bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Index Construction with Deep Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Wu Sai , Li Ying , Zhu Haoqi , Zhao Junbo , Chen Gang
Published: May 2022

Thanks to the rapid advances in artificial intelligence, a brand new venue for database performance optimization is through deep neural networks and the reinforcement learning paradigm. Alongside the long literature in this regime, an iconic and crucial problem is the index structure building. For this problem, the prior works have largely adopted a pure learning-based solution replacing the traditional methods such as a B-tree and Hashing. While this line of research has drawn much attention in the field, they ubiquitously abandon the semantic guarantees and also suffer from performance loss in certain scenarios. In this work, we propose the Neural Index Search (NIS) framework. The core to this framework is to train a search policy to find a near optimal combination plan over the existing index structures, together with the required configuration parameters associated with each index structure in the plan. We argue that compared against the pure learning approaches, NIS enjoys the advantages brought by the chosen conventional index structures and further robustly enhances the performance from any singular index structure. Extensive empirical results demonstrate that our framework achieves state-of-the-art performances on several benchmarks.
What Is Wrong with Solidarity in EU Asylum and Migration Law?
Authors: Karageorgiou Eleni , Noll Gregor
Published: May 2022

In this article, we explore why solidarity has not worked according to expectation in EU migration and asylum law and why it is unlikely to work in the future. First, we consider discourses of burden-sharing and solidarity in EU law from the 1990s up to the Lisbon Treaty in 2009 to identify emergent path dependencies. This period saw the introduction of primary law provisions on solidarity, such as Article 80 TFEU, as French and Dutch electorates had rejected a European constitution. Second, we perform an analysis of Article 80 through the conceptual history of solidarity, in particular, the dominant Roman law tradition of obligation in solidum and the French tradition of solidarism. We submit that the term ‘solidarity’ is actually a misnomer: already on structural grounds, Article 80 should be read as an alliance clause, countering a threat of irregular immigration. Third, we find that the practice under Article 80 as it develops during the period between 2015 and the 2020 European Commission Pact on Migration and Asylum corroborates this finding. Overall, we find that the concept of solidarity in EU asylum and migration law engenders outcome expectations that it cannot deliver as the defence alliance it is.
Influence of ceramic particles additions on the properties of Ca3Co4O9
Authors: Amaveda H. , Mora M. , Dura O. J. , Torres M. A. , Madre M. A. , Marinel S. , Sotelo A.
Published: May 2022

Ca3Co4O9 + x wt% B4C, AlN, TiC, TiB2, or TiN (x = 0.0, 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75) samples were prepared by the conventional solid-state route. In all samples, only the Ca3Co4O9 phase was identified by powder XRD. Nevertheless, microstructural studies have shown that most of the additives have reacted with air and Ca3Co4O9 phase on their surfaces, producing new phases. Moreover, it seemed that grain sizes were, at least, slightly reduced. On the other hand, while nearly no modification of the Seebeck coefficient has been observed, independently of the added compound and proportion, electrical resistivity decreased in all cases, when compared to the pristine sample. Consequently, the power factor of samples with additions was higher than the one determined for the pure sample. Linear thermal expansion also decreased with these additives, pointing out to the formation of relatively strong grain boundaries which can improve the carrier mobility and decrease the thermal expansion. The lowest thermal expansion value has been measured in 0.25 wt% B4C samples, being only around 20% higher than that of Al2O3, which can help to reduce the differential thermal expansion in thermoelectric modules working at high temperatures; these results may be very interesting for applications prospects.

Article highlights

Addition of different ceramic additives to Ca3Co4O9 phase increases electrical conductivity, and power factor.

All additive ceramics react with oxygen and the Ca3Co4O9 phase modifying the properties of pristine compound.

The decrease of thermal expansion coefficient will allow reducing the differential thermal expansion in modules.
Review on Pneumonia Image Detection: A Machine Learning Approach
Authors: Kareem Amer , Liu Haiming , Sant Paul
Published: May 2022

This paper surveys and examines how computer-aided techniques can be deployed in detecting pneumonia. It also suggests a hybrid model that can effectively detect pneumonia while using the real-time medical image data in a privacy-preserving manner. This paper will explore how various preprocessing techniques such as X-rays can detect and classify multiple diseases. The survey also examines how different machine learning technologies like convolution neural network (CNN), k-nearest neighbor (KNN), RESNET, CheXNet, DECNET and artificial neural network (ANN) can be used in detecting pneumonia disease. In this article, we have performed a comprehensive review of the literature to find how we can combine hospitals and medical institutions to train the machine learning models from their datasets so that the ML algorithms can detect disease more efficiently and correctly. We have proposed the future work of using transfer learning combined with federated knowledge that could help the medical institutions and hospitals form a combined approach of performing medical image detection using real-time datasets. We have also explored the scope, future work and limitations of the proposed solution.
Harnessing Moral Psychology to Reduce Meat Consumption
Authors: MAY JOSHUA , KUMAR VICTOR
Published: May 2022

