bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reversibly switchable fluorescent proteins: “the fair switch project”
Authors: Nifosì Riccardo , Storti Barbara , Bizzarri Ranieri
Published: April 2024

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) have transformed cell biology through their use in fluorescence microscopy, enabling precise labeling of proteins via genetic fusion. A key advancement is altering primary sequences to customize their photophysical properties for specific imaging needs. A particularly notable family of engineered mutants is constituted by Reversible Switching Fluorescent Proteins (RSFPs), i.e. variant whose optical properties can be toggled between a bright and a dark state, thereby adding a further dimension to microscopy imaging. RSFPs have strongly contributed to the super-resolution (nanoscopy) revolution of optical imaging that has occurred in the last 20 years and afforded new knowledge of cell biochemistry at the nanoscale. Beyond high-resolution applications, the flexibility of RSFPs has been exploited to apply these proteins to other non-conventional imaging schemes such as photochromic fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). In this work, we explore the origins and development of photochromic behaviors in FPs and examine the intricate relationships between structure and photoswitching ability. We also discuss a simple mathematical model that accounts for the observed photoswitching kinetics. Although we review most RSFPs developed over the past two decades, our main goal is to provide a clear understanding of key switching phenotypes and their molecular bases. Indeed, comprehension of photoswitching phenotypes is crucial for selecting the right protein for specific applications, or to further engineer the existing ones. To complete this picture, we highlight in some detail the exciting applications of RSFPs, particularly in the field of super-resolution microscopy.
Challenging Externalisation Through the Lens of the Human Right to Leave
Authors: McDonnell Emilie
Published: April 2024

Around the world, externalised migration controls continue to proliferate, leading to host of human rights harms for migrants. Migrants (and citizens) are being contained in states of origin and transit and denied their fundamental right to leave. However, externalisation is typically understood as preventing migrants entering state territory and accessing asylum, which has shaped litigation efforts and the rights and obligations that are invoked. Accordingly, this article seeks to demonstrate that the right to leave any country remains a largely overlooked avenue for challenging harmful externalisation practices and to highlight the important role it can play in remedying accountability gaps. It provides a broad overview of the right to leave in international law and its main contours as a starting point for considering the applicability of the right to externalisation measures. It examines the key jurisprudence concerning externalisation and the cases invoking the right to leave, including with respect to pushbacks, offshore processing, safe country arrangements, visa regimes, carrier sanctions and pullbacks, illustrating missed opportunities and positive developments. The article calls for a change in approach that recognises the great potential of the right to leave in tackling externalisation and containment, suggesting future opportunities for the right to be litigated and developed across different fora.
Understanding stakeholders’ intention to use construction robots: a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis
Authors: Wu Sihui , Walzer Alexander N. , Kahlert Aniko , Dillenburger Benjamin , Hall Daniel M.
Published: April 2024

User acceptance is crucial for successfully adopting robotic technologies in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector. Previous studies have focused on domestic, service, and industrial robots, leaving the construction domain unexplored. In this study, we set out to empirically understand how various dimensions of technology, environment, robot, and user lead to AEC stakeholders’ intention to use construction robots. We apply the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis approach to capture the complexity of human behavior and the interdependencies across dimensions. For the data collection, we sampled 216 cases in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria evaluating three scenarios of human–robot interaction. Our analysis identifies three distinct user profiles—the lifelike robot user, the utilitarian robot user, and the lifelike-utilitarian robot user. The results show that human–robot peering may be a fundamental solution to increase user acceptance. By testing the effect of user characteristics, we also discover a lifelike-utilitarian type of robot that is more appealing to female AEC stakeholders. The study contributes to the construction robotics literature by providing tailored design and implementation strategies. It points to future research avenues such as user experience and social factors for exploring the impact of robotics and artificial intelligence in AEC.
From patches to objects: exploiting spatial reasoning for better visual representations
Authors: Albert Toni , Eskofier Bjoern , Zanca Dario
Published: April 2024

As the field of deep learning steadily transitions from the realm of academic research to practical application, the significance of self-supervised pretraining methods has become increasingly prominent. These methods, particularly in the image domain, offer a compelling strategy to effectively utilize the abundance of unlabeled image data, thereby enhancing downstream tasks’ performance. In this paper, we propose Spatial Reasoning, a novel auxiliary pretraining method that takes advantage of a more flexible formulation of contrastive learning by introducing spatial reasoning as an auxiliary task for discriminative self-supervised methods. Spatial Reasoning works by having the network predict the relative distances between sampled non-overlapping patches. We argue that this forces the network to learn more detailed and intricate internal representations of the objects and the relationships between their constituting parts. Our experiments demonstrate substantial improvement in downstream performance in linear evaluation compared to similar work and provide directions for further research into spatial reasoning.
Spherical Fuzzy Multicriteria Decision Making for Evaluating Healthcare Service Quality of Hospitals During the Global Pandemic
Authors: Komijan Alireza Rashidi , Yazdi Amir Karbassi , Tan Yong , Ocampo Lanndon , Nasrollahpourniazi Fatemeh
Published: April 2024

