bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Functional correlates of self-reported energy levels in the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study
Authors: Ehrenkranz Rebecca , Rosso Andrea L. , Sprague Briana N. , Tian Qu , Gmelin Theresa , Bohnen Nicolaas , Simonsick Eleanor M. , Glynn Nancy W. , Rosano Caterina
Published: March 2021

Background

Effects of fatigue on health in older age are well studied, yet little is known about the clinical relevance of energy perception.

Aims

To explore cross-sectional associations of self-reported energy with physical and mental health metrics in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Methods

Participants rated their energy from 0 to 10; the outcome was energy dichotomized at the median (≥ 7 = higher energy). Four domains were assessed: depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale); physical performance (function: usual and rapid gait speed; fitness: 400-m walk time); physical activity (casual walking, walking for exercise, and intense exercise); and cognitive function (Modified Mini-Mental State Examination and Digit Symbol Substitution Test). Covariates bivariately associated with energy entered a multivariable logistic regression model, adjusted for demographics, chronic conditions, and strength.

Results

Depressive symptoms, physical performance and activity, but not cognition, were bivariately associated with energy (p < 0.0005). Younger age, male sex, greater strength, and absence of chronic conditions predicted higher energy (p < 0.001). In a multivariable model, depressive symptoms [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 95% CI 0.69 (0.62, 0.76)] and 400-m walk times [aOR = 0.81 (0.72, 0.91)] were inversely associated with energy; usual and rapid gait speed [aOR = 1.3 (1.2, 1.4); aOR = 1.2 (1.1–1.4)], and time spent in intense exercise [aOR = 1.4 (1.1–1.7)] were positively associated with energy.

Discussion

In this cohort with a range of chronic conditions and fatigue, perceiving higher energy levels may reflect better emotional and physical health.

Conclusion

Energy should be considered in multidimensional clinical assessments of older age.
Naming of Stimuli in Equivalence Class Formation in Children
Authors: Granerud Guro , Arntzen Erik
Published: March 2021

In the present study, two typically developing 4-year-old children, Pete and Joe, were trained six conditional discriminations and tested for the formation of three 3-member equivalence classes. Pete and Joe did not establish the AC relation within 600 trials and were given two conditions of preliminary training, including naming of stimuli with two different stimulus sets. Pete started with preliminary training with common naming of stimuli, followed by conditional-discrimination training and testing for emergent relations, and continued with preliminary training on individual naming of stimuli, followed by the same training and testing as described previously. Joe experienced the same conditions but in reversed order. Pete responded in accordance with equivalence in the second round in the condition with common naming. In the first round of testing in the condition with individual naming, he responded in accordance with equivalence. In the condition with individual naming, Joe did not respond in accordance with stimulus equivalence but established all of the directly trained relations during training. In the condition with common naming, he responded in accordance with equivalence in the first round of testing. The results from the experiment support earlier findings that both common and individual naming could facilitate the emergence of equivalence classes.
What’s my age again? Age categories as interactive kinds
Authors: Maung Hane Htut
Published: March 2021

This paper addresses a philosophical problem concerning the ontological status of age classification. For various purposes, people are commonly classified into categories such as “young adulthood”, “middle adulthood”, and “older adulthood”, which are defined chronologically. These age categoriesprima facieseem to qualify as natural kinds under a homeostatic property cluster account of natural kindhood, insofar as they capture certain biological, psychological, and social properties of people that tend to cluster together due to causal processes. However, this is challenged by the observation that age categories are historically unstable. The properties that age categories are supposed to capture are affected by healthcare and cultural developments, such that people are staying biologically, psychologically, and socially young for longer. Furthermore, the act of classifying people into age categories can bring about changes in their behaviors, which in turn alter the biological, psychological, and social properties that the categories are supposed to capture. Accordingly, I propose that age categories are best understood as interactive kinds that are influenced in dynamic ways by looping effects. I consider some implications of these looping effects for our classificatory practices concerning age, including how different disciplines may need to review the ways they define and use age categories in their inductive inferences.
Effekte gesundheitsrelevanter Verhaltensweisen auf die subjektive Erwerbsperspektive älterer Beschäftigter in Deutschland
Authors: Borchart Daniela , du Prel Jean-Baptist , Hasselhorn Hans Martin
Published: March 2021

Hintergrund und Ziel

Die subjektive Erwerbsperspektive (EP) gilt als prädiktiv für die realisierte Erwerbsdauer. Inwieweit spezifische gesundheitsrelevante Verhaltensweisen (GVh) mit der EP älterer Beschäftigter assoziiert sind, wurde bislang nicht erforscht. Vor diesem Hintergrund wurden die Effekte von körperlicher Aktivität, Übergewicht und Rauchen auf die EP älterer Beschäftigter untersucht.

Material und Methoden

Analysiert wurden Daten von 3368 älteren Erwerbstätigen, die 2018 an der dritten Befragungswelle der repräsentativen lidA-Studie teilnahmen. EP wurde anhand der Selbsteinschätzung, wie lange man glaubt, noch arbeiten zu können, untersucht. Mittels hierarchischer linearer Regressionsmodelle wurden die Effekte der GVh auf die EP kontrolliert für soziodemografische, arbeits- und gesundheitsbezogene Faktoren querschnittlich untersucht. Durch Interaktionstestung wurde das Zusammenspiel unabhängiger Variablen auf die EP geprüft.

