bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Typology and characteristics of indigenous goats and production systems in different agro-ecological zones of Tanzania
Authors: Nguluma Athumani , Kyallo Martina , Tarekegn Getinet Mekuriaw , Loina Rose , Nziku Zabron , Chenyambuga Sebastian , Pelle Roger
Published: January 2022

Tanzania has a goat population of about 24.8 million most of which belong to the Small East African breed distributed in almost all agro-ecological zones. The different goat populations and the production system in which they are raised are not well characterized depriving animal breeders useful information in designing and running improvement and conservation programs. Therefore, the study was conducted in all agro-ecological zones in Tanzania to characterize the indigenous goats and the production system in which they are raised. Data on animals were collected from 688 randomly selected adult female goats and for production system description; 220 households were interviewed. Analysis of variance and discriminant analysis were used on quantitative data, while frequency analysis was used on qualitative data. Income generation and meat production were the primary goat rearing objectives. More than 55% of respondents grazed their animals freely in communal lands where natural pasture was the chief feed resource. Mating was mainly uncontrolled with apron and castration being used by goat keepers as mating control methods. Common diseases were contagious caprine pleural pneumonia and helminthiasis. Feed shortage, prevalence of diseases, and water scarcity were the major goat production constraints. There were morphological variations between and within these goat populations, and based on quantitative data, the goats were categorized into two groups. High twinning was observed in Ujiji and Lindi goats and low for Sukuma. The dominant coat color was plain white in Pare, Gogo, Maasai, and Tanga. Other coat color patterns were mixed black and white for Sukuma, reddish-brown for Lindi, black and reddish-brown for Ujiji, and white and reddish-brown for Pwani and Maasai. High within population variation is observed which is important as it can be used as a basis for genetic improvement through selection.
Breeding practices and trait preferences of goat keepers at Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality, South Africa: implication for the design of breeding programmes
Authors: Tyasi Thobela Louis , Ng’ambi Jones , Mogashoa Stanley
Published: January 2022

Identification of breeding practices and trait preferences by livestock keepers for the selection of breeding animals to be parents of the next generations is the crucial step to the successful implementation of community-based breeding program (CBBPs). The study aimed to detect breeding practices and trait preferences by farmers at Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality, South Africa to determine their relevance in establishing a CBBP. A well-structured questionnaire was designed and administered to 183 randomly selected goat keepers from four villages. Chi-square statistics were used to compare categorical variables among villages. Socio-economic factors and reasons for keeping goats were not significantly different (P > 0.05) between the four villages. Methods of controlling mating, reasons for not controlling mating, keeping breeding bucks, source of breeding bucks, reasons for culling, and culling methods were significantly different (P < 0.05) among villages. The most common trait preferences of goat keepers among the surveyed villages were twinning ability, mothering ability, and body size in breeding does, while in breeding bucks were mating ability, growth rate, and body size. The results from this study are useful for designing CBBPs for goat production in the communal areas of Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality.
Norm Estimates for Selfadjoint Toeplitz Operators on the Fock Space
Authors: Galbis Antonio
Published: January 2022

An estimate for the norm of selfadjoint Toeplitz operators with a radial, bounded and integrable symbol is obtained. This emphasizes the fact that the norm of such operator is strictly less than the supremum norm of the symbol. Consequences for time-frequency localization operators are also given.
LncRNA HOTTIP Knockdown Attenuates Acute Myocardial Infarction via Regulating miR-92a-2/c-Met Axis
Authors: Wang Beilei , Ma Likun , Wang Junyi
Published: January 2022

Increasing investigations have focused on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in various human diseases, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Although lncRNA HOTTIP has been identified to play an important role in coronary artery diseases, its role and specific mechanism in AMI remain unclear. To investigate the potential role of HOTTIP in MI, HOTTIP expression in hypoxia-treated cardiomyocytes and myocardial tissues of MI mice was evaluated. The potential targets of HOTTIP and miR-92a-2 were predicted using Starbase and Targetscan. To further determine the cardio-protective effects of HOTTIP in vivo, si-HOTTIP and miR-92a-2 mimics were individually or co-injected into mice through intramyocardial injection. Moreover, their roles were further confirmed in rescue experiments. HOTTIP was significantly upregulated in ischemic myocardium of MI mice and hypoxia-induced cardiomyocytes. Moreover, HOTTIP knockdown markedly promoted cardiomyocyte growth and inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis in vitro. Luciferase reporter assay showed that HOTTIP could directly sponge miR-92a-2 to negatively regulate miR-92a-2 expression. In addition, c-Met was identified as a direct target of miR-92a-2, and their correlation was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. MiR-92a-2 overexpression significantly enhanced the protective effect of HOTTIP knockdown against AMI through partially inhibiting c-Met expression. Our results demonstrated that HOTTIP downregulation attenuated AMI progression via the targeting miR-92a-2/c-Met axis and suggested that HOTTIP might be a potential therapeutic target for AMI.
Reclamation and Expulsion. Frontiers of City Expansion and the Loss of Public and Communal Spaces at Abidjan’s Lagoonal Waterfronts
Authors: Eguavoen Irit
Published: January 2022

