bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human histamine H2 receptors can initiate cardiac arrhythmias in a transgenic mouse
Authors: Gergs U. , Weisgut J. , Griethe K. , Mißlinger N. , Kirchhefer U. , Neumann Joachim
Published: June 2021

Histamine is known to lead to arrhythmias in the human heart. A mouse model to mimic these effects has hitherto not been available but might be useful to study the mechanism(s) of H2-histamine receptor-induced arrhythmias and may support the search for new antiarrhythmic drugs. In order to establish such a model in mice, we studied here the incidence of cardiac arrhythmias under basal and under stimulated conditions in atrial and ventricular preparations from mice that overexpressed the human H2-histamine receptors in a cardiac-specific way (H2-TG) in comparison with their wild-type (WT) littermate controls. We had shown before that histamine exerted concentration and time-dependent positive inotropic and positive chronotropic effects only in cardiac preparations from H2-TG and not from WT. We noted under basal conditions (no drug addition) that right atrial preparations from H2-TG exhibited more spontaneous arrhythmias than right atrial preparations from WT. These arrhythmias in H2-TG could be blocked by the H2-histamine receptor antagonist cimetidine. In a similar fashion, histamine and dimaprit (an agonist at H2and not H1-histamine receptors) more often induced arrhythmias in right atrial preparations from H2-TG than from WT. To understand better the signal transduction mechanism(s) involved in these arrhythmias, we studied partially depolarized left atrial preparations. In these preparations, a positive inotropic effect of histamine was still present in the additional presence of 44 mM potassium ions (used to block sodium channels) in H2-TG but not WT and this positive inotropic effect could be blocked by cimetidine and this is consistent with the involvement of calcium ion channels in the contractile and thus might mediate also the arrhythmogenic effects of histamine in H2-TG. However, compounds reported to release histamine from cells and thereby leading to arrhythmias in humans, namely morphine, ketamine, and fentanyl, failed to induce a more pronounced positive inotropic effect in atrial preparations from H2-TG compared to WT, arguing against an involvement of histamine release in their proarrhythmic side effects in patients. Measuring left ventricular contractility in isolated retrogradely perfused hearts (Langendorff mode), we detected under basal conditions (no drug application) more spontaneous arrhythmias in hearts from H2-TG than from WT. In summary, we noted that overexpression of human H2-histamine receptors in a novel transgenic animal model can lead to arrhythmias. We suggest that this model might be useful to understand the mechanism(s) of histamine-induced cardiac arrhythmias in humans better in a molecular way and may be of value to screen novel antiarrhythmic drugs.
Piezoresistive bond lines for timber construction monitoring—experimental scale-up
Authors: Winkler Christoph , Haase Stefan , Schwarz Ulrich , Jahreis Markus
Published: June 2021

Several laboratory studies and experiments have demonstrated the usability of polymer films filled with electrically conductive filler as piezoresistive material. Applied to adhesives, the glue lines of wood products can achieve multifunctional—thus bonding and piezoresistive/strain sensing—properties. Based on critical load areas in timber constructions, upscaled test setups for simplified load situations were designed, especially with regard to a stress-free electrical contact. In a second step, another upscaling was done to small glulam beams. Based on an experimental test sequence, the piezoresistive reactions as well as the behaviour until failure were analysed. The results show in all cases that a piezoresistive reaction of the multifunctionally bonded specimens was measurable, giving a difference in the extent of relative change. Additionally, measured phenomena like inverse piezoresistive reactions, electrical resistance drift and the absence of a piezoresistive reaction were discussed, based on additional strain analysis by digital image correlation. A model of macroscopic and microscopic strains influencing the piezoresistive reaction of the electrically conductive bond line in wood was used to explain all experimental results. Finally, a first scale-up of piezoresistive bond lines from laboratory samples to glulam beams was possible and successful.
Vitreoscilla massiliensis sp. nov., Isolated From the Stool of an Amazonian Patient
Authors: Ndongo Sokhna , Maaloum Mossaab , Richez Magali , Saile Rachid , Fournier Pierre-Edouard , Lagier Jean Christophe , Raoult Didier , Khelaifia Saber
Published: June 2021

Strain SN6T is a non-motile and non-spore-forming gram-negative bacterium which was isolated from the stool sample of an Amazonian patient. The optimum growth was observed at 37 °C, pH 7, and 0–5 g/l of NaCl. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, the strain SN6T exhibited 97.5% identity with Vitreoscilla stercoraria strain ATCC_15218 (L06174), the phylogenetically closest species with standing in nomenclature. The predominant fatty acid was hexadecenoic acid (31%). The genomic DNA G + C content of the strain SN6T was 49.4 mol %. After analysis of taxonogenomic data, phenotypic and biochemical characteristics, we concluded that strain SN6T represents a new species of the genus Vitreoscilla for which the name Vitreoscilla massiliensis sp.nov is proposed. The type strain is SN6T (=CSUR P2036 = LN870312 = DSM 100958).
Thinner Sea Ice Contribution to the Remarkable Polynya Formation North of Greenland in August 2018
Authors: Shen Xiaoyi , Ke Chang-Qing , Cheng Bin , Xia Wentao , Li Mengmeng , Yu Xuening , Li Haili
Published: June 2021

