Response to food restriction, but not social information use, varies seasonally in captive cardueline finches

For songbirds, temperate winters can impose severe conditions on songbirds that threaten survival, including shorter days and often lower temperature and food availability. One well-studied mechanism by which songbirds cope with such conditions is seasonal acclimatization of thermal metabolic traits, with strong evidence for both preparative and responsive changes in thermogenic capacity (i.e., the ability to generate heat) to low winter temperature. However, a bird's ability to cope with seasonal extremes or unpredictable events is likely dependent on a combination of behavioral and physiological traits that function to maintain allostatic balance. The ability to cope with reduced food availability may be an important component of organismal response to temperate winters in songbirds. Here we compare responses to experimentally reduced food availability at different times of year in captive red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) and pine siskins (Spinus pinus) - two species that cope with variable food resources and live in cold places - to investigate seasonal changes in the organismal response to food availability. Further, red crossbills are known to use social information to improve response to reduced food availability, so we also examine whether use of social information in this context varies seasonally in this species. We find that pine siskins and red crossbills lose less body mass during time-restricted feedings in late winter compared to summer, and that red crossbills further benefit from social information gathered from observing other food restricted red crossbills in both seasons. Observed changes in body mass were only partially explained by seasonal differences in food intake. Our results demonstrate seasonal acclimation to food stress and social information use across seasons in a controlled captive environment and highlight the importance of considering diverse physiological systems (e.g., thermogenic, metabolic, digestive, etc) to understand organismal responses to environmental challenges.

Relationship between blood culture time to positivity, mortality rate, and severity of bacteremia

OBJECTIVES

We investigated the association between patient severity or mortality and time to positivity in bacteremia caused by various pathogens.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This single-center retrospective study included patients with positive blood culture results.

RESULTS

Longer time to positivity was associated with 30-day mortality for Staphylococcus aureus (221 cases, time to positivity: 17.4 h in the 30-day mortality group vs. 14.1 h in the survival group). Age, chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, hypertensive drug use, consciousness disorder, and minimal systolic blood pressure were significant predictors of 30-day mortality. For S. aureus, mortality within 30 days was significantly higher when time to positivity was > 24 h (p = 0.04). The time to positivity of Streptococcus pneumoniae, α, β-hemolytic Streptococcus, Enterococcus sp., Enterobacteriaceae, glucose-nonfermenting Gram-negative rods, Candida sp., and anaerobe was not significantly associated with 30-day mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Among various pathogens, time to positivity > 24 h was associated with 30-day mortality for S. aureus.

Direct Measurement of the Spectral Structure of Cosmic-Ray Electrons+Positrons in the TeV Region with CALET on the International Space Station

Detailed measurements of the spectral structure of cosmic-ray electrons and positrons from 10.6 GeV to 7.5 TeV are presented from over 7 years of observations with the CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) on the International Space Station. The instrument, consisting of a charge detector, an imaging calorimeter, and a total absorption calorimeter with a total depth of 30 radiation lengths at normal incidence and a fine shower imaging capability, is optimized to measure the all-electron spectrum well into the TeV region. Because of the excellent energy resolution (a few percent above 10 GeV) and the outstanding e/p separation (10^{5}), CALET provides optimal performance for a detailed search of structures in the energy spectrum. The analysis uses data up to the end of 2022, and the statistics of observed electron candidates has increased more than 3 times since the last publication in 2018. By adopting an updated boosted decision tree analysis, a sufficient proton rejection power up to 7.5 TeV is achieved, with a residual proton contamination less than 10%. The observed energy spectrum becomes gradually harder in the lower energy region from around 30 GeV, consistently with AMS-02, but from 300 to 600 GeV it is considerably softer than the spectra measured by DAMPE and Fermi-LAT. At high energies, the spectrum presents a sharp break around 1 TeV, with a spectral index change from -3.15 to -3.91, and a broken power law fitting the data in the energy range from 30 GeV to 4.8 TeV better than a single power law with 6.9 sigma significance, which is compatible with the DAMPE results. The break is consistent with the expected effects of radiation loss during the propagation from distant sources (except the highest energy bin). We have fitted the spectrum with a model consistent with the positron flux measured by AMS-02 below 1 TeV and interpreted the electron+positron spectrum with possible contributions from pulsars and nearby sources. Above 4.8 TeV, a possible contribution from known nearby supernova remnants, including Vela, is addressed by an event-by-event analysis providing a higher proton-rejection power than a purely statistical analysis.

