bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Temperature-based phenology model for predicting the present and future establishment and distribution of recently invasiveSpodoptera frugiperda(J. E. Smith) in India
Authors: Prasad T. V. , Srinivasa Rao M. , Rao K. V. , Bal S. K. , Muttapa Y. , Choudhary J. S. , Singh V. K.
Published: October 2021

Fall armyworm,Spodoptera frugiperda(J. E. Smith) is a polyphagous and highly destructive invasive insect pest of many crops. It was recently introduced into India and widely reported in almost all parts of India. Development of a temperature-based phenology model for predicting its rate of development and distribution will help in understanding the establishment and further spread of introduced invasive insect pests. Development, survival and reproduction parameters ofS. frugiperdaat six constant temperature conditions (15, 20, 25, 27, 30 and 35°C) were investigated and further validated with data generated under fluctuating temperature conditions. The estimated lower developmental threshold temperatures were 12.1°C for eggs, 11°C for larvae, 12.2°C for pupae, 15.13°C for males and 12.66°C for females. Degree-day (DD) requirements for the development of the different stages ofS. frugiperdawere 50, 250 and 200 DD for egg, larva and pupa, respectively. The best-fitted functions were compiled for each life stage to yield a phenology model, which was stochastically simulated to estimate the life table parameters. The developed phenology model predicted temperature ranges between 27 and 30°C as favourable forS. frugiperdadevelopment, survival and reproduction. The results revealed that maximum net reproductive rate (215.66 females/female/generation) and total fecundity (981.08 individuals/female/generation) were attained at 30°C constant temperature. The mean length of generations decreased from 74.29 days at 15°C to 38.74 days at 30°C. The maximum intrinsic rate of increase (0.138 females/female/day) and shortest doubling time (4.9 days) were also observed at 30°C. Results of simulated life table parameters showed high temperature-dependent development ofS. frugiperdaand complete development within all the tested constant temperature ranges (15–35°C). Simulated life table parameters for predicting risk indices ofS. frugiperdain India indicated a significant increase in activity indices and establishment risk indices with a higher number of generations during future (2050 and 2070) climatic change scenarios compared to present conditions. Our results indicate that India will be highly suitable for the establishment and survival ofS. frugiperdain future time periods.
The identity and significance of the high-latitude Early Ordovician Mediterranean brachiopod Province
Authors: Cocks L. Robin M. , Popov Leonid E.
Published: October 2021

During the Early Ordovician Epoch, the Mediterranean brachiopod Province was extensive in the higher-latitude sectors of the globe in the Southern Hemisphere. The latter was much occupied by the massive continent of Gondwana, which stretched from north of the Equator S-wards to cover the South Pole. The Mediterranean Province can be separated into two groups: Group 1, the higher-latitude fauna dominated by large linguliform brachiopods; and Group 2, which is more diverse, particularly in orthides. The large linguliform brachiopod faunas are particularly well known in southern Europe (France, Spain and Bohemia) and North Africa, and the second group in Avalonia, Chile and Argentina. The province is different from, but merges with, more diverse contemporary faunas in the lower latitudes of Gondwana to its north, although the latter contrast with other lower-latitude faunal provinces in South China, Laurentia, Siberia and elsewhere. Since the Rheic Ocean between Avalonia and Gondwana was relatively narrow during the Early Ordovician Epoch, the Avalonian brachiopods were integral parts of the Mediterranean Province, but only until end of the Dapingian Age. This paper focuses on the earlier phases of the Mediterranean Province, although the province continued until near the end of the Ordovician Period. Intermediate-latitude Baltica and some other faunas are included in new principal components and other analyses in order to compare them with the Mediterranean Province faunas. Radiation was very significant for many brachiopod taxa during the period, with first appearances of the Plectambonitoidea (Taffiidae), several orthide families (Euorthisinidae, Tarfayidae and Anamalorthidae) and the earliest endopunctate orthide, the dalmanelloidLipanorthis.
Women’s education and desire for additional children in Vietnam: regional differences and the role of son preference
Authors: Nguyen Yen Thi Hai , Sukontamarn Pataporn
Published: October 2021

This paper investigates the relationship between women’s education and desire for additional children across the six economic regions of Vietnam. The study employed data from the nationally representative Vietnam Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014. Probit regression results showed that for women with one child, higher levels of education were associated with higher fertility desire in two out of six regions. Similar results were found for women with two or more children. Children’s sex composition played a role in the desire for additional children, reflecting both son preference and mixed-gender preference. In Vietnam overall, among women with at least one boy, those with lower levels of education were more likely not to want another child. The results, however, differed by region. The findings suggest that the social and economic context of each region, particularly sex ratio at birth and total fertility rate, should be taken into account when designing population policies in Vietnam.
The food system and climate change: are plant-based diets becoming unhealthy and less environmentally sustainable?
Authors: Macdiarmid J. I.
Published: October 2021

