bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of Knee Injuries on Post-retirement Pain and Quality of Life: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Professional Basketball Players
Authors: Khan Moin , Ekhtiari Seper , Burrus Tyrrell , Madden Kim , Rogowski Joseph P. , Bedi Asheesh
Published: November 2019

Background

Professional basketball players are at increased risk for knee injuries. Epidemiologic data exist on the prevalence of such injuries in players in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but little is known about how these injuries affect athletes before after retirement.

Questions/Purposes

The goals of this study were to evaluate the rates and characteristics of knee injury before and during NBA players’ careers and how those injuries correspond to knee injury, pain, or surgery, as well as quality of life, after retirement.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey study was performed. The survey instrument was designed with the aid of a multidisciplinary focus group. Data collected included patient demographics; length of professional career; injuries before, during, and after the athletes’ NBA careers; and post-retirement quality of life, assessed using the EQ-5D and Tegner Activity Scale. The survey was distributed electronically to 900 retired NBA athletes. Descriptive statistics were used to present means and proportions, and multiple regression analysis was performed to assess for potential factors correlated to injury.

Results

One hundred eight retired NBA players participated (a response rate of 12%). Almost a third (32.4%) sustained a knee injury before starting their NBA career; 51 (47.2%) sustained knee injury during professional play in the NBA, and nearly two-thirds of those players (62.7%) needed surgery. Among those who reported knee injuries during their NBA career, a majority had knee pain that continued until retirement (72.5%). Two-thirds (67%) reported having knee pain currently (at the time of the survey). More than a third (34.0%) underwent knee surgery after retirement, which included nine total knee arthroplasties (8.3%).

Conclusion

A majority of retired NBA athletes in our study had knee pain, and many needed operative management during and after their NBA careers. NBA players score lower on quality-of-life measures than average North American men of similar age. Further research is needed to elucidate the best strategies for recognizing and treating knee injuries in these athletes.
Multi-party Turn-Taking in Repeated Human–Robot Interactions: An Interdisciplinary Evaluation
Authors: Żarkowski Mateusz
Published: November 2019

As social robots become more popular, so arises the need for these social agents to operate in environments involving multiple users. The robot control systems that govern these multi-party interactions require to be evaluated both from the technical and social standpoints. This paper presents the methodology, setup and results for experiment involving the social robot EMYS participating in multi-party interaction where pairs of participants interacted with the robot in a trivia questions game lead by the robot . In total 32 people, 16 pairs, interacted with the robot twice, which resulted in 32 interactions and 64 filled questionnaires. The developed robot’s multi-party interaction system was evaluated both in terms of performance and user assessment. The results show that the robot adhering to human turn-taking social norms reduced the number of occurring conversational errors, which improved the communicative performance from$$51.5\%$$51.5%to$$80.5\%$$80.5%, in addition, it made the robot perceived as more communicative, cooperative and fitting user expectations by up to 3 points on a 7 point scale. In addition, the study on repeated interactions revealed that user perception of the robot is affected by subsequent interactions, which can be of consequence in future experiments. This first impression caused lasting effect between 1 and 2 points on user assessment of several robot’s aspects, even when contradicted by objective performance measurement of the robot’s actual behavior.
Policy change implications for forest water protection in Sweden over the last 50 years
Authors: Hasselquist Eliza Maher , Mancheva Irina , Eckerberg Katarina , Laudon Hjalmar
Published: November 2019

Improving water quality has become an important environmental issue, spurred in part by the Water Framework Directive. However, the relationship of policy change with forest water protection measures is relatively unknown. We analyzed how policy and practice have developed in Sweden using 50 years of historic data from the Krycklan Catchment Study, focusing on riparian buffers. Corresponding to legislation, education and voluntary measures emphasizing stream protection, two step changes occurred; between the 1970s–1980s, buffers increased by 67%, then by 100% between 1990s and 2000s. By 2013, just 50% of the stream length affected by forestry was protected and the application has varied by stream size; small streams lacked a buffer approximately 65% of the time, while 90% of large streams had buffers. The doubling of buffer implementation from the 1990s–2000s corresponded to the adoption of a number of environmental protection policies in the 1990s that all came into effect during this period.
Membranous nephropathy associated with thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A (THSD7A) in an adult woman with eosinophilia
Authors: Shirai Sayuri , Akiyama Shin’ichi , Kamijo-Ikemori Atsuko , Suzuki Tomo , Ichikawa Daisuke , Koike Junki , Kimura Kenjiro , Shibagaki Yugo
Published: November 2019

A 30-year-old woman on steroid therapy for eosinophilia presented with nephrotic syndrome during steroid tapering. She was diagnosed with membranous nephropathy (MN) stage II–III (positive for IgG1 and IgG4) by renal biopsy. There was no evidence of secondary MN. Her urinary protein level was controlled to 0.5 g/day or less, and her eosinophil count in white blood cell differential was stabilized at less than 10% without increasing the steroid dosage. The renal specimen did not show any enhanced granular expression of PLA2R along the glomerular basement membrane, and PLA2R was not detected in the patient’s serum. On retrospective analysis, enhanced granular staining for thrombospondin type-1 domain-containing 7A (THSD7A) in the glomeruli was detected in the biopsy, and anti-THSD7A IgG was detected in the serum using a commercial indirect immunofluorescence test (IFT). Based on these, the case was considered as THSD7A-associated MN with comorbid eosinophilia. The causal relationship between THSD7A-related MN and eosinophilia was unclear. However, a few cases of THSD7A-associated MN with eosinophilia have been reported, and further clarification on the relationship between THSD7A-related MN and eosinophilia is warranted.
The Group Insurance Contract in Private International Law
Authors: Fras Mariusz
Published: November 2019

