bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Introduction to Solute Transport in Heterogeneous Geologic Media
Authors: Yeh Tian-Chyi Jim , Dong Yanhui , Ye Shujun
Published: February 2023

Over the past several decades, analyses of solute migration in aquifers have widely adopted the classical advection-dispersion equation. However, misunderstandings over advection-dispersion concepts, their relationship with the scales of heterogeneity, our observation and interest, and their ensemble mean nature have created furious debates about the concepts' validity. This book provides a unified and comprehensive overview and lucid explanations of the stochastic nature of solute transport processes at different scales. It also presents tools for analyzing solute transport and its uncertainty to meet our needs at different scales. Easy-to-understand physical explanations without complex mathematics make this book an invaluable resource for students, researchers, and professionals performing groundwater quality evaluations, management, and remediation.
Contesting France
Authors: Perlman Susan McCall
Published: February 2023

Contesting France reveals the untold role of intelligence in shaping American perceptions of and policy towards France between 1944–1947, a critical period of the early Cold War when many feared that French Communists were poised to seize power. In doing so, it exposes the prevailing narrative of French unreliability, weakness, and communist intrigue apparent in diplomatic despatches and intelligence reports sent to the White House as both overblown and deeply contested. Likewise, it shows that local political factions, French intelligence and government officials, colonial officers, and various transnational actors in imperial outposts and in the metropole sought access to US intelligence officials in a deliberate effort to shape US policy for their own political post-war agendas. Based on extensive archival research in the US and France, Susan Perlman sheds new light on the nexus between intelligence and policymaking in the immediate post-war era.
Entertaining Uncertainty in the Early Modern Theater
Authors: Robertson Lauren
Published: February 2023

Lauren Robertson's original study shows that the theater of Shakespeare and his contemporaries responded to the crises of knowledge that roiled through early modern England by rendering them spectacular. Revealing the radical, exciting instability of the early modern theater's representational practices, Robertson uncovers the uncertainty that went to the heart of playgoing experience in this period. Doubt was not merely the purview of Hamlet and other onstage characters, but was in fact constitutive of spectators' imaginative participation in performance. Within a culture in the midst of extreme epistemological upheaval, the commercial theater licensed spectators' suspension among opposed possibilities, transforming dubiety itself into exuberantly enjoyable, spectacular show. Robertson shows that the playhouse was a site for the entertainment of uncertainty in a double sense: its pleasures made the very trial of unknowing possible.
State-Building as Lawfare
Authors: Lazarev Egor
Published: February 2023

State-Building as Lawfare explores the use of state and non-state legal systems by both politicians and ordinary people in postwar Chechnya. The book addresses two interrelated puzzles: why do local rulers tolerate and even promote non-state legal systems at the expense of state law, and why do some members of repressed ethnic minorities choose to resolve their everyday disputes using state legal systems instead of non-state alternatives? The book documents how the rulers of Chechnya promote and reinvent customary law and Sharia in order to borrow legitimacy from tradition and religion, increase autonomy from the metropole, and accommodate communal authorities and former rebels. At the same time, the book shows how prolonged armed conflict disrupted the traditional social hierarchies and pushed some Chechen women to use state law, spurring state formation from below.
No Miracles Needed
Authors: Jacobson Mark Z.
Published: February 2023

The world needs to turn away from fossil fuels and use clean, renewable sources of energy as soon as we can. Failure to do so will cause catastrophic climate damage sooner than you might think, leading to loss of biodiversity and economic and political instability. But all is not lost! We still have time to save the planet without resorting to 'miracle' technologies. We need to wave goodbye to outdated technologies, such as natural gas and carbon capture, and repurpose the technologies that we already have at our disposal. We can use existing technologies to harness, store, and transmit energy from wind, water, and solar sources to ensure reliable electricity, heat supplies, and energy security. Find out what you can do to improve the health, climate, and economic state of our planet. Together, we can solve the climate crisis, eliminate air pollution and safely secure energy supplies for everyone.
The Governance Cycle in Parliamentary Democracies
Authors: de Marchi Scott , Laver Michael
Published: February 2023

Parliamentary democracy involves a never-ending cycle of elections, government formations, and the need for governments to survive in potentially hostile environments. These conditions require members of any government to make decisions on a large number of issues, some of which sharply divide them. Officials resolve these divisions by 'logrolling'– conceding on issues they care less about, in exchange for reciprocal concessions on issues to which they attach more importance. Though realistically modeling this 'governance cycle' is beyond the scope of traditional formal analysis, this book attacks the problem computationally in two ways. Firstly, it models the behavior of “functionally rational” senior politicians who use informal decision heuristics to navigate their complex high stakes setting. Secondly, by applying computational methods to traditional game theory, it uses artificial intelligence to model how hyper-rational politicians might find strategies that are close to optimal.
Data Science and Human-Environment Systems
Authors: Manson Steven M.
Published: February 2023

Transformation of the Earth's social and ecological systems is occurring at a rate and magnitude unparalleled in human experience. Data science is a revolutionary new way to understand human-environment relationships at the heart of pressing challenges like climate change and sustainable development. However, data science faces serious shortcomings when it comes to human-environment research. There are challenges with social and environmental data, the methods that manipulate and analyze the information, and the theory underlying the data science itself; as well as significant legal, ethical and policy concerns. This timely book offers a comprehensive, balanced, and accessible account of the promise and problems of this work in terms of data, methods, theory, and policy. It demonstrates the need for data scientists to work with human-environment scholars to tackle pressing real-world problems, making it ideal for researchers and graduate students in Earth and environmental science, data science and the environmental social sciences.
The Ideological Foundations of Qing Taxation
Authors: Zhang Taisu
Published: February 2023

