bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Trends in greater sage‐grouse lek counts relative to existing wind energy development in Wyoming
Authors: Smith Kurt T. , LeBeau Chad W. , Hoskovec Lauren , Beck Jeffrey L.
Published: June 2024

Rapid increases in wind energy development globally highlight the need to evaluate how electricity generation may impact wildlife. The greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage‐grouse) has experienced range‐wide population declines, primarily due to habitat loss and degradation. Studies have documented a negative association between oil and gas development and sage‐grouse populations. However, potential sage‐grouse population declines associated with wind energy development have not been adequately addressed. We investigated the relationship between wind energy infrastructure and changes in male sage‐grouse counted on leks from 2000–2020 in Wyoming, USA, using Bayesian state‐space models. Our study was conducted in central and southwest Wyoming in the vicinity of 10 wind energy facilities that were in proximity to sage‐grouse leks occurring outside of Wyoming's Core Areas (i.e., areas of high breeding densities of sage‐grouse designated for restricted development by the State of Wyoming) and dominated by big sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) communities. Facilities became operational between 1998 and 2010 and had an average of 67 turbines. Covariates describing wind energy infrastructure included distance to the nearest wind turbine, and the number and distribution (clustering) of turbines within 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, and 10.0 km. We also explored whether males attending leks exhibited lagged responses of 1–7 years following development. We used counts from 78 leks located within 15 km of the 10 wind energy facilities, consisting of 288 counts before and 845 counts after development. We expected that trends in male lek attendance would experience a delayed negative response following wind energy development like other forms of anthropogenic features. However, we failed to detect a relationship between male sage‐grouse lek attendance and proximity to, density of, or distribution of wind turbines following development in all models. Our findings were based on the average lek in our analysis being 6.5 km from a wind turbine and most turbines were clustered such that undisturbed habitat surrounding leks remained. Therefore, interpretation of our results should be restricted to siting practices of the facilities that we evaluated because direct habitat removal and fragmentation resulting from any form of energy development is unlikely to benefit sage‐grouse populations. Our study evaluated the response of low‐density, peripheral populations of sage‐grouse to wind energy development outside or near the edge of Core Areas. As such, our results should not be extrapolated to higher density sage‐grouse populations occurring in Core Areas.
N6-methyladenosine-driven miR-143/145-KLF4 circuit orchestrates the phenotypic switch of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells
Authors: Kang Kang , Sun Chuannan , Li Hui , Liu Xiaojia , Deng Jingyuan , Chen Silei , Zeng Le , Chen Jiahao , Liu Xinyi , Kuang Jiahao , Xiang Jingjing , Cheng Jingqian , Liao Xiaoyun , Lin Mujin , Zhang Xingshi , Zhan Chuzhi , Liu Sisi , Wang Jun , Niu Yanqin , Liu Cuilian , Liang Cai , Zhu Jinsheng , Liang Shuxin , Tang Haiyang , Gou Deming
Published: June 2024

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by vascular remodeling predominantly driven by a phenotypic switching in pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). However, the underlying mechanisms for this phenotypic alteration remain incompletely understood. Here, we identified that RNA methyltransferase METTL3 is significantly elevated in the lungs of hypoxic PH (HPH) mice and rats, as well as in the pulmonary arteries (PAs) of HPH rats. Targeted deletion of Mettl3 in smooth muscle cells exacerbated hemodynamic consequences of hypoxia-induced PH and accelerated pulmonary vascular remodeling in vivo. Additionally, the absence of METTL3 markedly induced phenotypic switching in PASMCs in vitro. Mechanistically, METTL3 depletion attenuated m6A modification and hindered the processing of pri-miR-143/145, leading to a downregulation of miR-143-3p and miR-145-5p. Inhibition of hnRNPA2B1, an m6A mediator involved in miRNA maturation, similarly resulted in a significant reduction of miR-143-3p and miR-145-5p. We demonstrated that miR-145-5p targets Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) and miR-143-3p targets fascin actin-bundling protein 1 (FSCN1) in PASMCs. The decrease of miR-145-5p subsequently induced an upregulation of KLF4, which in turn suppressed miR-143/145 transcription, establishing a positive feedback circuit between KLF4 and miR-143/145. This regulatory circuit facilitates the persistent suppression of contractile marker genes, thereby sustaining PASMC phenotypic switch. Collectively, hypoxia-induced upregulation of METTL3, along with m6A mediated regulation of miR-143/145, might serve as a protective mechanism against phenotypic switch of PASMCs. Our results highlight a potential therapeutic strategy targeting m6A modified miR-143/145-KLF4 loop in the treatment of PH.
Measuring economic country-specific uncertainty in Türkiye
Authors: Kilic Ilhan , Balli Faruk
Published: June 2024

