bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Moje związki z południową Francją. Wspomnienia
Authors: Chruściński Kazimierz
Published: October 2022

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Pan(k)optikum poetyckie
Authors: Rajewska Ewa
Published: October 2022

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Splątane włókno dziwnej tkaniny: Roman Orwid-Bulicz i jego „nieliterackie książki”
Authors: Chojnacki Paweł
Published: October 2022

Roman Orwid-Bulicz – prawnik i urzędnik w II RP; po wojnie – pisarz oraz działacz społeczny, początkowo w Niemczech, a następnie w Wielkiej Brytanii to znaczący reprezentant emigracyjnej kultury popularnej. Jego biografię literacką cechuje różnorodność. Zaczynał od lekkich powieści kryminalnych, poprzez – niestroniące od eksperymentów formalnych – dramaty dotyczące problematyki Katynia i kacetów. Wypowiedział się również w tradycyjnej beletrystyce opisującej realia okupacji w Warszawie oraz wejście Sowietów do Polski w 1945 r., a także w zbiorze nowel o tematyce obozowej i emigracyjnej. Dał się szerzej poznać jako autor powieści odcinkowych oraz publicystyki ogłaszanej w formie pism ulotnych oraz na łamach prasy. Aktywny i znany elitom oraz publiczności uczestnik polskiego życia społeczno-kulturalnego nad Tamizą, zwolennik obozu prezydenta Augusta Zaleskiego. „Literacki sierżant”, który swe pióro podporządkował koniunkturalnie rozrywce i propagandzie, ale również obowiązkom świadka makabr XX wieku. Jako jeden z niewielu autorów pozostawił dzieła przedstawiające najważniejsze hekatomby lat 1939–1945: wywózki na Wschód i zbrodnię katyńską, męczeństwo Żydów i powstanie w Getcie Warszawskim, powstanie warszawskie, niemieckie obozy koncentracyjne oraz wejście Sowietów zwiastujące nową okupację. Dorobek ten kontrastuje z rolą twórcy „powieści detektywnych” – ciągle mało znanego, a barwnego fragmentu emigracyjnych „obszarów trzecich literatury.
Józef Mackiewicz w niezależnym obiegu wydawniczym w PRL w latach 1976–1989 (1990)
Authors: Supruniuk Mirosław A.
Published: October 2022

Józef Mackiewicz był, obok Czesława Miłosza, najczęściej drukowanym w niezależnych od cenzury oficyna w latach 1976–1990, polskim pisarzem emigracyjnym. Stało się to za sprawą Niny Karsov, która wydawała książki Mackiewicza w Londynie i wspierała wszystkie podziemne oficyny, które chciały publikować jego książki. Wysoki poziom prozy Mackiewicza, książek tak literackich, jak i zwłaszcza politycznych, udostępnianych czytelnikom niezależnego obiegu wydawniczego, prasy podziemnej czy nielegalnych bibliotek, uwiarygadniał podziemną działalność w oczach wielu czytelników. Teksty Mackiewicza weszły do dyskursu politycznego, w mniejszym stopniu historyczno-literackiego, i miały wpływ na rozwój pewnej formy myślenia o antykomunizmie.
„Wdzięczny jestem za wydrukowanie ramoty mojej...”: listy Stanisława Kościałkowskiego do „Wiadomości”
Authors: Kubiak Weronika , Supruniuk Mirosław A.
Published: October 2022

Artykuł prezentuje 31 listów wybitnego historyka Uniwersytetu Stefana Batorego w Wilnie, profesora Stanisława Kościałkowskiego, napisanych do redaktora tygodnika „Wiadomości” Mieczysława Grydzewskiego, w latach 1948–1964. S. Kościałkowski podzielił los ponad 250 polskich uczonych przedwojennych uczelni, którzy na emigracji zmuszeni byli zastąpić pracę naukową i dydaktyczną, tę która stanowiła ich główne zajęcie przed wojną, sporadycznymi wykładami, głównie w środowiskach polskich, udziałem w nielicznych konferencjach naukowych, na które zapraszani byli jako uczeni niepolscy, pracami w towarzystwach naukowych oraz malejącą działalnością wydawniczą o charakterze ściśle naukowym. Głównym miejscem dzielenia się wiedzą i przemyśleniami były periodyki popularnonaukowe oraz czasopisma społeczno-literackie. Wśród nich „Wiadomości” M. Grydzewskiego, które zamieszczały duże szkice historyczne oraz recenzje i sprawozdania. Można przyjąć, że wszyscy polscy uczeni emigracyjni, w mniejszym lub większym stopniu, korzystali z gościnności Grydzewskiego, bez względu na temat i aktualność podejmowanych zagadnień, a „Wiadomości” dzięki najwyższej poczytności pozwalały na popularyzację historii Polski w stopniu nieporównywalnym na emigracji lat powojennych.
Cost-Effective Social Media Influencer Marketing
Authors: Han Xiao , Wang Leye , Fan Weiguo
Published: October 2022

It is becoming more and more promising that marketers hire influencers to launch campaigns for spreading items (e.g., articles or videos about products) over social media platforms. Such social media influencer marketing may generate tremendous utility if the influencers persuade their followers to adopt the recommended items. This could further spur extensive spontaneous item propagation on social media. Although prior studies mainly focus on influencer-selection strategies by the influencers’ traits, marketers with a number of items are often requested to determine both influencers and marketing items. The appropriateness between influencers and items is critical, but rarely considered in prior influencer-identification methods. We thus formulate and solve a novel cost-effective social media influencer marketing problem to maximize marketers’ utility by selecting appropriate pairwise combinations of influencers and items (i.e., item-influencer pairs). In particular, we first model utility functions and propose a simulation-based method to estimate the appropriateness of arbitrarily given item-influencer pairs by their potential utility. With the estimated utility, we devise an algorithm to iteratively select appropriate item-influencer pairs under various realistic conditions, including marketers’ budget, influencers’ payments, item-user fitness, social propagation, and influencers’ marketing slots. We theoretically prove that the marketing utility achieved by our method is near-optimal. We also conduct extensive empirical experiments with three real-world data sets to verify the superiority of our method in terms of cost-effectiveness and computational efficiency. Lastly, we discuss insightful theoretical and practical implications.

