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BACKGROUND: Early exercise has been recommended in critically ill patients, but its impact on subject--ventilator interaction is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of subject--ventilator asynchrony during passive exercise in mechanically ventilated subjects. METHODS: This study included deeply sedated subjects who were under mechanical ventilation for < 72 h. Subjects were coupled to a cycle ergometer and maintained at rest for 5 min (baseline period). After this period, they started 20 min of passive exercise, followed by 10 min of rest (recovery period). The occurrence of asynchrony was monitored by the analysis of flow and airway pressure waveforms, registered throughout the protocol during the baseline, exercise, and recovery periods. Hemodynamic and respiratory parameters were registered at the end of each period. Finally, arterial blood gas analysis was performed twice, at the end of the baseline period and at the end of the recovery period. RESULTS: 8 subjects were enrolled (63.3 ± 16.7 y old, 50% male). The asynchrony index increased during exercise (median 32.1% [interquartile range (IQR) 18.6-47.6%]), compared to baseline (median 6.6% [IQR 3.9-10.4%]), returning to initial levels during the recovery period (median 2.7% [IQR 0-12.2%]). The most frequent types of asynchrony were ineffective triggering (index of 11.8% [IQR 1.2-22.5%] during exercise, compared to 2.0% [IQR 1.4-4.4%] at baseline), and insufficient flow (index of 11.7% [IQR 4.7-19.3%] during exercise, compared to 2.0% [IQR 1.1 to 3.3%] at baseline). There were no significant changes in the hemodynamic and respiratory variables. CONCLUSIONS: Early cycle ergometer passive exercise in deeply sedated subjects can worsen subject--ventilator interaction, due to ineffective triggering and insufficient flow. Adjustments in the ventilatory parameters may be necessary to avoid asynchrony during exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Compensatory dynamics are described as one of the main mechanisms that increase community stability, e.g., where decreases of some species on a year‐to‐year basis are offset by an increase in others. Deviations from perfect synchrony between species (asynchrony) have therefore been advocated as an important mechanism underlying biodiversity effects on stability. However, it is unclear to what extent existing measures of synchrony actually capture the signal of year‐to‐year species fluctuations in the presence of long‐term directional trends in both species abundance and composition (species directional trends hereafter). Such directional trends may lead to a misinterpretation of indices commonly used to reflect year‐to‐year synchrony. Methods: An approach based on three‐term local quadrat variance (T3) which assesses population variability in a three‐year moving window, was used to overcome species directional trend effects. This "detrending" approach was applied to common indices of synchrony across a worldwide collection of 77 temporal plant community datasets comprising almost 7,800 individual plots sampled for at least six years. Plots included were either maintained under constant "control" conditions over time or were subjected to different management or disturbance treatments. Results: Accounting for directional trends increased the detection of year‐to‐year synchronous patterns in all synchrony indices considered. Specifically, synchrony values increased significantly in ~40% of the datasets with the T3 detrending approach while in ~10% synchrony decreased. For the 38 studies with both control and manipulated conditions, the increase in synchrony values was stronger for longer time series, particularly following experimental manipulation. Conclusions: Species' long‐term directional trends can affect synchrony and stability measures potentially masking the ecological mechanism causing year‐to‐year fluctuations. As such, previous studies on community stability might have overemphasised the role of compensatory dynamics in real‐world ecosystems, and particularly in manipulative conditions, when not considering the possible overriding effects of long‐term directional trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies become widely popular recently, the underlying concept—Blockchain—gets unprecedented attentions. One popular usage of Blockchain is a distributed replicated database. In this paper, we present initial studies on the challenges and opportunities of using Blockchain as a database for Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications. For IoT applications, latency is an important factor, whereas for application developers, consistency is an important property which specifies how the system orders the operations over blocks (that are stored in the Blockchain). However, consistency property of Blockchain-based database is not well studied, especially in the case when network is not synchronized and the system is dynamic—both are typical scenario in an IoT environment. Intuitively, Blockchain is designed to maintain a single ground truth—one can view the Blockchain itself as the order of the blocks that all participants should observe and respect. In most Blockchain designs, the participants will eventually converge to the same chain of blocks. However, there is very few study on the challenges of using Blockchains as a database in an IoT environment. This paper focuses on the enabling technology behind Bitcoin, Bitcoin Backbone Protocol (BBP). We first survey Blockchain-based IoT applications, and identify why it is necessary to use it as a database for IoT applications. Then we explore several reasonable consistency models for BBP-based database, and then show that such a database does not satisfy many consistency models under certain typical IoT environments. Moreover, we use simulation to study how network quality and system dynamic affect consistency. Finally, we propose a simple mechanism to make the BBP-based database satisfy both read-my-write and eventual consistency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient–ventilator asynchrony (PVA) is a prevalent and often underrecognized problem in mechanically ventilated patients. Ventilator waveform analysis is a noninvasive and reliable means of detecting PVAs, but the use of this tool has not been broadly studied. Our observational analysis leveraged a validated