bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Dismantling the rhetoric of alternative medicine: Smokescreens, errors, conspiracies, and follies
Authors: Ernst Edzard , Fasce Angelo 
Published: December 2017

Alternative medicine has a high social prevalence, being promoted by well organized groups that have developed an intricate rhetoric in order to self-justify in the absence of evidence. This article will analyse some of these arguments, some of their fallacies – ad populum, ad ignorantiam –, other styles of reasoning – conspiracy theories – and other misconceptions of scientific concepts – placebo effect, scientific authority. The objective will be to highlight the poverty of the rhetoric of proponents of alternative medicine, with special emphasis on the dangers for the consumer.
How connected are the major forms of irrationality? An analysis of pseudoscience, science denial, fact resistance and alternative facts
Authors: Hansson Sven Ove 
Published: December 2017

Science is a fact-finding practice, but there are many other fact-finding practices that apply largely the same patterns of reasoning in order to achieve as reliable information as possible in empirical issues. The fact-finding practices form in their turn a subcategory of rational discourse, a wider category that also encompasses argumentation on non-empirical issues. Based on these categories, it is easy to see the relationship between on the one hand pseudoscience, and on the other hand fact resistance, disinformation, and fallacies of reasoning. The flaws in argumentation are similar, and the main difference is whether or not the subject matter falls within or without the realm of science.
Mechanical Stress Redistribution in the First Metatarsal Bone After Autologous Bone Harvesting
Authors: López Javier Bayod , de Bengoa Vallejo Ricardo Becerro , Iglesias Marta E. Losa , Doblaré Manuel 
Published: December 2017

Background:The first metatarsal bone is a viable source for autologous bone grafting in foot and ankle surgery and may serve as another convenient graft site to correct a flail toe deformity. We aimed to determine how progressive bone removal from the first metatarsal affects the mechanical redistribution of the foot and whether this bone removal increases the risk of fracture.Methods:A three-dimensional finite element model developed from computed tomographic images obtained from a healthy man were used to evaluate traction stresses on the first metatarsal bone as a function of applied loads on the talus and Achilles tendon at two phases of the gait cycle (and according to the depth of bone removal).Results:Simulations indicated that when maximum load was applied to the Achilles tendon, tensile stress increased from 2.049 MPa in the intact foot to 5.941 MPa in the area of maximum bone harvest during the stance phase. Furthermore, as the volume of bone extracted from the first metatarsal increased, there was a redistribution of stress that differed significantly from that of the intact foot.Conclusions:Although the maximum stress on the first metatarsal was not significantly affected by increasing the volume of bone harvested, the ankle should be splinted in plantarflexion during the postoperative period to eliminate the stance phase of gait and reduce the risk of metatarsal fracture.
Evaluation of Cultural and Ideological Manipulations in Four Persian Translations of Jhumpa Lahiri’s Hell-Heaven
Authors: Kaveyaninia Zeinab , Sanei Dianoosh , Hajimohammadi Reza 
Published: December 2017

The present paper examined cultural and ideological implications in translation studies. For this purpose, four Persian translations of Hell-Heaven were chosen. Hell-Heaven is a story adopted from “Unaccustomed Earth” (2008), written by the Indian-American writer, Jhumpa Lahiri. Therefore, the translations were explored to detect translators’ ideological shifts; in the way that all components of translations were pondered to detect translational adaptations chosen by four translators. The result showed that translators had adopted translational strategies such as addition, deletion and substitution to deal with American and Indian’s cultural and ideological differences.
Large Differences in Global and Regional Total Soil Carbon Stock Estimates Based on SoilGrids, HWSD, and NCSCD: Intercomparison and Evaluation Based on Field Data From USA, England, Wales, and France
Authors: Tifafi Marwa , Guenet Bertrand , Hatté Christine 
Published: December 2017

