bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Computation of Winding-Based Magnetic Helicity and Magnetic Winding Density for SHARP Magnetograms in Spherical Coordinates
Authors: Xiao Daining , Prior Christopher B. , Yeates Anthony R.
Published: October 2023

Magnetic helicity has been used widely in the analysis and modelling of solar active regions. However, it is difficult to evaluate and interpret helicity in spherical geometry since coronal magnetic fields are rooted in the photosphere and helicity is susceptible to gauge choices. Recent work extended a geometrical definition of helicity from Cartesian to spherical domains, by interpreting helicity as the average, flux-weighted pairwise winding of magnetic-field lines. In this paper, by adopting the winding-based definition of helicity, we compute helicity and winding in spherical coordinates for SHARP (Spaceweather HMI Active Region Patches) magnetograms. This is compared with results obtained in Cartesian coordinates to quantitatively investigate the effect of spherical geometry. We find that the Cartesian approximations remain mostly valid, but for active regions with large spatial extents or strong field strengths (usually leading to flares and coronal mass ejections) there are significant deviations due to surface curvature that must be accounted for.
Origin and Evolution of Enceladus’s Tidal Dissipation
Authors: Nimmo Francis , Neveu Marc , Howett Carly
Published: October 2023

Enceladus possesses a subsurface ocean beneath a conductive ice shell. Based on shell thickness models, the estimated total conductive heat loss from Enceladus is 25–40 GW; the measured heat output from the South Polar Terrain (SPT) is 4–19 GW. The present-day SPT heat flux is of order $100\text{ mW}\,\text{m}^{-2}$
100
 mW

m

−
2

, comparable to estimated paleo-heat fluxes for other regions of Enceladus. These regions have nominal ages of about 2 Ga, but the estimates are uncertain because the impactor flux in the Saturnian system may not resemble that elsewhere. Enceladus’s measured rate of orbital expansion implies a low dissipation factor $Q_{p}$

Q
p

for Saturn, with $Q_{p} \approx 3\times 10^{3}$

Q
p

≈
3
×

10

3

(neglecting the role of Dione). This value implies that Enceladus’s present-day equilibrium tidal heat production (roughly 50 GW, but with large uncertainties) is in approximate balance with its heat loss. If $Q_{p}$

Q
p

is constant, Enceladus cannot be older than 1.5 Gyr (because otherwise it would have migrated more than is permissible). However, Saturn’s dissipation may be better described by the “resonance-locking” theory, in which case Enceladus’s orbit may have only evolved outwards by about 35% over the age of the Solar System. In the constant-$Q_{p}$

Q
p

scenario, any ancient tidal heating events would have been too energetic to be consistent with the observations. Because resonance-locking makes capture into earlier mean-motion orbital resonances less likely, the inferred ancient heating episodes probably took place when the current orbital resonance was already established. In the resonance-locking scenario, tidal heating did not change significantly over time, allowing for a long-lived ocean and a relatively stable ice shell. If so, Enceladus is an attractive target for future exploration from a habitability standpoint.
Can the marsh migrate? Factors influencing the growth of Spartina patens under upland conditions
Authors: Dowling Tessa M. , Travis Steven E. , Morgan Pamela A. , Zogg Gregory P.
Published: October 2023

The high elevation salt marsh plant Spartina patens can potentially cope with accelerated sea level rise by migrating inland, but the ability to do so may differ among plant ecotypes. We compared performance among ecotypes collected from three different sites within mesocosms in which we manipulated soil type, plant litter and salinity. Half of our treatment levels simulated conditions plants would encounter when expanding into terrestrial environments (i.e., upland soil, litter present and low salinity); the other half expansion into tidal creeks (i.e., marsh soil, litter absent, and high salinity). Plant litter and salinity did not significantly affect aboveground biomass or rhizome growth and only affected flowering in a three-way interaction with site. However, all three parameters were significantly affected by soil conditions and the site × soil interaction. Upland soil conditions reduced aboveground biomass, rhizome growth and flowering, as compared to marsh soil conditions, for ecotypes from some sites but not others. When just comparing plant performance in the upland soil treatment, ecotypes from some collection sites did better than others. One plausible explanation for this ecotypic variation is pre-adaptation to differences we found in organic matter content among our collection sites, with the ecotype collected from the site with the lowest organic matter content generally being least impacted by upland soil conditions. Our results indicate that S. patens ecotypes can vary in their capacity to successfully expand into uplands, and thus we suggest prioritizing conservation of such ecotypes, as well as their use in restoration efforts. Consideration of ecotypic variation might also prove useful in deciding where to focus conservation efforts for marsh migration.
Relational topologies in the learning activity spaces: operationalising a sociomaterial approach
Authors: Castañeda Linda , Marín Victoria I. , Villar-Onrubia Daniel
Published: October 2023

