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Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which occurs in ∼50% of total pregnancies is a frequent obstetric complication. Among the several hypotheses, insulin resistance (IR), obesity and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) play significant role/s in RPL. This study was conducted to assess the link between elevated levels of homocysteine and IR in PCOS-associated women with RPL in Kolkata, India. A retrospective study was conducted of one hundred and twenty six PCOS women (<30 years) who experienced two or more spontaneous abortions during the first trimester presenting to Institute of Reproductive Medicine (IRM) in Kolkata during the period of March 2008 through February 2011. One hundred and seventeen non-PCOS subjects with matching age range were randomly chosen as controls. Incidence of HHcy and IR was 70.63% (n = 89) and 56.34% (n = 71), respectively, in RPL-affected PCOS population which was significantly higher (p<0.04; p<0.0001) when compared to the non-PCOS set (HHcy: 57.26%; IR: 6.83%). Rates of miscarriage were significantly higher (p<0.008; p<0.03) in hyperhomocysteinemia-induced miscarriage when compared to the normohomocysteinemic segment (PCOS: 70.63% vs.29.36% & non-PCOS: 57.26% vs. 42.73%) along with the insulin resistant (p<0.04; p<0.0001) population (PCOS: 70.63% vs. 56.34% & non-PCOS: 57.26% vs. 6.83%) in both groups. A probabilistic causal model evaluated HHcy as the strongest plausible factor for diagnosis of RPL. A probability percentage of 43.32% in the cases of HHcy- mediated RPL suggests its increased tendency when compared to IR mediated miscarriage (37.29%), further supported by ROC-AUC (HHcy: 0.778vs. IR: 0.601) values. Greater susceptibility towards HHcy may increase the incidence for miscarriage in women in India and highlights the need to combat the condition in RPL control programs in the subcontinent.

Thermokarst is the process whereby the thawing of ice-rich permafrost ground causes land subsidence, resulting in development of distinctive landforms. Accelerated thermokarst due to climate change will damage infrastructure, but also impact hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry. Here, we present a circumpolar assessment of the distribution of thermokarst landscapes, defined as landscapes comprised of current thermokarst landforms and areas susceptible to future thermokarst development. At 3.6 × 10 6 km 2 , thermokarst landscapes are estimated to cover ∼20% of the northern permafrost region, with approximately equal contributions from three landscape types where characteristic wetland, lake and hillslope thermokarst landforms occur. We estimate that approximately half of the below-ground organic carbon within the study region is stored in thermokarst landscapes. Our results highlight the importance of explicitly considering thermokarst when assessing impacts of climate change, including future landscape greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a means for assessing such impacts at the circumpolar scale. In thermokarst landscapes, permafrost thaw causes land subsidence with impacts on hydrology, ecology and biogeochemistry. Here, Olefeldt et al . produce circumpolar maps of thermokarst distribution, identifying that they cover 20% of the northern permafrost region, but store half the below-ground organic carbon.

Circuit quantum electrodynamics has proven to be a powerful tool to probe mesoscopic effects in hybrid systems and is used in several quantum computing (QC) proposals that require a transmon qubit able to operate in strong magnetic fields. To address this we integrate monolayer graphene Josephson junctions into microwave frequency superconducting circuits to create graphene based transmons. Using dispersive microwave spectroscopy we resolve graphene’s characteristic band dispersion and observe coherent electronic interference effects confirming the ballistic nature of our graphene Josephson junctions. We show that the monoatomic thickness of graphene renders the device insensitive to an applied magnetic field, allowing us to perform energy level spectroscopy of the circuit in a parallel magnetic field of 1 T, an order of magnitude higher than previous studies. These results establish graphene based superconducting circuits as a promising platform for QC and the study of mesoscopic quantum effects that appear in strong magnetic fields. A transmon qubit insensitive to magnetic fields is a crucial element in topological quantum computing. Here, Kroll et al. create graphene transmons by integrating monolayer graphene Josephson junctions into microwave frequency superconducting circuits, allowing them to operate in a parallel magnetic field of 1 T.

