bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Wetlands in Ethiopia: Lessons From 20 years of Research, Policy and Practice
Authors: Dixon Alan , Wood Adrian , Hailu Afework
Published: February 2021

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa wetlands provide ecosystem services that are critical to the development needs of many people. Local wetland use, however, is often at odds with broader national policy goals in which narratives of conservation and protection dominate, hence a recurring challenge is how to reconcile these tensions through the development of policies and field practice that deliver sustainable development. In this paper we examine the extent to which this challenge has been achieved in Ethiopia, charting the changes in wetlands policy and discourse over the last twenty years while reviewing the contribution of the multidisciplinary Ethiopian Wetlands Research Programme (EWRP) (1997–2000). Our analysis suggests that despite EWRP having a significant legacy in developing national interest in wetlands among research, government and non-governmental organisations, its more holistic social-ecological interpretation of wetland management remains neglected within a policy arena dominated by specific sectoral interests and little recognition of the needs of local people. In exploring the impacts at the local level, recent investigations with communities in Ilu Aba Bora Zone highlight adjustments in wetland use that famers attribute to environmental, economic and social change, but which also evidence the adaptive nature of wetland-based livelihoods.
Causal Cognition and Theory of Mind in Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology
Authors: Lombard Marlize , Gärdenfors Peter
Published: February 2021

It is widely thought that causal cognition underpins technical reasoning. Here we suggest that understanding causal cognition as a thinking system that includes theory of mind (i.e., social cognition) can be a productive theoretical tool for the field of evolutionary cognitive archaeology. With this contribution, we expand on an earlier model that distinguishes seven grades of causal cognition, explicitly presenting it together with a new analysis of the theory of mind involved in the different grades. We then suggest how such thinking may manifest in the archaeological or stone tool record and techno-behaviors of the last three million years or so. Our thesis is threefold: (a) theory of mind is an integral element of causal cognition; (b) generally speaking, the more advanced causal cognition is, the more it is dependent on theory of mind; and (c) the evolution of causal cognition depends more and more on mental representations of hidden variables. Ultimately, the final or seventh grade of causal cognition allows us to reason from a network of hidden variables that, amongst other things, enables the learning, manufacture, and use of complex technological systems. It also facilitates the seamless mapping of knowledge between personal (egocentric), physical, and social networks that allows for newly devised and innovative technical and social outcomes.
Engineering Solutions to COVID-19 and Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Authors: Barabino Gilda A.
Published: February 2021

The role of engineers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in the elimination of health disparities, while not always visible, has important implications for the attainment of impactful solutions. The design skills, systems approach, and innovative mindset that engineers bring all have the potential to combat crises in novel and impactful ways. When a disparities lens is applied, a lens that views gaps in access, resources, and care, the engineering solutions are bound to be more robust and equitable. The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the Black community and other communities of color is linked to inequities in health rooted in a centuries long structural racism. Engineers working collaboratively with physicians and healthcare providers are poised to close equity gaps and strengthen the collective response to COVID-19 and future pandemics.
Dynamical study of infochemical influences on tropic interaction of diffusive plankton system
Authors: Tiwari Satish Kumar , Singh Ravikant , Thakur Nilesh Kumar
Published: February 2021

We propose a model for tropic interaction among the infochemical-producing phytoplankton and non-info chemical-producing phytoplankton and microzooplankton. Volatile information-conveying chemicals (infochemicals) released by phytoplankton play an important role in the food webs of marine ecosystems. Microzooplankton is an ecologically important grazer of phytoplankton for coexistence of a large number of phytoplankton species. Here, we discuss how information transferred by dimethyl sulfide shapes the interaction of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton deterrents may lead to propagation of IPP bloom. The interaction between IPP and microzooplankton follows the Beddington–DeAngelis-type functional response. Analytically, we discuss boundedness, stability and Turing instability of the model system. We perform numerical simulation for temporal (ODE model) as well as a spatial model system. Our numerical investigation shows that microzooplankton grazing refuse of IPP leads to oscillatory dynamics. Increasing diffusion coefficient of microzooplankton shows Turing instability. Time evolution also plays an important role in the stability of system dynamics. The results obtained in this paper are useful to understand the dominance of algal bloom in coastal and estuarine ecosystem.
Assessment of groundwater contamination risk by BTEX from residual fuel soil phase
Authors: Zanello Victoria , Scherger Leonardo E. , Lexow Claudio
Published: February 2021

