bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
How does the stiffness of blood vessel walls and deposited plaques impact coronary artery diseases?
Authors: Roy Manideep , Chakraborty Suman
Published: August 2024

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition where the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, become narrowed or blocked. The most common cause of CAD is atherosclerosis, which is a condition in which plaque builds up inside the arteries, causing them to harden and narrow. These are critical conditions due to their high prevalence, adverse impact on health and quality of life, and potential for severe complications. Early detection, prevention, and effective management are essential to mitigate their effects, which delves critically on the understanding of blood flow dynamics (hemodynamics) in these arteries. While fluid dynamics simulations incorporating the deformability of blood vessels have proven to be immensely useful in this context, their outcomes remain far from being amenable for clinical decision making in real-life medical practice because of their limitations in capturing the implications of certain key physiological features such as the stiffnesses of the artery walls and the plaque deposits formed therein. In an effort to circumvent these deficits, here we report the development and deployment of a fluid–structure interaction model that unveils the sensitive dependence of the clinically relevant hemodynamic parameters on the arterial wall and plaque stiffness, bringing in explicit quantitative assessment of the pathophysiology of arterial disease progression. Our results enable direct quantification of the time-averaged wall shear stress, offering clinical insights into the biomechanical environment and the endothelial response that are critical in the initiation and progression of atherosclerotic plaques. In addition, our results pinpoint the alterations in the fractional flow reserve due to changes in the deformability of the arterial walls and plaques, providing a functional assessment of the impact of these plaques on coronary blood flow. Our simulation platform thus helps in a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular risk, enabling better prediction, prevention, and treatment of atherosclerosis-related conditions—a paradigm that has remained to be elusive in clinical practices thus far.
A Narrowband Burst from FRB 20190520B Simultaneously Observed by FAST and Parkes
Authors: Zhu 朱 Yuhao 禹豪 , Niu 牛 Chenhui 晨辉 , Dai 代 Shi 实 , Li 李 Di 菂 , Wang 王 Pei 培 , Feng 冯 Yi 毅 , Wu 吴 Jingwen 京文 , Zhang 张 Yongkun 永坤 , Cui 崔 Xianghan 翔翰 , Zhang 张 Junshuo 钧硕 , Cao 曹 Jinhuang 锦煌
Published: August 2024

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are short-duration radio transients with mysterious origins. Since their uncertainty, there are very few FRBs observed by different instruments simultaneously. This study presents a detailed analysis of a burst from FRB 20190520B observed by FAST and Parkes at the same time. The spectrum of this individual burst ended at the upper limit of the FAST frequency band and was simultaneously detected by the Parkes telescope in the 1.5–1.8 GHz range. By employing spectral energy distribution (SED) and spectral sharpness methods, we confirmed the presence of narrow-band radiation in FRB 20190520B, which is crucial for understanding its radiation mechanisms. Our findings support the narrow-band characteristics that most repeaters exhibit. This work also highlights the necessity of continued multiband observations to explore its periodicity and frequency-dependent properties, contributing to an in-depth understanding of FRB phenomena.
NaOH-assisted hydrothermal reduction of graphene oxide
Authors: Kotsyubynsky Volodymyr , Khimyak Yaroslav Z , Zapukhlyak Ruslan , Boychuk Volodymyra , Turovska Liliia , Hoi Vladyslav
Published: August 2024

The influence of the pH of the reaction medium on the structural characteristics of hydrothermally reduced graphene oxide, synthesized by the tour method, has been investigated. Varying the pH of the reaction medium within the range of 8.0, 10.0 and 12.0 (adjusted with NaOH) has revealed distinct effects on the morphology and properties of the resulting reduced graphene oxide. At a pH of 8.0 the hydrothermal treatment yielded reduced graphene oxide comprising of two particle fractions with a thickness equivalent to 4–5 graphitic layers each. In contrast, pH of 10.0 resulted in two particle fractions corresponding to 2–3 and 4 layers, respectively, while pH of 12.0 produced a single fraction with a particle thickness of 0.70 nm, encompassing 3 graphitic layers. Increasing the pH led to a decrease in the average lateral size of reduced graphene oxide particles to about 8 nm. All rGOs had micro- and mesopores with a specific surface area up to 226 m2 g−1, showing a proportional increase in mesopores with increasing pH. Analysis of slit-like micropores revealed a minimum fractal dimension (D = 2.18) at pH = 8.0. The obtained results provide valuable insights into tailoring the structural properties of hydrothermally reduced graphene oxide by controlling the pH of the reaction medium, offering potential applications in various fields, including nanotechnology and materials science.
Achievement of the first tokamak plasma with low inductive electric field in JT-60SA
Authors: Wakatsuki T. , Urano H. , Yoshida M. , Tsujii N. , Inoue S. , Kojima S. , Nakano T. , Fukumoto M. , Ohtani Y. , Sano R. , Ide S.
Published: August 2024

