http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/ucsb/rss Recent eScholarship items from UC Santa Barbara Sat, 12 Sep 2026 06:25:53 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9sb906bb The present investigation tests: (i) whether the perception of an human infants eyes, relative to other facial features, especially strongly elicits parental responses (e.g., appraisals of cuteness and vulnerability); (ii) if, so, whether effects of the visual perception of eyes may be partially attributable to eye contact; (iii) whether the perception of non-human animals (puppy dogs) eyes also especially strongly influence appraisals of their cuteness and vulnerability; and (iv) whether individual differences in caregiving motives moderate effects. Results from 5 experiments (total N = 1458 parents and non-parents) provided empirical evidence to evaluate these hypotheses: Appraisals of human infants were influenced especially strongly by the visual perception of human infants eyes (compared to other facial features); these effects do not appear to be attributable to eye contact; the visual perception of eyes influenced appraisals of puppy dogs, but not exactly in the same way... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9sb906bb Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Woo, Brandon Schaller, Mark https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5rf074vb Numerous countries face water crises due to population growth, shifting climatic patterns, limited water resources, rapid industrialization, societal changes, and poor resource governance, which pose challenges to the supply of water, food, and energy. This study develops a Water–Food–Energy Nexus (WFE) model using the System Dynamics (SD) approach to capture the complex interactions among domestic, industrial, and agricultural sectors while incorporating environmental protection policies. The proposed model is developed and applied to assess the water crisis in the Zayandeh-Roud River basin, which plays a strategic role in ensuring water, energy, and food security in central Iran. Climate change alters hydroclimatic patterns and directly and indirectly affects the subsystems of the water–food–energy nexus. Precipitation and temperature outputs from three Atmosphere–Ocean General Circulation Models (AOGCMs), obtained from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth Assessment... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5rf074vb Fri, 11 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Baghban, Sahar Bozorg-Haddad, Omid Omid, Mohammad-Hosein Gohari, Alireza Loáiciga, Hugo A https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9wq029xp Abstract In classic research, Hamlin et al. (2007) found that infants preferentially reach to agents who help others over agents who hinder others. These early findings provided evidence that infants may engage in social evaluation. There have now been multiple failures to replicate the original findings, and these failed replication attempts have called into question whether infants engage in social evaluation. In the present paper, we contextualize these failed replication attempts in the broader literature. We review evidence that infants and toddlers evaluate a range of social behaviors, including acts of physical harm, resource distribution, comforting, imitation, and dominance. We also review evidence that infants and toddlers have demonstrated other behaviors, beyond preferential reaching, that suggest that they engage in social evaluation. The larger body of evidence therefore supports the possibility that early social evaluation is a real phenomenon. We discuss how cognitive... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9wq029xp Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Woo, Brandon Laha, Anushka Chen, Amelia Wolf, Carly https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9px4p9z9 [This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D5SC06959A.]. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9px4p9z9 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Li, Tianyu Marques, Otavio Geraci, Tullio S Lawrence, Erick A Zohar, Arava Liu, Jue Avoka, Evans Navrotsky, Alexandra Weker, Johanna Nelson Clement, Raphaele J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92j4f69h Cognitive scientists have long investigated infants' abilities to reason about others' minds. Here, we identify a limitation to research on early mental state reasoning: that this research has mostly challenged infants to reason about the minds of strangers. In this commentary, we call on cognitive scientists to consider the role of social relationships when studying mental state reasoning and cognition more broadly. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/92j4f69h Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Woo, Brandon M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8639-2919 Laha, Anushka https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8729r048 Developmental psychology has provided some evidence that infants evaluate agents who engage in prosocial and antisocial acts: Infants selectively reach for and look at those who have treated third parties prosocially versus antisocially. This previous work has tended to present infants with actors whose behaviors are entirely prosocial or entirely antisocial. Studies introducing even minor variation into an actor's behaviors have yielded null results with infants in the first year of life, suggesting that infants find it difficult to evaluate others who behave even mildly inconsistently. That said, it may be that past studies were poorly designed to test infants' evaluations of inconsistent actors. The present, preregistered experiments further explored 11-month-old infants' (<i>N</i> = 141) ability to evaluate inconsistent actors, using an online testing format and pre-recorded puppet shows depicting helping and hindering interactions. In Experiment 1, infants selectively looked... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8729r048 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Woo, Brandon M Tsang, Adrian Hamlin, J Kiley https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81d394wh <p>Bridget Bennett's work in transatlantic abolitionist organizing was recognized by the American Studies Association's International Committee with the awarding of the Shelley Fisher Fishkin Prize for International Scholarship in Transnational American Studies in 2025. We're pleased to present an excerpt from the winning monograph, <em>Antislavery in the Dissenting Atlantic: Archives and Unquiet Libraries, 1776-1865,</em> published by Louisiana State University Press in 2025, preceded by a short framing text here, written for JTAS readers.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81d394wh Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bennett, Bridget https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80m709rj Prosocial and antisocial behaviors can reflect the actor's positive or negative feelings toward a specific person and their broader disposition toward others' welfare. Observers' inferences about these motives shape what they learn about the actor's social relationships and moral character, thereby informing expectations about the actor's future behaviors. In four preregistered studies, we used violation-of-expectation looking methods to investigate 14- and 15-mo-old infants' inferences about social motives by first showing them helping and hindering events and then assessing their expectations for those actors' future actions. If infants use helping and hindering to infer disposition-based motives, they should extend expectations about future helping to others. Alternatively, if they infer relationship-based motives, their expectations should be restricted to the initial interactants. In Experiments 1 and 2, infants first observed two actors, one who helped and another who hindered... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80m709rj Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pepe, Bill Woo, Brandon M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8639-2919 Thomas, Ashley J Powell, Lindsey J https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5142-5998 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6q74g551 Abstract: Previously, the dinuclear persulfide-bridged ruthenium complex [(H2O)(NH3)4Ru(μ-S2)Ru(NH3)4(OH2)]4+ was demonstrated to be a reduction-activated H2S donor, acting as a promising complex for the biological delivery of this gasotransmitter. Building on previous studies, other complexes bearing the [RuSSRu] motif were investigated for H2S release. In this study, a previously reported persulfide-bridged complex [(acac)(Me3TACN)Ru(μ-S2)Ru(Me3TACN)(acac)]2+ was evaluated. The crystal structure of a new crystal form of this complex was determined revealing a new orientation of supporting ligands about the trans-[RuSSRu] motif. Furthermore, resonance Raman spectroscopy revealed symmetric Ru–S and S–S stretching frequencies of 418 and 528 cm–1, respectively. Lastly, the electrochemistry of this complex was probed in aqueous buffer revealing an irreversible reduction at −758 mV vs SCE. The reactivity of [(acac)(Me3TACN)Ru(μ-S2)Ru(Me3TACN)(acac)]2+ was studied... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6q74g551 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lotlikar, Piyusha S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0458-9655 Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cj7118c <p>The Cheadle Center at UCSB manages more than 340 acres of open space between Ellwood Mesa and Goleta Slough, carrying out ecological restoration, research, and education projects across these sites. Characterized by a rich mosaic of oak woodland, coastal sage scrub, grassland, and wetland ecosystems, the area is known for its relatively high level of biodiversity. The Cheadle Center’s project sites and management areas help protect and strengthen the region’s ecology through habitat conservation, upland restoration, wetland creation and enhancement, and the implementation of sustainable stormwater management solutions. Through careful integration with local watersheds and surrounding natural areas, the Cheadle Center’s management areas provide important corridors and refuge for wildlife, support the long-term preservation of the region’s natural resources, and serve as outdoor classrooms, research sites, and recreational areas for the campus community and the public.</p><p>The... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cj7118c Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bender, Jeremiah Stratton, Lisa Chapman, Wayne https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54f6g9f9 <p>The same dataset can be analysed in different justifiable ways to answer the same research question, potentially challenging the robustness of empirical science1–3. In this crowd initiative, we investigated the degree to which research findings in the social and behavioural sciences are contingent on analysts’ choices. We examined a stratified random sample of 100 studies published between 2009 and 2018, where for one claim per study, at least five re-analysts independently re-analysed the original data. The statistical appropriateness of the re-analyses was assessed in peer evaluations, and the robustness indicators were inspected along a range of research characteristics and study designs. We found that 34% of the independent re-analyses yielded the same result (within a tolerance region of +/- 0.05 Cohen’s d) as the original report; with a four times broader tolerance region, this indicator rose to 57%. Regarding the conclusions drawn, 74% of analyses were reported to arrive... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/54f6g9f9 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Aczel, Balazs Szaszi, Barnabas Clelland, Harry T Kovacs, Marton Holzmeister, Felix van Ravenzwaaij, Don Schulz-Kümpel, Hannah Hoffmann, Sabine Nilsonne, Gustav Kósa, Livia Torma, Zoltán Abdelfatah, Yousuf A Aberson, Chris Acar, Oguz A Acem, Ensar Adamkovic, Matus Adamovich, Timofey Adiasto, Krisna Ahnström, Love Akil, Atakan M Al-Busaidi, Adil S Al-Hoorie, Ali H Albers, Casper J Allen, Peter Alsalti, Taym altman, micah Alzahawi, Shilaan Ambrosini, Ettore Anafinova, Saule Anand, Rahul Angerer, Martin Angulo-Brunet, Ariadna Antonietti, Alberto Arato, Jozsef Arenas, Andreu Aviña, Marco M Azevedo, Flavio Bachl, Marko Bago, Bence Bahník, Štěpán Baker, Bradley James Balayan, Elza Baldwin, Cassandra Banai, Benjamin Banas, Kasia Bartoš, František Baskin, Ernest Bastiaansen, Jojanneke A Bault, Nadège Bauman, Christopher W https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4324-0007 Beazer, Quintin Behnke, Maciej Bendixen, Theiss Berger, Sebastian Bernard, Anna Juliette Zoé Bernardic, Ursa Bloom, Paul Boldt, Annika Bosch-Rosa, Ciril Botvinik-Nezer, Rotem Bouyamourn, Adam Zaid Austin Bozkurt, Özge Brehm, Laurel https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0424-8735 Breuer, Johannes Briggs, Ryan C Brohmer, Hilmar Buchanan, Erin Michelle Buckenmaier, Johannes Buckley, Jeffrey Buczny, Jacek Burghart, Matthias Butt, Bilal Hayat Byrd, Nick Cafarelli, Valentina Callahan, Patrick Capitán, Tabaré Carriere, Kevin R Cataldo, Andrea Michael Cepaluni, Gabriel Chan, Eugene Chandler, Jesse J Chang, Chia-chen Chen, Xi Chen, Shirley Chen, Fadong Chen, Hao Chirkov, Valerii cialfi, daniela Clarke, Beth Coelho, Sophie Cohen, Clara Collins, Jason Cook, Susan Corlazzoli, Gaia Cummins, Jamie Czymara, Christian S D'hondt, Jonathan Dalla Rosa, Anna Davis, Abi MB Venczel, Fruzsina https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4xp307hs We revisit the problem of correcting the trigonometric moments and the resultant lengths that are obtained from grouped circular data. In circular measurements as elsewhere, it is common in many practical applications to aggregate the data into intervals either for convenience, or because of lack of accuracy in measuring, and then assuming that all the observations in a given interval lie at the midpoint of that interval, for calculating needed statistics. It then becomes important to ask for formulae necessary to adjust for the error introduced by such approximations, and this problem has been considered earlier in Greenwood (1959) and Mardia (1972) focusing on the first two trigonometric moments, because they are the ones used mostly in practice. The proofs provided there also rely on other outside results. We take it considerably further with our principal contributions being twofold: (i) unlike earlier derivations, we provide very simple and straightforward derivations which... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4xp307hs Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Jammalamadaka, S Rao https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4479-4175 Terdik, György Abuzaid, Ali https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6680-7371 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4w45n3rc There are now a variety of models available for describing morphology. Some are more static, simply laying out structure, while others are more dynamic, proposing sequences of operations by which structures might be derived. Different models might be useful for different purposes, different constructions, and different languages. But we can go beyond description toward explanation of the structures that exist by incorporating the diachronic dimension, examining the kinds of processes by which morphological structures develop over time in individual languages, then extracting general principles. Much of what we find synchronically might seem unmotivated until it is recognized that morphology reflects the crystallization of sequences of individual developments, each motivated at an earlier point in time. Such an approach is illustrated here with the development of tense morphology in languages of the Iroquoian family, indigenous to eastern North America. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4w45n3rc Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Mithun, Marianne https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1215-1597 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4fb0t9j5 A novel Ru-based anticancer agent was developed for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer via combination of cytotoxic and anti-metastatic activities within a single molecular platform. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype with high metastatic potential and limited treatment options. Herein, we developed a dual-function anticancer agent RuSPDTC ([Ru 2 (μ-N)(NH 3 ) 8 (S 2 CN(CH 2 ) 4 )] 3+ ) by attaching the cytotoxic pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) ligand to the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) inhibitor Ru265 ([Ru 2 (μ-N)(NH 3 ) 8 Cl 2 ] 3+ ). RuSPDTC combines the anti-metastatic activity of MCU inhibition with PDTC-mediated cytotoxicity within a single molecular platform. RuSPDTC was synthesized and characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, HR-ESI-MS, FTIR spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The 13 C resonance of the CS 2 group showed an upfield shift of the coordinated PDTC... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4fb0t9j5 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zou, Haipei Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/45x0895h Abstract To maintain and develop close relationships, people need to accurately represent the minds of their social partners. Although studies have characterized many aspects of children’s intuitive theory of the mind and children’s intuitive theory of relationships, it is largely unknown whether and how children think about mental state reasoning within relationships. In three experiments, we asked whether children think accurate mental state reasoning is a cue to social closeness. In Experiment 1 (n = 145), we found that 5- to 9-year-old children, but not 4-year-old children, inferred that characters who engage in affective touch (making physical contact, as though nuzzling, while moving together in synchrony) are socially closer and know about each other’s goals and desires. In Experiment 2 (n = 137), we found that 6- to 9-year-old children, but not younger children, inferred that characters who are correct about each other’s minds are socially close. Children did not think... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/45x0895h Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Woo, Brandon M Yu, Emma https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3289-4319 Richardson, Megan Thomas, Ashley J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2z83c21b Artificial intelligence is driving unprecedented investment in data centers, yet the local costs and benefits of these facilities remain largely unmeasured. We estimate how households value nearby data center development using a newly constructed database of U.S. data centers and housing transaction data. Our statistical analysis uses a matched stacked event study design that compares housing transactions near newly announced large data centers with transactions in observably similar areas near data centers that are announced later. Large data centers reduce housing values within 3 miles by 3% on average over the following 5 years. The effect is highly localized: prices within 1 mile fall by 7.2% on average, with smaller effects beyond 1 mile. Price declines persist for at least 5 years and are larger for hyperscale and high-capacity data centers, urban locations, and the first large data center in an area. Consistent with increasing public awareness of data center externalities,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2z83c21b Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Schlauch, Garrison Greenhill, Simon https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2fn185tv Without strong assumptions about how noise manifests in choices, we can infer little from existing empirical observations of the common ratio effect (CRE) about whether there exists an underlying common ratio preference (CRP). We propose to solve this inferential challenge using paired valuations, which yield valid inference under common assumptions. Using this approach in an online experiment with 900 participants, we find no evidence of a systematic CRP. To reconcile our findings with existing evidence, we present the same participants with paired choice tasks and demonstrate how noise can generate a CRE even for individuals without an associated CRP. (JEL C91, D81, D91) https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2fn185tv Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 McGranaghan, Christina Nielsen, Kirby O’Donoghue, Ted Somerville, Jason Sprenger, Charles D https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vn7t57r Abstract The evolution of transition metal oxide cathodes with cycling is governed by a subtle interplay between redox processes and (local) structural distortions. Here, we use first-principles calculations to monitor the electronic and structural evolution of the spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) cathode at various stages of charge. In its P4332 ordered ground state, redox-active NiO6 octahedra are spatially isolated by redox-inactive Mn4+ cations, providing a clean platform to disentangle local redox and structural phenomena. By combining analyses of magnetic moments, Bader charges, and charge-density difference maps, we show that redox processes are localized on Ni, yet trigger significant transition metal–oxygen rehybridization extending to both Ni–O and Mn–O networks. Changes in oxygen charge are traced to polarization driven by evolving Ni–O bonding, rather than to anion redox activity. Concurrent structural changes include a stepwise volumetric contraction of the NiO6 octahedra... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1vn7t57r Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ponte, GracielaE García Behara, Sesha Sai Clément, Raphaële J Van der Ven, Anton https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1bx6d2v0 Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful probe of local chemical environments in functional materials, many of which incorporate paramagnetic transition-metal or rare-earth ions. Unpaired electrons can induce strong electron-nuclear hyperfine interactions, giving rise to large paramagnetic shifts that encode detailed information about the local atomic and electronic structure. These same interactions, however, often produce severe line broadening, complicating spectral assignment─particularly in materials exhibiting mixed valence, magnetic and charge ordering, defects, or compositional disorder. Although first-principles calculations can aid in interpreting paramagnetic shifts, their computational cost becomes prohibitive for structurally and chemically complex systems. This limitation motivates the development of new approaches that retain first-principles accuracy while enabling tractable simulations across disordered, multicomponent materials.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1bx6d2v0 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bassey, Euan N Sebti, Elias Van der Ven, Anton Clément, Raphaële J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0xb954sf Recognition of large f-block ions underlies advances in targeted radionuclide therapy and rare-earth element separations. Like the lanthanide-binding protein lanmodulin, the 18-membered macrocycle macropa displays reverse-size selectivity characterized by its preference for binding large metal ions. Its diaza-18-crown-6 scaffold enables efficient complexation of therapeutically relevant radiometals, such as ²²⁵Ac, ²²³Ra, and ²¹³Bi, while accommodating diagnostic partners, including ²⁰³Pb and radiolanthanides. In parallel, systematic differences in stability constants across the lanthanide series enable size-based discrimination in separation chemistry. Macropa and its derivatives have been deployed in different strategies to recover and purify rare-earth elements and minor actinides. This manuscript describes recent studies on modifications of macropa, including cavity expansion, alteration of donor atoms, backbone rigidification, chelator-embedded... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0xb954sf Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lee, Kevin K Gao, Yangyang Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fg82211 Extreme heat is a global public health concern that is becoming more frequent and severe in recent periods. Translating Earth science data into policy-relevant metrics, such as rest breaks, is challenging but needed to protect outdoor workers from heat stress. Here, we determine rest-break requirements for the farmworkers of the Imperial and Coachella Valleys in southern California, which have a high poverty rate and the highest heat-illness rates in California. We used high-resolution outputs from a validated Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) at 1-km grid resolution that includes irrigation, a key modulator of heat stress in the study region. We calculated exceedances of heat stress indicators under three existing policy guidelines that use wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), heat index (HI), or dry-bulb temperature (DBT), and translated them into rest breaks needed for farmworker safety. WBGT-based rest minutes are most sensitive to the spatiotemporal variation in... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5fg82211 Wed, 9 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Parajuli, Sagar P Biggs, Trent Galvez, Nicolas Lopez Quintana, Penelope https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0318-3714 Ciborowski, Haley De Sales, Fernando Zavala Perez, Miguel Angel Jones, Charles https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-6977 Thompson, Callum Hurtado-Gonzalez, Stephanie Madonia, Samantha Shen, Samuel SP https://escholarship.org/uc/item/57z8x14c Abstract Farmworkers are particularly vulnerable to heat stress, which can escalate into heat‐related illnesses such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and can also impact productivity loss. Heat exposure varies considerably depending on season, work‐shift timing, acclimatization, and workload. We examine the frequency of heat stress exceedance in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys of southern California using wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) calculated using the outputs from Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model for a reference year of 2020. The critical WBGT threshold of 80℉ is exceeded for more than 500&nbsp;hr in August, with considerable exceedance in all key harvesting months of April, May, and June. The threshold is exceeded most frequently in August, with daytime (nighttime) exceedance of 96.3% (38.0%) in the Imperial and 72.5% (11.9%) in the Coachella Valleys. Occupational WBGT limits are also exceeded in most crop environments for unacclimatized workers, and... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/57z8x14c Wed, 9 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Parajuli, Sagar P Biggs, Trent Monteverde, Corrie Ciborowski, Haley Galvez, Nicolas Lopez Quintana, Penelope JE De Sales, Fernando Perez, Miguel Angel Zavala Thompson, Callum Jones, Charles https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-6977 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3gk1w0pk Farmworkers, the frontline workers of our food system, are often exposed to heat stress that is likely to increase in frequency and severity due to climate change. Irrigation can either alleviate or exacerbate heat stress, quantification of which is crucial in intensely irrigated agricultural lands such as the Imperial Valley in southern California. We investigate the impact of irrigation on wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a key indicator of heat exposure in humans, using a validated high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) regional climate model, during day and night and in different seasons. We find that irrigation reduces WBGT by 0.3–1.3  °C during the daytime in summer due to strong evaporative cooling. However, during the summer nights, irrigation increases WBGT by 0.4–1.3 °C, when a large increase in humidity sufficiently raises the wet-bulb temperature. Urban and fallow areas adjacent to cropped fields also experience increased heat stress due to moisture... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3gk1w0pk Wed, 9 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Parajuli, Sagar P Biggs, Trent de Sales, Fernando Zavala Perez, Miguel Angel He, Cenlin Jones, Charles https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-6977 Thompson, Callum Galvez, Nicolas Lopez Ciborowski, Haley Quintino, Tiago Di Napoli, Claudia Montazar, Aliasghar Yazdi, Tayebeh Hosseini Soucier, Monica https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1t05s9z0 Abstract Farmworkers in California’s Imperial Valley face a disproportionate risk of heat stress from prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures. However, heat stress is more than just extreme temperature and depends on humidity, winds, and sun exposure. These conditions can be aggregated into the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a metric endorsed by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for monitoring workplace heat. To better inform heat mitigation strategies, we construct a climatology of summertime WBGT in Imperial Valley for 30 years during 1991–2020. The climatology is constructed from a dynamical downscaling of ERA5 reanalysis to 1.5 km using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model, using quantile mapping to bias correct WBGT inputs against regional weather station observations. We find that WBGT is the highest in urban areas, where summertime daily maxima average 34°C and in rural croplands below mean sea level. National Weather Service... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1t05s9z0 Wed, 9 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Thompson, Callum F Jones, Charles https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4808-6977 Biggs, Trent Quintana, Penelope JE https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0318-3714 Perez, Miguel Angel Zavala De Sales, Fernando Roberts, Dar Parajuli, Sagar Ciborowski, Haley McMahon, Conor https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9t88h94z Latent transition analysis with Auxiliary Variables: A demonstration of the ML 3-Step and BCH in Mplus https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9t88h94z Sun, 6 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nylund-Gibson, Karen Arch, Dina Ali Naji Carter, Delwin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9d69w46b In the context of a knowledge economy and innovation-driven development, innovation districts have emerged as place-based urban development tools increasingly embedded within the urban redevelopment of old districts. While this economically and industrially oriented redevelopment pattern revitalizes urban spaces, it also raises concerns about social integration and community inclusion. This study proposes using cognitive regions as a key lens to assess whether urban redevelopment trends toward social integration or segregation, examining the cognitive coupling that occurs when innovation-driven selective redevelopment is inserted into the context of Chinese urban villages. Using Tangdong Village in Guangzhou as a case study, we apply an enhanced cognitive interview (ECI) method combined with visual and spatial analyses to identify cognitive disconnections between different groups toward original residential and innovation spaces, manifested in differences in cognitive elements,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9d69w46b Sun, 6 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zhang, Jiayin Wang, Min Montello, Daniel R Li, Luhua https://escholarship.org/uc/item/866599s2 <p>This special forum analyzes how different modes of cultural production circulate elements of Asian religio-philosophy and how "America" becomes transnationalized in the context of that circulation.&nbsp;</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/866599s2 Sun, 6 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Du, Bowen https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8019-3109 Rangaswamy, Varun https://escholarship.org/uc/item/670306vm Early settlements faced hydrological opportunities and constraints that informed transitions to urban living. Along the way, imbalances between urban expansion and infrastructural development and hydrological systems could threaten the sustainability of growing settlements. Here using archeological data and spatial modeling, we examine 2,106 early settlements dating from 8.5 ka BP to 2.72 ka BP in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. We trace how the distribution of settlements and hydrological conditions changed over time, focusing on associated trajectories of spatial pattern and hydrological adaptation. Results show that hydrological factors consistently influenced settlement patterns, even as settlements built infrastructure to manage floods and water access. Despite these efforts, cultural decline still occurred, revealing a persistent asymmetry between settlement pattern and hydrological adaptability. Our findings provide historical insight into how long-term vulnerabilities... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/670306vm Sun, 6 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zhang, Jiayin Wang, Fang Dong, Ying Mao, Shaoyi Zhang, Changping Hu, Xie Ning, Chao Chen, Jianli Liu, Jianbao Chen, Yiyong Liu, Jianguo Fang, Qin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/23r9r25w <p>Issue Introduction.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/23r9r25w Sun, 6 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hornung, Alfred https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7153-489X https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9m13x0pm <p>This article explores the history of Dutch Indonesian grocery stores in Southern California. Following World War II and the Indonesian War of Independence, thousands of Dutch and Dutch Indonesians migrated to the United States and established themselves throughout Southern California. Among the neighborhoods of Los Angeles, immigrants opened dozens of Dutch Indonesian supermarkets that catered to both communities. This article unpacks the complex relationship between Dutch and Dutch Indonesian immigrants in the postcolonial era and the legacies of Dutch colonialism in the US context. I argue that these stores not only serve as the main cultural connection between immigrants and their homeland but also are sites of cultural discussion over Dutch Indonesian connections. Additionally, this article also situates Dutch Indonesian cuisine within the rising popularity of Indonesian cuisine in Los Angeles and examines the status of Dutch Indonesian stores in Southern California.</p> <p>&nbsp;... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9m13x0pm Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 van Harmelen, Jonathan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/94n4n8mp <p>This article investigates the cultural politics of the yoga pant to show how a popular US fashion item has recalibrated new meanings for a South Asian religo-philosophical practice. In twenty first–century US discourse, the yoga pant appears in cultural spaces as diverse as textile design, mom fiction, and music video. Drawing on feminist materialisms, I analyze representations of the yoga pant to track its journey through transnational circuits of power. I propose the dialectical concept of surfacing, understood as a drive towards flatness that also exposes depth, to analyze the contradictory work that the yoga pant can perform. The yoga pant enmshes the postural practice of yoga within industrial textile engineering, contributes to gendered body discipline, and often occludes yoga's South Asian dimensions. Yet the yoga pant can also support visions of radical freedom from gendered and racialized hierarchies. The active materiality of this fashion item sheds new light on how... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/94n4n8mp Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Black, Shameem https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2782-0012 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8jv3t1m5 <p>We are honored to present an excerpt from Gesa Mackenthun's <em>Embattled Excavations: Colonial and Transcultural Constructions of the American Deep Past</em> (Waxmann Verlag, 2021).&nbsp;</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8jv3t1m5 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Mackenthun, Gesa https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8hq913tm <p>Editors' introduction to a curated selection of excerpts from recent thought-provoking work in the field of transnational American studies.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8hq913tm Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Takeuchi-Demirci, Aiko Kim, Sabine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9023-9538 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87r7g5x0 <p>This interview with Amirtha Kidambi focuses on how Kidambi turns South Asian religio-philosophy toward her transnational activist aims through diasporic musical practice. Throughout the course of our conversation, Kidambi traces the development of her political consciousness in relation to both her experience as part of a transnational South Asian diaspora and her musical practice as an improviser. This development often exceeds the institutional norms that seek to keep research, composition, and improvisation as bounded, separate disciplines. By considering improvisation itself as a form of social practice, Kidambi brings into relation musical performance and activism in concrete ways. Furthermore, our conversation touches on the links between pedagogy and reception. Kidambi elaborates on this link by connecting the pedagogical principles she has developed through in-class teaching to the way she collaborates with her band Elder Ones and the way she performs on stage. Finally,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/87r7g5x0 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rangaswamy, Varun Du, Bowen https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8019-3109 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7h8697h2 <p>In recent decades, the American journalist Lawrence Weschler—a frequent contributor to <em>The New Yorker</em> and <em>McSweeney’s</em>—established himself as one of the most prolific and imaginative writers on the “post-totalitarian” turn: that is, on the startling revival or persistence of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes around the globe. This essay explores his engagement with the rise and fall of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, whose rule Weschler filtered through successive treatments of two exile architects—Kanan Makiya, one of the most prominent and controversial critics of Hussein’s regime, and his father, Mohamed, who returned to Iraq to work for the dictator. Weschler’s portraits of these figures—a collaboration which helped him construct a cultural, transnational account of their journeys from Baghdad to London and to the US—became fundamental to the increasingly experimental ways Weschler began to track authoritarianism’s global resurgence, including back to the American... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7h8697h2 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Wilson, Christopher P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6921-2605 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fw9x7mk <p>We're pleased to present an excerpt from Lina-Maria Murillo's book, <em>Fighting for Control: Power, Reproductive Care, and Race in the US–Mexico Borderlands</em> (The University of North Carolina Press, 2025). Republished with permission.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fw9x7mk Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Murillo, Lina-Maria https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7724t0x9 <p>Alyssa A. Hunziker reviews <em>Plantation Pedagogy: The Violence of Schooling Across Black and Indigenous Space&nbsp;</em>by Bayley J. Marquez (University of California Press)&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7724t0x9 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hunziker, Alyssa A. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5k5346q9 <p>By taking seriously interimperialist contexts, this article reinterprets Briton Hammon’s <em>Narrative</em> (1760), contesting, especially due to Hammon’s presence in Havana, Cuba, commonly accepted notions of canonicity across literary genres in the Americas. I argue that one must read this short piece against the grain of the US literary canon in which Hammon’s <em>Narrative</em> has been canonized as “the first slave narrative,” almost exclusively in an anglophone setting. I offer the term “abolitionist traces” as literary method to address how Hammon’s multilinguistic and interimperial contexts become suppressed due to the conditions of the text’s publication by Green and Russell and advertisement in pro-British and proslavery periodical <em>Boston Post-Boy</em>. Rather than concede that this New England colonial context determines the text’s ultimate scope, I read a revolutionary Caribbean context alongside Hammon by way of the Hispanophone Havana, where Hammon spends... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5k5346q9 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rufo, John https://escholarship.org/uc/item/55n6r989 <p>This article explores and compares the transnational ontologies, rhetorical strategies, and literary forms of political activism in the work of Allen Ginsberg and Maxine Hong Kingston, focusing on Ginsberg’s poems “Wichita Vortex Sutra” and “Iron Horse” and Kingston’s 2003 novel, <em>The Fifth Book of Peace</em>. It traces their critiques of Cold War / Vietnam War US foreign policies and their attempts at fostering transnational communities and solidarity to their respective understandings of Buddhist philosophy and its practical applications, more specifically, the concept of dependent origination or “interbeing.” After situating both authors’ works within the framework of transnational relations during the Cold War period, I analyze their respective approaches to undoing difference across borders, political alliances, and cultural groups and demonstrate how their interpretations of Buddhist ethics translate into forms of discourse and activism.