Entire Spectrum Research Articles

Prevalence and burden of pain across the entire spectrum of Huntington’s disease

BackgroundPain is an important symptom in Huntington’s disease (HD), however, not systematically studied and understood. The objective of the current study is to assess the prevalence of pain, pain interference...

Quantifying Exhaled Particles in Healthy Humans During Various Respiratory Activities Under Realistic Conditions.

Background: Quantitatively collecting and characterizing exhaled aerosols is vital for infection risk assessment, but the entire droplet size spectrum has often been neglected. We analyzed particle number and size distribution of healthy participants in various respiratory activities, considering inter-individual variability, and deployed a simplified far-field model to inform on infection risks. Methods: Participants repeated the same respiratory activities on two visits. Particles were collected using an airtight extraction helmet supplied with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filtered air. The sampling volume flow was transported to two particle counters covering the small and large particle spectrum. The applied simple mass balance model included respiratory activity, viral load, room size, and air exchange rates. Results: Thirty participants completed the study. The major fraction of the number-based size distribution was <5 μm in all respiratory activities. In contrast, the major fraction of the volume-based size distribution was 2-12 μm in tidal breathing, but >60 μm in all other activities. Aerosol volume flow was lowest in tidal breathing, 10-fold higher in quiet/normal speaking, deep breathing, coughing, and 100-fold higher in loud speaking/singing. Intra-individual reproducibility was high. Between participants, aerosol volume flow varied by two orders of magnitude in droplets <80 μm, and three orders of magnitude in droplets >80 μm. Simple model calculations not accounting for potential particle size-dependent differences in viral load and infection-related differences were used to model airborne pathogen concentrations. Conclusions: Quantitative analysis of exhaled aerosols for the entire droplet size spectrum as well as the variability in aerosol emission between individuals provides information that can support infection research. Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT04771585.

P53 Overexpression May Represent an Early Marker of Clinicopathologic Progression in Vasculogenic Mesenchymal Lesions of Germ Cell Tumor Origin.

Vasculogenic mesenchymal lesions (VMLs) of germ cell tumor origin are thought to originate in postpubertal-type yolk sac tumor componentsand include a spectrum of lesions from teratoma with vasculogenic stroma (TVS), to low and high-grade vasculogenic mesenchymal tumors (VMTs). VMLs exhibit rudimentary to well-developed neoplastic vessels within primitive mesenchyme, being considered a neoplastic reiteration of embryonic vasculogenesis in the splanchnic mesoderm of the yolk sac. They occur in patients with primary mediastinal germ cell tumors after chemotherapy, and a subset progresses to "somatic-type" sarcomas [including angiosarcoma (AS)], with high-grade VMTs likely portending a higher risk. Recently, we encountered a low-grade VMT that progressed to metastatic AS during follow-up. In this case, both the low-grade VMT and the subsequent AS demonstrated p53 overexpression, suggesting that p53 alterations may precede histopathologic transformation. To test this hypothesis, we evaluated neoplasms representing the entire spectrum of VMLs using p53 immunohistochemistry (IHC; clone DO-7, Dako). Overexpression was defined as nuclear positivity in > 80% of neoplastic cells. Because the distinction between high-grade VMT and AS can be subjective in some cases, they were grouped together in a single category. Thirty-nine VMLs were assessed: 16 high-grade VMT/AS, 19 low-grade VMT, and 4 TVS. Patient age ranged from 19 to 46 years (mean, 30 years; male = 97%). Four high-grade VMT/AS and one low-grade VMT showed p53 overexpression (5/39 VMLs, 13%; 4/16 high-grade VMT/AS, 25%). These tumors included 1 unequivocal AS and 1 high-grade VMT/AS with progression to rhabdomyosarcoma. The only low-grade VMT with p53 overexpression demonstrated progression to AS. Another high-grade VMT that progressed to sarcoma demonstrated p53 overexpression in the sarcoma component, but it was excluded because the VMT was not represented in the material availableat the time of the study. Lesions with intratumoral grade heterogeneity (classified based the highest grade), demonstrated more pronounced p53 overexpression in the high-grade components. P53 overexpression is associated with disease progression in a subset of VMTs and may precede morphologic transformation to sarcoma. Routine evaluation of VMTs with p53 IHC seems justified, with overexpressors likely requiring an close clinical surveillance.

