle-income countries.
Methodological reflections on health system-oriented assessment of maternity care in 16 hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa: an embedded case study
Authors: Asefa Anteneh , Dossou Jean-Paul , Hanson Claudia , Hounsou Christelle Boyi , Namazzi Gertrude , Meja Samuel , Mkoka Dickson Ally , Agballa Gottfried , Babirye Josephine , Semaan Aline , Annerstedt Kristi Sidney , Delvaux Thérèse , Marchal Bruno , Van Belle Sara , Pleguezuelo Virginia Castellano , Beňová Lenka
Published: September 2022

Health facility assessments (HFAs) assessing facilities’ readiness to provide services are well-established. However, HFA questionnaires are typically quantitative and lack depth to understand systems in which health facilities operate—crucial to designing context-oriented interventions. We report lessons from a multiple embedded case study exploring the experiences of HFA data collectors in implementing a novel HFA tool developed using systems thinking approach. We assessed 16 hospitals in four countries (Benin, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda) as part of a quality improvement implementation research. Our tool was organized in 17 sections and included dimensions of hospital governance, leadership and financing; maternity care standards and procedures; ongoing quality improvement practices; interactions with communities and mapping of the areas related to maternal care. Data for this study were collected using in-depth interviews with senior experts who conducted the HFA in the countries 1–3 months after completion of the HFAs. Data were analysed using the inductive thematic analysis approach. Our HFA faced challenges in logistics (accessing key hospital-based respondents, high turnover of managerial staff and difficulty accessing information considered sensitive in the context) and methodology (response bias, lack of data quality and data entry into an electronic platform). Data elements of governance, leadership and financing were the most affected. Opportunities and strategies adopted aimed at enhancing data collection (building on prior partnerships and understanding local and institutional bureaucracies) and enhancing data richness (identifying respondents with institutional memory, learning from experience and conducting observations at various times). Moreover, HFA data collectors conducted abstraction of records and interviews in a flexible and adaptive way to enhance data quality. Lessons and new skills learned from our HFA could be used as inputs to respond to the growing need of integrating the systems thinking approach in HFA to improve the contextual understanding of operations and structure.
Building integrative functional maps of gene regulation
Authors: Xu Jinrui , Pratt Henry E , Moore Jill E , Gerstein Mark B , Weng Zhiping
Published: September 2022

Every cell in the human body inherits a copy of the same genetic information. The three billion base pairs of DNA in the human genome, and the roughly 50 000 coding and non-coding genes they contain, must thus encode all the complexity of human development and cell and tissue type diversity. Differences in gene regulation, or the modulation of gene expression, enable individual cells to interpret the genome differently to carry out their specific functions. Here we discuss recent and ongoing efforts to build gene regulatory maps, which aim to characterize the regulatory roles of all sequences in a genome. Many researchers and consortia have identified such regulatory elements using functional assays and evolutionary analyses; we discuss the results, strengths and shortcomings of their approaches. We also discuss new techniques the field can leverage and emerging challenges it will face while striving to build gene regulatory maps of ever-increasing resolution and comprehensiveness.
Non-coding RNAs associated with Prader–Willi syndrome regulate transcription of neurodevelopmental genes in human induced pluripotent stem cells
Authors: Sledziowska Monika , Winczura Kinga , Jones Matt , Almaghrabi Ruba , Mischo Hannah , Hebenstreit Daniel , Garcia Paloma , Grzechnik Pawel
Published: September 2022

Mutations and aberrant gene expression during cellular differentiation lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, such as Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS), which results from the deletion of an imprinted locus on paternally inherited chromosome 15. We analyzed chromatin-associated RNA in human induced pluripotent cells (iPSCs) upon depletion of hybrid small nucleolar long non-coding RNAs (sno-lncRNAs) and 5’ snoRNA capped and polyadenylated long non-coding RNAs (SPA-lncRNAs) transcribed from the locus deleted in PWS. We found that rapid ablation of these lncRNAs affects transcription of specific gene classes. Downregulated genes contribute to neurodevelopment and neuronal maintenance, while upregulated genes are predominantly involved in the negative regulation of cellular metabolism and apoptotic processes. Our data reveal the importance of SPA-lncRNAs and sno-lncRNAs in controlling gene expression in iPSCs and provide a platform for synthetic experimental approaches in PWS studies. We conclude that ncRNAs transcribed from the PWS locus are critical regulators of a transcriptional signature, which is important for neuronal differentiation and development.
Racial Capitalism and Peasant Insurgency in Colonial Myanmar
Authors: Saha Jonathan
Published: September 2022