The world’s largest superconducting tokamak, JT-60SA, has successfully achieved its first plasma operation under the constraint of a low toroidal inductive electric field of 0.15 V m−1. A plasma start-up scenario, leveraging the effective confinement of electrons accelerated by the electron cyclotron wave, proved to be instrumental in reaching this milestone under the challenging conditions. The demonstration of plasma start-up using second harmonic electron cyclotron heating, with an applied toroidal electric field of 0.15 V m−1, strongly validates the feasibility of achieving first plasma operation in ITER.
Stochastic thermodynamics of micromagnetics with spin torque
Authors: Ding Mingnan , Wu Jun , Xing Xiangjun
Published: August 2024

In this work, we study the stochastic dynamics of micro-magnetics interacting with a spin-current torque. We extend the previously constructed stochastic Landau–Lifshitz equation to the case with spin-current torque, and verify the conditions of detailed balance. Then we construct various thermodynamics quantities such as work and heat, and prove the second law of thermodynamics. Due to the existence of spin-torque and the asymmetry of the kinetic matrix, a novel effect of entropy pumping shows up. As a consequence, the system may behave as a heat engine which constantly transforms heat into magnetic work. Finally, we derive a fluctuation theorem for the joint probability density function of the pumped entropy and the total work, and verify it using numerical simulations.
Research on Heating Load Forecasting Based on Support Vector Machine and Multiple Linear Regression
Authors: Mu Dongdong , Sang Zhendong , Du Guofei , Fan Yunsheng
Published: August 2024

Various prediction models from the perspectives of short-term and long-term heat load prediction are summarized and verified for centralized heating heat load prediction. Firstly, historical data is preprocessed by removing abnormal data and standardizing the sample dataset. Secondly, support vector machine regression (SVM) model and multiple linear regression (MLR) are chosen for modeling and predictive analysis. Then, the mean square error (MSE) criteria are applied to evaluate the model performance by calculating the MSE values corresponding to different prediction results. Finally, historical production data of a heating company in Dalian City are used to verify the applicability of different prediction model.
A Comparison of CNN-based 2D Static Facial Emotion Recognition Techniques
Authors: Dong Zhixin , Wu Chengdong , Zhang Xiangyue , Yu Xiaosheng , Li Junlin
Published: August 2024

In the field of computer vision, recognizing expressions in 2D static facial images is a crucial aspect of facial emotion recognition (FER), with broad applications in real-world scenarios such as mental health diagnosis and security monitoring. Despite the various convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures proposed for FER, there is still a lack of systematic comparative studies on the classification capabilities of different CNN architectures. In this paper, we systematically compare the classification performance of four commonly used CNN architectures in FER research for 2D static facial expression recognition on the classic FER2013 dataset. Through experiments, we evaluate the classification accuracy of these architectures and analyze the recognition results for different emotion categories.
A Novel Improved Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm Based on Particle Aggregation Driven Bias Average Weighting
Authors: Zhou Zhiwei
Published: August 2024

The quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) has better global search capability and is regarded as an extremely effective improvement to the particle swarm optimization (PSO), however, there is still a population diversity decay in its operation. To promote the global search capability of QPSO, based on the weighted quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (WQPSO) with the concept of weighted average optimal position, an improved QPSO based on particle aggregation-driven bias-average weighting is proposed, which analyses the action mechanism and parameter control law of bias-average weighting from the dimension of Euclidean distance, derives the judgment condition to avoid excessive aggregation of particle population, adopts average distance of particle population as the particle aggregation metric parameter to adjust the weighted bias centre, thus effectively increasing the traversal of the algorithm search space and avoiding premature convergence of the algorithm. The effectiveness of the improved algorithm proposed in this paper is demonstrated by applying several conventional test functions and comparing the analysis with PSO, QPSO and WQPSO.
Development and evaluation of the paddlewheel blade for a hydro-powered water pump
Authors: Caoili R M
Published: August 2024

A hydro-powered water pump was designed to address the issue of high pumping costs, enabling the utilization of the abundant energy of the flowing water from rivers and streams for farming during the summer months. The study focused on refining the design and evaluating the efficiency and economic viability of the system. A power transmission system incorporating a speed multiplier gearbox, chains, and sprockets resulted in a 73.5% improvement in discharge rates compared to the previous prototype. The NS50 self-priming pump was recommended for coupling with the hydro-powered water pump due to its significantly higher efficiency. Evaluating different paddlewheel blade sizes, the ¾ size proved significantly most effective in terms of discharge rates for both open water and confined flow canals. Cost analysis revealed that the hydro-powered water pump incurred a significantly lower cost of 1.70 pesos per cubic meter compared to 5.32 pesos with a gasoline engine-driven pump, leading to potential savings of up to 68% in fuel expenses for irrigation. The return on investment for the hydro-powered system was determined to be 155.71% with a payback period of 0.64 years.
Land Suitability Analysis Based On Geomorphological Aspects For Settlements In Gowa Regency, South Sulawesi
Authors: Nurhidayah T , Massinai M A , Arif S
Published: August 2024

