bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Association of Cytochrome P450 2C9*3 and Angiotensin II Receptor 1 (1166A>C) Gene Polymorphisms With the Antihypertensive Effect of Irbesartan
Authors: Dong Hui , Wang Feng-zhen , Shi Kun , Zhang Xue-shan , Lv Dong-mei
Published: February 2021

Background

To analyze whether the cytochrome P450 enzyme 2C9*3 (CYP2C9*3) and angiotensin II receptor 1 (AGTR1) (1166A>C) gene polymorphisms are associated with the risk of essential hypertension (EH) and the antihypertensive effect of irbesartan.

Methods

A total of 2,057 EH patients and 286 healthy controls were enrolled for genotyping in which 598 EH patients were given irbesartan 150 mg/day for 4 weeks. Blood pressure of all subjects were determined before and at the end of 4-week treatment.

Results

There was no significant difference in genotype frequencies of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A>C) between EH and control groups. Subjects with *1*3/*3*3 genotypes of the CYP2C9*3 gene had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (34.9 ± 15.5 vs. 29.3 ± 10.2 mm Hg and 22.8 ± 9.0 vs. 19.6 ± 8.5 mm Hg, respectively) compared with the *1*1 genotype. For AGTR1 (1166A>C) polymorphisms, although there was no significant difference among AC, CC, and AA genotypes, male subjects with AC/CC genotypes had larger systolic and diastolic blood pressure reductions (32.3 ± 1.3 vs. 29.3 ± 0.5 mm Hg and 21.6 ± 0.8 vs. 19.4 ± 0.1 mm Hg, respectively, P < 0.05) in response to irbesartan treatment compared with the AA genotype.

Conclusions

Polymorphisms of CYP2C9*3 and AGTR1 (1166A>C) are not significantly different between EH and healthy controls. Male subjects with AC and CC genotypes of AGTR1 (1166A>C) show better antihypertensive effect of irbesartan than the AA genotype.
Network meta-analysis of infliximab biosimilars for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Hanrahan Conor , Lee Todd
Published: February 2021

Purpose

This article assesses the relative efficacy and safety of infliximab biosimilars in treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

A frequentist, random-effects network meta-analysis was performed to evaluate evidence from randomized controlled trials that examined the use of infliximab biosimilars for treatment of patients with RA. PubMed/MEDLINE and other sources were searched for reports evaluating rates of response to treatment with the reference product (infliximab) vs an infliximab biosimilar. The primary efficacy outcome of interest was the rate of attainment of ACR20 (ie, 20% improvement in American College of Rheumatology core measures). The primary safety outcome was the rate of treatment-related serious adverse events (SAEs). Data were extracted by the primary author, and an assessment for risks of methodological bias was performed for each evaluated study.

Results

Five studies that enrolled a total of 2,499 patients were included. Overall comparisons using odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) did not indicate statistically significant differences in response to treatment with biosimilar agents relative to each other or the infliximab reference product. ORs for ACR20 response for biosimilars vs infliximab were as follows: 1.475 (95% CI, 0.940-2.315) for infliximab-axxq, 1.259 (95% CI, 0.854-1.855) for infliximab-dyyb, 0.865 (95% CI, 0.5511.358) for infliximab-qbtx, and 0.832 (95% CI, 0.506-1.367) for infliximab-abda. Similar findings were observed in reported SAE rates among patients treated with the various biosimilars.

Conclusion

ACR20 response appears to be comparable and nonsignificantly different between infliximab biosimilars. In the absence of any meaningful differences in safety or efficacy, biosimilar cost may be the deciding factor in choosing a treatment or agent for formulary inclusion.
Genetic basis for variation in the number of cephalic pores in a hybrid zone between closely related species of goby,Gymnogobius breunigiiandGymnogobius castaneus
Authors: Kakioka Ryo , Kume Manabu , Ishikawa Asano , Ansai Satoshi , Hosoki Takuya K , Yamasaki Yo Y , Nagano Atsushi J , Toyoda Atsushi , Kitano Jun
Published: February 2021

Populations or species exploiting different habitats can differ in sensory perception as a result of divergent adaptation. In bony fish, the water current is perceived via neuromasts, the end organ of the lateral line system. Although fish in different habitats are known to vary in neuromasts, we know little about the genetic basis for such variation. Here, we investigate the genetic basis for variation in supraorbital neuromasts in a hybrid zone between the Japanese gobies Gymnogobius breunigii and Gymnogobius castaneus. The former has supraorbital canal neuromasts with six cephalic pores, whereas the latter has only superficial neuromasts with no canals or pores in the supraorbital region. Our genomic analysis showed that G. breunigii and G. castaneus occur mainly in the lower and mid/upper reaches, respectively. In a river in northern Japan, hybrids were found at the sites between the habitats of the two species. These hybrids exhibited anomalies of cephalic pores. Using this hybrid zone, we conducted genome-wide association studies and identified one locus significantly associated with the number of pores. Genomic cline analysis in the hybrid zone demonstrated that this locus exhibited a higher introgression rate compared with the genomic background, indicating the possibility of adaptive introgression.
‘You’re not Serving Time, You’re Serving Christ’: Protestant Religion and Discourses of Responsibilization in a Women’s Prison
Authors: Ellis Rachel
Published: February 2021

