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2728480
|
The most viable stationary energy storage solution for grid applications
|
Increasing share of renewable energy (solar and wind) into the EU energy mix is posing new grid management problems for operators. As the share exceeds 25%, it causes high levels of grid instability that can lead to supply insecurity and outages. As a result, EU electricity distribution operators will require €480 billion by 2035 to expand their networks to overcome challenges associated with integrating renewables if cost and service life of current energy storage technologies are not improved. The only two energy storage methods that have acceptable cost and life: pumped hydro-storage (PHS) and compressed air energy storage (CAES) do not have the required rapid response times and are severely limited by geographic restrictions. While battery energy storage (BES) systems have the required instantaneous response, current technologies are prohibitively expensive and have limited lifespans and have safety risks.
In response to this, Greenvolt Nanoma ehf, an Icelandic company uses nanotechnology to develop the first ever BES technology to meet all performance and cost criteria for grid applications. Our Nano-Edison battery’s costs and service life are comparable to PHS and CAES. Our solution is also tolerant to heavy currents, overcharging/discharging and even short circuits and can support pulse charging – making it ideal for capturing variable renewable energies.
As such, we have a unique advantage within the rapidly growing €7.34 billion global market for grid-scale battery storage. With a viable technology that enables grid operators to defer investments in costly network expansion, we seek to be the global leader in energy storage for stationary applications. We have estimated that we will need an additional investment of €3.5 million to achieve that and bring our technology to the market.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1039/C4TC00904E
|
Electro Mechanical Actuator With Muscle Memory
|
Electro-mechanical memory (EMM) is a type of actuator material that incorporates memory and control in the material itself. Thus its actuation can be manipulated, stored, read, and restored independently. We demonstrate here a realization of such a material by combining ionic actuation with shape memory polymer properties. The ionic actuation function and amplitude can be tuned or completely switched off by uniaxial mechanical programming. The shape transformations are reversible, and states can be selectively restored by exposure to pre-programmed temperature levels. Programming at two different temperatures is used to demonstrate storage and later recall of multiple shapes and actuation responses. Upon recall, the EMM's function and actuation amplitude are recovered and the restored states can also be cycled thousands of times using low voltage inputs. We analyse the dependence of the electrical actuation on the amount of mechanical programming, and the mechanism behind the behaviour.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1016/j.jlumin.2020.117092
|
Interpretation of the photoluminescence decay kinetics in metal halide perovskite nanocrystals and thin polycrystalline films
|
In this paper we present critical analysis of different points of view on interpretation of the photoluminescence (PL) decay kinetics in lead halide perovskites prepared in the form of well passivated nanocrystals (PNCs) or thin polycrystalline layers. In addition to the literature data, our own measurements are also considered. For PNCs, a strong dependence of the PL lifetimes on the type of passivating ligand was observed with a consistently high PL quantum yield. It is shown that such ligand effects, as well as a decrease in the PL lifetime with decreasing temperature, are well qualitatively explained by the phenomenological model of thermally activated delayed luminescence, in which the extension of the PL decay time with temperature occurs due to the participation of shallow non-quenching traps. In the case of thin perovskite layers, we conclude that the PL kinetics under sufficiently low excitation intensity is determined by the excitation quenching on the layer surfaces. We demonstrate that a large variety of possible PL decay kinetics for thin polycrystalline perovskite films can be modelled by means of one-dimensional diffusion equation with use of the diffusion coefficient D and surface recombination velocity S as parameters and conclude that long-lived PL kinetics are formed in case of low D and/or S values.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
W6961585
|
Evolutionary Optimisation Techniques to Estimate Input Parameters in Environmental Emergency Modelling
|
Parameter estimation in environmentalmodelling is essential for input parameters, which are difficult or impossible to measure. Especially in simulations for disaster propagation prediction, where hard real-time constraints have to be met to avoid tragedy, the additionally introduced computational burden of advanced global optimisation algorithms still hampers their use in many cases and poses an ongoing challenge. In this chapter we demonstrate how modifications of a Genetic Algorithm (GA) are able to decrease time-consuming fitness evaluations and hence to speed up parameter calibration. Knowledge from past observed catastrophe behaviour is used to guide the GA during various phases towards promising solution areas resulting in a fast convergence. Together with parallel computing techniques it becomes a viable estimation approach in environmental emergency modelling. Encouraging results were obtained in predicting forest fire spread.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Earth System Science"
] |
W4312513319
|
HANSE – Ganzheitliche Implementierungsstudie eines norddeutschen interdisziplinären Lungenkrebs Früherkennungs-Programms
|
Zielsetzung Am 26. Juli 2021 startete das bisher größte deutsche Programm zur Früherkennung von Lungenkrebs mit über 12.000 Probanden (www.hanse-lungencheck.de). Zielgruppe sind (Ex-)Raucherinnen und Raucher zwischen 55 und 79 Jahren, die ein erhöhtes Risiko für Lungenkrebs aufweisen. Bis zu 5.000 Personen erhalten eine kostenlose Untersuchung mit einer modernen Niedrigdosis-Computertomographie (LD-CT) in zwei jährlichen Screening Runden in einem mobilen Studien-Truck, der zwischen den drei Studienstandorten Hannover, Lübeck und Großhansdorf bei Hamburg wechselt.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
10.1111/jcms.13018
|
European Social Partners as Gender Equality Actors in EU Social and Economic Governance
|
This article explores the role of a hitherto under-researched set of actors – European social partners – in shaping the EU's gender equality policies and the conditions in which these policies are adopted and implemented. The positions of the social partners are analysed using three key policy issues of importance to gender equality: the initiative on work–life balance; the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Semester. We argue that social partners play a crucial role in shaping EU gender policy both within and outside social dialogues. They influence the form and instruments of the EU's gender equality policy; shape the meaning of gender equality and participate in the broader conflict between the EU's economic and social goals which is crucial for the future of the EU's gender policies.
|
[
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1093/mnras/stw2540
|
Constraining the redshifted 21-cm signal with the unresolved soft X-ray background
|
We use the observed unresolved cosmic X-ray background (CXRB) in the 0. 5-2 keV band and existing upper limits on the 21-cm power spectrum to constrain the high-redshift population of X-ray sources, focusing on their effect on the thermal history of the Universe and the cosmic 21-cm signal. Because the properties of these sources are poorly constrained, we consider hot gas, X-ray binaries and mini-quasars (i. e. sources with soft or hard X-ray spectra) as possible candidates. We find that (1) the soft-band CXRB sets an upper limit on the X-ray efficiency of sources that existed before the end of reionization, which is one-to-two orders of magnitude higher than typically assumed efficiencies, (2) hard sources are more effective in generating the CXRB than the soft ones, (3) the commonly assumed limit of saturated heating is not valid during the first half of reionization in the case of hard sources, with any allowed value of X-ray efficiency, (4) the maximal allowed X-ray efficiency sets a lower limit on the depth of the absorption trough in the global 21-cm signal and an upper limit on the height of the emission peak, while in the 21-cm power spectrum it sets a minimum amplitude and frequency for the high-redshift peaks, and (5) the existing upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum sets a lower limit on the X-ray efficiency for each model. When combined with the 21-cm global signal, the CXRB will be useful for breaking degeneracies and helping constrain the nature of high-redshift heating sources.
|
[
"Universe Sciences"
] |
10.1029/2012JB009137
|
Thermomechanical Modeling Of Slab Eduction
|
[1] Plate eduction is a geodynamic process characterized by normal-sense coherent motion of previously subducted continental plate. This mechanism may occur after slab detachment has separated the negatively buoyant oceanic plate from the positively buoyant orogenic root. Eduction may therefore be partly responsible for exhumation of high pressure rocks and late orogenic extension. We used two-dimensional thermomechanical modeling to investigate the main features of the plate eduction model. The results show that eduction can lead to the quasi adiabatic decompression of the subducted crust (≈2 GPa) in a timespan of 5 My, large localized extensional strain in the former subduction channel, flattening of the slab, and a topographic uplift associated with extension of the orogen. In order to further investigate the forces involved in the eduction process, we ran systematic parametric simulations and compared them to analytic plate velocity estimations. These experiments showed that eduction is a plausible mechanism as long as the viscosity of the asthenospheric mantle is lower than 1022 Pa. s while subduction channel viscosity does not exceed 1021 Pa. s. We suggest that eduction can be a viable geodynamic mechanism and discuss its potential role during the orogenic evolution of the Norwegian Caledonides.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1142/S1793525313500210
|
The Gysin Exact Sequence For S1 Equivariant Symplectic Homology
|
We define S1-equivariant symplectic homology for symplectically aspherical manifolds with contact boundary, using a Floer-type construction first proposed by Viterbo. We show that it is related to the usual symplectic homology by a Gysin exact sequence. As an important ingredient of the proof, we define a parametrized version of symplectic homology, corresponding to families of Hamiltonian functions indexed by a finite dimensional smooth parameter space.
|
[
"Mathematics"
] |
865963
|
Preparation of Subduction Earthquakes: Slow, Deep, Large-scale trigger
|
Subduction zones host the world’s largest earthquakes and tsunamis. Understanding how such earthquakes initiate and interact is a first-order challenge in earth sciences. A puzzling and unexplained observation is that megathrust earthquakes seem to be clustering at the scale of the plate boundary. This suggests that the subducting slab plays an important role, albeit downplayed, in the triggering of megathrust earthquakes.
I propose to study subduction zones recently affected by megathrust events or earthquakes sequences, with an enlarged perspective, considering the mechanisms of deformation in the larger subduction system, including the slab, and their potential role in pushing the megathrust to failure:
- At the scale of the seismic asperity, how aseismic slip can trigger earthquakes and how this triggering depends on depth, duration, migration, periodicity, and amplitude will be examined, notably by integrating new observations of small, short or long-lived slow slip events.
- At the scale of the subduction zone, how distant changes transfer into large-scale deformation, potentially initiate slow slip and eventual rupture on the plate interface will be analyzed. The role of metamorphic fluids in the softening of the mantle surrounding the slab, which may contribute to distant triggering of earthquakes, and recently observed deep-shallow interactions will be explored.
Multi-scale observations of deformation and seismicity will be extracted from the great amount of geophysical data available in South America, Japan and Sumatra, complemented by in-situ GPS monitoring at a promising area in south Peru. Machine Learning will serve to systematize these complementary observables, to characterize how their empirical relationships evolve with time and space, and to isolate the key processes hidden in these large datasets. Physical mechanisms driving the plate interface destabilization will be explored through mechanical and fluid modeling, and tested against the data.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.3389/fevo.2018.00111
|
New insights from pre-Columbian land use and fire management in Amazonian dark earth forests
|
Anthropogenic climate change driven by increased carbon emissions is leading to more severe fire seasons and increasing the frequency of mega-fires in the Amazon. This has the potential to convert Amazon forests from net carbon sinks to net carbon sources. Although modern human influence over the Earth is substantial, debate remains over when humans began to dominate Earth's natural systems. To date, little is known about the history of human land use in key regions like the Amazon. Here, we examine the history of human occupation from a ~8,500 year-old sediment core record from Lake Caranã (LC) in the eastern Amazon. The onset of pre-Columbian activity at LC (~4,500 cal yr B. P. ) is associated with the beginning of fire management and crop cultivation, later followed by the formation of Amazonian Dark Earth soils (ADEs) ~2,000 cal yr B. P. Selective forest enrichment of edible plants and low-severity fire activity altered the composition and structure of forests growing on ADEs (ADE forests) making them more drought susceptible and fire-prone. Following European colonization (1661 A. D. ), the Amazon rubber boom (mid-1800s to 1920 A. D. ) is associated with record-low fire activity despite drier regional climate, indicating fire exclusion. The formation of FLONA Reserve in 1974 A. D. is accompanied by the relocation of traditional populations and a fire suppression policy. Despite suppression efforts, biomass burning and fire severity in the past decade is higher than any other period in the record. This is attributed to combined climate and human factors which create optimal conditions for mega-fires in ADE forests and threatens to transform the Amazon from a net carbon sink to a net carbon source. To help mitigate the occurrence of mega-fires, a fire management policy reducing fire-use and careful fire management for farming may help to reduce fuel loads and the occurrence of mega-fires in fire-prone ADE forests. As both natural and anthropogenic pressures are projected to increase in the Amazon, this study provides valuable insights into the legacy of past human land use on modern ADE forest composition, structure, and flammability that can inform ecological benchmarks and future management efforts in the eastern Amazon.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"The Study of the Human Past"
] |
313553
|
Social challenges of trans-Mediterranean renewable power cooperation
|
Developed countries must completely decarbonize their power systems by mid-century if the world is to avoid dangerous climate change, and developing countries will have to follow soon thereafter. This will almost certainly include heavy reliance on renewable energy sources, and could include complete reliance. In the context of such a transition, both sound technical and economic analysis and current events suggest that some degree of cooperation and power system integration between Europe and the neighboring Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will be attractive, will likely occur, and may even be essential in order to overcome European land constraints. However, the prospect of such cooperation raises a set of related social and governance issues—challenges to be understood and if appropriate overcome—that so far remain under-researched. These include: the social acceptance of devoting large land areas to renewable power generation, centralized and decentralized, in one’s own back yard and in far off places; the governance options to resolve competing interests for scarce resources for such generation, primarily land and water; the human development implications of this cooperation in the MENA region, and ways of arriving at improved outcomes; and, the construction and maintenance of a functional integrated power system across a set of disparate political and regulatory systems. Each issue raises several research questions, with important synergies and commonalities across the entire set. The goal of this project is to provide robust answers to these questions, based on the application of the most appropriate research methods, be they qualitative or quantitative, empirical or modeling-oriented. The answers will contribute to the social science literature on sustainable development, ecological modernization, and transitions governance. They will also provide timely insights to policy-makers facing the need to make strategic choices by the end of this decade.
|
[
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.1175/JTECH-D-15-0193.1
|
A Novel Near Real Time Quality Control Procedure For Radiometric Profiles Measured By Bio Argo Floats Protocols And Performances
|
AbstractAn array of Bio-Argo floats equipped with radiometric sensors has been recently deployed in various open ocean areas representative of the diversity of trophic and bio-optical conditions prevailing in the so-called case 1 waters. Around solar noon and almost every day, each float acquires 0–250-m vertical profiles of photosynthetically available radiation and downward irradiance at three wavelengths (380, 412, and 490 nm). Up until now, more than 6500 profiles for each radiometric channel have been acquired. As these radiometric data are collected out of an operator’s control and regardless of meteorological conditions, specific and automatic data processing protocols have to be developed. This paper presents a data quality-control procedure aimed at verifying profile shapes and providing near-real-time data distribution. This procedure is specifically developed to 1) identify main issues of measurements (i. e. , dark signal, atmospheric clouds, spikes, and wave-focusing occurrences) and 2) validate. . .
