bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Early Synecdochical Anchors of College Football: Fields and Facilities 1869–1903
Authors: Tutka Patrick , Seifried Chad
Published: September 2021

The present study examines the early wooden facilities and grounds of American college football within National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and Ivy League schools from 1869 through 1903. Within, we identify what set of events and opportunities led to the development of the earliest football playing spaces. Furthermore, we recognize and explain what patterns of construction and renovation influenced the creation of permanent stadia. Critical environmental conditions that impacted the spread of knowledge about football and its playing grounds are recognized in addition to specific rules, which influenced the evolution of fields and facilities. Finally, we recognize the importance of facility enclosure and interests in producing revenues, and feature discussion on the movement of games from off- to on-campus while offering a collective picture of what these places looked like as potential synedochial social anchors for their institutions.
Low-dose mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine generates durable memory enhanced by cross-reactive T cells
Authors: Mateus Jose , Dan Jennifer M. , Zhang Zeli , Rydyznski Moderbacher Carolyn , Lammers Marshall , Goodwin Benjamin , Sette Alessandro , Crotty Shane , Weiskopf Daniela
Published: September 2021

A smaller-dose jab does the job

Low-dose messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines potentially allow health providers to administer more doses from a limited vaccine supply and can be less reactogenic. Whether low-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccines generate immune responses comparable to currently approved doses remains an open question, however. Mateus
et al
. report the results of a clinical trial comparing patients who received a 25-μg mRNA-1273 (Moderna) COVID-19 vaccine to 100-μg mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccinees and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2–infected individuals. The low-dose Moderna vaccine generated long-lived T cell immunity that was equivalent between younger and older patients and that could be enhanced by the presence of cross-reactive T cells. Moreover, antibody and T cell responses induced by the low-dose vaccine were comparable to natural infection and about half as strong as those seen with high-dose vaccination. —STS
Identification of resident memory CD8
+
T cells with functional specificity for SARS-CoV-2 in unexposed oropharyngeal lymphoid tissue
Authors: Niessl Julia , Sekine Takuya , Lange Joshua , Konya Viktoria , Forkel Marianne , Maric Jovana , Rao Anna , Mazzurana Luca , Kokkinou Efthymia , Weigel Whitney , Llewellyn-Lacey Sian , Hodcroft Emma B. , Karlsson Annika C. , Fehrm Johan , Sundman Joar , Price David A. , Mjösberg Jenny , Friberg Danielle , Buggert Marcus
Published: September 2021

Tissue-resident memory CD8
+
T cells in unexposed oropharyngeal lymphoid tissue exhibit specificity for SARS-CoV-2.
Trypanosoma brucei Tim50 Possesses PAP Activity and Plays a Critical Role in Cell Cycle Regulation and Parasite Infectivity
Authors: Tripathi Anuj , Singha Ujjal K. , Cooley Ayorinde , Gillyard Taneisha , Krystofiak Evan , Pratap Siddharth , Davis Jamaine , Chaudhuri Minu
Published: September 2021

African trypanosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by the parasitic protozoan
Trypanosoma brucei
. During its digenetic life cycle,
T. brucei
undergoes multiple developmental changes to adapt in different environments.
T. brucei
BF parasites, dwelling in mammalian blood, produce ATP from glycolysis and hydrolyze ATP in mitochondria for generation of inner membrane potential.
Metagenomics Unveils
Posidonia oceanica
“Banquettes” as a Potential Source of Novel Bioactive Compounds and Carbohydrate Active Enzymes (CAZymes)
Authors: Rubio-Portillo Esther , Martin-Cuadrado Ana-Belen , Ramos-Esplá Alfonso Ángel , Antón Josefa
Published: September 2021

Posidonia oceanica
is a long-living and very slow-growing marine seagrass endemic to the Mediterranean Sea that forms large amounts of leaf material and rhizomes, which can reach the shore and build important banks known as “banquettes.” These banquettes accumulate on the shore, where they can prevent erosion, although they also cause social concern due to their impact on beach use. Furthermore,
Posidonia
dry material has been considered a source of traditional remedies in several areas of the Mediterranean, and a few studies have been carried out to explore pharmacological activities of
Posidonia
extracts.
Coupled magmatic and host rock processes during the initiation of the Tuolumne Intrusive Complex, Sierra Nevada, California, USA: A transition from ephemeral sheets to long-lived, active magma mushes
Authors: Memeti Valbone , Paterson Scott R. , Mundil Roland
Published: September 2021

