bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The interaction between island geomorphology and environmental parameters drives Adélie penguin breeding phenology on neighboring islands near Palmer Station, Antarctica
Authors: Cimino Megan A. , Patterson‐Fraser Donna L. , Stammerjohn Sharon , Fraser William R.
Published: July 2019

Despite many studies on Adélie penguin breeding phenology, understanding the drivers of clutch initiation dates (CIDs, egg 1 lay date) is limited or lacks consensus. Here, we investigated Adélie penguin CIDs over 25 years (1991–2016) on two neighboring islands, Torgersen and Humble (<1 km apart), in a rapidly warming region near Palmer Station, Antarctica. We found that sea ice was the primary large‐scale driver of CIDs and precipitation was a secondary small‐scale driver that fine‐tunes CID to island‐specific nesting habitat geomorphology. In general, CIDs were earlier (later) when the spring sea ice retreat was earlier (later) and when the preceding annual ice season was shorter (longer). Island‐specific effects related to precipitation and island geomorphology caused greater snow accumulation and delayed CIDs by ~2 days on Torgersen compared to Humble Island. When CIDs on the islands were similar, conditions were mild with less snow across breeding sites. At Torgersen Island, the negative relationship between CID and breeding success highlights detrimental effects of delayed breeding and/or snow on penguin fitness. Past phenological studies reported a relationship between air temperature and CID, assumed to be related to precipitation, but we found air temperature was more highly correlated to sea ice, revealing a misinterpretation of temperature effects. Finally, contrasting trends in CIDs based on temporal shifts in regional sea ice patterns revealed trends toward earlier CIDs (4–6 day advance) from 1979 to 2009 as the annual ice season shortened, and later CIDs (7–10 day delay) from 2010 to 2016 as the annual ice season lengthened. Adélie penguins tracked environmental conditions with flexible breeding phenology, but their life history remains vulnerable to subpolar weather conditions that can delay CIDs and decrease breeding success, especially on landscapes where geomorphology facilitates snow accumulation.
Do New World pitvipers “scale‐down” at high elevations? Macroecological patterns of scale characters and body size
Authors: Jadin Robert C. , Mihaljevic Joseph R. , Orlofske Sarah A.
Published: July 2019

Bergmann's rule describes the macroecological pattern of increasing body size in response to higher latitudes and elevations. This pattern is extensively documented in endothermic vertebrates, within and among species; however, studies involving ectotherms are less common and suggest no consistent pattern for amphibians and reptiles. Moreover, adaptive traits, such as epidermal features like scales, have not been widely examined in conjunction with Bergmann's rule, even though these traits affect physiological processes, such as thermoregulation, which are hypothesized as underlying mechanisms for the pattern. Here, we investigate how scale characters correlate with elevation among 122 New World pitviper species, representing 15 genera. We found a contra‐Bergmann's pattern, where body size is smaller at higher elevations. This pattern was mainly driven by the presence of small‐bodied clades at high elevations and large‐bodied clades at low elevations, emphasizing the importance of taxonomic scope in studying macroecological patterns. Within a subset of speciose clades, we found that only Crotalus demonstrated a significant negative relationship between body size and elevation, perhaps because of its wide elevational range. In addition, we found a positive correlation between scale counts and body size but no independent effect of elevation on scale numbers. Our study increases our knowledge of Bergmann's rule in reptiles by specifically examining characters of squamation and suggests a need to reexamine macroecological patterns for this group.
Riparian leaf litter decomposition on pond bottom after a retention on floating vegetation
Authors: Zhang Ya‐Lin , Zhang Wei‐Jun , Duan Jun‐Peng , Pan Xu , Liu Guo‐Fang , Hu Yu‐Kun , Li Wen‐Bing , Jiang Yue‐Ping , Liu Jian , Dai Wen‐Hong , Song Yao‐Bin , Dong Ming
Published: July 2019

Allochthonous (e.g., riparian) plant litter is among the organic matter resources that are important for wetland ecosystems. A compact canopy of free‐floating vegetation on the water surface may allow for riparian litter to remain on it for a period of time before sinking to the bottom. Thus, we hypothesized that canopy of free‐floating vegetation may slow decomposition processes in wetlands. To test the hypothesis that the retention of riparian leaf litter on the free‐floating vegetation in wetlands affects their subsequent decomposition on the bottom of wetlands, a 50‐day in situ decomposition experiment was performed in a wetland pond in subtropical China, in which litter bags of single species with fine (0.5 mm) or coarse (2.0 mm) mesh sizes were placed on free‐floating vegetation (dominated by Eichhornia crassipes, Lemna minor, and Salvinia molesta) for 25 days and then moved to the pond bottom for another 25 days or remained on the pond bottom for 50 days. The leaf litter was collected from three riparian species, that is, Cinnamomum camphora, Diospyros kaki, and Phyllostachys propinqua. The retention of riparian leaf litter on free‐floating vegetation had significant negative effect on the carbon loss, marginal negative effects on the mass loss, and no effect on the nitrogen loss from leaf litter, partially supporting the hypothesis. Similarly, the mass and carbon losses from leaf litter decomposing on the pond bottom for the first 25 days of the experiment were greater than those from the litter decomposing on free‐floating vegetation. Our results highlight that in wetlands, free‐floating vegetation could play a vital role in litter decomposition, which is linked to the regulation of nutrient cycling in ecosystems.
Amperometric Biosensors for Tyramine Determination Based on Graphene Oxide and Polyvinylferrocene Modified Screen‐printed Electrodes
Authors: Erden Pınar Esra , Erdoğan Zehra Özden , Öztürk Funda , Koçoğlu İrem Okman , Kılıç Esma
Published: July 2019

