bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Child-Perpetrated Family Violence in Kinship Care in Victoria
Authors: Breman Rachel , MacRae Ann , Vicary Dave
Published: June 2018

There is growing evidence to support our understanding of adolescent violence in the home, however, there is a paucity of research about child-perpetrated violence that occurs within the context of kinship care. In 2017, Baptcare commenced research with 101 kinship carers in Victoria to gain a better understanding of how family violence was impacting on children and families. This research included a focus on child-perpetrated violence directed towards carers once the kinship placement commenced. In this context, family violence means any act of physical violence, emotional/psychological violence, verbal abuse and property damage caused by the child. This study utilised an online survey and semi-structured interviews that specifically targeted kinship carers who had direct experience of family violence. Findings demonstrated the disturbing types of child-perpetrated violent and aggressive behaviours kinship carers experienced. The data indicates that incidents of violence occurred early in the placement, they occurred frequently, and carers experienced multiple acts of violence from the child. The impact of the violence on the carer's household is significant in terms of the carer's health, wellbeing and placement stability. Further, the findings highlight the transgenerational nature of family violence in the context of kinship care in Victoria. The study described in this paper is the first step in understanding and exposing this complex issue and draws attention to some of the significant issues confronting Victorian kinship families experiencing family violence. This paper will describe the approach that Baptcare is taking to address family violence in its kinship-care programs.
The Problem of Productivity: Inflation and Collective Bargaining after World War II
Authors: Milner Samuel
Published: June 2018

Unwilling to wait decades for the political decline of New Deal liberalism, the core industries of post–World War II America repurposed collective bargaining as a means to reduce the costs of organized labor. New industrial relation strategies known as “wage-price policies” linked labor compensation with productivity in order to stabilize unit labor costs and prices. After reviewing the emergence and diffusion of wage-price policy within the managerial community, the article analyzes its implementation during the tumultuous 1959 bargaining round between the steel industry and the United Steelworkers. The union claimed that the industry's goals centered on management's antipathy to work rules, but industry records reveal that work rules were only part of its broader efforts to contain the inflationary consequences of the New Deal.
Effects of new n-3 fatty acid sources on milk fatty acid profile and milk fat properties in dairy cows
Authors: Vanbergue Elise , Peyraud Jean-Louis , Hurtaud Catherine
Published: June 2018

Feeding livestock with n-3 fatty acid (FA) sources (linseed, for example) is a common strategy to improve lipid quality of meat and milk products. However, in monogastric animals, linseed tegument decreases digestibility and alphalinolenic acid (ALA) uptake, while the whole linseed is well used by ruminants. In a context of increasing sustainability of feeding systems, providing monogastric animals and ruminants with linseed products adapted to their digestive systems is an important issue. This research paper addresses the hypotheses: (i) sieved extruded linseed (SEL) specific for ruminants is as or more effective than standard extruded linseed (ii) microalgae DHA Gold® is an interesting source of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in feedstuff and (iii) the effects of SEL and microalgae on milk characteristics are complementary and additive. Thirty-two cows were divided into 4 groups with different dietary n-3 fatty acid sources using a continuous design. All the diets were fed as mixed rations based on maize silage, energy concentrate and soybean meal. The first group received a control diet (CTRL) with no additional fat. The 3 other groups received SEL, microalgae DHA Gold® (ALG) and a mixture of microalgae DHA Gold® and SEL (SEL/ALG). Milk was collected from morning milkings after six weeks of dietary treatment. In SEL and SEL/ALG, ALA increased (+0·32 and +0·26% unit, respectively), and DHA increased in ALG and SEL/ALG (+0·43 and +0·15% unit, respectively) compared to CTRL, as a consequence of the initial composition of the n-3 FA sources. In SEL, milk yield, fat and protein contents, milk fat globule size and spontaneous lipolysis (measured to evaluate suitability for milk processing) were not different compared with CTRL. In ALG and SEL/ALG, milk yield decreased (−2·8 and −6·0 kg/d, respectively), fat content was halved, and fat globule size was reduced (−1·46 and −1·31 µm, respectively) compared to CTRL. Spontaneous lipolysis increased in ALG (+0·12 mEq/kg of milk) compared to CTRL. Protected microalgae and the doses of microalgae in the diet need further investigation to prevent FA modification in the rumen and the consequent deleterious effects on milk fat.
Reconfiguring Rights in Austerity Britain: Boundaries, Behaviours and Contestable Margins
Authors: MORRIS LYDIA
Published: June 2018

This paper addresses policy change in Britain since 2010 across the three fields of domestic welfare, migration and asylum, and analyses the association between welfare, conditionality and control through the lens of civic stratification. Drawing on the work of Richard Munch and Mary Douglas, it moves beyond existing literature in this area to show that the more complex the classification in play, and the more severe its boundary implications, the more likely the emergence of contestable margins. Informed by Munch's ‘battlefield’ approach, it provides a discussion of contestable margins in each of the three policy fields and outlines the nature and source of challenges that emerge within the ‘institutional battlefield’. A concluding section reflects on what is revealed by viewing welfare, migration and asylum within the same conceptual frame, identifying an emergent welfare paradigm that displays recurrent problems across all three fields.
Significant enhancement in the propagation of cosh-Gaussian laser beam in a relativistic–ponderomotive plasma using ramp density profile
Authors: Kumar Harish , Aggarwal Munish , Richa  , Sharma Dinkar , Chandok Sumit , Gill Tarsem Singh
Published: June 2018

