bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
G4beamline simulation for rotating telescope at SLRI BTF
Authors: Kaewjai Jetnipit , Kobdaj Chinorat , Kittimanapun Kritsada , Laojamnongwong Natthawut , Poonsawat Wanchaloem
Published: February 2023

A plan to upgrade the ALICE Inner Tracking System has been proposed, and the Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor, a novel silicon sensor technology, will be employed. The silicon sensor is planned to be investigated with a rotating telescope at the Synchrotron Light Research Institute Beam Test Facility using a 1.2 GeV electron beam. A part of this work is to investigate the pixel sensor telescope when the angle of the Device Under Test (DUT) plane changes. Simulation has been performed with the G4beamline software. Once a G4beamline simulation is completed, a ROOT file is produced. Beam profiles and correlation plots are then analyzed. This data was used to calculate the scattering angle, which was found to be between 0.171 and 0.178 mrad when the DUT plane is perpendicular to the test beam. Furthermore, the simulation result has been compared and agrees with the theoretical calculation within 4.8% error.
Natural and anthropogenic radioactivity and radiological hazard indices in organic Sangyod rice samples collected from Don Pradu sub-district in Pak Phayun district in Phatthalung province, Thailand
Authors: Kessaratikoon P , Charoenmak P , Changkit N , Boonkrongcheep R
Published: February 2023

It is well known that Thai people and many other Asian countries consume rice as the main dish. Minor contamination of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in rice dishes may cause illness, fever or unwell for no apparent reason. For this reason, the research team was interested in the measurement and analysis of the concentrations of natural and anthropogenic radionuclides in 28 samples of organic Sangyod rice from courtesy of rice farmers in the Don Pradu sub-district, Pak Phayun District, Songkhla province. In addition, the research team was also received courtesy of the National Institute of Nuclear Technology (Public Organization) or TINT to use semiconductor detector measuring instruments and gamma spectrometry analysis systems for this research. It was found that the mean specific activity values of 40K, 226Ra, 232Th and 137Cs were 24.11 ± 2.01, 0.28 ± 0.07, 0.17 ± 0.06 and 0.10 ± 0.03 Bq/kg, respectively. The four relevant radiological indices which were gamma-absorbed dose rate (D), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), external hazard index (Hex) and annual external effective dose rate (AEDout), were also calculated and presented. Furthermore, the excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR(outdoor)) was also evaluated by using the AEDout value from the investigated area. The results of this research were taken to compare with the values measured by the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) and research groups that have been measured and analyzed both at home and abroad. In conclusion, the results in this study were found to be lower than the values recommended by some international organizations and is safe for consumers and farmers who produce organic Sang Yod rice in the study area.
3D range-modulators for proton therapy: near field simulations with FLUKA and comparison with film measurements
Authors: Charuchinda W , Horst F , Simeonov Y , Schuy C , Penchev P , Poulsen P , Sitarz M , Busold S , Reidel C-A , Folkerts M , Krieger M , Suwonjandee N , Asavapibhop B , Durante M , Zink K , Weber U
Published: February 2023

The 3D range-modulator is a device used in particle delivery systems that can create a highly conformal and homogeneous dose distribution in the target volume with mono-energetic beams, providing an option for high dose-rate FLASH therapy. In the normal case, the modulators are positioned at a typical distance of 30-50 cm in front of the target in order to avoid the fluence ripples resulting from the periodic structure of the modulators. FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation package was used to investigate the fluence distributions of protons penetrating through the 2D range-modulator, the simplified version of the 3D range-modulator, and to determine the minimum distance at which the fluence is homogeneous enough for the treatment. To implement the complex geometry of the modulator in FLUKA, a dedicated FLUKA user routine was developed for the simulation of the periodic pin structures. The highest fluence ripple occurred at a few centimetres behind the modulators and then faded away as the distance increased, which can be described by the edge-scattering effect and later by the blur-out of the overlapping contributions from the pins. Moreover, the dose distribution in water was investigated, particularly for small distances between the modulators and the water phantom. Furthermore, the Monte Carlo results were compared with radiochromic film measurements irradiated with a 3D-printed range modulator and showed a good qualitative agreement. Prospectively, for low modulator-to-target distances, the strong dose inhomogeneities which appear in the proximal part of the target, could introduce additionally a kind of ‘mini beam’ normal-tissue sparing by the 3D range-modulators.
The Hubble tension problem with variation of the speed of light from Pantheon supernova dataset
Authors: Chantavat T
Published: February 2023

We investigate how the tension with the Hubble parameter between early-time and late-time observations could be alleviated with the deviation in the speed of light model. In order to test the model, the data of 1,048 spectroscopically confirmed type Ia supernova with redshift range 0.01 < z < 2.3 from Pantheon Supernova is analysed. We found that the deviation in the local speed of light Δc/c = (-0.115 ± 5.087) × 10−5 and the temporal deviation in the speed of light (1/c)(dc/dt) = (7.20 ± 23.34) × 10−18 yr−1 when combining the Pantheon supernova dataset with other constraints. Our result shows that the data prefers sightly higher value of the speed of light in the past albeit with a large uncertainty. The model alleviates the Hubble tension problem by reducing the Hubble parameter to 71.72 ± 1.40 km s−1 Mpc−1 closer to the early-time value.
Phased-resolved pulse energy distribution of PSR J1825–0935
Authors: Intrarat N , Jaroenjittichai P
Published: February 2023

