Asymmetric Changes Research Articles

Ballasting of Particulate Organic Matter at the Ninetyeast Ridge During the Mid‐Brunhes Dissolution Interval and Long‐Term Implications for Zonal Change in Tropical Indian Oceanography

AbstractWe investigated benthic foraminifera in cores GPC03 and GPC04 in the northeast tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) over the past ∼450 ka to evaluate the ballasting effect of particulate organic matter (POM) and the long‐term zonal change during the mid‐Brunhes dissolution interval (MBDI). Today, interannual climate and oceanographic variability in the TIO is governed by the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which manifests as asymmetric zonal oceanographic change. Previous studies have been conducted to uncover such zonal paleoceanographic change and have referred to their climatic pattern as an “IOD‐like mode.” In the northeast TIO, after ∼390 ka, contributions of lithogenic matter and %Nuttallides umbonifer were unusually high under the better carbonate preservation conditions during glacial periods. Our findings suggest that the effect of lithogenic matter from the Ganga‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna River system increased significantly under glacial low sea‐level conditions, possibly by lateral transport along the continental slope. As a result, ballasting of POM seemed more efficient during glacial periods by abundant riverine lithogenic particles. In addition, the long‐term (∼320–200 ka) trend of high benthic foraminiferal accumulation rate (BFAR) and several short‐term fluctuations of high BFAR at ∼310, ∼280, ∼260, and ∼240 ka were discernible. We attribute these changes to increased paleoproductivity driven by upwelling, which may be related to the Indian Ocean equatorial westerlies and Indian summer monsoon dynamics via variations arising from precession. We propose that a long‐term mean‐state transition of IOD‐like mode might have occurred during the MBDI, similar to other hypotheses invoking concomitant changes in the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation system.

Enhancing heating efficiency of magnetic hyperthermia using pulsed magnetic fields

We investigated the magnetization response and heat generation of magnetic particles exposed to high-speed pulsed magnetic fields (PMF) during magnetic hyperthermia cancer treatment. The magnetization measurements exhibited an asymmetric change in the shape of the hysteresis loop, attributable to the rapid and substantial changes in the short-duration PMF (75 mT/μs). We propose a novel parameter to evaluate heat efficiency. The parameter considered disparities in waveforms and served as a valuable metric for evaluating the effectiveness of heat production. Our findings affirmed a substantial enhancement in heat efficiency with the application of PMF. Furthermore, the heat generation stemming from the magnetic energy dissipation within the PMF exhibited direct proportionality to the square of the field amplitude. The heat efficiency is fourfold higher than that generated by conventional waveform.

Fatiguing unilateral handgrip influences force during force-matching task with lower limb

This study aimed to test the hypotheses that fatiguing unilateral handgrip contraction exhibits different changes in corticomotor excitability, which is evaluated by motor-evoked potentials (MEPs), in the lower limbs ipsilateral and contralateral to the fatigued hand, and that the changes in corticomotor excitability estimated by MEPs in the non-fatigued lower limbs affect the force exerted based on the sense of effort. Ten healthy males completed fatiguing unilateral handgrip contraction and force-matching tasks by static dorsiflexion before, immediately after, and 10 min after handgrip contraction. MEPs in the tibialis anterior (TA) were also measured before, immediately after, and 10 min after handgrip contraction. Fatiguing handgrip contractions resulted in asymmetrical MEPs in the TA muscles. Specifically, MEPs in the contralateral TA muscle were significantly increased (158 ± 60 %) and MEPs in the contralateral TA muscle were greater after the handgrip contraction than the ipsilateral MEPs (111 ± 30 %). Moreover, the torque exerted during the force-matching task significantly increased only in the contralateral ankle after the fatiguing handgrip contraction. Fatiguing unilateral handgrip contraction results in asymmetric changes in corticomotor excitability in the TA muscle, and the force exerted during the force-matching task based on the sense of effort becomes higher in the TA muscle with greater corticomotor excitability than that before fatiguing unilateral handgrip contraction.

