Abstract The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) plays a crucial role in past, present, and future climate, and there is substantial interest in using sea surface temperature (SST) as a fingerprint of past AMOC strength. Using a hierarchy of climate model ensembles, we find that the decline in AMOC, and its SST fingerprint within the North Atlantic warming hole region, are sensitive to external forcing level and wind driven ocean forcing. Once external forcing reaches a level at which sea ice melt increases the Labrador Sea vertical salinity gradient, localized cooling and resulting expansion of the sea ice edge decrease vertical mechanical stirring. Under greenhouse gas only forcing, this mechanism plays a large role and under SSP3.70 forcing, it plays a relatively minor role due to larger buoyancy forcing. This implies that an AMOC fingerprint developed from one simulation or external forcing level cannot be applied to other scenarios.

Abstract The UK recorded its first exceedance of 40°C in July 2022. To assess the current chance of recurrence, we use a large climate model ensemble approach and find the 2023 return period to be 1-in-24 years (1/20–1/29 years confidence interval). However, the likelihood of 40°C has been accelerating and we estimate a 50–50 chance of another exceedance in the next 12 years, 4 years earlier than in a static 2023 climate. Far higher temperatures – over 45°C – and more sustained heatwaves may be possible today. Improved understanding of baseline exposure to temperature extremes could inform strategic heatwave preparation.

The OpenStreetMap Mobility Demand Generator (OMOD) is an open-source tool that creates realistic synthetic mobility demand for any region in Germany. The tool focuses on ease of use and fast prototyping, and requires only OpenStreetMap (OSM) data from the user. In this work, we introduce the aspect of traffic mode choice into OMOD. We utilize a two-stage multinomial logit model that works with precise origin-destination coordinates and exact departure times to determine each trip’s travel time and other level-of-service attributes based on network information acquired from OpenStreetMap and GTFS public transit schedules. We evaluate the performance of our model in two stages: first, directly on a separate test set of the household travel survey, and second, for a microsimulation of three different German cities. On the household travel survey, we reach accuracies between 64.3 % and 77.8 % with well-fitted calibration curves. Achieving high performance in the microsimulation is more difficult due to the existence of downstream errors. Nonetheless, we achieve close fits for all modes with the exception of the car passenger mode.

In the frame of climate change, Africa belongs to the regions with low capacities to cope with the negative effects. Local capacities in education and research need to be strengthened to increase the regions’ social-ecological resilience and provide long-term environmental security for people. Foreign investors in this endeavour are often interested in the output and impact of their investments in order to identify the potentials for further improvements and commitments. In our study, we have focused on an international institution that is actively contributing to improve climate change research in West Africa, called WASCAL (West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use). Taking the 10-year anniversary of WASCAL as the occasion for an assessment of the scientific output, a comprehensive systematic literature review for the time span 2012–2022 of peer-reviewed scientific publications related to WASCAL was conducted. In total, 315 high-quality papers published in 149 different peer-reviewed journals were identified. Globally, WASCAL is well connected, shown by joint publications from 58 different countries. Within West Africa, especially Burkina Faso (107 publications) and Ghana (86 publications) were represented with high levels of (co-)authorships. One of the main research areas of WASCAL is climate modelling which was reflected in the findings. Relatively underrepresented in the frame of WASCAL-related publications were studies from social sciences. In addition, more research should be conducted on the multifaceted topics of food security and urban planning. WASCAL could also contribute further to the emerging research field of tropical medicine and parasitology due to the threat to human health and food security resulting from environmental and climate change.

Importance Age-related cataract, defined as progressive opacification or clouding of the eye’s natural lens, is a leading cause of visual disability and blindness. Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed procedures in high-income countries. More than 3.5 million cataract operations are performed annually in the US. Observations Older age is the primary risk factor for cataracts, with approximately two-thirds of the population older than 80 years affected. As the population ages, the number of people with cataracts in the US is expected to increase to 50 million by 2050. Additional risk factors for cataracts include a hereditary or genetic predisposition, certain medications (corticosteroids), ocular trauma, significant UV exposure or radiation therapy, and certain medical conditions such as uncontrolled diabetes, retinitis pigmentosa, Down syndrome, and congenital rubella. Painless, progressive blurring of vision and visual glare are common symptoms of cataracts. Cataracts are diagnosed during an eye examination by an ophthalmologist or optometrist. Surgery to remove the cataract and implant a permanent intraocular lens (IOL) is indicated if visual impairment impedes activities of daily living and is associated with lower rates of falls (>30%) and dementia (20%-30%). Most cataract operations are performed with topical anesthesia. Therefore, patients do not require preoperative general medical testing such as bloodwork or electrocardiogram, and do not need to discontinue anticoagulants for cataract surgery. Systemic α1-adrenergic antagonists for symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia, such as tamsulosin, increase the risk of surgical complications and some ophthalmologists temporarily discontinue the drug preoperatively. Intraocular antibiotics, such as moxifloxacin or cefuroxime, delivered intraoperatively have reduced the rates of sight-threatening postsurgical endophthalmitis from 0.07% to 0.02%. In addition to reversing and preventing progressive vision loss, cataract surgery can reduce dependence on eyeglasses. These optional refractive benefits are achieved with advanced technology IOL designs, such as multifocal IOLs. However, multifocal and other advanced technology refractive IOLs are associated with increased costs that are not covered by medical insurance. Conclusions and Relevance Cataracts are common among older adults and may cause visual disability and blindness without treatment. Cataract surgery reverses and prevents progressive vision loss, and advanced technology lens implants facilitate reduced dependence on eyeglasses.