Pulsars are rapidly rotating and highly magnetized neutron stars, that radiate non-thermal radio beams from their magnetic poles. The radio emission of pulsars generally remains stable over ∼1,000 averaging pulses, but some pulsars exhibit interesting features in emission variations on short and long timescales. Here, we report an update on the analysis of the phase-resolved pulse-to-pulse energy distribution of PSR J1825-0935, which has two different emission modes, Bright and Quiet modes. We analyze the energy distribution of each mode separately and found that the pulse profile’s main component energy distribution is well described by a log-normal distribution in the Bright mode and inconclusive for the Quiet mode.
Maser polarization simulation in the circumstellar envelope of an evolving star
Authors: Phetra M , Gray Malcolm D , Asanok K , Kramer Busaba H , Sugiyama K , Chanapote T , Nuntiyakul W
Published: February 2023

An important phenomenon in a pulsing AGB (Asymptotic Giant Branch) star is the variability of its circumstellar envelope. The study of stimulated radiation called SiO maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) in the inner edge of the envelope shows fluctuations in polarization during the stellar pulsation period which is caused by the unstable magnetic field around the AGB star and needs to be investigated in order to understand it. We simulate the maser signal and polarization by using a computer code to describe the circumstellar envelope of the AGB star for comparison with the observations. The methods, i) Generate the energy transition of the stimulation matrix ii) Simulate the first stimulation from an electric field background iii) Convert the radiation to the frequency domain by using Fourier transform iv) Simulate the observation by amplifying radiation along a line of sight within the medium toward an observation position. At this stage, we set the tubular maser cloud with a constant magnetic field strength toward the observer. The program can simulate the maser signal and polarization, brighter when stimulating with a longer medium; the simulated polarization agrees well with expectations for this magnetic field orientation. Further works need to be carried out by testing this program with many cases to explain the obtained data from actual observations.
A computational study of the gas-phase interstellar formose-like reactions
Authors: Wongkummoon P , Keyen U , Nimmanpipug P , Rimjaem S , Suwannajak C
Published: February 2023

Understanding the extraterrestrial origin of ribose, as one of the sub-units of ribonucleic acid (RNA), is crucial to anticipating the formation of the building blocks of life under interstellar medium (ISM) conditions. Under ordinary atmospheric conditions, the formation of sugar is suggested to occur through the formose reaction, where formaldehyde is solely used as the precursor in each of the iterative steps of the formation process. On the other hand, sugar synthesis under ISM conditions has evidently been shown to be significantly different from the terrestrial formose reactions due to the extremely low density of molecules and the very low temperature. In this study, we theoretically investigate the formose-like reactions for ribose formation catalyzed by a single proton through the mean of computer simulation based on first-principles density functional theory (DFT). The ribose formation reactions are modelled in the absence of solvation effects at absolute zero temperature to mimic the extremely low pressure and temperature found in ISM. We observe that the presence of a proton gives rise to a more thermodynamically stable complex of the two reactive carbonyl compounds by bridging their oxygen atoms as required for the iterative formose reaction to proceed. In order to form a new carbon-carbon bond through an iterative process, only the region where the additional formaldehyde attaches to the existed protonated carbonyl compound is of great importance. The energy barriers for all the iterative steps during the ribose formation are similar, i.e., ∼67 kcal mol−1. Our findings show that a single proton can act as an efficient catalyst for the gas-phase ribose formation reactions in the absence of solvent effects. The results also suggest that ribose formation can preferentially occur via the formose pathway in the presence of protons, which are abundantly presented in ISM.
Multi-frequency variabilities: blazar classification and statistical properties
Authors: Yoyponsan R , Sawangwit U , Komonjinda S
Published: February 2023

Blazars are a class of active galactic nuclei whose jets are aligned with the observer’s line of sight. They are powerful multi-frequency emitters that exhibit rapid and violent variation. Classification of blazars requires multi-frequency observation which may be able to achieve through careful planning. However, in the age of automated surveys, we might be able to complete the same task via data mining and machine learning. In this work, we explore the possibility of using the data from robotic surveys for blazar classifications, particularly the variability of their multi-frequency light curves. The 5
th
edition of the Roma-BZCAT is used as our reference blazar catalog. The optical light curves of blazar studied here are taken from the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) public Data Release 4 (2018-2020). The distributions of variability and fractional variability amplitudes in g and r bands are presented and compared for BL Lacs and FSRQs. The Principle Component Analysis (PCA) is then applied to various features extracted from the discrete correlation function (DCF) between the two bands as well as the variability and fractional variability amplitudes of the two bands. Although, our machine learning application for the the BL Lac-FSRQ classification shows unpromising result, the PCA has shown that around 80% of the populations can be explained with 13 features which mainly are the DCF-based ones.
FDTD investigation of adiabatic optical coupling between Silicon nitride and Germanium-based optical structures for energy-efficient photonic integration
Authors: Khongpetch Natdanai , Chaisakul Papichaya , Traiwattanapong Worawat , Chiangga Surasak , Limsuwan Pichet
Published: February 2023