The aim of this work is to assess the risk of groundwater contamination associated with BTEX dissolution from fuels as a residual phase. Numerical simulations of sixty scenarios were carried out with the software HYDRUS 2D/3D. Groundwater contamination risk was analyzed given the combination of different porous media textures (silt loam, sandy loam and clay), water fluxes (0.5%, 1% or 3% Rainfall), water table depths (1.5, 2.5, 5 or 8 m below ground surface) and biodegradation rate (active or null). Risk was calculated comparing leachate concentrations to the aquifer and limits established by an international guideline for human drinking water. In all cases, benzene and toluene had the highest mobility in the dissolved phase. Contrary, xylene and ethylbenzene tended to concentrate close to the source zone. These two compounds predominantly concentrated in the solid phase. Calculated risk was proportional to the water flux rate and inversely proportional to the unsaturated thickness. Without biodegradation, in fine-grained sediments risk was very high for shallow aquifers (> 1.5 m depth) and moderate or low for deeper aquifers. However, in sandy loam sediments risk was classified as very high for aquifers up to 8 m deep. When biodegradation was considered, leached concentrations were greatly reduced in the three textures. BTEX concentration in Bahía Blanca City´s aquifer showed acceptable agreement with simulated scenarios. The most sensitive parameters to model results were biodegradation > foc > water table depth > Ks. This study is important for assessing the risks and developing management strategies for fuel contaminated sites.
DeepCAPE: A Deep Convolutional Neural Network for the Accurate Prediction of Enhancers
Authors: Chen Shengquan , Gan Mingxin , Lv Hairong , Jiang Rui
Published: February 2021

The establishment of a landscape of enhancers across human cells is crucial to deciphering the mechanism of gene regulation, cell differentiation, and disease development. High-throughput experimental approaches, which contain successfully reported enhancers in typical cell lines, are still too costly and time-consuming to perform systematic identification of enhancers specific to different cell lines. Existing computational methods, capable of predicting regulatory elements purely relying on DNA sequences, lack the power of cell line-specific screening. Recent studies have suggested that chromatin accessibility of a DNA segment is closely related to its potential function in regulation, and thus may provide useful information in identifying regulatory elements. Motivated by the aforementioned understanding, we integrate DNA sequences and chromatin accessibility data to accurately predict enhancers in a cell line-specific manner. We proposed DeepCAPE, a deep convolutional neural network to predict enhancers via the integration of DNA sequences and DNase-seq data. Benefitting from the well-designed feature extraction mechanism and skip connection strategy, our model not only consistently outperforms existing methods in the imbalanced classification of cell line-specific enhancers against background sequences, but also has the ability to self-adapt to different sizes of datasets. Besides, with the adoption of auto-encoder, our model is capable of making cross-cell line predictions. We further visualize kernels of the first convolutional layer and show the match of identified sequence signatures and known motifs. We finally demonstrate the potential ability of our model to explain functional implications of putative disease-associated genetic variants and discriminate disease-related enhancers. The source code and detailed tutorial of DeepCAPE are freely available at https://github.com/ShengquanChen/DeepCAPE.
Global Profiling of 2-Hydroxyisobutyrylome in Common Wheat
Authors: Zhang Ning , Zhang Lingran , Li Linjie , Geng Junyou , Zhao Lei , Ren Yan , Dong Zhongdong , Chen Feng
Published: February 2021

As a novel post-translational modification (PTM), lysine 2-hydroxyisobutyrylation (Khib) is considered to regulate gene transcriptional activities in eukaryotic cells; however, the functions of Khib-modified proteins in plants remain unknown. Here, we report that Khib is an evolutionarily-conserved PTM in wheat and its progenitors. A total of 3348 Khib sites on 1074 proteins are identified in common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) by using affinity purification and mass spectroscopy of 2-hydroxyisobutyrylome. Bioinformatic data indicate that Khib-modified proteins participate in a wide variety of biological and metabolic pathways. Immunoprecipitation confirms that Khib-modified proteins are present endogenously. A comparison of Khib and other main PTMs shows that Khib-modified proteins are simultaneously modified by multiple PTMs. Using mutagenesis experiments and co-immunoprecipitation assays, we demonstrate that Khib on K206 of phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) is a key regulatory modification for its enzymatic activity, and mutation on K206 affects the interactions of PGK with its substrates. Furthermore, Khib modification of low-molecular-weight proteins is a response to the deacetylase inhibitors nicotinamide and trichostatin. This study provides evidence to promote our current understanding of Khib in wheat plants, including the cooperation between Khib and its metabolic regulation.
eTumorMetastasis: A Network-Based Algorithm Predicts Clinical Outcomes Using Whole-Exome Sequencing Data of Cancer Patients
Authors: Milanese Jean-Sébastien , Tibiche Chabane , Zaman Naif , Zou Jinfeng , Han Pengyong , Meng Zhigang , Nantel Andre , Droit Arnaud , Wang Edwin
Published: February 2021

Continual reduction in sequencing cost is expanding the accessibility of genome sequencing data for routine clinical applications. However, the lack of methods to construct machine learning-based predictive models using these datasets has become a crucial bottleneck for the application of sequencing technology in clinics. Here, we develop a new algorithm, eTumorMetastasis, which transforms tumor functional mutations into network-based profiles and identifies network operational gene (NOG) signatures. NOG signatures model the tipping point at which a tumor cell shifts from a state that doesn’t favor recurrence to one that does. We show that NOG signatures derived from genomic mutations of tumor founding clones (i.e., the ‘most recent common ancestor’ of the cells within a tumor) significantly distinguish the recurred and non-recurred breast tumors as well as outperform the most popular genomic test (i.e., Oncotype DX). These results imply that mutations of the tumor founding clones are associated with tumor recurrence and can be used to predict clinical outcomes. As such, predictive tools could be used in clinics to guide treatment routes. Finally, the concepts underlying the eTumorMetastasis pave the way for the application of genome sequencing in predictions for other complex genetic diseases. eTumorMetastasis pseudocode and related data used in this study are available at https://github.com/WangEdwinLab/eTumorMetastasis.
PM2RA: A Framework for Detecting and Quantifying Relationship Alterations in Microbial Community
Authors: Liu Zhi , Mi Kai , Xu Zhenjiang Zech , Zhang Qiankun , Liu Xingyin
Published: February 2021

