bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Planetary Geoscience
Authors: McSween, Jr Harry Y. , Moersch Jeffrey E. , Burr Devon M. , Dunne William M. , Emery Joshua P. , Kah Linda C. , McCanta Molly C.
Published: June 2019

For many years, planetary science has been taught as part of the astronomy curriculum, from a very physics-based perspective, and from the framework of a tour of the Solar System - body by body. Over the past decades, however, spacecraft exploration and related laboratory research on extraterrestrial materials have given us a new understanding of planets and how they are shaped by geological processes. Based on a course taught at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this is the first textbook to focus on geologic processes, adopting a comparative approach that demonstrates the similarities and differences between planets, and the reasons for these. Profusely illustrated, and with a wealth of pedagogical features, this book provides an ideal capstone course for geoscience majors - bringing together aspects of mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, volcanology, sedimentology, geomorphology, tectonics, geophysics and remote sensing.
Gust loads on aircraft
Authors: Wu Z. , Cao Y. , Ismail M.
Published: June 2019

An important prerequisite for the design, assessment and certification of aircraft and their associated control systems is a quantitative specification of the environment in which the aircraft is intended to operate, for example, atmospheric gust. Gust loads on aircraft may induce detrimental influences such as increased aerodynamic and structural loads, structural deformation and decreased flight dynamic performance. This paper presents a systematic and comprehensive overview of important concepts and applications of gust loads on aircraft. This overview includes a brief research background, concepts, research techniques, influences and load alleviation measures of gust. Finally, we summarise some potential improvements in the future work. It is also recommended to learn from previous experiences to avoid aviation accidents due to flight through atmospheric gusts and turbulence.
The politics of bank structural reform: Business power and agenda setting in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany
Authors: Howarth David , James Scott
Published: June 2019

Following the financial crisis, the United Kingdom introduced major structural reforms to address concern about Too-Big-To-Fail (TBTF) banks, while France and Germany adopted much weaker reforms. This is puzzling given the presence of large universal banks engaged in market making activities in all three countries, which suffered significant losses during the international financial crisis, and given the commitments to reform made by political leaders in all three countries. The paper explains this policy divergence by analysing how dynamics of agenda setting contributed to the emergence of policy windows on structural reform. We explain the United Kingdom's decision to delegate the process to an independent commission as an example of venue shifting which helped to insulate the process from industry framing, and resulted in “conflict expansion” by mobilizing a wider coalition of actors in support of bank ringfencing. By contrast, in France and Germany the agenda was tightly managed through existing institutional venues, enabling industry to resist the framing of the issue around TBTF and limiting the role of non-business groups—a process we label as “conflict contraction.” We argue that analysis of agenda setting dynamics provides new insights into the cross-national variability of business power.
Injury Patterns and Outcomes of Victims After the 2016 Jiangsu Tornado in China: A Retrospective Analysis of Injuries Treated at a Teaching Hospital
Authors: Mu Gen hua , Li Xing , Hou Shan shan , Lu Zhong qian , Deng Yi jun
Published: June 2019

Objective:

The aim of this study is to characterize the injury profiles and outcomes of victims of a tornado in Jiangsu Province, China.

Methods:

This study retrospectively investigated the clinical records of 144 patients treated at a teaching hospital due to a tornado. Each patient’s demographic data, diagnosis, injury types, causes of injury, infection status, and outcomes were all reviewed.

Results:

Of the 144 patients, 64 (44.4%) were male, and 80 (55.6%) were female. The patients’ ages ranged from 2 months to 94 years; 91 (63.19%) were admitted within the first 12 h after the disaster. The most frequently injured sites were the body surfaces (24.48%), followed by the limbs and pelvis (21.79%) and chest (20.3%). Soft-tissue injuries and fractures were the most frequent injuries. Traumatic brain injuries were the main causes of death. Tornado-related injuries were primarily caused by flying/falling bricks, wood, and glass. Twenty-three (15.9%) patients suffered from infections, which consisted mainly of skin/soft tissue infections and pneumonia.

Conclusions:

Destructive tornadoes often cause heavy casualties with little warning. Medical aid agencies must be prepared to accommodate the massive numbers of injured patients after a catastrophe. Proper triage and prompt treatment of injured victims may decrease mortality. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;xx:xxx-xxx).
Rotational stabilisation of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability at the inner surface of an imploding liquid shell
Authors: Huneault Justin , Plant David , Higgins Andrew J.
Published: June 2019