Criminologists are increasingly concerned with how incarcerated persons navigate dominant carceral discourses. Insights from narrative criminology reveal that individuals draw on a variety of available discursive resources to adopt, subvert or negotiate dominant messages around what it means to be punished. This article draws on yearlong ethnographic observations inside one US state women’s prison to examine whether and how religion matters for responsibilization discourses promoted by state actors. Examining a case study of Protestant prison activities, I find that religious discourses served dual purposes in light of responsibilization. Interpretively, by describing prison as part of God’s plan, they offered a meaningful counterpoint that mitigated punitive discourses from prison officials. In practice, responsibilization discourses, filtered through the coercive carceral context, re-emerged through a normative religious lens with regard to prison rules and state authority. Considered at the intersection of race, class and gender, this article interrogates how women may draw on discourses from competing institutions such as religion in constructing self-narratives and enacting responsibilization, and how this matters for state control.
Autofluorescence pattern of parathyroid adenomas
Authors: Demarchi M S , Karenovics W , Bédat B , De Vito C , Triponez F
Published: February 2021

Background

Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) is a common endocrine pathology, and it is due to a single parathyroid adenoma in 80–85 per cent of patients. Near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) has recently been used in endocrine surgery to help in the identification of parathyroid tissue, although there is currently no consensus on whether this technique can differentiate between normal and abnormal parathyroid glands. The aim of this study was to describe the autofluorescence pattern of parathyroid adenoma in pHPT.

Methods

Between January and June 2019, patients with pHPT who underwent surgical treatment for parathyroid adenoma were enrolled. Parathyroid autofluorescence was measured.

Results

Twenty-three patients with histologically confirmed parathyroid adenomas were included. Parathyroid adenomas showed a heterogeneous fluorescence pattern, and a well defined autofluorescent ‘cap’ region was observed in 17 of 23 specimens. This region was on average 28 per cent more fluorescent than the rest of the adenoma, and corresponded to a rim of normal histological parathyroid tissue (sensitivity and specificity 88 and 67 per cent respectively). After resection, all patients were treated successfully, with normal postoperative values of calcium and parathyroid hormone documented.

Conclusion

Parathyroid adenomas show a heterogeneous autofluorescence pattern. Using NIRAF imaging, the majority of specimens showed a well defined autofluorescent portion corresponding to a rim of normal parathyroid tissue. Further studies should be conducted to validate these findings.
Robotic complete mesocolic excision with central vascular ligation for right colonic tumours – a propensity score-matching study comparing with standard laparoscopy
Authors: Khan J S , Ahmad A , Odermatt M , Jayne D G , Ahmad N Z , Kandala N , West N P
Published: February 2021

Background

Laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (CME) of the right colon with central vascular ligation (CVL) is a technically demanding procedure. This study retrospectively evaluated the feasibility, safety and oncological outcomes of the procedure when performed using the da Vinci® robotic system.

Methods

A prospective case series was collected over 3 years for patients with right colonic cancers treated by standardized robotic CME with CVL using the superior mesenteric vessels first approach. The CME group was compared to a 2 : 1 propensity score-matched non-CME group who had conventional laparoscopic right colectomy with D2 nodal dissection. Primary outcomes were total lymph node harvest and length of specimen. Secondary outcomes were operative time, postoperative complications, and disease-free and overall survival.

Results

The study included 120 patients (40 in the CME group and 80 in the non-CME group). Lymph node yield was higher (29 versus 18, P = 0.006), the specimen length longer (322 versus 260 mm, P = 0.001) and median operative time was significantly longer (180 versus 130 min, P < 0.001) with robotic CME versus laparoscopy, respectively. Duration of hospital stay was longer with robotic CME, although not significantly (median 6 versus 5 days, P = 0.088). There were no significant differences in R0 resection rate, complications, readmission rates and local recurrence. A trend in survival benefit with robotic CME for disease-free (P = 0.0581) and overall survival (P = 0.0454) at 3 years was documented.

Conclusion

Robotic CME with CVL is feasible and, although currently associated with a longer operation time, it provides good specimen quality, higher lymph node yield and acceptable morbidity, with a disease-free survival advantage.
Proteomic analyses identify major vault protein as a prognostic biomarker for fatal prostate cancer
Authors: Ramberg Håkon , Richardsen Elin , de Souza Gustavo A , Rakaee Mehrdad , Stensland Maria Ekman , Braadland Peder Rustøen , Nygård Ståle , Ögren Olov , Guldvik Ingrid J , Berge Viktor , Svindland Aud , Taskén Kristin A , Andersen Sigve
Published: February 2021

