Modelling the Linkage Between Landscape Metrics and Water Quality Indices of Hydrological Units in Sihu Basin, Hubei Province, China: An Allometric Model

AbstractStudying quantitative relationships between landscape pattern and water quality is a fundamental step to assess the impacts of non-point source pollution. Many hydrological models with multi-functionality have been developed as useful tools to study several key mechanisms in non-point source pollution. In landscape ecological studies, however, the empirical modelling approaches have been dominated with emphasis on the relationships between the landscape metrics and water quality indices. The main techniques for developing those models of landscape-water quality are statistical regression analysis based on linear models. In this article, Allometric models and the traditional multiple linear regression models for estimating the linkage between landscape metrics and water quality were tested in Sihu Basin, Hubei Province, China. The models at patch class level were established in 24 hydrological units of the basin, which took nine water quality indices (EC, pH, SS, DO, COD, TN, TP, NO3--N, NH4+-N) as the dependent variables and eighteen landscape metrics calculated in FRAGSTATS 3.3 as independent variables. The results suggested that, compared with the traditional multiple linear regression models, Allometric models were more suitable for SS, DO, TP, TN, NH4+-N, in which landscape pattern metrics could explain the 80.5%, 77.7%, 58.2%, 43.9%, 67.6% of total variation, respectively. There had little difference between multiple linear regression models and Allometric models for EC and NO3--N. The coefficients of determination in Allometric models were not as strong as that obtained in the multiple linear regression models for pH and COD. The above results indicated that using Allometric model may potentially provide a new way to study the linkage between landscape metrics and water quality indices, which will help protect our regional water resources

Pharmacogenetic variants influence tamoxifen's estrogenic effect on bone density

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109849/1/cptclpt200586.pd

Spin Fidelity for Three-qubit Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger and W States Under Lorentz Transformations

Constructing the reduced density matrix for a system of three massive spin$-\frac{1}{2}$ particles described by a wave packet with Gaussian momentum distribution and a spin part in the form of GHZ or W state, the fidelity for the spin part of the system is investigated from the viewpoint of moving observers in the jargon of special relativity. Using a numerical approach, it turns out that by increasing the boost speed, the spin fidelity decreases and reaches to a non-zero asymptotic value that depends on the momentum distribution and the amount of momentum entanglement.Comment: 12pages, 2 figure

Computational Modeling of Human Head Conductivity

Abstract. The computational environment for estimation of unknown regional electrical conductivities of the human head, based on realistic geometry from seg-mented MRI up to 2563 resolution, is described. A finite difference alternating di-rection implicit (ADI) algorithm, parallelized using OpenMP, is used to solve the forward problem describing the electrical field distribution throughout the head given known electrical sources. A simplex search in the multi-dimensional para-meter space of tissue conductivities is conducted in parallel using a distributed system of heterogeneous computational resources. The theoretical and computa-tional formulation of the problem is presented. Results from test studies are pro-vided, comparing retrieved conductivities to known solutions from simulation. Performance statistics are also given showing both the scaling of the forward problem and the performance dynamics of the distributed search.

Polarized interacting exciton gas in quantum wells and bulk semiconductors

We develop a theory to calculate exciton binding energies of both two- and three-dimensional spin polarized exciton gases within a mean field approach. Our method allows the analysis of recent experiments showing the importance of the polarization and intensity of the excitation light on the exciton luminescence of GaAs quantum wells. We study the breaking of the spin degeneracy observed at high exciton density $(5 \ \ 10^{10} cm ^2)$. Energy level splitting betwen spin +1 and spin -1 is shown to be due to many-body inter-excitonic exchange while the spin relaxation time is controlled by intra-exciton exchange.Comment: Revtex, 4 figures sent by fax upon request by e-mai

Embedding knowledge and value of a brand into sustainability for differentiation

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in the Journal of World Business (under the provisional title "Embedding sustainability into brand knowledge and brand value for brand differentiation"). The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2012 Elsevier B.V.Organisations offer products to consumers, buyers often question if the product or its production process are linked to the environmental, social or economic challenges being faced by mankind. Inquisitiveness of customers in this direction points towards an opportunity for marketers to create differentiation based on the concerns of brand towards overall issue of sustainability. The authors have synthesized knowledge from various domains with a positivistic approach to understand sustainability from the perspective of branding. Using empirical knowledge this study recommends embedding sustainability into brand knowledge and brand value for creating a differentiation for the brand in a competitive market

Regulatory T cell proportion and phenotype are altered in women using oral contraception

Advance access publication 04 July 2022Regulatory T (Treg) cells are a specialized CD4+ T cell subpopulation that are essential for immune homeostasis, immune tolerance, and protection against autoimmunity. There is evidence that sex-steroid hormones estrogen and progesterone modulate Treg cell abundance and phenotype in women. Since natural oscillations in these hormones are modified by hormonal contraceptives, we examined whether oral contraception (OC) use impacts Treg cells and related T cell populations. T cells were analyzed by multiparameter flow cytometry in peripheral blood collected across the menstrual cycle from healthy women either using OC or without hormonal contraception and from age-matched men. Compared to naturally cycling women, women using OC had fewer Treg cells and an altered Treg cell phenotype. Notably, Treg cells exhibiting a strongly suppressive phenotype, defined by high FOXP3, CD25, Helios, HLADR, CTLA4, and Ki67, comprised a lower proportion of total Treg cells, particularly in the early- and mid-cycle phases. The changes were moderate compared to more substantial differences in Treg cells between women and men, wherein women had fewer Treg cells—especially of the effector memory Treg cell subset—associated with more T helper type 1 (Th1) cells and CD8+ T cells and lower Treg:Th1 cell and Treg:CD8+ T cell ratios than men. These findings imply that OC can modulate the number and phenotype of peripheral blood Treg cells and raise the possibility that Treg cells contribute to the physiological changes and altered disease susceptibility linked with OC use.Lachlan M. Moldenhauer, Min Jin, Jasmine J. Wilson, Ella S. Green, David J. Sharkey, Mark D. Salkeld, Thomas C. Bristow, M. Louise Hull, Gustaaf A. Dekker, and Sarah A. Robertso

