bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Right Dose: From Phase I to Clinical Practice
Authors: Groenland Stefanie L. , Ratain Mark J. , Chen Lisa S. , Gandhi Varsha
Published: May 2021

To realize the full potential of promising new anticancer drugs, it is of paramount importance to administer them at the right dose. The aim of this educational article is to provide several opportunities to optimize anticancer drug dosing, focusing on oral targeted therapies. First, therapeutic drug monitoring can optimize exposure in individual patients, if the optimal concentration is known. This approach is of particular interest in regard to oral kinase inhibitors with high interindividual pharmacokinetic variability. If exposure is related to response, then therapeutic drug monitoring is potentially feasible, although the clinical utility of this approach has not yet been established. Other approaches to reduce variability include administration of more frequent, smaller doses and administration under optimal prandial conditions. However, for many drugs, the labeled dose has not been demonstrated to be the optimal dose; for such agents, the vast majority of patients may be receiving excessive doses, which results in excessive toxicity. Furthermore, administration of lower off-label doses may reduce both medical and financial toxicity. These strategies should be applied from registration studies to clinical practice, with the goal of better optimizing anticancer treatment.
When and How to Treat Relapsed Multiple Myeloma
Authors: Nathwani Nitya , Bertamini Luca , Banerjee Rahul , Gay Francesca , Shah Nina , Krishnan Amrita
Published: May 2021

The treatment landscape for relapsed multiple myeloma has expanded considerably in recent years, as numerous agents with new mechanisms of action have been introduced, increasing responses even in advanced disease and prolonging survival. The wealth of novel regimens comes with the challenges of balancing toxicities and aligning a regimen with the biology of the myeloma and the nature of the relapse in conjunction with patient treatment history and personal preference. Herein, we provide an overview of treatment options for both early and late relapsing disease as well as a discussion of the role of emerging immune-based therapies.
Barriers and Facilitators to Telemedicine: Can You Hear Me Now?
Authors: Lopez Ana Maria , Lam Kenneth , Thota Ramya
Published: May 2021

In its most direct interpretation, telemedicine is medical care provided at a distance. Although telemedicine’s use had been steadily increasing, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted an unprecedented interest and urgency among patients, health care professionals, and policymakers to facilitate health care devoid of the need for in-person contact. The growth in personal access to telecommunications technology meant an unprecedented number of people in the United States and around the world had access to the equipment and technology that would make virtual care possible from the home. As the mass implementation of telemedicine unfolded, it became quickly apparent that scaling up the use of telemedicine presented considerable new challenges, some of which worsened disparities. This article describes those challenges by examining the history of telemedicine, its role in both supporting access and creating new barriers to access in trying to get everyone connected, frameworks for thinking about those barriers, and facilitators that may help overcome them, with a particular focus on older adults and patients with cancer in rural communities.
Telehealth Strategies to Support Patients and Families Across the Cancer Trajectory
Authors: Bakitas Marie , Cheville Andrea L. , Mulvey Therese Marie , Peppercorn Jeffrey , Watts Kristen , Dionne-Odom J. Nicholas
Published: May 2021

Effective delivery of cancer care via telehealth requires a planned care system that accounts for myriad patient, provider, and practice/cancer center resources before, during, and after the care episode. Telehealth is broadly defined as a method to have virtual, bidirectional communication between patients and providers. Telehealth can include methods such as audio-only, video-consultation, and tele-monitoring, which can occur in a synchronous, asynchronous, or blended format. The purpose of this review is to present common foundational principles for providing clinical cancer care via telehealth, followed by an overview of three distinct examples of comprehensive telehealth programs that have been developed to meet the needs of patients and families across the cancer trajectory, including survivorship, rehabilitation, and palliative care phases. The programs described are exemplars that were developed and implemented prior to the coronavirus pandemic, so they reflect many years of planning and evidence. Lessons learned include the need for ongoing patient support, clinician training, and cancer health system/practice programmatic considerations such as billing, scheduling, reimbursement, software, and hardware/platform security. Although the COVID-19 pandemic produced an explosive shift in regulations and implementation, sustainability of these changes may not be long-term. Nevertheless, a permanent shift in cancer care to include telehealth is likely here to stay.
A thermodynamic description for physiological transmembrane transport
Authors: Herrera-Valdez Marco Arieli
Published: May 2021

A general formulation for both passive and active transmembrane transport is derived from basic thermodynamical principles. The derivation takes into account the energy required for the motion of molecules across membranes and includes the possibility of modeling asymmetric flow. Transmembrane currents can then be described by the general model in the case of electrogenic flow. As it is desirable in new models, it is possible to derive other well-known expressions for transmembrane currents as particular cases of the general formulation. For instance, the conductance-based formulation for current turns out to be a linear approximation of the general formula for current. Also, under suitable assumptions, other formulas for current based on electrodiffusion, like the constant field approximation by Goldman, can be recovered from the general formulation. The applicability of the general formulations is illustrated first with fits to existing data, and after, with models of transmembrane potential dynamics for pacemaking cardiocytes and neurons. The general formulations presented here provide a common ground for the biophysical study of physiological phenomena that depend on transmembrane transport.
How many online workers are there in the world? A data-driven assessment
Authors: Kässi Otto , Lehdonvirta Vili , Stephany Fabian
Published: May 2021