How states develop the capacity to tax is a question of fundamental importance to political science, legal theory, economics, sociology, and history. Increasingly, scholars believe that China's relative economic decline in the 18th and 19th centuries was related to its weak fiscal institutions and limited revenue. This book argues that this fiscal weakness was fundamentally ideological in nature. Belief systems created through a confluence of traditional political ethics and the trauma of dynastic change imposed unusually deep and powerful constraints on fiscal policymaking and institutions throughout the final 250 years of China's imperial history. Through the Qing example, this book combs through several interaction dynamics between state institutions and ideologies. The latter shapes the former, but the former can also significantly reinforce the political durability of the latter. In addition to its historical analysis of ideological politics, this book makes a major contribution to the longstanding debate on Sino-European divergence.
The Love Jones Cohort
Authors: Marsh Kris
Published: February 2023

Drawing from stratification economics, intersectionality, and respectability politics, The Love Jones Cohort centers on the voices and lifestyles of members of the Black middle class who are single and living alone (SALA). While much has been written about both the Black middle class and the rise of singlehood, this book represents a first foray into bridging these two concepts. In studying these intersections, The Love Jones Cohort provides a more nuanced understanding of how race, gender, and class, coupled with social structures, shape five central lifestyle factors of Black middle-class adults who are SALA. The book explores how these Black adults define family and friends and decide on whether and how to pursue romantic relationships, articulate the ebbs and flows of being Black and middle class, select where to live and why, accumulate and disseminate wealth, and maintain overall health, well-being, and coping mechanisms.
Longitudinal rates, risk factors, and costs of superficial and deep incisional surgical-site infection (SSI) after primary and revision total knee arthroplasty: A US retrospective claims database analysis
Authors: Edmiston Charles E. , Spencer Maureen , Gunja Najmuddin J. , Holy Chantal E. , Ruppenkamp Jill W. , Leaper David J.
Published: February 2023

Objective:

We evaluated longitudinal rates, risk factors, and costs of superficial and deep incisional surgical-site infection (SSI) 6 months after primary total knee arthroplasty (pTKA) and revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA).

Methods:

Patients were identified from January 1, 2016 through March 31, 2018, in the IBM MarketScan administrative claims databases. Kaplan-Meier survival curves evaluated time to SSI over 6 months. Cox proportional hazard models evaluated SSI risk factors. Generalized linear models estimated SSI costs up to 12 months.

Results:

Of the 26,097 pTKA patients analyzed (mean age, 61.6 years; SD, 9.2; 61.4% female; 60.4% commercial insurance), 0.65% (95% CI, 0.56%–0.75%) presented with a deep incisional SSI and 0.82% (95% CI, 0.71%–0.93%) with a superficial incisional SSI. Also, 3,663 patients who had rTKA (mean age, 60.9 years; SD, 10.1; 60.6% female; 53.0% commercial insurance), 10.44% (95% CI, 9.36%–11.51%) presented with a deep incisional SSI and 2.60% (95% CI, 2.07%–3.13%) presented with a superficial incisional SSI. Infections were associated with male sex and multiple patient comorbidities including chronic pulmonary disease, pulmonary circulatory disorders, fluid and electrolyte disorders, malnutrition, drug abuse, and depression. Adjusted average all-cause incremental commercial cost ranged from $14,298 to $29,176 and from $41,381 to 59,491 for superficial and deep incisional SSI, respectively.

Conclusions:

SSI occurred most frequently following rTKA and among patients with pulmonary comorbidities and depression. The incremental costs associated with SSI following TKA were substantial.
Evidence for Landscape Transformation of Ridgetop Forests in Amazonian Ecuador
Authors: Balée William , Swanson Tod , Zurita-Benavides María Gabriela , Ruiz Macedo Juan C.
Published: February 2023

The Napo River basin, which is situated within the Upper Amazon archaeological region, is one of the most speciose forests in Greater Amazonia. Standard thinking in scholarship and science holds that these forests are essentially pristine because any Indigenous impacts in the past would have been minimal, seedbanks would have been nearby, and natural forests would have reappeared after the humans left, died out, or dispersed. Inventory research in 2019 on three ridgetop forests in Waorani territory inside the Curaray basin (which drains to the right margin of the Napo River) and a comparable inventory on one control site forest along the Nushiño River (also in the Curaray basin) show human impacts from about the late nineteenth century to about 1960; they occurred during the period of wartime among Waorani themselves and between Wao people and outsiders. The human impacts resulted in the high basal-area presence of two long-lived species with important Waorani cultural uses: cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) and ungurahua palm (Oenocarpus bataua Mart.). These species have high frequency and dominance values and do not occur in the control site, which is comparable in terms of elevation above the flood zone of the rivers in the sample. These findings mean that alpha diversity in the right margin sector (or south) of the Napo River basin cannot a priori be explained by reference to traditionally, biologically accepted patterns of ecological succession but may require knowledge of historical patterns of Indigenous land use and secondary landscape transformation over time due to human (specifically Waorani) impacts of the past.
Teratological records in blue shark Prionace glauca embryos from the South-western Atlantic Ocean
Authors: Cabanillas-Torpoco Mariano , Abbatepaulo Felippe , Rodrigues Lucas , Marquez Raquel , Oddone Maria Cristina , Cardoso Luís Gustavo
Published: February 2023