Ergebnisse

Körperliche Aktivität und Adipositas waren signifikant mit der EP assoziiert. Regelmäßig körperlich Aktive gehen davon aus, um fünf Monate länger arbeiten zu können als wenig bzw. nicht Aktive. Beschäftigte ohne Übergewicht gehen davon aus, um fünf Monate länger arbeiten zu können als Adipöse. Kontrolliert für die Gesundheit war der Effekt von Adipositas nicht mehr signifikant. Das Rauchverhalten zeigte keinen signifikanten direkten Effekt auf die EP.

Schlussfolgerung

Unsere Ergebnisse lassen darauf schließen, dass besonders körperliche Aktivität förderlich für die EP sein kann. Um das Potenzial der spezifischen GVh für die Erwerbsfähigkeit genauer bewerten zu können, sind weitere Untersuchungen notwendig. Betriebliche Akteure sollten die Ergebnisse bei der Planung verhaltens- und verhältnispräventiver Maßnahmen berücksichtigen, um gezielter auf die Bedürfnisse der Beschäftigten, besonders jener mit potenziell kürzerer EP, eingehen zu können.
Incorporating Virtues: A Speech Act Approach to Understanding how Virtues Can Work in Business
Authors: Mei Todd
Published: March 2021

One of the key debates about applying virtue ethics to business is whether or not the aims and values of a business actually prevent the exercise of virtues. Some of the more interesting disagreement in this debate has arisen amongst proponents of virtue ethics. This article analyzes the central issues of this debate in order to advance an alternative way of thinking about how a business can be a form of virtuous practice. Instead of relying on the paired concepts of internal and external goods that define what counts as virtuous, I offer a version of speech act theory taken from Paul Ricoeur to show how a business can satisfy several aims without compromising the exercise of the virtues. I refer to this as a polyvalent approach where a single task within a business can have instrumental, conventional, and imaginative effects. These effects correspond to the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary dimensions of meaning. I argue that perlocution provides a way in which the moral imagination can discover the moral significance of others that might have not been noticed before, and furthermore, that for such effects to be practiced, they require appropriate virtues. I look at two cases taken from consultation work to thresh out the theoretical and practical detail.
Domestic Support for Foreign Fighting: Attitudes Towards the Use of Violence Abroad
Authors: Løvlien Eline Drury
Published: March 2021

This study explores the phenomenon of foreign fighting through survey data gathered amongst Norwegian youths in 2015. Looking at two overarching explanatory models the article tests how grievances, criminality and more sectarian and religious factors affect more radical attitudes towards foreign fighting in Syria. Through this the article tests some central individual level factors to see how they impact support for foreign fighting in Syria, while also running alternative methodological approaches to test both the robustness of the initial findings and do some exploratory testing of non-responsive respondents in the multinomial models. The findings find support for factors such as past criminal behaviour and perceived deprivation in the form of self-reported socio-economic position, both of which are significant across the main models and in most of the alternative models. More abstract grievance measures, such as alienation and disillusionment more generally, provide more mixed findings. Hypotheses about a connection between religious identities and religiosity also finds support, with some indications that the sectarian nature of the Syrian civil war has a significant impact on attitudes amongst religious groups across the board. There is also a clearer sectarian dimension when studying those with higher levels of support for foreign fighting in Syria.
Legal Design for Social-Ecological Resilience
Authors: Bohman Brita
Published: March 2021

Theories of social-ecological resilience have developed over the past decades and rapidly become an important framework for governance of complex non-linear environmental problems. This book explores the resilience theories and their compatibility with law, it identifies corresponding legal features. The legal features identified, including legal measures, mechanisms, principles and approaches, form a legal design for social-ecological resilience. A legal design that can be applied to different governance situations. It can be a tool both for designing new laws, as well as for assessing the effectiveness of current laws and legal systems. In many ways environmental law has adjusted and developed new approaches to meet complex environmental problems, but law is still challenged by the complexity that characterize environmental problems and the environmental change connected with the Anthropocene. This book provides a comprehensive review of the most fundamental components of the governance framework for social-ecological resilience and the role of law.
Views and experiences of youth participants in a pediatric advisory board for human subjects research
Authors: DSouza Karen N. , Orellana Minerva , Riggan Kirsten A. , Valdez-Soto Miguel , Brockman Tabetha A. , Zavala Rocha Maria Guadalupe , Balls-Berry Joyce E. , Juhn Young , Patten Christi A. , Allyse Megan A.
Published: March 2021

Introduction:

Community Advisory Boards (CABs) are typically comprised of adult community members who provide feedback on health-related, adult-focused research. Few, if any, CABs comprised of youth participants exist. In 2019, a Midwest medical center recruited a diverse group of 18 11–17-year-old community members to a Pediatric Advisory Board (PAB) to provide feedback on the recruitment and involvement of minors in research.

