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As a recognized Mycobacterium bovis maintenance host, the African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) poses transmission risks to livestock, humans and other wildlife. Early detection of M. bovis infection is critical for limiting its spread. Currently, tests detecting cell-mediated immune responses are used for diagnosis in buffaloes. However, these may have suboptimal sensitivity or specificity, depending on the blood stimulation method. Recent evidence suggests that assays using combinations of host cytokine biomarkers may increase diagnostic performance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the application of a MILLIPLEX

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in freshwaters is recognised as a significant and active component of the global carbon budget. DOM exported from terrestrial ecosystems may be compositionally and functionally altered by chemical and biological reactions as it is transported downstream. The processes affecting DOM in headwater streams remain uncertain but are potentially highly variable depending on DOM composition and nutrient availability as a function of soils, land-use, and human pressures. To investigate variability of DOM reactivity we took water samples from two contrasting headwater catchments, considered functional ‘end-members’ for DOM export: one rich in aromatic DOM and low in inorganic nutrients (peatland), and another (nearby) catchment characterized by less aromatic DOM and high nutrient loadings (agricultural grassland). Under controlled laboratory conditions, we evaluated the effects of light, presence/absence of aquatic biota and nutrient enrichment on short-term changes in DOM quantity and quality in these samples. For the peat stream, exposure to sunlight (with UV) resulted in net abiotic DOM removal, whereas in the agricultural stream it led to net biological DOM production. Nutrient addition accelerated DOM production in both streams. We conclude that in-stream changes in DOM quantity and quality represent the net effect of multiple consumption and production processes whose relative importance is strongly influenced by source-dependent DOM composition and environmental factors such as inorganic nutrient content and sunlight exposure. Our findings suggest that headwater streams may be more active processors of carbon and nutrients than presumed hitherto.

The concept of Perpendicular Shape Anisotropy STT-MRAM (PSA-STT-MRAM) has been recently proposed as a solution to enable the downsize scalability of STT-MRAM devices beyond the sub-20 nm technology node. For conventional p-STT-MRAM devices with sub-20 nm diameters, the perpendicular anisotropy arising from the MgO/CoFeB interface becomes too weak to ensure thermal stability of the storage layer. In addition, this interfacial anisotropy rapidly decreases with increasing temperature which constitutes a drawback in applications with a large range of operating temperatures. Here, we show that by using a PSA based storage layer, the source of anisotropy is much more robust against thermal fluctuations than the interfacial anisotropy, which allows considerable reduction of the temperature dependence of the coercivity. From a practical point of view, this is very interesting for applications having to operate on a wide range of temperatures (e.g. automotive -40 °C/+150 °C).

Correlation between off-axis electron holography and atom probe tomography (APT) provides morphological, chemical and electrical information about Mg doping (p-type) in gallium nitride (GaN) layers that have been grown at different temperatures at a nanometric scale. APT allows access to the three-dimensional distribution of atoms and their chemical nature. In particular, this technique allows visualisation of the Mg-rich clusters observed in p-doped GaN layers grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition. As the layer growth temperature increases, the cluster density decreases but their size indicted by the number of atoms increases. Moreover, APT reveals that threading dislocations are decorated with Mg atoms. Off-axis electron holography provides complementary information about the electrical activity of the Mg doping. As only a small fraction of dopant atoms are ionised at room temperature, this fraction is increased by annealing the specimen to 400 °C in situ in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). A strong reduction of the dopant electrical activity is observed for increases in the layer growth temperature. The correlation of APT with TEM-based techniques was shown to be a unique approach in order to investigate how the growth temperature affects both the chemical distribution and electrical activity of Mg dopant atoms.

This paper summarizes the results and methodology of a 5G essentiality survey that estimates the total number of patent families (excluding Ericsson, which funded this study) that have a patent with at least one claim that is essential to the 5G consumer mobile smartphone as of January 2020. In total, 200 randomly selected patent families were reviewed, with 8.0 percent found to contain at least one claim likely essential to a 5G NR smartphone. Applying this essentiality rate to the declared 5G patents from which the 200 patent families were selected results in a total estimate of approximately 746 patent families likely essential to a 5G NR smartphone (excluding those owned by Ericsson). We understand that Ericsson funded this study to estimate the total landscape outside of Ericsson. We further understand that Ericsson prepared claim charts for its own patent families evidencing essentiality to a 5G NR smartphone. We estimate Ericsson’s share of patent families likely essential to a 5G NR smartphone using the number of claim charts prepared by Ericsson and the results of this survey.