Abnormal embryonic development may result from mutations caused by genetics, environmental conditions or viruses. This study reports cases of cyclopia and a mouth malformation in two embryonic blue shark Prionace glauca collected off southern Brazil (South-western Atlantic). Such malformations are likely to reduce the chances of survival of embryos and neonates.
First successful nest for the Vulnerable American crocodileCrocodylus acutuspopulation on the west coast of Florida, USA
Authors: Bertone Steve , Godahewa Avishka , Balaguera-Reina Sergio A. , Briggs-Gonzalez Venetia , Mazzotti Frank J.
Published: February 2023

The American crocodileCrocodylus acutusoccurs across the Americas, with its northernmost distribution being in South Florida, USA. This species has undergone severe declines across its range and is categorized globally as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and as Threatened on the U.S. Federal Endangered Species List. Long-term monitoring studies in the USA have documented a shift in American crocodile nesting activity and an expansion of its range throughout the southern and eastern coasts of South Florida. However, no successful American crocodile nests have been recorded until now on the west coast of South Florida. Here we document the American crocodile nest monitoring conducted during 1997–2021 at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the first successful nest from the west coast of South Florida forC. acutus. Marco Airport and McIlvane Marsh are the two main American crocodile nesting areas identified at the Reserve, with 92 nests and 3,586 eggs recorded during 1997–2021. We found most nests at Marco Airport (95.7%) and only four nests (4.3%) at McIlvane Marsh. To date, none of the nests found at Marco Airport have produced successful hatchlings. In contrast, hatchlings have been produced at McIlvane Marsh since nests were first documented there in 2020. We discuss the implications of our findings in terms of the future conservation of the species.
Global interest in the Arctic region: Naval operations impacting scientific-commercial activities
Authors: Uryupova Ekaterina
Published: February 2023

The Arctic region is rapidly changing as a result of climate alteration, political tensions and ambitions of the Arctic and non-Arctic states. Is the existing governance considered to be adequate for effective international security cooperation in the region? On the one hand, we look optimistic at the evolution of international relations in the areas of science and technology, conservation, search and rescue coordination, tourism, etc. On the other hand, there is a significantly increased militarisation of the Arctic region. The recent rise in military activities in the North has resulted in numerous regional deployments, patrols and other incidents in the maritime Arctic. In general, militarisation together with climate change are impacting scientific-commercial activities. Also, the absence of an adequate legal regime that may respond to climate change and interruption of civil activities by military exercises in a fast and effective way hampers international cooperation. This paper problematises various aspects of interaction between scientific-commercial activities and naval operations in the Arctic region.
Neuropsychological markers of antidepressant action: a secondary analysis of the ANTLER randomised controlled trial
Authors: Rodriguez-Sanchez Julia , Lewis Gemma , Solmi Francesca , Bone Jessica K. , Moore Michael , Wiles Nicola , Harmer Catherine J. , Duffy Larisa , Lewis Glyn
Published: February 2023

Background

Antidepressants have been proposed to act via their influence on emotional processing. We investigated the effect of discontinuing maintenance antidepressant treatment on positive and negative self-referential recall and the association between self-referential recall and risk of relapse.

Methods

The ANTLER trial was a large (N = 478) pragmatic double-blind trial investigating the clinical effectiveness of long-term antidepressant treatment for preventing relapse in primary care patients. Participants were randomised to continue their maintenance antidepressants or discontinue via a taper to placebo. We analysed memory for positive and negative personality descriptors, assessed at baseline, 12- and 52-week follow-up.

Results

The recall task was completed by 437 participants. There was no evidence of an effect of discontinuation on self-referential recall at 12 [positive recall ratio 1.00, 95% CI (0.90–1.11), p = 0.93; negative recall ratio 1.00 (0.87–1.14), p = 0.87] or 52 weeks [positive recall ratio 1.03 (0.91–1.17), p = 0.62; negative recall ratio 1.00 (0.86–1.15), p = 0.96; ratios larger than one indicate higher recall in the discontinuation group], and no evidence of an association between recall at baseline or 12 weeks and later relapse [baseline, positive hazard ratio (HR) 1.02 (0.93–1.12), p = 0.74; negative HR 1.01 (0.90–1.13), p = 0.87; 12 weeks, positive HR 0.99 (0.89–1.09), p = 0.81; negative HR 0.98 (0.84–1.14), p = 0.78; ratios larger than one indicate a higher frequency of relapse in those with higher recall].

