bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimisation of product portfolio sales and their risk subject to product width and diversity
Authors: Brzęczek Tomasz
Published: December 2018

Prior research and theoretical studies claimed that a company extends offered product and commodities scope in order to make sales and profits grow, and the most important to decrease market risk. Others claimed that in some circumstances product category reduction leads to such results. So in our opinion every adjustment of product width and diversity should be called a diversification, if it achieves mentioned goals. In literature there is lack of methods of prediction and assessment of diversification effectiveness. To explore this issue we measure sales risk in terms of the expected error of sales forecast. We develop modern portfolio theory and forecasting theory to address their limitations in product portfolio analysis. We formulate a set of decision models, whose objective functions include different measures of an expected prediction error. We separately take it into consideration, whether to reduce or extend width of portfolio by one product category. Finally, we verify models using an agricultural production factors and equipment wholesaler’s real sales data and sales forecasts for considered new product categories. Sales data are organised into samples for the evaluation of decision model parameters and for forecast testing. We have found that product expansion usually leads to business’s higher forecasted sales and its nominal risk but also to lower relative risk. In our model any decision about product introduction or termination is assessed in relation to business’s sales and their risk, unlike in popular financial methods of project or product investment performance and return assessment.
Counter-narratives as resistance: Creating critical social studies spaces with communities
Authors: Ender Tommy
Published: December 2018

Social studies’ explanations of race can marginalize educators of color, due to a lack of focus in the curriculum or conversations in the classroom. This article addresses the problem through composite counter-narratives, created from collaborations between the author and current social studies teachers of color. Two teachers, Charlie Smith and Rosita Hernandez, describe their experiences learning and teaching social studies through the lens of community. Current research positions counter-narratives as a pedagogical tool for pre-service teachers resisting majoritarian narratives or as a curricular tool for elementary social studies teachers challenging mainstream historical texts. However, a gap exists on in-service social studies teachers using community to create counter-narratives. Composite counter-narratives serve as a starting point in addressing this gap. This article aims to provide scholarship space for the voices of teachers of color while situating the community as a significant influence in teaching social studies.
Scale-dependent alignment, tumbling and stretching of slender rods in isotropic turbulence
Authors: Pujara Nimish , Voth Greg A. , Variano Evan A.
Published: December 2018

We examine the dynamics of slender, rigid rods in direct numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence. The focus is on the statistics of three quantities and how they vary as rod length increases from the dissipation range to the inertial range. These quantities are (i) the steady-state rod alignment with respect to the perceived velocity gradients in the surrounding flow, (ii) the rate of rod reorientation (tumbling) and (iii) the rate at which the rod end points move apart (stretching). Under the approximations of slender-body theory, the rod inertia is neglected and rods are modelled as passive particles in the flow that do not affect the fluid velocity field. We find that the average rod alignment changes qualitatively as rod length increases from the dissipation range to the inertial range. While rods in the dissipation range align most strongly with fluid vorticity, rods in the inertial range align most strongly with the most extensional eigenvector of the perceived strain-rate tensor. For rods in the inertial range, we find that the variance of rod stretching and the variance of rod tumbling both scale as $l^{-4/3}$, where $l$ is the rod length. However, when rod dynamics are compared to two-point fluid velocity statistics (structure functions), we see non-monotonic behaviour in the variance of rod tumbling due to the influence of small-scale fluid motions. Additionally, we find that the skewness of rod stretching does not show scale invariance in the inertial range, in contrast to the skewness of longitudinal fluid velocity increments as predicted by Kolmogorov’s $4/5$ law. Finally, we examine the power-law scaling exponents of higher-order moments of rod tumbling and rod stretching for rods with lengths in the inertial range and find that they show anomalous scaling. We compare these scaling exponents to predictions from Kolmogorov’s refined similarity hypotheses.
Barotropic theory for the velocity profile of Jupiter’s turbulent jets: an example for an exact turbulent closure
Authors: Woillez E. , Bouchet F.
Published: December 2018

We model the dynamics of Jupiter’s jets by the stochastic barotropic $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-plane model. In this simple framework, by analytic computation of the averaged effect of eddies, we obtain three new explicit results about the equilibrium structure of jets. First we obtain a very simple explicit relation between the Reynolds stresses, the energy injection rate and the averaged velocity shear. This predicts the averaged velocity profile far from the jet edges (extrema of zonal velocity). Our approach takes advantage of a time-scale separation between the inertial dynamics on one hand, and the spin-up (or spin-down) time on the other. Second, a specific asymptotic expansion close to the eastward jet extremum explains the formation of a cusp at the scale of energy injection, characterized by a curvature that is independent of the forcing spectrum. Finally, we derive equations that describe the evolution of the westward tip of the jets. The analysis of these equations is consistent with the previously discussed picture of barotropic adjustment, explaining the relation between the westward jet curvature and the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-effect. Our results give a consistent overall theory of the stationary velocity profile of inertial barotropic zonal jets, in the limit of small-scale forcing.
Simulation of air–water interfacial mass transfer driven by high-intensity isotropic turbulence
Authors: Herlina H. , Wissink J. G.
Published: December 2018