The provisions on obligations under insurance relationships included in Article 7 of the Rome I Regulation are relatively complicated. However, although individual insurance contracts have their own legal regime in each Member State, only a few national legislators have decided to lay down the consequences of concluding a group insurance agreement. The Rome I Regulation does not include any special conflict of laws rule concerning group insurance contracts, which has been criticized in the literature on the subject.
Targeting the Most Harmful Offenders for an English Police Agency: Continuity and Change of Membership in the “Felonious Few”
Authors: Liggins Ashley , Ratcliffe Jerry H. , Bland Matthew
Published: November 2019

Research Question

How concentrated is the total harm of offences with detected offenders (identified suspects) among the complete list of all detected offenders in a given year in an English police agency, and how consistent is the list of highest-harm “felonious few” offenders from one year to the next?

Data

Characteristics of 327,566 crimes and 39,545 unique offenders as recorded by Northamptonshire Police in 7 years from 2010 to 2016 provide the basis for this analysis.

Methods

Crime and offender records were matched to harm weightings derived from the Cambridge Crime Harm Index (Sherman et al. 2016a; Sherman et al., Policing, 10(3), 171–183, 2016b). Descriptive statistics summarize a concentration of harm identifying the felonious few, changes over time in membership of the “few”, offender typologies and tests for escalation of severity, frequency and intermittency across repeated offences.

Findings

Crime harm is much more concentrated among offenders than crime volume: 80% of crime harm that is identified to an offender is linked to a felonious few of just 7% of all detected offenders. While chronic repeat offenders are the majority contributors to harm totals of this group, those with the most general range of offence types contribute the most harm. Individual members of the felonious few rarely maintain that position year on year; over 95% of each year’s list is composed of individuals not present in previous years. Within individual crime histories, we observe a pattern of de-escalation in crime harm per offence over time. “One-time” offenders, those with just one crime record, typically made up a third of the felonious few in both number and harm contribution.

Conclusions

These findings demonstrate the potential to target a small number of repeat offenders for harm reduction strategies using a metric of total crime severity, not just volume, despite a substantial portion of crime harm caused by one-time offenders that may be largely unpredictable.
Keep up the Good Work in Research Universities: An Importance-Performance Analysis
Authors: Padlee Siti Falindah , Reimers Vaughan , Mokhlis Safiek , Anuar Marhana Mohamed , Ahmad Azlinzuraini
Published: November 2019

The objective of this study was to measure academics’ perceptions towards three key dimensions of a higher education institution (HEI) – teaching quality, research quality and internationalisation – the latter two of which have received relatively scant attention in the context of service quality. Using five Malaysian universities as its context, and importance–performance analysis (IPA) as its method of analysis, the study found that the five universities performed well in relation to 14 of the 26 attributes. However, for each of the three dimensions there was a common theme in regards to the service attributes that fell short of expectations. In the case of teaching quality, this theme related to learning, for research quality it was research collaboration, and for internationalisation, it was international recognition. This study makes two key contributions to new knowledge. Firstly, it measures academic perceptions towards service quality as it relates to research and internationalisation, and secondly, it measures such perceptions using IPA. One of the key findings of the study is that the attitudes of those responsible for providing service quality (i.e. academics) may well differ from the HEI decision-makers that endeavour to manage it.
Preliminary Evidence for a Relationship Between Physiological Synchrony and Sexual Satisfaction in Opposite-Sex Couples
Authors: Freihart Bridget K. , Meston Cindy M.
Published: November 2019

Introduction

Over the past 3 decades, our understanding of physiological synchrony (PS) has increased substantially. Research has shown that interpersonal PS is stronger in relationships characterized by emotional closeness and intimacy and that the magnitude of PS is moderated by relational satisfaction. Despite growing momentum for this area of study, no research to date has examined the relationship between PS and sexual satisfaction.

Aim

The current study seeks to elucidate the relationship between PS and sexual satisfaction using study tasks that have been used in previous research to assess PS.

Methods

Heterosexual couples completed several survey measures in a laboratory setting. They were then connected to an electrocardiogram and instructed to complete baseline, gazing, and mirroring tasks. Subsequently, heart rate (HR) data for each dyad were analyzed for PS using a moderated multilevel modeling approach.

Main Outcome Measure

Scores on the Sexual Satisfaction Scale were used to moderate dyadic coherence between male and female partner HRs over time.

Results

PS was detected in our sample, with both men reliably predicting the HR of their female partners, and women reliably predicting the HR of their male partners. Akaike information criterion values indicate the better fitting model for each task was for men predicting the women’s HRs. A significant interaction effect was found between observed PS during the mirroring task (with male HR predicting female HR) and overall sexual satisfaction scores. There was no relationship between PS during baseline or gazing and overall sexual satisfaction.

