bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Polariton design and modulation via van der Waals/doped semiconductor heterostructures
Authors: He Mingze , Matson Joseph R. , Yu Mingyu , Cleri Angela , Sunku Sai S. , Janzen Eli , Mastel Stefan , Folland Thomas G. , Edgar James H. , Basov D. N. , Maria Jon-Paul , Law Stephanie , Caldwell Joshua D.
Published: December 2023

Hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPhPs) can be supported in materials where the real parts of their permittivities along different directions are opposite in sign. HPhPs offer confinements of long-wavelength light to deeply subdiffractional scales, while the evanescent field allows for interactions with substrates, enabling the tuning of HPhPs by altering the underlying materials. Yet, conventionally used noble metal and dielectric substrates restrict the tunability of this approach. To overcome this challenge, here we show that doped semiconductor substrates, e.g., InAs and CdO, enable a significant tuning effect and dynamic modulations. We elucidated HPhP tuning with the InAs plasma frequency in the near-field, with a maximum difference of 8.3 times. Moreover, the system can be dynamically modulated by photo-injecting carriers into the InAs substrate, leading to a wavevector change of ~20%. Overall, the demonstrated hBN/doped semiconductor platform offers significant improvements towards manipulating HPhPs, and potential for engineered and modulated polaritonic systems.
Interaction dynamics between innate and adaptive immune cells responding to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in non-human primates
Authors: Schramm Chaim A. , Moon Damee , Peyton Lowrey , Lima Noemia S. , Wake Christian , Boswell Kristin L. , Henry Amy R. , Laboune Farida , Ambrozak David , Darko Samuel W. , Teng I-Ting , Foulds Kathryn E. , Carfi Andrea , Edwards Darin K. , Kwong Peter D. , Koup Richard A. , Seder Robert A. , Douek Daniel C.
Published: December 2023

As SARS-CoV-2 variants continue evolving, testing updated vaccines in non-human primates remains important for guiding human clinical practice. To date, such studies have focused on antibody titers and antigen-specific B and T cell frequencies. Here, we extend our understanding by integrating innate and adaptive immune responses to mRNA-1273 vaccination in rhesus macaques. We sorted innate immune cells from a pre-vaccine time point, as well as innate immune cells and antigen-specific peripheral B and T cells two weeks after each of two vaccine doses and used single-cell sequencing to assess the transcriptomes and adaptive immune receptors of each cell. We show that a subset of S-specific T cells expresses cytokines critical for activating innate responses, with a concomitant increase in CCR5-expressing intermediate monocytes and a shift of natural killer cells to a more cytotoxic phenotype. The second vaccine dose, administered 4 weeks after the first, elicits an increase in circulating germinal center-like B cells 2 weeks later, which are more clonally expanded and enriched for epitopes in the receptor binding domain. Both doses stimulate inflammatory response genes associated with elevated antibody production. Overall, we provide a comprehensive picture of bidirectional signaling between innate and adaptive components of the immune system and suggest potential mechanisms for the enhanced response to secondary exposure.
Health-related quality of life is linked to the gut microbiome in kidney transplant recipients
Authors: Swarte J. Casper , Knobbe Tim J. , Björk Johannes R. , Gacesa Ranko , Nieuwenhuis Lianne M. , Zhang Shuyan , Vila Arnau Vich , Kremer Daan , Douwes Rianne M. , Post Adrian , Quint Evelien E. , Pol Robert A. , Jansen Bernadien H. ,   TransplantLines investigators, Annema C. , Bodewes F. A. J. A. , de Boer M. T. , Damman K. , Diepstra A. , Dijkstra G. , Doorenbos C. S. E. , Eisenga M. F. , Erasmus M. E. , Gan C. T. , Neto A. W. Gomes , Hak E. , Hepkema B. G. , Klont F. , Leuvenink H. G. D. , Lexmond W. S. , Nieuwenhuis-Moeke G. J. , Niesters H. G. M. , van Pelt L. J. , Ranchor A. V. , Sanders J. S. F. , Siebelink M. J. , Slart R. J. H. J. A. , Touw D. J. , van den Heuvel M. C. , van Leer-Buter C. , van Londen M. , Verschuuren E. A. M. , Vos M. J. , de Borst Martin H. , de Meijer Vincent E. , Blokzijl Hans , Berger Stefan P. , Festen Eleonora A. M. , Zhernakova Alexandra , Fu Jingyuan , Harmsen Hermie J. M. , Bakker Stephan J. L. , Weersma Rinse K.
Published: December 2023

Kidney transplant recipients (KTR) have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and suffer from intestinal dysbiosis. Increasing evidence shows that gut health and HRQoL are tightly related in the general population. Here, we investigate the association between the gut microbiome and HRQoL in KTR, using metagenomic sequencing data from fecal samples collected from 507 KTR. Multiple bacterial species are associated with lower HRQoL, many of which have previously been associated with adverse health conditions. Gut microbiome distance to the general population is highest among KTR with an impaired physical HRQoL (R = −0.20, P = 2.3 × 10−65) and mental HRQoL (R = −0.14, P = 1.3 × 10−3). Physical and mental HRQoL explain a significant part of variance in the gut microbiome (R2 = 0.58%, FDR = 5.43 × 10−4 and R2 = 0.37%, FDR = 1.38 × 10−3, respectively). Additionally, multiple metabolic and neuroactive pathways (gut brain modules) are associated with lower HRQoL. While the observational design of our study does not allow us to analyze causality, we provide a comprehensive overview of the associations between the gut microbiome and HRQoL while controlling for confounders.
Solute trapping and non-equilibrium microstructure during rapid solidification of additive manufacturing
Authors: Ren Neng , Li Jun , Zhang Ruiyao , Panwisawas Chinnapat , Xia Mingxu , Dong Hongbiao , Li Jianguo
Published: December 2023

