Intensification of Tilted Tropical Cyclones Over Relatively Cool and Warm Oceans in Idealized Numerical Simulations

A cloud resolving model is used to examine the intensification of tilted tropical cyclones from depression to hurricane strength over relatively cool and warm oceans under idealized conditions where environmental vertical wind shear has become minimal. Variation of the SST does not substantially change the time-averaged relationship between tilt and the radial length scale of the inner core, or between tilt and the azimuthal distribution of precipitation during the hurricane formation period (HFP). By contrast, for systems having similar structural parameters, the HFP lengthens superlinearly in association with a decline of the precipitation rate as the SST decreases from 30 to 26 °C. In many simulations, hurricane formation progresses from a phase of slow or neutral intensification to fast spinup. The transition to fast spinup occurs after the magnitudes of tilt and convective asymmetry drop below certain SST-dependent levels following an alignment process explained in an earlier paper. For reasons examined herein, the alignment coincides with enhancements of lower–middle tropospheric relative humidity and lower tropospheric CAPE inward of the radius of maximum surface wind speed rm. Such moist-thermodynamic modifications appear to facilitate initiation of the faster mode of intensification, which involves contraction of rm and the characteristic radius of deep convection. The mean transitional values of the tilt magnitude and lower–middle tropospheric relative humidity for SSTs of 28-30 °C are respectively higher and lower than their counterparts at 26 °C. Greater magnitudes of the surface enthalpy flux and core deep-layer CAPE found at the higher SSTs plausibly compensate for less complete alignment and core humidification at the transition time.

Host-associated phages disperse across the extraterrestrial analogue Antarctica

Extreme Antarctic conditions provide one of the closest analogues of extraterrestrial environments. Since air and snow samples especially from polar regions yield DNA amounts in the lower picogram range, binning of prokaryotic genomes is challenging and renders studying the dispersal of biological entities across these environments difficult. Here, we hypothesized that dispersal of host-associated bacteriophages (adsorbed, replicating or prophages) across the Antarctic continent can be tracked via their genetic signatures and benefits our understanding of virus and host dispersal across long distances. Phage genome fragments (PGFs) reconstructed from surface snow metagenomes of three Antarctic stations were assigned to four host genomes, mainly Betaproteobacteria including Ralstonia spp. Betaproteobacteria of this genus have been found in Antarctic snow as well as on space-related equipment. We reconstructed the complete genome of a temperate phage with near-complete alignment to a prophage in the reference genome of Ralstonia pickettii 12D. PGFs from different stations were related to each other at the genus level and matched similar hosts. Metagenomic read mapping and nucleotide polymorphism analysis revealed a wide dispersal of highly identical PGFs, 13 of which appeared in seawater from the Western Antarctic Peninsula with up to 5538 km to the snow sampling stations. Our results suggest that host-associated phages, especially of Ralstonia sp. disperse over long distances despite harsh conditions of the Antarctic continent. Due to the additional identification of 14 phages associated with two R. pickettii draft genomes isolated from space equipment, we conclude implications for the spread of biological contaminants in extraterrestrial settings.

597 Counting on You to do The Count: An Unusual Case Report of a Delayed and Missed Gossypiboma Secondary to Swiss Cheese Model Failings

Introduction Gossypiboma is a term describing a retained surgical swab which is a serious complication following any surgical intervention. The incidence of these cases is wholly under reported, partly due to medicolegal aspects, but also due to the misnomer of diagnosis. In this case, we discuss the multifactorial deficiencies which led to a significant morbidity in a patient who had remained asymptomatic for nine years since index surgery. Case Presentation A 40-year-old woman presented to the emergency department febrile with a one week history of abdominal pain, on a background of a one year history of chronic pain. The patient’s surgical history demonstrated an ovarian fibroid excision and a subtotal hysterectomy nine and six years ago, respectively. It was later noted the chronic abdominal pain had been previously investigated with positive findings on imaging and biopsy, however, she was lost to follow up. A year later, she presented with an acute abdomen and operative findings of a large abscess cavity, containing a retained swab, with small bowel fistulation were noted. Conclusions This reiterates the importance of surgical safety checklists, and often despite this there are many factors that can eventually lead to complete alignment of the holes in the Swiss Cheese leading to unfavourable outcomes. It is imperative to remain hypervigilant during checkpoints, particularly in emergencies where the unpredictability of the operation leads to human error. Gossypiboma remains a serious cause for morbidity and mortality, thus the potential for modified safety checklists or alternative methods for surgical counts.

