Do Regulations Matter in Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic? Lessons from Poland

In this article, we argue that the design and timing of regulatory responses, as well as the adherence of the population to the relevant rules, have a critical impact on the progression and public health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This hypothesis is empirically tested using the example of Poland, a country that experienced, compared to its Western European neighbours, a relatively mild first phase of the pandemic. In this context, we compare Poland with selected countries, including France, Germany, Spain and the UK, and we supplement them with examples from other Visegrad Four (V4) countries – Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. On that basis, we conclude that while the observed differences between the countries in the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic are the result of a multitude of complex and interrelated reasons (such as demographic structure, population density and connectivity or cultural factors), well-designed public health measures, which are implemented early as a part of the proactive strategy that anticipates and reacts quickly to changing circumstances, can effectively decrease the number of COVID-19 infections and related deaths, provided that the adherence of the relevant population is high.

Colony structure, population structure, and sharing of foraging trees in the ant Myrmecia nigriceps (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Foraging ants face many dangers in search of food and often need to defend their prey to ensure the colony’s survival, although ants may also follow a peaceful foraging strategy. A non-aggressive approach is seen in the Australian bull ant Myrmecia nigriceps, in that workers of neighboring nests sometimes share foraging trees. In this study, we observed 31 nests at Mount Majura Nature Reserve in Canberra (Australia), 12 of which shared a foraging tree with at least one other nest in at least one of three nights. We genotyped 360 individuals at five published microsatellite loci and further established a set of nine polymorphic loci for M. nigriceps. Our results revealed a significant correlation between tree sharing and geographical distance between nests. We found no correlation between internest relatedness and tree sharing, geographical distance between nests and internest relatedness, and intranest relatedness and tree sharing. We further investigated the colony structure of M. nigriceps. All colonies were monodomous; the number of queens per colony ranged from one to two, and the number of fathers from one to three. No instances of worker drifting were found in this study.

Reproduction performance, morphometric and structure population of Kuntu buffalo (Bubalis bubalis Merr) in Kampar District, Riau, Indonesia

Yendraliza, Rodiallah M, Zumarni, Elfawati, Hidayati, Kusnadi. 2021. Reproduction performance, morphometric and structure population of Kuntu buffalo (Bubalis bubalis Merr) in Kampar District, Riau, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3370-3377. Kuntu buffalo is one of the germplasm of Riau Province. This study aimed was to determine reproduction performance, potential output, population dynamics, and morphometrics of Kuntu buffalo in Kampar Kiri, Indonesia. The research was conducted in July-October 2019 with materials used in the study were 2.746 buffalo and 1.117 buffalo breeders. The research method used was a survey. The respondents from five locations were determined using a purposive sampling technique. The age at first mating of buffalo 42 ± 0.7 months, the S/C 2.6 ± 1.5 times, calving interval 15.3 ± 2.3 months and calving rate 55.59%. The reproductive efficiency of Kuntu buffalo 96.22%, a natural increase of 55.59%, the net replacements rates (male and female) were 289.60% and 446.59%, respectively and potential output of 39.24% was obtained. The population dynamics of the Kuntu buffalo from 2014 to 2019 experienced a growth of 48% with prediction of the population in 2023 is 7.277 heads. The average body size of male and female Kuntu buffalo is small. The conclusion of Kuntu buffalo reproduction is still efficient with the availability of substitute livestock exceeding the need of livestock and the natural increase of Kuntu buffalo population is very high.

Origin of Magnetism in γ-FeSi2/Si(111) Nanostructures

Magnetism has recently been observed in nominally nonmagnetic iron disilicide in the form of epitaxial γ-FeSi2 nanostructures on Si(111) substrate. To explore the origin of the magnetism in γ-FeSi2/Si(111) nanostructures, we performed a systematic first-principles study based on density functional theory. Several possible factors, such as epitaxial strain, free surface, interface, and edge, were examined. The calculations show that among these factors, only the edge can lead to the magnetism in γ-FeSi2/Si(111) nanostructures. It is shown that magnetism exhibits a strong dependency on the local atomic structure of the edge. Furthermore, magnetism can be enhanced by creating multiple-step edges. In addition, the results also reveal that edge orientation can have a significant effect on magnetism. These findings, thus, provide insights into a strategy to tune the magnetic properties of γ-FeSi2/Si(111) nanostructures through controlling the structure, population, and orientation of the edges.

Energising Mexico: Historical Energy Consumption, Transitions and Economic Growth 1880-2015

This paper employs archival data to reconstruct the historical pattern of primary energyconsumption in Mexico during the 1880-2015 period. The study highlights the characteristics ofthe energy transitions between different primary energy sources and offers the first account of bothtraditional and modern energy carriers. It performs a trend and level analysis to explain how theeconomic structure, population and economic growth have impacted energy intensity andproductivity. Thus, the paper provides a first approximation to the long-term relationship betweeneconomic growth and energy utilisation in Mexico. The period 1880- 1920 saw both growths inpopulation and income increase energy consumption, the period 1921-1960 is mostly driven byincome growth, 1961-2000, both growths in population and income drive consumption, andfinally, between 2001 and 2015, population growth is the dominant force.