In August 2018, a remarkable polynya was observed off the north coast of Greenland, a perennial ice zone where thick sea ice cover persists. In order to investigate the formation process of this polynya, satellite observations, a coupled ice-ocean model, ocean profiling data, and atmosphere reanalysis data were applied. We found that the thinnest sea ice cover in August since 1978 (mean value of 1.1 m, compared to the average value of 2.8 m during 1978−2017) and the modest southerly wind caused by a positive North Atlantic Oscillation (mean value of 0.82, compared to the climatological value of −0.02) were responsible for the formation and maintenance of this polynya. The opening mechanism of this polynya differs from the one formed in February 2018 in the same area caused by persistent anomalously high wind. Sea ice drift patterns have become more responsive to the atmospheric forcing due to thinning of sea ice cover in this region.
Parameter reduction analysis under interval-valued m-polar fuzzy soft information
Authors: Akram Muhammad , Ali Ghous , Alcantud José Carlos R.
Published: June 2021

This paper formalizes a novel model that is able to use both interval representations, parameterizations, partial memberships and multi-polarity. These are differing modalities of uncertain knowledge that are supported by many models in the literature. The new structure that embraces all these features simultaneously is called interval-valued multi-polar fuzzy soft set (IVmFSS, for short). An enhanced combination of interval-valued m-polar fuzzy (IVmF) sets and soft sets produces this model. As such, the theory of IVmFSSs constitutes both an interval-valued multipolar-fuzzy generalization of soft set theory; a multipolar generalization of interval-valued fuzzy soft set theory; and an interval-valued generalization of multi-polar fuzzy set theory. Some fundamental operations for IVmFSSs, including intersection, union, complement, “OR”, “AND”, are explored and investigated through examples. An algorithm is developed to solve decision-making problems having data in interval-valued m-polar fuzzy soft form. It is applied to two numerical examples. In addition, three parameter reduction approaches and their algorithmic formulation are proposed for IVmFSSs. They are respectively called parameter reduction based on optimal choice, rank based parameter reduction, and normal parameter reduction. Moreover, these outcomes are compared with existing interval-valued fuzzy methods; relatedly, a comparative analysis among reduction approaches is investigated. Two real case studies for the selection of best site for an airport construction and best rotavator are studied.
Criteria for minimization of spectral abscissa of time-delay systems
Authors: Wang Zaihua
Published: June 2021

Spectral abscissa (SA) is defined as the real part of the rightmost characteristic root(s) of a dynamical system, and it can be regarded as the decaying rate of the system, the smaller the better from the viewpoint of fast stabilization. Based on the Puiseux series expansion of complex-valued functions, this paper shows that the SA can be minimized within a given delay interval at values where the characteristic equation has repeated roots with multiplicity 2 or 3. Four sufficient conditions in terms of the partial derivatives of the characteristic function are established for testing whether the SA is minimized or not, and they can be tested directly and easily.
Correction to: Seq’ing identity and function in a repeat-derived noncoding RNA world
Authors: O’Neill Rachel J.
Published: June 2021

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s10577-021-09665-2
Use of Telehealth in Mental Health (MH) Services During and After COVID-19
Authors: Molfenter Todd , Heitkamp Thomasine , Murphy Ann A. , Tapscott Stephanie , Behlman Stephanie , Cody Olivia J.
Published: June 2021

COVID-19 social distancing guidelines caused a rapid transition to telephone and video technologies for the delivery of mental health (MH) services. The study examined: (a) adoption of these technologies across the MH service continuum; (b) acceptance of these technologies; and (c) intention of providers to use these technologies following the pandemic based on a sample of 327 MH organizations from 22 states during May–August 2020. There was widespread use of technology, with greater than 69% of organizations reporting using telephone or video for most services. For all video services and just three telephone services, organizations reported significantly greater odds of intending to use technology to deliver services post-COVID-19. Use of video was seen as more desirable as compared to telephone. The overall perceived ease of use and usefulness for video-based services and certain telephone services provide a promising outlook for use of these services post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spatial genetic patterns of Octopus vulgaris Mediterranean populations support the hypothesis of a transitional zone across the Siculo-Tunisian Strait
Authors: Fadhlaoui-Zid Karima , Cossu Piero , Sanna Daria , Scarpa Fabio , Lai Tiziana , Castelli Alberto , Casu Marco , Maltagliati Ferruccio
Published: June 2021

Recent research hypothesised that the Siculo-Tunisian Strait might fit, at least for some species, the picture of a genetic transitional zone instead of a sharp genetic break between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins. The present study aimed at using the common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris as an empirical test-case to evaluate this hypothesis. To accomplish this goal, 458 new sequences of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I were used. Combining the new sequences with those available on public databases, we assembled a dataset containing 920 sequences to investigate the spatial genetic patterns across 34 Mediterranean populations of O. vulgaris. The genetic structure of this species was assessed combining analysis of molecular variance and Median-Joining networks. Results supported the hypothesis of a complex spatial genetic pattern across the Sicilian channel. Contemporary factors, such as marine currents, likely affect the species’ genetic structuring across this area. Overall, our results highlighted that focusing the attention on the whole transitional area rather than on a unique genetic break might help to detect similar patterns across different species. Finally, acknowledging the occurrence of complex spatial genetic patterns across transitional zones may improve stock identification and management practices for commercially valuable species.
Density Measurements of an Air-Like Binary Mixture over the Temperature Range from 100 K to 298.15 K at Pressures up to 8.0 MPa
Authors: von Preetzmann Nils , Kleinrahm Reiner , Eckmann Philipp , Cavuoto Giuseppe , Richter Markus
Published: June 2021

