Using Gap Charts to Visualize the Temporal Evolution of Ranks and Scores

To address the limitations of traditional line chart approaches, in particular rank charts (RCs) and score charts (SCs), a novel class of line charts called gap charts (GCs) show entries that are ranked over time according to a performance metric. The main advantages of GCs are that entries never overlap (only changes in rank generate limited overlap between time steps) and gaps between entries show the magnitude of their score difference. The authors evaluate the effectiveness of GCs for performing different types of tasks and find that they outperform standard time-dependent ranking visualizations for tasks that involve identifying and understanding evolutions in both ranks and scores. They also show that GCs are a generic and scalable class of line charts by applying them to a variety of different datasets

Characterization of methanol as a magnetic field tracer in star-forming regions

Magnetic fields play an important role during star formation. Direct magnetic field strength observations have proven specifically challenging in the extremely dynamic protostellar phase. Because of their occurrence in the densest parts of star forming regions, masers, through polarization observations, are the main source of magnetic field strength and morphology measurements around protostars. Of all maser species, methanol is one of the strongest and most abundant tracers of gas around high-mass protostellar disks and in outflows. However, as experimental determination of the magnetic characteristics of methanol has remained largely unsuccessful, a robust magnetic field strength analysis of these regions could hitherto not be performed. Here we report a quantitative theoretical model of the magnetic properties of methanol, including the complicated hyperfine structure that results from its internal rotation. We show that the large range in values of the Land\'{e} g-factors of the hyperfine components of each maser line lead to conclusions which differ substantially from the current interpretation based on a single effective g-factor. These conclusions are more consistent with other observations and confirm the presence of dynamically important magnetic fields around protostars. Additionally, our calculations show that (non-linear) Zeeman effects must be taken into account to further enhance the accuracy of cosmological electron-to-proton mass ratio determinations using methanol.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, excluding Supplementary information. Author manuscript version before editorial/copyediting by Nature Astronomy. Journal version available via http://rdcu.be/FPeB . Supplementary material available via https://static-content.springer.com/esm/art%3A10.1038%2Fs41550-017-0341-8/MediaObjects/41550_2017_341_MOESM1_ESM.pd

Examining Librarians’ Rights in the Philippine Copyright Law: The Academic Law Librarians\u27 Standpoint

Academic law librarians have two primary responsibilities in the profession: to be faithful to the fundamental law of library science, and to be the frontrunners in implementing the law of the land. The Philippine copyright law tests the academic law librarians\u27 purpose in accomplishing both responsibilities. In this pandemic, when most library services are on online modality, the academic law librarians’ duty of providing information the fastest way possible may slow down due to their obligation to abide by the copyright law. To avoid this scenario and provide recommendations when this happens, the researchers of this study examines the overall perception of academic law librarians on the following: (1) the degree of which the copyright law in the country affects the librarians\u27 provision of information service in this time of online modality; (2) the copyright law’s impacts in fulfilling librarians\u27 mission of carrying out the first fundamental law of library science; and (3) the extent of support the copyright law is providing the librarians while performing their tasks. Results are gathered using a 3-part survey questionnaire that tackles the demographics, perceptions, and concerns, and suggestions of the respondents. These are analyzed using percentages, weighted mean, and Spearman’s Rank Correlation Coefficient. Salient results such as the low level of support the academic law librarians perceive they can get from the Philippine copyright law, and their conviction that the prevailing law needs additional provisions to protect librarians in providing information services while adhering to the fundamental law of librarianship, are significantly discussed in this study

Diagnosis and management of common non-viral oral ulcerations

Oral ulcerations are common lesions encountered in private practice. Oral ulcers can have a localised aetiology or be a manifestation of a variety of systemic conditions or disorders. Appropriate management depends on the correct diagnosis which can at times be difficult due to similar clinical features. The aetiology, diagnosis and management of the most common non-viral ulcerative disorders of the oral mucosa are discussed. These include traumatic ulcers, recurrent aphthous stomatitis, malignancy as well as oral ulceration associated with cutaneous pathology. South African Family Practice Vol. 49 (8) 2007: pp. 20-2

Mobilization of phosphorus from secondary minerals by the arbuscular mycorrhiza Rhizophagus irregularis and consequences for carbon sequestration in soils

Phosphorus can be a major limiting factor for plant growth due to its slow diffusion and high degree of immobilization in soils. Understanding the strategies evolved by plant-symbiont couples increasing P uptake is crucial, under the aim of adopting the involved mechanisms by modern sustainable agriculture. This study aims to explore whether tomato plants mycorrhized with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi Rhizophagus irregularis have the ability to mobilize P from secondary minerals and organic sources. Our hypothesis was that AM-bearing plants will invest more carbon to their fungal symbiont in case P must be exploited from less accessible P sources. For this, we carried out a time course experiment (91 days) with split-chamber mesocosms ensuring the mobilization of P by the mycorrhizal partner only. Orthophosphate (OP) and phytic acid (PA) in their free state and adsorbed to goethite (GOE-OP; GOE-PA) have been offered to the host plant. According to our knowledge, this is the first report where an organic P source bonded to a secondary mineral has been tested as a plant P source via the mycorrhizal P uptake pathway. The PLFA 16:1ω5c is known to be part of the membrane constituents and it is considered a good AM biomass estimator (Olsson and Wilhelmsson 2000). In our study it correlated positively with incorporated P and the AM plant root activity (arbuscules %) for all provided P sources. Additionally, those AM plants which accessed OP and GOE-OP also showed a positive significant correlation of the arbuscules percentages, with the incorporated P, the PLFA 18:1ω7c, and in case of GOE-PA also with the PLFA 18:2ω6,9. These two PLFA biomarkers have been previously found in R. irregularis hyphae (Olsson et al. 2002) and might indicate that AM fungi modified their fatty acid composition in the hyphae during the mobilization of P from the different P sources. As fungal energy storage we also measured the NLFA 16:1ω5c. It was significantly higher for both P sources bonded to goethite compared to free OP and PA. These results point towards different C investment to uptake of P though the mycorrhizal pathway having a direct consequence for the carbon sequestration in soils

