bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
IP3R1 underlies diastolic ANO1 activation and pressure-dependent chronotropy in lymphatic collecting vessels
Authors: Zawieja Scott D. , Pea Grace A. , Broyhill Sarah E. , Patro Advaya , Bromert Karen H. , Li Min , Norton Charles E. , Castorena-Gonzalez Jorge A. , Hancock Edward J. , Bertram Christopher D. , Davis Michael J.
Published: October 2023

Pressure-dependent chronotropy of murine lymphatic collecting vessels relies on the activation of the Ca2+-activated chloride channel encoded by Anoctamin 1 (Ano1) in lymphatic muscle cells. Genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition of ANO1 results in a significant reduction in basal contraction frequency and essentially complete loss of pressure-dependent frequency modulation by decreasing the rate of the diastolic depolarization phase of the ionic pacemaker in lymphatic muscle cells (LMCs). Oscillating Ca2+ release from sarcoendoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ channels has been hypothesized to drive ANO1 activity during diastole, but the source of Ca2+ for ANO1 activation in smooth muscle remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of the inositol triphosphate receptor 1 (Itpr1; Ip3r1) in this process using pressure myography, Ca2+ imaging, and membrane potential recordings in LMCs of ex vivo pressurized inguinal-axillary lymphatic vessels from control or Myh11CreERT2;Ip3r1fl/fl (Ip3r1ismKO) mice. Ip3r1ismKO vessels had significant reductions in contraction frequency and tone but an increased contraction amplitude. Membrane potential recordings from LMCs of Ip3r1ismKO vessels revealed a depressed diastolic depolarization rate and an elongation of the plateau phase of the action potential (AP). Ca2+ imaging of LMCs using the genetically encoded Ca2+ sensor GCaMP6f demonstrated an elongation of the Ca2+ flash associated with an AP-driven contraction. Critically, diastolic subcellular Ca2+ transients were absent in LMCs of Ip3r1ismKO mice, demonstrating the necessity of IP3R1 activity in controlling ANO1-mediated diastolic depolarization. These findings indicate a critical role for IP3R1 in lymphatic vessel pressure-dependent chronotropy and contractile regulation.
Sensing and control scheme for the inteferometer configuration with an L-shaped resonator
Authors: Guo Xinyao , Zhang Teng , Martynov Denis , Haixing Miao
Published: October 2023

The detection of high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs) around kHz is critical to understand the physics of binary neutron star mergers. A new interferometer design has been proposed in (Zhang et al 2023 Phys. Rev. X 13 021019), featuring an L-shaped optical resonator as the arm cavity, which resonantly enhances kHz GW signals. This new configuration has the potential to achieve better high-frequency sensitivity than the dual-recycled Fabry–Perot Michelson. In this paper, we propose a sensing and control scheme for this configuration. Despite having the same number of length degrees of freedom as the dual-recycled Fabry–Perot Michelson, the new configuration requires one less degree of freedom to be controlled owing to the system’s insensitive to the fluctuation of

L
−

−

l
−

. We have also shown that introducing the Schnupp asymmetry is ineffective for controlling the signal-recycling cavity length. Therefore, we propose adding control fields from the dark port to control this auxiliary degree of freedom.
Model-based robust servo control for permanent magnet synchronous motor with inequality constraint
Authors: Sun ShouBing , Zhen ShengChao , Liu XiaoLi , Zhong HuaYong , Chen Ye-Hwa
Published: October 2023

Based on the dynamic model, a robust constrained control method for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) is proposed in this paper to achieve better trajectory tracking performance. Firstly, the constrained output variable of PMSM is transformed into unconstrained output variable by the monotone unbounded property of tangent function. After conversion, regardless of the uncertainty, the output angular displacement of PMSM always remains within the boundary. In addition, after state transformation of control variables, a new dynamic model of the system is obtained. Secondly, based on the new dynamic model, a control method based on model and error is proposed. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed control satisfies the requirements of uniformly bounded and uniformly bounded limits. Thirdly, the practicability and effectiveness of the robust controller are verified by simulation and experiments. This method can restrain the influence of uncertainty well and improve the servo performance and operation reliability of PMSM significantly.
Densification effect on field emission characteristics of CNT film emitters for electron emission devices
Authors: Han Si Eun , Go Hanbin , Lee Hyunjea , Lee Cheol Jin
Published: October 2023

Field electron emission characteristics of the carbon nanotube (CNT) film emitters were investigated according to densification conditions such as nitric acid, acetic acid, and salicylic acid. The emission performance of the CNT film emitters was strongly affected by the densification conditions. Salicylic acid exhibits the best field electron emission properties of the CNT film emitters, followed by nitric acid and acetic acid. The efficient densification of the CNT film emitter by salicylic acid is caused by the role of polarity and p orbitals, nitric acid by hydrogen ions, and acetic acid by weak polarity. After the densification with salicylic acid, the turn-on field of the CNT film emitter decreases from 1.94 V μm−1 to 1.86 V μm−1, the threshold field decreases from 3.41 V μm−1 to 2.95 V μm−1, the emission current significantly increases from 20.92 mA to 43.98 mA, and the degradation rate from the long-term emission stability decreases from 49.9% to 21%. The improved emission characteristics are attributed to the increased emission sites at the CNT film and the increased electrical conductivity of the CNT film. The densification is a useful way to enhance the field electron emission properties of CNT film emitters.
Influence of samarium modification on the phase-change performance and phase structure of tin antimonide
Authors: Zhang Pei , Wu Weihua , Fu Bowen , Gu Han , Zhou Xiaochen , Zhu Xiaoqin
Published: October 2023

