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Soft glasses of colloidal rods (fd-virus particles) with orientational domains were recently shown to exhibit inhomogeneous flow profiles [Dhont et al., Phys. Rev. Fluids 2, 043301 (2017)]: fracture and accompanied plug flow at small shear rates, which transits to gradient shear-banding on increasing the shear rate, while a uniform flow profile develops at sufficiently high shear rates. These flow profiles coexist with Taylor-vorticity bands. The texture of such glasses under flow conditions consists of domains with varying orientations. The observed gradient shear-banding was solely attributed to the strong shear thinning behavior of the material inside the domains (henceforth abbreviated as domain-interior), without considering the texture stress that is due to interactions between the glassy domains. Here, we present new experiments on the shear-banding transition to assess the role played by the texture stress in comparison to the domain-interior stress. For a large concentration, well into the glassy state, it is found that both texture stress and domain-interior stress contribute significantly to the gradient shear-banding transition in the shear-rate region where it occurs. On the other hand, for a small concentration close to the glass-transition concentration, the domains are shown to coalesce within the shear-rate range where gradient shear-banding is observed. As a result, the texture stress diminishes and the domain-interior stress increases upon coalescence, leading to a stress plateau. Thus, a subtle interplay exists between the stresses arising from the structural order on two widely separated length scales from interactions between domains and from the rod-rod interactions within the domain-interior for both concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work we study how the number of simulated customers (occupancy) af- fects social distance in an ideal supermarket, considering realistic typical dimensions and processing times (product selection and checkout). From the simulated trajectories we measure social distance events of less than 2 m, and their duration. Among other observ- ables, we define a physical distance coefficient that informs how many events (of a given duration) each agent experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the problem of pedestrian egress under different geometries is studied by means of two numerical models. The length of the bottleneck after the exit and the distance of the exit to the lateral wall of a squared room are investigated. Both models show that an increase in the bottleneck length increases the evacuation time by more than 20%, for any exit position. Hence, a bottleneck length tending to zero is the best choice. On the contrary, the results of moving the exit closer to the lateral wall are different in both models and, thus, its convenience cannot be stated. To unveil whether this layout modification is favorable, experimental data are required. Moreover, the discrepancy between models indicates that they should be validated considering several scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel laser material BaYLuF8 (BYLF), doped with 12 at% of Tm3+, has been grown and optically investigated, in order to evaluate its potential performances as a 2 µm laser. The BYLF crystal is interesting mainly because indications are that the mixed crystal would be sturdier than BaY2F8 (BYF). The addition of lutetium would improve the thermo-mechanical properties of the host. Absorption, fluorescence and lifetime measurements have been performed in the temperature range 10–300 K focusing on the 3H4 and 3F4 manifolds, those involved in the laser scheme at 2 µm. The Stark sublevels structure of Tm3+ up to the 1D2 manifold has been figured out. Diode-pumped CW laser emission at 2 µm has been achieved obtaining a slope efficiency of about 28% with respect to the absorbed power, by pumping along the Z-axis. A maximum output power of 240 mW was achieved by pumping along the favourable Y-axis, with an incident power of about 800 mW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate ANT1 and NF-κB expression in inclusion body myositis (IBM) muscle and to verify their possible roles in the pathogenesis of the disease, we collected muscle samples from five patients with IBM, polimyositis (PM) and controls. p65 form of NF-κB was analyzed using immunocytochemistry, Western blot and EMSA. Western blot of ANT1 was performed and confirmed by gene expression study. Mann-Whitney test was used for groups comparisons. NF-κB (p65) was found over-expressed both with western blot and EMSA, either in IBM or PM patients versus controls ( p < 0.01). Expression of ANT1 were lower in IBM samples versus both PM and controls ( p < 0.01). ANT1 reduction and NF-κB over-expression in IBM muscle could explain the lack of apoptosis in such disease. Normal ANT1 expression in PM could be related to the scarcity of mitochondrial abnormalities in the disease, but it could also suggest