bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The (mis)conception of average Quaternary conditions
Authors: Spagnolo Matteo , Rea Brice R. , Barr Iestyn 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe concept of Quaternary average conditions has gained popularity over the past few decades, especially with studies of long-term landscape evolution. In this paper, we critically assess this concept by analyzing the marine isotope record (LR04 δ18O stack) relative to the Quaternary. This shows that the frequency and amplitude of climate glacial-interglacial cycles are not constant throughout the Quaternary, with a clear change during the Middle Pleistocene Transition (MPT), and that many minor oscillations exist within each cycle. For this reason, the identification of pre- and post-MPT most-frequent and, cumulatively, longest-lasting (rather than average) conditions is recommended. The most-frequent pre-MPT δ18O value of 3.725 ± 0.025‰ last occurred during 11.31–11.47 ka, while the most-frequent post-MPT δ18O value of 4.475 ± 0.025‰ last occurred during 14.81–15.04 ka. However, many other δ18O values were almost as frequent throughout the Quaternary and we present geomorphological reasons as to why it is unlikely that the present-day landscape reflects Quaternary average or, indeed, most-frequent conditions. Collectively, our results indicate that extreme caution should be taken when attempting to infer long-term landscape evolution processes (including the buzzsaw hypothesis) based on average Quaternary conditions.
Magnetic resonance non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging accuracy in detecting cholesteatoma in comparison with clinical and surgical findings
Authors: Al Zuhir N , Zammit-Maempel I , Yates P , Dixon J 
Published: August 2021

AbstractObjectiveMagnetic resonance imaging utilising non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging is known to have high sensitivity and specificity in detecting cholesteatoma.MethodData was retrospectively collected from patients who had undergone non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2016. The ratio of average pixel grey-scale values between the middle-ear lesion, pons and temporal lobe was used to quantify the degree of restricted diffusion and assess the statistical significance to detect cholesteatoma.ResultsA total of 107 patients had non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging during the study period. Non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging shows good specificity and sensitivity with an excellent positive predictive value and accuracy. Analysis of the grey-scale pixel ratio for cholesteatoma detection showed statistically significant results.ConclusionNon-echo planar diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is accurate for cholesteatoma assessment. When the middle-ear lesion non-echo planar diffusion-weighted imaging intensity is higher than the ipsilateral temporal lobe, it is highly suggestive of a cholesteatoma formation.
Game theoretic modeling of economic denial of sustainability (EDoS) attack in cloud computing
Authors: Lalropuia KC , Khaitan (nee Gupta) Vandana 
Published: August 2021

AbstractIn this paper, we develop a novel game theoretic model of the interactions between an EDoS attacker and the defender based on a signaling game that is a dynamic game of incomplete information. We then derive the best defense strategies for the network defender to respond to the EDoS attacks. That is, we compute the perfect Bayesian Nash Equilibrium (PBE) of the proposed game model such as the pooling PBE, separating PBE and mixed strategy PBE. In the pooling equilibrium, each type of the attacker takes the same action and the attacker's type is not revealed to the defender, whereas in the separating equilibrium, each type of the attacker uses different actions and hence the attacker's type is completely revealed to the defender. On the other hand, in the mixed strategy PBE, both the attacker and the defender randomize their strategies to optimize their payoffs. Numerical illustration is also presented to show the efficacy of the proposed model.
Adjuvant radiotherapy in primary cardiac sarcoma: case report and literature review
Authors: Al-Hajri Thuraiya , Al-Madailwi Khadija , Hadi Amani 
Published: August 2021

AbstractBackground:Primary cardiac sarcoma (PCS) is a rare malignancy, and intimal cardiac sarcoma is the rarest. The prognosis is poor with mean survival of 3–12 months even with complete radical resection. There has been no randomised controlled trial or standard guidelines for management of cardiac sarcomas. Treatment is extrapolated from case reports and series.Case presentation:A 59-year-old male diagnosed with primary intimal cardiac sarcoma underwent wide local excision with positive margins. Adjuvant radiotherapy to a total dose of 60 Gray (Gy) was given with good tolerance.Conclusions:Intimal cardiac sarcoma is rare. The risk of local recurrence is high, and efforts must be made to elucidate the role and usefulness of radiotherapy and chemotherapy in these tumours.
The prevalence of arm lymphedema after radiation treatment in patients with breast cancer
Authors: Sueangamiam Kamonrat , Rongsriyam Kanisa 
Published: August 2021

