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Atrial fibrillation (AF), a cardiac arrhythmia characterized by an abnormal and rapid heartbeat, has the potential to develop into stroke, heart failure, and, ultimately, mortality. The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a pivotal tool in the diagnosis of AF, offering a quick, cost‐effective, and non‐invasive mean to record the heart's electrical activity. Recent studies are increasingly engaged in the implementation of deep learning techniques for ECG feature extraction for AF prediction. In addition, the application of Mendelian randomization (MR) methodologies has been investigated to identify causal associations between genetically imputed pre‐defined ECG characteristics and cardiovascular diseases, such as AF. DeepFEIVR, a non‐linear extension of the classical instrumental variable (IV) regression model, was designed with the objective of extracting disease‐associated causal features from high‐dimensional data, such as neuroimaging data. In this article, we applied DeepFEIVR as well as its variant (with residual inclusion), DeepFEIVR‐RI, to the large UK Biobank dataset. The application of DeepFEIVR and DeepFEIVR‐RI showed that the genetic components in ECGs could contribute to the development of AF statistically significantly (pvalues < ). Another contribution of this article is an extension to both DeepFEIVR and DeepFEIVR‐RI to accommodate a large number of IVs. A comparison of results from DeepFEIVR and DeepFEIVR‐RI, based on various choices of IVs, was conducted. Furthermore, we applied a recent algorithm called dnn‐loc, enabling a visual examination on specific ECG components as extracted causal features for AF, thus advancing the understanding of the etiology of AF. 

Abstract The tidal disruption event (TDE) AT2022cmc represents the fourth known example of a relativistic jet produced by the tidal disruption of a stray star, providing a unique probe of the formation and evolution of relativistic jets in otherwise dormant supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Here we present deep, late-time Chandra observations of AT2022cmc extending tot_obs≈ 400 days after disruption. Our observations reveal a sudden decrease in the X-ray brightness by a factor of ≳14 over a factor of ≈2.3 in time, and a deviation from the earlier power-law decline with a steepeningα≳ 3.2 (F_X∝t^−α), steeper than expected for a jet break, and pointing to the cessation of jet activity att_obs≈ 215 days. Such a transition has been observed in two previous TDEs (Swift J1644+57 and Swift J2058+05). From the X-ray luminosity and the timescale of jet shut-off, we parameterize the mass of the SMBH in terms of unknown jet efficiency and accreted mass fraction parameters. Motivated by the disk–jet connection in active galactic nuclei, we favor black hole masses ≲10⁵M_⊙(where the jet and disk luminosities are comparable), and disfavor larger black holes (in which extremely powerful jets are required to outshine their accretion disks). We additionally estimate a total accreted mass of ≈0.1M_⊙. Applying the same formalism to Swift J1644+57 and Swift J2058+05, we favor comparable black hole masses for these TDEs of ≲ a few × 10⁵M_⊙, and suggest that jetted TDEs may preferentially form from lower-mass black holes when compared to nonrelativistic events, owing to generally lower jet and higher disk efficiencies at higher black hole masses. 

Abstract Supermassive black holes can experience super-Eddington peak mass fallback rates following the tidal disruption of a star. The theoretical expectation is that part of the infalling material is expelled by means of an accretion disk wind, whose observational signature includes blueshifted absorption lines of highly ionized species in X-ray spectra. To date, however, only one such ultrafast outflow (UFO) has been reported in the tidal disruption event (TDE) ASASSN–14li. Here we report on the discovery of a transient absorption-like signature in X-ray spectra of the TDE AT2020ksf/Gaia20cjk (at a redshift ofz= 0.092), following an X-ray brightening ∼230 days after UV/optical peak. We find that while no statistically significant absorption features are present initially, they appear on a timescale of several days and remain detected up to 770 days after peak. Simple thermal continuum models, combined with a power-law or neutral absorber, do not describe these features well. Adding a partial-covering, low-velocity ionized absorber improves the fit at early times but fails at late times. A high-velocity (v_w∼ 42,000 km s⁻¹), ionized absorber (UFO) provides a good fit to all data. The few-day timescale of variability is consistent with expectations for a clumpy wind. We discuss several scenarios that could explain the X-ray delay, as well as the potential for larger-scale wind feedback. The serendipitous nature of the discovery could suggest a high incidence of UFOs in TDEs, alleviating some of the tension with theoretical expectations. 

Abstract This work studies the use of laser shock peening (LSP) to improve back stress in additively manufactured (AM) 316L parts. Unusual hardening behavior in AM metal due to tortuous microstructure and strong texture poses additional design challenges. Anisotropic mechanical behavior complicates application for mechanical design because 3D printed parts will behave differently than traditionally manufactured parts under the same loading conditions. The prevalence of back-stress hardening or the Bauschinger effect causes reduced fatigue life under random loading and dissipates beneficial compressive residual stresses that prevent crack propagation. LSP is known to improve fatigue life by inducing compressive residual stress and has been applied with promising results to AM metal parts. It is here demonstrated that LSP may also be used as a tool for mitigating tensile back-stress hardening in AM parts, thereby reducing anisotropic hardening behavior and improving design use. It is also shown that the method of application of LSP to additively manufactured parts is key for achieving effective back-stress reduction. Back stress is extracted from additively manufactured dog bone samples built in both XY and XZ directions using hysteresis tensile. Both LSPed and as-built conditions are tested and compared, showing that LSPed samples exhibit a significant reduction to back stress when the laser processing is applied to the sample along the build direction. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) performed under these conditions elucidates how grain morphologies and texture contribute to the observed improvement. Crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) modeling develops insights as to the mechanisms by which this reduction is achieved in comparison with EBSD results. In particular, the difference in plastic behavior across build orientations of identified crystal planes and grain families are shown to impact the degree of LSP-induced back-stress reduction that is sustained through tensile loading.