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Abstract In ferromagnetic metal (FM)/non-magnetic metal (NM) bilayer structures, dynamical spin injection is primarily attributed to spin pumping at the interface. However, thermal effects, such as the spin (dependent) Seebeck effect (S(d)SE) caused by FMR heating effect, are also expected to contribute, particularly farther from the interface within the FM layer. In this study, the detailed mechanism of dynamical spin injection in CoFeB/Pt bilayer films has been investigated. We demonstrate the proper evaluation of the CoFeB thickness dependence of inverse spin Hall voltage by subtracting the signal from single CoFeB system. The dynamical spin injection and FMR heating effect were observed to significantly depend on thickness. Additionally, we separated the contributions of SSE and SdSE by focusing on their diffusion properties and found that SSE is larger than SdSE in the CoFeB/Pt bilayer film.

Abstract In everyday tasks, the choices we make incorporate complex trade-offs between conflicting factors that affect how we will achieve our goals. Previous experimental research has used dual-target visual search to determine how people flexibly adjust their behaviour and make choices that optimise their decisions. In this experiment, we leveraged a visual search task that incorporates complex trade-offs, and electroencephalography (EEG), to understand how neural mechanisms of selective attention contribute to choice behaviour in these tasks. On each trial, participants could choose to respond to the gap location on either of two possible targets. Each target was colour coded such that colour indicated which of the two had the easier gap discrimination. Orthogonally, we manipulated the set size of coloured distractors to modulate how efficiently each target could be found. As a result, optimised task performance required participants to trade-off conflicts between the ease of finding a target given the current set size, and the ease of making its associated gap discrimination. Our results confirm that participants are able to flexibly adjust their behaviour, and trade-off these two factors to maintain their response speed and accuracy. Additionally, the N2pc and SPCN components elicited by search displays could reliably predict the choice that participants would ultimately make on a given trial. These results suggest that initial attentional processes may help to determine the choice participants make, highlighting the central role that attention may play in optimising performance on complex tasks.

Abstract The contraction of CAG/CTG repeats is an attractive approach to correct the mutation that causes at least 15 neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease and Myotonic Dystrophy type 1. Contractions can be achieved in vivo using the Cas9 D10A nickase from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) using a single guide RNA (sgRNA) against the repeat tract. One hurdle on the path to the clinic is that SpCas9 is too large to be packaged together with its sgRNA into a single adeno-associated virus. Here we aimed to circumvent this problem using the smaller Cas9 orthologue, SlugCas9, and the Cas9 ancestor OgeuIscB. We found them to be ineffective in inducing contractions, despite their advertised PAM sequences being compatible with CAG/CTG repeats. Thus, we further developed smaller Cas9 hybrids, made of the PAM interacting domain of S. pyogenes and the catalytic domains of the smaller Cas9 orthologues. We also designed the cognate sgRNA hybrids using molecular dynamic simulations and binding energy calculations. We found that the four Cas9/sgRNA hybrid pairs tested in human cells failed to edit their target sequences. We conclude that in silico approaches can identify functional changes caused by point mutations but are not sufficient for designing larger scale complexes of Cas9/sgRNA hybrids.

Abstract Child maltreatment is a global concern that profoundly affects individuals throughout their lives. This study investigated the relationships between various forms of child maltreatment and behavior problems involving internalization and externalization during adolescence. Data obtained from a diverse sample of 1802 Canadians aged 14–18 years was used to examine the mediating role of alexithymia—a difficulty in recognizing and expressing emotions—in these associations. Results indicated that adolescents who experienced sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) in their childhood exhibited higher levels of alexithymia, which was correlated with elevated levels of both internalizing and externalizing problems. Physical abuse and parental neglect were only associated with externalizing problems. Gender differences also emerged, with gender-diverse adolescents reporting a higher prevalence of maltreatment, alexithymia, and behavior problems compared with their peers. However, alexithymia’s mediating role was consistent across genders. Overall, this study highlights the intricate relationships between child maltreatment, alexithymia, and adolescent behavior problems. The findings of this study how different forms of child maltreatment significantly shape behavioral outcomes and indicate the importance of interventions in enhancing emotional awareness and expression in adolescents with a childhood history of maltreatment.