Havana, Moscow and international crises: implications for asymmetry

AbstractAsymmetric relationships are key to international relations with Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine placing asymmetry at the forefront of global politics. This article’s originality arises from its examination of the effects of an international crisis involving the larger partner of an asymmetric relationship and a third-party country for the asymmetric relationship in question. Specifically, Havana–Moscow relations. Havana’s response to the August 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan and the 2022 Ukrainian invasion are examined using a rigorous historical qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources and a qualitative and quantitative analysis of bilateral trade. It is posited that during an international crisis: (1) the dynamics of the asymmetric relationship change triggering a new type of asymmetry: temporal crisis asymmetry; and (2) the bilateral relationship becomes more symmetric. Significant for other asymmetric relationships impacted by an international crisis involving the larger partner and a third-party country.

Interdecadal change of Tibetan Plateau vortices during the past 4 decades and its possible mechanism

The Tibetan Plateau vortices (TPVs) are mesoscale weather systems active at the near-surface of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which are one of the major precipitation-producing systems over the TP and its surrounding areas. TPVs mainly occur in the warm season from May to September. In this paper, we investigated the interdecadal change of TPVs in the warm seasons of 1979–2020 with the six widely used reanalysis datasets. A significant change of the TPVs frequency appears around the mid-1990s, associated with less TPVs during 1979–1995 and more TPVs during 1996–2020, which is constant among the multiple reanalysis datasets. The abrupt change of TPVs is caused by a transition of the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation (AMO) from a cold phase to a warm phase in the mid-1990s. The shift of AMO leads to a silk-road pattern-like wave train and a spatially asymmetric change of tropospheric temperature. It modifies the intensity of the subtropical westerly jet and the TP heating, leading to the interdecadal change of TPV activities.

Interhemispheric asymmetrical change in gray matter volume in patients with unilateral hippocampal sclerosis.

To clarify the interhemispheric asymmetrical change in gray matter volume (GMV) in unilateral hippocampal sclerosis (HS), we compared changes in GMV relative to normal subjects between the HS and contralateral or non-HS sides. Forty-five patients with unilateral HS and 30 healthy subjects were enrolled. We quantified changes in GMV in the patients with HS as compared to GMV in the normal subjects by introducing the Z-score (Z-GMV) in each region or region of interest in unilateral HS. Then, we assessed the asymmetrically decreased regions, that is, regions with significantly higher Z-GMV on the HS side than the contralateral or non-HS side. Z-GMV was calculated according to the two templates of 58 regions per hemisphere covering the whole brain by anatomical automatic labeling (AAL) and 78 regions per cerebral hemisphere using the Anatomy Toolbox. Seven and four regions in AAL and 17 and 11 regions in Anatomy Toolbox were asymmetrically decreased in the Left Hand Side (LHS) and Right Hand Side (RHS), respectively. Hippocampus and Caudate in AAL, five subregions of the hippocampus (CA1-3, Dentate Gyrus and hippocampus-amygdala-transition-area and 4 extrahippocampal regions including two subregions in amygdala (CM: Centromedial, SF: Superficial), basal forebrain (BF) (Ch4), and thalamus (temporal) in anatomy toolbox were common among LHS and RHS concerning asymmetrically decreased regions. By introducing Z-GMV, we demonstrated the regions with asymmetrically decreased GMV in LHS and RHS, and found that the hippocampus and extrahippocampal regions, including the BF, were the common asymmetrically decreased regions among LHS and RHS.

Morphological and metabolic asymmetries of the thalamic subregions in temporal lobe epilepsy predict cognitive functions

Both morphological and metabolic imaging were used to determine how asymmetrical changes of thalamic subregions are involved in cognition in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). We retrospectively recruited 24 left-TLE and 15 right-TLE patients. Six thalamic subnuclei were segmented by magnetic resonance imaging, and then co-registered onto Positron emission tomography images. We calculated the asymmetrical indexes of the volumes and normalized standard uptake value ratio (SUVR) of the entire and individual thalamic subnuclei. The SUVR of ipsilateral subnuclei were extensively and prominently decreased compared with the volume loss. The posterior and medial subnuclei had persistently lower SUVR in both TLE cases. Processing speed is the cognitive function most related to the metabolic asymmetry. It negatively correlated with the metabolic asymmetrical indexes of subregions in left-TLE, while positively correlated with the subnuclei volume asymmetrical indexes in right-TLE. Epilepsy duration negatively correlated with the volume asymmetry of most thalamic subregions in left-TLE and the SUVR asymmetry of ventral and intralaminar subnuclei in right-TLE. Preserved metabolic activity of contralateral thalamic subregions is the key to maintain the processing speed in both TLEs. R-TLE had relatively preserved volume of the ipsilateral thalamic volume, while L-TLE had relatively decline of volume and metabolism in posterior subnucleus.

