Joint Occurrence Research Articles

Computational procedures for quality assessment of latent concepts

The estimation of a latent construct is a crucial issue when a phenomenon is a consequence of the joint occurrence of multiple features. Several techniques for estimating latent phenomena are proposed in literature, but since the variable under study is unobservable, and the law by which the features combine together is unknown, comparison of results obtained with different methods is achieved through simulation‐based analyses. The latent construct is measured by a multidimensional index (MI), which determines a ranking among the observations. It is therefore relevant to assess the reliability of the methods by which such rankings are produced. In this paper, we propose two procedures evaluating the assessment of latent constructs and the corresponding rankings. The first one is a simulation‐based mean square error, which evaluates the MI accuracy, while the second one uses a simulation average split ranking index, which assesses its reliability. Both methodologies are illustrated with an application to the assessment of the urban sustainability, and three methodologies of building MIs are compared: the first one based on structural equation models; the second one based on principal component analysis; and the third one that uses an equal weight method.

Slovak temporal adverbs mnohokrát and veľakrát, the specificity of lexical meaning according to compatibility data

The article considers the issue of synonymy/quasi-synonymy of the Slovak temporal adverbs mnohokrát and veľakrát, which belong to the semantic group “often”, based on the material of the Slovak National Corpus. The meaning of the lexemes included here assumes that a certain situation is repeated, and the speaker considers the number of such repetitions to be high. The analysis is carried out on the base of the compatibility of these adverbs in the Corpus. First, the indicators of the logDice association measure (the distance between collocates from –6 to 6 tokens) are considered, it is shown that the lists of words ranked by this measure are mostly the same for both lexemes, veľakrát has a certain specificity, which has a high degree of association with adverbial modifiers marking an extremely high frequency of a situation, or with constructions suggesting a detailed explication of its causes. The frequency context of the appearance of both adverbs in the text is thus a comparison of the real state of affairs with the desired one. In the second part of the article, the joint occurrence of adverbs from this semantic group is considered, including the compatibility of mnohokrát and veľakrát with the more frequent adverbs často and neraz. In this case, mnohokrát and veľakrát are used either for a detailed explication of the state of affairs, or to indicate directly observed situations. As follows from the analysis, the adverbs mnohokrát and veľakrát are almost complete synonyms, the difference between them is that the specified specificity of the meaning (high frequency of repetition, direct observability) is more pronounced in veľakrát than in mnohokrát.

Attribution of the 2015 drought in Marathwada, India from a multivariate perspective

The agricultural region of Marathwada in India incurred significant loss of crops and lives during the summer of 2015, which was characterised by persistent hot and dry conditions. We use observations and large ensembles of regional climate model simulations to understand and attribute this joint occurrence of deficient rainfall and high temperature in a novel, multivariate framework. Highly unlikely in a world without anthropogenic climate change (1-in-256 year), the event is found to be frequent (1-in-38 year) in the actual world. Thus, the risk of this event is found to be atleast quintupled due to anthropogenic factors, implying that the 2015 event is more likely due to anthropogenic climate change. Interestingly, the 2015 dry event is not unprecedented (∼1-in-15 year) based on observed records and for either of the model scenarios, suggesting that risk assessments based on rainfall alone may not be enough to reconcile the observed impacts. Further, such compound drought events are projected to become even more frequent under future end-of-the-century warming targets of 1.5 °C and 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, with expected doubling and tripling of the probability of the 2015 hot-dry conditions, respectively. Our findings highlight the role of human-induced warming on increased incidences of compound extreme events, thereby warranting adaptation strategies that aim at alleviating associated risks.