This work presents the optimization of the crystallization behavior and reliability of Sn15Sb85 thin films by doping Sm element. The phase transition behaviors induced by thermal were investigated by in situ resistance measurement. With the addition of Sm element, Sn15Sb85 film exhibits the superior crystallization temperature (232 °C) and data conservation (172.32 °C for 10 years), larger activation energy of crystallization (4.91 eV) and crystalline resistance (∼103 Ω), which contributes to the increased thermal stability of the amorphous state and decrease in the programming energy. The Sm-doping can broaden the energy band gap from 0.55 to 1.07 eV. The amorphous Sm and Sn compositions could retard grain growth and refine grain size from 21.13 to 11.13 nm, combining with x-ray diffraction and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The surface morphology of Sn15Sb85 film becomes smoother after Sm doping as determined by atomic force microscopy images, resulting in the improved interfacial reliability. Phase change memory devices based on Sm0.095(Sn15Sb85)0.905 films can successfully achieve the complete SET and RESET reversible operation process with high operating speed (200 ns) and low power consumption (1.6 × 10−10 J). The results suggest that doping the proper concentration of Sm element will be an effectual solution to adapt and optimize the crystallization properties of Sn15Sb85 phase change material.
Algebro-geometrical orientifold and IR dualities
Authors: Manzoni Federico
Published: October 2023

Orientifold projections are an important ingredient in the geometrical engineering of Quantum Field Theory. However, an orientifold can break down the superconformal symmetry and no new superconformal fixed points are admitted (scenario II); nevertheless, in some cases, dubbed scenarios I and III orientifold, a new IR fixed point is achieved and, for scenario III examples, some still not fully understood IR duality seems to emerge. Here we give an algebro-geometrical point of view of orientifold for toric varieties and we propose the existence of relevant operators that deform the starting oriented Conformal Field Theory triggering a flow. We briefly discuss a possible holographic description of this flow.
On solutions to a novel non-evolutionary integrable 1 + 1 PDE
Authors: Giglio Francesco , Landolfi Giulio , Martina Luigi
Published: October 2023

We investigate real solutions of a C-integrable non-evolutionary partial differential equation in the form of a scalar conservation law where the flux density depends both on the density and on its first derivatives with respect to the local variables. By performing a similarity reduction dictated by one of its local symmetry generators, a nonlinear ordinary differential equation arises that is connected to the Painlevé III equation. Exact solutions are secured and described provided a constraint holds among the coefficients of the original equation. In the most general case, we pinpoint the generation of additional singularities by numerical integration. Then, we discuss the evolution of given initial profiles. Finally, we mention aspects concerning rational solutions with a finite number of poles.
Gradient estimates for fundamental solutions of a Schrödinger operator on stratified Lie groups
Authors: Lin Qingze , Xie Huayou
Published: October 2023

Let

L

=
−

Δ

G

+
Υ

\mathcal L=-\Delta _{\mathbb {G}}+\Upsilon

be a Schrödinger operator with a nonnegative potential

Υ
\Upsilon

belonging to the reverse Hölder class

B

Q

/

2

B_{Q/2}

, where

Q
Q

is the homogeneous dimension of the stratified Lie group

G

\mathbb {G}

. Inspired by Shen’s pioneer work and Li’s work, we study fundamental solutions of the Schrödinger operator

L

\mathcal L

on the stratified Lie group

G

\mathbb {G}

in this paper. By proving an exponential decreasing variant of mean value inequality, we obtain the exponential decreasing upper estimates, the local Hölder estimates and the gradient estimates of the fundamental solutions of the Schrödinger operator

L

\mathcal L

on the stratified Lie group. As two applications, we obtain the De Giorgi-Nash-Moser theory on the improved Hölder estimate for the weak solutions of the Schrödinger equation and a Liouville-type lemma for

L

\mathcal {L}

-harmonic functions on

G

\mathbb {G}

.
Existence and bifurcation of positive solutions to a class of predator-prey models with mutual interference among the predators
Authors: Ma Zhan-Ping , Wang Jia-Bing
Published: October 2023

In this work, we study a class of diffusive predator-prey models with mutual interference among the predators while searching for food. Under Dirichlet boundary condition, by the fixed point index theory, we provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of coexistence states (i.e., stationary pattern). This is a strong contrast to the corresponding Neumann boundary problem, which exhibits bistability and admits no patterns.
Weak Gurov–Reshetnyak class in metric measure spaces
Authors: Myyryläinen Kim
Published: October 2023

We introduce a weak Gurov–Reshetnyak class and discuss its connections to a weak Muckenhoupt

