bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Imaging of increased peritumoral glutamate and glutamine in gliomas using 7T MRSI
Authors: Hangel Gilbert , Lazen Philipp , Cadrien Cornelius , Chambers Stefanie , Furtner Julia , Hingerl Lukas , Strasser Bernhard , Kiesel Barbara , Mischkulnig Mario , Preusser Matthias , Roetzer-Pejrimovsky Thomas , Wöhrer Adelheid , Bogner Wolfgang , Rössler Karl , Trattnig Siegfried , Widhalm Georg
Published: October 2024

Objectives

Diffuse gliomas, due to their infiltrative properties, still lack effective treatment options. Recent research indicates that infiltration, malignancy, and symptoms such as epilepsy are related to synaptic connections between infiltrating glioma cells and cytotoxic levels of glutamate release. We previously showed that high-resolution 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) can resolve metabolic heterogeneities in gliomas. With this study, we evaluated 7T MRSI-derived glutamate (Gln) and glutamine (Glu) ratio maps for their use in defining infiltrative tumor activity in the peritumoral region.

Materials and Methods

We analyzed 7T MRSI scans of 36 patients with low- and high-grade gliomas. Within the visible tumor and a peritumoral shell, we calculated medians and Dice similarity coefficients (DSC) for nine metabolic ratios with and without hotspot thresholding and evaluated their correlation to and statistical significance between clinical parameters (e.g., tumor-associated epilepsy, IDH status, grade).

Results

The Glu/tCr (total creatine) median was significantly higher in the peritumoral VOI (1.13) compared to the tumor (0.92) and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM, 0.87), while the Gln/tCr median was highest in the tumor (0.77, vs 0.44 peritumoral and 0.33 in NAWM, all significantly different). Glu/tCho (total choline) was significantly higher in the peritumor as well (3.44 vs 2.23 tumoral and 2.06 in NAWM). Peritumoral DSCs for Glu/tCr and Gln/tCr hotspots were comparable (0.53 to 0.51). Peritumoral Gln/Glu was significantly different between patients with and without tumor-associated epilepsy, and intratumoral (Glu+Gln)/tCr was significantly different between IDH mutation and wildtype. IDH mutation correlated negatively with the intratumoral (Glu+Gln)/tCr median (-0.53) and high grade correlated with intratumoral Glx/tNAA, Glx/tCr, and Gln/tCr medians (0.50/0.53/0.58).

Conclusions

7T MRSI can not only map relevant metabolic information in the structurally visible tumor volume, but also detect infiltration in the peritumoral area. Gln and Glu are candidates for the development of presurgical imaging and treatment monitoring.
Prevalence and factors associated with iron deficiency anaemia among preterm infants attending clinics in Dodoma, Tanzania: A facility-based cross sectional study
Authors: Mchwampaka Christer R , Mahamba Dina C. , Matovelo Shubi , Jumanne Shakilu
Published: October 2024

Aim

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among preterm infants is a global public health problem due to its effects on development, immunity and general growth that may be irreversible. Despite the high burden of preterm births in Tanzania the prevalence and factors associated with IDA among preterm infants remains relatively understudied and this constituted of the aim of this study.

Methods

A cross-sectional analytical study design was conducted among 190 preterm infants who attended pediatric clinic in Dodoma City from December 2022 to May 2023. Socio-demographic, clinical information, and laboratory markers of hemoglobin and iron status were obtained. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine factors associated with the outcome (Iron Deficiency Anaemia).

Results

A total of 190 preterm infants were enrolled in the study and the mean age was 4.01 months (SD ±0.99 month. The prevalence of IDA among preterm infants was 11.58%. Factors associated with IDA were very low birth weight (AOR 6.906, CI: 1.4774-32.359, pvalue <0.0142), preterm infant not supplemented with Iron (AOR 6.282, CI:1.045-37.763, p value<0.0446, multiple pregnancies (AOR 6.848, CI:1.692-27.708,p value <0.0006) and severe anaemia during pregnancy (AOR 11.998, CI:5.068-40.197,p value<0.0001).

Conclusion

Iron deficiency anemia was found to be 11.58% which fall under public health problem under WHO classification. To reduce IDA among preterm infants, there has to be an emphasis on iron supplementation to all preterm infants, and those with very low birth weight, born from mother who had multiple pregnancy and severe anaemia during pregnancy need close follow up and improved postnatal

Keynotes

This study enrolled 190 preterm infants attending pediatric clinic in Dodoma city to determine factors associated with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA)

Globally IDA in preterm infants range between 25 to 80, which complicates their prematurity by causing poor growth, poor functioning of multiple organ systems, poor neurological development and contributes to death and disability

Iron supplementation to all preterm infants is highly recommended
“Support for my dad would have benefited me because I was the one looking after him”: A qualitative analysis of the support needs of young people exposed to Adverse Childhood Experiences
Authors: Avery Flo , James Michaela , Cowley Laura Elizabeth , Griffiths Lucy , Bellis Mark A. , Hughes Karen , Brophy Sinead
Published: October 2024

Background

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with negative health and wellbeing outcomes. Ensuring young people receive timely and appropriate support after experiencing ACEs could improve these outcomes.