The paper analyses the motivations of actors who reclaimed and appropriated the banks of the Ebrié Lagoon in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, which were in many cases marginal lands under public ownership. The analysis focuses on the evolution of two unplanned settlements, Soweto (from 1964) and Adjahui (from 2011). Practices of incremental place-making and residential stories connect these places, which are located opposite to one another at the Bay of Koumassi. The research questions are as follows: Why and by who were waterfronts reclaimed and appropriated? And how does reclamation entail social-economic inequalities and the loss of public and communal spaces? Conceptually, lagoonal waterfronts are approached as waterscapes, cultural landscapes with discursive representations. Their evolution is analysed by using the concepts of fixity and flows by Desfor and Laidley (2011). Findings show although tenure was highly insecure in the legal sense, use rights, house ownership and local power relations in Soweto were fixed for decades despite the fact that buildings, residents, local arrangements and the spatial form constantly changed. Though inhabitants increasingly entered the water space and the lagoon, the material condition of the settlement seemed stable because the process took place over many decades before urban renewal set dynamics in motion that speeded up the reclamation process and brought the waterscapes into flow.
The Fundamental Attribution Error in Human-Robot Interaction: An Experimental Investigation on Attributing Responsibility to a Social Robot for Its Pre-Programmed Behavior
Authors: Horstmann Aike C. , Krämer Nicole C.
Published: January 2022

Since social robots are rapidly advancing and thus increasingly entering people’s everyday environments, interactions with robots also progress. For these interactions to be designed and executed successfully, this study considers insights of attribution theory to explore the circumstances under which people attribute responsibility for the robot’s actions to the robot. In an experimental online study with a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design (N = 394), people read a vignette describing the social robot Pepper either as an assistant or a competitor and its feedback, which was either positive or negative during a subsequently executed quiz, to be generated autonomously by the robot or to be pre-programmed by programmers. Results showed that feedback believed to be autonomous leads to more attributed agency, responsibility, and competence to the robot than feedback believed to be pre-programmed. Moreover, the more agency is ascribed to the robot, the better the evaluation of its sociability and the interaction with it. However, only the valence of the feedback affects the evaluation of the robot’s sociability and the interaction with it directly, which points to the occurrence of a fundamental attribution error.
New thyreophoran dinosaur material from the Early Jurassic of northeastern Germany
Authors: Schade Marco , Ansorge Jörg
Published: January 2022

Thyreophora is a clade of globally distributed herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs. The earliest forms are known from the Early Jurassic, and their latest surviving representatives witnessed the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Throughout their evolutionary history, these ‘shield bearers’ became lumbering quadrupeds, evolved a wide array of bony armor, plates and spikes, as well as sweeping tail weapons in the form of tail clubs and thagomizers. An isolated new thyreophoran osteoderm from a Lower Jurassic Konservatlagerstätte near Grimmen is described and, with the aid of micro-CT data, compared to an osteoderm of the early diverging thyreophoranEmausaurus ernstifrom a different stratigraphic horizon at the same locality.
Restoring human freedoms: from utilitarianism to a capability approach to wetland restoration in Louisiana’s coastal master plan
Authors: O’Byrne David
Published: January 2022

Coastal restoration is being undertaken globally to address and avoid the losses caused by rising relative sea levels and other forms of coastal ecosystem degradation. Restoration decision-making is increasingly considering its social impacts, but how social factors should be incorporated in decision-making is a matter of debate. Multi-criteria approaches are promoted for their ability to overcome problems associated with monetary valuation of nature. Louisiana’s coastal restoration program has been promoted as a good example of a multi-criteria approach. This article engages in a critical examination of the wetland restoration program contained in Louisiana’s 2017 Coastal Master Plan (CMP). The principles that underlie decision-making, and how these principles are deployed through decision tools and metrics, constitute an implicit utilitarianism. This utilitarianism, in spite of the use of multiple criteria, recreates problems commonly associated with monetary valuation, namely, it creates poor distributional outcomes and fails to account for non-economic values of nature. The study argues that these problems can be overcome with a systematic use of the capability approach. This would involve the development of an evaluative framework that prioritizes the freedoms of the worst-off, and translation of this framework into a series of metrics compatible with planning models and tools. The paper closes by outlining some challenges to achieving a capability approach in Louisiana’s CMP.
Gravitational waves from binary neutron stars
Authors: Baiotti Luca
Published: January 2022

I review the current global status of research on gravitational waves emitted from mergers of binary neutron star systems, focusing on general-relativistic simulations and their use to interpret data from the gravitational-wave detectors, especially in relation to the equation of state of compact stars.
Function Approximation by Deep Neural Networks with Parameters $$\{0,\pm \frac{1}{2}, \pm 1, 2\}$$
Authors: Beknazaryan Aleksandr
Published: January 2022

In this paper, it is shown that $$C_\beta $$

C
β

-smooth functions can be approximated by deep neural networks with ReLU activation function and with parameters $$\{0,\pm \frac{1}{2}, \pm 1, 2\}$$

{
0
,
±

1
2

,
±
1
,
2
}

. The $$l_0$$

l
0

and $$l_1$$

l
1

parameter norms of considered networks are thus equivalent. The depth, the width and the number of active parameters of the constructed networks have, up to a logarithmic factor, the same dependence on the approximation error as the networks with parameters in $$[-1,1]$$

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-
1
,
1
]

. In particular, this implies that the nonparametric regression estimation with constructed networks achieves, up to logarithmic factors, the same minimax convergence rates as with sparse networks with parameters in $$[-1,1]$$

