Intense eruptions of the Tonga volcano activated prominent traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs) at 04:05UT on 15 January 2022. Himawari‐8 satellite images depict that TADs of the tropospheric ...Lamb wavefront propagate with a speed of 315 m/s and arrive in Taiwan at 11:30UT. Networks of 98 barometers, 28 tide gauges, an ionosonde, and 10 magnetometers are used to study the responses of magnetic fields to TADs in Taiwan. The horizontal components in magnetic field changes of the Taiwan magnetometers all point toward and away from the Tonga volcano at 11:00–12:00UT upon the tropospheric Lamb wavefront arrival and at 22:00–23:00UT when the thermospheric Lamb wavefront with speeds of 487 m/s coming, respectively. Analyses of the raytracing and beamforming techniques on the horizontal components in magnetic field changes of 69 INTERMAGNET magnetometers show that both tropospheric and thermospheric Lamb waves efficiently activate traveling ionospheric disturbances and modify ionospheric currents of the globe.
Plain Language Summary
At 04:05UT on 15 January 2022, intense Tonga volcanic eruptions induce prominent atmospheric disturbances and tsunami waves. Himawari‐8 meteorological satellite images depict the induced upper‐level tropospheric disturbances with horizontal speeds of about 315 m/s at 8.2 km altitude in the Lamb wave mode travel worldwide. Upon the traveling atmospheric disturbances (TADs) of the tropospheric Lamb wavefront arriving in Taiwan at 11:30UT, 98 ground‐based barometers register increases and reach peaks at about 11:50UT in the atmospheric pressure; 28 tide gauges record enhancements and maximums of sea level fluctuations at about 14:30–17:30UT; and a local ionosonde observes that the ionosphere reaches the highest altitude at 14:30UT. The changes of the horizontal component of the Earth's magnetic fields measured by 10 Taiwan magnetometers almost all point exactly toward the Tonga volcano upon the tropospheric Lamb wavefront arrival at 11:00–12:00UT, and away from the volcano at 22:00–23:00UT, which suggests a 487 m/s TAD (or thermospheric Lamb wavefront) at about 130 km altitude also being activated. The horizontal components in magnetic field changes of 69 INTERMAGNET magnetometers show that both tropospheric and thermospheric Lamb waves triggered by Tonga volcanic eruptions are very powerful, and can induce intense dynamo currents and electric fields on the globe.
Key Points
Tropospheric and thermospheric Lamb waves of the Tonga volcanic eruption activate dynamo currents and electric fields
Traveling atmospheric disturbances of the Tonga volcanic eruption significantly uplift the ionosphere
Tropospheric Lamb waves of the Tonga volcanic eruption modulate ground‐based air pressures and sea levels
The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) attempts to address the possibility of the presence of technological civilizations beyond the Earth. Benefiting from high sensitivity, large sky ...coverage, and an innovative feed cabin for China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), we performed SETI's first observations with FAST's newly commissioned 19 beam receiver; we report preliminary results in this paper. Using the data stream produced by the SERENDIP VI real-time multibeam SETI spectrometer installed at FAST, as well as its off-line data processing pipelines, we identify and remove four kinds of radio frequency interference (RFI): zone, broadband, multibeam, and drifting, utilizing the Nebula SETI software pipeline combined with machine-learning algorithms. After RFI mitigation, the Nebula pipeline identifies and ranks interesting narrowband candidate ET signals, scoring candidates by the number of times candidate signals have been seen at roughly the same sky position and same frequency, signal strength, proximity to a nearby star or object of interest, along with several other scoring criteria. We show four example candidate groups that demonstrate this RFI mitigation and candidate selection. This preliminary testing on FAST data helps to validate our SETI instrumentation techniques as well as our data processing pipeline.
Background
Inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) is a group of irreversible retinal degenerative disorders with significant genotypic and phenotypic heterogeneity, which cause difficulty in making a ...precise clinical diagnosis. Furthermore, the mutation spectrum of IRD in Taiwan remains unknown. Therefore, our study focused on investigating the spectrum of mutations among Taiwanese families with IRD using targeted exome sequencing (TES) technology.
Methods
We recruited a total of 60 unrelated Taiwanese families with IRD; most of them were retinitis pigmentosa. We employed TES to investigate 284 candidate genes. Bioinformatics analysis, Sanger sequencing‐based co‐segregation testing, and computational assessment were performed to validate each mutation and its pathogenicity. The genotype‐phenotype correlation was analysed in all patients with mutations defined in the guidelines provided by the American College of Medical Genetics.
