179 research outputs found
Peer victimization in Dutch school classes of four- to five-year-olds: Contributing factors at the school level
This research was designed to examine how factors within young children's environment (e.g., school factors, neighborhood) contribute to explaining peer victimization. The sample comprised 2,003 children (between 4 and 5 years of age) from 98 classrooms in 23 elementary schools in the Netherlands. Teachers were asked to complete a questionnaire on exposure to victimization for each child. Multilevel analyses revealed that gender and social climate of the school were directly related to victimization. Furthermore, results indicated that peer victimization in boys was less prevalent when they attended smaller schools. In low-SES neighborhoods victimization scores were significantly lower when schools had implemented clear antibullying policies. Finally, variation among school classes appeared to be strongly associated with victimization, even more so than variation among schools. These findings support broadening the focus beyond the individual child at risk. © 2009 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved
Seismic site effects in a deep alluvial basin: numerical analysis by the boundary element method
The main purpose of the paper is the numerical analysis of seismic site
effects in Caracas (Venezuela). The analysis is performed considering the
boundary element method in the frequency domain. A numerical model including a
part of the local topography is considered, it involves a deep alluvial deposit
on an elastic bedrock. The amplification of seismic motion (SH-waves, weak
motion) is analyzed in terms of level, occurring frequency and location. In
this specific site of Caracas, the amplification factor is found to reach a
maximum value of 25. Site effects occur in the thickest part of the basin for
low frequencies (below 1.0 Hz) and in two intermediate thinner areas for
frequencies above 1.0 Hz. The influence of both incidence and shear wave
velocities is also investigated. A comparison with microtremor recordings is
presented afterwards. The results of both numerical and experimental approaches
are in good agreement in terms of fundamental frequencies in the deepest part
of the basin. The boundary element method appears to be a reliable and
efficient approach for the analysis of seismic site effects
NIR-Light-Driven Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species Using Ru(II)-Decorated Lipid-Encapsulated Upconverting Nanoparticles
Large N expansion of the 2-matrix model
We present a method, based on loop equations, to compute recursively all the
terms in the large topological expansion of the free energy for the
2-hermitian matrix model. We illustrate the method by computing the first
subleading term, i.e. the free energy of a statistical physics model on a
discretized torus.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures eps
Natural Transmission of Zoonotic Babesia spp. by Ixodes ricinus Ticks
To determine characteristics of natural transmission of Babesia sp. EU1 and B. divergens by adult Ixodes ricinus ticks, we examined tick salivary gland contents. We found that I. ricinus is a competent vector for EU1 and that their sporozoites directly invade erythrocytes. We conclude that EU1 is naturally transmitted by I. ricinus
The Structure and Dynamics of the Upper Chromosphere and Lower Transition Region as Revealed by the Subarcsecond VAULT Observations
The Very high Angular resolution ULtraviolet Telescope (VAULT) is a sounding
rocket payload built to study the crucial interface between the solar
chromosphere and the corona by observing the strongest line in the solar
spectrum, the Ly-a line at 1216 {\AA}. In two flights, VAULT succeeded in
obtaining the first ever sub-arcsecond (0.5") images of this region with high
sensitivity and cadence. Detailed analyses of those observations have
contributed significantly to new ideas about the nature of the transition
region. Here, we present a broad overview of the Ly-a atmosphere as revealed by
the VAULT observations, and bring together past results and new analyses from
the second VAULT flight to create a synthesis of our current knowledge of the
high-resolution Ly-a Sun. We hope that this work will serve as a good reference
for the design of upcoming Ly-a telescopes and observing plans.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure
Intracellular Dynamic Assembly of Deep-Red Emitting Supramolecular Nanostructures Based on the PtâŠPt Metallophilic Interaction