The research paper by Tristen Harr introduces and analyzes a novel complex constant, ΛG1, which is derived from inverse powers of the golden ratio, ϕ. The author defines the constant as ΛG1=T+iJ, where T=1/(2ϕ) and J=1/(2ϕ2), and proves it is an algebraic number with a magnitude less than one. This property validates its use as an argument in the Polylogarithm function, Lis(z). Based on high-precision numerical evaluations for the Dilogarithm (s=2) and Trilogarithm (s=3) cases, the paper conjectures that the resulting values, Lis(ΛG1), are transcendental for all integers s≥2 and do not exist within the field extension Q(π,ln(2),ϕ). This investigation is partly motivated by potential applications in the study of quasicrystals, where the golden ratio plays a foundational role.

The formation and early evolution of Jupiter played a pivotal role in sculpting the large-scale architecture of the Solar System, intertwining the narrative of Jovian early years with the broader story of the Solar System’s origins. The details and chronology of Jupiter’s formation, however, remain elusive, primarily due to the inherent uncertainties of accretionary models, highlighting the need for independent constraints. Here we show that, by analysing the dynamics of Jupiter’s satellites concurrently with its angular-momentum budget, we can infer Jupiter’s radius and interior state at the time of the protosolar nebula’s dissipation. In particular, our calculations reveal that Jupiter was 2 to 2.5 times as large as it is today, 3.8 Myr after the formation of the first solids in the Solar System. Our model further indicates that young Jupiter possessed a magnetic field of B♃† ≈ 21 mT (a factor of ~ 50 higher than its present-day value) and was accreting material through a circum-Jovian disk at a rate of \($$\)\dotM=1.2\($$\)–2.4 M♃ Myr−1. Our findings are fully consistent with the core-accretion theory of giant-planet formation and provide an evolutionary snapshot that pins down properties of the Jovian system at the end of the protosolar nebula’s lifetime.

Urban settings in West Africa are increasingly experiencing extreme weather events, such as heat waves, floods, and windstorms. Climate phenomena exacerbated by global climate change are not unique to this region but reflect a broader trend of worldwide environmental changes. However, how local communities in tropical cities in the global south adapt to these extreme events is not fully understood. Understanding local adaptation strategies is crucial in enhancing our ability to develop context-specific policies that address climate vulnerabilities. This study aimed to analyse the adaptation and mitigation strategies employed by the urban residents of Abuja and Ouagadougou in response to recurrent floods, heat waves, and windstorms. To investigate adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change in urban areas, this study collected quantitative data from a sample of 840 households in Abuja and 840 households in Ouagadougou. The results revealed that the participants of each city used different strategies to adapt to and mitigate heat waves, floods, and windstorms. However, the level of adoption of these measures differed among the respondents. The findings revealed a low level of adoption of climate change mitigation measures. Context-specific policies must prioritise strengthening local adaptation strategies, addressing socioeconomic disparities, and fostering urban design solutions tailored to each city’s unique environmental and infrastructural challenges.

Homeostatic calcium ion (Ca2+) fluxes between the endoplasmic reticulum, cytosol, and extracellular space occur not only in response to cell stimulation but also in unstimulated cells. Using murine astrocytes as a model, we asked whether there is a signaling function of these resting Ca2+ fluxes. The data showed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Catexttwosuperior⁺ depletion, induced by sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Catexttwosuperior⁺-ATPase (SERCA) inhibition, resulted to prolonged Catexttwosuperior⁺ influx and mitochondrial fragmentation within 10 to 30 min. This mitochondrial fragmentation could be prevented in Ca2+-free medium or by inhibiting store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE). Similarly, attenuation of STIM proteins, which are vital ER Ca2+ sensors, protected mitochondrial morphology. On the molecular level, ER Ca2+ depletion, achieved either by removing extracellular Ca2+ or through acute SERCA inhibition, led to changes in gene expression of about 13% and 41% of the transcriptome within an hour, respectively. Transcriptome changes were associated with universal biological processes such as transcription, differentiation, or cell stress. Strong increase in expression was observed for the transcription factor ATF4, which is under control of the kinase PERK (EIF2AK3), a key protein involved in ER stress. Corroborating these findings, PERK was rapidly phosphorylated in Ca2+-free medium or after acute pharmacological inhibition of SOCE. In summary, resting, homeostatic Ca2+ fluxes prevent immediate-early cell stress and transcriptional reprogramming.