Solute transport during rapid and repeated thermal cycle in additive manufacturing (AM) leading to non-equilibrium, non-uniform microstructure remains to be studied. Here, a fully-coupled fluid dynamics and microstructure modelling is developed to rationalise the dynamic solute transport process and elemental segregation in AM, and to gain better understanding of non-equilibrium nature of intercellular solute segregation and cellular structures at sub-grain scale during the melting-solidification of the laser powder bed fusion process. It reveals the solute transport induced by melt convection dilutes the partitioned solute at the solidification front and promotes solute trapping, and elucidates the mechanisms of the subsequent microstructural morphology transitions to ultra-fine cells and then to coarse cells. These suggest solute trapping effect could be made used for reducing crack susceptibility by accelerating the solidification process. The rapid solidification characteristics exhibit promising potential of additive manufacturing for hard-to-print superalloys and aid in alloy design for better printability.
Accurate and efficient estimation of local heritability using summary statistics and the linkage disequilibrium matrix
Authors: Li Hui , Mazumder Rahul , Lin Xihong
Published: December 2023

Existing SNP-heritability estimators that leverage summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are much less efficient (i.e., have larger standard errors) than the restricted maximum likelihood (REML) estimators which require access to individual-level data. We introduce a new method for local heritability estimation—Heritability Estimation with high Efficiency using LD and association Summary Statistics (HEELS)—that significantly improves the statistical efficiency of summary-statistics-based heritability estimator and attains comparable statistical efficiency as REML (with a relative statistical efficiency >92%). Moreover, we propose representing the empirical LD matrix as the sum of a low-rank matrix and a banded matrix. We show that this way of modeling the LD can not only reduce the storage and memory cost, but also improve the computational efficiency of heritability estimation. We demonstrate the statistical efficiency of HEELS and the advantages of our proposed LD approximation strategies both in simulations and through empirical analyses of the UK Biobank data.
Evolution of masting in plants is linked to investment in low tissue mortality
Authors: Journé Valentin , Hacket-Pain Andrew , Bogdziewicz Michał
Published: December 2023

Masting, a variable and synchronized variation in reproductive effort is a prevalent strategy among perennial plants, but the factors leading to interspecific differences in masting remain unclear. Here, we investigate interannual patterns of reproductive investment in 517 species of terrestrial perennial plants, including herbs, graminoids, shrubs, and trees. We place these patterns in the context of the plants’ phylogeny, habitat, form and function. Our findings reveal that masting is widespread across the plant phylogeny. Nonetheless, reversion from masting to regular seed production is also common. While interannual variation in seed production is highest in temperate and boreal zones, our analysis controlling for environment and phylogeny indicates that masting is more frequent in species that invest in tissue longevity. Our modeling exposes masting-trait relationships that would otherwise remain hidden and provides large-scale evidence that the costs of delayed reproduction play a significant role in the evolution of variable reproduction in plants.
Designing Cu0−Cu+ dual sites for improved C−H bond fracture towards methanol steam reforming
Authors: Meng Hao , Yang Yusen , Shen Tianyao , Yin Zhiming , Wang Lei , Liu Wei , Yin Pan , Ren Zhen , Zheng Lirong , Zhang Jian , Xiao Feng-Shou , Wei Min
Published: December 2023

Copper-based catalysts serve as the predominant methanol steam reforming material although several fundamental issues remain ambiguous such as the identity of active center and the aspects of reaction mechanism. Herein, we prepare Cu/Cu(Al)Ox catalysts with amorphous alumina-stabilized Cu2O adjoining Cu nanoparticle to provide Cu0−Cu+ sites. The optimized catalyst exhibits 99.5% CH3OH conversion with a corresponding H2 production rate of 110.8 μmol s−1 gcat−1 with stability over 300 h at 240 °C. A binary function correlation between the CH3OH reaction rate and surface concentrations of Cu0 and Cu+ is established based on kinetic studies. Intrinsic active sites in the catalyst are investigated with in situ spectroscopy characterization and theoretical calculations. Namely, we find that important oxygen-containing intermediates (CH3O* and HCOO*) adsorb at Cu0−Cu+ sites with a moderate adsorption strength, which promotes electron transfer from the catalyst to surface species and significantly reduces the reaction barrier of the C−H bond cleavage in CH3O* and HCOO* intermediates.
Whole genomes from Angola and Mozambique inform about the origins and dispersals of major African migrations
Authors: Tallman Sam , Sungo Maria das Dores , Saranga Sílvio , Beleza Sandra
Published: December 2023