The Hsaya San Rebellion swept through colonial Myanmar between 1930 and 1932. It took eighteen months and over seven thousand Indian Army troops to suppress. Triggered by acute pressures in the agrarian economy that were compounded by a global fall in rice prices, the violence of the revolt cannot be fully explained by this crisis alone. Bands of peasant rebels massacred Indians; not only moneylenders but cattle-herders, who were themselves a precarious and marginal rural community. These massacres are not easy to interpret. Revisiting the insurgency through the growing literature on racial capitalism provides a framework for a understanding peasants’ racialized violence.
Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterases in Alcohol Use Disorders: Involving Gut Microbiota
Authors: Hou Xueqin , Rong Cuiping , Zhang Qiwei , Song Shuangshuang , Cong Yifan , Zhang Han-Ting
Published: September 2022

Alcohol abuse is 1 of the most significant public health problems in the world. Chronic, excessive alcohol consumption not only causes alcohol use disorder (AUD) but also changes the gut and lung microbiota, including bacterial and nonbacterial types. Both types of microbiota can release toxins, further damaging the gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts; causing inflammation; and impairing the functions of the liver, lung, and brain, which in turn deteriorate AUD. Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are critical in the control of intracellular cyclic nucleotides, including cyclic adenosine monophosphate and cyclic guanosine monophosphate. Inhibition of certain host PDEs reduces alcohol consumption and attenuates alcohol-related impairment. These PDEs are also expressed in the microbiota and may play a role in controlling microbiota-associated inflammation. Here, we summarize the influences of alcohol on gut/lung bacterial and nonbacterial microbiota as well as on the gut-liver/brain/lung axis. We then discuss the relationship between gut and lung microbiota-mediated PDE signaling and AUD consequences in addition to highlighting PDEs as potential targets for treatment of AUD.
How Characterizations of Refugees Shape Attitudes Toward Refugee Restrictions: A Study of Christian and Muslim Americans
Authors: Skinner Isabel Williams
Published: September 2022

Discussion surrounding refugee policy often includes characterizations of refugees themselves. I use an experiment to identify how the characterizations used to describe refugees influence attitudes toward restrictive refugee policies among Christian and Muslim Americans. Overall, I find broad support among Christians and ambivalence among Muslims sampled for a policy that would dramatically reduce refugee entry in the USA. However, I also find that Muslim American respondents are significantly less supportive of restrictive policies when refugees are explicitly identified as Muslim but there is no such impact among Christian Americans. My findings contribute to our understanding of how characterizations about refugees and explicit religious cues impact policy attitudes and how political communication influences small minority groups in the USA.
A Construction of Open Descendant Potentials in All Genera
Authors: Alexandrov Alexander , Basalaev Alexey , Buryak Alexandr
Published: September 2022

We present a construction of an open analogue of total descendant and total ancestor potentials via an “open version” of Givental’s action. Our construction gives a genus expansion for an arbitrary solution to the open WDVV equations satisfying a semisimplicity condition and admitting a unit. We show that the open total descendant potentials we define satisfy the open topological recursion relations in genus $0$ and $1$, the open string and open dilaton equations. We finish the paper with a computation of the simplest nontrivial open correlator in genus $1$ using our construction.
Incidence, Risk Factors, and Consequences of Human Alphaherpesvirus Infections in Patients With Psoriasis Who Initiate Methotrexate or Biologic Agents
Authors: Rezahosseini Omid , Liljendahl Mie Sylow , Loft Nikolai , Møller Dina Leth , Harboe Zitta Barrella , Rasmussen Mads Kirchheiner , Ajgeiy Kawa Khaled , Egeberg Alexander , Skov Lone , Nielsen Susanne Dam
Published: September 2022

Background

Immunosuppressive agents may increase the risk of infections with human alphaherpesviruses.

Methods

We included all adult patients with moderate to severe psoriasis who initiated methotrexate (MTX) or biologic agents in a retrospective cohort study. An episode of alphaherpesviruses infection was defined as filling a prescription for systemic acyclovir, valacyclovir, or famciclovir. Using nationwide registries, we determined the incidence, risk factors, 180-day hospital contacts, and 30-day mortality following infection.

Results

We included 7294 patients; 4978 (68%) received MTX, and 2316 (32%) biologic agents. The incidence rates (95% confidence intervals) of alphaherpesviruses were 23 (20–27), 26 (19–35), 17 (11–27), and 6.7 (1.3–21) per 1000 person-years of follow-up in patients on MTX, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) inhibitors, interleukin 12/23 (IL-12/23) inhibitors, and interleukin 17 (IL-17) inhibitors, respectively. Males had an unadjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.47 (P < .001) for alphaherpesvirus infection. Patients on IL-17 inhibitors had an adjusted HR of 0.24 (P = .048) compared to TNF-α inhibitors. Within 180 days after infection, 13%, 7.5%, and <0.5% of patients on MTX, TNF-α inhibitors, and IL-12/23 or IL-17 inhibitors, respectively, had hospital contacts, and the 30-day mortality for all groups was <0.5%.

