Trigger of twin‐fights in captive common marmosets

Common marmosets usually give birth to twins and form a social group consisting of a breeding couple and pairs of same-aged siblings. The twins may engage in the first agonistic fights between them, twin-fights (TFs), during adolescence. This study investigated the TFs based on records accumulated in our captive colony over 12 years to elucidate the proximate causations that trigger the TFs. We aimed to determine whether the TF onset mainly depended on internal events (such as the onset of puberty) as previously suggested or external events (such as the birth of the younger siblings and the behavioral change of the group members). Although both events usually occur simultaneously, the birth control method (i.e., manipulation of ovulation and interbirth-intervals by prostaglandin administration to females) could temporally separate these events. A comparison of the onset day and occurrence rate with or without the birth control procedure revealed that TFs were triggered by a combination of internal and external events, that is, external events were the predominant triggers of TF, under the influence of internal events. The timing of TF onset was significantly delayed when the birth of the younger siblings was delayed and the twins grew older under the birth-controlled condition,  suggesting that the birth of younger siblings and related behavioral changes of group members, as well as twins' developmental maturation, could trigger TF. Higher TF rates between same-sex twins were consistent with previous studies, reflecting the characteristics of same-sex directed aggression in callitrichines

Unveiling the electronic properties of BiP3_3 triphosphide from bulk to graphene-based heterostructure by first-principles calculations

Triphosphides, with a chemical formula of XP$_3$ (X is a group IIIA, IVA, or VA element), have recently attracted much attention due to their great potential in several applications. Here, using density functional theory calculations, we describe for the first time the structural and electronic properties of the bulk bismuth triphosphide (BiP$_3$). Phonon spectra and molecular dynamics simulations confirm that the 3D crystal of BiP$_3$ is a metal thermodynamically stable with no bandgap. Unlike the bulk, the mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetra-layers of BiP$_3$ are semiconductors with a bandgap ranging from 1.4 to 0.06 eV. However, stackings with more than five layers exhibit metallic behavior equal to the bulk. The results show that quantum confinement is a powerful tool for tuning the electronic properties of BiP$_3$ triphosphide, making it suitable for technological applications. Building on this, the electronic properties of van der Waals heterostructure constructed by graphene (G) and the BiP$_3$ monolayer (m-BiP$_3$) were investigated. Our results show that the Dirac cone in graphene remains intact in this heterostructure. At the equilibrium interlayer distance, the G/m-BiP$_3$ forms an n-type contact with a Schottky barrier height of 0.5 eV. It is worth noting that the SHB in the G/m-BiP$_3$ heterostructure can be adjusted by changing the interlayer distance or applying a transverse electric field. Thus, we show that few-layers BiP$_3$ is an interesting material for realizing nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices and is an excellent option for designing Schottky nanoelectronic devices.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, 1 tabl

Footprint-Based DIMM Hotplug

Power-efficiency has become one of the most critical concerns for HPC as we continue to scale computational capabilities. A significant fraction of system power is spent on large main memories, mainly caused by the substantial amount of DIMM standby power needed. However, while necessary for some workloads, for many workloads large memory configurations are too rich, i.e., these workloads only make use of a fraction of the available memory, causing unnecessary power usage. This observation opens new opportunities for power reduction by powering DIMMs on and off depending on the current workload. In this article, we propose footprint-based DIMM hotplug that enables a compute node to adjust the number of DIMMs that are powered on depending on the memory footprint of a running job. Our technique relies on two main subcomponents-memory footprint monitoring and DIMM management-which we both implement as part of an optimized page management system with small control overhead. Using Linux\u27s memory hotplug capabilities, we implement our approach on a real system, and our results show that our proposed technique can save 50.6-52.1 percent of the DIMM standby energy and the CPU+DRAM energy of up to 1.50 Wh for various small-memory-footprint applications without loss of performance

Effect of Film-forming Additive on Electrochemical Performance of Silicon Negative-Electrode in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Effect of film-forming additives, such as vinylene carbonate (VC) and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC), on electrochemical performance of Si negative-electrode in lithium-ion batteries was investigated using a thick-film prepared by gas-deposition without any binder and conductive additive. In VC-containing electrolyte, Si electrode exhibited better cycle performance with a discharge capacity of 1000 mA h g-1 beyond 750th cycles at a constant charge capacity of 1000 mA h g-1. In FEC-containing electrolyte, in addition, Si electrode showed good rate performance with a discharge capacity of 2000 mA h g-1 even at a high current rate of 10 C. When the current rate was returned to an initial low current rate of 0.4 C, more than 90% of initial discharge capacity was maintained. Film-forming additives relatively suppressed change in the surface morphology of Si thick-film electrode after charge-discharge cycling; disintegration of Si electrode was prevented by the additives

人工膝関節置換術後の関節周囲感染が疑われる症例の発生頻度は、術中麻酔維持使用薬剤の選択と関連するか（プロポフォールによる全静脈麻酔と、セボフルランでの麻酔維持での比較）：後ろ向きコホート研究

PURPOSE: Periprosthetic joint infection is a serious complication of total knee arthroplasty. Though there are many factors that might increase its risk, the use of propofol for maintaining general anesthesia could theoretically increase the incidence of infection because of its lipid component that supports bacterial growth. Nevertheless, the relationship between anesthetic maintenance agents and the occurrence of periprosthetic joint infection remains uncertain. The purpose of this study was to compare the incidence of suspected early-onset periprosthetic joint infection between patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty under propofol vs sevoflurane anesthesia. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients in the national inpatient Diagnosis Procedure Combination database in Japan who underwent total knee arthroplasty. Suspected periprosthetic joint infection was surrogately defined as the need for arthrocentesis or debridement within 30 days of surgery. Propensity score matching was performed between patients who received either propofol or sevoflurane for anesthetic maintenance to determine the proportion of those with infection. RESULTS: Eligible patients (n = 21,899) were categorized into either the propofol (n = 7,439) or sevoflurane (n = 14,460) groups. In the 5,140 propensity-matched patient pairs, there was no significant difference in the proportion of arthrocentesis or debridement [1.3% propofol vs 1.7% sevoflurane; respectively (relative risk, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.55 to 1.04; P = 0.10)] between the groups. The mean (SD) length of stay in the propofol group was significantly longer than in the sevoflurane group [32.5 (18.4) days vs 31.4 (14.4) days, respectively; mean difference, 1.1; 95% CI, 0.5 to 1.8; P < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: Propensity score analysis suggested no significant association between the choice of anesthetic maintenance agent and the occurrence of suspected early-onset periprosthetic joint infection in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.博士（医学）・甲第700号・平成31年3月15日© Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society 2018This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Canadian journal of anaesthesia. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12630-018-1139-6