bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Production of dark-matter bound states in the early universe by three-body recombination
Authors: Braaten Eric , Kang Daekyoung , Laha Ranjan
Published: November 2018

Abstract

The small-scale structure problems of the universe can be solved by self-interacting dark matter that becomes strongly interacting at low energy. A particularly predictive model for the self-interactions is resonant short-range interactions with an S-wave scattering length that is much larger than the range. The velocity dependence of the cross section in such a model provides an excellent fit to self-interaction cross sections inferred from dark-matter halos of galaxies and clusters of galaxies if the dark-matter mass is about 19 GeV and the scattering length is about 17 fm. Such a model makes definite predictions for the few-body physics of weakly bound clusters of the dark-matter particles. The formation of the two-body bound cluster is a bottleneck for the formation of larger bound clusters. We calculate the production of two-body bound clusters by three-body recombination in the early universe under the assumption that the dark matter particles are identical bosons, which is the most favorable case. If the dark-matter mass is 19 GeV and the scattering length is 17 fm, the fraction of dark matter in the form of two-body bound clusters can increase by as much as 4 orders of magnitude when the dark-matter temperature falls below the binding energy, but its present value remains less than 10−6. The present fraction can be increased to as large as 10−3 by relaxing the constraints from small-scale structure and decreasing the mass of the dark matter particle.
Adolescent psychosis risk symptoms predicting persistent psychiatric service use: A 7-year follow-up study
Authors: Lindgren Maija , Jonninen Minna , Jokela Markus , Therman Sebastian
Published: November 2018

Background:

We investigated whether psychosis risk symptoms predicted psychiatric service use using seven-year register follow-up data.

Methods:

Our sample included 715 adolescents aged 15–18, referred to psychiatric care for the first time. Psychosis risk symptoms were assessed with the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ) at the beginning of the treatment. We assessed the power of the overall PQ as well as its positive, negative, general, and disorganized psychosis risk symptom factors in predicting prolonged service use. Baseline psychiatric diagnoses (grouped into 7 categories) were controlled for. Based on both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric treatment after baseline, adolescents were divided into three groups of brief, intermittent, and persistent service use.

Results:

Stronger symptoms on any PQ factor as well as the presence of a mood disorder predicted prolonged service use. All of the PQ factors remained significant predictors when adjusted for baseline mood disorder and multimorbidity.

Conclusions:

In a prospective follow-up of a large sample using comprehensive mental health records, our findings indicate that assessing psychosis risk symptoms in clinical adolescent settings at the beginning of treatment could predict long-term need for care beyond diagnostic information. Our findings replicate the previous findings that positive psychosis risk symptoms are unspecific markers of severity of psychopathology. Also psychosis risk symptoms of the negative, disorganization, and general clusters are approximately as strongly associated with prolonged psychiatric service use in the upcoming years.
Paper ranking; a strategy to embed research culture in developing countries
Authors: Kakamad Fahmi H. , Rawezh Q.S. , Shvan H.M. , Dahat A.H. , Hunar A.H. , Othman Snur , Mohammed Hawbash , Masrur S.A. , Omer Jaafar , Baba Hiwa
Published: November 2018

ABSTRACT

During the past decades, several methods to measure and rank journal impact were explored. To best of our knowledge, no ranking or evaluating approach for papers has been addressed in the literature. To encourage authors and create a national field for competition and challenge, we suggested and performed a method for paper evaluation denoted as source normalized annual paper ranking (SNAPR). It measures a paper's contextual impact, taking into account several of its characteristics like type of the study, the state of the publishing journal, the contextual citation and affiliation. The details with example of SNAPR have been discussed. SNAPR is a measure of contextual impact of papers, designed to be used in developing countries to evaluate articles and induce competition among the researchers.

Highlights:
Development of medium-term prediction methods: A case study of the August 14, 2016 Onor (M
w = 5.8) earthquake on Sakhalin
Authors: Zakupin A.S. , Levin Yu.N. , Boginskaya N.V. , Zherdeva O.A.
Published: November 2018

The potential of the load-unload response ratio (LURR) method for medium-term earthquake prediction is studied for Sakhalin Island as an example. An approach to the generation of predicted conditions and assessment of their implementation in real time is considered. The results of a retrospective analysis of other large Sakhalin earthquakes are used for generalization. It is shown that deviations of prediction parameters from specified values are satisfactory for this method. It is recommended that this method be used to compile summaries of medium-term predictions for Sakhalin provided that catalogs are filled as soon as possible.
Statute-Based Protections for Research Participant Confidentiality: Implications of the US Experience for Canada
Authors: Palys Ted , Turk James L. , Lowman John
Published: November 2018

Many types of vital research require protection of communication and information provided confidentially by research participants. In Canada, apart from information collected under theStatistics Act, the only option is a common law balancing test that creates uncertainty insofar as law is made after the fact. This paper explores the option of statute-based protection from the outset. It examines two such protections that have been in place in the United States for decades—revealing their strengths and weaknesses and how they may be applied in the Canadian context.
Exiled from History: Africa in Hegel’s Academic Practice
Authors: McCaskie Tom C.
Published: November 2018

