bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The megathermal ant genus Gesomyrmex (Formicidae: Formicinae), palaeoindicator of wide latitudinal biome homogeneity during the PETM
Authors: Aria Cédric , Jouault Corentin , Perrichot Vincent , Nel André 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe Palaeocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is one of the most important Cenozoic climatic events shaping modern biodiversity, yet reconstructions of its palaeobiomes remain controversial. Here we describe Gesomyrmex gallicus sp. nov., a new, extinct species of the ant genus Gesomyrmex Mayr, 1868, based on minor and major workers preserved in the early Eocene amber of Oise, France. Although there are only seven known extant species in the genus, all confined to warm and humid forests of SE Asia, the fossil record of Gesomyrmex indicates that the genus once radiated across Eurasia. The new species therefore provides direct evidence that this radiation likely co-occurred with the PETM. This observation constrains palaeoclimatic reconstructions of the Early Eocene by requiring the presence of an extensive, homogeneous and interconnected rainforest-like biome across palaeo-Eurasia, a scenario otherwise corroborated by pollen assemblages. The phases of regression of warm and humid forests and the widening of dry biomes probably occurred later during the Eocene, in between hyperthermals, and were probably less extensive than some computer models predicted.
Philanthropic Foundations and Institutional Change under Rigid Authoritarianism: Exploring the Ford Foundation’s Historical Grantmaking in the Chinese Family Planning Field (1991–2005)
Authors: Hu Yanfei , Hilson Gavin 
Published: February 2023

AbstractPhilanthropic foundations are important agents of global policy transfer. While scholars have explored foundations’ policy roles in a range of contexts, we know relatively little about how they transfer policies and instigate institutional change under rigid authoritarianism – fields in which the state maintains centralized control and excludes other actors. This paper seeks to bridge this gap through analysis of a case study of the Ford Foundation’s grantmaking in the Chinese family planning field during a period of rigid authoritarian control (1991-2005). We find the Foundation stimulated the transfer of the Western “reproductive health” policy through two mechanisms: 1) incentivising elite researchers to conduct scientific research on rural women that was previously left “undone”; and 2) partnering with peripheral state actors for localised experimentations and gradually gaining access to central policymakers to encourage national policy innovation. We also discuss the contingencies and ambivalences of the Foundation’s influence under rigid authoritarianism.
Revisiting Western United States Hydroclimate During the Last Deglaciation
Authors: Fu Minmin 
Published: February 2023