This paper aims to investigate the potential of a direct integration between Si3N4 waveguides and Germanium(Ge)-based structures, which are considered two of the most promising silicon(Si)-compatible materials for passive and active functions for Si-based energy-efficient photonics, respectively. This paper focuses on investigating the vertical coupling scheme between these materials employing a tapered structure of the Ge-based layer using 2D FDE and 3D FDTD simulations, to match the optical mode from a passive Si3N4 waveguide to the Ge-based layer and vice versa. The expected optical coupling performance will be reported, and its dependence on the unavoidable fabrication variation in the coupling region will be also investigated. Additionally, the coupling performance of the vertical coupling approach compared to the previous investigation between a Si waveguide and a Ge layer will be addressed.
Recent Research Progress in Electrochromic Materials for Intelligent Stealth(Visible and Infrared): A review
Authors: Long Xueyuan , Lei Xue , Du Haiquan , Mehmood Ahmar , Li Xixi , Liu Xiongzhang
Published: February 2023

Stealth technology is critical for the existence and the employment of the modern combat weapons systems. Electrochromic materials, which are known as a kind of novel intelligent stealth materials with multi-coloring effect under dynamic control, shows reversible color and emittance change under applied electric filed. Current emerging EC technologies utilizing electrochromism being widely used in intelligent stealth to produce more enhanced effects than traditional static options. This review mainly discusses recent advancement in the electrochromic materials with focus on its applications in the intelligent stealth technologies. Firstly, the principle and classification of electrochromic materials are presented along with summary of recent developments in electrochromism. Secondly, the potential applications of inorganic and organic electrochromism in visible and infrared stealth bands are highlighted. Finally, the challenges and further development approaches are emphasized; it will be intended to underline the future perspectives in realizing intelligent stealth for different applications.
Fractal Research on Surface Topography of Profile Milling CFRT
Authors: Xinman Yuan , Zhiqin Hu , Pan Luo , Ke Ma , Jie Xu , Pingfa Feng , Feng Feng
Published: February 2023

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composites (CFRT) are recognized as a new generation of advanced strategic materials due to their excellent mechanical properties and high recycling rate. However, in the milling process, affected by the coupling of force and thermal, the heat-sensitive resin in CFRP is easily softened and deformed, leading to difficulties in achieving high-quality material removal. Especially in the complex and long-period surface milling process, the processed surface has a complex and irregular microscopic topography, hard to be accurately characterized by traditional roughness measurement methods. To evaluate the surface quality of CFRT profile after milling more precisely, in this paper, the influence of cutting parameters on fractal dimension is systematically analyzed by solving the image gray surface based on the fractal dimension algorithm and calculating the fractal dimension of the surface after milling via the variational method. The experimental results show that the surface fractal dimension of thermoplastic composites processed by PCD milling cutter is between 2.46 and 2.52, and the sensitivity ranking of fractal dimension to cutting parameters is:vf<Ae<Ap.
Optimal parameters estimation for K-edge subtraction imaging using PixiRad-2/PixieIII photon counting detector on a conventional laboratory X-ray micro-tomograph.
Authors: Granger R. , Salvo L. , Rolland du Roscoat S. , Lhuissier P.
Published: February 2023

Photon Counting Detectors (PCDs) open new opportunities in
X-ray imaging. Pixie III is a PCD using simultaneously two energy
thresholds. This enables to acquire images using two distinct energy
bins in a single exposure and allows to perform K-Edge Subtraction
(KES) imaging with laboratory sources. In that context, one has
however to deal with an energy bin optimization: narrow energy bins
lead to high KES signal at the expense of higher noise, while wider
energy bins lead to poor KES signal but better statistics. This work
presents a model that aims at finding the optimal energy thresholds
and source voltage in order to retrieve the best Contrast to Noise
Ratio (CNR) for a given sample. The model also optimizes the
parameters for conventional absorption modality and compares both
modalities. Since the input flux and the energy difference between
the thresholds influence image noise, this is included in the model
using phenomenological laws. The model is then compared to empirical
optimization by experimental screening of the parameters using model
materials composed of barium, iodine and water. Finally, it is
explained how to model the influence of sample composition on the
predicted CNR values.
Beyond river discharge gauging: hydrologic predictions using remote sensing alone
Authors: Yoon Hae Na , Marshall Lucy , Sharma Ashish
Published: February 2023

