22,388 research outputs found
Polyomaviruses and Cancer - Interplay between viral proteins and signal transduction Pathways
No full textPolyomaviruses are highly suspected to be involved in the development of cancer. A strong correlation has been established between the activity of an early viral genome and the development of a transformed phenotype. Polyomavirus transforming antigens (T-antigens) are the major suspects in the process of deregulating cellular equilibrium. Multiple interactions between T-antigens and cellular regulatory proteins have been detected at different regulatory levels including signal transduction, gene expression, cell cycle progression, and possible DNA repair. In this context, we are reviewing the most recent experimental evidence which, in combination with more than thirty years of studies of polyomaviruses, could help us understand whether and how viral infection contributes to the development of malignant transformation
Landsat MSS classification of fire fuel types in Wood Buffalo National Park, northern Canada
No full textJ1: Global Ecology & Biogeography Letters; M3: Article; Milne, David Franklin, Steven E. Wilson, Bradley A. Ghitter, Geoff Heathcott, Mark McCaffrey, Thomas M. Ow, Charlotte F. Y.; Source Information: Mar1994, Vol. 4 Issue 2, p33; Subject Term: FOREST fires; Author-Supplied Keyword: Canada (Wood Buffalo National Park); Author-Supplied Keyword: Forest fire; Author-Supplied Keyword: Fuel type classification; Author-Supplied Keyword: Landsat data; Number of Pages: 0p; Document Type: Articl
Generation of viable blastocysts from discarded human cleavage embryos
No full textBackground: By improving the culture systems, demonstrated that some discarded poor quality embryos can reach to blastocyst and are capable to implantation.
Objective: This study investigated blastocyst developmental competence and euploidy status in human embryos that had been classed as too poor quality to transfer (ET) or cryopreserve at the cleavage stage.
Materials and Methods: Embryos were divided into three groups. Group 1 (n=41) included good quality embryos from candidates of preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A). Groups II and III were the ‘rejected’ supernumerary embryos, defined as suboptimal for ET or vitrification after morphological examination, with embryos randomly divided between the groups. Group II embryos (n=31) were cultured up to the Day 3 cleavage stage, when they were biopsied and fixed. Group III embryos (n=27) were cultured up to the Day 5 blastocyst stage, when they were evaluated for morphology and chromosomal status. Chromosomal status in all groups was assessed by multi–color fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y.
Results: Euploidy rates in Groups I, II and III were 56.1%, 38.7%, and 55.5%, respectively. Among the blastocysts that developed from ‘rejected’ embryos, 59.3% were classed as good quality. The most frequent chromosomal aneuploidy was related to the sex chromosome (22.2%). The mosaicism rate was not significantly different between the Group II and III embryos (25.8% vs. 37.0%, p=0.28). The distribution of sex chromosomal aneuploidies was significantly different in Group III embryos (22.2% male vs. 55.5% female, p<0.0001).
