Electrically controllable saturable absorption in hybrid graphene-silicon waveguides

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Classifying seabed sediment type using simulated tidal-induced bed shear stress

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is freely available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.An ability to estimate the large-scale spatial variability of seabed sediment type in the absence of extensive observational data is valuable for many applications. In some physical (e.g., morphodynamic) models, knowledge of seabed sediment type is important for inputting spatially-varying bed roughness, and in biological studies, an ability to estimate the distribution of seabed sediment benefits habitat mapping (e.g., scallop dredging). Although shelf sea sediment motion is complex, driven by a combination of tidal currents, waves, and wind-driven currents, in many tidally energetic seas, such as the Irish Sea, long-term seabed sediment transport is dominated by tidal currents. We compare observations of seabed sediment grain size from 242 Irish Sea seabed samples with simulated tidal-induced bed shear stress from a three-dimensional tidal model (ROMS) to quantitatively define the relationship between observed grain size and simulated bed shear stress. With focus on the median grain size of well-sorted seabed sediment samples, we present predictive maps of the distribution of seabed sediment classes in the Irish Sea, ranging from mud to gravel. When compared with the distribution of well-sorted sediment classifications (mud, sand and gravel) from the British Geological Survey digital seabed sediment map of Irish Sea sediments (DigSBS250), this 'grain size tidal current proxy' (GSTCP) correctly estimates the observed seabed sediment classification in over 73% of the area.Funding was provided by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) through grant NE/I527853/1 (Ph.D. studentship to SLW). The authors are grateful for access to the seabed sediment sample data and would like to acknowledge colleagues collecting and preparing these data through the projects HABMAP, SWISS, IMAGIN, ADFISH, and various projects led by the JNCC, as well as Hilmar Hinz, Lee Murray and Gwladys Lambert for work undertaken on a project funded by the Isle of Man Government (Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture). The author acknowledges modelling support from Patrick Timko and Reza Hashemi. The digital seabed sediment map (DigSBS250) was kindly made available by the BGS. The model simulations were undertaken on High Performance Computing (HPC) Wales, a collaboration between Welsh universities, the Welsh Government and Fujitsu

A comparison of methods for determining ploidy in white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)

Release of sturgeon with abnormal ploidy into the wild may result in reduced fitness due to lowered fertility in the F2 and subsequent generations. Further, there is evidence that ploidy affects reproductive development and caviar yield. Therefore, the ability to accurately characterize the ploidy of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus)is essential for both commercial and conservation aquaculture. This study compares nuclear volume and whole erythrocyte long-axis lengths obtained using Coulter counter and blood smears, respectively, from captive white sturgeon from populations originating in California and Idaho. We examine which method provides the most accurate, time efficient and cost-effective characterization of ploidy in this species. Results from Coulter counter and blood smears were compared to results from flow cytometry, the gold standard for genome size analysis. Previous work suggests that blood smears can distinguish between 8N (diploid)and 12N (triploid)sturgeon, but further analysis is required to see if this method can also be used to identify 10N fish and to provide robust evidence of its utility in 8N and 12N fish across populations. In this study, we demonstrated that the Coulter counter had 100% agreement with flow cytometry in ploidy assignment, while blood smears vary in their accuracy based on population. Blood smears showed a high degree of overlap in erythrocyte long-axis length between 8N and 10N individuals as well as some overlap between 10N and 12N individuals in the California fish, and a high degree of overlap between 8N and 12N individuals in the Idaho fish. Although blood smears are time-intensive and vary in their ploidy assignment accuracy, they are a low-cost technique and as such may have some utility for caviar farms attempting to identify 12N individuals in a small number of broodstock. By comparing the accuracy, efficiency and cost of these three methods, sturgeon farmers and conservation hatcheries will be able to choose the best method for their needs in determining the ploidy of their fish. We determined that Coulter counter is equally accurate to flow cytometry and is also the most time efficient method for ploidy determination in white sturgeon

Psychometric precision in phenotype definition is a useful step in molecular genetic investigation of psychiatric disorders

