An event study to provide validation of TING and CMIT geomagnetic middle-latitude electron densities at the F2 peak

[1] The coupled thermosphere-ionosphere magnetosphere (CMIT) model and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Nested Grid (TING) model have been run to simulate the 15 May 1997 interplanetary coronal mass ejection\u27s (ICME) effects on the Earth\u27s ionosphere and thermosphere. Comparisons were made between these model runs, the IRI-2007 model, and geomagnetic middle-latitude ionosonde data (NmF2) from the World Data Center to determine how well the models simulated the event and to understand the causes of model-data disagreement. The following conclusions were drawn from this study: (1) skill scores were more often negative than positive on average; (2) the best and the worst skill scores occurred on the recovery day; (3) the line plots comparing models to data look better than the skill scores might suggest; (4) skill scores are significantly affected by timing issues and large, short-duration variability; (5) skill scores give an indication of the relative ability of one model relative to another, rather than an absolute statement of model accuracy; (6) the models capture negative storm effects better than they capture positive storm effects; (7) the TING model captured many short duration features seen in the data at high middle latitude stations that result from changes in the size of the auroral oval; (8) CMIT overestimates the energy driving changes in NmF2, whereas TING provides approximately the correct energy input as a result of the saturation effects on potential that are included in TING; and (9) both TING and CMIT electron densities decreased too rapidly after sunset

The ideal job-seeker norm: unemployment and marital privileges in the professional middle-class

Objective: To understand how heterosexual US married parents interpret and respond to a spouse's unemployment and subsequent job-searching. Background: The pervasiveness of employment uncertainty, and unemployment, may propel families to embrace gender egalitarian norms. Quantitative research finds that this possibility is not borne out. Qualitative research has sought to illuminate mechanisms as to how gender norms persist even during a time that is optimal for dismantling them, but these mechanisms remain unclear. Method: Seventy-two in-depth interviews were conducted with a nonrandom sample of heterosexual, professional, dual-earner, married, unemployed women, men, and their spouses in the United States. Follow-up interviews were conducted with 35 participants. Intensive family observations were conducted with four families, two of unemployed men, and two of unemployed women. Results: Unemployed women, men, and spouses acknowledge that a set of time-intensive activities are key for reemployment (the ideal job-seeker norm). Couples with unemployed men direct resources such as time, space, and even money to facilitate unemployed men's compliance with the ideal job-seeker norm. Couples downplay the importance of women's reemployment and do not direct similar resources to help unemployed women job-search. Conclusion: Couples preserve a traditional gender status quo, often in defiance of material realities, by actively maintaining men's position at the helm of paid work and women's at unpaid work. Implications: Linking unemployment and job-seeking with the institution of heterosexual marriage reveals novel insights into social and marital processes shaping job-seeking

Active tuberculosis, sequelae and COVID-19 co-infection: first cohort of 49 cases.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease (COVID-19) pandemic has attracted interest because of its global rapid spread, clinical severity, high mortality rate, and capacity to overwhelm healthcare systems [1, 2]. SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs mainly through droplets, although surface contamination contributes and debate continues on aerosol transmission [3\u20135]

Where are we now with European forest multi-taxon biodiversity and where can we head to?

The European biodiversity and forest strategies rely on forest sustainable management (SFM) to conserve forest biodiversity. However, current sustainability assessments hardly account for direct biodiversity indicators. We focused on forest multi-taxon biodiversity to: i) gather and map the existing information; ii) identify knowledge and research gaps; iii) discuss its research potential. We established a research network to fit data on species, standing trees, lying deadwood and sampling unit description from 34 local datasets across 3591 sampling units. A total of 8724 species were represented, with the share of common and rare species varying across taxonomic classes: some included many species with several rare ones (e.g., Insecta); others (e.g., Bryopsida) were represented by few common species. Tree-related structural attributes were sampled in a subset of sampling units (2889; 2356; 2309 and 1388 respectively for diameter, height, deadwood and microhabitats). Overall, multi-taxon studies are biased towards mature forests and may underrepresent the species related to other developmental phases. European forest compositional categories were all represented, but beech forests were over-represented as compared to thermophilous and boreal forests. Most sampling units (94%) were referred to a habitat type of conservation concern. Existing information may support European conservation and SFM strategies in: (i) methodological harmonization and coordinated monitoring; (ii) definition and testing of SFM indicators and thresholds; (iii) data-driven assessment of the effects of environmental and management drivers on multi-taxon forest biological and functional diversity, (iv) multi-scale forest monitoring integrating in-situ and remotely sensed information

