bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluating threats to South Shetland Antarctic fur seals amidst population collapse
Authors: Krause Douglas J. , Brownell Robert L. , Bonin Carolina A. , Woodman Samuel M. , Shaftel Douglas , Watters George M.
Published: October 2023

Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) are an iconic marine mammal, an important component of Antarctic ecosystems, and a key indicator species for regional fisheries management. Recent studies have demonstrated Arctocephalus gazella is composed of at least four distinct subpopulations, including one breeding on the South Shetland Islands. These South Shetland Antarctic fur seals (SSAFS) are the highest latitude population of otariids in the world. As such, this subpopulation faces a unique array of environmental and ecological challenges, harbours a disproportionately large reservoir of genetic diversity for the species, and has experienced catastrophic population decline in the last 15 years (2008–2023).

We review the array of current and potential threats to the successful recovery of SSAFS.

If decision makers wish to promote resilience and support a robust population of this species with future recovery potential, actions are needed to address threats ranging from uncertain to critical, including debris entanglement, climate change, incidental mortality, and resource competition with the krill fishery.

In particular, the risks associated with overlap in the spatial and temporal distribution of the young of the year and the krill fishery should be addressed carefully.

There is an urgent need for updated population estimates for all Antarctic fur seal subpopulations, analysis on the population viability of the SSAFS, and further characterising summer and winter foraging behaviours to better inform potential conservation actions.
A retrospective study of SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies in children with allergies
Authors: Takaoka Yuri , Baba Yosuke , Toriumi Shun , Ishida Shoji , Ebara Takahiro , Ohishi Kenji , Miyabayashi Kazuki , Kojima Mayuki , Yamada Hiromichi , Yoneyama Toshiyuki , Yamazaki Susumu , Honjo Asuka , Inage Eisuke , Shoji Hiromichi , Ohtsuka Yoshikazu , Shimizu Toshiaki
Published: October 2023

Background

The dynamics of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection in children are continually changing. We conducted a survey of pediatric allergy patients attending our department to determine the prevalence of antibodies against SARS‐CoV‐2 in children.

Methods

A retrospective study was performed among children aged <11 years, referred to a pediatric allergy department between February 2020 and January 2022 with a chief complaint of allergy. The data of children with blood examination findings were retrospectively studied. Qualitative testing for anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG and IgM antibodies was performed using a SARS‐CoV‐2 rapid antibody test. Participants were retested 1 year later to evaluate changes in antibody levels.

Results

In total, 310 patients with a median age of 26 months (interquartile range: 11.6–58.4 months) and male/female ratio of 1.31 were included. A total of 32 patients tested positive for anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 IgG or IgM antibodies. No differences were observed in the severity of allergic disease. The prevalence of antibodies was higher among children enrolled in preschool or school (odds ratio: 13.19, 95% confidence interval; 2.30–249.7). A total of 66.7% of patients underwent follow‐up testing. The antibody positivity rate increased between the first and second testing, but this was not related to the number of medical visits or the severity of allergic disease.

Conclusion

Antibody prevalence in children was low but increased during the study period. The majority of children who tested positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 antibodies did not have a history of coronavirus disease 2019, suggesting that most infections were subclinical.
Single‐cell transcriptomic analysis of pea shoot development and cell‐type‐specific responses to boron deficiency
Authors: Chen Xi , Ru Yanqi , Takahashi Hirokazu , Nakazono Mikio , Shabala Sergey , Smith Steven M. , Yu Min
Published: October 2023

Understanding how nutrient stress impacts plant growth is fundamentally important to the development of approaches to improve crop production under nutrient limitation. Here we applied single‐cell RNA sequencing to shoot apices of Pisum sativum grown under boron (B) deficiency. We identified up to 15 cell clusters based on the clustering of gene expression profiles and verified cell identity with cell‐type‐specific marker gene expression. Different cell types responded differently to B deficiency. Specifically, the expression of photosynthetic genes in mesophyll cells (MCs) was down‐regulated by B deficiency, consistent with impaired photosynthetic rate. Furthermore, the down‐regulation of stomatal development genes in guard cells, including homologs of MUTE and TOO MANY MOUTHS, correlated with a decrease in stomatal density under B deficiency. We also constructed the developmental trajectory of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) cells and a transcription factor interaction network. The developmental progression of SAM to MC was characterized by up‐regulation of genes encoding histones and chromatin assembly and remodeling proteins including homologs of FASCIATA1 (FAS1) and SWITCH DEFECTIVE/SUCROSE NON‐FERMENTABLE (SWI/SNF) complex. However, B deficiency suppressed their expression, which helps to explain impaired SAM development under B deficiency. These results represent a major advance over bulk‐tissue RNA‐seq analysis in which cell‐type‐specific responses are lost and hence important physiological responses to B deficiency are missed. The reported findings reveal strategies by which plants adapt to B deficiency thus offering breeders a set of specific targets for genetic improvement. The reported approach and resources have potential applications well beyond P. sativum species and could be applied to various legumes to improve their adaptability to multiple nutrient or abiotic stresses.
Health Information Seeking Behavior Among Perinatal Women: A Systematic Review
Authors: Li Miaomiao , Wan Abas Wan Anita , Marof Aini Azeqa , Liu Lu
Published: October 2023