Conclusions

We found no evidence that discontinuing long-term antidepressants altered self-referential recall or that self-referential recall was associated with risk of relapse. These findings suggest that self-referential recall is not a neuropsychological marker of antidepressant action.
The role of internal constraints and stylistic congruence on a variant's social impact
Authors: Vaughn Charlotte
Published: February 2023

In natural conversation, multiple factors likely impact the social force of a sociolinguistic variant, yet researchers have tended to examine individual factors in isolation. This paper considers two underexamined factors together—the role of a variable's internal constraints and the role of stylistically congruent surrounding speech—to understand their combined influence on how a single variable's realization is socially interpreted. Focusing on English variable (ING), two accent rating experiments used stimuli varying the grammatical category of (ING) words and varying the stylistic congruence (natural sentences versus spliced stimuli) between (ING) realization and sentence frames. Results indicate that listeners showed sensitivity to (ING)'s internal constraints but only when the congruence between (ING)'s realization and other cues was not disrupted by using spliced stimuli. These findings suggest that internal constraints and stylistic congruence play a role in social signaling, and have methodological implications for the use of splicing.
Assessing the potential disturbance effects on the use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) for European vultures research: a review and conservation recommendations
Authors: Zink Richard , Kmetova-Biro Elena , Agnezy Stefan , Klisurov Ivaylo , Margalida Antoni
Published: February 2023

Vultures are among the most threatened bird guilds on the planet and have a unique functional role within ecosystems. They are therefore subject to increasing research interest, calling for standardised study approaches and monitoring methods. The use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) is rapidly gaining popularity in ecological research due to technological advances, affordability, and accessibility. This study reviews the existing peer-reviewed publications and grey literature on the responses of European vultures and other comparable species to UASs, and summarises the types of UAS use, their potential disturbance effects on vultures, and the resulting inter- and intra-specific interactions. Our goal was to assess the potential effects of UASs and to provide practical recommendations to optimise their safe use in vulture conservation and research. We acknowledge the potential of UASs to increase research efficiency and reduce research effort, time, and financial cost. Owing to the absence of sufficient data on long-term disturbance effects, we advocate the precautionary principle and offer a set of species-tailored practical recommendations to limit the potential negative effects of UASs and maximise their value in conservation management. We urge that the physiological and long-term impacts on vulture reproduction are considered and call for standardised monitoring protocols and controls on UAS use. Our conclusions and recommendations are particularly aimed at researchers working on vulture conservation and restoration projects worldwide.
‘Stockhausenesque’: South African Musical Vanguardism during the ‘Durban Moment’
Authors: FRONEMAN WILLEMIEN
Published: February 2023

This article weaves a story around the scant evidence that survives of the first university-based electroacoustic studio in Africa and the musical experimentalism that developed alongside it at the fledgling music department of what was then the University of Natal. The time is the early 1970s, the setting the eastern seaboard city of Durban, the local political context the ‘Durban moment’ of growing political unrest infused by Steve Biko's Black Consciousness movement and the radical politics of Richard (Rick) Turner, the red herring an ARP-2500 modular synthesizer, and the key figures the German-born experimental composer Ulrich Süsse and South Africa's foremost musicologist at the time Christopher Ballantine. By tracing the genealogy of Ballantine's ideas in post-1968 British counterculture and in musical collaborations with the physics department at the University of Natal – and by juxtaposing and contrasting the Durban New Music Group's activities with Turner's contemporaneous and often seething critique of white liberalism – the article offers perspectives on the globalization of the avant-garde, the expression of musical vanguardism in the problematic and contradictory spaces of twentieth-century white liberal South Africa, and the dialectics between the ‘experimental’ and the ‘avant-garde’ that informed alternative institution-building at what was to become the first department in South Africa to include African music, jazz, and popular music in their curricula in the early 1980s.
A continuous frequency tuning Fabry–Perot Cavity antenna with stable radiation performance
Authors: Ji Lu-Yang , Fu Shuai
Published: February 2023

This paper presents a continuous frequency tuning Fabry–Perot Cavity (FPC) antenna of which the operating frequency can be varied from 4.87 to 5.84 GHz (18.1%). The cavity of the proposed antenna is excited by a double-layer antenna structure, which is made up of a main square patch and a parasitic one. The superstrate is a frequency-selective surface, consisting of 6 × 6 square-patch-type unit cells. The frequency tuning property is realized by employing 48 phase-changing elements placed around the main patch, which forms a reconfigurable high impedance surface (HIS). By controlling the biasing voltages of the varactors inserted in the HIS element, its capacitances and reflection phases can be varied continuously, which leads to a variation of the operating frequency. An antenna prototype has been fabricated and measured for validation. The measured results are in good agreement with the simulated ones. In the frequency tuning range, the measured realized gains have a smaller variation from 10.2 to 14.1 dBi compared with other reported frequency tuning FPC antennas.
Coastal N2 Fixation Rates Coincide Spatially With Nitrogen Loss in the Humboldt Upwelling System off Peru
Authors: Kittu Leila R. , Paul Allanah J. , Fernández‐Méndez Mar , Hopwood Mark J. , Riebesell Ulf
Published: February 2023

Marine nitrogen (N2) fixation supports significant primary productivity in the global ocean. However, in one of the most productive regions of the world ocean, the northern Humboldt Upwelling System (HUS), the magnitude and spatial distribution of this process remain poorly characterized. This study presents a spatially resolved data set of N2 fixation rates across six coastal transects of the northern HUS off Peru (8°S–16°S) during austral summer. N2 fixation rates were detected throughout the waters column including within the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) between 12°S and 16°S. N2 fixation rates were highest where the subsurface OMZ (O2 < 20 μmol L−1) was most intense and estimated nitrogen (N) loss was highest. There, rates were measured throughout the water column. Hence, the vertical and spatial distribution of rates indicates a colocation of N2 fixation with N loss in the coastal productive waters of the northern HUS. Despite high phosphate and total dissolvable iron (TdFe) concentrations throughout the study area, N2 fixation was still generally low (1.19 ± 3.81 nmol L−1 d−1) and its distribution could not be directly explained by these two factors. Our results suggest that the distribution was likely influenced by a complex interplay of environmental factors including phytoplankton biomass and organic matter availability, and potentially iron, or other trace metal (co)‐limitation of both N2 fixation and primary production. In general, our results support previous conclusions that N2 fixation in the northern HUS plays a minor role as a source of new N and to replenish the regional N loss.
An Assessment of Vertical Carbon Flux Parameterizations Using Backscatter Data From BGC Argo
Authors: Wang Bin , Fennel Katja
Published: February 2023