History: Accepted by Ram Ramesh, Area Editor for Data Science and Machine Learning.

Funding: This study was partially funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 72071125, 72031001, and 61972008].

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/ijoc.2022.1246 .
Pre- and post- emergence control of Hovenia dulcis with extracts obtained from pepper (Capsicum baccatum)
Authors: Anchieta Mylena Gonçalves , Pigatto Gianlucca , Baisch Jéssica Streck , Dolianitis Bianca Motta , Coradi Paulo Carteri , Guedes Jerson Vanderlei Carús , Mazutti Marcio Antonio , Tres Marcus Vinícius , Zabot Giovani Leone
Published: October 2022

This study evaluated the efficiency of extracts obtained from Capsicum baccatum by ultrasound-assisted extraction in the control of Hovenia dulcis, which is an invasive species popularly known in Brazil as “uva-do-japão”. The effects of extraction time (20 – 60 min), maximum power fraction (50 – 100%), and pulse cycle (0.3 – 0.7) were investigated on the activities of extracts. The pre-emergence assays demonstrated inhibition of 45-100% on the 14th day. In the post-emergence, the root and shoot lengths were 3.0 and 2.6 times smaller than the control (without application of extract). The fresh mass and dry mass were 4.7 and 4.2 times lower than the control. All these best results were found in the assay with higher extraction time (60 min) and power fraction (100%), and lower pulse cycle (0.3). Chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids ranged from 0.84 to 1.15, 0.19 to 0.35 and 0.32 to 0.40 mg/g fresh mass, respectively. Overall, it is demonstrated that extracts from Capsicum baccatum presented an inhibitory effect on the germination of Hovenia dulcis. Although the extract did not completely inhibit germination or cause the death of seedlings, it presented an effect against the normal development of seedlings, including the roots and shoots, thus allowing it to be used as a control strategy before germination or for small plants of this invasive species.
Comprehensive field pattern analysis for tailoring of reflectance in a hybrid subwavelength plasmonic grating refractive index sensor and its potential for noninvasive salivary glucose monitoring
Authors: Qayoom Taban , Najeeb-ud-din Hakim
Published: October 2022

A compact hybrid two-dimensional plasmonic subwavelength grating composed of gold and
semiconductor ZnS is proposed. By implementing the finite-difference
time-domain numerical technique, detailed field pattern analysis and
reflectance characteristics of the grating structure are
comprehensively investigated, tailored, and improved. An unfamiliar
phenomenon of exponential decrease in resonance wavelength with an
increase in groove width is observed, validated, and empirically
modeled. This confirms that the reflectance resonance dip is because
of the surface plasmon resonance in the grating structure, unlike the
resonance dip obtained in the diffraction grating because of the
Fabry–Perot resonance. A rigorous sensitivity analysis is performed
for both generalized bulk and surface analyte detection. The surface
sensitivity is observed to be 100.5 nm/RIU at dip 1 for
10-nm-surface analyte thickness. The bulk sensitivity for dip 1 and
dip 2 was 104.3 nm/RIU and 800 nm/RIU, respectively. The
refractive index range variation of dip 1 for the surface analyte is
correlated with the refractive index of the blood by using the linear
refractive index model and Gladstone–Dale law for blood. A linear
regression analysis correlating blood glucose and salivary glucose
with a surface analyte is used. The proposed sensor is observed to be
promising for noninvasive salivary glucose monitoring with high
surface sensitivity of 1.104 nm/mg/dl with a compact footprint
of about

0.5

µ
m
×
0.2

µ
m

in

x

−

z

dimensions.
Silicon-photonics focused ultrasound detector for minimally invasive optoacoustic imaging
Authors: Nagli Michael , Koch Jürgen , Hazan Yoav , Volodarsky Oleg , Ravi Kumar Resmi , Levi Ahiad , Hahamovich Evgeny , Ternyak Orna , Overmeyer Ludger , Rosenthal Amir
Published: October 2022

One of the main challenges in miniaturizing optoacoustic technology is the low sensitivity of sub-millimeter piezoelectric ultrasound transducers, which is often insufficient for detecting weak optoacoustic signals. Optical detectors of ultrasound can achieve significantly higher sensitivities than their piezoelectric counterparts for a given sensing area but generally lack acoustic focusing, which is essential in many minimally invasive imaging configurations. In this work, we develop a focused sub-millimeter ultrasound detector composed of a silicon-photonics optical resonator and a micro-machined acoustic lens. The acoustic lens provides acoustic focusing, which, in addition to increasing the lateral resolution, also enhances the signal. The developed detector has a wide bandwidth of 84 MHz, a focal width smaller than 50 µm, and noise-equivalent pressure of 37 mPa/Hz1/2 – an order of magnitude improvement over conventional intravascular ultrasound. We show the feasibility of the approach and the detector’s imaging capabilities by performing high-resolution optoacoustic microscopy of optical phantoms with complex geometries.
Model for optical refrigeration of Ho3+-doped fluoride crystals
Authors: Dong Guang-Zong , Ma Yu-Xin , Zhao Xin , Zhang Xin-Lu
Published: October 2022

