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978554 | A new paradigm in boosting orphan crops to super grains: linking metabolomics and gene editing to improve teff for global food security and sustainable agriculture | Food security is one of the prime concerns of the world as the production is affected by increase in demand for cereal crops as food and bioenergy resources. In order to maximize productivity, one strategy is to identify and improve indigenous crops (orphan crops) which are often ignored. Orphan crops (e.g. teff, millet) possess better nutritional and adaptive traits than other cereal crops (e.g. rice, wheat). Teff, Ethiopia’s most important indigenous cereal crop is recently gaining attention among farmers and consumers over other cereals due to its natural gluten-free nature and its adaptation to tough environmental conditions. The high market price for its grains and straw make it a valuable cash crop but has received less attention on research and funding. The main objective of “SUPERTEFF” is to apply omics and gene editing strategies for the improvement of teff. The key objectives of the study are (1) characterization of disparate teff germplasm for agronomically important traits using image-based phenomics (2) to explore the nutrient diversity in teff cultivars using high-throughput metabolomics (3) metabolite-genome-wide association studies (m-GWAS) to understand the genotype to phenotype relation (4) to develop a CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing platform in teff with prime focus to lodging. The proposed study will provide a new paradigm in linking metabolic status to gene expression and will provide valid targets for CRISPR gene editing strategies in teff to convert it from an orphan crop to a super crop which will bare comparison to other established cereal crops. The outputs of this project will result in bridging the gap between orphan crops and other cereal crops in terms of sustainable yield and resilience to environmental conditions, whereby addressing the growing concerns of farmers and consumers across the globe. This project aims to strengthen the EU economy, by placing it in the fore-front of global food security and sustainable agriculture. | [
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1007/s10711-012-9752-y | Finite-state self-similar actions of nilpotent groups | Let G be a finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent group and φ : H → G be a surjective homomorphism from a subgroup H < G of finite index with trivial φ-core. For every choice of coset representatives of H in G there is a faithful self-similar action of the group G associated with (G, φ). We are interested in what cases all these actions are finite-state and in what cases there exists a finite-state self-similar action for (G, φ). | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
219405 | Uranium isotope fractionation: a novel biosignature to identify microbial metabolism on early earth | Prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria) are the most abundant form of life both at present and throughout paleohistory and exhibit exquisite metabolic diversity, unmatched by eukaryotes. On early Earth, the absence of atmospheric oxygen led to the emergence of anaerobic microbial metabolisms such as methanogenesis, sulfate reduction, iron reduction, and denitrification. Non-isotope and isotope tools used to study ancient microbial life have provided evidence for each of these types of metabolisms in the rock record. However, there remains much uncertainty and debate regarding this evidence, primarily because of confounding effects of abiotic processes, and ambiguity in interpretation of isotopic signatures.
This proposal aims to develop a robust biosignature for microbially mediated reduction reactions, that, in conjunction with existing tools, provides insight into ancient microbial activity in the rock record and establishes temporal constraints on the emergence of specific metabolic groups.
To this end, I propose to use uranium (U) as an isotopic biosignature for microbial life. This pursuit is driven by recent work in my laboratory that has revealed a readily resolved difference between the isotopic signatures of enzymatically reduced uranium and abiotically reduced uranium. Combined with the ability of most microbial metabolic groups to catalyze U reduction, this finding raises the tantalizing possibility that uranium isotopic fractionation could serve as a biosignature for specific metabolic groups in the rock record.
The establishment of a robust, bulk universal isotopic biosignature would be valuable to paleontologists, astrobiologists, and geologists because it would provide direct insight into the timing of emergence of specific metabolisms in ancient sedimentary environments on Earth. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
FR 7810013 A | DISPOSITIF POUR LA JONCTION DE DEUX TUBES D'UN TRAIN DE TUBES | <P>L'invention est du domaine des techniques de forage. Elle a pour objet un dispositif d'articulation des tubes d'un train de tubes principalement caractérisé par des moyens formant ressorts 4 et 5, 6 et 7 reliant chacun des tubes 1 et 2 à un manchon 9, les moyens formant ressorts délimitant entre eux des chambres annulaires 11 et 12 destinées à être remplies de liquide; il résulte de cette disposition que des mouvements angulaires d'un tube par rapport à l'autre sont permis et qu'en conséquence les moments de flexion ne sont pas transmis. </P><P>Application à l'exploitation pétrolière sur plate-forme, dite << off shore >>.</P> | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
W2105717273 | Dynamic Provisioning Modeling for Virtualized Multi-tier Applications in Cloud Data Center | Dynamic provisioning is a useful technique for handling the virtualized multi-tier applications in cloud environment. Understanding the performance of virtualized multi-tier applications is crucial for efficient cloud infrastructure management. In this paper, we present a novel dynamic provisioning technique for a cluster-based virtualized multi-tier application that employ a flexible hybrid queueing model to determine the number of virtual machines at each tier in a virtualized application. We present a cloud data center based on virtual machine to optimize resources provisioning. Using simulation experiments of three-tier application, we adopt an optimization model to minimize the total number of virtual machines while satisfying the customer average response time constraint and the request arrival rate constraint. Our experiments show that cloud data center resources can be allocated accurately with these techniques, and the extra cost can be effectively reduced. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
10.1002/eji.201948254 | Pannexin-1 promotes NLRP3 activation during apoptosis but is dispensable for canonical or noncanonical inflammasome activation | Inflammasomes are multimeric protein complex that assemble in the cytosol upon microbial infection or cellular stress. Upon activation, inflammasomes drive the maturation of proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and IL-18, and also activate the pore-forming protein, gasdermin D to initiate a form of lytic cell death known as “pyroptosis”. Pannexin-1 is channel-forming glycoprotein that promotes membrane permeability and ATP release during apoptosis; and was implicated in canonical NLRP3 or noncanonical inflammasome activation. Here, by utilizing three different pannexin-1 channel inhibitors and two lines of Panx1–/– macrophages, we provide genetic and pharmacological evidence that pannexin-1 is dispensable for canonical or noncanonical inflammasome activation. In contrast, we demonstrate that pannexin-1 cleavage and resulting channel activity during apoptosis promotes NLRP3 inflammasome activation. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1021/acsnano.6b03144 | Mouse Positron Emission Tomography Study of the Biodistribution of Gold Nanoparticles with Different Surface Coatings Using Embedded Copper-64 | By taking advantage of the ability of 64Cu to bind nonspecifically to gold surfaces, we have developed a methodology to embed this radionuclide inside gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). 64Cu enables the in vivo imaging of AuNPs by positron emission tomography (PET). AuNPs have a multitude of uses within health technology and are useful tools for general nanoparticle research. 64Cu-AuNPs were prepared by incubating AuNP seeds with 64Cu2+, followed by the entrapment of the radionuclide by grafting on a second layer of gold. This resulted in radiolabeling efficiencies of 53 ± 6%. The radiolabel showed excellent stability when incubated with EDTA for 2 days (95% radioactivity retention) and showed no loss of 64Cu when incubated with 50% mouse serum for 2 days. The methodology was chelator-free, removing traditional concerns over chelator instability and altered AuNP properties due to surface modification. Radiolabeled 64Cu-AuNP cores were prepared in biomedically relevant sizes of 20-30 nm and used to investigate the in vivo stability of three different AuNP coatings by PET imaging in a murine xenograft tumor model. We found the longest plasma half-life (T1/2 about 9 h) and tumor accumulation (3. 9%ID/g) to result from a polyethylene glycol coating, while faster elimination from the bloodstream was observed with both a Tween 20-stabilized coating and a zwitterionic coating based on a mixture of sulfonic acids and quaternary amines. In the in vivo model, the 64Cu was observed to closely follow the AuNPs for each coating, again attributed to the excellent stability of the radiolabel. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Materials Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1016/j.cub.2020.01.070 | Word Frequency Is a Cue to Lexical Category for 8-Month-Old Infants | In six behavioral experiments, Marino et al. demonstrate that 8-month-old infants process frequent words as belonging to closed classes resembling grammatical functors and infrequent words as belonging to open classes like content words, and they map the relative order of these categories to the basic word order of their native language. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System"
]
|
680002 | The Human Behavioral Immune System: Consequences for Health and Innovation | Modern innovations such as soap, condoms, and indoor plumbing have allowed billions of people to reduce their contact with viruses and bacteria and, as a result, dramatically increase length and quality of life. But how did members of the genus homo avoid pathogens for the two million years that preceded these technological innovations and, more broadly, discoveries that infectious disease is caused by microbes? And, importantly, how do any natural behavioral defenses against pathogens impact our behavior in the modern world? Recent research and theory in the field of evolutionary psychology suggests that natural selection has shaped a human behavioral immune system (HBIS)—a suite of psychological mechanisms, ranging from aspects of our olfactory systems (e.g., that detect specific chemical compounds) to our emotion systems (e.g., the emotion disgust) and our learning systems (e.g., conditioned aversions to foods) that are coordinated for a common function: to detect and motivate the avoidance of pathogens. Given that myriad universal human behaviors connote some pathogen risk—including interpersonal contact, mating, and eating—gaining a holistic understanding of the HBIS has the potential to offer critical new insights into multiple fundamental aspects of human nature. Here, I utilize an interdisciplinary approach to answer three foundational, yet currently opaque questions concerning the nature of the HBIS, including: (1) Where does trait variation in HBIS activation come from? (2) What effect does the HBIS have on behavior when cues to pathogens are detected? and (3) How does the HBIS facilitate learning of avoidance and rejection? To answer these questions, I propose an array of methodologically diverse studies to investigate how trait HBIS activation shapes rejection versus acceptance of innovations, how state HBIS activation can be harnessed to promote the use of health-promoting technologies, and how the HBIS can be leveraged for shaping dietary behavior. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
W1925352110 | Robotic Transabdominal Control of the Suprahepatic, Infradiaphragmatic Vena Cava to Enable Level 3 Caval Tumor Thrombectomy: Pilot Study in a Perfused-Cadaver Model | To develop a robotic technique for exclusively transabdominal control of the suprahepatic, infradiaphragmatic inferior vena cava (IVC) to enable level 3 IVC tumor thrombectomy.Robotic technique was developed in three fresh, perfused-model cadavers. Preoperatively, inflow (right jugular vein) and outflow (left femoral vein) cannulae were inserted and connected to a centrifugal pump to establish a 10 mmHg pressure in the IVC for the water-perfused cadaver model. Using a five-port transperitoneal robotic approach, the falciform ligament was detached from the anterior abdominal wall toward its junction with the diaphragm and tautly retracted caudally; this adequately retracted the liver caudally as well. Triangular and coronary ligaments were incised, allowing ready visualization of suprahepatic/infradiaphragmatic IVC and right/left main hepatic veins. Under direct robotic visualization, IVC was circumferentially mobilized, vessel-looped, and controlled.All three robotic procedures were successfully completed transabdominally. Average robotic time to control the suprahepatic IVC was 37 minutes; in each case, the suprahepatic IVC was circumferentially controlled with a vessel-loop. There were no intraoperative complications. Length of the mobilized suprahepatic IVC measured between 2 and 3 cm. Right and left suprahepatic veins were clearly visualized in each case. Necropsy revealed no intra-abdominal/intrathoracic visceral or vascular injuries to the suprahepatic IVC, bilateral hepatic veins, or tributaries.We developed a novel robotic technique for transabdominal control of the suprahepatic infradiaphragmatic IVC in a perfused human cadaver model. This approach may extend the application of advanced robotic techniques for the performance of major vena caval, hepatic, and level 3 IVC renal tumor thrombus surgery. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
Q2857497 | Adapt SMEs – Bluefleet | BluEFLEET, LDA will invest in the introduction of new methods of organisation of work and customer relationship, necessary to control the COVID-19 pandemic, complying with the standards and recommendations of the Health Authorities. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
US 9704755 W | BACILLUS THURINGIENSIS GENES ENCODING NEMATODE-ACTIVE TOXINS | B. thuringiensis genes encoding toxins active against nematode pests have been cloned from the strains PS80JJ1, PS158D5, PS167P, PS169E, PS177F1, PS177G, PS204G4 and PS204G6. The toxins are active especially against Panagrellus redivivus as examplified in the application. The DNAs encoding the toxins can be used to transform various hosts, such as plants, to express the toxins. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering"
]
|
W4295281102 | SOC-I-07 Hazard strategy for nanoforms and nano-enabled products to implement safe-and-sustainable-by-design | come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers.L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. | [
"Materials Engineering",
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
852765 | Optical interrogation of the claustrum from synapses to behavior | How does the brain integrate inputs from the environment to generate perception and drive decisions? An enigmatic brain region called the claustrum has been suggested to play a role by integrating inputs from multiple brain regions. There is strong interconnectivity between claustrum and nearly every neocortical brain region, indicating that it exerts widespread influence on brain function. However, approaches to specifically record from or manipulate activity in the claustrum have been hindered by the inability to target it selectively. This has been difficult due to the anatomy of the claustrum: it is a long, thin bilateral nucleus buried between the neocortex and the striatum. This proposal aims to understand the role of the claustrum in multisensory integration and behaviour by developing new approaches for monitoring and manipulating the activity of the claustrum. We will harness recent advances in electrophysiological, genetic, optical, and behavioural tools to probe its connectivity, activity, and function in a precise manner. Understanding the role of the claustrum in brain function will provide fundamental insight into information processing in the neocortex, which is a major goal in neuroscience. The claustrum is unique because of its dense reciprocal connectivity with neocortex but nearly complete lack of direct subcortical sensory input. This particular anatomical structure indicates the possibility of a unique function, but none has been observed yet. This proposal will rectify the paucity of data on this distinctive structure by applying a battery of modern tools to address the function of the claustrum. Experiments will address the following key questions:
1. How are claustrocortical inputs integrated and what is the effect of corticoclaustral feedback?
2. What is the activity of claustral neurons during sensory stimulation and motor output?
3. What are the causal relationships between claustrum activity and animal behaviour? | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W2907841964 | PUBLIC DEBT SUSTAINABILITY IN INDIA: A CO-INTEGRATION APPROACH BASED ON STRUCTURAL BREAKS WITH REGIME SHIFT | In this paper we examine the sustainability of public debt in case of India. We have used combined government data (Centre’s and State’s government) for a period from 1990 to 2016). For testing the sustainability of debt, we have taken government revenues and expenditure. First we have investigated co-integration between government spending and revenues using ARDL bound testing model. The bound test reveals that there exists no long-run relationship between the variables. Gregory-Hansen and Hatemi-j threshold co-integration test are applied to test the sustainability hypothesis in the presence of regime shift. the result shows that no co-integration relationship between the variables in case of single structural break, but for two structural break our study confirm existence of co-integration relationship for the given variables. We do not find the long-run coefficients statistically significant for sustainability of public debt. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
]
|
10.1016/B978-1-78242-375-1.00003-4 | Electron Transfer Mechanisms In Biofilms | Abstract Understanding the mechanisms by which microorganisms transfer electrons to and from electrodes is essential for the development of the many potential applications of bioelectrochemical systems. The knowledge on the extracellular electron transfer (EET) mechanisms of microorganisms has steeply increased during the last decade(s) due to extensive fundamental research. In general, there are two types of EET mechanisms: (1) direct EET using outer surface redox molecules and/or conductive nanowires and (2) mediated EET using electron shuttles. Direct EET is best understood for the anode-respiring Geobacter sulfurreducens, which uses outer membrane cytochromes and pili nanowires to transport electrons to an anode. The other model electrogen, Shewanella oneidensis, mainly uses flavin shuttles to mediate its EET, but also has membrane extensions that can act as conductive nanowires. Electrogens are typically heterotrophic Fe(III) reducers, but a much wider diversity exists in electrotrophic microorganisms, as a cathode can be used as electron donor by oxygen-reducing, fumarate-reducing, nitrogen compound-reducing, hydrogen-producing, methanogenic, and acetogenic microorganisms. Nevertheless, microbial electron uptake from a cathode is still much less understood than electron transfer to anodes. Some model electrotrophs, including the acidophilic aerobe Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, the acetogen Clostridium ljungdahlii, and the methanogen Methanococcus maripaludis, have already been identified. Several studies have suggested a direct EET mechanism for these electrotrophs, but hydrogen-mediated EET likely also plays an important role. Besides exchanging electrons with electrodes, microorganisms can also exchange electrons between each other. Interspecies electron transfer (IET) usually relies on a mediated mechanism using hydrogen and/or formate as shuttling molecules, while cocultures with Geobacter species use a direct mechanism. Most EET mechanisms transport extracellular electrons only over micrometer-scale distances, but marine “cable bacteria” have been proven to have the exceptional capacity to transport electrons transport over centimeter-long distances. This chapter provides an overview of the current knowledge on EET mechanisms of anodic and cathodic biofilms, while also the mechanisms of IET are shortly discussed. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b00842 | Surface Probing by Fragment-Based Screening and Computational Methods Identifies Ligandable Pockets on the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) E3 Ubiquitin Ligase | Beyond the targeting of E3 ubiquitin ligases to inhibit protein homeostasis, E3 ligase binders can be repurposed as targeted protein degraders (PROTACs or molecular glues). We sought to identify new binders of the VHL E3 ligase by biophysical fragment-based screening followed by X-ray crystallographic soaking. We identified fragments binding at the ElonginC:Cullin2 interface and a new cryptic pocket in VHL, along with other potential ligandable sites predicted computationally and found to bind solvent molecules in crystal structures. The elucidated interactions provide starting points for future ligand development. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
US 58834305 A | Crowned dithiocarbamate metal complexes and methods for their use | Compositions containing crowned dithiocarbamate metal complexes and methods of using these compositions; neutral and cationic radioactive metal-nitrido complexes of crowned dithiocarbamates (DTCs) and methods of using these complexes as radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disorders, infectious diseases, and cancer; tripodal chelatormetal complexes of crowned DTCs and methods of using these complexes for treating diseases such as those characterized by nitric oxide overproduction; and methods of using crowned DTCs for heavy metal detoxification are described. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1083/jcb.201007028 | FSHD: copy number variations on the theme of muscular dystrophy | In humans, copy number variations (CNVs) are a common source of phenotypic diversity and disease susceptibility. Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is an important genetic disease caused by CNVs. It is an autosomal-dominant myopathy caused by a reduction in the copy number of the D4Z4 macrosatellite repeat located at chromosome 4q35. Interestingly, the reduction of D4Z4 copy number is not sufficient by itself to cause FSHD. A number of epigenetic events appear to affect the severity of the disease, its rate of progression, and the distribution of muscle weakness. Indeed, recent findings suggest that virtually all levels of epigenetic regulation, from DNA methylation to higher order chromosomal architecture, are altered at the disease locus, causing the de-regulation of 4q35 gene expression and ultimately FSHD. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
645588 | Paris agreement overshooting – reversibility, climate impacts and adaptation needs | Overshooting the Paris Agreement temperature thresholds is a distinct possibility. The impacts of such overshoot scenarios would materialise globally, but be particularly consequential for vulnerable regions and systems for which thresholds of abrupt and possibly irreversible shifts or adaptation limits may be exceeded. A full consideration of impacts and adaptation needs under overshoot scenarios thus requires a risk threshold perspective integrating emission pathways, earth system feedbacks, regional to local impacts, and context-specific vulnerabilities.
To address that challenge, PROVIDE will deliver highly innovative, integrative climate services that incorporate comprehensive information on impacts under overshoot pathways from the global to the regional and urban level, directly feeding into adaptation action. The project specifically aims to: 1) Produce global multi-scenario, multi-sectoral climate information which integrates and quantifies impacts across scales by means of novel climate and impact emulators; 2) Assess climate system uncertainties and feedbacks, and the (ir)reversibility of climate impacts to provide comprehensive risk assessments of overshooting; 3) Co-develop a generalisable overshoot proofing methodology for adaptation strategies to enhance adaptation action in response to overshoot risks; 4) Identify and prioritise overshoot adaptation needs in four highly complementary case study regions; 5) Integrate all project outcomes into a PROVIDE Climate Service Dashboard. The Dashboard will be designed to complement established climate service platforms and will be widely disseminated to foster uptake and sustainable use across all stakeholder groups addressed. The PROVIDE consortium is constituted of leading climate scientists as well as climate services purveyors, urban planners and adaptation experts embedded in selected case study regions facilitating a continuous co-development process with a wide array of stakeholders. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
]
|
852169 | Governing with Data: Local Experimentation in Authoritarian China | As new information technologies and the advent of “big data” are reshaping societies around the globe, inquiries into the nature and varieties of digital governance and their consequences become increasingly urgent. “Smart cities” are mushrooming particularly quickly in China, which is home to more than half of the more than 1,000 smart cities worldwide. These city governments have begun to experiment with digital technologies to harness the power of big data analytics for governing society. Emerging practices have momentous implications for the organisation of social, political and economic life in China and globally. A systematic study has yet to address the lacking empirical and conceptual understanding of digitalising governance practices in authoritarian China.
The project seizes a unique opportunity to witness “natural experiments” of digital government modes as they emerge from China’s advanced smart cities. A political economy framework and policy cycle analysis will be used to study the interplay between government, businesses and citizens in local decision-making as digital technologies are increasingly integrated into the process. Through mixed-method, the project will achieve three objectives:
1. Study the variation in local digital governance modes and understand why these modes evolved in different ways.
2. Explore the mechanisms through which digital technologies are integrated into local decision-making processes and governance structures.
3. Assess the impacts of new digital governance modes for citizens, businesses and the state.
Findings will generate new empirical data, on the basis of which it will be possible to push the conceptualisation of emerging digital governance modes and the assessment of their benefits and risks. The project will significantly add to the field of digital governance in authoritarian states and will contribute to debates reaching beyond the China context about societal change under advancing digitalisation. | [
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
Q3908836 | Support for small enterprises with a turnover of more than BGN 500 000 to overcome the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic | Support for small enterprises with a turnover of more than BGN 500 000 to overcome the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
10.1016/j.conb.2017.12.013 | Neural circuit dysfunction in mouse models of neurodevelopmental disorders | Neuropsychiatric disorders arise from the alteration of normal brain developmental trajectories disrupting the function of specific neuronal circuits. Recent advances in human genetics have greatly accelerated the identification of genes whose variation increases the susceptibility for neurodevelopmental disorders, most notably for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and schizophrenia. In parallel, experimental studies in animal models — most typically in mice — are beginning to shed light on the role of these genes in the development and function of specific brain circuits. In spite of their limitations, understanding the impact of pathological gene variation in animal models at the level of specific neuronal populations and circuits will likely contribute to orienting human clinical studies in the search for precise disease mechanisms and novel treatments. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
EP 19827584 A | METHOD FOR CONSTRUCTING SLEEP DEPRIVATION-BASED YIN-DEFICIENCY FIRE-EXCESS TYPE ORAL ULCER ANIMAL MODEL | The present disclosure relates to a method for establishing an oral ulcer animal model with Yin-deficiency and fire-excess syndrome based on sleep deprivation, comprising the following steps of: burning buccal mucosa of a rat with phenol to cause a white injury, and obtaining the oral ulcer animal model after 24-48 h; placing the animal model in a sleep deprivation device for 2-7 days; wherein the device is composed of a mouse box in which a plurality of platforms with a diameter of 4-8 cm are arranged at an interval of 10-20 cm from each other; and water is filled among the platforms, and the platforms are about 0.1-2 cm higher than a water surface. The present disclosure overcomes the defects of single evaluation index, short model duration, and unconformity of etiology and clinic existed in the prior art. | [
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1063/1.4905909 | Molecular Quantum Mechanical Gradients Within The Polarizable Embedding Approach Application To The Internal Vibrational Stark Shift Of Acetophenone | We present an implementation of analytical quantum mechanical molecular gradients within the polarizable embedding (PE) model to allow for efficient geometry optimizations and vibrational analysis of molecules embedded in large, geometrically frozen environments. We consider a variational ansatz for the quantum region, covering (multiconfigurational) self-consistent-field and Kohn–Sham density functional theory. As the first application of the implementation, we consider the internal vibrational Stark effect of the C=O group of acetophenone in different solvents and derive its vibrational linear Stark tuning rate using harmonic frequencies calculated from analytical gradients and computed local electric fields. Comparisons to PE calculations employing an enlarged quantum region as well as to a non-polarizable embedding scheme show that the inclusion of mutual polarization between acetophenone and water is essential in order to capture the structural modifications and the associated frequency shifts observed in water. For more apolar solvents, a proper description of dispersion and exchange–repulsion becomes increasingly important, and the quality of the optimized structures relies to a larger extent on the quality of the Lennard-Jones parameters. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
Q2168560 | (A19_068_2015_0680054_1255) A19_068_2015_0680054 | IS IT INTENDED TO IMPLEMENT AN INNOVATIVE FILTER SYSTEM FOR PRINTERS, CONSISTING OF A FILTER MADE OF NON-WOVEN FABRIC AND ONE OR AN IP? SENSORS FOR DETECTING PARTICULATE MATTER AND VOLATILE CHEMICALS, WHICH ARE CURRENTLY NOT EXISTING ON THE MARKET AND CAPABLE OF BLOCKING PARTICULATE MATTER EMITTED BY THE LAST GENERATION AND TRAPPING PRINTERS OF THE VCC AND PI? IN GENERAL, VOLATILE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS EMITTED FROM DIFFERENT PRINTER TYPES. HAVE RECENT STUDIES ADDRESSED THE ROLE OF LASER PRINTERS AS A SOURCE OF EMISSIONS AND? CAN IT BE SHOWN THAT THE VOLATILE COMPOUNDS AND ULTRAFINE PARTICLES EMITTED CAN HAVE ADVERSE EFFECTS ON THE RESPIRATORY TRACT AND THE NON-NON-POLITICAL ORGANS: L? ORGANISATION OF THE WORLD OF SANIT? HAS THE (WHO) ALSO BEEN THE GUIDELINES FOR QUALIT? DOES THE AIR INDOOR AIR RELATED TO A CERTAIN NUMBER OF POLLUTANTS, WHERE THE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE EFFECTS ON THE MAN WAS FOUND TO BE HARMFUL | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1007/s11481-016-9705-6 | Bacterial Meningitis in Patients using Immunosuppressive Medication: a Population-based Prospective Nationwide Study | We studied occurrence, presentation, disease course, effect of adjunctive dexamethasone, and prognosis of bacterial meningitis in patients using immunosuppressive medication. Patients were selected from our nationwide, prospective cohort on community-acquired bacterial meningitis performed from March 1, 2006 through October 31, 2014. Eighty-seven of 1447 episodes (6 %) of bacterial meningitis occurred in patients using immunosuppressive medication, and consisted of corticosteroids in 82 %. Patients with bacterial meningitis using immunosuppressive medication were less likely to present with headache (P = 0. 02) or neck stiffness (P = 0. 005), as compared those not on immunosuppressive medication. In 46 % of episodes CSF leukocyte count was below 1000/mm3. CSF cultures revealed S. pneumoniae in 41 % and L. monocytogenes in 40 % of episodes. Outcome was unfavorable in 39 of 87 episodes (45 %) and death occurred in 22 of 87 episodes (25 %). Adjunctive dexamethasone was administered in 52 of 87 (60 %) episodes, and mortality tended to be lower in those on adjunctive dexamethasone therapy as compared to those without dexamethasone therapy (10 of 52 [19 %] vs 12 of 35 [34 %], P = 0. 14). We conclude that bacterial meningitis in patients using immunosuppressive medication is likely to present with atypical clinical and laboratory features, and is often caused by atypical bacteria, mainly L. monocytogenes. Adjunctive dexamethasone is widely prescribed in these patients and was not associated with harm in this study. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
