Characterization of Bacterial and Fungal Communities Reveals Novel Consortia in Tropical Oligotrophic Peatlands

Despite their importance for global biogeochemical cycles and carbon sequestration, the microbiome of tropical peatlands remains under-determined. Microbial interactions within peatlands can regulate greenhouse gas production, organic matter turnover, and nutrient cycling. Here we analyze bacterial and fungal communities along a steep P gradient in a tropical peat dome and investigate community level traits and network analyses to better understand the composition and potential interactions of microorganisms in these understudied systems and their relationship to peatland biogeochemistry. We found that both bacterial and fungal community compositions were significantly different along the P gradient, and that the low-P bog plain was characterized by distinct fungal and bacterial families. At low P, the dominant fungal families were cosmopolitan parasites and endophytes, including Clavicipitaceae (19%) in shallow soils (0-4 cm), Hypocreaceae (50%) in intermediate-depth soils (4-8 cm), and Chaetothyriaceae (45%) in deep soils (24-30 cm). In contrast, high- and intermediate-P sites were dominated by saprotrophic families at all depths. Bacterial communities were consistently dominated by the acidophilic Koribacteraceae family, with the exception of the low-P bog site, which was dominated by Acetobacteraceae (19%) and Syntrophaceae (11%). These two families, as well as Rhodospirillaceae, Syntrophobacteraceae, Syntrophorhabdaceae, Spirochaetaceae, and Methylococcaceae appeared within low-P bacterial networks, suggesting the presence of a syntrophic-methanogenic consortium in these soils. Further investigation into the active microbial communities at these sites, when paired with CH₄ and CO₂ gas exchange, and the quantification of metabolic intermediates will validate these potential interactions and provide insight into microbially driven biogeochemical cycling within these globally important tropical peatlands.

Approaching the motional ground state of a 10-kg object

The motion of a mechanical object, even a human-sized object, should be governed by the rules of quantum mechanics. Coaxing them into a quantum state is, however, difficult because the thermal environment masks any quantum signature of the object's motion. The thermal environment also masks the effects of proposed modifications of quantum mechanics at large mass scales. We prepared the center-of-mass motion of a 10-kilogram mechanical oscillator in a state with an average phonon occupation of 10.8. The reduction in temperature, from room temperature to 77 nanokelvin, is commensurate with an 11 orders-of-magnitude suppression of quantum back-action by feedback and a 13 orders-of-magnitude increase in the mass of an object prepared close to its motional ground state. Our approach will enable the possibility of probing gravity on massive quantum systems.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection. We also use the stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density upper limits derived from the O3 data to constrain the cosmic string tension Gμ as a function of the number of kinks, or the number of cusps, for two cosmic string loop distribution models. Additionally, we develop and test a third model that interpolates between these two models. Our results improve upon the previous LIGO-Virgo constraints on Gμ by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude depending on the model that is tested. In particular, for the one-loop distribution model, we set the most competitive constraints to date: Gμ≲4×10^{-15}. In the case of cosmic strings formed at the end of inflation in the context of grand unified theories, these results challenge simple inflationary models.

Constraints on Cosmic Strings Using Data from the Third Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing Run

We search for gravitational-wave signals produced by cosmic strings in the Advanced LIGO and Virgo full O3 dataset. Search results are presented for gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loop features such as cusps, kinks, and, for the first time, kink-kink collisions. A template-based search for short-duration transient signals does not yield a detection. We also use the stochastic gravitational-wave background energy density upper limits derived from the O3 data to constrain the cosmic string tension Gμ as a function of the number of kinks, or the number of cusps, for two cosmic string loop distribution models. Additionally, we develop and test a third model that interpolates between these two models. Our results improve upon the previous LIGO-Virgo constraints on Gμ by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude depending on the model that is tested. In particular, for the one-loop distribution model, we set the most competitive constraints to date: Gμ≲4×10^{-15}. In the case of cosmic strings formed at the end of inflation in the context of grand unified theories, these results challenge simple inflationary models.

Quantum Repeater Node Demonstrating Unconditionally Secure Key Distribution

Long-distance quantum communication requires quantum repeaters to overcome photon loss in optical fibers. Here we demonstrate a repeater node with two memory atoms in an optical cavity. Both atoms are individually and repeatedly entangled with photons that are distributed until each communication partner has independently received one of them. An atomic Bell-state measurement followed by classical communication serves to establish a key. We demonstrate scaling advantage of the key rate, increase the effective attenuation length by a factor of 2, and beat the error-rate threshold of 11% for unconditionally secure communication, the corner stones for repeater-based quantum networks.

