bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mass occurrence and habitat selection of Common Redpolls (Carduelis flammea) after a large seed crop year: snow-covered ground facilitates food access
Authors: Dale Svein
Published: July 2021

In boreal forests, food supplies typically have cyclic variations, and many species here fluctuate in numbers from year to year. One group of species showing large variations in population size is birds specialized on seeds from masting trees. Here, I analyze spatial patterns of a mass occurrence and habitat selection of the Common Redpoll (Carduelis flammea) during the breeding season in southeastern Norway in 2020 after a year with large seed crops from Norway Spruce (Picea abies) and Downy Birch (Betula pubescens). I found that Common Redpoll numbers increased with elevation and towards the northwest. Numbers were also strongly and positively correlated with snow depth in early April when snow was present mainly above 400 m elevation. Sites with snow cover in early April (30% of all sites) held 96.4% of all individuals recorded. Field observations indicated that Common Redpolls foraged extensively for spruce seeds on the snow until the end of May when young were independent. I suggest that the mass occurrence was due to a unique combination of exceptionally large seed crops of two tree species coinciding in the same year. The masting produced large amounts of food both for overwintering (birch seeds) and for breeding (spruce seeds), and during the breeding season snow cover facilitated access to food resources. Dependency of Common Redpolls on snow cover suggests that climate change may negatively impact some seed-eaters in boreal regions. On the other hand, higher temperatures may induce more frequent masting which may be beneficial for seed-eaters. Thus, climate change is likely to lead to complex ecosystem changes in areas where snow cover may disappear.
Characterization of the Functional Dynamics in the Neonatal Brain during REM and NREM Sleep States by means of Microstate Analysis
Authors: Khazaei Mohammad , Raeisi Khadijeh , Croce Pierpaolo , Tamburro Gabriella , Tokariev Anton , Vanhatalo Sampsa , Zappasodi Filippo , Comani Silvia
Published: July 2021

Neonates spend most of their life sleeping. During sleep, their brain experiences fast changes in its functional organization. Microstate analysis permits to capture the rapid dynamical changes occurring in the functional organization of the brain by representing the changing spatio-temporal features of the electroencephalogram (EEG) as a sequence of short-lasting scalp topographies—the microstates. In this study, we modeled the ongoing neonatal EEG into sequences of a limited number of microstates and investigated whether the extracted microstate features are altered in REM and NREM sleep (usually known as active and quiet sleep states—AS and QS—in the newborn) and depend on the EEG frequency band. 19-channel EEG recordings from 60 full-term healthy infants were analyzed using a modified version of the k-means clustering algorithm. The results show that ~ 70% of the variance in the datasets can be described using 7 dominant microstate templates. The mean duration and mean occurrence of the dominant microstates were significantly different in the two sleep states. Microstate syntax analysis demonstrated that the microstate sequences characterizing AS and QS had specific non-casual structures that differed in the two sleep states. Microstate analysis of the neonatal EEG in specific frequency bands showed a clear dependence of the explained variance on frequency. Overall, our findings demonstrate that (1) the spatio-temporal dynamics of the neonatal EEG can be described by non-casual sequences of a limited number of microstate templates; (2) the brain dynamics described by these microstate templates depends on frequency; (3) the features of the microstate sequences can well differentiate the physiological conditions characterizing AS and QS.
In Our Own Words: The Complex Sensory Experiences of Autistic Adults
Authors: MacLennan K. , O’Brien S. , Tavassoli T.
Published: July 2021

Autistic adults commonly experience sensory reactivity differences. Sensory hyperreactivity is frequently researched, whilst hyporeactivity and seeking, and experiences across domains, e.g., vision, are often neglected. Therefore, we aimed to understand more about the sensory experiences of autistic adults. We conducted a mixed-methods study, co-produced with stakeholders; recruiting 49 autistic adults who completed an online survey. Firstly, quantitative results and content analysis enhanced our understanding of sensory input/contexts associated with sensory hyperreactivity, hyporeactivity, and seeking across modalities. Secondly, thematic analysis developed themes relating to ‘Outcomes’, ‘Control’, ‘Tolerance and management’, and ‘The role of other people’, informing a theoretical model of sensory reactivity differences in autistic adults. These findings have implications for support services and improving quality of life for autistic adults.
Structural and Thermal Properties of Starch Plasticized with Glycerol/Urea Mixture
Authors: Paluch Magdalena , Ostrowska Justyna , Tyński Piotr , Sadurski Waldemar , Konkol Marcin
Published: July 2021

The paper presents the results of research on the influence of used plasticizing system on the structural and thermal properties of thermoplastic starch (TPS). The thermoplastic starch granulate was obtained by extrusion of native starch in the presence of a plasticizing system using a twin-screw extruder. Glycerol and urea were used as plasticizers in various proportions. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the starch plasticization process, changes in its chemical structure were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). TPS thermal stability was determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). An improvement in the efficiency of the plasticization process has been found for a urea-containing plasticizing system compared to the composition of starch plasticized only with glycerol. In addition, the XRD analysis confirms the beneficial effect of urea on the inhibition of starch retrogradation process.
Do governments delay the implementation of parliamentary requests? Examining time variation in implementing legislative requests in Switzerland
Authors: Stadelmann-Steffen Isabelle , Oehrli Dominique , Vatter Adrian
Published: July 2021

