bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Systematic, early rhythm control strategy for atrial fibrillation in patients with or without symptoms: the EAST-AFNET 4 trial
Authors: Willems Stephan , Borof Katrin , Brandes Axel , Breithardt Günter , Camm A John , Crijns Harry J G M , Eckardt Lars , Gessler Nele , Goette Andreas , Haegeli Laurent M , Heidbuchel Hein , Kautzner Josef , Ng G André , Schnabel Renate B , Suling Anna , Szumowski Lukasz , Themistoclakis Sakis , Vardas Panos , van Gelder Isabelle C , Wegscheider Karl , Kirchhof Paulus
Published: August 2021

Aims

Clinical practice guidelines restrict rhythm control therapy to patients with symptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF). The EAST-AFNET 4 trial demonstrated that early, systematic rhythm control improves clinical outcomes compared to symptom-directed rhythm control.

Methods and results

This prespecified EAST-AFNET 4 analysis compared the effect of early rhythm control therapy in asymptomatic patients (EHRA score I) to symptomatic patients. Primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, stroke, or hospitalization with worsening of heart failure or acute coronary syndrome, analyzed in a time-to-event analysis. At baseline, 801/2633 (30.4%) patients were asymptomatic [mean age 71.3 years, 37.5% women, mean CHA2DS2-VASc score 3.4, 169/801 (21.1%) heart failure]. Asymptomatic patients randomized to early rhythm control (395/801) received similar rhythm control therapies compared to symptomatic patients [e.g. AF ablation at 24 months: 75/395 (19.0%) in asymptomatic; 176/910 (19.3%) symptomatic patients, P = 0.672]. Anticoagulation and treatment of concomitant cardiovascular conditions was not different between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. The primary outcome occurred in 79/395 asymptomatic patients randomized to early rhythm control and in 97/406 patients randomized to usual care (hazard ratio 0.76, 95% confidence interval [0.6; 1.03]), almost identical to symptomatic patients. At 24 months follow-up, change in symptom status was not different between randomized groups (P = 0.19).

Conclusion

The clinical benefit of early, systematic rhythm control was not different between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients in EAST-AFNET 4. These results call for a shared decision discussing the benefits of rhythm control therapy in all patients with recently diagnosed AF and concomitant cardiovascular conditions (EAST-AFNET 4; ISRCTN04708680; NCT01288352; EudraCT2010-021258-20).
Continuity of care for patients with chronic disease: a registry-based observational study from Norway
Authors: Pahlavanyali Sahar , Hetlevik Øystein , Blinkenberg Jesper , Hunskaar Steinar
Published: August 2021

Background

Continuity of care (CoC) is accepted as a core value of primary care and is especially appreciated by patients with chronic conditions. Nevertheless, there are few studies investigating CoC for these patients across levels of healthcare.

Objective

This study aims to investigate CoC for patients with somatic chronic diseases, both with regular general practitioners (RGPs) and across care levels.

Methods

We conducted a registry-based observational study by using nationwide consultation data from Norwegian general practices, out-of-hours services, hospital outpatient care, and private specialists with public contracts. Patients with diabetes mellitus (type I or II), asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or heart failure in 2012, who had ≥2 consultations with these diagnoses during 2014 were included. CoC was measured during 2014 by using the usual provider of care (UPC) index and Bice–Boxerman continuity of care score (COCI). Both indices have a value between 0 and 1.

Results

Patients with diabetes mellitus comprised the largest study population (N = 79,165) and heart failure the smallest (N = 4,122). The highest mean UPC and COCI were measured for patients with heart failure, 0.75 and 0.77, respectively. UPC increased gradually with age for all diagnoses, while COCI showed this trend only for asthma. Both indices had higher values in urban areas.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that CoC in Norwegian healthcare system is achieved for a majority of patients with chronic diseases. Patients with heart failure had the highest continuity with their RGP. Higher CoC was associated with older age and living in urban areas.
Affective Practices of Diabetes Self-Management Among Older Adults: Cumulative Effects of Childhood Adversity
Authors: Roth Erin G , Chard Sarah
Published: August 2021

Background and Objectives

A strong correlation exists between Type 2 diabetes mellitus and adverse childhood experiences. How adverse childhood experiences inform later-life diabetes management is less understood. This article examines diabetes management from the perspective of affective practice to explore the lingering impact of trauma biographies in diabetes management.

Research Design and Methods

This secondary narrative analysis of 15 in-depth interviews with community-dwelling older adults with diabetes (subsample of the Subjective Experiences of Diabetes Study) focuses on the ways their reported childhood adversity affects perceptions of and responses to diabetes self-management.

Results

The experiences of adversity in childhood accumulate, throughout the life course, in the affective practices informing diabetes self-management, from blood glucose testing, to food consumption, to the emotions invested in body size. We identify 3 thematic areas that emerged across participants: (a) undermining self-worth, (b) (over)eating and food as comfort, and (c) weight and body size.

