bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Embedded YARA rules: strengthening YARA rules utilising fuzzy hashing and fuzzy rules for malware analysis
Authors: Naik Nitin , Jenkins Paul , Savage Nick , Yang Longzhi , Boongoen Tossapon , Iam-On Natthakan , Naik Kshirasagar , Song Jingping
Published: November 2020

The YARA rules technique is used in cybersecurity to scan for malware, often in its default form, where rules are created either manually or automatically. Creating YARA rules that enable analysts to label files as suspected malware is a highly technical skill, requiring expertise in cybersecurity. Therefore, in cases where rules are either created manually or automatically, it is desirable to improve both the performance and detection outcomes of the process. In this paper, two methods are proposed utilising the techniques of fuzzy hashing and fuzzy rules, to increase the effectiveness of YARA rules without escalating the complexity and overheads associated with YARA rules. The first proposed method utilises fuzzy hashing referred to as enhanced YARA rules in this paper, where if existing YARA rules fails to detect the inspected file as malware, then it is subjected to fuzzy hashing to assess whether this technique would identify it as malware. The second proposed technique called embedded YARA rules utilises fuzzy hashing and fuzzy rules to improve the outcomes further. Fuzzy rules countenance circumstances where data are imprecise or uncertain, generating a probabilistic outcome indicating the likelihood of whether a file is malware or not. The paper discusses the success of the proposed enhanced YARA rules and embedded YARA rules through several experiments on the collected malware and goodware corpus and their comparative evaluation against YARA rules.
Amphiphilic peptide dendrimer-based nanovehicles for safe and effective siRNA delivery
Authors: Ma Chi , Zhu Dandan , Chen Yu , Dong Yiwen , Lin Wenyi , Li Ning , Zhang Wenjie , Liu Xiaoxuan
Published: November 2020

Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-based RNA interference has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of a wide range of incurable diseases. However, the safe and effective delivery of siRNA therapeutics into the interior of target cells remains challenging. Here, we disclosed novel amphiphilic peptide dendrimers (AmPDs) that composed of hydrophobic two lipid-like alkyl chains and hydrophilic poly(lysine) dendrons with different generations (2C18-KK2 and 2C18-KK2K4) as nanovehicles for siRNA delivery. These AmPDs are able to self-assemble into supramolecular nanoassemblies that are capable of entrapping siRNA molecules into nanoparticles to protect siRNA from enzymatic degradation and promote efficient intracellular uptake without evident toxicity. Interestingly, by virtue of the optimal balance of hydrophobic lipid-like entity and hydrophilic poly(lysine) dendron generations, AmPD 2C18-KK2K4 bearing bigger hydrophilic dendron can package siRNA to form stable, but more ready to disassemble complexes, thereby resulting in more efficient siRNA releasing and better gene silencing effect in comparison with AmPD 2C18-KK2 bearing smaller dendron. Additional studies confirmed that 2C18-KK2K4 can capitalize on the advantages of lipid and peptide dendrimer vectors for effective siRNA delivery. Collectively, our AmPD-based nanocarriers indeed represent a safe and effective siRNA delivery system. Our findings also provide a new perspective on the modulation of self-assembly amphiphilic peptide dendrimers for the functional and adaptive delivery of siRNA therapeutics.
The Release Behavior, Biocompatibility and Physical Properties of Ald-loaded Strontium Doped Calcium Phosphate Cement
Authors: Mohammadi Maryam , Rabiee Sayed Mahmood , Hesaraki Saeed
Published: November 2020

The effect of concurrent attendance of two inhibitors of bone degradation, namely Alendronate (Ald) sodium trihydrate and Strontium (Sr), on Calcium Phosphate Cement (CPC) characteristics was explored. To this aim, 5 wt% Strontium and 21 mM Alendronate sodium trihydrate were used in calcium phosphate cement and setting time, ion and drug release were analyzed. RAW264.7 and G cell were cultured on cement samples and Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase (TRAP), Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and MTT assay were studied. The results of structural analysis indicated that 21 mM Ald did not let the cement set. Therefore, colloidal silica was added to the cement formula and successfully decreased the setting time.In vitrotests showed Sr-loaded sample had a greater inhibitory effect on biocompatibility of G cells than Ald-loaded and Sr-Ald-loaded samples. In addition, the findings about osteoblast MTT and ALP activity indicated that Sr was more effective in osteogenic activity of G cells. The simultaneous presence of Ald and Sr in Calcium Phosphate Cement (CPC) was not as effective in its biocompatibility as the presence of Sr alone.
New Drug and Biologics Approvals in 2019: A Systematic Analysis of Patient Experience Data in FDA Drug Approval Packages and Product Labels
Authors: Schultz-Knudsen Katrine , Sabaliauskaite Ugne , Hellsten Johan , Lassen Anders Blaedel , Morant Anne Vinther
Published: November 2020

Background

The FDA Patient-Focused Drug Development Initiative was launched to ensure the incorporation of the patient voice into drug development and evaluation. Since 2017, the FDA must publish a statement outlining patient experience data (PED) considered in the approval of new drugs. This study investigated the presence and role of PED in drug approval and translation into product label claims.