The paper presents an investigation on self-focusing of cosh-Gaussian (ChG) laser beam in a relativistic–ponderomotive non-uniform plasma. It is observed numerically that the selection of decentered parameter and initial beam radius determines the focusing/defocusing of ChG laser beam. For given value of these parameters, the plasma density ramp of suitable length can avoid defocusing and enhance focusing effect significantly. Focusing length and extent of focusing may also be controlled by varying slope of the ramp density. A comparison with Gaussian beam has also been attempted for optimized set of parameters. The results establish that ChG beam focuses earlier and sharper relative to Gaussian beam. We have setup the non-linear differential equation for the beam width parameter using Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin and paraxial ray approximation and solved it numerically using Runge–Kutta method.
The Spoken British National Corpus 2014 – a new initiative launched by Lancaster University and Cambridge University Press
Authors: Bębeniec Daria
Published: June 2018

The British National Corpus (BNC) has been available to the research community for more than two decades. Over the course of its three editions to date, this 100-million-word database, containing samples of both transcribed speech and written texts representing British English of the 1990s and earlier, has established itself as a valuable resource used around the world in a wide range of language-related applications.
Factors affecting the acceptability of grammatical features of Hong Kong English
Authors: Ting Shawnea Sum Pok , Wong Janice Wing Sze
Published: June 2018

Although a large number of varieties of English in Asia have gained recognition as independent varieties, this has not been the case for Hong Kong English (HKE) (Jenkins, 2015: 162). The city has a low level of affiliation towards HKE (Jenkins, 2015: 167) and often laments its ever-falling standard of English (Leung, 2015). There exists a phenomenon of ‘linguistic schizophrenia’ – the community may recognise that a local variety of English exists and conform to its features in practice, but it still looks to native varieties as the norm and views local features as evidence of deteriorating language standards (Kachru, 1983: 118).
Switching stable patients with schizophrenia from their oral antipsychotics to aripiprazole lauroxil: a post hoc safety analysis of the initial 12-week crossover period
Authors: Weiden Peter J. , Du Yangchun , Liu Chih-Chin , Stanford Arielle D.
Published: June 2018

Objective

Switching antipsychotic medications is common in patients with schizophrenia who are experiencing persistent symptoms or tolerability issues associated with their current drug regimen. This analysis assessed the safety of switching from an oral antipsychotic to the long-acting injectable antipsychotic aripiprazole lauroxil (AL).

Methods

This was a post hoc analysis of outpatients with schizophrenia who were prescribed an oral antipsychotic and who enrolled in an international, open-label, long-term (52-week) safety study of AL. The analysis focused on the first 3 injections of AL 882 mg over 12 weeks, divided into the immediate 4-week crossover period between the first and second AL injections (initiation phase) and the subsequent 8 weeks (stabilization phase). Patients were grouped by preswitch oral antipsychotic medication, and safety and clinical symptoms were assessed.

Results

In total, 190 patients had switched from one of the following oral antipsychotic medications: aripiprazole, conventional antipsychotics, risperidone/paliperidone, olanzapine, or quetiapine. The 12-week completion rate was high (92.1%) and similar across the different preswitch oral antipsychotic groups. Overall, adverse event (AE) rates experienced over 12 weeks were modest; no AEs were considered serious. The most common AEs in the initiation phase were injection site pain (5.8%), insomnia (5.8%), and akathisia (3.2%). No apparent relationship was observed between preswitch medication and early-onset AEs. Mean Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total scores remained stable during this period across preswitch antipsychotic groups.

Conclusion

Switching from an oral antipsychotic to AL was feasible in an outpatient setting for patients with schizophrenia, and the 12-week retention rate was favorable.
The Notion of Family in Lithuanian and Swedish Social Legislation
Authors: Nygren Karina , Naujanienė Rasa , Nygren Lennart
Published: June 2018

This study examines the conceptualisation of family in key social legislative documents guiding social workers in two European countries, whose welfare systems have previously been labelled as re-familialised (Lithuania) or de-familialised (Sweden). The focus is on the concept of family as delineated on three legislative levels: the constitutional level, the general family policy level, and the child welfare policy level. ‘Family’ is explicit in Lithuanian law, and the regulation of family formation and responsibility is imperative, while this is much less so in Swedish law. The analysis reveals how general welfare systems (regime-types) are linked to legislative frameworks, which, in turn, provide fundamentally different conditions for social work in different contexts.
A Bequest and a Legacy: Editing Anton Bruckner’s Music in ‘Later Times’
Authors: Hawkshaw Paul
Published: June 2018

