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1. The over‐citation of Daubert in forensic anthropology

   https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15409  

   Lesciotto, Kate M.; Christensen, Angi M. (January 2024, Journal of Forensic Sciences)

   Abstract The 1993 US Supreme Court decisionDaubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented new guidance for the judicial assessment of expert witness evidence and testimony in the determination of admissibility. Despite the rarity of admissibility challenges to forensic anthropology evidence,Daubertis frequently cited in published forensic anthropology research. This study undertook a qualitative thematic analysis of forensic anthropology articles published in theJournal of Forensic Sciencesto assess why authors continue to citeDaubertand express concerns over potential exclusion. The results show a significant increase in the number of articles that cite legal admissibility standards over time (p < 0.001). Authors frequently cite these standards to contextualize their results within theDaubertframework or to justify the need for their research. Notably, many articles presentDaubertas a constraining force, misinterpreting the guidelines as rigid criteria or that they require methods to be strictly quantitative. However,Daubertwas intended to be a flexible tool for judges—not a standard or instruction for scientists. While it was reasonable to reflect on the scientific rigor of methods in the wake of theDaubertdecision, a new perspective is warranted in which forensic anthropologists shift their focus from trying to “satisfy” admissibility guidelines to adopting quality assurance measures that minimize error and ensure confidence in analytical results, and developing and using methods that are grounded in good science—which is important regardless of whether or not the results are ever the subject of a trial. 

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2. Optical coherence between atomic species at the second scale: improved clock comparisons via differential spectroscopy

   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2109.09540  

   Kim, M.E.; McGrew, W.F.; Nardelli, N.V.; Clements, E.R.; Hassan, Y.S.; Zhang, X.; Valencia, J.L.; Leopardi, H.; Hume, D.B.; Fortier, T.M.; et al (April 2022, ArXivorg)

   Comparisons of high-accuracy optical atomic clocks \cite{Ludlow2015} are essential for precision tests of fundamental physics \cite{Safronova2018}, relativistic geodesy \cite{McGrew2018, Grotti2018, Delva2019}, and the anticipated redefinition of the SI second \cite{Riehle2018}. The scientific reach of these applications is restricted by the statistical precision of interspecies comparison measurements. The instability of individual clocks is limited by the finite coherence time of the optical local oscillator (OLO), which bounds the maximum atomic interrogation time. In this letter, we experimentally demonstrate differential spectroscopy \cite{Hume2016}, a comparison protocol that enables interrogating beyond the OLO coherence time. By phase-coherently linking a zero-dead-time (ZDT) \cite{Schioppo2017} Yb optical lattice clock with an Al+ single-ion clock via an optical frequency comb and performing synchronised Ramsey spectroscopy, we show an improvement in comparison instability relative to our previous result \cite{network2020frequency} of nearly an order of magnitude. To our knowledge, this result represents the most stable interspecies clock comparison to date. 

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3. Identification of Novel 5′ and 3′ Translation Enhancers in Umbravirus-Like Coat Protein-Deficient RNA Replicons

   https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.01736-21  

   Liu, Jingyuan; Simon, Anne E. (April 2022, Journal of Virology)

   Dutch, Rebecca Ellis (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT Translation of plant plus-strand RNA viral genomes that lack a 5′ cap frequently requires the use of cap-independent translation enhancers (CITEs) located in or near the 3′ untranslated region (UTR). 3′CITEs are grouped based on secondary structure and ability to interact with different translation initiation factors or ribosomal subunits, which assemble a complex at the 3′ end that is nearly always transferred to the 5′ end via a long-distance kissing-loop interaction between sequences in the 3′CITE and 5′ hairpins. We report here the identification of a novel 3′CITE in coat protein-deficient RNA replicons that are related to umbraviruses. Umbra-like associated RNAs (ulaRNAs), such as citrus yellow vein-associated virus (CYVaV), are a new type of subviral RNA that do not encode movement proteins, coat proteins, or silencing suppressors but can independently replicate using their encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. An extended hairpin structure containing multiple internal loops in the 3′ UTR of CYVaV is strongly conserved in the most closely related ulaRNAs and structurally resembles an I-shaped structure (ISS) 3′CITE. However, unlike ISS, the CYVaV structure binds to eIF4G and no long-distance interaction is discernible between the CYVaV ISS-like structure and sequences at or near the 5′ end. We also report that the ∼30-nucleotide (nt) 5′ terminal hairpin of CYVaV and related ulaRNAs can enhance translation of reporter constructs when associated with either the CYVaV 3′CITE or the 3′CITEs of umbravirus pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV2) and even independent of a 3′CITE. These findings introduce a new type of 3′CITE and provide the first information on translation of ulaRNAs. IMPORTANCE Umbra-like associated RNAs (ulaRNAs) are a recently discovered type of subviral RNA that use their encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase for replication but do not encode any coat proteins, movement proteins, or silencing suppressors yet can be found in plants in the absence of any discernible helper virus. We report the first analysis of their translation using class 2 ulaRNA citrus yellow vein-associated virus (CYVaV). CYVaV uses a novel eIF4G-binding I-shaped structure as its 3′ cap-independent translation enhancer (3′CITE), which does not connect with the 5′ end by a long-distance RNA:RNA interaction that is typical of 3′CITEs. ulaRNA 5′ terminal hairpins can also enhance translation in association with cognate 3′CITEs or those of related ulaRNAs and, to a lesser extent, with 3′CITEs of umbraviruses, or even independent of a 3′CITE. These findings introduce a new type of 3′CITE and provide the first information on translation of ulaRNAs. 

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4. The Water Table Model

   https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10611076  

   Callaghan, Kerry Lee; Barnes, Richard; Wickert, Andrew D (February 2024, Zenodo)

   Minor updates to the Water Table Model: some deprecated code, set nodata values, update readme. What's Changed Update README.md by @KCallaghan in https://github.com/KCallaghan/WTM/pull/66 Full Changelog: https://github.com/KCallaghan/WTM/compare/v2.0.0...v2.0.1 If you use this software, please cite it as below. 

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5. Data for: The 30 Doradus Molecular Cloud at 0.4 pc Resolution with ALMA: Physical Properties and the Boundedness of CO-emitting Structures

   https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-1671495_V1  

   Wong, Tony; Oudshoorn, Luuk; Sofovich, Eliyahu; Green, Alex; Shah, Charmi; Indebetouw, Remy; Meixner, Margaret; Hacar, Alvaro; Nayak, Omnarayani; Tokuda, Kazuki; et al (January 2022, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

   12CO and 13CO emission maps of the 30 Doradus molecular cloud in the Large Magellanic Cloud, obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) during Cycle 7. See the associated article in the Astrophysical Journal, and README file, for details. Please cite the article if you use these data. 

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