The dysbiosis of gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of human diseases. However, observing shifts in the microbe abundance cannot fully reveal underlying perturbations. Examining the relationship alterations (RAs) in the microbiome between health and disease statuses provides additional hints about the pathogenesis of human diseases, but no methods were designed to detect and quantify the RAs between different conditions directly. Here, we present profile monitoring for microbial relationship alteration (PM2RA), an analysis framework to identify and quantify the microbial RAs. The performance of PM2RA was evaluated with synthetic data, and it showed higher specificity and sensitivity than the co-occurrence-based methods. Analyses of real microbial datasets showed that PM2RA was robust for quantifying microbial RAs across different datasets in several diseases. By applying PM2RA, we identified several novel or previously reported microbes implicated in multiple diseases. PM2RA is now implemented as a web-based application available at http://www.pm2ra-xingyinliulab.cn/.
Prevalence and Distribution of Major β-Thalassemia Mutations and HbE/β-Thalassemia Variant in Nepalese Ethnic Groups
Authors: Lama Raju , Yusof Wardah , Shrestha Tilak R. , Hanafi Sarifah , Bhattarai Matrika , Hassan Rosline , Zilfalil Bin Alwi
Published: February 2021

Background:

Beta-thalassemia is a genetic disorder that is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. This genetic disease leads to a defective beta-globin hemoglobin chain causing partial or complete beta-globin chain synthesis loss. Beta-thalassemia major patients need a continuous blood transfusion and iron chelation to maintain the normal homeostasis of red blood cells (RBCs) and other systems in the body. Patients also require treatment procedures that are costly and tedious, resulting in a serious health burden for developing nations such as Nepal.

Methods:

A total of 61 individuals clinically diagnosed to have thalassemia were genotyped with multiplex amplification refractory mutation system–polymerase chain reaction (ARMS–PCR). Twenty-one major mutations were investigated using allele-specific primers grouped into six different panels.

Results:

The most common mutations found (23%) were IVS 1–5 (G-C) and Cd 26 (G-A) (HbE), followed by 619 deletion, Cd 8/9 (+G), Cd 16 (–C), Cd 41/42 (–TTCT), IVS 1–1 (G–T), Cd 19 (A-G), and Cd 17 (A-T) at 20%, 12%, 8%, 6%, 4%, 3%, and 1%, respectively.

Conclusion:

The results of this study revealed that Nepal’s mutational profile is comparable to that of its neighboring countries, such as India and Myanmar. This study also showed that thalassemia could be detected across 17 Nepal’s ethnic groups, especially those whose ancestors originated from India and Central Asia.
Managing with Mindfulness
Authors: Yeigh Tony
Published: February 2021

Teacher and student interaction occur in a complex and dynamic environment. Managing with Mindfulness: Connecting with Students in the 21st Century draws on educational psychology, duty-of-care principles and mindfulness practices to introduce the Control/Connect continuum as a model designed to foster inclusive classroom practices for the contemporary classroom. Addressing topics such as communication, positive relationships, emotional literacy, motivation and classroom behaviours, the work is written to support Initial Teacher Education students in their transition to practice. Framed by the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, Graduate level, this new textbook integrates the theoretical contexts of classroom management with the needs of contemporary teachers, as situated within the historical context of 21st century teaching and learning. The text is supported throughout with engaging and thought-provoking case studies and activities, thinking points and end-of-chapter review questions that encourage reflection on key concepts and practices.
Surgery and Selfhood in Early Modern England
Authors: Skuse Alanna
Published: February 2021

Offering an innovative perspective on early modern debates concerning embodiment, Alanna Skuse examines diverse kinds of surgical alteration, from mastectomy to castration, and amputation to facial reconstruction. Body-altering surgeries had profound socio-economic and philosophical consequences. They reached beyond the physical self, and prompted early modern authors to develop searching questions about the nature of body integrity and its relationship to the soul: was the body a part of one's identity, or a mere 'prison' for the mind? How was the body connected to personal morality? What happened to the altered body after death? Drawing on a wide variety of texts including medical treatises, plays, poems, newspaper reports and travel writings, this volume will argue the answers to these questions were flexible, divergent and often surprising, and helped to shape early modern thoughts on philosophy, literature, and the natural sciences. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Domestic Abuse and Human Rights
Authors: Herring Jonathan
Published: February 2021

