bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
High-operating-temperature MWIR photodetector based on a InAs/GaSb superlattice grown by MOCVD
Authors: Hao Xiujun , Teng Yan , Zhu He , Liu Jiafeng , Zhu Hong , Huai Yunlong , Li Meng , Chen Baile , Huang Yong , Yang Hui
Published: January 2022

We demonstrate a high-operating-temperature (HOT) mid-wavelength InAs/GaSb superlattice heterojunction infrared photodetector grown by metal–organic chemical vapor deposition. High crystalline quality and the near-zero lattice mismatch of a InAs/GaSb superlattice on an InAs substrate were evidenced by high-resolution X-ray diffraction. At a bias voltage of –0.1 V and an operating temperature of 200 K, the device exhibited a 50% cutoff wavelength of ~ 4.9 μm, a dark current density of 0.012 A/cm2, and a peak specific detectivity of 2.3 × 109 cm·Hz1/2 /W.
Characterisation of supersonic gas jets for different nozzle geometries for laser-plasma acceleration experiments at SPARC_LAB
Authors: Costa G. , Anania M.P. , Biagioni A. , Bisesto F.G. , Del Franco M. , Galletti M. , Ferrario M. , Pompili R. , Romeo S. , Rossi A.R. , Zigler A. , Cianchi A.
Published: January 2022

Plasma-based technology promises a tremendous reduction in size of accelerators used for research, medical, and industrial applications, making it possible to develop tabletop machines accessible for a broader scientific community. The use of high-power laser pulses on gaseous targets is a promising method for the generation of accelerated electron beams at energies on the GeV scale, in extremely small sizes, typically millimetres. The gaseous target in question can be a collimated supersonic gasjet from a nozzle. In this work, a technique for optimising the so generated plasma channel is presented. In detail, a study on the influence of the nozzle throat shape in relation to the uniformity and density of the generated plasma profile is reported. These considerations are discussed first of all from a theoretical point of view, by means of a stationary one-dimensional mathematical model of the neutral gas, thus exploiting the possibility of comparing the properties of the output flow for different nozzle geometries. This is combined with an experimental approach using interferometric longitudinal density measurements of the plasma channel. The latter is generated by a high-power laser pulse focused on a helium gasjet, in the SPARC_LAB laboratories.
Biomimetic porous scaffolds containing decellularized small intestinal submucosa and Sr2+/Fe3+ co-doped hydroxyapatite accelerate angiogenesis/osteogenesis for bone regeneration
Authors: Cui Wei , Yang Liang , Ullah Ismat , Yu Keda , Zhao Zhigang , Gao Xinfeng , Liu Tao , Liu Ming , Li Peng , Wang Junwen , Guo Xiaodong
Published: January 2022

The design of bone scaffolds is predominately aimed to well reproduce the natural bony environment by imitating the architecture/composition of host bone. Such biomimetic biomaterials are gaining increasing attention and acknowledged quite promising for bone tissue engineering. Herein, novel biomimetic bone scaffolds containing decellularized small intestinal submucosa matrix (SIS-ECM) and Sr2+/Fe3+ co-doped hydroxyapatite (SrFeHA) are fabricated for the first time by the sophisticated self-assembled mineralization procedure, followed by cross-linking and lyophilization post-treatments. The results indicate the constructed SIS/SrFeHA scaffolds are characterized by highly porous structures, rough microsurface and improved mechanical strength, as well as efficient releasing of bioactive Sr2+/Fe3+ and ECM components. These favorable physico-chemical properties endow SIS/SrFeHA scaffolds with an architectural/componential biomimetic bony environment which appears to be highly beneficial for inducing angiogenesis/osteogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In particular, the cellular functionality and bioactivity of endotheliocytes/osteoblasts are significantly enhanced by SIS/SrFeHA scaffolds, and the cranial defects model further verifies the potent ability of SIS/SrFeHA to accelerate in vivo vascularization and bone regeneration following implantation. In this view these results highlight the considerable angiogenesis/osteogenesis potential of biomimetic porous SIS/SrFeHA scaffolds for inducing bone regeneration and thus may afford a new promising alternative for bone tissue engineering.
Air pollution is linked to higher cancer rates among black or impoverished communities in Louisiana
Authors: Terrell Kimberly A , St Julien Gianna
Published: January 2022

