bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A-40 Predictors of Failed Effort Testing at Initial Clinic Visit for Concussion Rehabilitation and Outcomes
Authors: Sherry N , Ernst N , French J , Kontos A P , Collins M W
Published: June 2020

Objective

Neuropsychological evaluation of concussion typically includes performance validity testing to assess effort. The aim of this study was to explore the usefulness of effort testing as part of initial screening for concussion rehabilitation, including determining the factors that predict effort testing and evaluate outcomes between “good effort” and “failed effort” groups.

Method

Records of 76 patients aged 16–66 years old (M = 40.58 years, SD = 14.18) seen for rehabilitation of non-sport concussion from 2018–2019 were reviewed. Patients completed clinical interview, neurocognitive screening (ImPACT), effort testing (Word Memory Test), vestibular/oculomotor screening (VOMS), and the post-concussion symptom scale (PCSS). A logistic regression (LR) was conducted to predict effort, with predictors including mental health history, secondary gain, work injury, days post-injury, and PCSS. A series of one-way ANOVAs evaluated outcomes from concussion rehabilitation between the good and failed effort groups.

Results

Failed effort occurred in 42% of cases. The LR accurately classified 81.8% of individuals, with mental health history (p = .01) and PCSS (p = .02) as the only significant predictors of effort. There were no differences in recovery time (p = .56) between effort groups, but the failed effort group took longer to return to work (p = .03). Half of individuals who failed effort were seen until discharge, and 69% of them reported no symptoms/mild symptoms at discharge.

Conclusions

Failure of effort testing was predicted by a history of mental health and high symptom burden. Individuals who fail effort testing at initial visit for concussion rehabilitation take longer to return to functional activity but are capable of achieving recovery with compliance and appropriate rehabilitation.
A-42 Incremental Utility of Visual Assessment in Predicting Concussion Recovery Time Among Adolescents
Authors: Sterling J , Pardini D , Pardini J , Docherty M , Mattis J
Published: June 2020

Objective

Sports-related concussions (SRC) often affect vision function and cognition, two components frequently assessed as part of a multimodal post-injury evaluation. The purpose of the study was to examine contributions of measures of vision function and cognition toward understanding recovery time.

Method

Participants were 593 (37.6% female) adolescents ages 10–18 (M = 14.7, SD = 1.7) who were evaluated and diagnosed with a concussion within 10 days of injury. Participants were administered the King-Devick (KD) test via KD cards to assess rapid number naming speed and the ImPACT test to assess post-concussion symptoms and neurocognitive test performance. The primary outcome was number of weeks (M = 3.2, SD = 1.9) until participants were cleared to return to play by the treating physician based on a standardized protocol.

Results

Poorer performance on the King-Devick test was significantly correlated with higher symptom severity (r = .41, p < .001), and poorer performance on ImPACT Verbal Memory (r = −.46, p < .001), Visual Memory (r = −.39, p < .001), Visual Motor Speed (r = −55, p < .001), and Reaction Time (r = .47, p < .001) composites. Poorer KD scores were also significantly correlated with a longer time to recovery (r = .23, p < .001). Importantly, poorer KD scores continued to significantly predict protracted recovery time after controlling for age, gender, time to initial physician evaluation, prior history of concussion, post-concussion symptom severity, and neurocognitive test performance (β = .12, p < .05).

Conclusions

Performance on King-Devick testing predicted recovery time, even after controlling for important demographic/injury characteristics and cognitive testing. Evaluation of vision function is an important component of post-injury assessment for SRC.
A-45 Convergent Validity of Baseline Concussion Measures: SCAT-5 and ImPACT
Authors: Dugan S , Webbe F M , LoGalbo A
Published: June 2020

Objective

Examine convergent validity of immediate and delayed memory, and attention/concentration sub-tests of the SCAT5 and ImPACT.

Method

Baseline concussion assessment performance was collected from a sample of 747 college athletes from 16 different sports teams (484 men & 263 women), aged 18 to 25 years (M = 19.5, SD = 1.54). ImPACT was administered to groups of 20 or fewer athletes. The SCAT5 was administered individually. Participants were assigned randomly to ImPACT first or SCAT5 first. All athletes agreed to the use of their de-identified data for research.

Results

Significant positive correlations were found with (1) SCAT-5 total immediate memory correct and ImPACT word memory total percent correct, r(747) = .29, p < .001); (2) SCAT-5 delayed memory score and ImPACT word memory hits delayed, r(746) = .23, p < .001); and (3) SCAT-5 Concentration score and ImPACT Three Letters average-counted-correctly, r(747) = .34, p < .001). The three correlations reflected a small to medium effect. Comparison of test order via independent t-tests revealed no significant differences for any of the tests.

