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Nick K. Jones1,2*, Lucy Rivett1,2*, Chris Workman3, Mark Ferris3, Ashley Shaw1, Cambridge COVID-19 Collaboration1,4, Paul J. Lehner1,4, Rob Howes5, Giles Wright3, Nicholas J. Matheson1,4,6¶, Michael P. Weekes1,7¶1 Cambridge University NHS Hospitals Foundation Trust, Cambridge, UK2 Clinical Microbiology & Public Health Laboratory, Public Health England, Cambridge, UK3 Occupational Health and Wellbeing, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK4 Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK5 Cambridge COVID-19 Testing Centre and AstraZeneca, Anne Mclaren Building, Cambridge, UK6 NHS Blood and Transplant, Cambridge, UK7 Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK*Joint first authorship¶Joint last authorshipCorrespondence: mpw1001@cam.ac.ukThe UK has initiated mass COVID-19 immunisation, with healthcare workers (HCWs) given early priority because of the potential for workplace exposure and risk of onward transmission to patients. The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has recommended maximising the number of people vaccinated with first doses at the expense of early booster vaccinations, based on single dose efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19 disease.1-3At the time of writing, three COVID-19 vaccines have been granted emergency use authorisation in the UK, including the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech). A vital outstanding question is whether this vaccine prevents or promotes asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, rather than symptomatic COVID-19 disease, because sub-clinical infection following vaccination could continue to drive transmission. This is especially important because many UK HCWs have received this vaccine, and nosocomial COVID-19 infection has been a persistent problem.Through the implementation of a 24 h-turnaround PCR-based comprehensive HCW screening programme at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHNFT), we previously demonstrated the frequent presence of pauci- and asymptomatic infection amongst HCWs during the UK’s first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.4 Here, we evaluate the effect of first-dose BNT162b2 vaccination on test positivity rates and cycle threshold (Ct) values in the asymptomatic arm of our programme, which now offers weekly screening to all staff.Vaccination of HCWs at CUHNFT began on 8th December 2020, with mass vaccination from 8th January 2021. Here, we analyse data from the two weeks spanning 18thto 31st January 2021, during which: (a) the prevalence of COVID-19 amongst HCWs remained approximately constant; and (b) we screened comparable numbers of vaccinated and unvaccinated HCWs. Over this period, 4,408 (week 1) and 4,411 (week 2) PCR tests were performed from individuals reporting well to work. We stratified HCWs <12 days or > 12 days post-vaccination because this was the point at which protection against symptomatic infection began to appear in phase III clinical trial.226/3,252 (0·80%) tests from unvaccinated HCWs were positive (Ct<36), compared to 13/3,535 (0·37%) from HCWs <12 days post-vaccination and 4/1,989 (0·20%) tests from HCWs ≥12 days post-vaccination (p=0·023 and p=0·004, respectively; Fisher’s exact test, Figure). This suggests a four-fold decrease in the risk of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection amongst HCWs ≥12 days post-vaccination, compared to unvaccinated HCWs, with an intermediate effect amongst HCWs <12 days post-vaccination.A marked reduction in infections was also seen when analyses were repeated with: (a) inclusion of HCWs testing positive through both the symptomatic and asymptomatic arms of the programme (56/3,282 (1·71%) unvaccinated vs 8/1,997 (0·40%) ≥12 days post-vaccination, 4·3-fold reduction, p=0·00001); (b) inclusion of PCR tests which were positive at the limit of detection (Ct>36, 42/3,268 (1·29%) vs 15/2,000 (0·75%), 1·7-fold reduction, p=0·075); and (c) extension of the period of analysis to include six weeks from December 28th to February 7th 2021 (113/14,083 (0·80%) vs 5/4,872 (0·10%), 7·8-fold reduction, p=1x10-9). In addition, the median Ct value of positive tests showed a non-significant trend towards increase between unvaccinated HCWs and HCWs > 12 days post-vaccination (23·3 to 30·3, Figure), suggesting that samples from vaccinated individuals had lower viral loads.We therefore provide real-world evidence for a high level of protection against asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection after a single dose of BNT162b2 vaccine, at a time of predominant transmission of the UK COVID-19 variant of concern 202012/01 (lineage B.1.1.7), and amongst a population with a relatively low frequency of prior infection (7.2% antibody positive).5This work was funded by a Wellcome Senior Clinical Research Fellowship to MPW (108070/Z/15/Z), a Wellcome Principal Research Fellowship to PJL (210688/Z/18/Z), and an MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship (MR/P008801/1) and NHSBT workpackage (WPA15-02) to NJM. Funding was also received from Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust and the Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. We also acknowledge contributions from all staff at CUHNFT Occupational Health and Wellbeing and the Cambridge COVID-19 Testing Centre.