evaluation tool to assess the ability of critical care practitioners (CCPs) to detect different PVA types as presented in three videos. This tool consisted of three videos of common PVAs (i.e., double-triggering, auto-triggering, and ineffective triggering). Data were collected via an evaluation sheet distributed to 39 hospitals among the various CCPs, including respiratory therapists (RTs), nurses, and physicians. A total of 411 CCPs were assessed; of these, only 41 (10.2%) correctly identified the three PVA types, while 92 (22.4%) correctly detected two types and 174 (42.3%) correctly detected one; 25.3% did not recognize any PVA. There were statistically significant differences between trained and untrained CCPs in terms of recognition (three PVAs, p < 0.001; two PVAs, p = 0.001). The majority of CCPs who identified one or zero PVAs were untrained, and such differences among groups were statistically significant (one PVA, p = 0.001; zero PVAs, p = 0.004). Female gender and prior training on ventilator waveforms were found to increase the odds of identifying more than two PVAs correctly, with odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) of 1.93 (1.07–3.49) and 5.41 (3.26–8.98), respectively. Profession, experience, and hospital characteristics were not found to correlate with increased odds of detecting PVAs; this association generally held after applying a regression model on the RT profession, with the ORs (95% CIs) of prior training (2.89 [1.28–6.51]) and female gender (2.49 [1.15–5.39]) showing the increased odds of detecting two or more PVAs. Common PVAs detection were found low in critical care settings, with about 25% of PVA going undetected by CCPs. Female gender and prior training on ventilator graphics were the only significant predictive factors among CCPs and RTs in correctly identifying PVAs. There is an urgent need to establish teaching and training programs, policies, and guidelines vis-à-vis the early detection and management of PVAs in mechanically ventilated patients, so as to improve their outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of microbial and plant communities in the control of the diversity and structure of soil animal communities has been clarified over the last decade. Previous research focused on abiotic factors, niche separation and spatial patterns. Significant gaps still exist in our knowledge of the factors that control the stability of these communities over time.We analysed a 9‐year dataset from the national Long‐term Ecological Research Network of Latvia. We focused on 117 oribatid species from three Scots pine forests of different age (<40, 65 and >150 years) and structure. For each forest type, 100 samples were collected each year, providing very high replication and long time series for a soil community. We assessed different aspects of stability: we used a dynamic null model, parameterized on observed growth rates, to test the hypothesis that asynchrony in species populations stabilizes total community size; we also analysed alpha and beta diversity over time to test the hypothesis that temporal variation in species composition and relative abundances is controlled by forest attributes.Real communities can be more stable than their stochastic counterparts if species are asynchronous, confirming for the first time the role of asynchrony in stabilizing soil communities. Yet, while some real communities were more stable and had higher abundance and growth rates than others, they were not necessarily more asynchronous than the less stable communities. Species composition and relative abundances were also less variable in the more stable communities.Species asynchrony generally stabilizes species‐rich communities but is not sufficient to explain the different levels of stability between forests. Forest age is a key factor explaining the different levels of overyielding and so stability. Data suggest that both asynchrony and high diversity of microhabitat structure of Scots pine forests promote the stability of soil animal communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients must effectively unload inspiratory muscles and provide safe ventilation (ie, enhancing gas exchange, protect the lungs and the diaphragm). To do that, the ventilator should be in synchrony with patient's respiratory rhythm. The complexity of such interplay leads to several concerning issues that clinicians should be able to recognize. Asynchrony between the patient and the ventilator may induce several deleterious effects that require a proper physiological understanding to recognize and manage them. Different tools have been developed and proposed beyond the careful analysis of the ventilator waveforms to help clinicians in the decision-making process. Moreover, appropriate handling of asynchrony requires clinical skills, physiological knowledge, and suitable medication management. New technologies and devices are changing our daily practice, from automated real-time recognition of asynchronies and their distribution during mechanical ventilation, to smart alarms and artificial intelligence algorithms based on physiological big data and personalized medicine. Our goal as clinicians is to provide care of patients based on the most accurate and current knowledge, and to incorporate new technological methods to facilitate and improve the care of the critically ill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The estimation of pleural pressure with esophageal manometry has been used for decades, and it has been a fertile area of physiology research in healthy subject as well as during mechanical ventilation in patients with lung injury. However, its scarce adoption in clinical practice takes its roots from the (false) ideas that it requires expertise with years of training, that the values obtained are not reliable due to technical challenges or discrepant methods of calculation, and that measurement of esophageal pressure has not proved to benefit patient outcomes. Despites these criticisms, esophageal manometry could contribute to better monitoring, optimization, and personalization of mechanical ventilation from the acute initial phase to the weaning period. This review aims to provide a comprehensive but comprehensible guide addressing the technical aspects of esophageal catheter use, its application in different clinical situations and conditions, and an update on the state of the art with recent studies on this topic and on remaining questions and ways for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: 82Rb PET/CT rest/regadenoson-stress data enable quantification of left ventricular rest and stress function, perfusion, and asynchrony. Our study was conducted to determine which parameters best identify patients with multi-vessel disease (MVD) and individual stenosed arteries.Methods: PET/CT data were reviewed retrospectively for 105 patients referred for evaluation of CAD, who also underwent angiography. % arterial stenosis was determined quantitatively at a core laboratory. Severe stenosis was defined as ≥ 70%, and MVD as 2 or more stenosed arteries. Segmental MBF was calculated from first-pass data for arterial territories. Regional rest and stress systolic and diastolic asynchrony (Asynch) scores were determined from visual examination of phase polar maps.Results: 65 vessels had stenoses ≥ 70%. 