Methods:

Semi-structured interviews with n = 12 PAB members were conducted to understand their experiences and views on participating in the PAB. Parents (n = 7) were interviewed separately to assess the congruence of views on PAB membership between parents and their children. Interview transcripts were qualitatively analyzed to identify iterative themes.

Results:

PAB members thought the PAB addressed an unmet need of soliciting feedback from youth to develop age-appropriate study materials and to understand potential concerns of young participants. While PAB members expressed interest in the research topics presented by researchers, a few members indicated barriers to full participation, including lack of self-confidence, anxiety, and discomfort sharing opinions in a group setting. Parents supported their child’s PAB participation and hoped it would help them build confidence in developing and sharing their opinions in ways that were meaningful for them, which PAB members largely reported occurring over their period of involvement.

Conclusion:

Findings from a novel Midwest PAB indicated benefits to PAB members. While contributing to pediatric research planning by providing feedback on recruiting youth and improving study protocols, they gained confidence in providing opinions on biomedical research and developed their scientific literacy.
Who Runs? Canadian Federal and Ontario Provincial Candidates from 1867 to 2019
Authors: Sevi Semra
Published: March 2021

Who runs and is elected is one of the most fundamental questions in political science as it pertains to the issue of descriptive representation. Despite the importance of this issue, until recently there were no longitudinal datasets on candidates in Canadian elections. This article presents two novel datasets including information on all candidates who ran in Canadian federal and Ontario provincial elections from 1867 to 2019. I present how these data were collected and how they can be used to gain new insights. I expect these data will be a valuable resource to Canadian political scientists for both research and teaching purposes.
UNITARY FUNCTOR CALCULUS WITH REALITY
Authors: TAGGART NIALL
Published: March 2021

We construct a calculus of functors in the spirit of orthogonal calculus, which is designed to study ‘functors with reality’ such as the Real classifying space functor, . The calculus produces a Taylor tower, the n-th layer of which is classified by a spectrum with an action of . We further give model categorical considerations, producing a zigzag of Quillen equivalences between spectra with an action of and a model structure on the category of input functors which captures the homotopy theory of the n-th layer of the Taylor tower.
Review of some Perinereis Kinberg, 1865 (Annelida: Nereididae) species of Group 2 sensu Hutchings, Reid & Wilson, 1991 from the Eastern and South-eastern Asian seas
Authors: Villalobos-Guerrero Tulio F. , Park Taeseo , Idris Izwandy
Published: March 2021

The present study reviews Perinereis Group 2 species from the Eastern and South-eastern Asian seas based on morphological analysis of the types, non-types and original descriptions, and the use of molecular evidence (COI and 16S rDNA) from newly collected material. These species are characterized by having two bar-shaped paragnaths on pharyngeal area VI, which are often deemed conical when small and pointed, triggering misidentifications as to Neanthes species. New terminology and definition for this particular type of bars are proposed, and the generic position of some resembling Neanthes species is also re-assessed. Five species are transferred to Perinereis: Perinereis babuzai comb. nov., P. belawanensis comb. nov., P. kinmenensis comb. nov., P. shigungensis comb. nov. and P. vitabunda comb. nov. ‘Perinereis aibuhitensis’ species group is newly proposed by encompassing species having proximal dorsal ligule similar throughout the body, dorsal cirri short, and blades of heterogomph falcigers straight with long terminal tooth forming a distinct tendon. Perinereis belawanensis comb. nov., P. linea and P. vitabunda comb. nov. are redescribed. Perinereis linea is regarded as a senior synonym of Nereis (Neanthes) orientalis and Perinereis vancaurica tetradentata based on type material, whereas its exotic status in the Mediterranean Sea is questioned. An identification key to all currently valid species within Perinereis Group 2 is also provided.
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in outdoor dogs and cats in Bangkok, Thailand
Authors: Huertas-López Ana , Sukhumavasi Woraporn , Álvarez-García Gema , Martínez-Subiela Silvia , Cano-Terriza David , Almería Sonia , Dubey Jitender P. , García-Bocanegra Ignacio , Cerón José Joaquín , Martínez-Carrasco Carlos
Published: March 2021

The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence and risk factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii exposure in dogs and cats from Bangkok, Thailand. Blood samples from 318 dogs and 321 cats were tested for T. gondii antibodies by modified agglutination test (cut-off 1:25). Additionally, 18 dogs and 20 cats were longitudinally sampled for T. gondii antibodies during the same study period, between June and July 2019. The overall seroprevalence in dogs and cats was 7.9% (25/318; 95% CI 4.9–10.8%) and 18.7% (95% CI 14.4–23.0%), respectively. For dogs, risk factors identified were being a mixed-breed animal and living totally outdoors, while increasing age was shown to be a risk factor for cats. Seroconversion was not detected and titres from positive animals remained constant over longitudinal study. The present study indicates that there is a prominent presence of T. gondii in urban and peri-urban areas of Bangkok, suggesting that outdoor dogs and cats should be considered as a possible risk factor for humans.
Logos, logic and maximal infinity
Authors: Paseau A. C.
Published: March 2021