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.
Irony and Earnestness in Eighteenth-Century Literature
Authors: Herron Shane
Published: January 2022

The conventional literary history of the eighteenth century holds that upstart novelists and other intensely serious writers worked against the conservative and ironic sensibility of an earlier generation of satirists. However, many of these ostensibly earnest writers were exceptional satirists in their own right, employing the same ruses, tricks, and deceptions throughout their work. The novels of such canonical figures as Behn and Defoe, for example, passed themselves off as real documents, just as an earlier generation of hack writers combined the serious and the absurd. Re-examining this nexus between the ludicrous and the solemn, Shane Herron argues that intense earnestness was itself a central component of the ironic sensibility of the great age of literary satire and of Swift's work in particular. The sensationalism and confessionalism of earnestness were frequently employed tendentiously, while ironic and satirical literature often incorporated genuine moments of earnestness to advance writerly aims.
The subcritical transition to turbulence of Faraday waves in miscible fluids
Authors: Cavelier M. , Gréa B.-J. , Briard A. , Gostiaux L.
Published: January 2022

We study the development and the breaking process of standing waves at the interface between two miscible fluids of small density contrast. In our experiment, a subharmonic wave is generated by a time-periodic vertical acceleration via the Faraday instability. It is shown that its wavelength may be selected not only by the linear process predicted by the Floquet theory and favouring the most unstable modes allowed by the tank geometry, but also by a nonlinear mode competition mechanism giving the preference to subcritical modes. Subsequently, as the standing wave amplitude grows, a secondary destabilization process occurs at smaller scales and produces turbulent mixing at the nodes. We explain this phenomenon as a subcritical parametric resonance instability. Different approaches derived from local and global stability analysis are proposed to predict the critical wave steepness. These theories are then assessed against various numerical and experimental data varying the frequencies and amplitudes of the forcing acceleration.
Convection of water vapour in snowpacks
Authors: Jafari Mahdi , Sharma Varun , Lehning Michael
Published: January 2022

This paper studies numerically the convection of water vapour in snowpacks using an Eulerian–Eulerian two-phase approach. The convective water vapour transport in snow and its effects on snow density are often invoked to explain observed density profiles, e.g. of thin Arctic snow covers, but this process has never been numerically simulated and analysed in a systematic manner. Here, the impact of convection on the thermal and phase change regimes as a function of different snowpack depths, thermal boundary conditions and Rayleigh numbers is analysed. We find considerable impact of natural convection on the snow density distribution with a layer of significantly lower density at the bottom of the snowpack and a layer of higher density located higher in the snowpack or at the surface. We find that emergent heterogeneity in the snow porosity results in a feedback effect on the spatial organization of convection cells causing their horizontal displacement. Regions where the snowpack is most impacted by phase changes are found to be horizontally extended and vertically thin, ‘pancake’-like layers at the top and bottom of the snowpack. We further demonstrate that among the parameters important for natural convection, the snowpack depth has the strongest influence on the heat and mass transfer. Despite our simplifying assumptions, our study represents a significant improvement over the state of the art and a first step to accurately simulate snowpack dynamics in diverse regions of the cryosphere.
The principal stage in wind-wave generation
Authors: Li Tianyi , Shen Lian
Published: January 2022

The dynamics of wind-generated water waves in the principal stage of the Phillips theory (Phillips, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 2, 1957, pp. 417–445) is investigated by a combined numerical and analytical approach. We perform a number of high-resolution direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent wind over initially calm water to capture the multistage generation of water waves. Detailed analyses are conducted to evaluate the Phillips theory in both physical space and wavenumber space. Numerical evidence is obtained for the existence of a principal stage when the surface elevation variance grows linearly with time. We further propose a random sweeping turbulence pressure–wave interaction model by introducing the random sweeping hypothesis of air pressure fluctuations to the Phillips theory, and obtain an asymptotic solution of the mean square of surface wave elevations over time. This asymptotic analysis captures the temporal oscillations of surface elevation variance in the principal stage, which is also confirmed by our DNS results. The wavenumber spectrum of surface wave elevations is analysed using a time-dependent norm to elucidate the role of the resonance mechanism on wave generation. In physical space, we use the random sweeping turbulence pressure–wave interaction model to obtain a quantitative prediction of the growth rate of surface elevation variance in the principal stage, which is found to agree with the DNS results better than the original Phillips model.
A highly diverse dromioid crab assemblage (Decapoda, Brachyura) associated with pinnacle reefs in the lower Eocene of Spain
Authors: Artal Pedro , Ferratges Fernando A. , van Bakel Barry W.M. , Zamora Samuel
Published: January 2022

A highly diverse fauna of dromioid brachyurans from the Serraduy Formation (lower Eocene) in the western Pyrenees (Huesca, Spain) is described and illustrated. Recorded taxa areMclaynotopus longispinosusnew genus new species,Torodromia elongatan. gen. n. sp.,Basidromilites glaessnerin. gen. n. sp., ?Basidromilitessp.,Sierradromia gladiatorn. gen. n. sp.,Kromtitis isabenensisn. sp., and ?Basinotopussp. Other European outcrops have yielded dromioids in association with specific environments, likely coral and sponge reef and siliciclastic soft bottoms; but the present material constitutes the most diverse dromioid assemblage from the lower Eocene worldwide. These dromioids co-occurred with a rich invertebrate fauna and lived near coral–algal reef mounds. Sedimentological data suggest that most of the fauna accumulated in fore reef settings as a result of storm activity. The present material greatly increases the diversity of known dromioid crabs associated with Eocene reef environments.

