cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Collecting the dirt on soils : advancements in plot-level soil testing and implications for agricultural statistics

Much of the current analysis on agricultural productivity is hampered by the lack of consistent, high quality data on soil health and how it is changing under past and current management. Historically, plot-level statistics derived from household surveys have relied on subjective farmer assessments of soil quality or, more recently, publicly available geospatial data. The Living Standards Measurement Study of the World Bank implemented a methodological study in Ethiopia, which resulted in an unprecedented data set encompassing a series of subjective indicators of soil quality as well as spectral soil analysis results on plot-specific soil samples for 1,677 households. The goals of the study, which was completed in partnership with the World Agroforestry Centre and the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia, were twofold: (1) evaluate the feasibility of integrating a soil survey into household socioeconomic data collection operations, and (2) evaluate local knowledge of farmers in assessing their soil quality. Although a costlier method than subjective assessment, the integration of spectral soil analysis in household surveys has potential for scale-up. In this study, the first large scale study of its kind, enumerators spent approximately 40 minutes per plot collecting soil samples, not a particularly prohibitive figure given the proper timeline and budget. The correlation between subjective indicators of soil quality and key soil properties, such as organic carbon, is weak at best. Evidence suggests that farmers are better able to distinguish between soil qualities in areas with greater variation in soil properties. Descriptive analysis shows that geospatial data, while positively correlated with laboratory results and offering significant improvements over subject assessment, fail to capture the level of variation observed on the ground. The results of this study give promise that soil spectroscopy could be introduced into household panel surveys in smallholder agricultural contexts, such as Ethiopia, as a rapid and cost-effective soil analysis technique with valuable outcomes. Reductions in uncertainties in assessing soil quality and, hence, improvements in smallholder agricultural statistics, enable better decision-making.
Analysis of Noise Mechanisms in Cell-Size Control.

At the single-cell level, noise arises from multiple sources, such as inherent stochasticity of biomolecular processes, random partitioning of resources at division, and fluctuations in cellular growth rates. How these diverse noise mechanisms combine to drive variations in cell size within an isoclonal population is not well understood. Here, we investigate the contributions of different noise sources in well-known paradigms of cell-size control, such as adder (division occurs after adding a fixed size from birth), sizer (division occurs after reaching a size threshold), and timer (division occurs after a fixed time from birth). Analysis reveals that variation in cell size is most sensitive to errors in partitioning of volume among daughter cells, and not surprisingly, this process is well regulated among microbes. Moreover, depending on the dominant noise mechanism, different size-control strategies (or a combination of them) provide efficient buffering of size variations. We further explore mixer models of size control, where a timer phase precedes/follows an adder, as has been proposed in Caulobacter crescentus. Although mixing a timer and an adder can sometimes attenuate size variations, it invariably leads to higher-order moments growing unboundedly over time. This results in a power-law distribution for the cell size, with an exponent that depends inversely on the noise in the timer phase. Consistent with theory, we find evidence of power-law statistics in the tail of C. crescentus cell-size distribution, although there is a discrepancy between the observed power-law exponent and that predicted from the noise parameters. The discrepancy, however, is removed after data reveal that the size added by individual newborns in the adder phase itself exhibits power-law statistics. Taken together, this study provides key insights into the role of noise mechanisms in size homeostasis, and suggests an inextricable link between timer-based models of size control and heavy-tailed cell-size distributions.
Accurate Prediction of the Hydration Free Energies of 20 Salts through Adaptive Force Matching and the Proper Comparison with Experimental References.

Simple pairwise potentials for five alkali ions and four halide ions were developed by only fitting to ab initio MP2 forces with the adaptive force matching (AFM) method. Without fitting to any experimental information, the AFM models predict the hydration free energies of all 10 fluoride and chloride salts formed by these ions within 1.5% of experimental references. The predicted hydration free energies for the 10 bromide and iodide salts are within 5–6% of experimental references with the larger error likely due to the neglect of explicit treatment of polarization and charge transfer. An inconsistency in the treatment of the gas phase entropy term between experimental and theoretical approaches is discussed. A new simplified hydration free energy for the ions is reported for use as a more appropriate experimental reference for further theoretical studies. The simulations show different dipole alignments for the hydration waters of cations and anions. While hydration waters of small cations tend to align...
Economic Development through Business Profiling: A Text Analysis Based Approach.