Discussion and Implications

Our findings highlight affective practices as a mechanism through which adverse events accumulate and shape well-being over the life course. This analysis also suggests the potential for (de)accumulation of affective practices to improve diabetes management. The findings support recent calls for trauma-informed clinical care.
Illuminating the North Korean nuclear explosion test in 2017 using remote infrasound observations
Authors: Che Il-Young , Kim Keehoon , Le Pichon Alexis , Park Junghyun , Arrowsmith Stephen , Stump Brian
Published: August 2021

North Korea conducted its sixth underground nuclear explosion test (${m_\mathrm{ b}}$ 6.3) on 2017 September 3. The underground explosion produced substantial low-frequency atmospheric waves, which were detected by infrasound arrays located up to a distance of 566 km. These infrasound waves are formed by the conversion of seismic energy to acoustic energy across the lithosphere–atmosphere interface. While infrasound records at regional distances produce estimates of ground motion amplitude over spatially extended regions covering about 26 500 km2, 3-D full seismo-acoustic simulations within the lithosphere and atmosphere provide quantitative information about seismo-acoustic energy partitioning. Our results demonstrate the capability of remote infrasound observations combined with 3-D propagation modelling to further develop discrimination methods for underground sources. These results contribute to enhance the confidence of source identification and characterization in nuclear test monitoring research, which is essential for the enforcement of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Upper mantle radial anisotropy under the Indian Ocean from higher mode surface waves and a hierarchical transdismensional approach
Authors: Weidner Erik , Beghein Caroline , Huang Quancheng , Schmerr Nicholas
Published: August 2021

We investigated the likelihood of radial anisotropy in the shallow and deep upper mantle, including the mantle transition zone (MTZ) under the Indian Ocean. Seismic anisotropy can be an indicator of mantle deformation through lattice preferred orientation of anisotropic crystals in the mantle. It has thus the potential to illuminate Earth’s dynamic interior, but previous seismic tomography studies have not achieved consensus on the existence of radial anisotropy below ∼250 km depth. We developed a fully nonlinear transdimensional hierarchical Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach to invert fundamental and higher mode surface wave dispersion data and applied it to a subset of a global Love and Rayleigh wave data set. We obtained posterior model parameter distributions for shear wave velocity (VS) and radial anisotropy ξ under the Indian Ocean. These posterior model distributions were used to calculate the probability of having radial anisotropy at different depths. We demonstrated that separate inversions of Love and Rayleigh waves yield models compatible with the results of joint inversions within uncertainties. The obtained pattern of VS anomalies agrees with most previous studies. They display negative anomalies along ridges in the uppermost mantle, but those are stronger than for regularized inversions. The Central Indian Ridge and the Southeastern Indian Ridge present velocity anomalies that extend to ∼200 km depth, whereas the Southwestern Indian Ridge seems to have a shallower origin. Weaker, laterally variable velocity perturbations were found at larger depths. The anisotropy models differ more strongly from regularized inversion results and their uncertainties were rather large. We found that anisotropy models from regularized inversions also depend on the chosen parametrization, which is consistent with the existence of a large model null-space. Apart from a fast horizontally polarized shear wave signal in the top 100 km, likely reflecting the horizontal plate motion due to asthenospheric deformation, no clear relation to surface geology was detected in the anisotropy models. We found that, although the anisotropy model uncertainties are rather large, and lateral variations are present, the data generally prefer at least 1 per cent anisotropy in the MTZ with fast vertically polarized shear waves, within errors. Incorporating group velocity data did not help better constrain deep structure by reducing parameter trade-offs. We also tested the effect of prior constraints on the 410- and 660-km topography and found that the undulations of these discontinuities had little effect on the resulting models in our study region.
Application of an unsupervised clustering algorithm on in situ broadband acoustic data to identify different mesopelagic target types
Authors: Agersted Mette Dalgaard , Khodabandeloo Babak , Liu Yi , Melle Webjørn , Klevjer Thor A
Published: August 2021

The mesopelagic zone (200–1000 m depth) contains high fish species diversity but biomass and abundances are uncertain yet essential to understand ecosystem functioning. Hull-mounted acoustic systems (usually 38 kHz) often make assumptions on average target strength (TS) of mesopelagic fish assemblages when estimating biomass/abundance. Here, an unsupervised clustering algorithm was applied on broadband acoustic data (54–78 kHz), collected by a towed instrumented platform in the central Northeast Atlantic, to identify different mesopelagic target types based on similarity of individual TS spectra. Numerical density estimates from echo-counting showed spatial differences in vertical distribution patterns of the different target types and TS spectra data suggested that >30% of the gas-bearing targets had high resonance frequencies (>60 kHz) with low scattering strength at 38 kHz. This conceptual study highlights the importance of separating targets into different target groups to obtain correct backscatter information and to account for all relevant scatterers when estimating average TS at 38 kHz, in order to achieve more accurate biomass/abundance estimates. It furthermore demonstrates the use of a towed broadband acoustic platform for fine-scale numerical density estimates as a complementary method to hull-mounted acoustic data to increase knowledge on mesopelagic ecosystem structure.
Metabarcoding as a quantitative tool for estimating biodiversity and relative biomass of marine zooplankton
Authors: Ershova E A , Wangensteen O S , Descoteaux R , Barth-Jensen C , Præbel K
Published: August 2021

