Non-Hermitian systems containing gain or loss commonly host exceptional point degeneracies, not the diabolic points that, in Hermitian systems, play a key role in topological transitions and related ...phenomena. Non-Hermitian Hamiltonians with parity-time symmetry can have real spectra but generally nonorthogonal eigenstates, impeding the emergence of diabolic points. We introduce a pair of symmetries that induce not only real eigenvalues but also pairwise eigenstate orthogonality. This allows non-Hermitian systems to host Dirac points and other diabolic points. We construct non-Hermitian models exhibiting three exemplary phenomena previously limited to the Hermitian regime: Haldane-type topological phase transition, Landau levels without magnetic fields, and Weyl points. This establishes a new connection between non-Hermitian physics and the rich phenomenology of diabolic points.
Summary
Background
Tinea capitis is still common in developing countries, such as China. Its pathogen spectrum varies across regions and changes over time.
Objectives
This study aimed to clarify the ...current epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in China.
Methods
A multicentre, prospective descriptive study involving 29 tertiary hospitals in China was conducted. From August 2019 to July 2020, 611 patients with tinea capitis were enrolled. Data concerning demography, risk factors and fungal tests were collected. When necessary, the pathogens were further identified by morphology or molecular sequencing in the central laboratory.
Results
Among all enrolled patients, 74·1% of the cases were in patients aged 2–8 years. The children with tinea capitis were mainly boys (56·2%) and were more likely than adults to have a history of animal contact (57·4% vs. 35·3%, P = 0·012) and zoophilic dermatophyte infection (73·5% vs. 47%). The adults were mainly female (83%) and were more likely than children to have anthropophilic agent infection (53% vs. 23·9%). The most common pathogen was zoophilic Microsporum canis (354, 65·2%), followed by anthropophilic Trichophyton violaceum (74, 13·6%). In contrast to the eastern, western and northeastern regions, where zoophilic M. canis predominated, anthropophilic T. violaceum predominated in central China (69%, P < 0·001), where the patients had the most tinea at other sites (20%) and dermatophytosis contact (26%) but the least animal contact (39%). Microsporum ferrugineum was the most common anthropophilic agent in the western area, especially in Xinjiang province.
Conclusions
Boys aged approximately 5 years were the most commonly affected group. Dermatologists are advised to pay more attention to the different transmission routes and pathogen spectra in different age groups from different regions.
What is already known about this topic?
Tinea capitis is an infection of the scalp and hair caused by dermatophytes and is still common in developing countries. Prepubertal children are mainly affected.
The pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis varies across different geographical areas and changes over time.
Nationwide prospective epidemiological surveys of tinea capitis in China are rare and out of date.
What does this study add?
This study provides data concerning the epidemiological characteristics and pathogen spectrum of tinea capitis in contemporary China.
Boys aged approximately 5 years were most commonly affected and were more likely than adults to have zoophilic dermatophyte infection.
The main pathogens of tinea capitis in China are zoophilic dermatophytes, mainly Microsporum canis. In contrast to the other regions, the predominant pathogens in central China are anthropophilic dermatophytes.
Plain language summary available online
Air water harvesting (AWH) is a prospective way to make people live in extreme conditions, such as arid desert and remote islands. However, the refrigeration-based AWH suffers from ineffectiveness at ...low humidity, while the current sorption-based solar driven AWH has low area specific water production. To provide affordable water, it is essential to design universal and scalable systems to effectively capture moisture from air year-round with less energy consumption at different locations. Here we develop a theoretical framework and demonstrate a scalable prototype on the sorption-based AWH. The prototype adopts a temperature-insensitive and RH-broadband desiccant, achieving a large water harvesting capacity in different regions. Scalable modular sorbers with sinusoidal honeycomb structure are used. The prototype harvests ca. 38.5 kg fresh water per day, consuming ca.7.2 MJ heat/kg fresh water. The performance analyses show that our device can harvest freshwater universally, which is a promising solution to relieve the thirsty world.
•The entire mechanisms of AWH from materials level to system scale level are shown.•A thermodynamic chart is first constructed on a modular sorption-based AWHs.•High water harvesting capacities are proved all year round at various areas.
Based on electron-positron collision data collected with the BESIII detector operating at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider II storage rings, the value of ...R≡σ(e^{+}e^{-}→hadrons)/σ(e^{+}e^{-}→μ^{+}μ^{-}) is measured at 14 center-of-mass energies from 2.2324 to 3.6710 GeV. The resulting uncertainties are less than 3.0% and are dominated by systematic uncertainties.
