bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Autonomy-supportive agents: whose support matters most, and how does it unfold in the workplace?
Authors: Mokgata Naniki , van der Vaart Leoni , de Beer Leon T.
Published: July 2022

Managers and colleagues satisfy others’ need for autonomy, but employees can also satisfy their own need by engaging in autonomy crafting practices. Although all three sources of autonomy support can benefit employee outcomes, they may not be equally beneficial. Furthermore, their benefits may not be straightforward, but rather a psychological process unfolding. To test these assumptions, the aim of the present study was twofold: to determine whether the different sources of support explained significantly different amounts of variance in autonomy satisfaction when compared and to understand the psychological process through which autonomy support from three sources influenced performance, more specifically, whether autonomy support indirectly affected performance through perceived autonomy satisfaction and work engagement in serial. In a sample of 278 employees, autonomy support from others (especially managers) and autonomy crafting played a role in autonomy satisfaction. Furthermore, the results indicated that autonomy support was associated with performance through its serial associations with autonomy satisfaction and work engagement. The results emphasized the importance of autonomy support for performance, enabling organizations to proactively design interventions to improve engagement and performance.
Insights into Myocardial Perfusion PET Imaging: the Coronary Flow Capacity
Authors: Nappi Carmela , Ponsiglione Andrea , Falzarano Maria , Imbriaco Massimo , Klain Michele , Cuocolo Alberto
Published: July 2022

Purpose of Review

The present work summarizes the clinical relevance of coronary flow capacity (CFC) with an eye on future perspectives.

Recent findings

CFC concept has been recently introduced providing a comprehensive framework for coronary physiology evaluation.

It has been widely demonstrated that coronary artery disease (CAD) is a complex disease with a multifactorial etiology resulting from different pathogenic mechanisms. Cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) currently represents the gold standard for CAD assessment, providing absolute myocardial perfusion data including coronary flow reserve (CFR), calculated as the ratio of hyperemic to rest absolute myocardial blood flows. CFC can be obtained from dynamic PET images by plotting the primary stress perfusion data and CFR values for each pixel on a graph of predefined exact ranges. The routine evaluation of this parameter may add diagnostic and prognostic value to clinical and conventional imaging data.
It is not (only) about privacy: How multi-party computation redefines control, trust, and risk in data sharing
Authors: Agahari Wirawan , Ofe Hosea , de Reuver Mark
Published: July 2022

Firms are often reluctant to share data because of mistrust, concerns over control, and other risks. Multi-party computation (MPC) is a new technique to compute meaningful insights without having to transfer data. This paper investigates if MPC affects known antecedents for data sharing decisions: control, trust, and risks. Through 23 qualitative interviews in the automotive industry, we find that MPC (1) enables new ways of technology-based control, (2) reduces the need for inter-organizational trust, and (3) prevents losing competitive advantage due to data leakage. However, MPC also creates the need to trust technology and introduces new risks of data misuse. These impacts arise if firms perceive benefits from sharing data, have high organizational readiness, and perceive data as non-sensitive. Our findings show that known antecedents of data sharing should be specified differently with MPC in place. Furthermore, we suggest reframing MPC as a data collaboration technology beyond enhancing privacy.
Investigation of the microstructural characteristics of heated sandstone by micro-computed tomography technique
Authors: Vidana Pathiranagei Savani , Gratchev Ivan , Sokolowski Kamil A.
Published: July 2022

Heritage buildings always pose challenges due to experiencing high temperatures and pressure over time. Sandstone is one of the common sedimentary rock types used for these buildings. Therefore, it is very important to understand the microstructural variations of rocks associated with these constructions along with the mechanical variations. In this study, the microstructural and mechanical alteration of selected types of sandstones is investigated after it is heated from room temperature to 800 °C. Micro X-ray computed tomography (µXCT), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry (TG) and derivative thermogravimetry (DTG) techniques were used to identify the physical, chemical, mineralogical and microstructural changes of sandstone after different heat treatments. The mechanical alteration of the heated rock specimens was also studied using the point load index (PLI). The main changes in microstructure were observed when the sandstone’s temperature was greater than 400 °C. The total porosity measured by µXCT of sandstone increased by more than 70% at 800 °C compared to its porosity at room temperature. When the temperature increases, the open porosity increases while the closed porosity decreases. Noticeable changes in rock mineralogy were identified at temperatures exceeding 400 °C, which can be attributed to the phase transition of quartz, decomposition of feldspar and dehydroxylation of kaolinite. The TG and DTG analyses and point load index were in good agreement concerning these changes in rock mineralogy. Microstructural variation is one of the main reasons for the discrepancy in threshold values between different sandstones.
Actinidia seed-borne latent virus (ASbLV, Betaflexiviridae) is transmitted paternally and maternally at high rates
Authors: Amponsah Nicholas Tabi , van den Brink Roy , Datson Paul M , Austin Paul T , Horner Mary , MacDiarmid Robin M
Published: July 2022

