The Antarctic ozone hole during 2015 and 2016

We reviewed the 2015 and 2016 Antarctic ozone holes, making use of a variety of ground-based and spacebased measurements of ozone and ultraviolet radiation, supplemented by meteorological reanalyses. The ozone hole of 2015 was one of the most severe on record with respect to maximum area and integrated deficit and was notably longlasting, with many values above previous extremes in October, November and December. In contrast, all assessed metrics for the 2016 ozone hole were at or below their median values for the 37 ozone holes since 1979 for which adequate satellite observations exist. The 2015 ozone hole was influenced both by very cold conditions and enhanced ozone depletion caused by stratospheric aerosol resulting from the April 2015 volcanic eruption of Calbuco (Chile)

The Antarctic ozone hole during 2014

We review the 2014 Antarctic ozone hole, making use of a variety of ground-based and space-based measurements of ozone and ultra-violet radiation, supplemented by meteorological reanalyses. Although the polar vortex was relatively stable in 2014 and persisted some weeks longer into November than was the case in 2012 or 2013, the vortex temperature was close to the long-term mean in September and October with modest warming events occurring in both months, preventing severe depletion from taking place. Of the seven metrics reported here, all were close to their respective median values of the 1979–2014 record, being ranked between 16th and 21st of the 35 years for which adequate satellite observations exist

Airway management during in-hospital cardiac arrest in adults: UK national survey and interview study with anaesthetic and intensive care trainees

Background: The optimal airway management strategy for in-hospital cardiac arrest is unknown. Methods: An online survey and telephone interviews with anaesthetic and intensive care trainee doctors identified by the United Kingdom Research and Audit Federation of Trainees. Questions explored in-hospital cardiac arrest frequency, grade and specialty of those attending, proportion of patients receiving advanced airway management, airway strategies immediately available, and views on a randomised trial of airway management strategies during in-hospital cardiac arrest. Results: Completed surveys were received from 128 hospital sites (76% response rate). Adult in-hospital cardiac arrests were attended by anaesthesia staff at 40 sites (31%), intensive care staff at 37 sites (29%) and a combination of specialties at 51 sites (40%). The majority (123/128, 96%) of respondents reported immediate access to both tracheal intubation and supraglottic airways. A bag-mask technique was used ‘very frequently’ or ‘frequently’ during in-hospital cardiac arrest by 111/128 (87%) of respondents, followed by supraglottic airways (101/128, 79%) and tracheal intubation (69/128, 54%). The majority (60/100, 60%) of respondents estimated that ≤30% of in-hospital cardiac arrest patients undergo tracheal intubation, while 34 (34%) estimated this to be between 31% and 70%. Most respondents (102/128, 80%) would be ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recruit future patients to a trial of alternative airway management strategies during in-hospital cardiac arrest. Interview data identified several barriers and facilitators to conducting research on airway management in in-hospital cardiac arrest. Conclusions: There is variation in airway management strategies for adult in-hospital cardiac arrest across the UK. Most respondents would be willing to take part in a randomised trial of airway management during in-hospital cardiac arrest

Triatoma dimidiata Infestation in Chagas Disease Endemic Regions of Guatemala: Comparison of Random and Targeted Cross-Sectional Surveys

Chagas disease is a vector-borne parasitic zoonosis endemic throughout South and Central America and Mexico. Guatemala is engaged in the Central America Initiative to interrupt Chagas disease transmission. A major strategy is the reduction of Triatoma dimidiata domiciliary infestations through indoor application of residual insecticides. Successful control of T. dimidiata will depend on accurate identification of areas at greatest risk for infestation. Initial efforts focused primarily on targeted surveys of presumed risk factors and suspected infestation to define intervention areas. This policy has not been evaluated and might not maximize the effectiveness of limited resources if high prevalence villages are missed or low prevalence villages are visited unnecessarily. We compare findings from the targeted surveys to concurrent random surveys in two primary foci of Chagas disease transmission in Guatemala to evaluate the performance of the targeted surveys. Our results indicate that random surveys performed better than targeted surveys and should be considered over targeted surveys when reliability of risk factors has not been evaluated, identify useful environmental factors to predict infestation, and indicate that infestation risk varies locally. These findings are useful for decision-makers at national Chagas Disease control programs in Central America, institutions supporting development efforts, and funding agencies

