bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the use of mainstream iron addition for phosphorous control on H2S content of biogas from anaerobic digestion of sludges
Authors: Parker Wayne , Celmer‐Repin Dominika , Bicudo José , Law Pam
Published: June 2019

A material flux analysis on sulfur (S), phosphorus (P), aluminum (Al), and iron (Fe) was conducted for two WWTPs (Galt and Kitchener) to evaluate the potential of coagulants that are employed for phosphorus control to reduce hydrogen sulfide (H2S) emissions in the biogas from anaerobic digestion. It was found that while the Galt WWTP receives higher concentrations of S in the raw wastewater than the Kitchener WWTP, this had only a modest impact on the speciation of S entering anaerobic digestion. At both plants, only 2%–4% of influent S entered the digesters. The presence of Fe in the sludge stream was found to cause S, that is released by volatile solid destruction and sulfate () reduction, to become particulate‐bound. A dosage of 1.1 mg/L of Fe into the raw wastewater (11% of the Fe dosed for P control) was sufficient for sulfide (S2‐) control. Transitioning the Galt WWTP from Al to Fe dosing for P control had no significant impact on effluent P concentrations and resulted in a substantial reduction in the biogas H2S concentration. An additional secondary benefit was an increase in the solid content of the dewatered cake.

Practitioner points

Material flux analyses can be employed to gain insight into the fate of key elements contributing to biogas quality.

The use of iron for phosphorous control can effectively control H2S in anaerobic biogas.

Conversion from Al2(SO4)3 to FeSO4 dosing for P control resulted in increased solid content of centrifuged biosolids.
An Evaluation Tool for National‐Level Pandemic Influenza Planning
Authors: McKay Stephanie , Boyce Matthew , Chu‐Shin Shieh , Tsai Feng‐Jen , Katz Rebecca
Published: June 2019

The historical threat of pandemic influenza and the circulation of novel influenza viruses have led countries to strengthen their efforts in pandemic influenza preparedness planning. A cornerstone of these efforts is the creation of a comprehensive national plan that addresses all of the capacities required to prevent, detect, and respond to novel influenza outbreaks. In 2017 and 2018, the World Health Organization issued updated guidance for national pandemic planning efforts, based on lessons learned from the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) outbreak, the International Health Regulations (World Health Organization, 2005a), and other developments in health security. We have created a tool to assess national‐level plans based on these updated guidelines. This tool will allow for countries to identify both strengths and weaknesses in their national plans, identify capacities and sectors that require improvement, and to help frame the updating or drafting of plans in line with the most updated guidance.
The Dutch Housing Agenda
Authors: Ollongren Kajsa
Published: June 2019

The problems on the Dutch housing market are a complex social issue. Finding a good balance between accessibility, affordability and minimising the macro-economic risks is a huge puzzle which we in the Cabinet are currently working on. To keep pace with the growth in demand for houses in the cities, it is essential that enough new homes are being built. We wish to tackle the housing shortage in collaboration with local government and the other stakeholders. On a national level, we take control of this assignment through the National Housing Agenda. The three challenges that the National Housing Agenda focuses on are increasing and accelerating the construction of housing, making better use of the existing stock, and securing the affordability of housing.
Towards a Global Real Estate Market? Trends and Evidence
Authors: Clerc Laurent
Published: June 2019

In this paper, I analyse house price developments in a set of 18 OECD countries. I find some evidence that global financial conditions have played an important role in shaping house price developments in these countries, especially in the run-up to the financial crisis. The current very accommodative monetary policy environment may already have triggered a new build-up of financial imbalances in some countries. However, while the synchronicity in housing cycles has increased across countries, the amplitude of these cycles continues to be influenced by domestic factors and local structural features, leaving national macroprudential authorities with some leeway to address these imbalances.
Managing House Price Booms: Evolution of IMF Surveillance and Policy Advice
Authors: Ahir Hites , Loungani Prakash
Published: June 2019

This chapter describes the evolution of IMF monitoring—“surveillance” in the IMF’s jargon—of housing markets from 2008 to the present. It explains how the IMF has assessed overvaluation in housing markets and the advice offered on the policy tools needed to manage house price booms. The IMF’s ‘corporate view’ or ‘house view’ that macroprudential policies must be the first line of defense to deal with house price booms is laid out. The chapter also discusses whether the run-up in house prices over the past few years should be a source of worry. Lastly, the chapter describes how IMF surveillance has adapted as housing markets have become more ‘glocalized’ and developments at the sub-national level gain greater prominence.
Erratum to: Extraction of partonic transverse momentum distributions from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering, Drell-Yan and Z-boson production
Authors: Bacchetta Alessandro , Delcarro Filippo , Pisano Cristian , Radici Marco , Signori Andrea
Published: June 2019

We report some corrections to formulas and tables presented in the original article [1], to which we refer for definitions and further details.
Native Farms and RomanVillaein “Long-haired” Gaul: A Confrontation between Classical Sources and Archaeological Data
Authors: Reddé Michel
Published: June 2019