The health of perinatal women is critical to maternal well-being and infant development. Understanding how perinatal women seek health information is essential for providing effective antenatal and postnatal care. However, there is a lack of systematic reviews on this topic. This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive literature review of existing research following the PRISMA-SCR guidelines. The results showed that perinatal women commonly seek pregnancy-related health information. Interpersonal sources were identified as the primary and most trusted sources of information. The study also identified various factors and barriers that influence health information seeking, including individual, socio-cultural, structural, and information-related factors, with personal responsibility for health being an influential factor that has not been emphasized previously. It provides valuable insights into the health information seeking behavior of perinatal women. The influence of personal health responsibility, social power dynamics and socio-cultural norms on health information seeking needs to be further investigated.
Reman Co-Design: A Combined Design and Remanufacturing Optimization Framework for the Sustainable Design of High-Value Components
Authors: Behtash Mohammad , Liu Xinyang , Davied Matthew , Thompson Todd , Burjes Roger , Lee Michael , Wang Pingfeng , Hu Chao
Published: October 2023

Remanufacturing is a process that returns end-of-life equipment to as-new conditions and offers numerous environmental and economic benefits. To fully capitalize on remanufacturing, its synergistic interactions with design must be fully realized and addressed during the design stage. Although this fact is widely recognized in the literature, most of the current studies focus primarily either on the design or remanufacturing aspects of design for remanufacturing (DfRem). In an effort to offer a more integrated DfRem approach than those reported in the literature, we propose a new combined design and remanufacturing optimization (reman co-design) framework that takes a holistic approach by leveraging the intricate interplay between design and remanufacturing. The aim of this formulation is to identify the optimal decisions that maximize the benefits of remanufacturing throughout the entire lifespan of a product. To showcase the utility of the new formulation, we are using a case study of a hydraulic manifold, (re)manufactured by John Deere. Using this industry example, we compare the results of reman co-design to the ones from a decoupled remanufacturing design approach. Results reveal that remanufacturing benefits are better realized and improved upon when using the developed reman co-design approach.
A Reliability-Based Optimization Framework for Planning Operational Profiles for Unmanned Systems
Authors: Hazra Indranil , Chatterjee Arko , Southgate Joseph , Weiner Matthew J. , Groth Katrina M. , Azarm Shapour
Published: October 2023

Unmanned engineering systems that execute various operations are becoming increasingly complex relying on a large number of components and their interactions. The reliability, maintainability, and performance optimization of these systems are critical due to their intricate nature and inaccessibility during operations. This paper introduces a new reliability-based optimization framework for planning operational profiles for unmanned systems. The proposed method employs deep learning techniques for subsystem health monitoring, dynamic Bayesian networks for system reliability analysis, and multi-objective optimization schemes for optimizing system performance. The proposed framework systematically integrates these schemes to enable their application to a wide range of tasks, including offline reliability-based optimization of system operational profiles. This framework is the first in the literature that incorporates health monitoring of multi-component systems with causal relationships. Using this hybrid scheme on unmanned systems can improve their reliability, extend their lifespan, and enable them to execute more challenging missions. The proposed framework is implemented and executed using a simulation model for the engine cooling and control system of an unmanned surface vessel.
Particle Image Velocimetry Measurements in a High-Speed Low-Reynolds Low-Pressure Turbine Cascade
Authors: Okada Mizuki , Simonassi Loris , Lopes Gustavo , Lavagnoli Sergio
Published: October 2023

Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements in the blade-to-blade (B2B) plane and cascade outlet plane (COP) of a high-speed low-pressure turbine (LPT) cascade were performed at engine-representative outlet Mach number (0.70–0.95), and Reynolds number (70–120 k) under steady flow conditions. The freestream turbulence characteristics were imposed by means of a passive turbulence grid. The PIV results on the B2B plane were compared against five-hole probe (5HP) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) computations to assess the validity of measurement and simulation techniques in the engine-relevant LPT cascade flows. The PIV captured the wake depth and width measured by the 5HP whereas the RANS displayed an overprediction of the wake Mach number deficit. The 5HP was found to impose sinewave fluctuations of the measured flow angle downstream, around three times higher than PIV. Additionally, PIV estimated turbulence intensity (TI) in the cascade, showing TI decay along a streamline. At the highest Mach number, a peak TI occurred past a shock wave. Measurements of the outlet flow field highlighted a high TI in the secondary flow region whereas high degree of anisotropy (DA) was registered in the boundary of the secondary flow and freestream regions. The contribution of the streamwise fluctuation component was found to be less than the crosswise and radial components in the freestream region. Increasing the cascade outlet Mach number, the contribution of streamwise fluctuation to the DA was observed to decrease.
Three alginate lyases provide a new gut
Bacteroides ovatus
isolate with the ability to grow on alginate
Authors: Rønne Mette E. , Tandrup Tobias , Madsen Mikkel , Hunt Cameron J. , Myers Pernille N. , Moll Janne M. , Holck Jesper , Brix Susanne , Strube Mikael L. , Aachmann Finn L. , Wilkens Casper , Svensson Birte
Published: October 2023

