Digital measurement of lightning impulse parameters using curving fitting algorithms

This paper describes the application of curve fitting algorithms to aid the evaluation of lightning impulse parameters. A number of popular curve fitting algorithms have been evaluated and compared. Investigations using the genetic algorithm and other optimisation methods for the purpose of curve fitting have also been carried out and will be described

Reduced lethality in mice receiving a combined dose of cyclophosphamide and busulphan.

Animals treated with a sufficiently high dose of busulphan die about 14 days later from bone marrow failure. A single, appropriately timed injection of cyclophosphamide can save these mice. The nature of this protection is shown to be the cyclophosphamide induced elaboration of a humoral factor which stimulates haemopoietic recovery

Increasing Food Production in Drylands Using Agrivoltaics

In the desert, native plants respond to the hottest part of the day by either closing their stomata, which would stop photosynthesis, or by simply reducing their photosynthesis rates due to heat stress. Soil water resources are also impacted due to significant evaporation. If plants have more shade during the day, will they photosynthesize more in the afternoon than plants without shade? Will these plants with shade transpire less, and thus need to be watered less? This study takes a look at plants which have grown under a photovoltaics array (a new agriculture practice called agrivoltaics) as well as plants which have grown in the open (modeling traditional agriculture practices). It was hypothesized the agrivoltaics practice will benefit plants by providing them shade and retaining soil moisture during the day as well as benefiting the photovoltaics by keeping them cooler to increase their efficiency. This study was designed to determine whether growing under the photovoltaic panels is beneficial, by collecting and analyzing data on photosynthesis (carbon uptake) and transpiration (water loss) rates of 8+ different species. These measurements will help answer which plants are best suited for being planted in an agrivoltaics installation

FieldML: concepts and implementation

The field modelling language FieldML is being developed as a standard for modelling and interchanging field descriptions in software, suitable for a wide range of computation techniques. It comprises a rich set of operators for defining generalized fields as functions of other fields, starting with basic domain fields including sets of discrete objects and coordinate systems. It is extensible by adding new operators and by their arbitrary combination in expressions, making it well suited for describing the inherent complexity of biological materials and organ systems. This paper describes the concepts behind FieldML, including a simple example of a spatially varying finite-element field. It outlines current implementations in established, open source computation and visualization software, both drawing on decades of bioengineering modelling software development experience

Mortalities, amyloidosis and other diseases in free-living red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on Jersey, Channel Islands

Between 2007 and 2014, 337 free-living red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on Jersey, Channel Islands, were examined post mortem as part of a mortality and disease surveillance scheme. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) were attributable for 50.7 per cent (171/337) of the casualties, 34.4 per cent (116/337) succumbed to diseases including fatal exudative dermatitis (FED), 7.1 per cent (24/337) to predation, 6.5 per cent (22/337) to other trauma and 1.2 per cent (4/337) to suspected poisoning. Cat predation accounted for 5 per cent (17/337) of mortalities. Pathologies were diverse and individual animals were often identified with more than one disease process. Squirrelpox virus (SQPV) particles were not detected in selected cases examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Amyloid was identified in 19.3 per cent (65/337) of squirrels, often in conjunction with inflammatory lesions like hepatic capillariasis. A consistent cause of amyloid accumulation was not identified, although there was a significant association of amyloidosis with hepatic capillariasis and FED. In addition to RTAs, amyloidosis and FED have been identified as important causes of squirrel morbidity and mortality on Jersey, while the underlying aetiology and predisposing factors for these two disease complexes are presently unclear. Disease, fragmented woodlands, an increasingly suburban habitat, along with various anthropogenic factors, may jeopardise the long-term viability of this island red squirrel population

Fatal Exudative Dermatitis (FED) in Island Populations of Red Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris): Spillover of a Virulent Staphylococcus aureus Clone (ST49) From Reservoir Hosts.

Fatal exudative dermatitis (FED) is a significant cause of death of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands where it is associated with a virulent clone of Staphylococcus aureus, ST49. S. aureus ST49 has been found in other hosts such as small mammals, pigs and humans, but the dynamics of carriage and disease of this clone, or any other lineage in red squirrels, is currently unknown. We used whole-genome sequencing to characterize 228 isolates from healthy red squirrels on Jersey, the Isle of Arran (Scotland) and Brownsea Island (England), from red squirrels showing signs of FED on Jersey and the Isle of Wight (England) and a small number of isolates from other hosts. S. aureus was frequently carried by red squirrels on the Isle of Arran with strains typically associated with small ruminants predominating. For the Brownsea carriage, S. aureus was less frequent and involved strains associated with birds, small ruminants and humans, while for the Jersey carriage S. aureus was rare but ST49 predominated in diseased squirrels. By combining our data with publicly available sequences, we show that the S. aureus carriage in red squirrels largely reflects frequent but facile acquisitions of strains carried by other hosts sharing their habitat ('spillover'), possibly including, in the case of ST188, humans. Genome-wide association analysis of the ruminant lineage ST133 revealed variants in a small number of mostly bacterial-cell-membrane-associated genes that were statistically associated with squirrel isolates from the Isle of Arran, raising the possibility of specific adaptation to red squirrels in this lineage. In contrast there is little evidence that ST49 is a common carriage isolate of red squirrels and infection from reservoir hosts such as bank voles or rats, is likely to be driving the emergence of FED in red squirrels