The terms “native farm” and “Romanvilla,” often contrasted by historians, stem from a long-standing and still-unsettled historiographical debate. In northern Gaul, they particularly evoke the work of Roger Agache, whose aerial surveys showed a landscape populated by largevillaethat were readily interpreted as great aristocratic estates in contrast to small native settlements. This view became more or less dominant, giving the impression that the Roman conquest swiftly and radically altered the agrarian system of northern Gaul. In spite of many attempts to correct it, the idea of an agricultural economy based on the production of large estates remains widely accepted among historians. This article offers a reminder of how difficult it is to apprehend the complex situation of ancient rural landscapes through the lens of Classical sources. It then goes on to consider the recent contribution of development-led archaeology and the interpretative problems posed by the intermeshing of numerous rural settlements whose size and luxury are not necessarily relevant indicators of productivity.
Writing the History of Slavery: Between Comparatism and Global History
Authors: Ismard Paulin
Published: June 2019

Should we consider, along with the great specialist Patrick Manning, that “the field of slavery studies has become a model of comparatism in social and economic history”? This depends on what we mean by the term “comparatism,” which has come to denote approaches as different in their methods as they are varied, and even contradictory, in their goals. Since the end of the 1990s, the global history of slavery has highlighted the epistemological naivety of a certain comparatist tradition that understands slavery from the perspective of its institutions, and not as a dynamic process resulting from specific historical conditions. It is nevertheless important to identity the limits of such a “global” approach when it claims to be the only method capable of defining slavery throughout history. After reviewing the theoretical challenges that traverse the contemporary historiography of slavery, this article seeks to show what a “morphological” comparatist approach, using redefined scales of observation, methods, and goals, can contribute to the study of one particular society: Athens during the Classical period. By looking at a specific organization of servile labor common to numerous slave societies, in which a slave tied to the running of a piece of land, a workshop, or a commercial store made regular payments to his master, it is possible to reinterrogate some fundamental aspects of the institution of slavery in ancient Athens.
The granular Blasius problem
Authors: Tsang Jonathan Michael Foonlan , Dalziel Stuart B. , Vriend N. M.
Published: June 2019

We consider the steady flow of a granular current over a uniformly sloped surface that is smooth upstream (allowing slip for$x<0$) but rough downstream (imposing a no-slip condition on$x>0$), with a sharp transition at$x=0$. This problem is similar to the classical Blasius problem, which considers the growth of a boundary layer over a flat plate in a Newtonian fluid that is subject to a similar step change in boundary conditions. Our discrete particle model simulations show that a comparable boundary-layer phenomenon occurs for the granular problem: the effects of basal roughness are initially localised at the base but gradually spread throughout the depth of the current. A rheological model can be used to investigate the changing internal velocity profile. The boundary layer is a region of high shear rate and therefore high inertial number$I$; its dynamics is governed by the asymptotic behaviour of the granular rheology for high values of the inertial number. The$\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$rheology (Jopet al.,Nature, vol. 441 (7094), 2006, pp. 727–730) asserts that$\text{d}\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}/\text{d}I=O(1/I^{2})$as$I\rightarrow \infty$, but current experimental evidence is insufficient to confirm this. We show that this rheology does not admit a self-similar boundary layer, but that there exist generalisations of the$\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$rheology, with different dependencies of$\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$on$I$, for which such self-similar solutions do exist. These solutions show good quantitative agreement with the results of our discrete particle model simulations.
Haemorheology in dilute, semi-dilute and dense suspensions of red blood cells
Authors: Takeishi Naoki , Rosti Marco E. , Imai Yohsuke , Wada Shigeo , Brandt Luca
Published: June 2019

We present a numerical analysis of the rheology of a suspension of red blood cells (RBCs) in a wall-bounded shear flow. The flow is assumed as almost inertialess. The suspension of RBCs, modelled as biconcave capsules whose membrane follows the Skalak constitutive law, is simulated for a wide range of viscosity ratios between the cytoplasm and plasma,$\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}=0.1$–10, for volume fractions up to$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}=0.41$and for different capillary numbers ($Ca$). Our numerical results show that an RBC at low$Ca$tends to orient to the shear plane and exhibits so-called rolling motion, a stable mode with higher intrinsic viscosity than the so-called tumbling motion. As$Ca$increases, the mode shifts from the rolling to the swinging motion. Hydrodynamic interactions (higher volume fraction) also allow RBCs to exhibit tumbling or swinging motions resulting in a drop of the intrinsic viscosity for dilute and semi-dilute suspensions. Because of this mode change, conventional ways of modelling the relative viscosity as a polynomial function of$\unicode[STIX]{x1D719}$cannot be simply applied in suspensions of RBCs at low volume fractions. The relative viscosity for high volume fractions, however, can be well described as a function of an effective volume fraction, defined by the volume of spheres of radius equal to the semi-middle axis of a deformed RBC. We find that the relative viscosity successfully collapses on a single nonlinear curve independently of$\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$except for the case with$Ca\geqslant 0.4$, where the fit works only in the case of low/moderate volume fraction, and fails in the case of a fully dense suspension.
ON LOCAL FIELDS GENERATED BY DIVISION VALUES OF FORMAL DRINFELD MODULES
Authors: OUKHABA HASSAN
Published: June 2019

In this paper, we study some aspects of the local fields generated by division values of formal Drinfeld modules.
Obstructive sleep apnoea as a late complication after tracheostomy
Authors: Đanić D , Mrzljak Vučinić N , Đanić Hadžibegović A
Published: June 2019

Background

Obstructive sleep apnoea occurs consequent to partial or complete upper airway obstruction, caused mostly by the collapse of upper airway musculature. Drug-induced sleep endoscopy represents the ‘gold standard’ in identifying the obstruction site, from the palatal level to laryngeal entry. Breathing impairment in sleep caused by the collapse of cervical trachea after previous tracheostomy has not yet been described in the literature.