Although metabarcoding is a well-established tool for describing diversity of pelagic communities, its quantitative value is still controversial, with poor correlations previously reported between organism abundance/biomass and sequence reads. In this study, we explored an enhanced quantitative approach by metabarcoding whole zooplankton communities using a highly degenerate primer set for the mitochondrial marker cytochrome oxidase I and compared the results to biomass estimates obtained using the traditional morphological approach of processing zooplankton samples. As expected, detected species richness using the metabarcoding approach was 3–4 times higher compared to morphological processing, with the highest differences found in the meroplankton fraction. About 75% of the species identified using microscopy were also recovered in the metabarcoding run. Within the taxa detected using both approaches, the relative numbers of sequence counts showed a strong quantitative relationship to their relative biomass, estimated from length-weight regressions, for a wide range of metazoan taxa. The highest correlations were found for crustaceans and the lowest for meroplanktonic larvae. Our results show that the reported approach of using a metabarcoding marker with improved taxonomic resolution, universal coverage for metazoans, reduced primer bias, and availability of a comprehensive reference database, allow for rapid and relatively inexpensive processing of hundreds of samples at a higher taxonomic resolution than traditional zooplankton sorting. The described approach can therefore be widely applied for monitoring or ecological studies.
Evidence of large systematic differences between countries in assigning ischaemic heart disease deaths to myocardial infarction: the contrasting examples of Russia and Norway
Authors: Timonin Sergey , Shkolnikov Vladimir M , Andreev Evgeny , Magnus Per , Leon David A
Published: August 2021

Background

There is considerable variation in mortality rates from myocardial infarction (MI) across high-income countries, some of which may be artefactual.

Methods

Time trends in mortality rates from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and MI were analysed for a set of high-income countries from the end of the 1970s. Using individual-level mortality data from Russia (2005–2017) and Norway (2005–2016), we investigated factors associated with the proportion of total IHD deaths certified as due to MI.

Results

In most countries, MI mortality rates have dramatically declined from the 1970s. However, the share of MI in total IHD deaths varies substantially across countries. In Russia, only 12% of IHD deaths had MI assigned as the underlying cause vs 63% in Norway. IHD deaths occurring outside of hospital without autopsy were far less likely to be assigned as MI in Russia (2%) than in Norway (59%).

Conclusions

Although established international criteria for MI require specific clinical or post-mortem evidence, it appears that certifying specialists in different countries may interpret these criteria differently. At one extreme, Russian doctors may only assign MI as a cause of death when there is specific pathophysiological evidence. At the other extreme, their counterparts in Norway may be willing to specify MI as the cause even when this evidence is not available. Internationally established criteria for MI diagnosis are challenging to apply for out-of-hospital deaths. Differences between countries in how certifiers interpret these criteria may account for at least some of the international variation in MI mortality rates.
Elliptic Ruijsenaars Difference Operators on Bounded Partitions
Authors: van Diejen Jan , Görbe Tamás
Published: August 2021

By means of a truncation condition on the parameters, the elliptic Ruijsenaars difference operators are restricted onto a finite lattice of points encoded by bounded partitions. A corresponding orthogonal basis of joint eigenfunctions is constructed in terms of polynomials on the joint spectrum. In the trigonometric limit, this recovers the diagonalization of the truncated Macdonald difference operators by a finite-dimensional basis of Macdonald polynomials.
Natural language processing enabling COVID-19 predictive analytics to support data-driven patient advising and pooled testing
Authors: Meystre Stéphane M , Heider Paul M , Kim Youngjun , Davis Matthew , Obeid Jihad , Madory James , Alekseyenko Alexander V
Published: August 2021

Objective

The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic response at the Medical University of South Carolina included virtual care visits for patients with suspected severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The telehealth system used for these visits only exports a text note to integrate with the electronic health record, but structured and coded information about COVID-19 (eg, exposure, risk factors, symptoms) was needed to support clinical care and early research as well as predictive analytics for data-driven patient advising and pooled testing.

Materials and Methods

To capture COVID-19 information from multiple sources, a new data mart and a new natural language processing (NLP) application prototype were developed. The NLP application combined reused components with dictionaries and rules crafted by domain experts. It was deployed as a Web service for hourly processing of new data from patients assessed or treated for COVID-19. The extracted information was then used to develop algorithms predicting SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test results based on symptoms and exposure information.

Results

The dedicated data mart and NLP application were developed and deployed in a mere 10-day sprint in March 2020. The NLP application was evaluated with good accuracy (85.8% recall and 81.5% precision). The SARS-CoV-2 testing predictive analytics algorithms were configured to provide patients with data-driven COVID-19 testing advices with a sensitivity of 81% to 92% and to enable pooled testing with a negative predictive value of 90% to 91%, reducing the required tests to about 63%.