15 patients had MVD. ROC area under curve (ROC AUC) for identifying patients with MVD was 83% for Asynch and 73% for MFR. ROC AUC for identifying individual arterial territories with stenoses ≥ 70% was 81% and 72% for Asynch and MFR.Conclusion: 82Rb PET/CT accurately identified patients with MVD and individual stenosed territories, with regional asynchrony measurements contributing significantly to identify patients with CAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous fluctuations of populations are essential for maintaining stable levels of biomass and ecosystem function in landscapes. Yet, understanding the stabilization of metacommunities by asynchrony is complicated by the existence of multiple forms of asynchrony that are typically studied independently: Community ecologists, for instance, focus on asynchrony within and among local communities, while population ecologists emphasize asynchrony of populations in metapopulations. Still, other forms of asynchrony, such as that which underlies the spatial insurance effect, are not captured by any existing analytical frameworks. We therefore developed a framework that would in one analysis unmask the stabilizing roles of local communities and metapopulations and so unify these perspectives. Our framework shows that metacommunity stabilization arises from one local and two regional forms of asynchrony: (1) asynchrony among species of a local community, (2) asynchrony among populations of a metapopulation, and (3) cross-community asynchrony, which is between different species in different local communities and underlies spatial insurance. For each type of stabilization, we derived links to diversity indices and associated diversity--stability relationships. We deployed this framework in a set of rock pool invertebrate metacommunities in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, to partition sources of stabilization and test their dependence on diversity. Cross-community asynchrony was the dominant form of stabilization, accounting for >60% of total metacommunity stabilization despite being undetectable with existing frameworks. Environmental variation influenced types of stabilization through different mechanisms. pH and dissolved oxygen, for example, increased asynchrony by decorrelating local species, while salinity did so by changing the abundance structure of metapopulations. Lastly, all types of asynchrony depended strongly on different types of diversity (alpha, metapopulation, and beta diversity drove local, metapopulation, and cross-community asynchrony, respectively) to produce multiple diversity--stability relationships within metacommunities. Our new partition of metacommunity dynamics highlights how different elements--from local communities to metapopulations--combine to stabilize metacommunities and depend critically on contrasting environmental regimes and diversities. Understanding and balancing these sources of stability in dynamic landscapes is a looming challenge for the future. We suggest that synthetic frameworks which merge ecological perspectives will be essential for grasping and safeguarding the stability of natural systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asynchronous fluctuations in abundance between species with similar ecological roles can stabilize food webs and support coexistence. Sardine (Sardinops spp.) and anchovy (Engraulis spp.) have long been used as an example of this pattern because low-frequency variation in catches of these species appears to occur out of phase, suggesting that fisheries and generalist predators could be buffered against shifts in productivity of a single species. Using landings data and biomass and recruitment estimates from five regions, we find that species do not have equivalent peak abundances, suggesting that high abundance in one species does not compensate for low abundance in the other. We find that globally there is a stronger pattern of asynchrony in landings compared to biomass, such that landings data have exaggerated the patterns of asynchrony. Finally, we show that power to detect decadal asynchrony is poor, requiring a time series more than twice the length of the period of fluctuation. These results indicate that it is unlikely that the dynamics of these two species are compensatory enough to buffer fisheries and predators from changes in abundance, and that the measurements of asynchrony have largely been a statistical artefact of using short time series and landings data to infer ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I generalize the notion of multiple self-aspects to create a descriptive framework in which lives are partitioned into containers of activities called strands. Strands are nearly decomposable life modules, structured, stable, and concurrent longitudinal streams of extended duration whose momentary cross-sections constitute self-aspects. They are differentiated by five features: the person's role, the cast, the setting, norms and values, and habits and routines. Strands contain projects and episodes and are replete with narrative. Each strand is continuous (i.e., strands persist when a person moves between them), and for the most part strands are mutually asynchronous. From a first-person perspective, the strands are continuous and concurrent, but only one strand is in the foreground at a given time (i.e., transitions between strands are akin to a figure-ground reversal). Furthermore, a life is different from the sum of