AbstractSoils are the major component of the terrestrial ecosystem and the largest organic carbon reservoir on Earth. However, they are a nonrenewable natural resource and especially reactive to human disturbance and climate change. Despite its importance, soil carbon dynamics is an important source of uncertainty for future climate predictions and there is a growing need for more precise information to better understand the mechanisms controlling soil carbon dynamics and better constrain Earth system models. The aim of our work is to compare soil organic carbon stocks given by different global and regional databases that already exist. We calculated global and regional soil carbon stocks at 1 m depth given by three existing databases (SoilGrids, the Harmonized World Soil Database, and the Northern Circumpolar Soil Carbon Database). We observed that total stocks predicted by each product differ greatly: it is estimated to be around 3,400 Pg by SoilGrids and is about 2,500 Pg according to Harmonized World Soil Database. This difference is marked in particular for boreal regions where differences can be related to high disparities in soil organic carbon concentration. Differences in other regions are more limited and may be related to differences in bulk density estimates. Finally, evaluation of the three data sets versus ground truth data shows that (i) there is a significant difference in spatial patterns between ground truth data and compared data sets and that (ii) data sets underestimate by more than 40% the soil organic carbon stock compared to field data.
Opposite Latitudinal Dependence of the Premidnight and Postmidnight Oscillations in the Electron Density of Midlatitude F Layer
Authors: Chen Gang , Wang Jin , Zhang Shaodong , Deng Zhongxin , Zhong Dingkun , Wu Chen , Jin Han , Li Yaxian 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe dense observation points of the oblique‐incidence ionosonde network in North China make it possible to discover the ionospheric regional variations with relatively high spatial resolution. The ionosonde network and the Beijing digisonde are used to investigate the ionospheric nighttime oscillations in January and February 2011. The electron density enhancements occurring before and after midnight present the obvious opposite latitudinal dependence in the time‐latitude maps, which are composed by the differential critical frequency of F2 layer. The premidnight enhancements (PRMEs) appeared earlier in the north and then moved to south. The postmidnight enhancements (POMEs) did the opposite. The data analysis shows that the PRME was a part of the large‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbance (LSTID), which may be produced by gravity waves. The southward propagation of the LSTIDs is considered to form the positive latitudinal dependence of the wave peaks and troughs. The postmidnight F layer oscillation was composed by a single enhancement and a single decline following it. The westward electric field‐induced E × B drift, which pushed the F layer to lower altitudes with higher recombination loss, was most likely to compress the plasma and produce the POMEs. Along with the continuously dropping of the layer, the recombination loss exceeded the density increase due to the compression effect and then the electron density decline appeared.
Autumn Cooling of Western East Antarctica Linked to the Tropical Pacific
Authors: Clem Kyle R. , Renwick James A. , McGregor James 
Published: December 2017

