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Ethnographic fieldnotes can contain richer and more thorough descriptions of social phenomena compared to other data sources. Their open-ended and flexible character makes them especially useful in explorative research. However, fieldnotes are typically highly unstructured and personalized by individual researchers, which make them harder to use as a method for data collection in collaborative and mixed methods research. More precisely, the unstructured nature of ethnographic fieldnotes presents three distinct challenges: 1) Organizability—it can be difficult to search and sort fieldnotes and thus to get an overview of them, 2) Integrability—it is difficult to meaningfully integrate fieldnotes with other more quantitative data types such as more such as surveys or geospatial data, and 3) Computational Processability—it is hard to process and analyze fieldnotes with computational methods such as topic models and network analysis. To solve these three challenges, we present a new digital tool, for the systematic collection, processing, and analysis of ethnographic fieldnotes. The tool is developed and tested as part of an interdisciplinary mixed methods pilot study on attention dynamics at a political festival in Denmark. Through case examples from this study, we show how adopting this new digital tool allowed our team to overcome the three aforementioned challenges of fieldnotes, while retaining the flexible and explorative character of ethnographic research, which is a key strength of ethnographic fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Word embeddings provide an unsupervised way to understand differences in word usage between discursive communities. A number of papers have focused on identifying words that are used differently by two or more communities. But word embeddings are complex, high-dimensional spaces and a focus on identifying differences only captures a fraction of their richness. Here, we take a step towards leveraging the richness of the full embedding space, by using word embeddings to map out how words are used differently. Specifically, we describe the construction of dialectograms, an unsupervised way to visually explore the characteristic ways in which each community uses a focal word. Based on these dialectograms, we provide a new measure of the degree to which words are used differently that overcomes the tendency for existing measures to pick out low-frequency or polysemous words. We apply our methods to explore the discourses of two US political subreddits and show how our methods identify stark affective polarisation of politicians and political entities, differences in the assessment of proper political action as well as disagreement about whether certain issues require political intervention at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deghosting is an important technique in the marine seismic industry, as it plays a crucial role in mitigating the effects of ghost reflections from the sea surface, which can significantly impact the accuracy and resolution of subsurface imaging. In recent years, various acquisition‐based techniques have been developed to tackle the challenge of removing receiver–ghost reflections, which is the focus of our paper. These state‐of‐the‐art approaches, such as dual‐sensor or multicomponent towed streamer acquisitions, have demonstrated exceptional accuracy by combining pressure and particle motion data. However, such methods face limitations when dealing with low frequencies due to heavy noise contamination in the particle motion data. Consequently, ghost‐free data reconstruction at low frequencies typically relies on processing‐based approaches, which exclusively utilize recorded pressure data. This study presents a novel deghosting method for low‐frequency applications based on parabolic dictionary learning, which relies solely on recorded pressure data. The proposed method has the advantage of being applicable directly in a compressed domain, eliminating the need for data decompression prior to the deghosting process when compression is applied before the processing steps. This not only reduces costs related to data storage and transfer but also provides a cost‐effective alternative to conventional deghosting by operating directly on the compressed data format, which is smaller in size. The effectiveness of the proposed method was evaluated using both synthetic and field datasets. The results obtained from a synthetic data example indicate that the proposed method achieves similar results to an industry‐standard frequency–wavenumber method, while achieving a compression rate of over 7. Furthermore, the method was tested using a field dataset consisting of a full sail‐line of marine seismic acquisition. The comparison of 2D pre‐stack migrated images between the proposed method and the industry‐standard frequency–wavenumber method revealed insignificant differences, while achieving a compression ratio higher than 5 when our method was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclic AMP controls neuronal ion channel activity. For example hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide–gated (HCN) and M-type K+ channels are activated by cAMP. These effects have been suggested to be involved in astrocyte control of neuronal activity, for example, by controlling the action potential firing frequency. In cortical neurons, cAMP can induce mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) consisting of small-amplitude, subthreshold oscillations separating complete action potentials, which lowers the firing frequency greatly. We extend a model of neuronal activity by including HCN and M channels, and show that it can reproduce a series of experimental results under various conditions involving and inferring with cAMP-induced activation of HCN and M channels. In particular, we find that the model can exhibit MMOs as found experimentally, and argue that both HCN and M channels are crucial for reproducing these patterns. To understand how M and HCN channels contribute to produce MMOs, we exploit the fact that the model is a three-time scale dynamical system with one fast, two slow, and two super-slow variables. We show that the MMO mechanism does not rely on the super-slow dynamics of HCN and M channel gating variables, since the model is able to produce MMOs even when HCN and M channel activity is kept constant. In other words, the cAMP-induced increase in the average activity of HCN and M channels allows MMOs to be produced by the slow-fast subsystem alone. We show that the slow-fast subsystem MMOs are due to a folded node singularity, a geometrical structure well known to be involved in the generation of MMOs in slow-fast systems. Besides raising new mathematical questions for multiple-timescale systems, our work is a starting point for future research on how cAMP signalling, for example resulting from interactions between neurons and glial cells, affects neuronal activity via HCN and M channels. Author summary: Neurons use the frequency of electrical signals called action potentials to encode information, and various messenger systems interact with ion channels to control this so-called firing frequency. Recent experimental recordings show that the intracellular messenger cAMP can induce mixed-mode oscillations (MMOs) consisting of small-amplitude, subthreshold oscillations separating action potentials, which lowers the firing frequency greatly. We extend a recent mathematical model of neuronal electrical activity to investigate how MMOs occur from interactions between ion channels regulated by cAMP. Our simulations reproduce a range of experimental