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The work consists of the development of a market-friendly 600 W photovoltaic battery-less water pumping system. The system is composed of four 280 Wp solar panels, an auxiliary 10 W solar panel, a three-phase converter and a ½ horsepower (hp) submersible water pump. The electronic stage involves a resonant DC-DC converter in series with a voltage source three-phase inverter. The novelties of this work are related to the use of a resonant DC-DC converter with fixed duty-cycle and frequency for water pumping application, the use of Silicon Carbide Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) for solving converter startup issues, and the use of a constant voltage maximum power tracking (MPPT) algorithm with auxiliary panels. The work displays the design of the converter, simulation and experimental results, discussions, and cost evaluation. The feasibility of the system is studied for the water requirements of a beef cattle farm in Brazil.

We implement sympathetic cooling of highly charged ions (HCI) by fully enclosing a linear Paul trap within a superconducting radio-frequency resonator. A quantization magnetic field applied while cooling down into the superconducting state remains present in the trap for centuries and external electromagnetic fluctuations are greatly suppressed. A magnetic field decay rate at the 10$^{-10}$ s$^{-1}$ level is found using trapped Doppler-cooled Be$^+$ ions as hyperfine-structure (hfs) qubits. Ramsey interferometry and spin-echo measurements on magnetically-sensitive hfs transitions yield coherence times of >400 ms, showing excellent passive shielding at frequencies down to DC. For sympathetic cooling of HCI, we extract them from an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) and co-crystallize one together with Doppler-cooled Be$^+$ ions. By subsequently ejecting all but one Be$^+$ ions, we prepare single HCI for quantum logic spectroscopy towards frequency metrology and qubit operations with a great variety of HCI species., 16 pages, 19 figures. The following article has been submitted to Review of Scientific Instruments. After it is published, it will be found at https://rsi.aip.org/

An efficient genetic transformation protocol is necessary to edit genes for trait improvement directly in elite bread wheat cultivars. We used a protein fusion between a wheat growth-regulating factor 4 (GRF4) and its interacting factor (GIF1) to develop a reproducible genetic transformation and regeneration protocol, which we then used to successfully transform elite bread wheat cultivars Baj, Kachu, Morocco, Reedling, RL6077, and Sujata in addition to the experimental cultivar Fielder. Immature embryos were transformed with the vector using particle bombardment method. Transformation frequency increased nearly 60-fold with the GRF4-GIF1-containing vectors as compared to the control vector and ranged from ~5% in the cultivar Kachu to 13% in the cultivar RL6077. We then edited two genes that confer resistance against leaf rust and powdery mildew directly in the aforementioned elite cultivars. A wheat promoter, TaU3 or TaU6, to drive the expression of guide RNA was effective in gene editing whereas the OsU3 promoter failed to generate any edits. Editing efficiency was nearly perfect with the wheat promoters. Our protocol has made it possible to edit genes directly in elite wheat cultivars and would be useful for gene editing in other wheat varieties, which have been recalcitrant to transformation thus far.

This work proposes a differential evolution algorithm to control a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) system based on photovoltaic generation and energy cost curves, and constraints associated with the power converters’ operation, battery charging strategy, and initial budgets. The algorithm is designed to trade off the batteries’ state of charge and the profits gained from selling energy to the grid. To achieve this balance, a fuzzy controller is employed and acts based on forecasts of the photovoltaic generation and the cost of electricity, within prediction windows of 120 min, adapting the batteries’ rate of charging or discharging. Simulation results show that for different curves and different initial budgets, the target state of charge is reached at the end of the time horizon. By evaluating the proposed scheme under different scenarios, the algorithm’s performance is proven to be suitable for future practical deployment.

This paper presents novel current sensorless maximum-power point-tracking (MPPT) algorithms based on compensators/controllers and a single-input voltage sensor. The proposed MPPTs eliminate the expensive and noisy current sensor, which can significantly reduce the system cost and retain the advantages of the widely used MPPT algorithms, such as Incremental Conductance (IC) and Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithms. Additionally, it is verified that the proposed algorithms, especially the proposed Current Sensorless V based on PI, can reach outstanding tracking factors (TFs) such as the IC and P&O based on PI algorithms. In this sense, the insertion of controllers inside the MPPT gives them adaptive characteristics, and the experimental TFs are in the remarkable range of more than 99%, with an average yield of 99.51% and a peak of 99.80%.

This study presents a fine-scale simulation approach to assess the representativity of ammonia (NH3) measurements in the proximity of an emission source. Close proximity to emission sources (

Background Sarcopenia is defined as either low pre-operative muscle mass or low muscle density on abdominal CT imaging. It has been associated with worse short-term outcomes after surgery for colorectal liver metastases. This study aimed to evaluate whether sarcopenia also impacts long-term survival outcomes in these patients. Methods A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines. Overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) outcomes were evaluated. Results Eleven studies were included, ten reporting on the impact of low muscle mass and four on low muscle density. Sample sizes ranged between 47 and 539 (2124 patients in total). Altogether, 897 (42%) patients were considered sarcopenic, although definitions varied between studies. Median follow-up was 21–74 months. Low muscle mass (hazard ration (HR) 1.35, 95%CI 1.08–1.68) and low muscle density (HR 1.97, 95%CI 1.07–3.62) were associated with impaired OS. Low muscle mass (pooled HR 1.17, 95%CI 0.94–1.46) and low muscle density (pooled HR 1.13, 95%CI 0.85–1.50) were not associated with impaired RFS. Discussion Sarcopenia is associated with poorer OS, but not RFS, in patients with CRLM. Additional studies with standardized sarcopenia definitions are needed to better assess the impact of sarcopenia in patients with CRLM.