Conclusions

Finding convergent validity between domain-similar tests presented via ImPACT versus SCAT5 was not surprising. What was surprising were the relatively low values of the correlations and the small effect sizes. These outcomes suggest that testing format (computer self-report in a small group versus self-report with an examiner), differences in stimulus presentation (printed stimuli in ImPACT versus auditory-verbal stimuli in SCAT5), and complexity/format differences in attention/concentration sub-tests, results in tests within the same domain that each produce unique information.
A-48 Athletes that self-report no physical activity/rest are more likely to exhibit clinical levels of state anxiety following concussion
Authors: Womble M N , Stephenson K , Gustman B , Castor E , Kontos A P , Schatz P , Elbin R J
Published: June 2020

Objective

To investigate the influence of self-reported physical activity (PA) on state anxiety in athletes with concussion

Method

Participants were 230 athletes (mean age = 16.46, SD = 1.94; 43% female) seeking care for a concussion at a specialty clinic within 30 days of injury (M = 8.83, SD = 6.12 days). Demographic data were collected during the clinical interview: age, sex, and history of concussion, migraine, learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and depression. Patients completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and self-reported current levels of PA; 113 participants reported rest or no physical activity (REST) and 117 reported at least minimal PA (ACTIVE). The groups were compared on demographic variables to ensure group equivalence. Independent samples t-test examined differences between groups on state anxiety scores and a chi-square with odds ratios (ORs) examined the relationship between PA groups and clinical levels of state anxiety (STAI > 40). Statistical significance for all analyses was (p < .05).

Results

The groups were similar on all demographic variables (p > .05). The NO PA/REST group exhibited significantly higher state anxiety scores at first clinic visit than the PA group (t (228) = 2.82, p = .005), and the NO PA/REST group was 2.26 times more likely to exhibit clinical levels of state anxiety than the PA group at first clinic visit (χ2 (1, N = 230) = 9.16, p = .002).

Conclusions

Anxiety that is secondary to concussive injury could be mitigated with physical activity. Healthcare providers should encourage individuals with concussion to engage in physical activity during recovery.
mirPLS: a partial linear structure identifier method for cancer subtyping using microRNAs
Authors: Ruan Peifeng , Wang Shuang , Liang Hua
Published: June 2020

Motivation

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that have been successfully identified to be differentially expressed in various cancers. However, some miRNAs were reported to be up-regulated in one subtype of a cancer but down-regulated in another, making overall associations between these miRNAs and the heterogeneous cancer non-linear. These non-linearly associated miRNAs, if identified, are thus informative for cancer subtyping.

Results

Here, we propose mirPLS, a Partial Linear Structure identifier for miRNA data that simultaneously identifies miRNAs of linear or non-linear associations with cancer status when non-linearly associated miRNAs can then be used for subsequent cancer subtyping. Simulation studies showed that mirPLS can identify both non-linearly and linearly outcome-associated miRNAs more accurately than the comparison methods. Using the identified non-linearly associated miRNAs much improves the cancer subtyping accuracy. Applications to miRNA data of three different cancer types suggest that the cancer subtypes defined by the non-linearly associated miRNAs identified by mirPLS are consistently more predictive of patient survival and more biological meaningful.

Availability and implementation

The R package mirPLS is available for downloading from https://github.com/pfruan/mirPLS.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Efficient model-based bioequivalence testing
Authors: Möllenhoff Kathrin , Loingeville Florence , Bertrand Julie , Nguyen Thu Thuy , Sharan Satish , Zhao Liang , Fang Lanyan , Sun Guoying , Grosser Stella , Mentré France , Dette Holger
Published: June 2020

The classical approach to analyze pharmacokinetic (PK) data in bioequivalence studies aiming to compare two different formulations is to perform noncompartmental analysis (NCA) followed by two one-sided tests (TOST). In this regard, the PK parameters area under the curve (AUC) and $C_{\max}$ are obtained for both treatment groups and their geometric mean ratios are considered. According to current guidelines by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, the formulations are declared to be sufficiently similar if the $90\%$ confidence interval for these ratios falls between $0.8$ and $1.25 $. As NCA is not a reliable approach in case of sparse designs, a model-based alternative has already been proposed for the estimation of $\rm AUC$ and $C_{\max}$ using nonlinear mixed effects models. Here we propose another, more powerful test than the TOST and demonstrate its superiority through a simulation study both for NCA and model-based approaches. For products with high variability on PK parameters, this method appears to have closer type I errors to the conventionally accepted significance level of $0.05$, suggesting its potential use in situations where conventional bioequivalence analysis is not applicable.
Olfactory Detection Thresholds for Primary Aliphatic Alcohols in Mice
Authors: Williams Ellie , Dewan Adam
Published: June 2020

Probing the neural mechanisms that underlie each sensory system requires the presentation of perceptually appropriate stimulus concentrations. This is particularly relevant in the olfactory system as additional odorant receptors typically respond with increasing stimulus concentrations. Thus, perceptual measures of olfactory sensitivity provide an important guide for functional experiments. This study focuses on aliphatic alcohols because they are commonly used to survey neural activity in a variety of olfactory regions, probe the behavioral limits of odor discrimination, and assess odor-structure activity relationships in mice. However, despite their frequent use, a systematic study of the relative sensitivity of these odorants in mice is not available. Thus, we assayed the ability of C57BL/6J mice to detect a homologous series of primary aliphatic alcohols (1-propanol to 1-heptanol) using a head-fixed Go/No-Go operant conditioning assay combined with highly reproducible stimulus delivery. To aid in the accessibility of our data, we report the animal’s threshold to each odorant according to the 1) ideal gas condition, 2) nonideal gas condition (factoring in the activity of the odorant in the solvent), and 3) the liquid dilution of the odorant in the olfactometer. Of the odorants tested, mice were most sensitive to 1-hexanol and least sensitive to 1-butanol. These updated measures of murine sensitivity will hopefully guide experimenters in choosing appropriate stimulus concentrations for experiments using these odorants.
Loss of Smell and Taste Among Healthcare Personnel Screened for Coronavirus 2019
Authors: Kempker Russell R , Kempker Jordan A , Peters Marcia , Rebolledo Paulina A , Carroll Kelley , Toomer Linda , Wang Yun F (Wayne) , Ray Susan M , Hunter Mary
Published: June 2020

