bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations of a flow shear stabilized Z-pinch experiment
Authors: Geyko V. I. , Angus J. R. , Dorf M. A.
Published: May 2021

Axisymmetric (m = 0) gyrokinetic and extended-MHD simulations of a sheared-flow Z-pinch plasma are performed with the high-order finite volume code COGENT. The present gyrokinetic model solves the long-wavelength limit of the gyrokinetic equation for both ion and electron species coupled to the electrostatic gyro-Poisson equation for the electrostatic potential. The extended-MHD model is electromagnetic and includes the effects of the gyro-viscous pressure tensor, diamagnetic electron and ion heat fluxes, and generalized Ohm's law. A prominent feature of this work is that the radial profiles for the plasma density and temperature are taken from the fusion Z-pinch experiment (FuZE), and the magnetic field profile is obtained as a solution of the MHD force balance equation. Such an approach allows to address realistic plasma parameters and provide insights into the current and planned experiments. In particular, it is demonstrated that the radial profiles play an important role in stabilization, as the embedded guiding center (E×B) drift has a strong radial shear, which can contribute to the Z-pinch stabilization even in the absence of the fluid flow shear. The results of simulations for the FuZE plasma parameters show a decrease in the linear growth rate with an increase in the flow shear; however, full stabilization in the linear regime is not observed even for large (comparable to the Alfvén velocity) radial variations of the axial flow. Nonlinear stability properties of the FuZE plasmas are also studied, and it is found that profile broadening can have a pronounced stabilizing effect in the nonlinear regime.
Formation of edge pressure pedestal and reversed magnetic shear due to toroidal rotation in a tokamak equilibrium
Authors: Li Haolong , Zhu Ping
Published: May 2021

Toroidal rotation is well known to play significant roles in the edge transport and L–H transition dynamics of tokamaks. Our recent calculation finds that a sufficiently strong localized toroidal rotation can directly bring out the formation of edge pressure pedestal with reversed magnetic shear that is reminiscent of an H-mode plasma, purely through the effects of toroidal rotation on the tokamak MHD equilibrium itself. In particular, the enhanced edge toroidal rotation enables a substantial peaking of the parallel current profile near edge in higher β regimes, which leads to the flattening or reversal of the local q (safety factor) profile. Here the formation of pressure pedestal along with the reversed magnetic shear region is shown to be the natural outcome of the MHD tokamak equilibrium in a self-consistent response to the presence of a localized toroidal rotation typically observed in high confinement-mode (H-mode) or quiescent H-mode.
Enhancing the elastocaloric effect in Ni–Mn–Ga alloys through the coupling of magnetic transition and two-step structural transformation
Authors: Li Dong , Zhang Xiaoliang , Zhang Guoyao , Li Zongbin , Yang Bo , Yan Haile , Wang Dunhui , Zhao Xiang , Zuo Liang
Published: May 2021

Elastocaloric effect driven by uniaxial stress in the Ni–Mn–Ga alloys can be greatly enhanced through introducing magnetic transition or inter-martensitic transformation to martensitic transformation. Here, we present large elastocaloric effect in a ⟨0 0 1⟩A textured Ni55Mn19Ga25Ti1 polycrystalline alloy prepared by directional solidification by exploiting the coupled multiple phase transformations, i.e., paramagnetic-ferromagnetic transition, martensitic transformation, and inter-martensitic transformation. Owing to such magneto-multistructural transformation, the transformation entropy change related to the inverse transformation is enhanced to 29.6 J kg−1 K−1. Consequently, on unloading from a compressive stress of 180 MPa, a large adiabatic temperature change of −12.9 K and specific adiabatic temperature change of −72 K GPa−1 are achieved, being much superior over those in the Ni–Mn–Ga based alloys obtained previously.
Addressing crosstalk in crossbar memory arrays with a resistive switching ZnO homojunction diode
Authors: Mainali Punya , Bastatas Lyndon D. , Echeverria Elena , Wagle Phadindra , Sankaran Prasanna , Mcilroy D. N.
Published: May 2021

A resistive switching ZnO n–n homojunction diode fabricated with a stack of two dissimilar ZnO thin films shows promising characteristics necessary to address the crosstalk problem in a crossbar memory array. The device has a characteristic I–V-hysteresis loop in forward bias, in conjunction with its n–n junction characteristics. In the ac frequency range of 10 Hz–15 kHz, the area inside the hysteresis loop initially increased, reaching a maximum at 1 kHz, and then decreased with increasing frequency. The maximum in the area of the hysteresis loop corresponds to the accumulation of space charge at the interface. The resistivity of the device was found to vary from 5 to 100 kΩ in the bias range of 0–10 V and in the range of 106 Ω when reverse biased; the ratio of high resistive state to low resistive state has its maximum (∼2.4) at 1 kHz ac signal at 3 V.
High Yap and Mll1 promote a persistent regenerative cell state induced by Notch signaling and loss of p53
Authors: Heuberger Julian , Grinat Johanna , Kosel Frauke , Liu Lichao , Kunz Séverine , Vidal Ramon Oliveira , Keil Marlen , Haybaeck Johannes , Robine Sylvie , Louvard Daniel , Regenbrecht Christian , Sporbert Anje , Sauer Sascha , von Eyss Björn , Sigal Michael , Birchmeier Walter
Published: May 2021

