When a lightning bolt darts across the sky, the thunderclap that reaches our ears a few seconds later is an example of a fluid dynamical shock: a wave across which flow properties such as pressure and density change almost discontinuously. In compressible fluids these shocks are associated with high-energy supersonic flows and so require specialist equipment to realise in steady state. But in granular media, shocks occur much more readily and at flow speeds easily obtainable in the laboratory. In the featured article, Khan et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 884, 2020, R4) exploit this to explore a remarkable range of steady and oscillatory shocks and shock interactions, which demonstrate many of the unique rheological complexities of granular flow.

The transmission rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) to gloves or gowns of healthcare personnel (HCP) caring for MRSA patients in a non–intensive care unit setting was 5.4%. Contamination rates were higher among HCP performing direct patient care and when patients had detectable MRSA on their body. These findings may inform risk-based contact precautions.

Blueberry maggot (Rhagoletis mendax Curran (Diptera: Tephritidae)) is a pest of blueberries (Vaccinium Linnaeus (Ericaceae)). Tephritid flies, including Rhagoletis Loew species, are susceptible to entomopathogenic fungi, but mortality levels depend on life stage targeted. We tested Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) (Clavicipitaceae) strain S54 by application to pupae in the laboratory and using soil drenches in the laboratory and field. We hypothesised that younger (pre-diapause) pupae would be more susceptible to infection than older (post-diapause) pupae. In the laboratory, R. mendax emergence was reduced from 80% in the control to 57–60% with M. anisopliae. Rhagoletis mendax longevity was reduced by two days for both application timings, and mycosed cadavers increased by 9% and 27% with applications to younger and older pupae, respectively, compared to controls. In the field, R. mendax emergence was reduced by 50% with application to younger pupae compared to controls and applications to older pupae. The surfactant Silwet L77 caused reduced R. mendax emergence when pupae were dipped in suspensions. Even though M. anisopliae S54 did not greatly reduce emergence or longevity, infection was successful and younger pupae may be more susceptible than older pupae. Research with other M. anisopliae isolates against multiple life stages should be conducted and effects of soil variables on pathogenicity determined.

We studied the association between chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) concentration on skin and resistant bacterial bioburden. CHG was almost always detected on the skin, and detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus on skin sites was infrequent. However, we found no correlation between CHG concentration and bacterial bioburden.

Laboratory-identified bloodstream infections (LAB-ID BSIs) in recently discharged patients are likely to be classified as healthcare-associated community-onset (HCA-CO) infections, even though they may represent hospital-onset (HO) infections. A review of LAB-ID BSIs among patients discharged within 14 days revealed that 109 of 756 cases (14.4%) were HO infections. The BSI risk being misclassified as HCA CO may underestimate the hospital infection risk.

Dense granular flows can spontaneously self-channelise by forming a pair of parallel-sided static levees on either side of a central flowing channel. This process prevents lateral spreading and maintains the flow thickness, and hence mobility, enabling the grains to run out considerably further than a spreading flow on shallow slopes. Since levees commonly form in hazardous geophysical mass flows, such as snow avalanches, debris flows, lahars and pyroclastic flows, this has important implications for risk management in mountainous and volcanic regions. In this paper an avalanche model that incorporates frictional hysteresis, as well as depth-averaged viscous terms derived from the $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(I)$ -rheology, is used to quantitatively model self-channelisation and levee formation. The viscous terms are crucial for determining a smoothly varying steady-state velocity profile across the flowing channel, which has the important property that it does not exert any shear stresses at the levee–channel interfaces. For a fixed mass flux, the resulting boundary value problem for the velocity profile also uniquely determines the width and height of the channel, and the predictions are in very good agreement with existing experimental data for both spherical and angular particles. It is also shown that in the absence of viscous (second-order gradient) terms, the problem degenerates, to produce plug flow in the channel with two frictionless contact discontinuities at the levee–channel margins. Such solutions are not observed in experiments. Moreover, the steady-state inviscid problem lacks a thickness or width selection mechanism and consequently there is no unique solution. The viscous theory is therefore a significant step forward. Fully time-dependent numerical simulations to the viscous model are able to quantitatively capture the process in which the flow self-channelises and show how the levees are initially emplaced behind the flow head. Both experiments and numerical simulations show that the height and width of the channel are not necessarily fixed by these initial values, but respond to changes in the supplied mass flux, allowing narrowing and widening of the channel long after the initial front has passed by. In addition, below a critical mass flux the steady-state solutions become unstable and time-dependent numerical simulations are able to capture the transition to periodic erosion–deposition waves observed in experiments.

