Biomechanical properties of the thin PVD coatings defined by red blood cells

The measurement of the strength of bonds between biomaterials and cells is a major challenge in biotribology since it allows for the identification of different species in adhesion phenomena. Biomaterials, such as diamond-like carbon (DLC), titanium, and titanium nitride, seem to be good candidates for future blood-contact applications. These materials were deposited as thin films by the hybrid pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique to examine the influence of such surfaces on cell behavior. The biomaterial examinations were performed in static conditions with red blood cells and then subjected to a dynamical test to observe the cell detachment kinetics. The tests revealed differences in behavior with respect to the applied coating material. The strongest cell-biomaterial interaction was observed for the carbonbased materials compared to the titanium and titanium nitride. Among many tests, a radial flow interaction analysis gives the opportunity to analyze cell adhesion to the applied material with the high accuracy. Analysis of concentrates helped to select materials for further dynamic tests on blood using an aortic flow simulator. In this case, the platelet adhesion to the surface and their degree of activation was analyzed. The quality of the selected coating was tested using a scratch test. The analyses of the microstructure were done using high resolution transmission electron microscopy. The phase composition and the residual stress were analyzed using X-ray diffraction methods

Dispersion and Aging of Volcanic Aerosols After the La Soufrière Eruption in April 2021

Volcanic aerosols change the atmospheric composition and thereby affect weather and climate. Aerosol dynamic processes such as nucleation, condensation, and coagulation modify the shape, size, and mass of aerosol particles, which influence their atmospheric lifetime and radiative properties. Nevertheless, most models omit these processes for ash particles. In this work, we explore the ash aerosol aging and sulfate production during the first 4 days following the 2021 La Soufrière (St. Vincent) eruption with the ICON-ART model (ICOsahedral Nonhydrostatic model with Aerosol and Reactive Trace gases). Online coupling of ICON-ART with a one-dimensional volcanic plume model calculates volcanic emission, which makes it possible to resolve the different eruption phases of the noncontinuous La Soufrière eruption. We compared our simulated aerosol distribution and composition with observations from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument, the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Research Aerosol (RA) Algorithm, and the Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO). We show that online coupling is essential to adequately model the emissions and plume development close to the volcano. The modeled aerosol aging is in very good agreement with observations from MISR near the emission source and with CALIOP at larger distances. Furthermore, particle aging occurs faster in the troposphere than in the stratosphere due to the availability of water vapor and OH, but a layer of coated ash appears at the plume top due to faster oxidation of SO$_2$ and lofting by aerosol-radiation interaction. This paper gives the first direct comparison of aerosol aging in volcanic eruption plumes between simulations and observations

Plant sterols and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis†

The impact of increased serum concentrations of plant sterols on cardiovascular risk is unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate whether there is an association between serum concentrations of two common plant sterols (sitosterol, campesterol) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). We systematically searched the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and COCHRANE for studies published between January 1950 and April 2010 that reported either risk ratios (RR) of CVD in relation to serum sterol concentrations (either absolute or expressed as ratios relative to total cholesterol) or serum sterol concentrations in CVD cases and controls separately. We conducted two meta-analyses, one based on RR of CVD contrasting the upper vs. the lower third of the sterol distribution, and another based on standardized mean differences between CVD cases and controls. Summary estimates were derived by fixed and random effects meta-analysis techniques. We identified 17 studies using different designs (four case–control, five nested case–control, three cohort, five cross-sectional) involving 11 182 participants. Eight studies reported RR of CVD and 15 studies reported serum concentrations in CVD cases and controls. Funnel plots showed evidence for publication bias indicating small unpublished studies with non-significant findings. Neither of our meta-analyses suggested any relationship between serum concentrations of sitosterol and campesterol (both absolute concentrations and ratios to cholesterol) and risk of CVD. Our systematic review and meta-analysis did not reveal any evidence of an association between serum concentrations of plant sterols and risk of CVD

Changes in salivary estradiol predict changes in women’s preferences for vocal masculinity