Design Method and Application of Stope Structure Parameters in Deep Metal Mines Based on an Improved Stability Graph

Deep mining has become an inevitable trend of mining development. Previously conducted studies have established that reasonable stope structure parameters are the premise to ensure the safe and efficient production of deep mines. In order to ensure the safety of deep mining, in this paper, we systematically review the existing stope structure parameter design methods, and then put forward a deep stope structure design method based on the stability of mining rock mass. Based on rock mass quality classification, this method uses a critical span graph and an improved stability graph, and fully considers the influence of joint occurrence and mining stress on the stability of surrounding rock, to design the stope structural parameters. Taking into consideration the deterioration of the quality of deep rock mass, we collect mining data at home and abroad, improve the stability graph, and make it suitable for the design of stope structural parameters with different mining methods. The design process of stope structural parameters is expounded through field engineering cases, and it has specific guiding significance for the design of stope structural parameters in deep metal mines.

Relationship between paramagnetic rim lesions and slowly expanding lesions in multiple sclerosis

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers for chronic active lesions in MS include slowly expanding lesions (SELs) and paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs). Objectives: To identify the relationship between SELs and PRLs in MS, and their association with disability. Methods: 61 people with MS (pwMS) followed retrospectively with MRI including baseline susceptibility-weighted imaging, and longitudinal T1 and T2-weighted scans. SELs were computed using deformation field maps; PRLs were visually identified. Mixed-effects models assessed differences in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score changes between the group defined by the presence of SELs and or PRLs. Results: The median follow-up time was 3.2 years. At baseline, out of 1492 lesions, 616 were classified as SELs, and 80 as PRLs. 92% of patients had ⩾ 1 SEL, 56% had ⩾ 1 PRL, while both were found in 51%. SELs compared to non-SELs were more likely to also be PRLs (7% vs. 4%, p = 0.027). PRL counts positively correlated with SEL counts (ρ= 0.28, p = 0.03). SEL + PRL + patients had greater increases in EDSS over time (beta = 0.15/year, 95% confidence interval (0.04, 0.27), p = 0.009) than SEL+PRL-patients. Conclusion: SELs are more numerous than PRLs in pwMS. Compared with either SELs or PRLs found in isolation, their joint occurrence was associated with greater clinical progression.

Trivariate Joint Distribution Modelling of Compound Events Using the Nonparametric D-Vine Copula Developed Based on a Bernstein and Beta Kernel Copula Density Framework

Low-lying coastal communities are often threatened by compound flooding (CF), which can be determined through the joint occurrence of storm surges, rainfall and river discharge, either successively or in close succession. The trivariate distribution can demonstrate the risk of the compound phenomenon more realistically, rather than considering each contributing factor independently or in pairwise dependency relations. Recently, the vine copula has been recognized as a highly flexible approach to constructing a higher-dimensional joint density framework. In these, the parametric class copula with parametric univariate marginals is often involved. Its incorporation can lead to a lack of flexibility due to parametric functions that have prior distribution assumptions about their univariate marginal and/or copula joint density. This study introduces the vine copula approach in a nonparametric setting by introducing Bernstein and Beta kernel copula density in establishing trivariate flood dependence. The proposed model was applied to 46 years of flood characteristics collected on the west coast of Canada. The univariate flood marginal distribution was modelled using nonparametric kernel density estimation (KDE). The 2D Bernstein estimator and beta kernel copula estimator were tested independently in capturing pairwise dependencies to establish D-vine structure in a stage-wise nesting approach in three alternative ways, each by permutating the location of the conditioning variable. The best-fitted vine structure was selected using goodness-of-fit (GOF) test statistics. The performance of the nonparametric vine approach was also compared with those of vines constructed with a parametric and semiparametric fitting procedure. Investigation revealed that the D-vine copula constructed using a Bernstein copula with normal KDE marginals performed well nonparametrically in capturing the dependence of the compound events. Finally, the derived nonparametric model was used in the estimation of trivariate joint return periods, and further employed in estimating failure probability statistics.