Conclusion: In conclusion, surplus poor-quality embryos rejected from clinical utilization at the cleavage stage may develop into viable blastocysts with normal chromosomal status for at least 5 chromosomes. Recovery of euploidy during poor-quality embryo transition from cleavage stage to blastocyst, could provide an alternative choice for ET
The generalized Liénard polynomial differential systems x'=y,y'= -g(x) - f (x)y with deg g = deg f 1 are not Liouvillian integrable
No full textAgraïments: The second author was supported by Portuguese National Funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia within the project PTDC/MAT/117106/2010 and by CAMGSD (PEst-OE/EEI/LA0009/2013)We prove the nonexistence of Liouvillian first integrals for the generalized Li\'enard polynomial differential systems of the form x' = y, y'=-g(x)-f(x)y, where g(x) and f(x) are arbitrary polynomials such that g = f 1
An experimental study on trailing edge crack detection for wind turbine blade using airfoil aerodynamic noise
No full textRecent decades have witnessed more and more wind turbines (WTs) being installed onshore and offshore. Health condition monitoring for WTs structures and components is increasingly becoming a compelling concern for stable power output and operational safety of a wind farm [1]. Blade damages seem to occur with a higher probability ahead of other components (e.g., gearbox and generator) damages [2]. After reviewing traditional damage detection approaches and their limitations [3], in this research a new non-contactable approach to detecting trailing edge (TE) damages is proposed based on airfoil aerodynamic noise measurements using a microphone array. In the experiment, four changeable TE parts with rectangular cracks (damaged width W of 0.2mm, 0.5mm, 1.0mm and 2.0mm) for a NACA0018 airfoil (chord C=200mm, span L=400mm) are designed and an example with W=0.2mm is shown in Fig.(a). The TEs with cracks have the same solid thickness as the baseline one (h_solid=0.76mm, standard NACA0018 airfoil TE thickness with chord of 200mm) but different dimensions of total TE thickness (h=W+h_solid). A phased microphone array with 64 microphones is used for acoustic measurement then beamforming is applied to extract TE noise and source power integration is performed within a 200×200mm2 region centred at TE midpoint [4][5]. Fig.(b) shows sound pressure levels (SPLs) L_p at the integrated region of four damaged cases as well as baseline with the frequency resolution of 10Hz under the freestream velocity U of 35m/s and geometrical angle of attack (AoA) alpha of 0º. The cases with smaller cracks show less remarkable tonal peaks compared with the one of W=2.0mm (~4dB); when the crack size is smaller the spectral peak broadens. These peaks or humps are attributed to the periodic vortex shedding from blunt TEs. Fig.(c) shows the SPL differences Delta L_p between the damaged cases and baseline; frequency is normalized as TE-thickness-based Strouhal number St. Local maxima of Lp are present at approximately St = 0.1 [6]. In the experiment, it is difficult to extract the spectral peaks or humps if the effective AoA (alpha*) [6] is more than 2.40º because the boundary layer on suction side becomes thicker and the asymmetry of boundary layers prevents coherent and periodic vortex shedding [7]. In Fig.(d), the discrete points are the St at peak L_p (St_peak) versus the ratio of TE thickness and averaged displacement thickness of pressure and suction sides (overline delta *) extracted from available cases (U=15m/s, 20m/s, 25m/s, 30m/s and 35m/s); the grey and blue curves are obtained from models reported in [6] with solid angle (Psi) of 20º and 23.76º (baseline solid angle), respectively. The points of St_peak versus thickness ratio show a good agreement with the prediction model [6]. This means that particularly for smaller cracks at the first stage of damaged process, the effect of solid angle can be neglected and considered as a minor and adjunctive factor. The TE thickness retrieved through the application of the model can be used as a prediction of the damage level. Additional data obtained from experiments with turbulent inflow will be presented to assess if the approach proposed is still feasible in more realistic turbulent inflow conditions. Keywords: wind turbine blade; trailing edge crack; damage detection; aerodynamic noise. Images: Link: https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.vcongress.de/cms/forwind/paper/417dd783-7a7c-424d-a4d3- 55ce31fa41e1.png Description: (a) An example of NACA0018 airfoil with a TE crack of 0.2mm. (b) SPLs with resolution of 10Hz (U=35m/s and alpha=0º). (c) Corresponding SPL differences compared with baseline case normalized as peak St. (d) Relations of peak St and thickness ratio: discrete points are the experimental date; grey and black curves are prediction models Brooks et al. proposed with solid angle of 20º and 23.76º. References: [1] Tautz-Weinert, J. and Watson, S.J., 2016. Using SCADA data for wind turbine condition monitoring–a review. IET Renewable Power Generation, 11(4), pp.382-394. [2] Yang, W., Peng, Z., Wei, K. and Tian, W., 2016. Structural health monitoring of composite wind turbine blades: challenges, issues and potential solutions. IET Renewable Power Generation, 11(4), pp.411-416. [3] Du, Y., Zhou, S., Jing, X., Peng, Y., Wu, H. and Kwok, N., 2020. Damage detection techniques for wind turbine blades: A review. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 141, p.106445. [4] Merino-Martínez, R., Carpio, A.R., Pereira, L.T.L., van Herk, S., Avallone, F., Ragni, D. and Kotsonis, M., 2020. Aeroacoustic design and characterization of the 3D-printed, open-jet, anechoic wind tunnel of Delft University of Technology. Applied Acoustics, 170, p.107504. [5] Carpio, A.R., Avallone, F., Ragni, D., Snellen, M. and van der Zwaag, S., 2020. Quantitative criteria to design optimal permeable trailing edges for noise abatement. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 485, p.115596. [6] Brooks, T.F., Pope, D.S. and Marcolini, M.A., 1989. Airfoil self-noise and prediction. [7] Moreau, D.J. and Doolan, C.J., 2016. Tonal noise production from a wall-mounted finite airfoil. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 363, pp.199-224
Drag reduction in a turbulent boundary layer using periodic blowing through one array of streamwise slits
No full textActive drag reduction of a turbulent boundary layer has been experimentally investigated using periodic blowing through one array of streamwise slits. Local skin-friction drag exhibits a strong dependence on control parameters, including the blowing amplitude A+ and frequency f +. A maximum drag reduction of almost 70% has been achieved at x+=33 downstream of the actuators. The near-wall structure under control are measured using smoke-wire flow visualization, hot-wire and PIV techniques. All the results point to a pronounced change in the structure of the boundary layer and a significant increase of the mean energy dissipation rate
Activation of the IGF-IR system contributes to malignant growth of human and mouse primitive neuroectodermal tumors/Medulloblastomas
No full textInsulin-like growth factor I receptor (IGF-IR) has been implicated in the normal and malignant growth of many cell types including cells from the central nervous system. In the cerebellar cortex IGF-IR mRNA is found in granular cells and IGF-I stimulation is mitogenic and protects cells from low-potassium-induced apoptosis. Since primitive neuroectodermal tumors/medulloblastomas (PNETs/medulloblastomas) are suspected to originate from the external cerebellar granular layer, it is reasonable to postulate that IGF-IR and/or its signaling molecules may contribute to the transformation of these poorly differentiated cells. To study activation of the IGF-IR system in medulloblastomas, we have utilized an antibody (anti-pY1316) that specifically recognizes the phosphorylated (active) form of the IGF-IR. Medulloblastoma biopsy specimens were positive when examined immunohistochemically with anti-Y1316 antibody. Further analysis of the IGF-IR system was performed in three human (Daoy, TE-671, D283 Med) and four mouse (BsB8, BsB13, Bs-1b, Bs-1c) medulloblastoma cell lines. All the murine cell lines examined express IGF-IR and PI3-kinase at relatively normal levels, and grossly overexpress IRS-1, when compared with normal mouse cerebellum. Within 15 min following IGF-I stimulation both mouse and human cell lines phosphorylate the beta subunit of the IGF-IR, IRS-1, Akt, and MAP kinases. They respond with cell proliferation when stimulated solely with IGF-I and are strongly inhibited when challenged with a dominant negative mutant of the IGF-IR (486/STOP), or with antisense oligonucleotides against the IGF-IR mRNA
CONTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS OF ELLIPTIC TYPE
No full textEn este artículo se presentan los resultados más importantes de mi trabajo de investigación en el estudio de la existencia y de las propiedades de las soluciones de ecuaciones diferenciales parciales no lineales.
Donde λ ∈ R, Ω es un dominio acotado en RN con frontera suave, ∆ = n i=0 ∂/∂x2 i es el operador de Laplace y f : R → R es una función no lineal. Se presentan teoremas obtenidos utilizando teoría de bifurcación, métodos variacionales y un principio de minimax desarrollado por el autor en colaboración con A. Castro y J. M. Neuberger ([Cas-Cos-Nu1], 1997). Además, se incluyen algunos algoritmos para construir y visualizar soluciones a problemas no lineales del tipo (1) y una serie de preguntas abiertas.In this paper I present the most important results of my research studying the solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations of the type.