Scene flow tracks the three-dimensional (3D) motion of each point in adjacent point clouds. It provides fundamental 3D motion perception for autonomous driving and server robot. Although the Red Green Blue Depth (RGBD) camera or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) capture discrete 3D points in space, the objects and motions usually are continuous in the macro world. That is, the objects keep themselves consistent as they flow from the current frame to the next frame. Based on this insight, the Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) is utilized to self-learn 3D scene flow with no need for ground truth. The fake point cloud of the second frame is synthesized from the predicted scene flow and the point cloud of the first frame. The adversarial training of the generator and discriminator is realized through synthesizing indistinguishable fake point cloud and discriminating the real point cloud and the synthesized fake point cloud. The experiments on Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Toyota Technological Institute (KITTI) scene flow dataset show that our method realizes promising results without ground truth. Just as human, the proposed method can identify the similar local structures of two adjacent frames even without knowing the ground truth scene flow. Then, the local correspondence can be correctly estimated, and further the scene flow is correctly estimated.   Corresponding author(s) Email: wanghesheng@sjtu.edu.cn

Leukocyte differential test is a widely performed clinical procedure for screening infectious diseases. Existing hematology analyzers require labor-intensive work and a panel of expensive reagents. Here we report an artificial-intelligence enabled reagent-free imaging hematology analyzer (AIRFIHA) modality that can accurately classify subpopulations of leukocytes with minimal sample preparation. AIRFIHA is realized through training a two-step residual neural network using label-free images of isolated leukocytes acquired from a custom-built quantitative phase microscope. By leveraging the rich information contained in quantitative phase images, we not only achieved high accuracy in differentiating B and T lymphocytes, but also classified CD4 and CD8 cells, therefore outperforming the classification accuracy of most current hematology analyzers. We validated the performance of AIRFIHA in a randomly selected test set and cross-validated it across all blood donors. Owing to its easy operation, low cost, and accurate discerning capability of complex leukocyte subpopulations, we envision AIRFIHA is clinically translatable and can also be deployed in resource-limited settings, e.g., during pandemic situations for the rapid screening of infectious diseases.  Corresponding author(s) Email:    rjzhou@cuhk.edu.hk,  rishikesh.pandey@uconn.edu