The demographic shift toward an older population will increase the number of prostate cancer cases. A challenge in the treatment of prostate cancer is to avoid undertreatment of patients at high risk of progression following curative treatment. These men can benefit from early salvage treatment. An explorative cohort consisting of tissue from 16 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy, and were either alive or had died from prostate cancer within 10 years postsurgery, was analyzed by mass spectrometry analysis. Following proteomic and bioinformatic analyses, major vault protein (MVP) was identified as a putative prognostic biomarker. A publicly available tissue proteomics dataset and a retrospective cohort of 368 prostate cancer patients were used for validation. The prognostic value of the MVP was verified by scoring immunohistochemical staining of a tissue microarray. High level of MVP was associated with more than 4-fold higher risk for death from prostate cancer (hazard ratio = 4.41, 95% confidence interval: 1.45–13.38; P = 0.009) in a Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for Cancer of the Prostate Risk Assessments Post-surgical (CAPRA-S) score and perineural invasion. Decision curve analyses suggested an improved standardized net benefit, ranging from 0.06 to 0.18, of adding MVP onto CAPRA-S score. This observation was confirmed by receiver operator characteristics curve analyses for the CAPRA-S score versus CAPRA-S and MVP score (area under the curve: 0.58 versus 0.73). From these analyses, one can infer that MVP levels in combination with CAPRA-S score might add onto established risk parameters to identify patients with lethal prostate cancer.
Language Proficiency Entails Tuning Cortical Activity to Second Language Speech
Authors: Lizarazu Mikel , Carreiras Manuel , Bourguignon Mathieu , Zarraga Asier , Molinaro Nicola
Published: February 2021

Cortical tracking of linguistic structures in speech, such as phrases (<3 Hz, delta band) and syllables (3–8 Hz, theta band), is known to be crucial for speech comprehension. However, it has not been established whether this effect is related to language proficiency. Here, we investigate how auditory cortical activity in second language (L2) learners tracked L2 speech. Using magnetoencephalography, we recorded brain activity from participants listening to Spanish and Basque. Participants were Spanish native (L1) language speakers studying Basque (L2) at the same language center at three different levels: beginner (Grade 1), intermediate (Grade 2), and advanced (Grade 3). We found that 1) both delta and theta tracking to L2 speech in the auditory cortex were related to L2 learning proficiency and that 2) top-down modulations of activity in the left auditory regions during L2 speech listening—by the left inferior frontal and motor regions in delta band and by the left middle temporal regions in theta band—were also related to L2 proficiency. Altogether, these results indicate that the ability to learn an L2 is related to successful cortical tracking of L2 speech and its modulation by neuronal oscillations in higher-order cortical regions.
Strategies and Progress in CXCR4-Targeted Anti-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Therapeutic Development
Authors: Huang Lina S M , Snyder Evan Y , Schooley Robert T
Published: February 2021

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been a global public health challenge for several decades. The majority of HIV infection is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), which enters and infects a host cell via the cell surface proteins of CD4 as the primary receptor, and chemokine receptors CXCR4 or CCR5 as the coreceptor–then undergoing replication using the cell’s intracellular machinery. Whereas many drugs targeting CCR5-mediated entry or HIV-1 replication via reverse transcriptase or proteases have long been used clinically, agents targeting CXCR4 are yet to be advanced to clinical application. Here in this review we highlight some of the strategies for and progress made in the discovery of novel small molecules, peptides, and larger molecules that target CXCR4, and their future prospects for translation into the clinic as a new class of anti-HIV therapeutics.
Persistence of Antibodies to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in Relation to Symptoms in a Nationwide Prospective Study
Authors: den Hartog Gerco , Vos Eric R A , van den Hoogen Lotus L , van Boven Michiel , Schepp Rutger M , Smits Gaby , van Vliet Jeffrey , Woudstra Linde , Wijmenga-Monsuur Alienke J , van Hagen Cheyenne C E , Sanders Elisabeth A M , de Melker Hester E , van der Klis Fiona R M , van Binnendijk Robert S
Published: February 2021

Background

Assessing the duration of immunity following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a first priority to gauge the degree of protection following infection. Such knowledge is lacking, especially in the general population. Here, we studied changes in immunoglobulin isotype seropositivity and immunoglobulin G (IgG) binding strength of SARS-CoV-2–specific serum antibodies up to 7 months following onset of symptoms in a nationwide sample.

Methods

Participants from a prospective representative serological study in the Netherlands were included based on IgG seroconversion to the spike S1 protein of SARS-CoV-2 (N = 353), with up to 3 consecutive serum samples per seroconverted participant (N = 738). Immunoglobulin M (IgM), immunoglobulin A (IgA), and IgG antibody concentrations to S1, and increase in IgG avidity in relation to time since onset of disease symptoms, were determined.

Results

While SARS-CoV-2–specific IgM and IgA antibodies declined rapidly after the first month after disease onset, specific IgG was still present in 92% (95% confidence interval [CI], 89%–95%) of the participants after 7 months. The estimated 2-fold decrease of IgG antibodies was 158 days (95% CI, 136–189 days). Concentrations were sustained better in persons reporting significant symptoms compared to asymptomatic persons or those with mild upper respiratory complaints only. Similarly, avidity of IgG antibodies for symptomatic persons showed a steeper increase over time compared with persons with mild or no symptoms (P = .022).