How can we make moral progress on factory farming? Part of the answer lies in human moral psychology. Meat consumption remains high, despite increased awareness of its negative impact on animal welfare. Weakness of will is part of the explanation: acceptance of the ethical arguments does not always motivate changes in dietary habits. However, we draw on scientific evidence to argue that many consumers are not fully convinced that they morally ought to reduce their meat consumption. We then identify two key psychological mechanisms—motivated reasoning and social proof—that lead people to resist the ethical reasons. Finally, we show how to harness these psychological mechanisms to encourage reductions in meat consumption. A central lesson for moral progress generally is that durable social change requires socially embedded reasoning.
Microbial lactate utilisation and the stability of the gut microbiome
Authors: Louis Petra , Duncan Sylvia Helen , Sheridan Paul Owen , Walker Alan William , Flint Harry James
Published: May 2022

The human large intestinal microbiota thrives on dietary carbohydrates that are converted to a range of fermentation products. Short-chain fatty acids (acetate, propionate and butyrate) are the dominant fermentation acids that accumulate to high concentrations in the colon and they have health-promoting effects on the host. Although many gut microbes can also produce lactate, it usually does not accumulate in the healthy gut lumen. This appears largely to be due to the presence of a relatively small number of gut microbes that can utilise lactate and convert it to propionate, butyrate or acetate. There is increasing evidence that these microbes play important roles in maintaining a healthy gut environment. In this review, we will provide an overview of the different microbes involved in lactate metabolism within the gut microbiota, including biochemical pathways utilised and their underlying energetics, as well as regulation of the corresponding genes. We will further discuss the potential consequences of perturbation of the microbiota leading to lactate accumulation in the gut and associated disease states and how lactate-utilising bacteria may be employed to treat such diseases.
A New Chapter in Namibian History: Reflections on Archival Research
Authors: van der Hoog Tycho
Published: May 2022

Since Namibian independence in 1990, historians have increasingly made use of Namibian archives to explore the history of the German and South African occupation. Researching the recent past is, however, much more difficult, considering the absence of a SWAPO archive and an embargo on governmental files of thirty years. But now, thirty years after independence, the files from the postcolonial administrations are set to gradually open up. In anticipation of this new chapter of Namibian history, this article examines the state of various archives in Namibia and offers a number of observations that may be of use to scholars who are interested in consulting them.
Performance of infectious diseases specialists, hospitalists, and other internal medicine physicians in antimicrobial case-based scenarios: Potential impact of antimicrobial stewardship programs at 16 Veterans’ Affairs medical centers
Authors: Graber Christopher J. , Simon Alissa R. , Zhang Yue , Goetz Matthew Bidwell , Jones Makoto M. , Butler Jorie M. , Chou Ann F. , Glassman Peter A.
Published: May 2022

Objective:

As part of a project to implement antimicrobial dashboards at select facilities, we assessed physician attitudes and knowledge regarding antibiotic prescribing.

Design:

An online survey explored attitudes toward antimicrobial use and assessed respondents’ management of four clinical scenarios: cellulitis, community-acquired pneumonia, non–catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria, and catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria.

Setting:

This study was conducted across 16 Veterans’ Affairs (VA) medical centers in 2017.

Participants:

Physicians working in inpatient settings specializing in infectious diseases (ID), hospital medicine, and non-ID/hospitalist internal medicine.

Methods:

Scenario responses were scored by assigning +1 for answers most consistent with guidelines, 0 for less guideline-concordant but acceptable answers and −1 for guideline-discordant answers. Scores were normalized to 100% guideline concordant to 100% guideline discordant across all questions within a scenario, and mean scores were calculated across respondents by specialty. Differences in mean score per scenario were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results:

Overall, 139 physicians completed the survey (19 ID physicians, 62 hospitalists, and 58 other internists). Attitudes were similar across the 3 groups. We detected a significant difference in cellulitis scenario scores (concordance: ID physicians, 76%; hospitalists, 58%; other internists, 52%; P = .0087). Scores were numerically but not significantly different across groups for community-acquired pneumonia (concordance: ID physicians, 75%; hospitalists, 60%; other internists, 56%; P = .0914), for non–catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (concordance: ID physicians, 65%; hospitalists, 55%; other internists, 40%; P = .322), and for catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (concordance: ID physicians, 27% concordant; hospitalists, 8% discordant; other internists 13% discordant; P = .12).

Conclusions:

Significant differences in performance regarding management of cellulitis and low overall performance regarding asymptomatic bacteriuria point to these conditions as being potentially high-yield targets for stewardship interventions.
The hydrostatic control of load-induced height changes above subglacial Lake Vostok
Authors: Richter Andreas , Schröder Ludwig , Scheinert Mirko , Popov Sergey V. , Groh Andreas , Willen Matthias , Horwath Martin , Dietrich Reinhard
Published: May 2022

Lake Vostok, East Antarctica, represents an extensive water surface at the base of the ice sheet. Snow, ice and atmospheric pressure loads applied anywhere within the lake area produce a hydrostatic response, involving deformations of the ice surface, ice–water interface and particle horizons. A modelling scheme is developed to derive height changes of these surfaces for a given load pattern. It is applied to a series of load scenarios, and predictions based on load fields derived from a regional climate model are compared to observational datasets. Our results show that surface height changes due to snow-buildup anomalies are damped over the lake area, reducing the spatial standard deviation by one-third. The response to air pressure variations, in turn, adds surface height variability. Atmospheric pressure loads may produce height changes of up to