Land suitability is usually defined as the suitability of a type of land for a particular use or as a tool used to identify the most suitable place to find future land use. Gowa Regency is one of the areas that has diverse landforms, with a combination of flat areas, hills, and mountains. The purpose of this research is to determine the suitability of land for settlement based on geomorphological aspects in Gowa Regency. This suitability analysis is centered on the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to determine areas that are suitable for settlement by overlaying several parameter classifications, such as slope maps, rainfall maps, soil type maps, and land cover maps. The slope parameter is often considered the most influential in analyzing land suitability for settlement. Land with a highly suitable slope is safer from disaster risk and easier to develop. The soil type parameter is used because it determines stability and drainage. The land cover parameter is used to determine the previous land use history. The rainfall parameter is used to determine the level of rainfall in the study area.Very suitable land is mostly located in the north and parts of the eastern and western parts of Gowa district. The area is indeed a flat to sloping area with low rainfall intensity, various slopes, good soil conditions, and a settlement and rice field area. The area is also included in the Fluvial and Volcanic landforms scattered in Biringbulu, Bontonompo, South Bontonompo, Bajeng, West Bajeng, Palangga, and Tombolopao sub-districts.
OpenFOAM simulations for development of a mist flow diverter in aerosol jet printing
Authors: Feng James Q
Published: August 2024

To design functional devices meeting the performance requirements for Aerosol Jet® (AJ) printing to deposit ink on substrate by a collimated impinging mist jet, understanding the internal mist flow behaviour is important. Herewith a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is presented with an OpenFOAM software package, for development of a mist flow diverter in the AJ printing equipment. The function of such a mist flow diverter is to direct a mist flow with specified flow rate to the deposition nozzle for printing the ink material onto substrate and to divert the mist flow away when the nozzle moves over a substrate location where ink deposition is unwanted. The CFD results can reveal detailed mist flow behaviour during mist flow switching for quantitative analysis of mist front travelling time through different regions. It is shown that such an internal pneumatic diverter inevitably brings noticeable on-delay and off-delay, more so for finer feature printing with lower mist flow rate due to time needed for mist droplets to travel from the mist flow switching chamber to substrate. Moreover, the on-delay and off-delay also come with gradual fade-in and fade-out effects in printed features especially when the substrate is moving at a considerable speed. Presented here is but one example of CFD analysis applied to performance examination of a commercial vacuum-boost diverter, although the established computational model has also been utilized to guide equipment design with evaluations of the effects of different geometric shapes and sizes by virtue of the convenience for CFD domain geometry and mesh adjustments.
Backward facing step: from fluid flow to conjugate heat transfer with the coupling library preCICE
Authors: Caccia C G , Corti M , Della Torre A , Masarati P
Published: August 2024

The Backward Facing Step geometry is a widely used benchmark problem in Computational Fluid Dynamics literature that is exploitable to validate models, solution methods, and software implementations. Despite a simple geometry, it shows phenomena like separation, reattachment, and re-circulation zones, under different flow conditions (i.e. different Reynolds number or turbulence parameters) it gives different measurable results, suitable for benchmarking activities [1]. Also regarding heat transfer analysis, the backward facing step can be used to investigate a wide variety of operating conditions (both for simple heat transfer cases and coupling heat transfer between the fluid region and a neighboring solid region giving rise to a more complex conjugate heat transfer model) [2]. This work uses the backward facing step as a test case to validate a numerical model built with the open-source Software OpenFOAM 10. The fluid and solid subdomains are connected through the open-source coupling library preCICE [3]. The results, taken from simulations carried out by the authors, show good agreement with the data available in the literature.
Metallic nature of T-graphene sheet and nanotubes
Authors: Mousavi Hamze , Jalilvand Samira , Dahesh Delnia
Published: August 2024

The band structure, density of states (DOS), and Pauli magnetic susceptibility (PMS) of T-graphene nanotubes (TGNTs) with varying chiralities and diameters are investigated using the tight-binding Hamiltonian model and Green's function formalism. We analyze two edge types: zigzag (zTGNT) and armchair (aTGNT). Our findings reveal that both zTGNTs and aTGNTs exhibit metallic behavior regardless of diameter. Notably, aTGNTs feature Dirac points in their band structure, with their abundance increasing with nanotube diameter. As compared to graphene, when the diameter of the nanotube increases, aTGNTs reveal more Dirac points at the Fermi level. Additionally, increasing the diameter leads to the emergence of additional sub-bands in the band structure and van-Hove singularities in the DOS diagrams. Consequently, the PMS curves exhibit a crossover, dividing into distinct regimes at varying temperatures. The metallic properties of both TGNT types are apparent in the PMS curves, attributed to the proportional relationship between PMS and DOS. Furthermore, the DOS curves converge towards monolayer behavior as the TGNT diameter increases significantly.
Influence of pH value on erosive wear of 3D-printed polylactic acid for multiphase flow
Authors: Mahad Syed Muhammad , Khan Rehan , Wieczorowski Michał , Petru Jana , Seikh Asiful H , Alnaser Ibrahim A
Published: August 2024

