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W1484462793 | Industrial land use and heavy metal contaminated wastewater used for irrigation in periurban Zambia | Studies on urban and periurban agriculture in Zambia have not adequately tackled land use practices in relation to problems associated with wastewater irrigated farming. This study investigated land use practices in two wastewater irrigated farming areas in the industrial towns of Mufulira and Kafue respectively in the Copperbelt and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. Drawing on data from field interviews and focus group discussions, as well as laboratory analysis of the heavy metal content in the wastewater used for irrigation in farm plots at both sites, the study outlines the problems associated with wastewater irrigated farming, including the vulnerability context of those whose livelihoods depend on insecure access to vacant land for informal farming. The findings also confirm the heavy metal contamination of the wastewater used for farming, as well as seepage into the surrounding environment, from mining and industrial enterprises located amidst residential areas. The characteristics of mixed land use, high crop diversification, multiple cropping systems and multiple livelihood practices found in these areas of informal farming are similar to those noted in periurban farming in other developing economy contexts. Given that wastewater irrigated crop farming forms part of the livelihood portfolio among the majority of periurban populations, these preliminary results reinforce the need for municipal authorities to improve scrutiny of land use regulation, raise awareness among informal farmers of the hazards associated with using domestic sewage wastewater and untreated industrial effluents, and ensure improve treatment of the wastewater used for human consumption. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1007/s11005-018-1136-2 | Linking numbers in local quantum field theory | Linking numbers appear in local quantum field theory in the presence of tensor fields, which are closed two-forms on Minkowski space. Given any pair of such fields, it is shown that the commutator of the corresponding intrinsic (gauge-invariant) vector potentials, integrated about spacelike separated, spatial loops, are elements of the center of the algebra of all local fields. Moreover, these commutators are proportional to the linking numbers of the underlying loops. If the commutators are different from zero, the underlying two-forms are not exact (i. e. there do not exist local vector potentials for them). The theory then necessarily contains massless particles. A prominent example of this kind, due to J. E. Roberts, is given by the free electromagnetic field and its Hodge dual. Further examples with more complex mass spectrum are presented in this article. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1145/1993636.1993679 | Improved Algorithms For Min Cut And Max Flow In Undirected Planar Graphs | We study the min st-cut and max st-flow problems in planar graphs, both in static and in dynamic settings. First, we present an algorithm that given an undirected planar graph and two vertices s and t computes a min st-cut in O(n log log n) time. Second, we show how to achieve the same bound for the problem of computing a max st-flow in an undirected planar graph. These are the first algorithms breaking the O(n log n) barrier for those two problems, which has been standing for more than 25 years. Third, we present a fully dynamic algorithm maintaining the value of the min st-cuts and the max st-flows in an undirected plane graph (i. e. , a planar graph with a fixed embedding): our algorithm is able to insert and delete edges and answer queries for min st-cut/max st-flow values between any pair of vertices s and t in O(n(2/3) log(8/3) n) time per operation. This result is based on a new dynamic shortest path algorithm for planar graphs which may be of independent interest. We remark that this is the first known non-trivial dynamic algorithm for min st-cut and max st-flow. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
207430 | Simulations of Turbulent, Active and Rotating Suns and Stars | The STARS2 project aims at modelling on massively parallel supercomputers in a self-consistent and three-dimensional way, the complex, time dependent and nonlinear dynamics operating in the Sun and stars. In particular we wish to understand how stars generate the wide variety of magnetic activity that is observed, with the Sun - given its proximity and its influence on our technical society - playing a central role in characterizing, studying, and constraining the dynamical processes acting in stellar convection and radiation zones. Studying the solar-stellar connection is crucial because it will allow us to understand why depending on the spectral type of the star considered, this activity can be cyclic, irregular, or simply modulated. The mechanism thought to be at the origin of the magnetism seen in late type stars is likely to be linked to dynamo action in the upper convective layers of such stars. The simultaneous existence in stars of convective turbulent motions, of rotation and its associated shear layers, favour the emergence of a small and/or large scale magnetic field through induction. For more massive stars, possessing a convective core, understanding the interaction between the dynamo generated magnetic field in the core and the magnetic field of their radiative envelope constitute major challenges in stellar fluid dynamics. To achieve these challenging scientific goals, the STARS2 project propose to federate a team of young bright scientists around the PI and to perform and to analyse sophisticated and more realistic high performance global MHD numerical simulations of the Sun and other stellar spectral types. These simulations are at the front-edge of current research in astrophysics, they require the use of the latest class of supercomputers available in Europe and will lead to real scientific breakthroughs. Understanding the interactions between convection, turbulence, shear, rotation and magnetic fields in stars IS the main goal of this project. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1101/685867 | De Novo Protein Design Enables Precise Induction Of Functional Antibodies In Vivo | Abstract De novo protein design has been successful in expanding the natural protein repertoire. However, most de novo proteins lack biological function, presenting a major methodological challenge. In vaccinology, the induction of precise antibody responses remains a cornerstone for next-generation vaccines. Here, we present a novel protein design algorithm, termed TopoBuilder, with which we engineered epitope-focused immunogens displaying complex structural motifs. Both in mice and non-human primates, cocktails of three de novo designed immunogens induced robust neutralizing responses against the respiratory syncytial virus. Furthermore, the immunogens refocused pre-existing antibody responses towards defined neutralization epitopes. Overall, our de novo design approach opens the possibility of targeting specific epitopes for vaccine and therapeutic antibody development, and more generally will be applicable to design de novo proteins displaying complex functional motifs. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1051/0004-6361/201014323 | Evidence Against The Young Hot Jupiter Around Bd 20 1790 | Context. The young active star BD +201790 has been inferred to host a substellar companion from radial-velocity measurements that detected the reflex motion induced on the parent star. Aims. We attempt to completely characterize the radial-velocity signal in order to assess its nature. Methods. We used the CORALIE spectrograph to obtain precise (∼10 m s −1 ) radial-velocity measurements of this active star, while characterizing the bisector span variations. We took particular care to correctly sample both the proposed planetary orbital period, of 7. 8 days, and the stellar rotation period, of 2. 4 days. Results. We measure a smaller radial-velocity signal (with peak-to-peak variations <500 m s −1 ) than reported previously, and of different amplitude for two different campaigns. A periodicity similar to the rotational period is found in the data, as well as a clear correlation between radial velocities and bisector span. These results imply that the radial-velocity variations of the star are photospheric in origin and not caused by a barycentric movement movement of the star, and contradict the previous detection of a hot-Jupiter. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
W2613375322 | An overview of photoelectrochemical cells (PEC): Mimicking nature to produce hydrogen for fuel cells | In order to meet the energy demands of the world in the future, clean renewable resources must be explored to the fullest. While many renewable energy avenues exist, to be competitive with fossil fuels an efficient cost effective means of storing converted energy must be found. Photoelectrochemical cells offer an excellent potential solution to this problem. By taking advantage of the most abundant resource available on the Earth, the sun, these cells offer a significant opportunity to make great strides in meeting sustainable energy goals through an efficient and cost effective means of hydrogen production. In recent years, photoelectrochemical cells have gained significant ground through advancements in nanostructured materials and dye sensitized catalysts. They have shown much promise not only in hydrogen production, but also in areas such as waste water treatment and CO 2 reduction. The technology is still in its infancy however, and many challenges must be overcome in order to realize its full potential. Chief among these are improving the ability to harvest energy from the visible light spectrum and developing reliable, efficient, and cheaper semiconductor materials. However, the potential benefits of a fully developed photoelectrochemical cell make the technology well worth exploring. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1088/0004-637X/804/1/28 | Galex Detection Of Shock Breakout In Type Iip Supernova Ps1 13Arp Implications For The Progenitor Star Wind | We present the GALEX detection of a UV burst at the time of explosion of an optically normal supernova (SN) IIP (PS1-13arp) from the Pan-STARRS1 survey at z = 0. 1665. The temperature and luminosity of the UV burst match the theoretical predictions for shock breakout in a red supergiant (RSG), but with a duration a factor of ~50 longer than expected. We compare the NUV light curve of PS1-13arp to previous GALEX detections of SNe IIP and find clear distinctions that indicate that the UV emission is powered by shock breakout, and not by the subsequent cooling envelope emission previously detected in these systems. We interpret the ~1 day duration of the UV signal with a shock breakout in the wind of an RSG with a pre-explosion mass-loss rate of ~ 10^(-3) M_☉ yr^(−1). This mass-loss rate is enough to prolong the duration of the shock breakout signal, but not enough to produce an excess in the optical plateau light curve or narrow emission lines powered by circumstellar interaction. This detection of non-standard, potentially episodic high mass loss in an RSG SN progenitor has favorable consequences for the prospects of future wide-field UV surveys to detect shock breakout directly in these systems, and provide a sensitive probe of the pre-explosion conditions of SN progenitors. | [
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
10.1117/12.2003096 | Photonic wire bonding: Connecting nanophotonic circuits across chip boundaries | Photonic integration has witnessed tremendous progress over the last years, and chip-scale transceiver systems with terabit/s data rates have come into reach. However, as on-chip integration density increases, a technological breakthrough is considered indispensable to cope with the associated off-chip connectivity challenges. Here we report on the concept of photonic wire bonding, where transparent waveguide wire bonds are used to bridge the gap between nanophotonic circuits located on different chips. We demonstrate fabrication of three-dimensional freeform photonic wire bonds, and we experimentally confirm their viability for broadband low-loss coupling and multi-terabit/s data transmission. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1093/brain/aws241 | In vivo loss of slow potassium channel activity in individuals with benign familial neonatal epilepsy in remission | Benign familial neonatal epilepsy is a neuronal channelopathy most commonly caused by mutations in KCNQ2, which encodes the K<inf>v</inf>7. 2 subunit of the slow K<sup>+</sup> channel. K<inf>v</inf>7. 2 is expressed in both central and peripheral nervous systems. Seizures occur in the neonatal period, often in clusters within the first few days of life, and usually remit by 12 months of age. The mechanism of involvement of K<inf>v</inf>7. 2 mutations in the process of seizure generation has not been established in vivo. In peripheral axons, K<inf>v</inf>7. 2 contributes to the nodal slow K<sup>+</sup> current. The present study aimed to determine whether axonal excitability studies could detect changes in peripheral nerve function related to dysfunction or loss of slow potassium channel activity. Nerve excitability studies were performed on eight adults with KCNQ2 mutations and a history of benign familial neonatal epilepsy, now in remission. Studies detected distinctive changes in peripheral nerve, indicating a reduction in slow K<sup>+</sup> current. Specifically, accommodation to long-lasting depolarizing currents was reduced in mutation carriers by 24 compared with normal controls, and the threshold undershoot after 100 ms depolarizing currents was reduced by 22. Additional changes in excitability included a reduction in the relative refractory period, an increase in superexcitability and a tendency towards reduced sub-excitability. Modelling of the nerve excitability changes suggested that peripheral nerve hyperexcitability may have been ameliorated by upregulation of other potassium channels. We conclude that subclinical dysfunction of K<inf>v</inf>7. 2 in peripheral axons can be reliably detected non-invasively in adulthood. Related alterations in neuronal excitability may contribute to epilepsy associated with KCNQ2 mutations. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
W2299268373 | The role of low-energy (≤ 20 eV) electrons in astrochemistry | Abstract UV photon-driven condensed phase cosmic ice reactions have been the main focus in understanding the extraterrestrial synthesis of complex organic molecules. Low-energy (≤ 20 eV) electron-induced reactions, on the other hand, have been largely ignored. In this article, we review studies employing surface science techniques to study low-energy electron-induced condensed phase reactions relevant to astrochemistry. In particular, we show that low-energy electron irradiation of methanol ices leads to the synthesis of many of the same complex molecules formed through UV irradiation. Moreover, our results are qualitatively consistent with the hypothesis that high-energy condensed phase radiolysis is mediated by low-energy electron-induced reactions. In addition, due to the numbers of available low-energy secondary electrons resulting from the interaction of high-energy radiation with matter as well as differences between electron- and photon-induced processes, low-energy electron-induced reactions are perhaps as, or even more, effective than photon-induced reactions in initiating condensed-phase chemical reactions in the interstellar medium. Consequently, we illustrate a need for astrochemical models to include the details of electron-induced reactions in addition to those driven by UV photons. Finally, we show that low-energy electron-induced reactions may lead to the production of unique molecular species that could serve as tracer molecules for electron-induced condensed phase reactions in the interstellar medium. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
338821 | Model theory and its applications: dependent classes | Model theory deals with general classes of structures (called models).
Specific examples of such classes are: the class of rings or the class of
algebraically closed fields.
It turns out that counting the so-called complete types over models in the
class has an important role in the development of model theory in general and
stability theory in particular.
Stable classes are those with relatively few complete types (over structures
from the class); understanding stable classes has been central in model theory
and its applications.
Recently, I have proved a new dichotomy among the unstable classes:
Instead of counting all the complete types, they are counted up to conjugacy.
Classes which have few types up to conjugacy are proved to be so-called
``dependent'' classes (which have also been called NIP classes).
I have developed (under reasonable restrictions) a ``recounting theorem'',
parallel to the basic theorems of stability theory.
I have started to develop some of the basic properties of this new approach.