As the continent of origin for our species, Africa harbours the highest levels of diversity anywhere on Earth. However, many regions of Africa remain under-sampled genetically. Here we present 350 whole genomes from Angola and Mozambique belonging to ten Bantu ethnolinguistic groups, enabling the construction of a reference variation catalogue including 2.9 million novel SNPs. We investigate the emergence of Bantu speaker population structure, admixture involving migrations across sub-Saharan Africa and model the demographic histories of Angolan and Mozambican Bantu speakers. Our results bring together concordant views from genomics, archaeology, and linguistics to paint an updated view of the complexity of the Bantu Expansion. Moreover, we generate reference panels that better represents the diversity of African populations involved in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, improving imputation accuracy in African Americans and Brazilians. We anticipate that our collection of genomes will form the foundation for future African genomic healthcare initiatives.
Sintering-induced cation displacement in protonic ceramics and way for its suppression
Authors: Liu Ze , Song Yufei , Xiong Xiaolu , Zhang Yuxuan , Cui Jingzeng , Zhu Jianqiu , Li Lili , Zhou Jing , Zhou Chuan , Hu Zhiwei , Kim Guntae , Ciucci Francesco , Shao Zongping , Wang Jian-Qiang , Zhang Linjuan
Published: December 2023

Protonic ceramic fuel cells with high efficiency and low emissions exhibit high potential as next-generation sustainable energy systems. However, the practical proton conductivity of protonic ceramic electrolytes is still not satisfied due to poor membrane sintering. Here, we show that the dynamic displacement of Y3+ adversely affects the high-temperature membrane sintering of the benchmark protonic electrolyte BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3−δ, reducing its conductivity and stability. By introducing a molten salt approach, pre-doping of Y3+ into A-site is realized at reduced synthesis temperature, thus suppressing its further displacement during high-temperature sintering, consequently enhancing the membrane densification and improving the conductivity and stability. The anode-supported single cell exhibits a power density of 663 mW cm−2 at 600 °C and long-term stability for over 2000 h with negligible performance degradation. This study sheds light on protonic membrane sintering while offering an alternative strategy for protonic ceramic fuel cells development.
Young infants display heterogeneous serological responses and extensive but reversible transcriptional changes following initial immunizations
Authors: Nouri Nima , Cao Raquel Giacomelli , Bunsow Eleonora , Nehar-Belaid Djamel , Marches Radu , Xu Zhaohui , Smith Bennett , Heinonen Santtu , Mertz Sara , Leber Amy , Smits Gaby , van der Klis Fiona , Mejías Asunción , Banchereau Jacques , Pascual Virginia , Ramilo Octavio
Published: December 2023

Infants necessitate vaccinations to prevent life-threatening infections. Our understanding of the infant immune responses to routine vaccines remains limited. We analyzed two cohorts of 2-month-old infants before vaccination, one week, and one-month post-vaccination. We report remarkable heterogeneity but limited antibody responses to the different antigens. Whole-blood transcriptome analysis in an initial cohort showed marked overexpression of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) and to a lesser extent of inflammation-genes at day 7, which normalized one month post-vaccination. Single-cell RNA sequencing in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a second cohort identified at baseline a predominantly naive immune landscape including ISGhi cells. On day 7, increased expression of interferon-, inflammation-, and cytotoxicity-related genes were observed in most immune cells, that reverted one month post-vaccination, when a CD8+ ISGhi and cytotoxic cluster and B cells expanded. Antibody responses were associated with baseline frequencies of plasma cells, B-cells, and monocytes, and induction of ISGs at day 7.
Selective C(sp3)–H arylation/alkylation of alkanes enabled by paired electrocatalysis
Authors: Zou Long , Xiang Siqi , Sun Rui , Lu Qingquan
Published: December 2023

We report a combination of electrocatalysis and photoredox catalysis to perform selective C(sp3)–H arylation/alkylation of alkanes, in which a binary catalytic system based on earth-abundant iron and nickel is applied. Reaction selectivity between two-component C(sp3)–H arylation and three-component C(sp3)–H alkylation is tuned by modulating the applied current and light source. Importantly, an ultra-low anodic potential (~0.23 V vs. Ag/AgCl) is applied in this protocol, thus enabling compatibility with a variety of functional groups (>70 examples). The robustness of the method is further demonstrated on a preparative scale and applied to late-stage diversification of natural products and pharmaceutical derivatives.
Identifying microbiota community patterns important for plant protection using synthetic communities and machine learning
Authors: Emmenegger Barbara , Massoni Julien , Pestalozzi Christine M. , Bortfeld-Miller Miriam , Maier Benjamin A. , Vorholt Julia A.
Published: December 2023

Plant-associated microbiomes contribute to important ecosystem functions such as host resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The factors that determine such community outcomes are inherently difficult to identify under complex environmental conditions. In this study, we present an experimental and analytical approach to explore microbiota properties relevant for a microbiota-conferred host phenotype, here plant protection, in a reductionist system. We screened 136 randomly assembled synthetic communities (SynComs) of five bacterial strains each, followed by classification and regression analyses as well as empirical validation to test potential explanatory factors of community structure and composition, including evenness, total commensal colonization, phylogenetic diversity, and strain identity. We find strain identity to be the most important predictor of pathogen reduction, with machine learning algorithms improving performances compared to random classifications (94-100% versus 32% recall) and non-modelled predictions (0.79-1.06 versus 1.5 RMSE). Further experimental validation confirms three strains as the main drivers of pathogen reduction and two additional strains that confer protection in combination. Beyond the specific application presented in our study, we provide a framework that can be adapted to help determine features relevant for microbiota function in other biological systems.
Changes in orogenic style and surface environment recorded in Paleoproterozoic foreland successions
Authors: Huang Bo , Liu Man , Kusky Timothy M. , Johnson Tim E. , Wilde Simon A. , Fu Dong , Deng Hao , Qian Qunye
Published: December 2023