UUID:http://zoobank.org/aed8cafa-7c64-4e70-bd45-9f357fc37a28
Negative effect of insulin-induced gene 2 on milk fat synthesis in buffalo mammary epithelial cells
Authors: Fan Xinyang , Zhang Yongyun , Qiu Lihua , Miao Yongwang
Published: January 2022

Insulin-induced gene 2 (INSIG2) is a recently identified gene that is implicated in the regulation of cholesterol metabolism and lipogenesis in mammals. Although the data in goats emphasizes a role for INSIG2 in milk fat synthesis, the regulatory mechanism in buffalo is not clear. In this study, we analyzed the protein abundance of INSIG2 at peak lactation and dry-off period in buffalo mammary tissue. The results indicated that, relative to the peak lactation, the protein abundance of INSIG2 in the dry-off period was higher. To determine the function of INSIG2 in milk fat synthesis, INSIG2 was overexpressed and knocked down by lentiviral transfection in buffalo mammary epithelial cells (BuMECs). The response to overexpressing INSIG2 included down-regulation of SREBP, PPARG, FASN, ELOVL6, SCD, APGAT6 and TIP47 coupled with a decrease in content of triacylglycerol (TAG). However, in response to knockdown of INSIG2, the significant increase in content of TAG along with marked up-regulation of SREBP, PPARG, FASN, ELOVL6, SCD, APGAT6 and TIP47 suggests that INSIG2 negatively affects milk fat synthesis in BuMECs. No significant difference in mRNA abundance of GPAM and DGAT2 in response to overexpression or interference of INSIG2 indicates that they might also be influenced by other regulatory factors. Taken together, our results provide strong support for the negative effect of INSIG2 on milk fat synthesis in BuMECs.
Connection between two historical tuberculosis outbreak sites in Japan, Honshu, by a new ancestral Mycobacterium tuberculosis L2 sublineage
Authors: Guyeux Christophe , Senelle Gaetan , Refrégier Guislaine , Bretelle-Establet Florence , Cambau Emmanuelle , Sola Christophe
Published: January 2022

By gathering 680 publicly available Sequence Read Archives from isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) including 190 belonging to the lineage 2 Beijing, and using an in-house bioinformatical pipeline, the TB-Annotator, that analyses more than 50 000 characters, we describe herein a new L2 sublineage from 20 isolates found in the Tochigi province, (Japan), that we designate as asia ancestral 5 (AAnc5). These isolates harbour a number of specific criteria (42 SNPs) and their intra-cluster pairwise distance suggests historical and not epidemiological transmission. These isolates harbour a mutation in rpoC, and do not fulfil, any of the modern Beijing lineage criteria, nor any of the other ancestral Beijing lineages described so far. Asia ancestral 5 isolates do not possess mutT2 58 and ogt 12 characteristics of modern Beijing, but possess ancestral Beijing SNPs characteristics. By looking into the literature, we found a reference isolate ID381, described in Kobe and Osaka belonging to the ‘G3’ group, sharing 36 out of the 42 specific SNPs found in AAnc5. We also assessed the intermediate position of the asia ancestral 4 (AAnc4) sublineage recently described in Thailand and propose an improved classification of the L2 that now includes AAnc4 and AAnc5. By increasing the recruitment into TB-Annotator to around 3000 genomes (including 642 belonging to L2), we confirmed our results and discovered additional historical ancestral L2 branches that remain to be investigated in more detail. We also present, in addition, some anthropological and historical data from Chinese and Japan history of tuberculosis, as well as from Korea, that could support our results on L2 evolution. This study shows that the reconstruction of the early history of tuberculosis in Asia is likely to reveal complex patterns since its emergence.
Congenital junctional ectopic tachycardia in the paediatric emergency department
Authors: Memon Danyal , Larkin Elizabeth , Varghese Mathew
Published: January 2022

Congenital junctional ectopic tachycardia is a rare but serious cardiac arrhythmia seen in neonates and young infants. It is frequently resistant and refractory to first-line treatment options such as cardioversion with adenosine and direct current shock, and it carries a high morbidity and mortality rate. The aim of this article is to present the case of congenital junctional ectopic tachycardia observed in a 14-day-old neonate, highlighting the role of ivabradine in the management, followed by a discussion about current approaches to treatment.
AI: Coming of age?
Authors: Maynard Trevor , Baldassarre Luca , de Montjoye Yves-Alexandre , McFall Liz , Óskarsdóttir María
Published: January 2022

AI has had many summers and winters. Proponents have overpromised, and there has been hype and disappointment. In recent years, however, we have watched with awe, surprise, and hope at the successes: Better than human capabilities of image-recognition; winning at Go; useful chatbots that seem to understand your needs; recommendation algorithms harvesting the wisdom of crowds. And with this success comes the spectre of danger. Machine behaviours that embed the worst of human prejudice and biases; techniques trying to exploit human weaknesses to skew elections or prompt self-harming behaviours. Are we seeing a perfect storm of social media, sensor technologies, new algorithms and edge computing? With this backdrop: is AI coming of age?
Wedge‐Shaped Southern Indian Continental Margin Without Proper Weakness Hinders Subduction Initiation
Authors: Zhong Xinyi , Li Zhong‐Hai
Published: January 2022