Erratum: Charge-Sign Dependent Cosmic-Ray Modulation Observed with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station [Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 211001 (2023)]

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.211001.

Charge-Sign Dependent Cosmic-Ray Modulation Observed with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

We present the observation of a charge-sign dependent solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope onboard the International Space Station over 6 yr, corresponding to the positive polarity of the solar magnetic field. The observed variation of proton count rate is consistent with the neutron monitor count rate, validating our methods for determining the proton count rate. It is observed by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope that both GCR electron and proton count rates at the same average rigidity vary in anticorrelation with the tilt angle of the heliospheric current sheet, while the amplitude of the variation is significantly larger in the electron count rate than in the proton count rate. We show that this observed charge-sign dependence is reproduced by a numerical "drift model" of the GCR transport in the heliosphere. This is a clear signature of the drift effect on the long-term solar modulation observed with a single detector.

Association between Genetic Variation in the TAS2R38 Bitter Taste Receptor and Propylthiouracil Bitter Taste Thresholds among Adults Living in Japan Using the Modified 2AFC Procedure with the Quest Method

Individual taste sensitivity influences food preferences, nutritional control, and health, and differs greatly between individuals. The purpose of this study was to establish a method of measuring and quantifying an individual's taste sensitivity and to evaluate the relationship between taste variation and genetic polymorphisms in humans using agonist specificities of the bitter taste receptor gene, TAS2R38, with the bitter compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). We precisely detected the threshold of PROP bitter perception by conducting the modified two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) procedure with the Bayesian staircase procedure of the QUEST method and examined genetic variation in TAS2R38 in a Japanese population. There were significant differences in PROP threshold between the three TAS2R38 genotype pairs for 79 subjects: PAV/PAV vs AVI/AVI, p < 0.001; PAV/AVI vs AVI/AVI, p < 0.001; and PAV/PAV vs PAV/AVI, p < 0.01. Our results quantified individual bitter perception as QUEST threshold values: the PROP bitter perception of individuals with the PAV/PAV or PAV/AVI genotypes was tens to fifty times more sensitive than that of an individual with the AVI/AVI genotype. Our analyses provide a basic model for the accurate estimation of taste thresholds using the modified 2AFC with the QUEST approach.

Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Helium Spectrum from 40 GeV to 250 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

We present the results of a direct measurement of the cosmic-ray helium spectrum with the CALET instrument in operation on the International Space Station since 2015. The observation period covered by this analysis spans from October 13, 2015, to April 30, 2022 (2392 days). The very wide dynamic range of CALET allowed for the collection of helium data over a large energy interval, from ∼40  GeV to ∼250  TeV, for the first time with a single instrument in low Earth orbit. The measured spectrum shows evidence of a deviation of the flux from a single power law by more than 8σ with a progressive spectral hardening from a few hundred GeV to a few tens of TeV. This result is consistent with the data reported by space instruments including PAMELA, AMS-02, and DAMPE and balloon instruments including CREAM. At higher energy we report the onset of a softening of the helium spectrum around 30 TeV (total kinetic energy). Though affected by large uncertainties in the highest energy bins, the observation of a flux reduction turns out to be consistent with the most recent results of DAMPE. A double broken power law is found to fit simultaneously both spectral features: the hardening (at lower energy) and the softening (at higher energy). A measurement of the proton to helium flux ratio in the energy range from 60  GeV/n to about 60  TeV/n is also presented, using the CALET proton flux recently updated with higher statistics.

Cosmic-Ray Boron Flux Measured from 8.4 GeV/n to 3.8 TeV/n with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

