bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Facile low-temperature synthesis of nickel oxide by an internal combustion reaction for applications in electrochromic devices
Authors: Lupo Christian , Eberheim Florian , Schlettwein Derck
Published: July 2020

Electrochromic nickel oxide ion storage anodes compatible to tungsten oxide as cathode layer are prepared by a combustion reaction with urea as fuel and nickel nitrate as oxidizer at temperatures not higher than 230 °C to stay well within the temperature range in which thermally sensitive intercalated tungsten oxide layers are still stable. The precursors for nickel oxide are well available materials and the preparation of the layers can be performed at low energy input by spin-coating onto the substrate and moderate heating on a hot-plate. Ethanol and acetone where used as solvents and reveal large differences in the resulting film morphologies, electric and electrochromic characteristics. Cyclic voltammetry measurements in contact to lithium perchlorate (LiClO4) in propylene carbonate show remarkable colouration efficiencies at 550 nm of 47 cm2 C−1 for NiO prepared from ethanol solution and 92 cm2 C−1 for NiO prepared from acetone solution, which are, to the best of our knowledge, among the highest reported values for Li+-intercalation into NiO prepared at moderate substrate temperature reported so far.

Graphic abstract
Modelling Online Gaming Metacognitions: The Role of Time Spent Gaming in Predicting Problematic Internet Use
Authors: Caselli Gabriele , Marino Claudia , Spada Marcantonio M.
Published: July 2020

In recent years there have been growing concerns about problematic Internet use (PIU) as potential mental health problem. Among the many activities available on the Internet, the time spent gaming appears one of the most frequent risk factors in developing PIU. The aim of the current study was to model the relationship between negative affect, metacognitions about online gaming, frequency of online gaming and PIU. A total of 326 Italian gamers (mean age = 27 years, SD = 5.65 years; 93.3% males) participated in the study. The pattern of relationships specified by the theoretical model was examined through path analysis. Results showed that negative affect was directly associated with all other variables. Specifically, positive, strong and direct associations were found between negative affect and both positive and negative metacognitions about online gaming. Moreover, negative metacognitions about online gaming were strongly linked to PIU. Overall, the theoretical model was supported showing that metacognitions about online gaming may play a role in the association between time spent on online gaming to a broader pattern of PIU. Results are discussed within the context of the metacognitive model of psychopathology and clinical implications based on this model are outlined.
Note on Crystallization for Alternating Particle Chains
Authors: Bétermin Laurent , Knüpfer Hans , Nolte Florian
Published: July 2020

We investigate one-dimensional periodic chains of alternate type of particles interacting through mirror symmetric potentials. The optimality of the equidistant configuration at fixed density—also called crystallization—is shown in various settings. In particular, we prove the crystallization at any scale for neutral and non-neutral systems with inverse power laws interactions, including the three-dimensional Coulomb potential. We also show the minimality of the equidistant configuration at high density for systems involving inverse power laws and repulsion at the origin. Furthermore, we derive a necessary condition for crystallization at high density based on the positivity of the Fourier transform of the interaction potentials sum.
Evaluating gender equality effects in research and innovation systems
Authors: Bührer Susanne , Kalpazidou Schmidt Evanthia , Palmén Rachel , Reidl Sybille
Published: July 2020

Despite the fact that the topic of “women in research and innovation” has been on the agenda for decades and numerous measures have been implemented at both national and supranational levels to improve gender equality in research and innovation systems, it is still unclear which measures and under which conditions these measures are most effective. Even less research has been carried out on the effects of better representation of women in terms of research and innovation. This paper is based on the application of an innovative evaluation framework, which encompasses complexity and theory of change approaches and aims at exploring the link between interventions and their subsequent effects to two case studies. We discuss two major German flagship programmes aiming at increasing the participation of female researchers in the science system, the “Women Professorship Programme” and the “Pact for Research and Innovation”. Through the two programmes, we tested and validated the evaluation framework and its indicators. As part of the validation process, a theory of change has been developed for each of the programmes. The theory-based evaluation approach helped not only to identify gender equality impacts but also broader effects on research and innovation that might have otherwise remained undetected. We studied the effects of the two programmes on the number of women in leadership positions and analysed whether an increase in the proportion of women leaders influences publication patterns. Although linear linkages are challenging to establish due to the complexity of the process, the findings suggest that the flagship programmes have contributed not only to higher shares of women researchers but also to improved female publication and citation rates. There are clear benefits for Germany in terms of scientific results from the increased proportion of female researchers in research and innovation.
Investigation on air quality of specific indoor environments—spa salons located in Gdynia, Poland
Authors: Pytel Klaudia , Marcinkowska Renata , Zabiegała Bożena
Published: July 2020

