bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Investigation of bipartite entanglement across the magnetization process of a highly frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg octahedral chain as a new paradigm of the localized-magnon approach
Authors: Strečka J. , Krupnitska O. , Richter J.
Published: December 2020

The bipartite entanglement across the magnetization process of a highly frustrated spin-1/2 Heisenberg octahedral chain is examined within the concept of localized magnons, which enables a simple calculation of the concurrence measuring a strength of the pairwise entanglement between nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor spins from square plaquettes. A full exact diagonalization of the finite-size Heisenberg octahedral chain with up to 4 unit cells (20 spins) evidences an extraordinary high precision of the localized-magnon theory in predicting measures of the bipartite entanglement at sufficiently low temperatures. While the monomer-tetramer phase emergent at low enough magnetic fields exhibits presence (absence) of the bipartite entanglement between the nearest-neighbor (next-nearest-neighbor) spins, the magnon-crystal phase emergent below the saturation field contrarily displays identical bipartite entanglement between the nearest-neighbor and next-nearest-neighbor spins. The presented results verify a new paradigm of the localized-magnon approach concerned with a simple calculation of entanglement measures.
Quantum correlations in neutrino oscillation: Coherence and entanglement
Authors: Ettefaghi M. M. , Tabatabaei Lotfi Z. S. , Ramezani Arani R.
Published: December 2020

In this paper, we consider the quantum correlations, coherence and entanglement, in neutrino oscillation. We find that the l
1-norm as a coherence measure is equal to the sum of the three possible concurrences for measuring the entanglement among different flavor modes which were calculated in the paper by Blasone M. et al., EPL, 112 (2015) 20007. Our result shows that the origin of the flavor entanglement in neutrino oscillation is the same as that of quantum coherence. Furthermore, in the wave packet framework, the variation of the l
1-norm is investigated by varying the wave packet width

. As expected, the amount of coherence increases by

due to the increase in overlapping of the mass eigenstates.
On the importance of np-pairs in the isovector pairing model
Authors: Pan Feng , Qi Chong , Dai Lianrong , Sargsyan Grigor , Launey Kristina D. , Draayer Jerry P.
Published: December 2020

It is shown that the isovector np-pair number operator can be realized in the O(5) quasi-spin

basis. The computation of the isovector np-pair number is demonstrated for even-even and odd-odd ds-shell nuclei described by the charge-independent mean field plus isovector pairing model restricted within the O(5) seniority-zero subspace, thereby binding energies and low-lying

excited states of these ds-shell nuclei are fit, along with estimates for the isovector neutron-proton pairing contributions. For reasonable neutron-proton pairing strengths the isovector np-pairing energy contribution to the total binding energy in odd-odd N = Z nuclei is systematically larger than that in the even-even nuclei. In sum, the results suggest that the isovector np-pairing mode is favored in odd-odd N = Z nuclei; and additionally, a decrease in the double binding-energy difference for odd-odd nuclei is primarily due to the symmetry and Wigner energy contributions to the binding energy.
Hall effect for Dirac electrons in graphene exposed to an Abrikosov flux lattice
Authors: Schirmer Jonathan , Kumar Ravi , Bagwe Vivas , Raychaudhuri Pratap , Taniguchi Takashi , Watanabe Kenji , Liu C.-X. , Das Anindya , Jain J. K.
Published: December 2020

The proposals for realizing exotic particles through coupling of quantum Hall effect to superconductivity involve spatially non-uniform magnetic fields. As a step toward that goal, we study, both theoretically and experimentally, a system of Dirac electrons exposed to an Abrikosov flux lattice. We theoretically find that the non-uniform magnetic field causes a carrier-density–dependent reduction of the Hall conductivity. Our studies show that this reduction originates from a rather subtle effect: a levitation of the Berry curvature within Landau levels broadened by the non-uniform magnetic field. Experimentally, we measure the magneto-transport in a monolayer graphene-hexagonal boron nitride-niobium diselenide (NbSe2) heterostructure, and find a density-dependent reduction of the Hall resistivity of graphene as the temperature is lowered from above the superconducting critical temperature of NbSe2, when the magnetic field is uniform, to below, where the magnetic field bunches into an Abrikosov flux lattice.
Understanding the temperature- and pressure-dependent electronic properties of FeSi: DFT + DMFT study
Authors: Dutta Paromita , Pandey Sudhir K.
Published: December 2020

Electronic structures of FeSi and Fe1.02Si0.98 under pressure (achieved through volume compression) have been investigated by using DFT+DMFT and KKR-CPA methods, respectively. The widening of band gap with increasing pressure suggests that the experimentally observed insulator-to-metal transition temperature should shift towards the higher temperature for FeSi. KKR-CPA calculations have shown the presence of impurity states in the gapped region which predicts the half-metallic nature. The closure of the gap (in one spin channel) with pressure increment appears to be responsible for the experimentally observed semiconductor-to-metal transition in Fe excess samples at a temperature below 50 K. Magnetic moments at Fe excess sites are found to be decreasing with increasing pressure from

per Fe atom (

) to

per Fe atom (

). Moreover, for FeSi the calculated local spin susceptibility has shown decreasing behavior with pressure rise similar to experimental result.
Behavior inertia of individuals promotes cooperation in spatial prisoner's dilemma game
Authors: He Jialu , Wang Jianwei , Yu Fengyuan
Published: December 2020

