bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Compact Arc-Based ILP Formulation for the Pickup and Delivery Problem with Divisible Pickups and Deliveries
Authors: Jargalsaikhan Bolor , Romeijnders Ward , Roodbergen Kees Jan
Published: January 2021

We consider the capacitated single vehicle one-to-one pickup and delivery problem with divisible pickups and deliveries (PDPDPD). In this problem, we do not make the standard assumption of one-to-one pickup and delivery problems (PDPs) that each location has only one transportation request. Instead we assume there are multiple requests per location that may be performed individually. This may result in multiple visits to a location. We provide a new compact arc-based integer linear programming (ILP) formulation for the PDPDPD by deriving time-consistency constraints that identify the order in which selected outgoing arcs from a node are actually traversed. The formulation can also easily be applied to the one-to-one PDP by restricting the number of times that a node can be visited. Numerical results on standard one-to-one PDP test instances from the literature show that our compact formulation is almost competitive with tailor-made solution methods for the one-to-one PDP. Moreover, we observe that significant cost savings of up to 15% on average may be obtained by allowing divisible pickups and deliveries in one-to-one PDPs. It turns out that divisible pickups and deliveries are not only beneficial when the vehicle capacity is small, but also when this capacity is unrestrictive.
ROSÁRIO FUSCO EM BUSCA DE MARINA, A INTANGÍVEL: HOMENAGEM ZOMBETEIRA A MURILO RUBIÃO
Authors: Silva Marta Dantas
Published: January 2021

Rosário Fusco (1910-1977) e Murilo Rubião (1916-1991), dois escritores mineiros e que foram contemporâneos. Dois escritores muito diferentes: de um lado, a predileção de Rubião pelo conto, a busca para atingir o essencial, a lentidão na abordagem, os rigores de uma ascese em prol de uma linguagem concisa; do outro, a predileção de Fusco pelo romance ficcional, pelo texto verborrágico e excessivo. Também foram homens bem diferentes, mas com muitos pontos em comum nas suas trajetórias de vida. Além disso, andavam na contramão da tendência dominante da produção literária brasileira dos ano 40; as ficções de Fusco e os contos de Rubião são marcados por acontecimentos insólitos garimpados do cotidiano. A homenagem à a Murilo Rubião se faz aqui por meio de Rosário Fusco e ao estilo fusquiano. Intento apresentar como a ficção de Fusco, a.s.a. associação dos solitários anônimos, publicada postumamente em 2003, faz uma séria e zombeteira homenagem ao contista Murilo Rubião.
Suspected infection following pacemaker implantation: a case study
Authors: Richards Gaynor
Published: January 2021

Infection is a serious complication of pacemaker systems. This case study discusses the management of a patient who presented with a suspected pacemaker-related infection. The use of a consultation model ensured a holistic approach to patient assessment and underpinned the prescribing decisions. Focus is given to the pharmacological management of device-associated infection and the drug therapy flucloxacillin. Relevant evidence and guidelines are referred to as support for treatment decisions and a collaborative patient approach is demonstrated to help achieve the best health outcome.
Highlighting the latest research: January 2021
Authors: Palmer Sarah Jane
Published: January 2021

Sarah Jane Palmer presents a selection of recently published articles of interest to nurses working in cardiovascular nursing. The aim of this roundup is to provide a brief overview of the research papers selected. A full reference is provided for those who wish to look at the research in further detail.
Symptomatic breast services in the post-COVID-19 era
Authors: Bansal Gaurav J , Chopra Sharat
Published: January 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated unprecedented changes to the functioning of hospitals across the world. This article evaluates the acute impact of COVID-19 on the provision of symptomatic breast services in the UK and explores suggestions for more sustainable functioning of services in the post-COVID-19 era.
Screening and supporting the mental health of student physiotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Soundy Andrew , Hemmings Laura , Gardiner Lucy
Published: January 2021

Background/Aims

The purpose of this study was to use the Model of Emotions, Adaptation and Hope as a way to screen and support physiotherapy students and understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their health by focusing on the stories (narrative) they tell.

Methods

This pilot mixed methods study included a convenience sample of BSc and MSc level student physiotherapists. A single screening online interview was conducted via Zoom or Skype. Students' narratives underwent qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis using the Model of Emotions, Adaptation and Hope.

Results

A total of 19 students took part in this study. Students identified four master plot narratives as a response to the interview: future control; lost productivity; isolation; and opportunity. Significant pre-interview to follow-up change was found in acceptance, pleasantness and energy.