Due to excessive application of essential oils and scented products in spa salons during aromatherapy and massage sessions, the elevated concentration of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs), particularly terpenes, which are known as secondary organic aerosol (SOA) precursors, is expected there. This study was aimed at determination of VOCs with a particular regard to terpenes in air samples collected in selected spa salons located in Northern Poland. Active air sampling was conducted before and after treatments. Samples were analyzed with the use of thermal desorption gas chromatography coupled with flame-ionization detector (TD-GC-FID) and mass spectrometer (TD-GC-MS). Obtained results allowed to characterize chemical composition of indoor air of spa salons and also to relate the dependence between applied essential oil and indoor air chemical composition. It has been proved that (i) spa salons are characterized by TVOC concentrations exceeding recommended values of 300–400 μg m−3 in most of examined cases, reaching up to several thousand of micrograms per cubic meter, (ii) TVOC concentration is strictly related to salon characteristics and carried out treatments, (iii) terpenes constitute a significant part of TVOCs present in spa indoor air, from 22 up to 86%, (iv) most commonly investigated terpenes in the literature (d-limonene, α-pinene, camphene, and linalool) were also determined at the highest concentration levels in this study and (v) VOC chemical composition is strictly dependent on the type of applied essential oils. On the basis of obtained results, it may be stated that extensive application of essential oils rich in terpenes can significantly alter indoor air chemistry of spa salons, thereby influencing health and well-being of employees working there.
Examining the Relationship Between Digital Transformation and Work Quality: Substitution Potential and Work Exposure in Gender-Specific Occupations
Authors: Dengler Katharina , Tisch Anita
Published: July 2020

Computers can substitute for many tasks currently performed by humans and are likely to change occupations in the near future. However, it is not likely that entire occupations will disappear. In this context, little attention has been paid to possible impacts of digital transformation on aspects of work quality. It would be desirable for changes to ease occupations with high work exposure. In this article, we assume that digital technologies may replace physically demanding jobs mainly performed by men, but not psychosocially demanding jobs mainly performed by women. Thus, the question arises whether social inequality between men and women may increase in the course of digital transformation. Using large-scale administrative and survey data from Germany, we analyse the relationship between digital transformation and work exposure for male- and female-dominated occupations. We measure the degree of digital transformation by occupation-specific substitution potential, that is the extent to which occupational tasks can be replaced by computers or computer-controlled machines. The results imply that digital technologies could relieve men of physically demanding jobs. However, we cannot find any evidence that digital technologies have already caused employment to decline in occupations with physical work exposure.
The Fate of Mud Nourishment in Response to Short-Term Wind Forcing
Authors: Schulz Kirstin , Klingbeil Knut , Morys Claudia , Gerkema Theo
Published: July 2020

In this study, results from a realistic 3D hydrodynamic and sediment transport model, applied to a channel in the Dutch Wadden Sea, are analyzed in order to assess the effect of short-term wind forcing, the impact of fresh water effects, and the variability induced by the spring-neap cycle on the transport of suspended sediment. In the investigated region, a pilot study for sediment nourishment, the so-called Mud Motor, is executed. This project aims for the beneficial re-use of dredged harbor sediments through the disposal of these sediments at a location where natural currents are expected to transport them toward a nearby salt marsh area. The model results presented in this study advance the understanding of the driving forces that determine sediment transport in shallow, near-coastal zones, and can help to improve the design of the Mud Motor. In the investigated channel, which is oriented parallel to the coastline, tidal asymmetries generally drive a transport of sediment in flood direction. It was found that already moderate winds along the channel axis reverse (wind in ebb direction), or greatly enhance this transport, up to an export of sediment over the adjacent water shed (wind in flood direction). The most beneficial wind conditions (moderate westerly winds) can cause an accumulation of more than 90% of the initial 200 tons sediment pool on the intertidal area; during less favorable conditions (northeasterly winds), less than a third of the dumped sediment is transported onto the mudflat. On-shore winds induce a transport toward the coast. Surprisingly, sediment pathways are only sensitive to the exact disposal location in the channel during wind conditions that counteract the tidally driven transport, and freshwater effects play no significant role for the dispersal of sediment.
Optogenetic Stimulation Reduces Neuronal Nitric Oxide Synthase Expression After Stroke
Authors: Pendharkar Arjun V. , Smerin Daniel , Gonzalez Lorenzo , Wang Eric H. , Levy Sabrina , Wang Stephanie , Ishizaka Shunsuke , Ito Masaki , Uchino Haruto , Chiang Terrance , Cheng Michelle Y. , Steinberg Gary K.
Published: July 2020