Conclusions

SARS-CoV-2 testing predictive analytics and NLP successfully enabled data-driven patient advising and pooled testing.
Sperm Storage in a Family-Living Lizard, the Tree Skink (Egernia striolata)
Authors: Riley Julia L , Stow Adam , Bolton Peri E , Dennison Siobhan , Byrne Richard W , Whiting Martin J
Published: August 2021

The ability to produce viable offspring without recently mating, either through sperm storage or parthenogenesis, can provide fitness advantages under a suite of challenging ecological scenarios. Using genetic analysis, we demonstrate that 3 wild-caught female Tree Skinks (Egernia striolata) reproduced in captivity with no access to males for over a year, and that this is best explained by sperm storage. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time female sperm storage has been documented in any monogamous family-living reptile, including social Australian egerniine skinks (from the subfamily Egerniinae). Furthermore, by using paternal reconstruction of genotypes we show that captive-born offspring produced by the same females in the preceding year, presumably without sperm storage, were sired by different males. We qualitatively compared aspects of these females’ mates and offspring between years. The parents of each litter were unrelated, but paternal and offspring genotypes from litters resulting from stored sperm were more heterozygous than those inferred to be from recent matings. Family-living egerniine skinks generally have low rates of multiple paternity, yet our study suggests that female sperm storage, potentially from outside social partners, offers the real possibility of benefits. Possible benefits include increasing genetic compatibility of mates and avoiding inbreeding depression via cryptic female choice. Sperm storage in Tree Skinks, a family-living lizard with a monogamous mating system, suggests that females may bet-hedge through extra-pair copulation with more heterozygous males, reinforcing the idea that females could have more control on reproductive outcomes than previously thought.
The relationship of telmisartan with sclerostin in the osteoporosis model induced by ovariectomy in rats
Authors: Kutlu Zerrin , Bilen Arzu , Celik Muhammet , Maman Adem , Gulaboglu Mine , Kul Ayhan , Celik Zeynep , Halici Zekai
Published: August 2021

Objectives

Our aim is to explain the relationship between Ang II and Scl in osteoporotic (OP) rats and the contribution of Scl in the antiosteoporotic effect mechanism of angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB).

Methods

This study consists of two sub-studies conducted on 4th and 12th weeks after ovariectomy. In study 1, treatment was started immediately after bilateral ovariectomy (OVX), while, in study 2, treatment was started 2 months after OVX. Two different doses of telmisartan (5 and 10 mg/kg) were administered with the aid of gavage for 30 days in both sub-study groups.

Results

Serum and tissue Scl, osteocalcin, osteopontin and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase mRNA expressions were higher and bone mineral densities (BMD) and bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) mRNA expressions were found to be lower in the OVX groups compared with the sham group. In OVX groups where two different doses of telmisartan were administered, BMD and BALP mRNA expressions increased and serum and tissue Scl decreased.

Conclusion

There may be a close relationship between angiotensin II and sclerostin in the development of osteoporosis. In this study, telmisartan administration showed an antiosteoporotic effect and significantly decreased the level of sclerostin. These results strongly support this relationship.
Moringa oleifera: a systematic review of its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicity
Authors: Liu Rong , Liu Jing , Huang Qi , Liu Shao , Jiang Yueping
Published: August 2021

Objectives

Moringa oleifera (M. oleifera) Lam (Moringaceae) is a perennial plant broadly used in South Asia and Africa as a traditional folk medicine to treat many ailments such as paralysis, helminthiasis, sores and skin infections. The review provides a critical and comprehensive evaluation of the botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, agricultural economy and dietary benefit of M. oleifera and its future perspectives.

Key findings

In this review, the entire plant of M. oleifera, containing diverse phytochemicals, is summarized. The 163 chemical components, included flavonoids, carbamates, glucosinolates, phenols, and so on with various bioactivities, such as anti-tumour, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and so on. Additionally, M. oleifera is toxic at certain doses; and overuse can cause genotoxicity.

Although M. oleifera has been widely used in traditional medicine, the pharmacological studies that have been conducted so far are not sufficient for its use in the setting of evidence-based medicine. Little relevant data from clinical trials of M. oleifera have been reported. The majority of studies of its constituents, such as carbamates and glucosinolates, have been conducted only in vitro. Owing to a lack of available data, the pharmacology, toxicity, agricultural economy and dietary benefit of its constituents and extracts require further evaluation.
Plant–plant communication in variety mixtures plays on disease susceptibility and immunity
Authors: Bancal Marie-Odile
Published: August 2021

This article comments on:

Pélissier R, Buendia L, Brousse A, Temple C, Ballini E, Fort F, Violle C, Morel JB. 2021. Plant neighbour-modulated susceptibility to pathogens in intraspecific mixtures. Journal of Experimental Botany 72, 6570–6580.
Long-term stability of planets in and around binary stars
Authors: Ballantyne Harry A , Espaas Tore , Norgrove Bethan Z , Wootton Bethany A , Harris Benjamin R , Pepper Isaac L , Smith Richard D , Dommett Rosie E , Parker Richard J
Published: August 2021