The goal of the current project is to develop systematically the theory of
dependent classes. The above mentioned results give strong indication that this
new theory can be eventually as useful as the (by now the classical) stability
theory. In particular, it covers many well known classes which stability theory
cannot treat. | [
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1016/j.jaerosci.2019.03.001 | The role of blank filter mass in attenuation measurements using an off-line transmissometer | We describe how reference filter characteristics (unexposed weights) can influence instrument-reported attenuation (thereby black carbon concentrations) using the OT21 (SootScan Optical Transmissometer), in the case of Emfab filters. Reference filters (unexposed filters) with higher unexposed weights (pre-weights) compared to that of sample filters are found to reduce the instrument-reported aerosol sample attenuation measurement; reference filters weighing less than the sample filter results in the reverse outcome. This sensitivity can lead to significant under- and over-estimation by the instrument (estimated mean absolute error: ∼ 10 and 16 ATN units for infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) channels, respectively, in our tests, which represent 44% and 15% errors, respectively). We find that the error is linear with respect to difference in the unexposed filter weights of the sample and reference filters. We report two equations (one for IR, one for UV) for correcting the Transmissometer output based on experimental data, which allow use of any unexposed Emfab filter as the reference filter; application of correction parameters to data here reduces the error to 2 and 3 ATN units, respectively, for IR and UV (10% and 3% errors, respectively). | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
10.1002/adem.201300450 | Grain boundary phenomena in an ultrafine-grained Al-Zn alloy with improved mechanical behavior for micro-devices | The microstructural and mechanical properties of an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al-Zn alloy processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) are investigated using depth-sensing indentations, focused ion beam, scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Emphasis is placed on the microstructure and the effects of grain boundaries at room temperature. The experiments show the formation of Zn-rich layers at the Al/Al grain boundaries that enhance the role of grain boundary sliding leading to unique plastic behavior in this UFG material. The occurrence of significant grain boundary sliding at room temperature is demonstrated by deforming micro-pillars. Our results illustrate a potential for using UFG materials as advanced functional materials in electronic micro-devices. High-pressure torsion is used to produce an ultrafine-grained structure in an Al-30% Zn alloy and the mechanical behavior is investigated using various techniques. We show that Zn-rich layers form at the Al/Al grain boundaries, which enhance the role of grain boundary sliding and produce stable deformation, even at the micro-scale, without the strain avalanches, which characterize micro-sized coarse-grained crystals. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1093/mnras/stz3462 | The Young Suns Exoplanet Survey: Detection of a wide-orbit planetary-mass companion to a solar-type Sco-Cen member | ABSTRACT
The Young Suns Exoplanet Survey consists of a homogeneous sample of 70 young, solar-mass stars located in the Lower Centaurus-Crux subgroup of the Scorpius-Centaurus association with an average age of 15 ± 3 Myr. We report the detection of a co-moving companion around the K3IV star TYC 8998-760-1 (2MASSJ13251211–6456207) that is located at a distance of 94. 6 ± 0. 3 pc using SPHERE/IRDIS on the VLT. Spectroscopic observations with VLT/X-SHOOTER constrain the mass of the star to $1. 00\pm 0. 02\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ and an age of $16. 7\pm 1. 4\,$ Myr. The companion TYC 8998-760-1 b is detected at a projected separation of 1. 71″, which implies a projected physical separation of 162 au. Photometric measurements ranging from Y to M band provide a mass estimate of $14\pm 3\, M_\mathrm{jup}$ by comparison to BT-Settl and AMES-dusty isochrones, corresponding to a mass ratio of q = 0. 013 ± 0. 003 with respect to the primary. We rule out additional companions to TYC 8998-760-1 that are more massive than $12\, M_\mathrm{jup}$ and farther than 12 au away from the host. Future polarimetric and spectroscopic observations of this system with ground and space based observatories will facilitate testing of formation and evolution scenarios shaping the architecture of the circumstellar environment around this ‘young Sun’. | [
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
10.1093/cercor/bhw082 | The disconnected brain and executive function decline in aging | Higher order speeded cognitive abilities depend on efficient coordination of activity across the brain, rendering them vulnerable to age reductions in structural and functional brain connectivity. The concept of "disconnected aging" has been invoked, suggesting that degeneration of connections between distant brain regions cause cognitive reductions. However, it has not been shown that changes in cognitive functions over time can be explained by simultaneous changes in brain connectivity. We followed 119 young and middle-aged (23-52 years) and older (63-86 years) adults for 3. 3 years with repeated assessments of structural and functional brain connectivity and executive functions. We found unique age-related longitudinal reductions in executive function over and above changes in more basic cognitive processes. Intriguingly, 82. 5% of the age-related decline in executive function could be explained by changes in connectivity over time. While both structural and functional connectivity changes were related to longitudinal reductions in executive function, only structural connectivity change could explain the age-specific decline. This suggests that the major part of the age-related reductions in executive function can be attributed to micro- and macrostructural alterations in brain connectivity. Although correlational in nature, we believe the present results constitute evidence for a "disconnected brain" view on cognitive aging. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
339643 | Finite Element Exterior Calculus and Applications | The finite element method is one of the most successful techniques for designing numerical methods for systems of partial differential equations (PDEs). It is not only a methodology for developing numerical algorithms, but also a mathematical framework in which to explore their behavior. The finite element exterior calculus (FEEC) provides a new structure that produces a deeper understanding of the finite element method and its connections to the partial differential equation being approximated. The goal is to develop discretizations which are compatible with the geometric, topological, and algebraic structures which underlie well-posedness of the partial differential equation. The phrase FEEC was first used in a paper the PI wrote for Acta Numerica in 2006, together with his coworkers, D.N. Arnold and R.S. Falk. The general philosophy of FEEC has led to the design of new algorithms and software developments, also in areas beyond the direct application of the theory. The present project will be devoted to further development of the foundations of FEEC, and to direct or indirect use of FEEC in specific applications. The ambition is to set the scene for a nubmer of new research directions based on FEEC by giving ground-braking contributions to its foundation. The aim is also to use FEEC as a tool, or a guideline, to extend the foundation of numerical PDEs to a variety of problems for which this foundation does not exist. The more application oriented parts of the project includes topics like numerical methods for elasticity, its generalizations to more general models in materials science such as viscoelasticity, poroelasticity, and liquid crystals, and the applications of these models to CO2 storage and deformations of the spinal cord. | [
"Mathematics",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1038/ncb2926 | The role of differential VE-cadherin dynamics in cell rearrangement during angiogenesis | Endothelial cells show surprising cell rearrangement behaviour during angiogenic sprouting; however, the underlying mechanisms and functional importance remain unclear. By combining computational modelling with experimentation, we identify that Notch/VEGFR-regulated differential dynamics of VE-cadherin junctions drive functional endothelial cell rearrangements during sprouting. We propose that continual flux in Notch signalling levels in individual cells results in differential VE-cadherin turnover and junctional-cortex protrusions, which powers differential cell movement. In cultured endothelial cells, Notch signalling quantitatively reduced junctional VE-cadherin mobility. In simulations, only differential adhesion dynamics generated long-range position changes, required for tip cell competition and stalk cell intercalation. Simulation and quantitative image analysis on VE-cadherin junctional patterning in vivo identified that differential VE-cadherin mobility is lost under pathological high VEGF conditions, in retinopathy and tumour vessels. Our results provide a mechanistic concept for how cells rearrange during normal sprouting and how rearrangement switches to generate abnormal vessels in pathologies. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
10.1209/0295-5075/99/46002 | Elastic Moduli In Nano Size Samples Of Amorphous Solids System Size Dependence | This letter is motivated by some recent experiments on pan-cake–shaped nano-samples of metallic glass that indicate a decline in the measured shear modulus upon decreasing the sample radius. Similar measurements on crystalline samples of the same dimensions showed a much more modest change. In this letter we offer a theory of this phenomenon; we argue that such results are generically expected for any amorphous solid, with the main effect being related to the increased contribution of surfaces with respect to the bulk when the samples get smaller. We employ exact relations between the shear modulus and the eigenvalues of the system's Hessian matrix to explore the role of surface modes in affecting the elastic moduli. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
US 2008/0079570 W | FORMING A TUBULAR KNIT FABRIC FOR A PAINT ROLLER COVER | A method and apparatus are provided for forming a tubular-shaped knitted covering for a paint roller, or the like, having a pile extending from an outer surface of the covering, through use of a dial needle knitting arrangement. A cylinder needle knitting arrangement may be utilized in conjunction with the dial needle knitting arrangement for forming a tubular-shaped knitted covering for a paint roller having a pile formed from a combination of sliver and yarn fibers in successive courses of the tubular-shaped knitted covering. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1364/OE.23.030730 | Hyperbolic Metamaterial Antenna For Second Harmonic Generation Tomography | The detection and processing of information carried by evanescent field components are key elements for subwavelength optical microscopy as well as single molecule sensing applications. Here, we numerically demonstrate the potential of a hyperbolic medium in the design of an efficient metamaterial antenna enabling detection and tracking of a nonlinear object, with an otherwise hidden second-harmonic signature. The presence of the antenna provides 103-fold intensity enhancement of the second harmonic generation (SHG) from a nanoparticle through a metamaterial-assisted access to evanescent second-harmonic fields. Alternatively, the observation of SHG from the metamaterial itself can be used to detect and track a nanoparticle without a nonlinear response. The antenna allows an optical resolution of several nanometers in tracking the nanoparticle’s location via observations of the far-field second-harmonic radiation pattern. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
634308 | New parties on the news: how new(s) media and new parties shape attention and electoral support for political ideas | For democracy, a necessary condition is openness to new political ideas. New ideas are often advanced by new political parties. New parties must rely on media to communicate with the electorate. In the process of that communication, it is inevitable that these media largely shape new parties’ public image.
However, studies of new parties pay little attention to media. Vice versa, studies of media pay little attention to new parties.
As a result, we lack a full explanation of new party emergence. This hinders our understanding of the openness of democratic systems, and of their current renewal. While Vox, M5S, and AfD experience unprecedented success, we hardly know
1. how (much) news media cover new parties;
2. what factors shape that coverage;
3. how (much) that coverage facilitates new party emergence;
4. how (much) social media use facilitates new party emergence.
NEWNEWS addresses these questions by developing and testing an Integrative Framework of Political Party Gatekeeping. It adds to the literature in terms of theory (‘bringing in’ media and voter perceptions) and methodology (experimental methods and data science).
The project seizes new opportunities:
-Thanks to cutting edge analytical models, it adequately tests causes and electoral effects of that coverage, taking into account agency of new parties and heterogeneity of news outlets and voters;
-Thanks to recent data collection, it encompasses all national-level new parties in 19 countries since 1950 (instead of only successful ones);
-Thanks to innovations in automated content analysis, it maps national-level coverage of these parties in various offline and online sources (instead of only newspapers).
NEWNEWS will reveal media portrayals of new parties, how these portrayals vary, and how they matter for election outcomes. This way, it will offer a novel theoretical framework, conceptualisations, operationalisations, data, and algorithms – and open up new lines of research on media and new voices. | [
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1039/c6cp01290f | Photochemical reaction dynamics of 2,2′-dithiobis(benzothiazole): Direct observation of the addition product of an aromatic thiyl radical to an alkene with time-resolved vibrational and electronic absorption spectroscopy | The photochemical reaction dynamics of the benzothiazole-2-thiyl (BS) radical, produced by 330 nm ultraviolet photolysis of 2,2′-dithiobis(benzothiazole) (BSSB), are examined on the picosecond time scale. The initial addition product of a thiol-ene reaction between the BS radical and styrene is directly observed by transient vibrational absorption spectroscopy (TVAS). Transient electronic absorption spectroscopy (TEAS) in the ultraviolet and visible spectral regions reveals rapid formation of the ground state BS radical with a time constant of ∼200 fs. The photolytically generated BS radical decays through geminate recombination to the parent molecule BSSB and competitive formation of a BS radical dimer with a rate coefficient of (3. 7 ± 0. 2) × 1010 M-1 s-1 in methanol, and thereafter (36 ± 1)% of the initially formed BS radicals survive at the longest time delay (1. 3 ns). In styrene solution, in contrast to methanol and toluene solutions, kinetic traces of the BS radical show an additional decay with a time constant of 305 ± 13 ps, and a broad band at 345-500 nm grows with the same time constant, suggesting a bimolecular reaction of the BS radical with styrene. The TVAS measurements reveal an absorption band of the ground state BS radical at 1301 cm-1 in toluene solution, and the band decays with a time constant of 294 ± 32 ps in styrene solution. Two product bands grow at 1239 cm-1 and 1429 cm-1 with respective time constants of 312 ± 68 ps and 325 ± 33 ps, and are attributed to the addition product BS-St radical formed from the BS radical and styrene. A bimolecular reaction rate coefficient of kreact = (3. 8 ± 0. 2) × 108 M-1 s-1 is deduced and 22 ± 1% of the initially formed BS radicals are converted to the BS-St radical in neat styrene solution. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
US 55301890 A | Turbocharged internal combustion engine having reduced high speed emissions | An internal combustion engine system having reduced high speed emissions comprising an exhaust driven supercharger having turbine pressure dependent control means for regulating turbine pressure and turbine speed to a substantially constant value to produce a decreasing compressor pressure profile with increasing engine speed and to reduce mass air flow through the engine during high speed operation, thereby reducing engine emissions and improving durability. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
217668 | Sensors monitoring environmental and electrical parameters of electrical high voltage lines | Feasibility study to design and market condition monitoring sensors fitted directly on High/Medium voltage lines of Distribution System Operators . These sensors will monitor environmental parameters (wind, snow accetion, temperature) as well as electrical ones (load, voltage, faults), communicate real time with DSO's SCADA and data communication backbone, in order to help them pro-actively perform preventive maintenance and increase lines' availability to facilitate Renewables integration. Such sensors will communicate Real Time using Radio or GSM communication (or other IoT protocols), be completely autonomous, low cost, and easy to install.
They will allow DSOs to increase their grid's availability and efficiency, in order, amongst other things, to increase Renewables penetration.
Several key players of the industry (EDF in France, Elia and Ores in Belgium, CREOS in Luxembourg) have already shown interest in this project.