Domestic Abuse and Human Rights presents an overview of the relevance of the European Convention on Human Rights to domestic abuse. It will have three aims: first, to consider the relevant case law and application of the key articles to questions around domestic abuse; second, to consider at a theoretical level the balancing between protection and autonomy at the heart of the legal response to domestic abuse; third, to propose practical application of a human rights approach to issues around domestic abuse, with particular emphasis placed on the significance of the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women. The relevance of the key Articles of the European Convention on Human Rights will be explained. The book will include material on the definition of domestic abuse, elder abuse, parental abuse, and the impact of abuse on children. It seeks to bring out the themes which connect these issues as well as the ways in which they raise distinct questions. The book argues that a human rights approach requires states to take a pro-active stance towards domestic abuse. It should no longer be regarded as a private matter, but as a human rights approach mandating state intervention, although within limits. So understood, the European Convention on Human Rights provides a powerful impetus for states to ensure an effective response to the major problem of domestic abuse.
Non-Regression in International Environmental Law
Authors: Vordermayer-Riemer Markus
Published: February 2021

The book analyses the emerging concept of 'non-regression' as a novel legal principle of international environmental law. It traces the development of non-regression in the context of international human rights law and provides an examination of the respective jurisprudence under universal and regional human rights instruments. These are then compared to closely-related normative concepts in the framework of international environmental law, including the Paris Climate Change Agreement and biodiversity-related agreements such as the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species. The book advocates an innovative usage of comparative law methods in order to enable fruitful interactions between human rights and international environmental law. Non-Regression in International Environmental Law is an important contribution to the development of international environmental law that offers a fresh perspective on the relationship between human rights and international environmental law. DR MARKUS VORDERMAYER-RIEMER is a legal and policy officer at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection, Germany. He was previously a law clerk at the Higher Regional Court of Munich, Germany. He has also worked as a research assistant at the Institute of International Law of Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, and was educated in both civil law and common law jurisdictions.
The neural substrates of risky rewards and losses in healthy volunteers and patient groups: a PET imaging study
Authors: Skandali Nikolina , Majuri Joonas , Joutsa Juho , Baek Kwangyeol , Arponen Eveliina , Forsback Sarita , Kaasinen Valtteri , Voon Valerie
Published: February 2021

Background

Risk is an essential trait of most daily decisions. Our behaviour when faced with risks involves evaluation of many factors including the outcome probabilities, the valence (gains or losses) and past experiences. Several psychiatric disorders belonging to distinct diagnostic categories, including pathological gambling and addiction, show pathological risk-taking and implicate abnormal dopaminergic, opioidergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. In this study, we adopted a transdiagnostic approach to delineate the neurochemical substrates of decision making under risk.

Methods

We recruited 39 participants, including 17 healthy controls, 15 patients with pathological gambling and seven binge eating disorder patients, who completed an anticipatory risk-taking task. Separately, participants underwent positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with three ligands, [18F]fluorodopa (FDOPA), [11C]MADAM and [11C]carfentanil to assess presynaptic dopamine synthesis capacity and serotonin transporter and mu-opioid receptor binding respectively.

Results

Risk-taking behaviour when faced with gains positively correlated with dorsal cingulate [11C]carfentanil binding and risk-taking to losses positively correlated with [11C]MADAM binding in the caudate and putamen across all subjects.

Conclusions

We show distinct neurochemical substrates underlying risk-taking with the dorsal cingulate cortex mu-opioid receptor binding associated with rewards and dorsal striatal serotonin transporter binding associated with losses. Risk-taking and goal-directed control appear to dissociate between dorsal and ventral fronto-striatal systems. Our findings thus highlight the potential role of pharmacological agents or neuromodulation on modifying valence-specific risk-taking biases.
The Structure of the Emotional Processing Scale	(EPS-25)
Authors: Lauriola Marco , Donati Maria Anna , Trentini Cristina , Tomai Manuela , Pontone Stefano , Baker Roger
Published: February 2021

Abstract. The Emotional Processing Scale (EPS) assesses emotional processing in terms of suppression, signs of unprocessed emotion, controllability of emotions, avoidance of emotional triggers, and impoverished emotional experience. Previous confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) yielded insufficient fit and questioned the EPS factors’ discriminant validity. The present study aimed to test unidimensional, five-factor, and bifactor models using exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and CFA. We administered the scale to 350 Italian participants in good health and 346 gastrointestinal patients referred for endoscopy because of mild-to-severe gastrointestinal symptoms. ESEM models outperformed corresponding CFA models. The bifactor ESEM model was a good fit in single group analyses and achieved metric and scalar invariance in multigroup analyses. The inspection of latent mean differences revealed a consistent trend for patients to avoid emotional triggers and have less general emotional processing difficulties. The study clarified the EPS factor structure and supported its use to assess the emotional processing of medical patients and community participants.
Gender Differences or Gender Bias?
Authors: Plouffe Rachel A. , Kowalski Christopher Marcin , Tremblay Paul F. , Saklofske Donald H. , Rogoza Radosław , Di Pierro Rossella , Chahine Saad
Published: February 2021