Conclusions

The incidence and risk of alphaherpesvirus infections were comparable between patients on MTX and TNF-α inhibitors, whereas use of IL-17 inhibitors was associated with a lower risk.
Papal White and Shades of Green: On the Tides of Just War
Authors: Braun Christian Nikolaus
Published: September 2022

This article investigates curious parallels in the development of thinking on war and peace in the Catholic Church and the German Green Party. Like Catholicism, the Greens started as an overwhelmingly pacifist movement. However, similarly to Catholicism after it became the state religion of Rome, the Greens began to support military action in the late 1990s when they first held political power. While until 2005 they could be categorized as contingent pacifists, in the context of the developing Responsibility to Protect norm, the Greens adopted just war. Based on this development, the article demonstrates that assuming political power, adopting the “burden of statecraft,” leads previously pacifist movements toward an embrace of the just war framework. Crucially, as the article also shows, the reverse pattern can apply, too. The example of the Catholic Church illustrates that the gradual move away from political power can result in a more restrictive attitude toward armed force. That is why the article identifies a pattern that it calls “the tides of just war.” While the flow that follows the assumption of political power washes ashore just war, the distancing from such responsibility results in the ebb carrying the just war, or parts of it, back into the sea.
Being of Use: Diffraction and an Ethics of Truth-Telling in Post-Cartesian IR
Authors: Chee Liberty
Published: September 2022

This paper presents an ethics premised on a post-Cartesian ontology: that what we know is how we know and vice versa. The acknowledgment of the international relations (IR) scholar's constitutive relation to the world she seeks to describe, and of which she is a part, entails an ethics that is also a practice and an agency. I build on Karen Barad's quantum theory and on Michel Foucault's notion of parrhesia to address two problems in IR theory, namely that reflexivity and the pragmatist call for praxis pay insufficient attention to how power conditions knowledge production. Barad offers an “ethico-onto-epistemology” as a nonrepresentationalist methodology, which attends to the material difference knowledge can make rather than the accuracy of our representations. Parrhesia, in turn, problematizes our relationship with the activity of knowing itself. In the pragmatist sense, we are asked not only to be of use to our communities, but also to be mindful of who we are and what kind of subject we become in our phenomenal inscriptions of reality. This quantum ethic allows us to better realize the pragmatist ideal of a democratic social science by allowing us to resist the centripetal force of epistemic sovereignty and the cooptation of scientific authority.
Costly Concessions, Internally Divided Movements, and Strategic Repression: A Movement-Level Analysis
Authors: La Spada Eleonora
Published: September 2022

Is government repression of self-determination (SD) movements affected by the internal structure of the movements? This article investigates the relation between internal fragmentation of SD movements and state repression. While internal fragmentation of domestic challengers is well-documented in conflict studies, its effect on state repression is largely overlooked by the extant literature. Here, I argue that inter-faction competition and disagreements within an internally divided movement constrain the government's ability to negotiate concessions in a way that can satisfy all the actors involved, engendering incentives to repress the movement. I expect that the degree to which this mechanism operates depends on the extent to which the movement is internally fragmented. The findings show that higher degrees of within-movement fragmentation are positively associated with higher levels of repression, and this effect is greater in the presence of active violent militants but smaller in the presence of one or a few dominant faction(s). This study sheds light on the mechanisms that drive repression over SD disputes, which often lead to escalation of violence and civil conflict onset. A deeper understanding of these mechanisms can help with the development of early warning systems and conflict prevention in the political practice of national and international organizations.
Intermediation between International Society and World Society: The Pope and the UN Secretary-General on “the Figure of the Refugee”
Authors: Troy Jodok
Published: September 2022

English School accounts of international relations always stressed some degree of interaction between political international society and ideational world society. Yet, English School research, relying on agential and structural premises, often misses how and where international society and world society interact. If intermediation between the two societies is identified, it often remains abstract. I argue that identifying agents and the standards defining their practices helps to understand intermediation between international society and world society. I suggest that likely candidates that practice intermediation are rooted in both international society and world society. This is because practices rooted in both realms are also defined by the standards of both realms. I argue that the Pope and the United Nations Secretary-General are likely intermediation instances between international society and world society. Both are equally footed in international society and world society. Given their organizational embedding in international society, both rely on practices informed by international society standards such as diplomacy. Yet, both also rely on world society standards such as their concern for humanity. Focusing on the sanctity of the individual rather than only on state-based interests and agendas of international society marks their concern and caring for refugees. I illustrate this argument with advocacy, an intermediation practice. Deprived of membership in a community, solutions for refugees in international society require political and moral theory from world society, relying on concepts such as humanity. Advocating for refugees on the grounds of world society's common humanity, the Pope and the United Nations Secretary-General are intermediation instances between world society and international society.
A multistrategy hybrid adaptive whale optimization algorithm
Authors: Li Xinning , Wu Hu , Yang Qin , Tan Shuai , Xue Peng , Yang Xianhai
Published: September 2022