This study suggests a radical approach to hydrologic predictions in ungauged basins, addressing the long standing challenge of issuing predictions when in-situ river discharge does not exist. A simple but powerful rationale for measuring and modeling river discharge is proposed, using coupled advances in hydrologic modeling and satellite remote sensing. Our approach presents a Surrogate River discharge driven Model (SRM) that infers Surrogate River discharge (SR) from remotely sensed microwave signals with the ability to mimic river discharge in varying topographies and vegetation cover, which is then used to calibrate a hydrological model enabling physical realism in the resulting river discharge profile by adding an estimated mean of river discharge via the Budyko framework. The strength of SRM comes from the fact that it only uses remotely sensed data in prediction. The approach is demonstrated for 130 catchments in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) in Australia, a region of high economic and environmental importance. The newly proposed SR (SRL, representing L-band microwave) boosts the Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of modeled flow, showing a mean NSE of 0.54, with 70% of catchments exceeding NSE 0.4. We conclude that SRM effectively predicts high-flow and low-flow events related to flood and drought. Overall, this new approach will significantly improve catchment simulation capacity, enhancing water security and flood forecasting capability not only in the MDB but also worldwide.
Effects of preferential flow on soil nutrient transport in karst slopes after recultivation
Authors: Yan Youjin , Yang Yuqiong , Dai Quanhou
Published: February 2023

In response to the global food shortage, a large amount of abandoned land in karst areas has been reclaimed as cultivated land, causing severe nonpoint source pollution. Preferential flow-driven soil nutrient transport on karst slopes remains poorly studied, though it is a major factor in nonpoint source pollution, as it responds to changes caused by reclamation. We explored the characteristics of soil preferential flow differences in recultivated land, grassland, and shrubland from returning farmland by dye tracer experiments and quantitatively examined the effect of preferential flow on nutrient transport. Under the condition of 40 mm precipitation, the preferential flow paths (PFPs) of the three types of plots were mainly distributed from 0 to 40 cm. The total porosity in the 20–40 cm soil layer was significantly reduced by reclamation, and the number of preferred flow paths in the 20–40 cm soil layer was significantly reduced from 60 to less than 10, which was significantly less than that in grassland and shrubland. But, reclamation results in the transport of more soil nutrients by preferential flow. The contribution rate of preferential flow to other nutrient indexes in the reclaimed land, in contrast to grassland and shrubland, was lower than zero, except for organic matter and total potassium. Moreover, when the PFP was connected to the rock–soil interface, the soil water can leak underground through the rock–soil interface quickly. Therefore, our findings indicated that reclamation reduces the distribution depth of the PFP. Still, the connection of soil preferential flow to the rock–soil interface increases the transport of soil nutrients to deep fissures and even underground rivers, thereby causing recultivated land to become one of the main sources of groundwater pollution in karst areas.
Chirping instabilities produced by a runaway electron beam at a spherical tokamak
Authors: BALACHENKOV I M , BAKHAREV N N , GUSEV V K , ILIASOVA M V , KHILKEVICH E M , KORENEV P S , KONKOV A E , MINAEV V B , MITRIZHKIN Yu V , PATROV M I , PETROV Yu V , SAKHAROV N V , SHEVELEV A E , SKREKEL O M
Published: February 2023

Two different types of MHD instabilities with rapidly chirping frequency were found to arise in the Globus-M2 spherical tokamak in substantially different frequency ranges. The first type arises at frequencies of an order of 1 MHz in ohmic plasmas at relatively low density

〈

n

e

〉

<
2
×

10

19

m

−
3

in a wide range of toroidal magnetic fields and plasma currents. This type of instability was identified as compressional Alfvén waves, driven by electrons, accelerated during a sawtooth crush. It was found that the mode frequency is sweeping in time, according to the Berk–Breizman hole–clump nonlinear chirping model. The second type of wave arises in a specific single-swing regime of the central solenoid current with a very narrow plasma column, when the plasma tends to decay at extremely low density

〈

n

e

〉

<
2
×

10

18

m

−
3

and, in fact, is an instability of the runaway electron beam. The exited modes cover the whole observed frequency range and are divided into several (two or three) frequency regions: approximately 0–30 MHz, 60–120 MHz and sometimes 30–60 MHz. Reconnection of the branches was also observed. Single chirps are more rapid than for 1 MHz Alfvén instability and follow an exponential law. This paper, to our knowledge, is the first report of frequency chirping instabilities excited by accelerated electrons at a spherical tokamak.
Confined hydrogen atom: endohedrals H@C36 and H@C60
Authors: Olivares-Pilón H , Escobar-Ruiz A M , Quiroz-Juárez M A , Aquino N
Published: February 2023

In this work, for the lowest states with angular momentum,

l
=
0
,
1
,
2

the energies and eigenfunctions of the endohedrals H@C36 and H@C60 are presented. The confining spherically-symmetric barrier was modeled by an inverted Gaussian function of depth ω
0, width σ and centered at r

c
,

w
(
r
)
=
−

ω
0

exp

[
−
(
r
−

r
c

)
2

/

σ
2

]