A novel method for modeling optical refrigeration of

H
o

3
+

-doped fluoride crystals is presented
to obtain a laser-induced thermal modulation spectroscopy
(LITMoS)-compatible fitting expression of cooling efficiency in a
simple way. The quantum-yield frequency that corresponds to the output
energy of a specific transition channel is introduced to simplify
theoretical derivation. This model takes into account excitation
dependency of external quantum efficiency and can be applied in
theoretical analysis and experimental data fitting of optical
refrigeration systems with multiple

4

f

manifolds.
Spin-accumulation and spin-transport effects induced by surface plasmon-polariton waves
Authors: Bekshaev A. Y.
Published: October 2022

A surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) wave forms highly inhomogeneous
intensity distribution near the metal-dielectric interface, and this
light field produces the inhomogeneous magnetization of the metal.
Recently [Phys.
Rev. B 101, 161404
(2020)PRBMDO0163-182910.1103/PhysRevB.101.161404;
Phys. Rev.
B 102, 125431
(2020)PRBMDO0163-182910.1103/PhysRevB.102.125431], the
SPP-induced magnetization was considered theoretically as a source of
purposeful excitation and control of the spin-transport phenomena.
Here, this problem is revisited with the refined boundary conditions
for the spin-diffusion equation. The improved theoretical description
of the light-induced spin accumulation and spin current is formulated.
The validity limits of the stationary spin-accumulation model are
discussed and numerically estimated. Numerical simulations based on
the Drude model for electron gas in metal confirm the general weakness
of the SPP-induced spin-transport phenomena but also indicate
possibilities of their enhancement and detectable manifestations via
employment of high-power short-pulse excitation. The results can be
useful for the studies and applications of the SPP-induced effects, in
particular, for the development of optically driven spintronic
devices.
Range-resolved detection of boundary layer stable water vapor isotopologues using a ground-based 1.98 µm differential absorption LIDAR
Authors: Hamperl Jonas , Dherbecourt Jean-Baptiste , Raybaut Myriam , Totems Julien , Chazette Patrick , Régalia Laurence , Grouiez Bruno , Geyskens Nicolas , Aouji Oualid , Amarouche Nadir , Melkonian Jean-Michel , Santagata Rosa , Godard Antoine , Evesque Corinne , Pasiskevicius Valdas , Flamant Cyrille
Published: October 2022

This paper presents a first demonstration of range-resolved differential absorption LIDAR (DIAL) measurements of the water vapor main isotopologue H216O and the less abundant semi-heavy water isotopologue HD16O with the aim of determining the isotopic ratio. The presented Water Vapor and Isotope Lidar (WaVIL) instrument is based on a parametric laser source emitting nanosecond pulses at 1.98 µm and a direct-detection receiver utilizing a commercial InGaAs PIN photodiode. Vertical profiles of H216O and HD16O were acquired in the planetary boundary layer in the suburban Paris region up to a range of 1.5 km. For time averaging over 25 min, the achieved precision in the retrieved water vapor mixing ratio is 0.1 g kg−1 (2.5% relative error) at 0.4 km above ground level (a.g.l.) and 0.6 g kg−1 (20%) at 1 km a.g.l. for 150 m range bins along the LIDAR line of sight. For HD16O, weaker absorption has to be balanced with coarser vertical resolution (600 m range bins) in order to achieve similar relative precision. From the DIAL measurements of H216O and HD16O, the isotopic abundance δD was estimated as −51‰ at 0.4 km above the ground and −119‰ in the upper part of the boundary layer at 1.3 km a.g.l. Random and systematic errors are discussed in the form of an error budget, which shows that further instrumental improvements are required on the challenging path towards DIAL-profiling of the isotopic abundance with range resolution and precision suitable for water cycle studies.
Anomalous spontaneous emission dynamics at chiral exceptional points
Authors: Lu Yuwei , Zhao Yanhui , Li Runhua , Liu Jingfeng
Published: October 2022

An open quantum system operated at the spectral singularities where dimensionality reduces, known as exceptional points (EPs), demonstrates distinguishing behavior from the Hermitian counterpart. Here, we present an analytical description of local density of states (LDOS) for microcavity featuring chiral EPs, and unveil the anomalous spontaneous emission dynamics from a quantum emitter (QE) due to the non-Lorentzian response of EPs. Specifically, we reveal that a squared Lorentzian term of LDOS contributed by chiral EPs can destructively interfere with the linear Lorentzian profile, resulting in the null Purcell enhancement to a QE with special transition frequency, which we call EP induced transparency. While for the case of constructive interference, the squared Lorentzian term can narrow the linewidth of Rabi splitting even below that of bare components, and thus significantly suppresses the decay of Rabi oscillation. Interestingly, we further find that an open microcavity with chiral EPs supports atom-photon bound states for population trapping and decay suppression in long-time dynamics. As applications, we demonstrate the advantages of microcavity operated at chiral EPs in achieving high-fidelity entanglement generation and high-efficiency single-photon generation. Our work unveils the exotic cavity quantum electrodynamics unique to chiral EPs, which opens the door for controlling light-matter interaction at the quantum level through non-Hermiticity, and holds great potential in building high-performance quantum-optics devices.
High-efficiency, four-channel beam splitter based on a fishnet-shaped continuous metasurface
Authors: Liu Yan , Wang Junyi , Wang Yiping , Liu Zhihui , Cao Weiping , Yang Dan , Yang Zuning , Liu Rui , Zhong Xu , Wu Tiesheng
Published: October 2022