This paper investigates time variations in the implementation of legislative requests by the Swiss government. Combining the literature on executive–legislative relations with findings from implementation research, we focus on the procedural level and argue that implementation delays can occur because the government does not want to, cannot or should not implement faster. We test these mechanisms using a unique database, which enables us to analyse a systematic collection of all legislative requests that have been approved between the parliament’s 2003 winter session and its 2018 spring session. Our results show that the considerable variation in the time needed for the legislative mandates’ implementation is mostly related to the Swiss government’s inability to transpose faster, i.e. to factors like highly busy administrative offices or complex and controversial issues. In contrast, there is no support for the ideas that the government “shall not” or “does not want to” transpose faster.
Multidisciplinary studies supporting conservation programmes of two rare, endangered Limonium species from Spain
Authors: González-Orenga Sara , Donat-Torres Ma Pilar , Llinares Josep V. , Navarro Albert , Collado Francisco , Ferrer-Gallego P. Pablo , Laguna Emilio , Vicente Oscar , Boscaiu Monica
Published: July 2021

Background and aims

Two local threatened endemics from Valencian salt marshes were analysed from a multidisciplinary perspective combining field studies with experiments performed under greenhouse-controlled conditions. The work aimed to investigate the habitat of the two species but also to explore their limits of tolerance to severe drought and salinity and the mechanisms behind their stress responses.

Methods

The number of individuals in several populations, climatic conditions, soil characteristics and accompanying vegetation in the natural habitats were analysed in the field study. Plants obtained by seed germination were grown in the greenhouse and subjected to one month of water and salt stress treatments. Growth and biochemical parameters were analysed after the treatments were finalised.

Results

No correlation between climatic parameters and the number of individuals censed of the two Limonium species could be established. Although L. dufourii was found in more saline soils in the natural habitats, under controlled greenhouse conditions, this species was more severely affected by salt treatment than L. albuferae, which is more susceptible to water stress. A common biochemical response was the increase of proline under all stress treatments, but mostly in water-stressed plants. Oxidative stress markers, MDA and H2O2, did not indicate significant differences between the treatments. The differences in the two species' responses to the two kinds of stress were correlated with the activation of the antioxidant enzymes, more pronounced in conditions of salt stress in L. albuferae and of water stress in L. dufourii.

Conclusions

Although L. albuferae is found in sites with lower salinity in the natural habitats, the greenhouse experiment indicated that it tolerates higher concentrations of salt than L. dufouri, which is more resistant to drought. The two species efficiently mitigate oxidative stress by activation of antioxidant enzymes. The results obtained may be helpful for the conservation management of the two species: whereas salinity is not problematic, as the two species tolerated under controlled conditions salinities far beyond those in their natural environments, water scarcity may be a problem for L. albuferae, which proved to be more susceptible to water deficit.
What is the myth of the given?
Authors: O’Shea James R.
Published: July 2021

The idea of ‘the given’ and its alleged problematic status as most famously articulated by Sellars (1956, 1981) continues to be at the center of heated controversies about foundationalism in epistemology, about ‘conceptualism’ and nonconceptual content in the philosophy of perception, and about the nature of the experiential given in phenomenology and in the cognitive sciences. I argue that the question of just what the myth of the given is supposed to be in the first place is more complex than has typically been supposed in these debates, and that clarification of this prior question has surprising consequences. Foundationalism was only one of Sellars’s targets, and this not only in the familiar sense that the more fundamental issues at stake concern the very ‘objective purport’ or intentionality of our empirical thinking in general. When pushed further still, Sellars’s critique in fact hinged on his diagnoses of implicit framework-relative or ‘categorial’ metaphysical presuppositions he exposes in givenist views. Furthermore, the key to his critique accordingly turns out to rest on implicit assumptions concerning the in principle revisability or replaceability of any such presuppositions, whether ‘innate’ or acquired, and including Sellars’s own. Another key result is that widespread assumptions that Sellars’s famous critique is simply inapplicable or irrelevant to either ‘thin’ nonconceptualist views of the given (such as C. I. Lewis’s), since they are ‘non-epistemic’; or alternatively, irrelevant to ‘thick’ conceptualist and phenomenological analyses (since they, too, reject ‘sense-data’ or the ‘bare given’)–both turn out to be mistaken.
Opacity thought through: on the intransparency of computer simulations
Authors: Beisbart Claus
Published: July 2021

Computer simulations are often claimed to be opaque and thus to lack transparency. But what exactly is the opacity of simulations? This paper aims to answer that question by proposing an explication of opacity. Such an explication is needed, I argue, because the pioneering definition of opacity by P. Humphreys and a recent elaboration by Durán and Formanek are too narrow. While it is true that simulations are opaque in that they include too many computations and thus cannot be checked by hand, this doesn’t exhaust what we might want to call the opacity of simulations. I thus make a fresh start with the natural idea that the opacity of a method is its disposition to resist knowledge and understanding. I draw on recent work on understanding and elaborate the idea by a systematic investigation into what type of knowledge and what type of understanding are required if opacity is to be avoided and why the required sort of understanding, in particular, is difficult to achieve. My proposal is that a method is opaque to the degree that it’s difficult for humans to know and to understand why its outcomes arise. This proposal allows for a comparison between different methods regarding opacity. It further refers to a kind of epistemic access that is important in scientific work with simulations.
“I’ve Got Many Stories You Know”—Problematizing Silence Among Unaccompanied Migrant Girls
Authors: Ekström Elin , Andersson Ann-Christine , Börjesson Ulrika
Published: July 2021

