Anti-Localization in Oxides: Effective Spin-3/2 Model

Weak anti-localization offers an experimental tool to address spin--orbit coupling of two-dimensional oxide surfaces and interfaces via magneto-transport. To overcome the shortcomings of the formulation for single-band spin-1/2 electrons, we consider an effective three-band model that allows a decomposition into a pseudo-spin representation 1/2+3/2. Whereas the well-established spin-1/2 transport signature results from the singlet and triplet sectors in the Cooperon equation, a new structure originates from the quintet and septet sectors generated by the spin 3/2x3/2 representation

Challenges in evaluating surgical innovation

Research on surgical interventions is associated with several methodological and practical challenges of which few, if any, apply only to surgery. However, surgical evaluation is especially demanding because many of these challenges coincide. In this report, the second of three on surgical innovation and evaluation, we discuss obstacles related to the study design of randomised controlled trials and non-randomised studies assessing surgical interventions. We also describe the issues related to the nature of surgical procedures—for example, their complexity, surgeon-related factors, and the range of outcomes. Although difficult, surgical evaluation is achievable and necessary. Solutions tailored to surgical research and a framework for generating evidence on which to base surgical practice are essential.The Balliol Colloquium has been supported by Ethicon UK with unrestricted educational grants and by the National Institute of Health Research Health Technology Assessment Programme. The Balliol Colloquium was administratively and financially supported by the Nuffield Department of Surgery at the University of Oxford and the Department of Surgery at McGill University. JAC holds a Medical Research Council UK special training fellowship. The University of Aberdeen’s Health Services Research Unit is core funded by the Chief Scientist Offi ce of the Scottish Government Health Directorates. IB is supported by a grant from the Société Française de Rhumatologie and Lavoisier Program (Ministère des Aff aires Etrangères et Européennes). PLE is a DPhil Candidate in Evidence-Based Health Care at Oxford University

A collection of deep learning-based feature-free approaches for characterizing single-objective continuous fitness landscapes

Exploratory Landscape Analysis is a powerful technique for numerically characterizing landscapes of single-objective continuous optimization problems. Landscape insights are crucial both for problem understanding as well as for assessing benchmark set diversity and composition. Despite the irrefutable usefulness of these features, they suffer from their own ailments and downsides. Hence, in this work we provide a collection of different approaches to characterize optimization landscapes. Similar to conventional landscape features, we require a small initial sample. However, instead of computing features based on that sample, we develop alternative representations of the original sample. These range from point clouds to 2D images and, therefore, are entirely feature-free. We demonstrate and validate our devised methods on the BBOB testbed and predict, with the help of Deep Learning, the high-level, expert-based landscape properties such as the degree of multimodality and the existence of funnel structures. The quality of our approaches is on par with methods relying on the traditional landscape features. Thereby, we provide an exciting new perspective on every research area which utilizes problem information such as problem understanding and algorithm design as well as automated algorithm configuration and selection.</p

Magnetotransport of Functional Oxide Heterostructures Affected by Spin-Orbit Coupling: A Tale of Two-Dimensional Systems

Oxide heterostructures allow for detailed studies of 2D electronic transport phenomena. Herein, different facets of magnetotransport in selected spin-orbit-coupled systems are analyzed and characterized by their single-band and multiband behavior, respectively. Experimentally, temperature- and magnetic field-dependent measurements in the single-band system BaPbO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ reveal strong interplay of weak antilocalization (WAL) and electron-electron interaction (EEI). Within a scheme which treats both, WAL and EEI, on an equal footing a strong contribution of EEI at low temperatures is found which suggests the emergence of a strongly correlated ground state. Furthermore, now considering multiband effects as they appear, e.g., in the model system LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$, theoretical investigations predict a huge impact of filling on the topological Hall effect in systems with intermingled bands. Already weak band coupling produces striking deviations from the well-known Hall conductivity that are explainable in a fully quantum mechanical treatment which builds upon the hybridization of intersecting Hofstadter bands.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures; R.B. and E.L. contributed equally to this wor