Methods

This report presents two patients with severe obstructive sleep apnoea, in whom pre-operative drug-induced sleep endoscopy revealed upper airway and cervical trachea collapse at the level of previous tracheostomy.

Results

The female patient was successfully treated with resection of hypertrophic tissue of the tongue base via lateral pharyngectomy, and resection of the collapsed segment of the trachea with primary reconstruction of the trachea by end-to-end anastomosis. The male patient was recommended continuous positive airway pressure therapy because of serious co-morbidities and high operative risk.

Conclusion

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy should always be used for visualisation of anatomical structures below the vocal folds in patients with a history of cervical trachea surgery. These two cases demonstrate the importance of drug-induced sleep endoscopy in planning conservative and surgical treatments, contributing significantly to operative success.
Development of a gecko-like robotic gripper using Scott–Russell mechanisms
Authors: Modabberifar Mehdi , Spenko Matthew
Published: June 2019

This paper describes the development of a gecko-inspired robotic gripper for grasping flat objects using Scott–Russell mechanisms. Compared to previously reported grippers that utilize gecko-like adhesives, the one presented here produces higher normal adhesion and has robustness and controllability advantages. To verify the applicability of proposed gripper, a mechanical model and experimental results on a variety of substrates are presented. The experimental results demonstrated a 19.6% and 50% increase in normal adhesion using a preload of <15 and <30 N, respectively, compared to previously reported results under similar testing parameters and conditions.
Unanticipated admissions to paediatric cardiac critical care after cardiac catheterisations
Authors: Peebles Erin , Miller Michael R. , Benson Lee N. , Humpl Tilman
Published: June 2019

Objectives:

Cardiac catheterisation is commonly used for diagnosis and therapeutic interventions in paediatric cardiology. The inherent risk of the procedure can result in unanticipated admissions to critical care. Our goals were to provide a qualitative description of characteristics and evaluation of children admitted unexpectedly to the cardiac critical care unit (CCCU).

Methods:

A retrospective single centre review of cardiac catheterisation procedures was done between 1 January, 2003 and 30 April, 2013.

Results:

Of 9336 cardiac catheterisations performed, 146 (1.6%) were admitted from the catheterisation laboratory to the CCCU and met inclusion criteria. Of these 146 patients, 117 (1.3%) met criteria for unexpected admission and 29 (0.3%) were planned admissions. The majority admitted unexpectedly were below 1 year of age without co-morbidity aside from heart disease. Patients with planned admissions were significantly more likely to have single ventricle physiology, undergoing angiography or transferred for observation. Most unplanned admissions were triggered by interventional catheterisations or procedure-related complications. Patients received mechanical ventilation as the main CCCU management. Eighteen patients needed either cardiopulmonary resuscitation and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during their catheterisation. About 106/117 (90.6%) patients survived to hospital discharge with no deaths in the planned admission group.

Conclusions:

Admission to CCCU following cardiac catheterisation was uncommon and tended to occur in younger children undergoing interventional procedures. Outcomes did not differ between patients experiencing planned and unplanned CCCU admission. Ongoing development of risk stratification tools may help to decrease unplanned CCCU admissions. Further studies are needed to determine whether unplanned admission following paediatric cardiac catheterisation should be utilised as a quality indicator.
At Home in the World? The Ornamental Life of Sailors in Victorian Sailortown
Authors: Cuming Emily
Published: June 2019

This article explores the representation of British sailortown and merchant sailors onshore in the context of their representation in Victorian writing and contemporary journalism. It proposes that sailortown functioned as an urban setting which offered the traveling or returning sailor an important sense of homeliness—a homeliness that was paradoxically based on the promotion of a collective and worldly belonging. This sense of “worldliness” was articulated through aspects of ornamental material culture ranging from sailortown's visual display of nautical and transnational symbols, to the interior arrangements of places of hospitality such as Sailors’ Homes, to sailors’ own forms of portable property. By thinking more closely about the relationship between the domestic and the global in the context of maritime culture, the article proposes that the ornamental features of the seafarer's life, in all its diverse manifestations, serves to reveal the paradoxes and rich ambivalences that underscore the situation of the nineteenth-century sailor onshore.
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE THEORY OF FERTILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Authors: Gori Luca , Sodini Mauro
Published: June 2019

The aim of this research is to build on a theory for explaining economic development in a (neoclassical) growth model with endogenous fertility. The economy is inhabited by overlapping generations of rational and identical individuals and identical competitive firms producing with a constant-returns-to-scale technology and no externalities. From a theoretical perspective, the distinguishing feature of this work is that endogenous fertility per se explains the existence of low- and high-development regimes. It provides different reasons (history driven or expectations driven) why some countries enter development trajectories with high GDP and low fertility and others experience underperformances with low GDP and high fertility. The model is also capable to reproduce fertility fluctuations and explain the baby busts and baby booms observed in the last century in some developed countries.
Exploring demoralization in end-of-life cancer patients: Prevalence, latent dimensions, and associations with other psychosocial variables
Authors: Bovero Andrea , Botto Rossana , Adriano Beatrice , Opezzo Marta , Tesio Valentina , Torta Riccardo
Published: June 2019

Objective

Demoralization is an existential distress syndrome that consists of an incapacity of coping, helplessness, hopelessness, loss of meaning and purpose, and impaired self-esteem. It can affect cancer patients, and the Demoralization Scale is a valid instrument to assess it. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of demoralization in end-of-life cancer patients and its associations with the medical and psychosocial variables. In addition, the latent dimensions of demoralization emerging in this distinctive population were explored.