AbstractAim:To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of arm lymphedema in patients with breast cancer.Materials and methods:Between 2006 and 2017, we investigated patients with breast cancer after breast surgery who received adjuvant radiotherapy at the breast or chest wall, and/or adjuvant radiotherapy at regional lymph nodes, and standard systemic chemotherapy depending on disease stage and risk factors. We assessed arm lymphedema using arm circumference measurement differences on the treated side compared with the opposite arm (≥2 cm measurements at any one position). Associations between arm lymphedema and potential risk factors were identified using statistical analysis.Results:In 308 patients, arm lymphedema prevalence was 6·2%. Patients having ≥20 lymph nodes removed (hazard ratio (HR) = 3·29; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1·12–8·87), undergoing regional lymph node irradiation (HR = 1·81; 95% CI: 1·09–13·28), and no arm and shoulder exercises after treatment (HR = 3·16; 95% CI: 1·89–5·26) had a higher risk of arm lymphedema.Findings:Arm lymphedema is a serious breast cancer complication and is a preventable morbidity. Planning arm and shoulder exercises in line with adjuvant treatments and increasing clinical awareness of early indications could help lower the risk of occurrence.
Toward a genealogy of the police idea in imperial Japan: a synthesis
Authors: Ward Max 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis paper explores how Japanese officials and others conceptualized police power at particular junctures in imperial Japanese history (1868–1945). It does so by synthesizing prior scholarship on the Japanese police into a broader genealogy of the police idea in prewar Japan, beginning with the first translations and explanations of police in the Meiji period, the changing perceptions of the police in the 1910s, and the evolution from the “national police” idea in the 1920s to the “emperor's police” in the late 1930s. The essay proposes that the police idea in Japan (and elsewhere) can be read as a boundary concept in which the changing conceptions of police power demarcate the shifting relationship between state and society. Indeed, it is the elusiveness of this boundary that allows for police power – and by extension, state power – to function within society and transform in response to social conditions. Approached in this way, the essay argues that the different permutations of the police idea index the evolving modality of state power in prewar Japan, and thus allows us to reconsider some of the defining questions of imperial Japanese history.
Deriving Tropospheric Transit Time Distributions Using Airborne Trace Gas Measurements: Uncertainty and Information Content
Authors: Chelpon Sofia M. , Pan Laura L. , Luo Zhengzhao J. , Atlas Elliot L. , Honomichl Shawn B. , Smith Warren P. , Wang Siyuan , Ullmann Kirk , Hall Samuel R. , Apel Eric C. , Hornbrook Rebecca S. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThis study investigates the use of airborne in situ measurements to derive transit time distributions (TTD) from the boundary layer (BL) to the upper troposphere (UT) over the highly convective tropical western Pacific (TWP). The feasibility of this method is demonstrated using 42 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured during the Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) experiment. Two important approximations necessary for the application are the constant chemical lifetimes for each compound and the representation of the BL source by the local CONTRAST data. To characterize uncertainties associated with the first approximation, we quantify the changes in derived TTDs when chemical lifetimes are estimated using conditions of the BL, UT, and tropospheric average. With the support of a trajectory model study in a companion paper, we characterize the BL source region contributing to the transport to the sampled UT. In addition to the TTDs derived using a regional average, we analyze the potential information content in locally averaged measurements to represent the dynamical variability of the region. Around 150 TTDs, derived using measurements on a ∼100 km spatial scale, show a distribution of mean and mode transit times consistent with the wide range of convective conditions encountered during the campaign. Two extreme cases, with the shortest and the near‐longest TTD, are examined using the dynamical background of the measurements and back trajectory analyses. The result provides physical consistency supporting the hypothesis that sufficient information can be obtained from measurements to resolve dynamical variability of the region.
Warmer Winters Increase the Biomass of Phytoplankton in a Large Floodplain River
Authors: Jankowski Kathi Jo , Houser Jeffrey N. , Scheuerell Mark D. , Smits Adrianne P. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractWinters are changing rapidly across the globe but the implications for aquatic productivity and food webs are not well understood. In addition, the degree to which winter dynamics in aquatic systems respond to large‐scale climate versus ecosystem‐level factors is unclear but important for understanding and managing potential changes. We used a unique winter data set from the Upper Mississippi River System to explore spatial and temporal patterns in phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a, CHL) and associated environmental covariates across 25 years and ∼1,500 river km. To assess the role of regional climate versus site‐specific drivers of winter CHL, we evaluated whether there were coherent long‐term CHL dynamics from north to south and across lotic‐lentic areas. We then estimated the degree to which these patterns were associated with climate variability (i.e., the Multivariate El Nino‐Southern Oscillation Index), winter severity (freezing degree days), river discharge, or site‐specific environmental variables (ice depth, snow depth, and nutrient concentrations). We found that winter CHL was typically highest in ice‐free reaches and backwater lakes, occasionally exceeding summer values. We did not find highly synchronous CHL dynamics across the basin, but instead show that temporal trends were independent among river reaches and lotic‐lentic areas of the river. Moreover, after accounting for these spatial dynamics, we found that CHL was most responsive to winter air temperature, being consistently higher in years with warmer winters across the basin. These results indicate that although productivity dynamics are highly dynamic within large river ecosystems, changes in the duration and severity of winter may uniformly increase wintertime productivity.
Terrestrial Material Input to the Northwest Shelf of Australia Through the Pliocene‐Pleistocene Period and Its Implications on Continental Climates
Authors: He Yuxin , Wang Huanye 
Published: August 2021