Shallow granular avalanches on slopes close to repose exhibit hysteretic behaviour. For instance, when a steady-uniform granular flow is brought to rest it leaves a deposit of thickness $h_{stop}(\unicode[STIX]{x1D701})$ on a rough slope inclined at an angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}$ to the horizontal. However, this layer will not spontaneously start to flow again until it is inclined to a higher angle $\unicode[STIX]{x1D701}_{start}$ , or the thickness is increased to $h_{start}(\unicode[STIX]{x1D701})>h_{stop}(\unicode[STIX]{x1D701})$ . This simple phenomenology leads to a rich variety of flows with co-existing regions of solid-like and fluid-like granular behaviour that evolve in space and time. In particular, frictional hysteresis is directly responsible for the spontaneous formation of self-channelized flows with static levees, retrogressive failures as well as erosion–deposition waves that travel through the material. This paper is motivated by the experimental observation that a travelling-wave develops, when a steady uniform flow of carborundum particles on a bed of larger glass beads, runs out to leave a deposit that is approximately equal to $h_{stop}$ . Numerical simulations using the friction law originally proposed by Edwards et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 823, 2017, pp. 278–315) and modified here, demonstrate that there are in fact two travelling waves. One that marks the trailing edge of the steady-uniform flow and another that rapidly deposits the particles, directly connecting the point of minimum dynamic friction (at thickness $h_{\ast }$ ) with the deposited layer. The first wave moves slightly faster than the second wave, and so there is a slowly expanding region between them in which the flow thins and the particles slow down. An exact inviscid solution for the second travelling wave is derived and it is shown that for a steady-uniform flow of thickness $h_{\ast }$ it produces a deposit close to $h_{stop}$ for all inclination angles. Numerical simulations show that the two-wave structure deposits layers that are approximately equal to $h_{stop}$ for all initial thicknesses. This insensitivity to the initial conditions implies that $h_{stop}$ is a universal quantity, at least for carborundum particles on a bed of larger glass beads. Numerical simulations are therefore able to capture the complete experimental staircase procedure, which is commonly used to determine the $h_{stop}$ and $h_{start}$ curves by progressively increasing the inclination of the chute. In general, however, the deposit thickness may depend on the depth of the flowing layer that generated it, so the most robust way to determine $h_{stop}$ is to measure the deposit thickness from a flow that was moving at the minimum steady-uniform velocity. Finally, some of the pathologies in earlier non-monotonic friction laws are discussed and it is explicitly shown that with these models either steadily travelling deposition waves do not form or they do not leave the correct deposit depth $h_{stop}$ .

Synthetic-auxin herbicides are often applied for horseweed control before soybean planting. However, certain days of planting interval must be maintained before soybean planting, depending on the product and rate used, because of potential crop phytotoxicity. Halauxifen-methyl is a new synthetic-auxin herbicide for horseweed control in preplant applications in soybean. Field experiments were conducted in 2015 and 2016 in Indiana to evaluate soybean phytotoxicity in response to applications of halauxifen-methyl (5 g ae ha−1) at five preplant intervals (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks before planting [WBP]). In 2015, soybean phytotoxicity was not observed for any of the preplant intervals at any of the sites. In 2016, 0% to 15% phytotoxicity was observed at 14 d after planting (DAP) when halauxifen-methyl was applied at planting, 1 WBP, and 2 WBP at different sites. Soybean phytotoxicity was expressed in the unifoliate leaves only at 14 DAP. However, the first trifoliate did not show any injury symptoms at 21 DAP from any preplant application timing. Preplant application intervals for halauxifen-methyl did not affect soybean stand counts or grain yield in any site-year. Therefore, field results indicated that halauxifen-methyl applied alone can cause slight soybean phytotoxicity in preplant applications. In growth-chamber bioassays, reductions in soybean biomass, plant length, and emergence were accentuated at 30 C, compared with 20 or 15 C, when halauxifen-methyl was applied at 20 or 40 g ae ha−1. These results contradict the currently held paradigm in which lower temperatures generally increase crop phytotoxicity levels to herbicide soil residual.