Exploring psychological need satisfaction from gambling participation and the moderating influence of game preferences

Psychological needs are satisfied through leisure participation, which in turn influences subjective well-being. The present study explored the psychological needs reported to be satisfied through gambling participation and examined associations between need satisfaction, game preferences and subjective well-being. A heterogeneous, self-selected sample of 1446 participants was recruited, through the Internet gambling provider Kindred Group Plc, for an online questionnaire survey. Five psychological need dimensions of gambling were identified, using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on calibration and validation samples, respectively: mastery, detachment, self-affirmation, risk and excitement, and affiliation. Challenge and mastery need satisfaction was higher for poker than for sports betting, horse racing, slots or casino table games; both self-affirmation and affiliation were also higher for poker than for sports betting and slots. By comparison, detachment was higher for slots than for sports gambling. While there were no significant variations in stress levels between the different forms of gambling, happiness ratings were lower for slots compared with sports betting and poker. This study provides insight into how distinctive patterns of play may satisfy different psychological needs and provides preliminary insights into how gambling patterns may prove adaptive or maladaptive as leisure choices

BioTorrents: A File Sharing Service for Scientific Data

The transfer of scientific data has emerged as a significant challenge, as datasets continue to grow in size and demand for open access sharing increases. Current methods for file transfer do not scale well for large files and can cause long transfer times. In this study we present BioTorrents, a website that allows open access sharing of scientific data and uses the popular BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing technology. BioTorrents allows files to be transferred rapidly due to the sharing of bandwidth across multiple institutions and provides more reliable file transfers due to the built-in error checking of the file sharing technology. BioTorrents contains multiple features, including keyword searching, category browsing, RSS feeds, torrent comments, and a discussion forum. BioTorrents is available at http://www.biotorrents.net

A novel method for identifying coded tags recorded on aquatic acoustic monitoring systems.

Aquatic biotelemetry increasingly relies on using acoustic transmitters ('tags') that enable passive detection of tagged animals using fixed or mobile receivers. Both tracking methods are resource-limited, restricting the spatial area in which movements of highly mobile animals can be measured using proprietary detection systems. Transmissions from tags are recorded by underwater noise monitoring systems designed for other purposes, such as cetacean monitoring devices, which have been widely deployed in the marine environment; however, no tools currently exist to decode these detections, and thus valuable additional information on animal movements may be missed. Here, we describe simple hybrid methods, with potentially wide application, for obtaining information from otherwise unused data sources. The methods were developed using data from moored, acoustic cetacean detectors (C-PODs) and towed passive receiver arrays, often deployed to monitor the vocalisations of cetaceans, but any similarly formatted data source could be used. The method was applied to decode tag detections that were found to have come from two highly mobile fish species, bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Twaite shad (Alosa fallax), that had been tagged in other studies. Decoding results were validated using test tags; range testing data were used to demonstrate the relative efficiency of these receiver methods in detecting tags. This approach broadens the range of equipment from which acoustic tag detections can be decoded. Novel detections derived from the method could add significant value to past and present tracking studies at little additional cost, by providing new insights into the movement of mobile animals at sea