Tam Hunt [1], Jonathan SchoolerUniversity of California Santa Barbara Synchronization, harmonization, vibrations, or simply resonance in its most general sense seems to have an integral relationship with consciousness itself. One of the possible “neural correlates of consciousness” in mammalian brains is a combination of gamma, beta and theta synchrony. More broadly, we see similar kinds of resonance patterns in living and non-living structures of many types. What clues can resonance provide about the nature of consciousness more generally? This paper provides an overview of resonating structures in the fields of neuroscience, biology and physics and attempts to coalesce these data into a solution to what we see as the “easy part” of the Hard Problem, which is generally known as the “combination problem” or the “binding problem.” The combination problem asks: how do micro-conscious entities combine into a higher-level macro-consciousness? The proposed solution in the context of mammalian consciousness suggests that a shared resonance is what allows different parts of the brain to achieve a phase transition in the speed and bandwidth of information flows between the constituent parts. This phase transition allows for richer varieties of consciousness to arise, with the character and content of that consciousness in each moment determined by the particular set of constituent neurons. We also offer more general insights into the ontology of consciousness and suggest that consciousness manifests as a relatively smooth continuum of increasing richness in all physical processes, distinguishing our view from emergentist materialism. We refer to this approach as a (general) resonance theory of consciousness and offer some responses to Chalmers’ questions about the different kinds of “combination problem.”  At the heart of the universe is a steady, insistent beat: the sound of cycles in sync…. [T]hese feats of synchrony occur spontaneously, almost as if nature has an eerie yearning for order. Steven Strogatz, Sync: How Order Emerges From Chaos in the Universe, Nature and Daily Life (2003) If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.Nikola Tesla (1942) I.               Introduction Is there an “easy part” and a “hard part” to the Hard Problem of consciousness? In this paper, we suggest that there is. The harder part is arriving at a philosophical position with respect to the relationship of matter and mind. This paper is about the “easy part” of the Hard Problem but we address the “hard part” briefly in this introduction.  We have both arrived, after much deliberation, at the position of panpsychism or panexperientialism (all matter has at least some associated mind/experience and vice versa). This is the view that all things and processes have both mental and physical aspects. Matter and mind are two sides of the same coin.  Panpsychism is one of many possible approaches that addresses the “hard part” of the Hard Problem. We adopt this position for all the reasons various authors have listed (Chalmers 1996, Griffin 1997, Hunt 2011, Goff 2017). This first step is particularly powerful if we adopt the Whiteheadian version of panpsychism (Whitehead 1929).  Reaching a position on this fundamental question of how mind relates to matter must be based on a “weight of plausibility” approach, rather than on definitive evidence, because establishing definitive evidence with respect to the presence of mind/experience is difficult. We must generally rely on examining various “behavioral correlates of consciousness” in judging whether entities other than ourselves are conscious – even with respect to other humans—since the only consciousness we can know with certainty is our own. Positing that matter and mind are two sides of the same coin explains the problem of consciousness insofar as it avoids the problems of emergence because under this approach consciousness doesn’t emerge. Consciousness is, rather, always present, at some level, even in the simplest of processes, but it “complexifies” as matter complexifies, and vice versa. Consciousness starts very simple and becomes more complex and rich under the right conditions, which in our proposed framework rely on resonance mechanisms. Matter and mind are two sides of the coin. Neither is primary; they are coequal.  We acknowledge the challenges of adopting this perspective, but encourage readers to consider the many compelling reasons to consider it that are reviewed elsewhere (Chalmers 1996, Griffin 1998, Hunt 2011, Goff 2017, Schooler, Schooler, & Hunt, 2011; Schooler, 2015).  Taking a position on the overarching ontology is the first step in addressing the Hard Problem. But this leads to the related questions: at what level of organization does consciousness reside in any particular process? Is a rock conscious? A chair? An ant? A bacterium? Or are only the smaller constituents, such as atoms or molecules, of these entities conscious? And if there is some degree of consciousness even in atoms and molecules, as panpsychism suggests (albeit of a very rudimentary nature, an important point to remember), how do these micro-conscious entities combine into the higher-level and obvious consciousness we witness in entities like humans and other mammals?  This set of questions is known as the “combination problem,” another now-classic problem in the philosophy of mind, and is what we describe here as the “easy part” of the Hard Problem. Our characterization of this part of the problem as “easy”[2] is, of course, more than a little tongue in cheek. The authors have discussed frequently with each other what part of the Hard Problem should be labeled the easier part and which the harder part. Regardless of the labels we choose, however, this paper focuses on our suggested solution to the combination problem.  Various solutions to the combination problem have been proposed but none have gained widespread acceptance. This paper further elaborates a proposed solution to the combination problem that we first described in Hunt 2011 and Schooler, Hunt, and Schooler 2011. The proposed solution rests on the idea of resonance, a shared vibratory frequency, which can also be called synchrony or field coherence. We will generally use resonance and “sync,” short for synchrony, interchangeably in this paper. We describe the approach as a general resonance theory of consciousness or just “general resonance theory” (GRT). GRT is a field theory of consciousness wherein the various specific fields associated with matter and energy are the seat of conscious awareness.  A summary of our approach appears in Appendix 1.  All things in our universe are constantly in motion, in process. Even objects that appear to be stationary are in fact vibrating, oscillating, resonating, at specific frequencies. So all things are actually processes. Resonance is a specific type of motion, characterized by synchronized oscillation between two states.  An interesting phenomenon occurs when different vibrating processes come into proximity: they will often start vibrating together at the same frequency. They “sync up,” sometimes in ways that can seem mysterious, and allow for richer and faster information and energy flows (Figure 1 offers a schematic). Examining this phenomenon leads to potentially deep insights about the nature of consciousness in both the human/mammalian context but also at a deeper ontological level.