Slurry erosion presents a critical challenge in hydrocarbon and cement processing industries, as well as in abrasive water jet cutting systems, leading to diminished operational efficiency and elevated maintenance costs. This study investigates the erosive wear behavior of Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA) fabricated with varying infill microtextures—zigzag, concentric, and grid—under diverse pH conditions (2.73, 7.75, and 10.15) using garnet particles as the erodent. The results demonstrate that optimal operational conditions for PLA are achieved with a grid microtexture, a pH of 7.75, and a 325 μm erodent size. Conversely, the most severe wear occurs under a pH of 10.15, a 600 μm erodent size, and a zigzag microtexture. The grid microtexture is the most effective in minimizing erosion, while the zigzag pattern shows a 16.68% increase in wear when compared to the grid microtexture. Additionally, a shift from a slightly basic to a highly acidic environment increases wear by 1%, whereas a transition to a highly basic environment leads to a 32.6% increase in erosion within the grid microtexture. The study highlights the significant contributions of infill microtexture (64%), erodent size (23.7%), and pH value (11%) to the overall erosion rate.
Early length changes and microscopic phase analysis of phosphorus hemihydrate gypsum fireproof mortar
Authors: Xuebing Wang , Wang Yuanyuan
Published: August 2024

Coating the surface of steel structures with phosphohemihydrate gypsum fireproof mortar can improve the fire resistance of steel structures. The hydration curve of phosphorus hemihydrate gypsum (PHG) showed a monotonic increasing trend, and the hydration time was about 1 day. In order to study the hydration process of phosphorus hemihydrate gypsum fireproof mortar, its length change in the early hardening stage was experimentally investigated. The results showed that compared with the hydration time of phosphohemihydrate gypsum, the duration of early length changes in phosphohemihydrate gypsum fireproof mortar was significantly prolonged to about 4 days, and four intervals were clearly observed during this process. Hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) as a water retaining agent, hydroxypropyl starch ether (HPS) as a thixotropic agent, and dispersed latex powder (LP) can all make the four intervals of length changes of fireproof mortar more significant. After adding HPMC, HPS, and LP, it can promote the formation of dihydrate gypsum mainly in fireproof mortar, but dihydrate gypsum crystals were more likely to grow along the [021] direction. The addition of additives can also effectively improve the pore structure of phosphogypsum fireproof mortar.
Multimodal radiomics-based methods using deep learning for prediction of brain metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer with 18F-FDG PET/CT images
Authors: Zhu Yuan , Cong Shan , Zhang Qiyang , Huang Zhenxing , Yao Xiaohui , Cheng You , Liang Dong , Hu Zhanli , Shao Dan
Published: August 2024

Objective. Approximately 57% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients face a 20% risk of brain metastases (BMs). The delivery of drugs to the central nervous system is challenging because of the blood–brain barrier, leading to a relatively poor prognosis for patients with BMs. Therefore, early detection and treatment of BMs are highly important for improving patient prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of a multimodal radiomics-based method using 3D neural networks trained on 18F-FDG PET/CT images to predict BMs in NSCLC patients. Approach. We included 226 NSCLC patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT scans of areas, including the lung and brain, prior to EGFR-TKI therapy. Moreover, clinical data (age, sex, stage, etc) were collected and analyzed. Shallow lung features and deep lung-brain features were extracted using PyRadiomics and 3D neural networks, respectively. A support vector machine (SVM) was used to predict BMs. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and F1 score were used to assess BM prediction performance. Main result. The combination of shallow lung and shallow-deep lung-brain features demonstrated superior predictive performance (AUC = 0.96 ± 0.01). Shallow-deep lung-brain features exhibited strong significance (P < 0.001) and potential predictive performance (coefficient > 0.8). Moreover, BM prediction by age was significant (P < 0.05). Significance. Our approach enables the quantitative assessment of medical images and a deeper understanding of both superficial and deep tumor characteristics. This noninvasive method has the potential to identify BM-related features with statistical significance, thereby aiding in the development of targeted treatment plans for NSCLC patients.
A compact and low-frequency drive ultrasound transducer for facilitating cavitation-assisted drug permeation via skin
Authors: Yamamoto Shinya , Sugita Naohiro , Tomioka Keita , Shinshi Tadahiko
Published: August 2024

Low-frequency sonophoresis has emerged as a promising minimally invasive transdermal drug delivery method. However, effectively inducing cavitation on the skin surface with a compact, low-frequency ultrasound transducer poses a significant challenge. This paper presents a modified design of a low-frequency ultrasound transducer capable of generating ultrasound cavitation on the skin surfaces. The transducer comprises a piezoelectric ceramic disk and a bowl-shaped acoustic resonator. A conical slit structure was incorporated into the modified transducer design to amplify vibration displacement and enhance the maximum sound pressure. The FEM-based simulation results confirmed that the maximum sound pressure at the resonance frequency of 78 kHz was increased by 1.9 times that of the previous design. Ultrasound cavitation could be experimentally observed on the gel surface. Moreover, 3 min of ultrasound treatment significantly improved the caffeine permeability across an artificial membrane. These results demonstrated that this transducer holds promise for enhancing drug permeation by generating ultrasound cavitation on the skin surface.
Impact of geometric correction on echo-planar imaging-based apparent diffusion coefficient maps for abdominal radiotherapy
Authors: Hasler Signe Winther , Bernchou Uffe , Behrens Claus Preibisch , Vogelius Ivan Richter , Bisgaard Anne L H , Jokivuolle Minea , Bertelsen Anders Smedegaard , Schytte Tine , Brink Carsten , Mahmood Faisal
Published: August 2024