The Earth’s interior and surficial systems underwent dramatic changes during the Paleoproterozoic, but the interaction between them remains poorly understood. Rocks deposited in orogenic foreland basins retain a record of the near surface to deep crustal processes that operate during subduction to collision and provide information on the interaction between plate tectonics and surface responses through time. Here, we document the depositional-to-deformational life cycle of a Paleoproterozoic foreland succession from the North China Craton. The succession was deposited in a foreland basin following ca. 2.50–2.47 Ga Altaid-style arc–microcontinent collision, and then converted to a fold-and-thrust belt at ca. 2.0–1.8 Ga due to Himalayan-style continent–continent collision. These two periods correspond to the assembly of supercratons in the late Archean and of the Paleoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia, respectively, which suggests that similar basins may have been common at the periphery of other cratons. The multiple stages of orogenesis and accompanying tectonic denudation and silicate weathering, as recorded by orogenic foreland basins, likely contributed to substantial changes in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere known to have occurred during the Paleoproterozoic.
Prevalence of undiagnosed dyslexia in African-American primary school children
Authors: Cassidy Laura , Reggio Kayla , Shaywitz Bennett A. , Shaywitz Sally E.
Published: December 2023

Dyslexia is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children, yet despite its high prevalence all too frequently goes undiagnosed. Consequently dyslexic children all too often fail to receive effective reading interventions. Here we report our findings from a study using a teacher completed evidence-based dyslexia screener to first screen then test predominantly African-American children in grades kindergarten through second grade in two inner city public charter schools in New Orleans. Almost half (49.2%) of the children screened as at risk for dyslexia and of these the majority were found to be dyslexic on more detailed testing. Our results suggest that large numbers of African-American students with dyslexia may be overlooked in schools.
District-scale surface temperatures generated from high-resolution longitudinal thermal infrared images
Authors: Lin Subin , Ramani Vasantha , Martin Miguel , Arjunan Pandarasamy , Chong Adrian , Biljecki Filip , Ignatius Marcel , Poolla Kameshwar , Miller Clayton
Published: December 2023

This paper describes a dataset collected by infrared thermography, a non-contact, non-intrusive technique to acquire data and analyze the built environment in various aspects. While most studies focus on the city and building scales, an observatory installed on a rooftop provides high temporal and spatial resolution observations with dynamic interactions on the district scale. The rooftop infrared thermography observatory with a multi-modal platform capable of assessing a wide range of dynamic processes in urban systems was deployed in Singapore. It was placed on the top of two buildings that overlook the outdoor context of the National University of Singapore campus. The platform collects remote sensing data from tropical areas on a temporal scale, allowing users to determine the temperature trend of individual features such as buildings, roads, and vegetation. The dataset includes 1,365,921 thermal images collected on average at approximately 10-second intervals from two locations during ten months.
Electropneumatic system for the simulation of the pulmonary viscoelastic effect in a mechanical ventilation scenario
Authors: Castaño Jacobo , Giraldo Mario A. , Montoya Yesid , Montagut Yeison J. , Palacio Andrés F. , Jiménez León D.
Published: December 2023

The viscoelastic properties of the lung have important implications during respiratory mechanics in terms of lung movement or work of breathing, for example. However, this property has not been well characterized due to several reasons, such as the complex nature of the lung, difficulty accessing its tissues, and the lack of physical simulators that represent viscoelastic effects. This research proposes an electropneumatic system and a method to simulate the viscoelastic effect from temporary forces generated by the opposition of magnetic poles. The study was tested in a mechanical ventilation scenario with inspiratory pause, using a Hamilton-S1 mechanical ventilator (Hamilton Medical) and a simulator of the human respiratory system (SAMI-SII). The implemented system was able to simulate the stress relaxation response of a Standard Linear Solid model in the Maxwell form and showed the capacity to control elastic and viscous parameters independently. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first system incorporated into a physical lung simulator that represents the viscoelastic effect in a mechanical ventilation scenario.
Optimization of process parameters in micro-scale pneumatic aerosol jet printing for high-yield precise electrodes
Authors: Jeong Hakyung , Lee Jae Hak , Kim Seungman , Han Seongheum , Moon Hyunkyu , Song Jun-Yeob , Park Ah-Young
Published: December 2023