A number of applications utilise the energy focussing potential of imploding shells to dynamically compress matter or magnetic fields, including magnetised target fusion schemes in which a plasma is compressed by the collapse of a liquid metal surface. This paper examines the effect of fluid rotation on the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) driven growth of perturbations at the inner surface of an imploding cylindrical liquid shell which compresses a gas-filled cavity. The shell was formed by rotating water such that it was in solid body rotation prior to the piston-driven implosion, which was propelled by a modest external gas pressure. The fast rise in pressure in the gas-filled cavity at the point of maximum convergence results in an RT unstable configuration where the cavity surface accelerates in the direction of the density gradient at the gas–liquid interface. The experimental arrangement allowed for visualisation of the cavity surface during the implosion using high-speed videography, while offering the possibility to provide geometrically similar implosions over a wide range of initial angular velocities such that the effect of rotation on the interface stability could be quantified. A model developed for the growth of perturbations on the inner surface of a rotating shell indicated that the RT instability may be suppressed by rotating the liquid shell at a sufficient angular velocity so that the net surface acceleration remains opposite to the interface density gradient throughout the implosion. Rotational stabilisation of high-mode-number perturbation growth was examined by collapsing nominally smooth cavities and demonstrating the suppression of small spray-like perturbations that otherwise appear on RT unstable cavity surfaces. Experiments observing the evolution of low-mode-number perturbations, prescribed using a mode-6 obstacle plate, showed that the RT-driven growth was suppressed by rotation, while geometric growth remained present along with significant nonlinear distortion of the perturbations near final convergence.
The effect of wall-normal gravity on particle-laden near-wall turbulence
Authors: Lee Junghoon , Lee Changhoon
Published: June 2019

We performed two-way coupled direct numerical simulations of turbulent channel flow with Lagrangian tracking of small, heavy spheres at a dimensionless gravitational acceleration of 0.077 in wall units, which is based on the flow condition in the experiment by Gerashchenko et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 617, 2008, pp. 255–281). We removed deposited particles after several collisions with the lower wall and then released new particles near the upper wall to observe direct interactions between particles and coherent structures of near-wall turbulence during gravitational settling through the mean shear. The results indicate that when the Stokes number is approximately 1 on the basis of the Kolmogorov time scale of the flow ($St_{K}\approx 1$), the so-called preferential sweeping occurs in association with coherent streamwise vortices, while the effect of crossing trajectories becomes significant for $St_{K}>1$. Consequently, in either case, the settling particles deposit on the wall without strong accumulation in low-speed streaks in the viscous sublayer. When particles settle through near-wall turbulence from the upper wall, more small-scale vortical structures are generated in the outer layer as low-speed fluid is pulled farther in the direction of gravity, while the opposite is true near the lower wall.
Focusing deep-water surface gravity wave packets: wave breaking criterion in a simplified model
Authors: Pizzo Nick , Kendall Melville W.
Published: June 2019

Geometric, kinematic and dynamic properties of focusing deep-water surface gravity wave packets are examined in a simplified model with the intent of deriving a wave breaking threshold parameter. The model is based on the spatial modified nonlinear Schrödinger equation of Dysthe (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 369 (1736), 1979, pp. 105–114). The evolution of initially narrow-banded and weakly nonlinear chirped Gaussian wave packets are examined, by means of a trial function and a variational procedure, yielding analytic solutions describing the approximate evolution of the packet width, amplitude, asymmetry and phase during focusing. A model for the maximum free surface gradient, as a function of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E5}$, for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}$ the linear prediction of the maximum slope at focusing and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E5}$ the non-dimensional packet bandwidth, is proposed and numerically examined, indicating a quasi-self-similarity of these focusing events. The equations of motion for the fully nonlinear potential flow equations are then integrated to further investigate these predictions. It is found that a model of this form can characterize the bulk partitioning of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D716}-\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E5}$ phase space, between non-breaking and breaking waves, serving as a breaking criterion. Application of this result to better understanding air–sea interaction processes is discussed.
Curcumin attenuates insulin resistance and hepatic lipid accumulation in a rat model of intra-uterine growth restriction through insulin signalling pathway and sterol regulatory element binding proteins
Authors: Niu Yu , He Jintian , Ahmad Hussain , Wang Chao , Zhong Xiang , Zhang Lili , Cui Tao , Zhang Jingfei , Wang Tian
Published: June 2019

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of curcumin on insulin resistance (IR) and hepatic lipid accumulation in intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR). Rats with a normal birth weight (NBW) or IUGR were fed basic diets (NBW and IUGR groups) or basic diets supplemented with curcumin (NBW-C and IUGR-C groups) from 6 to 12 weeks. Rats in the IUGR group showed higher levels of glucose and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (P< 0·05) than in the NBW group. The livers of IUGR rats exhibited higher (P< 0·05) concentration of TAG and lower (P< 0·05) activities of lipolysis enzymes compared with the normal rats. In response to dietary curcumin supplementation, concentrations of serum insulin, glucose and HOMA-IR, pyruvate, TAG, total cholesterol and NEFA in the liver were decreased (P< 0·05). The concentrations of glycogen and activities of lipolysis enzymes in the liver were increased (P< 0·05) in the IUGR-C group compared with the IUGR group. These results were associated with lower (P< 0·05) phosphorylated insulin receptor substrate 1, protein kinase B or Akt, glycogen synthase kinase 3β and expressions of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 and fatty acid synthase (FASN); decreased expressions forCd36, sterol regulatory element binding protein 1c (Srebf1) andFasn; increased (P< 0·05) expression of PPARα; and expressions forPparaand hormone-sensitive lipase in the liver of IUGR-C rats than the IUGR rats. Maternal malnutrition caused IR and lipid accumulation in the liver. Curcumin supplementation prevented IR by regulating insulin signalling pathways and attenuated hepatic lipid accumulation.
THE ASSAULT ON INTERNATIONAL ADJUDICATION AND THE LIMITS OF WITHDRAWAL
Authors: McLachlan Campbell
Published: June 2019