Post-stroke optogenetic stimulation has been shown to enhance neurovascular coupling and functional recovery. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) has been implicated as a key regulator of the neurovascular response in acute stroke; however, its role in subacute recovery remains unclear. We investigated the expression of nNOS in stroke mice undergoing optogenetic stimulation of the contralesional lateral cerebellar nucleus (cLCN). We also examined the effects of nNOS inhibition on functional recovery using a pharmacological inhibitor targeting nNOS. Optogenetically stimulated stroke mice demonstrated significant improvement on the horizontal rotating beam task at post-stroke days 10 and 14. nNOS mRNA and protein expression was significantly and selectively decreased in the contralesional primary motor cortex (cM1) of cLCN-stimulated mice. The nNOS expression in cM1 was negatively correlated with improved recovery. nNOS inhibitor (ARL 17477)-treated stroke mice exhibited a significant functional improvement in speed at post-stroke day 10, when compared to stroke mice receiving vehicle (saline) only. Our results show that optogenetic stimulation of cLCN and systemic nNOS inhibition both produce functional benefits after stroke, and suggest that nNOS may play a maladaptive role in post-stroke recovery.
Towards an integrated approach for red mud valorisation: a focus on titanium
Authors: Pietrantonio M. , Pucciarmati S. , Torelli G. N. , D’Aria G. , Forte F. , Fontana D.
Published: July 2020

In this work red mud, a highly alkaline waste product generated during alumina production process, was valorised as a source of valuable metals and as an adsorbent material. A hydrometallurgical process was developed in order to recover titanium from red mud. By a leaching step with hydrochloric acid followed by ammonia precipitation and a further purification step by solvent extraction with Cyanex 301 using toluene as a solvent, quantitative recovery of titanium with a high purity level (> 95%) was achieved. Red mud adsorption properties were also tested for metal removal from aqueous solutions. The results showed the red mud potential in applications such as environmental remediation. The adsorption order was found to be: iron > lead > copper > manganese, zinc. Red mud can be thus potentially valorised both as a source of secondary titanium and as an adsorbent material, according to the principles of Circular Economy which promote waste reduction and the preservation of natural resources.
Sandwiching Sulfur into the Dents Between N, O Co-Doped Graphene Layered Blocks with Strong Physicochemical Confinements for Stable and High-Rate Li–S Batteries
Authors: Shi Mengjiao , Zhang Su , Jiang Yuting , Jiang Zimu , Zhang Longhai , Chang Jin , Wei Tong , Fan Zhuangjun
Published: July 2020

The development of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) is restricted by their poor cycle stability and rate performance due to the low conductivity of sulfur and severe shuttle effect. Herein, an N, O co-doped graphene layered block (NOGB) with many dents on the graphene sheets is designed as effective sulfur host for high-performance LSBs. The sulfur platelets are physically confined into the dents and closely contacted with the graphene scaffold, ensuring structural stability and high conductivity. The highly doped N and O atoms can prevent the shuttle effect of sulfur species by strong chemical adsorption. Moreover, the micropores on the graphene sheets enable fast Li+ transport through the blocks. As a result, the obtained NOGB/S composite with 76 wt% sulfur content shows a high capacity of 1413 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, good rate performance of 433 mAh g−1 at 10 C, and remarkable stability with 526 mAh g−1 at after 1000 cycles at 1 C (average decay rate: 0.038% per cycle). Our design provides a comprehensive route for simultaneously improving the conductivity, ion transport kinetics, and preventing the shuttle effect in LSBs.
Laboratory experiments can pre-design to address power and selection issues
Authors: Ding Weili
Published: July 2020

In this paper, motivated by aspects of preregistration plans we discuss issues that we believe have important implications for how experiments are designed. To make possible valid inferences about the effects of a treatment in question, we first illustrate how economic theories can help allocate subjects across treatments in a manner that boosts statistical power. Using data from two laboratory experiments where subject behavior deviated sharply from theory, we show that the ex-post subject allocation to maximize statistical power is closer to these ex-ante calculations relative to traditional designs that balances the number of subjects across treatments. Finally, we call for increased attention to (i) the appropriate levels of the type I and type II errors for power calculations, and (ii) how experimenters consider balance in part by properly handling over-subscription to sessions.
European Society for Sexual Medicine Consensus Statement on the Use of the Cavernous Nerve Injury Rodent Model to Study Postradical Prostatectomy Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Weyne Emmanuel , Ilg Marcus M. , Cakir Onur Omer , Muneer Asif , Roussel Delphine Behr , Albersen Maarten , Angulo Javier , Corona Giovanni , Bettocchi Carlo , Reisman Yacov , Castiglione Fabio
Published: July 2020

Introduction

Rodent animal models are currently the most used in vivo model in translational studies looking into the pathophysiology of erectile dysfunction after nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy.

Aim

This European Society for Sexual Medicine (ESSM) statement aims to guide scientists toward utilization of the rodent model in an appropriate, timely, and proficient fashion.

Methods

MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched for basic science studies, using a rodent animal model, looking into the consequence of pelvic nerve injury on erectile function.

Main outcome measures

The authors present a consensus on how to best perform experiments with this rodent model, the details of the technique, and highlight possible pitfalls.