Objective

This study aimed to explore what works to support young people living with ACEs; what support do they receive, and what are the characteristics of valuable help?

Participants and Setting

Young people living in Wales aged 16–18 years (n=559) completed an online survey about their ACEs and the help they did or did not receive with these experiences.

Methods

Free text responses were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Co-production workshops with young people were utilised to guide the analytic process.

Results

Few participants reported accessing enough support. Five themes were developed: “Help me by helping my family”, “Talking to a trusted adult is helpful… until it’s not”, “Being informed: ‘I was kept in the loop’”, “Schools and colleges as sites of support” and “Loneliness and peer support”.

Conclusions

More support is needed for young people with ACEs. Young people find it helpful when their whole family is supported in times of adversity, not blamed. People who provide support should be empathic and non-judgmental. Young people would rather be spoken to about ACEs and ‘kept in the loop’ than have them treated as a taboo or sensitive subject. Experiencing ACEs can be lonely in the absence of peer support. Schools and colleges are acceptable sites of support and may be well placed to provide opportunities for peer support.
PAV-spotter: using signal cross-correlations to identify Presence/Absence Variation in target capture data
Authors: de Visser Manon , Ploeg Chris van der , Cvijanović Milena , Vučić Tijana , Theodoropoulos Anagnostis , Wielstra Ben
Published: October 2024

High throughput sequencing technologies have become essential in the fields of evolutionary biology and genomics. When dealing with non-model organisms or genomic gigantism, sequencing whole genomes is still relatively costly and therefore reduced-genome representations are frequently obtained, for instance by ‘target capture’ approaches. While computational tools exist that can handle target capture data and identify small-scale variants such as single nucleotide polymorphisms and micro-indels, options to identify large scale structural variants are limited. To meet this need, we introduce PAV-spotter: a tool that can identify presence/absence variation (PAV) in target capture data. PAV-spotter conducts a signal cross-correlation calculation, in which the distribution of read counts per target between samples of differenta prioridefined classes – e.g. male versus female, or diseased versus healthy – are compared. We apply and test our methodology by studyingTriturusnewts: salamanders with gigantic genomes that currently lack an annotated reference genome.Triturusnewts suffer from a hereditary disease that kills half their offspring during embryogenesis. We compare the target capture data of two different types of diseased embryos, characterized by unique deletions, with those of healthy embryos. Our findings show that PAV-spotter helps to expose such structural variants, even in the face of medium to low sequencing coverage levels, low sample sizes, and background noise due to mis-mapped reads. PAV-spotter can be used to study the structural variation underlying supergene systems in the absence of whole genome assemblies. The code, including further explanation, is available through the PAV-spotter GitHub repository:https://github.com/Wielstra-Lab/PAVspotter.
Assessing the Incidence and Severity of Field Diseases in Marigold (Tagetes erecta) Cultivation: Results from Jashore District, Bangladesh
Authors: Shome Anannya , Ahmmed Abu Noman Faruq , Zaman Rabita
Published: October 2024

A research investigation was carried out in the Jashore district of Bangladesh to study diseases affecting marigold plants, while the laboratory analyses were conducted in the Plant Disease Study Facility, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka. The experiment was conducted by surveying three farmers from each of the sixteen villages across four unions in Jhikargacha Upazila to document the occurrence and severity of diseases under natural field conditions. The fungal pathogens surveyed in these diseases were six: leaf spot, botrytis blight, flower bud rot, stem rot, foliage blight, white mold-soil-borne diseases. The most important microflora reported to be associated with these diseases includeAlternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria dianthi, Fusarium oxysporum, Curvularia lunata, andSclerotinia sclerotiorum. Of these, major diseases included leaf spot, botrytis blight, foliage blight or flower and leaf blight, and flower bud rot, while minor diseases included stem rot and white mold. Disease incidence ranged from 0-54.33%, while disease severity varied from 1-24%. The paper is the first record of marigold pathogens in Bangladesh and will be highly useful during disease identification, and it would lead to the better cultivation of marigolds in this area.
A Language Model Built on Sleep Stage Sequences Enables Efficient Sleep Assessment
Authors: Yu Tianyou , Gu Zhenghui , Huang Rui , Wang Fei , Li Man , Yu Jingang , Yu Zhuliang , Zhang Jun , Xu Yan , Jiang Haiteng , Liu Wenjuan , Deng Guifeng , Gao Zhengrun , Wu Yiwen , Liu Jun , Zhang Yu , Jones Matt W , Li Yuanqing , Xiao Jun , Wu Wei
Published: October 2024