The initiation of pluton formation is rarely preserved as the rock record is typically overprinted by younger intruding pulses. An exception is the 80 km2 Kuna Crest lobe, which marks the initiation of the 95–85 Ma, 1100 km2 Tuolumne Intrusive Complex in the Sierra Nevada, California, USA. We present a detailed map of the lithologies and structure of the Kuna Crest lobe, associated sheeted complex and satellite plutons, and their host rocks, using chemical abrasion–isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry and laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry U-Pb zircon geochronology, element and isotope geochemistry, and Al-in-hornblende thermobarometry to conclude the following: (a) The 94.91 ± 0.53 Ma to 92.75 ± 0.11 Ma Kuna Crest lobe and its marginal sheeted complex preserved the oldest intrusive pulses and most mantle-like compositions of the entire Tuolumne Intrusive Complex. (b) Emplacement began with magma wedging of low volume magma pulses resulting in a sheeted complex that is compositionally heterogeneous at outcrop scales, but isotopically homogeneous. (c) These early magmas established a pre-heated pathway within just a few hundreds of thousands of years that gave way to the formation of the ~1.5 million-year-long active, compositionally more homogeneous but isotopically more heterogeneous magma mush across the Kuna Crest lobe. The host rocks and previously intruded magma were displaced largely vertically through downward flow. (d) The melt-interconnected mush zone in the lobe allowed for magma mixing and crystal-liquid separation at the emplacement level. We interpret this lobe to represent an upper- to mid-crustal, vertical magma transfer zone that likely fed shallower plutons and potentially volcanic eruptions. We propose a filter pressing mechanism driven by vertical magma transport through the lobe resulting in margin-parallel fabrics, plagioclase-rich crystal cumulates, inward draining and upward loss (of up to 40%) of interstitial melts. Some inward drained melts hybridized with later intruding Half Dome magmas at the transition to the main Tuolumne Intrusive Complex. Some of the lobe magmas, including fractionated melts, drained laterally into the strain shadow of the lobe to form the satellite plutons, further contributing to cumulate formation in the lobe.

This study documents that within only a few hundreds of thousands of years, arc magma plumbing systems are capable of establishing a focused magma pathway to build up to increasingly larger magma bodies that are capable of undergoing magma differentiation and feeding shallower plutons and volcanic eruptions.
Soil Hydrology of Agricultural Landscapes: Quantitative Description, Research Methods, and Availability of Soil Water
Authors: Shein Ye. V. , Bolotov A. G. , Dembovetskii A. V.
Published: September 2021

Soil hydrology has deep Russian roots, which are primarily related to the theory of soil hydrological constants and their practical application. These constants have been used to assess the hydrological soil conditions in stationary observations, for which attempts to arrange regular hydrological observations in the landscape faced impracticable complexity of work and calculations and provided unreliable quantitative predictions. At present, there are new opportunities for experimental research, digital analysis, and prediction of hydrological indicators of soils in the landscape. A new quantitative approach to the use of digital technologies for monitoring soil water and temperature in the soils of agricultural landscapes, their dynamics, and their probabilistic calculations has been developed. Based on the soil map, it is proposed to create an information and measurement system with the studied thermal and hydrophysical characteristics of soils using mathematical models to calculate the dynamics of moisture and temperature for given periods and conditions of different availability of heat and precipitation, which allows us to quantify the availability of moisture reserves in the soils of the agricultural landscape. This system of observations, assessment, and forecast includes the use of modern technologies for determining soil water content and temperature, the adaptation of predictive physically based models for calculating the dynamics of moisture reserves depending on the availability of precipitation and conditions at the lower boundary of soil profiles. The paper deals with the hydrological analysis of soils by the example of the agricultural landscape of the Zelenograd station of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute in the village of El’digino, Pushkino district, Moscow oblast.
Persistent COVID-19 lung infection in a child with a primary immunodeficiency
Authors: Fernández-Suárez Sarah , Reyes-Florian Giuliana , Vásquez-Hoyos Pablo , Domínguez-Rojas Jesús Angel
Published: September 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infection in children with primary immunodeficiency disease (PID) and its complications have not yet been well described, the course of COVID-19 can range from mild illness to death. We aim to report the case of a child with a PID who develop a severe and persistent pulmonary COVID-19 infection. We present chronologically his clinical course, tests, interventions and radiological findings showing his irregular evolution and poor response to infection. This case highlights the need to accurately monitor the immune response in these cases to try to stop the progression of the damage.
Wall eyed bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (WEBINO) syndrome as a false localising sign in intracranial haemorrhage due to snake bite
Authors: Sinha Shruti , Naik Bhaimangesh Bhanudas , Ghanekar Jaishree
Published: September 2021

A 48-year-old woman presented with sudden-onset altered sensorium 2 days after a snake bite (unidentified species) and was found to have a large right frontal intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) with transtentorial herniation (TTH) causing brain stem compression. A day later, neurological examination revealed internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) fitting the clinical description of wall eyed bilateral INO syndrome. INO is a rare ocular motor sign, the most common causes being brain stem infarction, haemorrhage or demyelinating disease. It rarely acts as a false localising sign, such as in this case, and in an even rarer cause for ICH, that is, haemotoxic snake bite without initial evidence of coagulopathy. An emphasis needs to be laid on detailed physical examination, often considered a lost art nowadays, to help detect subtle clinical signs which could herald ominous complications of conditions like TTH and help in early diagnosis and treatment of the same.
How do general practices respond to a pandemic? Protocol for a prospective qualitative study of six Australian practices
Authors: Russell Grant , Advocat Jenny , Lane Riki , Neil Jennifer , Staunton-Smith Timothy , Alexander Karyn E , Hattle Simon , Crabtree Benjamin F , Miller William L , Setunge Sumudu Neilya , Sturgiss Elizabeth Ann
Published: September 2021