Despite longstanding concerns about environmental injustice in Louisiana’s industrialized communities, including the area known as Cancer Alley, there is a lack of environmental health research in this state. This research gap has direct consequences for residents of industrialized neighborhoods because state regulators have cited a lack of evidence for adverse health outcomes when making industrial permitting decisions. We investigated how cancer incidence relates to cancer risk from toxic air pollution, race, poverty, and occupation across Louisiana census tracts, while controlling for parish-level smoking and obesity rates, using linear regression and Akaike information criterion model selection. We used the most recent cancer data from the Louisiana Tumor Registry (2008–2017), estimates of race, poverty, and occupation from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (2011–2015), and estimated cancer risk due to point sources from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 2005 National Air Toxics Assessment (accounting for cancer latency). Because race and poverty were strongly correlated (r = 0.69, P < 0.0001), we included them in separate, analogous models. Results indicated that higher estimated cancer risk from air toxics was associated with higher cancer incidence through an interaction with poverty or race. Further analysis revealed that the tracts with the highest (i.e. top quartile) proportions of impoverished residents (or Black residents) were driving the association between toxic air pollution and cancer incidence. These findings may be explained by well-established disparities that result in greater exposure/susceptibility to air toxics in Black or impoverished neighborhoods. Regardless, our analysis provides evidence of a statewide link between cancer rates and carcinogenic air pollution in marginalized communities and suggests that toxic air pollution is a contributing factor to Louisiana’s cancer burden. These findings are consistent with the firsthand knowledge of Louisiana residents from predominantly Black, impoverished, and industrialized neighborhoods who have long maintained that their communities are overburdened with cancer.
Evidence that modern fires may be unprecedented during the last 3400 years in permafrost zone of Central Siberia, Russia
Authors: Novenko Elena Yu , Kupryanov Dmitry A , Mazei Natalia G , Prokushkin Anatoly S , Phelps Leanne N , Buri Aline , Davis Basil A S
Published: January 2022

Recent climate change in Siberia is increasing the probability of dangerous forest fires. The development of effective measures to mitigate and prevent fires is impossible without an understanding of long-term fire dynamics. This paper presents the first multi-site palaeo-fire reconstruction based on macroscopic charcoal data from peat and lake sediment cores located in different landscapes across the permafrost area of central Siberia. The obtained results show similar temporal patterns of charcoal accumulation rates in the cores under study, and near synchronous changes in fire regimes. The paleo-fire record revealed moderate biomass burning between 3.4 and 2.6 ka BP, followed by the period of lower burning occurring from 2.6 to 1.7 ka BP that coincided with regional climate cooling and moistening. Minimal fire activity was also observed during the Little Ice Age (0.7–0.25 ka BP). Fire frequencies increased during the interval from 1.7 to 0.7 ka BP and appears to be partly synchronous with climate warming during the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Regional reconstructions of long-term fire history show that recent fires are unprecedented during the late Holocene, with modern high biomass burning lying outside millennial and centennial variability of the last 3400 years.
Asymptotic and numerical analysis of slowly varying two-dimensional quantum waveguides
Authors: Barrera-Figueroa Víctor , Rabinovich Vladimir S , Cristina Loredo-Ramírez Samantha Ana
Published: January 2022

The work is devoted to the asymptotic and numerical analysis of the wave function propagating in two-dimensional quantum waveguides with confining potentials supported on slowly varying tubes. The leading term of the asymptotics of the wave function is determined by an adiabatic approach and the WKB approximation. Unlike other similar studies, in the present work we consider arbitrary bounded potentials and obtain exact solutions for the thresholds, and for the transverse modes in the form of power series of the spectral parameter. Our approach leads to an effective numerical method for the analysis of such quantum waveguides and for the tunnel effect observed in sections of the waveguide that shrink or widen too much. Several examples of interest show the applicability of the method.
Quantum process in probability representation of quantum mechanics
Authors: Przhiyalkovskiy Y V
Published: January 2022

In this work, the operator-sum representation of a quantum process is extended to the probability representation of quantum mechanics. It is shown that each process admitting the operator-sum representation is assigned a kernel, convolving of which with the initial tomogram set characterizing the system state gives the tomographic state of the transformed system. This kernel, in turn, is broken into the kernels of partial operations, each of them incorporating the symbol of the evolution operator related to the joint evolution of the system and an ancillary environment. Such a kernel decomposition for the projection to a certain basis state and a Gaussian-type projection is demonstrated as well as qubit flipping and amplitude damping processes.
Age, Period, and Cohort Effects of Internalizing Symptoms Among US Students and the Influence of Self-Reported Frequency of Attaining 7 or More Hours of Sleep: Results From the Monitoring the Future Survey 1991–2019
Authors: Kaur Navdep , Hamilton Ava D , Chen Qixuan , Hasin Deborah , Cerda Magdalena , Martins Silvia S , Keyes Katherine M
Published: January 2022

