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Correction for 'Novel germanene-arsenene and germanene-antimonene lateral heterostructures: interline-dependent electronic and magnetic properties' by Chu Viet Ha et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2023, 25, 14502-14510, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3cp00828b.

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BACKGROUND: Recreational water activities at beaches are popular among Canadians. However, these activities can increase the risk of recreational water illnesses (RWI) among beachgoers. Few studies have been conducted in Canada to determine the risk of these illnesses. This protocol describes the methodology for a study to determine the risk and burden of RWI due to exposure to fecal pollution at beaches in Canada. METHODS: This study will use a mixed-methods approach, consisting of a prospective cohort study of beachgoers with embedded qualitative research. The cohort study involves recruiting and enrolling participants at public beaches across Canada, ascertaining their water and sand contact exposure status, then following-up after seven days to determine the incidence of acute RWI outcomes. We will test beach water samples each recruitment day for culture-based E. coli, enterococci using rapid molecular methods, and microbial source tracking biomarkers. The study started in 2023 and will continue to 2025 at beaches in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. The target enrollment is 5000 beachgoers. Multilevel logistic regression models will be fitted to examine the relationships between water and sand contact and RWI among beachgoers. We will also examine differences in risks by beachgoer age, gender, and beach location and the influence of fecal indicator bacteria and other water quality parameters on these relationships. Sensitivity analyses will be conducted to examine the impact of various alternative exposure and outcome definitions on these associations. The qualitative research phase will include focus groups with beachgoers and key informant interviews to provide additional contextual insights into the study findings. The study will use an integrated knowledge translation approach. DISCUSSION: Initial implementation of the study at two Toronto, Ontario, beaches in 2023 confirmed that recruitment is feasible and that a high completion rate (80%) can be achieved for the follow-up survey. While recall bias could be a concern for the self-reported RWI outcomes, we will examine the impact of this bias in a negative control analysis. Study findings will inform future recreational water quality guidelines, policies, and risk communication strategies in Canada.

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This study was developed to evaluate the removal potential of ibuprofen, naproxen and 17-ß-estradiol in artificial wetlands constructed on a laboratory scale, using eight experimental devices planted with L. octovalvis species, tested with gravel substrate and without gravel substrate, which were fortified with synthetic mixtures at concentrations of 1, 2 and 5 mg/L of the three compounds, during a batch exposure time of nine days. The removal efficiency for 17-ß-estradiol was 94.5 ± 2.47%, followed by ibuprofen 94.03 ± 1.96% and naproxen 81.57 ± 8.74%, respectively. The treatment with the highest removal was the one performed without the presence of gravel substrate. The highest removal efficiency occurred from the third day of exposure for the three compounds, so it was established as the optimum residence time. The model that best explained the adsorption process of the three compounds studied, was the Langmuir isotherm. The observed results demonstrate that L. octovalvis can be used as a native species in artificial wetlands for the efficient removal of pharmaceutical compounds.

Through the use of a macrophyte plant native to the state of Morelos, an artificial wetland was built, which was capable of removing several drugs with tolerance to changes in concentration, which constitutes an economic and sustainable alternative that can be coupled to the treatment of wastewater contaminated with this type of compounds.

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Herein, we report a detailed adsorption process of acetic acid (AA) as a model for the head group of carboxylic acid self-assembled monolayers on Cu and Cu2O (111) surfaces and the effect of diethyl zinc (DEZ) on its adsorption geometry on Cu2O (111) using quantum chemical calculations. The most stable adsorption configurations were obtained considering electrostatic potential compatibility from the molecule and surface. Overall, the adsorption behavior revealed bidentate binding as the most stable configuration. Weak van der Waals interactions are key in AA adsorption on Cu (111), while in Cu2O (111), coordination and hydrogen bonds dominated the interaction. AA adsorption geometry on Cu2O revealed that DEZ has no significative impact on the carbonyl-chemisorbed AA and bidentate adsorption modes. These results highlight the significance of the different adsorption modes for achieving area-selective deposition using atomic layer deposition and soft removal SAM molecules.