International audience; The fabrication of muti-gigabit magnetic random access memory (MRAM) chips requires the patterning of magnetic tunnel junctions at very small dimensions (sub-30 nm) and very dense pitch. This remains a challenge due to the difficulty in etching magnetic tunnel junction stacks. We earlier proposed a strategy to circumvent this problem by depositing the magnetic tunnel junction material on prepatterned metallic pillars, the junction being then naturally shaped during deposition. Once electrically contacted, the deposit on top of the pillars constitutes the magnetic storage element of the memory cell. However, in this process, magnetic material is also deposited in the trenches between the pillars that might affect the memory cell behaviour. Here we study the magnetic interactions between the deposit on top of the pillars and in the trenches by electron holography, at room temperature and up to 325 °C. Supplied by models, we show that the additional material in the trenches is not perturbing the working principle of the memory and even plays a role of flux absorber which reduces the crosstalk between neighboring dots. Besides, in the studied sample, the magnetization of the 1.4 nm thick storage layer of the dots is found to switch from out-of-plane to an in-plane configuration above 125 °C, while gradually decreasing with temperature. Electron holography is shown to constitute a very efficient tool for characterizing the micromagnetic configuration of the storage layer in MRAM cells.

International audience; The distribution and electrical activity of p-type doping (Mg) in gallium nitride (GaN) grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition was investigated by correlating atom probe tomography (APT) and off-axis electron holography. APT results revealed that high Mg concentrations promote the formation of Mg-rich clusters. This is associated with the formation of pyramidal inversion domains (PIDs). The direct measurement of the doping concentration outside the clusters provided by APT suggests a saturation in the p-type electrical activity for Mg concentrations above 7 x 10 19 cm-3. Maps of the electrostatic potential provided by off-axis electron holography confirm that the highest carrier concentration was achieved in the regions with the highest dopant concentration of 2 x 10 20 cm-3 , despite the presence of a high density of Mg-rich clusters revealed by APT. The correlation of these techniques suggests that PIDs are not the major cause of the reduction in electrostatic potential.

InGaN/GaN nanostructures form the active region of III-nitride emitters (light emitting diodes, laser diodes, single photon emitters) in the visible spectral range. In order to understand the optical performance of these nanostructures it is necessary to obtain a direct correlation of alloy distribution and optical features. With this purpose in mind, laser-assisted atom probe tomography (La-APT) is a unique tool to visualize the three-dimensional distribution of chemical species at the nanometer scale. Recent advances in this technique also offer the possibility of recording simultaneously the photoluminescence spectrum of the

International audience; Interface-type oxide-based valence-change memories (VCMs) with analog switching capabilities and memory transience are interesting candidates to be used as artificial synapses for the hardware implementation of artificial neural networks (ANNs) with short-term synaptic dynamics. Here, the mixed ionic-electronic conducting (MIEC) oxide La2NiO4+δ (L2NO4) is used to rationally design a new volatile interface-type valence-change memory based on a tunable p–n junction between a p-type MIEC oxide and an n-type “oxygen-reservoir” oxide. The memory does not require a forming step to trigger memristance and exhibits a highly multilevel and bipolar analog-type change in resistance, which can be continuously varied by over two orders of magnitude. A distinctive two-step memory transience where the resistance of the unbiased device increases before relaxing back to a lower resistance state was measured and has been attributed to the Fick diffusion of oxygen ions, restoring the drift-induced concentration gradients at the Ti/L2NO4 interface.