$\pm$

4 cm at daily resolution, but decay rapidly with integration time. The hydrostatic load response has no significant impact neither on ICESat laser campaign biases determined over the lake area nor on vertical particle movements derived from GNSS observations.
Systematics of 12 Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Paleogene squat lobster taxa (Galatheoidea)
Authors: Klompmaker Adiël A. , Robins Cristina M. , Jakobsen Sten L. , Sheldon Emma
Published: May 2022

Squat lobsters within Galatheoidea are very diverse with over 1,300 extant species that live in all marine ecosystems, but their fossil record, starting in the Middle Jurassic, consists of only ~200 species. Consequently, much remains to be learned about their biodiversity, phylogeny, and paleobiogeography. We describe five new species (Galatheites sforum n. sp., Kimmeridgian, Late Jurassic, Germany; Vasconilia zapotitlanensis n. sp., Barremian, Early Cretaceous, Mexico; Eomunidopsis texcalaensis n. sp., Barremian, Early Cretaceous, Mexico; Protomunida bennickei n. sp., Danian, Paleocene, Denmark; and Protomunida eurekantha n. sp., Danian, Paleocene, Denmark) and one new genus (Tethysgalathea n. gen., Ypresian, Eocene, Italy). We further reassign Munida cretacea (Albian, Early Cretaceous, Texas, USA) to Galathea?, return Eomunidopsis? cobbani (Campanian, Late Cretaceous, Colorado, USA) to its original genus, report on the second occurrence of Vetoplautus latimarginus Robins et al., 2013 (Tithonian, Late Jurassic, Czech Republic), and reinstate Palaeomunidopsis moutieri (middle Bathonian, Middle Jurassic, France) as the oldest galatheoid known to date. The five new species, all found in limestones containing corals, increase galatheoid diversity in the fossil record by 2.5%. Finally, the common yet hitherto unrecognized Protomunida eurekantha was discovered by making casts of external molds, revealing distinct spines on the posterior margin that are more difficult to see in internal molds and specimens with cuticle due to breakage. Collecting and studying the external molds for galatheoids and other fossil decapods could yield additional cryptic species.

UUID: http://zoobank.org/68a25381-65c6-4773-a4f2-71d9b0a25304
The first Miocene chiton fauna from the northeastern Pacific
Authors: Vendrasco Michael J. , Powell Charles L. , LaFollette Patrick
Published: May 2022

An assemblage of 34 chiton valves collected from rocks of the “Imperial” Formation sensu lato at Super Creek near Palm Springs, California, is described here. The sedimentary rocks exposed at Super Creek were deposited in the proto-Gulf of California during the Late Miocene. This chiton assemblage represents the first reported Miocene chitons from western North America. The chiton valves are classified asCallistochitoncf.C.elenensis,Chaetopleuracf.C.lanuginosa mixta,Calloplax roederin. sp.,Chiton solarisn. sp., Callistoplacidae sp. indet., and Chaetopleuridae sp. indet. Thick valves dominate the assemblage. The chiton fossils reflect the overall faunal pattern from the “Imperial” Formation s.l. of a strong similarity to taxa in the modern Gulf of California, with a Caribbean component as well. This assemblage fills a gap in the chiton fossil record and preserves details of the adaptive radiation of the Polyplacophora that occurred at the time in concert with the onset of an upwelling regime.

UUID:http://zoobank.org/9947bfc9-84a3-4358-bac7-e660b936b067
Learning to Dislike Your Opponents: Political Socialization in the Era of Polarization
Authors: TYLER MATTHEW , IYENGAR SHANTO
Published: May 2022

Early socialization research dating to the 1960s showed that children could have a partisan identity without expressing polarized evaluations of political leaders and institutions. We provide an update to the socialization literature by showing that adolescents today are just as polarized as adults. We compare our findings to a landmark 1980 socialization study and show that distrust in the opposing party has risen sharply among adolescents. We go on to show that the onset of polarization in childhood is predicted by parental influence; adolescents who share their parents’ identity and whose parents are more polarized are apt to voice polarized views.
Impact and legacy of the highly cited paper by Blaxter and Clapperton (1965) ‘Prediction of the amount of methane produced by ruminants [Br J Nutr 19, 511–522]’
Authors: Wallace R. John
Published: May 2022