Objective. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) extracted from diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) is a potential biomarker in radiotherapy (RT). DWI is often implemented with an echo-planar imaging (EPI) read-out due to speed, but unfortunately low geometric accuracy follows. This study aimed to investigate the influence of geometric distortions on the ADCs extracted from the gross tumor volume (GTV) and on the shape of the GTV in abdominal EPI-DWI. Approach. Twenty-one patients had EPI-DWI scans on a 1.5 T MRI sim before treatment and on a 1.5 T MRI-Linac at one of the first treatment fractions. Off-resonance correction with and without eddy current correction were applied to ADC maps. The clinical GTVs were deformed based on the same (but inverted) corrections to assess the local-regional geometric influence of distortions. Mean surface distance (MSD), Hausdorff distance (HD), and Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) were calculated to compare the original and distorted GTVs, and ADC values were calculated based on a mono-exponential model. Phantom measurements were performed to validate the applied correction method. Main results. The median (range) ADC change within the GTV after full distortion correction was 1.3% (0.02%–6.9%) for MRI-Sim and 1.5% (0.1%–6.4%) for MRI-Linac. The additional effect of the eddy current correction was small in both systems. The median (range) MSD, HD, and DSC comparing the original and off-resonance distorted GTVs for all patients were 0.43 mm (0.11–0.94 mm), 4.00 mm (1.00–7.81 mm) and 0.93 (0.82–0.99), respectively. Significance. Overall effect of distortion correction was small in terms of derived ADC values, indicating that distortion correction is unimportant for prediction of outcomes based on ADC. However, large local geometric changes occurred after off-resonance distortion correction for some patients, suggesting that if the spatial information from ADC maps is to be used for dose painting strategies, corrections should be applied.
Emerging environmental challenge: a critical review of airborne microplastics
Authors: Sharaf Din Khadija , Khokhar Muhammad Fahim , Parvez Shahid , Niazi Muhammad Bilal Khan
Published: August 2024

Trillions of micro- and nanoplastics are ubiquitously dispersed in the environment owing to relentless human reliance on plastics implying constant human exposure to these tiny synthetic particles. Unlike terrestrial and aquatic microplastics, research on airborne microplastics (MPs) is very limited and needs to be expanded to explore their prevalence, fate, and health risks fully. This study effectively assesses available studies conducted on microplastics’ presence in atmospheric deposition, and indoor and outdoor air samples, and highlights disparities in employed methodological approaches. Six different databases have been consulted to procure data (2015–24) for this review study. The number of studies directly investigating MPs in the air is very low which limits knowledge concerning the sources, fate, and attributable human health risks. MPs abundance indoors ranges from 0.13 to 14088.05 items/m3, while in outdoors it ranges from none to 393 items/m3. Indoors are significantly more contaminated than outdoors, raising considerable health concerns given that people spend most of their time indoors. Airborne microplastics are predominately fibrous (88%) indicating textiles as a major source. Polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polystyrene are the most prevalent polymers implying their excessive use in the environment. Inhalable microplastics (particularly <5 μm) have been very scarcely investigated. Further research is imperative to investigate airborne MP toxicity, global dispersion patterns, interactions with other pollutants, and potential health impacts on humans, animals, and plants. In the final section of this study, numerous recommendations for future research are made to address the research gaps revealed in the existing literature.
Waring decompositions of special ternary forms with different Hilbert functions
Authors: Angelini Elena , Chiantini Luca , Oneto Alessandro
Published: August 2024

We prove the existence of ternary forms admitting apolar sets of points of cardinality equal to the Waring rank, but having different Hilbert function and different regularity. This is done exploiting liaison theory and Cayley-Bacharach properties for sets of points in the projective plane.
Women, Gender, and Political Violence
Authors: Vale Gina
Published: August 2024

Chapter 2 situates the book within three intersecting bodies of scholarly literature. First, feminist security studies has rendered women more visible in relation to security, and challenges the assumed ‘gender neutrality’ of violence and power relations that shape armed conflict. Second, the application of gender lenses to terrorism studies has served to challenge unidimensional framings of women’s victimhood, and instead push to complicate and more holistically study women’s broader connections and contributions to non-state armed groups. Third, the literature of rebel governance has only recently incorporated gendered or feminist considerations in the study of non-state revolutionary movements, revealing how the subordination of women serves to facilitate and legitimate the ideals and dynamics of proto-statehood. These three fields wrestle with the centrality of gender—and other axes of identity—in contexts of contested power or transition, and highlight the privileging of masculinity that results in women’s stereotyping, insecurity, and denial of agency.
Nodular regenerative hyperplasia: The role of the CK7 immunohistochemistry pattern of expression in diagnosis
Authors: Bartow Brooke B , Dhall Deepti , Lee Goo , Garapati Manjula , Patel Chirag R , Al Diffalha Sameer
Published: August 2024

Objectives

Nodular regenerative hyperplasia (NRH) is a rare vascular disorder of the liver. Clinically, patients present with portal hypertension with or without a cholestatic pattern of injury. Histologically, the liver parenchyma is composed of small nodules of hypertrophic hepatocytes surrounded by atrophic hepatocytes without significant fibrosis. Nodular regenerative hyperplasia is a difficult diagnosis on biopsy specimens, but biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis. In this retrospective review, cytokeratin 7 (CK7) immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to aid in the diagnosis and further characterization of NRH and NRH-like changes.