Technology-mediated interactions and datafication are increasingly central in contemporary social dynamics and institutions, including teaching and learning processes. In order to fully understand the complex entanglements of human and non-human actants that emerge in postdigital education, it is essential to imagine new methodological approaches that are sensitive to the multidimensional nature of education—as a socially and materially-situated phenomenon that increasingly takes place across distributed contexts. The overall goal of this paper is to propose and operationalise a new methodological approach for the study of technology in education. It draws on the notion of relational topologies to improve our understanding of educational settings and, ultimately, how learning unfolds. The proposed approach relies on a multi-paradigm enquiry strategy, based on the idea of using “topologies of digital data practices” in combination with the three dimensions that articulate design-for-learning processes according to the Activity-Centred Analysis and Design (ACAD) framework: epistemic, social and set designs. While the article focuses on presenting the elements of the approach from a theoretical perspective, we illustrate its application through the data collected in a small case study that will serve as a testbed. The topologies of relations we present in this article show uses of technology—as described by participants in their own learning experience—that involve different spaces, devices, and personal situations. In doing so, we reveal how humans and non-humans are entangled in hybrid, unstable and generative ways. The article concludes with some remarks on the value of the proposed approach for studying technology in education and its potential to explore the state-of-the-actual in this field, with the ultimate goal of helping inform educational research, practice and decision-making.
Dense subgraphs in temporal social networks
Authors: Dondi Riccardo , Guzzi Pietro Hiram , Hosseinzadeh Mohammad Mehdi , Milano Marianna
Published: October 2023

Interactions among entities are usually modeled using graphs. In many real scenarios, these relations may change over time, and different kinds exist among entities that need to be integrated. We introduce a new network model called temporal dual network, to deal with interactions which change over time and to integrate information coming from two different networks. In this new model, we consider a fundamental problem in graph mining, that is, finding the densest subgraphs. To deal with this problem, we propose an approach that, given two temporal graphs, (1) produces a dual temporal graph via alignment and (2) asks for identifying the densest subgraphs in this resulting graph. For this latter problem, we present a polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithm and a faster heuristic based on constraining the dynamic programming to consider only bounded temporal graphs and a local search procedure. We show that our method can output solutions not far from the optimal ones, even for temporal graphs having 10000 vertices and 10000 timestamps. Finally, we present a case study on a real dual temporal network.
Mixed cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis secondary to marginal zone lymphoma in a patient with end-stage renal failure on haemodialysis
Authors: Coorey Craig Peter , Aarabi Amirhossein , Kumar Karthik
Published: October 2023

Cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis can present with a variety of symptoms and there is limited data on the incidence and presentation of cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis in haemodialysis patients. We report a case of a 63-year-old male who had a series of presentations with rash, visual changes, abdominal pain, weight loss, fevers and digital ischaemia. This is on a background of a congenital single kidney with end-stage renal failure secondary to diabetes and hypertension, receiving haemodialysis for nearly 5 years. He initially experienced a leukocytoclastic vasculitis rash confirmed on skin biopsy, followed by multiple hospital presentations for undifferentiated abdominal pain and fever of unknown source. Jejunal biopsy revealed intestinal vasculitis. His peripheral blood flow cytometry and bone marrow biopsy were consistent with marginal zone lymphoma (indolent subtype, IgM kappa clone). Further testing revealed a type II cryoglobulinaemia consisting of an IgM kappa monoclonal band with polyclonal IgG (cryocrit 5%). A diagnosis of cryoglobulinaemia vasculitis was established and he was treated with pulsed methylprednisolone and rituximab therapy. However, after receiving three doses of rituximab the patient developed a presumed vasculitis-associated pulmonary haemorrhage for which he received treatment with five sessions of plasma exchange. His symptoms resolved and cryocrit reduced to < 1% after his final dose of rituximab. The clinical features of cryoglobulinaemia may be difficult to detect in chronic haemodialysis patients and vigilance is required.
Learning to swim in Finland: practices and experiences
Authors: Haapala Henna , Lehtimäki Piia-Liisa , Saari Susanna , Sääkslahti Arja
Published: October 2023

Aquatic skills have been defined as important life-saving skills in Finland, because of it’s thousands of lakes. Finnish national core curriculum includes objectives for pupils’ swimming skills and, therefore national survey is implemented regularly. The latest survey implemented in spring 2022 to measure 6th graders (n = 1798) and preschoolers (n = 222) perception of their swimming skills. The results revealed decline in 6th graders’ skills. There were approximately 55% of 6th graders reporting to be able to swim 200 m, including 50 m swimming on the back. Moreover, the survey revealed gender differences showing that 60% of boys, 51% of girls and 40% of non-binary genders achieved the 200 m criteria. These gender differences have not found earlier. In 2022 survey included preschoolers (6 yrs) first time. The results showed that preschoolers have positive attitude towards water, and they perceive their aquatic competence positively. This starting point should be utilized in swimming lessons by including swimming already as part of preschool curriculum. The Covid pandemic reduced the amount of swimming lessons. Therefore, it can be assumed that a new generation of pupils with poor swimming skills is now growing. There is need to ensure water safety by compensating the lack of swimming skills. Practically it could mean starting annual swimming lessons from preschool.
An Epistemic Version of Pascal's Wager
Authors: JACKSON ELIZABETH
Published: October 2023

Epistemic consequentialism is the view that epistemic goodness is more fundamental than epistemic rightness. In this article, I examine the relationship between epistemic consequentialism and theistic belief. I argue that in an epistemic consequentialist framework, there is an epistemic reason to believe in God. Imagine having an unlimited amount of time to ask an omniscient being anything you wanted. The potential epistemic benefits would be enormous. Considerations like these point to an epistemic version of Pascal's wager. I compare and contrast the epistemic wager with the traditional wager, and argue that the epistemic wager has several notable advantages.
Derivation and external validation of a prediction model for pneumococcal urinary antigen test positivity in patients with community-acquired pneumonia
Authors: Kim Priscilla , Rothberg Michael B. , Nowacki Amy S. , Yu Pei-Chun , Gugliotti David , Deshpande Abhishek
Published: October 2023

Objective:

Derive and externally validate a prediction model for pneumococcal urinary antigen test (pUAT) positivity.