A plant-based diet, which can include small amounts of meat, is the foundation for healthy sustainable diets, which will have co-benefits for health, climate and the environment. Studies show that some of the barriers to making this dietary change and reducing meat consumption are perceptions that plant-based diets are inconvenient, it takes too much time and skills to prepare meals and ingredients are expensive. The food environment is changing and the industry is responding with the exponential increase in the market of highly processed, convenient and cheap plant-based foods. This overcomes some of the barriers, but there is concern about whether they are healthy and environmentally sustainable. Plant-based foods have a halo effect around health and the environment, but many being produced are ultra-processed foods that are high in energy, fat, sugar and salt and have a higher environmental impact than minimally processed plant-based foods. The trend towards eating more highly processed plant-based convenience foods is a concern with regard to both public health and the targets set to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The ‘modern day’ plant-based diet emerging is very different to a more traditional one comprising pulses, vegetables and wholegrain. Studies show that those who are younger and have been a vegetarian for a shorter duration are eating significantly more ultra-processed plant-based foods. While there is a place for convenient, desirable and affordable plant-based food to encourage dietary change, care should be taken that this does not subconsciously set a path which may ultimately be neither healthy nor sustainable.
NOTES FROM ROME 2020–21
Authors: Coates-Stephens Robert
Published: October 2021

This gazette presents to the reader outside Rome news of recent archaeological activity (June 2020 – July 2021) gleaned from public lectures, conferences, exhibitions, and newspaper reports.
THE FIDUCIARY SOCIAL CONTRACT
Authors: Lawson Gary
Published: October 2021

The United States Constitution is, in form and fact, a kind of fiduciary instrument, and government officials acting pursuant to that document are subject to the background rules of fiduciary obligation that underlie all such documents. One of the most basic eighteenth-century fiduciary rules was the presumptive rule against subdelegation of discretionary authority. The rule was presumptive only; there were recognized exceptions that permitted subdelegation when it was specifically authorized by the instrument of agency, when it was validated by custom or tradition, and when it was necessary for accomplishment of the agent’s authorized purposes. To what extent might that third exception justify broad subdelegation of legislative authority by Congress to administrative agencies? Part of the answer, which is beyond the aims of this essay, depends on ascertaining the nature of the job entrusted to Congress under the Constitution, which means ascertaining the scope of Congress’s delegated powers. Another part of the answer depends on the extent to which expertise can and may serve as justification for entrusting others with tasks with which one has previously been entrusted. What would a responsible fiduciary approach to expertise—whether for purposes of advice or subdelegation—look like in the modern administrative state? The answer requires a careful examination of the idea of expertise and how it can be applied, and misapplied, in modern governance. This essay offers only the briefest introduction to that problem by trying to frame the questions that responsible fiduciaries need to ask before subdelegating authority. Such questions include: (1) What are the limits of the principal’s own knowledge? (2) What reason is there to think that gaps in that knowledge can, even in principle, be filled by experts? (3) Will application of expert knowledge lead in any particular instance lead to better decisions, given the ubiquitous problem of second-best? and (4) Have you picked the right experts, and will they actually apply expertise rather than using their claim to expertise as a cover for pursuing other goals? These questions in the context of the modern administrative state are just one aspect of a broader problem of nonexperts trying to evaluate—both before and after the fact—the work product of experts.
LIBERAL FREEDOM, THE SEPARATION OF POWERS, AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE
Authors: MacGilvray Eric
Published: October 2021

Contemporary critiques of the administrative state are closely bound up with the distinctively American doctrine that republican freedom requires that the legislative, executive, and judicial powers be exercised by separate and distinct branches of government. The burden of this essay is to argue that legislative delegation and judicial deference to the administrative state are necessary, or at least highly desirable, features of a democratic separation of powers regime. I begin by examining the historical and conceptual roots of the separation of powers doctrine, paying particular attention to the unique way in which it was adapted to fit the American case. I then examine three concerns that the resulting constitutional system raises about the republican freedom of those who are subject to it—which I call the accountability, legitimacy, and stability concerns—and argue that the administrative state is a useful, albeit imperfect, tool for reducing the unavoidable tension between these concerns. The thrust of this discussion is to push us away from “in principle” objections to the administrative state, and back toward the kinds of prudential considerations that are associated with ordinary liberal politics. More importantly, the aim of the essay is to encourage sober reflection on the real dangers that face the American constitutional system under current circumstances.
SELF-GOVERNANCE, ROBUST POLITICAL ECONOMY, AND THE REFORM OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
Authors: Tarko Vlad
Published: October 2021

This essay explains how to use the calculus of consent framework to think more rigorously about self-governance, and applies this framework to the issue of evaluating federal regulatory agencies. Robust political economy is the idea that institutions should be designed to work well even under weak assumptions about decision-makers’ knowledge and benevolence. I show how the calculus of consent can be used to analyze both incentives and knowledge problems. The calculus is simultaneously a theory of self-governance and a tool for robust political economy analysis. Applying this framework to the case of public administration leads to the conclusion that private goods (such as medicine) tend to be over-regulated, public goods tend to be under-regulated (such as enabling too much pollution), and regulatory agencies tend to be over-centralized (and should in most cases either be replaced with certification markets or moved to state level).
FIGHTING POWER WITH POWER: THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE AS A WEAPON AGAINST CONCENTRATED PRIVATE POWER
Authors: Bagg Samuel
Published: October 2021