Pressure: A qualitative analysis of the perception of concussion and injury risk in retired professional rugby players

This study interviewed retired professional rugby union players (≤10 years since retirement) to discuss their careers in the game of rugby union. The primary aim of the study was to document their understanding of concussion knowledge and the analogies they use to describe concussion. In addition, these interviews were used to determine any explicit and implicit pressures of playing professional rugby as described by ex-professional rugby players. Overall, 23 retired professional rugby players were interviewed. The participants had played the game of rugby union (n = 23) at elite professional standard. A semi-structured individual interview design was conducted with participants between June to August 2020. The research team reviewed the transcripts to identify the major themes from the interviews using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Four major themes were identified: (1) medical and theoretical understanding of concussion, (2) descriptions of concussion and disassociated language, (3) personal concussion experience, and (4) peer influences on concussion within the sport. These were further divided into categories and subcategories. The interviews highlighted that players did not fully understand the ramifications of concussive injury and other injury risk, as it became normalised as part of their sport. This normalisation was supported by trivialising the seriousness of concussions and using dismissive language amongst themselves as players, or with coaching staff. As many of these ex-professional players are currently coaching rugby (48%), these interviews could assist coaches in treating concussion as a significant injury and not downplaying the seriousness of concussion in contact sports

An Experimental Investigation of Colonel Blotto Games

"This article examines behavior in the two-player, constant-sum Colonel Blotto game with asymmetric resources in which players maximize the expected number of battlefields won. The experimental results support all major theoretical predictions. In the auction treatment, where winning a battlefield is deterministic, disadvantaged players use a 'guerilla warfare' strategy which stochastically allocates zero resources to a subset of battlefields. Advantaged players employ a 'stochastic complete coverage' strategy, allocating random, but positive, resource levels across the battlefields. In the lottery treatment, where winning a battlefield is probabilistic, both players divide their resources equally across all battlefields." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel untersucht das Verhalten von Individuen in einem 'constant-sum Colonel Blotto'-Spiel zwischen zwei Spielern, bei dem die Spieler mit unterschiedlichen Ressourcen ausgestattet sind und die erwartete Anzahl gewonnener Schlachtfelder maximieren. Die experimentellen Ergebnisse bestätigen alle wichtigen theoretischen Vorhersagen. Im Durchgang, in dem wie in einer Auktion der Sieg in einem Schlachtfeld deterministisch ist, wenden die Spieler, die sich im Nachteil befinden, eine 'Guerillataktik' an, und verteilen ihre Ressourcen stochastisch auf eine Teilmenge der Schlachtfelder. Spieler mit einem Vorteil verwenden eine Strategie der 'stochastischen vollständigen Abdeckung', indem sie zufällig eine positive Ressourcenmenge auf allen Schlachtfeldern positionieren. Im Durchgang, in dem sich der Gewinn eines Schlachtfeldes probabilistisch wie in einer Lotterie bestimmt, teilen beide Spieler ihre Ressourcen gleichmäßig auf alle Schlachtfelder auf." (Autorenreferat

Internally Electrodynamic Particle Model: Its Experimental Basis and Its Predictions

The internally electrodynamic (IED) particle model was derived based on overall experimental observations, with the IED process itself being built directly on three experimental facts, a) electric charges present with all material particles, b) an accelerated charge generates electromagnetic waves according to Maxwell's equations and Planck energy equation and c) source motion produces Doppler effect. A set of well-known basic particle equations and properties become predictable based on first principles solutions for the IED process; several key solutions achieved are outlined, including the de Broglie phase wave, de Broglie relations, Schr\"odinger equation, mass, Einstein mass-energy relation, Newton's law of gravity, single particle self interference, and electromagnetic radiation and absorption; these equations and properties have long been broadly experimentally validated or demonstrated. A specific solution also predicts the Doebner-Goldin equation which emerges to represent a form of long-sought quantum wave equation including gravity. A critical review of the key experiments is given which suggests that the IED process underlies the basic particle equations and properties not just sufficiently but also necessarily.Comment: Presentation at the 27th Int Colloq on Group Theo Meth in Phys, 200