bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Vmeasur: A software package for experimental and clinical measurement of mesenteric lymphatic contractile function over an extended vessel length
Authors: Russell Peter S. , Hucklesby James J. W. , Hong Jiwon , Cao Enyuan , Trevaskis Natalie L. , Angel Catherine E. , Windsor John A. , Phillips Anthony R. J.
Published: January 2022

Objective

Conventionally, in vivo mesenteric lymphatic contractile function is measured using a high magnification transmission microscope (field of view 0.3–1.5 mm), which precludes visualization of extended lengths of vessels embedded in mesenteric fat. Existing software is not optimized for imaging at a low magnification using a contrast agent. We aimed to develop a simple and clinically transferable method for in situ visualization, image analysis, and quantitative assessment of mesenteric lymphatic contractile function over an extended area.

Methods

Subserosal injection of various blue dyes was taken up by mesenteric lymphatics and visualized under a stereomicroscope (25×), allowing for video recording of 1.4 × 1.1 cm of intact mesentery. A new R package (“vmeasur”) that combines multiple high‐performance image analyses into a single workflow was developed. The edges of each vessel were determined by applying an automated threshold to each frame (with real‐time manual verification). The vessel width at every point in each frame was plotted to provide contractile parameters over time and along the lymphatic vessel length.

Results

Contractile parameters and their differences along the length of the vessel were accurately calculated in a rodent model. In a human mesenteric lymphatic, the algorithm was also able to measure changes in diameter over length.

Conclusion

This software offers a low cost, rapid, and accessible method to measure lymphatic contractile function over a wide area, showing differences in contractility along the length of a vessel. Because the presence of mesenteric fat has less of an impact on imaging, due to the use of an exogenous contrast agent, there is potential for clinical application.
Disposition: An Approachable Ontology
Authors: Prelock Aaron R
Published: January 2022

Reformed Scholastic John Owen's appropriation and adaptation of Thomas Aquinas’ development of the classical ‘disposition’ (Latin: habitus) concept offers practical insight into seventeenth century faculty psychology. This article argues that Owen not only borrows deliberately from Aquinas, he also attempts to simplify and even improve upon Aquinas’ more complicated theological, philosophical, and psychological insights in this important area. While he deals with dispositions of the mind, will, and affections in a way that is broadly similar to Aquinas’ ontological understanding, Owen's most significant contribution to seventeenth century faculty psychology and its theological use is a sustained and consistent emphasis on the necessity of virtuous affections in the pursuit of communion with God. Examining this concept also provides greater context for how the Reformed Scholastics were able to interact with their medieval counterparts. In this we see the Reformed Scholastics’ continuity with the Christian tradition and their depth of understanding regarding human nature.
Epigenomic and structural events preclude recombination in Brassica napus
Authors: Boideau Franz , Richard Gautier , Coriton Olivier , Huteau Virginie , Belser Caroline , Deniot Gwenaelle , Eber Frédérique , Falentin Cyril , Ferreira de Carvalho Julie , Gilet Marie , Lodé‐Taburel Maryse , Maillet Loeiz , Morice Jérôme , Trotoux Gwenn , Aury Jean‐Marc , Chèvre Anne‐Marie , Rousseau‐Gueutin Mathieu
Published: January 2022

Meiotic recombination is a major evolutionary process generating genetic diversity at each generation in sexual organisms. However, this process is highly regulated, with the majority of crossovers lying in the distal chromosomal regions that harbor low DNA methylation levels. Even in these regions, some islands without recombination remain, for which we investigated the underlying causes.

Genetic maps were established in two Brassica napus hybrids to detect the presence of such large nonrecombinant islands. The role played by DNA methylation and structural variations in this local absence of recombination was determined by performing bisulfite sequencing and whole genome comparisons. Inferred structural variations were validated using either optical mapping or oligo fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Hypermethylated or inverted regions between Brassica genomes were associated with the absence of recombination. Pairwise comparisons of nine B. napus genome assemblies revealed that such inversions occur frequently and may contain key agronomic genes such as resistance to biotic stresses.

We conclude that such islands without recombination can have different origins, such as DNA methylation or structural variations in B. napus. It is thus essential to take into account these features in breeding programs as they may hamper the efficient combination of favorable alleles in elite varieties.
A systematic scoping review of the literacy literature to develop a digital food and nutrition literacy model for low‐income adults to make healthy choices in the online food retail ecosystem to reduce obesity risk
Authors: Consavage Stanley Katherine , Harrigan Paige B. , Serrano Elena L. , Kraak Vivica I.
Published: January 2022

Adults with lower incomes are disproportionately affected by poverty, food insecurity, obesity, and diet‐related non‐communicable diseases (NCDs). In 2020–2021 amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) expanded the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Online Purchasing Pilot program to enable eligible participants to purchase groceries online in 47 states. This expansion underscores the need for SNAP adults to have digital literacy skills to make healthy dietary choices online. Currently, a digital literacy model does not exist to help guide USDA nutrition assistance policies and programs, such as SNAP. We conducted a systematic scoping review of the academic and gray literature to identify food, nutrition, health, media, financial, and digital literacy models. The search yielded 40 literacy models and frameworks that we analyzed to develop a Multi‐dimensional Digital Food and Nutrition Literacy (MDFNL) model with five literacy levels (i.e., functional, interactive, communicative, critical, and translational) and a cross‐cutting digital literacy component. Utilization of the MDFNL model within nutrition assistance policies and programs may improve cognitive, behavioral, food security, and health outcomes and support equity, well‐being, digital inclusion, and healthy communities to reduce obesity and NCD risks.
Quantification of Helicobacter pylori and its oncoproteins in the oral cavity: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Sekar Ramya , Murali Preethi , Junaid Mohammed
Published: January 2022

Objective

To identify Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and related oncogenic and virulent proteins (CagA and VacA) in patients with gingivitis, periodontitis, oral cancer and gastric cancer.