Beam splitters play important roles in several optical systems. Due to the growing demand for the miniaturization of optical systems, it is necessary to design beam splitters with nanoscale dimensions to miniaturize the essential components for integrated optical circuits. In this work, we propose and numerically demonstrate a broadband, high efficient, and four-channel beam splitter based on a fishnet-shaped metasurface. The proposed structure is constructed of cruciform AlSb nanoantennas on the PDMS substrate. The simple design can split a beam of light into four beams with equal intensity, it achieves a conversion efficiency above 83%, and an anomalous transmission intensity exceeding 0.8 for the wavelength range of 761-835 nm. In this wavelength range, the beam splitting angle changes from 46.45° to 53.68°. Moreover, the four-channel beam splitter is tunable when the metasurface is designed as a discrete structure. At the wavelength of 874 nm, the beam splitting angle can be adjusted from 56.34° to 46.39° as the period increases from 1050 nm to 1207 nm by stretching the substrate. The presented metasurface might enable promising applications in integrated optical devices, owing to its advantages of multi-channel, wide broadband, high efficiency, and large beam split angle.
Reconfigurable matrix multiplier with on-site reinforcement learning
Authors: Wang Zhedong , Chen Min , Qian Chao , Fan Zhixiang , Wang Huaping , Chen Hongsheng
Published: October 2022

Matrix multiplication is a fundamental building block for modern information processing and artificial intelligence algorithms. Photonics-based matrix multipliers have recently attracted much attention due to their advantages of low energy and ultrafast speed. Conventionally, achieving matrix multiplication relies on bulky Fourier optical components, and the functionalities are unchangeable once the design is determined. Furthermore, the bottom-up design strategy cannot easily be generalized into concrete and practical guidelines. Here, we introduce a reconfigurable matrix multiplier driven by on-site reinforcement learning. The constituent transmissive metasurfaces incorporating varactor diodes serve as tunable dielectrics based on the effective medium theory. We validate the viability of tunable dielectrics and demonstrate the performance of matrix customization. This work represents a new avenue in realizing reconfigurable photonic matrix multipliers for on-site applications.
Custom terahertz waveforms using complementary organic nonlinear optical crystals
Authors: Rader Claire , Nielson Megan F. , Knighton Brittany E. , Zaccardi Zachary B. , Michaelis David J. , Johnson Jeremy A.
Published: October 2022

Organic nonlinear optical (NLO) crystals are among the most efficient (>1%) terahertz (THz) radiation generators. However, one of the limitations of using organic NLO crystals is that the unique THz absorptions in each crystal make it difficult to obtain a strong, smooth, and broad emission spectrum. In this work, we combine THz pulses from two complementary crystals, DAST and PNPA, to effectively fill in spectral gaps, creating a smooth spectrum with frequencies out to 5 THz. The combination of pulses also increases the peak-to-peak field strength from 1 MV/cm to 1.9 MV/cm.
Development of a coaxial DCF-GRIN fiberoptic Raman probe for enhancing in vivo epithelial tissue Raman measurements
Authors: Heng Howard Peng Sin , Shu Chi , Zheng Wei , Huang Zhiwei
Published: October 2022

We report on the development of a novel, to the best of our knowledge, coaxial double-clad-fiber (DCF) and graded-index (GRIN) fiberoptic Raman probe for enhancing epithelial tissue Raman measurements in vivo. The ultra-thin (140 µm outer diameter) DCF-GRIN fiberoptic Raman probe is designed and fabricated with an efficient coaxial optical configuration, whereby a GRIN fiber is spliced onto the DCF to enhance both the excitation/collection efficiency and depth-resolved selectivity. We demonstrate that the DCF-GRIN Raman probe can be used to acquire high-quality in vivo Raman spectra from various oral tissues (e.g., buccal mucosa, labial mucosa, gingiva, mouth floor, palate, and tongue) covering both the fingerprint (800–1800 cm−1) and high-wavenumber (2800–3600 cm−1) regions within sub-seconds. The subtle biochemical differences between different epithelial tissues in the oral cavity can also be detected with high sensitivity, suggesting the potential of the DCF-GRIN fiberoptic Raman probe for in vivo diagnosis and characterization in epithelial tissue.
Deep-learning-assisted linearization for the broadband photonic scanning channelized receiver
Authors: Zhao Liyuan , Gou Wenyou , Zhang Zhuohang , Shen Meili , Zhang Jianghua , Zheng Xin , Peng Yuanxi , Jiang Tian
Published: October 2022

An autoencoder-residual (AE-Res) network is designated to assist the linearization of the wideband photonic scanning channelized receiver. It is capable of adaptively suppressing spurious distortions over multiple octaves of signal bandwidth, obviating the need for calculating the multifactorial nonlinear transfer functions. Proof-of-concept experiments indicate that the improvement of the third-order spur-free dynamic range (SFDR2/3) is 17.44 dB. Moreover, the results for real wireless communication signals demonstrate that the improvement of the spurious suppression ratio (SSR) is 39.69 dB and the reduction of the noise floor is ∼10 dB.
Petahertz-scale spectral broadening and few-cycle compression of Yb:KGW laser pulses in a pressurized, gas-filled hollow-core fiber
Authors: Pi Z. , Kim H. Y. , Goulielmakis E.
Published: October 2022