Abstract. Sadism, defined by the infliction of pain and suffering on others for pleasure or subjugation, has recently garnered substantial attention in the psychological research literature. The Assessment of Sadistic Personality (ASP) was developed to measure levels of everyday sadism and has been shown to possess excellent reliability and validity using classical test theory methods. However, it is not known how well ASP items discriminate between respondents of different trait levels, or which Likert categories are endorsed by persons of various trait levels. Additionally, individual items should be evaluated to ensure that men and women of similar levels of sadism have an equal probability of response endorsement. The purpose of this research was to apply item response theory (IRT) and differential item functioning (DIF) to investigate item properties of the ASP across its three translations: English, Polish, and Italian. Overall, the results of the IRT analysis showed that with the exception of Item 9, the ASP demonstrated sound item properties. The DIF rate analyses identified two items from each questionnaire that were of practical significance across gender. Implications of these results are discussed.
Possible Underlying Mechanisms of Severe Decadal Droughts in Arid Central Asia During the Last 530 Years: Results From the Last Millennium Climate Reanalysis Project Version 2.0
Authors: Peng Youbing
Published: February 2021

Severe persistent drought events during the last 530 years are examined in Arid Central Asia (ACA) by using the data with proxy assimilation from the Last Millennium Climate Reanalysis project version 2.0 (LMR v2.0). According to the results from the LMR v2.0, six severe decadal droughts occurred in ACA during the last 530 years and five of them overlap with the results based on the independent reconstructions of Asian summer precipitation, such as the droughts of 1519–1538 CE, 1545–1561 CE, 1621–1658 CE, 1822–1846 CE, and 1964–1983 CE. The climate anomaly patterns are characterized by opposite anomalies between the high‐latitude and midlatitude Eurasia during the first four well‐agreement droughts, with negative precipitation and positive surface level pressure and 500‐hPa geopotential height anomalies located over midlatitude Eurasia and opposite anomalies over high‐latitude Eurasia. Whereas, during the last well‐agreement drought, opposing pattern of the climate variation observed between in ACA and in the Mediterranean with negative precipitation anomalies and positive 500‐hPa geopotential height anomalies in ACA and opposite anomalies in the Mediterranean. The positive Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation influence is found to dominate the droughts of 1621–1658 CE via a northward migration of the westerlies. While the last drought of 1964–1983 CE produced by the combined impacts of the negative Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation via the Silk Road pattern over the midlatitude Eurasian continent.
Imaging the P‐Wave Velocity Structure of Arctic Subsea Permafrost Using Laplace‐Domain Full‐Waveform Inversion
Authors: Kang Seung‐Goo , Jin Young Keun , Jang Ugeun , Duchesne Mathieu J. , Shin Changsoo , Kim Sookwan , Riedel Michael , Dallimore Scott R. , Paull Charles K. , Choi Yeonjin , Hong Jong Kuk
Published: February 2021

Climate change in the Arctic has recently become a major scientific issue, and detailed information on the degradation of subsea permafrost on continental shelves in the Arctic is critical for understanding the major cause and effects of global warming, especially the release of greenhouse gases. The subsea permafrost at shallow depths beneath the Arctic continental shelves has significantly higher P‐wave velocities than the surrounding sediments. The distribution of subsea permafrost on Arctic continental shelves has been studied since the 1970s using seismic refraction methods. With seismic refraction data, the seismic velocity and the depth of the upper boundary of subsea permafrost can be determined. However, it is difficult to identify the lower boundary and the internal shape of permafrost. Here, we present two‐dimensional P‐wave velocity models of the continental shelf in the Beaufort Sea by applying the Laplace‐domain full‐waveform inversion method to acquired multichannel seismic reflection data. With the inverted P‐wave velocity model, we identify anomalous high seismic velocities that originated from the subsea permafrost. Information on the two‐dimensional distribution of subsea permafrost on the Arctic continental shelf area, including the upper and lower bounds of subsea permafrost, are presented. Also, the two‐dimensional P‐wave velocity model allows us to estimate the thawing pattern and the shape of subsea permafrost structures. Our proposed P‐wave velocity models were verified by comparison with the previous distribution map of subsea permafrost from seismic refraction analyses, geothermal modeling, and well‐log data.
Numerical and Analytical Modeling of Flow Partitioning in Partially Saturated Fracture Networks
Authors: Kordilla Jannes , Dentz Marco , Tartakovsky Alexandre M.
Published: February 2021

Infiltration processes in fractured‐porous media remain a crucial, yet not very well understood component of recharge and vulnerability assessment. Under partially saturated condition flows in fractures, percolating fracture networks and fault zones contribute to the fastest spectrum of infiltration velocities via preferential pathways. Specifically, the partitioning dynamics at fracture intersections determine the magnitude of flow fragmentation into vertical and horizontal components, hence the bulk flow velocity and dispersion of fracture networks. Here we derive an approximate analytical solution for the partitioning process and validate it using smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. The transfer function is conceptually based on simulation results and laboratory experiments carried out in previous works. It allows efficient flow simulation through fracture networks with simple cubic structures and an arbitrary number of fractures and aperture sizes via linear response theory and convolution of a given input signal. We derive a nondimensional bulk flow velocity () and dispersion coefficient () to characterize fracture networks in terms of dimensionless horizontal and vertical time scales τm and τ0. The dispersion coefficient strongly depends on the horizontal time scale and converges toward a constant value of 0.08 within reasonable fluid and geometrical parameter ranges, while the nondimensional velocity exhibits a characteristic scaling. Given that hydraulic information is often only available at limited places within (fractured‐porous) aquifer systems (boreholes or springs), our study intends to provide an analytical concept to potentially reconstruct internal fracture network geometries from external boundary information, such as the dispersive properties of discharge (groundwater level fluctuations).
circST6GALNAC6 suppresses bladder cancer metastasis by sponging miR-200a-3p to modulate the STMN1/EMT axis
Authors: Tan Shuo , Kang Ye , Li Hu , He Hai-Qing , Zheng Long , Wu Shui-Qing , Ai Kai , Zhang Lei , Xu Ran , Zhang Xuan-Zhi , Zhao Xiao-Kun , Zhu Xuan
Published: February 2021