W2336017862 | Herbal remedies for eye infections used by the tribals of Nallamala forests, Andhra Pradesh. | The Nallamalais forests form a series of parallel hill ranges oriented North-south towards the eastern portion of the peninsular India in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Nallamalais is situated between 15°30’-16°30’ N latitudes and 78°30’-80°10’ E longitudes. It passes across the Kurnool, Mahaboob Nagar, Prakasam, Guntur and some parts in Kadapa district. Nallamalais have several religious centers, among them Gundlabrahmeswaram plateau is the highest, situated at about 800m descending into the plains of Velgode and Nandyal, and ascending precipitously towards East. The Gundlabrahmeswaram is said to be the nucleus of Nallamalais in Eastern Ghats. Nallamalais are congenial to the tribals, due to enormous floral and faunal wealth, for their survival. However, the predominant tribal community, Chenchus lives in groups called gudems amidst the forests. They are nomads, wandering from one forest to another. The area received good research attention mostly concentrated on skin diseases, women ailments, insect bites and bone factures however; there is no particular data on traditional uses for eye infections 1-6 . Hence, the survey has been carried. Methodology The folklore information on eye infections was recorded from the elders or gudem leaders. Generally, two types of interviews were taken, firstly of individuals and secondly of groups. In case of individuals, persons were randomly interviewed on the way or entering a hut. Information was authenticated by comparing the data from different informants. The information was cross-checked with other communities to confirm the use and application of the drugs. The voucher specimens were collected based on the recorded information and identified with the help of floras and confirmed by comparing with the authenticated specimens housed at Sri Krishnadevaraya University Herbarium (SKU), Anantapur, Madras Herbarium (MH), Coimbatore and Central National Herbarium (CAL), Kolkata 7-9 . The voucher specimens were deposited at Sri Krishnadevaraya University Herbarium, Anantapur. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1136/annrheumdis-2013-203926 | TNFα regulates cortisol metabolism in vivo in patients with inflammatory arthritis | Objective: To determine the relationship between inflammation and glucocorticoid metabolism in vivo, in a clinical study of patients with inflammatory arthritis treated with anti-TNFα therapy. Methods: Urine samples were collected from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) as part of a multicentre study assessing responses to infliximab and etanercept. Systemic measures of glucocorticoid metabolism were assessed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry at weeks 0 (baseline), 4 and 12 after anti-TNFα therapy. Clinical data including DAS28 and C-reactive protein were also collected. Results: Systemic measures of 11β-HSD1 activity in patients with inflammatory arthritis decreased significantly following anti-TNFα therapy in patients with RA and PsA. Additionally, the activity of the glucocorticoid inactivating enzyme 5α-reductase appeared to increase significantly. Conclusions: This study demonstrates, for the first time, that the increased 11β-HSD1 activity seen in patients with inflammatory arthritis is mediated through TNFα. Furthermore, the changes in related glucocorticoid metabolising enzymes suggest that there is a coordinated change in glucocorticoid metabolism which promotes higher tissue glucocorticoid levels. | [
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy"
]
|
10.31235/osf.io/9kmrw | History of agriculture and intensity of warfare shaped the evolution of large-scale human societies in Afro-Eurasia | Understanding why large, complex human societies have emerged and persisted more readily in certain regions of the world than others is an issue of long-standing debate. Here we systematically test a range of hypotheses involving the socio-ecological factors that may ultimately promote or inhibit the formation of large, complex human societies. We employ spatially explicit statistical analyses using data on the geographical and temporal distribution of the largest human groups over a 3000 year period of history. The results support the predictions of two complementary hypotheses indicating that large-scale societies developed more commonly in regions where i) agriculture has been practiced for longer (thus providing more time for the norms & institutions that facilitate large-scale organization to emerge), and ii) warfare was more intense (thus creating a stronger selection pressure for societies to scale up). We found no support for the influential idea that large-scale societies were more common in those regions naturally endowed with a higher potential for productive agriculture. Our study highlights how modern cultural evolutionary theory can be used to organize and synthesize alternative hypotheses and shed light on the ways ecological and social processes have interacted to shape the complex social world we live in today. | [
"The Study of the Human Past",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1016/j.cell.2012.01.037 | Acute cannabinoids impair working memory through astroglial CB<inf>1</inf> receptor modulation of hippocampal LTD | Impairment of working memory is one of the most important deleterious effects of marijuana intoxication in humans, but its underlying mechanisms are presently unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the impairment of spatial working memory (SWM) and in vivo long-term depression (LTD) of synaptic strength at hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapses, induced by an acute exposure of exogenous cannabinoids, is fully abolished in conditional mutant mice lacking type-1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1R) in brain astroglial cells but is conserved in mice lacking CB1R in glutamatergic or GABAergic neurons. Blockade of neuronal glutamate N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) and of synaptic trafficking of glutamate α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxazole propionic acid receptors (AMPAR) also abolishes cannabinoid effects on SWM and LTD induction and expression. We conclude that the impairment of working memory by marijuana and cannabinoids is due to the activation of astroglial CB 1R and is associated with astroglia-dependent hippocampal LTD in vivo. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
W2034559427 | Experimental study on separating reinforced concrete infill walls from steel moment frames | Abstract In a multistory building frame, stiff reinforced concrete (RC) infill walls may be terminated above the first story for architectural purposes, which may create a soft-first-story structure. To eliminate this detrimental situation, this paper proposes to separate the RC infill wall from the steel moment frame by slits. An experimental program of four one-bay-by-one-story steel moment frame specimens along with pushover analyses of multistory frame models were presented to validate the proposed idea. This study conducted cyclic loading tests on a total of four moment-resisting-frame specimens, which included one bare frame; one with ordinary RC infill wall; and two with side slits between RC wall and frame members. Furthermore, pushover analyses of multistory frame models with soft first story configurations were also conducted to illustrate the effect of RC infill walls with or without slit separation. Both experimental and analytical results showed that the stiff RC infill wall dominated the lateral resistance and drift capacity of the test specimens, and that by adding slit-separated features at the edges of infill walls improved the drift capacity. It is concluded that the slit-separated features can be a viable option to eliminate the soft-story problem caused by vertically irregular configuration of RC infill walls. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
interreg_1254 | Europe enabling Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments | According to World Health Organization (WHO) "making cities and communities age-friendly is one of the most effective local policy approaches for responding to demographic change”. However, regional initiatives still lack alignment between absolutely complementary policy areas such as health, social affairs, territorial sustainable development, employment and wellbeing. This silo approach restrains the creation, availability and large-scale adoption of age-friendly solutions across Europe. Known is also the gap between technological developments and end-users real needs and expectations. Therefore, policy alignment, collaborative efforts and sharing of good practices will be keystones to add better quality of life, more inclusive and sustainable health and social care systems and citizen’s access to the services.
The EU_SHAFE project will improve policies and practices in 7 European regions by developing a comprehensive approach to Smart Healthy Age-Friendly Environments (SHAFE). Through a 'learning by sharing' methodology, this robust multi-disciplinary and intersectoral consortium will build a four-helix European community to exchange experiences and practices to improve multilevel policy instruments. The consortium will create a cooperative, inclusive ecosystem between public authorities, European networks and user’s associations, embedding their experience and skills with research & design knowledge from academia and SMEs for the growth of community-based services and “ageing at home” around Europe.
• EU_SHAFE will Invest in policy design and adaptation of regional instruments derived from ETCF (R&I priorities) and ESF (Social Inclusion), through the creation of a large Euro-local network of stakeholders that will work together in ecosystems towards a common model – a White Paper on SHAFE.
• Select and re-design concrete and scalable interventions in the area of social innovation for SHAFE, that may be implemented as realistic innovative models for the future. | [
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
W2914314933 | Hidden extreme multistability in a novel 4D fractional-order chaotic system | Abstract The hidden attractor and extreme multistability are very important topics in nonlinear dynamics. In this paper, by adding a further variable in a three-dimensional chaotic system, a novel four-dimensional fractional-order chaotic system is developed. This system consists of eight terms including three different nonlinear terms and one constant term. What interests us is that this newly presented system has no-equilibrium but it can also exhibit rich and complex hidden dynamics. Furthermore, the offset boosting of a variable of the proposed chaotic system can be achieved by adjusting the constant term. The intricate hidden dynamic properties of the proposed chaotic system are investigated by employing conventional nonlinear dynamical analysis tools including equilibrium, phase planes, bifurcation diagrams and Lyapunov exponents, chaos diagrams, etc. Finally, Multisim simulations and the corresponding hardware experiments are implemented to validate the theoretical analysis. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
10.1080/17450128.2014.986252 | Young Carers In South Africa Tasks Undertaken By Children In Households Affected By Hiv Infection And Other Illness | ‘Young carers’ are children who take on adult responsibility in response to familial illness. South Africa’s high disease burden, limited health care capacity and cultural notions of children’s familial duty suggest a large population of ‘young carers’ in this country. This study aims to explore the nature of responsibility among children affected by illness in deprived South African communities. A total of 349 children and adolescents aged 10–18 years in illness-affected households in the Western Cape province were recruited via community- and school-based convenience sampling. Data about their daily life, responsibilities and the impact of familial illness were collected via semi-structured interviews. Caring tasks involving intimate contact and medical treatments were relatively common among children in the sample, and nearly all children were engaged in some type of responsibility, from caring tasks to housework, childcare and earning money. Children frequently indicated their responsibilities constit. . . | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
889378 | The macroevolutionary impact of epigenetics and lateral gene transfer on eukaryotic genomes | Multicellular organisms (e.g., animals, fungi and plants) are the best-studied eukaryotes but their ancestors and the vast majority of eukaryotic diversity correspond to microbial species (“protists”). The evolutionary history of protists is closely connected to the evolution of the eukaryotic cell itself.
However, most protist diversity is still genomically unexplored, limiting our investigation of eukaryotic evolution. For example, while the importance of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in prokaryotic evolution is well recognized, its role in eukaryotic evolution is still debated. In addition, although epigenetic mechanisms represent a hallmark of eukaryotic genome regulation, we know surprisingly little about the evolution of these mechanisms across eukaryotic diversity.
The overarching goal of my project is to understand how epigenetic mechanisms and LGT have shaped the macroevolution of eukaryotic genomes. This project has several inter-related intermediate objectives, which each in themselves will bring crucial insights into eukaryotic evolution: 1) reconstructing a robust phylogeny of eukaryotes; 2) inferring the gene content of the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor; 3) tracing the evolution of genes involved in epigenetic mechanisms and obtaining epigenomic maps from under-studied protists; 4) investigating the intriguing hypothesis of a possible interplay between epigenetic regulation and horizontal gene transfer and its influence on eukaryotic genome evolution: Have genes involved in epigenomic mechanisms been transferred between eukaryotes? Do epigenomic modifications affect the frequency of LGT in different lineages?
To achieve this, I will characterize the transcriptomes, genomes, methylomes and small RNAs of understudied eukaryotic microbes selected for their key phylogenetic position, and to analyse them using state-of-the-art bioinformatic methods. I will target uncultivated protists, using single-cell techniques and novel genome-scaffolding approaches. | [
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
interreg_3587 | Take a Breath! - Adaptation Actions to reduce adverse health impacts of air pollution | With every breath we take risk of inhaling some very dangerous substances is unavoidable. Impacts of this can significantly influence our health and therefore it is not surprising that air pollution has become one of the most important issues we face today. World Health Organisation has identified that air pollution is a major problem, particularly in Central and Eastern parts of Europe. Air pollution impact at the local level however may be caused far away from where the main effects are realised. Additionally, it may be aggravated by the effects of climate change, particularly severe weather events. Air pollution contains particles suspended in the air, the three main sources of which are vehicle exhaust, industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuel. These can contribute to the development of various disorders which result in respiratory complaints and a deterred health. This can also undermine the competitiveness of a city/region by deterring the movement of people and enterprise to affected areas. Thus, air pollution impacts at different levels, spatially and temporally, in the home, health care systems and the workplace.