In this study, we focus on nonlinear partial differential equations of the form ∆u + λf(u) = 0 in Ω, u = 0 on ∂Ω, where λ ∈ R, Ω is a smooth bounded domain in RN, ∆ = Σ ∂²/∂x²ᵢ is the Laplacian operator, and f : R → R is a nonlinear function. Our theorems were obtained using bifurcation theory, variational methods, and a minmax principle developed by the author in collaboration with A. Castro and J. M. Neuberger ([Cas-Cos-Nu1], 1997). We also present some theorems related to algorithms for approximating solutions to nonlinear problems of type (1), along with a set of open questions
Study and development of high release refractory materials for the SPES project
No full textThroughout the last century, theoretical and experimental research made by the international nuclear physicists community has led to important advancement in the knowledge of the mechanisms that govern the behavior and stability of the nuclei. The technological improvements necessary to support this research has often opened the way to new applications in other field of science and industry which directly reflects in our common life experience.
Nowadays, Europe is becoming more and more a leader in both theoretical and experimental nuclear physics, as testified by the presence on its territory of several institutes and laboratories dedicated to this field of research, like CERN (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. Italy, represented mainly by INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare), is one of the main members of this community.
One of the most important projects supported by INFN is SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species), which aim is to develop a facility for the production of radioactive ion beams (RIBs) in one of the four national laboratories of INFN, LNL (Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro).
The facility is designed to produce and deliver to users both proton-rich and neutron-rich nuclei (range of mass 80-160 amu) to be used for nuclear physics research, as well as other applications in different fields of science. The generation of the aforementioned isotopes will occur inside a properly designed target, which represents the core of the whole project. The choice of the proper material for the target, both in terms of composition and properties, is of vital importance in determining the quantity and type of the produced isotopes.
In this work, the synthesis and characterization of different types of target materials are presented. The results of experimental tests performed on some of the produced materials, in configurations very similar to those intended for the final SPES facility are also reported.
Chapter 1 gives a general overview of the SPES project and its context whereas chapter 2 introduces the main topics related to the on-line behavior of the SPES target, relative to both its layout and to the properties of the material constituting it. Chapter 3 is focused on uranium carbide, which will be used at SPES to produce neutron-rich isotopes; after a description of its main physicochemical properties, the results of two on-line tests performed on target prototypes made of this material is reported and discussed into detail. In chapter 4 the synthesis methods and release-related properties of two potential materials to be used as SPES targets for the production of proton-rich isotopes, boron and lanthanum carbides, are presente
Overview of the Author Profiling Task at PAN 2013
No full text[EN] This overview presents the framework and results for the Author Profiling
task at PAN 2013. We describe in detail the corpus and its characteristics,
and the evaluation framework we used to measure the participants performance to
solve the problem of identifying age and gender from anonymous texts. Finally,
the approaches of the 21 participants and their results are described.The author profiling task @PAN-2013 was an activity of the WIQ-EI IRSES project (Grant No. 269180) within the FP 7 Marie Curie People Framework of the European Commission. We want to thank the Forensic Lab of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona for sponsoring the award for the winner team. The work of the first author was partially funded by Autoritas Consulting SA and by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España under grant ECOPORTUNITY IPT-2012-1220-430000. The work of the second author was in the framework the DIANA-APPLICATIONS-Finding Hidden Knowledge in Texts: Applications (TIN2012-38603-C02-01) project, and the VLC/CAMPUS Microcluster on Multimodal Interaction in Intelligent Systems. The work of fifth author was funded in part by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) project "Mining Conversational Content for Topic Modelling and Author Identification (ChatMiner)" under grant number 200021_130208.Rangel, F.; Rosso, P.; Koppel, M.; Stamatatos, E.; Inches, G. (2013). Overview of the Author Profiling Task at PAN 2013. CLEF Conference on Multilingual and Multimodal Information Access Evaluation. 352-365. https://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/46636S35236
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