Vortex detection and quantum transport in mesoscopic graphene Josephson-junction arrays

We investigate mesoscopic Josephson junction arrays created by patterning superconducting disks on monolayer graphene, concentrating on the high-$T/T_c$ regime of these devices and the phenomena which contribute to the superconducting glass state in diffusive arrays. We observe features in the magnetoconductance at rational fractions of flux quanta per array unit cell, which we attribute to the formation of flux-quantized vortices. The applied fields at which the features occur are well described by Ginzburg-Landau simulations that take into account the number of unit cells in the array. We find that the mean conductance and universal conductance fluctuations are both enhanced below the critical temperature and field of the superconductor, with greater enhancement away from the graphene Dirac point.This work was financially supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and an NPL/EPSRC Joint Postdoctoral Partnership (RG61493).This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.245418

Culture shapes how we look at faces

Background: Face processing, amongst many basic visual skills, is thought to be invariant across all humans. From as early as 1965, studies of eye movements have consistently revealed a systematic triangular sequence of fixations over the eyes and the mouth, suggesting that faces elicit a universal, biologically-determined information extraction pattern. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian and East Asian observers while they learned, recognized, and categorized by race Western Caucasian and East Asian faces. Western Caucasian observers reproduced a scattered triangular pattern of fixations for faces of both races and across tasks. Contrary to intuition, East Asian observers focused more on the central region of the face. Conclusions/Significance: These results demonstrate that face processing can no longer be considered as arising from a universal series of perceptual events. The strategy employed to extract visual information from faces differs across cultures

COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance and Hesitancy among Ethnic Minorities in Hong Kong

Ethnic minorities account for 8% of the Hong Kong population, most are Filipino and Indonesian domestic helpers taking care of children and the elderly. To understand the COVID-19 vaccination rates and factors associated with vaccine acceptance of ethnic minorities, we performed a cross-sectional questionnaire study recruiting Hong Kong ethnic minorities aged ≥18 years between 1 July and 18 July 2021 in public areas. Demographics, knowledge about COVID-19, vaccination status, intention and reasons to receive the vaccine, and planning to be re-vaccinated were analyzed. Continuous and categorical variables were compared using unpaired t-test and Chi-square test, respectively. Potential confounders were adjusted using multiple logistic regression. 2,012 ethnic minorities participated, with a mean age of 39 years, of which 97.6% were female, 79.5% were Filipino, and 17.5% were Indonesian. 80.6% of participants were categorized as vaccine acceptance, and 69.2% were willing to be re-vaccinated. There were significantly more Filipinos than Indonesians in the vaccine acceptance group (p < .001). Subjects in the vaccine acceptance group were more likely to have higher education (p < .001), a higher COVID-19 knowledge score (p < .001), received information from the Government website (p = .003) and not from their friends or family members (p = .02), and were more confident in judging the accuracy of the information (p < .001). Logistic regression showed the mean knowledge score (β = 3.07, p < .001) and receiving information from official Government websites (adjusted OR = 1.37, p = .03) were significant factors that positively influenced vaccine acceptance. The Hong Kong Government should improve COVID-19 vaccination acceptance among ethnic minorities through public education using official channels

May measurement month 2018: an analysis of blood pressure screening in the Philippines.

Building on the gains of May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17), the Philippine Society of Hypertension once again took part in MMM18 to raise awareness of high blood pressure (BP) in the country and to harness opportunistic BP screening in detecting unaware hypertensive individuals and referring them for treatment. We followed the standard MMM18 protocol designed by the International Society of Hypertension, utilizing convenience sampling with volunteer investigators, taking three sitting BP measurements of volunteer adults (≥18 years). Basic data on demographic, lifestyle, and environmental factors were also taken. We analysed 177 176 screened individuals from the Philippines. Of these, 29.1% (51 527) had also participated in MMM17, whereas 68.8% (121 893) were new screenees; and 14.2% (25 232) had their BP taken for the first time ever. After multiple imputation, 39.0% (69 126) were hypertensive. Of these, 50.3% (34 795) were aware they were hypertensive. 49.9% (34 491) were on antihypertensive medication, 58.0% (20 010) of whom had controlled BP <140/90 mmHg. Only 28.9% of all participants with hypertension had controlled BP. Systolic BPs and diastolic BPs were significantly higher in the overweight and obese, in those receiving antihypertensive medications, in patients with diabetes, and significantly lower in pregnant women. MMM18 has again shown that opportunistic BP screening, harnessing volunteers, is a pragmatic public health measure to improve awareness and treatment rates of raised BP

Forest Conversion to Oil Palm Compresses Food Chain Length in Tropical Streams

In Southeast Asia, biodiversity-rich forests are being extensively logged and converted to oil palm monocultures. Although the impacts of these changes on biodiversity are largely well documented, we know little about how these large-scale impacts affect freshwater trophic ecology. We used stable isotope analyses (SIA) to determine the impacts of land-use changes on the relative contribution of allochthonous and autochthonous basal resources in 19 stream food webs. We also applied compound-specific SIA and bulk-SIA to determine the trophic position of fish apex predators and meso-predators (invertivores and omnivores). There was no difference in the contribution of autochthonous resources in either consumer group (70-82%) among streams with different land-use type. There was no change in trophic position for meso-predators, but trophic position decreased significantly for apex predators in oil palm plantation streams compared to forest streams. This change in maximum food chain length was due to turnover in identity of the apex predator among land-use types. Disruption of aquatic trophic ecology, through reduction in food chain length and shift in basal resources, may cause significant changes in biodiversity as well as ecosystem functions and services. Understanding this change can help develop more focused priorities for mediating the negative impacts of human activities on freshwater ecosystems