Use of Hydrological Models in Global Stochastic Flood Modeling

AbstractTypical flood models do not take into consideration the spatial structure of flood events, which can lead to errors in the estimation of flood risk at regional to continental scales. Large‐scale stochastic flood models can simulate synthetic flood events with a realistic spatial structure, although this method is limited by the availability of gauge data. Simulated discharge from global hydrological models has been successfully used to drive stochastic modeling in data‐rich areas. This research evaluates the use of discharge hindcasts from global hydrological models in building stochastic river flood models globally: synthetic flood events in different regions of the world (Australia, South Africa, South America, Malaysia, Thailand, and Europe) are simulated using both gauged and modeled discharge. By comparing them, we analyze how a model‐based approach can simulate spatial dependency in large‐scale flood modeling. The results show a promising performance of the model‐based approach, with errors comparable to those obtained over data‐rich sites: a model‐based approach simulates the joint occurrence of relative flow exceedances at two given locations similarly to when a gauge‐based statistical model is used. This suggests that a network of synthetic gauge data derived from global hydrological models would allow the development of a stochastic flood model with detailed spatial dependency, generating realistic event sets in data‐scarce regions and loss exceedance curves where exposure data are available.

Association of left atrial enlargement and increased left ventricular wall thickness with arrhythmia recurrence after cryoballoon ablation for atrial fibrillation.

Left atrial enlargement (LAE) predicts atrial fibrillation (AF) recurrence after cryoballoon-based pulmonary vein isolation (CB). Increased left ventricular wall thickness (LVWT) is pathophysiologically associated with LAE and atrial arrhythmias. To assess effect of increased LVWT on long-term outcomes of CB depending on coexistence of LAE. LAE was defined using either echocardiography ( > 48 cm³/m²) or multislice computer tomography (MSCT, ≥63 cm³/m²). Increased LVWT was echocardiographic septal/posterior wall thickness > 10 mm in males and > 9 mm in females. All patients achieved 2-year follow-up. Of 250 patients (median [interquartile range, IQR] age of 61 [49.0-67.3] years; 30% female) with AF (40% non-paroxysmal), 66.5% had hypertension, and 27.2% underwent redo procedure. MSCT was done in 76%. During follow-up of 24.5 (IQR, 6.0-31.00) months the clinical success rate was 72%, despite 46% of patients having arrhythmia recurrence. Arrhythmia recurrence risk was increased by LAE and increased LVWT (hazard ratio [HR], 1.801; P = 0.002 and HR, 1.495; P = 0.036; respectively). The highest arrhythmia recurrence (61.9% at 2 years) was among patients with LAE and increased LVWT (33.6% of patients); intermediate (41.8%) among patients with isolated LAE; and lowest among patients with isolated increased LVWT or patients without LAE or increased LVWT (36.8% and 35.2% respectively, P = 0.004). After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), paroxysmal AF, CHA₂DS₂-VASc score, clinically-significant valvular heart disease, and cardiomyopathy, patients with LAE and concomitant increased LVWT diagnosis had a 1.8-times increased risk of arrhythmia recurrence (HR, 1.784; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.017-3.130; P = 0.043). Joint occurrence of LAE and increased LVWT is associated with the highest rate of arrhythmia recurrence after CB for AF.

Money lies and extramarital ties: Predicting separate and joint occurrences of financial deception and extramarital infidelity.

Although spouses frequently financially deceive each other (MFD; i.e., marital financial deception), few studies have examined this relationship behavior. The purpose of our study is to examine predictors of separate and joint occurrences of MFD and extramarital affairs (EMI). We chose the predictors we tested using social exchange theory (SET). We used a national sample of married individuals and multinomial logistic regression analyses to examine how different predictors were associated with membership in three different groups (MFD with no EMI, EMI with no MFD, and both MFD and EMI) relative to the group of participants who reported neither behaviors. Relationship satisfaction was associated with a lower likelihood of being in the MFD-only group, moral commitment was negatively associated with membership in both EMI groups, and personal dedication commitment was negatively associated with membership in both MFD groups. Flirting with someone other than one's spouse was positively associated with being in all three groups relative to the reference group. The personal importance of religion was not associated with group membership. Moral commitment, personal dedication commitment, and flirting with someone other than one's spouse predicted these two types of marital deception. It is likely that other issues that affect marital outcomes, comparisons, and monitoring alternatives to the relationship may predict MFD and/or EMI.

