bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mission Alliance Community Engagement Project: Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Social Isolation, Loneliness, Mental Health and Wellbeing in Veterans
Authors: Pratt Beth A. , Krause-Parello Cheryl A. , Nguyen-Feng Viann N. , Giordano Nicholas A. , Basin S. Basilia , Peterson Alan L. , Walsh Patrick , Siebert Aaron Q. , Ruiz Rigoberto , Kirkland David M. , Nolan John Paul
Published: December 2023

During the Coronavirus disease pandemic, many U.S. veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced increased symptomology and worsened mental health and well-being due in part to social isolation and loneliness. The Mission Alliance project explored these ramifications and prioritized critical issues expressed by U.S. veterans and stakeholders (N = 182) during virtual regional meetings (N = 32). Field notes created specifically for this project were recorded and thematically analyzed. Emerging themes included: (1) social isolation: missed opportunities, collapsed social circles, work-life balance, fostering relationships, and evolving health care delivery; (2) loneliness: deteriorated mental health, suffered with PTSD together but alone, looked out for each other, ambivalence toward technology, and strained and broken systems; (3) mental health: sense of chaos, increased demand and decreased access, aggravation, implementation of tools, innovative solutions, fear and loss, and availability of resources; (4) wellbeing: sense of purpose, holistic perspective on well-being, recognition of balance, persisting stigma, redefined pressures, freedom to direct treatment, and reconnection and disconnection. A PTSD-related patient centered outcomes research (PCOR)/comparative effectiveness research (CER) agenda was developed from these themes. Establishment of a veteran and stakeholder network is suggested to support, facilitate, and promote the PTSD-related PCOR/CER agenda. Furthermore, enhancement of opportunities for veterans with PTSD and stakeholders to partner in PCOR/CER is required to develop and conduct projects that lead to PTSD-related comprehensive care of veterans affected by traumatic events with the potential to translate findings to other populations.
Optimized derivative fast Fourier transform with high resolution and low noise from encoded time signals: Ovarian NMR spectroscopy
Authors: Belkić Dževad , Belkić Karen
Published: December 2023

The unfiltered derivative fast Fourier transform (dFFT) of degrees higher than two fails flagrantly for encoded time signals. These data are always dominated by noise at larger times of encodings. Such a breakdown is due to processing the unweighted product of the time signal and the time power function. The latter is generated by the frequency derivative operator applied to the fast Fourier transform (FFT). As a result, the unfiltered dFFT cannot separate the overlapped resonances and it dramatically decreases signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) relative to the FFT. This problem is solved by a derivative-adapted optimization with the properly attenuated filters. The ensuing optimized dFFT achieves the long sought simultaneous enhancement of both resolution and SNR. It uncovers the genuine resonances hidden within overlapping peaks to enable quantitative interpretations. It does not impose any model on the input time signals nor on the output lineshape in the spectra. It is computationally expedient as it uses the Cooley-Tukey fast algorithm. The present applications deal with time signals encoded by in vitro NMR spectroscopy from human malignant ovarian cyst fluid. A remarkably successful performance of the optimized dFFT is demonstrated for reconstructed spectra of potentially added value in clinical decision-making.
Single-cell Analysis Reveals Inter- and Intratumour Heterogeneity in Metastatic Breast Cancer
Authors: Hamelin Baptiste , Obradović Milan M. S. , Sethi Atul , Kloc Michal , Münst Simone , Beisel Christian , Eschbach Katja , Kohler Hubertus , Soysal Savas , Vetter Marcus , Weber Walter P. , Stadler Michael B. , Bentires-Alj Mohamed
Published: December 2023

Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths of breast cancer patients. Some cancer cells in a tumour go through successive steps, referred to as the metastatic cascade, and give rise to metastases at a distant site. We know that the plasticity and heterogeneity of cancer cells play critical roles in metastasis but the precise underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Here we aimed to identify molecular mechanisms of metastasis during colonization, one of the most important yet poorly understood steps of the cascade. We performed single-cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) on tumours and matched lung macrometastases of patient-derived xenografts of breast cancer. After correcting for confounding factors such as the cell cycle and the percentage of detected genes (PDG), we identified cells in three states in both tumours and metastases. Gene-set enrichment analysis revealed biological processes specific to proliferation and invasion in two states. Our findings suggest that these states are a balance between epithelial-to-mesenchymal (EMT) and mesenchymal-to-epithelial transitions (MET) traits that results in so-called partial EMT phenotypes. Analysis of the top differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between these cell states revealed a common set of partial EMT transcription factors (TFs) controlling gene expression, including ZNF750, OVOL2, TP63, TFAP2C and HEY2. Our data suggest that the TFs related to EMT delineate different cell states in tumours and metastases. The results highlight the marked interpatient heterogeneity of breast cancer but identify common features of single cells from five models of metastatic breast cancer.
Alterations of the skeletal muscle contractile apparatus in necrosis induced by myotoxic snake venom phospholipases A2: a mini-review
Authors: López-Dávila Alfredo Jesús , Lomonte Bruno , Gutiérrez José María
Published: December 2023