Method

The study is cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 235 end-of-life cancer patients with a Karnofsky performance status (KPS) lower than 50 and a life expectancy of a few weeks. For each patient, personal and medical data was gathered by a palliative physician and a set of validated rating scales, assessing demoralization, anxiety, depression, physical symptoms, pain, spiritual well-being, and dignity, was administered by a psychologist during the first consultation.

Result

Sixty-four participants (27.2%) had low demoralization, 50.2% (n = 118) had medium demoralization, and 22.6% (n = 53) had high demoralization. Factor analysis evidenced a five-factor solution that identified the following demoralization factors: Emotional Distress and Inability to Cope, Loss of Purpose and Meaning, Worthlessness, Sense of Failure, and Dysphoria. All the considered variables were associated with demoralization, except for pain, nausea, breathing problems, and sociodemographic and clinical variables.

Significance of results

End-of-life cancer patients showed higher levels of demoralization than has been reported in other studies with advanced cancer. These data could suggest that demoralization could increase in proximity to death and with impaired clinical condition. In particular, the five demoralization dimensions that emerged could represent the typical concerns around which the syndrome evolves in end-of-life cancer patients. Finally, spiritual well-being could play a protective role with respect to demoralization.
Longitudinal Research for Sustainable Development
Authors: Banati Prerna , Oyugi Jessica
Published: June 2019

Abstract. The Sustainable Development Agenda ( United Nations, 2015 ) emphasizes measurement and monitoring progress of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, stressing the need for “a data revolution for sustainable development … to improve the quality of statistics and information available to citizens and governments” (UN, 2013, p. 21). Children, adolescents, and youth are also a focus of concern. A number of longstanding cohort studies in developing countries have produced a range of important findings on children’s well-being and development. At the same time, there is growing recognition of the potential of longitudinal research to contribute evidence for policy, insofar as it facilitates understanding of the dynamic nature of developmental trajectories and of the diverse processes that shape outcomes over time. Drawing on a systematic analysis of 122 longitudinal studies on children, largely from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as an in-depth survey of 31 of these studies, this paper highlights successes, gaps, and challenges where research could inform public policy decisions that promote achievement of the SDGs. The paper unpacks how longitudinal data can be a resource for understanding the drivers underpinning SDG indicators and could provide an assessment of the timing of development windows, and related interventions to maximize the impact of interventions. The paper concludes by identifying core features of a policy-driven research agenda for longitudinal studies to guide researchers and funders.
Observation and Parameterization of Broadband Sea Surface Albedo
Authors: Huang Chuan Jiang , Qiao Fangli , Chen Siyu , Xue Yuhuan , Guo Jingsong
Published: June 2019

The broadband sea surface albedo (SSA) was observed from a fixed sea platform in the South China Sea. This observation period lasted approximately 152 days and included a wide range of atmospheric and oceanic conditions. Under clear‐sky conditions, the observed SSA increased significantly with the increase in the solar zenith angle at low solar altitudes, while the SSA changed little under high Sun. Under cloudy skies, however, the SSA was negligibly dependent on the solar zenith angle. The observed SSA was also influenced by atmospheric and oceanic conditions, in which it increased with increasing winds or surface waves and decreased with increasing water vapor pressure at the sea surface. An empirical parameterization of the broadband SSA was proposed based on these observations, in which the SSA was a function of the solar zenith angle, wind speed or significant wave height, and water vapor pressure. The correlation coefficients between the predicted SSA and the observations reached 0.95, 0.94, and 0.88 in clear skies, mixed skies, and cloudy skies, respectively. Finally, the root‐mean‐square deviations were only 0.009, 0.015, and 0.011 in these three sky conditions, respectively.
Many Water Cycle Diagrams Promote Misconceptions
Authors: Kornei Katherine
Published: June 2019

Most representations of the water cycle are flawed, researchers found by analyzing over 450 diagrams: The effects of humans, seasonal changes, and different biomes are often neglected.
Paleomagnetism of Oligocene Hot Spot Volcanics in Central Queensland, Australia
Authors: Hansma J. , Tohver E.
Published: June 2019