Forests are a significant part of the surrounding landscape, and every management decision in the forest also affects the landscape, and vice versa. Management decisions in the surrounding landscape also affect the forests. Thus, a framework of integrated decision support systems (DSS) is needed to appropriately address all objectives of sustainable forest management in the landscape by linking all mutual relations between forests and the surrounding landscape. Such an integrated DSS framework will require the consideration of information and approaches from different rural and land-use activities and sectors. In this context, juxtaposition and integration of the knowledge from DSS (developed for farming, animal husbandry, forestry, ecosystem management, etc.) will be an excellent starting point for advancing toward an integrated system for sustainable assessing the provision of ecosystem service at landscape scale, including provision of resources for bio-based economic activities, protection and regulation, or cultural services. The main aim of this action is to establish a research network to facilitate the conceptualization and development of new methodological approaches in DSS, including important relationships between forests and landscapes. The emphasis is on screening, evaluating, and proposing existing and future tools to support holistic planning approaches to increase sustainable forest management, considering various ecosystem services and products addressing the associated risks and uncertainties.

While advertising has become commonplace in today's online interactions, there is a notable dearth of research investigating the extent to which browser fingerprinting is harnessed for user tracking and targeted advertising. Prior studies only measured whether fingerprinting-related scripts are being run on the websites but that in itself does not necessarily mean that fingerprinting is being used for the privacy-invasive purpose of online tracking because fingerprinting might be deployed for the defensive purposes of bot/fraud detection and user authentication. It is imperative to address the mounting concerns regarding the utilization of browser fingerprinting in the realm of online advertising.This paper introduces "FPTrace" (fingerprinting-based tracking assessment and comprehensive evaluation framework), a framework to assess fingerprinting-based user tracking by analyzing ad changes from browser fingerprinting adjustments. Using FPTrace, we emulate user interactions, capture ad bid data, and monitor HTTP traffic. Our large-scale study reveals strong evidence of browser fingerprinting for ad tracking and targeting, shown by bid value disparities and reduced HTTP records after fingerprinting changes. We also show fingerprinting can bypass GDPR/CCPA opt-outs, enabling privacy-invasive tracking.In conclusion, our research unveils the widespread employment of browser fingerprinting in online advertising, prompting critical considerations regarding user privacy and data security within the digital advertising landscape.

As data storage and processing increasingly shift to the cloud, the risk of data breaches also rises. One way to address this is using Homomorphic Encryption (HE), which allows for data processing while the data remains encrypted, unlike traditional methods. However, current HE libraries support only addition and multiplication, requiring users to implement other mathematical functions themselves. To this end, we developed and analyzed basic mathematical functions in a previous work. Since polynomial approximations are more common in HE, this paper expands on that by examining and comparing polynomial approximations of these functions with the previously implemented methods. Our findings indicate that while polynomial approximations offer the benefit of low multiplication depth, the previously implemented methods generally outperform them in most scenarios despite their higher computational cost.

Zimislecel is an allogeneic stem cell–derived islet-cell therapy. This phase 1–2 study supports the hypothesis that zimislecel can restore physiologic islet function and thus treat persons with type 1 diabetes.

This is the text of a seminar given at the Goldsmiths Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought on June 11th 2025. This talk is titled 'The role of the University is to resist AI', and takes as its text Ivan Illich's 'Tools for Conviviality'.

Mathematical and statistical applications for HP Prime. Algorithms are presented in context with the corresponding scope of application. CAS programs (1), HP Prime User functions (2) and functions for HP Prime Applications (3) are listed in alphabetical order, a comparison to corresponding SCHRAUSSER-MAT functions is given. In addition to the source codes of the functions, raw data sets are provided for correlation- as well as resampling-methods.

Mathematical and statistical applications for HP Prime. Algorithms are presented in context with the corresponding scope of application. CAS programs (1), HP Prime User functions (2) and functions for HP Prime Applications (3) are listed in alphabetical order, a comparison to corresponding SCHRAUSSER-MAT functions is given. In addition to the source codes of the functions, raw data sets are provided for correlation- as well as resampling-methods.

The current paper describes a first experiment in the use of TED talks and open tagging exercises to train higher-level comprehension skills, and of automatic logging of the student’s actions to investigate the student choices while performing analytical tasks. The experiment took advantage of an interactive learning platform – LearnWeb – that integrates TED talk videos and transcripts and enriches them with tagging features and a data logging system. The data collected offered an answer to the following questions: Which of the three tasks was perceived by the students as more difficult? How was each task faced by the students? How did the logs contribute to an understanding of the students’ approaches to the tasks? The experiment also suggested ideas for further development of LearnWeb’s log features.