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2951157501
|
Robust Commitments and Partial Reputation
|
Agents rarely act in isolation -- their behavioral history, in particular, is public to others. We seek a non-asymptotic understanding of how a leader agent should shape this history to its maximal advantage, knowing that follower agent(s) will be learning and responding to it. We study Stackelberg leader-follower games with finite observations of the leader commitment, which commonly models security games and network routing in engineering, and persuasion mechanisms in economics. First, we formally show that when the game is not zero-sum and the vanilla Stackelberg commitment is mixed, it is not robust to observational uncertainty. We propose observation-robust, polynomial-time-computable commitment constructions for leader strategies that approximate the Stackelberg payoff, and also show that these commitment rules approximate the maximum obtainable payoff (which could in general be greater than the Stackelberg payoff). Full paper: https://eecs.berkeley.edu/~sahai/reputation.pdf
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.5194/cp-10-1421-2014
|
Warming, euxinia and sea level rise during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum on the Gulf Coastal Plain: implications for ocean oxygenation and nutrient cycling
|
Abstract. The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ~ 56 Ma) was a ~ 200 kyr episode of global warming, associated with massive injections of 13C-depleted carbon into the ocean–atmosphere system. Although climate change during the PETM is relatively well constrained, effects on marine oxygen concentrations and nutrient cycling remain largely unclear. We identify the PETM in a sediment core from the US margin of the Gulf of Mexico. Biomarker-based paleotemperature proxies (methylation of branched tetraether–cyclization of branched tetraether (MBT–CBT) and TEX86) indicate that continental air and sea surface temperatures warmed from 27–29 to ~ 35 °C, although variations in the relative abundances of terrestrial and marine biomarkers may have influenced these estimates. Vegetation changes, as recorded from pollen assemblages, support this warming. The PETM is bracketed by two unconformities. It overlies Paleocene silt- and mudstones and is rich in angular (thus in situ produced; autochthonous) glauconite grains, which indicate sedimentary condensation. A drop in the relative abundance of terrestrial organic matter and changes in the dinoflagellate cyst assemblages suggest that rising sea level shifted the deposition of terrigenous material landward. This is consistent with previous findings of eustatic sea level rise during the PETM. Regionally, the attribution of the glauconite-rich unit to the PETM implicates the dating of a primate fossil, argued to represent the oldest North American specimen on record. The biomarker isorenieratene within the PETM indicates that euxinic photic zone conditions developed, likely seasonally, along the Gulf Coastal Plain. A global data compilation indicates that O2 concentrations dropped in all ocean basins in response to warming, hydrological change, and carbon cycle feedbacks. This culminated in (seasonal) anoxia along many continental margins, analogous to modern trends. Seafloor deoxygenation and widespread (seasonal) anoxia likely caused phosphorus regeneration from suboxic and anoxic sediments. We argue that this fueled shelf eutrophication, as widely recorded from microfossil studies, increasing organic carbon burial along many continental margins as a negative feedback to carbon input and global warming. If properly quantified with future work, the PETM offers the opportunity to assess the biogeochemical effects of enhanced phosphorus regeneration, as well as the timescales on which this feedback operates in view of modern and future ocean deoxygenation.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
W2342577965
|
Morphing aircraft based on smart materials and structures: A state-of-the-art review
|
A traditional aircraft is optimized for only one or two flight conditions, not for the entire flight envelope. In contrast, the wings of a bird can be reshaped to provide optimal performance at all flight conditions. Any change in an aircraft’s configuration, in particular the wings, affects the aerodynamic performance, and optimal configurations can be obtained for each flight condition. Morphing technologies offer aerodynamic benefits for an aircraft over a wide range of flight conditions. The advantages of a morphing aircraft are based on an assumption that the additional weight of the morphing components is acceptable. Traditional mechanical and hydraulic systems are not considered good choices for morphing aircraft. “Smart” materials and structures have the advantages of high energy density, ease of control, variable stiffness, and the ability to tolerate large amounts of strain. These characteristics offer researchers and designers new possibilities for designing morphing aircraft. In this article, recent developments in the application of smart materials and structures to morphing aircraft are reviewed. Specifically, four categories of applications are discussed: actuators, sensors, controllers, and structures.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
W4226229682
|
The Maleth Program: Malta's First Space Mission Discoveries on the Microbiome of Diabetic Foot Ulcers
|
The first mission (Maleth I) forms part of Project Maleth and aims to uncover the effects of spaceflight, microgravity and radiation on human skin tissue microbiome samples from six Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus diabetic foot ulcers (DFU). The mission intended to highlight some of the very best frontier research programs in Malta that capitalized on the unique spectra of medical, life, and health sciences and the power of collaborative research in using multiple tools to answer the research question. Maleth I’s overall objective was achieved in that the specimens conducted to space and back yielded positive growth on testing the microbiome by both standard microbiology techniques and genetic typing using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing. Preliminary findings of this mission are discussed in light of its innovative approach at DFU microbiome research, and the clinical implications that may emerge from this and other future similar studies.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W4293195274
|
La diversità di genere nelle dichiarazioni non finanziarie delle banche italiane. [Gender Diversity in the Non-financial Reporting of Italian Banks]
|
Italian Abstract: Le comunicazioni delle imprese sulla loro posizione in materia di sostenibilità ambientale, sociale e di governance (ESG) consentono ad analisti e investitori valutazioni più accurate sull’esposizione ai rischi derivanti da questi fattori e sulla redditività nel lungo periodo. La diversità di genere è una componente importante della strategia di sostenibilità delle imprese e merita di essere adeguatamente gestita e comunicata al pubblico. Il lavoro analizza come le banche italiane comunicano la propria posizione su questo tema nelle Dichiarazioni Non Finanziarie (DNF), secondo quanto previsto dall’attuale quadro normativo agli enti di interesse pubblico di maggiori dimensioni. Le analisi condotte mostrano che la diversità e inclusione (D&I) è rilevante per la maggior parte delle banche che pubblicano la DNF, anche se trattato con differenti modalità e livello di dettaglio. Il lavoro identifica alcuni profili che le banche potrebbero usare in ciascuna delle tre principali aree del documento (l’articolazione del processo di materialità; la modalità di gestione della D&I; le informazioni quantitative) per valorizzare le attività svolte nel campo della D&I.English Abstract: Corporate social responsibility reporting on environmental, social and governance (ESG) sustainability allows analysts and investors to better assess firms’ risk exposure to these factors and their long-term profitability. Gender diversity in the workplace is an important element of firms’ sustainability strategy and deserves to be properly addressed and communicated to the public. We analyse how and to what extent Italian banks disclose their stance on these issues in their non-financial reporting (NFR), as required by the current regulatory framework for larger public interest entities. The analysis of NFR finds that diversity and inclusion (D&I) is material for most institutions, albeit with some differences in the granularity of information and in the way in which the information is presented. The paper identifies some aspects that banks could use in each of the three main areas considered in the reports (materiality process; D&I management; publication of quantitative information on D&I) to enhance their activities related to D&I.
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1109/CVPR.2013.215
|
Learning A Manifold As An Atlas
|
In this work, we return to the underlying mathematical definition of a manifold and directly characterise learning a manifold as finding an atlas, or a set of overlapping charts, that accurately describe local structure. We formulate the problem of learning the manifold as an optimisation that simultaneously refines the continuous parameters defining the charts, and the discrete assignment of points to charts. In contrast to existing methods, this direct formulation of a manifold does not require "unwrapping" the manifold into a lower dimensional space and allows us to learn closed manifolds of interest to vision, such as those corresponding to gait cycles or camera pose. We report state-of-the-art results for manifold based nearest neighbour classification on vision datasets, and show how the same techniques can be applied to the 3D reconstruction of human motion from a single image.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1080/21541264.2017.1378158
|
Housekeeping And Tissue Specific Cis Regulatory Elements Recipes For Specificity And Recipes For Activity
|
Cell type-specific and housekeeping enhancers and promoters collectively control the transcriptional output of mammalian cells. Recent data clarify how DNA sequence features on the one hand control functional coupling of promoters with selected enhancers, and on the other impart high level of activity to a broad range of regulatory elements.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
] |
10.1142/S2010324713400018
|
Rolled Up Permalloy Nanomembranes With Multiple Windings
|
We fabricated Permalloy (Fe19Ni81) nanomembranes rolled-up into compact three-dimensional architectures and experimentally investigated their magnetic and magneto-electric responses. When a magnetic nanomembrane is rolled-up, an additional magnetostatic interaction between the multiple windings emerges. Such kind of magnetostatic interaction, unique to the rolled-up magnetic nanomembranes and not accessible in any other magnetic architecture, is addressed for the first time in this study. An important feature of rolled-up tubes with multiple windings is that the inner and outer windings are formed by a single magnetic sheet; the spin configuration therefore must be continuous. The magnetostatic interaction induces anti-parallel alignment of the spins within adjacent layers of a rolled-up nanomembrane. The interplay between the magnetostatic interaction due to geometrical transformation and the exchange coupling in the film results in a stabilization of stripe domain patterns.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
185514
|
Topographically-Driven meteoric groundwater – an important geomorphic agent
|
Topographically-driven meteoric (TDM) recharge is a key driver of offshore groundwater systems because sea level has been lower than at present for 80% of the last 2.6 million years. Groundwater has been implicated as an important agent in the geomorphic evolution of passive continental margins and the canyons that incise them. However, the geomorphic efficacy of groundwater remains dubious, and a diagnostic link between landscape form and groundwater processes remains poorly quantified, especially for bedrock and cohesive sediments. Obstacles that prevent going beyond the current state-of-knowledge include: (i) a focus on terrestrial contexts and a lack of mechanistic understanding of groundwater erosion/weathering; (ii) limited information on offshore groundwater architecture, history and dynamics. By addressing the role of TDM offshore groundwater in the geomorphic evolution of the most prevalent types of continental margins, MARCAN is expected to open new scientific horizons in continental margin research and bring about a step-change in our understanding of some of the most widespread and significant landforms on Earth. The project’s methodology is rooted in an innovative, multi-scale and multidisciplinary approach that incorporates: (i) the most detailed 3D characterisation of TDM offshore groundwater systems and their evolution during an integral glacial cycle, based on state-of-the-art marine data and hydrogeologic models, and (ii) the development of a comprehensive continental margin geomorphic evolution model, based on realistic laboratory simulations, accurate field measurements and advanced numerical solutions. By placing better constraints on past fluid migration histories, MARCAN will also have strong applied relevance, primarily by improving assessment and exploitation of offshore freshwater as a source of drinking water.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1073/pnas.1517551113
|
Protein networks identify novel symbiogenetic genes resulting from plastid endosymbiosis
|
The integration of foreign genetic information is central to the evolution of eukaryotes, as has been demonstrated for the origin of the Calvin cycle and of the heme and carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in algae and plants. For photosynthetic lineages, this coordination involved three genomes of divergent phylogenetic origins (the nucleus, plastid, and mitochondrion). Major hurdles overcome by the ancestor of these lineages were harnessing the oxygen-evolving organelle, optimizing the use of light, and stabilizing the partnership between the plastid endosymbiont and host through retargeting of proteins to the nascent organelle. Here we used protein similarity networks that can disentangle reticulate gene histories to explore how these significant challenges were met. We discovered a previously hidden component of algal and plant nuclear genomes that originated from the plastid endosymbiont: symbiogenetic genes (S genes). These composite proteins, exclusive to photosynthetic eukaryotes, encode a cyanobacteriumderived domain fused to one of cyanobacterial or another prokaryotic origin and have emerged multiple, independent times during evolution. Transcriptome data demonstrate the existence and expression of S genes across a wide swath of algae and plants, and functional data indicate their involvement in tolerance to oxidative stress, phototropism, and adaptation to nitrogen limitation. Our research demonstrates the "recycling" of genetic information by photosynthetic eukaryotes to generate novel composite genes, many of which function in plastid maintenance.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
10.1109/TIT.2015.2394782
|
Lattice Codes For Many To One Interference Channels With And Without Cognitive Messages
|
A new achievable rate region is given for the Gaussian cognitive many-to-one interference channel. The proposed novel coding scheme is based on the compute-and-forward approach with lattice codes. Using the idea of decoding sums of codewords, our scheme improves considerably upon the conventional coding schemes which treat interference as noise or decode messages simultaneously. Our strategy also extends directly to the usual many-to-one interference channels without cognitive messages. Comparing to the usual compute-and-forward scheme where a fixed lattice is used for the code construction, the novel scheme employs scaled lattices and also encompasses key ingredients of the existing schemes for the cognitive interference channel. With this new component, our scheme achieves a larger rate region in general. For some symmetric channel settings, new constant gap or capacity results are established, which are independent of the number of users in the system.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Mathematics"
] |
260266
|
Complex adaptation in photosynthetic microbes evolving in response to global change
|
Microbes evolve rapidly in changing environments, and global change may soon cause future microbial populations to differ genetically and phenotypically from contemporary populations. We have both pragmatic and intellectual interests in microbial evolution, especially when microbial communities perform important ecological services. For example, marine phytoplankton are responsible for half of global primary production, and make up the biological carbon sink in oceans. However, marine environments are changing in complex ways, and future global carbon and energy cycles may depend heavily on how phytoplankton evolve in response to global change.