Cannabis sativa is an extraordinarily versatile species. Hemp and its cousin marijuana, both C. sativa, have been used for millennia as a source of fibre, oil and for medicinal, spiritual and recreational purposes. Because the consumption of Cannabis can have psychoactive effects, the plant has been widely banned throughout the last century. In the past decade, evidence of its medicinal properties did lead to the relaxation of legislation in many countries around the world. Consequently, the genetics and development of Cannabis as well as Cannabis-derived products are the subject of renewed attention.Here, we review the biology of C. sativa, including recent insights from taxonomy, morphology and genomics, with an emphasis on the genetics of cannabinoid synthesis. Because the female Cannabis flower is of special interest as the site of cannabinoid synthesis, we explore flower development, flowering time well as the species’ unique sex determination system in detail. Furthermore, we outline the tremendous medicinal, engineering, and environmental opportunities that Cannabis bears. Together, the picture emerges that our understanding of Cannabis biology currently progresses at an unusual speed. A future challenge will be to preserve the multi-purpose nature of Cannabis, and to harness its medicinal properties and sustainability advantages simultaneously.

Quantum chemistry must evolve if it wants to fully leverage the benefits of the internet age, where the world wide web offers a vast tapestry of tools that enable users to communicate and interact with complex data at the speed and convenience of a button press. The Open Chemistry project has developed an open source framework that offers an end-to-end solution for producing, sharing, and visualizing quantum chemical data interactively on the web using an array of modern tools and approaches. These tools build on some of the best open source community projects such as Jupyter for interactive online notebooks, coupled with 3D accelerated visualization, state-of-the-art computational chemistry codes including NWChem and Psi4 and emerging machine learning and data mining tools such as ChemML and ANI. They offer flexible formats to import and export data, along with approaches to compare computational and experimental data.

This paper responds to one by Graham Martin and colleagues, who offered a critique of my previous publications on masks for the lay public in the Covid-19 pandemic. I address their charges that my co-authors and I had misapplied the precautionary principle; drawn conclusions that were not supported by empirical research; and failed to take account of potential harms. But before that, I remind Martin et al that the evidence on mask wearing goes beyond the contested trials and observational studies they place centre stage. I set out some key findings from basic science, epidemiology, mathematical modelling, case studies and natural experiments, and use this rich and diverse body of evidence as the backdrop for my rebuttal of their narrowly-framed objections. I challenge my critics’ apparent assumption that a particular kind of systematic review should be valorised over narrative and real-world evidence, since stories are crucial to both our scientific understanding and our moral imagination. I conclude by thanking my academic adversaries for the intellectual sparring match, but exhort them to remember our professional accountability to a society in crisis. It is time to lay straw men to rest and engage, scientifically and morally, with the dreadful tragedy that is unfolding across the world.

This Supporting information includes interactive plots, videos, and data captured while performing evaluation and validation experiments for our paper. 