If the Phase 1 evaluation is successful, Ampacimon intends to proceed to apply to a SME-Instrument Phase 2 to allow the full development of these products. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W4226456980 | Aportes a la interculturalidad desde el paradigma de la diversidad: estudio comparativo entre escuelas de España y México | El presente artículo analiza los modelos de gestión de la diversidad cultural a partir de dos estudios de caso en España y México durante el auge de la educación intercultural en la primera década del 2000. Siguiendo a Dietz & Mateos (2011) detectamos tres tipos de paradigmas en la gestión de la diversidad cultural: desigualdad, diferencia y diversidad. El primero de ellos abarca posturas asimilacionistas y segregadoras; el segundo la esencialización de la diferencia y; el tercero lo vinculamos a posturas críticas con la interculturalidad. Nos centramos en un estudio comparativo a partir de la realización de etnografías escolares y comunitarias siendo el eje central dos escuelas, una en Andalucía, España y la otra en Oaxaca, México. Para ello, se realizó el registro de observaciones así como entrevistas semiestructuradas a diferentes actores claves. En los resultados mostraremos cómo los paradigmas de la desigualdad y diferencia son los que sustentaban las políticas educativas así como el discurso de los actores educativos entrevistados. A partir del análisis comparativo de los datos de campo, ofreceremos seis dimensiones de interés analítico como aporte a una interculturalidad crítica configurada precisamente desde el paradigma de la diversidad. | [
"Studies of Cultures and Arts",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
207638 | How visual information is represented by neuronal networks in the primary visual cortex | The vast majority of our knowledge about how the brain encodes information has been obtained from recordings of one or few neurons at a time or from global mapping methods such as fMRI. These approaches have left unexplored how neuronal activity is distributed in space and time within a cortical column and how hundreds of neurons interact to process sensory information. By taking advantage of the most recent advances in two-photon microscopy, the proposed project addresses two broad aims, with a particular focus on the function and development of primary visual cortex: 1) to understand how cortical neuronal networks encode visual information, and 2) to understand how they become specialised for sensory processing during postnatal development. For the first aim, we will use in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to record activity simultaneously from hundreds of neurons in visual cortex while showing different visual stimuli to anaesthetised mice. This approach enables us for the first time to characterise in detail how individual neurons and neuronal subsets interact within a large cortical network in response to artificial and natural stimuli. Genetically-encoded fluorescent proteins expressed in distinct cell-types will inform us how excitatory and inhibitory neurons interact to shape population responses during vision. For the second aim, the same approach will be used to describe the maturation of cortical network function after the onset of vision and to assess the role of visual experience in this process. We will additionally use Channelrhodopsin-2, a genetic tool for remote control of action potential firing, to examine the role of correlated neuronal activity on establishment of functional cortical circuits. Together, this work will bring us closer to unravelling how sensory coding emerges on the level of neuronal networks. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
678157 | Coinduction for Verification and Certification | Software and hardware bugs cost hundreds of millions of euros every year to companies and administrations. Formal methods like verification provide automatic means of finding some of these bugs. Certification, using proof assistants like Coq or Isabelle/HOL, make it possible to guarantee the absence of bugs (up to a certain point).
These two kinds of tools are crucial in order to design safer programs and machines. Unfortunately, state-of-the art tools are not yet satisfactory. Verification tools often face state-explosion problems and require more efficient algorithms; certification tools need more automation: they currently require too much time and expertise, even for basic tasks that could be handled easily through verification.
In recent work with Bonchi, we have shown that an extremely simple idea from concurrency theory could give rise to algorithms that are often exponentially faster than the algorithms currently used in verification tools.
My claim is that this idea could scale to richer models, revolutionising existing verification tools and providing algorithms for problems whose decidability is still open.
Moreover, the expected simplicity of those algorithms will make it possible to implement them inside certification tools such as Coq, to provide powerful automation techniques based on verification techniques. In the end, we will thus provide efficient and certified verification tools going beyond the state-of-the-art, but also the ability to use such tools inside the Coq proof assistant, to alleviate the cost of certification tasks. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2491434349 | Evolution of convective plumes adjacent to localized heat sources of various shapes | Abstract The paper considers the initial stage of formation of convective plumes emerging from finite size heat sources. Experimental studies were carried out to investigate the evolution of a boundary layer adjacent to localized heat sources of various shapes – circular, square and triangular. Rhodamine was used to visualize the flow structure, and the temperature field was recorded by an infrared camera. Two scenarios (convective and conductive) of thermal plume organization were distinguished. In the conductive case, heat boundary layer take a dome-like shape, that leads to single convective torch formation. In the convective case, there is a boundary layer instability near the heater edges. It leads to separation of the thermal plume. The critical Rayleigh number separating these regimes was determined. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
US 202217834888 A | WARNING CONTROL APPARATUS, MOVING OBJECT, WARNING CONTROL METHOD, AND COMPUTER-READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM | Provided is a warning control apparatus comprising: an obtainment unit configured to obtain recognition information including position information and a moving direction of each of a plurality of targets present outside a moving object; a classification unit configured to classify the plurality of targets into one or more groups based on the position information and the moving direction of each of the plurality of targets; a risk level determination unit configured to determine, based on position information and a moving direction of the group, a risk level at which each of the one or more groups approaches a moving object; a selection unit configured to select, based on the determined risk level, a plurality of groups to be warned; and a transmission control unit configured to control transmission of warning information including position information of the selected one or more groups. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2328650577 | Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Based Metabolomics Study of Cloned versus Normal Pigs Fed Either Restricted or Ad Libitum High-Energy Diets | Genetically identical cloned pigs should in principle eliminate biological variation and provide more pronounced effects when subjected to, e.g., dietary interventions, but little is known about how phenotype and phenotypic variation is affected by cloning. Therefore, an investigation of the metabolome of cloned pigs compared to normal control pigs was performed to elucidate the variation and possible differences in the metabolic phenotypes during a dietary intervention. A total of 19 control pigs and 17 cloned pigs were given the same high-energy dense diet either ad libitum or in a restricted manner (60% of ad libitum) for ∼6 months, and plasma was subjected to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry nontargeted metabolomics and biochemical analyses. Low systemic levels of IGF-1 could indicate altered growth conditions and energy metabolism in cloned pigs. In response to ad libitum feeding, clones had a decreased energy intake and lower weight gain compared to controls, and plasma lipid profiles were changed accordingly. Elevated lactate and decreased creatine levels implied an increased anaerobic metabolism in ad libitum fed clones. Less interindividual variation between cloned pigs was however not established, suggesting a strong role for epigenetics and/or the gut microbiota to develop variation. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
981507 | Zetamix, the first desktop ceramic 3d printer on the market | NANOE is an SME evolving on the Ceramic Engineering market for 10 years, as a manufacturer of ready-to-sinter and high-purity nanopowders for the industry. NANOE innovated on that market by allowing its clients to use its powders in a standard production process, by resolving difficulties linked to powder’s fineness. With the development of a complete range of ceramic materials and high industrial production capacities, NANOE rapidly succeeded in increasing its turnover. To further increase its development, NANOE diversified its activities on the Additive Manufacturing (AM) market, where the only commercialized Ceramic printers, based on stereolithography and binder-jetting technologies, stay complex to use and costly. Instead of adapting printers to the production of specific raw-materials, NANOE adjusted Ceramics’ binding formulation, so that it can be used on desktop printers already available on the market. ZETAMIX will be the first range of ready-to-use ceramic filaments that can be used with common desktops 3D printers worldwide. Thanks to ZETAMIX, industrials will be able to print quicker high-quality technical ceramics in small series, at any time and for an entry-price of €10 000. NANOE commercialized a first version of its ZETAMIX filaments, which is currently produced at a laboratory-scale and tested within some companies. Thanks to its numerous competitive advantages, its unique approach, its existing network of resellers and the recognition of its brand, NANOE should rapidly expand on the technical materials for AM market. NANOE will first target the markets segments of automotive, aeronautics and energy and rapidly expand on international markets. NANOE still have to solve technical challenges regarding filaments’ facility of use and parts quality. These developments will be financed in the frame of SME instrument Phase 1, with the objective to become the worldwide leader in technical materials’ 3D printing for the industry within the next 5 years. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1016/j.epidem.2019.100349 | Detecting within-host interactions from genotype combination prevalence data | Parasite genetic diversity can provide information on disease transmission dynamics but most mathematical and statistical frameworks ignore the exact combinations of genotypes in infections. We introduce and validate a new method that combines explicit epidemiological modelling of coinfections and regression-Approximate Bayesian Computing (ABC) to detect within-host interactions. Using a susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model, we show that, if sufficiently strong, within-host parasite interactions can be detected from epidemiological data. We also show that, in this simple setting, this detection is robust even in the face of some level of host heterogeneity in behaviour. These simulations results offer promising applications to analyse large datasets of multiple infection prevalence data, such as those collected for genital infections by Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs). | [
"Mathematics",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
]
|
US 201414496991 A | Sub-prediction unit (PU) based temporal motion vector prediction in HEVC and sub-PU design in 3D-HEVC | Techniques are described for sub-prediction unit (PU) based motion prediction for video coding in HEVC and 3D-HEVC. In one example, the techniques include an advanced temporal motion vector prediction (TMVP) mode to predict sub-PUs of a PU in single layer coding for which motion vector refinement may be allowed. The advanced TMVP mode includes determining motion vectors for the PU in at least two stages to derive motion information for the PU that includes different motion vectors and reference indices for each of the sub-PUs of the PU. In another example, the techniques include storing separate motion information derived for each sub-PU of a current PU predicted using a sub-PU backward view synthesis prediction (BVSP) mode even after motion compensation is performed. The additional motion information stored for the current PU may be used to predict subsequent PUs for which the current PU is a neighboring block. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
851257 | Understanding the impact of nanoplastics on the development of neurological disorders | An omnipresent but understudied environmental risk for our immune system is pollution by nano-sized plastics. Plastic particles have been detected in a wide variety of ecosystems and are speculated to enter and spread in the food web all the way to humans. Ingested nanoplastics can translocate from the gut to the lymph and circulatory systems and have the capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier in mammals. It has been recently shown that nanoplastics cause behavioural disorders in fish, and thus may also represent a risk for human health, in particular for brain function. However, the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of nanoplastics in the brain are unknown. Microglia as the main neuroimmune cells have not only a defence function required during inflammatory conditions, but constantly sense and response to environmental changes as part of their housekeeping functions that are essential for neuronal homeostasis. This places microglia at the interface between normal and abnormal brain development and function. In line with this, we have recently discovered that chronic microglial activation causes neurodegeneration. As highly phagocytic cells, microglia internalize nanoplastics reaching the brain. This process might in turn lead to their acute or chronic activation, thereby triggering neurological disorders. In NanoGlia, we will use rodent animal models to investigate behavioural as well as cellular and molecular changes in the brain that occur upon ingestion of nanoplastics. We will further determine nanoplastics-induced developmental reprogramming events in fetal microglia that may influence brain organogenesis and function. Understanding how nanoplastics triggers microglial activation during embryogenesis and postnatal stages and whether this immune activation leads to permanent changes in brain development and function will reveal ground-breaking mechanistic insights into the environmentally triggered pathogenesis of neurological disorders. | [
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
]
|
10.1111/j.1365-313X.2011.04878.x | The MADS box genes SEEDSTICK and ARABIDOPSIS B<inf>sister</inf> play a maternal role in fertilization and seed development | The haploid generation of flowering plants develops within the sporophytic tissues of the ovule. After fertilization, the maternal seed coat develops in a coordinated manner with formation of the embryo and endosperm. In the arabidopsis bsister (abs) mutant, the endothelium, which is the most inner cell layer of the integuments that surround the haploid embryo sac, does not accumulate proanthocyanidins and the cells have an abnormal morphology. However, fertility is not affected in abs single mutants. SEEDSTICK regulates ovule identity redundantly with SHATTERPROOF 1 (SHP1) and SHP2 while a role in the control of fertility was not reported previously. Here we describe the characterization of the abs stk double mutant. This double mutant develops very few seeds due to both a reduced number of fertilized ovules and seed abortions later during development. Morphological analysis revealed a total absence of endothelium in this double mutant. Additionally, massive starch accumulation was observed in the embryo sac. The phenotype of the abs stk double mutant highlights the importance of the maternal-derived tissues, particularly the endothelium, for the development of the next generation. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
W4226215086 | Bio-electric potentials in superior plants: electric collective behaviour | ABSTRACT Electrical activity is used by plants in long term signalling and information transfer between the distant parts of the plant. Biopotential recordings from trees in a natural environment have been so far less discussed in scientific literature. Here we present our data about the open science experiment TRee-hUMAn iNterface (TRUMAN) located in Paneveggio forest (Valle di Fiemme, Trento, Italy), cultivated since one thousand years for the production of harmonic wood from Picea abies (red fir). We show that: i) biopotential features based on xylem can be correlated with the solar (and lunar) cycle ii) dead tree logs show an electrical activity that is correlated with that of neighbouring trees iii) statistical features of the spike-like peaks are evidenced, including amplitude, frequency, propagation speed, entropy iv) a quantum field theory is presented to highlight the collective behaviour of the forest, supported by preliminar correlation analyses between electrical signal Kolmogorov entropy and thermographies Shannon entropy. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
10.1007/JHEP10(2013)213 | A Perturbative Qcd Study Of Dijets In P Pb Collisions At The Lhc | Inspired by the recent measurements of the CMS collaboration, we report a QCD study of dijet production in proton+lead collisions at the LHC involving large-transverse-momentum jets, p
T
≳ 100 GeV. Examining the inherent uncertainties of the next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and their sensitivity to the free proton parton distributions (PDFs), we observe a rather small, typically much less than 5% clearance for the shape of the dijet rapidity distribution within approximately 1. 5 units around the midrapidity. Even a more stable observable is the ratio between the yields in the positive and negative dijet rapidity, for which the baseline uncertainty can be made negligible by imposing a symmetric jet rapidity acceptance. Both observables prove sensitive to the nuclear modifications of the gluon distributions, the corresponding uncertainties clearly exceeding the estimated baseline uncertainties from the free-proton PDFs and scale dependence. From a theoretical point of view, these observables are therefore very suitable for testing the validity of the collinear factorization and have a high potential to provide precision constraints for the nuclear PDFs. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
]
|
10.1063/1.3271030 | Terahertz Pulsed Spectroscopic Imaging Using Optimized Binary Masks | We report the development of a terahertz pulsed spectroscopic imaging system based on the concept of compressive sensing. A single-point terahertz detector, together with a set of 40 optimized two-dimensional binary masks, was used to measure the terahertz waveforms transmitted through a sample. Terahertz time- and frequency-domain images of the sample comprising 20×20 pixels were subsequently reconstructed. We demonstrate that both the spatial distribution and the spectral characteristics of a sample can be obtained by this means. Compared with conventional terahertz pulsed imaging, no raster scanning of the object is required, and ten times fewer terahertz spectra need be taken. It is therefore ideal for real-time imaging applications. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
339248 | The origins of stellar properties | Less than a century ago it was realised that stars are still forming in our Galaxy today. Over the decades since, the questions of what physical processes dominate the star formation process and how the statistical properties of stars are determined have been some of the key questions in astrophysics. Recently, I have advanced numerical simulations of star formation to the point that, for the first time, we can reproduce a wide range of the observed statistical properties of stars and brown dwarfs.