Adolescent internalizing symptoms have increased since 2010, whereas adequate sleep has declined for several decades. It remains unclear how self-reported sleep attainment has affected internalizing-symptoms trends. Using 1991–2019 data from the Monitoring the Future Study (n ~ 390,000), we estimated age-period-cohort effects in adolescent internalizing symptoms (e.g., loneliness, self-esteem, self-derogation, depressive affect) and the association with yearly prevalence of a survey-assessed, self-reported measure of attaining ≥7 hours of sleep most nights. We focused our main analysis on loneliness and used median odds ratios to measure variance in loneliness associated with period differences. We observed limited signals for cohort effects and modeled only period effects. The feeling of loneliness increased by 0.83% per year; adolescents in 2019 had 0.68 (95% CI: 0.49, 0.87) increased log odds of loneliness compared with the mean, which was consistent by race/ethnicity and parental education. Girls experienced steeper increases in loneliness than boys (P < 0.0001). The period-effect median odds ratio for loneliness was 1.16 (variance = 0.09; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.17) before adjustment for self-reported frequency of getting ≥7 hours sleep versus 1.07 (variance = 0.02; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.03) after adjustment. Adolescents across cohorts are experiencing worsening internalizing symptoms. Self-reported frequency of <7 hours sleep partially explains increases in loneliness, indicating the need for feasibility trials to study the effect of increasing sleep attainment on internalizing symptoms.
Skate-skin mucin, rich in sulfated sugars and threonine, promotes proliferation of Akkermansia muciniphila in feeding tests in rats and in vitro fermentation using human feces
Authors: Miyata Takaaki , Mizushima Takayasu , Miyamoto Nobuyuki , Yamada Takahiro , Hase Koji , Fukushima Michihiro , Nishimura Naomichi , Hino Shingo , Morita Tatsuya
Published: January 2022

Dietary factors, affect Akkermansia muciniphila (AM) abundance in the colon, have attracted attention, driven by the inverse correlation between AM abundance and metabolic disorders. We prepared skate-skin mucin (SM), porcine stomach mucin (PM), and rat gastrointestinal mucin (RM). SM contained more sulfated sugars and threonine than PM or RM. Rats were fed a control diet or diets including SM, PM, or RM (15 g/kg), or SM (12 g/kg) from 5 different threonine contents for 14 d. Cecal total bacteria and AM were less and more numerous, respectively, in SM-fed rats than the others, but SM did not affect microbial species richness. Low-threonine SM did not induce AM proliferation. The in vitro fermentation with human feces showed that the rate of AM increase was greater with SM than PM. Collectively, heavy SM sulfation facilitates a priority supply of SM-derived amino sugars and threonine that promotes AM proliferation in rats and human feces.
Predicting protein phosphorylation sites in soybean using interpretable deep tabular learning network
Authors: Khalili Elham , Ramazi Shahin , Ghanati Faezeh , Kouchaki Samaneh
Published: January 2022

Phosphorylation of proteins is one of the most significant post-translational modifications (PTMs) and plays a crucial role in plant functionality due to its impact on signaling, gene expression, enzyme kinetics, protein stability and interactions. Accurate prediction of plant phosphorylation sites (p-sites) is vital as abnormal regulation of phosphorylation usually leads to plant diseases. However, current experimental methods for PTM prediction suffers from high-computational cost and are error-prone. The present study develops machine learning-based prediction techniques, including a high-performance interpretable deep tabular learning network (TabNet) to improve the prediction of protein p-sites in soybean. Moreover, we use a hybrid feature set of sequential-based features, physicochemical properties and position-specific scoring matrices to predict serine (Ser/S), threonine (Thr/T) and tyrosine (Tyr/Y) p-sites in soybean for the first time. The experimentally verified p-sites data of soybean proteins are collected from the eukaryotic phosphorylation sites database and database post-translational modification. We then remove the redundant set of positive and negative samples by dropping protein sequences with >40% similarity. It is found that the developed techniques perform >70% in terms of accuracy. The results demonstrate that the TabNet model is the best performing classifier using hybrid features and with window size of 13, resulted in 78.96 and 77.24% sensitivity and specificity, respectively. The results indicate that the TabNet method has advantages in terms of high-performance and interpretability. The proposed technique can automatically analyze the data without any measurement errors and any human intervention. Furthermore, it can be used to predict putative protein p-sites in plants effectively.

The collected dataset and source code are publicly deposited at https://github.com/Elham-khalili/Soybean-P-sites-Prediction.
Inverse Potts model improves accuracy of phylogenetic profiling
Authors: Fukunaga Tsukasa , Iwasaki Wataru
Published: January 2022

Motivation

Phylogenetic profiling is a powerful computational method for revealing the functions of function-unknown genes. Although conventional similarity metrics in phylogenetic profiling achieved high prediction accuracy, they have two estimation biases: an evolutionary bias and a spurious correlation bias. While previous studies reduced the evolutionary bias by considering a phylogenetic tree, few studies have analyzed the spurious correlation bias.

Results

To reduce the spurious correlation bias, we developed metrics based on the inverse Potts model (IPM) for phylogenetic profiling. We also developed a metric based on both the IPM and a phylogenetic tree. In an empirical dataset analysis, we demonstrated that these IPM-based metrics improved the prediction performance of phylogenetic profiling. In addition, we found that the integration of several metrics, including the IPM-based metrics, had superior performance to a single metric.