AbstractBased on biomarkers and bulk organic carbon isotope, we reconstructed a 5‐million‐year history of terrestrial material input to the northwest shelf of Australia. Vegetational organic input continuously decreased through the Pliocene‐Pleistocene period due to decreased vegetation coverage and discharge under general aridification process. Triggered by lowered sea level and drier climates, soil input increased after ∼2.5–2.2 million years ago (Ma). Bulk terrestrial organic input demonstrates stronger variability after ∼1.7 Ma, as influenced by large‐amplitude hydrological swings on the Australian continent. Source of soils shifted between ∼1.5 and 1.2 Ma, along with presence of active dune fields. All lines of evidence together indicate a general wet climate in northwestern Australia during the early Pliocene, a continuously drying trend to the mid‐Pleistocene, and a drier phase with less vegetation coverage and expanded desert during the late Pleistocene, which is modulated by ongoing Indonesian Throughflow constriction and global atmospheric circulations.
A New 1‐Hourly ERA5‐Based Atmosphere De‐Aliasing Product for GRACE, GRACE‐FO, and Future Gravity Missions
Authors: Yang Fan , Forootan Ehsan , Wang ChangQing , Kusche Jürgen , Luo ZhiCai 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe current state‐of‐the‐art of satellite gravity data processing makes use of de‐aliasing products to reduce high‐frequency mass anomalies. For example, the most recent official Atmosphere and Ocean De‐aliasing products (AOD1B‐RL06) are applied for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE‐Follow On (GRACE‐FO) missions. The temporal resolution of AOD1B‐RL06 is 3 h, and spectrally, they are computed up to degree and order 180. In this study, we explore a refined, e.g., geometrically, physically, and numerically improved, mass integration approach that is important for computing the atmosphere part of these products. Besides, the newly available ERA5 climate data are used to produce a new set of non‐tidal atmosphere de‐aliasing product (HUST‐ERA5) that is computed hourly up to degree and order 100, covering 2002 onwards. Despite an overall agreement with AOD1B‐RL06 (correlation0.99), considerable discrepancies still exist between HUST‐ERA5 and AOD1B‐RL06. The possible reasons are therefore analyzed, and we find the input climate data, sampling rate and integration method may result in a product difference of ∼0.3, ∼0.15 and ∼0.05 millimeter geoid height, respectively. The total differences between HUST‐ERA5 and AOD1B‐RL06 can lead to a mean variation of ∼7.34 on the laser ranging interferometry (LRI) range‐rate residuals, for example, during January 2019, which is already close to the LRI precision. This impact is invisible for the GRACE (‐FO) gravity inversion because of the less accurate on‐board KBR (K‐band ranging) instrument, however, it will be non‐negligible and should be considered when the LRI completely replaces the KBR in the future gravity missions.
COVID‐19 Induced Fingerprints of a New Normal Urban Air Quality in the United States
Authors: Kondragunta S. , Wei Z. , McDonald B. C. , Goldberg D. L. , Tong D. Q. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractMost countries around the world, including the United States, took actions to control COVID‐19 spread that led to an abrupt shift in human activity. On‐road NOx emissions from light and heavy‐duty vehicles decreased by 9%–19% between February and March at the onset of the lockdown period in the middle of March in most of the US; between March and April, the on‐road NOx emissions dropped further by 8%–31% when lockdown measures were most stringent. These precipitous drops in NOx emissions correlated well (r = 0.75) with tropospheric NO2 column amount observed by the Sentinel 5 Precursor TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (S5P TROPOMI). Furthermore, the changes in TROPOMI tropospheric NO2 column amount across continental US between 2020 and 2019 correlated well with the changes in on‐road NOx emissions (r = 0.68) but correlated weakly with changes in emissions from the power plants (r = 0.35). At the height of lockdown‐related unemployment in the second quarter of 2020, the tropospheric NO2 column values decreased at the rate of 0.8 µmoles/m2 per unit percentage increase in the unemployment rate. Despite the lifting of lockdown measures, parts of the US continued to have ∼20% below normal on‐road NOx emissions. To achieve this new normal urban air quality in the US, continuing remote work policies that do not impede economic growth may become one of the many options.
Environmental stress leads to genome streamlining in a widely distributed species of soil bacteria
Authors: Simonsen Anna K 
Published: August 2021