Withdrawal from international adjudication is a contemporary phenomenon with wide implications. The act of treaty withdrawal is not to be seen as merely the unilateral executive exercise of the individual sovereign prerogative of a State. International law places checks upon the exercise of withdrawal, recognising that it is an act that of its nature affects the interests of other States parties, which have a collective interest in constraining withdrawal. National courts have a complementary function in restraining unilateral withdrawal in order to support the domestic constitution. The arguments advanced against international adjudication in the name of popular democracy at the national level can serve as a cloak for the exercise of executive power unrestrained by law. The submission by States to peaceful settlement of disputes through international adjudication is central, not incidental, to the successful operation of the international legal system.
Feasibility and potential of three-dimensional printing in laryngotracheal stenosis
Authors: Richard Z , Jackson E , Jung J P , Kanotra S P
Published: June 2019

Background

The use of three-dimensional printing has been rapidly expanding over the last several decades. Virtual surgical three-dimensional simulation and planning has been shown to increase efficiency and accuracy in various clinical scenarios.

Objectives

To report the feasibility of three-dimensional printing in paediatric laryngotracheal stenosis and discuss potential applications of three-dimensional printed models in airway surgery.

Method

Retrospective case series in a tertiary care aerodigestive centre.

Results

Three-dimensional printing was undertaken in two cases of paediatric laryngotracheal stenosis. One patient with grade 4 subglottic stenosis with posterior glottic involvement underwent an extended partial cricotracheal reconstruction. Another patient with grade 4 tracheal stenosis underwent tracheal resection and end-to-end anastomosis. Models of both tracheas were printed using PolyJet technology from a Stratasys Connex2 printer.

Conclusion

It is feasible to demonstrate stenosis in three-dimensional printed models, allowing for patient-specific pre-operative surgical simulation. The models serve as an educational tool for patients’ understanding of the surgery, and for teaching residents and fellows.
The World Bank, human rights, and organizational legitimacy strategies: The case of the 2016 Environmental and Social Framework
Authors: Ormaza María Victoria Cabrera , Ebert Franz Christian
Published: June 2019

While civil society groups have been urging the World Bank to integrate human rights concepts into its policies, borrower countries have increasingly made the case for flexibility and deference to domestic standards in the implementation of bank-funded projects. This article analyses how the World Bank has navigated these conflicting legitimacy demands in the context of its 2016 Environmental and Social Framework (ESF). Drawing on insights from organizational sociology, we focus on practices of decoupling, which allow organizations to correspond to legitimacy demands by different audiences while not having to substantially adjust their core activities. The labour and indigenous peoples’ safeguards serve as cases in point. Specifically, the article argues that the Bank has decoupled its discourse concerning the ESF from the framework’s actual content by making statements about the ESF’s coherence with key human rights concepts which, upon closer scrutiny, do not fully correspond to its actual requirements. The article also shows how the design of the ESF furthers a decoupling of relevant requirements from its actual implementation. In particular, the confined scope ratione personae of the relevant safeguards and the discretion granted to the Bank’s staff and the borrower to add meaning to undefined key concepts may render their human rights-related requirements in a number of cases inconsequential. By and large, the decoupling practices identified regarding the Bank’s ESF entail problematic effects for the normativity of relevant human rights concepts and may, in the long run, undermine the Bank’s legitimacy as a whole.
Communication between patients and primary care physicians after behavioural weight loss: an observational study
Authors: Remmert Jocelyn E. , Tsai Adam G. , Roberts Savannah R. , Butryn Meghan L.
Published: June 2019

Primary care physicians can play a key role in supporting patients after behavioural weight loss, though little is known about communication between patients and physicians during this time. Adults (n=139) in a behavioural weight loss trial (delivered outside of primary care) who attended a primary care appointment after an initial weight loss period were surveyed to assess weight-related communication at their most recent appointment. Most participants (78%) reported discussing weight with their physician. Participants who discussed weight, compared to those who did not, lost more weight, had higher blood pressure, and were more likely to be male. Most (89%) reported that their physician was supportive of their weight loss, but only a few participants (6.9%) reported that their physician gave feedback on medical parameters. Areas for improvement identified include physicians providing universal support for modest weight changes and providing interpretation of medical measurements that changed due to weight loss.
Peace as a Minor, Grounded Utopia: On Prefigurative and Testimonial Pacifism
Authors: Thaler Mathias
Published: June 2019

A common complaint about pacifism holds that it is utopian, in a pejorative sense. The worry can take various forms and directions, but when it is couched in terms of just war theory it usually includes accusations of pacifism’s immorality, inconsistency and impracticality. Contemporary defenders of pacifism have responded to this complaint by delineating a highly sophisticated, empirically informed account of pacifism that foregrounds its real-world effectiveness. This article takes a different route to vindicating pacifism via a more nuanced picture of what is specifically utopian about it. I propose that peace, in at least some of its guises, can be described as a minor, grounded utopia; it is a desire for an alternative future without war and violence, whose pursuit blurs the boundaries between thought and action. Reconstructing both prefiguration and testimony as practical modes of this kind of pacifism, I maintain that minor, grounded utopias are sites rife with conflict and contestation.
Venus Atmospheric Composition In Situ Data: A Compilation
Authors: Johnson Natasha M. , de Oliveira Marta R. R.
Published: June 2019

