bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
SUMMABILITY AND ASYMPTOTICS OF POSITIVE SOLUTIONS OF AN EQUATION OF WOLFF TYPE
Authors: LI CHUNHONG , LEI YUTIAN
Published: May 2024

We use potential analysis to study the properties of positive solutions of a discrete Wolff-type equation
$$ \begin{align*} w(i)=W_{\beta,\gamma}(w^q)(i), \quad i \in \mathbb{Z}^n. \end{align*} $$

Here,
$n \geq 1$
,
$\min \{q,\beta \}>0$
,
$1<\gamma \leq 2$
and
$\beta \gamma <n$
. Such an equation can be used to study nonlinear problems on graphs appearing in the study of crystal lattices, neural networks and other discrete models. We use the method of regularity lifting to obtain an optimal summability of positive solutions of the equation. From this result, we obtain the decay rate of
$w(i)$
when
$|i| \to \infty $
.
The affinity of microcontinents in northern East Gondwana in the Silurian: Hainan Island response to the closure of the Proto-Tethys Ocean
Authors: Gao Shiyao , Xu Zhongjie , Kong Jintao , Tan Hua , sun Yingming , Fu Hexue , Ming Yin
Published: May 2024

During the existence of Proto-Tethys Ocean (550–430 Ma), microcontinents in northern East Gondwana merged with the northern margin of India-Australia, completing the assembly of Gondwana. Ongoing controversy surrounds the disappearance of the Proto-Tethys Ocean, the dynamic mechanisms of suturing and the palaeogeographic relationships among microcontinents in northern East Gondwana, contributing to the uncertainty about the tectonic evolution of the region. This paper concerns the lower Silurian Zusailing Formation in the Hainan Island and focuses on the affinity between Hainan Island and various microcontinents in northern East Gondwana during the early Silurian. We use detrital zircon geochronology to reconstruct the closure process of the Proto-Tethys Ocean and show that the detrital zircon U–Pb age groups of the lower Silurian Zusailing Formation are 2800–2200, 2100–1350, 1250–950, 600–480 and 480–430 Ma, with a significant age peak of ca. 449 Ma. Furthermore, the analysis of detrital zircon geochemistry and europium anomalies shows that the Hainan Island crust continued to thicken during 600–434 Ma. Comparing the age spectrum of early Palaeozoic detrital zircons from Hainan Island and various microcontinents in northern East Gondwana, as well as the affinity among them during the Silurian, we conclude that the closure of the eastern Proto-Tethys Ocean evolved from unidirectional subduction (600–480 Ma) to bidirectional subduction (480–430 Ma).
Oral health and multimorbidity: is diet the chicken or the egg?
Authors: Marshall Teresa A. , Touger-Decker Riva
Published: May 2024

Oral health is a critical component of overall health and well-being, not just the absence of disease. The objective of this review paper is to describe relationships among diet, nutrition and oral and systemic diseases that contribute to multimorbidity. Diet- and nutrient-related risk factors for oral diseases include high intakes of free sugars, low intakes of fruits and vegetables and nutrient-poor diets which are similar to diet- and nutrient-related risk factors for systemic diseases. Oral diseases are chronic diseases. Once the disease process is initiated, it persists throughout the lifespan. Pain and tissue loss from oral disease leads to oral dysfunction which contributes to impaired biting, chewing, oral motility and swallowing. Oral dysfunction makes it difficult to eat nutrient-dense whole grains, fruits and vegetables associated with a healthy diet. Early childhood caries (ECC) associated with frequent intake of free sugars is one of the first manifestations of oral disease. The presence of ECC is our ‘canary in the coal mine’ for diet-related chronic diseases. The dietary sugars causing ECC are not complementary to an Eatwell Guide compliant diet, but rather consistent with a diet high in energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods – typically ultra-processed in nature. This diet generally deteriorates throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood increasing the risk of diet-related chronic diseases. Recognition of ECC is an opportunity to intervene and disrupt the pathway to multimorbidities. Disruption of this pathway will reduce the risk of multimorbidities and enable individuals to fully engage in society throughout the lifespan.
The Outdoor Condition: Reading Arendt on a Warming Planet
Authors: Markell Patchen
Published: May 2024

Is Hannah Arendt's political thought relevant to the contemporary planetary situation? This article draws on The Human Condition and some of Arendt's ancient and modern sources to answer this question, using a phenomenological distinction between outdoors and indoors to make sense of three likely types of artificial adaptation to a warming planet. Arendt's account of the importance of the “body-bound senses” of an “earth-bound creature” need not result in the problematic fetishization of immediate rather than mediated knowledge, or of an “earthly nature” supposedly prior to and independent of the human artifice, but can draw attention to the narrowing of human beings’ “angle of receptivity” to a surprising and unpredictable reality. This perspective, however, also discloses the limits of Arendt's work in the face of ecological transformations that are simultaneously planetary in scale and highly unequal in their consequences.
PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC HEALTH ETHICS PRINCIPLISM, AND GOOD GOVERNANCE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Authors: Schüklenk Udo
Published: May 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about at least two normative challenges on unprecedented scale for liberal democracies. One concerned prioritization decisions when health care resources were constrained. The other, which arguably led to lasting damage to social cohesion and citizens’ trust in government and government public health institutions, concerned policies introduced with the aim of reducing the spread of SARS-CoV2, some of which turned out to be mistaken. I discuss in this essay a few examples of misguided, liberty-limiting public health policies and describe how public health and public health ethics principlism provided cover for such policies. Citizens had reasons to be concerned about the duration of such liberty-infringing policies, the absence of predictable government policies, and the absence of transparent justifications for the policies that were implemented.
FROM REGIONS TO THE WORLD: GLOBAL CRISES FROM THE THIRD CENTURY TO TODAY
Authors: Davies Stephen
Published: May 2024