Genetic findings in miscarriages and their relation to the number of previous miscarriages

PURPOSE

Early pregnancy loss leads to a devastating situation for many couples. Genetic disorders found in the pregnancy tissue are a frequent cause of miscarriages. It is unclear whether maternal age or previous miscarriages are associated with a higher chromosomal anomaly rate. This study aimed to determine the cytogenetical distribution of chromosomal disorders in couples after one or more previous miscarriages as well as the influence of maternal age.

METHODS

406 fetal tissue samples obtained after spontaneous abortion between 2010 and 2014 were successfully karyotyped. This included 132 couples with at least two losses and 274 couples with sporadic miscarriage. Normal and abnormal karyotype rate was determined for age, parity, gravidity, gestational week and number of previous miscarriages by logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

145 (35.71%) fetal tissue samples had a normal karyotype, and 261 (64.8%) did not. After adjusting for age, older patients have a statistically significantly higher probability of genetic disorders in the pregnancy tissue (p < 0.001, OR 1.064, 95% CI 1.03-1.11). With each additional year, the probability of finding chromosomal abnormalities in a miscarriage increased by 6.4%. Patients younger than 35 years have a lower probability of having chromosomal disorders in the aborted material after two or more miscarriages than after sporadic miscarriages (50.7 vs. 58.9%) (p = 0.014, OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.48-0.914). Nevertheless, the risk of embryonic chromosomal disorders in patients aged 35 and above increased from 75.5% in sporadic miscarriages to 82.4% after more than one pregnancy losses (p = 0.59, OR 1.14, 95% CI  - 0.72 to 1.92).

CONCLUSION

Chromosomal disorders found after one or more previous miscarriages are related to patients' age. Couples suffering two or more miscarriages should be further researched, especially in younger patients.

487 Reducing Intraoperative Fluoroscopic Radiation Exposure in Orthopaedic Theatres at A Trauma Centre

Introduction

Intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging in orthopaedic trauma surgery subject’s theatre staff and patients to increasing radiation exposure and its detrimental health effects. This audit cycle uses a target maximum for total number of intraoperative fluoroscopic images taken, as defined by recently published reference values, to reduce intraoperative radiation exposure.

Method

This is a two-phase audit cycle retrospectively reviewing all trauma operations over a 12-month period (456 cases) and a 10-month period (256 cases) after disseminating the target standards through posters and focused training. Audit standards describe target maximum total intraoperative images taken for 5 commonly performed procedures, applicable to 33% of total cases. Operative notes, total intraoperative image count and radiation dose report were reviewed through ORMIS and PACS.

Results

Audit standard compliance improved/remained at 100% in 4/5 of the investigated ‘common procedures’: from 2/5 procedures &lt;80% compliance and 1/5 procedures =100% compliance initially, to 0/5 procedures &lt;80% compliance and 2/5 procedures =100% compliance target upon re-audit. This translated to an improvement in mean radiation risk (DAP Gy.cm^2) in 3/4 common procedures (one exclusion due to dissimilar cohort characteristics).

Conclusions

This study demonstrates employing a target maximum total image count limit reduced radiation exposure in trauma theatres.

110 The Results of Treatment of Acute Appendicitis During COVID-19 Pandemic in A District General Hospital

Aim:

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic conservative management of acute appendicitis (AA) was advised to reduce the risk the spread of infection during aerosol generating procedures. The aim of this study was to audit the outcomes of the management of AA in a district general hospital during the pandemic.

Method

The prospective data was collected for all patients treated for AA from 12/03/2020 to 18/05/2020. The primary objective was the failure rate of conservative management requiring surgical intervention. Statistical analysis was performed using JASP software.

Results

There were 22 patients included. 19 (86%) were managed conservatively of which 4 (21%) patients failed and progressed to surgery and 3 (14%) patients had appendicectomy on admission. 3 patients (20%) treated non-operatively were readmitted within median 4 days (4-6); 2 (13%) of them developed appendix mass. None of the patients had positive SARS-CoV-2 test. Median length of stay (LOS) was 3.5 (1-8) days; 4 (3-8) days in the immediate appendicectomy group, 3 (1-7) in the group managed conservatively.

Conclusions

The sample size was small hence it is difficult to draw any solid conclusions. We feel that appendicectomy should remain standard treatment for AA. However, antibiotics should be considered as the first line during the pandemic.

Restorative Rehabilitation of the Cleft Affected Occlusion - A Service Evaluation

Cleft Lip and/or Palate (CLP) is the most common cranio-facial abnormality thought to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors causing challenges with feeding, dental development and speech. Cleft affected individuals often present a unique set of challenges with regards to their oro-facial and dental development and require multidisciplinary care. This article aims to describe the role of the restorative dentist in the multidisciplinary management of cleft affected individuals and outlines the various clinical presentations and restorative challenges. This article describes the various treatment modalities provided for cleft affected individuals under the National Health Service (NHS) at Liverpool University Dental Hospital (LUDH) and ranges from minimally invasive techniques to conventional fixed and removable prosthodontics.

