Seshadri constants on principally polarized abelian surfaces with real multiplication

Seshadri constants on abelian surfaces are fully understood in the case of Picard number one. Little is known so far for simple abelian surfaces of higher Picard number. In this paper we investigate principally polarized abelian surfaces with real multiplication. They are of Picard number two and might be considered the next natural case to be studied. The challenge is to not only determine the Seshadri constants of individual line bundles, but to understand the whole Seshadri function on these surfaces. Our results show on the one hand that this function is surprisingly complex: on surfaces with real multiplication in $$\mathbb {Z}[\sqrt{e}]$$ Z [ e ] it consists of linear segments that are never adjacent to each other—it behaves like the Cantor function. On the other hand, we prove that the Seshadri function is invariant under an infinite group of automorphisms, which shows that it does have interesting regular behavior globally.

Genesis of trondhjemite by low-pressure low-melt fraction anatexis of hornblende-gabbro at Alvand Plutonic Complex (Hamedan, NW Iran): insights from geochemical modelling

Amphibole-dominated dehydration melting of gabbro is the primary process responsible for the genesis of adakites, low-K tonalites, modern trondhjemites, and plagiogranites as well as Archean tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite suites that represent the earliest examples of continental crust. Previous literature has mostly focused on the role of Al-rich amphibole during anatexis of a mafic source and many of these studies have investigated this process through experimental melting runs. However, due to experimental boundary conditions, little is known about partial melting of amphibole-bearing mafic rock at temperatures < 800°C for upper crustal conditions (pressure < 500 MPa). Classic and forward thermobarometric modelling suggests that in situ trondhjemite leucosomes, hosted by Cheshmeh-Ghasaban mafic metatexites (Alvand Plutonic Complex, Hamedan, NW Iran), represent a rare natural case study of a low-temperature incipient amphibole-dominated anatectic event of a mafic source with a primary assemblage (Pl+Hbl+Cpx+Bt+Opx) typical of a hornblende-bearing gabbroic rock.

Do expert clinicians make the best managers? Evidence from hospitals in Denmark, Australia and Switzerland

IntroductionHospital quality rests on the morale and productivity of those who work in them. It is therefore important to try to understand the kinds of team leaders that create high morale within hospitals.MethodsThis study collects and examines data on 3000 physicians in hospitals from Denmark, Australia and Switzerland. It estimates regression equations to study the statistical predictors of levels of doctors’ job satisfaction, their intentions to quit or stay in their current hospital and their assessment of the leadership quality of their immediate manager. A particular concern of this study is to probe the potential role played by clinical expertise among those in charge of other physicians.ResultsWhen led by managers with high clinical expertise, hospital physicians are (1) more satisfied with their jobs, (2) more satisfied with their supervisors’ effectiveness and (3) less likely to wish to quit their current job. These findings are robust to adjustment for potential confounders, including age and job seniority, and pass a variety of statistical checks (including clustering of SEs and checking for omitted variable bias). They are replicated in each of the three nations.ConclusionPhysicians are happier with their jobs when led by outstanding clinical experts. It is not sufficient, it appears from this evidence, for leaders merely to be clinicians. This suggests that—though only an idealised and presumably infeasible randomised experiment could allow complete certainty—there is a natural case for managers within a hospital hierarchy to be drawn from the ranks of those who are themselves outstanding clinicians.

Views of Fiqh Sosial on Cooperation in the Construction of Inter-Religious Houses of Worship

There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs in the Village of Tunahan, Keling, Jepara is a collaboration carried out by interfaith communities in building houses of worship. This phenomenon is very interesting to study using the point of view of Fiqh Sosial in accordance with the spirit of maqashid sharia and the benefit it carries in its methodology. This research is a qualitative research that leads to the study of a natural case that occurs in the community, namely the cooperation in the construction of places of worship between religions which is carried out alternately, the results of this research are carried out descriptively verification. From the results of the analysis carried out, this study produces several conclusions. First, the cooperation in building houses of worship between religions in Tunahan Village is a manifestation of human manifestation as social beings who have a natural need for each other. Second, in the concept of Fiqh Sosial, cooperation in the construction of places of worship between religions in Tunahan Village is a form of the implementation of human duties to prosper the earth which is oriented towards harmony and brotherhood so as to increase better religious activities. Third, seeing the many cases of religious intolerance that still occur in this country, religious harmony is one of the basic human needs (dharuriyyah) that must be realized through various actions.

Is stage-gay queerbaiting? The politics of performative homoeroticism in emo bands

Queerbaiting is a fast-expanding topic in media and cultural studies. In 2015, this author attempted to define queerbaiting as a strategy by which writers and networks attempt to gain the patronage of queer viewers via the suggestion of queer relationships, before denying and laughing off the possibility. Joseph Brennan’s 2019 edited volume has greatly developed the concept of queerbaiting to include a range of meanings, from media industries’ pledges of allegiance to LGBT causes that are not delivered upon to courting queer viewers via paratexts that imply queer relationships that don’t exist in text. Applying the concept of queerbaiting to bands complicates these ideas, as the “truth” or “delivery” of queer representation lies not in a fictional text but the public persona of real performers. Through an examination of stage-gay, the notorious practice of queer performativity on stage by straight performers in the emo music subculture, I investigate how a restrictive notion of “truth” in discussions of queerbaiting can actually close off the very possibilities of transformation and open-ended configurations of sexuality that Alexander Doty’s formulation of queerness promised. Emo bands are the natural case study here, as emo is an offshoot of hardcore and punk that sought to complicate the hegemonic masculinities dominating those genres, both in its musical and lyric content, and the public and paratextual performativity of its artists.

A Database of Laboratory Analogue Models of Caldera Collapse Testing the Role of Inherited Structures

Since caldera collapse deformation is extremely difficult to study in real time - due to the high deformation rates that characterize this process and the difficult access to the caldera structures-analogue modeling has been widely used during past decades to integrate field data and, more recently, remote-sensing data (e.g., InSAR). However, the relationships between caldera collapse and inherited discontinuities, such as inherited crustal faults, remain poorly investigated. We therefore provide a new dataset of analogue models that aims to specifically address this issue and that can be potentially compared with literature and natural case studies worldwide. We present a dataset of 13 analogue models of caldera collapse investigating the interactions between caldera collapse processes and inherited crustal discontinuities. The dataset is composed of raw data and elaborations that can be used to qualitatively visualize and/or quantitatively analyze model deformation through the use of top-view photos, digital elevation models (DEM) and digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV).

Impact of LHC Higgs couplings measurements on bosonic decays of the neutral Higgs sector in the scNMSSM

We analyze the Next-to-minimal supersymmetric Standard Model with Grand unification boundary conditions under current theoretical and experimental constraints. We compute the mass spectrum of the model and focus on the three lightest particles in the Higgs sector (two CP-even scalars, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and one CP-odd, [Formula: see text]). The reduced couplings of such particles, singlet-doublet components, their branching ratios to bosons and reduced cross-section to photons and massive gauge bosons via gluon fusion are thoroughly and systematically scrutinized. Our analysis is focused on the parameter space where the singlet-doublet coupling [Formula: see text] is as large as possible (keeping the perturbativity bound intact) and the ratio between the vacuum expectation values of the up-type and down-type Higgses [Formula: see text] is as small as possible, which is the region representing the most natural case of the NMSSM. We show the impact of recent constraints from the LHC on the SM-Higgs couplings to bosons and fermions on the parameter space of the model and the consequent implications on the Higgs sector. The results show that while the model is still able to account for current data, and provide an opportunity for discovery of extended Higgs sectors, recent LHC Higgs couplings constraints rule-out parts of the parameter space where [Formula: see text] (non-SM-like) and [Formula: see text] are non-singlet with masses below 400 GeV.

ParC, a New Partitioning Protein, Is Necessary for the Active Form of ParA From Myxococcus pMF1 Plasmid

The ParABS partitioning system, a main driver of DNA segregation in bacteria, employs two proteins, ParA and ParB, for plasmid partition. The pMF1 plasmid from Myxococcus fulvus 124B02 has a par operon encoding a small acidic protein, ParC, in addition to type I ParA and ParB homologs. Here, we show that expression of parC upstream of parA (as in the natural case), but not ectopic expression, is essential for the plasmid inheritance in Myxococcus cells. Co-expression of parC upstream of parA was determined to form a soluble ParC–ParA heterodimer at a 1:1 ratio, while individual expression of parA or co-expression of parA with ectopic parC formed insoluble ParA proteins. Purified ParA proteins alone had no ATPase activity and was easily dimerized, while mixing ParA with ParC formed the ParC–ParA heterodimer with the ATPase and polymerization activities. Fusing ParC and ParA also produced soluble proteins and some chimeras restored the ATPase activity and plasmid inheritance. The results highlight that proximal location of parC before parA is critical to realize the functions of ParA in the partition of Myxococcus plasmid pMF1 and shed light on a new mechanism to realize a protein function by two separate proteins.

Recurrent mutations in SARS-CoV-2 genomes isolated from mink point to rapid host-adaptation

Severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, jumped into humans from an unknown animal reservoir in late 2019. In line with other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 has the potential to infect a broad range of hosts. SARS-CoV-2 genomes have now been isolated from cats, dogs, lions, tigers and minks. SARS-CoV-2 seems to transmit particularly well in mink farms with outbreaks reported in Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, the USA and Denmark. Genomic data from SARS-CoV-2 isolated from infected minks provides a natural case study of a secondary host jump of the virus, in this case from humans to animals, and occasionally back again. We screened published SARS-CoV-2 genomes isolated from minks for the presence of recurrent mutations common in mink but infrequent in SARS-CoV-2 genomes isolated from human infections. We identify 23 recurrent mutations including three nonsynonymous mutations in the Receptor Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that independently emerged at least four times but are only rarely observed in human lineages. The repeat emergence of mutations across phylogenetically distinct lineages of the virus isolated from minks points to ongoing adaptation of SARS-CoV-2 to a new host. The rapid acquisition and spread of SARS-CoV-2 mutations in minks suggests that if a similar phenomenon of host adaptation had occurred upon its jump into humans, those human-specific mutations would likely have reached fixation already before the first SARS-CoV-2 genomes were generated.Data SummaryAll genome assemblies considered in this manuscript are openly available on registration with GISAID (https://www.gisaid.org). Information on the included assemblies, including the accessions used in the global analysis are provided in Tables S1-S2.

Active Flow Control on a Square-Back Road Vehicle

An experimental investigation focused on the manipulation of the wake generated by a square back car model is presented. Four continuously-blowing rectangular slot jets were mounted on the rear face of a 1:10 commercial van model. Load cell measurements evidence drag reduction for different forcing configurations, reaching a maximum of 12% for lateral and bottom jets blowing. The spectral analysis of the pressure fluctuations evidence, for all forced cases, an energy attenuation with respect to the natural case, especially close to the shedding frequency. An energy budget highlighted the most efficient forcing configurations accounting for both the drag reduction and the power required to feed the blowing system. Two main configurations are considered: the maximum drag reduction and the best compromise, yielding 5% drag reduction and a convenient energy balance. Particle Image Velocimetry (pPIV) and stereoscopic PIV (sPIV) experiments were performed allowing the three-dimensional reconstruction of the wake in the three considered configurations. Consistently with static and fluctuating pressure measurements, sPIV results reveal a dramatic change in the wake structure when the jets blow in the maximum drag reduction configuration. Conversely, the best compromise configuration reveals a wake structure similar to the natural one.