The present study has been prepared on the occasion of the publication of theNew Anton Bruckner Collected Works Edition’s first volume, Thomas Röder’s score of the Linz version of the First Symphony. The article re-evaluates a fundamental precept of the oldGesamtausgabeof Robert Haas and Leopold Nowak – the supremacy of the readings in Bruckner’s autograph manuscripts over those in his first prints. It begins with a brief history of the “Bruckner-Streit” of the 1930s and 40s and a summary of more recent challenges to the Haas-Nowak policy. An overview of the composer’s relationship with the brothers Franz and Josef Schalk, who were responsible for the production of many of his early editions, demonstrates that they worked closely with him at first, but began to make alterations without consulting him towards the end of the 1880s. Distinguishing Bruckner from his editors in the Third, Fourth and Eighth Symphonies is difficult, if not impossible. From an editorial perspective, it is pointless because, in these scores, the composer accepted their suggestions and made them his own. Later publications are a different matter. The discussion leads inevitably to a re-examination of a clause in Bruckner’s will which exercised a controlling influence over the oldGesamtausgabeand remains a seminal factor in any editorial considerations regarding Bruckner. The article demonstrates that the composer never intended his will to have a bearing on post-mortem editorial issues or to dictate the hierarchy of versions of his pieces.
Soft Separation Democracy
Authors: Menchik Jeremy
Published: June 2018

How do nonsecular democracies govern religion? Despite two decades of research on the many ways that church and state overlap in modern democracies, scholars lack an adequate answer to this question. Many consolidated democracies have a soft separation between church and state rather than a wall. These are not defective versions of democracy, but rather poorly understood institutional arrangements. To remedy this lacuna, this paper investigates institutional arrangements in six consolidated democracies with a soft separation between church and state: Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, India, Indonesia, and Switzerland. After describing the institutional workings of these states, the paper develops hypotheses for the origins of soft separation democracy as well as addressing the challenges of this form of government. The paper concludes by suggesting three other potentially fruitful lines of analysis as well as elucidating the implications of soft separation democracy for U.S. foreign policy.
Storm Events Restructured Bacterial Community and Their Biogeochemical Potentials
Authors: Kan Jinjun
Published: June 2018

Large rainstorms deliver significant amounts of upland materials to headwater streams, thereby introducing the particle‐associated microorganisms from complex soil environments into stream networks. “Seeding and mixing” from terrestrial sources may generate “new” in‐stream microbial consortia and facilitate nutrient transformations and export to receiving waters. In order to investigate how large storm events influence the microbial community, bacterial community structure from White Clay Creek (Chester Co., PA, USA) was characterized following the Hurricane Irene and the Tropical Storm Lee. High‐throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes was used to track changes of bacterial community before, during, and after the events. Detailed bacterial community structures based on analyses of 3,004,072 sequences indicated an increase of bacterial diversity during peak discharge of the storm. Significant successional changes of bacterial community structure during the events were observed: Betaproteobacteria decreased in relative abundance, while members of Deltaproteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Nitrospirae, Planctomycetes, and Verrucomicrobia increased with the discharge suggesting potential impacts from terrestrial inputs and re‐suspended sediments. Cyanobacteria bloomed after the storm events, indicating that photosynthesis was one of the primary recovering processes. Real‐time polymerase chain reaction (quantitative polymerase chain reaction) analyses on functional genes (amoA for nitrification and nirS/nirK for denitrification) suggested that storm events also changed the functional perspectives of the microbial communities, with the potential for alteration of subsequent biogeochemical transformations. Thus, large storm events inoculate microbes from terrestrial and streambeds to headwaters, and downslope dispersal (“mass‐effect”) and “species‐sorting” likely restructure the microbial community as well as potential nutrient cycling.
Fire, Flood, and Drought: Extreme Climate Events Alter Flow Paths and Stream Chemistry
Authors: Murphy Sheila F. , McCleskey R. Blaine , Martin Deborah A. , Writer Jeffrey H. , Ebel Brian A.
Published: June 2018

Extreme climate events—such as hurricanes, droughts, extreme precipitation, and wildfires—have the potential to alter watershed processes and stream response. Yet due to the destructive and hazardous nature and unpredictability of such events, capturing their hydrochemical signal is challenging. A 5‐year postwildfire study of stream chemistry in the Fourmile Creek watershed, Colorado Front Range, USA, focused on high‐frequency storm sampling. During the study, the watershed was impacted by three additional extreme climate events—drought and two periods of extreme rainfall totals. These events altered concentration‐discharge relationships in ways that elucidate how hydrologic flow paths and source material availability affect stream water chemistry. Reduced infiltration after wildfire led to overland flow during thunderstorms, which conveyed ash and soil into streams. This resulted in elevated stream concentrations of constituents elevated in ash—Ca, K, Mg, alkalinity, and dissolved organic carbon—along with sediment and nitrate. Subsurface flow paths were bypassed, leading to low concentrations of Na and SiO2, which are bedrock derived and not elevated in ash. During drought conditions, when stream discharge was <20% of average, concentrations of sediment, dissolved organic carbon, and Ca fell below average concentrations, but SiO2 did not. Extreme rainfall totals saturated the subsurface and led to prolonged elevated stream discharge. Concentration‐discharge relationships for bedrock‐derived constituents, such as Ca and SiO2, were altered in that time period, while those for dissolved organic carbon were not. Previous disturbances, including historical mining, also affect stream chemistry, and water‐quality impairment can be exacerbated by extreme climate events.
Spatial Development of the Dipolarization Region in the Inner Magnetosphere
Authors: Ohtani S. , Motoba T. , Gkioulidou M. , Takahashi K. , Singer H. J.
Published: June 2018