that these two conditions diverge in activating different anti-apoptotic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the spectroscopy and laser results of cerium-doped colquiriite LiCaAlF6 (LiCAF) single crystals. High quality samples have been grown using the Czochralski technique and characterized by means of X-ray Laue diffractometry, absorption and emission spectra. Moreover, we measured the lifetime and deduced the emission cross-sections of the laser transition. Using this crystal we realized two lasers devices: a high-efficiency laser emitting at 289 nm with a repetition rate (RR) of up to 2 kHz and a widely tunable laser (from 280 nm to 317 nm) with an RR of up to 4.3 kHz. The high quality of the crystal made it possible to obtain the highest slope efficiency (49%) ever reported to our knowledge for a Ce:LiCAF laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents letters to the editor referencing articles and topics discussed in the previous issues of "Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology." "Tumour Size Reduction of Basal Cell Carcinoma Waiting for Elective Surgery: Possible Role of Palliative Topical Medications," which talks about surgery as the treatment of choice for basal cell carcinoma; "Diffuse Plane Xanthoma in Photoexposed Skin," which discusses the association of diffuse normolipaemic plane xanthoma with disorders of the reticuloendothelial system; "Atypical Fibroxanthoma of the Skin on Non-Photoexposed Areas; A Diagnosis Not to Be Missed," which presents a case of a middle-aged woman with an ulcerated nodule on the dorsum of her right leg.

The investigation of community structures in networks is an important issue in many domains and disciplines. In this paper we present a new class of local and fast algorithms which incorporate a quantitative definition of community. In this way the algorithms for the identification of the community structure become fully self-contained and one does not need additional non-topological information in order to evaluate the accuracy of the results. The new algorithms are tested on artificial and real-world graphs. In particular we show how the new algorithms apply to a network of scientific collaborations both in the unweighted and in the weighted version. Moreover we discuss the applicability of these algorithms to other non-social networks and we present preliminary results about the detection of community structures in networks of interacting proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excited state absorption (ESA) in a 1% doped Tm:YLF crystal in the range from 1000 nm to 1300 nm is reported. In this spectral range, three ESA bands are expected: [sup 3]F[sub 4]→[sup 3]F[sub 2] (from 1040 nm to 1096 nm), [sup 3]F[sub 4]→[sup 3]F[sub 3] (from 1111 nm to 1169 nm), and [sup 3]H[sub 4]→[sup 1]G[sub 4] (from 1118 nm to 1240 nm). In a conventional continuous wave ESA setup only the first two bands are observed because the lifetime of the [sup 3]F[sub 4] level is much longer (15.6 ms) than the lifetime of the [sup 3]H[sub 4] level (1.56 ms). In order to observe the [sup 3]H[sub 4]→[sup 1]G[sub 4] ESA band, pump modulation dependent measurements were performed, where the modulation frequency of the pump selects the ESA signal to be measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extremely wide wavelength tuning ranges of up to ∼300 nm around 1.9 μm are theoretically predicted in a Tm-doped BaY2F8 crystal, on the basis of near-infrared measurements of emission and absorption cross sections. A tunability interval of 245 nm, from 1849 nm to 2059 nm, has been demonstrated by room-temperature laser experiments using a 8% Tm-doped crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome is a neuromuscular junction disorder characterized by proximal limb muscle weakness, fatigability, decreased deep-tendon reflexes, and autonomic symptoms. There are 2 forms of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome: one most frequently associated with small-cell lung cancer (P–Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome) and the other that is a pure autoimmune form (NP–Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome). Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome is a very rare disorder in children younger than age 12 years. Herein, we report a 25-year-old man with NP–Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome, which onset was at the age of 10 years. To date, this is the most long-term follow-up of NP–Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in childhood. In our patient, the only symptomatic treatment with 3,4-diaminopyridine phosphate has been sufficient to guarantee him a good quality of life. Our data remind physicians to keep in mind the diagnosis of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome in children with a proximal myopathic pattern and they confirm the specificity of compound muscle action potential incremental pattern after brief maximal effort in Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]