Conclusions

SARS-CoV-2–specific IgG antibodies persist and show increasing avidity over time, indicative of underlying immune maturation. These data support development of immune memory against SARS-CoV-2, providing insight into protection of the general unvaccinated part of the population.

Clinical Trials Registration

NL8473 (the Dutch trial registry).
Predicting the EQ-5D utilities from the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire in patients with heart failure
Authors: Thomas Merrill , Jones Philip G , Cohen David J , Suzanne Arnold V , Magnuson Elizabeth A , Wang Kaijun , Thourani Vinod H , Fonarow Gregg C , Sandhu Alexander T , Spertus John A
Published: February 2021

Introduction

Evaluation of health status benefits, cost-effectiveness, and value of new heart failure therapies is critical for supporting their use. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) measures patients’ heart failure-specific health status but does not provide utilities needed for cost-effectiveness analyses. We mapped the KCCQ scores to EQ-5D scores so that estimates of societal-based utilities can be generated to support economic analyses.

Methods

Using data from two US cohort studies, we developed models for predicting EQ-5D utilities (3L and 5L versions) from the KCCQ (23- and 12-item versions). In addition to predicting scores directly, we considered predicting the five EQ-5D health state items and deriving utilities from the predicted responses, allowing different countries’ health state valuations to be used. Model validation was performed internally via bootstrap and externally using data from two clinical trials. Model performance was assessed using R2, mean prediction error, mean absolute prediction error, and calibration of observed vs. predicted values.

Results

The EQ-5D-3L models were developed from 1000 health status assessments in 547 patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), while the EQ-5D-5L model was developed from 3925 patients with HFrEF. For both versions, models predicting individual EQ-5D items performed as well as those predicting utilities directly. The selected models for the 3L had internally validated R2 of 48.4–50.5% and 33.7–45.6% on external validation. The 5L version had validated R2 of 57.7%.

Conclusion

Mappings from the KCCQ to the EQ-5D can yield the estimates of societal-based utilities to support cost-effectiveness analyses when EQ-5D data are not available.
Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, ischaemic ventricular fibrillation, and torsade de pointes: importance of the QT and the coupling interval in the differential diagnosis
Authors: Rosso Raphael , Hochstadt Aviram , Viskin Dana , Chorin Ehud , Schwartz Arie Lorin , Tovia-Brodie Oholi , Laish-Farkash Avishag , Havakuk Ofer , Gepstein Lior , Banai Shmuel , Viskin Sami
Published: February 2021

Aims

Distinctive types of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (VT) respond differently to different forms of therapy. We therefore performed the present study to define the electrocardiographic characteristics of different forms of polymorphic VT.

Methods and results

We studied 190 patients for whom the onset of 305 polymorphic VT events was available. The study group included 87 patients with coronary artery disease who had spontaneous polymorphic VT triggered by short-coupled extrasystoles in the absence of myocardial ischaemia. This group included 32 patients who had a long QT interval but nevertheless had their polymorphic VT triggered by ectopic beats with short coupling interval, a subcategory termed ‘pseudo-torsade de pointes] (TdP). For comparison, we included 50 patients who had ventricular fibrillation (VF) during acute myocardial infarction (‘ischaemic VF’ group) and 53 patients with drug-induced TdP (‘true TdP’ group). The QT of patients with pseudo-TdP was (by definition) longer than that of patients with polymorphic VT and normal QT (QTc 491.4 ± 25.2 ms vs. 447.3 ± 55.6 ms, P < 0.001). However, their QT was significantly shorter than that of patients with true TdP (QTc 564.6 ± 75.6 ms, P < 0.001). Importantly, the coupling interval of the ectopic beat triggering the arrhythmia was just as short during pseudo-TdP as during polymorphic VT with normal QT (359.1 ± 38.1 ms vs. 356.6 ± 39.4 ms, P = 0.467) but was much shorter than during true TdP (581.2 ± 95.3 ms, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The coupling interval helps discriminate between polymorphic VT that occurs despite a long QT interval (pseudo-TdP) and polymorphic arrhythmias striking because of a long QT (true TdP).
Electrocardiographic recognition of benign and malignant right ventricular arrhythmias
Authors: Lee John , Adeola Oluwaseun , Garan Hasan , Stevenson William G , Yarmohammadi Hirad
Published: February 2021

Ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) can originate from different anatomical locations of the right ventricle. Ventricular arrhythmias originating from right ventricle have unique electrocardiographic (ECG) characteristics that can be utilized to localize the origin of the arrhythmia. This is crucial in pre-procedural planning particularly for ablation treatments. Moreover, non-ischaemic structural heart diseases, such as infiltrative and congenital heart diseases, are associated with the VAs that exhibit particular ECG findings. This article comprehensively reviews discriminatory ECG characteristics of VAs in the right ventricle with and without structural right ventricular diseases.
Early signaling pathways mediating dormant cyst formation in terrestrial unicellular eukaryoteColpoda
Authors: Matsuoka Tatsuomi
Published: February 2021