Here I propose an ambitious project that will make a step change in star formation theory and produce a truly predictive theory of star formation, as opposed to the past state of the field where we have been constantly searching for a mixture of initial conditions and physical processes that can reproduce the stellar properties that we observe. The project will involve substantial numerical code development, culminating in a fluid dynamical code that incorporates all of the major physical processes thought to influence star formation, including radiative transfer, non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics, dust, and chemistry. The scientific outputs will be the determination of how each physical process affects the star formation process, and a wide range of predictions of how stellar properties should vary in different environments and with different initial conditions. These predictions will give direction to, and be tested by, the next generation of observational surveys of star-forming regions and stellar systems, while at the same time may be employed to improve our understanding of how star formation affects galaxy formation and evolution and how the variation in stellar properties impacts the diversity of planetary systems. | [
"Universe Sciences",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
DE 3938243 A | Installation for joining large-surface layers - comprises sewing machine in middle of first work table and movable carriage between 2 work tables | An installation for joining large-surface layers, esp. door mats with gully inserts, incorporates a first and a second work table. The first table is associated with a sewing machine. A movable carriage is located between the work tables and the sewing machine is positioned in the middle of the first work table. The carriage is half as long as the work tables and the sewing machine is operated via several independent operating means groups connected in parallel. ADVANTAGE - The invention enables easy handling of layers of different flexibilities. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
SE 0002584 W | GRADUAL FREQUENCY PLAN REVISION METHODOLOGY | Utilizing a sequential local search optimization algorithm (30), a determination is made of the cell/transceiver retunes (32) needed to implement, given a current frequency plan, a better frequency plan for a certain cellular communications system. Each of the individual cell/transceiver retunes is evaluated (34) to determine if it meets certain save criteria, and if so, is saved as an intermediate frequency plan (74) in a sequence of saved intermediate frequency plans necessary to migrate from the current frequency plan to the determined near-optimal frequency plan. A sequential implementation (36) of these intermediate frequency plan revisions is then made to gradually reach, in a known and controlled manner, the better frequency plan. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1007/978-3-642-04268-3_36 | A Spatio Temporal Atlas Of The Human Fetal Brain With Application To Tissue Segmentation | Modeling and analysis of MR images of the early developing human brain is a challenge because of the transient nature of different tissue classes during brain growth. To address this issue, a statistical model that can capture the spatial variation of structures over time is needed. Here, we present an approach to building a spatio-temporal model of tissue distribution in the developing brain which can incorporate both developed tissues as well as transient tissue classes such as the germinal matrix by using constrained higher order polynomial models. This spatio-temporal model is created from a set of manual segmentations through groupwise registration and voxelwise non-linear modeling of tissue class membership, that allows us to represent the appearance as well as disappearance of the transient brain structures over time. Applying this model to atlas-based segmentation, we generate age-specific tissue probability maps and use them to initialize an EM segmentation of the fetal brain tissues. The approach is evaluated using clinical MR images of young fetuses with gestational ages ranging from 20. 57 to 24. 71 weeks. Results indicate improvement in performance of atlas-based EM segmentation provided by higher order temporal models that capture the variation of tissue occurrence over time. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Mathematics",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1038/s41588-019-0413-z | MTHFD1 interaction with BRD4 links folate metabolism to transcriptional regulation | The histone acetyl reader bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) is an important regulator of chromatin structure and transcription, yet factors modulating its activity have remained elusive. Here we describe two complementary screens for genetic and physical interactors of BRD4, which converge on the folate pathway enzyme MTHFD1 (methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase, cyclohydrolase and formyltetrahydrofolate synthetase 1). We show that a fraction of MTHFD1 resides in the nucleus, where it is recruited to distinct genomic loci by direct interaction with BRD4. Inhibition of either BRD4 or MTHFD1 results in similar changes in nuclear metabolite composition and gene expression; pharmacological inhibitors of the two pathways synergize to impair cancer cell viability in vitro and in vivo. Our finding that MTHFD1 and other metabolic enzymes are chromatin associated suggests a direct role for nuclear metabolism in the control of gene expression. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
W2074193346 | High-Resolution Simulation of Pore-Scale Reactive Transport Processes Associated with Carbon Sequestration | New investigative tools, combined with experiments and computational methods, are being developed to build a next-generation understanding of molecular-to-pore-scale processes in fluid-rock systems and to demonstrate the ability to control critical aspects of flow and transport in porous rock media, in particular, as applied to geologic sequestration of CO2. Of scientific interest is to establish the rules governing emergent behavior at the porous-continuum macroscale under far from equilibrium conditions by carefully understanding the behavior at the underlying pore microscale. To this end, the authors present a direct numerical simulation modeling capability that can resolve flow and transport processes in geometric features obtained from the image data of realistic pore space at unprecedented scale and resolution. Here, they focus on scaling a new algorithmic approach based on embedded boundary, finite-volume methods and algebraic multigrid. They demonstrate the scalability of this new capability, known as Chombo-Crunch, to more than 100,000 processor cores and show results from pore-scale flow and transport in the realistic pore space obtained from image data. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1177/0094582X16637866 | Harvesting Water For The Future Reciprocity And Environmental Justice In The Politics Of Climate Change In Peru | Examination of the distribution of climate vulnerability, water resources, and economic opportunities in a Peruvian watershed suggests that, rather than the concept of adaptation, a focus on political agency is important to highlight the creative and dynamic political action in local responses to climate change. Peasant farmers and herders in the Peruvian headwaters are among the most vulnerable to global warming, since they are the first to experience the changes in water supplies. Leaders in the highlands claim rights connected to a fluid ownership of water that is born in their territory and demand payments from the companies making money on this water based on the principles of reciprocity and justice. These demands are attempts at taking control of an uncertain future and as such are examples of political agency relating to climate change. El examen de la distribucion de la vulnerabilidad climatica, los recursos hidricos, y las oportunidades economicas en una cuenca peruana sugiere que, en lugar del c. . . | [
"Earth System Science",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
]
|
10.1093/sleep/zsy025 | Sleep deprivation and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease | Study Objectives: To investigate the cumulative effect of five consecutive nights of partial sleep deprivation (PSD) on a panel of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in healthy adults. Methods: A randomized, cross-over study conducted at the University of Gothenburg. The participants (N = 13) were healthy adults (20-40 years of age) with a normal sleeping pattern. The participants underwent a baseline sleep period consisting of five nights with 8 hr spent in bed. A subsequent period with PSD consisted of five nights of maximum 4 hr of sleep per night. Four participants were also subjected to a prolonged period of PSD consisting of eight nights with 4 hr of sleep per night. Sleep was monitored by means of observation, actigraphy, and continuous polysomnographic recordings. CSF samples were collected by routine lumbar puncture after each period. CSF biomarkers included the 38, 40, and 42 amino acid'long A' isoforms, total-t, phospho-t, orexin, monoamine metabolites (3-methoxy-4- hydroxyphenylglycol, homovanillinic acid, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid), neuron-derived biomarkers (neurofilament light, neuron-specific enolase, and fatty acid'binding protein), and astro- and microglia-derived biomarkers (glial fibrillary acidic protein, S-100B, and YKL-40). Results: PSD was associated with a 27 per cent increase in CSF orexin concentrations (p = 0. 001). No PSD-related changes in CSF biomarkers for amyloid build-up in the brain, Alzheimer's disease (AD)-type neurodegeneration, or astroglial activation were observed. PSD led to a shortening of time spent in all sleep stages except slow-wave sleep (SWS). Conclusion: Five to eight consecutive nights of PSD, with preserved SWS, increased CSF orexin but had no effect on CSF biomarkers for amyloid deposition, neuronal injury, and astroglial activation. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.1111/jeea.12043 | From shame to game in one hundred years: An economic model of the rise in premarital sex and its de-stigmatization | Societies socialize children about sex. This is done in the presence of peer-group effects, which may encourage undesirable behavior. Parents want the best for their children. Still, they weigh the marginal gains from socializing their children against its costs. Churches and states may stigmatize sex, both because of a concern about the welfare of their flocks and the need to control the cost of charity associated with out-of-wedlock births. Modern contraceptives have profoundly affected the calculus for instilling sexual mores. As contraception improves there is less need for parents, churches, and states to inculcate sexual mores. Technology affects culture. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
10.1016/j.trb.2017.05.007 | Macroscopic modelling and robust control of bi-modal multi-region urban road networks | The paper concerns the integration of a bi-modal Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram (MFD) modelling for mixed traffic in a robust control framework for congested single- and multi-region urban networks. The bi-modal MFD relates the accumulation of cars and buses and the outflow (or circulating flow) in homogeneous (both in the spatial distribution of congestion and the spatial mode mixture) bi-modal traffic networks. We introduce the composition of traffic in the network as a parameter that affects the shape of the bi-modal MFD. A linear parameter varying model with uncertain parameter the vehicle composition approximates the original nonlinear system of aggregated dynamics when it is near the equilibrium point for single- and multi-region cities governed by bi-modal MFDs. This model aims at designing a robust perimeter and boundary flow controller for single- and multi-region networks that guarantees robust regulation and stability, and thus smooth and efficient operations, given that vehicle composition is a slow time-varying parameter. The control gain of the robust controller is calculated off-line using convex optimisation. To evaluate the proposed scheme, an extensive simulation-based study for single- and multi-region networks is carried out. To this end, the heterogeneous network of San Francisco where buses and cars share the same infrastructure is partitioned into two homogeneous regions with different modes of composition. The proposed robust control is compared with an optimised pre-timed signal plan and a single-region perimeter control strategy. Results show that the proposed robust control can significantly: (i) reduce the overall congestion in the network; (ii) improve the traffic performance of buses in terms of travel delays and schedule reliability, and; (iii) avoid queues and gridlocks on critical paths of the network. | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
10.1002/glia.23509 | The conceptual introduction of the “demyelinating Schwann cell” in peripheral demyelinating neuropathies | Myelinating Schwann cells undergo irreversible demyelination in many demyelinating neuropathies that show complete demyelination of the internode. Dedifferentiation, reprogramming, and myelin clearance processes—which are specifically discussed in this article—appear to be shared by various demyelinating peripheral conditions, such as Wallerian degeneration, immune-mediated, and toxic demyelinating diseases. We propose to introduce the concept of the “demyelinating Schwann cell (DSC)” as a novel cell phenotype, which has specific properties required for myelin sheath clearance. We anticipate that the introduction of the DSC concept will provide a significant advance in understanding the pathophysiological mechanisms of demyelinating peripheral neuropathies. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.5194/acp-13-6101-2013 | Secondary organic aerosol formation from idling gasoline passenger vehicle emissions investigated in a smog chamber | Abstract. Gasoline vehicles have recently been pointed out as potentially the main source of anthropogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in megacities. However, there is a lack of laboratory studies to systematically investigate SOA formation in real-world exhaust. In this study, SOA formation from pure aromatic precursors, idling and cold start gasoline exhaust from three passenger vehicles (EURO2–EURO4) were investigated with photo-oxidation experiments in a 6 m3 smog chamber. The experiments were carried out down to atmospherically relevant organic aerosol mass concentrations. The characterization instruments included a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer and a proton transfer mass spectrometer. It was found that gasoline exhaust readily forms SOA with a signature aerosol mass spectrum similar to the oxidized organic aerosol that commonly dominates the organic aerosol mass spectra downwind of urban areas. After a cumulative OH exposure of ~5 × 106 cm−3 h, the formed SOA was 1–2 orders of magnitude higher than the primary OA emissions. The SOA mass spectrum from a relevant mixture of traditional light aromatic precursors gave f43 (mass fraction at m/z = 43), approximately two times higher than to the gasoline SOA. However O : C and H : C ratios were similar for the two cases. Classical C6–C9 light aromatic precursors were responsible for up to 60% of the formed SOA, which is significantly higher than for diesel exhaust. Important candidates for additional precursors are higher-order aromatic compounds such as C10 and C11 light aromatics, naphthalene and methyl-naphthalenes. We conclude that approaches using only light aromatic precursors give an incomplete picture of the magnitude of SOA formation and the SOA composition from gasoline exhaust. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
W3179294110 | Riesgo cardiovascular en la población anciana española. Escala de riesgo EPICARDIAN | La estimación del riesgo cardiovascular en personas mayores de 70 años es problemática. La mayoría de las escalas se han creado basándose en cohortes de personas de mediana edad, con una representación insuficiente de los adultos de más edad. El poder predictivo de los factores de riesgo cardiovascular clásicos disminuye con la edad. El objetivo de este estudio es desarrollar una escala específica para estimar el riesgo cardiovascular de la población anciana española. Este estudio se realizó en una cohorte poblacional establecida en 1995. Marco: 3 zonas geográficas de España (Madrid, Ávila y Lugo). Participantes: 3.729 personas mayores de 64 años sin enfermedades cardiovasculares (ECV) al inicio del seguimiento. Mediciones: se investigaron anualmente las sospechas de ECV mortal y no mortal (cardiopatía coronaria e ictus) y se confirmaron usando los criterios del proyecto MONICA de la OMS. Se siguió a todos los participantes hasta que apareció el primer episodio de ECV, hasta su muerte o hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2015. La edad fue el factor predictivo más potente de ECV a los 10 años en ambos sexos. Las variables asociadas con ECV en los varones fueron el tratamiento de la hipertensión arterial (HR: 1,35; IC 95%: 1,067-1,710), la diabetes (HR: 1,359; IC 95%: 0,997-1,852) y el tabaquismo (HR: 1,207; IC 95%: 0,945-1,541), y en las mujeres, el tabaquismo (HR: 1,881; IC 95%: 1,356-2,609) y la diabetes (HR: 1,285; IC 95%: 0,967-1,707). El colesterol total no aumentó el riesgo de ECV ni en varones ni en mujeres. Sin embargo, las concentraciones de colesterol total > 200 mg/dL se asociaron inversamente al riesgo de ECV a los 10 años, tanto en varones como en mujeres. La ECV total a los 10 años aumenta significativamente en los varones españoles de edad avanzada con la edad, la diabetes y el tratamiento antihipertensivo, y en las mujeres con la diabetes y el tabaquismo. Los niveles de colesterol total no aumentaron el riesgo de ECV, sobre todo en los varones. Cardiovascular risk estimation in people over 70 years of age is problematic. Most scores have been created based on cohorts of middle-aged people, with an underrepresentation of older adults. The predictive power of classical cardiovascular risk factors declines with age. The aim of this work is to develop a specific score for estimating cardiovascular risk among the elderly population in Spain. This work is a population-based cohort established in 1995. Setting: 3 geographical areas of Spain (Madrid, Ávila, and Lugo). Participants: 3,729 people older than 64 years with no cardiovascular diseases (CVD) at baseline. Measurements: suspected fatal and nonfatal CVD (both coronary heart disease and stroke) were investigated annually and confirmed using the WHO-MONICA criteria. All participants were followed-up on until occurrence of a first CVD event, until death, or until December 31, 2015. Age was the strongest predictor of CVD at 10 years in both men and women. In men, variables associated with CVD were high blood pressure treatment (HR: 1.35; 95% CI: 1.067-1.710), diabetes (HR: 1.359; 95% CI: 0.997-1.852), and smoking (HR: 1.207; 95% CI: 0.945-1.541) and in women, the variables were smoking (HR: 1.881; 95% CI: 1.356-2.609) and diabetes (HR: 1.285; 95% CI: 0.967-1.707). Total cholesterol did not increase the risk of CVD in men or women. However, total cholesterol levels > 200 mg/dL were inversely associated with 10-year risk of CVD in men and women. In elderly Spanish men, total CVD at 10 years is significantly increased by age, diabetes, and antihypertensive treatment and in elderly Spanish women by diabetes and smoking. Total cholesterol levels did not increase the risk of CVD, particularly in males. | [