An unknown number of people around the world are earning income by working through online labour platforms such as Upwork and Amazon Mechanical Turk. We combine data collected from various sources to build a data-driven assessment of the number of such online workers (also known as online freelancers) globally. Our headline estimate is that there are 163 million freelancer profiles registered on online labour platforms globally. Approximately 19 million of them have obtained work through the platform at least once, and 5 million have completed at least 10 projects or earned at least $1000. These numbers suggest a substantial growth from 2015 in registered worker accounts, but much less growth in amount of work completed by workers. Our results indicate that online freelancing represents a non-trivial segment of labour today, but one that is spread thinly across countries and sectors.
Will MDMA-assisted psychotherapy become a breakthrough in treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder? A critical narrative review.
Authors: Szafoni Sandra , Więckiewicz Gniewko , Pudlo Robert , Gorczyca Piotr , Piegza Magdalena
Published: May 2021

Zespół stresu pourazowego (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD) jest powszechnie występującym zaburzeniem psychicznym powstającym na skutek traumatycznych doświadczeń. Pomimo wielu dostępnych możliwości pomocy, obejmujących zarówno farmakoterapię, jak i psychoterapię, działania te niejednokrotnie nie przynoszą oczekiwanych rezultatów. W ciągu ostatnich lat przemysł farmaceutyczny nie był w stanie zaoferować nowych opartych na wielu mechanizmach działania rozwiązań, stąd uwaga części badaczy skierowała się w stronę zsyntezowanych przed laty, a następnie zdelegalizowanych środków psychoaktywnych. Aktualnie przeprowadzane są próby kliniczne z zastosowaniem metylenodioksymetaamfetaminy (MDMA) jako związku wspomagającego psychoterapię prowadzoną w nurcie poznawczo-behawioralnym, której przez amerykańską Agencję Żywności i Leków (Food and Drug Administration, FDA) ze względu na dotychczas uzyskane wyniki, zostało przypisane znaczenie terapii przełomowej (Breakthrough Therapy). Prezentowane przez autorów informacje, przedstawiając mechanizmy działania, uzasadniają jego terapeutyczne zastosowanie i opisują przebieg leczenia, a także konfrontują się z potencjalnymi zagrożeniami wynikającymi z przyjmowania tej substancji. Jeżeli aktualnie trwające badania 3. fazy zakończą się oczekiwanymi rezultatami, spełniając odpowiednie kryteria efektywności, leczenie to będzie mogło być zatwierdzone przez FDA najwcześniej w 2022 roku.
Extension and Self-Connection
Authors: Blumson Ben , Singh Manikaran
Published: May 2021

If two self-connected individuals are connected, it follows in classical extensional mereotopology that the sum of those individuals is self-connected too. Since mainland Europe and mainland Asia, for example, are both self-connected and connected to each other, mainland Eurasia is also self-connected. In contrast, in non-extensional mereotopologies, two individuals may have more than one sum, in which case it does not follow from their being self-connected and connected that the sum of those individuals is self-connected too. Nevertheless, one would still expect it to follow that a sum of connected self-connected individuals is self-connected too. In this paper, we present some surprising countermodels which show that this conjecture is incorrect.
La taxonomía textual de la industria alimentaria desde una perspectiva traductológica
Authors:   Text classification of the agri-food industry from a  translation perspective, Policastro Ponce Gisella
Published: May 2021

La industria agroalimentaria desarrolla una enorme variedad de textos que, generalmente, se redactan en la lengua del país de origen, donde se manufactura y comercializa el producto. Dentro del sector agroalimentario existe una interrelación entre diversas disciplinas que abarca una amplia gama de relaciones intercomunicativas dando lugar a documentos de diversa índole. La finalidad principal de la presente comunicación no es otra que ofrecer una propuesta de clasificación de la producción textual dentro del sector agroalimentario, desde una perspectiva traductora, con el fin de elucidar los paradigmas de sistematización del texto agroalimentario de manera que faciliten la labor traductora e investigadora. Para tal fin, se abordará, en primer lugar, un análisis descriptivo del sector, con el propósito de identificar las tendencias comunicativas actuales más utilizadas y demandadas en el sector de la traducción agroalimentaria; y, en segundo lugar, partiendo de los principales aspectos relacionados con la delimitación y clasificación de las características relativas al concepto de tipología textual, se proyectará el modelo de clasificación textual diseñado sobre la base de la demanda traductora.
Análisis DAFO de las actitudes y percepciones del profesorado y alumnado de inglés como lengua extranjera hacia el aprendizaje de idiomas asistido por ordenador: estudio intercultural en Irán y España
Authors: Tafazoli Dara
Published: May 2021

Este estudio aborda el diseño de una matriz DAFO basada en las actitudes y percepciones de profesorado y alumnado de idiomas en Irán y España para explorar las fortalezas, oportunidades, debilidades y amenazas del Aprendizaje de Lenguas Asistido por Ordenador (conocido como CALL, acrónimo de Computer-Assisted Language Learning), así como las diferencias existentes entre estos dos contextos. Los datos recopilados se analizaron mediante análisis estadístico (que incluyó el análisis del contenido de los datos cualitativos) para clasificar los datos y alinearlos en la matriz DAFO. Las conclusiones de este trabajo apuntan a las implicaciones pedagógicas, así como a una serie de recomendaciones para seguir investigando en este campo.
La adquisición del léxico veterinario (alemán- español): una propuesta basada en corpus para la traducción de textos
Authors: Balbuena Torezano María del Carmen
Published: May 2021