A comparison of the analytical characteristics of two tyramine biosensors, based on graphene oxide (GRO) and polyvinylferrocene (PVF) modified screen‐printed carbon electrodes (SPCE), is reported. Diamine oxidase (DAOx) or monoamine oxidase (MAOx) was immobilized onto the PVF/GRO modified SPCE to fabricate the biosensors. Surface characteristics and electrochemical behaviour of the modified SPCEs were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Electrode surface composition and experimental variables such as pH and working potential were optimized in order to ensure a high performance. Under optimum experimental conditions, both DAOx/PVF/GRO/SPCE and MAOx/PVF/GRO/SPCE biosensors exhibited wide linear dynamic ranges for tyramine from 9.9×10−7 to 1.2×10−4 M and from 9.9×10−7 to 1.1×10−4 M, respectively. MAOx/PVF/GRO/SPCE biosensor showed higher sensitivity (11.98 μA mM−1) for tyramine determination than the DAOx/PVF/GRO/SPCE biosensor (7.99 μA mM−1). The substrate specifity of the biosensors to other biogenic amines namely histamine, putrescine, spermine, spermidine, tryptamine, β‐phenylethylamine and cadaverine was also investigated. The developed biosensors were successfully used for tyramine determination in cheese sample.
Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for North America
Authors: Fairbrother Anne , Muir Derek , Solomon Keith R. , Ankley Gerald T. , Rudd Murray A. , Boxall Alistair B.A. , Apell Jennifer N. , Armbrust Kevin L. , Blalock Bonnie J. , Bowman Sarah R. , Campbell Linda M. , Cobb George P. , Connors Kristin A. , Dreier David A. , Evans Marlene S. , Henry Carol J. , Hoke Robert A. , Houde Magali , Klaine Stephen J. , Klaper Rebecca D. , Kullik Sigrun A. , Lanno Roman P. , Meyer Charles , Ottinger Mary Ann , Oziolor Elias , Petersen Elijah J. , Poynton Helen C. , Rice Pamela J. , Rodriguez-Fuentes Gabriela , Samel Alan , Shaw Joseph R. , Steevens Jeffery A. , Verslycke Tim A. , Vidal-Dorsch Doris E. , Weir Scott M. , Wilson Peter , Brooks Bryan W.
Published: July 2019

Anticipating, identifying, and prioritizing strategic needs represent essential activities by research organizations. Decided benefits emerge when these pursuits engage globally important environment and health goals, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, horizon scanning efforts can facilitate identification of specific research needs to address grand challenges. We report and discuss 40 priority research questions following engagement of scientists and engineers in North America. These timely questions identify the importance of stimulating innovation and developing new methods, tools, and concepts in environmental chemistry and toxicology to improve assessment and management of chemical contaminants and other diverse environmental stressors. Grand challenges to achieving sustainable management of the environment are becoming increasingly complex and structured by global megatrends, which collectively challenge existing sustainable environmental quality efforts. Transdisciplinary, systems-based approaches will be required to define and avoid adverse biological effects across temporal and spatial gradients. Similarly, coordinated research activities among organizations within and among countries are necessary to address the priority research needs reported here. Acquiring answers to these 40 research questions will not be trivial, but doing so promises to advance sustainable environmental quality in the 21st century. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1606–1624. © 2019 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC.
Silver (Ag) doped magnesium phosphate microplatelets as next‐generation antibacterial orthopedic biomaterials
Authors: Sikder Prabaha , Bhaduri Sarit B. , Ong Joo L. , Guda Teja
Published: July 2019

This article reports for the first time our successful result in the synthesis of antibacterial single‐phase newberyite (NB, MgHPO4.3H2O), an important magnesium phosphate (MgP) bioceramic. The prime novelty lies in the fact that we explore novel MgPs as next‐generation orthopedic biomaterials as opposed to conventional calcium phosphates (CaP). While NB has already shown great promise, unlike its competitor struvite (ST, MgNH4PO4.6H2O), NB is not intrinsically antibacterial. Given the havoc created by surgical site infections (SSI) in orthopedics, it would be worthwhile to explore if antibacterial NB can be synthesized cost‐effectively. To accomplish that central goal, we used silver ion (Ag+) containing precursor solutions and exposed those to microwave irradiation. This action resulted in the rapid synthesis of NB microplatelets. Besides, three other specific objectives are addressed. First, Ag‐doping was optimized to preserve the single‐phase nature for sustained dopant release. Second, Ag+ release kinetics against common infection causing bacterial strains was analyzed. Finally, we inspected for any harmful effect of Ag‐doped NB on MC3T3 preosteoblasts. Interestingly, the single‐phase nature of NB microplatelets can be retained until 2 wt % Ag‐doping and they exhibit good antibacterial and cytocompatible properties. Even though 3 wt % Ag‐doped compositions (composites) were 100% antibacterial; they were cytotoxic.
Application of nanomaterials in three‐dimensional stem cell culture
Authors: Gholizadeh‐Ghaleh Aziz Shiva , Pashaiasl Maryam , Khodadadi Khodadad , Ocheje Onuche
Published: July 2019