Extensive ecosystem restoration is increasingly seen as being central to conserving biodiversity1 and stabilizing the climate of the Earth2. Although ambitious national and global targets have been set, global priority areas that account for spatial variation in benefits and costs have yet to be identified. Here we develop and apply a multicriteria optimization approach that identifies priority areas for restoration across all terrestrial biomes, and estimates their benefits and costs. We find that restoring 15% of converted lands in priority areas could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while sequestering 299 gigatonnes of CO2—30% of the total CO2 increase in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. The inclusion of several biomes is key to achieving multiple benefits. Cost effectiveness can increase up to 13-fold when spatial allocation is optimized using our multicriteria approach, which highlights the importance of spatial planning. Our results confirm the vast potential contributions of restoration to addressing global challenges, while underscoring the necessity of pursuing these goals synergistically. Fil: Strassburg, Bernardo B. N.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Iribarrem, Alvaro. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Beyer, Hawthorne L.. The University of Queensland; Australia. University of Queensland; Australia Fil: Cordeiro, Carlos Leandro. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Crouzeilles, Renato. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Jakovac, Catarina C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Braga Junqueira, André. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Lacerda, Eduardo. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal Fluminense; Brasil Fil: Latawiec, Agnieszka E.. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Balmford, Andrew. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Brooks, Thomas M.. University Of The Philippines Los Banos; Filipinas. Institute For Marine And Antarctic Studies; Australia. International Union For Conservation Of Nature And Natural Resources; Suiza Fil: Butchart, Stuart H. M.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Chazdon, Robin L.. University Of The Sunshine Coast; Australia. University of Connecticut; Estados Unidos Fil: Erb, Karl-Heinz. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; Austria Fil: Brancalion, Pedro. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil Fil: Buchanan, Graeme. Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds; Reino Unido Fil: Cooper, David. Secretariat Of The Convention On Biological Diversity; Canadá Fil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina Fil: Donald, Paul F.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos Fil: Kapos, Valerie. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino Unido Fil: Leclère, David. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; Austria Fil: Miles, Lera. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino Unido Fil: Obersteiner, Michael. Oxford Social Sciences Division; Reino Unido. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; Austria Fil: Plutzar, Christoph. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; Austria. Universidad de Viena; Austria Fil: de M. Scaramuzza, Carlos Alberto. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil Fil: Scarano, Fabio R.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: Visconti, Piero. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; Austria

Since the Sandinistas returned to power in Nicaragua in 2007, ideas about rights have been central to the governing party’s populist project. The rights in question are understood to require the production of ‘organized’ citizens who become integrated into the mechanisms of popular governance. But for rural Sandinistas who participated in the revolutionary agrarian reform of the 1980s, rights are about land. For some, realizing rights has required disentangling themselves from local organs of organized life, resulting in their exclusion from the government’s populist model of rights. Contending ideas about how to legitimately ground the rights that result—and the effort of these excluded Sandinistas to make revolutionary ‘struggle’ the basis of entitlements— trouble a standard anthropological model that views abstract rights as subsequently particularized in practice.

The electric potential, electric field, and charge density of a monolayer of MoS

Background Staphylococcus aureus causes serious health care– and community-associated disease, requiring improved preventive measures such as vaccines. The investigational S. aureus 4-antigen vaccine (SA4Ag), comprising capsular polysaccharide serotypes 5 and 8 (CP5 and CP8) conjugated to CRM197, recombinant mutant clumping factor A (rmClfA), and recombinant manganese transporter protein C (rP305A or rMntC), was well tolerated, inducing robust functional immune responses to all 4 antigens through 12 months postvaccination. This is a serological extension study through 36 months postvaccination. Methods In 2 previous studies, healthy adults received SA4Ag, SA3Ag (without rMntC), or placebo; serology was also assessed at ~24 and ~36 months postvaccination. Functional immune responses (antibody responses that facilitate killing of S. aureus or neutralize S. aureus virulence mechanisms) were assessed with opsonophagocytic activity killing assays (CP5 or CP8) and a fibrinogen-binding inhibition assay (ClfA). A competitive Luminex immunoassay assessed ClfA and rMntC responses. Adverse events within 48 hours of blood draw were recorded. Results Four hundred forty subjects (18–64 years old, 255; 65–85 years old, 185) were enrolled. At 24 and 36 months postvaccination, subjects receiving SA4Ag had substantially higher geometric mean titers (GMTs) for CP5, CP8, and ClfA vs baseline; geometric mean fold rises (GMFRs) from baseline to month 36 were 2.7–8.1. For rMntC, 36-month GMTs declined from peak levels but remained above baseline for all SA4Ag groups; GMFRs from baseline to month 36 were 1.8 and 1.5 in the younger and older cohorts, respectively. Conclusions Persistent functional immune responses to S. aureus antigens were observed through 36 months in healthy adults. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01643941 and NCT01364571.