The crystal structure of a polymorph of Glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O was synthesized from chiral cyclic Glycyl-L-alanine dipeptide, known to show molecular flexibility in different environments. The space group is polar (P21) and therefore pyroelectricity and optical second harmonic generation properties are allowed by symmetry. We report a pyroelectric coefficient as high as 45 µC/m2K occurring at 345 K, one order of magnitude smaller than the semi-organic ferroelectric Triglycine Sulphate (TGS) crystal. Furthermore, the polymorph displays a nonlinear optical effective coefficient of 0.14 pm/V, around 14 times smaller than the value from a phase-matched inorganic Barium Borate (BBO) single crystal.

A polymorph of glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O is synthesized from chiral cyclo-glycyl-L-alanine dipeptide. The dipeptide is known to show molecular flexibility in different environments, which leads to polymorphism. The crystal structure of the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph is determined at room temperature and indicates that the space group is polar (P21), with two molecules per unit cell and unit cell parameters a = 7.747 Å, b = 6.435 Å, c = 10.941 Å, α = 90°, β = 107.53(3)°, γ = 90° and V = 520.1(7) Å3. Crystallization in the polar point group 2, with one polar axis parallel to the b axis, allows pyroelectricity and optical second harmonic generation. Thermal melting of the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph starts at 533 K, close to the melting temperature reported for cyclo-glycyl-L-alanine (531 K) and 32 K lower than that reported for linear glycyl-L-alanine dipeptide (563 K), suggesting that although the dipeptide, when crystallized in the polymorphic form, is not anymore in its cyclic form, it keeps a memory of its initial closed chain and therefore shows a thermal memory effect. Here, we report a pyroelectric coefficient as high as 45 µC/m2K occurring at 345 K, one order of magnitude smaller than that of semi-organic ferroelectric triglycine sulphate (TGS) crystal. Moreover, the glycyl-L-alanine HI.H2O polymorph displays a nonlinear optical effective coefficient of 0.14 pm/V, around 14 times smaller than the value from a phase-matched inorganic barium borate (BBO) single crystal. The new polymorph displays an effective piezoelectric coefficient equal to deff=280pCN−1, when embedded into electrospun polymer fibers, indicating its suitability as an active system for energy harvesting.

Described here is a titanocene‐catalyzed reaction for the synthesis of acetals and hemiaminals from benzylic ethers and benzylic amines, respectively, with pendant epoxides. The reaction proceeds by catalysis in single‐electron steps. The oxidative addition comprises an epoxide opening. An H‐atom transfer, to generate a benzylic radical, serves as a radical translocation step, and an organometallic oxygen rebound as a reductive elimination. The reaction mechanism was studied by high‐level dispersion corrected hybrid functional DFT with implicit solvation. The low‐energy conformational space was searched by the efficient CREST program. The stereoselectivity was deduced from the lowest lying benzylic radical structures and their conformations are controlled by hyperconjugative interactions and steric interactions between the titanocene catalyst and the aryl groups of the substrate. An interesting mechanistic aspect is that the oxidation of the benzylic center occurs under reducing conditions., Oxidations with reducing agents? Fact and not fiction in a reaction featuring titanocene(III) catalysis, H‐atom transfer, and an organometallic oxygen rebound. Acetals and hemiaminals can be readily prepared from benzylic ethers and amines, respectively, under mild reaction conditions and in high yields. The structures of the radical intermediates were elucidated by the CREST program.

In this paper, a new topology of a Fractional Order PID (FOPID) controller is proposed to control a boost DC-DC converter with minimum over/undershoot. The fractional controller parameters are tuned using a genetic algorithm (GA) with a combined cost function composed of the Integral of Time-Weighted Absolute Error (ITAE) and the Integral of Time-Weighted Square Error (ITSE). Despite adding moderate complexity to the control structure, the simulation results reveal that the GA-based FOPID controller tuning provided better performance for the setpoint tracking both under load variations and parameters deviation due to the prolonged use. The proposed FOPID shows a wide operational range concerning load disturbances, and capacitance/inductance deviations of ±30% and ±50% from nominal values, achieving functionality and voltage stability even with output power 50% higher than the converter power specification. The assessment was made considering operation in voltage mode and the performance was compared to conventional Proportional-Integral (PI), Type II and current mode controllers. Finally, a fuzzy fractional-order PID (FFOPID) was designed to outperform the FOPID during disturbances in the control variable.

Yeast amino acid transporters of the APC superfamily are responsible for the proton motive force‐driven uptake of amino acids into the cell, which for most secondary transporters is a reversible process. The l‐lysine proton symporter Lyp1 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is special in that the Michaelis constant from out‐to‐in transport ( Kmout→in ) is much lower than Kmin→out , which allows accumulation of l‐lysine to submolar concentration. It has been proposed that high intracellular lysine is part of the antioxidant mechanism of the cell. The molecular basis for the unique kinetic properties of Lyp1 is unknown. We compared the sequence of Lyp1 with APC para‐ and orthologues and find structural features that set Lyp1 apart, including differences in extracellular loop regions. We screened the extracellular loops by alanine mutagenesis and determined Lyp1 localization and activity and find positions that affect either the localization or activity of Lyp1. Half of the affected mutants are located in the extension of extracellular loop 3 or in a predicted α‐helix in extracellular loop 4. Our data indicate that extracellular loops not only connect the transmembrane helices but also serve functionally important roles., We performed alanine‐scanning mutagenesis of the extracellular loops of the yeast lysine transporter Lyp1. We find positions that affect either the localization or activity of Lyp1. Half of the affected mutants are located in the extension of extracellular loop 3 or in a predicted α‐helix in extracellular loop 4. We conclude that extracellular loops of amino acid transporters of the APC superfamily serve functionally important roles.