The TAB project responds directly to the concerns of reducing the effects of air pollution at the local level by focusing on the forces driving air pollution at the transnational level. The general objective of TAB is to reduce the adverse effects of air pollution originating from industrial production, road traffic and domestic heating on the health and quality of life of citizens in the partner cities/regions and also to limit the ways by which these may be exacerbated by extreme weather events induced by climate change. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
267763 | ULTRALONG FIBRE LASERS | The project aims to develop a new research concept of ultra-long fibre lasers. The novelty of the concept is in the ground-breaking idea to use laser in the communication applications as a transmission medium rather than as a source of radiation. Ultra-long Raman fibre lasers (first demonstrated in 2005 by the Aston Photonics Research Group led by the applicant) present an area of interdisciplinary research at the interface of high-speed communications, laser physics, optical signal processing, nonlinear science, and mathematical theories of wave turbulence and disordered systems. The project will explore a broad range of research directions emerging from our original proposal of using ultra-long Raman fibre laser technique for quasi-lossless optical transmission with a focus on the four major areas: (i) communications - the development of advanced cross-domain (both in space and frequency) flat-gain, zero power excursion transmission schemes; development of long reach non-repeatered fibre transmission links based on the concept of quasi-lossless fibre spans; (ii) secure communications fundamentally new non-quantum approaches to key distributions using ultra-long laser; (iii) laser science up-scaling of pulse energy to record levels in mode-locked lasers by substantial increase of fibre laser cavity; new types of lasers, including ultra-long random lasers and “modeless” ultra-long lasers; (iv) underlying physics and applications of ultra-long fibre laser optical wave turbulence in fibre lasers; new distributed sensing techniques using ultra-long Raman fibre laser. The proposed program will be unique internationally and will combine the symbiotic development of new scientific ideas and techniques based on the concept of ultra-long fibre laser with the practical engineering design considerations of immediate and future technology applications. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Mathematics"
]
|
interreg_3131 | RiverLinks - Interface d'excellence pour un rapport durable ville-fleuve. | RiverLinks faces the challenge of sustainable planning for metropolitan areas on rivers. Although the approach is sectoral, a large number of towns that have developed along river basins can be included, since they present identical problems. Key factors include metropolitan pressure, protection of natural river systems and security for territories and citizens. In most towns, the river/town interface presents both limitations and benefits. It is essential to define the limits and take full advantage of benefits in order to apply careful, judicious planning to these strategic, sensitive territories. Overall objective / Objectif général Creation of co-operative activities for a new approach to the challenges of land planning in metropolitan river basins. Mid-term objectives: systematised awareness, local sensitivity, transfer and application of know-how; organisation and orientation of demonstrative operations. General objectives: help to establish Sdec perspectives, improve local tools, integrated approach, participation, reduce risk of alluvion, establish a virtuous circle between the challenges of development and the fragility of natural river systems. Expected results / Résultats attendus Projects: Meetings at each partner site, lectures and talks, local assemblies with citizens, newsletters, web site, European audit, six local demonstrations, four pilot infrastructure projects, comparative dossier and manual. Results: To create awareness of the need to set up a friendly, sustainable interface between citizens and their rivers, increasing awareness of the need for safeguards and careful development of urbanised river areas, updating and optimising local tools for use by specialists. Impacts: Local actions for future urban planning around rivers, raising the quality and attractiveness of urban areas along rivers and demonstrating the possibility of combining river safety with development of riverside territories. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
IL 2009000938 W | CYCLIC V3 PEPTIDES FOR ANTI HIV-1 VACCINE | Isolated cyclic polypeptides useful as vaccinations for the treatment/prevention of HIV are disclosed. An exemplary peptide comprises at least 18 consecutive amino acids of a V3 domain of gp120, starting at position 303 and ending at position 322, the positioning being according to a numbering of the V3 domain of gp120 in a HXB2 strain, wherein amino acids at position 303 and 322 are bonded. Vaccines comprising same and methods of treating AIDS using same are also disclosed. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1371/journal.pone.0125140 | What happens after inbreeding avoidance? Inbreeding by rejected relatives and the inclusive fitness benefit of inbreeding avoidance | Avoiding inbreeding, and therefore avoiding inbreeding depression in offspring fitness, is widely assumed to be adaptive in systems with biparental reproduction. However, inbreeding can also confer an inclusive fitness benefit stemming from increased relatedness between parents and inbred offspring. Whether or not inbreeding or avoiding inbreeding is adaptive therefore depends on a balance between inbreeding depression and increased parent-offspring relatedness. Existing models of biparental inbreeding predict threshold values of inbreeding depression above which males and females should avoid inbreeding, and predict sexual conflict over inbreeding because these thresholds diverge. However, these models implicitly assume that if a focal individual avoids inbreeding, then both it and its rejected relative will subsequently outbreed. We show that relaxing this assumption of reciprocal outbreeding, and the assumption that focal individuals are themselves outbred, can substantially alter the predicted thresholds for inbreeding avoidance for focal males. Specifically, the magnitude of inbreeding depression below which inbreeding increases a focal male0s inclusive fitness increases with increasing depression in the offspring of a focal female and her alternative mate, and it decreases with increasing relatedness between a focal male and a focal female0s alternative mate, thereby altering the predicted zone of sexual conflict. Furthermore, a focal male0s inclusive fitness gain from avoiding inbreeding is reduced by indirect opportunity costs if his rejected relative breeds with another relative of his. By demonstrating that variation in relatedness and inbreeding can affect intra- and intersexual conflict over inbreeding, our models lead to novel predictions for family dynamics. Specifically, parent-offspring conflict over inbreeding might depend on the alternative mates of rejected relatives, and male-male competition over inbreeding might lead to mixed inbreeding strategies. Making testable quantitative predictions regarding inbreeding strategies occurring in nature will therefore require new models that explicitly capture variation in relatedness and inbreeding among interacting population members. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
10.1364/OE.25.012508 | Third Order Gap Plasmon Based Metasurfaces For Visible Light | Efficient control and manipulation of light using metasurfaces requires high fabrication accuracy that becomes progressively demanding when decreasing the operation wavelength. Considering gap surface plasmon (GSP) based metasurfaces, we demonstrate that the metasurfaces, which utilize the third-order GSP resonance and thereby involve relatively large nanobricks, can successfully be used for efficient polarization-controlled steering of visible light. The reflection amplitude and phase maps for a 450 nm period array of 50 nm thick nanobricks placed atop a 40 nm thick silica layer supported by an optically thick gold film are calculated for the operation wavelength of 633 nm. Exploiting the occurrence of the third-order GSP resonance for nanobricks having their lengths close to 300 nm, we design the phase-gradient metasurface, representing an array of (450 x 2250 nm2) supercells made of 5 nanobricks with different dimensions, to operate as a polarization beam splitter for linearly polarized light. The fabricated polarization beam splitter is characterized using a supercontinuum light source at the normal light incidence and found to exhibit a polarization contrast ratio of up to 40 dB near the design wavelength of 633 nm while showing better than 20 dB contrast in the range of 550 - 650 nm for both polarizations. The diffraction efficiency experimentally measured at normal incidence exceeds 10% (20% in simulations) at the design wavelength of 633 nm, with the performance for the TE polarization (electric field perpendicular to the plane of diffraction) being significantly better (experimentally > 20% and theoretically > 40%) than for the TM polarization. This difference becomes even more pronounced for the light incidence deviating from normal. Finally, we discuss possible improvements of the performance of polarization beam splitters based on third-order GSP resonance as well as other potential applications of the suggested approach. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
10.1016/j.bandl.2016.03.002 | Stereotypes override grammar: Social knowledge in sentence comprehension | Many studies have provided evidence for the automaticity and immediacy with which stereotypical knowledge affects our behavior. However, less is known about how such social knowledge interacts with linguistic cues during comprehension. In this ERP sentence processing study we took advantage of the rich grammatical gender morphology of Spanish to explore the processing of role nouns in which stereotype and grammatical cues were simultaneously manipulated, in a factorial design. We show that stereotypical knowledge overrides syntactic cues, highlighting the immediacy with which stereotype knowledge is activated during language comprehension and supporting proposals claiming that social knowledge impacts on language processing differently from other forms of semantics. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.06.011 | A theory on the evolution of religious norms and economic prohibition | This paper provides a theory of religious prohibition against usury and innovation and its consequences on economic activities and occupations. As an economic prohibition from the majority religion is sustained by a threat of social exclusion from that cultural group, it has less effects on religious minorities. It then creates an occupational pattern where only the religious minorities choose activities that transgress the prohibition. By creating resentment against the religious minorities, this occupational pattern strengthens the diffusion of the majority religion in the population. An economic prohibition is then instigated by the clerics in the majority religion, because it allows them to consolidate their norms and to increase the scope of their control over popular masses. This work also demonstrates that an economic prohibition lasts longer when religious clerics can legitimize secular rulers and when the competition on the religious market is weaker. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
DK PA201570756 A | PELT BOARD | A pelt board (11) is disclosed for stretching and drying of tubular pelts (5), the pelt board (11) having a tip end (4) from which the pelt is drawn onto the pelt board (11) and a foot end (2), wherein the pelt board (11) has a lower part (8) nearest the foot end (2) where the outer cross-sectional circumference of the pelt board (11) is substantially constant and an upper part (9) between the lower part (8) and the tip end (4), where the outer cross-sectional circumference of the upper part (9) gradually decreases towards the tip end (4), wherein the longitudinal extent (L1) of the lower part (8) is in the range of 36 to 50 cm, more preferably in the range of 40 to 45 cm. Furthermore is disclosed an extension piece for connecting with a standard pelt board and fat-absorbing inner bags (13, 19) for use with the pelt board (11). | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
W2084677536 | Assessing the impact of common forensic presumptive tests on the ability to obtain results using a novel rapid DNA platform | The rise of DNA evidence to the forefront of forensic science has led to high sample numbers being submitted for profiling by investigators to casework laboratories: bottleneck effects are often seen resulting in slow turnaround times and sample backlog. The ParaDNA(®) Screening and Intelligence Tests have been designed to guide investigators on the viability of potential sources of DNA allowing them to determine which samples should be sent for full DNA analysis. Both tests are designed to augment the arsenal of available forensic tests for end users and be used concurrently to those commonly available. Therefore, assessing the impact that common forensic tests have on such novel technology is important to measure. The systems were tested against various potential inhibitors to which samples may be exposed as part of the investigative process. Presumptive test agents for biological materials (blood, semen and saliva) and those used as fingerprint enhancement agents were both used. The Screening Test showed a drop in performance following application of aluminium powder and cyanoacrylate (CNA) on fingerprints samples; however this drop in performance was not replicated with high template DNA. No significant effect was observed for any agent using the Intelligence Test. Therefore, both tests stand up well to the chemical agents applied and can be used by investigators with confidence that system performance will be maintained. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1016/j.jfa.2016.02.018 | On the interpolation with the potential bound for global solutions of the defocusing cubic wave equation on T2 | Consider the solutions of the defocusing cubic wave equation. ∂ttu-δu=-u3, with real data in Hs(T2)×Hs-1(T2), s>25. We prove that the solutions exist globally in time by contradiction. Assuming that one of the maximal times of existence is finite, we prove that the Sobolev norm of each of these solutions is bounded in an open neighborhood of it by using the I-method (see e. g. [4]). It consists of introducing a mollified energy and estimating its growth in this neighborhood. The growth is first estimated on small subintervals by means of dispersive bounds; then it is estimated on the whole interval by an iteration process. In order to enlarge the size of subintervals on which the dispersive bounds hold, we interpolate with the potential bound for the low frequency part. Our results complement those obtained in [1]. | [
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.5194/acp-16-11899-2016 | Molecular composition of organic aerosols in central Amazonia: an
ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry study | . The Amazon Basin plays key role in atmospheric chemistry, biodiversity and climate change. In this study we applied nanoelectrospray (nanoESI) ultra-high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHRMS) for the analysis of the organic fraction of PM2. 5 aerosol samples collected during dry and wet seasons at a site in central Amazonia receiving background air masses, biomass burning and urban pollution. Comprehensive mass spectral data evaluation methods (e. g. Kendrick mass defect, Van Krevelen diagrams, carbon oxidation state and aromaticity equivalent) were used to identify compound classes and mass distributions of the detected species. Nitrogen- and/or sulfur-containing organic species contributed up to 60 % of the total identified number of formulae. A large number of molecular formulae in organic aerosol (OA) were attributed to later-generation nitrogen- and sulfur-containing oxidation products, suggesting that OA composition is affected by biomass burning and other, potentially anthropogenic, sources. Isoprene-derived organosulfate (IEPOX-OS) was found to be the most dominant ion in most of the analysed samples and strongly followed the concentration trends of the gas-phase anthropogenic tracers confirming its mixed anthropogenic–biogenic origin. The presence of oxidised aromatic and nitro-aromatic compounds in the samples suggested a strong influence from biomass burning especially during the dry period. Aerosol samples from the dry period and under enhanced biomass burning conditions contained a large number of molecules with high carbon oxidation state and an increased number of aromatic compounds compared to that from the wet period. The results of this work demonstrate that the studied site is influenced not only by biogenic emissions from the forest but also by biomass burning and potentially other anthropogenic emissions from the neighbouring urban environments. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
IL 2011000173 W | A SYSTEM AND METHOD OF AUTONOMOUS OPERATION OF MULTI-TASKING EARTH MOVING MACHINERY | According to certain aspects of the invention there is provided a method and system for autonomous operation of an earth moving machine (EMM), configured for shoving matter, the EMM comprising at least one implement. Based on at least the mission objective and the mapping data of the mission area, the mission area is divided into segments, each segment being associated with a disposal point. An implement trajectory is calculated in respect of each of the segments such that matter is accumulated by the at least one implement along the segment as the EMM progresses and the accumulated matter is disposed upon arrival at the disposal point, without exhausting the EMM shoving capabilities. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W3185089024 | Current Wildland Fire Patterns and Challenges in Europe: A Synthesis of National Perspectives | Changes in climate, land use, and land management impact the occurrence and severity of wildland fires in many parts of the world. This is particularly evident in Europe, where ongoing changes in land use have strongly modified fire patterns over the last decades. Although satellite data by the European Forest Fire Information System provide large-scale wildland fire statistics across European countries, there is still a crucial need to collect and summarize in-depth local analysis and understanding of the wildland fire condition and associated challenges across Europe. This article aims to provide a general overview of the current wildland fire patterns and challenges as perceived by national representatives, supplemented by national fire statistics (2009–2018) across Europe. For each of the 31 countries included, we present a perspective authored by scientists or practitioners from each respective country, representing a wide range of disciplines and cultural backgrounds. The authors were selected from members of the COST Action “Fire and the Earth System: Science & Society” funded by the European Commission with the aim to share knowledge and improve communication about wildland fire. Where relevant, a brief overview of key studies, particular wildland fire challenges a country is facing, and an overview of notable recent fire events are also presented. Key perceived challenges included (1) the lack of consistent and detailed records for wildland fire events, within and across countries, (2) an increase in wildland fires that pose a risk to properties and human life due to high population densities and sprawl into forested regions, and (3) the view that, irrespective of changes in management, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and impact of wildland fires in the coming decades. Addressing challenge (1) will not only be valuable in advancing national and pan-European wildland fire management strategies, but also in evaluating perceptions (2) and (3) against more robust quantitative evidence. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1088/1742-5468/2014/10/P10009 | Exact Theory Of Dense Amorphous Hard Spheres In High Dimension Iii The Full Replica Symmetry Breaking Solution | In the first part of this paper, we derive the general replica equations that describe infinite-dimensional hard spheres at any level of replica symmetry breaking (RSB) and in particular in the fullRSB scheme. We show that these equations are formally very similar to the ones that have been derived for spin glass models, thus showing that the analogy between spin glasses and structural glasses conjectured by Kirkpatrick, Thirumalai, and Wolynes is realized in a strong sense in the mean field limit. We also suggest how the computation could be generalized in an approximate way to finite dimensional hard spheres. In the second part of the paper, we discuss the solution of these equations and we derive from it a number of physical predictions. We show that, below the Gardner transition where the 1RSB solution becomes unstable, a fullRSB phase exists and we locate the boundary of the fullRSB phase. Most importantly, we show that the fullRSB solution predicts correctly that jammed packings are isostatic, and allows one to compute analytically the critical exponents associated with the jamming transition, which are missed by the 1RSB solution. We show that these predictions compare very well with numerical results. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Mathematics"
]
|
W2152787650 | Experimental Methods for Phase Equilibria at High Pressures | Knowledge of high-pressure phase equilibria is crucial in many fields, e.g., for the design and optimization of high-pressure chemical and separation processes, carbon capture and storage, hydrate formation, applications of ionic liquids, and geological processes. This review presents the variety of methods to measure phase equilibria at high pressures and, following a classification, discusses the measurement principles, advantages, challenges, and error sources. Examples of application areas are given. A detailed knowledge and understanding of the different methods is fundamental not only for choosing the most suitable method for a certain task but also for the evaluation of experimental data. The discrepancy between the (sometimes low) true accuracy of published experimental data and the (high) accuracy claimed by authors is addressed. Some essential requirements for the generation of valuable experimental results are summarized. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
224870 | Spin transport and spin-orbit phenomena in 2d materials | We live in a technological world where usage of electronic devices for information technology is an integral part of everyday life. Present and future technological progress requires miniaturization of such devices, continuous improvement of their performances and decreasing of energy consumption. Spintronics, a growing research field based on the manipulation of the spin of the electrons, offers devices that fulfil these needs. However, a new generation of proposed spintronic devices are yet to be realized due to the lack of a tuneable spin transport channel. The major obstacle to build such channel is that the transport and the manipulation of spins (which require weak and strong spin-orbit coupling, respectively) in the same material are mutually exclusive. 2DSTOP addresses this problem by exploiting the unconventional spin-dependent properties of the transition metal dichalcogenides. In these two dimensional (2D) layered materials, electrically tuneable spin transport in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling is theoretically predicted. 2DSTOP envisions the experimental realization of such predictions. Combining these materials with other 2D materials such as graphene and hexagonal boron nitride, this proposal plans to investigate not only the spin transport, but also some of the exotic spin-orbit-related phenomena. This way, the project aims at acquiring scientific knowledge with potential technological applications to be useful for both academia and industry. Moreover, the ultimate goal of 2DSTOP is to offer high-quality interdisciplinary research training for an aspiring young researcher helping him to build a promising scientific research career. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
1261774 | Self-Organization of the cilium: the role of the tubulin code | This project aims at understanding of the role of the tubulin code for self-organization of complex microtubule based structures. Cilia turn out to be the ideal structures for the proposed research.