We demonstrate efficient generation of coherent super-octave pulses via a single-stage spectral broadening of a Yb:KGW laser in a single, pressurized, Ne-filled, hollow-core fiber capillary. Emerging pulses spectrally spanning over more than 1 PHz (250–1600 nm) at a dynamic range of ∼60 dB, and an excellent beam quality open the door to combining Yb:KGW lasers with modern light-field synthesis techniques. Compression of a fraction of the generated supercontinuum to intense (8 fs, ∼2.4 cycle, ∼650 µJ) pulses allows convenient use of these novel laser sources in strong-field physics and attosecond science.
Optical microcombs in whispering gallery mode crystalline resonators with dispersive intermode interactions
Authors: Liu Tuo , Sun Suwan , Gao You , Wang Siyu , Chu Yongyuan , Guo Hairun
Published: October 2022

Soliton microcombs have shown great potential in a variety of applications ranging from chip-scale frequency metrology to optical communications and photonic data center, in which light couplings among cavity transverse modes, termed as intermode interactions, are long-existing and usually give rise to localized impacts on the soliton state. Of particular interest are whispering gallery mode-based crystalline resonators, which with dense mode families, potentially feature interactions of all kinds. While effects of narrowband interactions such as spectral power spikes have been well recognized in crystalline resonators, those of broadband interactions remain unexplored. Here, we demonstrate microcombs with broadband and dispersive intermode interactions, in home-developed magnesium fluoride microresonators with an intrinsic

Q

-factor approaching 10 billion. In addition to conventional soliton comb generation in the single-mode pumping scheme, comb states with broadband spectral tailoring effect have been observed, via an intermode pumping scheme. Remarkably, footprints of both constructive and destructive interference on the comb spectrum have been observed, which as confirmed by simulations, are connected to the dispersive effects of the coupled mode family. Our results would not only contribute to the understanding of dissipative soliton dynamics in multi-mode or coupled resonator systems, but also extend the access to stable soliton combs in crystalline microresonators where mode control and dispersion engineering are usually challenging.
Global and gene-specific translational regulation in Escherichia coli across different conditions
Authors: Zhang Di , Li Sophia Hsin-Jung , King Christopher G. , Wingreen Ned S. , Gitai Zemer , Li Zhiyuan
Published: October 2022

How well mRNA transcript levels represent protein abundances has been a controversial issue. Particularly across different environments, correlations between mRNA and protein exhibit remarkable variability from gene to gene. Translational regulation is likely to be one of the key factors contributing to mismatches between mRNA level and protein abundance in bacteria. Here, we quantified genome-wide transcriptome and relative translation efficiency (RTE) under 12 different conditions in Escherichia coli. By quantifying the mRNA-RTE correlation both across genes and across conditions, we uncovered a diversity of gene-specific translational regulations, cooperating with transcriptional regulations, in response to carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphate (P) limitations. Intriguingly, we found that many genes regulating translation are themselves subject to translational regulation, suggesting possible feedbacks. Furthermore, a random forest model suggests that codon usage partially predicts a gene’s cross-condition variability in translation efficiency; such cross-condition variability tends to be an inherent quality of a gene, independent of the specific nutrient limitations. These findings broaden the understanding of translational regulation under different environments and provide novel strategies for the control of translation in synthetic biology. In addition, our data offers a resource for future multi-omics studies.
Improving in-patient neonatal data quality as a pre-requisite for monitoring and improving quality of care at scale: A multisite retrospective cohort study in Kenya
Authors: Tuti Timothy , Aluvaala Jalemba , Chelangat Daisy , Mbevi George , Wainaina John , Mumelo Livingstone , Wairoto Kefa , Mochache Dolphine , Irimu Grace , Maina Michuki ,   The Clinical Information Network Group, English Mike
Published: October 2022

The objectives of this study were to (1)explore the quality of clinical data generated from hospitals providing in-patient neonatal care participating in a clinical information network (CIN) and whether data improved over time, and if data are adequate, (2)characterise accuracy of prescribing for basic treatments provided to neonatal in-patients over time. This was a retrospective cohort study involving neonates ≤28 days admitted between January 2018 and December 2021 in 20 government hospitals with an interquartile range of annual neonatal inpatient admissions between 550 and 1640 in Kenya. These hospitals participated in routine audit and feedback processes on quality of documentation and care over the study period. The study’s outcomes were the number of patients as a proportion of all eligible patients over time with (1)complete domain-specific documentation scores, and (2)accurate domain-specific treatment prescription scores at admission, reported as incidence rate ratios. 80,060 neonatal admissions were eligible for inclusion. Upon joining CIN, documentation scores in themonitoring,other physical examination and bedside testing,discharge information, andmaternal historydomains demonstrated a statistically significant month-to-month relative improvement in number of patients with complete documentation of 7.6%, 2.9%, 2.4%, and 2.0% respectively. There was also statistically significant month-to-month improvement in prescribing accuracy after joining the CIN of 2.8% and 1.4% for feeds and fluids but not for Antibiotic prescriptions. Findings suggest that much of the variation observed is due to hospital-level factors. It is possible to introduce tools that capture important clinical data at least 80% of the time in routine African hospital settings but analyses of such data will need to account for missingness using appropriate statistical techniques. These data allow exploration of trends in performance and could support better impact evaluation, exploration of links between health system inputs and outcomes and scrutiny of variation in quality and outcomes of hospital care.
Variations in vaccination uptake: COVID-19 vaccination rates in Swedish municipalities
Authors: Larsson Elis Carlberg , Wittberg Emanuel , Lundåsen Susanne Wallman
Published: October 2022