Previous direct numerical simulations (DNS) of mass transfer across the air–water interface have been limited to low-intensity turbulent flow with turbulent Reynolds numbers of$R_{T}\leqslant 500$. This paper presents the first DNS of low-diffusivity interfacial mass transfer across a clean surface driven by high-intensity ($1440\leqslant R_{T}\leqslant 1856$) isotropic turbulent flow diffusing from below. The detailed results, presented here for Schmidt numbers$Sc=20$and$500$, support the validity of theoretical scaling laws and existing experimental data obtained at high$R_{T}$. In the DNS, to properly resolve the turbulent flow and the scalar transport at$Sc=20$, up to$524\times 10^{6}$grid points were needed, while$65.5\times 10^{9}$grid points were required to resolve the scalar transport at$Sc=500$, which is typical for oxygen in water. Compared to the low-$R_{T}$simulations, where turbulent mass flux is dominated by large eddies, in the present high-$R_{T}$simulation the contribution of small eddies to the turbulent mass flux was confirmed to increase significantly. Consequently, the normalised mass transfer velocity was found to agree with the$R_{T}^{-1/4}$scaling, as opposed to the$R_{T}^{-1/2}$scaling that is typical for low-$R_{T}$simulations. At constant$R_{T}$, the present results show that the mass transfer velocity$K_{L}$scales with$Sc^{-1/2}$, which is identical to the scaling found in the large-eddy regime for$R_{T}\leqslant 500$. As previously found for a no-slip interface, also for a shear-free interface the critical$R_{T}$separating the large- from the small-eddy regime was confirmed to be approximately$R_{T}=500$.
On the dynamics of a free surface of an ideal fluid in a bounded domain in the presence of surface tension
Authors: Dyachenko Sergey A.
Published: December 2018

We derive a set of equations in conformal variables that describe a potential flow of an ideal two-dimensional inviscid fluid with free surface in a bounded domain. This formulation is free of numerical instabilities present in the equations for the surface elevation and potential derived in Dyachenko et al. (Plasma Phys. Rep. vol. 22 (10), 1996, pp. 829–840) with some restrictions on analyticity relieved, which allows to treat a finite volume of fluid enclosed by a free-moving boundary. We illustrate with a comparison of numerical simulations of the Dirichlet ellipse, an exact solution for a zero surface tension fluid. We demonstrate how the oscillations of the free surface of a unit disc droplet may lead to breaking of one droplet into two when surface tension is present.
The effect of vertically varying permeability on tracer dispersion
Authors: Hinton Edward M. , Woods Andrew W.
Published: December 2018

We study the migration of a tracer within an injection-driven flow in a horizontal aquifer in which the permeability varies with depth. The permeability gradient produces a shear and this leads to lateral dispersion of the tracer. In the high permeability regions, the tracer moves substantially faster than the mean flow and eventually enters the nose region of the flow where the depth of the current is less than the depth of the aquifer. Depending on the influence of (i) the viscosity contrast between the injected fluid and the original fluid, and (ii) the vertical permeability gradient, the nose of the current may be of fixed shape or may gradually lengthen with time. This leads to a variety of patterns of dispersal of the tracer, which may either remain in the nose or cycle through the nose and be left behind. Our results illustrate the complexity of the migration of a tracer in a heterogeneous aquifer which has important implications for interpreting the results of tracer tests as may be proposed for monitoring$\text{CO}_{2}$or gas injected into subsurface reservoirs.
The Cross-Level Effect of Authentic Leadership on Teacher Emotional Exhaustion: The Chain Mediating Role of Structural and Psychological Empowerment
Authors: Xu Zhihua , Yang Fu
Published: December 2018

Although previous research has found that authentic leadership has a negative effect on employee burnout through structural empowerment, lack of psychological empowerment in the research cannot present a complete picture on how authentic leadership influences burnout because employees must experience being psychologically empowered for empowerment to be effective. Drawing on empowerment-related theories, this study integrates the three different perspectives of empowerment (authentic leadership, structural empowerment, and psychological empowerment) to examine their effects on emotional exhaustion, the core component of burnout, at multiple levels of analysis. Using a sample of 378 teachers from 59 primary and secondary schools in China, multilevel structural equation modelling results revealed that: (1) authentic leadership had an indirect effect on psychological empowerment partially through structural empowerment, (2) psychological empowerment played a full mediating role in the relationship between structural empowerment and emotional exhaustion, and (3) structural empowerment and psychological empowerment sequentially mediated the effect of authentic leadership on emotional exhaustion. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
The restrictions on the assumption about conservation of parameters of orbit for submicron particles in the Earth’s plasmasphere in light of the corotational electric field
Authors: Yakovlev A. B. , Kolesnikov E. K. , Chernov S. V.
Published: December 2018

The influence of the corotational electric field on the possibility of long holding of micro-particles with radii of the order of some hundredths of micrometers and quasi-equilibrium charge moving along weakly elliptic orbits in the plasmasphere of the Earth is considered by analytical and numerical methods. It is shown that, unlike the magnetic field, the corotational electric field causes a slow change in the shape of the orbit.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Seventy: Progress and Challenges
Authors: İlgü Özler Ş.
Published: December 2018