My research will study how photosynthetic microbes evolve in complex environments. First, I will use mathematical models and experimental evolution in a microalgal model system to compare phenotypic changes between populations that have evolved either in an environment where many variables change simultaneously, or in an environment where only one variable changes at a time. Second, I will use the same model system to study if and how heritable epigenetic change, such as methylation and miRNA regulation, affects long-term adaptation. Both sets of experiments will use environmental shifts that are associated with global change, thus providing information specific to marine phytoplankton evolution, as well as insight into fundamental evolutionary processes. Finally, I will use RAD sequening in natural algal isolates from high CO2 environments to map and produce a list of candidate loci that may have contributed to long-term evolution in elevated CO2. The results of this work will significantly improve our ability to use evolutionary theory to understand how microbes are likely to change over the coming decades.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.08.016
|
IAP-Based Cell Sorting Results in Homogeneous Transplantable Dopaminergic Precursor Cells Derived from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
|
Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived mesencephalic dopaminergic (mesDA) neurons can relieve motor deficits in animal models of Parkinson's disease (PD). Clinical translation of differentiation protocols requires standardization of production procedures, and surface-marker-based cell sorting is considered instrumental for reproducible generation of defined cell products. Here, we demonstrate that integrin-associated protein (IAP) is a cell surface marker suitable for enrichment of hPSC-derived mesDA progenitor cells. Immunomagnetically sorted IAP+ mesDA progenitors showed increased expression of ventral midbrain floor plate markers, lacked expression of pluripotency markers, and differentiated into mature dopaminergic (DA) neurons in vitro. Intrastriatal transplantation of IAP+ cells sorted at day 16 of differentiation in a rat model of PD resulted in functional recovery. Grafts from sorted IAP+ mesDA progenitors were more homogeneous in size and DA neuron density. Thus, we suggest IAP-based sorting for reproducible prospective enrichment of mesDA progenitor cells in clinical cell replacement strategies. In this article, Knöbel and colleagues identified IAP as a cell surface marker for mesDA progenitor cells. Immunomagnetic sorting for IAP+ led to reproducible and homogeneous cell compositions. Intrastriatal transplantation of sorted cells at day 16 of differentiation in a PD rat model resulted in functional recovery, and grafts were more homogeneous in size and DA neuron density than unsorted cells.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
] |
10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.10.034
|
Using the macroscopic scale to predict the nano-scale behavior of YSZ thin films
|
In this work, Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) thin films were deposited using dual reactive magnetron sputtering. By varying the deposition conditions, the film morphology and texture of the thin films are tuned and biaxial alignment is obtained. Studying the crystallographic and microstructural properties of the YSZ thin films, a tilted columnar growth was identified. This tilt is shown to be dependent on the compositional gradient of the sample. The variation of composition within a single YSZ column measured via STEM-EDX is demonstrated to be equal to the macroscopic variation on a full YSZ sample when deposited under the same deposition parameters. A simple stress model was developed to predict the tilt of the growing columns. The results indicate that this model not only determines the column bending of the growing film but also confirms that a macroscopic approach is sufficient to determine the compositional gradient in a single column of the YSZ thin films.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1073/pnas.1709141115
|
Adaptive diversification of growth allometry in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana
|
Seed plants vary tremendously in size and morphology; however, variation and covariation in plant traits may be governed, at least in part, by universal biophysical laws and biological constants. Metabolic scaling theory (MST) posits that whole-organismal metabolism and growth rate are under stabilizing selection that minimizes the scaling of hydrodynamic resistance and maximizes the scaling of resource uptake. This constrains variation in physiological traits and in the rate of biomass accumulation, so that they can be expressed as mathematical functions of plant size with near-constant allometric scaling exponents across species. However, the observed variation in scaling exponents calls into question the evolutionary drivers and the universality of allometric equations. We have measured growth scaling and fitness traits of 451 Arabidopsis thaliana accessions with sequenced genomes. Variation among accessions around the scaling exponent predicted by MST was correlated with relative growth rate, seed production, and stress resistance. Genomic analyses indicate that growth allometry is affected by many genes associated with local climate and abiotic stress response. The gene with the strongest effect, PUB4, has molecular signatures of balancing selection, suggesting that intraspecific variation in growth scaling is maintained by opposing selection on the trade-off between seed production and abiotic stress resistance. Our findings suggest that variation in allometry contributes to local adaptation to contrasting environments. Our results help reconcile past debates on the origin of allometric scaling in biology and begin to link adaptive variation in allometric scaling to specific genes.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
853168
|
Polycentric Carbon Pricing Governance: Cooperation, Contestation and Connectivity
|
The PolyCarbon project’s objective is to uncover, investigate and understand the underlying mechanisms and conditions for the expansion and contraction of the global system of carbon pricing governance. It will (1) chart the entire global system of carbon pricing policies, (2) explain the causes of adoption and rejection of (ambitious) carbon pricing policies, and (3) analyse the interaction amongst the various carbon pricing policies globally.
The global system of carbon pricing policies will become exponentially more effective as it expands since carbon leakage is reduced. Carefully crafted and ambitious carbon pricing policies can be powerful tools for transitioning to a low-carbon economy in the urgent pursuit of international climate goals. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and conditions for the expansion and contraction of the global system of carbon pricing governance can provide insights for fast-tracking its formation; thus, accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The PolyCarbon project will develop a novel analytical framework that captures the complexity of local and transnational processes and their interaction. This framework will guide the creation of a unique and expansive database of carbon pricing policies. The database will be used for a comprehensive multi-method analysis, combining qualitative network analysis and case studies.
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Earth System Science",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
] |
10.1115/1.4026942
|
Influence Of Pressure And Steam Dilution On Nox And Co Emissions In A Premixed Natural Gas Flame
|
In the current study, the influence of pressure and steam on the emission formation in a premixed natural gas flame is investigated at pressures between 1. 5 bar and 9 bar. A premixed, swirl-stabilized combustor is developed that provides a stable flame up to very high steam contents. Combustion tests are conducted at different pressure levels for equivalence ratios from lean blowout to near-stoichiometric conditions and steam-to-air mass ratios from 0% to 25%. A reactor network is developed to model the combustion process. The simulation results match the measured NOx and CO concentrations very well for all operating conditions. The reactor network is used for a detailed investigation of the influence of steam and pressure on the NOx formation pathways. In the experiments, adding 20% steam reduces NOx and CO emissions to below 10 ppm at all tested pressures up to near-stoichiometric conditions. Pressure scaling laws are derived: CO changes with a pressure exponent of approximately −0. 5 that is not noticeably affected by the steam. For the NOx emissions, the exponent increases with equivalence ratio from 0. 1 to 0. 65 at dry conditions. At a steam-to-air mass ratio of 20%, the NOx pressure exponent is reduced to −0. 1 to +0. 25. The numerical analysis reveals that steam has a strong effect on the combustion chemistry. The reduction in NOx emissions is mainly caused by lower concentrations of atomic oxygen at steam-diluted conditions, constraining the thermal pathway.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1038/srep19631
|
Hair cortisol varies with season and lifestyle and relates to human interactions in German shepherd dogs
|
It is challenging to measure long-term endocrine stress responses in animals. We investigated whether cortisol extracted from dog hair reflected the levels of activity and stress long-term, during weeks and months. Hair samples from in total 59 German shepherds were analysed. Samples for measuring cortisol concentrations were collected at three occasions and we complemented the data with individual scores from the Canine Behavioural Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ). Generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) results showed that hair cortisol varied with season and lifestyle: competition dogs had higher levels than companion, and professional working dogs, and levels were higher in January than in May and September. In addition, a positive correlation was found between the cortisol levels and the C-BARQ score for stranger-directed aggression (r=0. 31, P=0. 036). Interestingly, the factor "playing often with the dog" (r=-0. 34, P=0. 019) and "reward with a treat/toy when the dog behaves correctly" (r=-0. 37, P=0. 010) correlated negatively with cortisol levels, suggesting that positive human interactions reduce stress. In conclusion, hair cortisol is a promising method for revealing the activity of the HPA-axis over a longer period of time, and human interactions influence the cortisol level in dogs.
|
[
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
10.1038/nn.3881
|
Unbiased classification of sensory neuron types by large-scale single-cell RNA sequencing
|
The primary sensory system requires the integrated function of multiple cell types, although its full complexity remains unclear. We used comprehensive transcriptome analysis of 622 single mouse neurons to classify them in an unbiased manner, independent of any a priori knowledge of sensory subtypes. Our results reveal eleven types: three distinct low-threshold mechanoreceptive neurons, two proprioceptive, and six principal types of thermosensitive, itch sensitive, type C low-threshold mechanosensitive and nociceptive neurons with markedly different molecular and operational properties. Confirming previously anticipated major neuronal types, our results also classify and provide markers for new, functionally distinct subtypes. For example, our results suggest that itching during inflammatory skin diseases such as atopic dermatitis is linked to a distinct itch-generating type. We demonstrate single-cell RNA-seq as an effective strategy for dissecting sensory responsive cells into distinct neuronal types. The resulting catalog illustrates the diversity of sensory types and the cellular complexity underlying somatic sensation.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems"
] |
169384
|
The molecular basis of learning and memory: uncovering the link between neuronal activation and localized translation at the synapse.
|
During learning specific neuronal connections are strengthened and weakened to create long-term memory. This requires local regulation of the availability of proteins at the synapse, at a large distance from the cell body, in response to neuronal activity. It is generally recognized that such synaptic plasticity can be achieved through the regulation of translation of localized mRNAs at or near the synapses. Despite the importance of this mechanism in memory and our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases, the molecular basis by which neuronal activation regulates localised translation is still largely unknown in any system.
I propose to address this deficiency by discovering the key regulatory pathway in activity dependent synaptic plasticity in the Drosophila third instar motorneuron synapse, a well established model for generalised synaptic function. My proposal is built on extremely promising unpublished observations showing that a highly conserved mRNA binding protein, Syncrip (Syp) regulates the localized translation of key synaptic mRNAs, such as the conserved scaffolding molecule Discs large, at the motorneuron synapse, in response to neuronal stimulation. Preliminary data from the lab suggests that Syp is post-translationally modified by Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), a well-known kinase that plays essential and conserved roles in memory. I propose to test the hypothesis that binding of Syp to its mRNA targets is regulated by phosphorylation by CamKII. I will test whether Syp is phosphorylated at CamKII consensus sites located in its mRNA binding domains, which have been modelled on the human structure. We will use mass spectrometry to identify these phosphorylation sites and characterise phosphorylation mutants of Syp generated by CRISPR. I also aim to discover the molecular mechanism by which Syncrip regulates the translation of its targets.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1109/MARSS.2016.7561695
|
An Experimental Comparison Of Path Planning Techniques Applied To Micro Sized Magnetic Agents
|
Micro-sized agents can be used in applications such as microassembly, micromanipulation, and minimally invasive surgeries. Magnetic agents such as paramagnetic microparticles can be controlled to deliver pharmaceutical agents to difficult-to-access regions within the human body. In order to autonomously move these microparticles toward a target/goal area, an obstacle-free path must be computed using path planning algorithms. Several path planning algorithms have been developed in the literature, however, to the best of our knowledge, only few have been employed in an experimental scenario. In this paper we perform an experimental comparison of six path planning algorithms when applied to the motion control of paramagnetic microparticles. Among the families of deterministic and probabilistic path planners we select the ones that we consider the most fundamental, such as: A* with quadtrees, A* with uniform grids, D* Lite, Artificial Potential Field, Probabilistic Roadmap and Rapidly-exploring Random Tree. We consider a 2D environment made by both dynamic and static obstacles. Four scenarios are evaluated. Three metrics such as computation time, length of the trajectory performed by the microparticle, and time to reach the goal are used to compare the planners. Experimental results reveal equivalence between almost all the considered planners in terms of trajectory length and completion time. Concerning the computation time, A* with quadtrees and Artificial Potential Field achieve the best performances.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
Q3859815
|
Supporting enterprises registered under the Tourism Act as a tour operator or travel agent to overcome the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic
|
Supporting enterprises registered under the Tourism Act as a tour operator or travel agent to overcome the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
] |
10.1038/NPHYS1304
|
Resolved Sideband Cooling And Position Measurement Of A Micromechanical Oscillator Close To The Heisenberg Uncertainty Limit
|
The theory of quantum measurement of mechanical motion, describing the mutual coupling of a meter and a measured object, predicts a variety of phenomena such as quantum backaction, quantum correlations and non-classical states of motion. In spite of great experimental efforts, mostly based on nano-electromechanical systems, probing these in a laboratory setting has as yet eluded researchers. Cavity optomechanical systems, in which a high-quality optical resonator is parametrically coupled to a mechanical oscillator, hold great promise as a route towards the observation of such effects with macroscopic oscillators. Here, we present measurements on optomechanical systems exhibiting radiofrequency (62–122 MHz) mechanical modes, cooled to very low occupancy using a combination of cryogenic precooling and resolved-sideband laser cooling. The lowest achieved occupancy is n∼63. Optical measurements of these ultracold oscillators’ motion are shown to perform in a near-ideal manner, exhibiting an imprecision–backaction product about one order of magnitude lower than the results obtained with nano-electromechanical transducers. Optomechanical systems in which a high-quality optical resonator is coupled to a mechanical oscillator hold great promise for examining quantum effects in relatively large structures. As a step towards this, a silica microtoroid has now been cooled to the point that it has just 63 thermal quanta.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
TW 96109300 A
|
A multi-layer package structure for an acoustic microsensor
|
A multi-layer package structure for an acoustic microsensor, the package structure mainly utilizes a stack of multiple substrates for covering and protecting circuit elements such that integrated circuit element and acoustic microsensor arranged in recessions of a substrate with recessions can reduce volume of the package structure. By adding various sound hole designs, the problem of larger package volume can be effectively solved and sensing frequency of the acoustic microsensor can be increased simultaneously.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
233199
|
""Endosomal trafficking during morphogenetic signaling and asymmetric cell division""
|
We plan to study the mechanism that controls the growth of animal tissues. We will focus on two types of mitotic modes: asymmetric cell divisions and the morphogen-dependent proliferation of developing cells. Our recent work has shown that endosomal trafficking plays key roles during asymmetric division and during the formation of morphogen gradients. We therefore plan to unravel the biochemical and cell biological mechanisms underlying the key role of endosomes during growth control using Drosophila as a model system and validating it in the Zebrafish, where we will also discover the new endosomal properties that emerged in vertebrates. Our project will pursue two aims: 1. to discover the key lipids and proteins involved in the endosome-mediated control of growth; 2. to study at the biophysical level the signaling and membrane trafficking events that, emanating from the endosomes, mediate the control of growth. We have already shown that endosomal trafficking is essential during the formation of morphogen gradients and asymmetric cell division. This proposal ultimately aims at the physical, molecular and cellular mechanisms behind.