Facing the threat of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines are important for limiting the spread and consequences of the pandemic. In this study, we provide a descriptive overview of the within-country variations of vaccine rates by examining to what extent voter turnout, support for an anti-establishment political party (Sweden Democrats), presence of first-generation immigrants, and Evangelical religiosity are associated with the within-country variation in vaccine uptake rates. We use official register data for municipality-level vaccine rates and municipality-level regressions with regional fixed effects. Our analyses show that vaccine uptake, on average, is lower in municipalities where the anti-establishment political party Sweden Democrats has higher vote shares and where a larger share of the population is first-generation immigrants. We discuss that potential explanations for these associations between vote shares for an anti-establishment party and shares of first-generation immigrants could be lower levels of trust in institutions and language barriers.
Intrapulmonary shunting is a key contributor to hypoxia in COVID-19: An update on the pathophysiology
Authors: Mayor Nikhil , Knights Harry , Kotwica Aleksandra , Coppola Andrew Solomon Joseph , Hunter Harriet , Jeffreys Nathan , Morgan Alexander , Gupta Shivani , Prentice James , Macfarlane Rebecca , Russell-Jones Emma , Dassios Theodore , Russell-Jones David
Published: October 2022

Background

The pathophysiology of COVID-19 remains poorly understood. We aimed to estimate the contribution of intrapulmonary shunting and ventilation-to-perfusion (VA/Q) mismatch using a mathematical model to construct oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curves (ODCs).

Methods

ODCs were constructed using transcutaneous pulse oximetry at two different fractions of inspired oxygen (FiO2). 199 patients were included from two large district general hospitals in the South East of England from 1st to 14th January 2021. The study was supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network.

Results

Overall mortality was 29%. Mean age was 68.2 years (SEM 1·2) with 46% female. Median shunt on admission was 17% (IQR 8–24.5); VA/Q was 0.61 (IQR 0.52–0.73). Shunt was 37.5% higher in deaths (median 22%, IQR 9–29) compared to survivors (16%, 8–21; p = 0.0088) and was a predictor of mortality (OR 1.04; 95% CI 1.01–1.07). Admission oxygen saturations were more strongly predictive of mortality (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.87–0.96). There was no difference in VA/Q mismatch between deaths (0.60; IQR 0.50–0.73) and survivors (0.61; IQR 0.52–0.73; p = 0.63) and it was not predictive of mortality (OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.18–2.52; p = 0.55). Shunt negatively correlated with admission oxygen saturation (R -0.533; p<0.0001) whereas VA/Q was not (R 0.1137; p = 0.12).

Interpretation

Shunt, not VA/Q mismatch, was associated with worsening hypoxia, though calculating shunt was not of prognostic value. This study adds to our understanding of the pathophysiology of hypoxaemia in COVID-19. Our inexpensive and reliable technique may provide further insights into the pathophysiology of hypoxia in other respiratory diseases.
Risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection following initial COVID-19 vaccination: Population-based cohort study
Authors: Tadrous Mina , Chung Hannah , Men Siyu , Chu Cherry , Campbell Tonya , Juurlink David N. , Kwong Jeffrey C. , Paterson J. Michael , Gomes Tara
Published: October 2022

Background

Anecdotally there are reports of newly diagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection shortly after vaccination. This has led some to speculate that vaccination itself might inadvertently increase the short-term risk of COVID potentially due to airborne spread at mass vaccination clinics or relaxation of precautions following vaccination. We explored whether receipt of vaccination was associated with a short-term increase in the risk of being diagnosed with COVID-19 and if differences exist between vaccination settings.

Methods

We conducted a cohort study in Ontario, Canada to compare the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection within 21 days of receiving a first vaccination, according to the setting in which vaccines were administered between March 1, 2021 and May 6, 2021. We used linked population-wide vaccination, laboratory testing, and health administrative databases. We created a 1:1 matched comparison group of unexposed individuals. We reported the overall risk of infection calculated at 3, 7, 10, 14, 18, and 21 days. This was completed overall and by setting of vaccine receipt.

Results

We identified 4,798,430 Ontario residents who received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. In the primary analysis, the rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection was significantly lower among vaccine recipients vs non-recipients at all the post-vaccination time points. Analysis stratified by vaccination setting found that mass vaccination clinics, pharmacies, and physician offices were consistent with the main findings. Individuals who received their first vaccine dose in congregate residential settings had a higher rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection at 7 days (HR 1.35, 95% CI 1.00–1.83) and 10 days (HR 1.49, 95% CI 1.03–2.15).

Conclusion

In this population-based cohort study, we found that there was no increased risk of SARS-CoV2 infection after vaccination suggesting no broad transmission of disease at time of vaccination. Some evidence of increased risk among those vaccinated in congregate settings, highlighting the need to consider opportunities for supporting safe vaccine administration in these settings. Given ongoing and future immunization programs, the results support the need for continued vigilance during any mass vaccination processes and education regarding the delayed nature of protection following vaccination.
Estimating a panel MSK dataset for comparative analyses of national absorptive capacity systems, economic growth, and development in low and middle income countries
Authors: Khan Muhammad Salar
Published: October 2022