Humans consume alginate in the form of seaweed, food hydrocolloids, and encapsulations, making the digestion of this mannuronic acid (M) and guluronic acid (G) polymer of key interest for human health. To increase knowledge on alginate degradation in the gut, a gene catalog from human feces was mined for potential alginate lyases (ALs). The predicted ALs were present in nine species of the Bacteroidetes phylum, of which two required supplementation of an
endo
-acting AL, expected to mimic cross-feeding in the gut. However, only a new isolate grew on alginate. Whole-genome sequencing of this alginate-utilizing isolate suggested that it is a new
Bacteroides ovatus
strain harboring a polysaccharide utilization locus (PUL) containing three ALs of families: PL6, PL17, and PL38. The
Bo
PL6 degraded polyG to oligosaccharides of DP 1–3, and
Bo
PL17 released 4,5-unsaturated monouronate from polyM.
Bo
PL38 degraded both alginates, polyM, polyG, and polyMG, in
endo
-mode; hence, it was assumed to deliver oligosaccharide substrates for
Bo
PL6 and
Bo
PL17, corresponding well with synergistic action on alginate.
Bo
PL17 and
Bo
PL38 crystal structures, determined at 1.61 and 2.11 Å, respectively, showed (α/α)
6
-barrel + anti-parallel β-sheet and (α/α)
7
-barrel folds, distinctive for these PL families.
Bo
PL17 had a more open active site than the two homologous structures.
Bo
PL38 was very similar to the structure of an uncharacterized PL38, albeit with a different triad of residues possibly interacting with substrate in the presumed active site tunnel. Altogether, the study provides unique functional and structural insights into alginate-degrading lyases of a PUL in a human gut bacterium.

IMPORTANCE

Human ingestion of sustainable biopolymers calls for insight into their utilization in our gut. Seaweed is one such resource with alginate, a major cell wall component, used as a food hydrocolloid and for encapsulation of pharmaceuticals and probiotics. Knowledge is sparse on the molecular basis for alginate utilization in the gut. We identified a new
Bacteroides ovatus
strain from human feces that grew on alginate and encoded three alginate lyases in a gene cluster.
Bo
PL6 and
Bo
PL17 show complementary specificity toward guluronate (G) and mannuronate (M) residues, releasing unsaturated oligosaccharides and monouronic acids.
Bo
PL38 produces oligosaccharides degraded by
Bo
PL6 and
Bo
PL17 from both alginates, G-, M-, and MG-substrates. Enzymatic and structural characterization discloses the mode of action and synergistic degradation of alginate by these alginate lyases. Other bacteria were cross-feeding on alginate oligosaccharides produced by an endo-acting alginate lyase. Hence, there is an interdependent community in our guts that can utilize alginate.
Tryptophan-based motifs in the LLP3 region of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein cytoplasmic tail direct trafficking to the endosomal recycling compartment and mediate particle incorporation
Authors: Lerner Grigoriy , Ding Lingmei , Spearman Paul
Published: October 2023

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein complex (Env) is incorporated into developing particles at the plasma membrane (PM). The cytoplasmic tail (CT) of Env is known to play an essential role in particle incorporation, but the exact mechanisms underlying this function of the CT remain uncertain. Upon reaching the PM, trafficking signals in the CT interact with host cell endocytic machinery, directing Env into endosomal compartments within the cell. Prior studies have suggested that Env must travel through the endosomal recycling compartment (ERC) in order for it to return to the PM site of particle assembly. Expression of a truncated form of the ERC-resident trafficking adaptor Rab11 family interacting protein 1C resulted in CT-dependent sequestration of Env in the condensed ERC, preventing recycling of Env to the PM. In this work, the motifs within the CT responsible for ERC localization of Env were systematically mapped. A small deletion encompassing the N-terminal portion of lentiviral lytic peptide 3 (LLP3) eliminated ERC localization. Site-directed mutagenesis identified two tryptophan-based motifs (WE
790–791
and WW
796–797
) within the N-terminus of LLP3 that were essential for ERC localization of Env. Mutant viruses bearing substitutions in these motifs were deficient in Env incorporation, with a corresponding loss of particle infectivity and a significant defect in replication in a spreading infection assay. These results identify two tryptophan-based motifs at the N-terminal portion of LLP3 that mediate ERC localization and Env incorporation, providing additional supporting evidence for the importance of cellular recycling pathways in HIV-1 particle assembly.

IMPORTANCE

The HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) is an essential component of the virus and has an exceedingly long cytoplasmic tail (CT). Previous studies have suggested that trafficking signals in the CT interact with host factors to regulate the incorporation of Env into particles. One particular area of interest is termed lentiviral lytic peptide 3 (LLP3), as small deletions in this region have been shown to disrupt Env incorporation. In this study, we identify a small region within LLP3 that regulates how Env associates with cellular recycling compartments. Mutants that reduced or eliminated Env from the recycling compartment also reduced Env incorporation into particles. These findings emphasize the importance of two tryptophan motifs in LLP3 for the incorporation of Env into particles and provide additional support for the idea that the CT interacts with host recycling pathways to determine particle incorporation.
A single polymorphic residue in humans underlies species-specific restriction of HSV-1 by the antiviral protein MxB
Authors: Bayer Avraham , Child Stephanie J. , Malik Harmit S. , Geballe Adam P.
Published: October 2023

