bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Navigating complexities towards sustainable food crops production: local practices for climate change adaptation in rural Ghana
Authors: Dambeebo Daniel , Dakyaga Francis , Derbile Emmanuel K.
Published: April 2022

Globally, food crops production has been challenged by the impacts of climate change. Climate change scholars have argued that rural dwellers, particularly smallholder farmers who engage in food crops production, suffer the most due to their low capacity to adapt. A growing body of knowledge also suggests that local practices serve as safeguards, that enable smallholder farmers to lessen their vulnerability in food crops production. However, limited scholarly insight has been advanced about sustainable food production via the use of local practices. Through the mixed research approach, the study contributes to local practices and climate adaptation debates by examining the various local practices of smallholder farmers, the challenges they encounter with the use of such practices and the possibility for sustainable food crops production in the future in Ghana. The findings suggest that smallholders encounter multiple drawbacks in attempt to utilize local practices to adapt food crops production to climate change including the advent of modern farming inputs/practices. Even when multiple local practices (the planting of multiple crops’ varieties, switching between crops and livestock rearing, reducing cultivatable land size) are utilized, only the increment in farm size, the use of income/remittances of rural–urban migrants to support food crops production, and early cultivation offered some possibilities of sustaining improvement in food crops production for the future. Therefore, the study concluded that local practices are not necessarily panaceas for sustaining food crops production under climate change. The study recommended that further studies pay attention to the sustainability of local practices under climate change.
The Role of Layer-Specific Residual Stresses in Arterial Mechanics: Analysis via a Novel Modelling Framework
Authors: Giudici Alessandro , Spronck Bart
Published: April 2022

The existence of residual stresses in unloaded arteries has long been known. However, their effect is often neglected in experimental studies. Using a recently developed modelling framework, we aimed to investigate the role of residual stresses in the mechanical behaviour of the tri-layered wall of the pig thoracic aorta. The mechanical behaviour of the intact wall and isolated layers of n = 3 pig thoracic aortas was investigated via uniaxial tensile testing. After modelling the layer-specific mechanical data using a hyperelastic strain energy function, the layer-specific deformations in the unloaded vessel were estimated so that the mechanical response of the computationally assembled tri-layered flat wall would match that measured experimentally. Physiological tension–inflation of the cylindrical tri-layered vessel was then simulated, analysing changes in the distribution of stresses in the three layers when neglecting residual stresses. In the tri-layered model with residual stresses, layers exhibited comparable stresses throughout the physiological range of pressure. At 100 mmHg, intimal, medial, and adventitial circumferential load bearings were 16 $$\pm$$
±
 3%, 59 $$\pm$$
±
4%, and 25 $$\pm$$
±
2%, respectively. Adventitial stiffening at high pressures produced a shift in load bearing from the media to the adventitia. When neglecting residual stresses, in vivo stresses were highest at the intima and lowest at the adventitia. Consequently, the intimal and adventitial load bearings, 23 $$\pm$$
±
2% and 18 $$\pm$$
±
3% at 100 mmHg, were comparable at all pressures. Residual stresses play a crucial role in arterial mechanics guaranteeing a uniform distribution of stresses through the wall thickness. Neglecting these leads to incorrect interpretation of the layers’ role in arterial mechanics.
Rage Giving
Authors: Taylor Jennifer A. , Miller-Stevens Katrina
Published: April 2022

After the 2016 election upheaval and polarized public discourse in the United States and the rise of radical-right and populist parties across the globe, a new phenomenon in online charitable giving has emerged – donating motivated by rage. This Element defines this phenomenon, discusses its meaning amidst the current body of research and knowledge on emotions and charitable giving, the implications of viral fundraising and increased social media use by both donors and nonprofit organizations, the intersectionality of rage giving and its meaning for practitioners and nonprofit organizations, the understanding of giving as a form of civic engagement, and the exploration of philanthropy as a tool for social movements and social change. Previous research shows contextual variation in charitable giving motivations; however, giving motivated by feelings of anger and rage is an unstudied behavioral shift in online giving.
Locality and Local Gazetteers in the Republic: A Case for the Continuity of Spatial Order
Authors: Du Yongtao
Published: April 2022

The way late imperial political elites in China positioned themselves in the tianxia—their life world—can be described as a balance between polity and locality, which was often accompanied by an enduring sense of local identity. This article argues that despite the fall of the tianxia concept in modern China, the age-old locality–polity relationship and the elite local identity did not disappear. Taking the flourishing local gazetteer production of the Republican era as a case, I suggest that instead of suppressing locality, the crisis of the polity and the coming of the nation-state in China brought it more to the foreground. The decline of locality in China's political culture occurred only after the communist takeover. The study makes use of the Local Gazetteer Research Tools (LoGaRT) developed by Max Planck Institute for the History of Sciences.
Regional variation in ongoing sound change: The case of the Dutch diphthongs
Authors: Voeten Cesko C.
Published: April 2022