Many scholars, African and otherwise, have excoriated G.W.F. Hegel for his dismissal of Africa from history and progress in his lectures on the philosophies of history and religion. This has been done by quoting his texts and setting his words in the context of his influence on nineteenth-century European imperialism and racism. A different approach informs this paper. I treat Hegel, a complicated person, as a working university academic with a career to make and an overriding desire to publicize his own thought. I provide biographical insights relevant to these matters, and go on to examine specific texts about Africa that Hegel either sought out or chanced upon, read, misread, excerpted, used, and misused in support of his theorizing and apriorism. Attention is paid throughout to the construction, recording, and dissemination of Hegel’s lectures, and to aspects of their reception and authority in the educational formation of selected modern African intellectuals. I argue that such persons and African studies more widely are still trying to come to grips with the long and enduring shadow cast by Hegel over both the past and present of the continent.
On the minimal number of driving Lévy motions in a multivariate price model
Authors: Jacod Jean , Podolskij Mark
Published: November 2018

In this paper we consider the factor analysis for Lévy-driven multivariate price models with stochastic volatility. Our main aim is to provide conditions on the volatility process under which we can possibly reduce the dimension of the driving Lévy motion. We find that these conditions depend on a particular form of the multivariate Lévy process. In some settings we concentrate on nondegenerate symmetric α-stable Lévy motions.
Univariate and multivariate stochastic orderings of residual lifetimes of live components in sequential (𝑛-𝑟+ 1)-out-of-𝑛 systems
Authors: Barmalzan Ghobad , Haidari Abedin , Balakrishnan Narayanaswamy
Published: November 2018

Sequential order statistics can be used to describe the ordered lifetimes of components of a system when the failure of a component may affect the reliability of the remaining components. After a reliability system consisting of n components fails, some of its components may still be alive. In this paper we first establish some univariate stochastic orderings and ageing properties of the residual lifetimes of the live components in a sequential (n-r+1)-out-of-n system. We also obtain a characterizing result for the exponential distribution based on uncorrelated residual lifetimes of live components. Finally, we provide some sufficient conditions for comparing vectors of residual lifetimes of the live components from two sequential (n-r+1)-out-of-n systems. The results established here extend some well-known results in the literature.
From trees to graphs: collapsing continuous-time branching processes
Authors: Garavaglia A. , van der Hofstad R.
Published: November 2018

Continuous-time branching processes (CTBPs) are powerful tools in random graph theory, but are not appropriate to describe real-world networks since they produce trees rather than (multi)graphs. In this paper we analyze collapsed branching processes (CBPs), obtained by a collapsing procedure on CTBPs, in order to define multigraphs where vertices have fixed out-degree m≥2. A key example consists of preferential attachment models (PAMs), as well as generalized PAMs where vertices are chosen according to their degree and age. We identify the degree distribution of CBPs, showing that it is closely related to the limiting distribution of the CTBP before collapsing. In particular, this is the first time that CTBPs are used to investigate the degree distribution of PAMs beyond the tree setting.
Optimal routeing in two-queue polling systems
Authors: Adan I. J. B. F. , Kulkarni V. G. , Lee N. , Lefeber E.
Published: November 2018

We consider a polling system with two queues, exhaustive service, no switchover times, and exponential service times with rate µ in each queue. The waiting cost depends on the position of the queue relative to the server: it costs a customercper time unit to wait in the busy queue (where the server is) anddper time unit in the idle queue (where there is no server). Customers arrive according to a Poisson process with rate λ. We study the control problem of how arrivals should be routed to the two queues in order to minimize the expected waiting costs and characterize individually and socially optimal routeing policies under three scenarios of available information at decision epochs: no, partial, and complete information. In the complete information case, we develop a new iterative algorithm to determine individually optimal policies (which are symmetric Nash equilibria), and show that such policies can be described by a switching curve. We use Markov decision processes to compute the socially optimal policies. We observe numerically that the socially optimal policy is well approximated by a linear switching curve. We prove that the control policy described by this linear switching curve is indeed optimal for the fluid version of the two-queue polling system.
Approximation of excessive backlog probabilities of two tandem queues
Authors: Sezer Ali Devin
Published: November 2018

LetXbe the constrained random walk on ℤ+2having increments (1,0), (-1,1), and (0,-1) with respective probabilities λ, µ1, and µ2representing the lengths of two tandem queues. We assume thatXis stable and µ1≠µ2. Let τnbe the first time when the sum of the components ofXequalsn. LetYbe the constrained random walk on ℤ×ℤ+having increments (-1,0), (1,1), and (0,-1) with probabilities λ, µ1, and µ2. Let τ be the first time that the components ofYare equal to each other. We prove thatPn-xn(1),xn(2)(τ<∞) approximatespn(xn) with relative errorexponentially decayinginnforxn=⌊nx⌋,x∈ℝ+2, 0<x(1)+x(2)<1, x(1)>0. An affine transformation moving the origin to the point (n,0) and lettingn→∞ connect theXandYprocesses. We use a linear combination of basis functions constructed from single and conjugate points on a characteristic surface associated withXto derive a simple expression for ℙy(τ<∞) in terms of the utilization rates of the nodes. The proof that the relative error decays exponentially innuses a sequence of subsolutions of a related Hamilton‒Jacobi‒Bellman equation on a manifold consisting of three copies of ℝ+2glued to each other along the constraining boundaries. We indicate how the ideas of the paper can be generalized to more general processes and other exit boundaries.
When Experts Disagree: Response Aggregation and its Consequences in Expert Surveys
Authors: Lindstädt René , Proksch Sven-Oliver , Slapin Jonathan B.
Published: November 2018