La profesión veterinaria abarca un elevado número de campos y disciplinas y ámbitos de actuación, entre las que caben señalar la medicina veterinaria, el control de la calidad alimentaria, la salud pública y laboral, la producción animal, el bienestar animal o la industria farmacéutica, entre otros. Ello supone que los textos sobre los que se sustentan estas especialidades contienen una alta densidad léxica, como sucede con otros campos de las Ciencias de la Salud. En este trabajo ofrecemos una propuesta para la adquisición y el aprendizaje del léxico especializado del sector veterinario en el par de lenguas alemán-español.
Detección y planificación de contenidos problemáticos: el caso de las preposiciones locativas en el aprendizaje de lenguas afines (italiano-español)
Authors: Rodríguez Faneca Cristina
Published: May 2021

En el presente trabajo se realiza una reflexión sobre la importancia de la planificación docente en la enseñanza de contenidos problemáticos. A partir de la observación de un problema en el aula (producción de errores en la comunicación escrita de aprendices hispanohablantes en relación con las preposiciones locativas italianas) presentamos un corpus de errores con el que reflexionar acerca de posibles herramientas, instrumentos y enfoques que podrían ser de utilidad a la hora de abordar dichos contenidos en el aula. El corpus en cuestión recoge 190 producciones escritas de hispanohablantes que estudian italiano como lengua extranjera entre los cursos 2016-2019.
Estudio sobre la inteligencia emocional en educación primaria.
Authors: Godoy Rojas Ingrid Arely , Sánchez Moreno Marita
Published: May 2021

Dada la relevancia de las competencias emocionales en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, se presenta este artículo cuyo propósito es comparar, en función del género, los niveles de inteligencia emocional del alumnado de 5to. básico de las escuelas de Temuco (Chile). La investigación se enmarca en el paradigma positivista, nivel descriptivo, diseño no experimental y transeccional. Para lograr el objetivo se aplicó la escala Trait Meta Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24) a una muestra de 450 estudiantes de 12 escuelas de Temuco. La mayoría de los estudiantes presenta niveles adecuados de inteligencia emocional en las tres dimensiones de la escala: atención, claridad y regulación emocional. Respecto de los niveles de inteligencia emocional de hombres y mujeres, no se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las dimensiones de atención y regulación emocional; en cambio, en la dimensión de claridad emocional las mujeres se ubican en un nivel superior al de los hombres. En cuanto a la relación entre inteligencia emocional y género, existe relación estadísticamente significativa entre género y atención y claridad emocional, pero en la dimensión reparación no se observó tal relación. En conclusión, como no se hallaron resultados concluyentes sobre la relación entre los niveles de inteligencia emocional y el género, se sugiere realizar más investigación.
Facilitating the Search for Partners on Matching Platforms
Authors: Kanoria Yash , Saban Daniela
Published: May 2021

Two-sided matching platforms can control and optimize over many aspects of the search for partners. To understand how matching platforms should be designed, we introduce a dynamic two-sided search model with strategic agents who must bear a cost to discover their value for each potential partner and can do so nonsimultaneously. We characterize evolutionarily stable stationary equilibria and find that, in many settings, the platform can mitigate wasted search effort by imposing suitable restrictions on agents. In unbalanced markets, the platform should force the short side of the market to initiate contact with potential partners, by disallowing the long side from doing so. This allows the agents on the long side to exercise more choice in equilibrium. When agents are vertically differentiated, the platform can significantly improve welfare even in the limit of vanishing screening costs by forcing the shorter side of the market to propose and by hiding information about the quality of potential partners. Furthermore, a Pareto improvement in welfare is possible in this limit.

This paper was accepted by Baris Ata, stochastic models and simulation.
Mental health assessment and triage in an ambulance clinical contact centre
Authors: Briggs Hannah , Clarke Stephen , Rees Nigel
Published: May 2021

Background:

With increasing numbers of emergency calls to ambulance services, exploration of the triage and management of mental health calls is valuable, given their volume and duration. Studies have explored these calls from patient and practitioner perspectives, but few have considered the perspective of the practitioners assessing patients over the phone in terms of clinical capability.

Aim:

This study aimed to explore the thoughts, feelings and educational requirements of paramedics and nurses working on emergency medical services clinical desks, focusing on mental health-related calls and the triage tools used.

Methods:

A service evaluation was conducted. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 41 staff on clinical desks at the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust's (WAST) clinical contact centres in June 2019. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data by thematic analysis.

Findings:

Out of the 41 employees, 26 (63%) responded. Low levels of confidence were reported in managing mental health calls, along with inadequate detail in the mental health elements of their triage algorithm and deficiencies in referral pathways.