Recent developments in the philosophy of logic suggest that the correct foundational logic is like God in that both are maximally infinite and only partially graspable by finite beings. This opens the door to a new argument for the existence of God, exploiting the link between God and logic through the intermediary of the Logos. This article explores the argument from the nature of God to the nature of logic, and sketches the converse argument from the nature of logic to the existence of God.
ON POLITICAL AUDIENCES: AN ARGUMENT IN FAVOUR OF PREACHING TO THE CHOIR
Authors: Agnon Uri
Published: March 2021

A critique of politically engaged art is that gallery-dwellers, concert-goers and theatre-lovers share the same political inclination as the artists. Often known as ‘preaching to the choir’, the critique holds that art's power to challenge and persuade is rendered valueless when it is experienced only by people who already hold the same (typically leftist) ideas. In this article I suggest three distinct yet interconnected responses to this critique: namely, ‘expanding’, ‘galvanising’ and ‘activating’ the choir. In the first part I explore ‘expanding’ and ‘galvanising’ through works by Stefan Prins, Sarah Nicolls, Pamela Z and Soosan Lolavar. In the second half I discuss how I ‘activate’ the choir in my own work.
AGENCY IN COMPOSITIONAL WORKFLOW: HOW YOU WRITE AFFECTS WHAT YOU WRITE
Authors: Barclay Alan
Published: March 2021

The organising of tools, whether real or virtual, is an essential part of composition that is often overlooked. This article aims to generate a discussion about how a composer's working environment can permeate the compositional process and contribute to or inform their ideations. Central to this understanding, in terms of agency, has been to consider workflow as a subset of Actor–Network Theory. Here, a musical composition is viewed as a multiplicity of relationships between workflow and ideations, and suggests an expanded practice of musical creation that explores the various agencies that shape a composition. Nevertheless, this article is not intended as a comprehensive account, but only, as Bruno Latour would put it, ‘to add in a messy way to a messy account of a messy world’.
Insights into the heat-responsive transcriptional network of tomato contrasting genotypes
Authors: Werghi Sirine , Gharsallah Charfeddine , Bhardwaj Nishi Kant , Fakhfakh Hatem , Gorsane Faten
Published: March 2021

During recent decades, global warming has intensified, altering crop growth, development and survival. To overcome changes in their environment, plants undergo transcriptional reprogramming to activate stress response strategies/pathways. To evaluate the genetic bases of the response to heat stress, Conserved DNA-derived Polymorphism (CDDP) markers were applied across tomato genome of eight cultivars. Despite scattered genotypes, cluster analysis allowed two neighbouring panels to be discriminate. Tomato CDDP-genotypic and visual phenotypic assortment permitted the selection of two contrasting heat-tolerant and heat-sensitive cultivars. Further analysis explored differential expression in transcript levels of genes, encoding heat shock transcription factors (HSFs, HsfA1, HsfA2, HsfB1), members of the heat shock protein (HSP) family (HSP101, HSP17, HSP90) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes (APX1, APX2). Based on discriminating CDDP-markers, a protein functional network was built allowing prediction of candidate genes and their regulating miRNA. Expression patterns analysis revealed that miR156d and miR397 were heat-responsive showing a typical inverse relation with the abundance of their target gene transcripts. Heat stress is inducing a set of candidate genes, whose expression seems to be modulated through a complex regulatory network. Integrating genetic resource data is required for identifying valuable tomato genotypes that can be considered in marker-assisted breeding programmes to improve tomato heat tolerance.
Rural consumer response to a food distribution innovation that connects farmers, retailers, and buyers
Authors: van Vlaanderen Zoe , Sitaker Marilyn , Wang Weiwei , Kolodinsky Jane
Published: March 2021

The Farm Fresh Food Box (F3B) strategy is a hybrid of direct-to-consumer (DTC) and short value chain models that aims to stimulate rural economies, creates an additional sales avenue for small farmers, provides rural grocery stores with increased foot traffic and overcomes barriers for rural consumers who are unable to access local food. The F3B project is a tri-state collaboration of extension and research partners from three states; two on the West Coast and one in the Northeast United States, involving small farmers and retailers from rural communities. This article analyzes F3B consumer surveys from 2 years of project implementation and contributes to the limited body of research on food box models by identifying benefits and barriers of the F3B strategy for consumers, comparing these findings to existing research on food box programs and other DTC market channels, and discussing implications for future model adjustment. Overall, consumers were pleased with all aspects of the F3B. However, the strategy had limited success with reaching a new demographic of local food consumers.
Investigation of de-embedding techniques applied on uni-traveling carrier photodiodes
Authors: Konstantinou Dimitrios , Caillaud Christophe , Rommel Simon , Johannsen Ulf , Tafur Monroy Idelfonso
Published: March 2021