A
∞

A_\infty

condition and a weak reverse Hölder inequality in the setting of metric measure spaces with a doubling measure. A John–Nirenberg type lemma is shown for the weak Gurov–Reshetnyak class which gives a specific decay estimate for the oscillation of a function. It implies that a function in the weak Gurov–Reshetnyak class satisfies the weak reverse Hölder inequality. This comes with an upper bound for the reverse Hölder exponent depending on the Gurov–Reshetnyak parameter which allows the study of the asymptotic behavior of the exponent.
Encouraging student creativity in mathematics through 3D design and 3D printing
Authors: Hanusa Christopher
Published: October 2023

This is a case study of teaching 3D design and 3D printing in a project-based computing course for undergraduate math majors. This article discusses content organization, implementation, project grading, and includes a personal reflection. There is an emphasis on lessons learned and how to encourage student creativity and artistic expression. An appendix details 3D design techniques in Mathematica.
Habitat and benthic community correlates of Epeorus longimanus (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae) microdistribution in a Colorado, USA, stream riffle
Authors: De Jong Grant D
Published: October 2023

Little is known about the ecology of early instars of most aquatic insects, particularly their associations with microhabitat (<1 m2) features, such as sediment size distributions, other abiotic parameters, and the overall invertebrate community. This study sought to explore correlations between various biotic and abiotic parameters of a southern Colorado stream and the presence of early instars of Epeorus longimanus (Eaton) (Ephemeroptera: Heptageniidae). A total of 18 samples collected in 2007 and 2013 using a Hess sampler in riffle habitats were used to correlate the size of individuals with biological and abiotic characteristics of the stream, including sediment size, periphyton biomass, entrained organic matter, and the remainder of the benthic invertebrate community, all of which were measured using material from within the sampler. Results from both years showed that early instars of E. longimanus were more likely to be found in areas with smaller sediment sizes, higher live periphyton biomass (but lower overall organic matter), and lower densities of invertebrate predators.
Tracking canopy chlorophyll fluorescence with a low-cost light emitting diode platform
Authors: Brissette Logan E G , Wong Christopher Y S , McHugh Devin P , Au Jessie , Orcutt Erica L , Klein Marie C , Magney Troy S
Published: October 2023

Chlorophyll fluorescence measured at the leaf scale through pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) has provided valuable insight into photosynthesis. At the canopy- and satellite-scale, solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) provides a method to estimate the photosynthetic activity of plants across spatiotemporal scales. However, retrieving SIF signal remotely requires instruments with high spectral resolution, making it difficult and often expensive to measure canopy-level steady-state chlorophyll fluorescence under natural sunlight. Considering this, we built a novel low-cost photodiode system that retrieves far-red chlorophyll fluorescence emission induced by a blue light emitting diode (LED) light source, for 2 h at night, above the canopy. Our objective was to determine if an active remote sensing-based night-time photodiode method could track changes in canopy-scale LED-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (LEDIF) during an imposed drought on a broadleaf evergreen shrub, Polygala myrtifolia. Far-red LEDIF (720–740 nm) was retrieved using low-cost photodiodes (LEDIFphotodiode) and validated against measurements from a hyperspectral spectroradiometer (LEDIFhyperspectral). To link the LEDIF signal with physiological drought response, we tracked stomatal conductance (gsw) using a porometer, two leaf-level vegetation indices—photochemical reflectance index and normalized difference vegetation index—to represent xanthophyll and chlorophyll pigment dynamics, respectively, and a PAM fluorimeter to measure photochemical and non-photochemical dynamics. Our results demonstrate a similar performance between the photodiode and hyperspectral retrievals of LEDIF (R2 = 0.77). Furthermore, LEDIFphotodiode closely tracked drought responses associated with a decrease in photochemical quenching (R2 = 0.69), Fv/Fm (R2 = 0.59) and leaf-level photochemical reflectance index (R2 = 0.59). Therefore, the low-cost LEDIFphotodiode approach has the potential to be a meaningful indicator of photosynthetic activity at spatial scales greater than an individual leaf and over time.
Immune challenge changes social behavior in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
Authors: Encel Stella A , Schaerf Timothy M , Ward Ashley J W
Published: October 2023

Increased exposure to pathogens is often considered to be one of the most significant costs of group living. As a result, animals typically avoid close association with individuals who manifest symptoms of disease. The question remains, however, whether avoidance behaviors are mediated by effects relating specifically to the disease itself, or through recognition of more general sickness behaviors that emerge from the activity of the immune system in response to infection. Here we examined the effects of an immune challenge, induced through exposure to bacterial lipopolysaccharides (LPS), on individual and social behavior in female guppies (Poecilia reticulata). We found that in a binary choice presentation, healthy focal individuals showed a strong preference to associate with stimulus shoals of saline-injected fish rather than stimulus shoals of LPS-injected fish. In a subsequent examination of group-level dynamics, shoals of LPS-injected females were more dispersed than similar shoals comprised of control fish and showed less coherent collective behavior despite the lack of any obvious difference in general activity between LPS and control fish. We discuss these findings in relation to the need for social animals to mitigate the risk of disease that is associated with living in proximity to conspecifics.
Social Workers’ Perceptions of the Effect of Interpersonal Factors on Older Adults’ Decision to Remain in Abusive Relationships
Authors: Lev Sagit , Schindler Mickey , Waksman Yael
Published: October 2023