Genetic basis of anatomical asymmetry and aberrant dynamic functional networks in Alzheimer's disease.

Genetic associations with macroscopic brain networks can provide insights into healthy and aberrant cortical connectivity in disease. However, associations specific to dynamic functional connectivity in Alzheimer's disease are still largely unexplored. Understanding the association between gene expression in the brain and functional networks may provide useful information about the molecular processes underlying variations in impaired brain function. Given the potential of dynamic functional connectivity to uncover brain states associated with Alzheimer's disease, it is interesting to ask: How does gene expression associated with Alzheimer's disease map onto the dynamic functional brain connectivity? If genetic variants associated with neurodegenerative processes involved in Alzheimer's disease are to be correlated with brain function, it is essential to generate such a map. Here, we investigate how the relation between gene expression in the brain and dynamic functional connectivity arises from nodal interactions, quantified by their role in network centrality (i.e. the drivers of the metastability), and the principal component of genetic co-expression across the brain. Our analyses include genetic variations associated with Alzheimer's disease and also genetic variants expressed within the cholinergic brain pathways. Our findings show that contrasts in metastability of functional networks between Alzheimer's and healthy individuals can in part be explained by the two combinations of genetic co-variations in the brain with the confidence interval between 72% and 92%. The highly central nodes, driving the brain aberrant metastable dynamics in Alzheimer's disease, highly correlate with the magnitude of variations from two combinations of genes expressed in the brain. These nodes include mainly the white matter, parietal and occipital brain regions, each of which (or their combinations) are involved in impaired cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease. In addition, our results provide evidence of the role of genetic associations across brain regions in asymmetric changes in ageing. We validated our findings on the same cohort using alternative brain parcellation methods. This work demonstrates how genetic variations underpin aberrant dynamic functional connectivity in Alzheimer's disease.

The purity premium effect: The asymmetrical value change around pure products

AbstractThis research documents a purity premium effect, showing that consumers perceive a greater value difference between a pure product containing 100% of a single material (e.g., 100% wool) and a non‐pure product containing lower quality material (e.g., 80% wool + 20% cotton), compared to two non‐pure products with the same composition difference (e.g., 80% wool + 20% cotton vs. 60% wool + 40% cotton), suggesting a nonlinear value change. However, the value change is linear in the higher‐quality direction, suggesting an asymmetrical change in value distance around pure products. This effect happens because consumers use pure products to categorize products into different quality groups such that pure products belong to a different quality category from the lower quality non‐pure products, but to the same quality category as the higher quality non‐pure products. Based on this theorizing, the perceived quality difference between the pure and non‐pure products, which integrates both the objective material quality difference and the categorical difference, serves as the mechanism to drive the asymmetrical change of value around pure products. Five studies support this asymmetrical purity premium effect and the proposed process. The findings offer direct implications for pricing decisions around pure products. A price premium can be extracted when pricing a higher quality pure product compared to the non‐pure products. However, such a price premium does not apply when the pure product is of lower quality than the non‐pure products.

Effect of orthopedic insoles on spinal deformity and walking in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis summary.