Crises, defined as a period of acute stress on social systems of all kinds, are a recurrent feature of history. As such, they are best approached and understood from a comparative historical perspective. We can distinguish between those caused or precipitated by an exogenous shock and those that derive from an endogenous process that culminates in the crisis. Crises can be of short or long duration and range from local to global. The most severe are ones that lead to a civilizational collapse or radical simplification process. Historically, severe crises have been localized to specific parts of the planet, even when several occur simultaneously because of global natural phenomena, but in the modern world we have truly global crises. Evidence suggests that such a global crisis is imminent or has already commenced. This raises practical and normative pressing issues.
Quantifying transitivity: Uncovering relations of gender and power
Authors: Aaron Jessi Elana
Published: May 2024

Transitivity has come to be recognized as a promising heuristic tool for uncovering implicit ideologies in a wide range of areas. Though it has been used to explore worldviews in several kinds of discourse, nearly all have relied solely on qualitative analyses. Statistical analysis can offer a fuller understanding of past societies. This study applies a gradient, discourse-based understanding of transitivity, which lends itself nicely to corpus-based analysis, to data from 16th-century New Spain. In colonial Mexico, female behaviors were often strictly circumscribed. This paper uses a quantitative, corpus-based framework to examine how gender inequality is reflected in patterns of transitivity. It is found that female subjects are significantly associated with imperfective contexts, nonfinite constructions, akinesis, and low affectedness of the object—all markers of lower transitivity. Thus, for the most part, in these data, women are represented as inactive, inert, and powerless.
Sufficiency of
$\boldsymbol{c}$
-cyclical monotonicity in a class of multi-marginal optimal transport problems
Authors: De Pascale Luigi , Kausamo Anna
Published: May 2024

$c$
-cyclical monotonicity is the most important optimality condition for an optimal transport plan. While the proof of necessity is relatively easy, the proof of sufficiency is often more difficult or even elusive. We present here a new approach, and we show how known results are derived in this new framework and how this approach allows to prove sufficiency in situations previously not treatable.
The “emotional brain” of adolescent Spanish–German heritage speakers: is emotional intelligence a proxy for productive emotional vocabulary?
Authors: Vidal Noguera Carmen , Mavrou Irini
Published: May 2024

Autobiographical memories (AMs) are partly influenced by people's ability to process and express their emotions. This study investigated the extent to which trait emotional intelligence (EI) contributed to the emotional vocabulary of 148 adolescents – 60 speakers of Spanish as a heritage language (HL) raised in Germany, 61 first-language (L1) German speakers and 27 L1 Spanish speakers – in their written AMs of anger and surprise. The results revealed that heritage speakers with high trait EI used more emotional words in their AMs. These bilinguals also used more positive, negative and high-arousal words in their HL and in their AMs of anger. Similar patterns were observed in the AMs produced in Spanish (HL and L1), but L1 Spanish speakers used more emotional words in their AMs of surprise. By contrast, L1 German speakers used more emotional words than bilinguals in their AMs in German, and AMs of anger in German included more emotional vocabulary than those addressing surprise events.
Constitutional Courts as Guarantors of EU Charter Rights: A Rhetorical Perspective on Constitutional Change in Austria and Germany
Authors: Schnetter Marcus
Published: May 2024

The ‘rights revolution’ and ‘displacement doctrine’ of the European Court of Justice – EU Charter as a yardstick for constitutional review – Constitutional Courts of Austria and Germany: Charter judgment and Right to Be Forgotten II order – Rhetoric, persuasion and eloquence in judicial reasoning
The Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the	Academic Grit Scale (AGS) in Chinese Adolescents
Authors: Bei Dong-Li , Liu Yang , Zheng Chuan-Zhang , Yao Cheng-Kui , Luo Jie , Ge Ying
Published: May 2024

Abstract: The academic grit scale (AGS) is a new measure developed to assess the level of adolescents’ grit in an academic-specific context. The main purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties, factor structure, and measurement invariance of the AGS among Chinese adolescents. A cross-sectional design and convenient sampling were conducted in a sample of Chinese adolescents ( N = 619, 50.6% female, Mage = 14.56 years, SD = 1.47 years) using the AGS. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the original unidimensional model of the AGS, and multiple-group CFA further verified the AGS scores had strong measurement invariance across gender (i.e., boys and girls) and grade level (i.e., middle school students and high school students). Moreover, the AGS also showed satisfactory internal consistency (using Cronbach’s α, McDonald’s ω, and mean inter-item correlation) and criterion validity, supported by expected relationships with scores on external variables (i.e., general grit, anxiety, and depression). In conclusion, these findings suggest that the AGS has satisfactory psychometric properties and can be a reliable tool to measure the academic grit level of Chinese adolescents.
Dipole Source to Model Ground Deformation Due To Magma Migration
Authors: Cannavó Flavio
Published: May 2024