. The spectra of the system as a function of the parameters (

ω
0

,
σ
,

r
c

) is calculated using three distinct numerical methods: (i) Lagrange-mesh method, (ii) fourth order finite differences and (iii) the finite element method. Concrete results with not less than 11 significant figures are displayed. Also, within the Lagrange-mesh approach the corresponding eigenfunctions and the expectation value of r for the first six states of

s
,
p

, and d symmetries, respectively, are presented as well. Our accurate energies are taken as initial data to train an artificial neural network that generates faster and efficient numerical interpolation. The present numerical results improve and extend those reported in the literature.
CCPG1 recognizes endoplasmic reticulum luminal proteins for selective ER-phagy
Authors: Ishii Shunsuke , Chino Haruka , Ode Koji L. , Kurikawa Yoshitaka , Ueda Hiroki R. , Matsuura Akira , Mizushima Noboru , Itakura Eisuke
Published: February 2023

CCPG1 interacts directly with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) luminal proteins, including aggregated protein. Cargo-interacting region in CCPG1 recognizes the ER luminal proteins. The ER luminal region of CCPG1 simultaneously recognizes multiple cargos. CCPG1 is a bispecific receptor for ER luminal cargos and the autophagic membrane.
External validation of the hospital frailty risk score among hospitalised home care clients in Canada: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Turcotte Luke Andrew , Heckman George , Rockwood Kenneth , Vetrano Davide Liborio , Hébert Paul , McIsaac Daniel I , Rhynold Elizabeth , Mitchell Lori , Mowbray Fabrice Immanuel , Larsen Rasmus T , Hirdes John P
Published: February 2023

Background

The Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) is scored using ICD-10 diagnostic codes in administrative hospital records. Home care clients in Canada are routinely assessed with Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC) which can calculate the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS) and the Frailty Index (FI).

Objective

Measure the correlation between the HFRS, CFS and FI and compare prognostic utility for frailty-related outcomes.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, Canada.

Subjects

Home care clients aged 65+ admitted to hospital within 180 days (median 65 days) of a RAI-HC assessment (n = 167,316).

Methods

Correlation between the HFRS, CFS and FI was measured using the Spearman correlation coefficient. Prognostic utility of each measure was assessed by comparing measures of association, discrimination and calibration for mortality (30 days), prolonged hospital stay (10+ days), unplanned hospital readmission (30 days) and long-term care admission (1 year).

Results

The HFRS was weakly correlated with the FI (ρ 0.21) and CFS (ρ 0.28). Unlike the FI and CFS, the HFRS was unable to discriminate for 30-day mortality (area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC) 0.506; confidence interval (CI) 0.502–0.511). It was the only measure that could discriminate for prolonged hospital stay (AUC 0.666; CI 0.661–0.673). The HFRS operated like the FI and CFI when predicting unplanned readmission (AUC 0.530 CI 0.526–0.536) and long-term care admission (AUC 0.600; CI 0.593–0.606).

Conclusions

The HFRS identifies a different subset of older adult home care clients as frail than the CFS and FI. It has prognostic utility for several frailty-related outcomes in this population, except short-term mortality.
Serum sodium, cognition and incident dementia in the general population
Authors: van der Burgh Anna C , Pelouto Anissa , Mooldijk Sanne S , Zandbergen Adrienne A M , Ikram M Arfan , Chaker Layal , Hoorn Ewout J
Published: February 2023

Background

Low serum sodium may be associated with cognitive impairment and dementia in the general population, but the data remain inconclusive. Therefore, we aimed to determine the association of low serum sodium with cognitive function and incident dementia in the general population.

Methods

Participants from a prospective population-based cohort were eligible if data on serum sodium (collected between 1997 and 2008), dementia prevalence and dementia incidence were available (follow-up until 2018). Global cognitive function was assessed with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the general cognitive factor (G-factor, derived from principal component analysis of individual tests). Linear regression and Cox proportional-hazards models were used to assess associations of standardised continuous and categorised low serum sodium (mean − 1.96*SD: cut-off of 137 mmol/L) with overall cognitive function and incident dementia, respectively.

Results

In all, 8,028 participants free of dementia at baseline (mean age 63.6 years, 57% female, serum sodium 142 ± 2 mmol/L), including 217 participants with low serum sodium, were included. Cross-sectionally, continuous serum sodium and/or low serum sodium were not associated with the MMSE or G-factor. However, participants with low serum sodium performed worse on the Stroop and Purdue Pegboard tests. During a median follow-up of 10.7 years, 758 subjects developed dementia. Continuous serum sodium (hazard ratio (HR) 0.98, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92;1.05) and low serum sodium (HR 1.27, 95% CI 0.90;1.79) were not associated with a higher risk of incident dementia.

Conclusion

We identified no significant associations of low serum sodium with overall cognitive functioning and risk of dementia. However, low serum sodium—including levels above the clinical cut-off for hyponatremia—was associated with impairments in selected cognitive domains including attention and psychomotor function.
Automated Coding of Job Descriptions From a General Population Study: Overview of Existing Tools, Their Application and Comparison
Authors: Wan Wenxin , Ge Calvin B , Friesen Melissa C , Locke Sarah J , Russ Daniel E , Burstyn Igor , Baker Christopher J O , Adisesh Anil , Lan Qing , Rothman Nathaniel , Huss Anke , van Tongeren Martie , Vermeulen Roel , Peters Susan
Published: February 2023

Objectives

Automatic job coding tools were developed to reduce the laborious task of manually assigning job codes based on free-text job descriptions in census and survey data sources, including large occupational health studies. The objective of this study is to provide a case study of comparative performance of job coding and JEM (Job-Exposure Matrix)-assigned exposures agreement using existing coding tools.

