bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Defining Robustness, Vulnerabilities, and Consequential Scenarios for Diverse Stakeholder Interests in Institutionally Complex River Basins
Authors: Hadjimichael Antonia , Quinn Julianne , Wilson Erin , Reed Patrick , Basdekas Leon , Yates David , Garrison Michelle
Published: May 2020

The Upper Basin of the Colorado River in the southwestern United States supports municipal, industrial, agricultural, and recreational activities worth an estimated $300 billion/year within the state of Colorado alone. The allocation of water to these activities is fundamentally shaped by water rights that in turn distribute risks among a diverse suite of sectors and stakeholders. In this study, we assess the vulnerabilities faced by the hierarchy of hundreds of water users in the portion of the Upper Basin within the state of Colorado, as a result of changes in hydrologic extremes, demand growth, and institutional and physical infrastructure in the basin. We also determine how robust the different users are to these potential changes, examining how their sensitivity to these factors depends on the magnitude and frequency of shortage they are unwilling to exceed. This advances previous robustness evaluation methods by formalizing an a posteriori exploration of alternative definitions of robustness tailored to each user's unique context. Our analysis reveals that robustness varies significantly not only across users but also across different definitions of acceptable performance for each user. We further show the importance of using scenario discovery to evaluate how the factors that drive consequential scenarios differ depending on the definition of robustness. Our results highlight the need for robustness and vulnerability frameworks to avoid broad categorical aggregations of stakeholder groups, to carefully capture complex institutional dependencies (e.g., water rights), and to facilitate a more transparent illustration of the implications of alternative definitions of robustness for specific stakeholders.
Unraveling Scaling Properties of Slow‐Slip Events
Authors: Dal Zilio Luca , Lapusta Nadia , Avouac Jean‐Philippe
Published: May 2020

A major debate in geophysics is whether earthquakes and slow‐slip events (SSEs) arise from similar failure mechanisms. Recent observations from different subduction zones suggest that SSEs follow the same moment‐duration scaling as earthquakes, unlike qualitatively different scaling proposed by earlier studies. Here, we examine the scaling properties using dynamic simulations of frictional sliding. The resulting sequences of SSEs match observations from the Cascadia subduction zone, including the earthquake‐like cubic moment‐duration scaling. In contrast to conventional and widely used assumptions of magnitude‐invariant rupture velocities and stress drops, both simulated and natural SSEs have rupture velocities and stress drops that increase with event magnitudes. These findings support the same frictional origin for both earthquakes and SSEs while suggesting a new explanation for the observed SSEs scaling.
An Empirical Power Density‐Based Friction Law and Its Implications for Coherent Landslide Mobility
Authors: Deng Yu , Yan Shuaixing , Scaringi Gianvito , Liu Wei , He Siming
Published: May 2020

The evolution of the shear resistance at the base of a coherent landslide body can effectively control its dynamic behavior. High‐velocity rotary shear experiments have allowed scientists to explore stress‐strain conditions close to those found in large landslides and faults. These experiments have led to two alternative models being proposed, which describe the evolution of the shear resistance through friction laws that depend either on normal stress or on velocity. Here, we discuss an integrated approach, first proposed to study seismic fault behavior, that reconciles these two models under a single parameter—the power density—which we utilize for the first time to investigate landslide dynamics. Using thermodynamic and process‐based considerations, different soil and rock types can be related to different weakening mechanisms, which in turn can determine different landslide behaviors.
A Conceptual Model for Anticipating the Impact of Landscape Evolution on Groundwater Recharge in Degrading Permafrost Environments
Authors: Young N. L. , Lemieux J.‐M. , Delottier H. , Fortier R. , Fortier P.
Published: May 2020

Temperatures in the arctic and subarctic are rising at more than twice the rate of the global average, driving the accelerated thawing of permafrost across the region. The impacts of permafrost degradation have been studied in the discontinuous permafrost zone at Umiujaq, in northern Quebec, Canada, for over 30 years, but the effects of changing land cover on groundwater recharge are not well understood. The water table fluctuation method was used to compute groundwater recharge using 4 years of water level data and soil moisture readings from five field sites characteristic of different stages of permafrost degradation and vegetation invasion. Results indicate that as vegetation grows taller, groundwater recharge increases, likely due to increased snow thickness. Results were then combined with a preexisting conceptual model that describes the evolution from tundra to shrubland and forests to create a new model for describing how groundwater recharge is affected by landscape evolution.
Global Distribution of Whistler Mode Waves in Jovian Inner Magnetosphere
Authors: Li W. , Shen X.‐C. , Menietti J. D. , Ma Q. , Zhang X.‐J. , Kurth W. S. , Hospodarsky G. B.
Published: May 2020

Whistler mode waves are suggested to play a dual role in precipitation loss and acceleration of energetic electrons in Jovian magnetosphere. Using the combined wave data from Juno and Galileo, we constructed global maps of whistler mode waves in the Jovian inner magnetosphere (M‐shell <20). Whistler mode waves are found to be extensively present over M‐shells from 6 to ~13, peaking at ~10, and extend to magnetic latitudes at least up to 50°. Whistler mode wave intensities vary from a few pT to ~100 pT, similar to the intensity level at Earth. The new finding on the latitudinal extension of whistler mode waves indicates their potential effects on electron precipitation over a broad energy range from ~100 eV to several MeV. The newly constructed whistler mode wave spectra are crucial for evaluating the accurate role of whistler mode waves in energetic electron dynamics in the Jovian inner magnetosphere.
Trapped Particle Motion in Magnetodisk Fields
Authors: Guio P. , Staniland N. R. , Achilleos N. , Arridge C. S.
Published: May 2020