AbstractDuring the last ice age, the western United States was covered by large lakes, sustained partly by higher levels of precipitation. Increased rainfall was driven by the atmospheric circulation associated with the presence of large North American ice sheets, yet Pleistocene lakes generally reached their highstands not at glacial maximum but during deglaciation. Prior modeling studies, however, showed nearly monotonic drying since the last glacial maximum. Here I show that iTraCE, a new transient climate simulation of the last deglaciation, reproduces a robust peak in winter rainfall over the Great Basin near 16 ka. The simulated peak is driven by a transient strengthening and southward shift of the midlatitude jet. While meltwater forcing is an important driver of changes to the North Pacific Jet, changing orbital conditions and rising atmospheric CO2 also shift the jet south and contribute to wetter conditions over the western US during deglaciation.
Global Characteristics of Improved Interhemispheric Field‐Aligned Currents and of F‐Region Meridional Currents Observed by the Swarm Dual‐Spacecraft
Authors: Wang Fengjue , Lühr Hermann , Xiong Chao , Park Jaeheung , Zhou Yunliang 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe Swarm satellite constellation provides an excellent opportunity to explore ionospheric current systems. In this study, we have reanalyzed the ionospheric currents derived by the Swarm dual‐satellite approach, to investigate the characteristic of inter‐hemispheric field‐aligned currents (IHFAC). One major improvement is that the influence of the ambient magnetic field on the IHFAC intensity has been taken into account, and the derived IHFAC densities are normalized to their ionospheric E‐region footprints. In addition, we have extended the analysis to the middle latitudes within ±60° MLat, which show IHFAC features different from those at low latitudes. For the first time the tidal features at mid‐latitudes are studied. They are dominated by longitudinal wave‐1 and wave‐2 patterns. A superposition of these tidal components reflects a confinement of the IHFAC tidal modulation to daytime in the western hemisphere. The tidal signatures at middle latitudes are better organized in universal time than in local time. The strongest IHFACs are appearing around 18–19 UT, near noon in the American sector. This is related to the overlap with the South Atlantic Anomaly. For the first time we define and analyze the F‐region meridional currents (FMC), interpreting the remaining part of the ionospheric radial current (IRC), which is not covered by IHFAC. The mean FMCs are found to be highly symmetric with respect to the magnetic equator and only amounts to one‐third or half of the IHFAC density, however, they show neither typical longitudinal, diurnal variations, or tidal signatures.
Tidal Dispersion in Short Estuaries
Authors: Garcia Adrian Mikhail P. , Geyer W. Rockwell 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe salinity distribution of an estuary depends on the balance between the river outflow, which is seaward, and a dispersive salt flux, which is landward. The dispersive salt flux at a fixed cross‐section can be divided into shear dispersion, which is caused by spatial correlations of the cross‐sectionally varying velocity and salinity, and the tidal oscillatory salt flux, which results from the tidal correlation between the cross‐section averaged, tidally varying components of velocity and salinity. The theoretical moving plane analysis of Dronkers and van de Kreeke (1986) indicates that the oscillatory salt flux is exactly equal to the difference between the “local” shear dispersion at a fixed location and the shear dispersion which occurred elsewhere within a tidal excursion; therefore, they refer to the oscillatory salt flux as “nonlocal” dispersion. We apply their moving plane analysis to a numerical model of a short, tidally dominated estuary and provide the first quantitative confirmation of the theoretical result that the spatiotemporal variability of shear dispersion accounts for the oscillatory salt flux. Shear dispersion is localized in space and time due to the tidal variation of currents and the position of the along‐channel salinity distribution with respect to topographic features. We find that dispersion near the mouth contributes strongly to the salt balance, especially under strong river and tidal forcing. Additionally, while vertical shear dispersion produces the majority of dispersive salt flux during neap tide and high flow, lateral mechanisms provide the dominant mode of dispersion during spring tide and low flow.
Changes in the Raman and Fluorescence Spectroscopic Signatures of Irradiated Organic‐Mineral Mixtures: Implications for Molecular Biosignature Detection on Mars
Authors: Fox A. C. , Jakubek R. S. , Eigenbrode J. L. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe search for potential molecular biosignatures on Mars is complicated by its harsh radiation environment that can alter or destroy the primary molecular features diagnostic of an organic compound's origins. In this work, mixtures of Mars‐relevant minerals and organic material representing different types and different chemical states of sedimentary organic material common in the terrestrial geologic record were irradiated with 200 MeV protons to simulate the effect of exposure to galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles over geological timescales and characterized using a deep UV Raman and fluorescence spectrometer analogous to the Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics & Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument on the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover. We found that exposure to ionizing radiation generally results in the loss of molecular features diagnostic of an organic material's origins in favor of increasingly aromatic compounds or macromolecules. However, these radiolytic effects can be mitigated by the formation of macromolecular structures that are more resistant to radiolysis compared to individual compounds, and potentially through associations with specific minerals that enable increased polymerization. Based on these results, rocks observed by the SHERLOC instrument with fluorescence or Raman features associated with non‐aromatic molecular features and/or kerogen‐like structures may indicate less radiolytically damaged organic material that should be prioritized for return as it may retain some primary, diagnostic molecular features.
STAEBLE: A Surface‐Temperature‐ and Available‐Energy‐Based Lake Evaporation Model
Authors: Dias Nelson Luís , Hoeltgebaum Lucas E. B. , Santos Irani 
Published: February 2023

