Anomalous spectral weight in photoemission spectra of the hole doped Haldane chain Y2-xSrxBaNiO5

In this paper, we present photoemission experiments on the hole doped Haldane chain compound $Y_{2-x}Sr_xBaNiO_5$. By using the photon energy dependence of the photoemission cross section, we identified the symmetry of the first ionisation states (d type). Hole doping in this system leads to a significant increase in the spectral weight at the top of the valence band without any change in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. This behavior, not observed in other charge transfer oxides at low doping level, could result from the inhomogeneous character of the doped system and from a Ni 3d-O 2p hybridization enhancement due to the shortening of the relevant Ni-O distance in the localized hole-doped regions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Western Irish Sea Nephrops Grounds (FU15) 2018 UWTV Survey Report and catch options for 2019

This report provides the main results and findings of the 16th annual underwater television survey on the ‘Irish sea west Nephrops grounds’ ICES assessment area, Functional Unit 15. The survey was multi-disciplinary in nature collecting UWTV and other ecosystem data. The 2018 design consisted of a randomised isometric grid of 100 stations at 4.5 nautical mile intervals out over the full known extent the stock. The resulting krigged burrow abundance estimate was 4.9 billion burrows. This was a similar result of that obtained in 2011, and 9% lower than the abundance in 2017. In contrast to 2017 the spatial distribution of burrows appears more homogenous across the survey area, with high densities in the SW of the ground in shallower water, and higher densities in the NW of the ground in deep water. Overall densities are high and abundance remains stable, well above MSY Btrigger. Reducing the number of stations compared to 2011 has not affected the accuracy of the survey estimate to date. The CV (or relative standard error) of 3% is in line with previous estimates and well below the upper limit of 20% recommended by SGNEPS 2012. Total catches and landings options at various different fishing mortalities were calculated and fishing at Fmsy in 2018 implies a total catch option at Fmsy (=Fmax) of 11,107 tonnes which results in landings of no more than 8,959 tonnes. The sea-pen species observed in 2018 was predominantly Virgularia mirabilis, with one potential observation of Pennatula phosphorea (which requires verification). Sea-pens were observed at 20% of stations with high densities observed in the south-west of the ground. Trawl marks were noted at 26% of the UWTV stations

Dielectric signature of charge order in lanthanum nickelates

Three charge-ordering lanthanum nickelates La2-xAxNiO4, substituted with specific amounts of A = Sr, Ca, and Ba to achieve commensurate charge order, are investigated using broadband dielectric spectroscopy up to GHz frequencies. The transition temperatures of the samples are characterized by additional specific heat and magnetic susceptibility measurements. We find colossal magnitudes of the dielectric constant for all three compounds and strong relaxation features, which partly are of Maxwell-Wagner type arising from electrode polarization. Quite unexpectedly, the temperature-dependent colossal dielectric constants of these materials exhibit distinct anomalies at the charge-order transitions.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Cognitive and psychiatric symptom trajectories 2–3 years after hospital admission for COVID-19: a longitudinal, prospective cohort study in the UK

