Nonreciprocal Directional Dichroism and Toroidalmagnons in Helical Magnets

We investigate a dynamical magnetoelectric effect due to a magnetic resonance in helical spin structures through the coupling between magnetization and electric polarization via a spin current mechanism. We show that the magnon has both the dynamical magnetic moment $\Delta M^\omega$ and the electric moment $\Delta P^\omega$ ($\perp \Delta M^\omega$), i.e., a dynamical toroidal moment, under external magnetic fields, and thus it is named the {\em toroidalmagnon}. The toroidalmagnon exists in most conical spin structures owing to the generality of the spin current mechanism. In the absorption of electromagnetic waves, the toroidalmagnon excitation process generally induces a nonreciprocal directional dichroism as a consequence of an interference of the magnetic and electric responses.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Nonlinear shot noise in mesoscopic diffusive normal-superconducting systems

We study differential shot noise in mesoscopic diffusive normal-superconducting (NS) heterostructures at finite voltages where nonlinear effects due to the superconducting proximity effect arise. A numerical scattering-matrix approach is adopted. Through an NS contact, we observe that the shot noise shows a reentrant dependence on voltage due to the superconducting proximity effect but the differential Fano factor stays approximately constant. Furthermore, we consider differential shot noise in the structures where an insulating barrier is formed between normal and superconducting regions and calculate the differential Fano factor as a function of barrier height.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Revision of the Ethiopian Essential Health Service Package: An Explication of the Process and Methods Used

To make progress toward universal health coverage, countries should define the type and mix of health services that respond to their populations’ needs. Ethiopia revised its essential health services package (EHSP) in 2019. This paper describes the process, methodology and key features of the new EHSP. A total of 35 consultative workshops were convened with experts and the public to define the scope of the revision, develop a list of health interventions, agree on the prioritization criteria, gather evidence and compare health interventions. Seven prioritization criteria were employed: disease burden, cost effectiveness, equity, financial risk protection, budget impact, public acceptability and political acceptability. In the first phase, 1,749 interventions were identified, including existing and new interventions, which were regrouped and reorganized to identify 1,442 interventions as relevant. The second phase removed interventions that did not match the burden of disease or were not relevant in the Ethiopian setting, reducing the number of interventions to 1,018. These were evaluated further and ranked by the other criteria. Finally, 594 interventions were classified as high priority (58%), 213 as medium priorities (21%) and 211 as low priority interventions (21%). The current policy is to provide 570 interventions (56%) free of charge while guaranteeing the availability of the remaining services with cost-sharing (38%) and cost-recovery (6%) mechanisms in place. In conclusion, the revision of Ethiopia’s EHSP followed a participatory, inclusive and evidence-based prioritization process. The interventions included in the EHSP were comprehensive and were assigned to health care delivery platforms and linked to financing mechanisms.publishedVersio

A proposed methodology for the correction of the Leaf Area Index measured with a ceptometer for pinus and eucalyptus forests = Proposta de uma methodologia para a correcao do indice de area foliar medido pelo ceptometro em provoamentos de pinus e eucalyptus

Leaf area index (LAI) is an important parameter controlling many biological and physiological processes associated with vegetation on the Earth's surface, such as photosynthesis, respiration, transpiration, carbon and nutrient cycle and rainfall interception. LAI can be measured indirectly by sunfleck ceptometers in an easy and non-destructive way but this practical methodology tends to underestimated when measured by these instruments. Trying to correct this underestimation, some previous studies heave proposed the multiplication of the observed LAI value by a constant correction factor. The assumption of this work is LAI obtained from the allometric equations are not so problematic and can be used as a reference LAI to develop a new methodology to correct the ceptometer one. This new methodology indicates that the bias (the difference between the ceptometer and the reference LAI) is estimated as a function of the basal area per unit ground area and that bias is summed to the measured value. This study has proved that while the measured Pinus LAI needs a correction, there is no need for that correction for the Eucalyptus LAI. However, even for this last specie the proposed methodology gives closer estimations to the real LAI values

Widespread Transcriptional Autosomal Dosage Compensation in Drosophila Correlates with Gene Expression Level

Little is known about dosage compensation in autosomal genes. Transcription-level compensation of deletions and other loss-of-function mutations may be a mechanism of dominance of wild-type alleles, a ubiquitous phenomenon whose nature has been a subject of a long debate. We measured gene expression in two isogenic Drosophila lines heterozygous for long deletions and compared our results with previously published gene expression data in a line heterozygous for a long duplication. We find that a majority of genes are at least partially compensated at transcription, both for ½-fold dosage (in heterozygotes for deletions) and for 1.5-fold dosage (in heterozygotes for a duplication). The degree of compensation does not vary among functional classes of genes. Compensation for deletions is stronger for highly expressed genes. In contrast, the degree of compensation for duplications is stronger for weakly expressed genes. Thus, partial transcriptional compensation appears to be based on regulatory mechanisms that insure high transcription levels of some genes and low transcription levels of other genes, instead of precise maintenance of a particular homeostatic expression level. Given the ubiquity of transcriptional compensation, dominance of wild-type alleles may be at least partially caused by of the regulation at transcription level

