bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Indicators of Individual Wine Reputation for Friuli Venezia Giulia
Authors: Schamel Guenter , Ros Anna
Published: January 2021

The main objective of this paper is to study indicators of individual wine reputation and how they may affect the price of wines in Friuli Venezia Giulia. The analysis is built on the assumption that consumers base their wine purchase decisions on easily available information such as expert quality ratings and reputation builds on past awards for a wine. We estimate a hedonic pricing model using a data set of 1078 Friulian wines listed in the Gambero Rosso wine guide. The categorical nature of the dependent variable suggests the use of ordered response models. The results not only show that awards for the current quality of a wine carry a positive and substantial premium, but also that having received an award in the past (indicating individual wine reputation) has a positive effect on prices. Moreover, the province of production has a considerable effect on prices and white, older wines tend to be more expensive. The paper confirms the important role of current quality ratings and of individual wine reputation in determining wine prices. An important marketing implication is that wineries and retailers should communicate the current quality of a wine together with any past quality recognitions received as this should foster the reputation of an individual wine in the future.
Forecasting elections results via the voter model with stubborn nodes
Authors: Vendeville Antoine , Guedj Benjamin , Zhou Shi
Published: January 2021

In this paper we propose a novel method to forecast the result of elections using only official results of previous ones. It is based on the voter model with stubborn nodes and uses theoretical results developed in a previous work of ours. We look at popular vote shares for the Conservative and Labour parties in the UK and the Republican and Democrat parties in the US. We are able to perform time-evolving estimates of the model parameters and use these to forecast the vote shares for each party in any election. We obtain a mean absolute error of 4.74%. As a side product, our parameters estimates provide meaningful insight on the political landscape, informing us on the proportion of voters that are strong supporters of each of the considered parties.
Towards Dynamic lockdown strategies controlling pandemic spread under healthcare resource budget
Authors: Roy Satyaki , Dutta Ronojoy , Ghosh Preetam
Published: January 2021

COVID-19 is one of the deadliest pandemics in modern human history that has killed nearly a million people and rapidly inundated the healthcare resources around the world. Current lockdown measures to curb infection spread are threatening to bring the world economy to a halt, necessitating dynamic lockdown policies that incorporate the healthcare resource budget of people in a zone. We conceive a dynamic pandemic lockdown strategy that employs reinforcement learning to modulate the zone mobility, while restricting the COVID-19 hospitalizations within its healthcare resource budget. We employ queueing theory to model the inflow and outflow of patients and validate the approach through extensive simulation on real demographic and epidemiological data from the boroughs of New York City. Our experiments demonstrate that this approach can not only adapt to the varying trends in contagion in a region by regulating its own lockdown level, but also manages the overheads associated with time-varying dynamic lockdown policies.
Bindestrich-Hermeneutiken – Neue Verortungen der Lektüre?
Authors: Bleumer Hartmut , Habscheid Stephan , Spieß Constanze , Werber Niels
Published: January 2021

Brauchen wir eine neue Hermeneutik? – Diese Frage ist rhetorisch und scheint aktuell nur vernünftig zu sein. Doch genau dieser Anschein indiziert erneut jenes Dilemma, in dem sich die aktuelle Lektürepraxis befindet. In dem durch die Digitalisierung beschleunigten Wandel der Lektürepraxis bricht es regelrecht auf, denn in ihm erweist sich die Hermeneutik als ein für Kommunikation und Lektüre unabdingbares ethisches Projekt, das zugleich selbst von eben jener Diversifizierung betroffen ist, die durch die technologisch forcierte Rationalität in Gang gebracht wurde. So zeugt die philosophisch irritierende, germanistische bzw. allgemein literatur- und sprachwissenschaftliche Pluralisierung in vielen fach- oder teilfachspezifischen Hermeneutiken ebenso vom aktuellen Problem der Hermeneutik wie von ihrer Unabdingbarkeit. Die Forderung nach einer Neuen Hermeneutik setzt also zuerst die Diagnose voraus, wie und wo ihre Spielarten sich aktuell verorten, um danach jenen gemeinsamen Ort anzuvisieren, der die Hermeneutik gleichzeitig im ›Wir‹ der Fragestellung zusammenhält. Die dazu möglichen Diagnosen werden wiederum verschieden ausfallen. Doch erst in der Summe ermöglichen sie – so die These der Herausgeber*innen der Zeitschrift für Literaturwissenschaft und Linguistik – einen Beitrag zur Vergewisserung über das aktuelle Verständnisproblem.
Model-Based Double Closed-Loop Coordinated Control Strategy for the Electro-Mechanical Transmission System of Heavy Power-Split HEVs
Authors: Wang Weida , Zhang Yuhang , Sun Xiaoxia , Xiang Changle , Yang Chao
Published: January 2021