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
10.1021/nn3021822 | Robust surface doping of Bi <inf>2</inf>Se <inf>3</inf> by rubidium intercalation | Rubidium adsorption on the surface of the topological insulator Bi 2Se 3 is found to induce a strong downward band bending, leading to the appearance of a quantum-confined two-dimensional electron gas state (2DEG) in the conduction band. The 2DEG shows a strong Rashba-type spin-orbit splitting, and it has previously been pointed out that this has relevance to nanoscale spintronics devices. The adsorption of Rb atoms, on the other hand, renders the surface very reactive, and exposure to oxygen leads to a rapid degrading of the 2DEG. We show that intercalating the Rb atoms, presumably into the van der Waals gaps in the quintuple layer structure of Bi 2Se 3, drastically reduces the surface reactivity while not affecting the promising electronic structure. The intercalation process is observed above room temperature and accelerated with increasing initial Rb coverage, an effect that is ascribed to the Coulomb interaction between the charged Rb ions. Coulomb repulsion is also thought to be responsible for a uniform distribution of Rb on the surface. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
10.1016/j.bandc.2019.105512 | Bifrontal tDCS applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in heavy drinkers: Influence on reward-triggered approach bias and alcohol consumption | Even though the ventromedial neural network (reward pathway) has been well documented to be a mediator for increased craving, the prefrontal cortex is receiving ever more attention for craving monitoring. In the current study, we examined whether causal modulation of the prefrontal cortex, and its associated neural network, diminishes reward-triggered approach bias (due to increased cognitive control), alcohol craving and consumption. Using a double-blind within-subjects design in a subclinical group of forty-five heavy drinkers, a single sham controlled session of bilateral transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was applied to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Following real and sham tDCS placing the anode over the right and cathode over the left DLPFC, a rewarded Go/NoGo paradigm was administrated to provoke behavioral biases (irrespective of the task goal) After the cognitive paradigm, alcohol consumption was examined using a beer taste test. Bifrontal tDCS resulted in a reduced reward-triggered approach bias and reduced alcohol consumption, but not self-reported craving. Interestingly, reward-triggered approach bias and alcohol consumption were reliably associated in the sham condition, but not in the tDCS condition. Reward-trigged approach biases might be a cognitive mechanism associated with alcohol prone behavior, and the role of the prefrontal network may be significant. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
W4281295478 | Protecting, Transforming, and Projecting the Single Market. Open Strategic Autonomy and Digital Sovereignty in the EU’s Trade and Digital Policies | In recent years, the EU has reformulated its trade and digital policies under the banners of open strategic autonomy and digital sovereignty, respectively. The existing literature has only begun to explain this departure from the market-centered and efficiency-oriented rhetoric that has dominated European policymaking for the last decades. In this paper, we argue that the discursive turn towards autonomy and sovereignty is part of a larger recasting of the European project, which we understand as the evolving compromise between a neoliberal, a neo-mercantilist, and a socially-oriented faction. Through a combination of document analysis, interviews, and discourse network analysis, we show that a changing global environment has provided an opening to challenge the existing, neoliberally dominated consensus. We further show how open strategic autonomy and digital sovereignty are used as coalition magnets in mobilizing support for a more assertive, capable, and interventionist Europe able to protect and promote its interests and values in an increasingly digitalized and geopoliticized world. | [
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
10.1016/j.physletb.2015.03.027 | To which densities is spin-polarized neutron matter a weakly interacting Fermi gas? | We study the properties of spin-polarized neutron matter at next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order in chiral effective field theory, including two-, three-, and four-neutron interactions. The energy of spin-polarized neutrons is remarkably close to a non-interacting system at least up to saturation density, where interaction effects provide less than 10% corrections. This shows that the physics of neutron matter is similar to a unitary gas well beyond the scattering-length regime. Implications for energy-density functionals and for a possible ferromagnetic transition in neutron stars are discussed. Our predictions can be tested with lattice QCD, and we present results for varying pion mass. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
10.1007/s10851-018-0861-6 | Unified Models for Second-Order TV-Type Regularisation in Imaging: A New Perspective Based on Vector Operators | We introduce a novel regulariser based on the natural vector field operations gradient, divergence, curl and shear. For suitable choices of the weighting parameters contained in our model, it generalises well-known first- and second-order TV-type regularisation methods including TV, ICTV and TGV2 and enables interpolation between them. To better understand the influence of each parameter, we characterise the nullspaces of the respective regularisation functionals. Analysing the continuous model, we conclude that it is not sufficient to combine penalisation of the divergence and the curl to achieve high-quality results, but interestingly it seems crucial that the penalty functional includes at least one component of the shear or suitable boundary conditions. We investigate which requirements regarding the choice of weighting parameters yield a rotational invariant approach. To guarantee physically meaningful reconstructions, implying that conservation laws for vectorial differential operators remain valid, we need a careful discretisation that we therefore discuss in detail. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2162713673 | The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics: An Interview with Bruce Perry | In this interview with Bruce Perry, MD, PhD, Senior Fellow of The Child Trauma Academy, Laurie MacKinnon discusses with Dr Perry developmental trauma and the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, an approach to clinical problem solving that utilises a developmental lens and incorporates advances in neurobiological development. Dr Perry gives his perspective on the causal connection between childhood abuse and later psychiatric diagnosis, the child's contact with a violent parent post-separation, the importance of interventions that address the organisation and functioning of lower parts of the brain and his perspective on the use and limitations of psychotropic medications, cognitive behaviour therapy and family therapy. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
10.1007/JHEP03(2016)107 | On Conformal Supergravity And Harmonic Superspace | This paper describes a fully covariant approach to harmonic superspace. It is based on the conformal superspace description of conformal supergravity and involves extending the supermanifold M^{4|8} by the tangent bundle of CP^1. The resulting superspace M^{4|8} x TCP^1 can be identified in a certain gauge with the conventional harmonic superspace M^{4|8} x S^2. This approach not only makes the connection to projective superspace transparent, but simplifies calculations in harmonic superspace significantly by eliminating the need to deal directly with supergravity prepotentials. As an application of the covariant approach, we derive from harmonic superspace the full component action for the sigma model of a hyperkahler cone coupled to conformal supergravity. Further applications are also sketched. | [
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1364/AO.54.009400 | Thin Disk Laser Pump Schemes For Large Number Of Passes And Moderate Pump Source Quality | Thin-disk laser pump layouts yielding an increased number of passes for a given pump module size and pump source quality are proposed. These layouts result from a general scheme based on merging two simpler pump optics arrangements. Some peculiar examples can be realized by adapting standard, commercially available pump optics with an additional mirror pair. More pump passes yield better efficiency, opening the way for the usage of active materials with low absorption. In a standard multipass pump design, scaling of the number of beam passes brings about an increase in the overall size of the optical arrangement or an increase in the pump source quality requirements. Such increases are minimized in our scheme, making them eligible for industrial applications. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
US 2018/0030851 W | STABLE FORMULATIONS OF FIBRONECTIN BASED SCAFFOLD DOMAIN PROTEINS THAT BIND TO MYOSTATIN | The present invention relates generally to stable liquid formulations comprising polypeptides with 10Fn3 domains which bind to myostatin and unit dosage forms thereof for administration various routes, including subcutaneous (SC), for treating muscle- wasting and metabolic disorders. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
]
|
Q2879829 | Architecture et design national autour du monde | Le projet présenté vise à l’internationalisation de la société APCM, Arquitetos ET ASSOCIADOS, LDA, en promouvant sa fourniture de services de haute qualité dans le domaine de l’architecture et de la conception, ces services, qui donneront à l’entreprise la notoriété et la diffusion, qu’elle entend réaliser. | [
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
US 9609939 W | DECORATIVE SURFACE COVERINGS AND METHODS FOR MAKING SAME | Decorative surface coverings comprise a multicolored, fused plastisol layer (25) comprising: (a) a fused plastisol composition of a first color (30); and (b) a fused plastisol composition of a second color (35), the second plastisol being distributed within the first colored plastisol such that the multicolored plastisol layer exhibits color gradients between the first (30) and second colored plastisols (35). According to certain aspects of the invention, the decorative surface covering products comprise a patterned solid plastisol mixture having a three-dimensional appearance. Methods for manufacturing such decorative surface coverings comprise the steps of (a) applying to a substrate (20) a coating of the first colored fluid plastisol (30); (b) distributing in the first colored fluid plastisol (30) a second colored fluid plastisol (35) to form a patterned plastisol mixture; and (c) forming the patterned fluid plastisol mixture into a patterned solid plastisol mixture (25). | [
"Materials Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
802735 | Nonlinear Data and Signal Analysis with Diffusion Operators | Nowadays, extensive collection and storage of massive data sets have become a routine in multiple disciplines and in everyday life. These large amounts of intricate data often make data samples arithmetic and basic comparisons problematic, raising new challenges to traditional data analysis objectives such as filtering and prediction. Furthermore, the availability of such data constantly pushes the boundaries of data analysis to new emerging domains, ranging from neuronal and social network analysis to multimodal sensor fusion. The combination of evolved data and new domains drives a fundamental change in the field of data analysis. Indeed, many classical model-based techniques have become obsolete since their models do not embody the richness of the collected data. Today, one notable avenue of research is the development of nonlinear techniques that transition from data to creating representations, without deriving models in closed-form. The vast majority of such existing data-driven methods operate directly on the data, a hard task by itself when the data are large and elaborated. The goal of this research is to develop a fundamentally new methodology for high dimensional data analysis with diffusion operators, making use of recent transformative results in manifold and geometry learning. More concretely, shifting the focus from processing the data samples themselves and considering instead structured data through the lens of diffusion operators will introduce new powerful “handles” to data, capturing their complexity efficiently. We will study the basic theory behind this nonlinear analysis, develop new operators for this purpose, and devise efficient data-driven algorithms. In addition, we will explore how our approach can be leveraged for devising efficient solutions to a broad range of open real-world data analysis problems, involving intrinsic representations, sensor fusion, time-series analysis, network connectivity inference, and domain adaptation. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1098/rstb.2014.0131 | Cascading effects of artificial light at night: resource-mediated control of herbivores in a grassland ecosystem | Artificial light at night has a wide range of biological effects on both plants and animals. Here, we review mechanisms by which artificial light at night may restructure ecological communities by modifying the interactions between species. Such mechanisms may be top-down (predator, parasite or grazer controlled), bottom-up (resource-controlled) or involve non-trophic processes, such as pollination, seed dispersal or competition. We present results from an experiment investigating both top-down and bottom-up effects of artificial light at night on the population density of pea aphids
Acyrthosiphon pisum
in a diverse artificial grassland community in the presence and absence of predators and under low-level light of different spectral composition. We found no evidence for top-down control of
A. pisum
in this system, but did find evidence for bottom-up effects mediated through the impact of light on flower head density in a leguminous food plant. These results suggest that physiological effects of light on a plant species within a diverse plant community can have detectable demographic effects on a specialist herbivore. | [
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
]
|
10.1016/j.ymeth.2015.06.021 | Computational assignment of cell-cycle stage from single-cell transcriptome data | The transcriptome of single cells can reveal important information about cellular states and heterogeneity within populations of cells. Recently, single-cell RNA-sequencing has facilitated expression profiling of large numbers of single cells in parallel. To fully exploit these data, it is critical that suitable computational approaches are developed. One key challenge, especially pertinent when considering dividing populations of cells, is to understand the cell-cycle stage of each captured cell. Here we describe and compare five established supervised machine learning methods and a custom-built predictor for allocating cells to their cell-cycle stage on the basis of their transcriptome. In particular, we assess the impact of different normalisation strategies and the usage of prior knowledge on the predictive power of the classifiers. We tested the methods on previously published datasets and found that a PCA-based approach and the custom predictor performed best. Moreover, our analysis shows that the performance depends strongly on normalisation and the usage of prior knowledge. Only by leveraging prior knowledge in form of cell-cycle annotated genes and by preprocessing the data using a rank-based normalisation, is it possible to robustly capture the transcriptional cell-cycle signature across different cell types, organisms and experimental protocols. | [
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
756482 | Realizable Advanced Cryptography | In a free society, there is persistent tension between utility and privacy. Citizens have the basic right to keep their personal information private. However, sometimes keeping our data private could significantly reduce our ability to use this data to benefit ourselves or society. This tension is multiplied many times over in our modern data driven society, where data is utilized using remote algorithms.
