Influencia de las bajas temperaturas y la duración de las heladas en la viabilidad de Phytophthora alni subsp. Alni

Limits on the survival of P. alni subsp. alni (PAA) due to low temperature can be expected based on previously published laboratory and field studies. This study presents a laboratory experiment to test the influence of low temperature and frost duration on PAA viability. Ten PAA isolates were incubated at different temperatures (–0.1, –2.5, –5.0, –7.5, and –10.0 °C) and frost durations (0 – 7, 14, 21, and 28 days). A regression analysis confirmed the significant influence of both factors (low temperature and frost duration, and their interaction) on the survival of the pathogen under laboratory conditions. The survival and failure time analysis showed that the survival of the pathogen differs significantly after mild frost (all the isolates tested survived temperatures between –0.1 and –5.0 °C during the entire testing period) and heavy frost (the pathogen died after 21 days of incubation at –7.5 °C and after 2 days at –10.0 °C). Moreover, the viability of the pathogen decreased significantly if the temperature of –5.0 °C was maintained for at least 1 week and the temperature of –7.5 °C persisted in laboratory conditions for at least 4 days. The results of the study proved the pathogen to be very sensitive to heavy frost. The low-temperature limits for PAA occur regularly in Central Europe in January. It is probable that these temperatures can reduce PAA populations in diseased black alder stems. The climate change characterised by increases in the lowest minimum winter temperatures in Central Europe (as hypothesised by IPCC) may pose a significant risk for affected alder population in the area.Se pueden esperar límites a la supervivencia de P. alni subsp. alni (PAA), debido a las bajas temperaturas basándose en resultados obtenidos en laboratorio y estudios de campo. Este estudio presenta un experimento de laboratorio para probar la influencia de las bajas temperaturas y la duración de las heladas sobre la viabilidad de PAA. Se incubaron diez cepas PAA a diferentes temperaturas (–0,1, –2,5, –5,0, –7,5 y –10,0 °C) y duración de heladas (0 – 7, 14, 21, y 28 días). Un análisis de regresión confirmó la importante influencia de ambos factores (bajas temperaturas y la duración de heladas, así como su interacción) en la supervivencia del patógeno en las condiciones de laboratorio. La supervivencia y el análisis de tiempo de fallo demostró que la supervivencia del patógeno difiere significativamente después de las heladas suaves (todas las cepas aisladas sobrevivieron a temperaturas entre –0,1 y –5,0 °C durante el período completo de la prueba) y heladas fuertes (el patógeno murió tras 21 días de incubación a –7,5 °C y después de 2 días a –10,0 °C). Además, la viabilidad del patógeno disminuyó significativamente si la temperatura de –5,0 °C se mantenía durante al menos 1 semana, o la temperatura de –7,5 °C se mantenía durante al menos 4 días. Los resultados del estudio muestran que el patógeno es muy sensible a las heladas intensas. Los límites de baja temperatura para el PAA se producen regularmente en Europa Central en enero. Es probable que estas temperaturas puedan reducir las poblaciones de la PAA en los árboles enfermos de aliso negro. El cambio climático caracterizado por el aumento de las temperaturas mínimas más bajas del invierno en Europa Central (como hipotetiza el IPCC) puede suponer un riesgo significativo para la población afectada de alisos en este área

Feminismus im langen Rock. Zwei progressive Frauen im katholischen politischen Lager. HAVELKA, Jiří. Katolické političky: český katolický feminismus (1896–1939) [Katholische Politikerinnen: der tschechische katholische Feminismus], Praha: NLN, Verlag Lidové noviny, 2018.

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Terrorism as a slap in the face of the civilized world