Myxovirus resistance proteins A and B (MxA and MxB) are interferon-induced proteins that exert antiviral activity against a diverse range of RNA and DNA viruses. In primates, MxA has been shown to inhibit myxoviruses, bunyaviruses, and the hepatitis B virus, whereas MxB restricts retroviruses and herpesviruses. As a result of their conflicts with viruses, both genes have been undergoing diversifying selection during primate evolution. Here, we investigate how MxB evolution in primates has affected its restriction of herpesviruses. In contrast to human MxB, we find that most primate orthologs, including the closely related chimpanzee MxB, do not inhibit herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) replication. However, all primate MxB orthologs tested restricted human cytomegalovirus. Through the generation of human and chimpanzee MxB chimeras, we show that a single residue, M83, is the key determinant of restriction of HSV-1 replication. Humans are the only primate species known to encode a methionine at this position, whereas most other primate species encode a lysine. Residue 83 is also the most polymorphic residue in MxB in human populations, with M83 being the most common variant. However, ~2.5% of human MxB alleles encode a threonine at this position, which does not restrict HSV-1. Thus, a single amino acid variant in MxB, which has recently risen to high frequency in humans, has endowed human MxB with HSV-1 antiviral activity.

IMPORTANCE

Herpesviruses present a major global disease burden. Understanding the host cell mechanisms that block viral infections, as well as how viruses can evolve to counteract these host defenses, is critically important for understanding viral disease pathogenesis. This study reveals that the major human variant of the antiviral protein myxovirus resistance protein B (MxB) inhibits the human pathogen herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), whereas a minor human variant and orthologous MxB genes from even closely related primates do not. Thus, in contrast to the many antagonistic virus-host interactions in which the virus is successful in thwarting the host’s defense systems, here the human gene appears to be at least temporarily winning at this interface of the primate-herpesvirus evolutionary arms race. Our findings further show that a polymorphism at amino acid 83 in a small fraction of the human population is sufficient to abrogate MxB’s ability to inhibit HSV-1, which could have important implications for human susceptibility to HSV-1 pathogenesis.
Orogenic cyclicity and episodic tectono-magmatic processes in the formation of the Paleozoic northern Yili magmatic arc, Central Asian Orogenic Belt
Authors: Zhao Xiaobo , Seltmann Reimar , Xue Chunji , Sun Qing
Published: October 2023

To understand the orogenic cyclicity that built the northern Yili magmatic arc in the southern Balhkash-Yili arc of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, we synthesize its tectono-magmatic processes using new and existing U-Pb geochronological dates (228), Hf-in-zircon (1605 spots), bulk-rock geochemical data (1458), and Sr-Nd isotopic analyses (461) of magmatic rocks. Based on temporal-spatial distribution of magmatic rocks and their geochemical composition, four magmatic episodes (ca. 470−440 Ma, 420−380 Ma, 350−320 Ma, and 300−260 Ma) punctuated by a magmatic gap (ca. 440−420 Ma) and two high-flux magmatic pulses (ca. 380−350 Ma and 320−300 Ma) were recognized. These episodic magmatic processes are proposed to be dynamically associated with changes in configuration of the subducted Junggar oceanic slab, including 470−440 Ma initial subduction, 440−420 Ma flat subduction, 420−380 Ma retreating subduction, 380−350 Ma advancing subduction, and 350−320 Ma retreating subduction, followed by slab break-off in ca. 320−300 Ma and subsequent lithospheric delamination in a post-collisional setting during the Permian (ca. 300−260 Ma). In addition, tectonic transition (ca. 380 Ma and 320 Ma) from extension to compression were suggested to be closely related to the two phases of porphyry Cu mineralization events in the Balkhash-Yili arc. High crustal thickness and more mature arc evolution with prominent crust-mantle interaction may be responsible for the significant porphyry Cu endowment in the northern Balkhash-Yili arc.
Bilateral persistent sciatic arteries presenting with lower extremity claudication
Authors: Jaalouk Emily , Jaalouk Safwan
Published: October 2023

This is a case report of a woman in her 60s with Rutherford class 3 bilateral calf claudication and a resting right Ankle Brachial Index (ABI) 0.49 and left ABI 0.57. The arteriogram of lower extremities demonstrates bilateral persistent sciatic arteries (PSAs). The patient had severe stenosis of left common iliac artery, and thus underwent successful stenting resulting in normalisation of flow and filling of PSA with symptom resolution.
The T1-weighted/T2-weighted ratio as a biomarker of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis
Authors: Hartung Tim Julian , Cooper Graham , Jünger Valentin , Komnenić Darko , Ryan Lara , Heine Josephine , Chien Claudia , Paul Friedemann , Prüss Harald , Finke Carsten
Published: October 2023

Background

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) encephalitis rarely causes visible lesions in conventional MRI, yet advanced imaging detects extensive white matter damage. To improve prognostic capabilities, we evaluate the T1-weighted/T2-weighted (T1w/T2w) ratio, a measure of white matter integrity computable from clinical MRI sequences, in NMDAR encephalitis and examine its associations with cognitive impairment.

