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Evaluating the relative importance of precipitation, temperature and land-cover change in the hydrologic response to extreme meteorological drought conditions over the North American High Plains
Drought is a natural disaster that may become more common in the future under climate change. It involves changes to temperature, precipitation and/or land cover, but the relative contributions of each of these factors to overall drought severity is not clear. Here we apply a high-resolution integrated hydrologic model of the High Plains to explore the individual importance of each of these factors and the feedbacks between them. The model was constructed using ParFlow-CLM, which represents surface and subsurface processes in detail with physically based equations. Numerical experiments were run to perturb vegetation, precipitation and temperature separately and in combination. Results show that decreased precipitation caused larger anomalies in evapotranspiration, soil moisture, stream flow and water table levels than increased temperature or disturbed land cover did. However, these factors are not linearly additive when applied in combination; some effects of multifactor runs came from interactions between temperature, precipitation and land cover. Spatial scale was important in characterizing impacts, as unpredictable and nonlinear impacts at small scales aggregate to predictable, linear large-scale behavior.National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a US Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility [DE-AC02-05CH11231]; National Science Foundation through its Water Sustainability and Climate (WSC) program; NSF [1204787]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
Gendered play behaviours in autistic and non-autistic children:a population-based cohort study
Lay abstractNon-autistic children tend to show gendered patterns of play behaviours - boys are more likely to play with 'masculine' toys, and girls are more likely to play with 'feminine' toys. However, little is known about whether autistic children follow these patterns as well. We looked at the masculinity and femininity of autistic and non-autistic children's play behaviours at multiple time points. Parents reported their children's play behaviours at ages 30, 42 and 57 months, and children reported their own play behaviours at 8 years old. We found no difference between autistic and non-autistic girls, who both showed more feminine play behaviours as they got older. Autistic boys' play behaviours were reported as less masculine than non-autistic boys at 42 and 57 months, and at 8 years old. We also found that non-autistic boys' play tended to become more masculine as they got older, but this was not the case for autistic boys. Our findings suggest that differences in autistic and non-autistic boys' play behaviours may develop at around 42 months old
Benthic organic carbon release stimulates bacterioplankton production in a clear-water subarctic lake
We carried out a set of experiments in a small clear-water lake in northern Sweden during summer 2010 to assess the effect of organic C (OC) released from epipelic algae on pelagic bacterial production (BP). The release rate of OC (dissolved and particulate) from epipelic algae was ,45.4 ng C m22 h21 . Bacterioplankton uptake of dissolved OC was P-limited, and pelagic primary production (PP) was colimited by N and P. Pelagic BP (3.2 6 6 mgCL21 h21 ) exceeded pelagic PP (0.012 6 0.008 mg C L21 h21 ). Pelagic BP was higher in lake water in contact with sediments and the epipelic algae growing on their surface than in water separated from the sediments. Epipelic algae release OC to lake water and potentially stimulate pelagic BP. However, exploitation of benthic OC probably is suboptimal because of nutrient limitation (primarily by inorganic P) of BP.Fil: Rodriguez, Patricia Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de EcologÃa, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina; Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de EcologÃa, Genética y Evolución; Argentina;Fil: Ask, Jenny. Umea University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science; Suecia;Fil: Hein, Catherine L.. Umea University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science. Climate Impacts Research Center; Suecia;Fil: Jansson, Mats. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de EcologÃa, Genética y Evolución; Argentina;Fil: Karlsson, Jan. Umea University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Science. Climate Impacts Research Center; Suecia
Molluscan aminostratigraphy of the US Mid-Atlantic Quaternary coastal system: Implications for onshore-offshore correlation, paleochannel and barrier island evolution, and local late Quaternary sea-level history