Conclusions

It is possible to support the mental health of physiotherapy students by screening for difficulties and listening to and exploring their responses.
Diagnosis of digital flexor tendon sheath conditions in the horse
Authors: Tannahill Victoria J.
Published: January 2021

Diagnosis of digital flexor tendon sheath conditions can be challenging, although they are a common occurrence in horses. Injuries can occur in either the fore- or hindlimbs and a thorough understanding of the complex anatomy of the digital flexor tendon sheath will help practitioners to gain confidence in their diagnostic ability of its pathologies. This article outlines the clinically relevant anatomy, approaches to and interpretation of diagnostic anaesthesia, as well as common stable-side imaging findings that may be expected for the main pathologies associated with the digital flexor tendon sheath. Tips and tricks to maximise diagnostic potential are also included throughout the article.
Potential effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on horse behaviour in the UK between March and October 2020
Authors: Nellist Jenni
Published: January 2021

Once the COVID-19 pandemic started and the UK went into lockdown on 17th March 2020, many horse owners had to change their horse keeping practices. Exactly how varied depending on their exact circumstances. Horses kept at home, or on full and part livery, would have experienced little change other than a reduction in ridden exercise as some owners chose to stop riding to reduce the risk of personal injury. Owners of horses kept at DIY yards faced greater difficulties as, in many cases, their visits reduced in frequency, horse care rotas were not being adopted, and horse management shared with other owners; this, coupled with uncertainty about future income raising anxiety levels in some individuals, may have had knock on effects for horse behaviour. The pandemic also contributed to some unexpected effects. Increased public footfall in the countryside meant more horses being uncontrollably fed by members of the public, and horse sales continued, even increased, with rehoming from some welfare organisations following the same trend.
Transforming zero-index media into geometry-invariant coherent perfect absorbers via embedded conductive films
Authors: Wang Dunjian , Luo Jie , Sun Zhouzhou , Lai Yun
Published: January 2021

In this work, we demonstrate an approach to realize geometry-invariant multi-channel coherent perfect absorbers by embedding ultrathin conductive films in zero-index media. Coherent perfect absorption can be achieved for waves incidents from an arbitrary number of input channels as long as the total width of the channels equals to a critical value that is only determined by the length and material parameters of the conductive films instead of their shapes and positions. The absorption attributes to induced currents in the conductive films by the electric fields of incidence, and the shape- and position-independent characteristics originate from the uniformly distributed electric fields inside the zero-index media. By using dielectric photonic crystals and photonic-doped zero-index media, we numerically demonstrate such an interesting transformation from zero-index media to coherent perfect absorbers. Furthermore, ultrathin coherent perfect absorbers based on zero-index media are also demonstrated in waveguides. Our work reveals a unique mechanism to change the material responses between zero-index media and coherent perfect absorbers.
Nonlinear dynamics in intra-cavity pumped thin-disk lasers
Authors: Trinschek Sarah , Vorholt Christian , Wittrock Ulrich
Published: January 2021

Cross-saturation of the gain media in intra-cavity pumped lasers leads to complex dynamics of the laser power. We present experimental results and a detailed theoretical analysis of this nonlinear dynamics for an intra-cavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser in the framework of a rate-equation model. The gain medium of this laser is residing in the resonator of a conventional, diode-pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. Continuous-wave operation, periodic pulse trains, and chaotic fluctuations of the optical power of both lasers were observed. The dynamics is not driven by external perturbations but arises naturally in this laser system. Further examination revealed that these modes of operation can be controlled by the resonator length of the diode-pumped laser but that the system can also show hysteresis and multi-stability.
Non-invasive single photon imaging through strongly scattering media
Authors: Maruca Stephanie , Rehain Patrick , Sua Yong Meng , Zhu Shenyu , Huang Yuping
Published: January 2021

Non-invasive optical imaging through opaque and multi-scattering media remains highly desirable across many application domains. The random scattering and diffusion of light in such media inflict exponential decay and aberration, prohibiting diffraction-limited imaging. By non-interferometric few picoseconds optical gating of backscattered photons, we demonstrate single photon sensitive non-invasive 3D imaging of targets occluded by strongly scattering media with optical thicknesses reaching 9.5l
s
(19l
s
round trip). It achieves diffraction-limited imaging of a target placed 130 cm away through the opaque media, with millimeter lateral and depth resolution while requiring only one photon detection out of 50,000 probe pulses. Our single photon sensitive imaging technique does not require wavefront shaping nor computationally-intensive image reconstruction algorithms, promising practical solutions for diffraction-limited imaging through highly opaque and diffusive media with low illumination power.
Nano-slit assisted high-Q photonic resonant perfect absorbers
Authors: Liu Xiaoshan , Fu Guolan , Liu Guiqiang , Wang Jinglei , Yi Qing , Yang Hong , Tan Wenyong , Liu Zhengqi
Published: January 2021