Contemporary critics of the administrative state are right to highlight the dangers of vesting too much power in a centralized bureaucracy removed from popular oversight and accountability. Too often neglected in this literature, however, are the dangers of vesting too little power in a centralized state, which enables dominant groups to further expand their social and economic advantages through decentralized means. This article seeks to synthesize these concerns, understanding them as reflecting the same underlying danger of state capture. It then articulates a set of heuristics for the design of public and administrative institutions, which aim at minimizing the risks of capture from both public and private sources. By following these heuristics, it claims, we can successfully employ the administrative state as a weapon against concentrated private power, rather than allowing it to serve as a tool of dominant groups.
ADMINISTERED ENTITLEMENTS: COLLECTIVE BARGAINING TO AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Authors: Moreno Paul
Published: October 2021

This essay tells the story of the development of two of the most significant and controversial entitlement programs in twentieth-century U.S. history—collective bargaining and affirmative action. It focuses on the nexus between them—how New Deal empowerment of labor unions contributed to racial discrimination, and thus fed the Great Society race-based programs of affirmative action. The evolving relationship between the courts and the bureaucracies is emphasized, particularly how the judiciary went from an obstacle to an enabler of the entitlement state.
Occupational Disruption during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Lived Experience of Community-Dwelling Older Adults
Authors: Rotenberg Shlomit , Oreper Julie S. , Bar Yael , Davids-Brumer Naomi , Arbel Ifah , Dawson Deirdre R.
Published: October 2021

This qualitative descriptive study presents the experience of an abrupt disruption of daily activities among community-dwelling older adults during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen older adults (age: 71 ± 6.4) were interviewed in April–June, 2020. Five themes were identified: (1) Understanding and applying COVID-19 guidelines: guidelines were clear and participants adhered closely to them, motivated mainly by fear; ageing-specific guidelines are needed. (2) Daily life during lockdown: the abrupt occupational disruption was managed by transitioning to virtual activities, and/or performing more activities at home. New daily activities were generally more sedentary and less meaningful. (3) Social context: family assistance aroused mixed feelings, as it compromised independence; limited compliance at the community level created stress. (4) Mood and affect: mood often fluctuated, and participants employed various coping strategies. (5) Aging: participants became more aware of their age and were concerned about negative health implications of adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.
Comparing genotypes and antibiotic resistance profiles of Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium massiliense clinical isolates in China
Authors: Wang Yiting , He Wencong , He Ping , Zheng Huiwen , Zhao Yanlin
Published: October 2021

This study aimed to investigate differences in the antimicrobial susceptibility of members of the Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MABC): subsp. massiliense and subsp. abscessus, and to identify associations between strain genotypes and antimicrobial resistance phenotypes. A total of 383 clinical MABC isolates (subsp. abscessus: n = 218, 56.9%; subsp. massiliense: n = 163, 42.6%; subsp. bolletii: n = 2, 0.5%) were characterised using multilocus variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing and drug susceptibility testing. Most isolates exhibited susceptibility to amikacin, clarithromycin and azithromycin but resistance to cefoxitin and minocycline was statistically more associated with isolates unclustered by VNTR type. The Simpson's diversity indexes of VNTR typing for M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates were 0.999 and 0.997, respectively. Genotyping of M. abscessus and M. massiliense isolates by VNTR may provide valuable information for predicting resistance phenotype.
When the law is silent: stigma and challenges faced by male sex workers in Japan
Authors: Takahashi Mana
Published: October 2021

This study considers how invisibility under the law can lead to stigmatisation. It examines how legal silence affects the stigmatisation process and the identity of male sex workers in Japan. Since male sex work is currently not recognised under Japanese law, male sex workers are not subject to control, regulation, punishment or protection. However, the number of male sex workers in Japan is increasing. Many studies have noted that male sex workers may experience double stigmatisation – referring to the stigma associated with homosexuality and the stigma associated with commercial sex. Male sex workers in Japan, however, may face an additional stigma caused by the fact that the law essentially ignores their existence. This paper draws on fieldwork interviews to show how the silence of the law can exacerbate the marginalisation and disempowerment of a vulnerable social group.
‘We are not like them’: stigma and the Destitute Persons Act of Singapore
Authors: Tan Harry
Published: October 2021

Using a legal-consciousness approach, this paper discusses the issue of stigma and law from the perspectives of a group of older homeless people in Singapore. Focusing specifically on the Destitute Persons Act 2013 Rev. Ed. (DPA), the paper shows the different ways in which homeless people make sense of, negotiate, resist or succumb to the stigma of a homeless identity ascribed by the DPA. From these experiences, two fundamental problems with the DPA are highlighted. First, the DPA imposes a homeless identity that is entangled in archaic legal definitions that often do not relate to contemporary experiences of homelessness in Singapore. Second, the enforcement of the DPA legitimises a differential treatment of homeless people, without addressing the broader complexities of homelessness.
The invisible stigmatisation of female practitioners in international arbitration
Authors: Sharma Umika
Published: October 2021

