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10.1090/S0894-0347-2012-00736-X
|
Sieve Methods In Group Theory I Powers In Linear Groups
|
A general sieve method for groups is formulated. It enables one to “measure” subsets of a finitely generated group. As an application we show that if Γ is a finitely generated non virtually-solvable linear group of characteristic zero then the set of proper powers in Γ is exponentially small. This is a far reaching strengthening of the main result of [HKLS].
|
[
"Mathematics"
] |
639109
|
Functional 2D metamaterials at visible wavelengths
|
For the last 15 years, optics has undergone a remarkable evolution towards ever decreasing sizes, better integration in complex systems, and more compact devices readily available to mass markets. Whereas traditional optics is at the centimeter scale, newly developed techniques use nanoscale objects to control, guide, and focus light. From the capability to shape metallic and dielectric nanostructures has emerged the field of nanophotonics.
Advances in nanophotonics offer the possibility to control the material’s optical properties to create artificial materials with electromagnetic properties not found in nature. Man-made 3D metamaterials have interesting fundamental aspects and present many advantages with respect to conventional devices. Unexpected effects have led to the development of interesting applications like high resolution lenses and cloaking devices.
Inspired by this new technology, we have developed new 2D metamaterials. Our flat metamaterials (metasurfaces) are much simpler to manufacture than their 3D counterparts. By depositing a set of nanostructures at an interface, we can immediately control the light properties; unlike refractive optical components, the wavefront is modified without propagation. As of today, these interfaces are created using metallic nanostructures and work in the infrared. In this ERC, we plan to extend the concept of optical metasurfaces in the visible which is the most important wavelength range for applications. By combining with optically active semiconductors such as InGaAlN, we will add optical gain and modulation capability to the system to create new, efficient optoelectronic devices. The response of the metasurfaces is tunable by changing the environment surrounding the nanostructures. We will use this property to create ultrathin reconfigurable flat devices. Metasurfaces will be integrated with AlN/GaN to modulate light at high frequencies and further exploited to control polariton gases in solid state metasystems.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1007/978-3-642-39244-3_21
|
Opportunities For Asteroid Retrieval Missions
|
Recently, significant interest has been devoted to the understanding of minor bodies of the Solar System, including near-Earth and main belt asteroids and comets. NASA, ESA and JAXA have conceived a series of missions to obtain data from such bodies, having in mind that their characterisation not only provides a deeper insight into the Solar System, but also represents a technological challenge for space exploration. Near Earth Objects in particular have also stepped into prominence because of two important aspects: they are among the easiest celestial bodies to reach from the Earth and they may represent a potential impact threat. This increased interest has encouraged the research community to propose further asteroid engineering projects, such as NEO retrieval missions, taking advantage of the synergies with current minor bodies search campaigns and asteroid manipulation technology development initiatives.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1088/1742-5468/2014/05/P05014
|
The Three Dimensional Ising Spin Glass In An External Magnetic Field The Role Of The Silent Majority
|
We perform equilibrium parallel-tempering simulations of the 3D Ising Edwards-Anderson spin glass in a field, using the Janus computer. A traditional analysis shows no signs of a phase transition. Yet, we encounter dramatic fluctuations in the behaviour of the model: Averages over all the data only describe the behaviour of a small fraction of it. Therefore we develop a new approach to study the equilibrium behaviour of the system, by classifying the measurements as a function of a conditioning variate. We propose a finite-size scaling analysis based on the probability distribution function of the conditioning variate, which may accelerate the convergence to the thermodynamic limit. In this way, we find a non-trivial spectrum of behaviours, where a part of the measurements behaves as the average, while the majority of them shows signs of scale invariance. As a result, we can estimate the temperature interval where the phase transition in a field ought to lie, if it exists. Although this would be critical regime is unreachable with present resources, the numerical challenge is finally well posed.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
884179
|
Integrated approach for environmentally benign c-c coupling reactions
|
Pharmaceutical industry needs environmentally cleaner processes. One of the most important family of chemical reaction is the formation of carbon-carbon bond by Pd mediated C-C coupling. It is estimated, that more than 50% of new drug synthesis will include at least one C-C coupling reactions. However, there are several issues regarding this reaction related to high environmental impact, complicated processes due to air-sensitive catalyst, post-processing, solvent issues, and catalyst recovery. We have developed a new integrated approach for carrying out C-C coupling reactions in an environmental benign and cost-effective way. Our CC-Coupler method targets to overcome all the issues regarding the reaction. Our aim is to commercialise the CC-Coupler as an integrated technology, providing an air-stable, highly performant catalyst with an adequate flow-chemistry device and parameter set optimised for the clients’ needs. In this Phase 1 project, as a first step, we shall carry out a feasibility assessment. The success of this project will promote the growth of our company and make a step towards cleaner pharmaceutical industry.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
W2145851958
|
Design optimization of Floor Cranes
|
This paper inculcates a way to make the floor crane as more efficient with less material requirement. This has been achieved by minimizing reach of the crane from the floor. The crane is assumed to be cantilever type. Also tension and acceleration in steel ropes are analysed to ensure the safety. The optimized crane successfully passed the various analysing tests which include deflection, bending moment, rope tension and acceleration of the loads in the rope. It also includes another method which provides the virtual user interface for the design engineer. By providing the crane dimensions in the virtual panel, the predefined program automatically creates the CAD modelling in the CAD software. The program is made with visual studio and Solid works macro. Finally, this work reduces the burden on the design engineer and increases the productivity.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2225236746
|
Majorana Positivity and the Fermion Sign Problem of Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations
|
The sign problem is a major obstacle in quantum Monte Carlo simulations for many-body fermion systems. We examine this problem with a new perspective based on the Majorana reflection positivity and Majorana Kramers positivity. Two sufficient conditions are proven for the absence of the fermion sign problem. Our proof provides a unified description for all the interacting lattice fermion models previously known to be free of the sign problem based on the auxiliary field quantum Monte Carlo method. It also allows us to identify a number of new sign-problem-free interacting fermion models including, but not limited to, lattice fermion models with repulsive interactions but without particle-hole symmetry and interacting topological insulators with spin-flip terms.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1016/j.watres.2017.02.069
|
Electrochemical oxidation of iron and alkalinity generation for efficient sulfide control in sewers
|
The addition of iron salts is one of the most commonly used dosing strategies for sulfide control in sewers. However, iron salts decrease the sewage pH which not only reduces the effectiveness of sulfide precipitation but also enhances the release of residual sulfide to the sewer atmosphere. Equally important, concentrated iron salt solutions are corrosive and their frequent transport, handling, and on-site storage often come with Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) concerns. Here, we experimentally demonstrated a novel sulfide control approach using electrochemical systems with parallel placed iron electrodes. This enabled combining anodic dissolved iron species release with cathodic hydroxyl anion production, which alleviates all the aforementioned concerns. A long-term experiment was successfully carried out achieving an average sulfide removal efficiency of 95. 4 ± 4. 4% at low voltage input of 2. 90 ± 0. 54 V over the course of 8 weeks. This electrochemical method was demonstrated to successfully achieve efficient sulfide control. In addition, it increases the sewage pH, thereby overcoming the drawbacks associated with the pH decrease in the case of conventional iron salt dosing. Ferrous ions were produced at an overall coulombic efficiency (CE) of 98. 2 ± 1. 2%, whereas oxygen evolution and direct sulfide oxidation were not observed. Short-term experiments showed that increasing either inter-electrode gap or current density increased the cell voltage associated with the increase in the ohmic drop of the system. Overall, this study highlights the practical potential of in-situ generation of dissolved iron species and simultaneous hydroxyl anion generation for efficient sulfide control in sewers.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
892827
|
Single molecule bio-electronic smart system array for clinical testing
|
Digitizing biomarkers analysis by quantifying them at the single-molecule level is the new frontier for advancing the science of precision health. The SiMBiT project will develop a bio-electronic smart system leveraging on an existing lab-based proof-of-concept that can perform single-molecule detection of both proteins and DNA bio-markers. Specifically, the SiMBiT activities will develop the lab-based device into a cost-effective portable multiplexing array prototype that integrates, with a modular approach, novel materials and standard components/interfaces. The SiMBiT platform exhibits enhanced sensing capabilities: specificity towards both genomic and protein markers along with single-molecule detection limits and time-to-results within two hours. This makes the SiMBiT prototype the world best performing bio-electronic sensing system ever. SiMBiT will reach these ambitious goals with a multidisciplinary research effort involving device-physicists, analytical-chemists, bio-chemists, clinicians, electronic- and system-engineers. The platform is also single-use and cost-effective and can work in low-resource settings. The SiMBiT field-effect sensing system will be fabricated by means of future mass-manufacturable, large-area compatible, scalable techniques such as printing and other direct-writing processes. 3D printing of a module is also foreseen. The SiMBiT prototype will demonstrate, for first time, a matrix of up to 96 bio-electronic sensors and a Si IC chip for the processing of all data coming from the matrix, multiplexing single-molecule detection. As the Si IC pins are limited the chip area is reduced and its cost minimized, enabling a single-use assay plate. SiMBiT will apply the multiplexing single molecule technology to the early detection of human pancreatic neoplasms in a well-defined clinical context, performing simultaneous analysis of genomic and protein markers with a minimal sample volume, reduced costs and reduced time-to-results.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1088/0004-637X/807/1/91
|
Radio Timing And Optical Photometry Of The Black Widow System Psr J1953 1846A In The Globular Cluster M71
|
We report on the determination of the astrometric, spin, and orbital parameters for PSR J1953+1846 A, a "black widow" binary millisecond pulsar in the globular cluster M71. By using the accurate position and orbital parameters obtained from radio timing, we identified the optical companion in Advanced Camera for Surveys/Hubble Space Telescope images. It turns out to be a faint (mF606W ≳ 24 mF814 ≳ 23) and variable star located at only ~0''". 06 from the pulsar timing position. The light curve shows a maximum at the pulsar inferior conjunction and a minimum at the pulsar superior conjunction, thus confirming the association with the system. The shape of the optical modulation suggests that the companion star is heated, likely by the pulsar wind. The comparison with the X-ray light curve possibly suggests the presence of an intra-binary shock due to the interaction between the pulsar wind and the material released by the companion. This is the second identification (after COM-M5C) of an optical companion to a black widow pulsar in a globular cluster. Interestingly, the two companions show a similar light curve and share the same position in the color-magnitude diagram.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
185864
|
Zebra academy ready to market feasibility study
|
Stroke is the second cause of death world-wide and the second cause of disability-adjusted life in high-income countries.
The burden of stroke can be mitigated by emergent expert support. Much progress has been achieved for inhospital stroke
management, but a scalable solution to optimize prehospital care has not yet been established. Telemedicine is the prime
candidate to bridge this gap by transporting medical experts virtually to prehospital for immediate initiation of care during
ambulance transportation. Led by disruptive innovation, we were the first to develop a proof-of-concept for 24/7 inambulance
telestroke support using our dedicated telemedicine system. Over the past years, we have developed an
integrated audio-video and point-of-care medical device for acute stroke care which works across hospitals and emergency
vehicles. To achieve the proposed innovation we have gone through the following approaches to develop our first prototype
architecture which has been tested in a clinical environment, involving experienced researchers in stroke and emergency
care:
*Creation of the ICT platform: based on existing cloud telecommunication systems, we built the architecture with a focus on
open access of devices that has gone through several input cycles from many stakeholders. Zebra Academy has based the
development of its infrastructure on EU developed technology FIWARE. Zebra Academy is also one of the certified
successful stories (FIWARE VIP) in the use of this technology.
*Creation of the in-ambulance communication device: currently on its 6th phase we have gone through several lean cycles in
which physicians, patients and ambulance personnel have given input.
*Legal and ethical compliance: our legal experts have provided an overview and in-depth-analysis of applicable legal issues
with regards to data protection and privacy, fundamental rights and ethical questions, medical device regulations, liability
issues, reimbursement and cross-border healthcare.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
interreg_3739
|
TALKING LANDS: talks between the lands of Apulia and Greece
|
The project aims at transforming the immaterial cultural heritage, made of narrative oral tradition and local identity into new artistic and theatrical performances to be enjoyed from a wider audience. It capitalises on the outputs of a previous project “Terre Parlanti”, widening partnership and providing innovative activities to recover and promote ancient oral traditions by: • Narrative laboratories, about stories, popular voices, images, fragments of daily life • Events of narration, promoted by the International Study Centre (output of the previous project), realized with artists, cultural associations and local actors of both countries, identifying the track of common cultural growth and peculiarities theatrical seasons in each city partner • A DVD collection designed for TV, collecting videos of the shows, backstage, researches and laboratories • An on-line journal devoted to narrative themes • Literary meetings, recorded on DVD and available on-line • Arrangement of the theatrical Room of the Talking Lands .
|
[
"Studies of Cultures and Arts",
"The Study of the Human Past"
] |
W2306181843
|
Entre lo público y lo gubernamental. Caso ecuador tv.
|
The communication between the public and the governmental is a topic of study and discussion in the field work of Ecuador TV. In this final work of grade the public communication, television, public opinion and the journalism categories are development to understand the public service in the television communication medium.