AbstractA mass transfer evaporation model is proposed that uses MODIS water surface temperature data and land‐based meteorological data, and employs a new approach to calibrate the transfer coefficient via closure of the long‐term energy budget of the lake. Some of the longstanding issues of developing and applying lake evaporation models are reviewed, including the adequacy of using land‐based meteorological data, the difficulty of applying transfer coefficients with fixed values calibrated elsewhere, and the need to estimate rates of change of stored enthalpy when the model involves energy budget concepts. Publicly available data from a 5‐year measurement campaign at Lake Mead allow quantification of the effect of using land‐based data, and subsequent testing of the proposed model. We show that atmospheric stability effects are very important, and that their incorporation by means of existing stability functions in the literature produces good results with a one‐parameter model that can be locally calibrated with the same input data used by the model, without the need for local measurements. The model is simple in its structure and data requirements, and can be widely applied.
Life history strategies among soil bacteria—dichotomy for few, continuum for many
Authors: Stone Bram W G , Dijkstra Paul , Finley Brianna K , Fitzpatrick Raina , Foley Megan M , Hayer Michaela , Hofmockel Kirsten S , Koch Benjamin J , Li Junhui , Liu Xiao Jun A , Martinez Ayla , Mau Rebecca L , Marks Jane , Monsaint-Queeney Victoria , Morrissey Ember M , Propster Jeffrey , Pett-Ridge Jennifer , Purcell Alicia M , Schwartz Egbert , Hungate Bruce A 
Published: February 2023

AbstractStudy of life history strategies may help predict the performance of microorganisms in nature by organizing the complexity of microbial communities into groups of organisms with similar strategies. Here, we tested the extent that one common application of life history theory, the copiotroph-oligotroph framework, could predict the relative population growth rate of bacterial taxa in soils from four different ecosystems. We measured the change of in situ relative growth rate to added glucose and ammonium using both 18O–H2O and 13C quantitative stable isotope probing to test whether bacterial taxa sorted into copiotrophic and oligotrophic groups. We saw considerable overlap in nutrient responses across most bacteria regardless of phyla, with many taxa growing slowly and few taxa that grew quickly. To define plausible life history boundaries based on in situ relative growth rates, we applied Gaussian mixture models to organisms’ joint 18O–13C signatures and found that across experimental replicates, few taxa could consistently be assigned as copiotrophs, despite their potential for fast growth. When life history classifications were assigned based on average relative growth rate at varying taxonomic levels, finer resolutions (e.g., genus level) were significantly more effective in capturing changes in nutrient response than broad taxonomic resolution (e.g., phylum level). Our results demonstrate the difficulty in generalizing bacterial life history strategies to broad lineages, and even to single organisms across a range of soils and experimental conditions. We conclude that there is a continued need for the direct measurement of microbial communities in soil to advance ecologically realistic frameworks.
1H DOSY analysis of high molecular weight acrylamide-based copolymer electrolytes using an inverse-geometry diffusion probe
Authors: Watanabe Kazuya , Matsushita Hiroyuki , Takamatsu Kyosuke , Ute Koichi 
Published: February 2023