To observe the effects of scoliosis-specific exercise therapy combined with braces and orthopedic insoles on improved spinal deformity and walking ability in adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). From September 2019 to September 2020, 60 outpatient AIS patients were distributed into brace group (n = 30) at random and brace combined orthopedic insole group (n = 30). Both groups underwent brace dryness, and the observation group used scoliosis-specific exercise therapy combined with brace therapy, and on this basis, orthopedic insole intervention was added for 8 h per day for 2 months. At the same time, 20 adolescents of the same age with normal spinal development were recruited as a healthy group. GaitScan instruments were used to collect gait and plantar pressure measurements from study subjects. First, the gait and plantar pressure data of AIS patients and healthy groups were compared horizontally to ascertain the abnormal indicators, and then the spinal deformity and the above abnormal indicators were compared between the brace group and the brace combined orthopedic insole group. The plantar pressure center drift index (CPEI) in the AIS group was higher than that in the healthy group (F = 3.120, P < 0.05), and there were significant differences in the ratio of medial and lateral heel pressure (M/l) and total foot pressure (P < 0.05) between the AIS group and the healthy group, and no noticeable variations were found in the support phase period, walking speed, and proportion of each phase (P > 0.05). After treatment, the Cobb angle was significantly reduced in both the brace group and the brace combined with orthopedic insole group (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the groups (P > 0.05). There were no significant changes in the pressure ratio of CPEI, M/l and bilateral full foot in the brace group (P > 0.05). The CPEI decreased in the brace combined with orthopedic insole group (P < 0.05), and the pressure ratio of M/l and bilateral full foot tended to 1 (P < 0.05), and was better than that in the brace group (P < 0.05). Patients with AIS may have local and worldwide asymmetric changes in plantar pressure distribution. The addition of orthopedic insoles has limited effect on improving scoliosis deformity in patients with AIS, but it can effectively improve the abnormal biomechanics of patients with AIS, so that the patient's force tends to be balanced.

Feature Analysis on B–H Curves of Dust Cores Under the Application of DC Bias Field

To realize high efficiency power converters, it is very important to reduce loss of passive magnetic components of transformers and inductors in high frequency region. Iron loss behavior under a DC bias field is crucially important to characterize inductor performance, but it has not been well analyzed. In this study, the iron loss behavior of a Sendust dust core has been analyzed in relation to the change in <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B-H</i> curve shape using principal component analysis (PCA). The iron loss monotonically decreases with increasing the DC bias field accompanying the reduction of permeability and slight asymmetric change in <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B-H</i> curve shape. PCA can extract featured quantities of these change in <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B-H</i> curve shape. Consequently, it is revealed that the curvature of <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">B-H</i> curve changes its polarity with increasing the DC bias field, and this behavior has a strong relationship with the reduction of iron loss.

Epithelial and stromal thickness profile and lens decentration in myopic orthokeratology

PurposeTo study topographic epithelial and total corneal thickness changes in myopic subjects undergoing successful orthokeratology treatment in connection with the objective assessment of contact lens decentration. MethodsA prospective-observational and non-randomized study in 32 Caucasian myopic eyes undergoing Ortho-k for 3 months. Total, epithelial, and stromal thicknesses were studied before and after Ortho-k treatment, using optical coherence tomography with anterior segment application software. Central, paracentral, and mid-peripheral values are taken along 8 semi-meridians. ResultsThe central average total corneal thickness was 4.72 ± 1.04 μm thinner after Ortho-K. The paracentral corneal thickness showed no significant changes (p = 0.137), while the mid-peripheral corneal thickness was increased by 3.25 ± 1.6 μm associating this increase exclusively to the epithelial plot (p<0.001). When lens centration was assessed, a lens fitting decentration less than 1.0 mm was found for the whole sample, predominantly horizontal-temporal (87.5%) and vertical-inferior (50%) decentring. Corneal topographical analysis revealed a horizontal and vertical epithelial thickness asymmetric change profile with paracentral temporal thinnest values, and mid-peripheral nasal thickest values. ConclusionsThe present study found a central corneal thinning induced by Ortho-k lenses in subjects with moderate myopia, only associated with a change in epithelial thickness, as well as mid-peripheral thickening, that seems to be mainly epithelial in origin. The authors also found a tendency of contact lens decentration toward temporal and inferior areas conditioning an asymmetric epithelial redistribution pattern.