Older adults who are abused by their offspring often find it difficult to cooperate with professionals to end the abuse. In these situations, social workers face an ethical dilemma between respecting the older adult’s right to autonomy and intervening in a paternalistic way to prevent harm. This qualitative study aimed to examine the effect of interpersonal factors on the decision-making ability of older adults who do not experience significant cognitive and mental decline and choose to remain in abusive relationships. Twenty-one social workers specialising in the field of aging participated in a semi-structured interview based on a vignette. The analysis was encoded inductively, informed by the principles of content analysis. Two themes emerged: (i) Older adults’ feelings towards their abusive adult children, including love and concern, shame and guilt and relationships with symbiotic characteristics; (ii) Older adults’ motivation to stay in the abusive relationships, based either on utilitarian motivation or on their fear of the abuser. The study’s findings can serve as a foundation for the development of a tool for evaluating the influence of abusive relationships on older adults’ decision-making ability, which considers not only their personal characteristics but also their interactions and relationships with their surroundings.
Glioma-associated mesenchymal stem cells
Authors: Kang Qing-mei , Wang Jun , Chen Shi-man , Song Si-rong , Yu Shi-cang
Published: October 2023

Recent studies have revealed that glioma-associated mesenchymal stem cells play instrumental roles in tumorigenesis and tumour progression and cannot be ignored as a cellular component of the glioma microenvironment. Nevertheless, the origin of these cells and their roles are poorly understood. The only relevant studies have shown that glioma-associated mesenchymal stem cells play a large role in promoting tumour proliferation, invasion and angiogenesis.

This review provides a comprehensive summary of their discovery and definition, origin, differences from other tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells, spatial distribution, functions and prognostic and therapeutic opportunities to deepen the understanding of these cells and provide new insight into the treatment of glioma.
Multifractal long-range dependence pattern of functional magnetic resonance imaging in the human brain at rest
Authors: Guan Sihai , Jiang Runzhou , Chen Donna Y , Michael Andrew , Meng Chun , Biswal Bharat
Published: October 2023

Long-range dependence is a prevalent phenomenon in various biological systems that characterizes the long-memory effect of temporal fluctuations. While recent research suggests that functional magnetic resonance imaging signal has fractal property, it remains unknown about the multifractal long-range dependence pattern of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging signals. The current study adopted the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis on highly sampled resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to investigate long-range dependence profile associated with the whole-brain voxels as specific functional networks. Our findings revealed the long-range dependence’s multifractal properties. Moreover, long-term persistent fluctuations are found for all stations with stronger persistency in whole-brain regions. Subsets with large fluctuations contribute more to the multifractal spectrum in the whole brain. Additionally, we found that the preprocessing with band-pass filtering provided significantly higher reliability for estimating long-range dependence. Our validation analysis confirmed that the optimal pipeline of long-range dependence analysis should include band-pass filtering and removal of daily temporal dependence. Furthermore, multifractal long-range dependence characteristics in healthy control and schizophrenia are different significantly. This work has provided an analytical pipeline for the multifractal long-range dependence in the resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging signal. The findings suggest differential long-memory effects in the intrinsic functional networks, which may offer a neural marker finding for understanding brain function and pathology.
External apical root resorption in African American orthodontic patients
Authors: Litchfield Frank E , Oster Robert A , Kau Chung How , Lamani Ejvis
Published: October 2023

Objective

External apical root resorption (EARR) is a side effect of orthodontic treatment that results in root shortening. However, this condition has yet to be evaluated in African Americans. The aim of this study was to determine the EARR prevalence within this ethnicity and investigate how patient and treatment-related factors contribute to root resorption.

Methods

The records of 336 African Americans treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry Department of Orthodontics were retrospectively analyzed with Dolphin Imaging software. Pre-treatment and post-treatment panoramic radiographs were used to measure EARR. Resorption was recorded when final roots were at least 2 mm shorter after orthodontic treatment. Additionally, moderate and severe EARR was reported when 20% and 50% or more of the root structure was lost for any of the four maxillary incisors, respectively. The Pearson chi-square test was used to evaluate the associations of individual patient and treatment-related factors with EARR.

Results

The prevalence of root resorption with 2 mm or greater of root structure loss was 51.8%. The prevalence of ≥ 20% EARR was 29.8%. Only one patient displayed severe resorption (0.3%). The associations between the patient-specific and treatment-specific variables and EARR were not statistically significant (P > .05).