Solid-state lithium-sulfur battery chemistries achieving excellent room-temperature cycle performance by high-quality Li7La3Zr2O12-based electrolyte

The ceramic materials based on Li6.375La3Zr1.375Nb0.625O12 (LLZNO) with the LiX (XF, Cl, Br) additive have been prepared through the traditional solid−state sintering reaction. The phase evolution of solid-state electrolytes was studied using the X − ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy which confirmed that all prepared samples formed the cubic garnet-type structure. Also, the lattice distortion based on X− doping at partial O2− sites have been detected in the LLZNO by the XRD data. It was worth noting that, according to the observation of scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), the electrolytes were joint occurrence of anion (F−, Cl−, Br−) doping at LLZNO grains and lithiated interface at grain boundaries, thereby leading to the high densification and the excellent wetting. Therefore, the ionic conductivity and transport kinetics of ceramics were obviously improved after LiX (X = F−, Cl−, Br−) incorporation. Meanwhile, LiX addition into LLZNO sample can be conductive to the interfacial contact and lithium-ion movement between the electrode and the electrolytes. Additionally, a transition layer was introduced to further provide a stable contact with Li electrode. The Li| LLZNO/LiCl-Ag interface resistance decreases to 98.2 Ω cm2. The symmetric Li| LLZNO/LiCl-Ag |Li battery can cycle stably for 600 h at 0.2 mA cm−2 and room temperature without a short circuit. Moreover, the Li| LLZNO/LiCl |sulfur-carbon battery exhibited a capacity of 750mAh g−1 after 120th cycle at 0.2 C and room temperature, while maintaining the high coulombic efficiency (over 99.5%) and excellent cycling stability. These results indicate that the LLZNO/LiX ceramics are promising for the production of electrolyte and fabrication of lithium-sulfur batteries.

Phytocoenotical behaviour of nemoral and boreal-nemoral plant species in taiga zone communities

Phytocoenotic behaviour of 14 nemoral or boreal-nemoral vascular plant species is analyzed in the middle- and southern-taiga subzones in comparison with that in the broadleaved-forest zone, based upon the set of 1669 relevés made in European Russia in 1996–2018. The nemoral species are mainly represented by shadow mesoeutrophic plants from the “corteges” of Tilia cordata s. l. and Fagus sylvatica. The more light-demanding plants from the Quercus robur “cortege”, either mesotrophic, or mesoeutrophic, more often demonstrate the boreal-nemoral type of zonal distribution. In the boreal-forest zone, linden and beech companions are typical for the southern-boreal nemoral-herb / sorrel spruce (Picea abies s. l.) forests on placors as well as the valley / riparian tall-herb forests, including the middle-boreal ones. The oak companions also inhabit grass-feathermoss pine (Pinus sylvestris) forests, besides the spruce forest types mentioned. Species from all the named “corteges” are also common in the small-leaved forests. The Betula companions which grow together with the nemoral plants in boreal forests could also be subdivided into the two florogenetical groups, namely a) the boreal, originally subalpine plants and b) the boreal-nemoral ones, originally oak companions. Species from the latter group often become widespread and dominant in the small-leaved forests; a good example is provided by Aegopodium podagraria. The rank correlation (Spearman rS) analysis shows the projective cover increase is connected with either the growing season warmth supply, or the climate oceanicity for both nemoral and boreal-nemoral species. These effects are most sound in the placor community sequence from broadleaved forests to sorrel and then bilberry-feathermoss spruce ones but weakened in the tall-herb forests on rich soil and completely levelled in the aspen (Populus tremula) forests. Carbonate bedrock outcrops contribute to nemoral species survival in the areas they inhabited during the climatically favourable epochs; they also favoured the migration of these species during the interglacials. Individualization of coenotic patterns of nemoral species at their distribution limits does not contradict to joint occurrence of such plants in relict / extrazonal locations.