When Rafael Correa got the Ecuador´s presidency, the communication started to give transcendental turns. Ecuador TV was in the 2007 with the finality to fragments the monopolies of the mass media that they have led more of fifty years in the Ecuadorian society. Considerate as the first Ecuador´s public channel, ECTV started with the objective serving to citizenship and providing educational and cultural contents.
|
[
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
] |
10.21931/rb/2020.05.01.2
|
Anthropologists Respond to The Lancet EAT Commission
|
The Lancet Commissions are widely known as aspirational pieces, providing the mechanisms for consortia and networks of researchers to organize, collate, interrogate and publish around a range of subjects. Although the Commissions are predominantly led by biomedical scientists and cognate public health professionals, many address social science questions and involve social science expertise. Medical anthropologist David Napier was lead author of the Lancet Commission on Culture and Health (2014), for example, and all commissions on global health (https://www. thelancet. com/global-health/commissions) address questions of social structure, everyday life, the social determinants of health, and global inequalities.
|
[
"Studies of Cultures and Arts",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1093/police/paz035
|
Machine Learning and the Police: Asking the Right Questions
|
How can we secure an accessible and open democratic debate about police use of predictive analytics when the technology itself is a specialized area of expertise? Police utilize technologies of prediction and automation where the underlying technology is often a machine learning (ML) model. The article argues that important issues concerning ML decision models can be unveiled without detailed knowledge about the learning algorithm, empowering non-ML experts and stakeholders in debates over if, and how to, include them, for example, in the form of predictive policing. Non-ML experts can, and should, review ML models. We provide a ‘toolbox’ of questions about three elements of a decision model that can be fruitfully scrutinized by non-ML experts: the learning data, the learning goal, and constructivism. Showing this room for fruitful criticism can empower non-ML experts and improve democratic accountability when using ML models in policing.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.04.045
|
A single glance at natural face images generate larger and qualitatively different category-selective spatio-temporal signatures than other ecologically-relevant categories in the human brain
|
Although humans discriminate natural images of faces from other categories at a single glance, clarifying the neural specificity and spatio-temporal dynamics of this process without low-level visual confounds remains a challenge. We recorded high-density scalp electroencephalogram while presenting natural images of various objects at a fast periodic rate (5. 88. images/s). In different stimulation sequences, numerous variable exemplars of three categories associated with cortical specialization in neuroimaging - faces, body parts, or houses - appeared every five images (5. 88. Hz/5. =. 1. 18. Hz). In these fast periodic visual stimulation (FPVS) sequences, common low- and high-level visual processes between these categories and other objects are captured at the 5. 88. Hz frequency, while high-level category-selective responses are objectively quantified at the 1. 18. Hz frequency and harmonics. Category-selective responses differed quantitatively and qualitatively between faces, body parts and houses. First, they were much larger (2-4 times) for faces over the whole scalp. Second, specific and reliable scalp topographical maps of category-selective responses pointed to distinct principle neural sources for faces (ventral occipito-temporal), body parts (lateral occipito-temporal) and houses (dorso-medial occipital). Category-selective EEG responses were found at multiple time-windows from 110 to 600. ms post-stimulus onset. Faces elicited the most complex spatio-temporal profile with up to four selective responses, although body parts and houses also elicited selective responses more complex than previously described. These observations indicate that a single glance at natural face images inserted in a rapid stream of natural objects generates a quantitatively and qualitatively unique category-selective spatio-temporal signature in occipito-temporal cortical areas of the human brain.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1111/1755-0998.12516
|
High Rates Of Phasing Errors In Highly Polymorphic Species With Low Levels Of Linkage Disequilibrium
|
Short read sequencing of diploid individuals does not permit the direct inference of the sequence on each of the two homologous chromosomes. Although various phasing software packages exist, they were primarily tailored for and tested on human data, which differ from other species in factors that influence phasing, such as SNP density, amounts of linkage disequilibrium (LD) and sample sizes. Despite becoming increasingly popular for other species, the reliability of phasing in non-human data has not been evaluated to a sufficient extent. We scrutinized the phasing accuracy for Drosophila melanogaster, a species with high polymorphism levels and reduced LD relative to humans. We phased two D. melanogaster populations and compared the results to the known haplotypes. The performance increased with size of the reference panel and was highest when the reference panel and phased individuals were from the same population. Full genomic SNP data and inclusion of sequence read information also improved phasing. Despite humans and Drosophila having similar switch error rates between polymorphic sites, the distances between switch errors were much shorter in Drosophila with only fragments <300-1500 bp being correctly phased with ≥95% confidence. This suggests that the higher SNP density cannot compensate for the higher recombination rate in D. melanogaster. Furthermore, we show that populations that have gone through demographic events such as bottlenecks can be phased with higher accuracy. Our results highlight that statistically phased data are particularly error prone in species with large population sizes or populations lacking suitable reference panels.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
] |
10.1371/journal.pone.0168895
|
Personalized media: A genetically informative investigation of individual differences in online media use
|
Online media use has become an increasingly important behavioral domain over the past decade. However, studies into the etiology of individual differences in media use have focused primarily on pathological use. Here, for the first time, we test the genetic influences on online media use in a UK representative sample of 16 year old twins, who were assessed on time spent on educational (N = 2,585 twin pairs) and entertainment websites (N = 2,614 twin pairs), time spent gaming online (N = 2,635 twin pairs), and Facebook use (N = 4,333 twin pairs). Heritability was substantial for all forms of online media use, ranging from 34% for educational sites to 37% for entertainment sites and 39% for gaming. Furthermore, genetics accounted for 24% of the variance in Facebook use. Our results support an active model of the environment, where young people choose their online engagements in line with their genetic propensities.
|
[
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
10.1016/j.brainres.2016.03.029
|
The UPR and synaptic dysfunction in neurodegeneration
|
Activation of the unfolded protein response (UPR) is emerging as a common theme in neurodegenerative diseases, seen in both human brain tissue and mouse models. Genetic and pharmacological manipulation of the pathway in several mouse models has shown that this is not a passive consequence of the neurodegeneration process. Rather, over-activation of the PERK branch of the UPR directly contributes to disease pathogenesis through the critical reduction in neuronal protein synthesis rates via the phosphorylation of eIF2α. eIF2α-P levels are critical to learning and memory in health also; the sustained high levels in neurodegenerative disease results both in impaired learning and memory and to loss of synapse numbers and function essential for neuronal survival. Pharmacological inhibition of this process is strikingly neuroprotective in several models, leading to the discovery of the first small molecule to prevent neurodegeneration in vivo. Critically, this represents a generic approach for boosting memory and the prevention of neurodegeneration through rescue of synapses across the spectrum of these disorders, with few exceptions, independent of disease-specific proteins. Targeting the UPR, and particularly eIF2α-P-mediated translational failure is emerging as a compelling strategy for rescuing synaptic failure and neuronal loss for new treatments for dementia and neurodegenerative disease. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI:ER stress.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2013.06.016
|
Visual information constrains early and late stages of spoken-word recognition in sentence context
|
Audiovisual speech perception has been frequently studied considering phoneme, syllable and word processing levels. Here, we examined the constraints that visual speech information might exert during the recognition of words embedded in a natural sentence context. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) to words that could be either strongly or weakly predictable on the basis of the prior semantic sentential context and, whose initial phoneme varied in the degree of visual saliency from lip movements. When the sentences were presented audio-visually (Experiment 1), words weakly predicted from semantic context elicited a larger long-lasting N400, compared to strongly predictable words. This semantic effect interacted with the degree of visual saliency over a late part of the N400. When comparing audio-visual versus auditory alone presentation (Experiment 2), the typical amplitude-reduction effect over the auditory-evoked N100 response was observed in the audiovisual modality. Interestingly, a specific benefit of high- versus low-visual saliency constraints occurred over the early N100 response and at the late N400 time window, confirming the result of Experiment 1. Taken together, our results indicate that the saliency of visual speech can exert an influence over both auditory processing and word recognition at relatively late stages, and thus suggest strong interactivity between audio-visual integration and other (arguably higher) stages of information processing during natural speech comprehension.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
222077
|
Using zebrafish as a novel tool to improve the diagnosis and outcome of marfan syndrome
|
Recent technological advances have brought the implementation of personal and precision medicine in the clinic within reach. In this project, we are proposing to use zebrafish as a novel, efficient tool to improve the clinical diagnosis and treatment of Marfan Syndrome (MFS), a rare genetic disorder with a wide spectrum of clinical features. Since there is no definitive cure for MFS, patients need lifelong supportive treatment to prevent morbidity and mortality related to cardiovascular complications. Together with the detection of a number of syndromic symptoms, positive diagnosis of MFS relies on the identification of a deleterious mutation in the fibrillin-1 (FBN1) gene. Nevertheless, genetic testing often leads to the discovery of FBN1 variants which are not unequivocally linked to disease development. Current practice relies on the evaluation of historical and predictive parameters to classify variants of unknown significance as potentially causal mutations, but no biological model exists to efficiently validate the genetic classifications.
This project aims to make optimal use of the combination of the know-how of the researcher, Dr. Sips, in the field of cardiovascular physiology and animal models of disease, with the clinical expertise of the supervisor, Prof. De Backer, in the diagnosis and treatment of MFS patients. The goal is to develop a zebrafish-based model that will allow for the quick classification of unknown variants in the FBN1 gene to aid in the diagnosis of MFS. In addition, the model will allow an efficient screening of drug libraries to look for potential new therapies, which might make it possible to find patient-specific treatments.