AbstractOver the past 60 years, the climate of East Antarctica cooled while portions of West Antarctica were among the most rapidly warming regions on the planet. The East Antarctic cooling is attributed to a positive trend in the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and a strengthening of the westerlies, while West Antarctic warming is tied to zonally asymmetric circulation changes forced by the tropics. This study finds recent (post‐1979) surface cooling of East Antarctica during austral autumn to also be tied to tropical forcing, namely, an increase in La Niña events. The recent increase in La Niña conditions forces a Rossby wave into the Southern Hemisphere that increases anticyclonic circulation over the South Atlantic. The South Atlantic anticyclone is associated with cold air advection, weakened northerlies, and increased sea ice concentrations across the western East Antarctic coast, which has increased the rate of cooling at Novolazarevskaya and Syowa stations after 1979. This enhanced cooling over western East Antarctica is tied more broadly to a zonally asymmetric temperature trend pattern across East Antarctica during autumn that is consistent with a tropically forced Rossby wave rather than a SAM pattern; the positive SAM pattern is associated with ubiquitous cooling across East Antarctica, which is not seen in temperature observations after 1979. We conclude that El Niño–Southern Oscillation‐related circulation anomalies, particularly zonal asymmetries that locally enhance meridional wind, are an important component of East Antarctic climate variability during autumn, and future changes in tropical Pacific climate will likely have implications for East Antarctica.
Hydrometeorology as an Inversion Problem: Can River Discharge Observations Improve the Atmosphere by Ensemble Data Assimilation?
Authors: Sawada Yohei , Nakaegawa Tosiyuki , Miyoshi Takemasa 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWe examine the potential of assimilating river discharge observations into the atmosphere by strongly coupled river‐atmosphere ensemble data assimilation. The Japan Meteorological Agency's Non‐Hydrostatic atmospheric Model (JMA‐NHM) is first coupled with a simple rainfall‐runoff model. Next, the local ensemble transform Kalman filter is used for this coupled model to assimilate the observations of the rainfall‐runoff model variables into the JMA‐NHM model variables. This system makes it possible to do hydrometeorology backward, i.e., to inversely estimate atmospheric conditions from the information of river flows or a flood on land surfaces. We perform a proof‐of‐concept Observing System Simulation Experiment, which reveals that the assimilation of river discharge observations into the atmospheric model variables can improve the skill of the short‐term severe rainfall forecast.
Field‐Aligned Electrostatic Potentials Above the Martian Exobase From MGS Electron Reflectometry: Structure and Variability
Authors: Lillis Robert J. , Halekas J. S. , Fillingim M. O. , Poppe A. R. , Collinson G. , Brain David A. , Mitchell D. L. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractField‐aligned electrostatic potentials in the Martian ionosphere play potentially important roles in maintaining current systems, driving atmospheric escape and producing aurora. The strength and polarity of the potential difference between the observation altitude and the exobase (~180 km) determine the energy dependence of electron pitch angle distributions (PADs) measured on open magnetic field lines (i.e. those connected both to the collisional atmosphere and to the interplanetary magnetic field). Here we derive and examine a data set of ~3.6 million measurements of the potential between 185 km and 400 km altitude from PADs measured by the Mars Global Surveyor Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer experiment at 2 A.M./2 P.M. local time from May 1999 to November 2006. Potentials display significant variability, consistent with expected variable positive and negative divergences of the convection electric field in the highly variable and dynamic Martian plasma environment. However, superimposed on this variability are persistent patterns whereby potential magnitudes depend positively on crustal magnetic field strength, being close to zero where crustal fields are weak or nonexistent. Average potentials are typically positive near the center of topologically open crustal field regions where field lines are steeper, and negative near the edges of such regions where fields are shallower, near the boundaries with closed fields. This structure is less pronounced for higher solar wind pressures and (on the dayside) higher solar EUV irradiance. Its causes are uncertain at present but may be due to differential motion of electrons and ions in Mars's substantial but (compared to Earth) weak magnetic fields.
Shifts in the Source and Composition of Dissolved Organic Matter in Southwest Greenland Lakes Along a Regional Hydro‐climatic Gradient
Authors: Osburn Christopher L. , Anderson Nicholas J. , Stedmon Colin A. , Giles Madeline E. , Whiteford Erika J. , McGenity Terry J. , Dumbrell Alex J. , Underwood Graham J. C. 
Published: December 2017

AbstractDissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration and quality were examined from Arctic lakes located in three clusters across south‐west (SW) Greenland, covering the regional climatic gradient: cool, wet coastal zone; dry inland interior; and cool, dry ice‐marginal areas. We hypothesized that differences in mean annual precipitation between sites would result in a reduced hydrological connectivity between lakes and their catchments and that this concentrates degraded DOM. The DOM in the inland lake group was characterized by a lower aromaticity and molecular weight, a low soil‐like fluorescence, and carbon stable isotope (δ13C‐DOC) values enriched by ~2‰ relative to the coastal group. DOC‐specific absorbance (SUVA254) and DOC‐specific soil‐like fluorescence (SUVFC1) revealed seasonal and climatic gradients across which DOM exhibited a dynamic we term “pulse‐process”: Pulses of DOM exported from soils to lakes during snow and ice melt were followed by pulses of autochthonous DOM inputs (possibly from macrophytes), and their subsequent photochemical and microbial processing. These effects regulated the dynamics of DOM in the inland lakes and suggested that if circumpolar lakes currently situated in cool wetter climatic regimes with strong hydrological connectivity have reduced connectivity under a drier future climate, they may evolve toward an end‐point of large stocks of highly degraded DOC, equivalent to the inland lakes in the present study. The regional climatic gradient across SW Greenland and its influence on DOM properties in these lakes provide a model of possible future changes to lake C cycling in high‐latitude systems where climatic changes are most pronounced.
Evidence for the Thermal Bleaching of Porites Corals From 4.0 ka B.P. in the Northern South China Sea
Authors: Xu Shendong , Yu Kefu , Tao Shichen , Wu Chung‐Che , Wang Yinghui , Jiang Wei , Wang Shaopeng , Shen Chuan‐Chou 
Published: December 2017