Among 283 symptomatic healthcare personnel (HCP) tested for SARS-CoV-2, 51 (18%) were positive. Among those 51 HCP, self reported loss of smell and taste were present in 51% and 52.9%, respectively, with either present in 60.8%. These symptoms had high specificity (93% each, 96% for either) for a positive SARS-CoV-2 test.
From a comparative gesture to structured comparison: an analysis of air pollution control in Beijing and Delhi
Authors: Ren Xuefei
Published: June 2020

Drawing upon the scholarship in historical-comparative sociology, this article presents some guidelines for theoretically structured urban comparison by spotlighting four methodological issues: case selection, causality, historical analyses and wider implications. This is demonstrated with a comparative analysis of air pollution control in Beijing and Delhi. The analysis finds that Beijing’s clean air campaign features a territorial logic, centring on territorial institutions and authorities, while Delhi’s clean air campaign features an associational logic, led by environmental NGOs in conjunction with the judiciary.
Competing risk analysis of ventricular arrhythmia events in heart failure patients with moderately compromised renal dysfunction
Authors: Goldenberg Ido , Younis Arwa , Aktas Mehmet K , McNitt Scott , Zareba Wojciech , Kutyifa Valentina
Published: June 2020

Aims

Patients with impaired renal function were shown to have an attenuated benefit from implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. However, there are limited data on the competing risk of ventricular arrhythmia events and death by renal function in patients without severe disease. Therefore, we aimed to assess the competing risk of ventricular arrhythmia events and death by renal function.

Methods and results

We analysed 1782 patients (99%) enrolled in Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial–Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (MADIT–CRT) with glomerular filtration rate (GFR) data available. Cumulative incidence function curves were used to display the rate of ventricular tachycardia (VT), ventricular fibrillation (VF), and the competing risk of death without experiencing VT/VF. Multivariable Fine and Gray regression models and recurrent event analysis were performed. There were 355 (20%) patients with GFR < 52 and 1427 with GFR ≥ 52 (lowest quintile). The incidence of non-fatal VT/VF at 4 years was higher in patients with high GFR (26%) as compared to low GFR (16%), whereas rates of death without non-fatal VT/VF were 5% and 20% (P < 0.001). In Fine and Gray models, the low GFR group was 35% less likely to experience VT/VF compared to the high GFR [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.48–0.88, P = 0.005]. In contrast,death without experiencing VT/VF was 3.5-fold higher in the low GFR group (95% CI 2.38–5.12, P-value < 0.001). Recurrent event analysis consistently showed a lower risk of recurrent VT/VF, recurrent anti-tachycardia pacing only, and shock in the low GFR group.

Conclusions

We show, in a competing risk model, a lower risk of VT/VF events and a higher risk of mortality without an arrhythmic event in patients with moderate renal dysfunction in MADIT–CRT. These findings can be used for improved selection of patients for defibrillator therapy among CRT candidates.

Clinical Trial Registration

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00180271.
Bumblebee Workers Show Differences in Allele-Specific DNA Methylation and Allele-Specific Expression
Authors: Marshall Hollie , Jones Alun R C , Lonsdale Zoë N , Mallon Eamonn B
Published: June 2020

Allele-specific expression is when one allele of a gene shows higher levels of expression compared with the other allele, in a diploid organism. Recent work has identified allele-specific expression in a number of Hymenopteran species. However, the molecular mechanism which drives this allelic expression bias remains unknown. In mammals, DNA methylation is often associated with genes which show allele-specific expression. DNA methylation systems have been described in species of Hymenoptera, providing a candidate mechanism. Using previously generated RNA-Seq and whole-genome bisulfite sequencing from reproductive and sterile bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) workers, we have identified genome-wide allele-specific expression and allele-specific DNA methylation. The majority of genes displaying allele-specific expression are common between reproductive and sterile workers and the proportion of allele-specific expression bias generally varies between genetically distinct colonies. We have also identified genome-wide allele-specific DNA methylation patterns in both reproductive and sterile workers, with reproductive workers showing significantly more genes with allele-specific methylation. Finally, there is no significant overlap between genes showing allele-specific expression and allele-specific methylation. These results indicate that cis-acting DNA methylation does not directly drive genome-wide allele-specific expression in this species.
Health Trajectories in Swedish Centenarians
Authors: Vetrano Davide L , Grande Giulia , Marengoni Alessandra , Calderón-Larrañaga Amaia , Rizzuto Debora
Published: June 2020

Background

Longitudinal studies describing centenarians’ health trajectories are currently lacking. We compared health trajectories of older adults becoming centenarians and their shorter-living counterparts in terms of chronic diseases, disability, and cognitive decline.