International Collaboration in the Time of COVID-19: The World Hospice and Palliative Care Social Work Network

In the context of widespread loss, isolation, and grief due to COVID-19, palliative social workers came together in the fall of 2020 to form an international group named the World Hospice and Palliative Care Social Work Network (WHPCSW). This emerging global network is committed to amplifying the innovative work, nuanced skills, research, and education and training provided by palliative social workers across different settings around the world. This article highlights some of the novel interventions developed by social workers in response to the pandemic and describes this coalescing WHPCSW network along with information about its mission and membership.

[EHPAD: Reintroducing relational life after the health emergency]

The health emergency linked to COVID-19 has been stressful for staff working in nursing home, doubly painful for residents faced with the risk of infection and the reality of family separation. We explore in this article some psychological consequences resulting from the experience of residents and caregivers in the waning health crisis, hoping that the experience gained will allow greater efficiency in the event of a resumption of the pandemic. At the same time, we proposed to combine this point of view with the more ethical one, taking seriously a fundamental tendency towards ageism in Western societies and what they reflect from the social ethics of care. It is now important to declare a refusal to "return to the abnormal", this medical and ethical prehistory, such as suffered by many of our elders and their caregivers during confinement.

The neural correlates of the visual consciousness in schizophrenia: an fMRI study

In the current literature, two distinct and opposite models are suggested to explain the consciousness disorders in schizophrenia. The first one suggests that consciousness disorders rely on a low-level processing deficit, when the second model suggests that consciousness disorders rely on disruption in the ability to consciously access information, with preserved unconscious processing. The current study aims to understand the mechanisms associated with visual consciousness disorder in order to pave the road that will settle the debate regarding these hypotheses. During a functional magnetic resonance imaging session, 19 healthy participants (HC) and 15 patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) performed a visual detection task to compare the neural substrates associated with the conscious access to the visual inputs. The visual detection threshold was significantly higher in SCZ than in HC [t(32) = 3.37, p = 0.002]. Whole-brain ANOVA demonstrated that around the visual detection threshold patients with SCZ failed to activate a large network of brain areas compared to HC. (1) During conscious vision, HC engaged more the left cuneus and the right occipital cortex than patients with SCZ, (2) during unconscious vision, HC engaged a large network that patients with SCZ failed to activate, and finally, (3) during the access to consciousness process, patients with SCZ failed to activate the anterior cingulate cortex. These results suggest that the consciousness disorders in schizophrenia rely on specific dysfunctions depending on the consciousness stage. The disorders of the conscious vision are associated with dysfunction of occipital areas while the ones associated with unconscious vision rely on a large widespread network. Finally, the conscious access to the visual inputs is impaired by a dysfunction of the anterior cingulate cortex. The current study suggests that none of the two suggested models can explain consciousness disorders in schizophrenia. We suggest that there is an alternative model supporting that the conscious access to visual inputs is due to a disengagement of the supragenual anterior cingulate during the unconscious processing of the visual inputs associated with a sensory deficit.

Coronary CT angiography derived features for predicting an abnormal pet myocardial perfusion imaging: a machine learning approach

Background

Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography (CTCA) is an effective non-invasive imaging modality for anatomo-functional assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). Machine learning (ML) algorithms allow extraction and process of useful information from multidimensional spaces for evaluation of coronary lesions.

Purpose

To investigate the ability of ML to integrate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) derived parameters with quantitative plaque burden, plaque morphology and anatomical characteristics for predicting impaired myocardial flow reserve by PET myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).

Methods

49 patients (29 male, mean age 65.3±6.3 years) with intermediate pre-test likelihood of CAD who underwent CTCA and PET-MPI were included. PET was considered positive when &gt;1 contiguous segment demonstrated Myocardial flow reserve (MFR) ≤2.5 mL/g/min for 15O-water or ≤2.0 for 13N-ammonia respectively. CDF derived parameters such as a previously validated CT-FFR surrogate, virtual functional assessment index (vFAI), segmental endothelial shear stress (ESS), as well as anatomical and plaque characteristics were assessed. k-nearest neighbor (k-NN), support vector machines (SVM) and feedforward neural networks (FF-NN) were implemented. ML was internally validated using 5-fold cross validation, repeated 100 times. Using sequential forward selection (SFS), the 5 highest rank features based on appearances in each classification scheme were selected and following exhaustive search (ES) the best features combinations were identified. Each classifier's performance was evaluated using an area-under-receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) analysis.