Densities of an air-like binary mixture (0.2094 oxygen + 0.7906 nitrogen, mole fractions) were measured along six isotherms over the temperature range from 100 K to 298.15 K at pressures up to 8.0 MPa, using a low-temperature single-sinker magnetic suspension densimeter. The measurements were carried out at T = (100, 115, and 130) K in the homogeneous gas and liquid region, and at T = (145, 220, and 298.15) K in the supercritical region (critical temperature TC = 132.35 K); in total, we present results for 52 (T, p) state points. The relative expanded combined uncertainty (k = 2) of the experimental densities was estimated to be between 0.03 % and 0.13 %, except for four values near the critical point. The largest error is caused by the magnetic suspension coupling in combination with the mixture component oxygen, which is strongly paramagnetic; the resulting force transmission error is up to 1.1 %. However, this error can be corrected with a proven correction model to an uncertainty contribution in density of less than 0.044 %. Due to a supercritical liquefaction procedure and the integration of a special VLE-cell, it was possible to measure densities in the homogeneous liquid phase without changing the composition of the liquefied mixture. Moreover, saturated liquid and saturated vapor densities were determined at T = (100, 115, and 130) K by extrapolation of the experimental single-phase densities to the saturation pressure. The new experimental results were compared with the mixture model of Lemmon et al. for the system (nitrogen + argon + oxygen) and the GERG-2008 equation of state.
Controlling Canard Cycles
Authors: Jardón-Kojakhmetov Hildeberto , Kuehn Christian
Published: June 2021

Canard cycles are periodic orbits that appear as special solutions of fast-slow systems (or singularly perturbed ordinary differential equations). It is well known that canard cycles are difficult to detect, hard to reproduce numerically, and that they are sensible to exponentially small changes in parameters. In this paper, we combine techniques from geometric singular perturbation theory, the blow-up method, and control theory, to design controllers that stabilize canard cycles of planar fast-slow systems with a folded critical manifold. As an application, we propose a controller that produces stable mixed-mode oscillations in the van der Pol oscillator.
Gamma-spectrometric measurement procedure for a clearance concept of radioactively contaminated mercury from nuclear facilities
Authors: Klaß Larissa , Ritz Philipp , Hirsch Marius , Kettler John , Havenith Andreas , Wilden Andreas , Modolo Giuseppe
Published: June 2021

Radioactive mercury waste constitutes a significant challenge, as no approved disposal concept yet exists for such waste in Germany. This work describes a decontamination and measurement procedure for a possible clearance of mercury from nuclear facilities and release into reuse or conventional hazardous waste disposal to reduce the amount of mercury in a nuclear repository. The measurement setup and procedure were developed and evaluated including Monte-Carlo N-Particle® Transport Code (MCNP® and Monte Carlo N-Particle® are registered trademarks owned by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, manager and operator of Los Alamos National Laboratory, (Werner 2018, Werner 2017)), simulations to ensure conservative assumptions during the measurements. Results from decontaminated mercury samples show that a clearance pursuant to the German regulations would be feasible.
Gender diversity and earnings management: the case of female directors with financial background
Authors: Zalata Alaa Mansour , Ntim Collins G. , Alsohagy Mostafa Hussien , Malagila John
Published: June 2021

Past evidence generally suggests that the presence of female directors on corporate boards tends to improve earnings quality due to these directors’ superior monitoring abilities. However, it is not clear which characteristics and skills of female directors drive such abilities. In this paper, we focus on the financial background of female directors, an area which remains largely unexplored in existing literature. The results show that the participation of female directors with relevant financial background improves earnings quality more than the participation of female directors without such background. In addition, our findings suggest that only female directors possessing relevant financial background and having fewer outside directorships are able to mitigate earnings management and therefore overcommitting expert female directors with more outside directorships would diminish their monitoring ability. We did not find any evidence suggesting that female directors without relevant financial background are able to mitigate earnings management, irrespective of their outside directorships or tenure. We interpret our findings within a theoretical framework that draws on a number of economic and social theories. The results are generally robust after controlling for potential endogeneity problems.
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products’ (PPCPs) impact on enriched nitrifying cultures
Authors: Lopez Carla , Nnorom Mac-Anthony , Tsang Yiu Fai , Knapp Charles W.
Published: June 2021