Methods

T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI were acquired cross-sectionally at 3 Tesla in 53 patients with NMDAR encephalitis (81% women, mean age 29 years) and 53 matched healthy controls. Quantitative and voxel-wise group differences in T1w/T2w ratios and associations with clinical and neuropsychological outcomes were assessed. P-values were false discovery rate (FDR) adjusted where multiple tests were conducted.

Results

Patients with NMDAR encephalitis had significantly lower T1w/T2w ratios across normal appearing white matter (p=0.009, Hedges’ g=−0.51), which was associated with worse verbal episodic memory performance (r=0.39, p=0.005, p(FDR)=0.026). White matter integrity loss was observed in the corticospinal tract, superior longitudinal fascicle, optic radiation and callosal body with medium to large effects (Cohen’s d=[0.42–1.17]). In addition, patients showed decreased T1w/T2w ratios in the hippocampus (p=0.002, p(FDR)=0.005, Hedges’ g=−0.62), amygdala (p=0.002, p(FDR)=0.005, Hedges’ g=−0.63) and thalamus (p=0.010, p(FDR)=0.019, Hedges’ g=−0.51).

Conclusions

The T1w/T2w ratio detects microstructural changes in grey and white matter of patients with NMDAR encephalitis that correlate with cognitive performance. Computable from conventional clinical MRI sequences, this measure shows promise in bridging the clinico-radiological dissociation in NMDAR encephalitis and could serve as an imaging outcome measure in clinical trials.
Evaluation of WIM data consistency based on temporal axle load spectra
Authors: Masud Muhamad Munum , Haider Syed Waqar , Selezneva Olga , Wolf Dean J.
Published: October 2023

It is crucial to evaluate the consistency in weigh-in-motion (WIM) loading over time and quantify the relative accuracy of axle loads based on axle load spectra (ALS) data for different sensor types. This paper presents the temporal evaluation of the ALS from 51 WIM sites and 128 records available in the long-term pavement performance data. Analysis of ALS data over time shows that for single ALS, there is a significant difference in peak loads between the bending plate, and quartz piezo sensor measurements. Also, 100% of the bending plate 86% of the quartz piezo, and 66% of the piezo cables sites exhibited consistent single axle peak loads after 1 year of calibration event. For tandem ALS, significant differences were observed between loaded peaks of bending plate sensor from both quartz piezo and piezo cable sensors. Also, 83% of the bending plate, 78% of the quartz piezo, and 50% of the piezo cable sites exhibited loaded peaks consistently 1 year after calibration. The results show that calibration frequencies longer than 1 year may be acceptable for the bending plate sensors. However, calibration frequencies of at least 1 year for quartz piezo and less than a year for piezo cable sensors are recommended. Pavement designers and analysts should be aware of the changes in WIM data and calibration frequency over time.
Explicitly incorporating ecosystem-based fisheries management into management strategy evaluation, with a focus on small pelagics
Authors: de Moor Carryn L.
Published: October 2023

The need to transition from traditional single-species fisheries management approaches towards ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM), or an ecosystem approach to fisheries, is widely recognised. EBFM is particularly important when considering management actions for economically valuable fisheries for small pelagic forage fish, given their key ecological role. Management strategy evaluation (MSE) is an effective approach to advance the quantitative implementation of EBFM by enabling stakeholders to explore trade-offs among competing ecosystem-related objectives. This paper puts forward six different approaches to advance EBFM with MSE explicity, by taking advantage of data and research already available and by guiding future research. These approaches can be grouped into those which (i) involve the operating model and/or link directly to the operating model while potentially providing additional performance metrics to evaluate ecosystem objectives, (ii) can be incorporated into the performance metrics, and (iii) involve the harvest control rule of the management procedure. This review demonstrates that immediate steps can be taken to implement EBFM targeted at quantitative tactical management, even without a complex, data-rich ecosystem operating model.
Multiple impacts of invasive species on species at risk: a case study in British Columbia, Canada
Authors: Tamburello Natascia , Litt M. Aline
Published: October 2023

Invasive species are a leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinctions across ecosystems on a global scale. The historical and ongoing focus on single-species management of invasive species and species at risk contributes to inefficiencies in management strategies that present an obstacle to achieving desired outcomes. A holistic approach that consolidates and maps linkages between the broader collective of invasive species and species at risk in an area provides a more appropriate entry point for issue-based, rather than species-based, management planning. We present a case study of this approach from British Columbia, Canada, which synthesized the identity, mechanisms of impact, mechanisms of spread, and magnitude of impacts across 782 unique pairs of invasive species and federally listed species at risk, based on a literature review of species at risk documentation. The resulting dataset was used to summarize the nature of interactions across species pairs and taxonomic groups to help guide the development of invasive species response strategies that make the best use of limited management resources. As species invasions and extinctions become increasingly interconnected, holistic approaches rooted in cumulative effects assessment and ecosystem-based management can provide a stronger foundation for reducing or mitigating this growing threat.
Interactions of $$\omega $$ mesons in nuclear matter and with nuclei
Authors: Lenske Horst
Published: October 2023

In-medium interactions of $$\omega $$
ω
-mesons in infinite nuclear matter and finite nuclei are investigated in a microscopic approach, focused on the particle-hole excitations of the medium involving nucleonic $$NN^{-1}$$