We propose and demonstrate a new kind of resonant absorber via introducing the nano-slit into a photonic film. The combination of the nano-slit cavity and the photonic waveguide provides a powerful way to manipulate the light behaviors including the spectral Q factors and the absorption efficiency. Ultra-sharp resonant absorption with the Q factors up to 579.5 is achieved, suggesting an enhancement of ∼6100% in contrast to that of the metal-dielectric flat film structure. Moreover, in comparison with the low absorption of 5.4% for the system without nano-slit, the spectral absorption is up to ∼96.6% for the nano-slit assisted photonic absorber. The high Q resonant absorption can be further manipulated via the structural parameters and the polarization state. The operation wavelengths can be tuned by the lattice constant. As the nano-slit introduced into the dielectric film, strong optical field confinement effects can be achieved by the cavity resonance via the nano-slit itself, and the guided resonant effect in the photonic waveguide cavity formed by the adjacent nano-slits. Otherwise, the photonic-plasmonic hybridization effect is simultaneously excited between the dielectric guided cavity layer and the metal substrate. These findings can be extended to other photonic nano-cavity systems and pave new insights into the high Q nano-optics devices.
Predictive learning of multi-channel isochronal chaotic synchronization by utilizing parallel optical reservoir computers based on three laterally coupled semiconductor lasers with delay-time feedback
Authors: Zhong Dongzhou , Yang Hua , Xi Jiangtao , Zeng Neng , Xu Zhe , Deng Fuqin
Published: January 2021

In this work, we utilize three parallel optical reservoir computers to model three optical dynamic systems, respectively. Here, the three laser-elements in the response laser array with both delay-time feedback and optical injection are utilized as nonlinear nodes to realize three optical chaotic reservoir computers (RCs). The nonlinear dynamics of three laser-elements in the driving laser array are predictively learned by these three parallel RCs. We show that these three parallel reservoir computers can reproduce the nonlinear dynamics of the three laser-elements in the driving laser array with self-feedback. Very small training errors for their predictions can be realized by the optimization of two key parameters such as the delay-time and the interval of the virtual nodes. Moreover, these three parallel RCs to be trained will well synchronize with three chaotic laser-elements in the driving laser array, respectively, even when there are some parameter mismatches between the response laser array and the driving laser array. Our findings show that optical reservoir computing approach possibly provide a successful path for the realization of the high-quality chaotic synchronization between the driving laser and the response laser when their rate-equations imperfectly match each other.
Robustness of mode-locking in harmonic cavity nanolasers subjected to potential distortions
Authors: Sun Yifan , Combrié Sylvain , De Rossi Alfredo , Bretenaker Fabien
Published: January 2021

We theoretically analyze the robustness to potential distortion of mode-locking in a harmonic cavity nanolaser sustaining oscillation of Hermite-Gaussian modes. Different types of imperfections of the harmonic potential that create the Hermite-Gaussian modes are considered: the non-parabolicity of the potential and the possible random errors in the shape of the potential. The influence of the different laser parameters, including the Henry factors of the gain medium and the saturable absorber, on the robustness of the mode-locked regime is discussed in detail.
Sixteen-channel fiber array-coupled superconducting single-photon detector array with average system detection efficiency over 60% at telecom wavelength
Authors: Zhang Wei-Jun , Xu Guang-Zhao , You Li-Xing , Zhang Cheng-Jun , Huang Hao , Ou Xin , Sun Xing-Qu , Xiong Jia-Min , Li Hao , Wang Zhen , Xie Xiao-Ming
Published: January 2021

We report a compact, scalable, and high-performance superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SNSPD) array by using a multichannel optical fiber array-coupled configuration. For single pixels with an active area of 18 µm in diameter and illuminated at the telecom wavelength of 1550 nm, we achieved a pixel yield of 13/16 on one chip, an average system detection efficiency of 69% at a dark count rate of 160 cps, a minimum timing jitter of 74 ps, and a maximum count rate of

∼

40

M
c
p
s

. The optical crosstalk coefficient between adjacent channels is better than

−

60

d
B

. The performance of the fiber array-coupled detectors is comparable with a standalone detector coupled to a single fiber. Our method is promising for the development of scalable, high-performance, and high-yield SNSPDs.
Real-time low noise distributed acoustic sensing in 171 km low loss fiber
Authors: Waagaard Ole Henrik , Rønnekleiv Erlend , Haukanes Aksel , Stabo-Eeg Frantz , Thingbø Dag , Forbord Stig , Aasen Svein Erik , Brenne Jan Kristoffer
Published: January 2021

We demonstrate distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) by interrogation of Rayleigh backscattering from fibers with long linearly frequency modulated pulses and coherent detection. This system provides sustained real-time phase demodulation without inline amplification over a range of 148 km in standard single mode fiber and up to 171 km in low-loss OFS TeraWave SCUBA 125 fiber. This is the longest reported range for DAS measurements. The optical dynamic range of the recording is 57 dB. With a 10 km fiber, we obtain a record-low interrogation noise above 50 Hz (rms average over position) of 134 and 89 µrad/√Hz with gauge lengths (equal to spatial resolution) of 10 and 34 m, respectively. A total harmonic distortion of −42 dB (rms average over position) is demonstrated with a gauge length of 10 m.
Discrimination of blood species using Raman spectroscopy combined with a recurrent neural network
Authors: Wang Peng , Guo Liangsheng , Tian Yubing , Chen Jiansheng , Huang Shan , Wang Ce , Bai Pengli , Chen Daqing , Zhu Weipei , Yang Hongbo , Yao Wenming , Gao Jing
Published: January 2021

