julilili42/papers huggingface dataset:
Cultural Developments Between the Final MSA and the Robberg at Umbeli Belli, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
2023-10-18

Abstract The Early Later Stone Age (ELSA) in southern Africa is one of the most poorly understood periods in the subcontinent. This is due to a lack of sites covering the time between the final MSA and the Robberg, but also due to a lack of agreement on what the ELSA actually is. In this paper, we present the lithic evidence from the site Umbeli Belli (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), covering the period between ~29,000 and 17,000 years ago. We find the changes which happen over the 12,000 years in between the final Middle Stone Age (MSA) and the Robberg at this site to be gradual and identify continuous technological and typological shifts. We compare these results to the lithic assemblages on a regional and supra-regional level, and in doing so, we find the patterns evident at Umbeli Belli to be repeated across southern Africa. Linking this to the research historical development of the term ELSA, we conclude that the MSA/LSA boundary is highly artificial and has become more of a hindrance than a means of structure in current archaeological research.
Spirotetramat reduces fitness of the spotted‐wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii
2023-10-18

Abstract With climate change, the spotted‐wing Drosophila (SWD, Drosophila suzukii ) invades a great number of fruit production regions worldwide. A plethora of insecticides are being applied for management of this pest. As expected, SWD develops resistance against some potent insecticides or is rather insensitive to some others. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify and characterize alternative insecticides to control SWD populations. Here, we have studied the effects of the orally applied inhibitor of the fatty acid synthesis pathway spirotetramat on SWD fitness with respect to fecundity and surface barrier function at different stages. In our experiments, we applied spirotetramat mixed with baker's yeast and showed that females and males were not repelled by effective concentrations of this insecticide. We found that spirotetramat, by trend, lowers egg numbers laid by fed females. These eggs rapidly desiccate, and only a few larvae hatch. Spirotetramat is lethal to larvae and reduces survival of adult flies under low‐humidity conditions. Taken together, based on our data, we propose to use yeast supplemented with spirotetramat and additional SWD‐specific attractants in traps in non‐crop areas in order to eradicate SWD populations before they infest crop production sites.
Numerical Attractors for Rough Differential Equations
2023-10-18

We study the explicit Euler scheme to approximate the solutions of rough differential equations under a bounded or linear diffusion term, where the drift term satisfies a local Lipschitz continuity and a one-sided linear growth condition. The Euler scheme is then proved to converge for a given solution, where the convergence rate is independent of the initial condition. For a dissipative drift term with a linear growth condition and a bounded diffusion term, the numerical solution under a regular grid generates a random dynamical system (RDS) which admits a random pullback attractor. We also prove that for bounded drift and diffusion terms and under a centered Gaussian noise with stationary increments, the numerical pullback attractor then converges upper semicontinuously to the continuous-time pullback attractor as the time step goes to zero.
The Joint Vasculitis Registry in German-speaking countries (GeVas): subgroup analysis of 266 AAV-patients
2023-10-18

Demographic characteristics are comparable to those in other European countries. Differences were found regarding ANCA status, frequencies of organ manifestations, and therapeutic regimens. The GeVas registry will allow longitudinal observations and prospective outcome measures in AAV.
Resilience of FEF neuronal saccade code to V4 perturbations
2023-10-18

We studied neurons in the brain’s frontal eye field (FEF) to understand how these neurons predict swift eye shifts called saccades. We found that neurons with more movement-related activity were better at predicting saccades than those with sensory-related activity. Interestingly, electrical disruptions of this region strongly impacted saccade onset times but did not affect the individual neuron’s saccade predictability, consistent with models suggesting that a specific threshold in neural activity triggers the saccade.
Comment on egusphere-2023-986
2023-10-18

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> An increasing number of climate model simulations is becoming available for the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum to the Holocene. Assessing the simulations&rsquo; reliability requires benchmarking against environmental proxy records. To date, no established method exists to compare these two data sources in space and time over a period with changing background conditions. Here, we develop a new algorithm to rank simulations according to their deviation from reconstructed magnitudes and temporal patterns of orbital- as well as millennial-scale temperature variations. The use of proxy forward modeling avoids the need to reconstruct gridded or regional mean temperatures from sparse and uncertain proxy data. First, we test the reliability and robustness of our algorithm in idealized experiments with prescribed deglacial temperature histories. We quantify the influence of limited temporal resolution, chronological uncertainties, and non-climatic processes by constructing noisy pseudo-proxies. While model-data comparison results become less reliable with increasing uncertainties, we find that the algorithm discriminates well between simulations under realistic non-climatic noise levels. To obtain reliable and robust rankings, we advise spatial averaging of the results for individual proxy records. Second, we demonstrate our method by quantifying the deviations between an ensemble of transient deglacial simulations and a global compilation of sea surface temperature reconstructions. The ranking of the simulations differs substantially between the considered regions and timescales. We attribute this diversity in the rankings to more regionally confined temperature variations in reconstructions than in simulations, which could be the result of uncertainties in boundary conditions, shortcomings in models, or regionally varying characteristics of reconstructions such as recording seasons and depths. Future work towards disentangling these potential reasons can leverage the flexible design of our algorithm and its demonstrated ability to identify varying levels of model-data agreement.
Cariban Lexical Database (CaLeD)
2023-10-18