Actinidia seed-borne latent virus (ASbLV, Betaflexiviridae, genus Prunevirus) was detected at high frequency in healthy seedlings grown from lines of imported seed in a New Zealand post-entry quarantine facility. To determine the route and efficiency of transmission of ASbLV in this dioecious crop species, we developed a rapid molecular protocol and identified a reliable progeny plant tissue to determine paternal and maternal transmission rates. The virus was detected at a high incidence (98%) in individual seeds, but cotyledon testing of seedlings from selected crosses confirmed staminate (male) transmission at high frequency (~ 60%), and pistillate (female) transmission at even higher frequency (~ 80%). The use of cotyledons allows non-destructive detection of ASbLV in very young seedlings that enables early screening of kiwifruit plants in nurseries to manage its spread to orchards. The high ASbLV transmission rates, whether from infected pollen or ovules, facilitate bulk testing of seed lots that could quickly detect infected parent plants (fruit bearing female or male pollinator) already in an orchard. The dioecious nature of Actinidia may provide a useful biological tool to further investigate ASbLV movement, transmission biology, and ultimately its impact on infected Actinidia plants.
Regulatory safety evaluation of nanomedical products: key issues to refine
Authors: De Jong Wim H. , Geertsma Robert E. , Borchard Gerrit
Published: July 2022

Nanotechnologies enable great opportunities for the development and use of innovative (nano)medicines. As is common for scientific and technical developments, recognized safety evaluation methods for regulatory purposes are lagging behind. The specific properties responsible for the desired functioning also hamper the safety evaluation of such products. Pharmacokinetics determination of the active pharmaceutical ingredient as well as the nanomaterial component is crucial. Due to their particulate nature, nanomedicines, similar to all nanomaterials, are primarily removed from the circulation by phagocytizing cells that are part of the immune system. Therefore, the immune system can be potentially a specific target for adverse effects of nanomedicines, and thus needs special attention during the safety evaluation. This DDTR special issue on the results of the REFINE project on a regulatory science framework for nanomedical products presents a highly valuable body of knowledge needed to address regulatory challenges and gaps in currently available testing methods for the safety evaluation of nanomedicines.
Perceptions of Beauty in Security Ceremonies
Authors: Bella Giampaolo , Ophoff Jacques , Renaud Karen , Sempreboni Diego , Viganò Luca
Published: July 2022

When we use secure computer systems, we engage with carefully orchestrated and ordered interactions called “security ceremonies”, all of which exist to assure security. A great deal of attention has been paid to improving the usability of these ceremonies over the last two decades, to make them easier for end-users to engage with. Yet, usability improvements do not seem to have endeared end users to ceremonies. As a consequence, human actors might subvert the ceremony’s processes or avoid engaging with it. Here, we consider whetherbeautificationcould be one way of making ceremonies more appealing. To explore beautification in this context, we carried out three studies. Study 1 surveyed 250 participants to derive a wide range of potential dimensions of “beautiful ceremonies”. These statements were sorted into dominant themes and converted into statements, which fed into the second study, with 309 respondents, to reveal thedominantdimensions constituting beauty. Study 3 asked 41 participants to carry out a Q-sort, which revealed the ways that peoplecombinethe identified dimensions when characterising security ceremonies as “beautiful”. These studies have allowed us to pin down the perceived dimensions of beauty in the context of security ceremonies, and also to understand how people combine these dimensions in different ways in judging security ceremonies to be beautiful, confirming the old adage of beauty being “in the eye of the beholder”. We conclude by highlighting the constraints imposed by the overarching requirement for security to be maintained in the face of any usability improvements and beautification endeavours.
Environmental hazard assessment and monitoring for air pollution using machine learning and remote sensing
Authors: Abu El-Magd S. , Soliman G. , Morsy M. , Kharbish S.
Published: July 2022

The prediction and study of air pollution is a complex process due to the presence of controlling factors, different land use, and different sources for the elaboration of pollution. In this study, we applied the machine learning technique (Random Forest) with time series of particulate matter pollution records to predict and develop a particulate matter pollution susceptibility map. The applied method is to strict measures and to better manage particulate matter pollution in Ras Garib city, Egypt as a case study. Air pollution data for the period between 2018 and 2021 is collected using five air quality stations. Some of these stations are located near highly urbanized locations and could be dense with the current rates of development in the future. The random forest was applied to verify and visualize the relationships between the particulate matter and different independent variables. Spectral bands of Landsat OLI 8 imaginary and land cover/land use indices were used to prepare independent variables. Analysis of the results reveals that the proper air quality distribution monitoring stations would provide a deep insight into the pollution distribution over the study site. Distance from the roads and the land surface temperature has a significant effect on the distribution of air quality distribution. The obtained probability and classification maps were assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. The outcome prediction maps are reasonable and will be helpful for future air quality monitoring and improvements. Furthermore, the applied method of pollutant concentration prediction is able to improve decision-making and provide appropriate solutions.
Health risks in association with indoor radon exposure in Northeastern Romania
Authors: Cojocaru C. , Cojocaru P. , Barbu R. M. , Pinzariu F. , Cojocaru E.
Published: July 2022