The impact of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) on the performance of biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) has been widely studied using whole-community approaches. These contaminants affect the capacity of microbial communities to transform nutrients; however, most have neither honed their examination on the nitrifying communities directly nor considered the impact on individual populations. In this study, six PPCPs commonly found in WWTPs, including a stimulant (caffeine), an antimicrobial agent (triclosan), an insect repellent ingredient (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide (DEET)) and antibiotics (ampicillin, colistin and ofloxacin), were selected to assess their short-term toxic effect on enriched nitrifying cultures: Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrobacter sp. The results showed that triclosan exhibited the greatest inhibition on nitrification with EC50 of 89.1 μg L−1. From the selected antibiotics, colistin significantly affected the overall nitrification with the lowest EC50 of 1 mg L−1, and a more pronounced inhibitory effect on ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) compared to nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The EC50 of ampicillin and ofloxacin was 23.7 and 12.7 mg L−1, respectively. Additionally, experimental data suggested that nitrifying bacteria were insensitive to the presence of caffeine. In the case of DEET, moderate inhibition of nitrification (<40%) was observed at 10 mg L−1. These findings contribute to the understanding of the response of nitrifying communities in presence of PPCPs, which play an essential role in biological nitrification in WWTPs. Knowing specific community responses helps develop mitigation measures to improve system resilience.
Real-time deep learning semantic segmentation during intra-operative surgery for 3D augmented reality assistance
Authors: Tanzi Leonardo , Piazzolla Pietro , Porpiglia Francesco , Vezzetti Enrico
Published: June 2021

Purpose

The current study aimed to propose a Deep Learning (DL) and Augmented Reality (AR) based solution for a in-vivo robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP), to improve the precision of a published work from our group. We implemented a two-steps automatic system to align a 3D virtual ad-hoc model of a patient’s organ with its 2D endoscopic image, to assist surgeons during the procedure.

Methods

This approach was carried out using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) based structure for semantic segmentation and a subsequent elaboration of the obtained output, which produced the needed parameters for attaching the 3D model. We used a dataset obtained from 5 endoscopic videos (A, B, C, D, E), selected and tagged by our team’s specialists. We then evaluated the most performing couple of segmentation architecture and neural network and tested the overlay performances.

Results

U-Net stood out as the most effecting architectures for segmentation. ResNet and MobileNet obtained similar Intersection over Unit (IoU) results but MobileNet was able to elaborate almost twice operations per seconds. This segmentation technique outperformed the results from the former work, obtaining an average IoU for the catheter of 0.894 (σ = 0.076) compared to 0.339 (σ = 0.195). This modifications lead to an improvement also in the 3D overlay performances, in particular in the Euclidean Distance between the predicted and actual model’s anchor point, from 12.569 (σ= 4.456) to 4.160 (σ = 1.448) and in the Geodesic Distance between the predicted and actual model’s rotations, from 0.266 (σ = 0.131) to 0.169 (σ = 0.073).

Conclusion

This work is a further step through the adoption of DL and AR in the surgery domain. In future works, we will overcome the limits of this approach and finally improve every step of the surgical procedure.
Coupling and Decoupling of Reproduction and Larval Recruitment
Authors: Morgan Steven G.
Published: June 2021

Stock-recruitment relationships for managing commercial fisheries are difficult to measure and notoriously poor, so marine ecologists have relied on larval recruitment as a proxy for how planktonic processes regulate populations and communities. However, my literature review revealed that coupling between reproductive output and recruitment in benthic populations was common, occurring in 62% of 112 studies and 64% of 81 species. Coupling was considerably stronger for studies on brooders (72%) than broadcast-spawners (46%) and taxa with short (74%) than long (56%) planktonic larval durations (PLDs); hence, it was highest for brooders with short PLDs (94%). Coupling was similar in studies on benthic animals (63%) and seagrasses and kelp (56%). Coupling was detected more often by quantifying both reproductive output and settlement (79%) than adult density and recruitment (60%). It also was detected in 83% of just 21% of studies that estimated dispersal. Coupling was even detected by 55% of the 46% of studies conducted at just one site and 58% of the 65% of studies lasting no longer than 3 years. Decoupling was detected 33 times in invertebrates and fishes, occurring more often in the plankton (48.5%) and during reproduction (45.5%) than after settlement (6%), and nine times in seagrasses and kelp, occurring more often during reproduction (44.4%) than postsettlement (33.3%) or in the plankton (22.2%). Widespread coupling between reproductive output and settlement for sedentary, benthic species suggests that the poor stock-recruitment relationships typical of vagile, wide-ranging, pelagic species may be due more to the difficulty of detecting them than decoupling.
Neurological Instability in Ischemic Stroke: Relation with Outcome, Latency Time, and Molecular Markers
Authors: Iglesias-Rey Ramón , da Silva-Candal Andres , Rodríguez-Yáñez Manuel , Estany-Gestal Ana , Regueiro Uxía , Maqueda Elena , Ávila-Gómez Paulo , Pumar José Manuel , Castillo José , Sobrino Tomás , Campos Francisco , Hervella Pablo
Published: June 2021