The dual-mode electro-mechanical transmission (EMT) system is a crucial part of power-split hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), especially for the heavy HEVs. To improve the precision of the system power distribution and the response speed of the electric power supply, a model-based double closed-loop coordinated control strategy is proposed. As the basis of the proposed control strategy, an EMT system model, particularly of an electrical system, is established first. The proposed control strategy includes the power distribution strategy, battery power closed-loop feedback control strategy, and motor coordinated control strategy. To verify the feasibility of the proposed control strategy, simulation and experiment are performed. The results indicate that the proposed control strategy can realize the expected power distribution by coordinating generators and motors and achieve rapid and stable electric power supply.
A wear rate model incorporating inflationary cost of agro-waste filled composites for brake pad applications to lower composite cost
Authors: Ajibade Oluwaseyi Ayodele , Agunsoye Johnson Olumuyiwa , Oke Sunday Ayoola
Published: January 2021

Wear rate appraisals are currently indispensable on agro-waste filled composites for brake pads as they predict the expected lifespan of the materials. However, existing wear rate models are inaccurate as predictions omit the inflationary cost of the materials. In this paper, the idea is to account for the inflationary cost of the materials and adjust that into a pseudo wear rate model. The wear rate of agro-waste fillers in an organic matrix to create brake pads under dry sliding wear experiments was considered. Five composite specimens were fabricated in cylindrical specimen height of 14.5 mm and varying diameters of 8, 10, 12 and 15.5 mm and the material wear loss was measured. The 8, 10 and 12 mm diameter specimens revealed that the composite with the best and worst wear resistance were the wear rates of 0.6, 1.4, 1.73 mm3/Nm, and 3.07, 3.54, 4.19 mm3/Nm, respectively. The 15.5 mm diameter specimen showed lower wear rates of 2.13 and 2.14 and 1.56 mm3/Nm than commercial brake pad’s 2.58 mm3/Nm. The pseudo wear rate model predicts the impact of the independent variable i.e. inflationary cost, opportunity cost, time, and sample size. The utility of this effort is to assist the composite manufacturers to take cost-effective decisions and design optimisation can be accomplished to lower the cost of composite products.
Impact of haze events on airborne bacterial consortia–a case study
Authors: Thilakarathne S. M. N. K. , Ekanayake A. , Madamarandawala P. S. , Weerarathne W. B. C. P. , Thotawatthage C. A. , Magana-Arachchi D. N.
Published: January 2021

Transboundary haze events received a noticeable attention recently, due to their frequent occurrences. They are mainly, consequences of anthropogenic activities. Sri Lanka experienced a haze event parallel to India in November 2019, the first air pollution event in Sri Lanka linked to a haze event in India. Due to the limited availability of information on haze-related microorganisms, we conducted this study in Kandy, Sri Lanka, aiming to explore the airborne bacterial consortia during a haze event. The natural sedimentation method was used for air sampling. Bacterial identification and the total bacterial load were determined using Sanger sequencing and qPCR. Notably, the total bacterial load was elevated by ~ 40% with the haze and decreased with decreasing haze intensity. The highest bacterial load was reported during the day time of the most intense hazy day (1.89 × 106 cells/µl) compared to non-hazy days (lowest; 1.12 × 105 cells/µl). Twelve bacterial species were identified and the most abundant phylum was Proteobacteria. The most common species observed during haze was Acinetobacter modestus. The percentage of culturable bacterial species was also high during the haze event (75% during day time of the most intense hazy day compared to 25% on the control). Two human pathogenic bacteria Burkholderia multivorans and Chryseobacterium gleum were found only during the haze event. Therefore, haze events could be hazardous to humans by means of the presence and fluctuating amounts of pathogenic bacteria. Thus, these findings are important in developing policies and guidelines to monitor and minimize the negative impact of haze events.
Prediction and Analysis of the Severity and Number of Suburban Accidents Using Logit Model, Factor Analysis and Machine Learning: A case study in a developing country
Authors: Ghasedi Meisam , Sarfjoo Maryam , Bargegol Iraj
Published: January 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate and determine the factors affecting vehicle and pedestrian accidents taking place in the busiest suburban highway of Guilan Province located in the north of Iran and provide the most accurate prediction model. Therefore, the effective principal variables and the probability of occurrence of each category of crashes are analyzed and computed utilizing the factor analysis, logit, and Machine Learning approaches simultaneously. This method not only could contribute to achieving the most comprehensive and efficient model to specify the major contributing factor, but also it can provide officials with suggestions to take effective measures with higher precision to lessen accident impacts and improve road safety. Both the factor analysis and logit model show the significant roles of exceeding lawful speed, rainy weather and driver age (30–50) variables in the severity of vehicle accidents. On the other hand, the rainy weather and lighting condition variables as the most contributing factors in pedestrian accidents severity, underline the dominant role of environmental factors in the severity of all vehicle-pedestrian accidents. Moreover, considering both utilized methods, the machine-learning model has higher predictive power in all cases, especially in pedestrian accidents, with 41.6% increase in the predictive power of fatal accidents and 12.4% in whole accidents. Thus, the Artificial Neural Network model is chosen as the superior approach in predicting the number and severity of crashes. Besides, the good performance and validation of the machine learning is proved through performance and sensitivity analysis.
Trypan blue removal from water with zein sorbents and laccase
Authors: Marshall Tatianna , Lamont Kristine , Marangoni Alejandro G. , Lim Loong-Tak , Wang Xiuju , Pensini Erica
Published: January 2021