Methods

Subgingival plaque samples were collected from 90 individuals with either gingivitis/periodontitis (group A, n = 30), oral cancer (group B, n = 30) and gastric cancer (group C, n = 30). H. pylori was identified by real‐time polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). The virulent organisms were detected by identification of proteins CagA and VacA through Enzyme Linked Immuno‐Sorbent Assay (ELISA).

Results

We identified the presence of H. pylori in subgingival plaque samples among a large majority (76/90) of our study cohort. The proportions of CagA and VacA identified among H. pylori individuals with periodontal inflammation and oral cancer were lower than those diagnosed with gastric cancer. Furthermore, the relative risk of oral cancer based on the presence of the organism was no different to those with gingivitis/periodontitis.

Conclusion

The findings of our study do not indicate significant association between the organism and oral cancer, but preludes that the oral cavity could act as a potential niche for H. pylori. The possibility for CagA and VacA proteins to be pathogenic in oral cavity is highly possible and must be researched extensively.
Immune mechanisms in oral lichen planus
Authors: El‐Howati Asma , Thornhill Martin H. , Colley Helen E. , Murdoch Craig
Published: January 2022

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T cell‐mediated inflammatory disease of the oral mucosa that has been extensively researched over many years but as yet the mechanisms of pathogenesis are still not fully understood. Whilst the specific aetiological factors driving OLP remain ambiguous, evidence points to the development of a chronic, dysregulated immune response to OLP‐mediating antigens presented by innate immune cells and oral keratinocytes leading to increased cytokine, chemokine and adhesion molecule expression. These molecules recruit T cells and mast cells to the diseased site and orchestrate a complex interplay between cells that culminates in keratinocyte cell death, mucosal basement membrane destruction and long‐term chronicity of the disease. The main lymphocytes involved are thought to be CD8+ cytotoxic and CD4+ Th1 polarised T cells although recent evidence indicates the involvement of other Th subsets such as Th9, Th17 and Tregs, suggesting that a more complex immune cell relationship exists during the disease process. This review provides an overview of the immune mechanisms at play in OLP pathogenesis with particular emphasis on the role of the different Th subsets and how these recent discoveries may guide research towards identifying potential therapeutic targets.
Genome survey sequencing of wild cotton (Gossypium robinsonii) reveals insights into proteomic responses of pollen to extreme heat
Authors: Masoomi‐Aladizgeh Farhad , Kamath Karthik Shantharam , Haynes Paul A. , Atwell Brian J.
Published: January 2022

Heat stress specifically affects fertility by impairing pollen viability but cotton wild relatives successfully reproduce in hot savannas where they evolved. An Australian arid‐zone cotton (Gossypium robinsonii) was exposed to heat events during pollen development then mature pollen was subjected to deep proteomic analysis using 57 023 predicted genes from a genomic database we assembled for the same species. Three stages of pollen development, including tetrads (TEs), uninucleate microspores (UNs) and binucleate microspores (BNs) were exposed to 36°C or 40°C for 5 days and the resulting mature pollen was collected at anthesis (p‐TE, p‐UN and p‐BN, respectively). Using the sequential windowed acquisition of all theoretical mass spectra proteomic analysis, 2704 proteins were identified and quantified across all pollen samples analysed. Proteins predominantly decreased in abundance at all stages in response to heat, particularly after exposure of TEs to 40°C. Functional enrichment analyses demonstrated that extreme heat increased the abundance of proteins that contributed to increased messenger RNA splicing via spliceosome, initiation of cytoplasmic translation and protein refolding in p‐TE40. However, other functional categories that contributed to intercellular transport were inhibited in p‐TE40, linked potentially to Rab proteins. We ascribe the resilience of reproductive processes in G. robinsonii at temperatures up to 40°C, relative to commercial cotton, to a targeted reduction in protein transport.
Alternative societal models of peace education and innovation in the knowledge society1
Authors: Vorkunova Olga A.
Published: January 2022