Methods

We compared three automatic job coding tools [AUTONOC, CASCOT (Computer-Assisted Structured Coding Tool), and LabourR], which were selected based on availability, coding of English free-text into coding systems closely related to the 1988 version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88), and capability to perform batch coding. We used manually coded job histories from the AsiaLymph case-control study that were translated into English prior to auto-coding to assess their performance. We applied two general population JEMs to assess agreement at exposure level. Percent agreement and PABAK (Prevalence-Adjusted Bias-Adjusted Kappa) were used to compare the agreement of results from manual coders and automatic coding tools.

Results

The coding per cent agreement among the three tools ranged from 17.7 to 26.0% for exact matches at the most detailed 4-digit ISCO-88 level. The agreement was better at a more general level of job coding (e.g. 43.8–58.1% in 1-digit ISCO-88), and in exposure assignments (median values of PABAK coefficient ranging 0.69–0.78 across 12 JEM-assigned exposures). Based on our testing data, CASCOT was found to outperform others in terms of better agreement in both job coding (26% 4-digit agreement) and exposure assignment (median kappa 0.61).

Conclusions

In this study, we observed that agreement on job coding was generally low for the three tools but noted a higher degree of agreement in assigned exposures. The results indicate the need for study-specific evaluations prior to their automatic use in general population studies, as well as improvements in the evaluated automatic coding tools.
Pectin decomposition at the early stage of brown-rot decay by Fomitopsis palustris
Authors: Tanaka Yuki , Nezu Ikumi , Aiso Haruna , Fujie Tomomi , Konno Naotake , Suzuki Tomohiro , Ishiguri Futoshi , Habu Naoto
Published: February 2023

The sapwood of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) was decayed by the brown-rot fungus Fomitopsis palustris under bright and dark conditions. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the presence of mycelia inside the wood even after 1 week from the start of fungal exposure. Moreover, holes were observed in the torus after fungal exposure. Ruthenium red staining revealed that the pectin in pits was largely absent for 3 weeks. These events occurred before the mass loss of wood samples was confirmed at the early stage. Moreover, FpPG28A was more highly expressed at the hyphal front on a pectin-containing medium under dark conditions compared with bright conditions. This up-regulation under dark conditions indicated that the pectin decomposition ability was promoted inside the wood where light could not reach. In conclusion, we suggest that the brown-rot fungus completed its hyphal expansion within the wood via pectin decomposition in pits before holocellulose decomposition.
scGGAN: single-cell RNA-seq imputation by graph-based generative adversarial network
Authors: Huang Zimo , Wang Jun , Lu Xudong , Mohd Zain Azlan , Yu Guoxian
Published: February 2023

Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data are typically with a large number of missing values, which often results in the loss of critical gene signaling information and seriously limit the downstream analysis. Deep learning-based imputation methods often can better handle scRNA-seq data than shallow ones, but most of them do not consider the inherent relations between genes, and the expression of a gene is often regulated by other genes. Therefore, it is essential to impute scRNA-seq data by considering the regional gene-to-gene relations. We propose a novel model (named scGGAN) to impute scRNA-seq data that learns the gene-to-gene relations by Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) and global scRNA-seq data distribution by Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN). scGGAN first leverages single-cell and bulk genomics data to explore inherent relations between genes and builds a more compact gene relation network to jointly capture the homogeneous and heterogeneous information. Then, it constructs a GCN-based GAN model to integrate the scRNA-seq, gene sequencing data and gene relation network for generating scRNA-seq data, and trains the model through adversarial learning. Finally, it utilizes data generated by the trained GCN-based GAN model to impute scRNA-seq data. Experiments on simulated and real scRNA-seq datasets show that scGGAN can effectively identify dropout events, recover the biologically meaningful expressions, determine subcellular states and types, improve the differential expression analysis and temporal dynamics analysis. Ablation experiments confirm that both the gene relation network and gene sequence data help the imputation of scRNA-seq data.
The TOR concept (training, operation, and rehabilitation) applied to a cohort of postpartum women with training-resistant symptomatic rectus diastasis: evaluation 1 year after surgery
Authors: Olsson A , Woxnerud K , Kiwanuka O , Sandblom G , Stackelberg O
Published: February 2023

Background

Rectus diastasis is a common sequela of pregnancy and is associated with functional disabilities such as back pain, abdominal core instability, abdominal muscle weakness, urinary incontinence, and psychological issues such as a negative body image. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the TOR concept (training, operation, and rehabilitation), a novel concept for treating abdominal wall insufficiency combined with rectus diastasis, after pregnancy. TOR consists of preoperative evaluation of symptoms and custom-designed abdominal core training, tailored rectus diastasis repair, and individual progressive postoperative rehabilitation.