The paper is a study of the gender-based stigmatisation process of elite professionals in an international legal field. It uses commercial arbitration as an example of an international profession and adds to the prevalent understanding of gender inequality by developing a framework called ‘invisible stigmatisation’. The main theoretical framework is supported by twenty-two semi-structured interviews conducted across five international arbitration jurisdictions and two original datasets. These data have helped to contextualise the nuances of gender-based stigmatisation in prestigious arbitral appointments and at the echelons of international arbitration law firms. The paper establishes that the stigmatising experiences drive elite female professionals and their gender-equality consciousness. These experiences also lead to them devise innovative strategies to minimise the effects of gender inequality on their professional lives.
Estimation of the Mode Conversion Effect on the Determination of Southern Boundary for the ∼100 MeV Electron Precipitations
Authors: Remenets G. F. , Astafiev A. M.
Published: October 2021

Previously the parameters of sporadic layer of electric conductivity caused by ultraenergetic relativistic electron (URE) precipitations were determined by us due to indirect electromagnetic method. Then we determined the southern boundaries of these precipitations in the frames of the following supposition: the effect of a normal wave reflection and its conversion into other normal waves on the boundary between disturbed and undisturbed parts of a radio path might have been ignored. Now we show by accurate simulation that it was true for strong and moderate URE precipitations. For the powerful disturbances of the same nature (16 events for 11 years) the effect is significant. In order to obtain these results, we had to change a traditional statement of problem about a normal wave conversion in the terrestrial waveguide and to solve numerically this new problem with an abrupt change of inhomogeneous properties on a transverse surface of the waveguide. We did not divide a near‐Earth waveguide at two artificial altitude parts: with vacuum and with inhomogeneous conducting medium along the transverse coordinate. Formally the waveguide was considered by us as inhomogeneous from its top to its bottom.
Temporal Scale‐Dependent Sensitivity Analysis for Hydrological Model Parameters Using the Discrete Wavelet Transform and Active Subspaces
Authors: Bittner Daniel , Engel Michael , Wohlmuth Barbara , Labat David , Chiogna Gabriele
Published: October 2021

Global sensitivity analysis is an important step in the process of developing and analyzing hydrological models. Measured data of different variables are used to identify the number of sensitive model parameters and to better constrain the model output. However, data scarcity is a common issue in hydrology. Since in hydrology we are dealing with multi‐scale time dependent problems, we want to overcome that issue by exploiting the potential of using the decomposed wavelet temporal scales of the discharge signal for the identification of sensitive model parameters. In the proposed methodology, we coupled the discrete wavelet transform with a technique for model parameter dimension reduction, that is, the active subspace method. We apply the proposed methodology to the LuKARS model, a lumped karst aquifer model for the Kerschbaum spring in Waidhofen/Ybbs (Austria). Our results demonstrate that the temporal scale dependency of hydrological processes affects the structure and dimension of the active subspaces. The results reveal that the dimensionality of an active subspace increases with the increasing number of hydrologic processes affecting a temporal scale. As a consequence, different parameters are sensitive on different temporal scales. Finally, we show that the total number of sensitive parameters identified at different temporal scales is larger than the number of sensitive parameters obtained using the complete spring discharge signal. Hence, instead of using multiple time series to determine the number of sensitive parameters, we can also obtain more information about parameter sensitivities from one single, decomposed time series.
Asymmetric Topography Causes Normal Stress Perturbations at the Rupture Front: The Case of the Cajon Pass
Authors: Kyriakopoulos Christodoulos , Wu Baoning , Oglesby David D.
Published: October 2021

We use 3D dynamic rupture simulations to discover a previously un‐described effect of asymmetric topography on the earthquake process. With the Cajon Pass along the San Andreas Fault as an example, we find that asymmetric topography generates an alternating normal stress perturbation around the rupture front, near the free surface. When topography lies to the right of the propagating right‐lateral front, the normal stress perturbation is clamping ahead of the rupture front and unclamping behind. When topography alternates to the left, the perturbation reverses sign. The process is analogous to the normal stress variations on dip‐slip faults. While this effect does not strongly affect rupture propagation and slip in our current parametrization, it requires explanation and exploration. An understanding of the normal stress perturbation due to asymmetric topography will help prevent its misattribution to other sources and lead to a better understanding of the interplay of multiple processes during earthquakes.
Time‐Scales of a Dune‐Beach System and Implications for Shoreline Modeling
Authors: Montaño Jennifer , Coco Giovanni , Chataigner Teddy , Yates Marissa , Le Dantec Nicolas , Suanez Serge , Cagigal Laura , Floc'h France , Townend Ian
Published: October 2021