Type I interferon pathway activation across the antiphospholipid syndrome spectrum: associations with disease subsets and systemic antiphospholipid syndrome presentation.

While the type I interferon (IFN-I) pathway is crucial in autoimmunity, its role in antiphospholipid antibody (aPL)-positive subjects, including aPL carriers and antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) patients, is poorly understood. This study aims at characterizing IFN-I pathway activation within the spectrum of aPL-positive subsets. A total of 112 patients [29 aPL carriers, 31 primary APS (PAPS), 25 secondary APS (SAPS), 27 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients without aPL, and 44 healthy controls (HCs)] were recruited. IFI6, IFI44, IFI44L, MX1, IFI27, OAS1, and RSAD2 gene expression was evaluated in whole blood, and a composite index (IFN score) was calculated. An overall activation of the IFN-I pathway was observed across the entire APS spectrum, with differences among genes based on the specific disease subset. The composite score revealed quantitative differences across subsets, being elevated in aPL carriers and PAPS patients compared to HCs (both p < 0.050) and increasing in SAPS (p < 0.010) and SLE patients (p < 0.001). An unsupervised cluster analysis identified three clusters, and correspondence analyses revealed differences in clusters usage across APS subsets (p < 0.001). A network analysis revealed different patterns characterizing different subsets. The associations between IFN-I pathway activation and clinical outcomes differed across APS subsets. Although no differences in gene expression were observed in systemic APS, the network analyses revealed specific gene-gene patterns, and a distinct distribution of the clusters previously identified was noted (p = 0.002). IFN-I pathway activation is a common hallmark among aPL-positive individuals. Qualitative and quantitative differences across the APS spectrum can be identified, leading to the identification of distinct IFN-I signatures with different clinical values beyond traditional categorization.

Deep learning of movement behavior profiles and their association with markers of cardiometabolic health

BackgroundTraditionally, existing studies assessing the health associations of accelerometer-measured movement behaviors have been performed with few averaged values, mainly representing the duration of physical activities and sedentary behaviors. Such averaged values cannot naturally capture the complex interplay between the duration, timing, and patterns of accumulation of movement behaviors, that altogether may be codependently related to health outcomes in adults. In this study, we introduce a novel approach to visually represent recorded movement behaviors as images using original accelerometer outputs. Subsequently, we utilize these images for cluster analysis employing deep convolutional autoencoders.MethodsOur method involves converting minute-by-minute accelerometer outputs (activity counts) into a 2D image format, capturing the entire spectrum of movement behaviors performed by each participant. By utilizing convolutional autoencoders, we enable the learning of these image-based representations. Subsequently, we apply the K-means algorithm to cluster these learned representations. We used data from 1812 adult (20–65 years) participants in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 2003–2006 cycles) study who worn a hip-worn accelerometer for 7 seven consecutive days and provided valid accelerometer data.ResultsDeep convolutional autoencoders were able to learn the image representation, encompassing the entire spectrum of movement behaviors. The images were encoded into 32 latent variables, and cluster analysis based on these learned representations for the movement behavior images resulted in the identification of four distinct movement behavior profiles characterized by varying levels, timing, and patterns of accumulation of movement behaviors. After adjusting for potential covariates, the movement behavior profile characterized as “Early-morning movers” and the profile characterized as “Highest activity” both had lower levels of insulin (P < 0.01 for both), triglycerides (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively), HOMA-IR (P < 0.01 for both), and plasma glucose (P < 0.05 and P < 0.1, respectively) compared to the “Lowest activity” profile. No significant differences were observed for the “Least sedentary movers” profile compared to the “Lowest activity” profile.ConclusionsDeep learning of movement behavior profiles revealed that, in addition to duration and patterns of movement behaviors, the timing of physical activity may also be crucial for gaining additional health benefits.

Size Isn't Everything: Geometric Tuning in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Its Implications for Carbon Nanodots.