Conclusion:

Given the volume and complexity of mental health calls to ambulance services, more attention should be paid to the education and training of clinical desk professionals and the decision support tools available in WAST and other ambulance services. Further research is required with a larger sample size over multiple ambulance services.
Winning in winter with marginal gains: enhancing welfare on the frontline
Authors: Robert-Blunn Mark
Published: May 2021

Winter pressures on the NHS challenge every one of us. Patients may experience delays waiting for emergency ambulances and face extended waiting times at hospital emergency departments (ED). During this season, GPs, hospitals, NHS organisations and staff will face increased demand for services; yet are still required to deliver on agreed performance targets with only a finite availability of resources. Add Brexit and the second wave of COVID-19 wave into the mix and it might appear difficult to make improvements in any of these areas. During the winter of 2019–2020, a large ambulance service in England introduced a ‘welfare van’ to support busy emergency ambulance crews in one of its busy urban areas. It was tasked to see if it could make a positive difference to staff welfare and uphold or improve on ambulance service performance during a period of expected increased demand.
Long-term patient-related quality of life after fracture-related infections of the long bones
Authors: Walter Nike , Rupp Markus , Hierl Katja , Pfeifer Christian , Kerschbaum Maximilian , Hinterberger Thilo , Alt Volker
Published: May 2021

Aims

We aimed to evaluate the long-term impact of fracture-related infection (FRI) on patients’ physical health and psychological wellbeing. For this purpose, quality of life after successful surgical treatment of FRIs of long bones was assessed.

Methods

A total of 37 patients treated between November 2009 and March 2019, with achieved eradication of infection and stable bone consolidation after long bone FRI, were included. Quality of life was evaluated with the EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D) and German Short-Form 36 (SF-36) outcome instruments as well as with an International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization (ICD)-10 based symptom rating (ISR) and compared to normative data.

Results

With a mean follow-up of 4.19 years (SD 2.7) after the last surgery, the mean SF-36 score was 40.1 (SD 14.6) regarding the physical health component and 48.7 (SD 5.1) regarding the mental health component, compared to German normative values of 48.4 (SD 9.2) (p < 0.001) and 50.9 (SD 8.8) (p = 0.143). The mean EQ-5D index reached 0.76 (SD 0.27) with a mean EQ-5D visual analogue scale (VAS) rating of 65.7 (SD 22.7) compared to reference scores of 0.88 (p < 0.001) and 72.9 (p < 0.001). Mean scores of the ISR did not reveal significant psychological symptom burden, while an individual analysis showed moderate to severe impairments in 21.6% (n = 8) of the patients.

Conclusion

Even a mean 4.2 years (SD 2.7) after surgically successful treatment of FRI of long bones, patients report significantly lower quality of life in comparison to normative data. Future clinical studies on FRIs should focus on patient-related outcome measures enabling best possible shared treatment decision-making. Prevention methods and interdisciplinary approaches should be implemented to improve the overall quality of life of FRI patients. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2021;10(5):321–327.
HOW TO OBTAIN A GLOBAL REFERENCE THRESHOLD IN AHP/ANP
Authors: Garuti Claudio
Published: May 2021

This paper has two main objectives. The first objective is to provide a mathematically grounded technique to construct local and global thresholds using the well-known rate of change method. The next objective, which is secondary, is to show the relevance and possibilities of applying the AHP/ANP in absolute measurement (AM) compared to the relative measurement (RM) mode, which is currently widely used in the AHP/ANP community. The ability to construct a global threshold would help increase the use of AHP/ANP in the AM mode (rating mode) in the AHP/ANP community. Therefore, if the first specific objective is achieved, it would facilitate reaching the second, more general objective.
 
For this purpose, a real-life example based on the construction of a multi-criteria index and threshold will be described. The index measures the degree of lag of a neighborhood through the Urban and Social Deterioration Index (USDI) based on an AHP risks model. The global threshold represents the tolerable lag value for the specific neighborhood. The difference or gap between the neighborhood’s current status (actual USDI value) and this threshold represents the level of neighborhood deterioration that must be addressed to close the gap from a social and urban standpoint. The global threshold value is a composition of 45 terminal criteria with their own local threshold that must be evaluated for the specific neighborhood. This example is the most recent in a large list of AHP applications in AM mode in vastly different decision making fields, such as risk disaster assessment, environmental assessment, the problem of medical diagnoses, social responsibility problems, BOCR analysis for the evolution of nuclear energy in Chile in the next 20 years and many others. (See list of projects in Appendix).
DECISION SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT FOR MALAYSIAN BAUXITE MINING INDUSTRY USING ANALYTIC NETWORK PROCESS
Authors: Islam Rafikul , Periaiah Nagendran , Abdullah Muhammad Faris
Published: May 2021

The mining industry plays an important role in the economic development of Malaysia. However, uncontrolled mining activities have caused serious environmental impacts. Recently, bauxite mining in Kuantan, in the state of Pahang, stained fifteen kilometers of Pahang’s coastline with red arsenic particles and heavy metal pollution washed from open-pit bauxite mines into the nearby sea. This has caused potentially catastrophic damages to the ecosystem off the coast of Pahang. This triggered the Government of Malaysia to issue a temporary ban on bauxite mining while the state government engaged in expensive clean-up. Mining activities require an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Environmental decisions are complex and multidisciplinary including knowledge bases which incorporate natural, physical, and social sciences, politics, and ethics. This research proposes a decision support framework that uses the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to help decision makers in EIA pertaining to the bauxite mining industry.
Optimized response of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure with asymmetric gratings at oblique incidence in the terahertz regime
Authors: Cao Lei , Xia Huiting , Jia Shanshan , Yin Zhengya
Published: May 2021