In this paper, a new measure for uncertainty that affects the economy is proposed, constructed, and applied to an emerging economy, Türkiye. We have constructed an index of economic country-specific uncertainty (ECSU) that is in line with the methodology used in constructing economic policy uncertainty indexes. As the economic uncertainty is of the Knightian type, the essence of measuring it lies in counting the frequency of joint appearances of words related to economics and uncertainty in Turkish-language newspapers. The uncertainty index constructed using local language sources- Turkish performs significantly better in measuring country-specific uncertainty in Türkiye. However, some indexes use English language sources to measure uncertainty in Türkiye- did not make them country-specific. The ECSU was tested by evaluating the dynamic real effects of the uncertainty. This evaluation was performed by the analysis of impulse responses from uncertainty to some economic variables in a vector autoregressive model describing the economy of Türkiye. We find that an unexpected increase in uncertainty in the Turkish-language press is related to decreases in industrial production, employment, and trade. If the uncertainty measure is based on the articles from the English-language press only, no such relationship can be confirmed. We also find that an increase in uncertainty leads to increase in inflation and stock and oil prices.
Double Jeopardy: A Distinct Mortality Pattern Among Preterm Infants with Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Higgins Brennan V. , Levy Philip T. , Ball Molly K. , Kim Minso , Peyvandi Shabnam , Steurer Martina A.
Published: June 2024

Contemporary United States (US) data on the survival of preterm infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) are unavailable despite the over-representation of CHD and improving surgical outcomes in the preterm population. The aim of this study is to use population-based data to compare 1-year survival and early mortality (< 3 days) by gestational age (GA) between preterm infants with and without cyanotic CHD (CCHD) in the US. This national retrospective cohort included all liveborn, preterm infants between 21 and 36 weeks GA with a birth certificate indicating the presence or absence of CCHD (n = 2,654,253) born between 2014 and 2019 in the US. Data were provided by the US Center for Disease Control database linking birth and death certificates. Of liveborn preterm infants, 0.13% (n = 3619) had CCHD. 1-year survival was significantly lower in infants 23–36 weeks with CCHD compared to those without. The greatest survival gap occurred between 28 and 31 weeks (28 weeks adjusted risk difference 37.5%; 95% CI 28.4, 46.5; 31 weeks 37.9%; 30.5, 45.3). Early mortality accounted for more than half of deaths among infants 23–31 weeks with CCHD (23 weeks-68%, CI 46.7, 83.7; 31 weeks-63.9%, 52.9, 73.6). Survival trends demonstrated worsened 1-year survival in infants 35–36 weeks with CCHD over the study period. The pattern of mortality for preterm infants with CCHD is distinct from those without. The significant survival gap in the very preterm population and notably high rate of early death in the infants with CCHD calls for renewed attention to early neonatal intensive care for this dually affected population.
Thermal tolerance of larval Antarctic cryonotothenioid fishes
Authors: Corso Andrew D. , Mowatt-Larssen Tor , Brill Richard W. , Steinberg Deborah K. , Hilton Eric J.
Published: June 2024

Cryonotothenioids constitute a subgroup of notothenioid fishes endemic to the Southern Ocean that are specialized to exist in a narrow range of near-freezing temperatures. Due to the challenges of reliably collecting and maintaining larval cryonotothenioids in good condition, most thermal tolerance studies have been limited to adult and juvenile stages. With increasing environmental pressures from climate change in Antarctic ecosystems, it is important to better understand the impacts of a warming environment on larval stages as well. In this study, we determine the critical thermal maxima (CTmax) of cryonotothenioid larvae collected in pelagic net tows during three research cruises near the western Antarctic Peninsula. We sampled larvae of seven species representing three cryonotothenioid families—Nototheniidae, Channichthyidae, and Artedidraconidae. For channichthyid and nototheniid species, CTmax values ranged from 8.6 to 14.9 °C and were positively correlated with body length, suggesting that younger, less motile larvae may be especially susceptible to rapid warming events such as marine heatwaves. To our knowledge, this is the first published test of acute thermal tolerance for any artedidraconid, with CTmax ranging from 13.2 to 17.8 °C, which did not correlate with body length. Of the two artedidraconid species we collected, Neodraco skottsbergi showed remarkable tolerance to warming and was the only species to resume normal swimming following trials. We offer two hypotheses as to why N. skottsbergi has such an elevated thermal tolerance: (1) their unique green coloration serves as camouflage within near-surface phytoplankton blooms, suggesting they occupy an especially warm near-surface niche, and (2) recent insights into their evolutionary history suggest that they are derived from taxa that may have occupied warm tide-pool habitats. Collectively, these results establish N. skottsbergi and larval channichthyids as groups of interest for future physiological studies to gain further insights into the vulnerability of cryonotothenioids to a warming ocean.
Automatic segmentation and implicit surface representation of dynamic cardiac data
Authors: Thai Andy , Gradus-Pizlo Irmina , Pizlo Zygmunt , Sahin Hakan , Gopi M.
Published: June 2024