results, including cAMP-induced MMOs. We explain the model dynamics using modern geometrical methods that exploit the different timescales in the model. Our analyses show that the very slow dynamics of cAMP-regulated HCN and M ion channels is not crucial for creating MMOs, but rather that the cAMP-induced increase in their average activity is important. Our analyses suggest that both HCN and M channels are crucial for MMOs and controlling the firing frequency, which has implications for our understanding of how astrocytes control neuronal information processing. Moreover, our study raises new mathematical questions related to how super-slow dynamical variables modify MMOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To obtain explicit understanding of the behavior of dynamical systems, geometrical methods and slow–fast analysis have proved to be highly useful. Such methods are standard for smooth dynamical systems and increasingly used for continuous, non-smooth dynamical systems. However, they are much less used for random dynamical systems, in particular for hybrid models with discrete, random dynamics. Here we propose a geometrical method that works directly with the hybrid system. We illustrate our approach through an application to a hybrid pituitary cell model in which the stochastic dynamics of very few active large-conductance potassium (BK) channels is coupled to a deterministic model of the other ion channels and calcium dynamics. To employ our geometric approach, we exploit the slow–fast structure of the model. The random fast subsystem is analyzed by considering discrete phase planes, corresponding to the discrete number of open BK channels, and stochastic events correspond to jumps between these planes. The evolution within each plane can be understood from nullclines and limit cycles, and the overall dynamics, e.g., whether the model produces a spike or a burst, is determined by the location at which the system jumps from one plane to another. Our approach is generally applicable to other scenarios to study discrete random dynamical systems defined by hybrid stochastic–deterministic models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the marine seismic industry, the size of the recorded and processed seismic data is continuously increasing and tends to become very large. Hence, applying compression algorithms specifically designed for seismic data at an early stage of the seismic processing sequence helps to save cost on storage and data transfer. Dictionary learning methods have been shown to provide state‐of‐the‐art results for seismic data compression. These methods capture similar events from the seismic data and store them in a dictionary of atoms that can be used to represent the data in a sparse manner. However, as with conventional compression algorithms, these methods still require the data to be decompressed before a processing or imaging step is carried out. Parabolic dictionary learning is a dictionary learning method where the learned atoms follow a parabolic travel time move out and are characterized by kinematic parameters such as the slope and the curvature. In this paper, we present a novel method where such kinematic parameters are used to allow the dual‐sensor (or two‐components) wavefield separation processing step directly in the dictionary learning compressed domain for 2D seismic data. Based on a synthetic seismic data set, we demonstrate that our method achieves similar results as an industry‐standard FK‐based method for wavefield separation, with the advantage of being robust to spatial aliasing without the need for data preconditioning such as interpolation and reaching a compression rate around 13. Using a field data set of marine seismic acquisition, we observe insignificant differences on a 2D stacked seismic section between the two methods, whereas reaching a compression ratio higher than 15 when our method is used. Such a method could allow full bandwidth data transfer from vessels to onshore processing centres, where the compressed data could be used to reconstruct not only the recorded data sets, but also the up‐ and down‐going parts of the wavefield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of fouling control coatings (FCC) is evaluated based on static exposure on test sites worldwide. There are different standards concerning the evaluation of the performance of the FCC. However, to the knowledge of the authors, there is not a standardized reporting guideline for how to evaluate the test site in which the FCC is exposed. Several factors such as water conditions, seasonal biofouling, and accessibility of sunlight can vary dependent on placement within or between test sites. This in turn makes it difficult to compare the performance of FCC exposed at different locations within a or at another test site. In this study, an analysis of the CoaST Maritime Test Centre (CMTC) has been performed to investigate how geographical orientation and changes in depth influence the biofouling propensity on coated panels. The investigation showed no statistical significance in the biofouling propensity between panels exposed to different geographical orientations at the CMTC. Similarly, no statistical significance was found between panels placed at different depths at the CMTC. If similar reporting was performed at other test sites, a better basis for comparison of FCC worldwide would be obtained, and this could be achieved with a standardized reporting guideline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are increasingly important as a mean for quality assurance. Feasible estimates of recovery can be achieved through the application of Jacobson plots, which is a simple demonstration of the outcome of each case, recommended for clinical use. We applied this approach with PROMs collected regarding group psychotherapy in a mental health service (MHS) setting. We hypothesized a recovery rate of above 50% of all cases, expecting a lower recovery rate amongst patients with severe depression. We made a secondary sub-sample analysis of data from patients with unipolar depression (N = 171) within a pragmatic, non-inferiority, randomized controlled clinical trial comparing two cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) group interventions. The treatment consisted of 14 2-hours weekly group CBT sessions. We collected depression PROMs with the Becks Depression Inventory-II and functional levels PROMs with the Work and Social Adjustment Scale at baseline, end-of-treatment, and at a 6-months follow-up. At follow-up, 35% (N = 43/123) of cases with moderate or severe depression (BDI > 19) at baseline reached scores below the cut-off for moderate depression. Recovery rates in severe cases were significantly lower (26.5 vs 52.5%; p = 0.0004). We observed severe functional impairment in 36% of the patients at baseline (52/144) and observed no changes or worsening in scores at a 6-months follow-up in 44% of the patients (64/144). We achieved satisfactory remission rates for patients with moderate depression. Patients with severe depression and patients with functional impairment reached recovery rates below the standard of comparable MHSs. Improved MHSs for these patients are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To assess the benefits and harms associated with biopsychosocial rehabilitation in patients with inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Data were collected through electronic searches of Cochrane CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, and CINAHL databases up to March 2019. Trials examining the effect of biopsychosocial rehabilitation in adults with inflammatory arthritis and/or OA were considered