Dormant (resting) cyst formation (encystment) in unicellular eukaryotes is the process of a large-scale digestion of vegetative cell structures and reconstruction into the dormant form, which is performed by cell signaling pathways accompanied by up- or down-regulation of protein expression, and by posttranslational modification such as phosphorylation. In this review, the author describes the morphogenetic events during encystment of Colpoda and the early molecular events in the Ca2+/calmodulin-triggered signaling pathways for encystment, based mainly on our research results of the past 10 years; especially, the author discusses the role of c-AMP dependently phosphorylated proteins (ribosomal P0 protein, ribosomal S5 protein, Rieske iron–sulfur protein, actin and histone H4) and encystment-dependently upregulated (EF-1α-HSP60, actin-related protein) and downregulated proteins (ATP synthase β-chain). In addition, the roles of AMPK, a key molecule in the signaling pathways leading to Colpoda encystment, and differentially expressed genes and proteins during encystment of other ciliates are discussed.
The Gene Expression Deconvolution Interactive Tool (GEDIT): accurate cell type quantification from gene expression data
Authors: Nadel Brian B , Lopez David , Montoya Dennis J , Ma Feiyang , Waddel Hannah , Khan Misha M , Mangul Serghei , Pellegrini Matteo
Published: February 2021

Background

The cell type composition of heterogeneous tissue samples can be a critical variable in both clinical and laboratory settings. However, current experimental methods of cell type quantification (e.g., cell flow cytometry) are costly, time consuming and have potential to introduce bias. Computational approaches that use expression data to infer cell type abundance offer an alternative solution. While these methods have gained popularity, most fail to produce accurate predictions for the full range of platforms currently used by researchers or for the wide variety of tissue types often studied.

Results

We present the Gene Expression Deconvolution Interactive Tool (GEDIT), a flexible tool that utilizes gene expression data to accurately predict cell type abundances. Using both simulated and experimental data, we extensively evaluate the performance of GEDIT and demonstrate that it returns robust results under a wide variety of conditions. These conditions include multiple platforms (microarray and RNA-seq), tissue types (blood and stromal), and species (human and mouse). Finally, we provide reference data from 8 sources spanning a broad range of stromal and hematopoietic types in both human and mouse. GEDIT also accepts user-submitted reference data, thus allowing the estimation of any cell type or subtype, provided that reference data are available.

Conclusions

GEDIT is a powerful method for evaluating the cell type composition of tissue samples and provides excellent accuracy and versatility compared to similar tools. The reference database provided here also allows users to obtain estimates for a wide variety of tissue samples without having to provide their own data.
Advanced three-dimensional electromagnetic modelling using a nested integral equation approach
Authors: Chen Chaojian , Kruglyakov Mikhail , Kuvshinov Alexey
Published: February 2021

Most of the existing 3-D electromagnetic (EM) modelling solvers based on the integral equation (IE) method exploit fast Fourier transform (FFT) to accelerate the matrix–vector multiplications. This in turn requires a laterally uniform discretization of the modelling domain. However, there is often a need for multiscale modelling and inversion, for instance, to properly account for the effects of non-uniform distant structures and, at the same time, to accurately model the effects from local anomalies. In such scenarios, the usage of laterally uniform grids leads to excessive computational loads, in terms of both memory and time. To alleviate this problem, we developed an efficient 3-D EM modelling tool based on a multinested IE approach. Within this approach, the IE modelling is first performed at a large domain and on a (laterally uniform) coarse grid, and then the results are refined in the region of interest by performing modelling at a smaller domain and on a (laterally uniform) denser grid. At the latter stage, the modelling results obtained at the previous stage are exploited. The lateral uniformity of the grids at each stage allows us to keep using the FFT for the acceleration of matrix–vector multiplications. An important novelty of the paper is the development of a ‘rim domain’ concept that further improves the performance of the multinested IE approach. We verify the developed tool on both idealized and realistic 3-D conductivity models, and demonstrate its efficiency and accuracy.
Isostasy with Love – I: elastic equilibrium
Authors: Beuthe Mikael
Published: February 2021

Isostasy explains why observed gravity anomalies are generally much weaker than what is expected from topography alone, and why planetary crusts can support high topography without breaking up. On Earth, it is used to subtract from gravity anomalies the contribution of nearly compensated surface topography. On icy moons and dwarf planets, it constrains the compensation depth which is identified with the thickness of the rigid layer above a soft layer or a global subsurface ocean. Classical isostasy, however, is not self-consistent, neglects internal stresses and geoid contributions to topographical support, and yields ambiguous predictions of geoid anomalies. Isostasy should instead be defined either by minimizing deviatoric elastic stresses within the silicate crust or icy shell, or by studying the dynamic response of the body in the long-time limit. In this paper, I implement the first option by formulating Airy isostatic equilibrium as the linear response of an elastic shell to a combination of surface and internal loads. Isostatic ratios are defined in terms of deviatoric Love numbers which quantify deviations with respect to a fluid state. The Love number approach separates the physics of isostasy from the technicalities of elastic-gravitational spherical deformations, and provides flexibility in the choice of the interior structure. Since elastic isostasy is invariant under a global rescaling of the shell shear modulus, it can be defined in the fluid shell limit, which is simpler and reveals the deep connection with the asymptotic state of dynamic isostasy. If the shell is homogeneous, minimum stress isostasy is dual to a variant of elastic isostasy called zero deflection isostasy, which is less physical but simpler to compute. Each isostatic model is combined with general boundary conditions applied at the surface and bottom of the shell, resulting in one-parameter isostatic families. At long wavelength, the thin shell limit is a good approximation, in which case the influence of boundary conditions disappears as all isostatic families members yield the same isostatic ratios. At short wavelength, topography is supported by shallow stresses so that Airy isostasy becomes similar to either pure top loading or pure bottom loading. The isostatic ratios of incompressible bodies with three homogeneous layers are given in analytical form in the text and in complementary software.
Measurement of population mental health: evidence from a mobile phone survey in India
Authors: Coffey Diane , Hathi Payal , Khalid Nazar , Thorat Amit
Published: February 2021

