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US 2005/0014461 W | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A THERMO-MECHANICAL WOOD PULP REFINER | Thermomechanical pulp is an important process for producing fibrous mass used in papermaking. A two-level control strategy that stabilizes and optimizes the refining process has been developed. The Stabilization layer consists of a multivariable model predicative range controller that regulates the refiner line operations. The Quality Optimization layer provides the pulp quality control as measured by an online pulp quality (freeness fibre length) sensor. This control strategy leverages the natural decoupling in the process. The modular design technique is able to handle multiple refiner lines that empty into a common latency chest. A global optimizer is also used to integrate and coordinate the two layers for enhanced constraint handling. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W4281785891 | Educação escolar indígena em Pernambuco | Desde o início do contato entre indígenas e europeus, sobretudo a partir da segunda metade do século XVI, a educação foi usada pelos colonizadores como ferramenta de controle e dominação dos povos nativos. Esse interesse na “instrução” dos indígenas, portanto, não era desinteressado, mas buscava atender a demandas religiosas, agrário-mercantis, bélicas etc., dos próprios colonizadores. A partir, sobretudo, dos anos 1980, esse modo de o Estado se relacionar com os povos indígenas é colocado em questão, deslocando os paradigmas de controle, assimilação e integração para paradigmas interculturais. O presente artigo versa sobre essas mudanças no contexto de Pernambuco, a partir das mobilizações dos povos indígenas para a efetivação de uma educação escolar indígena específica, diferenciada e intercultural. | [
"The Study of the Human Past",
"Studies of Cultures and Arts"
]
|
10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000474 | Meshfree Sequentially Linear Analysis Of Concrete | AbstractA new, meshfree method employing the node-based, smoothed point interpolation method (NS-PIM) is presented as an alternative to the nonlinear finite-element approach for concrete members. T. . . | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1016/j.cplett.2015.06.065 | Nonadiabatic photodynamics of phenol on a realistic potential energy surface by a novel multilayer Gaussian MCTDH program | Abstract We report the main features of a new implementation of the Gaussian multi-configuration time-dependent Hartree (G-MCTDH) model. The code allows effective computations of time-dependent phenomena, including calculation of vibronic spectra (in one or more electronic states), relative state populations etc. , with the possibility of a multilayer formulation. We have validated the code on the diabatic surfaces recently published by Truhlar and coworkers to study the nonadiabatic photodynamics of phenol. Using an Ehrenfest-like, single-nuclear-configuration (but in a fully quantum formalism) model we calculate the optical spectrum and relative state populations of the system as a function of time. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199604104.003.0013 | Developing a 'Comprehensive Approach' to International Security: Institutional Learning and the CSDP | The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) has been one of the most active areas of European foreign policy in recent years, and has launched over 20 foreign security operations since 2003. However, as the EU treaties are fairly limited in describing how the CSDP is supposed to operate, the EU has had to engage in a high degree of institutional improvisation in attempting to implement CSDP operations. This development demands further examination in light of not only the growing ambitions of the EU itself but also in terms of the increasing demands for security assistance placed on a variety of IOs, such as the UN, NATO, and the OSCE. This chapter examines these processes of institutional learning and change, paying close attention to several key CSDP operations that involve a mix of civilian and military tools; this type of integrated or 'comprehensive approach' is in fact rapidly becoming a hallmark of CSDP operations and may yield useful lessons for other attempts at crisis intervention and state-building. This is a critical question not only for European affairs but also for scholars of world politics and international development in light of recent experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Liberia, and elsewhere. | [
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
]
|
10.1002/nbm.3259 | In vivo visualization and ex vivo quantification of murine breast cancer cells in the mouse brain using MRI cell tracking and electron paramagnetic resonance | Cell tracking could be useful to elucidate fundamental processes of cancer biology such as metastasis. The aim of this study was to visualize, using MRI, and to quantify, using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), the entrapment of murine breast cancer cells labeled with superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (SPIOs) in the mouse brain after intracardiac injection. For this purpose, luciferase-expressing murine 4T1-luc breast cancer cells were labeled with fluorescent Molday ION Rhodamine B SPIOs. Following intracardiac injection, SPIO-labeled 4T1-luc cells were imaged using multiple gradient-echo sequences. Ex vivo iron oxide quantification in the mouse brain was performed using EPR (9GHz). The long-term fate of 4T1-luc cells after injection was characterized using bioluminescence imaging (BLI), brain MRI and immunofluorescence. We observed hypointense spots due to SPIO-labeled cells in the mouse brain 4h after injection on T2*-weighted images. Histology studies showed that SPIO-labeled cancer cells were localized within blood vessels shortly after delivery. Ex vivo quantification of SPIOs showed that less than 1% of the injected cells were taken up by the mouse brain after injection. MRI experiments did not reveal the development of macrometastases in the mouse brain several days after injection, but immunofluorescence studies demonstrated that these cells found in the brain established micrometastases. Concerning the metastatic patterns of 4T1-luc cells, an EPR biodistribution study demonstrated that SPIO-labeled 4T1-luc cells were also entrapped in the lungs of mice after intracardiac injection. BLI performed 6days after injection of 4T1-luc cells showed that this cell line formed macrometastases in the lungs and in the bones. Conclusively, EPR and MRI were found to be complementary for cell tracking applications. MRI cell tracking at 11. 7T allowed sensitive detection of isolated SPIO-labeled cells in the mouse brain, whereas EPR allowed the assessment of the number of SPIO-labeled cells in organs shortly after injection. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1088/0266-5611/29/4/045001 | Ensemble Kalman Methods For Inverse Problems | The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) was introduced by Evensen in 1994 (Evensen 1994 J. Geophys. Res. 99 10143–62) as a novel method for data assimilation: state estimation for noisily observed time-dependent problems. Since that time it has had enormous impact in many application domains because of its robustness and ease of implementation, and numerical evidence of its accuracy. In this paper we propose the application of an iterative ensemble Kalman method for the solution of a wide class of inverse problems. In this context we show that the estimate of the unknown function that we obtain with the ensemble Kalman method lies in a subspace A spanned by the initial ensemble. Hence the resulting error may be bounded above by the error found from the best approximation in this subspace. We provide numerical experiments which compare the error incurred by the ensemble Kalman method for inverse problems with the error of the best approximation in A, and with variants on traditional least-squares approaches, restricted to the subspace A. In so doing we demonstrate that the ensemble Kalman method for inverse problems provides a derivative-free optimization method with comparable accuracy to that achieved by traditional least-squares approaches. Furthermore, we also demonstrate that the accuracy is of the same order of magnitude as that achieved by the best approximation. Three examples are used to demonstrate these assertions: inversion of a compact linear operator; inversion of piezometric head to determine hydraulic conductivity in a Darcy model of groundwater flow; and inversion of Eulerian velocity measurements at positive times to determine the initial condition in an incompressible fluid. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1029/2011GB004143 | Detecting Evidence For Co2 Fertilization From Tree Ring Studies The Potential Role Of Sampling Biases | [1] Tree ring analysis allows reconstructing historical growth rates over long periods. Several studies have reported an increasing trend in ring widths, often attributed to growth stimulation by increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration. However, these trends may also have been caused by sampling biases. Here we describe two biases and evaluate their magnitude. (1) The slow-grower survivorship biasis caused by differences in tree longevity of fast- and slow-growing trees within a population. If fast-growing trees live shorter, they are underrepresented in the ancient portion of the tree ring data set. As a result, reconstructed growth rates in the distant past are biased toward slower growth. (2) Thebig-tree selection biasis caused by sampling only the biggest trees in a population. As a result, slow-growing small trees are underrepresented in recent times as they did not reach the minimum sample diameter. We constructed stochastic models to simulate growth trajectories based on a hypothetical species with lifetime constant growth rates and on observed tree ring data from the tropical treeCedrela odorata. Tree growth rates used as input in our models were kept constant over time. By mimicking a standard tree ring sampling approach and selecting only big living trees, we show that both biases lead to apparent increases in historical growth rates. Increases for the slow-grower survivorship bias were relatively small and depended strongly on assumptions about tree mortality. The big-tree selection bias resulted in strong historical increases, with a doubling in growth rates over recent decades. A literature review suggests that historical growth increases reported in many tree ring studies may have been partially due to the big-tree sampling bias. We call for great caution in the interpretation of historical growth trends from tree ring analyses and recommend that such studies include individuals of all sizes. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
IB 2005004113 W | EXPORT QUEUE FOR AN ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE SYSTEM | A large-scale enterprise software system is described that outputs consistent export data for concurrent exports. The system includes a database and an export control module. The database stores modeling data defining a plurality of nodes, and enterprise data associated within each of the nodes. The export control module outputs a portion of the enterprise data as export data in response to an export selection that associates a set of the nodes with a least one export client. During the export process, the export control module creates an archive (e.g., a copy) of the enterprise data associated with one or more of the nodes for the export selection prior to modifying the enterprise data. The export control module utilizes the current enterprise data for the non-modified nodes and the archived export data for the nodes that were modified during the export process to output consistent export data for multiple, concurrent export clients. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
TW 99129679 A | Edge lighting control | An edge lighting control for a television set. A television set includes a display, an edge lighting bezel surrounding the display, a processor, and a memory component. The edge lighting bezel is operable to output light and its operation is user controllable, e.g., interaction between a GUI and a remote control. The processor controls the operation of the edge lighting bezel, e.g., dimming the output light and its color pattern, in response to user input. The memory component stores instructions and data for controlling the operation of the edge lighting bezel when processed by the processor. The edge lighting bezel may include a ring of light emitting diodes (LEDs) surrounding the display and a light pipe surrounding the ring. The ring is operable to emit light responsive to the user input and the light pipe is operable to transmit light emitted from the ring. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
W1496420891 | Multibody Simulation of Planetary Rover Mobility in Condition of Uncertain soft Terrain | Abstract Mobility analysis by computer multi-body simulation of wheeled rovers plays a fundamental role in planetary exploration programs. Considering that in space missions systems have to operate within an environment often times largely unknown, it turns out that embedding numerical analyses with stochastic methods can be beneficial. This work presents results from applying nondeterministic methods to mobility analysis of a planetary rover in condition of uncertain terrain properties. The terrain uncertainty is quantified by experimental measurements of the soil properties by a dedicated equipment. Next, the soil uncertainty is propagated through a multi-body model in order to assess the uncertainty of the rover position when traveling on soft soil. Probabilistic and non-probabilistic approaches are carried out and compared. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
interreg_1382 | Cross-border Business Network for the joint development of niche tourism products | This project’s main challenge is promoting cooperation between cross-border tourism operators. The aim is for them to develop and popularise sustainable cross-border niche tourism products connected to blue and green growth. The general objective of this project is to reinforce tourism attraction in the cross-border area and the competitiveness of its small and medium enterprises. This by developing innovative, sustainable and quality cross-border products, jointly promoting and popularising them inside and outside the EU and creating local networks of operators for said products (the pedal-assisted bicycle touring PEDELEC product will be developed during the 24 months of this project). Increased arrivals are expected from sustainable tourism (especially sport-related) together with a more extended tourist season. FR-ONT-IT will create a shared web portal to supply the partners' network with content. It will design and implement joined services across borders, including customer support numbers, bookings, vouchers, agreements (e.g. with maritime transport operators) and IT systems. It will also establish and promote local unified service levels. Moreover, it will develop the PEDELEC product in the 5 local areas identified. It will provide 210 pedal-assisted bicycles and create local operator networks, including hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, medical/physiotherapy centres, bike assistance centres and other facilities. It will also organise luggage transport services. The budget reflects each partner's expertise and the activities they will have to carry out in the field. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
]
|
W2050524266 | Motor imagery, P300 and error-related EEG-based robot arm movement control for rehabilitation purpose | The paper proposes a novel approach toward EEG-driven position control of a robot arm by utilizing motor imagery, P300 and error-related potentials (ErRP) to align the robot arm with desired target position. In the proposed scheme, the users generate motor imagery signals to control the motion of the robot arm. The P300 waveforms are detected when the user intends to stop the motion of the robot on reaching the goal position. The error potentials are employed as feedback response by the user. On detection of error the control system performs the necessary corrections on the robot arm. Here, an AdaBoost-Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier is used to decode the 4-class motor imagery and an SVM is used to decode the presence of P300 and ErRP waveforms. The average steady-state error, peak overshoot and settling time obtained for our proposed approach is 0.045, 2.8% and 44 s, respectively, and the average rate of reaching the target is 95%. The results obtained for the proposed control scheme make it suitable for designs of prosthetics in rehabilitative applications. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1039/C6SC02617F | Zirconocene Catalyzed Diastereoselective Carbometalation Of Cyclobutenes | The regio- and diastereoselective zirconocene-catalyzed carbomagnesiation of cyclobutenes is herein reported to afford configurationally stable cyclobutylmagnesium species that could subsequently react with a large variety of electrophiles to give polysubstituted cyclobutane species as a single diastereoisomer. | [