Within the national innovation system literature, the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) eligible for the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) support, are rarely part of empirical discourses on growth, development, and innovation. One major issue hindering empirical analyses in LMICs is the lack of complete data availability. This work offers a new full panel dataset with no missing values for IDA-eligible LMICs. I use a standard, widely respected multiple imputation method (specifically,Predictive Mean Matching) developed by Rubin in the 1980s, which conforms to the structure of multivariate continuous panel data at the country level. The incomplete input data consisting of many variables come from publicly available established sources. These variables, in turn, capture six crucial country-level capacities: technological capacity, financial capacity, human capital capacity, infrastructural capacity, public policy capacity, and social capacity. Such capacities are part and parcel of theNational Absorptive Capacity Systems(NACS). The dataset (MSK dataset) thus produced contains data on 47 variables for 82 LMICs between 2005 and 2019. The dataset has passed a quality and reliability check and can therefore be used for comparative analyses of national absorptive capacities and development, transition, and convergence among LMICs.
Structure of Klebsiella pneumoniae adenosine monophosphate nucleosidase
Authors: Richardson Brian C. , Shek Roger , Van Voorhis Wesley C. , French Jarrod B.
Published: October 2022

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a bacterial pathogen that is increasingly responsible for hospital-acquired pneumonia and sepsis. Progressive development of antibiotic resistance has led to higher mortality rates and creates a need for novel treatments. Because of the essential role that nucleotides play in many bacterial processes, enzymes involved in purine and pyrimidine metabolism and transport are ideal targets for the development of novel antibiotics. Herein we describe the structure of K. pneumoniae adenosine monophosphate nucleosidase (KpAmn), a purine salvage enzyme unique to bacteria, as determined by cryoelectron microscopy. The data detail a well conserved fold with a hexameric overall structure and clear density for the putative active site residues. Comparison to the crystal structures of homologous prokaryotic proteins confirms the presence of many of the conserved structural features of this protein yet reveals differences in distal loops in the absence of crystal contacts. This first cryo-EM structure of an Amn enzyme provides a basis for future structure-guided drug development and extends the accuracy of structural characterization of this family of proteins beyond this clinically relevant organism.
Excess maternal mortality in Brazil: Regional inequalities and trajectories during the COVID-19 epidemic
Authors: Orellana Jesem , Jacques Nadège , Leventhal Daniel Gray Paschoal , Marrero Lihsieh , Morón-Duarte Lina Sofía
Published: October 2022

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has exceeded 6 million known disease-related deaths and there is evidence of an increase in maternal deaths, especially in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to estimate excess maternal deaths in Brazil and its macroregions as well as their trajectories in the first 15 months of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Methods

This study evaluated maternal deaths from the Mortality Information System of the Ministry of Health, with excess deaths being assessed between March 2020 and May 2021 by quasi-Poisson generalized additive models adjusted for overdispersion. Observed deaths were compared to deaths expected without the pandemic, accompanied by 95% confidence intervals according to region, age group, and trimester of occurrence. Analyses were conducted in R version 3.6.1 and RStudio version 1.2.1335.

Results

There were 3,291 notified maternal deaths during the study period, resulting in a 70% excess of deaths regardless of region, while in the North, Northeast, South and Southeast regions, excess deaths occurred regardless of age group. Excess deaths occurred in the March-May 2021 trimester regardless of region and age group. Excess deaths were observed in the Southeast region for the 25-36-year-old age group regardless of the trimester assessed, and in the North, Central-West and South regions, the only period in which excess deaths were not observed was September-November 2020. Excess deaths regardless of trimester were observed in the 37-49-year-old age group in the North region, and the South region displayed explosive behavior from March-May 2021, with a 375% excess of deaths.

Conclusions

Excess maternal deaths, with geographically heterogenous trajectories and consistently high patterns at the time of the epidemic’s greatest impact, reflect not only the previous effect of socioeconomic inequalities and of limited access to maternal health services, but most of all the precarious management of Brazil’s health crisis.
Trypsin may be associated with duodenal eosinophils through the expression of PAR2 in early chronic pancreatitis and functional dyspepsia with pancreatic enzyme abnormalities
Authors: Agawa Shuhei , Futagami Seiji , Yamawaki Hiroshi , Tsushima Rina , Higuchi Kazutoshi , Habiro Mayu , Kawawa Rie , Kodaka Yasuhiro , Ueki Nobue , Watanabe Yoshiyuki , Gudis Katya , Ohashi Rhuji , Iwakiri Katsuhiko
Published: October 2022

Background

Early chronic pancreatitis (ECP) has been reported to advance into chronic pancreatitis, it may be critical to differentiate the pathophysiology of ECP and functional dyspepsia (FD) in patients with pancreatic enzyme abnormalities (FD-P). This study aimed to clarify differences in the pathophysiology of ECP and FD-P and to determine whether duodenal inflammatory responses in the two diseases were associated with protease-activated receptor (PAR) 2, as the trypsin receptor.

Methods

Eighty patients who presented with FD-P and ECP were enrolled. In duodenal specimens, PAR2 mRNA levels were determined using real-time PCR. Using immunostaining, CD68-, GLP-1-, PRG2-, and CCR2-positive cells, tight junction proteins, and PAR 2 were evaluated.

Results

There were no significant differences in clinical symptoms and gastric motility between ECP and FD-P patients. The CD68-positive cells infiltrations and occludin expression levels in the duodenal mucosa of patients with FD-P were significantly (p<0.001 and p = 0.048, respectively) lower than those in patients with ECP. Although serum trypsin levels in ECP and FD-P patents were significantly (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively) associated with duodenal eosinophils counts, elevated trypsin levels were not significantly associated with degranulated eosinophils, occludin, claudin-1 and ZO-1 expression levels in the duodenum of either group. PAR2 mRNA levels were increased in the duodenum of patients with ECP and FD-P. PAR2 was localized in the epithelial cells of the duodenal mucosa and the surface of degranulated eosinophils in ECP and FD-P patients.

