bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The temporal clustering of storm surge, wave height, and high sea level exceedances around the UK coastline
Authors: Jenkins Luke J. , Haigh Ivan D. , Camus Paula , Pender Douglas , Sansom Jenny , Lamb Rob , Kassem Hachem
Published: October 2022

The temporal clustering of storms presents consecutive storm surge and wave hazards that can lead to amplified flood and erosional damages; thus, clustering is important for coastal stakeholders to consider. We analyse the prevalence of storm clustering around the UK coastline by examining the temporal and spatial characteristics of storm surge, wave height, and high still sea level exceedances at the 1 in 1- and 5-year return levels. First, at the interannual timescale, we show that there are periods of high/low exceedance counts on national and regional scales. Elevated annual counts of exceedances with smaller magnitudes can occur without a respective signal of higher-magnitude exceedances. Secondly, at the intra-annual timescale, we show that high proportions of exceedances are clustering over short timescales. Storm surge, wave height and still sea level exceedances occurring < 50 days after the prior exceedance at a given site account for between ~ 35–44% and ~ 15–22% of all exceedances at the 1 in 1- and 5-year return levels, respectively. Still sea levels have the highest proportion of exceedances clustered in quick succession, with ~ 25% of 1 in 1-year exceedances occurring < 2 days after the previous at the same site. Spatially, for UK storm surges and still sea levels, the North Sea has the lowest proportion of clustering, whereas the North Atlantic and Bristol Channel have the highest. For English wave records, the highest proportions of clustering are found in the North Sea for exceedances of a lower magnitude and the English Channel for exceedances of a higher magnitude. These findings illuminate the prevalence of the clustering of coastal hazards around the UK—helping coastal stakeholders evaluate the threat of surges, waves, and sea levels clustering over short periods.
Soil chemistry and fungal communities are associated with dieback in an Endangered Australian shrub
Authors: Andres Samantha E. , Emery Nathan J. , Rymer Paul D. , Powell Jeff R.
Published: October 2022

Background and aims

Field surveys across known populations of the Endangered Persoonia hirsuta (Proteaceae) in 2019 suggested the soil environment may be associated with dieback in this species. To explore how characteristics of the soil environment (e.g., pathogens, nutrients, soil microbes) relate to dieback, a soil bioassay (Experiment 1) was conducted using field soils from two dieback effected P. hirsuta populations. Additionally, a nitrogen addition experiment (Experiment 2) was conducted to explore how the addition of soil nitrogen impacts dieback.

Methods

The field soils were baited for pathogens, and soil physiochemical and microbial community characteristics were assessed and related to dieback among plants in the field and nursery-grown plants inoculated with the same field soils. Roots from inoculated plants were harvested to confirm the presence of soil pathogens and root-associated endophytes. Using these isolates, a dual culture antagonism assay was performed to examine competition among these microbes and identify candidate pathogens or pathogen antagonists.

Results

Dieback among plants in the field and Experiment 1 was associated with soil physiochemical properties (nitrogen and potassium), and soil microbes were identified as significant indicators of healthy and dieback-affected plants. Plants in Experiment 2 exhibited greater dieback when treated with elevated nitrogen. Additionally, post-harvest culturing identified fungi and other soil pathogens, some of which exhibited antagonistic behavior.

Conclusion

This study identified candidate fungi and soil physiochemical properties associated with observed dieback and dieback resistance in an Endangered shrub and provides groundwork for further exploring what drives dieback and how it can be managed to promote the conservation of wild populations.
Different measures of international faculty and their impacts on global rankings
Authors: Shin Jung Cheol , Lee Soo Jeung
Published: October 2022

This study analyzed how the ranking status has changed at various higher education system levels by applying different definitions of international faculty. Among the four measures (birthplace, current citizenship, and the country of bachelor and doctoral education), this study found that international faculty measured by the country of doctoral studies produced significantly different international outlook scores and thus ranking status from that based on birthplace or citizenship. Specifically, major English-speaking systems such as the UK, Canada, and Australia hire a large number of faculty who are foreign citizens while non-English speaking systems (Italy, Portugal, China, Korea, and Brazil) hire more local academics who have earned their doctoral degree abroad. This suggests that these non-English speaking countries are systematically under-rated in their international outlook scores by the adoption of the birthplace-based or citizenship-based international faculty measures. As an alternative, this study proposes to update the international faculty measure using a combination of citizenship of employment and doctoral training to minimize this systemic bias.
Occurrence and Risk Assessment of Antibiotic Residues in Sewage Sludge of Two Nigerian Hospital Wastewater Treatment Plants
Authors: Ajibola Akinranti S. , Zwiener Christian
Published: October 2022