The present study examines dipolarization events observed by the Van Allen Probes within 5.8 RE from Earth. It is found that the probability of occurrence is significantly higher in the dusk‐to‐midnight sector than in the midnight‐to‐dawn sector, and it deceases sharply earthward. A comparison with observations made at nearby satellites shows that dipolarization signatures are often highly correlated (c.c. >0.8) within 1 hr in magnetic local time (MLT) and 1 RE in RXY, and the dipolarization region expands earthward and westward in the dusk‐to‐midnight sector. The westward expansion velocity is estimated at 0.4 hr (in MLT) per minute, or 60 km/s, which is consistent with the previously reported result for geosynchronous dipolarization. The earthward expansion is apparently less systematic than the westward expansion. Its velocity is estimated at 50 km/s (0.5 RE/min), comparable to the westward expansion velocity, but it is suggested that the earthward expansion slows down as the dipolarization region approaches Earth, and it eventually stops. This idea is consistent with the earthward reduction of the occurrence probability of dipolarization events. Whereas this earthward expansion is difficult to explain with the conventional wedge current system, it may be understood in terms of a current system with two wedges, one with the R1 polarity outside and the other with the R2 polarity closer to Earth. For such a current system the region of dipolarization is confined in radial distance between the two wedge currents, and it is considered to expand earthward as the R2‐sense wedge moves earthward along with injected plasma.
Deep Ionospheric Hole Created by Sudden Stratospheric Warming in the Nighttime Ionosphere
Authors: Goncharenko L. P. , Coster A. J. , Zhang S.‐R. , Erickson P. J. , Benkevitch L. , Aponte N. , Harvey V. L. , Reinisch B. W. , Galkin I. , Spraggs M. , Hernández‐Espiet A.
Published: June 2018

Multiple observational studies have demonstrated large ionospheric variations during the daytime associated with sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events, but only limited evidence of ionospheric disturbances during the nighttime has been reported up to now. We focus on the American longitudinal sector with its extensive observational network of Global Navigation Satellite System receivers, four Digisondes located at low and middle latitudes, and the Arecibo and Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radars. The study focuses on a major SSW event of January 2013 to investigate large‐scale disturbances in the nighttime ionosphere. We report a deep decrease in total electron content that reaches a factor of 2–5 as compared to the background level and is observed between local midnight and local sunrise (6–12 UT). This decrease is observed for several consecutive days in the range of latitudes from ~55°S to ~45°N. It is accompanied by a strong downward plasma motion and a significant decrease in ion temperature, as observed by both Arecibo and Millstone Hill radars. These results demonstrate that SSW events cause changes in the nighttime ionosphere that are even larger than in the daytime ionosphere. We discuss variations in electric field and F‐region dynamics as possible drivers of this behavior and suggest that thermospheric winds play a much larger role than previously thought.
Crustal Deformation Process in the Mid‐Niigata Region of the Niigata‐Kobe Tectonic Zone as Observed by Dense GPS Network Before, During, and After the Tohoku‐Oki Earthquake
Authors: Meneses‐Gutierrez A. , Sagiya T. , Sekine S.
Published: June 2018

We evaluate response of Mid‐Niigata during the preseismic, coseismic, and postseismic periods of the 2011 Mw9.0 Tohoku‐oki earthquake by analyzing strain distributions based on a dense Global Positioning System network. Decomposition of the coseismic E‐W strain according to its wavelength shows localized elastic extension, while persistent localized contraction in the short‐wavelength component within a narrow zone of 40‐ to 60‐km width is significant before and after the event, implying the persistence of an inelastic process. Differences in the amplitude and horizontal location of the localized deformation suggest that elastic heterogeneities of the crust, acting in different sense before and after the earthquake, affect the deformation in Mid‐Niigata as well. We model localized deformation in the preseismic and postseismic period considering an aseismic fault slip and a weak elastic zone as deformation sources. Our kinematic models suggest vertical decoupling between the weak elastic layer and the basement rock, implying that the preseismic and postseismic strain rate patterns represent direct effects of the shallow portion of the crust in Mid‐Niigata. Although model parameters are not well constrained, we find that faults cutting the lower crust and a part of the upper crust, and an anomalously weak zone of a 40‐ to 60‐km width located above the fault explain the data. Our simple model shows that both inelastic and elastic sources are essential in the deformation mechanism of the Mid‐Niigata area in northern Niigata‐Kobe Tectonic Zone.
Melting Phase Relations and Element Partitioning in MORB to Lowermost Mantle Conditions
Authors: Tateno Shigehiko , Hirose Kei , Sakata Shuhei , Yonemitsu Kyoko , Ozawa Haruka , Hirata Takafumi , Hirao Naohisa , Ohishi Yasuo
Published: June 2018

