Initial foot contact patterns during steady state shod running

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Time-dependent Hamiltonian estimation for Doppler velocimetry of trapped ions

The time evolution of a closed quantum system is connected to its Hamiltonian through Schroedinger's equation. The ability to estimate the Hamiltonian is critical to our understanding of quantum systems, and allows optimization of control. Though spectroscopic methods allow time-independent Hamiltonians to be recovered, for time-dependent Hamiltonians this task is more challenging. Here, using a single trapped ion, we experimentally demonstrate a method for estimating a time-dependent Hamiltonian of a single qubit. The method involves measuring the time evolution of the qubit in a fixed basis as a function of a time-independent offset term added to the Hamiltonian. In our system the initially unknown Hamiltonian arises from transporting an ion through a static, near-resonant laser beam. Hamiltonian estimation allows us to estimate the spatial dependence of the laser beam intensity and the ion's velocity as a function of time. This work is of direct value in optimizing transport operations and transport-based gates in scalable trapped ion quantum information processing, while the estimation technique is general enough that it can be applied to other quantum systems, aiding the pursuit of high operational fidelities in quantum control.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Switching from a protease inhibitor-based regimen to a dolutegravir-based regimen : a randomized clinical trial to determine the effect on peripheral blood and ileum biopsies from antiretroviral therapy-suppressed human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals

Background: Optimization of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) can impact the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reservoir. We evaluated the effect on the HIV reservoir in peripheral blood and ileum biopsies in patients switching from boosted protease inhibitor (PI/r)-based therapy to dolutegravir (DTG)-based therapy. Methods: Impact of Integrase-inhibitor DOlutegravir On the viral Reservoir (INDOOR) is a phase 4 open-label clinical trial that randomly included 42 HIV type 1-infected individuals on effective cART: 20 who switched from PI/r-based to DTG-based cART (switch group), and 22 who remained in PI/r-based regimens (control group). We analyzed blood and ileum biopsies to quantify episomal, total, and integrated HIV DNA, cell-associated HIV RNA, residual plasma viremia, T-cell subsets, cell activation, and inflammation markers. Results: There were no related adverse events or treatment discontinuations due to drug intolerance. The HIV reservoir was consistently larger in ileal than in peripheral CD4(+) T cells in both groups (P <.01). Residual viremia in plasma decreased in the switch group (P =.03). However, we did not observe significant longitudinal changes in low-level viral replication, total and integrated HIV reservoir, HIV transcription, T-cell maturation subsets, immunoactivation markers, inflammatory soluble proteins, or cellular markers of latently infected cells. Conclusions: The INDOOR study is the first evaluation of changes in HIV reservoir size in ileum biopsies and in peripheral blood in individuals switched from PI/r- to DTG-based cART. Although this switch was safe and well tolerated, it had no impact on a large array of immunological and inflammatory markers or on HIV reservoir markers in peripheral or in ileal CD4(+) T cells

Cytokinin response factor 6 represses cytokinin-associated genes during oxidative stress

Cytokinin is a phytohormone that is well known for its roles in numerous plant growth and developmental processes, yet it has also been linked to abiotic stress response in a less defined manner. Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) Cytokinin Response Factor 6 (CRF6) is a cytokinin-responsive AP2/ERF-family transcription factor that, through the cytokinin signaling pathway, plays a key role in the inhibition of dark-induced senescence. CRF6 expression is also induced by oxidative stress, and here we show a novel function for CRF6 in relation to oxidative stress and identify downstream transcriptional targets of CRF6 that are repressed in response to oxidative stress. Analysis of transcriptomic changes in wild-type and crf6 mutant plants treated with H2O2 identified CRF6-dependent differentially expressed transcripts, many of which were repressed rather than induced. Moreover, many repressed genes also show decreased expression in 35S:CRF6 overexpressing plants. Together, these findings suggest that CRF6 functions largely as a transcriptional repressor. Interestingly, among the H2O2 repressed CRF6-dependent transcripts was a set of five genes associated with cytokinin processes: (signaling) ARR6, ARR9, ARR11, (biosynthesis) LOG7, and (transport) ABCG14. We have examined mutants of these cytokinin-associated target genes to reveal novel connections to oxidative stress. Further examination of CRF6-DNA interactions indicated that CRF6 may regulate its targets both directly and indirectly. Together, this shows that CRF6 functions during oxidative stress as a negative regulator to control this cytokinin-associated module of CRF6-dependent genes and establishes a novel connection between cytokinin and oxidative stress response