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1088/2041-8205/806/1/L1 | Magnetized Moving Mesh Merger Of A Carbon Oxygen White Dwarf Binary | White dwarf (WD) binary mergers are possible progenitors to a number of unusual stars and transient phenomena, including type Ia supernovae. To date, simulations of mergers have not included magnetic fields, even though they are believed to play a significant role in the evolution of the merger remnant. We simulated a 0. 625–0. 65 carbon–oxygen WD binary merger in the magnetohydrodynamic moving mesh code Arepo. Each WD was given an initial dipole field with a surface value of G. As in simulations of merging double neutron star binaries, we find exponential field growth within Kelvin–Helmholtz instability-generated vortices during the coalescence of the two stars. The final field has complex geometry, and a strength G at the center of the merger remnant. Its energy is ergs, ∼0. 2% of the remnant’s total energy. The strong field likely influences further evolution of the merger remnant by providing a mechanism for angular momentum transfer and additional heating, potentially helping to ignite carbon fusion. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
10.1112/S1461157014000321 | An Algorithm For The Principal Ideal Problem In Indefinite Quaternion Algebras | Deciding whether an ideal of a number field is principal and finding a generator is a fundamental problem with many applications in computational number theory. For indefinite quaternion algebras, the decision problem reduces to that in the underlying number field. Finding a generator is hard, and we present a heuristically subexponential algorithm. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2789856658 | Recent Advances in Passive Digital Image Security Forensics: A Brief Review | Abstract With the development of sophisticated image editing and manipulation tools, the originality and authenticity of a digital image is usually hard to determine visually. In order to detect digital image forgeries, various kinds of digital image forensics techniques have been proposed in the last decade. Compared with active forensics approaches that require embedding additional information, passive forensics approaches are more popular due to their wider application scenario, and have attracted increasing academic and industrial research interests. Generally speaking, passive digital image forensics detects image forgeries based on the fact that there are certain intrinsic patterns in the original image left during image acquisition or storage, or specific patterns in image forgeries left during the image storage or editing. By analyzing the above patterns, the originality of an image can be authenticated. In this paper, a brief review on passive digital image forensic methods is presented in order to provide a comprehensive introduction on recent advances in this rapidly developing research area. These forensics approaches are divided into three categories based on the various kinds of traces they can be used to track—that is, traces left in image acquisition, traces left in image storage, and traces left in image editing. For each category, the forensics scenario, the underlying rationale, and state-of-the-art methodologies are elaborated. Moreover, the major limitations of the current image forensics approaches are discussed in order to point out some possible research directions or focuses in these areas. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1152/jn.00099.2017 | Basal tree complexity shapes functional pathways in the prefrontal cortex | While the morphology of basal dendritic trees in cortical pyramidal neurons varies, the functional implications of this diversity are just starting to emerge. In layer 5 pyramidal neurons of the prefrontal cortex, for example, increased basal tree complexity determines the recruitment of these neurons into functional circuits. Here, we use a modeling approach to investigate whether and how the morphology of the basal tree mediates the functional output of neurons. We implemented 57 basal tree morphologies of layer 5 prefrontal pyramidal neurons of the rat and identified morphological types that were characterized by different response features, forming distinct functional types. These types were robust to a wide range of manipulations (distribution of active ionic mechanisms, NMDA conductance, somatic and apical tree morphology, or the number of activated synapses) and supported different temporal coding schemes at both the single neuron and the microcircuit level. We predict that the basal tree morphological diversity among neurons of the same class mediates their segregation into distinct functional pathways. Extension of our approach/findings to other cortical areas and/or layers or under pathological conditions may provide a generalized role of the basal trees for neuronal function. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Our results suggest that the segregation of neurons to different functional types based on their basal tree morphology is in large part independent of the distribution of active ionic mechanisms, NMDA conductance, somatic and apical tree morphology, and the number of activated synapses; different functional types support distinct temporal coding schemes. This can be exploited to create networks with diverse coding characteristics, thus contributing to the functional heterogeneity within the same layer and area. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.1214/13-AOS1102 | Bayesian Nonparametric Analysis Of Reversible Markov Chains | We introduce a three-parameter random walk with reinforcement, called the $(\theta,\alpha,\beta)$ scheme, which generalizes the linearly edge reinforced random walk to uncountable spaces. The parameter $\beta$ smoothly tunes the $(\theta,\alpha,\beta)$ scheme between this edge reinforced random walk and the classical exchangeable two-parameter Hoppe urn scheme, while the parameters $\alpha$ and $\theta$ modulate how many states are typically visited. Resorting to de Finetti’s theorem for Markov chains, we use the $(\theta,\alpha,\beta)$ scheme to define a nonparametric prior for Bayesian analysis of reversible Markov chains. The prior is applied in Bayesian nonparametric inference for species sampling problems with data generated from a reversible Markov chain with an unknown transition kernel. As a real example, we analyze data from molecular dynamics simulations of protein folding. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1051/0004-6361/201731297 | Methanol Masers Reveal The Magnetic Field Of The High Mass Protostar Iras 18089 1732 | Context. The importance of the magnetic field in high-mass-star formation is not yet fully clear and there are still many open questions concerning its role in the accretion processes and generation of jets and outflows. In the past few years, masers have been successfully used to probe the magnetic field morphology and strength at scales of a few au around massive protostars, by measuring linear polarisation angles and Zeeman splitting. The massive protostar IRAS 18089-1732 is a well studied high-mass-star forming region, showing a hot core chemistry and a disc-outflow system. Previous SMA observations of polarised dust revealed an ordered magnetic field oriented around the disc of IRAS 18089-1732. Aims. We want to determine the magnetic field in the dense region probed by 6. 7 GHz methanol maser observations and compare it with observations in dust continuum polarisation, to investigate how the magnetic field in the compact maser region relates to the large-scale field around massive protostars. Methods. We reduced MERLIN observations at 6. 7 GHz of IRAS 18089-1732 and we analysed the polarised emission by methanol masers. Results. Our MERLIN observations show that the magnetic field in the 6. 7 GHz methanol maser region is consistent with the magnetic field constrained by the SMA dust polarisation observations. A tentative detection of circularly polarised line emission is also presented. Conclusions. We found that the magnetic field in the maser region has the same orientation as in the disk. Thus the large-scale field component, even at the au scale of the masers, dominates over any small-scale field fluctuations. We obtained, from the circular polarisation tentative detection, a field strength along the line of sight of 5. 5 mG which appeared to be consistent with the previous estimates. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.5194/nhess-18-2309-2018 | Monitoring, cataloguing, and weather scenarios of thunderstorm outflows in the northern Mediterranean | . High sampling rate (10 Hz) anemometric measurements of the Wind, Ports, and Sea monitoring network in the northern Tyrrhenian Sea have been analysed to extract the thunderstorm-related signals and catalogue them into three families according to the different time-scale of each event, subdivided among 10 min, 1, and 10 h events. Their characteristics in terms of direction of motion and seasonality/daily occurrence have been analysed: the results showed that most of the selected events come from the sea and occur from 12:00 to 00:00 UTC during the winter season. In terms of peak wind speed, the strongest events all belonged to the 10 min family, but no systematic correlation was found between event duration and peaks. Three events, each one representative of the corresponding class of duration, have been analysed from the meteorological point of view, in order to investigate their physical nature. According to this analysis, which was mainly based on satellite images, meteorological fields obtained from GFS analyses related to convection in the atmosphere, and lightning activity, the thunderstorm-related nature of the 10 min and 1 h events was confirmed. The 10 h event turned out to be a synoptic event, related to extra-tropical cyclone activity. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W1501865512 | Hypoplasia of all paranasal sinuses A case series and Literature review | Hypoplasia of maxillary sinus is a rather rare condition. Review of literature reveal that so far only 6 cases have been reported. Hypoplasia of frontal and sphenoid sinuses has been documented rather frequently. In this article the authors report two rare cases of hypoplasia involving all paranasal sinuses which has not been reported so far in literature. This is actually an incidental finding when routine CT scan of sinuses was performed. This patient was clinically asymptomatic. Awareness of this condition is important because of implications involved in performing FESS surgery in these patients. Routine x-rays will lead to erroneous diagnosis of sinus infection because of the opacity seen in the poorly developed sinus area. | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.1080/1350178X.2014.886470 | Understanding with theoretical models | This paper discusses the epistemic import of highly abstract and simplified theoretical models using Thomas Schelling’s checkerboard model as an example. We argue that the epistemic contribution of theoretical models can be better understood in the context of a cluster of models relevant to the explanatory task at hand. The central claim of the paper is that theoretical models make better sense in the context of a menu of possible explanations. In order to justify this claim, we introduce a distinction between causal scenarios and causal mechanism schemes. These conceptual tools help us to articulate the basis for modelers’ intuitive confidence that their models make an important epistemic contribution. By focusing on the role of the menu of possible explanations in the evaluation of explanatory hypotheses, it is possible to understand how a causal mechanism scheme can improve our explanatory understanding even in cases where it does not describe the actual cause of a particular phenomenon. | [
"Texts and Concepts",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1074/jbc.M112.398768 | Active detergent-solubilized H<sup>+</sup>,K<sup>+</sup>-ATPase is a monomer | The H+,K+-ATPase pumps protons or hydronium ions and is responsible for the acidification of the gastric fluid. It is made up of an α-catalytic and a β-glycosylated subunit. The relation between cation translocation and the organization of the protein in the membrane are not well understood. Wedescribe here how pure and functionally active pig gastric H +,K+-ATPase with an apparent Stokes radius of 6. 3 nm can be obtained after solubilization with the non-ionic detergent C 12E8, followed by exchange of C12E8 with Tween 20 on a Superose 6 column. Mass spectroscopy indicates that the β-subunit bears an excess mass of 9 kDa attributable to glycosylation. From chemical analysis, there are 0. 25 g of phospholipids and around 0. 024 g of cholesterol bound per g of protein. Analytical ultracentrifugation shows one main complex, sedimenting at s20,w = 7. 2 ± 0. 1 S, together with minor amounts of irreversibly aggregated material. From these data, a buoyant molecular mass is calculated, corresponding to an H+,K +-ATPase α,β-protomer of 147. 3 kDa. Complementary sedimentation velocity with deuterated water gives a picture of an α,β-protomer with 0. 9 -1. 4 g/g of bound detergent and lipids and a reasonable frictional ratio of 1. 5, corresponding to a Stokes radius of 7. 1 nm. An α2,β2 dimer is rejected by the data. Light scattering coupled to gel filtration confirms the monomeric state of solubilized H+,K+-ATPase. Thus, α,β H+,K +-ATPase is active at least in detergent and may plausibly function as a monomer, as has been established for other P-type ATPases, Ca2 +-ATPase and Na+,K+-ATPase. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.05.033 | Net ecosystem production and carbon balance of an SRC poplar plantation during its first rotation | To evaluate the potential of woody bioenergy crops as an alternative energy source, there is need for a more comprehensive understanding of their carbon cycling and their allocation patterns throughout the lifespan. We therefore quantified the net ecosystem production (NEP) of a poplar (. Populus) short rotation coppice (SRC) culture in Flanders during its second growing season. Eddy covariance (EC) techniques were applied to obtain the annual net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of the plantation. Further, by applying a component-flux-based approach NEP was calculated as the difference between the modelled gross photosynthesis and the respiratory fluxes from foliage, stem and soil obtained via upscaling from chamber measurements. A combination of biomass sampling, inventories and upscaling techniques was used to determine NEP via a pool-change-based approach. Across the three approaches, the net carbon balance ranged from 96 to 199gm-2y-1 indicating a significant net carbon uptake by the SRC culture. During the establishment year the SRC culture was a net source of carbon to the atmosphere, but already during the second growing season there was a significant net uptake. Both the component-flux-based and pool-change-based approaches resulted in higher values (47-108%) than the EC-estimation of NEE, though the results were comparable considering the considerable and variable uncertainty levels involved in the different approaches. The efficient biomass production - with the highest part of the total carbon uptake allocated to the aboveground wood - led the poplars to counterbalance the soil carbon losses resulting from land use change in a short period of time. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
10.1038/s41467-018-05205-5 | Highly active enzymes by automated combinatorial backbone assembly and sequence design | Automated design of enzymes with wild-type-like catalytic properties has been a long-standing but elusive goal. Here, we present a general, automated method for enzyme design through combinatorial backbone assembly. Starting from a set of homologous yet structurally diverse enzyme structures, the method assembles new backbone combinations and uses Rosetta to optimize the amino acid sequence, while conserving key catalytic residues. We apply this method to two unrelated enzyme families with TIM-barrel folds, glycoside hydrolase 10 (GH10) xylanases and phosphotriesterase-like lactonases (PLLs), designing 43 and 34 proteins, respectively. Twenty-one GH10 and seven PLL designs are active, including designs derived from templates with <25% sequence identity. Moreover, four designs are as active as natural enzymes in these families. Atomic accuracy in a high-activity GH10 design is further confirmed by crystallographic analysis. Thus, combinatorial-backbone assembly and design may be used to generate stable, active, and structurally diverse enzymes with altered selectivity or activity. | [