Methods

PED reported in approval packages of the 48 drugs approved by FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in 2019 was identified and categorized. PED in the form of clinical outcome assessments (COAs) was characterized by endpoint positioning and outcome. The product labels were analyzed for PED-related claims.

Results

PED was reported as relevant for 39 of 48 (81.3%) drugs approved in 2019. COAs were the predominant PED type; other PED was identified for only 9 (18.8%) drugs, and none included qualitative or patient preference studies. COAs were the only type of PED for which associated claims were identified in the product labels. 27 out of 48 (56.3%) labels contained one or more efficacy claims based on COAs; of these, patient-reported outcomes were the most prevalent with claims identified in 19 labels (39.6%).

Conclusion

There are ample opportunities for incorporating PED beyond COAs to inform drug development and facilitate availability of medicines tailored to patient needs. A higher level of transparency on the role of PED in regulatory decision-making and a clear path to PED-based label claims could incentivize sponsors and enable patient empowerment in treatment decisions.
Sexuality, Subjectivity, and LGBTQ Militancy in the United States
Authors: Marche Guillaume
Published: November 2020

As LGBTQ movements in Western Europe, North America, and other regions of the world are becoming increasingly successful at awarding LGBTQ people rights, especially institutional recognition for same-sex couples and their families, what becomes of the deeper social transformation that these movements initially aimed to achieve? The United States is in many ways a paradigmatic model for LGBTQ movements in other countries. Sexuality, Subjectivity, and LGBTQ Militancy in the United States focuses on the transformations of the US LGBTQ movement since the 1980s, highlighting the relationship between its institutionalization and the disappearance of sexuality from its most visible claims, so that its growing visibility and legitimation since the 1990s have paradoxically led to a decrease in grassroots militancy. The book examines the issue from the bottom up, identifying the links between the varying importance of sexuality as a movement theme and actors’ mobilization, and enhances the import of subjectivity in militancy. It draws attention to cultural, sometimes infrapolitical, forms of militancy that perpetuate the role of sexuality in LGBTQ militancy.
Showcasing Science
Authors: Weiss Martin P.M.
Published: November 2020

Teylers Museum was founded in 1784 and soon thereafter became one of the most important centres of Dutch science. The Museum’s first director, Martinus van Marum, famously had the world’s largest electrostatic generator built and set up in Haarlem. This subsequently became the most prominent item in the Museum’s world-class, publicly accessible, and constantly growing collections. These comprised scientific instruments, mineralogical and palaeontological specimens, prints, drawings, paintings, and coins. Van Marum’s successors continued to uphold the institution’s prestige and use the collections for research purposes, while it was increasingly perceived as an art museum by the public. In the early twentieth century, the Nobel Prize laureate Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was appointed head of the scientific instrument collection and conducted experiments on the Museum’s premises. Showcasing Science: A History of Teylers Museum in the Nineteenth Century charts the history of Teylers Museum from its inception until Lorentz’ tenure. From the vantage point of the Museum’s scientific instrument collection, this book gives an analysis of the changing public role of Teylers Museum over the course of the nineteenth century.
Towards a Political Aesthetics of Cinema
Authors: Lie Sulgi
Published: November 2020

Towards a Political Aesthetics of Cinema: The Outside of Film is a contribution to an aesthetics of cinema rooted in Marxist theory. Rather than focusing on the role that certain films, or the cinema as an institution, might play in political consciousness, the book asks a different question: how can the subject of politics in film be thought? This problem is presented in a systematic-theoretical rather than historical manner. The main aim of this book is a retrospective rehabilitation of the psychoanalytical concept of "suture," whose political core is progressively revealed. In a second step, this rereading of "suture"-theory is mediated with the Marxist aesthetics of Fredric Jameson. From the perspective of this reconfigured aesthetics of negativity, films by Hitchcock, Antonioni, Haneke and Kubrick are analyzed as articulations of a political unconscious.
Neighbourhoods for the City in Pacific Asia
Authors: Ho Kong Chong
Published: November 2020

The largest cities in Pacific Asia are the engines of their countries’ economic growth, seats of national and regional political power, and repositories of the nation’s culture and heritage. The economic changes impacting large cities interact with political forces along with social cultural concerns, and in the process also impact the neighbourhoods of the city. Neighbourhoods for the City in Pacific Asia looks at local collective action and city government responses and its impact on the neighbourhood and the city. A multi-sited comparative approach is taken in studying local action in five important cities (Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore and Taipei) in Pacific Asia. With site selection in these five cities guided by local experts, neighbourhood issues associated with the fieldsites are explored through interviews with a variety of stakeholders involved in neighourhood building and change. The book enables comparisons across a number of key issues confronting the city: heritage (Bangkok and Taipei), local community involved provisioning of amenities (Seoul and Singapore), placemaking versus place marketing (Bangkok and Hong Kong). Cities are becoming increasingly important as centers for politics, citizen engagement and governance. The collaborative efforts city governments establish with local communities become an important way to address the liveability of cities.
Intimate Visualities and the Politics of Fandom in India
Authors: Gerritsen Roos
Published: November 2020