Affective disorders are highly heritable, but few genetic risk variants have been consistently replicated in molecular genetic association studies. The common method of defining psychiatric phenotypes in molecular genetic research is either a summation of symptom scores or binary threshold score representing the risk of diagnosis. Psychometric latent variable methods can improve the precision of psychiatric phenotypes, especially when the data structure is not straightforward. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, we compared summary scores with psychometric modeling based on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) scale for affective symptoms in an association analysis of 27 candidate genes (249 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)). The psychometric method utilized a bi-factor model that partitioned the phenotype variances into five orthogonal latent variable factors, in accordance with the multidimensional data structure of the GHQ-28 involving somatic, social, anxiety and depression domains. Results showed that, compared with the summation approach, the affective symptoms defined by the bi-factor psychometric model had a higher number of associated SNPs of larger effect sizes. These results suggest that psychometrically defined mental health phenotypes can reflect the dimensions of complex phenotypes better than summation scores, and therefore offer a useful approach in genetic association investigations

Superpartner spectrum of minimal gaugino-gauge mediation

We evaluate the sparticle mass spectrum in the minimal four-dimensional construction that interpolates between gaugino and ordinary gauge mediation at the weak scale. We find that even in the hybrid case -- when the messenger scale is comparable to the mass of the additional gauge particles -- both the right-handed as well as the left-handed sleptons are lighter than the bino in the low-scale mediation regime. This implies a chain of lepton production and, consequently, striking signatures that may be probed at the LHC already in the near future.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; V2: refs and a few comments added; V3 title change

The sparticle spectrum in Minimal gaugino-Gauge Mediation

We compute the sparticle mass spectrum in the minimal four-dimensional construction that interpolates between gaugino mediation and ordinary gauge mediation.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures; V2: refs. added; V3: some typos correcte

Light MSSM Higgs boson mass to three-loop accuracy

The light CP even Higgs boson mass, Mh, is calculated to three-loop accuracy within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The result is expressed in terms of DRbar parameters and implemented in the computer program H3m. The calculation is based on the proper approximations and their combination in various regions of the parameter space. The three-loop effects to Mh are typically of the order of a few hundred MeV and opposite in sign to the two-loop corrections. The remaining theory uncertainty due to higher order perturbative corrections is estimated to be less than 1 GeV.Comment: 39 pages, 13 figures. v2: minor changes, typos fixe

Corticosteroid transdermal delivery significantly improves arthritis pain and functional disability

Arthritis is characterized by pain and functional limitation affecting the patients’ quality of life. We performed a clinical study to investigate the efficacy of a betamethasone valerate medicated plaster (Betesil) in improving pain and functional disability in patients with arthritis and osteoarthritis. We enrolled 104 patients affected by osteoarthritis (n = 40) or arthritis (n = 64) in different joints. Patients received diclofenac sodium cream (2 g, four times a day) or a 2.25-mg dose of Betesil applied to the painful joint every night before bedtime for 10 days. Pain and functional disability were assessed, by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores. Redness was assessed by clinical inspection, and edema by the Bfovea sign^ method. C-reactive protein (CRP) was also measured; CRP can be used to cost-effectively monitor the pharmacological treatment efficacy and is increased during the acute-phase response, returning to physiological values after tissue recovery and functional restoration. All measurements were at baseline and at 10-day follow-up. At 10-day follow-up, a greater improvement in VAS and WOMAC pain and WOMAC stiffness and functional limitation scores from baseline was observed in patients treated with Betesil compared with diclofenac (all p < 0.01). At 10-day follow-up, improvement in redness, edema, and CRP levels from baseline was also greater in patients treated with Betesil compared with diclofenac (all p < 0.01). This study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of transdermal delivery of betamethasone valerate in patients affected by arthritis and osteoarthritis

Variable protection against experimental broiler necrotic enteritis after immunization with the C-terminal fragment of Clostridium perfringens alpha-toxin and a non-toxic NetB variant

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Necrotic enteritis toxin B (NetB) is a pore-forming toxin produced by Clostridium perfringens and has been shown to play a key role in avian necrotic enteritis, a disease causing significant costs to the poultry production industry worldwide. The aim of this work was to determine whether immunization with a non-toxic variant of NetB (NetB W262A) and the C-terminal fragment of C. perfringens alpha-toxin (CPA247-370) would provide protection against experimental necrotic enteritis. Immunized birds with either antigen or a combination of antigens developed serum antibody levels against NetB and CPA. When CPA247-370 and NetB W262A were used in combination as immunogens, an increased protection was observed after oral challenge by individual dosing, but not after in-feed-challenge