Melting phase relations and crystal‐melt element partitioning in a mid‐oceanic ridge basalt bulk composition were studied to 135 GPa using laser‐heated diamond‐anvil cell techniques. Using field‐emission‐type electron microprobe (FE‐EPMA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and laser ablation‐inductively‐coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA‐ICP‐MS), we obtained comprehensive analyses of major and trace elements in coexisting melt and solid phases. CaSiO3‐perovskite (Ca‐pv) was found to be the liquidus phase throughout the lower mantle pressure range. Whereas silica, followed by Mg‐perovskite, are the second and third crystallizing phases to pressures exceeding 100 GPa, postperovskite, closely followed by seifertite, succeed Ca‐pv at 135 GPa. The partitioning of trace elements between Ca‐pv and melts exhibited a strong pressure effect, possibly due to a combination of high compressibility of cations compared to the lattice site in Ca‐pv and melt compressional effects. The Ca‐pv/melt partition coefficients for Na and K (DNa and DK) increase with increasing pressure, with DNa close to unity and DK greater than unity at lowermost mantle pressures. Also, DNd becomes larger (or identical within uncertainty) than DSm in the deep lower mantle. Partial melt formed by 51% partial melting of mid‐oceanic ridge basalt at 135 GPa showed marked iron‐enrichment and should thus have negative buoyancy at the base of the mantle. The density of residual solid is almost identical to the PREM density, and therefore, it is likely to be involved in mantle convection and recycled to the surface.
Impact of Pore Fluid Chemistry on Fine‐Grained Sediment Fabric and Compressibility
Authors: Jang Junbong , Cao Shuang C. , Stern Laura A. , Jung Jongwon , Waite William F.
Published: June 2018

Fines, defined here as grains or particles, less than 75 μm in diameter, exist nearly ubiquitously in natural sediment, even those classified as coarse. Macroscopic sediment properties, such as compressibility, which relates applied effective stress to the resulting sediment deformation, depend on the fabric of fines. Unlike coarse grains, fines have sizes and masses small enough to be more strongly influenced by electrical interparticle forces than by gravity. These electrical forces acting through pore fluids are influenced by pore fluid chemistry changes. Macroscopic property dependence on pore fluid chemistry must be accounted for in sediment studies involving subsurface flow and sediment stability analyses, as well as in engineered flow situations such as groundwater pollutant remediation, hydrocarbon migration, or other energy resource extraction applications. This study demonstrates how the liquid limit‐based electrical sensitivity index can be used to predict sediment compressibility changes due to pore fluid chemistry changes. Laboratory tests of electrical sensitivity, sedimentation, and compressibility illustrate mechanisms linking microscale and macroscale processes for selected pure, end‐member fines. A specific application considered here is methane extraction via depressurization of gas hydrate‐bearing sediment, which causes a dramatic pore water salinity drop concurrent with sediment being compressed by the imposed effective stress increase.
Spatial Scales in Topography and Strain Rate Magnitude in the Western United States
Authors: Bomberger C. , Bendick R. , Flesch L. , Ehlers T. A.
Published: June 2018

Spatial spectral analyses of topography and strain rate magnitude across the western United States reveal the presence of at least two separable spectral peaks, representative of characteristic length scales, one short (~10–50 km) and one long (~150–250 km). Less spectral power at intermediate wavelengths aside from that expected for a red, or power law, spectrum occurs in either data set. These results quantify previous qualitative observations that the topography of western North America contains both short and long characteristic wavelength features. Comparing the spectral results to simplified bounding solutions for elastic, viscous, and layered models under tension shows that multiple spectral peaks of comparable power can be reproduced only by mechanical models with more than one layer. Therefore, the simplest model of lithospheric architecture capable of generating the observed dominant characteristic length scales is an elastoplastic lid over a viscous layer.
Agulhas Ring Transport Efficiency From Combined Satellite Altimetry and Argo Profiles
Authors: Nencioli Francesco , Dall'Olmo Giorgio , Quartly Graham D.
Published: June 2018

Agulhas rings are one of the main processes contributing to the westward transport of Agulhas leakage water across the South Atlantic basin. Here we quantified the water transported and exchanged by three Agulhas rings by combining remote sensing altimetry and in situ Argo observations. Satellite velocities showed that two of the eddies formed within the Cape Basin west of South Africa at the beginning of 2013 and reached the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge by the end of 2014. There, they merged forming the third eddy that dissipated a year later when it approached the Brazilian continental shelf. Eddy structure reconstructed from Argo profiles showed that the eddies were at least 1,500 m deep and that their dynamics was strongly affected by the two open‐ocean ridges encountered along their path. Between the ridges, eddy volumes were mostly conserved, but waters were continuously exchanged. During eddy dissipation, volume losses and water exchanges were more pronounced at depth. These findings highlight the importance of combining surface with in situ information to accurately represent Agulhas ring transport and exchanges. Overall, the eddies transported roughly 0.5 × 1013 m3 of water from the Cape Basin to west of 30°W in a 3‐year span. Lagrangian diagnostics indicated that, after an initial period of instability, the surface waters exchanged by the eddies along their tracks dispersed roughly in the same direction as the eddies, albeit at a much slower rate. These results further confirm that Agulhas eddies are the most efficient process for westward transport across the South Atlantic basin.
Multiple‐Hour‐Ahead Forecast of the Dst Index Using a Combination of Long Short‐Term Memory Neural Network and Gaussian Process
Authors: Gruet M. A. , Chandorkar M. , Sicard A. , Camporeale E.
Published: June 2018