Recent developments in light-emitting carbon nanodots and molecular organic semiconductors have seen renewed interest in the properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a family. The networks of delocalized π electrons in sp2-hybridized carbon grant PAHs light-emissive properties right across the visible spectrum. However, the mechanistic understanding of their emission energy has been limited due to the ground state-focused methods of determination. This computational chemistry work, therefore, seeks to validate existing rules and elucidate new features and characteristics of PAHs that influence their emissions. Predictions based on (time-dependent) density functional theory account for the full 3-dimensional electronic structure of ground and excited states and reveal that twisting and near-degeneracies strongly influence emission spectra and may therefore be used to tune the color of PAHs and, hence, carbon nanodots. We particularly note that the influence of twisting goes beyond torsional destabilization of the ground-state and geometric relaxation of the excited state, with a third contribution associated with the electric transition dipole. Symmetries and peri-condensation may also have an effect, but this could not be statistically confirmed. In pursuing this goal, we demonstrate that with minimal changes to molecular size, the entire visible spectrum may be spanned by geometric modification alone; we have also provided a first estimate of emission energy for 35 molecules currently lacking published emission spectra as well as clear guidelines for when more sophisticated computational techniques are required to predict the properties of PAHs accurately.

Stabilization of N6 and N8 anionic units and 2D polynitrogen layers in high-pressure scandium polynitrides

Nitrogen catenation under high pressure leads to the formation of polynitrogen compounds with potentially unique properties. The exploration of the entire spectrum of poly- and oligo-nitrogen moieties is still in its earliest stages. Here, we report on four novel scandium nitrides, Sc2N6, Sc2N8, ScN5, and Sc4N3, synthesized by direct reaction between yttrium and nitrogen at 78-125 GPa and 2500 K in laser-heated diamond anvil cells. High-pressure synchrotron single-crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that in the crystal structures of the nitrogen-rich Sc2N6, Sc2N8, and ScN5 phases nitrogen is catenated forming previously unknown N66− and N86− units and ∞2(N53−)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\!\\,}_{\\infty }{\\!\\,}^{2}({{{{{\\rm{N}}}}}}_{5}^{3-})$$\\end{document} anionic corrugated 2D-polynitrogen layers consisting of fused N12 rings. Density functional theory calculations, confirming the dynamical stability of the synthesized compounds, show that Sc2N6 and Sc2N8 possess an anion-driven metallicity, while ScN5 is an indirect semiconductor. Sc2N6, Sc2N8, and ScN5 solids are promising high-energy-density materials with calculated volumetric energy density, detonation velocity, and detonation pressure higher than those of TNT.

Management of ear, nose and throat emergencies

Emergency situations involving the ears, nose, and throat (ENT) area can pose considerable challenges for clinicians and often require an interdisciplinary approach due to the involvement of different organ systems. To avoid damage to highly relevant sensory and perception organs and life-threatening bleeding or respiratory complications, strategies that are as quick and targeted as possible are necessary. This article aims to provide an overview of ENT emergency management strategies. The entire spectrum from simple conservative to highly complex surgical measures plays arole here, both diagnostically and therapeutically. Aspects such as bleeding, respiratory problems, inflammation, hearing disorders, vertigo, facial palsy and injuries to the head and neck area are discussed. In addition, important topics such as preventive measures and possible complications are also addressed to ensure optimal patient care.

Draft Guidance for Industry Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, and Related Dystrophinopathies - Developing Potential Treatments for the Entire Spectrum of Disease.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and related dystrophinopathies are neuromuscular conditions with great unmet medical needs that require the development of effective medical treatments. To aid sponsors in clinical development of drugs and therapeutic biological products for treating DMD across the disease spectrum by integrating advancements, patient registries, natural history studies, and more into a comprehensive guidance. This guidance emerged from collaboration between the FDA, the Duchenne community, and industry stakeholders. It entailed a structured approach, involving multiple committees and boards. From its inception in 2014, the guidance underwent revisions incorporating insights from gene therapy studies, cardiac function research, and innovative clinical trial designs. The guidance provides a deeper understanding of DMD and its variants, focusing on patient engagement, diagnostic criteria, natural history, biomarkers, and clinical trials. It underscores patient-focused drug development, the significance of dystrophin as a biomarker, and the pivotal role of magnetic resonance imaging in assessing disease progression. Additionally, the guidance addresses cardiomyopathy's prominence in DMD and the burgeoning field of gene therapy. The updated guidance offers a comprehensive understanding of DMD, emphasizing patient-centric approaches, innovative trial designs, and the importance of biomarkers. The focus on cardiomyopathy and gene therapy signifies the evolving realm of DMD research. It acts as a crucial roadmap for sponsors, potentially leading to improved treatments for DMD.