Species identification of human and animal blood is of critical importance in the areas of custom inspection, forensic science, wildlife preservation, and veterinary purpose. In this study, the combination of Raman spectroscopy and a recurrent neural network (RNN) is proposed for the discrimination of 20 kinds of blood species including human, poultry, wildlife, and experimental animals. The chemometric multi-classification model based on RNN was established and optimized by hyperparameter tuning and structure selection. The performance scores of the bidirectional RNN model with GRU for 20 kinds of species are as follows: accuracy 97.7%, precision 97.8%, recall 97.8% and F1-score 97.7%. The model resistant to wavenumber drift and cross-instrumental model were also studied for practical application purpose using a subset of Raman spectra by both commercial and laboratory-built Raman spectrometers. The evaluation shows an accuracy of 98.2%. These results indicate that our approach has great potential for blood species identification in real application scenarios.
Coordinating cell polarization and morphogenesis through mechanical feedback
Authors: Banavar Samhita P. , Trogdon Michael , Drawert Brian , Yi Tau-Mu , Petzold Linda R. , Campàs Otger
Published: January 2021

Many cellular processes require cell polarization to be maintained as the cell changes shape, grows or moves. Without feedback mechanisms relaying information about cell shape to the polarity molecular machinery, the coordination between cell polarization and morphogenesis, movement or growth would not be possible. Here we theoretically and computationally study the role of a genetically-encoded mechanical feedback (in the Cell Wall Integrity pathway) as a potential coordination mechanism between cell morphogenesis and polarity during budding yeast mating projection growth. We developed a coarse-grained continuum description of the coupled dynamics of cell polarization and morphogenesis as well as 3D stochastic simulations of the molecular polarization machinery in the evolving cell shape. Both theoretical approaches show that in the absence of mechanical feedback (or in the presence of weak feedback), cell polarity cannot be maintained at the projection tip during growth, with the polarization cap wandering off the projection tip, arresting morphogenesis. In contrast, for mechanical feedback strengths above a threshold, cells can robustly maintain cell polarization at the tip and simultaneously sustain mating projection growth. These results indicate that the mechanical feedback encoded in the Cell Wall Integrity pathway can provide important positional information to the molecular machinery in the cell, thereby enabling the coordination of cell polarization and morphogenesis.
Dissecting the regulatory roles of ORM proteins in the sphingolipid pathway of plants
Authors: Alsiyabi Adil , Solis Ariadna Gonzalez , Cahoon Edgar B. , Saha Rajib
Published: January 2021

Sphingolipids are a vital component of plant cellular endomembranes and carry out multiple functional and regulatory roles. Different sphingolipid species confer rigidity to the membrane structure, facilitate trafficking of secretory proteins, and initiate programmed cell death. Although the regulation of the sphingolipid pathway is yet to be uncovered, increasing evidence has pointed to orosomucoid proteins (ORMs) playing a major regulatory role and potentially interacting with a number of components in the pathway, including both enzymes and sphingolipids. However, experimental exploration of new regulatory interactions is time consuming and often infeasible. In this work, a computational approach was taken to address this challenge. A metabolic network of the sphingolipid pathway in plants was reconstructed. The steady-state rates of reactions in the network were then determined through measurements of growth and cellular composition of the different sphingolipids in Arabidopsis seedlings. The Ensemble modeling framework was modified to accurately account for activation mechanisms and subsequently used to generate sets of kinetic parameters that converge to the measured steady-state fluxes in a thermodynamically consistent manner. In addition, the framework was appended with an additional module to automate screening the parameters and to output models consistent with previously reported network responses to different perturbations. By analyzing the network’s response in the presence of different combinations of regulatory mechanisms, the model captured the experimentally observed repressive effect of ORMs on serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT). Furthermore, predictions point to a second regulatory role of ORM proteins, namely as an activator of class II (or LOH1 and LOH3) ceramide synthases. This activating role was found to be modulated by the concentration of free ceramides, where an accumulation of these sphingolipid species dampened the activating effect of ORMs on ceramide synthase. The predictions pave the way for future guided experiments and have implications in engineering crops with higher biotic stress tolerance.
Predicting synchronous firing of large neural populations from sequential recordings
Authors: Sorochynskyi Oleksandr , Deny Stéphane , Marre Olivier , Ferrari Ulisse
Published: January 2021