Zein-based materials were used to remove Trypan blue from water under flow conditions and in batch tests. In flow tests, zein dissolved at pH = 13 was injected in sand columns and subsequently coagulated with CaCl2, to create an adsorbent filter which removed over 99% of Trypan blue. Batch tests were conducted using zein powder, zein dissolved at pH = 13 and coagulated with CaCl2, Fe2Cl3 or citric acid, and zein dissolved in ethanol and then coagulated with water. The highest Trypan blue removal was achieved with zein powder (4000 mg Trypan blue/kg sorbent, as determined through spectrophotometry), followed by zein coagulated with Fe2Cl3 (500 mg Trypan blue/kg sorbent) and with other salts (140 mg Trypan blue/kg sorbent). Differences in the sorption efficiency are attributed to differences in the surface area. The sorption isotherm of Trypan blue onto zein-based sorbents was a Type II isotherm, suggesting physisorption. Desorption of Trypan blue was limited when zein-based coagulated sorbents were immersed in pure water. Trypan blue could be degraded by free laccase in water, as determined through spectrophotometry and electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS). Trypan blue could also be degraded by laccase when zein-based laccase-containing sorbents were prepared at pH = 10, using Fe2Cl3 as coagulant.

Graphic abstract
Africa since Decolonization
Authors: Welz Martin
Published: January 2021

Home to more than 1.2 billion people, living in 54 recognized states, speaking around 3,000 languages, Africa is a diverse and complex continent made up of states which differ in regard to their colonial history, political system, socio-economic development, economic polices and their experience with crises and conflicts. This introduction and overview of African history and politics since decolonization emphasises throughout, the diversity of the continent. Organised thematically to include chapters on decolonization and its legacies, external influences, economics, political systems, inter-African relations, crises, conflicts and conflict management, and Africa's external relations, Martin Welz strikes a fine balance between the use of contextual information, analysis, case studies and examples with theoretical debates in development, politics and global policy. Accessible to students at all levels, it counters histories which offer reductive explanations of complex issues, and offers new insights into the role African actors have played in influencing international affairs beyond the continent.
Nurses’ Self-Efficacy, Confidence and Interaction With Patients With COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Abu Sharour Loai , Bani Salameh Ayman , Suleiman Khaled , Subih Maha , EL-hneiti Mamdouh , AL-Hussami Mahmoud , Al Dameery Khloud , Al Omari Omor
Published: January 2021

Objective:

The aim was to evaluate nurses’ self-efficacy, confidence, and nurse-patient interaction during caring of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods:

A cross-sectional design with online survey was used with a Self-efficacy scale, Self-confidence scale, and Caring nurse-patient interaction scale: 23-item Version-Nurse (CNPI-23 N).

Results:

A sample of 120 nurses participated in the current study. The results showed that the participants had a moderate level of self-efficacy, self-confidence and interaction (M = 28.84 (SD = 7.7), M = 47.41 (SD = 9.0), and M = 93.59 (SD = 16.3), respectively). Positive relationships were found between nurse’ self-efficacy, self-confidence, and nurse-patient interaction (r = 0.81;P< 0.0001 and 0.79;P< 0.0001, respectively). Significant differences were found in self-efficacy according to years of experience, academic qualifications and position (F = 2.10;P= 0.003; F = 3.60;P= 0.002, and F = 2.60;P=0.007, respectively). Furthermore, the results indicated that there was a significant difference in self-confidence and nurse-patient interaction also.

Conclusion:

Nurse educators and administrators should develop and implement further strategies, such as continuing education and training, compensatory payment, organizational support, and availability of protective measures to increase their self-efficacy, self-confidence, and interaction with COVID-19 patients.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Subtropical Agriculture Fields Decrease Over Time
Authors: Fall Thioro , Heiden Katie , Smyth Ashley R. , Brym Zachary
Published: January 2021

Expansion of cultivated lands and field management impacts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture soils. Soils naturally cycle GHGs and can be sources or sinks depending on physical and chemical properties affected by cultivation and management status. We looked at how cultivation history influences GHG emissions from subtropical soils. We measured CO2, N2O, and CH4fluxes, and soil properties from newly converted and continuously cultivated lands during the summer rainy season in calcareous soils from south Florida. Newly converted soils had more soil organic matter (OM), more moisture, higher porosity, and lower bulk density, leading to more GHG emissions compared to historically cultivated soils. Although more nutrients make newly converted lands more desirable for cultivation, conversion of new areas for agriculture was shown to release more GHGs than cultivated lands. Our data suggest that GHG emissions from agricultural soils may decrease over time with continued cultivation.
IDEAL INDEPENDENT FAMILIES AND THE ULTRAFILTER NUMBER
Authors: CANCINO JONATHAN , GUZMÁN OSVALDO , MILLER ARNOLD W.
Published: January 2021

We say that

$\mathcal {I}$
is an ideal independent family if no element of

${\mathcal {I}}$
is a subset mod finite of a union of finitely many other elements of

${\mathcal {I}}.$
We will show that the minimum size of a maximal ideal independent family is consistently bigger than both

$\mathfrak {d}$
and

$\mathfrak {u},$
this answers a question of Donald Monk.
Mismatching nominals and the small clause hypothesis
Authors: BASSONG PAUL ROGER
Published: January 2021