Methods:

Retrospective cohort study of adults admitted with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) to 177 U.S. hospitals in the Premier Database (derivation and internal validation samples) or 12 Cleveland Clinic hospitals (external validation sample). We utilized multivariable logistic regression to predict pUAT positivity in the derivation dataset, followed by model performance evaluation in both validation datasets. Potential predictors included demographics, comorbidities, clinical findings, and markers of disease severity.

Results:

Of 198,130 Premier patients admitted with CAP, 27,970 (14.1%) underwent pUAT; 1962 (7.0%) tested positive. The strongest predictors of pUAT positivity were history of pneumococcal infection in the previous year (OR 6.99, 95% CI 4.27–11.46), severe CAP on admission (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.56–1.98), substance abuse (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.27–1.93), smoking (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.09–1.39), and hyponatremia (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.17–1.55). Negative predictors included IV antibiotic use in past year (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.52–0.82), congestive heart failure (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.63–0.83), obesity (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.60–0.85), and admission from skilled nursing facility (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45–0.78). Model c-statistics were 0.60 and 0.67 in the internal and external validation cohorts, respectively. Compared to guideline-recommended testing of severe CAP patients, our model would have detected 23% more cases with 5% fewer tests.

Conclusion:

Readily available data can identify patients most likely to have a positive pUAT. Our model could be incorporated into automated clinical decision support to improve test efficiency and antimicrobial stewardship.
Corporate Social Irresponsibility, an Elastic Wall, and a Fragile State: Sign of Hope’s Unfinished Quest to Mitigate Human Rights Violations in South Sudan
Authors: Kinderman Daniel , Stieglitz Klaus , Almairac Laure
Published: October 2023

This piece recounts the efforts by NGO Sign of Hope (SoH) to rectify human rights violations in South Sudan, which manifested themselves as drinking water pollution by the oil industry. Committed to exposing and remediating this water contamination, SoH was able to prompt the automobile company Daimler’s CSR to engage in extended dialogue with the oil industry stakeholders in Unity State. Despite a tactful use of various methods ranging from cooperation to confrontation, SoH’s campaign did not lead the oil producers to reverse the harm inflicted on the people of Unity State. When SoH tried to hold these companies accountable, SoH had the impression that it was hitting an elastic wall. This piece identifies lessons which may help to counter corporate human rights violations and compensate for the weakness of CSR in fragile states and in the face of corporate irresponsibility.
Gut metabolomic profiles in paediatric ulcerative colitis patients prior to and after receiving faecal microbiota transplants
Authors: Khalessi Hosseini Parastou S. , Wang Beibei , Luan Yihui , Sun Fengzhu , Michail Sonia
Published: October 2023

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an immune-mediated inflammation of the colonic mucosa. Gut microbiota dysbiosis may play a significant role in disease pathogenesis by causing shifts in metabolomic profiles within the gut. To identify differences and trends in the metabolomic profile of paediatric UC patients pre- and post-faecal microbiota transplants (FMT). Forty-six paediatric patients with mild-to-moderate UC and 30 healthy paediatric patients were enrolled in this study. Baseline stool samples were collected prior to FMT initiation and at months 1, 3, 6, and 12 post-FMT. Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI) scores were calculated at baseline and months 1, 3, 6, and 12 after FMT. The average Bray–Curtis dissimilarities to healthy subjects decreased after FMT. In principal coordinate analysis plots, UC patients’ centroids drew nearer to healthy individuals. The variance explained by phenotype (Healthy versus UC) reduced and remained significant. From 1 to 3 months after FMT, PUCAI trends were statistically significant and decreasing. PUCAI scores remain flat starting 6 months after FMT. This study concludes that paediatric UC patients have a significantly different baseline metabolite profile than healthy controls. Although being time limited, FMT significantly altered these metabolite profiles and shifted them towards that of healthy controls.
Intermittency in turbulent emulsions
Authors: Crialesi-Esposito M. , Boffetta G. , Brandt L. , Chibbaro S. , Musacchio S.
Published: October 2023

We investigate the statistics of turbulence in emulsions of two immiscible fluids of the same density. We compute velocity increments between points conditioned to be located in the same phase or in different phases, and examine their probability density functions (PDFs) and the associated structure functions (SFs). This enables us to demonstrate that the presence of the interface reduces the skewness of the PDF at small scales and therefore the magnitude of the energy flux towards the dissipative scales, which is quantified by the third-order SF. The analysis of the higher-order SFs shows that multiphase turbulence is more intermittent than single-phase turbulence. In particular, the local scaling exponents of the SFs display a saturation below the Kolmogorov–Hinze scale, which indicates the presence of large velocity gradients across the interface. Interestingly, the statistics of the velocity differences in the carrier phase recovers that of single-phase turbulence when the viscosity of the dispersed phase is high.
Stochastic ordering results on the duration of the gambler’s ruin game
Authors: Hsiau Shoou-Ren , Yao Yi-Ching
Published: October 2023