Background COVID-19 is known to be associated with increased risks of cognitive and psychiatric outcomes after the acute phase of disease. We aimed to assess whether these symptoms can emerge or persist more than 1 year after hospitalisation for COVID-19, to identify which early aspects of COVID-19 illness predict longer-term symptoms, and to establish how these symptoms relate to occupational functioning. Methods The Post-hospitalisation COVID-19 study (PHOSP-COVID) is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of adults (aged ≥18 years) who were hospitalised with a clinical diagnosis of COVID-19 at participating National Health Service hospitals across the UK. In the C-Fog study, a subset of PHOSP-COVID participants who consented to be recontacted for other research were invited to complete a computerised cognitive assessment and clinical scales between 2 years and 3 years after hospital admission. Participants completed eight cognitive tasks, covering eight cognitive domains, from the Cognitron battery, in addition to the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale, the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale, and the 20-item Cognitive Change Index (CCI-20) questionnaire to assess subjective cognitive decline. We evaluated how the absolute risks of symptoms evolved between follow-ups at 6 months, 12 months, and 2–3 years, and whether symptoms at 2–3 years were predicted by earlier aspects of COVID-19 illness. Participants completed an occupation change questionnaire to establish whether their occupation or working status had changed and, if so, why. We assessed which symptoms at 2–3 years were associated with occupation change. People with lived experience were involved in the study. Findings 2469 PHOSP-COVID participants were invited to participate in the C-Fog study, and 475 participants (191 [40·2%] females and 284 [59·8%] males; mean age 58·26 [SD 11·13] years) who were discharged from one of 83 hospitals provided data at the 2–3-year follow-up. Participants had worse cognitive scores than would be expected on the basis of their sociodemographic characteristics across all cognitive domains tested (average score 0·71 SD below the mean [IQR 0·16–1·04]; p<0·0001). Most participants reported at least mild depression (263 [74·5%] of 353), anxiety (189 [53·5%] of 353), fatigue (220 [62·3%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (184 [52·1%] of 353), and more than a fifth reported severe depression (79 [22·4%] of 353), fatigue (87 [24·6%] of 353), or subjective cognitive decline (88 [24·9%] of 353). Depression, anxiety, and fatigue were worse at 2–3 years than at 6 months or 12 months, with evidence of both worsening of existing symptoms and emergence of new symptoms. Symptoms at 2–3 years were not predicted by the severity of acute COVID-19 illness, but were strongly predicted by the degree of recovery at 6 months (explaining 35·0–48·8% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); by a biocognitive profile linking acutely raised D-dimer relative to C-reactive protein with subjective cognitive deficits at 6 months (explaining 7·0–17·2% of the variance in anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive decline); and by anxiety, depression, fatigue, and subjective cognitive deficit at 6 months. Objective cognitive deficits at 2–3 years were not predicted by any of the factors tested, except for cognitive deficits at 6 months, explaining 10·6% of their variance. 95 of 353 participants (26·9% [95% CI 22·6–31·8]) reported occupational change, with poor health being the most common reason for this change. Occupation change was strongly and specifically associated with objective cognitive deficits (odds ratio [OR] 1·51 [95% CI 1·04–2·22] for every SD decrease in overall cognitive score) and subjective cognitive decline (OR 1·54 [1·21–1·98] for every point increase in CCI-20). Interpretation Psychiatric and cognitive symptoms appear to increase over the first 2–3 years post-hospitalisation due to both worsening of symptoms already present at 6 months and emergence of new symptoms. New symptoms occur mostly in people with other symptoms already present at 6 months. Early identification and management of symptoms might therefore be an effective strategy to prevent later onset of a complex syndrome. Occupation change is common and associated mainly with objective and subjective cognitive deficits. Interventions to promote cognitive recovery or to prevent cognitive decline are therefore needed to limit the functional and economic impacts of COVID-19. Funding National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, Wolfson Foundation, MQ Mental Health Research, MRC-UK Research and Innovation, and National Institute for Health and Care Research

Post-acute COVID-19 neuropsychiatric symptoms are not associated with ongoing nervous system injury

A proportion of patients infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 experience a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms months after infection, including cognitive deficits, depression and anxiety. The mechanisms underpinning such symptoms remain elusive. Recent research has demonstrated that nervous system injury can occur during COVID-19. Whether ongoing neural injury in the months after COVID-19 accounts for the ongoing or emergent neuropsychiatric symptoms is unclear. Within a large prospective cohort study of adult survivors who were hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection, we analysed plasma markers of nervous system injury and astrocytic activation, measured 6 months post-infection: neurofilament light, glial fibrillary acidic protein and total tau protein. We assessed whether these markers were associated with the severity of the acute COVID-19 illness and with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms (as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression, the General Anxiety Disorder assessment for anxiety, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment for objective cognitive deficit and the cognitive items of the Patient Symptom Questionnaire for subjective cognitive deficit) at 6 months and 1 year post-hospital discharge from COVID-19. No robust associations were found between markers of nervous system injury and severity of acute COVID-19 (except for an association of small effect size between duration of admission and neurofilament light) nor with post-acute neuropsychiatric symptoms. These results suggest that ongoing neuropsychiatric symptoms are not due to ongoing neural injury

Estimates of optimal vitamin D status

Vitamin D has captured attention as an important determinant of bone health, but there is no common definition of optimal vitamin D status. Herein, we address the question: What is the optimal circulating level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] for the skeleton? The opinions of the authors on the minimum level of serum 25(OH)D that is optimal for fracture prevention varied between 50 and 80 nmol/l. However, for five of the six authors, the minimum desirable 25(OH)D concentration clusters between 70 and 80 nmol/l. The authors recognize that the average older man and woman will need intakes of at least 20 to 25 mcg (800 to 1,000 IU) per day of vitamin D(3 )to reach a serum 25(OH)D level of 75 nmol/l. Based on the available evidence, we believe that if older men and women maintain serum levels of 25(OH)D that are higher than the consensus median threshold of 75 nmol/l, they will be at lower risk of fractur