I propose a comprehensive analysis of what has been commonly referred in the literature to as split, discontinuous noun phrases or split topicalization. Based on data from Basaá, a Narrow Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, I partly capitalize on previous authors such as Mathieu (2004), Mathieu & Sitaridou (2005) and Ott (2015a), who propose that this morphosyntactic phenomenon involves two syntactically unrelated constituents which are only linked semantically in a predication relation in a small clause (Moro 1997, 2000; Den Dikken 1998). According to these analyses, split noun phrases are obtained as a result of predicate inversion across the subject of the small clause. Contrary to/but not against these views, I suggest that what raises in the same context in Basaá is rather the subject of the small clause as a consequence of feature-checking under closest c-command (Chomsky 2000, 2001), and for the purpose of labelling and asymmetrizing an originally symmetric syntactic structure on the surface (Ott 2015a and related work). The fact that the target of movement is the subject and not the predicate of the small clause follows from agreement and ellipsis factors. Given that the subject of predication is a full DP while the predicate is a reduced DP with a null head modifier, the surface word order is attributed to the fact that noun/noun phrase ellipsis is possible if the elided noun is given in the discourse and is recoverable from the morphology of the stranded modifier. This paper offers a theoretical contribution from an understudied language to our understanding of this puzzling nominal construction.
Explaining grammatical coding asymmetries: Form–frequency correspondences and predictability
Authors: HASPELMATH MARTIN
Published: January 2021

This paper claims that a wide variety of grammatical coding asymmetries can be explained as adaptations to the language users’ needs, in terms of frequency of use, predictability and coding efficiency. I claim that all grammatical oppositions involving a minimal meaning difference and a significant frequency difference are reflected in a universal coding asymmetry, i.e. a cross-linguistic pattern in which the less frequent member of the opposition gets special coding, unless the coding is uniformly explicit or uniformly zero. I give 25 examples of pairs of construction types, from a substantial range of grammatical domains. For some of them, the existing evidence from the world’s languages and from corpus counts is already strong, while for others, I know of no counterevidence and I make readily testable claims. I also discuss how the functional-adaptive forces operate in language change, and I discuss a number of possible alternative explanations.
A nuclear enterprise: zooming in on nuclear organization and gene expression control in the African trypanosome
Authors: Faria Joana R. C.
Published: January 2021

African trypanosomes are early divergent protozoan parasites responsible for high mortality and morbidity as well as a great economic burden among the world's poorest populations. Trypanosomes undergo antigenic variation in their mammalian hosts, a highly sophisticated immune evasion mechanism. Their nuclear organization and mechanisms for gene expression control present several conventional features but also a number of striking differences to the mammalian counterparts. Some of these unorthodox characteristics, such as lack of controlled transcription initiation or enhancer sequences, render their monogenic antigen transcription, which is critical for successful antigenic variation, even more enigmatic. Recent technological developments have advanced our understanding of nuclear organization and gene expression control in trypanosomes, opening novel research avenues. This review is focused onTrypanosoma bruceinuclear organization and how it impacts gene expression, with an emphasis on antigen expression. It highlights several dedicated sub-nuclear bodies that compartmentalize specific functions, whilst outlining similarities and differences to more complex eukaryotes. Notably, understanding the mechanisms underpinning antigen as well as general gene expression control is of great importance, as it might help designing effective control strategies against these organisms.
ORIGINS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
Authors: Schmidtz David
Published: January 2021

Our modern observation-based approaches to the study of the human condition were shaped by the Scottish Enlightenment. Political Economy emerged as a discipline of its own in the nineteenth century, then fragmented further around the dawn of the twentieth century. Today, we see Political Economy’s pieces being reassembled and reunited with their philosophical roots. This issue pauses to reflect on the history of this new but also old field of study.
TWO ACCOUNTS OF THE RELATION BETWEEN POLITICAL ECONOMY AND ECONOMICS (AND WHY IT MATTERS WHICH ACCOUNT IS BETTER)
Authors: Hargreaves Heap Shaun P.
Published: January 2021

In a providential account of the changing relation between political economy and economics, the late nineteenth-century development of economics is identified with the rational choice model; and the revival of political economy in the late twentieth century comes with the export of this model to politics and the other social sciences. An alternative prudential account locates the revival of political economy with a significant qualification to the rational choice model. This qualification restores an eighteenth- and nineteenth-century view of rule-following to human agency. This essay sets out these accounts and draws the conclusion that the choice of one over the other matters, not least for the practice of contemporary politics.
“SHINING BITS OF METAL”: MONEY, PROPERTY, AND THE IMAGINATION IN HUME’S POLITICAL ECONOMY
Authors: Costelloe Timothy M.
Published: January 2021

