Energy Dependent Contrast in Atomic-Scale Spin-Polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscopy ofMn3N2(010): Experiment and First-Principles Theory

The technique of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy is investigated for its use in determining fine details of surface magnetic structure down to the atomic scale. As a model sample, the row-wise anti-ferromagnetic Mn3N2(010) surface is studied. It is shown that the magnetic contrast in atomic-scale images is a strong function of the bias voltage around the Fermi level. Inversion of the magnetic contrast is also demonstrated. The experimental SP-STM images and height profiles are compared with simulated SP-STM images and height profiles based on spin-polarized density functional theory. The success of different tip models in reproducing the non-magnetic and magnetic STM data is explored.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

The Evolutionary and Phylogeographic History of Woolly Mammoths: A Comprehensive Mitogenomic Analysis

Near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, populations of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) were distributed across parts of three continents, from western Europe and northern Asia through Beringia to the Atlantic seaboard of North America. Nonetheless, questions about the connectivity and temporal continuity of mammoth populations and species remain unanswered. We use a combination of targeted enrichment and high-throughput sequencing to assemble and interpret a data set of 143 mammoth mitochondrial genomes, sampled from fossils recovered from across their Holarctic range. Our dataset includes 54 previously unpublished mitochondrial genomes and significantly increases the coverage of the Eurasian range of the species. The resulting global phylogeny confirms that the Late Pleistocene mammoth population comprised three distinct mitochondrial lineages that began to diverge ∼1.0-2.0 million years ago (Ma). We also find that mammoth mitochondrial lineages were strongly geographically partitioned throughout the Pleistocene. In combination, our genetic results and the pattern of morphological variation in time and space suggest that male-mediated gene flow, rather than large-scale dispersals, was important in the Pleistocene evolutionary history of mammoths

A review of career devoted to biophotonics-in memoriam to Ekaterina Borisova (1978-2021)

Regretfully, because of her sudden demise, Assoc. Prof. Ekaterina Borisova is no longer amongst us. COVID-19 pulled away a brilliant scientist during the peak of her scientific career (see Fig. 1). All authors would like to express deepest condolences and sincere support to her family, friends, relatives and colleagues! We, therefore, rightfully commemorate her dedicated and devoted contribution to biophotonics, her readiness to always support, help, motivate and inspire all her colleagues and collaborators

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world\u27s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (−0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km² resolution for 0–5 and 5–15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e., offset) between in-situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km² pixels (summarized from 8500 unique temperature sensors) across all the world’s major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in-situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Global maps of soil temperature.

Research in global change ecology relies heavily on global climatic grids derived from estimates of air temperature in open areas at around 2 m above the ground. These climatic grids do not reflect conditions below vegetation canopies and near the ground surface, where critical ecosystem functions occur and most terrestrial species reside. Here, we provide global maps of soil temperature and bioclimatic variables at a 1-km2 resolution for 0-5 and 5-15 cm soil depth. These maps were created by calculating the difference (i.e. offset) between in situ soil temperature measurements, based on time series from over 1200 1-km2 pixels (summarized from 8519 unique temperature sensors) across all the world's major terrestrial biomes, and coarse-grained air temperature estimates from ERA5-Land (an atmospheric reanalysis by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts). We show that mean annual soil temperature differs markedly from the corresponding gridded air temperature, by up to 10°C (mean = 3.0 ± 2.1°C), with substantial variation across biomes and seasons. Over the year, soils in cold and/or dry biomes are substantially warmer (+3.6 ± 2.3°C) than gridded air temperature, whereas soils in warm and humid environments are on average slightly cooler (-0.7 ± 2.3°C). The observed substantial and biome-specific offsets emphasize that the projected impacts of climate and climate change on near-surface biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are inaccurately assessed when air rather than soil temperature is used, especially in cold environments. The global soil-related bioclimatic variables provided here are an important step forward for any application in ecology and related disciplines. Nevertheless, we highlight the need to fill remaining geographic gaps by collecting more in situ measurements of microclimate conditions to further enhance the spatiotemporal resolution of global soil temperature products for ecological applications

Effects of allelic variations in the human myxovirus resistance protein A on its antiviral activity

Only a minority of patients infected with seasonal influenza A viruses exhibit a severe or fatal outcome of infection, but the reasons for this inter-individual variability in influenza susceptibility are unclear. To gain further insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying this variability, we investigated naturally occurring allelic variations of the myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1) gene coding for the influenza restriction factor MxA. The interferon-induced dynamin-like GTPase consists of an N-terminal GTPase domain, a bundle signaling element, and a C-terminal stalk responsible for oligomerization and viral target recognition. We used online databases to search for variations in the MX1 gene. Deploying in vitro approaches, we found that non-synonymous variations in the GTPase domain cause the loss of antiviral and enzymatic activities. Furthermore, we showed that these amino acid substitutions disrupt the interface for GTPase domain dimerization required for the stimulation of GTP hydrolysis. Variations in the stalk were neutral or slightly enhanced or abolished MxA antiviral function. Remarkably, two other stalk variants altered MxA's antiviral specificity. Variations causing the loss of antiviral activity were found only in heterozygous carriers. Interestingly, the inactive stalk variants blocked the antiviral activity of WT MxA in a dominant-negative way, suggesting that heterozygotes are phenotypically MxA-negative. In contrast, the GTPase-deficient variants showed no dominant-negative effect, indicating that heterozygous carriers should remain unaffected. Our results demonstrate that naturally occurring mutations in the human MX1 gene can influence MxA function, which may explain individual variations in influenza virus susceptibility in the human population

Correlations of TASEP predictions with independent PA datasets.

<p>Spearman rank correlation coefficients <i>r</i> for are reported; <i>J</i>′ is the partial correlation between <i>J</i> and PA given mRNA.</p