This paper presents a study on inhabited silence among unaccompanied female minors in Sweden. Silence among unaccompanied minors has often been explained by experienced trauma. Conversely, research also explains silence as a natural way of establishing autonomy during adolescence. By analyzing the narratives of 11 unaccompanied female minors, we aim to problematize and broaden the understanding of silence as a lack of communication. By using Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital, we analyze how hegemonic narratives on migration and integration influence how the girls in this study use silence in their everyday interactions. Our findings suggest that silence can be understood as both a rejection of these narratives and a strategy to preserve the girls’ integrity. We also demonstrate how these girls negotiate their linguistic capital in relation to embodiment and othering, thereby pushing boundaries of identity and what it means to be seen as Swedish. The paper concludes that silence itself speaks and shows that what is often perceived as a lack of communication can also be understood as a failure to listen.
Improve teaching with modalities and collaborative groups in an LMS: an analysis of monitoring using visualisation techniques
Authors: Sáiz-Manzanares María Consuelo , Marticorena-Sánchez Raúl , Rodríguez-Díez Juan José , Rodríguez-Arribas Sandra , Díez-Pastor José Francisco , Ji Yi Peng
Published: July 2021

Monitoring students in Learning Management Systems (LMS) throughout the teaching–learning process has been shown to be a very effective technique for detecting students at risk. Likewise, the teaching style in the LMS conditions, the type of student behaviours on the platform and the learning outcomes. The main objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of three teaching modalities (all using Online Project-based Learning -OPBL- and Flipped Classroom experiences and differing in the use of virtual laboratories and Intelligent Personal Assistant -IPA-) on Moodle behaviour and student performance taking into account the covariate "collaborative group". Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. With regard to the quantitative analysis, differences were found in student behaviour in Moodle and in learning outcomes, with respect to teaching modalities that included virtual laboratories. Similarly, the qualitative study also analysed the behaviour patterns found in each collaborative group in the three teaching modalities studied. The results indicate that the collaborative group homogenises the learning outcomes, but not the behaviour pattern of each member. Future research will address the analysis of collaborative behaviour in LMSs according to different variables (motivation and metacognitive strategies in students, number of members, interactions between students and teacher in the LMS, etc.).
Microstructure refinement-homogenization and flexural strength improvement of Al2O3 ceramics fabricated by DLP-stereolithography integrated with chemical precipitation coating process
Authors: Nie Guanglin , Li Yehua , Sheng Pengfei , Zuo Fei , Wu Haolin , Liu Leiren , Deng Xin , Bao Yiwang , Wu Shanghua
Published: July 2021

In this study, the chemical precipitation coating (CP) process was creatively integrated with DLP-stereolithography based 3D printing for refining and homogenizing the microstructure of 3D printed Al2O3 ceramic. Based on this novel approach, Al2O3 powder was coated with a homogeneous layer of amorphous Y2O3, with the coated Al2O3 powder found to make the microstructure of 3D printed Al2O3 ceramic more uniform and refined, as compared with the conventional mechanical mixing (MM) of Al2O3 and Y2O3 powders. The grain size of Al2O3 in Sample CP is 64.44% and 51.43% lower than those in the monolithic Al2O3 ceramic and Sample MM, respectively. Sample CP has the highest flexural strength of 455.37±32.17 MPa, which is 14.85% and 25.45% higher than those of Samples MM and AL, respectively; also Sample CP has the highest Weibull modulus of 16.88 among the three kinds of samples. Moreover, the fine grained Sample CP has a close thermal conductivity to the coarse grained Sample MM because of the changes in morphology of Y3Al5O12 phase from semi-connected (Sample MM) to isolated (Sample CP). Finally, specially designed fin-type Al2O3 ceramic heat sinks were successfully fabricated via the novel integrated process, which has been proven to be an effective method for fabricating complex-shaped Al2O3 ceramic components with enhanced flexural strength and reliability.
Closeness to friends explains age differences in positive emotional experience during the lockdown period of COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Cavallini Elena , Rosi Alessia , van Vugt Floris Tijmen , Ceccato Irene , Rapisarda Filippo , Vallarino Martine , Ronchi Luca , Vecchi Tomaso , Lecce Serena
Published: July 2021

Background

Studies on age differences in emotional states during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that older adults experienced greater emotional wellbeing compared to younger adults. We hypothesized these age differences to be related to the perception of closeness to family/friends or the engagement in daily activities during the pandemic.

Aim

To investigate age differences in positive and negative emotional experiences and whether the perception of closeness to family/friends and the engagement in daily activities during pandemic explained such age-related differences.

Methods

Through a cross-sectional study, 1,457 adults aged 18–87 years old completed an online survey assessing positive and negative emotional experiences, the perception of more closeness to family/friends, and daily activities that participants started/re-started during the pandemic.

