Nazwy komitetów wyborczych – aspekty strukturalne i aksjologiczne

The subject of this paper will be a semantic and structural analysis of the names of electoral committees, and a reference to the axiological systems that are indirectly reflected by them. The names of electoral committees are obligatory elements of electoral activities, as well as being an interesting element of political marketing

Habitat expansion of a tropical chironomid by seasonal alternation in use of littoral and profundal zones

The consistent warming of tropical lakes at all depths causes rapid development and long persistence of seasonal anoxia in the hypolimnion, which greatly reduces the biodiversity of hypolimnetic benthic invertebrates. Full mixing of the water column in a typically annual cool-season creates a benthic habitat suitable for invertebrates but offers little time for colonization before the return of anoxia. In Lake Alchichica, Mexico, the endemic midge Chironomus alchichica has evolved a life cycle consisting of reproduction in waters of the littoral zone, which is suboptimal for development, followed by colonization of the hypolimnetic benthic zone during its oxic phase. As shown by the sampling of both littoral and benthic habitats over an annual cycle, the development of Ch. alchichica in the profundal zone is favoured by minimal competition (only one other invertebrate species present) and no significant predation. The rapid maturation of the midge leads to a high density of pupation before the seasonal anoxia

Controller-observer design and dynamic parameter identification for model-based control of an electromechanical lower-limb rehabilitation system

[EN] Rehabilitation is a hazardous task for a mechanical system, since the device has to interact with the human extremities without the hands-on experience the physiotherapist acquires over time. A gap needs to be filled in terms of designing effective controllers for this type of devices. In this respect, the paper describes the design of a model-based control for an electromechanical lower-limb rehabilitation system based on a parallel kinematic mechanism. A controller-observer was designed for estimating joint velocities, which are then used in a hybrid position/force control scheme. The model parameters are identified by customising an approach based on identifying only the relevant system dynamics parameters. Findings obtained through simulations show evidence of improvement in tracking performance compared with those where the velocity was estimated by numerical differentiation. The controller is also implemented in an actual electromechanical system for lower-limb rehabilitation tasks. Findings based on rehabilitation tasks confirm the findings from simulations.This work was partially financed by the Plan Nacional de I+D, Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia (FEDERCICYT) under the project DPI2013-44227-R and by the Instituto U. de Automatica e Informatica Industrial (ai2) of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.Valera Fernández, Á.; Díaz-Rodríguez, M.; Vallés Miquel, M.; Oliver, E.; Mata Amela, V.; Page Del Pozo, AF. (2017). Controller-observer design and dynamic parameter identification for model-based control of an electromechanical lower-limb rehabilitation system. International Journal of Control. 90(4):702-714. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207179.2016.1215529S702714904Åström, K. J., & Murray, R. M. (2010). Feedback Systems. doi:10.2307/j.ctvcm4gdkAtkeson, C. G., An, C. H., & Hollerbach, J. M. (1986). 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A revised Durbin-Wu-Hausman test for industrial robot identification. Control Engineering Practice, 48, 52-62. doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2015.12.017Jiménez-Fabián, R., & Verlinden, O. (2012). Review of control algorithms for robotic ankle systems in lower-limb orthoses, prostheses, and exoskeletons. Medical Engineering & Physics, 34(4), 397-408. doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.11.018Khalil, W., Vijayalingam, A., Khomutenko, B., Mukhanov, I., Lemoine, P., & Ecorchard, G. (2014). OpenSYMORO: An open-source software package for symbolic modelling of robots. 2014 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics. doi:10.1109/aim.2014.6878246Marchal-Crespo, L., & Reinkensmeyer, D. J. (2009). Review of control strategies for robotic movement training after neurologic injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 6(1). doi:10.1186/1743-0003-6-20Meng, W., Liu, Q., Zhou, Z., Ai, Q., Sheng, B., & Xie, S. (Shane). (2015). 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Anti-Food allergic activity of sulfated polysaccharide from Gracilaria lemaneiformisis dependent in immunosuppression and inhibition of p38 MAPK

Polysaccharides from Gracilaria lemaneiformis in particular possess various bioactive functions, but their antiallergic activity remains incompletely defined. Sulfated polysaccharide from Gracilaria lemaneiformis (GLSP) was obtained by water extraction and ethanol precipitation followed by column chromatography. BALB/c mice, RBL-2H3, and KU812 cells were used for verifying the anti food allergic activity of GLSP. According to the results of mice experiment, GLSP was able to alleviate allergy symptoms, to reduce TM-specific IgE and IgG1, to suppress Th2 cell polarization, and to promote the function of regulatory T (Treg) cells. In addition, GLSP had the ability to inhibit the function of RBL-2H3 cells. Furthermore, GLSP inhibited the activation of KU812 via suppression of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). In conclusion, immunosuppression as well as the reduction in the level of p38 MAPK may contribute to GLSP’s putative activity against food allergy. GLSP may be used as a functional food component for allergic patients