eligible, excluding rehabilitation adjunct to surgery. The primary outcome for benefit was pain and total withdrawals for harm. Results: Of the 27 trials meeting the eligibility criteria, 22 trials (3,750 participants) reported sufficient data to be included in the quantitative synthesis. For patient‐reported outcome measures, biopsychosocial rehabilitation was slightly superior to control for pain relief (standardized mean difference [SMD] −0.19 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) −0.31, –0.07]), had a small effect on patient global assessment score (SMD –0.13 [95% CI –0.26, –0.00]), with no apparent effect on health‐related quality of life, fatigue, self‐reported disability/physical function, mental well‐being, and reduction in pain intensity ≥30%. Clinician‐measured outcomes displayed a small effect on observed disability/physical function (SMD −0.34 [95% CI −0.57, −0.10]), a large effect on physician global assessment score (SMD −0.72 [95% CI −1.18, −0.26]), and no effect on inflammation. No difference in harms existed in terms of the number of withdrawals, adverse events, or serious adverse events. Conclusion: Biopsychosocial rehabilitation produces a significant but clinically small beneficial effect on patient‐reported pain among patients with inflammatory arthritis and OA, with no difference in harm. Methodologic weaknesses were observed in the included trials, suggesting low‐to‐moderate confidence in the estimates of effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fouling control coatings (FCCs) are used to prevent the accumulation of marine biofouling on, e.g., ship hulls, which causes increased fuel consumption and the global spread of non-indigenous species. The standards for performance evaluations of FCCs rely on visual inspections, which induce a degree of subjectivity. The use of RGB images for objective evaluations has already received interest from several authors, but the limited acquired information restricts detailed analyses class-wise. This study demonstrates that hyperspectral imaging (HSI) expands the specificity of biofouling assessments of FCCs by capturing distinguishing spectral features. We developed a staring-type hyperspectral imager using a liquid crystal tunable filter as the wavelength selective element. A novel light-emitting diode illumination system with high and uniform irradiance was designed to compensate for the low-filter transmittance. A spectral library was created from reflectance-calibrated optical signatures of representative biofouling species and coated panels. We trained a neural network on the annotated library to assign a class to each pixel. The model was evaluated on an artificially generated target, and global accuracy of 95% was estimated. The classifier was tested on coated panels (exposed at the CoaST Maritime Test Centre) with visible intergrown biofouling. The segmentation results were used to determine the coverage percentage per class. Although a detailed taxonomic description might be complex due to spectral similarities among groups, these results demonstrate the feasibility of HSI for repeatable and quantifiable biofouling detection on coated surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Net primary productivity (NPP) plays a pivotal role in the global carbon balance but estimating the NPP of underwater habitats remains a challenging task. Seaweeds (marine macroalgae) form the largest and most productive underwater vegetated habitat on Earth. Yet, little is known about the distribution of their NPP at large spatial scales, despite more than 70 years of local-scale studies being scattered throughout the literature. We present a global dataset containing NPP records for 246 seaweed taxa at 429 individual sites distributed on all continents from the intertidal to 55 m depth. All records are standardized to annual aerial carbon production (g C m−2 yr−1) and are accompanied by detailed taxonomic and methodological information. The dataset presented here provides a basis for local, regional and global comparative studies of the NPP of underwater vegetation and is pivotal for achieving a better understanding of the role seaweeds play in the global coastal carbon cycle. Measurement(s) Seaweed net primary productivity Technology Type(s) photorespirometry, biomass accumulation, eddy covariance Factor Type(s) Annual per-area net primary productivity Sample Characteristic - Organism Phaeophyceae • Rhodophyta • Chlorophyta Sample Characteristic - Environment marine biome Sample Characteristic - Location Global [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Macroalgal habitats are believed to be the most extensive and productive of all coastal vegetated ecosystems. In stark contrast to the growing attention on their contribution to carbon export and sequestration, understanding of their global extent and production is limited and these have remained poorly assessed for decades. Here we report a first data‐driven assessment of the global extent and production of macroalgal habitats based on modelled and observed distributions and net primary production (NPP) across habitat types. Location: Global coastal ocean. Time period: Contemporary. Major taxa studied: Macroalgae. Methods: Here we apply a comprehensive niche model to generate an improved global map of potential macroalgal distribution, constrained by incident light on the seafloor and substrate type. We compiled areal net primary production (NPP) rates across macroalgal habitats from the literature and combined this with our estimates of the global extent of these habitats to calculate global macroalgal NPP. Results: We show that macroalgal forests are a major biome with a global area of 6.06–7.22 million km2, dominated by red algae, and NPP of 1.32 Pg C/year, dominated by brown algae. Main conclusions: The global macroalgal biome is comparable, in area and NPP, to the Amazon forest, but is globally distributed as a thin strip around shorelines. Macroalgae are expanding in polar, subpolar and tropical areas, where their potential extent is also largest, likely increasing the overall contribution of algal forests to global carbon sequestration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biofouling on ship hulls can cause increased fuel consumption and the global spread of nonindigenous species. The shipping industry utilizes fouling control coatings (FCC) to prevent biofouling from occurring on the ship hull. The evaluation standards for the performance of FCC are based on manual inspections, which unavoidably induce some degree of subjectivity. A standardized biofouling recognition model using image analysis would provide a more objective basis for the evaluation of FCC. For this purpose, several coated panels were immersed in the ocean at CoaST Maritime Test Centre for an exposure period of six weeks, whereafter, the panels were fully covered with biofouling. The program ilastik was then successfully used to train a pixel classification model, which could provide a simple segmentation of the different biofouling categories detected on a coated surface. From the simple segmentation, a coverage percentage of biofouling was determined. The percentages can stand alone to provide information on the degree of biofouling or be used in combination with the guidelines from the European Chemicals Agency to calculate a fouling resistance rating (FRR). The FRR obtained from the model was compared with FRR values obtained from the manual evaluation of the panels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the development of therapeutic proteins, analytical assessment of structural stability and integrity constitutes an important activity, as protein stability