Skeletal muscle necrosis is a common clinical manifestation of snakebite envenoming. The predominant myotoxic components in snake venoms are catalytically-active phospholipases A2 (PLA2) and PLA2 homologs devoid of enzymatic activity, which have been used as models to investigate various aspects of muscle degeneration. This review addresses the changes in the contractile apparatus of skeletal muscle induced by these toxins. Myotoxic components initially disrupt the integrity of sarcolemma, generating a calcium influx that causes various degenerative events, including hypercontraction of myofilaments. There is removal of specific sarcomeric proteins, owing to the hydrolytic action of muscle calpains and proteinases from invading inflammatory cells, causing an initial redistribution followed by widespread degradation of myofibrillar material. Experiments using skinned cardiomyocytes and skeletal muscle fibers show that these myotoxins do not directly affect the contractile apparatus, implying that hypercontraction is due to cytosolic calcium increase secondary to sarcolemmal damage. Such drastic hypercontraction may contribute to muscle damage by generating mechanical stress and further sarcolemmal damage.
On the association between gender-science stereotypes’ endorsement and gender bias attribution
Authors: De Gioannis Elena
Published: December 2023

The existence and persistence of stereotypes on gender and science, as well as their influence on attitudes and behaviors, have been largely studied worldwide. Current measures of gender-science stereotypes are mainly descriptive and do not ask respondents their opinions about the perceived cause(s) of these gender differences. However, empirical evidence suggests that gender bias attribution, i.e., the difference in the causes to which gender differences are attributed, has heterogeneous consequences. Here, it was exploited the fact that Project Implicit includes both instruments of gender-science stereotypes and gender bias attribution to test whether and to what extent two components of gender bias attribution, i.e., causes attributed to personal characteristics and those attributed to social/contextual factors, were associated with the endorsement of implicit and explicit gender-science stereotypes. Both an exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis tested whether the instrument on gender bias attribution in Project Implicit could be decomposed into two components, while an SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) analysis tested the hypothesized association. The factor analysis confirmed that bias attribution should be decomposed into two distinct components, “internal factors” and “external factors”. Finally, the association between these two components and implicit and explicit gender stereotypes varied depending on the participant's gender. Explicit gender stereotypes' endorsement was positively associated with the external component in the case of women and with the internal component in the case of men. Conversely, the association between attribution and implicit gender stereotypes was null.
What does better look like in individuals with severe neurodevelopmental impairments? A qualitative descriptive study on SCN2A-related developmental and epileptic encephalopathy
Authors: Downs Jenny , Ludwig Natasha N. , Wojnaroski Mary , Keeley Jessica , Schust Myers Leah , Chapman Chere A. T. , Hecker JayEtta , Conecker Gabrielle , Berg Anne T.
Published: December 2023

Purpose

There are limited psychometric data on outcome measures for children with Developmental Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEEs), beyond measuring seizures, and no data to describe meaningful change. This study aimed to explore parent perceptions of important differences in functional abilities that would guide their participation in clinical trials.

Methods

This was a descriptive qualitative study. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews were conducted with 10 families (15 parent participants) with a child with a SCN2A-DEE [8 male, median (range) age 7.5 (4.5–21)] years. Questions and probes sought to understand the child’s functioning across four domains: gross motor, fine motor, communication, and activities of daily living. Additional probing questions sought to identify the smallest differences in the child’s functioning for each domain that would be important to achieve, if enrolling in a traditional therapy clinical trial or in a gene therapy trial. Data were analyzed with directed content analysis.

Results

Expressed meaningful differences appeared to describe smaller developmental steps for children with more limited developmental skills and more complex developmental steps for children with less limited skills and were different for different clinical trial scenarios. Individual meaningful changes were described as important for the child’s quality of life and to facilitate day-to-day caring.

Conclusion

Meaningful change thresholds have not been evaluated in the DEE literature. This study was a preliminary qualitative approach to inform future studies that will aim to determine quantitative values of change, applicable to groups and within-person, to inform interpretation of specific clinical outcome assessments in individuals with a DEE.
Methods for studying the writing time-course
Authors: Torrance Mark , Conijn Rianne
Published: December 2023

The understanding of the cognitive processes that underlie written composition requires analysis of moment-by-moment fluctuation in the rate of output that go beyond traditional approaches to writing time-course analysis based on, for example, counting pauses. This special issue includes 10 papers that provide important new tools and methods for extracting and analyzing writing timecourse data that go beyond traditional approaches. The papers in this special issue divide into three groups: papers that describe methods for capturing and coding writing timecourse data from writers producing text either by hand or by keyboard, papers that describe new statistical approaches to describing and drawing inferences from these data, and papers that focus on analysis of how a text develops over time as the writer makes changes to what they have already written.
Wellbeing Rankings
Authors: Blanchflower David G. , Bryson Alex
Published: December 2023

Combining data on around four million respondents from the Gallup World Poll and the US Daily Tracker Poll we rank 164 countries, the 50 states of the United States and the District of Colombia on eight wellbeing measures. These are four positive wellbeing measures—life satisfaction, enjoyment, smiling and being well-rested—and four negative wellbeing variables—pain, sadness, anger and worry. Pooling the data for 2008–2017 we find country and state rankings differ markedly depending on whether they are ranked using positive or negative affect measures. The United States ranks lower on negative than positive affect, that is, its country wellbeing ranking looks worse using negative affect than it does when using positive affect. Combining rankings on all eight measures into a summary ranking index for 215 geographical locations we find that nine of the top ten and 16 of the top 20 ranked are US states. Only one US state ranks outside the top 100—West Virginia (101). Iraq ranks lowest—just below South Sudan. The Nordic countries that traditionally rank high using life satisfaction do not rank as highly on other measures. Country-level rankings on the summary wellbeing index differ sharply from those reported in the World Happiness Index and are more comparable to those obtained with the Human Development Index. The state level rankings on the summary index look very different from those just based on positive affect measures and look more similar to rankings based on objective wellbeing measures.
Learning Dynamic Prototypes for Visual Pattern Debiasing
Authors: Liang Kongming , Yin Zijin , Min Min , Liu Yan , Ma Zhanyu , Guo Jun
Published: December 2023

Deep learning has achieved great success in academic benchmarks but fails to work effectively in the real world due to the potential dataset bias. The current learning methods are prone to inheriting or even amplifying the bias present in a training dataset and under-represent specific demographic groups. More recently, some dataset debiasing methods have been developed to address the above challenges based on the awareness of protected or sensitive attribute labels. However, the number of protected or sensitive attributes may be considerably large, making it laborious and costly to acquire sufficient manual annotation. To this end, we propose a prototype-based network to dynamically balance the learning of different subgroups for a given dataset. First, an object pattern embedding mechanism is presented to make the network focus on the foreground region. Then we design a prototype learning method to discover and extract the visual patterns from the training data in an unsupervised way. The number of prototypes is dynamic depending on the pattern structure of the feature space. We evaluate the proposed prototype-based network on three widely used polyp segmentation datasets with abundant qualitative and quantitative experiments. Experimental results show that our proposed method outperforms the CNN-based and transformer-based state-of-the-art methods in terms of both effectiveness and fairness metrics. Moreover, extensive ablation studies are conducted to show the effectiveness of each proposed component and various parameter values. Lastly, we analyze how the number of prototypes grows during the training process and visualize the associated subgroups for each learned prototype. The code and data will be released at https://github.com/zijinY/dynamic-prototype-debiasing.
Musical Emotions and Timbre: from Expressiveness to Atmospheres
Authors: Di Stefano Nicola
Published: December 2023

In this paper, I address the question of how emotional qualities can be attributed to musical timbre, an acoustic feature that has proven challenging to explain using traditional accounts of musical emotions. I begin presenting the notion of musical expressiveness, as it has been conceived by cognitivists to account for the emotional quality of various musical elements like melody and rhythm. However, I also point out some limitations in these accounts, which hinder their ability to fully elucidate the emotional expressiveness of timbre, especially when considering it as a result of non-cognitively mediated processes. Consequently, I explore the link between timbre and atmosphere by reviewing anecdotal sources that have characterized timbre in terms of atmosphere. The goal here is to determine if these characterizations should be seen as merely allusive and metaphoric expressions or if they genuinely reveal essential properties of timbre. To achieve this goal, I delve deeper into the notion of atmosphere, and I show that it shares several key traits with the notion of musical emotions as conceived in the cognitivist’s account. Both musical emotions and atmospheres are affectively charged externalities that are apprehended by the subject without cognitive mediation. Drawing from this insight, I conclude that the notion of atmosphere can serve as a valuable tool in explaining the emotional expressivity of timbre without invoking the resemblance-based mechanisms often found in cognitive accounts of expressiveness.
Befragungen von Trägern von Kindertageseinrichtungen: Eine Methodenstudie zu Verzerrungen
Authors: Schacht Diana D. , Ulrich Lisa
Published: December 2023

Träger von Kindertageseinrichtungen nehmen eine zentrale Rolle in der Steuerung des Systems der frühkindlichen Bildung, Betreuung und Erziehung ein. Entsprechend wurden in den letzten Jahren eine Reihe von Trägerstudien durchgeführt, die Steuerungspotentiale von Trägern untersuchen. Im Kontext von Trägerbefragungen besteht jedoch ein zentrales Problem, das in der Forschung wenig Aufmerksamkeit erfahren hat: Da in Deutschland weder Registerdaten noch Stichprobenrahmen für Träger verfügbar sind, existiert bisher kein Verfahren, mit dem die Datenqualität von Trägerstudien validiert werden kann.

Aus diesem Grund soll mit dieser Studie die Qualität von Trägerdaten am Beispiel der Trägerbefragung der ERiK-Surveys 2020 erstmals methodisch evaluiert werden. Hierfür wird ein Verfahren vorgestellt, das einen Vergleich von Trägerbefragungen mit der amtlichen Kinder- und Jugendhilfestatistik ermöglicht. Dazu werden die ERiK-Trägerdaten auf die Ebene der Einrichtungen transformiert, um anschließend ein Verteilungsmaß der Kinder- und Jugendhilfestatistik mit ungewichteten und gewichteten ERiK-Trägerdaten zu vergleichen. Konkret wird der Anteil der Kindertageseinrichtungen nach Trägerschaft untersucht.

Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Verteilungen auf Basis ungewichteter Trägerbefragungsdaten nur begrenzt anwendbar sind. Darüber hinaus können mögliche Verzerrungen durch statistische Anpassungen im Rahmen einer Gewichtung deutlich minimiert werden. Dieser Beitrag stellt somit ein Verfahren vor, mit dem zukünftige Trägerstudien die Qualität ihrer Erhebung und die Generalisierbarkeit ihrer Analysen evaluieren können.
Seeking help for nightmares in adolescents
Authors: Schredl Michael
Published: December 2023

Research indicates that adults suffering from nightmares rarely seek professional help for their condition. However, nothing is known about the help-seeking behavior in adolescents with frequent nightmares. In a sample of 100 adolescents (50 female, 50 male) with a mean age of 15.30 ± 0.80 years, it was found that none of them ever sought professional help for nightmares, even though 21 participants (15 females, 6 males) reported frequent nightmares (once a week or more often) and/or quite or very distressing nightmares. As nightmares are associated with a variety of mental problems in adolescents and can persist into adulthood, it seems very important to find ways to reduce the number of untreated nightmare sufferers in this age group.
Posttreatment with PaPE-1 Protects from Aβ-Induced Neurodegeneration Through Inhibiting the Expression of Alzheimer’s Disease-Related Genes and Apoptosis Process That Involves Enhanced DNA Methylation of Specific Genes
Authors: Pietrzak-Wawrzyńska Bernadeta A. , Wnuk Agnieszka , Przepiórska-Drońska Karolina , Łach Andrzej , Kajta Małgorzata
Published: December 2023

Targeting the non-nuclear estrogen receptor (ER) signaling has been postulated as novel therapeutic strategy for central nervous system pathologies. Recently, we showed that newly designed PaPE-1 (Pathway Preferential Estrogen-1), which selectively activates ER non-nuclear signaling pathways, elicited neuroprotection in a cellular model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) when it was applied at the same time as amyloid-β (Aβ). Since delayed treatment reflects clinical settings better than cotreatment does, current basic study proposes a novel therapeutic approach for AD that relies on a posttreatment with PaPE-1. In this study, mouse neuronal cell cultures treated with preaggregated Aβ1-42 (10 µM) showed the presence of extracellular Aβ1-42, confirming the adequacy of the AD model used. We are the first to demonstrate that a 24-h delayed posttreatment with PaPE-1 decreased the degree of Aβ-induced neurodegeneration, restored neurite outgrowth, and inhibited the expression of AD-related genes, i.e., Rbfox, Apoe, Bace2, App, and Ngrn, except for Chat, which was stimulated. In addition, PaPE-1 elicited anti-apoptotic effects by inhibiting Aβ-induced caspase activities as well as attenuating apoptotic chromatin condensation, and in these ways, PaPE-1 prevented neuronal cell death. Posttreatment with PaPE-1 also downregulated the Aβ-affected mRNA expression of apoptosis-specific factors, such as Bax, Gsk3b, Fas, and Fasl, except for Bcl2, which was upregulated by PaPE-1. In parallel, PaPE-1 decreased the protein levels of BAX, FAS, and FASL, which were elevated in response to Aβ. PaPE-1 elicited a decrease in the BAX/BCL2 ratio that corresponds to increased methylation of the Bax gene. However, the PaPE-1-evoked Bcl2 gene hypermethylation suggests other PaPE-1-dependent mechanisms to control Aβ-induced apoptosis.
Inhibiting Caveolin-1-Related Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway Protects Against N-methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Activation-Mediated Dysfunction of Blood–Brain Barrier in vitro
Authors: Huang Fang , Mao Fengping , Nong Weidong , Gong Zhuowei , Lao Dayuan , Huang Wen
Published: December 2023

Background

The aim of this study was to further explore the role of caveolin-1 (Cav-1) related Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in blood brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction caused by NMDAR activation.

Methods

The cell localization of NMDAR GluN1 subunit and Cav-1 was observed on human brain microvascular HBEC-5i cells after immunofluorescence double staining. The transendothelial resistance (TEER) of BBB in vitro was measured by Millicell-ERS cell resistance meter. Sodium fluorescein (SF) was used to measure the permeability of BBB in vitro. A stable Cav-1-silenced HBEC-5i cell line was established by infecting the cells with a lentivirus encoding Cav-1 shRNA. The changes of the protein and mRNA of MMP9 and Occludin induced by NMDA were detected by Western blot (WB) and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively. The phosphorylated proteins of Cav-1, Akt, and mTOR were detected by WB.

Results

NMDAR GluN1 was expressed in the cytoplasm and part of the cell membrane of the HBEC-5i cell line. NMDAR activation decreased TEER and increased the SF of BBB in vitro. HBEC-5i cells incubated with NMDA enhanced the phosphorylation of Cav-1, Akt, and mTOR, also promoting the expression of MMP9 along with the degradation of Occludin. These effects could be reversed by pretreatment with NMDAR antagonist (MK801) or Cav-1 antagonist (Daidzein), or Akt antagonist (LY294002), respectively. Further silencing Cav-1 with LV-Cav-1-RNAi also played a similar protective effect.

Conclusion

Caveolin-1 (Cav-1) related Akt/mTOR signaling probably contributes to BBB dysfunction by activating NMDAR on human brain microvascular cells.
Gaming Expertise Metrics: A Sociological Examination of Online Knowledge Creation Platforms
Authors: Osborne Tanya , Nivala Markus , Seredko Alena , Hillman Thomas
Published: December 2023

Online environments have the potential to disrupt traditional orderings of expertise and allow a wider audience to engage as experts in the process of knowledge creation. Many online environments use crowdsourced metric-based systems, such as upvotes and reputation scores, to help identify experts. While these online systems provide opportunities to recognize expertise in new ways, they continue to reproduce and reconfigure existing issues around what is considered expertise and who is considered an expert. To explore these issues, we conduct an ethnographic engagement with Stack Overflow, a community knowledge sharing platform for programmers and coders. Our empirical material comprises 14 interviews with Stack Overflow users and documentary material collected from the platform.

We find that while platform owners often present their systems as arbiters of expertise, crowdsourced metric-based systems like Stack Overflow may not locate subject matter experts, but rather may measure community trust and engagement. Reward mechanics may also tempt users to play the game of increasing their metrics rather than developing expertise. Furthermore, our findings suggest that certain conditions in online environments may actively prevent those from under-represented groups from being recognized as experts. This presents an ethical challenge to the premise that online platforms may democratize the sharing of knowledge and recognition of expertise. Our findings suggest that while users may be aware of such issues, metrics are so intertwined with the functioning of the platforms they use that they may accept the premise that those metrics are relevant measures of expertise regardless.
Multi-effect analysis of nanofluid flow in stenosed arteries with variable pressure gradient: analytical study
Authors: Dawood A. S. , Kroush Faisal A. , Abumandour Ramzy M. , Eldesoky Islam M.
Published: December 2023

This study advances the understanding of nanofluid behaviour within stenosed arteries, highlighting the importance of considering multifaceted effects in the modelling process. It investigates the combined impact of pressure gradient variation, heat transfer, chemical reactions, and magnetic field effects on nano-blood flow in stenosed arteries. Unlike previous studies that made the assumption that the pulsatile pressure gradient remains constant during channel narrowing, this novel investigation introduces a variable pressure gradient. This, in turn, significantly impacts several associated parameters. The mathematical model describing nano-blood flow in a horizontally stenosed artery is solved using perturbation techniques. Analytical solutions for key variables, including velocity, temperature, concentration, wall shear stress, flow rate, and pressure gradient, are visually presented for various physical parameter values.
Mineralogy, Chemistry, and Thermal and Surface Properties of Various Technological Types of K-Bentonite from the Dolná Ves Deposit (Kremnické vrchy Mts., Western Carpathians, Slovakia)
Authors: Osacký M. , Bai Y. , Uhlík P. , Pálková H. , Čaplovičová M.
Published: December 2023

The Dolná Ves K-bentonite deposit is one of a few known economic accumulations of illite-smectite in the world. Several studies have been done on the illite-smectitic component isolated from the Dolná Ves K-bentonite, but there is a shortage of analytical data on the K-bentonite itself. The main goal of the present study was to perform mineralogical and physico-chemical characterizations of various technological types of K-bentonites from the Dolná Ves deposit to better understand the relationships between the various qualitative types and their properties. The type I (high-grade) K-bentonite contains 88–91 wt.% of illite-smectite. The type II (low-grade) K-bentonite contained substantially less illite-smectite, ranging from 37 to 63 wt.%. The illite-smectites isolated from the type I K-bentonites displayed greater expandability, contained more octahedral Mg and less octahedral Fe, had greater cation exchange capacity (CEC), smaller thickness of fundamental particles, and thinner illite-smectite crystals in comparison with illite-smectites from the type II K-bentonites. The LOI (loss-on-ignition) and Al2O3 content increased with increasing amount of illite-smectite. The increase in the expandability by 10% corresponded to an increase in CEC by ~10 meq/100 g. The type I K-bentonites had much greater mass loss at <250°C due to greater expandability. The best tilemaking performance was expected for the type I K-bentonite. This raw material could also be potentially valuable for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries. Overall, the results showed that the studied technological types of K-bentonites from the Dolná Ves deposit differ not only in terms of illite-smectite contents but also in terms of the nature of the illite-smectites.
Illustrative Multi‐Centennial Projections of Global Mean Sea‐Level Rise and Their Application
Authors: Turner Fiona E. , Malagon Santos Victor , Edwards Tamsin L. , Slangen Aimée B.A. , Nicholls Robert J. , Le Cozannet Gonéri , O’Neill James , Adhikari Mira
Published: December 2023

We produce projections of global mean sea‐level rise to 2500 for low and medium emissions scenarios (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways SSP1‐2.6 and SSP2‐4.5) relative to 2020, based on extending and combining model ensemble data from current literature. We find that emissions have a large effect on sea‐level rise on these long timescales, with [5, 95]% intervals of [0.3, 4.3]m and [1.0, 7.6]m under SSP1‐2.6 and SSP2‐4.5 respectively, and a difference in the 95% quantile of 1.6 m at 2300 and 3.3 m at 2500 for the two scenarios. The largest and most uncertain component is the Antarctic ice sheet, projected to contribute 5%–95% intervals of [−0.1, 2.3]m by 2500 under SSP1‐2.6 and [0.0, 3.8]m under SSP2‐4.5. We discuss how the simple statistical extensions used here could be replaced with more physically based methods for more robust predictions. We show that, despite their uncertainties, current multi‐centennial projections combined into multi‐study projections as presented here can be used to avoid future “lock‐ins” in terms of risk and adaptation needs to sea‐level rise.
Snowmelt‐Radiation Feedback Impact on Western U.S. Streamflow
Authors: Ban Zhaoxin , Xin Chen , Fang Yiwen , Ma Xiaoyu , Li Dongyue , Lettenmaier Dennis P.
Published: December 2023

Ongoing runoff declines in the Colorado River Basin have been shown to be predominately driven by decreasing albedo from warming‐driven snow‐cover loss, especially in late‐spring (hereafter snowmelt‐radiation feedback). Here, we explore the feedback's impact on annual runoff sensitivity to warming across the western U.S. (WUS) using hydrologic model simulations. For 1°C uniform warming, we show that runoff is most sensitive to warming in modestly snow‐covered, interior mountain headwaters, especially the Rocky Mountains. Runoff sensitivities are most associated with the snowmelt‐radiation feedback in basins with runoff coefficients between 0.2 and 0.6, where runoff sensitivity increases with more snow and lower winter temperature. In aggregate, ∼48% of WUS runoff sensitivity is attributable to the snowmelt‐radiation feedback and is especially pronounced in the warming‐sensitive river basins (annual runoff decreases >5%/°C). We also show that the feedback's impact decreases with increasing temperature, which has unresolved implications for streamflow declines in a less‐snow future.
Space‐Time Inconsistencies in the Dynamics of Water Coverage: Tracking Walking Floods
Authors: Torre Zaffaroni Paula , Houspanossian Javier , Di Bella Carlos M. , Jobbágy Esteban G.
Published: December 2023

Floods in ideal landscapes follow a coherent pattern where single water‐covered areas expand and afterward recede following the inverse sequence, but deviate in real landscapes due to natural or human factors resulting in water coverage shifts. Using remote sensing, we introduced two indices to describe the discrepancies between spatially integrated versus pixel‐level frequency distributions under maximum inundated conditions (dext) and throughout all flooding conditions (dtot), expressed as the relative weight of shifts on each landscape's maximum registered coverage, theoretically ranging between no displacement (<20%) to maximum displacement (≪inf). Globally, over 36 years inundations exhibited redistributions representing, on average, 25% and 45% of their peak extents revealing previously unnoticed extra engaged areas and rotational movements within events, rising up to 500% in meandering rivers (South America) and irrigated croplands (Central Asia). We also assessed the influence of natural and human variables and discussed the indices' potential for advancing flood research.
Solar Irradiance Modulates the Asian Summer Monsoon—ENSO Relationship Over the Last Millennium
Authors: Du Xiaojing , Dee Sylvia , Hu Jun , Thirumalai Kaustubh
Published: December 2023

The Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is teleconnected to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), but this relationship is nonstationary and has shifted significantly in recent decades. Characterizing the drivers of such shifts is crucial for improving ASM prediction and extreme event preparedness. Paleoclimate records indicate a link between ASM strength and solar activity on multidecadal‐to‐centennial timescales, but 20th‐century data are too short to test mechanisms. Here we evaluate how solar irradiance influences the ASM‐ENSO relationship using last‐millennium paleoclimate data assimilation reconstructions and model simulations. We find that high solar irradiance weakens the ENSO‐East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) correlation, but strengthens the ENSO‐South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) correlation. Solar irradiance likely influences the strength of the ENSO‐EASM and ENSO‐SASM teleconnections via changes in the Western Pacific Subtropical High and the amplitude of ENSO events, respectively. We suggest a need for considering solar activity in decadal ASM rainfall predictions under global warming scenarios.
Author's Reply to Comment by Greaves et al. on “Phosphine in the Venusian Atmosphere: A Strict Upper Limit From SOFIA GREAT Observations”
Authors: Cordiner M. A. , Wiesemeyer H. , Villanueva G. L. , de Pater I. , Stutzki J. , Liuzzi G. , Aladro R. , Charnley S. B. , Cosentino R. , Faggi S. , Kofman V. , McGuire B. A. , Milam S. N. , Moullet A. , Nixon C. A. , Thelen A. E.
Published: December 2023

In an attempt to understand the findings presented in the Comment by Greaves et al. (2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103539), we followed their data analysis methodology, omitting the hot and cold‐load calibrations that are an important part of the standard SOFIA GREAT instrument calibration procedure. This process requires scaling of the Venus off‐source spectra by an arbitrary factor, which in turn introduces residuals of the intrinsic receiver bandpass shape as spurious components in the resulting line/continuum spectra. Although these additional artifacts can be reduced via Fourier‐domain spectral filtering, their removal depends on an ill‐constrained interpolation of the Venus continuum across the PH3 spectral line positions, resulting in an unreliable final spectrum. We therefore conclude that the PH3 lines claimed to be detected in the Comment by Greaves et al. (2023, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL103539) originate from data/analysis artifacts, and confirm our original result that there is no evidence for phosphine in the SOFIA Venus data.
Energetic Particle Injection During Short Isolated Bubble as Seen in RCM Simulation and Spacecraft Observations in the Flow Braking Region
Authors: Sergeev V. , Yang Jian , Sun Weiqin , Runov A. , Angelopoulos V. , Artemyev A.
Published: December 2023

Although energetic particle (EP) injections are commonly thought to be formed by the flow burst intrusion from the magnetotail, important details and quantitative aspects of their transport, acceleration and flow braking need further investigation and understanding. Motivated by frequent observations of short transient EP injections being not associated with substorms, we analyze high‐resolution Rice Convection Model simulations of a short (5‐min long) localized (∼3RE width) density depletion (evacuating 90% of flux tube content) initiated at the tailward simulation boundary (∼18RE) and allowed to evolve within an otherwise typical plasma sheet environment. We note that, driven by betatron‐like acceleration, the peak EP flux at fixed energy dramatically increases in a couple of minutes when the bubble head enters the inner magnetosphere at r < 8–10 RE giving rise to a localized injection of subsequently drifting EP clouds. Here the 50–200 keV electron flux reaches values as high as #105 (cm2 s sr keV)−1, and even higher energies (up to 1 MeV) may briefly appear. Surprisingly, at a later stage of bubble penetration, after termination of bubble jet from the tail, the injection boundary of high energy (HE) particles detaches from the bubble earthward boundary while the latter continues moving inward. Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms multi‐spacecraft mission observations of a short bubble‐like flow burst at the spacecraft cluster located near the flow stopping point, show much similarity with simulation results but also reveal important differences between responses of HE protons and electrons attributed to the finite gyroradius effect.
Thin Ice Lithospheres and High Heat Flows on Europa From Large Impact Structure Ring‐Graben
Authors: Singer K. N. , McKinnon W. B. , Schenk P. M.
Published: December 2023

Craters are probes of planetary surface and interior properties. Here we measure depths, widths, and spacing of circumferential ring‐graben surrounding the two largest multiring impact structures on Europa, Tyre and Callanish. We estimate formation conditions including the ice shell structure. The radial extension necessary to form these graben is thought to be caused by asthenospheric drag of warmer, more ductile ice and/or water flowing toward the excavated center of the crater, under a brittle‐elastic lithospheric lid. Measurements of graben depths from stereo‐photoclinometric digital elevation models result in estimates of displacement, strain, and stress experienced by the ice shell. Graben widths are used to estimate the intersection depth of the bounding normal faults, a quantity related to the brittle‐ductile transition depth that approximates elastic shell thickness during crater collapse. Heat flows at the time of crater formation as well as ice lithosphere and total shell thickness are thus also constrained. Average widths and depths tend to decrease with increasing distance from the structure center, while inter‐graben spacing generally increases. Varied assumptions yield plausible total conductive ice shell thickness estimates between 4–8 and 2.5–5 km for Tyre and Callanish, respectively, and heat flows of ∼70–115 (±30) mW m−2 for realistic thermal conductivities, consistent with other geophysical estimates for Europa. Higher heat flows are consistent with thin (≲10 km), conductive ice shells and impact breaching, or penetration of the stagnant lid for a convecting ice shell. Callanish, geologically younger, formed in a time or region of greater heat flow than Tyre.
Estimating Geomagnetically Induced Currents in High‐Voltage Power Lines for the Territory of Kazakhstan
Authors: Andreyev A. B. , Mukasheva S. N. , Kapytin V. I. , Sokolova O. I.
Published: December 2023

Extreme solar events, such as powerful solar flares are accompanied by the release of strong solar disturbances, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The impact of CMEs on the Earth's magnetosphere causes geomagnetic storms, which trigger geomagnetic effects measurable in the ionosphere, upper atmosphere, and on and in the ground. During extreme cases, rapidly changing geomagnetic fields generate intense geomagnetically induced currents (GICs), which can cause dramatic effects on man‐made technological systems, including transmission lines and pipelines. In countries with large territories such as Kazakhstan, long power lines contribute to high values of induced currents during periods of extreme geoeffective solar events. It is of interest to estimate the values of GICs in an extensive network of power lines on the territory of Kazakhstan. However, there are no estimations of induced currents in power lines in Kazakhstan, and most estimation techniques are made difficult because of absence of field measurements of Earth conductivity. This study aims to model geoelectric fields on the surface of the Earth for Kazakhstan and to estimate the values of the GICs in 500 kV power lines. This study also compares between two methods for calculating induced voltages in power lines: one based on linear paths and the other based on curvilinear paths between substations of transmission power lines.
Analysis of gasoline-related pollutant exposures and risks in California between 1996 and 2014
Authors: Sultana Daniel , Hoover Sara
Published: December 2023

Background

Gasoline-powered vehicles and equipment are an important source of air pollution in California. Many gasoline-related pollutants pose significant health concerns. The California Air Resources Board strictly regulates the state’s gasoline formulation and vehicle emissions.

Objective

To investigate exposure trends for gasoline-related air pollutants between 1996 and 2014, capturing the period before and after the removal of methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE).

Methods

We identified gasoline-related chemicals with known or suspected health concerns and adequate ambient air monitoring data. Average exposures to the general public were estimated from 1996 to 2014 in five major air basins and statewide. We determined the fractions of exposures attributable to gasoline use and evaluated cancer and non-cancer risks for chemicals with available cancer potencies and health reference values.

Results

We found that average gasoline-attributable cancer risks for the general California population from the most highly emitted carcinogens (acetaldehyde, benzene, 1,3-butadiene, and formaldehyde) declined by over 80% between 1996 and 2014. This decline occurred despite roughly constant statewide gasoline sales, an increase in vehicle miles traveled, and an approximately 10% increase in vehicle registrations over this same period. Naphthalene, measured as a volatile organic compound (VOC), was the most abundant gasoline-related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH). From 1996 to 2014, gasoline-attributable cancer risks for naphthalene were estimated to drop approximately threefold in the South Coast Air Basin. Exposures to gasoline-related chemicals associated with non-cancer health effects, such as chronic respiratory toxicity or neurotoxicity, were generally below levels of concern. The exception was acrolein, with gasoline-related exposures in 2014 estimated to be high enough to pose risks for respiratory toxicity.

Impact statement

Our historical analysis demonstrated the success of California’s regulatory efforts to reduce gasoline-related air pollutant exposures and risks to the general public. New efforts are focused on addressing gasoline-related and other air pollution in heavily impacted communities affected by multiple environmental and social stressors.
ERK hyperactivation serves as a unified mechanism of escape in intrinsic and acquired CDK4/6 inhibitor resistance in acral lentiginous melanoma
Authors: Jagirdar Kasturee , Portuallo Marie E. , Wei Meihan , Wilhide Matthew , Bravo Narula Jeremy A. , Robertson Bailey M. , Alicea Gretchen M. , Aguh Crystal , Xiao Min , Godok Tetiana , Fingerman Dylan , Brown Gregory Schuyler , Herlyn Meenhard , Elad Vissy M. , Guo Xinyu , Toska Eneda , Zabransky Daniel J. , Wubbenhorst Bradley , Nathanson Katherine L. , Kwatra Shawn , Goyal Yogesh , Ji Hongkai , Liu Qin , Rebecca Vito W.
Published: December 2023

Patients with metastatic acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) suffer worse outcomes relative to patients with other forms of cutaneous melanoma (CM), and do not benefit as well to approved melanoma therapies. Identification of cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) pathway gene alterations in >60% of ALMs has led to clinical trials of the CDK4/6 inhibitor (CDK4i/6i) palbociclib for ALM; however, median progression free survival with CDK4i/6i treatment was only 2.2 months, suggesting existence of resistance mechanisms. Therapy resistance in ALM remains poorly understood; here we report hyperactivation of MAPK signaling and elevated cyclin D1 expression serve as a mechanism of intrinsic early/adaptive CDK4i/6i resistance. ALM cells that have acquired CDK4i/6i resistance following chronic treatment exposure also exhibit hyperactivation of the MAPK pathway. MEK and/or ERK inhibition increases CDK4i/6i efficacy against therapy naïve and CDK4i/6i-resistant AM cells in xenograft and patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models and promotes a defective DNA repair, cell cycle arrested and apoptotic program. Notably, gene alterations poorly correlate with protein expression of cell cycle proteins in ALM or efficacy of CDK4i/6i, urging additional strategies when stratifying patients for CDK4i/6i trial inclusion. Concurrent targeting of the MAPK pathway and CDK4/6 represents a new approach for patients with metastatic ALM to improve outcomes.
Injury-specific factors in the cerebrospinal fluid regulate astrocyte plasticity in the human brain
Authors: Sirko Swetlana , Schichor Christian , Della Vecchia Patrizia , Metzger Fabian , Sonsalla Giovanna , Simon Tatiana , Bürkle Martina , Kalpazidou Sofia , Ninkovic Jovica , Masserdotti Giacomo , Sauniere Jean-Frederic , Iacobelli Valentina , Iacobelli Stefano , Delbridge Claire , Hauck Stefanie M. , Tonn Jörg-Christian , Götz Magdalena
Published: December 2023

The glial environment influences neurological disease progression, yet much of our knowledge still relies on preclinical animal studies, especially regarding astrocyte heterogeneity. In murine models of traumatic brain injury, beneficial functions of proliferating reactive astrocytes on disease outcome have been unraveled, but little is known regarding if and when they are present in human brain pathology. Here we examined a broad spectrum of pathologies with and without intracerebral hemorrhage and found a striking correlation between lesions involving blood–brain barrier rupture and astrocyte proliferation that was further corroborated in an assay probing for neural stem cell potential. Most importantly, proteomic analysis unraveled a crucial signaling pathway regulating this astrocyte plasticity with GALECTIN3 as a novel marker for proliferating astrocytes and the GALECTIN3-binding protein LGALS3BP as a functional hub mediating astrocyte proliferation and neurosphere formation. Taken together, this work identifies a therapeutically relevant astrocyte response and their molecular regulators in different pathologies affecting the human cerebral cortex.