A model of non-perturbative gluon emission in an initial state parton shower

We consider a model of transverse momentum production in which non-perturbative smearing takes place throughout the perturbative evolution, by a simple modification to an initial state parton shower algorithm. Using this as the important non-perturbative ingredient, we get a good fit to data over a wide range of energy. Combining it with the non-perturbative masses and cutoffs that are a feature of conventional parton showers also leads to a reasonable fit. We discuss the extrapolation to the LHC.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; version accepted by JHE

First report of Colletotrichum cliviicola causing anthracnose disease of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) in Nigeria

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is a staple crop for millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa. However, its production is challenged by various abiotic and biotic constraints, including fungal diseases. In February 2020, around 10% of cowpea plants in IITA-Ibadan research plots (N7°29'49'' E3°53'49'') had symptoms of cowpea anthracnose disease (CAD). Symptoms included reddish brown spots, necrotic lesions, and vein streaks (Fig. 1). Diseased leaves were collected and taken to the laboratory, cut into small discs (3 mm in diameter) at advancing edges of lesions, and surface disinfected. Dry leaf discs were plated on PDA and incubated at 28°C for 5 days and sub-cultured in PDA for another 7 days. Isolates yielded phenotypes similar to Colletotrichum spp. (Fig. 2). DNA templates of four isolates (CC17 NG, CC19 NG, CC21 NG, and CC24 NG) were amplified using primers of the actin (ACT; ACT512F and ACT783R) (Carbone and Kohn, 1999) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH; GDF and GFR) (Templeton et al., 1992) genes and sequenced. The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession numbers OP716557 to OP716560 for ACT and OP716561 to OP716564 for GADPH). BLASTn results on NCBI showed 98-100% identity of the four isolates with C. cliviicola. A bi-locus phylogenetic tree revealed that the isolates belong to the species C. cliviicola (Fig. 3) when compared with existing sequences in the GenBank (Table 1). To fulfill Koch’s postulates, pathogenicity of each of the four C. cliviicola isolates was confirmed on 2-week-old cowpea plants cv. Ife Brown in screenhouse assays. Inocula were prepared from 7-d-old cultures washed with sterile water containing 0.1% TWEEN®20. Fungal suspensions were adjusted to 106 conidia/ml. Inoculations were carried out using the brush method. Leaves inoculated with sterile water containing 0.1% TWEEN®20 served as negative controls. Plants were kept in the screenhouse at room temperature for 21 days. All four C. cliviicola isolates produced CAD symptoms on inoculated leaves, while control leaves remained asymptomatic (Fig. 4). Each inoculated isolate was successfully re-isolated from symptomatic tissues and their identity confirmed. The fungus C. cliviicola is distributed in tropical and subtropical regions and has a wide host range, including several legumes (Damm et al. 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. cliviicola causing CAD in Nigeria and the world. There is the need to conduct a comprehensive distribution survey and develop appropriate control strategies in Nigeria. In addition, breeding for resistance to CAD in Nigeria should gear the efforts to all causal agents of the disease that occur across the country because historically CAD has been attributed to C. lindemuthianum and C. destructivum

Lucro líquido do franqueado: um sinal para a escolha de franquia em época de crise

Este artículo aborda desde la perspectiva de la Teoría de Señales la elección de una franquicia por un potencial franquiciado que elige este canal de distribución por primera vez. El objetivo es analizar la relación entre algunas señales enviadas por el franquiciador y la elección de una franquicia por el potencial franquiciado. Concluimos que los efectos de las variables macroeconómicas de España en el periodo 2006-2013 influyeron en los ingresos netos de los franquiciados para que se convirtiera en una señal empleada por éstos a la hora de elegir la franquicia donde abrir un establecimiento.This paper adopts the perspective of Theory of Signals to discuss how someone starting a business as a franchisee for the first time can choose a suitable franchise brand. The aim was to analyze the relationship between certain signals sent by the franchisor and the choice of a franchise brand by the prospective franchisee. Using panel data, we found that the effects of macroeconomic variables in Spain for the 2006-2013 crisis period influenced franchisees' net income, which thus became a relevant signal in their process of choosing a franchise brand to start a business.Sob a perspectiva da Teoria de Sinais, este artigo aborda a seleção de uma franquia por um franqueado que elege esse potencial canal de distribuição pela primeira vez. O objetivo é analisar a relação entre alguns sinais enviados pelo franqueador e a escolha de uma franquia pelo potencial franqueado. Usando a metodologia de dados em painel, os resultados obtidos nos permitiram concluir que os efeitos das variáveis macroeconômicas da Espanha no período de crise econômica (2006-2013) influenciaram as receitas líquidas dos franqueados, tornando-se um sinal para eles elegerem onde abrir um estabelecimento franqueado