Cooperation is ubiquitous in real world, even in a fierce competitive environment, which is in contrast with natural selection theory. To address this contradiction, many scholars pay more attention to researching the emergence and maintenance of cooperation. In recent decades, lots of mechanisms about individual behavior are put forward to promote cooperation in spatial prisoner's dilemma game. However, fewer studies focus on the effects of behavior inertia on cooperation. For example, insistence is the key to habit formation, and every extra day you insist, the more motivation you have to keep going, the bigger the inertia of the same behavior is, and the weaker the intention you have to make a change. In other words, it is easier to insist than to change. To this end, we propose a new mechanism, called inertia mechanism of individual behavior to explore the evolution of cooperation, in which each player's behavior inertia relies on the persistence of his/her current strategy: the longer the strategy duration is, the bigger his/her behavior inertia is, and, as a result, the weaker the willingness he/she has to update strategy. Moreover, a reinforcement parameter,α, which characterizes the degree of the impact of the strategy persistence on the behavior inertia, is introduced. The results of numerical simulation show that our inertia mechanism can promote cooperation effectively, compared with the traditional model, and the mechanism performs better with the decrease ofα.
Conformal inflation in the metric-affine geometry
Authors: Mikura Y. , Tada Y. , Yokoyama S.
Published: December 2020

Systematic understanding for classes of inflationary models is investigated from the viewpoint of the local conformal symmetry and the slightly broken global symmetry in the framework of the metric-affine geometry. In the metric-affine geometry, which is a generalisation of the Riemannian one adopted in the ordinary General Relativity, the affine connection is an independent variable of the metric rather than being given, e.g., by the Levi-Civita connection as its function. Thanks to this independency, the metric-affine geometry can preserve the local conformal symmetry in each term of the Lagrangian contrary to the Riemannian geometry, and then the local conformal invariance can be compatible with much more kinds of global symmetries. As simple examples, we consider the two-scalar models with the broken SO(1, 1) or O(2), leading to the well-known α-attractor or natural inflation, respectively. The inflaton, can be understood as their pseudo–Nambu-Goldstone boson.
Defect dynamics for self-propelled rods in a doublet of circular confinement
Authors: Wang Zhengjia , Hao Junhua , Xu Jihua , Qin Feng , Yang Bin
Published: December 2020

Rod-shaped active micro/nano-particles, such as bacterial and bipolar metallic micro/ nano-motors, exhibit emergent collective phenomena far from equilibrium state compared to passive particles. We apply a simulation approach —dissipative particle dynamics (DPD)— to explore the collectively ordered states of self-propelled rods (SPRs) which rely on the defect dynamics in the rod cluster. The SPRs are confined in a doublet of circular confinement and repel each other when two rods touch each other. When the rod flow in the connecting passage of the circles is suppressed, namely the small passage width, the steady vortex pattern is obtained in the two circles for weak activity. In binary-passage system, long single-passage system, and short single-passage system, ferromagnetic vortices (FMV), uncorrelated vortices (UV), and anti-ferromagnetic vortices (AFMV) can be obtained, respectively. For intermediate activity, a regular periodic oscillation of the rod number n

r
in one circle can be seen clearly. For strong activity, mixing of high- and low-frequency oscillation is observed. The amplitude of the rod current in the passage I

p
follows the relation

, where F

a
denotes the self-propelled force.
IGF-I/IGFBP3/ALS Deficiency in Sarcopenia: Low GHBP Suggests GH Resistance in a Subgroup of Geriatric Patients
Authors: Ferrari Uta , Schmidmaier Ralf , Jung Theresa , Reincke Martin , Martini Sebastian , Schoser Benedikt , Bidlingmaier Martin , Drey Michael
Published: December 2020

Context

Definition of etiological subgroups of sarcopenia may help to develop targeted treatments. insulin like growth factor-I (IGF-I), Insulinlike growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3), and acid labile subunit (ALS) build a ternary complex that mediates growth hormone (GH) effects on peripheral organs, such as muscle. Low GH binding protein (GHBP) as a marker of GH receptor number would hint toward GH resistance.

Objective

We aimed to analyze the association of IGF-I, IGFBP3, and ALS with sarcopenia.

Study Participants and Setting

A total of 131 consecutively recruited patients of a geriatric ward were included in a single-center cross-sectional analysis; the nonsarcopenic patients served as controls.

Methods

Measures included sarcopenia status by hand-grip strength measurement and Skeletal Muscle Index (SMI); IGF-I, IGFBP3, ALS, GH, GHBP; body mass index (BMI); Activity of Daily Living (ADL); Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE); routine laboratory parameters; and statistical regression modeling.

Results

Compared with controls, sarcopenic patients did not differ regarding age, sex, ADL, MMSE, C-reactive protein, glomerular filtration rate, and albumin serum concentrations. However, sarcopenic patients had significantly lower IGF-I, IGFBP3, and ALS. IGF-I and ALS associated significantly with sarcopenia and low hand-grip strength, even after adjustment for age, sex, BMI, and albumin, but not with low SMI. GHBP serum was low in sarcopenic patients, but normal in geriatric patients without sarcopenia. Over 60% of patients with IGF-I/ALS deficiency patients showed GH resistance.

