bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Passive Smoking Throughout the Life Course and the Risk of Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis in Adulthood Among Women
Authors: Yoshida Kazuki , Wang Jiaqi , Malspeis Susan , Marchand Nathalie , Lu Bing , Prisco Lauren C. , Martin Lily W. , Ford Julia A. , Costenbader Karen H. , Karlson Elizabeth W. , Sparks Jeffrey A.
Published: August 2021

Objective

To investigate passive smoking throughout the life course and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), while accounting for personal smoking.

Methods

We analyzed the Nurses’ Health Study II prospective cohort, using information collected via biennial questionnaires. We assessed the influence of 1) maternal smoking during pregnancy (in utero exposure), 2) childhood parental smoking, and 3) years lived with smokers since age 18. Incident RA and serostatus were determined by medical record review. Using the marginal structural model framework, we estimated the controlled direct effect of each passive smoking exposure on adult incident RA risk by serologic phenotype, controlling for early‐life factors and time‐updated adulthood factors including personal smoking.

Results

Among 90,923 women, we identified 532 incident RA cases (66% seropositive) during a median of 27.7 years of follow‐up. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with RA after adjustment for confounders, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.25 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.03–1.52), but not after accounting for subsequent smoking exposures. Childhood parental smoking was associated with seropositive RA after adjustment for confounders (HR 1.41 [95% CI 1.08–1.83]). In the controlled direct effect analyses, childhood parental smoking was associated with seropositive RA (HR 1.75 [95% CI 1.03–2.98]) after controlling for adulthood personal smoking, and the association was accentuated among ever smokers (HR 2.18 [95% CI 1.23–3.88]). There was no significant association of adulthood passive smoking with RA (HR 1.30 for ≥20 years of living with a smoker versus none [95% CI 0.97–1.74]).

Conclusion

We found a potential direct influence of childhood parental smoking on adult‐onset incident seropositive RA even after controlling for adulthood personal smoking.
Integrated interdisciplinary workflows for research on historical newspapers: Perspectives from humanities scholars, computer scientists, and librarians
Authors: Oberbichler Sarah , Boroş Emanuela , Doucet Antoine , Marjanen Jani , Pfanzelter Eva , Rautiainen Juha , Toivonen Hannu , Tolonen Mikko
Published: August 2021

This article considers the interdisciplinary opportunities and challenges of working with digital cultural heritage, such as digitized historical newspapers, and proposes an integrated digital hermeneutics workflow to combine purely disciplinary research approaches from computer science, humanities, and library work. Common interests and motivations of the above‐mentioned disciplines have resulted in interdisciplinary projects and collaborations such as the NewsEye project, which is working on novel solutions on how digital heritage data is (re)searched, accessed, used, and analyzed. We argue that collaborations of different disciplines can benefit from a good understanding of the workflows and traditions of each of the disciplines involved but must find integrated approaches to successfully exploit the full potential of digitized sources. The paper is furthermore providing an insight into digital tools, methods, and hermeneutics in action, showing that integrated interdisciplinary research needs to build something in between the disciplines while respecting and understanding each other's expertise and expectations.
Lithium Polystyrene Sulfonate as a Hole Transport Material in Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells
Authors: Ali Khawaja Kausar , Khan Yeasin , Park Yu Jung , Lee Jin Hee , Kang Ju Hwan , Kim Kiwoong , Yi Yeonjin , Seo Jung Hwa , Walker Bright
Published: August 2021

Despite the exceptional efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), further improvements can be made to bring their power conversion efficiencies (PCE) closer to the Shockley‐Queisser limit, while the development of cost‐effective strategies to produce high‐performance devices are needed for them to reach their potential as a widespread energy source. In this context, there is a need to improve existing charge transport layers (CTLs) or introduce new CTLs. In this contribution, we introduced a new polyelectrolyte (lithium poly(styrene sulfonate (PSS))) (Li:PSS) polyelectrolyte as an HTL in inverted PSCs, where Li+ can act as a counter ion for the PSS backbone. The negative charge on the PSS backbone can stabilize the presence of p‐type carriers and p‐doping at the anode. Simple Li:PSS performed poorly due to poor surface coverage and voids existence in perovskite film as well as low conductivity. PEDOT:PSS was added to increase the conductivity to the simple Li:PSS solution before its use which also resulted in lower performance. Furthermore, a bilayer of PEDOT:PSS and Li:PSS was employed, which outperformed simple PEDOT:PSS due to high quality of perovskite film with large grain size also the large electron injection barrier (ϕe) impeded back diffusion of electrons towards anode. As a consequence, devices employing PEDOT:PSS / Li:PSS bilayers gave the highest PCE of 18.64%.
An interlaboratory study on EPA methods 537.1 and 533 for per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substance analyses
Authors: Whitaker Joshua S. , Hrabak Robert B. , Ramos Marnellie , Neslund Charles , Li Yongtao
Published: August 2021

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Methods 537.1 and 533 were developed for analysis of per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. They have been also widely used for source water assessments. However, there are few studies reportedly supporting such applications. The main purpose of this interlaboratory study was to evaluate the performance of these two methods for use with both potable and nonpotable waters. The obtained matrix spike recoveries indicate that both methods are generally applicable for analysis of PFAS in pristine nonpotable water matrices, however, with a notable challenge for effectively extracting long‐chain PFAS from some nonpotable water matrices. Another challenge associated with EPA Method 533 is the impacts likely caused by co‐extracted common inorganic anions on those PFAS that do not have their own isotopically labeled analogues available. The experimental results indicate that these challenges can be successfully resolved or reduced by enhancing postextraction bottle rinsing and elution procedures.