Conclusions

More than half of the African American patients exhibit at least 2 mm of root resorption with orthodontic treatment. However, in this ethnicity, patient-related factors such as age, gender, dental malocclusion, and skeletal classifications, as well as treatment-related factors do not indicate a significant correlation with the risk of developing EARR.
Acute heart failure: current pharmacological treatment and perspectives
Authors: Deniau Benjamin , Costanzo Maria Rosa , Sliwa Karen , Asakage Ayu , Mullens Wilfried , Mebazaa Alexandre
Published: October 2023

Acute heart failure (AHF) represents the most frequent cause of unplanned hospital admission in patients older than 65 years. Symptoms and clinical signs of AHF (e.g. dyspnoea, orthopnoea, oedema, jugular vein distension, and variation of body weight) are mostly related to systemic venous congestion secondary to various mechanisms including extracellular fluids, increased ventricular filling pressures, and/or auto-transfusion of blood from the splanchnic into the pulmonary circulation. Thus, the initial management of AHF patients should be mostly based on decongestive therapies on admission followed, before discharge, by rapid implementation of guideline-directed oral medical therapies for heart failure. The therapeutic management of AHF requires the identification and rapid diagnosis of the disease, the diagnosis of the cause (or triggering factor), the evaluation of severity, the presence of comorbidities, and, finally, the initiation of a rapid treatment. The most recent guidelines from ESC and ACC/AHA/HFSA have provided updated recommendations on AHF management. Recommended pharmacological treatment for AHF includes diuretic therapy aiming to relieve congestion and achieve optimal fluid status, early and rapid initiation of oral therapies before discharge combined with a close follow-up. Non-pharmacological AHF management requires risk stratification in the emergency department and non-invasive ventilation in case of respiratory failure. Vasodilators should be considered as initial therapy in AHF precipitated by hypertension. On the background of recent large randomized clinical trials and international guidelines, this state-of-the-art review describes current pharmacological treatments and potential directions for future research in AHF.
New insights into the Undecaprenol monophosphate recycling pathway of Streptococcus pneumoniae
Authors: Wilhelm Linus , Ducret Adrien , Grangeasse Christophe
Published: October 2023

Recycling of undecaprenol pyrophosphate is critical to regenerate the pool of undecaprenol monophosphate required for cell wall biosynthesis. Undecaprenol pyrophosphate is dephosphorylated by membrane-associated undecaprenyl pyrophosphate phosphatases such as UppP or type 2 Phosphatidic Acid Phosphatases (PAP2) and then transferred across the cytoplasmic membrane by Und-P flippases such as PopT (DUF368-containing protein) or UptA (a DedA family protein). While the deletion of uppP in S. pneumoniae has been reported to increase susceptibility to bacitracin and reduce infectivity in a murine infection model, the presence of PAP2 family proteins or Und-P flippases and their potential interplay with UppP in S. pneumoniae remained unknown. In this report, we identified two PAP2 family proteins and a DUF368-containing protein and investigated their roles together with that of UppP in cell growth, cell morphology and susceptibility to bacitracin in S. pneumoniae. Our results suggest that the undecaprenol monophosphate recycling pathway in S. pneumoniae could result from a functional redundancy between UppP, the PAP2-family protein Spr0434 and the DUF368-containing protein Spr0889.
Earthquake swarms along the Chilean subduction zone, 2003–2020
Authors: Marsan D , Reverso T , Socquet A
Published: October 2023

We search for earthquake swarms along the Chilean subduction, from −18° to −39° of latitude, 2003–2020 by developing an objective, model-based method that detects potential swarms as anomalous changes in earthquake rate. A set of 16 swarms is obtained after careful inspection of the candidate swarms; this assessment allows to reject cases for which model errors, rather than ‘true’ anomalous rate changes, are likely the cause of the detection. Averaging the activity over these 16 episodes, we find indirect evidence for a mostly aseismic driving mechanism, and a mean aseismic to seismic ratio estimated to range between 40 and 90 when using the seismicity rate as a proxy for slip. All the swarms are found in the 20–50 km depth range with the notable exception of one 60–100-km-deep swarm that occurs several days after the 2010 Maule earthquake and downdip of it. The dominant depth range (20–50 km) is in agreement with previous studies that suggest this range to be a transition zone from the shallower, locked part of the subduction, to the freely slipping interface at greater depth and intraslab earthquake activity. The swarms can be separated into three spatial groups, two of which being related to a subducting oceanic ridge. This structural control by fluid-rich geological features is modulated by stress control, that is swarms cluster in time with intermediate to large ruptures, both prior and following them, pointing to a close interplay between seismic slip and aseismic deformation in specific, well separated segments of the Chilean subduction.
Observer-based SMC design for stochastic systems with Levy noise
Authors: Sangeetha G , Mathiyalagan K , Ma Yong-Ki , Zhang Huiyan
Published: October 2023

This work addresses the problem of sliding mode control (SMC) design for a continuous-time non-linear stochastic system with Levy-type noise. A state observer model is constructed to estimate the unavailable state information. Furthermore, Levy-type noise is considered to analyse small perturbations and to characterize the appearance of large samples that will occur in the system. Lyapunov stability and SMC theory are used to provide some sufficient conditions that ensure the stochastic stability of the error system and reachability of the predefined sliding surface. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach.
Bunyavirales: Scientific Gaps and Prototype Pathogens for a Large and Diverse Group of Zoonotic Viruses
Authors: Hartman Amy L , Myler Peter J
Published: October 2023