This article, a work in progress at the time of the author’s passing in 2021, seeks to explain how knowledge, organizational forms, and societal institutions interact to shape peace education and innovative learning capabilities. It focuses on peace education and training systems, and types of organizations as key societal institutions shaping work organization and the knowledge base of the universities. Its central premise is that tacit knowledge, which is difficult to create and transfer in the absence of social interaction and people’s mobility during pandemic circumstances, constitutes a most important source of learning and sustainable competitive advantage in the knowledge society. Institutions that can harness tacit knowledge as a source of learning are more likely to produce strong innovative capabilities. The analysis suggests that there are two alternative models of competence‐building which are especially favorable to learning and innovation, and examines cases of peace education as illustrative examples. It argues that societies with different institutional arrangements will continue to develop a variety of organizational forms and learning strategies that privilege some sectors and discourage others. Institutionalized variation in patterns of learning and innovation therefore reproduces distinctive regional or national patterns of specialization.
Elucidating the Size‐dependent FRET Efficiency in Interfacially Engineered Quantum Dots Attached to PBSA Sunscreen
Authors: Mubeen Muhammad , Khalid Muhammad Adnan , Mukhtar Maria , Sumreen Poshmal , Gul Tehreem , ul Ain Noor , Shahrum Saba , Tabassum Mamoona , Ul‐Hamid Anwar , Iqbal Azhar
Published: January 2022

Applying sunscreen on human skin provides photoprotection against the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation of the sun. Sunscreen absorbs UV radiations and dissipates the absorbed energy through various radiative and nonradiative pathways. The attachment of functionalized quantum dots (QDs) to the sunscreen component is a novel idea to enhance the absorption cross‐section of UV radiations. Therefore, the attachment of the sunscreen component to the ligand functionalized biocompatible QDs and the absorbed energy transfer from sunscreen to the QDs could work as a model system to overall improve the efficiency of the sunscreen. This study elucidates the mechanism of size‐dependent Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) efficiency and its rate between 2‐phenylbenzimidazole‐5‐sulfonic acid (PBSA) and mercaptoacetic acid (MAA) functionalized CdS QDs. In the PBSA‐QDs dyad, the PBSA (donor) dissipates UV‐absorbed energy to the CdS QDs (acceptor). Following excitation at 306 nm, the steady‐state photoluminescence (SSPL) and time‐resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) techniques measurements demonstrate that both the nonradiative energy transfer efficiency and rate are QDs size‐dependent in addition to donor‐acceptor distance, and suggest that bigger sized‐QDs result in an increase of the FRET efficiency.
COVID‐19: A multiwave SIR‐based model for learning waves
Authors: Perakis Georgia , Singhvi Divya , Skali Lami Omar , Thayaparan Leann
Published: January 2022

One of the greatest challenges of the COVID‐19 pandemic has been the way evolving regulation, information, and sentiment have driven waves of the disease. Traditional epidemiology models, such as the SIR model, are not equipped to handle these behavioral‐based changes. We propose a novel multiwave susceptible–infected–recovered (SIR) model, which can detect and model the waves of the disease. We bring together the SIR model's compartmental structure with a change‐point detection martingale process to identify new waves. We create a dynamic process where new waves can be flagged and learned in real time. We use this approach to extend the traditional susceptible–exposed–infected–recovered–dead (SEIRD) model into a multiwave SEIRD model and test it on forecasting COVID‐19 cases from the John Hopkins University data set for states in the United States. We find that compared to the traditional SEIRD model, the multiwave SEIRD model improves mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) by 15%–25% for the United States. We benchmark the multiwave SEIRD model against top performing Center for Disease Control (CDC) models for COVID‐19 and find that the multiwave SERID model is able to outperform the majority of CDC models in long‐term predictions.
A unique race of the wheat stem rust pathogen with virulence on Sr31 identified in Spain and reaction of wheat and durum cultivars to this race
Authors: Olivera Pablo D. , Villegas Dolors , Cantero‐Martínez Carlos , Szabo Les J. , Rouse Matthew N. , Luster Douglas G. , Bartaula Radhika , Lopes Marta S. , Jin Yue
Published: January 2022

Wheat stem rust, caused by Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici, is a re‐emerging disease, posing a threat to wheat production. In Spain, stem rust has been rarely detected since the 1970s, but infection was observed in wheat fields in 2018. We analysed six stem rust samples collected in Rota, Cádiz province and one from Monteagudo del Castillo, Teruel province. All the samples from Rota were typed as race TKTTF, whereas the sample from Monteagudo del Castillo, collected in a wheat field adjacent to barberry bushes, was typed as race TKHBK. This race has a unique and significant virulence combination that includes virulence to Sr31, Sr33, Sr53 and Sr59, and is avirulent to Rusty, a durum line developed for universal susceptibility to the wheat stem rust pathogen. TKHBK is the first race outside the Ug99 race group with virulence to Sr31 and the first known race with virulence to Sr59. Genotyping studies indicate that race TKHBK does not belong to the Ug99 or TKTTF race groups and constitutes a previously unknown lineage. Two hundred bread and durum wheat cultivars and breeding lines from Spain were evaluated against TKHBK, TKTTF, and six additional races. Resistance was observed to all the races evaluated. Molecular markers confirmed the presence of Sr7a, Sr24, Sr31, Sr38 and Sr57 in bread wheat, and Sr13 in durum wheat. The re‐emergence of wheat stem rust in Spain and the occurrence of unique virulences underscore the need to continue surveying and monitoring this disease.
Unraveling the contribution of OsSOS2 in conferring salinity and drought tolerance in a high‐yielding rice
Authors: Kumar Gautam , Basu Sahana , Singla‐Pareek Sneh L. , Pareek Ashwani
Published: January 2022