In Intimate Visualities and the Politics of Fandom in India, Gerritsen explores the circulation of images of a movie star named Rajinikanth. Cities and towns in the south Indian state Tamil Nadu are consistently ornamented with huge billboards, murals and myriad posters featuring political leaders as well as movie stars. A selective part of these images is put up by their fan clubs. Tamil movie fans typically manifest themselves by putting up images of their star in public spaces and by generating a plethora of images in their homes. Gerritsen argues that these images are a crucial part of the everyday affective modes of engagement with family members and film stars but they are also symbolizing the political realm in which fans situate themselves. At the same time, Gerritsen shows how these image productions seem to concur with other visual regimes articulated in government restrictions, world class imaginaries and upper class moralities as presented on India's urban streets.
Global Europe
Authors: Holman Otto
Published: November 2020

The European Union is facing the worst existential crisis in its history. At the same time, it is confronted with old and new challenges in its environment that call for joint action. But how do matters stand with the EU's capacity to act? Does the EU manage to effectively combine the different components of its external relations - such as trade, development aid, and security policy - better than it did in the past? How is the EU's external action determined by the internal socio-economic and political crises in its member states? These questions and more are answered in Global Europe in the context of the current impasse in the integration process. A clear analysis of the history of the EU's external relations up to now provides us with a better insight into the feasibility of EU strategies directed at the outside world.
Painted Alchemists
Authors: Berry Drago Elisabeth
Published: November 2020

Thomas Wijck’s painted alchemical laboratories were celebrated in his day as "artful" and "ingenious." They fell into obscurity along with their subject, as alchemy came to be viewed as an occult art or a fool’s errand. But these unusual pictures challenge our understanding of early modern alchemy-and of the deeper relationship between chemical workshops and the artists who represented them. The work of artists, like the work of alchemists, contained intellectual-creative and manual-material aspects. Both alchemists and artists claimed a special status owing to their creative powers. Wijck’s formation of an artistic and professional identity around alchemical themes reveals his desire to explore this curious territory, and ultimately to demonstrate art’s superior claims to knowledge and mastery over nature. This book explores one artist’s transformation of alchemy and its materials into a reputation for virtuosity-and what his work can teach us about the experimental early modern world.
The Enlightenment's Animals
Authors: Wolloch Nathaniel
Published: November 2020

In The Enlightenment’s Animals Nathaniel Wolloch takes a broad view of changing conceptions of animals in European culture during the long eighteenth century. Combining discussions of intellectual history, the history of science, the history of historiography, the history of economic thought, and, not least, art history, this book describes how animals were discussed and conceived in different intellectual and artistic contexts underwent a dramatic shift during this period. While in the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth century the main focus was on the sensory and cognitive characteristics of animals, during the late Enlightenment a new outlook emerged, emphasizing their conception as economic resources. Focusing particularly on seventeenth-century Dutch culture, and on the Scottish Enlightenment, Wolloch discusses developments in other countries as well, presenting a new look at a topic of increasing importance in modern scholarship.
Kashmir as a Borderland
Authors: Mato Bouzas Antía
Published: November 2020

Kashmir as a Borderland: The Politics of Space and Belonging across the Line of Control examines the Kashmir dispute from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and within the theoretical frame of border studies. It draws on the experiences of those living in these territories such as divided families, traders, cultural and social activists. Kashmir is a borderland, that is, a context for spatial transformations, where the resulting interactions can be read as a process of ‘becoming’ rather than of ‘being’. The analysis of this borderland shows how the conflict is manifested in territory, in specific locations with a geopolitical meaning, evidencing the discrepancy between ‘representation’ and the ‘living’. The author puts forward the concept of belonging as a useful category for investigating more inclusive political spaces.
Data-Gathering in Colonial Southeast Asia 1800–1900
Authors: Noor Farish A.
Published: November 2020

Empire-building did not only involve the use of excessive violence against native communities, but also required the gathering of data about the native Other. This is a book about books, which looks at the writings of Western colonial administrators, company-men and map-makers who wrote about Southeast Asia in the 19th century. In the course of their information-gathering they had also framed the people of Southeast Asia in a manner that gave rise to Orientalist racial stereotypes that would be used again and again. Data-Gathering in Colonial Southeast Asia 1800-1900: Framing the Other revisits the era of colonial data-collecting to demonstrate the workings of the imperial echo chamber, and how in the discourse of 19th century colonial-capitalism data was effectively weaponized to serve the interests of Empire.
United States and Cultural Heritage Protection in Japan (1945–1952)
Authors: Azimi Nassrine
Published: November 2020

One of the untold stories of the American military occupation of Japan, from 1945 to 1952, is that of efforts by the Arts and Monuments Division of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), for the preservation of Japan’s cultural heritage. While the role of Allies after WWII in salvaging the cultural heritage of Europe has recently become better known, not much is written of the extraordinary vision, planning and endeavors by curators and art specialists embedded in the US military and later based in Tokyo, and their peers and political masters back in Washington D.C. - all of whom ensured that defeated Japan’s cultural heritage was protected in the chaos and misery of post-war years.
Life of Texts
Authors: Brillenburg Wurth Kiene , Rigney Ann
Published: November 2020

