Clay-based hybrid nanoplatforms preparation, characterization and evaluation of properties for controlled release of bioactive species

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Geología y Geoquímica . Fecha de lectura: 14-02-2020Esta tesis tiene embargado el acceso al texto completo hasta el 14-08-202

Towards the development of a resource allocation model for primary, continuing and community care in the health services - Volume 1

This report proposes a resource allocation model for the Irish health services based on the principle that each Irish resident should be provided with access to health services funded from general taxation and in proportion to their need for those services. At the moment, such a system cannot be deployed as some necessary financial information is not available. The information could be made available, and should be done as quickly as possible. If this information were made available, the model proposed here, while very crude, would serve as a good starting point for resource allocation and should be initiated as soon as possible. Any reasonable system of resource allocation would be an improvement on the system that is currently in place

Advances in Laser Materials Processing

Laser processing has become more relevant today due to its fast adaptation to the most critical technological tasks, its ability to provide processing in the most rarefied and aggressive mediums (vacuum conditions), its wide field of potential applications, and the green aspects related to the absence of industrial cutting chips and dust. With the development of 3D production, laser processing has received renewed interest associated with its ability to achieve pointed to high-precision powder melting or sintering. New technologies and equipment, which improve and modify optical laser parameters, contribute to better absorption of laser energy by metals or powder surfaces and allow for multiplying laser power that can positively influence the industrial spread of the laser in mass production and advance the existing manufacturing methods. The latest achievements in laser processing have become a relevant topic in the most authoritative scientific journals and conferences in the last half-century. Advances in laser processing have received multiple awards in the most prestigious competitions and exhibitions worldwide and at international scientific events. The Special Issue is devoted to the most recent achievements in the laser processing of various materials, such as cast irons, tool steels, high entropy alloys, hard-to-remelt materials, cement mortars, and post-processing and innovative manufacturing based on a laser

The effects of human land use on the winter habitat of the recovering Carcross woodland caribou herd in suburban Yukon Territory, Canada

Carcross woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) numbers are increasing as a result of an intensive management and recovery program initiated in 1993. In the last 13 years, three overlapping First Nation land claim agreements were settled resulting in a complicated array of private and public land management authorities on this winter range, situated in the Whitehorse periphery. Twelve years of VHF radio-collar data (1994-2005) and 5 years of GPS radio-collar data (2000-2005) for female caribou were assessed to determine winter concentration areas and important winter habitats. We contrasted locations from 11 GPS radio-collared caribou with land cover classes, derived from classified Landsat 7 imagery, to evaluate the distribution and abundance of preferred habitats within this winter range. We found significant use of Open Needle Leaf lichen vegetation classes and avoidance of the relatively more abundant Closed Needle Leaf class. Our resource selection function model validated the preference for Open Needle Leaf Lichen and determined that caribou were spaced significantly further from an estimate of the human Zone of Influence (ZOI) than was expected from random locations. While our assessment determined that 64% of the winter range was located outside of either private lands or land influenced by human activity, key winter vegetation classes were under-represented within this area. If caribou are to successfully recover on this landscape and persist through time it is essential to manage, through meaningful participation among land management authorities, the remaining caribou habitat for environmental rather than human consumptive values

Power Quality Improvement of Distributed Generation Integrated Network with Unified Power Quality Conditioner.

With the increased penetration of small scale renewable energy sources in the electrical distribution network, maintenance or improvement of power quality has become more critical than ever where the level of voltage and current harmonics or disturbances can vary widely. For this reason, Custom Power Devices (CPDs) such as the Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) can be the most appropriate solution for enhancing the dynamic performance of the distribution network, where accurate prior knowledge may not be available. Therefore, the main objective of the present research is to investigate the (i) placement (ii) integration (iii) capacity enhancement and (iv) real time control of the Unified Power Quality Conditioner (UPQC) to improve the power quality (PQ) of a distributed generation (DG) network connected to the grid or microgrid

Learning in the Real World: Constraints on Cost, Space, and Privacy

The sheer demand for machine learning in fields as varied as: healthcare, web-search ranking, factory automation, collision prediction, spam filtering, and many others, frequently outpaces the intended use-case of machine learning models. In fact, a growing number of companies hire machine learning researchers to rectify this very problem: to tailor and/or design new state-of-the-art models to the setting at hand. However, we can generalize a large set of the machine learning problems encountered in practical settings into three categories: cost, space, and privacy. The first category (cost) considers problems that need to balance the accuracy of a machine learning model with the cost required to evaluate it. These include problems in web-search, where results need to be delivered to a user in under a second and be as accurate as possible. The second category (space) collects problems that require running machine learning algorithms on low-memory computing devices. For instance, in search-and-rescue operations we may opt to use many small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with machine learning algorithms for object detection to find a desired search target. These algorithms should be small to fit within the physical memory limits of the UAV (and be energy efficient) while reliably detecting objects. The third category (privacy) considers problems where one wishes to run machine learning algorithms on sensitive data. It has been shown that seemingly innocuous analyses on such data can be exploited to reveal data individuals would prefer to keep private. Thus, nearly any algorithm that runs on patient or economic data falls under this set of problems. We devise solutions for each of these problem categories including (i) a fast tree-based model for explicitly trading off accuracy and model evaluation time, (ii) a compression method for the k-nearest neighbor classifier, and (iii) a private causal inference algorithm that protects sensitive data