Methods

The H&E-stained slides, reticulin, and CK IHC were reviewed for 22 cases. The percentage of hepatocytes staining for CK7 (0%-100%), the location of staining (centrilobular hepatic progenitor cells vs periportal/bile ductular reaction), and the pattern of staining distribution (patchy or diffuse) were recorded for comparison.

Results

Of the 22 cases, 9 were CK7 positive. Cases of NRH, however, expressed various degrees of CK7 positivity in centrilobular hepatic progenitor cells, unlike NRH-like changes, which were either CK7 negative or CK7 positive in periportal hepatocytes or in areas of bile ductular reaction.

Conclusions

In cases with the appropriate clinical history and histology, CK7 immunohistochemistry can be performed to distinguish nodular regenerative hyperplasia (primary) and NRH-like changes (secondary). In difficult cases, CK7 positivity in centrilobular hepatic progenitor cells can help confirm the diagnosis of NRH. These data support NRH as a true entity with a distinct pathophysiology from NRH-like changes.
Association of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Employment Status Change for Practicing Pharmacists
Authors: Mott David A , Arya Vibhuti , Bakken Brianne K , Doucette William R , Gaither Caroline , Gilson Aaron , Kreling David H , Schommer Jon C , Witry Matthew
Published: August 2024

Objective

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in health care workers experiencing temporary or permanent changes in employment due to layoffs, quits, and postpandemic increased job demand. Analyzing the association of the COVID-19 pandemic with employment changes and results of changes for practicing pharmacists and understanding the associations with demographic and work-related factors could inform practice, policy, and educational programs. This study aimed to explore the frequency, characteristics, and results of employment status changes (ESCs) experienced by pharmacists practicing pharmacy in March 2020 (ie, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic).

Methods

A descriptive, cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect data from a random sample of 93,990 licensed pharmacists in the United States. The study team developed an online survey questionnaire designed to assess the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on pharmacists’ work and work-life. The survey items used for this study related to ESCs, work-life characteristics, work characteristics in March 2020 and 2022, and demographic variables. A total of 4947 usable responses were received between November 2022 and January 2023.

Results

Overall, 36.4% of respondents reported experiencing an ESC and approximately 70% of those reporting an ESC reported experiencing just 1 ECS. Overall, 39.5% of respondents who experienced an ESC stopped working (ie, were unemployed) pursuant to an ESC. Respondents who experienced an ESC reported significantly lower levels of work exhaustion and interprofessional disengagement and significantly higher levels of professional fulfillment in their current employment than respondents that did not experience an ESC.

Conclusion

The overall increase in demand for workers in the health care sector appeared to provide opportunities for pharmacists, especially pharmacists with 1 to 10 years of experience, to change their employment situation, resulting in better work-life characteristics. Given projections of a pharmacist shortage, research, policy, and educational programs could determine the best practices to improve work settings and the work-life characteristics of practicing pharmacists to improve the health of the current pharmacist workforce.
The highly dynamic satellitomes of cultivated wheat species
Authors: Gálvez-Galván Ana , Garrido-Ramos Manuel A , Prieto Pilar
Published: August 2024

Background and Aims

Durum wheat, Triticum turgidum, and bread wheat, Triticum aestivum, are two allopolyploid species of very recent origin that have been subjected to intense selection programmes during the thousands of years they have been cultivated. In this paper, we study the durum wheat satellitome and establish a comparative analysis with the previously published bread wheat satellitome.

Methods

We revealed the durum wheat satellitome using the satMiner protocol, which is based on consecutive rounds of clustering of Illumina reads by RepeatExplorer2, and we estimated abundance and variation for each identified satellite DNA (satDNA) with RepeatMasker v4.0.5. We also performed a deep satDNA family characterization including chromosomal location by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in durum wheat and its comparison with FISH patterns in bread wheat. BLAST was used for trailing each satDNA in the assembly of durum wheat genome through NCBI’s Genome Data Viewer and the genome assemblies of both species were compared. Sequence divergence and consensus turnover rate between homologous satDNA families of durum and bread wheat were estimated using MEGA11.

Key Results

This study reveals that in an exceedingly short period, significant qualitative and quantitative changes have occurred in the set of satDNAs of both species, with expansions/contractions of the number of repeats and the loci per satellite, different in each species, and a high rate of sequence change for most of these satellites, in addition to the emergence/loss of satDNAs not shared between the two species analysed. These evolutionary changes in satDNA are common between species but what is truly remarkable and novel is that these processes have taken place in less than the last ~8000 years separating the two species, indicating an accelerated evolution of their satDNAs.