A cilium is a sophisticated cellular machine that self-organizes from many protein complexes. It plays motility, sensory, and signaling roles in most eukaryotic cells, and its malfunction causes pathologies. The assembly of the cilium requires intraflagellar transport (IFT), a specialized bidirectional motility process that is mediated by adaptor proteins and direction specific molecular motors. Work from my lab shows that anterograde and retrograde IFT make exclusive use of the B-tubules and A-tubules, respectively. This insight answered a long standing question and shows that functional differentiation of tubules exists and is important for IFT.
Tubulin post-translational modifications (PTMs) contribute to a tubulin code, making microtubules suitable for specific functions. Mutation of tubulin-PTM enzymes can have dramatic effects on cilia function and assembly. However, we do not understand of the role of tubulin-PTMs in cilia. Therefore, I propose to address the hypotheses that the tubulin code contributes to regulating bidirectional IFT motility, and more generally, that the tubulin code is a key player in structuring complex cellular assembly processes in space and time.
This proposal aims at (i) understanding if tubulin-PTMs are necessary and/or sufficient to regulate the bidirectionality of IFT (ii) examining how the tubulin code regulates the assembly of cilia and (iii) generating a high-resolution atlas of tubulin-PTMs and their respective enzymes.
We will combine advanced techniques encompassing state-of-the-art cryo-electron tomography, biochemical imaging, fluorescent microscopy, and in vitro assays to achieve molecular and structural understanding of the role of the tubulin code in the self-organization of cilia and of microtubule based cellular structures. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.5194/acp-18-12699-2018 | Exploring non-linear associations between atmospheric new-particle formation and ambient variables: a mutual information approach | Abstract. Atmospheric new-particle formation (NPF) is a very non-linear process that
includes atmospheric chemistry of precursors and clustering physics as well
as subsequent growth before NPF can be observed. Thanks to ongoing efforts,
now there exists a tremendous amount of atmospheric data, obtained through
continuous measurements directly from the atmosphere. This fact makes the
analysis by human brains difficult but, on the other hand, enables the usage
of modern data science techniques. Here, we calculate and explore the mutual
information (MI) between observed NPF events (measured at Hyytiälä,
Finland) and a wide variety of simultaneously monitored ambient variables:
trace gas and aerosol particle concentrations, meteorology, radiation and a
few derived quantities. The purpose of the investigations is to identify key
factors contributing to the NPF. The applied mutual information method finds
that the formation events are strongly linked to sulfuric acid concentration
and water content, ultraviolet radiation, condensation sink (CS) and
temperature. Previously, these quantities have been well-established to be
important players in the phenomenon via dedicated field, laboratory and
theoretical research. The novelty of this work is to demonstrate that the
same results are now obtained by a data analysis method which operates
without supervision and without the need of understanding the physics deeply. This suggests that the method is suitable to be implemented
widely in the atmospheric field to discover other interesting phenomena and
their relevant variables. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
US 2014/0043212 W | CONTROL CAPSULE FOR AN EXHAUST-GAS TURBOCHARGER | The invention discloses a control capsule 1 for a regulating device of an exhaust-gas turbocharger; - having a housing 2 in which there are formed a first air chamber 5 and a second air chamber 6 which are separated from one another in gas-tight fashion by a spring-loaded diaphragm 7; - having a regulating rod 8 which is connected in force-transmitting fashion to the diaphragm 7, characterized by - a hole 12 which connects the second air chamber 6 in gas-conducting fashion to the surroundings U of the housing 1, wherein the hole 12 has a hole area A of greater than 20 mm². | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
983412 | Investigating the activity of transposon derived regulatory sequences in the placenta | Aberrant epigenetic regulation of placental function is implicated in several complications of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia, recurrent pregnancy loss and fetal growth restriction. Notably, the placenta has a unique epigenetic landscape, permissive for the activity of transposable element (TE) derived DNA sequences. TEs are often co-opted by the host genome as cis-regulatory elements, driving tissue- and species-specific gene expression programs. Indeed, TEs contribute many placental-specific enhancers in mouse trophoblast. However, the presence and role of a similar TE-derived regulatory network has not been explored in human trophoblast. As TEs are highly species-specific, such a network in humans would be expected to regulate species-specific placental characteristics, such as the deep interstitial invasion unique to great apes. TE-derived regulatory elements may therefore be important for placental homeostasis and be involved in diseases characterised by aberrant placental invasion. I propose to map TE-derived cis-regulatory sequences in human trophoblast ex vivo using their histone modification signatures. I will assess the regulatory potential of candidate TEs through transcriptomic analyses and motif analysis to reveal transcription factor binding sites, highlighting promising candidates of importance in the human placenta. I will then directly test the function of top TE candidates using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing of the TEs in trophoblast in vitro, and measuring changes in expression of target genes. Finally, I will elucidate epigenetic and coding differences between complicated and normal control placentas at the functional regulatory TE loci I find, to identify correlations with disease. This project will provide a comprehensive analysis of an as-yet unexplored aspect of human placental epigenetic regulation, and potentially identify novel causes of common unexplained complications of human pregnancy. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.3389/fmicb.2017.01765 | Next-generation beneficial microbes: The case of Akkermansia muciniphila | Metabolic disorders associated with obesity and cardiometabolic disorders are worldwide epidemic. Among the different environmental factors, the gut microbiota is now considered as a key player interfering with energy metabolism and host susceptibility to several non-communicable diseases. Among the next-generation beneficial microbes that have been identified, Akkermansia muciniphila is a promising candidate. Indeed, A. muciniphila is inversely associated with obesity, diabetes, cardiometabolic diseases and low-grade inflammation. Besides the numerous correlations observed, a large body of evidence has demonstrated the causal beneficial impact of this bacterium in a variety of preclinical models. Translating these exciting observations to human would be the next logic step and it now appears that several obstacles that would prevent the use of A. muciniphila administration in humans have been overcome. Moreover, several lines of evidence indicate that pasteurization of A. muciniphila not only increases its stability but more importantly increases its efficacy. This strongly positions A. muciniphila in the forefront of next-generation candidates for developing novel food or pharma supplements with beneficial effects. Finally, a specific protein present on the outer membrane of A. muciniphila, termed Amuc_1100, could be strong candidate for future drug development. In conclusion, as plants and its related knowledge, known as pharmacognosy, have been the source for designing drugs over the last century, we propose that microbes and microbiomegnosy, or knowledge of our gut microbiome, can become a novel source of future therapies. | [
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
669746 | Productivity and Development: The Ready-made Garment Productivity Project | Differences in productivity explain much of differences in income levels across countries, yet little is known about how to improve productivity of manufacturing in the developing world. Recent research reveals very high dispersion in productivity in low-income countries. We examine firm productivity at a uniquely detailed level, collecting sub-factory production and survey data from hundreds of garment manufacturers in several countries. The data, coupled with a new method for comparing productivity, allow us to measure physical productivity in and across firms and among heterogeneous products. Initial results from nearly 100 factories in Bangladesh show significant dispersion of productivity within factories; production lines at the 90th percentile are 50% more efficient than those at the 10th percentile. Differences are highly persistent – puzzling given that the lines are often on the same production floor. Capital and the quality of the buyer explains a small part of the dispersion: lines producing goods for higher-end buyers are significantly more efficient.
Shocks and interventions allows us to examine the challenges of increasing productivity in volatile conditions characteristic of low-income countries. Our data span a period including general strikes and a 67% minimum wage increase. We have conducted 2 RCTs on line supervisor training. We are designing data collection and analysis tools for use by factories and a program to address issues related to worker stress.