Conclusions

Our data suggest that in geriatric patients, low IGF-I/IGFBP3/ALS could be evaluated for causative connection of the sarcopenia spectrum. Low GHBP points toward potential GH resistance as one possible explanation of this deficiency.
The Size Distribution of Firms and Industrial Water Pollution: A Quantitative Analysis of China
Authors: Qi Ji , Tang Xin , Xi Xican
Published: December 2020

We argue that misallocation across firms amplifies industrial water pollution by distorting the firm size distribution in China. Firm-level data indicate that larger firms are more likely to use clean technology but face higher distortions. In a heterogeneous firms model with an endogenous choice of pollution treatment technologies, we show that distortions that increase with firm-level TFP lower the adoption of clean technology, amplify aggregate pollution intensity, and lower aggregate output. Quantitatively, eliminating these correlated distortions would increase output by 30 percent and decrease pollution by 20 percent. Meanwhile, environmental regulations have sizable impact on pollution but limited effects on aggregate output. (JEL O13, O14, P28, P31, Q52, Q53, Q58)
The Labor Market Impact of Immigration: Job Creation versus Job Competition
Authors: Albert Christoph
Published: December 2020

This paper studies the labor market effects of both documented and undocumented immigration in a search model featuring nonrandom hiring. As immigrants accept lower wages, they are preferably chosen by firms and therefore have higher job finding rates than natives, consistent with evidence found in US data. Immigration leads to the creation of additional jobs but also raises competition for natives. The dominant effect depends on the fall in wage costs, which is larger for undocumented immigration than it is for legal immigration. The model predicts a dominating job creation effect for the former, reducing natives’ unemployment rate, but not for the latter. (JEL E24, J15, J23, J31, J61, M51)
College Quality and Attendance Patterns: A Long-Run View
Authors: Hendricks Lutz , Herrington Christopher , Schoellman Todd
Published: December 2020

We construct a time series of college attendance patterns for the United States and document a reversal: family background was a better predictor of college attendance before World War II, but academic ability was afterward. We construct a model of college choice that explains this reversal. The model’s central mechanism is that an exogenous surge of college attendance leads better colleges to be oversubscribed, institute selective admissions, and raise their quality relative to their peers, as in Hoxby (2009). Rising quality at better colleges attracts high-ability students, while falling quality at the remaining colleges dissuades low-ability students, generating the reversal. (JEL I23, J12, N32)
Obesity Determinants and the Policy Implications for the Prevention and Management of Obesity in Indonesia
Authors: Dewi Nikmah Utami , Tanziha Ikeu , Aisyah Solechah Siti , Bohari Bohari
Published: December 2020

The prevalence of overweight and obesity in adult groups in Indonesia experience a surge compared to the previous year. The obesity determinants are classified as complex, and they can differ between regions. Appropriate policies, in accordance with determinants, play an important role in efforts to reduce the prevalence of obesity. This study aimed to identify the determinant factors for overweight and obesity in Indonesia and policies that supported a decrease in the prevalence of overweight and obesity based on the significant determinant factors found. The data sources were from the Ministry of Health, Statistics Indonesia, and the Ministry of Agriculture for 33 provinces in Indonesia. The literature regarding policy analysis was sought on Google, the IPB University repositories, related ministry websites, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and MEDLINE. The multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of overweight and obesity while the Five-E approach was used to analyze related policies. The simple regression analysis showed that the consumption of animal source foods (p=0.001), oil and fat consumption (p=0.006), the proportion of the population with low physical activity (p=0.01), the average study duration (p=0.001), total per capita expenditure (p=0.000), food (p=0.001) and non-food expenditure (p=0.000), and share of food expenditure (p=0.005) had significant effects on the proportion of adulthood overweight and obesity. Only oil and fat consumption (p=0.02) still had a significant positive effect on the proportion of overweight and obesity after performing the multiple regression analysis. Vegetable consumption (p=0.03) also had a significant negative effect on the proportion of overweight and obesity after being included in the multiple regression model. The Healthy Community Movement (HMC or known as GERMAS in Indonesia) policy and the inclusion of fat content into food labels are policies for preventing and managing overweight, which are conducted related to consumption of vegetables, fat, and oil. The effectiveness of the policy is still not optimal even though the policy is efficient. An improvement of the policy implementation needs to be conducted by optimizing the implementation of follow-up monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of program policies.
Dual surgeon operating lists for complex revision arthroplasty surgery: changing orthopaedic surgical practice
Authors: Bansal M , Sandiford NA
Published: December 2020

There is an increasing trend towards dual surgeon operating in complex surgeries in various specialties. This is driven by regionalisation of services, increasing complexity of surgical procedures, the ageing population and challenges imposed by changes in surgical training. Dual surgeon cases have lower complication rates and better quality of patient care. This practice not only facilitates professional and personal development, but also provides valuable support to surgeons in the early part of their career. There is a paucity of literature to support this practice, however, and prospective studies are required to demonstrate the benefit of this approach.
Arthrocentesis, arthroscopy or arthrotomy for septic knee arthritis in children: A systematic review
Authors: Donders Cornelia M. , Spaans Anne J. , Bessems Johannes H. J. M. , van Bergen Christiaan J. A.
Published: December 2020

Purpose

Septic knee arthritis in children can be treated by arthrocentesis (articular needle aspiration) with or without irrigation, arthroscopy or arthrotomy followed by antibiotics. The objective of this systematic review was to identify the most effective drainage technique for septic arthritis of the knee in children.