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BACKGROUND: The location of cutaneous melanoma is associated with photoexposure. OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively analyze changes in the location of cutaneous melanoma over the past 30 years. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All patients treated at our hospital for cutaneous melanoma from 1988 through 2017 were prospectively collected. Data obtained in cases diagnosed from 1988 through June 2006 were compared to those diagnosed from July 2006 through 2017. RESULTS: A total of 1,937 patients (876 men and 1061 women; median age, 57 years; interquartile range 27) were diagnosed with primary cutaneous melanoma. The location of melanoma was head and neck (470 cases), trunk (745 cases), upper limbs (239 cases), and lower limbs (483 cases). From July 2006 through 2017 we detected an increase in the incidence of head and neck melanomas (19.9% vs 28.6%, p <0.001). A drop in the incidence of melanomas located in the lower extremities was also seen in women (39.8% vs 30.4%, p <0.001), and in the trunk men (57.5% vs 47.3%, p=0.003). In the multivariate analyses, only the decrease in melanomas located in lower extremities in women remained significant. CONCLUSION: The increased incidence of head and neck melanomas in both sexes and the decrease in trunk melanomas in men can be attributed to the aging of our population. The reduction in the incidence of melanomas in the lower extremities in women could be associated with changes in photoexposure patterns. Analyzing the factors possibly associated with these changes would contribute to better understanding the pathogenesis of cutaneous melanoma for prevention purposes.

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BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common among hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and associated with worse prognosis. The Spanish Society of Nephrology created the AKI- COVID Registry to characterize the population admitted for COVID-19 that developed AKI in Spanish hospitals. The need of renal replacement therapy (RRT) therapeutic modalities, and mortality in these patients were assessed MATERIAL AND METHOD: In a retrospective study, we analyzed data from the AKI-COVID Registry, which included patients hospitalized in 30 Spanish hospitals from May 2020 to November 2021. Clinical and demographic variables, factors related to the severity of COVID-19 and AKI, and survival data were recorded. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to study factors related to RRT and mortality. RESULTS: Data from 730 patients were recorded. A total of 71.9% were men, with a mean age of 70 years (60-78), 70.1% were hypertensive, 32.9% diabetic, 33.3% with cardiovascular disease and 23.9% had some degree of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Pneumonia was diagnosed in 94.6%, requiring ventilatory support in 54.2% and admission to the ICU in 44.1% of cases. The median time from the onset of COVID-19 symptoms to the appearance of AKI (37.1% KDIGO I, 18.3% KDIGO II, 44.6% KDIGO III) was 6 days (4-10). A total of 235 (33.9%) patients required RRT: 155 patients with continuous renal replacement therapy, 89 alternate-day dialysis, 36 daily dialysis, 24 extended hemodialysis and 17 patients with hemodiafiltration. Smoking habit (OR 3.41), ventilatory support (OR 20.2), maximum creatinine value (OR 2.41), and time to AKI onset (OR 1.13) were predictors of the need for RRT; age was a protective factor (0.95). The group without RRT was characterized by older age, less severe AKI, and shorter kidney injury onset and recovery time (p < 0.05). 38.6% of patients died during hospitalization; serious AKI and RRT were more frequent in the death group. In the multivariate analysis, age (OR 1.03), previous chronic kidney disease (OR 2.21), development of pneumonia (OR 2.89), ventilatory support (OR 3.34) and RRT (OR 2.28) were predictors of mortality while chronic treatment with ARBs was identified as a protective factor (OR 0.55). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with AKI during hospitalization for COVID-19 had a high mean age, comorbidities and severe infection. We defined two different clinical patterns: an AKI of early onset, in older patients that resolves in a few days without the need for RRT; and another more severe pattern, with greater need for RRT, and late onset, which was related to greater severity of the infectious disease. The severity of the infection, age and the presence of CKD prior to admission were identified as a risk factors for mortality in these patients. In addition chronic treatment with ARBs was identified as a protective factor for mortality.

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Accurate prediction and grading of gliomas play a crucial role in evaluating brain tumor progression, assessing overall prognosis, and treatment planning. In addition to neuroimaging techniques, identifying molecular biomarkers that can guide the diagnosis, prognosis and prediction of the response to therapy has aroused the interest of researchers in their use together with machine learning and deep learning models. Most of the research in this field has been model-centric, meaning it has been based on finding better performing algorithms. However, in practice, improving data quality can result in a better model. This study investigates a data-centric machine learning approach to determine their potential benefits in predicting glioma grades. We report six performance metrics to provide a complete picture of model performance. Experimental results indicate that standardization and oversizing the minority class increase the prediction performance of four popular machine learning models and two classifier ensembles applied on a low-imbalanced data set consisting of clinical factors and molecular biomarkers. The experiments also show that the two classifier ensembles significantly outperform three of the four standard prediction models. Furthermore, we conduct a comprehensive descriptive analysis of the glioma data set to identify relevant statistical characteristics and discover the most informative attributes using four feature ranking algorithms.