Methods

We identified 3,573 individuals participating in the Kungsholmen Project and the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen who lived <100 years and 222 who survived to their 100th birthday. Trajectories of chronic diseases, disability (impaired activities of daily living), and cognitive status were obtained via linear mixed models over 13 years.

Results

Centenarians had fewer chronic diseases than noncentenarians. Before age 85, centenarians showed slower health changes. In centenarians, multimorbidity, disability, and cognitive impairment occurred 4 to 9 years later than in noncentenarians. After age 85, the speed of accumulation of chronic diseases, disabilities, and cognitive decline accelerated in centenarians. At age 100, 39% of the centenarians were cognitively intact and 55% had escaped disability. Only 5% were free of multimorbidity at age 100. When compared with their shorter lived counterparts, in terms of years spent in poor health, centenarians experienced more years with multimorbidity (9.4 vs 6.8 years; p < .001), disability (4.3 vs 3.1 years; p = .005), and cognitive impairment (6.3 vs 4.3 years; p < .001).

Conclusions

Older people who become centenarians present a delay in the onset of morbidity, but spend more years in this condition compared to their shorter lived peers. The observation of older adults’ health trajectories might help to forecast healthier aging, and plan future medical and social care delivery.
Understanding human gut diseases at single-cell resolution
Authors: Bigaeva Emilia , Uniken Venema Werna T C , Weersma Rinse K , Festen Eleonora A M
Published: June 2020

Our understanding of gut functioning and pathophysiology has grown considerably in the past decades, and advancing technologies enable us to deepen this understanding. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has opened a new realm of cellular diversity and transcriptional variation in the human gut at a high, single-cell resolution. ScRNA-seq has pushed the science of the digestive system forward by characterizing the function of distinct cell types within complex intestinal cellular environments, by illuminating the heterogeneity within specific cell populations and by identifying novel cell types in the human gut that could contribute to a variety of intestinal diseases. In this review, we highlight recent discoveries made with scRNA-seq that significantly advance our understanding of the human gut both in health and across the spectrum of gut diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal carcinoma and celiac disease.
From Pseudo-Rotations to Holomorphic Curves via Quantum Steenrod Squares
Authors: Çineli Erman , Ginzburg Viktor L , Gürel Başak Z
Published: June 2020

In the context of symplectic dynamics, pseudo-rotations are Hamiltonian diffeomorphisms with finite and minimal possible number of periodic orbits. These maps are of interest in both dynamics and symplectic topology. We show that a closed, monotone symplectic manifold, which admits a nondegenerate pseudo-rotation, must have a deformed quantum Steenrod square of the top degree element and hence nontrivial holomorphic spheres. This result (partially) generalizes a recent work by Shelukhin and complements the results by the authors on nonvanishing Gromov–Witten invariants of manifolds admitting pseudo-rotations.
The Origin of Isolated Populations of the Mountain Weevil,Liparus glabrirostris—The Flagship Species for Riparian Habitats
Authors: Lachowska-Cierlik Dorota , Zając Krzysztof , Mazur Miłosz A , Sikora Arkadiusz , Kubisz Daniel , Kajtoch Łukasz
Published: June 2020

Liparus glabrirostris is one of the largest European weevils, and it has been recently proposed as the flagship species for threatened riparian habitats in the mountains. For effective conservation of its populations (and associated habitats), it is crucial to understand its history, contemporary distribution, genetic diversity and predict changes in the range, including its highly isolated populations on the Baltic coast. Here, we examined numerous populations of L. glabrirostris across almost the entire species range using phylogeography and species niche modeling (SNM) approaches. Analyses of mtDNA and nucDNA markers revealed the existence of 2 major mitochondrial lineages generally separated between 1) the Alpine region and 2) the Bohemian Massif, the Carpathians, and the Baltic coast areas. Genetic diversity in nuclear genes was more complicated with no clear division between populations. The origin of Baltic populations was derived from the Carpathians, but there were probably multiple expansion events to the north. SNM suggested the existence of glacial refugia for L. glabrirostris, mainly in the Alps and the Southern Carpathians. Current predictions of species range were found to be generally congruent with zoogeographic data; however, the Baltic coast was not really supported as a suitable area for L. glabrirostris. An important prediction of future distribution (2050–2070 CE) suggests a shrinkage of the L. glabrirostris range and extinction of some of its populations (particularly those isolated on lower altitudes). Based on the aforementioned data, proposals for the protection of this species are proposed, including the designation of several evolutionary units of conservation importance.
Thoracic aortic aneurysm causing aorto-esophageal fistula—our experience with a rare disease
Authors: Yadav Aakriti , Shrestha Uttam Krishna , Shrestha Kajan Raj , Gurung Dinesh
Published: June 2020

Aorto-esophageal fistula is a life-threatening condition, accounting for a small number of cases of upper gastrointestinal bleeding where patients present with one or more features of Chiari’s triad. We present the case of a 43-year-old woman, referred to us with symptoms of central chest pain, sudden onset dysphagia followed by massive hemoptysis. She was diagnosed with an aorto-esophageal fistula due to a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm and rushed for an emergency endovascular thoracic aortic stent and feeding jejunostomy with intravenous antibiotics and supportive care. After 6 weeks of surgery, the patient was re-evaluated to plan for an esophageal stent if required. The purpose of this presentation is to make the surgical fraternity aware of the gravity of this disease and novel techniques to manage it.
Small bowel necrosis and perforation due to sodium polystyrene sulfonate in the setting of graft versus host disease and fulminant Clostridium difficile infection
Authors: Sukri Leah , DiChiacchio Laura , Wasicek Philip J , Kavic Stephen M
Published: June 2020