Attitude to Immigrants in the Mass Consciousness of Europeans (using the example of secondary analysis of ESS 2016 data)

The article describes the experience of improving the methodology for identifying diversity and homogeneity in the behaviour of complex social objects. The subject area of the study in it is, on the one hand, methods of obtaining sociological knowledge of them adequate to the semantics of social processes, and on the other, specific areas of the process of forming stable types of attitudes towards immigrants among the population of various European countries. To obtain pictures of what is happening, the authors use a toolkit that has been tested in a wide range of studies, the basis of which is the identification of areas (hereinafter referred to as applications, equally semantic fields) of mass consciousness on the basis of the application of the Tay-b-Kendall correlation coefficients. A feature of the approach is the complete alignment of all indicators in relation to each of the studied countries and to all countries together. The initial alignment of parameters at the level of primary data, standardization of two-dimensional matrices of combinatorial statistical contingency tables of a number of features made it possible to build a comparative portrait of the unity and diversity of stereotypes of the mass consciousness in relation to some aspects of immigration in European countries. The total volume of the analyzed array for 2016 for 23 countries is 44487 respondents. The results, some of which are presented in the article, make it possible to optimize the tool for differentiating countries in relation to immigrants.

Omni-Channel Intensity and Shopping Value as Key Drivers of Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Omni-channel retailing consists of the complete alignment of the different channels and touchpoints that generate a seamless experience for consumers, allowing them to move freely through all channels. The consumer’s perception of a seamless and consistent omni-channel experience is called intensity. This study reveals that this intensity in the shopping experience can offer value to consumers, and that intensity and shopping value also influence satisfaction and loyalty. We propose a relationship model that had been tested in a quantitative study with PLS, with a representative sample of buyers who had used the Click and Collect system. The main contribution of this study is to the literature on the analysis of omni-channels from the consumer experience perspective, through an in-depth analysis of the concepts of intensity and shopping value, as well as their relationship with satisfaction and loyalty. The results revealed the existence of a positive relationship between intensity and shopping value, and between these two variables and satisfaction and loyalty.

Sanctions with Chinese Characteristics

The view that China has become increasingly assertive under President Xi Jinping is now a common trope in academic and media discourse. However, until the end of Xi Jinping’s first term in March 2018, China had been relatively restrained in its use of coercive economic measures. This is puzzling given the conventional belief among scholars and practitioners that sanctions are a middle ground between diplomatic and military/paramilitary action. Using a wide range of methods and data — including in-depth interviews with 76 current and former politicians, policy-makers, diplomats, and commercial actors across 12 countries and 16 cities — Sanctions with Chinese Characteristics: Rhetoric and Restraint in China’s Diplomacy examines the ways in which China had employed economic sanctions to further its political objectives, and the factors explaining China’s behaviour. This book provides a systematic investigation into the ways in which Chinese decisionmakers approached sanctions both at the United Nations Security Council and unilaterally, and shows how China’s longstanding sanctions rhetoric has had a constraining effect on its behaviour, resulting in its inability to employ sanctions in complete alignment with its immediate interests.

Active focus stabilization for fluorescence microscopy by tracking actively generated infrared spots

Maintaining focus during time-lapse experiments remains an important challenge in optical microscopy. In this paper we present an automated focusing system for fluorescence microscopy that can be used in time-lapse experiments. We provide software for flexibly operating the autofocus system and a complete alignment guide. The system is evaluated using a time-lapse experiment with temperature variations on Tetraspeck beads.