Sleep assessment is fundamental to understanding sleep architecture, identifying sleep disorders, and advancing personalized sleep medicine. However, current clinical sleep assessment methods rely on time-consuming and often costly procedures, limiting their accessibility and scalability. This study introduces SleepGPT, the first GPT-based language model for efficient sleep assessment encompassing both sleep staging and disorder identification. SleepGPT lever-ages the sequential structure of sleep hypnograms, recognizing strong correlations between successive sleep stages to extract relevant patterns and transitions. Following self-supervised pretraining on manually annotated large-scale whole-night hypnograms, SleepGPT yielded consistent performance gains in sleep staging and disorder diagnosis across five publicly available datasets, with successful blinded replications on three independent datasets. Notably, experiments on established sleep staging benchmarks validate SleepGPT as a robust add-on module that reliably enhances the performance of existing methods. SleepGPT-powered models furthermore achieved comparable sleep staging accuracy using wearable EEG and polysomnography (PSG) in a dataset recorded simultaneously with both modalities. Moreover, a SleepGPT-powered transformer model substantially surpassed state-of-the-art performance in classifying abnormal sleep stage sequences and diagnosing Type-1 narcolepsy. These findings underscore the potential of SleepGPT-powered models as clinically translatable and scalable artificial intelligence (AI) tools for sleep assessment, opening new avenues to advancing precision medicine for sleep disorders.
Symptom burden, viral load, and antibody response to ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strain [D614G] in an outpatient household cohort
Authors: Churiwal Mehal , Tompkins Kathleen , Streeter Gabrielle , Litel Christy , Mason Sydney , Lin Kelly , Muller Meredith , Chhetri Srijana , Belvin Tia , Basham Christopher , Whittelsey Maureen , Rapp Tyler , Premkumar Lakshmanane , Cerami Carla , Lin Jessica T.
Published: October 2024

Background

Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, description of COVID-19 illness among non-hospitalized patients was limited. Data from household cohorts can help reveal the full spectrum of disease and the potential for long-term sequelae, even in non-severe disease.

Methods

Daily symptom diaries were collected in a US household cohort of SARS-CoV-2 infection from April to November 2020, during the pre-COVID vaccine period. SARS-CoV-2 nasal viral loads were measured at study entry and weekly until day 21; serologic testing was performed at study entry and day 28. A subset of volunteers underwent an additional assessment 8-10 months later. Participants who met the criteria for early infection—testing antibody-negative at study entry but PCR-positive either at baseline or during follow-up—were included in this analysis (n=143).

Results

Daily symptoms were ascertained in 143 outpatients with acute COVID-19, including 60 index cases who sought testing and 83 of their household contacts. Asymptomatic cases comprised 16% (13/83) of SARS-CoV-2 infections detected among household contacts. Among 119 persons with mild or moderate illness, the number of symptoms peaked 3 or 4 days after symptom onset. Fever and anosmia occurred in nearly half of participants. Symptom severity was associated with increased age, viral load, and cardiovascular disease. Increased BMI was associated with a higher antibody level at day 28, independent of symptom severity. Those with a higher day 28 antibody level were more likely to develop symptoms consistent with post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 (PASC), also known as long COVID-19, 8-10 months later.

Conclusions

Fever, anosmia, as well as asymptomatic infection were common features of COVID-19 non-severe illness when the D614G variant circulated in the US, before the availability of vaccines or outpatient therapies. Antibody levels following acute infection were linked to the development of symptoms of PASC 8-10 months later.
Spatial Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Human Brains of Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Ng Bernard , Avey Denis R. , Lopes Katia de Paiva , Fujita Masashi , Vialle Ricardo A. , Vyas Himanshu , Kearns Nicola A. , Tasaki Shinya , Iatrou Artemis , Tissera Sashini De , Chang Tien-Hao , Xu Jishu , Yu Chunjiang , Sultan Faraz , Menon Vilas , Gaiteri Chris , De Jager Philip L. , Bennett David A. , Wang Yanling
Published: October 2024

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are critical regulators of physiological and pathological processes, with their dysregulation increasingly implicated in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Using spatial transcriptomics, we analyzed 78 postmortem brain sections from 21 ROSMAP participants to map the spatial expression of lncRNAs in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of aged human brains. Compared to mRNAs, lncRNAs exhibited greater subregion-specific expression, with enrichment in antisense and lincRNA biotypes. Network analysis identified 193 gene modules across eight subregions, including lncRNA-enriched modules involved in critical biological processes. We also identified AD differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs, which showed greater subregion specificity than AD DE mRNAs. Gene set enrichment analysis highlighted the involvement of these AD DE lncRNAs in epigenetic regulation and chromatin remodeling, including enrichment for HDAC target genes such as OIP5-AS1. Statistical modeling suggested that interactions between OIP5-AS1 and HDAC proteins, particularly HDAC11, were associated with tau tangles in excitatory neurons and plaque burden in microglia. This study provides a comprehensive resource of lncRNA spatial expression in the aged human brain and uncovers potential functional roles of lncRNAs in AD pathogenesis.
Deep learning-based embryo assessment of static images can reduce the time to live birth inin vitrofertilization
Authors: Yu Lu , Lam Kevin K W , Ng Ernest H Y , Yeung William S B , Yu Lequan , Lee Yin Lau , Huang Yuanhua
Published: October 2024

