Sustainability for shrinking cities

Shrinking cities are widespread throughout the world despite the rapidly increasing global urban population. These cities are attempting to transition to sustainable trajectories to improve the health and well-being of urban residents, to build their capacity to adapt to changing conditions and to cope with major events. The dynamics of shrinking cities are different than the dynamics of growing cities, and therefore intentional research and planning around creating sustainable cities is needed for shrinking cities. We propose research that can be applied to shrinking cities by identifying parallel challenges in growing cities and translating urban research and planning that is specific to each city’s dynamics. In addition, we offer applications of panarchy concepts to this problem. The contributions to this Special Issue take on this forward-looking planning task through drawing lessons for urban sustainability from shrinking cities, or translating general lessons from urban research to the context of shrinking cities

Molecular and culture-based diagnosis of Clostridium difficile isolates from Côte d'Ivoire after prolonged storage at disrupted cold chain conditions

Background Although Clostridium difficile is a major cause of diarrhoea, its epidemiology in tropical settings is poorly understood. Strain characterisation requires work-up in specialised laboratories, often after prolonged storage without properly maintained cold chain. Methods We screened 298 human faecal samples from Côte d'Ivoire using a rapid test for C. difficile glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). GDH-positive samples were aerobically stored at disrupted cold chain conditions (mean duration: 11 days) before transfer to a reference laboratory for anaerobic culture, susceptibility testing, PCR assays and ribotyping. Results Sixteen samples (5.4%) had a positive GDH screening test. C. difficile infection was confirmed in six specimens by culture and PCR, while no nucleic acids of C. difficile were detected in the culture-negative samples. Further analysis of stool samples harbouring toxigenic C. difficile strains confirmed that both GDH and toxins remained detectable for at least 28 days, regardless of storage conditions (aerobic storage at 4°C or 20°C). Conclusions Storage conditions only minimally affect recovery of C. difficile and its toxins in stool culture. A rapid GDH screening test and subsequent transfer of GDH-positive stool samples to reference laboratories for in-depth characterisation may improve our understanding of the epidemiology of C. difficile in the tropic

A Chirality-Based Quantum Leap

There is increasing interest in the study of chiral degrees of freedom occurring in matter and in electromagnetic fields. Opportunities in quantum sciences will likely exploit two main areas that are the focus of this Review: (1) recent observations of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect in chiral molecules and engineered nanomaterials and (2) rapidly evolving nanophotonic strategies designed to amplify chiral light-matter interactions. On the one hand, the CISS effect underpins the observation that charge transport through nanoscopic chiral structures favors a particular electronic spin orientation, resulting in large room-temperature spin polarizations. Observations of the CISS effect suggest opportunities for spin control and for the design and fabrication of room-temperature quantum devices from the bottom up, with atomic-scale precision and molecular modularity. On the other hand, chiral-optical effects that depend on both spin- and orbital-angular momentum of photons could offer key advantages in all-optical and quantum information technologies. In particular, amplification of these chiral light-matter interactions using rationally designed plasmonic and dielectric nanomaterials provide approaches to manipulate light intensity, polarization, and phase in confined nanoscale geometries. Any technology that relies on optimal charge transport, or optical control and readout, including quantum devices for logic, sensing, and storage, may benefit from chiral quantum properties. These properties can be theoretically and experimentally investigated from a quantum information perspective, which has not yet been fully developed. There are uncharted implications for the quantum sciences once chiral couplings can be engineered to control the storage, transduction, and manipulation of quantum information. This forward-looking Review provides a survey of the experimental and theoretical fundamentals of chiral-influenced quantum effects and presents a vision for their possible future roles in enabling room-temperature quantum technologies.ISSN:1936-0851ISSN:1936-086

Practical recipes for the model order reduction, dynamical simulation, and compressive sampling of large-scale open quantum systems

This article presents numerical recipes for simulating high-temperature and non-equilibrium quantum spin systems that are continuously measured and controlled. The notion of a spin system is broadly conceived, in order to encompass macroscopic test masses as the limiting case of large-j spins. The simulation technique has three stages: first the deliberate introduction of noise into the simulation, then the conversion of that noise into an equivalent continuous measurement and control process, and finally, projection of the trajectory onto a state-space manifold having reduced dimensionality and possessing a Kahler potential of multi-linear form. The resulting simulation formalism is used to construct a positive P-representation for the thermal density matrix. Single-spin detection by magnetic resonance force microscopy (MRFM) is simulated, and the data statistics are shown to be those of a random telegraph signal with additive white noise. Larger-scale spin-dust models are simulated, having no spatial symmetry and no spatial ordering; the high-fidelity projection of numerically computed quantum trajectories onto low-dimensionality Kahler state-space manifolds is demonstrated. The reconstruction of quantum trajectories from sparse random projections is demonstrated, the onset of Donoho-Stodden breakdown at the Candes-Tao sparsity limit is observed, a deterministic construction for sampling matrices is given, and methods for quantum state optimization by Dantzig selection are given.Comment: 104 pages, 13 figures, 2 table

Predictors of surgical complications in boys with hypospadias: data from an international registry