The Venus atmosphere is of significant interest yet only rudimentary solid data have been gathered about its composition and chemistry. These measurements are scattered through time and place and are limited by parameters such as resolution and error margins as well as reinterpretations. This paper presents an extensive compilation of published in situ data for the atmospheric composition of Venus. It also includes remotely gathered measurements and some extrapolated and modeled data for the lower atmosphere. The composition tables are divided in four categories: noble gases, reactive gases, noble, and nonnoble isotopes. These tables were first presented in 2016 within the scientific heritage appendix of the Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging (DAVINCI) mission proposal. These tables provide respective measurements, error margins, techniques, altitudes, instruments, mission, and references. The objective of this paper is to provide a simple, comprehensive list of available measurements to date, in particular the in situ data, to serve as a quick overall Venus atmosphere data reference.
Dicarboxylic and Oxocarboxylic Acids in the Arctic Coastal Ocean (Beaufort Sea‐Mackenzie Margin)
Authors: Sempéré Richard , Vaïtilingom Mickael , Charrière Bruno , Kawamura Kimitaka , Panagiotopoulos Christos
Published: June 2019

The distribution of bifunctional carboxylic acids (BCAs) is largely reported as primary or secondary organic aerosols. However, sparse studies describe the distribution of these organic compounds in fluvial and marine environments. In the context of a global warming, we present the first results of a study of the distribution of BCAs in a surface Arctic coastal area near the mouth of the Mackenzie River. These results showed that the Beaufort Sea is an area with elevated BCA content among which glyoxylic acid is predominant, in contrast to low concentrations and predominance of oxalic acid in aerosols reported elsewhere. The carbon fraction of BCAs represents 1.8% to 4.5% of dissolved organic carbon pool in Arctic Ocean. This study reinforces the hypothesis that aquatic biological processes govern the molecular distribution of BCA in marine/river waters, whereas photochemical oxidation reactions regulate their molecular distribution in rain and aerosols. Our results indicate that the Mackenzie River is an important source of BCAs in the Arctic Ocean during July–October period, with a first estimate of 35 × 103 tons of BCAs including 12 × 103 tons of diacids and 23 × 103 tons of oxoacids.
New Late Pennsylvanian Paleomagnetic Results From Paraná Basin (Southern Brazil): Is the Recent Giant Gaussian Process Model Valid for the Kiaman Superchron?
Authors: Brandt Daniele , Ernesto Marcia , Constable Catherine , Franco Daniel Ribeiro , Carlos Weinschutz Luiz , de Oliveira Carvalho Rodrigues Pillar , Hinnov Linda , Jaqueto Plinio , Strauss Becky E. , Feinberg Joshua , de Paiva Franco Pedro Vitor , Zhao Xixi
Published: June 2019

The most recent Giant Gaussian Process (GGP) model, based on the last 5 Ma, has been used as a reference for directional distribution of paleomagnetic record of older rocks as Cenozoic and Proterozoic. However, for Paleozoic times, its validity has not yet been tested. Here we evaluate the validity of this recent GGP model for the Kiaman superchron. We present new paleomagnetic results from a late Pennsylvanian section of glacial rhythmites (Mafra Formation) from southern Brazil. The 5‐m section sampled spans more than 800 kyr, as evaluated by cyclostratigraphic analysis. Thermal demagnetization revealed a reversed characteristic component carried by single domain magnetite. Anisotropy of anhysteretic remanent magnetization indicated a small shallowing correction of f = 0.97. The final paleomagnetic pole position is located at 51.9°S, 344.3°E (N = 111, R = 109.0, K = 55.9, A95 = 1.8°), with a mean direction of Dec = 144.2°, Inc = 69.5° (N = 111, R = 110.2, k = 134.4, α95 = 1.2°, Paleolat = 53.2°S). The shape of the distribution of magnetization directions (elongation E =
and the dispersion of virtual geomagnetic poles (
are incompatible with the recent model. The reduced dispersion, also found in other studies, implies a different shape in directional distributions for any GGP model describing the Kiaman interval. This result alerts us that we should abandon the use of the recent GGP model as a reference for inclination shallowing correction of Carboniferous sedimentary data.
Dynamical Control of the Tibetan Plateau on the East Asian Summer Monsoon
Authors: Son Jun‐Hyeok , Seo Kyong‐Hwan , Wang Bin
Published: June 2019

The origin of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM)—the sole monsoon existing in the subtropics‐midlatitude in the northern hemisphere—has long been recognized as an elevated heating and mechanical forcing of the Tibetan Plateau, and the land‐sea zonal heat contrast. However, the relative contribution of individual processes to the generation of the East Asian summer monsoon and therefore the underlying basic physics are unexplored. Here we show that the EASM is mainly driven by the dynamical effect of the Tibetan Plateau, in which forced topographic Rossby waves induce downstream southerlies, a crucial factor in EASM precipitation. From idealized general circulation model simulations, the dynamical effect of mountains is revealed to account for ~65% of the total East Asian summer precipitation, whereas the elevated heating and land‐sea heat contrast are only responsible for ~15% each and the mountain‐drag effect accounts for less than 5%.
The 27‐Day Solar Rotational Cycle Response in the Mesospheric Metal Layers at Low Latitudes
Authors: Wu J. , Feng W. , Xue X. , Marsh D. R. , Plane J. M. C. , Dou X.
Published: June 2019