Shorter alkyl chains enhance molecular diffusion and electron transfer kinetics between photosensitisers and catalysts in CO2-reducing photocatalytic liposomes
Covalent functionalisation with alkyl tails is a common method for supporting molecular catalysts and photosensitisers onto lipid bilayers, but the influence of the alkyl chain length on the photocatalytic performances of the resulting liposomes is not well understood. In this work, we first prepared a series of rhenium-based CO2-reduction catalysts [Re(4,4'-(CnH2n+1)(2)-bpy)(CO)(3)Cl] (ReCn; 4,4'-(CnH2n+1)(2)-bpy=4,4'-dialkyl-2,2'-bipyridine) and ruthenium-based photosensitisers [Ru(bpy)(2)(4,4'-(CnH2n+1)(2)-bpy)](PF6)(2) (RuCn) with different alkyl chain lengths (n=0, 9, 12, 15, 17, and 19). We then prepared a series of PEGylated DPPC liposomes containing RuCn and ReCn, hereafter noted C-n, to perform photocatalytic CO2 reduction in the presence of sodium ascorbate. The photocatalytic performance of the C-n liposomes was found to depend on the alkyl tail length, as the turnover number for CO (TON) was inversely correlated to the alkyl chain length, with a more than fivefold higher CO production (TON=14.5) for the C-9 liposomes, compared to C-19 (TON=2.8). Based on immobilisation efficiency quantification, diffusion kinetics, and time-resolved spectroscopy, we identified the main reason for this trend: two types of membrane-bound RuCn species can be found in the membrane, either deeply buried in the bilayer and diffusing slowly, or less buried with much faster diffusion kinetics. Our data suggest that the higher photocatalytic performance of the C-9 system is due to the higher fraction of the more mobile and less buried molecular species, which leads to enhanced electron transfer kinetics between RuC9 and ReC9.Metals in Catalysis, Biomimetics & Inorganic Material
Colloquium: Mechanical formalisms for tissue dynamics
The understanding of morphogenesis in living organisms has been renewed by
tremendous progressin experimental techniques that provide access to
cell-scale, quantitative information both on theshapes of cells within tissues
and on the genes being expressed. This information suggests that
ourunderstanding of the respective contributions of gene expression and
mechanics, and of their crucialentanglement, will soon leap forward.
Biomechanics increasingly benefits from models, which assistthe design and
interpretation of experiments, point out the main ingredients and assumptions,
andultimately lead to predictions. The newly accessible local information thus
calls for a reflectionon how to select suitable classes of mechanical models.
We review both mechanical ingredientssuggested by the current knowledge of
tissue behaviour, and modelling methods that can helpgenerate a rheological
diagram or a constitutive equation. We distinguish cell scale ("intra-cell")and
tissue scale ("inter-cell") contributions. We recall the mathematical framework
developpedfor continuum materials and explain how to transform a constitutive
equation into a set of partialdifferential equations amenable to numerical
resolution. We show that when plastic behaviour isrelevant, the dissipation
function formalism appears appropriate to generate constitutive equations;its
variational nature facilitates numerical implementation, and we discuss
adaptations needed in thecase of large deformations. The present article
gathers theoretical methods that can readily enhancethe significance of the
data to be extracted from recent or future high throughput
biomechanicalexperiments.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures. This version (26 Sept. 2015) contains a few
corrections to the published version, all in Appendix D.2 devoted to large
deformation
On the Nature of the Phase Transition in SU(N), Sp(2) and E(7) Yang-Mills theory
We study the nature of the confinement phase transition in d=3+1 dimensions
in various non-abelian gauge theories with the approach put forward in [1]. We
compute an order-parameter potential associated with the Polyakov loop from the
knowledge of full 2-point correlation functions. For SU(N) with N=3,...,12 and
Sp(2) we find a first-order phase transition in agreement with general
expectations. Moreover our study suggests that the phase transition in E(7)
Yang-Mills theory also is of first order. We find that it is weaker than for
SU(N). We show that this can be understood in terms of the eigenvalue
distribution of the order parameter potential close to the phase transition.Comment: 15 page
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