AbstractCopolymers of [2-(acryloyloxy)ethyl]trimethylammonium chloride (AETAC) and acrylamide (AAm) (AETAC-co-AAm) are polyelectrolytes used as flocculants in wastewater purification. Diffusion-ordered two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) experiments for AETAC-co-AAm samples with Mw ranging from 1.9 to 3.9 million and a polyacrylamide sample with Mw of 1.3 million were carried out in pure D2O and in D2O containing 0.1 or 1 M NaCl using an inverse-geometry diffusion probe system. Projections of the DOSY contour plots onto the diffusion coefficient (D) dimension gave distributions of D for the AETAC and AAm units in the samples. The D values at the maximum point of the distribution (Dp) agreed fairly well with those determined by dynamic light scattering.
Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based ultrathin solar cells the pathway from lab rigid to large scale flexible technology
Authors: Lopes T. S. , Teixeira J. P. , Curado M. A. , Ferreira B. R. , Oliveira A. J. N. , Cunha J. M. V. , Monteiro M. , Violas A. , Barbosa J. R. S. , Sousa P. C. , Çaha I. , Borme J. , Oliveira K. , Ring J. , Chen W. C. , Zhou Y. , Takei K. , Niemi E. , Deepak F. L. , Edoff M. , Brammertz G. , Fernandes P. A. , Vermang B. , Salomé P. M. P. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe incorporation of interface passivation structures in ultrathin Cu(In,Ga)Se2based solar cells is shown. The fabrication used an industry scalable lithography technique—nanoimprint lithography (NIL)—for a 15 × 15 cm2dielectric layer patterning. Devices with a NIL nanopatterned dielectric layer are benchmarked against electron-beam lithography (EBL) patterning, using rigid substrates. The NIL patterned device shows similar performance to the EBL patterned device.The impact of the lithographic processes in the rigid solar cells’ performance were evaluated via X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy and through a Solar Cell Capacitance Simulator. The device on stainless-steel showed a slightly lower performance than the rigid approach, due to additional challenges of processing steel substrates, even though scanning transmission electron microscopy did not show clear evidence of impurity diffusion. Notwithstanding, time-resolved photoluminescence results strongly suggested elemental diffusion from the flexible substrate. Nevertheless, bending tests on the stainless-steel device demonstrated the mechanical stability of the CIGS-based device.
Matrix-entrapped fibers create ecological niches for gut bacterial growth
Authors: Bulut Nuseybe , Cantu-Jungles Thaisa M. , Zhang Xiaowei , Mutlu Zeynep , Cakmak Mukerrem , Hamaker Bruce R. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractInsoluble plant cell walls are a main source of dietary fiber. Both chemical and physical fiber structures create distinct niches for gut bacterial utilization. Here, we have taken key fermentable solubilized polysaccharides of plant cell walls and fabricated them back into cell wall-like film forms to understand how fiber physical structure directs gut bacterial fermentation outcomes. Solubilized corn bran arabinoxylan (Cax), extracted to retain some ferulate residues, was covalently linked using laccase to form an insoluble cell wall-like film (Cax-F) that was further embedded with pectin (CaxP-F). In vitro fecal fermentation using gut microbiota from three donors was performed on the films and soluble fibers. Depending on the donor, CaxP-F led to higher relative abundance of recognized beneficial bacteria and/or butyrate producers—Akkermansia, Bifidobacterium, Eubacterium halii, unassigned Lachnospiraceae, Blautia, and Anaerostipes—than free pectin and Cax, and Cax-F. Thus, physical form and location of fibers within cell walls form niches for some health-related gut bacteria. This work brings a new understanding of the importance of insoluble cell wall-associated fibers and shows that targeted fiber materials can be fabricated to support important gut microbiota taxa and metabolites of health significance.
Association of combustible cigarettes and heated tobacco products use with SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in Japan: a JASTIS 2022 cross-sectional study
Authors: Nishimura Misako , Asai Kazuhisa , Tabuchi Takahiro , Toyokura Erika , Kawai Takahiro , Miyamoto Atsushi , Watanabe Tetsuya , Kawaguchi Tomoya 
Published: February 2023

AbstractInsufficient evidence has been accumulated regarding associations of heated tobacco products (HTPs) use with coronavirus infection and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from an internet questionnaire administered in February 2022 to 30,130 individuals from the general Japanese population (age range, 16–81 years). Single users of HTPs and dual users of combustible cigarettes and HTPs comprised 5.2% and 7.3% of respondents, and 6.7% and 38.0% of those infected (n = 1117). Approximately 70% of infected dual users experienced severe disease. Single users of HTPs and dual users were more likely to be infected with coronavirus than never-users (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.65/4.66; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.26–2.15/3.89–5.58). Regarding severity, former and current tobacco users (former/combustible cigarettes/HTPs: aOR = 1.88/3.17/1.90; 95%CI 1.11–3.19/1.77–5.67/1.01–3.59) were more likely to be administered oxygen than never-users, and dual users required oxygen administration the most (aOR = 4.15, 95%CI 2.70–6.36). Use of HTPs may increase risks of coronavirus infection and severe COVID-19. Our results provide an opportunity to consider the safety of tobacco products use, including HTPs, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Molecular evolutionary insight of structural zinc atom in yeast xylitol dehydrogenases and its application in bioethanol production by lignocellulosic biomass
Authors: Yoshiwara Kentaroh , Watanabe Seiya , Watanabe Yasunori 
Published: February 2023