The spatial and temporal characterization of trapped charged particle trajectories in magnetospheres has been extensively studied in dipole magnetic field structures. Such studies have allowed the calculation of spatial quantities, such as equatorial loss cone size as a function of radial distance, the location of the mirror points along particular field lines (L‐shells) as a function of the particle's equatorial pitch angle, and temporal quantities such as the bounce period and drift period as a function of the radial distance and the particle's pitch angle at the equator. In this study, we present analogous calculations for the disk‐like field structure associated with the giant rotation‐dominated magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn as described by the University College London/Achilleos‐Guio‐Arridge (UCL/AGA) magnetodisk model. We discuss the effect of the magnetodisk field on various particle parameters and make a comparison with the analogous motion in a dipole field. The bounce period in a magnetodisk field is in general smaller the larger the equatorial distance and pitch angle, by a factor as large as ∼8 for Jupiter and ∼2.5 for Saturn. Similarly, the drift period is generally smaller, by a factor as large as ∼2.2 for equatorial distances ∼20–24 RJ at Jupiter and ∼1.5 for equatorial distances ∼7–11 RS at Saturn.
Eikonal Tomography Using Coherent Surface Waves Extracted From Ambient Noise by Iterative Matched Filtering—Application to the Large‐N Maupasacq Array
Authors: Lehujeur M. , Chevrot S.
Published: May 2020

Standard ambient noise tomography relies on cross‐correlation of noise records between pairs of sensors to estimate empirical Green's functions. This approach is challenging if the distribution of noise sources is heterogeneous and can get computationally intensive for large‐N seismic arrays. Here, we propose an iterative matched filtering method to isolate and extract coherent wave fronts that travel across a dense array of seismic sensors. The method can separate interfering wave trains coming from different directions, to provide amplitude and travel time fields for each detected wave front. We use the eikonal equation to derive phase velocity maps from the gradient of these travel time fields. Artifacts originating from scattered waves are removed by azimuthal averaging and spatial smoothing. The method is validated on a synthetic test and then applied to the data of the Maupasacq experiment. Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps are obtained for periods between 2 and 9 s. These maps correlate with surface geology at short period (T<3 s) and reveal the deep architecture of the Arzacq and Mauleon basins at longer periods (T>4 s).
Variation of Earth's Oblateness J2 on Interannual‐to‐Decadal Timescales
Authors: Chao B. F. , Yu Y. , Chung C. H.
Published: May 2020

The Earth's oblateness varies slightly due to a host of physical processes that involve large‐scale meridional N‐S mass redistributions in the Earth. We analyze these minute, broadband signals in the observed ΔJ2 data series for 1976–2019 (43 years). We first remove the near‐quadratic variation (due to the glacial isostatic adjustment plus the accelerating land ice melting) and the seasonal terms (due to seasonality of the surface geophysical fluids) by least squares regression. Then we examine via cross‐correlation function and cross‐coherence spectrum the relationships of the remaining interannual‐to‐decadal ΔJ2 with various climate oscillations in terms of their respective indices. We elucidate the contributions of the Antarctic Oscillation and Arctic Oscillation (for timescales shorter than 5 years), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (for timescales longer than 5 years), and the absence thereof in El Niño–Southern Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Removal of their contributions from ΔJ2 reveals two remaining, nonclimatic long‐period signals: An 18.61‐year tidal signal calls for an augmentation in the in‐phase value and a reduction of the out‐of‐phase value in the theoretical models per International Earth rotation and Reference systems Service (IERS), while a more detailed quantitative study awaits future, longer data. An additional 10.5‐year signal is found to be correlated with the solar cycle, but the origin of this apparent correlation is uncertain presently.
Patient fibroblast circadian rhythms predict lithium sensitivity in bipolar disorder
Authors: Sanghani Harshmeena R. , Jagannath Aarti , Humberstone Thomas , Ebrahimjee Farid , Thomas Justyn M. , Churchill Grant C. , Cipriani Andrea , Attenburrow Mary-Jane , Perestenko Olga V. , Cowley Sally A. , Cader M. Zameel , Peirson Stuart N. , Harrison Paul J. , Foster Russell G. , Goodwin Guy M. , Vasudevan Sridhar R.
Published: May 2020