Multidimensional Poverty in Pakistan: An Analysis

The underlying study has focused on investigating the influences of rising urbanization and climatic variations on multidimensional poverty in Pakistan. Poverty reduction has been deemed as one of the key policy agenda in the developing countries. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-1) maintains focus on zero poverty by the end of 2030, which is committed by the global community in 2015. For empirical purpose, PSLM (2019-20) has been employed. The application of binary Logit model is suggestive that urbanization has its advantageous influences on the multidimensional wellbeing of the households; while at the same time climatic shocks have harmonious but non-linear U-shaped impacts on multidimensional poverty. The joint occurrences of both the climatic shocks and the urbanization have shown the harmonious effects on the multidimensional poverty in Pakistan. Policy makers must consider climate change seriously and act accordingly with their impact on multidimensional poverty, especially if they desire to achieve the SDG 1 up to 2030.

Modelling of the Frame HEALTHY LIFESTYLE: Corpus-Based Approach

Introduction. The article considers the problem of modelling of the frame HEALTHY LIFESTYLE applying the methods of corpus linguistics. The scientific novelty of the study is determined by the fact that up to now no attempts have been made to identify the frame structure of the HEALTHY LIFESTYLE concept. The relevance of the study is conditioned by its focus on describing the national specifics of the concept in American culture, as well as implementing the collocation analysis to obtain verified conclusions about the frame structure. Methodology and sources. The research is carried out in line with the methodology of frame modelling of concepts based on the analysis of their discursive representations. In order to identify the frame structure of the concept in focus the collocation method was applied. The approach consists in analyzing the frequency of joint occurrence of linguistic units. The study is drawn on the collocations obtained from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Results and discussions. A hierarchical model of the frame HEALTHY LIFESTYLE is presented, the following main slots (subframes) of the frame structure were identified: “healthy/unhealthy eating”, “physical activity”, “healthy/unhealthy habits”, “healthy lifestyle promotion”, “keeping healthy lifestyle”, “healthy/unhealthy relationships”. As a result of the analysis of the collocations representing the slots of the frame HEALTHY LIFESTYLE in COCA, the subordinate subframes were modelled. Conclusion. It was found that each slot (subframe) of the frame in focus has a complex structure including terminal and non-terminal slots. The structure of terminal slots at any of the hierarchical levels of the frame can be represented as a radial model, where each of the subordinate terminal slots is to varying degrees removed from the centre. Conclusions about the degree of remoteness of the frame slots from the centre of the radial model can be made based on the frequency of collocations representing a particular slot. The prospects of this study include further detailed consideration of subordinate frame slots and clarification of the hierarchical model of the frame HEALTHY LIFESTYLE.

On the generation of high‐resolution probabilistic design events capturing the joint occurrence of rainfall and storm surge in coastal basins

AbstractCoastal areas are subject to the joint risk associated with rainfall‐driven flooding and storm surge hazards. To capture this dependency and the compound nature of these hazards, bivariate modelling represents a straightforward and easy‐to‐implement approach that relies on observational records. Most existing applications focus on a single tide gauge–rain gauge/streamgauge combination, limiting the applicability of bivariate modelling to develop high‐resolution space–time design events that can be used to quantify the dynamic, that is, varying in space and time, compound flood hazard in coastal basins. Moreover, there is a need to recognize that not all extreme events always come from a single population, but can reflect a mixture of different generating mechanisms. Therefore, this paper describes an empirical approach to develop design storms with high‐resolution in space and time (i.e., ~5 km and hourly) for different joint annual exceedance probabilities. We also stratify extreme rainfall and storm surge events depending on whether they were caused by tropical cyclones (TCs) or not. We find that there are significant differences between the TC and non‐TC populations, with very different dependence structures that are missed if we treat all the events as coming from a single population. While we apply this methodology to one basin near Houston, Texas, our approach is general enough to make it applicable for any coastal basin exposed to compounding flood hazards from storm surge and rainfall‐induced flooding.

