bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE SOUND AND MEANING OF GOD'S WORD: AFFIRMATION IN AN OLD CAIRO QURʾAN LESSON
Authors: Mouftah Nermeen
Published: June 2019

For centuries Muslims have asked whether the Qurʾan should be recited and memorized first and foremost, or whether one must prioritize understanding the meaning of its complex language. What is the best way to encounter God's Word? To explore this question, a women's Qurʾan lesson in a slum of Old Cairo illustrates modern Muslim anxieties over the place of discursive meaning in encounters with the Qurʾan. This article elaborates the concept of affirmation as an analytic to grasp how the women relate to the truth of revelation. Affirmation is a performative and discursive hermeneutic practice that deploys Qurʾanic citation, situates Qurʾanic concepts in daily life, and sutures the efficacy of Qurʾan education with correct language and with right action. Their lessons are indicative of reformist trends in Qurʾan education that open onto questions of meaning and understanding in relation to human interactions with divine speech.
The Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States
Authors: Sassoon David M.
Published: June 2019

It has been asserted by Gunnar Myrdal, the renowned Swedish economist, that one of the three major obstacles to the satisfactory progress of international economic cooperation and integration is that the methods of settling international disputes are ineffective and primitive.

That the lack of adequate institutional facilities for the settlement of investment disputes has in particular hampered the flow of capital from the affluent to the developing nations (at a time when the revolution of rising expectations so extensively depends upon it) cannot be seriously doubted. As pointed out by one writer: “It does not appear realistic to expect a foreign investor to allow adjudication of his grievance before a tribunal of the nation in which the grievance arises, or before a tribunal of a nation allegedly causing the grievance… For similar reasons, a nation which is a party to a grievance will not normally allow its rights to be adjudicated by a tribunal of a nation of which a complaining foreign investor is a national.”
Milk cathelicidin and somatic cell counts in dairy goats along the course of lactation
Authors: Tedde Vittorio , Bronzo Valerio , Puggioni Giulia Maria Grazia , Pollera Claudia , Casula Antonio , Curone Giulio , Moroni Paolo , Uzzau Sergio , Addis Maria Filippa
Published: June 2019

This research communication reports the evaluation of cathelicidin in dairy goat milk for its relationship with the somatic cell count (SCC) and microbial culture results. Considering the limited performances of SCC for mastitis monitoring in goats, there is interest in evaluating alternative diagnostic tools. Cathelicidin is an antimicrobial protein involved in innate immunity of the mammary gland. In this work, half-udder milk was sampled bimonthly from a herd of 37 Alpine goats along an entire lactation and tested with the cathelicidin ELISA together with SCC and bacterial culture. Cathelicidin and SCC showed a strong correlation (r = 0.72; n = 360 milk samples). This was highest in mid-lactation (r = 0.83) and lowest in late lactation (r = 0.61), and was higher in primiparous (0.80, n = 130) than in multiparous goats (0.71, n = 230). Both markers increased with stage of lactation, but cathelicidin increased significantly less than SCC. In addition, peak level in late lactation was lower for cathelicidin (5.05-fold increase) than for SCC (7.64-fold increase). Twenty-one (5.8%) samples were positive to bacteriological culture, 20 for coagulase-negative staphylococci and one for Streptococcus spp.; 18 of them were positive to the cathelicidin ELISA (85.71% sensitivity). Sensitivity of SCC >500 000 and of SCC >1 000 000 cells/ml was lower (71.43 and 23.81%, respectively). Therefore, the high correlation of cathelicidin with SCC during the entire lactation, along with its lower increase in late lactation and good sensitivity in detecting intramammary infection (IMI), indicate a potential for monitoring subclinical mastitis in dairy goats. However, based on this preliminary assessment, specificity should be improved (40.41% for cathelicidin vs. 54.57 and 67.85% for SCC >500 000 and >1 000 000 cells/ml, respectively). Therefore, the application of cathelicidin for detecting goat IMI will require further investigation and optimization, especially concerning the definition of diagnostic thresholds.
Optimal Portfolios under Time-Varying Investment Opportunities, Parameter Uncertainty, and Ambiguity Aversion
Authors: Dangl Thomas , Weissensteiner Alex
Published: June 2019

We study the implications of predictability on the optimal asset allocation of ambiguity-averse long-term investors and analyze the term structure of the multivariate risk–return trade-off considering parameter uncertainty. We calibrate the model to real returns of U.S. stocks, long-term bonds, cash, real estate, and gold using the term spread and the dividend–price ratio as additional predictive variables, and we show that over long horizons, the optimal asset allocation is significantly influenced by the covariance structure induced by estimation errors. The ambiguity-averse long-term investor optimally tilts his or her portfolio toward a seemingly inefficient portfolio, which shows maximum robustness against estimation errors.
4. E. H. Neville Himself
Authors: E. H. N.
Published: June 2019

Through the kindness of Mr. Langford we are able to publish a mathematical note by Neville and some extracts from his letters, mainly on teaching problems. Those who knew Neville will almost hear him speak through these informal (and unedited) comments on topics where his keen enthusiasm helped so vitally to clarify issues that were becoming needlessly obscure.
Between Sovereignty and Legitimacy: China and UNESCO, 1946–1953
Authors: BARRETT GORDON
Published: June 2019