The Quaternary record of the US Mid-Atlantic coastal system includes onshore emergent late Pleistocene shoreline deposits, offshore inner shelf and barrier island units, and paleovalleys formed during multiple glacial stage sea-level lowstands. The geochronology of this coastal system is based on uranium series, radiocarbon, amino acid racemization (AAR), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods. We report over 600 mollusk AAR results from 93 sites between northeastern North Carolina and the central New Jersey shelf, representing samples from both onshore cores or outcrops, sub-barrier and offshore cores, and transported shells from barrier island beaches. AAR age estimates are constrained by paired 14C analyses on specific shells and associated U-series coral ages from onshore sites. AAR data from offshore cores are interpreted in the context of detailed seismic stratigraphy. The distribution of Pleistocene-age shells on the island beaches is linked to the distribution of inner shelf or sub-barrier source units. Age mixing over a range of time-scales (~1 ka to ~100 ka) is identified by AAR results from onshore, beach, and shelf collections, often contributing insights into the processes forming individual barrier islands. The regional aminostratigraphic framework identifies a widespread late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stage 5) aminozone, with isolated records of middle and early Pleistocene deposition. AAR results provide age estimates for the timing of formation of the three major paleochannels that underlie the Delmarva Peninsula: Persimmon Point paleochannel ≥800 ka; Exmore paleochannel ~400–500 ka (MIS 12); and Eastville paleochannel \u3e 125 ka (MIS 6). The results demonstrate the value of synthesizing abundant AAR chronologic data across various coastal environments, integrating multiple distinct geologic studies. The ages and elevations of the Quaternary units are important for current hypotheses about relative sea-level history and crustal dynamics in the region, which was likely influenced by the Laurentide ice sheet, the margin just ~400 km to the north
Anthropogenic controls on overwash deposition: Evidence and consequences
Accelerated sea level rise and the potential for an increase in frequency of the most intense hurricanes due to climate change threaten the vitality and habitability of barrier islands by lowering their relative elevation and altering frequency of overwash. High-density development may further increase island vulnerability by restricting delivery of overwash to the subaerial island. We analyzed pre-Hurricane Sandy and post-Hurricane Sandy (2012) lidar surveys of the New Jersey coast to assess human influence on barrier overwash, comparing natural environments to two developed environments (commercial and residential) using shore-perpendicular topographic profiles. The volumes of overwash delivered to residential and commercial environments are reduced by 40% and 90%, respectively, of that delivered to natural environments. We use this analysis and an exploratory barrier island evolution model to assess long-term impacts of anthropogenic structures. Simulations suggest that natural barrier islands may persist under a range of likely future sea level rise scenarios (7-13mm/yr), whereas developed barrier islands will have a long-term tendency toward drowning
Identification and characterization of archaeal and bacterial F420-dependent thioredoxin reductases
The thioredoxin pathway is an antioxidant system present in most organisms. Electrons flow from a thioredoxin reductase to thioredoxin at the expense of a specific electron donor. Most known thioredoxin reductases rely on NADPH as reducing cofactor. Yet, in 2016 a new type of thioredoxin reductase was discovered in archaea which utilizes instead a reduced deazaflavin cofactor (F 420 H 2 ). For this reason, the respective enzyme was named deazaflavin-dependent flavin-containing thioredoxin reductase (DFTR). To have a broader understanding of the biochemistry of DFTRs, we identified and characterized two other archaeal representatives. A detailed kinetic study, which included pre-steady state kinetic analyses, revealed these two DFTRs are highly specific for F 420 H 2 while displaying marginal activity with NADPH. Nevertheless, they share mechanistic features with the canonical thioredoxin reductases that dependent on NADPH (NTRs). A detailed structural analysis led the identification of two key residues that tune cofactor specificity of DFTRs. This allowed us to propose a DFTR-specific sequence motif that enabled for the first time the identification and experimental characterization of a bacterial DFTR. </p
A conserved sequence motif in the Escherichia coli soluble FAD-containing pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase is important for reaction efficiency