Significance

Using organoids, this study shows that Notch activity and loss of p53 induce a regenerative cell state and recapitulate tumorigenesis. Mutant organoids self-renew and grow independently of essential growth factors and exhibit elevated levels of nuclear Yap, Mll1, and H3K4 trimethylation. These factors are also elevated in human colorectal cancer (CRC) and control viability of patient-derived CRC organoids. Yap interacts with Mll1, and both promote a regenerative cell state that links regenerative processes to tumorigenesis.
Chronic T cell proliferation in brains after stroke could interfere with the efficacy of immunotherapies
Authors: Heindl Steffanie , Ricci Alessio , Carofiglio Olga , Zhou Qihui , Arzberger Thomas , Lenart Nikolett , Franzmeier Nicolai , Hortobagyi Tibor , Nelson Peter T. , Stowe Ann M. , Denes Adam , Edbauer Dieter , Liesz Arthur
Published: May 2021

Neuroinflammation is an emerging focus of translational stroke research. Preclinical studies have demonstrated a critical role for brain-invading lymphocytes in post-stroke pathophysiology. Reducing cerebral lymphocyte invasion by anti-CD49d antibodies consistently improves outcome in the acute phase after experimental stroke models. However, clinical trials testing this approach failed to show efficacy in stroke patients for the chronic outcome 3 mo after stroke. Here, we identify a potential mechanistic reason for this phenomenon by detecting chronic T cell accumulation—evading the systemic therapy—in the post-ischemic brain. We observed a persistent accumulation of T cells in mice and human autopsy samples for more than 1 mo after stroke. Cerebral T cell accumulation in the post-ischemic brain was driven by increased local T cell proliferation rather than by T cell invasion. This observation urges re-evaluation of current immunotherapeutic approaches, which target circulating lymphocytes for promoting recovery after stroke.
Sterilizing immunity: New opportunities for rational TB vaccine design
Authors: Sher Alan , Flynn Joanne L.
Published: May 2021

Recent studies have revealed situations of high-level naturally acquired and vaccine-induced immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis in animal models along with examples of significantly protective immunization in humans. These discoveries offer immunologists new opportunities to define effector mechanisms that when triggered by appropriately engineered vaccines could end TB’s deadly reign.
Precipation of TiAl3 in remelting Al-5Ti-1B and the grain refinement of 7050 alloy
Authors: Xie Hui , Lv Jinze
Published: May 2021

This paper studies the precipitation regularity of TiAl3 compound in different temperature, holding time and cooling rate. Besides, this paper studies the influence of Al-5Ti-1B on the mechanical properties of the 7050 alloy such as the aluminum alloy grain size, microstructure and strength through changing holding time and amount of Al-5Ti-1B. Through water cooling, the solute Ti forms new fine TiAl3 compounds firstly. While through natural cooling, the solute Ti is easy to grow up around the agglomerate TiAl3 compounds. The variation of the undissolved TiAl3 compound as follows: the size of the block-like TiAl3 does not change at 700 °C for 10 min; while the size has stabilized at 750 °C for 5 min. The dissolution of the rod-like TiAl3 is not obvious when holding for 20 min, but the rod-like TiAl3 fuses easily. After adding the Al-5Ti-1B into the 7050 alloy, the grain shape of α-Al changes from dendritic crystal to equiaxed crystal, and the refining effect is obvious; While the adding amount increases, the size of α-Al become larger, but it has a tendency towards to dendritic crystal. The mechanical properties of 7050 alloy without Al-5Ti-1B is in the worst condition. Transcrystalline rupture may occur in grain of 7050 alloy in tensile test due to it is coarse grain. After adding the refiner, the mechanical properties are optimal when keeping the temperature 750 °C for 5 min. Dimple could be found in the tensile fracture, and the dimples mainly are equiaxial.
Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction
Authors: Lorch Mark
Published: May 2021

Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied. From bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical reactions within these cells; the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them; and the chemical structures such as DNA on which these biochemical reactions take place. This VSI considers the current science and innovations in the field. It also looks at the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology.
1. Human physiology
Authors: Davies Jamie A.
Published: May 2021

This chapter defines human physiology and how it is studied. Human physiology is the science of how the body works. As well as telling us how our bodies work, physiological knowledge is important to keeping them working in the event of injury or disease. As in all of the biological sciences, research in human physiology uses observation, inference, imaginative proposing of hypotheses, and the testing of these hypotheses by experiment. Many experiments on human physiology are done directly on human volunteers: data obtained directly from humans are obviously of the highest relevance to human biology. The chapter then looks at imaging technologies and the nature of explanations in human physiology.
3. Homeostasis
Authors: Davies Jamie A.
Published: May 2021

This chapter discusses the importance of maintaining a stable internal environment, which is itself an active physiological process. This process is called ‘homeostasis’. Control systems, whether natural or artificial, can be divided into two broad classes: open-loop and closed-loop. The closed-loop type is clearly best suited to homeostasis, and it is not surprising that it is widespread in physiology. The chapter then considers the control of the concentration of potassium, calcium, and glucose in the blood. Many drives—such as desires for water, food, warmth, sleep, or a lavatory—can be linked very clearly to individual physiological homeostasis.
The genome of the venomous snail Lautoconus ventricosus sheds light on the origin of conotoxin diversity
Authors: Pardos-Blas José Ramón , Irisarri Iker , Abalde Samuel , Afonso Carlos M L , Tenorio Manuel J , Zardoya Rafael
Published: May 2021

Background

Venoms are deadly weapons to subdue prey or deter predators that have evolved independently in many animal lineages. The genomes of venomous animals are essential to understand the evolutionary mechanisms involved in the origin and diversification of venoms.