The Bardeen–Petterson effect in accreting supermassive black hole binaries: a systematic approach

ABSTRACT Disc-driven migration is a key evolutionary stage of supermassive black hole binaries hosted in gas-rich galaxies. Besides promoting the inspiral, viscous interactions tend to align the spins of the black holes with the orbital angular momentum of the disc. We present a critical and systematic investigation of this problem, also known as the Bardeen–Petterson effect. We design a new iterative scheme to solve the non-linear dynamics of warped accretion discs under the influence of both relativistic frame dragging and binary companion. We characterize the impact of the disc ‘critical obliquity’, which marks regions of the parameter space where stationary solutions do not exist. We find that black hole spins reach either complete alignment or a critical configuration. Reaching the critical obliquity might imply that the disc breaks as observed in hydrodynamical simulations. Our findings are important to predict the spin configurations with which supermassive black hole binaries enter their gravitational-wave driven regime and become detectable by LISA.

From Threat to Risk? Exceptionalism and Logics of Health Security

The logic of “risk” is increasingly important in the study of global health politics. One recent contribution has even argued that risk is beginning to replace security as the defining logic of health governance and policy. Others dispute this on the basis that risk and security have always operated together in the “securitization” of disease. This article constitutes a theoretical intervention into this burgeoning debate. Does a stronger appreciation of risk warrant the diminishment of security? Are we looking at the “riskification” of health rather than “securitization”? Or would this miss the way these two logics might be complimentary or intertwined in ways that we are yet to theorize? I argue that the global health and securitization literatures are better served by an explicit consideration of risk and security logics in interplay, or never entirely encompassed by the other, nor in complete alignment, yet never truly separate. To do this, I propose a reconceptualization of the central problem—exceptionalism—that allows for risk to be understood as a form of exceptionalist politics. I demonstrate the validity of this approach through an otherwise “easy case” of securitization: the US response to the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Morphological changes of the nerve after restorative treatment using electric welding technology (experimental study)

Objective – to study morphological features regenerative nerve neuroma after a complete intersection and restorative surgery with the use of electric welding technology.Materials and methods. The experimental model of operative intervention on injured peripheral nerve by immediate nerve stump’s epineurium welding and partial hindlimb immobilization was developed. The study was performed on 66 white, non-breeding male rats aged 5–7 months with a body weight of 350–450 g of vivarium breeding in Institute of Neurosurgery named after acad. A.P. Romodanov NAMS of Ukraine. Animals were divided into four experimental groups: 1 – surgical animals that included access to the sciatic nerve and its full intersection (n = 21), 2 – animals that were surgically intervened, which included access to the sciatic nerve, its intersection and the restoration of anatomical integrity by the application of an epineural suture (n = 18), 3 – animals that were operated surgically, which included access to the sciatic nerve, its intersection and the restoration of anatomical integrity by electric welding of the epineurium of the ends (n = 21), 4 – sham group, who were given access to the transverse nerve without its intersection (n = 6). In the experimental group of electric welding, the operation was performed using the apparatus EKWZ-300, «Patonmed» in the automatic mode dA2, with variable high-frequency (440 kHz) modulated current up to 0,3 A, the voltage at the 34 V pincer shield, the duration of the rectangular exposure pulse 0.8 s. Formated 5–6 electric weld point connections along the perimeter of the intersection with a complete alignment of the ends. The neurohistological method of study was used to study the morphological picture of the peripheral nerve in the region of the regenerative neurology and the distal segment in 1 and 3 months after surgical intervention. Results. It was established that simultaneous use of the technique of welded epineural joint of parts and partial immobilization of the limb in the postoperative period leads to uniform maturation of the neuro-connective tissue and its more complete neuroticisation.Conclusions. Recovery processes in the injured peripheral nerve occur better with the simultaneous formation of an immediate welded epineural joint of the ends and partial immobilization of the limb.