UNESCO's founding in 1946 coincided with the resumption of hostilities between China's ruling Nationalist Party (KMT) and their Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rivals for power. The new international organization's officials in Paris and its representatives on the ground in China were thus forced to navigate a fractious and fluid set of national circumstances that would result in an ambiguous outcome in 1949, with regimes on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan both claiming to represent ‘China’. Although the KMT-led Republic of China continued to claim membership in UNESCO until the 1970s, the international organization nevertheless continued to operate within the People's Republic of China (PRC) for a number of years. Exploring the relationship between the issue of Chinese representation in UNESCO and the organization's on-the-ground presence from the mid-1940s through to the early 1950s, this article argues that domestic and international factors were inescapably intertwined in shaping the trajectory of Chinese relations with international organizations during this period. While CCP officials demonstrated a mixture of ideology and pragmatism, similar to their handling of foreign entities and groups present in the PRC after its founding, engagement with UNESCO was significantly shaped by the complexity and depth of the KMT's engagement with the international organization from its inception onwards. The CCP's relations with UNESCO underscore the extent to which the emerging Cold War—and China's place within it—was ultimately characterized by complexity and contingency.
The population dynamics of the monogenean gill parasiteDiscocotyle sagittataLeuckart on Windermere trout,Salmo trutta, L.
Authors: Paling J. E.
Published: June 2019

Relatively little is known of the way in which the populations of monogenean parasites are related to the behaviour and physiology of their hosts or how such populations vary in composition over the year. Bychowsky (1957, trans. Hargis, 1961, p. 108) has described the results of studies upon six different fish hosts and parasites, while Llewellyn (1962) has studied two other species of Monogenea living on one host species. In all these investigations, the various ecological factors which influence the life cycles of the parasites have been determined.

Dogiel, Petrushevski & Polyanski (1961, p. 14) referred to a previous population study ofDiscocotyle sagittataon a hostCoregonus lavaretusin Lake Ladoga, Russia. The parasite was said to breed in July and August, while in September broods of young and old parasites overlapped. The large individuals disappeared in October and November and this ‘death of the older generation’ was taken to indicate that the parasites had a life span of only one year.

The only relevant work available when the present study was commenced was the population study of the monogeneansGastrocotyle trachuriandPseudaxine trachuriby Llewellyn and as this concerned a marine host, it was of obvious interest to investigate the population dynamics of a parasite of a freshwater fish.Discocotyle sagittatawas chosen because the biology of the British host, the brown trout (a different host from that in the Russian study ofDiscocotyle), has been intensively studied for many years. It was thought that this would be of advantage in attempting to relate any seasonal fluctuations in the parasite population to the biology of the host.
Dentate gyrus volume deficit in schizophrenia
Authors: Nakahara Soichiro , Turner Jessica A. , Calhoun Vince D. , Lim Kelvin O. , Mueller Bryon , Bustillo Juan R. , O'Leary Daniel S. , McEwen Sarah , Voyvodic James , Belger Aysenil , Mathalon Daniel H. , Ford Judith M. , Macciardi Fabio , Matsumoto Mitsuyuki , Potkin Steven G. , van Erp Theo G. M.
Published: June 2019

Background

Schizophrenia is associated with robust hippocampal volume deficits but subregion volume deficits, their associations with cognition, and contributing genes remain to be determined.

Methods

Hippocampal formation (HF) subregion volumes were obtained using FreeSurfer 6.0 from individuals with schizophrenia (n= 176, mean age ±s.d.= 39.0 ± 11.5, 132 males) and healthy volunteers (n= 173, mean age ±s.d.= 37.6 ± 11.3, 123 males) with similar mean age, gender, handedness, and race distributions. Relationships between the HF subregion volume with the largest between group difference, neuropsychological performance, and single-nucleotide polymorphisms were assessed.

Results

This study found a significant group by region interaction on hippocampal subregion volumes. Compared to healthy volunteers, individuals with schizophrenia had significantly smaller dentate gyrus (DG) (Cohen'sd= −0.57), Cornu Ammonis (CA) 4, molecular layer of the hippocampus, hippocampal tail, and CA 1 volumes, when statistically controlling for intracranial volume; DG (d= −0.43) and CA 4 volumes remained significantly smaller when statistically controlling for mean hippocampal volume. DG volume showed the largest between group difference and significant positive associations with visual memory and speed of processing in the overall sample. Genome-wide association analysis with DG volume as the quantitative phenotype identified rs56055643 (β= 10.8,p< 5 × 10−8, 95% CI 7.0–14.5) on chromosome 3 in high linkage disequilibrium withMOBP. Gene-based analyses identified associations betweenSLC25A38andRPSAand DG volume.

Conclusions

This study suggests that DG dysfunction is fundamentally involved in schizophrenia pathophysiology, that it may contribute to cognitive abnormalities in schizophrenia, and that underlying biological mechanisms may involve contributions fromMOBP,SLC25A38, andRPSA.
Self-harm and violent criminality linked with parental death during childhood
Authors: Carr M.J. , Mok P.L.H. , Antonsen S. , Pedersen C.B. , Webb R.T.
Published: June 2019

Background

Adverse health and social outcomes are known to occur more frequently following parental death during childhood, but evidence is lacking for comparing long-term risks of internalised v. externalised harm.

Methods

This national register-based cohort study consisted of Danish persons born 1970–2000. The Civil Registration System and National Causes of Death Register were linked to ascertain parental deaths by cause before cohort members' 15th birthdays. From age 15 years, hospital-treated self-harm episodes were ascertained through linkage to the National Patient Register and the Psychiatric Central Research Register, and violent crimes were identified via linkage to the National Crime Register. Hazard ratio and cumulative incidence values were estimated.

Results

Self-harm and violent criminality risks were elevated following parental death during childhood. Covariate adjustment for gender, birth year and first-degree relatives' mental illnesses attenuated these associations, although significantly heightened risks persisted. The estimated hazard ratios did not differ greatly according to which parent died, but losing both parents conferred particularly large risk increases. Risks for both adverse outcomes were higher in relation to unnatural v. natural parental death; violent criminality risk was especially raised among individuals exposed to parental death by unnatural causes other than suicide. The association was strongest when pre-school age children experienced parental death.

Conclusions

Effective early intervention is needed to help youngsters who have experienced the death of one or both parents to develop immediate and sustained coping strategies. Enhanced cooperation between health and social services and criminal justice agencies may mitigate risks for these two destructive behaviours.
Electromagnetic diffraction by two coaxial discs
Authors: Thomas D. P. , Rosenhead L.
Published: June 2019

1. Introduction. The problems associated with low-frequency diffraction by a circular disc have attracted the attention of many research workers. A review article by Bouwkamp(1) gives an excellent account of the research that was done prior to 1953 and a report by Eggimann(3) provides a summary of the papers that were published between 1953 and 1960. References to work published since 1960 may be found in papers of Noble (10) and Williams (16), (17).
Memories into Images: Aegean and Aegean-like Objects in New Kingdom Egyptian Theban Tombs
Authors: Matić Uroš
Published: June 2019

Diplomatic relations between the 18th-dynasty Egyptian court and the polities of the Aegean Bronze Age are gaining increasing scholarly attention. The work conducted so far on chronological synchronization has established a relatively firm base for further discussions on social relations. The role of the prestige objects arriving from the Aegean to Egypt has not received the same attention. This is partly because our knowledge of these objects is restricted to Egyptian visual representations in tombs of the officials and not the imported objectsper se. This paper will discuss the transformative capacities of Egyptian decorum in regards to the foreign prestige objects of the Aegean provenance arriving in the Egyptian 18th-dynasty court. We first have to understand the iconographical phenomena of transference, hybridization and creativity in Egyptian visual culture, and only then may we attempt to read any historical reality behind them. These transformative representational processes are crucial for the understanding of the reception and the memory of the Aegean objects.
MAPLE: A Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates
Authors: Byers-Heinlein Krista , Schott Esther , Gonzalez-Barrero Ana Maria , Brouillard Melanie , Dubé Daphnée , Jardak Amel , Laoun-Rubenstein Alexandra , Mastroberardino Meghan , Morin-Lessard Elizabeth , Pour Iliaei Sadaf , Salama-Siroishka Nicholas , Tamayo Maria Paula
Published: June 2019

Bilingual infants vary in when, how, and how often they hear each of their languages. Variables such as the particular languages of exposure, the community context, the onset of exposure, the amount of exposure, and socioeconomic status are crucial for describing any bilingual infant sample. Parent report is an effective approach for gathering data about infants’ language experience. However, its quality is highly dependent on how information is elicited. This paper introduces a Multilingual Approach to Parent Language Estimates (MAPLE). MAPLE promotes best practices for using structured interviews to reliably elicit information from parents on bilingual infants’ language background, with an emphasis on the challenging task of quantifying infants’ relative exposure to each language. We discuss sensitive issues that must be navigated in this process, including diversity in family characteristics and cultural values. Finally, we identify six systematic effects that can impact parent report, and strategies for minimizing their influence.
Effect of postnatal overfeeding on the male and female Wistar rat reproductive parameters
Authors: Costa V. M. G. , Andreazzi A. E. , Bolotari M. , Lade C. G. , Guerra M. O. , Peters V. M.
Published: June 2019

Overweight/obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, and factors such as a sedentary lifestyle and inadequate eating habits directly contribute to the development of this condition. Studies indicate that rapid weight gain at critical development stages, such as the lactation period, is associated with the development of obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes in the long term. In addition to metabolic changes during adulthood, overweight/obesity may influence reproductive function of the population. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate postnatal overfeeding effects on male and female Wistar rat reproductive parameters. Postnatal overfeeding was induced by applying the litter reduction method for both sexes. Forty animals were used, divided into four groups: two with normal litters (NL♂ and NL♀) and two with small litters (SL♂ and SL♀). The males were euthanized at 90 days of age, on the same date the females were mated. Females were also euthanized after the 20-day gestation. Metabolic and reproductive variables were analyzed. Regarding males, SL animals showed increased body weight, adiposity, and decreased relative weight of the seminal vesicle, prostate, and epididymis as well as changes in the ITT and OGTT glycemic tests. Concerning females, SL animals presented increased body weight, relative perigonadal fat weight, glucose intolerance as well as modify the vaginal opening and increased weight of female pup. The litter reduction method was efficient in leading to metabolic and reproductive alterations in male and female Wistar rat.
Internal Consistency and Convergent Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory English and European-Spanish Version with English/Spanish Bilinguals
Authors: Kois Lauren E. , Rodriguez Crystalann , Chauhan Preeti , Pearson Jessica , Barber Rioja Virginia
Published: June 2019

Practitioners have few personality inventory options when assessing Spanish-speakers, despite professional guidelines that encourage them to administer measures that are validated with their populations of interest. To build on research in this area, we examined the internal consistency and convergent validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) and the Personality Assessment Inventory European-Spanish (PAIE-S) version among bilingual Latin American Spanish-speakers (final n = 53). For the PAI, 72.72% of scales and 35.48% of subscales had alphas above .70. For the PAIE-S, 50.00% of scales and 25.81% of scales met this alpha. Participants tended to score lowest on the PAI Alcohol Problems scale (T = 47.19) and the PAIE-S Warmth scale (T = 45.49). On average, participants scored highest on the PAI’s Paranoia-Hypervigilance scale (T = 61.15) and the PAIE-S’s Paranoia scale (T = 57.64). We identified 10 scales and subscales on which participants were significantly more likely (p < .00094) to score higher on one measure than the other. Participants more often scored higher on the PAI than the PAIE-S. All parallel scales and subscales converged at p < .00094 with the exception of the Antisocial Features-Egocentricity scale. Taken together, findings suggest taking caution when administering these measures to Latin American bilingual Spanish-speakers.
British World Protestant Children, Young People, Education and the Missionary Movement, c.1840s–1930s
Authors: Morrison Hugh
Published: June 2019

This article considers the evolving relationship between Protestant children, pedagogy and the missionary movement across the British world. From the 1840s, children were a central focus of missionary society philanthropy. By the time of the 1910 World Missionary Conference, missionary and denominational thinkers were consistently highlighting their strategic importance and the need for clear policy that was focused on children's education. This article traces the ways in which this emphasis developed, and the impact that it had among the children involved. It argues that the children's missionary movement was educational at heart, wherein philanthropy and pedagogy went hand in hand. In particular, over the long nineteenth century all the players consistently emphasized the importance of nurturing a ‘missionary spirit’, a notion that was primarily religious in intent but which in practice moved from pragmatic philanthropy to a more formalized emphasis on education and identity formation. The article introduces representative ways by which this was articulated, drawing on examples from a range of British world contexts in which different communities of Protestant children were engaged educationally and philanthropically in very similar ways.
Educating the Local Clergy,c.900–c.1150
Authors: Hamilton Sarah
Published: June 2019

Scholars interested in those medieval clergy charged with the delivery of pastoral care have highlighted the flourishing of reforming movements in the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Thus the period between the fall of the Carolingian empire and the beginnings of the so-called pastoral revolution is generally viewed as one of episcopal neglect. Focusing on case studies drawn from the Carolingian heartlands of north-east Frankia and Lotharingia, as well as what had been the more peripheral regions of northern Italy and southern England, this article offers a revised interpretation of the education of the local clergy in the post-Carolingian world. Exploring the ways in which higher churchmen sought to innovate on the texts they inherited from their Carolingian predecessors, it demonstrates how they paid considerable attention to the preparation and ordination of suitable candidates, to the instruction and monitoring of local clergy through attendance at diocesan synods and local episcopal visitations, and to the provision of suitable texts to support local churchmen in the delivery of pastoral care.
‘I found this written in the other book’: Learning Astronomy in Late Medieval Monasteries
Authors: Falk Seb
Published: June 2019

Recent histories have challenged narratives of a late medieval decline in monastic scholarship. This article extends that work to the natural sciences, showing how monks could learn astronomy and mathematics through their scholarly labour of reading, copying and glossing. Although the processes of learning are often poorly documented, and are often conflated with teaching, it is possible, through close reading of annotations and reconstruction of mathematical processes, to get a glimpse of an individual in the moment of acquiring scientific skills. Focusing on a piece of adaptive copying carried out by an English Benedictine monkc.1380, this article explores the devotional motivations underlying his work, and argues that it was through such copying and compilation that he acquired the expertise necessary to invent an astronomical instrument some years later.
Western Establishment or Chinese Sovereignty? The Tientsin Anglo-Chinese College during the Restore Educational Rights Movement, 1924–7
Authors: Wang Marina Xiaojing
Published: June 2019

The 1920s were a vital period for the evolution of Christianity in China, during which the Anti-Christian Movement of 1922–7 brought Christianity under serious attack. A new conception of nationalism, influenced by Lenin's theory of imperialism, dramatically changed the way in which Christianity (and especially mission schools) was regarded, from being viewed as a positive factor in China's modernization to being seen as a hated cultural imperialist invasion. The period from 1924 to 1927 featured the demand for the restoration of educational rights, during which the identity of mission schools was used to stir up nationalist hatred. This article takes Tientsin Anglo-Chinese College (TACC) of the London Missionary Society (LMS) as a case study. It examines how the TACC missionary authorities responded to nationalistic sentiments emerging within the college and in society, and how they reacted towards the compulsory registration and consequent abolition of compulsory school religious education. It explores key issues behind the interaction between mission schools and the socio-political context, such as how TACC reconstructed its identity during the process of school registration, and how it negotiated with the Ministry of Education under the tension between two divergent approaches of Christianizing and nationalizing mission schools, a tension which became acute as a consequence of the application of regulations making school religious education and practice optional.
The British Council of Churches’ Influence on the ‘Radical Rethinking of Religious Education’ in the 1960s and 1970s
Authors: Doney Jonathan
Published: June 2019

It is widely accepted that during the later 1960s, Religious Education (RE) in English state-maintained schools underwent a significant transition, moving from a Christian ‘confessional’ approach to an academic study of world religions. A detailed examination of the activities of the British Council of Churches’ Education Department during the period reveals examples of an active promotion of this study of world religions, something that hitherto has been absent from the historiography of RE. For example, the department organized key conferences, meetings and consultations, at which future directions for RE were considered and discussed. A research project undertaken for the department in the later 1960s, which led to the 1968 report Religion and the Secondary School, was prompted by the identification that ‘[t]oday the needs of children and young people demand a radical rethinking and reshaping of the purpose and method of religious education’. This report included a statement specifically encouraging the study of non-Christian religions, which was repeated in later key documents. This article shows how the British Council of Churches’ Education Department played a role in the development of the ‘non-confessional’ study of world religions in English state-maintained schools from as early as the late 1940s.
Psychological Predictors of Fatigue, Work and Social Adjustment, and	Psychological Distress in Rheumatology Outpatients
Authors: Matcham Faith , Ali Sheila , Irving Katherine , Chalder Trudie
Published: June 2019

Abstract. This study aims to investigate the longitudinal relationships between psychological variables and follow-up levels of fatigue, work and social adjustment, and psychological distress in people with rheumatic diseases. The study is a prospective observational study. Patients attending rheumatology outpatient appointments completed a questionnaire during their hospital visit and were mailed a follow-up questionnaire either at their next appointment or via postal questionnaire. Multivariate linear regression models examined the association between baseline cognitive behavioral responses, personality, social support and acceptance and follow-up levels of fatigue, work and social adjustment, and psychological distress, adjusting for age, gender, disease duration, and the length of time between baseline and follow-up. A total of 108 patients completed the follow-up questionnaires. The biggest predictors of having high levels of fatigue at follow-up were increased baseline damage beliefs and behavioral avoidance. Behavioral avoidance at baseline also had a strong relationship with worsened work and social adjustment at follow-up. The biggest predictor of psychological distress at follow-up was a lack of fatigue acceptance at baseline.
Seasonal Prediction of Northern European Winter Air Temperatures From SST Anomalies Based on Sensitivity Estimates
Authors: Köhl Armin , Vlasenko Andrey
Published: June 2019

The climate over Europe is significantly affected by the state of the atmospheric circulation over the North Atlantic, which in turn is influenced by various slowly varying components of the climate system. Linear models are employed to investigate how much of the European winter air temperature variability can directly be predicted from the sea surface temperature. By comparing relations from a statistical model to those from an adjoint to a linearized climate model we evaluate the ability of the lagged maximum covariance analysis to reconstruct the dynamical relation between sea surface temperature (SST) and atmosphere temperature. Applied to specific SST conditions, both approaches allow prediction of a similar and significant fraction of the air temperature variability from SST. For a 1‐month lag, extreme air temperature responses are significant and found to be associated with an omega‐blocking pattern over Scandinavia.
Multivariate Nonstationary Oscillation Simulation of Climate Indices With Empirical Mode Decomposition
Authors: Lee Taesam , Ouarda Taha B.M.J.
Published: June 2019

The objective of the current study is to build a stochastic model to simulate climate indices that are teleconnected with the hydrologic regimes of large‐scale water resources systems such as the Great Lakes system. Climate indices generally contain nonstationary oscillations (NSOs). We adopted a stochastic simulation model based on Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD). The procedure for the model is to decompose the observed series and then to simulate the decomposed components with the NSO resampling (NSOR) technique. Because the model has only been previously applied to single variables, a multivariate version of NSOR (M‐NSOR) is developed to consider the links between the climate indices and to reproduce the NSO process. The proposed M‐NSOR model is tested in a simulation study on the Rössler system. The simulation results indicate that the M‐NSOR model reproduces the significant oscillatory behaviors of the system and the marginal statistical characteristics. Subsequently, the M‐NSOR model is applied to three climate indices (i.e., Arctic Oscillation, El Niño‐Southern Oscillation, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation) for the annual and winter data sets. The results of the proposed model are compared to those of the Contemporaneous Shifting Mean and Contemporaneous Autoregressive Moving Average model. The results indicate that the proposed M‐NSOR model is superior to the Contemporaneous Shifting Mean and Contemporaneous Autoregressive Moving Average model for reproducing the NSO process, while the other basic statistics are comparatively well preserved in both cases. The current study concludes that the proposed M‐NSOR model can be a good alternative to simulate NSO processes and their teleconnections with climate indices.
Challenges, Opportunities, and Pitfalls for Global Coupled Hydrologic‐Hydraulic Modeling of Floods
Authors: Grimaldi S. , Schumann G. J.‐P. , Shokri A. , Walker J. P. , Pauwels V. R. N.
Published: June 2019

Flood modeling at the regional to global scale is a key requirement for equitable emergency and land management. Coupled hydrological‐hydraulic models are at the core of flood forecasting and risk assessment models. Nevertheless, each model is subject to uncertainties from different sources (e.g., model structure, parameters, and inputs). Understanding how uncertainties propagate through the modeling cascade is essential to invest in data collection, increase flood modeling accuracy, and comprehensively communicate modeling results to end users. This study used a numerical experiment to quantify the propagation of errors when coupling hydrological and hydraulic models for multiyear flood event modeling in a large basin, with large morphological and hydrological variability. A coupled modeling chain consisting of the hydrological model Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning and the hydraulic model LISFLOOD‐FP was used for the prediction of floodplain inundation in the Murray Darling Basin (Australia), from 2006 to 2012. The impacts of discrepancies between simulated and measured flow hydrographs on the predicted inundation patterns were analyzed by moving from small upstream catchments to large lowland catchments. The numerical experiment was able to identify areas requiring tailored modeling solutions or data collection. Moreover, this study highlighted the high sensitivity of inundation volume and extent prediction to uncertainties in flood peak values and explored challenges in time‐continuous modeling. Accurate flood peak predictions, knowledge of critical morphological features, and an event‐based modeling approach were outlined as pragmatic solutions for more accurate prediction of large‐scale spatiotemporal patterns of flood dynamics, particularly in the presence of low‐accuracy elevation data.
Editorial Honoring the 2018 Reviewers for JGR Space Physics
Authors: Liemohn Michael W. , Pierrard Viviane , Ganushkina Natalia Yu , Rodger Alan , Wang Yuming , Kepko Larry , Balikhin Michael
Published: June 2019

The Editors of the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics would like to honor and thank the 2018 manuscript reviewers for the journal. This is a large‐scale, community‐wide effort for which 1,358 scientists submitted 3,027 reviews in 2018. We understand that this is a volunteer task and we greatly appreciate your time and effort to fulfill this service role back to the research community.
Dissecting cell diversity and connectivity in skeletal muscle for myogenesis
Authors: Liu Yi-xiao , Wu Bing-bing , Gong Lin , An Cheng-rui , Lin Jun-xin , Li Qi-kai , Jiang De-ming , Jin Kai-xiu , Mechakra Asma , Bunpetch Varitsara , Li Yu , Zou Yi-wei , Ouyang Hong-Wei , Zou Xiao-Hui
Published: June 2019

Characterized by their slow adhering property, skeletal muscle myogenic progenitor cells (MPCs) have been widely utilized in skeletal muscle tissue engineering for muscle regeneration, but with limited efficacy. Skeletal muscle regeneration is regulated by various cell types, including a large number of rapidly adhering cells (RACs) where their functions and mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we explored the function of RACs by co-culturing them with MPCs in a biomimetic skeletal muscle organoid system. Results showed that RACs promoted the myogenic potential of MPCs in the organoid. Single-cell RNA-Seq was also performed, classifying RACs into 7 cell subtypes, including one newly described cell subtype: teno-muscular cells (TMCs). Connectivity map of RACs and MPCs subpopulations revealed potential growth factors (VEGFA and HBEGF) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins involvement in the promotion of myogenesis of MPCs during muscle organoid formation. Finally, trans-well experiments and small molecular inhibitors blocking experiments confirmed the role of RACs in the promotion of myogenic differentiation of MPCs. The RACs reported here revealed complex cell diversity and connectivity with MPCs in the biomimetic skeletal muscle organoid system, which not only offers an attractive alternative for disease modeling and in vitro drug screening but also provides clues for in vivo muscle regeneration.
Unique defect structure and advantageous vortex pinning properties in superconducting CaKFe4As4
Authors: Ishida Shigeyuki , Iyo Akira , Ogino Hiraku , Eisaki Hiroshi , Takeshita Nao , Kawashima Kenji , Yanagisawa Keiichi , Kobayashi Yuuga , Kimoto Koji , Abe Hideki , Imai Motoharu , Shimoyama Jun-ichi , Eisterer Michael
Published: June 2019

The lossless current-carrying capacity of a superconductor is limited by its critical current density (Jc). A key to enhance Jc towards real-life applications is engineering defect structures to optimize the pinning landscape. For iron-based superconductors considered as candidate materials for high-field applications, high Jc values have been achieved by various techniques to introduce artificial pinning centres. Here we report extraordinary vortex pinning properties in CaKFe4As4 (CaK1144) arising from the inherent defect structure. Scanning transmission electron microscopy revealed the existence of nanoscale intergrowths of the CaFe2As2 phase, which is unique to CaK1144 formed as a line compound. The Jc properties in CaK1144 are found to be distinct from other iron-based superconductors characterized by a significant anisotropy with respect to the magnetic field orientation as well as a remarkable pinning mechanism significantly enhanced with increasing temperature. We propose a comprehensive explanation of the Jc properties based on the unique intergrowths acting as pinning centres.
Emerging 2D-ferromagnetism and strong spin-orbit coupling at the surface of valence-fluctuating EuIr2Si2
Authors: Schulz Susanne , Nechaev Ilya A. , Güttler Monika , Poelchen Georg , Generalov Alexander , Danzenbächer Steffen , Chikina Alla , Seiro Silvia , Kliemt Kristin , Vyazovskaya Alexandra Yu. , Kim Timur K. , Dudin Pavel , Chulkov Evgueni V. , Laubschat Clemens , Krasovskii Eugene E. , Geibel Christoph , Krellner Cornelius , Kummer Kurt , Vyalikh Denis V.
Published: June 2019

The development of materials that are non-magnetic in the bulk but exhibit two-dimensional (2D) magnetism at the surface is at the core of spintronics applications. Here, we present the valence-fluctuating material EuIr2Si2, where in contrast to its non-magnetic bulk, the Si-terminated surface reveals controllable 2D ferromagnetism. Close to the surface the Eu ions prefer a magnetic divalent configuration and their large 4f moments order below 48 K. The emerging exchange interaction modifies the spin polarization of the 2D surface electrons originally induced by the strong Rashba effect. The temperature-dependent mixed valence of the bulk allows to tune the energy and momentum size of the projected band gaps to which the 2D electrons are confined. This gives an additional degree of freedom to handle spin-polarized electrons at the surface. Our findings disclose valence-fluctuating rare-earth based materials as a very promising basis for the development of systems with controllable 2D magnetic properties which is of interest both for fundamental science and applications.
Qß Virus-like particle-based vaccine induces robust immunity and protects against tauopathy
Authors: Maphis Nicole M. , Peabody Julianne , Crossey Erin , Jiang Shanya , Jamaleddin Ahmad Fadi A. , Alvarez Maria , Mansoor Soiba Khalid , Yaney Amanda , Yang Yirong , Sillerud Laurel O. , Wilson Colin M. , Selwyn Reed , Brigman Jonathan L. , Cannon Judy L. , Peabody David S. , Chackerian Bryce , Bhaskar Kiran
Published: June 2019

Tauopathies, including frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are progressive neurodegenerative diseases clinically characterized by cognitive decline and could be caused by the aggregation of hyperphosphorylated pathological tau (pTau) as neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) inside neurons. There is currently no FDA-approved treatment that cures, slows or prevents tauopathies. Current immunotherapy strategies targeting pTau have generated encouraging data but may pose concerns about scalability, affordability, and efficacy. Here, we engineered a virus-like particle (VLP)-based vaccine in which tau peptide, phosphorylated at threonine 181, was linked at high valency to Qß bacteriophage VLPs (pT181-Qß). We demonstrate that vaccination with pT181-Qß is sufficient to induce a robust and long-lived anti-pT181 antibody response in the sera and the brains of both Non-Tg and rTg4510 mice. Only sera from pT181-Qß vaccinated mice are reactive to classical somatodendritic pTau in human FTD and AD post-mortem brain sections. Finally, we demonstrate that pT181-Qß vaccination reduces both soluble and insoluble species of hyperphosphorylated pTau in the hippocampus and cortex, avoids a Th1-mediated pro-inflammatory cell response, prevents hippocampal and corpus callosum atrophy and rescues cognitive dysfunction in a 4-month-old rTg4510 mouse model of FTD. These studies provide a valid scientific premise for the development of VLP-based immunotherapy to target pTau and potentially prevent Alzheimer’s diseases and related tauopathies.
PathoPhenoDB, linking human pathogens to their phenotypes in support of infectious disease research
Authors: Kafkas Şenay , Abdelhakim Marwa , Hashish Yasmeen , Kulmanov Maxat , Abdellatif Marwa , Schofield Paul N. , Hoehndorf Robert
Published: June 2019

Understanding the relationship between the pathophysiology of infectious disease, the biology of the causative agent and the development of therapeutic and diagnostic approaches is dependent on the synthesis of a wide range of types of information. Provision of a comprehensive and integrated disease phenotype knowledgebase has the potential to provide novel and orthogonal sources of information for the understanding of infectious agent pathogenesis, and support for research on disease mechanisms. We have developed PathoPhenoDB, a database containing pathogen-to-phenotype associations. PathoPhenoDB relies on manual curation of pathogen-disease relations, on ontology-based text mining as well as manual curation to associate host disease phenotypes with infectious agents. Using Semantic Web technologies, PathoPhenoDB also links to knowledge about drug resistance mechanisms and drugs used in the treatment of infectious diseases. PathoPhenoDB is accessible at http://patho.phenomebrowser.net/, and the data are freely available through a public SPARQL endpoint.
CFTI5Med, the new release of the catalogue of strong earthquakes in Italy and in the Mediterranean area
Authors: Guidoboni Emanuela , Ferrari Graziano , Tarabusi Gabriele , Sgattoni Giulia , Comastri Alberto , Mariotti Dante , Ciuccarelli Cecilia , Bianchi Maria Giovanna , Valensise Gianluca
Published: June 2019