Now is a good time to take stock of the global progress made toward achieving the ideals enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was passed by the UN General Assembly seventy years ago. Though the UDHR has played a vital role in advancing human rights globally, threats to human rights areever present. Two issues in particular stand out as barriers to further progress. The first is state sovereignty, which presents a fundamental challenge to any effort to establish universal norms. Without strong global institutional mechanisms to ensure implementation, UDHR's impact remains limited. The second major concern is the “siloing” of human rights efforts, whereby civil and political rights have been given primacy over social and economic rights. Emphasis on some principles to the exclusion of others undermines the comprehensive advancement of human rights. The current state of affairs is a product of the collective failure to address human rights holistically and to implement real monitoring and accountability measures for states, which are directly charged with upholding them within their borders.
What if Cyberspace Were for Fighting?
Authors: Hollis Duncan B. , Ohlin Jens David
Published: December 2018

This essay explores the ethical and legal implications of prioritizing the militarization of cyberspace as part of a roundtable on “Competing Visions for Cyberspace.” Our essay uses an ideal type—a world that accepts warfighting as the prime directive for the construction and use of cyberspace—and examines the ethical and legal consequences that follow for (i) who will have authority to regulate cyberspace; (ii) what vehicles they will most likely use to do so; and (iii) what the rules of behavior for states and stakeholders will be. We envision a world where states would take on a greater role in governance but remain constrained by law, includingjus ad bellumandjus in bellocriteria, but also sovereignty, nonintervention, and self-determination. We ask if the net result would mean states causing less harm than they do in kinetic conflicts. Ultimately, our essay takes no position on whether cyberspace should be a militarized domain (let alone one where warfighting is the prime directive). Rather, our goal is to situate a warfighting cyber domain within the reality of a pluralist cyberspace, where ethical imperatives compete or coalesce to support specific governance mechanisms.
Germ plasm provides clues on meiosis: the concerted action of germ plasm granules and mitochondria in gametogenesis of the clamRuditapes philippinarum
Authors: Reunov Arkadiy , Alexandrova Yana , Reunova Yulia , Komkova Alina , Milani Liliana
Published: December 2018

Germ plasm-related structures (GPRS) are known to accompany meiotic cell differentiation but their dynamics are still poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed the ultrastructural mechanisms of GPRS transformation during oogenesis and spermatogenesis of the bivalve molluscRuditapes philippinarum(Manila clam), exploring patterns of GPRS activity occurring at meiosis onset, sex-specific difference/similarity of such patterns, and the involvement of mitochondria during GPRS-assigned events. In the two sexes, the zygotene–pachytene stage of meiosis is anticipated by three shared steps. First, the dispersion of germ plasm granules containing the germ line determinant VASA occurs. Second, the VASA protein deriving from germ plasm granules enters neighbouring mitochondria and appears to induce mitochondrial matter release, as supported by cytochrome B localization outside the mitochondria. Third, intranuclear VASA entrance occurs and the protein appears involved in chromatin reorganization, as supported by VASA localization in synaptonemal complexes. In spermatogenesis, these three steps are sufficient for the normal course of meiosis. In oogenesis, these are followed by the action of ‘germ plasm granule formation complex’, a novel type of structure that appears alternative to the Balbiani body. The possibility of germ plasm involvement in reproductive technologies is also suggested.
The Counterfactual in the Age of Trump
Authors: Ablow Rachel
Published: December 2018

“If Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election …” Wouldn't it be nice to climb down into that imaginative rabbit hole and stay there for a while? The possibilities are so reassuringly normal—as opposed to the strange nightmare in which we find ourselves today. For the purposes of this roundtable, however, I wish to consider only one small potential consequence of a Hillary win: and that is what it would have been like to read Catherine Gallagher's new book if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election. I would probably have experienced Telling It Like It Wasn't as a fascinating intellectual history of a mode or a discourse that has enormous political purchase today, largely as a result of its “affiliation with legal and political historical justice projects.” Although thinkers of all political persuasions use this mode, Gallagher explains, the political counterfactual has played a particularly prominent role in “the pressure exerted by the civil rights movement in favor of a Second Reconstruction, affirmative action programs, and claims for reparations” (124–25). It has served as a way to right the wrongs of history, in other words, and as such has served us extremely well. Or, at least, that is how I would have felt if Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election. But she did not. As a result, rather than simple intellectual pleasure and political hopefulness, reading Telling It Like It Wasn't filled me with a strong sense of dread.
Counterfactual Literary Theory
Authors: Mufti Nasser
Published: December 2018

The occasion for this collection of responses to Telling It Like It Wasn't is a conference titled “Novel Theory.” Given this conjuncture, it seems only obvious to pose the question: What does a counterfactual theory of the novel look like? Of course, there is no single theory of the novel, but there is a book and a thinker most closely associated with the phrase, “theory of the novel,” and that is Georg Lukács. And while Theory of the Novel is the obvious text to revisit to counterfactually historicize and/or theorize, it seems more worthwhile for the history of Europe's counterfactual historical imagination to turn to Lukács's other great text, one that features somewhat prominently in Gallagher's book—namely, The Historical Novel.
Refamiliarizing Viktor Shklovsky
Authors: Schmitt Cannon
Published: December 2018