In the classical gambler’s ruin problem, the gambler plays an adversary with initial capitals z and
$a-z$
, respectively, where
$a>0$
and
$0< z < a$
are integers. At each round, the gambler wins or loses a dollar with probabilities p and
$1-p$
. The game continues until one of the two players is ruined. For even a and
$0<z\leq {a}/{2}$
, the family of distributions of the duration (total number of rounds) of the game indexed by
$p \in [0,{\frac{1}{2}}]$
is shown to have monotone (increasing) likelihood ratio, while for
${a}/{2} \leq z<a$
, the family of distributions of the duration indexed by
$p \in [{\frac{1}{2}}, 1]$
has monotone (decreasing) likelihood ratio. In particular, for
$z={a}/{2}$
, in terms of the likelihood ratio order, the distribution of the duration is maximized over
$p \in [0,1]$
by
$p={\frac{1}{2}}$
. The case of odd a is also considered in terms of the usual stochastic order. Furthermore, as a limit, the first exit time of Brownian motion is briefly discussed.
‘EQUITY’ IN THE PANDEMIC TREATY: THE FALSE HOPE OF ‘ACCESS AND BENEFIT-SHARING’
Authors: Hampton Abbie-Rose , Eccleston-Turner Mark , Rourke Michelle , Switzer Stephanie
Published: October 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic the international community repeatedly called for the equitable distribution of vaccines and other medical countermeasures. However, there was a substantial gap between this rhetoric and State action. High-income countries secured significantly more doses than they required, leaving many low-income countries unable to vaccinate their populations. Current negotiations for the new Pandemic Treaty under the World Health Organization (WHO) attempt to narrow the gap between rhetoric and behaviour by building the concept of equity into the Treaty's substantive content. However, equity is difficult to define, much less to operationalize. Presently, WHO Member States appear to have chosen ‘access and benefit-sharing’ (ABS) as the predominant mechanism for operationalizing equity in the Treaty. This article examines ABS as a mechanism, its use in public health, and argues that ABS is fundamentally flawed, unable to achieve equity. It proposes other options for an equitable international response to future pandemic threats.
Coping with the unforeseen: bounded rationality and bureaucratic responses to the COVID-19 crisis
Authors: Christensen Jørgen Grønnegaard , Mortensen Peter B.
Published: October 2023

The outbreak of COVID-19 unleashed a severe crisis in society. The suddenness and speed with which the disease spread into a global pandemic makes it an outstanding case for showing how bureaucracy acts in response to a crisis marked by uncertainty and urgency. This article focuses on the role played by the central government bureaucracy in preparing and enacting the Danish government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. It is based on full access to internal government files related to crisis management during the winter and spring of 2020. These files include memos, e-mails, decision notes, and draft decisions from key civil servants. The article demonstrates the strength of the theory of bounded rationality when it comes to analyzing the interaction between top civil servants and political executives. Moreover, it shows how administrative and political executives can mold a governmental organization to overcome the inertia inherent in bureaucratic organization and procedures.
On the topology of the transversal slice of a quasi-homogeneous map germ
Authors: SILVA O. N.
Published: October 2023

We consider a corank 1, finitely determined, quasi-homogeneous map germ f from
$(\mathbb{C}^2,0)$
to
$(\mathbb{C}^3,0)$
. We describe the embedded topological type of a generic hyperplane section of
$f(\mathbb{C}^2)$
, denoted by
$\gamma_f$
, in terms of the weights and degrees of f. As a consequence, a necessary condition for a corank 1 finitely determined map germ
$g\,{:}\,(\mathbb{C}^2,0)\rightarrow (\mathbb{C}^3,0)$
to be quasi-homogeneous is that the plane curve
$\gamma_g$
has either two or three characteristic exponents. As an application of our main result, we also show that any one-parameter unfolding
$F=(f_t,t)$
of f which adds only terms of the same degrees as the degrees of f is Whitney equisingular.
Nonvarying, affine and extremal geometry of strata of differentials
Authors: CHEN DAWEI
Published: October 2023

We prove that the nonvarying strata of abelian and quadratic differentials in low genus have trivial tautological rings and are affine varieties. We also prove that strata ofk-differentials of infinite area are affine varieties for allk. Vanishing of homology in degree higher than the complex dimension follows as a consequence for these affine strata. Moreover we prove that the stratification of the Hodge bundle for abelian and quadratic differentials of finite area is extremal in the sense that merging two zeros in each stratum leads to an extremal effective divisor in the boundary. A common feature throughout these results is a relation of divisor classes in strata of differentials as well as its incarnation in Teichmüller dynamics.
Adam Smith's reversionary annuity: money's worth, default options and auto-enrollment
Authors: Milevsky Moshe A.
Published: October 2023