Lineage Analysis of Circulating Trypanosoma cruzi Parasites and Their Association with Clinical Forms of Chagas Disease in Bolivia

Around 30–50% of Trypanosoma cruzi infections in Latin America cause chronic Chagas disease 10–30 years after the primary infection due to lack of effective treatment. The major clinical complications associated with chronic Chagas disease are cardiac myositis (leading to cardiac failure), and autonomous neuroplexus degeneration of the digestive tract that can cause megacolon or megaesophagus. Therefore, there are three major clinical forms of Chagas disease; cardiac, digestive and indeterminate (asymptomatic). The parasites, which can infect humans as well as other mammals, are transmitted by species of triatomines commonly found in the Americas. The parasite is divided in at least six discrete typing units: TcI, TcIIa–e. In humans, the TcI is mainly observed in Central America and northern parts of South America while the TcIIb/d/e is confined mainly to the southern cone of Latin America. We determined which DTU were prevalent in chronic patients in Bolivia, where the three clinical forms and several DTUs of the parasites are present, in order to determine whether there was a link between a particular parasite DTU and a particular clinical outcome. We found a vast majority of TcIId but its kDNA polymorphism showed no association with any of the clinical manifestations of chronic Chagas

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Unmanned aerial system‐based high‐throughput phenotyping for plant breeding

Abstract Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have increased our capacity for collecting finer spatiotemporal resolution data that were previously unobtainable through conventional methods. The use of UAS for obtaining high‐throughput phenotyping (HTP) data in plant breeding programs has gained popularity in recent years. The integrity and quality of the raw data are essential for ensuring the accuracy of predictive tools and proper interpretation of the data. This paper summarizes the standard operation procedures for high‐quality UAS data collection, processing, and analysis for UAS‐based HTP (UAS‐HTP). Plant breeders can follow these procedures to implement a UAS‐HTP system in their germplasm enhancement and cultivar development programs

Propuesta para el equipamiento turístico e infraestructura de acuerdo a las características y demanda en el sector de piedra larga

Piedra Larga es una parroquia urbana de la ciudad de Manta. Al inicio fue considerada solamente como punto de diversión nocturna para los jóvenes, pero actualmente la visitan familias enteras durante cualquier hora del día. Dado que Piedra Larga está parcialmente promocionada por las autoridades respectivas, y como conclusión de las encuestas e investigación de campo, se propone un proyecto que contempla el establecimiento de un proyecto de apoyo a la actividad, en donde existan almacenes de artesanía, duchas, servicios higiénicos, y a su vez se ofrezca el alquiler de carpas y sillas. Para la zona recreativa de playa, se plantea la construcción de torres salvavidas, caseta de guardianía, el ordenamiento de parqueaderos, la reubicación e incremento de colectores de basura, y señaléticas. En lo que respecta a la infraestructura, se concluyó mediante investigación, que gracias a un proyecto urbanístico de iniciativa privada se dotará al sector de los servicios básico que carece. Con este proyecto se pretende colaborar con la población del sector y visitantes, logrando así que accedan a un destino bien equipado. Esperamos que este proyecto sea tomado en cuenta por las autoridades respectiva para, lograr así contribuir con el desarrollo sostenible del turismo local y de la región

Depletion and Depolarizing Effects in Ferroelectric Thin-Films and Their Manifestations in Switching and Fatigue

The manifestations of semiconductor depletion and depolarizing effects in switching and fatigue are studied and compared. It is shown that these effects play important but quite different roles in switching. The depletion effect strongly influences the values of the coercive field, E(c), and is responsible for its film-thickness dependence. The depolarizing effect influences significantly other parameters of the hysteresis loops. It is shown that the inverse thickness dependence of E(c) can not be attributed to the presence of a non-switching layer. Contribution of the effects in question to fatigue of the loop parameters is discussed