Petri dish cultured cells have for long provided scientists an aperture to understanding cell's behavior both in normal and disease states as well as in vitro and in vivo. But recent advances have brought to light how the architecture and composite nature of the immediate environment within which the cell is proliferated can profoundly influence its phenotypic features and functions, thus making obvious, limitations of the conventional two‐dimensional cell culture despite it cost effectiveness. Fortunately, the transition to three‐dimensional (3D) cell culture has occurred concurrently with expanded knowledge of nanoscience and materials, thereby lending significant impetus for innovative research. This review is focused on the application of nanoparticles in 3D stem cell breeding, recent trends and developments in medical sciences for improved drug delivery, and treatment approaches to some human diseases. We also reviewed prevailing challenges and concerns of nanotoxicity as it continues to impede and delay clinical applications as well the ongoing concerted and multidisciplinary efforts to overcome them.
Survey of Japanese Orphan Drug Program: Factors Related to Successful Marketing Approval
Authors: Harada Kenji , Toriyabe Kazuki , Ono Shunsuke
Published: July 2019

The basic components of regulatory and supporting policies for orphan drug development appear similar between the United States and Japan, but drugs designated as orphan drugs have been different between the 2 countries. The probabilities of development success (ie, marketing approval) in designated orphan drugs have also been significantly different. In this study, we analyzed recent outcomes of development for orphan drugs designated from 1993 to 2017 in Japan, considering their development and approval status in the United States. Our analysis showed that success for orphan drug development in Japan was apparently associated with prior approval status in the United States. Company size, orphan development experience, and patient enrichment were also positively associated with successful marketing approval. Although similar designations and priority review systems for orphan drugs have been enacted, economic incentives and regulatory conditions provided by the systems seem to be different between the 2 countries, which may lead to varied performance in orphan designation and approval. We need to pay close attention to the impact of industrial global development strategies when comparing the outcomes and performance of different orphan drug promotion systems.
Diagnosis of solitary fibrous tumor in the submandibular gland: Case report and literature review
Authors: Jiang Liping , Hu Cai , Chen Li , Chen Lu
Published: July 2019

Solitary fibrous tumors (SFTs) rarely occur in the head and neck area. Imaging findings are nonspecific, and immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis is necessary for a definitive diagnosis. We report the case of a patient with a mass in the submandibular region that was initially diagnosed as basal cell adenoma. After excision and IHC examinations, a SFT was diagnosed.
The efficacy of metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm in cone‐beam computed tomography on the diagnostic accuracy of fenestration and dehiscence around dental implants
Authors: Sheikhi Mahnaz , Behfarnia Parichehr , Mostajabi Mahdis , Nasri Naeimeh
Published: July 2019

Background

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of metal artifact reduction (MAR) algorithm of cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT) on the diagnostic accuracy of fenestration and dehiscence around dental implants.

Methods

Twenty‐three dental implants were placed adjacent to the dehiscence and 23 adjacent to the fenestration defects on bovine bone blocks. The blocks were scanned with CBCT unit in two modes, with and without MAR algorithm. The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves (Az value), specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were determined for all modes.

Results

For both defects, the Az values were higher in off MAR condition. The values of sensitivity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy, were higher in off MAR condition for both defects. However, the specificity in both defects in the two modes was equal.

Conclusion

The MAR algorithm in CBCT unit may not be helpful in increasing the diagnostic accuracy of fenestration and dehiscence around dental implants.
Effect of staged crestal maxillary sinus augmentation: A case series
Authors: Sonoda Tetsuya , Yamamichi Kensuke , Harada Takehiro , Yamamichi Nobuyuki
Published: July 2019

Background

In sinus augmentation, when remaining bone height is ≤5 mm, a lateral window approach is often the preferred choice; nonetheless, patients prefer to have a less invasive approach such as crestal sinus augmentation (CSA). Prior case reports have described the use of various staged approaches of a CSA technique in cases of limited bone height. The aim of this report was to describe the results of a case series in which a two‐stage CSA technique was used in patients with 4 to 6 mm of bone height.

Methods

Nineteen subjects with 28 sinuses of initial vertical bone height of 4 to 6 mm were included in which a two‐stage CSA technique was used in place of a lateral window approach. In the first surgery, 0.3 mL graft material was inserted into all sites. In the second surgery, 13 sites were filled with 0.2 mL graft material and remaining 15 sites were filled with 0.4 mL.

Results

No damage was observed in the maxillary sinus floor membrane after first 0.2 mL filling; however, one case had Schneiderian membrane perforation after filling 0.4 mL. The average elevation height (EH) after first surgery was 5.81 ± 0.7 mm, 5.15 ± 0.91 mm before second surgery, 6.69 ± 0.89 mm with 0.2 mL filling (total 0.5 mL) and 8.11 ± 1.24 mm with 0.4 mL filling (total 0.7 mL). The thickness of maxillary sinus membrane before first surgery was 2.6 ± 2.59 mm; however, it has become 0.97 ± 1.59 mm before second surgery, with a decrease of 1.6 mm estimate.