Asymmetric business cycle changes in US carbon emissions and oil market shocks

Previous research shows that, in the USA, the elasticity of carbon emissions with respect to GDP is greater when GDP declines than when GDP increases. Using monthly US data, we examine each individual recession since 1973. We find asymmetric changes in carbon emissions in the 1973–1975, 1980, 1990–1991, and 2020 recessions but not in the 1981–1982, 2001, or 2008–2009 recessions. The former four recessions are associated with negative oil market shocks. In the first three, there was a supply shock and in 2020, a demand shock. Changes in oil consumption that are not explained by changes in GDP explain these asymmetries. Furthermore, the asymmetries are due to emissions in the transport and industrial sectors, which are the main consumers of oil. We conclude that emissions behaved similarly in 2020 to the way they did in recessions associated with oil supply shocks, but, actually, this pattern is not inherent to the business cycle itself.

Two-Dimensional Peripheral Refraction and Higher-Order Wavefront Aberrations Induced by Orthokeratology Lenses Decentration.

The purpose of this study was to explore two-dimensional peripheral refraction and higher-order aberrations (HOAs) induced by orthokeratology lens decentration. Two-dimensional peripheral refraction and HOAs in a rectangular field (horizontally 60 degrees and vertically 36 degrees) were obtained using an open-view Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor. The peripheral field was divided into 8 regions according to a combination of superior (UZ) or inferior (LZ) and a value, 1 (T25 to T30), 2 (T20 to T25), 3 (N20 to N25), or 4 (N25 to N30). The decentration of the lens was evaluated based on the change of power in the front of the tangential corneal map. All measurements were taken at the baseline and 1 month after lens fitting. In total, 134 myopic children (age = 12.47 ± 1.70 years, SER = -2.44 ± 1.10 diopters [D]) were recruited. In general, horizontally asymmetrical change was observed in relative peripheral refraction (RPR), spherical aberration (SA), and horizontal coma. The root-mean square of higher order aberration (RMSHOA) and vertical coma demonstrated radial symmetrical change and vertically asymmetric change, respectively. Relative peripheral myopia was significantly increased after the treatment, with more myopic refraction in the temporal side. RPR changes in UZ2, UZ3, UZ4, LZ1, and LZ2 were related to the amount of lens decentration (r ≈ 0.4, P<0.05). All HOAs increased after lens fitting (around 0.03 um, 0.02 um, 0.04 um, and 0.41 um for SA, horizontal COMA, vertical COMA, and RMSHOA in the periphery region). RPR and HOAs are related to lens decentration, which might contribute to the efficacy of orthokeratology. The study found a decentration-related optical feature after 1 month of lens wear, which is a suggested protective factor in myopia treatment. The findings might provide new insights for customized contact lens myopia treatment based on optics.

Local temperature responses to actual land cover changes present significant latitudinal variability and asymmetry

Land cover changes (LCCs) affect surface temperatures at local scale through biophysical processes. However, previous observation-based studies mainly focused on the potential effects of virtual afforestation/deforestation using the space-for-time assumption, while the actual effects of all types of realistic LCCs are underexplored. Here, we adopted the space-and-time scheme and utilized extensive high-resolution (1-km) satellite observations to perform the first such assessment. We showed that, from 2006 to 2015, the average temperature in the areas with LCCs increased by 0.08 K globally, but varied significantly across latitudes, ranging from −0.05 to 0.18 K. Cropland expansions dominated summertime cooling effects in the northern mid-latitudes, whereas forest-related LCCs caused warming effects elsewhere. These effects accounted for up to 44.6% of overall concurrent warming, suggesting that LCC influences cannot be ignored. In addition, we revealed obvious asymmetries in the actual effects, i.e., LCCs with warming effects occurred more frequently, with stronger intensities, than LCCs with cooling effects. Even for the mutual changes between two covers in the same region, warming LCCs generally had larger magnitudes than their cooling counterparts due to asymmetric changes in transition fractions and driving variables. These novel findings, derived from the assessment of actual LCCs, provide more realistic implications for land management and climate adaptation policies.

The Suppressive Basis of Ocular Dominance Changes Induced by Short-Term Monocular Deprivation in Normal and Amblyopic Adults.