Sclerotinia stem rot is an economically important disease of canola (Brassica napus) and is caused by the fungal pathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum. This study evaluated the differential gene expression patterns of S. sclerotiorum during disease development on two canola lines differing in susceptibility to this pathogen. Sequencing of the mRNA libraries derived from inoculated petioles and mycelium grown on liquid medium generated approximately 164 million Illumina reads, including 95 million 75-bp-single reads, and 69 million 50-bp-paired end reads. Overall, 36% of the quality filter-passed reads were mapped to the S. sclerotiorum reference genome. On the susceptible line, 1301 and 1214 S. sclerotiorum genes were differentially expressed at early (8-16 hours post inoculation (hpi)) and late (24-48 hpi) infection stages, respectively, while on the resistant line, 1311 and 1335 genes were differentially expressed at these stages, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) categories associated with cell wall degradation, detoxification of host metabolites, peroxisome related activities like fatty acid ß-oxidation, glyoxylate cycle, oxidoreductase activity were significantly enriched in the up-regulated gene sets on both susceptible and resistant lines. Quantitative RT-PCR of six selected DEGs further validated the RNA-seq differential gene expression analysis. The regulation of effector genes involved in host defense suppression or evasion during the early infection stage, and the expression of effectors involved in host cell death in the late stage of infection provide supporting evidence for a two-phase infection model involving a brief biotrophic phase during early stages of infection. The findings from this study emphasize the role of peroxisome related pathways along with cell wall degradation and detoxification of host metabolites as the key mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of S. sclerotiorum on B. napus.

Heterostructures of graphene and a superconducting metal allow Josephson junctions to be studied in a regime characterized by ballistic transport. Hybrid graphene–superconductor devices have attracted much attention since the early days of graphene research 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 . So far, these studies have been limited to the case of diffusive transport through graphene with poorly defined and modest-quality graphene/superconductor interfaces, usually combined with small critical magnetic fields of the superconducting electrodes. Here, we report graphene-based Josephson junctions with one-dimensional edge contacts 19 of molybdenum rhenium. The contacts exhibit a well-defined, transparent interface to the graphene, have a critical magnetic field of 8 T at 4 K, and the graphene has a high quality due to its encapsulation in hexagonal boron nitride 19 , 20 . This allows us to study and exploit graphene Josephson junctions in a new regime, characterized by ballistic transport. We find that the critical current oscillates with the carrier density due to phase-coherent interference of the electrons and holes that carry the supercurrent caused by the formation of a Fabry–Pérot cavity. Furthermore, relatively large supercurrents are observed over unprecedented long distances of up to 1.5 μm. Finally, in the quantum Hall regime we observe broken symmetry states while the contacts remain superconducting. These achievements open up new avenues to exploit the Dirac nature of graphene in interaction with the superconducting state.

Background: Semantic-based treatment is the salient approach used to remediate word retrieval deficits in persons with aphasia (PWAs). It is deemed to improve semantic attributes around the target word, thus aids in restoring word retrieval abilities. Hence, the present study has developed a semantic-based therapy named semantic cueing of verbs and its thematic role (SCVTr). Also, this therapy uses verbs as a core element accompanied by graded levels of semantic cues. Aim: The current study Semantic Cueing of Verbs and its Thematic role (SCVTr) aimed to evaluate the effect of word retrieval abilities in PWAs. Methods and Procedure: Three participants (n = 3) with aphasia were recruited for the study. All the participants in the study received SCVTr therapy, and the responses were analyzed at three distinct time points. That is pre-therapy assessment (before initiation of therapy), mid-therapy assessment (10th session), and post-therapy assessment (20th session). Nouns, verbs, and discourse abilities of PWAs were evaluated using standardized test batteries. Outcomes and Results: The study results have discerned positive gains across trained conditions and discourse genres across all the participants. However, participants exhibited marginal gains with untrained stimuli. In addition, SCVTr therapy aids in modifying the error pattern exhibited by PWAs. Concurrently, researchers noted that all participants showed ameliorated performance on the standardized language test batteries during post-therapy evaluation. Conclusions: SCVTr therapy has found to be effective in remediating word retrieval deficits in PWAs. This study extends the knowledge about strengthening the semantic network associated with the target word and its effect on generalization.