Results

Here, we report the chromosome-level genome of the venomous Mediterranean cone snail, Lautoconus ventricosus (Caenogastropoda: Conidae). The total size of the assembly is 3.59 Gb; it has high contiguity (N50 = 93.53 Mb) and 86.6 Mb of the genome assembled into the 35 largest scaffolds or pseudochromosomes. On the basis of venom gland transcriptomes, we annotated 262 complete genes encoding conotoxin precursors, hormones, and other venom-related proteins. These genes were scattered in the different pseudochromosomes and located within repetitive regions. The genes encoding conotoxin precursors were normally structured into 3 exons, which did not necessarily coincide with the 3 structural domains of the corresponding proteins. Additionally, we found evidence in the L. ventricosus genome for a past whole-genome duplication event by means of conserved gene synteny with the Pomacea canaliculata genome, the only one available at the chromosome level within Caenogastropoda. The whole-genome duplication event was further confirmed by the presence of a duplicated hox gene cluster. Key genes for gastropod biology including those encoding proteins related to development, shell formation, and sex were located in the genome.

Conclusions

The new high-quality L. ventricosus genome should become a reference for assembling and analyzing new gastropod genomes and will contribute to future evolutionary genomic studies among venomous animals.
Hemorrhagic cholecystitis after coronary angiography
Authors: Cunha Roberto , Quintanilha Rui
Published: May 2021

Hemorrhagic cholecystitis is a rare condition with several possible causes. Despite being a difficult diagnosis, it is an important one considering the fatal possibility for the patient. The following is the case of a 68-year-old patient with dual antiplatelet therapy, who underwent coronary angiography and angioplasty in a hypocoagulate setting, developing a hemorrhagic cholecystitis. This article seeks to recognize the importance of this differential diagnosis in hypocoagulated patients with abdominal pain.
Chronic expanding hematoma mimicking seroma, following a totally extraperitoneal approach for inguinal hernia: a case report
Authors: Takahashi Yusuke , Seki Hitoshi , Kobayashi Akira
Published: May 2021

Chronic expanding hematoma (CEH) mimicking seroma following inguinal hernia surgery has not been reported previously. A 78-year-old man underwent laparoscopic repair of a left direct hernia via a totally extraperitoneal approach. He was discharged 2 days after surgery without any complications. Two weeks later, he complained of left inguinal bulging without pain. We considered seroma and decided to observe the patient for 1 month. However, the cyst did not change in size. Additional cyst aspiration and drainage attempts were unsuccessful. Three months after the initial surgery, we performed a second surgery (resection of the cyst) because conservative therapies were ineffective. The resected cyst was pathologically diagnosed as a CEH. The postoperative course was uneventful, and no recurrence was observed. Complete excision of a CEH is mandatory because aspiration and drainage cannot prevent recurrence.
Sex, Money, and Murder on the Isthmus: Rumor, Disinformation, and the Politics of Denunciation in Revolutionary Mexico
Authors: Ristow Colby
Published: May 2021

In 1915, the Constitutionalist faction of Venustiano Carranza moved into southern Mexico, promising revolutionary justice and retribution against The Reaction. Unfamiliar with the social topography of the region, Carranza’s men depended on information gleaned from dubious sources to make key political decisions. Groups competing for the Constitutionalists’ patronage flooded Carranza’s correspondence, accentuating their own revolutionary bona fides while exposing their enemies. The result was a political milieu of denunciation, and nowhere was this milieu more acrimonious than in Juchitán, a coveted transportation hub in the isthmus region of Oaxaca. Using the Carranza archive in Mexico City, this essay examines denunciations sent from Juchitán in early 1915. These letters reveal an unmediated “popular voice,” unbound from the public sphere, its code of honor, and its recognition of the realm of privacy. The shift of public politics into the private sphere had two important consequences. First, unsubstantiated information—rumors, gossip—gained a prominent position in local politics. Second, it opened the door to political participation to marginalized groups, particularly the working classes and women. This essay examines two letters in detail, one from an “honorable worker” and the other from a prominent woman, both dealing in rumor, gossip, and conspiracy. Despite their inherent unreliability, these letters give us a window into the construction of the camarilla, prevailing perceptions about politics and the accumulation of wealth, and the possibilities and limits of women’s participation in high politics.
Optical and NIR spectroscopy of cool CEMP stars to probe the nucleosynthesis in low-mass AGB binary system
Authors: Susmitha A , Ojha D K , Sivarani T , Ninan J P , Bandyopadhyay A , Surya Arun , Unni Athira
Published: May 2021