We aimed to study the effect of short-term monocular deprivation on the suppressive interocular interactions in normals and amblyopes by using a dichoptic masking paradigm. Nine adults with anisometropic or mixed amblyopia and 10 control adults participated in our study. The contrast sensitivity in discriminating a target Gabor dichoptically masked was measured before and after 2 hours of monocular deprivation. The mask consisted of bandpass-filtered noise. Both the target and the mask were horizontally oriented at the spatial frequency of 1.31 cpd. Deprivation was achieved using an opaque patch on the amblyopic eye of amblyopes and the dominant eye of controls. Results were similar in both controls and amblyopes. After 2 hours of monocular deprivation, the previously patched eye showed a significant increase in contrast sensitivity under dichoptic masking, which also suggested reduced suppressive effect from the nonpatched eye. Meanwhile, the contrast sensitivity of the nonpatched eye remained almost unchanged under dichoptic masking. We demonstrate that the ocular dominance changes induced by short-term monocular deprivation-namely, the strengthening of the deprived eye's contribution-are associated with the unilateral and asymmetric changes in suppressive interaction. The suppression from the nondeprived eye is reduced after short-term monocular deprivation. This provides a better understanding of how inverse patching (patching of the amblyopic eye) could, by reducing the suppressive drive from the normally sighted (nondeprived) eye, form the basis of a new treatment for the binocular deficit in amblyopia.

The biophysical effects of potential changes in irrigated crops on diurnal land surface temperature in Northeast China

Irrigated crops have experienced a significant global expansion. The biophysical response of climate change to irrigated crop expansion in different regions, particularly in terms of monitoring the influence mechanism of nighttime land surface temperature (LST) change, however, remains insufficiently explored. Taking the three northeastern provinces of China as our study area, we apply window analysis, partial correlation analysis, and geographical detector to quantitatively characterize the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of daytime and nighttime LST (diurnal LST) and biophysical parameters, and the main driving mechanism of diurnal LST change. The results showed that irrigated crop expansion led to asymmetric changes in daytime (−2.11 ± 0.2°C, 97.4%) and nighttime (0.64 ± 0.2°C, 79.9%) LST. ΔLSTDT had a negative correlation with ΔLE (63%), but a positive correlation with ΔSSR and ΔH (91% and 77%). This revealed that the cooling effect caused by the superposition of the output latent heat flux and the absorbed solar shortwave radiation was greater than its heating effect. ΔLSTNT and ΔLE had a positive connection across 69% of the region. ΔLSTNT demonstrated a negative correlation with ΔSSR and ΔH in 82% and 75% of the regions, respectively. At this time, the superposition of latent heat flux and heating potential term produces a greater heating effect. The explanatory power of the single factor (the mean of q&amp;lt;0.50) of biophysical parameters for diurnal LST variation was significantly smaller than that of the interaction factor (the mean of q&amp;gt;0.50, p&amp;lt;0.01). This study shows more detailed dynamic information of diurnal LST and biophysical parameters from 8day scale. The findings highlighted the critical role of asymmetric changes in the diurnal surface thermal environment caused by irrigated crop expansion in the global climate from a land surface hydrothermal energy balance perspective.

A-018 Biological Variation Estimates for N-terminal pro-B-type Natriuretic Peptide from Eight Healthy Turkish Women

Abstract Background B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its precursor N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) are released primarily by the ventricles in the heart in response to volume or pressure overload. Measurements of NT-proBNP are used as an aid in the diagnosis and assessment of severity of congestive heart failure (CHF). Within- (CVI) and between-subject (CVG) biological variation (BV) estimates for NT-proBNP are limited. Here biological variability (BV) estimates from eight apparently healthy Turkish women for NT-proBNP are provided. Methods Serum samples were collected weekly from 24 healthy subjects (12 male, 12 female) for 10 consecutive weeks and stored at −80 °C prior to analysis. Study participant samples were analyzed in duplicate within a single run using the Atellica® IM NT-proBNP (PBNP) assay* on the Atellica IM Analyzer. Outlier detection, variance homogeneity analyses, and trend analysis were performed followed by CV-ANOVA to determine BV and analytical variation (CVA) estimates with 95% CI. The asymmetrical reference change values (RCV) using the lognormal approach, index of individuality (II), and analytical performance specification (APS), based on the CVA estimate derived in our study, were also calculated. Results PBNP results from 11 males and 3 females were lower than the limit of quantitation (LoQ) of the assay (&amp;lt;35 pg/mL). The remaining male sample was not included in the analysis. One female sample was identified as an outlier between individuals and was excluded from the analysis. To fulfil criteria for variance homogeneity of the data from eight women, 7% of results were excluded. In total, 104 analytical results were included in the analysis. PBNP data for the female group was normally distributed, and no trends were identified by regression analysis. The BV estimates derived from females were CVI: 23.7%, (95% CI 19.0–30.4) and CVG: 8.22%, (95% CI 0.0–24.7). The CVA obtained from replicate test results was 11.2% (95% CI 9.4–13.9), which was lower than the desirable APS for imprecision. The II, calculated as the ratio of CVI/CVG, indicated a low individuality of PBNP (defined as II &amp;gt; 1.6). Thus, use of a population-based reference interval for interpreting serial PBNP measurements is more appropriate than use of the RCV. Conclusions This study provides updated BV estimates for NT-proBNP derived from a protocol consistent with European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine recommendations. The availability of BV estimates allows for refined APS and associated II and RCV, which are applicable when using PBNP as an aid in the diagnosis and assessment of severity of congestive heart failure. *The products/features mentioned here are not commercially available in all countries. Their future availability cannot be guaranteed.