This innovative introduction to literary studies takes 'the life of texts' as its overarching frame. It provides a conceptual and methodological toolbox for analysing novels, poems, and all sorts of other texts as they circulate in oral, print, and digital form. It shows how texts inspire each other, and how stories migrate across media. It explains why literature has been interpreted in different ways across time. Finally, it asks why some texts fascinate people so much that they are reproduced and passed on to others in the form of new editions, in adaptations to film and theatre, and, last but not least, in the ways we look at the world and act out our lives. The Life of Texts is designed around particular issues rather than the history of the discipline as such. Each chapter concentrates on a different aspect of 'the life of texts' and introduces the key debates and concepts relevant to its study. The issues discussed range from aesthetics and narrative to intertextuality and intermediality, from reading practices to hermeneutics and semiotics, popular culture to literary canonisation, postcolonial criticism to cultural memory. Key concepts and schools in the field have been highlighted in the text and then collected in a glossary for ease of reference. All chapters are richly illustrated with examples from different language areas.
Expressive Embodiment: Hegel, Habitual Agency and the Shortcomings of Normative Expressivism
Authors: Testa Italo
Published: November 2020

In this paper I tackle the normative re-appropriation of the legacy of Charles Taylor's expressivist understanding of Hegel's theory of action. I argue that a normative understanding of Hegel's expressivist notion of agency by interpreters such as Robert Pippin, Terry Pinkard, Michael Quante and Robert Brandom, has been obtained at the price of losing sight of the principle of embodiment and of its relevance for our and Hegel's understanding of social action. I aim at relocating Hegel's notion of expressive embodiment at the core of his explanation of action. Rather than following Taylor's hermeneutical reconstruction of the principle of embodiment, I try to reconstruct it by putting at its core the notion of habit formation with the help of conceptual tools taken from contemporary embodied cognition approaches. I first discuss theAnthropologyand argue that habit, understood as a sensorimotor embodied life form, is not only an enabling condition for agency, but in fact an ontological constitutive condition for all its levels of manifestation. According to this reading, the Hegelian approach to embodiment offers a model that not only assigns to habit a positive constitutive role in the formation of human mindedness, but also overcomes the dualism between habitual motor routine and intentional activities. If we approach Hegel's understanding of agency from this vantage point, we can gain a perspective which allows us to appreciate a naturalist strand of Hegel's expressivism about action and to free it from certain basic anti-naturalistic assumptions of contemporary normative expressivist interpretations of Hegel on social action.
A psychoeducational intervention increases use of a delirium protocol by Neurologists and Neurosurgeons in patients with brain disorders
Authors: Patel S. , Carey C. , Cotter D. , Murphy K. C.
Published: November 2020

Objectives:

Over 50% of inpatients with neurological disorders may present with a co-morbid psychiatric illness. Delirium has a reported point prevalence of 20% in hospital inpatients and is frequently undetected. We aimed to (1) examine inpatient referrals to a Liaison Neuropsychiatry service and (2) review the diagnosis and management of delirium before and after an educational intervention.

Methods:

An initial 6-month audit of referrals to the inpatient Liaison Neuropsychiatry service was conducted in 2018. We then undertook a psychoeducational intervention to raise awareness of the diagnosis and management of delirium. We conducted a re-audit of referrals to the service in 2019.

Results:

On initial audit, of 84 referrals, the most common referral was for mood (38%; n = 32). Just 4% (n = 3) had a specific delirium query. Following assessment by Neuropsychiatry, organic disorders (43%; n = 32), including delirium (33%; n = 25), were the most common diagnoses. On re-audit, of 86 referrals, mood assessment remained the most common reason for referral (38%; n = 33) and 2% (n = 2) were referred for possible delirium. Organic disorders remained the most common diagnoses (53%; n = 45) including delirium (38%; n = 32). We found a significant increase in the use of the delirium protocol from 12% (n = 3) on initial audit to 47% (n = 15); p < 0.01 on re-audit despite no increase in the number of specific delirium queries.

Conclusions:

A psychoeducational intervention improves the management of delirium by Neurologists and Neurosurgeons in patients with brain disorders.
Geomorphological evolution of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Authors: Marković Slobodan B. , Vandenberghe Jef , Stevens Thomas , Mihailović Dušan , Gavrilov Milivoj B. , Radaković Milica G. , Zeeden Christian , Obreht Igor , Perić Zoran M. , Nett Janina J. , Lehmkuhl Frank
Published: November 2020