This paper discusses the regional variation in four ongoing sound changes in the Dutch vowels /eː,øː,oː,ɛi,œy/ that are conditioned by a following coda /l/. The synchronic diatopic diffusion of these changes is charted using the Dutch teacher corpus, a comprehensive dataset containing word-list data from four regions in The Netherlands and four in Flanders. Comparisons are made of the five vowels preceding nonapproximant consonants and preceding coda /l/. To avoid manually segmenting the oftentimes highly gradient vowel–/l/ boundary, GAMMs are used to model whole formant trajectories. Comparisons are then made of trajectories and of peaks of trajectories. The results are used to classify the nature of the four sound changes in terms of phonetic and lexical abruptness/graduality and to show that the changes are intertwined in such a way that they can only be considered as separate facets of a single, currently ongoing vowel shift.
Sub-kilometre scale distribution of snow depth on Arctic sea ice from Soviet drifting stations
Authors: Mallett Robbie D. C. , Stroeve Julienne C. , Tsamados Michel , Willatt Rosemary , Newman Thomas , Nandan Vishnu , Landy Jack C. , Itkin Polona , Oggier Marc , Jaggi Matthias , Perovich Don
Published: April 2022

The sub-kilometre scale distribution of snow depth on Arctic sea ice impacts atmosphere-ice fluxes of energy and mass, and is of importance for satellite estimates of sea-ice thickness from both radar and lidar altimeters. While information about the mean of this distribution is increasingly available from modelling and remote sensing, the full distribution cannot yet be resolved. We analyse 33 539 snow depth measurements from 499 transects taken at Soviet drifting stations between 1955 and 1991 and derive a simple statistical distribution for snow depth over multi-year ice as a function of only the mean snow depth. We then evaluate this snow depth distribution against snow depth transects that span first-year ice to multiyear ice from the MOSAiC, SHEBA and AMSR-Ice field campaigns. Because the distribution can be generated using only the mean snow depth, it can be used in the downscaling of several existing snow depth products for use in flux modelling and altimetry studies.
A new, complex hyaline larger benthic foraminifer, Bigaella orbitoidiformis n. gen. n. sp., from the upper Bartonian-Priabonian of NW Turkey
Authors: Özcan Ercan , Mitchell Simon F. , Pignatti Johannes , Simmons Michael D. , Yücel Ali Osman , Robinson Natalie
Published: April 2022

The upper Bartonian–Priabonian shallow-marine deposits in the Biga Peninsula (NW Turkey) contain some hyaline larger benthic foraminifers (LBF) with a test architecture similar to ‘orbitoidiform’ foraminifers, but displaying some distinctive and complex morphological features that are recorded here for the first time. These coarsely porous specimens are characterized by a flat, disc-shaped, fragile, and smooth test with a layer of equatorial chambers/chamberlets, surrounded by poorly developed lateral chamberlets, never forming a discrete layer on either side of the equatorial layer. The nepionic stage is very distinctive because the bilocular embryonic apparatus is followed by a semi-rounded, notably large auxiliary chamber with a characteristic wavy outline, and consecutive cyclical chambers. The cyclical chamber arrangement is later transformed into annular cycles with numerous, complex arcuate- to cup-shaped chamberlets, as observed in equatorial sections. Bigaella orbitoidiformis Özcan, Mitchell, Pignatti, Simmons, and Yücel, n. gen. n. sp., is established for these specimens, and placed within the family Eoannulariidae Ferràndez-Cañadell and Serra-Kiel, emended herein. The new genus occurs together with Caudriella Haman and Huddleston and Epiannularia Caudri (both originally established from the American bioprovince) and the genus Linderina Schlumberger (found both in the Tethys and the American bioprovinces), together with other typical Western Tethyan LBFs. A comparison of the new genus with the aforementioned taxa is given.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/ab917e30-86d3-4bc2-8115-d17cf75f5d79.
Ethnopolitical Entrepreneurs as Nation Builders? Heritage and Innovation in Gagauzia
Authors: Holsapple Christiana
Published: April 2022

This article brings to light the lesser-known case of Gagauzia, an autonomous region in Moldova, to examine how global frameworks of authenticity and heritage are drawn upon and performed in three local ethnically centered initiatives. Drawing on data from twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2015 and 2018, this case study provides insight into the ways that notions of nationhood are constructed and perpetuated, with a focus on the role of a specific segment of society, ethnopolitical entrepreneurs. These are neither fully top-down nor bottom-up actors. Focusing on three Gagauzian “firsts” that claim to represent the “last” of disappearing cultural practices and identities, this article interrogates how the given initiatives fuse heritage and innovation to create metacultural discourses that advance notions of Gagauzian ethnic or national particularism. The article gives food for thought about the salience – or not – of elite actors’ articulations of nation, particularly within post-Soviet societies and underscores the array of social actors involved in any nation-building activity. Further, by highlighting the heterogeneity of intersectional, lived experience and articulations of belonging, the article problematizes group-based analysis and methodological nationalism.
THE VERSATILE USES OF THE 14C BOMB PEAK
Authors: Kutschera Walter
Published: April 2022

A concise review is presented of applying 14C produced in the atmospheric nuclear weapons testing program (1950 to 1963), subsequently forming the so-called 14C bomb peak. In order to convey the versatility of this unique isotope signal, selected applications from a variety of different fields are discussed touching on environmental, archaeological, biological, and forensic issues. A comprehensive list of references is supplied for in-depth studies of the respective fields.
Music and Identity in Paraguay: Expressing National, Racial and Class Identity in Guitar Music Culture
Authors: KRÜGER BRIDGE SIMONE
Published: April 2022