The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is commonly used to evaluate stroke neurological deficits and to predict the patient’s outcome. Neurological instability (NI), defined as the variation of the NIHSS in the first 48 h, is a simple clinical metric that reflects dynamic changes in the area of the brain affected by the ischemia. We hypothesize that NI may represent areas of cerebral instability known as penumbra, which could expand or reduce brain injury and its associated neurological sequels. In this work, our aim was to analyze the association of NI with the functional outcome at 3 months and to study clinical biomarkers associated to NI as surrogate biomarkers of ischemic and inflammatory penumbrae in ischemic stroke (IS) patients. We included 663 IS patients in a retrospective observational study. Neutral NI was defined as a variation in the NI scale between − 5 and 5% (37.1%). Positive NI is attributed to patients with an improvement of > 5% NI after 48 h (48.9%), while negative NI is assigned to patients values lower than − 5% (14.0%). Poor outcome was assigned to patients with mRS ≥ 3 at 3 months. We observed an inverse association of poor outcome with positive NI (OR, 0.35; 95%CI, 0.18–0.67; p = 0.002) and a direct association with negative NI (OR, 6.30; 95%CI, 2.12–18.65; p = 0.001). Negative NI showed a higher association with poor outcome than most clinical markers. Regarding good functional outcome, positive NI was the marker with the higher association (19.31; CI 95%, 9.03–41.28; p < 0.0001) and with the highest percentage of identified patients with good functional outcome (17.6%). Patients with negative NI have higher glutamate levels compared with patients with neutral and positive NI (p < 0.0001). IL6 levels are significantly lower in patients with positive NI compared with neutral NI (p < 0.0001), while patients with negative NI showed the highest IL6 values (p < 0.0001). High glutamate levels were associated with negative NI at short latency times, decreasing at higher latency times. An opposite trend was observed for inflammation, and IL6 levels were similar in patients with positive and negative NI in the first 6 h and then higher in patients with negative NI. These results support NI as a prognosis factor in IS and the hypothesis of the existence of a delayed inflammatory penumbra, opening up the possibility of extending the therapeutic window for IS.
Learning by Enhancing Half-Baked AI Projects
Authors: Kahn Ken , Winters Niall
Published: June 2021

We have developed thirty sample artificial intelligence (AI) programs in a form suitable for enhancement by non-expert programmers. The projects are implemented in the Snap! blocks language and can be run in modern web browsers. These projects have been designed to be modifiable by school students and have been iteratively developed with over 100 students. The projects involve speech synthesis, speech and image recognition, natural language processing, and deep machine learning. They illustrate a variety of AI capabilities, concepts, and techniques. The intent is to provide students with hands-on experience with AI programming so they come to understand the possibilities, problems, strengths, and weaknesses of AI today.
Dissecting the meteorological and genetic factors affecting rice grain quality in Northeast China
Authors: Chen Mojun , Li Zhao , Huang Jie , Yan Yongfeng , Wu Tao , Bian Mingdi , Zhou Jinsong , Wang Yongjun , Lyv Yanjie , Hu Guanghui , Jin Yong-Mei , Huang Kai , Guo Liping , Jiang Wenzhu , Du Xinglin
Published: June 2021

Background

The Northeast Plain of China, which is an important region for the production of high grain quality rice in China. However, the grain quality of the rice produced varies across this region, even for the same cultivar.

Objective

In order to explore the meteorological factors that have the greatest influence on quality and the transcriptional level differences between different cultivars and different locations at grain filling stage.

Methods

We grew eight rice cultivars in three locations in Northeast China during two growing seasons (2017 and 2018). We recorded meteorological conditions, including air temperature, air temperature range, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) during the grain-filling stage of each cultivar, and analyzed the grain quality of those eight cultivars.

Results

Across all eight cultivars, meteorological factors had a stronger effect on eating quality than genotype, while genotype had a stronger effect on milling quality. Of the three environmental factors assessed, PAR was significantly correlated with the most grain quality traits. Using RNA-sequencing analysis, we identified 573 environment-specific DEGs (Differentially Expressed Genes), and 119 genotype-specific DEGs; 11 DEGs were responsive to genotype × environment interactions. These DEGs were involved in many key metabolic processes.

Conclusion

Our results indicated that interactions among environmental factors, especially PAR, affected rice quality in Northeast China. Further analyses of the DEGs identified herein may provide useful information for future breeding programs aiming to develop high grain quality rice varieties suitable for cultivation across Northeast China.
Comorbidity status of deceased COVID-19 in-patients in Italy
Authors: Vetrano Davide Liborio , Tazzeo Clare , Palmieri Luigi , Marengoni Alessandra , Zucchelli Alberto , Lo Noce Cinzia , Onder Graziano ,   Italian National Institute of Health Covid-Mortality Group, Palmieri Luigi , Andrianou Xanthi , Barbariol Pierfrancesco , Bella Antonino , Bellino Stefania , Benelli Eva , Bertinato Luigi , Boros Stefano , Brambilla Gianfranco , Calcagnini Giovanni , Canevelli Marco , Castrucci Maria Rita , Censi Federica , Ciervo Alessandra , Colaizzo Elisa , D’Ancona Fortunato , Del Manso Martina , Di Benedetto Corrado , Donfrancesco Chiara , Fabiani Massimo , Facchiano Francesco , Filia Antonietta , Floridia Marco , Galati Fabio , Giuliano Marina , Grisetti Tiziana , Kodra Yllka , Langer Martin , Lega Ilaria , Lo Noce Cinzia , Maiozzi Pietro , Malchiodi Albedi Fiorella , Manno Valerio , Martini Margherita , Urdiales Alberto Mateo , Mattei Eugenio , Meduri Claudia , Meli Paola , Minelli Giada , Nebuloni Manuela , Nisticò Lorenza , Nonis Marino , Onder Graziano , Palmisano Lucia , Petrosillo Nicola , Pezzotti Patrizio , Pricci Flavia , Punzo Ornella , Puro Vincenzo , Raparelli Valeria , Rezza Giovanni , Riccardo Flavia , Rota Maria Cristina , Salerno Paolo , Serra Debora , Siddu Andrea , Stefanelli Paola , Tamburo de Bella Manuela , Tiple Dorina , Unim Brigid , Vaianella Luana , Vanacore Nicola , Vichi Monica , Villani Emanuele Rocco , Zona Amerigo , Brusaferro Silvio
Published: June 2021