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1038/s41467-020-14323-y | A MAFG-lncRNA axis links systemic nutrient abundance to hepatic glucose metabolism | Obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus are global emergencies and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulatory transcripts with elusive functions in metabolism. Here we show that a high fraction of lncRNAs, but not protein-coding mRNAs, are repressed during diet-induced obesity (DIO) and refeeding, whilst nutrient deprivation induced lncRNAs in mouse liver. Similarly, lncRNAs are lost in diabetic humans. LncRNA promoter analyses, global cistrome and gain-of-function analyses confirm that increased MAFG signaling during DIO curbs lncRNA expression. Silencing Mafg in mouse hepatocytes and obese mice elicits a fasting-like gene expression profile, improves glucose metabolism, de-represses lncRNAs and impairs mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) activation. We find that obesity-repressed LincIRS2 is controlled by MAFG and observe that genetic and RNAi-mediated LincIRS2 loss causes elevated blood glucose, insulin resistance and aberrant glucose output in lean mice. Taken together, we identify a MAFG-lncRNA axis controlling hepatic glucose metabolism in health and metabolic disease. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
10.1103/PhysRevB.83.121401 | Hysteresis loops of magnetoconductance in graphene devices | We report very low-temperature magnetoconductance ΔG measurements on graphene devices with the magnetic field H applied parallel to the carbon sheet. The ΔG(H) signal depends on the gate voltage Vg and its sign is related to the universal conductance fluctuations. When the magnetic field is swept at fast rates, ΔG displays hysteresis loops evident for different sizes and at different transport regimes of the devices. We attribute this to the magnetization reversal of paramagnetic centers in the graphene layer, which might originate from defects in our devices. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1172/JCI93558 | The Perivascular Origin Of Pathological Fibroblasts | The ability to repair tissues is essential for the survival of organisms. In chronic settings, the failure of the repair process to terminate results in overproduction of collagen, a pathology known as fibrosis, which compromises organ recovery and impairs function. The origin of the collagen-overproducing cell has been debated for years. Here we review recent insights gained from the use of lineage tracing approaches in several organs. The resulting evidence points toward specific subsets of tissue-resident mesenchymal cells, mainly localized in a perivascular position, as the major source for collagen-producing cells after injury. We discuss these findings in view of the functional heterogeneity of mesenchymal cells of the perivascular niche, which have essential vascular, immune, and regenerative functions that need to be preserved for efficient repair. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
W1893512822 | An adaptive wireless passive human detection via fine-grained physical layer information | Wireless device-free passive human detection is a key enabler for a range of indoor location-based services such as asset security, emergency responses, privacy-preserving children and elderly monitoring, etc. Since the feature of received signal varies with different multipath propagation conditions, an labor-intensive on-site calibration procedure is almost indispensable to decide the optimal scenario-specific threshold for human detection. Such overhead, however, impedes readily and fast deployment of wireless device-free human detection systems in practical indoor environments. In this work, we explore PHY layer multipath profiling information to extract a novel quantitative metric Ks as an indicator for link sensitivity, and further exploit a linear detection threshold prediction model. We design an adaptive device-free human detection scheme that automatically predicts the detection threshold according to the richness of multipath propagation within monitored areas. We implement our scheme with commodity WiFi infrastructure and evaluate it in typical office environments. Extensive experimental results show that our scheme yields comparative performance with the state-of-the-art, yet requires no on-site threshold calibration. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W1990513014 | Two stage waveform relaxation method for the initial value problems of differential-algebraic equations | In this paper, we consider a two stage strategy for waveform relaxation (WR) iterations, applied to initial value problems for differential-algebraic equations (DAEs) in the form A y ̇ ( t ) + B y ( t ) = f ( t ) . Outer iterations of TSWR are defined by M A y ̇ ( k + 1 ) ( t ) + M 1 y ( k + 1 ) ( t ) = N 1 y ( k ) ( t ) + N A y ̇ ( k ) ( t ) + f ( t ) , where A = M A − N A , B = M 1 − N 1 , and each iteration y ( k + 1 ) ( t ) is computed using an inner iterative process, based on another splitting M 1 = M 2 − N 2 . Meanwhile, by the means of the Theta method, the discretized TSWR of DAEs is realized. Furthermore, when M A is an Hermitian positive semi-definite matrix with P -regular splittings, the convergence and the comparison theorems of TSWR are analyzed. Finally, the numerical experiments are presented. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1016/j.apm.2015.03.011 | Multi-level Monte Carlo finite volume method for shallow water equations with uncertain parameters applied to landslides-generated tsunamis | Two layer Savage-Hutter type shallow water PDEs model flows such as tsunamis generated by rockslides. On account of heterogeneities in the composition of the granular matter, these models contain uncertain parameters like the ratio of densities of layers, Coulomb and interlayer friction. These parameters are modeled statistically and quantifying the resulting solution uncertainty (UQ) is a crucial task in geophysics. We propose a novel paradigm for UQ that combines the recently developed IFCP spatial discretizations with the recently developed Multi-level Monte Carlo (MLMC) statistical sampling method and provides a fast, accurate and computationally efficient framework to compute statistical quantities of interest. Numerical experiments, including realistic simulations of the Lituya Bay mega tsunami, are presented to illustrate the robustness of the proposed UQ algorithm. | [
"Mathematics",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
10.1002/2017JB015176 | The Role Of Oceanic Transform Faults In Seafloor Spreading A Global Perspective From Seismic Anisotropy | Mantle anisotropy beneath mid-ocean ridges and oceanic transforms is key to our understanding of seafloor spreading and underlying dynamics of divergent plate boundaries. Observations are sparse, however, given the remoteness of the oceans and the difficulties of seismic instrumentation. To overcome this, we utilize the global distribution of seismicity along transform faults to measure shear wave splitting of over 550 direct S phases recorded at 56 carefully selected seismic stations worldwide. Applying this source-side splitting technique allows for characterization of the upper mantle seismic anisotropy, and therefore the pattern of mantle flow, directly beneath seismically active transform faults. The majority of the results (60%) return nulls (no splitting), while the non-null measurements display clear azimuthal dependency. This is best simply explained by anisotropy with a near vertical symmetry axis, consistent with mantle upwelling beneath oceanic transforms as suggested by numerical models. It appears therefore that the long-term stability of seafloor spreading may be associated with widespread mantle upwelling beneath the transforms creating warm and weak faults that localize strain to the plate boundary. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
W1988083756 | Equilibrium-Phase High Spatial Resolution Contrast-Enhanced MR Angiography at 1.5T in Preoperative Imaging for Perforator Flap Breast Reconstruction | The aim was (i) to evaluate the accuracy of equilibrium-phase high spatial resolution (EP) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) at 1.5T using a blood pool contrast agent for the preoperative evaluation of deep inferior epigastric artery perforator branches (DIEP), and (ii) to compare image quality with conventional first-pass CE-MRA.Twenty-three consecutive patients were included. All patients underwent preoperative CE-MRA to determine quality and location of DIEP. First-pass imaging after a single bolus injection of 10 mL gadofosveset trisodium was followed by EP imaging. MRA data were compared to intra-operative findings, which served as the reference standard.There was 100% agreement between EP CE-MRA and surgical findings in identifying the single best perforator branch. All EP acquisitions were of diagnostic quality, whereas in 10 patients the quality of the first-pass acquisition was qualified as non-diagnostic. Both signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios were significantly higher for EP imaging in comparison with first-pass acquisitions (p<0.01).EP CE-MRA of DIEP in the preoperative evaluation of patients undergoing a breast reconstruction procedure is highly accurate in identifying the single best perforator branch at 1.5Tesla (T). Besides accuracy, image quality of EP imaging proved superior to conventional first-pass CE-MRA. | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
996306 | Grassroots citizen science for global data environments | This research project uses data-led grassroots citizen science as a lens through which to consider actual and pending shifts in the governance of pressing global issues. Combining methods in Science and Technology Studies and Policy Analysis, it discerns how grassroots citizen scientists in three world regions (East Asia, Western Europe, Central Africa) mobilize new data devices and technologies to tackle environmental threats emanating from public concerns over environmental radiation, air pollution, and climate change. Recognizing that these complex, interdependent problems require a multi-stakeholder approach, it analyzes and compares how grassroots citizen data practices are received by local and global rules-based democratic and market institutions, including public authorities, research communities, businesses, mass media, and educational organizations. With concerned stakeholders, it addresses the tensions and pitfalls that emerge in these processes, as citizens create and value environmental data distinct from official institutional approaches. Its findings serve to incite collective learning about these tensions with the aim of facilitating mutually responsive environmental data governance. The project builds on the fellow’s research on citizen science in post-Fukushima Japan and his expertise in public engagement with new and emerging technologies. It will be carried out in close collaboration with Professor of Sociology Jennifer Gabrys (University of Cambridge), who is a leading expert in environmental sociology, digital technologies, and citizen participation. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
]
|
10.1039/c9me00085b | Computational screening for nested organic cage complexes | Computational simulations were used to screen 8712 combinations of porous organic cages for energetically favourable nested cage complexes. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1111/1365-2435.12672 | Beyond Plant Soil Feedbacks Mechanisms Driving Plant Community Shifts Due To Land Use Legacies In Post Agricultural Forests | Summary
Although biotic legacies of past agricultural practices are widespread and increasing in contemporary ecosystems, our understanding of the mechanisms driving such legacies is still poor. Forest understories on former agricultural land show low frequencies and abundance of typical woodland species when compared with ancient forests. These community shifts have been ascribed to the effects of dispersal limitation. A rarely considered mechanism is that post-dispersal processes driven by plant-associated communities determine the poor performance and recruitment of woodland indicators. Given the strong alterations in soil conditions due to former agricultural practices, we hypothesized that (abiotic) plant–soil feedbacks could be a major factor in community shifts. We addressed this hypothesis by comparing plant-associated communities in the soil and above the ground in ancient and post-agricultural alluvial forests; then, we experimentally tested whether the changes in biotic and abiotic soil properties could affect above-ground herbivore abundance and pressure and plant performance. Ancient and post-agricultural communities clearly differed in composition at different levels of the food web. Besides the plant community, we also observed the differences in the microbial and nematode community with increased abundance of root-feeding nematodes in post-agricultural soils. The composition of the above-ground invertebrate community did not differ in ancient and post-agricultural forest parcels; however, plants growing in post-agricultural sites showed higher abundance of invertebrate herbivores and suffered more herbivory. Nutrient analyses of soil and plants showed that increased levels of phosphorus (and to a lesser extent, nitrogen) made plants more nutritious for insect herbivores. Laboratory experiments further pointed to this mechanism as an explanation of the poorer performance of woodland indicators in post-agricultural woodlands. Our results point to biotic and abiotic plant–soil feedbacks coupled with herbivory as a new mechanism to explain the legacy effects in temperate forests. The modification of the below-ground community and soil abiotic characteristics by previous agricultural activity affects not only the plant growth but also the plant nutrient content in the compared understorey species, making them more susceptible to above-ground herbivory. Our results provide one of the first examples of integrating plant–soil feedback and above- and below-ground interactions to explain land-use legacies. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
W2060062036 | Benchmarking Study of Parameter Variation When Using Signature Fingerprints Together with Support Vector Machines | QSAR modeling using molecular signatures and support vector machines with a radial basis function is increasingly used for virtual screening in the drug discovery field. This method has three free parameters: C, γ, and signature height. C is a penalty parameter that limits overfitting, γ controls the width of the radial basis function kernel, and the signature height determines how much of the molecule is described by each atom signature. Determination of optimal values for these parameters is time-consuming. Good default values could therefore save considerable computational cost. The goal of this project was to investigate whether such default values could be found by using seven public QSAR data sets spanning a wide range of end points and using both a bit version and a count version of the molecular signatures. On the basis of the experiments performed, we recommend a parameter set of heights 0 to 2 for the count version of the signature fingerprints and heights 0 to 3 for the bit version. These are in combination with a support vector machine using C in the range of 1 to 100 and γ in the range of 0.001 to 0.1. When data sets are small or longer run times are not a problem, then there is reason to consider the addition of height 3 to the count fingerprint and a wider grid search. However, marked improvements should not be expected. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
172720 | Myelinic nanochannels in neurodegenerative diseases | Myelin is made by highly specialized glial cells and enables fast axonal impulse propagation. We have
discovered that oligodendrocytes in the CNS are, in addition to myelination, required for the integrity and
survival of axons, independent of the presence or absence of myelin itself. More recently, we found the
underlying mechanism and could show that glycolytic oligodendrocytes provide axons with pyruvate/lactate.
These metabolites are transported through a system of myelinic nanochannels to the axonal compartment, in
which mitochondria generate ATP. The finding was a paradigm-shift for the physiological function of axonassociated
glia, and opens now the intriguing possibility that oligodendrocytes are important modifiers of
neurological diseases in which myelinated axons are lost. This includes, in addition to multiple sclerosis, also
classical neuropsychiatric disorders. We will generate novel genetic tools in mice that allow us to study the
role myelin and secondary axonal loss in higher brain functions. We will test the challenging hypothesis that
reducing oligodendroglial support of axonal metabolism is a risk for differen neurodegenerative disorders.