Antibiotic residues in sewage sludge can present detrimental environmental effects due to sewage sludge application onto soils for agricultural purposes. Reports on the occurrence of antibiotics in sewage sludge and risk assessment due to the application of sewage sludge onto soils are still limited in Africa. The occurrence of fourteen antibiotic residues in sewage sludge from two Nigerian hospital wastewater treatment plants was investigated. For the first time, the potential environmental risk of target antibiotics associated with the use of sewage sludge for application onto soils in Nigeria was assessed. Risk assessment was carried out using both terrestrial and aquatic toxicity data. All target antibiotics were detected in at least one sludge sample. Ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin (fluoroquinolones) had the highest concentrations, up to 674 ng g−1 dry weight for ciprofloxacin. All ten antibiotics evaluated for terrestrial ecological risk in sludge-amended soils presented low risk. Only three out of thirteen antibiotics assessed for aquatic ecological risk in sludge-amended soils posed medium risk, while the remaining antibiotics presented low risk. Antibiotic mixtures presented low risk in sludge-amended soils. A more holistic evaluation of the potential risks due to a mixture of a wider scope of chemicals in Nigerian sewage sludge is recommended prior to application onto soils as fertilizers for agricultural purposes.
Physiological and mental health changes in cancer patients during the COVID-19 state of emergency
Authors: Gutiérrez-Santamaría Borja , Castañeda-Babarro Arkaitz , Arietaleanizbeaskoa Maria Soledad , Mendizabal-Gallastegui Nere , Grandes Gonzalo , Coca Aitor
Published: October 2022

Backgrounds

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that we are currently facing, many governments across the world have declared a state of emergency and even confinements. This stressful situation, in addition to prolonged stays at home, may imply a radical change in lifestyle behavior and physical activity (PA). The aim of this study is to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects in cancer patients who changed their PA habits during the COVID-19 state of emergency in Spain.

Methods

Thirty-three participants were evaluated pre- and post-state of emergency. A series of questionnaires was used to assess cancer-specific quality of life.

Results

The most relevant results revealed significantly lower walking time (p < 0.001) and sitting time (p = 0.014). Upper and lower body strength also decreased significantly (p = 0.009 and 0.012, respectively) and oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) (p = 0.023). None of the parameters analysed showed significant differences for psychological aspects (QLQ-C-30 and SF-36) and body composition.

Conclusion

Lower physical activity leads to negative physiological adaptation, particularly affecting cardiovascular and strength levels. While it is important to maintain the general population’s amount and intensity of exercise, this particularly vulnerable group’s physical capacity is vital to their health and well-being.
A Tensor-EM Method for Large-Scale Latent Class Analysis with Binary Responses
Authors: Zeng Zhenghao , Gu Yuqi , Xu Gongjun
Published: October 2022

Latent class models are powerful statistical modeling tools widely used in psychological, behavioral, and social sciences. In the modern era of data science, researchers often have access to response data collected from large-scale surveys or assessments, featuring many items (large J) and many subjects (large N). This is in contrary to the traditional regime with fixed J and large N. To analyze such large-scale data, it is important to develop methods that are both computationally efficient and theoretically valid. In terms of computation, the conventional EM algorithm for latent class models tends to have a slow algorithmic convergence rate for large-scale data and may converge to some local optima instead of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE). Motivated by this, we introduce the tensor decomposition perspective into latent class analysis with binary responses. Methodologically, we propose to use a moment-based tensor power method in the first step and then use the obtained estimates as initialization for the EM algorithm in the second step. Theoretically, we establish the clustering consistency of the MLE in assigning subjects into latent classes when N and J both go to infinity. Simulation studies suggest that the proposed tensor-EM pipeline enjoys both good accuracy and computational efficiency for large-scale data with binary responses. We also apply the proposed method to an educational assessment dataset as an illustration.
Bifurcation matching for consistent cerebral vessel labeling in CTA of stroke patients
Authors: Rist Leonhard , Taubmann Oliver , Thamm Florian , Ditt Hendrik , Sühling Michael , Maier Andreas
Published: October 2022

Purpose

Vessel labeling is a prerequisite for comparing cerebral vasculature across patients, e.g., for straightened vessel examination or for localization. Extracting vessels from computed tomography angiography scans may come with a trade-off in segmentation accuracy. Vessels might be neglected or artificially created, increasing the difficulty of labeling. Related work mainly focuses on magnetic resonance angiography without stroke and uses trainable approaches requiring costly labels.

Methods

We present a robust method to identify major arteries and bifurcations in cerebrovascular models generated from existing segmentations. To localize bifurcations of the Circle of Willis, candidate paths for the adjacent vessels of interest are identified using registered landmarks. From those paths, the optimal ones are extracted by recursively maximizing an objective function for all adjacent vessels starting from a bifurcation to avoid erroneous paths and compensate for stroke.

Results

In 100 CTA stroke data sets for evaluation, 6 bifurcation locations are placed correctly in 85% of cases; 92.5% when allowing a margin of 5 mm. On average, 14 vessels of interest are found in 90% of the cases and traced correctly end-to-end in 73.5%. The baseline achieves similar detection rates but only 35.5% of the arteries are traced in full.