Clinical Implications

Results provide initial evidence for the relevance of PS in sexual dyanmics.

Strengths & Limitations

The current analysis used a dyadic psychophysiological approach to extend the growing body of literature on PS into the theoretically linked field of sexuality. Because of the small sample size and nondirectional nature of the study design, future research is needed to replicate and extend findings.

Conclusion

The ability of couples to co-regulate while attempting actively to synchronize (as in the mirroring task) may be connected to how they perceive and experience their sexual relationship. Conversely, more sexually satisfied couples may be more likely to synchronize physiologically. Taken together, these findings reflect the first evidence that PS and sexual satisfaction may be associated at the couple-level.
Design of a test structure based on chevron-shaped thermal actuator for in-situ measurement of the fracture strength of MEMS thin films
Authors: Li Mengjie , Zhou Zaifa , Yi Liyan , Wang Xijie , Adnan Saeed
Published: November 2019

A novel test structure to characterize the fracture strength of MEMS (Micro-electro-Mechanical Systems) thin films is presented. The test structure is comprised of a micro fabricated chevron-shaped thermal actuator and test specimen. The test structure is capable of producing large displacement and stress while keeping a relatively low temperature gradient across the test specimen. A voltage is applied across the beams of the chevron-shaped actuator, producing thermal expansion force to fracture the test specimen. Actuator deflection is computed based on elastic analysis of structures. To verify the test structure, simulations have been implemented using COMSOL Multiphysics. A 620 μm long, 410 μm wide, 10 μm thick test structure produced stress of 7.1 GPa while the applied voltage is 5 V. The results indicate that the test structure is suitable for in-situ measurement of the fracture strength of MEMS thin films.
Advertising with Supply Control: Some Implications of Norwegian Whitefish Export Promotion
Authors: Williams Gary W. , Capps Oral
Published: November 2019

An issue for generic advertising in agricultural markets with unregulated supplies is that the promotion-induced demand shift could lead to a supply response that substantially attenuates the price effects of the promotion. For the generic promotion of fish exports, however, the concern is generally just the opposite—the possibility that extensive government supply controls could render promotion efforts to expand export sales ineffectual due to little or no supply response. This study considers the effects of government whitefish (cod, haddock, and others) supply controls on the effectiveness of the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) whitefish export promotion program. We use an econometric simulation model to measure the effectiveness and returns to NSC whitefish export promotion under a range of possible export supply control conditions. Results indicate that effective supply control maximizes the return to promotion and that ineffectual supply control imposes a potentially large opportunity cost on the promoting industry.
Seasonal, monthly, and yearly variability of surgical site infections at a single institution—A report of more than 95,000 procedures
Authors: Roof Mackenzie A. , Hutzler Lorraine , Stachel Anna , Friedlander Scott , Phillips Michael , Bosco Joseph A.
Published: November 2019

To determine whether deep surgical site infection (dSSI) rate exhibits temporal variability, dSSI rates following 98,068 cases were analyzed. The overall dSSI rate decreased significantly between 2009 and 2018. Summer had a significantly greater rate of dSSI than winter. There was no difference in dSSI rate in July versus other months.
Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and archaeology of Middle Pleistocene localities near Ceprano, Campogrande area, Italy
Authors: Biddittu Italo , Moncel Marie-Hélène , Milli Salvatore , Bellucci Luca , Ruffo Massimo , Saracino Barbara , Manzi Giorgio
Published: November 2019

The Ceprano human calvarium, dated around 400,000 yr, is a well-known fossil specimen. It represents significant evidence of hominin presence in the Italian peninsula during the Middle Pleistocene and may be considered representative of an archaic variant of the widespread and polymorphic species Homo heidelbergensis. Since its discovery (March 1994), systematic surveys in the Campogrande area near Ceprano, central Italy, identified 12 localities (CG1-12) with archaeological and/or paleontological assemblages. On this basis, fieldwork was carried out at Campogrande between 2001 and 2006, including drilled cores and excavations, allowing a detailed description of the stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental context associated with the human fossil specimen and the archaeological materials. In the present paper we focus on the stratigraphy and sedimentological features of the uppermost deposits, coupled with a detailed appraisal of the available lithic assemblages that mostly belongs to overlying sediments (CG9 and CG10 localities). We conclude that the Ceprano hominin died in a floodplain environment with a low topographic gradient, where a fluvial meandering channel occurred. The archaeological materials describe a network of sites that document common behavioural features of human groups of the mid-to-late Middle Pleistocene, representing evidence of the regionalization observed across Europe after Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 12.
The association between dietary energy intake and the risk of mortality in maintenance haemodialysis patients: a multi-centre prospective cohort study
Authors: Yang Yaya , Qin Xianhui , Li Yan , Lei Zihan , Li Yumin , Yang Shenglin , Li Youbao , Kong Yaozhong , Lu Yongxin , Zhao Yanhong , Wan Qijun , Wang Qi , Huang Sheng , Liu Yan , Liu Aiqun , Liu Fanna , Hou Fanfan , Liang Min
Published: November 2019