These involve the previously neglected ultrastructure of CNS myelin with cytosolic (20-300 nanometer
wide) channels within the myelin sheath. These 'nanochannels' couple the oligodendrocyte soma
metabolically to the adaxonal space, but are vulnerable to aging and physical injury. We hypothesize that
cellular mechanisms as diverse as neuroinflammation and the aggregation of misfolded proteins in myelinic
nanochannels cause perturbations of the axonal energy metabolism. When combined, the findings of
MyeliNANO will shed new light on previously unknown functions of CNS myelin and will pave the way for
metabolic neuroprotection as a therapeutic approach to a range of neurodegenerative diseases. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.1016/j.jaerosci.2011.06.003 | Continuous flame aerosol synthesis of carbon-coated nano-LiFePO4 for Li-ion batteries | Core-shell, nano-sized LiFePO4-carbon particles were made in one step by scalable flame aerosol technology at 7g/h. Core LiFePO4 particles were made in an enclosed flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) unit and were coated in-situ downstream by auto thermal carbonization (pyrolysis) of swirl-fed C2H2 in an O2-controlled atmosphere. The formation of acetylene carbon black (ACB) shell was investigated as a function of the process fuel-oxidant equivalence ratio (EQR). The core-shell morphology was obtained at slightly fuel-rich conditions (1. 0<EQR<1. 07) whereas segregated ACB and LiFePO4 particles were formed at fuel-lean conditions (0. 8<EQR<1). Post-annealing of core-shell particles in reducing environment (5vol% H2 in argon) at 700°C for up to 4h established phase pure, monocrystalline LiFePO4 with a crystal size of 65nm and 30wt% ACB content. Uncoated LiFePO4 or segregated LiFePO4-ACB grew to 250nm at these conditions. Annealing at 800°C induced carbothermal reduction of LiFePO4 to Fe2P by ACB shell consumption that resulted in cavities between carbon shell and core LiFePO4 and even slight LiFePO4 crystal growth but better electrochemical performance. The present carbon-coated LiFePO4 showed superior cycle stability and higher rate capability than the benchmark, commercially available LiFePO4. | [
"Materials Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
10.1105/tpc.112.108548 | Salicylic acid suppresses jasmonic acid signaling downstream of SCF<sup>COI1</sup>-JAZ by targeting GCC promoter motifs via transcription factor ORA59 | Antagonism between the defense hormones salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) plays a central role in the modulation of the plant immune signaling network, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that suppression of the JA pathway by SA functions downstream of the E3 ubiquitin-ligase Skip-Cullin-F-box complex SCFCOI1, which targets JASMONATE ZIM-domain transcriptional repressor proteins (JAZs) for proteasomemediated degradation. In addition, neither the stability nor the JA-induced degradation of JAZs was affected by SA. In silico promoter analysis of the SA/JA crosstalk transcriptome revealed that the 1-kb promoter regions of JA-responsive genes that are suppressed by SA are significantly enriched in the JA-responsive GCC-box motifs. Using GCC:GUS lines carrying four copies of the GCC-box fused to the β - glucuronidase reporter gene, we showed that the GCC-box motif is sufficient for SA-mediated suppression of JA-responsive gene expression. Using plants overexpressing the GCC-box binding APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (AP2/ERF) transcription factors ERF1 or ORA59, we found that SA strongly reduces the accumulation of ORA59 but not that of ERF1. Collectively, these data indicate that the SA pathway inhibits JA signaling downstream of the SCFCOI1-JAZ complex by targeting GCC-box motifs in JA-responsive promoters via a negative effect on the transcriptional activator ORA59. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
10.1021/bi2002289 | The moderately efficient enzyme: Evolutionary and physicochemical trends shaping enzyme parameters | The kinetic parameters of enzymes are key to understanding the rate and specificity of most biological processes. Although specific trends are frequently studied for individual enzymes, global trends are rarely addressed. We performed an analysis of kcat and KM values of several thousand enzymes collected from the literature. We found that the "average enzyme" exhibits a kcat of ̃10 s-1 and a k cat/ KM of ̃105 s-1 M-1, much below the diffusion limit and the characteristic textbook portrayal of kinetically superior enzymes. Why do most enzymes exhibit moderate catalytic efficiencies? Maximal rates may not evolve in cases where weaker selection pressures are expected. We find, for example, that enzymes operating in secondary metabolism are, on average, ̃30-fold slower than those of central metabolism. We also find indications that the physicochemical properties of substrates affect the kinetic parameters. Specifically, low molecular mass and hydrophobicity appear to limit KM optimization. In accordance, substitution with phosphate, CoA, or other large modifiers considerably lowers the KM values of enzymes utilizing the substituted substrates. It therefore appears that both evolutionary selection pressures and physicochemical constraints shape the kinetic parameters of enzymes. It also seems likely that the catalytic efficiency of some enzymes toward their natural substrates could be increased in many cases by natural or laboratory evolution. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
W2294989707 | The Most Probable Explanation for Probabilistic Logic Programs with Annotated Disjunctions | Probabilistic logic languages, such as ProbLog and CP-logic, are probabilistic generalizations of logic programming that allow one to model probability distributions over complex, structured domains. Their key probabilistic constructs are probabilistic facts and annotated disjunctions to represent binary and mutli-valued random variables, respectively. ProbLog allows the use of annotated disjunctions by translating them into probabilistic facts and rules. This encoding is tailored towards the task of computing the marginal probability of a query given evidence MARG, but is not correct for the task of finding the most probable explanation MPE with important applications e.g., diagnostics and scheduling.
In this work, we propose a new encoding of annotated disjunctions which allows correct MARG and MPE. We explore from both theoretical and experimental perspective the trade-off between the encoding suitable only for MARG inference and the newly proposed general approach. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Mathematics"
]
|
645697 | Coastal climate core services | Even if climate change mitigation objectives agreed in Paris are met, sea level will rise at least by 0.3 to 0.6m in 2100 and then continue rising for centuries. The potential impacts for coastal flooding are a major source of concern for Europe because many infrastructures are located close to shorelines or in low-lying areas. Broad scale coastal climate services and platforms available today have successfully addressed the need to raise awareness on mitigation. However, an authoritative, consistent and decision oriented platform is still missing to meet the needs of adaptation practitioners concerned with (1) the routine identification of coastal territories at risk from innundation, (2) coastal land use planning or (3) maintaining coastal infastructure services. The Coastal Climate Core Service (CoCliCo) project aims at informing decision-making on coastal risk and adaptation, by delivering an open web-platform exploring dominant risk drivers, adjusting visualisation and analysis techniques to local decision contexts, and combining relevant and high-quality geospatial information layers. Through the platform, users will be able to visualize, download and analyse multiple decision-oriented coastal risk scenarios relevant to the rich user narratives of our Demonstration Case Studies addressing the three needs raised above. To meet this challenge, CoCliCo brings together European organizations and scholars that have proven track records of delivering broad-scale coastal risk and adaptation assessment, as well as leading research and technologies in interoperable geospatial data management, decision sciences and risk communication. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1073/pnas.1712511114 | Control of growth and gut maturation by HoxD genes and the associated lncRNA Haglr | During embryonic development, Hox genes participate in the building of a functional digestive system in metazoans, and genetic conditions involving these genes lead to important, sometimes lethal, growth retardation. Recently, this phenotype was obtained after deletion of Haglr, the Hoxd antisense growth-associated long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) located between Hoxd1 and Hoxd3. In this study, we have analyzed the function of Hoxd genes in delayed growth trajectories by looking at several nested targeted deficiencies of the mouse HoxD cluster. Mutant pups were severely stunted during the suckling period, but many recovered after weaning. After comparing seven distinct HoxD alleles, including CRISPR/Cas9 deletions involving Haglr, we identified Hoxd3 as the critical component for the gut to maintain milk-digestive competence. This essential function could be abrogated by the dominant-negative effect of HOXD10 as shown by a genetic rescue approach, thus further illustrating the importance of posterior prevalence in Hox gene function. A role for the lncRNA Haglr in the control of postnatal growth could not be corroborated. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1039/c8ta03557a | Reactive gas atmospheres as a tool for the synthesis of MOFs: the creation of a metal hybrid fumarate with a controlled Fe/Al composition profile | Reactive gas atmospheres have been used as a new tool for the synthesis of MOFs, allowing the creation of a metal hybrid fumarate with a controlled Fe/Al composition profile. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
W2938640300 | Analysis and improvement of tactile comfort and low-stress mechanical properties of denim fabrics | Despite the fact that the tactile comfort of a garment is an important criterion that determines consumers' preferences and has been investigated for almost a century by many researchers, the number of studies regarding tactile comfort of denim fabrics is limited. The aim of this study is to propose suggestions to enhance the tactile comfort of denim fabrics and investigate their efficiency in terms of low-stress mechanical properties and sensory evaluation results. For this purpose, the compressibility, extension ability, bending rigidity and shear rigidity of 51 denim fabrics were experimentally determined. Meanwhile, stiffness–softness, roughness–smoothness and tactile comfort scores were evaluated by consumers and specialists via sensory tests. The effects of the raw material, blend ratio, weaving parameters and washing processes were statistically investigated. Low-stress mechanical properties, particularly biaxial and multiaxial ones, were found to be highly related to the perceived tactile comfort. Statistical investigations highlighted that stone washing is the most effective method to improve the tactile comfort. Nonetheless, the effect of enzyme washing was relatively small. It was observed that the suggested weaving parameters provide a significant improvement in fabric properties. Increasing the ratio of viscose content in polyester/viscose blend weft yarns was quite effective as well. | [
"Materials Engineering",
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
832697 | Mapping Dispersion Spectroscopically in Large Gas-Phase Molecular Ions | We use IR spectroscopy of trapped ions in a cryogenic FT-ICR spectrometer to probe non-covalent, “dispersion” interactions in large, gas-phase molecular ions. We will measure conformational equilibria by N-H frequency shifts, and correlate gas-phase IR frequency to the N-H-N bond angle in an ionic H-bond. Substituents on “onium” cations can adopt various conformations, whose energies map interaction potentials. Substituents on their proton-bound dimers interact non-covalently through dispersion forces, whose quantitative evaluation in large molecules has remained difficult despite dispersion becoming increasingly cited as a design principle in the construction of catalysts and materials. The non-covalent interactions bend the N-H-N bond, leading to large shifts in the IR frequency. The proton-bound dimer acts like a molecular balance where the non-covalent interaction, is set against the bending potential in an ionic hydrogen bond. Despite encouragingly accurate calculations for small molecules, experimental benchmarks for large molecules in the gas phase remain scarce, and there is evidence that the good results for small molecules may not extrapolate reliably to large molecules. The present proposal introduces a new experimental probe of non-covalent interactions, providing a sensitive test of the diverging results coming from various computational methods and other experiments. The experiment must be done on isolated molecules in the gas phase, as previous work has shown that solvation substantially cancels out the attractive potential. Accordingly, the proposed experimental design, which involves a custom-built spectrometer, newly available tunable IR sources, chemical synthesis of custom substrates, and quantum calculations up to coupled-cluster levels of theory, showcases how an interdisciplinary approach combining physical and organic chemistry can solve a fundamental problem that impacts how we understand steric effects in organic chemistry. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
949516 | New Insights on the Snow Cover: From Snowflakes to Ice Sheets, in Seconds to Centuries. | Snow is a pillar of the Earth’s climate system, affecting all its components with critical impacts for Nature and human societies. Perennial snow evolves to firn and ice, providing unique records of the past climate. Yet today no snow model adequately simulates relevant snow variables worldwide, not to mention their inability to represent firn processes and snow/permafrost interactions. I argue that this is because current models focus on a limited number of physical processes and none suitably consider snow microstructure. IVORI’s goal is to build a microstructure-based model encompassing all the relevant snow and firn physical variables. Drawing on advanced observations of snow and firn, the proposal has three objectives: (1) Understand the role of water vapour transport in snow and its subsequent impacts on the ground thermal regime governing permafrost evolution; (2) Understand how initial changes in surface snow microstructure are transferred deeper into the firn and affect ice core records; (3) Determine the contributions of snow-climate feedbacks, triggered by changes in the albedo and insulating capacity of snow to the past and future of snow cover and ground temperature. To this aim, I will build a microstructure-based model, with a novel physics core, unifying the evolution of snow and firn. IVORI will also deliver unprecedented season-long observations of snow microstructure in the Arctic, Alps and Antarctica using X-ray tomography. These observations will significantly advance our understanding of the physical processes involved and be used for a thorough evaluation of the model. The model will provide a reliable assessment of snow-climate feedbacks in a changing climate and a rigorous appraisal of the modelling uncertainties. When completed, this work will pave the way for crucial advances in our understanding of glaciers, ice sheets and past climate through ice core records, with many fallouts for sea ice and permafrost evolution. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
10.1016/j.intimp.2015.04.058 | Gut feeling: MicroRNA discriminators of the intestinal TLR9-cholinergic links | The intestinal tissue notably responds to stressful, cholinergic and innate immune signals by microRNA (miRNA) changes, but whether and how those miRNA regulators modify the intestinal cholinergic and innate immune pathways remained unexplored. Here, we report changes in several miRNA regulators of cholinesterases (ChEs) and correspondingly modified ChE activities in intestine, splenocytes and the circulation of mice exposed to both stress and canonical or alternative Toll-Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) oligonucleotide (ODN) aptamer activators or blockers. Stressful intraperitoneal injection of saline, the anti-inflammatory TLR9 agonist mEN101 aptamer or the inflammation-activating TLR9 aptamer ODN 1826 all increased the expression of the acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-targeting miR-132. In comparison, mEN101 but neither ODN 1826 nor saline injections elevated intestinal miR-129-5p, miR-186 and miR-200c, all predicted to target both AChE and the homologous enzyme butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). In cultured immune cells, BL-7040, the human counterpart of mEN101, reduced AChE activity reflecting inflammatory reactions in a manner preventable by the TLR9 blocking ODN 2088. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory BL-7040 TLR9 aptamer caused reduction in nitric oxide and AChE activity in both murine splenocytes and human mononuclear cells at molar concentrations four orders of magnitude lower than ODN 1826. Our findings demonstrate differential reaction of cholinesterase-targeting miRNAs to distinct TLR9 challenges, indicating upstream miRNA co-regulation of the intestinal alternative NFκB pathway and cholinergic signaling. TLR9 aptamers may hence potentiate miRNA regulation that enhances cholinergic signaling and the resolution of inflammation, which opens new venues for manipulating bowel diseases. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1002/2017GL073379 | Spacecraft Measurements Constraining The Spatial Extent Of A Magnetopause Reconnection X Line | Multispacecraft measurements from the THEMIS mission are used to probe the spatial extent of an X-line at the dayside magnetopause. A case study from 21 April 2014 is presented where two THEMIS spacecraft have a near-simultaneous encounter with the equatorial dayside magnetopause separated by 3. 9 Earth radii. Both spacecraft observe similar steady inflow conditions with southward IMF and a high magnetic shear angle at the magnetopause (133∘) boundary. One spacecraft observes clear fluid and kinetic signatures of active magnetic reconnection while the other spacecraft does not observe reconnection. The predicted location of reconnection across the magnetopause is found using several theoretical models and a BATSRUS MHD simulation. Each model predicts a continuous X-line passing close to the two spacecraft, suggesting both would observe reconnection, if active. Using the constraints of the multipoint measurements, the extent or length L of the reconnection is estimated to be 2. 4 ≤L< 5. 2 hours in local time or 6≤L<14 RE. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