Conclusion

Formulating the vessel labeling process as a maximization task for bifurcation matching can vastly improve accurate vessel tracing. The proposed algorithm only uses simple features and does not require expensive training data.
BRAF Inhibitor Resistance in Melanoma: Mechanisms and Alternative Therapeutic Strategies
Authors: Zhong Jingqin , Yan Wangjun , Wang Chunmeng , Liu Wanlin , Lin Xinyi , Zou Zijian , Sun Wei , Chen Yong
Published: October 2022

Opinion statement

Melanoma is caused by a variety of somatic mutations, and among these mutations, BRAF mutation occurs most frequently and has routinely been evaluated as a critical diagnostic biomarker in clinical practice. The introduction of targeted agents for BRAF-mutant melanoma has significantly improved overall survival in a large proportion of patients. However, there is BRAF inhibitor resistance in most patients, and its mechanisms are complicated and need further clarification. Additionally, treatment approaches to overcome resistance have evolved rapidly, shifting from monotherapy to multimodality treatment, which has dramatically improved patient outcomes in clinical trials and practice. This review highlights the mechanisms of BRAF inhibitor resistance in melanoma and discusses the current state of its therapeutic approaches that can be further explored in clinical practice.
Promise and Challenges of Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy for Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in HIV
Authors: Corey Sydney , Smith Bryan R. , Cortese Irene C. M.
Published: October 2022

Purpose of Review

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a severe opportunistic infection that remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in people living with HIV (PLWH). Immune checkpoint molecules are negative regulators of the immune response that have been targeted as a strategy to bolster anti-viral immunity in PML, with varied outcomes reported. While initiation and optimization of antiretroviral therapy remains the standard of care in HIV-related PML, the specific opportunities and risks for checkpoint blockade in these cases should be explored.

Recent Findings

As of April 15, 2022, only 5 of the 53 total published cases of PML treated with checkpoint blockade had underlying HIV infection; four of these had a favorable outcome. The risk of promoting immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome is a major concern and underscores the importance of patient selection and monitoring.

Checkpoint blockade warrants further exploration as a potentially promising option for treatment escalation in HIV-related PML.
Loneliness in Personality Disorders
Authors: Reinhard Matthias A. , Nenov-Matt Tabea , Padberg Frank
Published: October 2022

Purpose of Review

Loneliness is a common experience in patients with personality disorders (PDs) that are characterized by impairment in self (identity, self-direction) and interpersonal functioning (empathy, intimacy). Here, we review studies assessing the association of loneliness with PD or PD traits including DSM-5’s Alternative Model of PD (AMPD).

Recent Findings

The number of loneliness studies varied greatly among different PDs with most studies conducted in borderline PD. Across PDs, loneliness was associated with the severity of psychopathological symptoms and with several AMPD trait domains. Consequently, loneliness may contribute to PD severity and further impair personality functioning.

Summary

Loneliness and PD share intra- and interpersonal factors (i.e., increased rejection sensitivity, information processing biases, social withdrawal) and common origins in childhood maltreatment that may explain their close association. Future research needs to investigate mechanisms on how loneliness and core characteristics of PD mutually reinforce each other in order to therapeutically address loneliness in PD.
Distinguishing Intergroup and Long-Distance Relationships
Authors: Pisor Anne C. , Ross Cody T.
Published: October 2022

Intergroup and long-distance relationships are both central features of human social life, but because intergroup relationships are emphasized in the literature, long-distance relationships are often overlooked. Here, we make the case that intergroup and long-distance relationships should be studied as distinct, albeit related, features of human sociality. First, we review the functions of both kinds of relationship: while both can be conduits for difficult-to-access resources, intergroup relationships can reduce intergroup conflict whereas long-distance relationships are especially effective at buffering widespread resource shortfalls. Second, to illustrate the importance of distinguishing the two relationship types, we present a case study from rural Bolivia. Combining ethnography and two different experimental techniques, we find that the importance of intergroup relationships—and the salience of group membership itself—varies across populations and across methods. Although ethnography revealed that participants often rely on long-distance relationships for resource access, we were unable to capture participant preferences for these relationships with a forced-choice technique. Taken together, our review and empirical data highlight that (1) intergroup and long-distance relationships can have different functions and can be more or less important in different contexts and (2) validating experimental field data with ethnography is crucial for work on human sociality. We close by outlining future directions for research on long-distance relationships in humans.
Testing inter-observer error under a collaborative research framework for studying lithic shape variability
Authors: Timbrell Lucy , Scott Christopher , Habte Behailu , Tefera Yosef , Monod Hélène , Qazzih Mouna , Marais Benjamin , Black Wendy , Maroma Christine , Ndiema Emmanuel , Henderson Struan , Elmes Katherine , Plomp Kimberly , Grove Matt
Published: October 2022