Maintenance haemodialysis (MHD) is the use of a machine to filter wastes, salts and fluid from blood for at least 3 months to prolong the life of patients with advanced kidney failure. Although low dietary energy intake (DEI) has been observed in MHD patients, few studies have related DEI to the risk of mortality. To explore this relationship, a study included 1039 MHD patients from eight centres was conducted. DEI was assessed by three 24-h diet recalls and was normalised to ideal body weight (IBW). All-cause mortality and CVD mortality were the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively. During a median follow-up of 28 months, a U-shaped relationship was observed between DEI and all-cause or CVD mortality. The risk of all-cause mortality decreased significantly with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI <167·4 kJ/kg IBW per d (hazard ratio (HR) 0·98; 95 % CI 0·96, 1·00) and increased significantly with the increase of DEI in those with DEI ≥167·4 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 1·12; 95 % CI 1·04, 1·20). Similarly, the risk of CVD mortality decreased with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI <152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 0·96; 95 % CI 0·93, 0·99) and increased with the increase of DEI in participants with DEI ≥152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d (HR 1·11; 95 % CI 1·04, 1·18). In summary, there was a U-shaped association between DEI and all-cause or CVD mortality, with a turning point at about 167·4 and 152·7 kJ/kg IBW per d, respectively, in MHD patients.
Quo vadis, Tommotian?
Authors: Grazhdankin Dmitriy V. , Marusin Vasiliy V. , Izokh Olga P. , Karlova Galina A. , Kochnev Boris B. , Markov Georgiy E. , Nagovitsin Konstantin E. , Sarsembaev Zhiger , Peek Sara , Cui Huan , Kaufman Alan J.
Published: November 2019

The concept of the Tommotian Regional Stage of the Siberian Platform has been closely linked to the idea of the ‘Cambrian Explosion’ of animals and protists when the entire Earth system shifted rapidly into Phanerozoic mode. We conducted a multidisciplinary study of an informal ‘synstratotype’ of the lower Tommotian boundary in the upper Mattaia Formation, Kessyusa Group in the Olenek Uplift, NE of the Siberian Platform. The Mattaia Formation characterizes an upper shoreface to inner-shelf depositional setting and provides important faunal ties and correlation with carbonate-dominated and aliminosiliciclastic open-shelf areas. A section of the upper Mattaia Formation at Boroulakh, Olenek River is suggested here as a model for the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Cambrian Stage 2. This level contains the lowermost occurrence of the cosmopolitan fossil helcionelloid molluscAldanella attleborensis. Section global markers near the base of the stage include a positive excursion of δ13C values reaching +5.4‰, a U–Pb zircon date of 529.7 ± 0.3 Ma, massive appearance of diverse small skeletal fossils (includingWatsonella crosbyi), a sudden increase in diversity and abundance of trace fossils, as well as a conspicuous increase in depth and intensity of bioturbation. Coincidently, it is this level that has always been regarded as the lower Tommotian boundary on the Olenek Uplift.
(Re)conceptualising physical activity participation as career
Authors: Palmer Victoria J. , Bowness James , Tulle Emmanuelle
Published: November 2019

Physical activity is increasingly positioned as playing an important role in preventing and mitigating many of the decrements associated with biological ageing. As a result, public health messages encourage older people to remain active in later life. Despite this, physical activity participation rates among older adults are low. This may be in part related to the conventional approach to understanding physical activity participation as a product of motivation. We contend that this approach does not allow for a deeper exploration of the wider structural, historical and discursive contexts in which physical activity participation occurs. Therefore, we propose that physical activity can be reconceptualised as a career. Through a synthesis of findings from four studies exploring physical activity experiences in later life, we demonstrate that beginning and maintaining a physical activity career requires a disposition towards physical activity, the legitimation of physically active practices and dealing with contingencies. In addition, we demonstrate that maintaining a physical activity career requires investment and deliberation to adapt physical activity practices continually within an individual's own personal biography. As such, we conclude that current strategies to promote physical activity to older adults are unlikely to result in increased levels of participation. To promote physical activity to older adults an understanding of how structural, cultural and historical contexts influence participation is needed.
Refinement of GLONASS Phase Inter-Frequency Biases and Their Applications on Single-Epoch Ambiguity Fixing
Authors: Tian Yumiao
Published: November 2019

Carrier-phase inter-frequency bias (IFB) exists in GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS) baselines when receivers of different brands are used. Those biases need to be calibrated in GLONASS data processing to derive precise fixed solutions. Consequently, the accuracy of the IFB calibration affects ambiguity fixing, and low-accuracy IFB values in the calibration will degrade the positioning results. Hitherto, at least two IFB rate value sets for various receiver brands have been given in previous studies. Some of the differences between the value sets exceed 2 mm/FN (frequency number) and the effects of those differences on ambiguity fixing have not been investigated until now. This study showed that ambiguity fixing in GLONASS single-epoch positioning is very sensitive to the accuracy of the IFB rates. Even errors of millimetres can seriously lower the empirical success rate. The short baselines from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS, which includes Russian GLONASS) networks of the International GNSS Service and the Regional Reference Frame Sub-Commission for Europe were employed to obtain more accurate IFB rate estimates with the proposed two-dimensional particle filtering. Afterwards, the IFB estimates were statistically refined by the least-squares method. Experiments showed that when the refined IFB rates were used in the IFB calibration, the empirical success rates of ambiguity fixing in GLONASS single-epoch positioning were largely improved compared with the values given before, improvements such as 20·6% for a Septentrio and Leica receiver combination.
Reliability and validity of the Arabic translation of the palliative performance scale
Authors: Abdelhafeez Ahmed A.M. , Makady Nafie F. , Hafez Ola , Atallah Catherine N. , Alsirafy Samy A.
Published: November 2019