The paper by K. L. Blaxter and J. L. Clapperton (1965) ‘Prediction of the amount of methane produced by ruminants. Br J Nutr 19, 511–522’ has been cited 656 times according to Web of Science and continues to be cited with increasing frequency to the present day. The analysis described in the paper, or meta-analysis as it would be known now, is of methane production from cattle and sheep based on forty-eight trials using closed-circuit respiration chambers, all carried out at the Hannah Research Institute, Ayr, UK, between 1955 and 1965. Methane emissions per unit of diet fed were shown to vary depending on diet, level of feeding and individual animal. As such, previous notions that methane emissions were essentially proportional to energy intake were set aside. The main reasons for the paper’s continuing citation are the set of equations that can be used to predict methane emissions from ruminants when the technically demanding respiration chambers are unavailable, and that it was the first definitive study to describe the complexities of methane emissions with respect to animals and diets. The paper thus provided abundant insights of the relations between ruminant methane emissions and nutritional biology, and rumen microbiology, in particular, that have informed countless research projects in the intervening half-century. Given the importance of methane as a greenhouse gas in the climate change scenario, these insights are at least as relevant today as they were in 1965.
When Do Voters Punish Corrupt Politicians? Experimental Evidence from a Field and Survey Experiment
Authors: de Figueiredo Miguel F.P. , Hidalgo F. Daniel , Kasahara Yuri
Published: May 2022

When do voters punish corrupt politicians? Heterogeneous views about the importance of corruption can determine whether or not increased information enhances accountability. If partisan cleavages correlate with the importance voters place on corruption, then the consequences of information may vary by candidate, even when voters identify multiple candidates as corrupt. We provide evidence of this mechanism from a field experiment in a mayoral election in Brazil where a reputable interest group declared both candidates corrupt. We distributed fliers in the runoff mayoral election in São Paulo. Informing voters about the challenger's record reduced turnout by 1.9 percentage points and increased the opponent's vote by 2.6 percentage points. Informing voters about the incumbent's record had no effect on behavior. We attribute this divergent finding to differences in how each candidate's supporters view corruption. Using survey data and a survey experiment, we show that the challenger's supporters are more willing to punish their candidate for corruption, while the incumbent's supporters lack this inclination.
Mortality, survival, and causes of death in mental disorders: comprehensive prospective analyses of the UK Biobank cohort
Authors: Boschesi Barros Vivian , Fortti Vianna Schmidt Fernanda , Chiavegatto Filho Alexandre Dias Porto
Published: May 2022

Background

The UK Biobank is a large middle-aged cohort recruited in 2006–2010. We used data from its participants to analyze mortality, survival, and causes of death associated with mental disorders.

Methods

Our exposures were mental disorders identified using (1) symptom-based outcomes derived from an online Mental Health Questionnaire (n = 157 329), including lifetime/current depression, lifetime/current generalized anxiety disorder, lifetime/recent psychotic experience, lifetime bipolar disorder, current alcohol use disorder, and current posttraumatic stress disorder and (2) hospital data linkage of diagnoses within the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) (n = 502 422), including (A) selected diagnoses or groups of diagnoses corresponding to symptom-based outcomes and (B) all psychiatric diagnoses, grouped by ICD-10 section. For all exposures, we estimated age-adjusted mortality rates and hazard ratios, as well as proportions of deaths by cause.

Results

We found significantly increased mortality risk associated with all mental disorders identified by symptom-based outcomes, except for lifetime generalized anxiety disorder (with hazard ratios in the range of 1.08–3.0). We also found significantly increased mortality risk associated with all conditions identified by hospital data linkage, including selected ICD-10 diagnoses or groups of diagnoses (2.15–7.87) and ICD-10 diagnoses grouped by section (2.02–5.44). Causes of death associated with mental disorders were heterogeneous and mostly natural.

Conclusions

In a middle-aged cohort, we found a higher mortality risk associated with most mental disorders identified by symptom-based outcomes and with all disorders or groups of disorders identified by hospital data linkage of ICD-10 diagnoses. The majority of deaths associated with mental disorders were natural.
Number fields without universal quadratic forms of small rank exist in most degrees
Authors: KALA VÍTĚZSLAV
Published: May 2022

We prove that in each degree divisible by 2 or 3, there are infinitely many totally real number fields that require universal quadratic forms to have arbitrarily large rank.
Suicide and death by other causes among patients with a severe mental illness: cohort study comparing risks among patients discharged from inpatient carev. those treated in the community
Authors: Musgrove R. , Carr M. J. , Kapur N. , Chew-Graham C. A. , Mughal F. , Ashcroft D. M. , Webb R. T.
Published: May 2022

Aims

People diagnosed with a severe mental illness (SMI) are at elevated risk of dying prematurely compared to the general population. We aimed to understand the additional risk among people with SMI after discharge from inpatient psychiatric care, when many patients experience an acute phase of their illness.

Methods

In the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD and Aurum datasets, adults aged 18 years and older who were discharged from psychiatric inpatient care in England between 2001 and 2018 with primary diagnoses of SMI (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other psychoses) were matched by age and gender with up to five individuals with SMI and without recent hospital stays. Using survival analysis approaches, cumulative incidence and adjusted hazard ratios were estimated for all-cause mortality, external and natural causes of death, and suicide. All analyses were stratified by younger, middle and older ages and also by gender.

Results

In the year after their discharge, the risk of dying by all causes examined was higher than among individuals with SMI who had not received inpatient psychiatric care recently. Suicide risk was 11.6 times (95% CI 6.4–20.9) higher in the first 3 months and remained greater at 2–5 years after discharge (HR 2.3, 1.7–3.2). This risk elevation remained after adjustment for self-harm in the 6 months prior to the discharge date. The relative risk of dying by natural causes was raised in the first 3 months (HR 1.6, 1.3–1.9), with no evidence of elevation during the second year following discharge.