AbstractXylitol dehydrogenase (XDH) catalyzes the NAD+-dependent oxidization of xylitol into d-xylulose, and belongs to a zinc-dependent medium-chain dehydrogenase/reductase family. This protein family consists of enzymes with one or two zinc atoms per subunit, among which catalytic zinc is necessary for the activity. Among many XDHs from yeast and fungi, XDH from Pichia stipitis is one of the key enzymes for bioethanol production by lignocellulosic biomass, and possesses only a catalytic zinc atom. Despite its importance in bioindustry, a structural data of XDH has not yet been available, and little insight into the role of a second zinc atom in this protein family is known. We herein report the crystal structure of XDH from P. stipitis using a thermostabilized mutant. In the refined structure, a second zinc atom clearly coordinated with four artificially introduced cysteine ligands. Homologous mutations in XDH from Saccharomyces cerevisiae also stabilized and enhanced activity. The substitution of each of the four cysteine ligands with an aspartate in XDH from Schizosaccharomyces pombe contributed to the significantly better maintenance of activity and thermostability than their substitution with a serine, providing a novel hypothesis for how this zinc atom was eliminated.
Model-independent embedding of directed networks into Euclidean and hyperbolic spaces
Authors: Kovács Bianka , Palla Gergely 
Published: February 2023

AbstractThe arrangement of network nodes in hyperbolic spaces has become a widely studied problem, motivated by numerous results suggesting the existence of hidden metric spaces behind the structure of complex networks. Although several methods have already been developed for the hyperbolic embedding of undirected networks, approaches able to deal with directed networks are still in their infancy. Here, we present a framework based on the dimension reduction of proximity matrices reflecting the network topology, coupled with a general conversion method transforming Euclidean node coordinates into hyperbolic ones even for directed networks. While proposing a measure of proximity based on the shortest path length, we also incorporate an earlier Euclidean embedding method in our pipeline, demonstrating the widespread applicability of our Euclidean-hyperbolic conversion. Besides, we introduce a dimension reduction technique that maps the nodes directly into the hyperbolic space of any number of dimensions with the aim of reproducing a distance matrix measured on the given (un)directed network. According to various commonly used quality scores, our methods are capable of producing high-quality embeddings for several real networks.
Manipulating O3/P2 phase ratio in bi-phasic sodium layered oxides via ionic radius control
Authors: Maughan P. A. , Naden A. B. , Irvine J. T. S. , Armstrong A. R. 
Published: February 2023

AbstractBi-phasic O3/P2 sodium layered oxides have emerged as leading candidates for the commercialisation of next-generation sodium-ion batteries. However, beyond simply altering the sodium content, rational control of the O3/P2 ratio in these materials has proven particularly challenging despite being crucial for the realization of high-performance electrode materials. Here, using abundant elements, we manipulate the O3/P2 ratio using the average ionic radius of the transition metal layer and different synthesis conditions. These methods allow deterministic control over the O3/P2 ratio, even for constant Na contents. In addition, tuning the O3/P2 ratio yields high-performing materials with different performance characteristics, with a P2-rich material achieving high rate capabilities and excellent cycling stability (92% retention, 50 cycles), while an O3-rich material displayed an energy density up to 430 Wh kg−1, (85%, 50 cycles). These insights will help guide the rational design of future high-performance materials for sodium-ion batteries.