and integrity influence drug efficacy, and ultimately patient safety. Existing analytical methodologies solely rely on relative changes in optical properties such as fluorescence or scattering upon thermal or chemical perturbation. Here, we present an absolute analytical method for assessing protein stability, structure, and unfolding utilizing Taylor dispersion analysis (TDA) and LED-UV fluorescence detection. The developed TDA method measures the change in size (hydrodynamic radius) and intrinsic fluorescence of a protein during in-line denaturation with guanidinium hydrochloride (GuHCl). The conformational stability of the therapeutic antibody adalimumab and human serum albumin were characterized as a function of pH. The simple workflow and low sample consumption (40 ng protein per data point) of the methodology make it ideal for assessing protein characteristics related to stability in early drug development or when having a scarce amount of sample available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Denmark, as with elsewhere in the world, Twitter has emerged as an important arena of public discussion on issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the handling of the crisis by state authorities and health institutions. On the basis of approximately 140,000 tweets from the period between February 24 and April 28, 2020, harvested from Danish Twitter, this report explores how tweeting about mis/trust on this digital platform can be understood as a kind of biopolitical nationalism. Combining computational and qualitative methods, we identify shifting performances of mis/trust and other affects on Danish Twitter and suggest that this "affective public" plays a key role in the public response to the coronavirus crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biopharmaceuticals have revolutionized the treatment of many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune disorders. These complex entities provide unique advantages like high specificity towards their target. Unfortunately, biopharmaceuticals are also prone to elicit undesired immunogenic responses (immunogenicity), compromising treatment efficacy as well as patient safety due to severe adverse effects including life threatening conditions. Current immunogenicity assays are hampered by immobilization procedures, complicated sample pre-treatment, or rely on cell-based methods which all prevent reliable and continuous monitoring of patients. In this work, we present Flow Induced Dispersion Analysis (FIDA) for assessment of immunogenicity and drug activity in serum samples from arthritis patients receiving adalimumab. FIDA is a first principle technique for size-based characterization of biomolecules and their complexes under biologically relevant conditions. The FIDA methodology rely on an absolute and quantitative readout (hydrodynamic radius) thus reducing the need for positive and negative controls. Here, FIDA is applied for evaluating active adalimumab in serum by studying the interaction with its target tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). We report proof of principle for a quantitative approach for stratifying patients exhibiting presence of neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies based on their individual drug activity pattern. Further, it can be applied to any biopharmaceutical having soluble drug targets and it holds potential in a companion diagnostics setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epidermis forms an essential barrier against a variety of insults. The overall goal of this study was to shed light not only on the effects of accidental epidermal injury, but also on the mechanisms that support laser skin resurfacing with intra-epidermal focal laser-induced photodamage, a widespread medical practice used to treat a range of skin conditions. To this end, we selectively photodamaged a single keratinocyte with intense, focused and pulsed laser radiation, triggering Ca2+ waves in the epidermis of live anesthetized mice with ubiquitous expression of a genetically encoded Ca2+ indicator. Waves expanded radially and rapidly, reaching up to eight orders of bystander cells that remained activated for tens of minutes, without displaying oscillations of the cytosolic free Ca2+ concentration (${[ {{\rm{C}}{{\rm{a}}^{2 + }}} ]_c}$). By combining in vivo pharmacological dissection with mathematical modeling, we demonstrate that Ca2+ wave propagation depended primarily on the release of ATP, a prime damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), from the hit cell. Increments of the ${[ {{\rm{C}}{{\rm{a}}^{2 + }}} ]_c}$ in bystander cells were chiefly due to Ca2+ release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), downstream of ATP binding to P2Y purinoceptors. ATP-dependent ATP release though connexin hemichannels (HCs) affected wave propagation at larger distances, where the extracellular ATP concentration was reduced by the combined effect of passive diffusion and hydrolysis due to the action of ectonucleotidases, whereas pannexin channels had no role. Bifurcation analysis suggests basal keratinocytes have too few P2Y receptors (P2YRs) and/or phospholipase C (PLC) to transduce elevated extracellular ATP levels into inositol trisphosphate (IP3) production rates sufficiently large to sustain ${[ {{\rm{C}}{{\rm{a}}^{2 + }}} ]_c}$ oscillations. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-mode oscillations consisting of alternating small- and large-amplitude oscillations are increasingly well understood and are often caused by folded singularities, canard orbits, or singular Hopf bifurcations. We show that coupling between identical nonlinear oscillators can cause mixed-mode oscillations because of symmetry breaking. This behavior is illustrated for diffusively coupled FitzHugh–Nagumo oscillators with negative coupling constant, and we show that it is caused by a singular Hopf bifurcation related to a folded saddle-node (FSN) singularity. Inspired by earlier work on models of pancreatic beta-cells [Sherman, Bull. Math. Biol. 56, 811 (1994)], we then identify a new type of bursting dynamics due to diffusive coupling of cells firing action potentials when isolated. In the presence of coupling, small-amplitude oscillations in the action potential height precede transitions to square-wave bursting. Confirming the hypothesis from the earlier work that this behavior is related to a pitchfork-of-limit-cycles bifurcation in the fast subsystem, we find that it is caused by symmetry breaking. Moreover, we show that it is organized by a FSN in the averaged system, which causes a singular Hopf bifurcation. Such behavior is related to the recently studied dynamics caused by the so-called torus canards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The letter discusses the quality demands for arterial partial pressure of oxygen (pO2) and the lack of criteria available for defining necessary limits for bias and coefficient of variation (CV%). The authors propose quality specifications based on clinical judgments and known information on normal ranges. They suggest that the quality demands for arterial pO2 should include a bias of less than 0.2 kPa, a CV of less than 4%, and a total error of less than 0.5 kPa at levels below 5 kPa. These specifications have been implemented in their laboratories until more scientifically based data becomes available. [Extracted from the article]