Conclusion

This case series that assessed outcomes of staged crestal maxillary sinus augmentation was an effective approach to elevating 6 or 8 mm alveolar bone height without causing major membrane perforation. However, the two‐stage approach was used in the limited residual bone height (4 to 6 mm) and required two separate surgical procedures.
Poor oral hygiene is associated with the detection of obligate anaerobes in pneumonia
Authors: Hata Ryosuke , Noguchi Shingo , Kawanami Toshinori , Yamasaki Kei , Akata Kentaro , Ikegami Hiroaki , Fukuda Kazumasa , Hirashima Soichi , Miyawaki Akihiko , Fujino Yoshihisa , Oya Ryoichi , Yatera Kazuhiro , Mukae Hiroshi
Published: July 2019

Background

Oral cavity is a reservoir of various respiratory pathogens, and poor oral hygiene is associated with an increase in anaerobic bacteria in oral cavity. In addition, it positively relates higher risk of developing pneumonia and increased pneumonia‐related mortality. However, the association between poor oral hygiene and increase in obligate anaerobes in the lungs of pneumonia patients is unclear.

Methods

A total of 39 patients with pneumonia in whom bronchoscopic examination and oral hygiene evaluation were performed were prospectively enrolled. The microbiota of the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) directly obtained from the pneumonia lesion was analysed by the clone library analysis. In addition, oral hygiene evaluations were performed using oral hygiene index (OHI), tongue coating score, oral dryness, and community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN). The association between the detection of oral streptococci and obligate anaerobes and oral hygiene status was evaluated.

Results

Using the clone library analysis of BALF, the phylotypes of oral streptococci and obligate anaerobes were detected in 31 (79.5%) and 26 (66.7%) patients, respectively. Increased oral dryness, OHI, and CPITN, but not the tongue coating score, significantly correlated with higher rate of detection of obligate anaerobes, although no significant associations between the detection of oral streptococci in the lungs and each oral hygiene evaluation were observed. Significantly higher number of obligate anaerobes were detected in the lungs in patients with total oral hygiene score of ≥ 5 (P = 0.008).

Conclusion

Poor oral hygiene is associated with increased obligate anaerobes in the lungs of patients with pneumonia.
Directionality guided non linear diffusion compressed sensing MR image reconstruction
Authors: Joy Ajin , Jacob Mathews , Paul Joseph Suresh
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Address the shortcomings of edge‐preserving filters to preserve the complex nature of edges, by adapting the direction of diffusion to the local variations in intensity function on a subpixel level, thereby achieving a reconstruction accuracy superior to that of data‐driven learning‐based approaches.

Theory and Methods

Rate of diffusion for edges is found to vary in accordance with their gradient direction. Therefore, the edge preservation is strongly dependent on the direction in which the gradient is computed. Since the directionality of edges varies at different regions of the image, the proposed technique computes the gradients in all possible angular directions and uses a spatial‐frequency‐based deviation measure to choose the most reliable edges from the images diffused along different directions.

Results

The proposed method is compared with the state‐of‐the‐art data‐driven learning‐based techniques of block matching and 3D filtering (BM3D), patch‐based nonlocal operator (PANO), and dictionary learning MRI (DLMRI). Best results are obtained when directionality of edges is estimated from a prior optimized k‐space and shows an improvement in peak signal‐to‐noise ratio (PSNR) measures by a factor of 2.36 dB, 1.92 dB, and 1.59 dB over BM3D, PANO, and dictionary learning MRI, respectively.

Conclusion

The proposed technique prevents the emphasis of false edges and better captures the structural details by a locally varying directionality‐guided diffusion to make the error lower than that of the state‐of‐the‐art reconstruction techniques. In addition, a highly parallelizable form of the proposed model promises a significant gain in the reconstruction speed for practical implementations.
In vitro metabolism of the synthetic cannabinoids PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3 by high‐resolution mass spectrometry and their clearance rates in human liver microsomes
Authors: Cooman Travon , Bell Suzanne
Published: July 2019

Rationale

N‐(1‐Amino‐1‐oxo‐3‐phenylpropan‐2‐yl)‐1‐(5‐fluoropentyl)‐1H‐indole‐3‐carboxamine (PX‐1), N‐(1‐amino‐1‐oxo‐3‐phenylpropan‐2‐yl)‐1‐(5‐fluoropentyl)‐1H‐indazole‐3‐carboxamide (PX‐2), and N‐(1‐amino‐1‐oxo‐3‐phenylpropan‐2‐yl)‐1‐(cyclohexylmethyl)‐1H‐indazole‐3‐carboxamide (PX‐3) are scheduled synthetic cannabinoids (SCs). Due to the lack of metabolism data and the extensive metabolism of SCs, consumption of these illicit substances is challenging to prove. The aim of this study was to investigate the metabolism of PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3 and propose marker metabolites to confirm their use.

Methods

PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3 were incubated in pooled human liver microsomes (HLM) to evaluate the phase I metabolites which were identified using a Q‐Exactive hybrid quadrupole‐Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Metabolic stability studies were also performed to investigate the half‐life and clearance rates using an Agilent 6470A triple quadrupole mass spectrometer.