Gastrointestinal injury is a common adverse event associated with use of sodium polystyrene sulfonate (SPS), tradename Kayexalate. Risk factors for SPS-mediated gastrointestinal necrosis include chronic kidney disease, solid organ transplant recipiency and recent surgery. This report presents a patient with past medical history significant for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) complicated by graft versus host disease (GvHD) and Clostridium difficile colitis who initially presented with small bowel obstruction. She was taken to the operating room and her small bowel pathology was significant for transmural necrosis with SPS crystals in the granulation tissue, despite last receiving SPS over a year ago. Previous mucosal damage should be considered as a risk factor for SPS-mediated injury and the effects of this medication may occur longer than previously thought.
Measuring Rubisco activity: challenges and opportunities of NADH-linked microtiter plate-based and 14C-based assays
Authors: Sales Cristina R G , da Silva Anabela Bernardes , Carmo-Silva Elizabete
Published: June 2020

Rubisco is central to carbon assimilation, and efforts to improve the efficiency and sustainability of crop production have spurred interest in phenotyping Rubisco activity. We tested the hypothesis that microtiter plate-based methods provide comparable results to those obtained with the radiometric assay that measures the incorporation of 14CO2 into 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PGA). Three NADH-linked assays were tested that use alternative coupling enzymes: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and glycerolphosphate dehydrogenase (GlyPDH); phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH); and pyruvate kinase (PK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). To date there has been no thorough evaluation of their reliability by comparison with the 14C-based method. The three NADH-linked assays were used in parallel to estimate (i) the 3-PGA concentration–response curve of NADH oxidation, (ii) the Michaelis–Menten constant for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate, (iii) fully active and inhibited Rubisco activities, and (iv) Rubisco initial and total activities in fully illuminated and shaded leaves. All three methods correlated strongly with the 14C-based method, and the PK–LDH method showed a strong correlation and was the cheapest method. PEPC–MDH would be a suitable option for situations in which ADP/ATP might interfere with the assay. GAPDH–GlyPDH proved more laborious than the other methods. Thus, we recommend the PK–LDH method as a reliable, cheaper, and higher throughput method to phenotype Rubisco activity for crop improvement efforts.
Using machine learning for transient classification in searches for gravitational-wave counterparts
Authors: Stachie Cosmin , Coughlin Michael W , Christensen Nelson , Muthukrishna Daniel
Published: June 2020

The large sky localization regions offered by the gravitational-wave interferometers require efficient follow-up of the many counterpart candidates identified by the wide field-of-view telescopes. Given the restricted telescope time, the creation of prioritized lists of the many identified candidates becomes mandatory. Towards this end, we use astrorapid, a multiband photometric light-curve classifier, to differentiate between kilonovae, supernovae, and other possible transients. We demonstrate our method on the photometric observations of real events. In addition, the classification performance is tested on simulated light curves, both ideally and realistically sampled. We show that after only a few days of observations of an astronomical object, it is possible to rule out candidates as supernovae and other known transients.
ALMA unveils wider environment of distant red protocluster core
Authors: Ivison R J , Biggs A D , Bremer M , Arumugam V , Dunne L
Published: June 2020

We report observations with the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) of six submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) within 3 arcmin of the Distant Red Core (DRC) at z = 4.0, a site of intense cluster-scale star formation, first reported by Oteo et al. We find new members of DRC in three SMG fields; in two fields, the SMGs are shown to lie along the line of sight towards DRC; one SMG is spurious. Although at first sight this rate of association is consistent with earlier predictions, associations with the bright SMGs are rarer than expected, which suggests caution when interpreting continuum overdensities. We consider the implications of all 14 confirmed DRC components passing simultaneously through an active phase of star formation. In the simplest explanation, we see only the tip of the iceberg in terms of star formation and gas available for future star formation, consistent with our remarkable finding that the majority of newly confirmed DRC galaxies are not the brightest continuum emitters in their immediate vicinity. Thus, while ALMA continuum follow-up of SMGs identifies the brightest continuum emitters in each field, it does not necessarily reveal all the gas-rich galaxies. To hunt effectively for protocluster members requires wide and deep spectral-line imaging to uncover any relatively continuum-faint galaxies that are rich in atomic or molecular gas. Searching with short-baseline arrays or single-dish facilities, the true scale of the underlying gas reservoirs may be revealed.
Dark Energy Survey identification of a low-mass active galactic nucleus at redshift 0.823 from optical variability
Authors: Guo Hengxiao , Burke Colin J , Liu Xin , Phadke Kedar A , Zhang Kaiwen , Chen Yu-Ching , Gruendl Robert A , Lidman Christopher , Shen Yue , Morganson Eric , Aguena Michel , Allam Sahar , Avila Santiago , Bertin Emmanuel , Brooks David , Rosell Aurelio Carnero , Carollo Daniela , Kind Matias Carrasco , Costanzi Matteo , da Costa Luiz N , De Vicente Juan , Desai Shantanu , Doel Peter , Eifler Tim F , Everett Spencer , García-Bellido Juan , Gaztanaga Enrique , Gerdes David W , Gruen Daniel , Gschwend Julia , Gutierrez Gaston , Hinton Samuel R , Hollowood Devon L , Honscheid Klaus , James David J , Kuehn Kyler , Lima Marcos , Maia Marcio A G , Menanteau Felipe , Miquel Ramon , Möller Anais , Ogando Ricardo L C , Palmese Antonella , Paz-Chinchón Francisco , Plazas Andrés A , Romer Anita K , Roodman Aaron , Sanchez Eusebio , Scarpine Vic , Schubnell Michael , Serrano Santiago , Smith Mathew , Soares-Santos Marcelle , Sommer Natalia E , Suchyta Eric , Swanson Molly E C , Tarle Gregory , Tucker Brad E , Varga Tamas N ,   (DES Collaboration)
Published: June 2020