This study identifies hospitals in Iran that have demonstrated exceptional performance in service quality during the COVID-19 pandemic based on the proposed integrated multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) process. Although the coronavirus has been eradicated in most countries, occasional outbreaks of COVID-19 variants have occurred, affecting many individuals, particularly in Iran. The pandemic caused an influx of hospital visits, with people seeking treatment for various illnesses. However, the abrupt onset of the pandemic and its global impact challenged hospitals’ ability to provide timely care, leading to a noticeable decline in service quality. Identifying the top-performing hospitals is crucial for benchmarking and enhancing healthcare quality. To assess hospital service quality, the study employed a customized SERVQUAL model, which helped identify key factors that served as criteria and subcriteria for the evaluation process. The priority weights of these factors were then obtained using the spherical fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. For each SERVQUAL criterion, the hospitals were evaluated using the spherical fuzzy weighted aggregated sum product assessment method, resulting in respective rankings of the hospitals. Finally, an integrated Borda−Copeland method was utilized to generate the aggregate evaluation ranking, a feature that serves as an important departure from the literature. The contribution of this work lies in developing an integrated approach that intends to serve as a benchmark not only for hospitals in different countries but also for those confronting similar challenges and offers guidance for seeking insights from top-performing hospitals in comparable situations.
Procreative Rights in International Law
Authors: Draghici Carmen
Published: April 2024

Draghici contends that the advent of assisted reproductive technologies has given rise to new fundamental, albeit not unqualified, rights. They include the right to use medically assisted procreation (e.g. artificial insemination, in vitro fertilisation, potentially gamete donation, posthumous conception or surrogacy) in order to become a parent (typically where natural procreation is hindered by infertility, sexual orientation, relationship status or adverse life events), the recognition of intention-based parenthood in relation to donor-conceived children jointly planned and raised with the genetic parent, and the right to pursue the conception of a healthy child (e.g. through recourse to preimplantation genetic diagnosis and embryo selection to avoid severe illness in future offspring). To substantiate this claim, the book relies on a comprehensive analysis of international case-law on procreative autonomy, contextualised by a discussion of highly divisive bioethical controversies, from the status of embryos to the morality of genetic screening and third-party reproduction.
The floating duck syndrome: biased social learning leads to effort–reward imbalances
Authors: Akçay Erol , Ohashi Ryotaro
Published: April 2024

An increasingly common phenomenon in modern work and school settings is individuals taking on too many tasks and spending effort without commensurate rewards. Such an imbalance of efforts and rewards leads to myriad negative consequences, such as burnout, anxiety and disease. Here, we develop a model to explain how such effort–reward imbalances can come about as a result of biased social learning dynamics. Our model is based on a phenomenon that on some US college campuses is called ‘the floating duck syndrome’. This phrase refers to the social pressure on individuals to advertise their successes but hide the struggles and the effort put in to achieve them. We show that a bias against revealing the true effort results in social learning dynamics that lead others to underestimate the difficulty of the world. This in turn leads individuals to both invest too much total effort and spread this effort over too many activities, reducing the success rate from each activity and creating effort–reward imbalances. We also consider potential ways to counteract the floating duck effect: we find that solutions other than addressing the root cause, biased observation of effort, are unlikely to work.
Integral methods for friction decomposition and their extensions to rough-wall flows
Authors: Zhang Wen , Yang Xiang I.A. , Chen Peng , Wan Minping
Published: April 2024

A primary objective of integral methods, such as the momentum integral method, is to discern the physical processes contributing to skin friction. These methods encompass the momentum, kinetic energy and angular momentum integrals. This paper reformulates existing integrals based on the double-averaged Navier–Stokes equations, and extends their application to flows over rough walls. Our derivation yields distinct decompositions for the bottom-wall viscous friction coefficient, denoted as

$C_S$

, and the roughness element drag coefficient

$C_R$

. The decompositions comprise three terms: a viscous term, a turbulent term and a roughness (dispersive) term – regardless of the flow configuration, be it channel or boundary layer. Notably, when these integrals are evaluated for laminar flow scenarios, only the viscous term remains significant. In addition, we elucidate the spatial distributions of the terms within these decompositions. To demonstrate the practicality of our formulations, we apply them to analyse data from direct numerical simulations of turbulent half-channel flows. These flows feature aligned and staggered cubical roughness at various packing densities. Our analyses, based on kinetic-energy-oriented decompositions, reveal that when the surface coverage density

$\lambda _p$

is small, the dominant terms within the decompositions are the viscous and turbulent terms. With increasing

$\lambda _p$

, the viscous dissipation term decreases, while the turbulent production term increases and then decreases. These variations arise from a subdued near-wall cycle and the development of a shear layer at the height of the cubes.
The Imperial: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking
Authors: Unterman Katherine
Published: April 2024