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed healthcare systems worldwide. Primary care providers have been at the forefront of the pandemic response and have needed to rapidly adjust processes and routines around service delivery. The pandemic provides a unique opportunity to understand how general practices prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. We will follow a range of general practices to characterise the changes to, and factors influencing, modifications to clinical and organisational routines within Australian general practices amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods and analysis

This is a prospective case study of multiple general practices using a participatory approach for design, data collection and analysis. The study is informed by the sociological concept of routines and will be set in six general practices in Melbourne, Australia during the 2020–2021 COVID-19 pandemic. General practitioners associated with the Monash University Department of General Practice will act as investigators who will shape the project and contribute to the data collection and analysis. The data will include investigator diaries, an observation template and interviews with practice staff and investigators. Data will first be analysed by two external researchers using a constant comparative approach and then later refined at regular investigator meetings. Cross-case analysis will explain the implementation, uptake and sustainability of routine changes that followed the commencement of the pandemic.

Ethics and dissemination

Ethics approval was granted by Monash University (23950) Human Research Ethics Committees. Practice reports will be made available to all participating practices both during the data analysis process and at the end of the study. Further dissemination will occur via publications and presentations to practice staff and medical practitioners.
Predicting the risk of cancer in adults using supervised machine learning: a scoping review
Authors: Abdullah Alfayez Asma , Kunz Holger , Grace Lai Alvina
Published: September 2021

Objectives

The purpose of this scoping review is to: (1) identify existing supervised machine learning (ML) approaches on the prediction of cancer in asymptomatic adults; (2) to compare the performance of ML models with each other and (3) to identify potential gaps in research.

Design

Scoping review using the population, concept and context approach.

Search strategy

PubMed search engine was used from inception to 10 November 2020 to identify literature meeting following inclusion criteria: (1) a general adult (≥18 years) population, either sex, asymptomatic (population); (2) any study using ML techniques to derive predictive models for future cancer risk using clinical and/or demographic and/or basic laboratory data (concept) and (3) original research articles conducted in all settings in any region of the world (context).

Results

The search returned 627 unique articles, of which 580 articles were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria, were duplicates or were related to benign neoplasm. Full-text reviews were conducted for 47 articles and a final set of 10 articles were included in this scoping review. These 10 very heterogeneous studies used ML to predict future cancer risk in asymptomatic individuals. All studies reported area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) values as metrics of model performance, but no study reported measures of model calibration.

Conclusions

Research gaps that must be addressed in order to deliver validated ML-based models to assist clinical decision-making include: (1) establishing model generalisability through validation in independent cohorts, including those from low-income and middle-income countries; (2) establishing models for all cancer types; (3) thorough comparisons of ML models with best available clinical tools to ensure transparency of their potential clinical utility; (4) reporting of model calibration performance and (5) comparisons of different methods on the same cohort to reveal important information about model generalisability and performance.
Barriers to follow-up after an abnormal cervical cancer screening result and the role of male partners: a qualitative study
Authors: Chapola John , Lee Fan , Bula Agatha , Mapanje Clement , Phiri Billy Rodwell , Kamtuwange Nenani , Tsidya Mercy , Tang Jennifer H , Chinula Lameck
Published: September 2021

Introduction

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in Malawi, but preventable through screening. Malawi primarily uses visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for screening, however, a follow-up for positive screening results remains a major barrier, in rural areas. We interviewed women who underwent a community-based screen-and-treat campaign that offered same-day treatment with thermocoagulation, a heat-based ablative procedure for VIA-positive lesions, to understand the barriers in accessing post-treatment follow-up and the role of male partners in contributing to, or overcoming these barriers.

Methods

We conducted in-depths interviews with 17 women recruited in a pilot study that evaluated the safety and acceptability of community-based screen-and-treat programme using VIA and thermocoagulation for cervical cancer prevention in rural Lilongwe, Malawi. Ten of the women interviewed presented for post-treatment follow-up at the healthcare facility and seven did not. The interviews were analysed for thematic content surrounding barriers for attending for follow-up and role of male partners in screening.

Results

Transportation was identified as a major barrier to post-thermocoagulation follow-up appointment, given long distances to the healthcare facility. Male partners were perceived as both a barrier for some, that is, not supportive of 6-week post-thermocoagulation abstinence recommendation, and as an important source of support for others, that is, encouraging follow-up attendance, providing emotional support to maintaining post-treatment abstinence and as a resource in overcoming transportation barriers. Regardless, the majority of women desired more male partner involvement in cervical cancer screening.

Conclusion

Despite access to same-day treatment, long travel distances to health facilities for post-treatment follow-up visits remained a major barrier for women in rural Lilongwe. Male partners were identified both as a barrier to, and an important source of support for accessing and completing the screen-and-treat programme. To successfully eliminate cervical cancer in Malawi, it is imperative to understand the day-to-day barriers women face in accessing preventative care.
PLAN-e-PSY, a mobile application to improve case management and patient’s functioning in first episode psychosis: protocol for an open-label, multicentre, superiority, randomised controlled trial
Authors: Haesebaert Frédéric , El Oussoul Sofia , Pavard Amélie , Fabre Delphine , Cellard Caroline , Magaud Laurent , Subtil Fabien , Damiolini Eleonore , Fakra Eric , Haesebaert Julie
Published: September 2021

Introduction

The prognosis of first episode psychosis (FEP), which is a severe disorder, can be notably impaired by patients’ disengagement from healthcare providers. Coordinated specialty care with case management is now considered as the gold standard in this population, but there are still challenges for engagement with subsequent functional impairments. Youth-friendly and patient-centred clinical approaches are sought to improve engagement in patients with FEP. Mobile applications are widely used by young people, including patients with FEP, and can increase the youth friendliness of clinical tools. We hypothesise that a co-designed mobile application used during case management can improve functioning in patients with FEP as compared with usual case management practices.