Abstract Corticosteroid-eluting endotracheal tubes (ETTs) were developed and employed in a swine laryngotracheal injury model to maintain airway patency and provide localized drug delivery to inhibit fibrotic scarring. Polycaprolactone (PCL) fibers with or without dexamethasone were electrospun onto the ETT surface PCL-only coated ETTs and placed in native airways of 18 Yorkshire swine. Regular and dexamethasone-PCL coated ETTs were placed in airways of another 18 swine injured by inner laryngeal mucosal abrasion. All groups were evaluated after 3, 7 and 14 days (n = 3/treatment/time). Larynges were bisected and localized stiffness determined by normal indentation, then sequentially matched with histological assessment. In the native airway, tissue stiffness with PCL-only ETT placement increased significantly from 3 to 7 days (p = 0.0016) and 3 to 14 days (p

Abstract An optimized hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)-targeted methylation next generation sequencing assay was developed to discover HCC-associated methylation markers directly from urine for HCC screening. Urine cell-free DNA (ucfDNA) isolated from a discovery cohort of 31 non-HCC and 30 HCC was used for biomarker discovery, identifying 29 genes with differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Methylation-specific qPCR (MSqPCR) assays were developed to verify the selected DMRs corresponding to 8 genes (GRASP, CCND2, HOXA9, BMP4, VIM, EMX1, SFRP1, and ECE). Using archived ucfDNA, methylation of GRASP, HOXA9, BMP4, and ECE1, were found to be significantly different (p

Targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy with alpha-particle emitters (αRPT) is advantageous in cancer treatment because the short range and high local energy deposition of alpha particles enable precise radiation delivery and efficient tumor cell killing. However, these properties create sub-organ dose deposition effects that are not easily characterized by direct gamma-ray imaging (PET or SPECT). We present a computational procedure to determine the spatial distribution of absorbed dose from alpha-emitting radionuclides in tissues using digital autoradiography activity images from an ionizing-radiation quantum imaging detector (iQID). Data from 211At-radioimmunotherapy studies for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in a canine model were used to develop these methods. Nine healthy canines were treated with 16.9-30.9 MBq 211At/mg monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Lymph node biopsies from early (2-5 h) and late (19-20 h) time points (16 total) were obtained, with 10-20 consecutive 12-µm cryosections extracted from each and imaged with an iQID device. iQID spatial activity images were registered within a 3D volume for dose-point-kernel convolution, producing dose-rate maps. The accumulated absorbed doses for high- and low-rate regions were 9 ± 4 Gy and 1.2 ± 0.8 Gy from separate dose-rate curves, respectively. We further assess uptake uniformity, co-registration with histological pathology, and requisite slice numbers to improve microscale characterization of absorbed dose inhomogeneities in αRPT.

Abstract Targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy with alpha-particle emitters (αRPT) is advantageous in cancer treatment because the short range and high local energy deposition of alpha particles enable precise radiation delivery and efficient tumor cell killing. However, these properties create sub-organ dose deposition effects that are not easily characterized by direct gamma-ray imaging (PET or SPECT). We present a computational procedure to determine the spatial distribution of absorbed dose from alpha-emitting radionuclides in tissues using digital autoradiography activity images from an ionizing-radiation quantum imaging detector (iQID). Data from 211At-radioimmunotherapy studies for allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation in a canine model were used to develop these methods. Nine healthy canines were treated with 16.9–30.9 MBq 211At/mg monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Lymph node biopsies from early (2–5 h) and late (19–20 h) time points (16 total) were obtained, with 10–20 consecutive 12-µm cryosections extracted from each and imaged with an iQID device. iQID spatial activity images were registered within a 3D volume for dose-point-kernel convolution, producing dose-rate maps. The accumulated absorbed doses for high- and low-rate regions were 9 ± 4 Gy and 1.2 ± 0.8 Gy from separate dose-rate curves, respectively. We further assess uptake uniformity, co-registration with histological pathology, and requisite slice numbers to improve microscale characterization of absorbed dose inhomogeneities in αRPT.

Abstract An innovative off-chip antenna (OCA) is presented that exhibits high gain and efficiency performance at the terahertz (THz) band and has a wide operational bandwidth. The proposed OCA is implemented on stacked silicon layers and consists of an open circuit meandering line. It is shown that by loading the antenna with an array of subwavelength circular dielectric slots and terminating it with a metamaterial unit cell, its impedance bandwidth is enhanced by a factor of two and its gain on average by about 4 dB. Unlike conventional antennas, where the energy is dissipated in a resistive load, the technique proposed here significantly reduces losses. The antenna is excited from underneath the antenna by coupling RF energy from an open-circuited feedline through a slot in the ground-plane of the middle substrate layer. The feedline is shielded with another substrate layer which has a ground-plane on its opposite surface to mitigate the influence of the structure on which the antenna is mounted. The antenna has the dimensions 12.3 × 4.5 × 0.905 mm3 and operates across the 0.137–0.158 THz band corresponding to a fractional bandwidth of 14.23%. Over this frequency range the average measured gain and efficiency are 8.6 dBi and 77%, respectively. These characteristics makes the proposed antenna suitable for integration in sub-terahertz near-field electronic systems such as radio frequency identification (RFID) devices with high spatial resolution.

