Critical dynamical behavior of the Ising model

We investigate the dynamical critical behavior of the two- and three-dimensional Ising model with Glauber dynamics. In contrast to the usual standing, we focus on the mean-squared deviation of the magnetization $M$, MSD$_M$, as a function of time, as well as on the autocorrelation function of $M$. These two functions are distinct but closely related. We find that MSD$_M$ features a first crossover at time $\tau_1 \sim L^{z_{1}}$, from ordinary diffusion with MSD$_M$ $\sim t$, to anomalous diffusion with MSD$_M$ $\sim t^\alpha$. Purely on numerical grounds, we obtain the values $z_1=0.45(5)$ and $\alpha=0.752(5)$ for the two-dimensional Ising ferromagnet. Related to this, the magnetization autocorrelation function crosses over from an exponential decay to a stretched-exponential decay. At later times, we find a second crossover at time $\tau_2 \sim L^{z_{2}}$. Here, MSD$_M$ saturates to its late-time value $\sim L^{2+\gamma/\nu}$, while the autocorrelation function crosses over from stretched-exponential decay to simple exponential one. We also confirm numerically the value $z_{2}=2.1665(12)$, earlier reported as the single dynamic exponent. Continuity of MSD$_M$ requires that $\alpha(z_{2}-z_{1})=\gamma/\nu-z_1$. We speculate that $z_{1} = 1/2$ and $\alpha = 3/4$, values that indeed lead to the expected $z_{2} = 13/6$ result. A complementary analysis for the three-dimensional Ising model provides the estimates $z_{1} = 1.35(2)$, $\alpha=0.90(2)$, and $z_{2} = 2.032(3)$. While $z_{2}$ has attracted significant attention in the literature, we argue that for all practical purposes $z_{1}$ is more important, as it determines the number of statistically independent measurements during a long simulation.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Temporal Trends and Predictors of Antimicrobial Resistance Among \u3cem\u3eStaphylococcus\u3c/em\u3e spp. Isolated from Canine Specimens Submitted to a Diagnostic Laboratory

Background Resistance to commonly used antimicrobials is a growing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Understanding the temporal changes in the burden of the problem and identifying its determinants is important for guiding control efforts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate temporal patterns and predictors of antimicrobial resistance among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from canine specimens submitted to the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) between 1993 and 2009. Methods Retrospective data of 4,972 Staphylococcus isolates assessed for antimicrobial susceptibility using the disk diffusion method at the UKVDL between 1993 and 2009 were included in the study. Temporal trends were assessed for each antimicrobial using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. Logistic regression models were used to investigate predictors of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR). Results A total of 68.2% (3,388/4,972) Staphylococcus isolates were S. intermedius group (SIG), 18.2% (907/4,972) were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 7.6% (375/4,972) were S. aureus, 5.8% (290/4,972) were S. hyicus, and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans comprised 0.2% (12/4,972) of the isolates. The overall percentage of AMR and MDR were 77.2% and 25.6%, respectively. The highest levels of AMR were seen in CoNS (81.3%; 737/907), S. aureus (80.5%; 302/375), and SIG (77.6%; 2,629/3388). The lowest levels of AMR were observed in S. hyicus (57.9%; 168/290) and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans (33.3%; 4/12). Overall, AMR and MDR showed significant (p \u3c 0.001) decreasing temporal trends. Significant temporal trends (both increasing and decreasing) were observed among 12 of the 16 antimicrobials covering 6 of the 9 drug classes assessed. Thus, significant increasing temporal trends in resistance were observed to β-lactams (p \u3c 0.001) (oxacillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, cephalothin, and penicillin (p = 0.024)), aminoglycosides (p \u3c 0.001) (gentamicin, and neomycin), bacitracin (p \u3c 0.001), and enrofloxacin (p \u3c 0.001). In contrast, sulfonamide (p \u3c 0.001) (sulfadiazin) and tetracycline (p = 0.010) resistant isolates showed significant decreasing temporal trends in AMR. Staphylococcus spp., geographic region, and specimen source were significant predictors of both AMR and MDR. Conclusions Although not unexpected nor alarming, the high levels of AMR to a number of antimicrobial agents and the increasing temporal trends are concerning. Therefore, continued monitoring of AMR among Staphylococcus spp. is warranted. Future studies will need to identify local factors responsible for the observed geographic differences in risk of both AMR and MDR