its strands: It is a nonlinear system that can take on configurations not predictable from a comprehensive description of the individual strands. Two such examples are the achievement of greatness despite severe handicaps and instances of extreme self-sacrifice. I also discuss the research potential of a proposed smartphone app called LifeMaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study of Michael Jackson illustrates the concepts of high potential, talent, and precocity in the musical domain. Studying this case of exceptional musical talent highlights the usefulness of a multidimensional approach to exploring human potential, which is not limited to academic abilities. It offers a better understanding of the process of transforming a gift into talent and allows us to examine the asynchronies observed in some high-potential individuals between extreme talent and impaired socioaffective development—the interplay between strength and fragility where cognitive functioning cannot be dissociated from emotional functioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Psicoterapia is the property of Revista de Psiquiatria y Psicologia Humanista, S.L. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper proposes a novel master–slave parallel evolutionary algorithm (EA) approach with different asynchrony and provides its detailed analyses on multi-objective optimization problems. We express the proposed EA with different asynchrony as a semi-asynchronous EA. A semi-asynchronous EA generates new solutions whenever evaluations of the predefined number of solutions complete, unlike a conventional synchronous EA waits for evaluations of all solutions to generate the next population. To establish a semi-asynchronous EA, this paper introduces an asynchrony parameter that is used to decide how many solutions are waited to generate new solutions. We conduct an experiment to verify the effectiveness of the proposed semi-asynchronous EA on benchmark problems with the several variances of the evaluation time. In the experiment, we apply a semi-asynchronous EA to NSGA-II and NSGA-III, which are well-known multi-objective EAs. The semi-asynchronous NSGA-IIs and the semi-asynchronous NSGA-IIIs with different asynchronies are compared on multi-objective optimization benchmark problems. The experimental result reveals that semi-asynchronous approaches with an appropriate asynchrony have possibility to outperform the asynchronous and the synchronous ones. Additionally, detailed analysis reveals that an appropriate asynchrony may vary not only depends on a target problem but also depends on the degree of the evolution process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a new cross-sample entropy, namely the multiscale cross-trend sample entropy (MCTSE), to investigate the synchronism of dynamical structure regarding two series with potential trends. It incorporates symbolic representation and polynomial fitting trend. Numerical tests illustrated that the newly proposed MCTSE can address the series with various trends well and detect asynchrony between two series more sensitively. The MCTSE is used to analyze the asynchrony between air quality index (AQI) series of Beijing, Changsha and Zhuhai and the series of six air quality impact factors (PM2.5, PM10, SO 2 , CO, NO 2 and O 3 ). We find that the consistency between the AQI series and the two fine particulates series of PM2.5 and PM10 is obviously higher than other four factors series. Comparing the entropy values of these pollution factors between every two cities, we also found that the pollutants in Changsha and Zhuhai are similar in quality, but they are quite different from those in Beijing. These findings help to further explore the similarities and differences in dynamic structure of the AQI series and identify the main pollutant. This has certain reference value for the reduction and control of similar pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal and historical frames usually applied to the description of recent Polish literature gradually lose their potential. "Postmodernism," "late modernism," and other terms do not reveal the complicated and local temporal landscape of this literature. Processes like the traumatic return of past events (WWII, the Holocaust, Stalinist terror), the simultaneous activity of Polish language writers in countries around the world, immigrant writings, etc., preclude the use of the term "contemporaneity," since they do not create any shared temporal horizon and belong to processes of different temporal dynamics with separate time rhythms. Rather, they belong to the dimension of "noncontemporaneity" or "asynchrony." "Noncontemporaneity" is both the general perspective of the latest literature and the experience of the main characters presented by the literary works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: We asked whether the competition among community components (a) destabilizes individual components; (b) increases the asynchrony of their fluctuations; and (c) stabilizes the total community biomass. Location: Seminatural meadow in South Bohemia, Czech Republic. Methods: We used biomass fluctuation data from a 13‐year removal experiment. The plots used for this study contained, following experimental removal of other species, either mycorrhizal grasses only, mycorrhizal forbs only, or their mixture (grass "monocultures", forb "monocultures", and mixtures, respectively). Yearly peak aboveground biomass was available from ten blocks; biomass of the mixture plots was sorted into forbs and grasses. Temporal variability was characterized by coefficient of variation (CV) and synchrony by correlation coefficient, both calculated from the time series data. Results: The variability of grass monocultures was higher than the variability of forb monocultures, which was slightly lower than the variability of mixtures. The variability of both grasses and forbs was higher in the mixture, where they are in competition with the other group, than in each of their respective monocultures. The correlation coefficients between the biomass of grass and forb monocultures within blocks were mostly positive, indicating that both groups tend to have similar physiological responses to weather fluctuations. The average correlation coefficient between the forbs and grasses in the mixture plots was significantly negative, thus reflecting the effect of