Two phases of archaeological investigation were performed in the Novi Sad City Museum at Petrovaradin Fortress. In this study, we summarize the results of geo-archaeological investigations of the second period of excavation inside the Novi Sad City Museum building. The fortress is situated on a Danube terrace with the top of the bedrock at ca.123 m asl. The investigated section consists of undisturbed fine-sandy silt. The grain-size distribution of the sediments indicates clearly its alluvial reworking but shows also a general similarity with typical primary loess in the region. All analyzed proxies indicate slightly stronger weathering in the upper part of the profile. Luminescence ages suggest that the investigated sequence covers the last glacial period and the terrace presumably formed during MIS 4. Subsequently, the Danube started its incision at the start of the next warmer period (MIS 3) onward. This terrace age and elevation enable us to derive an uplift rate of the terrace of ca. 0.73 mm/a for the last 60 ka, which seems to increase towards the present. Basal loessic material, in which artifacts occur, likely in the reworked position, indicate that the area close to today's Petrovaradin Fortress was already inhabited in MIS 5.
Peat Properties and Holocene Carbon and Nitrogen Accumulation Rates in a Peatland in the Xinjiang Altai Mountains, Northwestern China
Authors: Zhang Yan , Yang Ping , Gao Chuanyu , Tong Chuan , Zhang Xinyan , Liu Xingtu , Zhang Shaoqing , Meyers Philip A.
Published: November 2020

A high‐resolution study of bulk properties in a peat sequence from the Xinjiang Altai Mountains of northwestern China has allowed reconstruction of local variations in peat properties and peat C and N accumulation rates (CAR and NAR) during the Holocene. Analyses of peat bulk density, loss on ignition, and concentrations of total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) and their elemental ratios and stable isotopic values suggest that changes in peat‐forming vegetation types during different parts of this epoch are the major factors responsible for the variations of peat properties in this sequence. The long‐term peat CAR has been 25.4 ± 7.7 (SD) g C/m2/yr, with lower values during the early Holocene and higher accumulations during the late Holocene, which is opposite to the Holocene variations in CAR in other northern peatlands. In contrast, the long‐term peat NAR is 1.5 ± 0.5 (SD) g N/m2/yr and is higher during the early and middle Holocene and lower during the late Holocene as in other northern peatlands. However, unlike other northern peatlands, long‐term peat NAR does not vary with the CAR, which is influenced by the peat density and accumulation rate. Variations in long‐term peat C and N accumulations in the Altai Mountains can be attributed to changes in primary productivity, in the dominant plant types and in peat decomposition caused by changes in both regional Holocene climate and local conditions.
Comparing Flood Projection Approaches Across Hydro‐Climatologically Diverse United States River Basins
Authors: Schlef Katherine E. , François Baptiste , Brown Casey
Published: November 2020

The challenge of estimating design flood magnitude under climate change has led to the development of multiple approaches to long‐term flood projection: stationarity, informed‐parameter (composed of both trend informed and climate informed), and hydrologic simulation. This is the first study to compare these approaches across a large set of hydro‐climatologically diverse basins located throughout the contiguous United States, grouped into distinct clusters based on catchment and flood characteristics. The comparison is achieved using a split‐sample test conducted over the historic period; the climate (specifically, precipitation) informed and hydrologic simulation (specifically, Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting model) approaches are forced with observations and downscaled general circulation model (GCM) simulations. The results provide a quantitative perspective on key long‐term flood projection issues. The precipitation informed approach can be informative for projections of regional change; the hydrologic simulation approach can be informative for direction of change for a single basin. When forced with GCM outputs, precipitation informed is both more accurate and more precise than hydrologic simulation, after accounting for model error. For hydrologic simulation, forcing with GCMs will add positive bias for basins in the Rocky Mountains and Southwest and will add negative bias with large uncertainty across GCMs for basins in the lower Midwest, the South, and the mid‐Atlantic seaboard. The results illustrate the need for continued improvement in long‐term flood projection approaches and for design paradigms incorporating uncertainty.
Moon May Hold Billions of Tons of Subterranean Ice at Its Poles
Authors: Pinson Jerald
Published: November 2020

By modeling over 4 billion years of the Moon’s impact history, scientists estimate that the lunar poles may harbor billions of metric tons of subsurface ice.
Distinguishing Variability Regimes of Hawaiian Summer Rainfall: Quasi‐Biennial and Interdecadal Oscillations
Authors: Luo Xiao , Wang Bin , Frazier Abby G. , Giambelluca Thomas W.
Published: November 2020

Summer precipitation in Hawai'i accounts for 40% of the annual total and provides important water sources. However, our knowledge about its variability remains limited. Here we show that statewide Hawai'i summer rainfall (HSR) variability exhibits two distinct regimes: quasi‐biennial (QB, ~2 years) and interdecadal (~30–40 years). The QB variation is linked to alternating occurrences of the Western North Pacific (WNP) cyclone and anticyclone in successive years, which is modulated by the intrinsic El Niño–Southern Oscillation biennial variability and involves a positive feedback between atmospheric Rossby waves and underlying sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies. The interdecadal variation of HSR is largely modulated by the Pacific Decadal Oscillation through affecting upstream low‐level humidity that affects topographic rainfall. HSR shows weak long‐term drying trend during 1920–2019. This first description of the major physical drivers of summer rainfall variability provides key information for seasonal rainfall prediction in Hawai'i.
Formation of Igneous Layering in the Lower Oceanic Crust From the Samail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman
Authors: Mock D. , Neave D. A. , Müller S. , Garbe‐Schönberg D. , Namur O. , Ildefonse B. , Koepke J.
Published: November 2020