We present the abundance analyses of seven carbon enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars to understand the origin of carbon in them. We used high-resolution optical spectra to derive abundances of various elements. We also used low-resolution near-infrared (NIR) spectra to derive the abundance of O and 12C/13C from the CO molecular band and compared their values with those derived from high-resolution optical spectra. We identified a good agreement between the values. Thus, in cool CEMP stars, the NIR observations complement the high-resolution optical observations to derive the oxygen abundance and the 12C/13C ratio. This enables us to probe fainter cool CEMP stars using NIR spectroscopy. C, N, O abundances of all the program stars in this study show abundances that are consistent with binary mass transfer from a low-mass, low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch (AGB) companion which is further supported by the presence of enhancement in neutron-capture elements and detection of radial velocity variation. One of the stars shows abundance patterns similar to a CEMP-s star whereas the abundance pattern of the rest of the stars satisfy the criteria required to classify them as CEMP-r/s stars. The subclassification of some of the stars studied here is revisited. The abundance of neutron-capture elements in these CEMP-r/s stars resembles to that of i-process models where proton ingestion episodes in the companion low-mass, low-metallicity AGB stars produce the necessary neutron density required for the onset of i-process.
Convergent filaments contracting towards an intermediate-mass pre-stellar core
Authors: Ren Zhiyuan , Zhu Lei , Shi Hui , Yue Nannan , Li Di , Zhang Qizhou , Mardones Diego , Wu Jingwen , Jiao Sihan , Liu Shu , Luo Gan , Xie Jinjin , Zhang Chao , Xu Xuefang
Published: May 2021

Filamentary structures are closely associated with star-forming cores, but their detailed physical connections are still not clear. We studied the dense gas in OMC-3 MMS-7 region in the Orion A molecular cloud using the molecular lines observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Submillimeter Array (SMA). The ALMA N2H+ (1–0) emission has revealed three dense filaments intersected at the centre, coincident with the central core MMS-7, which has a mass of 3.6 M⊙. The filaments and cores are embedded in a parental clump with a total mass of 29 M⊙. The N2H+ velocity field exhibits a noticeable increasing trend along the filaments towards the central core MMS-7 with a scale of v − vlsr ≃ 1.5 km s−1 over a spatial range of ∼20 arcsec (8 × 103 au), corresponding to a gradient of $40\, {\rm km\, s^{-1}}\, {\rm pc}^{-1}$. This feature is most likely to indicate an infall motion towards the centre. The derived infall rate (8 × 10−5 M⊙ yr−1) and time-scale (3.6 × 105 yr) are much lower than that for a spherical free-fall collapse and more consistent with the contraction of the filament structures. The filaments also exhibit a possible fragmentation. But this does not seem to largely interrupt the gas structure or its contraction towards the centre. Thus, MMS-7 provides an example of filamentary inward motion directly towards a pre-stellar core. The filament contraction could be less intense but more steady than global spherical collapse, and may help generate an intermediate-mass or even high-mass star.
Light-curve classification with recurrent neural networks for GOTO: dealing with imbalanced data
Authors: Burhanudin U F , Maund J R , Killestein T , Ackley K , Dyer M J , Lyman J , Ulaczyk K , Cutter R , Mong Y-L , Steeghs D , Galloway D K , Dhillon V , O’Brien P , Ramsay G , Noysena K , Kotak R , Breton R P , Nuttall L , Pallé E , Pollacco D , Thrane E , Awiphan S , Chote P , Chrimes A , Daw E , Duffy C , Eyles-Ferris R , Gompertz B , Heikkilä T , Irawati P , Kennedy M R , Levan A , Littlefair S , Makrygianni L , Mata-Sánchez D , Mattila S , McCormac J , Mkrtichian D , Mullaney J , Sawangwit U , Stanway E , Starling R , Strøm P , Tooke S , Wiersema K
Published: May 2021

The advent of wide-field sky surveys has led to the growth of transient and variable source discoveries. The data deluge produced by these surveys has necessitated the use of machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms to sift through the vast incoming data stream. A problem that arises in real-world applications of learning algorithms for classification is imbalanced data, where a class of objects within the data is underrepresented, leading to a bias for overrepresented classes in the ML and DL classifiers. We present a recurrent neural network (RNN) classifier that takes in photometric time-series data and additional contextual information (such as distance to nearby galaxies and on-sky position) to produce real-time classification of objects observed by the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer, and use an algorithm-level approach for handling imbalance with a focal loss function. The classifier is able to achieve an Area Under the Curve (AUC) score of 0.972 when using all available photometric observations to classify variable stars, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei. The RNN architecture allows us to classify incomplete light curves, and measure how performance improves as more observations are included. We also investigate the role that contextual information plays in producing reliable object classification.
SN 2015bf: A fast declining type II supernova with flash-ionized signatures
Authors: Lin Han , Wang Xiaofeng , Zhang Jujia , Lin Weili , Mo Jun , Filippenko Alexei V , Zheng WeiKang , Brown Peter J , Xiang Danfeng , Huang Fang , Cai Yongzhi , Zhang Tianmeng , Li Xue , Rui Liming , Zhang Xinghan , Sai Hanna , Zhao Xulin , Graham Melissa L , Shivvers I , Halevi G , Yuk H , Brink Thomas G
Published: May 2021