The tremendous improvements in the field of web technologies have contributed to the accumulation of large amounts of text data, particularly in the form of websites. Among others, most businesses, smaller or bigger, present themselves to the world through their websites. Economic development analysts could make use of the information available on business websites to identify ways in which businesses in a region can be grouped together into clusters, and possibly partnership for mutual benefit, and thus for economics gains of that particular region. Automated clustering of businesses is especially useful, as the existing NAICS codes-based clustering is not very accurate, according to domain experts, and does not scale up well. Text analysis is a blooming field whose goal is to automatically extract useful information from natural language text. In this work, we perform a preliminary text analysis of business websites to build business profiles and to organize businesses into clusters. Our approach is based on representing businesses as a mixture of ``topics" using a technique called Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Given the business profiles represented as the topic distributions obtained with LDA, we construct preliminary clusters of businesses. Manual analysis of the results shows that the proposed approach has the potential for giving interesting and useful clusters, which have the potential to replace the existing NAICS codes-based clusters. We identify further challenges associated with the existing business data, and several ideas for future work.
Saturation Prevention Strategies for an Unstable Bank-To-Turn (BTT) Missile: Full Information

Abstract In this paper, two methods are presented to enhance the performance of unstable missile system in the presence of saturating actuators. Each method involves the design of a saturation detection system which modifies a nominal autopilot via on-line optimization and maintains, to the extent possible, the multivariable properties of the nominal design. Each method is applied to the problem of controlling an unstable bank-to-turn (BTT) missile.
A transgenic toolkit for visualizing and perturbing microtubules reveals unexpected functions in the epidermis

The physiological functions of microtubules (MTs) are poorly understood in many differentiated cell types. We developed a genetic toolkit to study MT dynamics and function in diverse cells. Using TRE-EB1-GFP mice, we found that MT dynamics are strongly suppressed in differentiated keratinocytes in two distinct steps due to alterations in both growth rate and lifetime. To understand the functions of these MT populations, we developed TRE-spastin mice to disrupt MTs in specific cell types. MT perturbation in post-mitotic keratinocytes had profound consequences on epidermal morphogenesis. We uncoupled cell-autonomous roles in cell flattening from non-cell-autonomous requirements for MTs in regulating proliferation, differentiation, and tissue architecture. This work uncovers physiological roles for MTs in epidermal development, and the tools described here will be broadly useful to study MT dynamics and functions in mammals.
Hyaluronan-CD44 interaction with IQGAP1 promotes Cdc42 and ERK signaling leading to actin binding, Elk-1/Estrogen receptor transcriptional activation and ovarian cancer progression.

176 In this study we have examined the interaction of hyaluronan (HA)-CD44 with IQGAP1 (one of the binding partners for the RhoGTPase, Cdc42) in human ovarian tumor cells (SK-OV-3.ipl cells). Immunological and biochemical analyses indicate that IQGAP1 (molecular mass ∼190kD) is expressed in SK-OV-3.ipl cells, and that IQGAP1 interacts directly with Cdc42 in a GTP-dependent manner. We have also determined that both IQGAP1 and Cdc42 are physically linked to CD44 in SK-OV-3.ipl cells following HA stimulation. Furthermore, the HA/CD44-induced Cdc42-IQGAP1 complex regulates cytoskeletal function via a close association with filamentous actin (F-actin) leading to ovarian tumor cell migration. In addition, we have found that the binding of HA to CD44 promotes the association of the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) with the IQGAP1 molecule which stimulates both ERK2 phosphorylation and kinase activity. The activated ERK2 then increases the phosphorylation of both Elk-1 and estrogen receptor α (ERα) resulting in Elk and estrogen responsive element (ERE)-mediated transcriptional upregulation. Downregulation of IQGAP1 [by treating cells with IQGAP1-specific small interfering RNAs (siRNAs)] not only blocks IQGAP1 association with CD44, Cdc42, F-actin and ERK2, but also abrogates HA/CD44-induced cytoskeleton function, ERK2 signaling (e.g. ERK2 phosphorylation/activity, ERK2-mediated Elk-1/ERα phosphorylation and Elk-1/ERα-specific transcriptional activation) and tumor cell migration. Taken together, these findings indicate that HA-CD44 interaction with IQGAP1 serves as a signal integrator by modulating Cdc42-cytoskeleton function, mediating Elk-1-specific transcriptional activation and coordinating “cross-talk” between a membrane receptor (CD44) and a nuclear hormone receptor (ERα) signaling pathway during ovarian cancer progression.
Thermostable Erythrocyte Rosettes in Chronic Renal Failure and Allograft Rejection

Rejection of an allograft usually is preceded by activation of T lymphocytes, in which state such cells may be identified by their ability to form thermostable rosettes with sheep erythrocytes (TE-R). The objective of the present work, therefore, was to determine whether or not enumeration of TE-R in the peripheral blood was of any value in the diagnosis of rejection. The results showed no significant differences between TE-R (mean +/- SEM) in normal subjects (9.9 +/- 1.3; n = 25), renal allograft recipients without rejections (13.5 +/- 1.7; n = 5) and in patients who suffered from acute tubular necrosis in the posttransplant period (12.4 +/- 2.5; n = 8). In contrast, recipients who had rejection episodes showed a marked rise in TE-R levels (43.0 +/- 4.0; n = 11) about two to seven days prior to the diagnosis of rejection by clinical and chemical criteria. Furthermore, TE-R remained high if the rejection episodes turned out to be irreversible after therapy (42.2 +/- 3.7) but fell if the episodes were reversible (19.9 +/- 3.2). TE-R values were elevated in patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis (45.7 +/- 4.9; n = 23). Neither acute dialytic runs or acute infections altered TE-R values. In conclusion, those results show that enumeration of TE-R may be helpful in the early diagnosis of allograft rejection, before clinical and chemical stigmata are apparent.
Advances in the Management of Infected Urachal Cysts