Methods

A consecutive series of women diagnosed with rectus diastasis and core dysfunction resistant to training, underwent plication of the linea alba between 2018 and 2020. After surgery, all patients participated in an individually designed rehabilitation programme over a 4-month interval. Physical function was recorded before surgery and 1 year after surgery using the disability rating index questionnaire. Symptoms associated with core instability were recorded before and 1 year after surgery. Quality of life was assessed using the SF-36. The abdominal wall anatomy was assessed with ultrasound before and 1 year after surgery.

Results

Seventy-one women were included and all attended 1-year follow-up. Response rate was 81.7 per cent (58) for the disability rating index, and 59.2 per cent (42) for SF-36. Self-reported physical function (disability rating index) improved in 54 of 58 patients (93.1 per cent), with a median score reduction of 91.3 per cent. Core instability symptoms decreased significantly. All SF-36 subscales improved significantly compared with preoperative scores, reaching levels similar to or higher than the normative Swedish female population. No recurrence of rectus diastasis was seen at the 1-year follow-up.

Conclusions

Surgical reconstruction within the TOR concept resulted in significant improvements in physical function and quality of life as well as a significant decrease in symptoms of core instability.
Cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulins in primary progressive multiple sclerosis are pathogenic
Authors: Wong Jamie K , Lin Jerry , Kung Nathan J , Tse Alexandra L , Shimshak Serena J E , Roselle Anna K , Cali Francesca M , Huang Jessie , Beaty Joseph M , Shue Taylor M , Sadiq Saud A
Published: February 2023

Multiple sclerosis is clinically characterized by relapses and remissions (relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis) that over time may evolve to a progressive course (secondary progressive multiple sclerosis) or as having a progressive course from disease onset (primary progressive multiple sclerosis). At present, it is not definitively known whether these clinical entities constitute a single pathological disease or whether these manifestations represent two distinct disease entities sharing inflammatory demyelination as a pathological feature. Here we show using a novel mouse model that CSF of primary progressive multiple sclerosis patients is unique in its capacity to induce motor disability and spinal cord pathology including demyelination, impaired remyelination, reactive astrogliosis and axonal damage. Notably, removal of immunoglobulin G from primary progressive multiple sclerosis CSF via filtration or immunodepletion attenuates its pathogenic capacity. Furthermore, injection of recombinant antibodies derived from primary progressive multiple sclerosis CSF recapitulates the pathology. Our findings suggest that the clinical and pathological features of primary progressive multiple sclerosis are antibody-mediated and pathogenically distinct from relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Our study has potentially important implications for the development of specific therapies for patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis.
A retrospective single-centre case series of paediatric blistering severe cutaneous adverse reactions: evaluation using new diagnostic classification confirms value of British Association of Dermatologists’ guidelines
Authors: Aaron Michelle , Ramien Michele L , Powell Julie , McCuaig Catherine C , Marcoux Danielle , Piram Maryam , Hatami Afshin , Coulombe Jérôme
Published: February 2023

Stevens–Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis are especially challenging to diagnose and manage in paediatric populations given their rarity, more frequent infectious triggers and lack of randomized controlled trials to guide management. This retrospective case series of 59 paediatric blistering severe cutaneous adverse reactions uses the new diagnostic classification and British Association of Dermatologists’ guidelines, and confirms their value in a real-life clinical setting.
Detection of oceanic Rossby waves in the extratropics by complex networks
Authors: Gao Meng , Zhang Aidi , Zhang Han , Wang Yueqi
Published: February 2023

Complex network is a versatile tool for exploring the internal structures and dynamical properties of complex system. The Earth’s climate is a typical complex system, and the climate variability is mainly controlled by Sun–Earth interactions on planetary scales. The Earth’s rotation could induce Rossby waves, and the oceanic Rossby waves significantly affect the Earth’s climate in turn. In this study, climate network, a kind of complex network for climate sciences, has been applied to detect Rossby waves in extratropics of global oceans. The nodes of the climate networks are the regular grid points zonally distributed in four regions of global oceans (North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic and South Atlantic-Indian), and the links represent the statistically significant cross-correlations of sea level anomalies. The results show that the westward propagation of oceanic Rossby waves in the extratropics could be detected by the climate network. Also, the climate network has the potential to detect the more oceanic dynamics.
Renin–angiotensin system inhibition and in-hospital mortality in acute coronary syndrome patients with advanced renal dysfunction: findings from CCC-ACS project and a nationwide electronic health record-based cohort in China
Authors: Li Zhi , Sun Haonan , Hao Yongchen , Liu Hangkuan , Jin Zhengyang , Li Linjie , Zhang Chong , Ma Min , Teng Tianming , Chen Xiongwen , Shen Yujun , Yu Ying , Liu Jing , Richards Arthur Mark , Tan Huay Cheem , Zhao Dong , Zhou Xin , Yang Qing
Published: February 2023

Aims

In acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients without advanced renal dysfunction [estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2], early (within 24 h of admission) angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker (ACEI/ARB) is the guideline-directed medical therapy. The clinical efficacy of early ACEI/ARB therapy among ACS patients with advanced renal dysfunction remains unclear.