This study presents a fine-scale simulation approach to assess the representativity of ammonia (NH3) measurements in the proximity of an emission source. Close proximity to emission sources (< 5 km) can introduce a bias in regionally representative measurements of the NH3 molar fraction and flux. Measurement sites should, therefore, be located a significant distance away from emission sources, but these requirements are poorly defined and can be difficult to meet in densely agricultural regions. This study presents a consistent criterion to assess the regional representativity of NH3 measurements in proximity to an emission source, calculating variables that quantify the NH3 plume dispersion using a series of numerical experiments at a fine resolution (20 m). Our fine-scale simulation framework with explicitly resolved turbulence enables us to distinguish between the background NH3 and the emission plume, including realistic representations of NH3 deposition and chemical gas–aerosol transformations. We introduce the concept of blending distance based on the calculation of turbulent fluctuations to systematically analyze the impact of the emission plume on simulated measurements, relative to this background NH3. We perform a suite of systematic numerical experiments for flat homogeneous grasslands, centered around the CESAR Observatory at Cabauw, to analyze the sensitivity of the blending distance, varying meteorological factors, emission/deposition and NH3 dependences. Considering these sensitivities, we find that NH3 measurements at this measurement site should be located at a minimum distance of 0.5–3.0 and 0.75–4.5 km from an emission source for NH3 molar fraction and flux measurements, respectively. The simulation framework presented here can easily be adapted to local conditions, and paves the way for future ammonia research to integrate simulations at high spatio-temporal resolutions with observations of NH3 concentrations and fluxes.

Teaching quantum communication is a challenging task when involving different technical and engineering backgrounds. The use of an approach that exploits the knowledge of these profiles, as well as other technological resources available for demonstrations or exercises, enhances this teaching. This paper presents as an example the "Quantum Communications Lab" that took place at the 6th INFIERI Summer School in 2021. In this lab, the access to the Madrid Quantum Communication Infrastructure (MadQCI) was an important resource available., Comment: Accepted for publication in JINST, 12 pages

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia is associated with impaired short- and long-term outcomes in gastrointestinal cancers. Whether sarcopenia is associated with impaired survival after local therapy of Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases (CRLM) remains controversial. This study aimed to determine the influence of sarcopenia on long-term outcomes after curative-intent therapy for CRLM.METHODS: Patients undergoing local therapy for CRLM between 2003 and 2019 were retrospectively analyzed using the skeletal muscle index at the level of the third lumbar vertebra as an indicator of sarcopenia. Factors associated with overall (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival were analyzed using univariable and multivariable cox regression.RESULTS: In total 213/465 patients (46%) were considered sarcopenic. Sarcopenic patients had no impaired 5-year OS or DFS compared to non-sarcopenic patients, 38% vs 44% (p = 0.153) and 19 vs 23% (p = 0.339) respectively. Sarcopenia was not associated with impaired OS (HR = 1.11, 95%CI = 0.85-1.46, p = 0.43) or DFS (HR = 0.99, 95%CI = 0.77-1.28, p = 0.96) in multivariable analysis. There were no significant differences in postoperative complications (p = 0.47), the incidence (p = 0.65) and treatment (p = 0.37) of recurrent metastases. Five-year OS after resection for recurrences was 14% (sarcopenic) and 22% (non-sarcopenic) p 0.716.CONCLUSION: Sarcopenia assessed by computed tomography was not associated with impaired survival outcomes in the group of CRLM patients overall.

This study presents a fine scale simulation approach to assess the representativity of ammonia (NH3) measurements in proximity of an emission source. Close proximity to emission sources (3 molar fraction and flux. Measurement sites should therefore be located a significant distance from emission sources, but such requirements are poorly defined and can be difficult to meet in densely agricultural regions. This study presents a consistent criterium to assess the regional representativity of NH3 measurements in proximity of an emission source, calculating variables that quantify the NH3 plume dispersion using a series of numerical experiments at a fine resolution (20 m). Our fine scale simulation framework with explicitly resolved turbulence enables us to distinguish between the background NH3 and the emission plume, including realistic representations of NH3 deposition and chemical gas-aerosol transformations. We introduce the concept of blending-distance, based on the calculation of turbulent fluctuations, to systematically analyze the impact of the emission plume on simulated measurements, relative to this background NH3. This sensitivity analysis includes systematic experiments varying meteorological factors, emission/deposition and NH3 dependences. Considering these sensitivities, we find that NH3 measurements should be located at a minimum distance of 0.5–2.5 km and 1–3.5 km from an emission source, for NH3 molar fraction and flux measurements respectively. The simulation framework presented here can easily be adapted to local conditions and paves the way for future ammonia research at high spatio-temporal resolution.

This study presents a fine scale simulation approach to assess the representativity of ammonia (NH3) measurements in proximity of an emission source. Close proximity to emission sources (

We describe a combination of catalysts that allows the coupling of titanocene(III) catalysis with photoredox catalysis. Oxidation of radical intermediates by a photoredox catalyst opens novel catal...