In high-income countries, population health surveys often measure mental health. This is less common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including in India, where mental health is under-researched relative to its disease burden. The objective of this study is to assess the performance of two questionnaires for measuring population mental health in a mobile phone survey. We adapt the Kessler-6 screening questionnaire and the World Health Organization’s Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) for a mobile phone survey in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The questionnaires differ in the symptoms they measure and in the number of response options offered. Questionnaires are randomly assigned to respondents. We consider a questionnaire to perform well if it identifies geographic and demographic disparities in mental health that are consistent with the literature and does not suffer from selective non-response. Both questionnaires measured less mental distress in Maharashtra than in Bihar and Jharkhand, which is consistent with Maharashtra’s higher human development indicators. The adapted SRQ, but not the adapted Kessler-6, identified women as having worse mental health than men in all three states. Conclusions about population mental health based on the adapted Kessler-6 are likely to be influenced by low response rates (about 82% across the three samples). Respondents were different from non-respondents: non-respondents were less educated and more likely to be female. The SRQ’s higher response rate (about 94% across the three states) may reflect the fact that it was developed for use in LMICs and that it focuses on physical, rather than emotional, symptoms, which may be less stigmatized.
Impact of age-selective vs non-selective physical-distancing measures against coronavirus disease 2019: a mathematical modelling study
Authors: Ortega-Quijano Daniel , Ortega-Quijano Noe
Published: February 2021

Background

There is a real possibility of successive COVID-19-epidemic waves with devastating consequences. In this context, it has become mandatory to design age-selective measures aimed at achieving an optimal balance between protecting public health and maintaining a viable economic activity.

Methods

We programmed a Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Removed (SEIR) model in order to introduce epidemiologically relevant age classes into the outbreak-dynamics analysis. The model was fitted to the official death toll and calculated age distribution of deaths in Wuhan using a constrained linear least-squares algorithm. Subsequently, we used synthetic location-specific and age-structured contact matrices to quantify the effect of age-selective interventions both on mortality and on economic activity in Wuhan. For this purpose, we simulated four different scenarios ranging from an absence of measures to age-selective interventions with stronger physical-distancing measures for older individuals.

Results

An age-selective strategy could reduce the death toll by >30% compared with the non-selective measures applied during Wuhan’s lockdown for the same workforce. Moreover, an alternative age-selective strategy could allow a 5-fold increase in the population working on site without a detrimental impact on the death toll compared with the Wuhan scenario.

Conclusion

Our results suggest that age-selective-distancing measures focused on the older population could have achieved a better balance between COVID-19 mortality and economic activity during the first COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan. However, the implications of this need to be interpreted along with considerations of the practical feasibility and potential wider benefits and drawbacks of such a strategy.
Assessing the role of genome-wide DNA methylation between smoking and risk of lung cancer using repeated measurements: the HUNT study
Authors: Sun Yi-Qian , Richmond Rebecca C , Suderman Matthew , Min Josine L , Battram Thomas , Flatberg Arnar , Beisvag Vidar , Nøst Therese Haugdahl , Guida Florence , Jiang Lin , Wahl Sissel Gyrid Freim , Langhammer Arnulf , Skorpen Frank , Walker Rosie M , Bretherick Andrew D , Zeng Yanni , Chen Yue , Johansson Mattias , Sandanger Torkjel M , Relton Caroline L , Mai Xiao-Mei
Published: February 2021

Background

It is unclear if smoking-related DNA methylation represents a causal pathway between smoking and risk of lung cancer. We sought to identify novel smoking-related DNA methylation sites in blood, with repeated measurements, and to appraise the putative role of DNA methylation in the pathway between smoking and lung cancer development.

Methods

We derived a nested case-control study from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), including 140 incident patients who developed lung cancer during 2009–13 and 140 controls. We profiled 850 K DNA methylation sites (Illumina Infinium EPIC array) in DNA extracted from blood that was collected in HUNT2 (1995–97) and HUNT3 (2006–08) for the same individuals. Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) were performed for a detailed smoking phenotype and for lung cancer. Two-step Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were performed to assess the potential causal effect of smoking on DNA methylation as well as of DNA methylation (13 sites as putative mediators) on risk of lung cancer.