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Controlling the electronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials is a key step to make new multifunctional candidates for practical applications. In this work, defects and doping with transition metals (TMs = V, Cr, Mn, and Fe) at Ge sublattices are proposed in order to develop novel features in the hexagonal germanium arsenide (GeAs) monolayer. The pristine GeAs monolayer is a non-magnetic indirect gap semiconductor with an energy gap of 1.20(1.82) eV as provided by PBE(HSE06)-based calculations. A single Ge vacancy metallizes the monolayer, preserving its non-magnetic nature. In contrast, significant magnetization with a total magnetic moment of 1.96 µ B is achieved by a pair of Ge vacancies. Herein, the computed band structures assert the half-metallic behavior of the defective system. Similarly, half-metallicity is also obtained by V, Mn, and Fe doping. Meanwhile, the Cr-doped GeAs monolayer is classified as a diluted magnetic semiconductor 2D system. In these cases, magnetic properties are produced mainly by TM-3d electrons with total magnetic moments between 2.00 and 4.00 µ B. Further, the effects of substituting a pair of Ge atoms with a pair of TM atoms (pTMGe systems) are also investigated. Results indicate the ferromagnetic half-metallicity of the pVGe system, meanwhile antiferromagnetic ordering is stable in the remaining cases. In all cases, TM impurities transfer charge to the host GeAs monolayer since they are surrounded by As atoms, which are more electronegative than dopant atoms. Results presented herein may introduce new 2D systems - made from the non-magnetic GeAs monolayer - for spintronic applications with suitable electronic and magnetic features controlled mainly by transition metals.

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In this work, structural modification at Ga sites of the gallium sulfide (GaS) monolayer is explored to create new two-dimensional (2D) materials towards spintronic applications. GaS monolayer is a non-magnetic indirect-gap semiconductor material with an energy gap of 2.38 (3.27) eV as calculated using the PBE(HSE06) functional. Half-metallicity is induced in this 2D material by creating a single Ga vacancy, where S atoms around the defect site produce mainly the magnetic properties with a total magnetic moment of 1.00µB. In contrast, the non-magnetic nature is preserved under the effects of a pair of Ga vacancies, which metallize the monolayer. V, Mn, and Fe doping leads to the emergence of the diluted magnetic semiconductor nature, while doping with Cr creates a new 2D half-metallic material from the GaS monolayer. In these cases, total magnetic moments between 2.00 and 5.00µB are obtained and the 3d orbital of transition metal (TM) impurities mainly induces the system magnetism. In addition, the effects of doping with a pair of TM (pTM) atoms are also investigated, in which the antiferromagnetism is found to be stable rather than the ferromagnetism to follow the Pauli exclusion principle. Significant magnetization of the GaS monolayer is also achieved with zero total magnetic moment because of the structural mirror-symmetry. pV-, pMn-, and pFe-doped systems are antiferromagnetic semiconductor materials with energy gaps of 1.06, 1.90, and 1.84 eV, respectively. Meanwhile, the monolayer is metallized by doping with a pCr pair. The results presented herein indicate that the defective and doped GaS monolayers are prospective 2D candidates for spintronic applications - which are hindered for the pristine GaS monolayer because of the absence of intrinsic magnetism.

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The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) is in its final construction stage next to the campus of the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung Helmholtzzentrum for heavy-ion research in Darmstadt, Germany. Once it starts its operation, it will be the main nuclear physics research facility in many basic sciences and their applications in Europe for the coming decades. Owing to the ability of the new fragment separator, Super-FRagment Separator, to produce high-intensity radioactive ion beams in the energy range up to about 2 GeV/nucleon, these can be used in various nuclear reactions. This opens a unique opportunity for various nuclear structure studies across a range of fields and scales: from low-energy physics via the investigation of multi-neutron systems and halos to high-density nuclear matter and the equation of state, following heavy-ion collisions, fission and study of short-range correlations in nuclei and hypernuclei. The newly developed reactions with relativistic radioactive beams (R3B) set up at FAIR would be the most suitable and versatile for such studies. An overview of highlighted physics cases foreseen at R3B is given, along with possible future opportunities, at FAIR. This article is part of the theme issue 'The liminal position of Nuclear Physics: from hadrons to neutron stars'.