A major goal in neuroscience is to understand how populations of neurons code for stimuli or actions. While the number of neurons that can be recorded simultaneously is increasing at a fast pace, in most cases these recordings cannot access a complete population: some neurons that carry relevant information remain unrecorded. In particular, it is hard to simultaneously record all the neurons of the same type in a given area. Recent progress have made possible to profile each recorded neuron in a given area thanks to genetic and physiological tools, and to pool together recordings from neurons of the same type across different experimental sessions. However, it is unclear how to infer the activity of a full population of neurons of the same type from these sequential recordings. Neural networks exhibit collective behaviour, e.g. noise correlations and synchronous activity, that are not directly captured by a conditionally-independent model that would just put together the spike trains from sequential recordings. Here we show that we can infer the activity of a full population of retina ganglion cells from sequential recordings, using a novel method based on copula distributions and maximum entropy modeling. From just the spiking response of each ganglion cell to a repeated stimulus, and a few pairwise recordings, we could predict the noise correlations using copulas, and then the full activity of a large population of ganglion cells of the same type using maximum entropy modeling. Remarkably, we could generalize to predict the population responses to different stimuli with similar light conditions and even to different experiments. We could therefore use our method to construct a very large population merging cells’ responses from different experiments. We predicted that synchronous activity in ganglion cell populations saturates only for patches larger than 1.5mm in radius, beyond what is today experimentally accessible.
Online analysis of microendoscopic 1-photon calcium imaging data streams
Authors: Friedrich Johannes , Giovannucci Andrea , Pnevmatikakis Eftychios A.
Published: January 2021

In vivo calcium imaging through microendoscopic lenses enables imaging of neuronal populations deep within the brains of freely moving animals. Previously, a constrained matrix factorization approach (CNMF-E) has been suggested to extract single-neuronal activity from microendoscopic data. However, this approach relies on offline batch processing of the entire video data and is demanding both in terms of computing and memory requirements. These drawbacks prevent its applicability to the analysis of large datasets and closed-loop experimental settings. Here we address both issues by introducing two different online algorithms for extracting neuronal activity from streaming microendoscopic data. Our first algorithm, OnACID-E, presents an online adaptation of the CNMF-E algorithm, which dramatically reduces its memory and computation requirements. Our second algorithm proposes a convolution-based background model for microendoscopic data that enables even faster (real time) processing. Our approach is modular and can be combined with existing online motion artifact correction and activity deconvolution methods to provide a highly scalable pipeline for microendoscopic data analysis. We apply our algorithms on four previously published typical experimental datasets and show that they yield similar high-quality results as the popular offline approach, but outperform it with regard to computing time and memory requirements. They can be used instead of CNMF-E to process pre-recorded data with boosted speeds and dramatically reduced memory requirements. Further, they newly enable online analysis of live-streaming data even on a laptop.
Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 transmission dynamics in rural villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with high nonhuman primate exposure
Authors: Halbrook Megan , Gadoth Adva , Shankar Anupama , Zheng HaoQiang , Campbell Ellsworth M. , Hoff Nicole A. , Muyembe Jean-Jacques , Wemakoy Emile Okitolonda , Rimoin Anne W. , Switzer William M.
Published: January 2021

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has a history of nonhuman primate (NHP) consumption and exposure to simian retroviruses yet little is known about the extent of zoonotic simian retroviral infections in DRC. We examined the prevalence of human T-lymphotropic viruses (HTLV), a retrovirus group of simian origin, in a large population of persons with frequent NHP exposures and a history of simian foamy virus infection. We screened plasma from 3,051 persons living in rural villages in central DRC using HTLV EIA and western blot (WB). PCR amplification of HTLV tax and LTR sequences from buffy coat DNA was used to confirm infection and to measure proviral loads (pVLs). We used phylogenetic analyses of LTR sequences to infer evolutionary histories and potential transmission clusters. Questionnaire data was analyzed in conjunction with serological and molecular data. A relatively high proportion of the study population (5.4%, n = 165) were WB seropositive: 128 HTLV-1-like, 3 HTLV-2-like, and 34 HTLV-positive but untypeable profiles. 85 persons had HTLV indeterminate WB profiles. HTLV seroreactivity was higher in females, wives, heads of households, and increased with age. HTLV-1 LTR sequences from 109 persons clustered strongly with HTLV-1 and STLV-1 subtype B from humans and simians from DRC, with most sequences more closely related to STLV-1 from Allenopithecus nigroviridis (Allen’s swamp monkey). While 18 potential transmission clusters were identified, most were in different households, villages, and health zones. Three HTLV-1-infected persons were co-infected with simian foamy virus. The mean and median percentage of HTLV-1 pVLs were 5.72% and 1.53%, respectively, but were not associated with age, NHP exposure, village, or gender. We document high HTLV prevalence in DRC likely originating from STLV-1. We demonstrate regional spread of HTLV-1 in DRC with pVLs reported to be associated with HTLV disease, supporting local and national public health measures to prevent spread and morbidity.
Temperature, but not excess of glycogen, regulates “in vitro” AMPK activity in muscle samples of steer carcasses
Authors: Strobel Pablo , Galaz Alex , Villaroel-Espíndola Franz , Apaoblaza Ariel , Slebe Juan Carlos , Jerez-Timaure Nancy , Gallo Carmen , Ramírez-Reveco Alfredo
Published: January 2021