To investigate the response of the meteoric metal layers in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere regions to the 27‐day solar rotational cycle, a long‐term simulation of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with the chemistry of three metals (Na, K, and Fe) was analyzed. The correlation between variability in the metal layers and solar 27‐day forcing during different phases of the solar 11‐year cycle reveals that the response in the metal layers is much stronger during solar maximum. The altitude‐dependent correlation and sensitivity of the metal layers to the solar spectral irradiance demonstrates that there is a significant increase in sensitivity to solar rotational cycle with increasing altitude. Above 100 km, the sensitivity of the metals to changes of 10% in the solar spectral irradiance at Lyman‐alpha is estimated to be −5%. A similar response is seen in Na layer measurements made by the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imaging System instrument on the Odin satellite.
Surface Energy Budgets of Arctic Tundra During Growing Season
Authors: El Sharif Husayn , Zhou Wenbo , Ivanov Valeriy , Sheshukov Aleksey , Mazepa Valeriy , Wang Jingfeng
Published: June 2019

This study analyzed summer observations of diurnal and seasonal surface energy budgets across several monitoring sites within the Arctic tundra underlain by permafrost. In these areas, latent and sensible heat fluxes have comparable magnitudes, and ground heat flux enters the subsurface during short summer intervals of the growing period, leading to seasonal thaw. The maximum entropy production (MEP) model was tested as an input and parameter parsimonious model of surface heat fluxes for the simulation of energy budgets of these permafrost‐underlain environments. Using net radiation, surface temperature, and a single parameter characterizing the thermal inertia of the heat exchanging surface, the MEP model estimates latent, sensible, and ground heat fluxes that agree closely with observations at five sites for which detailed flux data are available. The MEP potential evapotranspiration model reproduces estimates of the Penman‐Monteith potential evapotranspiration model that requires at least five input meteorological variables (net radiation, ground heat flux, air temperature, air humidity, and wind speed) and empirical parameters of surface resistance. The potential and challenges of MEP model application in sparsely monitored areas of the Arctic are discussed, highlighting the need for accurate measurements and constraints of ground heat flux.
Primer-free FISH probes from metagenomics/metatranscriptomics data permit the study of uncharacterised taxa in complex microbial communities
Authors: Tan Shi Ming , Yung Pui Yi Maria , Hutchinson Paul E. , Xie Chao , Teo Guo Hui , Ismail Muhammad Hafiz , Drautz-Moses Daniela I. , Little Peter F. R , Williams Rohan B. H. , Cohen Yehuda
Published: June 2019

Methods for the study of member species in complex microbial communities remain a high priority, particularly for rare and/or novel member species that might play an important ecological role. Specifically, methods that link genomic information of member species with its spatial structure are lacking. This study adopts an integrative workflow that permits the characterisation of previously unclassified bacterial taxa from microbiomes through: (1) imaging of the spatial structure; (2) taxonomic classification and (3) genome recovery. Our study attempts to bridge the gaps between metagenomics/metatranscriptomics and high-resolution biomass imaging methods by developing new fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) probes—termed as R-Probes—from shotgun reads that harbour hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA gene. The sample-centric design of R-Probes means that probes can directly hybridise to OTUs as detected in shotgun sequencing surveys. The primer-free probe design captures larger microbial diversity as compared to canonical probes. R-Probes were designed from deep-sequenced RNA-Seq datasets for both FISH imaging and FISH–Fluorescence activated cell sorting (FISH–FACS). FISH–FACS was used for target enrichment of previously unclassified bacterial taxa prior to downstream multiple displacement amplification (MDA), genomic sequencing and genome recovery. After validation of the workflow on an axenic isolate of Thauera species, the techniques were applied to investigate two previously uncharacterised taxa from a tropical full-scale activated sludge community. In some instances, probe design on the hypervariable region allowed differentiation to the species level. Collectively, the workflow can be readily applied to microbiomes for which shotgun nucleic acid survey data is available.
Ultrastrong coupling probed by Coherent Population Transfer
Authors: Falci G. , Ridolfo A. , Di Stefano P. G. , Paladino E.
Published: June 2019

Light-matter interaction, and the understanding of the fundamental physics behind, is the scenario of emerging quantum technologies. Solid state devices allow the exploration of new regimes where ultrastrong coupling strengths are comparable to subsystem energies, and new exotic phenomena like quantum phase transitions and ground-state entanglement occur. While experiments so far provided only spectroscopic evidence of ultrastrong coupling, we propose a new dynamical protocol for detecting virtual photon pairs in the dressed eigenstates. This is the fingerprint of the violated conservation of the number of excitations, which heralds the symmetry broken by ultrastrong coupling. We show that in flux-based superconducting architectures this photon production channel can be coherently amplified by Stimulated Raman Adiabatic Passage, providing a unique tool for an unambiguous dynamical detection of ultrastrong coupling in present day hardware. This protocol could be a benchmark for control of the dynamics of ultrastrong coupling architectures, in view of applications to quantum information and microwave quantum photonics.
Enhanced Carbon monoxide-sensing properties of Chromium-doped ZnO nanostructures
Authors: Habib I. Y. , Tajuddin Aimi Asilah , Noor Hafiz Armi , Lim Chee Ming , Mahadi Abdul Hanif , Kumara N. T. R. N.
Published: June 2019