Evaluating error that arises through the aggregation of data recorded by multiple observers is a key consideration in many metric and geometric morphometric analyses of stone tool shape. One of the most common approaches involves the convergence of observers for repeat trails on the same set of artefacts: however, this is logistically and financially challenging when collaborating internationally and/or at a large scale. We present and evaluate a unique alternative for testing inter-observer error, involving the development of 3D printed copies of a lithic reference collection for distribution among observers. With the aim of reducing error, clear protocols were developed for photographing and measuring the replicas, and inter-observer variability was assessed on the replicas in comparison with a corresponding data set recorded by a single observer. Our results demonstrate that, when the photography procedure is standardized and dimensions are clearly defined, the resulting metric and geometric morphometric data are minimally affected by inter-observer error, supporting this method as an effective solution for assessing error under collaborative research frameworks. Collaboration is becoming increasingly important within archaeological and anthropological sciences in order to increase the accessibility of samples, encourage dual-project development between foreign and local researchers and reduce the carbon footprint of collection-based research. This study offers a promising validation of a collaborative research design whereby researchers remotely work together to produce comparable data capturing lithic shape variability.
Independent radiation of snailfishes into the hadal zone confirmed by Paraliparis selti sp. nov. (Perciformes: Liparidae) from the Atacama Trench, SE Pacific
Authors: Linley Thomas D. , Gerringer Mackenzie E. , Ritchie Heather , Weston Johanna N. J. , Scott-Murray Amy , Fernandez Vincent , Canto-Hernández Jhoann , Wenzhöfer Frank , Glud Ronnie N. , Jamieson Alan J.
Published: October 2022

Snailfishes are among the most rapidly radiating families of marine fishes, resulting in a global distribution from the coastal intertidal to deep subduction trenches. The true diversity and distribution of deep-water snailfishes, particularly at hadal depths (>6000 m) and in the Southern Hemisphere, remain uncertain due to the rarity of samples. Here, we present the snailfish diversity at near-hadal and hadal depths in the Atacama Trench, which runs along the southwest coast of South America. Using free-fall baited cameras and traps, we documented at least three species of hadal snailfishes between 5920 and 7608 m based on distinct morphologies. One snailfish specimen was recovered from 6714 m, which we describe herein as Paraliparis selti sp. nov., based on a combined morphological and molecular taxonomic approach (16S, COI, and Cyt-b). Paraliparis selti sp. nov. is morphologically distinct from described snailfishes due to a combination of high number of; vertebrae (65) particularly the abdominal vertebrae (12), dorsal fin rays (60), anal fin rays (52), and caudal fin rays (8); comparatively low number of pectoral fin rays (18) which forms a deep notch with two widely spaced non-rudimentary rays. Micro-CT was used to minimise dissection of the specimen and to provide a digital holotype. Paraliparis selti sp. nov. highlights the importance of the Liparidae at hadal depths and provides evidence for at least two independent radiations of snailfishes into the hadal zone.
Network Analysis of the Gender Gap in International Remittances by Migrants
Authors: Marquardt Zelda , Ikeda Yuichi
Published: October 2022

Financial inclusion is considered a key enabler of international development goals. Despite the expansion of financial access overall, the gender inequalities in basic access have remained consistent. This research investigates the predictive power of global remittance and migration flows on the gender gap in financial inclusion. First, singular value decomposition is applied to the World Bank’s 2017 Global Findex data to identify the financial inclusion variables that most contribute to the gender gap in financial inclusion. We find that indicators pertaining to account ownership, emergency funding, and receiving payments are especially significant. Based on the identified variables, a novel Financial Inclusion Gender Gap Score is calculated for 143 economies. The score is then incorporated into a complex network analysis of global remittance and migration networks. We analyze how network features such as node attributes, community membership, and bow-tie structure can be used to make inferences about the magnitude of a financial inclusion gender gap. Our findings suggest that weaker linkages in the network, characterized by lower node strength and peripheral positions in the bow-tie structure, are determinants of a notable financial inclusion gender gap. We also highlight communities in the remittance and migration networks with a more substantial gender imbalance, and discuss the the social- and cultural-leaning factors driving community formation in the migration network that seem to predicate a greater gap.
Data mining methodology for obtaining epidemiological data in the context of road transport systems
Authors: Cristóbal Teresa , Quesada-Arencibia Alexis , de Blasio Gabriele Salvatore , Padrón Gabino , Alayón Francisco , García Carmelo R.
Published: October 2022