Contribution of Lsh to DNA methylation reprogramming in embryonic stem cell, epiblast stem cell and embryoid body model systems

DNA methylation is a key epigenetic mark which undergoes global reprogramming during early mammalian embryonic development, resulting in almost complete erasure of the mark after fertilisation of the zygote. Genome-wide patterns of DNA methylation are subsequently re-established in the implanting blastocyst by de novo DNA methyltransferases Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b along with their catalytically inactive co-factor Dnmt3l, while these DNA methylation patterns are maintained through cell divisions by maintenance methyltransferase Dnmt1. The exact mechanisms by which these DNA methyltransferase enzymes are targeted to specific genomic regions remain unclear, but may involve interaction with modified histones and/or the participation of co-factors. Lsh (lymphoid specific helicase), a putative chromatin remodelling helicase, has been implicated in facilitating de novo methylation, as Lsh knockout embryos and derived somatic cell lines display substantial but specific DNA methylation losses at repetitive elements and single copy genes. This study aims to define the requirement for Lsh in establishing de novo DNA methylation and gene expression patterns during the early stages of mouse embryonic development. The ‘2i’ culture system using two small molecule kinase inhibitors was harnessed to convert lsh-/- mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to a hypomethylated ‘ground state’ of pluripotency. Culture conditions were then altered to transition these ground state mESCs to cells representing later, more methylated stages of development (‘serum’ mESCs, epiblast stem cells and embryoid bodies). Implementation of this model system suggests that Lsh does not contribute to DNA methylation establishment in a pluripotent context, but rather is important for facilitating de novo DNA methylation during differentiation to culture models representing later developmental stages. These investigations also reveal that Lsh differentially regulates DNA methylation at major and minor satellite repeats depending on cellular context, and that this regulation may involve a role for Lsh in maintenance of DNA methylation

Bulletin of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society, Vol. 49, No. 2

In Memoriam: Peter F. Thorbahn (Brona G. Simon) Where are the Woodland Villages? Preface (Jordan E. Kerber) Where are the Late Woodland Villages in Southern New England? (Peter F. Thorbahn) Where are the Late Woodland Villages in Eastern New England? (Barbara E. Luedtke) Where are the Woodland Villages in the Narragansett Bay Region? (Jordan E. Kerber) Where are the Woodland Villages on Cape Cod and the Islands? (Elizabeth A. Little) Radiocarbon Age Report

Chloroplast genome sequencing analysis of Heterosigma akashiwo CCMP452 (West Atlantic) and NIES293 (West Pacific) strains

Background: Heterokont algae form a monophyletic group within the stramenopile branch of the tree of life. These organisms display wide morphological diversity, ranging from minute unicells to massive, bladed forms. Surprisingly, chloroplast genome sequences are available only for diatoms, representing two (Coscinodiscophyceae and Bacillariophyceae) of approximately 18 classes of algae that comprise this taxonomic cluster. A universal challenge to chloroplast genome sequencing studies is the retrieval of highly purified DNA in quantities sufficient for analytical processing. To circumvent this problem, we have developed a simplified method for sequencing chloroplast genomes, using fosmids selected from a total cellular DNA library. The technique has been used to sequence chloroplast DNA of two Heterosigma akashiwo strains. This raphidophyte has served as a model system for studies of stramenopile chloroplast biogenesis and evolution. Results: H. akashiwo strain CCMP452 (West Atlantic) chloroplast DNA is 160,149 bp in size with a 21,822-bp inverted repeat, whereas NIES293 (West Pacific) chloroplast DNA is 159,370 bp in size and has an inverted repeat of 21,665 bp. The fosmid cloning technique reveals that both strains contain an isomeric chloroplast DNA population resulting from an inversion of their single copy domains. Both strains contain multiple small inverted and tandem repeats, non-randomly distributed within the genomes. Although both CCMP452 and NIES293 chloroplast DNAs contains 197 genes, multiple nucleotide polymorphisms are present in both coding and intergenic regions. Several protein-coding genes contain large, in-frame inserts relative to orthologous genes in other plastids. These inserts are maintained in mRNA products. Two genes of interest in H. akashiwo, not previously reported in any chloroplast genome, include tyrC, a tyrosine recombinase, which we hypothesize may be a result of a lateral gene transfer event, and an unidentified 456 amino acid protein, which we hypothesize serves as a G-protein-coupled receptor. The H. akashiwo chloroplast genomes share little synteny with other algal chloroplast genomes sequenced to date. Conclusion: The fosmid cloning technique eliminates chloroplast isolation, does not require chloroplast DNA purification, and reduces sequencing processing time. Application of this method has provided new insights into chloroplast genome architecture, gene content and evolution within the stramenopile cluster