We report the identification of a low-mass active galactic nucleus (AGN), DES J0218−0430, in a redshift z = 0.823 galaxy in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Supernova field. We select DES J0218−0430 as an AGN candidate by characterizing its long-term optical variability alone based on DES optical broad-band light curves spanning over 6 yr. An archival optical spectrum from the fourth phase of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey shows both broad Mg ii and broad H β lines, confirming its nature as a broad-line AGN. Archival XMM–Newton X-ray observations suggest an intrinsic hard X-ray luminosity of $L_{{\rm 2-12\, keV}}\approx 7.6\pm 0.4\times 10^{43}$ erg s−1, which exceeds those of the most X-ray luminous starburst galaxies, in support of an AGN driving the optical variability. Based on the broad H β from SDSS spectrum, we estimate a virial black hole (BH) mass of M• ≈ 106.43–106.72 M⊙ (with the error denoting the systematic uncertainty from different calibrations), consistent with the estimation from OzDES, making it the lowest mass AGN with redshift > 0.4 detected in optical. We estimate the host galaxy stellar mass to be M* ≈ 1010.5 ± 0.3 M⊙ based on modelling the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution. DES J0218−0430 extends the M•–M* relation observed in luminous AGNs at z ∼ 1 to masses lower than being probed by previous work. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of using optical variability to identify low-mass AGNs at higher redshift in deeper synoptic surveys with direct implications for the upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time at Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
Shock waves in the magnetized cosmic web: the role of obliquity and cosmic ray acceleration
Authors: Banfi S , Vazza F , Wittor D
Published: June 2020

Structure formation shocks are believed to be the largest accelerators of cosmic rays in the Universe. However, little is still known about their efficiency in accelerating relativistic electrons and protons as a function of their magnetization properties, i.e. of their magnetic field strength and topology. In this work, we analysed both uniform and adaptive mesh resolution simulations of large-scale structures with the magnetohydrodynamical grid code enzo, studying the dependence of shock obliquity with different realistic scenarios of cosmic magnetism. We found that shock obliquities are more often perpendicular than what would be expected from a random 3D distribution of vectors, and that this effect is particularly prominent in the proximity of filaments, due to the action of local shear motions. By coupling these results to recent works from particle-in-cell simulations, we estimated the flux of cosmic ray protons in galaxy clusters, and showed that in principle the riddle of the missed detection of hadronic γ-ray emission by the Fermi-LAT can be explained if only quasi-parallel shocks accelerate protons. On the other hand, for most of the cosmic web the acceleration of cosmic ray electrons is still allowed, due to the abundance of quasi-perpendicular shocks. We discuss quantitative differences between the analysed models of magnetization of cosmic structures, which become more significant at low cosmic overdensities.
Molecular subgrouping of medulloblastoma based on few-shot learning of multitasking using conventional MR images: a retrospective multicenter study
Authors: Chen Xi , Fan Zhen , Li Kay Ka-Wai , Wu Guoqing , Yang Zhong , Gao Xin , Liu Yingchao , Wu Haibo , Chen Hong , Tang Qisheng , Chen Liang , Wang Yuanyuan , Mao Ying , Ng Ho-Keung , Shi Zhifeng , Yu Jinhua , Zhou Liangfu
Published: June 2020

Background

The determination of molecular subgroups—wingless (WNT), sonic hedgehog (SHH), Group 3, and Group 4—of medulloblastomas is very important for prognostication and risk-adaptive treatment strategies. Due to the rare disease characteristics of medulloblastoma, we designed a unique multitask framework for the few-shot scenario to achieve noninvasive molecular subgrouping with high accuracy.

Methods

We introduced a multitask technique based on mask regional convolutional neural network (Mask-RCNN). By effectively utilizing the comprehensive information including genotyping, tumor mask, and prognosis, multitask technique, on the one hand, realized multi-purpose modeling and simultaneously, on the other hand, promoted the accuracy of the molecular subgrouping. One hundred and thirteen medulloblastoma cases were collected from 4 hospitals during the 8-year period in the retrospective study, which were divided into 3-fold cross-validation cohorts (N = 74) from 2 hospitals and independent testing cohort (N = 39) from the other 2 hospitals. Comparative experiments of different auxiliary tasks were designed to illustrate the effect of multitasking in molecular subgrouping.