Understanding the interactions between dune systems and beaches is critical to determining the short‐term shoreline response and the long‐term resilience. In this study, almost 15 years of monthly beach/dune measurements were analyzed for three diﬀerent proﬁles at Vougot Beach, France to understand and predict shoreline changes from intra‐annual to multi‐annual time‐scales. Four migration modes: advance/retreat (translation modes) and steepening/flattening (rotation modes) were identified through a centroid analysis. The analysis showed that translation and rotation can occur simultaneously, with long‐term trends of beach retreat and profile steepening (lower beach retreating and upper beach advancing), which was interrupted by two energetic wave events causing profile ﬂattening (lower beach advancing and upper beach retreating). These two observations are evidence of how the sediment contribution resulting from the dune erosion events temporarily caused a large advance in the shoreline position. A recent modeling approach that accounts for diﬀerent time‐scales is applied to predict the shoreline changes, showing signiﬁcant improvements in comparison to a traditional shoreline equilibrium model when time‐scales related with the dune erosion and recovery are considered. The results showed that the dune system aﬀects the beach proﬁle evolution both spatially, with diﬀerent impacts at diﬀerent elevations along the cross‐shore proﬁle, and temporally, by periodically redistributing the sediment in the system.
Considerable Uncertainties in Simulating Land Carbon Sinks Induced by Different Precipitation Products
Authors: Wang Meirong , Wang Jun , Cai Qixiang , Zeng Ning , Lu Xuehe , Yang Ruqi , Jiang Fei , Wang Hengmao , Ju Weimin
Published: October 2021

Precipitation, a key determinant of soil moisture variations, plays an important role in regulating terrestrial carbon fluxes on multiple time scales. It is a critical meteorological forcing to drive terrestrial biosphere model (TBM), however, with a large uncertainty itself. We here investigated to what extent precipitation alone can cause uncertainties of model‐simulated carbon flux from terrestrial ecosystems to atmosphere (FTA), based on eight precipitation products and a TBM, VEGAS. We find that the pattern of uncertainties in simulated FTA obviously differs from the pattern of discrepancies in precipitation, owing to divergent water sensitivities of vegetation over different regions. Globally, the uncertainty in FTA can be up to approximately 40.73% of the uncertainty in TRENDYv6 multi‐model simulated FTA which is caused by model structural and parameter uncertainty. A good linear relationship emerges between global area‐averaged land climatological annual precipitation and simulated total FTA with the slope of −0.0040 PgC yr−1 per mm yr−1 ( = 0.03; negative for carbon sink), where 70% is explained by the sensitivity over extra‐tropical Northern Hemisphere (NH). For seasonal cycle, compared to nearly constant inter‐precipitation spreads over tropics plus extra‐tropical southern hemisphere (Trop + SH), uncertainties in corresponding simulated FTA show obvious seasonal differences with the relatively larger uncertainties in March‐April‐May (MAM) and August‐September‐October (ASO). For interannual variability, uncertainties in simulated total FTA are, albeit smaller, nonnegligible, which are 40.61% (global), 38.17% (Trop + SH), and 29.63% (NH) of the TRENDYv6 inter‐model uncertainty, respectively. Therefore, generating better global precipitation product is important for reducing the uncertainty in simulating terrestrial carbon sinks.
Machine Learning‐Based Modeling of Vegetation Leaf Area Index and Gross Primary Productivity Across North America and Comparison With a Process‐Based Model
Authors: Zhang Zhicheng , Xin Qinchuan , Li Wanjing
Published: October 2021

Vegetation plays a key role in regulating the material and energy exchanges among the biosphere, the atmosphere, and the pedosphere. Modeling and predicting vegetation key variables such as leaf area index (LAI) and gross primary productivity (GPP) are crucial to understand and project the processes of vegetation growth in response to climate change. While a number of studies developed models to simulate vegetation GPP using satellite‐derived LAI, the requirement of satellite‐based model inputs largely limits the predicting power of these developed models. This study developed a machine learning scheme, utilizing both support vector regression (SVR) and random forests (RF), which are capable of modeling LAI and GPP time series using only meteorological variables. We first simulated the LAI time series directly using meteorological variables as inputs and then buffered its unrealistic day‐to‐day fluctuation, and further modeled the GPP time series using meteorological variables and modeled LAI time series. This scheme enhanced the interpretability of machine learning models by considering the nonnegligible coupling between LAI and GPP. We tested our methods for four main plant functional types across North America and evaluated the models using both satellite‐based and flux tower data. The results demonstrated that the machine learning models perform well on simulating the time series of both LAI and GPP. We identified that there is a need to improve the phenology representation in the Biome‐BGCMuSo model. The machine learning models provide an alternative way to predict time series of LAI and GPP using only meteorological variables across large geographic regions, and also provide benchmarking accuracies for future developments of the process‐based models.
Deep Convolutional Autoencoders for Robust Flow Model Calibration Under Uncertainty in Geologic Continuity
Authors: Jiang Anyue , Jafarpour Behnam
Published: October 2021