|
[
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
W2008037653
|
Resveratrol Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of Pathological Scar Fibroblasts Through the Mechanism Involving TGF-β1/Smads Signaling Pathway
|
The objective of this study was to determine the effect of resveratrol (Res) treatment on pathological scar fibroblasts and the changes in TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway. For this purpose, cultured pathological scar fibroblasts were treated with various concentrations of Res (10, 50, and, 100 µmol/l), and the morphological changes in target cells were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cellular proliferation was assessed by MTT assay; the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1 and Smad-2,3,4,7 were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence assay, respectively. We found that Res-treated fibroblasts exhibited the typical apoptotic morphological changes. As shown by MTT assay, the OD values of Res-treated fibroblasts, as a measure of cell growth, were significantly lower than those of controls (P < 0.05). In addition, as compared to controls, TGF-β1 and Smad-2,3,4 mRNA/protein expression decreased but those of Smad7 increased in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). It was, therefore, concluded that Res treatment inhibited the pathological scar fibroblast proliferation and induced cell apoptosis through the mechanism involving downregulation of TGF-β1, Smad-2,3,4, and upregulation of Smad7.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
] |
10.2140/apde.2019.12.605
|
The BMO-Dirichlet problem for elliptic systems in the upper half-space and quantitative characterizations of VMO
|
We prove that for any homogeneous, second-order, constant complex coefficient elliptic system L in ℝn, the Dirichlet problem in ℝ+n with boundary data in BMO. ℝn-1/ is well-posed in the class of functions u for which the Littlewood-Paley measure associated with u, namely dμu(x', t):=| ∇u(x',t)|2 t dx' dt; is a Carleson measure in ℝ+n . In the process we establish a Fatou-type theorem guaranteeing the existence of the pointwise nontangential boundary trace for smooth null-solutions u of such systems satisfying the said Carleson measure condition. In concert, these results imply that the space BMO(ℝn-1) can be characterized as the collection of nontangential pointwise traces of smooth null-solutions u to the elliptic system L with the property that μu is a Carleson measure in ℝ+n . We also establish a regularity result for the BMO-Dirichlet problem in the upper half-space, to the effect that the nontangential pointwise trace on the boundary of ℝ+nof any given smooth nullsolutions u of L in ℝ+n satisfying the above Carleson measure condition actually belongs to Sarason's space VMO. ℝn-1/ if and only if μu(T(Q))/|Q|→0 as |Q|→0, uniformly with respect to the location of the cubeQ⊂ℝn-1 (where T(Q) is the Carleson box associated withQ, and |Q| denotes the Euclidean volume of Q). Moreover, we are able to establish the well-posedness of the Dirichlet problem in ℝn C for a system L as above in the case when the boundary data are prescribed in Morrey-Campanato spaces in ℝn-1. In such a scenario, the solution u is required to satisfy a vanishing Carleson measure condition of fractional order. By relying on these well-posedness and regularity results we succeed in producing characterizations of the space VMO as the closure in BMO of classes of smooth functions contained in BMO within which uniform continuity may be suitably quantified (such as the class of smooth functions satisfying a Hölder or Lipschitz condition). This improves on Sarason's classical result describing VMO as the closure in BMO of the space of uniformly continuous functions with bounded mean oscillations. In turn, this allows us to show that any Calderón-Zygmund operator T satisfying T (1) = 0 extends as a linear and bounded mapping from VMO (modulo constants) into itself. In turn, this is used to describe algebras of singular integral operators on VMO, and to characterize the membership to VMO via the action of various classes of singular integral operators.
|
[
"Mathematics"
] |
10.1126/science.aao1729
|
Systematic analysis of complex genetic interactions
|
To systematically explore complex genetic interactions, we constructed ∼200,000 yeast triple mutants and scored negative trigenic interactions. We selected double-mutant query genes across a broad spectrum of biological processes, spanning a range of quantitative features of the global digenic interaction network and tested for a genetic interaction with a third mutation. Trigenic interactions often occurred among functionally related genes, and essential genes were hubs on the trigenic network. Despite their functional enrichment, trigenic interactions tended to link genes in distant bioprocesses and displayed a weaker magnitude than digenic interactions. We estimate that the global trigenic interaction network is ∼100 times as large as the global digenic network, highlighting the potential for complex genetic interactions to affect the biology of inheritance, including the genotype-to-phenotype relationship.
|
[
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
Q4293349
|
Apoio às pequenas empresas com um volume de negócios superior a 500 000 BGN para fazer face às consequências económicas da pandemia de COVID-19
|
Apoio às pequenas empresas com um volume de negócios superior a 500 000 BGN para fazer face às consequências económicas da pandemia de COVID-19
|
[
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.1126/sciadv.1500052
|
Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems
|
We conducted an analysis of global forest cover to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation. A synthesis of fragmentation experiments spanning multiple biomes and scales, five continents, and 35 years demonstrates that habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75% and impairs key ecosystem functions by decreasing biomass and altering nutrient cycles. Effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and they magnify with the passage of time. These findings indicate an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity, which will reduce extinction rates and help maintain ecosystem services.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Earth System Science"
] |
W2043615144
|
Corticotropin-Releasing Factor in the Norepinephrine Nucleus, Locus Coeruleus, Facilitates Behavioral Flexibility
|
Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the stress-related neuropeptide, acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain norepinephrine nucleus, locus coeruleus (LC), to activate this system during stress. CRF shifts the mode of LC discharge from a phasic to a high tonic state that is thought to promote behavioral flexibility. To investigate this, the effects of CRF administered either intracerebroventricularly (30-300 ng, i.c.v.) or directly into the LC (intra-LC; 2-20 ng) were examined in a rat model of attentional set shifting. CRF differentially affected components of the task depending on dose and route of administration. Intracerebroventricular CRF impaired intradimensional set shifting, reversal learning, and extradimensional set shifting (EDS) at different doses. In contrast, intra-LC CRF did not impair any aspect of the task. The highest dose of CRF (20 ng) facilitated reversal learning and the lowest dose (2 ng) improved EDS. The dose-response relationship for CRF on EDS performance resembled an inverted U-shaped curve with the highest dose having no effect. Intra-LC CRF also elicited c-fos expression in prefrontal cortical neurons with an inverted U-shaped dose-response relationship. The number of c-fos profiles was positively correlated with EDS performance. Given that CRF excites LC neurons, the ability of intra-LC CRF to activate prefrontal cortical neurons and facilitate EDS is consistent with findings implicating LC-norepinephrine projections to medial prefrontal cortex in this process. Importantly, the results suggest that CRF release in the LC during stress facilitates shifting of attention between diverse stimuli in a dynamic environment so that the organism can adapt an optimal strategy for coping with the challenge.
|
[
"Neuroscience and Disorders of the Nervous System",
"Physiology in Health, Disease and Ageing"
] |
10.1038/ncb3159
|
Quantitative analysis of cytoskeletal reorganization during epithelial tissue sealing by large-volume electron tomography
|
The closure of epidermal openings is an essential biological process that causes major developmental problems such as spina bifida in humans if it goes awry. At present, the mechanism of closure remains elusive. Therefore, we reconstructed a model closure event, dorsal closure in fly embryos, by large-volume correlative electron tomography. We present a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of the cytoskeletal reorganization, enabling separated epidermal cells to seal the epithelium. After establishing contact through actin-driven exploratory filopodia, cells use a single lamella to generate a 'roof tile'-like overlaps. These shorten to produce the force, a'zipping'the tissue closed. The shortening overlaps lack detectable actin filament ensembles but are crowded with microtubules. Cortical accumulation of shrinking microtubule ends suggests a force generation mechanism in which cortical motors pull on microtubule ends as for mitotic spindle positioning. In addition, microtubules orient filopodia and lamellae before zipping. Our 4D electron microscopy picture describes an entire developmental process and provides fundamental insight into epidermal closure.
|
[
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
Q4766266
|
CAMPING LINO S.R.L.
|
LA SOCIETA' ESERCITA ATTIVITA' DI CONDUZIONE DI UN PARCO DI CAMPEGGIO. E' OPERATIVA DAL 18 DICEMBRE 1979 NELLA FORMA DI SOCIETA' A RESPONSABILITA' LIMITATA. ESERCITA LA PROPRIA ATTIVITA' MEDIANTE LA MESSA A DISPOSIZIONE DI CASE MOBILI, PIAZZOLE DI SOSTA, BILOCALI E AREE OPPORTUNAMENTE ATTREZZATE A DISPOSIZIONE DELLA CLIENTELA. IL PROPRIO CAPITALE SOCIALE E' PARI AD EURO 180.800 COME DA VISURA SOCIALE E SVOLGE LA PROPRIA ATTIVITA' AMMINISTRATIVA MEDIANTE UN'ORGANIZZAZIONE INTERNA OPPORTUNAMENTE FORMATA E CARATTERIZZATA DA COMPETENZA E PREPARAZIONE.
|
[] |
10.1080/14786435.2016.1177232
|
Continuous Description Of A Grain Boundary In Forsterite From Atomic Scale Simulations The Role Of Disclinations
|
AbstractWe present continuous modelling at inter-atomic scale of a high-angle symmetric tilt boundary in forsterite. The model is grounded in periodic arrays of dislocation and disclination dipoles built on information gathered from discrete atomistic configurations generated by molecular dynamics simulations. The displacement, distortion (strain and rotation), curvature, dislocation and disclination density fields are determined in the boundary area using finite difference and interpolation techniques between atomic sites. The distortion fields of the O, Si and Mg sub-lattices are detailed to compare their roles in the accommodation of lattice incompatibility along the boundary. It is shown that the strain and curvature fields associated with the dislocation and disclination fields in the ‘skeleton’ O and Si sub-lattices accommodate the tilt incompatibility, whereas the elastic strain and rotation fields of the Mg sub-lattice are essentially compatible and induce stresses balancing the incompatibility st. . .
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1063/1.4913446
|
Direct Measurements Of The Magnetocaloric Effect In Pulsed Magnetic Fields The Example Of The Heusler Alloy Ni50Mn35In15
|
We have studied the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in the shape-memory Heusler alloy Ni50Mn35In15 by direct measurements in pulsed magnetic fields up to 6 and 20 T. The results in 6 T are compared with data obtained from heat-capacity experiments. We find a saturation of the inverse MCE, related to the first-order martensitic transition, with a maximum adiabatic temperature change of ΔTad = −7 K at 250 K and a conventional field-dependent MCE near the second-order ferromagnetic transition in the austenitic phase. The pulsed magnetic field data allow for an analysis of the temperature response of the sample to the magnetic field on a time scale of ∼10 to 100 ms, which is on the order of typical operation frequencies (10–100 Hz) of magnetocaloric cooling devices. Our results disclose that in shape-memory alloys, the different contributions to the MCE and hysteresis effects around the martensitic transition have to be carefully considered for future cooling applications.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
W1791323879
|
Clinical teaching performance improvement of faculty in residency training: A prospective cohort study
|
The purpose of this study is to investigate how aspects of a teaching performance evaluation system may affect faculty's teaching performance improvement as perceived by residents over time.Prospective multicenter cohort study conducted in The Netherlands between 1 September 2008 and 1 February 2013. Nine hundred and one residents and 1068 faculty of 65 teaching programs in 16 hospitals were invited to annually (self-) evaluate teaching performance using the validated, specialty-specific System for Evaluation of Teaching Qualities (SETQ). We used multivariable adjusted generalized estimating equations to analyze the effects of (i) residents' numerical feedback, (ii) narrative feedback, and (iii) faculty's participation in self-evaluation on residents' perception of faculty's teaching performance improvement.The average response rate over three years was 69% for faculty and 81% for residents. Higher numerical feedback scores were associated with residents rating faculty as having improved their teaching performance one year following the first measurement (regression coefficient, b: 0.077; 95% CI: 0.002-0.151; p = 0.045), but not after the second wave of receiving feedback and evaluating improvement. Receiving more suggestions for improvement was associated with improved teaching performance in subsequent years.Evaluation systems on clinical teaching performance appear helpful in enhancing teaching performance in residency training programs. High performing teachers also appear to improve in the perception of the residents.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
3731835
|
Dynamical band structure engineering
|
The band structure of solids is mainly determined by the orbital overlap between neighboring atoms. Therefore, electronic properties are commonly controlled via the chemical composition that determines the relevant structural parameters such as bond angles and lengths. DANCE will use a radically different approach where control of the effective orbital overlap is achieved by periodic modulation of the solid with strong mid-infrared and terahertz light fields. In this way, DANCE will control the band structure including topology, many-body-interactions, and spin. The induced band structure changes will be investigated with time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.
I will implement two different driving schemes that either coherently modulate the atomic positions or the momentum of the Bloch electrons. Resonant excitation of infrared-active phonon modes results in a periodic modulation of the band structure at twice the driving frequency and, thus, a modified average band structure. In addition, non-linear coupling to Raman-active phonons leads to new quasi-static crystal and band structures. Coherent modulation of the Bloch electron’s momentum becomes possible if the scattering time is bigger than the inverse driving frequency and is predicted to result in various topological phase transitions as well as dynamical localization of carriers. I will apply this approach to different low-dimensional solids with strong electron-phonon coupling and Dirac materials with long scattering times.