Although magma migration is a necessary condition for the occurrence of a volcanic eruption, static analytical models for ground deformations consider stationary sources that undergo a change only in forces acting in the Earth's interior, such as changes in pressure or volume in a geometrically defined body. The variations in pressure or volume are mostly linked to the fluid dynamics or the superficializing of magma batches. Detection and tracking of magma motion in volcanic areas represent fundamental capabilities in predicting possible eruptions and therefore in reducing their associated risks. In the 3‐dimensional space, a magma migration defines a starting volume in depression and an arrival volume in overpressure. These end members can be modeled with two bonded point sources. Such a double‐point source can be considered the equivalent of a physical dipole. Here, the analytical solutions to predict ground deformations caused by a dipole source are presented and analyzed. The dipole analytical source allows modeling the effects on ground deformation of magma migration and vice versa. Estimating the magma migration from the measured ground deformation through data inversion. The dipole solution is compared with the basic volumetric source to discern its distinctive peculiarities and range of applicability. In addition, a discrepancy analysis with the equivalent numerical model was conducted to evaluate the approximation errors of the analytical model. To evaluate the practical value of the proposed model, two case studies on Sinabung volcano and Mt. Etna are presented. The analysis of continuous deformation data from GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) stations on Mt. Etna shows that a dipole source activates days before the December 2018 eruption, thus allowing the identification of the final magma rise.
Land Use Change Alters Soil Organic Carbon: Constrained Global Patterns and Predictors
Authors: Huang Xingzhao , Ibrahim Muhammed Mustapha , Luo Yiqi , Jiang Lifen , Chen Ji , Hou Enqing
Published: May 2024

Land use change (LUC) alters the global carbon (C) stock, but our estimation of the alteration remains uncertain and is a major impediment to predicting the global C cycle. The uncertainty is partly due to the limited number and geographical bias of observations, and limited exploration of its predictors. Here we generated a comprehensive global database of 5,980 observations from 790 articles. The number of sites evaluated is at least seven times larger than in previous meta‐analyses. Our constrained estimates of different LUC's effects on soil organic C (SOC) and their variations across global climates reveal underestimation/overestimation in previous estimates. Converting forests and grasslands to croplands reduced SOC by 24.5% ± 1.53% (−11.03 ± 1.06 Mg ha−1) and 22.7% ± 1.22% (−8.09 ± 0.67 Mg ha−1), while 28.0% ± 1.56% (4.46 ± 0.42 Mg ha−1) and 33.5% ± 1.68% (5.8 ± 0.38 Mg ha−1) increases, respectively, were obtained in the reverse processes. Converting forests to grasslands decreased SOC by 2.1% ± 1.22% (−1.13 ± 0.44 Mg ha−1), while the reverse process increased SOC by 18.6% ± 1.73% (3.31 ± 0.51 Mg ha−1). Modeled relative importance of 10 drivers of LUC's impact on SOC revealed that higher initial SOC (iSOC) does not solely determine SOC loss in SOC‐negative LUC scenarios as previously proposed. Across four decades, reconverting croplands to forests and grasslands recovered only 49.5% (6.1 ± 0.51 Mg ha−1) and 75.3% (7.0 ± 0.38 Mg ha−1) of the iSOC, respectively, indicating the need for protecting C‐rich ecosystems. Our global data set advances information on LUC's effect on SOC and can be valuable to constrain Earth system models to reliably estimate global SOC stocks and plan climate change mitigation strategies.
Biogeochemical Fluxes of Nickel in the Global Oceans Inferred From a Diagnostic Model
Authors: John Seth G. , Liang Hengdi , Pasquier Benoît , Holzer Mark , Silva Sam
Published: May 2024

Nickel (Ni) is a micronutrient that plays a role in nitrogen uptake and fixation in the modern ocean and may have affected rates of methanogenesis on geological timescales. Here, we present the results of a diagnostic model of global ocean Ni fluxes which addresses key questions about marine Ni cycling. Sparsely available observations of Ni concentration are first extrapolated into a global gridded climatology using tracers with better observational coverage such as macronutrients, and testing three different machine learning techniques. The physical transport of Ni is then estimated using the ocean circulation inverse model (OCIM2), revealing regions of net convergence or divergence. These diagnostics are not based on any assumption about Ni biogeochemical cycling, but their spatial patterns can be used to infer where biogeochemical processes such as biological Ni uptake and regeneration take place. Although Ni and silicate (Si) have similar concentration patterns in the ocean, we find that the spatial pattern of Ni uptake in the surface ocean is similar to phosphate (P) uptake but not to silicate (Si) uptake. This suggests that their similar distributions arise from different biogeochemical mechanisms, consistent with other evidence showing that Ni is not incorporated into diatom frustules. We find that Ni:P ratios at uptake do not decrease as Ni concentrations approach 2 nM, which challenges the hypothesis of a ∼2 nM pool of non‐bioavailable Ni in the surface ocean. Finally, we find that the net regeneration of Ni occurs deeper in the ocean than for P, though not as deeply as for Si.
Drivers of Changes to the ENSO–Europe Teleconnection Under Future Warming
Authors: Beverley J. D. , Collins M. , Lambert F. H. , Chadwick R.
Published: May 2024