Diffusion and mortality of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Italian Provinces: The role of human capital, families' structure, population mobility and local healthcare systems

L'Italia è stato uno dei Paesi più colpiti dalla prima ondata della pandemia di Covid-19, sia in termini di contagi che di mortalità. Tuttavia, la diffusione della pandemia e il tasso di mortalità sono stati piuttosto disomogenei tra le province italiane, nonostante un intenso flusso di movimenti della popolazione tra le diverse aree geografiche del paese prima del lockdown dell'11 marzo 2020. Questo articolo si propone di individuare alcune delle cause dell'eterogeneità geografica del contagio e del tasso di mortalità, concentrandosi in particolare sul ruolo del capitale umano, dell'interazione intergenerazionale all'interno delle famiglie, della mobilità della popolazione dopo la decisione di lockdown e delle caratteristiche dei sistemi sanitari a livello locale. Tramite l'utilizzo di tecniche panel, troviamo che la mobilità della popolazione, parzialmente continuata anche con il lockdown, ha avuto effetti disomogenei sull'espansione del contagio, mentre le esternalità del capitale umano e l'estensione del sistema sanitario pubblico a livello locale sono stati fattori importanti per ridurre la mortalità da Covid-19. L'elevata integrazione intergenerazionale delle famiglie italiane non sembra aver aumentato i tassi di contagio.

Modeling the Spread of Epidemics Based on Cellular Automata

Mathematical modeling is a powerful tool to study the process of the spread of infectious diseases. Among various mathematical methods for describing the spread of infectious diseases, the cellular automaton makes it possible to explicitly simulate both the spatial and temporal evolution of epidemics with intuitive local rules. In this paper, a model is proposed and realized on a cellular automata platform, which is applied to simulate the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for different administrative districts. A simplified social community is considered with varying parameters, e.g., sex ratio, age structure, population movement, incubation and treatment period, immunity, etc. COVID-19 confirmation data from New York City and Iowa are adopted for model validation purpose. It can be observed that the disease exhibits different spread patterns in different cities, which could be well accommodated by this model. Then, scenarios under different control strategies in the next 100 days in Iowa are simulated, which could provide a valuable reference for decision makers in identifying the critical factors for future infection control in Iowa.

Changes in the structure of Armenia’s labour resources between 1993 and 2020

The article characterises the structure of Armenia’s labour resources in the period between1993 and 2020. It aims to assess the changes on the Armenian labour market by means of a deductive analysis of historical data and observation of changes in the structure of resources based on generally available macroeconomic data. The authors evaluate these processes against the background of demographic and economic changes, by presenting and describing statistical data. Variables such as data on the economic situation of the country (income capita, inflation rate and unemployment), demographic data (employment structure, population structure, migration) are used for the analysis. The analysis demonstrates that the COVID-19 pandemic and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict led to an economic downturn in Armenia, with GDP per capita falling, and inflation rising. A more rapid decrease in employment could be observed in 2020, manifesting itself in a declining number of employees, self-employed and entrepreneurs. A much more significant drop in employment was observed in urban areas than in the countryside, although the total number of agricultural workers in Armenia decreased compared to the 1990s. The governmental measures and programmes aimed at protecting jobs and businesses and mitigating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be insufficient. In 2020, fewer citizens emigrated from Armenia as a result of the state of the emergency maintained from March to June 2020 and the closing of state borders.

A Stage-Structure Rosenzweig-MacArthur Model with Effect of Prey Refuge

We proposed and analyzed a stage-structure Rosenzweig-MacArthur model incorporating a prey refuge. It is assumed that the prey is a stage-structure population consisting of two compartments known as immature prey and mature prey. The model incorporates the functional response Holling type-II. In this work, we investigate all the biologically feasible equilibrium points, and it is shown that the system has three equilibrium points. Sufficient conditions for the local stability of the non-negative equilibrium point of the model are also derived. All points are conditionally locally asymptotically stable. By constructing Jacobian matrix and determined eigenvalues, we analyzed the local stability of the trivial equilibrium and non-predator equilibrium points. Specifically for coexistence equilibrium point, Routh-Hurwitz criterion used to analyze local stability. In addtion, we investigated the effect of immature prey refuge. Our mathematical analysis exhibits that immature prey refuge have played a crucial role in the behavioral system. When the effect of immature prey refuge (constant m) increases, it is can stabilize non-predator equilibrium point, where all the species can not exists together. And conversely, if contant m decreases, it is can stabilize coexistence equilibrium point then all the species can exists together. The work is completed with a numerical simulation to confirmed analitical results