Availability and implementation

The source code is freely available at https://github.com/fukunagatsu/Ipm.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Patterns of Demand and Provision in English Adult Social Care Services
Authors: Hood Rick , Goldacre Allie , Abbott Simon , Jones Ray
Published: January 2022

This article reports on a quantitative study of the national datasets for adult social care in England. Building on recent analysis of trends in demand and expenditure, the aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between local authority (LA) characteristics, levels of demand for state-funded services and rates of short- and long-term provision. Publicly available data on short- and long-term activity and finances were collected for all LAs in England from 2016 to 2019 and combined with other indicators including population demographics and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Correlation analysis was undertaken to investigate patterns of demand and provision and their link to contextual factors. Findings showed that variation between LAs was to some extent shaped by contextual factors such as deprivation and demographics, but was also subject to the effects of rationing and the impact of the self-funded market on levels of demand. Implications are discussed for efforts to reform the adult social system and address longstanding inequalities that have been both highlighted and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A neuron-to-astrocyte Wnt5a signal governs astrogliosis during HIV-associated pain pathogenesis
Authors: Liu Xin , Bae Chilman , Gelman Benjamin B , Chung Jin Mo , Tang Shao-Jun
Published: January 2022

Chronic pain is the most common neurological disorder of HIV patients. Multiple neuropathologies were identified in the pain pathway. Among them is the prominent astrocytic reaction (also know an astrogliosis). However, the pathogenic role and mechanism of the astrogliosis are unclear. Here, we show that the astrogliosis is crucial for the pain development induced by a key neurotoxic HIV protein gp120 and that a neuron-to-astrocyte Wnt5a signal controls the astrogliosis. Ablation of astrogliosis blocked the development of gp120-induced mechanical hyperalgesia, and concomitantly the expression of neural circuit polarization in the spinal dorsal horn. We demonstrated that conditional knockout of either Wnt5a in neurons or its receptor ROR2 in astrocytes abolished not only gp120-induced astrogliosis but also hyperalgesia and neural circuit polarization. Furthermore, we found that the astrogliosis promoted expression of hyperalgesia and NCP via IL-1β regulated by a Wnt5a-ROR2-MMP2 axis.

Our results shed light on the role and mechanism of astrogliosis in the pathogenesis of HIV-associated pain.
Brain-wide ongoing activity is responsible for significant cross-trial BOLD variability
Authors: Zhang Qingqing , Cramer Samuel R , Ma Zilu , Turner Kevin L , Gheres Kyle W , Liu Yikang , Drew Patrick J , Zhang Nanyin
Published: January 2022

A notorious issue of task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is its large cross-trial variability. To quantitatively characterize this variability, the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal can be modeled as a linear summation of a stimulation-relevant and an ongoing (i.e. stimulation-irrelevant) component. However, systematic investigation on the spatiotemporal features of the ongoing BOLD component and how these features affect the BOLD response is still lacking. Here we measured fMRI responses to light onsets and light offsets in awake rats. The neuronal response was simultaneously recorded with calcium-based fiber photometry. We established that between-region BOLD signals were highly correlated brain-wide at zero time lag, including regions that did not respond to visual stimulation, suggesting that the ongoing activity co-fluctuates across the brain. Removing this ongoing activity reduced cross-trial variability of the BOLD response by ~30% and increased its coherence with the Ca2+ signal. Additionally, the negative ongoing BOLD activity sometimes dominated over the stimulation-driven response and contributed to the post-stimulation BOLD undershoot. These results suggest that brain-wide ongoing activity is responsible for significant cross-trial BOLD variability, and this component can be reliably quantified and removed to improve the reliability of fMRI response. Importantly, this method can be generalized to virtually all fMRI experiments without changing stimulation paradigms.
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Pregnant Women: A Propensity Score–Matched Analysis of Data From the COVID-19 Registry Japan
Authors: Shoji Kensuke , Tsuzuki Shinya , Akiyama Takayuki , Matsunaga Nobuaki , Asai Yusuke , Suzuki Setsuko , Iwamoto Noriko , Funaki Takanori , Yamada Masaki , Ozawa Nobuaki , Yamaguchi Koushi , Miyairi Isao , Ohmagari Norio
Published: January 2022

Background

Several studies have investigated whether pregnancy is a risk factor for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); however, the results remain controversial. In addition, the information regarding risk factors for developing severe COVID-19 in pregnant women is limited.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study analyzing the data from the nationwide COVID-19 registry in Japan was conducted. Propensity score–matched analysis was performed to compare COVID-19 severity between pregnant and nonpregnant women. Multivariate analysis was also conducted to evaluate risk factors for developing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in pregnant women.

Results

During the study period, 254 pregnant and 3752 nonpregnant women of reproductive age were identified. After propensity score matching, 187 pregnant women and 935 nonpregnant women were selected. A composite outcome of moderate-to-severe COVID-19 was more frequently observed in pregnant women than that of nonpregnant women (n = 18 [9.6%] vs n = 46 [4.9%]; P = .0155). In multivariate analysis, the presence of underlying diseases and being in the second-to-third trimester of pregnancy were recognized as risk factors for moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in pregnant women (odds ratio [95% confidence interval]: 5.295 [1.21–23.069] and 3.871 [1.201–12.477], respectively).