This dataset contains a comprehensive collection of lexical items from various languages within the Carib linguistic family. It is structured to facilitate computational historical linguistics analysis, offering detailed information on language characteristics, word forms, and cognacy judgments. The data is curated to support research in linguistic typology, historical linguistics, and related fields. Data Structure The dataset is presented in a TSV (Tab-Separated Values) format, ensuring easy integration with common data analysis tools. Each lexical item in the dataset is detailed with multiple linguistic attributes, including phonological transcriptions, morphological analysis, and cognacy information. The following table summarizes the fields included in the dataset: Field Name Data Type Description ID string Unique identifier for each dataset entry. ID_lang string Unique identifier for the language within the dataset. Glottocode string Code uniquely identifying the language in the Glottolog database. Glottolog_Name string Name of the language as recorded in the Glottolog database. ISO639P3code string ISO 639-3 code for the language. ID_param string Unique identifier for the linguistic parameter or concept within the dataset. Concepticon_ID integer Identifier for the concept in the Concepticon database. Concepticon_Gloss string Gloss or definition of the concept from the Concepticon database. Value string Value of the linguistic data point, typically a word or phrase in the language. Form string Phonetic or phonological transcription of the linguistic data point. Segments string Further phonetic or phonological breakdown of the form. Source string Reference to the source or citation where the data was obtained. Morphemes string Morphological breakdown of the form. SimpleCognate integer Cognacy judgment, indicating whether the form is cognate with forms of the same meaning in related languages. PartialCognates string Partial cognacy coding, detailing the cognacy of individual segments or morphemes. Intended Use This dataset is intended for researchers and linguists specializing in the Carib linguistic family. It provides valuable insights into the lexical similarities and differences across the languages within this family, supporting studies on language evolution, relationships, and structure. Additional Resources Metadata for Validation: This dataset comes with comprehensive metadata following the Frictionless Data standard, ensuring that the data structure and types are accurately described for validation purposes. This metadata aids in maintaining the integrity and usability of the data across various computational platforms and research projects. CLDF Version Available: For researchers utilizing the Cross-Linguistic Data Formats (CLDF), a version of this dataset is available in CLDF specifications. This version is provided as a zipped file, facilitating easier distribution and handling.
Progress and challenges in exploring aquatic microbial communities using non-targeted metabolomics
2023-10-19

Abstract Advances in bioanalytical technologies are constantly expanding our insights into complex ecosystems. Here, we highlight strategies and applications that make use of non-targeted metabolomics methods in aquatic chemical ecology research and discuss opportunities and remaining challenges of mass spectrometry-based methods to broaden our understanding of environmental systems.
Samarium- and Ytterbium-Grafted Periodic Mesoporous Silica for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Conversion
2023-10-19

Immobilized coordination compounds of Lewis acidic metals are powerful catalytic components of systems for the cycloaddition of CO<sub>2</sub> to epoxides that do not require sophisticated coordination frameworks to harness the metal center and modulate its activity. Surface organometallic chemistry (SOMC) is a valuable methodology to prepare well-defined and site-isolated surface complexes and coordination compounds on metal oxides, with ligand environments easily adjustable to a targeted catalytic reaction. In this work, the SOMC methodology is applied to prepare Sm<sup>II</sup>, Yb<sup>II</sup>, and Sm<sup>III</sup> alkoxide surface complexes on periodic mesoporous (organo)silica of distinct pore symmetry/size for application in the CO<sub>2</sub> cycloaddition reaction. The surface complexes are readily accessible by the grafting of the bis(trimethylsilyl)amide precursors Ln<sup>II</sup>[N(SiMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>]<sub>2</sub>(THF)<sub>2</sub> (Ln = Sm, Yb) and Sm<sup>III</sup>[N(SiMe<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>]<sub>3</sub>, followed by ligand exchange with alcohols (ethanol and neopentanol). The use of periodic mesoporous supports led to hybrid materials with relatively high surface areas and pore sizes, affording good performance in CO<sub>2</sub> capture and in the cycloaddition of CO<sub>2</sub> to epoxides under mild conditions (60-80 °C, 1-10 bar). In terms of catalytic performance, recyclability, and low amount of added nucleophile TBAX (X = Br, I), the most active materials prepared in this work compare well to a variety of previously reported SOMC-derived surface complexes and to other heterogeneous Lewis acids displaying more elaborate ligand environments.
Threshold-Based Belief Change
2023-10-19