Political scientists use expert surveys to assess the latent features of political actors. Experts, though, are unlikely to be equally informed and assess all actors equally well. The literature acknowledges variance in measurement quality but pays little attention to the implications of uncertainty for aggregating responses. We discuss the nature of the measurement problem in expert surveys. We then propose methods to assess the ability of experts to judge where actors stand and to aggregate expert responses. We examine the effects of aggregation for a prominent survey in the literature on party politics and EU integration. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we demonstrate that it is better to aggregate expert responses using the median or modal response, rather than the mean.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation as productivity regulator of the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
Authors: Nave Sílvia , Lebreiro Susana , Michel Elisabeth , Kissel Catherine , Figueiredo Maria Ondina , Guihou Abel , Ferreira António , Labeyrie Laurent , Alberto Ana
Published: November 2018

Spatially extensive and intense phytoplankton blooms observed off Iberia, in satellite pictures, are driven by significant nutrient supply by upper-ocean vertical mesoscale activity rather than by horizontal advection by coastal upwelling. Productivity of oligotrophic regions is still poorly depicted by discrete instrumental and model data sets. The paleoproductivity reconstructions of these areas represent the mean productivity over long periods, bringing new insights into the total biomass fluxes. Here, we present paleoproductivity records from the oceanic Tore Seamount region, covering the period from 140 to 60 ka. They show higher nutrient supplies during Termination II, Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, MIS 6, and warming transitions of the MIS 5 sub-stages. The highest nutrient content (higher productivity) in phase with tracers of bottom-water ventilation (benthic δ13C,231Pa/230Th) establishes a strong linkage with variability of Southern Ocean-sourced waters. Low productivity and ventilation over warm sub-stages of MIS 5 respond instead to North Atlantic Deep Water. Assuming that the Tore Seamount is representative of oligotrophic regions, the glacial-interglacial relationship observed between paleoproductivity and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation strength opens new insights into the importance of estimating the total biomass in these regions. The subtropical gyres might play a considerable role in the carbon cycle over (sub-)glacial-interglacial time scales than previously thought.
Vitamin D intake, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D and pulmonary function in paediatric patients with cystic fibrosis: a longitudinal approach
Authors: Timmers Nyanza K. L. M. , Stellato Rebecca K. , van der Ent Cornelis K. , Houwen Roderick H. J. , Woestenenk Janna W.
Published: November 2018

Pancreatic-insufficient children with cystic fibrosis (CF) receive age-group-specific vitamin D supplementation according to international CF nutritional guidelines. The potential advantageous immunomodulatory effect of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) on pulmonary function (PF) is yet to be established and is complicated by CF-related vitamin D malabsorption. We aimed to assess whether current recommendations are optimal for preventing deficiencies and whether higher serum 25(OH)D levels have long-term beneficial effects on PF. We examined the longitudinal relationship between vitamin D intake, serum 25(OH)D and PF in 190 CF children during a 4-year follow-up period. We found a significant relationship between total vitamin D intake and serum 25(OH)D (β = 0·02; 95 % CI 0·01, 0·03; P = 0·000). However, serum 25(OH)D decreased with increasing body weight (β = –0·79; 95 % CI –1·28, –0·29; P = 0·002). Furthermore, we observed a significant relationship between serum 25(OH)D and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (β = 0·056; 95 % CI 0·01, 0·102; P = 0·018) and forced vital capacity (β = 0·045; 95 % CI 0·008, 0·082; P = 0·017). In the present large study sample, vitamin D intake is associated with serum 25(OH)D levels, and adequate serum 25(OH)D levels may contribute to the preservation of PF in children with CF. Furthermore, to maintain adequate levels of serum 25(OH)D, vitamin D supplementation should increase with increasing body weight. Adjustments of the international CF nutritional guidelines, in which vitamin D supplementation increases with increasing weight, should be considered.
A simple, quick, validated method of recording the nasal cycle in humans using a subjective scale
Authors: Williams M R , Eccles R
Published: November 2018

Background

Studies on the nasal cycle can be limited by time-consuming rhinomanometric measurements. However, quantifiable subjective assessment of nasal airflow has been limited by poor correlation with rhinomanometric data, even when investigating patients with a deviated nasal septum.

Methods

Thirty healthy participants attended two study days for rhinomanometric and subjective assessment of nasal airflow (using the subjective ordinal scale). A nasal partitioning ratio was calculated for both measures.

Results

Objective and subjective nasal partitioning ratios were compared; strong correlations were seen, with a correlation coefficient of 0.64 (p< 0.00001) on day 1 and 0.68 (p< 0.00001) on day 2.