Abstract Malnutrition is an independent predictor for postoperative complications in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We systematically reviewed evidence on the impact of preoperative oral nutrition supplementation (ONS) on patients undergoing gastrointestinal cancer surgery in LMICs. We searched EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, WHO Global Index Medicus, SciELO, Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS) databases from inception to March 21, 2022 for randomised controlled trials evaluating preoperative ONS in gastrointestinal cancer within LMICs. We evaluated the impact of ONS on all postoperative outcomes using random-effects meta-analysis. Seven studies reported on 891 patients (446 ONS group, 445 control group) undergoing surgery for gastrointestinal cancer. Preoperative ONS reduced all cause postoperative surgical complications (risk ratio (RR) 0.53, 95% CI 0.46–0.60, P

Abstract The clock drawing test (CDT) is an inexpensive tool to screen for dementia. In this study, we examined if a variational autoencoder (VAE) with only two latent variables can capture and encode clock drawing anomalies from a large dataset of unannotated CDTs (n = 13,580) using self-supervised pre-training and use them to classify dementia CDTs (n = 18) from non-dementia CDTs (n = 20). The model was independently validated using a larger cohort consisting of 41 dementia and 50 non-dementia clocks. The classification model built with the parsimonious VAE latent space adequately classified dementia from non-dementia (0.78 area under receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) in the original test dataset and 0.77 AUROC in the secondary validation dataset). The VAE-identified atypical clock features were then reviewed by domain experts and compared with existing literature on clock drawing errors. This study shows that a very small number of latent variables are sufficient to encode important clock drawing anomalies that are predictive of dementia.

Vapor condensation is routinely used as an effective means of transferring heat or separating fluids. Dropwise condensation, where discrete droplets form on the condenser surface, offers a potential improvement in heat transfer of up to an order of magnitude compared to filmwise condensation, where a liquid film covers the surface. Low surface tension fluid condensates such as hydrocarbons pose a unique challenge since typical hydrophobic condenser coatings used to promote dropwise condensation of water often do not repel fluids with lower surface tensions. Recent work has shown that lubricant infused surfaces (LIS) can promote droplet formation of hydrocarbons. In this work, we confirm the effectiveness of LIS in promoting dropwise condensation by providing experimental measurements of heat transfer performance during hydrocarbon condensation on a LIS, which enhances heat transfer by ≈450% compared to an uncoated surface. We also explored improvement through removal of noncondensable gases and highlighted a failure mechanism whereby shedding droplets depleted the lubricant over time. Enhanced condensation heat transfer for low surface tension fluids on LIS presents the opportunity for significant energy savings in natural gas processing as well as improvements in thermal management, heating and cooling, and power generation.

Abstract Rogue waves are dangerous ocean waves at least twice as high as the surrounding waves. Despite an abundance of studies conducting simulations or wave tank experiments, there is so far no reliable forecast for them. In this study, we use data mining and interpretable machine learning to analyze large amounts of observational data instead (more than 1 billion waves). This reveals how rogue wave occurrence depends on the sea state. We find that traditionally favored parameters such as surface elevation kurtosis, steepness, and Benjamin–Feir index are weak predictors for real-world rogue wave risk. In the studied regime, kurtosis is only informative within a single wave group, and is not useful for forecasting. Instead, crest-trough correlation is the dominating parameter in all studied conditions, water depths, and locations, explaining about a factor of 10 in rogue wave risk variation. For rogue crests, where bandwidth effects are unimportant, we find that skewness, steepness, and Ursell number are the strongest predictors, in line with second-order theory. Our results suggest that linear superposition in bandwidth-limited seas is the main pathway to “everyday” rogue waves, with nonlinear contributions providing a minor correction. This casts some doubt whether the common rogue wave definition as any wave exceeding a certain height threshold is meaningful in practice.