Segmentation of anatomical structures on 2D images of cardiac exams is necessary for performing 3D volumetric analysis, enabling the computation of parameters for diagnosing cardiovascular disease. In this work, we present robust algorithms to automatically segment cardiac imaging data and generate a volumetric anatomical reconstruction of a patient-specific heart model by propagating active contour output within a patient stack through a self-supervised learning model. Contour initializations are automatically generated, then output segmentations on sparse image slices are transferred and merged across a stack of images within the same heart data set during the segmentation process. We demonstrate whole-heart segmentation and compare the results with ground truth manual annotations. Additionally, we provide a framework to represent segmented heart data in the form of implicit surfaces, allowing interpolation operations to generate intermediary models of heart sections and volumes throughout the cardiac cycle and to estimate ejection fraction.
Looking back on 51 years of the Carol Nachman Prize in Rheumatology—significance for the field of spondyloarthritis research
Authors: Braun Jürgen , Sieper Joachim , Märker-Hermann Elisabeth
Published: June 2024

The city and casino of Wiesbaden, capital of the German state Hessen, have endowed the Carol Nachman Prize to promote research work in the field of rheumatology since 1972. The prize, endowed with 37,500 €, is the second highest medical award in Germany and serves to promote clinical, therapeutic, and experimental research work in the field of rheumatology. In June 2022, the 50-year anniversary was celebrated. In the symposium preceding the award ceremony, an overview was given on the significance of spondyloarthritis for the work of the awardees in the past 30 years. This overview has now been put together to inform the interested community of the work performed, including the opinion of the awardees regarding what they consider to be their most important contribution.
Detection of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) infection by real-time PCR from the peripheral blood of animals: a preliminary study
Authors: Jarvi Susan , Jacob John , Mina Alfred , Lyons Malia
Published: June 2024

Rat lungworm disease or neuroangiostrongyliasis is a cerebral parasitic infection that affects humans and animals alike. Its clinical signs and symptoms can range from mild self-resolving to serious life-threatening conditions. Studies suggest therapeutic interventions during the early stages of infection to be more effective than in later stages. However, early diagnosis of infection is usually problematic without the knowledge of exposure and/or detection of the parasite’s DNA or antibody against the parasite in the cerebrospinal fluid. This requires a lumbar puncture, which is an invasive procedure that generally requires hospitalization. This study evaluates an affordable and less invasive alternative to detect parasitic DNA by PCR from the peripheral blood of potentially infected animals. Blood samples from 58 animals (55 dogs and 3 cats) with clinical suspicion of infection were submitted to our lab between February 2019 and August 2022 by local, licensed veterinarians. DNA was extracted from whole blood, plasma, serum, and/or packed cells using the Qiagen DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit as per the manufacturer’s protocol. All 58 animals were tested by real-time PCR using the AcanITS1 assay and 32 of these animals (31dogs; 1 cat) were also tested using the AcanR3990 assay. The PCR results for both assays were classified into strongly positive > positive > weakly positive > negative, and equivocal for ambiguous results, based on the strength of the signal. The percent infection detected using the AcanITS1 and AcanR3990 assays was 12.72% (7/55) and 20.68% (6/29), respectively. The overall percent infection detected was 34.37% (11/32), with only two animals testing positive by both assays. The three cats involved in this study tested negative by both assays. These results are promising and warrant further investigations to increase sensitivity including variables that might affect detection in the blood, such as parasite load, and laboratory methodologies.
Association between serum neurofilament light chain and periodontitis
Authors: Zhao Jing , Zhao Panwen
Published: June 2024

Objectives

The association between serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL) and periodontitis remains unclear, and there is a need to examine the contribution of serum albumin (SA) in this association. The objective of the study is to investigate the correlation between sNfLand periodontitis, while examining the potential mediator role of SA in this association.

Methods

The study, which included 1218 participants from the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), aimed to evaluate the association between sNfL and periodontitis through weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline (RCS) models, and stratified models. In addition, mediation analysis was used to investigate the role of SA in mediating this association.

Results

The multivariable logistic regression models revealed that sNfL was significantly linked to periodontitis (model 1: odds ratio [OR], 3.08, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48 to 6.39, model 2: OR, 3.69; 95% CI, 1.73 to 7.90, model 3: OR, 3.58, 95% CI, 1.52 to 8.43). The RCS models suggested a linear relationship between sNfL and periodontitis. The stratified analysis revealed no significant moderating effects (p-value > 0.05). The mediation analysis demonstrated that SA mediated the correlation between sNfL and periodontitis, with a mediation proportion of 10.62%.

Conclusions

The results point to sNfL being a factor in the heightened risk of periodontitis. Additionally, SA may mediate the changes in periodontitis that are associated with sNfL.