This paper describes the use of a Cascaded H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter to deal with the problem of partial shading in a photovoltaic system connected to the grid. Combined with the topology, it proposes the use of a virtual synchronous generator for power sharing between photovoltaic arrays and to ensure the connection to the power grid even in extreme shading situations with no power buffer. The experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of the strategy adopted and the limitations to overcome.

This work compares the performance of two embedded FPGA controllers that can be used in Active Parallel Power Filters (APPF). Both controllers are validated through the FPGA-in-the-loop (FIL) technique, the algorithm’s synthesis is accomplished using the Quartus II® platform, and the board used is from Altera®—Cyclone IV DE2-115. The main difference between the controllers resides in the power theories used to obtain the currents for compensation. The results confirm that the FPGA is a suitable digital device for the parallel operation of multiple compensators and calculation stages, being a viable solution for the requirements imposed in the control of APPF. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the FIL technique for validating the operation of digital circuits and control systems is also confirmed. Finally, a comparison between the processing costs of each of the implemented power theories is presented to guide novel proposals.

The recent evolutions in the convergence of QKD and classical communication systems are described, together with the relevance of SDN as a suitable approach for a real integration between QKD and WDM networks. Preliminary experimental results on a discrete-variable QKD prototype working in the O-band co-propagating with 40 50-GHz C-band information channels are reported, showing the capabilities of QKD in short/medium reach optical networks.

Modern communication networks can be flexibly shaped and controlled using Software Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm. However, besides unprecedented functional benefits, this solution exploits an architectural single point of failure. Securing the communication among SDN functional element is therefore a critical requirement for improving the network reliability. A novel approach to secure communications is provided by Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) that is a physical layer technology capable to securely deliver symmetric encryption keys leveraging on quantum physic properties. Our research demonstrates how to provide unconditionally secure communication at SDN level dramatically improving the reliability of the communication network itself.

We investigate diurnal variability of the atmospheric ammonia (NH3) budget over unfertilized grassland by combining observations with a conceptual atmospheric boundary layer model. Our combined approach of diurnal observations and modeling enables us to identify the contribution of the four governing processes to the NH3 diurnal cycle: surface-atmosphere exchange, entrainment, advection and chemical gas-aerosol transformations. The observations contain new NH3 flux and molar fraction measurements obtained using the Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) remote sensing technique, eliminating problems related to inlet tubing. Using strict filter criteria, 22 days with clear-sky summer conditions are selected. From this selection, we analyze a single representative day characterized by prototypical convective boundary layer conditions, using the boundary layer model constrained by meteorological observations. We design two numerical experiments to study the NH3 diurnal variability and the individual contributions of the processes governing the ammonia budget. These experiments only differ in their representation of the NH3 surface exchange. First, a fitted function through the observed NH3 flux is prescribed to the model. In the second numerical experiment, the surface flux is solved following the DEPosition of Acidifying Compounds (DEPAC) parameterization. With a prescribed surface flux, the modeled NH3 molar fraction closely fits the observations. Two regimes are identified in the NH3 diurnal cycle: the morning, where boundary layer dynamics dominate the budget through entrainment, and the afternoon, where multiple processes are of importance. A similarly close fit to the observed molar fraction is achieved in the second experiment, but we identify a mismatch between the observed and parameterized NH3 surface flux. As a result, the model requires an unrealistic budget representation to achieve this close fit, e.g. high free tropospheric NH3. Our findings on the NH3 budget, based on integrating modeling and observations, paves the way for future research on the NH3 surface-atmosphere exchange at the subdaily scales.