In this study, we present a method that combines a Long Short‐Term Memory (LSTM) recurrent neural network with a Gaussian process (GP) model to provide up to 6‐hr‐ahead probabilistic forecasts of the Dst geomagnetic index. The proposed approach brings together the sequence modeling capabilities of a recurrent neural network with the error bars and confidence bounds provided by a GP. Our model is trained using the hourly OMNI and Global Positioning System (GPS) databases, both of which are publicly available. We first develop a LSTM network to get a single‐point prediction of Dst. This model yields great accuracy in forecasting the Dst index from 1 to 6 hr ahead, with a correlation coefficient always higher than 0.873 and a root‐mean‐square error lower than 9.86. However, even if global metrics show excellent performance, it remains poor in predicting intense storms (Dst < −250 nT) 6 hr in advance. To improve it and to obtain probabilistic forecasts, we combine the LSTM model obtained with a GP and evaluate the hybrid predictor using the receiver operating characteristic curve and the reliability diagram. We conclude that this hybrid methodology provides improvements in the forecast of geomagnetic storms, from 1 to 6 hr ahead.
Gain in polycrystalline Nd-doped alumina: leveraging length scales to create a new class of high-energy, short pulse, tunable laser materials
Authors: Penilla Elias H. , Devia-Cruz Luis F. , Duarte Matthew A. , Hardin Corey L. , Kodera Yasuhiro , Garay Javier E.
Published: June 2018

Traditionally accepted design paradigms dictate that only optically isotropic (cubic) crystal structures with high equilibrium solubilities of optically active ions are suitable for polycrystalline laser gain media. The restriction of symmetry is due to light scattering caused by randomly oriented anisotropic crystals, whereas the solubility problem arises from the need for sufficient active dopants in the media. These criteria limit material choices and exclude materials that have superior thermo-mechanical properties than state-of-the-art laser materials. Alumina (Al2O3) is an ideal example; it has a higher fracture strength and thermal conductivity than today’s gain materials, which could lead to revolutionary laser performance. However, alumina has uniaxial optical proprieties, and the solubility of rare earths (REs) is two-to-three orders of magnitude lower than the dopant concentrations in typical RE-based gain media. We present new strategies to overcome these obstacles and demonstrate gain in a RE-doped alumina (Nd:Al2O3) for the first time. The key insight relies on tailoring the crystallite size to other important length scales—the wavelength of light and interatomic dopant distances, which minimize optical losses and allow successful Nd doping. The result is a laser gain medium with a thermo-mechanical figure of merit of Rs~19,500 Wm−1 a 24-fold and 19,500-fold improvements over the high-energy-laser leaders Nd:YAG (Rs~800 Wm−1) and Nd:Glass (Rs~1 Wm−1), respectively. Moreover, the emission bandwidth of Nd:Al2O3 is broad: ~13 THz. The successful demonstration of gain and high bandwidth in a medium with superior Rs can lead to the development of lasers with previously unobtainable high-peak powers, short pulses, tunability, and high-duty cycles.
All-optical active THz metasurfaces for ultrafast polarization switching and dynamic beam splitting
Authors: Cong Longqing , Srivastava Yogesh Kumar , Zhang Huifang , Zhang Xueqian , Han Jiaguang , Singh Ranjan
Published: June 2018

Miniaturized ultrafast switchable optical components with an extremely compact size and a high-speed response will be the core of next-generation all-optical devices instead of traditional integrated circuits, which are approaching the bottleneck of Moore’s Law. Metasurfaces have emerged as fascinating subwavelength flat optical components and devices for light focusing and holography applications. However, these devices exhibit a severe limitation due to their natural passive response. Here we introduce an active hybrid metasurface integrated with patterned semiconductor inclusions for all-optical active control of terahertz waves. Ultrafast modulation of polarization states and the beam splitting ratio are experimentally demonstrated on a time scale of 667 ps. This scheme of hybrid metasurfaces could also be extended to the design of various free-space all-optical active devices, such as varifocal planar lenses, switchable vector beam generators, and components for holography in ultrafast imaging, display, and high-fidelity terahertz wireless communication systems.
Add-on plasmonic patch as a universal fluorescence enhancer
Authors: Luan Jingyi , Morrissey Jeremiah J. , Wang Zheyu , Derami Hamed Gholami , Liu Keng-Ku , Cao Sisi , Jiang Qisheng , Wang Congzhou , Kharasch Evan D. , Naik Rajesh R. , Singamaneni Srikanth
Published: June 2018

Fluorescence-based techniques are the cornerstone of modern biomedical optics, with applications ranging from bioimaging at various scales (organelle to organism) to detection and quantification of a wide variety of biological species of interest. However, the weakness of the fluorescence signal remains a persistent challenge in meeting the ever-increasing demand to image, detect, and quantify biological species with low abundance. Here, we report a simple and universal method based on a flexible and conformal elastomeric film with adsorbed plasmonic nanostructures, which we term a “plasmonic patch,” that provides large (up to 100-fold) and uniform fluorescence enhancement on a variety of surfaces through simple transfer of the plasmonic patch to the surface. We demonstrate the applications of the plasmonic patch in improving the sensitivity and limit of detection (by more than 100 times) of fluorescence-based immunoassays implemented in microtiter plates and in microarray format. The novel fluorescence enhancement approach presented here represents a disease, biomarker, and application agnostic ubiquitously applicable fundamental and enabling technology to immediately improve the sensitivity of existing analytical methodologies in an easy-to-handle and cost-effective manner, without changing the original procedures of the existing techniques.
Single-shot BOTDA based on an optical chirp chain probe wave for distributed ultrafast measurement
Authors: Zhou Dengwang , Dong Yongkang , Wang Benzhang , Pang Chao , Ba Dexin , Zhang Hongying , Lu Zhiwei , Li Hui , Bao Xiaoyi
Published: June 2018

Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) requires frequency mapping of the Brillouin spectrum to obtain environmental information (e.g., temperature or strain) over the length of the sensing fiber, with the finite frequency-sweeping time-limiting applications to only static or slowly varying strain or temperature environments. To solve this problem, we propose the use of an optical chirp chain probe wave to remove the requirement of frequency sweeping for the Brillouin spectrum, which enables distributed ultrafast strain measurement with a single pump pulse. The optical chirp chain is generated using a frequency-agile technique via a fast-frequency-changing microwave, which covers a larger frequency range around the Stokes frequency relative to the pump wave, so that a distributed Brillouin gain spectrum along the fiber is realized. Dynamic strain measurements for periodic mechanical vibration, mechanical shock, and a switch event are demonstrated at sampling rates of 25 kHz, 2.5 MHz and 6.25 MHz, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of distributed Brillouin strain sensing with a wide-dynamic range at a sampling rate of up to the MHz level.
Ixodes scapularis does not harbor a stable midgut microbiome
Authors: Ross Benjamin D , Hayes Beth , Radey Matthew C , Lee Xia , Josek Tanya , Bjork Jenna , Neitzel David , Paskewitz Susan , Chou Seemay , Mougous Joseph D
Published: June 2018

Hard ticks of the order Ixodidae serve as vectors for numerous human pathogens, including the causative agent of Lyme Disease Borrelia burgdorferi. Tick-associated microbes can influence pathogen colonization, offering the potential to inhibit disease transmission through engineering of the tick microbiota. Here, we investigate whether B. burgdorferi encounters abundant bacteria within the midgut of wild adult Ixodes scapularis, its primary vector. Through the use of controlled sequencing methods and confocal microscopy, we find that the majority of field-collected adult I. scapularis harbor limited internal microbial communities that are dominated by endosymbionts. A minority of I. scapularis ticks harbor abundant midgut bacteria and lack B. burgdorferi. We find that the lack of a stable resident midgut microbiota is not restricted to I. scapularis since extension of our studies to I. pacificus, Amblyomma maculatum, and Dermacentor spp showed similar patterns. Finally, bioinformatic examination of the B. burgdorferi genome revealed the absence of genes encoding known interbacterial interaction pathways, a feature unique to the Borrelia genus within the phylum Spirochaetes. Our results suggest that reduced selective pressure from limited microbial populations within ticks may have facilitated the evolutionary loss of genes encoding interbacterial competition pathways from Borrelia.
Unmasking chloride attack on the passive film of metals
Authors: Zhang B. , Wang J. , Wu B. , Guo X. W. , Wang Y. J. , Chen D. , Zhang Y. C. , Du K. , Oguzie E. E. , Ma X. L.
Published: June 2018

Nanometer-thick passive films on metals usually impart remarkable resistance to general corrosion but are susceptible to localized attack in certain aggressive media, leading to material failure with pronounced adverse economic and safety consequences. Over the past decades, several classic theories have been proposed and accepted, based on hypotheses and theoretical models, and oftentimes, not sufficiently nor directly corroborated by experimental evidence. Here we show experimental results on the structure of the passive film formed on a FeCr15Ni15 single crystal in chloride-free and chloride-containing media. We use aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy to directly capture the chloride ion accumulation at the metal/film interface, lattice expansion on the metal side, undulations at the interface, and structural inhomogeneity on the film side, most of which had previously been rejected by existing models. This work unmasks, at the atomic scale, the mechanism of chloride-induced passivity breakdown that is known to occur in various metallic materials.
Placental H3K27me3 establishes female resilience to prenatal insults
Authors: Nugent Bridget M. , O’Donnell Carly M. , Epperson C. Neill , Bale Tracy L.
Published: June 2018

Although sex biases in disease presentation are well documented, the mechanisms mediating vulnerability or resilience to diseases are unknown. In utero insults are more likely to produce detrimental health outcomes for males versus females. In our mouse model of prenatal stress, male offspring experience long-term dysregulation of body weight and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal stress axis dysfunction, endophenotypes of male-biased neurodevelopmental disorders. Placental function is critical for healthy fetal development, and we previously showed that sex differences in placental O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) mediate the effects of prenatal stress on neurodevelopmental programming. Here we show that one mechanism whereby sex differences in OGT confer variation in vulnerability to prenatal insults is by establishing sex-specific trophoblast gene expression patterns and via regulation of the canonically repressive epigenetic modification, H3K27me3. We demonstrate that high levels of H3K27me3 in the female placenta create resilience to the altered hypothalamic programming associated with prenatal stress exposure.
Prophylactic Intravenous Lidocaine at Different Doses for Fentanyl-Induced Cough (FIC): A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Tan Wulin , Li Si , Liu Xiaochen , Gao Xiang , Huang Wenqi , Guo Junying , Wang Zhongxing
Published: June 2018