We report three high‐quality paleomagnetic poles for Oligocene Australia from volcanic provinces along the Cosgrove hot spot track in central Queensland, NE Australia. We present paleomagnetic poles for Springsure (27.3–28.9 Ma: ϕ=300.6°E, λ=70.5°N, K=13.7, A95=9.7°, N=18/22, Q=6), Peak Range (28.2–31.2 Ma: ϕ=291.8°E, λ=64.6°N, K=10.1, A95=8.8°, N=29/31, Q=6), and Hillsborough volcanic provinces (33.1–34.1 Ma: ϕ=301.4°E, λ=67.1°N, K=32.2, A95=7.1, N=14/18, Q=7), as well as data from Buckland and Nebo volcanic provinces. Using our new results, we resolve ambiguities present in published paleomagnetic data for Australia during the Oligocene epoch (23–34 Ma) and calculate a combined Oligocene paleomagnetic pole of ϕ=289.2°E, λ=71.0°N, (K=24.6, A95=1.9°, N=227/274, Q=6). We update the continental apparent polar wander path for Australia and find evidence for accelerated seafloor spreading in the Southern Ocean after ∼34 Ma (anomaly C13). Lastly, we take advantage of the large number of paleomagnetic sites (N=97) along the Cosgrove hot spot track to empirically evaluate the TK03.GAD geomagnetic field model. Paleomagnetic directions from rocks along the Cosgrove track have an elongation (E) of 1.6, remarkably consistent with TK03.GAD expected values for hot spot paleolatitudes (E=1.4–1.6, λ=36.6–43.3°S).
Conceptualizing mental disorders as deviations from normative functioning
Authors: Marquand Andre F. , Kia Seyed Mostafa , Zabihi Mariam , Wolfers Thomas , Buitelaar Jan K. , Beckmann Christian F.
Published: June 2019

Normative models are a class of emerging statistical techniques useful for understanding the heterogeneous biology underlying psychiatric disorders at the level of the individual participant. Analogous to normative growth charts used in paediatric medicine for plotting child development in terms of height or weight as a function of age, normative models chart variation in clinical cohorts in terms of mappings between quantitative biological measures and clinically relevant variables. An emerging body of literature has demonstrated that such techniques are excellent tools for parsing the heterogeneity in clinical cohorts by providing statistical inferences at the level of the individual participant with respect to the normative range. Here, we provide a unifying review of the theory and application of normative modelling for understanding the biological and clinical heterogeneity underlying mental disorders. We first provide a statistically grounded yet non-technical overview of the conceptual underpinnings of normative modelling and propose a conceptual framework to link the many different methodological approaches that have been proposed for this purpose. We survey the literature employing these techniques, focusing principally on applications of normative modelling to quantitative neuroimaging-based biomarkers in psychiatry and, finally, we provide methodological considerations and recommendations to guide future applications of these techniques. We show that normative modelling provides a means by which the importance of modelling individual differences can be brought from theory to concrete data analysis procedures for understanding heterogeneous mental disorders and ultimately a promising route towards precision medicine in psychiatry.
Phytochrome activates the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase for chloroplast biogenesis via nucleus-to-plastid signaling
Authors: Yoo Chan Yul , Pasoreck Elise K. , Wang He , Cao Jun , Blaha Gregor M. , Weigel Detlef , Chen Meng
Published: June 2019

Light initiates chloroplast biogenesis by activating photosynthesis-associated genes encoded by not only the nuclear but also the plastidial genome, but how photoreceptors control plastidial gene expression remains enigmatic. Here we show that the photoactivation of phytochromes triggers the expression of photosynthesis-associated plastid-encoded genes (PhAPGs) by stimulating the assembly of the bacterial-type plastidial RNA polymerase (PEP) into a 1000-kDa complex. Using forward genetic approaches, we identified REGULATOR OF CHLOROPLAST BIOGENESIS (RCB) as a dual-targeted nuclear/plastidial phytochrome signaling component required for PEP assembly. Surprisingly, RCB controls PhAPG expression primarily from the nucleus by interacting with phytochromes and promoting their localization to photobodies for the degradation of the transcriptional regulators PIF1 and PIF3. RCB-dependent PIF degradation in the nucleus signals the plastids for PEP assembly and PhAPG expression. Thus, our findings reveal the framework of a nucleus-to-plastid anterograde signaling pathway by which phytochrome signaling in the nucleus controls plastidial transcription.
Mechanistic basis of L-lactate transport in the SLC16 solute carrier family
Authors: Bosshart Patrick D. , Kalbermatter David , Bonetti Sara , Fotiadis Dimitrios
Published: June 2019

In human and other mammalian cells, transport of L-lactate across plasma membranes is mainly catalyzed by monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) of the SLC16 solute carrier family. MCTs play an important role in cancer metabolism and are promising targets for tumor treatment. Here, we report the crystal structures of an SLC16 family homologue with two different bound ligands at 2.54 and 2.69 Å resolution. The structures show the transporter in the pharmacologically relevant outward-open conformation. Structural information together with a detailed structure-based analysis of the transport function provide important insights into the molecular working mechanisms of ligand binding and L-lactate transport.
Convergent allostery in ribonucleotide reductase
Authors: Thomas William C. , Brooks F. Phil , Burnim Audrey A. , Bacik John-Paul , Stubbe JoAnne , Kaelber Jason T. , Chen James Z. , Ando Nozomi
Published: June 2019