Gut microbiota, metabolism and psychopathology:A critical review and novel perspectives

Psychiatric disorders are often associated with metabolic comorbidities. However, the mechanisms through which metabolic and psychiatric disorders are connected remain unclear. Pre-clinical studies in rodents indicate that the bidirectional signaling between the intestine and the brain, the so-called microbiome-gut-brain axis, plays an important role in the regulation of both metabolism and behavior. The gut microbiome produces a vast number of metabolites that may be transported into the host and play a part in homeostatic control of metabolism as well as brain function. In addition to short chain fatty acids, many of these metabolites have been identified in recent years. To what extent both microbiota and their products control human metabolism and behavior is a subject of intense investigation. In this review, we will discuss the most recent findings concerning alterations in the gut microbiota as a possible pathophysiological factor for the co-occurrence of metabolic comorbidities in psychiatric disorders

Experiences in the development of electronic care plans for the management of comorbidities

Recent studies have shown that care plans with comprehen- sive home interventions can be effective in the management of chronic patients. Evidence also exists about the importance of tailoring these care plans to patients, by integrating comorbidities. In this context, the de- velopment, implementation, outcome analysis, and reengineering of care plans adapted to particular patient groups earn relevance. We are con- cerned with the development and reengineering of electronic care plans dealing with comorbidities. Our hypothesis is that a library of reusable care plan components can facilitate these tasks. To confirm this hypoth- esis we have carried out an experiment consisting in developing a library of care plan components for the management of patients with COPD3 or CHF4, and next building a care plan for stable COPD&CHF patients by (re)using these components. In this paper we report on this experimen

Anti-HIV-1 activity of benzothiadiazine dioxide

Antiviral assays carried out on the potent benzothiadiazine dioxide (BTD) human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) inhibitors have led us to find marginal but selective anti-HIV-1 activity. Specific pharmacological studies, such as time of addition experiments and assays on specific viral strains with mutations on its reverse transcriptase, have indicated that BTD compounds act as nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Theoretical calculations showed a butterfly conformation for the active derivatives that are compatible with their mechanism of action. Therefore, BTD derivatives can be considered as potential lead compounds for the treatment of opportunistic HCMV infections in immunocompromised individuals such as AIDS patients.Peer Reviewe

The SASSCAL contribution to climate observation, climate data management and data rescue in Southern Africa

A major task of the newly established "Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management" (SASSCAL; www.sasscal.org) and its partners is to provide science-based environmental information and knowledge which includes the provision of consistent and reliable climate data for Southern Africa. Hence, SASSCAL, in close cooperation with the national weather authorities of Angola, Botswana, Germany and Zambia as well as partner institutions in Namibia and South Africa, supports the extension of the regional meteorological observation network and the improvement of the climate archives at national level. With the ongoing rehabilitation of existing weather stations and the new installation of fully automated weather stations (AWS), altogether 105 AWS currently provide a set of climate variables at 15, 30 and 60 min intervals respectively. These records are made available through the SASSCAL WeatherNet, an online platform providing near-real time data as well as various statistics and graphics, all in open access. This effort is complemented by the harmonization and improvement of climate data management concepts at the national weather authorities, capacity building activities and an extension of the data bases with historical climate data which are still available from different sources. These activities are performed through cooperation between regional and German institutions and will provide important information for climate service related activities

An archetype-based solution for the interoperability of computerised guidelines and electronic health records

Clinical guidelines contain recommendations based on the best empirical evidence available at the moment. There is a wide con- sensus about the benefits of guidelines and about the fact that they should be deployed through clinical information systems, making them available during consultation time. However, one of the main obstacles to this integration is still the interaction with the electronic health record. In this paper we present an archetype-based approach to solve the inter- operability problems of guideline systems, as well as to enable guideline sharing. We also describe the knowledge requirements for the develop- ment of archetype-enabled guideline systems, and then focus on the de- velopment of appropriate guideline archetypes and on the connection of these archetypes to the target electronic health record