Background

Most COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in older persons with comorbidities. Specific patterns of comorbidities related to COVID-19 deaths have not been investigated.

Methods

A random sample of 6085 individuals in Italy who died in-hospital with confirmed COVID-19 between February and December 2020 were included. Observed to expected (O/E) ratios of disease pairs were computed and logistic regression models were used to determine the association between disease pairs with O/E values ≥ 1.5.

Results

Six pairs of diseases exhibited O/E values ≥ 1.5 and statistically significant higher odds of co-occurrence in the crude and adjusted analyses: (1) ischemic heart disease and atrial fibrillation, (2) atrial fibrillation and heart failure, (3) atrial fibrillation and stroke, (4) heart failure and COPD, (5) stroke and dementia, and (6) type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Conclusion

In those deceased in-hospital due to COVID-19 in Italy, disease combinations defined by multiple cardio-respiratory, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric diseases occur more frequently than expected. This finding indicates a need to investigate the possible role of these clinical profiles in the chain of events that lead to death in individuals who have contracted SARS-CoV-2.
Optimizing the tribological performance of DLC-coated NBR rubber: The role of hydrogen in films
Authors: Bai Changning , Qiang Li , Zhang Bin , Gao Kaixiong , Zhang Junyan
Published: June 2021

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) films directly deposited on rubber substrate is undoubtedly one optimal option to improve the tribological properties due to its ultralow friction, high-hardness as well as good chemical compatibility with rubber. Investigating the relationship between film structure and tribological performance is vital for protecting rubber. In this study it was demonstrated that the etching effect induced by hydrogen incorporation played positive roles in reducing surface roughness of DLC films. In addition, the water contact angle (CA) of DLC-coated nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) was sensitive to the surface energy and sp2 carbon clustering of DLC films. Most importantly, the optimum tribological performance was obtained at the 29 at% H-containing DLC film coated on NBR, which mainly depended on the following key factors: (1) the DLC film with appropriate roughness matched the counterpart surface; (2) the contact area and surface energy controlled interface adhesive force; (3) the microstructure of DLC films impacted load-bearing capacity; and (4) the generation of graphitic phase acted as a solid lubricant. This understanding may draw inspiration for the fabrication of DLC films on rubber to achieve low friction coefficient.
Experimentally validated atomistic simulation of the effect of relevant grinding parameters on work piece topography, internal stresses, and microstructure
Authors: Eder S. J. , Grützmacher P. G. , Spenger T. , Heckes H. , Rojacz H. , Nevosad A. , Haas F.
Published: June 2021

In this work, we present a fully atomistic approach to modeling a finishing process with the goal to shed light on aspects of work piece development on the microscopic scale, which are difficult or even impossible to observe in experiments, but highly relevant for the resulting material behavior. In a large-scale simulative parametric study, we varied four of the most relevant grinding parameters: The work piece material, the abrasive shape, the temperature, and the infeed depth. In order to validate our model, we compared the normalized surface roughness, the power spectral densities, the steady-state contact stresses, and the microstructure with proportionally scaled macroscopic experimental results. Although the grain sizes vary by a factor of more than 1,000 between experiment and simulation, the characteristic process parameters were reasonably reproduced, to some extent even allowing predictions of surface quality degradation due to tool wear. Using the experimentally validated model, we studied time-resolved stress profiles within the ferrite/steel work piece as well as maps of the microstructural changes occurring in the near-surface regions. We found that blunt abrasives combined with elevated temperatures have the greatest and most complex impact on near-surface microstructure and stresses, as multiple processes are in mutual competition here.
Generalized limited sets with applications to spaces of type $$\ell _{\infty }(X)$$ and $$c_0(X)$$
Authors: Drewnowski Lech
Published: June 2021

A concept of limitedness of sets in one tvs relative to another tvs is discussed. Special attention is devoted to the limitedness relative to spaces without copies of $$\ell _{\infty }$$

ℓ
∞

. Applications to copies of $$\ell _{\infty }$$

ℓ
∞

in vector-valued $$c_0$$

c
0

-type spaces, and to the complementability of the latter in the containing them similar $$\ell _{\infty }$$

ℓ
∞

-type spaces are provided.
Improving Manufacturing Applications of Machine Learning by Understanding Defect Classification and the Critical Error Threshold
Authors: Blondheim David
Published: June 2021