Persistent urachal remnants are uncommon congenital anomalies. Unless an umbilical fistula exists, infection may be the first indication of this abnormality. Five children received initial treatment for this problem at the Children's Hospital of Buffalo during a 20-year period, 1964 to 1984, and a sixth was seen secondarily. There were four boys and two girls; their ages ranged from 8 months to 9 years. Lower abdominal mass with fever and local tenderness were the most common presenting signs. Ultrasound was the most accurate study, correctly diagnosing the cyst in both patients so examined. Incision and drainage alone was performed in one patient. The other five were managed with antibiotic therapy and complete excision as the primary procedure. Cultures were obtained in five patients and were positive in four, growing Staphylococcus aureus in three and Escherichia coli in one. Significant genitourinary abnormalities were discovered in four of the five patients evaluated. It is concluded that the previously recommended therapy of incision and drainage followed by delayed resection was developed in the preantibiotic era to minimize the mortality from sepsis and the morbidity from recurrence. Our experience indicates that the use of appropriate antibiotics followed promptly by complete cyst excision as a primary procedure is both possible and safe in most cases. Furthermore, the large number of associated genitourinary abnormalities suggests that a complete work-up for these conditions should be performed.
Clonidine-Suppression Test. A Useful Aid in the Diagnosis of Pheochromocytoma

THE diagnosis of pheochromocytoma is considered secure when typical signs and symptoms (e.g., hypertension, sweating, palpitation, and headaches) are associated with unequivocal biochemical evidenc...
Multiple potassium-channel components are produced by alternative splicing at the shaker locus in drosophila

At least four probable components of potassium channels are encoded at the Drosophila Shaker locus, by a family of alternatively spliced transcripts. Alternative splicing may provide one mechanism of generating the remarkable diversity of potassium channels.
Deep learning in robotics: a review of recent research

AbstractAdvances in deep learning over the last decade have led to a flurry of research in the application of deep artificial neural networks to robotic systems, with at least 30 papers published on the subject between 2014 and the present. This review discusses the applications, benefits, and limitations of deep learning vis-a-vis physical robotic systems, using contemporary research as exemplars. It is intended to communicate recent advances to the wider robotics community and inspire additional interest in and application of deep learning in robotics.
Polygenic risk score of sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease reveals a shared architecture with the familial and early-onset forms.

Abstract Objective To determine whether the extent of overlap of the genetic architecture among the sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's Disease (sLOAD), familial late-onset AD (fLOAD), sporadic early-onset AD (sEOAD), and autosomal dominant early-onset AD (eADAD). Methods Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) were constructed using previously identified 21 genome-wide significant loci for LOAD risk. Results We found that there is an overlap in the genetic architecture among sEOAD, fLOAD, and sLOAD. The highest association of the PRS and risk (odds ratio [OR] = 2.27; P = 1.29 × 10 −7 ) was observed in sEOAD, followed by fLOAD (OR = 1.75; P = 1.12 × 10 −7 ) and sLOAD (OR = 1.40; P = 1.21 × 10 −3 ). The PRS was associated with cerebrospinal fluid ptau 181 -Aβ 42 on eADAD ( P = 4.36 × 10 −2 ). Conclusion Our analysis confirms that the genetic factors identified for LOAD modulate risk in sLOAD and fLOAD and also sEOAD cohorts. Specifically, our results suggest that the burden of these risk variants is associated with familial clustering and earlier onset of AD. Although these variants are not associated with risk in the eADAD, they may be modulating age at onset.
Insights into the Evolution and Function of Auxin Signaling F-Box Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana Through Synthetic Analysis of Natural Variants

The evolution of complex body plans in land plants has been paralleled by gene duplication and divergence within nuclear auxin-signaling networks. A deep mechanistic understanding of auxin signaling proteins therefore may allow rational engineering of novel plant architectures. Toward that end, we analyzed natural variation in the auxin receptor F-box family of wild accessions of the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana and used this information to populate a structure/function map. We employed a synthetic assay to identify natural hypermorphic F-box variants and then assayed auxin-associated phenotypes in accessions expressing these variants. To more directly measure the impact of the strongest variant in our synthetic assay on auxin sensitivity, we generated transgenic plants expressing this allele. Together, our findings link evolved sequence variation to altered molecular performance and auxin sensitivity. This approach demonstrates the potential for combining synthetic biology approaches with quantitative phenotypes to harness the wealth of available sequence information and guide future engineering efforts of diverse signaling pathways.
Counter-propagating solitons in microresonators