Objective

The aim of this study was to translate the Palliative Performance Scale (PPSv2) into Arabic and to test the reliability and validity of the PPS Arabic translation (PPS-Arabic).

Method

The PPSv2 was translated into Modern Standard Arabic using a forward–backward method. Inter-rater and intra-rater reliabilities were tested in a pilot study that included 20 patients. The validation study included 150 cancer patients. Patients were divided according to their treatment plan into three groups (in-remission, palliative chemotherapy, and best supportive care) to perform hypothesis-testing construct validity. Validity was further evaluated by correlating PPS-Arabic with the Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS), the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) scale, and Physical Functioning (PF2) and Role Functioning (RF2) scales of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer quality of life questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30).

Results

The intraclass correlation coefficients for the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability were 0.935 (95% CI: 0.88–0.965; p < 0.001) and 0.965 (95% CI: 0.934–0.981; p < 0.001), respectively. The PPS-Arabic internal consistency Cronbach's alpha was 0.986. The average PPS-Arabic score differed significantly (p < 0.001) between the three groups of patients being 89 for in-remission, 58 for palliative chemotherapy, and 38 for best supportive care. The PPS-Arabic score correlated significantly (p < 0.001) with the KPS, ECOG performance scale, and the EORTC QLQ-C30 PF2 and RF2 scales.

Conclusion

The PPS-Arabic is a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of performance status of cancer patients.
Resurrecting the Archaic: Symbols and Recurrence in Henri Lefebvre's Revolutionary Romanticism
Authors: Allen Ryan L.
Published: November 2019

Solar crosses were symbolic markers that once punctuated the rolling pathways at the foot of the French Pyrenees. For Henri Lefebvre, these “crucified suns” came to symbolize a number of time-tested traditions that could revitalize everyday life in the modern world. His efforts to resurrect the archaic confronted two contemporary contexts: the hypermodernization promoted throughout France's long Reconstruction and the degradation of provincial communities that attended it. A heretical Marxist, Lefebvre's social thought included a Romantic sensibility that was organically connected to southwestern France and Friedrich Nietzsche. Dialectical in nature, Lefebvre's revolutionary Romanticism repurposed age-old styles of symbolic expression and cyclical recurrence in order to transform everyday life and keep the deracinating forces of modernization at bay. The French sociologist's enduring interest in archaic traces, and his belief that they might one day be revived, reorients how we approach his landmark studies on space and time in the modern city.
A Web‐Based Integrated Modeling and Simulation Method for Forest Growth Research
Authors: Ma Zaiyang , Chen Min , Zhang Beichen , Wang Ming , Shen Chaoran , Yue Songshan , Wen Yongning , Lü Guonian
Published: November 2019

To facilitate forest research, simulations of the whole forest growth process can be employed to analyze forest dynamics and predict forest yields. Different forest growth models can be integrated for comprehensive process simulation and thus can assist forest growth research. With the development of network technologies, a web environment can provide cross‐platform capability and wide availability for distributed researchers. In order to serve the simulation of complex forest growth processes and help online forest growth research, this article proposes a web‐based integrated modeling and simulation method for forest growth research. The proposed method includes three steps, namely, model preparation, model integration, and forest growth simulation. The corresponding implementation strategies are designed to prepare forest growth models, integrate different models, preprocess model data, and implement forest growth simulations for integrated modeling and simulations via the web. Two applications in the comprehensive prediction of forest growth and comparison of different forest management decisions are introduced to verify the feasibility and capability of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed web‐based integrated modeling and simulation method can be used conveniently for comprehensive simulations of forest growth research.
Natural Lakes Are a Minor Global Source of N2O to the Atmosphere
Authors: Lauerwald R. , Regnier P. , Figueiredo V. , Enrich‐Prast A. , Bastviken D. , Lehner B. , Maavara T. , Raymond P.
Published: November 2019