This article illustrates, with particular focus on Rolando Chaparro’s rock fusion albumBohemio(2011), the way in which music operates in expressing Paraguayan national, racial and class identity. It first reviews the literature on music and identity generally, as well as more specifically in relation to Paraguay. It then explores expressions of nationalism andparaguayidad(Paraguayanness) in folkloric ‘popular’ musics (música popular) and the concept ofraza guaraní(a widespread belief in a common ancestry based on Spanish and Guaraní ethnic identity) in the construction, maintenance and expression of identity. Finally, it examines the Agustín Barrios revivals in Paraguay and people’s class consciousness as it is expressed in Paraguayan guitar music culture.
Monarchism with a Human Face: Balkan Queens and the Social Politics of Nursing in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
Authors: Davidova Evguenia
Published: April 2022

How were monarchy, gender, and nationalism entwined? Through contextualized comparisons of selected case studies (two generations of royal women in four countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Serbia/Yugoslavia), this article explores, in gendered terms, the instrumentalization of nursing as an evolving relationship between state building, warfare, welfare, and voluntary organizations. It argues that certain queens’ interventions in nursing successfully contributed to the “naturalization” of the ruling foreign dynasties in the Balkans and to the militarization of charity. Through such “soft power” they mobilized nursing in different ways to carve out an autonomous space and visibility in wartime as queen-nurses and in peacetime as queen-benefactors. In both cases, royal women personified the “curing” and “caring” dimensions of the modernizing state. Queens’ honorific leadership clearly linked the monarchy and the philanthropic sector but also discreetly expanded the power of the nationalizing state. Queens skillfully promoted a gendered culture of sacrifice, by representing women as caring “by nature,” and thus reinforced neo-traditionalist patriarchal regimes and weakened women’s effectiveness in pursuing their political and economic demands.
High morphological disparity of neuropteran larvae during the Cretaceous revealed by a new large species
Authors: Luo Cihang , Liu Hua , Jarzembowski Edmund A.
Published: April 2022

The Mesozoic is considered as the ‘golden age’ for the diversification of Neuroptera (lacewings), and many unusual lacewing larvae have been discovered in Cretaceous amber. However, little is known about their early evolution because of the rarity of fossils. Herein, we describe a new genus and species,Kuafupolydentes huigen. et sp. nov., one of the biggest lacewing larvae from the Cretaceous known so far, based on a well-preserved specimen from mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (99 Ma). The new larva is characterized by its large size, each stylet with eight short and blunt teeth, robust and long antennae, and long and robust legs with continuous tarsus and tibia and enlarged claws. It can be considered as an early representative of the antlion clade, Myrmeleontiformia. We suggest that the new larva is also an ambush predator like extant antlions, but it might have used a different strategy to kill large prey. Some of the morphological characters ofK. huiare unknown in any extant lacewings and suggest a greater morphological disparity of Neuroptera during the Cretaceous.
The BNSR-invariants of the Lodha–Moore groups, and an exotic simple group of type
Authors: LODHA YASH , ZAREMSKY MATTHEW C. B.
Published: April 2022

In this paper we give a complete description of the Bieri–Neumann–Strebel–Renz invariants of the Lodha–Moore groups. The second author previously computed the first two invariants, and here we show that all the higher invariants coincide with the second one, which finishes the complete computation. As a consequence, we present a complete picture of the finiteness properties of normal subgroups of the first Lodha–Moore group. In particular, we show that every finitely presented normal subgroup of the group is of type
$\textrm{F}_\infty$
, answering a question posed in Oberwolfach in 2018. The proof involves applying a variation of Bestvina–Brady discrete Morse theory to the so called cluster complex X introduced by the first author. As an application, we also demonstrate that a certain simple group S previously constructed by the first author is of type
$\textrm{F}_\infty$
. This provides the first example of a type
$\textrm{F}_\infty$
simple group that acts faithfully on the circle by homeomorphisms, but does not admit any nontrivial action by
$C^1$
-diffeomorphisms, nor by piecewise linear homeomorphisms, on any 1-manifold.
Communication-constrained cooperative bathymetric simultaneous localisation and mapping with efficient bathymetric data transmission method
Authors: Ma Teng , Zhang Wenjun , Li Ye , Zhao Yuxin , Zhang Qiang , Mei Xiaojun , Fan Jiajia
Published: April 2022

Bathymetric simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) methods yield accurate navigation results for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and can construct consistent seabed terrain maps. Multiple independently working vehicles can complete tasks like surveying and mapping efficiently, which means cooperative bathymetric SLAM using multiple AUVs is suitable for large-scale seabed mapping. However, the transmission of bathymetric measurements collected using a multi-beam echo sounder over a low bandwidth, noisy, and unreliable acoustic channel is difficult, making cooperative bathymetric SLAM very challenging. This paper develops a graph-based cooperative bathymetric SLAM system that can compress many bathymetric measurements into small-scale acoustic packets and yield accurate navigation results with a 10% loss of acoustic packets caused by unreliable acoustic communication. According to the simulation conducted using the field data, the new algorithm is shown to be robust and capable of providing accurate location and mapping results over a low bandwidth, noisy, and unreliable acoustic channel.
Markets made modular: constructing the modern ‘wet’ market in Hong Kong's public housing estates, 1969–1975
Authors: Chan Vivien
Published: April 2022