Bladder cancer (BCa) is an aggressive malignancy because of its distant metastasis and high recurrence rate. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) exert critical regulatory functions in cancer progression. However, the expression patterns and roles of circRNAs in BCa have not been well investigated. In this study, we first screened circRNA expression profiles using a circRNA microarray of paired BCa and normal tissues, and the expression of circST6GALNAC6 was confirmed by qRT-PCR and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). MTT, colony formation and Transwell assays were performed to measure cell proliferation, migration and invasion. We investigated the regulatory effect of circST6GALNAC6 on miRNA and its target genes to explore the potential regulatory mechanisms of circST6GALNAC6 by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP), MS2-tagged RNA affinity purification (MS2-TRAP), immunofluorescence (IF) and dual luciferase activity assays. A nude mouse xenograft model was used to examine the functions of circST6GALNAC6/STMN1 in tumour metastasis in vivo. We found that 881 circRNAs were significantly dysregulated in BCa tissues compared to normal tissues. circST6GALNAC6(hsa_circ_0088708) was downregulated in BCa tissues and cells. Overexpression of circST6GALNAC6 effectively inhibited the cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and suppressed BCa metastasis in vivo. Mechanistically, we showed that the SP1 transcription factor, which binds to the circST6GALNAC6 mRNA transcript, activates circST6GALNAC6 transcription. Next, we verified that circST6GALNAC6 serves as a sponge that directly binds miR-200a-3p to regulate stathmin (STMN1) expression. Furthermore, we found that STMN1 is involved in circST6GALNAC6/miR-200a-3p axis-regulated BCa EMT and metastasis. Thus, our findings indicate an important underlying mechanism in BCa metastasis by which SP1-induced circST6GALNAC6 sponges miR-200a-3p to promote STMN1/EMT signalling. This mechanism could provide pivotal potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for BCa.
Dissociation between asymmetric value updating and perseverance in human reinforcement learning
Authors: Sugawara Michiyo , Katahira Kentaro
Published: February 2021

The learning rate is a key parameter in reinforcement learning that determines the extent to which novel information (outcome) is incorporated in guiding subsequent actions. Numerous studies have reported that the magnitude of the learning rate in human reinforcement learning is biased depending on the sign of the reward prediction error. However, this asymmetry can be observed as a statistical bias if the fitted model ignores the choice autocorrelation (perseverance), which is independent of the outcomes. Therefore, to investigate the genuine process underlying human choice behavior using empirical data, one should dissociate asymmetry in learning and perseverance from choice behavior. The present study addresses this issue by using a Hybrid model incorporating asymmetric learning rates and perseverance. First, by conducting simulations, we demonstrate that the Hybrid model can identify the true underlying process. Second, using the Hybrid model, we show that empirical data collected from a web-based experiment are governed by perseverance rather than asymmetric learning. Finally, we apply the Hybrid model to two open datasets in which asymmetric learning was reported. As a result, the asymmetric learning rate was validated in one dataset but not another.
Detectivity optimization to measure ultraweak light fluxes using an EM-CCD as binary photon counter array
Authors: Khaoua Ibtissame , Graciani Guillaume , Kim Andrey , Amblard François
Published: February 2021

For a wide range of purposes, one faces the challenge to detect light from extremely faint and spatially extended sources. In such cases, detector noises dominate over the photon noise of the source, and quantum detectors in photon counting mode are generally the best option. Here, we combine a statistical model with an in-depth analysis of detector noises and calibration experiments, and we show that visible light can be detected with an electron-multiplying charge-coupled devices (EM-CCD) with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 3 for fluxes less than $$30\,{\text{photon}}\,{\text{s}}^{ - 1} \,{\text{cm}}^{ - 2}$$

30

photon

s

-
1

cm

-
2

. For green photons, this corresponds to 12 aW $${\text{cm}}^{ - 2}$$

cm

-
2

≈ $$9{ } \times 10^{ - 11}$$

9

×

10

-
11

lux, i.e. 15 orders of magnitude less than typical daylight. The strong nonlinearity of the SNR with the sampling time leads to a dynamic range of detection of 4 orders of magnitude. To detect possibly varying light fluxes, we operate in conditions of maximal detectivity $${\mathcal{D}}$$
D
rather than maximal SNR. Given the quantum efficiency $$QE\left( \lambda \right)$$

Q
E

λ

of the detector, we find $${ \mathcal{D}} = 0.015\,{\text{photon}}^{ - 1} \,{\text{s}}^{1/2} \,{\text{cm}}$$