Planets are observed to orbit the component star(s) of stellar binary systems on so-called circumprimary or circumsecondary orbits, as well as around the entire binary system on so-called circumbinary orbits. Depending on the orbital parameters of the binary system, a planet will be dynamically stable if it orbits within some critical separation of the semimajor axis in the circumprimary case, or beyond some critical separation for the circumbinary case. We present N-body simulations of star-forming regions that contain populations of primordial binaries to determine the fraction of binary systems that can host stable planets at various semimajor axes, and how this fraction of stable systems evolves over time. Dynamical encounters in star-forming regions can alter the orbits of some binary systems, which can induce long-term dynamical instabilities in the planetary system and can even change the size of the habitable zone(s) of the component stars. However, the overall fraction of binaries that can host stable planetary systems is not greatly affected by either the assumed binary population or the density of the star-forming region. Instead, the critical factor in determining how many stable planetary systems exist in the Galaxy is the stellar binary fraction – the more stars that are born as singles in stellar nurseries, the higher the fraction of stable planetary systems.
Radar observations of the daytime β-Taurids and ζ-Perseids
Authors: Dewsnap R Logan , Campbell-Brown M
Published: August 2021

We measure the activity, orbital characteristics, and mass index of the strongest daytime Taurid meteor showers (ζ-Perseids and β-Taurids) as observed by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar during 2002–2020. This survey recorded ∼2 × 104 stream orbits and more than 4 × 104 single-station events with speed measurements, for meteoroids with masses ${\sim }1 \times 10^{-7}{\, \mathrm{kg}}$ and sizes ${\sim }5 \times 10^{-4}\, \mathrm{m}$. ζ-Perseid activity occurred during the interval 56○ ≤ λ⊙ ≤ 92○ and peaked at λ⊙ = 77.0○, while the β-Taurids were active during the overlapping period 85○ ≤ λ⊙ ≤ 103○ and peaked at λ⊙ = 95.0○. The corrected out-of-atmosphere velocities at these activity peaks were 26.4 and 26.3 km s−1, respectively. The showers display a broad period of activity with an asymmetric profile, with a gradual increase at the beginning and a sharper decrease after the peak. The mass indices of the ζ-Perseids and β-Taurids during their periods of activity were found to be 1.81 ± 0.05 and 1.87 ± 0.05, with the ζ-Perseids reaching a minimum of 1.71 ± 0.05 around the peak of activity.
Observations of cold gas and star formation in dwarf S0 galaxies
Authors: Ge Xue , Gu Qiu-Sheng , García-Benito Rubén , Lu Shi-Ying , Lei Cheng-Long , Ding Nan
Published: August 2021

Very little work has been done on star formation in dwarf lenticular galaxies (S0s). We present 2D spectroscopic and millimetre observations made by the Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán (CAHA) 3.5-m optical and Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m millimetre telescopes, respectively, for a sample of four dwarf S0 galaxies with multiple star formation regions in the field environment. We find that, although most of the sources deviate from the star-forming main-sequence relation, they all follow the Kennicutt–Schmidt law. After comparing the stellar and Hα kinematics, we find that the velocity fields of both stars and ionized gas show no regular motion and the velocity dispersions of both stars and ionized gas are low in regions with high star formation, suggesting that these star-forming S0 galaxies still have significant rotation. This view can be supported by the result that most of these dwarf S0 galaxies are classified as fast rotators. The ratio of the average atomic gas mass to stellar mass ($\sim 47{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$) is much greater than that of the molecular gas mass to stellar mass ($\sim 1{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$). In addition, gas-phase metallicities in star-forming regions are lower than those of non-star-forming regions. These results indicate that extended star formation may originate from the combination of abundant atomic hydrogen, a long dynamic time-scale, and a low-density environment.
Effects of dark matter on the in-spiral properties of the binary neutron stars
Authors: Das H C , Kumar Ankit , Patra S K
Published: August 2021

Using the relativistic mean-field model, we calculate the properties of binary neutron star (BNS) in the in-spiral phase. Assuming the dark matter (DM) particles are accreted inside the neutron star (NS) due to its enormous gravitational field, the mass M, radius R, tidal deformability λ, and dimensionless tidal deformability Λ are calculated at different DM fractions. The value of M, R, λ, and Λ decreases with the increase of DM percentage inside the NS. The in-spiral phase properties of the BNS are explored within the post-Newtonian (PN) formalism, as it is suitable up to the last orbits in the in-spiral phase. We calculate the strain amplitude of the polarization waveform h+ and h×, (2,2) mode waveform h22, orbital phase Φ, frequency of the gravitational wave f, and PN parameter x with DM as an extra candidate inside the NS. The magnitude of f, Φ, and x are almost the same for all assumed forces; however, the in-spiral time duration in the last orbit is different. We find that the BNS with soft equation of state and a high fraction of DM sustains more time in their in-spiral phase. We suggest that one should take DM inside the NS when they modelling the in-spiral waveforms for the BNS systems.
Intermediate-mass black holes from stellar mergers in young star clusters
Authors: Di Carlo Ugo N , Mapelli Michela , Pasquato Mario , Rastello Sara , Ballone Alessandro , Dall’Amico Marco , Giacobbo Nicola , Iorio Giuliano , Spera Mario , Torniamenti Stefano , Haardt Francesco
Published: August 2021