This article traces how the ‘wet’ market was integrated into the infrastructure of public housing estates in Hong Kong through modularization from 1969 to 1975. This includes how spatial modularization concepts extended into administration and management, incorporating responsibilities and categories of goods that ultimately reflected colonial ideas of health, food hygiene and social and spatial order. In doing so, this article theorizes how the modular market embodied the ways colonial government departments, architects and managers navigated notions of the materiality of ‘wetness’ in the market through its design in response to management and customer needs, but nevertheless how consumers found ways to re-narrate such spaces through maintaining ‘wet’ cultural exchanges and practices. Using government documents and photographs, this article combines a design historical approach to materiality with empirical evidence to expand on histories and practices of the ‘wet market’, bringing the everyday discourses of modernity in Hong Kong to the fore.
A Reconciliation Theory of State Punishment: An Alternative to Protection and Retribution
Authors: Metz Thaddeus
Published: April 2022

I propose a theory of punishment that is unfamiliar in the West, according to which the state normally ought to have offenders reform their characters and compensate their victims in ways the offenders find burdensome, thereby disavowing the crime and tending to foster improved relationships between offenders, their victims, and the broader society. I begin by indicating how this theory draws on under-appreciated ideas about reconciliation from the Global South, and especially sub-Saharan Africa, and is distinct from the protection and retribution theories that have dominated the Western philosophy of punishment for about 250 years. Then I argue that it neatly avoids objections to them and is prima facie plausible in its own right. I conclude that this reconciliation theory of state punishment should be taken seriously by philosophers of law and policy makers.
Social influence and political participation around the world
Authors: Bimber Bruce , Gil de Zúñiga Homero
Published: April 2022

Social influence among people is widely understood to be a universal component of the human experience. However, studies of political behavior have generally approached social influence as specific to a type of behavior, such as voting, in a particular national context. There are good reasons to expect that social influence is observable across diverse behaviors and national contexts. In this study, we test this expectation using a two-wave panel survey of national samples in 19 countries. We employ autoregressive models that address some of the endogeneity challenges associated with attempts to measure social influence with survey designs. Our measure of social influence is predictive of diverse political behaviors in many countries with average effects comparable in size to important standard predictors of behavior.
Author response to: Cardiovascular risk factors in offspring exposed to gestational diabetes mellitus in utero: systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Pathirana Maleesa M. , Lassi Zohra S. , Roberts Claire T. , Andraweera Prabha H.
Published: April 2022

This commentary is an author response to Yu and colleagues regarding the manuscript entitled ‘Cardiovascular risk factors in offspring exposed to gestational diabetes mellitus in utero: Systematic review and meta-analysis’. We address their concern regarding minor errors in our manuscript, our search strategy and assessment of heterogeneity.
Was leisten psychologische Tests über Abschlussnoten hinaus?
Authors: Koschmieder Corinna , Weissenbacher Barbara , Riegler Daniela , Krammer Georg , Gruber Christoph , Neubauer Aljoscha
Published: April 2022

Zusammenfassung. Studienplätze werden im deutschsprachigen Raum nach unterschiedlichen Kriterien vergeben, beispielsweise auf Basis schulischer Abschlussnoten oder Ergebnissen psychologischer Diagnostica, die eine Selbstselektion bewirken oder zur Fremdselektion eingesetzt werden. Die Studie vergleicht Möglichkeiten der Selektion und deren Validität für den Studien- und Praxiserfolg: Schulische Abschlussnoten, Self-Assessments und Eignungstests. Zusätzlich wird die Selbstselektion während des Bewerbungsprozesses untersucht. Grundlage der Untersuchung stellt eine 2015 initiierte Längsschnittstudie in Lehramtsstudien dar, in der (angehende) Studierende ( nTeilstichprobe 1= 199; nTeilstichprobe 2= 129) zu fünf Zeitpunkten befragt wurden. Es zeigt sich, dass im Bewerbungsprozess über 40 % Selbstselektion stattfindet. Zur Vorhersage von Studienerfolg können Sprachkompetenz und Gewissenhaftigkeit – erhoben im Eignungstest – Varianz über Abschlussnoten hinaus aufklären. Selbsteingeschätzte Praxisleistungen können durch fachspezifische Interessen – erhoben in Self-Assessments – und Persönlichkeitsmerkmale vorhergesagt werden, nicht jedoch durch Abschlussnoten. Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass Abschlussnoten zwar herkömmliche Kriterien von Studienerfolg vorhersagen, standardisierte Tests aber inkrementelle Validität und Vorhersagen für breitere Kriterien leisten können.
Development and Validation of an Improved Hardiness	Measure
Authors: Bartone Paul T. , McDonald Kelly , Hansma Braden J. , Stermac-Stein Jonathan , Escobar E. M. Romero , Stein Steven J. , Ryznar Rebecca
Published: April 2022