Taken together, this project aims to take advantage of the synergy between the researcher and the supervisor in order to develop a novel strategy for a personalized approach to medicine. MFS is studied as a proof-of-concept clinical challenge with unmet needs in diagnosis and treatment.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
10.1145/3219819.3220119
|
Approximating The Spectrum Of A Graph
|
The spectrum of a network or graph $G=(V,E)$ with adjacency matrix A , consists of the eigenvalues of the normalized Laplacian $L= I - D^-1/2 A D^-1/2 $. This set of eigenvalues encapsulates many aspects of the structure of the graph, including the extent to which the graph posses community structures at multiple scales. We study the problem of approximating the spectrum, $lambda = (lambda_1,\dots,lambda_|V| )$, of G in the regime where the graph is too large to explicitly calculate the spectrum. We present a sublinear time algorithm that, given the ability to query a random node in the graph and select a random neighbor of a given node, computes a succinct representation of an approximation $\widetilde lambda = (\widetilde lambda_1,\dots,\widetilde lambda_|V| )$, such that $\|\widetilde lambda - lambda\|_1 le e |V|$. Our algorithm has query complexity and running time $exp(O(1/\eps))$, which is independent of the size of the graph, $|V|$. We demonstrate the practical viability of our algorithm on synthetically generated graphs, and on 15 different real-world graphs from the Stanford Large Network Dataset Collection, including social networks, academic collaboration graphs, and road networks. For the smallest of these graphs, we are able to validate the accuracy of our algorithm by explicitly calculating the true spectrum; for the larger graphs, such a calculation is computationally prohibitive. The spectra of these real-world networks reveal insights into the structural similarities and differences between them, illustrating the potential value of our algorithm for efficiently approximating the spectrum of large large networks.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1039/c3ra48018f
|
Lanthanide-doped nanoparticles for specific recognition of toll-like receptor (TLR) in human neutrophils
|
KYF4:Yb,Er nanoparticles were fabricated and functionalized with streptavidin for the recognition of toll-like receptors (TLRs) on human neutrophil through biotinylated lipopolysaccharide (biotin-LPS). X-Ray diffraction, Infrared spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy and Agarose Gel Electrophoresis were used to characterize the as-prepared and functionalized nanoparticles. Confocal Scanning Laser Microscopy was applied to study the TLR specific recognition using KYF4:Yb,Er and the uptake of the nanoparticles functionalized with BSA/Dextran-streptavidin in the presence of biotin-LPS by human neutrophils under normal (37 °C) and cell stressing conditions (4 °C). Confocal microscopy studies showed that the uptake of the functionalized KYF4:Yb,Er nanoparticles occurs faster and with a higher rate at 37 °C compared to the uptake at 4 °C, indicating that the uptake mechanism is an energy dependent process. Research reported in this work provides relevant guidance for the development of lanthanide doped KYF 4:Yb,Er nanoparticles as specific intracellular probes, allowing control of the nanoparticle-cell interactions by tuning the surface properties. Furthermore, our results would pave the way to the use of lanthanide-doped materials for imaging cellular processes such as uptake of nanoparticles and recognition of receptors involved in immune responses.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
647204
|
Quantifying the effects of interacting nutrient cycles on terrestrial biosphere dynamics and their climate feedbacks QUINCY
|
Nutrient availability plays a pivotal role in the response of terrestrial ecosystems to increasing atmospheric CO2 and climate change. The global role of nutrients is only poorly understood quantitatively, limiting the predictive understanding of terrestrial biosphere - climate feedbacks. The first generation of global nutrient-carbon cycle models shows strongly diverging estimates of the nutrient effect, resulting from lacking integration of ecosystem observations and fundamental uncertainties in the representation of governing processes. The objective of QUINCY is to clarify the role of the interacting terrestrial nitrogen and phosphorus cycles and their effects on terrestrial C allocation and residence times as well as terrestrial water fluxes. QUINCY will create a novel, predictive framework founded on the principle of resource optimisation, shifting the paradigm of terrestrial biosphere modelling towards an active biological control of matter flows. QUINCY’s main themes are (i) the effects of nutrient availability on plant photosynthesis and respiration, explicitly taking the energy requirement of nutrient acquisition into account, and (ii) the effects of vegetation-soil interactions, namely rhizosphere processes, on plant nutrient availability and soil C turnover. To corroborate these theoretical concepts, QUINCY will synthesise existing and ongoing ecosystem monitoring and manipulation studies. To specifically test emerging hypotheses on the effects of rhizosphere priming on soil C storage and plant nutrition - and to provide currently lacking data for soil-vegetation models - QUINCY will establish a tree mesocosm, elevated CO2 experiment. The novel model concepts will be consistently integrated to form a new general terrestrial biosphere model. For the first time, QUINCY will be able to address the multiway interactions of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and water cycles globally in a theoretically well-founded way commensurate with ecosystem observations.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering"
] |
10.1016/j.jinf.2017.04.004
|
Listeria monocytogenes meningitis in the Netherlands, 1985–2014: A nationwide surveillance study
|
Objectives Listeria monocytogenes can cause sepsis and meningitis. We report national surveillance data on L. monocytogenes meningitis in the Netherlands, describing incidence changes, genetic epidemiology and fatality rate. Methods We analyzed data from the Netherlands Reference Laboratory of Bacterial Meningitis for cases of L. monocytogenes meningitis. Strains were assessed by serotyping and bacterial population structure by multi-locus sequence typing. Results A total of 375 cases of Listeria meningitis were identified between 1985 and 2014. Peak incidence rates were observed in neonates (0. 61 per 100,000 live births) and older adults (peak at 87 year; 0. 53 cases per 100,000 population of the same age). Neonatal listerial meningitis decreased 17-fold from 1. 95 per 100,000 live births between 1985 and 1989, to 0. 11 per 100,000 live births between 2010 and 2014. Overall case fatality rate was 31%, in a multivariate analysis older age and concomitant bacteremia were associated with mortality (both p < 0. 01). Clonal complexes (CC) CC1, CC2 and CC3 decreased over time from respectively 32% to 12%, 33% to 9% and 10% to 2% (all p < 0. 001), while CC6 increased from 2% to 26% (p < 0. 001). Conclusions The incidence of neonatal listerial meningitis has declined over the past 25 years. The genotype CC6 has become the predominant genotype in listerial meningitis in the Netherlands. Mortality of listeria meningitis has remained high.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W2362971114
|
Optimization for prescription of Baoxieling Hydrogel Patch using Box-Behnken test design and research on its transdermal permeability in vitro
|
Objective To optimize the prescription of Baoxieling Hydrogel Patch(BHP) using Box-Behnken test design and to investigate its transdermal absorption properties in vitro. Methods Taking the comprehensive scores of the early adhesion, uniformity, ductility, consistence, skin adhesive ability, repeated exposing paste, and residue as response values, Box-Behnken test design was used to optimize the amounts of sodium polyacrylate NP 800, aluminum glycinate, and fillers, and to validate the optimal formulation. The percutaneous permeation of cinnamaldehyde, eugenol, evodiamine, and rutaecarpine in the optimal formulation was studied by in vitro transdermal delivery experiment with Franz diffusion cells and their contents were determined by HPLC. Results The optimal ratio of the prescription was as follows: sodium polyacrylate NP 800-aluminum glycinate-fillers(0.82∶0.02∶1.56). The foremost factors were fillers and aluminum glycinate. Its transdermal absorption met zero order dynamic process. Conclusion The optimal prescription has uniform paste, suitable consistence, easy ductility, moderate adhesion, and perfect transdermal effect. It could provide the foundation for the development of new prescription of Baoxieling.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.06.019
|
Fear and below-ground food-webs
|
Predator induced trait mediated indirect interactions (TMIIs) are likely the dominant facet of trophic interactions in aboveground food-webs. New research is beginning to show that TMIIs are also important in revealing how soil food-webs (SFWs) regulate biogeochemical processes. We suggest that TMIIs can modify SFW functions by (a) regulating the quantity and nutritional quality of plants and animal production known to drive the SFW, (b) inducing defense phenotypes in soil-organisms, and (c) changing soil environmental conditions. Currently, very few studies have explored the role TMIIs play in shaping SFW functions, especially the cascading effects on SFW dynamics. Much theoretical and empirical research is needed before we can successfully incorporate the non-consumptive effects of predation into SFW models.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
] |
Q3752863
|
Accurate analysis of phase changes
|
The aim of this project is to strengthen the research infrastructure of the Steel Research Centre, as well as to accelerate the development and manufacture of new high-strength steels, as well as cost-effective steel grades with higher corrosion resistance. This can be achieved through the introduction of the state-of-the-art dilatometer equipment for rapid sample heating/cooling speeds. This allows for the observation of phase transformations of the test material from 1 500 °C to room temperature. This possibility is currently not available for material researchers in Finland and the equipment serves the needs of both CASR and industry.In the development of materials and especially steels, it is not enough to increase strength alone. For example, toughness, formability, hardness and fatigue duration are characteristics that are difficult to achieve together with high strength. This requires an accurate analysis of the development of microstructure and of the variables that achieve the optimal microstructure and the desired mechanical properties. This dilatometer equipment is an essential factor in the study of microstructure changes. The project includes in practice the investment and commissioning of the equipment. As a result of the project, the University has the capacity and resources to quickly and efficiently determine phase changes in various materials in its own basic research and industrial product development projects. Practical research will be integrated into existing research projects, but the equipment will also open the door to new types of research projects. The dilatometer equipment that allows rapid heating and cooling is unique in Finland, which is why the project will also increase the attractiveness of the University of Oulu and CASR. The aim is therefore also to increase funding through public projects and service research.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
W1970406124
|
Practical Validation of Several Fault Attacks against the Miller Algorithm
|
Pairing based cryptography (PBC) is touted as an efficient approach to address usability and privacy issues in the cyberspace. Like most cryptographic algorithms, PBC must be robust not only against theoretical cryptanalysis but also against practical physical attacks such as fault injections. The computation of the Tate pairing can be divided into two parts, the Miller Algorithm and the Final Exponentiation. In this paper, we describe practical implementations of fault attacks against the Miller Algorithm validating common fault models used against pairings. In the light of the implemented fault attacks, we show that some blinding techniques proposed to protect the algorithm against Side-Channels Analyses cannot be used as countermeasures against the implemented fault attacks.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1214/11-AAP770
|
Cover Levels And Random Interlacements
|
This note investigates cover levels of finite sets in the random interlacements model introduced in [Ann. of Math. (2) 171 (2010) 2039-2087], that is, the least level such that the set is completely contained in the random interlacement at that level. It proves that as the cardinality of a set goes to infinity, the rescaled and recentered cover level tends in distribution to the Gumbel distribution with cumulative distribution function $\operatorname {exp}(-\operatorname {exp}(-z))$.
|
[
"Mathematics"
] |
10.1002/chem.201201734
|
Covalently functionalized hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets by nitrene addition
|
The covalent functionalization of exfoliated hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanosheets by nitrene addition is described. Integration of functionalized h-BN nanosheets within a polycarbonate matrix is demonstrated and was found to afford significant increases in mechanical properties. This integration methodology was further extended by the covalent modification of the h-BN nanosheets with polymer chains of a polycarbonate analogue, and the integration of the polymer modified h-BN within the polymer matrix (see figure).
|
[
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1088/1361-6587/aaa556
|
Ion acceleration in electrostatic collisionless shock: On the optimal density profile for quasi-monoenergetic beams
|
A numerical study on ion acceleration in electrostatic shock waves is presented, with the aim of determining the best plasma configuration to achieve quasi-monoenergetic ion beams in laser-driven systems. It was recently shown that tailored near-critical density plasmas characterized by a long-scale decreasing rear density profile lead to beams with low energy spread (Fiuza et al 2012 Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 215001). In this work, a detailed parameter scan investigating different plasma scale lengths is carried out. As result, the optimal plasma spatial scale length that allows for minimizing the energy spread while ensuring a significant reflection of ions by the shock is identified. Furthermore, a new configuration where the required profile has been obtained by coupling micro layers of different densities is proposed. Results show that this new engineered approach is a valid alternative, guaranteeing a low energy spread with a higher level of controllability.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1021/acs.analchem.5b02498
|
Direct Surface Analysis Coupled to High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry Reveals Heterogeneous Composition of the Cuticle of Hibiscus trionum Petals
|
Plant cuticle, which is the outermost layer covering the aerial parts of all plants including petals and leaves, can present a wide range of patterns that, combined with cell shape, can generate unique physical, mechanical, or optical properties. For example, arrays of regularly spaced nanoridges have been found on the dark (anthocyanin-rich) portion at the base of the petals of Hibiscus trionum. Those ridges act as a diffraction grating, producing an iridescent effect. Because the surface of the distal white region of the petals is smooth and noniridescent, a selective chemical characterization of the surface of the petals on different portions (i. e. , ridged vs smooth) is needed to understand whether distinct cuticular patterns correlate with distinct chemical compositions of the cuticle. In the present study, a rapid screening method has been developed for the direct surface analysis of Hibiscus trionum petals using liquid extraction surface analysis (LESA) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry. The optimized method was used to characterize a wide range of plant metabolites and cuticle monomers on the upper (adaxial) surface of the petals on both the white/smooth and anthocyanic/ridged regions, and on the lower (abaxial) surface, which is entirely smooth. The main components detected on the surface of the petals are low-molecular-weight organic acids, sugars, and flavonoids. The ridged portion on the upper surface of the petal is enriched in long-chain fatty acids, which are constituents of the wax fraction of the cuticle. These compounds were not detected on the white/smooth region of the upper petal surface or on the smooth lower surface.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
GB 191001989D A
|
Improvements in Means for Securing Railway Rails.
|
1989. O'Donnell, J. J., and Abrey, G. S. Jan. 26. Sleepers, securing rails to.-The metal strip 12 is bent over the wedge 14 to lock the wedge and clamp 7 in position, and has notches 13 in its sides engaging the edges of the slot in the sleeper.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
896265
|
Bim based fast toolkit for efficient renovation in buildings
|
BIM4EEB aims to foster the renovation industry by developing an attractive and powerful BIM-based toolset able to support designers in the design and planning phase, construction companies to efficiently carry out the work and service companies to provide attractive solutions for building retrofitting. Additionally, public and private owners will be able to use a tool that eases decision making and asset management, thanks to the exploitation of augmented reality and the use of updated digital logbooks. BIM4EEB will deliver an innovative common BIM management system with linked data and a set of tools. This toolkit is the basic instrument for increasing semantic interoperability between software and stakeholders involved along the overall renovation process (design, planning, construction, performance assessment and management).
End-users of the entire renovation process will actively participate to the development phases ensuring the full matching of project deliveries with the market expectations and maximizing the value of what is produced. In particular, two public administrations and two general contractor companies will validate the toolset in a social housing setting and private residential buildings in Italy, Poland and Finland. Inhabitants will benefit by the increase of building performances, quality and comfort.
A focused market analysis will ensure effective market strategies. BIM4EEB will focus on delivering high levels of modularity between tools enabling the commercial exploitation as standalone products or services, or as part of a consolidated market offering, usable for AEC end users, consulting services or by other IT business areas if required.