We have collected data from 10 factories in Pakistan to benchmark productivity across countries. We are also working with the garment association in Myanmar. Relationships with large European-based buyers have led to discussions on linking with their suppliers in other countries. Our goal over the next 2 years is to collect data from at least 6 to 8 countries in Asia and Africa allowing cross-country analysis of productivity in lower-income countries at an unprecedented level of detail. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1109/ISCAS.2014.6865410 | Novel Grid Based Power Routing Scheme For Regular Controllable Polarity Fet Arrangements | Polarity-controllable transistors have emerged in the last few years as an adequate successor of current CMOS FinFETs. Due to the additional polarity terminal, novel physical design techniques are required. We present a novel grid-based power routing scheme able to mitigate the polarity terminal impact. The logic cells are organized in regular arrangements and easily configured using the novel power routing scheme. The impact of the placement and routing techniques used is gauged in terms of routing metal distribution, speed and area performance. Benchmark circuits are synthesized, placed and routed using commercial tools and performances are extracted. Post place and route results show 28% faster circuits compared to 22nm FinFET regular layout-based designs. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1007/s10955-012-0443-8 | Γ-Limit for Transition Paths of Maximal Probability | Chemical reactions can be modeled via diffusion processes conditioned to make a transition between specified molecular configurations representing the state of the system before and after the chemical reaction. In particular the model of Brownian dynamics-gradient flow subject to additive noise-is frequently used. If the chemical reaction is specified to take place on a given time interval, then the most likely path taken by the system is a minimizer of the Onsager-Machlup functional. The Γ-limit of this functional is determined explicitly in the case where the temperature is small and the transition time scales as the inverse temperature. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Mathematics"
]
|
DE 202004018380 U | Holding underlay, in particular, for a fully glued-down floor cover comprises at least one insulating sheet provided on one side with a barrier foil against water vapor diffusion | The holding underlay, in particular, for a fully glued-down floor cover comprises at least one insulating sheet (S) provided on one side (1) with a barrier foil (F) against water vapor diffusion. The sides (2, 6) respectively of the insulating sheet (S) and the barrier foil (F) are provided with double-sided adhesive foils (K). An independent claim is also included for a fully glued-down floor cover with the proposed holding underlay. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1002/smll.201702677 | Liquid Crystalline Networks toward Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Repair | The communication reports the use of liquid crystalline networks (LCNs) for engineering tissue cultures with human cells. Their ability as cell scaffolds for different cell lines is demonstrated. Preliminary assessments of the material biocompatibility are performed on human dermal fibroblasts and murine muscle cells (C2C12), demonstrating that coatings or other treatments are not needed to use the acrylate-based materials as support. Moreover, it is found that adherent C2C12 cells undergo differentiation, forming multinucleated myotubes, which show the typical elongated shape, and contain bundles of stress fibers. Once biocompatibility is demonstrated, the same LCN films are used as a substrate for culturing human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocites (hiPSC-CMs) proving that LCNs are capable to develop adult-like dimensions and a more mature cell function in a short period of culture in respect to standard supports. The demonstrated biocompatibility together with the extraordinary features of LCNs opens to preparation of complex cell scaffolds, both patterned and stimulated, for dynamic cell culturing. The ability of these materials to improve cell maturation and differentiation will be developed toward engineered heart and skeletal muscular tissues exploring regenerative medicine toward bioartificial muscles for injured sites replacement. | [
"Materials Engineering",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1039/C4GC02160F | Separation Recycling Methods For Homogeneous Transition Metal Catalysts In Continuous Flow | Catalytic processes are of paramount importance in the chemical industry. Homogeneous catalysts are of great interest for synthesizing fine-chemical/specialty chemical/pharmaceutical products for their advantages of high activity and selectivity. However, their separation from the product remains a challenge. Transition metals and especially platinum group metals are used extensively as catalysts. They are expensive and there are strict regulations on the permitted levels of these metals in pharmaceutical products. Therefore, their effective separation is required. Moreover, we are running short of these and many other valuable metals. This puts more emphasis on the need to separate these homogeneous metal catalysts in their active form and recycle them back to the reactor. This review aims to provide the reader with an overview of the current literature on the separation/recycling methods of homogeneous transition metal catalysts in continuous flow. These include heterogenization, scavenging, using biphasic systems and organic solvent nanofiltration. There are numerous successful demonstrations on the laboratory scale and recently also on the industrial scale. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1016/j.jacc.2015.02.050 | Duration of triple therapy in patients requiring oral anticoagulation after drug-eluting stent implantation: The ISAR-TRIPLE trial | Abstract Background Patients receiving oral anticoagulation (OAC) who undergo drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation require additional dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel. Such triple therapy confers an elevated bleeding risk, and its optimal duration is not known. Objectives The goal of this study was to evaluate whether shortening the duration of clopidogrel therapy from 6 months to 6 weeks after DES implantation was associated with a superior net clinical outcome in patients receiving concomitant aspirin and OAC. Methods In this randomized, open-label trial, we enrolled patients receiving OAC who underwent DES implantation at 3 European centers between September 2008 and December 2013. A total of 614 patients receiving concomitant aspirin and OAC were randomized to either 6-week clopidogrel therapy (n = 307) or 6-month clopidogrel therapy (n = 307). The primary endpoint was a composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), definite stent thrombosis, stroke, or Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) major bleeding at 9 months. Results The primary endpoint occurred in 30 patients (9. 8%) in the 6-week group compared with 27 patients (8. 8%) in the 6-month group (hazard ratio [HR]: 1. 14; 95% CI: 0. 68 to 1. 91; p = 0. 63). There were no significant differences for the secondary combined ischemic endpoint of cardiac death, MI, definite stent thrombosis, and ischemic stroke (12 [4. 0%] vs. 13 [4. 3%]; HR: 0. 93; 95% CI: 0. 43 to 2. 05; p = 0. 87) or the secondary bleeding endpoint of TIMI major bleeding (16 [5. 3%] vs. 12 [4. 0%]; HR: 1. 35; 95% CI: 0. 64 to 2. 84; p = 0. 44). Conclusions Six weeks of triple therapy was not superior to 6 months with respect to net clinical outcomes. These results suggest that physicians should weigh the trade-off between ischemic and bleeding risk when choosing the shorter or longer duration of triple therapy. (Triple Therapy in Patients on Oral Anticoagulation After Drug Eluting Stent Implantation [ISAR-TRIPLE]; NCT00776633). | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
W2053155747 | Impact of vegetation feedback on the temperature and its diurnal range over the Northern Hemisphere during summer in a 2 × CO2 climate | This study examines the potential impact of vegetation feedback on the changes in the diurnal temperature range (DTR) due to the doubling of atmospheric CO2 concentrations during summer over the Northern Hemisphere using a global climate model equipped with a dynamic vegetation model. Results show that CO2 doubling induces significant increases in the daily mean temperature and decreases in DTR regardless of the presence of the vegetation feedback effect. In the presence of vegetation feedback, increase in vegetation productivity related to warm and humid climate lead to (1) an increase in vegetation greenness in the mid-latitude and (2) a greening and the expansion of grasslands and boreal forests into the tundra region in the high latitudes. The greening via vegetation feedback induces contrasting effects on the temperature fields between the mid- and high-latitude regions. In the mid-latitudes, the greening further limits the increase in Tmax more than Tmin, resulting in further decreases in DTR because the greening amplifies evapotranspiration and thus cools daytime temperature. The greening in high-latitudes, however, it reinforces the warming by increasing Tmax more than Tmin to result in a further increase in DTR from the values obtained without vegetation feedback. This effect on Tmax and DTR in the high latitude is mainly attributed to the reduction in surface albedo and the subsequent increase in the absorbed insolation. Present study indicates that vegetation feedback can alter the response of the temperature field to increases in CO2 mainly by affecting the Tmax and that its effect varies with the regional climate characteristics as a function of latitudes. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1073/pnas.1322691111 | Critical role for IL-1β in DNA damageinduced mucositis | β-TrCP, the substrate recognition subunit of SCF-type ubiquitin ligases, is ubiquitously expressed from two distinct paralogs, targeting for degradation many regulatory proteins, among which is the NF-κB inhibitor IκB. To appreciate tissue-specific roles of β-TrCP, we studied the consequences of inducible ablation of three or all four alleles of the E3 in the mouse gut. The ablation resulted in mucositis, a destructive gut mucosal inflammation, which is a common complication of different cancer therapies and represents a major obstacle to successful chemoradiation therapy. We identified epithelial-derived IL-1β as the culprit of mucositis onset, inducing mucosal barrier breach. Surprisingly, epithelial IL-1β is induced by DNA damage via an NF-κB-independent mechanism. Tissue damage caused by gut barrier disruption is exacerbated in the absence of NF-κB, with failure to express the endogenous IL-1β receptor antagonist IL-1Ra upon fourallele loss. Antibody neutralization of IL-1β prevents epithelial tight junction dysfunction and alleviates mucositis in β-TrCP-deficient mice. IL-1β antagonists should thus be considered for prevention and treatment of severe morbidity associated with mucositis. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.1007/s11229-018-1876-7 | Points of view: Kant on perspectival knowledge | The aim of this paper is to cast new light on an important and often overlooked notion of perspectival knowledge arising from Kant. In addition to a traditional notion of perspectival knowledge as “knowledge from a vantage point” (perspectival knowledge1), a second novel notion—“knowledge towards a vantage point” (perspectival knowledge2)—is here introduced. The origin and rationale of perspectival knowledge2 are traced back to Kant’s so-called transcendental illusion (and some of its pre-Critical sources). The paper ends by discussing the legacy of the Kantian notion of perspectival knowledge2 for contemporary discussions on disagreement and the role of metaphysics in scientific knowledge. | [
"Texts and Concepts"
]
|
Q3751967 | ¡UNA APUESTA CREATIVA! La competitividad y el bienestar de Pohjos-Savo | La importancia de las industrias creativas para los medios de vida, el atractivo y el confort de las regiones ha estado presente en el norte de Savo durante 20 años. A nivel nacional, el desarrollo del sector ha estado sujeto a grandes expectativas económicas, pero hasta ahora no se han cumplido plenamente. Esto se debe, por ejemplo, al hecho de que los sistemas creados para apoyar la producción de bienes industriales no han podido tener suficientemente en cuenta las oportunidades inherentes a la creatividad y la cultura y las necesidades de desarrollo de las industrias que los representan. En Finlandia, las regiones invierten en las industrias creativas, artísticas y culturales de diferentes maneras. Según el informe del proyecto Finlandia Creativa e Inclusiva en el norte de Savo, la financiación de la UE para el sector ha sido de alrededor de la mitad del nivel medio nacional para el período 2014-2020, es decir, solo el 2,2 %. El objetivo del proyecto es establecer un programa provincial de desarrollo para las industrias creativas, las artes y la cultura y llevar a cabo experimentos para aumentar las empresas y el empleo en el sector creativo, aumentar la cooperación y mejorar las condiciones de funcionamiento en el norte de Savo. La región necesita estructuras de apoyo provinciales y cooperación multifuncional, que aumenta la importancia económica regional de los sectores creativo y cultural, aumenta la actividad internacional, mejora la disponibilidad de servicios de bienestar social y se percibe que la provincia es atractiva tanto para las empresas como para los residentes. En el norte de Savo se necesitan más empresas creativas para acelerar el crecimiento y la internacionalización de la economía creativa. Las empresas de crecimiento creativo y otros agentes del sector deben recibir apoyo, por ejemplo, de las actividades de aceleración e intermediación de las industrias creativas. | [
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
10.1109/TSMCB.2012.2200675 | Meta Analysis Of The First Facial Expression Recognition Challenge | Automatic facial expression recognition has been an active topic in computer science for over two decades, in particular facial action coding system action unit (AU) detection and classification of a number of discrete emotion states from facial expressive imagery. Standardization and comparability have received some attention; for instance, there exist a number of commonly used facial expression databases. However, lack of a commonly accepted evaluation protocol and, typically, lack of sufficient details needed to reproduce the reported individual results make it difficult to compare systems. This, in turn, hinders the progress of the field. A periodical challenge in facial expression recognition would allow such a comparison on a level playing field. It would provide an insight on how far the field has come and would allow researchers to identify new goals, challenges, and targets. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the first such challenge in automatic recognition of facial expressions, held during the IEEE conference on Face and Gesture Recognition 2011. It details the challenge data, evaluation protocol, and the results attained in two subchallenges: AU detection and classification of facial expression imagery in terms of a number of discrete emotion categories. We also summarize the lessons learned and reflect on the future of the field of facial expression recognition in general and on possible future challenges in particular. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1063/1.5142827 | How Motifs Condition Critical Thresholds For Tipping Cascades In Complex Networks Linking Micro To Macro Scales | In this study, we investigate how specific micro interaction structures (motifs) affect the occurrence of tipping cascades on networks of stylized tipping elements. We compare the properties of cascades in Erdos-Renyi networks and an exemplary moisture recycling network of the Amazon rainforest. Within these networks, decisive small-scale motifs are the feed forward loop, the secondary feed forward loop, the zero loop and the neighboring loop. Of all motifs, the feed forward loop motif stands out in tipping cascades since it decreases the critical coupling strength necessary to initiate a cascade more than the other motifs. We find that for this motif, the reduction of critical coupling strength is 11% less than the critical coupling of a pair of tipping elements. For highly connected networks, our analysis reveals that coupled feed forward loops coincide with a strong 90% decrease of the critical coupling strength. For the highly clustered moisture recycling network in the Amazon, we observe regions of very high motif occurrence for each of the four investigated motifs suggesting that these regions are more vulnerable. The occurrence of motifs is found to be one order of magnitude higher than in a random Erdos-Renyi network. This emphasizes the importance of local interaction structures for the emergence of global cascades and the stability of the network as a whole. | [
"Mathematics",
"Earth System Science",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2100041880 | On the Northward Motion of Midlatitude Cyclones in a Barotropic Meandering Jet | Abstract The combined effects of the deformation (horizontal stretching and shearing) and nonlinearities on the beta drift of midlatitude cyclones are studied using a barotropic quasigeostrophic model on the beta plane. It is found that, without any background flow, a cyclonic vortex moves more rapidly northward when it is initially strongly stretched along a mostly north–south direction. This meridional stretching is more efficient at forming an anticyclone to the east of the cyclone through Rossby wave radiation. The cyclone–anticyclone couple then forms a nonlinear vortex dipole that propagates mostly northward. The case of a cyclone embedded in uniformly sheared zonal flows is then studied. A cyclone evolving in an anticyclonic shear is stretched more strongly, develops a stronger anticyclone, and moves faster northward than a cyclone embedded in a cyclonic shear, which remains almost isotropic. Similar results are found in the general case of uniformly sheared nonzonal flows. The evolution of cyclones is also investigated in the case of a more realistic meandering jet whose relative vorticity gradient creates an effective beta and whose deformation field is spatially varying. A statistical study reveals a strong correlation among the cyclone’s stretching, the anticyclone strength, and the velocity toward the jet center. These different observations agree with the more idealized cases. Finally, these results provide a rationale for the existence of preferential zones for the jet-crossing phase: that is, the phase when a cyclone crosses a jet from its anticyclonic to its cyclonic side. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1088/1475-7516/2013/11/012 | Simulating The Quartic Galileon Gravity Model On Adaptively Refined Meshes | We develop a numerical algorithm to solve the high-order nonlinear derivative-coupling equation associated with the quartic Galileon model, and implement it in a modified version of the ramses N-body code to study the effect of the Galileon field on the large-scale matter clustering. The algorithm is tested for several matter field configurations with different symmetries, and works very well. This enables us to perform the first simulations for a quartic Galileon model which provides a good fit to the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy, supernovae and baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) data. Our result shows that the Vainshtein mechanism in this model is very efficient in suppressing the spatial variations of the scalar field. However, the time variation of the effective Newtonian constant caused by the curvature coupling of the Galileon field cannot be suppressed by the Vainshtein mechanism. This leads to a significant weakening of the strength of gravity in high-density regions at late times, and therefore a weaker matter clustering on small scales. We also find that without the Vainshtein mechanism the model would have behaved in a completely different way, which shows the crucial role played by nonlinearities in modified gravity theories and the importance of performing self-consistent N-body simulations for these theories. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
IB 2015000507 W | TEXTILE MACHINE AND METHOD FOR OPERATING SAME | The invention relates to a method for operating a textile machine (1) which serves to produce roving (2), wherein, during roving production, a roving (2) having a protective twist is produced with the aid of at least one strengthening means (3) from a sliver (4) fed to the strengthening means, wherein the roving (2) produced with the solidifier is wound, with the aid of a winding device (5), onto a tube (7) arranged in the region of a winding location (6), wherein a tube change takes place once the tube (7) has been fully or partially wound with roving (2), and wherein, during the tube change, the wound tube (7) is removed from the winding location (6) and an empty tube (7) is moved into the region of the winding location (6). The invention proposes that the production of the roving (2) is not interrupted during the tube change, wherein the roving (2) produced with the solidifier is wound onto the wound tube (7) during the tube change at least until, as a result of the tube change, it comes into contact with the empty tube (7). Also described is a textile machine for producing a roving (2), said textile machine being distinguished by the fact that it has at least one controller (13) which is configured to operate the textile machine in accordance with the method according to the invention. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
interreg_1806 | UsIng guidelines and beNchmarking to Trigger social entrepreneurship solutions towards better patient-centred cancer care in cENTral Europe | Cancer is a leading cause of death in the EU. But how we experience cancer is changing because survival rates are improving. This shift in ‘what cancer is’ requires a more patient-centered approach to care. To help achieve this, INTENT will: “Put in place know-how, competencies & capacity to capitalise on benchmarking & social entrepreneurship in harmonising & improving patient centered cancer care in Central Europe”. This will result in: better understanding of what patient-centered care means; new tools and methods to implement this approach; relevant policy recommendations & local stakeholders working together to identify what needs improving & generating innovative solutions.