Background: The quality of control materials is crucial for evaluating external quality assessment (EQA) results. To detect method differences, the EQA material should behave the same as a patient sample, meaning the material must be commutable. Noncommutable materials may cause misinterpretations of EQA results. Here, we examined the commutability of EQA materials used in 3 Nordic EQA schemes for lipids. Methods: The study was designed according to the procedures recommended for assessing commutability by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Commutability was assessed based on the difference in bias between a control material (CM) and clinical samples (CS) consisting of human plasma using 2 different measurement procedures (MPs). Measurands: LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). Four CMs (CM1–4) were assessed for commutability by using 40 CS and 3 MPs (Abbott Architect, Roche Cobas, and Siemens Atellica). Results: Unmodified native CMs (CM1 and CM3), stored at −80 °C, were commutable for all included measurands, except for LDL-C that was indeterminate, when comparing MPs pairwise. Modified CM2 was noncommutable for HDL-C, LDL-C, non-HDL-C, and LDL-C calculations. Unmodified native CM4, stored at −20°C, was noncommutable for LDL-C. Conclusions: Unmodified serum samples stored at −80 °C were commutable for lipids on the evaluated MPs, and therefore suitable as CMs in EQA schemes. Moreover, the study demonstrated that minor modifications of samples may lead to noncommutability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work principal component analysis (PCA) was used to study the effect of batch, reduction temperature, TiO2 content and UV-C irradiation on the surface energy, -polarity and interlayer spacing of photoactive TiO2/GO composite membranes. Two PCA models were successfully developed. The first PCA model shows a negative correlation between reduction temperature and d-spacing. Less hydrophilic TiO2/GO membranes were obtained at 160 °C compared to membranes reduced at 140 °C. Also, the surface polarity and surface energy were significantly enhanced by the addition of higher TiO2 content. The second model explain the effect of UV-C activation on the surface energy of the TiO2/GO composite membranes. For the GO membranes containing TiO2 a significant increase in surface energy and -polarity was observed after UV-C activation. Moreover, a positive correlation between the TiO2 content and surface energy after UV-C activation was observed. Higher TiO2 content results in higher surface energy. GO batches prepared by different groups was not found to significantly affect the properties of the TiO2/GO composite membranes suggesting that the preparation method is relative robust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention has become an issue of intense political, economic, and moral concern over recent years: from the commodification of attention by digital platforms to the alleged loss of the attentional capacities of screen-addicted children (and their parents). While attention has rarely been an explicit focus of anthropological inquiry, it has still played an important if mostly tacit part in many anthropological debates and subfields. Focusing on anthropological scholarship on digital worlds and ritual forms, we review resources for colleagues interested in this burgeoning topic of research and identify potential avenues for an incipient anthropology of attention, which studies how attentional technologies and techniques mold human minds and bodies in more or less intentional ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human pancreatic beta-cells may exhibit complex mixed-mode oscillatory electrical activity, which underlies insulin secretion. A recent biophysical model of human beta-cell electrophysiology can simulate such bursting behavior, but a mathematical understanding of the model's dynamics is still lacking. Here we exploit time-scale separation to simplify the original model to a simpler three-dimensional model that retains the behavior of the original model and allows us to apply geometric singular perturbation theory to investigate the origin of mixed-mode oscillations. Changing a parameter modeling the maximal conductance of a potassium current, we find that the reduced model possesses a singular Hopf bifurcation that results in small-amplitude oscillations, which go through a period-doubling sequence and chaos until the birth of a large-scale return mechanism and bursting dynamics. The theory of folded node singularities provide insight into the bursting dynamics further away from the singular Hopf bifurcation and the eventual transition to simple spiking activity. Numerical simulations confirm that the insight obtained from the analysis of the reduced model can be lifted back to the original model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the environment is getting warmer and species are redistributed, consumers can be forced to adjust their interactions with available prey, and this could have cascading effects within food webs. To better understand the capacity for foraging flexibility, our study aimed to determine the diet variability of an ectotherm omnivore inhabiting kelp forests, the sea urchin Echinus esculentus, along its entire latitudinal distribution in the northeast Atlantic. Using a combination of gut content and stable isotope analyses, we determined the diet and trophic position of sea urchins at sites in Portugal (42° N), France (49° N), southern Norway (63° N), and northern Norway (70° N), and related these results to the local abundance and distribution of putative food items. With mean estimated trophic levels ranging from 2.4 to 4.6, omnivory and diet varied substantially within and between sites but not across latitudes. Diet composition generally reflected prey availability within epiphyte or understorey assemblages, with local affinities demonstrating that the sea urchin adjusts its foraging to match the small-scale distribution of food items. A net "preference" for epiphytic food sources was found in northern Norway, where understorey food was limited compared to other regions. We conclude that diet change may occur in response to food source redistribution at multiple spatial scales (microhabitats, sites, regions). Across these scales, the way that key consumers alter their foraging in response to food availability can have important implication for food web dynamics and ecosystem functions along current and future environmental gradients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy was the first Western country to be seriously affected by COVID-19, and the first to implement drastic measures, which successfully curtailed the first wave of the epidemic. To understand which containment measures altered disease dynamics, we estimated change points in COVID-19 dynamics from official Italian data. We found an excellent correlation between nationwide lockdown and the epidemic peak in late March 2020. Surprisingly, we found a change point in mid-April, which did not correspond to national measures, but may be explained by regional interventions. Change points in regional COVID-19 dynamics correlated well with local distribution of free face masks and regional orders requiring their mandatory use. Regions with no specific interventions showed no change point during April. Our findings of the observed correlation between face mask use and disease dynamics lend further support to the importance of face masks in addition to lockdowns and other restrictions for the control of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The world has failed the Rohingya. Yet, the essence of this failure is widely misunderstood. While the existing literature on the Rohingya crisis tends to blame specific agents for having failed to fulfil their obligations under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), this article directs our attention to the structural