Methods

The electronic PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases were systematically searched for original articles that reported outcomes of arthrocentesis, arthroscopy or arthrotomy for septic arthritis of the knee. The quality of all included studies was assessed with the Methodological Index for Non-Randomized Studies (MINORS) criteria. This systematic review was performed and reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Results

Out of 2428 articles, 11 studies with a total of 279 knees were included in the systematic review. The quality of evidence was low (MINORS median 4 (2 to 7)). A meta-analysis could not be performed because of the diversity and low quality of the studies. In septic knee arthritis, additional drainage procedures were needed in 54 of 156 (35%) knees after arthrocentesis, in four of 96 (4%) after arthroscopy and in two of 12 (17%) after arthrotomy.

Conclusion

Included studies on treatment strategies for septic arthritis of the knee in children are diverse and the scientific quality is generally low. Knee arthroscopy might have a lower risk of additional drainage procedures as compared with arthrocentesis and arthrotomy, with acceptable clinical outcomes and no radiological sequelae.

Level of evidence

IV
Elastic intramedullary nailing combined with methylprednisolone acetate injection for treatment of unicameral bone cysts in children: A retrospective study
Authors: Zhou JianWu , Ning ShangKun , Su Yuxi , Liu Chuankang
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The aetiology of unicameral bone cysts (UBCs) is unclear. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of elastic intramedullary nailing (EIN) combined with injections of methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) for the treatment of UBCs in children.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 53 children with UBCs in our hospital between January 2010 and April 2016. A total of 24 patients (Group A) were treated by EIN and MPA, whilst 29 patients (Group B) were treated by curettage, bone grafts and EIN fixation. The radiographs of the UBCs were evaluated following the Capanna criteria. All patients were followed-up on the third, sixth, 12th, 24th and 36th months. Fixation time, hospitalization time and complications were evaluated.

Results

In Group A, the mean number of MPA injections was 1.8 (1 to 3). Based on radiographic evaluation, eight patients were healed (Capanna grade I), 14 were healed with residual cysts (Capanna grade II), one showed recurrence (Capanna grade III) and one showed no response to the treatment (Capanna grade IV). In Group B, 11 patients were evaluated as Capanna grade I, 12 as Capanna grade II, three as Capanna grade III and three as Capanna grade IV. There was significant difference in the early postoperative function activity (p < 0.001), hospitalization time (p = 0.028), blood loss during surgery (p < 0.001) and surgery time (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The combination of EIN and MPA for the treatment of UBCs in children is feasible, has little operative trauma, short surgery time, short hospitalization time, less blood loss and a low risk of incision infection.

Level of evidence

III
Chain Ratio Type Estimators Using Known Parameters of Auxiliary Variates in Double Sampling
Authors: Mehta Priya , Tailor Rajesh
Published: December 2020

This paper discusses chain ratio type estimator for estimation of population mean in double sampling. The developed estimator uses two auxiliary variates associated with study variate in order to increases its efficiency. The developed estimator has been compared with usual unbiased estimator and other existing estimators. The expression for the bias and mean squared error of the developed estimator is obtained under large sample approximation. We have considered the natural population data set to examine the merits of the developed estimator and carried out the empirical study in support of theoretical findings. Numerical illustration shows that the proposed estimator is more efficient.
Prediction of Area and Production of Groundnut Using Box-Jenkins Arima and Neural Network Approach
Authors: Kumar S. T. Pavana , Lyngdoh Ferdinand B.
Published: December 2020

Selection of parameters for Auto Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model in the prediction process is one of the most important tasks. In the present study, groundnut data was utlised to decide appropriate p, d, q parameters for ARIMA model for the prediction purpose. Firstly, the models were fit to data without splitting into training and validation/testing sets and evaluated for their efficiency in predicting the area and production of groundnut over the years. Meanwhile, models are compared among other fitted ARIMA models with different p, d, q parameters based on decision criteria’s viz., ME, RMSE, MAPE, AIC, BIC and R-Square. The ARIMA model with parameters p-2 d-1-2, q-1-2 are found adequate in predicting the area as well as production of groundnut. The model ARIMA (2, 2, 2) and ARIMA (2,1,1) predicted the area of groundnut crop with minimum error estimates and residual characteristics (ei). The models were fit into split data i.e., training and test data set, but these models’ prediction power (R-Square) declined during testing. In case of predicting the area, ARIMA (2,2,2) was consistent over the split data but it was not consistent while predicting the production over years. Feed-forward neural networks with single hidden layer were fit to complete, training and split data. The neural network models provided better estimates compared to Box-Jenkins ARIMA models. The data was analysed using R-Studio.
EFFECT OF FOLIAR-APPLIED TANNERY SLUDGE ON GROWTH AND PHYSIOLOGY OF PASSIFLORA EDULIS SEEDLINGS
Authors: Sales Ramon Amaro de , Berilli Sávio da Silva , Pereira Lucas Cellim , Pinheiro Ana Paula Braido , Ribeiro Wilian Rodrigues , Berilli Ana Paula Cândido Gabriel
Published: December 2020