Article Impact Statement

This study indicates that Environmental Protection Agency Methods 537.1 and 533 are applicable for pristine nonpotable water per‐ and polyfluoroalkyl substance analysis or source water assessment.
Hierarchical assemblies of polypeptoids for rational design of advanced functional nanomaterials
Authors: Zhao Mingfei
Published: August 2021

Polypeptoids (poly‐N‐substituent glycines) are a class of highly tailorable peptidomimetic polymers. Polypeptoids have identical backbones as polypeptides (poly‐C‐substituent glycines), but sidechains of polypeptoids are appended to backbone nitrogen rather than α‐carbon of polypeptides. As a result, peptoid backbone lacks of chirality and hydrogen bond donors. This unique structure gives polypeptoids a combined merit of both high stability as synthetic polymers and biocompatibility as biopolymers. In addition, peptoid sequences can be engineered precisely to assemble specific crystalline patterns such as spheres, fibers, ribbons, tubes, and sheets, which shows promising potentials of polypeptoids for different applications such as antimicrobials, catalysts, drug delivery, and templating inorganic materials. In this review, we summarize recent investigations into hierarchical self‐assembly pathways and molecular structures of peptoid crystals that are of interest as templates for fabricating functional materials for potential biomedical, biochemical, and bioengineering applications. This review provides a summary of recent experimental and computational studies of polypeptoid assembly in solution and solid‐liquid interfaces, current achievements in the field, and discusses future challenges and opportunities for the rational design of self‐assembled polypeptoid nanomaterials.
Design of transfections: Implementation of design of experiments for cell transfection fine tuning
Authors: Mancinelli Sara , Turcato Andrea , Kisslinger Annamaria , Bongiovanni Antonella , Zazzu Valeria , Lanati Antonella , Liguori Giovanna Lucia
Published: August 2021

Transfection is the process by which nucleic acids are introduced into eukaryotic cells. This is fundamental in basic research for studying gene function and modulation of gene expression as well as for many bioprocesses in the manufacturing of clinical‐grade recombinant biologics from cells. Transfection efficiency is a critical parameter to increase biologics' productivity; the right protocol has to be identified to ensure high transfection efficiency and therefore high product yield. Design of experiments (DoE) is a mathematical method that has become a key tool in bioprocess development. Based on the DoE method, we developed an operational flow that we called “Design of Transfections” (DoT) for specific transfection modeling and identification of the optimal transfection conditions. As a proof of principle, we applied the DoT workflow to optimize a cell transfection chemical protocol for neural progenitors, using polyethyleneimine (PEI). We simultaneously varied key influencing factors, namely concentration and type of PEI, DNA concentration, and cell density. The transfection efficiency was measured by fluorescence imaging followed by automatic counting of the green fluorescent transfected cells. Taking advantage of the DoT workflow, we developed a new simple, efficient, and economically advantageous PEI transfection protocol through which we were able to obtain a transfection efficiency of 34%.
Antennapedia‐derived positively‐charged peptide faces multiple problems upon their usage as targeting ligand for liposomal doxorubicin
Authors: Kousani Sima , Karimi Maryam , Teymouri Manouchehr , Navashenaq Jamshid gholizadeh , Darban Shahrzad Amiri , Jaafari Mahmoud Reza
Published: August 2021

The positively‐charged peptide antp derived from Antennapedia transcription protein is demonstrated to mediate the liposome translocation across the cell membrane. In the current investigation, we prepared a stable liposomal doxorubicin (Dox) formulation and targeted it with the antp peptide from 0 to 200 ligand/liposome. These antp‐containing liposomes were investigated in terms of physical stability on storage in the refrigerator and upon incubation in blood. Also, other features like cell binding, uptake, biodistribution, and treatment efficiency were evaluated in C26 colon carcinoma BALB/c mice. The Antp in liposomes resulted in enhanced particle growth with the development of the enormously large liposomes from 2000 to 6000 nm. Upon incubation in blood, these large liposomes were removed. The antp also enhanced the cell binding affinity and cell uptake rate of the liposomes and resulted in the restriction of the cancer cell proliferation, but it failed to improve the chemotherapeutic property of the Dox‐liposome. The i.v. injection of antp‐liposomes (15 mg Dox/kg) caused severe body weight loss and early death incidence due to probably increased toxicity. The antp targeting offered no advantage to the Dox‐liposome in the delivery of Dox to the tumor, and failed to enhance the treatment efficiency of the liposomes.
Trilaciclib prior to chemotherapy reduces the usage of supportive care interventions for chemotherapy‐induced myelosuppression in patients with small cell lung cancer: Pooled analysis of three randomized phase 2 trials
Authors: Ferrarotto Renata , Anderson Ian , Medgyasszay Balazs , García‐Campelo Maria Rosario , Edenfield William , Feinstein Trevor M. , Johnson Jennifer M. , Kalmadi Sujith , Lammers Philip E. , Sanchez‐Hernandez Alfredo , Pritchett Yili , Morris Shannon R. , Malik Rajesh K. , Csőszi Tibor
Published: August 2021

Background

Supportive care interventions used to manage chemotherapy‐induced myelosuppression (CIM), including granulocyte colony‐stimulating factors (G‐CSFs), erythropoiesis‐stimulating agents (ESAs), and red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, are burdensome to patients and associated with greater costs to health care systems. We evaluated the utilization of supportive care interventions and their relationship with the myeloprotective agent, trilaciclib.