obstacles to mass atrocity prevention in Myanmar. Given the high risk of mass atrocities against the Rohingya and low feasibility of effective protection under any of the three pillars of R2P, it concludes that it was never plausible that R2P could work in this case. The idiom of R2P 'black holes' is introduced to denote situations where nothing that can realistically be done within the framework of R2P is likely to be sufficient to prevent mass atrocities or protect the victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding and characterization of protein interactions is crucial for elucidation of complicated biomolecular processes as well as for the development of new biopharmaceutical therapies. Often, protein interactions involve multiple binding, avidity, oligomerization, and are dependent on the local environment. Current analytical methodologies are unable to provide a detailed mechanistic characterization considering all these parameters, since they often rely on surface immobilization, cannot measure under biorelevant conditions, or do not feature a structurally-related readout for indicating formation of multiple bound species. In this work, we report the use of flow induced dispersion analysis (FIDA) for in-solution characterization of complex protein interactions under in vivo like conditions. FIDA is an immobilization-free ligand binding methodology employing Taylor dispersion analysis for measuring the hydrodynamic radius (size) of biomolecular complexes. Here, the FIDA technology is utilized for a size-based characterization of the interaction between TNF-α and adalimumab. We report concentration-dependent complex sizes, binding affinities (Kd), kinetics, and higher order stoichiometries, thus providing essential information on the TNF-α–adalimumab binding mechanism. Furthermore, it is shown that the avidity stabilized complexes involving formation of multiple non-covalent bonds are formed on a longer timescale than the primary complexes formed in a simple 1 to 1 binding event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal consultation when designing new rules and regulations is a commonly used method to ensure regulatory quality. The foundation for this method of involvement is that it allows transparent and open transfer of knowledge from for instance organised interests to government bodies, and that it enables an easier filtering of expert advice from political idiosyncrasies among consultation partners. It is, however, an open question as to whether consultation is in fact efficient in doing so. To investigate that questions, this paper examines the Danish formal consultation system. The study examines response rates and concludes that the Danish consultation system is highly - and perhaps increasingly so - prioritised both in the administration and among consultation partners. However, previous studies have shown that the system has little practical effect on legislation. These two - response rates and amenability - are then coupled to discuss the system's efficiency. The system's inefficiency - it demands a lot of energy and priority but has little effect - stress that the main function of the system cannot be said to be its contribution to regulatory quality. Instead, it serves other aims - aims that are not reflected in the system's design and use. This causes a mismatch between expectations and practice and calls for renewed discussion - both theoretical and practical - on the role of formal consultation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article has two objectives. In the first part, I present a critical overview of the extensive anthropological literature that may be deemed "phenomenological." Following this critique, which is built up around a classification into four different varieties of phenomenological anthropology, I discuss the relationship between phenomenological anthropology and the ontological turn (OT). Contrary to received wisdom within the anthropological discipline, I suggest that OT has several things in common with the phenomenological project. For the same reason, I argue, it is not accurate to posit OT and phenomenology as opposing or antagonistic projects, as they are often depicted among critics and advocates of OT alike. On the contrary, I go as far as suggesting, OT may be understood as one of the most concerted attempts anthropology has produced to realize a distinctly anthropological version of Husserl's method of phenomenological bracketing, namely what could be called the ontological epoché. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first correlated ab initio four-component calculations of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) g-tensors for doublet radicals are reported. We have implemented a first-order degenerate perturbation theory approach based on the four-component Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian and fully relativistic configuration interaction wave functions in the DIRAC program package. We find that the correlation effects on the g-tensors can be sufficiently well described with manageable basis sets of triple-zeta quality and manageable configuration spaces. The new fully relativistic EPR module in DIRAC should be useful for benchmarking density functional theory approaches, however, with future optimization of the code we believe it will also be useful for applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing imperative for societies to act to curb climate change by increasing carbon stores and sinks, it has become critical to understand how organic carbon is produced, released, transformed, transported, and sequestered within and across ecosystems. In freshwater and open-ocean systems, shredders play a significant and well-known role in transforming and mobilizing carbon, but their role in the carbon cycle of coastal ecosystems is largely unknown. Marine plants such as kelps produce vast amounts of detritus, which can be captured and consumed by shedders as it traverses the seafloor. We measured capture and consumption rates of kelp detritus by sea urchins across four sampling periods and over a range of kelp detritus production rates and sea urchin densities, in northern Norway. When sea urchin densities exceeded 4 m−2, the sea urchins captured and consumed a high percentage (ca. 80%) of kelp detritus on shallow reefs. We calculated that between 1.3 and 10.8 kg of kelp m−2 are shredded annually from these reefs. We used a hydrodynamic dispersal model to show that transformation of kelp blades to sea urchin feces increased its export distance fourfold. Our findings show that sea urchins can accelerate and extend the export of carbon to neighboring areas. This collector–shredder pathway could represent a significant flow of small particulate carbon from kelp forests to deep-sea areas, where it can subsidize benthic communities or contribute to the global carbon sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and fate of seaweed detritus is a major unknown in the global C-budget. Knowing the quantity of detritus produced, the form it takes (size) and its timing of delivery are key to understanding its role as a resource subsidy to secondary production and/or its potential contribution to C-sequestration. We quantified the production and release of detritus from 10 Laminaria hyperborea sites in northern Norway (69.6° N). Kelp biomass averaged 770 ± 100 g C m−2 while net production reached 499 ± 50 g C m−2 year−1, with most taking place in spring when new blades were formed. Production of biomass was balanced by a similar formation of detritus (478 ± 41 g C m−2 year−1), and both were unrelated to wave exposure when compared across sites. Distal