Bipolar disorder is a chronic neuropsychiatric condition associated with mood instability, where patients present significant sleep and circadian rhythm abnormalities. Currently, the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder remains elusive, but treatment with lithium continues as the benchmark pharmacotherapy, functioning as a potent mood stabilizer in most, but not all patients. Lithium is well documented to induce period lengthening and amplitude enhancement of the circadian clock. Based on this, we sought to investigate whether lithium differentially impacts circadian rhythms in bipolar patient cell lines and crucially if lithium’s effect on the clock is fundamental to its mood-stabilizing effects. We analyzed the circadian rhythms of bipolar patient-derived fibroblasts (n = 39) and their responses to lithium and three further chronomodulators. Here we show, relative to controls (n = 23), patients exhibited a wider distribution of circadian period (p < 0.05), and that patients with longer periods were medicated with a wider range of drugs, suggesting lower effectiveness of lithium. In agreement, patient fibroblasts with longer periods displayed muted circadian responses to lithium as well as to other chronomodulators that phenocopy lithium. These results show that lithium differentially impacts the circadian system in a patient-specific manner and its effect is dependent on the patient’s circadian phenotype. We also found that lithium-induced behavioral changes in mice were phenocopied by modulation of the circadian system with drugs that target the clock, and that a dysfunctional clock ablates this response. Thus, chronomodulatory compounds offer a promising route to a novel treatment paradigm. These findings, upon larger-scale validation, could facilitate the implementation of a personalized approach for mood stabilization.
A single administration of the antibiotic, minocycline, reduces fear processing and improves implicit learning in healthy volunteers: analysis of the serum metabolome
Authors: Chan Shi Yu , Capitão Liliana , Probert Fay , Klinge Corinna , Hoeckner Sebastian , Harmer Catherine J. , Cowen Philip J. , Anthony Daniel C. , Burnet Philip W. J.
Published: May 2020

Minocycline has shown therapeutic promise in pre-clinical animal models and early phase clinical trials for a variety of psychiatric disorders. Previous studies on minocycline have shown its ability to suppress microglia activity and reduce inflammatory cytokine levels, and its amelioration of depressive-like behaviour in animals and humans. However, the underlying mechanisms that lead to minocycline’s psychotropic effects are not clear. In this study, we investigated the psychological and biochemical effects of an acute dose of minocycline or placebo in 40 healthy adult volunteers. Psychological changes in emotional processing, implicit learning, and working memory were assessed. Plasma inflammatory markers, measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and serum metabolites, measured with proton nuclear magnetic resonance combined with multi-variate analysis techniques, were also studied. Results showed that minocycline administration decreased fear misclassification and increased contextual learning, which suggested that reducing negative biases and improving cognition, respectively, may underlie the antidepressant actions of this agent. An examination of serum metabolites revealed higher levels of lipoproteins, particularly cholesterol, in the minocycline group. Minocycline also decreased circulating concentrations of the inflammatory marker C-Reactive Peptide, which is consistent with previous research. These effects highlight two important psychological mechanisms that may be relevant to the efficacy of minocycline reported in clinical trials, and also suggest a possible largely unexplored lipid-related biochemical pathway for the action of this drug.
Changes in long term survival after diagnosis with common hematologic malignancies in the early 21st century
Authors: Pulte Dianne , Jansen Lina , Brenner Hermann
Published: May 2020

Five-year survival has increased for many hematologic malignancies in the 21st century. However, whether this has translated into greater long-term survival is unknown. Here, we examine 10- and 20-year survival for patients with multiple myeloma (MM), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL). Data were extracted from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-9 database. Patients age 15+ with the above malignancies were included. The newly developed boomerang method was used to examine 10- and 20-year relative survival (RS) for patients in 2002–2006 and 2012–16. Ten and 20-year RS increased for each malignancy examined, with increases ranging from +4.4% units for 20-year RS for AML to +23.1% units for 10-year RS for CML. Ten year RS was >50% in 2012–16 for patients with CLL, CML, HL, NHL, and DLBCL, at 77.1%, 62.1%, 63.9%, 64.5%, and 63.0%, respectively. Survival dropped between 10 and 20 years after diagnosis for most malignancies. Long-term survival is increasing for common hematologic malignancies, but late mortality is an ongoing issue. Further study of long-term outcomes in curable malignancies to determine the reason for these later decreases in survival is indicated.
The challenge of COVID-19 and hematopoietic cell transplantation; EBMT recommendations for management of hematopoietic cell transplant recipients, their donors, and patients undergoing CAR T-cell therapy
Authors:   for the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Ljungman Per , Mikulska Malgorzata , de la Camara Rafael , Basak Grzegorz W. , Chabannon Christian , Corbacioglu Selim , Duarte Rafael , Dolstra Harry , Lankester Arjan C. , Mohty Mohamad , Montoto Silvia , Murray John , Peffault de Latour Régis , Snowden John A. , Yakoub-Agha Ibrahim , Verhoeven Bregje , Kröger Nicolaus , Styczynski Jan
Published: May 2020