Model parameterizations of particulate organic carbon (POC) flux are critical for simulating the strength and future evolution of the biological carbon pump (BCP) but remain poorly constrained because direct observations are sparse. Here, we ask whether the Biogeochemical (BGC)‐Argo proxy observations of POC can help distinguish between these parameterizations by objectively comparing two common parameterizations, which reproduce the observed slowdown of flux attenuation with depth by either decreasing the remineralization rate or increasing the sinking velocity. Both can well reproduce the BGC‐Argo observations in top 1,000 m but predict different POC concentration below, making them possible to be distinguished if BGC‐Argo observations were available there. Therefore, an integration of backscatter sensors into the Deep Argo program is recommended to provide full depth proxy measurements. If the parameterization is known, POC flux can be determined from POC concentration. Thus, the BGC‐Argo proxy observations of POC concentration provide new insights into the BCP.
Mid‐Latitude Mesospheric Responses of the Solar Eclipse on 21 June 2020 Observed by the Wuhan MST Radar
Authors: Wang Jie , Chen Gang , Zhang Shaodong , Zhang Weifan , He Zhiqiu , Huang Kaiming , Huang Chunming
Published: February 2023

An annular solar eclipse shifted across the earth from the middle of Africa to the Pacific on 21 June 2020. The Wuhan Mesosphere‐Stratosphere‐Troposphere (MST) radar was located on the eclipse path to provide us a rare opportunity to investigate the atmospheric responses to the rapid variation of solar radiations. The east, north, and vertical beams of the Wuhan MST radar were applied to record the echoes from mesosphere with 10 min sampling period. A Digisonde located near the MST radar was also used to investigate the variations of ionospheric Es layer during the solar eclipse. The mesosphere region between 70 and 80 km heights presented obvious responses to the eclipse. The echoes disappeared at around the eclipse maximum, indicating the dominant role of the solar radiation. The descending and ascending echo structures were recorded in the first and recovery phases of the eclipse, respectively. The Digisonde also found the evidence of the eclipse induced gravity waves in the Es layer that just above the mesosphere. The lunar shadow produced southward winds on the northside of the eclipse path is considered to induce the descending echo structure. The upward propagating gravity waves generated during the eclipse may be responsible for the ascending echo structure.
Exploring the Lunar Regolith's Thickness and Dielectric Properties Using Band‐Limited Impedance at Chang’E‐4 Landing Site
Authors: Feng Yongjiu , Chen Shurui , Tong Xiaohua , Wang Chao , Li Pengshuo , Xi Mengrong , Xiao Changjiang
Published: February 2023

The Yutu‐2 rover onboard China's Chang’E‐4 was the first to land in the Von Kármán crater on the lunar farside, where structural and dielectric properties may provide previously unknown clues to lunar formation and evolution. Based on the Lunar Penetrating Radar (LPR) with 500 MHz onboard the Yutu‐2 rover, we proposed a band‐limited impedance (BLIMP) inversion method to generate continuous dielectric 2‐D profiles with the help of dielectric constants retrieved from point reflectors (e.g., buried rocks), which provide low‐frequency information that may be lost or distorted in the LPR data pre‐processing. The dielectric constants retrieved from point reflectors were transformed from dielectric constant fitting curves, where these discrete dielectric constants were calculated using the hyperbolic fitting method. We estimated that the top fine‐grained regolith thickness along the rover path varies from ∼5.3 to ∼15.0 m in the first 27 lunar days of operation. The thickness variation could most likely be attributed to changes in ancient surface topography buried underground and ejecta from nearby craters. Compared to methods based on a singular dielectric constant, the estimated 2‐D dielectric profile in this study can reduce the uncertainties in lunar regolith thickness estimation, especially in the shallow layers. The BLIMP method and the estimated regolith thickness can improve our understanding of lunar subsurface structure and formation.
Phase Matching Method for Inversion of Venus Radio Occultation Signals
Authors: Bocanegra‐Bahamón T. M. , Ao C. O. , Wang K. N. , Vergados P.
Published: February 2023

Radio occultation is a spacecraft remote sensing technique used to study planetary atmospheres. Among the available spacecraft remote sensing techniques, radio occultation offers the highest vertical resolution. In this paper, we present for the first time the implementation of the radio‐holographic method called phase matching (PM) for the analysis of planetary radio occultation signals. We show that by using this novel approach (originally developed within the Earth atmospheric research community) multi‐path interference can be detected and accounted for. Additionally, using the complex representation of the radio signal, PM achieves higher (sub‐Fresnel) vertical resolutions than the traditional approach used to date for the inversion planetary radio occultation signals. This is of particular importance for studying atmospheric processes that have short vertical scales and correctly characterizing refraction disturbances that induce various propagation features. Such a region is the base of the Venusian top cloud deck where thin instability layers have been detected.
A novel scheme for ultrashort terahertz pulse generation over a gapless wide spectral range: Raman-resonance-enhanced four-wave mixing
Authors: Le Jiaming , Su Yudan , Tian Chuanshan , Kung A. H. , Shen Y. Ron
Published: February 2023