Conclusion

The use of the subjective ordinal scale and nasal partitioning ratio provides a sensitive tool for assessing relative nasal airflow, with results that correlate strongly with rhinomanometric data. This finding strongly suggests that this combination could be used for future subjective assessment of the nasal cycle.
Hearing recovery from deafness caused by bromate intoxication
Authors: Suzuki J , Takanashi Y , Koyama A , Katori Y
Published: November 2018

Objectives

Sodium bromate is a strong oxidant, and bromate intoxication can cause irreversible severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. This paper reports the first case in the English literature of bromate-induced hearing loss with hearing recovery measured by formal audiological assessment.

Case report

A 72-year-old woman was admitted to hospital with complaints of profound hearing loss, nausea, diarrhoea and anuria after bromate ingestion in a suicide attempt. On admission, pure tone audiometry and auditory brainstem responses showed profound bilateral deafness. Under the diagnosis of bromate-induced acute renal failure and sensorineural hearing loss, continuous haemodiafiltration was performed. When dialysis was discontinued, pure tone audiometry and auditory brainstem responses showed partial threshold recovery from profound deafness.

Conclusion

Severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss is a common symptom of bromate intoxication. Bromate-induced hearing loss may be partially treated, and early application of continuous haemodiafiltration might be useful as a treatment for this intractable condition.
The cross-sectional relationships between consumption of takeaway food, eating meals outside the home and diet quality in British adolescents
Authors: Taher Ayyoub K , Evans Nina , Evans Charlotte EL
Published: November 2018

Objective

The present study aimed to evaluate the association of frequency of consuming takeaway meals and meals out with diet quality of UK adolescents.

Design

The Diet Quality Index for Adolescents (DQI-A) tool was used to assess diet quality, where adolescents’ food intake was based on 4d diary records obtained from the UK cross-sectional National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) rolling programme Years 1–6. Models included confounders.

Setting

The DQI-A relies on three components, specifically diet quality, diversity and equilibrium, which reflect the degree of adherence of an adolescent’s diet with food-based dietary guidelines.

Participants

British (n 2045) adolescents aged 11–18 years.

Results

Mean diet quality score for all adolescents was 20·4 % (overall DQI-A score range: −33 to 100 %). After adjusting for age, gender and equivalised household income, DQI-A% score was higher for low and moderate takeaway consumers by 7·4 % (95 % CI 5·5, 9·2; P<0·01) and 3·5 % (95 % CI 1·9, 5·1; P<0·01), respectively, v. frequent consumers. Significant differences were also observed between low, moderate and frequent takeaway consumers among all DQI-A components and sub-components (P<0·05), except for the diet adequacy sub-component (DAx). Results for frequent consumption of meals out were similar but attenuated and not statistically significant for individual components before or after adjusting for confounders.

Conclusions

Frequent consumption of takeaway meals may have a negative impact on adolescents’ diet quality and therefore policies to reduce the intake of takeaways should be considered in this age group.
The limits of authoritarian rule: policy making and deliberation in urban village regeneration in China
Authors: Niu Pu , Wagenaar Hendrik
Published: November 2018

The subject of this paper is the role of democratic deliberation as a policy instrument for district and local administrations in the urban village regeneration process. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between democratic deliberation and public policy making, and the theory of deliberative systems. Deliberation in the context of urban village regeneration is part of a complex, scalar, political-administrative system, with many actors whose activities are often not aligned. Although this configuration has authoritarian traits and operates largely without the protection of a strong and well-functioning rule of law, it is not all-sovereign. In fact, one of the most fascinating aspects of urban village deliberation is the way that reveals the limits of authoritarian rule in a modern national and international context. As we show, the Party encounters the same problems of technical, social, and institutional complexity, with the ensuing limits on vertical steering, as administrations in democratic countries. Using the case of Q village, we describe how hierarchical project management sits uneasily with village deliberation throughout the process. When officials attempt to curtail the legally mandated village deliberation process, they encounter stiff resistance and even a participation strike.
SPINOZA BETWEEN FRENCH LIBERTINES AND DUTCH CARTESIANS: THE 1673 UTRECHT VISIT
Authors: GOOTJES ALBERT
Published: November 2018

In the summer of 1673, in what Koenraad O. Meinsma once qualified as “one of the most inexplicable events in Spinoza's life,” the philosopher left his residence in The Hague to travel to Utrecht and stayed there for some three weeks. This event has garnered much interest, for two main reasons. In the first place, it is agreed that something must have induced the rather homebound Spinoza to undertake the journey, especially since Utrecht was occupied at the time by the French, rendering travel dangerous. The paucity of available sources has kept most scholars from suggesting a motive, but those who have been so bold are virtually unanimous in positing that Spinoza traveled on a diplomatic or political mission, referring in support to his first biographer Johannes Colerus's report, gathered from the philosopher's landlord Hendrik van der Spyck, that at his return he was greeted by a frenzied crowd that was ready to lynch him as a “spy, murmuring that he treated with the French of matters pertaining to state and nation,” with Spinoza countering that “many among the highly placed know why I went to Utrecht.” A second reason for the interest is formed by the connection the trip offers between Spinoza and the French general in Utrecht, Louis II de Bourbon (1621–86), the prince of Condé, renowned not only for his military exploits but also for his interest in the arts and sciences, as evinced in his patronage of dissident thinkers like Isaac La Peyrère of pre-Adamite fame. Condé thus figures in all early accounts of Spinoza's trip, and yet the conflicting nature of these accounts, combined with the paucity of firsthand sources, has left later scholars debating at length the precise nature of the prince's involvement as Spinoza's inviter, as his host, and as his ready benefactor.
Perspectives on political party death: theorizing and testing Downsian and sociological rationales
Authors: Bolleyer Nicole , Ibenskas Raimondas , Bischoff Carina
Published: November 2018