The low success rate inin vitrofertilization (IVF) may be related to our inability to select embryos with good implantation potential by traditional morphology grading and remains a great challenge to clinical practice. Multiple deep learning-based methods have been introduced to improve embryo selection. However, existing methods only achieve limited prediction power and generally ignore the repeated embryo transfers from one stimulated IVF cycle. To improve the deep learning-based models, we introduce Embryo2live, which assesses the multifaceted qualities of embryos from static images taken under standard inverted microscope, primarily in vision transformer frameworks to integrate global features. We first demonstrated its superior performance in predicting Gardner’s blastocyst grades with up to 9% improvement from the best existing method. We further validated its high capability of supporting transfer learning using the large clinical dataset of the Centre. Remarkably, when applying Embryo2live to the clinical dataset for embryo prioritization, we found it improved the live birth rates of the Top 1 embryo in patients with multiple embryos available for transfer from 23.0% with conventional morphology grading to 71.3% using Embryo2live, reducing the average number of embryo transfers from 2.1 to 1.4 to attain a live birth.
Health-related quality of life in parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors: a report from the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivor Study - Parents
Authors: Kälin Sonja , Baenziger Julia , Mader Luzius , Harju Erika , Gumy-Pause Fabienne , Niggli Felix , Sommer Grit , Michel Gisela , Roser Katharina
Published: October 2024

Purpose

Having a child with cancer can profoundly impact parents’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, there is a lack of knowledge about the long-term effects of childhood cancer on parents’ well-being. The current study aimed to 1) describe the HRQOL of parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and compare it with that of parents from the general population in Switzerland, and 2) investigate sociodemographic and cancer-related determinants of lower HRQOL in parents of CCS.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 751 parents of CCS (mean time since diagnosis = 23.7 years, SD = 6.7 years) and 454 parents from the general population reported their HRQOL by completing the Short Form-36 (SF-36v2). Sociodemographic and cancer-related characteristics were also collected.

Results

Multilevel regression analyses showed that parents of CCS and parents from the general population had similar physical and mental HRQOL. When comparing mothers and fathers separately, there were no differences between the samples, except for higher HRQOL in the domain of physical functioning in mothers of CCS. Cancer-related characteristics were not associated with HRQOL in parents of CCS. Several sociodemographic characteristics such as being female, being from the French or Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, having a lower education, having a chronic condition, and having a migration background were associated with lower HRQOL.

Conclusion

Parents of CCS are doing well a long time after their child’s cancer diagnosis. Nevertheless, tailored support should be provided for at-risk demographic groups.

Plain English summary

Having a child with cancer might have a profound impact on various aspects of parents’ well-being, including their quality of life. However, not much is known about how parents are doing very long after their child’s cancer diagnosis. Our study aimed to describe the quality of life of parents of childhood cancer survivors and compare it to that of parents from the general population. Furthermore, we sought to compare mothers and fathers separately. We conducted a questionnaire survey with 751 parents of childhood cancer survivors, on average 24 years after the diagnosis. Additionally, 454 parents from the general population completed a similar questionnaire. We found that parents of survivors reported a similar quality of life to parents from the general population. When comparing mothers and fathers separately, we found no differences between the samples, except for higher quality of life in the domain of physical functioning among mothers of survivors compared to mothers of the general population. We conclude that overall, parents of childhood cancer survivors are doing well long after their child’s cancer diagnosis.
Looking into working memory to verify potential targets during search
Authors: Wang Sisi , van Ede Freek
Published: October 2024

Finding what you are looking for is a ubiquitous task in everyday life that relies on a two-way comparison between what is currently viewed and internal search goals held in memory. Yet, despite a wealth of studies tracking visual verification behavior among the external contents of perception, complementary processes associated with visual verification among internal contents of memory remain elusive. Building on a recently established gaze marker of internal visual focusing in working memory, we tracked the internal-inspection process associated with confirming or dismissing potential targets during search. We show how we look back into memory when faced with external stimuli that are perceived as potential targets and link such internal inspection to the time required for visual verification. A direct comparison between visual verification among the contents of working memory or perception further revealed how verification in both domains engages frontal theta activity in scalp EEG, but also how mnemonic verification is slower to deploy than perceptual verification. This establishes internal verification behavior as an integral component of visual search, and provides new ways to look into this underexplored component of human search behavior.
Activity-dependent extracellular proteolytic cascade remodels ECM to promote structural plasticity
Authors: Singh Jeet Bahadur , Perelló-Amorós Bartomeu , Schneeberg Jenny , Seidenbecher Constanze I. , Fejtová Anna , Dityatev Alexander , Frischknecht Renato
Published: October 2024

