•Bitumen mastics considering different mineral fillers were experimentally investigated.•The characterization of nine fillers was performed.•The properties of varying bitumen mastics were ...evaluated.•The anti-cracking property of asphalt mixtures was estimated.
The bitumen mastic composed of bitumen binder and fillers contributes to asphalt mixtures' anti-moisture and anti-cracking properties. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate the properties of bitumen mastic and its corresponding influence factors. This study performed an investigation on bitumen mastics considering different mineral fillers. In particular, nine fillers were characterized in particle size distribution, chemical compositions, and microstructures. The binder bonding strength (BBS) was used to evaluate the properties of varying bitumen mastics. The moisture resistance was estimated by measuring the bitumen mastics after moisture treatments. In addition, the asphalt mixtures with optimal filler binder ratio were manufactured for the anti-cracking estimation. The results indicated that the variation of mineral fillers induced the property differences of bitumen mastics. However, the deterministic factor was the filler binder ratio. The microstructure of fillers showed an explicit relationship with the bonding strength of bitumen mastics. The relationships between bonding strength and cracking indicators were weak, indicating a remarkable gap to upscale from bitumen mastics to asphalt mixtures. In addition, the correlation analysis also demonstrated that the cracking resistance of asphalt mixtures behaved indicator-dependent.
Primary cilia are microtubule-based membrane projections located at the surface of many cells. Defects in primary cilia formation have been implicated in a number of genetic disorders, such as ...Bardet-Biedl Syndrome and Polycystic Kidney Disease. Recent studies have demonstrated that polarized vesicular transport involving Rab8 and its guanine nucleotide-exchange factor Rabin8 is essential for primary ciliogenesis. Here we report that Rabin8 is a direct downstream effector of Rab11, which functions in membrane trafficking from the trans-Golgi network and recycling endosomes. Rab11, in its GTP-bound form, interacts with Rabin8 and kinetically stimulates the guanine nucleotide-exchange activity of Rabin8 toward Rab8. Rab11 is enriched at the base of the primary cilia and inhibition of Rab11 function by a dominant-negative mutant or RNA interference blocks primary ciliogenesis. Our results suggest that Rab GTPases coordinate with each other in the regulation of vesicular trafficking during primary ciliogenesis.
•The primary finding of this analysis is that quality of life improved after virtual reality-based exercise in older adults aged 60 years or over.•Virtual reality-based exercise caused improvements ...in depressive symptoms in older adults.•Some of the balance tests revealed significant improvement following virtual reality-based exercise.
The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of virtual reality-based exercise on the quality of life, some balance variables, and depression among older adults aged 60 years or older.
We systematically searched five electronic databases.
Twenty-seven articles met our inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis revealed that exercise using virtual reality had a significant positive effect on overall quality of life (p = 0.05), mental (p = 0.001) and physical component scores (p = 0.01), social relation (p = 0.0002), psychological health(p = 0.01), physical health(p = 0.04), and environmental health (p = 0.04). Additionally, depression significantly improved following virtual reality-based exercise (p = 0.01). However, there were significant improvements in the balance berg scale (p<0.00001) and ABC scale (p<0.00001) but not in timed-up-and-go(TUG) or 8-foot-up-and-go(8-FUG).
Virtual reality-based exercise has a positive impact on various aspects of quality of life, BBS and ABC scores, and depression. More studies with larger sample sizes and less heterogeneity in design and assessments are required.
Construction workers' posture-related data is closely connected with their safety, health, and productivity performance. The importance of posture-related data has drawn the attention of researchers ...in construction management and other fields. Accordingly, many data collection methods have been developed and applied to collect posture-related data. Despite the importance of workers' posture-related data, there lacks a review of previous data collection methods in the construction industry. This paper fills the research gap by reviewing previous methods to collect posture-related data for construction workers via 1) summarizing working principles and applications of posture-related data collection in construction management, which demonstrates the extensive use of motion sensors and Red-Green-Blue (RGB) cameras in posture-related data collection, 2) comparing the above methods based on data quality and feasibility on construction sites, which reveals the reason why motion sensors and RGB cameras have been prevalent in previous studies, 3) revealing research gaps of posture-related data collection tools and applications, and providing possible future research directions.