competition between these two community components. The CV of the sum of forb and grass monocultures was similar to the CV of mixture plots. Conclusions: Only competition between grasses and forbs leads to their negative mutual correlation, i.e., to compensatory dynamics. Our results support the hypothesis that competition has a destabilizing effect on individual community components (functional groups in our case) and increases asynchrony of their fluctuations. We have not found its stabilizing effect on the total biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyzed serial dependencies in periods and asynchronies collected during oscillations performed in synchrony with a metronome. Results showed that asynchronies contain 1/f fluctuations, and the series of periods contain antipersistent dependence. The analysis of the phase portrait revealed a specific asymmetry induced by synchronization. We propose a hybrid limit cycle model including a cycle-dependent stiffness parameter provided with fractal properties, and a parametric driving function based on velocity. This model accounts for most experimentally evidenced statistical features, including serial dependence and limit cycle dynamics. We discuss the results and modeling choices within the framework of event-based and emergent timing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Distributed Ledger Object (DLO) is a concurrent object that maintains a totally ordered sequence of records. In this work we formalize a linearizable Byzantine-tolerant Distributed Ledger Object (BDLO), which is a linearizable DLO where clients and servers processes may deviate arbitrarily from their intended behavior (i.e. they may be Byzantine). The proposed formal definition is accompanied by algorithms that implement BDLOs on top of an underlying Byzantine Atomic Broadcast service. Then we develop a suite of algorithms, based on the previous BDLO implementations, that solve the Atomic Appends problem in the presence of asynchrony, Byzantine clients and Byzantine servers. This problem occurs when clients have a composite record (set of basic records) to append to different BDLOs, in such a way that either each basic record is appended to its BDLO (and this must occur in good circumstances), or no basic record is appended. Distributed algorithms are presented, which solve the Atomic Appends problem when the clients (involved in the Atomic Appends) and the servers (which maintain the BDLOs) may be Byzantine. Finally we provide proof of concept implementations and an experimental evaluation of the presented algorithms. • A formalization of the linearizable Byzantine-tolerant Distributed Ledger Object (BDLO). • Algorithms (with their correctness proofs) implementing BDLOs in an asynchronous setting with Byzantine servers and clients. • A formalization of the Byzantine Atomic Appends problem. • Algorithms based on BDLO implementations for solving the Atomic Appends problem. • A proof of concept implementation and experimental evaluation of the developed algorithms, demonstrating their effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early Xenopus laevis embryo is replete with dynamic spatial waves. One such wave, the cell division wave, emerges from the collective cell division timing of first tens and later hundreds of cells throughout the embryo. Here, we show that cell division waves do not propagate between neighboring cells and do not rely on cell-to-cell coupling to maintain their division timing. Instead, intrinsic variation in division period autonomously and gradually builds these striking patterns of cell division. Disrupting this pattern of division by placing embryos in a temperature gradient resulted in highly asynchronous entry to the midblastula transition and misexpression of the mesodermal marker Xbra. Remarkably, this gene expression defect is corrected during involution, resulting in delayed yet normal Xbra expression and viable embryos. This implies the existence of a previously unknown mechanism for normalizing mesodermal gene expression during involution.

Modern robotic complexes (RC) are equipped with lots of integrated hardware and software tools, the purposes of which are: environment analysis, communications, control of executional mechanisms and other specific features. In most cases, existing software platforms for developing RC are oriented to a very specific class of tasks, or in fact, these platforms are too “heavy” for a quick adaptation to an application task. In this article, a software platform for development of Multimodular robotic systems with asynchronous multithreaded control is proposed. The main feature of the platform is high performance of communications between modules of a robotic system, which was confirmed by experiments. For most practical robotic systems with 10 modules and transmission of 100 messages per cycle the proposed platform deals with such a load in less than 1 ms. This is significantly faster than the speed of program interaction with hardware of the robot. For instance, the average frequency of program interaction with hardware of a popular mobile robot Darwin OP was about 14 ms.

Identifying environmental drivers of demographic variation is key to predicting community-level impacts in response to global change. Climate conditions can synchronize population trends and can occur both spatially for populations of the same species, and across multiple species within the same local community. The aim of this study was to investigate patterns of temporal variation in survival for freshwater fish communities in two geographically close but isolated sites and to understand the amount of variation accounted for by abiotic covariates including metrics of water temperature and stream flow. Using mark-recapture data, we estimated bi-monthly apparent survival in a Bayesian Cormack-Jolly-Seber framework. The model included random effects to quantify temporal variance to understand species synchrony with the rest of the fish community and between sites. Study species included bluehead chub ( Nocomis leptocephalus ), creek chub ( Semotilus atromaculatus ), and striped jumprock ( Moxostoma rupiscartes ) in the southeastern USA. Results showed that survival varied over time and periods of low survival were associated with higher mean water temperature. However, temporal patterns of survival differed among species and between sites, where