The developed best practices and guidelines for BIM adoption for public administrators and private stakeholders will be the bases of extensive dissemination actions to support the wide uptake of the project results and ensuring acceptance of BIM4EEB toolset by all stakeholders.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1038/s41467-019-10855-0
|
A split fluorescent reporter with rapid and reversible complementation
|
Interactions between proteins play an essential role in metabolic and signaling pathways, cellular processes and organismal systems. We report the development of splitFAST, a fluorescence complementation system for the visualization of transient protein-protein interactions in living cells. Engineered from the fluorogenic reporter FAST (Fluorescence-Activating and absorption-Shifting Tag), which specifically and reversibly binds fluorogenic hydroxybenzylidene rhodanine (HBR) analogs, splitFAST displays rapid and reversible complementation, allowing the real-time visualization of both the formation and the dissociation of a protein assembly.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
FR 0302090 W
|
TETRA-AZAPENTAMETHINE AND USE THEREOF FOR DYEING KERATINOUS FIBERS
|
The invention concerns the use as direct dyeing agent of at least one tetra-azapentamethine compound, a dyeing composition comprising at least such a compound, as well as a method for dyeing keratinous fibers, in particular human keratinous fibers and more particularly hair, which consists in applying at least one composition comprising such a compound. The composition also concerns tetra-azapentamethine compounds of formula (I). The invention further concerns a method for bleaching such compounds, as well as bleaching keratinous fibers previously dyed therewith.
|
[
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.18632/oncotarget.15534
|
Pirfenidone normalizes the tumor microenvironment to improve chemotherapy
|
Normalization of the tumor microenvironment by selectively targeting components of the tumor extracellular matrix has been recently proposed to have the potential to decompress tumor blood vessels, increase vessel perfusion and thus, improve drug delivery and the efficacy of cancer therapy. Therefore, we now need to identify safe and well tolerated pharmaceutical agents that are able to remodel the microenvironment of solid tumors and enhance chemotherapy. In this study, we repurposed Pirfenidone, a clinically approved anti-fibrotic drug for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, to investigate its possible role on tumor microenvironment normalization. Using two orthotopic mammary tumor models we demonstrate that Pirfenidone reduces collagen and hyaluronan levels and, as a result, significantly increases blood vessel functionality and perfusion and improves the antitumor efficacy of doxorubicin. Reduction of extracellular matrix components were mediated via TGFβ signaling pathway inhibition due to downregulation of TGFβ1, COL1A1, COL3A1, HAS2, HAS3 expression levels. Our findings provide evidence that repurposing Pirfenidone could be used as a promising strategy to enhance drug delivery to solid tumors by normalizing the tumor microenvironment.
|
[
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W4281857976
|
A capacitação do enfermeiro na higienização oral de pacientes em unidade de terapia intensiva: revisão integrativa / The training of nurses in oral hygiene of patients in intensive care unit: integrative review
|
Within the scope of health care, the nurse is considered one of the main agents in the execution of procedures and interventions that enable the resolution of the pathological condition in the affected patient.In the organizational context of hospitals and clinics in Brazil, oral health care is an attribution within the activities performed by the nursing team.This premise is of a preventive nature, based on the existing relationship between oral diseases and increased risk of developing systemic disorders, significantly enhanced in the hospital environment, especially in Intensive Care Units (ICU).The problem in question is directly linked to the degree of training of nursing professionals to effectively care for the oral hygiene of critically ill patients in this context of hospitalization.The objective of this paper is to describe the importance of continuing education and the role of the nursing professional in providing health care, dispensed in the oral hygiene of patients in ICUs.A descriptive bibliographic study, of the integrative review type will be developed.For the survey and composition of the sample of papers to be evaluated, studies published between the years 2016 and 2021 will be analyzed, with the central theme focused on the significance of oral hygiene of patients in ICUs, and publications of descriptors in Portuguese, English and Spanish will be consulted.Works not associated with the central theme or that do not present significant findings for the purpose of this research will be excluded from the sample analyzed in the development of the review.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1109/TCST.2013.2257781
|
Airborne Wind Energy Based On Dual Airfoils
|
The airborne wind energy (AWE) paradigm proposes to generate energy by flying a tethered airfoil across the wind flow at a high velocity. Although AWE enables flight in higher altitude and stronger wind layers, the extra drag generated by the tether motion imposes a significant limit to the overall system efficiency. To address this issue, two airfoils with a shared tether can reduce overall system drag. Although this technique may improve the efficiency of AWE systems, such improvement can only be achieved through properly balancing the system trajectories and parameters. This brief tackles that problem using optimal control. A generic procedure for modeling multiple-airfoil systems with equations of minimal complexity is proposed. A parametric study shows that at small and medium scales, dual-airfoil systems are significantly more efficient than single-airfoil systems, but they are less advantageous at very large scales.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
CA 2023051775 W
|
SYSTEM, METHOD, AND DEVICE FOR ANALYZING GAME PLAY VIDEO
|
A computer implemented system and method for analyzing gameplay files to provide a training assessment. The system includes an input module to receive a raw replay file from a game, game platform, or user and provide the raw replay file to a parsing module. The parsing module is configured to parse each raw replay file and classify the parsed replay file as any event type indicated by feature data of the parsed replay file. Where the parsed replay file is classified as at least one event type, the parsing module saves the parsed replay file in an event dataset. The parsing module extracts game events from the parsed replay file and saves the game events in an event table schema. The input module may be integrated into a backend of a game or a game platform. The system may include a training assessment module configured to generate the training assessment.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2167782004
|
AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA
|
The study examined the role of airport infrastructural development on socio-economic development of the country and, adopted a descriptive survey study methodology, using questionnaire to collect required data. Systematic random sampling techniques were use in selecting the participating staff in the airport. The data were presented by means of simple percentages and tables respectively, while spearman rank correlation coefficient (r S ) was used in testing the formulated hypotheses. The result reveals that, there is a correlation between airport infrastructure development and socio-economic development of the country. The study conclude that, for any proper achievements to be achieve in aviation sector, government must step up its contribution, regulation and due process must be followed in awarding of contract and making decision that relates to the development of aviation in the country. In view of this, the study recommends that, capable hands should be employed in the aviation industry. This is very crucial so as to make the industry contribute significantly to the socio-economic growth and development of the nation.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
] |
10.1177/0956797617705667
|
Lack of Free Choice Reveals the Cost of Having to Search for More Than One Object
|
It is debated whether people can actively search for more than one object or whether this results in switch costs. Using a gaze-contingent eye-tracking paradigm, we revealed a crucial role for cognitive control in multiple-target search. We instructed participants to simultaneously search for two target objects presented among distractors. In one condition, both targets were available, which gave the observer free choice of what to search for and allowed for proactive control. In the other condition, only one of the two targets was available, so that the choice was imposed, and a reactive mechanism would be required. No switch costs emerged when target choice was free, but switch costs emerged reliably when targets were imposed. Bridging contradictory findings, the results are consistent with models of visual selection in which only one attentional template actively drives selection and in which the efficiency of switching targets depends on the type of cognitive control allowed for by the environment.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
Q4757430
|
DESENVOLVIMENTO E PROMOÇÃO DO PROJETO NA EUROPA: A APLICAÇÃO CONCRETA DOS PRINCÍPIOS DA ECONOMIA CIRCULAR NO MOBILIÁRIO ESCOLAR, EM CONFORMIDADE COM O PLANO DE AÇÃO DA UE
|
A ILPO DESENVOLVEU, DESDE HÁ ALGUNS ANOS, O PROJETO DE ECONOMIA CIRCULAR PURO (HTTP://PU-RE.EU/), EM CONFORMIDADE COM AS PRINCIPAIS ORIENTAÇÕES DO PLANO DE AÇÃO DA UE. ESTE PROJETO VISA A ADOÇÃO DE CONCHAS DE POLIURETANO PARA COXIAS, TANTO PARA CONTRATO QUANTO PARA EDUCAÇÃO. OS MERCADOS, HÁ ATÉ 3-4 ANOS, NÃO RECETIVOS À ADOÇÃO DE POLÍTICAS AMBIENTAIS EM CONFORMIDADE COM O REFERIDO PLANO DE AÇÃO, REVELAM UM INTERESSE PROGRESSIVO E CRESCENTE NESTA DIREÇÃO, TAMBÉM DEVIDO ÀS REGRAS QUE OS ESTADOS-MEMBROS DA UE ESTÃO A INDICAR AO PÚBLICO MVA.NE EM TERMOS DE COMPRAS ECOLÓGICAS». A ILPO, CONVENCIDA DE QUE ESTE É O PRINCIPAL CAMINHO A SEGUIR PARA APOIAR A SUA LIDERANÇA NAS CADEIRAS DE POLIURETANO, PRETENDE NOVAMENTE INVESTIR RECURSOS NESTE SENTIDO, ESPECIALMENTE NA EUROPA, IDENTIFICANDO UM PROGRAMA ARTICULADO DE APOIO E PROMOÇÃO QUE INCLUI: PARTICIPAÇÃO EM TRÊS IMPORTANTES FEIRAS COMERCIAIS NA EUROPA — PARTICIPAÇÃO NUMA CONFERÊNCIA INTERNACIONAL NA SUÍÇA — L’ORGANIZ
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
interreg_1153
|
Improving the Access of SMEs from Rural Regions to the Knowledge and Information Society
|
The project "EMBRACE" aims to design, develop and implement specific spatial development policies, initiatives and actions for the benefit of SMEs located in rural and undeveloped urban areas. Their access to Knowledge and the Information Society should be increased. "EMBRACE" intends to establish a pilot virtual network, available both online and offline, where SMEs can have access to a wide range of business services and tools, such as consulting and training in key topics, matchmaking for accessing investor funds, e-commerce, etc. The goal is to overcome existing barriers that these SMEs face, by providing assistance and value-added advisory, e-commerce and information services, which can boost their efficiency and competitiveness, and lead to the development of transnational cooperation and globalisation of activities.
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2885437174
|
On the structure of the conformal higher-spin wave operators
|
A bstract We study conformal higher spin (CHS) fields on constant curvature backgrounds. By employing parent formulation technique in combination with tractor description of GJMS operators we find a manifestly factorized form of the CHS wave operators for symmetric fields of arbitrary integer spin s and gauge invariance of arbitrary order t ≤ s . In the case of the usual Fradkin-Tseytlin fields t = 1 this gives a systematic derivation of the factorization formulas known in the literature while for t > 1 the explicit formulas were not known. We also relate the gauge invariance of the CHS fields to the partially-fixed gauge invariance of the factors and show that the factors can be identified with (partially gauge-fixed) wave operators for (partially)-massless or special massive fields. As a byproduct, we establish a detailed relationship with the tractor approach and, in particular, derive the tractor form of the CHS equations and gauge symmetries.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Mathematics"
] |
10.5751/ES-07944-210101
|
Social organization influences the exchange and species richness of medicinal plants in amazonian homegardens
|
Medicinal plants provide indigenous and peasant communities worldwide with means to meet their healthcare needs. Homegardens often act as medicine cabinets, providing easily accessible medicinal plants for household needs. Social structure and social exchanges have been proposed as factors influencing the species diversity that people maintain in their homegardens. Here, we assess the association between the exchange of medicinal knowledge and plant material and medicinal plant richness in homegardens. Using Tsimane’ Amazonian homegardens as a case study, we explore whether social organization shapes exchanges of medicinal plant knowledge and medicinal plant material. We also use network centrality measures to evaluate people’s location and performance in medicinal plant knowledge and plant material exchange networks. Our results suggest that social organization, specifically kinship and gender relations, influences medicinal plant exchange patterns significantly. Homegardens total and medicinal plant species richness are related to gardeners’ centrality in the networks, whereby people with greater centralitymaintain greater plant richness. Thus, together with agroecological conditions, social relations among gardeners and the culturally specific social structure seem to be important determinants of plant richness in homegardens. Understanding which factors pattern general species diversity in tropical homegardens, and medicinal plant diversity in particular, can help policy makers, health providers, and local communities to understand better how to promote and preserve medicinal plants in situ. Biocultural approaches that are also gender sensitive offer a culturally appropriate means to reduce the global and local loss of both biological and cultural diversity.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Studies of Cultures and Arts",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1007/978-3-319-57048-8_4
|
The Many Entropies In One Way Functions
|
Computational analogues of information-theoretic notions have given rise to some of the most interesting phenomena in the theory of computation. For example, computational indistinguishability, Goldwasser and Micali [9], which is the computational analogue of statistical distance, enabled the bypassing of Shannon’s impossibility results on perfectly secure encryption, and provided the basis for the computational theory of pseudorandomness. Pseudoentropy, Hastad, Impagliazzo, Levin, and Luby [17], a computational analogue of entropy, was the key to the fundamental result establishing the equivalence of pseudorandom generators and oneway functions, and has become a basic concept in complexity theory and cryptography.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1111/pim.12274
|
Interactions between the intestinal microbiome and helminth parasites
|
Throughout evolution, both helminths and bacteria have inhabited our intestines. As intestinal helminths and bacteria inhabit the same environmental niche, it is likely that these organisms interact with, and impact on, each other. In addition, intestinal helminths are well known to alter intestinal physiology, permeability, mucous secretion and the production of antimicrobial peptides - all of which may impact on bacterial survival and spatial organization. Yet despite rapid advances in our understanding of host-intestinal bacteria interactions, the impact of helminths on this relationship has remained largely unexplored. Moreover, although intestinal helminths are generally accepted to possess potent immuno-modulatory activity, it is unknown whether this capacity requires interactions with intestinal bacteria. We propose that this 'ménage à trois' situation is likely to have exerted a strong selective pressure on the development of our metabolic and immune systems. Whilst such pressures remain in developing countries, the eradication of helminths in industrialized countries has shifted this evolutionary balance, possibly underlying the increased development of chronic inflammatory diseases. Thus, helminth-bacteria interactions may represent a key determinant of healthy homoeostasis.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
interreg_3429
|
Strategic development of flood management
|
Local authorities and emergency services are not sufficiently prepared to promptly react to crisis situations due to the lack of innovative technologies and adequate equipment. Project STREAM will enhance all stakeholders' competencies to promptly respond to the flood. STREAM objective is to improve monitoring and risks and to improve the management for prompt reaction in events of flood disasters by creating and developing flood risk maps, flood hazard maps and FRMP, as well as by developing EWS along with raising awareness of citizens. This action will result in increasing safety of the project area from natural and man-made disasters, which will reduce the adverse consequences on human health, environment, cultural heritage and economic aspects of the area associated with floods. Such improvement of the early warning system will reduce the risk of flood disasters and minimize loss.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Earth System Science"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.168001
|
Defect dynamics in artificial colloidal ice: Real-time observation, manipulation, and logic gate
|
We study the defect dynamics in a colloidal spin ice system realized by filling a square lattice of topographic double well islands with repulsively interacting magnetic colloids. We focus on the contraction of defects in the ground state, and contraction or expansion in a metastable biased state. Combining real-time experiments with simulations, we prove that these defects behave like emergent topological monopoles obeying a Coulomb law with an additional line tension. We further show how to realize a completely resettable "nor" gate, which provides guidelines for fabrication of nanoscale logic devices based on the motion of topological magnetic monopoles.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
834103
|
Understanding Life Trajectories of Immigrants and Their Descendants in Europe and Projecting Future Trends
|
In recent decades, European countries have witnessed increasing immigration streams and ethnic heterogeneity of their populations. Facilitating immigrant integration and social cohesion has become a major societal issue. The project moves beyond previous research by first investigating how employment, housing and family trajectories evolve and interact in the lives of descendants of post-WWII immigrants and post-1990 immigrants in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden, and how factors related to a societal context, an early life context and critical transitions shape their life histories. Second, the study will project their future life trajectories using innovative simulation techniques, considering the main life domains and diversity between and within immigrant groups. Although recent studies report substantial diversity in employment, in housing and in family patterns among descendants of post-war immigrants and recent immigrants in Europe, the causes of this heterogeneity remain far from clear. Furthermore, it is not known whether observed differences between immigrants and natives are short-term outcomes in a long-term process of cultural and economic integration or rather reflections of different pathways and outcomes for immigrants and their descendants. The project will exploit large-scale longitudinal data from four countries and apply advanced longitudinal methods, including multichannel sequence analysis and multilevel event history analysis. Microsimulation will be applied to project life histories for immigrants and their descendants. The project will significantly deepen our understanding of the relationships between the three life domains, and the causes of less and more successful life trajectories among immigrants and their descendants. This project will show whether the current heterogeneity between and within immigrant and minority groups vanishes over time or rather persists, suggesting an increasing diversity of European societies.