We present optical and ultraviolet photometry, as well as optical spectra, for the type II supernova (SN) 2015bf. Our observations cover the phases from ∼2 to ∼200 d after explosion. The first spectrum is characterized by a blue continuum with a blackbody temperature of ∼24 000 K and flash-ionized emission lines. After about 1 week, the spectra of SN 2015bf evolve like those of a regular SN II. From the luminosity of the narrow emission component of H α, we deduce that the mass-loss rate is larger than ${\sim}3.7\times 10^{-3}\, {\rm M_\odot \, yr^{-1}}$. The disappearance of the flash features in the first week after explosion indicates that the circumstellar material is confined within ∼6 × 1014 cm. Thus, we suggest that the progenitor of SN 2015bf experienced violent mass loss shortly before the supernova explosion. The multiband light curves show that SN 2015bf has a high peak luminosity with an absolute visual magnitude MV = −18.11 ± 0.08 mag and a fast post-peak decline with a V-band decay of 1.22 ± 0.09 mag within ∼50 d after maximum light. Moreover, the R-band tail luminosity of SN 2015bf is fainter than that of SNe II with similar peak by 1–2 mag, suggesting a small amount of 56Ni (${\sim}0.009\, {\rm M_\odot }$) synthesized during the explosion. Such a low nickel mass indicates that the progenitor of SN 2015bf could be a super-asymptotic-giant-branch star that collapsed owing to electron capture.
Budding yeast Rap1, but not telomeric DNA, is inhibitory for multiple stages of DNA replication in vitro
Authors: Douglas Max E , Diffley John F X
Published: May 2021

Telomeres are copied and reassembled each cell division cycle through a multistep process called telomere replication. Most telomeric DNA is duplicated semiconservatively during this process, but replication forks frequently pause or stall at telomeres in yeast, mouse and human cells, potentially causing chronic telomere shortening or loss in a single cell cycle. We have investigated the cause of this effect by examining the replication of telomeric templates in vitro. Using a reconstituted assay for eukaryotic DNA replication in which a complete eukaryotic replisome is assembled and activated with purified proteins, we show that budding yeast telomeric DNA is efficiently duplicated in vitro unless the telomere binding protein Rap1 is present. Rap1 acts as a roadblock that prevents replisome progression and leading strand synthesis, but also potently inhibits lagging strand telomere replication behind the fork. Both defects can be mitigated by the Pif1 helicase. Our results suggest that GC-rich sequences do not inhibit DNA replication per se, and that in the absence of accessory factors, telomere binding proteins can inhibit multiple, distinct steps in the replication process.
Recurring Severe Injection-Related Infections in People Who Inject Drugs and the Need for Safe Injection Sites in Madrid, Spain
Authors: Valencia Jorge , Troya Jesús , Lazarus Jeffrey V , Cuevas Guillermo , Alvaro-Meca Alejandro , Torres Juan , Gardeta Carlos , Lozano David , Moreno Santiago , Ryan Pablo
Published: May 2021

Background

An estimated 58 749 people with opioid use disorder engaged in opioid agonist therapy (OAT) in 1132 centers in Spain during 2017. We aimed to calculate the incidence of severe injection-related infections in people who inject drugs (PWID) engaged in OAT in harm reduction settings without a safe consumption space.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was performed in PWID engaged in OAT and in a mobile harm reduction unit to quantify admissions to a referral hospital for any severe injection-related infections between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2019. A Cox proportional hazard regression analysis was used to assess factors associated with any severe injection-related infection.

Results

Two hundred thirty-seven PWID who engaged in OAT were included in the study. After a median follow-up of 5.5 months (interquartile range [IQR], 1.3–22.7 months), a total of 104 episodes of severe injection-related infections occurred among 56 individuals, and admission due to a second event occurred in 35.7% of this same group. The incidence density of any type of severe injection-related infection was 26.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 20.2–34.8) episodes per 100 person-years, and the incidence density of complicated skin and soft tissue infections that required hospital admission was 20.4 (95% CI, 15.0–27.3) episodes per 100 person-years. Fifty-six (53.8%) of all the episodes were patient-directed discharge (PDD), and people who had 2 or more hospital admissions had a higher PDD frequency.