Clinical relevance

sNfL may contribute to the development of periodontitis by mediating changes in SA in humans.
Temporal Development of Microhabitats on Living Habitat Trees in Temperate European Forests
Authors: Spînu A. P. , Nicolaie M. A. , Asbeck T. , Kozak D. , Paillet Y. , Cateau E. , Mikoláš M. , Svoboda M. , Bauhus J.
Published: June 2024

Tree-related microhabitats (TreMs) have been promoted as indicators of forest biodiversity and to guide conservation practices. Ensuring the provision of diverse TreMs in the long term is crucial for the survival of many forest-dwelling species. Yet, this task is challenging in the absence of information regarding TreM dynamics. We analysed the temporal development of TreMs on 11,569 living trees in temperate European forests. To identify drivers of change in TreM abundance and richness over a period of 3–12 years, we estimated the rates of TreM persistence and loss events at the tree-level using survival analysis methods: persistence was characterised by consistency and increment events (when TreM numbers were maintained or increased) and loss was defined as a reduction in TreM numbers or their disappearance. Stratified Cox proportional hazards models were fitted for different TreM groups. Our study revealed a highly dynamic TreM development on living habitat trees, particularly on large trees. While specific TreMs are prone to disappearing, irrespective of tree species or TreM groups, total TreM richness persists over a 12-year period. TreMs such as crown deadwood, epiphytes or woodpecker cavities are prone to decrease in the long term. However, large trees were more likely to maintain a certain degree of TreM richness. Increasing diameters resulted in high persistence rates in seven TreM groups and concomitantly low loss rates in four of them (exposed sap- and heartwood, concavities). Selecting habitat trees based on TreMs should consider the likelihood of TreMs being lost over time, to ensure the long-term provision of microhabitats for associated species.

Graphical Abstract
Streamlining Acute Abdominal Aortic Dissection Management—An AI-based CT Imaging Workflow
Authors: Raj Anish , Allababidi Ahmad , Kayed Hany , Gerken Andreas L. H. , Müller Julia , Schoenberg Stefan O. , Zöllner Frank G. , Rink Johann S.
Published: June 2024

Life-threatening acute aortic dissection (AD) demands timely diagnosis for effective intervention. To streamline intrahospital workflows, automated detection of AD in abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans seems useful to assist humans. We aimed at creating a robust convolutional neural network (CNN)-based pipeline capable of real-time screening for signs of abdominal AD in CT. In this retrospective study, abdominal CT data from AD patients presenting with AD and from non-AD patients were collected (n 195, AD cases 94, mean age 65.9 years, female ratio 35.8%). A CNN-based algorithm was developed with the goal of enabling a robust, automated, and highly sensitive detection of abdominal AD. Two sets from internal (n = 32, AD cases 16) and external sources (n = 1189, AD cases 100) were procured for validation. The abdominal region was extracted, followed by the automatic isolation of the aorta region of interest (ROI) and highlighting of the membrane via edge extraction, followed by classification of the aortic ROI as dissected/healthy. A fivefold cross-validation was employed on the internal set, and an ensemble of the 5 trained models was used to predict the internal and external validation set. Evaluation metrics included receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and balanced accuracy. The AUC, balanced accuracy, and sensitivity scores of the internal dataset were 0.932 (CI 0.891–0.963), 0.860, and 0.885, respectively. For the internal validation dataset, the AUC, balanced accuracy, and sensitivity scores were 0.887 (CI 0.732–0.988), 0.781, and 0.875, respectively. Furthermore, for the external validation dataset, AUC, balanced accuracy, and sensitivity scores were 0.993 (CI 0.918–0.994), 0.933, and 1.000, respectively. The proposed automated pipeline could assist humans in expediting acute aortic dissection management when integrated into clinical workflows.
Are generics and negativity about social groups common on social media? A comparative analysis of Twitter (X) data
Authors: Peters Uwe , Quintana Ignacio Ojea
Published: June 2024

Many philosophers hold that generics (i.e., unquantified generalizations) are pervasive in communication and that when they are about social groups, this may offend and polarize people because generics gloss over variations between individuals. Generics about social groups might be particularly common on Twitter (X). This remains unexplored, however. Using machine learning (ML) techniques, we therefore developed an automatic classifier for social generics, applied it to 1.1 million tweets about people, and analyzed the tweets. While it is often suggested that generics are ubiquitous in everyday communication, we found that most tweets (78%) about people contained no generics. However, tweets with generics received more “likes” and retweets. Furthermore, while recent psychological research may lead to the prediction that tweets with generics about political groups are more common than tweets with generics about ethnic groups, we found the opposite. However, consistent with recent claims that political animosity is less constrained by social norms than animosity against gender and ethnic groups, negative tweets with generics about political groups were significantly more prevalent and retweeted than negative tweets about ethnic groups. Our study provides the first ML-based insights into the use and impact of social generics on Twitter.
Adjuvant Analgesics in Acute Pain – Evaluation of Efficacy
Authors: Kummer Isabelle , Lüthi Andreas , Klingler Gabriela , Andereggen Lukas , Urman Richard D. , Luedi Markus M. , Stieger Andrea
Published: June 2024

Purpose of the Review

Acute postoperative pain impacts a significant number of patients and is associated with various complications, such as a higher occurrence of chronic postsurgical pain as well as increased morbidity and mortality.

Recent Findings

Opioids are often used to manage severe pain, but they come with serious adverse effects, such as sedation, respiratory depression, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and impaired bowel function. Therefore, most enhanced recovery after surgery protocols promote multimodal analgesia, which includes adjuvant analgesics, to provide optimal pain control. In this article, we aim to offer a comprehensive review of the contemporary literature on adjuvant analgesics in the management of acute pain, especially in the perioperative setting.