Results

Compared to the single-task framework, the multitask framework that combined 3 tasks increased the average accuracy of molecular subgrouping from 0.84 to 0.93 in cross-validation and from 0.79 to 0.85 in independent testing. The average area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of molecular subgrouping were 0.97 in cross-validation and 0.92 in independent testing. The average AUCs of prognostication also reached to 0.88 in cross-validation and 0.79 in independent testing. The tumor segmentation results achieved the Dice coefficient of 0.90 in both cohorts.

Conclusions

The multitask Mask-RCNN is an effective method for the molecular subgrouping and prognostication of medulloblastomas with high accuracy in few-shot learning.
Electronically Monitored Nicotine Gum Use Before and After Smoking Lapses: Relationship With Lapse and Relapse
Authors: Schlam Tanya R , Baker Timothy B , Smith Stevens S , Bolt Daniel M , McCarthy Danielle E , Cook Jessica W , Hayes-Birchler Todd , Fiore Michael C , Piper Megan E
Published: June 2020

Introduction

Greater use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is related to smoking cessation success, but the causal direction is unclear. This study characterized the relationship between NRT use and smoking lapse and relapse.

Methods

Participants (N = 416 smokers; 57% female, 85% White) were recruited from primary care for a smoking cessation factorial experiment and analyzed if abstaining ≥1 day in the first 2 weeks post-target quit day (TQD). Participants were randomized to counseling and 8 versus 26 weeks of nicotine patch plus nicotine gum post-TQD. Participants carried electronic dispensers that timestamped each gum use. Participants who lapsed (smoked after abstaining) within 6 weeks post-TQD were matched with nonlapsers (n = 146 pairs) on multiple variables. We compared lapsers’ versus matched nonlapsers’ gum use in the 5 days before and after the lapsers’ first lapse.

Results

By week 6 post-TQD, 63% of participants lapsed. Compared with nonlapsers, lapsers used less gum 1 and 2 days pre-“lapse” and on the 5 days post-lapse. Lapsers used less gum during the 5 days post-lapse than the 5 days pre-lapse. Univariate survival analyses with lapsers showed greater gum use during both pre- and post-lapse periods predicted longer latency to relapse in the first 6 weeks.

Conclusions

In a smoking cessation attempt using nicotine patch plus gum, lapsers versus matched nonlapsers used less gum immediately preceding and following their first lapse. Lower mean gum use before and after lapses predicted a more rapid escalation to relapse. Decreased nicotine gum use both precedes and follows returns to smoking during cessation attempts.

Implications

This research examined electronically monitored nicotine gum use collected in real time and found that among smokers engaged in a quit attempt, lapsers (vs. matched nonlapsers) tended to decrease their gum use 1–2 days prior to lapsing and to further decrease their gum use from pre- to post-lapse. Decreased gum use pre-lapse may signal heightened lapse risk in 1–2 days, with lower level of gum use predicting a more precipitous course of relapse. These results encourage further exploration of objective measures of smoking medication use patterns to examine their signaling properties and to inform understanding of cessation failure.

Clinical Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01120704.
The Conservative Party Leadership Election of 2019: An Analysis of the Voting Motivations of Conservative Parliamentarians
Authors: Jeffery David , Heppell Timothy , Roe-Crines Andrew
Published: June 2020

This article provides an empirical analysis of the voting behaviour of Conservative parliamentarians in the final parliamentary ballot of the Conservative Party leadership election of 2019. We construct a dataset for the parliamentary Conservative Party and then put forward hypotheses that will consider the possible Eurosceptic, party political, economic and/or ideological motivations for the voting behaviour of Conservative parliamentarians in the final parliamentary ballot. Our findings demonstrate that support for Johnson and Hunt was structured around age and voting behaviour in the European Union (EU) membership referendum, with support for Gove drawn from those who voted for May’s Withdrawal Agreement in the first meaningful vote. Other factors, such as the economic impact of Brexit on constituencies and social liberalism, were not found to be statistically significant.
Spectroscopic properties of the dwarf nova-type cataclysmic variables observed by LAMOST
Authors: Han Zhongtao , Boonrucksar Soonthornthum , Qian Shengbang , Xiaohui Fang , Wang Qishan , Zhu Liying , Dong Aijun , Zhi Qijun
Published: June 2020

Spectra of 76 known dwarf novae from the LAMOST survey were presented. Most of the objects were observed in quiescence, and about 16 systems have typical outburst spectra. 36 of these systems were observed by SDSS, and most of their spectra are similar to the SDSS spectra. Two objects, V367 Peg and V537 Peg, are the first spectra of the object. The spectrum of V367 Peg shows a contribution from an M-type donor and its spectral type could be estimated as M3-5 by combining its orbital period. The signature of a white dwarf spectrum can be seen clearly in four low-accretion-rate WZ Sge stars. Other special spectral features worthy of further observations are also noted and discussed. We present a LAMOST spectral atlas of outbursting dwarf novae. Six objects have their first outburst spectra given here, and the others were also compared with the published outburst spectra. We argue that these data will be useful for further investigation of the accretion disc properties. The He ii λ4686 emission line can be found in the outburst spectra of seven dwarf novae. These objects are excellent candidates for probing the spiral asymmetries of accretion disc.
Use of biologic or targeted-synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and risk of diabetes treatment intensification in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes mellitus
Authors: Chen Sarah K , Lee Hemin , Jin Yinzhu , Liu Jun , Kim Seoyoung C
Published: June 2020

Objectives

Given that RA treatment might affect the severity of diabetes mellitus (DM), we compared the risk of DM treatment intensification in patients with both RA and DM newly initiating a biologic DMARD or tofacitinib.

