Electrical conductivity beyond linear response in layered superconductors under magnetic field

The time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau approach is used to investigate nonlinear response of a strongly type-II superconductor. The dissipation takes a form of the flux flow which is quantitatively studied beyond linear response. Thermal fluctuations, represented by the Langevin white noise, are assumed to be strong enough to melt the Abrikosov vortex lattice created by the magnetic field into a moving vortex liquid and marginalize the effects of the vortex pinning by inhomogeneities. The layered structure of the superconductor is accounted for by means of the Lawrence-Doniach model. The nonlinear interaction term in dynamics is treated within Gaussian approximation and we go beyond the often used lowest Landau level approximation to treat arbitrary magnetic fields. The I-V curve is calculated for arbitrary temperature and the results are compared to experimental data on high-$T_{c}$ superconductor YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$$.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Microbial community management in aquaculture

Microbial community management in aquaculture creates benefits at the nutritional as well as at health level for cultured species. In addition, in case of biofloc application, it allows to link species at different trophic levels, making bioflocs the potential link in integrated multispecies aquaculture

N-acyl homoserine lactone-degrading microbial enrichment cultures isolated from <i>Penaeus vannamei</i> shrimp gut and their probiotic properties in <i>Brachionus plicatilis</i> cultures

Three bacterial enrichment cultures (ECs) were isolated from the digestive tract of Pacific white shrimp Penaeus vannamei, by growing the shrimp microbial communities in a mixture of N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) molecules. The ECs, characterized by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis and subsequent rRNA sequencing, degraded AHL molecules in the degradation assays. Apparently, the resting cells of the ECs also degraded one of the three types of quorum-sensing signal molecules produced by Vibrio harveyi in vitro [i.e. harveyi autoinducer 1 (HAI-1)]. The most efficient AHL-degrading ECs, EC5, was tested in Brachionus experiments. EC5 degraded the V. harveyi HAI-1 autoinducer in vivo, neutralizing the negative effect of V. harveyi autoinducer 2 (AI-2) mutant, in which only the HAI-1- and CAI-1-mediated components of the quorum-sensing system are functional on the growth of Brachionus. This suggests that EC5 interferes with HAI-1-regulated metabolism in V. harveyi. These AHL-degrading ECs need to be tested in other aquatic systems for their probiotic properties, preferably in combination with specific AI-2-degrading bacteria

The effects of time-restricted eating and weight loss on bone metabolism and health: a 6-month randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE This study explored the impact of time-restricted eating (TRE) versus standard dietary advice (SDA) on bone health. METHODS Adults with ≥1 component of metabolic syndrome were randomized to TRE (ad libitum eating within 12 hours) or SDA (food pyramid brochure). Bone turnover markers and bone mineral content/density by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry were assessed at baseline and 6-month follow-up. Statistical analyses were performed in the total population and by weight loss response. RESULTS In the total population (n = 42, 76% women, median age 47 years [IQR: 31-52]), there were no between-group differences (TRE vs. SDA) in any bone parameter. Among weight loss responders (≥0.6 kg weight loss), the bone resorption marker β-carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen tended to decrease after TRE but increase after SDA (between-group differences p = 0.041), whereas changes in the bone formation marker procollagen type I N-propeptide did not differ between groups. Total body bone mineral content decreased after SDA (p = 0.028) but remained unchanged after TRE (p = 0.31) in weight loss responders (between-group differences p = 0.028). Among nonresponders (<0.6 kg weight loss), there were no between-group differences in bone outcomes. CONCLUSIONS TRE had no detrimental impact on bone health, whereas, when weight loss occurred, it was associated with some bone-sparing effects compared with SDA

The clinical implications of thrombocytopenia in adults with severe falciparum malaria: a retrospective analysis

BackgroundThrombocytopenia is a common finding in adults with severe falciparum malaria, but its clinical and prognostic utility is incompletely defined.MethodsClinical and laboratory data from 647 adults with severe falciparum malaria were analysed retrospectively to determine the relationship between a patient&rsquo;s platelet count on admission to hospital and their subsequent clinical course.ResultsOn admission, 614 patients (94.9%) were thrombocytopenic (platelet count &lt;150&thinsp;&times;&thinsp;109/L) and 328 (50.7%) had a platelet count &lt;50&thinsp;&times;&thinsp;109/L. The admission platelet count was inversely correlated with parasite biomass (estimated from plasma PfHRP2 concentrations, rs&thinsp;=&thinsp;&minus;0.28, P&thinsp;=&thinsp;0.003), the degree of microvascular sequestration (measured with orthogonal polarizing spectral imaging, rs&thinsp;=&thinsp;&minus;0.31, P&thinsp;=&thinsp;0.001) and disease severity (the number of World Health Organization severity criteria satisfied by the patient, rs&thinsp;=&thinsp;&minus;0.21, P &lt;0.001). Platelet counts were lower on admission in the patients who died (median: 30 (interquartile range 22 to 52)&thinsp;&times;&thinsp;109/L versus 50 (34 to 78)&thinsp;&times;&thinsp;109/L in survivors; P &lt;0.001), but did not predict outcome independently from other established laboratory and clinical prognostic indices. The 39 patients (6%) with profound thrombocytopenia (platelet count &lt;20&thinsp;&times;&thinsp;109/L) were more likely to die (odds ratio: 5.00, 95% confidence interval: 2.56 to 9.75) than patients with higher platelet counts, but these high-risk patients could be identified more rapidly with simple bedside clinical assessment. The admission platelet count did not reliably identify the 50 patients (7.7%) with major bleeding during the study.ConclusionsThrombocytopenia is a marker of disease severity in adults with falciparum malaria, but has limited utility in prognostication, triage and management

The impact of environmental and climatic variation on the spatiotemporal trends of hospitalized pediatric diarrhea in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

It is predicted that the integration of climate-based early warning systems into existing action plans will facilitate the timely provision of interventions to diarrheal disease epidemics in resource-poor settings. Diarrhea remains a considerable public health problem in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam and we aimed to quantify variation in the impact of environmental conditions on diarrheal disease risk across the city. Using all inpatient diarrheal admissions data from three large hospitals within HCMC, we developed a mixed effects regression model to differentiate district-level variation in risk due to environmental conditions from the overarching seasonality of diarrheal disease hospitalization in HCMC. We identified considerable spatial heterogeneity in the risk of all-cause diarrhea across districts of HCMC with low elevation and differential responses to flooding, air temperature, and humidity driving further spatial heterogeneity in diarrheal disease risk. The incorporation of these results into predictive forecasting algorithms will provide a powerful resource to aid diarrheal disease prevention and control practices in HCMC and other similar settings