Methods

Data were pooled from three independent randomized phase 2 clinical trials of trilaciclib or placebo administered prior to chemotherapy in patients with extensive‐stage small cell lung cancer (ES‐SCLC). The impact of supportive care on the duration of severe neutropenia (DSN), occurrence of severe neutropenia (SN), and occurrence of RBC transfusions on/after week 5 was analyzed across cycles 1–4. Concordance and association between grade 3/4 anemia, RBC transfusions on/after week 5, and ESA administration was also evaluated.

Results

The use of G‐CSFs, ESAs, or RBC transfusions on/after week 5 was significantly lower among patients receiving trilaciclib versus placebo (28.5% vs. 56.3%, p < 0.0001; 3.3% vs. 11.8%, p = 0.0254; and 14.6% vs. 26.1%, p = 0.0252, respectively). Compared with placebo, trilaciclib significantly reduced DSN and SN, irrespective of G‐CSF administration. RBC transfusions and ESAs were most often administered in patients with grade 3/4 anemia; however, patients typically received RBC transfusions over ESA administration.

Conclusions

By improving CIM and reducing the need for associated supportive care, trilaciclib has the potential to reduce the burden of myelosuppression on patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy for the treatment of ES‐SCLC.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02499770; NCT03041311; NCT02514447).
The impact of hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosis on patients' health‐related quality of life
Authors: Verma Manisha , Paik James M. , Younossi Issah , Tan Daisong , Abdelaal Hala , Younossi Zobair M.
Published: August 2021

Background

Patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) are known to have worse health‐related quality of life (HRQL) than the general population. However, the change in HRQL from before the diagnosis to after diagnosis remains unknown and is difficult to estimate. We aimed to compare HCC cases with matched controls to evaluate the differences in change in HRQL from before to after HCC diagnosis.

Methods

We performed propensity score‐matched analysis using the self‐reported HRQL data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries (SEER) data linked with Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (MHOS) data (1998–2014). Cases were selected as Medicare beneficiaries (aged ≥65 years) who were diagnosed with HCC between their baseline assessment and follow‐up assessment. Matched controls were selected from the same data resource and the same time period to include subjects without cancer diagnosis by propensity scores. HRQL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form‐36 (SF‐36).

Results

The study included 62 subjects who developed HCC and 365 matched controls. Compared to their baseline HRQL scores, after diagnosis of HCC, subjects were more likely to report declines in scores related to the mental component of HRQL. When stratified by time since diagnosis, mental component remained significantly lower as the disease advanced. In contrast, only general health aspects of physical health worsened after HCC diagnosis.

Conclusions

Diagnosis of HCC has a profound negative impact on patients’ HRQL. Mental health component deteriorated significantly over time. The need of including mental health services within a multidisciplinary HCC care model is clearly evident.
X‐rays Actuate Anticancer Drugs: Opening New Vistas in Prodrug Therapy
Authors: Vaidya Shreyas P. , Patra Malay
Published: August 2021

Chemotherapy is the primary treatment modality employed in the clinic for the treatment of cancer. Despite proven clinical success, adverse side effects are one of the drawbacks of this approach. The prodrug strategy has emerged as an alternative approach with the aim of alleviating these drawbacks. Prodrug activation is typically achieved by either endogenous or exogenous triggers. Exogenous triggers like light are appealing as they are independent of inherent patient and/or cancer‐type variations. However, tissue penetration depth remains the Achilles’ heel of this approach. In this context, usage of X‐rays as the external trigger with infinite tissue penetration depth opens up exciting prospects in prodrug activation strategies.
Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles as Nano‐Scale Bioreactors: A Fatty Acid Conversion Case Study
Authors: Song Ji‐Won , Baeg Yoonjin , Jeong Ha‐Yeon , Lee Jinwon , Oh Deok‐Kun , Hollmann Frank , Park Jin‐Byung
Published: August 2021

Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) are small unilamellar proteoliposomes, involved in various functions including cell‐to‐cell signalling and protein excretion. We have engineered the OMVs of Escherichia coli to nano‐scaled bioreactors for the biotransformation of fatty acids by targeting a fatty acid double bond hydratase of Stentrophomonas maltophilia (SmOhyA) and/or a photoactivated fatty acid decarboxylase from Chlorella variabilis NC64 A (CvFAP) into OMVs. Engineered OMVs containing both SmOhyA and CvFAP were able to catalyse the transformation of oleic acid ((Z)‐octadec‐9‐enoic acid) into 9‐hydroxyheptadecane via (R)‐10‐hydroxyoctadecanoic acid. The specific biotransformation rates of oleic acid reached 8.0×10−12 μmol/min per OMV.
In Situ Fabrication of NiMn‐LDH@MWCNT Composites with Hierarchical Structure for Superior Electrochemical Energy Storage
Authors: Li Yan , Hu Bihao , Hu Bingbing , Xu Chuanlan , Yang Shu , Yu Jingjing , Zhang Biao , Liu Yuping , Yu Danmei , Chen Changguo
Published: August 2021