Numerical study of the thermoelectric power factor in ultra-thin Si nanowires

Low dimensional structures have demonstrated improved thermoelectric (TE) performance because of a drastic reduction in their thermal conductivity, {\kappa}l. This has been observed for a variety of materials, even for traditionally poor thermoelectrics such as silicon. Other than the reduction in {\kappa}l, further improvements in the TE figure of merit ZT could potentially originate from the thermoelectric power factor. In this work, we couple the ballistic (Landauer) and diffusive linearized Boltzmann electron transport theory to the atomistic sp3d5s*-spin-orbit-coupled tight-binding (TB) electronic structure model. We calculate the room temperature electrical conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and power factor of narrow 1D Si nanowires (NWs). We describe the numerical formulation of coupling TB to those transport formalisms, the approximations involved, and explain the differences in the conclusions obtained from each model. We investigate the effects of cross section size, transport orientation and confinement orientation, and the influence of the different scattering mechanisms. We show that such methodology can provide robust results for structures including thousands of atoms in the simulation domain and extending to length scales beyond 10nm, and point towards insightful design directions using the length scale and geometry as a design degree of freedom. We find that the effect of low dimensionality on the thermoelectric power factor of Si NWs can be observed at diameters below ~7nm, and that quantum confinement and different transport orientations offer the possibility for power factor optimization.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures; Journal of Computational Electronics, 201

Influence of innovation capability and customer experience on reputation and loyalty

This research employs complexity theory to understand the effect of innovation capability and customer experience on reputation and loyalty. In addition, it aims to investigate the contribution of consumer demographics to such relationships. To this end, this paper recognizes effective and intellectual experiences as key elements of customer experience to propose a conceptual framework with research propositions. To examine the research propositions, this study used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) using a sample of 606 consumers of international retail brands. The findings contribute to academic literature on innovation, customer and brand management. It also provides guidelines for managers to create customer value by deploying technical innovation capability (new services, service operations and technology) and non-technical innovation capability (management, sales, and marketing) together in a retail environment. Furthermore, it reflects on the linkage between the consumer shopping experience and firm reputation and loyalty

Homologous and heterologous re-challenge with Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi A in a randomised controlled human infection model

Enteric fever is a systemic infection caused by Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi A. In many endemic areas, these serovars co-circulate and can cause multiple infection-episodes in childhood. Prior exposure is thought to confer partial, but incomplete, protection against subsequent attacks of enteric fever. Empirical data to support this hypothesis are limited, and there are few studies describing the occurrence of heterologous-protection between these closely related serovars. We performed a challenge-re-challenge study using a controlled human infection model (CHIM) to investigate the extent of infection-derived immunity to Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi A infection. We recruited healthy volunteers into two groups: naïve volunteers with no prior exposure to Salmonella Typhi/Paratyphi A and volunteers previously-exposed to Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi A in earlier CHIM studies. Within each group, participants were randomised 1:1 to oral challenge with either Salmonella Typhi (104 CFU) or Paratyphi A (103 CFU). The primary objective was to compare the attack rate between naïve and previously challenged individuals, defined as the proportion of participants per group meeting the diagnostic criteria of temperature of ≥38°C persisting for ≥12 hours and/or S. Typhi/Paratyphi bacteraemia up to day 14 post challenge. The attack-rate in participants who underwent homologous re-challenge with Salmonella Typhi was reduced compared with challenged naïve controls, although this reduction was not statistically significant (12/27[44%] vs. 12/19[63%]; Relative risk 0.70; 95% CI 0.41–1.21; p = 0.24). Homologous re-challenge with Salmonella Paratyphi A also resulted in a lower attack-rate than was seen in challenged naïve controls (3/12[25%] vs. 10/18[56%]; RR0.45; 95% CI 0.16–1.30; p = 0.14). Evidence of protection was supported by a post hoc analysis in which previous exposure was associated with an approximately 36% and 57% reduced risk of typhoid or paratyphoid disease respectively on re-challenge. Individuals who did not develop enteric fever on primary exposure were significantly more likely to be protected on re-challenge, compared with individuals who developed disease on primary exposure. Heterologous re-challenge with Salmonella Typhi or Salmonella Paratyphi A was not associated with a reduced attack rate following challenge. Within the context of the model, prior exposure was not associated with reduced disease severity, altered microbiological profile or boosting of humoral immune responses. We conclude that prior Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A exposure may confer partial but incomplete protection against subsequent infection, but with a comparable clinical and microbiological phenotype. There is no demonstrable cross-protection between these serovars, consistent with the co-circulation of Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A. Collectively, these data are consistent with surveillance and modelling studies that indicate multiple infections can occur in high transmission settings, supporting the need for vaccines to reduce the burden of disease in childhood and achieve disease control. Trial registration NCT02192008; clinicaltrials.gov