Large scale structure simulations of inhomogeneous LTB void models

We perform numerical simulations of large scale structure evolution in an inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) model of the Universe. We follow the gravitational collapse of a large underdense region (a void) in an otherwise flat matter-dominated Einstein-deSitter model. We observe how the (background) density contrast at the centre of the void grows to be of order one, and show that the density and velocity profiles follow the exact non-linear LTB solution to the full Einstein equations for all but the most extreme voids. This result seems to contradict previous claims that fully relativistic codes are needed to properly handle the non-linear evolution of large scale structures, and that local Newtonian dynamics with an explicit expansion term is not adequate. We also find that the (local) matter density contrast grows with the scale factor in a way analogous to that of an open universe with a value of the matter density OmegaM(r) corresponding to the appropriate location within the void.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, published in Physical Review

The unique regulation of iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in a Gram-positive bacterium

Iron-sulfur clusters function as cofactors of a wide range of proteins, with diverse molecular roles in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Dedicated machineries assemble the clusters and deliver them to the final acceptor molecules in a tightly regulated process. In the prototypical Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli, the two existing iron-sulfur cluster assembly systems, iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) and sulfur assimilation (SUF) pathways, are closely interconnected. The ISC pathway regulator, IscR, is a transcription factor of the helix-turn-helix type that can coordinate a [2Fe-2S] cluster. Redox conditions and iron or sulfur availability modulate the ligation status of the labile IscR cluster, which in turn determines a switch in DNA sequence specificity of the regulator: cluster-containing IscR can bind to a family of gene promoters (type-1) whereas the clusterless form recognizes only a second group of sequences (type-2). However, iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in Gram-positive bacteria is not so well characterized, and most organisms of this group display only one of the iron-sulfur cluster assembly systems. A notable exception is the unique Gram-positive dissimilatory metal reducing bacterium Thermincola potens, where genes from both systems could be identified, albeit with a diverging organization from that of Gram-negative bacteria. We demonstrated that one of these genes encodes a functional IscR homolog and is likely involved in the regulation of iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis in T. potens. Structural and biochemical characterization of T. potens and E. coli IscR revealed a strikingly similar architecture and unveiled an unforeseen conservation of the unique mechanism of sequence discrimination characteristic of this distinctive group of transcription regulators.We thank Jorge Vieira for help with Automatic Detection of Positively Selected Sites. We acknowledge the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) for provision of synchrotron radiation facilities and thank the ESRF staff for help with data collection. Microscale thermophoresis data collection was carried out at the Campus Science Support Facilities Protein Technologies Facility (www.csf.ac.at). This work was funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional through the Operational Competitiveness Programme-COMPETE and by national funds through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia under project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028116 (PTDC/BBB - BEP/2127/2012) and PhD Fellowship SFRH/BD/66461/2009 (to J.A.S.). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under BioStruct-X (Grant Agreement 283570)

Tánger para España

Sesión del día 11 de marzo de 1920Copia Digital : Real Academia de Jurisprudencia y Legislación, 201

Sensibilidad a la colocación de los marcadores en el modelo convencional de análisis cinemático de la marcha

La correcta evaluación del movimiento articular a través de sistemas de análisis del movimiento depende, entre otros factores, de la correcta colocación de los marcadores reflectantes sobre los sujetos analizados. En el modelo convencional de marcha, de los 15 marcadores de miembro inferior, la mayoría se localizan en puntos anatómicos fáciles de localizar y que tienen poca posibilidad de error. Sin embargo, hay dificultad en otros, como el de la articulación de la rodilla y, sobre todo, en los del muslo y pierna. En el estudio, se empleó un sistema VICON 460, con el que se analizó la cinemática de miembro inferior de 5 sujetos adultos sanos (2 mujeres, 3 varones). Para evaluar los movimientos articulares se empleó el modelo convencional de marcha. Determinada la posición correcta de los marcadores en cada sujeto, se procedió a la variación por separado de los marcadores de la rodilla, el muslo y la pierna, moviendo cada uno 15 mm anterior y posteriormente con relación a la posición inicial. Estos pequeños desplazamientos producen importantes variaciones en los resultados cinemáticos obtenidos. Entre ellas en el varo-valgo de rodilla, parámetro que es de gran utilidad a la hora de detectar errores en la colocación de los marcadores

Cost Studies of Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants in the Range of 23,000–33,000 m3/day

first_pagesettingsOrder Article Reprints Open AccessArticle Cost Studies of Reverse Osmosis Desalination Plants in the Range of 23,000–33,000 m3/day by J. Feo-García 1,A. Pulido-Alonso 2ORCID,A. Florido-Betancor 3 andN. R. Florido-Suárez 4,* 1 School of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Department of Electronic and Automatic Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain 2 School of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering Department, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain 3 Faculty of Science, University of Cádiz, 11519 Cádiz, Spain 4 School of Industrial and Civil Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 35017 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Water 2024, 16(6), 910; https://doi.org/10.3390/w16060910 Submission received: 18 February 2024 / Revised: 12 March 2024 / Accepted: 19 March 2024 / Published: 21 March 2024 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Desalination Technologies for Water Treatment) Downloadkeyboard_arrow_down Browse Figures Versions Notes Abstract The analysis of energy consumption in reverse osmosis desalination plants is the most important and relevant factor to study, because this parameter indicates the level of efficiency and competitiveness of the plant. The direct consequence of the high specific energy consumption (SEC) of a desalination plant in the production of water is one of the main obstacles to the exponential expansion of this technology worldwide. The methodological procedure used to carry out the work is based on the analysis of energy consumption, maintenance costs, staff, membranes, and reagents of three desalination plants with a production of more than 23,000 m3/day located in the Canary Islands (Spain); all data are obtained from real analyses collected “in situ” from 2015 to 2018. One of the main objectives of the current research on desalination plants is to reduce the SEC of seawater desalination plants (SWRO), incorporating energy recovery systems (ERS) and high efficiency pumps (HEP), and to implement different operational configurations with the aim of minimizing the energy requirements necessary to obtain a good product quality at minimum production cost