Results

Owing to the specific issue—basic science—Oxford 2011 Levels of Evidence criteria cannot be applied. However, ESSM statements on this topic will be provided in which we summarize the ESSM position on various aspects of the model such as the use of the Animal Research Reporting In Vivo Experiments guideline and the of common range parameter for nerve stimulation. We also highlighted the translational limits of the model.

Conclusion

The following statements were formulated as a suggestive guidance for scientists using the cavernous nerve injury model. With this, we hope to standardize and further improve the quality of research in this field. It must be noted that this model has its limitations.
A comparison of systematic instruction, error-based learning and trial and error to train the use of smartphone memory apps after acquired brain injury: A three-armed phase II randomised controlled trial study protocol
Authors: Ramirez-Hernandez Diana , Stolwyk Renerus J. , Ownsworth Tamara , Wong Dana
Published: July 2020

Background:

The uptake of smartphones as external compensatory memory aids following an acquired brain injury (ABI) in rehabilitation settings is low. Potential reasons for this include professionals not having evidence-based guidelines regarding the best methods to train smartphone use and prospective users not being familiar with technology and/or having memory and learning difficulties. This paper describes the protocol of a study that aims to compare the efficacy of three training methods (Systematic Instruction, Error-based Learning and Trial-and-Error) for training the use of a smartphone reminder app, in people with ABI presenting with memory complaints.

Methods/Design:

This is a three-armed, assessor-blinded, Phase II randomised controlled trial. The estimated sample size is 51 participants aged >18 years, who are equally randomised to one of the three training groups. They are seen across four sessions: one to conduct baseline measures; one for training the use of an app and two for follow-up assessments (1- and 6-weeks post-training). The main outcome measure is proficiency of performance in tasks with the trained app. Secondary outcomes include generalisation of skills to other apps, number of errors committed while attempting the tasks, frequency of smartphone usage in general and as a memory aid and confidence in smartphone use and memory self-efficacy. Outcome measures are collected by an independent blinded assessor. Proficiency of performance, generalisation of skills and error commission are measured immediately post-training and at the two follow-up sessions. The other secondary measures are taken pre-intervention and at the two follow-up sessions.

Discussion:

This study will provide initial evidence regarding the efficacy of three different methods to train ABI survivors with memory difficulties in how to use smartphone apps as compensatory memory aids. The results could inform a larger Phase III trial and advance knowledge concerning the advantages or disadvantages of using error-reducing and trial-and-error techniques. Further, the findings could determine the potential of error-based learning as an emerging training method for people with memory impairment within rehabilitation.
Measuring functional disability in children with developmental disorders in low-resource settings: validation of Developmental Disorders-Children Disability Assessment Schedule (DD-CDAS) in rural Pakistan
Authors: Hamdani Syed Usman , Huma Zill-e , Wissow Lawrence , Rahman Atif , Gladstone Melissa
Published: July 2020

Background

Developmental disorders (DDs) in children are a priority condition and guidelines have been developed for their management within low-resource community settings. However, a key obstacle is lack of open access, reliable and valid tools that lay health workers can use to evaluate the impact of such programmes on child outcomes. We adapted and validated the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule for children (WHODAS-Child), a lay health worker-administered functioning-related tool, for children with DDs in Pakistan.

Methods

Lay health workers administered a version of the WHODAS-Child to parents of children with DDs (N = 400) and without DDs (N = 400), aged 2–12 years, after it was adapted using qualitative study. Factor analysis, validity, reliability and sensitivity to change analyses were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the adapted outcome measure.

Results

Among 800 children, 58% of children were male [mean (s.d.) age 6.68 (s.d. = 2.89)]. Confirmatory Factor Analysis showed a robust factor structure [χ2/df 2.86, RMSEA 0.068 (90% CI 0.064–0.073); Tucker–Lewis Index (TLI) 0.92; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) 0.93; Incremental Fit Index (IFI) 0.93]. The tool demonstrated high internal consistency (α 0.82–0.94), test–retest [Intra-class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) 0.71–0.98] and inter-data collector (ICC 0.97–0.99) reliabilities; good criterion (r −0.71), convergent (r −0.35 to 0.71) and discriminative [M (s.d.) 52.00 (s.d. = 21.97) v. 2.14 (s.d. = 4.00); 95% CI −52.05 to −47.67] validities; and adequate sensitivity to change over time (ES 0.19–0.23).