As the largest and best exposed example of paleo fast‐spreading oceanic crust on land, the Samail ophiolite in the Sultanate of Oman represents an ideal natural laboratory for investigating deep crustal processes at fast‐spreading mid‐ocean ridges. We studied two layered gabbro sequences from different stratigraphic depths: one from the middle of the plutonic crust showing decimeter‐scale modal layering (i.e., varying phase proportions) with olivine abundances gradually decreasing from layer bases to tops (Wadi Somerah, Sumail block) and one located near the crust‐mantle boundary showing millimeter‐scale olivine‐rich layers (Wadi Wariyah, Wadi Tayin block). Our multimethod approach of field, petrographic, geochemical, and microstructural observations focuses on documenting layered textures that are widely observed within the lower oceanic crust as well as understanding their formation mechanisms within the context of small scale crustal accretion processes beneath fast‐spreading mid‐ocean ridges. Results from the mid‐crustal sequence indicate moderate cooling rates (Ca‐in‐olivine: log[dT/dt; °C yr−1] = −2.21 ± 0.7) and correlated variations in mineral compositions and microstructures. We infer that decimeter‐scale layers in Wadi Somerah were deposited by density currents of crystal‐laden magma within a sill environment that potentially experienced occasional magma replenishment. The millimeter layering in Wadi Wariyah is best explained by Ostwald ripening emphasizing initial heterogeneities possibly being provoked by cyclical nucleation of olivine through the competing effects of element diffusion and rapid cooling. Fast cooling is recorded for the crustal base (Ca‐in‐olivine: log[dT/dt; °C yr−1] = −1.19 ± 0.5, Mg‐in‐plagioclase: log[dT/dt; °C yr−1] = −1.35°C ± 0.6) demonstrating that heat locally can be lost very efficiently from the lowermost crust.
Climate Variability Impacts on Global Extreme Wave Heights: Seasonal Assessment Using Satellite Data and ERA5 Reanalysis
Authors: Patra Anindita , Min Seung‐Ki , Seong Min‐Gyu
Published: November 2020

This study examines the influences of major climate variability modes on global extreme significant wave height (SWH) during 1992–2016 using merged satellite altimeter records and ERA5 reanalysis data set. El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), North Pacific Oscillation (NPO), and Southern Annular mode (SAM) are considered during December–February (DJF), March–May (MAM), June–August (JJA), and September–November (SON). A nonstationary generalized extreme value analysis is applied to seasonal maxima of SWH (Hmax) to identify the regions with significant impacts of climate variability. In addition to major impacts over the northeastern North Pacific (NP) and Maritime Continent during DJF, signature of ENSO in Hmax is observed over the southeast South Pacific during all seasons associated with the Pacific South America pattern and over the western NP during JJA and SON through the El Niño‐East Asian teleconnection mechanism. Notable contribution of NAO to North Atlantic Hmax, resulting from north‐south movement of storm track, is observed during DJF and MAM. Increased Hmax is concentrated around the northeast NP during the positive phase of NPO during DJF, which accompanies Aleutian low strengthening and suggests possible combined influence with ENSO. SAM influences on Hmax are characterized by a zonal pattern in the Southern mid‐ and high latitudes around the year, with seasonally distinct zonal extent and meridional shifts. Overall, the satellite and reanalysis data exhibit consistent results. Hmax responses are generally in accord with extreme wind and sea‐level pressure gradient amplitude, supporting the wind‐driven extreme wave mechanisms.
Propagating Mechanisms of the 2016 Summer BSISO Event: Air‐Sea Coupling, Vorticity, and Moisture
Authors: Wang Shuguang , Sobel Adam H. , Lee Chia‐Ying , Ma Ding , Chen Shuyi , Curcic Milan , Pullen Julie
Published: November 2020

During the summer of 2016, a boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) event was observed over Southeast Asia and the South China and Philippine seas. Precipitation anomalies associated with this event propagated northward at a speed of 0.5–1° per day from July to August. To understand the mechanisms, a regional atmosphere‐ocean coupled system with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) is used to study this BSISO event. The 50‐day‐long coupled simulations reasonably capture large‐scale northward propagation of the event. Coupled simulations with altered air‐sea interaction and atmosphere‐only simulations with prescribed sea surface temperature illuminate the insignificant role of air‐sea interaction within the computation domain in the northward propagation the for this event. Diagnostics of the coupled simulation as well as the ECMWF‐Interim reanalyses indicate that convection and barotropic vorticity are largely in phase north of 5°N during the event. The BSISO convection is accompanied by moisture anomalies whose magnitudes increase as the BSISO propagates northward. Analysis of the moisture budget shows that positive horizontal advection leads positive moisture anomalies on the intraseasonal time scale north of 10°N. The vorticity‐convection relationship, the lead‐lag relationship between moisture and its horizontal advection, and the latitude dependence of each for this BSISO event are consistent with general features of BSISO events composited with ECWMF‐Interim reanalysis and satellite precipitation data sets.
The Long‐Lived and Recent Seismicity at the Lunar Orientale Basin: Evidence From Morphology and Formation Ages of Boulder Avalanches, Tectonics, and Seismic Ground Motion
Authors: Mohanty Rupali , Kumar P. Senthil , Raghukanth S. T. G. , Lakshmi K. J. P.
Published: November 2020