Results

The calculated half‐lives were 15.1 ± 1.02, 3.4 ± 0.27, and 5.2 ± 0.89 min for PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3, respectively, in HLM. The calculated intrinsic clearance values were 0.046, 0.202, and 0.133 mL/min/mg for PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3, respectively. Four metabolites of PX‐1, six metabolites of PX‐2, and five phase I metabolites of PX‐3 were detected. Oxidative deamination was the common biotransformation between the three compounds and there were no common metabolites.

Conclusions

The metabolic profiles of PX‐1, PX‐2, and PX‐3 provide valuable information for the detection of their metabolites in forensic samples.
Geometry of $$ \mathcal{I} $$-extremization and black holes microstates
Authors: Hosseini Seyed Morteza , Zaffaroni Alberto
Published: July 2019

Abstract

The entropy of a class of asymptotically AdS4 magnetically charged BPS black holes can be obtained by extremizing the topologically twisted index of the dual three-dimensional field theory. This principle is known as

$$ \mathcal{I} $$

I

-extremization. A gravitational dual of

$$ \mathcal{I} $$

I

-extremization for a class of theories obtained by twisted compactifications of M2-branes living at a Calabi-Yau four-fold has been recently proposed. In this paper we investigate the relation between the two extremization principles. We show that the two extremization procedures are equivalent for theories without baryonic symmetries, which include ABJM and the theory dual to the non-toric Sasaki-Einstein manifold V
5,2. We then consider a class of quivers dual to M2-branes at toric Calabi-Yau four-folds for which the

$$ \mathcal{I} $$

I

-functional can be computed in the large N limit, and depends on three mesonic fluxes. We propose a gravitational dual for this construction, that we call mesonic twist, and we show that the gravitational extremization problem and

$$ \mathcal{I} $$

I

-extremization are equivalent. We comment on more general cases.
Interdisciplinary and experiential learning in urban development management education
Authors: Chen Yawei , Daamen Tom A. , Heurkens Erwin W. T. M. , Verheul Wouter J.
Published: July 2019

To understand and deal with real urban development problems, urban planners, designers, and managers need to combine and synthesize a variety of academic and professional knowledge. As our urban challenges grow more complex, learning how to do this effectively becomes ever more important. For educators, this means teaching students how to work in interdisciplinary settings, i.e. how to jointly discover the different disciplinary dimensions of an urban problem, and how to reflectively design courses of action. In this paper, we explore and evaluate the components of such interdisciplinary experiential learning, develop a framework to design and analyse this type of courses, and use it to position and evaluate a specific urban development management course. Results show that, by performing and reflecting upon specific professional roles, the course stimulates students to both integrate different disciplines and reflect on an array of academic and practical insights. Based on our evaluation, we discuss several didactical aspects that may help lecturers to improve their interdisciplinary teaching in urban planning, design, and management courses—particularly when creating learning experiences in an increasingly diverse professional, societal and educational setting.
Amimetic assets and persistent profits under competition
Authors: Gmeiner Robert
Published: July 2019

Some industries are very dynamically competitive and characterized by much entrepreneurial innovation. Others are oligopolistic and still others are known for state favors and regulatory rents. In a market economy, competitive pressures cause businesses to continually adapt to changing conditions. Different approaches can be taken – entrepreneurial innovation, consolidation, and rent seeking are examples. This paper examines the characteristics of firms and productive assets that preserve an innovative, dynamic economy and hedge against rent seeking and crony capitalism. In an innovative, dynamic economy, profits can only be sustained against competition if a business has productive assets that offer a unique advantage over competitors. These assets can be termedamimeticassets, a term based on the Greek wordamimitos, meaning “inimitable.” When these assets can be acquired or developed through entrepreneurial discovery, business models can be oriented to exploit them. If this is more difficult in an industry, it will be more likely to be characterized by regulation and regulatory rents. Amimetic assets are thus fundamental to an innovative economy and are a major factor among many in determining whether a business obtains profits through repeated entrepreneurial discovery or rent seeking.
Conservation Laws and the Philosophy of Mind: Opening the Black Box, Finding a Mirror
Authors: Pitts J. Brian
Published: July 2019

Since Leibniz’s time, Cartesian mental causation has been criticized for violating the conservation of energy and momentum. (Non-epiphenomenalist property dualism is analogous.) Many dualist responses clearly fail. But conservation laws have important neglected features generally undermining the objection. Conservation islocal, holding first not for the universe, but for everywhere separately. The energy (or momentum,etc.) in any volume changes only due to what flows through the boundaries (no teleportation). Constant total energy holds if the global summing-up of local conservation laws converges; it probably doesn’t in reality. Energy (momentum) conservation holds if there is symmetry, the sameness of the laws over time (space). Thus, if there are time-places where symmetries fail due to nonphysical influence, conservation laws fail there and then, while holding elsewhere, such as refrigerators and stars. Noether’s converse first theorem shows that conservation laws imply symmetries. Thus conservation trivially nearly entails the causal closure of the physical. But expecting conservation to hold in the brain (without looking) simply assumes the falsehood of Cartesianism. Hence Leibniz’s objection begs the question. Empirical neuroscience is another matter. So is Einstein’s General Relativity: far from providing a loophole, General Relativity makes mental causationharder.
The Potential of a Narrative and Creative Arts Approach to Enhance Transition Outcomes for Indigenous Australians Following Traumatic Brain Injury
Authors: Bohanna India , Fitts Michelle , Bird Katrina , Fleming Jennifer , Gilroy John , Clough Alan , Esterman Adrian , Maruff Paul , Potter Martin
Published: July 2019

Background:

Increasingly, narrative and creative arts approaches are being used to enhance recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Narrative and arts-based approaches congruent with Indigenous storytelling may therefore provide benefit during the transition from hospital to home for some Indigenous TBI patients. This qualitative study explored the use and impact of this approach as part of a larger, longitudinal study of TBI transition with Indigenous Australians.