Methods and analysis

A mobile case management application for planning and monitoring individualised care objectives will be co-designed with patients, caregivers and health professionals in a recovery-oriented approach. The application will be compared with usual case management practices in a multicentre, two-arm and parallel groups clinical trial. Patients will be recruited by specialised FEP teams. Impact on functioning will be assessed using the Personal and Social Performance Scale; the variation between baseline and 12 months in each group (control and active) will be the primary outcome.

Ethics and dissemination

This study has been approved by the Inserm Institutional Review Board IRB00003888 (Comité d’évaluation éthique de l’INSERM, reference number 20-647). The results of the study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at national and international conferences. We will also communicate the results to patients and family representatives’ associations. An optimised version of the application will be then disseminated through the French FEP network (Transition Network).

Trial registration number

ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT04657380
Empowering patients: simplifying discharge instructions
Authors: DeSai Charisma , Janowiak Keri , Secheli Beatrice , Phelps Eleanor , McDonald Sam , Reed Gary , Blomkalns Andra
Published: September 2021

Patients who do not have enough information about their discharge plans have decreased treatment compliance, decreased patient safety, increased emergency department (ED) recidivism, and poor satisfaction. This project aimed to develop and implement a method to assess and improve patient understanding of treatment and discharge plan in the ED. The authors developed a questionnaire to assess patient knowledge using Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Joint Commission recommendations, areas of communication deficits reported in other manuscripts, and ED staff and provider input. Responses from patient interviews were then scored against the medical record. Three trained scorers graded all responses, and inter-rater reliability was calculated using the kappa statistic.

Baseline observations found that written discharge instructions were long and tedious, and important information was difficult to find. Based on initial patient scores, stakeholder interviews, and fishbone diagrams, the team developed a one-page simplified information page (SIP) targeted to inform patients their most relevant discharge instructions. Next, the SIP was tested on 118 patients to measure its effect on patient understanding. At the baseline study, no patients had complete understanding of their discharge instructions. The areas of lowest scores were medication instructions and indications to return to the ED. Implementation of the SIP resulted in statistically significant changes in score distribution across all questions assessed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Interrater reliability between scorers was high (kappa=0.84). We incorporated the concept of the SIP to the cover page of our standard discharge instructions.

Healthcare providers often spend valuable time educating their patients, and it is important to assess the effectiveness of this teaching to identify areas in which we may improve health literacy and patient understanding. This project has shown that a simple, easy-to-read, concise page developed with patient input significantly improved ED discharge instruction knowledge.
CPAP delivered outside critical care during the second wave of COVID-19: outcomes from a UK respiratory surge unit
Authors: Nightingale Rebecca , Lewis Joseph , Monsell Katelyn Rhiannon , Jones Lewis , Smith Christopher , Kundu Shantanu , Bond Helena , Burhan Hassan , Fletcher Tom , Blanchard Thomas , Beadsworth Michael , Hampshire Peter , Gautam Manish , Todd Stacy , Jones Gareth , Aston Stephen
Published: September 2021

Background

NHS England recommends non-invasive continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as a possible treatment for type 1 respiratory failure associated with COVID-19 pneumonitis, either to avoid intubation or as a ceiling of care. However, data assessing this strategy are sparse, especially for the use of CPAP as a ceiling of care, and particularly when delivered outside of a traditional critical care environment. We describe a cohort of patients from Liverpool, UK, who received CPAP on a dedicated respiratory surge unit at the start of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in UK.

Methods

Retrospective cohort analysis of consecutive patients receiving CPAP for the treatment of respiratory failure secondary to COVID-19 on the respiratory surge unit at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Liverpool, UK from 21 September until 30 November 2020.

Results

88 patients were included in the analysis. 56/88 (64%) were deemed suitable for escalation to invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) and received CPAP as a trial; 32/88 (36%) received CPAP as a ceiling of care. Median age was 63 years (IQR: 56–74) and 58/88 (66%) were men. Median SpO2/FiO2immediately prior to CPAP initiation was 95 (92–152). Among patients for escalation to IMV, the median time on CPAP was 6 days (IQR 4–7) and survival at day 30 was 84% (47/56) with 14/56 (25%) escalated to IMV. Of those patients for whom CPAP was ceiling of care, the median duration of CPAP was 9 days (IQR 7–11) and 18/32 (56%) survived to day 30. Pulmonary barotrauma occurred in 9% of the cohort. There were no associations found on multivariant analysis that were associated with all-cause 30-day mortality.