May Measurement Month 2017: an analysis of blood pressure screening in the Philippines-South-East Asia and Australasia

Cardiovascular diseases remain the Philippines' leading cause of mortality, with hypertension as a prevalent contributory risk factor. We took part in May Measurement Month 2017 (MMM17), a global initiative to raise awareness of high blood pressure (BP) and to serve as a temporary solution to the lack of screening programs worldwide. Following the standard MMM protocol, data for 271 604 screened individuals were submitted from the Philippines. After multiple imputation, 91 994 (34.3%) were hypertensive; 28 662 out of 205 158 participants (14.0%) not receiving treatment had hypertension; and of the 60 370 receiving treatment, 25 144 (41.6%) had uncontrolled BP. Blood pressures were significantly higher in the overweight and obese, current smokers, in participants receiving antihypertensive medication, those with previous myocardial infarction or stroke. The BP measurements were relatively lower when taken on the left arm, and in pregnant women. A slightly higher systolic BP was noted in participants who reported no alcohol intake. Blood pressures recorded during the weekends were highest, and the lowest readings were obtained on Tuesdays. MMM17 was the largest BP screening campaign conducted in the Philippines. Opportunistic BP screening, harnessing volunteers, are a cost-effective public health measure to improve awareness and treatment rates of raised BP. These may help provide additional information that can guide medical practitioners and health officials in drafting preventive and therapeutic measures to improve control rates and long-term outcomes of hypertensive individuals in the population

Scoring Protein Relationships in Functional Interaction Networks Predicted from Sequence Data

The abundance of diverse biological data from various sources constitutes a rich source of knowledge, which has the power to advance our understanding of organisms. This requires computational methods in order to integrate and exploit these data effectively and elucidate local and genome wide functional connections between protein pairs, thus enabling functional inferences for uncharacterized proteins. These biological data are primarily in the form of sequences, which determine functions, although functional properties of a protein can often be predicted from just the domains it contains. Thus, protein sequences and domains can be used to predict protein pair-wise functional relationships, and thus contribute to the function prediction process of uncharacterized proteins in order to ensure that knowledge is gained from sequencing efforts. In this work, we introduce information-theoretic based approaches to score protein-protein functional interaction pairs predicted from protein sequence similarity and conserved protein signature matches. The proposed schemes are effective for data-driven scoring of connections between protein pairs. We applied these schemes to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteome to produce a homology-based functional network of the organism with a high confidence and coverage. We use the network for predicting functions of uncharacterised proteins

The Use of a Compression Device as an Alternative to Hand-Sewn and Stapled Colorectal Anastomoses: Is Three a Crowd?

BackgroundThe NiTi CAR™ 27 is a newer device that uses compression to create an anastomosis. An analysis of this device in the creation of colorectal anastomoses in humans has yet to be reported in the USA.MethodsA non-randomized, prospective pilot study of the NiTi CAR™ 27 device in patients undergoing a left-sided colectomy between March 2008 and August 2009 was performed.ResultsTwenty-three patients (9 men and 14 women) underwent a left-sided colectomy and compression anastomosis with the CAR™ 27 device. Minor morbidities, 3 of 23 (13%) patients, included one small postoperative abscess requiring antibiotics alone and two postoperative anastomotic strictures requiring balloon dilation. Major morbidities, 1 of 23 (4%) patients, included a partial anastomotic dehiscence/leak requiring surgical dismantling of the anastomosis and diversion.ConclusionThe CAR™ 27 device shows promise as a safe and effective alternative for the creation of colorectal anastomoses. However, studies in a larger patient population are warranted to demonstrate equivalence of this device

A school-based intervention program in promoting leisure-time physical activity: Trial protocol

Background: Regular participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is important to manage obesity. Physical education (PE) is considered to play an important role in promoting lifelong participation in physical activity (PA) because it provides an existing network where cost-effective interventions can be implemented to produce sustainable change in health behavior. However, the association between compulsory school PA (e.g., PE lessons) and body composition levels has received mixed support in the literature. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate whether a school-based intervention targeting salient PA benefits and barriers grounded on the theory of planned behavior would promote young people's participation in MVPA during leisure time and reduce body mass index (BMI) of overweight students. Methods/design: A total of 171 students from 3 secondary schools in Singapore underwent the control condition followed by the intervention condition. Both the conditions consisted of PE lessons twice per week over 4 weeks. In the control condition, PE teachers encouraged students to participate in PA during leisure time without providing persuasive message. While in the intervention condition, PE teachers delivered persuasive messages that targeted the salient benefits and barriers associated with PA to the students at the last 5 to 10 min of each PE lesson. PA levels over a week were measured objectively with wrist-mounted GENEActiv Original accelerometers and subjectively with self-reporting questionnaires three times (Baseline, Post 1, and Post 2) in each condition. Student's self-reported PA level was measured using the Leisure-Time Physical Activity Participation Questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and their attitudes, intentions, subjective norms and perceived behavior control towards leisure-time PA were measured with a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior. Furthermore, students' intention, determination and willingness to engage in leisure-time PA were compared with the other activity (e.g., doing homework, shopping). Discussion: This study will provide the evidence on the effectiveness of a cost-effective school-based intervention on reducing BMI of overweight students through promoting sustained participation in leisure-time PA. It will also address methodological issues on the gaps between objective and subjective measures of PA. Trial registration: This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN73786157, 26/10/2017, retrospectively registered)