Aerosol jet printing (AJP) is a new non-contact direct writing technique designed to achieve precise and intricate patterns on various substrates. Specifically, the pneumatic AJP process breaks down the ink into fine particles, significantly reducing the risk of nozzle clogging and rendering it highly advantageous for industrial applications. This paper focuses on the optimization of the line electrode formation process using soluble silver clusters as the conductive ink, along with the aerosol formation procedure. The main parameters of the AJP process, namely sheath flow rate, atomizer flow rate, and dispensing speed, were identified and examined for their influence on line width and resistivity. Through this analysis, an operability window, including optimized conditions for printing high-quality lines using the AJP process, was established, along with a regression equation enabling the statistical estimation of line width. In summary, the outcomes of this investigation underscore the feasibility of an integrated printing system capable of precision control over line width, achieved through the optimization of AJP process parameters. Furthermore, it was established that pneumatic AJP offers robust process stability. The practical applicability of the proposed optimization techniques was assessed, highlighting their potential utilization in electrode formation processes within the electronic and display industry.
Music compensates for altered gene expression in age-related cognitive disorders
Authors: Gómez-Carballa Alberto , Navarro Laura , Pardo-Seco Jacobo , Bello Xabier , Pischedda Sara , Viz-Lasheras Sandra , Camino-Mera Alba , Currás María José , Ferreirós Isabel , Mallah Narmeen , Rey-Vázquez Sara , Redondo Lorenzo , Dacosta-Urbieta Ana , Caamaño-Viña Fernando , Rivero-Calle Irene , Rodriguez-Tenreiro Carmen , Martinón-Torres Federico , Salas Antonio
Published: December 2023

Extensive literature has explored the beneficial effects of music in age-related cognitive disorders (ACD), but limited knowledge exists regarding its impact on gene expression. We analyzed transcriptomes of ACD patients and healthy controls, pre-post a music session (n = 60), and main genes/pathways were compared to those dysregulated in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as revealed by a multi-cohort study (n = 1269 MCI/AD and controls). Music was associated with 2.3 times more whole-genome gene expression, particularly on neurodegeneration-related genes, in ACD than in controls. Co-expressed gene-modules and pathways analysis demonstrated that music impacted autophagy, vesicle and endosome organization, biological processes commonly dysregulated in MCI/AD. Notably, the data indicated a strong negative correlation between musically-modified genes/pathways in ACD and those dysregulated in MCI/AD. These findings highlight the compensatory effect of music on genes/biological processes affected in MCI/AD, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the benefits of music on these disorders.
A guidance system for robotic welding based on an improved YOLOv5 algorithm with a RealSense depth camera
Authors: Li Maoyong , Huang Jiqiang , Xue Long , Zhang Ruiying
Published: December 2023

Vision-based automatic welding guidance technology plays an essential role in robotic welding. A laser vision sensor (LVS) relies on manual intervention to guide the robot when near the workpiece, which reduces the autonomy of the welding robot and productivity. To solve this problem, a robot welding guidance system based on an improved YOLOv5 algorithm with a RealSense Depth Camera was proposed. A coordinate attention (CA) module was embedded in the original YOLOv5 algorithm to improve the accuracy of weld groove detection. The center of the predicted frame of the weld groove in the pixel plane was combined with the depth information acquired by a RealSense depth camera to calculate the actual position of the weld groove. Subsequently, the robot was guided to approach and move over the workpiece. Then, the LVS was used to guide the welding torch installed at the end of the robot to move along the centerline of the weld groove and complete welding tasks. The feasibility of the proposed method was verified by experiments. The maximum error was 2.9 mm in guiding experiments conducted with a distance of 300 mm between the depth camera and the workpiece. The percentage error was within 2% in guidance experiments conducted with distances from 0.3 to 2 m. The system combines the advantages of the depth camera for accurate positioning within a large field and the LVS for high accuracy. Once the position of the weld groove of the workpiece to be welded has been determined, the LVS combined with the robot can easily track the weld groove and realize the welding operation without manual intervention.
A new method for endometrial dating using computerized virtual pathology
Authors: Or Yuval , Shufaro Yoel , Mashiach Shlomo , Czernobilsky Bernard , Aviel-Ronen Sarit , Apel-Sarid Liat , Dahan Mazal , Kolatt Tsafrir S.
Published: December 2023

Endometrial dating (ED) is the process by which the menstrual cycle day is estimated and is an important tool for the evaluation of uterine status. To date, ED methods remain inaccurate and controversial. We demonstrate how the rise of computerized virtual histology changes the state of affairs and introduce a new ED method. We present the results of a clinical trial where magnified images of ex-vivo endometrial tissue samples were captured at different cycle days, together with measurements of serum hormone levels on the same day. Patient testimonies about their cycle day were also collected. Computerized image analysis, followed by statistical representation of the tissue features, allowed mathematical representation of the cycle day. The samples underwent ED histological assessment, which is currently the ED gold standard. We compared dating results from patient reports, serum hormone levels, and histology to establish their concordance level. We then compared histology-based ED with the new method ED in the secretory phase (i.e. post ovulation). The correlation coefficient between the two resulted in an R = 0.89 with a P-value of P < 10–4. The new method, Virtual Pathology Endometrial Dating (VPED), has the benefit of being a real time, in-vivo method that can be repeatedly applied without tissue damage, using a dedicated hysteroscope. One practical use of this method may be the determination of accurate real-time embryo transfer timing in IVF treatments.
Identification of intergenerational epigenetic inheritance by whole genome DNA methylation analysis in trios
Authors: Díez-Villanueva Anna , Martín Berta , Moratalla-Navarro Ferran , Morón-Duran Francisco D. , Galván-Femenía Iván , Obón-Santacana Mireia , Carreras Anna , de Cid Rafael , Peinado Miguel A. , Moreno Victor
Published: December 2023