The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has rapidly spread over the world causing the disease by WHO called COVID-19. This pandemic poses unprecedented stress on the health care system including programs performing allogeneic and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapy such as with CAR T cells. Risk factors for severe disease include age and predisposing conditions such as cancer. The true impact on stem cell transplant and CAR T-cell recipients in unknown. The European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) has therefore developed recommendations for transplant programs and physicians caring for these patients. These guidelines were developed by experts from the Infectious Diseases Working Party and have been endorsed by EBMT’s scientific council and board. This work intends to provide guidelines for transplant centers, management of transplant candidates and recipients, and donor issues until the COVID-19 pandemic has passed.
A single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-Seq toolbox for fresh and frozen human tumors
Authors: Slyper Michal , Porter Caroline B. M. , Ashenberg Orr , Waldman Julia , Drokhlyansky Eugene , Wakiro Isaac , Smillie Christopher , Smith-Rosario Gabriela , Wu Jingyi , Dionne Danielle , Vigneau Sébastien , Jané-Valbuena Judit , Tickle Timothy L. , Napolitano Sara , Su Mei-Ju , Patel Anand G. , Karlstrom Asa , Gritsch Simon , Nomura Masashi , Waghray Avinash , Gohil Satyen H. , Tsankov Alexander M. , Jerby-Arnon Livnat , Cohen Ofir , Klughammer Johanna , Rosen Yanay , Gould Joshua , Nguyen Lan , Hofree Matan , Tramontozzi Peter J. , Li Bo , Wu Catherine J. , Izar Benjamin , Haq Rizwan , Hodi F. Stephen , Yoon Charles H. , Hata Aaron N. , Baker Suzanne J. , Suvà Mario L. , Bueno Raphael , Stover Elizabeth H. , Clay Michael R. , Dyer Michael A. , Collins Natalie B. , Matulonis Ursula A. , Wagle Nikhil , Johnson Bruce E. , Rotem Asaf , Rozenblatt-Rosen Orit , Regev Aviv
Published: May 2020

Single-cell genomics is essential to chart tumor ecosystems. Although single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) profiles RNA from cells dissociated from fresh tumors, single-nucleus RNA-Seq (snRNA-Seq) is needed to profile frozen or hard-to-dissociate tumors. Each requires customization to different tissue and tumor types, posing a barrier to adoption. Here, we have developed a systematic toolbox for profiling fresh and frozen clinical tumor samples using scRNA-Seq and snRNA-Seq, respectively. We analyzed 216,490 cells and nuclei from 40 samples across 23 specimens spanning eight tumor types of varying tissue and sample characteristics. We evaluated protocols by cell and nucleus quality, recovery rate and cellular composition. scRNA-Seq and snRNA-Seq from matched samples recovered the same cell types, but at different proportions. Our work provides guidance for studies in a broad range of tumors, including criteria for testing and selecting methods from the toolbox for other tumors, thus paving the way for charting tumor atlases.
Scaling trends of bird’s alular feathers in connection to leading-edge vortex flow over hand-wing
Authors: Linehan Thomas , Mohseni Kamran
Published: May 2020

An aerodynamic structure ubiquitous in Aves is the alula; a small collection of feathers muscularized near the wrist joint. New research into the aerodynamics of this structure suggests that its primary function is to induce leading-edge vortex (LEV) flow over bird’s outer hand-wing to enhance wing lift when manuevering at slow speeds. Here, we explore scaling trends of the alula’s spanwise position and its connection to this function. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the relative distance of the alula from the wing tip is that which maximizes LEV-lift when the wing is spread and operated in a deep-stall flight condition. To test this, we perform experiments on model wings in a wind tunnel to approximate this distance and compare our results to positional measurements of the alula on spread-wing specimens. We found the position of the alula on non-aquatic birds selected for alula optimization to be located at or near the lift-maximizing position predicted by wind tunnel experiments. These findings shed new light on avian wing anatomy and the role of unconventional aerodynamics in shaping it.
Synovial tissue transcriptomes of long-standing rheumatoid arthritis are dominated by activated macrophages that reflect microbial stimulation
Authors: Smiljanovic Biljana , Grützkau Andreas , Sörensen Till , Grün Joachim R. , Vogl Thomas , Bonin Marc , Schendel Pascal , Stuhlmüller Bruno , Claussnitzer Anne , Hermann Sandra , Ohrndorf Sarah , Aupperle Karlfried , Backhaus Marina , Radbruch Andreas , Burmester Gerd R. , Häupl Thomas
Published: May 2020

Advances in microbiome research suggest involvement in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Searching for initial trigger(s) in RA, we compared transcriptome profiles of highly inflamed RA synovial tissue (RA-ST) and osteoarthritis (OA)-ST with 182 selected reference transcriptomes of defined cell types and their activation by exogenous (microbial) and endogenous inflammatory stimuli. Screening for dominant changes in RA-ST demonstrated activation of monocytes/macrophages with gene-patterns induced by bacterial and fungal triggers. Gene-patterns of activated B- or T-cells in RA-ST reflected a response to activated monocytes/macrophages rather than inducing their activation. In contrast, OA-ST was dominated by gene-patterns of non-activated macrophages and fibroblasts. The difference between RA and OA was more prominent in transcripts of secreted proteins and was confirmed by protein quantification in synovial fluid (SF) and serum. In total, 24 proteins of activated cells were confirmed in RA-SF compared to OA-SF and some like CXCL13, CCL18, S100A8/A9, sCD14, LBP reflected this increase even in RA serum. Consequently, pathogen-like response patterns in RA suggest that direct microbial influences exist. This challenges the current concept of autoimmunity and immunosuppressive treatment and advocates new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that consider microbial persistence as important trigger(s) in the etiopathogenesis of RA.
Responsive changes of DNA methylation in wheat (Triticum aestivum) under water deficit
Authors: Duan Hongying , Li Jingyun , Zhu Yanqiu , Jia Wenjing , Wang Huihui , Jiang Lina , Zhou Yanqing
Published: May 2020