survival was synchronous among species within a site but asynchronous between sites for the same species despite their spatial proximity. Study streams differed in summer thermal regimes, which resulted in contrasting summer survival patterns, suggesting sensitivity of these fishes to warming. We found that interspecific synchrony was greater than spatial synchrony, where regional drivers such as temperature may interact with local habitat leading to differences in survival patterns at fine spatial scales. Finally, these findings show that changes in the timing and magnitude of environmental conditions can be critical in limiting vital rates and that some populations may be more resilient to climate variation than others., Competing Interests: The authors declare that we have no conflicts of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Bivariate binary response data appear in many applications. Interest goes most often to a parameterization of the joint probabilities in terms of the marginal success probabilities in combination with a measure for association, most often being the odds ratio. Using, for example, the bivariate Dale model, these parameters can be modelled as function of covariates. But the odds ratio and other measures for association are not always measuring the (joint) characteristic of interest. Agreement, concordance, and synchrony are in general facets of the joint distribution distinct from association, and the odds ratio as in the bivariate Dale model can be replaced by such an alternative measure. Here, we focus on the so-called conditional synchrony measure. But, as indicated by several authors, such a switch of parameter might lead to a parameterization that does not always lead to a permissible joint bivariate distribution. In this contribution, we propose a new parameterization in which the marginal success probabilities are replaced by other conditional probabilities as well. The new parameters, one homogeneity parameter and two synchrony/discordance parameters, guarantee that the joint distribution is always permissible. Moreover, having a very natural interpretation, they are of interest on their own. The applicability and interpretation of the new parameterization is shown for three interesting settings: quantifying HIV serodiscordance among couples in Mozambique, concordance in the infection status of two related viruses, and the diagnostic performance of an index test in the field of major depression disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brain-computer interface (BCI) spellers based on event related potentials (ERPs) are intrinsically synchronous systems. Therefore, selections are constantly made, even when users are not paying attention to the stimuli. This poses a major limitation in real-life applications, in which an asynchronous control is required. The aim of this study is to design, develop and test a novel method to discriminate whether the user is controlling the system (i.e., control state) or is engaged in other task (i.e., non-control state). To achieve such an asynchronous control, our method detects the steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs) elicited by peripheral stimuli of ERP-based spellers. A characterization experiment was conducted with 5 subjects to investigate general aspects of this phenomenon. Then, the proposed method was validated with 15 subjects in offline and online sessions. Results show that the proposed method provides a reliable asynchronous control, achieving an average accuracy of 95.5% for control state detection during the online sessions. Furthermore, our approach is independent of the ERP classification stage, and to the best of our knowledge, is the first procedure that does not need to extend the duration of the calibration sessions to acquire non-control observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bylye Gody is the property of Cherkas Global University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Within a theoretical framework of cognitive dissonance, this phenomenological study explored Australian intellectually gifted pre-adolescent/early adolescents' experiences of asynchrony. The study focuses on mothers and sons. Eleven boys aged 10 to 14 years, and nine of their mothers, participated in semi-structured interviews. Seven boys reported feelings of difference, but these were generally vague. One reported strongly upsetting feelings of difference, while several evaluated difference as positive. All mothers believed their sons had experienced strong feelings of difference, emphasizing friendship rather than academic matters, though children raised both. Despite most reporting only mild feelings of difference, boys, as well as mothers, articulated efforts to minimize these feelings. Although this sometimes caused a sense of inauthenticity, the data suggest that parents' and boys' own efforts to accommodate their needs had largely succeeded and left most boys well-adjusted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noninvasive respiratory support has been a proven intervention for patients with acute respiratory failure. CPAP, noninvasive ventilation, and high-flow nasal cannula have been effectively used to support the respiratory needs of this patient population. Even with the application of these devices over many years, however, some patients are not successfully managed on noninvasive support modalities. Many factors can lead to failure of these interventions, several of which impact patient--ventilator synchrony. This paper reviews these factors, along with other issues that may impact tolerance of these devices. By addressing these factors and tailoring the intervention to the needs of the individual patient, the clinician can improve the likelihood of successful management of the respiratory condition in the patient with acute respiratory failure who receives noninvasive respiratory support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given any multiset F of points in the Euclidean plane and a set R of robots such that |R|=|F|, the Arbitrary Pattern Formation (APF) problem asks for a distributed algorithm that moves robots so as to reach a configuration similar to F. Similarity means that robots must be disposed as F regardless of translations, rotations, reflections, uniform scalings. Initially, each robot occupies a distinct position. When active, a robot operates in standard