We present the measurement of the energy dependence of the boron flux in cosmic rays and its ratio to the carbon flux in an energy interval from 8.4  GeV/n to 3.8  TeV/n based on the data collected by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) during ∼6.4  yr of operation on the International Space Station. An update of the energy spectrum of carbon is also presented with an increase in statistics over our previous measurement. The observed boron flux shows a spectral hardening at the same transition energy E_{0}∼200  GeV/n of the C spectrum, though B and C fluxes have different energy dependences. The spectral index of the B spectrum is found to be γ=-3.047±0.024 in the interval 25<E<200  GeV/n. The B spectrum hardens by Δγ_{B}=0.25±0.12, while the best fit value for the spectral variation of C is Δγ_{C}=0.19±0.03. The B/C flux ratio is compatible with a hardening of 0.09±0.05, though a single power-law energy dependence cannot be ruled out given the current statistical uncertainties. A break in the B/C ratio energy dependence would support the recent AMS-02 observations that secondary cosmic rays exhibit a stronger hardening than primary ones. We also perform a fit to the B/C ratio with a leaky-box model of the cosmic-ray propagation in the Galaxy in order to probe a possible residual value λ_{0} of the mean escape path length λ at high energy. We find that our B/C data are compatible with a nonzero value of λ_{0}, which can be interpreted as the column density of matter that cosmic rays cross within the acceleration region.

Observation of Spectral Structures in the Flux of Cosmic-Ray Protons from 50 GeV to 60 TeV with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

A precise measurement of the cosmic-ray proton spectrum with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) is presented in the energy interval from 50 GeV to 60 TeV, and the observation of a softening of the spectrum above 10 TeV is reported. The analysis is based on the data collected during ∼6.2  years of smooth operations aboard the International Space Station and covers a broader energy range with respect to the previous proton flux measurement by CALET, with an increase of the available statistics by a factor of ∼2.2. Above a few hundred GeV we confirm our previous observation of a progressive spectral hardening with a higher significance (more than 20 sigma). In the multi-TeV region we observe a second spectral feature with a softening around 10 TeV and a spectral index change from -2.6 to -2.9 consistently, within the errors, with the shape of the spectrum reported by DAMPE. We apply a simultaneous fit of the proton differential spectrum which well reproduces the gradual change of the spectral index encompassing the lower energy power-law regime and the two spectral features observed at higher energies.

A global ensemble of ocean wave climate statistics from contemporary wave reanalysis and hindcasts

There are numerous global ocean wave reanalysis and hindcast products currently being distributed and used across different scientific fields. However, there is not a consistent dataset that can sample across all existing products based on a standardized framework. Here, we present and describe the first coordinated multi-product ensemble of present-day global wave fields available to date. This dataset, produced through the Coordinated Ocean Wave Climate Project (COWCLIP) phase 2, includes general and extreme statistics of significant wave height (H_s), mean wave period (T_m) and mean wave direction (θ_m) computed across 1980–2014, at different frequency resolutions (monthly, seasonally, and annually). This coordinated global ensemble has been derived from fourteen state-of-the-science global wave products obtained from different atmospheric reanalysis forcing and downscaling methods. This data set has been processed, under a specific framework for consistency and quality, following standard Data Reference Syntax, Directory Structures and Metadata specifications. This new comprehensive dataset provides support to future broad-scale analysis of historical wave climatology and variability as well as coastal risk and vulnerability assessments across offshore and coastal engineering applications.

Measurement(s)	Significant wave height • Mean wave period • Mean wave direction
Technology Type(s)	Global wave reanalysis and hindcasts
Sample Characteristic - Environment	Wind-waves
Sample Characteristic - Location	Global

[Early Structural Valve Deterioration of Bioprosthetic Mitral Valve in a Dialysis Patient]

Choice of prosthetic valve during valve replacement in dialysis patients is still controversial. There is a known risk of early structural valve deterioration of bioprosthesis in dialysis patients, whereas mechanical prosthesis is associated with a higher risk of bleeding and thrombotic events. A 68-year-old dialysis-dependent woman, who had undergone bioprosthetic mitral valve replacement at the age of 66, was admitted to our hospital because of general malaise and hypotension during dialysis. Echocardiography revealed severe mitral stenosis and regurgitation due to restricted motion and dense calcification in prosthetic valve leaflets, which indicated early structural valve deterioration. Redo mitral valve replacement using a mechanical valve was performed, and the patient gradually recovered. However, she eventually died of intracranial hemorrhage three months after the surgery.