|
[
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.1109/TED.2017.2727823
|
Wafer Scale Statistical Analysis Of Graphene Field Effect Transistors Part Ii Analysis Of Device Properties
|
In Part I, we have established a wafer-scale, CMOS compatible graphene transfer for the back end of the line integration. In Part II of this paper, we analyze statistical data of device properties and draw conclusions about possible causes of device failure. Statistical analysis is performed for device mobility and compared with the yield analysis. To complement this analysis, detailed Raman spectra are employed to analyze strain. In addition, device models developed in Part I are examined and provide further insight. From the analysis, it appears that compressive strain introduced during the graphene transfer process is may be the primary source for device failure. Moreover, we speculate based on the device statistics that the mitigation of compressive strain will improve device mobility, carrier density, and reduce variability. In addition, the presence of residues, tears, and cracks in the graphene may result in some device failure.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1119/1.4955173
|
Video Recording True Single Photon Double Slit Interference
|
As normally used, no commercially available camera has a low-enough dark noise to directly produce video recordings of double-slit interference at the photon-by-photon level, because readout noise significantly contaminates or overwhelms the signal. In this work, noise levels are significantly reduced by turning on the camera only when the presence of a photon has been heralded by the arrival, at an independent detector, of a time-correlated photon produced via parametric down-conversion. This triggering scheme provides the improvement required for direct video imaging of Young's double-slit experiment with single photons, allowing clarified versions of this foundational demonstration. Further, we introduce variations on this experiment aimed at promoting discussion of the role spatial coherence plays in such a measurement. We also emphasize complementary aspects of single-photon measurement, where imaging yields (transverse) position information, while diffraction yields the transverse momentum, and highlight the roles of transverse position and momentum correlations between down-converted photons, including examples of "ghost" imaging and diffraction. The videos can be accessed at this http URL online.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1111/jcpp.12943
|
Elementary school children's associations of antisocial behaviour with risk-taking across 7–11 years
|
Background: The impact of childhood antisocial behaviour on future maladaptation has been acknowledged. Risk-taking has been associated with antisocial behaviour in adolescents and adults, but its association with childhood antisocial behaviour is understudied. In this study, we explored the association of children's risk-taking with antisocial behaviour in mainstream elementary schoolchildren studied longitudinally across 7–11 years. Methods: One thousand and eighty-six children (51% boys) were assessed in three annual waves. Antisocial behaviours (aggressive, covert antisocial and oppositional defiant behaviour) were assessed using teacher- and peer-reports. Risk-taking was measured using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART). The association of antisocial behaviour with risk-taking was analysed using parallel growth models. Results: Children with higher levels of risk-taking at age 7 showed increased growth in peer-reported aggression from age 7 to 11. Risk-taking, that is increased levels at age 7 in boys and increased growth in girls, predicted increased growth in peer-reported oppositional defiant behaviour. Associations of risk-taking with teacher-reported aggression and covert antisocial behaviour were at trend level. Conclusions: Results indicated that already in childhood, among typically developing children, risk-taking is associated with the development of antisocial behaviour. Future research focused on antisocial behaviour, but also school mental health workers and clinicians should take into account that already in childhood, risk-taking might affect antisocial behaviour development.
|
[
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
W2734584212
|
Thermodynamic and Structural Factors That Influence the Redox Potentials of Tungsten–Alkylidyne Complexes
|
The thermodynamic and structural factors that influence the redox properties of an extensive set of tungsten–alkylidyne complexes (W(CR)L4X) are analyzed by combining synthesis, electrochemistry, and computational modeling based on free energy calculations of oxidation potentials at the density functional theory level. The observed linear correlations among oxidation potentials, HOMO energies, and gas-phase ionization energies are found to be consistent with the approximately constant solvation free energy differences between reduced and oxidized species over the complete set. The W–X bond length, trans to the alkylidyne ligand, is found to be a good descriptor of the positioning of the key frontier orbitals that regulate the redox properties of the complexes.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
] |
10.1038/s41593-019-0421-4
|
Morphine withdrawal recruits lateral habenula cytokine signaling to reduce synaptic excitation and sociability
|
The lateral habenula encodes aversive stimuli contributing to negative emotional states during drug withdrawal. Here we report that morphine withdrawal in mice leads to microglia adaptations and diminishes glutamatergic transmission onto raphe-projecting lateral habenula neurons. Chemogenetic inhibition of this circuit promotes morphine withdrawal-like social deficits. Morphine withdrawal-driven synaptic plasticity and reduced sociability require tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release and neuronal TNF receptor 1 activation. Hence, habenular cytokines control synaptic and behavioral adaptations during drug withdrawal.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevE.94.043003
|
Mesoscopic approach to subcritical fatigue crack growth
|
We investigate a model for fatigue crack growth in which damage accumulation is assumed to follow a power law of the local stress amplitude, a form that can be generically justified on the grounds of the approximately self-similar aspect of microcrack distributions. Our aim is to determine the relation between model ingredients and the Paris exponent governing subcritical crack-growth dynamics at the macroscopic scale, starting from a single small notch propagating along a fixed line. By a series of analytical and numerical calculations, we show that, in the absence of disorder, there is a critical damage-accumulation exponent γ, namely γc=2, separating two distinct regimes of behavior for the Paris exponent m. For γ>γc, the Paris exponent is shown to assume the value m=γ, a result that proves robust against the separate introduction of various modifying ingredients. Explicitly, we deal here with (i) the requirement of a minimum stress for damage to occur, (ii) the presence of disorder in local damage thresholds, and (iii) the possibility of crack healing. On the other hand, in the regime γ<γc, the Paris exponent is seen to be sensitive to the different ingredients added to the model, with rapid healing or a high minimum stress for damage leading to m=2 for all γ<γc, in contrast with the linear dependence m=6-2γ observed for very long characteristic healing times in the absence of a minimum stress for damage. Upon the introduction of disorder on the local fatigue thresholds, which leads to the possible appearance of multiple cracks along the propagation line, the Paris exponent tends to m≈4 for γ2 while retaining the behavior m=γ for γ4.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1039/c7cc04289b
|
Scavenger templates: a systems chemistry approach to the synthesis of porphyrin-based molecular wires
|
A hexapyridyl template can be used to indirectly up-regulate the synthesis of a linear porphyrin dodecamer, by suppressing polymerization.
|
[
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.11.066
|
Noise alters beta-band activity in superior temporal cortex during audiovisual speech processing
|
Speech recognition is improved when complementary visual information is available, especially under noisy acoustic conditions. Functional neuroimaging studies have suggested that the superior temporal sulcus (STS) plays an important role for this improvement. The spectrotemporal dynamics underlying audiovisual speech processing in the STS, and how these dynamics are affected by auditory noise, are not well understood. Using electroencephalography, we investigated how auditory noise affects audiovisual speech processing in event-related potentials (ERPs) and oscillatory activity. Spoken syllables were presented in audiovisual (AV) and auditory only (A) trials at three different auditory noise levels (no, low, and high). Responses to A stimuli were subtracted from responses to AV stimuli, separately for each noise level, and these responses were subjected to the statistical analysis. Central ERPs differed between the no noise and the two noise conditions from 130 to 150. ms and 170 to 210. ms after auditory stimulus onset. Source localization using the local autoregressive average procedure revealed an involvement of the lateral temporal lobe, encompassing the superior and middle temporal gyrus. Neuronal activity in the beta-band (16 to 32. Hz) was suppressed at central channels around 100 to 400. ms after auditory stimulus onset in the averaged AV minus A signal over the three noise levels. This suppression was smaller in the high noise compared to the no noise and low noise condition, possibly reflecting disturbed recognition or altered processing of multisensory speech stimuli. Source analysis of the beta-band effect using linear beamforming demonstrated an involvement of the STS. Our study shows that auditory noise alters audiovisual speech processing in ERPs localized to lateral temporal lobe and provides evidence that beta-band activity in the STS plays a role for audiovisual speech processing under regular and noisy acoustic conditions.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevE.91.012203
|
Diverging viscosity and soft granular rheology in non-Brownian suspensions
|
We use large scale computer simulations and finite-size scaling analysis to study the shear rheology of dense three-dimensional suspensions of frictionless non-Brownian particles in the vicinity of the jamming transition. We perform simulations of soft repulsive particles at constant shear rate, constant pressure, and finite system size and carefully study the asymptotic limits of large system sizes and infinitely hard particle repulsion. We first focus on the asymptotic behavior of the shear viscosity in the hard particle limit. By measuring the viscosity increase over about 5 orders of magnitude, we are able to confirm its asymptotic power law divergence close to the jamming transition. However, a precise determination of the critical density and critical exponent is difficult due to the "multiscaling" behavior of the viscosity. Additionally, finite-size scaling analysis suggests that this divergence is accompanied by a growing correlation length scale, which also diverges algebraically. Finally, we study the effect of particle softness and propose a natural extension of the standard granular rheology, which we test against our simulation data. Close to the jamming transition, this "soft granular rheology" offers a detailed description of the nonlinear rheology of soft particles, which differs from earlier empirical scaling forms.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1051/0004-6361/201220165
|
Searching For The Signatures Of Terrestrial Planets In F G Type Main Sequence Stars
|
We have studied the volatile-to-refractory abundance ratios to investigate their possible relation with the low-mass planetary formation. We present a fully differential chemical abundance analysis using high-quality HARPS and UVES spectra of 61 late F- and early G-type main-sequence stars, 29 are planet hosts and 32 are stars without detected planets. As the previous sample of solar analogs, these stars slightly hotter than the Sun also provide very accurate Galactic chemical abundance trends in the metallicity range $-0. 3<{\rm [Fe/H]}<0. 4$. Stars with and without planets show similar mean abundance ratios. Moreover, when removing the Galactic chemical evolution effects, these mean abundance ratios, $\Delta {\rm [X/Fe]_{SUN-STARS}}$, versus condensation temperature tend to exhibit less steep trends with nearly null or slightly negative slopes. We have also analyzed a sub-sample of 26 metal-rich stars, 13 with and 13 without known planets and find the similar, although not equal, abundance pattern with negative slopes for both samples of stars with and without planets. Using stars at S/N $\ge 550$ provides equally steep abundance trends with negative slopes for both stars with and without planets. We revisit the sample of solar analogs to study the abundance patterns of these stars, in particular, 8 stars hosting super-Earth-like planets. Among these stars having very low-mass planets, only four of them reveal clear increasing abundance trends versus condensation temperature. Finally, we have compared these observed slopes with those predicted using a simple model which enables us to compute the mass of rocks which have formed terrestrial planets in each planetary system. We do not find any evidence supporting the conclusion that the volatile-to-refractory abundance ratio is related to the presence of rocky planets.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
EP 07119610 A
|
Method for the detection of bacterial species of the genera Anaplasma/Ehrlichia and Bartonella
|
The present invention, relating to a method for the detection and identification of bacterial species belonging to the genera Anaplasma/Ehrlichia and Bartonella, is a patent of addition to the Spanish patent application with publication number 2.264.642. In addition to this method, the invention also provides the primers and probes required for its application.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
10.1111/1462-2920.15204
|
Metagenomic And 14 C Tracing Evidence For Autotrophic Microbial Co 2 Fixation In Paddy Soils
|
Autotrophic carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation by microbes is ubiquitous in the environment and potentially contributes to the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. However, the multiple autotrophic pathways of microbial carbon assimilation and fixation in paddy soils remain poorly characterized. In this study, we combine metagenomic analysis with 14C‐labelling to investigate all known autotrophic pathways and CO2 assimilation mechanisms in five typical paddy soils from southern China. Marker genes of six autotrophic pathways are detected in all soil samples, which are dominated by the cbbL genes (67%–82%) coding the ribulose‐bisphosphate carboxylase large chain in the Calvin cycle. These marker genes are associated with a broad range of phototrophic and chemotrophic genera. Significant amounts of 14C‐CO2 are assimilated into SOC (74. 3–175. 8 mg 14C kg−1) and microbial biomass (5. 2–24. 1 mg 14C kg−1) after 45 days incubation, where more than 70% of 14C‐SOC was concentrated in the relatively stable humin fractions. These results show that paddy soil microbes contain the genetic potential for autotrophic carbon fixation spreading over broad taxonomic ranges, and can incorporate atmospheric carbon into organic components, which ultimately contribute to the stable SOC pool.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
] |
10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199579563.013.0063
|
Psychopathology and the Enactive Mind
|
According to the "enactive" approach in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, mental states are neither identical with, nor reducible to, brain activity. Rather, the mind is enacted or brought forth by the whole situated living organism in virtue of its specific structure and organization. Although increasingly influential in cognitive science, the enactive approach has had little to do with psychopathology so far. This chapter first outlines this approach in some detail, and then illustrates its conceptual and methodological connections to psychopathology. It also provides some indications on how to develop a more explicitly "enactive psychopathology. "
|
[
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity",
"Texts and Concepts"
] |
695714
|
The role of immune cells in Alzheimer's disease
|
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia affecting more than 35 million people worldwide and its prevalence is projected to nearly double every 20 years with tremendous social and economical impact on the society. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease and current drugs only temporarily improve disease symptoms.