Methods

Using claims data from the IBM MarketScan database (2005–2016), we identified patients aged ≥18 years with RA who initiated abatacept, a TNF inhibitor (TNFi), rituximab, tocilizumab or tofacitinib. Patients were required to have type 1 or type 2 DM and to use at least one antidiabetic drug at baseline. We assessed DM treatment intensification (i.e. addition of a new insulin or non-insulin antidiabetic medication). We also assessed non-insulin antidiabetic medication switching events.

Results

We included 10 019 patients with RA and DM initiating a biologic DMARD or tofacitinib. Baseline insulin use was the highest in rituximab initiators (44%) and lowest in tofacitinib initiators (35%). The incidence rate per 1000 person-years for DM treatment intensification ranged from 148.2 (tofacitinib) to 198.0 (rituximab). The risk of DM treatment intensification was similar between abatacept and TNFi [hazard ratio (HR) 0.97, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.15], rituximab (HR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.23) and tocilizumab (HR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.74, 1.19), but lower for tofacitinib compared with abatacept (HR 0.67, 95% CI: 0.50, 0.90). The risk of non-insulin DM treatment switching was not different between abatacept and other biologic DMARDs.

Conclusion

In patients with both RA and DM, we found no difference in the risk of DM treatment switching or intensification after initiating abatacept vs TNFi, rituximab and tocilizumab, whereas the risk appeared to be lower for tofacitinib.
Xylem sap phosphorus sampling using microdialysis—a non-destructive high sampling frequency method tested under laboratory and field conditions
Authors: Jeřábek Jakub , Rinderer Michael , Gessler Arthur , Weiler Markus
Published: June 2020

For a better understanding of plant nutrition processes, it is important to study the flux of nutrients within plants. However, existing xylem sap sampling methods are typically destructive and do not allow for repeated, highly frequent measurements of nutrient concentration. In this paper, we present a novel use of microdialysis (MD) for characterizing xylem sap phosphate (PO43−) concentration as a possible alternative to destructive sampling. First, MD probes were tested under laboratory conditions in vitro, in a stirred solution test, and in vivo, using beech tree stem segments. Exponential decline in the relative recovery (RR) with an increasing MD pumping rate allows for determining an optimal sampling interval (i.e., the maximum amount of sample volume with the minimum required concentration). The RR changed only minimally, with a change in the simulated sap flow velocity during the in vivo stem segment test. This suggests that MD can be applied over a range of naturally occurring sap flow velocities. Differences in the ionic strength between the xylem sap and the perfusate pumped through the MD did not influence the RR. Then, MD was successfully applied in a 24 h field campaign in two beech trees of different ages and allowed for in situ assessments of the diurnal variation of PO43− concentration and (together with xylem flow measurements) flux variability in living trees. Both beech trees exhibited the same diurnal pattern in PO43− concentrations with higher concentrations in the younger tree. The xylem PO43− concentration measured with MD was in the same order of magnitude as that received through destructive sampling in the younger tree. The MD probes did not show a decline in RR after the field application. We showed that MD can be applied to capture the PO43− concentration dynamics in the xylem sap with bihourly resolution under field conditions.
Dual infection and recombination of Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus revealed by whole-genome sequence analysis of effusion samples
Authors: Cornejo Castro Elena M , Marshall Vickie , Lack Justin , Lurain Kathryn , Immonen Taina , Labo Nazzarena , Fisher Nicholas C , Ramaswami Ramya , Polizzotto Mark N , Keele Brandon F , Yarchoan Robert , Uldrick Thomas S , Whitby Denise
Published: June 2020

Kaposi sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is the etiological agent of three malignancies, Kaposi sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and KSHV-associated multicentric Castelman disease. KSHV infected patients may also have an interleukin six-related KSHV-associated inflammatory cytokine syndrome. KSHV-associated diseases occur in only a minority of chronically KSHV-infected individuals and often in the setting of immunosuppression. Mechanisms by which KSHV genomic variations and systemic co-infections may affect the pathogenic pathways potentially leading to these diseases have not been well characterized in vivo. To date, the majority of comparative genetic analyses of KSHV have been focused on a few regions scattered across the viral genome. We used next-generation sequencing techniques to investigate the taxonomic groupings of viruses from malignant effusion samples from fourteen participants with advanced KSHV-related malignancies, including twelve with primary effusion lymphoma and two with Kaposi sarcoma and elevated KSHV viral load in effusions. The genomic diversity and evolutionary characteristics of nine isolated, near full-length KSHV genomes revealed extensive evidence of mosaic patterns across all these genomes. Further, our comprehensive NGS analysis allowed the identification of two distinct KSHV genome sequences in one individual, consistent with a dual infection. Overall, our results provide significant evidence for the contribution of KSHV phylogenomics to the origin of KSHV subtypes. This report points to a wider scope of studies to establish genome-wide patterns of sequence diversity and define the possible pathogenic role of sequence variations in KSHV-infected individuals.