This review is an up-to-date account of the use of numerical relativity to study dynamical, strong-gravity environments in a cosmological context. First, we provide a gentle introduction into the use of numerical relativity in solving cosmological spacetimes, aimed at both cosmologists and numerical relativists. Second, we survey the present body of work, focusing on general relativistic simulations, organised according to the cosmological history—from cosmogenesis, through the early hot Big Bang, to the late-time evolution of the universe. We discuss the present state-of-the-art, and suggest directions in which future work can be fruitfully pursued.

The image of Earth at night from space, with its constellations of cities, has become iconic. However, our understanding of the source and scale of artificial light emissions is still in the dark, hampering urban environmental protection efforts. In 2021, our citizen scientists used the Nachtlichter app to count and classify 234,044 light sources across a 22-km2 area, primarily in Germany. We show that such a dataset can be used to translate space-based radiance observations to the more understandable unit of installed lights per km2 on the ground. We find that in German city centers, more total light sources are used for advertising and aesthetic purposes than for street lighting. Furthermore, we estimate that 78thinspacetextpmthinspace3thinspacemillion individual light sources remain illuminated at midnight across Germany, highlighting great potential for mitigation. These findings not only offer direct knowledge for artificial light research but also serve as a practical resource for policymakers to mitigate urban light pollution.

This study reveals a previously unreported phenomenon: elastic softening in synthetic diamonds at temperatures below 1 K. We present ultrasonic measurements on single-crystalline, non-irradiated synthetic diamonds — specifically, type-IIa (colorless) and type-Ib (yellow) samples grown by high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) synthesis, as well as type-IIa diamonds grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). A pronounced, divergent decrease in the elastic stiffness constant C44 was observed in all samples down to 20 mK. We attribute this softening to electric quadrupolar degrees of freedom with an irreducible representation T2 in the diamonds. However, the microscopic origin of this effect remains unclear. Drawing an analogy to behavior observed in silicon, we suggest the presence of an as-yet-unidentified, defect-derived quantum ground state with T1 or T2 symmetry, present at ppb-level concentrations in all three diamonds studied.

Beech trees form major parts of lowland temperate forests in the Western Palearctic. To protect biodiversity, many beech forests have been designated as World Heritage Sites or established as networks of beech forest reserves. However, the insect communities within these protected forests have not been well explored. In this study, elaterids (Elateridae, Coleoptera) in 26 beech forests, from France in the west to Iran in the east, were sample to identify conservation clusters and hotspots of biodiversity. Sampling was mostly carried out using window traps and all specimens were identified to the species level. A total of 118 species were identified including one previously unreported species. Community composition analyses that focused on rare species identified five clusters comprising distinct communities: (i) the Hyrcanian Forest in Iran, (ii) the Lesser Caucasus in Türkiye, Georgia and Armenia, (iii) the Greater Caucasus in Georgia, (iv) the Pyrenees and (v) a cluster made up of forests from Central Europe, the Balkan region and the Carpathians. After controlling for sampling effort (individuals), the highest richness was found in the Caucasus region. The proportion of endemics was highest in the Oriental beech forests of the Caucasus and in Hyrcanian forests. These findings highlight the unique biodiversity of beech forests and support calls for intensified conservation actions in beech forests, particularly in the Caucasus and Hyrcanian regions, which should be prioritized for conservation efforts, due to their unique fauna.

Leaf-cutting ants live in a symbiosis with a mutualistic fungus that depends on them for resource provisioning. It is known that worker ants respond to the resource demands of their cultivar by preferentially delivering leaf fragments to undernourished fungus gardens. However, how worker ants locate them within the nest and how much their prior experience with the fungus’s nutritional state guides the intranest distribution of the collected fragments remain largely unexplored. To answer these questions, single leaf-carrying foragers, Acromyrmex ambiguus, from distinct experiential backgrounds were confronted in the laboratory with binary choices between small fungus gardens with different nutritional states. Two behavioural approaches were developed to quantify discrimination between fungi’s nutritional states by laden foragers, which focused on the olfactory orientation and deposition of the carried fragments, respectively. First, foragers' choices were scored using a Y-maze as they walked upwind towards volatiles arising from either a nourished or an undernourished fungus garden. Second, the choice between a nourished or an undernourished small fungus garden for the deposition of the carried fragment was recorded. Results indicated that worker ants that previously experienced undernourishment of their fungus significantly preferred the undernourished fungus for both olfactory orientation and leaf deposition. In contrast, worker ants that previously experienced a nourished fungus did not show preferences while walking towards fungus volatiles but preferred the nourished fungus garden for leaf deposition. These findings indicate that not only can leaf-cutting ant foragers differentiate the nutritional states of their fungus, but they also distribute the collected resources depending on the previously experienced fungus’s nutritional state. We argue that experienced foragers can resupply previously undernourished fungus gardens using olfactory information to locate them within the nest before unloading their fragments.

Underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) is a great technological advancement for numerous implementations, such as pollution monitoring tsunami offshore gas and oil reservoirs. Coherent routing with optimal energy use is necessary to send received data from the sensor to the sink hub. The distinct characteristics of the underwater circumstances make designing routing protocols problematic. Therefore, a novel Dove-based Hello Routing Protocol (DbHRP) was proposed to increase the data broadcasting rate within low energy. The nodes are initially initialized, and their positions are estimated. Subsequently, the dove function finds the SP(SP) from source to target, and the status of the target node is analyzed for data packet transmission. The data transfer function is planned based on the destination node's initial request priority if the target node needs to receive more data from a different source hub. Finally, the UWSN communication parameters were measured and compared with prevailing models.

Traditional approaches have failed to keep up with privacy requirements as AI and ML systems increasingly interact with vast, sensitive data sets. Currently, most solutions treat privacy as strictly a technical problem or legal checkbox, but rarely both. The presented work this paper uses a multidimensional scheme that serves to reframe data privacy as a fundamental design principle through the integration of four key perspectives: technical structure, regulatory fit, organizational preparedness, and ethical responsibility. We assess such privacy preserving solutions, federated learning, secure multiparty computation, differential privacy, among others, against the real-world constraints such as scalability, latency and compliance. With cross-sector case study and comparative analysis we illustrate that hybrid context-aware deployments can bridge the theory-practice gap. Our contribution is more than just a toolkit: it is a systems-level implementation that allows businesses and organizations to operationalize privacy while embracing innovation. Such work is necessary for future empirical studies to provide a grounded approach to the development of AI systems that are high performing, yet privacy preserving.

Autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), the most prevalent hereditary optic neuropathy, leads to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration and vision loss. ADOA is primarily caused by mutations in the optic atrophy type 1 (OPA1) gene, which encodes a conserved GTPase important for mitochondrial inner membrane dynamics. To date, the disease mechanism remains unclear, and no therapies are available. We generated a mouse model carrying the pathogenic Opa1R290Q/+ allele that recapitulated key features of human ADOA, including mitochondrial defects, age-related RGC loss, optic nerve degeneration, and reduced RGC functions. We identified sterile alpha and TIR motif containing 1 (SARM1), a neurodegeneration switch, as a key driver of RGC degeneration in these mice. Sarm1 KO nearly completely suppressed all the degeneration phenotypes without reversing mitochondrial fragmentation. Additionally, we show that a portion of SARM1 localized within the mitochondrial intermembrane space. These findings indicated that SARM1 was activated downstream of mitochondrial dysfunction in ADOA, highlighting it as a promising therapeutic target.

Ptolemy's table of chord lengths from the Almagest converted into decimal values and recalculated. Presentation and discussion of Ptolemy's method of calculation and sexagesimal values in comparison to calculations by trigonometric functions with regard to several editors. A significant relationship between the difference values of the two methods and angle num-ber was found: The higher the expansion angle, the greater the overestimation of chord lengths. Implications for early scientific astronomy in context with the development of mathematical methodology are discussed.

We examine whether the radial acceleration relation (RAR) of dwarf galaxies can be explained by Verlinde's emergent gravity. This is the extension of Yoon et al. (2023), which examine the RAR of typical spiral galaxies, to less massive systems. To do this, we compile the line-of-sight velocity dispersion profiles of 30 dwarf galaxies in the Local Group from the literature. We then calculate the expected gravitational acceleration from the stellar component in the framework of the emergent gravity, and compare it with that from observations. The calculated acceleration with the emergent gravity under the assumption of a quasi-de Sitter universe agrees with the observed one within the uncertainty. Our results suggest that the emergent gravity can explain the kinematics of galaxies without introducing dark matter, even for less massive galaxies where dark matter is expected to dominate. This sharply contrasts with MOND, where a new interpolating function has to be introduced for dwarf galaxies to explain their kinematics without dark matter.

With orbital periods longer than 200 years, most long-period comets (LPCs) remain undiscovered until they are in-bound towards perihelion. The comets that pass close to Earth's orbit are Potentially Hazardous Objects (PHOs). Those with orbital periods up to ~4000 years tend to have passed close to Earth's orbit in a previous orbit and produced a meteoroid stream dense enough to be detected at Earth as a meteor shower. In anticipation of Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), we investigate how these meteor showers can guide dedicated searches for their parent comets. Assuming search parameters informed by LSST, we calculated where the 17 known parent bodies of long-period comet meteor showers would have been discovered based on a cloud of synthetic comets generated from the shower properties as measured at Earth. We find that the synthetic comets predict the on-sky location of the parent comets at the time of their discovery. The parent comet's location on average would have been 1.51 ±1.19° from a line fit through the synthetic comet cloud. The difference between the heliocentric distance of the parent and mean heliocentric distance of synthetic comets on the line was 2.09 ±1.89 au for comets with unknown absolute nuclear magnitudes and 0.96 ±0.80 au for comets with known absolute nuclear magnitudes. We applied this method to the σ-Hydrids, the proposed meteor shower of Comet Nishimura, and found that it successfully matched the pre-covery location of this comet 8 months prior to Nishimura's discovery.