Mobile technologies may be able to provide service members and veterans with the knowledge necessary to transition to civilian life successfully in a cost-effective and accessible manner. Although a number of transition applications (apps) currently exist in the marketplace, to our knowledge, none of them has been evaluated for quality or effectiveness. For this study, 6 experts used the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS; Stoyanov et al., 2015) to evaluate the quality of 16 transition apps. The majority of these apps focused on providing service members with resource lists, employment assistance, or assistance with disability applications. Only 2 apps had been downloaded more than 10,000 times on GooglePlay, with the majority being downloaded between 100 and 1,000 times. Only 1 app received an above-average overall quality rating, and half received below-average overall quality ratings. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that researchers and developers create more high-quality apps by focusing on education and health-care transition issues, as well as work to better disseminate their products. (PsycINFO Database Record

Background Malignant pleural effusion affects more than 750,000 persons each year across Europe and the United States. Pleurodesis with the administration of talc in hospitalized patients is the most common treatment, but indwelling pleural catheters placed for drainage offer an ambulatory alternative. We examined whether talc administered through an indwelling pleural catheter was more effective at inducing pleurodesis than the use of an indwelling pleural catheter alone. Methods Over a period of 4 years, we recruited patients with malignant pleural effusion at 18 centers in the United Kingdom. After the insertion of an indwelling pleural catheter, patients underwent drainage regularly on an outpatient basis. If there was no evidence of substantial lung entrapment (nonexpandable lung, in which lung expansion and pleural apposition are not possible because of visceral fibrosis or bronchial obstruction) at 10 days, patients were randomly assigned to receive either 4 g of talc slurry or placebo through the indwelling pleural catheter on an outpatient basis. Talc or placebo was administered on a single-blind basis. Follow-up lasted for 70 days. The primary outcome was successful pleurodesis at day 35 after randomization. Results The target of 154 patients undergoing randomization was reached after 584 patients were approached. At day 35, a total of 30 of 69 patients (43%) in the talc group had successful pleurodesis, as compared with 16 of 70 (23%) in the placebo group (hazard ratio, 2.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.23 to 3.92; P = 0.008). No significant between- group differences in effusion size and complexity, number of inpatient days, mortality, or number of adverse events were identified. No significant excess of blockages of the indwelling pleural catheter was noted in the talc group. Conclusions Among patients without substantial lung entrapment, the outpatient administration of talc through an indwelling pleural catheter for the treatment of malignant pleural effusion resulted in a significantly higher chance of pleurodesis at 35 days than an indwelling catheter alone, with no deleterious effects.

African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer) are wildlife maintenance hosts of Mycobacterium bovis, the cause of bovine tuberculosis. Consequently, M. bovis infected buffaloes pose a transmission risk for cattle and other wildlife species. Previously, a modification to the Qiagen QuantiFERON®-TB Gold (QFT) system, using QFT tubes and an in-house bovine interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) ELISA, was evaluated for the detection of M. bovis infection in buffaloes. Subsequently, Qiagen has developed a commercially available cattletype® IFN-gamma ELISA for the detection of antigen-specific IFN-γ release in ruminants. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of QFT tubes and the cattletype® IFN-gamma ELISA, in a cattletype IFN-γ release assay (IGRA), to detect M. bovis infection in African buffaloes. The test agreements between the cattletype IGRA, single comparative intradermal skin test (SCITT) and Bovigam® 1G IGRA in two M. bovis-exposed buffalo populations (n = 134 and n = 92) were calculated and κ coefficients ranged from 0.65 (95% CI 0.48–0.82) to 0.86 (95% CI 0.72–0.99). Increasing the QFT incubation time in one M. bovis-exposed buffalo cohort (n = 92), from 20 to 40 h, had no effect on the cattletype IGRA test results. Inter-assay and intra-assay reproducibility determination for the cattletype IGRA produced coefficient of variations (CV)

Here, we use electron beam induced current (EBIC) in a scanning transmission electron microscope to characterize the structure and electronic properties of Al/SiGe and Al/Si-rich/SiGe axial nanowire heterostructures fabricated by thermal propagation of Al in a SiGe nanowire. The two heterostructures behave as Schottky contacts with different barrier heights. From the sign of the beam induced current collected at the contacts, the intrinsic semiconductor doping is determined to be n-type. Furthermore, we find that the silicon-rich double interface presents a lower barrier height than the atomically sharp SiGe/Al interface. With an applied bias, the Si-rich region delays the propagation of the depletion region and presents a reduced free carrier diffusion length with respect to the SiGe nanowire. This behaviour could be explained by a higher residual doping in the Si-rich area. These results demonstrate that scanning transmission electron microscopy EBIC is a powerful method for mapping and quantifying electric fields in micrometer- and nanometer-scale devices.

As part of the conceptual design studies for a European DEMO, different tokamak geometries are being considered. As identified in the EFDA Roadmap to the realisation of Fusion Energy, 2013: “The integration of the Remote Maintenance system within the DEMO plant is an essential task within the DEMO CDA phase. This will involve establishing requirements, functions and interfaces with many other systems to ensure that plant availability and maintainability are considered from the outset.” In order to fulfil this integration requirement different geometries of DEMO have been assessed for their impact on remote maintenance (RM). The aspect ratio and number of TF coils have been identified as the pivotal variables, driving the tokamak geometry, with significant effects on remote maintenance both in terms of technical feasibility and speed of operation. Tokamak geometries with aspect ratios from 2.6 to 4.0 and 16 or 18 TF coils have been compared. The results of this evaluation show that higher aspect ratios and lower numbers of TF coils are beneficial to RM both in terms of technical feasibility and speed of operations. To deliver a maintainable DEMO, efforts must be made to maximize its aspect ratio and minimize the number of TF coils.

The origin of the nanoscale emission inhomogeneities of red emitting InGaN/InGaN quantum wells (QWs) grown directly on a GaN template and on an InGaN on sapphire (InGaNOS) substrate is investigated. InGaNOS is a partly relaxed InGaN pseudo-substrate fabricated by Soitec. As the latter approach provides an interesting optical internal quantum efficiency of 6.5% at 624 nm at 290 K, a deeper study, at the microstructure level, was conducted. The emission inhomogeneities on InGaNOS were highlighted by cathodoluminescence wavelength mappings where three areas were chosen: one emitting at a shorter wavelength, i.e., 588 nm, and two at a longer wavelength, i.e., 607 and 611 nm. Specimens from these zones were extracted by focused ion beam milling to perform cross-sectional characterization techniques. High-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy images demonstrated that, while red emitting areas present homogeneous QWs, shorter wavelength areas exhibit non-uniform QWs, in terms of thickness and In composition. Complementary deformation mappings in the growth direction obtained by geometrical phase analysis show that longer emission wavelengths are originating from homogeneous QWs with an InN mole fraction evaluated at 39.0 ± 1.5%. This result demonstrates the possibility of achieving red emission with a coherent (In,Ga)N alloy when using an adapted substrate. A comparison of identical QWs grown on a GaN template is also given.

International audience; A silicon p-n junction has been mapped using electron beam induced current in both a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) and a conventional scanning electron microscope (SEM). In STEM, the transmission of a higher energy electron beam through the thin specimen leads to better spatial resolution and a more uniform interaction volume than can be achieved in SEM. Better spatial resolution is also achieved in the thin TEM specimens as the diffusion lengths of the minority carriers are much lower than measured in bulk material due to the proximity of specimen surfaces. We further demonstrate that a positive fixed surface charge favors surface recombination of electrons in n-type silicon and induces a surface depletion region in p-type silicon. These results have been compared to off-axis electron holography measurements of the electrostatic potentials and simulations of the internal fields.

© 2017 Landscape Research Group Ltd. The literary map of the Peak District is surprisingly thin. This article explores how this lacuna has been addressed by a range of contemporary writers who have made the Peak District a site of poetic hyperactivity: a landscape of creative processes and practices; projects and poems of place. Paying particular attention to texts by Helen Mort, Mark Goodwin and Alec Finlay, the article contends that much contemporary Peak District poetry is underpinned by imaginative and formal experimentation: a shared commitment to the exploration of new ways of perceiving, practising and representing landscape which is characterised by a collective playfulness. Moreover, the article argues that much contemporary Peak District poetry is shaped by collaboration as the poets placed under critical scrutiny share a preoccupation with finding new creative methodologies to articulate the communal experience of being-in-landscape.

In situ burning (ISB) aided by herding agents is a promising tool for oil spill response in Arctic waters. An advantageous aspect of the herder mediated ISB approach is that the application of herders as well as the subsequent ignition of the slick could potentially be carried out from aerial platforms. This could obviate the need for personnel to conduct operations on the surface near the burn, as well as reduce the response time required to mobilize the spill response equipment, especially in challenging Arctic conditions. In the last decade, several laboratory and field-scale tests have been conducted to prove the efficacy of herder-assisted ISB operations, sometimes achieving burn efficiencies greater than 90 %. However, there have been no field tests of aerial herder application followed by ignition. This paper presents results from a series of field experiments performed in a custom-built test basin 50 km northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, in April 2015. A helicopter was employed to first apply herding agents (Siltech OP-40 or ThickSlick 6535) to Alaska North Slope crude oil slicks in simulated drift ice conditions, and then ignite the herded slicks using a Heli-torch. Two of five test burns yielded measurable outcomes, resulting in 70% - 85% removal of the test oil as it was drifting freely. Three of five test burns did not yield reliably measurable results, as wind action at the site prevented an accurate measurement of free-drifting burn efficiency. An unmanned aircraft, carrying prototypical payloads for herder spraying and in situ burn ignition was also tested. This is the first time successful aerial application of herders for ISB in the Arctic or elsewhere has been accomplished, and furthers the development of better tools for oil spill response in Arctic waters and beyond.

Augmented renal clearance (ARC) is known to influence β-lactam antibiotic pharmacokinetics. This substudy of the BLING-II trial aimed to explore the association between ARC and patient outcomes in a large randomised clinical trial. BLING-II enrolled 432 participants with severe sepsis randomised to receive β-lactam therapy by continuous or intermittent infusion. An 8-h creatinine clearance (CLCr) measured on Day 1 was used to identify ARC, defined as CLCr ≥ 130 mL/min. Patients receiving any form of renal replacement therapy were excluded. Primary outcome was alive ICU-free days at Day 28. Secondary outcomes included 90-day mortality and clinical cure at 14 days following antibiotic cessation. A total of 254 patients were included, among which 45 (17.7%) manifested ARC [median (IQR) CLCr 165 (144–198) mL/min]. ARC patients were younger (P

A series of experiments involving herders and ISB (designated HISB) were conducted at sea on 14th – 15th June 2016, near the Frigg Field in the North Sea. The primary objective of the experiments described in this paper was to demonstrate, at near-full scale, the use of herders followed by in situ burning (ISB) in open water conditions and validate the findings of an earlier field study of herders in conjunction with ISB. Two experimental releases of 6 m3 (approximately 40 barrels) and one of 4 m3 of Grane Blend crude oil were undertaken. The released oil spread out differently on the sea surface in each of the slicks due to slight variations in release conditions and prevailing wind conditions. Herder (ThickSlick 6535) was applied around two of the slicks by spraying from a small boat; a third slick was not herded before ignition. In the first test, approximately 80% of the total amount of thick oil was herded to form a coherent slick with an average oil layer thickness of approximately 3 mm to 5 mm. The second herded slick accounted for 40% of the amount of oil released and resulted in an average layer thickness of approximately 2 mm to 3 mm present as several discrete areas of thick oil. The average oil layer thickness in the non-herded slick was 2.5 mm to 3 mm (under very calm weather conditions) and this slick had also been broken up into several discrete areas of thick oil. Ignition with gelled gasoline igniters was carried out approximately one hour after oil release. All three slicks were successfully ignited. Approximately 3.4 m3 of the available oil in the first herded slick was consumed in three distinct burns, while the second herded slick consumed 0.8 m3 of oil in only one burn. The remaining test involving an unherded slick consumed approximately 1.2 m3 of oil in three burns.

The electrical transport properties of W films obtained through focused ion beam deposition reveal a transition from weakly insulating to metallic behavior for increasing film thickness. At low temperatures, all the films make a transition to the superconducting state. The observed stochastic distribution of the critical superconducting current is related to the occurrence of phase slip processes as documented by the statistical distribution of the depairing current and its temperature dependence according to the thermally activated model of the superconducting phase in a tilted washboard potential.