DANCE will address the following key questions: Can we switch between metallic, insulating and topological phases? Can we shape the potential energy surface of the solid to stabilize symmetry-broken ground states? Can we generate artificial magnetic fields to control the electron spin? The success of DANCE will establish dynamical band structure engineering as a new method for electronic structure control and pave the way for novel optoelectronic and optospintronic devices.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Condensed Matter Physics"
] |
10.1073/pnas.1617765114
|
Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo
|
Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration (Nd), previous studies have used the sensitivity of theNdto aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of theNdto anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms betweenNdand aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. The accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1007/JHEP09(2016)010
|
Fermionic Correlators From Integrability
|
We study three-point functions of single-trace operators in the su(1|1) sector of planar N = 4 SYM borrowing several tools based on Integrability. In the most general configuration of operators in this sector, we have found a determinant expression for the tree-level structure constants. We then compare the predictions of the recently proposed hexagon program against all available data. We have obtained a match once additional sign factors are included when the two hexagon form-factors are assembled together to form the structure constants. In the particular case of one BPS and two non-BPS operators we managed to identify the relevant form-factors with a domain wall partition function of a certain six-vertex model. This partition function can be explicitly evaluated and factorizes at all loops. In addition, we use this result to compute the structure constants and show that at strong coupling in the so-called BMN regime, its leading order contribution has a determinant expression.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter",
"Mathematics"
] |
US 202117208120 A
|
Proximity-Based Healthcare Management System with Automatic Access to Private Information
|
A healthcare management system and method provide efficient and secure access to private information. A portable physical device, referred to herein as a Personal Digital Key or “PDK”, stores one or more profiles in memory. The biometric profile is acquired in a secure trusted process and is uniquely associated with an individual that is authorized to use and is associated with the PDK. The PDK can wirelessly transmit the identification information including a unique PDK identification number and the biometric profile over a secure wireless channel for use in an authentication process. The PDK is configured to wirelessly communicate with a reader. A provider interface coupled to the reader, and the reader is further configured to receive profile information from the PDK. The healthcare management system also includes an auto login server configured to communicate with the provider interface to allow access to information in a patient database.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
W2092130229
|
Complex modeling system for optimization of compounding process in gasoline pool to produce high-octane finished gasoline fuel
|
Abstract The process of gasoline compounding is a difficult multistage industrial technology. Octane number is a numerical equivalent of gasoline detonation resistance, the main operational characteristic of trade gasoline. Prediction of octane numbers of individual hydrocarbons was performed with calculations of dissociation energy of their molecules. In this paper, a new approach is proposed for optimization and prediction of the unit operation modes for processing of multicomponent hydrocarbon mixtures, based on a complex mathematical model that considers reactivities of hydrocarbons of wide gasoline fraction in the reforming, isomerization, and compounding processes. The accuracy of calculations is confirmed with huge massive of experimental data obtained from catalytic reforming, catalytic cracking (FCC), isomerization and alkylation units.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Products and Processes Engineering"
] |
10.1016/j.it.2020.01.001
|
Dynamic Post-Transcriptional Events Governing CD8<sup>+</sup> T Cell Homeostasis and Effector Function
|
Effective T cell responses against infections and tumors require a swift and ample production of cytokines, chemokines, and cytotoxic molecules. The production of these effector molecules relies on rapid changes of gene expression, determined by cell-intrinsic signals and environmental cues. Here, we review our current understanding of gene-specific regulatory networks that define the magnitude and timing of cytokine production in CD8+ T cells. We discuss the dynamic features of post-transcriptional control during CD8+ T cell homeostasis and activation, and focus on the crosstalk between cell signaling and RNA-binding proteins. Elucidating gene-specific regulatory circuits may help in the future to rectify dysfunctional T cell responses.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-1745
|
Mapping The Hla Ligandome Of Colorectal Cancer Reveals An Imprint Of Malignant Cell Transformation
|
Immune cell infiltrates have proven highly relevant for colorectal carcinoma (CRC) prognosis, making CRC a promising candidate for immunotherapy. Since tumors interact with the immune system via HLA-presented peptide ligands, exact knowledge of the peptidome constitution is fundamental for understanding this relationship. Here we comprehensively describe the naturally presented HLA-ligandome of CRC and corresponding non-malignant colon (NMC) tissue. Mass spectrometry identified 35,367 and 28,132 HLA-class I ligands on CRC and NMC, attributable to 7,684 and 6,312 distinct source proteins, respectively. Cancer-exclusive peptides were assessed on source protein level using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and protein analysis through evolutionary relationships (PANTHER), revealing pathognomonic CRC-associated pathways including Wnt, TGF-β, PI3K, p53, and RTK-RAS. Relative quantitation of peptide presentation on paired CRC and NMC tissue further identified source proteins from cancer- and infection-associated pathways to be over-represented merely within the CRC ligandome. From the pool of tumor-exclusive peptides, a selected HLA-ligand subset was assessed for immunogenicity, with the majority exhibiting an existing T cell repertoire. Overall, these data show that the HLA-ligandome reflects cancer-associated pathways implicated in CRC oncogenesis, suggesting that alterations in tumor cell metabolism could result in cancer-specific, albeit not mutation-derived tumor-antigens. Hence, a defined pool of unique tumor peptides, attributable to complex cellular alterations that are exclusive to malignant cells might comprise promising candidates for immunotherapeutic applications.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
10.1109/TIT.2015.2425879
|
Random Access With Physical Layer Network Coding
|
We consider a physical-layer network coding strategy for the random-access channel, based on compute-and-forward. When packets collide, it is possible to reliably recover a linear combination of the packets at the receiver. Over many rounds of transmission, the receiver can thus obtain many linear combinations and eventually recover all original packets. This is by contrast to slotted ALOHA where packet collisions lead to complete erasures. The strategy is shown to be significantly superior to the best known strategies, including multipacket reception.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
IB 2020055142 W
|
METHOD, DEVICE AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSFERRING DATA
|
A method and system for transferring encrypted data from a first electronic device to a second electronic device. The method includes the steps of displaying a first encrypted two‐dimensional code at the output interface of the first electronic device, reading the first encrypted two‐dimensional code with the input interface of the second electronic device, and decrypting the first two‐dimensional code with the second electronic device, generating a second encrypted two‐dimensional code with the second electronic device, and displaying the second encrypted two‐dimensional code on the output interface of the second electronic device, reading the second two‐dimensional code encrypted with the input interface of the first electronic device and decrypting the second two‐dimensional code with the first electronic device and generating an action on the first electronic device based on the second decrypted two‐dimensional code. The second two‐dimensional code is a plurality of two‐dimensional codes.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
US 23108688 A
|
Detecting and removing faulty weft in a jet loom
|
An apparatus and its method of operation whereby when a jet loom is deenergized upon occurrence of abnormality in the insertion of a weft, the cutting operation of an inserted weft cutting device is prevented. As a result, a weft succeeding to the misinserted one is forcibly introduced into a weft introducing duct under blowing action of a blow nozzle oriented in a direction intersecting the weft insertion direction to be transferred to a pair of gripper rollers. The weft is separated by cutting from a weft inserting main nozzle by a second weft cutter device. Subsequently, the misinserted weft is withdrawn in the direction away from a cloth fell toward a reed with inclination relative to the weft insertion path within a region where the weft remains out of contact with warps.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
W2062416344
|
A Routing Protocol for Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks Giving Consideration to Future Channel Assignment
|
Cognitive radio technology can be used to solve the problems of limited available spectrum and inefficient spectrum usage by adaptively changing transmission parameters. By utilizing CR technology for dynamic and distributed multi-hop networks, cognitive radio ad hoc networks can efficiently utilize free wireless resources. However, the routing protocols for cognitive radio CSMA/CA ad hoc networks have not been discussed seriously. An efficient protocol considering primary user flows and channel assignment incurred network connectivity issue in the route selection is still missing. In this paper, we propose AODV-cog, a cognitive routing protocol for CSMA/CA ad hoc networks based on AODV. AODV-cog chooses a route by considering the effect on the primary users, available channel bandwidth and link reliability. AODV-cog also takes in account of future channel utilization which is important but overlooked by existing works. AODV-cog switches channels for secondary user flows when network congestion is occurred. We use computer simulations to show the advantage of AODV-cog over existing alternatives.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
626403
|
Accelerating digital innovation in schools through regional innovation hubs and a whole-school mentoring model
|
iHub4Schools will propose mechanisms to accelerate whole-school digital innovation in and across schools through establishment of Regional Innovation Hubs. Our aim is to support a minimum of 75 European schools and 600 teachers to implement project approaches by establishing regional innovation hubs as sites of establishing and multiplying school-to-school mentoring structures.
This will be achieved, firstly, through different support mechanisms that will focus on supporting the collaboration between digitally advanced and less advanced teachers and schools through a variety of peer learning approaches and engagement structures. Secondly, iHub4Schools will develop a whole-school mentoring model that is locally, methodologically and technologically adaptable. It embraces both inter- and intra-school levels, and integrates a continuous monitoring methodology by including novel evaluation approaches and the Learning Analytics Toolbox.
Regional Innovation Hubs will be established in 5 European countries and the mentoring model will be piloted with 600 teachers in 75 schools. Long-term sustainability will be ensured by a systematic stakeholder engagement strategy that will integrate initiatives and partners on a local level, such as local municipalities, school boards, teacher associations and network, for these activities to be carried out on the long term. Regional impact will be sustained by the upskilling of the teachers to implement technologies meaningfully to teaching and school heads to scale and sustain the innovation in and across the schools.
|
[
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W1912910141
|
Marked Regional Variation in Acute Stroke Treatment Among Medicare Beneficiaries
|
Little is known about how regions vary in their use of thrombolysis (intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator and intra-arterial treatment) for acute stroke. We sought to determine regional variation in thrombolysis treatment and investigate the extent to which regional variation is accounted for by patient demographics, regional factors, and elements of stroke systems of care.Retrospective cross-sectional study of all fee-for-service Medicare patients with ischemic stroke admitted via the Emergency Department from 2007 to 2010 who were assigned to 1 of 3436 hospital service areas. Multilevel logistic regression was used to estimate regional thrombolysis rates, determine the variation in thrombolysis treatment attributable to the region and estimate thrombolysis treatment rates and disability prevented under varied improvement scenarios.There were 844 241 ischemic stroke admissions of which 3.7% received intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator and 0.5% received intra-arterial stroke treatment without or without intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator over the 4-year period. The unadjusted proportion of patients with ischemic stroke who received thrombolysis varied from 9.3% in the highest treatment quintile compared with 0% in the lowest treatment quintile. Measured demographic and stroke system factors were weakly associated with treatment rates. Region accounted for 7% to 8% of the variation in receipt of thrombolysis treatment. If all regions performed at the level of 75th percentile region, ≈7000 additional patients with ischemic stroke would be treated with thrombolysis.There is substantial regional variation in thrombolysis treatment. Future studies to determine features of high-performing thrombolysis treatment regions may identify opportunities to improve thrombolysis rates.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
] |
10.1177/1206331218794603
|
Dutch Moroccan Girls Navigating Public Space Wandering As An Everyday Spatial Practice
|
Based on qualitative research among female Dutch-Moroccan teenagers in two underprivileged neighborhoods in the city of Utrecht, the Netherlands, this article focuses on the spatial practices of yo. . .
|
[
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1007/978-3-030-59762-7_14
|
Impact Of Test Suite Coverage On Overfitting In Genetic Improvement Of Software
|
Genetic Improvement (GI) uses automated search to improve existing software. It can be used to improve runtime, energy consumption, fix bugs, and any other software property, provided that such property can be encoded into a fitness function. GI usually relies on testing to check whether the changes disrupt the intended functionality of the software, which makes test suites important artefacts for the overall success of GI. The objective of this work is to establish which characteristics of the test suites correlate with the effectiveness of GI. We hypothesise that different test suite properties may have different levels of correlation to the ratio between overfitting and non-overfitting patches generated by the GI algorithm. In order to test our hypothesis, we perform a set of experiments with automatically generated test suites using EvoSuite and 4 popular coverage criteria. We used these test suites as input to a GI process and collected the patches generated throughout such a process. We find that while test suite coverage has an impact on the ability of GI to produce correct patches, with branch coverage leading to least overfitting, the overfitting rate was still significant. We also compared automatically generated tests with manual, developer-written ones and found that while manual tests had lower coverage, the GI runs with manual tests led to less overfitting than in the case of automatically generated tests. Finally, we did not observe enough statistically significant correlations between the coverage metrics and overfitting ratios of patches, i. e. , the coverage of test suites cannot be used as a linear predictor for the level of overfitting of the generated patches.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
Q2730069
|
Introduction of ISO 9001 and ISO 27001
|
The purpose of this project is to achieve the applicable level of standards with mutually recognised levels of quality and safety in the exchange of goods and services by increasing the use of recognised standards which contribute to the confidence of buyers in the management system, with a view to enhancing competitiveness and facilitating the entry of foreign markets. It is the introduction of ISO 9001: 2015 quality management systems and ISO 27001: 2013. Expected results of the project are: — Application of recognised standards contributing to the increase in confidence by potential bathrooms — Expansion of competitors — Extension of applicants’ capacity and expansion into the foreign markets — Investing in the training of employees — Increase in the income of the applicant
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.1016/j.telpol.2014.02.004
|
Spectrum auction design: Simple auctions for complex sales
|
Following the successful PCS Auction conducted by the US Federal Communications Commission in 1994, auctions have replaced traditional ways of allocating valuable radio spectrum. Spectrum auctions have raised hundreds of billion dollars worldwide and have become a role model for market-based approaches in the public and private sectors. The PCS spectrum was sold via a simultaneous multi-round auction, which forces bidders to compete for licenses individually even though they typically value certain combinations. This exposes bidders to risk when they bid aggressively for a desired combination but end up winning an inferior subset. Foreseeing this possibility, bidders may act cautiously with adverse effects for revenue and efficiency. Combinatorial auctions allow for bids on combinations of licenses and thus hold the promise of improved performance. Recently, a number of countries worldwide have switched to the combinatorial clock auction to sell spectrum. This two-stage auction uses a core-selecting payment rule. The number of possible packages a bidder can submit grows exponentially with the number of licenses, which adds complexity to the auction. For larger auctions with dozens of licenses bidders cannot be expected to reveal all their valuations during such an auction. We analyze the impact of two main design choices on efficiency and revenue: simple "compact" bid languages versus complex "fully expressive" bid languages and simple "pay-as-bid" payment rules versus complex "core-selecting" payment rules. We consider these design choices both for ascending and sealed-bid formats. We find that simplicity of the bid language has a substantial positive impact on the auction's efficiency and simplicity of the payment rule has as a substantial positive impact on the auction's revenue. The currently popular combinatorial clock auction, which uses a complex bid language and payment rule, achieves the lowest efficiency and revenue among all treatment combinations.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1073/pnas.1613884113
|
Efficient CRISPR-mediated mutagenesis in primary immune cells using CrispRGold and a C57BL/6 Cas9 transgenic mouse line
|
Applying clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9)-mediated mutagenesis to primary mouse immune cells, we used high-fidelity single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) designed with an sgRNA design tool (CrispRGold) to target genes in primary B cells, T cells, and macrophages isolated from a Cas9 transgenic mouse line. Using this system, we achieved an average knockout efficiency of 80% in B cells. On this basis, we established a robust small-scale CRISPR-mediated screen in these cells and identified genes essential for B-cell activation and plasma cell differentiation. This screening system does not require deep sequencing and may serve as a precedent for the application of CRISPR/Cas9 to primary mouse cells.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration"
] |
621808
|
Gravitate–Health: empowering and equipping europeans with health information for active personal health management and adherence to treatment
|
The Gravitate-Health mission is to equip and empower citizens with digital information tools that make them confident, active, and responsive in their patient journey, specifically encouraging safe use of medicines for better health outcomes and quality of life. It is our vision that engagement of citizens in their own health can only be achieved with access to actionable, understandable, relevant, reliable and evidence-based information meets their specific needs, health context, and literacy level. This project's ambition is to provide a key piece to advance this vision: the Gravitate Lens (G-Lens), which focuses (but does not conceal or filter) approved electronic product information (ePI) content, and offers a route for patients to access trustworthy, up-to-date information that better meet their individual needs.