This essay examines Hume’s treatment of money in light of his view of the imagination. It begins with his claim that money is distinct from wealth, the latter arising, according to vulgar reasoning, from the power of acquisition that it represents, or, understood philosophically, from the labor that produces it. The salient features that Hume identifies with the imagination are then put forth, namely its power to combine ideas creatively and the principle of easy transition that characterizes its movement among them. Two issues that these features explain are then discussed: first, why people take value to lie in the material of which money is made, and, second, why they assign value to what they take money to represent, namely, wealth. In both cases, the imagination creates a new relation, an illusion or fiction, that cannot be traced directly to experience. In the case of money, the faculty conjoins what is intangible (the power of acquisition) with the physical qualities of specie; in the case of property it produces a causal relation that connects persons with objects to constitute stable possession that constitutes ownership. Hume also appeals to the imagination to explain the rules of property that subsequently develop (present possession, occupation, prescription, and transference). The essay concludes by emphasizing that being based on the imagination is not in itself indicative of any instability in either money or property and the practices they enshrine, a feature they share with other phenomena (such as the self and continued existence) that Hume also traces to the same faculty.
New fault detection and fault-tolerant scheme for Doppler velocity logger outage in ocean navigation systems
Authors: Hashemi Mojtaba , Shami Ehsan
Published: January 2021

The inertial navigation system/Doppler velocity logger (INS/DVL) plays an important role in ocean navigation. Any DVL malfunction poses serious risks to navigation. A precise detection system is required to detect the initial moments of DVL signal malfunctions; moreover, with loss of DVL, a fault-tolerant scheme (FTS) is necessary for DVL signal reconstruction. In this paper, an evolutionary knowledge-based method, namely improved evolutionary TS-fuzzy (I-eTS), is adopted to build an artificial intelligence (AI)-based pseudo DVL to deal with long-term outage of DVL. By employing Gaussian process regression (GPR) models for fault detection, a new FTS is constructed. To verify the effectiveness of the new fault detection and fault tolerance system, navigation data is gathered by a test setup and algorithms are performed in the laboratory. In the tests, it is demonstrated that the proposed FTS leads to rapid detection of both gradual and abrupt faults, which leads to less interaction between fault detection and FTS.
Who is dying from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom? A review of cremation authorisations from a single South Wales' crematorium
Authors: Salmon R. L. , Monaghan S. P.
Published: January 2021

Only studies in the UK on individuals dying from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in hospital have been published, to date. Cremation law requires collection of clinical information that can improve understanding of deaths in both hospital and community settings. Age, sex, date and place of death, occupation, comorbidities and where infection acquired was recorded for all deaths from COVID-19, between 6 April and 30 May, for whom an application was made for cremation at a South Wales' crematorium. Of 752 cremations, 215 (28.6%) were COVID-19 (115 (53.5%) male and 100 (46.5%) female). Median age was 82 years (youngest patient 47 and the oldest 103 years). Over half the deaths (121/215: 56.3%) were over 80 years. Males' odds of dying in hospital, rather than the community were 1.96 times that of females (95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.03–3.74, P = 0.054) despite being of similar age and having a similar number of comorbidities. Only 21 (9.8%) of 215 patients had no comorbidities recorded. Patients dying in care homes were significantly older than those dying in hospital (median 88 years (interquartile (IQ) range 82–93 years) vs. 80 years (IQ range 71–87 years): P < 0.0001). Patients dying in hospital had significantly more comorbidities than those dying in care homes (median 2: IQ range 1–3 vs. 1: IQ range 1–2: P < 0.001). Sixty three (29.3%) of infections were hospital acquired and a further 55 (25.6%) acquired in care homes. In a series, of hospital and community deaths, persons over 80 with an average two comorbidities predominated. Men were more likely to die in hospital. Half the infections were acquired in hospitals or care homes with implications for management of the pandemic.
Characterization of elite bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) germplasm for spot blotch Bipolaris sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker resistance
Authors: Shikha Deep , Latwal Chandani , Devi Elangbam Premabati , Singh Anupama , Singh Pawan K. , Jaiswal Jai Prakash
Published: January 2021

Genetic resources are of paramount importance for developing improved crop varieties, particularly for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Spot blotch (SB) is a destructive foliar disease of wheat prevalent in warm and humid regions of the world, especially in the eastern parts of South Asia. For the management of this disease, the most effective measure is the development of resistant cultivars. Thus, the present investigation was carried out to confirm SB resistance in 200 germplasm accessions based on phenotypic observations and molecular characterization. These elite breeding lines obtained from the International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement, Mexico, are developed deploying multiple parentages. These lines were screened for SB resistance in the field under artificially created epiphytotic conditions during 2014–15 and 2015–16 along with two susceptible checks (CIANO T79 and Sonalika) and two resistant checks (Chirya 3 and Francolin). Eighty-two out of 200 germplasm accessions were found resistant to SB and resistance in these lines was confirmed with a specific SSR marker Xgwm148. Three accessions, VORONA/CNO79, KAUZ*3//DOVE/BUC and JUP/BJY//URES/3/HD2206/HORK//BUC/BUL were observed possessing better resistance than the well-known SB-resistant genotype Chirya3. These newly identified resistant lines could be used by wheat breeders for developing SB-resistant wheat varieties.
Toroidal dipole excitation in cylindrically arranged dogbone metallic inclusions
Authors: Sarin V. P. , Vinesh P. V. , Manoj M. , Aanandan C. K. , Mohanan P. , Vasudevan K.
Published: January 2021

A significant excitation of toroidal moments in cylindrically arranged dogbone metallic inclusions is validated and presented in this paper. The antiparallel poloidal currents excited on the front and back faces of the proposed cylindrical dogbone inclusions create strong magnetic field confinement at the center generating intense toroidal moments on the structure. The significant excitation of toroidal dipole moment causes an improvement in the scattering cross-section from the resonant system. The resonant mechanism is analyzed using the multipole scattering theory, and we used the scattering measurement techniques to characterize the structure experimentally in the microwave regime.
Mental health and caregiving experiences of family carers supporting people with psychosis
Authors: Sin J. , Elkes J. , Batchelor R. , Henderson C. , Gillard S. , Woodham L.A. , Chen T. , Aden A. , Cornelius V.
Published: January 2021

Aims

Family carers supporting an individual with psychosis often experience poorer mental health, however, little is known about specific risk factors among these carers. We investigated the associations between demographic, caregiving characteristics and mental health outcomes in family carers supporting an individual with psychosis and compared carers' outcomes with general population norms.