Results

Increasing age was associated with more positive and less negative emotional experiences. Age differences in positive emotional experience were explained by the perception of more closeness to friends and not by the engagement in daily activities. For negative emotional experience age, differences remained significant even after accounting for the perception of closeness to family/friends and engagements in daily activities.

Discussion

Older adults’ greater overall level of positive emotional experience was explained by their greater perception of more closeness to friends. We speculate that social closeness provides a coping mechanism to increase emotional wellbeing employed especially in older adults.

Conclusion

Our findings reinforce the link between perceived social closeness and emotional wellbeing especially in older adults. To cope with stressful situation, it is important to encourage older adults to increase the closeness to their social network.
Experimental and modelling study of interaction between friction and galling under contact load change conditions
Authors: Yang Xiao , Hu Yiran , Zhang Lemeng , Zheng Yang , Politis Denis J. , Liu Xiaochuan , Wang Li-liang
Published: July 2021

The galling process remains one of the least understood phenomena in metal forming. The transfer of material from a work-piece onto the tool surface can cause an evolutionary increase in friction coefficient (COF) and thus the use of a constant COF in finite element (FE) simulations leads to progressively inaccurate results. For an aluminium work-piece, material transfer, which has history and pressure dependency, is determined by a dynamic balance between the generation and ejection of wear particles acting as a ‘third body’ abrasive element at the contact interface. To address this dynamic interactive phenomenon, pin-on-disc tests between AA6082 and G3500 were performed under step load change conditions. The COF evolutions, morphologies of the transfer layer and its cross-section were studied. It has been found that contact load change will disequilibrate and rebuild the dynamic balance and high load will increase the generation and ejection rate of third body andvice versa. Moreover, based on the experimental results, an interactive model was developed and presented to simulate the dynamic formation process of the aluminium third body layer under load change conditions, enabling multi-cycle simulations to model the galling distribution and friction variation.
Complex T-spherical fuzzy Dombi aggregation operators and their applications in multiple-criteria decision-making
Authors: Karaaslan Faruk , Dawood Mohammed Allaw Dawood
Published: July 2021

Complex fuzzy (CF) sets (CFSs) have a significant role in modelling the problems involving two-dimensional information. Recently, the extensions of CFSs have gained the attention of researchers studying decision-making methods. The complex T-spherical fuzzy set (CTSFS) is an extension of the CFSs introduced in the last times. In this paper, we introduce the Dombi operations on CTSFSs. Based on Dombi operators, we define some aggregation operators, including complex T-spherical Dombi fuzzy weighted arithmetic averaging (CTSDFWAA) operator, complex T-spherical Dombi fuzzy weighted geometric averaging (CTSDFWGA) operator, complex T-spherical Dombi fuzzy ordered weighted arithmetic averaging (CTSDFOWAA) operator, complex T-spherical Dombi fuzzy ordered weighted geometric averaging (CTSDFOWGA) operator, and we obtain some of their properties. In addition, we develop a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method under the CTSF environment and present an algorithm for the proposed method. To show the process of the proposed method, we present an example related to diagnosing the COVID-19. Besides this, we present a sensitivity analysis to reveal the advantages and restrictions of our method.
Anti-lipopolysaccharide factor D from kuruma shrimp exhibits antiviral activity
Authors: Jiang Hai-Shan , Lv Li-Xia , Wang Jin-Xing
Published: July 2021

Anti-lipopolysaccharide factors (ALFs) exhibit a potent antimicrobial activity against a broad range of bacteria, filamentous fungi, and viruses. In previous reports, seven groups of ALFs (groups A–G) were identified in penaeid shrimp. Among them, group D showed negative net charges and weak antimicrobial activity. Whether this group has antiviral function is not clear. In this study, the ALF sequences of penaeid shrimp were analyzed, and eight groups of ALF family (groups A–H) were identified. The four ALFs including MjALF-C2, MjALF-D1, MjALF-D2, and MjALF-E2 from kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus were expressed recombinantly in Escherichia coli, and the antiviral activity was screened via injection of purified recombinant ALFs into shrimp following white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection. Results showed that the expression of Vp28 (WSSV envelope protein) decreased significantly in the MjALF-D2-injected shrimp only. Therefore, MjALF-D2 was chosen for further study. Expression pattern analysis showed that MjAlf-D2 was upregulated in shrimp challenged by WSSV. The WSSV replication was detected in RNA, genomic DNA, and protein levels using VP28 and Ie1 (immediate-early gene of WSSV) as indicators in MjALF-D2-injected shrimp following WSSV infection. Results showed that WSSV replication was significantly inhibited compared with that in the rTRX- or PBS-injected control groups. After knockdown of MjAlf-D2 in shrimp by RNA interference, the WSSV replication increased significantly in the shrimp. All these results suggested that MjALF-D2 has an antiviral function in shrimp immunity, and the recombinant ALF-D2 has a potential application for viral disease control in shrimp aquaculture.
How data governance technologies can democratize data sharing for community well-being
Authors: Wu Dan , Verhulst Stefaan G. , Pentland Alex , Avila Thiago , Finch Kelsey , Gupta Abhishek
Published: July 2021