The generation and transmission of millimeter-wave signals for 5G applications require the use of broadband and high output power photodetectors to bridge from the optical and electronic domains. Therefore, the deep knowledge on the equivalent circuit characteristics of these devices is vital. This study reviews and analyzes de-embedding techniques contributing to the characterization of the physical aspects within the active region of uni-traveling carrier photodiodes. De-embedding methods analytically remove the parasitic effects of the electrical transmission lines connected to their active area allowing the extraction of their series resistance and junction capacitance toward the synthesis of an equivalent circuit with lumped elements. The open-short technique is examined and a systematic error introduced by this process underlines the vulnerability of the method on removing parasitics with higher complexity. This error is quantified leading to the implementation of a corrected equation converging with the characteristic features of an $S$-parameter-based de-embedding. These characteristics are also analyzed through simulation approaches showing minimal equivalent inaccuracies on eliminating more complex symmetrical parasitics. A thorough comparison between these three methods is conducted through the calculation of lumped components corresponding to the active region of diodes with different sizes.
Suizidalität
Authors: Teismann Tobias , Dorrmann Wolfram
Published: March 2021

Pro Jahr sterben in Deutschland etwa 10.000 Menschen an einem Suizid. Ein Großteil der Suizide wird dabei im Kontext psychischer Erkrankungen vollzogen. Entsprechend verwundert es nicht, dass die Auseinandersetzung mit Suizidgedanken, Suizidversuchen und Suiziden ein beständiges Thema therapeutischen Handelns ist. Die aktualisierte Auflage des Bandes stellt epidemiologische, theoretische und diagnostische Informationen zum Verstehen und Erkennen suizidaler Entwicklungen und Krisen überblicksartig dar. Der Schwerpunkt des Bandes liegt auf den diagnostischen und therapeutischen Strategien zum Umgang mit akuter Suizidalität, die praxisbezogen beschrieben werden. Leserinnen und Leser erhalten konkrete Hinweise zur Risikoabschätzung, zur Beziehungsgestaltung, zu Strategien der motivationalen und kognitiven Arbeit mit suizidalen Intentionen sowie auch zur Förderung von Selbstkontrolle. Notwendige Anpassungen des therapeutischen Settings an die Belange der suizidalen Patientinnen und Patienten werden genauso beschrieben wie Strategien im Umgang mit wiederkehrender Suizidalität. Abschließend wird auf die Effektivität pharmakologischer und psychotherapeutischer Strategien der Suizidprävention eingegangen und es werden rechtliche Aspekte im Umgang mit suizidalen Patientinnen und Patienten erläutert.
Planktonic Metabolism and Microbial Carbon Substrate Utilization in Response to Inundation in Semi‐Arid Floodplain Wetlands
Authors: Rana A. , Kobayashi T. , Ralph T. J.
Published: March 2021

In semi‐arid floodplain wetlands, planktonic metabolism, a balance of gross primary productivity of phytoplankton (GPP) and planktonic respiration (PR), may be affected by hydrology, geomorphology, carbon, and microbial communities. Understanding relationships between these factors helps develop effective water and land management plans for these wetlands. In this study, variations in planktonic metabolism and microbial carbon substrate utilization were investigated in the semi‐arid floodplain wetlands of the Macquarie Marshes, south‐eastern Australia, by comparing three geomorphologically distinct zones with different historical inundation frequencies (zones 1: moderate, 2: low, and 3: very low). Floodplain soil samples collected from each zone were inundated artificially in controlled laboratory conditions. GPP and PR were determined using biological oxygen demand methods. Biolog EcoPlates™ were used to assess microbial utilization of carbon substrate. Among the zones examined, zone 1 had the highest GPP and lowest PR, while zone 3 had the lowest GPP and highest PR. GPP/PR showed zones 1 and 2 autotrophic, and zone 3 heterotrophic. EcoPlates showed the highest and lowest microbial activity in zone 3 and zone 1 respectively, indicating a strong link between microbial carbon substrate utilization and PR for heterotrophy in the rarely inundated zone. Inundation of drier wetland zones may lead to a large pulse in PR, at least for a short period of time, potentially leading to anoxic water events. When making decisions for environmental water allocations, the antecedent hydro‐geomorphological and microbial condition of the targeted wetlands should be considered to help predict expected aquatic ecosystem responses.
Climatic and Geochemical Controls on Soil Carbon at the Continental Scale: Interactions and Thresholds
Authors: Yu Wenjuan , Weintraub Samantha R. , Hall Steven J.
Published: March 2021

Previous studies found conflicting results on the importance of temperature and precipitation versus geochemical variables for predicting soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations and trends with depth, and most utilized linear statistical models. To reconcile the controversy, we used data from 2574 mineral horizons from 675 pits from National Ecological Observatory Network sites across North America, typically collected to 1 m depth. Climate was a fundamental predictor of SOC and played similarly important roles as some geochemical predictors. Yet, this only emerged in the generalized additive mixed model and random forest model and was obscured in the linear mixed model. Relationships between water availability and SOC were strongest in very dry ecosystems and SOC increased most strongly at mean annual temperature < 0°C. In all models, depth, oxalate‐extractable Al (Alox), pH, and exchangeable calcium plus exchangeable magnesium were important while silt + clay, oxalate‐extractable Fe (Feox), and vegetation type were weaker predictors. Climate and pH were independently related to SOC and also interacted with geochemical composition: Feox and Alox related more strongly to SOC in wet or cold climates. Most predictors had nonlinear threshold relationships with SOC, and a saturating response to increasing reactive metals indicates soils where SOC might be limited by C inputs. We observed a mostly constant relative importance of geochemical and climate predictors of SOC with increasing depth, challenging previous statements. Overall, our findings challenge the notion that climate is redundant after accounting for geochemistry and demonstrate that considering their nonlinearities and interactions improves spatial predictions of SOC.
Investigation of the Variability of Night‐Time Equatorial Thermospheric Winds Over Nigeria, West Africa
Authors: Rabiu A. B. , Okoh D. I. , Wu Q. , Bolaji O. S. , Abdulrahim R. B. , Dare‐Idowu O. E. , Obafaye A. A.
Published: March 2021