The construct of wellbeing has been criticised as a neoliberal construction of western individualism that ignores wider systemic issues including increasing burden of chronic disease, widening inequality, concerns over environmental degradation and anthropogenic climate change. While these criticisms overlook recent developments, there remains a need for biopsychosocial models that extend theoretical grounding beyond individual wellbeing, incorporating overlapping contextual issues relating to community and environment. Our first GENIAL model \cite{Kemp_2017} provided a more expansive view of pathways to longevity in the context of individual health and wellbeing, emphasising bidirectional links to positive social ties and the impact of sociocultural factors. In this paper, we build on these ideas and propose GENIAL 2.0, focusing on intersecting individual-community-environmental contributions to health and wellbeing, and laying an evidence-based, theoretical framework on which future research and innovative therapeutic innovations could be based. We suggest that our transdisciplinary model of wellbeing - focusing on individual, community and environmental contributions to personal wellbeing - will help to move the research field forward. In reconceptualising wellbeing, GENIAL 2.0 bridges the gap between psychological science and population health health systems, and presents opportunities for enhancing the health and wellbeing of people living with chronic conditions. Implications for future generations including the very survival of our species are discussed.  

Floral plantings are promoted to foster ecological intensification of agriculture through provisioning of ecosystem services. However, a comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of different floral plantings, their characteristics and consequences for crop yield across global regions is lacking. Here we quantified the impacts of flower strips and hedgerows on pest control and pollination services in adjacent crops using a global dataset of 529 sites. Flower strips, but not hedgerows, enhanced pest control services in adjacent fields by 16% on average. However, effects on crop pollination and yield were more variable. Our synthesis identifies several important drivers of variability in effectiveness of plantings: pollination services declined exponentially with distance from plantings, and perennial and older flower strips with higher flowering plant diversity enhanced pollination more effectively. These findings provide promising pathways to optimize floral plantings to more effectively contribute to ecosystem service delivery and ecological intensification of agriculture in the future.

Researchers' ability to accurately screen fossil and subfossil specimens for preservation of DNA and protein sequences remains limited. Thermal exposure and geologic age are usable proxies for sequence preservation on a broad scale but are of nominal use for specimens of similar depositional environments. Cell and tissue biomolecular histology is thus proposed as a novel proxy for determining sequence preservation potential of ancient specimens with improved accuracy. Biomolecular histology as a proxy is hypothesized to elucidate why fossils/subfossils of some depositional environments preserve sequences while others do not and to facilitate selection of ancient specimens for use in molecular studies.

IntroductionConsistent with World Health Organization (WHO) advice [1], UK Infection Protection Control guidance recommends that healthcare workers (HCWs) caring for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should use fluid resistant surgical masks type IIR (FRSMs) as respiratory protective equipment (RPE), unless aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) are being undertaken or are likely, when a filtering face piece 3 (FFP3) respirator should be used [2]. In a recent update, an FFP3 respirator is recommended if “an unacceptable risk of transmission remains following rigorous application of the hierarchy of control” [3]. Conversely, guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that HCWs caring for patients with COVID-19 should use an N95 or higher level respirator [4]. WHO guidance suggests that a respirator, such as FFP3, may be used for HCWs in the absence of AGPs if availability or cost is not an issue [1].A recent systematic review undertaken for PHE concluded that: “patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection who are breathing, talking or coughing generate both respiratory droplets and aerosols, but FRSM (and where required, eye protection) are considered to provide adequate staff protection” [5]. Nevertheless, FFP3 respirators are more effective in preventing aerosol transmission than FRSMs, and observational data suggests that they may improve protection for HCWs [6]. It has therefore been suggested that respirators should be considered as a means of affording the best available protection [7], and some organisations have decided to provide FFP3 (or equivalent) respirators to HCWs caring for COVID-19 patients, despite a lack of mandate from local or national guidelines [8].Data from the HCW testing programme at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHNFT) during the first wave of the UK severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic indicated a higher incidence of infection amongst HCWs caring for patients with COVID-19, compared with those who did not [9]. Subsequent studies have confirmed this observation [10, 11]. This disparity persisted at CUHNFT in December 2020, despite control measures consistent with PHE guidance and audits indicating good compliance. The CUHNFT infection control committee therefore implemented a change of RPE for staff on “red” (COVID-19) wards from FRSMs to FFP3 respirators. In this study, we analyse the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in HCWs before and after this transition.