Data sharing efforts to allow underserved groups and organizations to overcome the concentration of power in our data landscape. A few special organizations, due to their data monopolies and resources, are able to decide which problems to solve and how to solve them. But even though data sharing creates a counterbalancing democratizing force, it must nevertheless be approached cautiously. Underserved organizations and groups must navigate difficult barriers related to technological complexity and legal risk. To examine what those common barriers are, one type of data sharing effort—data trusts—are examined, specifically the reports commenting on that effort. To address these practical issues, data governance technologies have a large role to play in democratizing data trusts safely and in a trustworthy manner. Yet technology is far from a silver bullet. It is dangerous to rely upon it. But technology that is no-code, flexible, and secure can help more responsibly operate data trusts. This type of technology helps innovators put relationships at the center of their efforts.
TAIL BEHAVIOR OF STOPPED LÉVY PROCESSES WITH MARKOV MODULATION
Authors: Beare Brendan K. , Seo Won-Ki , Toda Alexis Akira
Published: July 2021

This article concerns the tail probabilities of a light-tailed Markov-modulated Lévy process stopped at a state-dependent Poisson rate. The tails are shown to decay exponentially at rates given by the unique positive and negative roots of the spectral abscissa of a certain matrix-valued function. We illustrate the use of our results with an application to the stationary distribution of wealth in a simple economic model in which agents with constant absolute risk aversion are subject to random mortality and income fluctuation.
Temporal concatenation for Markov decision processes
Authors: Song Ruiyang , Xu Kuang
Published: July 2021

We propose and analyze a temporal concatenation heuristic for solving large-scale finite-horizon Markov decision processes (MDP), which divides the MDP into smaller sub-problems along the time horizon and generates an overall solution by simply concatenating the optimal solutions from these sub-problems. As a “black box” architecture, temporal concatenation works with a wide range of existing MDP algorithms. Our main results characterize the regret of temporal concatenation compared to the optimal solution. We provide upper bounds for general MDP instances, as well as a family of MDP instances in which the upper bounds are shown to be tight. Together, our results demonstrate temporal concatenation's potential of substantial speed-up at the expense of some performance degradation.
Toddlers raised in multi-dialectal families learn words better in accented speech than those raised in monodialectal families
Authors: KARTUSHINA Natalia , ROSSLUND Audun , MAYOR Julien
Published: July 2021

Multi-accent environments offer rich but inconsistent language input, as words are produced differently across accents. The current study examined, in two experiments, whether multi-accent variability affects infants’ ability to learn words and whether toddlers’ prior experience with accents modulates learning. In Experiment 1, two-and-a-half-year-old Norwegian toddlers were exposed, in their kindergarten, twice per day for one week, to a child-friendly audiovisual tablet-based e-book containing four novel pseudowords. Half of the toddlers heard the story in three Norwegian accents, whereas the other half heard it in one Norwegian accent. The results revealed no differences between conditions, suggesting that multi-accent variability did not hinder toddlers’ word learning. In experiment 2, two-and-a-half-year-old Norwegian toddlers were exposed, in their homes, for one week, to the e-book featuring three Norwegian accents. The results revealed overall better learning in toddlers raised in bi-dialectal households, as compared to mono-dialectal peers – suggesting that accent exposure benefits learning in multi-accent environments.
Quantifying Surface‐Height Change Over a Periglacial Environment With ICESat‐2 Laser Altimetry
Authors: Michaelides R. J. , Bryant M. B. , Siegfried M. R. , Borsa A. A.
Published: July 2021

We use Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite 2 (ICESat‐2) laser altimetry crossovers and repeat tracks collected over the North Slope of Alaska to estimate ground surface‐height change due to the seasonal freezing and thawing of the active layer. We compare these measurements to a time series of surface deformation from Sentinel‐1 interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and demonstrate agreement between these independent observations of surface deformation at broad spatial scales. We observe a relationship between ICESat‐2‐derived surface subsidence/uplift and changes in normalized accumulated degree days, which is consistent with the thermodynamically driven seasonal freezing and thawing of the active layer. Integrating ICESat‐2 crossover estimates of surface‐height change yields an annual time series of surface‐height change that is sensitive to changes in snow cover during spring and thawing of the active layer throughout spring and summer. Furthermore, this time series exhibits temporal correlation with independent reanalysis datasets of temperature and snow cover, as well as an InSAR‐derived time series. ICESat‐2‐derived surface‐height change estimates can be significantly affected by short length‐scale topographic gradients and changes in snow cover and snow depth. We discuss optimal strategies of post‐processing ICESat‐2 data for permafrost applications, as well as the future potential of joint ICESat‐2 and InSAR investigations of permafrost surface‐dynamics.
Biotic and Isotopic Vestiges of Oligotrophy on Continental Shelves During Oceanic Anoxic Event 2
Authors: Dubicka Zofia , Bojanowski Maciej , Peryt Danuta , Barski Marcin
Published: July 2021