Research directed at select prototype pathogens is part of the approach put forth by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) to prepare for future pandemics caused by emerging viruses. We were tasked with identifying suitable prototypes for four virus families of the Bunyavirales order (Phenuiviridae, Peribunyaviridae, Nairoviridae, and Hantaviridae). This is a challenge due to the breadth and diversity of these viral groups. While there are many differences among the Bunyavirales, they generally have complex ecological life cycles, segmented genomes, and cause a range of human clinical outcomes from mild to severe and even death. Here, we delineate potential prototype species that encompass the breadth of clinical outcomes of a given family, have existing reverse genetics tools or animal disease models, and can be amenable to a platform approach to vaccine testing. Suggested prototype pathogens outlined here can serve as a starting point for further discussions.
The Picornaviridae Family: Knowledge Gaps, Animal Models, Countermeasures, and Prototype Pathogens
Authors: Andino Raul , Kirkegaard Karla , Macadam Andrew , Racaniello Vincent R , Rosenfeld Amy B
Published: October 2023

Picornaviruses are nonenveloped particles with a single-stranded RNA genome of positive polarity. This virus family includes poliovirus, hepatitis A virus, rhinoviruses, and Coxsackieviruses. Picornaviruses are common human pathogens, and infection can result in a spectrum of serious illnesses, including acute flaccid myelitis, severe respiratory complications, and hand-foot-mouth disease. Despite research on poliovirus establishing many fundamental principles of RNA virus biology and the first transgenic animal model of disease for infection by a human virus, picornaviruses are understudied. Existing knowledge gaps include, identification of molecules required for virus entry, understanding cellular and humoral immune responses elicited during virus infection, and establishment of immune-competent animal models of virus pathogenesis. Such knowledge is necessary for development of pan-picornavirus countermeasures. Defining enterovirus A71 and D68, human rhinovirus C, and echoviruses 29 as prototype pathogens of this virus family may provide insight into picornavirus biology needed to establish public health strategies necessary for pandemic preparedness.
Viral Prototypes for Pandemic Preparedness: The Road Ahead
Authors: Morabito Kaitlyn M , Cassetti M Cristina , DeRocco Amanda J , Deschamps Anne M , Pierson Theodore C
Published: October 2023

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrated how rapidly vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) could be deployed when the field is prepared to respond to a novel virus, serving as proof of concept that the prototype pathogen approach is feasible. This success was built upon decades of foundational research, including the characterization of protective antigens and coronavirus immunity leading to the development and validation of a generalizable vaccine approach for multiple coronaviruses. For other virus families of pandemic concern, the field is less prepared. The articles in this special issue have highlighted research gaps that need to be addressed to accelerate the development of effective vaccines and mAbs, to identify generalizable vaccine and mAb strategies, and to increase preparedness against other pandemic threats. Successful implementation of the prototype pathogen approach will require a systematic, multidisciplinary, coordinated approach with expertise and crosstalk among researchers of different virus families.
Filoviruses: Scientific Gaps and Prototype Pathogen Recommendation
Authors: Dupuy Lesley C , Spiropoulou Christina F , Towner Jonathan S , Spengler Jessica R , Sullivan Nancy J , Montgomery Joel M
Published: October 2023

Viruses in the family Filoviridae, including the commonly known Ebola (EBOV) and Marburg (MARV) viruses, can cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and nonhuman primates. Sporadic outbreaks of filovirus disease occur in sub-Saharan Africa with reported case fatality rates ranging from 25% to 90%. The high mortality and increasing frequency and magnitude of recent outbreaks along with the increased potential for spread from rural to urban areas highlight the importance of pandemic preparedness for these viruses. Despite their designation as high-priority pathogens, numerous scientific gaps exist in critical areas. In this review, these gaps and an assessment of potential prototype pathogen candidates are presented for this important virus family.
Shaping transverse-tubules: central mechanisms that play a role in the cytosol zoning for muscle contraction
Authors: Kawaguchi Kohei , Fujita Naonobu
Published: October 2023

A transverse-tubule (T-tubule) is an invagination of the plasma membrane penetrating deep into muscle cells. An extensive membrane network of T-tubules is crucial for rapid and synchronized signal transmission from the cell surface to the entire sarcoplasmic reticulum for Ca2+ release, leading to muscle contraction. T-tubules are also indispensable for the formation and positioning of other muscle organelles. Their structure and physiological roles are relatively well established; however, the mechanisms shaping T-tubules require further elucidation. Centronuclear myopathy (CNM), an inherited muscular disorder, accompanies structural defects in T-tubules. Membrane traffic-related genes, including MTM1 (Myotubularin 1), DNM2 (Dynamin 2), and BIN1 (Bridging Integrator-1), were identified as causative genes of CNM. In addition, causative genes for other muscle diseases are also reported to be involved in the formation and maintenance of T-tubules. This review summarizes current knowledge on the mechanisms of how T-tubule formation and maintenance is regulated.
Does Mills’ epistemology suggest a hermeneutic injustice of White Afroscepticism?
Authors: Fraser-Burgess Sheron
Published: October 2023