Although many studies have reported that women’s preferences for masculine physical characteristics in men change systematically during the menstrual cycle, the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these changes are currently poorly understood. Previous studies investigating the relationships between measured hormone levels and women’s masculinity preferences tested only judgments of men’s facial attractiveness. Results of these studies suggested that preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces were related to either women’s estradiol or testosterone levels. To investigate the hormonal correlates of within-woman variation in masculinity preferences further, here we measured 62 women’s salivary estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels and their preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s voices in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that changes in salivary estradiol were the best predictor of changes in women’s preferences for vocal masculinity. These results complement other recent research implicating estradiol in women’s mate preferences, attention to courtship signals, sexual motivation, and sexual strategies, and are the first to link women’s voice preferences directly to measured hormone levels

Effect of formant frequency spacing on perceived gender in pre-pubertal children's voices

<div><p>Background</p><p>It is usually possible to identify the sex of a pre-pubertal child from their voice, despite the absence of sex differences in fundamental frequency at these ages. While it has been suggested that the overall spacing between formants (formant frequency spacing - ΔF) is a key component of the expression and perception of sex in children's voices, the effect of its continuous variation on sex and gender attribution has not yet been investigated.</p><p>Methodology/Principal findings</p><p>In the present study we manipulated voice ΔF of eight year olds (two boys and two girls) along continua covering the observed variation of this parameter in pre-pubertal voices, and assessed the effect of this variation on adult ratings of speakers' sex and gender in two separate experiments. In the first experiment (sex identification) adults were asked to categorise the voice as either male or female. The resulting identification function exhibited a gradual slope from male to female voice categories. In the second experiment (gender rating), adults rated the voices on a continuum from “masculine boy” to “feminine girl”, gradually decreasing their masculinity ratings as ΔF increased.</p><p>Conclusions/Significance</p><p>These results indicate that the role of ΔF in voice gender perception, which has been reported in adult voices, extends to pre-pubertal children's voices: variation in ΔF not only affects the perceived sex, but also the perceived masculinity or femininity of the speaker. We discuss the implications of these observations for the expression and perception of gender in children's voices given the absence of anatomical dimorphism in overall vocal tract length before puberty.</p></div

Changes in salivary estradiol predict changes in women’s preferences for vocal masculinity

Although many studies have reported that women’s preferences for masculine physical characteristics in men change systematically during the menstrual cycle, the hormonal mechanisms underpinning these changes are currently poorly understood. Previous studies investigating the relationships between measured hormone levels and women’s masculinity preferences tested only judgments of men’s facial attractiveness. Results of these studies suggested that preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s faces were related to either women’s estradiol or testosterone levels. To investigate the hormonal correlates of within-woman variation in masculinity preferences further, here we measured 62 women’s salivary estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone levels and their preferences for masculine characteristics in men’s voices in five weekly test sessions. Multilevel modeling of these data showed that changes in salivary estradiol were the best predictor of changes in women’s preferences for vocal masculinity. These results complement other recent research implicating estradiol in women’s mate preferences, attention to courtship signals, sexual motivation, and sexual strategies, and are the first to link women’s voice preferences directly to measured hormone levels

How do you say ‘hello’? Personality impressions from brief novel voices

On hearing a novel voice, listeners readily form personality impressions of that speaker. Accurate or not, these impressions are known to affect subsequent interactions; yet the underlying psychological and acoustical bases remain poorly understood. Furthermore, hitherto studies have focussed on extended speech as opposed to analysing the instantaneous impressions we obtain from first experience. In this paper, through a mass online rating experiment, 320 participants rated 64 sub-second vocal utterances of the word ‘hello’ on one of 10 personality traits. We show that: (1) personality judgements of brief utterances from unfamiliar speakers are consistent across listeners; (2) a two-dimensional ‘social voice space’ with axes mapping Valence (Trust, Likeability) and Dominance, each driven by differing combinations of vocal acoustics, adequately summarises ratings in both male and female voices; and (3) a positive combination of Valence and Dominance results in increased perceived male vocal Attractiveness, whereas perceived female vocal Attractiveness is largely controlled by increasing Valence. Results are discussed in relation to the rapid evaluation of personality and, in turn, the intent of others, as being driven by survival mechanisms via approach or avoidance behaviours. These findings provide empirical bases for predicting personality impressions from acoustical analyses of short utterances and for generating desired personality impressions in artificial voices