As an electrochemical energy storage material, transition metal layered double hydroxides (MLDHs) have attracted attention due to tunable two‐dimensional structure and low cost. In this study, NiMn‐LDH@MWCNT composites with hierarchical structure have been successfully synthesized with simple and economical one‐step hydrothermal method. The hierarchical structure of composites was formed by NiMn‐LDH nanosheets growing directly on multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). This design not only can maintain excellent network conductive channels, but also increase active sites, enlarge specific surface area, and reduce internal resistance. Our results show that the NiMn‐LDH‐4 composite exhibits an excellent electrochemical performance with an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 1863 F g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1 and 1164 F g−1 when the current density goes up 10 times. This may be attributed to the synergy effect of the hierarchical structure and introduction MWCNT. Moreover, the assembled NiMn‐LDH‐4//AC device can provide a relatively high specific energy density of 51.5 Wh kg−1 at a high energy density of 455.7 W kg−1 and possess great cycling stability (83.9 % capacitance retention after 5000 cycles).
Polyacrylonitrile Derived Porous Carbon for Zinc‐Ion Hybrid Capacitors with High Energy Density
Authors: Fan Xiaowen , Liu Penggao , Ouyang Baixue , Cai Ruizheng , Chen Xinxin , Liu Xicang , Liu Weifang , Wang Jue , Liu Kaiyu
Published: August 2021

Aqueous zinc‐ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) attract widespread attention due to their excellent electrochemical performance, safety, and low cost. Here, a honeycomb‐like porous carbon is synthesized as the cathode of ZIHCs via facile pre‐oxidation in combination with an activation process. The pre‐oxidized porous carbon (PPC) displays a larger specific surface area and faster electrochemical kinetics compared to porous carbon without pre‐oxidation (PC), realizing a superior electrochemical performance. The PPC cathode can deliver a capacity of 238 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1. Besides, the hybrid capacitors can achieve a high energy density of 193.6 Wh kg−1 at 76.6 W kg−1 and 109.5 Wh kg−1 at a maximum power density of 3981 W kg−1. More importantly, the hybrid capacitor exhibits a good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 83 % after 20000 cycles at a high current density of 2 A g−1. This cathode material – with an excellent electrochemical performance – could pave the way for application of ZIHCs.
Boosting the cell performance of the SiOx@C anode material via rational design of a Si‐valence gradient
Authors: Tao Jianming , Yan Zerui , Yang Jiangshao , Li Jiaxin , Lin Yingbin , Huang Zhigao
Published: August 2021

Relieving the stress or strain associated with volume change is highly desirable for high‐performance SiOx anodes in terms of stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI)‐film growth. Herein, a Si‐valence gradient is optimized in SiOx composites to circumvent the large volume strain accompanied by lithium insertion/extraction. SiOx@C annealed at 850°C has a gentle Si‐valence gradient along the radial direction and excellent electrochemical performances, delivering a high capacity of 506.9 mAh g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 with a high Coulombic efficiency of ~99.8% over 400 cycles. Combined with the theoretical prediction, the obtained results indicate that the gentle Si‐valence gradient in SiOx@C is useful for suppressing plastic deformation and maintaining the inner connection integrity within the SiOx@C particle. Moreover, a gentle Si‐valence gradient is expected to form a stress gradient and affect the distribution of dangling bonds, resulting in local stress relief during the lithiation/delithiation process and enhanced Li‐ion kinetic diffusion. Furthermore, the lowest interfacial stress variation ensures a stable SEI film at the interface and consequently increases cycling stability. Therefore, rational design of a Si‐valence gradient in SiOx can provide further insights into achieving high‐performance SiOx anodes with large‐scale production.
Mechanochromic Luminescence (MCL) of Purely Organic Two‐Component Dyes: Wide‐Range MCL over 300 nm and Two‐Step MCL by Charge‐Transfer Complexation
Authors: Ito Suguru , Sekine Ryohei , Munakata Masayasu , Yamashita Maho , Tachikawa Takashi
Published: August 2021

Despite recent extensive studies on mechanochromic luminescence (MCL), rational control over the magnitude of the emission‐wavelength shift in response to mechanical stimuli remains challenging. In the present study, a two‐component donor‐acceptor approach has been applied to create a variety of organic MCL composites that exhibit remarkable emission‐wavelength switching. Dibenzofuran‐based bis(1‐pyrenylmethyl)diamine and typical organic fluorophores have been employed as donor and acceptor dyes, respectively. Outstanding wide‐range MCL with an emission‐wavelength shift of over 300 nm has been achieved by mixing the diamine with 3,4,9,10‐perylenetetracarboxylic diimide. Unprecedented two‐step MCL in response to mechanical stimuli of different intensity has also been realized for a two‐component mixture with 9,10‐anthraquinone. Fluorescence microscopy observations at the single‐particle level revealed that the segregation and mixing of the two‐component dyes contribute to the stimuli‐responsive emission‐color switching of the MCL composites.
Bestimmung der partikulären Eigenschaften von aufbereiteten Sekundärrohstoffen aus Wärmedämmverbundsystemen
Authors: Fehn Thomas , Wolf Sebastian , Schreiber Alex , Teipel Ulrich
Published: August 2021