Today, industries are increasingly concerned about the disposal of their waste. One of the proposed solutions to deal with certain wastes is through agriculture in the form of fertilizers. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of liquid tannery sludge as foliar fertilizer on the growth and physiology of passion fruit seedlings. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse, in a randomized block design with six replications. Six treatments were applied to leaves: tannery sludge diluted in water (132, 263, 395 and 527 mL L-1); only water (control); and the conventional treatment. The following growth characteristics were evaluated: leaf production, plant height, crown diameter, stem diameter, total fresh matter and dry matter of the plants. The physiological characteristics evaluated were the indices chlorophyll, nitrogen balance, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and plant color. The flavonoid index increased in plants that received foliar application of 527 mL L-1 without compromising the other characteristics evaluated. The doses 263, 395 and 527 mL L-1 showed the best results for the growth characteristics, equaling those of the conventional treatments. Foliar application of tannery sludge can be recommended for yellow passion fruit seedlings.
Impact of cladding elements on the loss performance of hollow-core anti-resonant fibers
Authors: Selim Habib Md. , Markos Christos , Amezcua-Correa Rodrigo
Published: December 2020

Understanding the impact of the cladding tube structure on the overall guiding performance is crucial for designing a single-mode, wide-band, and ultra low-loss nested hollow-core anti-resonant fiber (HC-ARF). Here we thoroughly investigate on how the propagation loss is affected by the nested elements when their geometry is realistic (i.e., non-ideal). Interestingly, it was found that the size, rather than the shape, of the nested elements has a dominant role in the final loss performance of the regular nested HC-ARFs. We identify a unique ‘V-shape’ pattern for suppression of higher-order modes loss by optimizing free design parameters of the HC-ARF. We find that a 5-tube nested HC-ARF has wider transmission window and better single-mode operation than a 6-tube HC-ARF. We show that the propagation loss can be significantly improved by using anisotropic nested anti-resonant tubes elongated in the radial direction. Our simulations indicate that with this novel fiber design, a propagation loss as low as 0.11 dB/km at 1.55 μm can be achieved. Our results provide design insight toward fully exploiting a single-mode, wide-band, and ultra low-loss HC-ARF. In addition, the extraordinary optical properties of the proposed fiber can be beneficial for several applications such as future optical communication system, high energy light transport, extreme non-nonlinear optics and beyond.
Hadamard-transform spectral acquisition with an acousto-optic tunable filter in a broadband stimulated Raman scattering microscope
Authors: Genchi Luca , Bucci Andrea , Laptenok Sergey P. , Giammona Alessandro , Liberale Carlo
Published: December 2020

We present a novel configuration for high spectral resolution multiplexing acquisition based on the Hadamard transform in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy. The broadband tunable output of a dual-beam femtosecond laser is filtered by a fast, narrowband, and multi-channel acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). By turning on and off different subsets of its 8 independent channels, the AOTF generates the spectral masks given by the Hadamard matrix. We demonstrate a seamless and automated operation in the Raman fingerprint and CH-stretch regions. In the presence of additive noise, the spectral measurements using the multiplexed method show the same signal-to-noise ratio of conventional single-wavenumber acquisitions performed with 4 times longer integration time.
Mitochondrial event localiser (MEL) to quantitativelydescribe fission, fusion and depolarisation in the three-dimensional space
Authors: Theart Rensu P. , Kriel Jurgen , du Toit André , Loos Ben , Niesler Thomas R.
Published: December 2020

Mitochondrial fission and fusion play an important role not only in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis but also in preserving overall cellular viability. However, quantitative analysis based on the three-dimensional localisation of these highly dynamic mitochondrial events in the cellular context has not yet been accomplished. Moreover, it remains largely uncertain where in the mitochondrial network depolarisation is most likely to occur. We present the mitochondrial event localiser (MEL), a method that allows high-throughput, automated and deterministic localisation and quantification of mitochondrial fission, fusion and depolarisation events in large three-dimensional microscopy time-lapse sequences. In addition, MEL calculates the number of mitochondrial structures as well as their combined and average volume for each image frame in the time-lapse sequence. The mitochondrial event locations can subsequently be visualised by superposition over the fluorescence micrograph z-stack. We apply MEL to both control samples as well as to cells before and after treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). An average of 9.3/7.2/2.3 fusion/fission/depolarisation events per cell were observed respectively for every 10 sec in the control cells. With peroxide treatment, the rate initially shifted toward fusion with and average of 15/6/3 events per cell, before returning to a new equilibrium not far from that of the control cells, with an average of 6.2/6.4/3.4 events per cell. These MEL results indicate that both pre-treatment and control cells maintain a fission/fusion equilibrium, and that depolarisation is higher in the post-treatment cells. When individually validating mitochondrial events detected with MEL, for a representative cell for the control and treated samples, the true-positive events were 47%/49%/14% respectively for fusion/fission/depolarisation events. We conclude that MEL is a viable method of quantitative mitochondrial event analysis.
Effects of heat-killed Enterococcus faecalis T-110 supplementation on gut immunity, gut flora, and intestinal infection in naturally aged hamsters
Authors: Inatomi Takio , Otomaru Konosuke
Published: December 2020