Conclusions

Severe injection-related infections remain highly prevalent among PWID cared for in a harm reduction setting without a safe consumption space. PDD was more frequent among higher-risk individuals who presented 2 or more hospital readmissions.
Hepatitis B Virus Screening and Vaccination in Patients With HIV: A Survey of Clinicians’ Current Practices
Authors: Hastie Elizabeth , Wooten Darcy
Published: May 2021

This survey study evaluates how clinicians approach hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination and monitoring in patients with HIV. Providers have clinical practices that vary greatly from one another and from current guidelines, especially for patients who do not seroconvert after initial HBV vaccination and for patients with isolated hepatitis B core antibody.
Queen Victoria’s Last Laureate—and After?
Authors: O’Gorman Francis
Published: May 2021

The work of the final Poet Laureate of the Victorian period, Alfred Austin (1835–1913), has not survived among readers of poetry or drama. This essay is not an argument for that work’s merits, but it does claim that we miss an important local episode of literary history, involving valuable questions about literary periodization, in the years before the establishment of Modernist poetics, if we overlook not Austin but the debates in the 1890s concerning him. Concentrating on the newspapers, periodicals, and journals of this decade, my essay discusses critics’ sense that British poetry had lost its way and their implicit aspiration for new directions. The essay considers what negative models of a poet the 1890s developed, and examines critics’ doubts about poetry that made direct and apparently personally sincere statements on politics in the public domain. The conclusion suggests that, while the most familiar argument is that the Modernists were turning against the ‘traditional’ poetry of the Victorians, the case of the reception of Alfred Austin hints at a way in which some Modernists were, without realizing it, heeding the essential advice of the last of the Victorian critics and responding to their hopes.
Seasonal and diel cycles of fin whale acoustic occurrence near Elephant Island, Antarctica
Authors: Burkhardt Elke , Van Opzeeland Ilse , Cisewski Boris , Mattmüller Ramona , Meister Marlene , Schall Elena , Spiesecke Stefanie , Thomisch Karolin , Zwicker Sarah , Boebel Olaf
Published: May 2021

This study investigates the relevance of the Elephant Island (EI) region for Southern Hemisphere fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in their annual life cycle. We collected 3 years of passive acoustic recordings (January 2013 to February 2016) northwest of EI to calculate time series of fin whale acoustic indices, daily acoustic occurrence, spectrograms, as well as the abundance of their 20 Hz pulses. Acoustic backscatter strength, sea ice concentration and chlorophyll-a composites provided concurrent environmental information for graphic comparisons. Acoustic interannual, seasonal and diel patterns together with visual information and literature resources were used to define the period of occupancy and to infer potential drivers for their behaviour. Spectral results suggest that these fin whales migrate annually to and from offshore central Chile. Acoustic data and visual information reveal their arrival at EI in December to feed without producing their typical 20 Hz pulse. For all 3 years, acoustic activity commences in February, peaks in May and decreases in August, in phase with the onset of their breeding season. Our results emphasize the importance of EI for fin whales throughout most of the year. Our recommendation is to consider EI for establishing a marine protected area to expedite the recovery of this vulnerable species.
Duplex-Repair enables highly accurate sequencing, despite DNA damage
Authors: Xiong Kan , Shea Douglas , Rhoades Justin , Blewett Tim , Liu Ruolin , Bae Jin H. , Nguyen Erica , Makrigiorgos G. Mike , Golub Todd R. , Adalsteinsson Viktor A.
Published: May 2021

Accurate DNA sequencing is crucial in biomedicine. Underlying the most accurate methods is the assumption that a mutation is true if altered bases are present on both strands of the DNA duplex. We now show that this assumption can be wrong. We establish that current methods to prepare DNA for sequencing, via ‘End Repair/dA-Tailing,’ may substantially resynthesize strands, leading amplifiable lesions or alterations on one strand to become indiscernible from true mutations on both strands. Indeed, we discovered that 7-17% and 32-57% of interior ‘duplex base pairs’ from cell-free DNA and formalin-fixed tumor biopsies, respectively, could be resynthesized in vitro and potentially introduce false mutations. To address this, we present Duplex-Repair, and show that it limits interior duplex base pair resynthesis by 8- to 464-fold, rescues the impact of induced DNA damage, and affords up to 8.9-fold more accurate duplex sequencing. Our study uncovers a major Achilles’ heel in sequencing and offers a solution to restore high accuracy.
Hnf1b-CreER causes efficient recombination of a Rosa26-RFP reporter in duct and islet δ cells
Authors: Rovira Meritxell , Maestro Miguel Angel , Grau Vanessa , Ferrer Jorge
Published: May 2021

The Hnf1b-CreERT2 BAC transgenic (Tg(Hnf1b-cre/ERT2)1Jfer) has been used extensively to trace the progeny of pancreatic ducts in developmental, regeneration, or cancer models. Hnf1b-CreERT2 transgenics have been used to show that cells from that form a duct-like plexus in the embryonic pancreas are bipotent duct-endocrine progenitors, whereas adult mouse duct cells are not a common source of β cells in various regenerative settings. The interpretation of such genetic lineage tracing studies is critically dependent on a correct understanding of the cell type specificity of recombinase activity with each reporter system. We have re-examined the performance of Hnf1b-CreERT2 with a Rosa26-RFP reporter transgene. This showed inducible recombination of up to 96% adult duct cells, a much higher efficiency than previously used reporter transgenes. Despite this high duct-cell excision, recombination in α and β cells remained very low, similar to previously used reporters. However, nearly half of somatostatin-expressing δ cells showed reporter activation, which was due to Cre expression in δ cells rather than to duct to δ cell conversions. The high recombination efficiency in duct cells indicates that the Hnf1b-CreERT2 model can be useful for both ductal fate mapping and genetic inactivation studies. The recombination in δ cells does not modify the interpretation of studies that failed to show duct conversions to other cell types, but needs to be considered if this model is used in studies that aim to modify the plasticity of pancreatic duct cells.
Social media for government information dissemination: content, characteristics and civic engagement
Authors: Yavetz Gal , Aharony Noa
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the information distributed on social media by government ministries. In addition, this study seeks to categorize and identify the characteristics of the highest engaging government social media posts.