N

N

-
1

and $$N^*N^{-1}$$

N
∗

N

-
1

modes, where $$N^*$$

N
∗

denotes a nucleon resonance. The nuclear polarization tensors include relativistic mean-field dynamics by self–consistent scalar and vector fields. The resulting self-energies are transmitted to finite nuclei in local density approximation. Real and imaginary parts of longitudinal and transversal self-energies are discussed. The relation of the present approach to meson cloud models is addressed and an ambiguity is pointed out. Applications to recent data on the in–medium width of $$\omega $$
ω
mesons scattered on a Niobium target serve to determine unknown $$N^*N\omega $$

N
∗

N
ω

in-medium coupling constants. The data are well described by $$N^*N^{-1}$$

N
∗

N

-
1

self–energies containing S–wave and P-wave $$N^*$$

N
∗

resonances. Exploratory investigations, however, show that the spectroscopic composition of self-energies depends crucially on the near-threshold properties of the width which at present is known only within large error bars. The calculations predict the prevalence of transversal self–energies, implying that vector current conservation is still maintained in the nuclear medium by slightly more than 90%. Schrödinger-equivalent potentials are derived and scattering lengths and effective range parameters are extracted for the longitudinal and transversal channel. Longitudinal and transversal spectral distributions are discussed and the dependencies on momentum and nuclear density are investigated. Schrödinger-type $$\omega +{}^{93}$$

ω
+

93

Nb optical potentials are constructed. Low-energy parameters are determined, are used to study the pole structure of the S-matrix at threshold. The effective range expansion of the omega-nucleus K-matrix led to a $$\omega +{}^{93}$$

ω
+

93

Nb bound states with binding energy $$Re(\varepsilon _B)=-448$$

R
e
(

ε
B

)
=
-
448

 keV but of width $$\Gamma _B=4445$$

Γ
B

=
4445

 keV.
Bayesian analysis of systematic errors in the determination of the constant of gravitation
Authors: Rinaldi Stefano , Middleton Hannah , Del Pozzo Walter , Gair Jonathan
Published: October 2023

Measurements of the gravitational constant G are notoriously difficult. Individual state-of-the-art experiments have managed to determine the value of G with high precision: although, when considered collectively, the range in the measured values of G far exceeds individual uncertainties, suggesting the presence of unaccounted for systematic effects. Here, we propose a Bayesian framework to account for the presence of systematic errors in the various measurement of G while proposing a consensus value, following two paths: a parametric approach, based on the maximum entropy principle, and a non-parametric one, the latter being a very flexible approach not committed to any specific functional form. With both our methods, we find that the uncertainty on this fundamental constant, once systematics are included, is significantly larger than what quoted in CODATA 2018. Moreover, the morphology of the non-parametric distribution hints towards the presence of several sources of unaccounted for systematics. In light of this, we recommend a consensus value for the gravitational constant $$G = 6.6740^{+0.0015}_{-0.0015} \times 10^{-11}\ \textrm{m}^3\ \textrm{kg}^{-1}\ \textrm{s}^{-2}$$

G
=
6
.

6740

-
0.0015

+
0.0015

×

10

-
11

m
3

kg

-
1

s

-
2

.
DIALECT ABILITY, CULTURAL DIVERSITY AND MIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITY
Authors: LI JUN , XIE HAN-JIN , QU SHUANG
Published: October 2023

The impact of dialects on entrepreneurship is an emerging research field, but what is the role of urban cultural diversity in the impact of dialects on migrants’ entrepreneurship is still unclear. Using the Chinese Migrant Dynamics Monitoring Survey, this paper studies the impact of dialect ability on the entrepreneurship activity of migrants in China and the role of cultural diversity in this relationship. We find that improving dialect ability can increase the probability of migrants to start an undertaking. However, dialect ability cannot improve the quality of entrepreneurship, as mastering dialects makes migrants’ entrepreneurship activities mainly concentrated in low-end industries. Heterogeneity analysis finds that urban cultural diversity has a negative moderating effect on the influence of dialect ability on the migrants’ entrepreneurship. The effect of dialect ability on migrants’ entrepreneurship is more pronounced for migrants who live on the urban fringe, towns, rural areas and migrate across provinces. The impact of dialect ability on migrants’ entrepreneurship is more pronounced in the provinces with low entrepreneurial vitality where migrants come from and in the provinces with high entrepreneurial vitality where migrants move in. The mechanism analysis reveals that dialect ability promotes entrepreneurship by expanding social networks and promoting social integration.
Phase transition of traffic congestion in lattice hydrodynamic model: Modeling, calibration and validation
Authors: Huang Li , Zhang Sai-Nan , Li Shu-Bin , Cui Feng-Ying , Zhang Jing , Wang Tao
Published: October 2023

In actual transportation systems, the response time of drivers to the stimulus from the preceding vehicle varies at different speeds. The traditional car-following model cannot capture the heterogeneity of drivers for the response time is regarded as a constant. This paper designed a sigmoid function to describe the relation between the response time of drivers and the current speed. Then, a new hydrodynamic lattice model is developed by introducing the proposed nonlinear function. The model is analyzed by using Fourier series, and the linear stability criterion is derived. Numerical experiments are conducted in a ring road. Simulation results show that the evolution of density waves occurring in actual traffic is reproduced well. Finally, the model is calibrated and verified with the real data, and the simulation results are quantitatively consistent with the detector data.
Physiotherapy students’ rating on lecturers’ and supervisors’ clinical education attributes
Authors: Safo-Kantanka Nana Kwame , Quartey Jonathan , Kwakye Samuel Koranteng
Published: October 2023

Background: Clinical education is considered a vital aspect of education of health science students. Attributes of clinical educators play a crucial role in determining the outcome of clinical teaching and learning. A good clinical educator ensures that students get maximum benefits of the clinical learning experience.