The radon level was assessed in houses from two rural areas localized in Northeastern Romania. Long-term measurements were performed for a period of four months using a digital radon detector, model Corentium Home, AirThings 222. In addition, for every environment included in the study, investigations concerning the building materials, the floor type, the building year and the heating system were made. Accordingly, Spearman’s correlation coefficients of the study variables were calculated. The World Health Organization recommends an upper threshold of 100 Bq/m3 as a national reference level. For both studied areas, we calculated a mean indoor radon level of more than 100 Bq/m3, but in the Tomesti-Osoi area were recorded values of over 100, respectively 300 Bq/m3 in significantly more households. Indoor exposure to radon of people in the investigated houses was found in 75 and 35.3% of the cases, respectively, above the level accepted by international recommendations, with a moderate correlation between mean radon levels and the features of the residential buildings.
Efficacy of hierarchical pore structure in enhancing the tribological and recyclable smart lubrication performance of porous polyimide
Authors: Ruan Hongwei , Zhang Yaoming , Song Fuzhi , Wang Qihua , Wang Chao , Wang Tingmei
Published: July 2022

Herein, a porous oil-containing material with hierarchical pore structure was successfully prepared through microtexturing large pores on the surface of porous polyimide (PPI) with single-level small pores. Compared to the conventional oil-containing material, the hierarchically porous oil-containing material exhibited high oil-content, and retained excellent mechanical properties and high oil-retention because of the synergistic effects of large pores and small pores. Furthermore, the lubricant stored in the hierarchically porous polyimide could release to the interface under thermal-and-mechano-stimuli, and the released lubricant could be reabsorbed into the hierarchically porous polyimide via the capillary-force offered by the porous channel. Based on the high oil-content and recyclable oil release/reabsorption, the hierarchically porous oil-containing polyimide exhibited excellent lubrication performance (coefficient of friction was 0.057). Furthermore, the composite could perform 1,069 cycles of smart lubrication (1 h per cycle), which significantly extended the service life of the hierarchically porous oil-containing smart lubrication material.
Gender and Context-Specific Effects of Vocal Dominance and Trustworthiness on Leadership Decisions
Authors: Schild Christoph , Braunsdorf Elisa , Steffens Katharina , Pott Franka , Stern Julia
Published: July 2022

Objective

The evolutionary-contingency hypothesis, which suggests that preferences for leaders are context-dependent, has found relatively consistent support from research investigating leadership decisions based on facial pictures. Here, we test whether these results transfer to leadership decisions based on voice recordings. We examined how dominance and trustworthiness perceptions relate to leadership decisions in wartime and peacetime contexts and whether effects differ by a speaker’s gender. Further, we investigate two cues that might be related to leadership decisions, as well as dominance and trustworthiness perceptions: voice pitch and strength of regional accent.

Methods

We conducted a preregistered online study with 125 raters and recordings of 120 speakers (61 men, 59 women) from different parts in Germany. Raters were randomly distributed into four rating conditions: dominance, trustworthiness, hypothetical vote (wartime) and hypothetical vote (peacetime).

Results

We find that dominant speakers were more likely to be voted for in a wartime context while trustworthy speakers were more likely to be voted for in a peacetime context. Voice pitch functions as a main cue for dominance perceptions, while strength of regional accent functions as a main cue for trustworthiness perceptions.

Conclusions

This study adds to a stream of research that suggests that (a) people’s voices contain important information based on which we form social impressions and (b) we prefer different types of leaders across different contexts. Future research should disentangle effects of gender bias in leadership decisions and investigate underlying mechanisms that influence how people’s voices contribute to achieving social status.
Optimizing graph layout by t-SNE perplexity estimation
Authors: Xiao Chun , Hong Seokhee , Huang Weidong
Published: July 2022

Perplexity is one of the key parameters of dimensionality reduction algorithm of t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE). In this paper, we investigated the relationship of t-SNE perplexity and graph layout evaluation metrics including graph stress, preserved neighborhood information and visual inspection. As we found that a small perplexity is correlated with a relative higher normalized stress while preserving neighborhood information with a higher precision but less global structure information, we proposed our method to estimate appropriate perplexity either based on a modified standard t-SNE or the sklearn Barnes–Hut TSNE. Experimental results demonstrate effectiveness and ease of use of our approach when tested on a set of benchmark datasets.
Hot spots along the Fermi contour of high-Tc cuprates analyzed by s-d exchange interaction
Authors: Mishonov Todor M. , Zahariev Nedelcho I. , Chamati Hassan , Varonov Albert M.
Published: July 2022

We perform a thorough theoretical study of the electron properties of a generic CuO$$_2$$

2

plane in the framework of Shubin–Kondo–Zener s-d exchange interaction that simultaneously describes the correlation between Tc and the Cu4s energy. To this end, we apply the Pokrovsky theory (J Exp Theor Phys 13:447–450, 1961) for anisotropic gap BCS superconductors. It takes into account the thermodynamic fluctuations of the electric field in the dielectric direction perpendicular to the conducting layers. We microscopically derive a multiplicatively separable kernel able to describe the scattering rate in the momentum space, as well as the superconducting gap anisotropy within the BCS theory. These findings may be traced back to the fact that both the Fermi liquid and the BCS reductions lead to one and the same reduced Hamiltonian involving a separable interaction, such that a strong electron scattering corresponds to a strong superconducting gap and vice versa. Moreover, the superconducting gap and the scattering rate vanish simultaneously along the diagonals of the Brillouin zone. We would like to stress that our theoretical study reproduces the phenomenological analysis of other authors aiming at describing Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy measurements. Within standard approximations one and the same s-d exchange Hamiltonian describes gap anisotropy of the superconducting phase and the anisotropy of scattering rate of charge carriers in the normal phase.
Effects of freeze-drying and use of artificial seawater on phosphorus exchange isotherms in brackish water sediments
Authors: Vaalama Anu , Hartikainen Helinä , Soinne Helena , Lukkari Kaarina
Published: July 2022