Solitons occur in many physical systems when a nonlinearity compensates wave dispersion. Their recently demonstrated formation in microresonators has opened a new research direction for nonlinear optical physics. Soliton mode locking also endows frequency microcombs with the enhanced stability necessary for miniaturization of spectroscopy and frequency metrology systems. These microresonator solitons orbit around a closed waveguide path and produce a repetitive output pulse stream at a rate set by the roundtrip time. Here, counter-propagating solitons that simultaneously orbit in an opposing sense (clockwise/counter-clockwise) are studied. Despite sharing the same spatial mode family, their roundtrip times can be precisely and independently controlled. Furthermore, a state is possible in which both the relative optical phase and relative repetition rates of the distinct soliton streams are locked. This state allows a single resonator to produce dual-soliton frequency-comb streams with different repetition rates, but with a high relative coherence that is useful in both spectroscopy and laser ranging systems.
Optimal Targeting under Budget Constraints in a Humanitarian Context

The combination of conflict, food insecurity, and displacement generates competing claims for financial resources that stretch the donors' ability to provide funding and the humanitarian organizations' capacity to provide social assistance. The paper uses Receiver Operating Characteristic curves and related indexes to determine the optimal targeting strategy of a food voucher program for refugees. The estimations focus on the 2014 food vouchers administered by the World Food Programme to Syrian refugees in Jordan. The analysis uses data collected by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Based on a poverty model, Receiver Operating Characteristic curves are used to optimize coverage and leakage rates under budget constraints. The paper shows how policy makers can use these instruments to fine-tune targeting using coverage rates, budgets, or poverty lines as guiding principles to increase the overall efficiency of a program. As humanitarian organizations operate under increasing budget constraints and increasing demands for efficiency, the proposed approach addresses both concerns.
Wavenumber-frequency analysis of single-layer shallow-water beta-plane quasi-geostrophic turbulence

We numerically investigate single-layer shallow-water beta-plane quasi-geostrophic turbulence in a doubly periodic domain with emphasis on wavenumber-frequency spectra. We conduct a broad parameter sweep, varying the deformation radius (Ld), the narrow-band forcing wavenumber (kf), and the meridional gradient of the Coriolis parameter (β). Out of 54 simulations we present ten in detail spanning slowly propagating vortices to strong jets. We define a nondimensional parameter γβ in terms of β, Ld, and the energy injection rate. The moderately low γβ case is characterized by westward propagating coherent vortices and zonal wavenumber-frequency spectra dominated by a nondispersive line (NDL) corresponding to uniform propagation at or near the long-wave Rossby speed. The moderately high γβ case is characterized by jets, and the NDL persists even when there are no coherent vortices. The jets have large meridional excursions (meanders) that propagate westward nearly uniformly at a speed slower than the long-wave...
Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Perspectives on Using Automatic Speech Recognition in Conversation

This experience report describes the accessibility challenges in using the top seven most popular Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) applications on personal devices for commands and group conversation, by five deaf, hard of hearing and hearing participants, including the authors. The report discusses the most common use cases, their challenges, and best practices plus pitfalls to avoid in using personal devices with ASR for commands or conversation.
Effects of Nanopore Charge Decorations on the Translocation Dynamics of DNA

We have investigated the dynamics of single-stranded DNA as it translocates through charge-mutated protein nanopores. Translocation of DNA is a crucial step in nanopore-based sequencing platforms, where control over translocation speed remains one of the main challenges. Taking advantage of the interactions between negatively charged DNA and positively charged amino acid residues, the translocation speed of DNA can be manipulated by deliberate charge decorations inside the nanopore. We employed coarse-grained Langevin dynamics simulations to monitor the step-by-step movement of DNA through different mutations of α-hemolysin protein nanopores. We found that although the average translocation time per nucleotide is longer, in agreement with experiments, the DNA nucleotides do not translocate with a uniform speed. Furthermore, the location and spacing of the charge decorations can alter the translocation dynamics significantly, trapping DNA in some cases. Our findings can give insights when designing charge patterns in nanopores.
Humanitarian Intervention and Pretexts for War

The legal status of humanitarian intervention poses a profound challenge to the future of global order. The central question is easy to formulate but notoriously difficult to answer: Should international law permit states to intervene militarily to stop a genocide or comparable atrocity without Security Council authorization? That question has acquired even greater significance in the wake of military interventions in Kosovo and Iraq, and nonintervention in the Sudan. Concerted deliberation on these issues, however, has reached an impasse. A key obstacle to legalizing unilateral humanitarian intervention (UHI) is the overriding concern that states would use the pretext of humanitarian intervention to wage wars for ulterior motives. In this article, I argue that it is just as likely, or even more likely, that the impact on states would be the opposite. Drawing on recent empirical studies, I contend that legalizing UHI should in important respects discourage wars with ulterior motives, and I discuss changes to international legal institutions that would amplify that potential effect.
Chemotaxis Allows Bacteria To Overcome Host-Generated Reactive Oxygen Species That Constrain Gland Colonization