When Adam Smith – author of Wealth of Nations (1776) and Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) – was elected a professor at the University of Glasgow in 1751, he also joined an annuity ‘scheme’ that was unique for its time. The Scottish Ministers’ Widows’ Fund, as it was known, offered members of the Presbyterian Church as well as the university a choice of levels at which to contribute investment savings, ranging from 2 to 10 percent of their wages. The life-contingent benefits were in the form of a reversionary annuity to a spouse and/or lump sum death benefit to children. This article (i) describes the scheme in financial and actuarial terms, (ii) values Smith's reversionary annuity and (iii) examines the choices made by individual participants. The specific research contribution is to compile the archival data to measure the extent of insurance anti-selection and to demonstrate that debates around choice architecture, default options and auto-enrollment, which infuse the literature in the twenty-first century, were prevalent in the mid eighteenth. For the record, Adam Smith actively contributed at the highest allowed rate, but it wasn't a ‘good’ investment for him, either ex ante or ex post. As for why, one must read the article.
Assessing a New Measure of State Policy Mood: Response to Lagodny, Jones, Koch, and Enns
Authors: Berry William D. , Fording Richard C. , Crofoot Justin K.
Published: October 2023

This article presents a short summary of the conclusions we report in a longer manuscript (available in our Supplementary Material) subjecting Lagodny et al.’s new measure of state policy mood to the same set of face validity and construct validity tests we applied earlier to Enns and Koch’s measure. We encourage readers to read this longer manuscript, which contains not only the conclusions herein, but also the evidence justifying these conclusions, before accepting or rejecting any claims we make. Our results show that the characteristics of Enns and Koch’s measure that led us to be doubtful that it is valid are also present in Lagodny et al.’s new measure – leaving us just as doubtful that Lagodny et al.’s measure is valid. Moreover, the low correlation between Lagodny et al.’s measure and Enns and Koch’s measure, combined with evidence from replications of seven published studies that the two measures frequently yield quite different inferences about the impact of policy mood on public policy, indicate that Lagodny et al.’s claim that both their measure and Enns and Koch’s measure are valid is wrong; either neither measure is valid, or one is valid and the other is not. Moreover, extending the replications to include not only Lagodny et al.’s and Enns and Koch’s measures, but also Berry et al.’s measure and Caughey and Warshaw’s measure of mass economic liberalism, shows that each of the four measures yields a substantive conclusion about the effect of policy mood that is dramatically different than each of the other three measures. This suggests that the goal of developing a measure of state policy mood that would be widely accepted as valid remains elusive.
Effects of Genetic Relatedness of Kin Pairs on Univariate ACE Model Performance
Authors: Lyu Xuanyu , Garrison S. Mason
Published: October 2023

The current study explored the impact of genetic relatedness differences (ΔH) and sample size on the performance of nonclassical ACE models, with a focus on same-sex and opposite-sex twin groups. The ACE model is a statistical model that posits that additive genetic factors (A), common environmental factors (C), and specific (or nonshared) environmental factors plus measurement error (E) account for individual differences in a phenotype. By extending Visscher’s (2004) least squares paradigm and conducting simulations, we illustrated how genetic relatedness of same-sex twins (HSS) influences the statistical power of additive genetic estimates (A), AIC-based model performance, and the frequency of negative estimates. We found that larger HSSand increased sample sizes were positively associated with increased power to detect additive genetic components and improved model performance, and reduction of negative estimates. We also found that the common solution of fixing the common environment correlation for sex-limited effects to .95 caused slightly worse model performance under most circumstances. Further, negative estimates were shown to be possible and were not always indicative of a failed model, but rather, they sometimes pointed to low power or model misspecification. Researchers using kin pairs with ΔH less than .5 should carefully consider performance implications and conduct comprehensive power analyses. Our findings provide valuable insights and practical guidelines for those working with nontwin kin pairs or situations where zygosity is unavailable, as well as areas for future research.
Groundwater's Fingerprint in Stream Network Branching Angles
Authors: Freund Elham R. , Seybold Hansjörg , Jasechko Scott , Kirchner James W.
Published: October 2023

Branching river networks are prominent features of the Earth's surface, but the mechanisms that create branching river networks patterns remain elusive. Recent studies have suggested that climate, tectonics, and lithology may control both longitudinal profiles of channel incision and the planform geometry of stream networks. Here we show, by analyzing almost 1 million river junctions and over 4.2 million groundwater wells across the contiguous United States, that stream network branching angles vary systematically with the degree to which streams lose water to, or gain water from, nearby groundwater aquifers. Streams whose surfaces lie above nearby groundwater levels, and thus are likely to be losing flow to underlying aquifers, tend to have narrower branching angles than streams that lie below nearby groundwater levels, and thus are likely to gain flow from groundwater. This systematic relationship persists across several stream orders, and across a wide range in channel gradients.
Multi‐Stage Development Within Anisotropy Insight of an Anticyclone Eddy in Northwestern South China Sea in 2021
Authors: Qiao J. , Qiu C. , Wang D. , Huang Y. , Zhang X.
Published: October 2023