Low power consumption, fast response and quick recovery times are important parameters for gas sensors performance. Herein, we report the experimental and theoretical studies of ZnO and Cr doped ZnO nanostructures used in low temperature (50 °C) sensors for the detection of CO. The synthesized films were characterized by XRD, UV-Vis, FE-SEM and EDX. The XRD patterns for the ZnO and 0.5 wt% Cr/ZnO films confirm the formation of a single-phase hexagonal wurtzite structure. The reduction of the ZnO optical band gap from 3.12 eV to 2.80 eV upon 0.5 wt% Cr doping is well correlated with the simulation data. The FE-SEM images of the films show spherical morphology with the estimated particle sizes of about ~40 nm and ~ 25 nm were recorded for the ZnO and 0.5 wt% Cr/ZnO films, respectively. Enhanced gas sensing performance is achieved with Cr doping and the sensitivity of ZnO increases from 9.65% to 65.45%, and simultaneously decreasing the response and recovery times from 334.5 s to 172.3 s and from 219 s to 37.2 s, respectively. These improvements in gas sensing performance are due to the reduction in particle size and optical band gap, and an increase in specific surface area.
Effect of locomotor demands on cognitive processing
Authors: Cortney Bradford J. , Lukos Jamie R. , Passaro Antony , Ries Anthony , Ferris Daniel P.
Published: June 2019

Understanding how brain dynamics change with dual cognitive and motor tasks can improve our knowledge of human neurophysiology. The primary goals of this study were to: (1) assess the feasibility of extracting electrocortical signals from scalp EEG while performing sustained, physically demanding dual-task walking and (2) test hypotheses about how the P300 event-related potential is affected by walking physical exertion. Participants walked on a treadmill for an hour either carrying an empty rucksack or one filled with 40% of their body weight. During the walking conditions and during a seated control condition, subjects periodically performed a visual oddball task. We recorded scalp EEG and examined electrocortical dynamics time-locked to the target stimulus. Channel-level event-related potential analysis demonstrated that it is feasible to extract reliable signals during long duration loaded walking. P300 amplitude was reduced during loaded walking versus seated, but there was no effect of time on task. Source level activity and frequency analysis revealed that sensorimotor, parietal, and cingulate brain areas all contributed to the reduced P300 amplitude during dual-task walking. We interpret the results as supporting a prioritization of cortical resources for walking, leading to fewer resources being directed toward the oddball task during dual-task locomotion.
Seasonally varying effects of environmental factors on phytoplankton abundance in the regulated rivers
Authors: Kim Jun Song , Seo Il Won , Baek Donghae
Published: June 2019

This study investigates a seasonally varying response of phytoplankton biomass to environmental factors in rivers. Artificial neural network (ANN) models incorporated with a clustering technique, the clustered ANN models, were employed to analyze the relationship between chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and the explanatory variables in the regulated Nakdong River, South Korea. The results show that weir discharge (Q) and total phosphorus (TP) were the most influential factors on temporal dynamics of Chl-a. The relative importance of both variables increased up to higher than 30% for low water temperature seasons with dominance of diatoms. While, during summer when cyanobacteria predominated, the significance of Q increased up to 45%, while that of TP declined to about 10%. These tendencies highlight that the effects of the river environmental factors on phytoplankton abundance was temporally inhomogeneous. In harmful algal bloom mitigation scenarios, the clustered ANN models reveals that the optimal weir discharge was 400 m3/s which was 67% of the value derived from the non-clustered ANN models. At the immediate downstream of confluence of the Kumho River, the optimal weir discharge should increase up to about 1.5 times because of the increase in the tributary pollutant loads attributed to electrical conductivity (EC).
Carbon nanotube synthesis and spinning as macroscopic fibers assisted by the ceramic reactor tube
Authors: Rodiles X. , Reguero V. , Vila M. , Alemán B. , Arévalo L. , Fresno F. , O’Shea V. A. de la Peña , Vilatela J. J.
Published: June 2019

Macroscopic fibers of carbon nanotubes (CNT) have emerged as an ideal architecture to exploit the exceptional properties of CNT building blocks in applications ranging from energy storage to reinforcement in structural composites. Controlled synthesis and scalability are amongst the most pressing challenges to further materialize the potential of CNT fibers. This work shows that under floating catalyst chemical vapor conditions in the direct spinning method, used both in research and industry, the ceramic reactor tube plays an unsuspected active role in CNT growth, leading for example to doubling of reaction yield when mullite (Al4+2xSi2−2xO10−x(x ≈ 0:4)) is used instead of alumina (Al2O3), but without affecting CNT morphology in terms of number of layers, purity or degree of graphitization. This behaviour is confirmed for different carbon sources and when growing either predominantly single-walled or multi-walled CNTs by adjusting promotor concentration. Analysis of large Si-based impurities occasionally found in CNT fiber fabric samples, attributed to reactor tube fragments that end up trapped in the porous fibers, indicate that the role of the reactor tube is in catalyzing the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons, which subsequently react with floating Fe catalyst nanoparticles and produce extrusion of the CNTs and formation of an aerogel. Reactor gas analysis confirms that extensive thermal decomposition of the carbon source occurs in the absence of Fe catalyst particles, and that the concentration of different carbon species (e.g. carbon dioxide and ethylene) is sensitive to the reactor tube type. These finding open new avenues for controlled synthesis of CNT fibers by decoupling precursor decomposition from CNT extrusion at the catalyst particle.
Genomic analysis reveals variant association with high altitude adaptation in native chickens
Authors: Kharrati-Koopaee Hamed , Ebrahimie Esmaeil , Dadpasand Mohammad , Niazi Ali , Esmailizadeh Ali
Published: June 2019