Composite structural motifs of binding sites for delineating biological functions of proteins

Most biological processes are described as a series of interactions between proteins and other molecules, and interactions are in turn described in terms of atomic structures. To annotate protein functions as sets of interaction states at atomic resolution, and thereby to better understand the relation between protein interactions and biological functions, we conducted exhaustive all-against-all atomic structure comparisons of all known binding sites for ligands including small molecules, proteins and nucleic acids, and identified recurring elementary motifs. By integrating the elementary motifs associated with each subunit, we defined composite motifs which represent context-dependent combinations of elementary motifs. It is demonstrated that function similarity can be better inferred from composite motif similarity compared to the similarity of protein sequences or of individual binding sites. By integrating the composite motifs associated with each protein function, we define meta-composite motifs each of which is regarded as a time-independent diagrammatic representation of a biological process. It is shown that meta-composite motifs provide richer annotations of biological processes than sequence clusters. The present results serve as a basis for bridging atomic structures to higher-order biological phenomena by classification and integration of binding site structures.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figure

Development of Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing for informal caregivers of people with cancer – a multicentred study

Purpose: Measure Yourself Concerns and Wellbeing (MYCaW) is a validated person-centred measure of the concerns and wellbeing of people affected by cancer. Research suggests that the concerns of informal caregivers (ICs) are as complex and severely rated as people with cancer, yet MYCaW has only been used to represent cancer patients’ concerns and wellbeing. This paper reports on the development of a new qualitative coding framework for MYCaW to capture the concerns of ICs, to better understand the needs of this group. Methods: This multicentred study involved collection of data from ICs receiving support from two UK cancer support charities (Penny Brohn UK and Cavendish Cancer Care). Qualitative codes were developed through a detailed thematic analysis of ICs’ stated concerns. Results: Thematic analysis of IC questionnaire data identified key themes which were translated into a coding framework with two overarching sections; 1. ‘informal caregiver concerns for self’ and 2. ‘informal caregiver concerns for the person with cancer’. Supercategories with specific accompanying codes were developed for each section. Two further rounds of framework testing across different cohorts allowed for iterative development and refinement of the framework content. Conclusions: This is the first person-centred tool specifically designed for capturing IC’s concerns through their own words. This coding framework will allow for IC data to be analysed using a rigorous and reproducible method, and therefore reported in a standardised way. This may also be of interest to those exploring the needs of ICs of people in other situations

A global spectral library to characterize the world's soil

Soil provides ecosystem services, supports human health and habitation, stores carbon and regulates emissions of greenhouse gases. Unprecedented pressures on soil from degradation and urbanization are threatening agro-ecological balances and food security. It is important that we learn more about soil to sustainably manage and preserve it for future generations. To this end, we developed and analyzed a global soil visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) spectral library. It is currently the largest and most diverse database of its kind. We show that the information encoded in the spectra can describe soil composition and be associated to land cover and its global geographic distribution, which acts as a surrogate for global climate variability. We also show the usefulness of the global spectra for predicting soil attributes such as soil organic and inorganic carbon, clay, silt, sand and iron contents, cation exchange capacity, and pH. Using wavelets to treat the spectra, which were recorded in different laboratories using different spectrometers and methods, helped to improve the spectroscopic modelling. We found that modelling a diverse set of spectra with a machine learning algorithm can find the local relationships in the data to produce accurate predictions of soil properties. The spectroscopic models that we derived are parsimonious and robust, and using them we derived a harmonized global soil attribute dataset, which might serve to facilitate research on soil at the global scale. This spectroscopic approach should help to deal with the shortage of data on soil to better understand it and to meet the growing demand for information to assess and monitor soil at scales ranging from regional to global. New contributions to the library are encouraged so that this work and our collaboration might progress to develop a dynamic and easily updatable database with better global coverage. We hope that this work will reinvigorate our community's discussion towards larger, more coordinated collaborations. We also hope that use of the database will deepen our understanding of soil so that we might sustainably manage it and extend the research outcomes of the soil, earth and environmental sciences towards applications that we have not yet dreamed of

Callisto's Atmosphere and Its Space Environment: Prospects for the Particle Environment Package on Board JUICE

The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) of the European Space Agency will investigate Jupiter and its icy moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, with the aim to better understand the origin and evolution of our Solar System and the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants. The Particle Environment Package (PEP) on board JUICE is designed to measure neutrals and ions and electrons at thermal, suprathermal, and radiation belt energies (eV to MeV). In the vicinity of Callisto, PEP will characterize the plasma environment, the outer parts of Callisto's atmosphere and ionosphere and their interaction with Jupiter's dynamic magnetosphere. Roughly 20 Callisto flybys with closest approaches between 200 and 5,000 km altitude are planned over the course of the JUICE mission. In this article, we review the state of the art regarding Callisto's ambient environment and magnetospheric interaction with recent modeling efforts for Callisto's atmosphere and ionosphere. Based on this review, we identify science opportunities for the PEP observations to optimize scientific insight gained from the foreseen JUICE flybys. These considerations will inform both science operation planning of PEP and JUICE and they will guide future model development for Callisto's atmosphere, ionosphere, and their interaction with the plasma environment