The brain’s perineuronal extracellular matrix (ECM) is a crucial factor in maintaining the stability of mature brain circuitry. However, how is activity-induced synaptic plasticity achieved in the adult brain with a dense ECM? We hypothesized that neuronal activity induces cleavage of ECM components, creating space for synaptic rearrangements. To test this hypothesis, we investigated neuronal activity-dependent proteolytic cleavage of brevican, a prototypical perineuronal ECM proteoglycan, and its importance of this process for functional and structural synaptic plasticity in the rat hippocampusex vivo. Our findings revealed that chemical long-term potentiation (cLTP) triggers a rapid brevican cleavage through the activation of an extracellular proteolytic cascade involving proprotein convertases and ADAMTS-4 and ADAMTS-5. This process is dependent on NMDA receptors and requires astrocytes. Interestingly, the extracellular full-length brevican increases upon cLTP, indicating a simultaneous secretion of ECM components. Interfering with cLTP-induced brevican cleavage did not impact the early LTP but prevented formation of new dendritic protrusions. Collectively, these results reveal a mechanism of activity-dependent ECM remodeling and suggest that ECM degradation is essential for structural synaptic plasticity.
Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis rhythms are driven by the SCN independent of adipocyte clocks
Authors: Paschos Georgios K. , Lordan Ronan , Hollingsworth Taylor , Lekkas Damien , Kelch Sean , Loro Emanuele , Verginadis Ioannis , Khurana Tejvir , Sengupta Arjun , Weljie Aalim , FitzGerald Garret A.
Published: October 2024

Circadian misalignment has been associated with obesity both in rodents and humans. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis contributes to energy expenditure and can be activated in adults to reduce body weight. Although previous studies suggest control of BAT thermogenesis by the circadian clock, the site and mechanisms of regulation remain unclear. We used mice with genetic disruption of the circadian clock in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and peripheral tissues to delineate their role in BAT thermogenesis. Global post-natal deletion ofBmal1in adult mice (Bmal1-/-) abolishes the rhythms of interscapular BAT temperature, a measure of thermogenesis, while normal locomotor activity rhythms are maintained under a regular 12h light-12h dark schedule. Activation of thermogenesis either by exposure to cold or adrenergic stimulation of BAT displays a diurnal rhythm with higher activation during the active period. Both the rhythm and the magnitude of the thermogenic response is preserved inBmal1-/-mice. In contrast to mice with global deletion ofBmal1, mice with brown adipocyte (Ucp1-Bmal1-/-) or brown and white adipocyte (Ad-Bmal1-/-) deletion ofBmal1show intact rhythms of BAT thermogenic activity. The capacity of Ucp1-Bmal1-/-mice to activate thermogenesis in response to exposure to cold is identical to WT mice, independent of time of stimulation. Circadian rhythmicity of interscapular BAT temperature is lost in mice with SCN deletion of Bmal1 (SCN-Bmal1-/-), indicating control of BAT thermogenesis rhythms by the SCN. Control mice exhibit rhythmic BAT glucose and fatty acid uptake - a rhythm that is not recapitulated inBmal1-/-and SCN-Bmal1-/-mice but is present in Ucp1-Bmal1-/-and Ad-Bmal1-/-mice. BAT cAMP and phosphorylated hormone-sensitive lipase (pHSL) is reduced during the active period inBmal1-/-and SCN-Bmal1-/-mice consistent with reduced sympathetic tone. Furthermore, sympathetic denervation of BAT ablates BAT temperature rhythms in WT mice. Taken together, our findings suggest that the SCN drives rhythms of BAT thermogenesis through adipocyte clock-independent, sympathetic signaling to the BAT.
Foraging associations are related with helping interactions in a cooperatively breeding bird
Authors: Ferreira André C. , Farine Damien R. , Silva Liliana R. , Fortuna Rita , Doutrelant Claire , Covas Rita
Published: October 2024

Kin selection has been the main hypothesis explaining helping behaviour in cooperative breeders, with evidence being largely based on the observation that helpers tend to provide to related offspring. However, kin-biased help could conceal additional, mechanisms contributing to the maintenance of cooperation. Under pay-to-stay, group augmentation and partner choice hypotheses, a range of direct benefits can arise through helping. Here, we explored this potential mechanism by testing whether the social associations of breeding individuals were related with the help that they received from non-breeding individuals. We collected social associations from PIT-tagged sociable weavers,Philetairus socius, at RFID feeding stations, which allowed us to compare associations between breeders and either their helpers (mostly kin) or their other kin that did not help—before, during and after reproduction. Using correlative tests and data-driven simulations, we show that helpers have stronger foraging bonds with breeders than non-helping kin, and that these stronger bonds are present both prior and post breeding. Furthermore, helper-breeding female social affiliations were positively correlated with the amount of help provided. Our results suggest that direct benefits of social associations complement kin selection to determine helping decision, and that these in turn influence future social associations.
Large inversions in Lake Malawi cichlids are associated with habitat preference, lineage, and sex determination
Authors: Kumar Nikesh M. , Cooper Taylor L. , Kocher Thomas D. , Streelman J. Todd , McGrath Patrick T.
Published: October 2024