This study reports results on the estimated magnitude of changes in P sorption isotherms in clayey mud sediments when performed using (1) freeze-dried instead of fresh sediment samples and (2) artificial sea water (ASW) instead of ambient near-bottom water. The sediments used differed in their P sorption. For the isotherms, sediments were equilibrated for 48 h in solutions of varying P concentration whereafter the amount of P sorbed or desorbed was determined. We adjusted the modified Freundlich equation to the isotherm data and assessed differences in the isotherms between the treatments by comparing equilibrium P concentrations and P buffering capacities determined from the isotherm equation. Freeze-drying decreased the P sorption in all investigated sediments, but the magnitude of the changes varied depending on the properties of the sediments. The effect was minor in the sediment abundant in P sorption sites and low in easily exchangeable P, while it was clearer in the sediments originally high in P or low in sorption surfaces. ASW and ambient water produced similar isotherms suggesting that ASW is a suitable equilibrium solution in P exchange experiments with muddy clay sediments. This study enlightens the processes occurring in freeze-drying. The results highlight that when examining the effects of dissimilar treatments or experimental conditions on the P exchange isotherms the magnitude and significance of the observed changes should be evaluated in a proper context considering the precision of the method.

Article highlights

The effects of freeze-drying on P sorption isotherms are minor in sediments abundant in unoccupied sorption surfaces.

Artificial sea water is a suitable background matrix for the P exchange isotherms.

The precision of the method should be considered when comparing the effects of differing isotherm treatments.
Contaminated by Its Prior Use: Strategies to Design and Market Refurbished Personal Care Products
Authors: Wallner Theresa S. , Snel Senna , Magnier Lise , Mugge Ruth
Published: July 2022

Refurbishment is an effective circular strategy to lengthen a product’s lifetime. However, refurbished products that are intimately used, such as personal care products, cause a feeling of unease in consumers because they are perceived to be contaminated. In 15 in-depth online interviews with female users of intense pulsed light (IPL) device living in the Netherlands, we explored why consumers have contamination concerns regarding an IPL device and proposed strategies to decrease these. Participants felt that refurbished personal care products with signs of wear-and-tear were a riskier choice and expected that the device would malfunction, have a shorter product lifetime, and would be contaminated due to the previous use. Based on the location and amount of wear-and-tear, participants made inferences on how the prior user had treated the device. While light wear-and-tear indicated normal use, heavy wear-and-tear was interpreted as a sign of bad treatment by the previous user. To keep refurbished personal care products at their highest value, we suggest five design strategies to minimize contamination concerns by designing a product that smells and looks hygienic after multiple lifecycles: (1) using colors that evoke associations with hygiene, (2) making signs of wear-and-tear less visible, (3) using smooth (cleanable) materials, (4) minimizing the number of split lines in the product, and (5) giving refurbished products a clean product smell. For refurbished personal care products with signs of wear-and-tear that cannot be eliminated, we propose mitigating consumers’ contamination concerns with marketing strategies, such as fostering a good brand image, offering refurbished products at a lower price, with an extended warranty, and underlining expert check-ups and standards during refurbishment.

Graphical abstract
High-temperature thermal storage-based cement manufacturing for decarbonization
Authors: Liu Xiaokang , Li Xiaobo , Yang Ronggui
Published: July 2022

Cost-effective CO2 capture is essential for decarbonized cement production since it is one of the largest CO2 emission sources, where 60% of direct emissions are from CaCO3 decomposition and 40% are from fuel combustion. This work presents a low-carbon cement manufacturing process by integrating it with renewable energy for electric heating and thermal storage to replace the burning of fossil fuels in the conventional calciner. The low-carbon renewable energy reduces the indirect CO2 emissions from electricity consumption. The high-temperature CO2 is employed as the heat transfer fluid between the energy storage system and the calciner. In the proposed basic manufacturing process, the CO2 from the CaCO3 decomposition can be directly collected without energy-consuming separation since no impurities are introduced. Furthermore, the remaining CO2 from fuel combustion in the kiln can be captured through monoethanolamine (MEA) absorption using waste heat. In the two situations, the overall CO2 emissions can be reduced by 69.7% and 83.1%, respectively, including the indirect emissions of electricity consumption. The economic performance of different energy storage materials is investigated for materials selection. The proposed manufacturing process with a few high-temperature energy storage materials (BaCO3/BaO, SrCO3/SrO, Si, etc.) offers a higher CO2 emission reduction and lower cost than alternative carbon capture routes, i.e., oxyfuel. The cost of CO2 avoided as low as 39.27 $/t can be achieved by thermochemical energy storage with BaCO3/BaO at 1300 °C, which is superior to all alternative technologies evaluated in recent studies.
Patterns of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and HIV Among Blood Donors in Samtah-Jazan Region
Authors: Mobarki Abdullah A. , Madkhali Maymoon M. , Dobie Gasim , Saboor Muhammad , Madkhali Aymen M. , Madkhli Basem , Hummadi Yahia , Meshi Abdullah , Al-Mekhlafi Hesham M. , Akhter Mohammad S. , Hamali Hassan A.
Published: July 2022

Background and Objective

Transfusion-transmitted infectious agents are amongst the major health burden worldwide. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among blood donors in Samtah General Hospital, Jazan region, Saudi Arabia.