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnection to Europe is projected to strengthen under global warming in most climate model simulations. However, given the current difference between recent observations and historical model simulations of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature trends, with models simulating an El Niño‐like warming in recent decades which is in disagreement with observations, it is important to understand the relative contributions of changes to the teleconnection forcing and background state to the overall teleconnection change. Using idealized climate model experiments, we show that both the eastward shift of El Niño precipitation and background state changes make contributions to the overall teleconnection change. These results suggest that the ENSO–Europe teleconnection can be expected to strengthen under global warming, even if ENSO precipitation anomalies do not shift eastwards as currently projected. However, the magnitude of the strengthening may depend on how much of an eastward shift does occur.
Ambient Seismic Noise Tomography Within the Floridan Aquifer System, Santa Fe River‐Sink Rise, Florida, US
Authors: Gochenour Jacob Alexander , Bilek Susan L. , Woo Han Byul , Luhmann Andrew J. , Grapenthin Ronni , Martin Jonathan B.
Published: May 2024

This study utilized ambient seismic noise tomography to investigate correlations of hydrogeological systems with heterogeneous porosity with the internal velocity structure of karst aquifers using the Floridan Aquifer System (FAS) as an example. We conducted a seismic signal analysis with 30 days of vertical component seismic data acquired within the Santa Fe River Sink‐Rise system (Sink‐Rise System), using power spectral density estimates and frequency‐wavenumber analysis to identify any noise source biases. Empirical Green's functions were derived through phase cross‐correlations and phase‐weighted stacking. The functions allowed extraction of group velocity dispersion measurements, which were inverted to generate 2D tomographic images at various periods. Tomographic images show multiple layers with varying group velocities that aligned with known hydrogeological features of the FAS, including its base, low‐porosity and low‐permeability dolostone semiconfining units characterized by elevated velocities, and zones of elevated porosity from karstification with reduced seismic velocities. Our results show how ambient seismic noise can be used to evaluate aquifer physical properties, identify unknown features, and identify the location and continuity of aquifer units.
Urban Effect on Precipitation and Deep Convective Systems Over Dallas‐Fort Worth
Authors: Zhou Xin , Letson Fred , Crippa Paola , Pryor Sara C.
Published: May 2024

A range of multi‐year observational data sets are used to characterize the hydroclimate of the Dallas Fort‐Worth area (DFW) and to investigate the impact of urban land cover on daily accumulated precipitation, RADAR composite reflectivity (cREF), and cloud top height (CTH) during the warm season. Analyses of observational data indicate rainfall rates (RR) in a 45° annulus sector 50–100 km downwind of the city are enhanced relative to an upwind area of comparable size. Enhancement of mean precipitation intensity in this annulus sector is not observed on days with spatially averaged RR > 6 mm/day. Under some flow directions, the probability of cREF >30 dBZ, occurrence of hail, and the probability of CTH >10,000 geopotential meters are also enhanced up to 200 km downwind of DFW. Two deep convection events that passed over DFW are simulated with the Weather Research and Forecasting model using a range of microphysical schemes and evaluated using RADAR observations. Model configurations that exhibit the highest fidelity in these control simulations are used in a series of perturbation experiments where the areal extent of the city is varied between zero (replacement with grassland) and eight times its current size. These perturbation experiments indicate a non‐linear response of Mesoscale Convective System properties to the urban areal extent and a very strong sensitivity to the microphysical scheme used. The impact on precipitation from the urban area, even when it is expanded to eight‐times the current extent, is much less marked for deep convection with stronger synoptic forcing.
A Case Study Featuring the Time Evolution of a Fire‐Induced Plume Jet Over the Rum Creek Fire: Mechanisms, Processes, and Dynamical Interplay
Authors: Strobach E. J. , Carroll B. J. , Baidar S. , Brown S. S. , Ahmadov R. , Brewer W. A. , Pichugina Y. , Makowiecki A. , Peischl J. , Zuraski K.
Published: May 2024

Results are presented from the Rum Creek fire during the California Fire Dynamics Experiment (CalFiDE). An instrumented payload aboard the NOAA Twin Otter (TO) aircraft, which included a scanning micro‐pulsed Doppler lidar (DL) and in situ chemistry packages, was used to address the evolution of a buoyant plume jet (BPJ) and transport dynamics over the southwest corner of the fire between 09/01/2022 and 09/02/2022. An approach previously developed to isolate updrafts was modified to account for the Gaussian core structure when addressing the evolution of the updraft, plume‐top entrainment, lateral entrainment, and the role of fire‐atmosphere interactions on the characteristics of the BPJ during four overpasses. A persistent cross‐valley flow leading up to the BPJ was observed for all four overpasses, with flow enhancement during the second overpass that coincided with changes in the BPJ structure and turbulence characteristics surrounding the BPJ. Length scales and entrainment rates were estimated at the lateral edges and the top of the plume. In the case of the latter, an analytical form of the BPJ profile above the vertical velocity maximum of the updraft was derived using a simplified form of the vertical momentum equation following a partial budget analysis that accounted for plume‐top entrainment and the boundary layer (BL) inversion. Velocity core strength and characteristics were analyzed away from the updraft with similar relationships between depth‐to‐widths of velocity cores found in a forthcoming study focused on wildfire plumes.
Evaluation of Land Surface Phenology in Northern Hemisphere Permafrost Regions
Authors: Zhao Yaohua , Peng Xiaoqing , Frauenfeld Oliver W. , Cui Xia , Bi Jian , Ma Xuanlong , Wei Gang , Mu Cuicui , Sun Hao , Sui Jia
Published: May 2024