10.1002/hlca.201700101 | Tailored Polarizing Hybrid Solids with Nitroxide Radicals Localized in Mesostructured Silica Walls | Hyperpolarization by dynamic nuclear polarization relies on the microwave irradiation of paramagnetic radicals dispersed in molecular glasses to enhance the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals of target molecules. However, magnetic or chemical interactions between the radicals and the target molecules can lead to attenuation of the NMR signal through paramagnetic quenching and/or radical decomposition. Here we describe polarizing materials incorporating nitroxide radicals within the walls of the solids to minimize interactions between the radicals and the solute. These materials can hyperpolarize pure pyruvic acid, a particularly important substrate of clinical interest, while nitroxide radicals cannot be used, even when incorporated in the pores of silica, because of reactions between pyruvic acid and the radicals. The properties of these materials can be engineered by tuning the composition of the wall by introducing organic functionalities. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1016/j.bcp.2017.03.012 | Role of the small intestine, colon and microbiota in determining the metabolic fate of polyphenols | (Poly)phenols are a large group of compounds, found in food, beverages, dietary supplements and herbal medicines. Owing to interest in their biological activities, absorption and metabolism of the most abundant compounds in humans are well understood. Both the chemical structure of the phenolic moiety and any attached chemical groups define whether the polyphenol is absorbed in the small intestine, or reaches the colon and is subject to extensive catabolism by colonic microbiota. Untransformed substrates may be absorbed, appearing in plasma primarily as methylated, sulfated and glucuronidated derivatives, with in some cases the unchanged substrate. Many of the catabolites are well absorbed from the colon and appear in the plasma either similarly conjugated, or as glycine conjugates, or in some cases unchanged. Although many (poly)phenol catabolites have been identified in human plasma and/or urine, the exact pathways from substrate to final microbial catabolite, and the species of bacteria and enzymes involved, are still scarcely reported. While it is clear that the composition of the human gut microbiota can be modulated in vivo by supplementation with some (poly)phenol-rich commodities, such modulation is definitely not an inevitable consequence of supplementation; it depends on the treatment, length of time and on the individual metabotype, and it is not clear whether the modulation is sustained when supplementation ceases. Some catabolites have been recorded in plasma of volunteers at concentrations similar to those shown to be effective in in vitro studies suggesting that some benefit may be achieved in vivo by diets yielding such catabolites. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1016/B978-0-12-805397-3.00002-4 | The Vicarious Brain Integrating Empathy And Emotional Learning | Abstract Through observing others’ experiences, people can learn new information about what to approach and what to avoid. As we will argue, this vicarious emotional learning is both influenced by empathy and motivates people to choose whether to engage in empathy in the future. We suggest that empathy and emotional learning are mutually reinforcing, and in fact may include common mechanisms and evolutionary outcomes. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b10097 | Quantifying Double-Layer Potentials at Liquid-Gas Interfaces from Vibrational Sum-Frequency Generation | Vibrational sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is demonstrated as a fast method to quantify variations of the electric double-layer potential 0 at liquid-gas interfaces. For this, mixed solutions of nonionic tetraethyleneglycol-monodecylether (C 10 E 4 ) and cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C 16 TAB) surfactants were investigated using SFG spectroscopy and a thin-film pressure balance (TFPB). Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek analysis of disjoining pressure isotherms obtained with the TFPB technique provides complementary information on φ 0 , which we apply to validate the results from SFG spectroscopy. By using a single φ 0 value, we can disentangle χ (2) and (3) contributions to the O-H stretching modes of interfacial water molecules in the SFG spectra. Having established the latter, we show that unknown double-layer potentials at the liquid-gas interface from solutions with different C 16 TAB/C 10 E 4 mixing ratios can be obtained from an analysis of SFG spectra and are in excellent agreement with the complementary results from the TFPB technique. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
10.1073/pnas.1804174115 | Single-molecule optical absorption imaging by nanomechanical photothermal sensing | Absorption microscopy is a promising alternative to fluorescence microscopy for single-molecule imaging. So far, molecular absorption has been probed optically via the attenuation of a probing laser or via photothermal effects. The sensitivity of optical probing is not only restricted by background scattering but it is fundamentally limited by laser shot noise, which minimizes the achievable single-molecule signal-to-noise ratio. Here, we present nanomechanical photothermal microscopy, which overcomes the scattering and shot-noise limit by detecting the photothermal heating of the sample directly with a temperature-sensitive substrate. We use nanomechanical silicon nitride drums, whose resonant frequency detunes with local heating. Individual Au nanoparticles with diameters from 10 to 200 nm and single molecules (Atto 633) are scanned with a heating laser with a peak irradiance of 354 ± 45 µW/µm2 using 50× long-working-distance objective. With a stress-optimized drum we reach a sensitivity of 16 fW/Hz1/2 at room temperature, resulting in a single-molecule signal-to-noise ratio of >70. The high sensitivity combined with the inherent wavelength independence of the nanomechanical sensor presents a competitive alternative to established tools for the analysis and localization of nonfluorescent single molecules and nanoparticles. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
W2739942377 | Mastering Natural Language Processing with Python | Maximize your NLP capabilities while creating amazing NLP projects in Python About This BookLearn to implement various NLP tasks in PythonGain insights into the current and budding research topics of NLP This is a comprehensive step-by-step guide to help students and researchers create their own projects based on real-life applications Who This Book Is For This book is for intermediate level developers in NLP with a reasonable knowledge level and understanding of Python. What You Will Learn Implement string matching algorithms and normalization techniques Implement statistical language modeling techniques Get an insight into developing a stemmer, lemmatizer, morphological analyzer, and morphological generator Develop a search engine and implement POS tagging concepts and statistical modeling concepts involving the n gram approachFamiliarize yourself with concepts such as the Treebank construct, CFG construction, the CYK Chart Parsing algorithm, and the Earley Chart Parsing algorithm Develop an NER-based system and understand and apply the concepts of sentiment analysis Understand and implement the concepts of Information Retrieval and text summarizationDevelop a Discourse Analysis System and Anaphora Resolution based systemIn Detail Natural Language Processing is one of the fields of computational linguistics and artificial intelligence that is concerned with human-computer interaction. It provides a seamless interaction between computers and human beings and gives computers the ability to understand human speech with the help of machine learning. This book will give you expertise on how to employ various NLP tasks in Python, giving you an insight into the best practices when designing and building NLP-based applications using Python. It will help you become an expert in no time and assist you in creating your own NLP projects using NLTK. You will sequentially be guided through applying machine learning tools to develop various models. We'll give you clarity on how to create training data and how to implement major NLP applications such as Named Entity Recognition, Question Answering System, Discourse Analysis, Transliteration, Word Sense disambiguation, Information Retrieval, Sentiment Analysis, Text Summarization, and Anaphora Resolution. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide, full of hands-on examples of real-world tasks. Each topic is explained and placed in context, and for the more inquisitive, there are more details of the concepts used. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
US 2007/0063790 W | WIRELESS DATA SESSION HANDOFF USING LOCATION UPDATE MESSAGE | A High Rate Packet Data (HRPD) wireless access network station (400) that accepting a data session handoff from a CDMA2000 1x base station. The wireless access network station (400) receives, from an access terminal (120), a location notification message with a valid Previous Access Network Identifier (PANID). The wireless access network station (400) further receives session parameters from a remote access network having a previous data session with the access terminal and determines if the PANID is consistent with the session parameters received from the remote access network. The wireless access network station (400) further has a data session controller (402,416) that, in response to determining the PANID is not consistent with the session parameters, establishes an RF traffic channel and connects a data session between the access terminal (120) and a Packet Data Serving Node (208) based upon the PANID received from the access terminal. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1126/sciadv.1701742 | Vocalizing in chimpanzees is influenced by social-cognitive processes | Adjusting communication to take into account information available to one’s audience is routine in humans but is assumed absent in other animals, representing a recent development on the lineage leading to humans. This assumption may be premature. Recent studies show changes in primate alarm signaling to threats according to the receivers’ risk. However, a classic problem in these and other perspective-taking studies is discerning whether signalers understand the receivers’ mental states or simply are responding to their behavior. We designed experiments to exclude concurrent reading of the receivers’ behavior by simulating receivers using prerecorded calls of other group members. Specifically, we tested whether wild chimpanzees emitted differing signals in response to a snake model when simulated receivers previously emitted either snake-related calls (indicating knowledge) or acoustically similar non–snake-related calls (indicating ignorance). Signalers showed more vocal and nonvocal signaling and receiver-directed monitoring when simulated receivers had emitted non–snake-related calls. Results were not explained by signaler arousal nor by receiver identity. We conclude that chimpanzees are aware enough of another’s perspective to target information toward ignorant group members, suggesting that the integration of signaling and social cognition systems was already emerging in early hominoid lineages before the advent of more language-specific features, such as syntax. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
US 2012/0022592 W | HEAT SOURCE DOOR FOR A THERMAL DIFFUSION CHAMBER | A frame (104) supporting a containment chamber (102), the containment chamber is preferably configured to enclose and confine a process chamber (106). A heat source module (108) is disposed between the containment chamber and the process chamber, while a collar (1 12) communicates with the process chamber and is secured to the process chamber. Preferably, a heat source door (1 14) is in fluidic communication with the process chamber, and includes at least a top hat section (1 16) secured to a main body portion (1 18), an over center latch (120) secured to the top hat section and interacting with the collar, the over center latch mitigates an inadvertent opening of the process chamber, and a lamp feed-through (122) is preferably secured to the main body portion and supports a heat source device (142). | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1093/gbe/evaa077 | High Complexity and Degree of Genetic Variation in Brettanomyces bruxellensis Population | AbstractGenome-wide characterization of genetic variants of a large population of individuals within the same species is essential to have a deeper insight into its evolutionary history as well as the genotype–phenotype relationship. Population genomic surveys have been performed in multiple yeast species, including the two model organisms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe. In this context, we sought to characterize at the population level the Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeast species, which is a major cause of wine spoilage and can contribute to the specific flavor profile of some Belgium beers. We have completely sequenced the genome of 53 B. bruxellensis strains isolated worldwide. The annotation of the reference genome allowed us to define the gene content of this species. As previously suggested, our genomic data clearly highlighted that genetic diversity variation is related to ploidy level, which is variable in the B. bruxellensis species. Genomes are punctuated by multiple loss-of-heterozygosity regions, whereas aneuploidies as well as segmental duplications are uncommon. Interestingly, triploid genomes are more prone to gene copy number variation than diploids. Finally, the pangenome of the species was reconstructed and was found to be small with few accessory genes compared with S. cerevisiae. The pangenome is composed of 5,409 ORFs (open reading frames) among which 5,106 core ORFs and 303 ORFs that are variable within the population. All these results highlight the different trajectories of species evolution and consequently the interest of establishing population genomic surveys in more populations. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
10.1080/00141844.2017.1362451 | Brokers As Assemblers Studying Development Through The Lens Of Brokerage | Brokers have long featured in the anthropological literature as figures that connect disparate social worlds. Using their particular knowledge, skills and authority, they bridge gaps between popula. . . | [
"Studies of Cultures and Arts",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
US 2006/0006788 W | MODULAR SCREEN BELT | A modular belt constructed of belt modules having a large open area, making the belt suitable for use as a traveling water screen. The modules include an intermediate portion composed of intersecting sets of link elements and transverse elements that form a gridlike pattern. Openings bounded by the walls of consecutive link elements and transverse elements form channels through the belt for the flow of water. The modules are connected together by hinge rods to form a belt that can be used as a water screen. Detachable flights or scoops for lifting debris or fish out of a stream are attachable to base modules. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1038/nprot.2017.024 | Super-resolution microscopy with DNA-PAINT | Super-resolution techniques have begun to transform biological and biomedical research by allowing researchers to observe structures well below the classic diffraction limit of light. DNA points accumulation for imaging in nanoscale topography (DNA-PAINT) offers an easy-to-implement approach to localization-based super-resolution microscopy, owing to the use of DNA probes. In DNA-PAINT, transient binding of short dye-labeled ('imager') oligonucleotides to their complementary target ('docking') strands creates the necessary 'blinking' to enable stochastic super-resolution microscopy. Using the programmability and specificity of DNA molecules as imaging and labeling probes allows researchers to decouple blinking from dye photophysics, alleviating limitations of current super-resolution techniques, making them compatible with virtually any single-molecule-compatible dye. Recent developments in DNA-PAINT have enabled spectrally unlimited multiplexing, precise molecule counting and ultra-high, molecular-scale (sub-5-nm) spatial resolution, reaching 1/41-nm localization precision. DNA-PAINT can be applied to a multitude of in vitro and cellular applications by linking docking strands to antibodies. Here, we present a protocol for the key aspects of the DNA-PAINT framework for both novice and expert users. This protocol describes the creation of DNA origami test samples, in situ sample preparation, multiplexed data acquisition, data simulation, super-resolution image reconstruction and post-processing such as drift correction, molecule counting (qPAINT) and particle averaging. Moreover, we provide an integrated software package, named Picasso, for the computational steps involved. The protocol is designed to be modular, so that individual components can be chosen and implemented per requirements of a specific application. The procedure can be completed in 1-2 d. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1109/FMCAD.2015.7542259 | Accelerating Invariant Generation | Acceleration is a technique for summarising loops by computing a closed-form representation of the loop behaviour. The closed form can be turned into an accelerator, which is a code snippet that skips over intermediate states of the loop to the end of the loop in a single step. Program analysers rely on invariant generation techniques to reason about loops. The state-of-the-art invariant generation techniques, in practice, often struggle to find concise loop invariants, and, instead, degrade into unrolling loops, which is ineffective for non-trivial programs. In this paper, we evaluate experimentally whether loop accelerators enable existing program analysis algorithm to discover loop invariants more reliably and more efficiently. This paper is the first comprehensive study on the synergies between acceleration and invariant generation. We report our experience with a collection of safe and unsafe programs drawn from the Software Verification Competition and the literature. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1007/s00415-015-7911-4 | Powerhouse failure and oxidative damage in autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay | Autosomal recessive spastic ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is a neurodegenerative disease due to mutations in SACS, which encodes sacsin, a protein localized on the mitochondrial surface and possibly involved in mitochondrial dynamics. In view of the possible mitochondrial involvement of sacsin, we investigated mitochondrial activity at functional and molecular level in skin fibroblasts obtained from ARSACS patients. We observed remarkable bioenergetic damage in ARSACS cells, as indicated by reduced basal, adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-linked and maximal mitochondrial respiration rate, and by reduced respiratory chain activities and mitochondrial ATP synthesis. These phenomena were associated with increased reactive oxygen species production and oxidative nuclear DNA damage. Our results suggest that loss of sacsin is associated with oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, and thus highlight a novel mechanism in the pathogenesis of ARSACS. The involvement of mitochondria and oxidative stress in disease pathogenesis has been described in a number of other neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, on the basis of our findings, which suggest a potential therapeutic role for antioxidant agents, ARSACS seems to fall within a larger group of disorders. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1021/bi901965c | Mechanical control of ATP synthase function: Activation energy difference between tight and loose binding sites | Despite exhaustive chemical and crystal structure studies, the mechanistic details of how FoF1-ATP synthase can convert mechanical energy to chemical, producing ATP, are still not fully understood. On the basis of quantum mechanical calculations using a recent highresolution X-ray structure, we conclude that formation of the P-O bond may be achieved through a transition state (TS) with a planar PO3- ion. Surprisingly, there is a more than 40 kJ/mol difference between barrier heights of the loose and tight binding sites of the enzyme. This indicates that even a relatively small change in active site conformation, induced by the γ-subunit rotation, may effectively block the back reaction in βTP and, thus, promote ATP. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
2721549 | A medical device for the selective dissection of pathological tissues and fibrosis | Surgery is the art of dissecting tissues in order to repair, remove, or replace a diseased or damaged organ. 30% of the global burden of disease can be attributed to surgically treatable conditions. More than 10% of surgical procedures involve critical dissection steps whereby the pathological tissue is carefully separated from the healthy surrounding tissues. These procedures together have an incidence of 150/100.000 people, amounting for 2 million surgeries per year in developed countries. Despite the importance of selective dissection in surgical procedures, the current tools are sub-optimal because they are all still relying either on tearing force or on non-selective cutting that can damage tissues.