Material and Methods

In this retrospective study, blood donation records of all blood donors recruited between January 2019 and August 2020 were included for data acquisition. A total of 4977 blood donors’ records were reviewed and data were analysed.

Results

Hepatitis B profile showed 0.60% blood donors positive for hepatis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Nucleic acid testing (NAT) showed the presence of HBV-DNA in 0.4% of the blood donors. Anti-HBs and anti-HBc antibodies were reactive in 3.34% and 7.31% blood donors’ units, respectively. Anti-HCV antibodies were reactive among 54 (1.09%) blood donors. Upon reviewing the NAT analysis results, 0.16% (08) blood donors showed the presence of HCV-RNA in their blood units. Anti-HIV antibodies were reactive in 8 (0.16%) blood donors.

Conclusion

It is concluded that the frequency of HBsAg is comparatively lower while anti-HCV positivity is higher in Samtah, Jazan as a region compared to other regions of the country. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the cause of HCV infection in this area. Frequency of HIV is uncommon in this area.
Intercultural Ethics for Digital Well-Being: Identifying Problems and Exploring Solutions
Authors: Dennis Matthew J. , Clancy Rockwell F.
Published: July 2022

Designing social media technologies to promote digital well-being requires designers to face many challenges. In this article, we explore one under-explored challenge, relating to how conceptions of what it means to flourish online show significant cultural variation. We believe that today’s design-based approaches to digital well-being are hobbled by a lack of ethical attention towards important cultural variations. To remedy this, we explore the potential for an intercultural approach to digital well-being, one that respects cultural differences while preserving what culturally distinct conceptions of human flourishing have in common.
American Song and Struggle from Columbus to World War 2
Authors: Kaufman Will
Published: July 2022

Long before anyone ever heard of 'protest music', people in America were singing about their struggles. They sang for justice and fairness, food and shelter, and equality and freedom; they sang to be acknowledged. Sometimes they also sang to oppress. This book uncovers the history of these people and their songs, from the moment Columbus made fateful landfall to the start of the Second World War, when 'protest music' emerged as an identifiable brand. Cutting across musical genres, Will Kaufman recovers the passionate voices of America itself. We encounter songs of the mainland and the conquered territories of Hawai'i, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines; we hear Indigenous songs, immigrant songs and Klan songs, minstrel songs and symphonies, songs of the heard and the unheard, songs of the celebrated and the anonymous, of the righteous and the despicable. This magisterial book shows that all these songs are woven into the very fabric of American history.
Deploying Community Water Solutions with People, for People
Authors: Pal Indrani , Wasserstrom Celena , Chang Adriel , Shanbhag Ganesh
Published: July 2022

Guiding principles and strategies for solving local water availability problems in India have emerged from collaborations involving water users, water experts, and water solutions providers.
Maui Endures More Drought and Drier Streams
Authors: Cartier Kimberly
Published: July 2022

Drought continues to threaten Maui’s native land-based and marine ecosystems, water resources, and traditional ways of life. But conservationists have hope—and ways to fight back.
The impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the tumor microenvironment in advanced high-grade serous carcinoma
Authors: Shen Yuanming , Ren Yan , Chen Kelie , Cen Yixuan , Zhang Bo , Lu Weiguo , Xu Junfen
Published: July 2022

High-grade serous ovarian, fallopian tube or peritoneal carcinoma is an aggressive subtype of ovarian cancer that frequently develops resistance to chemotherapy. It remains contested whether the resistance is caused by the acquisition of novel molecular aberrations or alternatively through the selection of rare pre-existing tumor clones. To address this question, we applied single-cell RNA sequencing to depict the tumor landscape of 6 samples from a single case of advanced high-grade serous fallopian tube carcinoma during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). We analyzed a total of 32,079 single cells, with 17,249 cells derived from the pre-NACT multisite tumor tissue samples and 14,830 cells derived from the post-NACT multisite tumor tissue samples. We identified the diverse properties of the tumor, immune and stromal cell types between the pre-NACT and post-NACT tumors. The malignant epithelial cells displayed a high degree of intratumor heterogeneity in response to NACT. We showed that the primary resistant clone (clone 63) epithelial genotype was already present in the pre-NACT tumors, and was adaptively enriched after NACT. This clone 63 was correlated with a poor clinical prognosis. Furthermore, single-cell analysis of CD4+ T cells demonstrated that IL2RAhi-CCL22+-Tregs were selectively enriched in post-NACT tumors. Interestingly, this Treg subtype could recruit and enrich themselves through secreting the CCL22-CCR1 combination in pre-NACT and post-NACT tumors, and further express CD274 to suppress other CD4 and CD8 T cells through a CD274-PDCD1 axis in the post-NACT tumors, and this predicted an immunosuppressive state after NACT. Overall, our results provide important evidence for the adaptive resistance theory of HGSC, and for the potential development of therapeutic strategies to treat HGSC and improve the survival of patients with HGSC.
SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein triggers hyperinflammation via protein-protein interaction-mediated intracellular Cl− accumulation in respiratory epithelium
Authors: Chen Lei , Guan Wei-Jie , Qiu Zhuo-Er , Xu Jian-Bang , Bai Xu , Hou Xiao-Chun , Sun Jing , Qu Su , Huang Ze-Xin , Lei Tian-Lun , Huang Zi-Yang , Zhao Jincun , Zhu Yun-Xin , Ye Ke-Nan , Lun Zhao-Rong , Zhou Wen-Liang , Zhong Nan-Shan , Zhang Yi-Lin
Published: July 2022