Vegetation phenology interacts strongly with climate through the exchange of carbon, water, momentum, and energy between terrestrial ecosystem and atmosphere. These vegetation dynamics in Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions have substantial uncertainties in previous studies, partly due to differences in datasets. Thus, reliable land surface phenology (LSP) retrievals are crucial for understanding the effects of climate change on ecosystems and biosphere‐atmosphere‐hydrosphere interactions. We assessed various LSP datasets at different spatial resolutions for 2001–2014, generated by different methods based on different satellite observations. We also assessed the accuracy of LSP by comparing with CO2 flux phenology. For start of growing season (SOS), the comprehensive evaluation indicated MODIS phenology showed better consistency and higher accuracy with flux‐derived phenology observations (R = 0.54, RMSE = 36.2 days, bias<5 days). For end of growing season (EOS), we cannot conclusively determine which LSP performs best. In the Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions, SOS occurred at 100–150 days (April–May), and EOS occurred at 260–320 days (September–November). During 2001–2014, SOS occurred earlier by 0.33 ± 0.30 days/yr. Significant trends were observed for 6.4%–27.6% of pixels, averaging −1.30 ± 1.16 days/yr. EOS occurred earlier by 0.25 ± 0.43 days/yr, with significant trends averaging −0.52 ± 0.94 days/yr. Among LSPs, variability in EOS trends was significant, with even the direction of trends differing. This study may provide insights into LSP data selection and further understanding of vegetation dynamics and its mechanisms in permafrost regions.
Evaluating Apparent Temperature in the Contiguous United States From Four Reanalysis Products Using Artificial Neural Networks
Authors: Ibebuchi Chibuike Chiedozie , Lee Cameron C. , Silva Alindomar , Sheridan Scott C.
Published: May 2024

Reanalysis data sets are the products of data assimilation systems and while they exhibit consistency with the observed climate, they tend to be biased, especially at a local scale. In this study, we present an innovative approach for the assessment of the accuracy of four reanalysis data sets—European Center for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts, Reanalysis 5 (ERA5), Modern‐Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2, North American Regional Reanalysis, and the Twentieth Century Reanalysis—in capturing daily and extreme observed apparent temperatures in over 300 stations in the contiguous United States (USA). We modeled the relationship between the reanalysis and observed data during a training period and subsequently used these models to predict daily observations during the test period. This process enabled potential adjustment of the biases in the reanalysis data sets (i.e., the predictors). For predictive modeling, the performance of a Feed‐Forward Neural Network (FFNN) and a linear regression (LR) were assessed. Our results show the data assimilations were closer to observations in the eastern parts compared to the western parts of the USA. Considering the number of stations with the lowest error and highest hit rate (for extreme events), FFNN outperformed LR except for extreme warm events where LR performed better. Among the reanalysis data sets, ERA5 consistently exhibited the highest performance in predicting both daily and extreme values of apparent temperature, with a larger margin of relative accuracy for cold extremes. Thus, ERA5 is more adept at accurately representing apparent temperatures in the USA.
Drag Coefficient of Emergent Vegetation in a Shallow Nonuniform Flow Over a Mobile Sand Bed
Authors: Zhang Yonggang , Cheng Jinhua , Hassan Marwan A. , Wang Ping , Wu Zi
Published: May 2024

Widely distributed in natural rivers and coasts, vegetation interacts with fluid flows and sediments in a variable and complicated manner. Such interactions make it difficult to predict associated drag forces during sediment transport. This paper investigates the drag coefficient for an emergent vegetated patch area under nonuniform flow and mobile bed conditions, based on an analytical model solving the momentum equation following our previous work (Zhang et al., 2020, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020WR027613). Emergent vegetation was modeled with rigid cylinders arranged in staggered arrays of different vegetation coverage ∅. Laboratory flume tests were conducted to measure variations in both the water and bed surfaces along a vegetated patch on a sand bed. Based on the experimental and theoretical analyses, a dimensionless drag model integrating both terms of flow properties and bed effects is proposed to predict the drag coefficient Cd over a mobile bed. The calculated values of Cd exhibit two different trends, that is, nonmonotonically or monotonically increasing along the streamwise direction, due to the combined effect of water surface gradient and bed slope. The morphodynamic response of the mobile bed to nonuniform flow manifests as an evolution in the bed slope within the vegetated patch. Ongoing scouring directs the flow's energy toward overcoming the rising Cd and bed slope, leading to a relatively stable stage with a low sediment transport rate. This study advances the existing understanding of the drag coefficient's role over a mobile bed within nonuniform flows. It also enhances the applicability of vegetation drag models in riverine restoration.
Biophysical Modeling of Mangrove Seedling Establishment and Survival Across an Elevation Gradient With Forest Zones
Authors: Gijsman R. , Horstman E. M. , Swales A. , Balke T. , Willemsen P. W. J. M. , van der Wal D. , Wijnberg K. M.
Published: May 2024