Auxin Surgery, a pioneer in novel dissection methods, has found a revolutionary system, CADISS, that combines mechanical force with the topical application of a chemical drug, Mesna that weakens adhesion between tissues thereby facilitating the dissection steps and minimizing the damages to health tissues.
CADISS saves time, therefore patients need to undergo anesthesia for shorter period, thereby reducing the risks of complications. Moreover, hospitals save money on the usage of operating rooms and hospital personnel and can optimize the occupation of hospital space.
The global general surgery devices market size was valued at over €10 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.5% by 2025. Chemically assisted dissection can be useful in most surgical procedures consisting in separation of two tissues along a cleavage plane and when at least one of these conditions is true: 1) the risk of relapse is present 2) the risk of side-effects through damage of healthy tissue is present or 3) the risk of facing difficulties for the surgeon is present. CADISS will bring our company to international expansion and growth reaching €23.9M in revenues 3 years after market launch. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1021/es103721b | Diamonds in the rough: Identification of individual naphthenic acids in oil sands process water | Expansion of the oil sands industry of Canada has seen a concomitant increase in the amount of process water produced and stored in large lagoons known as tailings ponds. Concerns have been raised, particularly about the toxic complex mixtures of water-soluble naphthenic acids (NA) in the process water. To date, no individual NA have been identified, despite numerous attempts, and while the toxicity of broad classes of acids is of interest, toxicity is often structure-specific, so identification of individual acids may also be very important. Here we describe the chromatographic resolution and mass spectral identification of some individual NA from oil sands process water. We conclude that the presence of tricyclic diamondoid acids, never before even considered as NA, suggests an unprecedented degree of biodegradation of some of the oil in the oil sands. The identifications reported should now be followed by quantitative studies, and these used to direct toxicity assays of relevant NA and the method used to identify further NA to establish which, or whether all NA, are toxic. The two-dimensional comprehensive gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method described may also be important for helping to better focus reclamation/remediation strategies for NA as well as in facilitating the identification of the sources of NA in contaminated surface waters. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.5194/bg-12-1753-2015 | Boron incorporation in the foraminifer <i>Amphistegina lessonii</i> under a decoupled carbonate chemistry | Abstract. A number of studies have shown that the boron isotopic composition (δ11B) and the B / Ca ratio of biogenic carbonates (mostly foraminifers) can serve as proxies for two parameters of the ocean's carbonate chemistry, rendering it possible to calculate the entire carbonate system. However, the B incorporation mechanism into marine carbonates is still not fully understood and analyses of field samples show species-specific and hydrographic effects on the B proxies complicating their application. Identifying the carbonate system parameter influencing boron incorporation is difficult due to the co-variation of pH, CO32- and B(OH)4-. To shed light on the question which parameter of the carbonate system is related to the boron incorporation, we performed culture experiments with the benthic symbiont-bearing foraminifer Amphistegina lessonii using a decoupled pH–CO32- chemistry. The determination of the δ11B and B / Ca ratios was performed simultaneously by means of a new in situ technique combining optical emission spectroscopy and laser ablation MC-ICP-MS. The boron isotopic composition in the tests gets heavier with increasing pH and B / Ca increases with increasing B(OH)4- / HCO3- of the culture media. The latter indicates that boron uptake of A. lessonii features a competition between B(OH)4- and HCO3-. Furthermore, the simultaneous determination of B / Ca and δ11B on single specimens allows for assessing the relative variability of these parameters. Among different treatments the B / Ca shows an increasing variability with increasing boron concentration in the test whereas the variability in the isotope distribution is constant. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
W3098884327 | Exploring the deviation of cosmological constant by a generalized pressure parameterization | We bring forward a generalized pressure dark energy (GPDE) model to explore the evolution of the universe. This model has covered three common pressure parameterization types and can be reconstructed as quintessence and phantom scalar fields, respectively. We adopt the cosmic chronometer (CC) datasets to constrain the parameters. The results show that the inferred late-universe parameters of the GPDE model are (within $1\sigma$): The present value of Hubble constant $H_{0}=(72.30^{+1.26}_{-1.37})$km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$; Matter density parameter $\Omega_{\text{m0}}=0.302^{+0.046}_{-0.047}$, and the universe bias towards quintessence. While when we combine CC data and the $H_0$ data from Planck, the constraint implies that our model matches the $\Lambda$CDM model nicely. Then we perform dynamic analysis on the GPDE model and find that there is an attractor or a saddle point in the system corresponding to the different values of parameters. Finally, we discuss the ultimate fate of the universe under the phantom scenario in the GPDE model. It is demonstrated that three cases of pseudo rip, little rip, and big rip are all possible. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
10.1063/1.3624333 | A constrained approach to multiscale stochastic simulation of chemically reacting systems | Stochastic simulation of coupled chemical reactions is often computationally intensive, especially if a chemical system contains reactions occurring on different time scales. In this paper, we introduce a multiscale methodology suitable to address this problem, assuming that the evolution of the slow species in the system is well approximated by a Langevin process. It is based on the conditional stochastic simulation algorithm (CSSA) which samples from the conditional distribution of the suitably defined fast variables, given values for the slow variables. In the constrained multiscale algorithm (CMA) a single realization of the CSSA is then used for each value of the slow variable to approximate the effective drift and diffusion terms, in a similar manner to the constrained mean-force computations in other applications such as molecular dynamics. We then show how using the ensuing Fokker-Planck equation approximation, we can in turn approximate average switching times in stochastic chemical systems. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Mathematics"
]
|
336092 | The Coevolution of Life and Arsenic in Precambrian Oceans | The ubiquity of arsenic resistant genes across all of life’s variety suggests a close intimacy between arsenic biogeochemistry and evolution, over geological time scales. However, the behaviour of arsenic in past environments where life originated and its impact on our evolution is essentially unknown. Arsenic is of particular importance because of its toxic properties, prevalence in tight association with ubiquitous iron and sulfide minerals and as a major component of sulfide-rich waters, all common features of Precambrian oceans. Arsenic obstructs the synthesis of the building blocks of life, exhibiting both chronic and acute toxicity at very low concentrations. These properties make arsenic an agent capable of exerting strong selective pressure on the distribution, success and diversity of life. This is exemplified by when the release of arsenic into groundwater following rock-weathering processes results in widespread poisoning. Using the state of the art stable isotopes tools, coupled to biomass production, bacterial iron, arsenic and sulfur cycling under ancient oceanic conditions, this project will open a new discussion on the much debated relationship between ocean chemistry and evolution, by introducing a new arsenic framework. This will be achieved under three majors themes: 1) Does there exist a biogeochemical connection between arsenic and the timing and transition from the iron-rich to the hypothesized sulfide-rich oceans that are linked to the rise of atmospheric oxygen? 2) Does arsenic and sulfide show concomitant cyclicity during the Precambrian? 3) Could arsenic thus serve as a proxy for the calibration of key transitional steps in the timing of biological innovation? | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
10.1016/j.jas.2012.04.012 | Next generation sequencing of DNA in 3300-year-old charred cereal grains | We investigated whether 'next generation' methods can be used to sequence ancient DNA molecules in charred cereal grains. We prepared a DNA extract from a mixed sample of barley, einkorn, emmer and broomcorn millet, taken from a 3300-year-old assemblage of charred cereal grains from Assiros Toumba, Greece. Using the SOLiD 5500 system, we obtained 21,112,844 unique sequence reads. Of these, 178,779 had a 75% or greater nucleotide sequence similarity with one or more entries in the full nucleotide sequence database; 496 of these matches were to previously reported sequences from barley, einkorn, emmer, broomcorn millet or related species such as hexaploid wheat. The unique reads were also compared with a database comprising only wheat sequences. This analysis identified 1658 charred grain sequences that had 90% or greater similarity with segments of the wheat genome. The presence of barley, wheat and millet sequences in the next generation dataset confirms the presence of ancient DNA in this charred grain assemblage. Enrichment of extracts by hybridization capture or equivalent methods is likely to enable sequences to be obtained for entire genes and other genomic regions of interest. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"The Study of the Human Past",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
221014 | Biocatalytic amine synthesis via hydrogen borrowing | Amine containing compounds are ubiquitous in everyday life and find applications ranging from polymers to pharmaceuticals. The vast majority of amines are synthetic and manufactured on large scale which creates waste as well as requiring high temperatures and pressures. The increasing availability of biocatalysts, together with an understanding of how they can be used in organic synthesis (biocatalytic retrosynthesis), has stimulated chemists to consider new ways of making target molecules. In this context, the iterative construction of C-N bonds via biocatalytic hydrogen borrowing represents a powerful and unexplored way to synthesise a wide range of target amine molecules in an efficient manner. Hydrogen borrowing involves telescoping redox neutral reactions together using only catalytic amounts of hydrogen.
In this project we will engineer the three key target biocatalysts (reductive aminase, amine dehydrogenase, alcohol dehydrogenase) required for biocatalytic hydrogen borrowing such that they possess the required regio-, chemo- and stereo-selectivity for practical application. Recently discovered reductive aminases (RedAms) and amine dehydrogenases (AmDHs) will be engineered for enantioselective coupling of alcohols (1o, 2o) with ammonia/amines (1o, 2o, 3o) under redox neutral conditions. Alcohol dehydrogenases will be engineered for low enantioselectivity. Hydrogen borrowing requires mutually compatible cofactors shared by two enzymes and in some cases will require redesign of cofactor specificity. Thereafter we shall develop conditions for the combined use of these biocatalysts under hydrogen borrowing conditions (catalytic NADH, NADPH), to enable the conversion of simple and sustainable feedstocks (alcohols) into amines using ammonia as the nitrogen source.