Native chickens are endangered genetic resources that are kept by farmers for different purposes. Native chickens distributed in a wide range of altitudes, have developed adaptive mechanisms to deal with hypoxia. For the first time, we report variants associated with high-altitude adaptation in Iranian native chickens by whole genome sequencing of lowland and highland chickens. We found that these adaptive variants are involved in DNA repair, organs development, immune response and histone binding. Amazingly, signature selection analysis demonstrated that differential variants are adaptive in response to hypoxia and are not due to other evolutionary pressures. Cellular component analysis of variants showed that mitochondrion is the most important organelle for hypoxia adaptation. A total of 50 variants was detected in mtDNA for highland and lowland chickens. High-altitude associated with variant discovery highlighted the importance of COX3, a gene involved in cell respiration, in hypoxia adaptation. The results of study suggest that MIR6644-2 is involved in hypoxia and high-altitude adaptations by regulation of embryo development. Finally, 3877 novel SNVs including the mtDNA ones, were submitted to EBI (PRJEB24944). Whole-genome sequencing and variant discovery of native chickens provided novel insights about adaptation mechanisms and highlights the importance of valuable genomic variants in chickens.
Author Correction: Environmental filtering and community delineation in the streambed ecotone
Authors: Peralta-Maraver Ignacio , Galloway Jason , Posselt Malte , Arnon Shai , Reiss Julia , Lewandowski Jörg , Robertson Anne L.
Published: June 2019

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML and PDF versions of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.
Optimal Phased-Array Signal Combination For Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Measurement In Breast Cancer Using Multiple Quantum Coherence MR Spectroscopy At 3T
Authors: Mallikourti Vasiliki , Cheung Sai Man , Gagliardi Tanja , Masannat Yazan , Heys Steven D. , He Jiabao
Published: June 2019

Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), a key marker in breast cancer, is non-invasively quantifiable using multiple quantum coherence (MQC) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at the expense of losing half of the signal. Signal combination for phased array coils provides potential pathways to enhance the signal to noise ratio (SNR), with current algorithms developed for conventional brain MRS. Since PUFA spectra and the biochemical environment in the breast deviate significantly from those in the brain, we set out to identify the optimal algorithm for PUFA in breast cancer. Combination algorithms were compared using PUFA spectra from 17 human breast tumour specimens, 15 healthy female volunteers, and 5 patients with breast cancer on a clinical 3 T MRI scanner. Adaptively Optimised Combination (AOC) yielded the maximum SNR improvement in specimens (median, 39.5%; interquartile range: 35.5–53.2%, p < 0.05), volunteers (82.4 ± 37.4%, p < 0.001), and patients (median, 61%; range: 34–105%, p < 0.05), while independent from voxel volume (rho = 0.125, p = 0.632), PUFA content (rho = 0.256, p = 0.320) or water/fat ratio (rho = 0.353, p = 0.165). Using AOC, acquisition in patients is 1.5 times faster compared to non-noise decorrelated algorithms. Therefore, AOC is the most suitable current algorithm to improve SNR or accelerate the acquisition of PUFA MRS from breast in a clinical setting.
The three-hybrid genetic composition of an Ecuadorian population using AIMs-InDels compared with autosomes, mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome data
Authors: Zambrano Ana Karina , Gaviria Aníbal , Cobos-Navarrete Santiago , Gruezo Carmen , Rodríguez-Pollit Cristina , Armendáriz-Castillo Isaac , García-Cárdenas Jennyfer M. , Guerrero Santiago , López-Cortés Andrés , Leone Paola E. , Pérez-Villa Andy , Guevara-Ramírez Patricia , Yumiceba Verónica , Fiallos Gisella , Vela Margarita , Paz-y-Miño César
Published: June 2019

The history of Ecuador was marked by the arrival of Europeans with Africans, resulting in the mixture of Native Americans with Africans and Europeans. The present study contributes to the knowledge of the Ecuadorian mestizo population by offering information about ancestry and ethnic heterogeneity. Forty-six AIM-InDels (Ancestry Informative Insertion/Deletion Markers) were used to obtain information on 240 Ecuadorian individuals from three regions (Amazonia, the Highlands, and the Coast). As a result, the population involved a significant contribution from Native Americans (values up to 51%), followed by Europeans (values up to 33%) and Africans (values up to 13%). Furthermore, we compared the data obtained with nine previously reported scientific articles on autosomal, mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomes. The admixture results correspond to Ecuador’s historical background and vary slightly between regions.
Delivery of Rapamycin Using In Situ Forming Implants Promotes Immunoregulation and Vascularized Composite Allograft Survival
Authors: Sutter Damian , Dzhonova Dzhuliya V. , Prost Jean-Christophe , Bovet Cedric , Banz Yara , Rahnfeld Lisa , Leroux Jean-Christophe , Rieben Robert , Vögelin Esther , Plock Jan A. , Luciani Paola , Taddeo Adriano , Schnider Jonas T.
Published: June 2019

Vascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA), such as hand and face transplantation, is emerging as a potential solution in patients that suffered severe injuries. However, adverse effects of chronic high-dose immunosuppression regimens strongly limit the access to these procedures. In this study, we developed an in situ forming implant (ISFI) loaded with rapamycin to promote VCA acceptance. We hypothesized that the sustained delivery of low-dose rapamycin in proximity to the graft may promote graft survival and induce an immunoregulatory microenvironment, boosting the expansion of T regulatory cells (Treg). In vitro and in vivo analysis of rapamycin-loaded ISFI (Rapa-ISFI) showed sustained drug release with subtherapeutic systemic levels and persistent tissue levels. A single injection of Rapa-ISFI in the groin on the same side as a transplanted limb significantly prolonged VCA survival. Moreover, treatment with Rapa-ISFI increased the levels of multilineage mixed chimerism and the frequency of Treg both in the circulation and VCA-skin. Our study shows that Rapa-ISFI therapy represents a promising approach for minimizing immunosuppression, decreasing toxicity and increasing patient compliance. Importantly, the use of such a delivery system may favor the reprogramming of allogeneic responses towards a regulatory function in VCA and, potentially, in other transplants and inflammatory conditions.
Plasma High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1), Osteopontin (OPN), and Hyaluronic Acid (HA) as Admissible Biomarkers for Endometriosis
Authors: Cao Yunlei , Liu Xishi , Guo Sun-Wei
Published: June 2019

Identification of biomarkers for endometriosis is an unmet medical need that demands to be fulfilled. In this study, we first used a mouse model of endometriosis and evaluated the potential utility of select biomarkers based on serial observations. Since fibrosis is the end result of lesional development, we chose high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), osteopontin (OPN), and hyaluronic acid (HA), all three of them have been well documented to be involved in endometriosis and fibrosis, as potential biomarkers. In addition, we performed immunohistochemistry analysis of HMGB1, OPN, and the receptors for HMGB1, such as toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), interleukin-33 (IL-33), and receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE)–a pattern recognition receptor, with HMGB1 being its important ligand. We then evaluated the same set of putative markers in 30 women with ovarian endometriomas and 20 without endometriosis, and reevaluated the 3 plasma markers 3 months after the surgical removal of all visible endometriotic lesions. In mouse, the lesional staining levels of OPN, RAGE, and IL-33 were all significantly higher than that of normal endometrium, and increased progressively as lesions progressed. In contrast to HMGB1, TLR4, p-p65 and PCNA staining levels were decreased progressively. In humans, lesional staining levels of OPN correlated positively, while that of HMGB1 correlated negatively with the extent of fibrosis. All three plasma markers correlated positively with the extent of lesional fibrosis. Through this integrated approach, we identified plasma HMGB1, OPN and HA as promising admissible biomarkers for endometriosis.
Tuning molecular dynamics by hydration and confinement: antiplasticizing effect of water in hydrated prilocaine nanoclusters
Authors: Ruiz G. N. , Combarro-Palacios I. , McLain S. E. , Schwartz G. A. , Pardo L. C. , Cerveny S. , Macovez R.
Published: June 2019

Antiplasticizing effect of hydration vs. plasticizing effect of nanoconfinement in a molecular glass former.
New two-dimensional carbon nitride allotrope with 1 : 1 stoichiometry featuring spine-like structures: a structural and electronic DFT-D study
Authors: González-González R. , Salas-Zepeda M. G. , Tlahuice-Flores A.
Published: June 2019

In this communication the prediction of a two-dimensional carbon nitride allotrope (CN) featuring a 1 : 1 stoichiometry is considered.
Thorium(iv) trialkyl complexes of non-carbocyclic ligands as highly active isoprene polymerisation catalysts
Authors: Qin Guorui , Cheng Jianhua
Published: June 2019

Multidentate amido thorium(iv) trialkyl complexes displayed high activity and high selectivity for isoprene polymerization.
Magnetic dimensionality and the crystal structure of two copper(ii) coordination polymers containing Cu6 and Cu2 building units
Authors: Rad-Yousefnia Negar , Shaabani Behrouz , Korabik Maria , Weselski Marek , Zahedi Mansoureh , Englert Ulli , Bikas Rahman , Szeliga Daria , Otręba Marta , Lis Tadeusz
Published: June 2019

The preparation, structural characterization, EPR spectroscopy and magnetic structural correlation of two Cu(ii) coordination polymers are reported.
A large barrier single-molecule magnet without magnetic memory
Authors: Giansiracusa Marcus J. , Al-Badran Susan , Kostopoulos Andreas K. , Whitehead George F. S. , Collison David , Tuna Floriana , Winpenny Richard E. P. , Chilton Nicholas F.
Published: June 2019

We report a six coordinate DyIIIsingle-molecule magnet (SMM) with an energy barrier of 1110 K for thermal relaxation of magnetization, but no magnetic hysteresis above 2 K.