Machine learning (ML) is unlocking patterns and insight into data to provide financial value and knowledge for organizations. Use of machine learning in manufacturing environments is increasing, yet sometimes these applications fail to produce meaningful results. A critical review of how defects are classified is needed to appropriately apply machine learning in a production foundry and other manufacturing processes. Four elements associated with defect classification are proposed: Binary Acceptance Specifications, Stochastic Formation of Defects, Secondary Process Variation, and Visual Defect Inspection. These four elements create data space overlap, which influences the bias associated with training supervised machine learning algorithms. If this influence is significant enough, the predicted error of the model exceeds a critical error threshold (CET). There is no financial motivation to implement the ML model in the manufacturing environment if its error is greater than the CET. The goal is to bring awareness to these four elements, define the critical error threshold, and offer guidance and future study recommendations on data collection and machine learning that will increase the success of ML within manufacturing.
Recombinant human thrombopoietin prior to mobilization chemotherapy facilitates platelet recovery in autologous transplantation in patients with lymphoma: Results of a prospective randomized study
Authors: Mo Hongnan , Liu Peng , Qin Yan , He Xiaohui , Han Xiaohong , Yao Jiarui , Su Weicai , Zhang Shuxiang , Tang Le , Zhao Fengyi , Gui Lin , Yang Sheng , Yang Jianliang , Zhou Shengyu , Zhang Zhishang , Shi Yuankai
Published: June 2021

Background

Chemotherapy plus granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (GCSF) regimen is one of the available approaches to mobilize peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs). It causes thrombocytopenia and delays leukapheresis. This study aimed to evaluate the role of recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) before mobilization chemotherapy in facilitating leukapheresis in patients with lymphoma.

Methods

In this randomized open‐label phase 2 trial, patients were randomly assigned in a 1:2 ratio to receive mobilization with rhTPO plus GCSF in combination with chemotherapy (the rhTPO plus GCSF arm) or GCSF alone in combination with chemotherapy (the GCSF alone arm). The recovery of neutrophils and platelets and the amount of platelet transfusion were monitored.

Results

Thirty patients were enrolled in this study between March 2016 and August 2018. Patients in the rhTPO plus GCSF arm (n = 10) had similar platelet nadir after mobilization chemotherapy (P=0.878) and similar amount of platelet transfusion (median 0 vs. 1 unit, P=0.735) when compared with the GCSF alone arm (n = 20). On the day of leukapheresis, the median platelet count was 86 × 109/L (range 18–219) among patients who received rhTPO and 73 × 109/L (range 42–197) among those who received GCSF alone (P=0.982). After the use of rhTPO, the incidence of platelet count <75 × 109/L on the day of leukapheresis did not decrease significantly (30.0% vs. 50.0%, P=0.297). Platelet recovery after PBPC transfusion was more rapid in the rhTPO plus GCSF arm (median 8.0 days [95% confidence interval 2.9–13.1] to platelets ≥50 × 109/L vs. 11.0 days [95% confidence interval 8.6–13.4], P=0.011). The estimated total cost of the mobilization and reconstitution phases per patient was similar between the two treatmtent groups (P=0.362 and P=0.067, respectively).

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that there was no significant clinical benefit of rhTPO use in facilitating mobilization of progenitor cells, but it may promote platelet recovery in the reconstitution phase after high‐dose therapy.

Trial registration

This trial has been registered in Clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03014102.
NORMA: The Network Makeup Artist — A Web Tool for Network Annotation Visualization
Authors: Koutrouli Mikaela , Karatzas Evangelos , Papanikolopoulou Katerina , Pavlopoulos Georgios A.
Published: June 2021

The Network Makeup Artist (NORMA) is a web tool for interactive network annotation visualization and topological analysis, able to handle multiple networks and annotations simultaneously. Precalculated annotations (e.g., Gene Ontology, Pathway enrichment, community detection, or clustering results) can be uploaded and visualized in a network, either as colored pie-chart nodes or as color-filled areas in a 2D/3D Venn-diagram-like style. In the case where no annotation exists, algorithms for automated community detection are offered. Users can adjust the network views using standard layout algorithms or allow NORMA to slightly modify them for visually better group separation. Once a network view is set, users can interactively select and highlight any group of interest in order to generate publication-ready figures. Briefly, with NORMA, users can encode three types of information simultaneously. These are 1) the network, 2) the communities or annotations of interest, and 3) node categories or expression values. Finally, NORMA offers basic topological analysis and direct topological comparison across any of the selected networks. NORMA service is available at http://norma.pavlopouloslab.info, whereas the code is available at https://github.com/PavlopoulosLab/NORMA.
Research Genres Across Languages
Authors: Pérez-Llantada Carmen
Published: June 2021

At present, Web 2.0 technologies are making traditional research genres evolve and form complex genre assemblage with other genres online. This book takes the perspective of genre analysis to provide a timely examination of professional and public communication of science. It gives an updated overview on the increasing diversification of genres for communicating scientific research today by reviewing relevant theories that contribute an understanding of genre evolution and innovation in Web 2.0. The book also offers a much-needed critical enquiry into the dynamics of languages for academic and research communication and reflects on current language-related issues such as academic Englishes, ELF lects, translanguaging, polylanguaging and the multilingualisation of science. Additionally, it complements the critical reflections with data from small-scale specialised corpora and exploratory survey research. The book also includes pedagogical orientations for teaching/training researchers in the STEMM disciplines and proposes several avenues for future enquiry into research genres across languages.
Cognition and Girlhood in Shakespeare's World
Authors: Bicks Caroline
Published: June 2021