The main deliverables of BIO-H-BORROW will be a set of novel engineered biocatalysts together with redox neutral cascades for the synthesis of amine products from inexpensive and renewable precursors. | [
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering"
]
|
10.1182/blood-2009-06-228684 | Malignant cells fuel tumor growth by educating infiltrating leukocytes to produce the mitogen Gas6 | The transforming and tumor growth–promoting properties of Axl, a member of the Tyro3, Axl, and Mer (TAM) family of receptor tyrosine kinases (TAMRs), are well recognized. In contrast, little is known about the role of the TAMR ligand growth arrest–specific gene 6 (Gas6) in tumor biology. By using Gas6-deficient (Gas6−/−) mice, we show that bone marrow–derived Gas6 promotes growth and metastasis in different experimental cancer models, including one resistant to vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors. Mechanistic studies reveal that circulating leukocytes produce minimal Gas6. However, once infiltrated in the tumor, leukocytes up-regulate Gas6, which is mitogenic for tumor cells. Consistent herewith, impaired tumor growth in Gas6−/− mice is rescued by transplantation of wild-type bone marrow and, conversely, mimicked by transplantation of Gas6−/− bone marrow into wild-type hosts. These findings highlight a novel role for Gas6 in a positive amplification loop, whereby tumors promote their growth by educating infiltrating leukocytes to up-regulate the production of the mitogen Gas6. Hence, inhibition of Gas6 might offer novel opportunities for the treatment of cancer. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1111/1467-9809.12544 | Wonder Nuns Sor Patrocinio The Politics Of The Supernatural And Republican Caricature | This paper examines the relationship between politics and the supernatural in nineteenth-century Spain through the figure of Sor Patrocinio: a stigmatized nun and advisor to Queen Isabel II of Spain. I introduce Sor Patrocinio as an example of a "wonder nun:" a type of ultra-charismatic, supposedly supernaturally gifted religious woman who influenced her country's political agenda. During Sor Patrocinio's rise to fame, she lost control of her public image. In their efforts to dethrone Isabel II, Spanish republicans transformed Sor Patrocinio into a politico-religious symbol, a living reminder of the anti-liberal and neo-Catholic tendencies attributed to Isabel II and her clique. On the one hand, her case exemplifies the struggle of liberalism to form modern nations in Europe. On the other, it shows how some religious women obtained power through their experience of the supernatural during the "culture wars" of the period, reflecting how such experience was shaped by political affairs. | [
"The Study of the Human Past",
"Texts and Concepts"
]
|
10.1016/j.molcel.2018.01.033 | PRDM9 Methyltransferase Activity Is Essential for Meiotic DNA Double-Strand Break Formation at Its Binding Sites | The programmed formation of hundreds of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is essential for proper meiosis and fertility. In mice and humans, the location of these breaks is determined by the meiosis-specific protein PRDM9, through the DNA-binding specificity of its zinc-finger domain. PRDM9 also has methyltransferase activity. Here, we show that this activity is required for H3K4me3 and H3K36me3 deposition and for DSB formation at PRDM9-binding sites. By analyzing mice that express two PRDM9 variants with distinct DNA-binding specificities, we show that each variant generates its own set of H3K4me3 marks independently from the other variant. Altogether, we reveal several basic principles of PRDM9-dependent DSB site determination, in which an excess of sites are designated through PRDM9 binding and subsequent histone methylation, from which a subset is selected for DSB formation. Diagouraga, Clément et al. show that PRDM9 methyltransferase activity is essential for H3K4me3, H3K36me3, and the formation of the DSBs that initiate meiotic recombination at its binding sites, and that DSB formation is induced at a subset of PRDM9-bound sites. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.1073/pnas.1701428114 | CD1d-Restricted pathways in hepatocytes control local natural killer T cell homeostasis and hepatic inflammation | Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells recognize lipid antigens presented by CD1d and play a central role in regulating immunity and inflammation in peripheral tissues. However, the mechanisms which govern iNKT cell homeostasis after thymic emigration are incompletely understood. Here we demonstrate that microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP), a protein involved in the transfer of lipids onto CD1d, regulates liver iNKT cell homeostasis in a manner dependent on hepatocyte CD1d. Mice with hepatocyte-specific loss of MTP exhibit defects in the function of CD1d and show increased hepatic iNKT cell numbers as a consequence of altered iNKT cell apoptosis. Similar findings were made in mice with hepatocyte-specific loss of CD1d, confirming a critical role of CD1d in this process. Moreover, increased hepatic iNKT cell abundance in the absence of MTP is associated with susceptibility to severe iNKT cell-mediated hepatitis, thus demonstrating the importance of CD1d-dependent control of liver iNKT cells in maintaining immunological homeostasis in the liver. Together, these data demonstrate an unanticipated role of parenchymal cells, as shown here for hepatocytes, in tissue-specific regulation of CD1d-restricted immunity and further suggest that alterations in lipid metabolism may affect iNKT cell homeostasis through effects on CD1d-associated lipid antigens. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
724436 | New and Old Histones in Epigenetic Cell Memory | Cell type specific organization of DNA into chromatin is an important determinant of gene expression and cell identity. During cell division, epigenetic information in chromatin must be transmitted to daughter cells in order to maintain cell identity or commit to a developmental program. However, it remains unknown how epigenetic states are inherited during cell division. Elucidating molecular mechanisms underlying epigenetic cell memory thus represents a major challenge in biology critical to understand development and disease.
Chromatin undergoes genome-wide disruption during DNA replication and histone marks are diluted 2-fold due to new histone deposition. Yet, how this impacts on establishment and maintenance of gene expression programs is not known. I hypothesize that chromatin replication represents a critical window for epigenetic cell memory and cell fate decisions, and predict that three histone-based processes play critical roles in guarding cell identity: 1) new histone deposition to regulate nucleosome occupancy and transcription factor (TF) binding, 2) accurate transmission of old modified histones by dedicated recycling machinery, and 3) recruitment of regulatory proteins to new and old histones to direct epigenome maintenance. To dissect these events mechanistically and test causal roles in cell fate decisions, I propose a research program integrating explorative proteomics and histone chaperone structure-function analysis with stem cell biology and new cutting-edge genomic tools developed by my research group.
The proposed research will 1) identify novel mechanisms of histone chaperoning and deposition specific to new and old histones, 2) reveal how nucleosome assembly govern TF binding during DNA replication, and 3) address the significance of old histone recycling and new histone deposition for pluripotency and commitment. This will provide a major advance in understanding the molecular mechanisms that govern epigenetic cell memory. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
US 2018/0034802 W | FACILITATING INTERACTION WITH A COMPUTING DEVICE BASED ON FORCE OF TOUCH | A technique is described herein that allows a user to control a user interface presentation provided by a computing device based on a force-dependent manner in which the user engages a surface of a force-sensitive input device. This manner of control allows any user to efficiently interact with the computing device, but is particularly beneficial to users who have motor-related and/or vision-related disabilities. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
Q2892775 | Digital transformation in the maintenance and technical assistance sector | Alfredo Braz presents maintenance services and technical assistance to various types of buildings and intends to invest in a strategy based on the challenge that WEB and ICT offer nowadays position/its offer in this environment adding value to all its customers,potentials and partners | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
US 2007/0000763 W | ROTARY BLOOD PUMP | A rotary blood pump includes a casing defining a pumping chamber. The pumping chamber has a blood inlet and a tangential blood outlet. One or more motor stators are provided outside of the pumping chamber. A rotatable impeller is within the pumping chamber and is adapted to cause blood entering the pumping chamber to move to the' blood outlet. The impeller has one or more magnetic regions. The impeller is radially constrained in rotation by magnetic coupling to one or more motor stators and is axially constrained in rotation by one or more hydrodynamic thrust bearing surfaces on the impeller. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
W2046414264 | Research on a New Type of Multi-Link Variable Compression Ratio by Interpolation Algorithm of Zadoff-Chu Sequence | Compared with the traditional multi-link and variable compression ratio mechanism, the new engine had compact styling and lower designed costs. There are many factors that can affect the engine network performance, such as delay, packet loss and capacity utilization. Application examples show that, this system can significantly improve the efficiency of aerodynamic design. Compare the kinematics function with the new design with the prototype 250 engine and the traditional multi-link and variable compression ratio mechanism by using the virtual simulation software MSC-Adams. The contrast result suggested that the new design had higher combustion efficiency and charging efficiency than the prototype engine. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
10.1177/0271678x19900097 | Microglia alter the threshold of spreading depolarization and related potassium uptake in the mouse brain | Selective elimination of microglia from the brain was shown to dysregulate neuronal Ca2+ signaling and to reduce the incidence of spreading depolarization (SD) during cerebral ischemia. However, the mechanisms through which microglia interfere with SD remained unexplored. Here, we identify microglia as essential modulators of the induction and evolution of SD in the physiologically intact brain in vivo. Confocal- and super-resolution microscopy revealed that a series of SDs induced rapid morphological changes in microglia, facilitated microglial process recruitment to neurons and increased the density of P2Y12 receptors (P2Y12R) on recruited microglial processes. In line with this, depolarization and hyperpolarization during SD were microglia- and P2Y12R-dependent. An absence of microglia was associated with altered potassium uptake after SD and increased the number of c-fos-positive neurons, independently of P2Y12R. Thus, the presence of microglia is likely to be essential to maintain the electrical elicitation threshold and to support the full evolution of SD, conceivably by interfering with the extracellular potassium homeostasis of the brain through sustaining [K+]e re-uptake mechanisms. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
W2021882150 | Improving General Practitioners’ Knowledge Regarding Blood Pressure Measurement in Selected Cities of Pakistan Through Workshop | The objective of this study was to evaluate enhancement in the knowledge of general practitioners (GPs), from the urban cities in the province of Sindh, Pakistan, regarding blood pressure measurement through workshop. This was a quasi-experimental study that involved GPs from 5 cities of Sindh province, Pakistan. The GPs were required to complete a pretested self-administered questionnaire before and after the workshop session. The questionnaire included few demographic variables and 17 questions based on the American Heart Association recommendations. The mean pretest and posttest scores were compared using Student’s t test. A total of 350 GPs returned completed questionnaires, with a preponderance of males (n = 264, 75.4%) than females (n = 86, 24.6%). The mean correct responses increased significantly after the workshop session from 8 ± 2.1 to 14 ± 2.5 ( P = .01). The knowledge of GPs was almost doubled after the workshop and was significantly different for variables such as qualification, affiliation with teaching hospital, and number of years of practice ( P = .001). This survey, a representation of GPs from the Sindh province, indicated a significant doubling in knowledge after the workshop, proving that continuing medical education sessions play an important role in increasing awareness and staying updated. | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1038/srep04949 | Shock waves on complex networks | Power grids, road maps, and river streams are examples of infrastructural networks which are highly vulnerable to external perturbations. An abrupt local change of load (voltage, traffic density, or water level) might propagate in a cascading way and affect a significant fraction of the network. Almost discontinuous perturbations can be modeled by shock waves which can eventually interfere constructively and endanger the normal functionality of the infrastructure. We study their dynamics by solving the Burgers equation under random perturbations on several real and artificial directed graphs. Even for graphs with a narrow distribution of node properties (e. g. , degree or betweenness), a steady state is reached exhibiting a heterogeneous load distribution, having a difference of one order of magnitude between the highest and average loads. Unexpectedly we find for the European power grid and for finite Watts-Strogatz networks a broad pronounced bimodal distribution for the loads. To identify the most vulnerable nodes, we introduce the concept of node-basin size, a purely topological property which we show to be strongly correlated to the average load of a node. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.3847/1538-4357/aa7edb | Dust Density Distribution and Imaging Analysis of Different Ice Lines in Protoplanetary Disks | Recent high angular resolution observations of protoplanetary disks at different wavelengths have revealed several kinds of structures, including multiple bright and dark rings. Embedded planets are the most used explanation for such structures, but there are alternative models capable of shaping the dust in rings as it has been observed. We assume a disk around a Herbig star and investigate the effect that ice lines have on the dust evolution, following the growth, fragmentation, and dynamics of multiple dust size particles, covering from 1 μm to 2 m sized objects. We use simplified prescriptions of the fragmentation velocity threshold, which is assumed to change radially at the location of one, two, or three ice lines. We assume changes at the radial location of main volatiles, specifically H2O, CO2, and NH3. Radiative transfer calculations are done using the resulting dust density distributions in order to compare with current multiwavelength observations. We find that the structures in the dust density profiles and radial intensities at different wavelengths strongly depend on the disk viscosity. A clear gap of emission can be formed between ice lines and be surrounded by ring-like structures, in particular between the H2O and CO2 (or CO). The gaps are expected to be shallower and narrower at millimeter emission than at near-infrared, opposite to model predictions of particle trapping. In our models, the total gas surface density is not expected to show strong variations, in contrast to other gap-forming scenarios such as embedded giant planets or radial variations of the disk viscosity. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
680235 | Cerebellar modules and the Ontogeny of Sensorimotor Integration | The perfect execution of a voluntary movement requires the appropriate integration of current bodily state, sensory input and desired outcome. To assure that this motor output becomes and remains appropriate, the brain needs to learn from the result of previous outputs. The cerebellum plays a central role in sensorimotor integration, yet -despite decades of studies- there is no generally excepted theory for cerebellar functioning. I recently demonstrated that cerebellar modules, identified based on anatomical connectivity and gene expression, differ distinctly in spike activity properties. It is my long-term goal to identify the ontogeny of anatomical and physiological differences between modules, and their functional consequences. My hypothesis is that these differences can explain existing controversies, and unify contradicting results into one central theory.