blade erosion accounted for 23% of the total detritus production and was highest during autumn and winter, while dislodgment of whole individuals and/or whole blades corresponded to 24% of the detritus production. Detachment of old blades constituted the largest source of kelp detritus, accounting for > 50% of the total detrital production. Almost 80% of the detritus from L. hyperborea was thus in the form of whole plants or blades and > 60% of that was delivered as a large pulse within 1–2 months in spring. The discrete nature of the delivery suggests that the detritus cannot be retained and consumed locally and that some is exported to adjacent deep areas where it may subsidize secondary production or become buried into deep marine sediments as blue carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Random linear network coding (RLNC) can enhance the reliability of multimedia transmissions over lossy communication channels. However, RLNC has been designed for equal size packets, while many efficient multimedia compression schemes, such as variable bitrate (VBR) video compression, produce unequal packet sizes. Padding the unequal packet sizes with zeros to the maximum packet size creates an overhead on the order of 20%–50% or more for typical VBR videos. Previous padding overhead reduction approaches have focused on packing the unequal packet sizes into fixed size packets, e.g., through packet bundling or chaining and fragmentation. We introduce an alternative padding reduction approach based on coding macro-symbols (MSs), whereby an MS is a fixed-sized part of a packet. In particular, we introduce a new class of RLNC, namely MS RLNC which conducts RLNC across columns of MSs, instead of the conventional RLNC across columns of complete packets of equal size. Judiciously arranging the source packets into columns of MSs, e.g., through shifting the source packets horizontally relative to each other, supports favorable MS RLNC coding properties. We specify the MS RLNC encoding and decoding mechanisms and analyze their complexity for a range of specific MS arrangement strategies within the class of MS RLNC. We conduct a comprehensive padding overhead evaluation encompassing both previous approaches of packing the unequal size packets into fixed size packets as well as the novel MS RLNC approaches with long VBR video frame size traces. We find that for small RLNC generation sizes that support low network transport delays, MS RLNC achieves the lowest padding overheads; while for large generation sizes, both the previous packing approaches and the novel MS RLNC approaches effectively reduce the padding overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bursting is a type of electrical activity seen in many neurons and endocrine cells where episodes of action potential firing are interspersed by silent phases. Here, we investigate partial synchrony and wave propagation in a population of square-wave bursters. In particular, by using a prototypical polynomial bursting model and slow/fast bifurcation analysis, we study why electrically coupled model bursters typically synchronize very easily, as reflected in the tendency for simulated excitation waves to propagate far into the region of silent cells when an excitation gradient is imposed. Such simulation is inspired by, but does not reproduce, experimentally observed Ca2+ waves in pancreatic islets exposed to a glucose gradient. Our analyses indicate a possible modification of the model so that the excitation waves stop at the border between "active" and "silent" cells. We verify this property by simulations using such a modified model for a chain, and for a cubic cluster, of coupled cells. Furthermore, we show how our one- and two-parameter bifurcation analyses allow us to predict where the simulated waves stop, for both the original model and the modified version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction to this issue of this journal that offers new and solid ethnographic research from a diverse range of geographic settings.

Glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells is controlled by a triggering pathway that culminates in calcium influx and regulated exocytosis of secretory granules, and by a less understood amplifying pathway that augments calcium-induced exocytosis. In response to an abrupt increase in glucose concentration, insulin secretion exhibits a first peak followed by a lower sustained second phase. This biphasic secretion pattern is disturbed in diabetes. It has been attributed to depletion and subsequent refilling of a readily releasable pool of granules or to the phasic cytosolic calcium dynamics induced by glucose. Here, we apply mathematical modeling to experimental data from mouse islets to investigate how calcium and granule pool dynamics interact to control dynamic insulin secretion. Experimental calcium traces are used as inputs in three increasingly complex models of pool dynamics, which are fitted to insulin secretory patterns obtained using a set of protocols of glucose and tolbutamide stimulation. New calcium and secretion data for so-called staircase protocols, in which the glucose concentration is progressively increased, are presented. These data can be reproduced without assuming any heterogeneity in the model, in contrast to previous modeling, because of nontrivial calcium dynamics. We find that amplification by glucose can be explained by increased mobilization and priming of granules. Overall, our results indicate that calcium dynamics contribute substantially to shaping insulin secretion kinetics, which implies that better insight into the events creating phasic calcium changes in human β-cells is needed to understand the cellular mechanisms that disturb biphasic insulin secretion in diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to launch preliminary investigations into the alleged deportation of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity by Myanmar's military leaders during army ‘clearance operations' in Northern Rakhine State. Topics discussed include the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA); and Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called on the United Nation's Security Council.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) government has struggled to deliver Initially, the Myanmar government seemed to respond to the growing pressure The Myanmar government has flatly rejected all efforts by the. [Extracted from the article]

The actuator disk is a well‐known and widely used theoretical tool in wind engineering. This work proposes a new theory based on an actuator surface, capable of treating time‐varying vectorial load distributions and yaw/pitch misalignment. A simplified representation of vortex motion is used to arrive at a tractable problem. The theory is not restricted to disks; arbitrary coplanar (optionally disjoint) actuator surfaces may be modeled. Some of the theoretical novelties used in the modeling includes use of the fractional Laplacian and extensive use of the Fourier transform on R2. Promising experimental validation based on pitch‐step experiments at the Tjæreborg turbine is furnished. Comparisons are also made to existing methodologies. Analysis and numerical work shows that the model encapsulates Coleman's vortex theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistors (EGOFETs) have been fabricated using 6,13-Bis (triisopropyl-silylethynyl) pentacene (TIPS-pentacene) as an organic semiconductor active material. Despite the organic semiconductor being deposited in air by drop casting, our EGOFETs showed performance comparable with state-of-the-art technologies, and devices kept their functionalities