Abiotic stresses are emerging as a potential threat to sustainable agriculture worldwide. Soil salinity and drought will be the major limiting factors for rice productivity in years to come. The Salt Overly Sensitive (SOS) pathway plays a key role in salinity tolerance by maintaining the cellular ion homeostasis, with SOS2, a S/T kinase, being a vital component. The present study investigated the role of the OsSOS2, a SOS2 homolog from rice, in improving salinity and drought tolerance. Transgenic plants with either overexpression (OE) or knockdown (KD) of OsSOS2 were raised in one of the high‐yielding cultivars of rice—IR64. Using a combined approach based on physiological, biochemical, anatomical, microscopic, molecular, and agronomic assessment, the evidence presented in this study advocates the role of OsSOS2 in improving salinity and drought tolerance in rice. The OE plants were found to have favorable ion and redox homeostasis when grown in the presence of salinity, while the KD plants showed the reverse pattern. Several key stress‐responsive genes were found to work in an orchestrated manner to contribute to this phenotype. Notably, the OE plants showed tolerance to stress at both the seedling and the reproductive stages, addressing the two most sensitive stages of the plant. Keeping in mind the importance of developing crops plants with tolerance to multiple stresses, the present study established the potential of OsSOS2 for biotechnological applications to improve salinity and drought stress tolerance in diverse cultivars of rice.
Species‐specific variation of photosynthesis and mesophyll conductance to ozone and drought in three Mediterranean oaks
Authors: Hoshika Yasutomo , Paoletti Elena , Centritto Mauro , Gomes Marcos Thiago Gaudio , Puértolas Jaime , Haworth Matthew
Published: January 2022

Mesophyll conductance (gmCO2) is one of the most important components in plant photosynthesis. Tropospheric ozone (O3) and drought impair physiological processes, causing damage to photosynthetic systems. However, the combined effects of O3 and drought on gmCO2 are still largely unclear. We investigated leaf gas exchange during mid‐summer in three Mediterranean oaks exposed to O3 (ambient [35.2 nmol mol−1 as daily mean]; 1.4 × ambient) and water treatments (WW [well‐watered] and WD [water‐deficit]). We also examined if leaf traits (leaf mass per area [LMA], foliar abscisic acid concentration [ABA]) could influence the diffusion of CO2 inside a leaf. The combination of O3 and WD significantly decreased net photosynthetic rate (PN) regardless of the species. The reduction of photosynthesis was associated with a decrease in gmCO2 and stomatal conductance (gsCO2) in evergreen Quercus ilex, while the two deciduous oaks (Q. pubescens, Q. robur) also showed a reduction of the maximum rate of carboxylation (Vcmax) and maximum electron transport rate (Jmax) with decreased diffusive conductance parameters. The reduction of gmCO2 was correlated with increased [ABA] in the three oaks, whereas there was a negative correlation between gmCO2 with LMA in Q. pubescens. Interestingly, two deciduous oaks showed a weak or no significant correlation between gsCO2 and ABA under high O3 and WD due to impaired stomatal physiological behaviour, indicating that the reduction of PN was related to gmCO2 rather than gsCO2. The results suggest that gmCO2 plays an important role in plant carbon gain under concurrent increases in the severity of drought and O3 pollution.
Behavioral biases and heuristics in perceptions of COVID‐19 risks and prevention decisions
Authors: Botzen W. J. Wouter , Duijndam Sem J. , Robinson Peter J. , van Beukering Pieter
Published: January 2022

This study adds to an emerging literature on the factors associated with individual perceptions of COVID‐19 risks and decision‐making processes related to prevention behaviors. We conducted a survey in the Netherlands (N = 3600) in June–July 2020 when the first peak of COVID‐19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths had passed, and lockdown measures had been eased. Dutch policies relied heavily on individual prevention behaviors to mitigate a second infection wave. We examine whether biases and heuristics that have been observed in how people perceive and respond to other risks also apply to the newly emergent risks posed by COVID‐19. The results indicate that people simplify risk using threshold models and that risk perceptions are related with personal experiences with COVID‐19 and experiences of close others, supporting the availability heuristic. We also observe that prevention behavior is more strongly associated with COVID‐19 risk perceptions and feelings toward the risk than with local indicators of COVID‐19 risks, and that prevention behavior is related with herding. Support for government lockdown measures is consistent with preferences that may contribute to the not‐in‐my‐term‐of‐office bias. In addition, we offer insights into the role of trust, worry, and demographic characteristics in shaping perceptions of COVID‐19 risks and how these factors relate with individual prevention behaviors and support for government prevention measures. We provide several lessons for the design of policies that limit COVID‐19 risks, including risk communication strategies and appeals to social norms. Perhaps more importantly, our analysis allows for learning lessons to mitigate the risks of future pandemics.
Corruption and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Paulo Lucas Dutra de , Lima Ricardo Carvalho de Andrade , Tigre Robson
Published: January 2022