Water Stress Strengthens Mutualism Among Ants, Trees, and Scale Insects

Abiotic environmental variables strongly affect the outcomes of species interactions. For example, mutualistic interactions between species are often stronger when resources are limited. The effect might be indirect: water stress on plants can lead to carbon stress, which could alter carbon-mediated plant mutualisms. In mutualistic ant–plant symbioses, plants host ant colonies that defend them against herbivores. Here we show that the partners\u27 investments in a widespread ant–plant symbiosis increase with water stress across 26 sites along a Mesoamerican precipitation gradient. At lower precipitation levels, Cordia alliodora trees invest more carbon in Azteca ants via phloem-feeding scale insects that provide the ants with sugars, and the ants provide better defense of the carbon-producing leaves. Under water stress, the trees have smaller carbon pools. A model of the carbon trade-offs for the mutualistic partners shows that the observed strategies can arise from the carbon costs of rare but extreme events of herbivory in the rainy season. Thus, water limitation, together with the risk of herbivory, increases the strength of a carbon-based mutualism

Correlating charge and thermoelectric transport to paracrystallinity in conducting polymers.

The conceptual understanding of charge transport in conducting polymers is still ambiguous due to a wide range of paracrystallinity (disorder). Here, we advance this understanding by presenting the relationship between transport, electronic density of states and scattering parameter in conducting polymers. We show that the tail of the density of states possesses a Gaussian form confirmed by two-dimensional tight-binding model supported by Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics simulations. Furthermore, by using the Boltzmann Transport Equation, we find that transport can be understood by the scattering parameter and the effective density of states. Our model aligns well with the experimental transport properties of a variety of conducting polymers; the scattering parameter affects electrical conductivity, carrier mobility, and Seebeck coefficient, while the effective density of states only affects the electrical conductivity. We hope our results advance the fundamental understanding of charge transport in conducting polymers to further enhance their performance in electronic applications

Using energy criteria to admit flows in a wired network

Admission control in wired networks has been traditionally used as a way to control traffic congestion and guarantee quality of service. Here, we propose an admission control mechanism which aims to keep the power consumption at the lowest possible level by restricting the more energy-demanding users. This work relies on the fact that power consumption of networking devices, and of the network as a whole, is not proportional to the carried traffic, as would be the ideal case [1]. As a result some operating regions may be more efficient than others and ”jumps” may arise in power consumption when new traffic is added in the network. The proposed mechanism aims to keep power consumption in the lowest possible power consumption level, hopping to the next level only when necessary

Thermodynamic properties of disordered quantum spin ladders

In this paper, we study the thermodynamic properties of spin-$1/2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg ladders by means of the stochastic series expansion quantum Monte Carlo technique. This includes the thermal properties of the specific heat, uniform and staggered susceptibilities, spin gap, and structure factor. Our numerical simulations are probed over a large ensemble of random realizations in a wide range of disorder strengths $r$, from the clean ($r=0$) case up to the diluted ($r \rightarrow 1$) limit, and for selected choices of number of legs $L_y$ per site. Our results show some interesting phenomena, like the presence of crossing points in the temperature plane for both the specific heat and uniform susceptibility curves which appear to be universal in $r$, as well as a variable dependence of the spin gap in the amount of disorder upon increasing $L_y$

Temporal trends and predictors of antimicrobial resistance among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from canine specimens submitted to a diagnostic laboratory