Natural lakes and reservoirs are important yet not well‐constrained sources of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. In particular for N2O emissions, a huge variability is observed in the few, observation‐driven flux estimates that have been published so far. Recently, a process‐based, spatially explicit model has been used to estimate global N2O emissions from more than 6,000 reservoirs based on nitrogen (N) and phosphorous inflows and water residence time. Here we extend the model to a data set of 1.4 million standing water bodies comprising natural lakes and reservoirs. For validation, we normalized the simulated N2O emissions by the surface area of each water body and compared them against regional averages of N2O emission rates taken from the literature or estimated based on observed N2O concentrations. We estimate that natural lakes and reservoirs together emit 4.5 ± 2.9 Gmol N2O‐N year−1 globally. Our global‐scale estimate falls in the far lower end of existing, observation‐driven estimates. Natural lakes contribute only about half of this flux, although they contribute 91% of the total surface area of standing water bodies. Hence, the mean N2O emission rates per surface area are substantially lower for natural lakes than for reservoirs with 0.8 ± 0.5 versus 9.6 ± 6.0 mmol N·m−2·year−1, respectively. This finding can be explained by on average lower external N inputs to natural lakes. We conclude that upscaling‐based estimates, which do not distinguish natural lakes from reservoirs, are prone to important biases.
Geometry of Flexural Uplift by Continental Rifting in Corinth, Greece
Authors: Fernández‐Blanco David , de Gelder Gino , Lacassin Robin , Armijo Rolando
Published: November 2019

Understanding early rifting of continental lithosphere requires accurate descriptions of up‐bended rift margins and footwalls that ought to correlate in space and time with the elastic flexural uplift that produces them. Here we characterize the geometry of elastic flexural uplift by continental rifting at its spatiotemporal scale in nature (tens of kilometers; 104–106 years) using geomorphic evidence along the uplifting margin of the Corinth Rift, Greece. Our geomorphic analyses of space‐borne topography novelly outline the coherent elastic flexure of continental lithosphere along and across the rift margin and throughout faulting (~106 years), as defined by the distribution of footwall uplift south of the active bounding fault. Topography and river drainages outline an elastic flexure signal that increases exponentially toward the bounding fault across the footwall for >50 km and changes in amplitude along the footwall following a parabola that decays from the rift center and has a >60‐km wavelength that correlates with rift length. This continental lithosphere up‐bend correlates with the scale of the rift, and appears maximum in the center of the rift, where drainage reversal of large catchments suggests rapid slip rates at the bounding fault. This is consistent with the growth of a new, rift‐scale, high‐angle normal fault. The coherency of elastic flexure in space and time implies highly localized strain in the rift‐bounding fault and suggests that the fault transects continental lithosphere with long‐term strength. The unparalleled record of flexural uplift and highly localized strain in the landscape of Corinth suggest these processes are intrinsic to early continental rifting elsewhere.
Role of Extreme Precipitation and Initial Hydrologic Conditions on Floods in Godavari River Basin, India
Authors: Garg Shailesh , Mishra Vimal
Published: November 2019

Floods are the most frequent natural calamity in India. The Godavari river basin (GRB) witnessed several floods in the past 50 years. Notwithstanding the large damage and economic loss, the role of extreme precipitation and antecedent moisture conditions on floods in the GRB remains unexplored. Using the observations and the well‐calibrated Variable Infiltration Capacity model, we estimate the changes in the extreme precipitation and floods in the observed (1955–2016) and projected future (2071–2100) climate in the GRB. We evaluate the role of initial hydrologic conditions and extreme precipitation on floods in both observed and projected future climate. We find a statistically significant increase in annual maximum precipitation for the catchments upstream of four gage stations during the 1955–2016 period. However, the rise in annual maximum streamflow at all the four gage stations in GRB was not statistically significant. The probability of floods driven by extreme precipitation (PFEP) varies between 0.55 and 0.7 at the four gage stations of the GRB, which declines with the size of the basins. More than 80% of extreme precipitation events that cause floods occur on wet antecedent moisture conditions at all the four locations in the GRB. The frequency of extreme precipitation events is projected to rise by two folds or more (under RCP 8.5) in the future (2071–2100) at all four locations. However, the increased frequency of floods under the future climate will largely be driven by the substantial rise in the extreme precipitation events rather than wet antecedent moisture conditions.
Genetic analysis of stilbenoid profiles in grapevine stems reveals a major mQTL hotspot on chromosome 18 associated with disease-resistance motifs
Authors: Teh Soon L. , Rostandy Bety , Awale Mani , Luby James J. , Fennell Anne , Hegeman Adrian D.
Published: November 2019

Grapevine (Vitisspp.) contains a wealth of phytochemicals that have received considerable attention due to health-promoting properties and biological activities as phytoalexins. To date, the genetic basis of the quantitative variations for these potentially beneficial compounds has been limited. Here, metabolic quantitative trait locus (mQTL) mapping was conducted using grapevine stems of a segregating F2population. Metabolic profiling of grapevine stems was performed using liquid chromatography–high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS), resulting in the detection of 1317 ions/features. In total, 19 of these features matched with literature-reported stilbenoid masses and were genetically mapped using a 1449-SNP linkage map and R/qtl software, resulting in the identification of four mQTLs. Two large-effect mQTLs that corresponded to a stilbenoid dimer and a trimer were mapped on chromosome 18, accounting for phenotypic variances of 29.0% and 38.4%. Functional annotations of these large-effect mQTLs on the VitisNet network database revealed a major hotspot of disease-resistance motifs on chromosome 18. This 2.8-Mbp region contains 48 genes with R-gene motifs, including variants of TIR, NBS, and LRR, that might potentially confer resistance to powdery mildew, downy mildew, or other pathogens. The locus also encompasses genes associated with flavonoid and biosynthetic pathways that are likely involved in the production of secondary metabolites, including phytoalexins. In addition, haplotype dosage effects of the five mQTLs further characterized the genomic regions for differential production of stilbenoids that can be applied in resistance breeding through manipulation of stilbenoid production in planta.
Single microcolony diffusion analysis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms
Authors: Sankaran Jagadish , Tan Nicholas J. H. J. , But Ka Pui , Cohen Yehuda , Rice Scott A. , Wohland Thorsten
Published: November 2019