Subsurface flow model calibration is commonly performed by assuming that a known conceptual model of geologic continuity is available and can be used to constrain the solution search space. In real applications, however, the knowledge about geologic continuity is far from certain and subjective interpretations can lead to multiple distinct plausible geologic scenarios. Conventional parameterization methods that are widely used in model calibration, such as the principal component analysis, encounter difficulty in capturing diverse spatial patterns from distinct geologic scenarios. We propose a deep learning architecture, known as variational auto‐encoder, for robust dimension‐reduced parameterization of spatially distributed aquifer properties, such as hydraulic conductivity, in solving model calibration problems under uncertain geostatistical models. We show that convolutional autoencoders offer the versatility and robustness required for nonlinear parameterization of complex subsurface flow property distributions when multiple distinct geologic scenarios are present. The robustness of these models results, in part, from the use of many convolutional filters that afford the redundancy needed to extract, classify and encode very diverse spatial patterns at different abstraction levels/scales and enable their mapping onto low‐dimensional variables in a learned latent space. The resulting low‐dimensional latent variables control the salient spatial patterns in different geologic continuity models and are effective for parameterization of model calibration problems under uncertainty in geologic continuity, a task that is not trivial to accomplish using traditional parameterization methods. Several numerical experiments are used to demonstrate the robustness of convolutional deep learning models for reduced‐order parameterization of flow model calibration problems when alternative plausible geologic continuity models are present.
Leukotriene B4 receptor-2 contributes to KRAS-driven lung tumor formation by promoting interleukin-6-mediated inflammation
Authors: Jang Jae-Hyun , Park Donghwan , Park Guen-soo , Kwak Dong-Wook , Park JaeIn , Yu Dae-Yeul , You Hye Jin , Kim Jae-Hong
Published: October 2021

Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and KRAS is the most frequently mutated oncogene in lung cancer cases, the mechanism by which KRAS mutation drives lung cancer has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that the expression levels of leukotriene B4 receptor-2 (BLT2) and its ligand-producing enzymes (5-LOX, 12-LOX) were highly increased by mutant KRAS and that BLT2 or 5-/12-LOX blockade attenuated KRAS-driven lung cell proliferation and production of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a principal proinflammatory mediator of lung cancer development. Next, we explored the roles of BLT2 and 5-/12-LOX in transgenic mice with lung-specific expression of mutant KRAS (KrasG12D) and observed that BLT2 or 5-/12-LOX inhibition decreased IL-6 production and tumor formation. To further determine whether BLT2 is involved in KRAS-driven lung tumor formation, we established a KrasG12D/BLT2-KO double-mutant mouse model. In the double-mutant mice, we observed significantly suppressed IL-6 production and lung tumor formation. Additionally, we observed high BLT2 expression in tissue samples from patients with KrasG12D-expressing lung adenocarcinoma, supporting the contributory role of BLT2 in KRAS-driven human lung cancer. Collectively, our results suggest that BLT2 is a potential contributor to KRAS-driven lung cancer and identify an attractive therapeutic target for KRAS-driven lung cancer.
Overexpression of DTL enhances cell motility and promotes tumor metastasis in cervical adenocarcinoma by inducing RAC1-JNK-FOXO1 axis
Authors: Liu Sijia , Gu Lina , Wu Nan , Song Jiayu , Yan Jiazhuo , Yang Shanshan , Feng Yue , Wang Zhao , Wang Le , Zhang Yunyan , Jin Yan
Published: October 2021

Cervical adenocarcinoma is an important disease that affects young women and it has a high mortality and poor prognosis. Denticleless E3 ubiquitin protein ligase homolog (DTL) gene with oncogenic function has been evaluated in several cancers. Through this study, we aimed to clarify the clinical and molecular characteristics of cervical adenocarcinoma involving overexpression of DTL and elucidate its molecular mechanism. Bioinformatics analysis was performed through multiple databases. RNA sequencing was used to obtain differentially expressed genes after DTL was overexpressed in cells. The role of DTL in cervical adenocarcinoma was explored through in vitro and in vivo experiments. We found that DTL has an unfavorable prognostic implication for patients with cervical adenocarcinoma. Overexpression of DTL induced the migration and invasion of tumor cells in vitro and promoted intra-pulmonary metastasis in vivo. In addition, DTL activated JNK through RAC1 and upregulated FOXO1 to induce epithelial–mesenchymal transition, and the migration and invasion of tumor cells. Therefore, we conclude that overexpression of DTL enhanced cell motility and promoted tumor metastasis of cervical adenocarcinoma by regulating the RAC1-JNK-FOXO1 axis. These results suggest that DTL may become a potential therapeutic target for antitumor metastasis of cervical adenocarcinoma.
Formation of a single quasicrystal upon collision of multiple grains
Authors: Han Insung , Wang Kelly L. , Cadotte Andrew T. , Xi Zhucong , Parsamehr Hadi , Xiao Xianghui , Glotzer Sharon C. , Shahani Ashwin J.
Published: October 2021