D
=
0.015

photon

-
1

s

1
/
2

cm

, and a non-negligible sensitivity to blackbody radiation for T > 50 °C. This work should help design highly sensitive luminescence detection methods and develop experiments to explore dynamic phenomena involving ultra-weak luminescence in biology, chemistry, and material sciences.
A social Beaufort scale to detect high winds using language in social media posts
Authors: Weaver Iain S. , Williams Hywel T. P. , Arthur Rudy
Published: February 2021

People often talk about the weather on social media, using different vocabulary to describe different conditions. Here we combine a large collection of wind-related Twitter posts (tweets) and UK Met Office wind speed observations to explore the relationship between tweet volume, tweet language and wind speeds in the UK. We find that wind speeds are experienced subjectively relative to the local baseline, so that the same absolute wind speed is reported as stronger or weaker depending on the typical weather conditions in the local area. Different linguistic tokens (words and emojis) are associated with different wind speeds. These associations can be used to create a simple text classifier to detect ‘high-wind’ tweets with reasonable accuracy; this can be used to detect high winds in a locality using only a single tweet. We also construct a ‘social Beaufort scale’ to infer wind speeds based only on the language used in tweets. Together with the classifier, this demonstrates that language alone is indicative of weather conditions, independent of tweet volume. However, the number of high-wind tweets shows a strong temporal correlation with local wind speeds, increasing the ability of a combined language-plus-volume system to successfully detect high winds. Our findings complement previous work in social sensing of weather hazards that has focused on the relationship between tweet volume and severity. These results show that impacts of wind and storms are found in how people communicate and use language, a novel dimension in understanding the social impacts of extreme weather.
Early life stress during the neonatal period alters social play and Line1 during the juvenile stage of development
Authors: Cuarenta Amelia , Kigar Stacey L. , Henion Ian C. , Chang Liza , Bakshi Vaishali P. , Auger Anthony P.
Published: February 2021

Early life stress (ELS) has been shown to have a significant impact on typical brain development and the manifestation of psychological disorders through epigenetic modifications that alter gene expression. Line1, a retrotransposon associated with genetic diversity, has been linked with various psychological disorders that are associated with ELS. Our previous work demonstrated altered Line1 DNA copy number in the neonatal period following stressful experiences; we therefore chose to investigate whether early life stress altered Line1 retrotransposition persists into the juvenile period of development. Our study uses a neonatal predator odor exposure (POE) paradigm to model ELS in rats. We examined Line1 using qPCR to assess Line1 expression levels and DNA copy number in the male and female juvenile amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex—areas chosen for their association with affective disorders and stress. We report a sex difference in Line1 levels within the juvenile amygdala. We also find that ELS significantly increases Line1 DNA copy number within the juvenile amygdala which correlates with reduced juvenile social play levels, suggesting the possibility that Line1 may influence juvenile social development.
The association between impairment of HDL cholesterol efflux capacity and atrial remodeling in atrial fibrillation
Authors: Minami-Takano Asuka , Iwata Hiroshi , Miyosawa Katsutoshi , Shiozawa Tomoyuki , Hayashi Hidemori , Funamizu Takehiro , Ishii Kai , Nozaki Yui , Tabuchi Haruna , Sekita Gaku , Shimada Kazunori , Sumiyoshi Masataka , Nakazato Yuji , Daida Hiroyuki , Minamino Tohru
Published: February 2021

This cross-sectional study enrolled 202 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who had undergone catheter ablation and evaluated the association between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) functionality, cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) of HDL, and the pathophysiology of left atrial structural remodeling. Participants were divided into two groups, based on their left atrial volume index (LAVI) (< 34 mL/m2, n = 60 vs. LAVI ≥ 34 mL/m2, n = 142). We quantified three types of HDL CECs by the presence or absence of cyclic-AMP, as entire, and CEC dependent or not dependent on ATP binding cassette transporter A1 (ABCA1) and termed them Global CEC, ABCA1 CEC, and Non-ABCA1 CEC, respectively. Consequently, Global and Non-ABCA1 CECs were significantly impaired in patients with an enlarged LA (Global CEC: p = 0.039, Non-ABCA1 CEC: p = 0.022). Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that Non-ABCA1 CEC was significantly associated with an enlarged LA after adjusting for the conventional risk factors of AF. Furthermore, the association of higher Non-ABCA1 CEC with an enlarged LA was independent of serum levels of HDL cholesterol and serum myeloperoxidase (Odds ratio of 1 standard deviation higher: 0.64, 95% confidence interval: 0.43–0.95, p = 0.027). The findings of this study indicate the potential contribution of reduced Non-ABCA1 CEC in HDL to the pathophysiology in left atrial structural remodeling of patients with AF.
Salicylic acid is a key player of Arabidopsis autophagy mutant susceptibility to the necrotrophic bacterium Dickeya dadantii
Authors: Rigault Martine , Citerne Sylvie , Masclaux-Daubresse Céline , Dellagi Alia
Published: February 2021