•Pose-related data collection methods in construction were compared based on data quality and applicability.•The review demonstrated the extensive use of motion sensors and RGB cameras and revealed the reasons.•Research gaps of pose-related data collection tools and applications were revealed.•Possible future research directions were suggested.
•Spin-transfer torque (STT) oscillator with synthetic antiferromagnet (SAF) acting as a free magnetic layer is studied.•Bloch-Bloembergen-Slonczewski equation is adopted to study short-wavelength ...magnon excitation.•High frequency up to the terahertz (THz) scale is predicted in SAF STT oscillator.•Requirements and difficulties to achieve THz oscillation are discussed.
Bloch-Bloembergen-Slonczewski equation is adopted to simulate magnetization dynamics in spin-valve based spin-transfer torque oscillator with synthetic antiferromagnet acting as a free magnetic layer. High frequency up to the terahertz scale is predicted in synthetic antiferromagnet spin-transfer torque oscillator with no external magnetic field if the following requirements are fulfilled: antiferromagnetic coupling between synthetic antiferromagnetic layers is sufficiently strong, and the thickness of top (bottom) layer of synthetic antiferromagnet is sufficiently thick (thin) to achieve a wide current density window and frequency window. Additionally, the transverse relaxation time of the free magnetic layer should be sufficiently larger compared with the longitudinal relaxation time. Otherwise, stable oscillation cannot be sustained or scenarios similar to regular spin valve-based spin-transfer torque oscillator with relatively low frequency will occur. Our calculations pave a new way for exploring THz spintronics devices.
It remains uncertain whether there is a causal association of the use of beta-blockers (BBs) on lung cancer risk. We used a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to identify the causal ...association of BBs and lung cancer risk.
Twenty-two BB-related single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were obtained from the UK Biobank as the instrumental variables (IVs). Genetic summary data information of lung cancer was extracted from the International Lung Cancer Consortium, with a total of 11,348 cases and 15,861 controls. We adopted the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) approach to conduct the MR analyses. Egger-intercept analysis was further performed as sensitivity analysis for pleiotropy evaluation. Additionally, we investigated whether BBs could causally affect the risk of lung cancer through their pharmacological effects.
The current IVW analysis suggested a decreased lung cancer risk in BB users odds ratio (OR) =0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-0.95; P<0.01. Results of Egger-intercept analysis demonstrated that no pleiotropy was found (P=0.94), which suggested the robustness of the causality. However, there was little evidence that pharmacological effects mediate the association between BBs and lung cancer.
The current analysis suggested that BBs could decrease the risk of lung cancer but may be not via its pharmacological effects. Further research is in need for elucidating the underlying mechanisms.
Bardet‐Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an emblematic ciliopathy associated with retinal dystrophy, obesity, postaxial polydactyly, learning disabilities, hypogonadism and renal dysfunction. Before birth, ...enlarged/cystic kidneys as well as polydactyly are the hallmark signs of BBS to consider in absence of familial history. However, these findings are not specific to BBS, raising the problem of differential diagnoses and prognosis. Molecular diagnosis during pregnancies remains a timely challenge for this heterogeneous disease (22 known genes). We report here the largest cohort of BBS fetuses to better characterize the antenatal presentation. Prenatal ultrasound (US) and/or autopsy data from 74 fetuses with putative BBS diagnosis were collected out of which molecular diagnosis was established in 51 cases, mainly in BBS genes (45 cases) following the classical gene distribution, but also in other ciliopathy genes (6 cases). Based on this, an updated diagnostic decision tree is proposed. No genotype/phenotype correlation could be established but postaxial polydactyly (82%) and renal cysts (78%) were the most prevalent symptoms. However, autopsy revealed polydactyly that was missed by prenatal US in 55% of the cases. Polydactyly must be carefully looked for in pregnancies with apparently isolated renal anomalies in fetuses.