To evaluate whether different doses of intravenous lidocaine are effective at preventing fentanyl-induced cough (FIC), we searched PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, EMBASE and Web of Science, according to predefined criteria, for all articles published until June 2017. A meta-analysis and subgroup analysis were performed by combining the reported incidence of FIC. The odds ratio (OR) was used as a summary statistic. Eleven articles were included, with 965 patients in the lidocaine group and 745 patients in the control group. A pooled analysis indicated that the overall incidence of FIC was significantly different between the lidocaine group and the control group (OR, 0.27; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.21–0.35; P < 0.05), as well as between the adult and paediatric subgroups. Sensitivity analysis showed that the results were stable. Subgroup analyses showed that compared to a placebo, both low (0.5–1.0 mg/kg) and high doses of lidocaine (1.5–2.0 mg/kg) were effective at reducing FIC incidence. There was no significant difference between low or high doses of lidocaine. Fentanyl doses added no significant heterogeneity as shown by meta-regression. The findings of this meta-analysis indicate that prophylactic intravenous lidocaine is effective at preventing FIC in both adults and children.
Phenotypes of Jackhammer esophagus in patients with typical symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease responsive to proton pump inhibitors
Authors: Kristo Ivan , Schwameis Katrin , Maschke Svenja , Kainz Alexander , Rieder Erwin , Paireder Matthias , Jomrich Gerd , Schoppmann Sebastian F.
Published: June 2018

This trial was designed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of Jackhammer esophagus (JE), a novel hypercontractile disorder associated with progression to achalasia and limited outcomes following anti-reflux surgery in patients with typical symptoms of GERD and responsiveness to proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy. Consecutive patients, who were referred for surgical therapy because of PPI responsive typical symptoms of GERD, were prospectively assessed between January 2014 and May 2017. Patients diagnosed with JE subsequently underwent rigorous clinical screening including esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), ambulatory pH impedance monitoring off PPI and a PPI trial. Out of 2443 evaluated patients, 37 (1.5%) subjects with a median age of 56.3 (51.6; 65) years were diagnosed with JE and left for final analysis. Extensive testing resulted in 16 (43.2%) GERD positive patients and 5 (13.9%) participants were observed to have an acid hypersensitive esophagus. There were no clinical parameters that differentiated phenotypes of JE. The prevalence of JE in patients with typical symptoms of GERD and response to PPI therapy is low. True GERD was diagnosed in less than half of this selected cohort, indicating the need for objective testing to stratify phenotypes of JE. (NCT03347903)
Modeling and Optimizing a New Culture Medium for In Vitro Rooting of G×N15 Prunus Rootstock using Artificial Neural Network-Genetic Algorithm
Authors: Arab Mohammad Mehdi , Yadollahi Abbas , Eftekhari Maliheh , Ahmadi Hamed , Akbari Mohammad , Khorami Saadat Sarikhani
Published: June 2018

The main aim of the present investigation is modeling and optimization of a new culture medium for in vitro rooting of G×N15 rootstock using an artificial neural network-genetic algorithm (ANN-GA). Six experiments for assessing different media culture, various concentrations of Indole – 3- butyric acid, different concentrations of Thiamine and Fe-EDDHA were designed. The effects of five ionic macronutrients (NH4+, NO3−, Ca2+, K+ and Cl−) on five growth parameters [root number (RN), root length (RL), root percentage (R%), fresh (FW) and dry weight (DW)] were evaluated using the ANN-GA method. The R2 correlation values of 0.88, 0.88, 0.98, 0.94 and 0.87 between observed and predicted values were acquired for all five growth parameters, respectively. The ANN-GA results indicated that among the input variables, K+ (7.6) and NH4+ (4.4), K+ (7.7) and Ca2+ (2.8), K+ (36.7) and NH4+ (4.3), K+ (14.7) and NH4+ (4.4) and K+ (7.6) and NH4+ (4.3) had the highest values of variable sensitivity ratio (VSR) in the data set, for RN, RL, R%, FW and DW, respectively. ANN-GA optimized LS medium for G×N15 rooting contained optimized amounts of 1 mg L−1 IBA, 100, 150, or 200 mg L−1 Fe-EDDHA and 1.6 mg L−1 Thiamine. The efficiency of the optimized culture media was compared to other standard media for Prunus rooting and the results indicated that the optimized medium is more efficient than the others.
Dispersion characteristics of radioactive materials estimated by wind patterns
Authors: Yoshikane Takao , Yoshimura Kei
Published: June 2018

The radioactive materials are generally concentrated downwind of their origins when the prevailing winds blow continuously in one direction. If this principle determined the pattern of dispersion in all cases, dispersion directions could be estimated by wind patterns. However, this hypothesis has not been sufficiently verified because of the complexity of dispersion processes and weather systems. Here, we show that dispersion directions, which are divided into four ranges, can be estimated by wind patterns using a machine learning approach. The five-year average hit rates of the directions of dispersion estimated using near-surface winds exceed 0.85 in all months. The dispersion directions can be estimated up to 33 hours in advance using forecast winds. In particular, high hit rates exceeding 0.95 are achieved in January and March, when large-scale weather systems dominate. These results indicate that the dispersion directions are determined by the wind patterns that correspond to large-scale weather systems and diurnal circulation patterns in most cases. Our findings also provide more reliable information on dispersion patterns with reduced uncertainties, given that reasonable skill is achieved at a sufficient lead time for evacuation.