Results

85 coronary segments were analyzed and 28 features derived from CTCA were extracted. The features ranking for every classifier are depicted in Figure 1. k-NN using a combination only of ESS in the proximal (ESSprox) and distal segment achieved an AUC=0.78 (Sens=0.71, Spec=0.77, p&lt;0.05) for predicting a positive PET result. Combining ESSprox with burden fibrofatty tissue and non-calcified plaque burden, SVM achieved an AUC=0.75 (Sens=0.74, Spec=0.67, p&lt;0.05) whilst for FF-NN, the corresponding AUC was 0.79 (Sens=0.76, Spec=0.7, p&lt;0.05) using ESSprox, vFAI and % Fibrofatty volume. Among the best features combinations, ESSprox was the most consistent one achieving an AUC=0.75 (Sens=0.66, Spec=0.73, p&lt;0.05) for k-NN, AUC=0.73 (Sens=0.58, Spec=0.59, p&lt;0.05), for SVM and an AUC=0.73 (Sens=0.63, Spec=0.62, p&lt;0.05) for FF-NN respectively.

Conclusion

ML analysis is feasible for predicting abnormal MFR by PET using a combination of CFD derived parameters, anatomical and morphological features. ESSprox was present in every combination of best features. As a single characteristic was a moderate predictor of impaired MFR, whilst in combination with plaque characteristics and CFD derived features resulted in improved sensitivity and specificity.

Figure 1

Funding Acknowledgement

Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund-ESF) through the Operational Programme “Human, Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning 2014-2020” in the context of the project “Assessment of coronary atherosclerosis: a new complete, anatomo-functional, morphological and biomechanical approach” and from p-Med GR 5002802

[Risk of incarceration of persons undergoing psychiatric care. A retrospective longitudinal study on the French department of Oise using information from a psychiatric hospital discharge database]

INTRODUCTION

Compared to the general population, persons with mental disorders are overrepresented in prison. In a study carried out in Picardy (northern France) in 2017, a quarter of those entering prison had had contact with a psychiatric service prior to their incarceration. Since to our knowledge no work on this subject has been published in France, we conducted a retrospective study, the main objective of which was to propose an estimate measure of incarceration likelihood in people with mental disorders.

METHODS

Using data from a psychiatric hospital discharge database (Recueil d'informations médicalisé en psychiatrie, RimP), we searched for patients aged 18 and older who had received psychiatric care (except for those who were incarcerated at baseline) at the Oise psychiatric hospital in 2015-2016 and identified those who had also been registered by the psychiatric care tool (DSP) in liaison with the same hospital. As a marker of incarceration, registration was the event to be investigated. Survival analyses (Kaplan-Meier), first simple and then stratified by age, gender, past history, main diagnosis and intensity of care outside of prison were carried out to calculate likelihood of incarceration. A multivariate Cox model was used in order to identify the factors associated with incarceration.

RESULTS

Among the 25,029 patients monitored in the Oise psychiatric hospital in 2015-2016, 126 had experienced incarceration during the 12 months following their inclusion in the study, i.e. an incarceration probability of 0.45% (95 % confidence interval: 0.37-0.55%). The incarcerated patients were younger (36.6 years in average versus 44.7-Pt-test<0.0001), more often male (96.8% versus 43.7% - P<0.0001), and had a more frequent history of detention (11.1% versus 0.6% - P <0.0001) and psychiatric care (20.6% versus 10.1% - P<0.0001) than the general population. The probability of incarceration at 12 months for the population followed in the psychiatry unit was 3.2 times higher than the detention rate of the general population in Oise over the same period.

CONCLUSION

Our study confirms the pronouncedly high incarceration rate of people with mental disorders. Scheduled to begin in 2020, coding in the RimP of a single nationwide patient identifier for all the procedures and stays described will allow the generalized measurement by means of the proposed indicator throughout France.

Localization and steric effect of the lone electron pair of the tellurium Te4+ cation and other cations of the p-block elements. A systematic study

A simple method has been developed based on pure geometrical concepts to localize lone pairs (LPs) of cations of the p-block elements and model their steric effect. The method was applied to 1185 structures containing LP cations in 2439 non-equivalent positions. For oxide crystal structures, it is observed that, going from bottom left to top right in the periodic table, LPs move away from the cation core and decrease in size. For a given kind of cation M*, the LP radius increases linearly with the M*–LP distance, the smallest rate being observed for Tl+ and the largest for Cl5+. The influence of the anion type was also studied in the case of the Te4+ cation. Overall, the same trends were observed. The smallest Te–LP distances and LP radii are found for anions of large size and small charge.

GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 M_{⊙}

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85_{-14}^{+21}  M_{⊙} and 66_{-18}^{+17}  M_{⊙} (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65  M_{⊙}. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142_{-16}^{+28}  M_{⊙}, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3_{-2.6}^{+2.4}  Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82_{-0.34}^{+0.28}. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13_{-0.11}^{+0.30}  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}.