while gated with saline solution at 37 °C for several days. In addition, the biocompatibility of the material was successfully investigated, promoting the use of TIPS-pentacene -based EGOFETs for biosensing applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perennial ryegrass is an outbreeding forage species and is one of the most widely used forage grasses in temperate regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of implementing genomic prediction in tetraploid perennial ryegrass, to study the effects of different sequencing depth when using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS), and to determine optimal number of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and sequencing depth for GBS data when applied in tetraploids. A total of 1,515 F2 tetraploid ryegrass families were included in the study and phenotypes and genotypes were scored on family-pools. The traits considered were dry matter yield (DM), rust resistance (RUST), and heading date (HD). The genomic information was obtained in the form of allele frequencies of pooled family samples using GBS. Different SNP filtering strategies were designed. The strategies included filtering out SNPs having low average depth (FILTLOW), having high average depth (FILTHIGH), and having both low average and high average depth (FILTBOTH). In addition, SNPs were kept randomly with different data sizes (RAN). The accuracy of genomic prediction was evaluated by using a “leave single F2 family out” cross validation scheme, and the predictive ability and bias were assessed by correlating phenotypes corrected for fixed effects with predicted additive breeding values. Among all the filtering scenarios, the highest estimates for genomic heritability of family means were 0.45, 0.74, and 0.73 for DM, HD and RUST, respectively. The predictive ability generally increased as the number of SNPs included in the analysis increased. The highest predictive ability for DM was 0.34 (137,191 SNPs having average depth higher than 10), for HD was 0.77 (185,297 SNPs having average depth lower than 60), and for RUST was 0.55 (188,832 SNPs having average depth higher than 1). Genomic prediction can help to optimize the breeding of tetraploid ryegrass. GBS data including about 80–100 K SNPs are needed for accurate prediction of additive breeding values in tetraploid ryegrass. Using only SNPs with sequencing depth between 10 and 20 gave highest predictive ability, and showed the potential to obtain accurate prediction from medium-low coverage GBS in tetraploids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ongoing climate changes alter a broad range environmental variables in coastal ecosystems, which may lead to changes in species range distributions or collapse of populations. It is often assumed that changes in environmental parameters affect organisms in a nonadditive way and multifactorial experiments are therefore needed to obtain a better prediction of the effects of climate change. We studied experimentally how combinations of high temperature, low light and high nitrogen (HN) availability affect eelgrass (Zostera marina), which is an important foundation species on the northern hemisphere. Plants were cultured under optimal (15°C) and high (25°C) temperature, limiting and saturating light, and low and high ammonium availability in a 3‐factorial design. We found that individual exposure to heat and shade, respectively, had a negative effect on eelgrass while the effect of exposure to HN‐availability alone was less harmful. Exposure to combinations of two or three stressors simultaneously had a stronger (negative) effect on eelgrass than exposure to each stressor individually, but the combined effects of exposure to multiple stressors were largely similar to the expected additive responses. A synergetic effect was only found in case of mortality when eelgrass plants were exposed to all three stressors simultaneously. The effects of exposure to single or multiple stressors could largely be explained from alterations in the C‐budget of the plants: exposure to one or more stressors lowered the acquisition of C, drained the C‐reserves and sometimes allocated energy to defense or repair processes instead of growth resulting in reduced growth and higher mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic β-cells show multiple intrinsic modes of oscillation with bursting electrical activity playing a crucial role. Bursting is seen both in experimentally isolated β-cells as well as in electrically coupled cells in the pancreatic islets, but the burst period is typically an order of magnitude greater in coupled cells. This difference has previously been attributed to noisier dynamics, or perturbed electrophysiological properties, in isolated β-cells. Here, we show that diffusive coupling alone can extend the period more than ten-fold in bursting oscillators modeled with a so-called phantom burster model and analyze this result with slow-fast bifurcation analysis of an electrically coupled pair of cells. Our results should be applicable to other scenarios where coupling of bursting units, e.g., neurons, may increase the oscillation period drastically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource subsidies in the form of allochthonous primary production drive secondary production in many ecosystems, often sustaining diversity and overall productivity. Despite their importance in structuring marine communities, there is little understanding of how subsidies move through juxtaposed habitats and into recipient communities. We investigated the transport of detritus from kelp forests to a deep Arctic fjord (northern Norway). We quantified the seasonal abundance and size structure of kelp detritus in shallow subtidal (0‒12 m), deep subtidal (12‒85 m), and deep fjord (400‒450 m) habitats using a combination of camera surveys, dive observations, and detritus collections over 1 year. Detritus formed dense accumulations in habitats adjacent to kelp forests, and the timing of depositions coincided with the discrete loss of whole kelp blades during spring. We tracked these blades through the deep subtidal and into the deep fjord, and showed they act as a short-term resource pulse transported over several weeks. In deep subtidal regions, detritus consisted mostly of fragments and its depth distribution was similar across seasons (50% of total observations). Tagged pieces of detritus moved slowly out of kelp forests (displaced 4‒50 m (mean 11.8 m ± 8.5 SD) in 11‒17 days, based on minimum estimates from recovered pieces), and most (75%) variability in the rate of export was related to wave exposure and substrate. Tight resource coupling between kelp forests and deep fjords indicate that changes in kelp abundance would propagate through to deep fjord ecosystems, with likely consequences for the ecosystem functioning and services they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Consultation of interests is often seen as a source of both input and output legitimacy. However, consultation only strengthens output legitimacy if it leads to improvements in legislative proposals. This detailed study of consultation reports in Denmark - chosen as a most-likely case when it comes to consultation having an effect on the substance of laws - shows a major difference in the amenability of different governmental branches but that, in general, the authorities do not listen much despite a strong tradition of consultation. This risks jeopardising the transfer of knowledge from societal actors to administrations, thus having a detrimental effect on the potential that consultation has to strengthen output legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]