Second-order topological insulator and fragile topology in topological circuitry simulation

Second-order topological insulators (SOTIs) are the topological phases of matter in d dimensions that manifest (d-2)-dimensional localized modes at the intersection of the edges. We show that SOTIs can be designed via stacked Chern insulators with opposite chiralities connected by interlayer coupling. To characterize the bulk-corner correspondence, we establish a Jacobian-transformed nested Wilson loop method and an edge theory that are applicable to a wider class of higher-order topological systems. The corresponding topological invariant admits a filling anomaly of the corner modes with fractional charges. The system manifests a fragile topological phase characterized by the absence of a Wannier gap in the Wilson loop spectrum. Furthermore, we argue that the proposed approach can be generalized to multilayers. Our work offers perspectives for exploring and understanding higher-order topological phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The genomic basis of color pattern polymorphism in the Harlequin ladybird

© 2018 The Authors Many animal species comprise discrete phenotypic forms. A common example in natural populations of insects is the occurrence of different color patterns, which has motivated a rich body of ecological and genetic research [1–6]. The occurrence of dark, i.e., melanic, forms displaying discrete color patterns is found across multiple taxa, but the underlying genomic basis remains poorly characterized. In numerous ladybird species (Coccinellidae), the spatial arrangement of black and red patches on adult elytra varies wildly within species, forming strikingly different complex color patterns [7, 8]. In the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis, more than 200 distinct color forms have been described, which classic genetic studies suggest result from allelic variation at a single, unknown, locus [9, 10]. Here, we combined whole-genome sequencing, population-based genome-wide association studies, gene expression, and functional analyses to establish that the transcription factor Pannier controls melanic pattern polymorphism in H. axyridis. We show that pannier is necessary for the formation of melanic elements on the elytra. Allelic variation in pannier leads to protein expression in distinct domains on the elytra and thus determines the distinct color patterns in H. axyridis. Recombination between pannier alleles may be reduced by a highly divergent sequence of ∼170 kb in the cis-regulatory regions of pannier, with a 50 kb inversion between color forms. This most likely helps maintain the distinct alleles found in natural populations. Thus, we propose that highly variable discrete color forms can arise in natural populations through cis-regulatory allelic variation of a single gene. More than 200 distinct color forms have been described in natural populations of the harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis. Gautier et al. show that this variation is controlled by the transcription factor Pannier. Pannier is necessary to produce black pigment, and its expression pattern prefigures the coloration pattern in each color form

Peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and infants: NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe: A prospective European multicentre observational study

BACKGROUND: Little is known about current clinical practice concerning peri-operative red blood cell transfusion in neonates and small infants. Guidelines suggest transfusions based on haemoglobin thresholds ranging from 8.5 to 12 g dl-1, distinguishing between children from birth to day 7 (week 1), from day 8 to day 14 (week 2) or from day 15 (≥week 3) onwards. OBJECTIVE: To observe peri-operative red blood cell transfusion practice according to guidelines in relation to patient outcome. DESIGN: A multicentre observational study. SETTING: The NEonate-Children sTudy of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe (NECTARINE) trial recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. PATIENTS: The data included 5609 patients undergoing 6542 procedures. Inclusion criteria was a peri-operative red blood cell transfusion. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was the haemoglobin level triggering a transfusion for neonates in week 1, week 2 and week 3. Secondary endpoints were transfusion volumes, 'delta haemoglobin' (preprocedure - transfusion-triggering) and 30-day and 90-day morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: Peri-operative red blood cell transfusions were recorded during 447 procedures (6.9%). The median haemoglobin levels triggering a transfusion were 9.6 [IQR 8.7 to 10.9] g dl-1 for neonates in week 1, 9.6 [7.7 to 10.4] g dl-1 in week 2 and 8.0 [7.3 to 9.0] g dl-1 in week 3. The median transfusion volume was 17.1 [11.1 to 26.4] ml kg-1 with a median delta haemoglobin of 1.8 [0.0 to 3.6] g dl-1. Thirty-day morbidity was 47.8% with an overall mortality of 11.3%. CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate lower transfusion-triggering haemoglobin thresholds in clinical practice than suggested by current guidelines. The high morbidity and mortality of this NECTARINE sub-cohort calls for investigative action and evidence-based guidelines addressing peri-operative red blood cell transfusions strategies. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02350348

Le syndrome de fragilité du patient âgé en réanimation (prévalence et impact sur la morbi-mortalité)

La fragilité est un état de vulnérabilité consécutif à une diminution des réserves fonctionnelles des multiples systèmes physiologiques composant l'organisme. Elle entraîne une baisse de la résistance au stress et des capacités de compensation. La principale conséquence est une augmentation du risque d'apparition d événements péjoratifs incluant les chutes, la perte d'autonomie et le décès. L'objectif de cette étude prospective multicentrique était d'une part de déterminer la prévalence du syndrome de fragilité chez les patients âgés de plus de 65 ans hospitalisés en réanimation et d'autre part d'évaluer le retentissement du syndrome de fragilité sur la morbidité et la mortalité de cette population. Notre travail a retrouvé une augmentation de la prévalence du syndrome de fragilité par rapport à la population générale (23 à 59 %). La fragilité était un facteur de risque indépendant de mortalité (HR : 3,29, IC : 1,64 - 6,58 pour la mortalité à 48 heures ; HR : 2,17, IC : 1,30 - 3,63 pour la mortalité à 28 jours et HR : 2,06, IC : 1,23 - 3,45 pour la mortalité à six mois). L'âge n'était pas associé à une surmortalité en réanimation.NANTES-BU Médecine pharmacie (441092101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Apports d'une méthode de fouille de données pour la détection des cancers du sein incidents dans les données du programme de médicalisation des systèmes d'information

International audienceThe objective of this work was to assess the interest of a data mining approach to detect incident breast cancer cases in medico administrative data. Data from the French casemix system (PMSI) were linked with the Isère cancer registry, which was the gold standard to define incident breast cancer. Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) was used to compute combinations of attribute values in the PMSI that could further define algorithm of detection of incident breast cancer. FCA allowed to automatically evaluate any possible combination of attribute values in terms of sensibility and Positive Predictive Value. This method can help experts in quality assessment of medico-economical databases as epidemiological tools

Second-order topological insulator and fragile topology in topological circuitry simulation

Second-order topological insulators (SOTIs) are the topological phases of matter in d dimensions that manifest (d-2)-dimensional localized modes at the intersection of the edges. We show that SOTIs can be designed via stacked Chern insulators with opposite chiralities connected by interlayer coupling. To characterize the bulk-corner correspondence, we establish a Jacobian-transformed nested Wilson loop method and an edge theory that are applicable to a wider class of higher-order topological systems. The corresponding topological invariant admits a filling anomaly of the corner modes with fractional charges. The system manifests a fragile topological phase characterized by the absence of a Wannier gap in the Wilson loop spectrum. Furthermore, we argue that the proposed approach can be generalized to multilayers. Our work offers perspectives for exploring and understanding higher-order topological phenomena

Second-order topological insulator and fragile topology in topological circuitry simulation

Second-order topological insulators (SOTIs) are the topological phases of matter in d dimensions that manifest (d-2)-dimensional localized modes at the intersection of the edges. We show that SOTIs can be designed via stacked Chern insulators with opposite chiralities connected by interlayer coupling. To characterize the bulk-corner correspondence, we establish a Jacobian-transformed nested Wilson loop method and an edge theory that are applicable to a wider class of higher-order topological systems. The corresponding topological invariant admits a filling anomaly of the corner modes with fractional charges. The system manifests a fragile topological phase characterized by the absence of a Wannier gap in the Wilson loop spectrum. Furthermore, we argue that the proposed approach can be generalized to multilayers. Our work offers perspectives for exploring and understanding higher-order topological phenomena

How do invasion syndromes evolve? An experimental evolution approach using the ladybird Harmonia axyridis

Experiments comparing native to introduced populations or distinct introduced populations to each other show that phenotypic evolution is common and often involves a suit of interacting phenotypic traits. We define such sets of traits that evolve in concert and contribute to the success of invasive populations as an ‘invasion syndrome’. The invasive Harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis displays such an invasion syndrome with, for instance, females from invasive populations being larger and heavier than individuals from native populations, allocating more resources to reproduction, and spreading reproduction over a longer lifespan. Invasion syndromes could emerge due to selection acting jointly and directly on a multitude of traits, or due to selection on one or a few key traits that drive correlated indirect responses in other traits. Here, we investigated the degree to which the H. axyridis invasion syndrome would emerge in response to artificial selection on either female body mass or on age at first reproduction, two traits involved in their invasion syndrome. To further explore the interaction between environmental context and evolutionary change in molding the phenotypic response, we phenotyped the individuals from the selection experiments in two environments, one with abundant food resources and one with limited resources. The two artificial selection experiments show that the number of traits showing a correlated response depends upon the trait undergoing direct selection. Artificial selection on female body mass resulted in few correlated responses and hence poorly reproduced the invasion syndrome. In contrast, artificial selection on age at first reproduction resulted in more widespread phenotypic changes, which nevertheless corresponded only partly to the invasion syndrome. The artificial selection experiments also revealed a large impact of diet on the traits, with effects dependent on the trait considered and the selection regime. Overall, our results indicate that direct selection on multiple traits was likely necessary in the evolution of the H. axyridis invasion syndrome. Furthermore, they show the strength of using artificial selection to identify the traits that are correlated in different selective contexts, which represents a crucial first step in understanding the evolution of complex phenotypic patterns, including invasion syndromes

The genomic basis of colour pattern polymorphism in the harlequin ladybird

Many animal species are comprised of discrete phenotypic forms. Understanding the genetic mechanisms generating and maintaining such phenotypic variation within species is essential to comprehending morphological diversity. A common and conspicuous example of discrete phenotypic variation in natural populations of insects is the occurrence of different colour patterns, which has motivated a rich body of ecological and genetic research. The occurrence of dark, i.e. melanic, forms, displaying discrete colour patterns, is found across multiple taxa, but the underlying genomic basis remains poorly characterized. In numerous ladybird species (Coccinellidae), the spatial arrangement of black and orange patches on adult elytra varies wildly within species, forming strikingly different complex colour patterns. In the harlequin ladybird Harmonia axyridis, more than 200 distinct colour forms have been described, which classic genetic studies suggest result from allelic variation at a single, unknown, locus. Here, we combined whole-genome sequencing, population genomics, gene expression and functional analyses, to establish that the gene pannier controls melanic pattern polymorphism in H. axyridis. We show that pannier, which encodes an evolutionary conserved transcription factor, is necessary for the formation of melanic elements on the elytra. Allelic variation in pannier leads to protein expression in distinct domains on the elytra, and thus determines the distinct colour patterns in H. axyridis. Recombination between pannier alleles may be reduced by a highly divergent sequence of ca. 170 kb in the cis-regulatory regions of pannier with a 50 kb inversion between colour forms. This likely helps maintaining the distinct alleles found in natural populations. Thus we propose that highly variable discrete colour forms can arise in natural populations through cis-regulatory allelic variation of a single gene