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) in the mass range $10^2\!-\!10^5\, \mathrm{M_{\odot }}$ bridge the gap between stellar black holes (BHs) and supermassive BHs. Here, we investigate the possibility that IMBHs form in young star clusters via runaway collisions and BH mergers. We analyse 104 simulations of dense young star clusters, featuring up-to-date stellar wind models and prescriptions for core collapse and (pulsational) pair instability. In our simulations, only nine IMBHs out of 218 form via binary BH mergers, with a mass ∼100–140 M⊙. This channel is strongly suppressed by the low escape velocity of our star clusters. In contrast, IMBHs with masses up to ∼438 M⊙ efficiently form via runaway stellar collisions, especially at low metallicity. Up to ∼0.2 per cent of all the simulated BHs are IMBHs, depending on progenitor’s metallicity. The runaway formation channel is strongly suppressed in metal-rich (Z = 0.02) star clusters, because of stellar winds. IMBHs are extremely efficient in pairing with other BHs: ∼70 per cent of them are members of a binary BH at the end of the simulations. However, we do not find any IMBH–BH merger. More massive star clusters are more efficient in forming IMBHs: ∼8 per cent (∼1 per cent) of the simulated clusters with initial mass 104–3 × 104 M⊙ (103–5 × 103 M⊙) host at least one IMBH.
The Oldest Co-opted gag Gene of a Human Endogenous Retrovirus Shows Placenta-Specific Expression and Is Upregulated in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphomas
Authors: Boso Guney , Fleck Katherine , Carley Samuel , Liu Qingping , Buckler-White Alicia , Kozak Christine A
Published: August 2021

Vertebrate genomes contain endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) that represent remnants of past germline infections by ancient retroviruses. Despite comprising 8% of the human genome, the human ERVs (HERVs) do not encode a replication competent retrovirus. However, some HERV genes have been co-opted to serve host functions, most notably the viral envelope-derived syncytins involved in placentation. Here, we identify the oldest HERV intact gag gene with an open reading frame, gagV1. Its provirus contains an intact env, envV1, and the first open reading frame found in an HERV gag leader, pre-gagV1, which encodes a novel protein. This HERV is linked to a related gag gene, gagV3, and these three genes all show patterns of evolutionary conservation in primates. gagV1 and pre-gagV1 orthologs are present in all simian primate lineages indicating that this HERV entered the germline of the common simian primate ancestor at least 43 Ma, whereas gagV3 is found in Old and New World monkeys. gagV1 and gagV3 have undergone recurrent gene conversion events and positive selection. Expression of gagV1, gagV3, and pre-gagV1 is restricted to the placenta in humans and macaques suggesting co-option for placenta-specific host functions. Transcriptomic analysis of human tumors also found upregulated levels of gagV1 transcripts in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. These findings suggest that these HERV-V genes may be useful markers for the most common type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and that they may have contributed to the successive domestications of env and gag genes in eutherians involved in the ongoing ERV-driven evolution of the placenta.
HDAC1 is required for GATA-1 transcription activity, global chromatin occupancy and hematopoiesis
Authors: Yan Bowen , Yang Jennifer , Kim Min Young , Luo Huacheng , Cesari Nicholas , Yang Tao , Strouboulis John , Zhang Jiwang , Hardison Ross , Huang Suming , Qiu Yi
Published: August 2021

The activity of hematopoietic factor GATA-1 is modulated through p300/CBP-mediated acetylation and FOG-1 mediated indirect interaction with HDAC1/2 containing NuRD complex. Although GATA-1 acetylation is implicated in GATA-1 activation, the role of deacetylation is not studied. Here, we found that the FOG-1/NuRD does not deacetylate GATA-1. However, HDAC1/2 can directly bind and deacetylate GATA-1. Two arginine residues within the GATA-1 linker region mediates direct interaction with HDAC1. The arginine to alanine mutation (2RA) blocks GATA-1 deacetylation and fails to induce erythroid differentiation. Gene expression profiling and ChIP-seq analysis further demonstrate the importance of GATA-1 deacetylation for gene activation and chromatin recruitment. GATA-12RA knock-in (KI) mice suffer mild anemia and thrombocytopenia with accumulation of immature erythrocytes and megakaryocytes in bone marrow and spleen. Single cell RNA-seq analysis of Lin− cKit+ (LK) cells further reveal a profound change in cell subpopulations and signature gene expression patterns in HSC, myeloid progenitors, and erythroid/megakaryocyte clusters in KI mice. Thus, GATA-1 deacetylation and its interaction with HDAC1 modulates GATA-1 chromatin binding and transcriptional activity that control erythroid/megakaryocyte commitment and differentiation.
Composing with Constraints
Authors: Variego Jorge
Published: August 2021