The Difference in Paraspinal Muscle Parameters and the Correlation with Health-Related Quality of Life among Healthy Individuals, Patients with Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis and Lumbar Spinal Stenosis.

(1) Background: Paraspinal muscle degeneration affects the quality of life in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) and lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). We aimed to describe the characteristics and differences in the paraspinal muscle parameters between patients with DLS and LSS and investigate their correlation with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). (2) Methods: There were forty-four participants in each group, namely the DLS, LSS, and healthy groups, who were matched at a ratio of 1:1 according to age, sex, and BMI. Differences in paraspinal muscle parameters among the three groups were compared using analysis of variance or the Mann-Whitney U test, and paraspinal muscle degeneration and HRQOL were analyzed using Spearman's correlation analysis. (3) Results: In the upper lumbar, the psoas (PS), quadratus lumborum (QL), and multifidus (MF) cross-sectional area (CSA) in the DLS group were smaller than those in the other groups. In the lower lumbar region, the CSA of the PS, QL, erector spinae (ES), and gross CSA (GCSA) of the MF in the DLS group were not significantly different from those in the LSS group. These values were lower than those observed in the healthy group. The lean muscle fat index (LMFI) of the MF and ES groups was higher than those of the other groups. Regarding HRQOL, we found that PS and MF CSA were strongly associated with HRQOL in healthy individuals; however, only MF was associated with HRQOL in the LSS group. (4): Conclusion: PS in the upper lumbar region and MF degeneration were more severe in patients with DLS than in those with LSS. ES degeneration was similar between the LSS and DLS groups. MF muscle atrophy in patients with LSS and asymmetric changes in the MF in DLS are associated with quality of life.

Diverse Impacts of ENSO on the Intensity of Tropical Western North Pacific Synoptic‐Scale Disturbances During Boreal Summer

AbstractPresent study analyzes diverse impacts of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on the intensity of synoptic‐scale disturbances (SSDs) over the tropical western North Pacific (TWNP) during boreal summer. Asymmetric changes in the SSD intensity are detected in El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN) developing summers. The increase in the SSD intensity is larger and located more eastward in EN developing summers compared to the decrease in LN developing summers. The asymmetric SSD intensity changes are associated with an eastward shift of anomalous low‐level cyclone and mid‐level ascent during EN developing summers relative to opposite anomalies during LN developing summers. The above difference is attributed to zonally asymmetric anomalous equatorial central‐eastern Pacific heating and cooling in EN and LN years. Sensitivity experiments with an atmospheric general circulation model illustrate that the major reason for asymmetric TWNP SSD intensity changes is the asymmetric atmospheric response to opposite sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies in EN and LN years. Comparisons between strong and moderate ENSO events show an obvious dependence of the SSD intensity change on the amplitude of EN, but not on the amplitude of LN. This indicates a stronger sensitivity to warmer SST than to colder SST. The enhancement of the TWNP SSD intensity is confined to a more westward longitude in Central than Eastern Pacific EN years with a comparable magnitude.