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by a progressive deterioration of cognitive functions, and the neuropathological features include amyloid beta deposition, aggregates of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, and the loss of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). Research efforts in the past decades have been focused on neurons and other CNS resident cells, but this ""neurocentric"" view has not resulted in disease-modifying therapies.
Growing evidence suggests that inflammation mechanisms are involved in Alzheimer's disease and our team has recently shown an unexpected role for neutrophils in Alzheimer's disease, supporting the innovative idea that circulating leukocytes contribute to disease pathogenesis.
The main goal of this project is to study the role of immune cells in animal models of Alzheimer's disease focusing on neutrophils and T cells. We will first study leukocyte-endothelial interactions in CNS microcirculation in intravital microscopy experiments. Leukocyte trafficking will be then studied inside the brain parenchyma by using two-photon microscopy, which will allow us to characterize leukocyte dynamic behaviour and the crosstalk between migrating leukocytes and CNS cells. The effect of therapeutic blockade of leukocyte-dependent inflammation mechanisms will be determined in animal models of Alzheimer's disease. Finally, the presence of immune cells will be studied on brain samples from Alzheimer's disease patients. Overall, IMMUNOALZHEIMER will generate fundamental knowledge to the understanding of the role of immune cells in neurodegeneration and will unveil novel therapeutic strategies to address Alzheimer’s disease.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W2013707987
|
Different exposure of infants and adults to ultrafine particles in the urban area of Barcelona
|
Air pollutants have been linked with a number of adverse health effects. Children are especially sensitive, particularly when they get close to the exhaust emissions of the vehicles on the street. The objective of this study was to measure the different exposure of infants and adults to ultrafine particles (UFP) as a surrogate marker of air pollution and of risk of deleterious health effects. Two different portable P-TRAK® were used to measure simultaneously exposure to UFPs at different heights, one corresponding to the height of an infant in a stroller (0.55 m) and the other one to the height of the face of an adult pedestrian (1.70 m). Measurements were taken on three different streets with high traffic density in Barcelona, in 10 consecutive days during spring, with two sampling sessions of 1 h each day, moving afoot and taking into account temperature, humidity, and wind speed. Fifty-two thousand and eight (52,008) paired values were obtained, and the results showed about 10 % higher levels of UFP concentration at 0.55 m (48,198 ± 25,296 pt/cm3) compared to 1.70 m (43,151 ± 22,517 pt/cm3). Differences between working and nonworking days were observed. Concentration patterns and variation by days of the week and time periods were related to traffic intensity. This study revealed that infants transported by stroller in urban areas are more exposed to air pollution than walking adults. As infants are more vulnerable and UFP have more effects on their health, measures should be taken to protect this population when it is transported in the street.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
10.1038/s41467-019-14010-7
|
Phase-coherent lightwave communications with frequency combs
|
Fiber-optical networks are a crucial telecommunication infrastructure in society. Wavelength division multiplexing allows for transmitting parallel data streams over the fiber bandwidth, and coherent detection enables the use of sophisticated modulation formats and electronic compensation of signal impairments. Optical frequency combs can replace the multiple lasers used for the different wavelength channels. Beyond multiplexing, it has been suggested that the broadband phase coherence of frequency combs could simplify the receiver scheme by performing joint reception and processing of several wavelength channels, but an experimental validation in a fiber transmission experiment remains elusive. Here we demonstrate and quantify joint reception and processing of several wavelength channels in a full transmission system. We demonstrate two joint processing schemes; one that reduces the phase-tracking complexity and one that increases the transmission performance.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1007/JHEP02(2019)076
|
Charged Rotating Black Holes In Higher Dimensions
|
We use a recent implementation of the large $D$ expansion in order to construct the higher-dimensional Kerr-Newman black hole and also new charged rotating black bar solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell theory, all with rotation along a single plane. We describe the space of solutions, obtain their quasinormal modes, and study the appearance of instabilities as the horizons spread along the plane of rotation. Generically, the presence of charge makes the solutions less stable. Instabilities can appear even when the angular momentum of the black hole is small, as long as the charge is sufficiently large. We expect that, although our study is performed in the limit $D\to\infty$, the results provide a good approximation for charged rotating black holes at finite $D\geq 6$.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
] |
10.1016/j.celrep.2015.08.081
|
Mondo-Mlx Mediates Organismal Sugar Sensing through the Gli-Similar Transcription Factor Sugarbabe
|
The ChREBP/Mondo-Mlx transcription factors are activated by sugars and are essential for sugar tolerance. They promote the conversion of sugars to lipids, but beyond this, their physiological roles are insufficiently understood. Here, we demonstrate that in an organism-wide setting in Drosophila, Mondo-Mlx controls the majority of sugar-regulated genes involved in nutrient digestion and transport as well as carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism. Furthermore, human orthologs of the Mondo-Mlx targets display enrichment among gene variants associated with high circulating triglycerides. In addition to direct regulation of metabolic genes, Mondo-Mlx maintains metabolic homeostasis through downstream effectors, including the Activin ligand Dawdle and the Gli-similar transcription factor Sugarbabe. Sugarbabe controls a subset of Mondo-Mlx-dependent processes, including de novo lipogenesis and fatty acid desaturation. In sum, Mondo-Mlx is a master regulator of other sugar-responsive pathways essential for adaptation to a high-sugar diet.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
742712
|
Chiral Morphogenesis - Physical Mechanisms of Actomyosin-Based Left/Right Symmetry Breaking in Biological Systems
|
The aim of this grant is to understand how cellular, tissue-scale and organismal left-right asymmetry arises
from the chirality of molecular constituents. In many instances the actomyosin cortex, a thin and
mechanically active layer of dynamically cross-linked filaments and molecular motors at the surface of cells,
drives the emergence of chiral morphogenetic events. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, mesoscale
chiral active torques generated by this active layer establish the embryo’s left-right body axis. Here we want
to understand how mesoscale actomyosin active torques are generated at the molecular level, and how active
torque generation in the actomyosin surface drives chiral morphogenesis of cells, tissues and organisms.
Cells and tissues represent a new class of active chiral materials where both the force and the torque balance
need to be considered, and we will perform a systematic and cross-scale characterization of active chiral
biological matter. We will pursue an interdisciplinary approach at the interface of physics and biology. At the
molecular-scale, we will use optical tweezers to measure active torques generated by single molecules of the
molecular myosin and the actin polymerizing protein formin. At the cell-scale, we will reconstitute chiral
actomyosin flows in vitro and characterize chiral dynamics of single molecules in vivo. At the tissue-scale,
we will investigate chiral cell movements in a multicellular environment and unravel the physical basis of
chiral tissue flow in vertebrates. Theory is essential at all stages, and we will build a molecular-scale model
of actomyosin torque generation that will be coarse-grained to a generalized hydrodynamic description of
active chiral matter. This interdisciplinary and cross-scale approach will provide fundamentally new insights
into active chiral materials and the mechanisms by which left-right asymmetries arise in development.
|
[
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1111/1365-2435.12050
|
Beneficial Microbes In A Changing Environment Are They Always Helping Plants To Deal With Insects
|
Summary
Plants have a complex immune system that defends them against attackers (e. g. herbivores and microbial pathogens) but that also regulates the interactions with mutualistic organisms (e. g. mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria). Plants have to respond to multiple environmental challenges, so they need to integrate both signals associated with biotic and abiotic stresses in the most appropriate response to survive. Beneficial microbes such as rhizobacteria and mycorrhizal fungi can help plants to ‘deal’ with pathogens and herbivorous insects as well as to tolerate abiotic stress. Therefore, beneficial microbes may play an important role in a changing environment, where abiotic and biotic stresses on plants are expected to increase. The effects of beneficial microbes on herbivores are highly context-dependent, but little is known on what is driving such dependency. Recent evidence shows that abiotic stresses such as changes in soil nutrients, drought and salt stress, as well as ozone can modify the outcome of plant–microbe–insect interactions. Here, we review how abiotic stress can affect plant–microbe, plant–insect and plant–microbe–insect interactions, and the role of the network of plant signal-transduction pathways in regulating such interactions. Most of the studies on the effects of abiotic stress on plant–microbe–insect interactions show that the effects of microbes on herbivores (positive or negative) are strengthened under stressful conditions. We propose that, at least in part, this is due to the crosstalk of the different plant signalling pathways triggered by each stress individually. By understanding the cross-regulation mechanisms we may be able to predict the possible outcomes of plant-microbe–insect interactions under particular abiotic stress conditions. We also propose that microbes can help plants to deal with insects mainly under conditions that compromise efficient activation of plant defences. In the context of global change, it is crucial to understand how abiotic stresses will affect species interactions, especially those interactions that are beneficial for plants. The final aim of this review is to stimulate studies unravelling when these ‘beneficial’ microbes really benefit a plant.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
] |
10.1007/s00442-015-3278-6
|
Concentrations and δ<sup>2</sup>H values of cuticular n-alkanes vary significantly among plant organs, species and habitats in grasses from an alpine and a temperate European grassland
|
n-Alkanes are long-chained hydrocarbons contained in the cuticle of terrestrial plants. Their hydrogen isotope ratios (δ2H) have been used as a proxy for environmental and plant ecophysiological processes. Calibration studies designed to resolve the mechanisms that determine the δ2H values of n-alkanes have exclusively focused on n-alkanes derived from leaves. It is, however, unclear in which quantities n-alkanes are also produced by other plant organs such as roots or inflorescences, or whether different plant organs produce distinct n-alkane δ2H values. To resolve these open questions, we sampled leaves, sheaths, stems, inflorescences and roots from a total of 15 species of European C3 grasses in an alpine and a temperate grassland in Switzerland. Our data show slightly increased n-alkane concentrations and n-alkane δ2H values in the alpine compared to the temperate grassland. More importantly, inflorescences had typically much higher n-alkane concentrations than other organs while roots had very low n-alkane concentrations. Most interestingly, the δ2H values of the carbon autonomous plant organs leaves, sheaths and stems were in general depleted compared to the overall mean δ2H value of a species, while non-carbon autonomous organs such as roots and inflorescences show δ2H values that are higher compared to the overall mean δ2H value of a species. We attribute organ-specific δ2H values to differences in the H-NADPH biosynthetic origin in different plant organs as a function of their carbon relationships. Finally, we employed simple mass balance calculations to show that leaves are in fact the main source of n-alkanes in the sediment. As such, studies assessing the environmental and physiological drivers of n-alkanes that focus on leaves produce relationships that can be employed to interpret the δ2H values of n-alkanes derived from sediments. This is despite the significant differences that we found among the δ2H values in the different plant organs. Our study brings new insights into the natural variability of n-alkane δ2H values and has implications for the interpretation of n-alkane δ2H values in ecological and paleohydrological research.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
] |
W2531549531
|
Increasing access to kidney transplantation for sensitized recipient through three-way kidney paired donation with desensitization: The first Indian report
|
The combination of kidney paired donation (KPD) with desensitization represents a promising method of increasing the rate of living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) in immunologically challenging patients. Patients who are difficult to match and desensitize due to strong donor specific antibody are may be transplanted by a combination of desensitization and KPD protocol with more immunologically favorable donor. We present our experience of combination of desensitization protocol with three-way KPD which contributed to successful LDKT in highly sensitized end stage renal disease patient. All recipients were discharged with normal and stable allograft function at 24 mo follow up. We believe that this is first report from India where three-way KPD exchange was performed with the combination of KPD and desensitization. The combination of desensitization protocol with KPD improves access and outcomes of LDKT.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W2183433946
|
Simulation of salinity distribution in the overlap zone with double-point-source drip irrigation using HYDRUS-3D.