The epithelial layer of the gastrointestinal tract contains invaginations, called glands or crypts, which are colonized by symbiotic and pathogenic microorganisms and may function as designated niches for certain species. Factors that control gland colonization are poorly understood, but bacterial chemotaxis aids occupation of these sites. We report here that a Helicobacter pylori cytoplasmic chemoreceptor, TlpD, is required for gland colonization in the stomach. tlpD mutants demonstrate gland colonization defects characterized by a reduction in the percentage of glands colonized but not in the number of bacteria per gland. Consistent with TlpD's reported role in reactive oxygen species (ROS) avoidance, tlpD mutants showed hallmarks of exposure to high ROS. To assess the role of host-generated ROS in TlpD-dependent gland colonization, we utilized mice that lack either the ability to generate epithelial hydrogen peroxide or immune cell superoxide. tlpD gland colonization defects were rescued to wild-type H. pylori levels in both of these mutants. These results suggest that multiple types of innate immune-generated ROS production limit gland colonization and that bacteria have evolved specific mechanisms to sense and direct their motility in response to this signal and thus spread throughout tissue.
Immunogenic Cell Death Amplified by Co-localized Adjuvant Delivery for Cancer Immunotherapy

Despite their potential, conventional whole-cell cancer vaccines prepared by freeze–thawing or irradiation have shown limited therapeutic efficacy in clinical trials. Recent studies have indicated that cancer cells treated with certain chemotherapeutics, such as mitoxantrone, can undergo immunogenic cell death (ICD) and initiate antitumor immune responses. However, it remains unclear how to exploit ICD for cancer immunotherapy. Here, we present a new material-based strategy for converting immunogenically dying tumor cells into a powerful platform for cancer vaccination and demonstrate their therapeutic potential in murine models of melanoma and colon carcinoma. We have generated immunogenically dying tumor cells surface-modified with adjuvant-loaded nanoparticles. Dying tumor cells laden with adjuvant nanodepots efficiently promote activation and antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells in vitro and elicit robust antigen-specific CD8α+ T-cells in vivo. Furthermore, whole tumor-cell vaccination combin...
Ag-chalcogenide glass flexible radiation sensor: Impact of atomic ratio of Se on the TID influenced lateral diffusion of Ag

We report the results of our study on the impact of variable atomic ratio of Ge x Se 1-x on the total ionization dose (TID) influenced lateral diffusion of Ag into chalcogenide glasses (ChG) in flexible radiation detection sensors.
Cybersecurity, nuclear security, alan turing, and illogical logic

Cyber deterrence, like nuclear deterrence, depends on our adversaries being rational enough to be deterred by our threats but us not by theirs.
ToF-SIMS Characterization of Robust Window Material for Use in Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers

Developments in diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) systems have been impeded because of the catastrophic failure of laser windows. The window’s failure is caused by localized laser-induced heating of window material. This heating is believed to occur due to increases in absorption on or near the surface of the window. This increase is believed to be caused by either adsorption of carbon-based soot from the collisional gas or by the diffusion of rubidium into the bulk material. The work presented here will focus on the diffusion of Rb into the bulk window materials and will strive to identify a superior material to use as windows. The results of this research indicate that aluminum oxynitride (ALON), sapphire, MgAl2O4 (spinel), and ZrO2 are resistant to alkali-induced changes in optical properties.
Elastase alters contractility and promotes an inflammatory synthetic phenotype in airway smooth muscle tissues

Neutrophil elastase is secreted by inflammatory cells during airway inflammation and can elicit airway hyperreactivity in vivo. Elastase can degrade multiple components of the extracellular matrix. We hypothesized that elastase might disrupt the connections between airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells and the extracellular matrix and that this might have direct effects on ASM tissue responsiveness and inflammation. The effect of elastase treatment on ASM contractility was assessed in vitro in isolated strips of canine tracheal smooth muscle by stimulation of tissues with cumulatively increasing concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) and measurement of contractile force. Elastase treatment potentiated contractile responses to ACh at low concentrations but suppressed the maximal contractile force generated by the tissues without affecting the phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC). Elastase also promoted the secretion of eotaxin and the activation of Akt in ASM tissues and decreased expression of smooth muscle myosin heavy chain, consistent with promotion of a synthetic inflammatory phenotype. As the degradation of matrix proteins can alter integrin engagement, we evaluated the effect of elastase on the assembly and activation of integrin-associated adhesion junction complexes in ASM tissues. Elastase led to talin cleavage, reduced talin binding to vinculin, and suppressed activation of the adhesome proteins paxillin, focal adhesion kinase, and vinculin, indicating that elastase causes the disassembly of adhesion junction complexes and the inactivation of adhesome signaling proteins. We conclude that elastase promotes an inflammatory phenotype and increased sensitivity to ACh in ASM tissues by disrupting signaling pathways mediated by integrin-associated adhesion complexes.
Novel climates reverse carbon uptake of atmospherically dependent epiphytes: Climatic constraints on the iconic boreal forest lichen Evernia mesomorpha