In den vergangenen Jahrzehnten ist aufgrund der energetischen Anforderung der Anteil an verbauten Wärmedämmverbundsystemen (WDVS) in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland deutlich angestiegen. Aktuell kommt es zu einem signifikanten Anstieg von WDVS‐Abfällen, für die noch keine etablierte Recyclingstrategie existiert. Aus diesem Grund wurden in dieser Arbeit WDVS‐Abfälle im Sinne der Kreislaufwirtschaft aufbereitet, um die erhaltenen Sekundärrohstoffe industriell nutzbar zu machen. Um eine zielgerichtete Wiederverwertung zu ermöglichen und den Stoffkreislauf von WDVS langfristig zu schließen, wurden partikuläre Eigenschaften wie der Zerkleinerungsgrad, Sphärizität, Dispersität sowie die Fließfähigkeit und Kompressibilität der Rezyklate untersucht.
A two‐layer chance‐constrained optimization model for a thickening‐dewatering process with uncertain variables
Authors: Zhang Hualu , Wang Fuli , Li Kang , Zou Guobin , Zhao Luping
Published: August 2021

The feed mass and the filter‐press mass per cabinet (FMP) are uncertain variables in the thickening‐dewatering (TD) process. These uncertain variables must be considered for the optimization; otherwise, the energy economic index (EEI) and the safety risks will increase. Therefore, in this paper, a two‐layer chance‐constrained optimization model for the TD process with uncertain variables is proposed. The optimization model is a sample average approximate‐expected value model (SAA‐EVM), and scenarios are generated by Monte‐Carlo simulation. To reduce the computational time, the optimization model is divided into a two‐layer chance‐constrained optimization model. The computational time is reduced by reducing the dimensions of the decision variables. Simulation results show that this two‐layer chance‐constrained optimization model can reduce the EEI and safety risks and improve the stability of the process, while the computational time meets the requirements of mineral processing plants.
Ticagrelor or clopidogrel dual antiplatelet therapy following a pharmacoinvasive strategy in ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction
Authors: Welsh Robert C. , Shavadia Jay S. , Zheng Yinggan , Tyrrell Benjamin D. , Leung Raymond , Bainey Kevin R.
Published: August 2021

Objectives

To describe and evaluate outcomes in STEMI patients sustained on clopidogrel compared to those switched to ticagrelor following fibrinolysis.

Background

World‐wide, many STEMI patients cannot achieve timely PCI and therefore require fibrinolysis. Although comparable 30‐day and 1‐year safety was shown with clopidogrel or ticagrelor in the TREAT study, there is paucity of long‐term outcomes in pharmacoinvasive treated STEMI.

Methods

We conducted an observational cohort study evaluating consecutive pharmacoinvasive STEMI patients treated in a network, comparing those switched to ticagrelor to those sustained on clopidogrel. The primary efficacy composite was one‐year all‐cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction, and stroke with major bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) as the safety outcomes. Multivariable Cox regression model was used to examine the association between P2Y12 inhibitor and outcomes with inverse probability weighting.

Results

Of 1426 pharmacoinvasive STEMI patients, 28% (n = 396) were converted to ticagrelor at a mean of 9.9 h after fibrinolysis with comparable GRACE Risk Scores (median; 158 vs 157, p0.352). The primary composite occurred in 3.5% of ticagrelor and 7.0% of clopidogrel treated patients (p0.014). Following adjustment, ticagrelor was associated with a 54% lower composite outcome (adjusted HR 0.46, 95% confidence interval 0.26–0.84). Major bleeding 6.3% vs 6.1% (NS) and ICH 0.0% vs 0.2% (NS) were similar.

Conclusions

In a prospective STEMI cohort, switching to ticagrelor compared with sustaining clopidogrel following fibrinolysis pharmacoinvasive reperfusion reduced recurrent ischemic events at 1‐year with no differences in major bleeding or ICH. Aligned with randomized data, these findings provide support to switch pharmaco‐invasively treated STEMI patients.
Rapid and Mild One‐Flow Synthetic Approach to Unsymmetrical Sulfamides Guided by Bayesian Optimization
Authors: Sugisawa Naoto , Sugisawa Hiroki , Otake Yuma , Krems Roman V. , Nakamura Hiroyuki , Fuse Shinichiro
Published: August 2021

Bayesian optimization (BO) is regarded as an efficient approach that can identify optimal conditions using a restricted number of experiments. Despite demonstrated potential of BO, applications of BO‐based approaches in synthetic organic chemistry remain limited. Herein, we achieved the first rapid and mild (5.1 s, 20 °C) one‐flow synthesis of unsymmetrical sulfamides from inexpensive sulfuryl chloride. Undesired reactions were successfully suppressed and the risk in handling sulfuryl chloride was minimized by the use of micro‐flow technology. The reaction conditions producing ≥75 % yield were identified by a machine learning approach based on BO. It was demonstrated that BO produced the desired reaction conditions with a small number of experiments (19 and 10 experiments) in the entire search space (10,500 combinations of reaction conditions). Gaussian process (GP) models produced by BO provided the relationships between combinations of reaction parameters and outputs (RCRPO).
Self‐assessment of health status among lesbian, gay, and bisexual cancer survivors in the United States
Authors: Li Yannan , Theodoropoulos Nicholas , Fujiwara Yu , Xie Hui , Wang Qian
Published: August 2021

Background

Research is lacking for understanding the health disparities in cancer survivorship in the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) population in the United States. Self‐reported health status is used as a predictor of health disparities.