Background Resistance to commonly used antimicrobials is a growing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Understanding the temporal changes in the burden of the problem and identifying its determinants is important for guiding control efforts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate temporal patterns and predictors of antimicrobial resistance among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from canine specimens submitted to the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) between 1993 and 2009. Methods Retrospective data of 4,972 Staphylococcus isolates assessed for antimicrobial susceptibility using the disk diffusion method at the UKVDL between 1993 and 2009 were included in the study. Temporal trends were assessed for each antimicrobial using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. Logistic regression models were used to investigate predictors of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR). Results A total of 68.2% (3,388/4,972) Staphylococcus isolates were S. intermedius group (SIG), 18.2% (907/4,972) were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 7.6% (375/4,972) were S. aureus, 5.8% (290/4,972) were S. hyicus, and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans comprised 0.2% (12/4,972) of the isolates. The overall percentage of AMR and MDR were 77.2% and 25.6%, respectively. The highest levels of AMR were seen in CoNS (81.3%; 737/907), S. aureus(80.5%; 302/375), and SIG (77.6%; 2,629/3388). The lowest levels of AMR were observed in S. hyicus (57.9%; 168/290) and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans (33.3%; 4/12). Overall, AMR and MDR showed significant (p Conclusions Although not unexpected nor alarming, the high levels of AMR to a number of antimicrobial agents and the increasing temporal trends are concerning. Therefore, continued monitoring of AMR among Staphylococcus spp. is warranted. Future studies will need to identify local factors responsible for the observed geographic differences in risk of both AMR and MDR

Not by transmission alone : the role of invention in cultural evolution

We are grateful to the Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. for funding this work and to the Diverse Intelligences research community for valuable conversations around these themes. S. Nöbel acknowledges IAST funding from the French National Research Agency (ANR) under the Investissements d’Avenir program, grant ANR-17-EUR-0010 and support by the Laboratoires d’Excellence TULIP (ANR-10-LABX-41). EA and MS acknowledge support from the US Army Research Office (W911NF‐17‐1‐0017 to EA).Innovation—the combination of invention and social learning—can empower species to invade new niches via cultural adaptation. Social learning has typically been regarded as the fundamental driver for the emergence of traditions and thus culture. Consequently, invention has been relatively understudied outside the human lineage—despite being the source of new traditions. This neglect leaves basic questions unanswered: what factors promote the creation of new ideas and practices? What affects their spread or loss? We critically review the existing literature, focusing on four levels of investigation: traits (what sorts of behaviours are easiest to invent?), individuals (what factors make some individuals more likely to be inventors?), ecological contexts (what aspects of the environment make invention or transmission more likely?), and populations (what features of relationships and societies promote the rise and spread of new inventions?). We aim to inspire new research by highlighting theoretical and empirical gaps in the study of innovation, focusing primarily on inventions in non-humans. Understanding the role of invention and innovation in the history of life requires a well-developed theoretical framework (which embraces cognitive processes) and a taxonomically broad, cross-species dataset that explicitly investigates inventions and their transmission. We outline such an agenda here. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Foundations of cultural evolution’.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Temporal trends and predictors of antimicrobial resistance among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from canine specimens submitted to a diagnostic laboratory