Adjuvant analgesics have proven efficacy in treating postoperative pain and reducing need for opioids. While ketamine is an established option for opioid-dependent patients, magnesium and α2-agonists have, in addition to their analgetic effect, the potential to attenuate hemodynamic responses, which make them especially useful in painful laparoscopic procedures. Furthermore, α2-agonists and dexamethasone can extend the analgesic effect of regional anesthesia techniques. However, findings for lidocaine remain inconclusive.
The Relational Dimension of Liberation (vimutti) in the Pāli Discourses of the Buddha
Authors: Sangiacomo Andrea
Published: June 2024

This paper investigates the embodied dimension of liberation (vimutti) in the Pāli discourses of the Buddha. Liberation is to be understood in relation to different kinds of “persons”’ who experience reality in different ways. For the ordinary person, there might be a presumption of being free, but there is actually no experience of liberation. For the disciple in training, liberation starts to become real and shows itself to be different to the ordinary person’s way of life. Eventually, for the awakened disciple, the ordinary way of life is entirely left behind. This does not necessarily entail an escape from the world of embodied life, but it does open new possibilities for choice and freedom in the overall psychophysical and social ecosystem. In all these cases, liberation (or its lack thereof) must be understood from a relational perspective, namely, in connection with how one functions and behaves in relation to other living beings.
Development and Validation of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME)
Authors: Van Dam Nicholas T. , Targett Jessica , Burger Alex , Davies Jonathan N. , Galante Julieta
Published: June 2024

Objectives

Meditation is increasingly popular, and yet studies of meditation-related adverse effects, or experiences of unusual psychological states, have mostly focused on those of extremely unpleasant or pleasant nature, respectively, despite the wide range of possible experiences. We aimed to create an instrument to capture meditation-related experiences of varied intensity and subjective valence.

Method

We collected detailed data from 886 US meditators after screening over 3000 individuals to generate a sample representative of major types of meditation practices and experience levels. Participants answered questions about meditation history, mental health, and 103 meditation-related experiences identified for the development of the Inventory of Meditation Experiences (IME).

Results

Parallel analysis guided the eventual determination of factors; exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis yielded good model-to-data fit on a 30-item, 3-factor version of the scale. The total scale and subscales showed expected correlations with measures of adverse effects, meditation characteristics, and mental health symptoms. Analysis indicated utility in examining experience intensity and valence as potentially distinct or combined features of experiences.

Conclusions

The IME is a psychometrically valid tool that may prove useful to assess a variety of meditation-related experiences that account for both the intensity and subjective valence of those experiences.

Preregistration

While several hypotheses were preregistered (https://osf.io/r8beh/), the present study pertains only to the development and validation of the instrument.
Resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in octogenarians: a single-center analysis
Authors: Weigle Clara A. , Beetz Oliver , Wiemann Bengt A. , Tessmer Philipp , Störzer Simon , Cammann Sebastian , Vondran Florian W. R. , Oldhafer Felix , Schmelzle Moritz , Richter Nicolas
Published: June 2024

The rapidly aging population in industrialized countries comes with an increased incidence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCC) which presents new challenges for oncological treatments especially in elderly patients. Thus, the question arises to what extent the benefit of surgical resections, as the only curative treatment option, outweighs possible perioperative risks in patients ≥ 80 years of age (octogenarians). We therefore retrospectively analyzed 311 patients who underwent resection for iCC at Hannover Medical School between January 1996 and December 2022. In total, there were 11 patients older than 80 years in our collective. Despite similar tumor size, octogenarians underwent comparatively less extensive surgery (54.5% major resections in octogenarians vs. 82.7% in all other patients; p = 0.033) with comparable rates of lymphadenectomy and tumor-free resection margins. Furthermore, we did not observe increased major postoperative morbidity (Clavien-Dindo ≥ IIIa complications: 27.3% vs. 34.3% in all other patients; p = 0.754) or mortality (estimated 1-year OS of 70.7% vs. 72.5% in all other patients, p = 0.099). The length of intensive care unit (ICU) or intermediate care unit (IMC) stay was significantly longer in octogenarians, however, with a comparable length in total hospital stay. The estimated overall survival (OS) did also not differ significantly, although a trend towards reduced long-term survival was observed (14.5 months vs. 28.03 months in all other patients; p = 0.099). In conclusion, primary resection is a justifiable and safe therapeutic option even in octogenarians but requires an even more thorough preoperative patient selection.
Coercive inequalities on Carnot groups: taming singularities
Authors: Bou Dagher E. , Zegarliński B.
Published: June 2024

In the setting of Carnot groups, we propose an approach of taming singularities to get coercive inequalities. To this end, we develop a technique to introduce natural singularities in the energy function U in order to force one of the coercivity conditions. In particular, we explore explicit constructions of probability measures on Carnot groups which secure Poincaré and even Logarithmic Sobolev inequalities. As applications, we get analogues of the Dyson–Ornstein–Uhlenbeck model on the Heisenberg group and obtain results on the discreteness of the spectrum of related Markov generators.
How Can Practitioners Support Citizen Volunteers in Disaster Risk Reduction? Insight from “Good and Ready” in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Le Dé Loïc , Ronoh Steve , Kyu Ei Mon Thinn , Rive Brigitte
Published: June 2024