The article summarizes the key scientific approaches to the study of terror in the contemporary world focusing on the concepts of (de)modernization, (de)civilization, and the revival of religious movements with rational economic aims under the slogans of “just war” or “cosmic war” with the forces of evil. The author starts from Norbert Elias’ work on the civilization process and the formation of the modern state as a pacified society to underline that the problem of violence lies outside Elias’ scope, and demonstrate the existing approaches to supplementing his theory with (a) the definition of decivilization trends and the criteria for the identification of decivilization processes; (b) the description of the role and place of brutal violence in modern society; (c) a comprehensive but also heterogeneous picture of terrorism, especially suicide terrorism, i.e. its causes, manifestations and consequences. The author agrees with S.P. Huntington, that we live in a world with an increased risk of conflicts between civilizations and cultural strains rooting in the religious tradition (the re-politicization of religion and religious nationalism are considered attempts to fuse traditional religion with modern politics). Thus, the author concludes that the contemporary terrorism and especially its suicidal form is not only a specific form of (political) struggle, but also - metaphorically speaking - a “slap in the face” of the civilized Western world, an effort to challenge, shake and undermine the stability and the patterns of life in modern society. However, terrorism wants to influence not only the power system of society, but also the collective psyche of large groups and parts of the population to create a sort of theatre of horror with the rationally designed, staged and performed means of violence

Rietveld refinement of the crystal structures of hexagonal Y6Cr4+xAl43−x (x=2.57) and tetragonal YCr4−xAl8+x (x=1.22)

Y6Cr4+xAl43−x (x = 2.57); space group P63/mcm, a = 10.8601(1) Å, c = 17.6783(3) Å, V= 1805.7(1) Å3, Z=2; isostructural to Yb6Cr4+xAl43−x, (x=1.76) with two aluminium sites partially occupied by chromium (44% and 27% Cr). YCr4−xAl8+x (x=1.22); space group I4/mmm, a = 9.0299(2) Å, c = 5.1208(2) Å, V=417.55(3) Å3, Z=2, disordered variant of CeMn4Al8 with one chromium site (8f) partially occupied by aluminium (33% Al); X-ray powder diffraction data were collected on a well-crystallized multiphase sample containing 43 wt.% of Y6Cr4+xAl43−x, 27 wt.% of Y2Cr8−xAl16+x, 16 wt.% of Al, 13 wt.% of YAl3, and traces of Y2O3. Structure refinement converged at Rwp = 2.0% and RB = 3.5, 3.6% resp. for a total of 78 parameters and 1190 reflection

Near-Optimal Scheduling for LTL with Future Discounting

We study the search problem for optimal schedulers for the linear temporal logic (LTL) with future discounting. The logic, introduced by Almagor, Boker and Kupferman, is a quantitative variant of LTL in which an event in the far future has only discounted contribution to a truth value (that is a real number in the unit interval [0, 1]). The precise problem we study---it naturally arises e.g. in search for a scheduler that recovers from an internal error state as soon as possible---is the following: given a Kripke frame, a formula and a number in [0, 1] called a margin, find a path of the Kripke frame that is optimal with respect to the formula up to the prescribed margin (a truly optimal path may not exist). We present an algorithm for the problem; it works even in the extended setting with propositional quality operators, a setting where (threshold) model-checking is known to be undecidable

On edge intersection graphs of paths with 2 bends

An EPG-representation of a graph G is a collection of paths in a grid, each corresponding to a single vertex of G, so that two vertices are adjacent if and only if their corresponding paths share infinitely many points. In this paper we focus on graphs admitting EPG-representations by paths with at most 2 bends. We show hardness of the recognition problem for this class of graphs, along with some subclasses. We also initiate the study of graphs representable by unaligned polylines, and by polylines, whose every segment is parallel to one of prescribed slopes. We show hardness of recognition and explore the trade-off between the number of bends and the number of slopes. © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2016

A Fast Algorithm Finding the Shortest Reset Words

In this paper we present a new fast algorithm finding minimal reset words for finite synchronizing automata. The problem is know to be computationally hard, and our algorithm is exponential. Yet, it is faster than the algorithms used so far and it works well in practice. The main idea is to use a bidirectional BFS and radix (Patricia) tries to store and compare resulted subsets. We give both theoretical and practical arguments showing that the branching factor is reduced efficiently. As a practical test we perform an experimental study of the length of the shortest reset word for random automata with $n$ states and 2 input letters. We follow Skvorsov and Tipikin, who have performed such a study using a SAT solver and considering automata up to $n=100$ states. With our algorithm we are able to consider much larger sample of automata with up to $n=300$ states. In particular, we obtain a new more precise estimation of the expected length of the shortest reset word $\approx 2.5\sqrt{n-5}$.Comment: COCOON 2013. The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-38768-5_1