Ultrashort energetic terahertz (THz) pulses have created an exciting new area of research on light interactions with matter. For material studies in small laboratories, widely tunable femtosecond THz pulses with peak field strength close to MV cm−1 are desired. Currently, they can be largely acquired by optical rectification and difference frequency generation in crystals without inversion symmetry. We describe in this paper a novel scheme of THz pulse generation with no frequency tuning gap based on Raman-resonance-enhanced four-wave mixing in centrosymmetric media, particularly diamond. We show that we could generate highly stable, few-cycle pulses with near-Gaussian spatial and temporal profiles and carrier frequency tunable from 5 to >20 THz. They had a stable and controllable carrier-envelop phase and carried ~15 nJ energy per pulse at 10 THz (with a peak field strength of ~1 MV cm−1 at focus) from a 0.5-mm-thick diamond. The measured THz pulse characteristics agreed well with theoretical predictions. Other merits of the scheme are discussed, including the possibility of improving the THz output energy to a much higher level.
Rabi oscillations in a stretching molecule
Authors: Pan Shengzhe , Hu Chenxi , Zhang Wenbin , Zhang Zhaohan , Zhou Lianrong , Lu Chenxu , Lu Peifen , Ni Hongcheng , Wu Jian , He Feng
Published: February 2023

Rabi oscillation is an elementary laser-driven physical process in atoms and artificial atoms from solid-state systems, while it is rarely demonstrated in molecules. Here, we investigate the bond-length-dependent Rabi oscillations with varying Rabi frequencies in strong-laser-field dissociation of H2+. The coupling of the bond stretching and Rabi oscillations makes the nuclei gain different kinetic energies while the electron is alternatively absorbing and emitting photons. The resulting proton kinetic energy spectra show rich structures beyond the prediction of the Floquet theorem and the well-accepted resonant one-photon dissociation pathway. Our study shows that the laser-driven Rabi oscillations accompanied by nuclear motions are essential to understanding the bond-breaking mechanism and provide a time-resolved perspective to manipulate rich dynamics of the strong-laser-field dissociation of molecules.
Loss of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine induces chemotherapy resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma via the 5-hmC/PCAF/AKT axis
Authors: Guo Xiao-Jun , Huang Xiao-Yong , Yang Xuan , Lu Jia-Cheng , Wei Chuan-Yuan , Gao Chao , Pei Yan-Zi , Chen Yi , Sun Qi-Man , Cai Jia-Bin , Zhou Jian , Fan Jia , Ke Ai-Wu , Shi Yujiang G. , Shen Ying-Hao , Zhang Peng-Fei , Shi Guo-Ming , Yang Guo-Huan
Published: February 2023

Multidrug resistance is a major challenge in treating advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Although recent studies have reported that the multidrug resistance phenotype is associated with abnormal DNA methylation in cancer cells, the epigenetic mechanism underlying multidrug resistance remains unknown. Here, we reported that the level of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5-hmC) in human HCC tissues was significantly lower than that in adjacent liver tissues, and reduced 5-hmC significantly correlated with malignant phenotypes, including poor differentiation and microvascular invasion; additionally, loss of 5-hmC was related to chemotherapy resistance in post-transplantation HCC patients. Further, the 5-hmC level was regulated by ten-eleven translocation 2 (TET2), and the reduction of TET2 in HCC contributes to chemotherapy resistance through histone acetyltransferase P300/CBP-associated factor (PCAF) inhibition and AKT signaling hyperactivation. In conclusion, loss of 5-hmC induces chemotherapy resistance through PCAF/AKT axis and is a promising chemosensitivity prediction biomarker and therapeutic target for HCC patients.
ERCC6L facilitates the progression of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma by the binding of FOXM1 and KIF4A
Authors: Cui Meng , Chang Yu , Wang Jiheng , Wu Junfu , Li Gang , Tan Jie
Published: February 2023

The role of excision repair cross-complementation group 6-like (ERCC6L) has been reported in several cancers, but little is known about its expression and function in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). In this study, the expression of ERCC6L in LSCC was determined by immunohistochemistry and its correlation with prognostic factors was analyzed. Furthermore, cytological functional validation elucidated the role and underlying mechanisms of ERCC6L dysregulation in LSCC. Our data revealed that ERCC6L expression was elevated in LSCC and it’s correlated with TNM stage. In addition, ERCC6L knockdown LSCC cells showed decreased proliferation and migration, increased apoptosis, and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Mechanically, overexpression of ERCC6L promoted nuclear translocation of FOXM1 to facilitate direct binding to the KIF4A promoter and upregulated KIF4A expression. Furthermore, KIF4A knockdown attenuated the role of ERCC6L overexpression in promoting proliferation, migration, and tumorigenesis of LSCC cells. In summary, ERCC6L promoted the binding of FOXM1 and KIF4A in LSCC cells to drive their progression, which may be a promising target for precision therapy in this disease.
GRIA3 p.Met661Thr variant in a female with developmental epileptic encephalopathy
Authors: Okano Satomi , Makita Yoshio , Miyamoto Akie , Taketazu Genya , Kimura Kayano , Fukuda Ikue , Tanaka Hajime , Yanagi Kumiko , Kaname Tadashi
Published: February 2023