To solve the problems of whale optimization algorithm (WOA) with slow convergence speed, low accuracy, and poor global search ability, a multistrategy hybrid adaptive whale optimization algorithm (MHWOA) was proposed. In this algorithm, the logistic–tent hybrid chaos algorithm was used to initialize the population, which could make the population distribution more random and uniform. The opposition-based learning strategy was adopted to expand the population of individuals and complete the population selection. To balance the exploitation phase and exploration phase, a dynamic parameter was constructed based on the sigmoid excitation function, and an active adaptive weight was added to adjust the global and local search, which accelerated the convergence speed also. The perturbation mechanism of the Student T-distribution was introduced with random perturbation to expand the search range and improve the global search ability of the algorithm. In total, 23 benchmark functions were selected to conduct convergence performance and optimization performance experiments of the proposed algorithm. The average value and standard deviation were determined as evaluation indexes. The MHWOA was compared with other improved WOA variants and advanced algorithms. The results showed that the proposed MHWOA had better iterative convergence and optimization performance than different algorithms on the optimization of unimodal functions, multimodal functions, and fixed dimension functions. Meanwhile, the MHWOA was applied to the optimal designs of pressure vessels and springs. The experimental results displayed that the MHWOA obtained better solutions than other meta-heuristic algorithms. This study has practical solid application value, which can be applied to solving various engineering problems.
Histamine Excretion by the Common Bed Bug (Hemiptera: Cimicidae)
Authors: Gaire Sudip , Principato Simona , Schal Coby , DeVries Zachary C
Published: September 2022

The common bed bug (Cimex lectularius L.) is a hematophagous pest species that lives in close proximity to humans. Following a blood meal, bed bugs deposit fecal material indoors. The feces contain a variety of compounds, including histamine, which serves as a component of their aggregation pheromone. Histamine is a pivotal mammalian immune modulator, and recently it was shown to be present in high concentrations in household dust from homes infested with bed bugs. To better understand the dynamics of histamine excretion, we analyzed bed bug fecal material from different life stages and populations, along with fecal material collected at different post-feeding times and from bed bugs fed on different diets. Our analysis showed significant variation in histamine excretion among life stages, with mated females excreting the most histamine and first instar nymphs excreting the least histamine. However, when histamine excretion was normalized for blood consumption, males were found to excrete more histamine than the other life stages. There was no difference in histamine excretion among laboratory and recently home-collected bed bug populations. Further, we found histamine excretion continued for at least 14 d post-feeding, with the highest amount of histamine excreted 3–4 d after a bloodmeal. Overall, this work demonstrates that bed bugs excrete histamine across all feeding life stages, populations, and at various times after feeding, and that histamine excretion is directly related to blood feeding. These results will be used to better understand the health risks associated with histamine excretion and potential mitigation strategies of environmental histamine.
Phosphorylation of Tau at Threonine 231 in Patients With Multiple System Atrophy and in a Mouse Model
Authors: Tanaka Makoto T , Tanji Kunikazu , Miki Yasuo , Ozaki Taku , Mori Fumiaki , Hayashi Hideki , Kakita Akiyoshi , Wakabayashi Koichi
Published: September 2022

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a sporadic neurodegenerative disorder pathologically characterized by the presence of glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs). Some MSA patients exhibit motor deficits with accompanying cognitive impairment. Of note, some patients suffering from MSA with longer disease duration have AT8-positive signals, which correspond to phosphorylated tau (P-tau) at 202/205 (P-tau202/205). However, P-tau sites other than the AT8 antibody epitope antibody are less well studied. Here, we focused on the effect of α-synuclein (Syn) expression on the phosphorylation of tau in MSA model mice. Among the 6 kinds of antibodies against P-tau, we confirmed that antibodies against P-tau at 231 (P-tau231) were phospho-specific and found that P-tau231 level was increased in parallel with disease progression in MSA model mice. Additional studies of human brains revealed that P-tau231 was mainly expressed in the temporal cortex in MSA brains and that its expression level was significantly higher in MSA patients than in controls. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that anti-P-tau231-, but not AT8, antibodies mainly immunolabeled hippocampal CA2/3 pyramidal neurons, and some GCIs in MSA. These data suggest that P-tau231 occurs in MSA differently from P-tau202/205.
Frequency-dependent seedling predation by rodents: growth and survival of Quercus wutaishanica in two habitats
Authors: Zhang Jinfeng , Ge Jingru , Yan Xingfu , Dayananda Buddhi , Luo Yonghong , Li Junqing
Published: September 2022