Designed for undergraduate and graduate music students, Composing with Constraints provides 100 self-contained exercises to help develop the craft of music composition through rigorous guidelines that help students develop their creativity. Structured in five chapters, the book offers an extended palette of compositional exercises in melody, rhythm, harmony, texture, and pre-compositional strategies. Exercises can be addressed in any order. With the help of the instructor, both graduate and undergraduate students can choose their own paths. An appendix includes a select list of possible solutions for the exercises and a suggested grading rubric is included for the instructor, based on consistent criteria that balance the strictness of the constraints with the incentive of the students’ imagination. All exercises embed simple orchestration problems and are illustrated with excerpts from the standard repertoire. Exercises that encourage the implementation of the computer as an aid to enhance the creative process are included.
A Righteous Consensus, Whig Style
Authors: Marsden George M.
Published: August 2021

Various Protestant denominations founded hundreds of colleges during the first half of the nineteenth century. Even two-thirds of presidents of state universities were clergymen. Though those in the Reformed tradition tended to be the leading educators, denominational diversity and necessities of attracting varieties of students weakened doctrinal distinctives. The prevailing “Whig” ideal emphasized combining building a modern civilization with Christian morality. Educators, such as Francis Wayland or Mark Hopkins, confidently assumed that the best of objective common sense and modern science would support traditional Christianity. Colleges still promoted the evangelical tradition, as in campus revivals. They taught the classics as a way of developing moral faculties, as the Yale Report of 1828 advocated. Specifically Christian perspectives were found in capstone moral philosophy courses.
Daniel Coit Gilman and the Model for a Modern University
Authors: Marsden George M.
Published: August 2021

Daniel Coit Gilman became the founding president of The Johns Hopkins University in 1876. There he established what became the model for modern American universities. Gilman had similar New England roots to other major university leaders. His first experience of leadership was at the University of California. That university started in Berkeley in 1868 when a Presbyterian college, the College of California, ceded itself to the state. Gilman had to negotiate the tensions between being an inclusive state university while having a distinct denominational heritage. The New Johns Hopkins University was accused of being atheistic, but Gilman instituted voluntary chapel and showed concern for including Christian dimensions in the undergraduate curriculum. Following the German model though, he made original scholarship and graduate education the marks of a true university. While not anti-religious, intellectual inquiry was expected to adopt standards that might be called “methodological naturalism.”
Harvard and the Religion of Humanity
Authors: Marsden George M.
Published: August 2021

Under the leadership of Charles W. Eliot, Harvard set the pace in moving from an old-time college in the mid-1800s to a leading modern university by the early 1900s. Eliot was known for instituting the elective system. Influenced by German ideals, he emphasized modern education as inculcating freedom and building character. He said the university could not be founded upon a sect but must serve the whole nation. He was also an advocate of the modern expert. William James became the best known of Harvard’s impressive faculty. His pragmatic search for religious expression well represented the spirit of search for nonsectarian spirituality and morality. Charles Eliot Norton championed the idea of the humanities as the source for finding the highest human ideals.
Orthodoxy at the Gentlemen’s Club
Authors: Marsden George M.
Published: August 2021

Princeton, with its Old School Presbyterian heritage, had stronger sectarian theological ties than other leading schools. President James McCosh, an accomplished Scottish philosopher, helped modernize the college while still keeping a strong religious presence. In famous debates with Charles Eliot in the 1880s, he argued that freedom always works within limits. His successor, Francis Patton, was rigorously conservative in his Presbyterian orthodoxy but ran Princeton very much as a gentlemen’s club. Woodrow Wilson as president helped professionalize the university but remained loyal to broad Christian ideals. As at other schools of the era, the most vigorous religious expressions were in student voluntary associations.
The Federal Republic of Germany
Authors: Calabresi Steven Gow
Published: August 2021

This chapter looks at the German system of judicial review of the constitutionality of legislation, which has been borrowed by virtually all of the civil law countries in the world as being the one that is the most compatible with their legal system. The historical lessons drawn from Germany’s experience with the Third Reich made Germans acutely aware of the need for constitutional protection of rights growing out of the great historical wrongs of Nazism and of the Holocaust. Thus, the fundamental core explanation of the origins and growth of German judicial review is that it is a rights from wrongs phenomenon. That being said, the growth of German judicial review was made easier by the fact that the German Basic Law constituted the Constitutional Court to act as a federalism and separation of powers umpire. The German Constitutional Court has performed those umpiring function from 1949 down to the present day with great deftness and ability. Thanks to the great scholar, Hans Kelsen, the Germans borrowed a greatly modified system of U.S. judicial review, which was specially designed to work well in civil law countries. The German Model has, in turn, been borrowed by every oother country discussed in Volume II of my two part book series.
The Republic of Italy
Authors: Calabresi Steven Gow
Published: August 2021