The X-linked human glutamate receptor subunit 3 (GRIA3) gene (MIM *305915, Xq25) encodes ionotropic α amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA)-type glutamate receptor subunit 3, which mediates postsynaptic neurotransmission. Variants in this gene can cause a variety of neurological disorders, primarily reported in male patients. Here, we report a female patient with developmental and epileptic encephalopathy who carries the novel de novo GRIA3 variant NM_007325.5: c.1982T > C: p.Met661Thr.
Pathogenic variants of Alport syndrome and monogenic diabetes identified by exome sequencing in a family
Authors: Watanabe Hirofumi , Goto Shin , Hosojima Michihiro , Kabasawa Hideyuki , Imai Naofumi , Ito Yumi , Narita Ichiei
Published: February 2023

We present a family of two female Alport syndrome patients with a family history of impaired glucose tolerance. Whole exome sequencing identified a novel heterozygous variant of COL4A5 NM_033380.3: c.2636 C > A (p.S879*) and a rare variant of GCK NM_001354800.1: c.1135 G > A (p.A379T) as the causes of Alport syndrome and monogenic diabetes, respectively. Two independent pathogenic variants affected the clinical phenotypes. Clinical next-generation sequencing is helpful for identifying the causes of patients’ manifestations.
Direct observation of cation diffusion driven surface reconstruction at van der Waals gaps
Authors: Cui Wenjun , Lin Weixiao , Lu Weichao , Liu Chengshan , Gao Zhixiao , Ma Hao , Zhao Wen , Van Tendeloo Gustaaf , Zhao Wenyu , Zhang Qingjie , Sang Xiahan
Published: February 2023

Weak interlayer van der Waals (vdW) bonding has significant impact on the surface/interface structure, electronic properties, and transport properties of vdW layered materials. Unraveling the complex atomistic dynamics and structural evolution at vdW surfaces is therefore critical for the design and synthesis of the next-generation vdW layered materials. Here, we show that Ge/Bi cation diffusion along the vdW gap in layered GeBi2Te4 (GBT) can be directly observed using in situ heating scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The cation concentration variation during diffusion was correlated with the local Te6 octahedron distortion based on a quantitative analysis of the atomic column intensity and position in time-elapsed STEM images. The in-plane cation diffusion leads to out-of-plane surface etching through complex structural evolutions involving the formation and propagation of a non-centrosymmetric GeTe2 triple layer surface reconstruction on fresh vdW surfaces, and GBT subsurface reconstruction from a septuple layer to a quintuple layer. Our results provide atomistic insight into the cation diffusion and surface reconstruction in vdW layered materials.
The AAA+ chaperone VCP disaggregates Tau fibrils and generates aggregate seeds in a cellular system
Authors: Saha Itika , Yuste-Checa Patricia , Da Silva Padilha Miguel , Guo Qiang , Körner Roman , Holthusen Hauke , Trinkaus Victoria A. , Dudanova Irina , Fernández-Busnadiego Rubén , Baumeister Wolfgang , Sanders David W. , Gautam Saurabh , Diamond Marc I. , Hartl F. Ulrich , Hipp Mark S.
Published: February 2023

Amyloid-like aggregates of the microtubule-associated protein Tau are associated with several neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s disease. The existence of cellular machinery for the removal of such aggregates has remained unclear, as specialized disaggregase chaperones are thought to be absent in mammalian cells. Here we show in cell culture and in neurons that the hexameric ATPase valosin-containing protein (VCP) is recruited to ubiquitylated Tau fibrils, resulting in their efficient disaggregation. Aggregate clearance depends on the functional cooperation of VCP with heat shock 70 kDa protein (Hsp70) and the ubiquitin-proteasome machinery. While inhibition of VCP activity stabilizes large Tau aggregates, disaggregation by VCP generates seeding-active Tau species as byproduct. These findings identify VCP as a core component of the machinery for the removal of neurodegenerative disease aggregates and suggest that its activity can be associated with enhanced aggregate spreading in tauopathies.
HIV vaccine candidate efficacy in female macaques mediated by cAMP-dependent efferocytosis and V2-specific ADCC
Authors: Bissa Massimiliano , Kim Sohyoung , Galli Veronica , Fourati Slim , Sarkis Sarkis , Arakelyan Anush , de Castro Isabela Silva , Rahman Mohammad Arif , Fujiwara Saori , Vaccari Monica , Tomalka Jeffrey A. , Stamos James D. , Schifanella Luca , Gorini Giacomo , Moles Ramona , Gutowska Anna , Ferrari Guido , Lobanov Alexei , Montefiori David C. , Nelson George W. , Cam Margaret C. , Chakhtoura Marita , Haddad Elias K. , Doster Melvin N. , McKinnon Katherine , Brown Sophia , Venzon David J. , Choo-Wosoba Hyoyoung , Breed Matthew W. , Killoran Kristin E. , Kramer Joshua , Margolis Leonid , Sekaly Rafick P. , Hager Gordon L. , Franchini Genoveffa
Published: February 2023