This groundbreaking study of girlhood and cognition argues that early moderns depicted female puberty as a transformative event that activated girls' brains in dynamic ways. Mining a variety of genres from Shakespearean plays and medical texts to autobiographical writings, Caroline Bicks shows how 'the change of fourteen years' seemed to gift girls with the ability to invent, judge, and remember what others could or would not. Bicks challenges the presumption that early moderns viewed all female cognition as passive or pathological, demonstrating instead that girls' changing adolescent brains were lightning rods for some of the period's most vital debates about the body and soul, faith and salvation, science and nature, and the place and agency of human perception in the midst of it all.
The Novel and the Problem of New Life
Authors: Matz Aaron
Published: June 2021

The novel since the nineteenth century has displayed a thorny ambivalence toward the question of having children. In its representation of human vitality it can seem to promote the giving of life, but again and again it betrays a nagging doubt about the moral implications of procreation. The Novel and the Problem of New Life identifies this tension as a defining quality of the modern British and European novel. Beginning with the procreative-skeptical writings of Flaubert, Butler, and Hardy, then turning to the high modernist work of Lawrence, Woolf, and Huxley, and culminating in the postwar fiction of Lessing and others, this book chronicles the history of the novel as it came to accommodate greater misgivings about the morality of reproduction. This is the first study to examine in literature a problem that has long troubled philosophers, environmental thinkers, and so many people in everyday life.
Charlemagne’s Defeat in the Pyrenees
Authors: Irujo Xabier
Published: June 2021

The Battle of Rencesvals is the one of the most dramatic historical event of the entire eighth century, not only in Vasconia but in Western Europe. This monograph examines the battle as more than a single military encounter, but instead as part of a complex military and political conquest that began after the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and culminated with the creation of the Kingdom of Pamplona in 824. The battle had major (and largely underappreciated) consequences for the internal structure of the Carolingian Empire. It also enjoyed a remarkable legacy as the topic of one of the oldest European epic poems, La Chanson de Roland. The events that took place in the Pyrenean pass of Rencesvals (Errozabal) on 15 August 778 defined the development of the Carolingian world, and lie at the heart of the early medieval contribution to the later medieval period.
The French official statistics strategy: Combining signaling data from various mobile network operators for documenting COVID-19 crisis effects on population movements and economic outlook
Authors: Coudin Elise , Poulhes Mathilde , Suarez Castillo Milena
Published: June 2021

During the COVID-19 crisis, the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) used aggregated and anonymous counting indicators based on network signaling data of three of the four mobile network operators (MNOs) in France to measure the distribution of population over the territory during and after the lockdown and to enrich the toolbox of high-frequency economic indicators used to follow the economic situation. INSEE’s strategy was to combine information coming from different MNOs together with the national population estimates it usually produces in order to get more reliable statistics and to measure uncertainty. This paper relates and situates this initiative within the long-term methodological collaborations between INSEE and different MNOs, and INSEE, Eurostat, and some other European national statistical institutes (NSIs). These collaborations aim at constructing experimental official statistics on the population present in a given place and at a given time, from mobile phone data (MPD). The COVID-19 initiative has confirmed that more methodological investments are needed to increase relevance of and trust in these data. We suggest this methodological work should be done in close collaboration between NSIs, MNOs, and research, to construct the most reliable statistical processes. This work requires exploiting raw data, so the research and statistical exemptions present in the general data protection regulation (GDPR) should be introduced as well in the new e-privacy regulation. We also raise the challenges of articulating commercial and public interest rationales and articulating transparency and commercial secrets requirements. Finally, it elaborates on the role NSIs can play in the MPD valorization ecosystem.
Is Constitutional Pluralism (Il)liberal? On the Political Theory of European Legal Integration in Times of Crisis
Authors: Canihac Hugo
Published: June 2021

This Article uncovers the normative political theory underlying the legal doctrine of constitutional pluralism, as it is used in the EU today. Constitutional pluralism, once described as a semi-official legal doctrine in the EU, is now being used by some member states to challenge its authority and rules. By reconstructing the political thought of one of its founders, N. MacCormick, this Article takes issue with two most common interpretations of constitutional pluralism: On the one hand, it has been claimed that the normative political content of constitutional pluralism is virtually identical, or at least compatible, with that of Kantian rights-based cosmopolitanism; on the other, it has been contended, especially with regard to its uses in Hungary and Poland, that it was an inherently dangerous, illiberal, normative theory. This Article offers to move away from current legal debates to go back to the origins of constitutional pluralism. It argues that constitutional pluralism is not a purely liberal theory indeed. But neither is it inherently illiberal. Rather, both liberal and illiberal readings are possible, but partial, interpretations of MacCormickian constitutional pluralism. A more systematic interpretation shows that constitutional pluralism opens a path to move beyond this somewhat archetypical divide.