Rodents attack oak (Quercus wutaishanica) seeds based on their sizes and frequencies before germination. However, the predation of oak seeds post-germination (seedling cotyledons) is not well studied. Here, we not only tested the preference of rodents for Q. wutaishanica seedling cotyledons based on the frequency of large- versus small-seeded (FLS), but also evaluated the effects of predation on seedlings growth and survival in different habitats. We transplanted seedlings with the FLS set as 9:1, 7:3, 5:5, 3:7 and 1:9, respectively, in the forest gap and under the canopy in the Liupan Mountains National Nature Reserve in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. The results showed that: (i) in 1–7 days after transplanting seedlings, rodents prefer the cotyledon of large-seeded seedings while small-seeded seedlings were preferred in 8–60 days, and the positive frequency-dependent predation was observed. (ii) The cotyledons were preyed on, the apical buds were bitted off, and the whole seedlings were uprooted, which mostly occurred under the forest canopy. At the end of a growing season, the survival rate of seedlings in the forest gaps was more than twice that under forest canopies. (iii) If cotyledons were preyed on, the growth of Q. wutaishanica seedlings would not be affected, but the seedlings growth was severely inhibited when the apical bud was bitten off. These results not only provide new insights into the coexistence between rodents and seedlings of different phenotypes, but also reveal the ecological characteristics of deciduous Quercus regeneration.
Dust reverberation mapping and light-curve modelling of Zw229-015
Authors: Guise E , Hönig S F , Gorjian V , Barth A J , Almeyda T , Pei L , Cenko S B , Edelson R , Filippenko A V , Joner M D , Laney C D , Li W , Malkan M A , Nguyen M L , Zheng W
Published: September 2022

Multiwavelength variability studies of active galactic nuclei can be used to probe their inner regions that are not directly resolvable. Dust reverberation mapping (DRM) estimates the size of the dust emitting region by measuring the delays between the infrared (IR) response to variability in the optical light curves. We measure DRM lags of Zw229-015 between optical ground-based and Kepler light curves and concurrent IR Spitzer 3.6 and 4.5 µm light curves from 2010 to 2015, finding an overall mean rest-frame lag of 18.3 ± 4.5 d. Each combination of optical and IR light curve returns lags that are consistent with each other within 1σ, which implies that the different wavelengths are dominated by the same hot dust emission. The lags measured for Zw229-015 are found to be consistently smaller than predictions using the lag–luminosity relationship. Also, the overall IR response to the optical emission actually depends on the geometry and structure of the dust emitting region as well, so we use Markov chain Monte Carlo modelling to simulate the dust distribution to further estimate these structural and geometrical properties. We find that a large increase in flux between the 2011–2012 observation seasons, which is more dramatic in the IR light curve, is not well simulated by a single dust component. When excluding this increase in flux, the modelling consistently suggests that the dust is distributed in an extended flat disc, and finds a mean inclination angle of 49$^{+3}_{-13}$ deg.
Can luminous Lyman alpha emitters at z ≃ 5.7 and z ≃ 6.6 suppress star formation?
Authors: Santos Daryl Joe D , Goto Tomotsugu , Hashimoto Tetsuya , Kim Seong Jin , Lu Ting-Yi , Wong Yi-Hang Valerie , Ho Simon C-C , Hsiao Tiger Y-Y
Published: September 2022

Addressing how strong UV radiation affects galaxy formation is central to understanding their evolution. The quenching of star formation via strong UV radiation (from starbursts or active galactic nuclei) has been proposed in various scenes to solve certain astrophysical problems. Around luminous sources, some evidence of decreased star formation has been found but is limited to a handful of individual cases. No direct, conclusive evidence on the actual role of strong UV radiation in quenching star formation has been found. Here, we present statistical evidence of decreased number density of faint (AB magnitude ≥ 24.75 mag) Ly α emitters (LAEs) around bright (AB magnitude < 24.75 mag) LAEs even when the radius goes up to 10 pMpc for z ≃ 5.7 LAEs. A similar trend is found for z ≃ 6.6 LAEs but only for faint LAEs within 1 pMpc radius from the bright LAEs. We use a large sample of 1077 (962) LAEs at z ≃ 5.7 (z ≃ 6.6) selected in total areas of 14 (21) deg2 with Subaru/Hyper Suprime-Cam narrow-band data, and thus, the result is of statistical significance for the first time at these high redshift ranges. A simple analytical calculation indicates that the radiation from the central LAE is not enough to suppress LAEs with AB mag ≥ 24.75 mag around them, suggesting additional physical mechanisms we are unaware of are at work. Our results clearly show that the environment is at work for the galaxy formation at z ∼ 6 in the Universe.
A machine learning approach to photometric metallicities of giant stars
Authors: Fallows Connor P , Sanders Jason L
Published: September 2022