The development of an effective vaccine to protect against HIV acquisition will be greatly bolstered by in-depth understanding of the innate and adaptive responses to vaccination. We report here that the efficacy of DNA/ALVAC/gp120/alum vaccines, based on V2-specific antibodies mediating apoptosis of infected cells (V2-ADCC), is complemented by efferocytosis, a cyclic AMP (cAMP)-dependent antiphlogistic engulfment of apoptotic cells by CD14+ monocytes. Central to vaccine efficacy is the engagement of the CCL2/CCR2 axis and tolerogenic dendritic cells producing IL-10 (DC-10). Epigenetic reprogramming in CD14+ cells of the cyclic AMP/CREB pathway and increased systemic levels of miRNA-139-5p, a negative regulator of expression of the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase PDE4D, correlated with vaccine efficacy. These data posit that efferocytosis, through the prompt and effective removal of apoptotic infected cells, contributes to vaccine efficacy by decreasing inflammation and maintaining tissue homeostasis.
G9a/GLP inhibition during ex vivo lymphocyte expansion increases in vivo cytotoxicity of engineered T cells against hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Lam Maxine S. Y. , Reales-Calderon Jose Antonio , Ow Jin Rong , Aw Joey J. Y. , Tan Damien , Vijayakumar Ragavi , Ceccarello Erica , Tabaglio Tommaso , Lim Yan Ting , Chien Wang Loo , Lai Fritz , Tanoto Anthony Tan , Chen Qingfeng , Sobota Radoslaw M. , Adriani Giulia , Bertoletti Antonio , Guccione Ernesto , Pavesi Andrea
Published: February 2023

Engineered T cells transiently expressing tumor-targeting receptors are an attractive form of engineered T cell therapy as they carry no risk of insertional mutagenesis or long-term adverse side-effects. However, multiple rounds of treatment are often required, increasing patient discomfort and cost. To mitigate this, we sought to improve the antitumor activity of transient engineered T cells by screening a panel of small molecules targeting epigenetic regulators for their effect on T cell cytotoxicity. Using a model for engineered T cells targetting hepatocellular carcinoma, we find that short-term inhibition of G9a/GLP increases T cell antitumor activity in in vitro models and an orthotopic mouse model. G9a/GLP inhibition increases granzyme expression without terminal T cell differentiation or exhaustion and results in specific changes in expression of genes and proteins involved in pro-inflammatory pathways, T cell activation and cytotoxicity.
FMO rewires metabolism to promote longevity through tryptophan and one carbon metabolism in C. elegans
Authors: Choi Hyo Sub , Bhat Ajay , Howington Marshall B. , Schaller Megan L. , Cox Rebecca L. , Huang Shijiao , Beydoun Safa , Miller Hillary A. , Tuckowski Angela M. , Mecano Joy , Dean Elizabeth S. , Jensen Lindy , Beard Daniel A. , Evans Charles R. , Leiser Scott F.
Published: February 2023

Flavin containing monooxygenases (FMOs) are promiscuous enzymes known for metabolizing a wide range of exogenous compounds. In C. elegans, fmo-2 expression increases lifespan and healthspan downstream of multiple longevity-promoting pathways through an unknown mechanism. Here, we report that, beyond its classification as a xenobiotic enzyme, fmo-2 expression leads to rewiring of endogenous metabolism principally through changes in one carbon metabolism (OCM). These changes are likely relevant, as we find that genetically modifying OCM enzyme expression leads to alterations in longevity that interact with fmo-2 expression. Using computer modeling, we identify decreased methylation as the major OCM flux modified by FMO-2 that is sufficient to recapitulate its longevity benefits. We further find that tryptophan is decreased in multiple mammalian FMO overexpression models and is a validated substrate for FMO-2. Our resulting model connects a single enzyme to two previously unconnected key metabolic pathways and provides a framework for the metabolic interconnectivity of longevity-promoting pathways such as dietary restriction. FMOs are well-conserved enzymes that are also induced by lifespan-extending interventions in mice, supporting a conserved and important role in promoting health and longevity through metabolic remodeling.
Antecedent chromatin organization determines cGAS recruitment to ruptured micronuclei
Authors: MacDonald Kate M. , Nicholson-Puthenveedu Shirony , Tageldein Maha M. , Khasnis Sarika , Arrowsmith Cheryl H. , Harding Shane M.
Published: February 2023

Micronuclei (MN) are cytosolic bodies that sequester acentric fragments or mis-segregated chromosomes from the primary nucleus. Spontaneous rupture of the MN envelope allows recognition by the viral receptor cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS), initiating interferon signaling downstream of DNA damage. Here, we demonstrate that MN rupture is permissive but not sufficient for cGAS localization. Chromatin characteristics such as histone 3, lysine 79 dimethylation (H3K79me2) are present in the nucleus before DNA damage, retained in ruptured MN, and regulate cGAS recruitment. cGAS is further responsive to dynamic intra-MN processes occurring prior to rupture, including transcription. MN chromatin tethering via the nucleosome acidic patch is necessary for cGAS-dependent interferon signaling. Our data suggest that both damage-antecedent nuclear chromatin status and MN-contained chromatin organizational changes dictate cGAS recruitment and the magnitude of the cGAS-driven interferon cascade. Our work defines MN as integrative signaling hubs for the cellular response to genotoxic stress.