Chromosomal inversions are an important class of genetic variation that link multiple alleles together into a single inherited block that can have important effects on fitness. To study the role of large inversions in the massive evolutionary radiation of Lake Malawi cichlids, we used long-read technologies to identify four single and two tandem inversions that span half of each respective chromosome, and which together encompass over 10% of the genome. Each inversion is fixed in one of the two states within the seven major ecogroups, suggesting they played a role in the separation of the major lake lineages into specific lake habitats. One exception is within the benthic sub-radiation, where both inverted and non-inverted alleles continue to segregate within the group. The evolutionary histories of three of the six inversions suggest they transferred from the pelagic Diplotaxodon group into benthic ancestors at the time the benthic sub-radiation was seeded. The remaining three inversions are found in a subset of benthic species living in deep waters. We show that some of these inversions are used as XY sex-determination systems but are also likely limited to a subset of total lake species. Our work suggests that inversions have been under both sexual and natural selection in Lake Malawi cichlids and that they will be important to understanding how this adaptive radiation evolved.
Spatiotemporal dynamics and selectivity of mRNA translation during mouse pre-implantation development
Authors: Ming Hao , Iyyappan Rajan , Kakavand Kianoush , Dvoran Michal , Susor Andrej , Jiang Zongliang
Published: October 2024

Translational regulation is pivotal during preimplantation development. However, how mRNAs are selected for temporal regulation and their dynamic utilization and fate during this period are still unknown. Using a high-resolution ribosome profiling approach, we analyzed the transcriptome, as well as monosome- and polysome-bound RNAs of mouse oocytes and embryos, defining an unprecedented extent of spatiotemporal translational landscapes during this rapid developmental phase. We observed previously unknown mechanisms of translational selectivity, i.e., stage-wise deferral of loading monosome-bound mRNAs to polysome for active translation, continuous translation of both monosome and polysome-bound mRNAs at the same developmental stage, and priming to monosomes after initial activation. We showed that a eukaryotic initiation factor Eif1ad3, which is exclusively translated in the 2-Cell embryo, is required for ribosome biogenesis post embryonic genome activation. Our study thus provides genome-wide datasets and analyses of spatiotemporal translational dynamics accompanying mammalian germ cell and embryonic development and reveals the contribution of a novel translation initiation factor to mammalian pre-implantation development.
The chromatin tapestry as a framework for neurodevelopment
Authors: Nolan Ben , Reznicek Timothy E. , Cummings Christopher T. , Rowley M. Jordan
Published: October 2024

The neuronal nucleus houses a meticulously organized genome. Within this structure, genetic material is not simply compacted but arranged into a precise and functional 3D chromatin landscape essential for cellular regulation. This mini-review highlights the importance of this chromatin landscape in healthy neurodevelopment, as well as the diseases that occur with aberrant chromatin architecture. We discuss insights into the fundamental mechanistic relationship between histone modifications, DNA methylation, and genome organization. We then discuss findings that reveal how these epigenetic features change throughout normal neurodevelopment. Finally, we highlight single-gene neurodevelopmental disorders that illustrate the interdependence of epigenetic features, showing how disruptions in DNA methylation or genome architecture can ripple across the entire epigenome. As such, we emphasize the importance of measuring multiple chromatin architectural aspects, as the disruption of one mechanism can likely impact others in the intricate epigenetic network. This mini-review underscores the vast gaps in our understanding of chromatin structure in neurodevelopmental diseases and the substantial research needed to understand the interplay between chromatin features and neurodevelopment.
Sensing force gradients with cavity optomechanics while evading backaction
Authors: Arvidsson Elisabet K. , Scarano Ermes , Roos August K. , Qvarfort Sofia , Haviland David B.
Published: October 2024

We study force-gradient sensing with a coherently driven mechanical resonator and phase-sensitive detection of motion through the two-tone backaction evading measurement of cavity optomechanics. The response of the optomechanical system, solved by numerical integration of the classical equations of motion, shows an extended region which is monotonic to changes in force gradient. We use Floquet theory to model the fluctuations, which rise only slightly above that of the usual backaction evading measurement in the presence of the mechanical drive. The monotonic response and minimal backaction are advantageous for applications such as atomic force microscopy.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Rare
B
and
K
decays in a scotogenic model
Authors: Chen Chuan-Hung , Chiang Cheng-Wei
Published: October 2024

A scotogenic model can radiatively generate the observed neutrino mass, provide a dark matter candidate, and lead to rare lepton flavor-violating processes. We aim to extend the model to establish a potential connection to the quark flavor-related processes within the framework of scotogenesis, enhancing the unexpectedly large branching ratio (BR) of B+→K+νν¯ observed by the Belle II Collaboration. Meanwhile, the model can address tensions between some experimental measurements and standard model (SM) predictions in flavor physics, such as the muon g−2 excess and the higher BR of Bs→μ−μ+. In the model, we introduce the following dark particles: a neutral singlet Dirac-type lepton (N); two inert Higgs doublets (η1,2), with one carrying a lepton number; a charged singlet dark scalar (χ+); and a singlet vectorlike up-type dark quark (T). The first two entities are responsible for the radiative neutrino mass, and χ+ couples to right-handed quarks and leptons and can resolve the tensions existing in muon g−2 and Bs→μ−μ+. Furthermore, the BR of B+→K+νν¯ can be enhanced up to a factor of 2 compared to the SM prediction through the mediations of the dark T and the charged scalars. In addition, we also study the impacts on the K→πνν¯ decays.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Testing Whether Gravity Acts as a Quantum Entity When Measured
Authors: Hanif Farhan , Das Debarshi , Halliwell Jonathan , Home Dipankar , Mazumdar Anupam , Ulbricht Hendrik , Bose Sougato
Published: October 2024