Frequency and Clinical Presentation of Mucocutaneous Disease Due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae Infection in Children With Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Importance The diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection as the cause of mucocutaneous disease is challenging because current diagnostic tests are not able to differentiate M pneumoniae infection from carriage. Objective To examine the frequency and clinical presentation of M pneumoniae-induced mucocutaneous disease in children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) using improved diagnostics. Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective, longitudinal cohort study included 152 children aged 3 to 18 years with CAP enrolled in a CAP study from May 1, 2016, to April 30, 2017, at the University Children's Hospital Zurich. Children were inpatients or outpatients with clinically defined CAP according to the British Thoracic Society guidelines. Data analysis was performed from July 10, 2017, to June 29, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures Frequency and clinical presentation of M pneumoniae-induced mucocutaneous disease in childhood CAP. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection was diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of oropharyngeal samples and confirmed with the measurement of specific peripheral blood IgM antibody-secreting cells by enzyme-linked immunospot assay to differentiate M pneumoniae-infected patients from carriers with CAP caused by other pathogens. Mucocutaneous disease was defined as any eruptive lesion that involved skin and/or mucous membranes occurring during the CAP episode. Results Among 152 enrolled children with CAP (median [interquartile range] age, 5.7 [4.3-8.9] years; 84 [55.3%] male), 44 (28.9%) tested positive for M pneumoniae by PCR; of these, 10 children (22.7%) developed mucocutaneous lesions. All 10 patients with mucocutaneous eruptions tested positive for specific IgM antibody-secreting cells. Skin manifestations were found in 3 cases (2.8%) of M pneumoniae PCR-negative CAP (P < .001). The spectrum of M pneumoniae-induced mucocutaneous disease included M pneumoniae-induced rash and mucositis (3 cases [6.8%]), urticaria (2 cases [4.5%]), and maculopapular skin eruptions (5 cases [11.4%]). Two patients had ocular involvement as the sole mucosal manifestation (bilateral anterior uveitis and nonpurulent conjunctivitis). Patients with M pneumoniae-induced mucocutaneous disease had longer duration of prodromal fever (median [interquartile range], 10.5 [8.3-11.8] vs 7.0 [5.5-9.5] days; P = .02) and higher C-reactive protein levels (median [interquartile range], 31 [22-59] vs 16 [7-23] mg/L; P = .04) than patients with CAP due to M pneumoniae without mucocutaneous manifestations. They were also more likely to require oxygen (5 [50%] vs 1 [5%]; P = .007), to require hospitalization (7 [70%] vs 4 [19%]; P = .01), and to develop long-term sequelae (3 [30%] vs 0; P = .03). Conclusions and Relevance Mucocutaneous disease occurred significantly more frequently in children with CAP due to M pneumoniae than in children with CAP of other origins. Mycoplasma pneumoniae-induced mucocutaneous disease was associated with increased systemic inflammation, morbidity, and a higher risk of long-term sequelae

Interaction between an aerodynamically driven, wall-bound drop and a single groove

The interaction between an air-driven, wall-bound drop and a groove in the wall of a channel flow has been investigated experimentally using a high-speed video system. Three major outcomes of drop interaction with the groove are observed: (i) the drop passes over the groove, (ii) the drop is immediately fully captured in the groove or (iii) the drop is captured after first wetting the rear side of the groove. The mechanisms leading to these different outcomes are governed by the aerodynamic drag force, by inertial and gravity forces, and by the adhesion force associated with the substrate wettability. A threshold condition for drop capture is developed, based on the ratio of the typical time for drop passage over the groove to the time for the drop to be sucked into the groove. It has been shown that the probability for drop capture increases for higher Bond numbers

Isolation of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Virus from Saker Falcons ( Falco cherrug

There is accumulating evidence that birds of prey are susceptible to fatal infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus. We studied the antigenic, molecular, phylogenetic, and pathogenic properties of 2 HPAI H5N1 viruses isolated from dead falcons in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Phylogenetic and antigenic analyses grouped both isolates in clade 2.2 (Qinghai-like viruses). However, the viruses appeared to have spread westward via different flyways. It remains unknown how these viruses spread so rapidly from Qinghai after the 2005 outbreak and how they were introduced into falcons in these two countries. The H5N1 outbreaks in the Middle East are believed by some to be mediated by wild migratory birds. However, sporting falcons may be at additional risk from the illegal import of live quail to feed them