Direct Measurement of the Nickel Spectrum in Cosmic Rays in the Energy Range from 8.8 GeV/n to 240 GeV/n with CALET on the International Space Station

The relative abundance of cosmic ray nickel nuclei with respect to iron is by far larger than for all other transiron elements; therefore it provides a favorable opportunity for a low background measurement of its spectrum. Since nickel, as well as iron, is one of the most stable nuclei, the nickel energy spectrum and its relative abundance with respect to iron provide important information to estimate the abundances at the cosmic ray source and to model the Galactic propagation of heavy nuclei. However, only a few direct measurements of cosmic-ray nickel at energy larger than ∼3  GeV/n are available at present in the literature, and they are affected by strong limitations in both energy reach and statistics. In this Letter, we present a measurement of the differential energy spectrum of nickel in the energy range from 8.8  to 240  GeV/n, carried out with unprecedented precision by the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) in operation on the International Space Station since 2015. The CALET instrument can identify individual nuclear species via a measurement of their electric charge with a dynamic range extending far beyond iron (up to atomic number Z=40). The particle's energy is measured by a homogeneous calorimeter (1.2 proton interaction lengths, 27 radiation lengths) preceded by a thin imaging section (3 radiation lengths) providing tracking and energy sampling. This Letter follows our previous measurement of the iron spectrum [1O. Adriani et al. (CALET Collaboration), Phys. Rev. Lett. 126, 241101 (2021).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.126.241101], and it extends our investigation on the energy dependence of the spectral index of heavy elements. It reports the analysis of nickel data collected from November 2015 to May 2021 and a detailed assessment of the systematic uncertainties. In the region from 20 to 240  GeV/n our present data are compatible within the errors with a single power law with spectral index -2.51±0.07.

Serum levels of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor as a biomarker for mood disorders and lithium response

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) plays an important role in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. We examined serum GDNF levels in bipolar disorder (BD) patients and major depressive disorder (MDD) patients and their association with response to lithium therapy. We used a multicenter (six sites), exploratory, cross-sectional case-control design and recruited 448 subjects: 143 BD patients, 116 MDD patients, and 158 healthy controls (HCs). We evaluated the patients' clinical severity using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), and responses to lithium therapy using the Alda scale. The serum GDNF levels were significantly decreased in the BD and MDD groups compared to the HCs, with no significant difference between the BD and MDD groups. After adjustment, the serum GDNF levels in the BD and MDD patients in remission or depressive states were decreased compared to the HC values. Lower serum GDNF levels in BD patients were associated with higher CGI and Alda scores (i.e., severe illness and good response to lithium therapy, respectively). Our findings suggest that the serum GDNF level may be a biomarker for both BD and MDD in remission or depressive states. The serum GDNF level may be associated with the lithium response of BD patients.

Measurement of the Iron Spectrum in Cosmic Rays from 10 GeV/n to 2.0 TeV/n with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

The Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET), in operation on the International Space Station since 2015, collected a large sample of cosmic-ray iron over a wide energy interval. In this Letter a measurement of the iron spectrum is presented in the range of kinetic energy per nucleon from 10  GeV/n to 2.0  TeV/n allowing the inclusion of iron in the list of elements studied with unprecedented precision by space-borne instruments. The measurement is based on observations carried out from January 2016 to May 2020. The CALET instrument can identify individual nuclear species via a measurement of their electric charge with a dynamic range extending far beyond iron (up to atomic number Z=40). The energy is measured by a homogeneous calorimeter with a total equivalent thickness of 1.2 proton interaction lengths preceded by a thin (3 radiation lengths) imaging section providing tracking and energy sampling. The analysis of the data and the detailed assessment of systematic uncertainties are described and results are compared with the findings of previous experiments. The observed differential spectrum is consistent within the errors with previous experiments. In the region from 50  GeV/n to 2  TeV/n our present data are compatible with a single power law with spectral index -2.60±0.03.

The SARC-F Score on Admission Predicts Falls during Hospitalization in Older Adults

OBJECTIVES

Community-dwelling older adults with sarcopenia are likely to fall. However, few studies have investigated whether sarcopenia is associated with falls during hospitalization in older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the SARC-F when used as a simple screening tool for sarcopenia at the time of admission, predicts in-hospital falls.

DESIGN

A retrospective, observational study.

SETTING

A 900-bed university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 9,927 patients aged 65 years and older were hospitalized at the hospital between April 2019 and March 2020.

MEASUREMENTS

The SARC-F contains five items: strength, assistance in walking, rise from a chair, climb stairs, and falls were evaluated at hospital admission. To investigate the relationship between the SARC-F score and falls, a ROC curve analysis was performed. Multivariate analysis adjusted for fall-related confounding factors such as age, gender, ADL, and disease were performed.