Method:

A combined narrative and arts-based approach was used with one Indigenous Australian artist to describe his transition experiences following TBI. Together with the researchers and filmmaking team, the artist was involved in aspects of the process. The artist contributed two paintings, detailing the story of his life and TBI. Based on the artworks, a film was co-created. Following the viewing of the film, impacts of the narrative and arts-based process were examined through semi-structured interviews with the artist, a service provider and a family member. Multiple sources of data were used in the final thematic analysis including transcripts of the interviews and filming, paintings (including storylines) and researcher notes.

Results:

Positive impacts from the process for the artist included positive challenge; healing and identity; understanding TBI and raising awareness.

Discussion:

This approach may enable the individual to take ownership over their transition story and to make sense of their life following TBI at a critical point in their recovery. A combined narrative and arts-based approach has potential as a culturally responsive rehabilitation tool for use with Indigenous Australians during the transition period following TBI.
Nonlinearly most dangerous disturbance for high-speed boundary-layer transition
Authors: Jahanbakhshi Reza , Zaki Tamer A.
Published: July 2019

Laminar-to-turbulent transition in a zero-pressure-gradient boundary layer at Mach 4.5 is studied using direct numerical simulations. For a given level of total disturbance energy, the inflow spectrum was designed to correspond to the nonlinearly most dangerous condition that leads to the earliest possible transition Reynolds number. The synthesis of the inlet disturbance is formulated as a constrained optimization, where the control vector is comprised of the amplitudes and relative phases of the inlet modes; the constraints are the prescribed total energy and that the flow evolution satisfies the full nonlinear compressible Navier–Stokes equations; the cost function is defined in terms of the mean skin-friction coefficient and, once maximized, ensures the earliest possible transition location. An ensemble-variational (EnVar) technique is developed to solve the optimization problem. Starting from an initial guess, here a broadband disturbance, EnVar updates the estimate of the control vector at the end of each iteration using the gradient of the cost function, which is evaluated from the outcomes of an ensemble of possible solutions. Two inflow conditions are computed, each corresponding to a different level of energy, and their spectra are contrasted: the lower-energy case includes two normal acoustic waves and one oblique vorticity perturbation, whereas the higher-energy condition consists of oblique acoustic and vorticity waves. The focus is placed on the former case because it cannot be categorized as any of the classical breakdown scenarios (fundamental, subharmonic or oblique), while the higher-energy condition undergoes a second-mode oblique transition. At the lower energy level, the instability wave that initiates the rapid breakdown to turbulence is not present at the inlet plane. Instead, it appears at a downstream location after a series of nonlinear interactions that spur the fastest onset of turbulence. The results from the nonlinearly most potent inflow condition are also compared to other inlet disturbances that are selected solely based on linear theory, and which all yield relatively delayed transition onset.
Nonlinear hydroelastic waves on a linear shear current at finite depth
Authors: Gao T. , Wang Z. , Milewski P. A.
Published: July 2019

This work is concerned with waves propagating on water of finite depth with a constant-vorticity current under a deformable flexible sheet. The pressure exerted by the sheet is modelled by using the Cosserat thin shell theory. By means of multi-scale analysis, small amplitude nonlinear modulation equations in several regimes are considered, including the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) which is used to predict the existence of small-amplitude wavepacket solitary waves in the full Euler equations and to study the modulational instability of quasi-monochromatic wavetrains. Guided by these weakly nonlinear results, fully nonlinear steady and time-dependent computations are performed by employing a conformal mapping technique. Bifurcation mechanisms and typical profiles of solitary waves for different underlying shear currents are presented in detail. It is shown that even when small-amplitude solitary waves are not predicted by the weakly nonlinear theory, we can numerically find large-amplitude solitary waves in the fully nonlinear equations. Time-dependent simulations are carried out to confirm the modulational stability results and illustrate possible outcomes of the nonlinear evolution in unstable cases.
A semi-Lagrangian direct-interaction closure of the spectra of isotropic variable-density turbulence
Authors: Petty David J. , Pantano C.
Published: July 2019