Genome-wide association studies have identified thousands of loci associated with common diseases and traits. However, a large fraction of heritability remains unexplained. Epigenetic modifications, such as the observed in DNA methylation have been proposed as a mechanism of intergenerational inheritance. To investigate the potential contribution of DNA methylation to the missing heritability, we analysed the methylomes of four healthy trios (two parents and one offspring) using whole genome bisulphite sequencing. Of the 1.5 million CpGs (19%) with over 20% variability between parents in at least one family and compatible with a Mendelian inheritance pattern, only 3488 CpGs (0.2%) lacked correlation with any SNP in the genome, marking them as potential sites for intergenerational epigenetic inheritance. These markers were distributed genome-wide, with some preference to be located in promoters. They displayed a bimodal distribution, being either fully methylated or unmethylated, and were often found at the boundaries of genomic regions with high/low GC content. This analysis provides a starting point for future investigations into the missing heritability of simple and complex traits.
Growth performance, gut microbiota composition, health and welfare of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fed an environmentally and economically sustainable low marine protein diet in sea cages
Authors: Alfonso Sébastien , Mente Elena , Fiocchi Eleonora , Manfrin Amedeo , Dimitroglou Arkadios , Papaharisis Leonidas , Barkas Dimitris , Toomey Lola , Boscarato Marilena , Losasso Carmen , Peruzzo Arianna , Stefani Annalisa , Zupa Walter , Spedicato Maria Teresa , Nengas Ioannis , Lembo Giuseppe , Carbonara Pierluigi
Published: December 2023

The large use of fish meal/fish oil in carnivorous fish feeds is the main concern regarding environmental sustainability of aquaculture. Here, we evaluated the effects of an innovative diet, designed to be (1) environmentally sustainable by lowering the marine protein content while being (2) cost effective by using sustainable alternative raw materials with acceptable cost and produced on an industrial scale, on growth performance, gut microbiota composition, health and welfare of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax), a key species of the Mediterranean marine aquaculture, reared in sea cages. Results show that the specific growth rate of fish fed the low marine protein diet was significantly lower than those fed conventional diet (0.67% vs 0.69%). Fatty acid profile of fillets from fish fed a low marine protein diet presented significant lower n-6 and higher n-3 content when compared to conventional ones. Then, a significant increase in the abundance of Vibrio and reduction of Photobacterium were found in the gut of fish fed with the low marine protein diet but effects on sea bass health needs further investigation. Finally, no major health and welfare alterations for fish fed the low marine protein diet were observed, combined with a potential slight benefit related to humoral immunity. Overall, these results suggest that despite the low marine protein diet moderately affects growth performance, it nevertheless may enhance environmental and economic sustainability of the sea bass aquaculture.
Decreasing COPD-related incidences and hospital admissions in a German health insurance population
Authors: Geyer Siegfried , Tetzlaff Juliane , Sperlich Stefanie , Safieddine Batoul , Epping Jelena , Eberhard Sveja , Stahmeyer Jona , Beller Johannes
Published: December 2023

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with smoking and work-related health hazards. Most studies have reported prevalences, and the number of studies examining incidences and social inequalities is small. We analyzed the development of social inequalities of COPD-incidences in terms of income and exacerbations in terms of hospital admissions. Findings were based on claims data from a German statutory health insurance covering 2008 to 2019. Outpatient diagnoses were used for defining COPD-cases, hospital admissions were used for detecting exacerbations. Analyses were performed using Cox-regression. Individual incomes were depicted at three levels defined according to national averages for each year. Data of 3,040,137 insured men and women were available. From 2008 to 2019 COPD-incidences in men decreased by 42% and 47% in women. After stratification by income the reduction at the lowest income level was 41% and 50% in women. Respectively, at the highest income level reductions were 28% and 41%. Disease exacerbations decreased over time, and also social inequalities between income groups emerged. COPD-rates decreased over time at all income levels, but at a faster pace in the lowest income group, thus leading to a positive development of diminishing social gradients in men as well as in women.
Environmental and health implications of Pb-bearing particles in settled urban dust from an arid city affected by Pb–Zn factory emissions
Authors: Soto-Jiménez M. F. , Roos-Muñoz S. , Soto-Morales S. , Gómez-Lizarrága L. E. , Bucio-Galindo L.
Published: December 2023