Design/methodology/approach

This article is based on content analysis to examine the work of Israeli government ministries on Facebook. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze 6,292 posts posted over a six-month period, and a sample of 230 of the most popular posts was analyzed qualitatively.

Findings

Findings indicate that government ministries primarily direct and link to internal Facebook pages, with few, if any, referrals to official government websites. In addition, the types of content that generate the highest levels of engagement are classified as operations and events or symbolic acts (e.g. greetings or condolences) and are containing visual content as photos or video clips.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on the topic in several ways. First, it presents findings from a cross-national study of government authorities and organizations that operate and serve diverse populations in a multicultural country. Second, this study presents a novel examination of information strategies by government organizations with focusing on the characteristics of links, media types, content and posting frequency.
How consumption-supportive packaging functionality influences consumers’ purchase intentions: the mediating role of perceived product meaningfulness
Authors: Baccarella Christian V. , Maier Lukas , Voigt Kai-Ingo
Published: May 2021

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide the first empirical evidence on how consumption-supportive packaging functionality influences consumers’ purchase intentions. Consumption-supportive packaging functionality implies that the packaging itself serves a function that actively helps users achieve their consumption goals and that supports the objectives consumers have in mind when using it.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve the research goal, this study presents four between-participant experimental studies. In the studies, this paper tests for the direct effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality on consumers’ purchase intentions across different product categories. Moreover, this study tests for the mediating effect of perceived product meaningfulness to explain the underlying mechanism (Studies 2 and 3) and for the moderating effect of product complexity (Study 4).

Findings

This paper shows that consumption-supportive packaging functionality leads to higher purchase intentions. The findings also reveal that perceived product meaningfulness is one underlying mechanism that helps us to explain the positive effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality on purchase intention. Moreover, findings reveal that the positive effect of consumption-supportive packaging functionality only works for low-complex products, but not for high-complex ones.

Research limitations/implications

This research offers a new perspective on package design, and thus advances the understanding of how to package functionality can influence consumer responses. Moreover, this study contributes to the Gestalt theory because it applies a holistic design view on the packaging that influences product perception.

Practical implications

For low complex products, marketing managers should consider integrating packaging functionality into their communication strategy to focus on the overall Gestalt of the product. Product designers should integrate consumption-supportive packaging functionality in the product design to evoke positive consumer responses.

Originality/value

The research gives first empirical evidence on how and when consumption-supportive packaging functionality influences consumers’ product evaluations.
A bibliometric overview of the Journal of Workplace Learning
Authors: Huang Liuyu , Liew Hattie
Published: May 2021

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the Journal of Workplace Learning (JWL), focusing on articles between 1997 and 2020. Specifically, this study will examine articles in JWL, themes in JWL and the influence of JWL.

Design/methodology/approach

This study adopts bibliometric analysis methods, with indicators such as total articles, total citations, citation per article, h-index, Citescore, citation per year and considers different dimensions, including the leading articles, the most productive and influential authors, universities and countries, top keywords and keywords concurrence clusters and top journals, universities and countries that cite JWL.

Findings

JWL is an international journal with growing influence over workplace learning research. JWL’s leading articles focused on learning activities and learning environments, with single-authored and multi-authored articles evenly distributed. Dealtry and Billett are among the most productive and influential authors, and universities from Europe, Australia and North America dominate in JWL. Persistent topics and new topics that emerged in recent years in JWL are identified. JWL’s influence is well-evidenced by citations from over six continents.

Originality/value

This study represents the earliest attempt to study workplace learning using bibliometric analysis. It serves as a baseline for future bibliometric studies on workplace learning and guides authors in identifying research directions through the shift in keywords. It offers objective information about JWL, thus providing a reference for authors who are considering JWL as a potential publication outlet.
COVID-19 and sustainability reporting: what are the roles of reporting frameworks in a crisis?
Authors: Zharfpeykan Ramona , Ng Frederick
Published: May 2021

Purpose

This paper aims to commentate on the roles of sustainability reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. It evaluates the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) framework, designed as a guide for best-practice in sustainability reporting, for its applicability to cover COVID-19 issues and, more generally, issues arising in crisis conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

The GRI’s COVID-19 communications and the GRI framework are reviewed using three common theories of reporting, namely, institutional, stakeholder and legitimacy theory. For each theory, the authors contrast expectations under business-as-usual conditions against crisis conditions to identify gaps and avenues to guide COVID-19 responses.

Findings

This commentary opines the GRI framework risks perpetuating incremental change towards the “new normal”, rather than motivating the urgent responses needed in a crisis. The GRI can play a significant normative role to guide immediate and short-term best practice in COVID-19 reporting. Findings motivate the need to report for vulnerable rather than powerful stakeholders and to recognise and celebrate proactive change.