A defining signature of classical systems is “in principle measurability” without disturbance: a feature manifestly violated by quantum systems. We describe a multi-interferometer experimental setup that can, in principle, reveal the nonclassicality of a spatial superposition-sourced gravitational field if an irreducible disturbance is caused by a measurement of gravity. While one interferometer sources the field, the others are used to measure the gravitational field created by the superposition. This requires neither any specific form of nonclassical gravity, nor the generation of entanglement between any relevant degrees of freedom at any stage, thus distinguishing it from the experiments proposed so far. This test, when added to the recent entanglement-witness based proposals, enlarges the domain of quantum postulates being tested for gravity. Moreover, the proposed test yields a signature of quantum measurement induced disturbance for any finite rate of decoherence, and is device independent.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
QCD Running Coupling in the Nonperturbative and Near-Perturbative Regimes
Authors: de Téramond Guy F. , Paul Arpon , Brodsky Stanley J. , Deur Alexandre , Dosch Hans Günter , Liu Tianbo , Sufian Raza Sabbir ,   HLFHS Collaboration
Published: October 2024

We use analytic continuation to extend the gauge-gravity duality nonperturbative description of the strong force coupling into the transition, near-perturbative, regime where perturbative effects become important. By excluding the unphysical region in coupling space from the flow of singularities in the complex plane, we derive a specific relation between the scales relevant at large and short distances; this relation is uniquely fixed by requiring maximal analyticity. The unified effective coupling model gives an accurate description of the data in the nonperturbative and the near-perturbative regions.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Temporal entanglement barriers in dual-unitary Clifford circuits with measurements
Authors: Yao Jiangtian , Claeys Pieter W.
Published: October 2024

We study temporal entanglement in dual-unitary Clifford circuits with probabilistic measurements preserving spatial unitarity. We exactly characterize the temporal entanglement barrier in the measurement-free regime, exhibiting ballistic growth and decay and a volume-law peak. In the presence of measurements, we relate the temporal entanglement to the scrambling properties of the circuit. For “good scramblers” measurements do not qualitatively change the temporal entanglement profile but only result in a reduced entanglement velocity, whereas for “poor scramblers” the initial ballistic growth of temporal entanglement with bath size is modified to diffusive. This difference is understood through a mapping of the underlying operator dynamics to a biased and an unbiased persistent random walk, respectively. In the latter case measurements additionally modify the ballistic decay to the perfect dephaser limit, with vanishing temporal entanglement, to an exponential decay, which we describe through a spatial transfer matrix method. This spatial dynamics is shown to be described by a non-Hermitian hopping model, exhibiting a PT-breaking transition at a critical measurement rate p=1/2. In all cases the peak value of the temporal entanglement barrier exhibits volume-law scaling for all measurement rates.

Published by the American Physical Society
2024
Identifying the policy configurational conditions for off-site construction development: a case of China
Authors: Wu Zezhou , Zhang Shuhui , Xue Hong , Li Vera
Published: October 2024

Purpose

A series of policies have been formulated to promote off-site construction (OSC) development. However, the effectiveness of these policies has yet to be fully explored. This study aims to explore the practical policy configurational conditions for achieving a high level of OSC development.

Design/methodology/approach

Data on policy configurational conditions and the OSC development level were collected from 28 provinces/municipalities in China using text mining. A mixed-method approach was used to conduct data analysis involving text analysis and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). Text analysis was used to identify current policies with frequencies as independent variables and obtain the proportion of OSC projects in new construction projects as the dependent variable. QCA is employed to analyze the necessary and sufficient conditions of policy conditions for the high-level development of OSC by exploring the complex causal relationships between policy configurational conditions and the OSC development level.

Findings

Nine policies are obtained from the current policy framework for promoting OSC development using text analysis: industry supports, land policies, presale policies, reputation rewards, regulation controls, tax incentives, floor area rewards, financial subsidies, and loan subsidies. Four policy configurational conditions are identified that can achieve a high development level of OSC: three incentive-driven policy conditions with industry supports, presale policies, tax incentives, and floor area rewards as the core conditions, and one compulsory-driven policy conditions with land policies, financial supports, and loan supports as the core conditions using fuzzy set QCA. Moreover, our study found that a single policy cannot achieve a high level of OSC development as a necessary condition, and the policy configurational conditions that lead to high and nonhigh levels of OSC development are asymmetrical.

Research limitations/implications

The study did not test the policy’s dynamic effects on the OSC development. A longitudinal study will be conducted to further identify the impact of policy on OSC implementation.

Practical implications

It provides policymakers with four practical policy configurational conditions to promote OSC development and guides policymakers to optimize effective policies considering the interaction effects of effective policies such as industry supports, presale policies, tax incentives, and floor area rewards instead of their net effects.