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Transition metals (TMs) have been employed as efficient sources of magnetism in non-magnetic two-dimensional (2D) materials. In this work, doping with chromium (Cr) and vanadium (V) is proposed to induce feature-rich electronic and magnetic properties in a Janus Ga2SO monolayer towards spintronic applications. The Ga2SO monolayer is a 2D semiconductor material with an energy gap of 1.30 (2.12) eV obtained from PBE(HSE06)-based calculations. Considering the structural asymmetry, different vacancy and doping sites are considered. A single Ga vacancy and pair of Ga vacancies magnetize the monolayer with total magnetic moments between 0.69 and 3.13µB, where the half-metallic nature is induced by the single Ga1 vacancy (that bound to the S atom). In these cases, the magnetism is originated mainly from S and O atoms closest to the vacancy sites. Depending on the doping site, either half-metallicity or diluted magnetic semiconductor natures are obtained by doping with Cr and V atoms with total magnetic moments of 3.00 and 2.00µB, respectively. Herein, 3d TM impurities produce mainly the system magnetism. When substituting a pair of Ga atoms, TM atoms exhibit the antiparallel spin alignment to follow the Pauli exclusion principle, retaining the novel electronic characteristics induced by a single TM dopant. Except for the case of doping with a pair of V atoms, total magnetic moments of 2.00 and 1.00µB are obtained by doping with a pair or Cr atoms and Cr/V co-doping, respectively. The non-zero magnetic moment is derived from the different interactions of each TM atom with its neighboring atoms, which will also be studied by Bader charge analysis. Our results introduce new promising 2D spintronic candidates, which are made by structural modifications at Ga sites of a non-magnetic Janus Ga2SO monolayer.

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INTRODUCTION: Cyanobacterial blooms are increasingly common in freshwater sources used for swimming and other recreational water contact activities in Canada. Many species of cyanobacteria can produce toxins that affect human and animal health, but there are limited data on the risk of illness associated with water contact at impacted beaches. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study will investigate the incidence of recreational water illness due to exposure to cyanobacterial blooms and their toxins in four targeted and popular freshwater beaches in Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia, Canada. A prospective cohort design and One Health approach will be used. On-site recruitment of recreational water users will be conducted at two beaches per year during the summers of 2024 and 2025. The population of interest includes recreational water users of any age and their pet dogs. After enrolment, an in-person survey will determine beach exposures and confounding factors, and a 3-day follow-up survey will ascertain any acute illness outcomes experienced by participants or their dogs. The target sample size is 2500 recreational water users. Water samples will be taken each recruitment day and analysed for cyanobacterial indicators (pigments), cell counts and toxin levels. Bayesian regression analysis will be conducted to estimate the association with water contact, cyanobacterial levels and risks of different acute illness outcomes. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been approved by the Toronto Metropolitan University Research Ethics Board (REB 2023-461). Study results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and as infographics on a project website.

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Developing new multifunctional two-dimensional (2D) materials with two or more functions has been one of the main tasks of materials scientists. In this work, defect engineering is explored to functionalize PtSSe monolayer with feature-rich electronic and magnetic properties. Pristine monolayer is a non-magnetic semiconductor 2D material with a band gap of 1.52(2.31) eV obtained from PBE(HSE06)-based calculations. Upon creating single Pt vacancy, the half-metallic property is induced in PtSSe monolayer with a total magnetic moment of 4.00 µ B. Herein, magnetism is originated mainly from S and Se atoms around the defect site. In contrast, single S and Se vacancies preserve the non-magnetic nature. However, the band gap suffers of considerable reduction of the order of 67.11% and 48.68%, respectively. The half-metallicity emerges also upon doping with alkali metals (Li and Na) with total magnetic moment of 1.00 µ B, while alkaline earth impurities (Be and Mg) make new diluted magnetic semiconductor materials from PtSSe monolayer with total magnetic moment of 2.00 µ B. In these cases, magnetic properties are produced mainly by Se atoms closest to the doping site. In addition, doping with P and As atoms at chalcogen sites is also investigated. Except for the half-metallic AsSe system (As doping at Se site), the diluted magnetic semiconductor behavior is obtained in the remaining cases. Spin density results indicate key role of the VA-group impurities in magnetizing PtSSe monolayer. In these cases, total magnetic moments between 0.99 and 1.00 µ B are obtained. Further Bader charge analysis implies the charge loser role of all impurities that transfer charge to the host monolayer. Results presented in this work may suggest promises of the defected and doped Janus PtSSe structures for optoelectronic and spintronic applications.