Methods

We analysed baseline data from the COPe-support randomised controlled trial of online psychoeducation and peer support for adult carers supporting an individual with psychosis between 2018 and 2020. We collected carers' demographic and health outcome data, including wellbeing using Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS as primary outcome), quality of life using EQ-5D-5L and caregiving experience assessed with Experience of Caregiving Inventory. We tested associations between carers' demographic and caregiving characteristics for each outcome in turn and meta-analysed carers' WEMWBS and EQ-5D-5L with Health Survey England (HSE) general population data from 2016 and 2017, respectively.

Results

The 407 carers of people with psychosis had a mean WEMWBS score of 42.2 (s.d. 9.21) and their overall weighted pooled WEMWBS score was 7.3 (95% confidence interval (CI) −8.6 to −6.0, p < 0.01) lower than the HSE general population sample, indicating carers have poorer mental wellbeing by more than double the minimum clinically important difference of 3 points on WEMWBS. Among all caring relationships, partners had poorer wellbeing compared to parents with lower WEMWBS score (−6.8, −16.9 to 3.3, p = 0.03). Single carers had significantly poorer wellbeing (−3.6, −5.6 to −1.5, p < 0.01) and a more negative caregiving experience than those who were cohabiting. Spending more than 35 h per week caregiving increased carers' negative experience significantly (p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Carers of people with psychosis have poorer mental health than non-carers. Partners, lone carers and those spending more than 35 h per week on caring were found to be most at risk of poor mental health. Based on the results, we advocate that the details of carers for individuals with psychosis should be added to the existing carers or severe mental illness registers at all general practitioner surgeries and for their wellbeing screened routinely. Future large-scale prospective studies are needed to develop a predictive model to determine risk factors, hence to aid early identification of carers' support needs. Such understandings are also useful to inform tailored intervention development.
CME-Rheumatologie 22: Rheumatologische Fälle
Authors: Tamborrini Giorgio
Published: January 2021

Zusammenfassung. Anhand von verschiedenen Fällen werden häufige und weniger häufige Ursachen von schmerzhaften oder geschwollenen Gelenken illustriert. In der Regel führt uns bereits die Anamnese und die präzise klinische Untersuchung in die richtige diagnostische Richtung. Die weiteren Abklärungen wie Laboranalysen oder bildgebende Verfahren werden gezielt unter Berücksichtigung der Klinik eingesetzt.
Quantifying Groundwater Recharge Dynamics and Unsaturated Zone Processes in Snow‐Dominated Catchments via On‐Site Dissolved Gas Analysis
Authors: Schilling O. S. , Parajuli A. , Tremblay Otis C. , Müller T. U. , Antolinez Quijano W. , Tremblay Y. , Brennwald M. S. , Nadeau D. F. , Jutras S. , Kipfer R. , Therrien R.
Published: January 2021

Snowmelt contributes a significant fraction of groundwater recharge in snow‐dominated regions, making its accurate quantification crucial for sustainable water resources management. While several components of the hydrological cycle can be measured directly, catchment‐scale recharge can only be quantified indirectly. Stable water isotopes are often used as tracers to estimate snowmelt recharge, even though estimates based on stable water isotopes are biased due to the large variations of δ2H and δ18O in snow and the difficulty to measure snowmelt directly. To overcome this gap, a new tracer method based on on‐site measurements of dissolved He, 40Ar, 84Kr, N2, O2, and CO2 is presented. The new method was developed alongside classical tracer methods (stable water isotopes, 222Rn, 3H/3He) in a highly instrumented boreal catchment. By revealing (noble gas) recharge temperatures and excess air, dissolved gases allow (i) the contribution of snowmelt to recharge, (ii) the temporal recharge dynamics, and (iii) the primary recharge pathways to be identified. In contrast to stable water isotopes, which produced highly inconsistent snowmelt recharge estimates for the experimental catchment, dissolved gases produced consistent estimates even when the temperature of snowmelt during recharge was not precisely known. As dissolved gases are not controlled by the same processes as stable water isotopes, they are not prone to the same biases and represent a highly complementary tracer method for the quantification of snowmelt recharge dynamics in snow‐dominated regions. Furthermore, an observed systematic depletion of N2 in groundwater provides new evidence for the pathways of biological N‐fixation in boreal forest soils.
Exercise intensity regulates cytokine and klotho responses in men
Authors: Middelbeek Roeland J. W. , Motiani Piryanka , Brandt Nina , Nigro Pasquale , Zheng Jia , Virtanen Kirsi A. , Kalliokoski Kari K. , Hannukainen Jarna C. , Goodyear Laurie J.
Published: January 2021

Background

Short-term exercise training programs that consist of moderate intensity endurance training or high intensity interval training have become popular choices for healthy lifestyle modifications, with as little as two weeks of training being shown to improve cardiorespiratory fitness and whole-body glucose metabolism. An emerging concept in exercise biology is that exercise stimulates the release of cytokines and other factors into the blood that contribute to the beneficial effects of exercise on metabolism, but whether these factors behave similarly in response to moderate and high intensity short term training is not known. Here, we determined the effects of two short-term exercise training programs on the concentrations of select secreted cytokines and Klotho, a protein involved in anti-aging.