Global and national policy frameworks emphasize the importance of people’s participation and volunteers’ role in disaster risk reduction. While research has extensively focused on volunteers in disaster response and recovery, less attention has been paid on how organizations involved in disaster risk management can support volunteers in leading and coordinating community-based disaster risk reduction. In 2019, the New Zealand Red Cross piloted the Good and Ready initiative in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, with the objective to empower local people in resilience building with a focus on volunteers and community participation. This research examined the positive and negative outcomes of Good and Ready and investigated volunteers’ experiences in the disaster resilience initiative. It involved the codesign of a questionnaire-based survey using participatory methods with Good and Ready volunteers, the dissemination of the survey to gather volunteers’ viewpoints, and a focus group discussion with participatory activities with Red Cross volunteers. The findings highlight that a key challenge lies in finding a balance between a program that provides flexibility to address contextual issues and fosters communities’ ownership, versus a prescriptive and standardized approach that leaves little room for creativity and self-initiative. It pinpoints that supporting volunteers with technical training is critical but that soft skills training such as coordinating, communicating, or facilitating activities at the local level are needed. It concludes that the sustainability of Good and Ready requires understanding and meeting volunteers’ motivations and expectations and that enhancing partnerships with local emergency management agencies would strengthen the program.
Mangroves in Egypt and the Middle East: current status, threats, and opportunities
Authors: Waleed T. A. , Abdel-Maksoud Y. K. , Kanwar R. S. , Sewilam H.
Published: June 2024

Mangrove forests are among the Nature Based Solutions (NBS) that help in mitigating climate change effects as they sequester carbon dioxide gas four times greater than normal forests. They stabilize coastlines, reduce coastal flooding, and provide nurseries to wildlife. Only two mangrove species exist in the Middle East: Avicennia marina and Rhizophora mucronata, due to their high tolerance to the region’s harsh and dry environmental conditions. This paper presents a comprehensive review on the current mangrove status in these countries, threats facing them, and rehabilitation initiatives taken to increase mangrove plantations in the Middle East. The review showed that Middle Eastern mangroves are dwarves, grow in dispatched form, have limited access to freshwater inflow, and are dominated by Avicennia marina specie. The largest and smallest mangrove cover were 20,400 ha and 80 ha found in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain respectively. Uncontrolled camel grazing, oil spills, habitat destruction, irresponsible tourism, and solid waste accumulation are from the major threats facing mangrove ecosystems. Climate change impacts through increased seawater salinity and temperature, microplastics, and heavy metals introduction to seawater threaten mangroves health. Various mangrove rehabilitation initiatives have taken place in Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt as they have planted 1.5 million, 140 thousand, 1 million, 4.3 million, and 0.3 million mangrove trees respectively. This research presents some regulatory framework and policies needed for mangrove plantations rehabilitation for the mitigation of Green House Gases (GHG) and improve the livelihood of the indigenous people living along the coastal areas of the world.
Time-dependent design of hyperelastic bonded joints in structural glass
Authors: Schaaf Benjamin , Feldmann Markus
Published: June 2024

For glass constructions with a high degree of transparency, facade systems with structural sealant glazing are increasingly being used. However, the use of bonded joints is also suitable for many other applications in glass construction. Even today, the design of bonded joints is still based on the outdated global safety concept according to ETAG 002. Although the safety and predictability of hyperelastic silicone bonds have been continuously shown by research activities during recent years, high levels of safety are still required in the design, which is mainly due to the expected degradation of the adhesive. From a design perspective, it is necessary to consider the time dependency. On the one hand, the bonded joint must be able to withstand variable loads of different strain rates at any time during its service life, taking degradation into account. On the other hand, if the bonded joint is also under a permanent load due to dead load of the glazing, it must also be ensured that the failure time would only be attained at the end of the component's service life. This article presents a fully probabilistic method that considers the degradation of the adhesive as well as various statistical influencing quantities (such as wind effects, manufacturing tolerances or material scattering) and determines a modification coefficient $${k}_{mod}$$

k

mod

for silicone adhesives under variable loads by calibrating to specified reliability indices. In addition, partial safety factors are determined in accordance with Eurocode 0, which are investigated as part of a sensitivity analysis.
Adaptive Real Time Efficient Control Algorithm for Buildings Under Wind and Earthquake Forces
Authors: Abdulateef Wisam S. , Hejazi Farzad
Published: June 2024