Conclusions

The lay health worker administrated version of adapted WHODAS-Child is a reliable, valid and sensitive-to-change measure of functional disability in children aged 2–12 years with DDs in rural community settings of Pakistan.
TOPOLOGIES ON SCHEMES AND MODULUS PAIRS
Authors: KAHN BRUNO , MIYAZAKI HIROYASU
Published: July 2020

We study relationships between the Nisnevich topology on smooth schemes and certain Grothendieck topologies on proper and not necessarily proper modulus pairs, which were introduced in previous papers. Our results play an important role in the theory of sheaves with transfers on proper modulus pairs.
The Shortcomings of Indeterminacy in Arms Control Regimes: The Case of the Biological Weapons Convention
Authors: Beard Jack M.
Published: July 2020

In 1972 a historic attempt to create the world’s first international legal regime banning the development and possession of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) culminated in the conclusion of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). Crippled by key compromises made by the great powers in pursuit of various self-interested security objectives in the context of the Cold War, the Convention is fundamentally flawed. Although the BWC purports to oudaw the development and possession of all biological weapons, deadlier and more sophisticated biological weapons than were imaginable in 1972 can now be and have been produced, as evidenced in October 2001 by two letters sent to the Capitol Hill offices of Senators Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy. These letters reportedly contained direatening notes and a dangerous and sophisticated form of “weapons-grade” anthrax spores. Even though both die sender of these letters and the source of the anthrax remain unknown, the technical sophistication of the spores led some experts to suggest that the attacker was supported by a U.S. “biodefense” laboratory or an advanced foreign-state-run biological weapons (BW) facility because the spores could not have been produced by an amateur working in his basement.
The Military Commissions Act, Habeas Corpus, and the Geneva Conventions
Authors: Bradley Curtis A.
Published: July 2020

Many commentators argued that a central problem with the government’s actions after the attacks of September 11, 2001, was executive unilateralism. For example, in criticizing President George W. Bush’s initial effort to establish military commissions to try terrorists, Professors Neal Katyal and Laurence Tribe argued that, “in the absence of an emergency that threatens truly irreparable damage to the nation or its Constitution, that Constitution’s text, structure, and logic demand approval by Congress if life, liberty, or property are to be significantly curtailed or abridged.” These commentators therefore invited the courts to play a “democracy-forcing” role to prompt greater congressional participation, through, in particular, the application of “clear statement” requirements. In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the Supreme Court accepted this invitation. In holding that the military commission system that President Bush had established to try terrorist detainees was invalid, the Court relied on what it believed to be restrictions in the Uniform Code of Militaryjustice (U.C.M.J.), a statute that is of course subject to amendment by Congress. Thus, as Justice Stephen Breyer and other Justices noted in a concurrence, “Nothing prevents the President from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary.”
The Two Faces of Terror
Authors: Farer Tom J.
Published: July 2020

To know where we are, we have to see ourselves from a distance. Otherwise the remarkable becomes commonplace.

I see the Military Commissions Act of 2006 from a temporal distance, specifically from the era of state-terror regimes in Latin America during which I served for eight years (1976 -1983) as a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a principal arm of the Organization of American States (OAS). Those were the years in which governments scattered across the South American continent and the Central American isthmus, anticipating the policy views announced by United States Vice President Dick Cheney in an interview on “Meet the Press” in 2001, decided to go to what Cheney called the “dark side,” or, in the case of those who had long made that side their principal area of operations, decided to move a larger proportion of their respective peoples into it. Throughout the period, reports about the hell on earth my six colleagues and I exposed (in the somewhat stilted idiom official agents are driven to adopt) would appear episodically in the American press. Their implicit subtext was that these horrors were perpetrated by brutes as alien to American life as the venues where they operated.
European Communities —Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products. WT/DS291/R, WT/DS292/R, & WT/DS293/R
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Lester Simon
Published: July 2020

European Communities—Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products. WT/DS291/R, WT/DS292/R, & WT/DS293/R. At .

World Trade Organization Panel, September 29, 2006 (adopted November 21, 2006).

In what was by far the longest panel report in the World Trade Organization’s history, a WTO panel ruled last September that various parts of the European Communities’ regulatory regime for the approval and marketing of “biotech products” (that is, products that contain, or are made from or with, genetically modified organisms (GMOs)) violated the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). The panel report was not appealed and was adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on November 21, 2006.

In recent years, a heated international debate has developed regarding the production and consumption of food made from or with GMOs. Among the key players in this debate, the United States, supported by many companies who have developed GMO-based products, has pushed for their acceptance; by contrast, the European Communities (EC) and its member states, backed by consumer groups and other activists, have tried to restrict their use through various regulations.
“Aerial Security Law.” Case No. 1 BvR 357/05. 115 BVerfGE 118
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Naske Nina , Nolte Georg
Published: July 2020

“Aerial Security Law.” Case No. 1 BvR 357/05. 115 BVerfGE 118. Available at .

Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany), February 15, 2006.