The geologic analysis of lunar tectonic and co‐existing mass wasting features provides important insights into seismicity, seismic ground motion, and the seismic risk of the landed missions. Hence, we performed a detailed geologic mapping of tectonic features and co‐seismic boulder avalanches present at the 930‐km‐diameter lunar Orientale basin. We traced 6869 boulder falls at 141 sites along the basin rings, impact crater walls, and volcanic features. The boulder fields also occur on the graben walls and wrinkle ridges. The boulder trail length and width, and slopes of trail and source region of fallen boulders provide insights into formation processes and transport dynamics. Tens of sites have anomalously larger number of boulder falls and trail density. The cumulative size‐frequency distributions of superimposed impact craters present on the boulder trails provided their model formation ages varying between present and 7.5 Ma with at least eight formation episodes, suggesting the timings of seismic activities along the Cordillera and Outer Rook Rings. Many boulder falls are devoid of superimposed impact craters suggesting their recent origins, including some possibly triggered by the 1972 (MW 2.7) shallow moonquake that occurred near the Cordillera Ring. The formation rates of shallow moonquakes and impact craters along with the seismic ground motion simulations suggest that shallow moonquakes are more dominant sources of ground shaking for triggering the boulder falls in the last 30 million years. Therefore, the Orientale basin has been seismically active for long time and it may be seismically hazardous locally for the future landed missions.
Linking Large‐Eddy Simulations to Local Cloud Observations
Authors: Schemann Vera , Ebell Kerstin , Pospichal Bernhard , Neggers Roel , Moseley Christopher , Stevens Bjorn
Published: November 2020

In order to enhance our understanding of clouds and their microphysical processes, it is crucial to exploit both observations and models. Local observations from ground‐based remote sensing sites provide detailed information on clouds, but as they are limited in dimension, there is no straightforward way to use them to guide large‐scale model development. We show that large‐eddy simulations (LES) performed on similar temporal and spatial scales as the local observations can bridge this gap. Recently, LES with realistic topography and lateral boundary conditions became feasible for domains spanning several 100 km. In this study, we show how these simulations can be linked to observations of the Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution (JOYCE) for a 9‐day period in spring 2013. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of very large versus small but more constrained domains as well as the differences compared to more idealized setups. The semi‐idealized LES include time‐varying forcing but are run with homogeneous surfaces and periodic boundary conditions. These assumptions seem to be the reason why they struggle to represent the observed varying conditions. The simulations using the “realistic” setup are able to represent the general cloud structure (timing, height, phase). It seems that the smaller and more constrained domain allows for a tighter control on the synoptic situation and is the preferred choice to ensure the comparability to the local observations. These simulations together with measures as the shown Hellinger distance will allow us to gain more insights into the representativeness of column measurements in the future.
Diurnal Pumped‐Storage Operation Minimizes Methane Ebullition Fluxes From Hydropower Reservoirs
Authors: Encinas Fernández Jorge , Hofmann Hilmar , Peeters Frank
Published: November 2020

Hydropower is considered green energy and promoted to reduce greenhouse warming. However, hydropower is typically generated using reservoirs and reservoirs are known to emit substantial amounts of the greenhouse gas methane (CH4) to the atmosphere. In many reservoirs ebullition is the dominant pathway of CH4 emission. We show that continuous diurnal pumped‐storage operation, which combines water pumping into the reservoir typically during the night and water drawdown during high demand of electricity, is beneficial for reducing CH4 ebullition associated with hydropower generation. This conclusion is based on ebullition fluxes and water levels measured over 3 months in Schwarzenbach reservoir located in Germany. The reservoir was managed using three modes of operation: (1) diurnal pumping and turbination, (2) no pumping and no turbination, and (3) diurnal turbination. Cross‐correlation analysis indicates that ebullition fluxes predominantly occur during diurnal water level decrease associated with turbination. Consistently, average ebullition fluxes of CH4 were negligible during Mode (2) and substantial during Modes (1) and (3). During Mode (3) the average CH4 ebullition flux was ~197 mg m−2day−1, ~12 times larger than during Mode (1) (16 mg m−2day−1). Our data indicate that overall CH4 ebullition is about 3 times larger during 51 days of operation consisting of 38 days of no turbination followed by 13 days of diurnal turbination than during 51 days of continuous diurnal pumped‐storage operation. This suggests that continuous diurnal pumped‐storage operation leads to reduced CH4 ebullition from reservoirs and is therefore advantageous compared to modes of operations involving long‐term, large‐amplitude turbination cycles.
Gamma oscillations predict pro-cognitive and clinical response to auditory-based cognitive training in schizophrenia
Authors: Molina Juan L. , Thomas Michael L. , Joshi Yash B. , Hochberger William C. , Koshiyama Daisuke , Nungaray John A. , Cardoso Lauren , Sprock Joyce , Braff David L. , Swerdlow Neal R. , Light Gregory A.
Published: November 2020