Age- and sex-based heterogeneity in coronary artery plaque presence and burden in familial hypercholesterolemia:A multi-national study

Objectives: Individuals with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) are at an increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD). While prior research has shown variability in coronary artery calcification (CAC) among those with FH, studies with small sample sizes and single-center recruitment have been limited in their ability to characterize CAC and plaque burden in subgroups based on age and sex. Understanding the spectrum of atherosclerosis may result in personalized risk assessment and tailored allocation of costly add-on, non-statin lipid-lowering therapies. We aimed to characterize the presence and burden of CAC and coronary plaque on computed tomography angiography (CTA) across age- and sex-stratified subgroups of individuals with FH who were without CAD at baseline. Methods: We pooled 1,011 patients from six cohorts across Brazil, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Australia. Our main measures of subclinical atherosclerosis included CAC ranges (i.e., 0, 1–100, 101–400, &gt;400) and CTA-derived plaque burden (i.e., no plaque, non-obstructive CAD, obstructive CAD). Results: Ninety-five percent of individuals with FH (mean age: 48 years; 54% female; treated LDL-C: 154 mg/dL) had a molecular diagnosis and 899 (89%) were on statin therapy. Overall, 423 (42%) had CAC=0, 329 (33%) had CAC 1–100, 160 (16%) had CAC 101–400, and 99 (10%) had CAC &gt;400. Compared to males, female patients were more likely to have CAC=0 (48% [n = 262] vs 35% [n = 161]) and no plaque on CTA (39% [n = 215] vs 26% [n = 120]). Among patients with CAC=0, 85 (20%) had non-obstructive CAD. Females also had a lower prevalence of obstructive CAD in CAC 1–100 (8% [n = 15] vs 18% [n = 26]), CAC 101–400 (32% [n = 22] vs 40% [n = 36]), and CAC &gt;400 (52% [n = 16] vs 65% [n = 44]). Female patients aged 50–59 years were less likely to have obstructive CAD in CAC &gt;400 (55% [n = 6] vs 70% [n = 19]). Conclusion: In this large, multi-national study, we found substantial age- and sex-based heterogeneity in CAC and plaque burden in a cohort of predominantly statin-treated individuals with FH, with evidence for a less pronounced increase in atherosclerosis among female patients. Future studies should examine the predictors of resilience to and long-term implications of the differential burden of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in this higher risk population.</p

White Matter Plasticity in Reading-Related Pathways Differs in Children Born Preterm and at Term: A Longitudinal Analysis

Children born preterm (PT) are at risk for white matter injuries based on complications of prematurity. They learn to read but on average perform below peers born full term (FT). Studies have yet to establish whether properties of white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read are associated with individual variation later in reading development in PT children. Here, we asked whether fractional anisotropy (FA) at age 6 years is associated with reading outcome at age 8 years in PT children in the same pathways as previously demonstrated in a sample of FT children. PT (n = 34, mean gestational age = 29.5 weeks) and FT children (n = 37) completed diffusion MRI and standardized measures of non-verbal IQ, language, and phonological awareness at age 6 years. Reading skills were assessed at age 8 years. Mean tract-FA was extracted from pathways that predicted reading outcome in children born FT: left arcuate fasciculus (Arc), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). We explored associations in additional pathways in the PT children: bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus. Linear regression models examined whether the prediction of reading outcome at age 8 years based on mean tract-FA at age 6 years was moderated by birth group. Children born PT and FT did not differ significantly in tract-FA at age 6 years or in reading at age 8 years. Sex, socioeconomic status, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 years were associated with reading outcome and were included as covariates in all models. Birth group status significantly moderated associations between reading outcome and mean tract-FA only in the left Arc, right SLF, and left ICP, before and after consideration of pre-literacy skills. Microstructural properties of these cerebral and cerebellar pathways predicted later reading outcome in FT but not in PT children. Children born PT may rely on alternative pathways to achieve fluent reading. These findings have implications for plasticity of neural organization after early white matter injury