On February 15,2006, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany (Bundesverfassungsgericht) held the Aerial Security Act to be unconstitutional. This act authorized the use of military force against any aircraft intended to be used for the killing of human beings, if the use of such force was the only means to avert an immediate danger. The Court based its ruling on two grounds: first, that the federal level of government had no legislative power to enact such a law, and second, that the act's authorization of military force infringed upon the guarantee of human dignity as embodied in Article 1(1) of the German Constitution, or Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

On January 5, 2003, a small airplane circled over the Frankfurt banking district. For a few moments people saw themselves confronted with a terror attack, recalling 9/11 and the pictures of the burning World Trade Center. The police evacuated several buildings and two Air Force fighter jets arrived before it was established that the pilot was not a terrorist but merely a mentally confused person. A year later, in January 2004, the federal government proposed a draft federal Aerial Security Act. The government argued that the attacks of 9/11, along with the Frankfurt incident, made clear that in order to protect against such attacks, it was necessary to clarify the roles of the federal and state (Länder) governments. “This draft is meant to achieve that aim … and to establish quick and efficient mechanisms for information gathering and decision.”
Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency. 464 F.3d 1
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Knox John H.
Published: July 2020

Natural Resources Defense Council v. Environmental Protection Agency. 464 F.3d 1.

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, August 29, 2006.

In Natural Resources Defense Councilv. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held that certain decisions of the parties acting under the international legal regime to protect the ozone layer are not “law” with which EPA must comply under the Clean Air Act. In dicta, the court suggested that holding the decisions to be “‘law’ would raise serious constitutional questions in light of the nondelegation doctrine, numerous constitutional procedural requirements for making law, and the separation of powers” (p. 9).

The purpose of the international ozone regime—in particular, the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer—is to protect stratospheric ozone, which intercepts harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Unlike oxygen (O2), ozone (O3) is unstable: when a chlorine or bromine compound reaches the stratosphere, it sets off chemical chain reactions that destroy thousands of ozone molecules. As industrial production of such compounds has increased, stratospheric ozone has been depleted, allowing more ultraviolet radiation to reach the Earth, where it causes skin cancer and cataracts, reduces agricultural productivity, and harms the environment. The ozone regime reduces ozone-depleting substances (ODS) in the stratosphere by phasing out their production.
Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon
Authors: Bodansky Daniel , Bradley Curtis A.
Published: July 2020

Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, 126 S.Ct. 2669.

United States Supreme Court, June 28, 2006.

In Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court held that suppression of evidence is not an appropriate remedy for violations of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and that U.S. states may apply their regular procedural default rules to bar claims brought under Article 36. The Court reached the latter conclusion despite contrary reasoning by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Article 36(1)(b) of the Vienna Convention provides that when one party country arrests nationals of another party country, it shall inform the foreign nationals without delay that they have the right to have their consulate notified of the arrest, and to communicate with the consulate. Article 36(2) adds that these rights “shall be exercised in conformity with the laws and regulations of the receiving State, subject to the proviso, however, that the said laws and regulations must enable full effect to be given to the purposes for which the rights accorded under this Article are intended.” The United States ratified the Vienna Convention in 1969, along with a protocol to the Convention providing that disputes between nations arising under the treaty could be heard in the ICJ.
Optimal portfolio choice with tontines under systematic longevity risk
Authors: Gemmo Irina , Rogalla Ralph , Weinert Jan-Hendrik
Published: July 2020

We derive optimal portfolio choice patterns in retirement (ages 66–105) for a constant relative risk aversion utility maximising investor facing risky capital market returns, stochastic mortality risk, and income-reducing health shocks. Beyond the usual stocks and bonds, the individual can invest his assets in tontines. Tontines are cost-efficient financial contracts providing age-increasing, but volatile cash flows, generated through the pooling of mortality without guarantees, which can help to match increasing financing needs at old ages. We find that a tontine invested in the risk-free asset dominates stock investments for older investors without a bequest motive. However, with a bequest motive, it is optimal to replace the tontine investment over time with traditional financial assets. Our results indicate that early in retirement, a tontine is only an attractive investment option, if the tontine funds are invested in a risky asset. In this case, they crowd out stocks and risk-free bonds in the optimal portfolios of younger investors. Over time, the average optimal portfolio weight of tontines decreases. Introducing systematic mortality risks noticeably reduces the peak allocation to tontines.
Growth and development of spring crops in competition with oat in the dryland Mediterranean climate of eastern Washington
Authors: Manuchehri Misha R. , Fuerst E. Pat , Guy Stephen O. , Shafii Bahman , Pittmann Dennis L. , Burke Ian C.
Published: July 2020

Weed management during spring crop production in eastern Washington presents many challenges. Many spring crops are weak competitors with weeds. In May of 2010 and 2011, two spring crop trials were initiated near Pullman, WA, to compare the relative competitiveness of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.), and pea (Pisum sativum L.) using cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) as a surrogate for wild oat (Avena fatua L.) competition. The experiment was arranged as a split-block split-plot design with four replications. One set of main plots included three oat density treatments (0, 63, and 127 plants m−2), while a second set included each crop species. Crop species main plots were then split into subplots of two different seeding rates (recommended and doubled). Crop populations decreased as oat density increased and increased as crop seeding rate increased. As oat density increased, preharvest crop biomass decreased for all crops, while oat biomass and yield increased. Oat biomass and yield were greater in legume plots compared with cereal plots. Increasing oat density decreased yields for all crops, whereas doubling crop seeding rate increased yields for barley and wheat in 2010 and barley in 2011. Compared with legumes, cereals were taller, produced more biomass, and were more competitive with oat.
Intimal angiosarcoma masquerading as retroperitoneal fibrosis
Authors: van Baalen Eske A. , Hendriksz Tadek R. , Brans Boudewijn , Westenend Pieter J. , van Bommel Eric F. H.
Published: July 2020