Results
We successfully identified genetic causes in 32 families (detection rate of 53.3%). Among them, 16 had a sporadic inheritance (16/36, 44.4%); eight had an autosomal recessive inheritance (8/14, 57.1%); four had an autosomal dominant inheritance (4/5, 80%); four had an X‐linked inheritance (4/5, 80%). Among 38 pathological mutations in 19 known genes, 20 mutations are reported here for the first time. Novel mutation spectrum and genotype‐phenotype correlations were revealed as well.
Conclusion
Here we achieved a detection rate of 53.3% and elucidated the mutation spectrum in Taiwanese families with IRD for the first time. The results indicated that CYP4V2 and USH2A might be the most common pathogenic genes in IRD patients in Taiwan.
Current blood-based approach for gout diagnosis can be of low sensitivity and hysteretic. Here via a 68-member cohort of 33 healthy and 35 diseased individuals, we reported that the intestinal ...microbiota of gout patients are highly distinct from healthy individuals in both organismal and functional structures. In gout, Bacteroides caccae and Bacteroides xylanisolvens are enriched yet Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum depleted. The established reference microbial gene catalogue for gout revealed disorder in purine degradation and butyric acid biosynthesis in gout patients. In an additional 15-member validation-group, a diagnosis model via 17 gout-associated bacteria reached 88.9% accuracy, higher than the blood-uric-acid based approach. Intestinal microbiota of gout are more similar to those of type-2 diabetes than to liver cirrhosis, whereas depletion of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and reduced butyrate biosynthesis are shared in each of the metabolic syndromes. Thus the Microbial Index of Gout was proposed as a novel, sensitive and non-invasive strategy for diagnosing gout via fecal microbiota.
We aimed to develop and validate a risk score to aid in the early identification of laboratory-confirmed dengue patients at high risk of severe dengue (SD) (i.e. severe plasma leakage with shock or ...respiratory distress, or severe bleeding or organ impairment). We retrospectively analyzed data of 1184 non-SD patients at hospital presentation and 69 SD patients before SD onset. We fit a logistic regression model using 85% of the population and converted the model coefficients to a numeric risk score. Subsequently, we validated the score using the remaining 15% of patients. Using the derivation cohort, two scoring algorithms for predicting SD were developed: models 1 (dengue illness ≤4 days) and 2 (dengue illness >4 days). In model 1, we identified four variables: age ≥65 years, minor gastrointestinal bleeding, leukocytosis, and platelet count ≥100×10(9) cells/L. Model 1 (ranging from -2 to +6 points) showed good discrimination between SD and non-SD, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.848 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.771-0.924). The optimal cutoff value for model 1 was 1 point, with a sensitivity and specificity for predicting SD of 70.3% and 90.6%, respectively. In model 2 (ranging from 0 to +3 points), significant predictors were age ≥65 years and leukocytosis. Model 2 showed an AUC of 0.859 (95% CI, 0.756-0.963), with an optimal cutoff value of 1 point (sensitivity, 80.3%; specificity, 85.8%). The median interval from hospital presentation to SD was 1 day. This finding underscores the importance of close monitoring, timely resuscitation of shock including intravenous fluid adjustment and early correction of dengue-related complications to prevent the progressive dengue severity. In the validation data, AUCs of 0.904 (95% CI, 0.825-0.983) and 0.917 (95% CI, 0.833-1.0) in models 1 and 2, respectively, were achieved. The observed SD rates (in both cohorts) were <3% for patients with a score <1 point, but >50% for those with a score of ≥2 points, irrespective of the day of illness onset, suggesting that our simple risk score can be easily implemented in resource-limited countries for early prediction of dengue patients at risk of SD provided that they have rapid dengue confirmed tests. For patients with other acute febrile illnesses or bacterial infections usually have SD risk score of >1. Thus, these scoring algorithms cannot totally replace good clinical judgement of the physician, and most importantly, early differentiating dengue from other febrile illnesses is critical for appropriate monitoring and management.
To examine the association of postpartum depression (PPD) with maternal suicide in the Taiwanese population.
We examined the medical records of women aged 18-50 years who experienced childbirth and ...had PPD (the study cohort,
= 2882), who experienced childbirth but did not have PPD (comparison cohort 1,
= 5764), and who neither experienced childbirth nor had PPD (comparison cohort 2,
= 5764) between 2000 and 2015. The patients were followed up until suicide, withdrawal from the National Health Insurance program, or 31 December 2015.
The rates of anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as the cumulative risk of suicide, were significantly higher in the study cohort. PPD was significantly correlated with an increased risk of maternal suicide and was associated with a greater risk of developing comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and stroke. The comparison cohorts did not differ significantly in terms of suicide risk.