Conclusions

Pregnancy could be a risk factor for moderate-to-severe COVID-19 for women in Japan. In addition to the presence of comorbidities, advanced pregnancy stages may contribute to greater risks for developing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in pregnant women.
F2SO: An Energy Efficient Cluster Based Routing Protocol Using Fuzzy Firebug Swarm Optimization Algorithm in WSN
Authors: Suresh K , Sreeja Mole S S , Joseph Selva Kumar A
Published: January 2022

The most important design concern associated with wireless sensor networks is energy efficiency that mostly deals with routing and clustering techniques. The major aim of this study is to provide energy efficient cluster routing protocols for wireless sensor network. Initially, we used a Honey Badger Algorithm for cluster heads selection. Honey Badger Algorithm is used to choose the distance to the base station, residual energy, distance to its neighbors, node degree node and centrality with the optimal cluster head among all sensors. The routing between base stations and cluster heads is performed through Fuzzy Firebug Swarm Optimization algorithm. Hence, the fuzzy decision module automatically adjusts the search behavior of firebug swarm optimization. Fuzzy rules are used with the node degree, residual energy and distance to the base station to address the firebug swarm optimization algorithm’s constraints during routing. Finally, cluster maintenance is done which is the major step to eliminate the failure nodes. This process assists to improve the network lifetime during data transmission by eliminating the faulty nodes and establish an efficient path between the source node and the base station. Wide experimentation is accomplished to assess the efficiency of the proposed protocol using different evaluation measures. The proposed methodology offers improved end-to-end delay, increased packet delivery ratio, higher throughput, low packet drop ratio and minimizes energy consumption when compared with the existing wireless sensor network routing protocols.
Longing for home: a complex emotion in Homer’sOdysseyand Derek Walcott’sOmeros
Authors: Possingham Karen
Published: January 2022

Using recent affect theories, this article focuses on the role that emotion plays in new receptions of ancient texts, in this case the emotion of longing for home — for the place, as well as for the people — as we find it in the Homeric epics and in the modern Caribbean world of Derek Walcott. Longing for home in the Odyssey is portrayed as a contradictory emotion comprising both place attachment and grief, often felt with some ambivalence about returning home at all. I argue that, responding to this emotional tension, in his poem Omeros Walcott attempts to heal the historical wounds of slavery and a longing for a home that no longer exists through a new appreciation of and attachment to the landscape of St. Lucia. In addition, by challenging a Eurocentric view of racial dominance, it becomes possible to acknowledge anew the importance of Egyptian and other African influences on the Homeric tradition, influences that may have been neglected or dismissed, allowing for a new appreciation of the Homeric poem and place attachment in a post-colonial world.
Chromosome-scale haplotype-phased genome assemblies of the male and female lines of wild asparagus (Asparagus kiusianus), a dioecious plant species
Authors: Shirasawa Kenta , Ueta Saki , Murakami Kyoko , Abdelrahman Mostafa , Kanno Akira , Isobe Sachiko
Published: January 2022

Asparagus kiusianus is a disease-resistant dioecious plant species and a wild relative of garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis). To enhance A. kiusianus genomic resources, advance plant science, and facilitate asparagus breeding, we determined the genome sequences of the male and female lines of A. kiusianus. Genome sequence reads obtained with a linked-read technology were assembled into four haplotype-phased contig sequences (∼1.6 Gb each) for the male and female lines. The contig sequences were aligned onto the chromosome sequences of garden asparagus to construct pseudomolecule sequences. Approximately 55,000 potential protein-encoding genes were predicted in each genome assembly, and ∼70% of the genome sequence was annotated as repetitive. Comparative analysis of the genomes of the two species revealed structural and sequence variants between the two species as well as between the male and female lines of each species. Genes with high sequence similarity with the male-specific sex determinant gene in A. officinalis, MSE1/AoMYB35/AspTDF1, were presented in the genomes of the male line but absent from the female genome assemblies. Overall, the genome sequence assemblies, gene sequences, and structural and sequence variants determined in this study will reveal the genetic mechanisms underlying sexual differentiation in plants, and will accelerate disease-resistance breeding in garden asparagus.
Pacemaker implantation via femoral vein and successful arrhythmia management in an elderly patient with Fontan circulation: a case report
Authors: Mizuno Tomofumi , Nishii Nobuhiro , Morita Hiroshi , Ito Hiroshi
Published: January 2022

Background

The frequency of arrhythmias increases after the Fontan operation over time; atrial tachycardia (AT) and sinus node dysfunction (SND) are frequently observed.

Case summary

Our patient was 63-year-old woman who underwent a lateral tunnel Fontan operation for double outlet right ventricle at age 36. She experienced paroxysmal AT for 1 year, and antiarrhythmic medication was not feasible due to symptomatic SND. Computed tomography revealed a 45 mm-sized thrombus in the high right atrium (RA). The patient had three coexisting conditions: paroxysmal AT, symptomatic SND, and the right atrial thrombus, for which total cavopulmonary connection conversion and epicardial pacemaker implantation (PMI) would have been effective; however, given her age and comorbidities, surgical treatment was considered high risk. Catheter ablation was avoided because of the right atrial thrombus. Finally, a transvenous pacemaker was implanted via the right femoral vein to avoid the right atrial thrombus and severe venous tortuosity from the left subclavian vein to the RA. After PMI, the patient was prescribed amiodarone and bisoprolol for AT suppression. Atrial tachycardia occurred once in the third month after discharge. We increased the dose of amiodarone, and she has been tachycardia-free.