Which of the new political parties that emerged in advanced democracies faded away and which ones managed to survive and why? Considering a party as dead once it ceases to nominate candidates in any elections, we develop two sets of hypotheses to account for party death derived from two conceptions of political parties. One conceptualizes parties as vehicles formed by career-oriented politicians eager to maximize individual rewards. Failure to deliver seats or government access is therefore expected to predict an earlier death. The other conceptualizes parties as societal organizations that serve representational functions valued in themselves by elites and members alike. This conception stresses the importance of roots in society or ideological novelty. Using survival analysis, we test our hypotheses in 17 advanced democracies based on a new data set covering 144 new parties from birth until their (potential) death. Arguments derived from both conceptions have significant support stressing the complexity of the drivers underpinning parties’ very existence.
Kurswesen der SGUM/SSUM
Authors: Braun Luciano
Published: November 2018

Zusammenfassung. Im Ultraschall-Kurswesen bahnt sich mit dem Basiskurs Sonografie «Blended Learning» eine interessante und vielversprechende Zusammenarbeit zwischen Universitäten, Studierenden und der SGUM/SSUM an. Es ist zu hoffen, dass wir diese Chance zu nutzen wissen. Wir sind auf dem besten Weg dahin.
The Melting Column as a Filter of Mantle Trace‐Element Heterogeneity
Authors: Bo Tong , Katz Richard F. , Shorttle Oliver , Rudge John F.
Published: November 2018

The observed variability of trace‐element concentration in basaltic lavas and melt inclusions carries information about heterogeneity in the mantle. The difficulty is to disentangle the contributions of source heterogeneity (i.e., spatial variability of mantle composition before melting) and process heterogeneity (i.e., spatial and temporal variability in melt transport). Here we investigate the end‐member hypothesis that variability arises due to source heterogeneity alone. We model the attenuation of trace‐element variability introduced into the bottom of a one‐dimensional, steady‐state melting column. Our results show that the melting column can be considered to be a filter that attenuates variability according to the wavelength of heterogeneity, the partition coefficient of the trace element, melt productivity, and the efficiency of melt segregation. We further show that while the model can be fit to the observations, this requires assumptions inconsistent with constraints on the timescales of magma assembly. Hence, we falsify the end‐member hypothesis and, instead, conclude that observed variability requires heterogeneity of melt transport. This might take the form of channels or waves and would almost certainly interact with source heterogeneity.
Late Cenozoic Erosion Estimates for the Northern Barents Sea: Quantifying Glacial Sediment Input to the Arctic Ocean
Authors: Lasabuda Amando , Geissler Wolfram H. , Laberg Jan Sverre , Knutsen Stig‐Morten , Rydningen Tom Arne , Berglar Kai
Published: November 2018

A compilation of seismic data has been used to characterize the Neogene‐Quaternary sedimentary succession of the northwestern Barents Sea continental margin to better understand the paleoenvironmental evolution and the sedimentary processes involved. The Neogene strata are dominated by contourites related to the ocean circulation established from the opening of the Fram Strait connecting the Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans (< ~17.5 Ma). The upper Plio‐Pleistocene strata (< ~2.7 Ma) are dominated by stacked gravity‐driven deposits forming trough‐mouth fans that were sourced from paleo‐ice streams. Within the interfan areas, contouritic sedimentation prevailed. Thus, this margin provides an example of interaction of glacigenic debris flows, contour currents, and hemipelagic/glacimarine sedimentary processes. A total of ~29,000 km3 of sediments with an average sedimentation rate of about 0.24 m/Kyr were estimated. These numbers reflect the sediment input to this part of the Arctic Ocean from the northwestern Barents Sea shelf and adjacent land areas. For the first time, the average erosion and erosion rates for this source area are estimated using a mass balance approach. Approximately 410–650 m of erosion has on average occurred, corresponding to an average erosion rate of ~0.15–0.24 m/Kyr. These rates are comparable to those reported from other glaciated margins, including the western Svalbard and mid‐Norway margin, but up to only half the rates reported from the western Barents Sea margin. This variation is interpreted due to the size and bedrock types of the drainage area, ice dynamics, and the continental slope gradient.
Concentrations and Water Mass Transport of Legacy POPs in the Arctic Ocean
Authors: Ma Yuxin , Adelman Dave A. , Bauerfeind Eduard , Cabrerizo Ana , McDonough Carrie A. , Muir Derek , Soltwedel Thomas , Sun Caoxin , Wagner Charlotte C. , Sunderland Elsie M. , Lohmann Rainer
Published: November 2018