Methods and results

Among 184 850 ACS patients hospitalized from July 2014 to December 2018 in the Chinese National Electronic Disease Surveillance System Platform (CNEDSSP) cohort and 113 650 ACS patients enrolled from November 2014 to December 2019 in the Improving Care for Cardiovascular Disease in China-ACS Project (CCC-ACS) cohort, we identified 3288 and 3916 ACS patients with admission eGFR < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 [2647 patients treated with ACEI/ARB (36.7%)], respectively. After 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) in each cohort, Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that early ACEI/ARB use was associated with a 39% [hazard ratio (HR): 0.61, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.45–0.82] and a 34% (HR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.46–0.95) reduction in in-hospital mortality in CNEDSSP and CCC-ACS cohorts, respectively, which was consistent in multiple sensitivity analyses. A random effect meta-analysis of the two cohorts after PSM revealed a 32% reduction (risk ratio: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.55–0.84) in in-hospital mortality among ACEI/ARB users.

Conclusions

Based on two nationwide cohorts in China in contemporary practice, we demonstrated that ACEI/ARB therapy initiated within 24 h of admission is associated with a reduction in in-hospital mortality in ACS patients with advanced renal dysfunction.

Clinical trial registration

CCC-ACS project was registered at URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. (Unique identifier: NCT02306616).
Parental Responses to Information about School Quality: Evidence from Linked Survey and Administrative Data
Authors: Greaves Ellen , Hussain Iftikhar , Rabe Birgitta , Rasul Imran
Published: February 2023

We study the interaction between family and school inputs by identifying the causal impact of information about school quality on parental time investment into children. Inspection ratings provide news that shifts parental beliefs about school quality, and hence investment into children. We study this using household panel data from England, linked to administrative records on school inspection ratings. We find that parents receiving good news over school quality significantly decrease time investment into their children. We provide insights on the distributional and test score impacts of the nationwide inspections regime, through multiple margins of endogenous response of parents and children.
Rotor mechanism and its mapping in atrial fibrillation
Authors: Xu Chang-Hao , Xiong Feng , Jiang Wei-Feng , Liu Xu , Liu Tao , Qin Mu
Published: February 2023

Treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains challenging despite significant progress in understanding its underlying mechanisms. The first detailed, quantitative theory of functional re-entry, the ‘leading circle’ model, was developed more than 40 years ago. Subsequently, in decades of study, an alternative paradigm based on spiral waves has long been postulated to drive AF. The rotor as a ‘spiral wave generator’ is a curved ‘vortex’ formed by spin motion in the two-dimensional plane, identified using advanced mapping methods in experimental and clinical AF. However, it is challenging to achieve complementary results between experimental results and clinical studies due to the limitation in research methods and the complexity of the rotor mechanism. Here, we review knowledge garnered over decades on generation, electrophysiological properties, and three-dimensional (3D) structure diversity of the rotor mechanism and make a comparison among recent clinical approaches to identify rotors. Although initial studies of rotor ablation at many independent centres have achieved promising results, some inconclusive outcomes exist in others. We propose that the clinical rotor identification might be substantially influenced by (i) non-identical surface activation patterns, which resulted from a diverse 3D form of scroll wave, and (ii) inadequate resolution of mapping techniques. With rapidly advancing theoretical and technological developments, future work is required to resolve clinically relevant limitations in current basic and clinical research methodology, translate from one to the other, and resolve available mapping techniques.
Somatic nuclear blebbing in Caenorhabditis elegans is not a feature of organismal aging but a potential indicator of germline proliferation in early adulthood
Authors: Fan Qiang , Li Xue-Mei , Zhai Chao , Li Bin , Li Shang-Tong , Dong Meng-Qiu
Published: February 2023

Abnormal nuclear morphology is suggested to be a hallmark of aging and one such abnormality is nuclear blebbing. However, little is known about whether and how nuclear blebbing participates in animal aging, and what regulates it. In this study, we show that the frequency of nuclear blebbing in the hypodermis increases during aging in wild-type C. elegans. These nuclear blebs are enveloped by the nuclear lamina, the inner and the outer nuclear membrane, and 42% of them contain chromatin. Although nuclear blebbing could lead to DNA loss if chromatin-containing blebs detach and fuse with lysosomes, we find by time-lapse imaging that nuclear blebs rarely detach, and the estimated lifetime of a nuclear bleb is 772 h or 32 days. The amount of DNA lost through nuclear blebbing is estimated to be about 0.1% of the total DNA loss by adult Day 11. Furthermore, the frequency of nuclear blebbing does not correlate with the rate of aging in C. elegans. Old age does not necessarily induce nuclear blebbing, neither does starvation, heat stress, or oxidative stress. Intriguingly, we find that proliferation of germ cells promotes nuclear blebbing.