Discussion

Transvenous PMI must be considered in cases where open thoracic surgery or catheter ablation cannot be performed. This is the first report of transvenous PMI via the right femoral vein and successful AT and SND management in an elderly Fontan patient.
Trans-coronary pacing via Rota wire prevents bradycardia during rotational atherectomy: a case report
Authors: Kusumoto Hirofumi , Ishibuchi Kasumi , Hasegawa Katsuyuki , Otsuji Satoru
Published: January 2022

Back ground

Rotational atherectomy (RA) is used for plaque modification in patients with heavily calcified coronary lesions. Rotational atherectomy can induce significant bradycardia or atrioventricular block requiring for temporary pacemaker insertion. In this report, we present a case of trans-coronary pacing via a Rota wire to prevent bradycardia during RA in the proximal right coronary artery (RCA).

Case summary

A 72-year-old woman with a 1 month history of worsening effort angina was admitted to our hospital. Computed tomography coronary angiography disclosed significant coronary stenosis with severe calcification in proximal RCA. Coronary angiography revealed significant coronary stenosis with severe calcification in the proximal RCA. Subsequently, percutaneous coronary artery intervention was performed under the guidance of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The pull-back IVUS showed a circumferential calcified lesion in the proximal RCA that was treated using RA, which induced significant bradycardia requiring temporary pacemaker insertion. Immediately, trans-coronary pacing was provided via a Rota wire placed in the far distal RCA; this was used for back-up pacing during RA. Rotational atherectomy was completed by safely modifying the calcified lesion. After successful debulking of the calcified lesion, we dilated with a balloon, and a drug-eluting stent was implanted at the proximal RCA. Final IVUS and angiography showed good stent apposition and expansion. We did not observe any serious intraprocedural complications.

Discussion

Rotational atherectomy is used for plaque modification in patients with heavily calcified coronary lesions. Rotational atherectomy can induce significant bradycardia or atrioventricular block requiring for temporary pacemaker insertion via the transvenous route. This method could be an effective method to prevent bradycardia during RA.
‘Forlorn on the Fringe of Life’: Exploring Working-Class Childhood in Katherine Mansfield’s Short Stories
Authors: Banerjee Argha Kumar
Published: January 2022

In Katherine Mansfield’s short story ‘Life of Ma Parker’, the old, widowed charwoman is plagued by ‘unbearable’ thoughts of her deceased grandson Lennie: ‘Why did he have to suffer so?’ Lennie’s unfortunate death in the story is not a solitary instance of tragic portrayal of working-class childhood in Mansfield’s short fiction. In several of her tales she empathetically explores the marginalized existence of such children, occasionally juxtaposing their deplorable existence with their elite counterparts’. From social exclusion, child labour, parental rejection, infant and child mortality on the one hand to physical and verbal abuse, bullying in the school and appalling living conditions on the other; Mansfield's exploration of the working-class childhood in her short fiction is not only psychologically complex but sociologically significant. Focusing on the relevant short stories in her oeuvre, this brief analysis intends to closely examine such depictions of marginalized childhood experiences, particularly in light of the oppressive societal conditions that validate their repressive alienation and sufferings. Tracing various biographical circumstances that may have fostered Mansfield’s deep empathy with the children’s’ predicament, this analysis also draws attention to her subtle oblique narrative strategies that effectively represent the plight of working-class children in a convincing and an ingeniously nuanced manner.
Determination of perchlorate and its distribution in unhusked rice in China
Authors: Shen Changxin , Liu Lian , Yin Xiaoyao , Tu Fengqin , Wu Kejia , Wu Qian , Peng Lingfeng , Fang Min , Wu Yongning , Gong Zhiyong
Published: January 2022

Perchlorate concentrations in 387 unhusked rice samples from 15 main producing provinces/municipality in China were investigated by high-performance liquid chromatography–tanden mass spectrometry. The results indicated that perchlorate displays a mean level of 17.17 μg/kg in unhusked rice samples. Intriguingly, we also found that perchlorate is mainly observed in rice husk among these collected unhusked rice samples, while less observed in rice bran and milled rice. Specifically, the perchlorate levels in rice were found in the husks (73.61%), bran (10.09%), and milled rice (19.52%), respectively. Our results indicated that there is no significantly perchlorate exposure risk in edible milled rice.
Effects of a Home-Based Physical Training and Activity Promotion Program in Community-Dwelling Older Persons with Cognitive Impairment after Discharge from Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Ullrich Phoebe , Werner Christian , Schönstein Anton , Bongartz Martin , Eckert Tobias , Beurskens Rainer , Abel Bastian , Bauer Jürgen M , Lamb Sarah E , Hauer Klaus
Published: January 2022

Background

Older people with cognitive impairment (CI) are at high risk for mobility limitations and adverse outcomes after discharge from geriatric rehabilitation settings. The aim was to estimate the effects of a specifically designed home-based physical training and activity promotion program on physical capacity, different aspects of physical activity (PA), and psychosocial status.