In this paper, we investigate the effect of corruption on the economic development of the Latin American and Caribbean countries. Using panel data covering the period from 2000 to 2018 and leveraging on two‐way fixed‐effect and system generalized method of moments estimators, we show that a one standard deviation increase in corruption, as measured by the reversed Transparency International's corruption perception index, is associated with a decrease of 12.2% in gross domestic product per capita and a decrease of 3.05% in economic growth. This supports the view that corruption “sands the wheels” of the development of Latin American and Caribbean countries rather than “grease the wheels” perspective that corruption may help compensate for bad governance. We also assess the potential mechanisms through which corruption affects economic performance, providing evidence that corruption is associated with lower investment in physical capital and lower foreign investment flow. Finally, a panel Granger causality test indicates a bidirectional causality between higher corruption and lower economic development.
To adjust or not to adjust? Spatial price variation and the measurement of poverty*
Authors: Kjelsrud Anders
Published: January 2022

Publicly provided goods and services influence household consumption levels. Consumption estimates based solely on private expenses are therefore biased. Given that we usually are unable to account for consumption from public provision, I argue that we often should ignore spatial price differences in inter‐household comparisons. The key reason is that prices and levels of public provision are likely to be positively correlated across space. I provide a simple framework to evaluate this, and I apply it to the measurement of poverty in India. The analysis reveals that a uniform poverty line might be preferable to the currently used price‐adjusted poverty lines.
Tax smoothing and optimal inflation persistence in RBC monetary models revisited
Authors: Kiarsi Mehrab
Published: January 2022

This article re‐examines the optimality of tax smoothing and optimal inflation persistence in the context of monetary models with cash constraints where the Friedman rule is not optimal. I consider distortionary taxes on either consumption or labor income. As a consequence of the non‐optimality of the Friedman rule, the Ramsey‐optimal policy features a tax rate volatility that is orders of magnitude larger than the cornerstone tax‐smoothing result of the standard Ramsey literature. The Ramsey results also imply an optimal inflation rate that is much more persistent than the existing results. When all consumption goods are subject to a cash constraint, purposeful tax and interest rate volatilities are used to smooth wedges. Therefore, in contrast to the widely accepted view in the literature that in RBC models wedge smoothing implies tax smoothing, this paper shows that this is not necessarily true. I also discuss the Ramsey problem in the context of the cash‐credit goods framework with non‐homothetic preferences where neither tax‐smoothing nor wedge smoothing result necessarily holds when the Friedman rule ceases to be optimal.
Incarceration and subsequent risk of suicide: A statewide cohort study
Authors: Morgan Erin Renee , Rivara Frederick P. , Ta Myduc , Grossman David C. , Jones Karl , Rowhani‐Rahbar Ali
Published: January 2022

Introduction

Increasing suicide rates across the United States are disproportionate among populations most impacted by mass incarceration. We sought to determine if incarceration is associated with risk of suicide and firearm suicide after release from prison.

Methods

Using a population‐based Washington cohort from Department of Corrections and vital statistics administrative records 1990–2017, individuals were compared to the sex‐, age‐, and race‐matched population of Washington using Poisson regression. Among previously incarcerated individuals, we included incarceration history characteristics to calculate sub‐hazard ratios using Cox proportional‐hazards models.

Results

Of 140,281 individuals released from prison, 484 died by suicide. Suicide risk was 62% higher among previously incarcerated individuals compared with the general population (RR: 1.62; 95% CI: 1.46–1.79). Suicide risk was higher among individuals convicted of firearm‐involved crimes (RR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.79–2.89). Individuals released prior to age 18 had substantially higher risk of firearm suicide than those whose first release occurred between ages 18–24 (sHR: 11.91; 95% CI: 4.30–32.96).

Conclusion

Our findings highlight the need for improved mental health resources and lethal means safety in this population. Mental health and substance use treatment have been proposed as effective alternatives to incarceration—continuing to study their impacts may reveal additional benefits of reducing suicide.
Voting in the Echo Chamber? Patterns of Political Online Activities and Voting Behavior in Switzerland
Authors: Ackermann Kathrin , Stadelmann‐Steffen Isabelle
Published: January 2022

Understanding the political consequences of digitalization is among the key challenges for modern societies. A pressing issue is the question whether political online activities make individuals more close‐minded and less willing to consider alternative arguments. We examine this question using a peculiarity of the Swiss electoral system – the possibility to split votes – as a behavioral outcome measure. We argue that political online activities might either make individuals less likely to split votes (“echo chamber”‐argument) or more likely to spread their votes across parties (“deliberation”‐argument). Empirically, we use data from the Swiss Election Study Selects 2019 to test these arguments. The results of a hierarchical logistic regression analysis do not support any of the conflicting arguments. Yet, additional analyses suggest that political interest moderates the relationship between online activities and vote splitting: political interest makes online activists more likely to split votes.
A global survey of the transcriptome of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) based on single‐molecule long‐read isoform sequencing
Authors: Xu Tun , Yang Xiaofei , Jia Yanyan , Li Zihang , Tang Guangbo , Li Xiujuan , Wang Bo , Wang Tingjie , Lin Jiadong , Guo Li , Ye Kai
Published: January 2022