My title is paradoxical, possibly wrong. Refamiliarizing means reintroducing the once known but since forgotten on the assumption that familiarity fosters understanding. The logic on view inheres in the root word, “familiar”: “known to a person from long or close association.” But Viktor Shklovsky (1893–1984), enfant terrible of the Russian Formalists from the second decade of the twentieth century right to the end of his long life (another paradox), contests that logic.Defamiliarization, his most significant contribution to literary theory, posits that more familiarity with flogging, sex, or the custom of burying the dead—his examples, to which I will return—results in less rather than more of a sense of what they are. In a consequential opposition, Shklovsky claims we lose the ability toseewhat we encounter frequently; we come instead merely torecognizeit by its outlines, “as though it were enveloped in a sack.” To see it again, to see it in all its particularity, requires the disorientation that arises when the familiar appears before us as precisely, if temporarily, unrecognizable. Since I aim to render strange, to remove the sack, this little essay should of course be called “Defamiliarizing Viktor Shklovsky.”
Exploring absolute and relative measures of exposure to food environments in relation to dietary patterns among European adults
Authors: Pinho MGM , Mackenbach JD , Oppert J-M , Charreire H , Bárdos H , Rutter H , Compernolle S , Beulens JWJ , Brug J , Lakerveld J
Published: December 2018

Objective

To explore the associations of absolute and relative measures of exposure to food retailers with dietary patterns, using simpler and more complex measures.

Design

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting

Urban regions in Belgium, France, Hungary, the Netherlands and the UK.

Participants

European adults (n 4942). Supermarkets and local food shops were classified as ‘food retailers providing healthier options’; fast-food/takeaway restaurants, cafés/bars and convenience/liquor stores as ‘food retailers providing less healthy options’. Simpler exposure measures used were density of healthy and density of less healthy food retailers. More complex exposure measures used were: spatial access (combination of density and proximity) to healthy and less healthy food retailers; density of healthier food retailers relative to all food retailers; and a ratio of spatial access scores to healthier and less healthy food retailers. Outcome measures were a healthy or less healthy dietary pattern derived from a principal component analysis (based on consumption of fruits, vegetables, fish, fast foods, sweets and sweetened beverages).

Results

Only the highest density of less healthy food retailers was significantly associated with the less healthy dietary pattern (β = −129·6; 95 % CI −224·3, −34·8). None of the other absolute density measures nor any of the relative measures of exposures were associated with dietary patterns.

Conclusions

More complex measures of exposure to food retailers did not produce stronger associations with dietary patterns. We had some indication that absolute and relative measures of exposure assess different aspects of the food environment. However, given the lack of significant findings, this needs to be further explored.
Multi-Angle Plasma Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Curtaining Artifact Correction Using a Fourier-Based Linear Optimization Model
Authors: Schankula Christopher W. , Anand Christopher K. , Bassim Nabil D.
Published: December 2018

We present a flexible linear optimization model for correcting multi-angle curtaining effects in plasma focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (PFIB-SEM) images produced by rocking-polishing schemes. When PFIB-SEM is employed in a serial sectioning tomography workow, it is capable of imaging large three-dimensional volumes quickly, providing rich information in the critical 10–100 nm feature length scale. During tomogram acquisition, a “rocking polish” is often used to reduce straight-line “curtaining” gradations in the milled sample surface. While this mitigation scheme is effective for deep curtains, it leaves shallower line artifacts at two discretized angles. Segmentation and other automated processing of the image set requires that these artifacts be corrected for accurate microstructural quantification. Our work details a new Fourier-based linear optimization model for correcting curtaining artifacts by targeting curtains at two discrete angles. We demonstrate its capabilities by processing images from a tomogram from a multiphase, heterogeneous concrete sample. We present methods for selecting the parameters which meet the user’s goals most appropriately. Compared to previous works, we show that our model provides effective multi-angle curtain correction without introducing artifacts into the image, modifying non-curtain structures or causing changes to the contrast of voids. Our algorithm can be easily parallelized to take advantage of multi-core hardware.
A NOTE ON THE REVERSE MATHEMATICS OF THE SORITES
Authors: DZHAFAROV DAMIR D.
Published: December 2018

Sorites is an ancient piece of paradoxical reasoning pertaining to sets with the following properties: (Supervenience) elements of the set are mapped into some set of “attributes”; (Tolerance) if an element has a given attribute then so are the elements in some vicinity of this element; and (Connectedness) such vicinities can be arranged into pairwise overlapping finite chains connecting two elements with different attributes. Obviously, if Superveneince is assumed, then (1) Tolerance implies lack of Connectedness, and (2) Connectedness implies lack of Tolerance. Using a very general but precise definition of “vicinity”, Dzhafarov & Dzhafarov (2010) offered two formalizations of these mutual contrapositions. Mathematically, the formalizations are equally valid, but in this paper, we offer a different basis by which to compare them. Namely, we show that the formalizations have different proof-theoretic strengths when measured in the framework of reverse mathematics: the formalization of (1) is provable in$RC{A_0}$, while the formalization of (2) is equivalent to$AC{A_0}$over$RC{A_0}$. Thus, in a certain precise sense, the approach of (1) is more constructive than that of (2).
Twins Working Together: Collaboration or Contest/Twin Research: Molar Pregnancy; Social Support; Conjoined Twins; Immune Discordance/Headlines: Twin Politicians; Multiple Birth Marriages; Guinness World Record; Museum of Memory and Human Rights (Santiago, Chile)
Authors: Segal Nancy L.
Published: December 2018