The performance of terahertz (THz) detectors based on two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) with the aid of a subwavelength gratings coupler depends critically on the amplitude difference of an electric field with positive and negative scattering orders. An efficient method was proposed to enhance the current response of the AlGaN/GaN material in the frequency range from 0 to 5 THz under oblique incidence of THz radiation with asymmetric gratings, where the optimal incidence angle exists. The case of symmetric gratings was also studied for comparison. The results will be useful for the theoretical and experimental optimization of grating-assisted THz detectors without electrical bias.
General coupling efficiency for fiber-fed astronomical instruments
Authors: Ellis S. C. , Bland-Hawthorn J. , Leon-Saval S. G.
Published: May 2021

Photonic devices (e.g., optical fibers, 2D waveguides) are commonly used on telescopes worldwide and have been hugely successful in terms of their scientific impact. Coupling light efficiently into photonic devices is critical because most astronomical sources generate low photon count rates at the detector, even when coupled to large telescope apertures. Recent developments in adaptive optics have helped to improve the coupling to optical fibers, although efficient coupling to single-mode fibers remains a challenge. We appraise the theoretical limits to this coupling efficiency in both diffraction limited and seeing limited conditions, and we review methods to improve coupling efficiency with a view to recent advances in astrophotonics.
Compact diode-pumped CW and Q-switched 2.8 µm Er:YLF laser
Authors: Švejkar Richard , Šulc Jan , Němec Michal , Jelínková Helena
Published: May 2021

This paper presents a compact diode-pumped continuous-wave Er:YLF laser emitting radiation at 2.8 µm with output power 2.9 W and slope efficiency 26.2%. Moreover, the

Q

-switching regime was successfully tested with a Fe:ZnSe polycrystal used as a modulator. Passive

Q

-switching results in the shortest pulse duration of 21 ns with repetition rate 50 kHz and peak power 252 W.
High-power continuous-wave mid-infrared difference-frequency generation
in the presence of thermal effects
Authors: Chaitanya Kumar S. , Sukeert  , Ebrahim-Zadeh M.
Published: May 2021

We report performance studies of high-power, continuous-wave (cw), mid-infrared (mid-IR) difference-frequency generation (DFG) in MgO:PPLN at 2262 nm based on a narrowband Yb-fiber laser as pump and a Tm-fiber laser as signal source. Using a 50-mm-long crystal, we generate as much as 3.84 W of DFG output power at a single-pass conversion efficiency up to 0.57%/W, with a passive power stability better than 0.53% rms and passive spectral stability better than 0.01% over 1 h. The DFG beam also exhibits excellent spatial beam quality in

T
E
M

00

mode profile with

M
2

<

1.2

, and a beam pointing stability better than 16 µrad over

>

1

h

. Simulations based on focused Gaussian beam theory provide an accurate estimate of the generated DFG output power and confirm thermal effects. Detailed thermal analysis indicates the role of linear absorption at the interacting wavelengths in local heating within the focal volume of the MgO:PPLN crystal. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest cw DFG output power and conversion efficiency achieved in bulk MgO:PPLN in the mid-IR.
Dual slot-mode NOEM phase shifter
Authors: Baghdadi Reza , Gould Michael , Gupta Shashank , Tymchenko Mykhailo , Bunandar Darius , Ramey Carl , Harris Nicholas C.
Published: May 2021

Photonic system component counts are increasing rapidly, particularly in CMOS-compatible silicon photonics processes. Large numbers of cascaded active photonic devices are difficult to implement when accounting for constraints on area, power dissipation, and response time. Plasma dispersion and the thermo-optic effect, both available in CMOS-compatible silicon processes, address a subset of these criteria. With the addition of a few back-end-of-line etch processing steps, silicon photonics platforms can support nano-opto-electro-mechanical (NOEM) phase shifters. Realizing NOEM phase shifters that operate at CMOS-compatible voltages (≤ 1.2 V) and with low insertion loss remains a challenge. Here, we introduce a novel NOEM phase shifter fabricated alongside 90 nanometer transistors that imparts 5.63 radians phase shift at 1.08 volts bias over an actuation length of 25μm with an insertion loss of less than 0.04 dB and 3 dB bandwidth of 0.26 MHz.
Method to design the common aperture multi-band optical system based on the PSO algorithm
Authors: Chen Yang , Gao Ming , Song Xiao
Published: May 2021

A design method for a common aperture multi-band optical system based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed. Using the principle of PSO, the optimal parameters of the initial structure of optical system, which meet the requirements of the target function, can be calculated through using multiple iterations. In order to verify the design method, a common aperture multi-band system is created. The optical system can provide images in visible (0.49–0.66 µm), near infrared (0.8–0.9 µm) and medium-wave infrared (3.8–4.8 µm) bands. The focal length of the optical system is 70 mm and the field of view is ±2.5°. The experimental results show that the angular resolution is 1.3 mrad for visible light and near infrared and 4.6 mrad for medium-wave infrared. The optical system can produce images clearly in both the visible and infrared bands, which shows that a design method based on particle swarm optimization is feasible.
Generation of necklace-shaped high harmonics in a two-color vortex field
Authors: Xue Jinxing , Liu Candong , Zhou Cangtao , Ruan Shuangchen
Published: May 2021