Educational Services for Gifted Students with ADHD: Reality, Challenges and Prospects

Gifted students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (gifted/ADHD) show complex characteristics, which lead some schools in Saudi Arabia to refer them to gifted programs. Some other schools refer them to learning difficulties (LD) programs due to the spread of LD programs in contrast to the lack of ADHD ones, the overlap of some characteristics between LD and ADHD, and their joint occurrence in a large proportion of students. Thus, this study seeks to explore teachers’ perspectives of the reality, challenges and prospects of educational services provided for gifted/ADHD in gifted and LD programs. The participants in the study were 108 teachers, in addition to three directors of the departments of special and gifted education. The mixed methods approach was used which includes a questionnaire for the teachers and semi-open interviews with the directors of the departments. Results showed inadequacy of educational services provided to gifted/ADHD which due to the absence of the educational system that it focuses on their exceptional duality. In addition, the results highlighted challenges include weak social awareness of the characteristics of these students, and educational environment, with the lack of necessary scales and adequate qualification for teachers. The results also confirmed, in terms of prospects, the importance of creating a competent authority to care for these students and others who fall into the twice-exceptional. Finally, the results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in professions nor in the region. In light of the results of the study, some recommendations were highlighted.
 
 Received: 4 April 2022 / Accepted: 26 June 2022 / Published: 5 July 2022

Multi-hazard susceptibility mapping based on Convolutional Neural Networks

Multi-hazard susceptibility prediction is an important component of disasters risk management plan. An effective multi-hazard risk mitigation strategy includes assessing individual hazards as well as their interactions. However, with the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology, multi-hazard susceptibility prediction techniques based on machine learning has encountered a huge bottleneck. In order to effectively solve this problem, this study proposes a multi-hazard susceptibility mapping framework using the classical deep learning algorithm of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). First, we use historical flash flood, debris flow and landslide locations based on Google Earth images, extensive field surveys, topography, hydrology, and environmental data sets to train and validate the proposed CNN method. Next, the proposed CNN method is assessed in comparison to conventional logistic regression and k-nearest neighbor methods using several objective criteria, i.e., coefficient of determination, overall accuracy, mean absolute error and the root mean square error. Experimental results show that the CNN method outperforms the conventional machine learning algorithms in predicting probability of flash floods, debris flows and landslides. Finally, the susceptibility maps of the three hazards based on CNN are combined to create a multi-hazard susceptibility map. It can be observed from the map that 62.43% of the study area are prone to hazards, while 37.57% of the study area are harmless. In hazard-prone areas, 16.14%, 4.94% and 30.66% of the study area are susceptible to flash floods, debris flows and landslides, respectively. In terms of concurrent hazards, 0.28%, 7.11% and 3.13% of the study area are susceptible to the joint occurrence of flash floods and debris flow, debris flow and landslides, and flash floods and landslides, respectively, whereas, 0.18% of the study area is subject to all the three hazards. The results of this study can benefit engineers, disaster managers and local government officials involved in sustainable land management and disaster risk mitigation.

Assessing the Overlap between Cyberstalking Victimization and Face-to-face Sexual Victimization among South Korean Middle and High School Students

ABSTRACT While there is a growing empirical literature on victimization in the virtual world, limited scholarship has examined the potentially overlapping relationship between cyberstalking victimization and face-to-face sexual victimization. The current study uses data from a sample of 7,109 middle and high school students in South Korea to investigate the extent to which the overlap exists between cyberstalking victimization and face-to-face sexual victimization. Additionally, we examine whether the two forms of victimization are the outcome of the same underlying mechanisms. The results from bivariate probit models show a significant degree of overlap between cyberstalking victimization and face-to-face sexual victimization. Being a female, a high level of parental strain, and a high level of school disorder are significantly associated with the joint occurrence of the two forms of victimization. Our findings highlight the importance of crime prevention policies that focus on familial and school factors.

