| 2. |
- Lin, Yi-Ting, et al.
(author)
-
Differences in the Microbial Composition of Hemodialysis Patients Treated with and without β-Blockers
- 2021
-
In: Journal of Personalized Medicine. - : MDPI. - 2075-4426. ; 11:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- β-blockers are commonly prescribed to treat cardiovascular disease in hemodialysis patients. Beyond the pharmacological effects, β-blockers have potential impacts on gut microbiota, but no study has investigated the effect in hemodialysis patients. Hence, we aim to investigate the gut microbiota composition difference between β-blocker users and nonusers in hemodialysis patients. Fecal samples collected from hemodialysis patients (83 β-blocker users and 110 nonusers) were determined by 16S ribosomal RNA amplification sequencing. Propensity score (PS) matching was performed to control confounders. The microbial composition differences were analyzed by the linear discriminant analysis effect size, random forest, and zero-inflated Gaussian fit model. The α-diversity (Simpson index) was greater in β-blocker users with a distinct β-diversity (Bray–Curtis Index) compared to nonusers in both full and PS-matched cohorts. There was a significant enrichment in the genus Flavonifractor in β-blocker users compared to nonusers in full and PS-matched cohorts. A similar finding was demonstrated in random forest analysis. In conclusion, hemodialysis patients using β-blockers had a different gut microbiota composition compared to nonusers. In particular, the Flavonifractor genus was increased with β-blocker treatment. Our findings highlight the impact of β-blockers on the gut microbiota in hemodialysis patients.
|
|
| 3. |
- Wang, Shih-Hao, et al.
(author)
-
TAROGE-M : radio antenna array on antarctic high mountain for detecting near-horizontal ultra-high energy air showers
- 2022
-
In: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The TAROGE-M radio observatory is a self-triggered antenna array on top of the similar to 2700m high Mt. Melbourne in Antarctica, designed to detect impulsive geomagnetic emission from extensive air showers induced by ultra-high energy (UHE) particles beyond 1017 eV, including cosmic rays, Earth-skimming tau neutrinos, and particularly, the "ANITA anomalous events" (AAE) from near and below the horizon. The six AAE discovered by the ANITA experiment have signal features similar to tau neutrinos but that hypothesis is in tension either with the interaction length predicted by Standard Model or with the flux limits set by other experiments. Their origin remains uncertain, requiring more experimental inputs for clarification. The detection concept of TAROGE-M takes advantage of a high altitude with synoptic view toward the horizon as an efficient signal collector, and the radio quietness as well as strong and near vertical geomagnetic field in Antarctica, enhancing the relative radio signal strength. This approach has a low energy threshold, high duty cycle, and is easy to extend for quickly enlarging statistics. Here we report experimental results from the first TAROGEM station deployed in January 2020, corresponding to approximately one month of livetime. The station consists of six receiving antennas operating at 180-450 MHz, and can reconstruct source directions of impulsive events with an angular resolution of similar to 0.3 ffi, calibrated in situ with a drone-borne pulser system. To demonstrate TAROGE-M's ability to detect UHE air showers, a search for cosmic ray signals in 25.3-days of data together with the detection simulation were conducted, resulting in seven identified candidates. The detected events have a mean reconstructed energy of 0.95+0.46 -0.31 EeV and zenith angles ranging from 25 ffi to 82 ffi, with both distributions agreeing with the simulations, indicating an energy threshold at about 0.3 EeV. The estimated cosmic ray flux at that energy is 1.2+0.7 -0.9x10(-16) eV(-1) km(-2) yr(-1) sr(-1), also consistent with results of other experiments. The TAROGE-M sensitivity to AAEs is approximated by the tau neutrino exposure with simulations, which suggests comparable sensitivity as ANITA's at around 1 EeV energy with a few station-years of operation. These first results verified the station design and performance in a polar and high-altitude environment, and are promising for further discovery of tau neutrinos and AAEs after an extension in the near future.
|
|