The Arctic Ocean is known to be contaminated by various persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The Fram Strait, the only deepwater passage to the Arctic Ocean (from the Atlantic Ocean), represents an unquantified gateway for POPs fluxes into and out of the Arctic. Polyethylene passive samplers were deployed in vertical profiles in the Fram Strait and in air and surface water in the Canadian Archipelago to determine the concentrations, profiles, and mass fluxes of dissolved polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides. In the Fram Strait, higher concentrations of ΣPCBs (1.3–3.6 pg/L) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (ΣDDTs, 5.2–9.1 pg/L) were observed in the deepwater masses (below 1,000 m), similar to nutrient‐like vertical profiles. There was net southward transport of hexachlorobenzene and hexachlorocyclohexanes (ΣHCHs) of 0.70 and 14 Mg/year but a net northward transport of ΣPCBs at 0.16 Mg/year through the Fram Strait.
Unveiling Earth's Hidden Magnetization
Authors: Vervelidou Foteini , Lesur Vincent
Published: November 2018

Rock magnetization carries information about rocks' properties, Earth's tectonic history, and evolution of its core magnetic field. One way to study Earth's magnetization is through the magnetic signal it generates, known as the lithospheric magnetic field. Although there exist global lithospheric magnetic field models of high spatial resolution, this path has not yet been very fruitful because of an important limitation: only part of the magnetization is visible, that is, produces an observable magnetic field signal. We refer to the remaining part of the magnetization as the hidden magnetization, and we recover it from a lithospheric magnetic field model under a few reasonable assumptions. We find that Earth's hidden magnetization at high and middle latitudes is very similar, both in intensity and shape, to Earth's visible magnetization. At low latitudes, the estimated hidden magnetization relies on a priori information and can be very different from the visible one.
Marine Geophysical Investigation of the Chain Fracture Zone in the Equatorial Atlantic From the PI‐LAB Experiment
Authors: Harmon Nicholas , Rychert Catherine , Agius Matthew , Tharimena Saikiran , Le Bas Tim , Kendall J. Michael , Constable Steven
Published: November 2018

The Chain Fracture Zone is a 300‐km‐long transform fault that offsets the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. We analyzed new multibeam bathymetry, backscatter, gravity, and magnetic data with 100% multibeam bathymetric data over the active transform valley and adjacent spreading segments as part of the Passive Imaging of the Lithosphere Asthenosphere Boundary (PI‐LAB) Experiment. Analyses of these data sets allow us to determine the history and mode of crustal formation and the tectonic evolution of the transform system and adjacent ridges over the past 20 Myr. We model the total field magnetic anomaly to determine the age of the crust along the northern ridge segment to better establish the timing of the variations in the seafloor fabric and the tectonic‐magmatic history of the region. Within the active transform fault zone, we observe four distinct positive flower structures with several en échelon fault scarps visible in the backscatter data. We find up to −10 mGal residual Mantle Bouguer Anomaly in the region of the largest positive flower structure within the transform zone suggesting crustal thickening relative to the crustal thinning typically observed in fracture zones in the Atlantic. The extensional/compressional features observed in the Chain Transform are less pronounced than those observed further north in the Vema, St. Paul, and Romanche and may be due to local ridge segment adjustments.
Oil Droplets Transport Under a Deep‐Water Plunging Breaker: Impact of Droplet Inertia
Authors: Cui Fangda , Boufadel Michel C. , Geng Xiaolong , Gao Feng , Zhao Lin , King Thomas , Lee Kenneth
Published: November 2018

Oil droplets transport in a deep‐water plunging breaker of height 0.18 m was simulated by coupling computational fluid dynamics with Lagrangian particle tracking. The Reynolds‐averaged Navier‐Stokes equations were solved in a two‐dimensional vertical slice within the computational fluid dynamics code Fluent to reproduce the movement of breaking waves in the absence of wind stress and large‐scale turbulence. The generated plunging breaker generated two additional (residual) breakers, consistent with experimental observations from the literature. The hydrodynamics of the breaker was subsequently used as input to the Lagrangian particle tracking code, NEMO3D, where the equation of motion was solved for each droplet by incorporating the major local forces including those due to the mass of the droplet. The droplet sizes were selected to vary from 100 to 600 μm. It was found that the droplet plume split into three clouds, one below and upstream of the first breaker, one below the second breaker, and one downstream of the third breaker. The largest penetration depth was within the second cloud. The largest entrainment (fraction of surface mass in the water column) occurred for the 100‐μm droplets, while the smallest entrainment occurred for the 600 μm. However, the 300 μm exhibited smaller entrainment than smaller droplets, which is due to the vortical nature of the breaker, which advected the 300 μm horizontally and then upward. This has implications on the biodegradation and dissolution of droplets of various sizes, and on the application of countermeasures such as dispersant.
Driving Factors of Aerosol Properties Over the Foothills of Central Himalayas Based on 8.5 Years Continuous Measurements
Authors: Hooda R. K. , Kivekäs N. , O'Connor E. J. , Collaud Coen M. , Pietikäinen J.‐P. , Vakkari V. , Backman J. , Henriksson S. V. , Asmi E. , Komppula M. , Korhonen H. , Hyvärinen A.‐P. , Lihavainen H.
Published: November 2018