Background: Complications are frequently reported after hypospadias repair and there is a need to understand the factors that influence their occurrence. Methods: Data from boys with hypospadias born between 2000 and 2020 were obtained from the International Disorders of Sex Development (I-DSD) Registry. Logistic regressions, fisher’s exact tests and spearman’s correlation tests were performed on the data to assess associations between clinical factors and complication rates. Results: Of the 551 eligible boys, data were available on 160 (29%). Within the cohort, the median (range) External Masculinization Score (EMS) was 6 (2, 9). All presented with one or more additional genital malformation and 61 (38%) presented with additional extragenital malformations. Disorders of androgen action, androgen synthesis and gonadal development were diagnosed in 28 (18%), 22 (14%) and 9 (6%) boys, respectively. The remaining 101 (62%) patients were diagnosed as having non-specific 46,XY Disorders of Sex Development. Eighty (50%) boys had evidence of abnormal biochemistry, and gene variants were identified in 42 (26%). Median age at first hypospadias surgery was 2 years (0, 9), and median length of follow-up was 5 years (0, 17). Postsurgical complications were noted in 102 (64%) boys. There were no significant associations with postsurgical complications. Conclusions: Boys with proximal hypospadias in the I-DSD Registry have high rates of additional comorbidities and a high risk of postoperative complications. No clinical factors were significantly associated with complication rates. High complication rates with no observable cause suggest the involvement of other factors which need investigation

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Precision in Thermal Therapy: Clinical Requirements and Solutions from Nanotechnology

The heating of diseased tissue as a therapeutic measure has gained increased clinical attention, mostly due to its target‐specificity that minimizes side effects. However, to ensure a successful therapy, heating has to be homogeneous and highly localized, as well as, within a certain temperature range. Therefore, precise control over thermal treatments is a clinical prerequisite to minimize treatment and safety margins. Although this requirement is mentioned frequently, past research has focused predominantly on improving thermometry resolution and heating efficiency through tedious material optimization. Here, current clinical applications of thermal therapy with their challenges are first highlighted, especially with respect to treatment control and margins. Thereafter, it is quantitatively shown that clinically available thermometry fulfills the requirements and future research should focus on achieving better temperature control instead. With nanotechnology, novel strategies based on self‐limiting nanoparticle systems and particle‐based thermometers with active feed‐back control have also become available and are discussed. All of these approaches are systematically compared and analyzed with respect to their clinical applicability. The extent to which control over thermal therapy is necessary is also discussed alongside a presentation of the existing methods which fulfill the set requirements for clinical success and what issues remain to be tackled by research in the near future.ISSN:2366-398

Molecular and culture-based diagnosis of Clostridium difficile isolates from Côte d'Ivoire after prolonged storage at disrupted cold chain conditions

Although Clostridium difficile is a major cause of diarrhoea, its epidemiology in tropical settings is poorly understood. Strain characterisation requires work-up in specialised laboratories, often after prolonged storage without properly maintained cold chain.; We screened 298 human faecal samples from Côte d'Ivoire using a rapid test for C. difficile glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). GDH-positive samples were aerobically stored at disrupted cold chain conditions (mean duration: 11 days) before transfer to a reference laboratory for anaerobic culture, susceptibility testing, PCR assays and ribotyping.; Sixteen samples (5.4%) had a positive GDH screening test. C. difficile infection was confirmed in six specimens by culture and PCR, while no nucleic acids of C. difficile were detected in the culture-negative samples. Further analysis of stool samples harbouring toxigenic C. difficile strains confirmed that both GDH and toxins remained detectable for at least 28 days, regardless of storage conditions (aerobic storage at 4°C or 20°C).; Storage conditions only minimally affect recovery of C. difficile and its toxins in stool culture. A rapid GDH screening test and subsequent transfer of GDH-positive stool samples to reference laboratories for in-depth characterisation may improve our understanding of the epidemiology of C. difficile in the tropics

PSMA PET Validates Higher Rates of Metastatic Disease for European Association of Urology Biochemical Recurrence Risk Groups: An International Multicenter Study.

The European Association of Urology (EAU) prostate cancer guidelines panel recommends risk groups for biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer to identify men at high risk of progression or metastatic disease. The rapidly growing availability of PSMA-directed PET imaging will impact prostate cancer staging. We determined the rates of local and metastatic disease in BCR and biochemical persistence (BCP) of prostate cancer stratified by EAU BCR risk groups and BCP. Methods: Patients with BCR or BCP were enrolled under the same prospective clinical trial protocol conducted at 3 sites (n = 1,777 [91%]: UCLA, n = 662 [NCT02940262]; University of California San Francisco, n = 508 [NCT03353740]; University of Michigan, n = 607 [NCT03396874]); 183 patients with BCP from the Universities of Essen, Bologna, and Munich were included retrospectively. Patients with BCR had to have sufficient data to determine the EAU risk score. Multivariate, binomial logistic regression models were applied to assess independent predictors of M1 disease. Results: In total, 1,960 patients were included. Post-radical prostatectomy EAU BCR low-risk, EAU BCR high-risk, and BCP groups yielded distant metastatic (M1) detection in 43 of 176 (24%), 342 of 931 (37%), and 154 of 386 (40%) patients. For postradiotherapy EAU BCR low-risk and EAU BCR high-risk groups, the M1 detection rate was 113 of 309 (37%) and 110 of 158 (70%), respectively. BCP, high-risk BCR, and higher levels of serum prostate-specific antigen were significantly associated with PSMA PET M1 disease in multivariate regression analysis. PSMA PET revealed no disease in 25% and locoregional-only disease in 33% of patients with post-radical prostatectomy or postradiotherapy EAU BCR high risk. Conclusion: Our findings support the new EAU classification; EAU BCR high-risk groups have higher rates of metastatic disease on PSMA PET than do the low-risk groups. Discordant subgroups, including metastatic disease in low-risk patients and no disease in high-risk patients, warrant inclusion of PSMA PET stage to refine risk assessment