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Competing Interests: All authors declare no conflict of interests.

Difference-in-differences (DID) is a key tool for causal impact evaluation but faces challenges when applied to sensitive data restricted by privacy regulations. Obtaining consent can shrink sample sizes and reduce statistical power, limiting the analysis's effectiveness. Federated learning addresses these issues by sharing aggregated statistics rather than individual data, though advanced federated DID software is limited. We developed a federated version of the Callaway and Sant'Anna difference-in-differences (CSDID), integrated into the DataSHIELD platform, adhering to stringent privacy protocols. Our approach reproduces key estimates and standard errors while preserving confidentiality. Using simulated and real-world data from a malaria intervention in Mozambique, we demonstrate that federated estimates increase sample sizes, reduce estimation uncertainty, and enable analyses when data owners cannot share treated or untreated group data. Our work contributes to facilitating the evaluation of policy interventions or treatments across centers and borders., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Naïve pluripotency is sustained by a self-reinforcing gene regulatory network (GRN) comprising core and naïve pluripotency-specific transcription factors (TFs). Upon exiting naïve pluripotency, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) transition through a formative post-implantation-like pluripotent state, where they acquire competence for lineage choice. However, the mechanisms underlying disengagement from the naïve GRN and initiation of the formative GRN are unclear. Here, we demonstrate that phosphorylated AKT acts as a gatekeeper that prevents nuclear localisation of FoxO TFs in naïve ESCs. PTEN-mediated reduction of AKT activity upon exit from naïve pluripotency allows nuclear entry of FoxO TFs, enforcing a cell fate transition by binding and activating formative pluripotency-specific enhancers. Indeed, FoxO TFs are necessary and sufficient for the activation of the formative pluripotency-specific GRN. Our work uncovers a pivotal role for FoxO TFs in establishing formative post-implantation pluripotency, a critical early embryonic cell fate transition., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Electron-assisted oxidation of Co-Si-based focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID) materials is shown to form a 2-4 nm metal oxide surface layer on top of an electrically insulating silicon oxide layer less than 10 nm thick. Differences between thermal and electron-induced oxidation on the resulting microstructure are illustrated.

Purpose: Injuries of the nasal vestibular skin caused by the rotating burr shafts can represent a tedious complication following endonasal drilling and is experienced sooner or later by every rhino-surgeon., Material and Methods: To protect the nasal entrance from laceration by the free rotating drill shaft we position an otology speculum in the nasal entrance. The speculum is held in place by the scrub nurse during the critical phase of bone drilling., Results: Following the introduction of the ear speculum protection, we successfully treated our dacryocystostamia procedures (n = 27) and median maxillectomia procedures (n = 6) without any further soft tissue erosions., Discussion: Preventive measures for injuries by endonasal drilling procedures are not reported extensively in literature. This stands in contrast to the fact that these injuries are prone to cause significant suffering as amply described in the case of nostril laceration due to nasogastric intubation or nasogastric feeding tubes., Conclusion: The use of a readily available, reusable ear speculum in endonasal drill application eliminated the complication of nasal entrance lacerations throughout our institution, hitherto., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All authors declare that they do neither have a conflict of interest nor items on the financial disclosure, (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron breakthrough infection (BTI) induced better protection than triple vaccination. To address the underlying immunological mechanisms, we studied antibody and T cell response dynamics during vaccination and after BTI. Each vaccination significantly increased peak neutralization titers with simultaneous increases in circulating spike-specific T cell frequencies. Neutralization titers significantly associated with a reduced hazard rate for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Yet, 97% of triple vaccinees became SARS-CoV-2 infected. BTI further boosted neutralization magnitude and breadth, broadened virus-specific T cell responses to non-vaccine-encoded antigens, and protected with an efficiency of 88% from further infections by December 2022. This effect was then assessed by utilizing mathematical modeling, which accounted for time-dependent infection risk, the antibody, and T cell concentration at any time point after BTI. Our findings suggest that cross-variant protective hybrid immunity induced by vaccination and BTI was an important contributor to the reduced virus transmission observed in Bavaria in late 2022 and thereafter., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Purpose: To evaluate referral rates and factors associated with referrals to a community agency for children evaluated for an asthma exacerbation at a pediatric emergency department (PED) and compare PED visits for asthma the following year between those referred and not referred., Methods: We reviewed electronic health records of children 2-18 years evaluated in our PED from 01/01/2019 to 12/31/2019 with an ICD-10 diagnostic code for asthma (J45x) following the introduction of a portal where clinicians could refer children to a community agency focused on improving health outcomes for asthma. We abstracted data on demographics, PED visits, and hospitalizations and used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate factors associated with referrals., Results: Of the 2262 charts analyzed, the majority of patients were male (61%), Black (76%), and held public insurance (71%). Only a minority of patients ( n  = 140, 6%) were referred. Age [6-12 years (AOR: 1.93, 95% CI: 1.21-3.08, p  = .006), 13-18 years (AOR: 10.61, 95% CI: 6.53-17.24, p  = .001)] and lifetime number of PED asthma visits [≥3 visits (AOR: 1.91, 95% CI, 1.01-3.62, p  = .05)] were associated with referral. There was no significant difference in the mean number of PED visits in one year [referred: 0.59 ( SD 1.2) vs. not referred: 0.79 ( SD 1.3), t  = 1.70, p  = .09] between the two groups., Conclusion: The referral rate to community agency from PED for asthma is low. There was no difference in short-term PED utilization for asthma between those referred and not referred.