To this end, I have designed three key objectives. First, I will identify the development of connectivity and activity patterns at the input stage of the cerebellar cortex in relation to the cerebellar modules (key objective A). Next, I will relate the differences in gene expression levels between modules to differences in basal activity and strength of plasticity mechanisms in juvenile mice (key objective B). Finally, I will determine how module specific output develops in relation to behavior and what the effect of module specific mutations is on cerebellum-dependent motor tasks and higher order functions (key objective C).
Ultimately, the combined results of all key objectives will reveal how distinct difference between cerebellar modules develop, and how this ensemble ensures proper cerebellar information processing for optimal coordination of timing and force of movements. Combined with the growing body of evidence for a cerebellar role in higher order brain functions and neurodevelopmental disorders, a unifying theory would be fundamental for understanding how the juvenile brain develops. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-211998 | Ideal target for psoriatic arthritis? Comparison of remission and low disease activity states in a real-life cohort | BackgroundPsoriatic arthritis (PsA) recommendations state that the target of treatment should be remission or low disease activity (LDA). We used a real-life dataset to compare different potential targets. Methods250 patients with PsA considered in an acceptable disease state according to their rheumatologist were included. Targets for remission were the Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) and clinical DAPSA (cDAPSA) remission (≤4), very low disease activity (VLDA) and Psoriatic Arthritis Disease Activity Score ≤1. 9. LDA targets analysed were the DAPSA ≤14, cDAPSA ≤13, minimal disease activity (MDA) and adjusted MDA targets: MDAjoints with both tender joint count (TJC) and swollen joint count (SJC) mandated, MDAskin (psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) mandated) and MDAjoints&skin with TJC, SJC and PASI mandated. ResultsComparison of the several candidate targets demonstrates that VLDA is achieved by the lowest proportion of patients and includes patients with the lowest residual disease activity compared with the other remission targets. The modified MDA measures are the most stringent targets for LDA in terms of residual disease on joints, psoriasis and enthesitis within patients achieving the target. In both remission and LDA, the inclusion of C reactive protein did not show an added value. The exclusion of a skin domain, as in the DAPSA measures, resulted in negligence of skin disease and a negative impact on the quality of life in some patients. ConclusionsThe different remission and LDA targets show us significant overlap between measures, but these measures targeting the same definition do differ in terms of allowance of residual disease. Inclusion of laboratory markers seems unnecessary, although exclusion of a skin domain may result in psoriasis not being assessed resulting in residual impactful skin disease. | [
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy"
]
|
10.3847/0004-637X/824/1/32 | Local Simulations Of Instabilities Driven By Composition Gradients In The Icm | The distribution of Helium in the intracluster medium (ICM) permeating galaxy clusters is not well constrained due to the very high plasma temperature. Therefore, the plasma is often assumed to be homogeneous. A non-uniform Helium distribution can however lead to biases when measuring key cluster parameters. This has motivated one-dimensional models that evolve the ICM composition assuming that the effects of magnetic fields can be parameterized or ignored. Such models for non-isothermal clusters show that Helium can sediment in the cluster core leading to a peak in concentration offset from the cluster center. The resulting profiles have recently been shown to be linearly unstable when the weakly-collisional character of the magnetized plasma is considered. In this paper, we present a modified version of the MHD code Athena, which makes it possible to evolve a weakly-collisional plasma subject to a gravitational field and stratified in both temperature and composition. We thoroughly test our implementation and confirm excellent agreement against several analytical results. In order to isolate the effects of composition, in this initial study we focus our attention on isothermal plasmas. We show that plasma instabilities, feeding off gradients in composition, can induce turbulent mixing and saturate by re-arranging magnetic field lines and alleviating the composition gradient. Composition profiles that increase with radius lead to instabilities that saturate by driving the average magnetic field inclination to roughly $45^{\circ}$. We speculate that this effect may alleviate the core insulation observed in homogeneous settings, with potential consequences for the associated cooling flow problem. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
SE 2011051275 W | METHOD, ARRANGEMENT AND PELLETISING PLANT | This invention concerns a method for the oxidation and sintering of pellets 1 arranged in a compartment 2 in which the oxidation and sintering take place with the aid of a medium with a defined temperature, which medium heats the pellets 1. The method comprises the introduction of a first medium 3 into the compartment through an inlet 4 connected to the compartment 2 and the heating of the medium in the inlet through the use of a combustion arrangement 5, or a part of a combustion arrangement, arranged in the inlet 4 and comprising fuel where the use of the combustion arrangement 5 comprises the ignition of the fuel, the combustion of the fuel whereby combustion heat is developed, and the transfer of combustion heat to the first medium 3 that is present at the combustion arrangement 5. The method is characterised by the arrangement of the combustion arrangement 5, or a part of it, in a region A in the inlet 4 that in turn is arranged outside of the direct passage of the first medium in and through the inlet 4 such that the ignition of the fuel, the combustion of the fuel and the transfer of combustion heat to the first medium 3 take place in this region A, and by the introduction of a second medium 6 into the region A in the direct vicinity of the combustion arrangement 5, or a part of it, where the ignition of the fuel, the combustion of the fuel and the transfer of combustion heat also to the second medium 6 take place followed by further transport of the heated first medium 3 and the heated second medium 6 through the inlet 4 and into the compartment 2. The invention concerns also an arrangement 9 and a pelletising plant 13. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.115.016423 | Glycoproteomics Reveals Decorin Peptides With Anti Myostatin Activity In Human Atrial Fibrillation | Background: Myocardial fibrosis is a feature of many cardiac diseases. We used proteomics to profile glycoproteins in the human cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM). Methods: Atrial specimens were analyzed by mass spectrometry after extraction of ECM proteins and enrichment for glycoproteins or glycopeptides. Results: ECM-related glycoproteins were identified in left and right atrial appendages from the same patients. Several known glycosylation sites were confirmed. In addition, putative and novel glycosylation sites were detected. On enrichment for glycoproteins, peptides of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan decorin were identified consistently in the flowthrough. Of all ECM proteins identified, decorin was found to be the most fragmented. Within its protein core, 18 different cleavage sites were identified. In contrast, less cleavage was observed for biglycan, the most closely related proteoglycan. Decorin processing differed between human ventricles and atria and was altered in disease. The C-terminus of decorin, important for the interaction with connective tissue growth factor, was detected predominantly in ventricles in comparison with atria. In contrast, atrial appendages from patients in persistent atrial fibrillation had greater levels of full-length decorin but also harbored a cleavage site that was not found in atrial appendages from patients in sinus rhythm. This cleavage site preceded the N-terminal domain of decorin that controls muscle growth by altering the binding capacity for myostatin. Myostatin expression was decreased in atrial appendages of patients with persistent atrial fibrillation and hearts of decorin null mice. A synthetic peptide corresponding to this decorin region dose-dependently inhibited the response to myostatin in cardiomyocytes and in perfused mouse hearts. Conclusions: This proteomics study is the first to analyze the human cardiac ECM. Novel processed forms of decorin protein core, uncovered in human atrial appendages, can regulate the local bioavailability of antihypertrophic and profibrotic growth factors. # Clinical Perspective {#article-title-42} | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1080/02687038.2020.1814950 | Deficits Of Semantic Control Disproportionately Affect Low Relevance Conceptual Features Evidence From Semantic Aphasia | The ability to efficiently select specific aspects of our semantic representations that are relevant for current goals or the context is supported by semantic control processes (controlled semantic. . . | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1039/d0ra04684a | Non-aqueous solvent extraction of indium from an ethylene glycol feed solution by the ionic liquid Cyphos IL 101: speciation study and continuous counter-current process in mixer–settlers | Speciation studies give insight into the mechanism of non-aqueous solvent extraction of indium from ethylene glycol solution by the ionic liquid Cyphos IL 101. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
10.1021/es5037805 | Effect of ammonia on the volatility of organic diacids | The effect of ammonia on the partitioning of two dicarboxylic acids, oxalic (C2) and adipic (C6) is determined. Measurements by a tandem differential mobility analysis system and a thermodenuder (TD-TDMA) system are used to estimate the saturation vapor pressure and enthalpy of vaporization of ammonium oxalate and adipate. Ammonia dramatically lowered the vapor pressure of oxalic acid, by several orders of magnitude, with an estimated vapor pressure of 1. 7 ± 0. 8 × 10-6 Pa at 298 K. The vapor pressure of ammonium adipate was 2. 5 ± 0. 8 × 10-5 Pa at 298 K, similar to that of adipic acid. These results suggest that the dominance of oxalate in diacid concentrations measured in ambient aerosol could be attributed to the salt formation with ammonia. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
W4220695745 | Myrtilis durante o I milénio a. C.: uma leitura historiográfica | El presente trabajo analiza la producción historiográfica relativa al I milenio a. C. en Myrtilis (Mértola) entre las primeras fuentes árabes y los trabajos de Estácio da Veiga en 1877. Se analizan fuentes primarias, así como bibliografía crítica sobre datos arqueológicos, fuentes grecolatinas, falsas etimologías y numismas, que tratan la identificación del origen de los fundadores de la ciudad. Esta investigación ha permitido sistematizar las fuentes disponibles para el estudio de Myrtilis y estudiar la evolución de la representación del periodo prerromano antes de las primeras prospecciones arqueológicas en este territorio. Se concluye, asimismo, que la mayor parte de las propuestas presentadas no cambiaron significativamente hasta finales del siglo XIX, y que la escasez de contextos primarios no había permitido responder a algunas cuestiones, tales como la cronología de la primera fase de ocupación.
 
 [pt] O presente trabalho incide sobre a produção historiográfica relativa ao I milénio a. C. em Myrtilis (Mértola, Portugal) entre as primeiras fontes árabes e os trabalhos de Estácio da Veiga em 1877. Analisam-se fontes primárias, assim como bibliografia crítica sobre dados arqueológicos, fontes greco-latinas, falsas etimologias e numismas, que tratam a origem dos fundadores da cidade. Esta investigação permitiu sistematizar as fontes disponíveis para o estudo de Myrtilis e avaliar a evolução da representação do período pré-romano antes das primeiras prospecções arqueológicas neste território. Além disso, conclui-se que a maior parte das propostas apresentadas não sofreram alterações significativas até finais do século XIX, e que a escassez de contextos primários não permitiu responder a algumas questões que ainda hoje se colocam, nomeadamente a cronologia da primeira fase de ocupação. | [
"The Study of the Human Past"
]
|
10.1007/JHEP09(2014)012 | Determination Of The Top Quark Mass From Leptonic Observables | We present a procedure for the determination of the mass of the top quark at the LHC based on leptonic observables in dilepton $$ t\overline{t} $$
events. Our approach utilises the shapes of kinematic distributions through their few lowest Mellin moments; it is notable for its minimal sensitivity to the modelling of long-distance effects, for not requiring the reconstruction of top quarks, and for having a competitive precision, with theory errors on the extracted top mass of the order of 0. 8 GeV. A novel aspect of our work is the study of theoretical biases that might influence in a dramatic way the determination of the top mass, and which are potentially relevant to all template-based methods. We propose a comprehensive strategy that helps minimise the impact of such biases, and leads to a reliable top mass extraction at hadron colliders. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
10.1364/BOE.9.003624 | Optical Alignment Device For Two Photon Microscopy | Two-photon excitation fluorescence microscopy has revolutionized our understanding of brain structure and function through the high resolution and large penetration depth it offers. Investigating neural structures in vivo requires gaining optical access to the brain, which is typically achieved by replacing a part of the skull with one or several layers of cover glass windows. To compensate for the spherical aberrations caused by the presence of these layers of glass, collar-correction objectives are typically used. However, the efficiency of this correction has been shown to depend significantly on the tilt angle between the glass window surface and the optical axis of the imaging system. Here, we first expand these observations and characterize the effect of the tilt angle on the collected fluorescence signal with thicker windows (double cover slide) and compare these results with an objective devoid of collar-correction. Second, we present a simple optical alignment device designed to rapidly minimize the tilt angle in vivo and align the optical axis of the microscope perpendicularly to the glass window to an angle below 0. 25°, thereby significantly improving the imaging quality. Finally, we describe a tilt-correction procedure for users in an in vivo setting, enabling the accurate alignment with a resolution of <0. 2° in only few iterations. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System"
]
|
W2028556038 | Modeling Natural Convection in Copper Electrorefining: Describing Turbulence Behavior for Industrial-Sized Systems | A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of copper electrorefining is discussed, where natural convection flow is driven by buoyancy forces caused by gradients in copper concentration at the electrodes. We provide experimental validation of the CFD model for several cases varying in size from a small laboratory scale to large industrial scale, including one that has not been compared with a CFD model. Previously, the large-scale systems have been thought to be turbulent by some workers and modeled accordingly with k-e type turbulence models, but others have not considered turbulence effects in their modeling. We find that the turbulence model does not predict turbulence exists; however, we analyze carefully the fluctuation statistics predicted for a transient model, finding that most cases considered do exhibit a type of turbulence, an instability related to the interaction between velocity and copper concentration fields. We provide a comparison of the extent of turbulence for various electrode heights, and gap widths, and we emphasize industrial-sized electrorefining cells. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
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