The widespread expansion of the oxygen minimum zone onto shelves has been commonly regarded as a primary cause of benthos extinction in epicratonic sea ecosystems during the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary event (CTBE). However, neither lithology, geochemical proxies, nor micropaleontological data support this hypothesis. Instead, our integrated foraminiferal and dinoflagellate cyst study, corroborated by δ13Corg and δ15Norg data, indicate that the biota were impacted by an abrupt shift to well oxygenated oligotrophic conditions and a collapse of primary productivity in the epicontinental Central European Basin. Because the event was concurrent with the development of extensive and extreme oceanic bottom water anoxia that reached the photic zone in oceanic settings, we infer that the biotic crisis in the shelf seas during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (OAE2), and possibly during other OAEs, was triggered by this anomalous nutrient cycling in Earth's oceans. This phenomenon was presumably associated with intensive denitrification combined with anammox activity in the deep “ammonium oceans,” which caused a significant loss of biologically reactive nitrogen from the ocean system. Impingement of ammonium‐rich anoxic waters on the photic zone resulted in primary productivity based primarily on ammonium assimilation, as recorded by strongly 15N‐depleted organic matter deposited in the oceans during the CTBE. We propose that, unlike in the oceanic settings, productivity in the well‐oxygenated, oligotrophic epicontinental seas was nitrate‐based, as evidenced by strongly 15N‐enriched organic matter deposited in the contemporaneous epicontinental sea. These very high δ15Norg values (>+5‰) were related to the spreading of shallow oceanic waters carrying 15N‐enriched nitrate onto epicontinental settings.
Variability in Sea Ice Melt Onset in the Arctic Northeast Passage: Seesaw of the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea
Authors: Liang Hongjie , Su Jie
Published: July 2021

Ice/snow melt onset (MO) is critical timing for ice‐albedo positive feedback in the Arctic. For 1979–1998, the MO in the East Siberian Sea (ESS) occurred earlier than in the Laptev Sea (LS) for 12 of 20 years. However, for 1999–2018, the LS experienced significantly earlier MO than the ESS for 8 of 20 years. We referred to this phenomenon as the MO Seesaw (MOS) and quantified it by the MO difference between the LS and ESS. The MOS is more pronounced since 1999. For positive MOS, storm tracks in May are located south of the ESS and easterly wind prevails, resulting in higher surface air temperature and total‐column water vapor and, therefore, earlier MO in the ESS. For negative MOS, storm tracks are located southwest of the LS, and strong southerly/southwesterly winds bring warm air from coastal land toward the LS. When low pressure is centered over the Barents Sea in April, sea ice in the LS has driven away from the coasts, which increases the surface latent heat flux and humidifies the overlying atmosphere, and eventually leads to earlier MO in the LS. Both the local variables and the large‐scale atmospheric circulation indices were more related to the MOS for 1999–2018 than for 1979–1998.
Tracing Glacial Meltwater From the Greenland Ice Sheet to the Ocean Using Gliders
Authors: Hendry Katharine R. , Briggs Nathan , Henson Stephanie , Opher Jacob , Brearley James Alexander , Meredith Michael P. , Leng Melanie J. , Meire Lorenz
Published: July 2021

The Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) is experiencing significant mass loss and freshwater discharge at glacier fronts. The freshwater input from Greenland will impact the physical properties of adjacent coastal seas, including important regions of deep water formation and contribute to global sea level rise. However, the biogeochemical impact of increasing freshwater discharge from the GrIS is less well constrained. Here, we demonstrate the use of bio‐optical sensors on ocean gliders to track biogeochemical properties of meltwaters off southwest Greenland. Our results reveal that fresh, coastal waters, with an oxygen isotopic composition characteristic of glacial meltwater, are distinguished by a high optical backscatter and high levels of fluorescing dissolved organic matter (FDOM), representative of the overall colored dissolved organic matter pool. Reconstructions of geostrophic velocities are used to show that these particle and FDOM‐enriched coastal waters cross the strong boundary currents into the Labrador Sea. Meltwater input into the Labrador Sea is likely driven by mesoscale processes, such as eddy formation and local bathymetric steering, in addition to wind‐driven Ekman transport. Ocean gliders housing bio‐optical sensors can provide the high‐resolution observations of both dissolved and particulate glacially derived material that are needed to understand meltwater dispersal mechanisms and their sensitivity to future climatic change.
Water Mass Processes Between the South China Sea and the Western Pacific Through the Luzon Strait: Insights From Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotopes
Authors: Wu Junhui , Lao Qibin , Chen Fajin , Huang Chao , Zhang Shuwen , Wang Chao , Zhou Fengxia , Chen Chunqing , Zhou Xin , Lu Xuan
Published: July 2021

A comprehensive, depth specific (near‐surface to 3,700 m) water isotope (δD and δ18O) data set of 237 water samples collected from 20 different locations from the Northwest Pacific through the Luzon Strait to the Northern South China Sea (NSCS) are used to clarify the deeper understanding of water mass processes using δ18O‐salinity (S) and δD‐δ18O relations. Our study reveals that the δD‐δ18O correlation has a low slope and the δ18O‐S correlation has a high slope, which are related to the intrusion of the Kuroshio water and the influence of the coastal current above 200 m on the NSCS, respectively. The isotope mixing model showed that 15% is from the Kuroshio water, 40% from the South China Sea (SCS) Tropical Water, and 45% from the coastal current for water above 200 m in the NSCS. In the intermediate layer (300–1,200 m), a significant δ18O‐S correlation was found at depths of 300–700 m on the NSCS side, but no correlation was found on the western Pacific side, suggesting that the mixing of the water masses of the South China Sea Intermediate Water and the North Pacific Intermediate Water mainly occurs at depth in the NSCS. In the deeper water (below 1,200 m), positive isotopic values were found at depths below 1,500 m, which refuted the previous knowledge that positive isotopic values only exist in the Luzon Strait at depths above 1,000 m, and the positive isotope water mass would flow with the Deep Pacific Water into the deeper water of the SCS.
Influence of living in the same home on biomonitored levels of consumer product chemicals
Authors: Dodson Robin E. , Setzer R. Woodrow , Spengler John D. , Brody Julia G. , Rudel Ruthann A. , Cedeño Laurent Jose Guillermo
Published: July 2021