Conclusions

There is an additional risk of death by suicide and natural causes for people with SMI who have been recently discharged from inpatient care over and above the general risk among people with the same diagnosis who have not recently been treated as an inpatient. This mortality gap shows the importance of continued focus, following discharge, on individuals who require inpatient care.
Caught COVID-19? Covidiot!
Authors: Kasper Alice , Frébert Nicolas , Testé Benoit
Published: May 2022

Abstract. Many governments’ COVID-19 prevention messages highlighted individual accountability and the stigmatization of individuals who violate lockdown rules. The present study examined French people’s ( N = 567) attributions of humanness to and willingness to punish (i.e., whether the target deserved medical care, helping intentions toward the target) an individual who respected versus violated the rules of the country’s first (March to May) versus second (November to December) lockdowns. Participants attributed less humanness to and were more willing to punish the deviant target than the compliant target. These effects were stronger during the first lockdown than during the second lockdown. Perceived threat of COVID-19 to the national ingroup moderated these effects, and attributions of humanness mediated willingness to punish the target.
Monitoring Volcanic and Tectonic Sandbox Analogue Models Using the Kinect v2 Sensor
Authors: Rincón M. , Márquez A. , Herrera R. , Galland O. , Sánchez‐Oro J. , Concha D. , Montemayor A. S.
Published: May 2022

The measurement of surface deformation in analogue models of volcanic and tectonic processes is an area in continuous development. Properly quantifying topography change in analogue models is key for a useful comparison between experiment results and nature. The aim of this work is to evaluate the capabilities of the simple and cheap Microsoft® Kinect v2 sensor for monitoring analogue models made of granular materials. Microsoft® Kinect v2 is a video‐gaming RedGreenBlue‐Depth device combining an optical camera and an infrared distance measurement sensor. The precision of the device for model topography measurements has been quantified using 64 experiments, with variable granular materials materials and distance to the model. Additionally, we tested the capabilities of averaging several distance images to increase the precision. We have developed a specific software to facilitate the acquisition and processing of the Kinect v2 data in experiment monitoring. Our results show that measurement precision is material dependent: with clear‐colored and fine‐grained materials, a precision ∼1.0 mm for digital elevation models with a 1.6 mm pixel size can be obtained. We show that by averaging ≥5 consecutive images the distance precision can reach values as low as 0.5 mm. To show the Kinect v2 capabilities, we present monitoring results from case study experiments modeling tectonics and volcano deformation. The Kinect v2 achieves lower spatial resolutions and precision than more sophisticated techniques such as photogrammetry. However, Kinect v2 provides a cheap, straightforward and powerful tool for monitoring the topography changes in sandbox analogue models.
Identification of Thresholds on Population Density for Understanding Transmission of COVID‐19
Authors: Jamal Yusuf , Gangwar Mayank , Usmani Moiz , Adams Alison E. , Wu Chang‐Yu , Nguyen Thanh H. , Colwell Rita , Jutla Antarpreet
Published: May 2022

Pathways of transmission of coronavirus (COVID‐19) disease in the human population are still emerging. However, empirical observations suggest that dense human settlements are the most adversely impacted, corroborating a broad consensus that human‐to‐human transmission is a key mechanism for the rapid spread of this disease. Here, using logistic regression techniques, estimates of threshold levels of population density were computed corresponding to the incidence (case counts) in the human population. Regions with population densities greater than 3,000 person per square mile in the United States have about 95% likelihood to report 43,380 number of average cumulative cases of COVID‐19. Since case numbers of COVID‐19 dynamically changed each day until 30 November 2020, ca. 4% of US counties were at 50% or higher probability to 38,232 number of COVID‐19 cases. While threshold on population density is not the sole indicator for predictability of coronavirus in human population, yet it is one of the key variables on understanding and rethinking human settlement in urban landscapes.
Imaging the Earth Using Time‐Domain Surface‐Wave Measurements: Evaluation and Correction of the Finite‐Frequency Phase Shift
Authors: Xu Yihe , Lebedev Sergei , Meier Thomas
Published: May 2022

Surface waves propagating from earthquakes, active sources or within the ambient noise wavefield are widely used to image Earth structure at various scales, from centimeters to hundreds of kilometers. The accuracy of surface‐wave, phase‐velocity measurements is essential for the accuracy of the Earth models they constrain. Here, we identify a finite‐frequency phase shift in the phase travel time that causes systematic errors in time‐domain, phase‐velocity measurements. The phase shift arises from the approximation of monochromatic surface waves with narrow‐band filtered surface waves. We derive an explicit formula of the finite‐frequency phase shift and present a numerical method for its evaluation and for the correction of the measurements. Applications to high‐frequency and long‐period examples show that the phase shift is typically around π/60‐π/16 for the common settings of ambient‐noise imaging studies, which translates to 0.2%–0.8% phase‐velocity measurement errors. The finite‐frequency phase shift depends on the (a) second derivative of the wavenumber with respect to frequency; (b) width of the narrow‐band filter; (c) epicentral or interstation distance; and (d) center frequency of the filter. In conversion to phase velocity, the last two factors cancel out. Frequency‐domain methods for phase‐velocity measurements have the advantage of not producing the finite‐frequency phase shift. Both time‐ and frequency‐domain measurements, however, can be impacted by a break‐down of the far‐field approximation (near‐field phase shift), which our calculations also show. Our method offers an effective means of improving the accuracy of the widely used time‐domain, phase‐velocity measurements via the evaluation of and corrections for the finite‐frequency phase shift.
Air Pollution Linked to Adverse Mental Health Effects
Authors: Vasquez Krystal
Published: May 2022

Adolescents exposed to higher levels of ozone experienced an increase in depressive symptoms.
Closing the THz gap with Dirac semimetals
Authors: Rizza Carlo , Molle Alessandro
Published: May 2022

High-performance THz photodetection is unprecedentedly accessed by integrating a topological Dirac (Weyl) semimetal in a carefully designed antenna at deep-subwavelength scales.
Overabundance of Veillonella parvula promotes intestinal inflammation by activating macrophages via LPS-TLR4 pathway
Authors: Zhan Zhiyan , Liu Wenxue , Pan Liya , Bao Yiwen , Yan Zhilong , Hong Li
Published: May 2022

Hirschsprung’s disease-associated enterocolitis (HAEC) is the most common complication of Hirschsprung’s disease (HSCR). The microbiome pattern of intestinal flora in HAEC patients was significantly abnormal compared to that in HSCR patients. The overabundance of V. parvula was detected in the gut of HAEC patients. To elucidate the pathological mechanisms of the overabundance of V. parvula, we established and analyzed inflammatory models induced by LPS or single-bacterial strain transplantation in vivo. The transplantation of V. parvula induced inflammatory response in the colon of mice. Besides, we found that LPS from V. parvula can significantly impair the barrier function of colonic epithelial cells and then activate macrophages which impaired pacemaker function of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs). It was thus a vicious cycle, where the macrophage-related inflammation caused by V. parvula via LPS-TLR4 pathway damaged the intestinal motility, which further aggravated the intestinal flora dysbiosis and promoted the development of HAEC. Itaconic acid could break the vicious cycle by inhibiting the activation of macrophages. It could be a potential therapeutic strategy for HAEC patients with intestinal flora dysbiosis.
The AMPK-related kinase NUAK2 suppresses glutathione peroxidase 4 expression and promotes ferroptotic cell death in breast cancer cells
Authors: Singh Tanu , Beatty Alexander , Peterson Jeffrey R.
Published: May 2022

Ferroptosis is a caspase-independent form of regulated cell death strongly linked to the accumulation of reactive lipid hydroperoxides. Lipid hydroperoxides are neutralized in cells by glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) and inhibitors of GPX4 are potent ferroptosis inducers with therapeutic potential in cancer. Here we report that siRNA-mediated silencing of the AMPK-related kinase NUAK2 suppresses cell death by small-molecule inducers of ferroptosis but not apoptosis. Mechanistically we find that NUAK2 suppresses the expression of GPX4 at the RNA level and enhances ferroptosis triggered by GPX4 inhibitors in a manner independent of its kinase activity. NUAK2 is amplified along with MDM4 in a subset of breast cancers, particularly the claudin-low subset, suggesting that this may predict vulnerability to GPX4 inhibitors. These findings identify a novel pathway regulating GPX4 expression as well as ferroptotic sensitivity with potential as a biomarker of breast cancer patients that might respond to GPX4 inhibition as a therapeutic strategy.
Protective effect of platinum nano-antioxidant and nitric oxide against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury
Authors: Mu Jing , Li Chunxiao , Shi Yu , Liu Guoyong , Zou Jianhua , Zhang Dong-Yang , Jiang Chao , Wang Xiuli , He Liangcan , Huang Peng , Yin Yuxin , Chen Xiaoyuan
Published: May 2022

Therapeutic interventions of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury to attenuate liver dysfunction or multiple organ failure following liver surgery and transplantation remain limited. Here we present an innovative strategy by integrating a platinum nanoantioxidant and inducible nitric oxide synthase into the zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 based hybrid nanoreactor for effective prevention of ischemia-reperfusion injury. We show that platinum nanoantioxidant can scavenge excessive reactive oxygen species at the injury site and meanwhile generate oxygen for subsequent synthesis of nitric oxide under the catalysis of nitric oxide synthase. We find that such cascade reaction successfully achieves dual protection for the liver through reactive oxygen species clearance and nitric oxide regulation, enabling reduction of oxidative stress, inhibition of macrophage activation and neutrophil recruitment, and ensuring suppression of proinflammatory cytokines. The current work establishes a proof of concept of multifunctional nanotherapeutics against ischemia-reperfusion injury, which may provide a promising intervention solution in clinical use.
Simultaneously achieving giant piezoelectricity and record coercive field enhancement in relaxor-based ferroelectric crystals
Authors: Yang Liya , Huang Houbing , Xi Zengzhe , Zheng Limei , Xu Shiqi , Tian Gang , Zhai Yuzhi , Guo Feifei , Kong Lingping , Wang Yonggang , Lü Weiming , Yuan Long , Zhao Minglei , Zheng Haiwu , Liu Gang
Published: May 2022