INTENT outputs that will benefit cancer care providers, patients & policy makers taking part in 5 pilot actions include:
- A patient-centered cancer care model with implementation guidelines
- Policy recommendation(s) for adopting the patient-centered model
- An online benchmarking tool to show what needs doing better to deliver patient-centered care
- Performance Improvement Plans that identify local improvement priorities & prospects for social entrepreneurial actions
- A virtual ‘know how’ centre that will host good practices, benchmarking results & innovative ideas.
The project uses a unique online benchmarking method to leverage improvements in patient-centered cancer care & social entrepreneurial solutions to improve performance. Transnational cooperation matters because the need for better patient-centered care is a shared challenge in Central Europe & making this happen is highly dependent on comparable benchmarking results, good practices & innovative solutions.
Looking to the future, INTENT will provide the basis for crossover collaboration with industry in unlocking the innovation potential of public services as part of RIS3 and ESIF Operational Programme implementation & next period planning in pilot & partner regions. | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
10.1175/JPO-D-11-0220.1 | Numerical Wave Modeling In Conditions With Strong Currents Dissipation Refraction And Relative Wind | AbstractCurrents effects on waves have led to many developments in numerical wave modeling over the past two decades, from numerical choices to parameterizations. The performance of numerical models in conditions with strong currents is reviewed here, and observed strong effects of opposed currents and modulations of wave heights by tidal currents in several typical situations are interpreted. For current variations on small scales, the rapid steepening of the waves enhances wave breaking. Using different parameterizations with a dissipation rate proportional to some measure of the wave steepness to the fourth power, the results are very different, none being fully satisfactory, which points to the need for more measurements and further refinements of parameterizations. For larger-scale current variations, the observed modifications of the sea state are mostly explained by refraction of waves over currents and relative wind effects, that is, the wind speed relevant for wave generation is the speed in the . . . | [
"Earth System Science",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
983346 | Understanding the mechanisms that govern organ morphostasis and repair | Neuromasts are the sensory organs used by fishes and amphibians to sense water displacement. Neuromasts contain hair cells that are very similar to our own inner ear cells. Unlike mammalian ear cells, bird and fish hair cells regenerate after ablated. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the development and regeneration of the sensory organs holds the promise of treating deafness in humans. The study of neuromasts is also of advantage for basic science. With its three cell types, and 70 cells total, neuromasts are a relatively simple organ. They provide a good model to investigate unanswered questions about organogenesis: What makes cells proliferate during organ regeneration or development? What signals them to stop after normal organ size and cell number is reached? How is organ architecture – shape, cell placement, orientation– attained? Is it an intrinsic property of the interactions between its components (self-organization) or does it depend on external cues? I will establish a system for the production of neuromast organoids in vitro. This will serve to interrogate the role of self-organization in the process of tissue repair. I will also use a combination of single cell transcriptomics, fluorescence marker imaging, gene editing and pharmacological treatments to collect multidimensional data from cells during neuromast regeneration. The use of unbiased computational techniques derived from machine learning will help us untangle the molecular and cellular players driving cellular organization in this system. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
W1592175180 | Massacre de Wolfgang Mitterer, un Opéra baroque aujourd'hui ? | Resume Massacre de Mitterer, cree en 2003, s’appuie sur le texte de Marlowe, dramaturge anglais du XVIe siecle, Massacre a Paris . L’opera met en rapport deux mondes distants, mais politiquement proches. La question est de savoir si le traitement actuel de l’œuvre ancienne lui conserve son caractere baroque et pour quelle finalite. Le fait d’opposer visuellement ces deux periodes engendre un dispositif , au sens donne par Agamben, qui a pour objet de subjectiver le spectateur. Abstract Created in 2003, Mitterer’s opera Massacre is based on Marlowe’s text of Massacre a Paris (XVIth). The two worlds are timely distant but politically close. The question is to clear if the actual version of the Marlowe’s tragedy keeps his baroque identity and in which perspective. The opposition between the both worlds is at the beginning of a process named by Agamben : dispositif who must involve the spectators. | [
"Texts and Concepts",
"Studies of Cultures and Arts"
]
|
10.1039/C2JM34394K | Liquid Crystalline Hexa Peri Hexabenzocoronene Diketopyrrolopyrrole Organic Dyes For Photovoltaic Applications | A series of liquid crystalline organic dyes consisting of fluorenyl hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (FHBC) and diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) units was synthesised and characterised. Their thermotropic behaviour is a result of the strong π–π association between FHBC units while the DPP unit enhances light absorption. With small changes in the molecular structure, significant differences in molecular organisation were observed in solid state. In turn, the molecular arrangement led to variations in the semiconducting properties of these materials and, ultimately, their performance in organic solar cells. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
3736506 | The neurobiological and computational origins of behavioral variability | Human behavior is inherently variable. Even when faced with the same exact choice options, we often take different actions. The causes for this inconsistency are unknown, but economic and cognitive theories assume this is due to noise that is injected when making a decision. However, I have recently demonstrated that noise might not just arise during the decision process, but that the learning process itself (i.e update of internal representations based on feedback) is subject to substantial and meaningful noise. Concretely, I have shown that noise during learning accounts for the majority of what is traditionally reported as ‘decision noise’. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this learning noise remains unknown. In this fellowship, I will examine the contributions of the locus coeruleus-noradrenaline (LC-NA) system to this learning noise. NA has previously been associated with decision noise and here I will test whether activity in the LC is the driving factor behind learning noise. I will use a cutting-edge real-time fMRI framework that allows to causally test whether ongoing LC activity directly influences learning noise. Moreover, I will examine whether this learning noise is relevant to impulsivity, which has previously been implicated in decision noise. This fellowship has the potential to overthrown the traditional view on behavioral variability in decision making and will provide a novel neurobiological, computational and psychiatric grounding for understanding why humans are consistently inconsistent. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1111/j.1365-2745.2011.01918.x | Species richness effects on ecosystem multifunctionality depend on evenness, composition and spatial pattern | Recent studies have suggested that the simultaneous maintenance of multiple ecosystem functions (multifunctionality) is positively supported by species richness. However, little is known regarding the relative importance of other community attributes (e. g. spatial pattern, species evenness) as drivers of multifunctionality. We conducted two microcosm experiments using model biological soil crust communities dominated by lichens to: (i) evaluate the joint effects and relative importance of changes in species composition, spatial pattern (clumped and random distribution of lichens), evenness (maximal and low evenness) and richness (from two to eight species) on soil functions related to nutrient cycling (β-glucosidase, urease and acid phosphatase enzymes, in situ N availability, total N, organic C, and N fixation), and (ii) assess how these community attributes affect multifunctionality. Species richness, composition and spatial pattern affected multiple ecosystem functions (e. g. organic C, total N, N availability, β-glucosidase activity), albeit the magnitude and direction of their effects varied with the particular function, experiment and soil depth considered. Changes in species composition had effects on organic C, total N and the activity of β-glucosidase. Significant species richness×evenness and spatial pattern×evenness interactions were found when analysing functions such as organic C, total N and the activity of phosphatase. The probability of sustaining multiple ecosystem functions increased with species richness, but this effect was largely modulated by attributes such as species evenness, composition and spatial pattern. Overall, we found that model communities with high species richness, random spatial pattern and low evenness increased multifunctionality. Synthesis. Our results illustrate how different community attributes have a diverse impact on ecosystem functions related to nutrient cycling, and provide new experimental evidence illustrating the importance of the spatial pattern of organisms on ecosystem functioning. They also indicate that species richness is not the only biotic driver of multifunctionality, and that particular combinations of community attributes may be required to maximize it. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
W2050529187 | Hybrid intelligent method of relevant vector machine and regression tree for probabilistic load forecasting | This paper proposes a new hybrid intelligent method for probabilistic short-term load forecasting (STLF) in power systems. It consists of Relevance Vector Machine (RVM) of the statistical learning method called Kernel Machine and regression tree (RT) of data mining. As the preconditioned technique of data, RT is used to classify learning data into some clusters with the data similarity. After classifying data into some clusters, RVM is constructed to predict one-step ahead loads at each cluster. RVM is one of efficient Kernel Machines that extend Support Vector Machine (SVM) to deal with continuous variables. It has advantage to narrow the lower and upper bounds of predicted values with high accuracy. The proposed method is successfully applied to real data of Japanese utilities. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1073/pnas.1303888110 | Mass spectrometry reveals synergistic effects of nucleotides, lipids, and drugs binding to a multidrug resistance efflux pump | Multidrug resistance is a serious barrier to successful treatment of many human diseases, including cancer, wherein chemotherapeutics are exported from target cells by membrane-embedded pumps. The most prevalent of these pumps, the ATP-Binding Cassette transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), consists of two homologous halves each comprising one nucleotide-binding domain and six transmembrane helices. The transmembrane region encapsulates a hydrophobic cavity, accessed by portals in themembrane, that binds cytotoxic compounds as well as lipids and peptides. Here we usemass spectrometry (MS) to probe the intact P-gp small molecule-bound complex in a detergent micelle. Activation in the gas phase leads to formation of ions, largely devoid of detergent, yet retaining drug molecules as well as charged or zwitterionic lipids. Measuring the rates of lipid binding and calculating apparent KD values shows that up to six negatively charged diacylglycerides bind more favorably than zwitterionic lipids. Similar experiments confirm binding of cardiolipins and show that prior binding of the immunosuppressant and antifungal antibiotic cyclosporin A enhances subsequent binding of cardiolipin. Ion mobility MS reveals that P-gp exists in an equilibrium between different states, readily interconverted by ligand binding. Overall these MS results show how concerted small molecule binding leads to synergistic effects on binding affinities and conformations of a multidrug efflux pump. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
647812 | Uncertainty Quantification and Modern Statistical Inference | Some of the most important and exciting challenges of our ‘information age’ have led to the development of novel statistical methodology and algorithms that are designed to deal with inference settings involving high-dimensionality, graphical and network structures, inverse problems, ‘big data’, stochastic differential equations, diffusion processes, cosmic microwave background maps, brain tomography etc.
While an abundance of algorithms is now available, a scientifically rigorous theory of uncertainty quantification and statistical decision making for such procedures has not been developed yet. Traditional approaches such as maximum likelihood estimation or parametric Bayesian inference cannot be used naively in increasingly complex contemporary statistical models. The construction of confidence statements and critical values for significant hypothesis tests is, however, of crucial importance for all applications of the statistical sciences to the modern world.