|
Salinity is a serious and chronic problem for agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions. Drip irrigation is widely used in such regions because it can decrease salinity in the soil. With drip irrigation, there is a region of confluence between each pair of emitters, termed the overlap zone, in which plants are grown. Hence, knowledge of the salinity distribution in the overlap zone is important to achieve high crop yields. The salinity distribution in and around the overlap zone was investigated empirically and in simulation (using HYDRUS-3D) for double-point-source drip irrigation with different irrigation volumes (8 L, 10 L, and 12 L) and emitter spacings (30 cm and 40 cm) in a sandy soil near Korla in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The predictions from HYDRUS were found to be very close to the observed data in terms of the coefficient of correlation ( R 2 ) and the root-mean-square error (RMSE). The R 2 varied from 0.69 to 0.92 and the RMSE from 0.003 to 0.008. Additional simulations with HYDRUS were used to evaluate the effects of various design parameters on the desalination zone. The relationship between irrigation volume and the size of the desalination zone was found to follow a power function ( R 2 = 0.951), and that between emitter discharge and the size of the desalination zone was found to follow an exponential function ( R 2 = 0.9995). A negative relationship was found between emitter spacing and the size of the desalination zone. For loam, the vertical extent of desalination was found to be about 1.3 times that of the horizontal. For loamy sand, the vertical extent of desalination far exceeded the horizontal extent, owing to its large hydraulic conductivity. We hope that these simulation results with HYDRUS-3D can provide a basis for designing suitable drip irrigation systems.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Earth System Science"
] |
W2293703050
|
Proactivity Postponed? ‘Capturing’ Records Created in the Context of E-government – A Literary Warrant Analysis of the Plans for a National e-archive Service in Sweden
|
Proactive records management is often described as a prerequisite for a well-functioning public administration that is efficient, legally secure and democratic. In the context of e-government, official information is seen as a valuable asset, which is why technical solutions are developed to improve accessibility and reusability. Yet how to 'capture' and preserve the information is still unclear, and adaptations of routines which have originated in a paper based administration to practices suitable for managing digital records are often lacking. This risks impeding on the work of public agencies, their services toward citizens, and the goals of e-government. This paper uses current plans for developing a national e-archive service in Sweden as a case, applying literary warrant and the records continuum model to discuss how archives management can support the goals of e-government and facilitate proactivity. A special focus is placed on 'capture' as a vital part of holistic recordkeeping. The result shows that despite regulations and ambitions supporting proactivity, 'capture' is not emphasized as a necessity for using, sharing and preserving official information. This could create archives that are incomplete, and risk contributing to a decline in governmental transparency and openness.
|
[
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Texts and Concepts"
] |
US 2006/0029600 W
|
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COUPLING MICROFLUIDIC SYSTEMS WITH A MASS SPECTROMETER UTILIZING RAPID VOLTAGE SWITCHING
|
The invention relates to an apparatus for coupling microfluidic systems with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry utilizing a hydrodynamic flow. The invention also relates to a method of preventing a sample in a main channel (25) of a microfluidic device (11) from migrating down either a first side channel (31) or a second side channel (33) by rapidly alternating a voltage being applied to the first side channel (31) and the second side channel (33).
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
DK 2020050369 W
|
NON-WOVEN TEXTILE FROM UPCYCLED FRUIT AND VEGETABLE WASTE
|
The present invention discloses a hydrophobic non-woven textile and the method of production thereof, the method for production comprising the steps of providing a fruit or vegetable pomace, comminuting the pomace, mixing the disrupted pomace with a density-modifying agent, dehydrating the disrupted pomace, distributing the water reduced pomace on a surface, drying the distributed water reduced pomace, and coating the non-woven textile with a hydrophobic polymer to provide the hydrophobic non-woven textile.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1007/s12520-019-00977-3
|
Black Egyptian inks in Late Antiquity: new insights on their manufacture and use
|
AbstractWe present here our methodological approach applied to the study of Egyptian inks in Late Antiquity. It is based on an interdisciplinary strategy, bringing together a variety of disciplines from humanities and natural sciences, and it aims at systematically collecting a statistically relevant amount of data regarding the composition of the inks. The application of a well-established, non-invasive protocol that includes near-infrared imaging and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy for in situ measurements enables the identification and characterisation of inks dating from the end of Late Antiquity onwards. However, sometimes this method limits our understanding when characterising more ancient inks. Trying to overcome these limitations, the potential of a new device for the characterisation of organic compounds is here explored by conducting preliminary tests on mock samples. In this work, we present the results from 77 codicological units that include some of the earliest manuscripts of our corpus that presently lists 159 units.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Texts and Concepts"
] |
10.1016/j.solmat.2017.12.029
|
Improved efficiency of PbS quantum dot sensitized NiO photocathodes with naphthalene diimide electron acceptor bound to the surface of the nanocrystals
|
Hybrid materials combining a wide bandgap metal oxide semiconductor, metal chalcogenide nanocrystals and molecular systems represent very attractive materials for fabricating devices with new function or improved photoelectrochemical performance. This study deals with sensitization of NiO, which is a p-type semiconductor, by quantum dots (QDs) of PbS with an average diameter of 3 nm. The PbS QDs were attached to the monocrystalline film of NiO by mercaptopropionic acid linker and were subsequently capped with methyl-pyridine naphthalene diimide (NDI) units to prepare quantum dot sensitized solar cells (p-QDSSCs) on NiO electrodes. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements of the PbS emission were used to determine the rate constants for charge transfer from the PbS exciton to the NiO, cobalt based redox mediator and NDI. Notably, it was shown that NDI quenches the PbS exciton by electron transfer with a quite fast rate constant (6. 9 × 107 s−1). The PbS QDs sensitized NiO films were finally used to fabricate solar cells with tris(4,4′-ditert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine) cobalt(III/II) as redox mediator. It was observed that the presence of NDI on PbS improved the photovoltaic performance by 50% relative to that of cells without NDI, leading to a device with the following characteristics: Jsc = 5. 75 mA/cm2, Voc = 226 mV, ff = 34% and PCE = 0. 44%. This study demonstrates that photogalvanic processes can be a productive pathway to better performing sensitized p-type semiconductor for p-QDSSC. In other words, photoinduced electron transfer from the QDs towards the electrolyte rather than initial photoinduced charge injection into the p-type semiconductor can be a favorable operative mechanism in QD sensitized NiO films and might be exploited further for the construction of better performing solar cells or photocatalytic devices.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
W4225658373
|
Rentabilidad de los Fondos de Pensiones en España. 2006-2021. (Return of Pension Funds in Spain. 2006-2021)
|
Spanish Abstract: La rentabilidad media de los fondos de pensiones en España en los últimos 15 años (1,83%) fue inferior a la inversión en bonos del estado español a 15 años (4%). La rentabilidad media del IBEX 35 fue 1,35%, la del EuroStoxx 50 fue 4,2% y la del S&P500 fue 10,7%. 22 fondos de los 408 con 15 años de historia tuvieron una rentabilidad superior a la de los bonos del estado a 15 años, 253 a la del IBEX 35, y 1 a la del S&P500. 20 fondos tuvieron rentabilidad negativa. Los 903 fondos de pensiones del sistema individual tenían (diciembre 2021) 7,5 millones de partícipes y un patrimonio de €89.323 millones. English Abstract: During the last 15 year period (2006-2021), the average return of the pension funds in Spain (1.83%) was lower than the return of Government Bonds (4%). Only 22 funds (out of 408) had a higher return than the 15-year Government Bonds. Nevertheless, on December 31, 2021, 7.5 million investors had 89.3 billion euros invested in pension funds.
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
W2367527890
|
General situation of aboriginal fish resources and utilization and protection strategy in Gansu province
|
The water resources in Gansu Province are abundant,belonging to the Yellow River,Yangtze River,inland rivers,the three big basins and nine water systems.They offer habitats for more than 100 aboriginal fish species,among which 55 can only be found in China.With human activities affecting and disturbing the environment,many places which are good for fishes to live have been damaged or are being damaged.So many species are endangered and the variety of aboriginal fishes is reducing quickly.This paper analyses the general situation of aboriginal fishes in Gansu and the problems in the development and utilization,and put forward some sustainable development strategies to develop reasonably and protect the aboriginal fish resources in Gansu.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
] |
10.1016/j.yqres.2013.11.004
|
Rapid bottom-water circulation changes during the last glacial cycle in the coastal low-latitude NE Atlantic
|
AbstractPrevious paleoceanographic studies along the NW African margin focused on the dynamics of surface and intermediate waters, whereas little attention has been devoted to deep-water masses. Currently, these deep waters consist mainly of North Atlantic Deep Waters as part of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, this configuration was altered during periods of AMOC collapse. We present a high-resolution reconstruction of bottom-water ventilation and current evolution off Mauritania from the last glacial maximum into the early Holocene. Applying redox proxies (Mo, U and Mn) measured on sediments from off Mauritania, we describe changes in deep-water oxygenation and we infer the evolution of deep-water conditions during millennial-scale climate/oceanographic events in the area. The second half of Heinrich Event 1 and the Younger Dryas were recognized as periods of reduced ventilation, coinciding with events of AMOC reduction. We propose that these weakening circulation events induced deficient deep-water oxygenation in the Mauritanian upwelling region, which together with increased productivity promoted reducing conditions and enhanced organic-matter preservation. This is the first time the effect of AMOC collapse in the area is described at high resolution, broadening the knowledge on basin-wide oceanographic changes associated with rapid climate variability during the last deglaciation.