Gravitate-Health is an integrated digital health information project. The principle objective is to demonstrate how use of an integrated, digital, user-centric health information solution with two-way communication could enable tangible improvements in availability and understanding of health information from a set of trusted sources, starting with regulator-approved medicinal product information (e.g. package leaflet content) and EHR-IPS (International Patient Summary). The secondary objectives are to demonstrate that the improved availability and understanding of health information from trusted sources translate to higher levels of adherence to treatment, safer use of medication (Pharmacovigilance), better health outcomes and quality of life, and to develop new and deeper insights into how use of available health information can be optimized to act as effective risk minimization measures.
The project allows for efficient and timely development of the G-lens, provides testing grounds for new services and an evaluation framework to test the efficiency, efficacy and safety of Gravitate-Health services. Our main outputs will be an open source digital platform supporting G-Lens functionally, demonstrated in a number of testing scenarios, and a White Paper with recommendations on realistic strategies to strengthen access, understanding and future use of digital services like ePIs as a tool for Risk Minimization.
The Gravitate-Health is a public – private partnership with 40 members from Europe and the US, co-led by University of Oslo (coordinator) and Pfizer (industry lead), funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) – a joint undertaking of the European Commission, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), IMI Associated Partners.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevB.92.125134
|
Excitons in one-dimensional van der Waals materials: Sb2 S3 nanoribbons
|
Antimony sulphide Sb<inf>2</inf>S<inf>3</inf> has emerged as a promising material for a variety of energy applications ranging from solar cells to thermoelectrics and solid-state batteries. The most distinctive feature of Sb<inf>2</inf>S<inf>3</inf> is its crystal structure, which consists of parallel 1-nm-wide ribbons held together by weak van der Waals forces. This structure clearly suggests that it should be possible to isolate individual Sb2S3 ribbons using micromechanical or liquid-phase exfoliation techniques. However, it is not clear yet how to identify the ribbons postexfoliation using standard optical probes. Using state-of-the-art first-principles calculations based on many-body perturbation theory, here we show that individual ribbons of Sb<inf>2</inf>S<inf>3</inf> carry optical signatures clearly distinct from those of bulk Sb<inf>2</inf>S<inf>3</inf>. In particular, we find a large blueshift of the optical absorption edge (from 1. 38 to 2. 30 eV) resulting from the interplay between a reduced screening and the formation of bound excitons. In addition, we observe a transition from an indirect band gap to a direct gap, suggesting an enhanced photoluminescence in the green. These unique fingerprints will enable extending the research on van der Waals materials to the case of one-dimensional chalchogenides.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
771209
|
Characterizing the fitness landscape on population and global scales
|
The fitness landscape, the representation of how the genotype manifests at the phenotypic (fitness) levels, may be among the most useful concepts in biology with impact on diverse fields, including quantitative genetics, emergence of pathogen resistance, synthetic biology and protein engineering. While progress in characterizing fitness landscapes has been made, three directions of research in the field remain virtually unexplored: the nature of the genotype to phenotype of standing variation (variation found in a natural population), the shape of the fitness landscape encompassing many genotypes and the modelling of complex genetic interactions in protein sequences.
The current proposal is designed to advance the study of fitness landscapes in these three directions using large-scale genomic experiments and experimental data from a model protein and theoretical work. The study of the fitness landscape of standing variation is aimed at the resolution of an outstanding question in quantitative genetics: the extent to which epistasis, non-additive genetic interactions, is shaping the phenotype. The second aim of characterizing the global fitness landscape will give us an understanding of how evolution proceeds along long evolutionary timescales, which can be directly applied to protein engineering and synthetic biology for the design of novel phenotypes. Finally, the third aim of modelling complex interactions will improve our ability to predict phenotypes from genotypes, such as the prediction of human disease mutations. In summary, the proposed study presents an opportunity to provide a unifying understanding of how phenotypes are shaped through genetic interactions. The consolidation of our empirical and theoretical work on different scales of the genotype to phenotype relationship will provide empirical data and novel context for several fields of biology.
|
[
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions",
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution"
] |
W1554518865
|
Disaster Vulnerability and Resilience of Urban Residents: A Case of Rainstorm Disaster Risk Management in Bida, Nigeria
|
Rainstorm disaster is one of the challenges facing a growing number of settlements in Nigeria. Either in rural or urban centres, this environmental catastrophe, has become a recurring and increasingly formidable disaster negatively affecting socio-economic activities. The reduction of the risk and the negative effects of rainstorm disaster has long been a major concern to the residents of Bida in Niger State – central Nigeria. Using on-the-spot assessments and Descriptive Statistical Analysis (DSA), this work highlighted the effectiveness of disaster relief strategies available to victims of recurrent rainstorm events; the various structural damages occasioned by increasing vulnerability to negative effects of climate change related disasters. On-the-spot field finding shows that this disaster negatively affects all areas of human abode and livelihood in the city. Mitigation strategies mostly employed by low-income urban dwellers that constitute majority of the victims, are not only ineffective for addressing hydro-meteorological disasters, but also known to compound peculiar emergency situations occasioned by disasters. In order to effectively tackle these catastrophic events, urban and regional governments need to intervene meaningfully at all levels of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) including disaster risk prevention and management. The present practice of providing food items and household utensils as disaster relief materials to disaster stricken and traumatized urban poor can hardly prevent the reoccurrence or reduce the inevitable impacts of future disasters. Keywords: environment / low-income / rainstorm disaster / risks / urban areas
|
[
"Earth System Science",
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space"
] |
10.4204/EPTCS.229.5
|
Symbolic Bdd And Add Algorithms For Energy Games
|
Energy games, which model quantitative consumption of a limited resource, e. g. , time or energy, play a central role in quantitative models for reactive systems. Reactive synthesis constructs a controller which satisfies a given specification, if one exists. For energy games a synthesized controller ensures to satisfy not only the safety constraints of the specification but also the quantitative constraints expressed in the energy game. A symbolic algorithm for energy games, recently presented by Chatterjee et al. , is symbolic in its representation of quantitative values but concrete in the representation of game states and transitions. In this paper we present an algorithm that is symbolic both in the quantitative values and in the underlying game representation. We have implemented our algorithm using two different symbolic representations for reactive games, Binary Decision Diagrams (BDD) and Algebraic Decision Diagrams (ADD). We investigate the commonalities and differences of the two implementations and compare their running times on specifications of energy games.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering"
] |
W1983457284
|
Patients With Locally Advanced and Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Treated With Capecitabine Versus 5-Fluorouracil as Monotherapy or Combination Therapy With Oxaliplatin: A Cost Comparison
|
This study quantified the costs associated with the acquisition of chemotherapy, its administration, and the management of chemotherapy-related complications, and their effect on total patient expenditures.Patients with locally advanced and metastatic colorectal cancer treated with capecitabine or 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin (5-FU/LV) as monotherapy or combination therapy with oxaliplatin from 2003-2006 were identified in the Thomson Reuters MarketScan® databases. Selection bias between treatment groups was addressed by propensity score matching, assessment of the risk of complications using Cox models, and an estimate of expenditures using general linear models.In respect to monotherapy, capecitabine users (n = 1272) were propensity score matched to 5-FU/LV users on a 1:1 ratio. The adjusted mean monthly cost was significantly lower for patients treated with capecitabine versus 5-FU/LV ($6683 vs. $9304, respectively; P < .0001). Although the cost of drug acquisition was significantly higher for capecitabine than for 5-FU/LV (unadjusted P < .0001), significantly lower costs of capecitabine administration (unadjusted P < .0001) and management of complications (adjusted costs, P < .0001) offset the difference, and drove a lower overall cost. In regard to combination therapy, capecitabine/oxaliplatin users (n = 263) were propensity score matched to 5-FU/LV/oxaliplatin users (n = 526) on a 1:2 ratio. The adjusted mean monthly cost was significantly lower for capecitabine/oxaliplatin than for 5-FU/LV/oxaliplatin ($11,436 vs. $14,320, respectively; P < .0001). The cost difference was driven by the significantly lower administration costs of capecitabine-based chemotherapy (unadjusted P < .0001) and management of complications (adjusted P < .0001).The monthly cost per patient during capecitabine or capecitabine/oxaliplatin treatment is significantly lower than during 5-FU/LV or 5-FU/LV/oxaliplatin treatment because of lower costs for the administration of chemotherapy and for the management of complications.
|
[
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
interreg_10
|
SECOND CHANCE
|
Objective of the network is to activate the larger buildings, building complexes or areas with many vacant buildings for the benefit of the sustainable urban development, of an integrated neighbourhood development. This means to bring these larger buildings and sites in use again, to rehabilitate them, providing space for functions and uses which are needed in the neighbourhood or in the city, to support an appropriation through indefinite users, to support strategic uses of the premises, not only oriented on private exploitation interests, but also on interests of the common goods.As these buildings are vacant since a longer time and most often derelict, it needs further stakeholders to create a new momentum to be able to start off the process of re-activation in a step-by step-process. The partners will find out and try new ways/ process qualities and planning methods to bring these buildings back in use. They will build up such partnerships and prepare a participative re-activation process, which allows making us of the opportunities these vacant buildings present for the city/for the neighbourhood.The network will also be about developing further organisation and financing models to turn more local actors into players in the revitalisation of such buildings and to strengthen the local potential for innovation.The network will also be used to develop guidelines, policies and instruments in support of the re-activation of vacant buildings in general in the city.
|
[
"Human Mobility, Environment, and Space",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
10.1007/978-3-030-45374-9_21
|
Improved Discrete Gaussian And Subgaussian Analysis For Lattice Cryptography
|
Discrete Gaussian distributions over lattices are central to lattice-based cryptography, and to the computational and mathematical aspects of lattices more broadly. The literature contains a wealth of useful theorems about the behavior of discrete Gaussians under convolutions and related operations. Yet despite their structural similarities, most of these theorems are formally incomparable, and their proofs tend to be monolithic and written nearly “from scratch,” making them unnecessarily hard to verify, understand, and extend.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
W2912549156
|
A method for systematically developing the knowledge base of reactor operators in nuclear power plants to support cognitive modeling of operator performance
|
Abstract Methods based on cognitive modeling have attracted increasing attention in the human reliability analysis community. In such methods, the operator knowledge base plays a central role. This paper proposes a method for systematically developing the knowledge base of nuclear power plant operators. The method starts with a systematic literature review of a predefined topic. Then, the many collected publications are reduced to summaries. Relevant knowledge is then extracted from the summaries using an improved qualitative content analysis method to generate a large number of pieces of knowledge. Lastly, the pieces of knowledge are integrated in a systematic way to generate a knowledge graph consisting of nodes and links. As a case study, the proposed method is applied to develop the knowledge base of reactor operators pertaining to severe accidents in nuclear power plants. The results show that the proposed method exhibits advantages over conventional methods, including reduced reliance on expert knowledge and improved traceability of the process. Generalization of the proposed method to other sources of materials and application of the knowledge base are also discussed. Although this paper is focused on nuclear applications, the proposed method may be extended to other industrial sectors with little additional effort.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1214/14-EJS964
|
Copula calibration
|
We propose notions of calibration for probabilistic forecasts of general multivariate quantities. Probabilistic copula calibration is a nat- ural analogue of probabilistic calibration in the univariate setting. It can be assessed empirically by checking for the uniformity of the copula prob- ability integral transform (CopPIT), which is invariant under coordinate permutations and coordinatewise strictly monotone transformations of the predictive distribution and the outcome. The CopPIT histogram can be interpreted as a generalization and variant of the multivariate rank his- togram, which has been used to check the calibration of ensemble forecasts. Kendall calibration is an analogue of marginal calibration in the univariate case. Methods and tools are illustrated in simulation studies and applied to compare raw numerical model and statistically postprocessed ensemble forecasts of bivariate wind vectors.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1073/pnas.0900060106
|
Cytokinin regulates root meristem activity via modulation of the polar auxin transport
|
Plant development is governed by signaling molecules called phytohormones. Typically, in certain developmental processes more than 1 hormone is implicated and, thus, coordination of their overlapping activities is crucial for correct plant development. However, molecular mechanisms underlying the hormonal crosstalk are only poorly understood. Multiple hormones including cytokinin and auxin have been implicated in the regulation of root development. Here we dissect the roles of cytokinin in modulating growth of the primary root. We show that cytokinin effect on root elongation occurs through ethylene signaling whereas cytokinin effect on the root meristem size involves ethylene-independent modulation of transport-dependent asymmetric auxin distribution. Exogenous or endogenous modification of cytokinin levels and cytokinin signaling lead to specific changes in transcription of several auxin efflux carrier genes from the PIN family having a direct impact on auxin efflux from cultured cells and on auxin distribution in the root apex. We propose a novel model for cytokinin action in regulating root growth: Cytokinin influences cell-to-cell auxin transport by modification of expression of several auxin transport components and thus modulates auxin distribution important for regulation of activity and size of the root meristem.
|
[
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
890680
|
Constructing age for young readers
|
Constructing Age for Young Readers (CAFYR)
CAFYR starts from the observations that Europe has recently witnessed a few pertinent crises in intergenerational tension, that age norms and ageism frequently go unchecked and that they are part of children’s socialization. It aims at developing pioneering research for understanding how age is constructed in cultural products. CAFYR focuses on fiction for young readers as a discourse that often naturalizes age norms as part of an engaging story and that is endorsed in educational contexts for contributing to children’s literacy, social and cultural development. The effect of three factors on the construction of age in children’s books is studied: the age of the author, the age of the intended reader, and the age of the real reader.