Despite the advances provided by large-scale photometric surveys, stellar features – such as metallicity – generally remain limited to spectroscopic observations often of bright, nearby low-extinction stars. To rectify this, we present a neural network approach for estimating the metallicities and distances of red giant stars with 8-band photometry and parallaxes from Gaia EDR3 and the 2MASS and WISE surveys. The algorithm accounts for uncertainties in the predictions arising from the range of possible outputs at each input and from the range of models compatible with the training set (through drop-out). A two-stage procedure is adopted where an initial network to estimate photoastrometric parallaxes is trained using a large sample of noisy parallax data from Gaia EDR3 and then a secondary network is trained using spectroscopic metallicities from the APOGEE and LAMOST surveys and an augmented feature space utilizing the first-stage parallax estimates. The algorithm produces metallicity predictions with an average uncertainty of $\pm 0.19\, \mathrm{dex}$. The methodology is applied to stars within the Galactic bar/bulge with particular focus on a sample of 1.69 million objects with Gaia radial velocities. We demonstrate the use and validity of our approach by inspecting both spatial and kinematic gradients with metallicity in the Galactic bar/bulge recovering previous results on the vertical metallicity gradient (−0.528 ± 0.002 dex kpc−1) and the vertex deviation of the bar ($-21.29\pm 2.74\, \mathrm{deg}$).
Bayesian characterization of circumbinary sub-stellar objects with LISA
Authors: Katz Michael L , Danielski Camilla , Karnesis Nikolaos , Korol Valeriya , Tamanini Nicola , Cornish Neil J , Littenberg Tyson B
Published: September 2022

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect and characterize ∼104 Galactic Binaries, consisting predominantly of two white dwarfs (WDs). An interesting prospect within this population is a third object – another WD star, a circumbinary exoplanet (CBP), or a brown dwarf (BD) – in orbit about the inner WD pair. We present the first fully Bayesian detection and posterior analysis of substellar objects with LISA, focusing on the characterization of CBPs. We used an optimistic astrophysically motivated catalogue of these CBP third-body sources, including their orbital eccentricity around the inner binary for the first time. We examined Bayesian evidence computations for detectability, as well as the effects on the posterior distributions for both the inner binary parameters and the third-body parameters. We find that the posterior behaviour bifurcates based on whether the third-body period is above or below half the observation time. Additionally, we find that undetectable third-body sources can bias the inner binary parameters whether or not the correct template is used. We used the information retrieved from the study of the CBP population to make an initial conservative prediction for the number of detectable BD systems in the original catalogue. We end with commentary on the predicted qualitative effects on LISA global fitting and Galactic Binary population analysis. The procedure used in this work is generic and can be directly applied to other astrophysical effects expected within the Galactic Binary population.
The merger–starburst connection across cosmic times
Authors: Renaud Florent , Segovia Otero Álvaro , Agertz Oscar
Published: September 2022

The correspondence between galaxy major mergers and starburst activity is well established observationally and in simulations of low-redshift galaxies. However, the evolution of the properties of interactions and of the galaxies involved suggests that the starburst response of galaxies to merger events could vary across cosmic time. Using the vintergatan cosmological zoom-in simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, we show here that starbursts, i.e. episodes of fast star formation, are connected with the onset of tidal compression, itself induced by mergers. However, this compression becomes strong enough to trigger starbursts only after the formation of the galactic disc. As a consequence, starburst episodes are only found during a precise phase of galaxy evolution, after the formation of the disc and until the last major merger. As the depletion time quantifies the instantaneous star formation activity, while the specific star formation rate involves the integrated result of the past activity (via the stellar mass), starburst episodes do not necessarily coincide with elevated specific star formation rate. This suggests that not all starburst galaxies are outliers above the main sequence of galaxy formation.ok
Hydrodynamical evolution of black-hole binaries embedded in AGN discs
Authors: Li Rixin , Lai Dong
Published: September 2022

Stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) discs are possible progenitors of black hole mergers detected in gravitational waves by LIGO/VIRGO. To better understand the hydrodynamical evolution of BBHs interacting with the disc gas, we perform a suite of high-resolution 2D simulations of binaries in local disc (shearing-box) models, considering various binary mass ratios, eccentricities and background disc properties. We use the γ-law equation of state and adopt a robust post-processing treatment to evaluate the mass accretion rate, torque and energy transfer rate on the binary to determine its long-term orbital evolution. We find that circular comparable-mass binaries contract, with an orbital decay rate of a few times the mass doubling rate. Eccentric binaries always experience eccentricity damping. Prograde binaries with higher eccentricities or smaller mass ratios generally have slower orbital decay rates, with some extreme cases exhibiting orbital expansion. The averaged binary mass accretion rate depends on the physical size of the accretor. The accretion flows are highly variable, and the dominant variability frequency is the apparent binary orbital frequency (in the rotating frame around the central massive BH) for circular binaries but gradually shifts to the radial epicyclic frequency as the binary eccentricity increases. Our findings demonstrate that the dynamics of BBHs embedded in AGN discs is quite different from that of isolated binaries in their own circumbinary discs. Furthermore, our results suggest that the hardening time-scales of the binaries are much shorter than their migration time-scales in the disc, for all reasonable binary and disc parameters.
The neutron-capture and α-elements abundance ratios scatter in old stellar populations: cosmological simulations of the stellar halo
Authors: Scannapieco Cecilia , Cescutti Gabriele , Chiappini Cristina
Published: September 2022

We investigate the origin of the abundance ratios and scatter of the neutron-capture elements Sr, Ba, and Eu in the stellar halo of a Milky Way-mass galaxy formed in a hydrodynamical cosmological simulation, and compare them with those of α elements. For this, we implement a novel treatment for chemical enrichment of Type II supernovae that considers the effects of the rotation of massive stars on the chemical yields and differential enrichment according to the life-times of progenitor stars. We find that differential enrichment has a significant impact on the early enrichment of the interstellar medium which is translated into broader element ratio distributions, particularly in the case of the oldest, most metal-poor stars. We find that the [element/Fe] ratios of the α-elements O, Mg, and Si have systematically lower scatter compared to the neutron-capture elements ratios Sr, Ba, and Eu at [Fe/H] < −2, which is ∼0.1–0.4 dex for the former and between ∼0.5 and 1 dex for the latter. The different scatter levels found for the neutron-capture and α-elements is consistent with observations of old stars in the Milky Way. Our model also predicts a high scatter for the [Sr/Ba] ratio, which results from the treatment of the fast-rotating stars and the dependence of the chemical yields on the metallicity, mass, and rotational velocities. Such chemical patterns appear naturally if the different ejection times associated with stars of different mass are properly described, without the need to invoke for additional mixing mechanisms or a distinct treatment of the α- and neutron-capture elements.
The black hole X-ray binary MAXI J1348–630 in quiescence
Authors: Carotenuto F , Corbel S , Tzioumis A
Published: September 2022

The properties of the disc/jet coupling in quiescent black hole low mass X-ray binaries (BH LMXBs) are still largely unknown. In this paper, we present the first quasi-simultaneous radio and X-ray detection in quiescence of the BH LMXB MAXI J1348–630, which is known to display a hybrid disc/jet connection that depends on the accretion rate. We performed deep X-ray and radio observations using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Australia Telescope Compact Array. MAXI J1348–630 is detected for the first time in quiescence at an X-ray luminosity LX = (7.5 ± 2.9) × 1030(D/2.2 kpc)2 erg s−1: one of the lowest X-ray luminosities observed for a quiescent BH LMXB, possibly implying a short orbital period for the system. MAXI J1348–630 is also detected in radio at LR = (4.3 ± 0.9) × 1026(D/2.2 kpc)2 erg s−1. These detections allow us to constrain the location of MAXI J1348–630 on the radio/X-ray diagram in quiescence, finding that the source belongs to the standard (radio-loud) track in this phase. This provides a strong confirmation that hybrid-correlation sources follow the standard track at low luminosities and down to quiescence, thus improving our knowledge of the disc/jet connection in BH LMXBs.
Effect of hip flexion contracture on the pelvic sagittal tilt in the supine position: A retrospective case-series study
Authors: Kamihata Satoshi , Ando Wataru , Takao Masaki , Hamada Hidetoshi , Uemura Keisuke , Sugano Nobuhiko
Published: September 2022

Objectives

The functional pelvic plane, which adopts the natural pelvic sagittal tilt in the supine position, is a good reference for determining the cup angle in total hip arthroplasty. However, hip flexion contracture may change pelvic tilt postoperatively by the release of contracture. This study investigated the influence of hip flexion contracture on pelvic sagittal tilt in the supine position.

Methods

This study included 300 patients who underwent primary unilateral total hip arthroplasty. We divided the participants into two groups: with a preoperative hip extension angle of <0° (hip flexion contracture group) and without (non-contracture group). The pelvic sagittal tilt and femoral flexion angle were investigated using computed tomography or pelvic radiographs performed preoperatively and postoperatively.