A compact laser plasma accelerator (CLAPA) that can stably produce and transport proton ions with different energies less than 10 MeV,<1%energy spread, several to tens of pC charge, is demonstrated. ...The high current proton beam with continuous energy spectrum and a large divergence angle is generated by using a high contrast laser and micron thickness targets, which later is collected, analyzed and refocused by an image-relaying beam line using a combination of quadrupole and bending electromagnets. It eliminates the inherent defects of the laser-driven beams, realizes precise manipulation of the proton beams with reliability, availability, maintainability and inspectability (RAMI), and takes the first step towards applications of this new generation of accelerator. With the development of high-rep rate Petawatt (PW) laser technology, we can now envision a new generation of accelerator for many applications in the near future soon.
We report on the observation of the accreting pulsar GRO J1008-57 performed by Insight-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) at the peak of the source's 2017 outburst. Pulsations are detected with a ...spin period of 93.283(1) s. The pulse profile shows double peaks at soft X-rays, and only one peak above 20 keV. The spectrum is well described by the phenomenological models of X-ray pulsars. A cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) is detected with very high statistical significance at a centroid energy of keV, for the reference continuum and line models, HIGHECUT and GABS, respectively. Detection is very robust with respect to different continuum models. The line energy is significantly higher than what is suggested from previous observations, which provided very marginal evidence for the line. This establishes a new record for the centroid energy of a fundamental CRSF observed in accreting pulsars. We also discuss the accretion regime of the source during the Insight-HXMT observation.
Thermal management has become a critical issue for high heat flux electronics and energy systems. Integrated two-phase microchannel liquid-cooling technology has been envisioned as a promising ...solution, but with great challenges in flow instability. In this work, silicon nanowires were synthesized in situ in parallel silicon microchannel arrays for the first time to suppress the flow instability and to augment flow boiling heat transfer. Significant enhancement in flow boiling heat transfer performance was demonstrated for the nanowire-coated microchannel heat sink, such as an early onset of nucleate boiling, a delayed onset of flow oscillation, suppressed oscillating amplitudes of temperature and pressure drop, and an increased heat transfer coefficient.
We present an analysis of the process ψ(3686)→Ω^{-}Ωover ¯^{+} (Ω^{-}→K^{-}Λ, Ωover ¯^{+}→K^{+}Λover ¯, Λ→pπ^{-}, Λover ¯→pover ¯π^{+}) based on a dataset of 448×10^{6} ψ(3686) decays collected with ...the BESIII detector at the BEPCII electron-positron collider. The helicity amplitudes for the process ψ(3686)→Ω^{-}Ωover ¯^{+} and the decay parameters of the subsequent decay Ω^{-}→K^{-}Λ (Ωover ¯^{+}→K^{+}Λover ¯) are measured for the first time by a fit to the angular distribution of the complete decay chain, and the spin of the Ω^{-} is determined to be 3/2 for the first time since its discovery more than 50 years ago.
AIM: The goal of this study was to investigate the synergic effects between magnolol and azoles, and the potential antifungal mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: Microdilution checkerboard, time‐kill ...and agar diffusion assay were employed to evaluate the synergic effects between magnolol and fluconazole (FLC). Magnolol significantly decreased the efflux of rhodamine 123 (Rh123), leading to greater intracellular accumulation of Rh123 in Candida albicans cells. Compared to the Candida drug resistance (cdr) 2 or multidrug resistance (mdr) 1 deletion mutant, the growth of cdr1 strain was most sensitive to magnolol exposure. In the presence of magnolol, MDR1 overexpressing cells were sensitive to FLC, whereas CDR1 and CDR2 overexpressing cells displayed tolerance to FLC. Magnolol treatment correlated with up‐regulation of transporter and ergosterol biosynthesis pathway genes, analyzed by real‐time reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction. The ergosterol content of C. albicansSC5314 was significantly decreased after magnolol exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Magnolol synergizes with azoles for targeting of C. albicans by inducing a higher intracellular content of antifungals, by tapping into the competitive effect of ABC transporter Cdr1p substrates, and enhancing the effect by targeting of the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Our results provide the first evidence that magnolol may function as a Cdr1p substrate and as an inhibitor of ergosterol biosynthesis. This function can thus be exploited in combination with azoles to reverse multidrug resistance of C. albicans strains.
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