Methods

Healthy, sedentary men (n = 22) were randomized to moderate intensity training (MIT) or sprint intensity training (SIT) treatment groups. SIT consisted of 6 sessions over 2 weeks of 6 × 30 s all out cycle ergometer sprints with 4 min of recovery between sprints. MIT consisted of 6 sessions over 2 weeks of cycle ergometer exercise at 60% VO2peak, gradually increasing in duration from 40 to 60 min. Blood was taken before the intervention and 48 h after the last training session, and glucose uptake was measured using [18F]FDG‐PET/CT scanning. Cytokines were measured by multiplex and Klotho concentrations by ELISA.

Results

Both training protocols similarly increased VO2peak and decreased fat percentage and visceral fat (P < 0.05). MIT and SIT training programs both reduced the concentrations of IL-6, Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) and Leptin. Interestingly, MIT, but not SIT increased monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) concentrations, an exercise-induced cytokine, as well as Klotho concentrations.

Conclusion

Short-term exercise training at markedly different intensities similarly improves cardiovascular fitness but results in intensity-specific changes in cytokine responses to exercise.
Effects of intragastric administration of L-tryptophan on the glycaemic response to a nutrient drink in men with type 2 diabetes — impacts on gastric emptying, glucoregulatory hormones and glucose absorption
Authors: Hajishafiee Maryam , Elovaris Rachel A. , Jones Karen L. , Heilbronn Leonie K. , Horowitz Michael , Poppitt Sally D. , Feinle-Bisset Christine
Published: January 2021

Background

The rate of gastric emptying and glucoregulatory hormones are key determinants of postprandial glycaemia. Intragastric administration of L-tryptophan slows gastric emptying and reduces the glycaemic response to a nutrient drink in lean individuals and those with obesity. We investigated whether tryptophan decreases postprandial glycaemia and slows gastric emptying in type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods

Twelve men with T2D (age: 63 ± 2 years, HbA1c: 49.7 ± 2.5 mmol/mol, BMI: 30 ± 1 kg/m2) received, on three separate occasions, 3 g (‘Trp-3’) or 1.5 g (‘Trp-1.5’) tryptophan, or control (0.9% saline), intragastrically, in randomised, double-blind fashion, 30 min before a mixed-nutrient drink (500 kcal, 74 g carbohydrates), containing 3 g 3-O-methyl-D-glucose (3-OMG) to assess glucose absorption. Venous blood samples were obtained at baseline, after tryptophan, and for 2 h post-drink for measurements of plasma glucose, C-peptide, glucagon and 3-OMG. Gastric emptying of the drink was quantified using two-dimensional ultrasound.

Results

Tryptophan alone stimulated C-peptide (P = 0.002) and glucagon (P = 0.04), but did not affect fasting glucose. In response to the drink, Trp-3 lowered plasma glucose from t = 15–30 min and from t = 30–45 min compared with control and Trp-1.5, respectively (both P < 0.05), with no differences in peak glucose between treatments. Gastric emptying tended to be slower after Trp-3, but not Trp-1.5, than control (P = 0.06). Plasma C-peptide, glucagon and 3-OMG increased on all days, with no major differences between treatments.

Conclusions

In people with T2D, intragastric administration of 3 g tryptophan modestly slows gastric emptying, associated with a delayed rise, but not an overall lowering of, postprandial glucose.
Differential and spatial expression meta-analysis of genes identified in genome-wide association studies of depression
Authors: Wu Wennie , Howard Derek , Sibille Etienne , French Leon
Published: January 2021

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder worldwide and affects individuals of all ages. It causes significant psychosocial impairments and is a major cause of disability. A recent consortium study identified 102 genetic variants and 269 genes associated with depression. To provide targets for future depression research, we prioritized these recently identified genes using expression data. We examined the differential expression of these genes in three studies that profiled gene expression of MDD cases and controls across multiple brain regions. In addition, we integrated anatomical expression information to determine which brain regions and transcriptomic cell types highly express the candidate genes. We highlight 12 of the 269 genes with the most consistent differential expression:MANEA,UBE2M,CKB,ITPR3,SPRY2,SAMD5,TMEM106B,ZC3H7B,LST1,ASXL3, ZNF184andHSPA1A. The majority of these top genes were found to have sex-specific differential expression. We place greater emphasis onZNF184as it is the top gene in a more conservative analysis of the 269. Specifically, the differential expression ofZNF184was strongest in subcortical regions in males and females. Anatomically, our results suggest the importance of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, cholinergic, monoaminergic and enteric neurons. These findings provide a guide for targeted experiments to advance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of depression.
Grey and white matter associations of psychotic-like experiences in a general population sample (UK Biobank)
Authors: Schoorl Julie , Barbu Miruna C. , Shen Xueyi , Harris Mat R. , Adams Mark J. , Whalley Heather C. , Lawrie Stephen M.
Published: January 2021