En av de vanskeligste aspektene ved ˚a reprodusere menneskelig atferd i robotikk er ˚a utføre ikke-prehensile (ikke-gripende) objektmanipulering. Dersom roboter skal kunne integreres i en menneskeskapt verden, m˚a de være i stand til ˚a utføre slike komplekse aktiviteter. Denne oppgaven tar sikte p˚a ˚a introdusere en ny stabiliserende kontroller til Sommerfugl roboten gitt at den transverse lineariserte dynamikken er funnet. Systemet best˚aende av en ˚atteformet ramme med en ball som rullet p˚a toppen ble foresl˚att som et standardeksempel for utvikling av nye teknikker innen ikke-prehensil manipulasjon. Mens tidligere stabiliseringsmetoder er avhengig av en lineær nominell kontroller basert p˚a stabiliserende løsningen av den periodiske Ricatti differensialligningen (PRDE), vil denne oppgaven introdusere en ”sliding mode control” for ˚a h˚andtere uunng˚aelige forstyrrelser i systemet. Arbeidet presentert i denne oppgaven bruker en ”virtual holonomic constraint” tilnærming. Her brukes en skalar-variabel kjent som en bevegelsesgenerator i et geometrisk forhold kjent som en virtual holonomic constraint for ˚a redusere systemets kompleksitet ved ˚a holde den geometriske relasjonen uforanderlig gjennom en feedback kontroller. Den nominelle banen for det ulineære systemet kan deretter avledes ut fra dynamikken til bevegelsesgeneratoren. Stabiliseringsmetoden bruker den velkjente ekvivalensen mellom et uineært systems lokale, stabile oppførsel og dets lineariserte systems lokale, stabile oppførsel. Et sett med transverse koordinater hvis opprinnelse tilsvarer den nominelle banen, kan deretter lineariseres og stabiliseres ved hjelp av en feedback regulator slik at det resulterende ulineære systemet ogs˚a blir stabilisert. P˚a grunnlag av den transverse lineariseringen vil det utformes to alternative sliding mode kontrollere. Den første metoden er enklere og er basert p˚a Lyapunov-teori, der det vil bli etablert kontrollov som muliggjør en endelig tidskonvergens mot en s˚akalt glidende overflate (som samsvarer med den nominelle oppførselen). For den andre teknikken vil det opprettes et reelt ”subspace” av det lineariserte systemet før dens ”annihilator”, hvis samdimensjoner tilsvarer antall kontrollinnganger, brukes i en svitchfunksjon for kontrolleren. Fordi begge metodene bruker PRDEs stabiliserende løsning, vil ”semi-definite” programmering brukes til ˚a finne en tilnærming. Det ble p˚avist at den første metoden raskt konvergerte mot den nominelle banen for nominelle systemparametere ved numeriske simuleringer, mens for de forstyrrede parametrene viste en betydelig stasjonær feil, men likevel konvergerte mot banen. Den andre metoden resulterte ikke i noen vellykket stabilisering, som var forventet gitt at det ikke ble funnet et subspace som oppfylte de nødvendige betingelsene One of the most challenging aspects of reproducing human behavior in robotics is performing non-prehensile (non-gripping) object manipulation. Robots must be able to move and perform complex activities if they are to be integrated into a human-built world. This paper aims to introduce a new stabilizing controller to the Butterfly Robot, given that the transverse linearized dynamics have been found. The system consisting of a figure eightshaped frame with a ball rolling on top was proposed as a benchmark example for developing new techniques within the field of non-prehensile manipulation. While previous stabilizing methods rely on a linear nominal feedback controller based on the stabilizing solution of the periodic Ricatti differential equation (PRDE), this paper will introduce a sliding mode controller to deal with unavoidable perturbations of the system. The work presented in this paper uses the virtual holonomic constraint approach. Here, a scalar variable known as a motion generator is utilized in a geometric relation known as a virtual holonomic constraint to reduce the system’s complexity by keeping the geometric relation invariant through a feedback controller. The nominal trajectory for the nonlinear system can then be derived based on the dynamics of the motion generator. The stabilization method makes use of the well-known equivalence between a nonlinear system’s local, stable behavior and its linearized system’s local, stable behavior. A set of transverse coordinates whose origin corresponds to the nominal trajectory can then be linearized and stabilized using a feedback controller such that its resulting nonlinear system will be stabilized as well. Based on the transverse linearization, two alternative sliding mode controller architectures will be designed. The first method is simpler and is based on Lyapunov theory. A control law will be established that enables finite-time convergence towards a so-called sliding surface (that matches the nominal behavior). For the second technique, a real invariant subspace of the linearization will be created before its annihilator, whose co-dimensions equals the number of control input, is used in a switching function for the controller. Because both methods use the PRDE’s stabilizing solution, semi-definite programming will be used to find an approximation. The first method was proven to swiftly converge towards the nominal trajectory for nominal system parameters by numerical simulations. In contrast, the perturbed parameters showed a considerable stationary error but still converged towards the trajectory. The second method did not result in any successful stabilization, which was expected given that the found subspace failed to satisfy the required conditions, motivating for further work.

SBES RESEARCH TRACK -Continuous integration (CI) is a process widely used in projects of different types and sizes, generally aimed at improving development and also ensuring the quality of the software. However, some bad practices can mitigate or invalidate the beneficial effects of CI. In this context, we present an initial study to analyze CI bad practices in two closed-source projects. The study had as main research questions: (i) the frequency of CI bad practices in projects, (ii) the time that builds failures remain unresolved in projects, and (iii) the effects of CI bad practices on software health from the perspective of developers and project managers. For this, we carried out a mapping of the existence of bad practices through a questionnaire directed to the projects team. Also, it was realized the analysis of the pipeline history of the projects. Our findings indicate that the most common CI bad practices are related to improper management of the CI repository, and defective builds usually take a long time to fix. Besides, we found that the difficulties resulting from CI bad practices promote an increase in the development cost and reduction of software quality assurance.

We present a combined electrochemical, kinetic, and synthetic study with a novel and easily accessible class of titanocene catalysts for catalysis in single-electron steps. The tailoring of the electronic properties of our Cp2 TiX-catalysts that are prepared in situ from readily available Cp2 TiX2 is achieved by varying the anionic ligand X. Of the complexes investigated, Cp2 TiOMs proved to be either equal or substantially superior to the best catalysts developed earlier. The kinetic and thermodynamic properties pertinent to catalysis have been determined. They allow a mechanistic understanding of the subtle interplay of properties required for an efficient oxidative addition and reduction. Therefore, our study highlights that efficient catalysts do not require the elaborate covalent modification of the cyclopentadienyl ligands.

Breast cancer screening has been shown to reduce breast cancer-associated mortality. However, screening is limited to the targeted age group of 45 to 69 years in New Zealand despite the recognized increased risk with age. This study aims to compare the outcomes of women aged over 70 years with screen-detected and clinically detected cancers.A retrospective review was performed of prospectively collected data from June 2000 to May 2013 by the Auckland Breast Cancer Register. Demographic and tumor characteristics of women with invasive cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ diagnosis aged 70 years and over were compared between those screened and clinically detected. Five-year disease-free and overall survival outcomes were reviewed.A total of 2128 women aged 70 years and over were diagnosed with breast cancer (median, 77 years; interquartile range [IQR], 74-84 years). Of these, 416 (19.5%) were diagnosed through mammography screening, with a median age of 74 years (IQR, 71-77 years) compared with 79 years (IQR, 74-85 years) for those with clinical detected cancer diagnosis. Screen-detected cancers accounted for a significantly higher proportion of diagnoses in those aged 70 to 74 years compared with older patients (P .001). Screen-detected cancers were of lower T and N stages. Disease-specific survival was significantly longer in screen-detected cancers versus other cancers (5-year survival, 93.7% vs. 81.9%; P .001), as was overall survival (5-year survival, 84.7% vs. 57.4%; P .001).Screening in those aged 70 years and over continues to identify breast cancer at early stages and with improved survival. Although aware of the potential for lead-time bias and the healthy volunteer effect, there should still be consideration to extend breast cancer screening to patients aged to up 74 years after appropriate assessment of comorbidities and functional status.