Conclusions

Elevated trypsin levels might be partly associated with duodenal inflammatory responses through PAR2-related degranulated eosinophils and the reduction of occludin in patients with ECP and FD-P.
A natural language processing approach towards harmonisation of European medicinal product information
Authors: Bergman Erik , Sherwood Kim , Forslund Markus , Arlett Peter , Westman Gabriel
Published: October 2022

Product information (PI) is a vital part of any medicinal product approved for use within the European Union and consists of a summary of products characteristics (SmPC) for healthcare professionals and package leaflet (PL) for patients, together with the product packaging. In this study, based on the English corpus of the EMA product information documents for all centrally approved medicinal products within the EU, a BERT sentence embedding model was used together with clustering and dimensional reduction techniques to identify sentence similarity clusters that could be candidates for standardization. A total of 1258 medicinal products were included in the study. From these, a total of 783 K sentences were extracted from SmPC and PL documents which were aggregated into a total of 284 and 129 semantic similarity clusters, respectively. The spread distribution among clusters shows separation into different cluster types. Examples of clusters with low spread include those with identical word embeddings due to current standardization, such as section headings and standard phrases. Others show minor linguistic variations, while the group with the largest variability contains variable wording but with significant semantic overlap. The sentence clusters identified could serve as candidates for further standardization of the PI. Moving from free text human wording to auto-generated text elements based on multiple-choice input for appropriate parts of the package leaflet and summary of product characteristics, could reduce both time and complexity for applicants as well as regulators, and ultimately provide patients and prescribers with documents that are easier to understand and better adapted for search availabilities.
Phytochemical profile of Brazilian grapes (Vitis labrusca and hybrids) grown on different rootstocks
Authors: da Silva Marlon Jocimar Rodrigues , Paiva Ana Paula Maia , Souza Joyce Fagundes de , Padilha Carla Valéria da Silva , Basílio Letícia Silva Pereira , Lima Marcos dos Santos , Pereira Giuliano Elias , Corrêa Luiz Claudio , Vianello Fabio , Lima Giuseppina Pace Pereira , Moura Mara Fernandes , Tecchio Marco Antonio
Published: October 2022

Important factors may influence the bioactive compounds in grapes, including scion–rootstock interaction. Therefore, the bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity in grape skin and pulp fractions of ‘Isabel Precoce’, ‘BRS Carmem’, ‘BRS Cora’, ‘BRS Violeta’ and ‘IAC 138–22 Máximo’ were assessed. These cultivars, from genetic improvement programs in Brazil, have good adaptation to subtropical and tropical climate conditions, and can be widely used by winegrowers aiming at adding value to the grape. All grapevines were grafted onto ‘IAC 766’ and ‘IAC 572’ rootstocks under tropical conditions in Brazil. The highest concentration of bioactive compounds was found in skins of ‘BRS Violeta’, followed by ‘IAC 138–22 Máximo’, both grafted onto ‘IAC 766’. There was a strong correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant properties, since antioxidant activity also decreased in the sequence: ‘BRS Violeta’ > ‘IAC 138–22 Máximo’ > ‘BRS Cora’ > ‘BRS Carmem’ > ‘Isabel Precoce’. Skin from hybrid grapes (‘BRS Violeta’, ‘IAC 138–22 Máximo’, ‘BRS Cora’ and ‘BRS Carmem’) grafted in both rootstocks contains higher levels of (poly)phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity than ‘Isabel Precoce’ (V.labrusca). Skin from ‘BRS Violeta’ grafted onto ’IAC 766’ stand out from the others due to their high content of bioactive compounds.
A global, regional, and national survey on burden and Quality of Care Index (QCI) of bladder cancer: The global burden of disease study 1990–2019
Authors: Karimi Amirali , Shobeiri Parnian , Azadnajafabad Sina , Masinaei Masoud , Rezaei Negar , Ghanbari Ali , Rezaei Nazila , Rouhifard Mahtab , Shahin Sarvenaz , Rashidi Mohammad-Mahdi , Keykhaei Mohammad , Kazemi Ameneh , Amini Erfan , Larijani Bagher , Farzadfar Farshad
Published: October 2022

Introduction

Bladder cancer (BCa) is the second most common genitourinary cancer and among the leading causes of cancer-related deaths. We aimed to assess BCa quality of care (QOC) utilizing a novel multi-variable quality of care index (QCI).

Materials and methods

Data were retrieved from the Global Burden of Disease 1990–2019 database. QCI scores were calculated using four indices of prevalence-to-incidence ratio, Disability-Adjusted Life Years-to-prevalence ratio, mortality-to-incidence ratio, and Years of Life Lost-to-Years Lived with Disability ratio. We used principal component analysis to allocate 0–100 QCI scores based on region, age groups, year, and gender.

Results

Global burden of BCa is on the rise with 524,305 (95% UI 475,952–569,434) new BCa cases and 228,735 (95% UI 210743–243193) deaths in 2019, but age-standardized incidence and mortality rates did not increase. Global age-standardized QCI improved from 75.7% in 1990 to 80.9% in 2019. The European and African regions had the highest and lowest age-standardized QCI of 89.7% and 37.6%, respectively. Higher Socio-demographic index (SDI) quintiles had better QCI scores, ranging from 90.1% in high SDI to 30.2% in low SDI countries in 2019; however, 5-year QCI improvements from 2014 to 2019 were 0.0 for high and 4.7 for low SDI countries.

Conclusion

The global QCI increased in the last 30 years, but the gender disparities remained relatively unchanged despite substantial improvements in several regions. Higher SDI quintiles had superior QOC and less gender- and age-based inequalities compared to lower SDI countries. We encourage countries to implement the learned lessons and improve their QOC shortcomings.