SARS-CoV-2, the culprit pathogen of COVID-19, elicits prominent immune responses and cytokine storms. Intracellular Cl− is a crucial regulator of host defense, whereas the role of Cl− signaling pathway in modulating pulmonary inflammation associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection remains unclear. By using human respiratory epithelial cell lines, primary cultured human airway epithelial cells, and murine models of viral structural protein stimulation and SARS-CoV-2 direct challenge, we demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein could interact with Smad3, which downregulated cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) expression via microRNA-145. The intracellular Cl− concentration ([Cl−]i) was raised, resulting in phosphorylation of serum glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) and robust inflammatory responses. Inhibition or knockout of SGK1 abrogated the N protein-elicited airway inflammation. Moreover, N protein promoted a sustained elevation of [Cl−]i by depleting intracellular cAMP via upregulation of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4). Rolipram, a selective PDE4 inhibitor, countered airway inflammation by reducing [Cl−]i. Our findings suggested that Cl− acted as the crucial pathological second messenger mediating the inflammatory responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Targeting the Cl− signaling pathway might be a novel therapeutic strategy for COVID-19.
Multivariate genome-wide association study of depression, cognition, and memory phenotypes and validation analysis identify 12 cross-ethnic variants
Authors: Sun Jing , Wang Weijing , Zhang Ronghui , Duan Haiping , Tian Xiaocao , Xu Chunsheng , Li Xue , Zhang Dongfeng
Published: July 2022

To date, little is known about the pleiotropic genetic variants among depression, cognition, and memory. The current research aimed to identify the potential pleiotropic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), genes, and pathways of the three phenotypes by conducting a multivariate genome-wide association study and an additional pleiotropy analysis among Chinese individuals and further validate the top variants in the UK Biobank (UKB). In the discovery phase, the participants were 139 pairs of dizygotic twins from the Qingdao Twins Registry. The genome-wide efficient mixed-model analysis identified 164 SNPs reaching suggestive significance (P < 1 × 10−5). Among them, rs3967317 (P = 1.21 × 10−8) exceeded the genome-wide significance level (P < 5 × 10−8) and was also demonstrated to be associated with depression and memory in pleiotropy analysis, followed by rs9863698, rs3967316, and rs9261381 (P = 7.80 × 10−8−5.68 × 10−7), which were associated with all three phenotypes. After imputation, a total of 457 SNPs reached suggestive significance. The top SNP chr6:24597173 was located in the KIAA0319 gene, which had biased expression in brain tissues. Genes and pathways related to metabolism, immunity, and neuronal systems demonstrated nominal significance (P < 0.05) in gene-based and pathway enrichment analyses. In the validation phase, 12 of the abovementioned SNPs reached the nominal significance level (P < 0.05) in the UKB. Among them, three SNPs were located in the KIAA0319 gene, and four SNPs were identified as significant expression quantitative trait loci in brain tissues. These findings may provide evidence for pleiotropic variants among depression, cognition, and memory and clues for further exploring the shared genetic pathogenesis of depression with Alzheimer’s disease.
Robust prediction of force chains in jammed solids using graph neural networks
Authors: Mandal Rituparno , Casert Corneel , Sollich Peter
Published: July 2022

Force chains are quasi-linear self-organised structures carrying large stresses and are ubiquitous in jammed amorphous materials like granular materials, foams or even cell assemblies. Predicting where they will form upon deformation is crucial to describe the properties of such materials, but remains an open question. Here we demonstrate that graph neural networks (GNN) can accurately predict the location of force chains in both frictionless and frictional materials from the undeformed structure, without any additional information. The GNN prediction accuracy also proves to be robust to changes in packing fraction, mixture composition, amount of deformation, friction coefficient, system size, and the form of the interaction potential. By analysing the structure of the force chains, we identify the key features that affect prediction accuracy. Our results and methodology will be of interest for granular matter and disordered systems, e.g. in cases where direct force chain visualisation or force measurements are impossible.
Tropical cyclone-blackout-heatwave compound hazard resilience in a changing climate
Authors: Feng Kairui , Ouyang Min , Lin Ning
Published: July 2022

