Semi-Decoupled Second-Order Consistency Correction for Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

We present an approximate second-order consistent smoothed particle hydrodynamics method which uses the 1D solutions to approximate the 2D second order derivatives. The numerical tests of the analytic functions show that the method is exact for regular arrangements of interpolation points, while in the disordered areas the accuracy is lower than the exact solution of the second-order consistent modified smoothed particle hydrodynamics, but still better that the standard version or the so-called decoupled finite particle method. We applied the new model to the flow of a fluid around a circular solid obstacle and found that the use of a corrected semi-decoupled second-order consistent SPH gives better accuracy for lower resolutions allowing for a more efficient numerical model and also easier to extend to 3D

Subacute myoclonic measles encephalitis – An opportunistic HIV-associated infection

IntroductionAn unusual cluster of myoclonic epilepsy was observed in a Romanian pediatric HIV cohort concurrent with measles outbreaks. We describe this particular form of subacute measles encephalitis (SME) in a group of HIV-infected children and adolescents with severe immunosuppression.MethodsThis is a single-center study, starting in 1997 and covering 4 measles outbreaks in Romania. The presumptive diagnosis of subacute myoclonic measles encephalitis (SMME) was based on: (1) epidemiological data, previous measles episode or presumed contact with measles virus (MV), (2) clinical presentation with initial localized myoclonic jerks with rapid extension and subsequent motor deficit with preserved mental status, and (3) neuroimaging studies revealing cortical gray matter lesions. Definitive diagnosis was based on a neuropathological exam and immunohistochemistry of brain tissues, and measles RNA detection in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).ResultsThirty-six patients were diagnosed with a particular form of SME during consecutive measles outbreaks in Romania: 1996–1998 (22); 2005–2008 (12); 2010–2011 (1) and 2016-2018 (1). Most children were born in the late 80s and had parenterally acquired HIV infection in early childhood. Before the episode of SMME, 11 patients had confirmed measles, while the rest, without typical rash, had a respiratory tract infection and/or presumed previous measles contact. In all patients, the clinical onset was sudden, with unilateral myoclonus. MRI findings revealed mainly focal cortical gray matter lesions. Neurologic symptoms progressed rapidly to coma and death in most patients. Three patients survived SMME, they had higher CD4 count at onset, slower progression of neurological symptoms, and benefit of immune recovery with cART. Immunocytochemistry studies revealed MV in the brain with a pattern suggesting an ascending viral neural infection. MV was isolated from CSF in 7 out of 8 patients. Sequence analysis of MV RNA from both nasopharyngeal swabs and CSF was available for one patient with similar N-450 strain characteristics.ConclusionDuring an outbreak of measles, neurological manifestations, especially myoclonus in immunosuppressed patients, can be related to measles even in the absence of an acute episode. This particular form of subacute myoclonic measles encephalitis is an opportunistic fatal disease. Immune recovery due to effective antiretroviral treatment might increase survival

Increased hippocampal accumulation of autophagosomes predicts short-term recognition memory impairment in aged mice

Constitutive macroautophagy involved in the turnover of defective long-lived proteins and organelles is crucial for neuronal homeostasis. We hypothesized that macroautophagic dysregulation in selective brain regions was associated with memory impairment in aged mice. We used the single-trial object recognition test to measure short-term memory in 18 aged mice compared to 22 young mice and employed immunohistochemistry to assess cellular distribution of proteins involved in the selective degradation of ubiquitinated proteins via macroautophagy. Values of the discrimination ratio (DR, a measure of short-term recognition memory performance) in aged mice were significantly lower than those in young mice (median, 0.54 vs. 0.67; p = 0.005, U test). Almost exclusively in aged mice, there were clusters of puncta immunoreactive for microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3), ubiquitin- and LC3-binding protein p62, and ubiquitin in neuronal processes predominantly in the hippocampal formation, olfactory bulb/tubercle, and cerebellar cortex. The hippocampal burden of clustered puncta immunoreactive for LC3 and p62 exhibited inverse linear correlations with DR in aged mice (ρ = −0.48 and −0.55, p = 0.044 and 0.018, respectively, Spearman’s rank correlation). These findings suggest that increased accumulation of autophagosomes within neuronal processes in selective brain regions is characteristic of aging. The dysregulation of macroautophagy can adversely affect the turnover of aggregate-prone proteins and defective organelles, which may contribute to memory impairment in aged mice

HIV and COVID-19: two pandemics with significant (but different) central nervous system complications

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cause significant neurologic disease. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement of HIV has been extensively studied, with well-documented invasion of HIV into the brain in the initial stage of infection, while the acute effects of SARS-CoV-2 in the brain are unclear. Neuropathologic features of active HIV infection in the brain are well characterized whereas neuropathologic findings in acute COVID-19 are largely non-specific. On the other hand, neuropathologic substrates of chronic dysfunction in both infections, as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) and post-COVID conditions (PCC)/long COVID are unknown. Thus far, neuropathologic studies on patients with HAND in the era of combined antiretroviral therapy have been inconclusive, and autopsy studies on patients diagnosed with PCC have yet to be published. Further longitudinal, multidisciplinary studies on patients with HAND and PCC and neuropathologic studies in comparison to controls are warranted to help elucidate the mechanisms of CNS dysfunction in both conditions

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass