Iatrogenic pneumatosis intestinalis and pneumatosis hepatis

A term male fetus with meconium-stained liquor was delivered at a peripheral hospital. He developed abdominal distension and bile-stained vomiting shortly after birth. Meconium ingestion was suspected. Gastric lavage was attempted using inappropriately high volumes and concentrations of sodium bicarbonate in this newborn with undiagnosed jejunal atresia. Subsequent abdominal radiographs documented the presence of the jejunal atresia and pneumatosis intestinalis (PI), together with air in both the porta hepatis and liver parenchyma (Figs 1 - 3). The latter features were interpreted as representing necrotising enterocolitis. The child was transferred to Red Cross Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, for corrective surgery

Geographic variation in sperm traits reflects predation risk and natural rates of multiple paternity in the guppy

Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) are models for understanding the interplay between natural and sexual selection. In particular, predation has been implicated as a major force affecting female sexual preferences, male mating tactics and the level of sperm competition. When predation is high, females typically reduce their preferences for showy males and engage more in antipredator behaviours, whereas males exploit these changes by switching from sexual displays to forced matings. These patterns are thought to account for the relatively high levels of multiple paternity in high-predation populations compared to low-predation populations. Here, we assess the possible evolutionary consequences of these patterns by asking whether variation in sperm traits reflect differences in predation intensity among four pairs of Trinidadian populations: four that experience relatively low levels of predation from a gape-limited predator and four that experience relatively high levels of predation from a variety of piscivores. We found that males in high-predation populations had faster swimming sperm with longer midpieces compared to males in low-predation populations. However, we found no differences among males in high- and low-predation populations with respect to sperm number, sperm head length, flagellum length and total sperm length

Greenland Ice Sheet surface melt amplified by snowline migration and bare ice exposure

Greenland Ice Sheet mass loss has recently increased because of enhanced surface melt and runoff. Since melt is critically modulated by surface albedo, understanding the processes and feedbacks that alter albedo is a prerequisite for accurately forecasting mass loss. Using satellite imagery, we demonstrate the importance of Greenland’s seasonally fluctuating snowline, which reduces ice sheet albedo and enhances melt by exposing dark bare ice. From 2001 to 2017, this process drove 53% of net shortwave radiation variability in the ablation zone and amplified ice sheet melt five times more than hydrological and biological processes that darken bare ice itself. In a warmer climate, snowline fluctuations will exert an even greater control on melt due to flatter ice sheet topography at higher elevations. Current climate models, however, inaccurately predict snowline elevations during high melt years, portending an unforeseen uncertainty in forecasts of Greenland’s runoff contribution to global sea level ris

Pair-Hopping Mechanism for Layered Superconductors

We propose a possible charge fluctuation effect expected in layered superconducting materials. In the multireference density functional theory, relevant fluctuation channels for the Josephson coupling between superconducting layers include the interlayer pair hopping derived from the Coulomb repulsion. When interlayer single-electron tunneling processes are irrelevant in the Kohn-Sham electronic band structure calculation, the two-body effective interactions stabilize a superconducting phase. This state is also regarded as a valence-bond solid in a bulk electronic state. The hidden order parameters coexist with the superconducting order parameter when the charging effect of a layer is comparable to the pair hopping. Relevant materials structures favorable for the pair-hopping mechanism are discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. (2009

Power and particle balance during neutral beam injection in TFTR

Detailed boundary plasma measurements on TFTR have been made during a NBI power scan in the range P{sub tot} {equals} 1MW--20MW in the L-mode regime. The behavior of the plasma density {l angle}n{sub e}{r angle}, radiated power P{sub rad}, carbon and deuterium fluxes {Gamma}{sub C}, {Gamma}{sub D}, and {Zeta}{sub eff} can be summarized as, {l angle}n{sub e}{r angle} {proportional to} P{sub tot}{sup {1/2}}, P{sub rad}, {Gamma}{sub C}, {Gamma}{sub D} {proportional to} P{sub tot}, and {Zeta}{sub eff} {approximately} constant. It is shown that central fuelling by the neutral beams plays a minor role in the particle balance of the discharge. More important is the NBI role in the power balance. The TFTR data during NBI originate primarily at the graphite limiter

Foil deposition alpha collector probe for TFTR`s D-T phase

A new foil deposition alpha collector sample probe has been developed for TFTR`s D-T phase. D-T fusion produced alpha particles escaping from the plasma are implanted in nickel foils located in a series of collimating ports on the detector. The nickel foils are removed from the tokamak after exposure to one or more plasma discharges and analyzed for helium content. This detector is intended to provide improved alpha particle energy resolution and pitch angle coverage over existing lost alpha detectors, and to provide an absolutely calibrated cross-check with these detectors. The ability to resolve between separate energy components of alpha particle loss is estimated to be {approx} 20%. A full 360{degree} of pitch angle coverage is provided for by 8 channels having an acceptance range of {approx} 53{degree} per channel. These detectors will be useful in characterizing classical and anomalous alpha losses and any collective alpha instabilities that may be excited during the D-T campaign of TFTR

Distorted magnetic orders and electronic structures of tetragonal FeSe from first-principles

We use the state-of-the-arts density-functional-theory method to study various magnetic orders and their effects on the electronic structures of the FeSe. Our calculated results show that, for the spins of the single Fe layer, the striped antiferromagnetic orders with distortion are more favorable in total energy than the checkerboard antiferromagnetic orders with tetragonal symmetry, which is consistent with known experimental data, and the inter-layer magnetic interaction is very weak. We investigate the electronic structures and magnetic property of the distorted phases. We also present our calculated spin coupling constants and discuss the reduction of the Fe magnetic moment by quantum many-body effects. These results are useful to understand the structural, magnetic, and electronic properties of FeSe, and may have some helpful implications to other FeAs-based materials