Quasicrystals exhibit long-range order but lack translational symmetry. When grown as single crystals, they possess distinctive and unusual properties owing to the absence of grain boundaries. Unfortunately, conventional methods such as bulk crystal growth or thin film deposition only allow us to synthesize either polycrystalline quasicrystals or quasicrystals that are at most a few centimeters in size. Here, we reveal through real-time and 3D imaging the formation of a single decagonal quasicrystal arising from a hard collision between multiple growing quasicrystals in an Al-Co-Ni liquid. Through corresponding molecular dynamics simulations, we examine the underlying kinetics of quasicrystal coalescence and investigate the effects of initial misorientation between the growing quasicrystalline grains on the formation of grain boundaries. At small misorientation, coalescence occurs following rigid rotation that is facilitated by phasons. Our joint experimental-computational discovery paves the way toward fabrication of single, large-scale quasicrystals for novel applications.
Mechanism of RNA polymerase III termination-associated reinitiation-recycling conferred by the essential function of the N terminal-and-linker domain of the C11 subunit
Authors: Mishra Saurabh , Hasan Shaina H. , Sakhawala Rima M. , Chaudhry Shereen , Maraia Richard J.
Published: October 2021

RNA polymerase III achieves high level tRNA synthesis by termination-associated reinitiation-recycling that involves the essential C11 subunit and heterodimeric C37/53. The C11-CTD (C-terminal domain) promotes Pol III active center-intrinsic RNA 3′-cleavage although deciphering function for this activity has been complicated. We show that the isolated NTD (N-terminal domain) of C11 stimulates Pol III termination by C37/53 but not reinitiation-recycling which requires the NTD-linker (NTD-L). By an approach different from what led to current belief that RNA 3′-cleavage activity is essential, we show that NTD-L can provide the essential function of Saccharomyces cerevisiae C11 whereas classic point mutations that block cleavage, interfere with active site function and are toxic to growth. Biochemical and in vivo analysis including of the C11 invariant central linker led to a model for Pol III termination-associated reinitiation-recycling. The C11 NTD and CTD stimulate termination and RNA 3′-cleavage, respectively, whereas reinitiation-recycling activity unique to Pol III requires only the NTD-linker. RNA 3′-cleavage activity increases growth rate but is nonessential.
Homeostatic membrane tension constrains cancer cell dissemination by counteracting BAR protein assembly
Authors: Tsujita Kazuya , Satow Reiko , Asada Shinobu , Nakamura Yoshikazu , Arnes Luis , Sako Keisuke , Fujita Yasuyuki , Fukami Kiyoko , Itoh Toshiki
Published: October 2021

Malignancy is associated with changes in cell mechanics that contribute to extensive cell deformation required for metastatic dissemination. We hypothesized that the cell-intrinsic physical factors that maintain epithelial cell mechanics could function as tumor suppressors. Here we show, using optical tweezers, genetic interference, mechanical perturbations, and in vivo studies, that epithelial cells maintain higher plasma membrane (PM) tension than their metastatic counterparts and that high PM tension potently inhibits cancer cell migration and invasion by counteracting membrane curvature sensing/generating BAR family proteins. This tensional homeostasis is achieved by membrane-to-cortex attachment (MCA) regulated by ERM proteins, whose disruption spontaneously transforms epithelial cells into a mesenchymal migratory phenotype powered by BAR proteins. Consistently, the forced expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-inducing transcription factors results in decreased PM tension. In metastatic cells, increasing PM tension by manipulating MCA is sufficient to suppress both mesenchymal and amoeboid 3D migration, tumor invasion, and metastasis by compromising membrane-mediated mechanosignaling by BAR proteins, thereby uncovering a previously undescribed mechanical tumor suppressor mechanism.
Spontaneous assembly of redox-active iron-sulfur clusters at low concentrations of cysteine
Authors: Jordan Sean F. , Ioannou Ioannis , Rammu Hanadi , Halpern Aaron , Bogart Lara K. , Ahn Minkoo , Vasiliadou Rafaela , Christodoulou John , Maréchal Amandine , Lane Nick
Published: October 2021

Iron-sulfur (FeS) proteins are ancient and fundamental to life, being involved in electron transfer and CO2 fixation. FeS clusters have structures similar to the unit-cell of FeS minerals such as greigite, found in hydrothermal systems linked with the origin of life. However, the prebiotic pathway from mineral surfaces to biological clusters is unknown. Here we show that FeS clusters form spontaneously through interactions of inorganic Fe2+/Fe3+ and S2− with micromolar concentrations of the amino acid cysteine in water at alkaline pH. Bicarbonate ions stabilize the clusters and even promote cluster formation alone at concentrations >10 mM, probably through salting-out effects. We demonstrate robust, concentration-dependent formation of [4Fe4S], [2Fe2S] and mononuclear iron clusters using UV-Vis spectroscopy, 57Fe-Mössbauer spectroscopy and 1H-NMR. Cyclic voltammetry shows that the clusters are redox-active. Our findings reveal that the structures responsible for biological electron transfer and CO2 reduction could have formed spontaneously from monomers at the origin of life.
Precision measurements on oxygen formation in stellar helium burning with gamma-ray beams and a Time Projection Chamber
Authors: Smith R. , Gai M. , Stern S. R. , Schweitzer D. K. , Ahmed M. W.
Published: October 2021