Background & objectives: Cognitive and other neurodegenerative conditions related to ageing have become public health priorities in low- and middle-income countries. However, contextually based, applied research to support the development of awareness, diagnosis and care pathways for people with dementia in South Asia is still largely undeveloped. This study was aimed to use applied research studies for dementia in South Asia as exemplars of how individual-level capacity and capability building for dementia research can be achieved. Methods: Using Theory of Change as a framework, we embedded capacity and capability building into the studies through six domains: people (human resources), research integrity and governance, study delivery skills, international collaborative working, patient and public involvement (PPI) (awareness raising, stigma and health literacy) and development of 'pathways'. For each aspect, development goals were defined and how they would be achieved. Results: New principal investigators, research assistants (including outcome raters), study coordinators and intervention practitioners were trained across eight study sites in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, for dementia research. Training was delivered at study start, and through booster sessions, using workshops, face-to-face sessions, online training and video-link sessions. International collaborations were fostered, leading to a proposal for international funding. Each study site co-created PPI events to raise awareness and to inform the research. The recruitment pathways and study logistics fostered the development dementia diagnosis and care pathways. Interpretation & conclusions: Embedding capacity and capability building in applied dementia research in South Asia fosters the sustainability of dementia research, which is essential in developing diagnostic and care pathways.

Background Cancer affects mental health in older adults with cancer (OAC), affecting almost 50% of the patients. There are only a few studies on psychiatric disorders in OAC, especially in low resource settings. We report on our real-world experience of prevalence of and factors associated with psychiatric disorders in OAC referred to a psycho-oncology service in an Indian tertiary care cancer institute. Methods We retrospectively analysed medical and psycho-oncology records of patients aged 60 + on cancer-directed treatment or follow-up for < 2 years after treatment completion, referred to psycho-oncology services in a tertiary care cancer centre in Mumbai, India, from Jan 2011-Dec 2017. We recorded sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment-related variables, as well as past psychiatric disorders. The ICD-10 was used to record current psychiatric disorder type and presence. IBM SPSS version 24 (Armonk, NY, USA) was used for descriptive measures, tests of association, and logistic regression analysis. The study protocol was approved by Institutional Ethics Committee and registered with the Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2020/06/026095). Results Of 763 patients included in the study, 475 (62.3%) were males and 436 (57.1%) were inpatients, with a median age of 65 years. 93% of the patients had a solid tumour and 207 (27.1%) had a history of psychiatric disorder. A current psychiatric diagnosis was noted in 556 patients (72.9%) on initial presentation, of which adjustment disorders, delirium and depression and anxiety disorders were most frequently seen in 25.2%, 21% and 11.1%, respectively. On univariate analysis, a past history of psychiatric disorders (χ2 = 34.6, p  < 0.001), lower performance status (χ2 = 9.9, p  = 0.002) and haematolymphoid malignancy (χ2 = 4.08, p  = 0.04) significantly increased the risk of current psychiatric diagnosis. Logistic regression confirmed these variables as significant. Conclusion Older adults with cancer referred to psycho-oncology services have high rates of psychiatric disorders at their initial presentation, mainly adjustment disorders, delirium and depression and anxiety. A past history of psychiatric disorders, lower performance status and haematolymphoid cancers significantly increased the risk of psychiatric disorders. Multidisciplinary psycho-oncology teams including a psychiatrist should be integrated in comprehensive care of this group of patients. Further research outcomes and effect of psycho-oncological interventions is required in older adults with cancer in LMIC settings.

There have been a number of studies on the effect of bolus volume, consistency, texture, temperature and taste on the oropharyngeal swallowing physiology. However, its influence on the respiratory function associated with swallow is not well understood. This study aimed at systematically analysing and documenting the prevailing research literature on respiratory functions before, during, and after healthy swallows of boluses with varied characteristics. The PRISMA guidelines were followed for retrieval of relevant research. From among the 48,329 reports screened for inclusion criteria, 25 articles were included for data extraction. Each of these reports was evaluated for its design, methodology and reporting quality and also the level of evidence provided by them. The results revealed that the scientific evidence in this regard was restricted to level II. Majority of the studies included considered bolus volume as the variable than bolus consistency, taste or temperature. Expiratory phase was preferred surrounding the apnea irrespective of volume, consistency or taste but changed with temperature variations across age groups. The reports are equivocal on the duration of respiratory apnea, and length of respiratory cycles before and after the apnea. The temporal coordination of pharyngeal swallow events was found to be independent of bolus volume. This review concluded that bolus characteristics have differential effects on the respiratory functions during swallow beyond a ‘central sensory threshold’ level. Objective standardization of bolus characteristics may be the immediate requirement for generalization of future research findings in this direction.