Methods

This secondary data analysis study used 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to analyze cancer survivorship characteristics by sexual orientation and sex through the use of logistic regressions.

Results

Overall, 17,656,329 US cancer survivors were included in this study after weighting, with percentage estimates of 1.52% for gays/lesbians and 1.41% for bisexuals. LGB participants were younger and more ethnically diverse. Significantly, bisexuals had current smoking (32.3% vs 13.6%) and binge drinking rates (17.1% vs 9.1%) twice those of heterosexuals; 16.6% of bisexuals versus 4.1% of heterosexuals reported no health insurance coverage (P < .0001). After adjustments for socioeconomic, health‐related behavioral risk, and health care access factors, bisexual females reported poorer general health (odds ratio [OR], 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31‐1.36) as well as mental health (OR, 2.43; 95% CI, 2.39‐2.46) than their heterosexual peers (P < .0001). Bisexual males were 5.14 times more likely to be told that they had depressive disorders than their heterosexual counterparts (95% CI, 5.05‐5.23), whereas bisexual females were 3.23 times more likely for the same outcome (95% CI, 3.18‐3.28). All LGB groups reported significantly more inadequate sleep than their heterosexual counterparts (especially lesbians: OR, 2.14; 95% CI, 2.10‐2.18).

Conclusions

This study indicates that LGB cancer survivors have worse survivorship than their heterosexual peers with heterogeneity in subgroups. Future studies should use larger sample sizes, further investigate disparities, and promote survivorship in LGB populations.

Lay Summary

It has been observed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) cancer survivors may face challenges in cancer survivorship that are not as prevalent in the heterosexual community.

This cross‐sectional study has found that LGB cancer survivors, especially bisexuals, have overall poorer physical and mental health, are more likely to be told that they have depressive disorders, and have worse sleep quality in comparison with their heterosexual counterparts.

These results also differ by sex, and this can provide rationales for future studies and guide interventions to relocate resources to better promote equality.
Uniformly Positive Correlations in the Dimer Model and Macroscopic Interacting Self‐Avoiding Walk in ℤd, d ≥ 3
Authors: Taggi Lorenzo
Published: August 2021

Our first main result is that correlations between monomers in the dimer model in do not decay to 0 when . This is the first rigorous result about correlations in the dimer model in dimensions greater than 2 and shows that the model behaves drastically differently than in two dimensions, in which case it is integrable and correlations are known to decay to zero polynomially. Such a result is implied by our more general, second main result, which states the occurrence of a phase transition in the model of lattice permutations, which is related to the quantum Bose gas. More precisely, we consider a self‐avoiding walk interacting with lattice permutations and we prove that, in the regime of fully packed loops, such a walk is ‘long’ and the distance between its endpoints grows linearly with the diameter of the box. These results follow from the derivation of a version of the infrared bound from a new general probabilistic settings, with coloured loops and walks interacting at sites and walks entering into the system from some ‘virtual’ vertices. © 2022 The Authors. Communications on Pure and Applied Mathematics published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Review and comparison of different limited scan phased array antenna architectures
Authors: Singhal Naina , Hasan S. M. Rezaul
Published: August 2021

Phased array antenna or beamformer plays key role in many emerging wireless applications, be it industrial such as 5G wireless communication and RADAR technology or commercial such as autonomous driving, imaging, and so on. Depending upon the application and design constraints such as power, area, and hardware cost, there are many architectures available in the open literature for designing a beamformer. The power consumption and the hardware cost become the two major limiting factors while choosing the specific phased array antenna for commercial applications. In order to reduce the hardware cost, designers try to limit the scanning range of the beamformer by reducing the number of control elements generally the phase shifters. These beamformers are called limited scan phased array antenna (LSPAA). These are proving to be useful in many commercial applications due to their reduced design cost. In this paper, we provide a detailed review of the various architectures present in literature for LSPAA design and a comparison between several of them with respect to scanning range, sidelobe level (SLL), and so on. In addition, a figure‐of‐merit is also proposed for comparison between the different architectures.
EE‐LB‐AOMDV: An efficient energy constraints‐based load‐balanced multipath routing protocol for MANETs
Authors: Naseem Mohd , Ahamad Gulfam , Sharma Sparsh , Abbasi Ehtesham
Published: August 2021

With the tremendous increase in the research and development of Internet of Things and Internet of Vehicles, the research scope of Mobile Ad Hoc networks has also increased, rapidly. A number of routing protocols have been proposed to transfer data packets from source to destination nodes. Among these routing protocols, some of them have focused upon multiple paths for data transfer so that route re‐discovery time could be minimized. Thus, the end‐to‐end delay has reduced. The main purpose of these multi‐path routing protocols is to balance the load among all or some of the available routes. However, the selection of proper parameters is very crucial and important for load balancing. In this paper, we develop a load‐balanced multi‐path routing protocol with energy constraints (EE‐LB‐AOMDV). It first categorized the multiple paths based upon three parameters: hop‐count, round‐trip time, and residual energy. Then only, it starts data transmission based upon the quality of the path. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed routing protocol has been improved significantly in terms of packet delivery ratio (PDR), average end‐to‐end delay (delay), routing overhead (overhead), energy exhausted nodes, and route rediscovery frequencies.
Detection of amfepramone and its metabolite cathinone in human hair: Application to a uthentic cases of amfepramone use
Authors: Yang Huan , Wang Xin , Liu Mengxi , Deng Hongxiao , Yu Miao , Xiang Ping
Published: August 2021