Premise of the Study: Changing climates are expected to affect the abundance and distribution of global vegetation, especially plants and lichens with an epiphytic lifestyle and direct exposure to atmospheric variation. The study of epiphytes could improve understanding of biological responses to climatic changes, but only if the conditions that elicit physiological performance changes are clearly defined. Methods: We evaluated individual growth performance of the epiphytic lichen Evernia mesomorpha, an iconic boreal forest indicator species, in the first year of a decade-long experiment featuring whole-ecosystem warming and drying. Field experimental enclosures were located near the southern edge of the species’ range. Key Results: Mean annual biomass growth of Evernia significantly declined 6 percentage points for every +1°C of experimental warming after accounting for interactions with atmospheric drying. Mean annual biomass growth was 14% in ambient treatments, 2% in unheated control treatments, and −9% to −19% (decreases) in energy-added treatments ranging from +2.25 to +9.00°C above ambient temperatures. Warming-induced biomass losses among persistent individuals were suggestive evidence of an extinction debt that could precede further local mortality events. Conclusions: Changing patterns of warming and drying would decrease or reverse Evernia growth at its southern range margins, with potential consequences for the maintenance of local and regional populations. Negative carbon balances among persisting individuals could physiologically commit these epiphytes to local extinction. Our findings illuminate the processes underlying local extinctions of epiphytes and suggest broader consequences for range shrinkage if dispersal and recruitment rates cannot keep pace.
Is Fertility a Leading Economic Indicator

Many papers show that aggregate fertility is pro-cyclical over the business cycle. Using data on more than 100 million births from 1988 to 2014, we show that for recent recessions in the United States, there is a large and rapid fall in the growth rate of conceptions several quarters prior to economic decline. This newly emerging pattern appears in the aggregate data, as well as within individual states and in many European countries. Our findings suggest that fertility behaviour is more forward looking and sensitive to changes in short-run expectations about the economy than previously thought.
Verifying the consistency of remote untrusted services with conflict-free operations

Abstract A group of mutually trusting clients outsources a computation to a remote server, which they do not fully trust and that may be subject to attacks. The clients do not communicate with each other and would like to verify the correctness of the remote computation and the consistency of the server's responses. This paper presents the Conflict-free Operation verification Protocol (COP) that ensures linearizability when the server is correct and preserves fork-linearizability otherwise. Clients that observe each other's operations are consistent and their operations are linearizable. If the server forks two clients by hiding an operation, however, they never again see operations of each other. COP is wait-free in the sense that when executed with a correct server, non-conflicting operations can run without waiting for other clients. The paper gives a precise model for the guarantees of COP and includes a formal analysis that these are achieved.
Phases of a phenomenological model of twisted bilayer graphene

Recent measurements in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene find a correlated insulator flanked by superconducting domes upon tuning the gate voltage. These results have prompted an analogy with the high-${T}_{c}$ cuprates and the physics of doped Mott insulators. Here, the authors instead propose an analogy with alkali-doped C${}_{60}$ and a violation of Hund's first rule, whereby the resultant attractive interactions, as opposed to a large repulsive Hubbard $U$, are responsible for superconductivity. A two-band phenomenological model for twisted bilayer graphene is studied, which includes nematic orbital ferromagnet and orbital-triplet spin-singlet superconducting broken-symmetry phases.
The E3 Ubiquitin Ligase MIB-1 Is Necessary To Form the Nuclear Halo in Caenorhabditis elegans Sperm

Unlike the classical nuclear envelope with two membranes found in other eukaryotic cells, most nematode sperm nuclei are not encapsulated by membranes. Instead, they are surrounded by a nuclear halo of unknown composition. How the halo is formed and regulated is unknown. We used forward genetics to identify molecular lesions behind three classical fer (fertilization defective) mutations that disrupt the ultrastructure of the Caenorhabditis elegans sperm nuclear halo. We found fer-2 and fer-4 alleles to be nonsense mutations in mib-1. fer-3 was caused by a nonsense mutation in eri-3 GFP::MIB-1 was expressed in the germline during early spermatogenesis, but not in mature sperm. mib-1 encodes a conserved E3 ubiquitin ligase homologous to vertebrate Mib1 and Mib2, which function in Notch signaling. Here, we show that mib-1 is important for male sterility and is involved in the regulation or formation of the nuclear halo during nematode spermatogenesis.
From Thumbnails to Summaries-A Single Deep Neural Network to Rule Them All