Twin research has found genetic influence underlying vocational interests, work values, and job satisfaction. In addition, numerous studies have shown that monozygotic (MZ) twins generally display greater within-pair cooperation and social closeness than dizygotic (DZ) twins. These findings are illuminated by exploring the occupational histories of two female twin pairs, one set MZ and the other set DZ. This is followed by a review of timely twin-based research reports on molar pregnancy, social support, conjoined twinning, and immune discordance. Finally, news items regarding identical twin politicians, multiple birth marriages, a new Guinness World Record for twins, and a twin-family story from the Museum of Memory and Human Rights in Santiago, Chile are both interesting and informative.
Cold Electron Runaway Below the Friction Curve
Authors: Diniz G. , Rutjes C. , Ebert U. , Ferreira I. S.
Published: December 2018

Cold electron runaway means that free electrons in gases are accelerated by electric fields from eV energies to energies above tens of keV where they can be accelerated further. To run away, the electrons need to overcome a barrier at intermediate energies where they can lose much energy in collisions. When they have reached the runaway regime, they can produce high‐energy radiation by bremsstrahlung that can be detected as (terrestrial) gamma ray flashes. When can thermal electrons from active discharges like streamers and leaders reach the runaway regime? The deterministic approach to this question is based on an energy‐dependent electron friction that has to be overcome by electric acceleration. Taking the stochastic nature of the electron molecule collisions into account, we find (1) that the classical friction curve in the energy regime up to 1 keV does not characterize the mean electron energy, but rather, it seems to approximate the upper limit of the electron energy distribution and (2) that electrons can “tunnel” through the barrier when the field is close to 3 MV/m, below the so‐called cold runaway threshold (or critical field) of approximately 26 MV/m in air at standard temperature and pressure. (3) This is only true in the bulk perspective where the electron liberation and attachment in a given electric field is taken into account in the continuously refreshing electron ensemble. In a flux simulation that follows individual electrons as long as they are free, electron attachment reduces electron runaway very strongly in air, differently to what we observe in nitrogen.
Evaluating Soil Moisture Feedback on Convective Triggering: Roles of Convective and Land‐Model Parameterizations
Authors: Williams Ian N.
Published: December 2018

Feedbacks between soil moisture and convective precipitation are not well represented in current Earth system models, and can affect projections of drought and heavy‐precipitation extremes. To explore the atmospheric and land‐surface influences on the initiation (triggering) of daytime deep convection, single‐column model experiments were performed using the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM1.2), over the U.S. Southern Great Plains. The results indicate that the positive and negative feedback mechanisms found in earlier studies (using simplified boundary‐layer models) are robust to large‐scale forcing and interactions between boundary‐layer turbulence, cloud dynamics, and radiation. However, systematic responses of convective triggering to soil moisture emerged only after switching from a convective available potential energy‐based to a convective inhibition energy‐based convective parameterization. This suggests that the choice of convective mass‐flux closure largely determines the sensitivity of parameterized convective clouds to land‐surface state. Errors in land‐model parameterizations of evapotranspiration also affect the probability of deep convection, with vegetation (transpiration) playing an important role in linking soil moisture to surface energy partitioning and clouds. Parameterizations that permit the triggering feedback mechanism better predict the statistics of daytime shallow and deep convection, with respect to observations from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site in the Southern Great Plains. The results illustrate how errors in the representation of evapotranspiration in land‐surface models can propagate through the chain of coupled land‐atmosphere processes to affect convective clouds.
Impacts of Paleoecology on the TEX86 Sea Surface Temperature Proxy in the Pliocene‐Pleistocene Mediterranean Sea
Authors: Polik Catherine A. , Elling Felix J. , Pearson Ann
Published: December 2018