The closure of a subduction zone with continental terrane collision and accretion is generally thought to be followed by the initiation of a new subduction zone in the neighboring oceanic plate, which is suggested to happen repeatedly during the evolution of Tethyan system. Although the Indian‐Asian continental collision has occurred for >50 Myrs, there is still no clear sign for subduction initiation (SI) of the northern Indian oceanic plate, which is a puzzling issue and requires further investigations. This problem is studied here by systematic 3‐D thermo‐mechanical numerical models with a constant stress boundary condition. The model results indicate that the lack of proper weak zones at passive continental margin plays a critical role in hindering the collapse and SI of the northern Indian oceanic plate. In addition, the wedge‐shaped southern Indian continental margin provides an additional resistance for the SI. However, the strain localization with shortening of the Tibetan Plateau does not have a significant effect on the SI of Indian oceanic plate in the current models, which requires further studies with wider Tibetan plate. The numerical results explain why no SI has occurred in the northern Indian Ocean with pushing from the high gravitational potential energy of the uplifted Tibetan Plateau and seafloor spreading in the Northern Indian Ocean, and further predict that the future SI is more likely to occur in the northwestern Indian Ocean than the northeastern region due to continuous counterclockwise rotation of the Indian Continent.
Increasing Winter Ocean‐to‐Ice Heat Flux in the Beaufort Gyre Region, Arctic Ocean Over 2006–2018
Authors: Zhong Wenli , Cole Sylvia T. , Zhang Jinlun , Lei Ruibo , Steele Michael
Published: January 2022

Ocean‐to‐ice heat flux (OHF) is important in regulating the variability of sea ice mass balance. Using surface drifting buoy observations, we show that during winter in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Gyre region, OHF increased from 0.76 ± 0.05 W/m2 over 2006–2012 to 1.63 ± 0.08 W/m2 over 2013–2018. We find that this is a result of thinner and less‐compact sea ice that promotes enhanced winter ice growth, stronger ocean vertical convection, and subsurface heat entrainment. In contrast, Ekman upwelling declined over the study period, suggesting it had a secondary contribution to OHF changes. The enhanced ice growth creates a cooler, saltier, and deeper ocean surface mixed layer. In addition, the enhanced vertical temperature gradient near the mixed layer base in later years favors stronger entrainment of subsurface heat. OHF and its increase during 2006–2018 were not geographically uniform, with hot spots found in an upwelling region where ice was most seasonally variable.
Normal‐ and Reversed‐Boomerang Stripes on Electron Pitch Angle Distributions: Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Effect
Authors: Zhao X. X. , Zong Q.‐G. , Liu J. J. , Yue Chao , Zhou X.‐Z. , Hao Y. X. , Chen X. R. , Klimushkin D. Yu. , Rubtsov A. V. , Blake J. B. , Claudepierre S. G. , Reeves G. D.
Published: January 2022

In the inner magnetosphere dominated by the dipole magnetic field, energetic electrons of 90° pitch angle drift faster than those of other pitch angles. Electron flux oscillations initiated by injections or drift resonances will be observed earlier at a 90° pitch angle, that is, 90°‐leading boomerang‐shaped stripes on pitch angle distributions(PADs) are expected. In this work, reversed‐boomerang stripes (90° observed last) are first reported from the observations of RBSP‐A at L‐shell ∼5.9 on 11 March 2016. The corresponding solar wind dynamic pressure is over 10 nPa, which suggests that strong compression on the magnetosphere changes the magnetic field and drift frequencies of energetic electrons. Test particles running in an image‐dipole magnetic field (off‐equatorial minima exists at dayside large L‐shell) reproduce the abnormal (90° slower) drift velocities at L‐shell >5.8 but are normal at L‐shell <4.5 dominated by a dipole field. Normal boomerang stripes on PADs are indeed observed by RBSP‐B at L‐shell ∼4.0, indicating the solar wind dynamic pressure effect.
Deriving Tidal Flat Topography Using ICESat‐2 Laser Altimetry and Sentinel‐2 Imagery
Authors: Xu Nan , Ma Yue , Yang Jian , Wang Xiao Hua , Wang Yongjun , Xu Rui
Published: January 2022

Acquiring accurate and timely datasets on tidal flat topography is fundamental for studies, management, and policy‐making in coastal zones. In this study, we report a fusion method of freely accessed and global‐scale Sentinel‐2 (imagery) and Ice,Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite‐2 (ICESat‐2) (laser altimetry) datasets for deriving tidal flat topography. The basic idea is to construct a model on characterizing the specific relationship between the elevations of the tidal flat (from ICESat‐2 data) and corresponding inundation frequencies (from Sentinel‐2 time‐series). The proposed method was validated for the largest tidal flat on the Chinese continental shelf with a root mean square error of 0.23 m. We highlight that this method solely relies on satellite data and does not require any in‐situ data because ICESat‐2 provides dense and accurate along‐track points as valuable prior elevation information, which enhance the ability to obtain tidal flat topography in many coastal regions even in the absence of local in‐situ data.
The Alternating Change of Cold and Warm Extremes Over North Asia During Winter 2020/21: Effect of the Annual Cycle Anomaly
Authors: Yu Minjie , Ma Shuangmei , Zhu Congwen
Published: January 2022