Methods

Patients with mild to moderate CI (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]: 17–26 points) discharged home after rehabilitation were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a 12-week intervention and 12-week follow-up period. The intervention group performed a CI-specific, autonomous, home-based strength, balance, and walking training supported by tailored motivational strategies to foster training adherence and promote PA. The control group participated in an unspecific motor placebo activity. Primary outcomes were physical capacity (Short Physical Performance Battery [SPPB]) and PA (sensor-based activity time).

Results

Among 118 randomized participants (82.3 ± 6.0 years) with CI (MMSE: 23.3 ± 2.4) and high levels of multimorbidity, those participants undergoing home-based training demonstrated superior outcomes to the control group in SPPB (mean difference between groups 1.9 points; 95% CI: 1.0–2.8; p < .001), with persistent benefits over the follow-up (1.3 points; 95% CI: 0.4–2.2; p < .001). There were no differences in PA across any time points. Among secondary outcomes, fear of falling and activity avoidance behavior were reduced in the intervention group at all time points, life-space mobility improved short-term.

Conclusions

The results demonstrate clinically important benefits of an individually tailored autonomous physical training and activity promotion program on physical capacity and secondary outcomes in different domains in a vulnerable, multimorbid population.

Clinical Trial Registration

ISRCTN82378327
A Community Health Worker-Led Positive Psychology Intervention for African American Older Adults With Chronic Pain
Authors: Janevic Mary , Robinson-Lane Sheria G , Courser Rebecca , Brines Elizabeth , Hassett Afton L
Published: January 2022

Background and Objectives

Experiencing structural racism over the life course contributes to disproportionate pain-related disability among African American older adults. Positive STEPS, delivered by community health workers, is a culturally congruent chronic pain self-management intervention that incorporates positive psychology principles and gives attention to social determinants of pain and pain management.

Research Design and Methods

We conducted a randomized pilot trial among older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain in an underserved, primarily African American community (Detroit, Michigan). The 7-week intervention included weekly telephone sessions with a community health worker; web-based videos teaching pain self-management skills; positive activities (e.g., Life Review, Gratitude Jar); and use of wearable activity trackers. Outcomes were measured at baseline and 8-week follow-up. We assessed participant retention, engagement, and satisfaction.

Results

Study completers (n = 46; 90% retention) were 93% African American, 89% female, mean 72 years, and completed 5.7 of 7 sessions. Intervention participants versus controls showed greater improvement in PROMIS Pain Interference (4.3-point T-score decrease vs. 0.4-point increase; p = .01) and the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (p = .007). Furthermore, compared with controls, significantly more intervention participants reported “better” or “much better” global functioning (86% vs. 25%; p = .000) and pain (67% vs. 21%; p = .003) since baseline. Improvements in physical functioning, social participation, and resilience were noted, but differences were not significant. Participant feedback on the intervention was overwhelmingly positive.

Discussion and Implications

A community health worker-led chronic pain self-management intervention combining positive activities with self-management skills training demonstrated the potential to enhance pain-related functioning among a vulnerable group of older adults.

Clinical Trial Number

NCT04321239
Energy, exergy and economic analysis of combined solar ORC-VCC power plant
Authors: Aryanfar Yashar , Assad Mamdouh El Haj , Khosravi Ali , Atiqure Rahman S M , Sharma Shubham , Alcaraz Jorge Luis García , Alayi Reza
Published: January 2022

A renewable energy source, especially solar energy, is one of the best alternatives for power generation in rural areas. Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) can be powered by a low-grade energy source, suitable for small-scale power production in rural areas. This study investigates the combined power generation and cooling system using the combination of ORC and vapor compression cycle (VCC), where ORC is powered by a parabolic trough solar collector. Thermodynamic and economic simulation of the system is conducted for four different working fluids, which are R245fa, R114, R600 and R142b. It can be concluded that the thermal efficiency of the power plant increases by using the combined ORC-VCC system. The effect of thermodynamic parameters such as turbine inlet temperature and pressure on the system performance is also discussed, and the optimal design values are provided. The results show that the power plant uses R245fa as the minimum exergy destruction rate. The study indicates that R114 gives minimum cost function (PCEU) for 137°C turbine inlet temperature while the minimum PCEU for R142b is obtained at a turbine inlet pressure of 2500 kPa. Finally, the study indicates that the inlet pressure of the turbine has a significant impact on the system cost and thermal efficiency.
Contributions and Blind Spots of Constructivist Norms Research in International Relations, 1980–2018: A Systematic Evidence and Gap Analysis
Authors: Peez Anton
Published: January 2022