Conclusions

With adequate planning and resource redistribution, CPAP may be delivered effectively outside of a traditional critical care setting for the treatment of respiratory failure due to COVID-19. Clinicians delivering CPAP to patients with COVID-19 pneumonitis should be alert to the dangers of pulmonary barotrauma. Among patients who are for escalation of care, the use of CPAP may avoid the need for IMV in some patients. Our data support the NHS England recommendation to consider CPAP as a ceiling of care.
Palliative home care: health-related quality of life
Authors: Vargas-Escobar Lina Maria , Reina-Gamba Nadia Carolina , Medellín-Olaya Judith , Consuegra-Pareja Cesar Antonio
Published: September 2021

Objective

To determine the relationship between physical symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of people enrolled in a palliative home care programme in Bogota, Colombia.

Methods

A quantitative, observational, analytical, cross-sectional study. 123 people, chronically ill and enrolled in a palliative home care programme, participated. Convenience sampling was used, and data were collected during home visits.

Results

The HRQOL was perceived as fair by 42.3% of the participants, and the overall score was below the expected mean value (140.5). The psychological dimension score was also below the mean, while above-average results were obtained in the physical, social and spiritual dimensions. Pain (78.2%), insomnia (82.3%) and tiredness (77.4%) were the most altered symptoms. Statistically significant differences were found between HRQOL and educational level, occupation, low socioeconomic strata and religious commitment. Statistically significant associations were found between depression and the psychological dimension (r=0.208; p=0.020) and between depression and overall HRQOL (r=0.181; p=0.045). No relationship was observed between HRQOL and physical symptoms.

Conclusion

Palliative home care programmes should thoroughly address psychological aspects, such as depression and anxiety, to ensure the best quality of life possible for the patients they assist.
Association of changes in work due to COVID-19 pandemic with psychosocial work environment and employee health: a cohort study of 24 299 Finnish public sector employees
Authors: Ervasti Jenni , Aalto Ville , Pentti Jaana , Oksanen Tuula , Kivimäki Mika , Vahtera Jussi
Published: September 2021

Objectives

To examine the associations of COVID-19-related changes in work with perceptions of psychosocial work environment and employee health.

Methods

In a cohort of 24 299 Finnish public sector employees, psychosocial work environment and employee well-being were assessed twice before (2016 and 2018=reference period) and once during (2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who reported a change (=‘Exposed’) in work due to the pandemic (working from home, new tasks or team reorganisation) were compared with those who did not report such change (=‘Non-exposed’).

Results

After adjusting for sex, age, socioeconomic status and lifestyle risk score, working from home (44%) was associated with greater increase in worktime control (standardised mean difference (SMD)Exposed=0.078, 95% CI 0.066 to 0.090; SMDNon-exposed=0.025, 95% CI 0.014 to 0.036), procedural justice (SMDExposed=0.101, 95% CI 0.084 to 0.118; SMDNon-exposed=0.053, 95% CI 0.038 to 0.068), workplace social capital (SMDExposed=0.094, 95% CI 0.077 to 0.110; SMDNon-exposed=0.034, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.048), less decline in self-rated health (SMDExposed=−0.038, 95% CI −0.054 to –0.022; SMDNon-exposed=−0.081, 95% CI −0.095 to –0.067), perceived work ability (SMDExposed=−0.091, 95% CI −0.108 to –0.074; SMDNon-exposed=−0.151, 95% CI −0.167 to –0.136) and less increase in psychological distress (risk ratio (RR)Exposed=1.06, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.09; RRNon-exposed=1.16, 95% CI 1.13 to 1.20). New tasks (6%) were associated with greater increase in psychological distress (RRExposed=1.28, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.39; RRNon-exposed=1.10, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.12) and team reorganisation (5%) with slightly steeper decline in perceived work ability (SMDExposed=−0.151 95% CI −0.203 to –0.098; SMDNon-exposed=−0.124, 95% CI −0.136 to –0.112).

Conclusion

Employees who worked from home during the pandemic had more favourable psychosocial work environment and health, whereas those who were exposed to work task changes and team reorganisations experienced more adverse changes.
Association of circulating cell-free double-stranded DNA and metabolic derangements in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
Authors: Whalen William , Buyukozkan Mustafa , Moore Bethany , Moon Jong-Seok , Dela Cruz Charles S , Martinez Fernando J , Choi Augustine M K , Krumsiek Jan , Stout-Delgado Heather , Cho Soo Jung
Published: September 2021

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal lung disease with unclear aetiology and poorly understood pathophysiology. Although plasma levels of circulating cell-free DNA (ccf-DNA) and metabolomic changes have been reported in IPF, the associations between ccf-DNA levels and metabolic derangements in lung fibrosis are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that ccf-double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) is increased in patients with IPF with rapid progression of disease compared with slow progressors and healthy controls and that ccf-dsDNA associates with amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism and lipid metabolism pathways in patients with IPF.
Soil erodibility in European mountain beech forests
Authors: Kašanin-Grubin Milica , Hukić Emira , Bellan Michal , Bialek Kamil , Bosela Michal , Coll Lluis , Czacharowski Marcin , Gajica Gordana , Giammarchi Francesco , Gömöryová Erika , del Rio Miren , Dinca Lucian , Đogo Mračević Svetlana , Klopčić Matija , Mitrović Suzana , Pach Maciej , Randjelović Dragana , Ruiz-Peinado Ricardo , Skrzyszewski Jerzy , Orlić Jovana , Štrbac Snežana , Stojadinović Sanja , Tonon Giustino , Tosti Tomislav , Uhl Enno , Veselinović Gorica , Veselinović Milorad , Zlatanov Tzvetan , Tognetti Roberto
Published: September 2021