With our work, we contribute towards a qualitative analysis of the discourse on controversies in online news media. For this, we employ Formal Concept Analysis and the economics of conventions to derive conceptual controversy maps. In our experiments, we analyze two maps from different news journals with methods from ordinal data science. We show how these methods can be used to assess the diversity, complexity and potential bias of controversies. In addition to that, we discuss how the diagrams of concept lattices can be used to navigate between news articles.

Integer partitions arise naturally in additive number theory, algebraic geometry, combinatorics, mathematical physics, and representation theory. We have identified a surprising role for partitions in multiplicative number theory. The prime numbers, the building blocks of multiplicative number theory, are the solutions of infinitely many special ?Diophantine equations? in well-studied partition functions. In other words, integer partitions detect the primes in infinitely many natural ways. We show that integer partitions, the fundamental building blocks in additive number theory, detect prime numbers in an unexpected way. Answering a question of Schneider, we show that the primes are the solutions to special equations in partition functions. For example, an integer n ≥ 2 is prime if and only if (3n3?13n2+18n?8)M1(n)+(12n2?120n+212)M2(n)?960M3(n)=0, where the Ma(n) are MacMahon?s well-studied partition functions. More generally, for MacMahonesque partition functions Ma?(n), we prove that there are infinitely many such prime detecting equations with constant coefficients, such as 80M(1,1,1)(n)?12M(2,0,1)(n)+12M(2,1,0)(n)+??12M(1,3)(n)?39M(3,1)(n)=0.

Local civic participation is essential to democracy. Yet, citizens need to be informed about local matters to get involved. Becoming and staying informed about developments in one’s neighbourhood is difficult as local knowledge is scattered among online and offline sources, hard to find and understand. Using participatory Contextual Design we curated a novel form of participation with the interactive artifact "hubbel", which combines the digital and the analogue through a hybrid letterbox to crowd-source local knowledge. During our two-month in-the-wild evaluation, the hubbel was heavily used (260 postcards, 2067 visits). It stimulated democratic discourse and (offline) political participation by rendering tacit local issues visible. We propose ways to improve the hubbel’s design so that citizens can more easily share their expertise with others and to avoid harmful consequences like pseudo-participation. Finally, the hubbel demonstrates why analogue components are indispensable for civic participation tools. Supplements and open-source code: OSF-Link [https://osf.io/jcgue/].

Previous research suggested that people prefer to administer unpleasant electric shocks to themselves rather than being left alone with their thoughts because engagement in thinking is an unpleasant activity. The present research examined this negative reinforcement hypothesis by giving participants a choice of distracting themselves with the generation of electric shock causing no to intense pain. Four experiments (N\thinspace=\thinspace254) replicated the result that a large proportion of participants opted to administer painful shocks to themselves during the thinking period. However, they administered strong electric shocks to themselves even when an innocuous response option generating no or a mild shock was available. Furthermore, participants inflicted pain to themselves when they were assisted in the generation of pleasant thoughts during the waiting period, with no difference between pleasant versus unpleasant thought conditions. Overall, these results question that the primary motivation for the self-administration of painful shocks is avoidance of thinking. Instead, it seems that the self-infliction of pain was attractive for many participants, because they were curious about the shocks, their intensities, and the effects they would have on them.

In this paper, we argue for and present an empirical study of putting citizens into focus during the early stages of designing tools for civic participation in a midsized German town. Drawing on Contextual and Participatory Design, we involved 105 participants by conducting interviews, using Photovoice and participating in a local neighbourhood meeting. Together with citizens, we built an Affinity Diagram, consolidated the data and identified key insights. As a result, we present and discuss different participation identities such as Motivated Activists, Convenience Participants or Companions and a collection of citizen needs for local civic participation, e. g., personal contact is irreplaceable for motivation, trust and mutual understanding, and some citizens preferred to “stumble across” information rather than actively searching for it. We use existing participation tools to demonstrate how individual needs could be addressed. Finally, we apply our insights to an example in our local context. We conclude that if we want to build digital tools that go beyond tokenistic, top-down ways of civic participation and that treat citizens as one homogeneous group, citizens need to be part of the design process right from the start. Supplemental material can be retrieved from https://osf.io/rxd7h/.