The Netherlands is characterized by highly variable land use within a small area, and a strong influence of the North Sea on national climate. Devoid of significant topography, it is an excellent location for assessing the relative influence of various factors on fog occurrence in the absence of terrain effects. Using observations from a dense network of weather stations throughout the country, the climatology of fog in the Netherlands is assessed over a period of 45 years. On a national scale, interannual variability is linked to changes in synoptic pressure-gradient forcing. Within the country, a comprehensive in-depth analysis of regional differences between fog occurrence is made, together with an assessment of local physical factors which could bias fog formation in one location over another. Regional variability is shown to be strongly related to the mesoscale influences of urbanization and the North Sea. In fact, some locations experience over twice as much fog as others. From this finding, a simple index is presented, which combines the water and urban fraction surrounding a station. This “Regionally Weighted Index” (RWI) is able to accurately sort the stations according to their relative fogginess. Its practical use is encouraged for assessing a given site's climatological favourability, even when in situ meteorological observations are unavailable.

Herein, the conversion times of biomass pyrolysis are measured at temperatures between 450 and 550 °C and particle size fractions between 0 and 400 μm using a cyclonic thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) device. Beech, spruce, and ash wood are investigated, as well as torrefied samples. The conversion time decreases with the increasing temperature from 7 to less than 1 s. The influence of the type of biomass on the conversion time is limited and only significant for low temperatures, when kinetics dominates the conversion process. A clear influence of the torrefaction process on the pyrolysis conversion time is noted and can be explained by the modified porosity of the biomass particles during the torrefaction process. Kinetic data are extracted from the conversion times, and a model is developed for a better interpretation of the measured results. The model shows good comparison with the experimental data and may also be used for design purposes of fast pyrolysis reactors.

Pain is a symptom of many disorders associated with actual or potential tissue damage in human body. Managing pain is not only a duty but also highly cost prone. The most primitive state of pain management is the assessment of pain. Traditionally it was accomplished by self-report or visual inspection by experts. However, automatic pain assessment systems from facial videos are also rapidly evolving due to the need of managing pain in a robust and cost effective way. Among different challenges of automatic pain assessment from facial video data two issues are increasingly prevalent: first, exploiting both spatial and temporal information of the face to assess pain level, and second, incorporating multiple visual modalities to capture complementary face information related to pain. Most works in the literature focus on merely exploiting spatial information on chromatic (RGB) video data on shallow learning scenarios. However, employing deep learning techniques for spatio-temporal analysis considering Depth (D) and Thermal (T) along with RGB has high potential in this area. In this paper, we present the first state-of-the-art publicly available database, 'Multimodal Intensity Pain (MIntPAIN)' database, for RGBDT pain level recognition in sequences. We provide a first baseline results including 5 pain levels recognition by analyzing independent visual modalities and their fusion with CNN and LSTM models. From the experimental evaluation we observe that fusion of modalities helps to enhance recognition performance of pain levels in comparison to isolated ones. In particular, the combination of RGB, D, and T in an early fusion fashion achieved the best recognition rate.

We present a combined electrochemical, kinetic, and synthetic study with a novel and easily accessible class of titanocene catalysts for catalysis in single-electron steps. The tailoring of the electronic properties of our Cp

In this paper, force and particle-image-velocimetry vorticity measurements of biologically inspired hover kinematics are compared to corresponding results of an unsteady aerodynamic vortex model and a Navier–Stokes (NS) solver. The Reynolds number and the reduced frequency are 4.8×103 and 0.38, respectively. Three kinematics derived from the measured hovering kinematics of an Agrius convolvuli are considered: 1) without elevation angle, 2) elevation angle accounted in the pitch angle, and 3) pure sinusoidal pitch–plunge neglecting higher harmonics. The Navier–Stokes computations show good qualitative agreement with experiments with consistent underprediction. The time-averaged thrust coefficients obtained using Navier–Stokes computations are 82 to 87% of the corresponding force measurements. The standard deviation of time history of thrust coefficients, also normalized by the measured time-averaged values, is 13 to 20%. The underprediction is possibly due to blockage effects in the experiments, also refle...