In the 1907 book Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, the American philosopher and psychologist William James recalled a heated argument among companions during a camping trip. The quarrel was not about one of the heavy metaphysical topics that James addressed in his lectures, but instead a much more mundane matter: a squirrel. Imagine a squirrel clinging to one side of a tree trunk, while a man stands on the other side of the tree. The man attempts to catch a glimpse of the squirrel by moving around the tree, but the squirrel darts around just as quickly, evading observation, until both creatures circle the tree completely and end up where they started. James's friends were at loggerheads over the question: “Does the man go round the squirrel or not?”1
Radiocarbon Dates from the Archaeological Site of Sakas, Bihar, India
Authors: Bates J , Singh V K , Singh R N , Singh Manisha , Mohan Brij , Chakradhari Sudarshan , Singh Abhay P , Conte Matthew , Oh Yongje
Published: April 2024

Dates from recently excavated Gangetic site of Sakas in Bihar, India, place it at ca.1800–1100 BC. The ceramic and lithic chronologies have been interpreted as Early Farming, Transitional and Chalcolithic/Developed Farming in date. However, depending on where in the Ganges Plains is studied, the time frame of Early, Developed and Advanced Farming periods varies widely, from 7th millennium to 2nd millennium BC and beyond, making the chronological framing of absolute dates within a regional scheme highly complex. In this paper we report the new radiocarbon results from Sakas and note how while these are critical for cementing the absolute dating of the site, until such time as a more stable periodization linked not only to relative and absolute dates but also human lifeways within the different zones of the Ganges plains is created, there remains difficulties in understanding how Sakas and other sites of similar date fit into the changing social, cultural and economic systems in this region.
14C GIRI SAMPLES IN AMS GOLDEN VALLEY: GRAPHITE PREPARATION USING AGE-3 AND ABSORPTION-CATALYTIC SETUP
Authors: Parkhomchuk E V , Petrozhitskiy A V , Ignatov M M , Kuleshov D V , Lysikov A I , Okunev A G , Babina K A , Parkhomchuk V V
Published: April 2024

The AMS Golden Valley laboratory is equipped with two accelerator mass spectrometers: the AMS facility from the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP) and the Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS-28) from Ionplus AG and two graphitization systems: the Automated Graphitization Equipment (AGE-3) from Ionplus AG and the Absorption-catalytic setup (ACS) developed at the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis (BIC). The ACS was designed for graphite preparation from labeled biomedical samples, dissolved organics, and dissolved or gaseous carbon dioxide but has proven to be suitable for the traditional dating of objects no older than 35,000 years. Here we present two series of AMS data for the samples from Glasgow International Radiocarbon Inter-comparison (GIRI), prepared using AGE-3 and ACS, and then measured on MICADAS-28. The mean value of the background F14C was 0.0024 ± 0.0009 and 0.012 ± 0.003 for AGE-3 and ACS, respectively, and both methods gave reproducible results for the OXI.
The relationship between the World Index for Sustainability and Health (WISH) score and mental health in women: a cross-sectional study
Authors: Jafari Alireza , Lotfi Keyhan , Mozaffari Hadis , Zamani Behzad , Darooghegi Mofrad Manije , Sheikhi Ali , Surkan Pamela J. , Azadbakht Leila
Published: April 2024

Diet quality has been associated with mental health, and recently, there has been growing interest in the association between the sustainability of diets and human health. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to explore the relationship between a newly developed dietary index for health and sustainability and psychological disorders among Iranian women. Participants in this cross-sectional study included 479 women living in Tehran with no history of chronic disease. A validated 168-item FFQ was used to assess dietary intake. The World Index for Sustainability and Health was calculated, consisting of four sub-scores: less healthy, healthy, low environmental impact and high environmental impact. Participants’ psychological status was assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the World Index for Sustainability and Health and psychological disorders. Participant ages ranged from 20 to 50 years, with a mean age of 31·86 (sd 7·68) years. After adjusting for potential confounders (age, energy, BMI, marital status, education, family history of chronic disease, body satisfaction, socio-economic status, physical activity, smoking), women in the highest tertile of the healthy sub-score had significantly lower odds of experiencing depression (OR 0·40; 95 % CI 0·24, 0·67), anxiety (OR 0·45; 95 % CI 0·23, 0·87) and psychological distress (OR 0·46; 95 % CI 0·28, 0·77) compared with the reference group. Similarly, the less healthy sub-score was significantly associated with depression (OR 0·51; 95 % CI 0·32, 0·89), anxiety (OR 0·44; 95 % CI 0·25, 0·78) and psychological distress (OR 0·57; 95 % CI 0·36, 0·90). An inverse association was observed between the low environmental impact sub-score and depression (OR 0·32; 95 % CI 0·19, 0·54), anxiety (OR 0·38; 95 % CI 0·18, 0·76) and psychological distress (OR 0·30; 95 % CI 0·17, 0·51). However, no further significant associations were found with the high environmental impact sub-score, except with depression (OR 0·57; 95 % CI 0·33, 0·96). The healthy and low environmental impact sub-scores of the World Index for Sustainability and Health were found to be inversely associated with depression, anxiety and psychological distress. However, due to the cross-sectional study design, causality cannot be inferred. Further prospective studies are required to validate and expand upon these findings and explore potential mechanisms and alternative explanations, such as reverse causation. While this study suggests that choosing a diet that is both healthy for individuals and sustainable for the environment may be associated with a lower risk of mental health issues among women, more research is needed.
Volga German surnames and Alzheimer’s disease in Argentina: an epidemiological perspective
Authors: Morales Arturo Leonardo , Figueroa Marcelo Isidro , Navarro Pablo , Chaves Estela Raquel , Ruderman Anahí , Dipierri José Edgardo , Ramallo Virginia
Published: April 2024