The influence of the biofilm matrix on molecular diffusion is commonly hypothesized to be responsible for emergent characteristics of biofilms such as nutrient trapping, signal accumulation and antibiotic tolerance. Hence quantifying the molecular diffusion coefficient is important to determine whether there is an influence of biofilm microenvironment on the mobility of molecules. Here, we use single plane illumination microscopy fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (SPIM-FCS) to obtain 3D diffusion coefficient maps with micrometre spatial and millisecond temporal resolution of entirePseudomonas aeruginosamicrocolonies. We probed how molecular properties such as size and charge as well as biofilm properties such as microcolony size and depth influence diffusion of fluorescently labelled dextrans inside biofilms. The 2 MDa dextran showed uneven penetration and a reduction in diffusion coefficient suggesting that the biofilm acts as a molecular sieve. Its diffusion coefficient was negatively correlated with the size of the microcolony. Positively charged dextran molecules and positively charged antibiotic tobramycin preferentially partitioned into the biofilm and remained mobile inside the microcolony, albeit with a reduced diffusion coefficient. Lastly, we measured changes of diffusion upon induction of dispersal and detected an increase in diffusion coefficient inside the biofilm before any loss of biomass. Thus, the change in diffusion is a proxy to detect early stages of dispersal. Our work shows that 3D diffusion maps are very sensitive to physiological changes in biofilms, viz. dispersal. However, this study also shows that diffusion, as mediated by the biofilm matrix, does not account for the high level of antibiotic tolerance associated with biofilms.
Experimentally attacking quantum money schemes based on quantum retrieval games
Authors: Jiráková Kateřina , Bartkiewicz Karol , Černoch Antonín , Lemr Karel
Published: November 2019

The concept of quantum money (QM) was proposed by Wiesner in the 1970s. Its main advantage is that every attempt to copy QM unavoidably leads to imperfect counterfeits. In the Wiesner’s protocol, quantum banknotes need to be delivered to the issuing bank for verification. Thus, QM requires quantum communication which range is limited by noise and losses. Recently, Bozzio et al. (2018) have demonstrated experimentally how to replace challenging quantum verification with a classical channel and a quantum retrieval game (QRG). This brings QM significantly closer to practical realisation, but still thorough analysis of the revised scheme QM is required before it can be considered secure. We address this problem by presenting a proof-of-concept attack on QRG-based QM schemes, where we show that even imperfect quantum cloning can, under some circumstances, provide enough information to break a QRG-based QM scheme.
Neurophysiological evidence for rapid processing of verbal and gestural information in understanding communicative actions
Authors: Tomasello Rosario , Kim Cora , Dreyer Felix R. , Grisoni Luigi , Pulvermüller Friedemann
Published: November 2019

During everyday social interaction, gestures are a fundamental part of human communication. The communicative pragmatic role of hand gestures and their interaction with spoken language has been documented at the earliest stage of language development, in which two types of indexical gestures are most prominent: thepointinggesture for directing attention to objects and thegive-megesture for making requests. Here we study, in adult human participants, the neurophysiological signatures of gestural-linguistic acts of communicating the pragmatic intentions of naming and requesting by simultaneously presenting written words and gestures. Already at ~150 ms, brain responses diverged between naming and request actions expressed by word-gesture combination, whereas the same gestures presented in isolation elicited their earliest neurophysiological dissociations significantly later (at ~210 ms). There was an early enhancement of request-evoked brain activity as compared with naming, which was due to sources in the frontocentral cortex, consistent with access to action knowledge in request understanding. In addition, an enhanced N400-like response indicated late semantic integration of gesture-language interaction. The present study demonstrates that word-gesture combinations used to express communicative pragmatic intentions speed up the brain correlates of comprehension processes – compared with gesture-only understanding – thereby calling into question current serial linguistic models viewing pragmatic function decoding at the end of a language comprehension cascade. Instead, information about the social-interactive role of communicative acts is processed instantaneously.
Emerging WS2/montmorillonite composite nanosheets as an efficient hydrophilic photocatalyst for aqueous phase reactions
Authors: Peng Kang , Wang Hongjie , Li Xiaoyu , Wang Jianwei , Cai Zhixin , Su Lei , Fan Xingyu
Published: November 2019