Aesthetic Dentistry in the 18th Century: When Beauty Counted More than Health

Teeth have always been considered a factor of beauty and are, to this day, perceived as an indicator of age, health and even social status. During the 18th century oral beauty was particularly threatened by the spread of caries due to increasing consumption of sugar, heavy metal poisoning induced by the use of cosmetics, or by syphilis therapy with mercury, still common at the time. Consequently, over the course of the century, the demand for aesthetic improvement grew among the social elite before spreading to all strata of the population. Emerging modern dentistry tried to meet these requirements by inventing various new treatment methods. However, with missing means for long-term aesthetic and functional rehabilitation, efforts primarily focused on improving cosmetic aspects

The quantification of absolute myocardial perfusion in humans by contrast echocardiography Algorithm and validation

ObjectivesWe sought to test whether myocardial blood flow (MBF) can be quantified by myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) using a volumetric model of ultrasound contrast agent (UCA) kinetics for the description of refill curves after ultrasound-induced microsphere destruction.BackgroundAbsolute myocardial perfusion or MBF (ml·min−1·g−1) is the gold standard to assess myocardial blood supply, and so far it could not be obtained by ultrasound.MethodsThe volumetric model yielded MBF= rBV·β/ρT, where ρTequals tissue density. The relative myocardial blood volume rBV and its exchange frequency βwere derived from UCA refill sequences. Healthy volunteers underwent MCE and positron emission tomography (PET) at rest (group I: n = 15; group II: n = 5) and during adenosine-induced hyperemia (group II). Fifteen patients with coronary artery disease underwent simultaneous MCE and intracoronary Doppler measurements before and during intracoronary adenosine injection.ResultsIn vitro experiments confirmed the volumetric model and the reliable determination of rBV and βfor physiologic flow velocities. In group I, 187 of 240 segments were analyzable by MCE, and a linear relation was found between MCE and PET perfusion data (y = 0.899x + 0.079; r2= 0.88). In group II, resting and hyperemic perfusion data showed good agreement between MCE and PET (y = 1.011x + 0.124; r2= 0.92). In patients, coronary stenosis varied between 0% to 89%, and myocardial perfusion reserve was in good agreement with coronary flow velocity reserve (y = 0.92x + 0.14; r2= 0.73).ConclusionsThe volumetric model of UCA kinetics allows the quantification of MBF in humans using MCE and provides the basis for the noninvasive and quantitative assessment of coronary artery disease

A new lateral flow assay to detect sIL-2R during T-cell mediated rejection after kidney transplantation

Kidney is the most frequently transplanted among all solid organs worldwide. Kidney transplant recipients (KTRs) undergo regular follow-up examinations for the early detection of acute rejections. The gold standard for proving a T-cell mediated rejection (TCMR) is a biopsy of the renal graft often occurring as indication biopsy, in parallel to an increased serum creatinine that may indicate deterioration of renal transplant function. The goal of the current work was to establish a lateral flow assay (LFA) for diagnosing acute TCMR to avoid harmful, invasive biopsies. Soluble interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor (sIl-2R) is a potential biomarker representing the α-subunit of the IL-2 receptor produced by activated T-cells, e.g., after allogen contact. To explore the diagnostic potential of sIL-2R as a biomarker for TCMR and borderline TCMR, plasma and urine samples were collected from three independent KTR cohorts with various distinct histopathological diagnostic findings according to BANFF (containing 112 rsp. 71 rsp. 61 KTRs). Samples were analyzed by a Luminex-based multiplex technique and cut off-ranges were determined. An LFA was established with two specific sIL-2R-antibodies immobilized on a nitrocellulose membrane. A significant association between TCMR, borderline TCMR and sIL-2R in plasma and between TCMR and sIL-2R in urine of KTRs was confirmed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The LFA was tested with sIL-2R-spiked buffer samples establishing a detection limit of 25 pM. The performance of the new LFA was confirmed by analyzing urine samples of the 2nd and 3rd patient cohort with 35 KTRs with biopsy proven TCMRs, 3 KTRs diagnosed with borderline TCMR, 1 mixed AMR/TCMR rsp. AMR/borderline TCMR and 13 control patients with a rejection-free kidney graft proven by protocol biopsies. The new point-of-care assay showed a specificity of 84.6% and sensitivity of 87.5%, and a superior estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at the time point of biopsy (specificity 30.8%, sensitivity 85%)