RESULTS

Mean age: 75.9±6.7 years; male: 56.2% were analyzed, and 159 patients (1.6%) fell during hospitalization. SARC-F scores at admission were significantly higher in the fall group than in the control group (3 [1-6] points vs. 0 [¬0-2] point, p<0.001). Statistical association was observed between the SARC-F and in-hospital fall (area under the curve = 0.721 [0.678-0.764], p < 0.001). The cut-off value for the highest sensitivity and specificity of the SARC-F score for in-hospital falls was two (sensitivity = 0.679, specificity = 0.715). Among the subitem of the SARC-F, the hazard ratios for climbing stairs were significantly higher (HR = 1.52 [1.10-2.09], p = 0.011) and for a history of fall was significantly higher (HR = 1.41 [1.02-1.95], p = 0.036). A SARC-F score ≥ 2 had a significantly higher incidence of in-hospital falls compared to a SARC-F score <2 (3.7% vs. 0.7%, p < 0.001). Also, a SARC-F score ≥ 2 had a significantly higher hazard ratio for falls (2.11 [1.37-3.26], p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

SARC-F can help predict falls among hospitalized older adults.

SARC-F Predicts Mortality Risk of Older Adults during Hospitalization

OBJECTIVES

To determine the association between SARC-F scores and the in-hospital mortality risk among older patients admitted to acute care hospitals.

DESIGN

Single-center retrospective study.

SETTING

A university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

All consecutive patients aged older than 65 were admitted and discharged from the study hospital between July 2019 and September 2019.

MEASUREMENTS

Relevant patient data included age, sex, body mass index, nutritional status, fat-free mass, disease, activities of daily living (ADL), duration of hospital stay, SARC-F, and occurrence of death within 30 days of hospitalization. The diseases that caused hospitalization and comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index; CCI) were obtained from medical records. The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group-performance status (PS) was used to determine ADL, and the in-hospital mortality rate within 30 days of hospitalization as the outcome.

RESULTS

We analyzed 2,424 patients. The mean age was 75.9±6.9 and 55.5% were male. Fifty-three in-hospital mortalities occurred among the participants within the first 30 days of hospitalization. Patients who died in-hospital were older, had poorer nutritional status and severer PS scores, and more comorbidities than those who did not. A SARC-F score of ≥4 predicted a higher mortality risk within those 30 days with the following precision: sensitivity 0.792 and specificity 0.805. There were significantly more deaths in Kaplan-Meier curves regarding a score of SARC-F≥4 than a score of SARC-F<4 (p<0.001). Cox proportional hazard analysis was used to identify the clinical indicators most associated with in-hospital mortality. SARC-F≥4 (Hazard Ratio: HR 5.65, p<0.001), CCI scores (HR1.11, p=0.004), and infectious and parasitic diseases (HR3.13, p=0.031) were associated with in-hospital mortality. The SARC-F items with significant in-hospital mortality effects were assistance with walking (HR 2.55, p<0.001) and climbing stairs (HR 2.46, p=0.002).

CONCLUSION

The SARC-F questionnaire is a useful prognostic indicator for older adults because a SARC-F ≥4 score during admission to an acute care hospital predicts in-hospital mortality within 30 days of hospitalization.

Direct Measurement of the Cosmic-Ray Carbon and Oxygen Spectra from 10 GeV/n to 2.2 TeV/n with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station

In this paper, we present the measurement of the energy spectra of carbon and oxygen in cosmic rays based on observations with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station from October 2015 to October 2019. Analysis, including the detailed assessment of systematic uncertainties, and results are reported. The energy spectra are measured in kinetic energy per nucleon from 10  GeV/n to 2.2  TeV/n with an all-calorimetric instrument with a total thickness corresponding to 1.3 nuclear interaction length. The observed carbon and oxygen fluxes show a spectral index change of ∼0.15 around 200  GeV/n established with a significance >3σ. They have the same energy dependence with a constant C/O flux ratio 0.911±0.006 above 25  GeV/n. The spectral hardening is consistent with that measured by AMS-02, but the absolute normalization of the flux is about 27% lower, though in agreement with observations from previous experiments including the PAMELA spectrometer and the calorimetric balloon-borne experiment CREAM.