In this paper we study changes of beliefs in a ranking-theoretic setting using non-extremal implausibility thresholds for belief. We represent implausibilities as ranks and introduce natural rank changes subject to a minimal change criterion. We show that many of the traditional AGM postulates for revision and contraction are preserved, except for the postulate of Preservation which is invalid. The diagnosis for belief contraction is similar, but not exactly the same. We demonstrate that the one-shot versions of both revision and contraction can be represented as revisions based on semiorders, but in two subtly different ways. We provide sets of postulates that are sound and complete in the sense that they allow us to prove representation theorems. We show that, and explain why, the classical duality between revision and contraction, as exhibited by the Levi and Harper identities, is partly broken by threshold-based belief changes. We also study the logic of iterated threshold-based revision and contraction. The traditional Darwiche-Pearl postulates for iterated revision continue to hold, as well as two additional postulates that characterize ranking-based revision as a restricted `improvement' operator. We investigate the dual notion of iterated threshold-based belief contraction and provide a new set of postulates for it, characterizing contraction as a restricted 'degrading' operator.
Exploring archaeogenetic studies of dental calculus to shed light on past human migrations in Oceania
2023-10-19

Abstract The Pacific islands have experienced multiple waves of human migrations, providing a case study for exploring the potential of using the microbiome to study human migration. We performed a metagenomic study of archaeological dental calculus from 103 ancient individuals, originating from 12 Pacific islands and spanning a time range of ∼3000 years. Oral microbiome DNA preservation in calculus is far higher than that of human DNA in archaeological bone from the Pacific, and comparable to that seen in calculus from temperate regions. Variation in the microbial community composition was minimally driven by time period and geography within the Pacific, while comparison with samples from Europe, Africa, and Asia reveal the microbial communities of Pacific calculus samples to be distinctive. Phylogenies of individual bacterial species in Pacific calculus reflect geography. Archaeological dental calculus shows potential to yield information about past human migrations, complementing studies of the human genome.
Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: The Influence of Medical Expertise and Perceived Causability on Medical AI Risk and Benefit Perception
2023-10-19

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly used in medicine, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing fields in which AI is applied. While some AI-based applications are already outperforming experts regarding diagnostic accuracy, patients’ trust in AI is still comparatively low. Given the tremendous potential of medical AI applications, understanding what influences patients’ and doctors’ perceptions of medical AI is of utmost importance. To this end, we assessed for N = 750 participants (N = 684 laypeople and N = 66 medical experts) whether medical expertise and perceived causability, that is the transparency, efficiency and satisfaction with which the AI is perceived, are related to the perception of risks and benefits in three different medical AI scenarios. Benefit perception increased with higher perceived causability but was unrelated to medical expertise. On the other hand, risk perception increased with higher medical expertise and decreased with higher perceived causability. Therefore, when introducing and using medical AI applications in the treatment of patients, it is essential to sensitize both patients and medical experts to the different perceptions. Such measures can be an important prerequisite for increasing AI acceptance in medicine.
Differential transcriptional control of hematopoiesis in congenital and cycling neutropenia patients harboring <i>ELANE</i> mutations
2023-10-19

Mutations in the ELANE gene, encoding the neutrophil elastase (NE) protein, are responsible for most CyN cases and approximately 25 % of CN cases. In CN and in CyN, a median of 2.8 % of CD34+ cells were early CD49f+ hematopoietic stem cells (eHSC) that did not express ELANE and thus escape from the unfolded protein response (UPR) caused by mutated NE. In CyN, the CD49f+ cells respond to G-CSF with a significant upregulation of the hematopoietic stem-cell-specific transcription factors, C/EBP/, MLL1, HOXA9, MEIS1, and HLF during the ascending arm of the cycle, resulting in the differentiation of myeloid cells to mature neutrophils at the cycle peak. However, NE protein released by neutrophils at the cycle's peak caused a negative feedback loop on granulopoiesis through the proteolytic digestion of G-CSF. In contrast, in CN patients, CD49f+ cells failed to express mRNA levels of HSC-specific transcription factors mentioned above. Rescue of C/EBP//expression in CN restored granulopoiesis.
Cancer-mediated Axonal Guidance of Sensory Neurons in a Microelectrode-based Innervation MPS
2023-10-19