Mesoscale eddies help regulate ocean energy cascades. Eddies deformation influences barotropic instability, which represents kinetic energy transfer between scales; however, the barotropic instability structure has not been well studied. We investigated an intra‐thermocline eddy (ITE) and developed a novel anisotropic method to examine the horizontal barotropic instability. The development of the ITE was monitored using a state‐of‐the‐art autonomous underwater vehicle from May to July. The ITE became trapped in June and moved eastward in July. Based on anisotropic theory, the barotropic instability was separated into isotropic and anisotropic productions. The anisotropy contained information regarding shape and mean flow feedback of the eddy. Barotropic instability was the main source for ITE eastward propagation and was dominated by anisotropic production. Following a shape and anisotropy change, the ITE gained the mean‐flow kinetic energy by the anisotropy shear production in June and by the anisotropy stretch production when moving eastward in July.
Transient Creep of Quartz and Granulite at High Temperature Under Wet Conditions
Authors: Masuti Sagar , Muto Jun , Rybacki Erik
Published: October 2023

Transient creep of crustal rocks is important to explain time‐dependent geological processes such as postseismic deformation following a large continental earthquake. While the steady‐state creep flow law parameters of quartz and feldspar, major minerals in the upper and lower crust, are well known, the physical mechanism behind transient creep and the corresponding flow law parameters are poorly understood. We quantify the flow law parameters for both quartz and granulite (mixture of plagioclase and pyroxene) under wet conditions with a nonlinear Burgers model using a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. Modeling results yield an activation energy of 70 ± 20 kJ/mol and a stress exponent of 2.0 ± 0.1 for transient creep of quartz aggregates. For granulite/feldspar, we find activation energies of 280 ± 30 and 220 ± 20 kJ/mol and stress exponents of 1.0 ± 0.2 and 0.9 ± 0.1 under mid (1050–1100°C) and high (1125–1150°C), temperature conditions, respectively. The stress exponents and activation energies of transient creep are consistently smaller than those of steady‐state creep for both quartz and granulite/feldspar. Combined with results for transient creep of olivine that were previously obtained (Masuti & Barbot, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-021-01543-9), we suggest that the activation energies and stress exponents of transient creep are smaller than those of steady‐state creep for volumetrically important silicate minerals of the crust and upper mantle. Extrapolation of the estimated flow law parameters of granulite/feldspar to natural conditions suggests that transient creep may dominate during the postseismic period and lasts longer than previously thought.
Pressure-induced superconductivity in the nonsymmorphic topological insulator KHgAs
Authors: Dai Guangyang , Jia Yating , Gao Bo , Peng Yi , Zhao Jianfa , Ma Yanming , Chen Changfeng , Zhu Jinlong , Li Quan , Yu Runze , Jin Changqing
Published: October 2023

Recently, topological insulators (TIs) KHgX (X = As, Sb, Bi) with hourglass-shaped dispersion have attracted great interest. Different from the TIs protected by either time-reversal or mirror crystal symmorphic symmetry tested in previous experiments, these materials were proposed as the first material class whose band topology relies on nonsymmorphic symmetries. As a result, KHgX shows many exotic properties, such as hourglass-shaped electronic channels and three-dimensional doubled quantum spin Hall effects. To date, high-pressure experimental studies on these nonsymmorphic TIs are minimal. Here, we carried out high-pressure electrical measurements up to 55 GPa, together with high-pressure X-ray diffraction measurements and high-pressure structure prediction on KHgAs. We found a pressure-induced semiconductor-metal transition between ~16 and 20 GPa, followed by the appearance of superconductivity with a Tc of ~3.5 K at approximately 21 GPa. The superconducting transition temperature was enhanced to a maximum of ~6.6 K at 31.8 GPa and then slowly decreased until 55 GPa. Furthermore, three high-pressure phases within 55 GPa were observed, and their crystal structures were established. Our results showed the high-pressure phase diagram of KHgAs and determined the pressure-induced superconductivity in nonsymmorphic TIs. Thus, our study can be used to facilitate further research on superconductivity and topologically nontrivial features protected by nonsymmorphic symmetries.
Macular neovascularization and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: phenotypic variations, pathogenic mechanisms and implications in management
Authors: Cheung Chui Ming Gemmy
Published: October 2023

Advances in imaging have led to improved ability to characterize variations in clinical sub-phenotypes of macular neovascularization (MNV) in Age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) was initially described based on characteristic features observed in indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and was thought to be a distinct entity from AMD. However, subsequent careful observations based on confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy-based ICGA, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography have led researchers to appreciate similarities between PCV lesion and type 1 MNV in typical neovascular AMD. Concurrently, clinical trials have shown that anti-VEGF monotherapy can achieve favourable visual outcome in the majority of eyes with PCV. These learnings have led to a shift in the way PCV is managed over the past decade. Recent studies have supported the use of non-ICGA based imaging modality to screen for PCV and the adoption of anti-VEGF monotherapy as initial therapy for PCV. A focus of recent research has been in the understanding of the role of choroidal alterations in the pathogenesis of PCV. The concept of pachychoroid in leading to outer retinal ischemia has garnered increasing support. Future research in this area should evaluate the potential of choroidal morphology in guiding personalized therapy in PCV.
A pharmacophore-guided deep learning approach for bioactive molecular generation
Authors: Zhu Huimin , Zhou Renyi , Cao Dongsheng , Tang Jing , Li Min
Published: October 2023