Mangrove forest development critically depends on the establishment and survival of seedlings. Mechanistic insights into how water levels, waves and bed level dynamics influence the establishment process of individual mangrove seedlings are increasing. However, little is known about how spatial and temporal changes in water levels, waves and bed level dynamics across elevation gradients in mangrove forests facilitate/limit seedling dynamics. For this study, a new seedling establishment and growth model was integrated into a process‐based hydrodynamic and morphodynamic numerical model. This biophysical model was applied to a fringing mangrove forest located in the southern Firth of Thames, Aotearoa, New Zealand. This study quantifies the increasing establishment density and survival probability of mangrove seedlings from the lower‐elevated unvegetated intertidal flat toward the higher‐elevated mature mangrove forest. Three cross‐shore zones with distinctive seedling dynamics were identified: (a) a zone with daily tidal inundation where seedling dynamics are episodic and limited by the dispersal of individual propagules that rapidly anchor to the substrate by root growth, (b) a zone with daily to bi‐weekly tidal inundation where seedling dynamics respond to variations in spring‐neap tidal cycles and, (c) a zone with less than bi‐weekly inundation where seedling dynamics are governed by high propagule supply and seedling survival probability. The seedling establishment density and survival probability are dominated by annual extremes in tidal hydroperiod and bed shear stresses, respectively. The obtained parameterizations can be used to incorporate seedling dynamics in decadal‐timescale mangrove forest development models that are instrumental for mangrove management and restoration.
Analysis of measurable residual disease by IG/TR gene rearrangements: quality assurance and updated EuroMRD guidelines
Authors: van der Velden Vincent H. J. , Dombrink Isabel , Alten Julia , Cazzaniga Giovanni , Clappier Emmanuelle , Drandi Daniela , Eckert Cornelia , Fronkova Eva , Hancock Jeremy , Kotrova Michaela , Kraemer Rebekka , Montonen Mirkka , Pfeifer Heike , Pott Christiane , Raff Thorsten , Trautmann Heiko , Cavé Hélène , Schäfer Beat W. , van Dongen Jacques J. M. , Trka Jan , Brüggemann Monika ,   EuroMRD Consortium, van der Velden Vincent H. J. , Raff Thorsten , van Dongen Jacques J. M.
Published: May 2024

Minimal/measurable residual disease (MRD) diagnostics using real-time quantitative PCR analysis of rearranged immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangements are nowadays implemented in most treatment protocols for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Within the EuroMRD Consortium, we aim to provide comparable, high-quality MRD diagnostics, allowing appropriate risk-group classification for patients and inter-protocol comparisons. To this end, we set up a quality assessment scheme, that was gradually optimized and updated over the last 20 years, and that now includes participants from around 70 laboratories worldwide. We here describe the design and analysis of our quality assessment scheme. In addition, we here report revised data interpretation guidelines, based on our newly generated data and extensive discussions between experts. The main novelty is the partial re-definition of the “positive below quantitative range” category by two new categories, “MRD low positive, below quantitative range” and “MRD of uncertain significance”. The quality assessment program and revised guidelines will ensure reproducible and accurate MRD data for ALL patients. Within the Consortium, similar programs and guidelines have been introduced for other lymphoid diseases (e.g., B-cell lymphoma), for new technological platforms (e.g., digital droplet PCR or Next-Generation Sequencing), and for other patient-specific MRD PCR-based targets (e.g., fusion genes).
Exploring the prognostic significance of arm-level copy number alterations in triple-negative breast cancer
Authors: Doré Samuel , Ali Mariam , Sorin Mark , McDowell Sheri A. C. , Desharnais Lysanne , Breton Valérie , Yu Miranda W. , Arabzadeh Azadeh , Ryan Malcolm I. , Milette Simon , Quail Daniela F. , Walsh Logan A.
Published: May 2024

Somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) are prevalent in cancer and play a significant role in both tumorigenesis and therapeutic resistance. While focal SCNAs have been extensively studied, the impact of larger arm-level SCNAs remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the association between arm-level SCNAs and overall survival in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive subtype of breast cancer lacking targeted therapies. We identified frequent arm-level SCNAs, including 21q gain and 7p gain, which correlated with poor overall survival in TNBC patients. Further, we identified the expression of specific genes within these SCNAs associated with survival. Notably, we found that the expression of RIPK4, a gene located on 21q, exhibited a strong correlation with poor overall survival. In functional assays, we demonstrated that targeting Ripk4 in a murine lung metastatic TNBC model significantly reduced tumor burden, improved survival, and increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell infiltration. RIPK4 enhanced the survival of triple-negative breast cancer cells at secondary sites, thereby facilitating the formation of metastatic lesions. Our findings highlight the significance of arm-level SCNAs in breast cancer progression and identify RIPK4 as a putative driver of TNBC metastasis and immunosuppression.
Prospects and challenges for the application of tissue engineering technologies in the treatment of bone infections
Authors: Qin Leilei , Yang Shuhao , Zhao Chen , Yang Jianye , Li Feilong , Xu Zhenghao , Yang Yaji , Zhou Haotian , Li Kainan , Xiong Chengdong , Huang Wei , Hu Ning , Hu Xulin
Published: May 2024