Abstract: Previous research shows that psychological hardiness is an important factor contributing to stress resilience in individuals. Of the various instruments available to measure hardiness, the most commonly used is the Dispositional Resilience Scale (DRS). Despite its demonstrated utility, the DRS-15 still has a number of serious limitations, including low subscale reliability and limited construct validity. The present work aims to create a new hardiness scale that addresses these limitations. A pool of new items plus the original DRS item set was administered to a census-matched stratified sample of N = 2,021 men and women across the United States. Items for the new scale were selected based on item distribution characteristics, item response theory plots, scale reliabilities, item-total correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). CFA results showed the best fitting model reflected a hierarchical structure with three factors (commitment, control, and challenge) nested under a broad hardiness factor. This factor structure is replicated in two independent validation samples and also holds invariant across gender and age. The new scale shows much improved reliability coefficients (e.g., Cronbach’s α of .93, .85, .84, and .89 for total hardiness, challenge, control, and commitment, respectively), as well as structural equivalence across gender and age. Validity is demonstrated in multiple samples via predictive associations of hardiness scores with theoretically relevant outcome measures, including coping, life satisfaction, anxiety, and depression. The Hardiness Resilience Gauge (HRG) possesses excellent reliability and validity and appears to be a more effective tool for measuring hardiness in adult populations.
Correlation Between Sea‐Level Rise and Aspects of Future Tropical Cyclone Activity in CMIP6 Models
Authors: Lockwood Joseph W. , Oppenheimer Michael , Lin Ning , Kopp Robert E. , Vecchi Gabriel A. , Gori Avantika
Published: April 2022

Future coastal flood hazard at many locations will be impacted by both tropical cyclone (TC) change and relative sea‐level rise (SLR). Despite sea level and TC activity being influenced by common thermodynamic and dynamic climate variables, their future changes are generally considered independently. Here, we investigate correlations between SLR and TC change derived from simulations of 26 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 models. We first explore correlations between SLR and TC activity by inference from two large‐scale factors known to modulate TC activity: potential intensity (PI) and vertical wind shear. Under the high emissions SSP5‐8.5, SLR is strongly correlated with PI change (positively) and vertical wind shear change (negatively) over much of the western North Atlantic and North West Pacific, with global mean surface air temperature (GSAT) modulating the co‐variability. To explore the impact of the joint changes on flood hazard, we conduct climatological–hydrodynamic modeling at five sites along the US East and Gulf Coasts. Positive correlations between SLR and TC change alter flood hazard projections, particularly at Wilmington, Charleston and New Orleans. For example, if positive correlations between SLR and TC changes are ignored in estimating flood hazard at Wilmington, the average projected change to the historical 100 years storm tide event is under‐estimated by 12%. Our results suggest that flood hazard assessments that neglect the joint influence of these factors and that do not reflect the full distribution of GSAT change may not accurately represent future flood hazard.
Ancient Winds, Waves, and Atmosphere in Gale Crater, Mars, Inferred From Sedimentary Structures and Wave Modeling
Authors: Rubin D. M. , Lapôtre M. A. G. , Stevens A. W. , Lamb M. P. , Fedo C. M. , Grotzinger J. P. , Gupta S. , Stack K. M. , Vasavada A. R. , Banham S. G. , Bryk A. B. , Caravaca G. , Christian J. R. , Edgar L. A. , Malin M. C.
Published: April 2022

Wave modeling and analysis of sedimentary structures were used to evaluate whether four examples of symmetrical, reversing, or straight‐crested bedforms in Gale crater sandstones are preserved wave ripples; deposition by waves would demonstrate that the lake was not covered by ice at that time. Wave modeling indicates that regardless of atmospheric density, winds that exceeded the threshold of aeolian sand transport could have generated waves capable of producing nearshore wave ripples in most grain sizes of sand. Reversing 3‐m‐wavelength bedforms in the Kimberley formation are interpreted not as wave ripples but rather as large aeolian ripples that formed in an atmosphere approximately as thin as at present. These exhumed bedforms define many of the ridges at outcrops that appear striated in satellite images. At Kimberley these bedforms demonstrably underlie and therefore predate subaqueous beds, suggesting that a thin atmosphere existed at least temporarily before subaqueous deposition ceased in the crater. The other three candidate wave ripples (Square Top, Hunda, and Voe) are consistent with modeled waves, but other origins cannot be excluded. The predominance of flat‐laminated (non‐rippled) beds in the lacustrine Murray formation suggests that some aspect of the lake was not conducive to formation or preservation of recognizable wave ripples. Water depths may generally have been too deep, lakebed sediment may have been too fine‐grained, the lake may have been smaller than modeled, or the lake may have been covered by ice.
Ionospheric Response During the Tropical Cyclone Debbie Passing Over Eastern Australia in 2017
Authors: Ke Fuyang , Wang Jinling , Wang Kehe , Xu Jiujing , Wang Yong , Wang Xinzhi , Deng Jian
Published: April 2022

The ionospheric morphology responses to tropical cyclone passing over eastern Australia, named as Debbie in 2017, is investigated using Global Positioning System (GPS) Slant Total Electron Content (STEC), and ionospheric characteristics by ionosonde. Based on the data analysis in this study, some significant morphological characteristics of ionospheric responses to tropical cyclone Debbie are identified as follows. As the GPS satellites PRN05 and PRN20 observed on Townsville GPS station were passing near to the cyclone Debbie center at landfall time, their STEC values are obviously increased. The stronger enhancement off0F1 andf0F2 were also observed by ionosonde at Townsville on 28th March, when the distance between Townsville and the center of tropical cyclone Debbie was shorter. Regarding the coupling mechanism between the ionospheric disturbance and the tropical cyclone, it is supposed that the electric field perturbations due to turbulent top movement from tropical cyclones might generate ionospheric irregularity and disturbance.
Maritime Aerosol and CCN Profiles Derived From Ship‐Based Measurements Over Eastern North Pacific During MAGIC
Authors: Brendecke Jordann , Dong Xiquan , Xi Baike , Zheng Xiaojian
Published: April 2022