The rational design of novel molecules with the desired bioactivity is a critical but challenging task in drug discovery, especially when treating a novel target family or understudied targets. We propose a Pharmacophore-Guided deep learning approach for bioactive Molecule Generation (PGMG). Through the guidance of pharmacophore, PGMG provides a flexible strategy for generating bioactive molecules. PGMG uses a graph neural network to encode spatially distributed chemical features and a transformer decoder to generate molecules. A latent variable is introduced to solve the many-to-many mapping between pharmacophores and molecules to improve the diversity of the generated molecules. Compared to existing methods, PGMG generates molecules with strong docking affinities and high scores of validity, uniqueness, and novelty. In the case studies, we use PGMG in a ligand-based and structure-based drug de novo design. Overall, the flexibility and effectiveness make PGMG a useful tool to accelerate the drug discovery process.
Morphogenetic metasurfaces: unlocking the potential of Turing patterns
Authors: Fromenteze Thomas , Yurduseven Okan , Uche Chidinma , Arnaud Eric , Smith David R. , Decroze Cyril
Published: October 2023

The reaction-diffusion principle imagined by Alan Turing in an attempt to explain the structuring of living organisms is leveraged in this work for the procedural synthesis of radiating metasurfaces. The adaptation of this morphogenesis technique ensures the growth of anisotropic cellular patterns automatically arranged to satisfy local electromagnetic constraints, facilitating the radiation of waves controlled in frequency, space, and polarization. Experimental validations of this method are presented, designing morphogenetic metasurfaces radiating far-field circularly polarized beams and generating a polarization-multiplexed hologram in the radiative near-field zone. The exploitation of morphogenesis-inspired models proves particularly well suited for solving generative design problems, converting global physical constraints into local interactions of simulated chemical reactants ensuring the emergence of self-organizing meta-atoms.
Microrobots powered by concentration polarization electrophoresis (CPEP)
Authors: Katzmeier Florian , Simmel Friedrich C.
Published: October 2023

Second-order electrokinetic flow around colloidal particles caused by concentration polarization electro-osmosis (CPEO) can result in a phoretic motion of asymmetric particle dimers in a homogeneous AC electrical field, which we refer to as concentration polarization electro-phoresis (CPEP). To demonstrate this actuation mechanism, we created particle dimers from micron-sized silica spheres with sizes 1.0 μm and 2.1 μm by connecting them with DNA linker molecules. The dimers can be steered along arbitrarily chosen paths within a 2D plane by controlling the orientation of the AC electric field in a fluidic chamber with the joystick of a gamepad. Further utilizing induced dipole-dipole interactions, we demonstrate that particle dimers can be used to controllably pick up monomeric particles and release them at any desired position, and also to assemble several particles into groups. Systematic experiments exploring the dependence of the dimer migration speed on the electric field strength, frequency, and buffer composition align with the theoretical framework of CPEO and provide parameter ranges for the operation of our microrobots. Furthermore, experiments with a variety of asymmetric particles, such as fragmented ceramic, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, agarose gel, and ground coffee particles, as well as yeast cells, demonstrate that CPEP is a generic phenomenon that can be expected for all charged dielectric particles.
Decreased liver B vitamin-related enzymes as a metabolic hallmark of cancer cachexia
Authors: Kojima Yasushi , Mishiro-Sato Emi , Fujishita Teruaki , Satoh Kiyotoshi , Kajino-Sakamoto Rie , Oze Isao , Nozawa Kazuki , Narita Yukiya , Ogata Takatsugu , Matsuo Keitaro , Muro Kei , Taketo Makoto Mark , Soga Tomoyoshi , Aoki Masahiro
Published: October 2023

Cancer cachexia is a complex metabolic disorder accounting for ~20% of cancer-related deaths, yet its metabolic landscape remains unexplored. Here, we report a decrease in B vitamin-related liver enzymes as a hallmark of systemic metabolic changes occurring in cancer cachexia. Metabolomics of multiple mouse models highlights cachexia-associated reductions of niacin, vitamin B6, and a glycine-related subset of one-carbon (C1) metabolites in the liver. Integration of proteomics and metabolomics reveals that liver enzymes related to niacin, vitamin B6, and glycine-related C1 enzymes dependent on B vitamins decrease linearly with their associated metabolites, likely reflecting stoichiometric cofactor-enzyme interactions. The decrease of B vitamin-related enzymes is also found to depend on protein abundance and cofactor subtype. These metabolic/proteomic changes and decreased protein malonylation, another cachexia feature identified by protein post-translational modification analysis, are reflected in blood samples from mouse models and gastric cancer patients with cachexia, underscoring the clinical relevance of our findings.
Human cellular model systems of β-thalassemia enable in-depth analysis of disease phenotype
Authors: Daniels Deborah E. , Ferrer-Vicens Ivan , Hawksworth Joseph , Andrienko Tatyana N. , Finnie Elizabeth M. , Bretherton Natalie S. , Ferguson Daniel C. J. , Oliveira A. Sofia. F. , Szeto Jenn-Yeu A. , Wilson Marieangela C. , Brewin John N. , Frayne Jan
Published: October 2023