Ribonucleotide reductases (RNRs) use a conserved radical-based mechanism to catalyze the conversion of ribonucleotides to deoxyribonucleotides. Within the RNR family, class Ib RNRs are notable for being largely restricted to bacteria, including many pathogens, and for lacking an evolutionarily mobile ATP-cone domain that allosterically controls overall activity. In this study, we report the emergence of a distinct and unexpected mechanism of activity regulation in the sole RNR of the model organism Bacillus subtilis. Using a hypothesis-driven structural approach that combines the strengths of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), crystallography, and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we describe the reversible interconversion of six unique structures, including a flexible active tetramer and two inhibited helical filaments. These structures reveal the conformational gymnastics necessary for RNR activity and the molecular basis for its control via an evolutionarily convergent form of allostery.
Deterministic processes structure bacterial genetic communities across an urban landscape
Authors: Hassell J. M. , Ward M. J. , Muloi D. , Bettridge J. M. , Phan H. , Robinson T. P. , Ogendo A. , Imboma T. , Kiiru J. , Kariuki S. , Begon M. , Kang’ethe E. K. , Woolhouse M. E. J. , Fèvre E. M.
Published: June 2019

Land-use change is predicted to act as a driver of zoonotic disease emergence through human exposure to novel microbial diversity, but evidence for the effects of environmental change on microbial communities in vertebrates is lacking. We sample wild birds at 99 wildlife-livestock-human interfaces across Nairobi, Kenya, and use whole genome sequencing to characterise bacterial genes known to be carried on mobile genetic elements (MGEs) within avian-borne Escherichia coli (n = 241). By modelling the diversity of bacterial genes encoding virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) against ecological and anthropogenic forms of urban environmental change, we demonstrate that communities of avian-borne bacterial genes are shaped by the assemblage of co-existing avian, livestock and human communities, and the habitat within which they exist. In showing that non-random processes structure bacterial genetic communities in urban wildlife, these findings suggest that it should be possible to forecast the effects of urban land-use change on microbial diversity.
Voltage-dependent gating of SV channel TPC1 confers vacuole excitability
Authors: Jaślan Dawid , Dreyer Ingo , Lu Jinping , O’Malley Ronan , Dindas Julian , Marten Irene , Hedrich Rainer
Published: June 2019

In contrast to the plasma membrane, the vacuole membrane has not yet been associated with electrical excitation of plants. Here, we show that mesophyll vacuoles from Arabidopsis sense and control the membrane potential essentially via the K+-permeable TPC1 and TPK channels. Electrical stimuli elicit transient depolarization of the vacuole membrane that can last for seconds. Electrical excitability is suppressed by increased vacuolar Ca2+ levels. In comparison to wild type, vacuoles from the fou2 mutant, harboring TPC1 channels insensitive to luminal Ca2+, can be excited fully by even weak electrical stimuli. The TPC1-loss-of-function mutant tpc1-2 does not respond to electrical stimulation at all, and the loss of TPK1/TPK3-mediated K+ transport affects the duration of TPC1-dependent membrane depolarization. In combination with mathematical modeling, these results show that the vacuolar K+-conducting TPC1 and TPK1/TPK3 channels act in concert to provide for Ca2+- and voltage-induced electrical excitability to the central organelle of plant cells.
Neural effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation at the single-cell level
Authors: Romero Maria C. , Davare Marco , Armendariz Marcelo , Janssen Peter
Published: June 2019

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can non-invasively modulate neural activity in humans. Despite three decades of research, the spatial extent of the cortical area activated by TMS is still controversial. Moreover, how TMS interacts with task-related activity during motor behavior is unknown. Here, we applied single-pulse TMS over macaque parietal cortex while recording single-unit activity at various distances from the center of stimulation during grasping. The spatial extent of TMS-induced activation is remarkably restricted, affecting the spiking activity of single neurons in an area of cortex measuring less than 2 mm in diameter. In task-related neurons, TMS evokes a transient excitation followed by reduced activity, paralleled by a significantly longer grasping time. Furthermore, TMS-induced activity and task-related activity do not summate in single neurons. These results furnish crucial experimental evidence for the neural effects of TMS at the single-cell level and uncover the neural underpinnings of behavioral effects of TMS.
Multiferroicity in atomic van der Waals heterostructures
Authors: Gong Cheng , Kim Eun Mi , Wang Yuan , Lee Geunsik , Zhang Xiang
Published: June 2019

Materials that are simultaneously ferromagnetic and ferroelectric – multiferroics – promise the control of disparate ferroic orders, leading to technological advances in microwave magnetoelectric applications and next generation of spintronics. Single-phase multiferroics are challenged by the opposite d-orbital occupations imposed by the two ferroics, and heterogeneous nanocomposite multiferroics demand ingredients’ structural compatibility with the resultant multiferroicity exclusively at inter-materials boundaries. Here we propose the two-dimensional heterostructure multiferroics by stacking up atomic layers of ferromagnetic Cr2Ge2Te6 and ferroelectric In2Se3, thereby leading to all-atomic multiferroicity. Through first-principles density functional theory calculations, we find as In2Se3 reverses its polarization, the magnetism of Cr2Ge2Te6 is switched, and correspondingly In2Se3 becomes a switchable magnetic semiconductor due to proximity effect. This unprecedented multiferroic duality (i.e., switchable ferromagnet and switchable magnetic semiconductor) enables both layers for logic applications. Van der Waals heterostructure multiferroics open the door for exploring the low-dimensional magnetoelectric physics and spintronic applications based on artificial superlattices.
Methylene chain ruler for evaluating the regioselectivity of a substrate-recognising oxidation catalyst
Authors: Teramae Shota , Kito Akane , Shingaki Tomoteru , Hamaguchi Yu , Yano Yuuki , Nakayama Takamori , Kobayashi Yuko , Kato Nobuki , Umezawa Naoki , Hisamatsu Yosuke , Nagano Tetsuo , Higuchi Tsunehiko
Published: June 2019