Infectious diseases are a threat to elderly individuals, whose immune systems weaken with age. Among the various infectious diseases, Clostridium difficile infection is associated with a high rate of mortality in elderly individuals and is a serious health problem worldwide, owing to the increasing infection rates. Probiotic use has been proposed as an effective countermeasure for C. difficile infection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of heat-killed Enterococcus faecalis T-110 on intestinal immunity, intestinal flora, and intestinal infections, especially C. difficile infections, in naturally ageing animals, for extrapolating the results to elderly human subjects. Twenty female hamsters were randomly distributed into two groups. Group 1 was fed a basal diet and group 2 was fed a basal diet supplemented with heat-killed E. faecalis for 7 days. Heat-killed E. faecalis T-110 improved the gut immunity and microflora, especially Clostridium perfringens and C. difficile, in naturally aged hamsters. Therefore, heat-killed E. faecalis T-110 use may be a countermeasure against age-related immune dysfunction and intestinal infections, especially C. difficile infection, in elderly humans. However, further investigation in this regard is needed in humans.
Intrathecal catheter implantation decreases cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in cynomolgus monkeys
Authors: Khani Mohammadreza , Fu Audrey Q. , Pluid Joshua , Gibbs Christina P. , Oshinski John N. , Xing Tao , Stewart Gregory R. , Zeller Jillynne R. , Martin Bryn A.
Published: December 2020

A detailed understanding of the CSF dynamics is needed for design and optimization of intrathecal drug delivery devices, drugs, and protocols. Preclinical research using large-animal models is important to help define drug pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics and safety. In this study, we investigated the impact of catheter implantation in the sub-dural space on CSF flow dynamics in Cynomolgus monkeys. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before and after catheter implantation to quantify the differences based on catheter placement location in the cervical compared to the lumbar spine. Several geometric and hydrodynamic parameters were calculated based on the 3D segmentation and flow analysis. Hagen-Poiseuille equation was used to investigate the impact of catheter implantation on flow reduction and hydraulic resistance. A linear mixed-effects model was used in this study to investigate if there was a statistically significant difference between cervical and lumbar implantation, or between two MRI time points. Results showed that geometric parameters did not change statistically across MRI measurement time points and did not depend on catheter location. However, catheter insertion did have a significant impact on the hydrodynamic parameters and the effect was greater with cervical implantation compared to lumbar implantation. CSF flow rate decreased up to 55% with the catheter located in the cervical region. The maximum flow rate reduction in the lumbar implantation group was 21%. Overall, lumbar catheter implantation disrupted CSF dynamics to a lesser degree than cervical catheter implantation and this effect remained up to two weeks post-catheter implantation in Cynomolgus monkeys.
Ranibizumab treatment patterns in prior ranibizumab-treated neovascular age-related macular degeneration patients: Real-world outcomes from the LUMINOUS study
Authors: Holz Frank G. , Minnella Angelo M. , Tuli Raman , Yoganathan Pradeepa , Parikh Soumil , Hamilton Robin ,   on behalf of the LUMINOUS™ study group
Published: December 2020

Purpose

To evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and treatment patterns of ranibizumab 0.5 mg in prior ranibizumab-treated patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) enrolled in the LUMINOUS™ study.

Patients and methods

LUMINOUS, a 5-year, prospective, multicenter, observational study, recruited 30,138 adult patients (treatment-naïve or prior ranibizumab-treated or other ocular treatments) across all approved indications for ranibizumab. Patients were treated as per local ranibizumab label of participating countries. Here we report the mean change in visual acuity (VA) at Year 1, treatment exposure, overall incidence of ocular, non-ocular adverse events (AEs) and serious AEs (SAEs) in prior ranibizumab-treated nAMD patients (n = 16,167).

Results

At baseline, the mean (standard deviation [SD]) age of patients was 78.4 (9.0) years, 59.0% were female, and 80.0% were Caucasian. At Year 1 (n = 10,168), the mean (SD) VA change was −1.6 (12.6) letters (baseline VA: 58.3 [19.0] letters) with a mean (SD) of 4.7 (3.1) ranibizumab injections. Stratified by duration of prior ranibizumab treatment of <1 (n = 4,112), 1 to <2 (n = 2,095), 2 to <3 (n = 1,506), 3 to <4 (n = 1,123), 4 to <5 (n = 689), and ≥5 (n = 256) years, the mean (SD) VA change at Year 1 were −1.2 (13.5), −2.0 (12.3), −2.0 (11.3), −1.9 (11.8), −2.5 (10.9), and 0.0 (11.2) letters, respectively. Mean (SD) VA change in patients who received ≤6 and >6 injections over 1 year was −1.8 (13.8) and +0.5 (12.5) letters, respectively. The rate of ocular/non-ocular AEs and SAEs across all prior ranibizumab-treated patients over 5 years were 13.29%/23.02% and 0.84%/13.66%, respectively.