β-thalassemia is a prevalent genetic disorder causing severe anemia due to defective erythropoiesis, with few treatment options. Studying the underlying molecular defects is impeded by paucity of suitable patient material. In this study we create human disease cellular model systems for β-thalassemia by gene editing the erythroid line BEL-A, which accurately recapitulate the phenotype of patient erythroid cells. We also develop a high throughput compatible fluorometric-based assay for evaluating severity of disease phenotype and utilize the assay to demonstrate that the lines respond appropriately to verified reagents. We next use the lines to perform extensive analysis of the altered molecular mechanisms in β-thalassemia erythroid cells, revealing upregulation of a wide range of biological pathways and processes along with potential novel targets for therapeutic investigation. Overall, the lines provide a sustainable supply of disease cells as research tools for identifying therapeutic targets and as screening platforms for new drugs and reagents.
Rebound effects undermine carbon footprint reduction potential of autonomous electric vehicles
Authors: Onat Nuri C. , Mandouri Jafar , Kucukvar Murat , Sen Burak , Abbasi Saddam A. , Alhajyaseen Wael , Kutty Adeeb A. , Jabbar Rateb , Contestabile Marcello , Hamouda Abdel Magid
Published: October 2023

Autonomous vehicles offer greater passenger convenience and improved fuel efficiency. However, they are likely to increase road transport activity and life cycle greenhouse emissions, due to several rebound effects. In this study, we investigate tradeoffs between improved fuel economy and rebound effects from a life-cycle perspective. Our results show that autonomy introduces an average 21.2% decrease in operation phase emissions due to improved fuel economy while manufacturing phase emissions can surge up to 40%. Recycling efforts can offset this increase, cutting emissions by 6.65 tons of Carbon dioxide equivalent per vehicle. However, when examining the entire life cycle, autonomous electric vehicles might emit 8% more greenhouse gas emissions on average compared to nonautonomous electric vehicles. To address this, we suggest; (1) cleaner and more efficient manufacturing technologies, (2) ongoing fuel efficiency improvements in autonomous driving; (3) renewable energy adoption for charging, and (4) circular economy initiatives targeting the complete life cycle.
Rab41-mediated ESCRT machinery repairs membrane rupture by a bacterial toxin in xenophagy
Authors: Nozawa Takashi , Toh Hirotaka , Iibushi Junpei , Kogai Kohei , Minowa-Nozawa Atsuko , Satoh Junko , Ito Shinji , Murase Kazunori , Nakagawa Ichiro
Published: October 2023

Xenophagy, a type of selective autophagy, is a bactericidal membrane trafficking that targets cytosolic bacterial pathogens, but the membrane homeostatic system to cope with bacterial infection in xenophagy is not known. Here, we show that the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT) machinery is needed to maintain homeostasis of xenophagolysosomes damaged by a bacterial toxin, which is regulated through the TOM1L2–Rab41 pathway that recruits AAA-ATPase VPS4. We screened Rab GTPases and identified Rab41 as critical for maintaining the acidification of xenophagolysosomes. Confocal microscopy revealed that ESCRT components were recruited to the entire xenophagolysosome, and this recruitment was inhibited by intrabody expression against bacterial cytolysin, indicating that ESCRT targets xenophagolysosomes in response to a bacterial toxin. Rab41 translocates to damaged autophagic membranes via adaptor protein TOM1L2 and recruits VPS4 to complete ESCRT-mediated membrane repair in a unique GTPase-independent manner. Finally, we demonstrate that the TOM1L2–Rab41 pathway-mediated ESCRT is critical for the efficient clearance of bacteria through xenophagy.
Generalization of procedural motor sequence learning after a single practice trial
Authors: Johnson B. P. , Iturrate I. , Fakhreddine R. Y. , Bönstrup M. , Buch E. R. , Robertson E. M. , Cohen L. G.
Published: October 2023

When humans begin learning new motor skills, they typically display early rapid performance improvements. It is not well understood how knowledge acquired during this early skill learning period generalizes to new, related skills. Here, we addressed this question by investigating factors influencing generalization of early learning from a skill A to a different, but related skill B. Early skill generalization was tested over four experiments (N = 2095). Subjects successively learned two related motor sequence skills (skills A and B) over different practice schedules. Skill A and B sequences shared ordinal (i.e., matching keypress locations), transitional (i.e., ordered keypress pairs), parsing rule (i.e., distinct sequence events like repeated keypresses that can be used as a breakpoint for segmenting the sequence into smaller units) structures, or possessed no structure similarities. Results showed generalization for shared parsing rule structure between skills A and B after only a single 10-second practice trial of skill A. Manipulating the initial practice exposure to skill A (1 to 12 trials) and inter-practice rest interval (0–30 s) between skills A and B had no impact on parsing rule structure generalization. Furthermore, this generalization was not explained by stronger sensorimotor mapping between individual keypress actions and their symbolic representations. In contrast, learning from skill A did not generalize to skill B during early learning when the sequences shared only ordinal or transitional structure features. These results document sequence structure that can be very rapidly generalized during initial learning to facilitate generalization of skill.