Effects of mergers and galaxy interactions at intermediate densities in the SDSS-DR4

Recently, several observational works have provided evidence in favor of a pre-processing of galaxies at moderate environments. These evidences show that the transition of galaxies onto the red-sequence could take place in galaxy groups in the outskirt of clusters or in the infalling populations. Based on the evidence that interacting and merging systems are priviledged found at intermediate densities, we use the SDSSDR4 data to analyse the role of mergers and close galaxy interactions as environmental processes to lead to evolutionary transformations. We explore the properties of galaxy pairs and merging systems at different local and global density environments, comparing them with those of isolated galaxies in an unbiased control sample.Recientemente varios autores han aportado evidencia observacional que sugerir´ıa que las galaxias son pre-procesadas en regiones de densidad intermedia, produciendo una gran transformacion en las mismas. Estos resultados observacionales muestran que la transicion de las galaxias hacia la secuencia roja se producir´ıa en regiones perifericas de los cumulos de galaxias. Por otra parte, existe evidencia tanto teorica como observacional que indicar´ıa que las interacciones y fusiones de galaxias son particularmente frecuentes en estas regiones. En este trabajo analizamos el rol de las interacciones y colisiones de galaxias en regiones de densidad intermedia, utilizando para tal efecto galaxias del cat´alogo SDSS-DR4.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Effects of mergers and galaxy interactions at intermediate densities in the SDSS-DR4

Recently, several observational works have provided evidence in favor of a pre-processing of galaxies at moderate environments. These evidences show that the transition of galaxies onto the red-sequence could take place in galaxy groups in the outskirt of clusters or in the infalling populations. Based on the evidence that interacting and merging systems are priviledged found at intermediate densities, we use the SDSSDR4 data to analyse the role of mergers and close galaxy interactions as environmental processes to lead to evolutionary transformations. We explore the properties of galaxy pairs and merging systems at different local and global density environments, comparing them with those of isolated galaxies in an unbiased control sample.Recientemente varios autores han aportado evidencia observacional que sugerir´ıa que las galaxias son pre-procesadas en regiones de densidad intermedia, produciendo una gran transformacion en las mismas. Estos resultados observacionales muestran que la transicion de las galaxias hacia la secuencia roja se producir´ıa en regiones perifericas de los cumulos de galaxias. Por otra parte, existe evidencia tanto teorica como observacional que indicar´ıa que las interacciones y fusiones de galaxias son particularmente frecuentes en estas regiones. En este trabajo analizamos el rol de las interacciones y colisiones de galaxias en regiones de densidad intermedia, utilizando para tal efecto galaxias del cat´alogo SDSS-DR4.Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y GeofísicasConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

The critical factor: The role of quality in the performance of supported accommodation services for complex mental illness in England

Rehabilitation services have a key role in ensuring integrated and comprehensive mental health (MH) care in the community for people suffering from long-term and severe mental disorders. MH-supported accommodation services aim to promote service users’ autonomy and independence. Given the complexity associated with MH-supported accommodation services in England, a comparative evaluation of critical performance indicators, including service provision and quality of care, seems to be necessary in designing evidence-informed policies. This study aims to explore the influence of service quality indicators on the performance of MH-supported accommodation services in England. The analysed sample includes supported accommodation services from 14 nationally representative local authorities in England from the QuEST study grouped by three main types of care: residential care homes (divided into two subgroups: move-on and non-move-on oriented), supported housing and floating outreach. EDeS-MH (efficient decision support-mental health) was used to assess the performance indicators for the selected services by combining a Monte Carlo simulation engine, data envelopment analysis and a fuzzy inference engine for integrating expert knowledge. Depending on the type of care, six/seven quality domains were sequentially included after a baseline scenario (only technical) was analysed. Relative technical efficiency scores for the baseline scenarios revealed high performance in all the selected supported accommodation services, but the statistical variability was high. Quality domains significantly improved performance in every type of care. The inclusion of quality indicators has a positive impact on the global performance of each type of care. Remaining at the corresponding services more than expected for two years has a negative impact on performance. These findings can be considered from a planning perspective to facilitate the design of pathways of care with more realistic expectations about gaining autonomy in two years

Combination of X-ray crystallography, SAXS and DEER to obtain the structure of the FnIII-3,4 domains of integrin a6b4

Integrin alpha6beta4 is a major component of hemidesmosomes that mediate the stable anchorage of epithelial cells to the underlying basement membrane. Integrin alpha6beta4 has also been implicated in cell proliferation and migration and in carcinoma progression. The third and fourth fibronectin type III domains (FnIII-3,4) of integrin beta4 mediate binding to the hemidesmosomal proteins BPAG1e and BPAG2, and participate in signalling. Here, it is demonstrated that X-ray crystallography, small-angle X-ray scattering and double electron– electron resonance (DEER) complement each other to solve the structure of the FnIII-3,4 region. The crystal structures of the individual FnIII-3 and FnIII-4 domains were solved and the relative arrangement of the FnIII domains was elucidated by combining DEER with site-directed spin labelling. Multiple structures of the interdomain linker were modelled by Monte Carlo methods complying with DEER constraints, and the final structures were selected against experimental scattering data. FnIII-3,4 has a compact and cambered flat structure with an evolutionary conserved surface that is likely to correspond to a protein-interaction site. Finally, this hybrid method is of general application for the study of other macromolecules and complexes