Tur\'an and Ramsey Properties of Subcube Intersection Graphs

The discrete cube $\{0,1\}^d$ is a fundamental combinatorial structure. A subcube of $\{0,1\}^d$ is a subset of $2^k$ of its points formed by fixing $k$ coordinates and allowing the remaining $d-k$ to vary freely. The subcube structure of the discrete cube is surprisingly complicated and there are many open questions relating to it. This paper is concerned with patterns of intersections among subcubes of the discrete cube. Two sample questions along these lines are as follows: given a family of subcubes in which no $r+1$ of them have non-empty intersection, how many pairwise intersections can we have? How many subcubes can we have if among them there are no $k$ which have non-empty intersection and no $l$ which are pairwise disjoint? These questions are naturally expressed as Tur\'an and Ramsey type questions in intersection graphs of subcubes where the intersection graph of a family of sets has one vertex for each set in the family with two vertices being adjacent if the corresponding subsets intersect. Tur\'an and Ramsey type problems are at the heart of extremal combinatorics and so these problems are mathematically natural. However, a second motivation is a connection with some questions in social choice theory arising from a simple model of agreement in a society. Specifically, if we have to make a binary choice on each of $n$ separate issues then it is reasonable to assume that the set of choices which are acceptable to an individual will be represented by a subcube. Consequently, the pattern of intersections within a family of subcubes will have implications for the level of agreement within a society. We pose a number of questions and conjectures relating directly to the Tur\'an and Ramsey problems as well as raising some further directions for study of subcube intersection graphs.Comment: 18 page

Extrusion of extracellular membrane vesicles from hyphal tips of streptomyces venezuelae coupled to cell-wall stress

Extracellular vesicle release is a wide-spread and broadly important phenomenon in bacteria. However, not much is known about the mechanism of vesicle release in Gram-positive bacteria. Observations of polarly growing Streptomyces venezuelae by live cell time-lapse imaging reveal release of extracellular membrane vesicles from tips of vegetative hyphae. Vesicle extrusion is associated with spontaneous growth arrests, but often the apical cell survives and can re-initiate growth by forming new hyphal branches. Treatment with vancomycin to block peptidoglycan synthesis leads to a high frequency of lysis and vesicle extrusion, where some hyphae can survive growth arrest and vesicle extrusion and reinitiate growth after antibiotic is washed away. The extruded vesicles do not contain nucleoids and do not appear able to proliferate. Vesicle extrusion is not affected by the Ser/Thr protein kinase AfsK that phosphorylates the DivIVA at hyphal tips, nor is it affected by the intermediate filament-like protein FilP that localizes in gradient-like structures at hyphal tips. Notably, hyphae of a scy mutant, which has an unstable apical polarisome structure, are prone to spontaneous growth arrests and vesicle extrusion even in the absence of antibiotic treatment, supporting the idea that the nature of the growth zone at the hyphal tips is important for this route of extracellular vesicle formation. We speculate that the propensity for vesicle extrusion is a direct consequence of how polar growth is organized at hyphal tips in Streptomyces, with the cell-wall sacculus being weak and susceptible to bursting at the apical zones of growth where peptidoglycan synthesis is primarily taking place

Shallow submarine hydrothermal systems in the Aeolian Volcanic Arc, Italy

The majority of known high-temperature hydrothermal vents occur at mid-ocean ridges and back-arc spreading centers, typically at water depths from 2000 to 4000 meters. Compared with 30 years of hydrothermal research along spreading centers in the deep parts of the ocean, exploration of the approximately 700 submarine arc volcanoes is relatively recent [de Ronde et al., 2003]. At these submarine arc volcanoes, active hydrothermal vents are located at unexpectedly shallow water depth (95% at <1600-meter depth), which has important consequences for the style of venting, the nature of associated mineral deposits, and the local biological communities. As part of an ongoing multinational research effort to study shallow submarine volcanic arcs, two hydrothermal systems in the submerged part of the Aeolian arc have been investigated in detail during research cruises by R/V Poseidon (July 2006) and R/V Meteor (August 2007). Comprehensive seafloor video surveys were conducted using a remotely operated vehicle, and drilling to a depth of 5 meters was carried out using a lander-type submersible drill. This research has resulted in the first detailed, three-dimensional documentation of shallow submarine hydrothermal systems on arc volcanoe

Drilling of shallow marine sulfide-sulfate mineralisation in south-eastern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy; Seafloor sulfides, Tyrrhenian Sea, highsulfidation; hydrothermal systems, Palinuro

Semi-massive to massive sulfides with abundant late native sulfur were drilled in a shallowwater hydrothermal system in an island arc volcanic setting at the Palinuro volcanic complex in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. Overall, 12.7 m of sulfide mineralisation were drilled in a sediment-filled depression at a water depth of 630 - 650 m using the lander-type Rockdrill I drill rig of the British Geological Survey. Polymetallic (Zn, Pb, Sb, As, Ag) sulfides overlie massive pyrite. The massive sulfide mineralisation contains a number of atypical minerals, including enargite-famatinite, tennantite-tetrahedrite, stibnite, bismuthinite, and Pb-,Sb-, and Ag-sulfosalts, that do not commonly occur in mid-ocean ridge massive sulfides. Analogous to subaerial epithermal deposits, the occurrence of these minerals and the presence of abundant native sulfur suggest an intermediate to high sulfidation and/or high oxididation state of the hydrothermal fluids in contrast to the near-neutral and reducing fluids from which base metal-rich massive sulfides along mid-ocean ridges typically form. Oxidised conditions during sulfide deposition are likely related to the presence of magmatic volatiles in the mineralising fluids that were derived from a degassing magma chamber below the Palinuro volcanic complex