Opium poppy (Papaver somniferum), which produces benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs), is an important medicinal plant. However, due to the 70.9% repetitive content and the whole‐genome duplication event of the opium poppy genome, it is difficult to generate accurate and comprehensive gene annotations. To overcome this problem, we used the PacBio single‐molecule long‐read isoform sequencing (IsoSeq) technology to improve opium poppy genome annotation and identify genome‐wide alternative splicing (AS). In total, we identified 410 699 full‐length isoforms, correcting 1007 misannotated genes and identifying 10 473 unannotated genes. Notably, the annotations of two BIA metabolism genes, CYP80B1 (PS0533980.1) and BBE (PS1014490.1), were corrected, and a novel copy of CYP80B1 was discovered. In addition, we found current opium poppy genome annotation was biased on GC content and exon number, leading to missing of some younger genes. Furthermore, 474 169 novel splicing junctions were identified, revealing splicing sites characteristics difference of genes originating from different phylostratums. Based on the splicing junctions identified by the full‐length transcripts, we discovered the tissue‐ and development‐specific AS modes. More specifically, we found the percentage of retained introns (RIs) in the petal and stamen decreased, correlating with the lower GC content of the transcriptome. Also, there was a decrease in the percentage of splicing (PSI) at RI sites after cotyledon growth. The development‐related pathways were also enriched among the genes of the RI sites, indicating the post‐transcriptional mechanism during the seedling development of opium poppy. Our data provide abundant transcriptome insights into the AS of the opium poppy.
Tocilizumab in the management of posttransfusion hyperhemolysis syndrome in sickle cell disease: The experience so far
Authors: Meenan John , Hall Rhys , Badle Saket , Chatterjee Basabi , Win Nay , Tsitsikas Dimitris A.
Published: January 2022

Background

Posttransfusion hyperhemolysis syndrome is a rare but life‐threatening form of delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction with lysis of both transfused and autologous red cells, seen predominantly in patients with sickle cell disease. Macrophage activation is thought to play a major role in its pathophysiology. Standard treatment is with intravenous immunoglobulin and steroids but refractory cases pose a major clinical problem. Tocilizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody against the IL‐6 receptor that can inhibit IL‐6 induced macrophage activation.

Methods and materials

We describe the case of a 33‐year‐old woman with sickle cell anemia and posttransfusion hyper hemolysis syndrome refractory to standard therapy, treated with Tocilizumab. We also review all cases reported in the literature where Tocilizumab was used for posttransfusion hyperhemolysis.

Results

Treatment with Tocilizumab was well tolerated with no observed adverse events. There was no further drop in Hb after day 2 of treatment with subsequent continuous gradual improvement. Her bilirubin dropped significantly after the first dose and continued to improve, while ferritin and LDH reduced significantly after day 2 of treatment with Tocilizumab and continued to drop thereafter. Like in our case, all other cases in the literature where Tocilizumab was used for posttransfusion hyperhemolysis led to rapid clinical responses and no adverse events.

Discussion

Even though the number of cases of posttransfusion hyper hemolysis syndrome treated with Tocilizumab are few, they have all been associated with rapid clinical responses with no observed adverse events suggesting that the role of Tocilizumab in this context needs to be further explored.
Control Strategy Development for Optimized Operational Flexibility From Humidified Microgas Turbine: Saturation Tower Performance Assessment
Authors: De Paepe Ward , Pappa Alessio , Coppitters Diederik , Montero Carrero Marina , Tsirikoglou Panagiotis , Contino Francesco
Published: January 2022

Waste heat recovery through cycle humidification is considered as an effective tool to increase the operational flexibility of micro gas turbines (mGTs) in cogeneration in a decentralized energy system (DES) context. Indeed, during periods with low heat demand, the excess thermal power can be reintroduced in the cycle under the form of heated water/steam, leading to improved electrical performance. The micro humid air turbine (mHAT) has been proven to be the most effective route for cycle humidification; however, so far, all research efforts focused on optimizing the mHAT performance at nominal electrical load, in the absence of any thermal load. Nevertheless, in a DES context, the thermal and electrical load of the mGT need to be changed depending on the demand, requiring both optimal nominal and part load performances. To address this need, in this paper, we present the first step toward the development of a control strategy for a Turbec T100 mGT-mHAT test rig. First, using experimental data, the global performance, depending on the operating point as well as the humidity level, has been assessed. Second, the performance of the saturation tower, i.e., the degree of saturation (relative humidity) of the working fluid leaving this saturator, is analyzed to assess the optimal water injection system control parameter settings. Results show that optimal mHAT performance can only be obtained when the working fluid leaving the saturation tower is fully saturated, but does not contain a remaining liquid fraction. Under these conditions, a maximal amount of waste heat is transferred from the water to the mGT working fluid in the saturation tower. From these data, some general observations can be made to optimize the performance, being maximizing injection pressure and aiming for a water flow rate of ≈5m3/h. Besides these general recommendations, having a specific control matrix, that allows setting the saturation tower control parameters for any set of operational setpoint and the inlet conditions would lead to optimized performance. Therefore, future work involves the development of a control matrix, using advanced data postprocessing for noise reduction and accuracy improvement, as well as an experimental validation of this methodology on the actual test rig.
Student Research Projects With Industrial Impact
Authors: Grimshaw S. D. , Clark C. J. , Taylor J. V. , Spataro R.
Published: January 2022