Background: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) , most common malignancy amongst children with front-line treatment considered major success, 20% of children predicted to either relapse or show resistance to treatment with reported dismal outcomes. Aim: To evaluate clinical characteristics of children diagnosed with refractory / relapsed ALL and to determine 3-year overall survival ouctomes. Method: Retrospective review of patients (aged 1 -14 years) diagnosed with ALL during the period January 2002 to December 2018, data extracted for details of baseline characteristics at diagnosis and at relapse . Results: Total of 347 newly diagnosed children with ALL identified, three induction failures and 28 relapses, with total 31 patients a cohort relapse rate of 9% observed. The male-to-female ratio observed is 4.16:1 and mean duration of CR1 was 26 months : 15 (48%) relapsing ≤ 18 months,seven (23%) during 18 to 36 months and nine (29%) relapsed > 36 months of IF or CR1.Eighteen patients (62%) had isolated BM relapse, six (20%) patients experience isolated Extra-medullary relapse and five (17%) patients experienced BM with other sites. Three-year Overall Survival (OS) of the cohort was 62.3%, while of those patients who achieved CR post first-salvage therapy 3-year OS of 79.5% observed with a statistically significant difference, p value <0.05 comparing to patients who did not achieve remission post first-salvage therapy (3-year OS: 46.4%). The same statistical difference observed in 3-years OS observed comparing duration of remission of CR prior to relapse: ≤ 18 months: 33.2%; 18 – 36 months: 66.7% and > 36 months: 87.5%; the same trend continued when comparing 3-years OS based on risk stratification at relapse: LR: 83.3%; IR: 80% and HR: 44.8%. Conclusion: Incidence and outcomes reported on this study is comparable to internationally reported data with duration of CR1, risk-stratification at relapse and remission status post-salvage therapy determined as significant prognostic factors for survival. No survivial difference amongst patients who received HSCT after induction to those who received chemotherapy, could be attributed to a smaller sample size warranting a multi-institutional observational study. The findings corroborates with the need for novel therapies and treatment approaches in these group of patients

This article explores the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine liquid drip therapy in treating and caring for vocal disorders in singing. Through various statistical methods, the optimal treatment and care durations for different voice disorders and singing groups were determined, and the acting mechanism of the treatment was revealed. Results showed that Chinese medicine liquid drip therapy is highly effective and safe in treating and caring for various vocal disorders. For vocal music major students, vocal music teachers, and actors with vocal cord edema, polyps, nodules, cysts, hoarseness, vocal fatigue, and other symptoms, the best treatment and care durations were found to be 14 days and 5 days, respectively. This research provides a theoretical basis and data support for promoting the use of traditional Chinese medicine liquid drip therapy for vocal health.

The purpose of this study is to outline global performance and to quantitatively evaluate the current research field hot spots, and the future trends about the water footprint. Bibliometric methods are used to analyze 861 records retrieved from the collection of Web of Science Core (WoS). The performance of publications, categories, countries, institutes, research hot spots, and trends is analyzed in this study by applying CiteSpace and VOSviewer tools. The results revealed that publications about water footprint have experienced two stages: a stable rising period and a rapid rising period. The research pertaining to water footprint is mainly in the fields of virtual water, water use efficiency, water scarcity, water pollution, etc. The People’s Republic of China, The United States of America, Iran, New Zealand, and Italy get higher rankings in paper output, and the Chinese Acad of Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Northwest A&F University, Beijing Forestry University, University of Twente and Hohai University achieve a high ranking on water footprint research. In addition, further studies in research frontiers have revealed that climate change, sustainable agriculture, and water conservation will become popular directions and trends in water footprint research.