Abstract Despite recent advances in the field of microphysiological systems (MPS), availability of models capable of mimicking the interactions between the nervous system and innervated tissues is still limited. This represents a significant challenge in identifying the underlying processes of various pathological conditions, including neuropathic, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. In this study, we introduce a compartmentalized 3D coculture system that enables physiologically relevant tissue innervation while recording neuronal excitability. By integrating custom microelectrode arrays into tailored glass chips microfabricated via selective laser-etching, we developed an entirely novel class of innervation MPSs (INV-MPS). This INV-MPS allows for manipulation, visualization, and electrophysiological analysis of individual axons innervating complex 3D tissues. Here, we focused on sensory innervation of 3D tumor tissue as a model case study since cancer-induced pain represents a major unmet medical need. The system was compared with existing nociception models and successfully replicated axonal chemoattraction mediated by nerve growth factor (NGF). Remarkably, in the absence of NGF, 3D cancer spheroids cocultured in the adjacent compartment induced sensory neurons to consistently cross the separating barrier and establish fine innervation. Moreover, we observed that crossing sensory fibers could be chemically excited by distal application of known pain-inducing agonists only when cocultured with cancer cells. To our knowledge, this is the first system showcasing morphological and electrophysiological analysis of 3D-innervated tumor tissue in vitro , paving the way for a plethora of studies into innervation-related diseases and improving our understanding of underlying pathophysiology. Significance Statement MPSs integrating innervated tissues are crucial as alternatives to animal models and to enhance the translation of non-clinical research to humans, as nerve fibers play a pivotal role in many organs. To address this need, we developed the INV-MPS, enabling parallelized electro-physiological recording from 3D cocultures of peripheral neurons with complex tissues. We demonstrate the ability of cancer spheroids to direct axonal growth and modulate excitability of nociceptive fibers in a 3D setting. We anticipate that this model will be applicable for closely monitoring innervation in various tissues, including somatic and visceral organs. The INV-MPS, hence, has tremendous potential for human-relevant drug discovery, creating opportunities for more ethical and clinically translatable approaches to study innervation in disease.
Twelve-hour Normothermic Liver Perfusion in a Rat Model: Characterization of the Changes in the Ex-situ Bio-molecular Phenotype and Metabolism
2023-10-19

Abstract The partial understanding of the biological events that occur during normothermic machine perfusion (NMP) and particularly during prolonged perfusion might hinder its deployment in clinical transplantation. The aim of our study was to implement a rat model of prolonged NMP to characterize the bio-molecular phenotype and metabolism of the perfused organs. Livers (n=5/group) were procured and underwent 4h (NMP4h) or 12h (NMP12h) NMP, respectively, using a perfusion fluid supplemented with an acellular oxygen carrier. Organs that were not exposed to any procedure served as controls (Native). All perfused organs met clinically derived viability criteria at the end of NMP. Factors related to stress-response and survival were increased after prolonged perfusion. No signs of oxidative damage were detected in both NMP groups. Evaluation of metabolite profiles showed preserved mitochondrial function, activation of Cori cycle, induction of lipolysis, acetogenesis and ketogenesis in livers exposed to 12h-NMP. Increased concentrations of metabolites involved in glycogen synthesis, glucuronidation, bile acid conjugation, and antioxidant response were likewise observed. In conclusion, our NMP12h model was able to sustain liver viability and function, thereby deeply changing cell homeostasis to maintain a newly developed equilibrium. Our findings provide valuable information for the implementation of optimized protocols for prolonged NMP.
Die diskursive Konstruktion von Weiblichkeit durch die visuelle Darstellung ukrainischer female identified fighters
2023-10-19

This paper analyses how femininity is constructed in the visual discourse around Ukrainian female identified fighters in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In order to answer the research question, a visual discourse analysis was conducted based on Judith Butler's argument of the construction of gender and Michel Foucault's reflections on discourse analysis. The central research results show that traditional constructions of femininity in female identified fighters are a constant throughout the visual discourse of war. The constructions of femininities are diverse, often appear contradictory, but frequently coexist. The main elements of the visual construction of femininity are aestheticisation and the representation of the peacefulness of women* in the context of national unity. In addition, militarism with masculine connotations and elements of isolation and heroisation appear. Overall, traditional concepts of femininity are developed further, but in this exceptional situation of war, the normality of the binary gender construction is not broken visually.