The study aims to tackle two key issues: the dependency of optimal controllers on available training data and their limited capability in managing multi-component structural responses. Real Time Fuzzy Logic Efficient Control system (RTFLEC) was developed to address these challenges. This system integrates a fuzzy logic inference system with a multi-verse optimization algorithm and utilizes real time training for real-time optimal controller derivation. It incorporates decentralized systems and optimal controller memory concepts and employs a magnetorheological damper (MR) for adjustable vibration control. Two case studies were conducted to evaluate the RTFLEC system's effectiveness. The first study focused on a three-story shear building under seismic loads, while the second analyzed a 76-story building facing multi-directional wind loads. The results showed that RTFLEC system reduced structural drifts by 28.33% and 51.5% during near-field and far-field earthquakes, respectively. It also decreased structural acceleration by 27.66% and 53% during near-field and far-field earthquakes, respectively. For wind-induced structures, it reduced story displacement by 37.5%, 14.5%, and 12% against across-wind, along-wind, and rotational forces, respectively. RTFLEC system demonstrated robust performance against uncertainties in external excitations, providing exceptional structural responses. Its key advantage lies in real-time adaptability, requiring minimal training data and computational processing. These findings highlight its significant potential in enhancing the performance of adaptive vibration control systems under unpredictable real-world loads.
Synthesis and morphological characterization of CaSO$$_{4}$$: low-temperature Raman spectroscopy analysis of vibrational modes
Authors: Raba-Páez A. M. , Barba-Ortega J. , Joya M. R.
Published: June 2024

This study delves into the synthesis of CaSO$$_{4}$$

4

materials using the Pechini and sol-gel methods, followed by heat treatment up to 900 $$^{\circ }$$

∘

C. X-ray analysis discerned distinct phases, with one method yielding pure orthorhombic anhydrite and the other predominantly producing a mixture of orthorhombic anhydrite and bassanite. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showcased homogeneous columnar morphologies for the anhydrite samples and irregularly sized particles for the alternative method. Photoluminescence (PL) measurements demonstrated emissions in the visible range (approximately 400 nm to 700 nm) with differences noted between synthesis methods. Low-temperature Raman spectroscopy (20 K to room temperature) unveiled unique vibrational modes, notably with the orthorhombic phase of anhydrite exhibiting the most intense peak at 1017 cm$$^{-1}$$

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1

. These powders, intended for thin film applications, bear significance in electronics, optoelectronics, and nanotechnology. A thorough comprehension of their structural and vibrational properties at the microscopic level is paramount for material and device design and optimization.
Modelling the determinants for sustainable smart city through interpretive structure modelling and analytic hierarchy process
Authors: Singh Shailee , Kumar Virender
Published: June 2024

Rapid increasing urbanization and resource scarcity are global phenomena nowadays, leading to the urban transformation of cities into smart cities. This article explores sustainability by using the lens of the spirit of place (SOP) for smart city development by proposing a model for the transformation of the cities into smart cities and attainment of the sustainable development simultaneously based on Interpretive Structure Modelling (ISM) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This study followed a systematic approach by utilizing an analytical framework that included an extensive literature review and urban experts' opinions for the identification of a pool of indicators and its evaluation for validity, pilot testing, and administration of a questionnaire to a population sample. The study utilizes a sample of 142 participants who have witnessed the transformation of their city over the years. The research showed that every place has its own identity known to be the ‘spirit of place’ that helps in assessing the sustainable characteristics and utilizing that in the path of planning and development for the attainment of sustainable development. It also showed that urban developers should consider local populations’ views and important aspects in designing and planning development projects to achieve sustainable development with resilient infrastructure. This study will help facilitate sustainability at a local level for urban developers, planners, and decision-makers while crafting strategic plans.
Data‐Driven Investigation Reveals Subaerial Proportion of Basalts Since the Early Archean
Authors: Liu Chun‐Tao , Liu Xiao‐Ming , ZhangZhou J.
Published: June 2024

The subaerial exposure of the modern continental crust through time remains intensely debated, with estimates of the first exposure ranging from the late Archean to the Neoproterozoic. To constrain when and how much of the continental crust was exposed subaerially during Earth's history, we trained a supervised machine learning model on the compositions of modern subaerial and submerged basalts. Then, we applied this well‐trained model to a refined worldwide data set of basaltic compositions and calculated the mean proportions of basalts erupted subaerially since 3.8 billion years ago (Ga). Our results suggest that ∼20% of the basalts were exposed subaerially in the early Archean, which may have driven the synthesis of biopolymers crucial to the origins and evolution of life. The proportion of subaerial basalts increased markedly during two stages between the late Archean and the Paleoproterozoic before reaching the present‐day level no earlier than ∼1.8 Ga.
Spatio‐Temporal Machine Learning for Regional to Continental Scale Terrestrial Hydrology
Authors: Bennett Andrew , Tran Hoang , De la Fuente Luis , Triplett Amanda , Ma Yueling , Melchior Peter , Maxwell Reed M. , Condon Laura E.
Published: June 2024