Tropical cyclones (TCs) have caused extensive power outages. The impacts of TC-caused blackouts may worsen in the future as TCs and heatwaves intensify. Here we couple TC and heatwave projections and power outage and recovery process analysis to investigate how TC-blackout-heatwave compound hazard risk may vary in a changing climate, with Harris County, Texas as an example. We find that, under the high-emissions scenario RCP8.5, long-duration heatwaves following strong TCs may increase sharply. The expected percentage of Harris residents experiencing at least one longer-than-5-day TC-blackout-heatwave compound hazard in a 20-year period could increase dramatically by a factor of 23 (from 0.8% to 18.2%) over the 21st century. We also reveal that a moderate enhancement of the power distribution network can significantly mitigate the compound hazard risk. Thus, climate adaptation actions, such as strategically undergrounding distribution network and developing distributed energy sources, are urgently needed to improve coastal power system resilience.
A practical concept for catalytic carbonylations using carbon dioxide
Authors: Sang Rui , Hu Yuya , Razzaq Rauf , Mollaert Guillaume , Atia Hanan , Bentrup Ursula , Sharif Muhammad , Neumann Helfried , Junge Henrik , Jackstell Ralf , Maes Bert U. W. , Beller Matthias
Published: July 2022

The rise of CO2 in atmosphere is considered as the major reason for global warming. Therefore, CO2 utilization has attracted more and more attention. Among those, using CO2 as C1-feedstock for the chemical industry provides a solution. Here we show a two-step cascade process to perform catalytic carbonylations of olefins, alkynes, and aryl halides utilizing CO2 and H2. For the first step, a novel heterogeneous copper 10Cu@SiO2-PHM catalyst exhibits high selectivity (≥98%) and decent conversion (27%) in generating CO from reducing CO2 with H2. The generated CO is directly utilized without further purification in industrially important carbonylation reactions: hydroformylation, alkoxycarbonylation, and aminocarbonylation. Notably, various aldehydes, (unsaturated) esters and amides are obtained in high yields and chemo-/regio-selectivities at low temperature under ambient pressure. Our approach is of interest for continuous syntheses in drug discovery and organic synthesis to produce building blocks on reasonable scale utilizing CO2.
Knowledge-graph-based cell-cell communication inference for spatially resolved transcriptomic data with SpaTalk
Authors: Shao Xin , Li Chengyu , Yang Haihong , Lu Xiaoyan , Liao Jie , Qian Jingyang , Wang Kai , Cheng Junyun , Yang Penghui , Chen Huajun , Xu Xiao , Fan Xiaohui
Published: July 2022

Spatially resolved transcriptomics provides genetic information in space toward elucidation of the spatial architecture in intact organs and the spatially resolved cell-cell communications mediating tissue homeostasis, development, and disease. To facilitate inference of spatially resolved cell-cell communications, we here present SpaTalk, which relies on a graph network and knowledge graph to model and score the ligand-receptor-target signaling network between spatially proximal cells by dissecting cell-type composition through a non-negative linear model and spatial mapping between single-cell transcriptomic and spatially resolved transcriptomic data. The benchmarked performance of SpaTalk on public single-cell spatial transcriptomic datasets is superior to that of existing inference methods. Then we apply SpaTalk to STARmap, Slide-seq, and 10X Visium data, revealing the in-depth communicative mechanisms underlying normal and disease tissues with spatial structure. SpaTalk can uncover spatially resolved cell-cell communications for single-cell and spot-based spatially resolved transcriptomic data universally, providing valuable insights into spatial inter-cellular tissue dynamics.
Photochemical and thermochemical pathways to S2 and polysulfur formation in the atmosphere of Venus
Authors: Francés-Monerris Antonio , Carmona-García Javier , Trabelsi Tarek , Saiz-Lopez Alfonso , Lyons James R. , Francisco Joseph S. , Roca-Sanjuán Daniel
Published: July 2022

Polysulfur species have been proposed to be the unknown near-UV absorber in the atmosphere of Venus. Recent work argues that photolysis of one of the (SO)2 isomers, cis-OSSO, directly yields S2 with a branching ratio of about 10%. If correct, this pathway dominates polysulfur formation by several orders of magnitude, and by addition reactions yields significant quantities of S3, S4, and S8. We report here the results of high-level ab-initio quantum-chemistry computations that demonstrate that S2 is not a product in cis-OSSO photolysis. Instead, we establish a novel mechanism in which S2 is formed in a two-step process. Firstly, the intermediate S2O is produced by the coupling between the S and Cl atmospheric chemistries (in particular, SO reaction with ClS) and in a lesser extension by O-abstraction reactions from cis-OSSO. Secondly, S2O reacts with SO. This modified chemistry yields S2 and subsequent polysulfur abundances comparable to the photolytic cis-OSSO mechanism through a more plausible pathway. Ab initio quantification of the photodissociations at play fills a critical data void in current atmospheric models of Venus.
Evidence accumulation occurs locally in the parietal cortex
Authors: Zhang Zhewei , Yin Chaoqun , Yang Tianming
Published: July 2022