DNA methylation plays an important role in the growth and development of plant, and would change under different environments. In this study, 5-methyl cytosine (5mC) content and methylation level exhibited tissue specificity in genomic DNA of wheat seedling, and increased significantly in leaf along with the increase of water deficit, which was especially significant in leaf of wheat AK58. Full-methylation might dominate in genomic DNA of wheat seedling, the increase of full-methylation level under water deficit was significantly higher than that of hemi-methylation level. Under water deficit, DNA methylation of wheat seedling showed significant polymorphism, this polymorphism was always higher in root, especially was higher in root of wheat AK58. Further analysis appeared that changes of DNA methylation in wheat seedling took methylation as principle and demethylation as supplement under water deficit. Therefore, under water deficit, the degree, level and polymorphism of DNA methylation in wheat seedling showed tissue specificity and species specificity, and were higher in wheat AK58 compared with those of wheat XM13, perhaps wheat AK58 could more rapidly respond to water deficit by changes of DNA methylation, which would contribute to reveal molecular mechanism of wheat adapting to water deficit.
Transcriptomes shed light on transgenerational and developmental effects of ocean warming on embryos of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius
Authors: Shi Dongtao , Zhao Chong , Chen Yang , Ding Jingyun , Zhang Lisheng , Chang Yaqing
Published: May 2020

Ocean warming increasingly endangers the fitness of marine invertebrates. Transgenerational effects (TE) potentially mitigate the impacts of environmental stress on the embryos of marine invertebrates. The molecular mechanisms, however, remain largely unknown. Using high-throughput RNA sequencing technology, we investigated the gene expression patterns of embryos (the gastrula stage) of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus intermedius at different developmental temperatures, whose parents were exposed to long-term (15 months) elevated temperature (A) or not (B). The temperatures at which adults were held for ~4 weeks prior to the start of the experiment (21 °C for A and 18 °C for B) were also used for the development of offspring (high: 21 °C and ambient (laboratory): 18 °C) resulting in four experimental groups (HA and HB at 21 °C, and LA and LB at 18 °C). The embryos were sampled ~24 h after fertilization. All samples were in the gastrula stage. Twelve mRNA libraries (groups HA, HB, LA, LB, 3 replicates for each group) were established for the following sequencing. Embryos whose parents were exposed to elevated temperatures or not showed 1891 significantly different DEGs (differentially expressed genes) at the ambient developmental temperature (LB vs LA, LB as control) and 2203 significantly different DEGs at the high developmental temperature (HB vs HA, HB as control), respectively. This result indicates complex molecular mechanisms of transgenerational effects of ocean warming, in which a large number of genes are involved. With the TE, we found 904 shared DEGs in both LB vs LA (LB as control) and HB vs HA (HB as control) changed in the same direction of expression (i.e., up- or down-regulated), indicating that parental exposed temperatures affect the expression of these genes in the same manner regardless of the development temperature. With developmental exposure, we found 198 shared DEGs in both HB vs LB (HB as control) and HA vs LA (HA as control) changed in the same direction of expression. Of the 198 DEGs, more genes were up-regulated at high developmental temperature. Interestingly, embryos whose parents were exposed to high temperature showed fewer differently expressed DEGs between high and low developmental temperatures than the individuals whose parents were exposed to ambient temperature. The results indicate that gene expressions are probably depressed by the transgenerational effect of ocean warming. The roles of hsp70 and hnf6 in thermal acclimation are highlighted for future studies. The present study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms of the transgenerational and developmental effects of ocean warming on the embryos of sea urchins.
Dual-responsive self-assembly in lysosomes enables cell cycle arrest for locking glioma cell growth
Authors: Zhan Jie , Zhong Jing , Ma Shaodan , Ma Wen , Wang Yilin , Yu Zhiqiang , Cai Yanbin , Huang Wenhua
Published: May 2020

We report the first example of dual-responsive self-assembly in lysosomes triggered by pH and legumain as a promising strategy for inhibiting glioma cell growth.
Conjugated porous polymers: incredibly versatile materials with far-reaching applications
Authors: Taylor Dominic , Dalgarno Scott J. , Xu Zhengtao , Vilela Filipe
Published: May 2020

This review discusses conjugated porous polymers and focuses on relating design principles and synthetic methods to key properties and applications such as (photo)catalysis, gas storage, chemical sensing, energy storage and environmental remediation.
Cytotoxicity and degradation product identification of thermally treated ceftiofur
Authors: Zhang Hong , Lu Shiying , Ren Honglin , Zhao Ke , Li Yansong , Guan Yuting , Li Hanxiao , Hu Pan , Liu Zengshan
Published: May 2020

Ceftiofur (CEF) is a cephalosporin antibiotic and is a commonly used drug in animal food production. This study investigated the cytotoxicity of thermally treated CEF.
Additive- and column-free synthesis of rigid bis-coumarins as fluorescent dyes for G-quadruplex sensing via disaggregation-induced emission
Authors: He Hui-Zi , Li Kun , Yu Kang-Kang , Lu Pei-Long , Feng Mei-Lin , Chen Shan-Yong , Yu Xiao-Qi
Published: May 2020

A novel and efficient method to synthesize rigid bis-coumarins based on the dimerization of coumarinyl aldehydes was developed.
ArnD is a deformylase involved in polymyxin resistance
Authors: Adak Taniya , Morales Daniela L. , Cook Alina J. , Grigg Jason C. , Murphy Michael E. P. , Tanner Martin E.
Published: May 2020

