The Relative Effects of Logistics, Coordination and Human Resource on Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Mission Performance

Most studies on humanitarian aid and disaster relief (HADR) missions suggest that the quality of logistics, coordination and human resource management will affect their performance. However, studies in developing countries are mainly conceptual and lack the necessary empirical evidence to support these contentions. The current paper thereby aimed to fill this knowledge gap by statistically examining the effects of the abovementioned factors on such missions. Focusing on the Malaysian army due to its extensive experience in HADR operations, the paper opted for a quantitative approach to allow for a more objective analysis of the issues. The results show that there are other potential determinants of mission success which deserve due attention in future studies. They also suggest that human resource is not easily measured as a construct, and that this limitation in methodology must be overcome to derive more accurate conclusions regarding its effect on HADR mission performance.&nbsp

Ground state magnetic structure of Mn3_3Ge

We have used spherical neutron polarimetry to investigate the magnetic structure of the Mn spins in the hexagonal semimetal Mn$_3$Ge, which exhibits a large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect. Our analysis of the polarimetric data finds a strong preference for a spin structure with $E_{1g}$ symmetry relative to the $D_{6h}$ point group. We show that weak ferromagnetism is an inevitable consequence of the symmetry of the observed magnetic structure, and that sixth order anisotropy is needed to select a unique ground state

Smartphone-based pathogen diagnosis in urinary sepsis patients.

BackgroundThere is an urgent need for rapid, sensitive, and affordable diagnostics for microbial infections at the point-of-care. Although a number of innovative systems have been reported that transform mobile phones into potential diagnostic tools, the translational challenge to clinical diagnostics remains a significant hurdle to overcome.MethodsA smartphone-based real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification (smaRT-LAMP) system was developed for pathogen ID in urinary sepsis patients. The free, custom-built mobile phone app allows the phone to serve as a stand-alone device for quantitative diagnostics, allowing the determination of genome copy-number of bacterial pathogens in real time.FindingsA head-to-head comparative bacterial analysis of urine from sepsis patients revealed that the performance of smaRT-LAMP matched that of clinical diagnostics at the admitting hospital in a fraction of the time (~1 h vs. 18-28 h). Among patients with bacteremic complications of their urinary sepsis, pathogen ID from the urine matched that from the blood - potentially allowing pathogen diagnosis shortly after hospital admission. Additionally, smaRT-LAMP did not exhibit false positives in sepsis patients with clinically negative urine cultures.InterpretationThe smaRT-LAMP system is effective against diverse Gram-negative and -positive pathogens and biological specimens, costs less than $100 US to fabricate (in addition to the smartphone), and is configurable for the simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens. SmaRT-LAMP thus offers the potential to deliver rapid diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections and urinary sepsis with a simple test that can be performed at low cost at the point-of-care. FUND: National Institutes of Health, Chan-Zuckerberg Biohub, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

First principles investigation of ferroelectricity in epitaxially strained Pb2_2TiO4_4

The structure and polarization of the as-yet hypothetical Ruddlesden-Popper compound Pb$_2$TiO$_4$ are investigated within density-functional theory. Zone enter phonons of the high-symmetry K$_2$NiF$_4$-type reference structure, space group $I4/mmm$, were calculated. At the theoretical ground-state lattice constants, there is one unstable infrared-active phonon. This phonon freezes in to give the $I2mm$ ferroelectric state. As a function of epitaxial strain, two additional ferroelectric phases are found, with space groups $I4mm$ and $F2mm$ at compressive and tensile strains, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Conditional linearizability criteria for a system of third-order ordinary differential equations

We provide linearizability criteria for a class of systems of third-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that is cubically semi-linear in the first derivative, by differentiating a system of second-order quadratically semi-linear ODEs and using the original system to replace the second derivative. The procedure developed splits into two cases, those where the coefficients are constant and those where they are variables. Both cases are discussed and examples given

Mesoscale magnetism at the grain boundaries in colossal magnetoresistive films

We report the discovery of mesoscale regions with distinctive magnetic properties in epitaxial La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$MnO$_{3}$ films which exhibit tunneling-like magnetoresistance across grain boundaries. By using temperature-dependent magnetic force microscopy we observe that the mesoscale regions are formed near the grain boundaries and have a different Curie temperature (up to 20 K {\it higher}) than the grain interiors. Our images provide direct evidence for previous speculations that the grain boundaries in thin films are not magnetically and electronically sharp interfaces. The size of the mesoscale regions varies with temperature and nature of the underlying defect.Comment: 4 pages of text, 4 figure

Membrane lipid order of sub-synaptic T cell vesicles correlates with their dynamics and function

During an immune response, T cells survey antigen presenting cells for antigenic peptides via the formation of an interface known as an immunological synapse. Among the complex and dynamic biophysical phenomena occurring at this interface is the trafficking of sub-synaptic vesicles carrying a variety of proximal signalling molecules. Here, we show that rather than being a homogeneous population, these vesicles display a diversity of membrane lipid order profiles, as measured using the environmentally sensitive dye di-4-ANEPPDHQ and multi-spectral TIRF microscopy. Using live-cell imaging, vesicle tracking and a variety of small molecule drugs to manipulate components of the actin and tubulin cytoskeleton, we show that the membrane lipid order of these vesicles correlate with their dynamics. Furthermore, we show that the key proximal signalling molecule Linker for Activation of T cells (LAT) is enriched in specific vesicle populations as defined by their higher membrane order. These results imply that vesicle lipid order may represent a novel regulatory mechanism for the sorting and trafficking of signalling molecules at the immunological synapse, and, potentially, other cellular structures

Remarks on Renormalization of Black Hole Entropy

We elaborate the renormalization process of entropy of a nonextremal and an extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole by using the Pauli-Villars regularization method, in which the regulator fields obey either the Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac distribution depending on their spin-statistics. The black hole entropy involves only two renormalization constants. We also discuss the entropy and temperature of the extremal black hole.Comment: 14 pages, revtex, no figure