Postmortem muscle temperature affects the rate of pH decline in a linear manner from 37.5°C to 0–2°C. The pH decline is correlated with the enzymatic degradation of glycogen to lactate and this process includes the metabolic coupling between glycogenolysis and glycolysis, and that are strongly upregulated by the AMPK. In this study, we used 12 samples previously characterized by have different muscle glycogen concentration, lactate and AMPK activity, selected from 38 steers that produced high final pH (>5.9) and normal final pH (<5.8) carcasses at 24 h postmortem. Moreover, we evaluated changes in the AMPK activity in samples from both categories incubated at 37, 25, 17 and 5°C and supplemented with exogenous glycogen. Finally, we analysed if there were structural differences between polymers from both categories. Our results showed that “in vitro” enzymatic AMPK activity evaluated at both 0.5 or 24 h was greater in samples from normal then high pH categories (p <0.01), and in all temperature of incubation analysed (17, 25 and 37°C). For other hand, a greater AMPK activity were obtained in samples incubated at 17 that 25 or 37°C, in normal carcasses at both 0.5 or 24 h (p < 0.01), as also in samples from carcasses categorized as high pH, but at 24 h (p < 0.05). Interestingly, AMPK activity was totally abolished at 5°C, independent of final pH category of carcasses, and was confirmed that the incubation temperature at which the maximum activity was obtained (p < 0.01), at least in carcasses with a normal pH is at 17°C. The enzymatic AMPK activity did not change in relation to excess glycogen (p > 0.05) and we did not detect structural differences in the polymers present in samples from both categories (p > 0.05), suggesting that postmortem AMPK activity may be highly sensitive to temperature and not toin vitrochanges in glycogen concentration (p > 0.05). Our results allow concluding that normal concentrations of muscle glycogen immediately at the time of slaughter (0.5 h) and an adequate cooling managing of carcasses are relevant to let an efficient glycogenolytic/glycolytic flow required for lactate accumulation and pH decline, through the postmortem AMPK signalling pathway.
Diagnostic system for the detection of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus RNA from suspected infected animals
Authors: Park Eun-sil , Fujita Osamu , Kimura Masanobu , Hotta Akitoyo , Imaoka Koichi , Shimojima Masayuki , Saijo Masayuki , Maeda Ken , Morikawa Shigeru
Published: January 2021

Background

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and cats. Clinical symptoms of SFTS-infected cats resemble those of SFTS patients, whereas SFTS-contracted cats have high levels of viral RNA loads in the serum and body fluids. Due to the risk of direct infection from SFTS-infected cats to human, it is important to diagnose SFTS-suspected animals. In this study, a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was newly developed to diagnose SFTS-suspected animals without non-specific reactions.

Methodology/principle findings

Four primer sets were newly designed from consensus sequences constructed from 108 strains of SFTSV. A RT-PCR with these four primer sets successfully and specifically detected four clades of SFTSV. Their limits of detection are 1–10 copies/reaction. Using this RT-PCR, 5 cat cases among 56 SFTS-suspected animal cases were diagnosed as SFTS. From these cats, IgM or IgG against SFTSV were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), but not neutralizing antibodies by plaque reduction neutralization titer (PRNT) test. This phenomenon is similar to those of fatal SFTS patients.

Conclusion/significance

This newly developed RT-PCR could detect SFTSV RNA of several clades and from SFTS-suspected animals. In addition to ELISA and PRNT test, the useful laboratory diagnosis systems of SFTS-suspected animals has been made in this study.
Granick revisited: Synthesizing evolutionary and ecological evidence for the late origin of bacteriochlorophyll via ghost lineages and horizontal gene transfer
Authors: Ward Lewis M. , Shih Patrick M.
Published: January 2021

Photosynthesis—both oxygenic and more ancient anoxygenic forms—has fueled the bulk of primary productivity on Earth since it first evolved more than 3.4 billion years ago. However, the early evolutionary history of photosynthesis has been challenging to interpret due to the sparse, scattered distribution of metabolic pathways associated with photosynthesis, long timescales of evolution, and poor sampling of the true environmental diversity of photosynthetic bacteria. Here, we reconsider longstanding hypotheses for the evolutionary history of phototrophy by leveraging recent advances in metagenomic sequencing and phylogenetics to analyze relationships among phototrophic organisms and components of their photosynthesis pathways, including reaction centers and individual proteins and complexes involved in the multi-step synthesis of (bacterio)-chlorophyll pigments. We demonstrate that components of the photosynthetic apparatus have undergone extensive, independent histories of horizontal gene transfer. This suggests an evolutionary mode by which modular components of phototrophy are exchanged between diverse taxa in a piecemeal process that has led to biochemical innovation. We hypothesize that the evolution of extant anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria has been spurred by ecological competition and restricted niches following the evolution of oxygenic Cyanobacteria and the accumulation of O2in the atmosphere, leading to the relatively late evolution of bacteriochlorophyll pigments and the radiation of diverse crown group anoxygenic phototrophs. This hypothesis expands on the classic “Granick hypothesis” for the stepwise evolution of biochemical pathways, synthesizing recent expansion in our understanding of the diversity of phototrophic organisms as well as their evolving ecological context through Earth history.
Epidemiology of COVID-19 vs. influenza: Differential failure of COVID-19 mitigation among Hispanics, Cook County Health, Illinois
Authors: Trick William E. , Badri Sheila , Doshi Kruti , Zhang Huiyuan , Rezai Katayoun , Hoffman Michael J. , Weinstein Robert A.
Published: January 2021