Osteomyelitis is a devastating disease caused by microbial infection in deep bone tissue. Its high recurrence rate and impaired restoration of bone deficiencies are major challenges in treatment. Microbes have evolved numerous mechanisms to effectively evade host intrinsic and adaptive immune attacks to persistently localize in the host, such as drug-resistant bacteria, biofilms, persister cells, intracellular bacteria, and small colony variants (SCVs). Moreover, microbial-mediated dysregulation of the bone immune microenvironment impedes the bone regeneration process, leading to impaired bone defect repair. Despite advances in surgical strategies and drug applications for the treatment of bone infections within the last decade, challenges remain in clinical management. The development and application of tissue engineering materials have provided new strategies for the treatment of bone infections, but a comprehensive review of their research progress is lacking. This review discusses the critical pathogenic mechanisms of microbes in the skeletal system and their immunomodulatory effects on bone regeneration, and highlights the prospects and challenges for the application of tissue engineering technologies in the treatment of bone infections. It will inform the development and translation of antimicrobial and bone repair tissue engineering materials for the management of bone infections.
Involvement of H2A variants in DNA damage response of zygotes
Authors: Wang Yuan , Tsukioka Dai , Oda Shoji , Suzuki Masataka G. , Suzuki Yutaka , Mitani Hiroshi , Aoki Fugaku
Published: May 2024

Phosphorylated H2AX, known as γH2AX, forms in response to genotoxic insults in somatic cells. Despite the high abundance of H2AX in zygotes, the level of irradiation-induced γH2AX is low at this stage. Another H2A variant, TH2A, is present at a high level in zygotes and can also be phosphorylated at its carboxyl end. We constructed H2AX- or TH2A-deleted mice using CRISPR Cas9 and investigated the role of these H2A variants in the DNA damage response (DDR) of zygotes exposed to γ-ray irradiation at the G2 phase. Our results showed that compared to irradiated wild-type zygotes, irradiation significantly reduced the developmental rates to the blastocyst stage in H2AX-deleted zygotes but not in TH2A-deleted ones. Furthermore, live cell imaging revealed that the G2 checkpoint was activated in H2AX-deleted zygotes, but the duration of arrest was significantly shorter than in wild-type and TH2A-deleted zygotes. The number of micronuclei was significantly higher in H2AX-deleted embryos after the first cleavage, possibly due to the shortened cell cycle arrest of damaged embryos and, consequently, the insufficient time for DNA repair. Notably, FRAP analysis suggested the involvement of H2AX in chromatin relaxation. Moreover, phosphorylated CHK2 foci were found in irradiated wild-type zygotes but not in H2AX-deleted ones, suggesting a critical role of these foci in maintaining cell cycle arrest for DNA repair. In conclusion, H2AX, but not TH2A, is involved in the DDR of zygotes, likely by creating a relaxed chromatin structure with enhanced accessibility for DNA repair proteins and by facilitating the formation of pCHK2 foci to prevent premature cleavage.
Deciphering the potential role of PGRN in regulating CD8+ T cell antitumor immunity
Authors: Zhang Wenyu , Qin Huan , Wang Guosheng , Zhang Jing , He Wenjuan , Feng Chunmei , Wan Huimin , Wang Feilong , Guo Zhongliang
Published: May 2024

A key factor contributing to resistance in immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapies is CD8+ T-cell tolerance in the tumor microenvironment (TME), partly resulting from upregulating coinhibitory receptors. Here, we describe the role of PGRN as a coinhibitory molecule that modulates the antitumor response of CD8+ T cells, thus presenting a novel immunosuppressive target for lung cancer. The in vivo subcutaneous transplanted lung cancer model showed that PGRN expression was elevated on CD8+ T cells that infiltrated transplanted lung cancers. Furthermore, PGRN deficiency was found to specifically encourage the infiltration of CD8+ T cells, enhance their proliferation, migration, and activation, and resist apoptosis, ultimately inhibiting tumor growth. This was achieved by PGRN knockout, increasing the production of T cell chemokine CCL3, which boosts the antitumor immune response induced by CD8+ T cells. Critically, the PD-L1 inhibitor exhibited a synergistic effect in enhancing the antitumor response in PGRN–/– mice. In summary, our findings highlight the significance of PGRN as a novel target for boosting CD8+ T cells antitumor immunity and its potential to overcome the resistance in ICB therapy.
MLKL, a new actor of UVB-induced apoptosis in human diploid dermal fibroblasts
Authors: Gary Anne-Sophie , Amouret Sophie , Montoni Alicia , Rochette Patrick J.
Published: May 2024

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a major environmental mutagen. In skin, UVR can initiate cancer through the induction of mutagenic DNA damage and promote its progression. An important cancer prevention mechanism is the regulated cell death (RCD), which can safely dispose of damaged cells. Apoptosis, a well-known RCD, is known to be activated by UVR, but part of the mechanism and proteins involved in UVR-induced apoptosis are still to be discovered. Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) and mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL) are two proteins involved in necroptosis, a form of RCD. Here, we have evaluated the implication of RIPK3 and MLKL in UVB-induced cell death in human diploid dermal fibroblasts. Our results show that RIPK3 and MLKL play opposite roles in UVB-induced cell death, in a necroptosis independent pathway. We showed that RIPK3 protects cells from UVB cell death, while MLKL sensitizes cells to UVB-induced apoptosis. Taken together these results are the first to show the implication of RIPK3 and MLKL in survival and apoptosis, respectively, bringing two new actors in UVB-induced cell death pathway.
Efficacy and safety of novel multifunctional M10 CAR-T cells in HIV-1-infected patients: a phase I, multicenter, single-arm, open-label study
Authors: Mao Yunyu , Liao Qibin , Zhu Youwei , Bi Mingyuan , Zou Jun , Zheng Nairong , Zhu Lingyan , Zhao Chen , Liu Qing , Liu Li , Chen Jun , Gu Ling , Liu Zhuoqun , Pan Xinghao , Xue Ying , Feng Meiqi , Ying Tianlei , Zhou Pingyu , Wu Zhanshuai , Xiao Jian , Zhang Renfang , Leng Jing , Sun Yongtao , Zhang Xiaoyan , Xu Jianqing
Published: May 2024

Chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells have been proposed for HIV-1 treatment but have not yet demonstrated desirable therapeutic efficacy. Here, we report newly developed anti-HIV-1 CAR-T cells armed with endogenic broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) and the follicle-homing receptor CXCR5, termed M10 cells. M10 cells were designed to exercise three-fold biological functions, including broad cytotoxic effects on HIV-infected cells, neutralization of cell-free viruses produced after latency reversal, and B-cell follicle homing. After demonstrating the three-fold biological activities, M10 cells were administered to treat 18 HIV-1 patients via a regimen of two allogenic M10 cell infusions with an interval of 30 days, with each M10 cell infusion followed by two chidamide stimulations for HIV-1 reservoir activation. Consequently, 74.3% of M10 cell infusions resulted in significant suppression of viral rebound, with viral loads declining by an average of 67.1%, and 10 patients showed persistently reduced cell-associated HIV-1 RNA levels (average decrease of 1.15 log10) over the 150-day observation period. M10 cells were also found to impose selective pressure on the latent viral reservoir. No significant treatment-related adverse effects were observed. Overall, our study supported the potential of M10 CAR-T cells as a novel, safe, and effective therapeutic option for the functional cure of HIV-1/AIDS.
Understanding the effect of microstructure and composition on localized corrosion susceptibility of 6xxx aluminum alloys
Authors: Adapala Priyanka , Avey Thomas , Yuan Yudie , Lim Mary Lyn , Bhaskaran Ganesh , Das Sazol , Luo Alan , Frankel Gerald S.
Published: May 2024

The corrosion performance of 6xxx series Al alloys has been found to depend on small changes in composition and microstructure. The corrosion behaviors of three aluminum alloys, AA6111, AA6451, and AA6016, were investigated. AA6111, containing primarily α (Al15 (Fe,Mn)3Si2) intermetallic particles (IMPs), and AA6016, containing primarily β (Al8Fe2Si) IMPs, exhibited the best and the worst overall corrosion performances, respectively, as indicated by the extent of corrosion in exposure tests. However, this ranking was not predicted by the standard interpretation of potentiodynamic polarization curves measured on the alloys. The corrosion susceptibilities of the three alloys were further investigated by evaluating the electrochemical behavior of the component phases separately. Bulk analogs of the component phases were fabricated using standard alloy casting techniques. The fabricated bulk analogs of α and β IMPs, as well as the three alloy matrix phases, were tested using either macrocell or microcell testing. An explanation for the alloy performances was developed by combining the behavior of the component phases.
First principles modelling of the ion binding capacity of finger millet
Authors: Yong Wei Cong Matthew , Devi Apramita , Lin Tsair-Fuh , Chappell Helen F.
Published: May 2024

Finger millet, a cereal grain widely consumed in India and Africa, has gained more attention in recent years due to its high dietary fibre (arabinoxylan) and trace mineral content, and its climate resilience. The aim of this study was to understand the interactions between potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2+) and zinc (Zn2+) ions and the arabinoxylan structure and determine its ion-binding capacity. Three variations of a proposed model of the arabinoxylan structure were constructed and first principles Density Functional Theory calculations were carried out to determine the cation-binding capacity of the arabinoxylan complexes. Zn2+-arabinoxylan complexes were highly unstable and thermodynamically unfavourable in all three models. Ca2+ and K+ ions, however, form thermodynamically stable complexes, particularly involving two glucuronic acid residues as a binding pocket. Glucuronic acid residues are found to play a key role in stabilising the cation-arabinoxylan complex, and steric effects are more important to the stability than charge density. Our results highlight the most important structural features of the millet fibre regarding ion-storage capacity, and provide valuable preliminary data for confirmatory experimental studies and for the planning of clinical trials where the bioavailability of bound ions following digestion may be tested.
Cost and competitiveness of green hydrogen and the effects of the European Union regulatory framework
Authors: Brandt Jonathan , Iversen Thore , Eckert Christoph , Peterssen Florian , Bensmann Boris , Bensmann Astrid , Beer Michael , Weyer Hartmut , Hanke-Rauschenbach Richard
Published: May 2024

By passing the delegated acts supplementing the revised Renewable Energy Directive, the European Commission has recently set a regulatory benchmark for the classification of green hydrogen in the European Union. Controversial reactions to the restricted power purchase for electrolyser operation reflect the need for more clarity about the effects of the delegated acts on the cost and the renewable characteristics of green hydrogen. To resolve this controversy, we compare different power purchase scenarios, considering major uncertainty factors such as electricity prices and the availability of renewables in various European locations. We show that the permission for unrestricted electricity mix usage does not necessarily lead to an emission intensity increase, partially debilitating concerns by the European Commission, and could notably decrease green hydrogen production cost. Furthermore, our results indicate that the transitional regulations adopted to support a green hydrogen production ramp-up can result in similar cost reductions and ensure high renewable electricity usage.