AbstractCoral bleaching is becoming a serious issue for coral reefs under the stress of global warming. However, whether it has occurred in the past in times of thermal stress remains unclear. Moreover, an understanding of historic coral bleaching events would greatly improve our insight into the adaptive capabilities of corals under such stresses. It is known that Porites corals, a massive coral, have relatively high levels of symbiotic zooxanthellae and a strong thermal tolerance when compared with most other corals (and particularly branched corals). Thus, growth hiatuses and/or mortality surfaces of fossil Porites may be used to indicate past ecological or environmental stress events, such as severe bleaching. In this study, monthly geochemical and isotopic environmental proxies of four fossil Porites corals with well‐preserved growth hiatuses and mortality surfaces (aged 3,800–4,200 years before 2013 A.D.), collected from Wenchang fringing reef, Hainan Island, Northern South China Sea were analyzed. Specifically, the Sr/Ca, δ18O, and δ13C were measured with a monthly resolution for each sample. These environmental proxies were used to reconstruct the sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface salinity (SSS), and physiological activity of the coral at the time when the growth hiatuses and/or mortality surfaces occurred. These data were subsequently used to determine the causes of coral mortality and growth discontinuity in each case. The results show that growth hiatuses and mortalities mainly occurred in summer, with high SST (31–34°C) and SSS (32.8–38.4). In addition, abrupt negative shifts of 2–3‰ in δ13C were observed in almost all of the surfaces of growth hiatus and mortality, indicating a dramatically reduced level of photosynthetic activity in symbiotic zooxanthellae. Because of the above reasons, we conclude that the frequently observed mortality and growth discontinuity of Porites corals from the mid‐Holocene is evidence for thermal bleaching events in the past. That is, coral bleaching has occurred 3,800–4,200 years ago and is not a new phenomenon.
Soil Carbon Dynamics in Soybean Cropland and Forests in Mato Grosso, Brazil
Authors: Nagy R. Chelsea , Porder Stephen , Brando Paulo , Davidson Eric A. , Figueira Adelaine Michela e Silva , Neill Christopher , Riskin Shelby , Trumbore Susan 
Published: December 2017

AbstractClimate and land use models predict that tropical deforestation and conversion to cropland will produce a large flux of soil carbon (C) to the atmosphere from accelerated decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM). However, the C flux from the deep tropical soils on which most intensive crop agriculture is now expanding remains poorly constrained. To quantify the effect of intensive agriculture on tropical soil C, we compared C stocks, radiocarbon, and stable C isotopes to 2 m depth from forests and soybean cropland created from former pasture in Mato Grosso, Brazil. We hypothesized that soil disturbance, higher soil temperatures (+2°C), and lower OM inputs from soybeans would increase soil C turnover and deplete C stocks relative to nearby forest soils. However, we found reduced C concentrations and stocks only in surface soils (0–10 cm) of soybean cropland compared with forests, and these differences could be explained by soil mixing during plowing. The amount and Δ14C of respired CO2 to 50 cm depth were significantly lower from soybean soils, yet CO2 production at 2 m deep was low in both forest and soybean soils. Mean surface soil δ13C decreased by 0.5‰ between 2009 and 2013 in soybean cropland, suggesting low OM inputs from soybeans. Together these findings suggest the following: (1) soil C is relatively resistant to changes in land use and (2) conversion to cropland caused a small, measurable reduction in the fast‐cycling C pool through reduced OM inputs, mobilization of older C from soil mixing, and/or destabilization of SOM in surface soils.
Electrode Work Function Engineering with Phosphonic Acid Monolayers and Molecular Acceptors: Charge Redistribution Mechanisms
Authors: Timpel Melanie , Li Hong , Nardi Marco V. , Wegner Berthold , Frisch Johannes , Hotchkiss Peter J. , Marder Seth R. , Barlow Stephen , Brédas Jean‐Luc , Koch Norbert 
Published: December 2017