Background

During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., African-American or Hispanic communities were disproportionately impacted. To better understand the epidemiology and relative effects of COVID-19 among hospitalized Hispanic patients, we compared individual and census-tract level characteristics of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to those diagnosed with influenza, another viral infection with respiratory transmission. We evaluated temporal changes in epidemiology related to a shelter-in-place mandate.

Methods

We evaluated patients hospitalized at Cook County Health, the safety-net health system for the Chicago metropolitan area. Among self-identified hospitalized Hispanic patients, we compared those with influenza (2019–2020 season) to COVID-19 infection during March 16, 2020-May 11, 2020. We used multivariable analysis to identify differences in individual and census-tract level characteristics between the two groups.

Results

Relative to non-Hispanic blacks and whites, COVID-19 rapidly increased among Hispanics during promotion of social-distancing policies. Whereas non-Hispanic blacks were more likely to be hospitalized for influenza, Hispanic patients predominated among COVID-19 infections (40% relative increase compared to influenza). In the comparative analysis of influenza and COVID-19, Hispanic patients with COVID-19 were more likely to reside in census tracts with higher proportions of residents with the following characteristics: Hispanic; no high school diploma; non-US citizen; limited English speaking ability; employed in manufacturing or construction; and overcrowding. By multivariable analysis, Hispanic patients hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to those with influenza were more likely to be male (adjusted OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.9), obese (aOR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.5 to 4.2), or reside in a census tract with ≥40% of residents without a high-school diploma (aOR = 2.5; 95% CI 1.3 to 4.8).

Conclusions

The rapid and disproportionate increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations among Hispanics after the shelter-in-place mandate indicates that public health strategies were inadequate in protecting this population—in particular, for those residing in neighborhoods with lower levels of educational attainment.
The need for supportive mental wellbeing interventions in bladder cancer patients: A systematic review of the literature
Authors: Bessa Agustina , Rammant Elke , Enting Deborah , Bryan Richard T. , Shamim Khan Muhammad , Malde Sachin , Nair Rajesh , Thurairaja Ramesh , Cahill Fidelma , Amery Suzanne , Smith Sue , Ahmed Kamran , Russell Beth , Moss Charlotte , Chatterton Kathryn , Häggström Christel , Van Hemelrijck Mieke
Published: January 2021

Objectives

There is an increased awareness of the effect of a bladder cancer diagnosis and its treatments on the mental wellbeing of patients. However, few studies have evaluated the efficacy, feasibility and acceptability of interventions to improve this mental wellbeing. This systematic review is the first phase of the Medical Research Council Framework for developing complex interventions and provides an overview of the published mental wellbeing interventions that could be used to design an intervention specific for BC patients.

Methods

This review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines in January 2019 and studies were identified by conducting searches for Medline, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Ovid Gateway. All included studies met the following criteria: mental wellbeing interventions of adults with medically confirmed diagnosis of any type of urological cancer, reported outcomes for specific HRQoL domains including psychological factors. The quality of evidence was assessed according to Down and Black 27-item checklist.

Results

A total of 15,094 records were collected from the literature search and 10 studies matched the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, nine interventions were for patients with prostate cancer and one for patients with kidney cancer. No studies were found for other urological cancers. Depression was the most commonly reported endpoint measured. Of the included studies with positive efficacy, three were group interventions and two were couple interventions. In the group interventions, all showed a reduction in depressive symptoms and in the couple interventions, there was a reduction in depressive symptoms and a favourable relationship cohesion. The couple interventions were the most feasible and acceptable, but further research was required for most of the studies.

Conclusion

While awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing in bladder cancer patients is growing, this systematic literature review highlights the gap of feasible and acceptable interventions for this patient population.
Gamifying quantitative face-to-face interviews in rural India: An empirical evaluation based on the basic psychological needs theory
Authors: Aubert Alice H. , Friedrich Max N. D.
Published: January 2021

Objective

Standardized face-to-face interviews are widely used in low and middle-income countries to collect data for social science and health research. Such interviews can be long and tedious. In an attempt to improve the respondents’ experience of interviews, we developed a concept of gamified interview format by including a game element. Gamification is reported to increase engagement in tasks, but results from rigorously developed research are equivocal, and a theory of gamification is still needed.

Materials & methods

We evaluated the proposed gamification with a randomized controlled trial based on self-determination theory, specifically on the basic psychological needs theory. In total, 1266 respondents were interviewed. Single and multiple mediation analyses were used to understand the effects of the gamified interview format.