The TEX86 proxy, based on the distribution of isoprenoid glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (iGDGTs) from planktonic Thaumarchaeota, is widely used to reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST). Recent observations of species‐specific and regionally dependent TEX86‐SST relationships in cultures and the modern ocean raise the question of whether nonthermal factors may have impacted TEX86 paleorecords. Here we evaluate the effects of ecological changes on TEX86 using one Pliocene and two Pleistocene sapropels from the Mediterranean Sea. We find that TEX86‐derived SSTs deviate from
‐derived SSTs before, during, and after each sapropel event.
‐derived SSTs vary by less than 6 °C, while TEX86‐derived SSTs vary by up to 15 °C within a single record. Compound‐specific carbon isotope compositions indicate minimal confounding influence on TEX86 from exogenous sources. Some of the variation can be accounted for by changes in nitrogen cycling intensity affecting thaumarchaeal iGDGT biosynthesis, as demonstrated by an inverse relationship between TEX86 and δ15NTN. TEX86‐derived SSTs also consistently show warm anomalies in the Pleistocene, while the Pliocene samples exhibit both warmer and cooler relative offsets. These anomalies result from systematic differences between Plio‐Pleistocene iGDGT distributions and both modern Mediterranean and modern, globally distributed core top samples. Through characteristic GDGT distributions, we suggest the existence of three distinct endemic populations of Thaumarchaeota in the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and modern Mediterranean Sea, respectively. Importantly, these communities prevailed during both sapropel and oligotrophic conditions. Our results demonstrate that ecological and community‐specific effects must be considered when applying the TEX86 proxy to paleorecords.
Downscaling SMAP Radiometer Soil Moisture Over the CONUS Using an Ensemble Learning Method
Authors: Abbaszadeh Peyman , Moradkhani Hamid , Zhan Xiwu
Published: December 2018

Soil moisture plays a critical role in improving the weather and climate forecast and understanding terrestrial ecosystem processes. It is a key hydrologic variable in agricultural drought monitoring, flood forecasting, and irrigation management as well. Satellite retrievals can provide unprecedented soil moisture information at the global scale; however, the products are generally provided at coarse resolutions (25–50 km2). This often hampers their use in regional or local studies. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite mission was launched in January 2015 aiming to acquire soil moisture and freeze‐thaw states over the globe with 2 to 3 days revisit frequency. This work presents a new framework based on an ensemble learning method while using atmospheric and geophysical information derived from remote‐sensing and ground‐based observations to downscale the level 3 daily composite version (L3_SM_P) of SMAP radiometer soil moisture over the Continental United States at 1‐km spatial resolution. In the proposed method, a suite of remotely sensed and in situ data sets are used, including soil texture and topography data among other information. The downscaled product was validated against in situ soil moisture measurements collected from two high density validation sites and 300 sparse soil moisture networks throughout the Continental United States. On average, the unbiased Root Mean Square Error between the downscaled SMAP soil moisture data and in‐situ soil moisture observations adequately met the SMAP soil moisture retrieval accuracy requirement of 0.04 m3/m3. In addition, other statistical measures, that is, Pearson correlation coefficient and bias, showed satisfactory results.
Polygenic disruption of retinoid signalling in schizophrenia and a severe cognitive deficit subtype
Authors: Reay William R. , Atkins Joshua R. , Quidé Yann , Carr Vaughan J. , Green Melissa J. , Cairns Murray J.
Published: December 2018

Retinoid metabolites of vitamin A are intrinsically linked to neural development, connectivity and plasticity, and have been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. We hypothesised that a greater burden of common and rare genomic variation in genes involved with retinoid biogenesis and signalling could be associated with schizophrenia and its cognitive symptoms. Common variants associated with schizophrenia in the largest genome-wide association study were aggregated in retinoid genes and used to formulate a polygenic risk score (PRSRet) for each participant in the Australian Schizophrenia Research Bank. In support of our hypothesis, we found PRSRet to be significantly associated with the disorder. Cases with severe cognitive deficits, while not further differentiated by PRSRet, were enriched with rare variation in the retinoic acid receptor beta gene RARB, detected through whole-genome sequencing. RARB rare variant burden was also associated with reduced cerebellar volume in the cases with marked cognitive deficit, and with covariation in grey matter throughout the brain. An excess of rare variation was further observed in schizophrenia in retinoic acid response elements proximal to target genes, which we show are differentially expressed in the disorder in two RNA sequencing datasets. Our results suggest that genomic variation may disrupt retinoid signalling in schizophrenia, with particular significance for cases with severe cognitive impairment.
The involvement of T cell pathogenesis in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy
Authors: Huang Yazhuo , Fang Sijie , Li Dan , Zhou Huifang , Li Bin , Fan Xianqun
Published: December 2018

Thyroid-associated ophthalmoapthy (TAO) is the most common orbital disease. As an autoimmune disorder, it is caused by self-reactive lymphocytes that escape immune tolerance, but the mechanism is not fully understood. The basic process of TAO is the infiltration of immune cells in orbital tissues, the activation of orbital fibroblasts (OFs), and the proliferation and differentiation of OFs and lymphocytes. Activated OFs secrete inflammatory regulators, growth factors, and chemokines, thereby maintaining and amplifying the immune responses. The interactions between OFs and lymphocytes lead to the expansion and the remodeling of the orbital tissues, presenting the clinical manifestations of TAO. This review will focus on the role of T cell subsets (Type 1, Type 2, Type 17 helper T cells, and regulatory T cells) in the pathogenesis of TAO. However, we still need further studies to unravel the pathogenesis, to confirm current hypotheses, and to provide novel ideas for appropriate clinical treatment of TAO.
Bone marrow-derived epithelial cells and hair follicle stem cells contribute to development of chronic cutaneous neoplasms
Authors: Park Heuijoon , Lad Sonali , Boland Kelsey , Johnson Kelly , Readio Nyssa , Jin Guangchun , Asfaha Samuel , Patterson Kelly S. , Singh Ashok , Yang Xiangdong , Londono Douglas , Singh Anupama , Trempus Carol , Gordon Derek , Wang Timothy C. , Morris Rebecca J.
Published: December 2018