The N141I variant (PSEN1 gene) is associated with familial forms of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in descendants of Volga Germans, whose migration to Argentina is well documented. As a proxy for geographic origin, surnames can be a valuable tool in population studies. The 2015 Argentine Electoral Registry provided geographic data for 30,530,194 individuals, including 326,922 with Volga German surnames. Between 2005 and 2017, the Ministry of Health recorded 4,115,216 deaths, of which 17,226 were attributed to AD and related causes. The study used both diachronic and synchronic data to identify patterns of territorial distribution and co-spatiality, using Moran’s I and generalised linear model statistics. The frequency of surnames of Volga German origin accounts for 43.53% of the variation in deaths from AD and three clusters of high non-random frequency were found. Almost 150 years later, people descending from the Volga migration remain highly concentrated and may have a different risk of developing AD. The identification of spatial patterns provides reliable guidance for medical research and highlights the importance of specific health policies for particular populations.
When incumbents successfully retrench big and popular social policies: policy design matters
Authors: Arretche Marta , Souza Pedro H. G. F.
Published: April 2024

Under what conditions do incumbents succeed in curtailing programs benefitting large constituencies of low-income voters? We undertake a within-country comparison of four highly popular cash transfer policies in Brazil in the 2010s. Our contribution is threefold. First, we refine the concept of policy drift by distinguishing executive-driven drift (resulting from incumbents’ decisions) from opposition-driven drift (resulting from the veto power of welfare opponents). The latter results from the dispersion of authority; the former is favored by its concentration. Second, we show that executive-driven drift is a successful strategy when programs give incumbents discretion over entitlement and benefits, meaning authority to make unilateral decisions. Third, we argue that executive-driven drift explains retrenchment outcomes better than partisan orientation, size of program’s clientele, and fiscal impacts. Incumbents were more successful in their retrenchment initiatives when concentration of authority in the executive branch allowed them to bypass legislative and judicial veto points.
Tragedy and value of life of older persons in long-term care homes during COVID-19: a critical discourse analysis
Authors: Lessard Sabrina , Oyinlola Oluwagbemiga , Sussman Tamara
Published: April 2024

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the media provided daily coverage of this unprecedented crisis in the history of the 21st century. Some topics, such as how the virus affected older adults, were widely covered. The way in which COVID-19 was documented evoked a ‘tragedy’ narrative through consistent reporting about the suffering it was causing and the deleterious consequences it had on specific populations, including residents of long-term care homes (LTC). This article explores how reports on COVID-19 in LTC homes in a national newspaper (The Globe and Mail) fuelled a tragedy discourse that modulated the value of life of older adults living in those environments. We used critical discourse analysis and analysed 74 articles focusing on older persons residing in LTC homes in two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario) during COVID-19. This article offers a brief overview of the notion of tragedy and how the discourse of tragedy is intertwined with humanitarian crises, life and death, and the value of life. Our findings revealed the construction of three types of tragedies that shape our societal values around life and death in LTC: the tragedy of the threat to life, the tragedy of the unfortunate (old, vulnerable and lacking in agency) and, finally, the tragedy of historical neglect and abandonment. Our findings suggest that the nature of reporting on life and death in LTC homes during the COVID-19 pandemic provoked a sense of fear and pity for a passive other. Re-thinking what gets reported in the media, including whose voice is represented/missing and how tragedy narratives are balanced with contesting stories, could elicit more sentiments of solidarity and action rather than reinforce pity, distancing and immobilisation.
What Chinese Internet Users “Like” to Read: Selective Exposure in a Restricted Information Environment
Authors: Wang Clara , Westwood Sean J.
Published: April 2024

We study the phenomenon of selective exposure in China's restricted online information environment. Through an experimental survey study, we measure to what extent features of online news, such as popularity (i.e. number of “likes”), influence information selection among Chinese internet users (“netizens”). We find evidence of preferences for news information according to news topic and the nationalist sentiments of individuals. Generally, for news about domestic affairs, Chinese netizens prefer articles that take the opposite position of the government; for foreign affairs, they prefer articles aligned with the government's position. However, nationalistic individuals are more likely to select domestic affairs articles congruent with the Chinese government's issue framing. We also find social endorsements to be highly influential on news selection behaviour. Popular posts with many “likes” attract Chinese netizens to the point where they select content they may not otherwise read, even though the internet environment is easily manipulated.
Does the Patterned View Avoid the Ideal Worlds Objection?
Authors: Rumbold Benedict
Published: April 2024