A large coercive field (EC) and ultrahigh piezoelectricity are essential for ferroelectrics used in high-drive electromechanical applications. The discovery of relaxor-PbTiO3 crystals is a recent breakthrough; they currently afford the highest piezoelectricity, but usually with a low EC. Such performance deterioration occurs because high piezoelectricity is interlinked with an easy polarization rotation, subsequently favoring a dipole switch under small fields. Therefore, the search for ferroelectrics with both a large EC and ultrahigh piezoelectricity has become an imminent challenge. Herein, ternary Pb(Sc1/2Nb1/2)O3–Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 crystals are reported, wherein the dispersed local heterogeneity comprises abundant tetragonal phases, affording a EC of 8.2 kV/cm (greater than that of Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3–PbTiO3 by a factor of three) and ultrahigh piezoelectricity (d33 = 2630 pC/N; d15 = 490 pC/N). The observed EC enhancement is the largest reported for ultrahigh-piezoelectric materials, providing a simple, practical, and universal route for improving functionalities in ferroelectrics with an atomic-level understanding.
Potential fire risks in South America under anthropogenic forcing hidden by the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Authors: Wang Yanfeng , Huang Ping
Published: May 2022

Fires in South America have profound effects on climate change and air quality. Although anthropogenic forcing has exacerbated drought and fire risks, the fire emissions and aerosol pollution in the southern Amazon and the Pantanal region showed a consistent long-term decrease during the dry season (August–October) between 2003 and 2019. Here, we find that the decreasing trend in fire emissions, mainly located in the non-deforested region, was associated with climatic conditions unfavorable for intensifying and spreading fires, including increased humidity and slower surface wind speed. These climatic trends can be attributed to weakening of the positive phase of the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, which has strengthened the northeast trade winds within the region (3°S–13°N) and the northwest winds east of the Andes that transport more moisture into the southern Amazon and the Pantanal region. Our findings show the mitigating effects of weakening of the positive Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation phase on human-induced intensification of fire risks in South America and warn of potentially increased risks of fires and aerosol pollution under intensified anthropogenic forcing in the future.
Well-defined nanostructuring with designable anodic aluminum oxide template
Authors: Xu Rui , Zeng Zhiqiang , Lei Yong
Published: May 2022

Well-defined nanostructuring over size, shape, spatial configuration, and multi-combination is a feasible concept to reach unique properties of nanostructure arrays, while satisfying such broad and stringent requirements with conventional techniques is challenging. Here, we report designable anodic aluminium oxide templates to address this challenge by achieving well-defined pore features within templates in terms of in-plane and out-of-plane shape, size, spatial configuration, and pore combination. The structural designability of template pores arises from designing of unequal aluminium anodization rates at different anodization voltages, and further relies on a systematic blueprint guiding pore diversification. Starting from the designable templates, we realize a series of nanostructures that inherit equal structural controllability relative to their template counterparts. Proof-of-concept applications based on such nanostructures demonstrate boosted performance. In light of the broad selectivity and high controllability, designable templates will provide a useful platform for well-defined nanostructuring.
Influence of nutrient supply on plankton microbiome biodiversity and distribution in a coastal upwelling region
Authors: James Chase C. , Barton Andrew D. , Allen Lisa Zeigler , Lampe Robert H. , Rabines Ariel , Schulberg Anne , Zheng Hong , Goericke Ralf , Goodwin Kelly D. , Allen Andrew E.
Published: May 2022

The ecological and oceanographic processes that drive the response of pelagic ocean microbiomes to environmental changes remain poorly understood, particularly in coastal upwelling ecosystems. Here we show that seasonal and interannual variability in coastal upwelling predicts pelagic ocean microbiome diversity and community structure in the Southern California Current region. Ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, targeting prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, from samples collected seasonally during 2014-2020 indicate that nitracline depth is the most robust predictor of spatial microbial community structure and biodiversity in this region. Striking ecological changes occurred due to the transition from a warm anomaly during 2014-2016, characterized by intense stratification, to cooler conditions in 2017-2018, representative of more typical upwelling conditions, with photosynthetic eukaryotes, especially diatoms, changing most strongly. The regional slope of nitracline depth exerts strong control on the relative proportion of highly diverse offshore communities and low biodiversity, but highly productive nearshore communities.
Unveiling hidden energy poverty using the energy equity gap
Authors: Cong Shuchen , Nock Destenie , Qiu Yueming Lucy , Xing Bo
Published: May 2022