Large‐scale cold and warm spells successively attacked North Asia (NA) and resulted in a subseasonal alternation of extreme surface air temperature (SAT) before and after 15 January 2021. Our results show the synergistic effect of annual cycle and intraseasonal oscillation component (AC and ISO) of SAT and circulation anomalies caused temperature extremes. Before 15 January 2021, an eastward‐propagating Rossby wave train strengthened the cold circulation regime with an enhanced Ural blocking high (UBH) and surface Siberian high (SH). Circulation anomalies of the negative ISO were superimposed on the counterpart of AC, which easily resulted in cold extremes via nonlinear interaction of meridional temperature gradient. After mid‐January 2021, however, weakened UBH and SH caused warm advection and spells over NA. This synergistic effect of AC and ISO anomalies in SAT accounted for most historical temperature extremes, implying that AC anomalies have important indications for subseasonal alternation of temperature extremes.
Elastic Wave Velocity Changes Due to the Fracture Aperture and Density, and Direct Correlation With Permeability: An Energetic Approach to Mated Rock Fractures
Authors: Sawayama K. , Ikeda T. , Tsuji T. , Jiang F. , Nishizawa O. , Fujimitsu Y.
Published: January 2022

In an effort to reveal the subsurface hydraulic changes in fractures by seismic monitoring, aperture‐related velocity changes need to be investigated. We developed a numerical approach for calculating changes in elastic wave velocity with fracture aperture opening by determining the internal energy of a digitized fracture model based on natural rough surfaces. The simulated local elastic energy revealed that the interaction energy converged within 1.5 mm of the mean fracture position, and was insignificant unless the fractures intersected. This energetic approach clarified the aperture‐velocity relationship and reproduced the experimental results. Further calculations using digital fractures with various sizes and densities demonstrated that the velocity can be accounted for by the superposition of a linear function of fracture density and quadratic function of aperture, and is insensitive to the fracture size. Although the relationship between fracture permeability and elastic wave velocity (i.e., the k‐V relationship) depends on the fracture density, the offset‐normalized k‐V relationship shows clear linearity with the fracture density. The proposed k‐V relationship as a function of the aperture and fracture density indicates that laboratory‐scale fracture properties of a single fracture can be applied to multiple fractures on a larger scale. Our findings can be used to interpret temporal changes in seismic observations and to monitor fluid flow in fractures.
Seismic Velocity Recovery in the Subsurface: Transient Damage and Groundwater Drainage Following the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal
Authors: Illien Luc , Sens‐Schönfelder Christoph , Andermann Christoff , Marc Odin , Cook Kristen L. , Adhikari Lok B. , Hovius Niels
Published: January 2022

Shallow earthquakes frequently disturb the hydrological and mechanical state of the subsurface, with consequences for hazard and water management. Transient post‐seismic hydrological behavior has been widely reported, suggesting that the recovery of material properties (relaxation) following ground shaking may impact groundwater fluctuations. However, the monitoring of seismic velocity variations associated with earthquake damage and hydrological variations are often done assuming that both effects are independent. In a field site prone to highly variable hydrological conditions, we disentangle the different forcing of the relative seismic velocity variations δv retrieved from a small dense seismic array in Nepal in the aftermath of the 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake. We successfully model transient damage effects by introducing a universal relaxation function that contains a unique maximum relaxation timescale for the main shock and the aftershocks, independent of the ground shaking levels. Next, we remove the modeled velocity from the raw data and test whether the corresponding residuals agree with a background hydrological behavior we inferred from a previously calibrated groundwater model. The fitting of the δv data with this model is improved when we introduce transient hydrological properties in the phase immediately following the main shock. This transient behavior, interpreted as an enhanced permeability in the shallow subsurface, lasts for ∼6 months and is shorter than the damage relaxation (∼1 yr). Thus, we demonstrate the capability of seismic interferometry to deconvolve transient hydrological properties after earthquakes from non‐linear mechanical recovery.
Response of Moist Convection to the Spectral Feature of the Surface Flux Field at Model Resolution Across the Gray Zone
Authors: Ryu Jung‐Hee , Kang Song‐Lak
Published: January 2022

The Weather Research and Forecasting model is run at the effective resolution Δf across the gray zone, or the “terra incognita”, at which Δf ∼ l, where l is the scale of energy‐containing turbulent eddies. We examine the developments of afternoon moist convection over different multiscale features of the surface flux field as a function of the model grid spacing Δ that varies from 100 m to 1 km. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the model performs better under heterogeneous than homogeneous surface conditions in the gray zone in terms of the spatial distribution of moist convection. This improved performance is due to the explicit resolvability of the mesoscale temperature and humidity perturbations, which are critical for the growth of deep moist convection over the heterogeneous surface condition. However, under both heterogeneous and homogeneous surface conditions, the timing and intensity of moist convection vary with the model resolution. Compared with that in the large eddy simulation at Δ = 100 m, the earlier onset of moist convection at coarser resolutions appears to be related to the overestimated total buoyancy fluxes and total kinetic energy near the surface. That is, the more intense vertical mixing near the surface might induce a warmer surface layer, which yields individual cell updrafts strong enough to penetrate the capping inversion. In addition, misrepresentation of the diluting effects of entrainment on the penetrating updrafts in coarser‐resolution simulations could be responsible for the rapid development of deep convection instead of a gradual transition from shallow to deep moist convection.
Disentangling the Influence of Landscape Characteristics, Hydroclimatic Variability and Land Management on Surface Water NO3‐N Dynamics: Spatially Distributed Modeling Over 30 yr in a Lowland Mixed Land Use Catchment
Authors: Wu Songjun , Tetzlaff Doerthe , Yang Xiaoqiang , Soulsby Chris
Published: January 2022