We used allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) and a mouse multistage cutaneous carcinogenesis model to probe recruitment of bone marrow-derived epithelial cells (BMDECs) in skin tumors initiated with the carcinogen, dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), and promoted with 12-O-tetradecanolyphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). BMDECs clustered in the lesional epithelium, expressed cytokeratins, proliferated, and stratified. We detected cytokeratin induction in plastic-adherent bone marrow cells (BMCs) cultured in the presence of filter-separated keratinocytes (KCs) and bone morphogenetic protein 5 (BMP5). Lineage-depleted BMCs migrated towards High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) protein and epidermal KCs in ex vivo invasion assays. Naive female mice receiving BMTs from DMBA-treated donors developed benign and malignant lesions after TPA promotion alone. We conclude that BMDECs contribute to the development of papillomas and dysplasia, demonstrating a systemic contribution to these lesions. Furthermore, carcinogen-exposed BMCs can initiate benign and malignant lesions upon tumor promotion. Ultimately, these findings may suggest targets for treatment of non-melanoma skin cancers.
Convergent evolution of an extreme dietary specialisation, the olfactory system of worm-eating rodents
Authors: Martinez Quentin , Lebrun Renaud , Achmadi Anang S. , Esselstyn Jacob A. , Evans Alistair R. , Heaney Lawrence R. , Miguez Roberto Portela , Rowe Kevin C. , Fabre Pierre-Henri
Published: December 2018

Turbinal bones are key components of the mammalian rostrum that contribute to three critical functions: (1) homeothermy, (2) water conservation and (3) olfaction. With over 700 extant species, murine rodents (Murinae) are the most species-rich mammalian subfamily, with most of that diversity residing in the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Their evolutionary history includes several cases of putative, but untested ecomorphological convergence, especially with traits related to diet. Among the most spectacular rodent ecomorphs are the vermivores which independently evolved in several island systems. We used 3D CT-scans (N = 87) of murine turbinal bones to quantify olfactory capacities as well as heat or water conservation adaptations. We obtained similar results from an existing 2D complexity method and two new 3D methodologies that quantify bone complexity. Using comparative phylogenetic methods, we identified a significant convergent signal in the rostral morphology within the highly specialised vermivores. Vermivorous species have significantly larger and more complex olfactory turbinals than do carnivores and omnivores. Increased olfactory capacities may be a major adaptive feature facilitating rats’ capacity to prey on elusive earthworms. The narrow snout that characterises vermivores exhibits significantly reduced respiratory turbinals, which may reduce their heat and water conservation capacities.
Controlled introduction of metal cations into polymerizable ionic liquid-polyoxomolybdate hybrid crystals
Authors: Kobayashi Jun , Misawa Toshiyuki , Umeda Chihiro , Isono Toru , Ono Seiji , Naruke Haruo , Okamura Yosuke , Koguchi Shinichi , Higuchi Masashi , Nagase Yu , Ito Takeru
Published: December 2018

The first syntheses of polyoxomolybdate hybrid crystals were achieved by using polymerizable ionic-liquid.
How the methyl group position influences the ultrafast deactivation in aromatic radicals
Authors: Steglich Mathias , Knopp Gregor , Hemberger Patrick
Published: December 2018

Excited xylyl (methyl–benzyl) radical isomers have been studied by femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.
A comparative study of nitrobenzene reduction using model catalysts
Authors: Wu Shuchang , Lin Yangming , Zhong Bingwei , Wen Guodong , Liu Hongyang , Su Dang Sheng
Published: December 2018

A zigzag-type quinone plays an important role in the reduction of nitrobenzene even in the co-existence of other functional groups.
Nanoscale fracture of defective popgraphene monolayers
Authors: Meng Fanchao , Ni Ming , Chen Feng , Song Jun , Wei Dong
Published: December 2018

A comprehensive study via atomistics and continuum modeling to analyze the fracture of popgraphene with a diverse scenario of defects.
Influence of wall heterogeneity on nanoscopically confined polymers
Authors: Pastore Raffaele , David Alessio , Casalegno Mosè , Greco Francesco , Raos Guido
Published: December 2018

We investigate via molecular dynamics simulations the behaviour of a polymer melt confined between surfaces with increasing spatial correlation (patchiness) of weakly and strongly interacting sites.
Diagnosing the plasma formed during acoustic cavitation in [BEPip][NTf2] ionic liquid
Authors: Pflieger Rachel , Lejeune Manuel , Noel Cédric , Belmonte Thierry , Nikitenko Sergey I. , Draye Micheline
Published: December 2018

What do rovibronic temperatures tell us? Example of the sonolysis of [BePip][NTf2] ionic liquid.
Spectroscopic and magnetic investigations of a spin-frustrated Mn-doped CoAl2O4 spinel
Authors: Pradhan Suman Kalyan , Dalal Biswajit , Sarkar Ankita , De Subodh Kumar
Published: December 2018