Can we formulate a moral theory that captures the moral significance of patterns of group behaviour we cannot affect through our own action while at the same time avoiding the so-called ‘Ideal Worlds’ objection? In a recent article, Caleb Perl has argued that we can. Specifically, Perl claims that one view that does so is his Patterned View: roughly, you ought to act only in accordance with that set of sufficiently general rules that has optimal moral value (Perl 2021: 98). The Patterned View undoubtedly constitutes a welcome contribution to our existing set of moral theories. However, does it avoid the Ideal Worlds objection? In this article, I argue ‘no’.
Central limit theorem for components in meandric systems through high moments
Authors: Janson Svante , Thévenin Paul
Published: April 2024

We investigate here the behaviour of a large typical meandric system, proving a central limit theorem for the number of components of a given shape. Our main tool is a theorem of Gao and Wormald that allows us to deduce a central limit theorem from the asymptotics of large moments of our quantities of interest.
Sex Matters
Authors: Vitro Callie , Carter Talisa J.
Published: April 2024

Research finds that individuals of dark complexions are more likely to face prejudice or be discriminated against in a variety of contexts. Referred to as colorism, skin-tone-based discrimination has major implications for various life outcomes. Research on social interactions suggests that lighter skin tones are associated with a higher level of physical attractiveness, which is of particular interest for this study. This study uses quantitative survey data collected from undergraduate and graduate students from across the United States to explore the relationship between colorism, gender, and perceived physical attraction via a modified version of Harvey, Tennial, and Bank’s In-Group Colorism Scale (ICS). Analyses measured the relationship between a participant’s own skin tone, which was self-assessed via comparison to images modeled after make-up swatches, and results on a subscale of the ICS which measures attraction to lighter skin tones. Our results suggest that gender has a significant impact on perceived physical attractiveness, with male-identifying participants placing more weight on the significance of skin tone when determining physical attraction. Implications for future research and translational implications are also discussed.
Brown Carbon From Biomass Burning Reinforces the Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau Warming
Authors: Zhu Chong‐Shu , Qu Yao , Huang Hong , Shi Ju‐Lian , Dai Wen‐Ting , Zhang Ning‐Ning , Wang Nan , Wang Lu‐Yao , Ji Sha‐Sha , Cao Jun‐Ji
Published: April 2024

The Himalayas and Tibetan Plateau (the HTP), referred to as “the third pole” with an excessive warming rate, exerts strong impacts on the global environment. As one of warming contributors, atmospheric brown carbon (BrC) remains limited scientific understanding in the HTP due to a scarcity of observations. In this study, we present a study of the light‐absorbing properties of methanol‐soluble brown carbon (MeS‐BrC) and water‐soluble brown carbon (WS‐BrC) during 2018–2021. Highly spatiotemporal variations of BrC light absorptions were observed. In the HTP marginal area, elevated BrC absorption coefficients at 365 nm (babs,365) and levoglucosan concentrations were obtained, and MeS‐BrC exhibits approximately 1.3–1.8 times higher absorption compared to WS‐BrC. We determined that BrC light absorptions was largely attributed to biomass burning (29%–35%). BrC can act as a potent warming agent in the HTP marginal area, with high direct solar absorption (25%–47% relative to black carbon).
Quantitative Analysis of Electron Heating and Acceleration in Coalescing Magnetic Flux Ropes at Earth's Magnetopause
Authors: Ma Wenqing , Zhou Meng , Zhong Zhihong , Deng Xiaohua
Published: April 2024

Coalescence of magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) is suggested as a crucial mechanism for electron acceleration in various astrophysical plasma systems. However, how electrons are being accelerated/heated via MFR coalescence is not fully understood. In this paper, we quantitatively analyze electron heating and acceleration during the coalescence of three MFRs at Earth's magnetopause using in‐situ Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations. We find that suprathermal electrons are enhanced in the coalescing MFRs than those in the ambient magnetosheath and non‐coalescing MFRs. Both first‐order Fermi and E|| acceleration were responsible for this electron acceleration, while the overall effect of betatron process cooled the electrons. The most intense Fermi acceleration was observed in the trailing part of the middle MFR, while E|| acceleration occurred primarily at the reconnection sites between the coalescing MFRs. For non‐coalescing MFRs, the dominant mechanism for energizing electrons is the E|| acceleration. Our results further consolidate the important role of MFR coalescence in electron heating/acceleration in space plasma.
Long Period Rayleigh Wave Focal Spot Imaging Applied to USArray Data
Authors: Tsarsitalidou C. , Hillers G. , Giammarinaro B. , Boué P. , Stehly L. , Campillo M.
Published: April 2024