We numerically studied gas high-harmonic generation in a two-color vortex laser field using the non-adiabatic Lewenstein model. Macroscopic responses were calculated by numerically solving the three-dimensional propagation equation in cylindrical coordinates. It was confirmed that unique high-harmonic signals with necklace-like shapes exhibit orbital angular momentum (OAM). The azimuthally distributed necklace harmonics exhibit periodic modulation as a function of laser frequency and topological charges of the driving field. Phase investigation showed that the OAM of the necklace harmonics is attributable to the tuning of the relative intensity of the two driving pulses. These findings provide a new dimension for high-harmonic manipulation in the vortex field. The two-color vortex field is the first scheme proposed for manipulating the intensity profile of high harmonics.
Efficient bidirectional marching solver for optical propagation in three-dimensional waveguide structures
Authors: Yang Hao
Published: May 2021

A novel bidirectional operator marching method based on the Dirichlet-to-Neumann (DtN) mapping for three-dimensional optical waveguide structures is developed and implemented using iterative methods. The backward propagation wave is integrated into the classical operator marching approach which represents the forward propagating wave. The bidirectional range marching formulas are exact for each range-independent piece and a large range step is possible in both directions. The validity and effectiveness of our proposed method are verified by analyzing uniform waveguides and longitudinal waveguides with varying refractive indices.
Surface response around a sharply resonant surface polariton mode is simply a Lorentzian
Authors: de Aquino Carvalho J. C. , Bloch D.
Published: May 2021

At the planar interface between a material and vacuum, the complex surface response

S
(
ω
)
=
[
ε
(
ω
)
−

1

]

/

[
ε
(
ω
)

+

1

]

, with

ε
(
ω
)

being the relative complex dielectric permittivity of the material, exhibits resonances typical of the surface polariton modes, when

ε
(
ω
)
∼
−

1

. We show that for a moderately sharp resonance,

S

(
ω
)

is satisfactorily described with a mere (complex) Lorentzian, independent of the details affecting the various bulk resonances describing

ε
(
ω
)

. Remarkably, this implies a quantitative correlation between the resonant behaviors of

ℜ

e

[

S

(
ω
)
]

and

ℑ

m

[

S

(
ω
)
]

, respectively, associated to the dispersive and dissipative effects in the surface near-field. We show that this “strong resonance” approximation easily applies and discuss its limits, based on published data for sapphire,

C
a

F

2
,

and

B
a

F

2

. An extension to interfaces between two media or to a non-planar interface is briefly considered.
Creation of silicon vacancy color centers with a narrow emission line in nanodiamonds by ion implantation
Authors: Takashima Hideaki , Fukuda Atsushi , Shimazaki Konosuke , Iwabata Yusuke , Kawaguchi Hiroki , Schell Andreas W. , Tashima Toshiyuki , Abe Hiroshi , Onoda Shinobu , Ohshima Takeshi , Takeuchi Shigeki
Published: May 2021

Nanodiamonds containing silicon-vacancy (SiV) centers with high brightness, high photo-stability, and a narrow zero phonon line (ZPL) have attracted attention for bioimaging, nanoscale thermometry, and quantum technologies. One method to create such nanodiamonds is the milling of diamond films synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). However, this requires post-processing such as acid treatment and centrifugation after the milling process. Therefore, the number of SiV center-containing nanodiamonds made from an initial CVD diamond is small. An alternative method without these problems is the implantation of Si ions into preselected nanodiamonds. This method, however, has an issue regarding the ZPL linewidths, which are more than twice as broad as those in nanodiamonds synthesized by CVD. In order to reduce the linewidth, we employed annealing treatment at high temperatures (up to 1100°C) and high vacuum after the implantation. For an ion fluence of 1013 ions/cm2, a ZPL with a linewidth of about 7 nm at room temperature was observed for a nanodiamond with a median size of 29.9 ± 16.0 nm. This was close to the linewidth for nanodiamonds created by CVD.
Do Tissues Fixed in a Non-crosslinking Fixative Require a Dedicated Formalin-free Processor?
Authors: Frasquilho Sonia G. , Sanchez Ignacio , Yoo Changyoung , Antunes Laurent , Bellora Camille , Mathieson William
Published: May 2021