Metal-rich particles originating from non-ferrous metallurgical activities are the primary source of atmospheric metals in urban environments. These particles vary in size, morphology, and elemental compositions and they undergo weathering processes that alter their composition and affect their toxicity. This study focuses on lead (Pb)-rich particles in settled urban dust within an arid and dusty city, Torreón in North Mexico, affected by Met–Mex Peñoles complex, one of the world's largest Ag–Cd–Pb–Zn smelting and refining facilities in operating since 1901. Torreón is characterized by arid conditions, temperature fluctuations, and low humidity. Dry atmospheric particles were collected in 2015 and 2017 from Torreón's urban area within a 3 km radius of the Met–Mex Peñoles complex. We used various analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) to determine the size, morphology, elemental composition and mineralogy of Pb-bearing particles. Our analysis revealed a range of Pb-bearing particle sizes and morphologies with varying Pb (0.3 to 51–87.2%) and other element contents, such as As (0.04 to 1–3.4%), Cd (0.4 to 3.3–5.1%), Cu (0.51–14.1%), Hg (ND-0.6%), and Zn (1.7 to 79–90.3%). XRD analysis confirmed the presence of Pb and Zn sulfides, Pb carbonates, Pb sulfate, and Pb oxides in urban dust, both as individual particles and agglomerates. Primary Pb minerals were linked to fugitive feed concentrates and smelter flue gas at Met–Mex Peñoles, while secondary Pb minerals, like Pb carbonates, Pb sulfate, and Pb oxides, resulted from direct emissions and weathering processes. Compared to galena, secondary Pb minerals exhibit higher chemical availability in the environment, posing greater risks to the environment and human health. As the particles analyzed are presumed to be resuspended rather than freshly emitted by Met–Mex, the presence of secondary Pb minerals in settled urban dust is predominantly linked to weathering processes. The physical and chemical transformations in Pb-rich particles contribute to increased Pb bioavailability and toxicity in urban dust, with substantial implications for environmental and human health. These findings highlight the potential consequences of weathered Pb-rich particle in urban areas, particularly in the arid and dusty city of Torreón.
Targeted indoor residual insecticide applications shift Aedes aegypti age structure and arbovirus transmission potential
Authors: Kirstein Oscar David , Culquichicon Carlos , Che-Mendoza Azael , Navarrete-Carballo Juan , Wang Joyce , Bibiano-Marin Wilberth , Gonzalez-Olvera Gabriela , Ayora-Talavera Guadalupe , Earnest James , Puerta-Guardo Henry , Pavia-Ruz Norma , Correa-Morales Fabian , Medina-Barreiro Anuar , Manrique-Saide Pablo , Vazquez-Prokopec Gonzalo M.
Published: December 2023

While residual insecticide applications have the potential to decrease pathogen transmission by reducing the density of vectors and shifting the age structure of the adult mosquito population towards younger stages of development, this double entomological impact has not been documented for Aedes aegypti. Aedes collected from households enrolled in a cluster-randomized trial evaluating the epidemiological impact of targeted indoor residual spraying (TIRS) in Merida, Mexico, were dissected and their age structure characterized by the Polovodova combined with Christopher’s ovariole growth methods. In total, 813 females were dissected to characterize age structure at 1, 3, 6, and 9 months post-TIRS. Significant differences in the proportion of nulliparous Ae. aegypti females between the treatment groups was found at one-month post-TIRS (control: 35% vs. intervention: 59%), three months (20% vs. 49%) but not at six or nine months post-TIRS. TIRS significantly shiftted Ae. aegypti age structure towards younger stages and led to a non-linear reduction in survivorship compared to the control arm. Reduced survivorship also reduced the number of arbovirus transmitting females (those who survived the extrinsic incubation period). Our findings provide strong evidence of the full entomological impact of TIRS, with important implications for quantifying the epidemiological impact of vector control methods.
Genomic analysis of Coccomyxa viridis, a common low-abundance alga associated with lichen symbioses
Authors: Tagirdzhanova Gulnara , Scharnagl Klara , Yan Xia , Talbot Nicholas J.
Published: December 2023

Lichen symbiosis is centered around a relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic microbe, usually a green alga. In addition to their main photosynthetic partner (the photobiont), lichen symbioses can contain additional algae present in low abundance. The biology of these algae and the way they interact with the rest of lichen symbionts remains largely unknown. Here we present the first genome sequence of a non-photobiont lichen-associated alga. Coccomyxa viridis was unexpectedly found in 12% of publicly available lichen metagenomes. With few exceptions, members of the Coccomyxa viridis clade occur in lichens as non-photobionts, potentially growing in thalli endophytically. The 45.7 Mbp genome of C. viridis was assembled into 18 near chromosome-level contigs, making it one of the most contiguous genomic assemblies for any lichen-associated algae. Comparing the C. viridis genome to its close relatives revealed the presence of traits associated with the lichen lifestyle. The genome of C. viridis provides a new resource for exploring the evolution of the lichen symbiosis, and how symbiotic lifestyles shaped evolution in green algae.
Phonon-assisted nearly pure spin current in DNA molecular chains: a multifractal analysis
Authors: Fathizadeh S.
Published: December 2023

Motivated by the development of molecular spintronics, we studied the phonon-assisted spin transport along a DNA chain in the presence of environmental-induced dephasing using multifractal analysis. The results demonstrate that a nearly pure spin current is generated in the presence of the voltage gate. The pure spin current is enhanced by increasing thermal effects. The vibration modes due to the thermal phonon bath assist in generating the spin current, so the spin state is more delocalized in strong electron-phonon coupling. The phonon chirality can translate to the electron spin to create a nontrivial spin texture, including spin currents. The spin states become more extended by increasing the phonon temperature. On the other hand, the spin states are less localized in longer chains as the spin selectivity is higher in longer chains than in short ones. Therefore, we can engineer a molecular spintronic device by controlling phonon effects on the storage and transport of binary digits.
A critical review of rheological models in self-compacting concrete for sustainable structures
Authors: Onyelowe Kennedy C. , Kontoni Denise-Penelope N.
Published: December 2023