Charles Mills posits an epistemology of ignorance that underwrites the complicity of Whites, or people of Western European descent, as signatories of the racial contract. There is prevailing discourse about the complicity of White persons in perpetuating racism and whether they can experience epistemic injustice. In this paper, the claim to hermeneutical injustice, in particular, makes a further assertion that moral blameworthiness is mitigated for a subcategory of White Americans because of being socialized into a White-dominant culture of caste-based Afroscepticism. I argue, based on Peirce's conceptualization of doubt, as against Descartes, that Afroscepticism is a totalizing belief system predicated on a racial group-based social epistemology and maintains a settled stance of questioning the commensurate citizenship of Blacks or American descendants of slaves. These perceived social costs warrant educational interventions that can dismantle its reasoning architecture. White Afroscepticism poses a barrier to the teacher’s efforts to cultivate the democratic habitus in students; however, educator preparation that takes its existence into account can build on the standard classroom practices of critical social justice that promote equity, critical multicultural education, and critical thinking.
The paradox of epistemic ability profiling
Authors: Taylor Ashley
Published: October 2023

Intellectually disabled students face particular barriers to epistemic participation within schooling contexts. While negative forms of bias against intellectually disabled people play an important role in creating these barriers, this paper suggests that it is often because of the best intentions of educators and peers that intellectually disabled students are vulnerable to forms of epistemic injustice. The author outlines a form of epistemic injustice that operates through an educational practice widely regarded as serving the interests of intellectually disabled students. ‘Epistemic ability profiling’ involves the identification of the epistemic consequences of disability in the service of promoting students’ best interests, or to create opportunities for their participation in epistemic communities. Epistemic ability profiling is a double-edged sword: it is important that educators understand and attend to the ways in which differences in ability shape students’ epistemic agency, and yet epistemic ability profiling operates against the background of a conceptually ableist conceptual terrain. As a result, epistemic ability profiling runs the risk of legitimating structural forms of injustice against intellectually disabled people.
Two cases of Rapunzel syndrome in adult males
Authors: Moolamannil Mathew C , Ahmed Hanad , Devecseri Gertrud , Malam Yogeshkumar , Wilde Max , Chattopadhyay Dipankar
Published: October 2023

Trichobezoar are foreign bodies formed from undigested hairs that accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract and cause obstruction. Trichobezoar are usually found in the stomach but when the tail of the bezoar extends into the small intestine it is referred to as Rapunzel syndrome. Patients are usually females and have a history of psychiatric illness. However, in this study, we present two cases of Rapunzel syndrome in adult male patients that were managed with surgery. Trichobezoar should be considered in all patients with a history of psychiatric illness presenting with abdominal symptoms regardless of gender.
A case of intussusception secondary to a metastatic malignant melanoma from the nasal cavity
Authors: Ng Yuki J , Loc Leong J , Bun Kuek S , Mushtaq Sohail
Published: October 2023

About 5% of all intussusception are found in adults, up to 90% of these have an anatomical lesion with ~50% of them are malignant. Malignant melanoma commonly metastasizes to the small bowel; however, melanoma causing intussusception is rare. We describe a 57-year-old lady with a history of surgically treated malignant melanoma in her nasal cavity who came with an ambiguous intestinal obstruction. Computed tomography reported ileal-ileal intussusception, which was surgically removed via emergency open laparotomy and bowel resection. Intraoperatively the intussusception was 110 cm from the ileo-cecal valve with multiple palpable lymph nodes. Histopathology confirmed the origin as malignant melanoma with lymphovascular invasion. Our literature review found the mean prevalence of intussusception secondary to melanoma was 6.924% (SD ± 5.155). Minimally invasive techniques are reported non-inferior to open laparotomy. We argue that the open technique can provide informed decisions for adequate resection of affected bowel and lymphatic drainage.
Arkenstone – I. A novel method for robustly capturing high specific energy outflows in cosmological simulations
Authors: Smith Matthew C , Fielding Drummond B , Bryan Greg L , Kim Chang-Goo , Ostriker Eve C , Somerville Rachel S , Stern Jonathan , Su Kung-Yi , Weinberger Rainer , Hu Chia-Yu , Forbes John C , Hernquist Lars , Burkhart Blakesley , Li Yuan
Published: October 2023

Arkenstone is a new model for multiphase, stellar feedback-driven galactic winds designed for inclusion in coarse resolution cosmological simulations. In this first paper of a series, we describe the features that allow Arkenstone to properly treat high specific energy wind components and demonstrate them using idealized non-cosmological simulations of a galaxy with a realistic circumgalactic medium (CGM), using the arepo code. Hot, fast gas phases with low mass loadings are predicted to dominate the energy content of multiphase outflows. In order to treat the huge dynamic range of spatial scales involved in cosmological galaxy formation at feasible computational expense, cosmological volume simulations typically employ a Lagrangian code or else use adaptive mesh refinement with a quasi-Lagrangian refinement strategy. However, it is difficult to inject a high specific energy wind in a Lagrangian scheme without incurring artificial burstiness. Additionally, the low densities inherent to this type of flow result in poor spatial resolution. Arkenstone addresses these issues with a novel scheme for coupling energy into the transition region between the interstellar medium (ISM) and the CGM, while also providing refinement at the base of the wind. Without our improvements, we show that poor spatial resolution near the sonic point of a hot, fast outflow leads to an underestimation of gas acceleration as the wind propagates. We explore the different mechanisms by which low and high specific energy winds can regulate the star formation rate of galaxies. In future work, we will demonstrate other aspects of the Arkenstone model.
CNN photometric redshifts in the SDSS at r ≤ 20
Authors: Treyer M , Ait Ouahmed R , Pasquet J , Arnouts S , Bertin E , Fouchez D
Published: October 2023