Background Resistance to commonly used antimicrobials is a growing concern in both human and veterinary medicine. Understanding the temporal changes in the burden of the problem and identifying its determinants is important for guiding control efforts. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate temporal patterns and predictors of antimicrobial resistance among Staphylococcus spp. isolated from canine specimens submitted to the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) between 1993 and 2009. Methods Retrospective data of 4,972 Staphylococcus isolates assessed for antimicrobial susceptibility using the disk diffusion method at the UKVDL between 1993 and 2009 were included in the study. Temporal trends were assessed for each antimicrobial using the Cochran-Armitage trend test. Logistic regression models were used to investigate predictors of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and multidrug resistance (MDR). Results A total of 68.2% (3,388/4,972) Staphylococcus isolates were S. intermedius group (SIG), 18.2% (907/4,972) were coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), 7.6% (375/4,972) were S. aureus, 5.8% (290/4,972) were S. hyicus, and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans comprised 0.2% (12/4,972) of the isolates. The overall percentage of AMR and MDR were 77.2% and 25.6%, respectively. The highest levels of AMR were seen in CoNS (81.3%; 737/907), S. aureus(80.5%; 302/375), and SIG (77.6%; 2,629/3388). The lowest levels of AMR were observed in S. hyicus (57.9%; 168/290) and S. schleiferi subsp. coagulans (33.3%; 4/12). Overall, AMR and MDR showed significant (p\u3c0.001) decreasing temporal trends. Significant temporal trends (both increasing and decreasing) were observed among 12 of the 16 antimicrobials covering 6 of the 9 drug classes assessed. Thus, significant increasing temporal trends in resistance were observed to β-lactams (p\u3c0.001) (oxacillin, amoxicillin-clavulanate, cephalothin, and penicillin (p = 0.024)), aminoglycosides (p\u3c0.001) (gentamicin, and neomycin), bacitracin (p\u3c0.001), and enrofloxacin (p\u3c0.001). In contrast, sulfonamide (p\u3c0.001) (sulfadiazin) and tetracycline (p = 0.010) resistant isolates showed significant decreasing temporal trends in AMR. Staphylococcus spp., geographic region, and specimen source were significant predictors of both AMR and MDR. Conclusions Although not unexpected nor alarming, the high levels of AMR to a number of antimicrobial agents and the increasing temporal trends are concerning. Therefore, continued monitoring of AMR among Staphylococcus spp. is warranted. Future studies will need to identify local factors responsible for the observed geographic differences in risk of both AMR and MDR