Decision making often entails evidence accumulation, a process that is represented by neural activities in a network of multiple brain areas. Yet, it has not been identified where exactly the accumulation originates. We reason that a candidate brain area should both represent evidence accumulation and information that is used to compute evidence. Therefore, we designed a two-stage probabilistic reasoning task in which the evidence for accumulation had to be first determined from sensory signals orthogonal to decisions. With a linear encoding model, we decomposed the responses of posterior parietal neurons to each stimulus into an early and a late component that represented two dissociable stages of decision making. The former reflected the transformation from sensory inputs to accumulable evidence, and the latter reflected the accumulation of evidence and the formation of decisions. The presence of both computational stages indicates that evidence accumulation signal in the parietal cortex is computed locally.
Structural basis for assembly and disassembly of the IGF/IGFBP/ALS ternary complex
Authors: Kim Hyojin , Fu Yaoyao , Hong Ho Jeong , Lee Seong-Gyu , Lee Dong Sun , Kim Ho Min
Published: July 2022

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) have pleiotropic roles in embryonic and postnatal growth and differentiation. Most serum IGFs are bound in a ternary complex with IGF-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) and acid-labile subunit (ALS), extending the serum half-life of IGFs and regulating their availability. Here, we report cryo-EM structure of the human IGF1/IGFBP3/ALS ternary complex, revealing the detailed architecture of a parachute-like ternary complex and crucial determinants for their sequential and specific assembly. In vitro biochemical studies show that proteolysis at the central linker domain of IGFBP3 induces release of its C-terminal domain rather than IGF1 release from the ternary complex, yielding an intermediate complex that enhances IGF1 bioavailability. Our results provide mechanistic insight into IGF/IGFBP3/ALS ternary complex assembly and its disassembly upon proteolysis for IGF bioavailability, suggesting a structural basis for human diseases associated with IGF1 and IGFALS gene mutations such as complete ALS deficiency (ACLSD) and IGF1 deficiency.
Learning to rank Higgs boson candidates
Authors: Köppel Marius , Segner Alexander , Wagener Martin , Pensel Lukas , Karwath Andreas , Schmitt Christian , Kramer Stefan
Published: July 2022

In the extensive search for new physics, the precise measurement of the Higgs boson continues to play an important role. To this end, machine learning techniques have been recently applied to processes like the Higgs production via vector-boson fusion. In this paper, we propose to use algorithms for learning to rank, i.e., to rank events into a sorting order, first signal, then background, instead of algorithms for the classification into two classes, for this task. The fact that training is then performed on pairwise comparisons of signal and background events can effectively increase the amount of training data due to the quadratic number of possible combinations. This makes it robust to unbalanced data set scenarios and can improve the overall performance compared to pointwise models like the state-of-the-art boosted decision tree approach. In this work we compare our pairwise neural network algorithm, which is a combination of a convolutional neural network and the DirectRanker, with convolutional neural networks, multilayer perceptrons or boosted decision trees, which are commonly used algorithms in multiple Higgs production channels. Furthermore, we use so-called transfer learning techniques to improve overall performance on different data types.
IL-7/IL7R axis dysfunction in adults with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP): a cross-sectional study
Authors: Ampuero Sandra , Bahamonde Guillermo , Tempio Fabián , Garmendia María Luisa , Ruiz Mauricio , Pizarro Rolando , Rossi Patricio , Huenchur Lucía , Lizama Luis , López Mercedes , Avendaño Luis F. , Luchsinger Vivian
Published: July 2022

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a worldwide leading cause of death. Recognized risk factors in some severe cases have not been identified. Lymphocytopenia has been frequently described in CAP. Since IL-7, membrane-bound receptor (IL7Rα;CD127) and soluble IL7Rα (sIL7R) are critical in lymphocytes homeostasis, in this work we aimed to evaluate the involvement of the IL-7/IL7Rα axis in the severity of adult CAP, since it has not been explored. The IL7Rα SNPs rs6897932, rs987106, and rs3194051 SNPs in IL7α were genotyped, the systemic expression of the IL7R gene, sIL7R, IL-7, and levels of peripheral IL7Rα+ T lymphocytes were quantified in 202 hospitalized CAP cases. rs3194051GG was more frequent in non-survivors than in survivors; rs987106TT was more frequent and rs3194051AA less frequent in patients at intensive care unit (ICU) than in those not admitted to ICU. IL7Rα gene expression was lower in non-survivors than in survivors, and in severe than in mild cases. CD3+CD127+ lymphocytes were lower in severe than in mild cases; in non-survivors than in survivors and in ICU than in non- ICU admitted cases. sIL7Rα plasmatic levels were higher in non-survivors than in survivors, and in severe than in mild cases. rs6897932CC, rs987106AA and rs3194051GG carriers showed the highest while rs6897932TT showed the lowest sIL7Rα levels. The AUC of sIL7Rα levels predicting 30-day mortality was 0.71. Plasma IL-7 levels were lower in ICU-admitted than in not ICU-admitted and in non-survivors than in survivors. No additional association was detected. In conclusion, rs3194051GG and rs987106TT IL7R genotypes were associated with a poorer prognosis. A significant association between sIL7R levels and SNPs of the IL7R gene is described for the first time in adult CAP. Increased plasmatic sIL7R could contribute to identifying adult CAP cases at risk of death.