The carbon/oxygen (C/O) ratio at the end of stellar helium burning is the single most important nuclear input to stellar evolution theory. However, it is not known with sufficient accuracy, due to large uncertainties in the cross-section for the fusion of helium with 12C to form 16O, denoted as 12C(α, γ)16O. Here we present results based on a method that is significantly different from the experimental efforts of the past four decades. With data measured inside one detector and with vanishingly small background, angular distributions of the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction were obtained by measuring the inverse 16O(γ, α)12C reaction with gamma-beams and a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) detector. We agree with current world data for the total reaction cross-section and further evidence the strength of our method with accurate angular distributions measured over the 1− resonance at Ecm ~ 2.4 MeV. Our technique promises to yield results that will surpass the quality of the currently available data.
Visualizing designer quantum states in stable macrocycle quantum corrals
Authors: Peng Xinnan , Mahalingam Harshitra , Dong Shaoqiang , Mutombo Pingo , Su Jie , Telychko Mykola , Song Shaotang , Lyu Pin , Ng Pei Wen , Wu Jishan , Jelínek Pavel , Chi Chunyan , Rodin Aleksandr , Lu Jiong
Published: October 2021

Creating atomically precise quantum architectures with high digital fidelity and desired quantum states is an important goal in a new era of quantum technology. The strategy of creating these quantum nanostructures mainly relies on atom-by-atom, molecule-by-molecule manipulation or molecular assembly through non-covalent interactions, which thus lack sufficient chemical robustness required for on-chip quantum device operation at elevated temperature. Here, we report a bottom-up synthesis of covalently linked organic quantum corrals (OQCs) with atomic precision to induce the formation of topology-controlled quantum resonance states, arising from a collective interference of scattered electron waves inside the quantum nanocavities. Individual OQCs host a series of atomic orbital-like resonance states whose orbital hybridization into artificial homo-diatomic and hetero-diatomic molecular-like resonance states can be constructed in Cassini oval-shaped OQCs with desired topologies corroborated by joint ab initio and analytic calculations. Our studies open up a new avenue to fabricate covalently linked large-sized OQCs with atomic precision to engineer desired quantum states with high chemical robustness and digital fidelity for future practical applications.
Annotation-efficient deep learning for automatic medical image segmentation
Authors: Wang Shanshan , Li Cheng , Wang Rongpin , Liu Zaiyi , Wang Meiyun , Tan Hongna , Wu Yaping , Liu Xinfeng , Sun Hui , Yang Rui , Liu Xin , Chen Jie , Zhou Huihui , Ben Ayed Ismail , Zheng Hairong
Published: October 2021

Automatic medical image segmentation plays a critical role in scientific research and medical care. Existing high-performance deep learning methods typically rely on large training datasets with high-quality manual annotations, which are difficult to obtain in many clinical applications. Here, we introduce Annotation-effIcient Deep lEarning (AIDE), an open-source framework to handle imperfect training datasets. Methodological analyses and empirical evaluations are conducted, and we demonstrate that AIDE surpasses conventional fully-supervised models by presenting better performance on open datasets possessing scarce or noisy annotations. We further test AIDE in a real-life case study for breast tumor segmentation. Three datasets containing 11,852 breast images from three medical centers are employed, and AIDE, utilizing 10% training annotations, consistently produces segmentation maps comparable to those generated by fully-supervised counterparts or provided by independent radiologists. The 10-fold enhanced efficiency in utilizing expert labels has the potential to promote a wide range of biomedical applications.
Van Der Waals gap-rich BiOCl atomic layers realizing efficient, pure-water CO2-to-CO photocatalysis
Authors: Shi Yanbiao , Li Jie , Mao Chengliang , Liu Song , Wang Xiaobing , Liu Xiufan , Zhao Shengxi , Liu Xiao , Huang Yanqiang , Zhang Lizhi
Published: October 2021

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction (PCR) is able to convert solar energy into chemicals, fuels, and feedstocks, but limited by the deficiencies of photocatalysts in steering photon-to-electron conversion and activating CO2, especially in pure water. Here we report an efficient, pure water CO2-to-CO conversion photocatalyzed by sub-3-nm-thick BiOCl nanosheets with van der Waals gaps (VDWGs) on the two-dimensional facets, a graphene-analog motif distinct from the majority of previously reported nanosheets usually bearing VDWGs on the lateral facets. Compared with bulk BiOCl, the VDWGs-rich atomic layers possess a weaker excitonic confinement power to decrease exciton binding energy from 137 to 36 meV, consequently yielding a 50-fold enhancement in the bulk charge separation efficiency. Moreover, the VDWGs facilitate the formation of VDWG-Bi-VO••-Bi defect, a highly active site to accelerate the CO2-to-CO transformation via the synchronous optimization of CO2 activation, *COOH splitting, and *CO desorption. The improvements in both exciton-to-electron and CO2-to-CO conversions result in a visible light PCR rate of 188.2 μmol g−1 h−1 in pure water without any co-catalysts, hole scavengers, or organic solvents. These results suggest that increasing VDWG exposure is a way for designing high-performance solar-fuel generation systems.