Occurrence of Diseases and Seed Yield of Early Maturing Soybean Cultivars Grown under the Conditions of Central Europe

The aim of the study was to assess the health status and seed yield of selected soybean cultivars grown in the climate conditions of Central Europe. The health of 22 soybean cultivars was assessed during the study period (2017–2022). Cultivars from two earliness classes (1 and 2) were included in order to capture the entire spectrum of variation in the degree of infection with seven fungal diseases throughout the growing season, i.e., from sowing to harvest. Based on analysis of meteorological conditions in the critical phase of soybean development (from flowering to pod formation), two distinct periods were distinguished according to temperature and rainfall: normal (2017–2019) and anomalous (2020–2022). Ward’s cluster analysis distinguished two clusters that differed in terms of the weather conditions and severity and number of diseases observed for analyzed soybean cultivars during six years of the study. The first cluster included the period 2017–2019, which was characterized as normal in terms of temperature and rainfall. The second cluster included the period 2020–2022, which was characterized as anomalous in terms of temperature and rainfall. In the normal years (2017–2019), only Fusarium of the leaves was not observed during the soybean growing period. Seven diseases were observed in the anomalous years (2020–2022), and the degree of infection of the plants was greater. The Aligator cultivar in class 2, with a longer growing period, showed the highest yield stability. In the anomalous years, yield stability was highest for the class 2 cultivar Viola and lowest for the Acardia cultivar of the same class. In the whole study period, the Abelina cultivar (class 1) had a low coefficient of variation for yield, which means that this soybean cultivar is one of the most stable in terms of yield.

Everybody votes for Heimat: a study to examine the affective influence of feelings of Heimat on the persuasive impact of political advertising

Contemporary events are marked by profound social changes and the resulting insecurity among many people. Political appeals on an emotional level and beyond facts are therefore currently popular. The German construct of Heimat conveys feelings of safety and shelter like no other. It is therefore not surprising that the term is instrumentalized in political advertising across the entire party spectrum in Germany. In an empirical study, the influence of Heimat references in visual political advertising on the attitudes of recipients is examined, whereby the feelings of Heimat evoked are modeled as a mediator of this relationship. It is assumed that the strength of this affective influence depends on the moderators information processing (heuristic or substantive) and the personality expression on the factor neuroticism. Party identification complements the model, also moderated by information processing, as an additional factor influencing political attitudes. The results show, however, that the explanatory power for the feeling of Heimat is rather to be found in the identification with the communicating party. Against this background, the persuasive instrumentalization of a feeling of Heimat for the evaluation of political issues can certainly be worthwhile. In this context, it is not decisive whether the content of the advertising material explicitly references the Heimat issue, but how the party itself is perceived by the recipients. No effects were found for personality and information processing.

(088) Unconsummated Marriage: A Systematic Review of Etiological Factors and Clinical Management