A study of variable-density homogeneous stationary isotropic turbulence based on the sparse direct-interaction perturbation (SDIP) and supporting direct numerical simulations (DNS) is presented. The non-solenoidal flow considered here is an example of turbulent mixing of gases with different densities. The spectral statistics of this type of flow are substantially more difficult to understand theoretically than those of the similar solenoidal flows. In the approach described here, the nonlinearly coupled velocity and scalar (which determine the density of the fluid) equations are expanded in terms of a normalised density ratio parameter. A new set of coupled integro-differential SDIP equations are derived and then solved numerically for the first-order correction to the incompressible equations in the variable-density expansion parameter. By adopting a regular expansion approach, one obtains leading-order corrections that are universal and therefore interesting in their own right. The predictions are then compared with DNS of forced variable-density flow with different density contrasts. It is found that the velocity spectrum owing to variable density is indistinguishable from that of constant-density turbulence, as it is supported by a wealth of indirect experimental evidence, but the scalar spectra show significant deviations, and even loss of monotonicity, as a function of the type and strength of the large-scale source of the mixing. Furthermore, the analysis helps clarify what may be the proper approach to interpret the power spectrum of variable-density turbulence.
Could pre-infection exercise training improve the efficacy of specific antiparasitic chemotherapy for Chagas disease?
Authors: Santos Elda Gonçalves , Gonçalves Reggiani V. , Souza-Silva Thaiany G. , Maldonado Izabel R. S. C. , Santos Eliziária C. , Talvani André , Natali Antônio J. , Novaes Rômulo D.
Published: July 2019

Considering a potential exercise-drug interaction, we investigated whether exercise training could improve the efficacy of specific antiparasitic chemotherapy in a rodent model of Chagas disease. Wistar rats were randomized into five groups: sedentary and uninfected (CT); sedentary and infected (SI); sedentary, infected and treated (SIT); trained and infected (TI); trained, infected and treated (TIT). After 9-weeks running training, the animals were infected with T. cruzi and followed up for 4 weeks, receiving 100 mg kg−1 day−1 benznidazole. No evidence of myocarditis was observed in CT animals. TI animals exhibited reduced parasitemia, myocarditis, and reactive tissue damage compared to SI animals, in addition to increased IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-10, heart non-protein antioxidant (NPA) levels and glutathione-s transferase activity (P < 0.05). The CT, SIT and TIT groups presented similar reductions in parasitemia, cytokines (IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-10, IL-17 and MCP-1), inflammatory infiltrate, oxidative heart damage and antioxidant enzymes activity compared to SI and TI animals, as well as reduced heart microstructural remodeling (P < 0.05). By modulating heart inflammation and redox metabolism, exercise training exerts a protective effect against T. cruzi infection in rats. However, the antiparasitic and cardioprotective effects of benznidazole chemotherapy are more pronounced, determining similar endpoints in sedentary and trained T. cruzi-infected rats.
Crystal structures of cefdinir, C14H13N5O5S2, and cefdinir sesquihydrate C14H13N5O5S2(H2O)1.5
Authors: Wheatley Austin M. , Kaduk James A. , Gindhart Amy M. , Blanton Thomas N.
Published: July 2019

The crystal structures of cefdinir and cefdinir sesquihydrate have been solved and refined using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data, and optimized using density functional techniques. Cefdinir crystallizes in space group P21 (#4) with a = 5.35652(4), b = 19.85676(10), c = 7.57928(5) Å, β = 97.050(1) °, V = 800.061(6) Å3, and Z = 2. Cefdinir sesquihydrate crystallizes in space group C2 (#5) with a = 23.98775(20), b = 5.01646(3), c = 15.92016(12) Å, β = 109.4470(8) °, V = 1806.438(16) Å3, and Z = 4. The cefdinir molecules in the anhydrous crystal structure and sesquihydrate have very different conformations. The two conformations are similar in energy. The hydrogen bonding patterns are very different in the two structures, and the sesquihydrate is more stable than expected from the sum of the energies of cefdinir and cefdinir sesquihydrate, the result of additional hydrogen bonding. The powder patterns are included in the Powder Diffraction File™ as entries 00-066-1604 (cefdinir) and 00-066-1605 (cefdinir sesquihydrate).
Learning semantic sentence representations from visually grounded language without lexical knowledge
Authors: Merkx Danny , Frank Stefan L.
Published: July 2019

Current approaches to learning semantic representations of sentences often use prior word-level knowledge. The current study aims to leverage visual information in order to capture sentence level semantics without the need for word embeddings. We use a multimodal sentence encoder trained on a corpus of images with matching text captions to produce visually grounded sentence embeddings. Deep Neural Networks are trained to map the two modalities to a common embedding space such that for an image the corresponding caption can be retrieved and vice versa. We show that our model achieves results comparable to the current state of the art on two popular image-caption retrieval benchmark datasets: Microsoft Common Objects in Context (MSCOCO) and Flickr8k. We evaluate the semantic content of the resulting sentence embeddings using the data from the Semantic Textual Similarity (STS) benchmark task and show that the multimodal embeddings correlate well with human semantic similarity judgements. The system achieves state-of-the-art results on several of these benchmarks, which shows that a system trained solely on multimodal data, without assuming any word representations, is able to capture sentence level semantics. Importantly, this result shows that we do not need prior knowledge of lexical level semantics in order to model sentence level semantics. These findings demonstrate the importance of visual information in semantics.
A structured distributional model of sentence meaning and processing
Authors: Chersoni E. , Santus E. , Pannitto L. , Lenci A. , Blache P. , Huang C.-R.
Published: July 2019