ArnD is shown to be the deformylase involved in lipid A modification and antibiotic resistance.
Heterogeneous aqueous CO2 reduction by rhenium(i) tricarbonyl diimine complexes with a non-chelating pendant pyridyl group
Authors: Sinha Soumalya , Sonea Ana , Gibbs Curtis A. , Warren Jeffrey J.
Published: May 2020

A graphite-adsorbed tricarbonylrhenium(i) terpyridine complex supports CO2 reduction electrocatalysis over a wide range of pH values.
Synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical properties of a first-row metal phthalocyanine series
Authors: Peterson Madeline , Hunt Camden , Wang Zongheng , Heinrich Shannon E. , Wu Guang , Ménard Gabriel
Published: May 2020

A first-row metal phthalocyanine series is synthesized and the effects of axial metal-ligand substitution is investigated electrochemically and in the context of charge carriers for redox-flow batteries.
Challenges and opportunities for an efficiency boost of next generation Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells: prospects for a paradigm shift
Authors: Ochoa Mario , Buecheler Stephan , Tiwari Ayodhya N. , Carron Romain
Published: May 2020

A perspective on some strategies to trigger new developments for the next generation of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 solar cells is presented.
Synthesis and dye adsorption studies of the {dibromo(1,1′-(1,2-ethanediyl)bis(3-methyl-imidazole-2-thione)dicopper(i)}n polymer and its conversion to CuO nanospheres for photocatalytic and antibacterial applications
Authors: Beheshti Azizolla , Mousavifard Elham Sadat , Zargar Behrooz , Mayer Peter , Rezatofighi Seyedeh Elham
Published: May 2020

A new copper polymer was used as a dye adsorbent and CuO precursor. The CuO nanospheres showed good performances for photocatalytic and antibacterial applications.
Synthesis of protected α-amino acids via decarboxylation amination from malonate derivatives
Authors: Fu Hui , Li Peihe , Wang Zheng , Li Xiaoying , Dai Qipu , Hu Changwen
Published: May 2020

A general and efficient strategy for the synthesis of protected α-amino acids is reported.
Rhodium-catalyzed tandem acylmethylation/annulation of N-nitrosoanilines with sulfoxonium ylides for the synthesis of substituted indazole N-oxides
Authors: Cui Xin-Feng , Huang Guo-Sheng
Published: May 2020

An atom-economical protocol for synthesizing indazole N-oxides from readily available N-nitrosoanilines and sulfoxonium ylides through the rhodium(iii)-catalyzed C–H activation and cyclization reaction is described here.
An intrinsic FRET sensor of protein–ligand interactions
Authors: Gleason Patrick R. , Kelly Patrick I. , Grisingher Dominic W. , Mills Jeremy H.
Published: May 2020

The non-canonical amino acid l-(7-hydroxycoumarin-4-yl)ethylglycine can serve as a FRET acceptor from tryptophan. Here, we demonstrate how this amino acid pair can be used to generate an intrinsic FRET-based sensor of protein–ligand interactions.
Thermal pyrolysis and kinetic parameter determination of mango leaves using common and new proposed parallel kinetic models
Authors: El-Sayed Saad A. , Mostafa Mohamed E.
Published: May 2020

TG/DTG thermal pyrolysis analysis is performed under nitrogen from 100 to 1000 °C at three different heating rates for three types of most famous Egyptian mango leaves to be used as a biomass fuel.
Synthesis and DSSC application of BODIPY decorated triazole bridged and benzene nucleus cored conjugated dendrimers
Authors: Saravanan Velautham , Ganesan Shanmugam , Rajakumar Perumal
Published: May 2020

Dye-sensitized solar cells with BODIPY conjugated dendrimers as the dye are described.
Bilayered microelectrodes based on electrochemically deposited MnO2/polypyrrole towards fast charge transport kinetics for micro-supercapacitors
Authors: Haider Waqas Ali , He Liang , Mirza Hameed A. , Tahir Muhammad , Khan Aamir Minhas , Owusu Kwadwo Asare , Yang Wei , Wang Zhuqing , Mai Liqiang
Published: May 2020

Micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) are promising power solution facilities for miniaturized portable electronic devices.
Synchrotron study on the evolution of the radial structural distribution of carbon fiber monofilaments during heat treatment process
Authors: You Ting , Liu Wei , Sha Yang , Cao Weiyu
Published: May 2020

Evolution of the radial distribution of the crystalline structure within PAN monofilaments during carbonization was investigated via the method of synchrotron diffraction and micro-scanning Raman spectroscopy.
A multiscale biophysical model for the recruitment of actin nucleating proteins at the membrane interface
Authors: Fatunmbi Ololade , Bradley Ryan P. , Kandy Sreeja Kutti , Bucki Robert , Janmey Paul A. , Radhakrishnan Ravi
Published: May 2020

The dynamics and organization of the actin cytoskeleton are crucial to many cellular events such as motility, polarization, cell shaping, and cell division.
Lipidomic atlas of mammalian cell membranes reveals hierarchical variation induced by culture conditions, subcellular membranes, and cell lineages
Authors: Symons Jessica L. , Cho Kwang-Jin , Chang Jeffrey T. , Du Guangwei , Waxham M. Neal , Hancock John F. , Levental Ilya , Levental Kandice R.
Published: May 2020