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PURPOSE: It is unclear whether preoperative serum uric acid (SUA) elevation may play a role in the development of acute kidney injury (AKI) associated with cardiac surgery (CSA-AKI). We conducted a cohort study to evaluate the influence of preoperative hyperuricemia on AKI in patients at high risk for developing SC-AKI. DESIGN: Multicenter prospective international cohort study. SETTING: Fourteen university hospitals in Spain and the United Kingdom. PARTICIPANTS: We studied 261 consecutive patients at high risk of developing CSA-AKI, according to a Cleveland score ≥ 4 points, from July to December 2017. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: AKIN criteria were used for the definition of AKI. Multivariable logistic regression models and propensity score-matched pairwise analysis were used to determine the adjusted association between preoperative hyperuricemia (≥7 mg/dL) and AKI. Elevated preoperative AUS (≥7 mg/dL) was present in 190 patients (72.8%), whereas CSA-AKI occurred in 145 patients (55.5%). In multivariable logistic regression models, hyperuricemia was not associated with a significantly increased risk of AKI (adjusted Odds Ratio [OR]: 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.81-3; P = .17). In propensity score-matched analysis of 140 patients, the hyperuricemia group experienced similar adjusted odds of AKI (OR 1.05, 95%CI 0.93-1.19, P = .37). CONCLUSIONS: Hyperuricemia was not associated with an increased risk of AKI in this cohort of patients undergoing cardiac surgery at high risk of developing CSA-AKI.

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Bisphenol A (BPA), a synthetic organic compound widely used in the production of plastics, is recognized as an emerging contaminant because of its toxicity and the potential risks associated with bioaccumulation in organisms. Despite potential environmental hazards, there is a lack of studies examining BPA toxicity mechanisms and its potential impact on various trophic levels, with even fewer exploring whether global stressors such as temperature can affect the toxicity of BPA in organisms. Our aim was to assess the combined impact of BPA and varying temperature regimes on life-history traits in Daphnia magna. Our results revealed a significant impact of BPA on the growth, reproduction, and accumulated moulting of D. magna, with adverse effects primarily associated with the assimilation of BPA in algae rather than the BPA present in the medium, pointing to a trophic transfer mechanism. The interactive effect between BPA and temperature demonstrated a slight stimulatory effect of low BPA level on D. magna growth rate under warming constant conditions, but an inhibitory under warming fluctuating temperatures. Additionally, a BPA threshold was identified, below which growth became temperature-dependent. This study emphasizes the crucial role of considering temperature in predicting how toxins may affect Daphnia within aquatic food webs.

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BACKGROUND: Systemic autoinflammatory disorders (SAIDs) represent a growing spectrum of diseases characterized by dysregulation of the innate immune system. The most common pediatric autoinflammatory fever syndrome, Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, Adenitis (PFAPA), has well defined clinical diagnostic criteria, but there is a subset of patients who do not meet these criteria and are classified as undefined autoinflammatory diseases (uAID). This project, endorsed by PRES, supported by the EMERGE fellowship program, aimed to analyze the evolution of symptoms in recurrent fevers without molecular diagnosis in the context of undifferentiated AIDs, focusing on PFAPA and syndrome of undifferentiated recurrent fever (SURF), using data from European AID registries. METHODS: Data of patients with PFAPA, SURF and uSAID were collected from 3 registries including detailed epidemiological, demographic and clinical data, results of the genetic testing and additional laboratory investigations with retrospective application of the modified Marshall and PRINTO/Eurofever classification criteria on the cohort of PFAPA patients and preliminary SURF criteria on uSAID/SURF patients. RESULTS: Clinical presentation of PFAPA is variable and some patients did not fit the conventional PFAPA criteria and exhibit different symptoms. Some patients did not meet the criteria for either PFAPA or SURF, highlighting the heterogeneity within these groups. The study also explored potential overlaps between PFAPA and SURF/uAID, revealing that some patients exhibited symptoms characteristic of both conditions, emphasizing the need for more precise classification criteria. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with recurrent fevers without molecular diagnoses represent a clinically heterogeneous group. Improved classification criteria are needed for both PFAPA and SURF/uAID to accurately identify and manage these patients, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.

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The therapeutic use of the traditional drugs against epilepsy has been hindered by their toxicity and low selectivity. These limitations have stimulated the design and development of new generations of antiepileptic drugs. This review explores the molecular targets and synthesis of the antiepileptic drugs that have entered the market in the 21st century, with a focus on manufacturer synthesis.

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