A, Fraction of BBS genes involved in our cohort of 45 fetuses with a Bardet‐Biedl syndrome. B, BBS decision tree for the identification of disease‐causing variations in BBS patients.
The purple sulfur bacterium
BBS is interesting from both fundamental and practical points of view. It possesses a thermostable HydSL hydrogenase, which is involved in the reaction of reversible ...hydrogen activation and a unique reaction of sulfur reduction to hydrogen sulfide. It is a very promising enzyme for enzymatic hydrogenase electrodes. There are speculations that HydSL hydrogenase of purple bacteria is closely related to sulfur metabolism, but confirmation is required. For that, the full genome sequence is necessary. Here, we sequenced and assembled the complete genome of this bacterium. The analysis of the obtained whole genome, through an integrative approach that comprised estimating the Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) parameters, allowed for validation of the systematic position of
as
BBS. For the first time, we have assembled the whole genome of this typical strain of a new bacterial species and carried out its functional description against another purple sulfur bacterium:
DSM 180T. We refined the automatic annotation of the whole genome of the bacteria
BBS and localized the genomic positions of several studied genes, including those involved in sulfur metabolism and genes encoding the enzymes required for the TCA and glyoxylate cycles and other central metabolic pathways. Eleven additional genes coding proteins involved in pigment biosynthesis was found.
Renal cystic disease encompasses a large variety of illnesses with various phenotypic expressions that can manifest in utero, in infancy, and in childhood. These diseases may be unilateral or ...bilateral and present with single or multiple cysts. Various cystic diseases may also progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD), including kidney failure, and hepatic disease, thus potentially being life threatening. The prevalence and serious complications of CKD in the pediatric population make it vital that health care providers detect these conditions early and provide effective management. This installment of AJKD’s Core Curriculum in Nephrology discusses various genetic and sporadic kidney cystic diseases, including multicystic dysplastic kidney, nephronophthisis, cystic dysplasia, hepatocyte nuclear factor 1-β (HNF1-β) nephropathy, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, Meckel-Gruber syndrome, Zellweger syndrome, calyceal diverticulum, autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD), and autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). This article discusses the epidemiology, genetics and pathophysiology, diagnosis, presentation, and management for each of these renal cystic diseases, with particular attention to prenatal care and pregnancy counseling.
Datasets that monitor biodiversity capture information differently depending on their design, which influences observer behavior and can lead to biases across observations and species. Combining ...different datasets can improve our ability to identify and understand threats to biodiversity, but this requires an understanding of the observation bias in each. Two datasets widely used to monitor bird populations exemplify these general concerns: eBird is a citizen science project with high spatiotemporal resolution but variation in distribution, effort, and observers, whereas the Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is a structured survey of specific locations over time. Analyses using these two datasets can identify contradictory population trends. To understand these discrepancies and facilitate data fusion, we quantify species‐level reporting differences across eBird and the BBS in three regions across the United States by jointly modeling bird abundances using data from both datasets. First, we fit a joint Species Distribution Model that accounts for environmental conditions and effort to identify reporting differences across the datasets. We then examine how these differences in reporting are related to species traits. Finally, we analyze species reported to one dataset but not the other and determine whether traits differ between reported and unreported species. We find that most species are reported more in the BBS than eBird. Specifically, we find that compared to eBird, BBS observers tend to report higher counts of common species and species that are usually detected by sound. We also find that species associated with water are reported less in the BBS. Species typically identified by sound are reported more at sunrise than later in the morning. Our results quantify reporting differences in eBird and the BBS to enhance our understanding of how each captures information and how they should be used. The reporting rates we identify can also be incorporated into observation models through detectability or effort to improve analyses across species and datasets. The method demonstrated here can be used to compare reporting rates across any two or more datasets to examine biases.
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