Millions of people use public transport systems daily, hence their interest for the epidemiology of respiratory infectious diseases, both from a scientific and a health control point of view. This article presents a methodology for obtaining epidemiological information on these types of diseases in the context of a public road transport system. This epidemiological information is based on an estimation of interactions with risk of infection between users of the public transport system. The methodology is novel in its aim since, to the best of our knowledge, there is no previous study in the context of epidemiology and public transport systems that addresses this challenge. The information is obtained by mining the data generated from trips made by transport users who use contactless cards as a means of payment. Data mining therefore underpins the methodology. One achievement of the methodology is that it is a comprehensive approach, since, starting from a formalisation of the problem based on epidemiological concepts and the transport activity itself, all the necessary steps to obtain the required epidemiological knowledge are described and implemented. This includes the estimation of data that are generally unknown in the context of public transport systems, but that are required to generate the desired results. The outcome is useful epidemiological data based on a complete and reliable description of all estimated potentially infectious interactions between users of the transport system. The methodology can be implemented using a variety of initial specifications: epidemiological, temporal, geographic, inter alia. Another feature of the methodology is that with the information it provides, epidemiological studies can be carried out involving a large number of people, producing large samples of interactions obtained over long periods of time, thereby making it possible to carry out comparative studies. Moreover, a real use case is described, in which the methodology is applied to a road transport system that annually moves around 20 million passengers, in a period that predates the COVID-19 pandemic. The results have made it possible to identify the group of users most exposed to infection, although they are not the largest group. Finally, it is estimated that the application of a seat allocation strategy that minimises the risk of infection reduces the risk by 50%.
Progression of prostate cancer reprograms MYC-mediated lipid metabolism via lysine methyltransferase 2A
Authors: Whitlock Nichelle C. , White Margaret E. , Capaldo Brian J. , Ku Anson T. , Agarwal Supreet , Fang Lei , Wilkinson Scott , Trostel Shana Y. , Shi Zhen-Dan , Basuli Falguni , Wong Karen , Jagoda Elaine M. , Kelly Kathleen , Choyke Peter L. , Sowalsky Adam G.
Published: October 2022

Background

The activities of MYC, the androgen receptor, and its associated pioneer factors demonstrate substantial reprogramming between early and advanced prostate cancer. Although previous studies have shown a shift in cellular metabolic requirements associated with prostate cancer progression, the epigenetic regulation of these processes is incompletely described. Here, we have integrated chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) and whole-transcriptome sequencing to identify novel regulators of metabolism in advanced prostate tumors characterized by elevated MYC activity.

Results

Using ChIP-seq against MYC, HOXB13, and AR in LNCaP cells, we observed redistribution of co-bound sites suggestive of differential KMT2A activity as a function of MYC expression. In a cohort of 177 laser-capture microdissected foci of prostate tumors, KMT2A expression was positively correlated with MYC activity, AR activity, and HOXB13 expression, but decreased with tumor grade severity. However, KMT2A expression was negatively correlated with these factors in 25 LuCaP patient-derived xenograft models of advanced prostate cancer and 99 laser-capture microdissected foci of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Stratified by KMT2A expression, ChIP-seq against AR and HOXB13 in 15 LuCaP patient-derived xenografts showed an inverse association with sites involving genes implicated in lipid metabolism, including the arachidonic acid metabolic enzyme PLA2G4F. LuCaP patient-derived xenograft models grown as organoids recapitulated the inverse association between KMT2A expression and fluorine-18 labeled arachidonic acid uptake in vitro.

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates that the epigenetic activity of transcription factor oncogenes exhibits a shift during prostate cancer progression with distinctive phenotypic effects on metabolism. These epigenetically driven changes in lipid metabolism may serve as novel targets for the development of novel imaging agents and therapeutics.
Dental Pulp Stem Cell-Derived Conditioned Medium Alleviates Subarachnoid Hemorrhage-Induced Microcirculation Impairment by Promoting M2 Microglia Polarization and Reducing Astrocyte Swelling
Authors: Yang Ling-Yu , Chen Yong-Ren , Lee Jing-Er , Chen Kuo-Wei , Luh Hui-Tzung , Chen Yi-Tzu , Wang Kuo-Chuan , Hsieh Sung-Tsang
Published: October 2022

Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) can cause severe neurological deficits and high mortality. Early brain edema following SAH contributes to the initiation of microcirculation impairment and may further lead to delayed ischemic neurologic deficit (DIND). This study aimed to investigate whether dental pulp stem cell conditioned medium (DPSC-CM) ameliorates SAH-induced microcirculation impairment and the underlying mechanisms. SAH was induced via intrathecal injection of fresh autologous blood in Wistar male adult rat. DPSC-CM or DPSC-CM + insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) antibody was randomly administered by intrathecal route 5 min after SAH induction. To evaluate the underlying mechanisms of DPSC-CM in the treatment of SAH, primary rat astrocyte and microglia co-cultures were challenged with hemolysate or SAH-patient CSF in the presence or absence of DPSC-CM. The results showed that in vivo, DPSC-CM treatment decreased the brain water content, improved microcirculation impairment and enhanced functional recovery at 24 h post-SAH. DPSC-CM treatment also alleviated the expressions of water channel protein aquaporin-4 (AQP4) and pro-inflammatory cytokines, and enhanced the expressions of anti-inflammatory factors in the cortical region. However, all the beneficial effects of DPSC-CM were abrogated after treatment with IGF-1 neutralizing antibody. The in vitro results further showed that DPSC-CM treatment reduced hemolysate/SAH-patient CSF-induced astrocyte swelling and promoted M2 microglia polarization, partially through IGF-1/AKT signaling. The data suggested that DPSC-CM significantly reduced brain edema and rescued microcirculation impairment with concomitant anti-inflammatory benefits after SAH, and may potentially be developed into a novel therapeutic strategy for SAH.
Emergence of non-Fickian transport in truncated pluri-Gaussian permeability fields
Authors: Pescimoro Eugenio , Icardi Matteo , Porta Giovanni , Bianchi Marco
Published: October 2022