Cognitive impairments are pervasive and disabling features of schizophrenia. Targeted cognitive training (TCT) is a “bottom-up” cognitive remediation intervention with efficacy for neurocognitive outcomes in schizophrenia, yet individual responses are variable. Gamma oscillatory measures are leading candidate biomarkers in the development of biologically informed pro-cognitive therapeutics. Forty-two schizophrenia patients were recruited from a long-term residential treatment facility. Participants were randomized to receive either 1 h of cognitive training (TCT, n = 21) or computer games (TAU, n = 21). All participants received standard-of-care treatment; the TCT group additionally completed 30 h of cognitive training. The auditory steady-state response paradigm was used to elicit gamma oscillatory power and synchrony during electroencephalogram recordings. Detailed clinical and cognitive assessments were collected at baseline and after completion of the study. Baseline gamma power predicted cognitive gains after a full course of TCT (MCCB, R2 = 0.31). A change in gamma power after 1-h TCT exposure predicted improvement in both positive (SAPS, R2 = 0.40) and negative (SANS, R2 = 0.30) symptoms. These relationships were not observed in the TAU group (MCCB, SAPS, and SANS, all R2 < 0.06). The results indicate that the capacity to support gamma oscillations, as well as the plasticity of the underlying ASSR circuitry after acute exposure to 1 h of TCT, reflect neural mechanisms underlying the efficacy of TCT, and may be used to predict individualized treatment outcomes. These findings suggest that gamma oscillatory biomarkers applied within the context of experimental medicine designs can be used to personalize individual treatment options for pro-cognitive interventions in patients with schizophrenia.
Tilapia lake virus downplays innate immune responses during early stage of infection in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)
Authors: Mugimba Kizito K. , Lamkhannat Mustapha , Dubey Saurabh , Mutoloki Stephen , Munang’andu Hetron M. , Evensen Øystein
Published: November 2020

Tilapia lake virus (TiLV) causes high mortality and high economic losses in tilapines. We describe an experimental challenge study focusing on early post challenge innate immune responses. Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were infected with 105 TCID50/mL TiLV intraperitoneally, followed by virus quantification, histopathology and gene expression analysis in target (brain/liver) and lymphoid (spleen/headkidney) organs at 3, 7, 12, 17, and 34 days post challenge (dpc). Onset of mortality was from 21 dpc, and cumulative mortality was 38.5% by 34 dpc. Liver and kidney histopathology developed over the period 3–17 dpc, characterized by anisocytosis, anisokaryocytosis, and formation of multinucleated hepatocytes. Viral loads were highest at early time (3 dpc) in liver, spleen and kidney, declining towards 34 dpc. In brain, viral titer peaked 17 dpc. Innate sensors, TLRs 3/7 were inversely correlated with virus titer in brain and headkidney, and IFN-ß and Mx showed a similar pattern. All organs showed increased mRNA IgM expression over the course of infection. Overall, high virus titers downplay innate responses, and an increase is seen when viral titers decline. In silico modeling found that TiLV segments 4, 5 and 10 carry nucleolar localization signals. Anti-viral effects of TiLV facilitate production of virus at early stage of infection.
Insights in the regulation of trimetylamine N-oxide production using a comparative biomimetic approach suggest a metabolic switch in hibernating bears
Authors: Ebert Thomas , Painer Johanna , Bergman Peter , Qureshi Abdul Rashid , Giroud Sylvain , Stalder Gabrielle , Kublickiene Karolina , Göritz Frank , Vetter Sebastian , Bieber Claudia , Fröbert Ole , Arnemo Jon M. , Zedrosser Andreas , Redtenbacher Irene , Shiels Paul G. , Johnson Richard J. , Stenvinkel Peter
Published: November 2020

Experimental studies suggest involvement of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) in the aetiology of cardiometabolic diseases and chronic kidney disease (CKD), in part via metabolism of ingested food. Using a comparative biomimetic approach, we have investigated circulating levels of the gut metabolites betaine, choline, and TMAO in human CKD, across animal species as well as during hibernation in two animal species. Betaine, choline, and TMAO levels were associated with renal function in humans and differed significantly across animal species. Free-ranging brown bears showed a distinct regulation pattern with an increase in betaine (422%) and choline (18%) levels during hibernation, but exhibited undetectable levels of TMAO. Free-ranging brown bears had higher betaine, lower choline, and undetectable TMAO levels compared to captive brown bears. Endogenously produced betaine may protect bears and garden dormice during the vulnerable hibernating period. Carnivorous eating habits are linked to TMAO levels in the animal kingdom. Captivity may alter the microbiota and cause a subsequent increase of TMAO production. Since free-ranging bears seems to turn on a metabolic switch that shunts choline to generate betaine instead of TMAO, characterisation and understanding of such an adaptive switch could hold clues for novel treatment options in burden of lifestyle diseases, such as CKD.