Although calcium (Ca) precipitation may play a pathogenic role in atherosclerosis, information on temporal patterns of microcalcifications in human coronary arteries, their relation to expression of calcification-regulating proteins, and colocalization with iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) is scarce. Human coronary arteries were analyzed post mortem with a proton microprobe for element concentrations and stained (immuno)histochemically for morphological and calcification-regulating proteins. Microcalcifications were occasionally observed in preatheroma type I atherosclerotic intimal lesions. Their abundance increased in type II, III, and IV lesions. Moreover, their appearance preceded increased expression of calcification-regulating proteins, such as osteocalcin and bone morphogenetic protein-2. In contrast, their presence coincided with increased expression of uncarboxylated matrix Gla protein (MGP), whereas the content of carboxylated MGP was increased in type DI and IV lesions, indicating delayed posttranslational conversion of biologically inactive into active MGP. Ca/phosphorus ratios of the microcalcifications varied from 1.6 to 3.0, including amorphous Ca phosphates. Approximately 75% of microcalcifications colocalized with the accumulation of Fe and Zn. We conclude that Ca microprecipitation occurs in the early stages of atherosclerosis, inferring a pathogenic role in the sequel of events, resulting in overt atherosclerotic lesions. Microcalcifications may be caused by local events triggering the precipitation of Ca rather than by increased expression of calcification-regulating proteins. The high degree of colocalization with Fe and Zn suggests a mutual relationship between these trace elements and early deposition of Ca salts. (Ant J Pathol 2011, 178:2879-2887; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2011.02.004)

Summary Evidence is accumulating that calcium-rich microdeposits in the vascular wall might play a crucial role in the onset and progression of atherosclerosis. Here we investigated an atherosclerotic lesion of the carotid artery in an established murine model, i.e. the apolipoprotein E-deficient (APOE ) ⁄ ) ) mouse to identify (i) the presence of microcalcifications, if any, (ii) the elemental composition of microcalcifications with special reference to calcium ⁄ phosphorus mass ratio and (iii) co-localization of increased concentrations of iron and zinc with microcalcifications. Atherosclerosis was induced by a flow-divider placed around the carotid artery resulting in low and high shear-stress regions. Element composition was assessed with a proton microprobe. Microcalcifications, predominantly present in the thickened intima of the low shear-stress region, were surrounded by areas with normal calcium levels, indicating that calcium-precipitation is a local event. The diameter of intimal microcalcifications varied from 6 to 70 lm. Calcium ⁄ phosphorus ratios of microcalcifications varied from 0.3 to 4.8, mainly corresponding to the ratio of amorphous calciumphosphate. Increased iron and zinc concentrations commonly co-localized with microcalcifications. Our findings indicate that the atherosclerotic process in the murine carotid artery is associated with locally accumulated calcium, iron and zinc. The calcium-rich deposits resemble amorphous calcium phosphate rather than pure hydroxyapatite. We propose that the APOE ) ⁄ ) mouse, in which atherosclerosis was evoked by a flow-divider, offers a useful model to investigate the pathophysiological significance of accumulation of elements such as calcium, iron and zinc.

EnglishThe concept of emerging countries or economies appeared in the 1980s and gained currency when the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) seemed to be moving into a global leadership role. Though the concept remains ill-defined, “emergence” is frequently applied now to countries that show significant economic and social progress. With the rejection of the many economic programmes that are often dictated by development agencies (e.g. structural adjustment programmes), and echoing a resolve on the part of Africans to take their fate into their own hands, there is much talk today of the emergence of Africa and of emergence plans being drawn up in many countries. But the question remains open as to what emergence means, what the main drivers of emergence are and how performance can be evaluated, particularly when it comes to comparing the different trajectories of African countries. The Performances Group consultancy has developed an analysis grid for the process of emergence and produced a model based largely on a typology of the driving factors of emergence (collective ambition, leader- ship and vision, development of the private sector etc.) and economic and social performance indicators (economic growth, shared prosperity etc.). Its chief executive, Victor Ndiaye, and Ruben B. Djogbenou explain that analysis grid here and the way composite indicators have been established that make it possible to evaluate and compare the relative emergence of African countries. They propose an analytical framework for this process and, on the basis of the indicators selected, offer a league-table of countries detailing their performance levels between 2005 and 2015, which will no doubt spark considerable debate. francaisLe concept de pays ou economie emergent(e) est apparu dans les annees 1980 et a acquis sa renommee alors que les BRICS (Bresil, Russie, Inde, Chine et Afrique du Sud) semblaient en voie d’acceder a un leadership mondial. Bien que le concept demeure mal defini, il est desormais frequent de parler d’emergence pour qualifier les pays dont les performances temoignent de progres importants sur le plan economique et social. Tournant le dos aux nombreux programmes souvent dictes par les agences de developpement, tels les programmes d’ajustement structurel, et voulant ainsi temoigner de la volonte des Africains de prendre en main leur destin, on parle aujourd’hui de l’emergence de l’Afrique et des plans d’emergence mis en place dans nombre de pays. Mais la question reste entiere de savoir ce que recouvre cette notion, quels sont les principaux ressorts de l’emergence et comment les performances peuvent etre appreciees, notamment pour pouvoir comparer les trajectoires differentes des pays africains. Le cabinet Performances Group a mis au point une grille d’analyse du processus d’emergence et elabore un modele reposant principalement sur une typologie des facteurs moteurs de l’emergence (ambition collective, leadership et vision, developpement du secteur prive…) et des indicateurs en termes de performances economiques et sociales (croissance economique, prosperite partagee…). Son directeur general, Victor Ndiaye, et Ruben Djogbenou exposent ici cette grille d’analyse et la facon dont ont ete etablis des indicateurs synthetiques qui permettent d’evaluer et comparer l’emergence relative des pays africains. Ils proposent un cadre d’analyse pour ce processus et, sur la base des indicateurs retenus, presentent un classement des pays, ainsi que l’evolution de leurs performances entre 2005 et 2015, qui sans nul doute donnera lieu a bien des debats.

Printed broadsheet maps informing the public about current events were common during the early modern period. Information on the genesis of these maps is scarce, however. This article hopes to thro...