CAFYR aims to lay bare whether and how the age and aging process of children’s authors affect their construction of the life stages in their works. It will show how various crosswriters shape the stages in life differently for young and adult readers. It considers the age of young readers as varied in its own right, and investigates how age is constructed differently for children of different ages, from preschoolers to adolescents. Finally, it brings together readers of various stages in the life course in a reception study that will help understand how real readers construct age, during the reading process and in dialogue with each other. CAFYR also aims to break new theoretical and methodological ground. It offers an interdisciplinary approach that enriches children’s literature research with concepts and theories from age studies. It combines close reading strategies with distant reading and tools developed for digital text analysis. It provides a platform to people of different stages in life, contributing to their awareness about age, and facilitating and investigating dialogues about age, with the aim of ultimately fostering them more.
|
[
"Texts and Concepts",
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"The Human Mind and Its Complexity"
] |
W3112207971
|
A Critical Review on PLA-Algae Composite: Chemistry, Mechanical, and Thermal Properties
|
The traditional polyester and synthetic polymer materials are imposing a boundless threat to our environment; by contrast, bio-based and biodegradable plastic material is offering a great solution to overcome this detrimental effect of conventional plastics. However, to protect our ecosystem by utilizing marine waste like algae as a polymer material is another approach and getting attention to the scientific community. This study investigates the comprehensive understanding of using biodegradable nonwoven composite made of polylactic acid (PLA) and marine waste algae. This review also finds the potential compatibility of using PLA and algae as a nonwoven composite to substitute the non-degradable synthetic polymers. Moreover, this current study explores the extent to which the adhesion between filler(algae) and matrix (PLA) in bioplastic composite can be used for the end-uses purposes, and inspects the underlying factors related to thermal and mechanical properties of PLA-algae nonwoven composite. Future research needs to quantify the adhesion (between filler and matrix) as well as advance characterizations of this potential biodegradable nonwoven composite.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1007/JHEP06(2016)149
|
New Signatures Of Flavor Violating Higgs Couplings
|
We explore several novel LHC signatures arising from quark or lepton flavor violating couplings in the Higgs sector, and we constrain such couplings using LHC data. Since the largest signals are possible in channels involving top quarks or tau leptons, we consider in particular the following flavor violating processes: (1) pp → thh (top plus di-Higgs final state) arising from a dimension six coupling of up-type quarks to three insertions of the Higgs field. We develop a search strategy for this final state and demonstrate that detection is possible at the high luminosity LHC if flavor violating top-up-Higgs couplings are not too far below the current limit. (2) pp → tH
0, where H
0 is the heavy neutral CP-even Higgs boson in a two Higgs doublet model (2HDM). We consider the decay channels H
0 →tu, WW, ZZ, hh and use existing LHC data to constrain the first three of them. For the fourth, we adapt our search for the thh final state, and we demonstrate that in large regions of the parameter space, it is superior to other searches, including searches for flavor violating top quark decays (t → hq). (3) H
0 → τ μ, again in the context of a 2HDM. This channel is particularly well motivated by the recent CMS excess in h → τ μ, and we use the data from this search to constrain the properties of H
0.
|
[
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
] |
10.1109/ICCV.2017.234
|
Joint Discovery Of Object States And Manipulation Actions
|
Many human activities involve object manipulations aiming to modify the object state. Examples of common state changes include full/empty bottle, open/closed door, and attached/detached car wheel. In this work, we seek to automatically discover the states of objects and the associated manipulation actions. Given a set of videos for a particular task, we propose a joint model that learns to identify object states and to localize state-modifying actions. Our model is formulated as a discriminative clustering cost with constraints. We assume a consistent temporal order for the changes in object states and manipulation actions, and introduce new optimization techniques to learn model parameters without additional supervision. We demonstrate successful discovery of seven manipulation actions and corresponding object states on a new dataset of videos depicting real-life object manipulations. We show that our joint formulation results in an improvement of object state discovery by action recognition and vice versa.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.3390/ijms19102984
|
Photothermal off-resonance tapping for rapid and gentle atomic force imaging of live cells
|
Imaging living cells by atomic force microscopy (AFM) promises not only high-resolution topographical data, but additionally, mechanical contrast, both of which are not obtainable with other microscopy techniques. Such imaging is however challenging, as cells need to be measured with low interaction forces to prevent either deformation or detachment from the surface. Off-resonance modes which periodically probe the surface have been shown to be advantageous, as they provide excellent force control combined with large amplitudes, which help reduce lateral force interactions. However, the low actuation frequency in traditional off-resonance techniques limits the imaging speed significantly. Using photothermal actuation, we probe the surface by directly actuating the cantilever. Due to the much smaller mass that needs to be actuated, the achievable measurement frequency is increased by two orders of magnitude. Additionally, photothermal off-resonance tapping (PORT) retains the precise force control of conventional off-resonance modes and is therefore well suited to gentle imaging. Here, we show how photothermal off-resonance tapping can be used to study live cells by AFM. As an example of imaging mammalian cells, the initial attachment, as well as long-term detachment, of human thrombocytes is presented. The membrane disrupting effect of the antimicrobial peptide CM-15 is shown on the cell wall of Escherichia coli. Finally, the dissolution of the cell wall of Bacillus subtilis by lysozyme is shown. Taken together, these evolutionarily disparate forms of life exemplify the usefulness of PORT for live cell imaging in a multitude of biological disciplines.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Cell Biology, Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1002/bies.201300176
|
The rise and fall of picobiliphytes: How assumed autotrophs turned out to be heterotrophs
|
Algae are significant members of Earth's biodiversity. Having been studied for a long time, the discovery of new algal phyla is extremely unusual. Recently, the enigmatic "Picobiliphyta," a group of uncultured eukaryotes unveiled using molecular tools, were claimed to represent an unrecognized early branching algal lineage with a nucleomorph (remnant nucleus of a secondary algal endosymbiont) in their plastids. However, subsequent studies rejected the presence of a nucleomorph, and single-cell genomic studies failed to detect any plastid-related genes, ruling out the possibility of plastid occurrence. The isolation of the first "picobiliphyte," Picomonas judraskeda, a tiny organism that feeds on very small (<150nm) organic particles, came as final proof of their non-photosynthetic lifestyle. Consequently, the group has been renamed Picozoa. The passage from "picobiliphytes" to "picozoa" illustrates the crucial role that classical protistology should play to provide sound biological context for the wealth of data produced by modern molecular techniques.
|
[
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1090/proc/14730
|
A dichotomy concerning uniform boundedness of Riesz transforms on Riemannian manifolds
|
Given a sequence of complete Riemannian manifolds
(
M
n
)
(M_n)
of the same dimension, we construct a complete Riemannian manifold
M
M
such that for all
p
∈
(
1
,
∞
)
p \in (1,\infty )
the
L
p
L^p
-norm of the Riesz transform on
M
M
dominates the
L
p
L^p
-norm of the Riesz transform on
M
n
M_n
for all
n
n
. Thus we establish the following dichotomy: given
p
p
and
d
d
, either there is a uniform
L
p
L^p
bound on the Riesz transform over all complete
d
d
-dimensional Riemannian manifolds, or there exists a complete Riemannian manifold with Riesz transform unbounded on
L
p
L^p
.
|
[
"Mathematics"
] |
10.1098/rspb.2020.1633
|
A gene's-eye view of sexual antagonism
|
Females and males may face different selection pressures. Accordingly, alleles that confer a benefit for one sex often incur a cost for the other. Classic evolutionary theory holds that the X chromosome, whose sex-biased transmission sees it spending more time in females, should value females more than males, whereas autosomes, whose transmission is unbiased, should value both sexes equally. However, recent mathematical and empirical studies indicate that male-beneficial alleles may be more favoured by the X chromosome than by autosomes. Here we develop a gene's-eye-view approach that reconciles the classic view with these recent discordant results, by separating a gene's valuation of female versus male fitness from its ability to induce fitness effects in either sex. We use this framework to generate new comparative predictions for sexually antagonistic evolution in relation to dosage compensation, sex-specific mortality and assortative mating, revealing how molecular mechanisms, ecology and demography drive variation in masculinization versus feminization across the genome.
|
[
"Integrative Biology: from Genes and Genomes to Systems",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Molecules of Life: Biological Mechanisms, Structures and Functions"
] |
10.1007/978-3-319-02654-1_6
|
Software evolution to domain-specific languages
|
Domain-specific languages (DSLs) can improve software maintainability due to less verbose syntax, avoidance of boilerplate code, more accurate static analysis, and domain-specific tool support. However, most existing applications cannot capitalise on these benefits because they were not designed to use DSLs, and rewriting large existing applications from scratch is infeasible. We propose a process for evolving existing software to use embedded DSLs based on modular definitions and applications of syntactic sugar as provided by the extensible programming language SugarJ. Our process is incremental along two dimensions: A developer can add support for another DSL as library, and a developer can refactor more code to use the syntax, static analysis, and tooling of a DSL. Importantly, the application remains executable at all times and no complete rewrite is necessary. We evaluate our process by incrementally evolving the Java Pet Store and a deliberately small part of the Eclipse IDE to use language support for field-accessors, JPQL, XML, and XML Schema. To help maintainers to locate Java code that would benefit from using DSLs, we developed a tool that analyses the definition of a DSL to derive patterns of Java code that could be represented with a high-level abstraction of the DSL instead.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
337739
|
Hierarchical Carbon Nanomaterials
|
Over the past years, carbon nanomaterial such as graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted the interest of scientists, because some of their properties are unlike any other engineering material. Individual graphene sheets and CNTs have shown a Youngs Modulus of 1 TPa and a tensile strength of 100 GPa, hereby exceeding steel at only a fraction of its weight. Further, they offer high currents carrying capacities of 10^9 A/cm², and thermal conductivities up to 3500 W/mK, exceeding diamond. Importantly, these off-the-chart properties are only valid for high quality individualized nanotubes or sheets. However, most engineering applications require the assembly of tens to millions of these nanoparticles into one device. Unfortunately, the mechanical and electronic figures of merit of such assembled materials typically drop by at least an order of magnitude in comparison to the constituent nanoparticles.
In this ERC project, we aim at the development of new techniques to create structured assemblies of carbon nanoparticles. Herein we emphasize the importance of controlling hierarchical arrangement at different length scales in order to engineer the properties of the final device. The project will follow a methodical approach, bringing together different fields of expertise ranging from macro- and microscale manufacturing, to nanoscale material synthesis and mesoscale chemical surface modification. For instance, we will pursue combined top-down microfabrication and bottom-up self-assembly, accompanied with surface modification through hydrothermal processing.
This research will impact scientific understanding of how nanotubes and nanosheets interact, and will create new hierarchical assembly techniques for nanomaterials. Further, this ERC project pursues applications with high societal impact, including energy storage and water filtration. Finally, HIENA will tie relations with EU’s rich CNT industry to disseminate its technologic achievements.
|
[
"Materials Engineering",
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Synthetic Chemistry and Materials"
] |
2723039
|
Vulnerabilities under the global protection regime: how does the law assess, address, shape, and produce the vulnerabilities of protection seekers?
|
‘Vulnerability’ is increasingly used as a conceptual tool to guide the design and implementation of the global protection regime, as illustrated by the 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants and the subsequent adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and of the final draft of the Global Compact on Refugees. However, ‘vulnerability’ lacks a sharp conceptualisation and still needs to be accompanied by a thorough understanding of its concrete meanings, practical consequences and legal implications. This research project aims to address these uncertainties from a critical and comparative perspective, with a focus on forced migration. It will provide a comprehensive analysis of how the ‘protection regimes’ of select countries address the vulnerabilities of ‘protection seekers’. The select countries are in Europe (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Norway), North America (Canada), the Middle East (Lebanon) and Africa (Uganda and South Africa). The analysis adopts two different yet complementary perspectives. First, the way the ‘vulnerabilities’ of the protection seekers are being assessed and addressed by the relevant norms and in the practices of the decision makers will be systematically documented and analysed through a combination of legal and empirical data. Second, the various forms and nature of the concrete experiences of ‘vulnerability’ as they are lived by the protection seekers, including the resilience strategies and how they are being continuously shaped in interactions with the legal frameworks, will be documented and analysed through empirical data collected during fieldwork research. Ultimately, the very notion of ‘vulnerability’ will be questioned and assessed from a critical perspective. An alternative concept, such as ‘precarity’, may be suggested to better reflect the concrete experiences of the protection seekers.