Originality/value

This paper commentates on the suitability of a major sustainability reporting framework and its role in improving responses to the current COVID-19 crisis. Findings propose challenges to the GRI and GRI framework to motivate urgent responses and communication for the pandemic.
The cruel optimism of co-production
Authors: Kill Cassie
Published: May 2021

Purpose

In this paper, the author reflects on her researcher experiences of attempting to construct co-productive epistemic relations in her ethnographic doctoral research about a gallery youth collective. The paper engages with debates about the nature of co-productive relations, advocating for a more affective approach which attends to multiple, temporary moments within the research, rather than seeking a grand or unified process of collaboration.

Design/methodology/approach

This methodological paper draws on the records and reflections the author generated in the process of undertaking collaborative ethnographic research, considered with a specific theoretical resource (Lauren Berlant's Cruel Optimism (2011)) to construct a reflexive narrative from her doctoral research experiences.

Findings

The paper discusses the multiple, shifting ways in which research relationships unfolded in the author's doctoral research and the impasse this generated in the author’s understanding of desirable co-productive relations. Reflecting with Berlant's Cruel Optimism (2011) allowed the author to understand the Covid-19 crisis as the rupture of the author’s attachment to this relational fantasy. Beyond this rupture, the author was able to more fully attend to fleeting, affective moments as a form of co-production within the research.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to the growing anthology of critical and reflexive narratives about co-production; these collectively provide a resource for researcher reflection and for teaching about collaborative practices.
Praying for Souls not in Purgatory: An Overlooked Text of Caroline Polemics
Authors: Hadass Ofer
Published: May 2021

The Christian act of praying for the dead became a matter of dispute after Protestant Reformers dismissed the idea of purgatory and the need for the relief of souls. The Church of England was quick to adopt the Protestant outlook, which arguably made post‐mortem prayers a superfluous practice. Yet in seventeenth‐century England some clergymen still encouraged praying for deceased souls, endeavouring to ground this practice in alternative motives. This article focuses on a hitherto overlooked letter (printed here) from the astrologer‐physician and country clergyman Richard Napier to William Page of All Souls College in Oxford, arguing that since the “most just” already reside in heaven, anyone praying for their souls must be praying towards their joyful resurrection rather than to relieve them from any torments. Such an argument, I maintain, allowed seventeenth‐century English ministers like Page to openly advocate praying for all deceased souls without risking religious nonconformity.
How Can We Help Decision-Makers?
Authors: Caulcutt Roland
Published: May 2021

Data analysts, data scientists and statisticians need more than analytical skills to provide effective support to managers, argues Roland Caulcutt. They need communication skills too, and an understanding of people
Varicocoele. Classification and pitfalls
Authors: Bertolotto Michele , Cantisani Vito , Drudi Francesco Maria , Lotti Francesco
Published: May 2021

Background

Varicocoeles have been considered for a long time potentially correctable causes for male infertility, even though the correlation of this condition with infertility and sperm damage is still debated.

Objective

To present a summary of the evidence evaluation for imaging varicocoeles, to underline the need for a standardized examination technique and for a unique classification, and to focus on pitfalls in image interpretation.

Methods

Based on the evidence of the literature, the current role of ultrasound (US) imaging for varicocoeles has been reported and illustrated, with emphasis on examination technique, classification, and pitfalls.

Results

US is the imaging modality of choice. It is widely used in Europe, while in other countries clinical classification of varicocoeles is considered sufficient to manage the patient. A number of US classifications exist for varicocoeles, in which the examinnation is performed in different ways.

Discussion

An effort toward standardization is mandatory, since lack of standardization contributes to the confusion of the available literature, and has a negative impact on the understanding of the role itself of imaging in patients with varicocoeles.

Conclusion

Use of the Sarteschi/Liguori classification for varicocoeles is recommended, since it is the most complete and widely used US scoring system available today.

Tubular extratesticular structures resembling varicocoeles, either at palpation or at US, should be identified and correctly characterized.
Past Violence and Present Belonging in Belfast: Two Sisters Remember their Childhood Experiences with Paramilitary Violence on Shankill Road
Authors: LeVon Brady Laura A.
Published: May 2021

Belonging is a shifting concept in Northern Ireland as demographics change and people seek to move past the violence of the Troubles. For older adults in the two majority communities, especially in the lower‐income areas most impacted by the Troubles, belonging can illustrate a sectarian divide over group identity: one is either an Irish Catholic or a British Protestant. Young adults who grow up in these hard‐hit neighborhoods, still struggling with high unemployment and low school completion rates, must also find a place for themselves. I explore constructions of identity and belonging in the narratives of two sisters, Angie and Ellie, who grew up in one such neighborhood, the predominantly Protestant Shankill Road in Belfast, in the last decades of the Troubles. Their childhood and adolescent recollections include IRA bombings and extreme security measures, but it was the violence of the loyalist paramilitaries affiliated with their own community that most influenced their present constructions of personal identity and sense of belonging to the wider Protestant community.