Altica's location in the Patlachique Range, 10 km away from the Otumba obsidian source, suggests its potential role in the distribution of Otumba obsidian. Altica may have been an important Formative middleman and processing site for obsidian exchange within the Basin of Mexico. To the south, Coapexco's position along a natural, restricted inlet to the Basin of Mexico may have enabled it to function as a node for pooling and distributing material into the Basin. This paper combines geochemical sourcing and technological data drawn from several Early and Middle Formative obsidian assemblages to reconstruct the movement of obsidian in this period to identify obsidian sources and consumption sites. In doing so, the paper assesses the role that intermediary sites like Altica and Coapexco could have played in the processing and distribution of obsidian into more distant consumption sites.

Background: Cervical sponylotic myelopathy (CSM) may present with neck and arm pain. This study investiagtes the change in neck/arm pain post-operatively in CSM. Methods: This ambispective study llocated 402 patients through the Canadian Spine Outcomes and Research Network. Outcome measures were the visual analogue scales for neck and arm pain (VAS-NP and VAS-AP) and the neck disability index (NDI). The thresholds for minimum clinically important differences (MCIDs) for VAS-NP and VAS-AP were determined to be 2.6 and 4.1. Results: VAS-NP improved from mean of 5.6±2.9 to 3.8±2.7 at 12 months (P<0.001). VAS-AP improved from 5.8±2.9 to 3.5±3.0 at 12 months (P<0.001). The MCIDs for VAS-NP and VAS-AP were also reached at 12 months. Based on the NDI, patients were grouped into those with mild pain/no pain (33%) versus moderate/severe pain (67%). At 3 months, a significantly high proportion of patients with moderate/severe pain (45.8%) demonstrated an improvement into mild/no pain, whereas 27.2% with mild/no pain demonstrated worsening into moderate/severe pain (P <0.001). At 12 months, 17.4% with mild/no pain experienced worsening of their NDI (P<0.001). Conclusions: This study suggests that neck and arm pain responds to surgical decompression in patients with CSM and reaches the MCIDs for VAS-AP and VAS-NP at 12 months.

Carrier water pH is an important factor for enhancing herbicide efficacy. Coapplying agrochemical products with the herbicide might save time and resources; however, the negative effect of foliar fertilizers on herbicide efficacy should be thoroughly evaluated. In greenhouse studies, the effect of carrier water pH (4, 6.5, and 9), foliar fertilizer (zinc [Zn], manganese [Mn], or without fertilizer), and ammonium sulfate (AMS) at 0% or 2.5% vol/vol was evaluated on 2,4-D and premixed 2,4-D plus glyphosate efficacy for giant ragweed, horseweed, and Palmer amaranth control. In addition, a field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of carrier water pH (4, 6.5, and 9); and Zn or Mn foliar fertilizer on premixed 2,4-D plus glyphosate efficacy for horseweed and Palmer amaranth control. In the greenhouse study, 2,4-D and premixed 2,4-D plus glyphosate provided 5% greater weed control at acidic compared with alkaline carrier water pH. Coapplied Mn foliar fertilizer reduced 2,4-D and premixed 2,4-D plus glyphosate efficacy at least 5% for weed control. Addition of AMS enhanced 2,4-D and premixed 2,4-D plus glyphosate efficacy at least 6% for giant ragweed, horseweed, and Palmer amaranth control. In the field study, few significant differences occurred between coapplied Zn or Mn foliar fertilizer for any treatment variables. Therefore, carrier water pH, coapplied foliar fertilizer, and water-conditioning adjuvants have potential to influence herbicide performance. However, weed species could play a role in the differential response of these factors on herbicide efficacy.