In recent years, overseas anti‐obesity drugs including amfepramone have flowed into China through the internet or personal import by travelers. Amfepramone is controlled in China and is not available as a pharmaceutical product. It is obtainable either through the internet or imported by individuals across the border. The abuse of amfepramone is causing serious health problems. A method for the detection and quantification of amfepramone and its metabolite cathinone in human hair was developed and fully validated using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Approximately 10 mg of hair was weighed and pulverized with extraction solvent (a mixture of methanol: acetonitrile: 2 mM ammonium formate [pH 5.3] [25:29:46, v/v/v]). The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 5 and 10 pg/mg, respectively. The method was linear over a concentration range from 10 to 10,000 pg/mg. The accuracy varied from −9.3% to 2.3%, with acceptable intra‐ and inter‐day precision. The validated method was successfully applied to 17 authentic cases. The amfepramone concentrations ranged from 11.7 to 209 pg/mg, with a median of 30.2 pg/mg, and the hair cathinone concentrations ranged from 11.9 to 507 pg/mg, with a median of 54.0 pg/mg. This is the first report of amfepramone concentrations in human hair from amfepramone users. Cathinone can be incorporated into hair after amfepramone use.
Evolutionary dynamics of the Trivers–Willard effect: A nonparametric approach
Authors: Borgstede Matthias
Published: August 2021

The Trivers–Willard hypothesis (TWH) states that parents in good condition tend to bias their offspring sex ratio toward the sex with a higher variation in reproductive value, whereas parents in bad condition favor the opposite sex. Although the TWH has been generalized to predict various Trivers–Willard effects (TWE) depending on the life cycle of a species, existing work does not sufficiently acknowledge that sex‐specific reproductive values depend on the relative abundances of males and females in the population. If parents adjust their offspring sex ratio according to the TWE, offspring reproductive values will also change. This should affect the long‐term evolutionary dynamics and might lead to considerable deviations from the original predictions.

In this paper, I model the full evolutionary dynamics of the TWE, using a published two‐sex integral projection model for the Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus). Offspring sex ratio is treated as a nonparametric continuous function of maternal condition. Evolutionary change is treated as the successive invasion of mutant strategies. The simulation is performed with varying starting conditions until an evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS) is reached.

The results show that the magnitude of the evolving TWE can be far greater than previously predicted. Furthermore, evolutionary dynamics show considerable nonlinearities before settling at an ESS. The nonlinear effects depend on the starting conditions and indicate that evolutionary change is fastest when starting at an extremely biased sex ratio and that evolutionary change is weaker for parents of high condition. The results show neither a tendency to maximize average population fitness nor to minimize the deviation between offspring sex ratio and offspring reproductive value ratio.

The study highlights the importance of dynamic feedback in models of natural selection and provides a new methodological framework for analyzing the evolution of continuous strategies in structured populations.
The anatomy of two species of emergent macrophytes of the genus Polygonum differentially changes in response to water‐level fluctuations
Authors: dos Santos Machado Rafaela , de Carvalho Harthman Vanessa , Murillo Raytha de Assis , Thomaz Sidinei Magela , Silveira Márcio José
Published: August 2021

Temporal fluctuations in water levels are important ecological driving forces in shallow aquatic ecosystems. Alterations to fluviometric levels are even more conspicuous after the construction of dams, and aquatic macrophytes respond with anatomical and morphological adaptations to such changes. We performed an experiment to analyse the anatomical responses of two common Neotropical species of emergent macrophytes (Polygonum ferrugineum and P. acuminatum) to water‐level fluctuations. The experiment simulated three water‐level variations: constant low water, constant deep water and fluctuating water levels (0.8‐m oscillation/6 days; commonly caused by dam operation). We measured anatomical responses of roots (perimeter and number of the intercellular spaces), stems (perimeter and number of the intercellular spaces and cortical thickness) and leaves (palisade and lacunous parenchyma thickness). Water level affected all anatomical traits we measured and all increased when plants remained submerged (high‐depth treatment). Compared with P. ferrugineum, P. acuminatum had higher values of both perimeter of the intercellular space in the roots and number of intercellular spaces in the stems. These results indicate that water‐level fluctuations influence the anatomy of both species and that, compared with P. ferrugineum, P. acuminatum has greater plasticity and better tolerates submersion. These responses may be explained by the different survival strategies of each species when growing under submersion. Thus, our results reflect the different selective pressures from water levels experienced by these two species during their evolution.
Survival of the fattest: linking body condition to prey availability and survivorship of killer whales
Authors: Stewart Joshua D. , Durban John W. , Fearnbach Holly , Barrett‐Lennard Lance G. , Casler Paige K. , Ward Eric J. , Dapp Derek R.
Published: August 2021