We present a numerical simulation study of advective–diffusive scalar transport in three-dimensional high-contrast discontinuous permeability fields, generated with a truncated pluri-Gaussian geostatistical approach. The numerical experiments are run with an Eulerian approach using a novel unified numerical framework based on the finite-volume library OpenFOAM®(Weller et al. in Comput Phys 12(6):620–631, 1998), for (1) generating random pluri-Gaussian porous media, (2) solving the steady state Darcy-scale flow, (3) solving the advection diffusion equation, (4) computing post-processing quantities such as first order statistics, spatial probability density functions and breakthrough curves. A range of permeability contrasts, correlation lengths, and Péclet numbers are tested to assess their relative weight on transport control and for the first time, the deviation of a calibrated macrodispersive model from the Fickian transport is quantified. We identify a hierarchy of non-Fickian transport triggering factors. From the tested scenarios, permeability contrast is the main controlling parameter for the anomalous transport behaviour as it enhances the generation of preferential flow paths which are characterised by high advective flow velocities. The Péclet number and the characteristic length at which facies transitions are observed as secondary factors.
The effects of scheduling network models in predictive processes in sports
Authors: Garnica Caparrós Marc , Memmert Daniel , Wunderlich Fabian
Published: October 2022

In many sports disciplines, the schedule of the competitions is undeniably an inherent yet crucial component. The present study modeled sports competitions schedules as networks and investigated the influence of network properties on the accuracy of predictive ratings and forecasting models in sports. Artificial networks were generated representing competition schedules with varying density, degree distribution and modularity and embedded in a full rating and forecasting process using ELO ratings and an ordered logistic regression model. Results showed that network properties should be considered when tuning predictive ratings and revealed several aspects for improvement. High density does not increase rating accuracy, so improved rating approaches should increasingly use indirect comparisons to profit from transitivity in dense networks. In networks with a high disparity in their degree distribution, inaccuracies are mainly driven by nodes with a low degree, which could be improved by relaxing the rating adjustment functions. Moreover, in terms of modularity, low connectivity between groups (i.e., leagues or divisions) challenges correctly assessing a single group’s overall rating. The present study aims to stimulate discussion on network properties as a neglected facet of sports forecasting and artificial data to improve predictive ratings.
Constants in Markov’s and Bernstein inequality on a finite interval in $${\mathbb {R}}$$
Authors: Sroka Grzegorz
Published: October 2022

In this paper we demonstrate the constants in the pointwise Bernstein inequality$$\begin{aligned} |P^{(\alpha )}(x)|\le \left( \frac{2n}{\sqrt{(x-a)(b-x)}}\right) ^{\alpha }||P||_{[a,b]}, \end{aligned}$$|P(α)(x)|≤2n(x-a)(b-x)α||P||[a,b],for the$$\alpha -$$α-th derivative of an algebraic polynomial in$$L^{\infty }-$$L∞-norms on an interval in$${\mathbb {R}}$$R, where$$\alpha \ge 3$$α≥3. This result was obtained using the tools of theory of pluripotential and we apply it to get the main result which is a new generalization of V. A. Markov’s type inequalities$$\begin{aligned} ||P^{(\alpha )}||_p\le C^{1/{p}}\left( \frac{2}{b-a}\right) ^{\alpha }||T^{(\alpha )}_{n}||_{[-1,1]}n^{2/p}||P||_{p}, \end{aligned}$$||P(α)||p≤C1/p2b-aα||Tn(α)||[-1,1]n2/p||P||p,for the$$\alpha -$$α-th derivative of an algebraic polynomial in$$L^{p}$$Lpnorms, where$$p\ge 1$$p≥1. In particular, we show that for any$$\alpha \ge 3$$α≥3the constantCin the V. A. Markov inequality satisfies the condition$$C\le 8\left( \frac{32\cdot 3,94741\cdot \pi M\alpha ^2}{3\sqrt{3}}\right) ^{1/p}$$C≤832·3,94741·πMα2331/p.
Kidney Health of Indigenous Children: Insights from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Canada
Authors: Erickson Robin L. , Selvathesan Nithiakishna , Dickens Amanda R. W.
Published: October 2022

Purpose of Review

This review seeks to highlight the common and unique factors that impact the kidney health of Indigenous children in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Canada with a particular interest on efforts to improve their kidney health outcomes and the framework to pursue future efforts.

Recent Findings

In the period since the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) there has been a number of studies documenting poorer renal health outcomes and potential causes amongst Indigenous paediatric populations in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Canada. There is a shortage of studies that look at interventions to improve these outcomes.