State of the art research suggests that new advanced cryptographic primitives can mitigate this tension. These include computing on encrypted data via fully homomorphic encryption, fine grained access control to encrypted data via attribute based encryption, and most recently general purpose program obfuscation, which on paper can solve many of cryptography's long standing problems. However, these primitives are largely either too complicated or not sufficiently founded to be considered for real world applications.
Project REACT will apply foundational theoretical study towards removing the barriers between advanced cryptographic primitives and reality. My viewpoint, supported by my prior research success, is that orders-of-magnitude improvement in efficiency and security requires foundational theoretical study, rather than focusing on optimizations or heuristics. My projection is that progress in this direction will both allow for future realistic implementation of these primitives, reducing said tension, as well as contribute to basic cryptographic study by opening new avenues for future research.
To achieve this goal, I will pursue the following objectives: (i) Studying the computational complexity of underlying hardness assumptions, specifically lattice based, to better understand the level of security we can expect of proposed primitives. (ii) Simplifying and extending the LWE/trapdoor paradigm that underlies many of the new primitives, and that I find incomplete. (iii) Constructing cryptographic graded encoding schemes and obfuscators. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Mathematics"
]
|
804226 | Perceptually-Driven Optimizations of Graphics Content for Novel Displays | Displays play a vital role in many professional and personal activities. They are a crucial interface between a user and the digital world in tasks involving visualization and interaction with digital data. The abilities of new display technologies regarding reproduction of important visual cues, such as binocular disparity, accommodation, or motion parallax, outperform the capabilities of methods for optimizing graphics content to match the requirements of particular hardware designs. This leads to a poor visual quality and massive computational overhead, which hamper the adoption of novel displays. I argue that there are significant gaps between hardware, computational techniques, and understanding of human perception, which prevents taking full advantage of these technologies.
To overcome these limitations, I and my team will combine hardware, computation, and perception into a unique platform where the capabilities of displays and quality requirements are represented in a shared space. The basis for our project will be in-depth understanding of human perception. Our experiments will focus on three aspects: (1) investigation of perceptual limits across a wide field of view, (2) involving all visual cues, and (3) establishing optimal trade-offs between different quality aspects. We will build efficient computational models that will predict perceived quality and enable perceptual optimizations to drive new content adaptation techniques.
This project will contribute display-specific perceptual optimizations of graphics content to match the requirements of human perception. It will address the key aspects of portable devices such as energy efficiency and visual quality. Our experiments and modeling of human perception will provide crucial insights into new hardware developments. The contributions will be necessary for development and standardization of new, high-quality display devices which will not only improve existing applications but also enable new ones. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
770652 | Behavioral Implications of Information-Processing Frictions | BEHAVFRICTIONS will use novel models focussing on information-processing frictions to explain choice patterns described in behavioral economics and psychology. The proposed research will provide microfoundations that are essential for (i) identification of stable preferences, (ii) counterfactual predictions, and (iii) normative conclusions.
(i) Agents who face information-processing costs must trade the precision of choice against information costs. Their behavior thus reflects both their stable preferences and the context-dependent procedures that manage their errors stemming from imperfect information processing. In the absence of micro-founded models, the two drivers of the behavior are difficult to disentangle for outside observers. In some pillars of the proposal, the agents follow choice rules that closely resemble logit rules used in structural estimation. This will allow me to reinterpret the structural estimation fits to choice data and to make a distinction between the stable preferences and frictions.
(ii) Such a distinction is important in counterfactual policy analysis because the second-best decision procedures that manage the errors in choice are affected by the analysed policy. Incorporation of the information-processing frictions into existing empirical methods will improve our ability to predict effects of the policies.
(iii) My preliminary results suggest that when an agent is prone to committing errors, biases--such as overconfidence, confirmatory bias, or perception biases known from prospect theory--arise under second-best strategies. By providing the link between the agent's environment and the second-best distribution of the perception errors, my models will delineate environments in which these biases shield the agents from the most costly mistakes from environments in which the biases turn into maladaptations. The distinction will inform the normative debate on debiasing. | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
210908 | Social Insurance and Welfare-to-Work Programs: Optimal Design and Structural Evaluation | This project has three main goals. First, to improve the theoretical understanding of the design of optimal social insurance and Welfare-to-Work (WTW) programs. Second, to provide a new structural framework for the evaluation of existing policies. The framework is integrated and theory-based, but rich enough to allow a meaningful empirical analysis. It specifies in detail the economic environment (e.g., the available technologies and the informational asymmetries). The accurate specification of the economic environment will jointly endogenize the market imperfections the worker faces, and determine the set of available policies. This and the integrated nature of the approach will play an important role in the policy evaluations stage since they allow a proper determination of the costs and returns of a given policy, by including for example a coherent estimation of the opportunity costs and the recognition of possible complementarities between policies within the WTW program. Third, to apply the methodology to specific situations. The project is divided into 6 sub-projects with a similar structure. Each sub-project uses a similar methodology and builds a theoretical model appropriate to the specific set of issues. The first block of the project is a theory section, where I address a new theoretical issue qualitatively. The analysis is complemented by a quantitative section where the model is calibrated or estimated and then used to evaluate an existing WTW and/or Social Insurance program. The 6 project are: 1. Efficient Training Programs for Workers on Welfare 2. Optimal Unemployment Insurance, Layoff Risk, and Hidden Wealth: A Case for an Unemployment Accounts System 3. Evaluation of Welfare-to-Work Programs: The case of the UK New Deal 4. On-the-job Search, Wage Subsidies, and Optimal ‘Work-First’ Programs 5.Optimal Welfare Programs for Households 6. Identity, Temptation and Student Discipline: A Multilevel Approach to Optimal Education Policy | [
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
]
|
10.1007/978-3-319-06410-9_19 | Precise Predictive Analysis For Discovering Communication Deadlocks In Mpi Programs | The Message Passing Interface MPI is the standard API for high-performance and scientific computing. Communication deadlocks are a frequent problem in MPI programs, and this paper addresses the problem of discovering such deadlocks. We begin by showing that if an MPI program is single-path, the problem of discovering communication deadlocks is NP-complete. We then present a novel propositional encoding scheme which captures the existence of communication deadlocks. The encoding is based on modelling executions with partial orders, and implemented in a tool called MOPPER. The tool executes an MPI program, collects the trace, builds a formula from the trace using the propositional encoding scheme, and checks its satisfiability. Finally, we present experimental results that quantify the benefit of the approach in comparison to a dynamic analyser and demonstrate that it offers a scalable solution. | [
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
]
|
W1996241328 | Three-dimensional reconstruction of postovulatory follicles from histological sections | The postovulatory follicle (POF) resorption process is classified in daily phases by examination of their 2-D histomorphological structure and characteristics to indicate the elapsed time since spawning. These characteristics were used to investigate the associated reduction in volume by three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction of POFs in ovary samples of European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Ovaries were serially sectioned and POFs were analysed to collect the sequence of profiles to generate a 3-D model. The volume of POFs determined from 3-D reconstruction was also compared to results following Cavalieri and Geometrical Best-Fitting methods. The data of POF volumes obtained were shown to be typical characteristic of four and three different POF histomorphological stages defined for hake and cod, respectively. In both species, POFs shrank sharply in the first hours, and then decreased more gradually until their complete resorption. There was no statistical difference in volume measurement of POFs determined by the three methods listed above, and therefore, the volume of POFs may, be used to validate the reliability of 2-D histomorphological staging to age POFs. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
]
|
10.1109/VR.2010.5444805 | The Contribution Of Real Time Mirror Reflections Of Motor Actions On Virtual Body Ownership In An Immersive Virtual Environment | This paper reports an experiment that investigated people's body ownership of an avatar that was observed in a virtual mirror. Twenty subjects were recruited in a within-groups study where 10 first experienced a virtual character that synchronously reflected their upper-body movements as seen in a virtual mirror, and then an asynchronous condition where the mirror avatar displayed prerecorded actions, unrelated to those of the participant. The other 10 subjects experienced the conditions in the opposite order. In both conditions the participant could carry out actions that led to elevation above ground level, as seen from their first person perspective and correspondingly in the mirror. A rotating virtual fan eventually descended to 2m above the ground. The hypothesis was that synchronous mirror reflection would result in higher subjective sense of ownership. A questionnaire analysis showed that the body ownership illusion was significantly greater for the synchronous than asynchronous condition. Additionally participants in the synchronous condition avoided collision with the descending fan significantly more often than those in the asynchronous condition. The results of this experiment are put into context within similar experiments on multisensory correlation and body ownership within cognitive neuroscience. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1090/jams/905 | Koszul duality for Kac–Moody groups and characters of tilting modules | We establish a character formula for indecomposable tilting modules for connected reductive groups in characteristic
ℓ
\ell
in terms of
ℓ
\ell
-Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials, for
ℓ
>
h
\ell > h
the Coxeter number. Using results of Andersen, one may deduce a character formula for simple modules if
ℓ
≥
2
h
−
2
\ell \ge 2h-2
. Our results are a consequence of an extension to modular coefficients of a monoidal Koszul duality equivalence established by Bezrukavnikov and Yun. | [
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1039/C8CC06409A | Isocyanide Insertion Into Au H Bonds First Gold Iminoformyl Complexes | Isocyanides insert into gold(iii)-hydrogen bonds to give the first examples of gold iminoformyl complexes. The reaction is initiated by catalytic amounts of radicals; DFT calculations indicate that this is an equilibrium reaction driven forward by isocyanide in sufficient excess to trap the Au(ii) intermediate. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
]
|
10.33392/diam.1476 | SOME CHALLENGES for RESEARCH on EMOTION and MORAL JUDGMENT: The MORAL FOREIGN-LANGUAGE EFFECT AS A CASE STUDY | In this article, we discuss a number of challenges with the empirical study of emotion and its relation to moral judgment. We examine a case study involving the moral foreign-language effect, according to which people show an increased utilitarian response tendency in moral dilemmas when using their non-native language. One important proposed explanation for this effect is that using one’s non-native language reduces emotional arousal, and that reduced emotion is responsible for this tendency. We offer reasons to think that there is insufficient evidence for accepting this explanation at present. We argue that there are three themes that constrain our current ability to draw firm empirical conclusions: 1) the frequent use of proxies or partial measures for emotions, 2) the lack of a predictive and generalizable theory of emotion and specific emotion-types, and 3) the obscurity of a baseline level of neutrality with respect to participant emotion. These lessons apply not only to research on the moral foreign-language effect, but to empirical research in moral psychology more generally. | [
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
10.4054/DemRes.2018.38.20 | The increasing mortality advantage of the married: The role played by education | BACKGROUND In several European countries the excess mortality of nonmarried people relative to the married has increased. In this study we describe in detail the increasing mortality advantage of the married in Norway and investigate the extent to which changes in educational composition of marital-status groups can account for this increasing mortality gap. METHODS Using register data for the entire population of Norway, we estimated discrete-time hazard models for mortality at age 50-89 in years 1975-2008. We also estimated oneyear death probabilities by age, period, marital status, education, and spouse's education. These were used to calculate period-specific age-standardized death probabilities for marital-status categories and hypothetical versions of these, assuming constant death probabilities in each educational group in each marital-status category or constant educational distributions. Hypothetical and observed versions were then compared. RESULTS The mortality of nonmarried people relative to married people increased sharply over the years 1975-2008. During the first part of this period, mortality was constant or even increasing among the never-married, who at the end of the period could be considered as lagging 30 years behind the married. Educational patterns have changed markedly, but this explains only up to 5% of the increasing mortality disadvantage of the never- married. Educational changes have contributed more to the growing disadvantage of the widowed, while the picture is more mixed for the divorced. CONTRIBUTION We demonstrate that there has been a large widening in the marital-status differences in mortality in Norway since the 1970s and that little of this difference can be attributed to changes in educational distributions. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
]
|
SA 519410606 A | METHODS AND SYSTEMS WITH ESTIMATED SYNCHRONIZATION BETWEEN MODULAR DOWNHOLE LOGGING SYSTEM MODULES | A modular downhole logging system includes a transmitter module having a local frequency, wherein the transmitter module transmits interrogation signals into a formation based on the local frequency. The downhole system also includes a receiver module axially-spaced from the transmitter module and that receives response signals corresponding to the interrogation signals, wherein the receiver module includes sampling logic and sync estimation logic. The sync estimation logic is configured to perform sync estimation operations including estimating the local frequency of the transmitter module based on analysis of response signal Fourier transform results corresponding to different frequencies. The sampling logic/clock is configured to sample the response signals based on the estimated local frequency of the transmitter module, wherein a processor derives formation property values using the sampled response signals. FIG. 1 | [
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1371/journal.pone.0109562 | X-ray phase-contrast tomography of renal ischemia-reperfusion damage | Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate microstructural changes occurring in unilateral renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in a murine animal model using synchrotron radiation. | [
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
W4293236634 | Competencias que precisan estudiantes de educación física en la práctica profesional: representaciones desde la experiencia de profesores mentores del sistema escolar chileno (Competencies required by physical education students in professional practice: | 
 La práctica profesional es una etapa fundamental de la formación docente puesto que es el momento en el cual el estudiante tiene la posibilidad de aplicar lo aprendido, interactuar con la comunidad escolar y afianzar su rol docente. El presente estudio buscó comprender las representaciones de profesores mentores sobre las competencias que precisan estudiantes de pedagogía en educación física para realizar satisfactoriamente su práctica profesional. Se determinó una metodología cualitativa y un diseño fenomenológico. Se recogieron datos con una encuesta online y entrevistas semiestructuradas a 23 profesores mentores (media edad= 43 años; media experiencia= 16 años) de establecimientos educacionales de la región de Valparaíso, Chile. Se desarrolló análisis de contenido y de discurso con el software ATLAS.ti 9. Como conclusión se evidencia que las competencias para el óptimo desempeño de la práctica se asocian a: a) profesionales; b) sociales; y c) técnicas, las cuales se constituyen como competencias de base para el desempeño profesional futuro de los docentes en formación. 