We endeavour to illustrate the physical relevance of the Landauer principle applying it to different important issues concerning the theory of gravitation. We shall first analyze, in the context of general relativity, the consequences derived from the fact, implied by Landauer principle, that information has mass. Next, we shall analyze the role played by the Landauer principle in order to understand why different congruences of observers provide very different physical descriptions of the same space-time. Finally, we shall apply the Landauer principle to the problem of gravitational radiation. We shall see that the fact that gravitational radiation is an irreversible process entailing dissipation, is a straightforward consequence of the Landauer principle and of the fact that gravitational radiation conveys information. An expression measuring the part of radiated energy that corresponds to the radiated information and an expression defining the total number of bits erased in that process, shall be obtained, as well as an explicit expression linking the latter to the Bondi news function.

The value of a data representation is traditionally judged based on aspects like effectiveness and efficiency that are important in utilitarian or work-related contexts. Most multisensory data representations, however, are employed in casual contexts where creativity, affective, physical, intellectual, and social engagement might be of greater value. We introduce Move&Find, a multisensory data representation in which people pedalled on a bicycle to exert the energy required to power a search query on Google's servers. To evaluate Move&Find, we operationalized a framework suitable to evaluate the value of data representations in casual contexts and experimentally compared Move&Find to a corresponding visualization. With Move&Find, participants achieved a higher understanding of the data. Move&Find was judged to be more creative and encouraged more physical and social engagement—components of value that would have been missed using more traditional evaluation frameworks.

Abstract There recently has arisen substantial concern for the reproducibility of scientific findings, but the discussion has not significantly impacted Earth science. We consider repetition, replication, and reproducibility in Earth science, using an example from geomorphology. Repetition repeats the program of observations in the same exercise to establish precision of results. Replication is duplication of observations using similar resources but in an independent program. Reproduction is confirmation of scientific principles using different resources in an independent program. We conclude that results will mainly be limited to reproduction—confirmation of principles—and that this is the essential goal for advancing the science. We illustrate these concepts by review of our experiments on the infiltration of fine grains in flowing water into a bed of coarser grains, conducted using glass beads in a laboratory flume.

Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) and polypropylene glycols (PPGs) are frequently used in hydraulic fracturing fluids and have been detected in water returning to the surface from hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells in multiple basins. We identified degradation pathways and kinetics for PEGs and PPGs under conditions simulating a spill of produced water to shallow groundwater. Sediment-groundwater microcosm experiments were conducted using four produced water samples from two Denver-Julesburg Basin wells at early and late production. High-resolution mass spectrometry was used to identify the formation of mono- and di-carboxylated PEGs and mono-carboxylated PPGs, which are products of PEG and PPG biodegradation, respectively. Under oxic conditions, first-order half-lives were more rapid for PEGs (<0.4–1.1 d) compared to PPGs (2.5–14 d). PEG and PPG degradation corresponded to increased relative abundance of primary alcohol dehydrogenase genes predicted from metagenome analysis of the 16S rRNA gene. Further degradation was not observed under anoxic conditions. Our results provide insight into the differences between the degradation rates and pathways of PEGs and PPGs, which may be utilized to better characterize shallow groundwater contamination following a release of produced water.

Precise starlight positions near the sun were measured during the 21 August 2017 total solar eclipse in order to measure their gravitational deflections. The equipment, procedures, and analysis are described in detail. A portable refractor, a CCD camera, and a computerized mount were set up in Wyoming. Detailed calibrations were necessary to improve accuracy and precision. Nighttime measurements taken just before the eclipse provided cubic optical distortion corrections. Calibrations based on star field images 7.4 deg on both sides of the sun taken during totality gave linear and quadratic plate constants. A total of 45 images of the sky surrounding the Sun were acquired during the middle part of totality, with an integrated exposure of 22 seconds. The deflection analysis depended on accurate star positions from the USNO's UCAC5 star catalog. The final result was a deflection coefficient L = 1.752 arcsec, compared to the theoretical value of L = 1.751 arcsec, with an uncertainty of only 3%.

Business process intelligence improves operational efficiency that is essential for achieving business objectives, besides facilitating competitive advantage. As an organization is a collection of business processes, enhancing business process performance on a continual basis is essential for organizational success. This paper outlines the concept of affinity clusters that can influence process performance with respect to some success criteria. Affinity refers to the percentage of time certain dimensional factors occur together with respect to some success measure. The paper illustrates the concepts through an adaptation of Oracle E-Business Suite Lead to Forecast business process that is implemented in Oracle’s PL/SQL language.