Objective: To determine the ratings of physiotherapy students on clinical education attributes of lecturers and clinical supervisors.

Methods: The study was conducted with 81 clinical physiotherapy students from two universities in Ghana. Two copies of McGill clinical teachers’ evaluation (CTE) tool were used to obtain students’ ratings on their clinical supervisors’ and lecturers’ clinical education attributes. Independent t-test was used to compare the means of students’ level of study and ratings regarding the clinical education attributes of clinical supervisors and lecturers.

Results: Students had a high rating on their clinical education attributes of supervisors and lecturers with a mean score of ([Formula: see text]) and ([Formula: see text]), respectively. Rating on clinical education attributes of supervisors ([Formula: see text]) and lecturers ([Formula: see text]) did not differ significantly between the different levels of study.

Conclusion: Clinical physiotherapy students rated the clinical education attributes of their lecturers and supervisors high.
Economic Systems in the Metaverse: Basics, State of the Art, and Challenges
Authors: Huawei Huang , Qinnan Zhang , Taotao Li , Qinglin Yang , Zhaokang Yin , Junhao Wu , Xiong Zehui , Jianming Zhu , Wu Jiajing , Zheng Zibin
Published: October 2023

Economic systems play pivotal roles in the metaverse. However, we have not yet found an overview that systematically introduces economic systems for the metaverse. Therefore, we review the state-of-the-art solutions, architectures, and systems related to economic systems. When investigating those state-of-the-art studies, we keep two questions in mind: (1) What is the framework of economic systems in the context of the metaverse? and (2) What activities would economic systems engage in the metaverse? This article aims to disclose insights into the economic systems that work for both the current and the future metaverse. To have a clear overview of the economic system framework, we mainly discuss the connections among three fundamental elements in the metaverse, i.e., digital creation, digital assets, and the digital trading market. After that, we elaborate on each topic of the proposed economic system framework. Those topics include incentive mechanisms, monetary systems, digital wallets, decentralized finance activities, and cross-platform interoperability for the metaverse. For each topic, we mainly discuss three questions: (a) the rationale of this topic, (b) why the metaverse needs this topic, and (c) how this topic will evolve in the metaverse. Through this overview, we wish readers can better understand what economic systems the metaverse needs and the insights behind the economic activities in the metaverse.
CLHHN: Category-aware Lossless Heterogeneous Hypergraph Neural Network for Session-based Recommendation
Authors: Ma Yutao , Wang Zesheng , Huang Liwei , Wang Jian
Published: October 2023

In recent years, session-based recommendation (SBR), which seeks to predict the target user’s next click based on anonymous interaction sequences, has drawn increasing interest for its practicality. The key to completing the SBR task is modeling user intent accurately. Due to the popularity of graph neural networks (GNNs), most state-of-the-art (SOTA) SBR approaches attempt to model user intent from the transitions among items in a session with GNNs. Despite their accomplishments, there are still two limitations. First, most existing SBR approaches utilize limited information from short user–item interaction sequences and suffer from the data sparsity problem of session data. Second, most GNN-based SBR approaches describe pairwise relations between items while neglecting complex and high-order data relations. Although some recent studies based on hypergraph neural networks have been proposed to model complex and high-order relations, they usually output unsatisfactory results due to insufficient relation modeling and information loss. To this end, we propose a category-aware lossless heterogeneous hypergraph neural network (CLHHN) in this article to recommend possible items to the target users by leveraging the category of items. More specifically, we convert each category-aware session sequence with repeated user clicks into a lossless heterogeneous hypergraph consisting of item and category nodes as well as three types of hyperedges, each of which can capture specific relations to reflect various user intents. Then, we design an attention-based lossless hypergraph convolutional network to generate sessionwise and multi-granularity intent-aware item representations. Experiments on three real-world datasets indicate that CLHHN can outperform the SOTA models in making a better tradeoff between prediction performance and training efficiency. An ablation study also demonstrates the necessity of CLHHN’s key components.
Novel Meandered Line EBG Filters with Significant Size Reduction Using Sine Tapering
Authors: Hassan S. M. Shakil , Halder Kalyan Kumar , Mollah Md. Nurunnabi
Published: October 2023