Assessment of recent global potential models with terrestrial data

Bu çalışmada gravite alanı belirleme amaçlı GRACE ve CHAMP uydularının verileri ile hesaplanan güncel global potansiyel modellerin (GGM02S, EIGEN-CHAMP03S, EIGEN-CG03C ve EIGEN-GL04C) Türkiye’deki performansları test edilmekte ve Türkiye bölgesel geoidi TG03’ün hesaplanmasında referans olarak kullanılmış EGM96 global potansiyel modeli ile karşılaştırılmaktadır. TG03 geoit modeli gravimetrik yöntemle belirlenmiştir ve Türkiye’deki jeodezik çalışmalarda kullanılmaktadır. Modelin mutlak doğruluğu desimetre mertebesindedir. Bu çalışmada amaç, farklı global potansiyel modeller ile Türkiye’de gravite alanının uzun dalga boylu bileşenindeki iyileşmenin araştırılmasıdır. Bu amaçla, farklı maksimum derecelerden küresel harmonik eşitlikler ile ifade edilen potansiyel modeller kullanılarak hesaplanan gravite anomalileri ve geoit yükseklikleri sırasıyla yersel gravite verileri ile ve GPS/nivelmandan elde edilen geoit yükseklikleri ile karşılaştırılarak test edilmiştir. Bunun yanı sıra yersel gravite anomalileri ve global potansiyel modeller kullanılarak bölgesel geoit modelleri hesaplanmış, global potansiyel modellerin gravimetrik bölgesel geoit modellerinin doğruluğuna katkısı böylelikle de test edilmiştir. Bunun için hesaplanan bölgesel gravimetrik geoit modellerinden türetilen geoit yükseklikleri bağımsız GPS/nivelman verileri ile karşılaştırılarak Türkiye geoidi için en uygun global potansiyel model belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçlarının presizyonlu Türkiye bölgesel geoidinin gelecek versiyonunun hesaplanmasında referans model olarak kullanılmak üzere en uygun global potansiyel modelin seçilmesinde faydalı olması beklenmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Global potansiyel model, CHAMP, GRACE, bölgesel gravimetrik geoit modeli, yersel gravite anomalileri, GPS/nivelman.CHAMP and GRACE satellites are low Earth orbiters which are used for the determination of the Earth’s gravity field. The mission of the satellites is to provide the knowledge for the gravity field that leads to observe the Earth system for geodetic and geodynamic purposes with a sufficient accuracy. The characteristics specific to the satellites such as design, orbit, measurement and processing techniques have provided new approaches for the global gravity field determination. Earth potential models are representation of the global gravity field and they are divided into three classes, namely satellite-only Global Potential Models (GPMs) (derived from the tracking of artificial satellites), combined GPMs (derived from a combination of a satellite-only model, terrestrial gravimetry, satellite altimetry and/or airborne gravimetry) and tailored GPMs (derived by refining existing satellite-only or combined GPMs using regional gravity data). Satellite-only GPMs are known to be weak at the coefficients of degrees higher than 60 or 70 due to several factors such as the power-decay of the gravitational field with altitude, modeling of atmospheric drag, non-gravitational and third-body perturbations and incomplete tracking of satellite orbits from ground stations. Although the effects of some of these limitations on the GPMs decreased after the dedicated satellite gravity missions CHAMP and GRACE, the new satellite-only GPMs still have not got full power until a certain degree, and rapidly increasing errors make their coefficients unreliable at high-degrees. In this study, the most recent satellite-only and combined global potential models from the CHAMP and GRACE satellite missions released by GFZ (GeoForschungsZentrum) and the Center for Space Research of Texas University were tested. The older combined-GPM EGM96 was also included in the tests. Although EGM96 model was not calculated using data from CHAMP and GRACE, the study includes this model since it serves as the reference model for the official regional geoid model of Turkey. The Earth potential models from CHAMP, GRACE, and other data, assessed in the tests here, are GGM02S, EIGEN-CHAMP03S, EIGEN-CG03C and EIGEN-GL04C and they were compared with the older EGM96. The aim of this study is to investigate the improvements in the modelling of the long wavelength gravity field components for the area of Turkey. With this aim gravity anomaly and geoid height grids were generated for varying maximum degrees of the spherical harmonic expansions and the global potential models were compared with terrestrial gravity data as well as GPS/levelling data in Turkey. Furthermore, regional geoid models were computed by Fast Fourier Transform techniques using terrestrial gravity data and various geopotential models, and the results were again evaluated against GPS/levelling data. The intention of the study is to provide a valuable input for the selection of “the best reference geopotential model” for a high resolution hybrid geoid model for Turkey. In the investigation steps, firstly, the GPMs derived gravity anomalies were compared with the free-air gravity anomalies from the terrestrial data over Turkey. Than the GPMs derived geoid heights were interpolated and compared with the low-pass filtered GPS/levelling derived geoid heights at the co-located benchmarks in two test areas (İzmir and İstanbul) in the West part of Turkey. The statistics from these comparisons provided preliminary results in the assessment of the GPMs. According to this, EGM96, EIGEN-CG03C and EIGEN-GL04C combined geopotential models with the maximum degree and order of 360 fit slightly better in Turkey. In the second evaluation stage, the regional geoid models were computed in Turkey using Remove-Restore technique. The computed regional models refer to each of the GPMs (with their maximum expansion) as reference models. The differences between the geoid heights derived from the gravimetric geoid models and from the GPS/levelling data were investigated in Istanbul and Izmir test networks. According to statistical results, the EIGEN-CG03C is optimal GPM for pure gravimetric geoid model in West of Turkey. Finally, the regional geoid models were fitted to the GPS/levelling with a 2nd order polynomial using the residual geoid heights at the benchmarks. The tests of the regional gravimetric geoid models after corrector surface fitting against the GPS/levelling control data shown that the fitted geoid models has the similar performance in a test area. Keywords: Global potential model, CHAMP, GRACE, regional gravimetric geoid model, terrestrial gravity anomalies, GPS/levelling