Income-based energy poverty metrics ignore people’s behavior patterns, particularly reducing energy consumption to limit financial stress. We investigate energy-limiting behavior in low-income households using a residential electricity consumption dataset. We first determine the outdoor temperature at which households start using cooling systems, the inflection temperature. Our relative energy poverty metric, the energy equity gap, is defined as the difference in the inflection temperatures between low and high-income groups. In our study region, we estimate the energy equity gap to be between 4.7–7.5 °F (2.6–4.2 °C). Within a sample of 4577 households, we found 86 energy-poor and 214 energy-insecure households. In contrast, the income-based energy poverty metric, energy burden (10% threshold), identified 141 households as energy-insecure. Only three households overlap between our energy equity gap and the income-based measure. Thus, the energy equity gap reveals a hidden but complementary aspect of energy poverty and insecurity.
The dopamine transporter antiports potassium to increase the uptake of dopamine
Authors: Schmidt Solveig G. , Malle Mette Galsgaard , Nielsen Anne Kathrine , Bohr Søren S.-R. , Pugh Ciara F. , Nielsen Jeppe C. , Poulsen Ida H. , Rand Kasper D. , Hatzakis Nikos S. , Loland Claus J.
Published: May 2022

The dopamine transporter facilitates dopamine reuptake from the extracellular space to terminate neurotransmission. The transporter belongs to the neurotransmitter:sodium symporter family, which includes transporters for serotonin, norepinephrine, and GABA that utilize the Na+ gradient to drive the uptake of substrate. Decades ago, it was shown that the serotonin transporter also antiports K+, but investigations of K+-coupled transport in other neurotransmitter:sodium symporters have been inconclusive. Here, we show that ligand binding to the Drosophila- and human dopamine transporters are inhibited by K+, and the conformational dynamics of the Drosophila dopamine transporter in K+ are divergent from the apo- and Na+-states. Furthermore, we find that K+ increases dopamine uptake by the Drosophila dopamine transporter in liposomes, and visualize Na+ and K+ fluxes in single proteoliposomes using fluorescent ion indicators. Our results expand on the fundamentals of dopamine transport and prompt a reevaluation of the impact of K+ on other transporters in this pharmacologically important family.
Universal non-Hermitian skin effect in two and higher dimensions
Authors: Zhang Kai , Yang Zhesen , Fang Chen
Published: May 2022

Skin effect, experimentally discovered in one dimension, describes the physical phenomenon that on an open chain, an extensive number of eigenstates of a non-Hermitian Hamiltonian are localized at the end(s) of the chain. Here in two and higher dimensions, we establish a theorem that the skin effect exists, if and only if periodic-boundary spectrum of the Hamiltonian covers a finite area on the complex plane. This theorem establishes the universality of the effect, because the above condition is satisfied in almost every generic non-Hermitian Hamiltonian, and, unlike in one dimension, is compatible with all point-group symmetries. We propose two new types of skin effect in two and higher dimensions: the corner-skin effect where all eigenstates are localized at corners of the system, and the geometry-dependent-skin effect where skin modes disappear for systems of a particular shape, but appear on generic polygons. An immediate corollary of our theorem is that any non-Hermitian system having exceptional points (lines) in two (three) dimensions exhibits skin effect, making this phenomenon accessible to experiments in photonic crystals, Weyl semimetals, and Kondo insulators.
Dichotomy of the BSL phosphatase signaling spatially regulates MAPK components in stomatal fate determination
Authors: Guo Xiaoyu , Ding Xue , Dong Juan
Published: May 2022

MAPK signaling modules play crucial roles in regulating numerous biological processes in all eukaryotic cells. How MAPK signaling specificity and strength are tightly controlled remains a major challenging question. In Arabidopsis stomatal development, the MAPKK Kinase YODA (YDA) functions at the cell periphery to inhibit stomatal production by activating MAPK 3 and 6 (MPK3/6) that directly phosphorylate stomatal fate-determining transcription factors for degradation in the nucleus. Recently, we demonstrated that BSL1, one of the four BSL protein phosphatases, localizes to the cell cortex to activate YDA, elevating MPK3/6 activity to suppress stomatal formation. Here, we showed that at the plasma membrane, all four members of BSL proteins contribute to the YDA activation. However, in the nucleus, specific BSL members (BSL2, BSL3, and BSU1) directly deactivate MPK6 to counteract the linear MAPK pathway, thereby promoting stomatal formation. Thus, the pivotal MAPK signaling in stomatal fate determination is spatially modulated by a signaling dichotomy of the BSL protein phosphatases in Arabidopsis, providing a prominent example of how MAPK activities are integrated and specified by signaling compartmentalization at the subcellular level.
Electric-field driven stability control of skyrmions in an ultrathin transition-metal film
Authors: Paul Souvik , Heinze Stefan
Published: May 2022

To realize future spintronic applications with magnetic skyrmions—topologically nontrivial swirling spin structures—it is essential to achieve efficient writing and deleting capabilities of these quasi-particles. Electric-field assisted nucleation and annihilation is a promising route, however, the understanding of the underlying microscopic mechanisms is still limited. Here, we show how the stability of individual magnetic skyrmions in an ultrathin transition-metal film can be controlled via external electric fields. We demonstrate based on density functional theory that it is important to consider the changes of all interactions with electric field, i.e., the pair-wise exchange, the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy, and the higher-order exchange interactions. The energy barriers for electric-field assisted skyrmion writing and deleting obtained via atomistic spin simulations vary by up to a factor of three more than the variations of the interactions calculated from first-principles. This surprising effect originates from the electric-field dependent size of metastable skyrmions at a fixed magnetic field. The large changes in lifetimes allow the possibility of electric-field assisted thermally activated writing and deleting of skyrmions.