 Abstract. Professional practice is a fundamental stage of teacher training since it is the moment in which students have the possibility to apply what they have learned, interact with the school community and strengthen their teaching role. This study sought to understand the representations of mentor teachers about the competencies required by students of pedagogy in physical education to satisfactorily carry out their professional practice. A qualitative methodology and a phenomenological design were determined. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview with 23 mentor teachers from educational schools in the Valparaíso, Chile. Content and discourse analysis were developed with the ATLAS.ti 9. As a conclusion, it is evidenced that the competences for the optimal performance of the practice are associated with: a) professionals; b) social; and c) techniques, which are constituted as basic competences for the future professional performance of teachers in training. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
]
|
interreg_226 | The Adriatic olive-grove: Risk prevention, sustainability, learning | Among the common features of the Adriatic landscape is the olive grove, on which for centuries have relied the economic and cultural activities of the local populations. The shaping of that landscape is locally transformed, due to its recent history, changes in traditional ways of human intervention as far as models and techniques of oil production are concerned, the olive tree varieties and productivity, the economic efficiency of the olive grove in specific areas. In particular Adriatic areas olive grove faces problems due to economic, technological, environmental, legal etc. factors, while its efficient exploitation is far from beeing homogeneous. Inefficient growing and management, abuse of pesticides and low quality of the end product, waste of olive pressing, constitute threats transforming a traditionally important source of economic and cultural resources into a problem for local economies and societies. Such problems bear the risk of devaluation of that Adriatic common feature, which could lead to its degradation and distancing of the residents from a multifaceted and perennial culture related to everyday life, professions, skills, diet, social events, art and literature. Considering that in the past, actions to face such problems have been inefficient, in order to prevent such risks, it is necessary to promote innovated practices enhancing efficient attitudes not only among producers, but also among local societies. Such a change can be promoted by means of actions enhancing innovative practices and sensitivities of the general population (young people, professionals of other economic fields, for example tourist operators etc). By making evident the total spectrum of the olive grove development possibilities, a broader interest on the prevention of the above mentioned risks could emerge for the reversal of the degradation and rational exploitation of the olive grove in areas where the problems are acute. In this framework, the resolution of the problems on the basis of scientific knowledge, but also the exchange of experience among the participating diverse areas of the Adriatic may play a significant role. Through the project in which the Universities of the Ionian and Tirana and Provincia Rimini join as beneficiaries, it is aimed to collect data on the olive grove of the relevant areas and exchange information, initially on a research level, which finally will enrich the experience of target groups of these areas on matters such as prevention of natural and technological risks of this so significant and quantitative potentional of the areas natural and cultural resources. In the framework of the collaboration of the above bodies the following are scheduled: the incorporation of experiences and research material which will the output of organized special studies concerning the relevant risks, the codification of this material so that it will be used to promote change of attitude with the targeted dissemination of relevant knowledge on informing and promoting the proper good practices to target groups, such as the professionals on olive groves and its economy, but also to make the wider public more sensitive on the relevant risks and promote active positive attitudes in all connected frameworks, from the economic management, environmental evaluation, alimentary behavior to the realization of the positive role of the olive grove in matters such as entertainment and art creation. Futhermore, as the project’s target groups are young people, as far as changing attitudes is concerned, it is expected to advance the follow ups of the project. Finally, to establish a concrete instrument for the follow up of the project, an informative platform is to be created, so that after the end of the project, the relevant informative material, efficiently structured, will be available to all the interest groups. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Studies of Cultures and Arts"
]
|
10.1042/BJ20141554 | Processing of protein ADP-ribosylation by Nudix hydrolases | ADP-ribosylation is a post-translational modification (PTM) of proteins found in organisms from all kingdoms of life which regulates many important biological functions including DNA repair, chromatin structure, unfolded protein response and apoptosis. Several cellular enzymes, such as macrodomain containing proteins PARG [poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase] and TARG1 [terminal ADP-ribose (ADPr) protein glycohydrolase], reverse protein ADP-ribosylation. In the present study, we show that human Nudix (nucleoside diphosphate-linked moiety X)-type motif 16 (hNUDT16) represents a new enzyme class that can process protein ADPribosylation in vitro, converting it into ribose-5-phosphate (R5P) tags covalently attached to the modified proteins. Furthermore, our data show that hNUDT16 enzymatic activity can be used to trim ADP-ribosylation on proteins in order to facilitate analysis of ADP-ribosylation sites on proteins by MS. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.1111/ejn.13791 | Different responses of spontaneous and stimulus-related alpha activity to ambient luminance changes | Alpha oscillations are particularly important in determining our percepts and have been implicated in fundamental brain functions. Oscillatory activity can be spontaneous or stimulus-related. Furthermore, stimulus-related responses can be phase- or non-phase-locked to the stimulus. Non-phase-locked (induced) activity can be identified as the average amplitude changes in response to a stimulation, while phase-locked activity can be measured via reverse-correlation techniques (echo function). However, the mechanisms and the functional roles of these oscillations are far from clear. Here, we investigated the effect of ambient luminance changes, known to dramatically modulate neural oscillations, on spontaneous and stimulus-related alpha. We investigated the effect of ambient luminance on EEG alpha during spontaneous human brain activity at rest (experiment 1) and during visual stimulation (experiment 2). Results show that spontaneous alpha amplitude increased by decreasing ambient luminance, while alpha frequency remained unaffected. In the second experiment, we found that under low-luminance viewing, the stimulus-related alpha amplitude was lower, and its frequency was slightly faster. These effects were evident in the phase-locked part of the alpha response (echo function), but weaker or absent in the induced (non-phase-locked) alpha responses. Finally, we explored the possible behavioural correlates of these modulations in a monocular critical flicker frequency task (experiment 3), finding that dark adaptation in the left eye decreased the temporal threshold of the right eye. Overall, we found that ambient luminance changes impact differently on spontaneous and stimulus-related alpha expression. We suggest that stimulus-related alpha activity is crucial in determining human temporal segmentation abilities. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
]
|
681895 | Fundamental and Applied Science on Molecular Redox-Catalysts of Energy Relevance in Metal-Organic Frameworks | Organometallic redox-catalysts of energy relevance, i.e. water and hydrogen oxidation, and proton and carbon dioxide reduction catalysts, will be incorporated into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Immobilization and spatial organization of the molecular catalysts will stabilize their molecular integrity and ensure longevity and recyclability of the resulting MOFcats. The organized environment provided by the MOF will enable the control of conformational flexibility, diffusion, charge transport, and higher coordination sphere effects that play crucial roles in enzymes, but cannot be addressed in homogenous solution and are thus largely unexplored. The effect that the MOF environment has on catalysis will be directly probed electrochemically in MOFcats that are immobilized or grown on electrode surfaces. In combination with spectroscopic techniques in spectroelectrochemical cells, intermediates in the catalytic cycles will be detected and characterized. Kinetic information of the individual steps in the catalytic cycles will be obtained in MOFs that contain both a molecular photosensitizer (PS) and a molecular catalyst (PS-MOFcats). The envisaged systems will allow light-induced electron transfer processes to generate reduced or oxidized catalyst states the reactivity of which will be studied with high time resolution by transient UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy. The acquired fundamental mechanistic knowledge is far beyond the current state-of-the-art in MOF chemistry and catalysis, and will be used to prepare MOFcat-based electrodes that function at highest possible rates and lowest overpotentials. PS-MOFcats will be grown on flat semiconductor surfaces, and explored as a novel concept to photoanode and -cathode designs for dye-sensitized solar fuel devices (DSSFDs). The design is particularly appealing as it accommodates high PS concentrations for efficient light-harvesting, while providing potent catalysts close to the solvent interface. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
724529 | Hierarchical multiscale modeling of flexoelectricity and related materials properties from first principles | Flexoelectricity, the coupling between an inhomogeneous deformation and the electrical polarization, has emerged a “hot” topic in modern materials science due to its cross-cutting relevance to many phenomena of fundamental and technological interest. Understanding the intriguing physics that governs its behaviour at the nanoscale is crucial to harnessing the potential of strain gradients in practical applications, and such a progress requires a substantial support from theory. In spite of impressive recent advances, first-principles calculations of flexoelectricity remain technically challenging at several levels: first, the breakdown of translational lattice periodicity that a strain gradient entails is problematic to treat in the context of traditional electronic-structure methods; second, the stringent length- and time-scale constraints of direct quantum-mechanical approaches limit the applicability of these methods to real problems, which often involve complex sample shapes and morphologies. This project is aimed at overcoming these obstacles from their very root, via the development of ground-breaking innovations in electronic-structure and multiscale methodologies, and at using these advances to address a number of pressing physical questions in the context of energy and information technologies. In particular, the objectives of this project are: (i) identifying the microscopic mechanisms that are most effective at delivering a strong flexoelectric response in a variety of materials; (ii) understanding how these bulk effects are modified by size, shape and boundary conditions, and how they interact with other material properties; (iii) supporting the experimental interpretation by critically assessing alternative physical interpretations of the observed effects (e.g. compositional gradients); (iv) exploring the functionalities enabled by strain gradients in complex materials systems, including 2D crystals, semiconductor nanowires and multiferroics. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
W2057311563 | The role of strike-slip faults in the displacement of the Palaeotethys suture zone in Southeast Thailand | Abstract Six N–S tectono-stratigraphic belts can be recognized in Southeast Thailand, each with a distinct stratigraphy and igneous history. The westernmost Belt (I) is thought to be part of the Sibumasu Block, and the easternmost (V) to include part of the Indochina Block. Between those, Belt III comprises acid volcanic rocks, volcaniclastics, and Carboniferous to Triassic sedimentary rocks with distinctive faunas, interpreted to be a volcanic arc; Belt IV comprises Triassic rocks of back-arc basin origin; Belt V is interpreted as a Permian accretionary complex on the western flank of Indochina; and VI is an unconformable cover of Jurassic–Cretaceous red-beds correlating with the Khorat Group. A history of the Triassic Indosinian Orogeny is proposed, leading to the cratonization of Southeast Thailand by the end-Triassic. The apparent absence in Southeast Thailand of rocks from the Devonian–Triassic Palaeotethys ocean (the Inthanon Zone of Northern Thailand) is suggested to have resulted from a phase of post-Indosinian, oblique to longitudinal, sinistral, strike-slip faulting. That phase is thought to have included displacement on the Mae Yuam Fault which bounds the Inthanon Zone in Northern Thailand. Then followed a phase of transverse, sinistral, strike-slip faulting which offset the tectono-stratigraphic belts and faults of the earlier phase. | [
"Earth System Science"
]
|
851910 | Rational Engineering of Synthetic Systems for Propagation of Information via Catalytic Assembly of Copies | Copying of information-bearing polymer templates is vital to life. The central dogma of molecular biology describes how a sequence of nucleotides in DNA is copied into a sequence of nucleotides in a newly-assembled RNA polymer, and then into a sequence of amino acids in a protein. These processes involve sophisticated machinery in extant organisms, but even the ribosome is bound by the same physical principles as simpler systems that must have operated in early life. Despite the fundamental importance of copying, and its potential for the engineering of complex molecular systems, we do not understand these basic principles that enable accurate and reliable copies to be made of polymer templates, and cannot build minimal synthetic copying systems.
I propose to explore minimal models of copying, leveraging recent advances in the thermodynamics of small, fluctuating systems and the thermodynamics of information processing, to identify these principles. I will translate this insight, via detailed molecular simulation and experimental characterisation of novel reaction motifs, into the construction of minimal synthetic copying systems. I will construct these systems from non-biological synthetic DNA.