We designed and synthesised Ru porphyrin1aas an oxidation catalyst with substrate recognition sites. The1acatalysed oxidation of substrate7selectively oxidised the central position of the methylene chain, affording ketone8as the major product.
Lewis base-complexed magnesium dithiolenes
Authors: Wang Yuzhong , Maxi Nirva A. , Xie Yaoming , Wei Pingrong , Schaefer Henry F. , Robinson Gregory H.
Published: June 2019

A series of Lewis base-complexed magnesium dithiolenes have been achievedviaa stable lithium dithiolene radical.
Cu-Doped Sr2Fe1.5Mo0.5O6−δ as a highly active cathode for solid oxide electrolytic cells
Authors: Xu Chuming , Zhen Shuying , Ren Rongzheng , Chen Haosen , Song Weili , Wang Zhenhua , Sun Wang , Sun Kening
Published: June 2019

Perovskite oxide Sr2Fe1.3Cu0.2Mo0.5O6−δ (SFCM) is prepared and evaluated as a novel cathode material for solid oxide electrolytic cells (SOECs).
A highly sensitive photoelectrochemical VEGF165 biosensor with a dual signal amplification strategy by using AgVO3 as a photoactive material
Authors: Da Huimei , Liu Yaling , Li Mengjie , Yuan Ruo , Liu Hongyan , Chai Yaqin
Published: June 2019

We developed a novel “signal-on” photoelectrochemical (PEC) aptasensor with a near-zero background signal by using AgVO3 as a single photoactive material for the sensitive detection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165).
Anisotropic mosaicity and lattice-plane twisting of an m-plane GaN homoepitaxial layer
Authors: Kim Jaemyung , Seo Okkyun , Tanaka Atsushi , Chen Jun , Watanabe Kenji , Katsuya Yoshio , Nabatame Toshihide , Irokawa Yoshihiro , Koide Yasuo , Sakata Osami
Published: June 2019

We have observed anisotropic mosaicity of an m-plane GaN homoepitaxial layer by X-ray diffraction topography imaging over a wafer and X-ray rocking curves measured at various wafer points.
The reaction mechanism of Zika virus NS2B/NS3 serine protease inhibition by dipeptidyl aldehyde: a QM/MM study
Authors: Nutho Bodee , Mulholland Adrian J. , Rungrotmongkol Thanyada
Published: June 2019

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has become a global public health problem, associated with microcephaly in newborns and Guillain–Barré syndrome in adults.
Biaxial strain effect on the electronic structure and valleytronic properties of a MoS2/CoO(111) heterostructure
Authors: Yang Guang , Li Jia , Liu Ze , Li Congcong , Mao Xiujuan
Published: June 2019

Spin splitting, valley splitting and Berry curvature at the K and K′ valleys of a MoS2/CoO(111) heterostructure can be tuned continually by biaxial tensile strain.
Hydration dynamics of proteins in reverse micelles probed by1H-NOESY/1H-ROESY NMR and17O-nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR)
Authors: Honegger Philipp , Steinhauser Othmar
Published: June 2019

The heterogeneity of molecular confinement can be mapped onto a protein surface. The specificity of various NOE observables is elucidated.
Natural killer cell migration control in microchannels by perturbations and topography
Authors: Xu Yuanhao , Pang Stella W.
Published: June 2019

Natural killer cell chemotaxis migration along microchannels was manipulated by controlled topographical change along migration paths.
Synthesis of alkynyltellurides mediated by K3PO4 and DMSO
Authors: do Sacramento Manoela , Menezes Larissa , Goldani Bruna , Perin Gelson , Silva Marcio S. , Barcellos Thiago , Alves Diego
Published: June 2019

The reaction of diorganyl ditellurides with terminal alkynes is described using K3PO4 as a catalyst.
Dicationic ditelluride salts stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbene
Authors: Nakata Norio , Kawauchi Fumihiko , Takahashi Shintaro , Ishii Akihiko
Published: June 2019

Two types of dicationic ditelluride salts stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbene have been synthesized and characterized by their spectroscopic data, X-ray diffraction, and DFT calculations.
Catalytic methane oxidation by a supramolecular conjugate based on a μ-nitrido-bridged iron porphyrinoid dimer
Authors: Yamada Yasuyuki , Morita Kentaro , Mihara Nozomi , Igawa Kazunobu , Tomooka Katsuhiko , Tanaka Kentaro
Published: June 2019

Catalytic CH4oxidation using a μ-nitrido-bridged iron porphyrinoid dimer was successfully activated by supramolecular complexation.
Acylseleno- and acylthioureato complexes of gold(i) N-heterocyclic carbenes
Authors: Kuchar Julia , Rust Jörg , Lehmann Christian W. , Mohr Fabian
Published: June 2019

Gold(i) N-heterocyclic carbene complexes with anionic acylselenourea ligands bound to gold only through selenium were prepared in a one-pot procedure.
Genetic platforms for heterologous expression of microbial natural products
Authors: Zhang Jia Jia , Tang Xiaoyu , Moore Bradley S.
Published: June 2019