The study of international norms from a social constructivist perspective has been one of the major conceptual innovations to the discipline of international relations (IR) over the past forty years. However, despite the concept's ubiquity, there is only a limited understanding of the large-scale trends in research associated with its rise. This analytic essay interrogates conventional wisdom, using a dataset of 7,795 mainstream, English-language journal articles from the Teaching, Research and International Policy Journal Article Database, supplemented with data from Web of Science. How have international norms been studied substantively and methodologically, what are major contributions and blind spots, and which opportunities for future innovation might exist? Although norms research has historically helped expand the scope of issues covered in IR (e.g., gender issues and public health), others have evidence gaps relative to the broader discipline of IR (e.g., terrorism and public opinion). Over the years, the proportion of empirical studies has increased, while purely theoretical, epistemological, and methodological work and innovation have decreased. Despite calls for methodological pluralism, norms research is significantly more qualitative and conceptual than mainstream IR in general and far less multi-method. While more international and less US-based than IR in general, norms research in mainstream journals seems to be no closer to a “Global IR,” measured by regional focus and author affiliation. This suggests three promising avenues for future innovation: greater attention to specific substantive blind spots, more multi-method research, and increased attention to the agenda of Global IR. Beyond these individual insights, this review illustrates the general utility of complementing narrative literature reviews with ones based on quantitative data. It also provides a case study on conceptual proliferation and innovation in IR.
Digital and the modern smart home
Authors: Bardell Alex
Published: January 2022

For the best part of a decade, the smart home has been on the cusp of becoming a reality, writes Alex Bardell, Co-founder of Sustainability for London, Founder of SDAdvocate and active member of the BCS Green IT SG.
Technology for connecting good
Authors: Hamilton Johanna
Published: January 2022

Ethical living, mindfulness and pork pies. Emma Kisby CEO of CoGo tells Johanna Hamilton AMBCS why the future is about conscious consumerism (not abstinence).
Decarbonising compute: a moral and technological imperative
Authors: Aitken Rob
Published: January 2022

Rob Aitken FBCS, Director of Technology at Arm, considers how we can tackle the divergent demands of climate change and tech-based climate solutions.
Barefoot's climate champions
Authors: Chippindall Jon
Published: January 2022

The COP26 conference is a focal point for the global effort to fight climate change. Dr Jon Chippindall, Barefoot Content Director with BCS’ Computing at Schools network explains how tech-savvy kids are making their voices heard too.
The big interview: hacking and defending nation-critical infrastructure
Authors: Cooper Martin
Published: January 2022

How ‘lowest’ as best budgeting, opensource intelligence, a few manuals and a curious mind can turn out the lights. Chris Kubecka, Woman Hacker of The Year 2020, tells Martin Cooper MBCS some of what she knows about the art of the criminally possible.
Green IT: cybersecurity cost or benefit?
Authors: Proctor Tony
Published: January 2022

Tony Proctor CITP, Principal Lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and Emily Proctor, Post-Graduate Student in International Security, discuss whether green IT and cybersecurity can be mutually beneficial.
Cyber risk assessment in a post-IS1 world
Authors: Mackay Matthew
Published: January 2022

Matthew Mackay CITP MBCS, Principal Consultant at Logiq Consulting, discusses how cyber risk assessments have changed following the withdrawal of Information Standard 1 (IS1) by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) for use within government projects.
Closing the loop: automatically identifying abnormal imaging results in scanned documents
Authors: Kumar Akshat , Goodrum Heath , Kim Ashley , Stender Carly , Roberts Kirk , Bernstam Elmer V
Published: January 2022

Objectives

Scanned documents (SDs), while common in electronic health records and potentially rich in clinically relevant information, rarely fit well with clinician workflow. Here, we identify scanned imaging reports requiring follow-up with high recall and practically useful precision.

Materials and methods

We focused on identifying imaging findings for 3 common causes of malpractice claims: (1) potentially malignant breast (mammography) and (2) lung (chest computed tomography [CT]) lesions and (3) long-bone fracture (X-ray) reports. We train our ClinicalBERT-based pipeline on existing typed/dictated reports classified manually or using ICD-10 codes, evaluate using a test set of manually classified SDs, and compare against string-matching (baseline approach).

Results

A total of 393 mammograms, 305 chest CT, and 683 bone X-ray reports were manually reviewed. The string-matching approach had an F1 of 0.667. For mammograms, chest CTs, and bone X-rays, respectively: models trained on manually classified training data and optimized for F1 reached an F1 of 0.900, 0.905, and 0.817, while separate models optimized for recall achieved a recall of 1.000 with precisions of 0.727, 0.518, and 0.275. Models trained on ICD-10-labelled data and optimized for F1 achieved F1 scores of 0.647, 0.830, and 0.643, while those optimized for recall achieved a recall of 1.0 with precisions of 0.407, 0.683, and 0.358.

Discussion

Our pipeline can identify abnormal reports with potentially useful performance and so decrease the manual effort required to screen for abnormal findings that require follow-up.

Conclusion

It is possible to automatically identify clinically significant abnormalities in SDs with high recall and practically useful precision in a generalizable and minimally laborious way.