Herbicide carrier water hardness and pH can be variable depending on the source and geographic location. Herbicide efficacy can be affected by the pH and hardness of water used for spray solution. Field and greenhouse studies were conducted to evaluate the effect of carrier water pH and hardness on premixed dicamba and glyphosate efficacy. Treatments were combinations of water pH at 4, 6.5, or 9; and water hardness at 0 (deionized water), 400, or 800 mg L−1 of CaCO3 equivalent. In the field study, dicamba and glyphosate were applied at 0.55 and 1.11 kg ae ha−1, respectively, and half of these rates were applied in the greenhouse study. There was no interaction between carrier water pH and hardness on dicamba and glyphosate efficacy; however, the main effects of carrier water pH and hardness were significant. Herbicide efficacy was reduced with carrier water at pH 9 compared with pH 4. In the field study, common lambsquarters, common ragweed, horseweed, or Palmer amaranth control was improved 6% or more at carrier water at pH 4 compared with pH 9. Similar results were observed with water pH for giant ragweed, Palmer amaranth, or pitted morningglory control in the greenhouse study. Carrier water hardness at 400 or 800 mg L−1 reduced common ragweed, giant ragweed, or horseweed control compared with 0 mg L−1. Similarly, common lambsquarters, Palmer amaranth, or pitted morningglory control was reduced at least 10% with carrier water hardness at 800 mg L−1 compared with 0 mg L−1. These results indicate carrier water at acidic pH and of no hardness is critical for dicamba and glyphosate application, and spray solution needs to be amended appropriately for an optimum efficacy.

Unlike most bird species, individual kingfisher species (Aves: Alcedinidae) are typically parasitized by only a single genus of louse (Alcedoffula, Alcedoecus, or Emersoniella). These louse genera are typically specific to a particular kingfisher subfamily. Specifically, Alcedoecus and Emersoniella parasitize Halcyoninae, whereas Alcedoffula parasitizes Alcedininae and Cerylinae. Although Emersoniella is geographically restricted to the Indo-Pacific region, Alcedoecus and Alcedoffula are geographically widespread. We used DNA sequences from two genes, the mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF-1α genes, to infer phylogenies for the two geographically widespread genera of kingfisher lice, Alcedoffula and Alcedoecus. These phylogenies included 47 kingfisher lice sampled from 11 of the 19 currently recognized genera of kingfishers. We compared louse phylogenies to host phylogenies to reconstruct their cophylogenetic history. Two distinct clades occur within Alcedoffula, one that infests Alcedininae and a second that infests Cerylinae. All species of Alcedoecus were found only on host species of the subfamily Halcyoninae. Cophylogenetic analysis indicated that Alcedoecus, as well as the clade of Alcedoffula occurring on Alcedininae, do not show evidence of cospeciation. In contrast, the clade of Alcedoffula occurring on Cerylinae showed strong evidence of cospeciation.

When a layer of static grains on a sufficiently steep slope is disturbed, an upslope-propagating erosion wave, or retrogressive failure, may form that separates the initially static material from a downslope region of flowing grains. This paper shows that a relatively simple depth-averaged avalanche model with frictional hysteresis is sufficient to capture a planar retrogressive failure that is independent of the cross-slope coordinate. The hysteresis is modelled with a non-monotonic effective basal friction law that has static, intermediate (velocity decreasing) and dynamic (velocity increasing) regimes. Both experiments and time-dependent numerical simulations show that steadily travelling retrogressive waves rapidly form in this system and a travelling wave ansatz is therefore used to derive a one-dimensional depth-averaged exact solution. The speed of the wave is determined by a critical point in the ordinary differential equation for the thickness. The critical point lies in the intermediate frictional regime, at the point where the friction exactly balances the downslope component of gravity. The retrogressive wave is therefore a sensitive test of the functional form of the friction law in this regime, where steady uniform flows are unstable and so cannot be used to determine the friction law directly. Upper and lower bounds for the existence of retrogressive waves in terms of the initial layer depth and the slope inclination are found and shown to be in good agreement with the experimentally determined phase diagram. For the friction law proposed by Edwards et al. (J. Fluid. Mech., vol. 823, 2017, pp. 278–315, J. Fluid. Mech., 2019, (submitted)) the magnitude of the wave speed is slightly under-predicted, but, for a given initial layer thickness, the exact solution accurately predicts an increase in the wave speed with higher inclinations. The model also captures the finite wave speed at the onset of retrogressive failure observed in experiments.