Results

Our evaluation showed that the gamification we had developed did not improve the outcome, the experience of the interview reported by respondent. The effect of the gamified interview format depended on the ability of respondents: gamification can be counterproductive if it overburdens the respondents. However, the basic psychological needs theory explained the mechanisms of action of gamification well: feeling competent and related to others improved the reported experience of the interview.

Conclusion

We emphasize the need to develop context-specific gamification and invite researchers to conduct equivalently rigorous evaluations of gamification in future studies.
Mitochondrial genome diversity on the Central Siberian Plateau with particular reference to the prehistory of northernmost Eurasia
Authors: Dryomov Stanislav V. , Nazhmidenova Azhar M. , Starikovskaya Elena B. , Shalaurova Sofia A. , Rohland Nadin , Mallick Swapan , Bernardos Rebecca , Derevianko Anatoly P. , Reich David , Sukernik Rem I.
Published: January 2021

The Central Siberian Plateau was the last geographic area in Eurasia to become habitable by modern humans after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Through a comprehensive dataset of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes retained in the remnats of earlier (“Old”) Siberians, primarily the Ket, Tofalar, and Todzhi, we explored genetic links between the Yenisei-Sayan region and Northeast Eurasia (best represented by the Yukaghir) over the last 10,000 years. We generated 218 new complete mtDNA sequences and placed them into compound phylogenies with 7 newly obtained and 70 published ancient mitochondrial genomes. We have considerably extended the mtDNA sequence diversity (at the entire mtDNA genome level) of autochthonous Siberians, which remain poorly sampled, and these new data may have a broad impact on the study of human migration. We compared present-day mtDNA diversity in these groups with complete mitochondrial genomes from ancient samples from the region and placed the samples into combined genealogical trees. The resulting components were used to clarify the origins and expansion history of mtDNA lineages that evolved in the refugia of south-central Siberia and beyond, as well as multiple phases of connection between this region and distant parts of Eurasia.
Switched and unswitched memory B cells detected during SARS-CoV-2 convalescence correlate with limited symptom duration
Authors: Newell Krista L. , Clemmer Deanna C. , Cox Justin B. , Kayode Yetunde I. , Zoccoli-Rodriguez Victoria , Taylor Harry E. , Endy Timothy P. , Wilmore Joel R. , Winslow Gary M.
Published: January 2021

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of the pandemic human respiratory illness COVID-19, is a global health emergency. While severe acute disease has been linked to an expansion of antibody-secreting plasmablasts, we sought to identify B cell responses that correlated with positive clinical outcomes in convalescent patients. We characterized the peripheral blood B cell immunophenotype and plasma antibody responses in 40 recovered non-hospitalized COVID-19 subjects that were enrolled as donors in a convalescent plasma treatment study. We observed a significant negative correlation between the frequency of peripheral blood memory B cells and the duration of symptoms for convalescent subjects. Memory B cell subsets in convalescent subjects were composed of classical CD24+ class-switched memory B cells, but also activated CD24-negative and natural unswitched CD27+ IgD+ IgM+ subsets. Memory B cell frequency was significantly correlated with both IgG1 and IgM responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein receptor binding domain (RBD) in most seropositive subjects. IgM+ memory, but not switched memory, directly correlated with virus-specific antibody responses, and remained stable over 3 months. Our findings suggest that the frequency of memory B cells is a critical indicator of disease resolution, and that IgM+ memory B cells may play an important role in SARS-CoV-2 immunity.
Understanding the relationship between safety beliefs and knowledge for cognitive enhancers in UK university students
Authors: Nguyen Ngoc Trai , Rakow Tim , Gardner Benjamin , Dommett Eleanor J.
Published: January 2021

Background

Cognitive enhancers (CE) are prescription drugs taken, either without a prescription or at a dose exceeding that which is prescribed, to improve cognitive functions such as concentration, vigilance or memory. Previous research suggests that users believe the drugs to be safer than non-users and that they have sufficient knowledge to judge safety. However, to date no research has compared the information sources used and safety knowledge of users and non-users.

Objectives

This study compared users and non-users of CE in terms of i) their sources of knowledge about the safety of CE and ii) the accuracy of their knowledge of possible adverse effects of a typical cognitive enhancer (modafinil); and iii) how the accuracy of knowledge relates to their safety beliefs.

Methods

Students (N = 148) from King’s College London (UK) completed an anonymous online survey assessing safety beliefs, sources of knowledge and knowledge of the safety of modafinil; and indicated whether they used CE, and, if so, which drug(s).

Results

The belief that the drugs are safe was greater in users than non-users. However, both groups used comparable information sources and have similar, relatively poor drug safety knowledge. Furthermore, despite users more strongly believing in the safety of CE there was no relationship between their beliefs and knowledge, in contrast to non-users who did show correlations between beliefs and knowledge.

Conclusion

These data suggest that the differences in safety beliefs about CE between users and non-users do not stem from use of different information sources or more accurate safety knowledge.