Expression of CD226 is associated to but not required for NK cell education

AbstractDNAX accessory molecule-1 (DNAM-1, also known as CD226) is an activating receptor expressed on subsets of natural killer (NK) and T cells, interacts with its ligands CD155 or CD112, and has co-varied expression with inhibitory receptors. Since inhibitory receptors control NK-cell activation and are necessary for MHC-I-dependent education, we investigated whether DNAM-1 expression is also involved in NK-cell education. Here we show an MHC-I-dependent correlation between DNAM-1 expression and NK-cell education, and an association between DNAM-1 and NKG2A that occurs even in MHC class I deficient mice. DNAM-1 is expressed early during NK-cell development, precedes the expression of MHC-I-specific inhibitory receptors, and is modulated in an education-dependent fashion. Cd226−/− mice have missing self-responses and NK cells with a normal receptor repertoire. We propose a model in which NK-cell education prevents or delays downregulation of DNAM-1. This molecule endows educated NK cells with enhanced effector functions but is dispensable for education.</jats:p

The TEAM instrument for measuring emergency team performance: validation of the Swedish version at two emergency departments

Background: The Team Emergency Assessment Measure (TEAM) questionnaire is designed for rating the non-technical performance of emergency medical teams during emergencies, e.g., resuscitation or trauma management. Originally developed in Australia it has today been translated and validated into eleven languages, but a Swedish version is lacking. The aim was therefore to cross-culturally translate and evaluate the reliability and validity of the TEAM questionnaire in a Swedish health care setting. Methods: The instrument was forward and backward translated and adapted into a Swedish context according to established guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of survey-based measures. The translated version was tested through 78 pairwise assessments of 39 high-priority codes at the emergency departments of two major hospitals. The raters observed the teams at work in real time and filled in the questionnaires immediately afterwards independently of each other. Psychometric properties of the instrument were evaluated. Results: The original instrument was translated by pairs of translators independently of each other and reviewed by an expert committee of researchers, nurses and physicians from different specialties, a linguist and one of the original developers of the tool. A few adaptations were needed for the Swedish context. A principal component factor analysis confirmed a single ‘teamwork’ construct in line with the original instrument. The Swedish version showed excellent reliability with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.955 and a mean inter-item correlation of 0.691. The mean item-scale correlation of 0.82 indicated high internal consistency reliability. Inter-rater reliability was measured by intraclass correlation and was 0.74 for the global score indicating good reliability. Individual items ranged between 0.52 and 0.88. No floor effects but ceiling effects were noted. Finally, teams displaying clear closed-loop communication had higher TEAM scores than teams with less clear communication. Conclusions: Real time observations of authentic, high priority cases at two emergency departments show that the Swedish version of the TEAM instrument has good psychometric properties for evaluating team performance. The TEAM instrument is thus a welcome tool for assessing non-technical skills of emergency medical teams. © 2021, The Author(s). **Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Simon Cooper" is provided in this record*

Corona discharge experiments in admixtures of N2 and CH4: a laboratory simulation of Titan's atmosphere

A positive corona discharge fed by a N2:CH4 mixture (98:2) at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature has been studied as a laboratory mimic of the chemical processes occurring in the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. In-situ measurements of UV and IR transmission spectra within the discharge have shown that the main chemical product is C2H2, produced by dissociation of CH4, with small but significant traces of ethane and HCN, all species that have been detected in Titan's atmosphere. A small amount (0.2 %) CH4 was decomposed after 12 minutes of treatment requiring an average energy of 2.7 kWh/g. After 14 minutes the discharge was terminated due to the formation of a solid yellow deposit on the central wire electrode. Such a deposit is similar to that observed in other discharges and is believed to be an analogue of the aerosol and dust observed in Titan's atmosphere and is composed of chemcial species commonly knonw as 'tholins'. We have also explored the electrical properties of the discharge. The admixture of methane into nitrogen caused an increase in onset voltage of the discharge and consequently led to a reduction in the measured discharge current

Soil moisture remote-sensing applications for identification of flood-prone areas along transport infrastructure

AbstractThe expected increase in precipitation and temperature in Scandinavia, and especially short-time heavy precipitation, will increase the frequency of flooding. Urban areas are the most vulnerable, and specifically, the road infrastructure. The accumulation of large volumes of water and sediments on road-stream intersections gets severe consequences for the road drainage structures. This study integrates the spatial and temporal soil moisture properties into the research about flood prediction methods by a case study of two areas in Sweden, Västra Götaland and Värmland, which was affected by severe flooding in August 2014. Soil moisture data are derived from remote-sensing techniques, with a focus on the soil moisture-specific satellites ASCAT and SMOS. Furthermore, several physical catchments descriptors (PCDs) are analyzed and the result shows that larger slopes and drainage density, in general, mean a higher risk of flooding. The precipitation is the same; however, it can be concluded that more precipitation in most cases gives higher soil moisture values. The lack, or the dimensioning, of road drainage structures seems to have a large impact on the flood risk as more sediment and water can be accumulated at the road-stream intersection. The results show that the method implementing soil moisture satellite data is promising for improving the reliability of flooding