Forests in Europe are currently not endangered by soil erosion. However, this can change with climate change or with intensified forest management practices. Using a newly established network of plots in beech forests across Europe, the aims of this study were to (i) distinguish soil properties and erodibility indices in relation to bedrock, (ii) determine geochemical properties and organic carbon (Corg) influencing erodibility, and (iii) assess the effect of soil depth on erodibility indices. Seventy-six soil samples from 20 beech forests were collected in 11 countries to quantify soil properties influencing erodibility indices: clay ratio, modified clay ratio, sodium adsorption ratio, and oxides ratio. The results indicate that the dominant soil properties, determined by bedrock, that correlate with forest soil erodibility indices are Corg, pH, electrical conductivity, calcium and sodium ions concentrations, total water-soluble cations, and the percentage of sand. According to the tested indices, soil susceptibility to erosion follows the order granite > andesite > sandstone > quartzite > limestone. Deeper soil horizons on granite are more susceptible to erosion than surface horizons are, but this is not the case for soils on limestones. In conclusion, forest management should consider the predisposition of different soil types to erosion.
Karyotype structure and cytogenetic markers of Amoimyrmex bruchi and Amoimyrmex silvestrii: contribution to understanding leaf-cutting ant relationships
Authors: Micolino Ricardo , Baldez Brenda Carla Lima , Sánchez-Restrepo Andrés F. , Calcaterra Luis , Cristiano Maykon Passos , Cardoso Danon Clemes
Published: September 2021

Leaf-cutting ants are considered the most important herbivores in terrestrial environments throughout the Neotropics. Amoimyrmex Cristiano, Cardoso, & Sandoval, 2020 is the sister clade of the remaining leaf-cutting ants from the genera Atta and Acromyrmex. Amoimyrmex striatus was the only species cytogenetically studied within the genus and shares the same chromosomal number as Atta, bearing 22 chromosomes, whereas Acromyrmex bears 38 chromosomes, with the exception of the social parasite Acromyrmex ameliae (2n = 36). Our objective here was to cytogenetically analyze the species of Amoimyrmex bruchi and Amoimyrmex silvestrii, as well as to describe the karyotype of these sister species, using an integrative approach using classical and molecular cytogenetics. We aimed to characterize the cytogenetic markers that contribute to the systematics and taxonomy of the genus. Our results showed that the karyotypes of these two species are very similar, with an identical chromosome number (2n = 22), chromosome morphology (2K = 20m + 2sm), and location of 18S rDNA and telomeric repeat TTAGG on the chromosomes. However, the microsatellite probe GA(15) showed variation across the species and populations studied. We suggest that both species diverged relatively recently and are unmistakably sisters because of the many shared characteristics, including the highly conserved karyotypes.
Physical constraints derived from FCNC in the 3-3-1-1 model
Authors: Nguyen Tuan Duy , Inami Takeo , Do Thi Huong
Published: September 2021

We investigate several phenomena related to FCNCs in the$$\text {3-3-1-1}$$3-3-1-1model. The sources of FCNCs at the tree-level from both the gauge and Higgs sectors are clarified. Experiments on the oscillation of mesons most stringently constrain the tree-level FCNCs. The lower bound on the new physics scale is imposed more tightly than in the previous,$$\text {M}_{\text {new}}>12 $$Mnew>12TeV. Under this bound, the tree-level FCNCs make a negligible contribution to the$$\text {Br}(B_s \rightarrow \mu ^+ \mu ^-)$$Br(Bs→μ+μ-),$$\text {Br}(B \rightarrow K^{*} \mu ^+ \mu ^-)$$Br(B→K∗μ+μ-)and$$\text {Br}(B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}\mu ^{+}\mu ^{-})$$Br(B+→K+μ+μ-). The branching ratio of radiative decay$$b \rightarrow s \gamma $$b→sγis enhanced by the ratio$$\frac{v}{u}$$vuvia diagrams with the charged Higgs mediation. In contrast, the charged currents of new gauge bosons significantly contribute to the decay process$$\mu \rightarrow e \gamma $$μ→eγ.
DOES THE POLICY OF FINANCIAL SUBSIDIES FOR AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE CONTRIBUTE TO ENSURING FOOD SECURITY FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION? EVIDENCE FROM CHINA
Authors: KONG QUNXI , LI RONGRONG , PENG DAN , WONG ZOEY
Published: September 2021