Atmospheric aerosols are widely recognized to give rise to a substantial radiative forcing to the climate by scattering and absorbing radiation and by modifying the microphysical, lifetime, and radiative properties of clouds. During the Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds (MAGIC) over the Eastern North Pacific (ENP), the ship‐based measured cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration at 0.2% supersaturation (NCCN,0.2) and condensation nuclei concentration (NCN) had mean values of 116.7 and 219.4 cm−3, with the highest concentrations found closest to LA due to an increase in aerosol sources. Moving westward, both NCCN,0.2 and NCN gradually decreased until stabilizing near 100 cm−3 and 200 cm−3, respectively. Using the methods proposed by Ghan and Collins (2004), https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0426(2004)021<0387:uoisdt>2.0.co;2 and Ghan et al. (2006), https://doi.org/10.1029/2004jd005752, NCCN,0.2 profiles are retrieved using the surface measured NCCN,0.2 as a constraint. For coupled conditions, correlations between the retrieved NCCN,0.2 profiles and cloud‐droplet number concentration (NC) increase from 0.26 at the surface to 0.38 near cloud base, particularly true for non‐drizzling clouds. Although the correlations are lower than expected, the percentage increase (46.2%) is encouraging. Finally, the relationships between cloud breakup (CB) and the stratocumulus to cumulus transition (SCT) with environmental conditions and associated aerosols are also studied. The decreased NCN trend east of CB is mainly caused by precipitation scavenging, while the increased NCN trend west of CB is strongly associated with the increased surface wind speed and fewer drizzle events. A further study is needed using high‐resolution models to simulate these events.
Development and Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Group Intervention for Pediatric Functional Constipation
Authors: Lamparyk Katherine , Mathis Maleia , Piorkowski Lianne , Polasky Samantha , Gross Molly , Feinberg Lisa
Published: April 2022

Objective:

A group behavioral treatment protocol for pediatric encopresis was last described before significant medical advances have changed medical guidelines for constipation treatment, although no updated behavioral treatment protocols have been published. The current study aims to describe an updated interdisciplinary group treatment protocol for pediatric functional constipation and encopresis and evaluate this for feasibility and acceptability.

Method:

The development and protocol of the Functional Constipation Shared Medical Appointment (FC-SMA) is described in detail. Patients recruited for the initial 24 months of the integrated group treatment program were described and evaluated for protocol feasibility, acceptability, and initial treatment outcomes, utilizing attendance records, a standardized patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ), and treatment outcomes recorded in medical records, respectively.

Results:

Forty-9 patients enrolled in the FC-SMA, with 43 (87.8%) completing the initial 4-sesion protocol and 34 (69.4%) returning for at least 1 follow-up session. Parent satisfaction was high (PSQ M(SD) ranged from 4.41 (.56) to 4.56 (.50)). Initial treatment outcomes demonstrated improvement or resolution of constipation and encopresis in 83.7% and 67.4% of participants, respectively.

Conclusions:

An interdisciplinary group treatment model for pediatric functional constipation is feasible, acceptable to patients and parents, and demonstrates promising initial outcomes. Updated medical treatment recommendations require modernized complementary behavioral treatment protocols that further address the complex medical-behavioral interactions and ongoing adherence challenges associated with this population.

Implications for Impact Statement

This study describes a novel interdisciplinary group treatment protocol for pediatric functional constipation and encopresis. The treatment demonstrated high rates of completion and parental satisfaction and promising clinical outcomes, providing a new treatment option for these children that have historically struggled with poor treatment outcomes and significant emotional and functional impact.
Genetic and environment effects on structural neuroimaging endophenotype for bipolar disorder: a novel molecular approach
Authors: Hu Bo , Cha Jungwon , Fullerton Janice M. , Hesam-Shariati Sonia , Nakamura Kunio , Nurnberger John I. , Anand Amit
Published: April 2022

We investigated gene–environment effects on structural brain endophenotype in bipolar disorder (BD) using a novel method of combining polygenic risk scores with epigenetic signatures since traditional methods of examining the family history and trauma effects have significant limitations. The study enrolled 119 subjects, including 55 BD spectrum (BDS) subjects diagnosed with BD or major depressive disorder (MDD) with subthreshold BD symptoms and 64 non-BDS subjects comprising 32 MDD subjects without BD symptoms and 32 healthy subjects. The blood samples underwent genome-wide genotyping and methylation quantification. We derived polygenic risk score (PRS) and methylation profile score (MPS) as weighted summations of risk single nucleotide polymorphisms and methylation probes, respectively, which were considered as molecular measures of genetic and environmental risks for BD. Linear regression was used to relate PRS, MPS, and their interaction to 44 brain structure measures quantified from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 47 BDS subjects, and the results were compared with those based on family history and childhood trauma. After multiplicity corrections using false discovery rate (FDR), MPS was found to be negatively associated with the volume of the medial geniculate thalamus (FDR = 0.059, partial R2 = 0.208). Family history, trauma scale, and PRS were not associated with any brain measures. PRS and MPS show significant interactions on whole putamen (FDR = 0.09, partial R2 = 0.337). No significant gene–environment interactions were identified for the family history and trauma scale. PRS and MPS generally explained greater proportions of variances of the brain measures (range of partial R2 = [0.008, 0.337]) than the clinical risk factors (range = [0.004, 0.228]).
Disease-associated KBTBD4 mutations in medulloblastoma elicit neomorphic ubiquitylation activity to promote CoREST degradation
Authors: Chen Zhuoyao , Ioris Rafael M. , Richardson Stacey , Van Ess Ava N. , Vendrell Iolanda , Kessler Benedikt M. , Buffa Francesca M. , Busino Luca , Clifford Steven C. , Bullock Alex N. , D’Angiolella Vincenzo
Published: April 2022

Medulloblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumour in children. Genomic studies have identified distinct disease subgroups: wnt/wingless (WNT), sonic hedgehog (SHH), and non-WNT/non-SHH, comprising group 3 and group 4. Alterations in WNT and SHH signalling form the pathogenetic basis for their subgroups, whereas those for non-WNT/non-SHH tumours remain largely elusive. Recent analyses have revealed recurrent in-frame insertions in the E3 ubiquitin ligase adaptor Kelch Repeat and BTB Domain Containing 4 (KBTBD4) in cases of group 3/4 medulloblastoma. Critically, group 3/4 tumours with KBTBD4 mutations typically lack other gene-specific alterations, such as MYC amplification, indicating KBTBD4 insertion mutations as the primary genetic driver. Delineating the role of KBTBD4 mutations thus offers significant opportunities to understand tumour pathogenesis and to exploit the underpinning mechanisms therapeutically. Here, we show a novel mechanism in cancer pathogenesis whereby indel mutations in KBTBD4 drive its recognition of neo-substrates for degradation. We observe that KBTBD4 mutants promote the recruitment and ubiquitylation of the REST Corepressor (CoREST), which forms a complex to modulate chromatin accessibility and transcriptional programmes. The degradation of CoREST promoted by KBTBD4 mutation diverts epigenetic programmes inducing significant alterations in transcription to promote increased stemness of cancer cells. Transcriptional analysis of >200 human group 3 and 4 medulloblastomas by RNA-seq, highlights the presence of CoREST and stem-like signatures in tumours with KBTBD4 mutations, which extend to a further sub-set of non-mutant tumours, suggesting CoREST alterations as a novel pathogenetic mechanism of wide relevance in groups 3 and 4. Our findings uncover KBTBD4 mutation as a novel driver of epigenetic reprogramming in non-WNT/non-SHH medulloblastoma, establish a novel mode of tumorigenesis through gain-of-function mutations in ubiquitin ligases (neo-substrate recruitment) and identify both mutant KBTBD4 and CoREST complexes as new druggable targets for improved tumour-specific therapies.
RAGE-TXNIP axis drives inflammation in Alzheimer’s by targeting Aβ to mitochondria in microglia
Authors: Sbai Oualid , Djelloul Mehdi , Auletta Antonia , Ieraci Alessandro , Vascotto Carlo , Perrone L.
Published: April 2022

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline. Although neuroinflammation and oxidative stress are well-recognized features of AD, their correlations with the early molecular events characterizing the pathology are not yet well clarified. Here, we characterize the role of RAGE–TXNIP axis in neuroinflammation in relation to amyloid-beta (Aβ) burden in both in vivo and in vitro models. In the hippocampus of 5xFAD mice microglial activation, cytokine secretion, and glial fibrillary acidic protein-enhanced expression are paralleled with increased TXNIP expression. TXNIP silencing or its pharmacological inhibition prevents neuroinflammation in those mice. TXNIP is also associated with RAGE and Aβ. In particular, RAGE–TXNIP axis is required for targeting Aβ in mitochondria, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Silencing of TXNIP or inhibition of RAGE activation reduces Aβ transport from the cellular surface to mitochondria, restores mitochondrial functionality, and mitigates Aβ toxicity. Furthermore, Aβ shuttling into mitochondria promotes Drp1 activation and exacerbates mitochondrial dysfunction, which induces NLRP3 inflammasome activation, leading to secretion of IL-1β and activation of the pyroptosis-associated protein Gasdermin D (GSDMD). Downregulation of RAGE–TXNIP axis inhibits Aβ-induced mitochondria dysfunction, inflammation, and induction of GSDMD. Herein we unveil a new pathway driven by TXNIP that links the mitochondrial transport of Aβ to the activation of Drp1 and the NLRP3 inflammasome, promoting the secretion of IL-1β and the pyroptosis pathway associated with GSDMD cleavage. Altogether these data shed new light on a novel mechanism of action of RAGE–TXNIP axis in microglia, which is intertwined with Aβ and ultimately causes mitochondria dysfunction and NLRP3 inflammasome cascade activation, suggesting TXNIP as a druggable target to be better deepened for AD.
EIF4EBP1 is transcriptionally upregulated by MYCN and associates with poor prognosis in neuroblastoma
Authors: Voeltzke Kai , Scharov Katerina , Funk Cornelius Maximilian , Kahler Alisa , Picard Daniel , Hauffe Laura , Orth Martin F. , Remke Marc , Esposito Irene , Kirchner Thomas , Schramm Alexander , Rotblat Barak , Grünewald Thomas G. P. , Reifenberger Guido , Leprivier Gabriel
Published: April 2022