We demonstrate the effectiveness of seismic dense array surface wave focal spot imaging using USArray data from the western‐central United States. We study dispersion in the 60–310 s period range and assess the image quality of fundamental mode Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps. We apply isotropic spatial autocorrelation models to the time domain zero lag noise correlation wavefield data at distances of about one wavelength. Local estimates of the phase velocity, its uncertainty, and the regression quality imply overall better ZZ relative to ZR or RZ results. The extension of the depth resolution compared to passive surface wave tomography is demonstrated by the inversion of three clustered dispersion curves from different tectonic units. We observe anisotropic surface wave energy flux and the influence of body wave energy, but sensitivity tests at 60 s targeting the data range, correlation component, and processing choices show that the ZZ focal spots yield consistent high‐quality images compared to regional tomography results in the 60–150 s period range. In contrast, at 200–300 s the comparatively small scales of the imaged structures and the imperfect agreement with low‐resolution global tomography results highlight the persistent challenge to reconcile imaging results based on different data sources, theories, and techniques. Our study shows that surface wave focal spot imaging is an accurate, robust, local imaging approach. Better control over clean autocorrelation fields can further improve applications of this seismic imaging tool for increased resolution of the elastic structure below dense seismic arrays.
Effect of Target Layering in Gravity‐Dominated Cratering in Nature, Experiments, and Numerical Simulations
Authors: Ormö J. , Raducan S. D. , Housen K. R. , Wünnemann K. , Collins G. S. , Rossi A. P. , Melero‐Asensio I.
Published: April 2024

Impacts into layered targets may generate “concentric craters” where a wider outer crater in the top layer surrounds a smaller, nested crater in the basement, which itself may be complex or simple. The influence of target on cratering depends on the ratio of target strength to lithostatic stress, which, in turn, is affected by gravity, target density, and crater diameter. When this ratio is large, the crater size is primarily determined by target strength, whereas gravitational forces dominate when the ratio is small. In two‐layer targets, strength may dominate in one or both layers, whereby the outer crater develops in the weaker top layer and the nested crater in the stronger substrate. However, large natural craters that should be gravity‐dominated in both cover strata and substrate may be concentric, the reasons for which are not yet fully understood. We performed qualitative impact experiments at 10–502 G and 1.8 km/s with the Boeing Corp. Hypervelocity centrifuge gun, and at 1 G and 0.4 km/s with the CAB CSIC‐INTA gas gun into layered sand targets of different compositions and grain densities but similar granulometry to analyze gravity‐dominated cratering. The results are compared with iSALE‐2D numerical simulations and natural craters on Earth and Mars. We show that target layering also affects the excavation process and concentric crater formation in gravity‐dominated impacts. The most important factors are the density and internal friction of each target layer, respectively. We propose that this is also valid for natural craters of sizes that should make their formation gravity‐dominated.
Spherical‐Harmonic Distribution Analysis of Coronae in Relation to Volcanic Features on Venus
Authors: Tucker Wesley S. , Dombard Andrew J.
Published: April 2024

Venus boasts an abundance of volcanoes and volcano‐like structures. Synthetic aperture radar images of the surface have revealed extensive evidence of volcanism, including lava flows and edifices. Volcanic activity is further supported by crater statistics, and analysis of topography and gravity data. Unique to Venus, coronae are quasi‐circular volcano‐tectonic features exhibiting diverse volcanic characteristics. Despite this, volcanism is often under‐represented in formation models. We identify a new subset of coronae that display topographic changes subsequent to the emplacement of lava flows within their fracture annuli, pointing to the critical role of volcanic and magmatic processes in the formation of these coronae. Through spherical‐harmonic distribution analysis, we find that this new subset is spatially related to the full coronae database, pointing to an intrinsic process of coronae formation. Furthermore, coronae exhibit strong correlations and similar spectral shapes at low spherical harmonic degrees with large volcanoes, suggesting a shared geodynamic origin. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of volcanism in coronae formation and highlight the need for future research to integrate magmatic and volcanic processes more comprehensively into geophysical models. Such models would better capture the complex interactions between volcanic emplacement, magmatic activity, and lithospheric dynamics on Venus.
Predictive Models for Detrital Titanite Provenance With Application to the Nanga Parbat—Haramosh Syntaxial Massif, Western Himalaya
Authors: O’Sullivan Gary , Scibiorski Elisabeth , Mark Chris
Published: April 2024