In-situ burning (ISB) aided by herding agents is a promising tool for oil spill response in Arctic waters. An advantageous aspect of the herder mediated ISB approach is that the application of herders as well as the subsequent ignition of the slick could potentially be carried out from aerial platforms. This could obviate the need for personnel to conduct operations on the surface near the burn, as well as reduce the response time required to mobilize the spill response equipment, especially in difficult Arctic conditions. In the last decade, several laboratory and field-scale tests have been conducted to prove the efficacy of herding agent mediated ISB operations, sometimes achieving burn efficiencies > 90%. However, there have been no reports of aerial herder application followed by ignition. The objectives of this work were to evaluate a proof-of-concept level application of aerial herders and igniters for ISB operations in the Arctic, and to investigate the associated operational and technical challenges. This paper presents results from a series of field experiments performed in a custom-built test basin 50 km northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, in April 2015. A helicopter was employed to first apply herding agents (Siltech OP-40 or ThickSlick 6535) to Alaska North Slope crude oil slicks in simulated drift ice conditions, and then ignite the herded slicks using a heli-torch. Burn efficiency (BE) for the confined field scale in-situ burn tests ranged from 59% to 94% using the gravimetric approach and 73% to 84% using the conservative aerial imagery approaches to evaluate the herder action. The moderately high BE values observed in the field-scale light ice-cover (~ 10%) conditions, establish the effectiveness and promise of aerial application of herders to assist ISB in the Arctic. This is a first account of successful aerial application of herders for ISB in the Arctic or elsewhere, and furthers the development of better tools for oil spill response in Arctic waters and beyond.

Background: People with advanced illness usually want their healthcare where they live—at home—not in the hospital. Innovative models of palliative care that better meet the needs of seriously ill people at lower cost should be explored. Objectives: We evaluated the impact of a home-based palliative care (HBPC) program implemented within an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) on cost and resource utilization. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis to quantify cost savings associated with a HBPC program in a Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO where total cost of care is available. We studied 651 decedents; 82 enrolled in a HBPC program compared to 569 receiving usual care in three New York counties who died between October 1, 2014, and March 31, 2016. We also compared hospital admissions, ER visits, and hospice utilization rates in the final months of life. Results: The cost per patient during the final three months of life was $12,000 lower with HBPC than with usual care ($20,420 vs. $32,420; p = 0.0002); largely driven by a 35% reduction in Medicare Part A ($16,892 vs. $26,171; p = 0.0037). HBPC also resulted in a 37% reduction in Medicare Part B in the final three months of life compared to usual care ($3,114 vs. $4,913; p = 0.0008). Hospital admissions were reduced by 34% in the final month of life for patients enrolled in HBPC. The number of admissions per 1000 beneficiaries per year was 3073 with HBPC and 4640 with usual care (p = 0.0221). HBPC resulted in a 35% increased hospice enrollment rate (p = 0.0005) and a 240% increased median hospice length of stay compared to usual care (34 days vs. 10 days; p

Historically, childbirth was associated with morbidity and mortality, often due to endometritis or puerperal fever. Streptococcus pyogenes was first identified as the cause of puerperal fever by Louis Pasteur, and it remains a virulent and lethal pathogen with a case fatality rate of 15 to 20% [1]. The pathogenesis of postpartum endometritis is believed to be associated with disruption of the woman's mucosal barriers from childbirth and invasion of bacteria either from vaginal flora or from a health care worker's hands [2]. Despite the implementation of hand sanitizing and barrier precautions (gloves), outbreaks of S. pyogenes still occur today [1]. This article provides an overview of the role of S. pyogenes in postpartum infections and describes an outbreak of postpartum endometritis due to S. pyogenes. The case report involved three patients who were admitted to a quaternary care medical center on the same day and, following discharge, were all readmitted with sepsis and endometritis. The bacteria were isolated, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the three S. pyogenes strains were genetically identical.

Understanding the full range of biodiversity patterns from local to global scales, through the study of the drivers of multiscale plant community composition and diversity, is a current goal of biogeography. A synthetic understanding of to what extent vegetation compositional patterns are produced by biotic factors, geography or climate and how these patterns vary across scales is needed. This lack hinders prediction of the effects of climate change in global vegetation. Variation in community composition is examined in relation to climatic difference and geographic distance at hemispheric and continental scales. Vascular plants and bryophytes in 13 mountain regions were analyzed; eight in Europe and five in North America, nine mid-latitude and four oroarctic. Species composition differed between continents and between oroarctic and mid-latitude regions. Patterns of paired regional similarity with distance were significant for all pairs and intercontinental pairs, but not for those within Europe and North America. Climatic variables accounted for most of the variance in vegetation patterns revealed by General Linear Models of ordinations, but geographic variables, of Moran eigenvectors and latitudinal zones, were also important and significant. The effects of geography were typically twice as strong for vascular plants as for bryophytes. The importance of geography at these scales suggests that past evolutionary and ecological processes are as important as current fit to any climatic niche. Interpretation of observations of the impacts of global climate change should recognize geographic context and phylogeny, and policies to mitigate them, such as assisted migration, should be cautious.