This study presents analysis of in situ measurements conducted over the period 2005–2014 in the Indian Himalayas to give a thorough overview of the factors and causes that drive aerosol properties. Aerosol extensive properties (namely, particle number concentration, scattering coefficient, equivalent black carbon, PM2.5, and PM10) have 1.5–2 times higher values in the early to late afternoon than during the night, and a strong seasonality. The interannual variability is ±20% for both PM2.5 and total particle number concentration. Analysis of the data shows statistically significant decreasing trends of −2.3 μg m−3 year−1 and −2.7 μg m−3 year−1 for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively, over the study period. The mountainous terrain site (Mukteshwar, MUK) is primarily under the influence of air from the plains. This is due to convective transport processes that are enhanced by local and mesoscale topography, leading to pronounced valley/mountain winds and consequently to atmospheric boundary layer air lifting from the plains below. The transport from plains is evident in seasonal‐diurnal patterns observed at MUK. The timing of the patterns corresponds with changes in turbulence and water vapor (q). According to our analysis, using these as proxies is a viable method for examining boundary layer influence in the absence of direct atmospheric boundary layer height measurements. Comparing the measurements with climate models shows that even regional climate models have problems capturing the orographic influence accurately at MUK, highlighting the importance of long‐term direct measurements at multiple points to understand aerosol behavior in mountainous areas.
Sulforaphane metabolites reduce resistance to paclitaxel via microtubule disruption
Authors: Wang Yalin , Zhou Yan , Zheng Zhongnan , Li Juntao , Yan Yuting , Wu Wei
Published: November 2018

Long treatment with paclitaxel (PTX) might increase resistance and side-effects causing a failure in cancer chemotherapy. Here we uncovered that either sulforaphane-cysteine (SFN-Cys) or sulforaphane-N-acetyl-cysteine (SFN-NAC) induced apoptosis via phosphorylated ERK1/2-mediated upregulation of 26 S proteasome and Hsp70, and downregulation of βIII-tubulin, XIAP, Tau, Stathmin1 and α-tubulin causing microtubule disruption in human PTX-resistant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. Knockdown of either βIII-tubulin or α-tubulin via siRNA increased cell sensitivity to PTX, indicating that these two proteins help cells increase the resistance. Tissue microarray analysis showed that overexpression of βIII-tubulin correlated to NSCLC malignant grading. Immunofluorescence staining also showed that SFN metabolites induced a nest-like microtubule protein distribution with aggregation and disruption. Co-immunoprecipitation showed that SFN metabolites reduced the interaction between βIII-tubulin and Tau, and that between α-tubulin and XIAP. The combination of PTX with SFN metabolites decreased the resistance to PTX, and doses of both PTX and SFN metabolites, and enhanced apoptosis resulting from activated Caspase-3-caused microtubule degradation. Importantly, the effective dose of SFN metabolites combined with 20 nM PTX will be low to 4 μM. Thus, we might combine SFN metabolites with PTX for preclinical trial. Normally, more than 20 μM SFN metabolites only leading to apoptosis for SFN metabolites hindered their applications. These findings will help us develop a low-resistance and high-efficiency chemotherapy via PTX/SFN metabolites combination.
MiR-27b regulates podocyte survival through targeting adenosine receptor 2B in podocytes from non-human primate
Authors: Zheng Zuokang , Hu Hong , Tong Yanrong , Hu Zhixia , Cao Shiyu , Shan Ce , Lin Wenhe , Yin Yike , Li Zhonghan
Published: November 2018

MicroRNAs are a group of small non-coding RNAs that play key roles in almost every aspect of mammalian cell. In kidney, microRNAs are required for maintaining normal function of renal cells, disruption of which contributes to pathogenesis of renal diseases. In this study, we investigated the potential role of miRNAs as key regulators of podocyte survival by using a primary cell culture model from non-human primates (NHPs). Through microRNA profile comparison in glomeruli from mouse, rat and NHP, miR-27b was found to be among a list of glomeruli-enriched miRNA conserved across species. In NHP primary podocyte culture, significant downregulation of miR-27b was observed during treatment of puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN), a classic nephrotoxin. Overexpression of miR-27b enhanced PAN-induced apoptosis and cytoskeleton destruction in podocytes while its inhibition had a protective effect. Target identification analysis identified Adora2b as a potential direct target of miR-27b. Ectopic expression of miR-27b suppressed both Adora2b mRNA and protein expression, whereas inhibition of miR-27b increased the transcript and protein expression levels of Adora2B. Dual luciferase assay further confirmed Adora2b as a direct target of miR-27b. Furthermore, knockdown of Adora2b by siRNAs enhanced PAN-induced apoptosis, similar to the phenotypes we had observed with miR-27b overexpression. In addition, stimulating the adenosine signaling by an Adora2b agonist, NECA, improved podocyte survival upon PAN treatment. Taken together, our data identified a novel role of miR-27b-adora2b axis in primary podocyte survival upon injury and suggested a critical role of adenosine signaling pathway in podocyte protection.
A novel antibody-TCR (AbTCR) platform combines Fab-based antigen recognition with gamma/delta-TCR signaling to facilitate T-cell cytotoxicity with low cytokine release
Authors: Xu Yiyang , Yang Zhiyuan , Horan Lucas H. , Zhang Pengbo , Liu Lianxing , Zimdahl Bryan , Green Shon , Lu Jingwei , Morales Javier F. , Barrett David M. , Grupp Stephan A. , Chan Vivien W. , Liu Hong , Liu Cheng
Published: November 2018