Recovering small, endangered populations is challenging, especially if the drivers of declines are not well understood. While infrequent births and deaths may be important to the outlook of endangered populations, small sample sizes confound studies seeking the mechanisms underlying demographic fluctuations. Individual metrics of health, such as nutritive condition, can provide a rich data source on population status and may translate into population trends. We examined interannual changes in body condition metrics of endangered Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) collected using helicopters and remotely operated drones. We imaged and measured the condition of the majority of all three social pods (J, K, and L) in each of seven years between 2008 and 2019. We used Bayesian multi‐state transition models to identify relationships between body condition changes and both tributary‐specific and area‐based indices of Chinook salmon abundance, and K‐fold cross‐validation to compare the predictive power of candidate salmon covariates. We found that Fraser River (tributary‐specific) and Salish Sea (area‐based) Chinook salmon abundances had the greatest predictive power for J Pod body condition changes, as well as the strongest relationships between any salmon covariates and SRKW condition across pods. Puget Sound (tributary‐specific) Chinook salmon abundance had the greatest predictive power for L Pod body condition changes, but a weaker relationship than Fraser River or Salish Sea abundance had with J Pod body condition. The best‐fit model for K Pod included no Chinook covariates. In addition, we found elevated mortality probabilities in SRKW exhibiting poor body condition (reflecting depleted fat reserves), 2–3 times higher than whales in more robust condition. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that (1) fluctuations in SRKW body condition can in some cases be linked to Chinook salmon abundance; (2) the three SRKW pods appear to have distinct patterns of body condition fluctuations, suggesting different foraging patterns; and (3) aerial photogrammetry is a useful early‐warning system that can identify SRKW at higher risk of mortality in the near future.
ZnO Nanoparticles Embedded on a Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheet (ZnO−NPs@r‐GO) as a Proficient Heterogeneous Catalyst for a One‐Pot A3‐Coupling Reaction
Authors: Patel Dikin , Modi Chetan K. , Jha Prafulla K. , Srivastava Himanshu , Kane Sanjeev R.
Published: August 2021

This study reports a simple and facile route for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO−NPs) decorated on reduced graphene oxide nanosheet (ZnO−NPs@r‐GO) as a heterogeneous catalyst and tested over multicomponent one‐pot A3‐coupling reaction. The reduction of graphene oxide with the anchoring of ZnO−NPs on the r‐GO nanosheet was observed through the X‐ray diffraction patterns, Raman, FTIR, and XPS results of the ZnO−NPs@r‐GO sample. ZnO−NPs (average particle size of 3.4±1.5 nm) with uniform size distribution over r‐GO nanosheet were substantiated through HRTEM analysis. Impressively, ZnO−NPs@r‐GO significantly used for A3‐coupling reaction with different aromatic aldehydes, active methylene compounds, and urea and under the optimized reaction conditions gave exceptional activity to produce synthetically valuable 3,4‐dihydropyrimidinones products (possessing diverse therapeutic and pharmacological properties) i. e. 97 % isolated yield of the product. In addition, excellent reusability up to 4 repeated cycles are the key advantages of the present catalyst used for this multicomponent A3‐coupling reaction.
Urea Detection of Electrochemical Transistor Sensors based on Polyanline (PANI)/MWCNT/Cotton Yarns
Authors: Wang Yao , Zhang Yang , Wang Yuedan , Zhu Rufeng , Chen Yuanli , Liu Xue , Xu Jia , Li Mufang , Wang Dong
Published: August 2021

A cotton yarn biosensor based on electrochemical transistor functionalized with MWCNT and PANI was developed for the detection of urea. The transistors based on PANI/MWCNT/cotton yarns under optimized MWCNT concentration has been obtained, which exhibited high on/off current ratio, fast response time, and good operational stability. A transistor‐based urea sensor was prepared from PANI/MWCNT/cotton yarns, which could monitor urea in the 1 nM–1 mM linear range with the correlation coefficient of 0.9716. Furthermore, the sensor showed superior reproducibility and high specificity. The practical applications of the proposed sensor were also confirmed. These results indicate the flexible transistor can be used as an efficient platform for biological detection in body fluids.
Characterization of capillary inner surface conditions with streaming potential
Authors: Chenyakin Yuri , Chen David Da Yong
Published: August 2021

Streaming potential is created when an electrolyte solution is forced to flow pass a charged surface. For an uncoated fused silica capillary, the streaming potential is measured between the inlet and outlet vials while applying a pressure across the capillary. The changes in streaming potential can be used to characterize the properties of the capillary inner surface. In this work, HCl, NaCl, and NaOH solutions ranging from 0.4 to 6 mM were used as the background electrolyte (BGE) at temperatures of 15 to 35 °C for the mesurements. The streaming potential decreases with the increase in BGE concentration, and the trend is amplified at higher temperatures. When buffer solutions in the pH range of 1.5 to 12.7 were used as the BGE, streaming potential was shown to be sensitive to changes in pH but reaches a maximum at around 9.5. At pH < 3.3, no streaming potentials were observed. The pH of zero surface charge (streaming potential equals 0) changes with temperature, and is measured to be 3.3 to 3.1 when the temperature is changed from 15 to 35°C. Zeta potentials can be calculated from the measured streaming potential, conductivity, and the solution viscosity. Surface charge densities were calculated in this work using the zeta potentials obtained. We demonstrated that capillary surface conditions can significantly change the streaming potential, and with three different solutions, we showed that analyte‐dependent adsorption can be monitored and mitigated to improve the peak symmetry and migration times reproducibility.