Conclusions

These results, together with the relationship of many of these satellites with transposable elements and the polymorphisms they generate at the level of centromeres and subtelomeric regions of their chromosomes, are analysed and discussed in the context of the evolutionary origin of these species and the selection pressure exerted by humans throughout the history of their cultivation.
Successful treatment of acute device thrombosis of patent foramen ovale with slow infusion of low-dose thrombolytic therapy
Authors: Akyol Selahattin , Bayam Emrah , Avci Anıl , Güler Ünal , Kargin Ramazan
Published: August 2024

Background

Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is used in selected individuals to eliminate the risk of recurrent cerebral embolism due to paradoxical embolization. Although device thrombosis is rare, it can cause serious complications. Herein, we report a 40-year-old woman who developed acute PFO closure device-associated thrombus and was subsequently treated with slow infusion of low-dose tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) (25 mg/6 h).

Case summary

A 40-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of an cerebrovascular accident (CVA). Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the brain demonstrated the presence of an ischaemic lesion in the right cerebellar infarct. Since no pathological finding was detected that could cause CVA, it was considered that there might be paradoxical embolism due to PFO. Percutaneous PFO closure was decided by the heart and brain team. The occluder was implanted under transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and fluoroscopy guidance. Although activated clotting time was 250 s, hypermobile acute thrombus measuring 11 × 5 mm was seen on the left atrial side of the PFO device. Slow infusion of low-dose t-PA treatment was given. As soon as after a single-dose t-PA, control TEE was performed and it was seen that almost the entire thrombus was lysed. The patient did not have any complications during the treatment period.

Discussion

Acute PFO device thrombosis is a rare but important complication. If there is no contraindication for lytic treatment in acutely developing large PFO device thrombosis, slow infusion of low-dose t-PA may be useful.
Colchicine prevents accelerated atherosclerosis in TET2-mutant clonal haematopoiesis
Authors: Zuriaga María A , Yu Zhi , Matesanz Nuria , Truong Buu , Ramos-Neble Beatriz L , Asensio-López Mari C , Uddin Md Mesbah , Nakao Tetsushi , Niroula Abhishek , Zorita Virginia , Amorós-Pérez Marta , Moro Rosa , Ebert Benjamin L , Honigberg Michael C , Pascual-Figal Domingo , Natarajan Pradeep , Fuster José J
Published: August 2024

Background and Aims

Somatic mutations in the TET2 gene that lead to clonal haematopoiesis (CH) are associated with accelerated atherosclerosis development in mice and a higher risk of atherosclerotic disease in humans. Mechanistically, these observations have been linked to exacerbated vascular inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate whether colchicine, a widely available and inexpensive anti-inflammatory drug, prevents the accelerated atherosclerosis associated with TET2-mutant CH.

Methods

In mice, TET2-mutant CH was modelled using bone marrow transplantations in atherosclerosis-prone Ldlr−/− mice. Haematopoietic chimeras carrying initially 10% Tet2−/− haematopoietic cells were fed a high-cholesterol diet and treated with colchicine or placebo. In humans, whole-exome sequencing data and clinical data from 37 181 participants in the Mass General Brigham Biobank and 437 236 participants in the UK Biobank were analysed to examine the potential modifying effect of colchicine prescription on the relationship between CH and myocardial infarction.

Results

Colchicine prevented accelerated atherosclerosis development in the mouse model of TET2-mutant CH, in parallel with suppression of interleukin-1β overproduction in conditions of TET2 loss of function. In humans, patients who were prescribed colchicine had attenuated associations between TET2 mutations and myocardial infarction. This interaction was not observed for other mutated genes.

Conclusions

These results highlight the potential value of colchicine to mitigate the higher cardiovascular risk of carriers of somatic TET2 mutations in blood cells. These observations set the basis for the development of clinical trials that evaluate the efficacy of precision medicine approaches tailored to the effects of specific mutations linked to CH.
Systemic inflammation and health outcomes in patients receiving treatment for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
Authors: Mazhar Faizan , Faucon Anne-Laure , Fu Edouard L , Szummer Karolina E , Mathisen Jimmi , Gerward Sofia , Reuter Simon Bertram , Marx Nikolaus , Mehran Roxana , Carrero Juan-Jesus
Published: August 2024

Background and Aims

The burden and outcomes of inflammation in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) are not well defined beyond the controlled settings of trials and research cohorts.

Methods

This was an observational study of ASCVD adults undergoing C-reactive protein testing in Stockholm’s healthcare (2007–21). After excluding C-reactive protein tests associated with acute illness or medications/conditions that bias C-reactive protein interpretation, systemic inflammation was evaluated over a 3-month ascertainment window. Determinants of C-reactive protein ≥ 2 mg/L were explored with logistic regression. C-reactive protein categories were compared via negative-binomial/Cox regression for subsequent healthcare resource utilization and occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events, heart failure hospitalization, and death.