China’s current agricultural policy includes a wide range of agricultural subsidies, but the overall effect and levels of protection are low. China’s continued use of agricultural subsidies to ensure national food security is important in the context of global poverty alleviation. We examine the effect of agricultural insurance financial subsidy policies on food security using a difference-in-difference model with data from 285 Chinese cities from 1978 to 2019. These agricultural insurance subsidies have a significant positive effect on food security, with the most noticeable improvements in the northeast region. Reform and redesign of the subsidy system for greater flexibility and coverage are needed to safeguard China’s food security.
3D printed stretchable sensor based on silver nanowires-polydimethylsiloxane
Authors: Li Qiang , Sang Shengbo , Zhang Qiang , Pei Zhen
Published: September 2021

As a new rapid additive manufacturing technology that has emerged in recent years, 3D printing technology can realize the precise manufacturing of complex and flexible sensor structures. In this study, a sensor was fabricated by injecting silver nanowires (AgNWs) ethanol solution into stretchable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The substrate was used in two design configurations through a 3D printing template method, i.e. “straight” and “wave”. Compared to the straight sensor, the structural design of the wave sensor could increase the stretch range and sensitivity. In particular, the stretch range increased by 26.1% and the sensitivity improved by 96.0%. The stretchable sensor was successfully applied in pronunciation recognition and gait detection. Therefore, the stretchable sensor is also expected to be further used in fields such as foldable phones and wearable physiological signal sensors.
Research of lump dynamics on the (3+1)-dimensional B-type Kadomtsev–Petviashvili–Boussinesq equation
Authors: Lei Zhi-Qiang , Liu Jian-Guo , Rezazadeh Hadi , Khater Mostafa M. A. , Inc Mustafa
Published: September 2021

In this paper, we discuss the interaction of the rational function, hyperbolic as well as exponential function for the (3+1)-dimensional B-type Kadomtsev–Petviashvili–Boussinesq equation with the aid of Hirota’s bilinear approach. We find several families of lump-type solutions. This method is a powerful and advantageous mathematical tool for establishing abundant lump solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations. In order to illustrate their dynamic properties, some figures are plotted with determined parameters.
Tidal deformation of quantum black holes
Authors: Brustein Ram , Sherf Yotam
Published: September 2021

The response of a gravitating object to an external tidal field is encoded in its Love numbers, which identically vanish for classical black holes (BHs). Here we show, using standard time-independent quantum perturbation theory, that for a quantum BH, generically, the Love numbers are nonvanishing and negative. We calculate the quadrupolar electric quantum Love number of slowly rotating BHs and show that it depends most strongly on the first excited level of the quantum BH. Finally, we discuss the detectability of the quadrupolar quantum Love number in future precision gravitational-wave observations and show that, under favourable circumstances, its magnitude is large enough to imprint an observable signature on the gravitational waves emitted during the inspiral. Phase of two moderately spinning BHs.
In vivoimaging and tracking of exosomes for theranostics
Authors: Ma Ning , Wu Changfeng , Meng Zihui
Published: September 2021

Exosomes are lipid bilayer vesicles released by cells and serve as natural carriers for cell–cell communication. Exosomes provide a promising approach to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and are considered as an alternative to cell therapy. However, one main restriction in their clinical application is that the current understanding of these vesicles, especially their in vivo behaviors and distributions, remains inadequate. Here, we reviewed the current and emerging methods for in vivo imaging and tracking of exosomes, including fluorescence imaging, bioluminescence imaging, nuclear imaging, X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, photoacoustic imaging, and multimodal imaging. In vivo imaging and tracking of exosomes by these methods can help researchers further understand their uptake mechanism, biodistribution, migration, function, and therapeutic performance. The pioneering studies in this field can elucidate many unknown exosomal behaviors at different levels. We discussed the advantages and limitations of each labeling and imaging strategy. The advances in labeling and in vivo imaging will expand our understanding of exosomes and promote their clinical application. We finally provide a perspective and discuss several important issues that need to be explored in future research. This review highlights the values of efficient, sensitive, and biocompatible exosome labeling and imaging techniques in disease theranostics.
An Experimental Investigation on Vapor Compression Refrigeration System Cascaded with Ejector Refrigeration System
Authors: Kumar Vikas , Sachdeva Gulshan , Tiwari Sandeep , Anuradha Parinam , Jain Vaibhav
Published: September 2021

A conventional vapor compression refrigeration system (VCRS) cascaded with a heat-assisted ejector refrigeration system (ERS) has been experimentally analyzed. Cascading allows the VCRS to operate at lower condenser temperatures and thus achieve a higher coefficient of performance. In this cascaded system, the condenser of the vapor compression system does not dissipate its heat directly to the evaporator of the ERS; instead, water circulates between the condenser of VCRS and the evaporator of ERS to exchange the heat. Seven ejectors of different geometries have been used in the ERS; however, all the ejectors could not maintain thermal equilibrium at the desired operating conditions. The compressor of the cascaded VCRS consumed 1.3 times less power than the noncascaded VCRS. Furthermore, the cascaded system provided a maximum 87.74% improvement in COP over the noncascaded system for the same operating conditions. The performance of the system remained constant until the critical condenser pressure of the ERS.
Alexa, Who Am I Speaking To?: Understanding Users’ Ability to Identify Third-Party Apps on Amazon Alexa
Authors: Major David , Huang Danny Yuxing , Chetty Marshini , Feamster Nick
Published: September 2021