Bicyclic Boronate VNRX-5133 Inhibits Metallo- and Serine-β-Lactamases

The bicyclic boronate VNRX-5133 (taniborbactam) is a new type of β-lactamase inhibitor in clinical development. We report that VNRX-5133 inhibits serine-β-lactamases (SBLs) and some clinically important metallo-β-lactamases (MBLs), including NDM-1 and VIM-1/2. VNRX-5133 activity against IMP-1 and tested B2/B3 MBLs was lower/not observed. Crystallography reveals how VNRX-5133 binds to the class D SBL OXA-10 and MBL NDM-1. The crystallographic results highlight the ability of bicyclic boronates to inhibit SBLs and MBLs via binding of a tetrahedral (sp3) boron species. The structures imply conserved binding of the bicyclic core with SBLs/MBLs. With NDM-1, by crystallography, we observed an unanticipated VNRX-5133 binding mode involving cyclization of its acylamino oxygen onto the boron of the bicyclic core. Different side-chain binding modes for bicyclic boronates for SBLs and MBLs imply scope for side-chain optimization. The results further support the "high-energy-intermediate" analogue approach for broad-spectrum β-lactamase inhibitor development and highlight the ability of boron inhibitors to interchange between different hybridization states/binding modes

Topic Modeling and Text Analysis for Qualitative Policy Research

This paper contributes to a critical methodological discussion that has direct ramifications for policy studies: how computational methods can be concretely incorporated into existing processes of textual analysis and interpretation without compromising scientific integrity. We focus on the computational method of topic modeling and investigate how it interacts with two larger families of qualitative methods: content and classification methods characterized by interest in words as communication units and discourse and representation methods characterized by interest in the meaning of communicative acts. Based on analysis of recent academic publications that have used topic modeling for textual analysis, our findings show that different mixed‐method research designs are appropriate when combining topic modeling with the two groups of methods. Our main concluding argument is that topic modeling enables scholars to apply policy theories and concepts to much larger sets of data. That said, the use of computational methods requires genuine understanding of these techniques to obtain substantially meaningful results. We encourage policy scholars to reflect carefully on methodological issues, and offer a simple heuristic to help identify and address critical points when designing a study using topic modeling.Peer reviewe

Risk of type 2 diabetes, MASLD and cardiovascular disease in people living with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Abstract Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with adverse clinical outcomes which may differ according to PCOS phenotype. Methods Using UK Biobank data, we compared the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), cardiovascular disease (CVD), hormone-dependent cancers, and dementia between PCOS participants, and age- and BMI-matched controls. We also compared multi-organ (liver, cardiac and brain) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and examined the impact of PCOS phenotype (hyperandrogenic and normoandrogenic) on these outcomes. Results We included 1008 women with PCOS (defined by diagnostic codes, self-reported diagnoses, or clinical/biochemical features of hyperandrogenism and a/oligomenorrhoea), and 5017 matched controls (5:1 ratio); median age, 61 years, body mass index, 28.4 kg/m². Adjusted Cox proportional hazard modelling demonstrated PCOS participants had greater incident T2D (HR 1.47; 95% CI, 1.11-1.95) and all-cause CVD (1.76; 1.35-2.30). No between-group differences existed for cancers or dementia. Liver MRI confirmed more PCOS participants had hepatic steatosis (proton density fat fraction &amp;gt;5.5%: 35.9 vs. 23.9% (p=0.02)), and higher fibroinflammation (corrected T1 (cT1) (721.4 vs. 701.5ms (p=&amp;lt;0.01)), vs. controls. No between-group difference existed for cardiac (bi-ventricular/atrial structure and function) or brain (grey and white matter volumes) imaging. Normoandrogenic (but not hyperandrogenic) PCOS participants had greater incident all-cause CVD (1.82; 1.29-2.56) while hyperandrogenic (but not normoandrogenic) PCOS participants were more likely to have hepatic steatosis (8.96 vs. 6.04 vs. 5.23% (p=0.03)) with greater fibro-inflammation (776.3 vs. 707.7 vs. 701.9 ms (p=&amp;lt;0.01)). Conclusions Cardiometabolic disease may be increased in PCOS patients with a disease phenotype-specific pattern. </jats:sec