Results

The EWAS for smoking in HUNT2 identified associations at 76 DNA methylation sites (P < 5 × 10–8), including 16 novel sites. Smoking was associated with DNA hypomethylation in a dose-response relationship among 83% of the 76 sites, which was confirmed by analyses using repeated measurements from blood that was collected at 11 years apart for the same individuals. Two-step MR analyses showed evidence for a causal effect of smoking on DNA methylation but no evidence for a causal link between DNA methylation and the risk of lung cancer.

Conclusions

DNA methylation modifications in blood did not seem to represent a causal pathway linking smoking and the lung cancer risk.
A rapid harmonic detection method for grid-connected photovoltaic when three-phase voltage is unbalanced
Authors: Wu Tiezhou , Wang An , Xu Yawen
Published: February 2021

By using power electronic devices, photovoltaic grid-connected power generation may inject harmonics into the power system. As the photovoltaic grid-connected inverter has the same basic structure as the active power filter, so the unified control of the photovoltaic grid and active filtering can be achieved. When the current unified control system compensates harmonics of the grid side, it mainly uses ip-iq harmonic detection method, which is based on instantaneous reactive power theory. When the three-phase voltage is unbalanced, the method has a large voltage phase angle detection error and the signal of the low-pass filter tracking system is long, detection time delay and even failure occur. This paper proposes an improved fast harmonic detection method. When phase deviation or amplitude change occurs to the three-phase voltage, the positive and negative-sequence voltages are simultaneously park transformed. The negative-sequence component is filtered by the current average module to obtain the fundamental amount of the voltage, then the phase angle of the positive-sequence voltage is accurately calculated to improve the harmonic current detection accuracy. Through the study of the integral method, it is found that the least common multiple of each harmonic period can be used as the integral interval, and the integral value is also zero, so the detection delay time is reduced by replacing the low-pass filter with an integration module. The simulation results show that the proposed harmonic detection algorithm can accurately detect harmonics when the three-phase voltage is unbalanced, and about 0.057 s improve the harmonic detection speed compared with the commonly used ip-iq method.
Sky type classification for the ISO/CIE Standard General Skies: a proposal for a new approach
Authors: Alshaibani Khalid , Li Danny
Published: February 2021

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)/Commission International de l’Eclairage (CIE) Standard General Skies is a set of standard skies that can describe, mathematically, the distribution of the luminance of a sky. Since the introduction of such standard, several methods for sky type classification based on the ISO/CIE standard types have been proposed. However, each of these methods could lead to a different result. Based on sky luminance measurement and through sky type classification in Dammam city in Saudi Arabia, a new procedure is proposed that can help reach a more accurate result.
Derivative-free high-order uniformly accurate schemes for highly oscillatory systems
Authors: Chartier Philippe , Lemou Mohammed , Méhats Florian , Zhao Xiaofei
Published: February 2021

In this paper we address the computational aspects of uniformly accurate numerical methods for solving highly oscillatory evolution equations. In particular, we introduce an approximation strategy that allows the construction of arbitrary high-order methods using solely the right-hand side of the differential equation. No derivative of the vector field is required, while uniform accuracy is retained. The strategy is then applied to two different formulations of the problem, namely the two-scale and the micro–macro formulations. Numerical experiments on the Hénon–Heiles system, as well as on the Klein–Gordon equation and a Vlasov-type problem, confirm the validity of the new strategy.
Hodge-to-de Rham Degeneration for Stacks
Authors: Kubrak Dmitry , Prikhodko Artem
Published: February 2021

We introduce a notion of a Hodge-proper stack and apply the strategy of Deligne and Illusie to prove the Hodge-to-de Rham degeneration in this setting. In order to reduce the statement in characteristic $0$ to characteristic $p$, we need to find a good integral model of a stack (namely, a Hodge-proper spreading), which, unlike in the case of proper schemes, need not to exist in general. To address this problem, we investigate the property of spreadability in more detail by generalizing standard spreading out results for schemes to higher Artin stacks and showing that all proper and some global quotient stacks are Hodge-properly spreadable. As a corollary, we deduce a (noncanonical) Hodge decomposition of the equivariant cohomology for certain classes of varieties with an algebraic group action.
Susceptibility and Attenuated Transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in Domestic Cats
Authors: Bao Linlin , Song Zhiqi , Xue Jing , Gao Hong , Liu Jiangning , Wang Jie , Guo Qian , Zhao Binbin , Qu Yajin , Qi Feifei , Gong Shuran , Liu Mingya , Lv Qi , Li Dan , Han Yunlin , Zhao Wenjie , Deng Shoulong , Liu Yunpeng , Xiang Zhiguang , Yang Bochao , Deng Wei , Yu Haisheng , Cong Zhe , Wei Qiang , Xu Jianguo , Gao George F , Qin Chuan
Published: February 2021

Domestic cats, an important companion animal, can be infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). This has aroused concern regarding the ability of domestic cats to spread the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019. We systematically demonstrated the pathogenesis and transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in cats. Serial passaging of the virus between cats dramatically attenuated the viral transmissibility, likely owing to variations of the amino acids in the receptor-binding domain sites of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 between humans and cats. These findings provide insight into the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 in cats and information for protecting the health of humans and cats.
Investigating Physical Interaction With Digital Data Through the Materialization of Email Handling
Authors: Kim Juntae , Self James A , Park Young-Woo
Published: February 2021