We evaluate the consequences of processing alcohol-fixed tissue in a processor previously used for formalin-fixed tissue. Biospecimens fixed in PAXgene Tissue Fixative were cut into three pieces then processed in a flushed tissue processor previously used for formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) blocks (neutral buffered formalin [NBF]+ve), a formalin-free system (NBF−ve), or left unprocessed. Histomorphology and immunohistochemistry were compared using hematoxylin/eosin staining and antibodies for MLH-1, Ki-67, and CK-7. Nucleic acid was extracted using the PAXgene Tissue RNA/DNA kits and an FFPE RNA extraction kit. RNA integrity was assessed using RNA integrity number (RIN), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (four amplicons), and quantitative RT-PCR (three genes). For DNA, multiplex PCR, quantitative PCR, DNA integrity number, and gel electrophoresis were used. Compared with NBF−ve, RNA from NBF+ve blocks had 88% lower yield and poorer purity; average RIN reduced from 5.0 to 3.8, amplicon length was 408 base pairs shorter, and Cq numbers were 1.9–2.4 higher. Using the FFPE extraction kit rescued yield and purity, but RIN further declined by 1.1 units. Differences between NBF+ve and NBF−ve in respect of DNA, histomorphology, and immunohistochemistry were either non-existent or small in magnitude. Formalin contamination of a tissue processor and its reagents therefore critically reduce RNA yield and integrity. We discuss the available options users can adopt to ameliorate this problem:
Increasing salinity of fibrinogen solvent generates stable fibrin hydrogels for cell delivery or tissue engineering
Authors: Jarrell Dillon K. , Vanderslice Ethan J. , Lennon Mallory L. , Lyons Anne C. , VeDepo Mitchell C. , Jacot Jeffrey G.
Published: May 2021

Fibrin has been used clinically for wound coverings, surgical glues, and cell delivery because of its affordability, cytocompatibility, and ability to modulate angiogenesis and inflammation. However, its rapid degradation rate has limited its usefulness as a scaffold for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering. Previous studies have sought to slow the degradation rate of fibrin with the addition of proteolysis inhibitors or synthetic crosslinkers that require multiple functionalization or polymerization steps. These strategies are difficult to implement in vivo and introduce increased complexity, both of which hinder the use of fibrin in research and medicine. Previously, we demonstrated that additional crosslinking of fibrin gels using bifunctionalized poly(ethylene glycol)-n-hydroxysuccinimide (PEG-NHS) slows the degradation rate of fibrin. In this study, we aimed to further improve the longevity of these PEG-fibrin gels such that they could be used for tissue engineering in vitro or in situ without the need for proteolysis inhibitors. It is well documented that increasing the salinity of fibrin precursor solutions affects the resulting gel morphology. Here, we investigated whether this altered morphology influences the fibrin degradation rate. Increasing the final sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration from 145 mM (physiologic level) to 250 mM resulted in fine, transparent high-salt (HS) fibrin gels that degrade 2–3 times slower than coarse, opaque physiologic-salt (PS) fibrin gels both in vitro (when treated with proteases and when seeded with amniotic fluid stem cells) and in vivo (when injected subcutaneously into mice). Increased salt concentrations did not affect the viability of encapsulated cells, the ability of encapsulated endothelial cells to form rudimentary capillary networks, or the ability of the gels to maintain induced pluripotent stem cells. Finally, when implanted subcutaneously, PS gels degraded completely within one week while HS gels remained stable and maintained viability of seeded dermal fibroblasts. To our knowledge, this is the simplest method reported for the fabrication of fibrin gels with tunable degradation properties and will be useful for implementing fibrin gels in a wide range of research and clinical applications.
Response of benthic macroinvertebrates to dam removal in the restoration of the Boardman River, Michigan, USA
Authors: Mahan David C. , Betts Joel T. , Nord Eric , Van Dyke Fred , Outcalt Jessica M.
Published: May 2021