Lipid membranes are ubiquitous biological organizers, required for structural and functional compartmentalization of the cell and sub-cellular organelles.
Circulating tumor-cell-targeting Au-nanocage-mediated bimodal phototherapeutic properties enriched by magnetic nanocores
Authors: Chiang Chih-Sheng , Kao Yu-Che , Webster Thomas J. , Shyu Woei-Cherng , Cheng Hung-Wei , Liu Tse-Ying , Chen San-Yuan
Published: May 2020

Targeted core–satellite nanoparticles (TCSNs) can successfully achieve the targeting, isolation, and photo-eradication of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) via extracorporeal bimodal phototherapy.
Core–shell nanoparticles as platform technologies for paper based point-of-care devices to detect antimicrobial resistance
Authors: Punjabi Kapil , Adhikary Rishi Rajat , Patnaik Aishani , Bendale Prachi , Singh Subhasini , Saxena Survanshu , Banerjee Rinti
Published: May 2020

Development of instrument-free point-of-care devices comprising of core-shell nanoparticles as platform technology to make paper based device for detection of antimicrobial resistance in sample.
Syntactic Complexity as a Linguistic Marker to Differentiate Mild Cognitive Impairment From Normal Aging
Authors: Sung Jee Eun , Choi Sujin , Eom Bora , Yoo Jae Keun , Jeong Jee Hyang
Published: May 2020

Purpose

In this study, we sought to identify critical linguistic markers that can differentiate sentence processing of individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from the sentence processing of normal-aging populations by manipulating sentences' linguistic complexity. We investigated whether passive sentences, as linguistically complex structures, can serve as linguistic markers that can contribute to diagnoses that distinguish MCI from normal aging.

Method

In total, 52 participants, including 26 adults with amnestic MCI and 26 cognitively unimpaired adults, participated in the study. All participants were native speakers of Korean. We administered the two subsets of active and passive conditions using a sentence–picture paradigm with semantically reversible sentences to both groups.

Results

A mixed-effects model using PROC NLMIXED demonstrated that the MCI group exhibited differentially greater difficulty in processing passive than active sentences compared to the normal-aging group. A logistic regression fitted with the PROC LOGISTIC model identified the sum of the passive sentences, with age and education effects as the best models to distinguish individuals with MCI from the normal-aging group.

Conclusion

Sentence comprehension deficits emerged in the MCI stage when the syntactic complexity was increased. Furthermore, a passive structure was the best predictor for efficiently distinguishing the MCI group from the normal-aging group. These results are clinically and theoretically important, given that linguistic complexity can serve as a critical behavioral marker in the detection of early symptoms associated with linguistic–cognitive decline.
First‐order plus time‐delay systems under the effects of actuator rate limit
Authors: Yuan Jie , Han Jie , Chai Lin , Fei Shumin , Chen Yang Quan
Published: May 2020

Actuator rate limit phenomenon is ubiquitous in control systems, but it has always been neglected in practical engineering. Especially, few papers are published to investigate the system identification while considering the rate limit. Step function is commonly used in parameter estimation and its first‐order derivative at the step time goes to infinity, which is not affordable by real actuators. As a result, the rate limit slows down the system response speed, misleads the parameter identification, and subsequently affects the controller design and deteriorates the control performance. This study proposes both graphical method and curve fitting method to identify the first‐order plus time‐delay (FOPTD) systems with consideration of the actuator rate limit effect whose limit value is unknown. Quantitative analyses of the parameter mismatch in the traditional FOPTD model and parameter sensitivity analyses are also carried out. Both simulation results and experimental results have shown the necessity and feasibility of defining a new model structure which includes the rate limit value.
Bistatic scattering at soft–hard strips and plates: method of moments (MoM), theory of edge diffraction (TED), and physical theory of diffraction (PTD) analysis
Authors: Ufimtsev Pyotr Ya , Apaydin Gokhan
Published: May 2020

Diffraction at a strip with one face soft (electric) and the other hard (magnetic) is studied. New results obtained by the method of moments (MoM) are compared with the asymptotic theory of edge diffraction (TED) for the totally soft and hard strips. Attention is given to diffraction of oblique incident waves including the grazing diffraction. Novel analytic estimations for the forward and backward grazing scattering are established via the advanced physical theory of diffraction (PTD) free of grazing singularities. These estimations are demonstrated for the infinitely long strips and finite size rectangular plates.
W‐band grooved‐wall circularly polarised horn antenna
Authors: Shu Chao , Hu Shaoqing , Yao Yuan , Alfadhl Yasir , Chen Xiaodong
Published: May 2020

This study presents a novel design of circularly polarised horn antenna in W‐band with wide impedance bandwidth and 3 dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth. By introducing a pair of grooves on the wall of a horn antenna, this simple and compact structure is capable of generating a circular polarisation (CP) wave without any extra polariser and is expecting a better power‐handling capability. The full‐wave simulation results show that 36.9% bandwidth from 75.4 to 109.5 GHz can be achieved with S11<−21 dB and AR<3 dB, while the directivity is 16.56 ± 1.37 dBic. It is anticipated that the proposed antenna is suitable for wideband mmWave applications.
Efficient analysis method and design approach for broadband reflect‐arrays with isotropic/artificial anisotropic substrates
Authors: Rafaei‐Booket Mahmood , Mousavi Seyed Mostafa
Published: May 2020