Background

Individuals living in the same home may share exposures from direct contact with sources or indirectly through contamination of the home environment.

Objective

We investigated the influence of sharing a home on urine levels of ten phenolic chemicals present in some consumer products.

Methods

We used data from Silent Spring Institute’s Detox Me Action Kit (DMAK), a crowdsourced biomonitoring program in the US. Of the 726 DMAK participants, 185 lived in the same home with one or more other DMAK participants (n = 137 pairs, up to six participants in a home). The concentration distributions included values below the detection limit so we used statistical methods that account for left-censored data, including non-parametric correlation estimation and hierarchical Bayesian regression models.

Results

Concentrations were significantly positively correlated between pair-members sharing a home for nine of the ten chemicals. Concentrations of 2,5-dichlorophenol were the most strongly correlated between pair-members (tau = 0.46), followed by benzophenone-3 (tau = 0.31) and bisphenol A (tau = 0.21). The relative contribution of personal product use reported product use of other household members (up to 5 others), and the residual contribution from a shared household, including exposures not asked about, varied by chemical. Paraben concentrations were largely influenced by personal behaviors whereas dichlorophenol and bisphenol concentrations were largely influenced by shared home exposures not related to reported behaviors.

Significance

Measuring the influence of personal and household practices on biomonitoring exposures helps pinpoint major sources of exposure and highlights chemical-specific intervention strategies to reduce them.
Treatment resistance in psychiatry: state of the art and new directions
Authors: Howes Oliver D. , Thase Michael E. , Pillinger Toby
Published: July 2021

Treatment resistance affects 20–60% of patients with psychiatric disorders; and is associated with increased healthcare burden and costs up to ten-fold higher relative to patients in general. Whilst there has been a recent increase in the proportion of psychiatric research focussing on treatment resistance (R2 = 0.71, p < 0.0001), in absolute terms this is less than 1% of the total output and grossly out of proportion to its prevalence and impact. Here, we provide an overview of treatment resistance, considering its conceptualisation, assessment, epidemiology, impact, and common neurobiological models. We also review new treatments in development and future directions. We identify 23 consensus guidelines on its definition, covering schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). This shows three core components to its definition, but also identifies heterogeneity and lack of criteria for a number of disorders, including panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance dependence. We provide a reporting check-list to aid comparisons across studies. We consider the concept of pseudo-resistance, linked to poor adherence or other factors, and provide an algorithm for the clinical assessment of treatment resistance. We identify nine drugs and a number of non-pharmacological approaches being developed for treatment resistance across schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar affective disorder, and OCD. Key outstanding issues for treatment resistance include heterogeneity and absence of consensus criteria, poor understanding of neurobiology, under-investment, and lack of treatments. We make recommendations to address these issues, including harmonisation of definitions, and research into the mechanisms and novel interventions to enable targeted and personalised therapeutic approaches.
Bcl-2/Bcl-xL inhibitor ABT-263 overcomes hypoxia-driven radioresistence and improves radiotherapy
Authors: Ritter Violetta , Krautter Franziska , Klein Diana , Jendrossek Verena , Rudner Justine
Published: July 2021

Hypoxia, a characteristic of most human solid tumors, is a major obstacle to successful radiotherapy. While moderate acute hypoxia increases cell survival, chronic cycling hypoxia triggers adaptation processes, leading to the clonal selection of hypoxia-tolerant, apoptosis-resistant cancer cells. Our results demonstrate that exposure to acute and adaptation to chronic cycling hypoxia alters the balance of Bcl-2 family proteins in favor of anti-apoptotic family members, thereby elevating the apoptotic threshold and attenuating the success of radiotherapy. Of note, inhibition of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL by BH3-mimetic ABT-263 enhanced the sensitivity of HCT116 colon cancer and NCI-H460 lung cancer cells to the cytotoxic action of ionizing radiation. Importantly, we observed this effect not only in normoxia, but also in severe hypoxia to a similar or even higher extent. ABT-263 furthermore enhanced the response of xenograft tumors of control and hypoxia-selected NCI-H460 cells to radiotherapy, thereby confirming the beneficial effect of combined treatment in vivo. Targeting the Bcl-2 rheostat with ABT-263, therefore, is a particularly promising approach to overcome radioresistance of cancer cells exposed to acute or chronic hypoxia with intermittent reoxygenation. Moreover, we found intrinsic as well as ABT-263- and irradiation-induced regulation of Bcl-2 family members to determine therapy sensitivity. In this context, we identified Mcl-1 as a resistance factor that interfered with apoptosis induction by ABT-263, ionizing radiation, and combinatorial treatment. Collectively, our findings provide novel insights into the molecular determinants of hypoxia-mediated resistance to apoptosis and radiotherapy and a rationale for future therapies of hypoxic and hypoxia-selected tumor cell fractions.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: Molecular detection of pathogenic Escherichia coli strains and their antibiogram associated with risk factors from diarrheic calves in Jimma Ethiopia
Authors: Ali Destaw Asfaw , Tesema Tesfaye Sisay , Belachew Yosef Deneke
Published: July 2021