Trapping in the random conductance model

We consider random walks on $\Z^d$ among nearest-neighbor random conductances which are i.i.d., positive, bounded uniformly from above but whose support extends all the way to zero. Our focus is on the detailed properties of the paths of the random walk conditioned to return back to the starting point at time $2n$. We show that in the situations when the heat kernel exhibits subdiffusive decay --- which is known to occur in dimensions $d\ge4$ --- the walk gets trapped for a time of order $n$ in a small spatial region. This shows that the strategy used earlier to infer subdiffusive lower bounds on the heat kernel in specific examples is in fact dominant. In addition, we settle a conjecture concerning the worst possible subdiffusive decay in four dimensions.Comment: 21 pages, version to appear in J. Statist. Phy

Preoperative and perioperative use of levosimendan in cardiac surgery: European expert opinion

In cardiac surgery, postoperative low cardiac output has been shown to correlate with increased rates of organ failure and mortality. Catecholamines have been the standard therapy for many years, although they carry substantial risk for adverse cardiac and systemic effects, and have been reported to be associated with increased mortality. On the other hand, the calcium sensitiser and potassium channel opener levosimendan has been shown to improve cardiac function with no imbalance in oxygen consumption, and to have protective effects in other organs. Numerous clinical trials have indicated favourable cardiac and non-cardiac effects of preoperative and perioperative administration of levosimendan. A panel of 27 experts from 18 countries has now reviewed the literature on the use of levosimendan in on-pump and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting and in heart valve surgery. This panel discussed the published evidence in these various settings, and agreed to vote on a set of questions related to the cardioprotective effects of levosimendan when administered preoperatively, with the purpose of reaching a consensus on which patients could benefit from the preoperative use of levosimendan and in which kind of procedures, and at which doses and timing should levosimendan be administered. Here, we present a systematic review of the literature to report on the completed and ongoing studies on levosimendan, including the newly commenced LEVO-CTS phase III study (NCT02025621), and on the consensus reached on the recommendations proposed for the use of preoperative levosimendan

Diverse tick-borne microorganisms identified in free-living ungulates in Slovakia

Background: Free-living ungulates are hosts of ixodid ticks and reservoirs of tick-borne microorganisms in central Europe and many regions around the world. Tissue samples and engorged ticks were obtained from roe deer, red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, and wild boar hunted in deciduous forests of south-western Slovakia. DNA isolated from these samples was screened for the presence of tick-borne microorganisms by PCR-based methods. Results: Ticks were found to infest all examined ungulate species. The principal infesting tick was Ixodes ricinus, identified on 90.4% of wildlife, and included all developmental stages. Larvae and nymphs of Haemaphysalis concinna were feeding on 9.6% of wildlife. Two specimens of Dermacentor reticulatus were also identified. Ungulates were positive for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was found to infect 96.1% of cervids, 88.9% of mouflon, and 28.2% of wild boar, whereas Theileria spp. was detected only in cervids (94.6%). Importantly, a high rate of cervids (89%) showed mixed infections with both these microorganisms. In addition to A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp., Rickettsia helvetica, R. monacensis, unidentified Rickettsia sp., Coxiella burnetii, "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis", Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) and Babesia venatorum were identified in engorged I. ricinus. Furthermore, A. phagocytophilum, Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. were detected in engorged H. concinna. Analysis of 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences revealed the presence of five and two A. phagocytophilum variants, respectively, among which sequences identified in wild boar showed identity to the sequence of the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Phylogenetic analysis of Theileria 18S rRNA gene sequences amplified from cervids and engorged I. ricinus ticks segregated jointly with sequences of T. capreoli isolates into a moderately supported monophyletic clade. Conclusions: The findings indicate that free-living ungulates are reservoirs for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. and engorged ixodid ticks attached to ungulates are good sentinels for the presence of agents of public and veterinary concern. Further analyses of the A. phagocytophilum genetic variants and Theileria species and their associations with vector ticks and free-living ungulates are required.Fil: Kazimírová, Mária. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Hamšíková, Zuzana. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Spitalská, Eva. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Minichová, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Mahríková, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Caban, Radoslav. Široká ; EslovaquiaFil: Sprong, Hein. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Fonville, Manoj. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Schnittger, Leonhard. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kocianová, Elena. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; Eslovaqui