</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/55n6r989 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Faust, Jonas https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41j771qp <p>Bios</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41j771qp Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Transnational American Studies, Journal of https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3sc0m902 <p>Until recently, scholars of the cotton South tended to focus their attention on the antebellum years, when “King Cotton” lay at the center of the nation’s economy and politics. What this narrative of postbellum decline conceals is that the port of New Orleans continued its domination of the cotton trade, both domestic and international, after the end of the Civil War. Not only did New Orleans serve as a central market for transpacific commerce, but its port was directly integrated into a global Japanese trade network that included exchanges with Africa and South America, all served by Japanese shipping. This article looks at New Orleans as a center of growing networks of commerce with Japan, a position that also helped lead to the establishment of a Japanese presence in the Crescent City, fortified by the development of official and semiofficial Japanese institutions.&nbsp;</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3sc0m902 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Robinson, Greg https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1k40r5kn <p>An excerpt from the Shelley Fisher Fishkin Prize-winning publication for 2025.&nbsp;</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1k40r5kn Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bennett, Bridget https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jb67281 <p>This article examines the impact of Neo-Vedanta philosophy on Black jazz musicians in the 1960s and 1970s, with a special focus on Alice Coltrane. By using what I have come to understand as a decolonial analysis, I situate the artists whose works I discuss in the context of a wider decolonial turn in the late twentieth century. In addition to tracing the transmission of Neo-Vedanta philosophy, <em>guru-sisya</em> (guru-disciple) relationships, and ideas about universal religion into the US, this article also traces how various Black artistic and political figures rethought religion and spirituality in terms of radical liberation. Amid this convergence of new religious movements and Black activism, artists like Alice Coltrane became more open to Eastern spiritual transformation, and her own work ultimately made no distinction between spirtual and music practice. While this is a historical essay, I bookend my historical analysis with personal reflections on how I have received... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1jb67281 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kidambi, Amirtha V. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1fx5441q <p>Catherine R. Peters reviews Maggie M. Cao's <em>Painting US Empire: Nineteenth-Century Art and Its Legacies </em>(University of Chicago Press).</p> https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1fx5441q Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Peters, Catherine R. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0jf4k2v1 <p>This conversation with saxophonist and composer Aakash Mittal examines musical practice as a form of spirituality. Mittal discusses some of the environmental and structural forces—such as transnational movement and cross-racial family dynamics—that shaped his childhood access to Indian culture and religio-philosophy. In coming to terms with those forces, Mittal developed musical performance and listening as personal rituals that comprised the spiritual component of a larger process of cultural, diasporic healing. Within that process, reception, for Mittal, became not a passive transmission but an active construction of relations. In the course of this interview, Mittal connects his active construction of relations to his training and participation in both Black American and South Asian musical cultures. In addition to his training, Mittal discusses his recent participation in composer Du Yun's work with an Asian indigenous community, the Jino. Importantly, Mittal emphasizes... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0jf4k2v1 Fri, 4 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rangaswamy, Varun Du, Bowen https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8019-3109 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wb2f5qp The effect of land cover changes on annual peak discharge is evaluated using a novel method combining principal component analysis (PCA) and random forest regression (RF). This approach calculates original feature contributions by multiplying absolute PCA loadings with RF-derived component importances, enabling direct attribution of discharge variations to specific land cover types in each subbasin, which represents an integration unexplored in prior PCA–RF applications. The PCA–RF method is applied in the basin upstream of Golestan Dam, Iran. It uses multitemporal Landsat imagery for NDVI-based land cover classification, annual instantaneous peak discharge data from hydrometric stations, and elevation data for subbasin delineation over a limited period (post-2003, due to data constraints). Despite limitations like scarce hydrometric data and a short collection period, the method analyzes relationships between land cover classes and floods in subbasins. Remote sensing provides... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8wb2f5qp Thu, 3 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Salar-Khorasani, Seyed-Mahdi Bozorg-Haddad, Omid Loáiciga, Hugo A https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46z6g7r7 A longstanding question in ecology asks whether or not species that achieve large geographic ranges also have large climatic niche breadths. Using a dataset of ~250,000 terrestrial plant species spanning diverse clades (bryophytes, ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants), we demonstrate a consistent positive relationship between geographic range size and climatic niche breadth across latitudinal and elevational gradients. This relationship holds across major phylogenetic groups, suggesting a general biogeographical rule for range size variation. Our findings indicate that latitudinal and elevational gradients in range size arise from selective pressures and species sorting based on climatic tolerance. Additionally, we show that species with larger range sizes tend to be ecologically dominant, supporting a long-suspected connection between range size, niche breadth, and local and regional abundance. Our results suggest a spectrum of dominance, where species with extensive geographic... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46z6g7r7 Tue, 1 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Moulatlet, Gabriel M Merow, Cory Maitner, Brian Boyle, Brad Feng, Xiao Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Hinojo-Hinojo, Cesar Newman, Erica A Roehrdanz, Patrick R Song, Lei Villalobos, Fabricio Marquet, Pablo A Svenning, Jens-Christian Enquist, Brian J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2xc027s0 There is growing empirical evidence that cities share similar statistical patterns in terms of their social and economic characteristics. Many facets of urban life – ranging from personal income, innovation, crime, amenities, and infrastructure – have been found to follow non-linear, power-law scaling relationships with city size. Using Landsat and other satellite-derived data, we test whether urban green space exhibits scaling relationships on a global selection of 150 cities at global and individual city scales. We find that urban green space follows a pervasive sublinear scaling relationship with city size, both in terms of population and land area. Sublinear scaling indicates that green space declines in per-unit access as cities grow larger, which means that corresponding ecosystem services provided by green spaces will also likely decline. Without interventions to preserve and manage urban green space, future cities may become wealthier and more innovative as they grow,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2xc027s0 Tue, 1 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Stuhlmacher, Michelle Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Corya, Isabella Yang, Wenxin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1hj3808b Protected areas are a primary instrument for biodiversity conservation, and area-based targets have become a hallmark of global efforts with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biological Framework recommending at least 30 percent of land and water be protected by 2030. In parallel, the United States has implemented “America the Beautiful,” a call for local, state, and regionally led efforts to conserve, connect, and restore 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Achieving these goals is complicated, however, by the multiple policy scales at which conservation decisions are made and governed and the limited guidance provided on how gains to protected and connected areas should be evaluated. We assess the connectedness of U.S. protected areas at multiple scales and find that less than 3 percent of the United States is protected and connected. Connectedness increases when the area under investigation is partitioned into smaller policy units (e.g., counties), a product of the... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1hj3808b Tue, 1 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Kedron, Peter https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1093-3416 Yang, Wenxin Quan, Hejun https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9np1r1zr Coral resilience is shaped by trophodynamic flexibility – the balance between photosymbiont-derived energy and feeding-based heterotrophy – yet quantifying this balance across taxa and through time remains difficult. Nitrogen (N) isotopes are a powerful tool to investigate trophic strategies, but their use requires information on local isotopic baselines. Here, we introduce&nbsp;the biomineral-bound N isotopes of crustose coralline algae (CCA) as an archive that closely tracks the N isotopic composition of the reef nitrate supply, making it a proxy for a reef’s isotopic baseline. Coupled N isotope measurements of co-occurring CCA, symbiont-bearing, and symbiont-barren corals further enable us to quantify a coral’s “trophic enrichment factor,” reflecting the efficiency of the internal N recycling between the coral and its photosymbionts. From this framework, we derive a Reliance on Symbionts Index (RSI) that captures taxonomic and regional variation in mixotrophy, enabling reconstruction... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9np1r1zr Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Jung, Jonathan Wald, Tanja Foreman, Alan D Bieler, Aaron L Janussen, Dorte Moretti, Simone Duprey, Nicolas N Marconi, Dario Pérez-Medina, Carmen O’Dea, Aaron Schiebel, Ralf Halfar, Jochen Fernández-García, Cindy Berger, Madeline Donovan, Mary K Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Cramer, Katie Haug, Gerald H Sigman, Daniel M Martínez-García, Alfredo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7800j81s ContextAlien plant invasions challenge biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration. The transdisciplinary nature of plant invasion prevention and management requires a holistic and spatially explicit perspective, to which landscape ecology can contribute.ObjectivesWe aimed to understand how landscape ecology approaches have been applied to investigate the causes, processes, and impacts of plant invasion. Based on this analysis, we synthesized the current research opportunities and challenges in applying landscape ecology approaches to plant invasion studies.MethodsWe followed RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) to conduct the article search, screening, and analysis. We then synthesized the findings through the lens of landscape ecology-based research approaches, theoretical foundations, and methods.ResultsResearch has disproportionately focused on explaining plant invasion patterns in landscapes with landscape structure (patchiness) often used... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7800j81s Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Yan, Xue Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cq6338t In the 1990s, a core curriculum for GIScience was developed to provide a lighthouse for the field. Given massive developments in the field, our goal is to lead the GIScience community in creating a modern and open-source curriculum for today’s GIScientist, through a project titled “The Guide to the Geographic Approach.” Here, we outline resources generated from the first phase of the project. It includes a list of modern Geographic Information Science (GIS) competencies, open modules organized around GIS workflows and applications, and supporting instructor materials. The approach to modern GIScience curriculum development and delivery is motivated by a shared understanding that materials should be co-developed by the community of GIScientists, be open source, center ethics, be distinguishable from data science through learning focused on spatial applications and workflows and build practical skills through hands-on activities using the latest technology. With the aim of providing... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6cq6338t Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nelson, Trisalyn A Kedron, Peter https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1093-3416 Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Chen, Jiahua Heidger, Lily Dodge, Somayeh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0335-3576 Goodchild, Michael Peake, Riley Lee, Angela Li, Zijun Jenkins, Aisha Sarigai, Sarigai Wright, Dawn Wagner, Eric Otto, Ryan Booth, Bob https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41m2p834 Growing demand for food coupled with climate commitments to reduce emissions will result in more land development for agriculture and renewable energy. Simultaneously, conserving land for biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (NCP) is imperative for achieving international climate, sustainable development, and biodiversity goals. Meeting these interconnected objectives requires efficient land allocation across sectors. Here, we present a flexible, multiple-objective framework for strategically allocating land to mitigate threats to biodiversity and NCP under climate change while supporting development. Application of this framework at a global scale through country-level targets shows that if future development is planned without consideration of nature, demands for land could impact nearly 1 million km2 of high-priority conservation areas. Multi-sector planning can mitigate potential conflict, reducing carbon loss and species exposure. Our findings underscore the... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41m2p834 Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Brock, Cameryn Roehrdanz, Patrick R Beringer, Tim Chaplin-Kramer, Rebecca Enquist, Brian J Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Johnson, Justin A Kennedy, Christina M Kiesecker, Joseph Larsen, Ashley E Loyola, Rafael Marquet, Pablo A Neugarten, Rachel A Oakleaf, James R Roopsind, Anand Schuster, Richard Williams, David R Wu, Grace C Zvoleff, Alex Hannah, Lee https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2pk772ns Constraints on Wilson coefficients (WCs) corresponding to dimension-6 operators of the standard model effective field theory (SMEFT) are determined from a simultaneous fit to seven sets of CMS measurements probing Higgs boson, electroweak vector boson, top quark, and multijet production. Measurements of electroweak precision observables are also included and provide complementary constraints to those from the CMS experiment. The CMS measurements, using LHC proton-proton collision data at s=13Te$$\sqrt{s}=13\,\text {Te}\text {V} $$, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 36.3 or 138fb-1$$\,\text {fb}^{-1}$$, are chosen to provide sensitivity to a broad set of operators, for which consistent SMEFT predictions can be derived. These are primarily measurements of differential cross sections which are parameterized as functions of the WCs. In measurements targeting t(t¯)X$${\text {t}} (\bar{\textrm{t}})\text {X} $$ production, SMEFT effects are modelled at the detector level. Individual... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2pk772ns Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Chekhovsky, V Hayrapetyan, A Makarenko, V Tumasyan, A Adam, W Andrejkovic, JW Benato, L Bergauer, T Damanakis, K Dragicevic, M Giordano, C Hussain, PS Jeitler, M Krammer, N Li, A Liko, D Mikulec, I Schieck, J Schöfbeck, R Schwarz, D Sonawane, M Waltenberger, W Wulz, C-E Janssen, T Kwon, H Van Laer, T Van Mechelen, P Bierkens, J Breugelmans, N D’Hondt, J Dansana, S De Moor, A Delcourt, M Heyen, F Hong, Y Lowette, S Makarenko, I Müller, D Tavernier, S Tytgat, M Van Onsem, GP Van Putte, S Vannerom, D Bilin, B Clerbaux, B Das, AK De Bruyn, I De Lentdecker, G Evard, H Favart, L Gianneios, P Khalilzadeh, A Khan, FA Malara, A Shahzad, MA Thomas, L Bemden, M Vanden Vander Velde, C Vanlaer, P Zhang, F De Coen, M Dobur, D Gokbulut, G Knolle, J Lambrecht, L Marckx, D Skovpen, K Van Den Bossche, N van der Linden, J Vandenbroeck, J Wezenbeek, L Bein, S Benecke, A Bethani, A Bruno, G Cappati, A De Jeneret, J De Favereau Delaere, C Giammanco, A Guzel, AO Jain Lemaitre, V Lidrych, J Mastrapasqua, P Turkcapar, S Alves, GA Coelho, E Silva, G Correia Hensel, C De Oliveira, T Menezes Herrera, C Mora Teles, P Rebello Soeiro, M Manganote, EJ Tonelli Pereira, A Vilela Júnior, WL Aldá Filho, M Barroso Ferreira Malbouisson, H Brandao Carvalho, W Chinellato, J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1c03k2t4 ContextLandscape connectivity assessments have almost exclusively relied on two-dimensional (2D) representations of the landscape, where any vertical heterogeneity–such as tree height–is collapsed into a 2D pixel representing only the land cover type. In reality though, species make movement and behavior decisions based not only on land cover but also the three-dimensional (3D) height and structure of objects on the surface of the earth, including trees, shrubs, and buildings. With the rise in availability of 3D datasets, there are new opportunities to incorporate the vertical dimension into landscape assessments, but landscape connectivity has received less attention, likely because there is not yet a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing the many ways in which connectivity can be represented and measured in 3D.ObjectivesWe present a framework for conceptualizing and measuring 3D connectivity across three paradigms commonly employed in landscape ecology: the patch-mosaic,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1c03k2t4 Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Yang, Wenxin Rogers, Morgan L https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0jg209m7 Dengue, commonly known as breakbone fever, has been prevalent in Bangladesh since 2000. Monsoon conditions and warmer temperatures create suitable breeding environment for the vectors <i>Aedes aegypti</i> and <i>Aedes albopictus</i>. Although dengue outbreaks peak during the post-monsoon months (September and October), 2023 showed an unusual shift, with cases peaking as early as June. The case fatality rate (0.54%) in 2023 was the highest in the past two decades. This study offers an exhaustive examination of the spatiotemporal dynamics of dengue incidence clusters and composite risk across Bangladesh using daily dengue case data from 2019 to 2024. Spatial autocorrelation analysis (Local Moran's <i>I</i>) revealed that the central and south coastal districts, especially Dhaka, Manikganj, and Barisal were the major dengue hotspots during the peak outbreak years (2019, 2023, and 2024). Jaccard Similarity Index (JSI) analysis further indicated strong seasonal and interannual reorganization... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0jg209m7 Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Jarin, Nusrat Zahan Bhattachan, Abinash Rahman, Obaidur https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0gk4f2bz Grassland fragmentation is intensifying globally, with substantial implications for biodiversity. Yet its extent, temporal dynamics and ecological effects remain unclear. Here we present a global assessment of grassland fragmentation from 1995 to 2020 and its effects on vertebrate species richness. Intact grassland area declined by 2.6% over this period, mainly owing to cropland expansion, and only about 24% of global grasslands remained structurally intact by 2020. The effects of fragmentation on species richness varied across regions and taxa. Low fragmentation increased richness in large tropical grasslands, whereas high fragmentation reduced richness in temperate grasslands, where reptiles showed the strongest and most consistent negative responses. To evaluate potential management strategies, we further compared future fragmentation under different land-use scenarios. Projections to 2045 suggest that conservation will reduce future fragmentation more effectively than restoration... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0gk4f2bz Mon, 31 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zhang, Ning Li, Ang Yan, Yongzhi Frazier, Amy E https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-4935 Zhang, Qing Yin, He https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8fp03200 How can university scholars and community activists effectively collaborate to produce generative, empowering, and materially impactful knowledge and actions concerning climate change and climate justice? In this paper, we report on a collaborative effort between climate justice non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and university faculty and students to conduct research to produce innovative ideas and insights about just transitions in California and to support social movement campaigns aimed at actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions by keeping fossil fuels in the ground. This collaboration was jointly initiated by faculty and students at a California university alongside leaders of local social movement organizations dedicated to climate justice, as a response to several proposed development projects that would expand oil extraction and fossil fuel use in that state. We argue that these efforts produced a climate justice gestalt that serves to amplify our productivity, power,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8fp03200 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pellow, David N https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9160-2880 Williams, Emily https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7261-3071 Rizo-Centino, Ana Rosa https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nt4302s Planetary justice discourse has emerged as a new approach for earth system governance which centers justice concerns within a particular temporal epoch, the so-called ‘Anthropocene.’ Here, we examine the distinctive features of the planetary justice framework, focusing specifically on the importance of the temporal dimensions relevant for understanding injustices beyond humans and at the planetary scale. We use two examples – PFAS and insurance – to demonstrate how the multiscalar, beyond-human approach adopted by planetary justice scholars, coupled with the discourse’s embeddedness in existing earth system governance processes, could have meaningful influence in planetary decision-making processes. We argue that there is a need for (1) expanding the ‘pro-poor’ agenda of planetary justice research, and (2) cultivating space for inclusion of existing and alternative approaches to justice in pursuing a pluralized planetary justice. In closing, we suggest future areas of research... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7nt4302s Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ryder, Stacia Kojola, Erik Pellow, David https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66m0q383 This article aims to frame the state violence and socio-ecological injustice perpetrated against prisoners through the lens of both critical environmental justice studies and the concept of the Wasteocene. We seek to uncover the socio-ecological relationships that have historically shaped the enforcement of the prison and waste systems through a focus on the Italian context during the Covid-19 pandemic. We explore the case of a jail in Campania, a region in the South of Italy infamous for its troubled waste management that has caused uncountable and entangled health, social, and economic harms. The jail is adjacent to an area with a long history of waste disposal practices and numerous legal conflicts and corruption scandals: all characteristics that make this case emblematic of the broader problem of carceral environmental injustice. We argue that carceral institutions are generative sites for examining the dynamics of violence, expendability, and wasting relationships that are... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66m0q383 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Privitera, Elisa Pellow, David Naguib https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9160-2880 Armiero, Marco https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4vm3m48w Water Crisis in Flint, Michigan: Interview with David Pellow, Ph.D. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4vm3m48w Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Washington, Sylvia Hood Pellow, David https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9160-2880 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3h72q8ck Epilogue https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3h72q8ck Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pellow, David N https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9160-2880 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/29332188 Abstract Ecologists recognise that we live on an increasingly human‐dominated planet, yet most of the field's foundational concepts remain essentially biophysical, with little reference to human society. There are few better examples of this divide between ecological and social theory than the niche concept. During its century‐long history, the niche concept has been defined in many ways, including to describe the ecological roles of humans. To date, however, it has not incorporated human influences into its various descriptions of other species' ecological roles. In this essay, we present the socio‐ecological niche (SEN) concept, which builds on the literature in niche theory by contributing insights from the social sciences and humanities to better understand the roles of non‐human species in modern socio‐ecological systems. We argue that the SEN enriches the niche concept and offers a point of connection between ecology and justice. Read the free Plain Language... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/29332188 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 McInturff, Alex Alagona, Peter S Cannon, Clare EB https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5507-5312 Pellow, David N https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2456g8z1 Abstract Wildlife are increasingly recognized as critical to urban ecosystems, but the impacts and benefits of wildlife on people in cities are poorly understood. Environmental justice scholarship has concluded that elements of the urban environment can create or exacerbate social inequity, but human–wildlife interactions have not been considered through this lens. We conducted a literature review on urban wildlife, human–wildlife interactions and environmental justice. We triangulated between these three bodies of literature to identify trends, gaps and research needs. We identified six pathways through which wildlife presence or absence, wildlife management and human–wildlife interactions in cities may lead to social injustice for people. Our review shows that wildlife affect nearly all aspects of urban life for people, including economics, participation in decision‐making, patterns of urban space, human health, psychological well‐being and cultural discourses. Through... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2456g8z1 Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 McInturff, Alex Volski, Lara Callahan, Megan M Sneegas, Gretchen Pellow, David N https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0rw305kr 12 Questions to Marco Armiero https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0rw305kr Sat, 29 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Armiero, Marco https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9v22x63j International objectives for sustainable development and biodiversity conservation require restoring fish populations to healthy levels and reducing fishing impacts on marine ecosystems. At the same time, governments, retailers, and consumers are increasingly motivated to reduce the carbon footprint of food. These concerns are reflected in measures of the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the CFP Reform Regulation, which highlighted a need to move from traditional single-stock management toward an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAF). Using publicly available landings and effort data combined with estimates of adult population biomass, we develop methods to explore the potential for lowering emissions intensity and impacts on organic carbon stocks through ending overfishing and rebuilding stocks. We use the recent recovery of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) stocks in the Northeast Atlantic as a case study. With a focus on the hake fisheries of France, Spain,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9v22x63j Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Martin, Angela Helen Ferrer, Erica M Hunt, Corallie A Bleeker, Katinka Villasante, Sebastián https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qw7d50d Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) constitute a superfamily of thiolate-ligated heme metalloenzymes principally responsible for the hydroxylation of unactivated C–H bonds. The proximal cysteine is an obligatory and universally conserved residue for the CYP enzyme class. Herein, we challenge this paradigm by systematically identifying noncanonical CYPs (ncCYPs) that do not harbor a proximal cysteine ligand. Our bioinformatic search revealed 20 distinct ncCYP families encoded in diverse microbial genomes with alternative residues at this position. We characterize a native serine-ligated CYP with a high-spin ferric resting state that catalyzes azide reduction and nitrene insertion reactions. Its crystal structure clearly shows a typical CYP fold and a serine alkoxide as a proximal heme ligand. In addition, we report the discovery and characterization of the first native selenocysteine-ligated CYP in nature. Our findings expand the CYP metalloenzyme family and provide opportunities for future... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9qw7d50d Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nguy, Andy KL Ireland, Kendra A Kayrouz, Chase M Cáceres, Juan Carlos Huang, Jonathan Z Ying, Vanessa Y Quaye, Joanna A Greene, Brandon L https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6981-5900 Davis, Katherine M Seyedsayamdost, Mohammad R https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nv1s84j A detailed understanding of solid-state reaction pathways is essential for connecting predictive frameworks, such as density functional theory and machine learning, with experimental synthesis. Microwave synthesis has emerged as a powerful route for preparing inorganic materials, yet the mechanisms governing microwave-driven processes remain poorly understood, particularly for metastable compounds whose formation is highly sensitive to synthesis conditions. Disordered rocksalt oxides (DRX) are high-temperature metastable phases of interest as next-generation Li-ion cathodes. Here, we investigate the microwave reaction pathway of . Combining ex situ phase identification using x-ray diffraction and solid-state NMR with in situ infrared thermography, we show that the reaction proceeds through a reentrant order-disorder-order transformation. Layered Li-Mn-O intermediates disorder above 945 to form the DRX phase, while continued heating drives reordering back to layered structures.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nv1s84j Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lawrence, Erick A Wright, Matthew A Li, Tianyu Bassey, Euan N Kumar, Vijay Yuan, Shiyu Zhu, Yangying https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9185-3161 Cabelguen, Pierre‐Etienne Clément, Raphaële J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nn061z9 Ten simple rules for effective use of generative AI for code development in environmental science https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9nn061z9 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 King, Rachel A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3274-1263 Abowd, Laurel Broderick, Carlo W Bradley, Lm Czapanskiy, Max F Farnisa, Mona M Ferrer, Erica M Garcia, Carmen Galaz Gill, Darian Greco, Nicole M Jacquemont, Juliette Kadi, Justin A Kui, Li LeBuhn, Gretchen Li, Liying Meyer, Abigail Morse, Marisa Patrick, Evan Shanny-Csik, Samantha Tucker, Nicholas AC Wang, Zhe Fong, Caitlin R https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9hk2v76w The eastern North American margin has experienced a wide array of plate-scale tectonic deformational events, including the breakup of Pangaea. The margin may also host complex patterns of active asthenospheric mantle dynamics. Several studies have observed a strong change in anisotropy across the margin that have been interpreted variously as active asthenospheric flow or past lithospheric deformation. Separating these candidate processes has proven difficult. To constrain the likely source of the change in anisotropy across the margin, we examine scattered quasi-Love waves over three frequency ranges with peak sensitivities in the lithosphere (∼75&nbsp;km), the uppermost mantle (∼150&nbsp;km), and the asthenosphere (∼250&nbsp;km). We observe strong quasi-Love wave scattering along the margin in the lowest two frequency bands but far fewer scatterers in the lithosphere-dominated highest frequency band. The clear frequency dependence suggests a change in anisotropy across the margin... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9hk2v76w Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lynner, Colton Eilon, Zachary C https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9d17t9f5 Animal agriculture is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and other harmful environmental impacts, which underscores the need to shift away from the consumption of animal-based products. One promising nudge intervention is making plant-based meals the default option, so we tested this approach at six different university events across four academic institutions for effecting sustainable dietary change. Event attendees pre-selected their meal on one of two randomly assigned RSVP forms: one with a plant-based default and one with a meal with meat default. The results from our randomized controlled trial showed that participants had a 43-percentage point greater probability of selecting the plant-based meal when it was indicated as the default option. This effect was similar across events and academic institutions, which indicates that this default intervention is generalizable and can be successfully implemented at university events. The combined effect of using plant-based... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9d17t9f5 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zhang, Angela W Wharton, Christopher Cloonan, Sara Boronowsky, Renate Magesh, Varun Braverman, Ilana Marquez, Alejandra Leidy, Heather Wang, May C Cleveland, David A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 Jay, Jennifer Stecher, Chad https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9cp663mz A diaza-18-crown-6 chelator appended with pyridyl pendant arms achieves highly stable, selective chelation of toxic heavy metals, Cd 2+ , Hg 2+ , and Pb 2+ , and demonstrates in vitro sequestration of these metals, offering promise for chelation therapy. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9cp663mz Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lieberum, Jacy R https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0224-7356 Traylor, Jane M https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4764-687X Jensen, Marianne L Sauer, Stephan PA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4812-0522 Hemmingsen, Lars https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1823-3035 Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9br5x0r1 Ru265, [Ru₂(μ-N)(NH₃)₈Cl₂]Cl₃, is a potent nanomolar inhibitor of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU), the transporter that mediates Ca²⁺ uptake into the mitochondria. This compound and related MCU inhibitors are promising therapeutic agents and chemical biology tools for studying intracellular Ca²⁺ dynamics. Axial ligand modification of these Ru-based complexes provides a facile way to tune their properties and make prodrugs. In this study, the use of axial phosphonate and phosphinate ligands was explored within this compound class, yielding [Ru₂(μ-N)(NH₃)₈(OPO(OH)Me)₂](CF₃SO₃)₃ (1) and [Ru₂(μ-N)(NH₃)₈(OPOPh₂)₂](CF₃SO₃)₃ (2). Both complexes were characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, revealing downfield shifts of the ³¹P... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9br5x0r1 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zou, Haipei MacMillan, Samantha N Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8dg00691 Radiotheranostic agents combine targeted therapeutics and diagnostic imaging, offering more efficient and personalized treatment strategies. Positron emission tomography provides high sensitivity and quantitative accuracy; however, its integration with α-particle radiotherapy remains limited by the lack of chelators capable of stabilizing radionuclides with widely different ionic radii. ⁸⁹Zr and ²²⁵Ac are promising radionuclides for PET imaging and targeted α-therapy, respectively, but require robust and versatile chelation strategies. Herein, we report stable coordination using the 18-membered macrocyclic dual size-selective chelator py₂-macrodipa with [⁸⁹Zr]Zr⁴⁺and [²²⁵Ac]Ac³⁺ ions. The chelator demonstrated efficient radiolabeling with both ⁸⁹Zr and ²²⁵Ac, exhibiting ⁸⁹Zr labeling efficiency comparable to the state-of-the-art chelator DFO at micromolar concentrations.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8dg00691 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Chakraborty, Mou Lee, Kevin K Hasson, Abbie Kanagasundaram, Thines Fears, Amanda Hu, Aohan Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 Thorek, Daniel LJ https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82k864kp Financial markets produce vast amounts of multimodal data, including textual sources, such as financial news, earnings conference calls, and financial reports, coupled with structured numerical data, such as market prices and accounting statements. This combination of rich multimodal inputs and the natural availability of market-based supervision presents a compelling opportunity for the development of machine learning and natural language processing methods. However, financial data exhibits several unique challenges. Financial documents are long, complex, and domain-specific. The data has strong temporal structure and information must be interpreted in the context of prior related events. In addition, textual and numerical modalities must be jointly modeled to capture their unique patterns and interactions. While existing language models are remarkably capable, they remain limited in their ability to address these challenges, as they struggle with long-range temporal dependencies,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82k864kp Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Koval, Ross https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wc6t4w2 Literature suggests limiting consumption of animal products is key to reducing emissions and adverse planetary impacts. However, influencing dietary behavior to achieve planetary health targets remains a formidable problem. We investigated the effect of changing the default meal option at catered events–from meat to plant-based–on participants' meal choices using three parallel-group, balanced, randomized controlled trials (RCT), and use these experimental results to project differences in plant-based default vs. meat default events on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) (kg CO2 − eq), land use (m2), nitrogen (g N), and phosphorus (g P) footprint. Data collection was performed at three catered events (n = 280) across two college campuses. The selected experimental sites used convenience sampling. Events consisted of a graduate orientation, sorority dinner, and academic conference. Eligibility of individual participants included being 18 years or older and an invitation to RSVP for... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wc6t4w2 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Boronowsky, Renate D Zhang, Angela W Stecher, Chad Presley, Kira Mathur, Maya B Cleveland, David A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 Garnett, Emma Wharton, Christopher Brown, Daniel Meier, Adam Wang, May Braverman, Ilana Jay, Jennifer A https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71z5w93f Ruthenium (Ru) polypyridyl complexes have been extensively used as optical probes, photoactivated anticancer agents, and photocages for biologically active ligands. In this study, Ru²⁺ polypyridyl complexes were investigated as photoreleasing agents for the H₂S donor GYY4137. Four complexes of the general formula <i>cis</i>-[Ru(NN)₂(GYY4137)]⁺, where NN = 2-2'-bipyridine (bpy), 2,2'-biquinoline (biq), 4,4'-methoxy-2,2'-bipyridine (dmobpy), and 4,4'-di-<i>tert</i>-butyl-2,2'-bipyridine (dtbpy), were synthesized and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The photochemical reactivity of these complexes was investigated, revealing that ligand photodissociation occurs in a two-step reaction. For these reactions, long-lived intermediates where the bidentate ligands attain a monodentate coordination mode could be detected. Furthermore, the ancillary diimine ligands dictated the identity of the final photoproducts observed,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71z5w93f Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lotlikar, PiyushaS Chang, Valerie Mikhailovsky, Alexander A Woods, Joshua J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6213-4093 Bigham, Nicholas P Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6sk4152k Abstract Freely moving mice are generally thought to redirect gaze mainly through head-coupled movements, with eye movements stabilizing the retinal image or resetting eye position. This reflexive view leaves unresolved whether gaze shifts also include active coordination modes. Here we show that a single gaze-shift class resolves into multiple distinct head-eye coordination motifs. Using high-resolution head and eye tracking in freely moving mice, we identified four reproducible motifs: Head-before-Eye (HbE), Head-with-Eye (HwE), Head-Dominant (HD), and Eye-Dominant (ED). The motifs differed in head-eye timing, locomotor context, and pre-onset visual-behavioral structure. Their short-timescale sequential organization was non-random: HD formed alternating side-to-side head movements, whereas HwE-HbE-ED formed a directed transition chain preserved within each movement direction. Simultaneous neural recordings further revealed motif-dependent responses in primary visual cortex (V1)... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6sk4152k Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hou, Yuchen Schneider, Marius Shin, Jhoseph Niell, Cristopher M Beyeler, Michael https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6ph153kc We present array‐scale (∼500 × 500 km) anisotropic shear‐velocity models from two Pacific ocean‐bottom seismometer (OBS) arrays of the OBS Research in the Convecting Asthenosphere (ORCA) experiment: Young ORCA (∼43 Ma) and Old ORCA (∼90 Ma). Rayleigh‐wave phase velocities spanning 5–150 s are combined with Love‐wave phase velocities from 5 to 10 s to constrain VSV $\left({V}_{SV}\right)$ and its azimuthal variation (G) $(G)$ to 300‐km depth, and radial anisotropy ξ=VSH/VSV2 $\xi ={\left({V}_{SH}/{V}_{SV}\right)}^{2}$ azimuthal VSH $\left({V}_{SH}\right)$ parameter E $E$ to ∼50 km depth. Both sites show a lithospheric lid over a low‐velocity zone, with lid thickness correlating with plate age, and positive ξ $\xi $ through the crust and upper lithosphere. Young ORCA has moderate lithospheric azimuthal anisotropy (|G| $\vert G\vert $ ∼ 3%) consistent with spreading‐parallel corner flow to ∼30–50 km, while Old ORCA displays weak (∼1%–2%), laterally variable lithospheric anisotropy... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6ph153kc Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Phillips, Joseph H Gaherty, James B Russell, Joshua B Eilon, Zachary C Forsyth, Donald W Byrnes, Joseph S https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6nj63472 <i>Objective.</i>Machine learning (ML) models are increasingly used to generate electrical stimulation patterns in neuroprosthetic devices such as visual prostheses. While these models promise precise and personalized control, they also introduce new safety risks when model outputs are delivered directly to neural tissue. We propose a systematic, quantitative approach to detect and characterize unsafe stimulation patterns in ML-driven neurostimulation systems.<i>Approach.</i>We adapt an automated software testing technique known as coverage-guided fuzzing to the domain of neural stimulation. Here, fuzzing performs stress testing by perturbing model inputs and tracking whether resulting stimulation violates biophysical limits on charge density, instantaneous current, or electrode co-activation. The framework treats encoders as black boxes and steers exploration with coverage metrics that quantify how broadly test cases span the space of possible outputs and violation types.<i>Main... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6nj63472 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Downing, Mara Peng, Matthew https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2945-2170 Granley, Jacob Beyeler, Michael Bultan, Tevfik https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2993-1215 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6jb5j1vh As the pressure to address the climate crisis builds, scientists must walk the line between research and activism. This was apparent at the 2019 United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change – Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC – COP), the largest annual meeting to address the climate crisis via supranational policymaking. COP has convened annually since 1995 in effort to establish international agreements for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and in 2015, was the launch pad for the UN Paris Climate Agreement (PCA). Here, we present our collective perspective as early-career researchers on COP, an institution that we believe plays a critical role in the future of our oceans. Given the current pledges from signatories to the PCA, Earth is expected to warm ∼3°C by 2100, with the majority of anthropogenic heat content stored throughout the ocean. For this reason, among others, we feel it is crucial for ocean scientists to have a baseline understanding of the... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6jb5j1vh Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ferrer, Erica M Cavole, Leticia M Clausnitzer, Simona Dias, Daniela F Osborne, Tashiana C Sugla, Rishi Harrison, Emma https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6h69x8gr Abstract The interaction between aging oceanic plates and their underlying mantle is a crucial component of the plate tectonic cycle. Sub‐lithospheric small‐scale convection (SSC) explains why plates appear not to thicken after a certain age. Here, we link grain‐scale processes, dynamic models of asthenospheric flow, and seismic observations to gain new insights into the mechanisms of SSC. We present high‐resolution 3D geodynamic models of oceanic plate evolution with an Earth‐like rheology including coupled diffusion/dislocation creep and their interplay with evolving olivine grain size. Our models quantify how rheology affects the morphology and temporal stability of SSC, and we directly relate these quantities to geophysical observations from the Pacific OBS Research into Convecting Asthenosphere (ORCA) experiment. We convert variations in temperature, pressure, grain size, water content and stable melt fraction to seismic velocity and attenuation, seeking to match the wavelength... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6h69x8gr Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dannberg, Juliane Eilon, Zachary Russell, Joshua B Gassmöller, Rene https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6c56h9dx The Anthropocene crisis demands rapid, radical responses to reduce human consumption and impact on the environment in order to avert catastrophic effects on humans, other organisms, and the environment. The food system is a major contributor to this crisis and an essential component of an adequate response. Here we review current research to compare the environmental impacts of healthy, sustainable, plant-based diets (HSPBDs) v. standard omnivorous diets, and their potential for mitigating the negative environmental impacts of the food system. Because plant foods overall are much more ecologically efficient than animal-sourced foods (ASFs), many fewer resources are needed to produce them, and there are smaller environmental impacts—climate warming, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, fresh-water use, air pollution, land use, and biodiversity loss—per unit mass, protein and calories of food. This means that HSPBDs also have much smaller impacts than standard omnivorous diets, and... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6c56h9dx Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Cleveland, David Arthur https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 Jay, Jennifer Ayla https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6635w0p1 Abstract. Anthropogenic warming and nutrient over-enrichment of our oceans have resulted in significant, and often catastrophic, reductions in dissolved oxygen (deoxygenation). Stress on water-breathing animals from this deoxygenation has been shown to occur at all levels of biological organization: cellular, organ, individual, species, population, community, and ecosystem. Most climate forecasts predict increases in ocean deoxygenation; thus, it is essential to develop reliable biological indicators of low-oxygen stress that can be used by regional and global oxygen monitoring efforts to detect and assess the impacts of deoxygenation on ocean life. This review focuses on responses to low-oxygen stress that are manifest at different levels of biological organization and at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. We compare particular attributes of these biological indicators to the dissolved oxygen threshold of response, timescales of response, sensitive life stages and taxa,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6635w0p1 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Roman, Michael R Altieri, Andrew H Breitburg, Denise Ferrer, Erica M Gallo, Natalya D Ito, Shin-ichi Limburg, Karin Rose, Kenneth Yasuhara, Moriaki Levin, Lisa A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2858-8622 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5xt5w132 Are elites meritocratic and efficiency-seeking? Evidence from MBA students https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5xt5w132 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Preuss, Marcel Reyes, German Somerville, Jason Wu, Joy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5w33f9dv The operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance (SSEBop) model has been utilized to generate gridded evapotranspiration data from Landsat images. These estimates are primarily driven by two sources of information: reference evapotranspiration and Landsat land surface temperature (LST) values. Hence, SSEBop is limited by the availability of Landsat data. Here, in this proof-of-concept paper, we utilize the Continuous Change Detection and Classification (CCDC) algorithm to generate synthetic Landsat data, which are then used as input for SSEBop to generate evapotranspiration estimates for six target areas in the continental United States, representing forests, shrublands, and irrigated agriculture. These synthetic land cover data are then used to generate the LST data required for SSEBop evapotranspiration estimates. The synthetic LST, evaporative fractions, and evapotranspiration data from CCDC closely mirror the phenological cycles in the observed Landsat data. Across the six... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5w33f9dv Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hiestand, Mikael P Tollerud, Heather J Funk, Chris Senay, Gabriel B Fickas, Kate C Friedrichs, MacKenzie O https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5pr8f9sr Abstract As a society, we are confronted with the question of how best to feed an expanding human population, and some have pointed to seafood as a “climate-friendly” option. To date, the contributions of small-scale fisheries (SSFs) have been largely excluded from studies on food footprint. Here, we calculated the Emission Intensity profiles for seven seafood types generated by Mexican SSFs. Based on these results—which indicate that there exist several low-carbon SSFs in Northwestern Mexico—we provide a coarse approximation for the total carbon footprint of Mexico’s motorized small-scale fleet. Finally, we scrutinize the utility of non-fuel data (such as GPS data) in predicting fuel consumption/carbon emissions across SSFs. To our knowledge, this is the first life-cycle assessment to compare multiple seafood products generated by Mexican SSFs, and the first published link between tracking data and carbon accounting for SSFs specifically. We discuss how these results, in combination... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5pr8f9sr Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ferrer, Erica M Aburto-Oropeza, Octavio Jiménez-Esquivel, Victoria Cota-Nieto, Juan José Mascareñas-Osorio, Ismael López-Sagástegui, Catalina https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jx4j1z8 The complexation of the uranyl ion (UO2 2+) by macrocyclic ligands is hindered by the rigidly enforced trans orientation of its oxo ligands. To further investigate this coordination chemistry challenge, here we investigate the reactivity of UO2 2+ with two different 18-membered aza-crown macrocycles, diaza-dibenzo-18-crown-6 (DADBC) and 7,16-bis(N-methylacetamide)diaza-18-crown-6 (BAM). The reaction of uranyl triflate, [UO2(OTf)2(THF)3], with DADBC in toluene afforded [UO2(DADBC)][OTf]2, in which the UO2 2+ ion is fully encapsulated by the macrocycle. This conclusion was supported by NMR, UV–Vis, IR, and Raman spectroscopies, as well as single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Attempts to form the in-macrocycle complex of BAM, however, were unsuccessful. The reaction of BAM with [UO2(OTf)2(THF)3] in THF/CH2Cl2 unexpectedly afforded crystals of [H2 BAM][OTf]2, where the protons are derived from solvate water in the BAM crystal lattice. In contrast, reaction of BAM with UO2(NO3)2·6H2O... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jx4j1z8 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Godinho, Gabriella S Lee, Kevin K Feng, Qien Wu, Guang Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 Hayton, Trevor W https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4370-1424 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zh085qd The underlying theme that characterizes my research arc has been that of phenomenological modeling of dynamical systems and mathematical abstraction of networks. By abstracting complicated networks (such as neural networks trained to learn dynamic system behavior), we can build much lower parameter and geometrically interpretable models that capture the same properties of the more expensive and harder to understand deep neural networks. Additionally, an abstracted vision of biochemical networks allows us to discover new mechanisms within cellular transcriptional networks to better understand how bacteria can adapt to and perform computation in challenging and changing environments. In Chapter 2 we analyze the learned dictionaries from the deep network based Koopman system identification algorithm, deepDMD. We explore the theoretical basis for the strong performance of this algorithm. We do so by discovering dictionaries to satisfy a property of subspace approximation, which... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zh085qd Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Johnson, Charles Addison https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4hk2r0r1 MAIZE CUISINE ON THE MOVE IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PERSISTENCE AND MIGRATION OF <i>TEJATE</i>, A TRADITIONAL MESOAMERICAN MAIZE AND CACAO BEVERAGE https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4hk2r0r1 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Soleri, Daniela Castillo Cisneros, Maria del Carmen Aragon Cuevas, Flavio Cleveland, David A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4c7293ws Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) selectively delivers radionuclides to cancer cells, leveraging their radioactive emissions to treat primary and metastatic malignancies. Substantial fundamental research in this area has enabled the clinical development of a growing library of radiopharmaceuticals for this application, several of which have become blockbuster cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. To date, these therapeutics have focused on radiometals emitting long-range β− particles and shorter-ranged α particles. More recently, efforts to use a different type of cytotoxic radiation, Meitner-Auger electrons (MAEs), have been undertaken. MAEs are of interest for TRT because they travel very short distances—on the order of nanometers—that enable the possibility of single-cell and subcellular delivery of cytotoxic radiation. This high spatial precision is valuable for the treatment of diffuse malignancies such as lymphoma and leukemia, as well as for... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4c7293ws Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Stec, Grant J Wilson, Justin J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4086-7982 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/48k4v417 Abstract The Southwestern United States experiences active deformation, seismicity, and magmatism, remarkable in an intraplate setting. The Basin and Range and Colorado Plateau (CP) are inferred to differ in lithospheric thickness, but modeling geophysical properties of the lithosphere, in particular the depth of the Lithosphere‐Asthenosphere Boundary (LAB), across the entirety of the region, has proved challenging. Here, we introduce a new model of 1‐D depth profiles in shear wavespeed, determined through a probabilistic joint inversion of information from Sp receiver functions and Rayleigh wave phase velocity. From these profiles we quantify the locations and Vs contrast of wavespeed gradients that represent boundaries such as the Moho, the LAB, and intralithospheric discontinuities. We infer a lithosphere that is thinner and lower in Vs in the Basin and Range. In the CP and farther north, the LAB is more gradual, deeper, and intermittently observed. We also observe Mid‐Lithospheric... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/48k4v417 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Golos, EM Brunsvik, B Eilon, Z Fischer, KM Byrnes, J Gaherty, J https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4181h4rf Abstract The northern East African Rift, including the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) and Afar, have been the focus of decades of seismological investigations and dense broadband coverage. Sometimes invoked as an archetype for a narrow continental rift, the confined surficial extension here stands in contrast to geophysical indicators of an asymmetric, broad swath of perturbed mantle. Thermodynamic conditions in this region are challenging to pin down, with melt, temperatures, and perhaps volatiles playing a part in both dynamics and controlling seismic observables. This study presents compressional () and shear‐wave () velocity () and attenuation () teleseismic tomography of the MER, from rift to flank. This involves a new methodology for measurement and quality control of differential t * for teleseisms, avoiding extrinsic focusing. This is the most comprehensive body wave travel time and attenuation data set collected in the MER and Afar to date, and the only 3‐D attenuation tomography... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4181h4rf Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Eilon, ZC https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tf8670q Planetary boundaries represent thresholds in major Earth system processes that are sensitive to human activity and control global-scale habitability and stability. These processes are interconnected such that movement of one planetary boundary process can alter the likelihood of crossing other boundaries. Here we argue that the observed deoxygenation of the Earth’s freshwater and marine ecosystems represents an additional planetary boundary process that is critical to the integrity of Earth’s ecological and social systems, and both regulates and responds to ongoing changes in other planetary boundary processes. Research on the rapid and ongoing deoxygenation of Earth’s aquatic habitats indicates that relevant, critical oxygen thresholds are being approached at rates comparable to other planetary boundary processes. Concerted global monitoring, research and policy efforts are needed to address the challenges brought on by rapid deoxygenation, and the expansion of the planetary... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3tf8670q Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rose, Kevin C Ferrer, Erica M Carpenter, Stephen R Crowe, Sean A Donelan, Sarah C Garçon, Véronique C Grégoire, Marilaure Jane, Stephen F Leavitt, Peter R Levin, Lisa A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2858-8622 Oschlies, Andreas Breitburg, Denise https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3q67p8bg Inferring mechanical interactions from the spatial organization of discrete damage events is a fundamental inverse problem in the mechanics of heterogeneous materials. This work develops a statistical framework for extracting load-transfer interactions from three-dimensional fiber fracture data in unidirectional fiber-reinforced composites. Conventional micromechanical models typically assume global load sharing (GLS), implying statistically independent fiber fracture events, whereas growing experimental evidence suggests that load redistribution can become localized, producing spatially autocorrelated fracture. To distinguish these effects, classical second-order spatial statistics are extended by decomposing pairwise separations into transverse and axial components, reflecting the directional asymmetry of stress redistribution in fiber composites. Analytical solutions are derived for two canonical GLS models that establish a mechanics-based null hypothesis for mechanical independence.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3q67p8bg Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Gallagher, Shane P Zok, Frank W https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2zh0p0sr The Next Generation of Marine Heatwaves Science: Takeaways from A Two Week Training Workshop https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2zh0p0sr Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fadlovich, Rae Carrasco, David Ferrer, Erica M Graham, Olivia J Hampton, Sydney A Khrizman, Alexandra Kong, Christina Eunjin Kreuser, Abigail M Pinter, Sina Sims, Lydia D Torres, Mariana I Una, Rose Wilson, Anthony Zhang, Wei Zhu, Yifan Greene, Charles H https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g97g76f Abstract We present tomographic images of the velocity structure of the upper mantle beneath old ( Ma) oceanic lithosphere, derived from arrival time measurements of teleseismic body waves recorded by ocean‐bottom seismometers. Differential travel time measurements on P , S , and SKS body waves across a wide range of frequency bands show consistent geographic and backazimuthal variations that highlight substantial velocity heterogeneity in the upper mantle beneath the array. A joint inversion of all data sets shows that the information in the P and S times are consistent with each other. The amplitude of apparent velocity heterogeneity and the scaling between independently constructed and tomographic models is consistent with either the presence of melt and K thermal anomalies or, if melt free, K thermal anomalies. and tomographic models both show statistically meaningful elongation of structure along an approximately NW‐SE axis, subparallel to the orientation of free‐air gravity... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2g97g76f Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hariharan, A Eilon, Z Gaherty, J Russell, J Phillips, J Forsyth, D https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2695q2b3 Visual cortical prostheses offer a promising path to sight restoration, but current systems elicit crude, variable percepts and rely on manual electrode-by-electrode calibration that does not scale. These limitations reflect a deeper challenge: electrical microstimulation evokes nonlinear, state-dependent population responses in the human visual cortex, complicating the link between stimulation and perception. Here, we present a deep learning framework that leverages a bidirectional cortical implant to causally shape stimulation-evoked population activity in the human visual cortex. The framework, trained on trial-resolved neural recordings, supports two complementary control strategies: a learned inverse network for real-time stimulation synthesis and a gradient-based optimizer for precise targeting. Both outperform conventional methods, achieve targets at lower stimulation currents, and elicit more consistent perception. Achievable responses lie on the intrinsic low-dimensional... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2695q2b3 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Moure, Pehuén Granley, Jacob Grani, Fabrizio Soo, Leili Lozano, Antonio López-Peco, Rocío Villamarín-Ortiz, Adrián Soto-Sánchez, Cristina Liu, Shih-Chii Beyeler, Michael Fernández, Eduardo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1s14j35k This study aimed to quantify the carbon footprint of elementary school lunch menus across six major urban school districts in the United States and to simulate the effect of sustainable food policies on carbon emissions reductions while ensuring nutritional requirements remain adequate. We analyzed a total of twenty distinct meals per district selected from a four-week period and calculated their carbon emissions using life cycle assessment data. We then modeled three scenarios to reduce carbon emissions: (1) a reduction in beef meal offerings to one day per month, (2) an introduction of one entirely plant-based day per week, and (3) a combination of scenarios 1 and 2. Our findings revealed that beef-containing meals had the highest carbon emissions, while plant-based meals had the lowest. Implementing the one monthly beef meal scenario led to an average savings of 34% in emissions, while the plant-based day scenario led to a 32% reduction in emissions. Combining both policies... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1s14j35k Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Boronowsky, Renate Lin-Yang, Kevin Natanson, Lucretia Presley, Kira Reddy, Yashvi Shenkiryk, Alexis Wang, May Slusser, Wendelin Koch, Pamela A Cleveland, David A https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 Roback, Shannon Olarte, Deborah Molidor, Jennifer Jay, Jennifer A https://escholarship.org/uc/item/16p094d3 We are in the midst of an unprecedented public and planetary health crisis. A major driver of this crisis is the current nutrition transition—a product of globalization and powerful multinational food corporations promoting industrial agriculture and the consumption of environmentally destructive and unhealthy ultra-processed and other foods. This has led to unhealthy food environments and a pandemic of diet-related noncommunicable diseases, as well as negative impacts on the biophysical environment, biodiversity, climate, and economic equity. Among migrants from the global south to the global north, this nutrition transition is often visible as dietary acculturation. Yet some communities are defying the transition through selective resistance to globalization by recreating their traditional foods in their new home, and seeking crop species and varieties customarily used in their preparation. These communities include Zapotec migrants from the Central Valleys of the southern Mexican... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/16p094d3 Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Soleri, Daniela Cleveland, David Arthur https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9371-7507 Cuevas, Flavio Aragón Jimenez, Violeta Wang, May C