Abstract Introduction Unconsummated marriage (UCM) is the inability of the heterosexual married couple to have penovaginal sexual intercourse. Objective To systematically review current evidence regarding the etiological factors and clinical management of UCM. Methods A comprehensive bibliographic search on the MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases was performed in June 2023. Studies were selected if they described married couples (S) who never had sexual intercourse (PI) in case report or case series (D) evaluating the related causes and/or management (E) and reporting data with qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods (R). Quantitative data were reported as found in the original studies. Evaluation of level of evidence and quality of studies were based on Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine 2011 and Murad scale, respectively. The review was reported according to PRISMA statement and registered in PROSPERO with ID CRD42023433040. Results A total of 27 studies including 1,638 males and 1,587 females were selected (Fig 1). Eight articles (29.6%) were case-report involving a single couple and 19 studies (70.4%) were case series. Mean (range) Murad score was 4.1 (1–8) showing low-intermediate overall study quality. All articles had a level of evidence of 4. Most of the studies were reported from Egypt (5, 18.4%), Israel (4, 14.9%), and USA (4, 14.9%) (Fig 2). Mean age of males and females varied between 24.2 and 37.6 years and from 21 to 27.4 years, respectively. The reasons for the medical visit that led to the diagnosis of UCM were inability to consummate in 23 studies (85.2%), inability to conceive in 1 article (3.7%), and mixed in 3 papers (11.1%). The mean duration of UCM before a medical visit varied from 7 days to 3.5 years. Eight studies involving both men and women showed that vaginismus (8.4–81%) and ED (10.5–61%) were the most common causes of UCM. Three articles reported that 16.6–26% of all UCM cases were due to both male and female factors. Basic sex education was advised in all treatment programs. A multidisciplinary therapeutic approach involving urologist, gynecologist, psychiatrist, and physiotherapist was applied to 135 patients, achieving a consummation rate of 97%. Sildenafil 50 mg on demand for 1–3 months was used in the management of ED leading to a consummation rate of 84.6–100%. Tadalafil was prescribed both on-demand and daily, achieving consummation rates of up to 91%. Vaginismus was treated with desensitization sessions and graded vaginal dilators, leading to penetrative intercourse in 66.6–100% of cases after 1 month-5 years of therapy. Strengths &amp; Limitations: The first systematic review covering the entire spectrum of UCM. The low quality of most of the included papers and the large percentage of UCM cases are probably not published. Conclusions ED and vaginismus are the most reported causes of UCM; however, a strong psychological component certainly underlies a significant number of cases. A multidisciplinary approach based on strategic integration of sex education, medical therapy, psychosexual support, and surgical treatment would seem the most suitable option to manage couples with UCM. Disclosure No.

Transforming HR Functions Through Shared Service: Insights from Indian Public Sector Power Major

The case is about a prominent Indian public sector power company involved in the entire power generation value chain, encompassing fossil, hydro, nuclear and renewable energy sources. The organization is geographically divided into eight zones/regions: Central Region, DBF Region, Western Region-I, Western Region-II, Eastern Region-I, Eastern Region-II, Northern Region and Southern Region. In a conversation between Mr Anuj Kapoor, the Director of HR at this major power company, and Ms Abhika Choudhary, a researcher and academician, the discussion revolved around implementing human resources shared services (HRSS) within the organization. Initially undertaken to address manpower optimization challenges within HR functions, the complete transformation of HR functions through shared services gave Mr Kapoor valuable insights. Reflecting on this journey during the meeting with Ms Choudhary, he explored the entire spectrum from idea generation to implementation, including navigating resistance to change and post-implementation feedback. While Ms Choudhary diligently recorded the discussion to gain practical insights into the technological intervention in organizational HR functions, the flow of the conversation encountered a hurdle when delving into one specific post-implementation feedback from employees. This feedback pertained to the dichotomy of face or faceless HR in the era of HRSS within the company.

Open Long-Tailed Recognition in a Dynamic World.

Real world data often exhibits a long-tailed and open-ended (i.e., with unseen classes) distribution. A practical recognition system must balance between majority (head) and minority (tail) classes, generalize across the distribution, and acknowledge novelty upon the instances of unseen classes (open classes). We define Open Long-Tailed Recognition++ (OLTR++) as learning from such naturally distributed data and optimizing for the classification accuracy over a balanced test set which includes both known and open classes. OLTR++ handles imbalanced classification, few-shot learning, open-set recognition, and active learning in one integrated algorithm, whereas existing classification approaches often focus only on one or two aspects and deliver poorly over the entire spectrum. The key challenges are: 1) how to share visual knowledge between head and tail classes, 2) how to reduce confusion between tail and open classes, and 3) how to actively explore open classes with learned knowledge. Our algorithm, OLTR++, maps images to a feature space such that visual concepts can relate to each other through a memory association mechanism and a learned metric (dynamic meta-embedding) that both respects the closed world classification of seen classes and acknowledges the novelty of open classes. Additionally, we propose an active learning scheme based on visual memory, which learns to recognize open classes in a data-efficient manner for future expansions. On three large-scale open long-tailed datasets we curated from ImageNet (object-centric), Places (scene-centric), and MS1M (face-centric) data, as well as three standard benchmarks (CIFAR-10-LT, CIFAR-100-LT, and iNaturalist-18), our approach, as a unified framework, consistently demonstrates competitive performance. Notably, our approach also shows strong potential for the active exploration of open classes and the fairness analysis of minority groups.