Soluble pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenases (STHs) are flavoenzymes involved in the redox homeostasis of the essential cofactors NAD(H) and NADP(H). They catalyze the reversible transfer of reducing equivalents between the two nicotinamide cofactors. The soluble transhydrogenase from Escherichia coli (SthA) has found wide use in both in vivo and in vitro applications to steer reducing equivalents toward NADPH-requiring reactions. However, mechanistic insight into SthA function is still lacking. In this work, we present a biochemical characterization of SthA, focusing for the first time on the reactivity of the flavoenzyme with molecular oxygen. We report on oxidase activity of SthA that takes place both during transhydrogenation and in the absence of an oxidized nicotinamide cofactor as an electron acceptor. We find that this reaction produces the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide and superoxide anion. Furthermore, we explore the evolutionary significance of the well-conserved CXXXXT motif that distinguishes STHs from the related family of flavoprotein disulfide reductases in which a CXXXXC motif is conserved. Our mutational analysis revealed the cysteine and threonine combination in SthA leads to better coupling efficiency of transhydrogenation and reduced reactive oxygen species release compared to enzyme variants with mutated motifs. These results expand our mechanistic understanding of SthA by highlighting reactivity with molecular oxygen and the importance of the evolutionarily conserved sequence motif.Fil: Partipilo, Michele. University of Groningen; PaÃses BajosFil: Yang, Guang. University of Groningen; PaÃses BajosFil: Mascotti, MarÃa Laura. University of Groningen; PaÃses Bajos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias FÃsico Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Investigaciones Biológicas de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Wijma, Hein J.. University of Groningen; PaÃses BajosFil: Slotboom, Dirk Jan. University of Groningen; PaÃses BajosFil: Fraaije, Marco Wilhelmus. University of Groningen; PaÃses Bajo
Generating Realistic Counterfactuals for Retinal Fundus and OCT Images using Diffusion Models
Counterfactual reasoning is often used in clinical settings to explain
decisions or weigh alternatives. Therefore, for imaging based specialties such
as ophthalmology, it would be beneficial to be able to create counterfactual
images, illustrating answers to questions like "If the subject had had diabetic
retinopathy, how would the fundus image have looked?". Here, we demonstrate
that using a diffusion model in combination with an adversarially robust
classifier trained on retinal disease classification tasks enables the
generation of highly realistic counterfactuals of retinal fundus images and
optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scans. The key to the realism of
counterfactuals is that these classifiers encode salient features indicative
for each disease class and can steer the diffusion model to depict disease
signs or remove disease-related lesions in a realistic way. In a user study,
domain experts also found the counterfactuals generated using our method
significantly more realistic than counterfactuals generated from a previous
method, and even indistinguishable from real images
First detection of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes ricinus ticks from northern Italy.
Borrelia miyamotoi is a spirochete transmitted by several ixodid tick species. It causes a relapsing fever in humans and is currently considered as an emerging pathogen. In Europe, B. miyamotoi seems to occur at low prevalence in Ixodes ricinus ticks but has a wide distribution. Here we report the first detection of B. miyamotoi in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in two independent studies conducted in 2016 in the north-eastern and north-western Alps, Italy
Civil conflict, federalism and strategic delegation of leadership
This article analyzes negative externalities that policymakers in one region or group may impose upon the citizens of neighboring regions or groups. These externalities may be material, but they may also be psychological (in the form of envy). The latter form of externality may arise from the production of 'conspicuous' public goods. As a result, decentralized provision of conspicuous public goods may be too high. Potentially, a centralized legislature may internalize negative externalities. However, in a model with strategic delegation, we argue that the median voter in each jurisdiction may anticipate a reduction in local public goods supply and delegate to a policymaker who cares more for public goods than she does herself. This last effect mitigates the expected benefits of policy centralization. The authors' theory is then applied to the setting of civil conflict, where they discuss electoral outcomes in Northern Ireland and Yugoslavia before and after significant institutional changes that affected the degree of centralization. These case studies provide support for the authors' theoretical predictions
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