Gene expression profiling of Trypanosoma cruzi in the presence of heme points to glycosomal metabolic adaptation of epimastigotes inside the vector

Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, and is transmitted by triatomine insects during its blood meal. Proliferative epimastigotes forms thrive inside the insects in the presence of heme (iron protoporphyrin IX), an abundant product of blood digestion, however little is known about the metabolic outcome of this signaling molecule in the parasite. Trypanosomatids exhibit unusual gene transcription employing a polycistronic transcription mechanism through trans-splicing that regulates its life cycle. Using the Deep Seq transcriptome sequencing we characterized the heme induced transcriptome of epimastigotes and determined that most of the upregulated genes were related to glucose metabolism inside the glycosomes. These results were supported by the upregulation of glycosomal isoforms of PEPCK and fumarate reductase of heme-treated parasites, implying that the fermentation process was favored. Moreover, the downregulation of mitochondrial gene enzymes in the presence of heme also supported the hypothesis that heme shifts the parasite glycosomal glucose metabolism towards aerobic fermentation. These results are examples of the environmental metabolic plasticity inside the vector supporting ATP production, promoting epimastigotes proliferation and survival

Multi-technical approach for the characterization of polychrome decorative surfaces at Spanish Mission Churches in Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico)

An interdisciplinary and multi-institutional group of science and art conservation specialists has provided new insight into the painting materials used in the polychrome walls and wooden ceilings in four seventeenth century Spanish colonial churches of Nueva Vizcaya (Chihuahua, Mexico). A multi-analytical study of the decorative surfaces was performed in situ using spectroscopic approaches (XRF, FORS), False Colour Infrared Reflectography–IRFC, as well as micro sampling (ATR-FTIR, LM, GC/MS). A survey of natural resources and study (ATR-FTIR, LM) was carried out to elucidate the natural occurrence of a select number of materials in the surrounding areas of the churches. The present paper presents a multi-analytical study and characterization of green, red-orange and black colour pigments and binders selected from the decorative surfaces. The aim of this study is to highlight relationships between local materials and those from the original polychrome ceilings, in order to understand the material and technological influences that converged in the Spanish colonial architecture of northern Mexico

Observations of aerosols over Southern California coastal waters

To characterize the background aerosol in air off the California coast, observations of suspended particles were made in the summer and fall of 1970 on San Nicolas Island (SNI), located about 130 km west-south-west of Los Angeles. Measurements of the physical and chemical properties of aerosols showed that the particles are a complex mixture of material from marine and continental origins. The Aitken nuclei population averaged 2400 cm−3, while the particles >0.5 μm diameter averaged 20–100 cm−3. The average total mass concentration of aerosol evaluated from 22 samples was 29.8 μg m−3, but the refined fraction defined as particles ~< 3.5 μm diameter was 40% of this level. The averages of the chemical analysis of 13 samples revealed that 11% of the aerosol sampled at a 200 m height above the ocean was sea salt, while approximately 20% evidently was soil dust, as indicated by silicates. Over 25% of the suspended material was found to be sulfate, nitrate or ammonium, which are constituents believed to be produced primarily from gaseous transformation reactions in the atmosphere. More than 20% of the sampled material was volatile in nature and is believed to be partly water. The ratio for the average chlorine to sodium concentrations from the analysis of 13 different samples was 2.4 compared with 1.8 for sea water. This high ratio supports other limited results for unpolluted air from offshore sources taken in this geographical region. The anomaly is believed to be linked with chemical reactions transforming gaseous chlorine compounds into condensed material. Comparison was made between the aerosol sampled on San Nicolas Island and the “natural” background contribution of the Los Angeles smog aerosol, as estimated elsewhere assuming contributions solely from sea salt and soil dust. The calculated background and the composition of the SNI aerosol were qualitatively similar, with the principal differences showing in Ca, Zn, SO4− and NO3−. Further comparison with aerosol analyzed from Pasadena illustrated the major contribution of localized pollution to the chemical properties of the particles, particularly in the concentrations of Mu, Ca, Br, Fe, Pb, SO4− and NO3−