In this research we propose an objective, mathematically rigorous, and practical paradigm for uncertainty quantification in modern statistical inference problems, and illustrate how this approach can be used in some of the recently emerged areas of statistics. Our theory can validate both Bayesian and frequentist approaches to statistical inference, and can be expected to be optimal in an information-theoretic sense. It has potential impact on all areas of scientific theory building, on legal and medical practice, public management of the internet, modern media and other information structures, and also on the foundations of the mathematical discipline of statistics in itself. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1080/02699931.2018.1418197 | Three decades of Cognition & Emotion: A brief review of past highlights and future prospects | Over the past three decades, Cognition & Emotion has been one of the world’s leading outlets for emotion research. In this article, we review past highlights of and future prospects for the journal. Our tour of history covers three periods: The first period, from 1987 to 1999, was a pioneering era in which cognitive theories began to be applied to the scientific analysis of emotion. The second period, from 2000 to 2007, was characterised by a sharp increase in the number of empirical research papers, a lot of which were concerned with automatic processing biases and their implications for clinical psychology. During the third period, from 2008 to 2017, a new focus emerged on self-regulatory processes and their implications for emotion. We then turn to the present profile of Cognition & Emotion and introduce our new editorial team. Finally, we consider how the journal’s future success can be continued and increased by a) providing authors with fast and high-quality feedback; b) offering attractive publication formats, including the newly introduced Registered Reports for pre-registered studies; and c) consolidating key methodological paradigms with reproducible findings. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
882276 | Wellbeing Returns on Social Investment Recalibration | The concept of ‘social investment’ has gained traction in debates over welfare state futures. Like any notion of investment, social investment posits measurable ‘wellbeing returns’ on investment in advanced societies. Fundamental to any empirical assessment of social investment is the critical role of three complementary policy functions: (1) improving the stock of human capital; (2) easing the flow of gendered labour market and family life-course transitions; and (3) maintaining and updating inclusive social protection buffers, both in the present and over time. Assessing social investment ‘returns’ is complex: The multidimensional character of social investment policy interventions, their implications for different social groups, the effects of policy (in-)complementarities and interactions, and the challenge of delineating effects across different time dimensions are not properly addressed by existing research, still based on methods devised for the analysis of the industrial welfare state. WellSIRe develops a mixed methodology using five layers: (1) quantitative-macro analysis of long-term welfare performance; (2) quantitative-micro analysis of individual socioeconomic conditions over in- and out-of-work transitions; (3) quantitative-micro analyses of subjective wellbeing and capabilities over the life-course; (4) qualitative-institutional analysis of temporal sequences of national social investment reform; and (5) qualitative-institutional analysis of subnational social investment policy delivery. Each layer provides distinct inferential leverage for causal explanations about (non-)returns on social investment reform across countries, with a focus on vulnerable groups in the working-age population. The five-layered methodology will cumulatively provide new insights, ultimately allowing for a fair empirical assessment of the social investment policy paradigm in its own right. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
Q2708052 | Grant to CONCEPT HOUSE to finance and ensure its day-to-day operations. | The project provides for a grant to CONCEPT HOUSE, which has been hit by the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, turnover decreased significantly. The grant will ensure the maintenance of the company’s activity and employment for a period of 3 calendar months. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
715807 | Miniature beam-driven Plasma ACcelerators | As we push the frontier of particle physics to higher particle energies, conventional accelerator techniques are attaining their limits and new concepts are emerging. The use of an ionized gas —or plasma— circumvents the most significant barrier of conventional techniques by increasing the energy gained per unit length by several orders of magnitude. One class of plasma accelerators, relevant for high energy physics applications, consists in using a particle beam, « the driver », to excite a plasma wave, that is then used to accelerate the main particle beam. Research in this field requires large facilities, due to stringent conditions on the driver. In the M-PAC project, I propose to power plasma accelerators with laser-accelerated electron beams based on 100-TW-class laser systems, so as to miniaturize the so-called “beam-driven plasma accelerators”. The project crosses the boundary of the fields of research of laser acceleration and of beam-driven plasma acceleration. With these innovative miniature versions, the goal of the M-PAC project is then to tackle, through experiments and simulations, the next Grand Challenges facing the field of beam-driven plasma acceleration, bringing plasma accelerator technology to viability for high energy physics collider applications. They include the generation and preservation of the excellent beam quality required for high-energy colliders and next-generation light sources, the demonstration of high drive-to-main-beam energy efficiency and the acceleration of the antimatter counterpart of the electron, the positron. Finally, the miniature beam-driven plasma accelerators open new opportunities to push university-scale plasma-based light sources to the next level, both in terms of brightness and spectral range. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
US 2015/0066963 W | FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM ARCHITECTURE | A calculation circuit for calculating a transform of an input sequence may include a plurality of butterfly computation circuits configured to perform a plurality of butterfly computations and to produce a plurality of outputs during each of a plurality of computation stages, a wired routing network configured to route a first plurality of outputs of the plurality of butterfly computation circuits from a first computation stage of the plurality of computation stages as input to the plurality of butterfly computation circuits during a second computation stage of the plurality of computation stages according to a reconfigurable routing configuration, and routing control circuitry configured to modify the reconfigurable routing configuration for a third computation stage of the plurality of computation stages. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
10.1371/journal.pbio.1002031 | Selective Modulation of Interhemispheric Functional Connectivity by HD-tACS Shapes Perception | Oscillatory neuronal synchronization between cortical areas has been suggested to constitute a flexible mechanism to coordinate information flow in the human cerebral cortex. However, it remains unclear whether synchronized neuronal activity merely represents an epiphenomenon or whether it is causally involved in the selective gating of information. Here, we combined bilateral high-density transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) at 40 Hz with simultaneous electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings to study immediate electrophysiological effects during the selective entrainment of oscillatory gamma-band signatures. We found that interhemispheric functional connectivity was modulated in a predictable, phase-specific way: In-phase stimulation enhanced synchronization, anti-phase stimulation impaired functional coupling. Perceptual correlates of these connectivity changes were found in an ambiguous motion task, which strongly support the functional relevance of long-range neuronal coupling. Additionally, our results revealed a decrease in oscillatory alpha power in response to the entrainment of gamma band signatures. This finding provides causal evidence for the antagonistic role of alpha and gamma oscillations in the parieto-occipital cortex and confirms that the observed gamma band modulations were physiological in nature. Our results demonstrate that synchronized cortical network activity across several spatiotemporal scales is essential for conscious perception and cognition. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W2123404911 | Writing Children's Books in Sociology Class: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Social Problems to Undergraduate Students | In this instructional article, we describe a non-traditional course assignment in which we ask students in our social problems courses to write, illustrate, and present a children’s book about a social problem as part of the process of learning. Over the course of the semester, students utilize guided handouts to create a children’s book exploring and explaining a social problem of their choice. Students are asked to explain the social problem, conduct basic research, apply sociological material, and explore possible solutions. Along the way, our students learn to apply the sociological imagination and improve their understanding of how larger social phenomena shape the decisions of individuals. Students also acquire basic research skills and methodological knowledge that follows them throughout their academic career. In our experiences, we find that this fresh, intriguing assignment helps students overcome common barriers to learning about sociology, allows them to invest in their work, and encourages them to employ their own unique skills to create both a quality project and an educational memory. Survey courses on social problems often fulfill humanities requirements in many majors because these courses help provide students with a greater perception of our shared society. This makes social problems courses a large (but welcomed) teaching burden for most sociology programs. At the heart of both our discipline and the study of social problems is a desire to instill in students a lasting impression of the sociological imagination: an understanding of how social phenomena shape the lives of individuals (Mills, 1959). Yet, teaching this concept to non-sociology majors on a brief timeline while overcoming student cognitive dissonance about social issues is a lofty task. To this end, we created an innovative, nontraditional course project designed to expose undergraduate students of any major to both the sociological imagination and social problems by completing a relatively innocuous assignment: writing a children’s book. Over the course of the entire semester, students write, design, and present to the class a children’s book exploring a single social problem. Students select a social problem early in the semester and are guided through the project using handouts that help them learn research skills while writing their book. This unique, fresh assignment provides an opportunity for students to engage with the learning process academically, creatively, imaginatively, and personally. Additionally, our project can easily be adapted to other courses and other disciplines, and therefore may also be useful to non-sociology instructors. In this teaching note, we outline our goals and objectives, implementation plan, and outcomes employing this project in our own classes. At the conclusion of the semester, we find that this project has instilled a lasting sense of the sociological imagination in the student mind. Our students leave the course with a deeper appreciation and understanding of social problems in our shared society, accompanied by a fond memory of the time they wrote a children’s book in, of all places, a college classroom. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
10.1016/j.celrep.2019.06.035 | 53BP1 Supports Immunoglobulin Class Switch Recombination Independently of Its DNA Double-Strand Break End Protection Function | Class switch recombination (CSR) is a DNA recombination reaction that diversifies the effector functions of antibodies. CSR occurs via the formation and non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair of programmed DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) at the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus. The DNA repair factors 53BP1 and Rif1 promote NHEJ and CSR by protecting DSBs against resection. However, to what extent repression of DNA end resection contributes to CSR is unknown. Here, we show that B lymphocytes devoid of 53BP1-Rif1-dependent DSB end protection activity undergo robust CSR. Inactivation of specific sets of phospho-sites within 53BP1 N-terminal SQ/TQ motifs abrogates Rif1 recruitment and inhibition of resection but only mildly reduces CSR. Furthermore, mutations within 53BP1 oligomerization domain abolish CSR without substantially affecting DNA end processing. Thus, inhibition of DNA end resection does not correlate with CSR efficiency, indicating that regulation of DSB processing is not a key determinant step in CSR. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy"
]
|
10.1039/c7qm00248c | An aluminium-based fluorinated counterion for enhanced encapsulation and emission of dyes in biodegradable polymer nanoparticles | An aluminium-based anion allows preparation of ultra-bright fluorescent polymer nanoparticles with nearly quantitative cationic dye encapsulation, minimized self-quenching and no dye leakage in live cells. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1088/0957-4484/27/9/095702 | Screen Printed Nanoparticles As Anti Counterfeiting Tags | Metallic nanoparticles with different physical properties have been screen printed as authentication tags on different types of paper. Gold and silver nanoparticles show unique optical signatures, including sharp emission bandwidths and long lifetimes of the printed label, even under accelerated weathering conditions. Magnetic nanoparticles show distinct physical signals that depend on the size of the nanoparticle itself. They were also screen printed on different substrates and their magnetic signals read out using a magnetic pattern recognition sensor and a vibrating sample magnetometer. The novelty of our work lies in the demonstration that the combination of nanomaterials with optical and magnetic properties on the same printed support is possible, and the resulting combined signals can be used to obtain a user-configurable label, providing a high degree of security in anti-counterfeiting applications using simple commercially-available sensors. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Materials Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
788553 | Targeting Root Hydraulic Architecture to improve Crops under Drought | Water is the most limiting environmental factor for agricultural production worldwide and climate change exacerbates this threat. The HyArchi project will address this issue from a plant biology perspective and proposes new strategies to improve crop tolerance to drought.
The main objective is to optimize water uptake and transport in cereals affected by drought. HyArchi will target maize, a major crop and a foundational model in plant genetics and water relations that is grown in irrigation or rain-fed conditions.
HyArchi will consider three root traits: root system architecture, generated through continuous growth and branching; water transport; and environmental signalling. The first two traits yield the root hydraulic architecture. HyArchi will investigate how this architecture evolves in time and space by integrating local and systemic signals that communicate water availability.
HyArchi proposes two innovative molecular discovery approaches recently validated by my group in model plants. Genome-wide association studies will be used to uncover novel genes, with signalling functions acting on root hydraulics. Transcriptomic analyses of an experimental split-root system will be used to identify molecules (e.g. hormones, miRNAs) involved in systemic signalling and governing root growth and hydraulics.
These studies will be supported by key methodological developments. A semi-automated set of pressure chambers will be constructed to measure root hydraulics in multiple genotypes under highly controlled local root environments. Improved root image analyses will be coupled to mathematical modelling to represent local and systemic effects of water on root hydraulic architecture.
Ultimately, HyArchi will deliver enhanced knowledge on root water transport and its control by a set of new genes, with a description of their natural variation and impact on whole-plant drought responses. Importantly, this will allow introducing beneficial alleles into elite cultivars. | [
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
US 2018/0019929 W | MANUFACTURING OF ARTIFICIAL MUSCLE ACTUATORS | Methods and a device for the continuous manufacturing of artificial muscle actuator device fibers are disclosed. The method includes: threading an untwisted fiber along the axis of a tube and inside the tube that includes a heating means to raise the localized temperature of a cross-section of the tube to a predetermined temperature; providing a tension on the untwisted fiber; and twisting the untwisted fiber while the fiber is within the tube. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
676970 | Random Geometry | The objective of this proposal is an investigation of the geometric structure of random spaces that arise in critical models of statistical physics. The proposal is motivated by inspiring yet non-rigorous predictions from the physics community and the models studied are some of the most popular models in contemporary probability theory such as percolation, random planar maps and random walks.
One set of problems are on the topic of random planar maps and quantum gravity, a thriving field on the intersection of probability, statistical physics, combinatorics and complex analysis. Our goal is to develop a rigorous theory of these maps viewed as surfaces (rather than metric spaces) via their circle packing. The circle packing structure was recently used by the PI and Gurel-Gurevich to show that these maps are a.s. recurrent, resolving a major conjecture in this area. Among other consequences, this research will hopefully lead to progress on the most important open problem in this field: a rigorous proof of the mysterious KPZ correspondence, a conjectural formula from the physics literature allowing to compute dimensions of certain random sets in the usual square lattice from the corresponding dimension in the random geometry. Such a program will hopefully lead to the solution of the most central problems in two-dimensional statistical physics, such as finding the typical displacement of the self-avoiding walk, proving conformal invariance for percolation on the square lattice and many others.
Another set of problems is investigating aspects of universality in critical percolation in various high-dimensional graphs. These graphs include lattices in dimension above 6, Cayley graphs of finitely generated non-amenable groups and also finite graphs such as the complete graph, the Hamming hypercube and expanders. It is believed that critical percolation on these graphs is universal in the sense that the resulting percolated clusters exhibit the same mean-field geometry. | [
"Mathematics",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
W2507668629 | Sensual, Sensory and Sensational Narratives | Sensory and sensual methodologies are becoming more commonplace, although feminists, indigenous, performance and artistic scholars have been using such methodologies for some time. It is through our senses that narratives become possible in their construction and in their communication. This chapter summarises the current state of sensory methodologies and discusses the sensory shifts within qualitative research, from largely ocular-centric hegemony to a myriad of senses now being explored. As a way in to sensory narratives, we suggest a framework that intersect the three research ‘moments’ field, interim and research texts, with four sense epistemes – senses, sensual experience, sensory geographies, and sensational learning/turning points. | [
"Texts and Concepts",
"Studies of Cultures and Arts"
]
|
623479 | Medieval hydrotechnology: an interdisciplinary case-study of water management in the historical and physical landscape of messinia, south greece | The HYDROMEDIE project will examine a series of key issues using innovative methods from landscape archaeology. The principal challenge will be to examine the strategies used for water management in different societies of medieval and post-medieval Messinia, comparing late Roman, Byzantine, Frankish, Venetian, Ottoman and early modern techniques in a series of case-studies.
Previous research has not succeeded in differentiating and dating water-related infrastructure on a large scale, and this comparative analysis requires application of innovative techniques including GIS-based HLC and spatial analysis, 3D recording and analysis of surviving structures, micromorphological analysis of mortar, and scientific dating of samples using radiocarbon AMS (atomic mass spectroscopy) and OSL (optically-stimulated luminescence).
The Fellow will be trained in all these areas through one-to-one instruction, tailored training courses, on-the-job learning and secondments. The training will provide skills necessary for a successful future career in the highly interdisciplinary fields of landscape research and medieval archaeology.
The project fieldwork and sampling will focus on case-studies where the natural supply of water is insufficient for basic subsistence, necessitating use of water collection and storage technologies. The subsequent interpretation will seek to identify the social and cultural implications of different strategies, including not only the economic value of water but also the ideological or even religious implications. With this in mind, the case-studies will embrace a range of landscapes, including examples with fortifications, ecclesiastical sites and agricultural settlements. | [
"The Study of the Human Past",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
]
|
10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.03216-5 | Discourse Studies | In Discourse Studies, discourse is typically seen as a social practice of participants communicating through linguistic and other semiotic resources in certain contexts. Researchers in this field often insist on the constitutive character of discourse for social realities, structures and subjectivities. This article discusses both discourse theories (e. g. , poststructuralist, deliberative, critical realist strands) as well as the more empirical approaches in discourse analysis (e. g. , semantic and pragmatic, qualitative and quantitative strands). Special mention is made of developments in the West, notably in France and the UK, where Discourse Studies first started to emerge around 1970. | [
"Texts and Concepts",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
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