This review covers current genetic technologies for accessing and manipulating natural product biosynthetic gene clusters through heterologous expression.
Accelerating, guiding, and compressing skyrmions by defect rails
Authors: Castell-Queralt Josep , González-Gómez Leonardo , Del-Valle Nuria , Sanchez Alvaro , Navau Carles
Published: June 2019

Magnetic skyrmions can be guided along rails made by line defects while their speed increased by a factor of ten.
Thermal-assisted self-assembly: a self-adaptive strategy towards large-area uniaxial organic single-crystalline microribbon arrays
Authors: Zhang Yu , Zhu Xiaoting , Yang Shuyuan , Zhai Fei , Zhang Fei , Niu Zhikai , Feng Yiyu , Feng Wei , Zhang Xiaotao , Li Liqiang , Li Rongjin , Hu Wenping
Published: June 2019

Uniaxial organic single-crystalline microribbon arrays were produced by a novel self-adaptive thermal-assisted self-assembly strategy.
A molecular design strategy toward enzyme-activated probes with near-infrared I and II fluorescence for targeted cancer imaging
Authors: Wang Rongchen , Chen Jian , Gao Jie , Chen Ji-An , Xu Ge , Zhu Tianli , Gu Xianfeng , Guo Zhiqian , Zhu Wei-Hong , Zhao Chunchang
Published: June 2019

A molecular design strategy is established to access diverse enzyme-activated probes that are excitable and emit in the NIR (I and II) region with favorable Stokes shifts, enabling targeted cancer imaging by real-time monitoring enzyme activities.
Isotropic–isotropic phase separation and spinodal decomposition in liquid crystal–solvent mixtures
Authors: Reyes Catherine G. , Baller Jörg , Araki Takeaki , Lagerwall Jan P. F.
Published: June 2019

Phase separation in mixtures forming liquid crystal (LC) phases is an important yet under-appreciated phenomenon that can drastically influence the behaviour of a multi-component LC.
Hsp70 molecular chaperones: multifunctional allosteric holding and unfolding machines
Authors: Clerico Eugenia M. , Meng Wenli , Pozhidaeva Alexandra , Bhasne Karishma , Petridis Constantine , Gierasch Lila M.
Published: June 2019

The Hsp70 family of chaperones works with its co-chaperones, the nucleotide exchange factors and J-domain proteins, to facilitate a multitude of cellular functions. Central players in protein homeostasis, these jacks-of-many-trades are utilized in a variety of ways because of their ability to bind with selective promiscuity to regions of their client proteins that are exposed when the client is unfolded, either fully or partially, or visits a conformational state that exposes the binding region in a regulated manner. The key to Hsp70 functions is that their substrate binding is transient and allosterically cycles in a nucleotide-dependent fashion between high- and low-affinity states. In the past few years, structural insights into the molecular mechanism of this allosterically regulated binding have emerged and provided deep insight into the deceptively simple Hsp70 molecular machine that is so widely harnessed by nature for diverse cellular functions. In this review, these structural insights are discussed to give a picture of the current understanding of how Hsp70 chaperones work.
Ramanujan periodic subspace division multiplexing
Authors: Srikanth Goli , Chakka Vijay Kumar , Shah Shaik Basheeruddin
Published: June 2019

In this study, a new modulation method defined as Ramanujan periodic subspace division multiplexing (RPSDM) is proposed using Ramanujan subspaces. Each subspace contains an integer‐valued Ramanujan sum and its circular downshifts as a basis. The proposed RPSDM decomposes the linear time‐invariant wireless channels into a Toeplitz stair block diagonal matrices, whereas orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) decompose the same into diagonal. Advantages of such structured subspaces representation are studied and compared with an OFDM representation in terms of a peak‐average power ratio and bit error rate. Zero‐forcing and minimum mean square error detectors are applied to evaluate the performance of OFDM and RPSDM techniques. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed design (with an additional receiver complexity) outperforms OFDM under both detectors.
Hybrid ORA and NORA schemes for machine‐to‐machine communication in long‐term evolution networks
Authors: Zhang Mingyu , Li Ying , Guo Xudong
Published: June 2019

Massive machine‐type communication (MTC) devices will be deployed in the fifth‐generation wireless communication networks, which will inevitably result in access collision problems. To alleviate this issue, the authors propose a hybrid orthogonal random access (ORA) and non‐orthogonal random access (NORA) scheme to improve the throughput. In the proposed scheme, an expanded physical random access channel is employed to transmit preambles and MTC devices identity information simultaneously, which can help the base station (BS) to determine whether the MTC device can successfully transmit preamble. Subsequently, the MTC devices whose transmitted preambles are detected successfully by BS are statistically grouped, and then the devices in the same group transmit their data messages in a non‐orthogonal multiple access manner. Meanwhile, to further improve the access throughput, the MTC devices that did not pass access class barring check are permitted to compete for the remained unscheduled resources with orthogonal multiple access manner. They also analyse the access throughput of the proposed scheme. Simulation results show that to serve all MTC devices distributed in a cell, their proposed scheme outperforms the traditional multichannel ALOHA and two‐stage random access scheme in terms of access throughput and required number of random access slots.