Studying the rheological behavior of concrete, especially self-compacting concrete is vital in the design and structural integrity of concrete structures for design, construction, and structural material sustainability. Both analytical and numerical techniques have been applied in the previous research works to study precisely the behavior of the yield stress and plastic viscosity of the fresh self-compacting concrete with the associated flow properties and these results have not been systematically presented in a critical review, which will allow researchers, designers and filed operators the opportunity to be technically guided in their design and model techniques selection in order to achieve a more sustainable concrete model for sustainable concrete buildings. Also, the reported analytical and numerical techniques have played down on the effect of the shear strain rate behavior and as to reveal the viscosity changes of the Bingham material with respect to the strain rate. In this review paper, a critical study has been conducted to present the available methods from various research contributions and exposed the inability of these contributions to revealing the effect of the shear strain rate on the rheological behavior of the self-compacting concrete. With this, decisions related to the rheology and flow of the self-compacting concrete would have been made with apt and more exact considerations.
Study on microstructure of 42CrMo steel by ultrasonic surface rolling process
Authors: Wang Haojie , Wang Xiaoqiang , Tian Yingjian , Ling Yuanfei
Published: December 2023

To explore the microstructure formation mechanism of 42CrMo steel under the strengthening of ultrasonic surface rolling process (USRP), the combination of theoretical analysis and experiment was used to conduct in-depth research on USRP. Firstly, according to contact mechanics and Hertz contact theory, the calculation model of contact stress distribution and elastoplastic strain between the rolling ball and the part during USRP is obtained. Secondly, the USRP processing test was carried out by single-factor experimental design method, and the microstructure of 42CrMo steel after USRP was analyzed by LEXT OLS5100 3D laser surface topography instrument and VEGA3 tungsten filament scanning electron microscopy, which found that with an increase in static pressure, residual stress and plastic strain gradually increase, the hardness firstly increases and then decreases, while surface roughness exhibits an initial decrease followed by an increase. The results show that USRP produces violent plastic deformation inside the material under the superposition of high-frequency impact and static pressure, at the same time, it refines the grains, so as to improve the surface performance of the part and improve its fatigue resistance.
Crowdsourced tick observation data from across 60 years reveals major increases and northwards shifts in tick contact areas in Finland
Authors: Sormunen Jani J. , Sääksjärvi Ilari E. , Vesterinen Eero J. , Klemola Tero
Published: December 2023

There is mounting evidence of increases in tick (Acari: Ixodidae) contacts in Finland during the past few decades, highlighted by increases in the incidence of Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). While nationwide field studies to map distributions of ticks are not feasible, crowdsourcing provides a comprehensive method with which to assess large-scale changes in tick contact areas. Here, we assess changes in tick contact areas in Finland between 1958 and 2021 using three different nationwide crowdsourced data sets. The data revealed vast increases in tick contact areas, with ticks estimated to be contacted locally approximately 400 km further north in western and approximately 100 km further north in eastern Finland in 2021 than 1958. Tick contact rates appeared to be highest along the coastline and on the shores of large lakes, possibly indicating higher tick abundance therein. In general, tick observations per inhabitant increased from 2015 to 2021. Tick contact areas have expanded in Finland over the past 60 years. It appears that taiga ticks (Ixodes persulcatus) are behind most of the northwards shifts in tick contact areas, with Ixodes ricinus contributing mostly to new contact areas in the south. While ticks are now present in most of Finland, there are still areas where tick abundance is low and/or establishment not possible, mainly in northern Finland.
A medical multimodal large language model for future pandemics
Authors: Liu Fenglin , Zhu Tingting , Wu Xian , Yang Bang , You Chenyu , Wang Chenyang , Lu Lei , Liu Zhangdaihong , Zheng Yefeng , Sun Xu , Yang Yang , Clifton Lei , Clifton David A.
Published: December 2023

Deep neural networks have been integrated into the whole clinical decision procedure which can improve the efficiency of diagnosis and alleviate the heavy workload of physicians. Since most neural networks are supervised, their performance heavily depends on the volume and quality of available labels. However, few such labels exist for rare diseases (e.g., new pandemics). Here we report a medical multimodal large language model (Med-MLLM) for radiograph representation learning, which can learn broad medical knowledge (e.g., image understanding, text semantics, and clinical phenotypes) from unlabelled data. As a result, when encountering a rare disease, our Med-MLLM can be rapidly deployed and easily adapted to them with limited labels. Furthermore, our model supports medical data across visual modality (e.g., chest X-ray and CT) and textual modality (e.g., medical report and free-text clinical note); therefore, it can be used for clinical tasks that involve both visual and textual data. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our Med-MLLM by showing how it would perform using the COVID-19 pandemic “in replay”. In the retrospective setting, we test the model on the early COVID-19 datasets; and in the prospective setting, we test the model on the new variant COVID-19-Omicron. The experiments are conducted on 1) three kinds of input data; 2) three kinds of downstream tasks, including disease reporting, diagnosis, and prognosis; 3) five COVID-19 datasets; and 4) three different languages, including English, Chinese, and Spanish. All experiments show that our model can make accurate and robust COVID-19 decision-support with little labelled data.