The rise and fall of Asterionella formosa in the South Basin of Windermere: analysis of a 45-year series of data

1 The changes in abundance of Asterionella formosa in the South Basin of Windermere between 1946 and 1990 are described and analysed. The average seasonal cycle for the 45-year period shows an overwintering population of about 10 cell ml−1 which increases with an exponential rate of 0.09 loge day−1 to an annual maximum of 4000 cell ml−1 by about Day 124. There is then a rapid decline at an exponential rate of loss of 0.29 loge day−1 to values which typically are less than 0.01 cell ml−1 in mid-summer. By about Day 240 a second period of rapid increase occurs with an exponential rate of increase of 0.18 loge. day−1 to a plateau of about 7 cell ml−1 in late autumn and early winter. 2 This average pattern is subject to considerable year-to-year variation. The timing and extent of the increase in the autumn was particularly variable. The rate of increase in the spring was strongly positively correlated, and that in the autumn strongly negatively correlated, with the day at which the exponential phase started. Rates for these two phases of increase were not statistically different when expressed in terms of time from mid-summer, which reinforces earlier conclusions that light availability is the main factor governing the rate of spring increase and suggests that this is also the case for the autumn increase. 3 Eight descriptors of seasonal development showed statistically significant changes over the 45 years. Early winter populations declined from 27 to 4 cell ml−1, and linked to this the day at which cell concentrations exceeded 50 cell ml−1 occurred later by 24 days from Day 54 in 1946 to 78 in 1990. The lower early winter population appears to be linked to a lower end of year population as this decreased between 1946 and 1968 from 46 to 2 cell ml−1, and then increased slightly to 7 cell ml−1 in 1990. The start of the spring exponential increase occurred on Day 57 in 1946 and started earlier by 19 days in 1968 but then occurred later, at Day 76, in 1990. The duration of the spring increase got shorter by 23 days, from 67 days in 1946 to 44 days in 1990. The maximum rate of increase rose from 0.065 loge day−1 in 1946 to 0.112 loge day−1 in 1990. The annual maximum declined from 9863 cell ml−1 in 1946 to 2278 cell ml−1 in 1968 and then increased to 6159 cell ml−1 in 1990. The annual geometric mean decreased from 61 cell ml−1 in 1946 to 5 cell ml−1 in 1968 and remained nearly constant subsequently. 4 In many cases, the precise underlying causes of these changes were not apparent. However, the increase with time of rate of increase in the spring appeared to be linked to a later start and hence growth under higher light. There was no significant cyclical change in any of the descriptors studied

26th Hohenheim Concensus Conference, September 11, 2010 Scientific substantiation of health claims: Evidence-based nutrition

Objective The objective was to define the term evidence based nutrition on the basis of expert discussions and scientific evidence. Methods and procedures The method used is the established Hohenheim Consensus Conference. The term “Hohenheim Consensus Conference” defines conferences dealing with nutrition-related topics. The major aim of the conference is to review the state of the art of a given topic with experts from different areas (basic science, clinicians, epidemiologists, etc.). Based on eight to 12 questions, the experts discuss short answers and try to come to a consensus. A scientifically based text is formulated that justifies the consensus answer. To discuss the requirements for the scientific substantiation of claims, the 26th Hohenheim Consensus Conference gathered the views of many academic experts in the field of nutritional research and asked these experts to address the various aspects of a claims substantiation process and the possibilities and limitations of the different approaches. Results The experts spent a day presenting and discussing their views and arrived at several consensus statements that can serve as guidance for bodies performing claims assessments in the framework of regulatory systems. Conclusion The 26th Hohenheim Consensus Conference addresses some general aspects and describes the current scientific status from the point of view of six case studies to illustrate specific areas of scientific interest: carotenoids and vitamin A in relation to age-related macular degeneration, the quality of carbohydrates (as expressed by the glycemic index) in relation to health and well-being, probiotics in relation to intestinal and immune functions, micronutrient intake and maintenance of normal body functions, and food components with antioxidative properties and health benefit