Many Internet of Things devices have voice user interfaces. One of the most popular voice user interfaces is Amazon’s Alexa, which supports more than 50,000 third-party applications (“skills”). We study how Alexa’s integration of these skills may confuse users. Our survey of 237 participants found that users do not understand that skills are often operated by third parties, that they often confuse third-party skills with native Alexa functions, and that they are unaware of the functions that the native Alexa system supports. Surprisingly, users who interact with Alexa more frequently are more likely to conclude that a third-party skill is a native Alexa function. The potential for misunderstanding creates new security and privacy risks: attackers can develop third-party skills that operate without users’ knowledge or masquerade as native Alexa functions. To mitigate this threat, we make design recommendations to help users better distinguish native functionality and third-party skills, including audio and visual indicators of native and third-party contexts, as well as a consistent design standard to help users learn what functions are and are not possible on Alexa.
Opportunities and Barriers for Adoption of a Decision-Support Tool for Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Bellio Maura , Furniss Dominic , Oxtoby Neil P. , Garbarino Sara , Firth Nicholas C. , Ribbens Annemie , Alexander Daniel C. , Blandford Ann
Published: September 2021

Clinical
decision-support tools (DSTs)
represent a valuable resource in healthcare. However, lack of Human Factors considerations and early design research has often limited their successful adoption. To complement previous technically focused work, we studied adoption opportunities of a future DST built on a predictive model of
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)
progression. Our aim is two-fold: exploring adoption opportunities for DSTs in AD clinical care, and testing a novel combination of methods to support this process. We focused on understanding current clinical needs and practices, and the potential for such a tool to be integrated into the setting, prior to its development. Our user-centred approach was based on field observations and semi-structured interviews, analysed through workflow analysis, user profiles, and a design-reality gap model. The first two are common practice, whilst the latter provided added value in highlighting specific adoption needs. We identified the likely early adopters of the tool as being both psychiatrists and neurologists based in research-oriented clinical settings. We defined ten key requirements for the translation and adoption of DSTs for AD around IT, user, and contextual factors. Future works can use and build on these requirements to stand a greater chance to get adopted in the clinical setting.
Attention-Based Deep Recurrent Model for Survival Prediction
Authors: Sun Zhaohong , Dong Wei , Shi Jinlong , He Kunlun , Huang Zhengxing
Published: September 2021

Survival analysis exhibits profound effects on health service management. Traditional approaches for survival analysis have a pre-assumption on the time-to-event probability distribution and seldom consider sequential visits of patients on medical facilities. Although recent studies leverage the merits of deep learning techniques to capture non-linear features and long-term dependencies within multiple visits for survival analysis, the lack of interpretability prevents deep learning models from being applied to clinical practice. To address this challenge, this article proposes a novel attention-based deep recurrent model, named
AttenSurv
, for clinical survival analysis. Specifically, a global attention mechanism is proposed to extract essential/critical risk factors for interpretability improvement. Thereafter, Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory is employed to capture the long-term dependency on data from a series of visits of patients. To further improve both the prediction performance and the interpretability of the proposed model, we propose another model, named
GNNAttenSurv
, by incorporating a graph neural network into AttenSurv, to extract the latent correlations between risk factors. We validated our solution on three public follow-up datasets and two electronic health record datasets. The results demonstrated that our proposed models yielded consistent improvement compared to the state-of-the-art baselines on survival analysis.
BISWSRBS: A Winograd-based CNN Accelerator with a Fine-grained Regular Sparsity Pattern and Mixed Precision Quantization
Authors: Yang Tao , He Zhezhi , Kou Tengchuan , Li Qingzheng , Han Qi , Yu Haibao , Liu Fangxin , Liang Yun , Jiang Li
Published: September 2021

Field-programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a high-performance computing platform for Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) inference. Winograd algorithm, weight pruning, and quantization are widely adopted to reduce the storage and arithmetic overhead of CNNs on FPGAs. Recent studies strive to prune the weights in the Winograd domain, however, resulting in irregular sparse patterns and leading to low parallelism and reduced utilization of resources. Besides, there are few works to discuss a suitable quantization scheme for Winograd.

In this article, we propose a regular sparse pruning pattern in the Winograd-based CNN, namely, Sub-row-balanced Sparsity (SRBS) pattern, to overcome the challenge of the irregular sparse pattern. Then, we develop a two-step hardware co-optimization approach to improve the model accuracy using the SRBS pattern. Based on the pruned model, we implement a mixed precision quantization to further reduce the computational complexity of bit operations. Finally, we design an FPGA accelerator that takes both the advantage of the SRBS pattern to eliminate low-parallelism computation and the irregular memory accesses, as well as the mixed precision quantization to get a layer-wise bit width. Experimental results on VGG16/VGG-nagadomi with CIFAR-10 and ResNet-18/34/50 with ImageNet show up to 11.8×/8.67× and 8.17×/8.31×/10.6× speedup, 12.74×/9.19× and 8.75×/8.81×/11.1× energy efficiency improvement, respectively, compared with the state-of-the-art dense Winograd accelerator [20] with negligible loss of model accuracy. We also show that our design has 4.11× speedup compared with the state-of-the-art sparse Winograd accelerator [19] on VGG16.