Tungsten disulfide (WS2) as one of transition metal dichalcogenides exhibits excellent catalytic activity. However, its catalytic performances in aqueous phase reactions are limited by its hydrophobicity. Here, the natural hydrophilic two-dimensional clay was used to enhance the dispersibility of WS2 in aqueous phase. WS2/montmorillonite (WS2/MMT) composite nanosheets were prepared via hydrothermal synthesis of WS2 on the surface of montmorillonite from WCl6 and CH3CSNH2. The microstructure and morphology show that WS2 nanosheets are assembled parallelly on the montmorillonite with the interface interaction. Through the support of montmorillonite, WS2/MMT possesses higher photocatalytic ability for aqueous phase reactions than WS2, which could be due to the synergistic effect of higher adsorption property, higher hydrophilicity, dispersibility and more catalytic reaction site. The strategy could provide new ideas for obtaining novel hydrophilic photocatalyst with excellent performance.
Creating artificial Rhino Horns from Horse Hair
Authors: Mi Ruixin , Shao Z. Z. , Vollrath F.
Published: November 2019

Demand for rhino horn is driving poaching with devastating effect for the few individuals left of the few species surviving from this once numerous, widespread and cosmopolitan clade of pachyderms. We bundled together tail hairs of the rhino’s ubiquitous near relative, the horse, to be glued together with a bespoke matrix of regenerated silk mimicking the collagenous component of the real horn. This approach allowed us to fabricate composite structures that were confusingly similar to real rhino horn in look, feel and properties. Spectral and thermal FT-IR, DSC and TGA analysis demonstrated the similar chemical composition and thermo-mechanical properties between the natural and the faux horns.
PathTracer: High-sensitivity detection of differential pathway activity in tumours
Authors: Nygård Ståle , Lingjærde Ole Christian , Caldas Carlos , Hovig Eivind , Børresen-Dale Anne-Lise , Helland Åslaug , Haakensen Vilde D.
Published: November 2019

Gene expression profiling of tumours is an important source of information for cancer patient stratification. Detecting subtle alterations of gene expression remains a challenge, however. Here, we propose a novel tool for high-sensitivity detection of differential pathway activity in tumours. For a pathway defined by a collection of genes, the samples are projected onto a low-dimensional manifold in the subspace spanned by those genes. For each sample, a score is next found by calculating the distance between each projected sample and the projection of a subgroup of reference samples. Depending on the aim of the analysis and the available data, the reference samples may represent e.g. normal tissue or tumour samples with a particular genotype or phenotype. The proposed tool, PathTracer, is demonstrated on gene expression data from 1952 invasive breast cancer samples, 10 DCIS, 9 benign samples and 144 tumour adjacent normal breast tissue samples. PathTracer scores are shown to predict survival, clinical subtypes, cellular proliferation and genomic instability. Furthermore, predictions are shown to outperform those obtained with other comparable methods.
Amino acid substitution scoring matrices specific to intrinsically disordered regions in proteins
Authors: Trivedi Rakesh , Nagarajaram Hampapathalu Adimurthy
Published: November 2019

An amino acid substitution scoring matrix encapsulates the rates at which various amino acid residues in proteins are substituted by other amino acid residues, over time. Database search methods make use of substitution scoring matrices to identify sequences with homologous relationships. However, widely used substitution scoring matrices, such as BLOSUM series, have been developed using aligned blocks that are mostly devoid of disordered regions in proteins. Hence, these substitution-scoring matrices are mostly inappropriate for homology searches involving proteins enriched with disordered regions as the disordered regions have distinct amino acid compositional bias, and therefore expected to have undergone amino acid substitutions that are distinct from those in the ordered regions. We, therefore, developed a novel series of substitution scoring matrices referred to as EDSSMat by exclusively considering the substitution frequencies of amino acids in the disordered regions of the eukaryotic proteins. The newly developed matrices were tested for their ability to detect homologs of proteins enriched with disordered regions by means of SSEARCH tool. The results unequivocally demonstrate that EDSSMat matrices detect more number of homologs than the widely used BLOSUM, PAM and other standard matrices, indicating their utility value for homology searches of intrinsically disordered proteins.
Preparation of RGO/TiO2/Ag Aerogel and Its Photodegradation Performance in Gas Phase Formaldehyde
Authors: Wang Haiwang , Wang Guanqi , Zhang Yukai , Ma Yuan , Wu Zhengjie , Gao Dekuan , Yang Rutong , Wang Bingzhu , Qi Xiwei , Yang Jun
Published: November 2019

To increase the utilization ratio and catalytic efficiency of the nano TiO2, The RGO/TiO2/(Ag) powders and RGO/TiO2/Ag aerogel photocatalyst were designed and prepared. The composition and microstructure of RGO/TiO2/(Ag) powders and RGO/TiO2/Ag aerogel were studied, in addition, the photocatalytic activity of RGO/TiO2/(Ag) powders and RGO/TiO2/Ag aerogel was researched by the photocatalytic degradation behavior of formaldehyde solution and formaldehyde gas respectively. The result indicate that TiO2 is uniformly loaded on the surface of RGO with a particle size of 10 nm to 20 nm. When the amount of graphene oxide added is 1 wt%, RGO/TiO2 powder has the highest degradation effect on formaldehyde solution, in addition, the introduction of Ag can greatly improve the photocatalytic effect of the sample. The results also show that the pore size of RGO/TiO2/Ag aerogel is between 7.6 nm and 12.1 nm, and the degradation rate of formaldehyde gas is 77.08% within 2 hours.