A Spoonful of Math Helps the Medicine Go Down: An Illustration of How Healthcare can Benefit from Mathematical Modeling and Analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>A recent joint report from the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, highlights the benefits of--indeed, the need for--mathematical analysis of healthcare delivery. Tools for such analysis have been developed over decades by researchers in Operations Research (OR). An OR perspective typically frames a complex problem in terms of its essential mathematical structure. This article illustrates the use and value of the tools of operations research in healthcare. It reviews one OR tool, queueing theory, and provides an illustration involving a hypothetical drug treatment facility.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>Queueing Theory (QT) is the study of waiting lines. The theory is useful in that it provides solutions to problems of waiting and its relationship to key characteristics of healthcare systems. More generally, it illustrates the strengths of modeling in healthcare and service delivery.</p> <p>Queueing theory offers insights that initially may be hidden. For example, a queueing model allows one to incorporate randomness, which is inherent in the actual system, into the mathematical analysis. As a result of this randomness, these systems often perform much worse than one might have guessed based on deterministic conditions. Poor performance is reflected in longer lines, longer waits, and lower levels of server utilization.</p> <p>As an illustration, we specify a queueing model of a representative drug treatment facility. The analysis of this model provides mathematical expressions for some of the key performance measures, such as average waiting time for admission.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We calculate average occupancy in the facility and its relationship to system characteristics. For example, when the facility has 28 beds, the average wait for admission is 4 days. We also explore the relationship between arrival rate at the facility, the capacity of the facility, and waiting times.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>One key aspect of the healthcare system is its complexity, and policy makers want to design and reform the system in a way that affects competing goals. OR methodologies, particularly queueing theory, can be very useful in gaining deeper understanding of this complexity and exploring the potential effects of proposed changes on the system without making any actual changes.</p

Neglected Tropical Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review of Their Prevalence, Distribution, and Disease Burden

The neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are the most common conditions affecting the poorest 500 million people living in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and together produce a burden of disease that may be equivalent to up to one-half of SSA's malaria disease burden and more than double that caused by tuberculosis. Approximately 85% of the NTD disease burden results from helminth infections. Hookworm infection occurs in almost half of SSA's poorest people, including 40–50 million school-aged children and 7 million pregnant women in whom it is a leading cause of anemia. Schistosomiasis is the second most prevalent NTD after hookworm (192 million cases), accounting for 93% of the world's number of cases and possibly associated with increased horizontal transmission of HIV/AIDS. Lymphatic filariasis (46–51 million cases) and onchocerciasis (37 million cases) are also widespread in SSA, each disease representing a significant cause of disability and reduction in the region's agricultural productivity. There is a dearth of information on Africa's non-helminth NTDs. The protozoan infections, human African trypanosomiasis and visceral leishmaniasis, affect almost 100,000 people, primarily in areas of conflict in SSA where they cause high mortality, and where trachoma is the most prevalent bacterial NTD (30 million cases). However, there are little or no data on some very important protozoan infections, e.g., amebiasis and toxoplasmosis; bacterial infections, e.g., typhoid fever and non-typhoidal salmonellosis, the tick-borne bacterial zoonoses, and non-tuberculosis mycobaterial infections; and arboviral infections. Thus, the overall burden of Africa's NTDs may be severely underestimated. A full assessment is an important step for disease control priorities, particularly in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the greatest number of NTDs may occur

Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018.

Over the past decade, the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death (NCCD) has formulated guidelines for the definition and interpretation of cell death from morphological, biochemical, and functional perspectives. Since the field continues to expand and novel mechanisms that orchestrate multiple cell death pathways are unveiled, we propose an updated classification of cell death subroutines focusing on mechanistic and essential (as opposed to correlative and dispensable) aspects of the process. As we provide molecularly oriented definitions of terms including intrinsic apoptosis, extrinsic apoptosis, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT)-driven necrosis, necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, parthanatos, entotic cell death, NETotic cell death, lysosome-dependent cell death, autophagy-dependent cell death, immunogenic cell death, cellular senescence, and mitotic catastrophe, we discuss the utility of neologisms that refer to highly specialized instances of these processes. The mission of the NCCD is to provide a widely accepted nomenclature on cell death in support of the continued development of the field