AbstractThe uses of self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) of dipolar molecules or of adsorbed molecular acceptors on electrode materials are common strategies to increase their work function, thereby facilitating hole injection into an organic semiconductor deposited on top. Here it is shown that a combination of both approaches can surpass the performance of the individual ones. By combined experimental and theoretical methods it is revealed that in a three‐component system, consisting of an indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) electrode, a carbazole‐based phosphonic acid SAM, and a molecular acceptor layer on top of the SAM, charge transfer occurs from the ITO through the SAM to the acceptor layer, resulting in an electrostatic field drop over the charge‐neutral SAM. This result is in contrast to common expectations of either p‐doping the carbazole of the SAM or charge transfer complex formation between the carbazole and the acceptor molecules. A high work function of 5.7 eV is achieved with this combined system; even higher values may be accessible by exploiting the fundamental charge redistribution mechanisms identified here with other material combinations.
Emerging Role of the Band‐Structure Approach in Biohybrid Photovoltaics: A Path Beyond Bioelectrochemistry
Authors: Ravi Sai Kishore , Udayagiri Vishnu Saran , Suresh Lakshmi , Tan Swee Ching 
Published: December 2017

AbstractEmulation of natural photosynthesis is central to modern photovoltaic research targeting sustainable and economic ways of solar energy harvesting. Natural photosynthetic systems have succeeded in efficiently harvesting solar energy which is key to the sustenance of life on earth. With numerous advances in understanding the structure and function of the natural photosystems, the last decade has witnessed new perspectives in developing bioinspired photovoltaics. Interestingly, organic photovoltaics (OPVs) adopting photosynthetic design principles and biophotovoltaics (BPVs) adopting solid‐state device architectures have now converged at a juncture. Several reports in recent years point to a new scope of improvement in OPVs and BPVs stemming from mutual inspiration. At this juncture, there are new perspectives by which a BPV can be designed that were previously limited only to conventional optoelectronics. Treating natural pigment–proteins as optically and electronically functional materials in any photovoltaic design, from the band‐theory viewpoint, is a promising direction for advancing BPVs beyond the boundaries of bioelectrochemistry. This article presents an overview of selected reports on BPVs in the last few years utilizing new design concepts based on band‐theory and its associated principles. In light of this, the scope of the band‐structure approach in BPVs is discussed, eliciting prospective research directions.
Micromotors Go In Vivo: From Test Tubes to Live Animals
Authors: Esteban‐Fernández de Ávila Berta , Angsantikul Pavimol , Li Jinxing , Gao Wei , Zhang Liangfang , Wang Joseph 
Published: December 2017

AbstractWhile synthetic micromotors have been evaluated extensively under in vitro conditions for over a decade, their in vivo function has rarely been explored. Recent research effort has resulted in micromotors that display fast movement in complex biological media, and possess efficient cargo loading, transport, and release, along with good biocompatibility. These new capabilities have made synthetic micromotors promising active delivery tools for in vivo applications including treatment of enteral diseases. This review highlights several examples of recent in vivo applications using different types of biocompatible and biodegradable chemically powered body‐fuel‐propelled micromotors, including precise micromotor tissue localization and retention, autonomous gastric fluid neutralization and cargo release, and enhanced drug delivery toward enhanced treatment of stomach bacterial infection. Zn and Mg‐based micromotors, powered by body fluids, have shown unique advantages to operate at different regions of the gastrointestinal tract. This review also covers some early in vitro studies that paved the way for the current in vivo applications, along with future prospects and challenges.