Base metal budgets of a small catchment in a tropical montane forest in South Ecuador

In a tropical montane rain forest in south Ecuador, the alkali and earth alkali metals Ca, Mg, K, and Na are supplied by weathering of the parent substrate consisting of phyllites and metasandstones and by atmospheric inputs. Phases of acid deposition are interrupted by alkalinization through episodic basic dust deposition. Although the biological productivity of most terrestrial ecosystems is thought to be N- and/or P-limited, there is increasing evidence that the essential plant nutrients K, Na, Mg and Ca can also limit biological functioning. We quantified biological and geochemical contributions to base metal fluxes and set up a metal budget of a ca. 9.1-ha large catchment from 1998 to 2013. The catchment is characterized by a high annual interception loss (28–50 %) and a low contribution of stem flow to throughfall. Mean total annual soil input (throughfall + stemflow + litterfall) was 13800 ± 1500 mg m-2 (Ca, mean ± SD), 19000 ± 1510 (K), 4690 ± 619 (Mg) and 846 ± 592 (Na) of which 22 ± 6 % (Ca), 45 ± 16 (K), 39 ± 10 (Mg) and 84 ± 33 (Na) were leached to soil horizons below the organic layer. The three nutrient metals Ca, K and Mg were thus to a large part retained in the biotic part of the catchment. The canopy budget of K was consistently and most pronouncedly negative. The canopy budgets of Ca and Mg were closely correlated and in most years negative, while the budget of Na was consistently positive, indicating net retention of this element in the canopy. The mineral soil retained 79–94 % of Ca, K and Mg, while Na was net released from the mineral soil. The size of mainly biologically controlled aboveground fluxes of Ca, K and Mg was 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than that of mainly geochemically controlled fluxes which are driven by sorption to soil and weathering. Annual net hydrological fluxes (bulk deposition – stream flow) were –66 ± 278 mg m-2 (Ca), 361 ± 421 (K), –188 ± 159 (Mg) and –1700 ± 587 (Na). If estimated dry deposition was included, the system accumulated 86 kg Ca ha-1 and 199 kg K ha-1, had a nearly balanced budget of Mg (+0.3 kg ha-1) and lost 56 kg of Na ha-1 in the last 15 years. The strongest driver of all budgets was the input flux into the various compartments

Biogenic weathering bridges the nutrient gap in pristine ecosystems - a global comparison

In many pristine ecosystems there seems to be negative nutrient budget existent, meaning that export exceeds the input received by aeolian deposition and physico-chemical weathering. Such ecosystems should degrade rather quickly, but are often found surprisingly stable on the long run. Our hypothesis was that this nutrient gap is an artefact caused by not considering the contribution of photoassimilatory-mediated biogenic weathering to the overall nutrient input, which might constitute an additional, energetically directed and demand driven pathway. Here, we firstly evaluated the evolution of mutualistic biogenic weathering along an Antarctic chronosequence and secondly compared the biogenic weathering rates under mycorrhized ecosystems over a global gradient of contrasting states of soil development. We found the ability to perform biogenic weathering increasing along its evolutionary development in photoautotroph-symbiont interaction and furthermore a close relation between fungal biogenic weathering and available potassium across all 16 forested sites in the study, regardless of the dominant mycorrhiza type (AM or EM), climate, and plant-species composition. Our results point towards a general alleviation of nutrient limitation at ecosystem scale via directional, energy driven and on-demand biogenic weathering

Super-heavy electron material as metallic refrigerant for adiabatic demagnetization cooling

Low-temperature refrigeration is of crucial importance in fundamental research of condensed matter physics, because the investigations of fascinating quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity, superfluidity, and quantum criticality, often require refrigeration down to very low temperatures. Currently, cryogenic refrigerators with 3He gas are widely used for cooling below 1 K. However, usage of the gas has been increasingly difficult because of the current worldwide shortage. Therefore, it is important to consider alternative methods of refrigeration. We show that a new type of refrigerant, the super-heavy electron metal YbCo2Zn20, can be used for adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which does not require 3He gas. This method has a number of advantages, including much better metallic thermal conductivity compared to the conventional insulating refrigerants. We also demonstrate that the cooling performance is optimized in Yb1−xScxCo2Zn20 by partial Sc substitution, with x ~ 0.19. The substitution induces chemical pressure that drives the materials to a zero-field quantum critical point. This leads to an additional enhancement of the magnetocaloric effect in low fields and low temperatures, enabling final temperatures well below 100 mK. This performance has, up to now, been restricted to insulators. For nearly a century, the same principle of using local magnetic moments has been applied for adiabatic demagnetization cooling. This study opens new possibilities of using itinerant magnetic moments for cryogen-free refrigeration

Leptospirosis followed by Kawasaki-like disease: case report from an adult Swiss patient and review of the literature

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a vasculitis that mostly occurs in children, but rare cases in adults have been reported. We describe the case of a 43-year-old Swiss male who developed symptoms compatible with KD 7 weeks after leptospirosis, which was presumably acquired after swimming in a creek in the Swiss Alps. We performed a literature review and identified 10 other cases (all in children), in which Kawasaki-like disease was diagnosed in the context of leptospirosis. Outcome was favourable in most cases, including our patient. This exceptional case demonstrates both the possibility of autochthonous cases of leptospirosis in Switzerland as well as a possible association of leptospirosis with Kawasaki-like disease