Results

The femoral flexion angle had significantly reduced postoperatively in the hip flexion contracture group but remained unchanged in the non-contracture group. The preoperative and postoperative pelvic sagittal tilt showed no significant differences between the two groups up to 1 year postoperatively.

Conclusions

The influence of hip flexion contracture on the pelvic sagittal tilt in the supine position was minimal. The functional pelvic plane in the supine position could be a good reference to ascertain the cup orientation, even in hip flexion contracture cases.
Development and validation of a diagnostic nomogram for sarcopenia in Chinese hemodialysis patients
Authors: Xie Danshu , Zhu Qin , Lu Jianxin , Hu Chun , Niu Jianying , Yu Chen , Zhao Junli , Zhang Liming , Qi Hualin , Zhang Suhua , Guo Qi , Ding Feng , Ding Wei
Published: September 2022

Background

Sarcopenia is a clinical condition that is common in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), especially in those on dialysis. However, the relatively complicated diagnostic procedure limits its use in clinical situations. In this study we aimed to establish a simplified tool for the diagnosis of sarcopenia in patients on hemodialysis (HD).

Methods

Overall, 757 eligible patients from seven HD centers in Shanghai and Suzhou, China, were recruited from 2020 to 2021. The cross-sectional data were analyzed. Sarcopenia was diagnosed according to the Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia 2019 criteria. Among them, 511 consecutive patients (77 with and 434 without sarcopenia) from five centers were included in the training set for the establishment of a diagnostic nomogram. Ten investigative parameters including clinical characteristics, body measurements and physical performance were used to derive the diagnostic nomogram. A total of 246 consecutive patients (47 with and 199 without sarcopenia) were included for validation of the diagnostic model.

Results

The average age of the enrolled patients was 60.4 ± 12.1 years, 59.8% were males and 90.5% received dialysis using an arteriovenous fistula. Overall, the sarcopenia rate was 16.4%. The training and validation sets showed no significant differences in sarcopenia rate (15.1% and 19.1%, respectively; P = .160). The nomogram derived from the training set for sarcopenia, which was based on only four features—age, sex, body weight and grip strength—achieved high C-indexes of 0.929 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.904–0.953] and 0.955 (95% CI 0.931–0.979) in the training and external sets, respectively, and had a well-fitted calibration curve. The cut-off value was 0.725, with a sensitivity of 0.909 and a specificity of 0.816. The nomogram accurately diagnosed sarcopenia with fewer variables and more simplified diagnostic procedures.

Conclusions

The nomogram had a good diagnostic capability for sarcopenia in patients on HD and may be a convenient tool for clinical use.
Targeting extracellular matrix remodeling sensitizes glioblastoma to ionizing radiation
Authors: Thakur Varsha , Thakur Vijay S , Aguila Brittany , Slepak Tatiana I , Wang Man , Song Wei , Konai Mohini , Mobashery Shahriar , Chang Mayland , Rana Ayush B , Wang Dazhi , de Freitas Juliano Tiburcio , Humayun Gultekin Sakir , Welford Scott M , Ivan Michael E , Bedogni Barbara
Published: September 2022

Background

The median survival of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients is 14+ months due to poor responses to surgery and chemoradiation. Means to counteract radiation resistance are therefore highly desirable. We demonstrate the membrane bound matrix metalloproteinase MT1-MMP promotes resistance of GBM to radiation, and that using a selective and brain permeable MT1-MMP inhibitor, (R)-ND336, improved tumor control can be achieved in preclinical studies.

Methods

Public microarray and RNA-sequencing data were used to determine MT1-MMP relevance in GBM patient survival. Glioma stem-like neurospheres (GSCs) were used for both in vitro and in vivo assays. An affinity resin coupled with proteomics was used to quantify active MT1-MMP in brain tissue of GBM patients. Short hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated knockdown of MT1-MMP and inhibition via the MT1-MMP inhibitor (R)-ND336, were used to assess the role of MT1-MMP in radio-resistance.

Results

MT1-MMP expression inversely correlated with patient survival. Active MT1-MMP was present in brain tissue of GBM patients but not in normal brain. shRNA- or (R)-ND336-mediated inhibition of MT1-MMP sensitized GSCs to radiation leading to a significant increase in survival of tumor-bearing animals. MT1-MMP depletion reduced invasion via the effector protease MMP2; and increased the cytotoxic response to radiation via induction of replication fork stress and accumulation of double strand breaks (DSBs), making cells more susceptible to genotoxic insult.

Conclusions

MT1-MMP is pivotal in maintaining replication fork stability. Disruption of MT1-MMP sensitizes cells to radiation and can counteract invasion. (R)-ND336, which efficiently penetrates the brain, is therefore a novel radio-sensitizer in GBM.