The project will provide insight into analogous processes in living organisms, and shed light on primitive living systems. It will also lay the groundwork for engineering synthetic systems with key cell-like functionalities, providing a mechanism for the production of complex assemblies that is fundamentally distinct from traditional self-assembly. Theory and simulation will drive the experiments, making rational design of systems possible whilst providing insight into the fundamental thermodynamics of information processing and computation, and the biophysics of novel nucleic acid interactions. Indeed, designing and building concrete molecular systems based on fundamental theory will enhance our understanding of the theories themselves. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
]
|
10.1016/j.cplett.2011.10.055 | Frozen density embedding calculations with the orbital-dependent localized Hartree-Fock Kohn-Sham potential | We extend the Kohn-Sham equations with constrained density (KSCED) to the use of orbital dependent functionals, namely the localized Hartree-Fock (LHF) functional, which is free from the Coulomb self-interaction error. We show that the LHF-KSCED approach yields an accurate description of the embedded density of weakly-bound systems. This performance is rationalized in terms of the reduced importance of the nonadditive kinetic embedding contributions in LHF-KSCED calculations. As a sample application of the LHF-KSCED method we study the ionization potential of solvated thymine. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
]
|
10.1016/j.susc.2017.08.002 | Alloyed surfaces: New substrates for graphene growth | We report a systematic ab-initio density functional theory investigation of Ni(111) surface alloyed with elements of group IV (Si, Ge and Sn), demonstrating the possibility to use it to grow high quality graphene. Ni(111) surface represents an ideal substrate for graphene, due to its catalytic properties and perfect matching with the graphene lattice constant. However, Dirac bands of graphene growth on Ni(111) are completely destroyed due to the strong hybridization between carbon pz and Ni d orbitals. Group IV atoms, namely Si, Ge and Sn, once deposited on Ni(111) surface, form an ordered alloyed surface with 3×3-R30° reconstruction. We demonstrate that, at variance with the pure Ni(111) surface, alloyed surfaces effectively decouple graphene from the substrate, resulting unstrained due to the nearly perfect lattice matching and preserves linear Dirac bands without the strong hybridization with Ni d states. The proposed surfaces can be prepared before graphene growth without resorting on post-growth processes which necessarily alter the electronic and structural properties of graphene. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
10.1063/1.3554695 | On The Classification Of Scalar Evolutionary Integrable Equations In 2 1 Dimensions | We consider evolutionary equations of the form ut = F(u, w) where w=Dx−1Dyu is the nonlocality, and the right hand side F is polynomial in the derivatives of u and w. The recent paper [Ferapontov, Moro, and Novikov, J. Phys. A: Math. Theor. 52, 18 (2009)] provides a complete list of integrable third order equations of this kind. Here we extend the classification to fifth order equations. Besides the known examples of Kadomtsev–Petviashvili, Veselov–Novikov, and Harry Dym equations, as well as fifth order analogs and modifications thereof, our list contains a number of equations which are apparently new. We conjecture that our examples exhaust the list of scalar polynomial integrable equations with the nonlocality w. The classification procedure consists of two steps. First, we classify quasilinear systems which may (potentially) occur as dispersionless limits of integrable scalar evolutionary equations. After that we reconstruct dispersive terms based on the requirement of the inheritance of hydrodynamic . . . | [
"Mathematics"
]
|
10.1051/0004-6361/201935459 | Stringent Limits On The Magnetic Field Strength In The Disc Of Tw Hya Alma Observations Of Cn Polarisation | Despite their importance in the star formation process, measurements of magnetic field strength in proto-planetary discs remain rare. While linear polarisation of dust and molecular lines can give insight into the magnetic field structure, only observations of the circular polarisation produced by Zeeman splitting provide a direct measurement of magnetic field strenghts. One of the most promising probes of magnetic field strengths is the paramagnetic radical CN. Here we present the first Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the Zeeman splitting of CN in the disc of TW Hya. The observations indicate an excellent polarisation performance of ALMA, but fail to detect significant polarisation. An analysis of eight individual CN hyperfine components as well as a stacking analysis of the strongest (non-blended) hyperfine components yields the most stringent limits obtained so far on the magnetic field strength in a proto-planetary disc. We find that the vertical component of the magnetic field vertical bar B-z vertical bar < 0. 8 mG (1 sigma limit). We also provide a 1 sigma toroidal field strength limit of < 30 mG. These limits rule out some of the earlier accretion disc models, but remain consistent with the most recent detailed models with e ffi cient advection. We detect marginal linear polarisation from the dust continuum, but the almost purely toroidal geometry of the polarisation vectors implies that his is due to radiatively aligned grains. | [
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Universe Sciences"
]
|
W4396633455 | La identidad étnica y el orgullo por el Oktoberfest se relacionaron con las percepciones de riesgo de los residentes en tiempos de crisis. | La crisis económica, social y sanitaria surgida a raíz de la Covid-19, despertó el interés de académicos y organizadores de eventos, por conocer las percepciones de los residentes de los destinos, sobre los riesgos y beneficios asociados a eventos de la talla del Oktorbefest (Blumenau, Brasil), y su influencia en las respuestas actitudinales y conductuales en un momento de gran adversidad como este. Esta investigación, explora cómo influye la identidad cultural y la participación de los residentes a un festival, en los riesgos y beneficios percibidos, en caso de que el evento se realice en 2021, aún bajo el impacto de la COVID-19. La investigación utilizó cuestionarios aplicados en línea a una muestra de 600 encuestados. Los resultados de los análisis (Monovariante, Análisis Factorial Exploratorio y Análisis Factorial Confirmatorio/Modelado de Ecuaciones Estructurales) sugieren un vínculo entre los atributos probados. La identidad cultural fortalece sentimientos y creencias positivas que contribuyen a actitudes y comportamientos favorables a los turistas, reduciendo la percepción de riesgo, indicando el deseo de los residentes por la fiesta. La evidencia obtenida en este estudio contribuye a la gestión de eventos de gran escala, destacándose, además, la originalidad de la investigación al realizar la superposición teórica de las dimensiones identidad cultural, pertenencia, orgullo, receptividad, percepción de riesgo y beneficios asociados a las fiestas, estudiadas por separado en investigaciones anteriores. | [
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
]
|
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4162-15.2016 | Abstract And Effector Selective Decision Signals Exhibit Qualitatively Distinct Dynamics Before Delayed Perceptual Reports | UNLABELLED Electrophysiological research has isolated neural signatures of decision formation in a variety of brain regions. Studies in rodents and monkeys have focused primarily on effector-selective signals that translate the emerging decision into a specific motor plan, but, more recently, research on the human brain has identified an abstract signature of evidence accumulation that does not appear to play any direct role in action preparation. The functional dissociations between these distinct signal types have only begun to be characterized, and their dynamics during decisions with deferred actions with or without foreknowledge of stimulus-effector mapping, a commonly studied task scenario in single-unit and functional imaging investigations, have not been established. Here we traced the dynamics of distinct abstract and effector-selective decision signals in the form of the broad-band centro-parietal positivity (CPP) and limb-selective β-band (8-16 and 18-30 Hz) EEG activity, respectively, during delayed-reported motion direction decisions with and without foreknowledge of direction-response mapping. With foreknowledge, the CPP and β-band signals exhibited a similar gradual build-up following evidence onset, but whereas choice-predictive β-band activity persisted up until the delayed response, the CPP dropped toward baseline after peaking. Without foreknowledge, the CPP exhibited identical dynamics, whereas choice-selective β-band activity was eliminated. These findings highlight qualitative functional distinctions between effector-selective and abstract decision signals and are of relevance to the assumptions founding functional neuroimaging investigations of decision-making. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Neural signatures of evidence accumulation have been isolated in numerous brain regions. Although animal neurophysiology has largely concentrated on effector-selective decision signals that translate the emerging decision into a specific motor plan, recent research on the human brain has isolated abstract neural signatures of decision formation that are independent of specific sensory and motor requirements. Here, we examine the functional distinctions between the two distinct classes of decision variable signal during decisions with deferred actions with and without foreknowledge of stimulus-effector mapping. We find salient distinctions in the dynamics of abstract versus effector-selective decision signals in the human brain, in terms of sustainment through response delays and contingency on foreknowledge of stimulus-response mapping. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System"
]
|
10.5194/se-4-357-2013 | An objective rationale for the choice of regularisation parameter with application to global multiple-frequency <i>S</i>-wave tomography | Abstract. In a linear ill-posed inverse problem, the regularisation parameter (damping) controls the balance between minimising both the residual data misfit and the model norm. Poor knowledge of data uncertainties often makes the selection of damping rather arbitrary. To go beyond that subjectivity, an objective rationale for the choice of damping is presented, which is based on the coherency of delay-time estimates in different frequency bands. Our method is tailored to the problem of global multiple-frequency tomography (MFT), using a data set of 287 078 S-wave delay times measured in five frequency bands (10, 15, 22, 34, and 51 s central periods). Whereas for each ray path the delay-time estimates should vary coherently from one period to the other, the noise most likely is not coherent. Thus, the lack of coherency of the information in different frequency bands is exploited, using an analogy with the cross-validation method, to identify models dominated by noise. In addition, a sharp change of behaviour of the model &ell;∞-norm, as the damping becomes lower than a threshold value, is interpreted as the signature of data noise starting to significantly pollute at least one model component. Models with damping larger than this threshold are diagnosed as being constructed with poor data exploitation. Finally, a preferred model is selected from the remaining range of permitted model solutions. This choice is quasi-objective in terms of model interpretation, as the selected model shows a high degree of similarity with almost all other permitted models (correlation superior to 98% up to spherical harmonic degree 80). The obtained tomographic model is displayed in the mid lower-mantle (660–1910 km depth), and is shown to be compatible with three other recent global shear-velocity models. A wider application of the presented rationale should permit us to converge towards more objective seismic imaging of Earth's mantle. | [
"Earth System Science",
"Mathematics"
]
|
W2471470036 | Design of Self-Healing Supramolecular Rubbers by Introducing Ionic Cross-Links into Natural Rubber via a Controlled Vulcanization | Introducing ionic associations is one of the most effective approaches to realize a self-healing behavior for rubbers. However, most of commercial rubbers are nonpolar rubbers without now available functional groups to be converted into ionic groups. In this paper, our strategy was based on a controlled peroxide-induced vulcanization to generate massive ionic cross-links via polymerization of zinc dimethacrylate (ZDMA) in natural rubber (NR) and exploited it as a potential self-healable material. We controlled vulcanization process to retard the formation of covalent cross-link network, and successfully generated a reversible supramolecular network mainly constructed by ionic cross-links. Without the restriction of covalent cross-linkings, the NR chains in ionic supramolecular network had good flexibility and mobility. The nature that the ionic cross-links was easily reconstructed and rearranged facilitating the self-healing behavior, thereby enabling a fully cut sample to rejoin and retain to its original properties after a suitable self-healing process at ambient temperature. This study thus demonstrates a feasible approach to impart an ionic association induced self-healing function to commercial rubbers without ionic functional groups. | [
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering"
]
|
W1996726497 | Efficient Computation of the Branching Structure of an Algebraic Curve | An efficient algorithm for computing the branching structure of a compact Riemann surface defined via an algebraic curve is presented. Generators of the fundamental group of the base of the ramified covering punctured at the discriminant points of the curve are constructed via a minimal spanning tree of the discriminant points. This leads to paths of minimal length between the points, which is important for a later stage where these paths are used as integration contours to compute periods of the surface. The branching structure of the surface is obtained by analytically continuing the roots of the equation defining the algebraic curve along the previously constructed generators of the fundamental group. | [
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
]
|
10.1261/rna.057760.116 | Purification and analysis of endogenous human RNA exosome complexes | As a result of its importance in key RNA metabolic processes, the ribonucleolytic RNA exosome complex has been the focus of intense study for almost two decades. Research on exosome subunit assembly, cofactor and substrate interaction, enzymatic catalysis and structure have largely been conducted using complexes produced in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae or in bacteria. Here, we examine different populations of endogenous exosomes from human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293 cells and test their enzymatic activity and structural integrity. We describe methods to prepare EXOSC10-containing, enzymatically active endogenous human exosomes at suitable yield and purity for in vitro biochemistry and negative stain transmission electron microscopy. This opens the door for assays designed to test the in vitro effects of putative cofactors on human exosome activity and will enable structural studies of preparations from endogenous sources. | [
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
10.1103/PhysRevB.93.235434 | Orbital effect of magnetic field on the Majorana phase diagram | Studies of Majorana bound states in semiconducting nanowires frequently neglect the orbital effect of a magnetic field. Systematically studying its role leads us to several conclusions for designing Majoranas in this system. Specifically, we show that for experimentally relevant parameter values the orbital effect of a magnetic field has a stronger impact on the dispersion relation than the Zeeman effect. While Majoranas do not require the presence of only one dispersion subband, we observe that the size of the Majoranas becomes unpractically large, and the band gap unpractically small, when more than one subband is filled. Since the orbital effect of a magnetic field breaks several symmetries of the Hamiltonian, it leads to the appearance of large regions in parameter space with no band gap whenever the magnetic field is not aligned with the wire axis. The reflection symmetry of the Hamiltonian with respect to the plane perpendicular to the wire axis guarantees that the wire stays gapped in the topologically nontrivial region as long as the field is aligned with the wire. | [
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
]
|
640093 | Cerebellar circuit mechanisms of coordinated locomotion in mice | A remarkable aspect of motor control is our seemingly effortless ability to generate coordinated movements. How is activity within neural circuits orchestrated to allow us to engage in complex activities like gymnastics, riding a bike, or walking down the street while drinking a cup of coffee? The cerebellum is critical for coordinated movement, and the well-described, stereotyped circuitry of the cerebellum has made it an attractive system for neural circuits research. Much is known about how activity and plasticity in its identified cell types contribute to simple forms of motor learning. In contrast, while gait ataxia, or uncoordinated walking, is a hallmark of cerebellar damage, the circuit mechanisms underlying cerebellar contributions to coordinated locomotion are not well understood. One limitation has been the difficulty in extracting quantitative measures of coordination from the complex, whole body action of locomotion. We have developed a custom-built system (LocoMouse) to analyze mouse locomotor coordination. It tracks continuous paw, snout, and tail trajectories in 3D with unprecedented spatiotemporal resolution and it has allowed us to identify specific, quantitative locomotor elements that depend on intact cerebellar function. Here we will combine this quantitative behavioral approach with electrophysiology and optogenetics to investigate circuit mechanisms of locomotor coordination. We will 1) Optogenetically silence the output of cerebellar subregions to understand their distinct contributions to locomotion. 2) Record from identified neurons and correlate their activity with specific locomotor parameters. 3) Optogenetically stimulate defined cell types to investigate circuit mechanisms of coordinated locomotion. These experiments will establish causal relationships between neural circuit activity and coordinated motor control, a problem with important implications for both health and disease. | [
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
]
|
interreg_2620 | PARKS WITHOUT BORDERS | The project aims at increasing “liveability” of natural areas mainly through the creation of an inclusive and friendly eco-system allowing the full access also to people not able to visit and enjoy natural beauties because of architectural barriers. The main actions are: • Light infrastructures in the parks and natural areas, creating facilitated natural zones, providing signage and fixed and movable equipment • Identification of dangerous sites that need to be secured • Initiatives to involve population, mainly elderly, disabled and children (technical campuses, excursions, etc.) using sport as an associative and active element • Elaboration of a territory marketing plan to manage natural resources, mapping “accessible natural zones”, creating “park guardians”; • Establishment of a network among parks for good practices exchange. | [
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
]
|
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