|
[
"Earth System Science"
] |
10.1039/C2JM32401F
|
Light Scattering Enhancement From Sub Micrometer Cavities In The Photoanode For Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
|
A simple cell architecture that achieves enhanced light harvesting with less dye quantity while simultaneously improving the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of dye-sensitized solar cells is presented. Polystyrene (PS) spheres of sub-micrometer size were incorporated into the titanium dioxide paste resulting in photoanodes with bimodal pore size distribution. Scanning electron micrographs of TiO2 films revealed a mixture of mesoporous and macroporous morphology in which sub-micrometer cavities created by the combustion of PS increased the light scattering, enhancing the optical path length and hence the harvesting of photons by the sensitizer. The amount of dye uptake by these films is lower than that of standard films because the high porosity reduces the total surface area. Even with lower dye adsorption, the photovoltaic performance has been maintained and even improved, mainly due to better open circuit voltage and higher fill factor. Overall, better light harvesting has helped to maintain the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells while saving up to 30% of dye loading and replacing the conventional 400 nm scattering layer with voids. By employing these photoanodes, an efficiency of 6. 9% was achieved in ionic liquid based dye sensitized solar cells.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.010604
|
Lattice Kinetic Theory in a Comoving Galilean Reference Frame
|
We prove that the fully discrete lattice Boltzmann method is invariant with respect to Galilean transformation. Based on this finding, a novel class of shifted lattices is proposed which dramatically increases the operating range of lattice Boltzmann simulations, in particular, for gas dynamics applications. A simulation of vortex-shock interaction is used to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed lattices. With one single algorithm it is now possible to simulate a broad range of applications, from low Mach number flows to transonic and supersonic flow regimes.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1088/0004-637X/798/1/23
|
Radial Velocities From Vlt Kmos Spectra Of Giant Stars In The Globular Cluster Ngc 6388
|
We present new radial velocity measurements for 82 stars, members of the Galactic globular cluster (GC) NGC 6388, obtained from ESO-VLT K-band Multi Object Spectrograph (KMOS) spectra acquired during the instrument Science Verification. The accuracy of the wavelength calibration is discussed and a number of tests of the KMOS response are presented. The cluster systemic velocity obtained (81. 3 ± 1. 5 km s–1) is in very good agreement with previous determinations. While a hint of ordered rotation is found between 9'' and 20'' from the cluster center, where the distribution of radial velocities is clearly bimodal, more data are needed before drawing any firm conclusions. The acquired sample of radial velocities has also been used to determine the cluster velocity dispersion (VD) profile between ~9'' and 70'', supplementing previous measurements at r 60'' obtained with ESO-SINFONI and ESO-FLAMES spectroscopy, respectively. The new portion of the VD profile nicely matches the previous ones, better defining the knee of the distribution. The present work clearly shows the effectiveness of a deployable integral field unit in measuring the radial velocities of individual stars for determining the VD profile of Galactic GCs. It represents the pilot project for an ongoing large program with KMOS and FLAMES at the ESO-VLT, aimed at determining the next generation of VD and rotation profiles for a representative sample of GCs.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1021/acs.cgd.9b00466
|
A Mathematical Model of the Ultrasound-Assisted Continuous Tubular Crystallization of Aspirin
|
Ultrasound-assisted nucleation is a promising method of controlling the crystal length within a narrow range in antisolvent crystallization. This article proposes novel model equations representing crystal nucleation and growth under ultrasound application in the antisolvent system of ethanol (solvent), water (antisolvent), and aspirin (pharmaceutical ingredient). The model considers the enhancement of nucleation by ultrasound, and also accounts for the heat generated from both the application of ultrasound and the mixing of solvent and antisolvent. We further employ a global sensitivity analysis to determine the parameters that have the most significant impact on model outputs before validating multiple experimental case studies that represent crystal growth for different antisolvent contents and initial supersaturation ratios. The model successfully captures the effect of the ultrasound, which is a function of temperature and supersaturation ratio, and has a strong impact on the refinement and the quantity of the crystals. The proposed model offers a practical platform that can be applied to different scales and geometries in continuous crystallization systems using ultrasound.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.5334/joc.50
|
Predicting lexical norms: A comparison between a word association model and text-based word co-occurrence models
|
In two studies we compare a distributional semantic model derived from word co-occurrences and a word association based model in their ability to predict properties that affect lexical processing. We focus on age of acquisition, concreteness, and three affective variables, namely valence, arousal, and dominance, since all these variables have been shown to be fundamental in word meaning. In both studies we use a model based on data obtained in a continued free word association task to predict these variables. In Study 1 we directly compare this model to a word co-occurrence model based on syntactic dependency relations to see which model is better at predicting the variables under scrutiny in Dutch. In Study 2 we replicate our findings in English and compare our results to those reported in the literature. In both studies we find the word association-based model fit to predict diverse word properties. Especially in the case of predicting affective word properties, we show that the association model is superior to the distributional model.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
10.3847/1538-4357/834/2/175
|
On Sky Performance Analysis Of The Vector Apodizing Phase Plate Coronagraph On Magao Clio2
|
We report on the performance of a vector apodizing phase plate coronagraph that operates over a wavelength range of $2-5 \mu$m and is installed in MagAO/Clio2 at the 6. 5 m Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile. The coronagraph manipulates the phase in the pupil to produce three beams yielding two coronagraphic point-spread functions (PSFs) and one faint leakage PSF. The phase pattern is imposed through the inherently achromatic geometric phase, enabled by liquid crystal technology and polarization techniques. The coronagraphic optic is manufactured using a direct-write technique for precise control of the liquid crystal pattern, and multitwist retarders for achromatization. By integrating a linear phase ramp to the coronagraphic phase pattern, two separated coronagraphic PSFs are created with a single pupil-plane optic, which makes it robust and easy to install in existing telescopes. The two coronagraphic PSFs contain a 180$^\circ$ dark hole on each side of a star, and these complementary copies of the star are used to correct the seeing halo close to the star. To characterize the coronagraph, we collected a dataset of a bright ($m_L=0-1$) nearby star with $\sim$1. 5 hr of observing time. By rotating and optimally scaling one PSF and subtracting it from the other PSF, we see a contrast improvement by 1. 46 magnitudes at $3. 5 \lambda/D$. With regular angular differential imaging at 3. 9 $\mu$m, the MagAO vector apodizing phase plate coronagraph delivers a $5\sigma\ \Delta$ mag contrast of 8. 3 ($=10^{-3. 3}$) at 2 $\lambda/D$ and 12. 2 ($=10^{-4. 8}$) at $3. 5 \lambda/D$.
|
[
"Universe Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1117/12.2531625
|
Non Invasive In Vivo Sensing Of Metabolites With A Novel Optoacoustic Spectroscope In The Swir
|
In this work we developed a novel near-infrared two-path optoacoustic spectrometer (NiR-TAOS) that could sense OA intensity changes due to metabolite concentration changes in-vivo. The main aim of dividing the optical path in two is 1) perform real time correction of the laser emission profile of the laser source at different wavelengths and, 2) perform pulse to pulse correction to remove laser beam fluctuation and instability to increase signal to noise ratio. Signal to noise ratio improvement was significant not only at spectral peaks, but also at all other wavelengths. The system can be used for broad applications in biomedical measurements such as various metabolites in the SWIR.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b03266
|
Moiré Intralayer Excitons in a MoSe <inf>2</inf> /MoS <inf>2</inf> Heterostructure
|
Spatially periodic structures with a long-range period, referred to as a moiré pattern, can be obtained in van der Waals bilayers in the presence of a small stacking angle or of lattice mismatch between the monolayers. Theoretical predictions suggest that the resulting spatially periodic variation of the band structure modifies the optical properties of both intra- and interlayer excitons of transition metal dichalcogenide heterostructures. Here, we report on the impact of the moiré pattern formed in a MoSe 2 /MoS 2 heterobilayer encapsulated in hexagonal boron nitride. The periodic in-plane potential results in a splitting of the MoSe 2 exciton and trion in emission and (for the exciton) absorption spectra. The observed energy difference between the split peaks is fully consistent with theoretical predictions.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
] |
10.1182/blood-2014-09-602946
|
A novel immunoregulatory role for NK-cell cytotoxicity in protection from HLH-like immunopathology in mice
|
Key Points
NK cytotoxic activity limits HLH-like immunopathology in cytotoxic-deficient mice. NK cytotoxic activity reduces T-cell activation and tissue infiltration of macrophages.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
] |
10.1038/srep00070
|
SRT1720 improves survival and healthspan of obese mice
|
Sirt1 is an NAD+-dependent deacetylase that extends lifespan in lower organisms and improves metabolism and delays the onset of age-related diseases in mammals. Here we show that SRT1720, a synthetic compound that was identified for its ability to activate Sirt1 in vitro, extends both mean and maximum lifespan of adult mice fed a high-fat diet. This lifespan extension is accompanied by health benefits including reduced liver steatosis, increased insulin sensitivity, enhanced locomotor activity and normalization of gene expression profiles and markers of inflammation and apoptosis, all in the absence of any observable toxicity. Using a conditional SIRT1 knockout mouse and specific gene knockdowns we show SRT1720 affects mitochondrial respiration in a Sirt1-and PGC-1α-dependent manner. These findings indicate that SRT1720 has long-term benefits and demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of designing novel molecules that are safe and effective in promoting longevity and preventing multiple age-related diseases in mammals.
|
[
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.09.001
|
Lateralization of resting state networks and relationship to age and gender
|
Brain lateralization is a widely studied topic, however there has been little work focused on lateralization of intrinsic networks (regions showing similar patterns of covariation among voxels) in the resting brain. In this study, we evaluate resting state network lateralization in an age and gender-balanced functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset comprising over 600 healthy subjects ranging in age from 12 to 71. After establishing sample-wide network lateralization properties, we continue with an investigation of age and gender effects on network lateralization. All data was gathered on the same scanner and preprocessed using an automated pipeline (Scott et al. , 2011). Networks were extracted via group independent component analysis (gICA) (. Calhoun et al. , 2001). Twenty-eight resting state networks discussed in previous (Allen et al. , 2011) work were re-analyzed with a focus on lateralization. We calculated homotopic voxelwise measures of laterality in addition to a global lateralization measure, called the laterality cofactor, for each network. As expected, many of the intrinsic brain networks were lateralized. For example, the visual network was strongly right lateralized, auditory network and default mode networks were mostly left lateralized. Attentional and frontal networks included nodes that were left lateralized and other nodes that were right lateralized. Age was strongly related to lateralization in multiple regions including sensorimotor network regions precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus and supramarginal gyrus; and visual network regions lingual gyrus; attentional network regions inferior parietal lobule, superior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus; and frontal network regions including the inferior frontal gyrus. Gender showed significant effects mainly in two regions, including visual and frontal networks. For example, the inferior frontal gyrus was more right lateralized in males. Significant effects of age were found in sensorimotor and visual networks on the global measure. In summary, we report a large-sample of lateralization study that finds intrinsic functional brain networks to be highly lateralized, with regions that are strongly related to gender and age locally, and with age a strong factor in lateralization, and gender exhibiting a trend-level effect on global measures of laterality.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
W2123819157
|
Distinguishing between Web Attacks and Vulnerability Scans Based on Behavioral Characteristics
|
The number of vulnerabilities and reported attacks on Web systems are showing increasing trends, which clearly illustrate the need for better understanding of malicious cyber activities. In this paper we use clustering to classify attacker activities aimed at Web systems. The empirical analysis is based on four datasets, each in duration of several months, collected by high-interaction honey pots. The results show that behavioral clustering analysis can be used to distinguish between attack sessions and vulnerability scan sessions. However, the performance heavily depends on the dataset. Furthermore, the results show that attacks differ from vulnerability scans in a small number of features (i.e., session characteristics). Specifically, for each dataset, the best feature selection method (in terms of the high probability of detection and low probability of false alarm) selects only three features and results into three to four clusters, significantly improving the performance of clustering compared to the case when all features are used. The best subset of features and the extent of the improvement, however, also depend on the dataset.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2061986062
|
Kinematics of unconstrained tactile texture exploration
|
A hallmark of tactile texture exploration is that it involves movement between skin and surface. When we scan a surface, small texture-specific vibrations are produced in the skin, and specialized cutaneous mechanoreceptors convert these vibrations into highly repeatable, precise, and informative temporal spiking patterns in tactile afferents. Both texture-elicited vibrations and afferent responses are highly dependent on exploratory kinematics, however; indeed, these dilate or contract systematically with decreases or increases in scanning speed, respectively. These profound changes in the peripheral response that accompany changes in scanning speed and other parameters of texture scanning raise the question as to whether exploratory behaviors change depending on what surface is explored or what information is sought about that surface. To address this question, we measure and analyze the kinematics as subjects explore textured surfaces to evaluate different types of texture information, namely the textures' roughness, hardness, and slipperiness. We find that the exploratory movements are dependent both on the perceptual task, as has been previously shown, but also on the texture that is scanned. We discuss the implications of our findings regarding the neural coding and perception of texture.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
648716
|
C9orf72-mediated neurodegeneration: mechanisms and therapeutics
|
An expanded GGGGCC repeat in a non-coding region of the C9orf72 gene is the most common known cause of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The repeat RNA is transcribed and accumulates in neuronal RNA aggregates, implicating RNA toxicity as a key pathogenic mechanism. However, the pathways that lead to neurodegeneration are unknown. My lab has made pioneering contributions to the understanding of C9orf72 FTD/ALS, and reported the first structure of the repeat RNA, and the first description of both sense and antisense RNA aggregates in patient brain. We have now developed new disease models that allow, for the first time, the dissection of RNA toxicity both in vivo and in sophisticated neuronal culture models. We have also used our knowledge of the repeat structure to identify novel small molecules that show very strong binding to the repeats. We will utilise our innovative disease models in a multidisciplinary approach to fully dissect the cellular pathways underlying C9orf72 repeat RNA toxicity in vivo, on a genome-wide scale. Altered RNA metabolism has been implicated in a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases, indicating that our findings will provide profound new insight into fundamental mechanisms of neuronal maintenance and survival. This research programme will also deliver a step change in our understanding of C9orf72 FTD/ALS pathogenesis and provide essential insight for the identification of small molecules with genuine therapeutic potential. RNA-mediated mechanisms are now known to be a common theme in neurodegeneration, suggesting these findings will have broad significance.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1021/ja400311h
|
Combining gold and photoredox catalysis: Visible light-mediated oxy-and aminoarylation of alkenes
|
A room-temperature intramolecular oxy-and aminoarylation of alkenes with aryldiazonium salts has been developed using a novel gold and photoredox dual-catalytic system. The compatibility of these two catalytic modes has been established for the first time and demonstrates the potential of this system as a method to expand the scope of nucleophilic addition reactions to carbon-carbon multiple bonds.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
] |
10.1080/21659087.2016.1261773
|
Intravital Characterization Of Tumor Cell Migration In Pancreatic Cancer
|
Curing pancreatic cancer is difficult as metastases often determine the poor clinical outcome. To gain more insight into the metastatic behavior of pancreatic cancer cells, we characterized migratory cells in primary pancreatic tumors using intravital microscopy. We visualized the migratory behavior of primary tumor cells of a genetically engineered pancreatic cancer mouse model and found that pancreatic tumor cells migrate with a mesenchymal morphology as single individual cells or collectively as a stream of non-cohesive single motile cells. These findings may improve our ability to conceive treatments that block metastatic behavior.
|
[
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W1905179570
|
Bose–Einstein condensation as an alternative to inflation
|
It was recently shown that gravitons with a very small mass should have formed a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in the very early universe, whose density and quantum potential can account for the dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) in the universe respectively. Here, we show that the condensation can also naturally explain the observed large scale homogeneity and isotropy of the universe. Furthermore, gravitons continue to fall into their ground state within the condensate at every epoch, accounting for the observed flatness of space at cosmological distance scales. Finally, we argue that the density perturbations due to quantum fluctuations within the condensate give rise to a scale invariant spectrum. This therefore provides a viable alternative to inflation, which is not associated with the well-known problems associated with the latter.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Universe Sciences"
] |
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