There has been a substantial amount of research reporting the neuroanatomical associations of psychotic symptoms in people with schizophrenia. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the neuroimaging correlates of subclinical psychotic symptoms, so-called “psychotic-like experiences” (PLEs), within large healthy populations. PLEs are relatively common in the general population (7–13%), can be distressing and negatively affect health. This study therefore examined gray and white matter associations of four different PLEs (auditory or visual PLEs, and delusional ideas about conspiracies or communications) in subjects of the UK Biobank study with neuroimaging data (N = 21,390, mean age = 63 years). We tested for associations between any PLE (N = 768) and individual PLEs with gray and white matter brain structures, controlling for sex, age, intracranial volume, scanning site, and position in the scanner. Individuals that reported having experienced auditory hallucinations (N = 272) were found to have smaller volumes of the caudate, putamen, and accumbens (β = −0.115–0.134, pcorrected = 0.048–0.036), and reduced temporal lobe volume (β = −0.017, pcorrected = 0.047) compared to those that did not. People who indicated that they had ever believed in unreal conspiracies (N = 111) had a larger volume of the left amygdala (β = 0.023, pcorrected = 0.038). Individuals that reported a history of visual PLEs (N = 435) were found to have reduced white matter microstructure of the forceps major (β = −0.029, pcorrected = 0.009), an effect that was more marked in participants who reported PLEs as distressing. These associations were not accounted for by diagnoses of psychotic or depressive illness, nor the known risk factors for psychotic symptoms of childhood adversity or cannabis use. These findings suggest altered regional gray matter volumes and white matter microstructure in association with PLEs in the general population. They further suggest that these alterations may appear more frequently with the presentation of different psychotic symptoms in the absence of clinically diagnosed psychotic disorders.
Dentate gyrus activin signaling mediates the antidepressant response
Authors: Gergues Mark M. , Yohn Christine N. , Bharadia Anusha , Levinstein Marjorie R. , Samuels Benjamin Adam
Published: January 2021

Antidepressants that target monoaminergic systems, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are widely used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders including major depressive disorder, several anxiety disorders, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, these treatments are not ideal because only a subset of patients achieve remission. The reasons why some individuals remit to antidepressant treatments while others do not are unknown. Here, we developed a paradigm to assess antidepressant treatment resistance in mice. Exposure of male C57BL/6J mice to either chronic corticosterone administration or chronic social defeat stress induces maladaptive affective behaviors. Subsequent chronic treatment with the SSRI fluoxetine reverses these maladaptive affective behavioral changes in some, but not all, of the mice, permitting stratification into persistent responders and non-responders to fluoxetine. We found several differences in expression of Activin signaling-related genes between responders and non-responders in the dentate gyrus (DG), a region that is critical for the beneficial behavioral effects of fluoxetine. Enhancement of Activin signaling in the DG converted behavioral non-responders into responders to fluoxetine treatment more effectively than commonly used second-line antidepressant treatments, while inhibition of Activin signaling in the DG converted responders into non-responders. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the behavioral response to fluoxetine can be bidirectionally modified via targeted manipulations of the DG and suggest that molecular- and neural circuit-based modulations of DG may provide a new therapeutic avenue for more effective antidepressant treatments.
Clinical characteristics and outcomes of primary versus secondary gastrointestinal mantle cell lymphoma
Authors: Castellino Alessia , Tun Aung M. , Wang Yucai , Habermann Thomas M. , King Rebecca L. , Ristow Kay M. , Cerhan James R. , Inwards David J. , Paludo Jonas , Ansell Stephen M. , Witzig Thomas E. , Nowakowski Grzegorz S.
Published: January 2021

Primary gastrointestinal (GI) mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is rare and the optimal management is unknown. We reviewed 800 newly diagnosed MCL cases and found 22 primary (2.8%) and 79 (9.9%) secondary GI MCL cases. Age, sex, and performance status were similar between primary and secondary cases. Secondary cases had more elevations in lactate dehydrogenase (28% vs 0%,P = 0.03) and a trend for a higher MCL international prognostic index (P = 0.07). Observation or local therapy was more common for primary GI MCL (29% vs 8%,P < 0.01), and autologous stem-cell transplant was more common for secondary GI MCL (35% vs 14%,P < 0.05). The median follow-up was 85 months. Primary and secondary GI MCL had similar 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) (30% vs 28%,P = 0.59) and overall survival (OS) (65% vs 66%,P = 0.83). The extent of GI involvement in primary GI MCL affected treatment selection but not outcome, with a 5-year PFS of 43% vs 14% vs 31% (P = 0.48) and OS of 57% vs 71% vs 69% (P = 0.54) in cases with single lesion vs multiple lesions in 1 organ vs multiple lesions in ≥2 organs. Less aggressive frontline treatment for primary GI MCL is reasonable. It is unknown whether more aggressive treatment can result in improved outcomes.