We release photometric redshifts, reaching ∼0.7, for ∼14M galaxies at r ≤ 20 in the 11 500 deg2 of the SDSS north and south Galactic caps. These estimates were inferred from a convolution neural network (CNN) trained on ugriz stamp images of galaxies labelled with a spectroscopic redshift from the SDSS, GAMA, and BOSS surveys. Representative training sets of ∼370k galaxies were constructed from the much larger combined spectroscopic data to limit biases, particularly those arising from the over-representation of luminous red galaxies. The CNN outputs a redshift classification that offers all the benefits of a well-behaved PDF, with a width efficiently signalling unreliable estimates due to poor photometry or stellar sources. The dispersion, mean bias, and rate of catastrophic failures of the median point estimate are of order σMAD = 0.014, <Δznorm>=0.0015, $\eta (|\Delta z_{\rm norm}|\gt 0.05)=4{{\, \rm per\ cent}}$ on a representative test sample at r < 19.8, outperforming currently published estimates. The distributions in narrow intervals of magnitudes of the redshifts inferred for the photometric sample are in good agreement with the results of tomographic analyses. The inferred redshifts also match the photometric redshifts of the redMaPPer galaxy clusters for the probable cluster members.
A Kpc-scale radio polarization study of PG BL Lacs with the uGMRT
Authors: Baghel Janhavi , Kharb P , Hovatta T , Gulati S , Lindfors E , S. Silpa
Published: October 2023

We present here uGMRT band 4 (∼650 MHz) polarization images of 8 BL Lac objects belonging to the Palomar-Green (PG) ‘blazar’ sample. A large fraction of the sources ($\sim 63~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) reveal core-halo radio structures with most of the polarization detected in the inner core-jet regions. PG1101 + 385 and PG2254 + 075 exhibit a ‘spine-sheath structure’ in polarization. The core-halo and ‘spine-sheath’ structures are consistent with the Unified Scheme suggestion that BL Lacs are the pole-on beamed counterparts of Fanaroff–Riley (FR) type I radio galaxies. PG1418 + 546 and PG0851 + 203 (OJ287) show the presence of terminal hotspots similar to FR type II radio galaxies. They were also found to be low-spectrally peaked BL Lacs, supportive of the ‘blazar envelope’ scenario for BL Lacs and quasars. Fractional polarization ranges from 1 to 13 per cent in the cores and 2 to 26 per cent in the inner jets/lobes of the sample BL Lacs. Compared to the varied radio morphology of quasars from the PG ‘blazar’ sample, the BL Lacs appear to be less diverse. A comparison of the inferred core magnetic (B-) field structures on arcsec- (kpc-) scales w.r.t. the Very Long Baseline Interferometry jet direction does not reveal any preferred orientation, suggesting that if large-scale ordered B-fields exist, they do so on scales smaller than probed by the current observations. However, the presence of polarized emission on arcsec-scales suggests that any mixing of thermal plasma with the synchrotron emitting plasma is insufficient to fully depolarize the emission via the internal depolarization process.
CAPOS: the bulge Cluster APOgee Survey IV elemental abundances of the bulge globular cluster NGC 6558
Authors: González-Díaz Danilo , Fernández-Trincado José G , Villanova Sandro , Geisler Doug , Barbuy Beatriz , Minniti Dante , Beers Timothy C , Moni Bidin Christian , Mauro Francesco , Muñoz Cesar , Tang Baitian , Soto Mario , Monachesi Antonela , Lane Richard R , Frelijj Heinz
Published: October 2023

This study presents the results concerning six red giant stars members of the globular cluster NGC 6558. Our analysis utilized high-resolution near-infrared spectra obtained through the CAPOS initiative (the APOgee Survey of Clusters in the Galactic Bulge), which focuses on surveying clusters within the Galactic Bulge, as a component of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment II survey (APOGEE-2). We employ the Brussels Automatic Code for Characterizing High accUracy Spectra (BACCHUS) code to provide line-by-line elemental-abundances for Fe-peak (Fe, Ni), α-(O, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti), light-(C, N), odd-Z (Al), and the s-process element (Ce) for the four stars with high-signal-to-noise ratios. This is the first reliable measure of the CNO abundances for NGC 6558. Our analysis yields a mean metallicity for NGC 6558 of 〈[Fe/H]〉 = −1.15 ± 0.08, with no evidence for a metallicity spread. We find a Solar Ni abundance, 〈[Ni/Fe]〉 ∼ +0.01, and a moderate enhancement of α-elements, ranging between +0.16 and <+0.42, and a slight enhancement of the s-process element 〈[Ce/Fe]〉 ∼ +0.19. We also found low levels of 〈[Al/Fe]〉 ∼ +0.09, but with a strong enrichment of nitrogen, [N/Fe] > +0.99, along with a low level of carbon, [C/Fe] < −0.12. This behaviour of Nitrogen-Carbon is a typical chemical signature for the presence of multiple stellar populations in virtually all GCs; this is the first time that it is reported in NGC 6558. We also observed a remarkable consistency in the behaviour of all the chemical species compared to the other CAPOS bulge GCs of the same metallicity.