Summary: We present a rare case of intimal angiosarcoma arising from the iliac artery with unusual symptoms and signs mimicking retroperitoneal fibrosis (RPF). This 84-year-old male presented with constitutional symptoms, abdominal pain, increased acute-phase reactant levels, impaired renal function and a CT-documented left-sided parailiac soft-tissue mass with unilateral extrinsic ureteric obstruction. Whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scan showed highly increased FDG-uptake in a horseshoe-like pattern surrounding the left common iliac artery, but no pathologic activity elsewhere. Further diagnostic workup revealed no signs of malignancy. Because of its location, CT-guided biopsy of the mass was precluded. A tentative diagnosis of RPF was made and treatment with Tamoxifen 20 b.i.d. was started. However, his condition gradually deteriorated, eventually succumbing to severe pneumosepsis. Autopsy revealed extensive iliac intimal angiosarcoma with infiltrative expansion to the left ureter and tumor emboli in both lungs. The present case suggests that intimal angiosarcoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of suspected RPF.
GLOBE Observer Data: 2016–2019
Authors: Amos Helen M. , Starke Matthew J. , Rogerson Tina M. , Colón Robles Marilé , Andersen Travis , Boger Rebecca , Campbell Brian A. , Low Russanne D. , Nelson Peder , Overoye David , Taylor Jessica E. , Weaver Kristen L. , Ferrell Trena M. , Kohl Holli , Schwerin Theresa G.
Published: July 2020

This technical report summarizes the GLOBE Observer data set from 1 April 2016 to 1 December 2019. GLOBE Observer is an ongoing NASA‐sponsored international citizen science project that is part of the larger Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, which has been in operation since 1995. GLOBE Observer has the greatest number of participants and geographic coverage of the citizen science projects in the Earth Science Division at NASA. Participants use the GLOBE Observer mobile app (launched in 2016) to collect atmospheric, hydrologic, and terrestrial observations. The app connects participants to satellite observations from Aqua, Terra, CALIPSO, GOES, Himawari, and Meteosat. Thirty‐eight thousand participants have contributed 320,000 observations worldwide, including 1,000,000 georeferenced photographs. It would take an individual more than 13 years to replicate this effort. The GLOBE Observer app has substantially increased the spatial extent and sampling density of GLOBE measurements and more than doubled the number of measurements collected through the GLOBE Program. GLOBE Observer data are publicly available (at observer.globe.gov).
Evolution of the Earth's Polar Outflow From Mid‐Archean to Present
Authors: Kislyakova K. G. , Johnstone C. P. , Scherf M. , Holmström M. , Alexeev I. I. , Lammer H. , Khodachenko M. L. , Güdel M.
Published: July 2020

The development of habitable conditions on Earth is tightly connected to the evolution of its atmosphere, which is strongly influenced by atmospheric escape. We investigate the evolution of the polar ion outflow from the open field line bundle, which is the dominant escape mechanism for the modern Earth. We perform Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) simulations and estimate the upper limits on escape rates from the Earth's open field line bundle starting from 3 gigayears ago (Ga) to present assuming the present‐day composition of the atmosphere. We perform two additional simulations with lower mixing ratios of oxygen of 1% and 15% to account for the conditions shortly after the Great Oxydation Event (GOE). We estimate the maximum loss rates due to polar outflow 3 gigayears ago of 3.3×1027 s−1 and 2.4×1027 s−1 for oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. The total integrated mass loss equals to 39% and 10% of the modern atmosphere's mass, for oxygen and nitrogen, respectively. According to our results, the main factors that governed the polar outflow in the considered time period are the evolution of the XUV radiation of the Sun and the atmosphere's composition. The evolution of the Earth's magnetic field plays a less important role. We conclude that although the atmosphere with the present‐day composition can survive the escape due to polar outflow, a higher level of CO2 between 3.0 and 2.0 Ga was likely necessary to reduce the escape.
Targeting the MAPK7/MMP9 axis for metastasis in primary bone cancer
Authors: Green Darrell , Eyre Heather , Singh Archana , Taylor Jessica T. , Chu Jason , Jeys Lee , Sumathi Vaiyapuri , Coonar Aman , Rassl Doris , Babur Muhammad , Forster Duncan , Alzabin Saba , Ponthan Frida , McMahon Adam , Bigger Brian , Reekie Tristan , Kassiou Michael , Williams Kaye , Dalmay Tamas , Fraser William D. , Finegan Katherine G.
Published: July 2020