BackgroundVascular calcification is associated with poor cardiovascular outcome. Histochemical analysis of calcification and the expression of proteins involved in mineralization are usually based on whole section analysis, thereby often ignoring regional differences in atherosclerotic lesions. At present, limited information is available about factors involved in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis.Aim of This StudyThis study investigates the intra-section association of micro-calcifications with markers for atherosclerosis in randomly chosen section areas of human coronary arteries. Moreover, the possible causal relationship between calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells and inflammation was explored in vitro.Technical ApproachTo gain insights into the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, we performed analysis of the distribution of micro-calcifications using a 3-MeV proton microbeam. Additionally, we performed systematic analyses of 30 to 40 regions of 12 coronary sections obtained from 6 patients including histology and immuno-histochemistry. Section areas were classified according to CD68 positivity. In vitro experiments using human vascular smooth muscle cells (hVSMCs) were performed to evaluate causal relationships between calcification and inflammation.ResultsFrom each section multiple areas were randomly chosen and subsequently analyzed. Depositions of calcium crystals at the micrometer scale were already observed in areas with early pre-atheroma type I lesions. Micro-calcifications were initiated at the elastica interna concomitantly with upregulation of the uncarboxylated form of matrix Gla-protein (ucMGP). Both the amount of calcium crystals and ucMGP staining increased from type I to IV atherosclerotic lesions. Osteochondrogenic markers BMP-2 and osteocalcin were only significantly increased in type IV atheroma lesions, and at this stage correlated with the degree of calcification. From atheroma area type III onwards a considerable number of CD68 positive cells were observed in combination with calcification, suggesting a pro-inflammatory effect of micro-calcifications. In vitro, invasion assays revealed chemoattractant properties of cell-culture medium of calcifying vascular smooth muscle cells towards THP-1 cells, which implies pro-inflammatory effect of calcium deposits. Additionally, calcifying hVSMCs revealed a pro-inflammatory profile as compared to non-calcifying hVSMCs.ConclusionOur data indicate that calcification of VSMCs is one of the earliest events in the genesis of atherosclerosis, which strongly correlates with ucMGP staining. Our findings suggest that loss of calcification inhibitors and/or failure of inhibitory capacity is causative for the early precipitation of calcium, with concomitant increased inflammation followed by osteochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs.

Human coronary arteries in both early and advanced stages of atherosclerosis were studied for understanding the nature of Ca deposits in terms of their Ca/P mass ratio with the use of Eindhoven nuclear microprobe. The ratios observed differed appreciably from that of hydroxyapatite (2.15), which is commonly referred to as the Ca component in arteries affected by atherosclerosis. Very small granular calcified structures were found in an early stage. Broadly, two types of calcified structures were observed: the Ca/P ratio corresponding to the advanced stage (3.18) was found higher compared to those for the early stage (1.46–1.77). It has been argued that besides phosphates, the large Ca/P ratio corresponding to intense calcification may be due to a Ca deposit with a different anion (oxalate, hydroxide or even carbonate), while, the lower ratios may be due to an additional inorganic phosphate. The distribution of S/P ratios was used to account for enhanced deposition of lipid materials in the affected area at the expense of proteins.

A method is presented to correlate spatially trace elements with morphological features of atherosclerotic plaques by combining microprobe techniques and histological staining. Patterns from scanning transmission ion microscopy and morphology obtained from optical microscopy could be brought in fair to good agreement. It was possible to obtain element concentrations belonging to specific morphological features as indicated by optical microscopy.

Nonuniform seismic motion affects the seismic behavior of long-span bridges. Three main reasons for this nonuniformity have been identified. They are local soil conditions, wave passage, and incoherency effects. Other effects, such as extended source and attenuation, are relatively small. The importance of nonuniform seismic motions, especially for sensitive and important structures, has led to the development of several methods of analysis. These methods can be subdivided into two general categories, deterministic and stochastic. Because of the inherent uncertainty of the nonuniform seismic motions, deterministic methods, mainly time integration methods, can be computationally inefficient. Stochastic methods have been based mainly on modal analysis methods. The input/output are described in terms of either power spectral density or response spectra. This paper presents a direct frequency-domain method that is based on formulating the whole soil-structure problem. The use of this direct frequency-domain m...

The important recent progress in three-dimensional boundary-layer transition research is reviewed with emphasis on the crossflow instability that leads to transition on swept wings with a favorable pressure gradient. Following a brief overview of swept-wing instability mechanisms and the crossflow problem, a summary of the important findings of the 1990s is given. The discussion is presented from the experimental viewpoint, and where appropriate, relevant comparisons with CFD are drawn. The recent research conducted with distributed roughness is described in more detail in order to underscore the latest developments concerning nonlinear effects and transition control. Sommario. I recenti importanti sviluppi sullo studio della tansizione in uno strato limite tridimensionale sono esaminati con particolare attenzione alla instabilita trasversale che conduce alla transizione su ali a freccia con gradiente di pressione favorevole. Dopo una breve descrizione dei meccanismi di instabilita sulle ali a freccia viene dato un riassunto degli importanti progressi ottenuti negli anni '90. La discussione e presentata dal punto di vista sperimentale e, ove appropriato, sono riportati confronti con la simulazione numerica. La recente ricerca, condotta con rugosita distribuita,e descritta con maggiore dettaglio allo scopo di presentare gli ultimi sviluppi concernenti gli effetti non lineari ed il controllo della transizione.

International audience; The outcome of an infection is determined by a delicate balance between pathogen virulence and the ability of host to mount immune response. In this context, approaches that enable the study of mechanisms carried out by pathogens in vivo represent fundamental tools for a comprehensive view of infectious processes.