Mangrove dieback and leaf disease in Sonneratia apetala and Sonneratia caseolaris in Vietnam

Even though survival rates for mangrove restoration in Vietnam have often been low, there is no information on fungal pathogens associated with mangrove decline in Vietnam. Therefore, this research was undertaken to assess the overall health of mangrove afforestation in Thanh Hoa Province and fungal pathogens associated with tree decline. From a survey of 4800 Sonneratia trees, the incidence of disorders was in the order of pink leaf spot > shoot dieback > black leaf spot for S. caseolaris and black leaf spot > shoot dieback > pink leaf spot for S. apetala. Approximately 12% of S. caseolaris trees had both pink leaf spot and shoot dieback, while only 2% of S. apetala trees had black leaf spot and shoot dieback. Stem and leaf samples were taken from symptomatic trees and fungi were cultured in vitro. From ITS4 and ITS5 analysis, four main fungal genera causing leaf spots and shoot dieback on the two Sonneratia species were identified. The most frequently isolated fungal taxa were Curvularia aff. tsudae (from black leaf spot),Neopestalotiopsis sp.1 (from stem dieback), Pestalotiopsis sp.1 (from pink leaf spot), and Pestalotiopsis sp.4a (from black leaf spot). The pathogenicity of the four isolates was assessed by under-bark inoculation of S. apetala and S. caseolaris seedlings in a nursery in Thai Binh Province. All isolates caused stem lesions, and Neopestalotiopsis sp.1 was the most pathogenic. Thus, investigation of fungal pathogens and their impact on mangrove health should be extended to other afforestation projects in the region, and options for disease management need to be developed for mangrove nurseries

DsJ(2860)D_{sJ}(2860) and DsJ(2715)D_{sJ}(2715)

Recently Babar Collaboration reported a new $c\bar{s}$ state $D_{sJ}(2860)$ and Belle Collaboration observed $D_{sJ}(2715)$. We investigate the strong decays of the excited $c\bar{s}$ states using the $^{3}P_{0}$ model. After comparing the theoretical decay widths and decay patterns with the available experimental data, we tend to conclude: (1) $D_{sJ}(2715)$ is probably the $1^{-}(1^{3}D_{1})$ $c\bar{s}$ state although the $1^{-}(2^{3}S_{1})$ assignment is not completely excluded; (2) $D_{sJ}(2860)$ seems unlikely to be the $1^{-}(2^{3}S_{1})$ and $1^{-}(1^{3}D_{1})$ candidate; (3) $D_{sJ}(2860)$ as either a $0^{+}(2^{3}P_{0})$ or $3^{-}(1^{3}D_{3})$ $c\bar{s}$ state is consistent with the experimental data; (4) experimental search of $D_{sJ}(2860)$ in the channels $D_s\eta$, $DK^{*}$, $D^{*}K$ and $D_{s}^{*}\eta$ will be crucial to distinguish the above two possibilities.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Some discussions added. The final version to appear at EPJ

Polyharmonic approximation on the sphere

The purpose of this article is to provide new error estimates for a popular type of SBF approximation on the sphere: approximating by linear combinations of Green's functions of polyharmonic differential operators. We show that the $L_p$ approximation order for this kind of approximation is $\sigma$ for functions having $L_p$ smoothness $\sigma$ (for $\sigma$ up to the order of the underlying differential operator, just as in univariate spline theory). This is an improvement over previous error estimates, which penalized the approximation order when measuring error in $L_p$, p>2 and held only in a restrictive setting when measuring error in $L_p$, p<2.Comment: 16 pages; revised version; to appear in Constr. Appro

Is Urban Economic Growth Inclusive in India?

This paper measures the overall inclusive growth of a city by considering changing trends in the key economic variables based on ‘Borda ranking’ and establishes a relationship between city economic growth and overall city inclusive growth. By using data of 52 large cities in India, this paper finds that higher urban economic growth is associated with an increase in urban inequality, a reduction in urban poverty, and a lower level of overall inclusive growth of a city

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362