Autophagy is a ubiquitous vesicular process for protein and organelle recycling in eukaryotes. In plant, autophagy is reported to play pivotal roles in nutrient recycling, adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. The role of autophagy in plant immunity remains poorly understood. Several reports showed enhanced susceptibility of different Arabidopsis autophagy mutants (atg) to necrotrophic fungal pathogens. Interaction of necrotrophic bacterial pathogens with autophagy is overlooked. We then investigated such interaction by inoculating the necrotrophic enterobacteriumDickeya dadantiiin leaves of theatg2andatg5mutants and anATG8aoverexpressing line. OverexpressingATG8aenhances plant tolerance toD. dadantii. Whileatg5mutant displayed similar susceptibility to the WT, theatg2mutant exhibited accelerated leaf senescence and enhanced susceptibility upon infection. Both phenotypes were reversed when thesid2mutation, abolishing SA signaling, was introduced in theatg2mutant. High levels of SA signaling inatg2mutant resulted in repression of the jasmonic acid (JA) defense pathway known to limitD. dadantiiprogression inA. thaliana. We provide evidence that inatg2mutant, the disturbed hormonal balance leading to higher SA signaling is the main factor causing increased susceptibility to theD. dadantiinecrotroph by repressing the JA pathway and accelerating developmental senescence.
MUTYH is associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in a non-alcoholic steatohepatitis mouse model
Authors: Sakamoto Hiroki , Miyanishi Koji , Tanaka Shingo , Ito Ryo , Hamaguchi Kota , Sakurada Akira , Sato Masanori , Kubo Tomohiro , Osuga Takahiro , Murase Kazuyuki , Takada Kohichi , Nakabeppu Yusaku , Kobune Masayoshi , Kato Junji
Published: February 2021

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-related HCC is associated with oxidative stress. However, the mechanisms underlying the development of NASH-related HCC is unclear. MUTYH is one of the enzymes that is involved in repair of oxidative DNA damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between MUTYH and NASH-related hepatocarcinogenesis. MUTYH wild-type (Mutyh+/+), heterozygous (Mutyh+/−), and MUTYH-null (Mutyh−/−) mice were fed a high-fat high-cholesterol (HFHC) diet or HFHC + high iron diet (20 mice per group) for 9 months. Five of 20 Mutyh−/− mice fed an HFHC + high iron diet developed liver tumors, and they developed more liver tumors than other groups (especially vs. Mutyh+/+ fed an HFHC diet, P = 0.0168). Immunohistochemical analysis revealed significantly higher accumulation of oxidative stress markers in mice fed an HFHC + high iron diet. The gene expression profiles in the non-tumorous hepatic tissues were compared between wild-type mice that developed no liver tumors and MUTYH-null mice that developed liver tumors. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis identified the involvement of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and increased expression of c-Myc in MUTYH-null liver. These findings suggest that MUTYH deficiency is associated with hepatocarcinogenesis in patients with NASH with hepatic iron accumulation.
Insufficient sampling constrains our characterization of plant microbiomes
Authors: Bullington Lorinda S. , Lekberg Ylva , Larkin Beau G.
Published: February 2021

Plants host diverse microbial communities, but there is little consensus on how we sample these communities, and this has unknown consequences. Using root and leaf tissue from showy milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), we compared two common sampling strategies: (1) homogenizing after subsampling (30 mg), and (2) homogenizing bulk tissue before subsampling (30 mg). We targeted bacteria, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and non-AM fungi in roots, and foliar fungal endophytes (FFE) in leaves. We further extracted DNA from all of the leaf tissue collected to determine the extent of undersampling of FFE, and sampled FFE twice across the season using strategy one to assess temporal dynamics. All microbial groups except AM fungi differed in composition between the two sampling strategies. Community overlap increased when rare taxa were removed, but FFE and bacterial communities still differed between strategies, with largely non-overlapping communities within individual plants. Increasing the extraction mass 10 × increased FFE richness ~ 10 ×, confirming the severe undersampling indicated in the sampling comparisons. Still, seasonal patterns in FFEs were apparent, suggesting that strong drivers are identified despite severe undersampling. Our findings highlight that current sampling practices poorly characterize many microbial groups, and increased sampling intensity is necessary for increase reproducibility and to identify subtler patterns in microbial distributions.
A retrospective analysis of debridement in the treatment of chronic injury of lactating nipples
Authors: Gao Haifeng , Wang Jie , Ding Songtao , Li Yan , Zhang Yi , He Xiangping
Published: February 2021

Treatment strategies for nipple injury are mainly based on aetiology. However, some damaged nipples do not heal after the aetiology was corrected. This study retrospectively analyses the effect of debridement for treating chronic injury of lactating nipples. The medical records on nipple injury management in the authors’ department from December 2015 to January 2020 were retrospectively analysed. A total of 167 patients were enrolled and grouped based on the presence or absence of nipple debridement. The difference in the healing effect, pain relief rate and recurrence rate of nipple injury between the two groups after 1 week was examined. The cure rate of nipple injury in the intervention group (54.3%) was significantly higher than in the control group (26.7%). In addition, the complete pain relief rate in the intervention group (48.1%) was significantly higher than in the control group (23.3%). However, the recurrence rates between the two groups (36.4% (16/44) vs. 34.8% (8/23)) had no statistically significant differences. For patients with no improvement after correction of the aetiology of the in the nipple damage, debridement can improve the healing environment of nipple breakage and thus relieve nipple pain.