Dynamic diffusive interfacial transport (D-DIT): A novel quantitative swelling technique for developing binary phase diagrams of aqueous surfactant systems.

Current methods to develop surfactant phase diagrams are time-intensive and fail to capture the kinetics of phase evolution. Here, the design and performance of a quantitative swelling technique to study the dynamic phase behavior of surfactants are described. The instrument combines cross-polarized optical and short-wave infrared imaging to enable high-resolution, high-throughput, and in situ identification of phases and water compositions. Data across the entire composition spectrum for the dynamics and phase evolution of a binary aqueous non-ionic surfactant solution at two isotherms are presented. This instrument provides pathways to develop non-equilibrium phase diagrams of surfactant systems-critical to predicting the outcomes of formulation and processing. It can be applied to study time-dependent material relationships across a diverse range of materials and processes, including the dissolution of surfactant droplets and the drying of aqueous polymer films.

Recent molecular techniques to strengthen ecological studies in echinoderms

Introduction: Echinoderms, an integral component of marine ecosystems worldwide, have captivated scientific interest for centuries. Despite this longstanding attention, comprehending key facets such as trophic relationships, diet composition, and host-microbiota relationships still represents a challenge using traditional techniques. Recent years, however, have witnessed a transformative shift, thanks to the emergence of advanced molecular techniques, offering new approaches to strengthen ecological studies in echinoderms.&#x0D; Objective: Explore how recent advancements in molecular tools have impacted ecological research on echinoderms. Specifically, we aim to investigate the potential of these tools to shed light on trophic interactions, diet composition, and the characterization of gut microbial communities in these organisms.&#x0D; Methods: Available literature was used to clarify how novel molecular techniques can improve ecological studies. The focus is diet, trophic relationships, and gut microbiota.&#x0D; Results: Traditionally, studies of stomach contents using compound microscopy have provided an idea of ingested material; nevertheless, sometimes a simple magnified visualization of dietary content does not allow exhaustive identification of the entire food spectrum, as it is limited due to the rapid digestion and maceration of food items within the echinoderm’s digestive tract. The use of DNA-metabarcoding, targeting specific DNA regions, such as the mitochondrial COI gene, has allowed us to enhance the accuracy and precision of diet characterization by enabling the identification of prey items down to the species or even genetic variant level, providing valuable insights into specific dietary preferences. Another approach is the use of stable isotopes, particularly carbon and nitrogen, which provide a powerful tool to trace the origin and flow of nutrients through food webs. By analyzing the isotopic signatures in muscular tissues and food items, we can discern the sources of their primary food items and gain insights into their trophic position within the ecosystem. Lastly, a third new technique used to elucidate the characterization of the prokaryotic community is 16S rRNA sequencing. This method allows us to explore the composition and dynamics of the digestive tract microbial communities.&#x0D; Conclusions: This is a promising era for ecological research on echinoderms, where advances of molecular tools have enabled an unprecedented level of detail, resolving longstanding challenges in comprehending their trophic interactions, diet composition, and host-microbiota relationships, and opening new avenues of investigation in ecological studies.