Abstract
Bacteria have highly flexible pangenomes, which are thought to facilitate evolutionary responses to environmental change, but the impacts of environmental stress on pangenome evolution remain unclear. Using a landscape pangenomics approach, I demonstrate that environmental stress leads to consistent, continuous reduction in genome content along four environmental stress gradients (acidity, aridity, heat, salinity) in naturally occurring populations of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens (widespread soil-dwelling plant mutualists). Using gene-level network and duplication functional traits to predict accessory gene distributions across environments, genes predicted to be superfluous are more likely lost in high stress, while genes with multi-functional roles are more likely retained. Genes with higher probabilities of being lost with stress contain significantly higher proportions of codons under strong purifying and positive selection. Gene loss is widespread across the entire genome, with high gene-retention hotspots in close spatial proximity to core genes, suggesting Bradyrhizobium has evolved to cluster essential-function genes (accessory genes with multifunctional roles and core genes) in discrete genomic regions, which may stabilise viability during genomic decay. In conclusion, pangenome evolution through genome streamlining are important evolutionary responses to environmental change. This raises questions about impacts of genome streamlining on the adaptive capacity of bacterial populations facing rapid environmental change.
Queensland Genomics: an adaptive approach for integrating genomics into a public healthcare system
Authors: Vidgen Miranda E. , Williamson Dayna , Cutler Katrina , McCafferty Claire , Ward Robyn L. , McNeil Keith , Waddell Nicola , Bunker David 
Published: August 2021

AbstractThe establishment of genomics in health care systems has been occurring for the past decade. It is recognised that implementing genomics within a health service is challenging without a system-wide approach. Globally, as clinical genomics implementation programs have matured there is a growing body of information around program design and outcomes. Program structures vary depending on local ecosystems including the health system, politics and funding availability, however, lessons from other programs are important to the design of programs in different jurisdictions. Here we describe an adaptive approach to the implementation of genomics into a publicly funded health care system servicing a population of 5.1 million people. The adaptive approach enabled flexibility to facilitate substantial changes during the program in response to learnings and external factors. We report the benefits and challenges experienced by the program, particularly in relation to the engagement of people and services, and the design of both individual projects and the program as a whole.
A non-invasive olfactory bulb measure dissociates Parkinson’s patients from healthy controls and discloses disease duration
Authors: Iravani Behzad , Arshamian Artin , Schaefer Martin , Svenningsson Per , Lundström Johan N. 
Published: August 2021

AbstractOlfactory dysfunction is a prevalent non-motor symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD). This dysfunction is a result of neurodegeneration within the olfactory bulb (OB), the first processing area of the central olfactory system, and commonly precedes the characteristic motor symptoms in PD by several years. Functional measurements of the OB could therefore potentially be used as an early biomarker for PD. Here, we used a non-invasive method, so-called electrobulbogram (EBG), to measure OB function in PD and age-matched healthy controls to assess whether EBG measures can dissociate PDs from controls. We estimated the spectrogram of the EBG signal during exposure to odor in PD (n = 20) and age-matched controls (n = 18) as well as identified differentiating patterns of odor-related synchronization in the gamma, beta, and theta frequency bands. Moreover, we assessed if these PD-EBG components could dissociate PD from control as well as their relationship with PD characteristics. We identified six EBG components during the initial and later stages of odor processing which dissociated PD from controls with 90% sensitivity and 100% specificity with links to PD characteristics. These PD-EBG components were related to medication, disease duration, and severity, as well as clinical odor identification performance. These findings support using EBG as a tool to experimentally assess PD interventions, potentially aid diagnosis, and the potential development of EBG into an early biomarker for PD.
Proposal for space-borne quantum memories for global quantum networking
Authors: Gündoğan Mustafa , Sidhu Jasminder S. , Henderson Victoria , Mazzarella Luca , Wolters Janik , Oi Daniel K. L. , Krutzik Markus 
Published: August 2021

AbstractGlobal-scale quantum communication links will form the backbone of the quantum internet. However, exponential loss in optical fibres precludes any realistic application beyond few hundred kilometres. Quantum repeaters and space-based systems offer solutions to overcome this limitation. Here, we analyse the use of quantum memory (QM)-equipped satellites for quantum communication focussing on global range repeaters and memory-assisted (MA-) QKD, where QMs help increase the key rate by synchronising otherwise probabilistic detection events. We demonstrate that satellites equipped with QMs provide three orders of magnitude faster entanglement distribution rates than existing protocols based on fibre-based repeaters or space systems without QMs. We analyse how entanglement distribution performance depends on memory characteristics, determine benchmarks to assess the performance of different tasks and propose various architectures for light-matter interfaces. Our work provides a roadmap to realise unconditionally secure quantum communications over global distances with near-term technologies.