This study examined the variability of the night‐time equatorial thermospheric meridional and zonal wind speeds using an optical Fabry‐Perot interferometer (FPI) located in Abuja, Nigeria (Geographic: 8.99°N, 7.39°E; Geomagnetic latitude: −1.60). The study period covered 9 months with useable data of 139 nights between March 2016 and January 2018. The hourly zonal wind speed is between −124 and 163 ms−1 and that of the meridional wind ranged between −70 and 95 ms−1. Comparison of FPI ground‐based measurements with estimates from the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM‐14) accurately reproduced the post‐midnight meridional component, but for some departure of ∼50 ms−1 during pre‐midnight. A very good agreement is observed between the predicted and measured zonal winds speed in the month of January 2018. However, the HWM‐14 more often underestimated the zonal wind speeds in the months of 2016. Hence, this necessitates a call for improvement of the HWM‐14 by using newly observed data in order to better characterize the West African sector. The varying zonal winds showed modal periods of 25.9 and 133.5 days, which are quasi 27 days and quasiterannual periodic variations, respectively. On the meridional wind, oscillatory periods of 133.5 and 23.1 days are seen in year 2016 and 2017, respectively.
Seasonal Variations in Flocculation and Erosion Affecting the Large‐Scale Suspended Sediment Distribution in the Scheldt Estuary: The Importance of Biotic Effects
Authors: Horemans Dante M. L. , Dijkstra Yoeri M. , Schuttelaars Henk M. , Sabbe Koen , Vyverman Wim , Meire Patrick , Cox Tom J. S.
Published: March 2021

Many estuaries exhibit seasonality in the estuary‐scale distribution of suspended particulate matter (SPM). This SPM distribution depends on various factors, including freshwater discharge, salinity intrusion, erodibility, and the ability of cohesive SPM to flocculate into larger aggregates. Various authors indicate that biotic factors, such as the presence of algae and their excretion of sticky transparent exopolymer particles (TEP), affect the flocculation and erosion processes. Consequently, seasonality in these biotic factors may play a role in the observed seasonality in SPM. Whereas the impact of abiotic factors on seasonality in SPM is well studied, the relative contribution of biotically induced seasonality is largely unknown. In this study, we employ two approaches to assess the aggregated importance of biotically induced seasonality in flocculation and erosion on seasonality in SPM in the Scheldt estuary. In the first approach, we focus on seasonality of in situ observations in the Scheldt estuary of turbidity, floc size, Chlorophyll‐a, and TEP, showing that the abiotic parameters show seasonality, while seasonality in TEP is ambiguous. The second approach concerns a reverse engineering method to calibrate biotically affected parameters of a coupled sediment transport‐flocculation model to turbidity observations, allowing us to compare the modeled SPM concentrations to the observations. Driven by seasonality in freshwater discharge, the model captures the observed seasonality in SPM without requiring biotically induced seasonality in flocculation and erosion, which is supported by the absence of seasonality in TEP.
Stirring of Sea‐Ice Meltwater Enhances Submesoscale Fronts in the Southern Ocean
Authors: Giddy I. , Swart S. , du Plessis M. , Thompson A. F. , Nicholson S.‐A.
Published: March 2021

In the sea‐ice‐impacted Southern Ocean, the spring sea‐ice melt and its impact on physical processes set the rate of surface water mass modification. These modified waters will eventually subduct near the polar front and enter the global overturning circulation. Submesoscale processes modulate the stratification of the mixed layer (ML) and ML properties. Sparse observations in polar regions mean that the role of submesoscale motions in the exchange of properties across the base of the ML is not well understood. The goal of this study is to determine the interplay between sea‐ice melt, surface boundary layer forcing, and submesoscale flows in setting properties of the surface ML in the Antarctic marginal ice zone. High‐resolution observations suggest that fine‐scale lateral fronts arise from either/both mesoscale and submesoscale stirring of sea‐ice meltwater anomalies. The strong salinity‐driven stratification at the base of the ML confines these fronts to the upper ocean, limiting submesoscale vertical fluxes across the ML base. This strong stratification prevents the local subduction of modified waters by submesoscale flows, suggesting that the subduction site that links to the global overturning circulation does not correspond with the location of sea‐ice melt. However, surface‐enhanced fronts increase the potential for Ekman‐driven cross‐frontal flow to modulate the stability of the ML and ML properties. The parameterization of submesoscale processes in coupled‐climate models, particularly those contributing to the Ekman buoyancy flux, may improve the representation of ML heat and freshwater transport in the ice‐impacted Southern Ocean during summer.
Forest Greening Increases Land Surface Albedo During the Main Growing Period Between 2002 and 2019 in China
Authors: Yan Hao , Wang Shaoqiang , Dai Junhu , Wang Junbang , Chen Jin , Shugart Herman H.
Published: March 2021