Plane‐wave scattering by metallic grating with artificial anisotropic substrate is a problem solved in this study for the design of broadband reflectarrays. For determination of the reflection characteristics of such structures, a generalised transmission line modelling is used for evaluating the dyadic Green's function. This function is utilised in a summation equation used for calculating the induced electric currents on the reflectarray's metallic grating. For solving the obtained summation equation, the Periodic Method of Moments with Galerkin procedure is applied. Such an analysis method helps to compute the phase diagram needed to design of reflectarray. The efficiency of this method is assessed by considering its cost‐time and rate of convergence versus space harmonics. In the design step, a new phase realisation approach is implemented for minimising the frequency dispersion's adverse effects. This approach optimises the arrangement of metallic elements on the reflectarray's aperture and decreases the dependency of broadband reflectarray design to the element phase behaviour. As a result, this technique leads to lower side lobe level and better frequency response than traditional approaches. To verify the results of the developed solution, two different broadband reflectarrays for X‐ and Ku‐bands are fabricated and measured.
Flexible two‐stage robust model for moving the transmission and reactive power infrastructures expansion planning towards power system integration of renewables
Authors: Olfatinezhad Nader , Vahidinasab Vahid , Ahmadian Mohammad , Arasteh Hamidreza , Aghaei Jamshid , Mehran Kamyar
Published: May 2020

This study proposes a two‐stage robust optimisation framework to model uncertainties in construction cost, load and renewable power generations (RPGs) in the coordinated transmission and reactive power infrastructure expansion planning problem. The proposed planning model, based on the network AC model and its voltage constraints, is represented as a mixed‐integer linear programing problem with the aim of minimising: (i) the construction costs of lines, (ii) installation cost of reactive power resources and (iii) active load shedding as RPGs curtailment. Using the suggested robust optimisation approach, the best expansion plan is obtained even in the worst case of the defined uncertainty sets and the plan robustness level is controlled via parameter definition for the individual uncertainty sets. The Benders decomposition algorithm is used to solve the two‐stage problem where the plan security level is also taken into consideration using the N−1 contingency criterion. The standard Garver 6‐bus system and the IEEE 24‐bus reliability test system are used to validate the proposed robust framework.
Information‐gap decision theory based transient stability constrained optimal power flow considering the uncertainties of wind energy resources
Authors: Ayvaz Alisan , Istemihan Genc V.M.
Published: May 2020

Studies on transient stability constrained optimal power flow (TSCOPF) have become crucial for power systems to guarantee their dynamic securities against credible contingencies, while their optimum operations are to be continuously projected under changing conditions. However, the current approach to the TSCOPF problem is not sufficient to meet the expectations of a modern power system because it suffers from uncertainties mainly due to the rapid and large integration of distributed energy sources. This study proposes a novel method using the information‐gap decision theory (IGDT) technique to solve the TSCOPF problem in the presence of uncertainties due to the penetration of wind farms. The IGDT is a non‐probabilistic decision‐making method that can be easily implemented to handle uncertainty in optimisation problems. While presenting applicable strategies, it does not require any information about the historical data, probability density function or membership function of the uncertain parameters. The proposed method offers an analysis for the economic dispatch in a power system with wind energy resources while providing robustness against transient instabilities and uncertainties in power generation. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method, it is implemented on New England 39‐bus and IEEE 118‐bus test systems.
The γ-ray sky seen at X-ray energies
Authors: Marchesini E. J. , Paggi A. , Massaro F. , Masetti N. , D’Abrusco R. , Andruchow I.
Published: May 2020

Context. Nearly 50% of all sources detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope are classified as blazars or blazar candidates, one of the most elusive classes of active galaxies. Additional blazars can also be hidden within the sample of unidentified or unassociated γ-ray sources (UGSs) that constitute about one-third of all gamma-ray sources detected to date. We recently confirmed that the large majority of Fermi blazars of the BL Lac subclass have an X-ray counterpart.

Aims. Using the X-ray properties of a BL Lac training set and combining these with archival multifrequency information, we aim to search for UGSs that could have a BL Lac source within their γ-ray positional uncertainty regions.

Methods. We reduced and analyzed the Swift X-ray observations of a selected sample of 327 UGSs. We then compared the X-ray fluxes and hardness ratios of all sources detected in the pointed fields with those of known Fermi BL Lacs.

Results. We find at least one X-ray source, lying within the γ-ray positional uncertainty at 95% confidence level, for 223 UGSs and a total of 464 X-ray sources in all fields analyzed. The X-ray properties of a large fraction of them, eventually combined with radio, infrared, and optical information, exhibit BL Lac multi-frequency behavior, thus allowing us to select high-confidence BL Lac candidates; some of them were recently observed during our optical spectroscopic campaign which confirmed their nature.

Conclusions. We find that out of 50 X-ray sources that were confirmed as BL Lacs through optical spectroscopy, 12 do not show canonical mid-infrared or radio BL Lac properties. This indicates that the selection of X-ray BL Lac candidates is a strong method to find new counterparts within Fermi UGSs. Finally, we pinpoint a sample of 32 Swift/XRT candidate counterparts to Fermi UGSs that are most likely BL Lac objects.