Poorer kidney health outcomes amongst Indigenous children are rarely genetic and appear to be more related to societal inequities. Reported efforts to improve outcomes are few but have demonstrated the ability to make change and with sustained focus on reducing inequities there is hope to improve the renal health of Indigenous children.
Is it all talk: Do politicians that promote environmental messages on social media actually vote-in environmental policy?
Authors: Greenwell Matthew P. , Johnson Thomas F.
Published: October 2022

Government policies are key to combating climate change and biodiversity loss. Here, we examine whether environmental messages on Twitter by UK politicians can be used to predict the probability of politicians voting-in pro-environmental policy. Using historical Twitter data and voting records, we determine that the number of tweets by UK politicians regarding environmental subjects has increased over the last decade, although this is not consistent across all parties. The probability of voting environmentally has not increased, instead, voting trends are highly heterogeneous over time, varying by political party. This suggests that there is little association between politicians that promote environmental messages on social media and the odds of them voting-in environmental policy. However, in some cases, politicians do deviate from political party lines, and so we assessed whether politicians that posted more environmental messages were more likely to break party lines and vote-in environmental measures. We found evidence that, after accounting for party, politicians who tweet more frequently about environmental subjects are more likely to vote against party lines in favour of environmental measures. This work suggests that politicians’ that post more environmental messages are more likely to support pro-environmental policy, but this signal is low relative to the predominant driver—political party association.

Article highlights

Environmental tweeting by UK MPs has increased over the past decade but environmental voting has not.

Party lines account for much of the variation in environmental vote patterns.

Political association is a stronger predictor of vote intentions than whether an MP tweets about environmental issues.
Explicit isomorphisms of quaternion algebras over quadratic global fields
Authors: Csahók Tímea , Kutas Péter , Montessinos Mickaël , Zábrádi Gergely
Published: October 2022

LetLbe a separable quadratic extension of either$${\mathbb {Q}}$$Qor$${\mathbb {F}}_q(t)$$Fq(t). We exhibit efficient algorithms for finding isomorphisms between quaternion algebras overL. Our techniques are based on computing maximal one-sided ideals of the corestriction of a central simpleL-algebra.
Solar-Driven Photocatalytic Films: Synthesis Approaches, Factors Affecting Environmental Activity, and Characterization Features
Authors: Šuligoj Andraž , Cerc Korošec Romana , Žerjav Gregor , Novak Tušar Nataša , Lavrenčič Štangar Urška
Published: October 2022

Solar-powered photocatalysis has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the 1990s, producing more than a thousand research papers per year over the past decade. In this review, immobilized photocatalysts operating under sunlight are highlighted. First, a literature review of solar-driven films is presented, along with some fundamental operational differences in relation to reactions involving suspended nanoparticles. Common strategies for achieving sunlight activity from films are then described, including doping, surface grafting, semiconductor coupling, and defect engineering. Synthetic routes to fabricate photocatalytically active films are briefly reviewed, followed by the important factors that determine solar photocatalysis efficiency, such as film thickness and structure. Finally, some important and specific characterization methods for films are described. This review shows that there are two main challenges in the study of photocatalytic materials in the form of (thin) films. First, the production of stable and efficient solar-driven films is still a challenge that requires an integrated approach from synthesis to characterization. The second is the difficulty in properly characterizing films. In any case, the research community needs to address these, as solar-driven photocatalytic films represent a viable option for sustainable air and water purification.
Fast Hubness-Reduced Nearest Neighbor Search for Entity Alignment in Knowledge Graphs
Authors: Obraczka Daniel , Rahm Erhard
Published: October 2022

The flexibility of Knowledge Graphs to represent heterogeneous entities and relations of many types is challenging for conventional data integration frameworks. In order to address this challenge the use of Knowledge Graph Embeddings (KGEs) to encode entities from different data sources into a common lower-dimensional embedding space has been a highly active research field. It was recently discovered however that KGEs suffer from the so-called hubness phenomenon. If a dataset suffers from hubness some entities become hubs, that dominate the nearest neighbor search results of the other entities. Since nearest neighbor search is an integral step in the entity alignment procedure when using KGEs, hubness is detrimental to the alignment quality. We investigate a variety of hubness reduction techniques and (approximate) nearest neighbor libraries to show we can perform hubness-reduced nearest neighbor search at practically no cost w.r.t speed, while reaping a significant improvement in quality. We ensure the statistical significance of our results with a Bayesian analysis. For practical use and future research we provide the open-source python library athttps://github.com/dobraczka/kiez.
Designing a RESTful Northbound Interface for Incompatible Software Defined Network Controllers
Authors: Alghamdi Abdullah , Paul David , Sadgrove Edmund
Published: October 2022

In Software Defined Networking, applications often need to communicate with network controllers to query or modify the current state of the network. However, there is currently no standard northbound interface that allows this communication to occur. Instead, each Software Defined Networking implementation defines its own interface, meaning applications typically need to be modified to allow them to work with different controllers. In this paper we present a high-level design for a REST-like reactive northbound interface which would allow applications to be written once and then work with multiple otherwise-incompatible controllers.
Visible light-driven degradation of Acid Orange 7 by light modulation techniques
Authors: Sannino Diana , Morante Nicola , Sacco Olga , Mancuso Antonietta , De Guglielmo Luca , Di Capua Giulia , Femia Nicola , Vaiano Vincenzo
Published: October 2022