Integrated hydrologic models can simulate coupled surface and subsurface processes but are computationally expensive to run at high resolutions over large domains. Here we develop a novel deep learning model to emulate subsurface flows simulated by the integrated ParFlow‐CLM model across the contiguous US. We compare convolutional neural networks like ResNet and UNet run autoregressively against our novel architecture called the Forced SpatioTemporal RNN (FSTR). The FSTR model incorporates separate encoding of initial conditions, static parameters, and meteorological forcings, which are fused in a recurrent loop to produce spatiotemporal predictions of groundwater. We evaluate the model architectures on their ability to reproduce 4D pressure heads, water table depths, and surface soil moisture over the contiguous US at 1 km resolution and daily time steps over the course of a full water year. The FSTR model shows superior performance to the baseline models, producing stable simulations that capture both seasonal and event‐scale dynamics across a wide array of hydroclimatic regimes. The emulators provide over 1,000× speedup compared to the original physical model, which will enable new capabilities like uncertainty quantification and data assimilation for integrated hydrologic modeling that were not previously possible. Our results demonstrate the promise of using specialized deep learning architectures like FSTR for emulating complex process‐based models without sacrificing fidelity.
Long‐Term Trends in Productivity Across Intermountain West Lakes Provide No Evidence of Widespread Eutrophication
Authors: Sillen Samuel J. , Ross Matthew R. V. , Collins Sarah M.
Published: June 2024

Eutrophication represents a major threat to freshwater systems and climate change is expected to drive further increases in freshwater primary productivity. However, long‐term in situ data is available for very few lakes and makes identifying trends and drivers of eutrophication challenging. Using remote sensing data, we conducted a retrospective analysis of long‐term trends in trophic status among lakes greater than 10 ha across the Intermountain West, a region with understudied water quality trends and limited long‐term data sets. We found that most lakes (55%) were not exhibiting shifts in trophic status from 1984 to 2019. Our results also show that increases in eutrophication were rare (3% of lakes) during this period, and that lakes becoming increasingly oligotrophic were more common (17% of lakes). Lakes that were not trending occupied a wide range of lake and landscape characteristics, whereas lakes that were becoming more oligotrophic tended to have larger residence times and were located in catchments with greater clay content and more development. Our results highlight that while there are well‐established narratives that climate change can lead to more eutrophication of lakes, this is not broadly observed in our data set, where we found more lakes in the Intermountain West becoming more oligotrophic than lakes becoming eutrophic.
Sea Ice Deformation Is Not Scale Invariant Over Length Scales Greater Than a Kilometer
Authors: Hutchings Jennifer K. , Bliss Angela C. , Mondal Dhiman , Elosegui Pedro
Published: June 2024

In March and April 2021, buoys were deployed in the Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean, to measure sea‐ice horizontal deformation over spatial scales that had not been previously achieved. Geodetic‐quality position measurements allowed measurements of strain‐rate over lengths from about 200 m to 2 km. Conventional ice‐drifters extended spatial coverage up to about 100 km. Past studies find there is multi‐fractal behavior for horizontal sea‐ice deformation from 10 to 1,000 km. Our results demonstrate that such behavior does not hold when including spatial scales below 10 km. We find that sea‐ice deformation is not scale invariant between the scale of individual sea‐ice floes and aggregates of floes. Therefore, we cannot expect the same physical laws or forcing to describe sea‐ice kinematics over these regimes, nor can we assume log‐log linear behavior for mean deformation. Using this scaling behavior as a metric to validate models that resolve sea ice floes and their interactions is hence not recommended.
Canonical and non-canonical functions of p53 isoforms: potentiating the complexity of tumor development and therapy resistance
Authors: Guo Yitian , Wu Hang , Wiesmüller Lisa , Chen Ming
Published: June 2024

Full-length p53 (p53α) plays a pivotal role in maintaining genomic integrity and preventing tumor development. Over the years, p53 was found to exist in various isoforms, which are generated through alternative splicing, alternative initiation of translation, and internal ribosome entry site. p53 isoforms, either C-terminally altered or N-terminally truncated, exhibit distinct biological roles compared to p53α, and have significant implications for tumor development and therapy resistance. Due to a lack of part and/or complete C- or N-terminal domains, ectopic expression of some p53 isoforms failed to induce expression of canonical transcriptional targets of p53α like CDKN1A or MDM2, even though they may bind their promoters. Yet, p53 isoforms like Δ40p53α still activate subsets of targets including MDM2 and BAX. Furthermore, certain p53 isoforms transactivate even novel targets compared to p53α. More recently, non-canonical functions of p53α in DNA repair and of different isoforms in DNA replication unrelated to transcriptional activities were discovered, amplifying the potential of p53 as a master regulator of physiological and tumor suppressor functions in human cells. Both regarding canonical and non-canonical functions, alternative p53 isoforms frequently exert dominant negative effects on p53α and its partners, which is modified by the relative isoform levels. Underlying mechanisms include hetero-oligomerization, changes in subcellular localization, and aggregation. These processes ultimately influence the net activities of p53α and give rise to diverse cellular outcomes. Biological roles of p53 isoforms have implications for tumor development and cancer therapy resistance. Dysregulated expression of isoforms has been observed in various cancer types and is associated with different clinical outcomes. In conclusion, p53 isoforms have expanded our understanding of the complex regulatory network involving p53 in tumors. Unraveling the mechanisms underlying the biological roles of p53 isoforms provides new avenues for studies aiming at a better understanding of tumor development and developing therapeutic interventions to overcome resistance.