Wireless networks have become increasingly popular in recent decades for both residential and commercial networking. Currently, people use smart mobile devices that are fitted with a range of wireless networking interfaces to conduct short-term or long-term business, connect, socialize, and browse the Internet. Because wireless technologies and mobile devices have made amazing advancements, users need smooth, continuous, and faultless services with Quality of Service (QoS) from every origin to device at any given time while on the go or stationary. In order to accommodate the increasing traffic demands and service requirements, the next generation of wireless infrastructures (5G) paradigm will feature a high deployment of base stations and a variety of RATs, including Wireless Local, Metropolitan and Wide Area Networks (WLAN, WMAN, WWAN), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Wireless Broadband (WiBro). However, no single RAT can simultaneously provide mobile users with high bandwidth, low latency, widespread coverage, and high QoS levels. Hence, this book chapter seeks to elucidate the varying kinds of vertical handover techniques that could be adopted to meet the demands of mobile users based on QoS and QoE.

Hodgkin lymphoma is a haematolymphoid malignancy seen in pediatric and adult age groups with an excellent outcome. The current priority of the treatment has been a reduction of acute and chronic morbidities without compromising outcomes. PET-CT scan is an integral component in prognosticating and determining outcomes in Hodgkin lymphoma. Recent studies have highlighted the role of interim PET-CT scan in choosing future therapy. The evidence to support the role of interim PET-CT scan in childhood Hodgkin lymphoma is limited. The aim of the study is to analyse the role of interim PET-CT in the management of childhood HL, and to investigate survival outcomes of children treated at our institute. This is a retrospective study and included all the children with HL treated at our institute in last five years. All the children were treated as per ESMO guidelines. Interim PET-CT scan was done after two cycles of chemotherapy. The correlation of various possible risk factors with the outcomes was examined. Only the interim PET/CT findings were associated with the results. At median follow-up of 34 months, the event free survival (EFS) was 95.7% and overall survival (OS) was 100%. Interim PET-CT plays an important role in treatment modification without compromising on the outcomes in children with HL. Survival rates were consistent with those reported in published literature.

Double orifice mitral valve is a rare congenital anomaly that is often associated with other congenital cardiac abnormalities. Patients may present with valvular dysfunction or may be asymptomatic and have an incidental diagnosis of double outlet mitral valve. Whether symptoms due to this pathology are present or not, it is important to accurately characterize this lesion. 3-dimensional imaging is a powerful diagnostic modality for diagnosing and characterizing lesions such as this as highlighted in this case image series.

A novel type of A-type nanogrids (AGs) with axial and central chirality was synthesized via Friedel-Crafts gridization of thiophenes and difluorenyl biaromatic derivatives, yielding 9–30%. Additionally, the effect of stereoisomers of 1,1’-binaphthyl difluorenols (BINDFOH) was investigated to demonstrate that R/S-BINDFOH is more advantageous for the synthesis of AGs than Mix-BINDFOH. Furthermore, Tests on OFET memory devices showed that AGs have a larger storage window, indicating potential for data storage applications.

Understanding how ecological and environmental changes, anthropogenic activities, and climate have driven and will direct animals’ development and predicting their prospective distribution profiles in the Quaternary are essential to making a tangible conservation strategy. Macaques (Macaca) distributed in mainland East Asia provide an ideal research model for such an effort. We reconstruct macaques’ geographic distribution profiles during the Quaternary, from the last inter-glaciation (LIG, 120,000 - 140,000 years BP), the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 22,000 years BP), and the present (1970-2000) – based on which we deduce their perspective distribution in the 2050s. The results show their suitable habitats during LIG and LGM were mainly in Southwest, Central, and Coastal China. A noticeable distribution reduction started in LIG and persisted until the current (1970-2000). Their distribution centroid would shift northward to mountainous regions, mainly in Southwest China, where more migration corridors would be reserved for their future development. Also, the results indicate that China’s Protected Area currently does not cover more than 87% of macaques’ habitats, a dismal situation for their conservation. Finally, this study proclaims that the conservation priority of the macaques in the years to come should focus on Southwest China – their future refuge region in Quaternary.