This paper describes six final year undergraduate research projects supported by a collaboration between the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and Reaction Engines (RE), a UK aerospace company. The collaboration is now in its fourth year of projects relating to RE's synergetic air breathing rocket engine (SABRE). The approach taken in these projects combines modern teaching pedagogy with a best practice methodology for industrial-academic collaboration and a well established framework for structuring research problems. This paper explains how the three methodologies are tailored and adapted for use with final year undergraduate research projects. The approach is mapped on to an annual project cycle which begins with the industry and academic partners deciding which topics to investigate and proceeds through student selection, the project work itself and concludes with student assessment and end-of-year reporting. The projects combine analytical, computational and experimental work and have covered counter-rotating turbomachinery, S-ducts in compressors and Helium Turbine design, all of which are topics of primary importance to the design of SABRE. Following descriptions of each of the six completed projects, the impact of the work and lessons learned are considered from the point of view of the students, the industrial partner and the academic supervisors. Overall, the students found the work extremely engaging and have all been encouraged to pursue careers in engineering, either in industry or through postgraduate study. For the industry partner the collaboration provides expertise and an approach which is not available in-house as well providing a “second look” at key technical questions. For the academics involved, the opportunity to lead research on a “real” problem with an industrial partner has proved highly motivating as well as providing opportunities for personal and career development.
Supplemental Material: Petrogenesis of voluminous silicic magmas in the Sierra Madre Occidental large igneous province, Mexican Cordillera: Insights from zircon and Hf-O isotopes
Authors: Andrews G.D.M. , al. et
Published: January 2022

Sample details, U-Pb geochronology data, EarthChem Database references, Lu-Hf data, oxygen isotope data, zircon saturation temperature data, and assimilation–fractional crystallization modeling
QED parton distribution functions in the MSHT20 fit
Authors: Cridge T. , Harland-Lang L. A. , Martin A. D. , Thorne R. S.
Published: January 2022

We present the MSHT20qed set of parton distribution functions (PDFs). These are obtained from the MSHT20 global analysis via a refit including QED corrections to the DGLAP evolution at $${{{\mathcal {O}}}}(\alpha ),{{{\mathcal {O}}}}(\alpha \alpha _S)$$

O

(
α
)

,
O

(
α

α
S

)

and $$\mathcal{O}(\alpha ^2)$$

O
(

α
2

)

, and containing the photon PDF of the proton. As in the previous MMHT15qed study we use an input distribution for the photon that is derived from the LUXqed formulation, and find good consistency for the photon PDF with that of MMHT15qed, as well as with other recent sets. We also present a set of QED corrected neutron PDFs and accompanying photon distribution, and provide the photon PDF of the nucleons separated into elastic and inelastic contributions. We assess the general expectations for the impact of photon-initiated (PI) corrections to processes entering PDF fits, and review the effect of QED corrections on the other partons and on the fit quality, where electroweak corrections (including PI production) are appropriately added to the cross sections wherever possible. We explore the phenomenological implications of this set by comparing to a variety of benchmark cross sections, finding small but significant corrections due to the inclusion of QED effects in the PDFs.
Optimising longitudinal and lateral calorimeter granularity for software compensation in hadronic showers using deep neural networks
Authors: Neubüser Coralie , Kieseler Jan , Lujan Paul
Published: January 2022

We investigate the effect of longitudinal and transverse calorimeter segmentation on event-by-event software compensation for hadronic showers. To factorize out sampling and detector effects, events are simulated in which a single charged pion is shot at a homogenous lead glass calorimeter, split into longitudinal and transverse segments of varying size, and the total energy loss within each segment is used as the signal. As an approximation of an optimal reconstruction, a neural network-based energy regression is trained based on these signals. The architecture is based on blocks of convolutional kernels customized for shower energy regression using local energy densities; biases at the edges of the training dataset are mitigated using a histogram technique. With this approximation, we find that a longitudinal and transverse segment size less than or equal to 0.5 and 1.3 nuclear interaction lengths, respectively, is necessary to achieve an optimal energy measurement. In addition, an intrinsic energy resolution of $$8\%/\sqrt{E}$$

8
%
/

E

for pion showers is observed.
Vibration Suppression of the Viscoelastic Sandwich Doubly-Curved Shells Using Magnetostrictive Layers Subjected to Kerr’s Foundation
Authors: Xiao Caiyuan , Zhang Guiju , Hu Peisi , Yu Yudong , Mo Youyu , Mohammadi Reza
Published: January 2022

This research presents a novel model to examine the vibration and deflection analysis of the visco-magnetostrictive doubly-curved sandwich shell subjected to Kerr’s foundation. The shell has a homogenous core with two magnetostrictive layers and two viscoelastic faces. A velocity feedback control process is applied to reduce the vibration of the system using an active strategy. In the present model, active (magnetostrictive materials) and passive (viscoelastic materials) strategies are applied together to suppress the vibration of the sandwich shell. Simple sinusoidal deformation theory (SSDT) is dedicated to inspecting the shear impacts along with the thickness of the sandwich shell. Hamilton’s axiom and Kelvin–Voigt relation are dedicated to achieving the governing equations of motion. Then, the Navier solution technique is dedicated to deriving the eigenfrequency of the sandwich shell with simply-supported (S-S) boundary conditions. The results indicate that the present model can improve the vibration reduction of the curved structures by using the amalgamation of the passive and active strategies. Also, the application of Kerr’s foundation has a major impact on the vibration reduction of the system.
RAIL: Predictable, Low Tail Latency for NVMe Flash
Authors: Litz Heiner , Gonzalez Javier , Klimovic Ana , Kozyrakis Christos
Published: January 2022