PPD was associated with a significantly higher rate of suicide and a shorter time to suicide after childbirth. Younger age, winter, and subclinical depression and anxiety positively predicted suicide in the study cohort. To prevent maternal suicide, clinicians should be observant of subclinical depression and anxiety symptoms among patients.
Macrophages are characterized by phenotypical and functional heterogeneity. In different microenvironments, macrophages can polarize into two types: classically activated macrophages (M1) or ...alternatively activated macrophages (M2). M1 macrophages are a well-known bacteriostatic macrophage, and conversely, M2 macrophages may play an important role in tumor growth and tissue remodeling. M1 macrophages have been reported to have high intracellular iron stores, while M2 macrophages contain lower intracellular iron. It has been well-described that disturbances of iron homeostasis are associated with altered immune function. Thus, it is important to investigate if chronic iron overload is capable of polarizing macrophages. Human monocytic leukemia THP-1 cells were maintained in culture medium that contained 100 μM ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO
4
) (I-THP-1) and differentiated into THP-1-derived macrophages (I-TDMs) by induction with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). We characterized that I-TDMs not only enhanced the surface expression of CD163 and CD206 but also increased arginase and decreased iNOS protein expression. I-TDMs enhanced pSTAT6 expression and decreased pSTAT1 and NF-κB expressions. Furthermore, the gene expression profile of I-TDMs was comparable with M2 macrophages by performing human oligonucleotide DNA microarray analysis. Finally, functional assays demonstrated I-TDMs secreted higher levels of IL-10 but not M1 cytokines. Additionally, the conditional medium of I-TDMs had enhanced migration and increased invasion of A375 melanoma cells which was similar to the characteristics of tumor-associated macrophages. Taken together, we demonstrated that THP-1-derived macrophages polarized to a phenotype of M2-like characteristics when subjected to chronic iron overload.
Research productivity has been a critical issue in terms of academic development in higher education. In this study, we adopt a life-course perspective to examine the personal factors, mostly ...age-related, affecting research productivity in a Taiwanese research-oriented university. Covering a time series of 20 years, our dataset includes individual research performance of faculty and other relevant covariates over their life course. The growth curve model designed for multilevel modeling of repeated measures is applied to capture the age effect. Our analysis contributes to the thread of this literature in several dimensions. First, the faculty's early academic achievement is positively associated with their later performance providing support for the cumulative advantage theory. Unlike the prediction of the utility maximizing theory, faculty with an administrative position leads to higher productivity. Finally, reinforcement still plays a critical role in regulating the productivity for non-early promising faculty.
This study investigated indicatory metals in the filterable (FPM2.5) and condensable (CPM) particulate matter emitted from six different types of stationary stacks (based on fuels and raw materials, ...n = 33), namely, coal boiler (COL), heavy oil boiler (HOL), wood boiler (WOD), diesel boiler (DSL), natural gas boiler (NGS), and incinerator (INR). FPM2.5 and CPM samples were collected following U.S. EPA Method 201A and Method 202, respectively. The samples were analyzed for mass concentrations and metal compositions. Results showed that the concentration of CPM was higher than that of the FPM2.5 for all types of stacks except WOD. Comparability analysis of FPM2.5, CPM, and TPM2.5 (FPM2.5 + CPM) metal profiles assessed by using the coefficient of divergence (COD) showed a heterogeneous (COD = 0.32–0.99) relationship among six groups of emission stacks. However, FPM2.5, CPM, and TPM2.5 metal profiles within a group of stack revealed homogeneous (COD = 0.19) to heterogeneous (COD = 0.79) relations. Indicatory metals for COL were found to be Ca, Ba, V (FPM2.5), Se, Cd, and Co (CPM) and V, Se, and Co (TPM2.5). Similarly, indicatory metals for HOL included Ca, V, Ni (FPM2.5), V, Se, and Cd (CPM) and V, Co, and As (TPM2.5). Ca, Ni, Ba (FPM2.5), Se, V, and Cd (CPM) and V, Cd, and As (TPM2.5) were recognized as indicatory metals for WOD boilers. Similarly, K and Ca were found to be indicatory metals for DSL, NGS, and INR. The indicatory metals for different emission sources and for different particle fractions (FPM2.5 and CPM) reflect the differences in fuel types, combustion temperatures, and particle formation mechanisms. The results of the present study are expected to provide valuable information for source apportionment modeling and to better assess the contributions of the aforementioned emission sources to the ambient concentrations of PM2.5 and metal elements.
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