The purpose of the study was to separate and identify the unknown surfactants present in flowback and produced water from oil and gas wells in the Denver-Julesburg Basin (Niobrara Formation) in Weld County, Colorado, USA. Weld County has been drilled extensively during the last five years for oil and gas between 7000–8000 feet below land-surface. Polypropylene glycols (PPGs) and polyethylene glycols carboxylates (PEG-Cs) were found for the first time in these flowback and produced water samples. These ethoxylated surfactants may be used as friction reducers, clay stabilizers, and surfactants. Ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC/QTOF-MS) was used to separate and identify the different classes of PPGs, PEG-Cs, and their isomers. The Kendrick mass scale was applied along with mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (MS-MS) with accurate mass for rapid and unequivocal identification. The PPGs and their isomers occur at the ppm concentration range and may be useful as “fingerprints” of hydraulic-fracturing. Comparing these detections to the compounds used in the fracturing process from FracFocus 3.0 (https://fracfocus.org), it appears that both PPGs and polyethylene glycols (PEGs) are commonly named as additives, but the PEG-Cs have not been reported. The PEG-Cs may be trace impurities or degradation products of PEGs.

Survey sheds light on the `crisis' rocking research.

Abstract Geoscientists now live in a world rich with digital data and methods, and their computational research cannot be fully captured in traditional publications. The Geoscience Paper of the Future (GPF) presents an approach to fully document, share, and cite all their research products including data, software, and computational provenance. This article proposes best practices for GPF authors to make data, software, and methods openly accessible, citable, and well documented. The publication of digital objects empowers scientists to manage their research products as valuable scientific assets in an open and transparent way that enables broader access by other scientists, students, decision makers, and the public. Improving documentation and dissemination of research will accelerate the pace of scientific discovery by improving the ability of others to build upon published work.

Abstract Reproducibility is a foundational principle in scientific research. Yet in computational hydrology the code and data that actually produces published results are not regularly made available, inhibiting the ability of the community to reproduce and verify previous findings. In order to overcome this problem we recommend that reuseable code and formal workflows, which unambiguously reproduce published scientific results, are made available for the community alongside data, so that we can verify previous findings, and build directly from previous work. In cases where reproducing large-scale hydrologic studies is computationally very expensive and time-consuming, new processes are required to ensure scientific rigor. Such changes will strongly improve the transparency of hydrological research, and thus provide a more credible foundation for scientific advancement and policy support.

The Landauer principle asserts that the energy cost of erasure of one bit of information by the action of a thermal reservoir in equilibrium at temperature T is never less than kBT log 2. We discuss Landauer's principle for quantum statistical models describing a finite level quantum system coupled to an infinitely extended thermal reservoir ⁠. Using Araki's perturbation theory of KMS states and the Avron-Elgart adiabatic theorem we prove, under a natural ergodicity assumption on the joint system ⁠, that Landauer's bound saturates for adiabatically switched interactions. The recent work [Reeb, D. and Wolf M. M., “(Im-)proving Landauer's principle,” preprint arXiv:1306.4352v2 (2013)] on the subject is discussed and compared.

The foam behaviour of low molecular weight polypropylene glycols (PPG) was investigated as a function of concentration and molecular weight (190–2000gmol−1). For each polypropylene glycol, foam stability increases with concentration and passes through a maximum, beyond which foamability is suppressed as the solubility limit of the glycol is exceeded and droplets of glycol form. Light scattering data as well as static and dynamic surface tension results provide the key information leading to these interpretations. A maximum in foamability was observed for the PPG molecules with increasing molecular weight (caused by a change in molecular conformation at the interface). This suppresses the Marangoni effect and leads to a decrease in foam stability.

We present the call-by-push-value (CBPV) calculus, which decomposes the typed call-by-value (CBV) and typed call-by-name (CBN) paradigms into fine-grain primitives. On the operational side, we give big-step semantics and a stack machine for CBPV, which leads to a straightforward push/pop reading of CBPV programs. On the denotational side, we model CBPV using cpos and, more generally, using algebras for a strong monad. For storage, we present an O'Hearn-style "behaviour semantics'' that does not use a monad.We present the translations from CBN and CBV to CBPV. All these translations straightforwardly preserve denotational semantics. We also study their operational properties: simulation and full abstraction.We give an equational theory for CBPV, and show it equivalent to a categorical semantics using monads and algebras. We use this theory to formally compare CBPV to Filinski's variant of the monadic metalanguage, as well as to Marz's language SFPL, both of which have essentially the same type structure as CBPV. We also discuss less formally the differences between the CBPV and monadic frameworks.

Landauer's principle states that the erasure of information generates a corresponding amount of entropy in the environment. We show that Landauer's principle provides an intuitive basis for Holevo bound on the classical capacity of a quantum channel.

While investigating the absorption of carbon dioxide in sodium carbonate?bicarbonate solutions, apparently erratic variations of absorption coefficients were observed in earlier work. In an attempt to find an explanation for these variations, density, relative viscosity, pH and relative surface tension were determined for such solutions. The variations in surface tension have been found to be chiefly responsible for the variations in absorption coefficients. The absorption coefficient varied inversely with surface tension.