The clinical use of genetically modified T-cell therapies has led to unprecedented response rates in leukemia and lymphoma patients treated with anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T. Despite this clinical success, FDA-approved T-cell therapies are currently limited to B-cell malignancies, and challenges remain with managing cytokine-related toxicities. We have designed a novel antibody-T-cell receptor (AbTCR) platform where we combined the Fab domain of an antibody with the γ and δ chains of the TCR as the effector domain. We demonstrate the ability of anti-CD19-AbTCR-T cells to trigger antigen-specific cytokine production, degranulation, and killing of CD19-positive cancer cells in vitro and in xenograft mouse models. By using the same anti-CD19 binding moiety on an AbTCR compared to a CAR platform, we demonstrate that AbTCR activates cytotoxic T-cell responses with a similar dose-response as CD28/CD3ζ CAR, yet does so with less cytokine release and results in T cells with a less exhausted phenotype. Moreover, in comparative studies with the clinically validated CD137 (4-1BB)-based CAR, CTL019, our anti-CD19-AbTCR shows less cytokine release and comparable tumor inhibition in a patient-derived xenograft leukemia model.
Repurposing CRISPR-Cas12b for mammalian genome engineering
Authors: Teng Fei , Cui Tongtong , Feng Guihai , Guo Lu , Xu Kai , Gao Qingqin , Li Tianda , Li Jing , Zhou Qi , Li Wei
Published: November 2018

The prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems provide valuable resources to develop genome editing tools, such as CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12a/Cpf1. Recently, CRISPR-Cas12b/C2c1, a distinct type V-B system, has been characterized as a dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease system. Though being active in vitro, its cleavage activity at endogenous genome remains to be explored. Furthermore, the optimal cleavage temperature of the reported Cas12b orthologs is higher than 40 °C, which is unsuitable for mammalian applications. Here, we report the identification of a Cas12b system from the Alicyclobacillus acidiphilus (AaCas12b), which maintains optimal nuclease activity over a wide temperature range (31 °C–59 °C). AaCas12b can be repurposed to engineer mammalian genomes for versatile applications, including single and multiplex genome editing, gene activation, and generation of gene mutant mouse models. Moreover, whole-genome sequencing reveals high specificity and minimal off-target effects of AaCas12b-meditated genome editing. Our findings establish CRISPR-Cas12b as a versatile tool for mammalian genome engineering.
Author Correction: Higher ambient synaptic glutamate at inhibitory versus excitatory neurons differentially impacts NMDA receptor activity
Authors: Yao Lulu , Grand Teddy , Hanson Jesse E. , Paoletti Pierre , Zhou Qiang
Published: November 2018

The original version of this Article omitted the middle initial of the author Jesse E. Hanson. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.
Studying and modulating schizophrenia-associated dysfunctions of oligodendrocytes with patient-specific cell systems
Authors: Raabe Florian J. , Galinski Sabrina , Papiol Sergi , Falkai Peter G. , Schmitt Andrea , Rossner Moritz J.
Published: November 2018

Postmortem studies in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ) have revealed deficits in myelination, abnormalities in myelin gene expression and altered numbers of oligodendrocytes in the brain. However, gaining mechanistic insight into oligodendrocyte (OL) dysfunction and its contribution to SCZ has been challenging because of technical hurdles. The advent of individual patient-derived human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), combined with the generation of in principle any neuronal and glial cell type, including OLs and oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs), holds great potential for understanding the molecular basis of the aetiopathogenesis of genetically complex psychiatric diseases such as SCZ and could pave the way towards personalized medicine. The development of neuronal and glial co-culture systems now appears to enable the in vitro study of SCZ-relevant neurobiological endophenotypes, including OL dysfunction and myelination, with unprecedented construct validity. Nonetheless, the meaningful stratification of patients before the subsequent functional analyses of patient-derived cell systems still represents an important bottleneck. Here, to improve the predictive power of ex vivo disease modelling we propose using hiPSC technology to focus on representatives of patient subgroups stratified for genomic and/or phenomic features and neurobiological cell systems. Therefore, this review will outline the evidence for the involvement of OPCs/OLs in SCZ in the context of their proposed functions, including myelination and axon support, the implications for hiPSC-based cellular disease modelling and potential strategies for patient selection.
Patterns of adenoid and tonsil growth in Japanese children and adolescents: A longitudinal study
Authors: Ishida Takayoshi , Manabe Asuka , Yang Shin-Sheng , Yoon Hyung Sik , Kanda Eiichiro , Ono Takashi
Published: November 2018

Lymphoid tissues, such as adenoids (Ad) and tonsils (Tn), are suggested to undergo hypertrophy during childhood and involution in adulthood. Enlargement of Ad and Tn can cause transient obstruction of the respiratory airways, thus inducing obstructive sleep apnoea. To date, the standard Ad and Tn sizes have not been reported, and there are no explicit objective criteria for evaluating their sizes or deducing whether they have enlarged, reduced, or remained constant over time. Our previous cross-sectional study revealed the age-dependent airway occupation ratio of Ad and Tn in Japanese individuals. We conducted a longitudinal observational study of the Ad and Tn sizes in Japanese individuals aged 6–20 years. Ninety individuals were retrospectively enrolled. The average and standard deviation of the sizes was calculated in 5 age-based groups.