Additive nanotechnology enable curvilinear and three-dimensional (3D) magnetic architectures with tunable topology and functionalities surpassing their planar counterparts. Here, we experimentally reveal that 3D soft magnetic wireframe structures resemble compact manifolds and accommodate magnetic textures of high order vorticity determined by the Euler characteristic, χ. We demonstrate that self-standing magnetic tetrapods (homeomorphic to a sphere; χ = + 2) support six surface topological solitons, namely four vortices and two antivortices, with a total vorticity of + 2 equal to its Euler characteristic. Alternatively, wireframe structures with one loop (homeomorphic to a torus; χ = 0) possess equal number of vortices and antivortices, which is relevant for spin-wave splitters and 3D magnonics. Subsequent introduction of n holes into the wireframe geometry (homeomorphic to an n-torus; χ < 0) enables the accommodation of a virtually unlimited number of antivortices, which suggests their usefulness for non-conventional (e.g., reservoir) computation. Furthermore, complex stray-field topologies around these objects are of interest for superconducting electronics, particle trapping and biomedical applications., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The investigation of precursor classes for the fabrication of nanostructures is of specific interest for maskless fabrication and direct nanoprinting. In this study, the differences in material composition depending on the employed process are illustrated for focused-ion-beam- and focused-electron-beam-induced deposition (FIBID/FEBID) and compared to the thermal decomposition in chemical vapor deposition (CVD). This article reports on specific differences in the deposit composition and microstructure when the (H 3 Si) 2 Fe(CO) 4 precursor is converted into an inorganic material. Maximum metal/metalloid contents of up to 90 at. % are obtained in FIBID deposits and higher than 90 at. % in CVD films, while FEBID with the same precursor provides material containing less than 45 at. % total metal/metalloid content. Moreover, the Fe:Si ratio is retained well in FEBID and CVD processes, but FIBID using Ga + ions liberates more than 50% of the initial Si provided by the precursor. This suggests that precursors for FIBID processes targeting binary materials should include multiple bonding such as bridging positions for nonmetals. In addition, an in situ method for investigations of supporting thermal effects of precursor fragmentation during the direct-writing processes is presented, and the applicability of the precursor for nanoscale 3D FEBID writing is demonstrated., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2024 American Chemical Society.)