Towards designing robust coupled networks

Natural and technological interdependent systems have been shown to be highly vulnerable due to cascading failures and an abrupt collapse of global connectivity under initial failure. Mitigating the risk by partial disconnection endangers their functionality. Here we propose a systematic strategy of selecting a minimum number of autonomous nodes that guarantee a smooth transition in robustness. Our method which is based on betweenness is tested on various examples including the famous 2003 electrical blackout of Italy. We show that, with this strategy, the necessary number of autonomous nodes can be reduced by a factor of five compared to a random choice. We also find that the transition to abrupt collapse follows tricritical scaling characterized by a set of exponents which is independent on the protection strategy

MULT: An allometric body mass index (ABMI) reference to assess nutritional status of multiethnic children and adolescents

Objectives To develop an allometric body mass index (ABMI) reference that adjusts the weight in relation to height, taking into account the changes during development (MULT ABMI reference), and to compare it with international BMI references. Methods The MULT ABMI reference was constructed through the LMS method, calculated with 65 644 ABMI observations of 17 447 subjects aged 5–22 years, from the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, India, Peru, Vietnam, Portugal, and Brazil. The M, S, and L curves of the MULT ABMI reference were compared with the curves of the MULT, World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), and Dutch Growth Study (DUTCH). Results The greater differences in the M curve between MULT ABMI and WHO, CDC, IOTF, DUTCH, and MULT BMI references were around puberty (138 to 150 months for boys; 114 to 132 for girls). MULT ABMI presented S values similar to IOTF and DUTCH BMI references for boys 60 to 114 months and then became higher, approaching the MULT BMI S values from 198 to 240 months. For girls the MULT ABMI S values were close to the IOTF, CDC, and DUTCH from 60 to 110 months, and then became higher, approaching the MULT BMI S values until 240 months. Conclusion MULT ABMI presented an advantage in comparison to the existing BMI references because it takes into account the growth changes during puberty and is a new option to assess the nutritional status of multiethnic populations. Copyright: © 2024 de Oliveira et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.All phases of this study were supported in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brazil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 (grant numbers 88887.368190/2019-00, 88887.356471/2019-00, 88887.461765/2019-00), in part by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq (grant number 141836/2020-2), and in part by national Portuguese funds through the FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., within the scope of projects UIDB/04750/2020 and LA/P/0064/2020, and by the Stimulus of Scientific Employment – Individual Support (CEECIND/01271/2018). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study

Fracturing ranked surfaces

Discretized landscapes can be mapped onto ranked surfaces, where every element (site or bond) has a unique rank associated with its corresponding relative height. By sequentially allocating these elements according to their ranks and systematically preventing the occupation of bridges, namely elements that, if occupied, would provide global connectivity, we disclose that bridges hide a new tricritical point at an occupation fraction $p=p_{c}$, where $p_{c}$ is the percolation threshold of random percolation. For any value of $p$ in the interval $p_{c}< p \leq 1$, our results show that the set of bridges has a fractal dimension $d_{BB} \approx 1.22$ in two dimensions. In the limit $p \rightarrow 1$, a self-similar fracture is revealed as a singly connected line that divides the system in two domains. We then unveil how several seemingly unrelated physical models tumble into the same universality class and also present results for higher dimensions

Studies on the interaction of the carbohydrate binding module 3 from the Clostridium thermocellum CipA scaffolding protein with cellulose and paper fibres

The adsorption of a carbohydrate binding module (CBM3) from the Clostridium thermocellum scaffolding protein (CipA) to cellulose was analysed in this work. The effect of CBM-PEG on the drainability of E. globulus and P. sylvestris pulps and on the physical properties of the respective papersheets was also studied. The CBM binding to cellulose is often described as “irreversible”, but this classification does not fully characterize this interaction. Indeed, the results obtained demonstrate that, although the adsorption on cellulose is rather stable, CBM inter-fibre mobility may be observed. The results also showed that the CBM-PEG conjugate improves the drainability of E. globulus and P. sylvestris pulps without affecting the physical properties of the papersheets.This research was supported by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia under grant POCTI/BIO/45356/2002

Relationship between length of exposure to trauma and mental illness in the police

Introduction: The activities of the police are considered high risk, because they are exposed to high levels of physical and emotional stress. These work activities can contribute to the emergence of psychiatric disorders that affect their readiness in responding to threats and safety of their actions. Our aim was to conduct a systematic literature review to identify studies that evaluated the time that police officers may be deployed without developing a mental illness. Materials and Methods: Articles published until May 2016 in The MEDLINE (PubMed), Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, and Lilacs databases were searched. In addition, a manual search in the gray literature (theses and dissertations) was also conducted. Several combinations of indexed terms were used in the search of electronic databases, including terms referring to trauma exposure, intervention, and population. There were no restrictions on date and language of the publications. Two reviewers independently assessed studies for eligibility and quality. Disagreements were resolved after consultations with a third reviewer. Results: Of 905 selected studies, 13 studies evaluated deployment duration and the incidence of mental illness. Studies were excluded because they addressed the prevalence of mental illness but did not relate it to deployment duration or because the studied sample was not the target population of the present study. Studies have shown that a longer deployment time is associated with increased incidence of mental illness. Our analysis of the 13 identified studies indicated the existence of an association between exposure to deployment and mental illness onset. Conclusion: These findings will be useful to inform and guide future studies conducted in Brazil and worldwide