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli are a number of pathogenic E. coli strains that cause diarrheal infection both in animal and human hosts due to their virulence factors. A cross sectional study was conducted between November, 2016 and April, 2017 to isolate and molecularly detect pathogenic E. coli from diarrheic calves to determine the pathogenic strains, antibiogram and associated risk factors in Jimma town. Purposive sampling technique was used to collect 112 fecal samples from diarrheic calves. Conventional culture and biochemical methods were conducted to isolate E. coli isolates. Molecular method was followed to identify virulence factors of pathogenic E. coli strains. Antimicrobial sensitivity patterns of the isolates were tested using the Kirby–Bauer disk diffusion method. A structured questionnaire was also used to collect information from dairy farms and socio-demographic data. The overall isolation rate of E. coli in calves was 51.8% (58/112) (95% CI 42.0–61.0). The occurrence of the bacterium differed significantly by age, colostrum feeding time, amount of milk given per time and navel treatment (P < 0.05). Multivariable analysis revealed that the odds of being infected was significantly highest in calves which fed 1–1.5 L amount of milk per a time (OR 5.38, 95% CI 1.66–17.45, P = 0.005). The overall virulence genes detection rate was 53.5% (95% CI 40.0–67.0). Eleven (19.6%) of eaeA, 6 (10.7%) of Stx1 and 13 (23.2%) of Stx2 genes were detected from calves isolates. Except ciprofloxacillin, all isolates were resistant to at least one drug. Multi drug resistance was recorded in 68.0% (38/56) of calves isolates. Neomycin, 83.3% (25/30), followed by amoxicillin, 53.3% (16/30) were the highest resisted virulence genes. The study demonstrated considerable isolation rate, multiple antimicrobial resistant isolates and high resistant virulent genes in diarrheic calves. It also indicated that the potential importance of calves as source of pathogenic E. coli strains and resistant genes for human diarrhea infection. Improving the hygienic practice of farms and wise use of antimicrobials could help to reduce the occurrence of pathogenic E. coli in farms. Hence, further studies are needed to describe all virulent factors and serotypes associated with the emergence of drug resistant pathogenic E. coli strains in calves.
Electrochemiluminescence of Ru(bpy)32+/thioacetamide and its application for the sensitive determination of hepatotoxic thioacetamide
Authors: Kitte Shimeles Addisu , Bushira Fuad Abduro , Li Haijuan , Jin Yongdong
Published: July 2021

A new ECL sensor for the sensitive determination of thioacetamide was developed using thioacetamide as a coreactant for the anodic ECL of tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(ii) (Ru(bpy)32+).
Synthesis and properties of poly(1,3-dioxolane) in situ quasi-solid-state electrolytes via a rare-earth triflate catalyst
Authors: Yang Guanming , Zhai Yanfang , Yao Jianyao , Song Shufeng , Lin Liyang , Tang Weiping , Wen Zhaoyin , Hu Ning , Lu Li
Published: July 2021

Quasi-solid-state polymer electrolytes in situ initiated by abundant rare-earth triflate catalysts will produce intimate electrolyte/electrodes interfaces and enable lithium metal anodes.
Transient absorption measurements of interlayer charge transfer in a WS2/GeS van der Waals heterostructure
Authors: Deng Lier , Yuan Weihang , He Dawei , Liu Shuangyan , Du Yuxuan , Gong Lei , Liu Huan
Published: July 2021

Differential reflection signal from WS2 monolayer (left) and WS2/GeS heterostructure (right) is measured. The shorter decay of the signal from heterostructure than that from WS2 ML provides convincing evidence of charge transfer between WS2 and GeS.
Correction: Emerging investigator series: a holistic approach to multicomponent EXAFS: Sr and Cs complexation in clayey soils
Authors: Bots Pieter , Comarmond M. Josick , Payne Timothy E. , Gückel Katharina , Lunn Rebecca J. , Rizzo Luca , Schellenger Alexandra E. P. , Renshaw Joanna C.
Published: July 2021

Correction for ‘Emerging investigator series: a holistic approach to multicomponent EXAFS: Sr and Cs complexation in clayey soils’ by Pieter Bots et al., Environ. Sci.: Processes Impacts, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1EM00121C.
An RNA/DNA hybrid origami-based nanoplatform for efficient gene therapy
Authors: Wu Xiaohui , Liu Qing , Liu Fengsong , Wu Tiantian , Shang Yingxu , Liu Jianbing , Ding Baoquan
Published: July 2021

An RNA/DNA origami-based nanoplatform was designed for efficient antisense delivery to silence target gene without any transfection reagents in eukaryotic cells.