Abstract The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal, endemic to freshwater habitats of eastern Australia. There are gaps in the understanding of platypus movement behaviour within river systems, including spatial and temporal organization of individuals. We tracked movements of 12 platypuses on the regulated Snowy and Mitta Mitta Rivers for up to 12-months, the longest continuous tracking of platypus using acoustic telemetry. Platypuses remained relatively localized, occupying 0.73–8.45 km of river over 12 months, consistent with previous tracking studies over shorter periods. Males moved further than females, and larger males had higher cumulative movements, suggesting a possible relationship to metabolic requirements. Platypuses moved greater distances on the Mitta Mitta River, possibly associated with impacts of altered flow regimes to their macroinvertebrate diet. Increased movements and diurnal activity during winter were primarily driven by males, possibly attributable to breeding behaviours, rather than increased costs of winter foraging. Evidence for relatively small movements has implications for declining populations, given areas of localised declines are unlikely to be supplemented by migrating platypuses, especially when dispersal is restricted by dam walls. Understanding platypus movement behaviour is pertinent for their conservation, as water resource development and habitat modification continue to reduce connectivity between populations across their distribution.

Abstract The microbiota of the human gut is a complex and rich community where bacteria and their viruses, the bacteriophages, are dominant. There are few studies on the phage community and no clear standard for isolating them, sequencing and analysing their genomes. Since this makes comparisons between studies difficult, we aimed at defining an easy, low-cost, and reproducible methodology. We analysed five different techniques to isolate phages from human adult faeces and developed an approach to analyse their genomes in order to quantify contamination and classify phage contigs in terms of taxonomy and lifestyle. We chose the polyethylene glycol concentration method to isolate phages because of its simplicity, low cost, reproducibility, and of the high number and diversity of phage sequences that we obtained. We also tested the reproducibility of this method with multiple displacement amplification (MDA) and showed that MDA severely decreases the phage genetic diversity of the samples and the reproducibility of the method. Lastly, we studied the influence of sequencing depth on the analysis of phage diversity and observed the beginning of a plateau for phage contigs at 20,000,000 reads. This work contributes to the development of methods for the isolation of phages in faeces and for their comparative analysis.

Abstract Butyrate can modulate the immune response and energy expenditure of animals and enhance intestinal health. The present study investigated changes in the intestinal microbiota composition and serum metabolites of young broilers in response to 3,000 ppm butyrate in the form of butyrate glycerides (BG) via pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The dietary treatment did not affect the alpha diversity of intestinal microbiota, but altered its composition. Thirty-nine key operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in differentiating cecal microbiota community structures between BG treated and untreated chickens were also identified. Bifidobacterium was, in particular, affected by the dietary treatment significantly, showing an increase in not only the abundance (approximately 3 fold, P ≤ 0.05) but also the species diversity. The (NMR)-based analysis revealed an increase in serum concentrations of alanine, low-density and very low-density lipoproteins, and lipids (P ≤ 0.05) by BG. More interestingly, the dietary treatment also boosted (P ≤ 0.05) serum concentrations of bacterial metabolites, including choline, glycerophosphorylcholine, dimethylamine, trimethylamine, trimethylamine-N-oxide, lactate, and succinate. In conclusion, the data suggest the modulation of intestinal microbiota and serum metabolites by BG dietary treatment and potential contribution of intestinal bacteria to lipid metabolism/energy homeostasis in broilers.

Abstract Advances in DNA sequencing and informatics have revolutionised biology over the past four decades, but technological limitations have left many applications unexplored. Recently, portable, real-time, nanopore sequencing (RTnS) has become available. This offers opportunities to rapidly collect and analyse genomic data anywhere. However, generation of datasets from large, complex genomes has been constrained to laboratories. The portability and long DNA sequences of RTnS offer great potential for field-based species identification, but the feasibility and accuracy of these technologies for this purpose have not been assessed. Here, we show that a field-based RTnS analysis of closely-related plant species (Arabidopsis spp.) has many advantages over laboratory-based high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods for species level identification and phylogenomics. Samples were collected and sequenced in a single day by RTnS using a portable, “al fresco” laboratory. Our analyses demonstrate that correctly identifying unknown reads from matches to a reference database with RTnS reads enables rapid and confident species identification. Individually annotated RTnS reads can be used to infer the evolutionary relationships of A. thaliana. Furthermore, hybrid genome assembly with RTnS and HTS reads substantially improved upon a genome assembled from HTS reads alone. Field-based RTnS makes real-time, rapid specimen identification and genome wide analyses possible.