This study is the first to find the unexpected increases in albedo due to forest greening, which has important implications in research of land‐surface energy‐balance and the forest‐climate feedback. We investigated interannual changes of vegetation and albedo for forests and grassland during the main growing period, May to September, between 2002 and 2019 in China using the MODIS‐satellite vegetation index and albedo products. These results indicate significant greening (PMK < 0.01) in all types of forests as well as grasslands in China. However, forests had an increasing trend of shortwave albedo (PMK < 0.01) for evergreen forests, deciduous broadleaf forests, and mixed forests. Grasslands showed a decreasing albedo trend (PMK < 0.01) over the same period. Corroborating statistical analyses revealed a positive correlation (P < 0.01) between Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and albedo for forests on interannual scales. However, EVI and albedo for grasslands had a negative correlation. Forest greening increased the albedo during the main growing period. This contrasts previous results indicating that albedo decreases as annual forest‐cover increases. Developing and analyzing a simple vegetation‐coverage‐based albedo model showed that increasing forest coverage (i.e., forest greening) had increased area of more brightly leafy canopy and decreased area of darker gaps in the forest canopy. In conjunction, these produced the increased overall albedo observed by satellite. Contrastingly, grassland greening and more precipitation produced decreased albedo. Hence, the greening of forests and grasslands, representing dense and scarce vegetation respectively, has contrasting albedo responses.
Influence of Volatiles on Mass Wasting Processes on Vesta and Ceres
Authors: Parekh R. , Otto K. A. , Jaumann R. , Matz K. D. , Roatsch T. , Kersten E. , Elgner S. , Raymond C.
Published: March 2021

We have analyzed mass wasting features, their distribution and deposit geometry on the two largest main asteroid belt objects—protoplanet Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres—and compared their geomorphology and mobility. Both asteroids have similar surface accelerations, but different surface compositions. Based on our observations and previous studies, we categorized three distinct morphological mass wasting classes: slumps, slides, and flow‐like movements. We conclude that Ceres has abundant features of flow‐like mass movements. Further, sliding and flow‐like characteristics are identified in craters within mid‐latitudes which supports the possibility of the presence of water ice in the near subsurface of Ceres. Vesta predominantly shows characteristics of dry granular‐like slide features which are distributed homogenously across the surface. By plotting the ratio between fall height (H) and run‐out length (L) (effective coefficient of friction, H/L) against the run‐out length and spreading width (W), we demonstrate that deposits on Vesta terminate on shorter distances, whereas on Ceres they travel longer distances. The deposit geometry and the similar surface gravity on both asteroids suggest that the material composition and volatile component have a significant effect on deposit emplacement. However, both bodies’ mass movements have similar effective coefficients of friction, even though Vesta's regolith is comparatively dry, whereas Ceres is rich in water ice. This leads to the conclusion that volatile content alone cannot be responsible for low effective coefficients of friction, and that more than one geological process is needed to explain the mass motion behavior and morphology.
An Integrative Conceptualization of Floodplain Storage
Authors: Wohl Ellen
Published: March 2021

Floodplains perform diverse functions, including attenuation of fluxes of water, solutes, and particulate material. Critical details of floodplain storage including magnitude, duration, and spatial distribution are strongly influenced by floodplain biogeochemical processes and biotic communities. Floodplain storage of diverse materials can be conceptualized in the form of a budget that quantifies inputs, outputs, and storage within the floodplain control volume. The floodplain control volume is here defined as bounded on the inner edges by the banks of the active channel(s), on the outer edges by the limit of periodic flooding and the deposition of fluvially transported sediment, on the underside by the extent of hyporheic exchange flows and the floodplain aquifer, and on the upper side by the upper elevation of living vegetation. Fluxes within the floodplain control volume can also change the location, characteristics, and residence time of material in storage. Fluxes, residence time, and quantities of material stored in floodplains can be measured directly; inferred from diverse types of remotely sensed data; or quantitatively estimated using numerical models. Human activities can modify floodplain storage by: hydrologically and/or geomorphically disconnecting channels and floodplains; altering fluxes of water and sediment to the river corridor; and obliterating floodplains through alluvial mining or urbanization. Floodplain restoration can focus on enlarging the functional floodplain, reconnecting the channel and floodplain, restoring natural regimes of water, sediment, and/or large wood, or enhancing the spatial heterogeneity of the channel and floodplain. Each form of floodplain restoration can increase floodplain storage and resilience to disturbances.
Application of a Multi‐Layer Artificial Neural Network in a 3‐D Global Electron Density Model Using the Long‐Term Observations of COSMIC, Fengyun‐3C, and Digisonde
Authors: Li Wang , Zhao Dongsheng , He Changyong , Shen Yi , Hu Andong , Zhang Kefei
Published: March 2021