The magnetic ground state is transformed from collinear antiferromagnetic to spin-glass-like to cluster-glass-like with the increase of Mn concentration.
Rational design of yolk–shell nanostructures for photocatalysis
Authors: Li Ang , Zhu Wenjin , Li Chengcheng , Wang Tuo , Gong Jinlong
Published: December 2018

Yolk–shell structures provide an ideal platform for the rational regulation and effective utilization of charge carriers because of their void space and large surface areas. Furthermore, the efficiency of charge behavior in every step can be further improved by many strategies. This review describes the synthesis of yolk–shell structures and their effect for the enhancement of heterogeneous photocatalysis.
Light induced formation of a surface heterojunction in photocharged CuWO4 photoanodes
Authors: Venugopal Anirudh , Smith Wilson A.
Published: December 2018

Photocharging of CuWO4 photoanodes enhances its water oxidation kinetics as a result of improved charge separation near the electrode/electrolyte interface post photocharging.
Ultra-trace determination of the 135Cs/137Cs isotopic ratio by thermal ionization mass spectrometry with application to Fukushima marine sediment samples
Authors: Bu Wenting , Tang Lei , Liu Xuemei , Wang Zhongtang , Fukuda Miho , Zheng Jian , Aono Tatsuo , Hu Sheng , Wang Xiaolin
Published: December 2018

A new method was developed for determination of the 135Cs/137Cs isotopic ratio at the femtogram level in environmental samples.
Recent developments in photochemical reactions of diazo compounds
Authors: Ciszewski Łukasz W. , Rybicka-Jasińska Katarzyna , Gryko Dorota
Published: December 2018

Chemistry of diazo compounds is dominated by transition metal catalysis but recently, photoinitiated reactions of diazo compounds have attracted a lot of attention. This mini-review describes recent discoveries on the reactivity of diazo compounds under light irradiation.
On the sensitivity of alginate rheology to composition
Authors: Suresh Karthika , Häring Marleen , Kumaraswamy Guruswamy , Díaz Díaz David
Published: December 2018

The linear response of alginate-phenyl boronic acid (Alg-PBA) esters shows a universal, composition-independent viscoelastic fluid-like behaviour. However, their high strain behaviour is very sensitive to composition.
Highly luminescent and multi-sensing aggregates co-assembled from Eu-containing polyoxometalate and an enzyme-responsive surfactant in water
Authors: Lei Nana , Shen Dazhong , Chen Xiao
Published: December 2018

Aggregated multilamellar spheres with enhanced luminescence and stimulus-responsiveness were co-assembled from Na9(EuW10O36)·32H2O (EuW10) and myristoylcholine chloride (Myr).
Rare copy number variants in the genome of Chinese female children and adolescents with Turner syndrome
Authors: Li Li , Li Qingfeng , Wang Qiong , Liu Li , Li Ru , Liu Huishu , He Yaojuan , Lash Gendie E.
Published: December 2018

Turner syndrome (TS) is a congenital disease caused by complete or partial loss of one X chromosome. Low bone mineral status is a major phenotypic characteristic of TS that can not be fully explained by X chromosome loss, suggesting other autosomal-linked mutations may also exist. Therefore, the present study aimed to detect potential genetic mutations in TS through examination of copy number variation (CNV). Seventeen patients with TS and 15 healthy volunteer girls were recruited. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (a-CGH) was performed on whole blood genomic DNA (gDMA) from the 17 TS patients and 15 healthy volunteer girls to identify potential CNVs. The abnormal CNV of one identified gene (CARD11) was verified by quantitative PCR. All cases diagnosed had TS based on genotype examination and physical characteristics, including short stature and premature ovarian failure. Three rare CNVs, located individually at 7p22.3, 7p22.2, and Xp22.33, where six genes (TTYH3, AMZ1, GNA12, BC038729, CARD11, and SHOX (stature homeobox)) are located, were found in TS patients. Quantitative PCR confirmed the CNV of CARD11 in the genome of TS patients. Our results indicate that CARD11 gene is one of the mutated genes involved in TS disease. However, this CNV is rare and its contribution to TS phenotype requires further study.
Most frequent mode for intra‐mode coding in video coding
Authors: Yoon Y.‐U. , Park D.‐H. , Kim J.‐G. , Lee J. , Kang J.
Published: December 2018

The emerging versatile video coding (VVC) standard currently adopts 67 intra‐prediction modes in order to improve the intra‐prediction performance. The most probable mode (MPM) is used in video coding to encode the prediction mode efficiently based on the modes of the neighbouring blocks. Due to an increase in the number of intra‐modes and increase in the resolution of the input sequence, it is necessary to efficiently encode the intra‐mode of the current block. This Letter proposes an efficient intra‐mode coding method extending MPM called most frequent mode (MFM), which exploits the number of occurrences of the modes in the neighbouring blocks. The proposed MFM derives the most frequent intra‐mode. Then the derived MFM is signaled by a flag with a higher priority than MPM. Experimental results show that, compared to the test model of VVC (VTM), the proposed method gives up to 0.48% Bjotegaard‐Delta‐rate savings for the all‐intra‐configuration.