The impact of light modulation on the decolorization of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) in aqueous solution was examined in this paper. A fixed bed batch photocatalytic reactor with a flat plate geometry, irradiated by 240 white-light LEDs, was used. A successful transfer of visible active photocatalyst (N-TiO2) in powder form on a polystyrene (PS) transparent plate was realized. The structured photocatalyst was characterized through SEM–EDX, Raman and UV-DRS analyses, evidencing the formation of a coating of N-TiO2 in the anatase phase, with a band-gap energy of 2.5 eV, and almost uniform distribution on the PS surface. Different LED dimming techniques, with fixed and variable duty-cycle values, were tested, and four types of light modulation were compared: fixed duty cycle (constant irradiation), sinusoidal variable duty cycle (sinusoidal variable irradiation), triangular variable duty cycle (triangular variable irradiation), and square wave variable duty cycle (square wave variable irradiation). The resulting responsiveness/efficiency of the LED versus the current intensity was evaluated, and the stability of the photocatalyst activity and the influence of optimized irradiation waveforms were examined in the decolorization of 400 mL of 10 ppm AO7 solution. The sinusoidal modulation, with current between 50 and 100 mA and 10 s as the period, shows the highest value of the apparent pseudo-first-order kinetic constant, resulting equal to 0.0044 min−1, at parity of total transmitted photons. An energy saving with the application of sinusoidal irradiation is highlighted with respect to the literature.

Graphical Abstract
Electrophysiology and fluorescence to investigate cation channels and transporters in isolated plant vacuoles
Authors: Gradogna Antonella , Carpaneto Armando
Published: October 2022

The plant vacuole plays a fundamental role in cell homeostasis. The successful application of patch-clamp technique on isolated vacuoles allows the determination of the functional characteristics of tonoplast ion channels and transporters. The parallel use of a sensor-based fluorescence approach capable of detecting changes in calcium and proton concentrations opens up new possibilities for investigation. In excised patch, the presence of fura-2 in the vacuolar solution reveals the direct permeation of calcium in plant TPC channels. In whole-vacuole, the activity of non-electrogenic NHX potassium proton antiporters can be measured by using the proton sensitive dye BCECF loaded in the vacuolar lumen by the patch pipette. Both vacuolar NHXs and CLCa (chloride/nitrate antiporter) are inhibited by the phosphoinositide PI(3,5)P2, suggesting a coordinated role of these proteins in salt accumulation. Increased knowledge in the molecular mechanisms of vacuolar ion channels and transporters has the potential to improve our understanding on how plants cope with a rapidly changing environment.
On some intracranialist dogmas in epistemology
Authors: Carter J. Adam
Published: October 2022

Research questions in mainstream epistemology often take for granted a cognitive internalist picture of the mind. Perhaps this is unsurprising given the seemingly safe presumptions that (i) knowledge entails belief (viz. the entailment thesis) and that (ii) the kind of belief that knowledge entails supervenes exclusively on brainbound cognition. It will be argued here that (contra orthodoxy) the most plausible version of the entailment thesis holds just that knowledge entails dispositional belief. However, regardless of whether occurrent belief supervenes only as the cognitive internalist permits, we should reject the idea that dispositional belief supervenes only in cognitive internalist-friendly ways. These observations, taken together, reveal two things: first, that a cognitive internalist picture of the mind is much more dispensable in epistemology than has been assumed and, second, that pursuing questions in extended epistemology need not involve any radical departure from the commitments of more traditional epistemological projects.
Analysis of Potential Precursory Pattern at Earth Surface and the Above Atmosphere and Ionosphere Preceding Two Mw ≥ 7 Earthquakes in Mexico in 2020–2021
Authors: Xu Xitong , Chen Shengbo , Zhang Sen , Dai Rui
Published: October 2022

Comprehensive analyses of seismic precursory characteristics may provide evidence for the possible mechanisms of lithosphere‐atmosphere‐ionosphere coupling (LAIC). The integrated monitoring data from space and ground measurements makes it possible to reveal the potential earthquake precursory pattern obeying LAIC. In this paper, we study seismic precursors from air temperature data of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based Total Electron Content (TEC) and electron density retrieved from Swarm satellite (Alpha) data in two Mw  7.0 earthquakes in Mexico in 2020–2021. We find seismic thermal anomalies can be identified from temperature variation in the lithosphere and atmosphere by improved tidal force fluctuant analysis (TFFA). The spatial‐temporal evolution of seismic thermal anomalies is significantly different from that of non‐seismic thermal anomalies. In addition, synergistic observations of the Swarm Alpha satellite and GNSS stations can provide more comprehensive information about perturbations in the ionosphere. The results show that anomalies originate along fault lineaments near the epicenter, leading to air pressure gradient and ionization process in the atmosphere, followed by ionospheric perturbations. Furthermore, composite anomalies of LAIC first appear around a month before earthquakes and tend to recur several times over earthquake preparation phases. Our study provides more evidence for understanding the characteristics of earthquake precursors.