Neuroblastoma (NB) accounts for 15% of cancer-related deaths in childhood despite considerable therapeutic improvements. While several risk factors, including MYCN amplification and alterations in RAS and p53 pathway genes, have been defined in NB, the clinical outcome is very variable and difficult to predict. Since genes of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway are upregulated in MYCN-amplified NB, we aimed to define the predictive value of the mTOR substrate-encoding gene eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (EIF4EBP1) expression in NB patients. Using publicly available data sets, we found that EIF4EBP1 mRNA expression is positively correlated with MYCN expression and elevated in stage 4 and high-risk NB patients. In addition, high EIF4EBP1 mRNA expression is associated with reduced overall and event-free survival in the entire group of NB patients in three cohorts, as well as in stage 4 and high-risk patients. This was confirmed by monitoring the clinical value of 4EBP1 protein expression, which revealed that high levels of 4EBP1 are significantly associated with prognostically unfavorable NB histology. Finally, functional analyses revealed that EIF4EBP1 expression is transcriptionally controlled by MYCN binding to the EIF4EBP1 promoter in NB cells. Our data highlight that EIF4EBP1 is a direct transcriptional target of MYCN whose high expression is associated with poor prognosis in NB patients. Therefore, EIF4EBP1 may serve to better stratify patients with NB.
ATP6AP2 knockdown in cardiomyocyte deteriorates heart function via compromising autophagic flux and NLRP3 inflammasome activation
Authors: Li Lei , Cui Ya-juan , Liu Yu , Li Hui-xin , Su Yu-dong , Li Sheng-nan , Wang Lan-lan , Zhao Yue-wen , Wang Shuang-xi , Yan Feng , Dong Bo
Published: April 2022

Moderate autophagy can remove damaged proteins and organelles. In some inflammatory diseases, autophagy plays a protective role by inhibiting the NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3(NLRP3). (Pro)renin receptor (PRR, or ATP6AP2) is a critical component of the V-ATPase required for autophagy. It remains controversial about ATP6AP2 in the pathological process. The impact of ATP6AP2 on NLRP3 inflammasome and autophagic flux remains unknown under pressure overload stress. This research explores the potential link between ATP6AP2, autophagic flux, and NLRP3. There was upregulation of ATP6AP2 from 5-day post-TAC, and this expression remained at a high level until 8-weeks post-TAC in wild mice. Meanwhile, autophagic flux switched from early compensatory activation to blocking in the heart failure phase. NLRP3 activation can be seen at 8-week post-TAC. Adenovirus-mediated knockdown of ATP6AP2(shR-ATP6AP2) accelerated the progress of heart failure. After TAC was induced, shR-ATP6AP2 significantly deteriorated heart function and fibrosis compared with the shR-Scr group. Meanwhile, there was an elevated expression of NLRP3 and autophagic flux blockage. A transgenic mouse(Tg) with cardio-restricted ATP6AP2/(P)RR overexpression was constructed. Although high expression in cardiac tissue, there were no spontaneous functional abnormalities under the basal state. Cardiac function, fibrosis, hypertrophy remained identical to the control TAC group. However, SQSTM1/P62 was reduced, which indicated the relief of autophagic flux blockage. Further, Neonatal rat ventricular myocyte (NRVMs) transfected with shR-ATP6AP2 showed more susceptibility than sh-Scr NRVMs to phenylephrine-induced cell death. More reactive oxygen species (ROS) or mito-ROS accumulated in the shR-ATP6AP2 group when phenylephrine stimulation. Blocking NLRP3 activation in vivo partly rescued cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis. In conclusion, ATP6AP2 upregulation is a compensatory response to pressure overload. If not effectively compensated, it compromises autophagic flux, leads to dysfunctional mitochondria accumulation, further produces ROS to activate NLRP3, eventually accelerates heart failure.
The engineered CD80 variant fusion therapeutic davoceticept combines checkpoint antagonism with conditional CD28 costimulation for anti-tumor immunity
Authors: Maurer Mark F. , Lewis Katherine E. , Kuijper Joseph L. , Ardourel Dan , Gudgeon Chelsea J. , Chandrasekaran Siddarth , Mudri Sherri L. , Kleist Kayla N. , Navas Chris , Wolfson Martin F. , Rixon Mark W. , Swanson Ryan , Dillon Stacey R. , Levin Steven D. , Kimbung Yengo Raymond , Akutsu Masato , Logan Derek T. , Walse Björn , Swiderek Kristine M. , Peng Stanford L.
Published: April 2022

Despite the recent clinical success of T cell checkpoint inhibition targeting the CTLA-4 and PD-1 pathways, many patients either fail to achieve objective responses or they develop resistance to therapy. In some cases, poor responses to checkpoint blockade have been linked to suboptimal CD28 costimulation and the inability to generate and maintain a productive adaptive anti-tumor immune response. To address this, here we utilize directed evolution to engineer a CD80 IgV domain with increased PD-L1 affinity and fuse this to an immunoglobulin Fc domain, creating a therapeutic (ALPN-202, davoceticept) capable of providing CD28 costimulation in a PD-L1-dependent fashion while also antagonizing PD-1 - PD-L1 and CTLA-4–CD80/CD86 interactions. We demonstrate that by combining CD28 costimulation and dual checkpoint inhibition, ALPN-202 enhances T cell activation and anti-tumor efficacy in cell-based assays and mouse tumor models more potently than checkpoint blockade alone and thus has the potential to generate potent, clinically meaningful anti-tumor immunity in humans.