A dual-objective trade-off approach to decide the optimum design parameters for internal cooling load calculation

The building design cooling load is the basis of sizing the air-conditioning equipment, but the extreme values are always used as the referenced design parameters for occupants, lighting and equipment respectively without considering the relationship between the internal load sources which will result in an oversized equipment. Based on the measured data in existing buildings, the Copula function is used to explore the joint occurrence probability of the internal disturbances. In view of the deviation of the calculated cooling load from the extreme cooling load, the unguaranteed rate is established. Aiming to balance the maximum joint probability and the minimum unguaranteed rate, a dual-objective trade-off approach with the genetic algorithm and TOPSIS method is proposed to seek the optimum solution from the Pareto Fronts to provide references for internal load design parameters. The results show that there is a big deviation between the design values and trade-off results, especially the recommended values of lighting power density in the design standards are at least 26% higher than the trade-off results. And the energy consumption for internal disturbances can be at least reduced by 12.1% using the trade-off approach.

Prenatal ultrasound diagnostics of atrioventricular communication in combination with the tetralogy of Fallot in a fetus with Down's syndrome phenotype

This article presents a description of our own case of ultrasound prenatal diagnostics of complex combined heart disease (complete atrioventricular communication in combination with tetralogy of Fallot) at 19–20 weeks of gestation with ultrasound markers of Down's syndrome in fetus. Pregnancy termination was performed at 21 weeks. Prenatal diagnosis was fully confirmed at the fetus autopsy. This publication discusses the frequency, mechanism of occurrence of such a combination of congenital heart defects, prenatal management, methods, timing and efficiency of surgical correction after birth. Complete atrioventricular communication occurs in approximately 1.7–2% patients with tetralogy of Fallot, and tetralogy of Fallot occurs in 5–10% of patients with atrioventricular communication, most often in patients with Down's syndrome. It is believed that tetralogy of Fallot and a complete defect of the atrioventricular septum develop as a result of different mechanisms, but their joint occurrence is recognized as an association. The prevalence of such a combination in Down syndrome indicates the general foundations of its development.Sonographic diagnosis of atrioventricular communication and tetralogy of Fallot is usually not difficult for prenatal screening. Main diagnostic criteria for complete atrioventricular communication at routine ultrasound screening and targeted fetal echocardiography are an abnormal 4-chamber image of the heart in the form of a common atrioventricular junction and a common five-leafed atrioventricular valve. Typical prenatal sonographic signs of the tetralogy of Fallot are a high defect of the interventricular septum, expansion of the aortic root, displacement of the aorta forward and to the right, narrowing of the pulmonary artery at the level of the valve ring from minor to complete atresia, it is also possible reduction the size of the right ventricle and increasing the size of the left ventricle.The combination of atrioventricular communication with the tetralogy of Fallot refers to severe congenital heart defects requiring surgical correction.

Joint occurrence of heatwaves and ozone pollution and increased health risks in Beijing, China: role of synoptic weather pattern and urbanization

Abstract. Heatwaves (HWs) paired with higher ozone (O3) concentration at the surface level pose a serious threat to human health. Their combined modulation of synoptic patterns and urbanization remains unclear. Using 5 years of summertime temperature and O3 concentration observation in Beijing, this study explored potential drivers of compound HWs and O3 pollution events and their public health effects. Three favorable synoptic weather patterns were identified to dominate the compound HWs and O3 pollution events. These weather patterns contributing to enhance those conditions are characterized by sinking air motion, low boundary layer height, and high temperatures. Under the synergy of HWs and O3 pollution, the mortality risk from all non-accidental causes increased by approximately 12.31 % (95 % confidence interval: 4.66 %, 20.81 %). Urbanization caused a higher risk of HWs and O3 in urban areas than at rural stations. Particularly, due to O3 depletion caused by NO titration at traffic and urban stations, the health risks related to O3 pollution in different regions are characterized as follows: suburban stations > urban stations > rural stations > traffic stations. In general, favorable synoptic patterns and urbanization enhanced the health risk of these compound events in Beijing by 33.09 % and 18.95 %, respectively. Our findings provide robust evidence and implications for forecasting compound HWs and O3 pollution events and their health risks in Beijing or in other urban areas all over the world that have high concentrations of O3 and high-density populations.