This chapter looks at Italian judicial review and the Italian Constitution’s Bill of Rights. The Italian Bill of Rights and Italian judicial review emerged primarily as the result of a rights from wrongs process. This is shown by the Italian Constitutional Court’s first case in which it overturned an Italian Fascist-era law forbidding the distribution of political pamphlets. Moreover, judicial review has thrived in Italy because, unlike Japan, the Italian Constitution sets up a variety of different competing power centers among which the Constitutional Court can navigate to get its way. Meanwhile, the complex Italian political party systems in the last sixty years may have allowed the Italian Constitutional Court more freedom to navigate the Italian political process for the same reason that radical proportional representation in Israel helped Aharon Barak in cementing in place Israeli constitutionalism. Finally, Italy’s multiparty system may have caused alliances on the left and on the right to constitutionalize rights for “insurance and commitment” reasons.
The Effect of Incentives
Authors: Brennan Jason , English William , Hasnas John , Jaworski Peter
Published: August 2021

Every business faces internal conflicts of interest. They must determine how to motivate employees to cooperate in a productive manner, while also limiting the temptation to exploit the business for private gain. Designing good incentives is essential. If inputs are easy to measure, employees can be compensated based on how much work they do, but if inputs are hard to measure, it may be more effective to tie compensation to a firm’s output in the form of stock options and profit-sharing. However, care must be taken to ensure that executives do not misrepresent the value of the company or engage in fraud in order to inflate stock prices. Compensation packages that lengthen the vesting period of stock options and allow ill-gotten gains to be clawed back, as well as whistleblower programs that reward those who expose fraud, can help prevent bad behavior and ensure that business leaders focus on genuine productivity.
Conclusion
Authors: Brennan Jason , English William , Hasnas John , Jaworski Peter
Published: August 2021

One way to illustrate how to manage a business or oneself for ethical performance is to teach the lesson in a negative form. How would one run a business if one wanted to induce others and oneself to act worse? One would want to create structures that impose perverse incentives, encourage moral blindness, promote moral confusion, create stress and tight deadlines which encourage employees to cut corners, make a mockery of ethics, push people to conform to others’ bad behavior, and reduce their willpower.
Framboids
Authors: Rickard David
Published: August 2021

Framboids may be the most astonishing and abundant natural features you have never heard of. These microscopic spherules of golden pyrite consist of thousands of even smaller microcrystals, often arranged in stunning geometric arrays. There are probably 1030 on Earth, and they are forming at a rate of 1020 every second. This means that there are a billion times more framboids than sand grains on Earth, and a million times more framboids than stars in the observable universe. They are all around us: they can be found in rocks of all ages and in present-day sediments, soils, and natural waters. The sulfur in the pyrite is mainly produced by bacteria, and many framboids contain organic matter. They are formed through burst nucleation of supersaturated solutions of iron and sulfide, followed by limited crystal growth in diffusion-dominated stagnant sediments. The framboids self-assemble as surface free energy is minimized and the microcrystals are attracted to each other by surface forces. Self-organization occurs through entropy maximization, and the microcrystals rotate into their final positions through Brownian motion. The final shape of the framboids is often actually polygonal or partially facetted rather than spherical, as icosahedral microcrystal packing develops. Their average diameter is around 6 microns and the average microcrystal size is about 0.1 microns. There is no significant change in these dimensions with time: the framboid is an exceptionally stable structure, and the oldest may be 2.9 billion years old. This means that they provide samples of the chemistry of ancient environments.
Pyrite Framboid Formation Chemistry
Authors: Rickard David
Published: August 2021

Pyrite forms mainly through two routes: (1) the reaction between FeS species and polysulfides, and (2) the reaction of FeS species and H2S. Both of these reactions produce framboidal pyrite, and the mechanisms have been confirmed both kinetically and through the use of isotopic tracers. Aqueous Fe2+ does not appear to react directly with aqueous polysulfide species to produce pyrite, and the S-S bond in aqueous S2(-II) is normally split by aqueous Fe2+ to produce aqueous FeS and sulfur. The FeS moiety involved in pyrite formation may be provided by aqueous FeS or =FeS groups on solid surfaces. The reaction with surface =FeS occurs with any iron mineral in a sulfidic environment, including the relatively scarce iron sulfide minerals, mackinawite and greigite, nanoparticulate FeS, and pyrite itself. The reaction with surface =FeS sites on pyrite is a major route for pyrite crystal growth. The extreme insolubility of pyrite is one of the fundamental reasons for its particular involvement in framboid formation as well as for the ubiquity of framboids.
Recursive Reflections
Authors: Yacavone Daniel
Published: August 2021

This chapter casts a critical eye on various classifications of reflexivity that have been proposed by film and media scholars over a number of decades. These center on the reflexive content of films, their self-referential communicative structures and functions, and intended effects of reflexiveness on spectators. In this context it differentiates between (self-)reflexivity and related terms/concepts—metafiction; metacinema, mise en abîme, allusion and intertextuality, self-conscious style and narration—from a twenty-first century standpoint; and outlines an alternative classification of reflexive forms in celluloid and digital cinema. The latter are distinct from specific reflexive devices (e.g., the film within the film, direct address, display of the cinematographic “apparatus”) and general modes (e.g., political, formal, ludic). As illustrated through concrete examples, the five transmedial forms posited—environmental; trans-art and intermedial; generic; creator-centered; performance-based—typically occur in complex combinations. Their identification, and the new conception of cinematic reflexivity this typology represents, aids in the analysis and interpretation of reflexive and metacinematic films and styles.