Conclusions

Overall, regardless of the prior ranibizumab-treatment duration, VA was maintained in these patients at Year 1, and those receiving ≥6 injections showed a trend towards gaining letters. There were no new safety signals. These results may help inform routine clinical practice to appropriately treat nAMD patients with ranibizumab to achieve optimal visual outcomes.
The exploration of size and toddler interaction with liquid laundry detergent capsules
Authors: Richmond Annalise , Schwebel David C. , Morgan Casie H. , Liang Zhiwu W. , Boutoille Alice , Buso Pablo , Mata Ana , Stijntjes Gerard
Published: December 2020

Liquid laundry capsules have been involved in multiple poisoning incidents with young children in the home. There are a range of contributing factors for these incidents, including influences from industry, culture, home environments, and parenting/supervision. There also are influences from children’s behaviour and decisions in reaction to potential hazards. Previous research examined the influence of capsule product appearance and colour on children’s behaviour around hazardous household items, but little research examines the influence of product size. This research explored if differences in the size of liquid laundry capsules result in different levels of toddler interaction. We compared two commercially available capsule designs that are identical in physical appearance but differ in physical size. Our research was conducted using three studies: Study 1, forced-choice test in an out-of-context laboratory setting; Study 2, an ecologically-valid, simulated real-world setting replicating a home laundry cabinet with a container of capsules left open; and Study 3, a second ecologically-valid study replicating a home laundry cabinet, this time with a capsule left outside its container. Capsule interaction was measured by grasping choice among samples of 156 toddlers ages 9–36 months. The same sample was used for Studies 1 and 2, and a second identically sized sample recruited for Study 3. Results from Study 1 indicated toddlers selected the small (49.8% selection) and large (50.2%) capsule with nearly identical frequency. Study 2 largely replicated Study 1: Toddlers selected the small capsule or container of small capsules 26.8% of the time and the large capsule or container of large capsules 22.3% of the time. Study 3 also replicated previous findings: Toddlers selected the smaller capsule 18.0% of the time and the larger 19.2%. We discuss study results, which suggest no appreciable difference in toddler’s grasping choice to smaller versus larger laundry capsules.
Jagged1 intracellular domain modulates steroidogenesis in testicular Leydig cells
Authors: Kumar Sudeep , Park Hee-Sae , Lee Keesook
Published: December 2020

Leydig cells represent the steroidogenic lineage of mammalian testis, which produces testosterone. Genetic evidence indicates the requirement of Notch signaling in maintaining a balance between differentiated Leydig cells and their progenitors during fetal development. In primary Leydig cells, Notch1 expression decreases with testicular development, while the expression of its ligand, Jagged1, remains relatively unchanged, suggesting that the roles of Jagged1 extend beyond Notch signaling. In addition, Jagged1 is known to be processed into its intracellular domain, which then translocate to the nucleus. In this study, we investigated the effect of Jagged1 intracellular domain (JICD) on steroidogenesis in Leydig cells. The independent overexpression of JICD in MA-10 Leydig cells was found to inhibit the activity of cAMP-induced Nur77 promoter. In addition, JICD suppressed Nur77 transactivation of the promoter of steroidogenic genes such as P450scc, P450c17, StAR, and 3β-HSD. Further, adenovirus-mediated overexpression of JICD in primary Leydig cells repressed the expression of steroidogenic genes, consequently lowering testosterone production. These results collectively suggest that steroidogenesis in testicular Leydig cells, which is regulated by LH/cAMP signaling, is fine-tuned by Jagged1 during testis development.
'It's not just about fish': Assessing the social impacts of marine protected areas on the wellbeing of coastal communities in New South Wales
Authors: Gollan Natalie , Barclay Kate
Published: December 2020

Managing Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is about managing human behaviours, but decision-making processes have traditionally focussed on ecological aspects, treating social aspects as secondary. It is now becoming more evident that an equal focus on the ecological and social aspects is required. Without the collection of information about social aspect such as impacts and sharing this as well as ecological information with communities, MPAs are at higher risk of opposition and social acceptability problems. This paper explores the development of a wellbeing framework to understand the social aspects, including the impacts of MPAs on the wellbeing of local communities. This research investigates two case study MPAs: Cape Byron and Port Stephens-Great Lakes Marine Parks in New South Wales, Australia. The MPAs are multiple-use and were implemented in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The research began with a review of the literature, followed by fieldwork, including semi-structured qualitative interviews with community members. Through thematic coding of the interview transcripts in light of the literature on assessing the social impacts of MPAs, a community wellbeing framework of domains and associated attributes was developed to investigate social impacts. Our analysis shows; first, local perspectives are crucial to understanding social impacts. Second, understanding social impacts gives insight into the nature of trade-offs that occur in decision-making regarding MPAs. Third, the intangible social impacts experienced by local communities are just as significant as the tangible ones for understanding how MPAs operate. Fourth, governance impacts have been the most influential factor affecting the social acceptability of the case study parks. We argue that failure to address negative social impacts can undermine the legitimacy of MPAs. We propose that the framework will support policymakers to work towards more effective, equitable and socially sustainable MPAs by employing much-needed monitoring of human dimensions of conservation interventions at the community level to shape adaptive management.
THE RESURRECTION OF SCHIZOSTACHYUM BIFLORUM McCLURE (BAMBUSOIDEAE)
Authors: Al Muzakki Furqon , Chikmawati Tatik , Hartana Alex
Published: December 2020