Tapering electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) structures is a common method in designing microstrip filters with different periodic structures. A novel technique for tapering EBG structures with the amplitude coefficients obtained from the sine function has been illustrated. This method deduces mellifluous coefficients that improves the performance with reasonable stopband width, preferable insertion loss level, and much-minimized passband ripples compared to similar designs with other tapering methods (e.g., binomial distribution, Chebyshev distribution, and conventional cosine tapering). It also offers tandem use of tapered EBG structures, leading to the novel meandered transmission line tandem design that significantly reduces the length of the filter; more than 40% is possible, compared to the uniform and conventional tapered designs. Size reduction on such a large scale will benefit the designers with the limited space issues.
Evaluation of Rutting, Fatigue, and Moisture Resistance of Low-Energy Asphalt Mixtures Modified by Crumb Rubber
Authors: Moghimi Saeid , Shafabakhsh Gholamali , Divandari Hassan
Published: October 2023

Low-energy asphalt (LEA) mixture, as an alternative to hot mix asphalt (HMA) due to its lower mixing temperature, has advantages such as reducing energy consumption and environmental pollutants. LEA has poor performance characteristics due to the presence of water in its manufacturing process and low mixing temperature. All the studies about LEA have been focused only on investigating the performance of this asphalt mixture, and the effect of additives in its modification is one of the research gaps in this field. Therefore, the use of crumb rubber (CR) and determining its optimal percentage in modifying the performance characteristics of LEA is considered an innovation of this research. In this research, the performance characteristics of LEA modified by 10%, 15%, and 20% CR were evaluated. In order to examine the rutting behavior, moisture sensitivity and fatigue resistance, dynamic creep, indirect tensile strength (ITS), and four-point bending beam tests were applied, respectively. The results of creep curves and flow numbers (FNs) indicated that modifying LEA by 15% increased the rutting resistance by 1.92 and 2.3 times, respectively, compared to the HMA specimen at the stress level of 207 and 310 kPa. Moreover, the evaluation of the creep strain slope revealed that modifying LEA significantly reduced stress sensitivity. ITS test showed an increase in tensile strength ratio by 22% in the specimen with 10% CR compared to the unmodified specimen. In the evaluation of fatigue resistance, while LEA containing 10% CR had almost similar results to the HMA specimen, other specimens represented a shorter fatigue life, so that with the increase in CR percentage, the fatigue life decreased. Determination of fatigue life by energy ratio and Rowe and Bouldin criteria showed similar results. Finally, by determining the plateau value (PV) in the ratio of the dissipated energy change method, the lowest PV was assigned to the 10% CR-modified LEA and HMA specimens, respectively.
One-Class Fake Speech Detection Based on Improved Support Vector Data Description
Authors: Zhang Jinghong , Yi Xiaowei , Zhao Xianfeng
Published: October 2023

With the development of deep neural synthesis methods, speech forgery techniques based on text-to-speech (TTS) and voice conversion (VC) pose a serious threat to auto speaker verification (ASV) systems. Some studies show that the attack success rate of deep synthetic speech on ASV systems can reach about 90%. Existing detection methods improve the detection generalization of known forgery methods by a lot of training data, but the detection effect and robustness against unknown methods are poor. We propose an anti-spoofing scheme based on one-class classification for detecting unknown synthetic. We implement deep support data description to capture the feature of bonafide speech. An autoencoder structure is introduced to enhance the detection performance. The proposed method is only trained on native speech, which reduces reliance on large amounts of fake speech. Our method achieves an equal error rate of 8.10% on the evaluation set of ASVspoof 2019 challenge and outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. In the generalization test, the proposed method can reach the equal error rate of 15% on “In-the-wild” dataset and 23% on FoR dataset, which is lower than that of other advanced algorithms.
Robust Adaptive Beamformer Based on Constant Modulus Penalty Criteria
Authors: Hao Chuanhui , Zhang Bin , Sun Xubao
Published: October 2023

In this study, a robust adaptive beamformer based on constant modulus (CM) criteria is developed to improve the robustness of the array beamforming, which is a reconstructing minimal optimization for solving the mismatch problem of weight vector caused by steering vector mismatch. In the global positioning system (GPS) L1 band, firstly, a GPS array signal is modelled by designing a dual-polarized antenna array. Secondly, the distortion problem of beamforming is formulated in the traditional minimum variance distortionless response (MVDR) beamformer. For repairing the weight vector mismatch problem, a novel beamformer based on the CM envelope response is proposed to reconstruct MVDR beamforming in the array processing. Besides, min-max penalty criteria are used to enable the beamformer to allocate more degrees of freedom (DOFs) when penalizing the MVDR beamformer responses. Finally, an auxiliary two-element real variable is designed to plan the proposed beamformer. But it is still a nonconvex quadratic programming problem, so an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) is employed to transform the objective function into several subproblems. Illustrative numerical simulation results are provided for validating the effectiveness of the proposed beamformer by comparing it with other existing approaches.
Supplementary Video 3 from GABA Regulates Electrical Activity and Tumor Initiation in Melanoma
Authors: Tagore Mohita , Hergenreder Emiliano , Perlee Sarah C. , Cruz Nelly M. , Menocal Laura , Suresh Shruthy , Chan Eric , Baron Maayan , Melendez Stephanie , Dave Asim , Chatila Walid K. , Nsengimana Jeremie , Koche Richard P. , Hollmann Travis J. , Ideker Trey , Studer Lorenz , Schietinger Andrea , White Richard M.
Published: October 2023

3D rendering of gephyrin positive clusters in melanoma/keratinocyte co-cultures