Originality/value

It contributes to the existing literature concerning the effects of policy on emerging technology (i.e. OSC) promotion by elucidating configurative effects rather than net effects. Meanwhile, it enriches the research on the antecedent conditions that affect the implementation of other emerging technologies in the architecture engineering and construction industry.
Coopetitive service innovation: the role of geographical proximity, innovation focus and customer cooperation
Authors: Virtanen Henrik , Björk Peter
Published: October 2024

Purpose

Previous research on the impact of coopetition on innovation performance has provided contradictory results. Thus, this study aims to fill the gap by gathering data to explain the impact of coopetition on service innovation, considering the partners’ geographical proximity, innovation focus of the firm and cooperation with customers.

Design/methodology/approach

A logistic regression model is applied, and four hypotheses are tested using data from the Eurostat Community Innovation Survey 2018. The cross-sectional data set consists of 13,723 firms innovating services in selected European Union countries.

Findings

The findings verify the importance of coopetition for service innovation. However, the coopetitive partners’ nationality does not have a significant impact. Furthermore, the integration of customer cooperation with coopetition enhances service innovation. Hence, competing partners seem not to avoid cooperation in output functions near the customers. To coopete in innovation is risky, but the findings reveal that partners develop novel services through coopetition, intended to produce a higher return to compensate for the risks.

Originality/value

Presumably, this is one of the first large-scale studies examining the impact of coopetition on service innovation in a European context. This study indicates that coopetition amplifies service innovation, thus reducing the divergent views on the impact of coopetition on innovation performance. It responds to the request for more research on the context of coopetitive innovation by explaining how the firms’ geographical proximity, innovation focus and cooperation with customers impact their service innovation performance.
Study on the properties of water-retted Cymbopogon citratus pseudostem fibres and their nonwoven fabric characteristics
Authors: Wardiningsih Wiah , Rudy Ryan , Salis Witri Aini , Aprilia Rinayati , Jannah Rachmaningsih Wardatul , Mulyani Rr Wiwiek Eka
Published: October 2024

Purpose

This study aims to analyse cellulose fibres extracted from the pseudo-stems of Cymbopogon citratus and evaluate their properties in non-woven fabric production.

Design/methodology/approach

The water retting method was used for fibre extraction, and intrinsic fibre qualities were examined to assess their suitability for textile applications. A thermal bonding technique, using a hot press machine and polylactic acid powder as a binder, was applied for non-woven fabric development.

Findings

The retted fibres had an average length of 156 mm and a fineness value of 5.73 tex. The fibre’s tenacity and elongation values were 1.33 gf/denier and 12.78%, respectively. Fourier transform infrared analysis confirmed the presence of major cellulose components. The fibre’s crystallinity and friction coefficient were 50% and 0.3, respectively. C. citratus fibre exhibited hygroscopic characteristics with a moisture regain of 10.65%. Experimental non-woven fabrics (70% C. citratus fibre, 30% polylactic acid powder) demonstrated consistent weight and thickness, with variations in tensile strength. Moisture regain values for non-woven fabrics were approximately 7.6%.

Originality/value

The features of C. citratus fibre, obtained with the water retting process, exhibited suitability for textile applications. Three experimental non-woven fabrics comprising of C. citratus fibre and polylactic acid powder were produced with three different pressing temperatures. The tensile strength properties of these fabrics were influenced by pressing temperature.
The Sacrificial Economy: The Economic Conditions for the Development of Free Churches in Late Nineteenth‐Century Sweden*
Authors: Berg Anne
Published: October 2024

Free church organisations were a vital part of Christian evangelical revivalism in the Nordic countries around the turn of the century in 1900. In this paper, a new piece is added to the puzzle regarding why free churches developed and survived. Against the background of a case study of the Swedish Uppsala Missionary Congregation's cultural economy 1870s–1890s, it is argued that a particular rationality — a sacrificial economy — was an important prerequisite for organisational development. The paper therefore adds a materialist explanatory factor to the organisational development of revivalism in late nineteenth‐century Sweden.
Do gender quotas increase political knowledge?
Authors: VENTURINI GIULIA
Published: October 2024

Do gender quotas increase political knowledge? While some studies suggest that quotas can positively impact women's political engagement and participation, others find null or negative effects. This paper focuses on Western Europe and argues that the implementation of quotas serves as an attention and consciousness‐raising event, potentially enhancing awareness of the political sphere. To investigate this, I propose a novel research design that capitalizes on the (quasi) exogenous shock resulting from the introduction of gender quotas. By influencing symbolic representation, quotas may enhance women's sense of empowerment, equality and willingness to engage in politics. Furthermore, the impact is expected to be more pronounced among younger women due to the heightened political socialization experienced during adolescence. Thus, the institutional change brought about by quotas is anticipated to particularly boost political knowledge among (younger) women and subsequently narrow the gender gap. To examine this hypothesis, I analyse data from 1992 to 2018 from 12 countries, of which six implemented gender quotas. Using a hierarchical Bayesian model, I assess respondents' answers to knowledge questions. The findings indicate that the introduction of gender quotas in parliamentary systems has a positive effect on reducing the gender gap in political knowledge among younger individuals, while the effects are statistically insignificant for older citizens.