Titanite is a versatile recorder of crystallization age, temperature, and host lithology, via the U–Pb system, the Zr‐in‐Ttn thermometer, and elemental composition, respectively. The paragenesis of titanite renders it especially useful for tracing detritus derived from lithologies that are infertile for the commonly used detrital zircon U‐Pb chronometer, such as sub‐anatectic metamorphism of calc‐silicates. Despite these advantages, detrital titanite analysis is underemployed, in part because the U–Pb system in titanite is often complicated by the incorporation of both inherited radiogenic Pb from precursor minerals during metamorphic reactions, and also bulk crustal common‐Pb. Recent systematic analyses of large titanite compositional data sets from diverse source rocks have revealed that the elemental composition of titanite is provenance‐specific. Here, we apply a workflow that incorporates a machine‐learning classifier to a large and representative compositional database for titanite, encompassing >11,000 analyses, with c. 6,700 points passed to our model. Only medians of the subcompositions for 205 rocks are used for our model. We reliably discriminate (>90%) between metamorphic and igneous titanite. Application of this classifier to a detrital case study from the Nanga Parbat‐Haramosh syntaxial massif of the western Himalaya reveals that titanite of different compositions formed during different orogenic events. Furthermore, titanite with significant common Pb solely derives from medium/low grade metasedimentary rocks. The method described here offers a pathway to increase the specificity of the provenance information derived from titanite; however, the published corpus of titanite data will have to be much larger before multi‐class source‐rock discrimination can be achieved reliably.
D‐CDA: A Denoise and Change Detection Approach for Flood Disaster Location From SAR Images
Authors: Xie Runbo , Yang Guang , Zhang Yuping , Han Dongzhe , Huang Meng , Liu Shuai , Lu Wangze
Published: April 2024

Floods are among the most devastating natural disasters worldwide. Such disasters are often accompanied by strong precipitation and other weather factors, making it more difficult to identify affected areas. Moreover, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology can capture images in a 24‐hr window and penetrate clouds and fog. Change detection (CD) technology based on SAR images is generally utilized to locate disaster‐stricken areas by analyzing the differences between pre‐ and post‐disaster images. However, this method faces two main challenges: the presence of speckle noise, which reduces the difference detection accuracy, and the lack of a suitable SAR data set for flood disaster CD. Therefore, this study proposes a novel two‐stage approach for locating flood disaster areas, known as the denoising‐change detection approach (D‐CDA). The first stage comprises a nine‐layer denoising network with an encoder‐decoder structure known as the SAR denoising network (SDNet). It utilizes a multiresidual block and a parallel convolutional block attention module to extract features during the encoding process to suppress the noise component. In the second stage, a novel convolution neural network is proposed to detect the changes between bitemporal SAR images, namely, the coordinate attention fused network, which combines the siamese network and UNet++ as the backbone, and fuses coordinate attention modules to enhance the change features. Moreover, a CD data set (Zhengzhou flood data set) was constructed using Sentinel‐1 SAR images based on the 2021 flood disaster in Zhengzhou, China. Simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The experimental results indicate that D‐CDA achieves favorable detection performance in locating flood disaster areas.
The Geodynamic Significance of Continental UHP Exhumation: New Constraints From the Tso Morari Complex, NW Himalaya
Authors: Bidgood Anna K. , Parsons Andrew J. , Roberts Nick M. W. , Waters Dave , Tapster Simon , Gopon Phillip
Published: April 2024

The burial and exhumation of continental crust to and from ultrahigh‐pressure (UHP) is an important orogenic process, often interpreted with respect to the onset and/or subduction dynamics of continent‐continent collision. Here, we investigate the timing and significance of UHP metamorphism and exhumation of the Tso Morari complex, North‐West Himalaya. We present new petrochronological analyses of mafic eclogites and their host‐rock gneisses, combining U‐Pb zircon, rutile and xenotime geochronology (high‐precision CA‐ID‐TIMS and high‐spatial resolution LA‐ICP‐MS), garnet element maps, and petrographic observations. Zircon from mafic eclogite have a CA‐ID‐TIMS age of 46.91 ± 0.07 Ma, with REE profiles indicative of growth at eclogite facies conditions. Those ages overlap with zircon rim ages (48.9 ± 1.2 Ma, LA‐ICP‐MS) and xenotime ages (47.4 ± 1.4 Ma; LA‐ICP‐MS) from the hosting Puga gneiss, which grew during breakdown of UHP garnet rims. We argue that peak zircon growth at 47–46 Ma corresponds to the onset of exhumation from UHP conditions. Subsequent exhumation through the rutile closure temperature, is constrained by new dates of 40.4 ± 1.7 and 36.3 ± 3.8 Ma (LA‐ICP‐MS). Overlapping ages from Kaghan imply a coeval time‐frame for the onset of UHP exhumation across the NW Himalaya. Furthermore, our regional synthesis demonstrates a causative link between changes in the subduction dynamics of the India‐Asia collision zone at 47–46 Ma and the resulting mid‐Eocene plate network reorganization. The onset of UHP exhumation therefore provides a tightly constrained time‐stamp significant geodynamic shifts within the orogen and wider plate network.
Unveiling Energetic Particle Dynamics in the Near‐Earth Environment From CubeSat Missions
Authors: Li Xinlin
Published: April 2024

The discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts marked a prominent milestone in space physics. Recent advances, through the measurements of two CubeSat missions, have shed new light on the dynamics of energetic particles in the near‐Earth environment. Measurements from CSSWE, a student‐led mission, revealed that the decay of low‐energy neutrons, associated with cosmic rays impacting the atmosphere, is the primary source of relativistic electrons at the inner edge of the inner belt (Li et al., Nature, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature2464). Recently CIRBE captured striking details of energetic electron dynamics (Li et al., GRL, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023gl107521), further demonstrating high‐quality science achievable with CubeSat missions.
Even‐Order Harmonic Distortion Observations During Multiple Geomagnetic Disturbances: Investigation From New Zealand
Authors: Crack Malcolm , Rodger Craig J. , Clilverd Mark A. , Mac Manus Daniel H. , Martin Ian , Dalzell Michael , Subritzky Soren P. , Watson Neville R. , Petersen Tanja
Published: April 2024