Video summaries come in many forms, from traditional single-image thumbnails, animated thumbnails, storyboards, to trailer-like video summaries. Content creators use the summaries to display the most attractive portion of their videos; the users use them to quickly evaluate if a video is worth watching. All forms of summaries are essential to video viewers, content creators, and advertisers. Often video content management systems have to generate multiple versions of summaries that vary in duration and presentational forms. We present a framework ReconstSum that utilizes LSTM-based autoencoder architecture to extract and select a sparse subset of video frames or keyshots that optimally represent the input video in an unsupervised manner. The encoder selects a subset from the input video while the decoder seeks to reconstruct the video from the selection. The goal is to minimize the difference between the original input video and the reconstructed video. Our method is easily extendable to generate a variety of applications including static video thumbnails, animated thumbnails, storyboards and “trailer-like” highlights. We specifically study and evaluate two most popular use cases: thumbnail generation and storyboard generation. We demonstrate that our methods generate better results than the state-of-the-art techniques in both use cases.
Aspirational pursuit of mates in online dating markets

Romantic courtship is often described as taking place in a dating market where men and women compete for mates, but the detailed structure and dynamics of dating markets have historically been difficult to quantify for lack of suitable data. In recent years, however, the advent and vigorous growth of the online dating industry has provided a rich new source of information on mate pursuit. We present an empirical analysis of heterosexual dating markets in four large U.S. cities using data from a popular, free online dating service. We show that competition for mates creates a pronounced hierarchy of desirability that correlates strongly with user demographics and is remarkably consistent across cities. We find that both men and women pursue partners who are on average about 25% more desirable than themselves by our measures and that they use different messaging strategies with partners of different desirability. We also find that the probability of receiving a response to an advance drops markedly with increasing difference in desirability between the pursuer and the pursued. Strategic behaviors can improve one’s chances of attracting a more desirable mate, although the effects are modest.
An Explicit Divergence-Free DG Method for Incompressible Magnetohydrodynamics

We extend the recently introduced explicit divergence-free DG scheme for incompressible hydrodynamics (Fu in Comput Methods Appl Mech Eng 345:502–517, 2019) to the incompressible magnetohydrodynamics. A globally divergence-free finite element space is used for both the velocity and the magnetic field. Highlights of the scheme include global and local conservation properties, high-order accuracy, energy-stability, and pressure-robustness. When forward Euler time stepping is used, we need two symmetric positive definite hybrid-mixed Poisson solvers (one for velocity and one for magnetic field) to advance the solution to the next time level. Since we treat both viscosity in the momentum equation and resistivity in the magnetic induction equation explicitly, the method shall be best suited for inviscid or high-Reynolds number, low resistivity flows so that the CFL constraint is not too restrictive.
First harmonic measurements of the spin Seebeck effect

We present measurements of the spin Seebeck effect (SSE) by a technique that combines alternating currents (AC) and direct currents (DC). The method is applied to a ferrimagnetic insulator/heavy metal bilayer, Y3Fe5O12 (YIG)/Pt. Typically, SSE measurements use an AC current to produce an alternating temperature gradient and measure the voltage generated by the inverse spin-Hall effect in the heavy metal at twice the AC frequency. Here, we show that when Joule heating is associated with AC and DC bias currents, the SSE response occurs at the frequency of the AC current drive and can be larger than the second harmonic SSE response. We compare the first and second harmonic responses and show that they are consistent with the SSE. The field dependence of the voltage response is used to distinguish between the damping-like and field-like torques. This method can be used to explore nonlinear thermoelectric effects and spin dynamics induced by temperature gradients.
Structures in multiple conformations reveal distinct transition metal and proton pathways in an Nramp transporter.

Cells use transport proteins embedded in their membrane to acquire many of the nutrients they need to survive and grow. Different transport proteins transport different nutrients; for example, the Nramp transporters move transition metal ions across cell membranes. Nramps are found in a wide range of organisms. Bacteria use them to acquire the metals they need during the course of an infection, and humans rely on Nramps to absorb iron from food. Nramps can also transport hydrogen ions (known as protons). Understanding how the structure of an Nramp transporter changes as it transports metal ions and protons can help researchers to understand how it works. These structures can be studied using a technique called X-ray crystallography, which captures snapshots of the proteins at different stages of their task. Bozzi, Zimanyi et al. used X-ray crystallography to study the structures of an Nramp transporter from the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans. The results reveal four of the shapes that the Nramp transporter takes on at different stages in its transport process, including the first structure to show an Nramp binding to a metal ion from the outside of the cell. Taken together, the structures suggest a new transport mechanism that has not been seen in previously studied transport proteins with similar structures. An unexpected feature of this mechanism is that Nramps transport metal ions and protons along different pathways. Studying the transport mechanisms used by Nramp transporters will help researchers to understand how cells maintain appropriate levels of metal ions, an important component of human health. The mechanisms of relatively few transport proteins are understood at a structural level, yet many share common origins and have shared characteristics. Understanding how Nramps work could therefore help us to understand how wider classes of transporters work as well.
Hog-Round Marketing, Seed Quality, and Government Policy: Institutional Change in U.S. Cotton Production, 1920–1960