Electrochemical-thermochemical complementary hydrogen production system for efficient full-spectrum solar energy storage

Solar hydrogen production, which can store unstable solar energy into clean hydrogen, has garnered widespread attention from researchers. However, there are some shortcomings in the single solar hydrogen production pathway: Photovoltaic-electrolytic green hydrogen production primarily harnesses short-wavelength solar energy, neglecting a significant portion of solar energy in the long-wavelength, while solar thermochemical methane reforming for gray hydrogen production underutilizes high-grade solar energy and emits carbon dioxide. This study presents a hybrid system capable of concurrently producing green and gray hydrogen, effectively harnessing the entire spectrum of solar energy while minimizing carbon emissions. Thermodynamic investigations reveal that the system attains energy efficiency of 47.43 %, exergy efficiency of 41.93 %, and solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 25.61 % at the direct normal irradiance (DNI) of 1000 W/m2. It is intriguing to observe the discrepancy in the proportions of energy input from solar energy and methane, along with their respective impacts on hydrogen production. Although solar energy input constitutes 85.26–63.44 % of the total energy input, its contribution to hydrogen production is 64.94 %–33.71 %. Despite the reduced proportion of solar energy's contribution to hydrogen production compared to its input proportion, it significantly contributes to reducing fossil energy usage and carbon emissions. This system's average carbon dioxide reduction rate stands at around 16.84–13.80 kg/kgH2. The proposed system offers an efficient approach to full-spectrum solar energy storage and hydrogen production, thus contributing to a cleaner energy future.

SOI Based metasurface for broadband perfect reflection in visible spectrum

We propose modeling and design of a low-loss all-dielectric metasurface (DM), comprised of Silicon on Insulator (SiO2) substrate to demonstrate a perfect reflector in the visible spectrum. The proposed metasurface unit cell consists of V and W shapes arranged in a mirror image configuration, with nanometre-sized gaps (g) between them. A narrow peak with a nearly 100% reflectance and a broad perfect reflectance spectrum is observed within the visible region (400–700 nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum. The effective electromagnetic parameters were also analyzed for electric and magnetic dipole resonance. The electric and magnetic field distributions at the resonant wavelength were also analyzed for the proposed structure. By altering the gap region ‘g’, the thickness of the dielectric Silica layer (ts ), and the Si resonator (t m), the proposed structure exhibits tunable characteristics. We have successfully illustrated the consistent position of the scattering parameter’s response, regardless of the structure’s rotation, concluding the homogeneity of the designed structure across the entire visible spectrum. The all-DM exhibits a unique combination of features, including a distinct and wide reflectance spectrum as well as a tuned and enhanced electric field which makes it an ideal platform for the applications in filters, color printing, low-loss slow-light devices, and nonlinear optics.

Multilayered Immunity by Tissue-Resident Lymphocytes in Cancer.

Lymphocytes spanning the entire innate-adaptive spectrum can stably reside in tissues and constitute an integral component of the local defense network against immunological challenges. In tight interactions with the epithelium and endothelium, tissue-resident lymphocytes sense antigens and alarmins elicited by infectious microbes and abiotic stresses at barrier sites and mount effector responses to restore tissue homeostasis. Of note, such a host cell-directed immune defense system has been recently demonstrated to surveil epithelial cell transformation and carcinoma development, as well as cancer cell metastasis, at selected distant organs and thus represents a primordial cancer immune defense module. Here we review how distinct lineages of tissue-resident innate lymphoid cells, innate-like Tcells, and adaptive Tcells participate in a form of multilayered cancer immunity in murine models and patients, and how their convergent effector programs may be targeted through both shared and private regulatory pathways for cancer immunotherapy. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Immunology, Volume 42 is April 2024. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Speaking across cultures: decolonization and disability in a multilingual world

This qualitative study, inspired by a decolonizing Advaita (non-dualistic) perspective, examines the intricate relationship between language, literacy, and disability. It centers on my daughter Kalika, a child with Rett syndrome who is medically categorized as “nonverbal” and navigates communication through eye-tracking Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology. This journey illustrates the challenges and triumphs of integrating the Bengali language and cultural identity within a diasporic context using AAC. The study employs Saraswati Puja, the celebration of the Hindu goddess of learning, as a metaphor to investigate disability in language learning, pushing the boundaries of traditional notions of literacy. It highlights an urgent need for AAC devices that are not only technologically adept but also culturally attuned and linguistically diverse. Ultimately, this research contributes to the dialogue on literacy and disability, advocating for a non-dual approach that values the entire spectrum of human communication and interaction.