Metastasis is the leading cause of cancer-related death. This multistage process involves contribution from both tumour cells and the tumour stroma to release metastatic cells into the circulation. Circulating tumour cells (CTCs) survive circulatory cytotoxicity, extravasate and colonise secondary sites effecting metastatic outcome. Reprogramming the transcriptomic landscape is a metastatic hallmark, but detecting underlying master regulators that drive pathological gene expression is a key challenge, especially in childhood cancer. Here we used whole tumour plus single-cell RNA-sequencing in primary bone cancer and CTCs to perform weighted gene co-expression network analysis to systematically detect coordinated changes in metastatic transcript expression. This approach with comparisons applied to data collected from cell line models, clinical samples and xenograft mouse models revealed mitogen-activated protein kinase 7/matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MAPK7/MMP9) signalling as a driver for primary bone cancer metastasis. RNA interference knockdown of MAPK7 reduces proliferation, colony formation, migration, tumour growth, macrophage residency/polarisation and lung metastasis. Parallel to these observations were reduction of activated interleukins IL1B, IL6, IL8 plus mesenchymal markers VIM and VEGF in response to MAPK7 loss. Our results implicate a newly discovered, multidimensional MAPK7/MMP9 signalling hub in primary bone cancer metastasis that is clinically actionable.
Inhibiting Importin 4-mediated nuclear import of CEBPD enhances chemosensitivity by repression of PRKDC-driven DNA damage repair in cervical cancer
Authors: Zhou Yang , Liu Fei , Xu Qinyang , Yang Bikang , Li Xiao , Jiang Shuheng , Hu Lipeng , Zhang Xueli , Zhu Lili , Li Qing , Zhu Xiaolu , Shao Hongfang , Dai Miao , Shen Yifei , Ni Bo , Wang Shuai , Zhang Zhigang , Teng Yincheng
Published: July 2020

Cervical cancer (CC) remains highest in the mortality of female reproductive system cancers, while cisplatin (CDDP) resistance is the one of main reasons for the lethality. Preceding evidence has supported that karyopherins are associated with chemoresistance. In this study, we simultaneously compared CDDP-incomplete responders with CDDP-complete responders of CC patients and CDDP‐insensitive CC cell lines with CDDP‐sensitive group. We finally identified that DNA-PKcs (PRKDC) was related to CDDP sensitivity after overlapping in CC sample tissues and CC cell lines. Further functional assay revealed that targeting PRKDC by shRNA and NU7026 (specific PRKDC inhibitor) could enhance CDDP sensitivity in vitro and in vivo, which was mediated by impairing DNA damage repair pathway in CC. Mechanistically, we found that PRKDC was transcriptionally upregulated by CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein delta (CEBPD), while intriguingly, CDDP treatment strengthened the transcriptional activity of CEBPD to PRKDC. We further disclosed that Importin 4 (IPO4) augmented the nuclear translocation of CEBPD through nuclear localization signals (NLS) to activate PRKDC-mediated DNA damage repair in response to CDDP. Moreover, we demonstrated that IPO4 and CEBPD knockdown improved CDDP-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Together, we shed the novel insight into the role of IPO4 in chemosensitivity and provide a clinical translational potential to enhance CC chemosensitivity since the IPO4-CEBPD-PRKDC axis is actionable via NU7026 (PRKDC inhibitor) or targeting IPO4 in combination with CDDP.
Why has Japan become the world’s most long-lived country: insights from a food and nutrition perspective
Authors: Tsugane Shoichiro
Published: July 2020

In an international comparison of recent mortality statistics among G7 countries, Japan had the longest average life expectancy, primarily due to remarkably low mortality rates from ischemic heart disease and cancer (particularly breast and prostate). As recently as the 1960s, life expectancy in Japan was the shortest among the G7 countries, owing to relatively high mortality from cerebrovascular disease—particularly intracerebral hemorrhage—and stomach cancer. Mortality rates for these diseases subsequently decreased significantly while the already low rates for ischemic heart disease and cancer also decreased, resulting in Japanese life expectancy becoming the longest. The low mortality rates from ischemic heart disease and cancer are thought to reflect the low prevalence of obesity in Japan; low intake of red meat, specifically saturated fatty acids; and high intakes of fish, specifically n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, plant foods such as soybeans, and nonsugar-sweetened beverages such as green tea. The decreasing mortality rates from cerebrovascular disease are thought to reflect the increases in animal foods, milk, and dairy products and consequently in saturated fatty acids and calcium, together with a decrease in salt intake which may have led to a decrease in blood pressure. This decrease in salt and highly salted foods also seems to account for the decrease in stomach cancer. The typical Japanese diet as characterized by plant food and fish as well as modest Westernized diet such as meat, milk and dairy products might be associated with longevity in Japan.