Results

A total of 84 399 ASCVD adults were included (46% female, mean age 71 years, 59% with C-reactive protein ≥ 2 mg/L). Female sex, older age, lower kidney function, albuminuria, diabetes, hypertension, and recent anaemia were associated with higher odds of C-reactive protein ≥ 2 mg/L. The use of renin–angiotensin system inhibitors, antiplatelets, and lipid-lowering therapy was associated with lower odds. Over a median of 6.4 years, compared with C-reactive protein < 2 mg/L, patients with C-reactive protein ≥ 2 mg/L had higher rates of hospitalizations, days spent in hospital, outpatient consultations, and dispensed medications (P < .05 for all). They also had a higher rate of major adverse cardiovascular events [hazard ratio (HR) 1.30; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.27–1.33], heart failure (HR 1.24; 95% CI 1.20–1.30), and death (HR 1.35; 95% CI 1.31–1.39). Results were consistent across subgroups and granular C-reactive protein categories and robust to the exclusion of extreme C-reactive protein values or early events.

Conclusions

Three in five adults with ASCVD have systemic inflammation, which is associated with excess healthcare resource utilization and increased rates of cardiovascular events and death.
Comprehensive analysis of substernal lead removal: experience from EV ICD Pilot, Pivotal, and Continued Access Studies
Authors: Sagi Venkata , Murgatroyd Francis , Boersma Lucas V A , Manlucu Jaimie , Knight Bradley P , Leclercq Christophe , Amin Anish , Birgersdotter-Green Ulrika Maria , Chan Joseph Yat Sun , Roukoz Henri , Biffi Mauro , Haqqani Haris , Denman Russell , Wiggenhorn Christopher , Holmes Thomas R , Lulic Thomas , Friedman Paul , Crozier Ian
Published: August 2024

Aims

The extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (EV ICD) has been shown to be safe and effective for patients at risk of sudden cardiac death, but little is known about EV ICD lead removal in humans. This analysis aimed to characterize the EV ICD lead removal experience thus far.

Methods and results

This was a retrospective analysis of lead removals from the EV ICD Pilot, Pivotal, and Continued Access Studies. Patients with a successful EV ICD implant who underwent lead removal were included. The main objective was lead removal success. Ancillary objectives included characterizing technique used, procedure complications, and reimplantation status. An EV ICD system was successfully implanted in 347 patients across the 3 studies (25.9% female; 53.4 ± 13.3 years; left ventricular ejection fraction: 39.7 ± 15.9). Of these patients, 29 (8.4%) underwent lead removal with a mean lead dwell time of 12.6 ± 14.3 months (0.2–58.4). The main reason for lead removal was lead dislodgement (n = 9, 31.0%). Lead removal was successful in 27/29 (93.1%) cases [100% (19/19) success rate <1 year and 80% (8/10) success rate >1 year post-implant]. Simple traction was used in 22/26 (84.6%) and extraction tools in 4/26 (15.4%) successful cases where technique was known. No complications were reported for any of the removal procedures. All 11 EV ICD reimplant attempts were successful.

Conclusion

Complete removal of the EV ICD lead was successful in 93.1% of cases, and simple traction was sufficient in most instances. Based on these results, lead removal from the substernal space was safe and achievable up to 3 years post-implant.
Dementia-focused programs in older adult centers and health care use among individuals with dementia
Authors: Akincigil Ayse , Bhagianadh Divya , Scher Clara J , Somerville Ceara , Coyle Caitlin , Pope Natalie E , Greenfield Emily A
Published: August 2024

There is growing attention to community-based services for preventing adverse health care outcomes among people aging with dementia. We explored whether the availability of dementia-centered programming within older adult centers (ie, senior centers)—specifically, adult day services (ADS), social adult day centers (SADCs), memory cafes, and caregiver support—is associated with reduced hospitalization, emergency room use, and total Medicare costs for community-dwelling individuals ages 75 and older with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD), and whether associations differ by the relative size of the local jurisdiction. We used a novel dataset that links Medicare claims data with data from an organizational census of municipally based Massachusetts older adult centers. Living in a community with an older adult center that facilitates access to ADS and/or SADCs was associated with reduced hospital utilization and costs among residents in smaller jurisdictions. We found no evidence for associations concerning memory cafes or support groups. These findings underscore the potential of older adult centers in curbing health care costs and acute care usage among individuals with ADRD, particularly in smaller communities with centers that provide access to ADS.
Eudaimonic media for social good: the influence of meaningful media experiences on connectedness and health persuasion
Authors: Duong Hue Trong
Published: August 2024

Emerging research suggests that entertainment media consumption may elicit meaningful emotions that can be leveraged for social good. This study combines theories of eudaimonic media and social identity to test the outward-focused mechanism explaining how meaningful media experiences might influence health persuasion outcomes. Two experiments were conducted to examine the efficacy of meaningful media experiences in changing vaccine-hesitant individuals’ vaccination attitudes and intentions in the context of entertainment social media consumption and incidental exposure to vaccination messages embedded in user comments. Results showed that viewing meaningful music videos was associated with elevation, ingroup identification, and universal orientation. Elevation and ingroup identification mediated the association between media consumption and vaccination attitudes and intentions. Results offered theoretical and practical insights concerning the outward-focused mechanism underlying the impact of media-induced elevation on health persuasion.