Flash-based storage is replacing disk for an increasing number of data center applications, providing orders of magnitude higher throughput and lower average latency. However, applications also require predictable storage latency. Existing Flash devices fail to provide low tail read latency in the presence of write operations. We propose two novel techniques to address SSD read tail latency, including
Redundant Array of Independent LUNs
(RAIL) which avoids serialization of reads behind user writes as well as
latency-aware hot-cold separation
(HC) which improves write throughput while maintaining low tail latency. RAIL leverages the internal parallelism of modern Flash devices and allocates data and parity pages to avoid reads getting stuck behind writes. We implement RAIL in the Linux Kernel as part of the LightNVM Flash translation layer and show that it can reduce read tail latency by 7× at the 99.99th percentile, while reducing relative bandwidth by only 33%.
The Concurrent Learned Indexes for Multicore Data Storage
Authors: Wang Zhaoguo , Chen Haibo , Wang Youyun , Tang Chuzhe , Wang Huan
Published: January 2022

We present XIndex, which is a concurrent index library and designed for fast queries. It includes a concurrent ordered index (XIndex-R) and a concurrent hash index (XIndex-H). Similar to a recent proposal of the learned index, the indexes in XIndex use learned models to optimize index efficiency. Compared with the learned index, for the ordered index, XIndex-R is able to handle concurrent writes effectively and adapts its structure according to runtime workload characteristics. For the hash index, XIndex-H is able to avoid the resize operation blocking concurrent writes. Furthermore, the indexes in XIndex can index string keys much more efficiently than the learned index. We demonstrate the advantages of XIndex with YCSB, TPC-C (KV), which is a TPC-C-inspired benchmark for key-value stores, and micro-benchmarks. Compared with ordered indexes of Masstree and Wormhole, XIndex-R achieves up to 3.2× and 4.4× performance improvement on a 24-core machine. Compared with hash indexes of Intel TBB HashMap, XIndex-H achieves up to 3.1× speedup. The performance further improves by 91% after adding the optimizations on indexing string keys. The library is open-sourced.

1
NxTF: An API and Compiler for Deep Spiking Neural Networks on Intel Loihi
Authors: Rueckauer Bodo , Bybee Connor , Goettsche Ralf , Singh Yashwardhan , Mishra Joyesh , Wild Andreas
Published: January 2022

Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) is a promising paradigm for efficient event-driven processing of spatio-temporally sparse data streams. Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) have inspired the design of and can take advantage of the emerging class of neuromorphic processors like Intel Loihi. These novel hardware architectures expose a variety of constraints that affect firmware, compiler, and algorithm development alike. To enable rapid and flexible development of SNN algorithms on Loihi, we developed NxTF: a programming interface derived from Keras and compiler optimized for mapping deep convolutional SNNs to the multi-core Intel Loihi architecture. We evaluate NxTF on Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) trained directly on spikes as well as models converted from traditional DNNs, processing both sparse event-based and dense frame-based datasets. Further, we assess the effectiveness of the compiler to distribute models across a large number of cores and to compress models by exploiting Loihi’s weight-sharing features. Finally, we evaluate model accuracy, energy, and time-to-solution compared to other architectures. The compiler achieves near-optimal resource utilization of 80% across 16 Loihi chips for a 28-layer, 4M parameter MobileNet model with input size 128×128. In addition, we report the lowest error rate of 8.52% for the CIFAR-10 dataset on neuromorphic hardware, using an off-the-shelf MobileNet.
(Invited) The Role of Gold Cluster Size and Coverage on Hydrogen Production over TiO2(110) Single Crystal. An STM and Time Resolved Spectroscopy Study
Authors: Katsiev Habib , Harrison George , Maity Partha , Thornton Geoff , Idriss Hicham
Published: January 2022

Unlike thermally driven catalytic reactions by metals, the reaction rates in photo-catalysis do not scale with neither the amount of metals nor with their size. Because of the complexity of multi-component photo-catalysts in powder forms, this phenomenon that has been routinely observed for over three decades, has so far no fundamental explanations. In order to probe into this, hydrogen production rates from ethanol over Au clusters with different sizes deposited on TiO2(110) rutile single crystal, were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and online mass spectrometry. A non-linear increase of the rate of hydrogen with increasing surface coverage of gold was observed. While Au particles with sizes ranging from 4 to 8 Å, marginally affected the reaction rate, the inter-particle distance was found to be crucial. Increasing the separation distance resulted in increasing the normalized reaction rate. These results are explained in terms of competition between particles for excited electrons to reduce hydrogen ions of surface hydroxyls to molecular hydrogen. The reason for nonlinearity is postulated to be due to two considerably different time scale, the picosecond scale (associated with Debye length) of charge transfer at the interface Au/TiO2 and the much slower time scale of electron transfer in chemical reactions.