MUZAKKI, F. A., CHIKMAWATI, T. &  HARTANA, A. 2020. The resurrection of Schizostachyum biflorum McClure (Bambusoideae). Reinwardtia 19(2): 93‒96. ‒‒ Based on newly collected specimens from Mount Salak referable to Schizostachyum biflorum, made it justifiable to recognize this species as different from S. iraten Steud., to which formerly it was synonymized. A complete description of S. biflorum, a comparative tabulation of the morphological features that distinguished it from S. iraten, and figures of the two species are presented.
FIRST REPORT ON HUNTING BEHAVIOR OF MIGRATORY ORIENTAL HONEY-BUZZARD (PERNIS PTILORHYNCHUS ORIENTALIS) TOWARDS MIGRATORY GIANT HONEYBEE (APIS DORSATA DORSATA) (HYMENOPTERA: APIDAE) ON JAVA ISLAND, INDONESIA
Authors: Kahono Sih , Prawiradilaga Dewi Malia , Peggie Djunijanti , Erniwati Erniwati , Sulistyadi Eko
Published: December 2020

Both Migratory Oriental Honey-buzzard (Pernis ptilorhynchus orientalis) and migratory giant honeybee (Apis dorsata dorsata) can be found in South-east Asia. The Oriental Honey-buzzard is the main predator of the giant honeybee, prey upon its honeycomb, larvae, and honey. Its existence always follows the migration of the giant honeybee. They stay on Java island during the migratory season. The giant honeybee lives in a large colony and has a powerful sting that is useful for defence against its predators. The bee is among the most dangerous animals since its threatening defensive behavior causes severe impact on the eagle and is even frequently fatal for human beings. Data collections on hunting behavior of the Oriental Honey-buzzard were based on irregular observations and interviews between the year 2003 to 2019. We categorized five hunting behaviors during data collections: flying orientation around the bee’s nest, attack on living nest, failure to collect the living nest, preying upon the newly empty nest, and transferring attack of the angry bee to people nearby. The safest hunting for the Oriental Honey-buzzard is to prey upon newly empty nest left by the honeybee. When the nest was still occupied by the bee colonies, the eagle should develop a strategy to avoid and reduce the risk of being attacked. It sometimes transfers the attack to people nearby.
Fascismo e bolsonarismo
Authors: Menezes de Sousa Katia , Camargo de Oliveira Rafael
Published: December 2020

Antes mesmo de ser consumada a vitória do candidato Jair Bolsonaro, o Brasil teve, como discussão política, a questão do retorno da barbárie, isto é, do fascismo. O termo fez parte de discussões políticas dos mais diversos veículos de comunicação ainda com o então pré-candidato Bolsonaro. As comparações eram inevitáveis e o capitão da reserva tinha um discurso político próximo ao de atores como Donald Trump (Estados Unidos), Viktor Orbán (Hungria) e Erdogan (Turquia). Assim, o presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar os enunciados produzidos sobre o fascismo e o bolsonarismo. No decorrer do trabalho nos questionamos sobre as aproximações e distanciamentos entre ambos os termos. A perspectiva teórica-metodológica tem como base os estudos discursivos foucaultianos. Em outros termos, trata-se de uma arqueogenealogia, pois o que se tem investigado é a construção do fascismo a partir de seu texto fundador (MUSSOLINI, 2019), das análises da psicologia social acerca do tema (ADORNO, 2015; REICH, 2001) e das recentes críticas do fascismo na modernidade (ECO, 2019).
Identidade e constituição do sujeito “mulher idosa” em webtirinhas da Dona Anésia
Authors: Lisboa Loraine , Stafuzza Grenissa
Published: December 2020

Temos como objetivo analisar a identidade e a constituição do sujeito “mulher idosa” a partir do gênero discursivo webtirinha. Para o trabalho, elegemos três webtirinhas da Dona Anésia, de autoria do cartunista Will Leite, publicadas em seu site WillTirando, com a proposta de mostrar como as identidades são construídas em um processo dialógico entre sujeitos a partir de enunciados verbovisuais. Assim, os sentidos que emergem das webtiras configuram como o sujeito idoso é visto socialmente e, de que modo, a personagem Dona Anésia promove uma ruptura, deslocando os sentidos do que se espera socialmente de uma mulher idosa. Para isso, nos pautamos na concepção dialógica da linguagem desenvolvida pelo Círculo de Bakhtin, na produção da identidade pela diferença em Silva (2000) e pela cultura da convergência midiática em Jenkins (2008).
Reflexões sobre o Juiz de Garantias
Authors: De Moura Soares Piloni Vládia Maria , Faleiros da Silva Marcos
Published: December 2020

Em 2016, o Poder Judiciário do Estado de Mato Grosso intensificou estudos para cumprir o art. 8, item 1, da Convenção Americana de Direitos Humanos no que tange ao direito das pessoas de serem julgadas por um órgão julgador independente, imparcial e garantidor da Constituição, bem como para evitar que operações legítimas da polícia e do Ministério Público pudessem ser questionadas de nulidade por atuação extravagante de alguns magistrados. Assim, o TJMT recebeu com agradável surpresa a Lei Federal nº 13.964/2019 que criou a figura do Juiz de Garantias, justamente para ratificar a imparcialidade do Juiz e evitar a contaminação subjetiva e objetiva. Exatamente acerca disso que neste pequeno comentário são tecidas algumas considerações, culminando no etendimento de que tal Juízo, inclsuive quando realizado pela via remota, reafirma os direitos fundamentais, não estanod envolto por qualquer inconstitucionalidade por vício de iniciativa.