Large geomagnetic storms are a space weather hazard to power transmission networks due to the effects of Geomagnetically Induced Currents (GICs). GIC can negatively impact power transmission systems through the generation of even‐order current and voltage harmonics due to half‐cycle transformer saturation. This study investigates a decade of even‐order voltage total harmonic distortion (hereon referred to as Even‐Order Total Harmonic Distortion (ETHD)) observations provided by Transpower New Zealand Ltd., the national system operator. We make use of ETHD measurements at 139 locations throughout New Zealand, monitored at 377 separate circuit breakers, focusing on 10 large geomagnetic disturbances during the period 2013–2023. Analysis identified 5 key substations, which appeared to act as sources of ETHD. The majority of these substations include single phase transformer banks, and evidence of significant GIC magnitudes. The ETHD from the source substations was found to propagate into the surrounding network, with the percentage distortion typically decaying away over distances of 150–200 km locally, that is, at a rate of −0.0043 %km−1. During the study period some significant changes occurred in the power network, that is, removal of the Halfway Bush (HWB) single phase bank transformer T4 in November 2017, and decommissioning of the New Plymouth substation in December 2019. Decommissioning of these two assets resulted in less ETHD occurring in the surrounding regions during subsequent geomagnetic storms. However, ETHD still increased at HWB with increasing levels of GIC, indicating that three phase transformer units were still susceptible to saturation, albeit with about 1/3 of the ETHD percentage exhibited by single phase transformers.
Electrographic monitoring for seizure detection in the neonatal unit: current status and future direction
Authors: Ryan Mary Anne J. , Malhotra Atul
Published: April 2024

Neonatal neurocritical intensive care is dedicated to safeguarding the newborn brain by prioritising clinical practices that promote early identification, diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries. The most common newborn neurological emergency is neonatal seizures, which may also be the initial clinical indication of neurological disease. A high seizure burden in the newborn period independently contributes to increased mortality and morbidity. The majority of seizures in newborns are subclinical (without clinical presentation), and hence identification may be difficult. Neuromonitoring techniques most frequently used to monitor brain wave activity include conventional electroencephalography (cEEG) or amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG). cEEG with video is the gold standard for diagnosing and treating seizures. Many neonatal units do not have access to cEEG, and frequently those that do, have little access to real-time interpretation of monitoring.

Impact

EEG monitoring is of no benefit to an infant without expert interpretation.

Whilst EEG is a reliable cot-side tool and of diagnostic and prognostic use, both conventional EEG and amplitude-integrated EEG have strengths and limitations, including sensitivity to seizure activity and ease of interpretation.

Automated seizure detection requires a sensitive and specific algorithm that can interpret EEG in real-time and identify seizures, including their intensity and duration.
Expression and functional significance of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 in uveal melanoma
Authors: Bi Hui-e , Zhang Jie , Yao Yujia , Wang Suyu , Yao Jin , Shao Zhijiang , Jiang Qin
Published: April 2024

Uveal melanoma (UVM), an uncommon yet potentially life-threatening ocular cancer, arises from melanocytes in the uveal tract of the eye. The exploration of novel oncotargets for UVM is of paramount importance. In this study, we show that PCK1 (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1) expression is upregulated in various UVM tissues as well as in primary UVM cells and immortalized lines. Furthermore, bioinformatics studies reveal that PCK1 overexpression in UVM correlates with advanced disease stages and poor patient survival. Genetic silencing (utilizing viral shRNA) or knockout (via CRISPR/Cas9) of PCK1 significantly curtailed cell viability, proliferation, cell cycle progression, and motility, while provoking apoptosis in primary and immortalized UVM cells. Conversely, ectopic overexpression of PCK1, achieved through a viral construct, bolstered UVM cell proliferation and migration. Gαi3 expression and Akt phosphorylation were reduced following PCK1 silencing or knockout, but increased after PCK1 overexpression in UVM cells. Restoring Akt phosphorylation through a constitutively active mutant Akt1 (S473D) ameliorated the growth inhibition, migration suppression, and apoptosis induced by PCK1 silencing in UVM cells. Additionally, ectopic expression of Gαi3 restored Akt activation and counteracted the anti-UVM cell effects by PCK1 silencing. In vivo, the growth of subcutaneous xenografts of primary human UVM cells was significantly inhibited following intratumoral injection of adeno-associated virus (aav) expressing PCK1 shRNA. PCK1 depletion, Gαi3 downregulation, Akt inhibition, proliferation arrest, and apoptosis were detected in PCK1-silenced UVM xenografts. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that PCK1 promotes UVM cell growth possibly by modulating the Gαi3-Akt signaling pathway.