|
[
"The Social World and Its Interactions",
"Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems"
] |
W1689378316
|
Stochastic gradient based extreme learning machines for stable online learning of advanced combustion engines
|
We propose and develop SG-ELM, a stable online learning algorithm based on stochastic gradients and Extreme Learning Machines (ELM). We propose SG-ELM particularly for systems that are required to be stable during learning; i.e., the estimated model parameters remain bounded during learning. We use a Lyapunov approach to prove both asymptotic stability of estimation error and boundedness in the model parameters suitable for identification of nonlinear dynamic systems. Using the Lyapunov approach, we determine an upper bound for the learning rate of SG-ELM. The SG-ELM algorithm not only guarantees a stable learning but also reduces the computational demand compared to the recursive least squares based OS-ELM algorithm (Liang et al., 2006). In order to demonstrate the working of SG-ELM on a real-world problem, an advanced combustion engine identification is considered. The algorithm is applied to two case studies: An online regression learning for system identification of a Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) Engine and an online classification learning (with class imbalance) for identifying the dynamic operating envelope. The case studies demonstrate that the accuracy of the proposed SG-ELM is comparable to that of the OS-ELM approach but adds stability and a reduction in computational effort.
|
[
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.196402
|
Extraordinary exciton conductance induced by strong coupling
|
We demonstrate that exciton conductance in organic materials can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude when the molecules are strongly coupled to an electromagnetic mode. Using a 1D model system, we show how the formation of a collective polaritonic mode allows excitons to bypass the disordered array of molecules and jump directly from one end of the structure to the other. This finding could have important implications in the fields of exciton transistors, heat transport, photosynthesis, and biological systems in which exciton transport plays a key role.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
10.1002/2016GC006715
|
Quantifying K U And Th Contents Of Marine Sediments Using Shipboard Natural Gamma Radiation Spectra Measured On Dv Joides Resolution
|
During International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expeditions, shipboard-generated data provide the first insights into the cored sequences. The natural gamma radiation (NGR) of the recovered material, for example, is routinely measured on the ocean drilling research vessel DV JOIDES Resolution. At present, only total NGR counts are readily available as shipboard data, although full NGR spectra (counts as a function of gamma-ray energy level) are produced and archived. These spectra contain unexploited information, as one can estimate the sedimentary contents of potassium (K), thorium (Th), and uranium (U) from the characteristic gamma-ray energies of isotopes in the ^(40)K, ^(232)Th, and ^(238)U radioactive decay series. Dunlea et al. [2013] quantified K, Th and U contents in sediment from the South Pacific Gyre by integrating counts over specific energy levels of the NGR spectrum. However, the algorithm used in their study is unavailable to the wider scientific community due to commercial proprietary reasons. Here, we present a new MATLAB algorithm for the quantification of NGR spectra that is transparent and accessible to future NGR users. We demonstrate the algorithm's performance by comparing its results to shore-based inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma-emission spectrometry (ICP-ES), and quantitative wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses. Samples for these comparisons come from eleven sites (U1341, U1343, U1366-U1369, U1414, U1428-U1430, U1463) cored in two oceans during five expeditions. In short, our algorithm rapidly produces detailed high-quality information on sediment properties during IODP expeditions at no extra cost.
|
[
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences",
"Earth System Science"
] |
3726068
|
Immunological incompatibility as a basis for cancer curing and vaccination
|
In the ULISES project, we aim at developing an immunologic-based treatment strategy where cancer cells are “reprogrammed” to become “visible” to the patient’s own immune system, which will see them as “not belonging to the body” and will attack them, emulating the allogenic response to incompatible transplants. Thus, it will constitute a “natural” treatment, as the patient’s own immune system will be used to attack cancer cells, with no drugs, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, transplants, etc., significantly reducing the treatment time to few weeks and producing minimal or almost null side effects. In addition, this “reprogramming” will lead to an “immunological-memory” avoiding future relapses (vaccine-like effect) through TIL (Tumour Infiltrating Lymphocytes) generated around the tumour microenvironment by the immune system.
Porous nanoparticles (NPs) will be used as carriers for delivering a plasmid DNA cargo into the tumour cells in order to produce that “reprogramming”. These NPs will specifically recognize the cancer cells through the CD47 protein and the folate receptors beta and alpha, highly expressed on the surface of the cells. Moreover, two messenger RNAs will be used in order to avoid the side effects caused by targeting CD47 protein (mainly anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia).
Finally, highlight that the ULISES therapeutic strategy will be a “global” treatment, since only with 3 subtypes of NP (one for each chosen alloHLA-A), we will be able to target the entire population for each cancer type. For the implementation and validation of this strategy, we will focus on pancreatic cancer because of its high aggressiveness, lack of effective treatments and little life expectancy, but the developed strategy will also be valid for other cancer varieties with minimal modifications.
|
[
"Immunity, Infection and Immunotherapy",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases",
"Materials Engineering"
] |
10.1364/OE.26.014329
|
Fast And Robust Fourier Domain Based Classification For On Chip Lens Free Flow Cytometry
|
The development of portable haematology analysers receives increased attention due to their deployability in resource-limited or emergency settings. Lens-free in-line holographic microscopy is one of the technologies that is being pushed forward in this regard as it eliminates complex and expensive optics, making miniaturisation and integration with microfluidics possible. On-chip flow cytometry enables high-speed capturing of individual cells in suspension, giving rise to high-throughput cell counting and classification. To perform a real-time analysis on this high-throughput content, we propose a fast and robust framework for the classification of leukocytes. The raw data consists of holographic acquisitions of leukocytes, captured with a high-speed camera as they are flowing through a microfluidic chip. Three different types of leukocytes are considered: granulocytes, monocytes and T-lymphocytes. The proposed method bypasses the reconstruction of the holographic data altogether by extracting Zernike moments directly from the frequency domain. By doing so, we introduce robustness to translations and rotations of cells, as well as to changes in distance of a cell with respect to the image sensor, achieving classification accuracies up to 96. 8%. Furthermore, the reduced computational complexity of this approach, compared to traditional frameworks that involve the reconstruction of the holographic data, allows for very fast processing and classification, making it applicable in high-throughput flow cytometry setups.
|
[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"Systems and Communication Engineering",
"Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Human Diseases"
] |
10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.167205
|
Lattice instability and competing spin structures in the double perovskite insulator Sr<inf>2</inf>FeOsO<inf>6</inf>
|
The semiconductor Sr2FeOsO6, depending on temperature, adopts two types of spin structures that differ in the spin sequence of ferrimagnetic iron-osmium layers along the tetragonal c axis. Neutron powder diffraction experiments, Fe57 Mössbauer spectra, and density functional theory calculations suggest that this behavior arises because a lattice instability resulting in alternating iron-osmium distances fine-tunes the balance of competing exchange interactions. Thus, Sr2FeOsO 6 is an example of a double perovskite, in which the electronic phases are controlled by the interplay of spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom.
|
[
"Condensed Matter Physics",
"Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences"
] |
2724702
|
Grass-Based circular business models for rural agri-food value chains
|
The main aim of the GO-GRASS project is to create new business opportunities in rural areas based on grassland and green fodder that will be demonstrated in four EU regions at small scale, ensuring its replicability all through the rural communities of the EU.
Inside a circular system, GO-GRASS will provide a range of circular and sustainable business models with high replication potential, to be available to entrepreneurs and local authorities. The project will also demonstrate innovative cost-effective technologies, processes and tools applicable within the diverse DEMO scenarios (deploying demonstrators in different regions in EUas representative places to cover different rural contexts) considering social, economic and environmental circumstances in rural areas with the aim of achieving a large-scale replication, especially in remote areas with unexploited resources. Furthermore, the GO-GRASS project will help EU reducing imports from nutrients like P or even proteins, as well as the dependence from fossil fuels.
Thanks to the GO-GRASS project, the Bioeconomy will be consolidated, harnessing regional assets, diversifying and revitalizing the economy and providing quality jobs and opportunities in rural areas. In addition, the production and use of bio-based products replacing existing fossil-based alternatives, such as fertilisers or plastic packaging, can make a considerable impact on the Agro-food systems greenhouse gases emissions at EU level. For achieving this aim, GO-GRASS consortium consists of a multidisciplinary team of 22 partners from 8 European countries (Germany, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Romania and Hungary). The consortium is built around the four regional demos located in Germany , Denmark , The Netherlands and Sweden that integrate the multi-actor approach concept, with the expertise of multiple appropriate partners (farmers, research centres, technological companies),3 follower partners and other with transversal role
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Environmental Biology, Ecology and Evolution",
"Biotechnology and Biosystems Engineering"
] |
Q2714907
|
Aumentare la competitività dell'azienda introducendo un innovativo servizio di versare succhi e bevande arricchiti con ingredienti sani con proprietà salutari, per lo sviluppo di Specializzazione Intelligente Regionale — Agricoltura Moderna e Lavorazione Alimentare.
|
L'obiettivo del progetto è quello di introdurre sul mercato un servizio innovativo di versare succhi e bevande con proprietà salutari, confermato dal parere sull'innovazione. Oggetto del progetto è l'acquisto di un pastorizzatore succo per il lancio di un prodotto innovativo (servizio) e l'acquisto di un impianto fotovoltaico. Un'ampia analisi delle esigenze e della concorrenza, che è stata inserita nel Piano Industriale, mostra la legittimità di sostenere l'attuazione dell'investimento. Periodo di attuazione del progetto: Inoltre, l'obiettivo del progetto è aumentare l'uso dell'innovazione nelle imprese nel settore delle PMI, in linea con l'obiettivo principale della misura 2.5 del RPOWŚ. Il progetto è in linea con le disposizioni dell'accordo di partenariato, RPOWŚ 2014-2020, SZOOP 2014-2020, gli obiettivi specifici dell'asse prioritario 2-economia competitiva, misura 2.5 del RPOWŚ 2014-2020. Il progetto aumenterà l'occupazione nella società — 1 a tempo pieno, che contribuirà alla riduzione della disoccupazione nel Voivodato di Świętokrzyskie. Il progetto è conforme ai principi orizzontali dell'UE. Gli obiettivi del progetto saranno raggiunti attraverso l'attuazione di indicatori di output, vale a dire Investimenti (...) [CI 6], — 61 536,56 Numero di imprese sostenute per introdurre nuovi prodotti per il mercato [CI 28] [pz.] -1, numero di imprese sostenute per introdurre nuovi prodotti per l'impresa [CI 29] [pz.] -1, numero di imprese beneficiarie di sovvenzioni [CI 2] [imprese] — 1, numero di imprese beneficiarie di sostegno [CI 1] [pz.] -1, e indicatori di risultato cioè. Numero di innovazioni di prodotto introdotte [pz.] -1, Numero di innovazioni di processo introdotte [pz.] -Aumento dell'occupazione nelle imprese sostenute (CI 8) [EPC] — 1.
|
[
"Products and Processes Engineering",
"Individuals, Markets and Organisations"
] |
W150515979
|
Hintikka-Style Semantic Games for Fuzzy Logics
|
Various types of semantics games for deductive fuzzy logics, most prominently for Łukasiewicz logic, have been proposed in the literature. These games deviate from Hintikka’s original game for evaluating classical first-order formulas by either introducing an explicit reference to a truth value from the unit interval at each game state (as in [4]) or by generalizing to multisets of formulas to be considered at any state (as, e.g., in [12,9,7,10]). We explore to which extent Hintikka’s game theoretical semantics for classical logic can be generalized to a many-valued setting without sacrificing the simple structure of Hintikka’s original game. We show that rules that instantiate a certain scheme abstracted from Hintikka’s game do not lead to logics beyond the rather inexpressive, but widely applied Kleene-Zadeh logic, also known as ‘weak Łukasiewicz logic’ or even simply as ‘fuzzy logic’ [27]. To obtain stronger logics we consider propositional as well as quantifier rules that allow for random choices. We show how not only various extensions of Kleene-Zadeh logic, but also proper extensions Łukasiewicz logic arise in this manner.KeywordsFuzzy LogicAtomic FormulaRandom ChoiceVariable AssignmentGame StateThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
|
[
"Mathematics",
"Computer Science and Informatics"
] |
10.1080/1369118X.2016.1154087
|
Thinking Critically About And Researching Algorithms
|
ABSTRACTMore and more aspects of our everyday lives are being mediated, augmented, produced and regulated by software-enabled technologies. Software is fundamentally composed of algorithms: sets of defined steps structured to process instructions/data to produce an output. This paper synthesises and extends emerging critical thinking about algorithms and considers how best to research them in practice. Four main arguments are developed. First, there is a pressing need to focus critical and empirical attention on algorithms and the work that they do given their increasing importance in shaping social and economic life. Second, algorithms can be conceived in a number of ways – technically, computationally, mathematically, politically, culturally, economically, contextually, materially, philosophically, ethically – but are best understood as being contingent, ontogenetic and performative in nature, and embedded in wider socio-technical assemblages. Third, there are three main challenges that hinder research . . .
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[
"Computer Science and Informatics",
"The Social World and Its Interactions"
] |
10.1093/mnras/stt1712
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Absorption signatures of warm-hot gas at low redshift: Ne VIII
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At z < 1 a large fraction of the baryons is thought to reside in diffuse gas that has been shock-heated to high temperatures (105-106 K). Absorption by the 770. 41, 780. 32å doublet of Ne VIII in quasar spectra represents a unique tool to study this elusive warm-hot phase. We have developed an analytic model for the properties of Ne VIII absorbers that allows for an inhomogeneous metal distribution. Our model agrees with the predictions of a simulation from the OverWhelmingly Large Simulations project indicating that the average line-ofsight metal-filling fraction within the absorbing gas is low (cL ̃ 0. 1). Most of the Ne VIII in our model is produced in low-density, collisionally ionized gas (nH = 10-6-10-4 cm-3, T = 105-106 K). Strong Ne VIII absorbers (log10(NNe VIII/cm-2) ≥ 14), like those recently detected by Hubble Space Telescope/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, are found to arise in higher density gas (nH≥ 10-4 cm-3, T ≈ 5 × 105 K). Ne VIII cloudlets harbour only 1 per cent of the cosmic baryon budget. The baryon content of the surrounding gas (which has similar densities and temperatures as the Ne VIII cloudlets) is a factor c -1L higher. We conclude that Ne VIII absorbers are robust probes of shock-heated diffuse gas, but that spectra with signalto- noise ratios S/N > 100 would be required to detect the bulk of the baryons in warm-hot gas.
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[
"Universe Sciences",
"Fundamental Constituents of Matter"
] |
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