Dam removal is an increasingly important method of stream restoration, but most removal efforts are under-studied in their effects. In order to better understand the effects of such removals on the stream ecosystem, we examined changes in stream macroinvertebrate communities from 2011–2016. Comparisons were focused above, below, and before and after the October 2012 removal of the Brown Bridge Dam on the Boardman River in Michigan (USA), as well as to new channel sites created in its former reservoir (2013–2015). Using linear mixed-effect models on the percent abundance of ecologically sensitive taxa (% Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera (EPT)), total density of all macroinvertebrates, overall taxa richness, and Functional Feeding Groups, along with multivariate analyses on the community matrix, we examined differences in community composition among sites and years. EPT declined downstream of the dam immediately after dam removal, but recovered in the second year, becoming dominant within 2–4 years. Downstream sites before removal had different community composition than upstream sites and downstream sites after removal (p<0.001), while upstream and downstream sites after removal converged towards similarity. New channel (restored) %EPT, density, and taxa richness were not different from upstream sites in any year following removal, but new channel sites were the most distinct in community composition, possessing multiple indicator taxa characteristic of unique new conditions. The invasive New Zealand mud snail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) was absent from all sites prior to dam removal, but appeared at low densities in upstream sites in 2013, had spread to all sites by 2015, and showed large increases at all sites by 2016. Managers employing dam removal for stream restoration should include post-removal monitoring for multiple years following removal and conduct risk analysis regarding potential effects on colonization of invasive invertebrate species.
The Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19)—A cohort to prospectively study the clinical and biological determinants of COVID-19 clinical trajectories
Authors: Tremblay Karine , Rousseau Simon , Zawati Ma’n H. , Auld Daniel , Chassé Michaël , Coderre Daniel , Falcone Emilia Liana , Gauthier Nicolas , Grandvaux Nathalie , Gros-Louis François , Jabet Carole , Joly Yann , Kaufmann Daniel E. , Laprise Catherine , Larochelle Catherine , Maltais François , Mes-Masson Anne-Marie , Montpetit Alexandre , Piché Alain , Richards J. Brent , Tse Sze Man , Turgeon Alexis F. , Turecki Gustavo , Vinh Donald C. , Wang Han Ting , Mooser Vincent ,   on behalf of BQC19
Published: May 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infection causing the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID–19) has been responsible for more than 2.8 million deaths and nearly 125 million infections worldwide as of March 2021. In March 2020, the World Health Organization determined that the COVID–19 outbreak is a global pandemic. The urgency and magnitude of this pandemic demanded immediate action and coordination between local, regional, national, and international actors. In that mission, researchers require access to high-quality biological materials and data from SARS-CoV-2 infected and uninfected patients, covering the spectrum of disease manifestations. The “Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19” (BQC19) is a pan–provincial initiative undertaken in Québec, Canada to enable the collection, storage and sharing of samples and data related to the COVID-19 crisis. As a disease-oriented biobank based on high-quality biosamples and clinical data of hospitalized and non-hospitalized SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive and negative individuals. The BQC19 follows a legal and ethical management framework approved by local health authorities. The biosamples include plasma, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells and DNA and RNA isolated from whole blood. In addition to the clinical variables, BQC19 will provide in-depth analytical data derived from the biosamples including whole genome and transcriptome sequencing, proteome and metabolome analyses, multiplex measurements of key circulating markers as well as anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses. BQC19 will provide the scientific and medical communities access to data and samples to better understand, manage and ultimately limit, the impact of COVID-19. In this paper we present BQC19, describe the process according to which it is governed and organized, and address opportunities for future research collaborations. BQC19 aims to be a part of a global communal effort addressing the challenges of COVID–19.
Quantitative analysis of piano performance proficiency focusing on difference between hands
Authors: Kim Sarah , Park Jeong Mi , Rhyu Seungyeon , Nam Juhan , Lee Kyogu
Published: May 2021

Quantitative evaluation of piano performance is of interests in many fields, including music education and computational performance rendering. Previous studies utilized features extracted from audio or musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) files but did not address the difference between hands (DBH), which might be an important aspect of high-quality performance. Therefore, we investigated DBH as an important factor determining performance proficiency. To this end, 34 experts and 34 amateurs were recruited to play two excerpts on a Yamaha Disklavier. Each performance was recorded in MIDI, and handcrafted features were extracted separately for the right hand (RH) and left hand (LH). These were conventional MIDI features representing temporal and dynamic attributes of each note and computed as absolute values (e. g., MIDI velocity) or ratios between performance and corresponding scores (e. g., ratio of duration or inter-onset interval (IOI)). These note-based features were rearranged into additional features representing DBH by simple subtraction between features of both hands. Statistical analyses showed that DBH was more significant in experts than in amateurs across features. Regarding temporal features, experts pressed keys longer and faster with the RH than did amateurs. Regarding dynamic features, RH exhibited both greater values and a smoother change along melodic intonations in experts that in amateurs. Further experiments using principal component analysis (PCA) and support vector machine (SVM) verified that hand-difference features can successfully differentiate experts from amateurs according to performance proficiency. Moreover, existing note-based raw feature values (Basic features) and DBH features were tested repeatedly via 10-fold cross-validation, suggesting that adding DBH features to Basic features improved F1 scores to 93.6% (by 3.5%) over Basic features. Our results suggest that differently controlling both hands simultaneously is an important skill for pianists; therefore, DBH features should be considered in the quantitative evaluation of piano performance.
Increasing efficacy of contact-tracing applications by user referrals and stricter quarantining
Authors: Goldberg Leslie Ann , Jorritsma Joost , Komjáthy Júlia , Lapinskas John
Published: May 2021

We study the effects of two mechanisms which increase the efficacy of contact-tracing applications (CTAs) such as the mobile phone contact-tracing applications that have been used during the COVID-19 epidemic. The first mechanism is the introduction of user referrals. We compare four scenarios for the uptake of CTAs—(1) the p% of individuals that use the CTA are chosen randomly, (2) a smaller initial set of randomly-chosen users each refer a contact to use the CTA, achieving p% in total, (3) a small initial set of randomly-chosen users each refer around half of their contacts to use the CTA, achieving p% in total, and (4) for comparison, an idealised scenario in which the p% of the population that uses the CTA is the p% with the most contacts. Using agent-based epidemiological models incorporating a geometric space, we find that, even when the uptake percentage p% is small, CTAs are an effective tool for mitigating the spread of the epidemic in all scenarios. Moreover, user referrals significantly improve efficacy. In addition, it turns out that user referrals reduce the quarantine load. The second mechanism for increasing the efficacy of CTAs is tuning the severity of quarantine measures. Our modelling shows that using CTAs with mild quarantine measures is effective in reducing the maximum hospital load and the number of people who become ill, but leads to a relatively high quarantine load, which may cause economic disruption. Fortunately, under stricter quarantine measures, the advantages are maintained but the quarantine load is reduced. Our models incorporate geometric inhomogeneous random graphs to study the effects of the presence of super-spreaders and of the absence of long-distant contacts (e.g., through travel restrictions) on our conclusions.