Adopting a re-materialization approach, we designed and implemented an everyday interactive artifact that enables an individual to monitor and establish the reconfirmation time of email data. This device represents a new means of handling and interacting with email. To investigate the value of the materialization of email data through a daily interactive object, Maili, we conducted a 1-month field study with five participants in their work environments. The results showed that applying physicality to email handling helped to increase accessibility to and interest in the data, as well as in the reconfirmation function of email. Results also indicated the value of combining non-digital (the tray) with digital functions. By presenting the process of using the dematerialized data, our findings offer new insights into how we can materialize digital information in everyday tangible artifacts.
Bringing the Dead Home: Hindu Invitation Rituals in Tamil South India
Authors: Allocco Amy L
Published: February 2021

Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Tamil-speaking South India, this article presents one Hindu invitation ritual to return dead relatives known as pūvāṭaikkāri to the world of the living and install them as household deities. This two-day ceremony demonstrates that prevailing scholarly perceptions of death and what follows it in Hindu traditions have constrained our ability to appreciate other models for ritual relationships between the living and the dead. These vernacular rituals call the dead back into the world, convince them to possess a human host, and persuade them to be permanently installed in the family’s domestic shrine so they may protect and sustain living kin. Rather than aiming to irrevocably separate the dead from the living, these rites are instead oriented toward eventual conjunction with the dead and therefore reveal a fundamentally different picture than that articulated in the majority of Hinduism’s sacred texts and scholarly accounts.
Discontinuous finite element method for efficient three-dimensional elastic wave simulation
Authors: Hong Chengyu , Wang Xuben , Zhao Gaishan , Xue Zhao , Deng Fei , Gu Qinping , Song Zhixiang , Yuan Liansheng , Meng Xiangbin , Liang Shuobo , Yang Shangqin
Published: February 2021

The existing discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element method (FEM) for the numerical simulation of elastic wave propagation is primarily implemented in two dimensions. Here, a discontinuous FEM (DFEM) for efficient three-dimensional (3D) elastic wave simulation is presented. First, the velocity–stress equations of 3D elastic waves in isotropic media are transformed into first-order coefficient-changed partial differential equations. A DG discretisation method for wave field values on a unit boundary is then defined using the local Lax–Friedrichs flux format. The equations are first transformed into equivalent integral equations, and subsequently into a spatial semi-discrete ordinary differential equation system using a hierarchical orthogonal basis function. The DFEM is extended to an arbitrary high-order accuracy in the time domain using the exponential integrator technique and the explicit optimal strong-stability-preserving Runge–Kutta method. Finally, an efficient method for selecting the calculation area of the geometry of the current shot record is realised. For the computation, a multi-node parallelism with improved resource utilisation and parallelisation efficiency is implemented. The numerical results show that the proposed method can improve both the accuracy of the simulation and the efficiency of the calculation compared with existing methods.
An edge-assisted smooth method for potential field data
Authors: Zheng Shijing , Meng Xiaohong , Wang Jun
Published: February 2021

Edge detection is one of the most commonly used methods for the interpretation of potential field data, because it can highlight the horizontal inhomogeneous of underground geological bodies (faults, tectonic boundaries, etc.). A variety of edge detection methods have been reported in the literature, most of which are based on the combined transformation results of horizontal and vertical derivatives of the observations. Consequently, these edge detection methods are sensitive to noise. Therefore, noise reduction is desirable ahead of applying edge detection methods. However, the application of conventional filters smears discontinuities in the data to a certain extent, which would inevitably induce unfavourable influence on subsequent edge detection. To solve this problem, a novel edge-preserving smooth method for potential field data is proposed, which is based on the concept of guided filter developed for image processing. The new method substitutes each data point by a combination of a series of coefficients of linear functions. It was tested on synthetic model and real data, and the results showed that it can effectively smooth potential field data while preserving major structural and stratigraphic discontinuities. The obtained data from the new filter contain more obvious features of existing faults, which brings advantageous to further geological interpretations.
3D general-measure inversion of crosswell EM data using a direct solver
Authors: Wang Xuan , Shen Jinsong , Wang Zhigang
Published: February 2021

We present a three-dimensional (3D) general-measure inversion scheme of crosswell electromagnetic (EM) data in the frequency domain with a direct forward solver. In the forward problem, we discretised the EM Helmholtz equation by the staggered-grid finite difference (SGFD) scheme and solved it using the Intel MKL PARDISO direct solver. By applying a direct solver, we simultaneously solved the multisource forward problems at a given frequency. In the inversion, we integrated a general measure of data misfit and model constraints with linearised least-squares inversion. We reconstructed a model with blocky features by selecting the appropriate measure parameters and model constraints. We used the adjoint equation method to explicitly calculate the Jacobian matrix, which facilitated the determination of an appropriate initial value for the regularisation coefficient in the objective function. We illustrated the inversion scheme using synthetic crosswell EM data with a general measure, the L2 norm, and, specifically, two mixed norms.