Nitrate (NO3‐N) mobilization is generally controlled by available sources, hydrological connectivity, and biogeochemical transformations along the dominant flow paths. However, their spatial heterogeneity and complex interactions often impede integrated understanding of NO3‐N dynamics at the catchment scale. To fully integrate spatiotemporal information for NO3‐N simulations, a grid‐based model, mHM‐Nitrate, was applied to a 68 km2 lowland, mixed land use catchment (Demnitzer Millcreek, DMC) near Berlin. The model successfully captured the spatiotemporal distribution of flow and NO3‐N between 2001 and 2019, but was less successful in 1992–2000 due to land management changes. Re‐optimization of relative parameters was subsequently conducted for this period to understand management effects. The simulated results revealed landscape characteristics and hydroclimatic variability as the main controlling factors on respective spatial and temporal patterns. The combined effects of vegetation cover and fertilizer inputs dictated the spatial distribution of water and NO3‐N fluxes, while wetness condition determined the temporal NO3‐N dynamics by regulating hydrological connectivity and NO3‐N mobilization. Denitrification was also closely coupled with hydroclimatic conditions, which accounted for ∼20% of NO3‐N inputs. In contrast, restoration of riparian wetlands had a modest impact on NO3‐N export (∼10% reduction during 2001–2019), suggesting further interventions (e.g., reducing fertilizer application or increased wetland areas) are needed. Our modeling application demonstrated that mHM‐Nitrate could provide robust spatially distributed simulations of hydrological and NO3‐N fluxes over a long‐term period and could successfully differentiate the key controlling factors. This underlines the model's value in contributing to an evidence base to guide future management practices under climate change.
Mid-infrared-perturbed molecular vibrational signatures in plasmonic nanocavities
Authors: Chikkaraddy Rohit , Xomalis Angelos , Jakob Lukas A. , Baumberg Jeremy J.
Published: January 2022

Recent developments in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enable observation of single-bond vibrations in real time at room temperature. By contrast, mid-infrared (MIR) vibrational spectroscopy is limited to inefficient slow detection. Here we develop a new method for MIR sensing using SERS. This method utilizes nanoparticle-on-foil (NPoF) nanocavities supporting both visible and MIR plasmonic hotspots in the same nanogap formed by a monolayer of molecules. Molecular SERS signals from individual NPoF nanocavities are modulated in the presence of MIR photons. The strength of this modulation depends on the MIR wavelength, and is maximized at the 6–12 μm absorption bands of SiO2 or polystyrene placed under the foil. Using a single-photon lock-in detection scheme we time-resolve the rise and decay of the signal in a few 100 ns. Our observations reveal that the phonon resonances of SiO2 can trap intense MIR surface plasmons within the Reststrahlen band, tuning the visible-wavelength localized plasmons by reversibly perturbing the localized few-nm-thick water shell trapped in the nanostructure crevices. This suggests new ways to couple nanoscale bond vibrations for optomechanics, with potential to push detection limits down to single-photon and single-molecule regimes.
Anti-miR-135/SPOCK1 axis antagonizes the influence of metabolism on drug response in intestinal/colon tumour organoids
Authors: Babaei-Jadidi Roya , Kashfi Hossein , Alelwani Walla , Karimi Bakhtiari Ashkan , Kattan Shahad W. , Mansouri Omniah A. , Mukherjee Abhik , Lobo Dileep N. , Nateri Abdolrahman S.
Published: January 2022

Little is known about the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in rewiring the metabolism within tumours and adjacent non-tumour bearing normal tissue and their potential in cancer therapy. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between deregulated miRNAs and metabolic components in murine duodenal polyps and non-polyp-derived organoids (mPOs and mNPOs) from a double-mutant ApcMinFbxw7∆G mouse model of intestinal/colorectal cancer (CRC). We analysed the expression of 373 miRNAs and 12 deregulated metabolic genes in mPOs and mNPOs. Our findings revealed miR-135b might target Spock1. Upregulation of SPOCK1 correlated with advanced stages of CRCs. Knockdown of miR-135b decreased the expression level of SPOCK1, glucose consumption and lactic secretion in CRC patient-derived tumours organoids (CRC tPDOs). Increased SPOCK1 induced by miR-135b overexpression promoted the Warburg effect and consequently antitumour effect of 5-fluorouracil. Thus, combination with miR-135b antisense nucleotides may represent a novel strategy to sensitise CRC to the chemo-reagent based treatment.
Long-term outcome following surgical treatment of posttraumatic tethered cord syndrome: a retrospective population-based cohort study
Authors: Stenimahitis Vasilios , Fletcher-Sandersjöö Alexander , Tatter Charles , Elmi-Terander Adrian , Edström Erik
Published: January 2022

Study design

Retrospective population-based cohort study.

Objective

To investigate the long-term outcome following surgery for posttraumatic spinal cord tethering (PSCT).

Setting

Publicly funded tertiary care center.