The ionosphere plays an important role in satellite navigation, radio communication, and space weather prediction. However, it is still a challenging mission to develop a model with high predictability that captures the horizontal‐vertical features of ionospheric electrodynamics. In this study, multiple observations during 2005–2019 from space‐borne global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) systems (COSMIC and FY‐3C) and the Digisonde Global Ionosphere Radio Observatory are utilized to develop a completely global ionospheric three‐dimensional electron density model based on an artificial neural network, namely ANN‐TDD. The correlation coefficients of the predicted profiles all exceed 0.96 for the training, validation and test datasets, and the minimum root‐mean‐square error of the predicted residuals is 7.8 × 104 el/cm3. Under quiet space weather, the predicted accuracy of the ANN‐TDD is 30%–60% higher than the IRI‐2016 at the Millstone Hill and Jicamarca incoherent scatter radars. However, the ANN‐TDD is less capable of predicting ionospheric dynamic evolution under severe geomagnetic storms compared to the IRI‐2016 with the STORM option activated. Additionally, the ANN‐TDD successfully reproduces the large‐scale horizontal‐vertical ionospheric electrodynamic features, including seasonal variation and hemispheric asymmetries. These features agree well with the structure revealed by the RO profiles derived from the FORMOSAT/COSMIC‐2 mission. Furthermore, the ANN‐TDD successfully captures the prominent regional ionospheric patterns, including the equatorial ionization anomaly, Weddell Sea anomaly and mid‐latitude summer nighttime anomaly. The new model is expected to play an important role in the application of GNSS navigation and in the explanation of the physical mechanisms involved.
Triassic–Jurassic Accretionary History and Tectonic Origin of Stikinia From U‐Pb Geochronology and Lu‐Hf Isotope Analysis, British Columbia
Authors: George S. W. M. , Nelson J. L. , Alberts D. , Greig C. J. , Gehrels G. E.
Published: March 2021

The timing of assembly and tectonic origins of terranes in the northern Cordillera of Alaska, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest are debated. Stikinia, a long‐lived arc terrane, has an enigmatic regional Mesozoic accretionary history and its tectonic origins remain unconstrained. Zircon U‐Pb geochronology and Lu‐Hf isotopic data on Triassic–Jurassic sedimentary and igneous rocks from central Stikinia shed light on the terrane‐scale effects of a latest Triassic–Early Jurassic collision between Stikinia and pericratonic Yukon‐Tanana terrane. Main age peaks from central Stikinia are 250–160 Ma, reflecting ongoing Mesozoic arc‐related igneous activity within Stikinia. Comparison of isotopic evolution and unconformity development between central Stikinia and northern Stikinia (Whitehorse trough) provide new constraints on regional latest Triassic–earliest Jurassic deformation. We attribute the shortening‐related deformation to variable along‐strike interactions during end‐on collision with the Yukon‐Tanana terrane, with significant crustal thickening at the northern apex of Stikinia that did not persist farther south. A small pre‐Devonian zircon population is significant, as the oldest exposed rocks in Stikinia are Early Devonian. Pre‐Devonian age peaks differ from those of the northern Yukon‐Tanana terrane, but resemble zircons from southern Wrangellia. These zircons are likely multi‐cyclic, derived from crust that originated in the Arctic region near the northern end of the Caledonide orogeny. We suggest that Stikinia was an independent crustal block prior to latest Triassic onset of collision with Yukon‐Tanana terrane. The ongoing, end‐on collision in turn promoted oroclinal assembly of the peri‐Laurentian terranes.
LGK974 suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemia in mice by modulating the crosstalk between the Wnt/β-catenin and NF-κB pathways
Authors: Jang Jaewoong , Song Jaewon , Lee Hyunji , Sim Inae , Kwon Young V. , Jho Eek-hoon , Yoon Yoosik
Published: March 2021

Endotoxemia, a type of sepsis caused by gram-negative bacterial endotoxin [i.e., lipopolysaccharide (LPS)], is associated with manifestations such as cytokine storm; failure of multiple organs, including the liver; and a high mortality rate. We investigated the effect and mechanism of action of LGK974, a Wnt signaling inhibitor, in mice with LPS-induced endotoxemia, an animal model of sepsis. LGK974 significantly and dose-dependently increased the survival rate and reduced plasma cytokine levels in mice with LPS-induced endotoxemia. Transcriptome analysis of liver tissues revealed significant changes in the expression of genes associated with the Wnt pathway as well as cytokine and NF-κB signaling during endotoxemia. LGK974 treatment suppressed the activation of NF-κB signaling and cytokine expression as well as the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in the livers of endotoxemic mice. Coimmunoprecipitation of phospho-IκB and β-transducin repeat-containing protein (β-TrCP) was increased in the livers of endotoxemic mice but was reduced by LGK974 treatment. Moreover, LGK974 treatment decreased the coimmunoprecipitation and colocalization of β-catenin and NF-κB, which were elevated in the livers of endotoxemic mice. Our results reveal crosstalk between the Wnt/β-catenin and NF-κB pathways via interactions between β-TrCP and phospho-IκB and between β-catenin and NF-κB during endotoxemia. The results of this study strongly suggest that the crosstalk between the Wnt/β-catenin and NF-κB pathways contributes to the mutual activation of these two pathways during endotoxemia, which results in amplified cytokine production, liver damage and death, and that LGK974 suppresses this vicious amplification cycle by reducing the crosstalk between these two pathways.