Most compositional distributional semantic models represent sentence meaning with a single vector. In this paper, we propose a structured distributional model (SDM) that combines word embeddings with formal semantics and is based on the assumption that sentences represent events and situations. The semantic representation of a sentence is a formal structure derived from discourse representation theory and containing distributional vectors. This structure is dynamically and incrementally built by integrating knowledge about events and their typical participants, as they are activated by lexical items. Event knowledge is modelled as a graph extracted from parsed corpora and encoding roles and relationships between participants that are represented as distributional vectors. SDM is grounded on extensive psycholinguistic research showing that generalized knowledge about events stored in semantic memory plays a key role in sentence comprehension.We evaluate SDMon two recently introduced compositionality data sets, and our results show that combining a simple compositionalmodel with event knowledge constantly improves performances, even with dif ferent types of word embeddings.
Subsurface Mesoscale Eddy Generation in the Ocean off Central Chile
Authors: Contreras Marcela , Pizarro Oscar , Dewitte Boris , Sepulveda Hector H. , Renault Lionel
Published: July 2019

Off the coast of central Chile, subsurface anticyclonic eddies are a salient feature of the oceanic circulation, transporting a significant fraction of coastal water that is rich in nutrients and poor in dissolved oxygen offshore. In this study, the formation mechanism of these eddies is analyzed through a high‐resolution (~0.3 km) and low‐resolution (~3 km) oceanic model that realistically simulate the regional mean circulation, including the Peru‐Chile Undercurrent (PCUC). An analysis of the vorticity and eddy kinetic energy in both simulations indicated that the subsurface eddies can be triggered through a combination of processes that are associated with instabilities of the PCUC. In the high‐resolution simulation, we observed that the interaction between the PCUC and topographic slope generates anticyclonic vorticity and potential vorticity close to zero in the bottom boundary layer. The separation of the undercurrent from the slope favors the intensification of anticyclonic vorticity. It reaches magnitudes that are larger than the planetary vorticity while kinetic energy is converted from the PCUC to the eddy flow. These processes set the necessary conditions for the development of centrifugal instabilities, which can form submesoscale structures. The coalescence of submesoscale structures generates a subsurface anticyclonic mesoscale eddy. In the low‐resolution simulations (>3 km) centrifugal instabilities are not simulated, and the barotropic conversion of the mean kinetic energy into eddy kinetic energy appears as the main process of eddy formation. We showed that the vertical structure of these eddies is sensitive to the spatial resolution of the model.
Daily Adjustment for Wind‐Induced Precipitation Undercatch of Daily Gridded Precipitation in Japan
Authors: Masuda Minami , Yatagai Akiyo , Kamiguchi Kenji , Tanaka Kenji
Published: July 2019

The northern Japan facing the Japan Sea is known for its heavy snowfall. As snowfall is of great importance as a water resource, accurate measurements are required. We develop an optimal method for adjustment of wind‐induced precipitation undercatch for rain‐gauge‐based daily gridded precipitation data in Japan. In Japan Meteorological Agency's surface observation network, wind speed data are not measured at all precipitation stations; therefore, we tested three approaches for applying wind correction using four years' observational data (2009–2012). First, we interpolate corrected precipitation by using only stations, which measure wind; second, we define gridded correction parameters, interpolate uncorrected precipitation of all stations, and adjust gridded precipitation; third, we interpolate corrected precipitation by using wind data of Japan Meteorological Agency's surface network and a reanalysis at the stations where wind are not measured. Water budget analysis over the mountainous regions (dam's catchments) indicated that the best result among the three was obtained by compensating wind speed using high‐resolution meteorological reanalysis data, followed by a method that applies daily correction parameters to daily gridded precipitation data. The best method increased the winter (December–February) precipitation amount by 12.7% in northern Japan, and the bias in the annual hydrological balance was reduced from 33% to 26% over the mountainous terrain. Proper consideration of the rain gauge meta information, such as the existence/absence of a wind shield, is critically important for quantitative assessment of solid precipitation, especially in regions of heavy snowfall such as northern Japan.
Magnetosphere‐Ionosphere Convection Under the Due Northward IMF
Authors: Tanaka T. , Obara T. , Watanabe M. , Fujita S. , Ebihara Y. , Kataoka R. , Den M.
Published: July 2019

Convection under the due northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is reproduced by the global simulation. The resulting magnetosphere is closed except in the XZ plane and separated from the solar wind by the separatrix generated from cusp nulls. Inside the separatrix, there exist three plasma regimes of the cusp high‐pressure region, the low‐latitude boundary layer (LLBL) and the plasma sheet. In the ionosphere, the northward Bz (NBZ) current and the reverse cell occur in higher latitudes than 80°, and the fun‐shaped arc‐like field‐aligned current and the main oval occur in lower latitudes than 80°. Magnetic field lines in the antisunward flow region of the reverse cell are connected to the LLBL that is accelerated to supersonic flow by the cusp pressure. Circulation on the reverse cell in the ionosphere is as a whole constructed to the interchange cycle in the magnetosphere. Convection is looked upon as the process to discharge stress generated by the dayside cusp reconnection. Magnetic stress generated by the reconnection is first converted to thermal energy in the cusp. This thermal energy is drained through three possible routes: release of plasma downtail through the LLBL, dissipation as electromagnetic energy through formation of the dynamo, and evacuation down to the ionosphere through the plasma sheet.