Methods

Patients surgically treated for PSCT between 2005–2020 were identified and included. No patients were excluded or lost to follow-up. Medical records and imaging data were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

Seventeen patients were included. Median age was 52 (23–69) years and 7 (41%) were female. PSCT was diagnosed at a median of 5.0 (0.6–27) years after the initial trauma. Motor deficit was the most common neurological manifestation (71%), followed by sensory deficit (53%), spasticity (53%), pain (41%) and gait disturbance (24%). Median follow-up time was 5.1 (0.7–13) years. Fifteen patients (88%) showed satisfactory results following untethering, defined as improvement or halted progression of one or more of the presenting symptoms. Treatment goals were met for motor symptoms in 92%, sensory loss in 100%, spasticity in 100%, gait disturbance in 100% and pain in 86%. Statistically, a significant improvement in motor deficit (p = 0.031) and syrinx decrease (p = 0.004) was also seen. A postoperative complication occurred in four patients: three cases of cerebrospinal fluid leakage and one postoperative hematoma. Two patients showed a negative surgical outcome: 1 with increased neck pain and 1 with left arm weakness following the postoperative hematoma.

Conclusion

Surgical treatment of PSCT results in improved neurological function or halted neurological deterioration in the vast majority of patients.
Dexmedetomidine promotes apoptosis and suppresses proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma cells via microRNA-130a/EGR1 axis
Authors: Zhou Lei , Li Juanni , Liu Xing , Tang Yongzhong , Li Tunliang , Deng Huiyin , Chen Jia , Yin Xinlin , Hu Kuan , Ouyang Wen
Published: January 2022

Accumulating evidence has revealed the role of microRNAs (miRs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Dexmedetomidine, a highly selective α2-adrenergic agonist, is widely used in perioperative settings for analgesia and sedation. Herein, we aimed to determine whether dexmedetomidine might directly regulate miR-130a/early growth response 1 (EGR1) axis in HCC and explore the related mechanisms. miR-130a and EGR1 expression were determined in HCC tissues and their correlation was evaluated. Human HCC cell line HCCLM3 was selected. Upon the determination of the optimal concentration of dexmedetomidine, HCCLM3 cells were treated with dexmedetomidine, miR-130a- or EGR1-related oligonucleotides or plasmids were transfected into cells to explore their functions in cell biological behaviors. miR-130a and EGR1 levels in cells were tested. The targeting relationship between miR-130a and EGR1 was verified. miR-130a was inhibited while EGR1 was elevated in HCC tissues and they were negatively correlated. EGR1 was targeted by miR-130a. With the increase of dexmedetomidine concentration, HCCLM3 cell viability was correspondingly inhibited, miR-130a expression was elevated and EGR1 expression was decreased. Dexmedetomidine, upregulating miR-130a or downregulating EGR1 inhibited proliferation, invasion and migration, and promoted apoptosis of HCCLM3 cells. MiR-130a upregulation/downregulation enhanced/impaired the effect of dexmedetomidine on cell biological behaviors. Our study provides evidence that raising miR-130a enhances the inhibitory effects of dexmedetomidine on HCC cellular growth via inhibiting EGR1. Thus, miR-130a may be a potential candidate for the treatment of HCC.
Quantification of bone marrow interstitial pH and calcium concentration by intravital ratiometric imaging
Authors: Yeh S-C. A. , Hou J. , Wu J. W. , Yu S. , Zhang Y. , Belfield K. D. , Camargo F. D. , Lin C. P.
Published: January 2022

The fate of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) can be directed by microenvironmental factors including extracellular calcium ion concentration ([Ca2+]e), but the local [Ca2+]e around individual HSCs in vivo remains unknown. Here we develop intravital ratiometric analyses to quantify the absolute pH and [Ca2+]e in the mouse calvarial bone marrow, taking into account the pH sensitivity of the calcium probe and the wavelength-dependent optical loss through bone. Unexpectedly, the mean [Ca2+]e in the bone marrow (1.0 ± 0.54 mM) is not significantly different from the blood serum, but the HSCs are found in locations with elevated local [Ca2+]e (1.5 ± 0.57 mM). With aging, a significant increase in [Ca2+]e is found in M-type cavities that exclusively support clonal expansion of activated HSCs. This work thus establishes a tool to investigate [Ca2+]e and pH in the HSC niche with high spatial resolution and can be broadly applied to other tissue types.
The Fe-FeSi phase diagram at Mercury’s core conditions
Authors: Edmund E. , Morard G. , Baron M. A. , Rivoldini A. , Yokoo S. , Boccato S. , Hirose K. , Pakhomova A. , Antonangeli D.
Published: January 2022

Mercury’s metallic core is expected to have formed under highly reducing conditions, resulting in the presence of significant quantities of silicon alloyed to iron. Here we present the phase diagram of the Fe-FeSi system, reconstructed from in situ X-ray diffraction measurements at pressure and temperature conditions spanning over those expected for Mercury’s core, and ex situ chemical analysis of recovered samples. Under high pressure, we do not observe a miscibility gap between the cubic fcc and B2 structures, but rather the formation of a re-entrant bcc phase at temperatures close to melting. Upon melting, the investigated alloys are observed to evolve towards two distinct Fe-rich and Fe-poor liquid compositions at pressures below 35-38 GPa. The evolution of the phase diagram with pressure and temperature prescribes a range of possible core crystallization regimes, with strong dependence on the Si abundance of the core.