A key element for assessing seismic hazard and risk is the availability of a comprehensive dataset on past earthquakes. Here we present the rationale, structure and contents of CFTI5Med (https://doi.org/10.6092/ingv.it-cfti5), the 2018 version of the Catalogue of Strong Earthquakes in Italy: a large multidisciplinary effort including historians, seismologists and geologists. It was conceived in 1989, following the inception of GIS technology, and first published in 1995 to offer a full account of Italy’s strongest earthquakes, of their territorial impact and associated social and economic upheaval. Subsequent versions (1997, 2000, 2007) entailed a fine tuning of research methodologies, included additional research on Italian earthquakes, and were extended to large earthquakes of the Mediterranean area. CFTI5Med comprised an opportunity to streamline the structure of the Catalogue database and propose a renovated user interface. The new front-end (1) grants an easier, intuitive access to the data, including earthquake effects on the environment, and (2) allows all data to be displayed jointly with relevant topographic, geological and seismological overlays published as web services.
In-feed bacitracin methylene disalicylate modulates the turkey microbiota and metabolome in a dose-dependent manner
Authors: Johnson Timothy A. , Sylte Matthew J. , Looft Torey
Published: June 2019

Beginning in 2017, the subtherapeutic use of most antibiotic compounds for growth promotion in food producing animals in the US was prohibited, highlighting the need to discover alternative growth promotants. Identifying the mechanism of action of growth promoting antibiotics may aid in the discovery of antibiotic alternatives. We describe the effects of feeding a subtherapeutic (50 g/ton of feed) and therapeutic (200 g/ton) concentration of bacitracin methylene disalicylate (BMD) to commercial turkeys for 14 weeks, and its effect on turkey intestinal microbial communities and cecal metabolomes. Both BMD concentrations had an immediate and lasting impact on the microbiota structure, and reduced bacterial richness through the end of the study (12 weeks). Metabolomic analysis identified 712 biochemicals, and 69% of metabolites were differentially present in BMD treated turkeys for at least one time point (q < 0.1). Amino acids, carbohydrates, nucleotides, peptides, and lipids were decreased in the turkey ceca early after BMD administration. Long-term metabolome alterations continued even after withdrawal of BMD. The microbial composition, determined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, was predictive of the metabolome, indicating a connection between the microbiome and metabolome. In-feed BMD may cause bacterial metabolic shifts, leading to beneficial traits that can be targeted to improve animal health and production.
Spatial and temporal relationship between native mammals and free-roaming dogs in a protected area surrounded by a metropolis
Authors: Yen Shih-Ching , Ju Yu-Ten , Shaner Pei-Jen Lee , Chen Hsiang Ling
Published: June 2019

With rapid urbanization worldwide, anthropogenic impacts such as human settlements and invasive carnivores (dogs Canis familiaris, cats Felis catus) are altering spatial distributions and temporal activity patterns of native species. In this study, we focused on spatiotemporal responses of native mammals to anthropogenic impacts in a protected area surrounded by a large metropolis (i.e. Yangmingshan National Park inside Taipei-Keelung metropolis in northern Taiwan). We collected site use data of 11 mammal species (i.e. dogs, cats, nine native species) between 2012 and 2017 with a camera system comprising 121 camera sites. We quantified anthropogenic disturbances as distance to human settlements and activity levels of free-roaming dogs and cats. Species richness and occurrences of the native mammals increased with increasing distances to human settlements and decreasing activity level of dogs, with the latter having a stronger effect than the former. Diel activity overlap between native mammals and dogs was lower during April–July season, coinciding with the breeding season for several native mammals. In contrast, activity level of cats showed no relationships with species richness, occurrences or diel activities of the native mammals. This study demonstrated negative impacts of human settlements and free-roaming dogs on native mammal communities for protected areas in urban environments, and highlights dog activity as a major anthropogenic threat to wildlife.
A synthetic male-specific sterilization system using the mammalian pro-apoptotic factor in a malaria vector mosquito
Authors: Yamamoto Daisuke S. , Sumitani Megumi , Kasashima Katsumi , Sezutsu Hideki , Matsuoka Hiroyuki , Kato Hirotomo
Published: June 2019

Conditional cell death systems are useful for various aspects of basic science with a wide range of applications, including genetic pest control. We recently demonstrated that expression of the mammalian pro-apoptotic factor, B-cell leukaemia/lymphoma 2-associated X protein (Bax), can induce apoptosis in specific tissues by using tissue specific promoters in silkworm and mosquito. Here, we newly identified a functional promoter in the Asian malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi, which enables gene expression specifically in the testis. We produced a transgenic mosquito line that expresses mouse Bax under the control of this testis-specific promoter. Transgenic mosquito males exhibited aberrant testes without functional sperm and complete sterility, whereas transgenic females maintained normal fecundity. Despite their abnormal testes, the transgenic males maintained normal function of male accessory glands and typical mating behaviour. As a result of mating with these males, females showed refractoriness to further mating. These results suggest that transgenic males induce female sterility via mating. The mosquito is one of the most important disease vectors, and the control of their population benefits global public health. Thus, this Bax-mediated synthetic male-specific sterilization system could be applied to population control of mosquitoes.