The spatial pattern is critical for understanding the plant population status. The distribution patterns of endangered plants are more vulnerable to intraspecific, interspecific, and environmental factors. Tetracentron sinense Oliver, a tertiary relict plant, the spatial pattern, and its influencing factors are poorly understood. We sought to figure out the spatial pattern of T. sinense and the factors responsible for this pattern. We utilized the point pattern, ordinary kriging, and canonical correlation analysis to identify distribution patterns, spatial interactions, and environmental factors. The results revealed that T. sinense individuals were highly aggregated, at a small scale. Similarly, there was a positive correlation between young and adult trees at smaller scales. In addition, the dominant species showed a positive correlation with T. sinense; the correlation gradually became non-significant or negative as the scale increased. Furthermore, the main environmental factors affecting the distribution of T. sinense were air humidity, altitude, litter depth, and potassium content. These results highlighted the importance of intra- and interspecific interaction and environmental factors for the spatial distribution of T. sinense. Our results provide new insights into endangered species’ spatial patterns and main factors. Moreover, these findings have relevant implications for conserving and managing endangered trees in a constantly fragmented habitat.

A document by Xuejiao Ding. Click on the document to view its contents.

Background: Identification of biomarkers is required for a systems medicine approach and personalized treatment in AD. These biomarkers may not only aid in diagnosing but also might be suitable to predict the effectiveness of targeted treatment. Objective: We aimed to identify proteomic, microbial, and miRNA biomarkers in atopic dermatitis patients and investigated their course in relation to the clinical response upon anti-IL-4Rα therapy. Methods: Proteomic and miRNA screening was performed in AD patients in comparison to healthy controls. Differentially regulated serum proteins, miRNA, and selected skin microbiota were measured consecutively in 50 AD patients before and upon systemic dupilumab treatment. A random forest classifier was used to predict the outcome of dupilumab therapy based on the initial biomarker patterns. Results: We identified 27 proteomic candidates, miRNA, and 3 microbial strains to be dysregulated in AD. Besides the well-known chemokine CCL17 other proteins i.e., CCL13, CCL22, E-selectin and BDNF were differently regulated and significantly associated with treatment response. By contrast neither the microbial changes nor the miRNA pattern were found to be associated with treatment response upon dupilumab treatment. Conclusion: AD patients display defined dysregulations regarding their systemic proteomic serum profile, miRNA patterns, and their skin microbiome. The proteomic profile and selekted skin bacteria changed profoundly upon anti-IL-4Rα therapy which was associated with an overall clinical response. This was not seen in miRNA-related biomarkers. Our findings support the hypothesis that biomarker profiles reflect treatment responses and may in the future be used to develop a personalized medicine approach for the treatment of atopic dermatitis patients.

BACKGROUND: Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an immune-mediated antigen-triggered inflammatory disease of the esophagus. Our aim was to investigate inflammatory responses by a new ex vivo biopsy provocation-based method, stimulating biopsies with food extracts, possible antigens. METHODS: An experimental study was conducted on esophageal biopsies from children who underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Supernatants were collected before and after stimulation of the biopsies with food extracts and analyzed for inflammatory markers, as was also blood and saliva. The biopsies were also stained for histological analyzes. RESULTS: Twenty-six patients, median age of 12 years, were included. Of the 45 markers analyzed, three had significant differences between controls and patients with active EoE, Granzyme B, (GzmB), IL-1ra and CXCL8 (p < 0.05). Levels of GzmB were higher, and levels of IL-1ra were lower in EoE active patients compared to controls and EoE in remission both at baseline and after food extract stimulation. CXCL8 increased in active EoE compared to controls after stimulation. GzmB-positive cells were histologically demonstrated in biopsies from patients with active EoE in contrast to control and EoE remission. CONCLUSIONS: The levels of the barrier-damaging protease GzmB were increased in the supernatant both before and after stimulation with food extract ex vivo in patients with active EoE, using a new method and observed histologically in biopsies from patients with active EoE. The presence of the barrier damaging GzmB in EoE active patients may be a guide for future studies in the pathology of EoE.