Look-Compute-Move cycles. Robots are asynchronous, oblivious, anonymous, silent and execute the same distributed algorithm. So far, the problem has been mainly addressed by assuming chirality, that is robots share a common left-right orientation. We are interested in removing such a restriction. While working on the subject, we faced several issues that required close attention. We deeply investigated how such difficulties were overcome in the literature, revealing that crucial arguments for the correctness proof of the existing algorithms have been neglected. The systematic lack of rigorous arguments with respect to necessary conditions required for providing correctness proofs deeply affects the validity as well as the relevance of strategies proposed in the literature. Here we design a new deterministic distributed algorithm that fully characterizes APF showing its equivalence with the well-known Leader Election problem in the asynchronous model without chirality. Our approach is characterized by the use of logical predicates in order to formally describe our algorithm as well as its correctness. In addition to the relevance of our achievements, our techniques might help in revising previous results. In fact, it comes out that well-established results like (Fujinaga et al. in SIAM J Comput 44(3):740-785, 2015), more recent approaches like (Bramas and Tixeuil, in: Proceedings of the 35th ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS symposium on principles of distributed computing (PODC), 2016; Bramas and Tixeuil, in: Proceedings of the 18th international symposium on stabilization, safety, and security of distributed systems (SSS), 2016) and 'unofficial' results like (Dieudonné et al., in: CoRR arXiv:0902.2851, 2009) revealed to be not correct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While nitrogen (N) amendment is known to affect the stability of ecological communities, whether this effect is scale‐dependent remains an open question. By conducting a field experiment in a temperate grassland, we found that both plant richness and temporal stability of community biomass increased with spatial scale, but N enrichment reduced richness and stability at the two scales considered. Reduced local‐scale stability under N enrichment arose from N‐induced reduction in population stability, which was partly attributable to the decline in local species richness, as well as reduction in asynchronous local population dynamics across species. Importantly, N enrichment did not alter spatial asynchrony among local communities, which provided similar spatial insurance effects at the larger scale, regardless of N enrichment levels. These results suggest that spatial variability among local communities, in addition to local diversity, may help stabilise ecosystems at larger spatial scales even in the face of anthropogenic environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Volume incentive spirometer is superior to flow incentive spirometer. • Sustained maximal inspiration exercise is equivalent to incentive spirometers. • Sustained maximal inspiration exercise might be a without cost alternative. Abstract Purpose To compare the effects of flow incentive spirometer (FIS), volume incentive spirometer (VIS), and sustained maximal inspiration exercise (SMI) on breathing pattern, chest wall motion, and thoracoabdominal asynchrony. Methods Sixteen healthy adults aged 27.63 ± 5.26 years were evaluated by optoelectronic plethysmography in the supine position with trunk inclination of 45° during quiet breathing and during exercise performance. Results In the comparisons among exercises, VIS promoted a significantly higher inspiratory time and lower mean inspiratory flow compared with FIS. The rating of perceived exertion according to the Borg Scale was significantly higher after the performance of FIS compared with VIS. Regarding asynchrony, none of the exercises caused changes in thoracoabdominal synchrony between the rib cage and abdomen. However, both devices significantly reduced the asynchrony between the pulmonary and abdominal rib cage compared with quiet breathing. Conclusion SMI exercise was equivalent to incentive spirometers and may be an interesting alternative for clinical use in cases in which it is not possible to acquire the devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Breathing exercises, such as diaphragmatic breathing and pursed-lips breathing, play a role in some individuals with COPD and might be considered for those patients who are unable to exercise. However, in the literature are reports of some adverse effects of diaphragmatic breathing in patients with COPD. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of diaphragmatic breathing and diaphragmatic breathing combined with pursed-lips on chest wall kinematics, breathlessness, and chest wall asynchrony in subjects with COPD, and also to assess whether the combination of both exercises reduces the adverse effects of diaphragmatic breathing while maintaining its benefits. METHODS: Seventeen subjects with COPD, mean ± SD, 65 ± 7 y of age, with a history of smoking and clinical stability without hospitalization or symptoms of exacerbation in the past 4 wk, were evaluated. On day 1, participants' characteristics were collected, and they learned diaphragmatic breathing and its combination with pursed-lips breathing. On day 2, the participants were evaluated by optoelectronic plethysmography with the participants in the seated position while performing breathing exercises. RESULTS: Diaphragmatic breathing and diaphragmatic breathing plus pursed-lips breathing promoted a significant increase in chest wall tidal volume and its compartments as well as a reduction in breathing frequency compared with quiet breathing. No significant changes were observed in dyspnea or end-expiratory volume of the chest wall. A significant increase in asynchrony (inspiratory-expiratory phase ratio) was observed during diaphragmatic breathing and diaphragmatic breathing plus pursed-lips breathing compared with quiet breathing, with no differences observed between the exercises. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the increase in asynchrony, both breathing exercises were able to improve chest wall volumes without affecting dyspnea. The combination of exercises maintained the benefits but did not reduce the adverse effects of diaphragmatic breathing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Left bundle branch block (LBBB) has a predictive value for response to cardiac resynchronization therapy as reported by Zareba et al. (Circulation 123(10):1061-1072, 2011). However, based on ECG criteria, the discrimination between complete LBBB and nonspecific intraventricular conduction delay is challenging. We tested the hypothesis that discrimination can be performed using standard electrophysiological catheters and a simple stimulation protocol.Methods: Fifty-nine patients were analyzed retrospectively. Patients were divided into groups of narrow QRS (n = 20), wide QRS of right bundle branch block (RBBB) morphology (n = 14), and wide QRS of LBBB morphology (n = 25). Using a diagnostic catheter placed in the coronary sinus, left ventricular activation was assessed during intrinsic conduction as well as during right ventricular (RV) stimulation.Results: In patients with narrow QRS and RBBB, the Q-LV/QRS ratio was 0.43 ± 0.013 (n = 20) and 0.41 ± 0.026 (n = 14), respectively. In patients with LBBB morphology, the Q-LV/QRS split up into a group of patients with normal (0.43 ± 0.022, n = 7) and a group with delayed left ventricular activation (0.75 ± 0.016, n = 18). By direct comparison of the Q-LV/QRS ratio during intrinsic conduction with the Q-LV/QRS ratio during RV pacing leading to a functional LBBB, a clear distinction between a group of "true LBBB" and another group of "apparent LBBB"/nonspecific intraventricular conduction delay (NICD) could be generated.Conclusions: We present a novel and practical method that might facilitate discrimination between patients with apparent LBBB and true LBBB by comparing Q-LV/QRS ratios during intrinsic activation and during RV stimulation. Although this method can already be directly applied, validation by 3D electrical mapping and prospective correlation to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) response will be required for further translation into clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous work on sensorimotor synchronization has investigated the dynamics of finger tapping and how individual movement trajectories contribute to timing accuracy via asymmetry in movement velocities. The present study investigated sensorimotor synchronization (in-phase) and syncopation (anti-phase) to both an auditory metronome and a visual flashing light at multiple frequencies to understand how individual movement phases contribute to the variability of timekeeping and error correction in different sensory modalities and with different task constraints. Results demonstrate that the proportional time spent in both the upward phase of movement and the holding phase of movement (time spent on the surface of the table) remain relatively invariant across both stimulus modalities and across tapping styles (syncopation and synchronization), but changes with interval duration, increasing as interval duration increases. The time spent in the downward phase of movement did significantly differ across stimulus modality and tapping style, increasing during both visuomotor timing and syncopation, accompanied by a significant decrease in flexion velocity during syncopation. Extension velocity and flexion time were found to be the main contributors to differences between visual and auditory timing, while flexion velocity and flexion time were found to be the main contributors to differences between synchronization and syncopation. No correlations were found between asynchrony and the upward, downward, or holding phases of movement, suggesting the existence of multiple error correction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishment of a fungal infection due to Aspergillus fumigatus relies on the efficient germination of the airborne conidia once they penetrate the respiratory tract. However, the features of conidial germination have been poorly explored and understood in this fungal species as well as in other species of filamentous fungi. We show here that the germination of A. fumigatus is asynchronous. If the nutritional environment and extensive gene deletions can modify the germination parameters for A. fumigatus, the asynchrony is maintained in all germinative conditions tested. Even though the causes for this asynchrony of conidial germination remain unknown, asynchrony is essential for the completion of the biological cycle of this filamentous fungus.

• Effects of N addition on community stability in alpine grasslands at three degradation stages were examined. • N addition had different effects on aboveground biomass in different grasslands. • N addition reduced community stability in all three degradation types. • Community composition mediated the effects of N enrichment on temporal stability. Grassland degradation is a widespread concern globally. Nutrient addition is widely recognized as an important management measure for degraded grassland restoration, but nutrient inputs may have important effects on temporal stability of communities. However, it is unclear how the degradation degrees regulate the impacts of adding nitrogen (N) on temporal stability of communities due to large variations in community composition and soil nutrient content. Herein, long-term experimental study was used to identify the N influences on temporal stability of community and driving factors of alpine grasslands at three degradational stages (none (ND), moderate (MD), and heavily degraded grassland (HD)). Elevated N could significantly enhance the aboveground biomass of ND, while there was no notable effect on MD and HD. However, N addition significantly lowered the temporal stability of all these three grasslands, although species richness was only pronouncedly reduced in MD. Our most conspicuous outcome is the major mechanism of temporal stability of community varied with degradation stages. N addition decreased temporal stability of the community predominantly by decrease in the richness of species and the stability of dominant species in ND and MD while decrease in dominant species stability, asynchrony, and richness of species in HD. This study highlights that impacts of N enrichment on temporal stability of community are potentially intermediated via community composition of alpine grasslands, which can offer guidance for scientific management and rehabilitation of degraded alpine grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]