Between 1928 and 1960 U.S. cotton production experienced a revolution with average yields roughly tripling while the quality of the crop increased significantly. This article analyzes the key institutional and scientific developments that facilitated the revolution in biological technologies, pointing to the importance of two government programs—the one-variety community movement and the Smith-Doxey Act—as catalysts for change. The story displays two phenomena germane to the recent literature: an important real-world example of Akerlof’s lemons model and a case in which inventors, during an early phase of the product cycle, encouraged consumers to copy and disseminate their intellectual property.
Optimal sabotage attack on composite material parts

Abstract Industry 4.0 envisions a fully automated manufacturing environment, in which computerized manufacturing equipment—Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)—performs all tasks. These machines are open to a variety of cyber and cyber-physical attacks, including sabotage. In the manufacturing context, sabotage attacks aim to damage equipment or degrade a manufactured part’s mechanical properties. In this paper, we focus on the latter, specifically for composite materials. Composite material parts are predominantly used in safety-critical systems, e.g., as load-bearing parts of aircraft. Further, we distinguish between the methods to compromise various manufacturing equipment, and the malicious manipulations that will sabotage a part. As the research literature has numerous examples of the former, in this paper we assume that the equipment is already compromised; our discussion is solely on manipulations. We develop a simulation approach to designing sabotage attacks against composite material parts. The attack can be optimized by two criteria, minimizing the “footprint” of manipulations. We simulate two optimal attacks against the design of a spar, a load bearing component of an airplane wing. Our simulation identifies the minimal manipulations needed to degrade its strength to three desired levels, as well as the resulting failure characteristics. Last but not least, we outline an approach to identifying sabotaged parts.
Symmetries among Multivariate Information Measures Explored Using Möbius Operators.

Relations between common information measures include the duality relations based on Mobius inversion on lattices, which are the direct consequence of the symmetries of the lattices of the sets of variables (subsets ordered by inclusion). In this paper we use the lattice and functional symmetries to provide a unifying formalism that reveals some new relations and systematizes the symmetries of the information functions. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic examination of the full range of relationships of this class of functions. We define operators on functions on these lattices based on the Mobius inversions that map functions into one another, which we call Mobius operators, and show that they form a simple group isomorphic to the symmetric group S3. Relations among the set of functions on the lattice are transparently expressed in terms of the operator algebra, and, when applied to the information measures, can be used to derive a wide range of relationships among diverse information measures. The Mobius operator algebra is then naturally generalized which yields an even wider range of new relationships.
Signaling in Online Retail: Efficacy of Public Signals

We consider the problem of inventory and demand signaling in online retail. Customers seek to purchase an item with a finite inventory in one of two time periods. They are strategic and Bayesian but do not know the current inventory or number of other customers. The firm knows these values and seeks to persuade customers to buy in the first time period where the price is higher. We adopt the framework of Bayesian persuasion to formulate and analyze the firm's choice of a revenue-optimal signaling mechanism. We observe that the randomness in the number of customers causes each customer to believe the demand to be stochastically higher. Taking this into consideration, we establish that when customers are homogeneous, the optimal signaling mechanism is a public mechanism where all customers are provided the same information. In particular, the firm does not benefit from providing different information to different customers, such as through personalized email marketing. We exploit the public structure of the optimal mechanism to cast the firm's problem as a fractional knapsack problem. We support our analytical results with numerical computations that show public signaling achieving substantial revenue gains over no information or full information sharing.
Retrieval of Temperature and Water Vapor Vertical Profile from ATMS Measurements with Random Forests Technique

The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) is a cross-track scanning microwave (MW) radiometer useful to retrieve Temperature (T) and Water Vapor (WV) atmospheric vertical profiles. Using spatial and temporal coincidences between ATMS observations and two different datasets of vertical T and WV, a global training dataset for machine learning purpose was built for the whole 2016. For each ATMS Brightness Temperatures acquisition, 32 levels of T (between 10 and 1000 hPa), and 23 levels of WV (between 200 and 1000 hPa), are used to train an algorithm based on Random Forests regression technique. A single RF was trained for each level and atmospheric variable, using the evaluation on the Out of Bag error to optimize the number of random selection of the input variables at each node splitting step, the number of trees in each forest and the minimum leaf size parameter, to avoid overfitting problem and obtain an accurate retrieval. Considering that the sounding below the precipitation level becomes unreliable, the precipitation-affected observations were removed from the training dataset by means of a pre-screening test based on BT. The results show an overall ability of the algorithm to retrieve T and WV vertical profiles in line with expectations.